Ultimate Charades = Best Game Ever

Has anyone played Ultimate Charades? Best. Game. Ever.

Saturday night we played with the In-Laws and extended family.

Wanna know how to play?

Everyone gets 4 blank pieces of paper. Write down 1 word/phrase on each piece of paper. It can be anything. Throw them all into a hat or bowl.

Form 2 Teams. We did Boys VS Girls. Girls start (duh) and get their allotted time per the rules of the round, Boys, Girls, Boys etc until all the paper is gone. Once your team guesses it,  throw the paper on the ground to allow yourself to grab the next piece that much quicker...obviously.

Play the 3 Rounds. At the end of each round, add up each teams points which really means, add up how many pieces of paper/words your team guessed correctly. The team with the most points at the end, WINS.

SIDEBAR: In case your wondering what my words were...
Thome is my Homie
Jack Attack
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
You've Lost that Love and Feeling

Sometimes, people pick the same words, unknowingly. We had "Fart" in there twice this weekend. Ha, ha! OK, back to details.

Round 1:  Catch Phrase. 30 seconds to get as many right as you can. You can say anything BUT the word to help with clues.

Round 2: Charades. 60 seconds. Cannot use any words to help.

Round 3:  Use only ONE word clue. 60 seconds. (If you say "ok" or "um" your screwed, that's your word). For example if I picked "Jack Attack" my one word clue would be "Grandson". So everyone would know, Jack, then hopefully remember "Jack Attack".

After Round 1, you've heard all the words, so as long as your paying attention, it's pretty easy to figure out. Although the more alcohol that is consumed, the more interesting this gets.

I cannot wait to play again. Hopefully next weekend. Us girls need some redemption because the boys beat us by 5 or so.

Please go play this at your next get together. It's hilarious! 

Just in case your were wondering what my Son looks like driving the boat....

Captain Jack.

Fist pumping.

Last night was the big Katy Perry concert. This dealio was originally booked for early July but KP had to cancel on us because she "was placed in a bathtub with it coming out both ends" as she so kindly told us. Moving on....

The concert was sold out. Packed. My Girls and the Non Tax Deductible Child were pretty pumped. We got there with an hour to spare before the opening act Natalia Kills. She had 1 song that was decent other than that it was the "hate your boyfriend" type songs. Justin thought she had "boy issues". She was pretty much man bashing the whole time, which don't get me wrong, I've been there. There are definitely days where a person may want to blare that in their car but overall, she wasn't that impressive. Her dancers were terrible too. She had 2 of them and they were often out of sync. She is just starting out so I'm sure she'll improve. KP she is not though.

We then sat through DJ Skeet Skeet. I actually enjoyed this. He just played the hits. The fist pumping hits. I even taught my 7 year old to fist pump. She did so well too! It was actually pretty fun to hang out with my Girls singing at the top of our lungs and dancing in our nose bleed seats.

Finally, KP came on around 9pm. Ella was worried we should head home because it was getting late and it was probably "night time" out. So cute. KP did not disappoint. Her concert had a Alice in Wonderland/Candyland vibe. (She took a bite of a "homemade brownie" and things started to get hazy for her. The kids didn't let on that they knew what was going on so that's good!)

The only part I didn't like was during the Katy Karaoke, she sang that dang "Friday" song by Rebecca Black. Yuck. Why do people like that dreadful thing? She did redeem herself by doing "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" by Whitney. Love that one.

Oh and the "Peacock" song, I had totally forgot about. It was kinda funny to see all the little girls jamming to that and the looks on their Mom's face. Some got it. Some didn't. At least I wasn't alone. That whole "crap, this may not be the best thing my child has ever heard..."

There were tons of lasers, fireworks and bright lights. KP's dancers were awesome. I even thought that if I could go back and do1 thing over in life...it would be to become a kick ass backup dancer. They make that look like so much fun. Overall, it was a pretty sweet concert!

So without further a do...(is that how it's spelled?!?)

{E loved the lights and lasers}

{Dancing}

{She was supposed to make a "sassy" face.}

 {All of the Lights.}

{Dark but we like to call this one "Soul mates".}

Pictures, Babies & Face Masks - Oh my!

So. This weekend flew by like they all do.

Saturday we had family pictures, which I'm sure I'll hate any photo that involves me but that's stating the obvious. I went to GAP and found us all coordinating outfits and such. We met our lovely photographer at the Sculpture Garden's in Minneapolis and it was a perfect Saturday morning. We won't see many pics of Jack in his super cute hat however. He hates hats. Despises them apparently. Face all red and all sorts of thrashing to get that thing off. You would have thought it had bees in there. Ahhh, takes after his Mother ;) Here are a few of the photo's from our sneak preview. I love these!!! Jack was an absolute cheese ball (as long as there wasn't any hats involved.) My girls were beautiful as always.

Poly Mendes was the bomb. She is a Brazilian sweet heart! Love, love, LOVED her! If you go to that link, you'll see our family photo, which I like. I admit it. I actually like a photo which includes myself. This is rare. This also should showcase the talent of our photographer! (Just wish I would have had my hair down on the side but oh well!!)

And look at this one! Melt. My. Heart! Jack the little heart breaker.

My lovely Taylor...

And of course, my sweet Ella...I love this one too!! I love them all.

 ********************************

After pictures I went to a Baby shower for one of my good friends Kerri. We've know each other since we were 9. We don't get together as much as we used to but its one of those "you pick up where you left off" like you never skipped a beat. The type of friend that will always be there. No matter what. Here is Kerri and I circa 2006. Ha, ha! We liked to go dancing whenever we got together. At her shower we even told "funny" stories to introduce ourselves.  We were wild when we got together. So many stories.

 **********************************

Taylor headed to her very first JOB INTERVIEW after our photo shoot. Yes, she wants to get a job. She's 14 so she can get a job now. I tried talking her out of it. She only has like 2 free days a week and she apparently wants to spend them working. Good for her right? Well, she went to the interview at the restaurant down the street and actually got it. And started working right then. Yep, put in her first couple of hours on Saturday. She loves it. She was so excited "Mom, I even get free lunch or dinner whenever I work!!" When I asked her how much they were paying her an hour she goes "oh, I don't know!!" Ha, ha! Details - who cares! (She is getting minimum wage but I thought it was funny that was not even on her list of concerns. I think she is just envisioning all the clothes she will be able to buy with those huge paychecks! Hollister here she comes!)

Of course we had two of Taylor's friends over for sleepover's. They are always over. I feel like I have 5 kids that I feed, bathe (well they shower but at our house) and drive around. Minus the tax deduction. Justin was at a Bachelor party so it was a girls night. We chatted about the upcoming Homecoming Dance and who was going to ask who and what their dresses look like etc. I swear I was flung right back to 1994 and was reliving the glory days. The girls wanted to do "facials" and started looking online for recipes. They found one that included honey, oatmeal and yogurt. They rocked those oatmeal faces. Even as it slid down their chin and on to the carpeting.

Ha, ha! Cuties!

*********************************************

I also had one of my high school besties Stacy, stop over Saturday night. It was so nice to see her and catch up on life. I don't see her very often either. Tear. She's another one I can just pick up with where we left off. Love those girls! You know, the ones that will always answer your phone call. Always text you back. No matter what. Irreplaceable. I was even her birthing coach when she had her son. Those classes were interesting. Just us 2 ladies. Me rubbing her back. Ha, ha!!! Priceless. This is the only photo I can find with her and I right now. I have a zillion at home but here it is!

Abby (who I will tell you about more later), Me & Stacy. Like 3 years ago. Dang I need to hang out more. Ha, ha!

************************************

In other news. We are going to see this lady tonight! The Husband, girls + one of my non tax deductible children. Whoop Whoop! Should be a good time! I have had all her song's in my head for weeks now.

Too many kids in the cabin guys.

So. I just realized I never recapped our weekend at the lake with Taylor's friends. Gasp! I'm sure you were all waiting on the edge of your seat. Tossing and turning every night just wondering how it went?! No? Ok. Well, here is the recap of a weekend of a lot of estrogen.

We had to take 2 cars to fit all of the teenagers in. My Husband has the bigger car so by default he was the lucky winner of a 2 hour car ride with 5 teenage girls. There was a lot of bass involved in his vehicle. He is not a heavy bass type, I can be if its the right song but him? Ah nope. At one point I was looking around at one of the stoplights for the Caddy, pimped out with some gold rims bumping hydraulics. Nope it was just their car. I love that man. I told him I would take a (1) dog, (1) baby and (1) 7 year old. My ride was heaven. Both my kids fell asleep instantly and it was just me, my music and the highway. Sweet tranquility. Love you honey!

We make it up to the lake and within minutes, the girls are all down in their bikini's ready to go tubing. Yep, bikini's & tubing.  What's the worst thing that can happen? Yep, lost bottoms. A couple of times. Now, they only came off to about their knees so they didn't lose them lose them but still. Pretty sure many o'people got plenty o' butt shots. I even got a few with my camera looking back at the photos. You can literally see a butt cheek from one of the girls. They had a blast though so its a winner!

They pretty much  were either on the lake or in their cabin "getting ready". We took the pontoon out for pizza one night and they all came out decked out in their little mini skirts. You never know who your going to run into on the lake, 2 hours from home right? Ah, to be young again.

The weekend was a hit and the girls had an absolute blast. There was only 1 time when I was told "you ruin everything!" in that nails on a chalkboard screech that I love! She was bossing around her sister and I was not having it so I told them we weren't going to the store to buy t-shirts. I held my ground and then took them in the morning, just had to prove a little point with my sweet child o'mine. What am I a Leprechaun  all of a sudden?  Not sure why I'm going down that road so I'll stop. Ha, ha! Sorry!

Here are some photo's to show you all the fun we had.

To prove that my girls do get along some times... Here is a video of them making up a dance at the cabin earlier this summer. I love these videos!

Have a great weekend Ladies!!

My Son Barks.

It's not often that we take the kids to out to dinner. It's not really....relaxing? Sure the first 45 minutes goes well, but there's just something about that last 15 minutes. With a baby anyways.  It's all fun and games until the 45 minute mark. Then bam! Drinks start to get knocked over, things go flying off the table. Time to go!

Anywho. 

We went out to dinner on Tuesday and Jack started barking. Thankfully, it was pretty loud in there so he would have had to bark much louder for many to notice.

He does have 2 puppies at home, we don't bark at him all day. Ha, ha!

Where are we?

Over lunch today, I went with my gal Carolyn to Michael's to get some crafty supplies for various DIY projects we are doing. We work downtown Minneapolis so we went to the closest location which happened to be to the north-east ish. Ok, this is like a quick 10 minute car ride. Not very far.

Now, I've been to this city a couple of times for lunch because it's has lots of dining options that are quick for lunch type dates with the work peeps. 

As we are driving around, I say to Carolyn, "don't you think the people in this city are weird? Like this is just not normal. They all look strange. Like not real or something." She agreed. The lady at Michael's was even socially coo coo. Under-groundish if you will. (Yes, I just made up that word.)

It's like they are the aliens and we are in their city. I swear. This city is strange. 

To prove this, being the papparazzi that I am. I snapped 4 pictures on our way back to work. 

For the record, I made the whole "where are we" comment before we saw the following. 

First, we were in the Burger King drive thru. 

Is that guy driving from the passenger seat??

I honestly thought he was until I saw the following...

Whoa, there he is! I don't even want to guess. For realz, he was mia the whole time the order was being taken. Just laying back? I don't know.

Then, seriously like 3 minutes later. We see this man on a bike.

You can't see it from my craptastic photo, but he's made his own billboard. On his bike. Looking for old stereo equipment.

 

Totally normal right?

No words really.

I would rather be here:

(Mmm, with that little drinky on the lower left in my hand. Stoli Blueberry and lemonade if you were wondering...)

Instead, I'm here. Yeah you guessed it. There's Dwight.

I got my hair did last night by the way. I decided to brighten it up a bit and keep the length. Why is beauty so dang expensive? I want to bottle up my stylist and keep her in my bathroom. All mine. None of this every 10 weeks crap. She would be there everyday. To help beautify when beauty cannot be achieved or at least when I have no energy to achieve it.

You know. Those days when "I'll just shower and not wash my hair" days. When those extra 15 precious minutes of sleep are more appealing than the sweat and tears that it takes to create fresh, cute hair.

What you don't do that?? After baby numeral tres, I started doing that.

Taking pics in your cube at work, hoping no one walks by... Priceless.

 

That's all I got. Back to work I go. 

 

Whoa, just noticed those bags. This girl needs to get to bed at a decent time. Not a good look.

She's a Blue Devil.

She's a Blue Devil.

It's not goodbye, it's see you later! That's what we had to keep telling ourselves last night. We had one last family dinner with Angie (my Brother in law's GF) before she headed off to North Carolina. She was accepted into Duke University for Graduate School. She is getting her Doctorate in Molecular Cancer Biology. Yes, she will be our very own Doctor in four years. She will be looking for that cure, and will make an impact in more women's lives than I could dream of. I couldn't be more proud of her.  She could of had her shot at 7 other schools. Good schools. Even the U of MN, so she would be close to home, but she wanted an adventure. Duke was her choice. Ryan will follow her out there in November to start their next chapter together. Both miles away from anyone they know. On their own. It's bittersweet. We don't want them to go, but then again, wouldn't we all jump at the chance? They can always come back home. Plus, they will get much milder winters. I'm already trying to schedule our first visit.

Last night I started calling her "Quinny", as in "Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman". She is also a twin so technically I can call her "Quinny the Twinny". Too much?

My MIL made a fantastic dinner of Sausage Rigatoni. The mood was pretty good and seemed fairly normal for family dinners. Nothing too sappy. The later it got, the more wine was consumed. Before we knew it there were tears all over. I even snorted once. Yes, I just admitted that. No shame here. We all said our "see you later's" and hugged. Even a group hug. You know everyone in a circle swaying and hugging. Someone suggested we break out in "Piano Man" at one point. Later my Husband said, "that had to be my Mom's idea." It was. I then asked "it was, how did you know?" to which he replied "because it's so stupid." Ha, ha! I love him.

As we were all leaving, Ryan noticed the dent in his Mom's car. Someone backed into her car on their way out. Whoops. It was a very dark, narrow street and she was parked at the end of the driveway. It helped Angie to stop crying anyways. 

Cheers to our Rangie! We can't wait to visit. Much love and safe travels. I love you Quinny!

 

Angie is the Twin on the left.

These are our people.

The boo boo on the Lexus.

Has anyone been to the Outer Banks? Is it super cool? That's where we are thinking our destination will be out in NC.

Photography Challenge: Week 3

Week 3:  BOLD COLORS

My subject this week for BOLD COLORS was my sweet Ella. This was shot last weekend at our cabin. We were getting ready to go tubing on the lake for the billionth time and I was taking all the action shots a kid could ever want. These are some of my kids favorite pictures to look at, mine too. Memories that will indeed last a lifetime.

It was a beautiful Sunday morning on the lake. Ella was in her newly purchased solo tube. Enjoying "me" time.
I was in the boat snapping away. Holding my breath as she went in and out of the wake. Jumping all around, just trying to tip that tube over. My little daredevil. Pushing the limits. I could hear the contagious laughter, she was in her glory.

Next week's subject: DINNER.  You will either see Tacos, Burgers or Brats. Ha, ha! Swing on by A Step in the Journey and link up! Obviously need not be a professional. It's fun I promise.

Tina Fey's "A Mother's Prayer for Her Daughter"

Thanks to Brenna at Enjoying These Moments, for posting this poem from Tina Fey. I had not heard this one yet. I just love Tina Fey, she always makes me laugh. I wish we were bff's. Anyways, this is right out of  her book "Bossypants". Looks like I may need to pick that up.

"A Mother's Prayer for Her Daughter" - Tina Fey

First, Lord: No tattoos. May neither Chinese symbol for truth nor Winnie-the-Pooh holding the FSU logo stain her tender haunches.

May she be Beautiful but not Damaged, for it’s the Damage that draws the creepy soccer coach’s eye, not the the Beauty.

When the Crystal Meth is offered,

May she remember the parents who cut her grapes in half

And stick with Beer.

Guide her, protect her

When crossing the street, stepping onto boats, swimming in the ocean, swimming in pools, walking near pools, standing on the nearby subway platform, crossing 86th Street, stepping off of boats, using mall restrooms, getting on and off escalators, driving on country roads while arguing, leaning on large windows, walking in parking lots, riding Ferris wheels, roller-coasters, log flumes, or anything called “Hell Drop,” “Tower of Torture,” or “The Death Spiral Rock N’ Zero G Roll featuring Aerosmith,” and standing on any kind of balcony ever, anywhere, at any age.

Lead her away from Acting but not all the way to Finance.

Something where she can make her own hours but still feel intellectually fulfilled and get outside sometimes

And not have to wear high heels.

What would that be, Lord? Architecture? Midwifery? Golf course design? I’m asking You because if I knew, I’d be doing it, Youdammit.

May she play the Drums to the fiery rhythm of her Own Heart with the sinewy strength of her Own Arms, so she need Not Lie With Drummers.

Grant her a Rough Patch from twelve to seventeen. 

Let her draw horses and be interested in Barbies for much too long,

For Childhood is short — a Tiger Flower blooming

Magenta for one day –

And Adulthood is long and Dry-Humping in Cars will wait.

O Lord, break the Internet forever,

That she may be spared the misspelled invective of her peers

And the online marketing campaign for Rape Hostel V: Girls Just Wanna Get Stabbed.

And when she one day turns on me and calls me a Bitch in front of Hollister,

Give me the strength, Lord, to yank her directly into a cab in front of her friends,

For I will not have that Shit. I will not have it.

And should she choose to be a Mother one day, be my eyes, Lord,

That I may see her, lying on a blanket on the floor at 4:50 a.m., all-at-once exhausted, bored, and in love with the little creature whose poop is leaking up its back.

“My mother did this for me once,” she will realize as she cleans feces off her baby’s neck.

“My mother did this for me.” And the delayed gratitude will wash over her as it does each generation and she will make a Mental note to call me. And she will forget.

But I’ll know, because I peeped it with Your God eyes.

Amen.

I just love her. Ha, ha!

2 parties down, 1 to go!

These July Birthday parties are going to be the death of me.

Yes, I just realized it's August now.

We have our final party this coming weekend for my 14 year old and 5 of her friends. Yep. 6 or them, Trapped up at our cabin for the weekend with us. Now, we are renting a separate cabin for them but still. There will be tubing, tanning and boating.

I had Taylor create a Facebook page so I could post information,  to them like "don't forget a towel, don't forget a beach towel...be to our house by this time, etc" I even asked them what kind of groceries they would like for their cabin. None of them responded, so I told them "Fiber One it is!" for their cereal choice. Then they came out of the wood works. Ha, ha! They must be afraid to converse on Facebook with a parent.

So wish me luck. 

We have to take both vehicles up there so I think the Husband get's to drive with the girls, he has the Armada. I'll take my babies and the dogs. Now we just have to rush home to pack ourselves and figure out how and the heck we will fit everything in.

Should be on the lake by 3pm if everything goes smoothly. Have a good weekend!

Parties & Pictures - oh my!

Ella's Party Recap
Ella's Birthday was last weekend. The little darling even lost her front tooth Saturday evening at the cabin, on her Birthday! She had some coaching from all her aunties. "Twist and Pull" So she did, and it worked! I had a slight panic attack when I wasn't sure if the Tooth Fairy had cash on hand, but the bread winner came through yet again. Thanks Babe!

She loved her golf clubs and even more, loved loved loved her American Girl Doll - Kanani. She had a great birthday and on Sunday we had her friend party at the Roller Rink that I will never step foot in again during summer months because they do not have AC. I literally could feel the sweat dripping from my back. So gross. Although, I did enjoy the people watching. There was a little girl, probably 11 years old. Skating to "Car Wash" complete with hand washing motions (working at the car wash... ). I swear to you this girl looked straight from the 70's. All the girls had a great time and it was nice to not have to clean up after. I will leave you with photos from the weekend. I once again took way too many. Oh well. I'll do it again this weekend too!

 {With her presents and Jack. He was smiling so nice, I had to take the picture!}

{That tooth is gone!}

{Guess which kids are mine? Ha, ha!}

{The shirts I made for Angie & Ryan's Going Away Party!}

{On the lake}

{Taylor and Grandpa on the jetski}

{My Boys}

Photography Challenge: Week 2

{What makes you smile.}

This week's challenge was "What Makes You Smile". This was hard to narrow it down to just one picture. I did however choose to show you all this picture of my kids - shocking right? This was actually taken last Thanksgiving.

I was late taking that beloved family Christmas photo. Now it was crunch time. I wanted the perfect location. After all, this photo is displayed all over households for the next month or two. We had to make it good. I decided on venturing out to the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. They have this lovely observation deck that over looks the Mississippi River. The only editing I did was convert to black and white then cropping.

Next week's challenge:  Bold colors.