Constellation Cars

This is my daughter’s newest song/video on YouTube. Please feel free to share and comment on the video on YouTube itself!

Warning-Contents Under Pressure

You know those Thermos bottles with the straws for kids?  You push the button and the lid pops up?  We have the iCarly FUNtainer Bottle, the one shown below.  My youngest is 4 and this is her container I try to only put water in these types of bottles.  However, my husband will put any drink in any cup or bottle he can find. 

So, about two weeks ago (I’m pretty sure it was before Christmas), our wonderful daughter asked for milk and her daddy put it into her iCarly bottle.  Well, she lost it.  Has this ever happened to you?  As a little bit of an explanation, we were all sick with various things, some of us even had pneumonia.  Needless to say the drink bottle lay forgotten where ever it was.  Fast forward to last night when I found it in my daughter’s room when I was putting her in bed.

I said something along the lines of “oh look what I found.”  I shook it and it sounded like it was pretty much full and I asked her what was in it.  She said milk.  She remembered.  I didn’t.  I gave my kids a kiss goodnight and I was standing there with the bottle in my hand.  For a reason I still don’t know I pushed the button.  Can you guess what happened?

Rotten milk shot (yes shot) out of the straw into my face.  It went right into my eye (I was wearing my contacts still), my hair, my nose, and my shirt.  It was awful and hysterical!  The smell was horrific!  My kids just sat there with this shocked expression until I started laughing.  Then they laughed too.  I went blindly into the shower and scrubbed off, all the while laughing.  How absurd of a thing to happen?  The smell was terrible and I had to go back and spray room freshener several times before it finally went away.  But, you know what was good?  The milk only got on me.  How lucky was that?  Imagine if it had gotten on some of their toys or if the straw had been pointed in another direction?   

I had several other clumsy things happen yesterday, that I won’t go into detail about.  Yesterday was just a clumsy day.  I don’t usually have a very good sense of humor about my clumsiness.  I generally get frustrated and angry.  But, not yesterday I laughed.  When I told my husband about it I laughed and told him I wished we had gotten it on camera.  And as I am typing this I am still giggling.

So, by way of an amusing story comes a warning.  If you use bottles like that for drinks other than water be careful and use caution because there may be contents under pressure.  As for us?  A new house rule of only water in our FUNtainer Bottle.         

Dino Lingo Language Learning Programs for Kids

I got the opportunity to preview these language learning programs for free of charge from Influenster. I will be honest, I had a difficult time deciding which Dino Lingo Language Learning Program for Kids to preview. There were 25 video clips available to watch. I was torn between the French, Chinese, Japanese, and Hebrew. Are you curious as to why these particular videos and learning programs might appeal to me? Well, read on and you will find out.

First, I was drawn to French because my oldest daughter is in her 4th year of French. She is 14, and I thought this would not only help her little brother and sister to bond with her and learn another language in the process, but I might pick up some of it too. The next two were Chinese and Japanese- my husband is always trying to teach our son bits of both of these languages when we go to restaurants etc. My husband has a passion for these languages and would be thrilled if our kids picked up more of them.

The final language I was drawn to was Hebrew. This is a bit more personal. A couple of years ago I found out that my birth mother has Jewish ancestry. I didn’t really know anything about Judaism. But, my husband knows something about pretty much everything did. He told me that being Jewish is passed through the mother. Since then we have started celebrating Hanukkah along with Christmas, we are still trying to learn customs and traditions.

The idea of my children (and me) learning Hebrew is very appealing to me. In the end my four year old and I watched the Hebrew Learning Video Clip for kids. She liked the animation of the dinosaurs and thought the sword fish was funny. Plus, she did repeat after the person in the video too.  I think these language learning programs for kids would be a great tool for teaching children a new language or re-enforcing a language they are already speaking that is newer to them.

 

Power Wheels Ford F-150 Giveaway

Welcome to the Power Wheels Ford F-150 Giveaway!

Hosted by Giveaway Promote.

Sponsored by BlueSpringsFordParts.com and AccurateAutoAdvice.com.

To celebrate the holidays, genuine Ford parts retailer BlueSpringsFordParts.com has partnered with AccurateAutoAdvice.com to give away a brand new Ford F-150!

Of course, there’s a catch…

We’re not giving away a full-sized Ford truck. That would be cool, but the people in charge won’t let us. So, we’re going to give away a Power Wheels F-150 instead. Hopefully, that’s still cool. Thanks for entering, and good luck!

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Power Wheels Ford F-150 Description

Description from Amazon.com

Kids can take off on a real driving adventure in the Power Wheels Ford F-150.

With realistic side-view mirrors, built-in windshield, and roomy truck bed, kids will feel like they’re driving a real truck! They can even lift up the hood to find a realistic truck “engine”. Adding to the excitement, the truck’s big, rugged tires make it easy for kids to take their adventures off road too!

Designed to look just like Ford’s F-150 pick-up truck, this Power Wheels 4-wheeler is ready for off-road adventures! Designed with big, rugged tires, an “engine” under the hood and roomy truck bed with soft tonneau covering.

Single pedal operation with forward speeds from 3-1/2 to 6 mph and reverse speeds of 3-1/2 mph maximum. Recommended for hard surfaces and grass. Super 6V rechargeable system included.

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Enter to win a Power Wheels Ford F-150 Ride-on Toy.

Open in the continental United States.

Ends at 11:59pm EST on November 25th, 2012.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Bloggers, we’d love for you to join an awesome group giveaway event like this one! Sign up to be emailed about future events hosted by Giveaway Promote.

If you’d like to hear about the upcoming group giveaway and hop events hosted by all bloggers who’ve submitted their events to Giveaway Promote, subscribe to Giveaway Promote’s weekly group giveaway events and hops newsletter.

A Big Day For Our Family

Today was a big day for my two youngest kids.  First, my youngest got to go on her very first field trip.  She is in preschool and could hardly contain her excitement when I told her about it.  The first reason she was so thrilled is because her big brother never went on a field trip in preschool or kindergarten, so she was pretty keen on doing it.  The next thing is that she was going to be able to ride a school bus, she is always asking to ride the public bus. 

They went to the pumpkin patch, it was the last day it was open, and all the kids were very happy to be there.  The first thing they did was go on a hay ride around the farm and look at horses.  Then they went to the petting zoo where there were cows, chickens, sheep, goats, llamas, miniature horses, pigs, and donkeys.  The last item on the agenda was picking out pumpkins, even though they were closing down for the season, there was still a pretty good selection.

This was the fattest pig and I thought it was cute.

 I feel like I should explain something.  My youngest is very shy and her going to school was a huge adjustment for her.  She cried for the first week every day that I left and her teacher actually had to physically pry her off of me so I could leave.  She has gotten better and I can now leave pretty much right after I bring her into class, but she still isn’t really talking while she is there.  Everyday I hope that she suddenly opens up, but so far not so much. 

So, today she did ask my husband and I to come with her to the field trip.  But, then she wouldn’t leave our side….  I am guessing I bring that out in her, not my husband, me.  Being that she is always with me.  I actually had to threaten that I was going to sit in the car if she didn’t start doing some stuff on her own.  It worked, but I still feel bad and hope it gets better as time goes on.  She did have fun, though and that is what counts, right?

Now on to my son.  He is in second grade and this is his third year entering the PTA’s Reflections competition.  He has placed every year, but there is never a guarantee.  My husband and I were invited to the awards ceremony, but we didn’t know which category he won for or if he placed.  We were hoping for the best because last year both he and my oldest made it to the next round of competition.  This year my son chose to enter for literature and photography-the theme was The Magic of the Moment; and he won for both of them.  First place in photography and third place in literature, he was thrilled, especially because his photography piece will be forwarded to the next level of the competition automatically.

I’m not sure if anyone reading this has heard about the Reflections competition, but any PTA in good standing can participate (I think) so, you should ask your school about it.  Next years theme has already been picked, it is BELIEVE, DREAM, INSPIRE.  I haven’t found out yet about my oldest daughter’s entries since she is in high school, each school has a slightly different timeline.  

My son going up to the stage for his first place award.

My son is already very confident, and these types of things add to that, which isn’t a bad thing.  That is as long as we keep him humble and help him understand the proper way to handle his good fortune. 

So yeah, a good day. 

November Already

I know I just did a post yesterday about the fact that it was Halloween and we were getting ready to go trick-or-treating (no loose nuts, by the way.)  But, that does not mean that I was ready for it to be November already!  In fact, yesterday the thought didn’t even occur to me that “Hey, tomorrow is November 1st.”  Is that crazy?  Maybe, maybe not.  I bet I am not the only one that had this day sneak up on them, right?  Not only that, but we have to set our clocks back this weekend.  Yep, that’s right, fall back an hour.

My husband and oldest daughter will appreciate this because right now he takes her to the bus stop while it is still dark out.  Pretty early, right?  She is in high school, and she is out of zone because she goes to a gifted school, so the bus has to go farther and therefore comes earlier.  So, maybe by setting the clocks back an hour they will have a bit of daylight?  We will have to wait and see.

So, how many of you already start decorating for Christmas on the 1st of November?  I have been reading around the internet about people ‘in the closet’ listening to Christmas music already.  I think it’s funny.  We know the stores have all had Christmas stuff in the background since they put up their Halloween goods and yesterday afternoon I went to a local Target and they were already enlarging their Holiday selections and shrinking their Halloween goods.  I am pretty sure it gets earlier every year and when one store does it, the others follow because lets face it, if they don’t they miss out on business.

I generally begin my decorating the weekend after Thanksgiving, that is when I try to get my tree and then I leave it up until after New Years (that varies because my oldest daughter’s birthday is on January 2nd.)  Who knows, maybe I will do it early this year?  Though, with how crazy everything seems for us this year, I don’t think that will happen.  I bet we will be lucky to get the tree when we normally do.  

So, Happy November!  Enjoy the fall weather.  I hope the people in the north are able to start picking up the pieces on the damages.  Take care.  If you enjoy my blog, please follow me.  Thanks for reading.

Happy Halloween

Today is Halloween and I am about to get my kids ready to go trick-or-treating.  Usually we decorate shirts, go to the pumkin patch, carve and paint pumpkins etc…  But for some reason, this year we have been out of sorts.  I’m not sure why.  The only thing we have accomplished that is part of our tradition is that we went to Howl-o-Scream at Busch Gardens, like we do every year, but without our matching shirts.  Also, as a bonus, I won a couple of passes to Kings Dominion’s The Haunt (which I took my kids to.)

Now, when I say that we went to these scary functions at the amusement parks we left before it got dark and before the scary stuff actually happened.  Even my 14 year old isn’t in to being terrified in the haunted houses.  If I had to judge which park was scarier without ever having participated with the actual events, I would have to say King’s Dominion by far.  They have things set up throughout the park that seem just more scary without the added ‘monsters.’  But, they also have much better stuff during the day for kids like a treasure hunt.

Anyway, here we are at Halloween, with temperatures that are 20 degrees colder than the last several years, sadly.  So, it is all about the layers tonight.  I bought my son thermal underwear to wear under his costume because he can’t wear tights like my daughter.  I am hoping the promise of candy will make them happy enough to not complain about being cold.  Last year we got some loose nuts.  I wonder if we will get more of those?

I recently learned about a program called Treats 4 Our Troops and am considering donating some of our ample candy load, being ex-Navy and living in a military area makes me feel like it is a good thing to teach my kids about. 

Have a safe and Happy Halloween!  And to all those in the north that have been affected by Hurricane Sandy stay safe and warm and I hope you are able to celebrate in a way that is special to your family.

Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph Pre-Screening

I was lucky enough to get pre-screening passes to see Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph last week from my local Fox television station.  My family (me, my husband, my 14 year old daughter, my 7 year old son, and my 4 year old daughter) all wanted to see this movie.  In fact, I feel as though it was made for my son who talks almost non-stop about video games.  He gets very wrapped up in the story lines, characters, and levels; plus he comes up with countless ideas for his own games.

What a wonderful way to surprise them all!  Pre-screeings are a regular occurrence for my area, usually they are only a couple of days before the movie actually starts, so I was really surprised that this was almost two weeks ahead of time.  If you ever have the opportunity to attend one of these events make sure to arrive early because seating is not guaranteed and they hand out more passes than seats to ensure the theater is full.

This is a movie about a ‘bad guy’ Ralph that gets in a rut and is tired of being excluded.  He decides to leave his game via Game Central Station to try and get a medal so he will no longer be excluded by the others in the Fix It Felix Jr. video game.  On the way he meets some interesting characters and true friends, but he has to hurry, if he doesn’t make it back in time the plug will be pulled on his game.

Now, to tell you what we thought about the movie…  My 4 year old daughter loved it and every part with cars was her favorite, plus her favorite character was Vanellope, played by Sarah Silverman.  My son’s favorite part was when Ralph helped Vanellope make her car, no surprise his favorite character is Ralph, played by John C. Reilly.  My 14 year old daughter refuses to pick favorites, which I told her is funny because it isn’t like they will know.  My favorite part is the revelation of the true bad guy (which I didn’t see coming) I have decided to not have any real spoilers in this post, so anyone can read it.  My husband liked the fact that Qbert was included because he misses that game.
    
I definitely say this is a must see for the whole family.  We have a large age range in our family and every single one of us enjoyed it.  Oh, and we did see it in 3D, but I believe the story line is strong enough to carry it no matter what.  Plus it has a great moral that is valuable.  

All thoughts and opinions are mine and my families, we were not compensated in any way for this post. 

Influenster Makeover

Have you heard of Influenster?  It is a great site that allows trendsetters and tastemakers to come together in an exclusive online community and connect with brands and products.  Active members get exclusive access to deals, promotions, and swag from brands that look for input from consumers-whether positive, negative, or in between.  Recently Influenster has done a facelift on their site and added some new and improved features.

The first thing I notice when I go to the Influenster site is my overall score, which is currently 86.  Not too shabby, I think.  I have also gotten some expert badges, five total so far, because I have to work to unlock more.  My average scores for these Expert Badges range from 53-67 and can increase if I participate or initiate some online content.  There is a Plan of Attack section under the profile that, I assume will help me increase my score if I do some of the items on the list.

Overall I enjoy the changes on the Influenster site.  The one thing I would like is to have more Expert Badges.  When I selected my badges I didn’t realize there was a limit of five since there was not limit on the old version of the site.  Other than that, they did a great job updating their site to help give a well-rounded picture of my online influence.        

imPRESS Press On Manicure

I am a member of Influenster and I received these imPRESS nails for free to test.  They are from Broadway Nails which also makes Kiss Nail Dress.  So, I bet you are wondering what I thought about them?  Well, initially I liked them.  The whole idea of being able to have a “manicure” with out going to a salon because I am a mom of three kids and don’t have the time for that, plus there is no chemicals.  Plus I like their packaging, they come in a fake nail polish bottle, which I think is genius.

So, I put them on and they looked really nice, I got a purple color.  Unfortunately for me I had to do dishes.  I think this weakened the stickiness of the nails.  I felt like they could fall off very easily and by the next day one had fallen off and I never found it.  Then the rest slowly began coming off. 

That being said, I do like the Kiss Nail Dress that I got from Influenster in my last VoxBox, they worked really well.  If you want more information about imPress Nails go ahead and click on the link.  They have a great variety of colors and designs!  And their is a coupon on the site right now for $1 off and the general price for a set is $5.99-$7.99.  You can find imPress Manicure at CVS, Rite Aid, Duane Reade, Kmart, Walgreen’s, Walmart, and more.  For a full list of retailers click on the link above.