Facebook has become a pretty big part of our lives here in the Shapiro home. It is great to connect with people you haven't spoken to in a long time. See whats going on with others without the hassle of picking up the phone to call everyone which is great when you have little ones tugging at you all the time. The list of good things that come from facebook are endless. I really love the games that keep popping up on there. You can farm, fish, join a sorority, be part of the mafia, run a resturaunt and so on. And of course, all these games are highly addicting and suck countless hours out of your life.

My personal favorite is FarmVille. I have dabbled in the other games out there and really haven't gotten attached to them like I have the farm games. Jory discovered the fish games when I started to explore them. There are dozens of them. I was playing this one fish game, Fish World, when Jory spotted it. He instantly wanted to play so I let him. I earned enough coins to get his own tank that he can buy and sell fish, decorate and take care of. He wold constantly sell my fish from my tank without asking or telling me and I would get annoyed. So instead of getting aggrivated over this, I just stopped playing and gave him the gam to play. FarmVille, here I come.

So I haven't really been ontop of what he is doing all these fish games he has been playing, but I know he loves playing them. He tells his teacher about them in school. He draws pictures of him playing on the computer with Fish World on the screen. It may be borderline on whether or not his addiction to the game is healthy. It does keep him quiet and out of my hair when I really need the time, so I don't complain.

Lately he has been asking to get the special fish and decorations. These fish and decorations are what supports these games. There are a few nut cases out there that actually put in their credit card numbers just to get cooler items in their tanks and on their farms. Some of them you have to earn mad coins to get them or they are exclusive to people that give them money and that is the only way to get them.

Over and over Jory asks and I tell him when he gets his own credit card or when he is an adult or some other crazy thing that probably will never happen (well, in my mind) that he can put money into the computer and spend it on the games. This has been going on for days and I KNOW he really wants an algae eater or some other exotic fish and I just cant give it to him. I refuse to put money into these things!

The other day we had this fun blizzard and were stuck in the house. Jory jumped from game system to game system to play-doh to game system. He was good and played quietly throughout the day.

That night, after I get both of them to bed and I am trying to relax and play on my farm I hear a weird sound from my laptop. I shake it and I hear it even more. The I think, "Oh CRAP! Something is broken in my computer and I better back everything up!!!!!!" So I do this.

Who are you sleeping with?

I believe we are going to have a problem with our little Mira. She likes to hoard things. She is unlike her brother who likes to collect things like dice and rocks and other sorts. He at least puts all his collections in containers and keeps those containers in his room. Mira, on the other hand, collects friends. For awhile I would have to bring with me, not only my daughter, but all her doll 'friends'. She would have to lug them along to school.

Just before bedtime I took a snapshot of her bed all setup for the night. She MUST sleep with all these friends in their very specific spot. If they are not in their spot, she gets annoyed and immediately puts them in their proper place. If someone is missing, we cannot even get into the bed until he/she/it is found and put in their place. If there is someone in her bed that doesn't belong, they are quickly thrown out and onto the floor. But it's not only that she moves and removes these friends. She will point and say with a stern voice that they were misplaced and make sure whoever set it up, doesn't make that mistake again. Oy!

So this is the setup:

This all started with these two friends. Monkey always had to be in the right corner and Elmo had to be in the left. No IF's, AND's, or BUT's!

Then a few weeks ago we went to a diner nearby and she got her Pink Teddy Bear. She carried her around until a week later when Jory insisted we go back to get him a Teddy Bear (which has since been lost) and Mira got her own Blue Teddy Bear.

For awhile they slept in Mommy's room. But on Halloween Aunt Jill brought Mira the Orange Candy Bear and now the Teddy Bears must sleep in Orange Candy Bear's lap, right next to Elmo.

We had this small beanie cat for awhile. Last year she was nice enough to ask Ms. Rita at her school if she could hold it, and well, the cat never made it back to Ms. Rita. It's a good thing that Ms. Rita is smitten by Mira's cuteness, or we would have had a pretty big fight on our hands. Thank you!

Then this dog and Ms. Rita's cat used to be placed outside her door just before books/bed time, but they did eventually make it into her special lair of her bed.

Suddenly at a trip to Toys R Us she promised she would replace all her friends that she had to sleep with AND take everywhere with this very soft Webkins Jr. Cat. Soon did I realize that I was scammed and she was just added to the gang. So I guess she figured an appropriate place for her is holding Ms. Rita's cat on top of her by the pink monkey.

Just the other day she picked up this cute Bulldog at CVS and just couldn't put it down. This was his first night joining the crowd, but I soon learned that he didn't make the cut and sleeps on the floor with the other bed rejects.

Now just imagine in the mornings when I come and get her out of her crib, she hands me every one of these friends (and makes me pick up the bulldog off the floor). I have to carry her and them in my bed for her morning show. It's quite an ordeal.

Caught on Video

Tonight as Mira was having a late evening snack of healthy Froot Loops, she started to play with her food and babble to herself. As we started to pay more attention we realized she was actually saying something understandable to an English speaking person.

Mira says the alphabet from Randi Shapiro on Vimeo.

Will do anything for caffeine

Today Mira didn't take much of a nap. She has a bit of a cough and it was disturbing her sleep. She decided to play outside while we wait for Jory to get off his camp bus

Rolling Bears

A recent conversation I had with Jory...  Some backstory: he's been collecting dice.  Yes, dice.  After we found some in the house he saw how excited I was because as he started rolling them I was calling the outcome like a casino croupier.  Now he just likes counting the pips and asking whether that roll would have made me any money.  Anyway...  (I have scaled back on the Craps lessons....)

J:"Oh man, I just rolled a hard 3"

R: "You can't roll a hard 3, you can roll a hard 4,6,8 and 10"

J: "Well, rolling bears is hard..."

I had to pause for a second at this comment... It then occurred to me that some of the dice I bought for him were from the hobby shop "scrap dice bin".  A specific pair of dice that caught my eye had little bears instead of 1's.  I have no idea what game these are from, but whatever, I knew he'd get a kick out of them.

R: "You're right, rolling bears is hard!"

(I found the game!  Link)

Pre-School Graduate!

After 3 years our baby boy is a preschool graduate! On Thursday Ryan and I attended our first of many graduations for our Jory. He was so adorable wearing a handmade graduation cap and marching around with the rest of his classmates. They sand a few songs and each child's name was called out and given a diploma. It seems like yesterday he was a little baby and now he knows all his letters and can even do a little reading.

He really has come a long way in all this time he has been there and we couldn't be any more proud of him and his progress. Kindergarten is a big step and although he seems a little weary of it, I am sure he will do great!

Purim 2009

Friday was Jory's Purim party for the parents at his preschool. They put on a little singing show like they did for Hanukkah. Notice the similarities of how well he performed! Ill tell you this, he will most likely never be an actor or a musician. He sure doesn't like to sing, either. This time he actually looked bored towards the end.

Purim 2009 from Randi Shapiro on Vimeo.