Come on Down!

Our worlds were rocked yesterday when we (finally) acquired The Price is Right game for Wii. That's right, we now have Plinko, Punch-A-Bunch and an assortment of other pricing games right at our fingertips.

I am a huge TPIR fan, although I can't honestly tell you how it happened...it definitely didn't come from my mother, so my best guess is that my childhood "daycare provider," Mrs. Allen, used to watch it. All she really did was watch TV and let us steal slices of Velveeta cheese out of her refrigerator. Somehow, among all the crap that woman watched (I remember a lot of Love Connection), Bob Barker struck a chord.

My boys, on the other hand, have never seen the show (Amazing, I know, but they don't show it on GSN and the kids are at school when it's on CBS), so I wasn't sure whether they'd like the game. Turns out the love for TPIR is genetic. 

Despite having no clue what things like oriental rugs or bedroom sets or even jars of jelly cost, the boys loved the game from the very first bid.  (And consequently, they can now tell you what a set of snowboards or a 2009 Toyota Corolla cost.) Their joy at having the winning bid on Contestants Row or spinning $1.00 in the Showcase Showdown rivals my joy at winning actual money on TPIR slots in Vegas. I'm pretty sure our neighbors can hear the squeals of joy emanating from our living room. 

Today, Owen came within $180 of guessing the actual retail price of his showcase (he had a little help from the audience), which of course means he was the first in our family to win BOTH showcases. I thought he might pass out. 

A proud moment for us all. 

Will Bingo for Plinko

This week has been game show-tastic. Not simply watching them, but also playing -- or wishing I could. 

First we had the premiere of Bingo America on GSN. Now, I probably never would have thought to watch this show...I mean, who wants to watch bingo on TV? But my kids were immediately intrigued (I think the producers might have overlooked the kindergarten demographic). Before I knew it, they were giddy with anticipation, actually measuring other events in relation to the premiere of this show. As in, "Our class is going on a field trip on October 9th! That's three days after the premiere of Bingo America!" (yes, it's weird)

So we watched. The boys loved it. It made a nice distraction while I cooked dinner. Then, on Wednesday, I realized you could actually play along at home for free and win money. This was particularly interesting to me since that same day I had found out about this...

Yes, that's right, my most favorite game show (and slot machine) is now a Wii game!!!! It's only $40, but not $40 I can justify at the moment in our fragile family budget, so I've gone hunting for other sources of income...

And so from now on, at 5:30 p.m. CST, you will find my boys and me watching Richard Karn and frantically marking off our bingo cards, all in the hopes of winning $50 ($250 on Wednesdays!). No wins yet, but we're not giving up.

I like to think this is a lesson that will serve them well later in life: When all else fails, gamble. 

I see many trips to Vegas in our future. 

Pancakes, Piano and Wii...Oh My!

Today I had the rare opportunity to hang out with my little Owen for the entire morning -- just the two of us -- while Aidan was out playing dress-up with daddy at the Renaissance Festival.

Owen is about 400 times more talkative when his brother isn't around and it was nice to get to focus all of my attention on him for several hours. I asked him if he wanted to get something special for breakfast. He chose the Original Pancake House (the kid has good taste). 

Between the hot chocolate and the chocolate chip pancakes, I'm pretty sure he consumed more whipped cream and chocolate chips than anything resembling breakfast, but he had a good time..if there was any doubt about that, he put it to rest by exclaiming for everyone within a 20 foot radius  to hear, "That was SO fun!" as we left the restaurant. 

After stopping back home for some solo Wii time (imagine the excitement of not having to take turns for one short hour of your little twin life), we were off to Owen's very first piano class at MacPhail. 

I should note here that today was our Walk Now for Autism event and Team Owen was regrettably absent...although I think my sister-in-law might have been there to represent us. I had planned on being there with the kids right up until I realized that Owen would have to miss his first piano class. As much as I wanted to show my support for Autism Speaks, I didn't want to set Owen up to be a week behind the rest of his (neurotypical) class. But all the donations went to the cause, so that's still something to feel good about. 

Anyway, back to piano class... 

That's Owen's little head sticking up on the other side of that piano. How CUTE is that? They're all wired up to the teacher via headsets. The whole classroom vibe seems a bit serious for my taste, but I guess that's how they produce the next generation of maestros...plus, Owen likes structure, so it might be right up his alley. He seemed very proud of himself when class was over, which is always a good sign.  

After piano, it was time to go back home and meet up with Owen's other half, who arrived a dirty, whiney mess, but was quickly revived with some mac 'n' cheese and a shower. 

Tomorrow is Owen's day with daddy and my alone time with Aidan. He hasn't told me what he wants to do yet, but I'm looking forward to finding out.