Saturday Morning Em

TableTop Fun: Viticulture

Otherwise known as the science, production and study of grapes. Let's make some wine!!

From BoardGameGeek:

In Viticulture, the players find themselves in the roles of people in rustic, pre-modern Tuscany who have inherited meager vineyards. They have a few plots of land, an old crushpad, a tiny cellar, and three workers. They each have a dream of being the first to call their winery a true success.

Sometimes I think the blurbs for these game make them sound boring... but this game is AWESOME. It's another worker placement game with cute little meeples and many strategies for victory. It has a really neat mechanic that I like a lot - variable turn order. Rotating with the starting player you pick when you want your workers to "wake up". By placing your Rooster Meeple in the early slots you may get to go first... but the later slots give you better rewards. It's a tricky balance.

We also purchased the expansion - Tuscany... but unfortunately we've only added in one part of the expansion so far. I'm looking forward to our next TableTop weekend to add in another.

I'm not sure what is happening here but Emma is awesome. :P

Cough Cough

Emma is finally coming out of her cold. She has a cough every once and awhile. It makes for some funny faces if you're taking a picture of her. :P 

Our 5th Anniversary!

It was five years ago today that I married Mr. Ian Matheson. We met online playing World of Warcraft. I was a Human Priest. He was a Gnome Warlock. It was meant to be. 

How could I not fall in love with this tall, skinny and pale geek? /swoon :) 

Our first selfie before selfies were a thing. 

Shortly after meeting, we went to Seattle together on our first vacation. 

We loved it so much that we made a point of going back for our honeymoon... and staying in the same hotel and room! 

Ian made a handsome groom. :P

He's mine. Even if I couldn't get his ring on... :D

:)

Our Wedding Cake Topper.

So much has happened since then...

• We built a house...
• We made the outside of the house really pretty...
• I got pregnant...
• And had Emma...

What will happen in the NEXT five years?? Stay tuned. Probably another baby. Basement completion. More tabletop games... More travel... More being grateful every day that I met a gnome and he asked me to marry him.

Favorite Photos

I post a lot of photos of Emma. 1) because I have family near and far and it's easy to keep them in the loop... and 2) because she is awesome. :P This probably one of my favorite photos of her. 

Emma's Eye Exam

Way back in October, Emma had her first visit to the Eye Doctor. It's recommended they get a checkup at 6 months.. and knowing how we both have bad eyesight, we thought we'd get a jump on it. She did great... and yes, it was Halloween so she went as a strawberry. 

TableTop Fun: Robinson Crusoe

Another sweet co-operative game that I love. Everyone else hates.*

From BoardGameGeek:

Robinson Crusoe: Adventure on the Cursed Island is a game created by Ignacy Trzewiczek, the author of Stronghold. This time Trzewiczek takes the players to a deserted island, where they'll play the parts of shipwreck survivors confronted by an extraordinary adventure. They'll be faced with the challenges of building a shelter, finding food, fighting wild beasts, and protecting themselves from weather changes. Building walls around their homes, animal domestication, constructing weapons and tools from what they find and much more awaits them on the island. 

This game is really hard. You have to balance everyone's opinion on what is best for the group... while trying not to die of starvation, beast attacks and shelter from the elements. The base game has 6 different scenarios and we've only beaten one of them. Pandemic was the first game that introduced me to the co-operative line of games - you're playing against the game, not each other. I was hooked! There is tension and suspense as the game unfolds... something that I didn't think was possible in a board game. I love it even as we are dying... Ian's got a head wound from a snake bite... I'm tired from dragging wood to the signal fire we need to build.. and Drew knows the end is near and goes exploring the island so at least he can die in a nice place. :P Love it!

 *I say everyone hates it because I'm pretty sure that Ian and Drew just can't handle losing over and over again. You would think they are brothers or something... 

Piggy Back Rides

Emma used to be scared to go up on Ian's shoulders but she conquered that fear quickly. 

Spring Forward

I love that I have this to look forward to. I'm starting to appreciate all of the seasons.. okay, maybe just Spring, Fall and Winter. Summer still sucks. 

Emma - 10 Months Old

10 Months. /sniffle

My job has changed. I have a new title. I went from "Mom" to "Midget Wrangler" in about a month's time. As soon as Emma started pulling herself up to stand, Ian and I knew the end was near. Little did we know how soon it was. Shortly after turning 9 months old, she took her first step. One day it was 2 steps... 3... 4.... She just decided that she was done crawling and walking was so much faster. A week later she managed to stand up from sitting. Then she started talking. At first it was babbling.. something she never did. It was either coos, whines, cries or screams with her. Suddenly she had so much to say! Currently, she can say Dada pretty well and I think she knows what it means. 

But we are deep into a screaming phase. She has a blood curdling scream that can break glass. She does it when she is happy, sad, wanting attention, wanting food, not wanting food, getting her diaper changed. Pretty much all the time and only stops when she sleeps. She sleeps very well /knockonwood. So... I guess you can't have it all. I love this little bugger.

What the hell...? I'm 10 months old??

.

Hrmph....

Dude that's a little bright...

Still really bright.

Time to scream.

Whew. All that screaming made me need a water break. 

Okay, back to screaming.

Fine, I'm out.

What do you want woman??

Okay fine... I'll come back. :P

*Note: Measurements are somewhat approximate. She's hard to wrangle. 

I Miss Fall

...and mums. Always miss my mums.

TableTop Fun: Splendor

Simple. Easy to learn. Not easy to win.

From BoardGameGeek:

Splendor is a fast-paced and addictive game of chip-collecting and card development. Players are merchants of the Renaissance trying to buy gem mines, means of transportation, shops—all in order to acquire the most prestige points. If you're wealthy enough, you might even receive a visit from a noble at some point, which of course will further increase your prestige.

The theme in this one is pretty light... but the components are AMAZING. The chips are nice and heavy. It doesn't feel like you're holding a gem of course... but, for whatever reason, the weight of them feel so nice. Pretty simple game in that it's a race to get 15 Prestige points. Ian almost always wins... /eyeroll

*We played this back in October... so yes, Emma is super young in these pictures. :)

Dressing For Winter

I'm still working on this whole.. "need to dress a baby for winter thing". There's a lot of cute stuff for Fall. The winter stuff just isn't as cute. It's all bulky and Emma hates it. Here is one of her hipster Fall outfits. She just needs some black rimmed glasses and she's good to go. :)

Happy Belated New Year!

I've decided that when you have kids... time starts to fly. Here's a quick rundown of our 2014. 

• Celebrated our 4th Wedding Anniversary
• In preparing the nursery, we also painted the hallways, mud room and powder room.
• I got really spoiled leading up to my life turning upside down the arrival of Emma. 
• We prepared. Lots of preparing.
• The winter was crazy. TONS of snow.
• We were introduced to the wonder that is Emma Bailey Matheson.
• We had to bathe her.. 
• And feed her.. 
• And love the heck out of her...
• Ian liked to be silly with her...
• I liked to capture all of her milestones and little changes...
• And dress her in cute outfits... {each word is a link because I couldn't just pick one...} 
• And making funny little videos of her...
• Ian and I discovered we REALLY love board games. A lot.
• I adjusted to being a mom and all that it entails. I will say that after 6 months... it gets a hell of a lot easier. 
• I had my First Mother's Day.
• Ian turned 28.
• We had an awesome visit from G-Ma and The Petty Crew this summer. 
• In August, we got out to see some adult softball games and visit with Ian's parents when they went camping at Inverhuron. 
• Kitchen Adventures continued a little... 
• We had an even awesomer October visit when we went down to Virginia to see my family. Yes, awesomer is a word.
• I turned 32. Yuck. 
• Halloween was fun.. Emma "liked" dressing up as a strawberry. 
• Christmas was wonderful. Trying to capture a picture for a Christmas Card was not. No link to my family's Christmas visit or actual Christmas because I'm behind on pictures. :P 

All in all it was a crazy. I've told a few people this.. but I've had a major life event every year since about 2006. I'm hoping that 2015 is a year that we just enjoy all that we have right now. We've made plans for the future.. as we are very much planner people.. but now is a time to enjoy our new normal. :) 

Here's a blurry picture of our crazy family. :P 

TableTop Fun: Blueprints

Creating a little building made of dice? Count me in. 

We had watched the Rahdo Runs Through video for this before playing it at Games On Tap. Ian seemed on the fence following the video but fell in love with it like me after playing it. The Emma picture below will help with describing the game... You select dice from 4 different colors that represent wood, stone, recycled material and glass. You stack the on your mini blueprint and score points according to a number of factors. It's light, simple and WONDERFUL. I got this game for my birthday and it's a really great filler. Highly recommended.