Mother's Day Wiikend

Ever since Thanksgiving I've been trying to get my hands on a Nintendo Wii. I still regret not lining up with Chrissy's cousins the night before Black Friday in 30-degree weather at the mall. And I'm still upset that those cousins have not once invited us over to play! It's been 6 months now and the stores still can't get them stocked (because greedy people like Patty bought like 4 of them). So I've been combing Craigslist trying to find a good price on a used bundle. Note: Wii System is $250. Extra remote and nunchuk (required for multiplayer games) is $60. Total with tax is $335. So $300 seems like a realistic price target for something everyone wants.

Last week I finally found one in Livermore. The Wii with extra remote & nunchuk, 2 additional Wii games (with steering wheel), 7 additional Gamecube games, 2 Gamecube controllers, a memory card, and a cool Nintendo travel bag. $300. Some spoiled 13 year-old was secretly using his mom's email to post the ad and his dad's cell phone to sell it. I hooked up with his dad to make the deal. His dad was not happy at all considering he spent over $500 on it just 5 months ago. But by the looks of their toy collection, they seemed very wealthy so no bad feelings here. He honored the deal and I was thrilled.

So I'm coming home and wondering how Chrissy might react to me spending this much money on a toy. For the record, Chrissy has NEVER questioned, nagged, or frowned upon any of my purchases, great or small. She knows I'm not an impulsive shopper but instead, a shameless, low-balling bargain hunter. A true Craigslist predator. But $300 is still a lot of money. And some guilt started to creep in. But no way I was going to give this up. I've waited 6 months for this! So what was I going to do??

My solution was perfect. I decided to give the Wii to Chrissy for Mother's Day!

Before you roll your eyes (or bust up laughing), let me explain how perfect this is. First of all, Chrissy never plays video games with the boys (the quick thinking button action only frustrates her). So this will help her to be more willing to play with them and the boys will think she's cool--she already enjoys the bowling game quite a bit. Secondly, she's been saying (not me) that she needs more exercise. What better way to burn calories than to virtually punch out your sassy son? It's a great stress reliever too! And thirdly, because it's a gift, she not allowed to find out how much I spent! I tell you, I amaze myself sometimes!

On Saturday we hosted lunch for her side of the family and on Sunday we celebrated with my side. The Wii was hit on both days. Most people played it for the very first time. Regular video games can be so intimidating with all the buttons and sequences. But with the Wii, you just need to do what comes natural, like punching, swinging, driving, etc. Real easy stuff, great exercise and a real crowd pleaser. Below is a video of Dustin duking it out with his Uncle Ricky.



Mother's Day at CIBC
On Sunday's Mother's Day morning service, we were treated to a couple of performances by the children's Sunday School classes. Both Colby and Dustin participated and Colby's still singing that butterfly song to this day. If you can't see Colby, he's the one that's blocked by Pastor Jason's head. Thanks to Wayland for videotaping it for me (because I totally forgot).