Angel vs. Demon

In general, Hannah is very well-behaved.

In general, Jake can be quite the little troublemaker.

This usually means that if the two of them get into a fight 90% of the time it is because Jake has done something to Hannah. Is she always innocent? Certainly not. But she does get away with a lot more because overall she's a pretty good kid.

I think she's starting to take serious advantage of it though. "Mr. Claus" had the brilliant idea of giving Jake the new Mario game for the Wii this Christmas. If you're not familiar with the game it allows up to 4 players to play at the same time on the same screen. That means you have to work together to get through the level. You have to adjust your speed, protect your fellow players, and work together to accomplish certain goals. In other words, not an ideal game to have siblings play together. There is a lot more fighting in the house these days.

The conversation below is just a brief recap of what I've been listening to for the last half hour and how I came to the realization that Hannah has a little bit of the devil in her too.

Jake: Hannah popped my bubble and killed me! She did it on purpose!

Hannah: No I didn't. It was an accident.

(a little while later)

Jake: Hannah!

Hannah (innocently): What?

Jake: Mom! Hannah just threw me into a puffer fish and killed me again.

Hannah (even more innocently, if possible): I didn't mean to. It just happened.

Okay, I can see her accidentally popping his bubble - which sometimes is hard to control -but who accidentally throws someone into a puffer fish? She's definitely out to get him, the little troublemaker.

A fun new game

My new favorite game to play this time of year is "How many out of state license plates can you spot?" Given that Boston has a ridiculous number of colleges in and around the city you can only imagine how many states you can rack up during the "back to school" time period. This fun and exciting game can also be played in the spring - particularly around graduation time.

Likewise, another fun game is "How many students attending Harvard and MIT will find out the hard way to calculate the height of their moving truck BEFORE trying to pass under the incredibly low bridges near their schools?" Similar games include "How long will traffic be backed up while those same moving trucks have to drive in reverse all the way down the incredibly busy streets lining the Charles River by Harvard and MIT?"

Dinner time games

Hannah (drawing a card from "Dinner Games for Beginners"): For this one we'll need an oven mitt.

Me (turning to Lincoln): Do we have an oven mitt?

Mom: Ha! That's great! The woman of the house asking if they have an oven mitt!

Goose vs. Grey Duck

In the childhood game did you play Duck Duck Goose or Duck Duck Grey Duck? This was the subject of much debate tonight when we were playing this game. Lincoln, Hannah, and Jake are all on the Goose team. I'm on the Grey Duck team. I told the kids that whichever one of them came over to my side first would get the bigger inheritance someday.

I'm not the only one that thinks Grey Duck is the answer. According to a poll on Facebook 53% of people think it's Grey Duck to Goose's 47%. Of course Lincoln thinks it was rigged.