Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Funny Faces

My dad, aka: poppa, taught her how to make this face. He just cracks up whenever she makes it. Well, I took a great photo of it and Dad, here's a post just for you. BTW: that's chocolate chip cookies all over her face and tuna on her chin. Mmm, great combo, huh?

Civilization Revolution

As you may or may not know, my hubby is a gamer *cough* (dork). I think it's important in a marriage to maintain some fun activities for yourself. I don't mind watching him play his games and I often chime up and help him with "those pesky words". Recently we came across a little game called Civilization Revolution. This is a really addictive game reminiscent of Risk or the older Sim games. In the game you build cities and your country from scratch, build armies, invade other countries, defend your cities, negotiate with the other leaders, grow crops, mine gold and yes, even launch yourself into outer space.

There are four different ways to win the game. You can win by Domination which means that you eliminate all other countries and their leaders slink off with a pathetic warning that they'll be back. Yeah, right. Not in this game, Pal!
You can win by amassing a fortune in gold totaling 22,000 gold pieces. You get more gold by taking other cities and the gold within. Sometimes it's a paltry one piece of gold, but one game I stole close to 700 pieces!
You can also win by being the most cultured. You receive a Great Person at milestones in the game and if you put them to good use you can add more culture to your cities which makes your ever growing population happier and they work harder for you without complaint. Don't build a temple to keep your people happy and they'll desert you for the closest enemy.
And the final way of winning the game is in the Technology race. Alpha Centauri is your goal and you need science to get there. Lots and lots of science. Building and expanding is the only way to produce more usable squares on the board so that your science gets developed quick enough.

Now, I usually don't get into games that often anymore. I'll play for a few minutes, but if I have to replay the same battle over and over again to move forward in the game I lost interest pretty quickly. This game, however, is another story. I won Domination on my first try. Cultural was easy enough. Economic was a bit of a challenge, but I made it on the first try too. Technology came next...but hold on a minute.
There are so many different things you need to factor into the game. Production levels, invading armies, lost cities, science levels. Too many to name!
I've been playing that darn game for almost two weeks now. Why two weeks? Well, someone was whining that it was their turn next. Yeah, yeah, yeah, maybe tomorrow. :P
So anyhoo, I played and failed and played and failed and played and failed for the third time! Finally and with hubbys help, I got the hang of all of the different elements of the game and today...today I won.

Yes, that's right, I won. And here is my victory on the big screen for everyone to see! Har har har! I think I'm not going to play the game for a few days since I've been having non-stop dreams since I started to play it.
Word to the wise, people...it's addictive. And of course I threw in a shot of Violett for good measure at the end of the clip.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

The Dog Pillow

Finally! Ricky is starting to really accept the fact that Violett is here and wants to play with him. She has been chasing him around since she started to roll around on the floor. Now that she's walking and almost running she can get to him pretty fast and he's gotten to the point where he won't leave the room. He'll stay and let her pat him and hug him which is truly cute. This past few days he has started to rub up against her and bump her. She'll laugh and fall to the ground, get up again and go after him again. She can barely see over him, but she puts one arm over his back and one arm under his belly and gives him a hug. He usually gets up out of the chair when she comes close, but this time he didn't and I picked her up and plopped her down in the chair with him and there they sat. Well, until he had enough that is.

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Oh Dear Lord

I know I've said it before that we're in trouble with our little troublemaker, but this time...
I was taking a minute for myself on the couch and I look over to see my little Angel standing on a pillow with a knee up on the coffee table. Then she hauls herself up and is then standing on the table. What else could I do but grab the camera? If I scold her or say no, get off the table, she'll think it's a game and keep on doing it so I did my best to make it into no big deal. She starts to do a little dance up there and thank goodness I had the camera! She hasn't attempted it again because I didn't make a game out of it. Trouble, big, big, trouble. I blame the Grandparents. Why? Because I can.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Aunt Patty's Tiger Lily





When Aunt Patty was moving in with her beau she asked us if we wanted any of the extra furniture she had. Of course we jumped at the chance for a new couch and chair. While we were there she offered some of her many outdoors plants. I think we took about six Tiger Lily plants and I put them in the empty patch just beside the driveway. I had no idea what I was going to to with the space and it had been weedy and pretty sad looking the last two summers. It took me a while but I dug away at the ground and I think I came close to reaching China before I had the holes deep enough. The plants love it there! They get a good dose of sun in the mid-day and I water them every day to keep them healthy. About two weeks ago something started to happen, dear goodness...they are going to flower soon! It's my first year at gardening and I am way excited about growing stuff. I've watched the stems grow and buds come up and just this past few days they have been turning from green to yellow and now to orange. I walked outside today to get into the car and there it was! My first Tiger Lily! Oh, it's so beautiful! I just love it. Thank you so much Aunt Patty for the plants. You've sparked something in me and I've got a million different veggie plants growing up on the carport and they are starting to produce too. I'll post those pictures soon too.

Mmmm, Chocolate

This is an itty bitty little quick video. Sometimes I just can't resist giving her something sweet to eat because the outcome is usually priceless. Besides, I had just made the birthday cake for Jimmy and Violett was such a good girl while I was busy that she deserved a treat!

A Scraped Knee

I always try to let Violett know that if she's really hurt she can cry, and if she's just got a bonk that she's ok and not to make a big deal out of a bonk. Today we were playing in the backyard and she was having a good time. She was going back and forth, back and forth. Then she tripped. My heart leaps still when that happens, but I hold my gasp of horror in and try to make it into "No big deal". She gets up, looks at me and just keeps going back and forth. Later, I spy something on her knee and go to brush it off. Alas! Her little knee is all scraped up, but you know what? It was No Big Deal. She didn't cry or whine. My girl is a tough girl for sure!