Well, no pictures today. I just wanted to get a post up. I have been working some special projects that I hope to have up for sale soon. More on that when it’s closer to happening I guess.

My evenings lately, at least when Sean is home , have been spent playing games with the kids. When Sean was working evenings, we didn’t get to do a lot of that, since we were starting school during the day when he was home, and busy all weekend getting stuff done. But now that he is home in the evenings, after school is over and we have some time, we have been turning the tv off most nights and play games. We have been having so much fun. We have been buying a game a week, and I’ve learned some things….

First of all, the price of a game in no way reflects how much fun it is going to be to play. Uno and Dominoes have turned out to be our favorites, with Yahtzee and Skipbo running a close third and fourth. The Family Cranium game, while still under $10.00, wasn’t as much fun as the others.

Also, the less complicated the game is, the more the kids will enjoy it. It might have to do with the fact that the first four games require you to build a certain set of skills to play the game succesfully, and you use that one set of skills throughout the game. Family Cranium moves from one activity to another fairly quickly, requiring you to scuplt with modeling clay, draw, hum or whistle, etc. There is a lot of activity,using completely different sets of skills, all which have to be done to beat a timer. You never know which activity you are going to have to do, either. Maybe it’s just better played earlier in the day or on the weekends when excited kids don’t have to go to bed right after the game is done.

I have a list of games that I am eager to add to our collection. One I remember my grandpa loved called Triominoes, and a few that I have heard about either on line or in magazines. One is called Cathedral, and is a building strategy game, and another is Pass the Pigs, recommended to me by my friend Karen years ago. Mybe now we will finally get around to trying that one out. I also want to teach the kids to play Rummy, something we always enjoyed playing growing up. Oh, and Othello. Although only two people can play at a time, that game is so much fun, is so simple, and yet is so easy to lose!

So what about you? Are there any games that your family loves that you think we should try out? If so, leave me a note in the comments!

Also, I just wanted everyone to know that after visiting the eye doctor last Friday, we got the all clear on Reagan’s eye. Her vision is back to 20/20, and the eye looks clear. We have to continue using the eye ointment we have until it is gone, but other than that, she won’t need any further treatment. Things really could have been so much worse, it’s just an answered prayer that it healed without any of the scarring that the doctor was afraid of.