Strategy, Disorientation, Kings and Couches, and Off-Track Fun

Strategy
The boys play an online game called Free Realms.  Each account has several types of 'jobs' that you can do like Ninja, Mail man, Adventurer, Cook, etc.  The highest level you can achieve in each job is a 20.  Seth loves to play his Ninja. An online player can challenge you to a duel.  If Seth was challenged to a duel and he was playing a character that was only a level 2 or 3, he would hurry and switch to his ninja (he is now at a level 20, but he was doing this when he was a level 12) and then accept the duel, leaving a poor kid who had a level 2-4 character to fight a higher level.  Seth would win the duel in less than 2 seconds, accept the prize money and then switch back to his lower level character.

I don't find this to be a very kind tactic, but I am very impressed with his strategy.

Disorientation
When Seth wakes up in the night needing to use the bathroom, it can be interesting.  He will be awake enough to know that he needs to use the bathroom, but not coherent enough to do something about it.  He will usually stand by his bed and cry.  Daniel or I will go into his room, literally guide him into the bathroom, put the toilet seat up, pull his pants down and face him in the right direction.  We then pull his pants up, and guide him back into bed.  He is just completely out of it.  He usually is back asleep before we can leave the room. 

The other night Daniel went downstairs to help him and Seth wasn't next to his bed.  He was in the closet, with his pants pulled down.  I am SO glad that Daniel found him when he did.  That could have been interesting.

Kings and Couches
A little over two years ago we bought a new bed.  We upgraded to a king size mattress and got a Sleep Number bed.  This pregnancy has been really nice with this new bed.  I have been able to adjust the number as I gain weight to be more comfortable.  The king size has been wonderful because I have plenty of room for all of my pillows and still have room for my husband!

However comfortable my bed is, I still have nights where I can't sleep and I wind up sleeping on the couch.

When I was pregnant with Seth I was really miserable on our mattress, so during the last month or so I didn't even sleep in the bed, I set up camp on the living room couch.   I loved sleeping on that couch, but I was really lonely, I missed cuddling and talking with Daniel before falling asleep.  Daniel could tell that it bothered me, so he went and got the air mattress and set it up next to the couch.  He would keep me company and I loved it.  Isn't he such a sweetheart?  He didn't love the air mattress, so he would wind up going back to the bed during the night, but that was okay with me.

Off-Track Fun
Mark and Paul went back to school on Thursday.  This off-track session went by rather quickly despite the snow and rain.

Mark's birthday is the day before my due date, so I decided to have him celebrate his birthday with some friends while he was off-track.  We will have a family party on his birthday.  He was okay with celebrating his birthday two times this year!

He invited two friends over to his party.  The original plan was to go to the Planetarium, but Mark changed  his mind.  Then he planned to go miniature golfing, but his friend broke his arm.  So we stayed home and had lunch and played games.  I took Mark shopping for a new game and he picked Yahtzee.  The boys spent about an hour playing Yahtzee, then they watched Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.  They were getting a long great and having a great time.  They went outside and played games and chased each other around.  The party was supposed to be from noon until about 2, but the friends didn't go home until  around 5:30!

Daniel, Taylor P., Set, Paul, Mitchell F., Mark

Wednesday was a rainy day and I was feeling pretty good, so I took the boys and two of my nieces (Mieren and Alys) to the Clark Planetarium to see the Hubble 3-D movie.  I wasn't terribly excited about seeing the movie, but I am so glad that I went because I really enjoyed it!  The kids really behaved themselves and we had a great time together.  We went to Jason's Deli for lunch and then back to the girl's house to play a bit more.