Angry Birds

Jackson's boss bought him an I-phone to help him be as productive as possible at work. I think it has brought more unproductive time at home than it is worth. As soon as Jackson walks in the door the kids all immediately start begging to play a game on his phone. He downloaded a few free games and the favorite by far is "Angry Birds." These little angry birds hop up into a sling shot and you fling them at a structure that usually has a pig or two in it. The goal is to destroy the structure and all the pigs. It sounds silly, but the kids (and Daddy) sure love it. It is simple enough for even Estella to do, but challenging enough to keep Jackson awake longer than is needful at night.

They beat all the levels in the free version, so Thomas paid Jackson $1 to download the next batch of levels. It is so cute to hear Essie say, "I want a play angry birds daddy." When he hands her the phone she know exactly which icon to touch and then says, "It's loading," while she waits for it to get all booted up.

I have banned all playing on the phone on Sundays and now use it as motivation (or is it a bribe?) to get the boys to finish all their chores each day. If they finish they get to play for 20 minutes each. They enjoy watching each other play just as much as they enjoy actually playing themselves.