December 2, 2011 / by novabigs / Make A Comment / Filed under Activities
Fantasy Football
SUBMITTED BY: Fred Godart
LAST UPDATED: December 11, 2004
If you have several million dollars just sitting around in your bank account you can buy your own football team and watch them perform each Sunday. Don’t have that kind of cash on you at the present time? Well you can still enjoy the thrill of owning your own football team. How? It’s called Fantasy Football.
In Fantasy Football, a group of people get together and draft a collection of football players. Each week you choose a starting lineup and play against another team. Your players are awarded points based on their performance. 1 point for every ten yards rushing, 6 points if a player in your starting lineup scores a touchdown, 3 points when your kicker makes a field goal, etc. If your starting lineup scores more than your opponent’s starting lineup, you win the game and the admiration of all your fans.
I have been doing Fantasy Football with the same league for about 10 years now. We all know each other (friends, co-workers, neighbors) and get together in one room for the annual draft. I found out that Chris, my Little Brother, was as big a sports nut as I am so I invited him to be my partner in this year’s team.
Chris borrowed all my magazines, studied, and made up draft wish lists. Our league chooses individual defensive players so he had to do a lot of research. Come draft day we were prepared. I even let him go solo on some picks. He did GREAT!
Anyway… its been awesome for both of us. We did an Excel spreadsheet together so we could track how many points our guys got that week and how many our opponent got so we know whether we won or not before they e-mail us the results on Tuesday nights.
On most Sundays now, Christian can be found at my house, both of us watching football. He is often parked in front of the computer checking live game stats from ESPN. It’s been a whole lot of fun and full of laughs. And the best part? Our team is 10-2 – we have clinched home field throughout the playoffs. Our Sundays sure do end with a smile after a win : )
If you share a passion for sports with your Little, consider forming a Fantasy Football team together. Even better, when the next football season rolls around, form a league with other Bigs and Littles.
December 2, 2011 / by novabigs / Make A Comment / Filed under Activities
Craft Day at Michaels
SUBMITTED BY: Wendy Rosenberg
LAST UPDATED: August 8, 2005
Kids Corner at Michaels Craft Store
A perfect activity for little girls!
Michaels Craft Store has a Kids Corner that is only $2.00 for kids to make a craft. When I went there it was just the kids doing it, but I am sure the Bigs could join too. It took us about 30 minutes or so, there is no time limit, and you can take as much time as you need.
We got to make a heart shaped picture frame. We painted it and decorated it and got to take it home. It is from 10AM-NOON and you can just drop in during that time period to do the craft.
When we went, there were a lot of younger kids, mostly girls, but there were some boys too. We had a lot of fun and you can’t beat that price for an activity that is fun where the little can also take something home that they have made.
December 2, 2011 / by novabigs / Make A Comment / Filed under Activities
ComedySportz Improv
SUBMITTED BY: Samuel Dearth
LAST UPDATED: December 23, 2005
Do you and your Little need a few laughs? Well ComedySportz is the answer.
ComedySportz offers family-friendly comedy improv shows similar to TV’s “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” ComedySportz is competitive improv comedy, played as a team sport. The show itself is a match between two teams of “actletes” (or comedians), who duel each other with wordplay, comedic scenes, musical styles, and other fast-paced action all based on audience suggestions. Shows are performed every week on the 3rd floor of the Ballston Common Mall. Every show is energetic, interactive with the audience, and filled with clean comedy that is appropriate for family audiences.
Free Tickets
ComedySportz donates 50 tickets to Most Valuable Kids (MVK) for the first Saturday show each month. Watch for free tickets via e-mail for the monthly performance.
December 2, 2011 / by novabigs / Make A Comment / Filed under Activities
Chinese Dim Sum & Vietnamese Pho
NoVa Bigs
SUBMITTED BY: Chris Tam
LAST UPDATED: February 18, 2005
One of the main reasons I became a Big was because I had people in my life when I was younger who gave me the opportunity to experience different things that I
would not normally have the opportunity to try. One of the prime examples of this was when I would be taken out to experience new foods. In the DC area, there are two particular food experiences I would recommend adventurous Bigs and Littles consider trying. They are Chinese,Dim-Sum and Vietnamese Pho.
Chinese – Dim Sum: China Garden, Rosslyn, VA
Dim sum is the closest thing to what actual chinese people eat, as opposed to “chow mein” and other typical chinese restaurant staples. Dim Sum is a particular type of Chinese lunchtime meal. Also called “yum cha”, which means roughly “drink tea,” dim sum is comprised of a variety of savory pastries — steamed or fried dumplings, filled buns, noodles. There are also sweet pastries, vegetables, meats.
The portions are bite-sized, and they are served in small quantities, usually three or four to a plate, so that the diners can enjoy a variety of foods, whether they eat very little or indulge in a huge feast. Many of the dim sum dishes have shrimp or pork in them.
Instead of ordering what you want and having the food brought to you, typically servers push carts, loaded with a variety of dim sum, through the dining room, past the customers, who keep an eye out for appealing dishes. Once a desired item is in sight, the diner flags down the cart and points out what she wants. The dining room bustles with the activity of carts wending among tables, calls for attention, and the clatter of plates. The idea is to choose things continually throughout the meal, rather than to gather all the food at once before eating.
I have had dim sum everywhere from Canada to San Francisco and found that China Garden offers a solid experience, and is my favorite in the DC area. It is a clean, busy restaurant, which ensures good turnover with dim sum dishes and a comfortable dining experience.
The best time to go, in my opinion, is right at 11:30AM (it is only offered at China Garden on weekends and holidays). You will beat the crowds (which can result in lengthy wait times) and have the freshest dim sum before it runs out. I have found that if a child is relatively open minded, there’s sure to be something that they can eat / will eat.
Vietnamese – Pho: Four Sisters, Falls Church, VA
In contrast to the variety offered by dim sum is pho (roughly pronounced “phuh”). Pho is a traditional vietnamese beef noodle soup dish, which has been around for approximately a century and is a simple delicacy of noodles in a beef-based broth served with beef (brisket, flap, outside flank, tendon, tripe or meatballs) on top along with basil, bean sprouts and limes.
While this sounds simple, you should note that the Vietnamese see making beef stock as a fine art that usually involves the use, not just of meat, but of beef bones (and sometimes chicken bones). And their beef stock will itself be well spiced with salt, pepper, sugar, ginger, anise, and other ingredients. Sacramento restaurateur, chef and cookbook author Mai Pham points out that Vietnamese food offers an
appealing flavor profile to the U.S. palate: “Most of the ingredients are very familiar. It’s fresh and not so spicy. Visually it’s easy to see. It’s not mysterious.”
Four Sisters in Falls Church is located in Eden Center, a large shopping center that features mostly Vietnamese shops. Four Sisters also offers a clean, comfortable dining experience, that will not break the bank.
December 2, 2011 / by novabigs / Make A Comment / Filed under Activities
Cooking Together and Creating a Personalized Cookbook
SUBMITTED BY: Paula Armentrout
LAST UPDATED: May 14, 2006
My little, Alexis, loves to cook. She is very analytical and creative, so cooking is fun for her because we talk about math, chemistry and, although it’s a sensitive topic, I do discuss nutrition and health. She takes great pride in her culinary skills. I now call her the chef and I am her “sous-chef.”
We cook in the winter time, generally, when our choices for outside activities are limited. We share the cost of all the ingredients so we generally decide on the phone what we’ll make, and divide up the shopping list. Then, we go to store and buy the missing ingredients as soon as I pick her up.
Everything we make is from scratch and we make extra so she can take home to her grandmother and sister.
Her Favorite Recipes So Far Are:
Homemade pizza (she loves making the crust)
Homemade popcorn — she had no idea popcorn could be made from scratch vs. microwave bags
Surf & Turf salad — we had to make extra for her neighbor
Homemade low-fat cinnamon rolls
Personalized Cookbook
After we make a dish, if she likes it, then I copy the recipe onto a recipe template I’ve created on my computer for her and decorate it with clipart and fun borders and we put it in the back section of the scrapbook we made together in the designated “Recipe section”. She then has the recipe and can make them for her friends and family, which she has done.
