There is only One

who can heal all things...

Reality

is
all
of
a
sudden
feeling
all
too

R.E.A.L.

A letter to all of {YOU}...

Seriously...can I get 1 itsy-bitsy, teeny-tiny, small,  

barely noticeable...

BREAK?

this was my day... 

I had a

dryer full of clothes tie dyed with a green AND orange crayon

a water line break before church...while we are all bathing...

& about 1/2 of the down stairs flooded with water...

our beagle was attacked by neighbors pit bull...

I was cleaning up water mess 

2 year old does what 2 year olds do...

& escapes outside {with a coat and shoes ON} for no more than  

2 minutes {Seriously 2 minutes - TOPS}

1 hour later a cop shows up...

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

I don't dare ask, {Why me?}

...but seriously, do I attract bad luck?

amidst all of the other chaos going on in my life right now,

I don't need this

don't {you people} see that?

I am not a bad mom

I am not a mis-fit parent

I do watch my children...very closely

my children do not have a free for all...

just because there are 7 does not mean that they are lacking in 

love, 

supervision, 

or 

privileges

yes there are some sacrifices that we all have to make,

but I think we are better people because of it...

what happened to the days of being a friendly neighbor and when you see a 2 year old outside you walk them back to the front door...am I from another planet...the last thing I would think to do is call the cops...unless I thought I saw a child in danger or an abusive situation...which was NOT the case here...

I want to scream out to all of the world...

JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!

{when I am truly in the wrong, call me on it, if not, mind your own business and butt OUT!}

Thank you,

signed {ME}

You have {A Minute to Win It}

when I was contemplating a {Minute to Win It} party

I was a little hesitant

I wasn't sure if I could pull it off

but even if the girls didn't have a blast...I know I did...

I went on the {Minute to Win It} website

it has all of the games listed used on the real show

I picked games that used items we had around the house 

so it was a rather inexpensive party

I chose games I thought were age appropriate

 I had to slightly modify a couple to

reduce the difficulty level

the girls got one hour to practice the games

then, the show was on

we didn't have teams, each girl was on their own

each challenge was worth a certain amount $

the challenges they passed they were payed for in paper money

then they got to buy prizes with their money

I included 3 extras that could be used once

{a RE-DO}

{add or subtract 10 sec to time}

{use a friend to help}

the girls had to draw out of a bucket for their challenge
they took turns cheering, congratulating, and laughing for over 4 hours

Baby Blockin'

Blueprint:  You have one minute to stack 5 wooden baby blocks on top of a paper plate placed on top of your head.

Baby Rattle

Blueprint:  You have one minute to shake all of the objects in one pop bottle into the other pop bottle connected together

Baby Blockin' Challenge PASSED

Breakfast Scramble

Blueprint:  You have one minute to assemble the front of a cereal box cut into 16 even pieces

...you have 10 seconds remaining

Defying Gravity

Blueprint:  You have to keep 3 balloons in the air for one minute

{this challenge was a great choice to use the "Friend Help" extra}

High Roller

Blueprint:  You have one minute to stack 3 dice on top of each other tipping them out of a plastic cup

before each challenge the girls would chant ...you have One Minute to Win it...Good Luck

Noodlin' Around

Blueprint:  You have one minute to use a spaghetti noodle in your mouth and pick up 6 penne noodles from the edge of the table using only your mouth

these challenges are definitely harder than they look

Puddle Jumpin'

Blueprint:  You have one minute to blow 3 ping balls from 3 cups full of water onto 3 cups full of water

Suck it Up

Blueprint:  You have one minute to move 20 choc candies from table into object using only a straw

Challenge PASSED

Blow Ball

Blueprint:  You have one minute to blow only the plain ping pong balls off the plate, leaving only the 3 specially marked ping pong balls

A Bit Dicey

Blueprint:  You have one minute to stack 6 dice on the end of a popsicle stick held in your mouth

Yank Me

Blueprint:  You have one minute to remove the 4 index cards leaving the 5 plastic cups stacked together

this is the only challenge that no one was able to complete

Ping Pong Ball Roll

Blueprint:  You have one minute to roll a ping pong ball into square by fanning it with a pizza box

this was a perfectly age appropriate 11 year old party

the girls all did awesome

I was very proud of them 

and did I mention...

it was a lot of fun

You never know when or where

you might find a rainbow...

I should be

finishing my 2nd trimester,
excited to enter my 3rd trimester,
feeling a baby kick,
having a nice round abdomen,
wondering if I am having a boy or girl,
getting the baby items set-up and ready,
smiling with a pregnancy glow,
looking forward to my due date just around the corner


I shouldn't be

feeling loss every time I hear a baby cry,
feeling a twinge of jealousy when I hear a newborn coo,
wishing I still were

familiar things

so comfortable

always convenient

hard to let go

tough to detach

easy to enable