What's Under My Tree!?

Wow, here it is, one week to Christmas.  Have you completed your Christmas shopping yet? Or do you feel like this:

Well, never fear....Here are a few things under our tree this year, or coming down the chimney:

1) WiiU Fit and Fitness Meter--Christmas did come early with this one, but Christmas nonetheless....

"Take your fitness routine wherever you go with the Wii U Fit Meter! The Fit Meter is a convenient portable accessory for use with the Wii Fit U, designed to measure the number of steps you take an the mount of calories you burn in a day!"

Now I am seriously technologically impaired but this was easy to set up. I did it all, on my own, with a little help from LB. And to top it off he is able to navigate and control it too!

This is not just a video game system, it is a fitness game that actually keeps track of your fitness and calories burned!

I'm not sure if this is good or bad, but LB's Wii Fit Age is 25 (his real life age is 8). It measured his balance and strength and showed where he could use improvement. He then is able to play games that help improve his balance and strength!

Please excuse the underoos....is that bad? They might as well be shorts, really....I promise, I DO NOT play in my underoos, although I could if I wanted! It's all part of the benefits of working out at home!

Now we have never been a gaming family. Mater of fact I HATE video games. I have seen firsthand the damage they do to families and kids. Many of my clients have serious issues with video game use in their families. Spouses come home and zone out, totally ignoring the family for hours and hours. Kids zone out, playing nothing but games all evening, even sneaking up to play in the night time. Grades fall and relationships suffer.  So needless to say I don't usually advocate for video games and game systems. But as you can see, with this and #2 on my list, I am slowly integrating games into the family. But I assure you, if the play gets out of hand, grades drop and responsibilities wane the games go bye bye. The Wii Fit U is somewhat different, however. The games are interactive and require movement and motion. They are not VIOLENT games and they actually make LB tired so he does put it down and walk away.  Eventually.

*I will give a further, more detailed review of this game system soon. 

2) 5th generation iPod Touch. 

With LB going between two households it has become more and more important for him to be able to communicate with both parents at his own convenience, whenever he wants. While the iPod touch is not a phone, when connected to the internet he can use FaceTime, text, and he has his own email. We can control all this by controlling his contact list and email list. He can surf the internet, which we can also put parental controls on, watch youtube, which does scare me a little bit, and play Minecaft, My Singing Monsters, and other stupid games. He can take his own pictures (I'm scared to see some of them) without clogging up my own camera roll. And it can also be taken away if he needs to be motivated to study his spelling words a bit more.

3) Can you say Legos!? Specifically Ninjago! 

While my feet disagree, you can never have too many Legos!

4) PUPPY PUPPY PUPPY!!

This is the newest addition to the 5 Mile Family! Meet Ace!! We got to meet him over Thanksgiving and he has been in Doggy Training since October. He will be heading from OK to NC with us and we are super excited! Lazy Dog has no idea what is about to happen!

While I am super excited for Ace to come home, I have to say that pets are not simply Christmas presents. They are a serious commitment. They require time and attention and 100% commitment for a lifetime. I know so many people take on the responsibility of a pet and when the chewing and potty training become too much these guys end up at the pound. I encourage and recommend taking the time, effort and money to have your new pet trained, this will ensure he is ready to join your family and the whole family will be happy. If you are looking for a German Shepherd check out my friend at Red Rock K9,  and his Facebook page HERE.  He breeds and trains German Shepherds and does an AMAZING job!

So there you have it, our short but very BIG Christmas list.  What's under your tree this year??