FAQ: What is Hang Out Night?

I post about hang out night a lot and I frequently get questions about it. Today, I am going to spend some time answering those questions, in the order of frequency.

What is "hang out night"?
Hang out night is where we get together with friends and family and hang out. For awhile we called it "game night" but we don't always play games and it turned into "hang out night" instead.

Here are Sky and my kids playing a video game.

When is hang out night?
Every week (with a few exceptions. For example: when people are sick.) It's on Friday or Saturday nights, depending on everyone's work schedule. And sometimes it's both Friday and Saturday nights. This last weekend, it was Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night. That's why I like to post hang out night and fun things to do on Friday.

How do you organize hang out night?
I am more laid back about it. I wait and see who shows up. Sometimes people call and say they'll be in town. Sometimes we call and see who is coming over to visit and play games/ watch a movie/ wrestle/ work on a blog post/ eat/ whatever... and an occasional trip to the ER because we get rowdy. 

And if no one shows up, I head down to my friend's apartment for a good old fashioned "Stitch and Bitch" session where we crochet or knit while gabbing away. Or give manicures and pedicures...

Or a lovely spa...

What do you do during a hang out?
Goof off, sit and chat, drink (the adults, not the kids!), have ice cream (the adults, not the k... oh, wait), play games, watch a movie, walk to the store for a drink and a smoothie, shoot the breeze

Credit: Bob Downs, evilcrayon.com

What games do you play?

Here is a picture I took of all my games. These aren't all the games we play because other people bring over their games. I even numbered them to tell you what they are! And I am adding some other games that aren't pictured.

Some links below send you to Amazon, or other links.

1. Card games. Like, blackjack, kid-friendly poker, nerts, card tricks, rummy and other fun card games (click to go to a site for card games).
2. Backgammon.
3. Cribbage .
4. Pac-Man. The Atari game (yes, we have an Atari!) and the card game for kids.
5. Yahtzee.
6. Pente.
7. Monopoly City.
8. Cards Against Humanity. (NOT KID FRIENDLY! This is for after the kids are sleeping.)
9. Quelf Board Game.
10. Phase 10 .
11. Mad Libs , the card game and the game from the pad.
12. Chess or checkers.
13. Another backgammon game.
14. Dominoes.
15. Made the Terracotta Flower Pot Candle space Heater. (Not a game, but it was in the picture and we did this during hang out night)
16. Hide and Go Seek in the dark.
17. Apples to Apples.
18. Fluxx .
19. Video games on Atari, Nintendo 64, Commodore, Xbox, PlayStation, and computer.
20. Emergency Room visits. While it's not a game, some of our rowdiness lands us in the ER and we make the best of it.

    

    Don't snort kool-aid, no matter how cool they say it will be!
21. Dye our hair... sorry, Zack... I love this picture!

What is Hide and Go Seek in the dark, you weirdos!?

OMG! It's so much fun! Here is what you do...

• Gather all your crazy friends!
• Pick a "seeker".
• Turn off the lights. All the lights. And cover the windows. Unplug the coffee pot or anything with a light on it. NO CELL PHONES! That's cheating! Remove glow-in-the-dark nail polish.
• The seeker counts out loud while everyone else hides.
• Once time is up, the seeker wanders through the dark searching for everyone. Once tagged, you are found! 
• The best part is, if your friends are like me and can't see in the dark, it's MUCH harder to play. 
• The downside is, my brother can see in the dark. Poo.

And yes, we are weirdos!

That sounds like fun! Can I come over?

Uuuuh, suuure? Call first, my house is guarded by attack cats.

"I will act sweet... then attack your face."

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Top 6 Posts of 2013

How's your New Year going? Mine is going awesomely! Okay, so I am broke, I have no job, I've been eating rice for a week... but I am NOT letting any of that get me down! 

This morning when I woke up, I started going through my old posts of last year to get ideas for this year or just find the topics I can expand on. I started getting all nostalgic and stuff and suddenly, I felt a lot better. 

Then I got this brilliant idea to share my favorite Top 6 posts of 2013... cuz I'm getting all mushy eyed this morning. In no particular order...

#6 Post of 2013: Top 6 for I am a MOM!

I had a lot of fun making this post. Not only did I have fun writing it and brainstorming ideas, but I learned to make my own memes!

Like this one!

#5 Post of 2013: The Food Stamps Challenge

I loved the whole series... But reading back through the posts, I REALLY love the Food Stamps Challenge Final post. Man, I was hungry and cranky and you can tell! 

#4 Post of 2013: I'm a Writer, Not a Beautician!

As a sister, I feel it is my job to torment my siblings as much as possible. Only, this time it was my friend. Oh, wait... no, it wasn't. Teeheehee. And SO MANY people had a stroke when they saw this picture... 

Wait... no... they had a stroke when they saw the AFTER picture... which is actually my brother, Sky, dressed in drag... because Nikky wouldn't let me post her cancer-survivor picture on the blog. And before I get lambasted again, she IS a cancer survivor! So quit jumping down my throat!

#3 Post of 2013: San Diego Sailing Trip

The boys went to San Diego to visit their dad and got to sail to Catalina Island with their dad. I posted my favorite pictures of the trip! I would have posted them all but I'm sure your computer would have crashed trying to load it all!

Includes pictures of "boat bite"... and other better pictures of the kids!

#2 Post of 2013: 3 Easy Ways to Remember Your Deceased Loved Ones This Holiday

I was feeling sad because I had just talked to a friend about her girlfriend who had died this year. I made this post just for her... but it made me feel a lot better too! And didn't do too bad on page views either. Apparently, I am not the only the only with that on my mind.

#1 Post of 2013: Terracotta Flower Pots Space Heater

When I wrote this, I was just curious to see if it worked and share with my results with friends. Within a week, it had over 1,000 page views and they are still climbing! I was quite impressed. And apparently, everyone was wondering how to make them and if they work because it is the most searched post on my entire blog! Wow.

AND I felt so honored because someone pinned my picture on Pinterest. 

And yes, it really works!

Enjoy browsing... I am going to go to the bank to pretend to be a responsible adult and pay bills, and then I off to plan out next weeks posts. I have some ideas!

Last Post of 2013

So that I can enjoy the New Year holiday with my family, plan my blog for the next year, and have a little time off; this will be the last post of the year. 

I'll see you back here on January 2, 2014 for the start of a great new year!

I hope all of you have a safe and wonderful New Year Celebration! See you next year!

Merry Christmas from The Baker's Acres

Merry Christmas to Everyone 

from The Baker's Acres!

I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful Christmas this year. I have really enjoyed blogging this year and I am excited to continue blogging into next year and many years to come! 

Thank you to all my readers for keeping this blog going. It means the world to me and has made my year! Enjoy your day off with family and friends. 

To all the nurses, doctors, CNAs, police, and military who have to work today: Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the service you provide to everyone. You are what makes the world go round.

May your day be merry and filled with love and light.

From everyone at The Baker's Acres.

My Top 3 Goals for this Blog in 2014

With the holidays approaching, not a lot of people are focusing on blogs and internet. They are focusing on family, trimming the tree, and trying to make it through the holidays in one piece. Me included! Because of that, I wanted to make this week brief. 

Today's post, I am posting what I want to see for this blog in 2014. I have two other holiday greetings coming up this week, but the rest will be taking off until the New Year! I will still check comments and emails though, so keep them coming!

My top 3 goals for January to March 2014 for The Baker's Acres

Goal #1: Consistency! 

I am going to work back into my blogging groove! My goal is to post 4 days a week, MINIMUM! But I want to get on a blogging schedule so you will all know when to expect my posts, like clockwork! I think Mon-Friday is a great goal. That's five days, I know, but that gives me the week end off to plan and work my real life stuff.

Goal #2: Get more frugal tips, ideas, reviews... anything frugal on here

Everyone loves my articles about frugal tips and ideas, the recipes from scratch too. I want to start putting more of those up because 1) they are fun to post! and 2) they are great for all you... and who doesn't need to save money?

Goal #3: Get organized!

I want to get the blog better organized for readers to use. This will take some time to accomplish, probably the first three months LOL. But I want it to be easier to use for all of you. I know I group things for "Home, health, happiness, family/friends, frugal and fun" (my new tagline, b/c frugal needed it's own spot) but that doesn't mean the blog needs to be a jumbled mess. I'll be working with a few people in the background, off-screen, making the blog as user-friendly and easier to navigate as possible.

What do you want to see happen to this blog in 2014?