Food and games when the kids come

When the kids come, we always like to go get donuts, but alas, our local donut shop was closed for the holidays.  Claire still wanted a picture.

We also like going to Norms Coffee shop!

Claire enjoyed her cocoa bomb!  And Hannah had a yellow-themed meal one day!

Al and I are used to just eating for two, so when there are 14 for several days, it can seem overwhelming to prepare meals.  The kids are always willing to help!  They even offered.  In the past, they have each fixed a meal.  However, this year, I prepared much of my food ahead of time and just threw it together last minute when it was time to eat.  It made it much less stressful!

Besides food, this family enjoys playing games!  Murder in the dark - 

Quibic

Spicy Uno

Jill had new rules for it.  

0 = swap hands with person of your choice

6= everyone slap pile (like slap jack).  Last person to slap draws 2 cards

7= silence.  Anyone who talks has to draw 1 card per sentence.  The next 7 played undoes the silence.

Draw 2 or Draw 4 = can be added to by the next person with ANY draw 2 or draw 4 (does not have to match).  The person who can't add to it has to draw as many as it all adds up to.

If you get skipped, you have to sing instead of speak until someone else gets skipped (then they have to sing)

If an 8 is played, everyone must speak in a British accent.  If you do not, you draw 1 card.  Another 8 or a 7 undoes an 8.

Everything else in the game remains the same.

Telestratrions - this is one of my favorites!  Everybody writes a phrase.  Like "Do you want to build a snowman" or "going fishing with grandpa".  Whatever.  Pass the stack and you draw a picture of that phrases.  Pass the stack.  Person writes what they think was drawn.  When it ends up back to start, it can be pretty funny!  Kind of like "telephone game".

Ping pong

Eli has become quite the player!  We turned our dining table into a pingpong table.

Eli put his Christmas gift together

Battleship

We got a Newtonopoly!  Does your town have a Monopoly named after your town?

Whoever made it had "traffic jam".  Um, we are too small a town for that.

But we have many, many, many trains (maybe up to 28 a day?) that back up traffic, I guess.  So Hannah drew train tracks for us.

"Behold how good and pleasant it is for brethern to dwell together in unity."  Psalm 133:1  We used to sing this verse.  Do you know it?

"How wonderful, how beautiful, when brothers and sisters get along!" 

 The Message