Happy April 22!

Nothing special today.  Just hoping you have a great one!

"Lazy" Chess

Chess is big at our house.  All those with Y chromosomes love it.  Those without?  Not so much.  I don't think we have any up and coming world champions, but the guys do all like to get together and play.  Joseph, Steven, and Ryan have all participated in the Chess Club held at the elementary school on Wednesday mornings.  Greg usually helps run it, so he and our elementary aged children have some fun together each week.  Last Wednesday was the last day of the club.  Friday of this week will be the tournament during school.  Then Chess Club is done until next year.  (Can you believe we're down to just a few weeks of school left?!)

As there was no chess club this Wednesday, Ryan and Greg had some extra time before leaving for school and work.  Greg offered to play a little chess with Ryan if Ryan would go downstairs and get the game.  Ryan got out the game pieces and timer, but not the board.  "Too lazy" he said to go back downstairs for the board, Ryan set up the game on the tiles of our dining room table.  It's 8 tiles long (just right), but only 4 wide (half right).  The benches each are 2 tiles wide, but only 6 long.  So, the "board" was set up with the two rows on each side being lower than the middle.  The four end squares on each lower section were made by dividing a regular chair into 4 sections with rulers and a tie.  They gave up using the timer because without black and white squares and with a two-level board, it was taking too long to figure out which square a piece moved to.

They ran out of time to finish before Ryan had to leave for school, so no body won.  But, they had fun and got a good mental spatial orientation workout to boot.  It even seemed to still be more worth it to Ryan than a quick trip downstairs for a real board!

Treats and Sacrifices

The boys opted to get ice cream and have hot fudge sundaes at home last night after the Priesthood Session of General Conference instead of going out for ice cream.  There are two bonuses for that.

1) Ryan and I got to have ice cream last night with them and listen to their recap of the evening.
2) The left over ice cream allowed for some After Conference P'zookies today.  Steven and Ryan even made them.  All Greg and I had to do was show up.  Sweet!

Thanks for teaching my kids all about these, Christie.  Thinking of you this evening.  Sisters are awesome!

Basic P'zookie recipe: Make a batch of the chocolate chip cookie dough of your choice.  Bake in a pan until half done.  Remove from oven and top with ice cream.  Eat right out of the pan while hot.  Enjoy.  (Tip: Let your kids eat part of your share or you'll be asking yourself what you could have possibly been thinking as you run or walk about 20 miles a day for the next several weeks to counteract all the calories.)

Tomorrow we're having popcorn and apple slices dipped in caramel sauce for Family Home Evening treats while we talk about what we learned this weekend.  Good thing Conference only comes around every 6 months.  It's going to take me until October Conference to calorically recover from April Conference! 

(I guess we all have to make sacrifices sometimes!)