Jareth's Harry Potter Themed 11th Birthday Party

It's no secret that I am raising little nerds to carry on the mantle, just as my mother and grandmother did before me. Dudes, I am a legit third generation Trekkie and proud of it. So there was never any doubt when I looked at my son and suggested that he have a Harry Potter/Hogwarts themed birthday party the year he would be receiving his letter to Hogwarts. My heart smiled bright when he enthusiastically agreed. What followed was straight out of my best dreams!

To prepare we watched all of the Harry Potter movies, starting on Dec 29th, a day after ABC Family aired the first movie for their final marathon before turning the series over to HBO. We ended the marathon with the last 3 movies back-to-back on Jan 3rd thanks to HBO Now. I cried, Jareth cuddled with me and rubbed my back, everyone had a great time.

At this point I had already been planning the party, but had to get down to business of actually doing things. So things were ordered on Amazon Prime, Walmart was raided for crafts, and invites were printed off. Because Jareth is a New Year baby, we always wait for school to be back in session before throwing the party so that he can invite classmates. This year, twice as many kids as usual attended and it was a blast!

Oh, before I talk about the party, I want to celebrate my little man. When I suggested that Jareth throw a party centered around an orphan hero, I went ahead and threw out the idea that he pick a charity, to give to those in need, in kind of memory of Harry and his second chance and becoming something great despite his beginning. It took Jareth a week to decide before he smiled, agreed, and listened to the charities I had to suggest. His birthday was then dedicated to New Leash On Life which takes in dogs facing termination and pairs them with inmates seeking a second chance. We were thrilled to get to raise money for them.

So, leading up to the big day I asked Jareth to take the Buzzfeed Sorting Quiz, to find out his Hogwarts house. But then I wouldn't tell him which house he was in. Because I wanted to sort him. Sadly the Sorting Hat was not to be, along with the Dementor Pinata. But Jareth was ok with their absences. As the kids arrived I had the ones who didn't know where they belonged take the quiz on my phone and I wrote down their houses and glued pins on the ties. Finally we were ready!

Before a student can attend Hogwarts they need a few things. So the kids had to pick out their wands:

And choose the animal they would be taking with them:

Then we had the kids line up and I got to call out their houses. At that point I had an adult from each house standing there to pin a tie on the kid now in their house. I got to pin one new Hufflepuff! We are besties now!

My sister, Vicky. is a Gryffindor. She was over the moon that her nephew is now part of the house she loves so much!

Then, CAKE!

We also played Pin the Nose on Voldemort, but I failed to get a picture. Our one Slytherin, pinned by her very proud Slytherin mother, won the game, despite taping the nose on sideways. It was very comical.

I think of it as a person win, not only because everyone had fun, but because EVERYONE had fun. I did a job well enough that my Harry Potter fanatic of a sister, who got me into the series way back in the day, was loving it. And my non-Potter fans, the kids I thought would remain muggles agreed to take the test and join in the fun. I was very rewarded by that since one of them turned out to be my Hufflepuff. I hope they take that excitement home and discover the magical wizarding world themselves. 

It's been a while since I sat down after a party and felt more giddy than drained, but this was one such day. When everyone had left and I had cleaning to do, I just couldn't stop grinning. That's something amazing for me these days. And I love being able to share it all with Jareth. Livia, who is only 5, is eagerly awaiting her own Hogwarts party. And so am I!

New Year, New Plans

How many of us have made New Year's Resolutions that don't go anywhere? Plans to do things like eat better, work out more, clean out the negative, and then two months into the year they are gone, forgotten, labeled as actually unobtainable and why did we even bother? I did it every year until about 2014 when I decided that I would give myself 1 thing to change and that would be it. In 2015 the only changes I made were lists in my journal: a spot to list what I was reading, a line for what I was thankful for each day, what I thought of the new movie I watched. Things I could write or not write but that I saw daily because of my journal. I still didn't stick to these things through the year, but when 2016 rolled around I put all the same captions in my journal and tried to fill them all in once more. Because these are little things, notes about my daily life that I feel that I can admit to. I won't be able to work out every day because I don't always have the energy. I can't say I will eat healthier because there are days that I don't eat at all. I don't make resolutions because when my depression hits and I don't want to do anything at all, I feel like more of a failure for not doing something I told myself would stick this time around. But I can give myself permission to leave a page blank in my journal because that is my safe space. I make resolutions that I tell myself I am allowed to stutter on because I can always try again tomorrow. Because I am trying to give myself a little slack.

This year is more of the same. My main personal resolution is giving myself a set of goals for each day, things that I want to get done before I go to sleep that night. Most importantly they are things I believe are possible to manage in the day to day, like finish reading the book I have been working on for two weeks and only have 10 pages left. Write that blog post about said book. Do that load of laundry all the way through so nothing wrinkles. And more than likely there will be days that "Get out of bed" is the top goal. Because I give myself permission to have off days, to struggle, and to make getting to a better place a top priority and something to acknowledge. Daily goals rather than something I am expected to do every day for the next year.

My other big goal for the year is pictures. I read in Health Magazine that the University of California did a study on taking pictures: smiling selfies, things that made them happy, or something to make someone else smile. After taking the photos the students felt happier. And I thought, that's easy! I take pictures, I love taking pictures, I wish I took more pictures! And I want to do this. So over on my Instagram (had it, never, ever used it) I am going to take a picture every day that fills this study, and maybe, for a few moments every day I can be a little happier. Feel free to come follow me @mommachristy2 to see what makes me happy and share your own pictures. I am using the label #happypics for this series.

I also have smaller goals that I would like to manage this year, things I can do sporadically enough that maybe I can manage them. Like writing letters to people I don't get to see, because it's great to know someone is thinking of you and everyone gets a little excited these days when they get snail mail! And I want to write daily again, even if it's just an outline for a story idea I may never get around to, it will get my creativity working. And blogging! I am going to try to post on this blog more. 2016 saw 58 new posts on my book review blog and nothing here since March. I want to change that since so much of my world revolves around me as a parent.

What will I be posting here? What do you have to look forward to in my parenting adventure?

Once a month my family and I will be cooking up a new recipe for our family night. All four of us in the kitchen, trying our hand at creating something new together. It should be interesting, to say the least! I will try to have pictures along with these posts.
We will also be trying to do something of a service project once a month. Whether it is helping out at a local shelter or taking dog food up to Noah's Ark. We want to teach our children to pass on the love, and we think this would be a great way to start. I don't love the idea of sharing these projects because it feels like bragging about what we are doing. BUT I want you all to see what they kids do, what they learn from these events, and maybe give you an idea of something to do with your own kids. So I'll be sharing these days as well.
We also ambitiously plan to have a family night out once a month. Maybe discover new things in our area through changing our nights up. So pictures and notes about the places we go will definitely be shared.

It seems like we have a lot planned for this new year, and maybe we won't stick with it all, but I look forward to trying. This year is going to be about getting back to our happy place as a family and for me as an individual. I invite you all to join me on the journey!

Our first #Happypics of the New Year! The birthday boy is ten!

• 1like
• 0comments

An Epic Nerf Battle!

On Saturday March 12th, we got the awesome opportunity to participate in one amazing event!

Jared Guynes is a resident of North Texas who saw the damage done in December 2015 to the Garland and Rowlett neighborhoods by a particularly bad tornado and decided to help out where he could. He had been trying to get together enough people for a couple years to break a world record and then he thought, why not do this record thing and help my friends and family with their problem at the same time. So he worked tirelessly for months, pulled in all the right people, and organized the World's Largest Nerf Gun Battle.

Hosted at the Dallas Cowboy's AT&T Stadium in Arlington, the event was attended by over two thousand people. Let me give you the numbers right quick:

Verified Participants in the Battle: 2,289

Verified Guns Used in the Battle: 4,394

Guns Donated to local Children's Shelter: 112

Donations to Tornado Relief Funds: *Yet to be completely counted*

This was a huge event in so many ways! 

My friends and I saw the event and thought, this is awesome, we want our kids to have a chance to break a world record. We did not expect this. Not only did we break a record that is going to be really hard to beat again, we made an impact. Thousands of dollars are going to go to helping people rebuild their lives. Over a hundred guns went to kids that probably don't have much to their name. We made some awesome new friends. And it has inspired us to get together our own group for a Nerf Club so that we can continue meeting up and having battles. Plus, I went to an even with way too many people, got down on the turf amidst these strangers, and so did not have a single panic attack as my son continually got lost in the crowd, so there's my personal win!

A huge shout out to Jared for doing this. For the people getting the donations. For the families that got to experience it. For everything!

Here are my pictures of the event. Although I am sad to say my phone died early on and I didn't get as much as I wanted. But here is the Facebook Page of the group if you want to check out other's pictures of the event. 

I will also be posting a separate post when we get Jareth his Guinness World Record certificate. So check back for that!

 Pre-Game Carb Loading at CiCi's!

A Little Target Practice!

People Getting Ready for the Battle in the Parking Lot.

AT&T Stadium!

 Loki Made An Appearance! 

Getting Geared Up!

 A YouTube-r There for the Event. This is Kolton.

Obstacle Set-up on the Field!

T-Rex showed up!

 So. Many. People!

Making Our Way Down To The Field.

Waiting for the start of the Main Battle.

This was part of the group picture that you can't see us in.

The Guinness World Record Official!

After the Main Battle. So many bullets!

Kid's Only Battle.

There were more battles. The Rival Only. The Elite (Or traditional guns) Only. The Jolt (Single shooters) Only. Someone from our group participated in each one, and actually I think Jenn was in all of them! 

At 10 we started to pack up our guns and get out of there. And it wasn't until the next day that I saw the announcement. We broke the current record! We will get our official certificate soon, one with Jareth's name on it so he can hang it on the wall to show off. We did this! And it was one of the greatest things we have done. Now I just have to find something similar for Livia to participate since we elected to have her stay with Gamaw for the night. If you hear of another record to be broken, let us know!

I Will See You Tomorrow. World Suicide Prevention Day

Yesterday was World Suicide Prevention Day, and it was the best one I have had yet.

I don't do anything too big for the day. Because of schedules, the kids, no driver's license, I can't go to any events or even get to hang out with the people that helped me through my toughest struggles. But over the past few years I have used social media to try and connect where I can. For the duration of National Suicide Prevention Week, I take the theme and update my status or add a photo that coincides with it, reasons I am going to keep fighting, things that make me strong. This year was no different, and I still have three days of reasons on why I will be here tomorrow to post. Yet yesterday was a great day for me.

See, I don't have thoughts of suicide, not any more, not really since having my son, because that uber rational part of my mind tells me I just couldn't leave him alone. I am lucky to have that part of myself even though it tends to drive my husband crazy. I don't do self-harm any more either, thanks to two kids and two dogs and living in the country, I tend to get hurt enough on a day to day basis that it hits my limit in a day and my thoughts have wondered to the activity only a handful of times over the past eight years. It's not completely gone, but again, I am lucky. My biggest fights are anxiety and depression. And yesterday was a good day; not perfect, but really good.

For me, a tough day is any day that I can't get the energy to move.As the stay-at-home parent it is my job to get Jareth up for school in the morning and make his lunch, and lately I have taken to sitting with him on the porch until the bus comes. I would really love to curl up in bed with my husband and daughter and go back to sleep, but I know I won't get up when she does, the bed is too comfortable, I am too sleepy, my husband is there recovering from the night shift and he always makes everything better. But I get up. And lately I have stayed up. Yesterday was a good day. 

After my only cup of coffee, thank you addictive personality that takes away all the good stuff I am too scared to enjoy much of, I actually got to moving around and working! I cleaned the kids' room, cleaned my room, did dishes, did some laundry along the way. Sure I sat down for a little here and there because I am reading a good fanfiction and my feet love a break now and then, but I got stuff done! I fried up some eggs to go on burgers for dinner even though the hot grease kinda makes me freak every single time. I even got some stuff done after dinner when I usually am just done with the day! It was a good day!

Sure, I had one moment where I apparently snappishly told my husband to leave my stuff alone (I thought I said it nicely, was perfectly reasonable in tone of voice, but then we always think that, don't we?). But it was quick, we were quiet for a moment, and I apologized and explained. Of course he understands why I did it. I left the kitchen grinning like a fool because we handled it! No big fight, no screaming, I won't be on edge for days any time someone even looks at my things. Yay! I remained calm(ish).

Then to make a good day even better! I went to bed at 10:30! With insomnia it doesn't matter what I do all day to wear myself out, at the end of the day I am just not tired. I stay up until 2 or 3 reading, rewatching M*A*S*H, writing a little if I am lucky, thinking if I'm not. I have laid down in bed with my eyes sore from keeping them open and still tossed and turned for an hour unable to shut of my mind. On a really bad night there is also a lot of waking in middle of the night. Last night was a good night! Sure I kinda opened my eyes when Tillie (our blue healer) came to bed, and it was kinda a shock when Brewster (our pit/lab) joined since he has taken to sleeping on the couch, but neither time was enough to keep my awake. Of course I slept through Livia ninja-ing her way between Gary and I, that only wakes me on a really bad night. And I only woke up once before my alarm in a mild panic over missing it and making my son late, it was only 6, everything was fine. I slept well!!

But the best parts of yesterday weren't the ones I lay thinking about right before dozing off and realizing that it had been a good day for me and my issues. The best parts were the ones I got so giddy about that I got to enjoy in the moment.

This is the third year I have actively taken part in the campaign, and each year I try to make sure that Jareth knows why it is the day is special. After all, he has had to watch first hand what these issues do to people; I am far from the only one suffering in my circle of friends. This year we decided to give him his own "Love" tattoo to match mine. If you don't know, mine says "One Love" in religious (and one gender equality) symbols, a testament to my greatest struggle and core beliefs. The kids love to ask what means what and to find the same symbols in everyday life. So Jareth decided to go with symbols that stood for his personality too. Video games and Superheros. Of course Liv had to have one too!

I love opening the door for talking about issues with the kids. Before he went to school we had a very brief talk about the subject, mainly so that he could explain it to his teacher if she asked why he had a drawing on his arm. It wasn't much, he is only 8 after all, but it is more than last year, and that's what counts.

They did this. They cuddled with me on the porch waiting for the bus. He stayed home after school so that we could put up his laundry together. He couldn't stop saying "wow, mom." over his room when he saw how clean it was. They joined me on the couch to watch Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (only teared up near the end for Robin, an improvement for me. I miss him.) for some family time during and after dinner. There were plenty of goodnight hugs and kisses. There was surprisingly little fight over actually going to sleep and by 10:30 I was tired and done with the day with no reason to stay up. 

Eight years, nine months, and nine days ago I restarted a New Year with a little boy. It didn't hit me like lightening as I held him for the first time that I would never consider suicide again. The drugs were good, but not that good. It was gradual. It was moments like yesterday when Jareth lay on my bed while I folded sheets laughing as I told him all the bad bits of his birth and why he so owes me a hug and kiss when I want one. It was moments like 6 AM when Liv grabbed up my arm and snuggled it, because like me she needs contact to sleep, and nine times out of ten I am better than a Merida baby doll.

I am so incredibly lucky. Yesterday was a great day. And I will see you tomorrow.

My Mother's Day Gift to Myself

Mother's Day is that one day a year that we are kinda forced to pay attention to our mothers, give them a little appreciation for something they do all year without a second thought. We buy cards and little gifts, inadequate tokens to show how much we love them and are thankful that they agreed to go through the horrors of childbirth only to then spend the next (at least) eighteen years raising us. Sometimes it is the only time that some of us stop and appreciate all they do. I fully believe that this day does not do mothers justice! It is both necessary (we really do need to stop and realize what others do for us every now and then) and insufficient (seriously, for all mom's do, one day is so not cutting it). And I say all this from the point of view of a daughter.

As a mother I really do like having a day that my husband forces my kids to be nice for as long as he can. I love that all my non-mother friends tag me in their little posts, reminding me that they are ok with my endless posts about my children that clog up their newsfeed throughout the year. I like getting the phone calls the next day from my two best friend to tell me what their kids did for them and my other best friend (who is not a mom) to tell me what her and her siblings did for the woman I see as a long distance mother myself. I adore the cute little videos that try to capture what a mother is and all they do, the ones that make everyone cry, almost making me as a very emotional mother seem normal with my constant tears. And I thoroughly enjoy the almost painful laugh I get at the yearly vids of men going through that labor simulator (thanks Try Guys)!

But what about the rest of the year? The other 364 days when we are up early to get everyone else ready for their day. I don't get my first cup of coffee until I have been up for an hour, what about you? Or that constant cycle of cleaning because no one is capable of cleaning up after themselves? The late nights and long days? The taxi service and chef's kitchen? I've poured and set out snacks for five other boys running through my house because Jareth invited them over. Birthday planning, dinner hosting, lunch packing, two-cart grocery shopping! Chocolate covered cherry secret moments and laughter filled truffle time. Morning cuddles with a full bed of two kids, two dogs, and a husband still asleep enough to think he gets to stay in bed. Random hugs. Yelling matches. Spankings and temper tantrums and "it's not fair"s. Begging for this toy or that snack. Only Mom can hold me because I am sick, clingy, and want only her. Mom does it this way. Mom said I could. When will Mom be home? All of this comes with being a Mom and we do it all on demand because we have to.  And that's all ok!

The thing is, being a Mom is pretty tiring. It's hard. It's stressful. And sometimes I really mess it up. There are days when I barely roll out of bed, only doing so because if I don't there is no one else to get Jareth up for school. When my husband stays the night with a buddy so the drive to work is a little shorter and he can get a little more sleep, Livia and I spend the whole day in bed watching YouTube. Some days I wake him up an hour early because I really don't think I can handle the kids by myself any longer. I don't cook very often, partly because I can't and partly because when I can the smallest negative comment says to me that I can't do anything right. I hate playdough because the colors mix and it sticks and my OCD just can't take it (Livia is 3 and loves it and I am just now fighting myself to let her play with it). Jareth could make his own lunches when he was 5 because there were mornings I couldn't get myself to do it for him. Livia eats pepperonis every day for lunch, because she loves them and because they are easy to serve. Wild Banshee Wednesdays originally started because I needed a day to turn the music up too loud and drown out the outside world and push myself to play with my son. Jareth asks for hugs, waiting a moment for me to turn and open my arms, because he knows I don't always like to be touched and I have to prepare myself. I cried the day Jareth turned to me and said "Mommy, I love your laugh, it's pretty. I don't think you have laughed all day. I am glad you did now."

Why am I telling you how bad I can get? Because it is ok. This is my Mother's Day gift to myself: being ok with the bad moments. I am allowing myself to have off days. I want you to know that I know I am not perfect and I am coming to terms with that. I have my issues, I am dealing with them, and that's just how it is. And it's really ok if you are the same way. It's going to be just fine if you can't handle everything all the time. The thing about Mother's Day, we aren't being reminded to love our mothers, we are being reminded to let them know that we do. My kids love me through the hard times. Livia sits with me all day in bed, rubbing my ear, giving me a hug or cuddle, and still wants me to spend the day with her again tomorrow. Jareth curls up on the couch with me, asks how I am doing, and watches my show because he gets it. My husband goes without a little sleep, helps a lot more than he should, and makes sure to give me an extra tight hug when he can. If they are ok with me, the three people that matter the most, than I need to be ok with me, too.

So today don't forget to tell your Mom that you love her, that she rocks, that she is the coolest Mom ever! And if you're a mom, take it easy for a day! I get that you probably can't have the Hallmark Day of Relaxation, but you can take a breath, give yourself a thumbs up, and remind yourself that you rock! Being a mom is tough, you can't call in sick, you can't take a personal day, but you can allow yourself some slack on the whole being perfect thing. Share my gift with me, be ok with being just ok. You're doing a great job!

So what did you get or do today? Let me know that you are ok!

Happy Mother's Day

ALS - Ice Bucket Challenge

Well, by now you must have seen a ton of videos of everyone doing the Ice Bucket Challenge, and if not, wow, where have you been? Everyone from random strangers in their pool or back yard to big name celebrities such as Bill Gates, Sir Patrick Stewart, and Misha Collins have partaken in this event of epic proportions. Whole casts of shows to sports teams to families! We spent an hour clicking from one YouTube video to another watching all our favorite actors and big names getting doused with buckets of ice water.
But do you know why? I knew it was for ALS but was unsure of what that was exactly. Then I heard Lou Gehrig's Disease and I was a little less unsure, but still in the dark. Jareth had no clue what it was about. So we sat down to find out what this was all for. Let me share what we found out:
What is ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease)?Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as "Lou Gehrig's Disease," is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to their death. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed.(Straight from the ALSA.org website.)Need a visual to go with this explination? The following link is one man's challenge video. It starts out silly and fun, but soon takes a more serious turn. I agree with everyone who says this one video may be all you need to see to understand not only the reasons behind the Ice Bucket Challenge but the disease behind it.It is being called  The last Ice Bucket Challenge video you need to see. Other stories, testimonies, realities of those that live with ALS can be found on the ALSA.org site under See The Faces of ALS.


Why the Ice Bucket Challenge?
So, from what I have gathered, here is the origin story, more or less. (Please note that if you know any of my information to be incorrect you can comment and I will make sure it is changed! Thank you!) The Ice Bucket Challenge has a very ambiguous beginning. However it seems to have stepped to the forefront in mid-2013 as a way for participants to raise awareness and donations for cancer charities. However,on June 30 of this year Morning Drive hosted the first on air challenge, attributing the event to golfers as it began to spread throughout that community. Suddenly former Boston College baseball player Pete Frates, who has ALS began to take to Twitter to get the word out. With his connections not only through sports but the organization itself, Frates gave the challenge a face for people to rally behind.  Soon the challenge began gaining ground as people began to revel in the thought of watching others partake in this shivvering event! Bigger names began to be tossed into the mix; even President Obama was challenged, although he declined, instead giving money.

How does it help ALS?
That answer is two-fold. The rules of the challenge state that participants have two choices: They can take the challenge and challenge others or they can donate $100 to ALS charities. Most participants choose to do both, most simply giving a smaller donation once they have been doused in water. (Us for example could only give $20, but we gave.) So either way, the cause is receiving much needed funds. 
This challenge is also raising awareness. As I stated, I did not know what ALS was in the beginning. Not only do I now know, my son does, and my stepmom, and my husband, and my sister. Hopefully the gamers my son challenged now know, along with their YouTube followers. Many of my friends have partaken in this, challenging their friends and family. The pastor at our Cowboy church joked about the challenge at a Sunday baptism because the water was so cold. He was challenged within the week and posted the video to the church's Facebook page, now the congregation knows.
By no means was ALS a secret before all this! However, with the average number of cases in the US only being around 30,000, not enough people seem to be effected by the reality of it to bring it the attention it needs. This disease slowly eats away at the host, leading to paralysis over the years. And yet there is only one medication out there to modestly slow the progress. That is not enough! 

Does the challenge work?
Last year $2.6 million dollars were raised over the course of time that the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has brought in new donors this year. It may seem like a lot but it is nothing compared to what needs to be done to help research and development of medicines. How much has been raised this year? In the same amount of time? Due to the publicity of the Ice Bucket Challenge?:

$88.5 Million (number as of Aug. 26th)

1.9 million NEW donors have given to the cause. That means that between last year and this 1.9 million people have been informed and convinced to donate to the cause. 

Let that sink in for a moment.

It's not just ALS!
I must also say that this is not all about ALS. There have been numerous people that have taken the challenge and given to charities that mean more to them. As I said, ALS does not effect everyone. 
ALS does not effect my family. Do you know what does? Parkinson's. My grandmother has been diagnosed and dealt with it for many years now. My father's hands shake more than may be normal. I will one day be tested and may have to watch my children develop signs as they get old. So why did I give to ALS? Because Parkinson's has some big names in their ranks who make it a point to give a lot to the cause. Many advances have been made in the years since Michael J. Fox stepped up and showed people what this disease was. (Much like the Ice bucket Challenge is doing now!) ALS is also a neurodegenerative disease, as is Parkinson's, which means that any advances in discovering how it acts could potentially aid those studying Parkinson's. This sounds like a win/win to me. 

How do you help?
You don't have to wait to be challenged! Step up and dump your own bucket of ice on yourself and call out 3 friends! Or just donate! Go to ALSA.org and find out what you need to know and do what you need to do! Every bit helps! Get the ball rolling!

Or make the turn and bring another cause to the forefront! Who says that ALS should be the only cause we call out. I think it would be absolutely wonderful if as all the hype dies down we pick another insanely fun thing to do (people complain but stepping into ice water in this Texas heat was refreshing for Jareth) for another cause! Get out there and be the one that says "This effects me and this is what I want to do about it!" 

Our Challenges:
As I said, my stepmother took the challenge from a friend. She called out my son! Here is her video. That's my Dad taking too much pleasure from dousing her!

 And so Jareth did it. He challenged two gamers that he follows on YouTube and Twitter as well as my sister, Amanda! And boy did he have fun!

Further Links:
Forbes Talks About Why it's not Stupid
The Numbers by ALSA.org
More Info from Wiki
Some other Ice bucket challenges

All Day Harry Potter Marathon

List Items - #14, #16, #26, #29, #28, #33, and #77

Item #14 - Have breakfast in bed

With DH having to work nights we don't often all wake up at the same time. But due to an over-crowded schedule the day before, we were able to plan it so that the day started early for everyone. We were all still up in stages, but close enough that we could actually eat breakfast together! But we wanted to get started on the movies so we made a giant bed in the middle of the living room on which to have breakfast! I made homemade donuts and we sat down to the movie!

Combined Items #16 - Have a scavenger hunt AND #26 - Have a movie series marathon

We have been trying all summer to find a movie series that we could get our hands on without having to shell out a ton of money and that we could all agree on. It was a hard one! Finally we came across Harry Potter! Jareth had not yet seen them all but was willing to since he had liked the first one and my sister happened to have all of them! But then we decided to take it a step further, give him something to focus on for each movie, and have a little fun with them. So we did a scavenger hunt, making him "unlock" each movie with something to find! He loved it! Here are the movies we were able to make it through.

[NOTE: I do not recommend long series with younger kids, they get antsy. As you will see we went outdoors and did something to stretch between each movie and therefore did not finish the series.]

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

I know the "stone" is the wrong color, but we used only items we already had in the house! This is my quartz crystal.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

The only problem with this one was of course Jareth wanted to read my journal to find out what it said! But we distracted him with the movie!

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

We had to give him a couple of clues since he had no idea yet what a time turner was, but it was still great fun!

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

While this object was in plain sight, as they all were, it was high up and hard to reach. We gave him a lot of help with it!

And that was as far as we got since the in between activities took up time. But the kids sure crashed hard when it was time for sleep.

Item #77 - Go to the park

During the first movie we had a lot of things go on with breakfast and a friend coming to stay the day with us so I took the kids over to the park for a little play time just as they were sorting the students. When we got back they were more than ready to sit down and enjoy the first movie.

Item #29 - Play Frisbee

After the first movie the the kids needed to get out again, so we went downstairs to play a little frisbee! It was fun, got the kids running, and was still not too hot! But we came back in wanting water and rest! Perfect for the next movie!

Item # 28 - Have a picnic

A perfect way to get away after movie number two was lunch, and with the heat starting to take over we decided to take it outside. DH was tired so we left him at home with the infant I was watching and I took the other kids to an open area of grass. But the heat had us hightailing it back home to lay the younger ones down for a nap and start the next movie!

Item #33 - Blow Bubbles

With movie number 3 done the little ones began waking up from their naps and one of them was about to go home, so we stepped out onto the porch for a little fun! We have an old bubble-sax that we obtained in a garage sale, so we poured in the liquid and made a little music, with each of the kids getting a turn.

And after the last movie we took the kids (our two and the lovely miss Jayden who is practically ours) over to the pool for a little sunset swim. The water was warm and a little high since it had just rained, but it wasn't too hot outside. So we enjoyed some family time there. (Sorry no pictures because we were not sure if we were going to get caught in rain!)

All in all it was a great day! We checked off a lot of items and got to enjoy the company of a friend who we don't get to see as often anymore. And then there is the joy of sharing something you love so much with your kids. I found myself watching Jareth more often than the movies to see his reaction to things. Maybe in a few years when Livia is old enough to get the movies we will have another marathon! I look forward to that as much as I did to this day that was 2 weeks in the planning.

Have you had a movie series marathon with your little ones? Or are you looking forward to sharing some particular fandom that you love and can't wait to get them caught up in? It will be Lord of The Rings for us next year! It's so much fun!

[Note: We will be finishing the series over the next few days, Jareth and I since DH has work. I will post another blog on Sat about the last four hunt items and Jareth's final take on the series!]

PB&J Theme Night

I have an amazing friend with an amazing mom, and when they last went berry picking they spent the day making jams! They were then kind enough to send me some! Planning for a PB&J testing night  began. Finally we did it, picking a movie, and discovered all the new flavors!

We had 6 different flavors! StrawberryRaspberry, StrawberryPeach, Strawberry, Peach Marmalade, Apple Marmalade, and Cranberry Marmalade.

One each of the sandwiches. We wanted just a taste of each so that we could figure out which ones we liked! 

Cut them in quarters so they are bite sized samples and add some Cheetos (or Cheez-Its in Jareth's case) to help cleanse the pallet in between flavors!

We watched this cute movie about a high school junior that discovers that he has the super power to create food from his hands. 

It turned into a fun little night! And my picky eaters discovered some new flavors they like. Jareth just loved the StrawberryRaspberry and plain Strawberry Jams and he liked the Apple but was not a huge fan of it. We both discovered we are not Peach or Cranberry fans. And while I don't particularly like apples unless they are whole, I am now a fan of the Apple Marmalade! 

This was a great chance for us to discover new things, including a cute movie! And it was all thanks to some wonderful friends! I encourage everyone to try something like this! When given a lot of choices the kids were more comfortable with trying new things because they knew that it was ok to not like one thing. And now I have knew things I can feed the kids once more!

Another Theme Night success!