Thursday, March 31, 2011
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Winners! & giveaway reminders!
Power Capes: Custom SuperHero Capes for Kids Review & Giveaway
Like PowerCapes on Facebook and let them know you love their capes! (+3 extra entries)
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Sign up for the PowerCapes Newsletter and be the first to hear about all the specials! (+2 extra entries)
Enter this giveaway in a giveaway linky (+3 extra entries/linky entered)
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Tweet up to 3x daily, must be 1hr apart, leave one comment with the link to your tweet (up to 3 extra entries daily):
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Friday, March 25, 2011
Surfin' Saturdays! Join us for Twitter!
- Follow the hostesses in the first five spots (We will follow you back! Just please leave a comment letting us know that you are following us!)
- Please only link up the network that is being hopped that specific week.
- No spam please. These will be removed.
- It would be wonderful if you are linking up this week if you could add our button to your sidebar or in a post to help spread the word! :) The more people that join, the more fun it will be!
- If someone follows you please feel free to follow them back! If you follow me and leave a comment you are guaranteed a follow back!
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Thursday, March 24, 2011
Counter surfing...or at least contemplating it!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Disney Social Media Moms – A celebration with so many memories!
We headed over to the Seven Seas Lagoon for a beach party with our families, and I knew at that point that my boys were hooked on Disney! From meeting Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Pluto to playing carnival games while eating cotton candy, it was definitely the start of memories that we hope they will remember forever (at least through pictures)!
As our families headed into the parks on Day 2, the Social Media Moms were lucky enough to hear from speakers like Facebook's Matt Jacobsen, Chris Brogan and Rene Syler following opening remarks from Meg Crofton, the president of Walt Disney World! And Fran Capo has given me a new slogan too, “Live every day as if it’s your last because someday it will be!” Now, I know I will never be as much of an adventurer as Fran, but her enthusiasm and approach to life is something that everyone should take to heart!
Chris Brogan is also amazingly witty and willing to take a chance with his words! Although soft-spoken at times, his opinions on the world of social media and how each individual can intertwine themselves is definitely something to consider when moving ahead! You can read about his tips at ChrisBrogan.com!
Rene Syler is truly just one of us, a mom, a blogger, and definitely into social media, but she should have her own show! I know I would tune into it! You may recognize her name from TV news or from her book, Good Enough Mother, but her honesty and sincerity is heartfelt when she talks! It’s great to hear someone say what you really feel…because I totally agree that dinner out of a can is good enough somedays! (box too, because I work and don’t always have time and I’d rather play)!
We wrapped up Day 2 of the conference with a performance by Georgia Stitt and Susan Egan! It was phenomenal to see a Beauty and the Beast Medley performed in person since Belle is definitely one of my Disney favorites! The day was followed by dinner at Lights, Motor, Action at Hollywood Studios hosted by Disney Junior (formerly Playhouse Disney). There is nothing that can surpass an evening when kids and adults can dance to Sharkley and Bones and meet Captain Hook, Sully, and Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates plus Agent Oso, Handy Manny, and see some of their favorite Disney characters again!This event definitely was on the top of the list for memories for my boys!
Following a Meet & Greet with a Disney Chef and Sommelier over breakfast, I headed to the parks with my family for a day of fun. Day 3 in the parks was followed by a celebration dinner for the Disney Magic of Healthy Living weekend event at Epcot. My kids will always remember the fireworks at Illuminations! following dessert! The awe and amazement on a young child’s face is just something you can’t explain, but it is definitely a memory I will carry with me forever!
There were so many memories made during the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration! A big thanks goes out to my husband who tirelessly trekked through the parks with two boys over the weekend while I was at conference events making sure they made it to every ride on the “to-do” list before leaving! I think we will be in Disney withdrawal for awhile now and my boys continue to ask when we’ll be going back! Luckily for them, we had already planned a family vacation for later this year…it just won’t have as many amazing parties in the evenings! Thank you Disney and the Disney Social Media Moms Planners for including us in this year’s Social Media Moms Celebration!
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Traveling Adventures with Two Monkeys
We travel a lot for work and as a family, not only extended vacations but day trips and short weekend adventures too! After answering what seemed like a million questions this weekend about the easiest way to fly with young kids while waiting in the stroller line at the Orlando airport, we thought we would start sharing our adventures, traveling tips, and how we survive with two young boys running on limited sleep! Some tips you’ve probably heard before, maybe you’ve even ventured to the same places. Regardless, hopefully, we’ll all be able to share how much fun you can have traveling with your kids and the amazing places you can visit if you just open your eyes and look!
I hope you’ll stop by and include your tips from time to time in the links or leave me a comment! I’m planning to write about our adventures, tips, tricks, or things we love every Wednesday and supplement with posts on Saturdays, so jump in your car or hop on a plane and go somewhere! Your kids will remember it forever whether it’s camping, going to the zoo or museum, visiting Disney World or someplace more exotic…memories are made at every opportunity so pack your bags and go!
You don’t know what you’re missing until you’ve seen it with your own eyes, so get out there and see everything because you’ve only got this life to experience it all! I'd love it if you share your favorite places to visit too or great tips for traveling with kids!
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Southern California Youth Relief Run for Japan with Josh Duhamel (#reliefrun)
In an effort to raise money for Japan, actor Josh Duhamel (“When in Rome,” “Transformers”) is hosting a 2-mile Relief Run in Santa Monica, CA this coming Sunday, March 27. You can find all the details about the Relief Run, where to meet, entrance cost (only $10) with all fees going to the American Red Cross Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Assistance Fund!
Even if you're not in Southern California, but may have readers that are, pass the word along and help raise money for Japan! Josh Duhamel will be running alongside all the runners who come out to run this weekend!
Send out information on Twitter using #reliefrun and find out more information on Facebook! Pass the word for this great cause!
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Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Costume Discounters - Not just for Halloween, great designs for anytime! Review
Oh, and if you're looking for the perfect dress-up items, don't pass up on costumes like Buzz Lightyear (Deluxe for only $35.97) or Cinderella (Prestige for $49.97, Standard for $17.97). My sons loved the Buzz Lightyear Costume, so I think we'll be ordering this one for dress-up or Halloween soon! The costumes are great quality and shipping is free when you spend $70 right now too! There are also beautiful costumes for adults too!
Thursday, March 17, 2011
One last memory of winter...
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
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Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Deep Thoughts with a Preschooler...
Some days life revolves around fire trucks, ambulances, and police cars and other days...there are the real big life questions....or at least in the mind of a 4-year old...
This week's conversation went something like this...
4-year old: "Mommy, this is going to be a life question, promise I won't ask anything else about Lego pieces, promise!"
me: "Ok, what did you want to talk about" (thinking he must have been saving this one up since we've been talking about Legos all week)
4-year old: "Mommy...(long pause)...why do they make light poles so high in the sky and how come electricity is only on some light poles....you know those ones that look like trees...but without lights? and how do they get the wires so long?"
me: (wondering how this is a life question...attempts an answer before being interrupted) "Well, light poles are tall so that the light can shine on bigger areas so they need less of them, the ones with the wires carry electricity to our house.."
Interrupted by 4-year old: "But Mommy, I thought Mother Nature made electricity when she made lightning and all those loud thunder bangs"
me: "that's a different kind of electricity than the electricity going to our house..."
Interrupted by 4-year old: "Ok, so how does the electricity from Mother Nature get into the wires?"
me: (feeling defeated) "It's different, the electricity at our houses is different from nature's electricity...let's just say that nature's electricity is helped out by God..."
Interrupted by 4-year old: "Oh, so that's why it looks cool when you peak out the window and can make so many loud noises!"
me: "Yep, that's right!" (seemed like a good opportunity to let the 4-year old win)
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Monday, March 14, 2011
Finding Me Mondays....starting anew...well trying to!
So I took a break from Finding Me Mondays, to really try to figure out how to "find me"...I wasn't really going anywhere...but up on the scale and that isn't what I was hoping for so something just wasn't working....I think this will become more of a monthly update, but we'll see!
We joined a new gym that has a lot of energy and have been pretty good at getting there most days...albeit, not necessarily to work out ourselves, but we can play soccer on the indoor field with the boys or throw a football with them, swim indoors and in the summer outdoors...so really it is changing our overall lifestyle. I am hoping it's a step in the right direction...I need something! I won't be making my goal of fitting into the red dress this summer, but I've decided I'm okay with that as long as I am on the path to a healthy lifestyle not just for me, but for the entire family....
It means the house will be messier, we might eat at the gym's cafe more (but at least it's fairly inexpensive and healthy)...and our schedule at work will change to make more time for the boys at night and less days off....but hopefully it will all pay off in the long run! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we can make a transition to a healthy lifestyle that pays off for our kids....and at least right now our boys ask to go to the gym every day! Once our youngest gets past some of the separation anxiety, we'll drop them off in child care some evenings for more gym time...but for now, it's memory-making time!
Oh, and I also downloaded the Couch to 5K app, so we'll see how that works...my plan is to start that next week once the body has adjusted to the time change...hoping that my heart can take the jogging! I am still tired of being the one behind the camera every time and am ready to be the one in front of the camera (smiling) more often! I don't want my kids to wonder what I looked like when they were young! I want them to be proud of me and know that I am healthy and will be there to take care of them!
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Sunday, March 13, 2011
Giveaways with extremely low entries...and I think you'd really love them!
Don't forget to enter Mr. Bo Finds a New Home...the winner will receive an autographed copy of the book and it is truly a heartwarming story! (Ends 3/18) and there aren't many entries for SafetyTats either and there really should be....every kid should be wearing one of these on family outings (just in case)...so don't forget to enter! (Ends 3/24)
Friday, March 11, 2011
Surfin' Saturdays - Google Friends Week! Yea! So fun to meet new people and find new blogs!
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
SafetyTat Review & Giveaway - Easing Parent's Minds in Crowded Places! - Extended
SafetyTat makes two styles of temporary tattoos for kids: original and quick stick write-on! We had the opportunity to try both styles of temporary tattoos and feel that both have advantages depending on where you are heading! The Original SafetyTat Child ID Tattoos are much like traditional temporary tattoos and are applied with water and last from 1 to 5 days (although the manufacturer recommends reapplying daily, if needed). The Original SafetyTat temporary safety ID tattoo comes pre-printed with one line of customization. You choose your design (we picked Stanley Train), select a quantity, and add your phone number.
We've used these in the swimming pool (indoor this time of year) and at many outdoor activities and have shown our kids that if they can't find us to show someone the phone number for help. Hopefully we never have to experience it, but I'd rather they be prepared! Through showers, sandboxes, and rough and tumble boys (at times), these have held up well past the 1 to 5 days with a still easily visible phone number.
In addition to the "if LOST, please call:" SafetyTats, you can also order the original SafetyTat with two lines of text and there are also SafetyTats that include medical conditions, allergies, and more which is great for summer camps, school, or children with special needs.
We also had the opportunity to try the Quick Stick Write-On which is so great for outings with grandma and grandpa or when cell phones just decide they no longer want to work anymore so you need to change numbers! My boys loved having zoo animals on their tattoos, so that made these even more fun (many designs are available)!
The Quick Stick Write-on! is packaged blank, so you can fill in your information with the provided SafetyTat pen. Quick Stick Write-Ons will last an extra long time — up to two weeks when applied following the directions!
One additional great feature of SafetyTat is the TatBuilder that allows you to customize your SafetyTat to include medical alerts, field trip, in case of emergency, and a few more options too!
Like SafetyTat on Facebook (+3 extra entries)
Follow monkeyswashtub on Twitter (+1 extra entry)
Follow SafetyTat on Twitter (+1 extra entry)
Enter this giveaway in a giveaway linky (+3 extra entries/linky entered)
(come back and leave me a link with the ~#)
Tweet up to 3x daily, must be 1hr apart, leave one comment with the link to your tweet (up to 3 extra entries daily):
Vote for me on the Fence (+2 extra entries daily)
Disclosure: I received complimentary product from SafetyTat through Mom Spark Media for review in exchange for my honest opinions. No additional compensation was received.
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Friday, March 4, 2011
Surfin' Saturdays...it's all about facebook!
- Follow the hostesses in the first four spots (We will follow you back! Just please leave a comment letting us know that you are following us!)
- Please only link up the network that is being hopped that specific week.
- No spam please. These will be removed.
- It would be wonderful if you are linking up this week if you could add our button to your sidebar or in a post to help spread the word! :) The more people that join, the more fun it will be!
- If someone follows you please feel free to follow them back! If you follow me and leave a comment you are guaranteed a follow back!
I think I've finally figured out the issue with my facebook page, so if you've liked me recently...please let me know so I can return the favor...I was having some major issues even accessing it the past couple of weeks! Thanks so much!
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