Kinecting With Our Kids

On Christmas morning the kids were elated to find that "Santa" had left the family a brand new Xbox 360 Kinect and two additional video games.  By that afternoon the system was hooked up to our Xbox 360 and we were ready to play.  Our choice of games right now are Kinect Adventures, Game Party in Motion and Sonic Free Riders.  While it was Michael who was setting up the system and testing it out he chose the first game to play, Game Party in Motion.  Now this game is slightly entertaining but I find that the little ones quickly loose interest since there isn't a lot of movement involved.  It is a compilation of about 16 arcade and outdoor games that people play.  Some examples of the games you can play are skeet ball, darts, bean bag toss, horseshoes, pool, bocce ball, air hockey and double rackets. 

(The Kinect)

(Michael playing basketball)

(Alyssa playing skeet ball)

(Alyssa & Michael playing bean bag toss)

(Throw that bean bag!)

After a little fun with those we decided to move on to Kinect Adventures.  Now this is the game comes with the Kinect system and by far has been the most fun to play over the past four days.  In this game you play rally ball, go river rafting, maneuver through obstacle courses, and so much more.  You can opt to play free play or work to earn badges at different levels (basic, intermediate, advanced etc).  You can play by yourself or with others and I swear there is never a moment of just sitting still.

(Alyssa & Cayden playing Rally ball Christmas Day)

(Dive for those balls!)

(Get your whole body into it!)

(Day 1: Cayden & Alyssa learning to play Rally ball)

As for Sonic Free Riders it's sort of like your typical Sonic game except for the face that your body is now the controller.  We've played it a little, however I think that maybe it is better suited for the teenage players.  So far the little ones haven't been able to get passed the tutorial in order to play the game and for me it was quite difficult too.  So for now this one seems to have taken a back seat to our other games.

Since getting the Kinect on Christmas morning we have absolutely dedicated at least an hour a day to playing the games.  I have to admit that with all of the rain and cold it's been great for burning off all of that stored energy.  Besides if the kids are going to play video games I'd rather it be ones that keep them active.  I also have to admit that even I have been in on the action quite a lot and this has definitely made playing video games fun.  Another sweet surprise to playing the games is that they also take photos of you as you play that you can later upload via the Kinect share website and review.  So far the only ones that I've been able to upload and share are the ones of myself because of the security features that are set on the kids and the fact that you have to have an Xbox live membership but none the less it has been fun. 

Photos from Kinectshare.com

(Go ahead and laugh)



Another awesome thing with the game is that when you earn badges you also get what they call live statues as a reward.  These little statues of course are different for every level and badge and you can animate each one with your own movements.

(One of my living statues via Kinectshare.com)

So all in all this has turned out to be one great and fun activity for the entire family. With time I am sure that we will all improve both our game play as well as our relationships with one another.  It's great for promoting teamwork and I can't wait until we get to try out some other new games and features that are offered with this system. 

And before I forget, yes you may have to rearrange your furniture in order to create the optimum play space (persons need to able to stand 6-8 ft. back from the sensor), we did.  Also, it didn't say so in the initial set up but we did have to take down a mirror that was on the wall opposite of the sensor because it was reflecting light at the sensor.  Other than that, not too much of a change was needed. 

(Day 4: Cayden flying for space bubbles)

(Day 4: Alyssa & Cayden River Rafting)

(Day 4: Alyssa & Cayden playing Rally Ball)



Our Christmas Story

The Children are nestled

all snug in their beds,

with visions of sugar plums

dancing in their heads.

The stockings are stuffed

and hung on the wall,

I only pray

they do not fall.

Mrs. Claus has laid out the presents

by tree light,

Mr. Claus is slowly putting together

Cayden's new bike

Soon off to bed

we will go,

'cause the children

will rise early we know.

Santa had come

by the early day light,

The kids were awake

and beheld a great site.

An mp3 player for her

a new bike for him,

The time for opening presents

was about to begin.

With pillow pals, new trains,

a v.Reader and doll;

The gifts were still coming,

they hadn't opened them all.

A diary, a scribbler,

new clothes and some books;

They thought they were finished,

but they'd clearly mistook.

A camp set, a nutcracker,

puzzles and trains galore;

This should be the end,

there should be no more.

Now empty their stockings

and clean up the mess;

There's one thing left to do,

say "Merry Christmas!"

Santa, is that really you?

It's Christmas time again and since around the middle of last month all of the stores have been full of Christmas decor, Holiday themed gifts and let's not forget the iconic commercialized image of the season, Santa Claus. I can remember a time when I was a child where Christmas items were not seen on the shelves before Thanksgiving and if you wanted a moment to speak to Santa and tell him that one special gift you most wanted for Christmas you'd have to stand in line for hours at the mall waiting for your turn to see him.  And let's not mention how you had to actually write him a letter and have Mom or Dad drive you to the post office to mail it.  I can also remember a time when the family would pile up in the car and drive for hours around the city looking at the Christmas lights in various neighborhoods instead of paying to get into line at park.  These my friends were the things that made Christmas special, magical and memorable for so many of us.

As I look at children today I can't help but wonder if it is a case where they are just becoming too smart for their own good or if it's just that the big corporations have commercialized the holiday so much that they are making it way too easy for our young to see through the curtains and see the behind the scenes magic that makes this holiday what it is. Have we as parents dropped the ball and taken the easy road out that has allowed ourselves to spoil the magic of the holiday? Has our government and everyday politics overstepped their boundaries with all of this politically correct nonsense of worrying whom will be offended if we allow our children to celebrate or even be educated on such things as Christmas by banning certain words, phrases and traditions from being used in our schools?  My opinion, YES! Yes, to all three.  Instead of trying to maintain the magic of the season and teaching our children what the holiday is about and who Saint Nick really was and perhaps even teaching them the other holidays that are celebrated during this holiday season we've chosen to turn our backs on the true spirit. We've allowed ourselves and our children to become so engulfed in all of the commercial propaganda that the magic of the season has forever been ruined for us all.  Instead of rejoicing, spending time with our loved ones and helping those in need most of us become in our own way a bunch of Scrooges and Grinches and focus only on what deals we can find and what we will receive. I'm telling you people the spirit of the season died back when the day called Black Friday was invented.

Now back to my original thoughts of "are kids today just way too smart for their own good?"  Like I said, since last month all of the stores, it seems, have had their Christmas displays up and their Santa's ready.  Every time we've stopped at a store or mall for something the kids of course always beg to see Santa.  Well back on November 20th my husband and I decided we'd take the kids over to Bass Pro Shops for some holiday fun in their Winter Wonderland and also to see Santa.  With pictures taken, Christmas crafts made and a little shopping done we headed home.  On the way back our daughter asks "Was that the real Santa?"  I replied, "What do you think?"  After giving it some thought for a few moments she says "I think that it was just a man in a costume pretending to be Santa."  When I asked her why she thought that she explained to me that every year we go and she takes pictures with Santa.  Every year the Santa in her pictures looks different.  Then she went on to tell me that we also see Santa in different places throughout the holiday season and that at each place he looks different and she doesn't see how he could be in so many different places at once.  By the time we reached home (not even a 10 minute ride) she had laid her argument out so well that I have to admit that I confessed to her that yes the store Santa's are just men in costumes there to do a little work for Santa and to bring joy to many boys and girls during the holiday season.  This was our first encounter with Santa this year.

(Christmas 2007)

(Christmas 2008)

(Christmas 2009)

(Christmas 2010)

Our second encounter with Santa came on December 5th at my husband's company's Christmas Party.  The party as held at The Main Event in Grapevine, TX and let's just say that for a holiday/Christmas party it was definitely lacking in the holiday/Christmas part.  At a point during the duration of the party the company set up "Santa" in a private room and gave the children of the employees a chance to sit on Santa's lap, tell him what they wanted  for Christmas and pose for a quick photo.  Now let me describe this to you.  Santa was in a conference room. At one end of the room there were two tables with table cloths and upon them were some tortilla chips, nacho cheese and a basket that contained bags of mixed nuts and cracker jacks.  On the other end of the room there was a rolled out gold background with a chair and two indoor tree plants (where Santa was to sit), a digital camera set up on a tripod and another table with a laptop computer, printer and karaoke machine upon it.  The part of Santa was being played by one of the company employees and Santa's Elves were his two teenage daughters wearing pajamas and scarves who kept calling him Dad instead of Santa.

As we stood in line to see Santa Cayden of course was excited and Alyssa, well lets just say she started to become a little apprehensive.  When I asked her what was going on she told me that it was just some man in a costume and not the real Santa so she didn't want to see him.  In the end she did end up going to talk to "Santa" and posed for a picture because she'd decided that it was for fun and because some of the other kids didn't know that it wasn't the real Santa.

(Christmas Party Santa)

Our third and hopefully the last encounter with Santa for the 2010 season happened this past Friday, December 17th.  Alyssa's school was holding their annual Reindeer Run that morning which was to be followed by her class holiday party.  As we exited the school and headed for the starting point the kids were quickly distracted by Santa standing in front of the school awaiting those whom were crossing the finish line.  Here he was, Santa, all decked out from head to toe in one of the most extravagant Santa outfits I have ever seen on a Santa Claus, holding his dachshund whom was also wearing a Santa outfit, and greeting the kids with a wonderfully jolly European accent. ******screeching sound***** "Wait! What?!"  Yes that's right Santa had a very prominent European accent.  I'm not sure if it was Finnish, German, Russian or what but it was there.  So anyhow, the kids started their run and as they returned they quickly ran over and gathered around Santa all wanting to say hello and get a hug.  All that is except for Alyssa.  As she approached the finish and the area with Santa she adamantly stood off to the side not wanting to talk to him or greet him in any manner.  When asked what was wrong again she said that he was just another man in a costume and this time he was talking funny. So instead of posing for a quick picture we went ahead into the classroom to start the party. 

(School Santa) * note how far away Alyssa is ^

Now you would think that our encounter with this Santa would have ended there but alas there is more.  As the class party ended and we left the school for not only the day but to begin our Winter Break we again came across European Santa in the parking lot.  This time there was no dachshund, he was walking with a cane and he was carrying a set of car keys.  As we continued walking towards our vehicle I noticed Cayden studying Santa very carefully and looking a little confused.  Within moments it was as if a little light bulb had gone off above his head and quickly Cayden stopped walking and yelled "Where is Santa's Sleigh?! Santa isn't supposed to drive a car!"  Startled by the break in the silence (except for the bells that were jingling on his boots as he walked) Santa quickly turned around to see who was yelling, smiled at Cayden, said goodbye and climbed into his Toyota 4 Runner. Cayden just continued to stare.

So now I have a daughter whom still firmly believes in Santa Claus but now knows that all of those Santa's we see around town are strangers in disguise and has no desire to talk to them let alone sit on their laps for a picture and a son who thinks Santa drives an SUV. Or so I thought.  For you see as Cayden sat talking to my mother-in-law on the phone last night she asked him if he'd been to see Santa this year.  Cayden's reply "Yeah, but not the real one."

Christmas Card Craftiness

With the kids home from school for the next two weeks I am constantly on the look out for things to do with them to keep them busy.  One of the most recent crafts that I came across was a craft for making pop-up cards.  This was so simple to do and came out so cute that I've decided to let them make quite a few to mail out this year instead of our standard photo cards.

Items needed to make the cards are : construction paper, scissors, glue, crayons/markers, foam stickers (optional), printed coloring pages.

For complete directions on how to make these cards please visit http://www.enchantedlearning.com/.

Basically you use two pieces of construction paper (one for the inside of the card the other for the outside.)  Fold the construction paper in half so that you have a card and cut small slits in groups of two into the fold.  Open the folded piece of paper and push the slits through so that they bend oposite of the way the paper bends.  Glue the inner paper to the outer paper (careful not to glue the slits).   Create your own images or color pre-printed ones and cut them out then glue them to the slits.  Decorate the card to your liking and add a message.

These are the cards that we've created so far.  It really was very easy. My 6 year old was able to do it all by herself and with a little help from Mommy my 3 year old was able to create his own too.