LEGOLAND Florida Adventure

This year on spring break, my family had the pleasure of visiting the LEGOLAND Florida Resort.  We had rented a house in Kissimmee, so it was about a 40 minute drive for us to the park.  We found LEGOLAND a little more reasonably priced versus other Orlando area theme parks.  Tickets at the gate are $89 for adults and $82 for kids ages 3-12.  They offer online discounts, but my insider tip is, if you plan on visiting, plan on subscribing to the LEGO Club Magazine.  There are coupons in there for buy an adult admission, get one free child’s admission.  We were able to get 2 free child’s admissions with these coupons (yes they let me use two).  We only purchased one day admission tickets and only visited the theme park, not the water park.

From my experience, I really think the park is geared for kids 10 and under.  To be honest, my 10 year old was a bit bored with park.  He has ridden much larger rides, so there was not a whole lot of rides to entertain him.  He did enjoy The Dragon, Merlin’s Challenge, Lost Kingdom Adventure, Mia’s Riding Adventure, and The Quest for CHI.  He went on the Ford Driving School, but that was way too slow for him (he is used to Go-Carts).

My 3 year old and 7 year old enjoyed the park a bit more.  They were able to ride the rides in the DUPLO area as well as other areas of the park.  The highlight was The Grand Carousel since it has two stories, however we never made it up to the second story since it was limited on the number of horses on that level. 

We did walk the entire park, but were not able to get on as many rides we wanted to near the back of the park.  The other coasters all had a 90 minute wait and two were broken down when we were there.  The other line queues seemed to move well with less than a 30 minute wait. 

Another favorite part of the park was MINILAND USA.  This was the section that had mini cities built from LEGOS.  We were able to see NYC, San Francisco, Washington D.C. and more.  The details were amazing and it was a nice break to walk through this area and view all of the creations. 

Finally, I must say the food prices were very reasonable.  When we ate lunch, we were able to get a kids cheeseburger meal which included fries, fruit pouch and drink for only $6 each!   They also had the ability to buy refillable frozen slushy drinks which are always a hit with my kids. 

We definitely enjoyed our visit and I took a lot of photos at the park.  I definitely recommend this park if you have kids 10 and under.  I do hesitate on bringing older kids, because there is not a lot for them to do or ride on that would keep their attention.  I’m not sure if we would go again since my boys are 7 and 10 now.  The next opportunity we may have, they are just going to be too old for it.  I am certainly glad we went this time though!

It Takes A Village (or Really Nice Neighbors) To Raise A Child

 

There are always those times when you have children that you need an extra hand. Whether it be a "date night" babysitter, an item of clothing to borrow for the school play, or some spice to finish baking that dessert! When we moved to our current neighborhood over 8 years ago (yes, 8 years, this is a miracle for us), we not only found a home we love, but also neighbors and friends always willing to help us out in a pinch!

I needed to share this story in the hopes that others have found the same type of community we have found. The type of neighbors that are willing to help you out as are you willing to help you out. The kind of person you can text or call in a pinch and they come through for you! I am so glad we have that in our neighborhood and it is one of the top reasons why we always consider not moving again. It is the fear of the unknown. Will our kids find other kids that they are able to play with all day on a Sunday? Will we find neighbors that watch our house for us when we are on vacation? Will be find good people that will run over and let our dogs out when we are gone all day? We just don't know, but we know we love our house and our neighborhood.

This week we had a bus incident where my parents were suppose to be at our house to get our youngest off the bus. They have done an EXCELLENT job this year and are NEVER late! Well, its cold, its been snowing and I was at work 45 minutes away when I got the call from the "bus garage" as my phone said. The bus was at my house and my parents were not. I tried to call them and the phone went to voicemail. Of course, my 70+ year old parents don't always remember to keep their phones on!

 I was in panic mode and quickly texted a neighbor, who instantly responded however she was also at work. She then texted another neighbor in which I then got in contact with quickly. This amazing lady, whom I am not direct friends with but only met a couple of times, got in her car and drove down the street to my house. Luckily my parents and then bus were there! What an amazing lady and I am incredibly grateful for her kindness and unselfishness to help someone in need!

I hope you all find this type of community we have found and I hope you are able to have this type of support! It really is challenging to raise kids and sometimes when they don't want to leave their basketball games with friends to run an errand, its really nice to have a neighbor say, "just go, I'll watch them".

No Is A Complete Sentence

I catch myself all the time, I say “no”, but then have to insert an excuse! 

“No, we can’t make it, I have to work late.”

“No, he can’t come to the birthday party, he has another commitment.”

“No, I can’t help out in the classroom, I have a doctor’s appointment.”

Perhaps it makes me feel better, that I provide a reason?  But really when I think about it, is a reason necessary?  Sometimes the reason is not even true.  I guess the other option would be to tell the truth.

“No, we can’t make it because I would rather sit at home and rest in my jammies after a long day at work.”

“No, he can’t come to the birthday party, because his Mom does not feel like driving 30 minutes out of her way for a 2 hour party.”

“No, I can’t help in the classroom because I have helped the past 3 times, can’t another parent step up and volunteer?”

Don’t get me wrong, I say “YES” a lot but sometimes you just have to say “NO”.  Any maybe it makes we feel better when I explain why.  But really, if you say “no”, no explanation is needed.  Do you provide an explanation when you say “yes”?    I didn’t think so.

I’m learning to say “no” more often when I tend to be a bit overwhelmed.  I sometimes like to overcommit myself when given the opportunity to participate in multiple events and do not want to miss out.  But on the flipside, there are times when there is no need for me to participate and I really just need to say “no”.

So in 2016, I am going to attempt to say “no” just a little more, and try to every once in a while to leave it as a simple “no” with no explanation!

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you and your family all of the blessings of the Christmas season.  May you enjoy time with friends and family celebrating the day that Jesus was born!

God Bless and Merry Christmas!

Choosing Not to Continue a Friendship

As I grow older, I’m learning that not all friendships are right for me.  This year, was definitely a year of realization that I really want more true, authentic friendships.  With technology these days, the term “friend” is used in a very loose context.  A friend is definitely someone you can rely on, talk to live and in person, and will support you no matter what life throws at you.

This authentic friendship that I talk about has to be a friendship I can truly believe in and support.  I cannot be friends with someone that chooses values that I do not believe in.  It would be a lie on my part to say I am friends with someone that I do not agree with the choices he or she has made or is currently making in his or her life.

As a Christian, I have struggled with ending friendships.   Am I being mean and not being “Christ-like” by choosing not to be friends with somebody?  The answer I have come up with is no I am not.  I am being true to myself and my values by not supporting a friendship that goes against my values that I hold so dear to my heart. 

I constantly reflect on if I am setting a good example for my children by choosing to end a friendship?  But then I look at the other side, am I setting a good example for my children being friends with an individual that you know has a history and lying, cheating, and stealing?   I have come to the conclusion that the best example I can give my children, is to choose the right type of friends that carry similar values as yourself.  We constantly tell our children to not hang out with the “bad” kids, shouldn’t that premise be carried into adulthood?

The Big Guy - Santa 2015

Success!  All three kids looking at the camera and smiling at Santa!  Last year we had a crier, this year she was a little hesitant to get too close.  Luckily her brother saved the day and let our Little Miss sit on his lap!

I feel we are entering kind of an "in between" stage with Santa.  My oldest is 9 and quickly I am noticing he is not as excited to take part in some of the Christmas festivities.  On the positive side, he is ALWAYS a good sport, and does as he is asked.  He is an excellent role model for our younger two and he is the perfect oldest child!

I hope you have a good Santa experience too this year!

For those local, we visited Santa at Petitti's Garden Center.  The line was short and you could use your own camera.  Yeah for free and easy!

May God bless you and your family during this Christmas season!

Cinderella Cupcake Dress - Celebrating the Big 3!

My daughter will be 3 in less than two days!  We celebrated over the weekend with a Cinderella Party!

I designed her Cinderella Cupcake Dress to match her actual princess dress!

 

For the most part this was pretty simple and inexpensive.  I was able to get the tiara at Target for $1.99.  The beads were simply silver beads from a local craft store that cost less than a $1.00.  The candy flowers for the bodice were $6.99 from the craft store and I added some white sprinkles.

 

 

My daughter loved it!  She had an amazing 3rd birthday party.  I will definitely be trying this out again.

Top 10 Parenting Tasks I Depise

Don't judge me, but there are some parenting tasks that I truly do not enjoy!  I love my children dearly and I love being a Mom so much, but sometimes I wish I there were things I did not have to do.  Since my kids are now 9, 6, and almost 3, I feel I have gathered enough experience to finally put this list out on the Internet.  I'm sure there are some you agree with and others that may not bother you as much as they bother me!

For dramatic effect, I'll count backwards from 10...

10.  Cleaning Up Kid Vomit - baby spit up is fine, everything else is not!

9.  The Stage When Kids Need to Nap Yet They Don't Want to Nap - this goes from when they go from 2 to 1 nap and then when the nap gets eliminated.

8.  Staying With Babies in Hotel Rooms - this never goes well for us, but I won't give it up I love to travel too much!

7.  Reading Books Before Bed - only because I have two children that have to have the same 20 books every night read in the same order, no exceptions!

6.  Holding Down Babies While Getting Shots - its a necessary evil, but it does get easier with more children!

5.  Not Being Able to Give Cold Medicine and Listening to Children Cough Over a Monitor - I hate this sound and I hate it even more that there is nothing you can do!

4.  Buckling 2-4 Year Olds in Winter Coats in Car Seats - I am never so happy when they can go into a booster seat.

3.  Teaching Kids to Tie Shoes - this is just painful and a LONG process!

2.  Changing Crib Sheets - one would think I would find an easier way, but I am not convinced there is an easy way!

1.  Potty Training - enough said, the third child should potty train themselves!

Do you agree, disagree, or have anything to ad?

In the "Nick of Time" Santa Pic 2014

You know when you have everything perfectly planned and then it all goes out the window?  Yes that was my weekend.  We had waited until the weekend before Christmas to go visit Santa.  Well Saturday came and my baby came down with the most feared thing in my house.... THE STOMACH BUG.  Well you know how this one goes, Mom went down at 6 pm Sunday night, my 6 year old woke up just before midnight on Sunday and then at 6 am on Monday my oldest was struck! 

Dad was our hero, he took care of us and we were just about convinced ourselves he was spared.  That was just until about 9 pm Monday night.  Luckily he had a quick case of the bug.  By Tuesday night we were all doing well.  As I was laying in bed with my 6 year old, he asked why we hadn't seen Santa yet?  Uggh!!  Why did I wait until the last minute?  Why didn't I think we would all become insanely ill the weekend before Christmas?  Next year I won't procrastinate!

Tuesday night we all went to the mall.  We all waited in line for about an hour.  But finally we got to see the big guy.  Everyone was excited and then this happened, the scream of fear!  Well, kind of describes my weekend, the awful "Christmas Bug of 2014"!

Merry Christmas!

"Let It Go" and "Shake It Off" Through the Holiday Season

Holidays can be a stressful time in any household.  Add in three kids eight and under, and the stressful situations can bubble up instantly!  There is so much to be done between Thanksgiving and December 25th.  The house needs to be decorated, inside and out, cookies need to be baked, Christmas pictures need to be taken, holiday cards need to be sent out, church services need to be attended, presents to buy, food to prepare, concerts to attend, the list goes on and on...  Am I making your head spin yet? 

 

When stress gets the best of you, I find it very helpful to sing and dance your way through it.  You may find it common in my home for me to bust out a song or start dancing in the kitchen.  As I progress along this path of motherhood, I am finding new ways to relieve stress instead of resulting to yelling.  I hate yelling.  I hate when I yell. I ALWAYS regret it after it happens!  So when I am feeling the stresses of the holidays, my two remedies are:

1.  Belt out "Let It Go" at the top of my lungs and maybe add a twirl or a spin in with it!
2.  Break out in "Shake It Off" and let the stresses all shake off your body!

Try it, it works!  Don't get caught up in all the "to do's" of the holiday season, step back and remember why we celebrate December 25th, it is Christmas Day, the day Christ was born!

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  It is a special day to be with family and friends and count the multitude of blessings that God has given us for each year.  The amazing food is way to sit down and share time with others you love.  This year I am so thankful for my kids and husband.  They are my biggest cheerleaders in life and always forgive me and love me unconditionally. 

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving day and pray you are able to spend it with friends and family, and of course a wonderful meal!

Mud!

 

With three kids, a husband, and two dogs, the amount of laundry in my household is often overwhelming.  I probably average about 2-3 loads a day with a day off here and there.  It can be intimidating especially when you have towels and sheets to wash.  Laundry for a household of five is a daunting task!  We also live in Ohio, which means the change of seasons.  With the change of seasons, comes the heavy winter laundry.  A couple of sweatshirts and a few pairs of jeans, and you have one full load.  Granted, I do not have a high end front loading machine, I have do have a High Efficiency washer, but the normal top load model.

I think my boys (now 5 and 8) feel guilty when they bring me muddy clothes.  It means more laundry for Mom and isn’t she always hanging out in the laundry room anyways?  My response to them?  I do not mind muddy laundry.  I will do muddy laundry anytime of the day.  You know why?  Muddy laundry means my kids were outside playing and having a good time.  It means they were not stuck in the house (as we so often are in the cold months) playing videos games.  Truth be told, I LOVE muddy laundry.  It is part of parenthood, part of having boys, definitely part of having fun!  So whenever my boys come in the house with muddy knees and muddy sweatshirts, I gladly point them to the laundry room and tell them to leave their clothes in there.  Mom will take care of the muddy laundry, it doesn’t bother me at all.  Really. It. Does. Not!

Our Adventure With Pete the Cat

My 5 year old was so excited when he was the first one to be chosen in his kindergarten class to take home Pete the Cat.  Pete the Cat is from the popular children's book series by James Dean and so happens to be my son's kindergarten class pet.

Every weekend, one student gets to take home Pete the Cat and have an adventure with him.  We then have to take pictures and write a story about Pete the Cat's adventures in an album.  My son will also get to talk about Pete the Cat's adventures with our family in class.  Lucky for Pete the Cat, he just happened to go on an adventure to King's Island with our family!

 

Pete the Cat got to enjoy a ride on the bumper cars!

 

Pete the Cat also enjoyed some yummy pizza for lunch!

Sew Many Wishes!

 

My daughter got to try out this new design from Sew Many Wishes!  This cupcake dress has 3 different fabrics.  The top is multi-colored polka dots followed by a pink cupcake fabric, a brown cupcake fabric, and finally purple with white polka dots.  The top ties in the back with a white ribbon.

 

As you can see my daughter loved wearing her new cupcake dress and having Mom snap a couple of photos.  The quality at Sew Many Wishes is top notch!  I can see this dress lasting a long time in our house!

 

Sew Many Wishes also made a custom designed dress for my daughter's 1st birthday in 2013.  It was absolutely gorgeous and made her Hello Kitty themed party perfect!

 

 

Visit Sew Many Wishes on Etsy and Facebook and tell her Spend Less 2 Save More sent you!

First Day Back to School

Is it just me or does summer break move at lightning speed?  I remember the last day of school and all the plans we had for our LONG summer break.  Then it is August 1st, you blink and its the first day of school.  Granted, my kids did go back a few days earlier this year than normal, but really?  And of course, its like 90 degrees now (where were these temps the rest of the summer)?

This year marked another milestone, I now have two kids in school all day!  My other son started kindergarten!  A week later, it still seems odd that I have to wake both of them up and hustle them to the bus stop.  The house is A LOT quieter, however my little girl has adjusted just fine to getting all of Mom's or Dad's attention while her big brothers are off at school!

Here are some first day of school pics, I hope yours went as smoothly as ours did!

Kidecals

 

Kidecals personalized Waterproof Labels are great for the entire family. These personalized stickers are washing machine and dishwasher safe, making them great for clothes, water bottles and sports gear. Durable personalized labels for kids and adults of all ages. Great for school, daycare, camp, travel, and home. Better than the old iron on labels, these personalized stickers for kids are easy to apply and will stay stuck! With over 80 decal and label designs to meet trends and interests, there is a style of kids labels for everyone – even grownups!

Recently I was given the opportunity to try some Kidecals!  I ordered the Rainbow Dots with our name and address.  I chose the Mega Set which was $28 dollars and included 24 two inch labels and 48 one inch labels.  There is ALWAYS free shipping no matter how much you spend (can't beat that)! I received my order in less than a week, which was amazing customer service.  They came in a large heavy envelope so they were not folded or creased in any way!

Since it is back to school time and we all have to label everything, I used some of my labels on the kids backpacks and they stuck wonderfully.  The labels are really thick and I am fully anticipating them lasting the school year.  I will use some as return address labels and whatever else we need to label in our house.  When fall comes and I need to label coats, I will definitely be using my Kidecals because they are machine washable!

If you want to try Kidecals out, use discount code ilovelabels which will give you 15% off any Kidecals order!

Cedar Point!

It would not be summer in NE Ohio without a trip to the world famous Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio!  Having grown up in this area, it has always been a tradition for a yearly trip for me and my husband and we are keeping that tradition with our children.

 

 

I think my favorite part is watching our children ride the same rides we enjoyed as children.  Now I get to ride them with my kids as I had once had with my parents.  We know the park like the back of our hands which makes navigation a breeze, almost to the point where I am frustrated when we visit new amusement parks and I have to look at the map!

 

The shock to me this year was that the Magnum XL-200 was turning 25 years old!  I still vividly remember riding that coaster the first year it opened, how can it possibly be 25 years old?

 

And you cannot forget the Snoopy characters!  They are available to hug throughout the park.  Cedar Point is always clean, which is something I really appreciate in an amusement park.  Taking the kids there is an annual summer treat for our family!

My Baby Turns 2!

 

I cannot believe my baby is now officially two!  She is such a blessing to our family and the time as gone way too fast.  We had a Minnie Mouse birthday party for her.

 

I made the cake and this was my first time working with fondant.  I was quite pleased how it turned out, I will definitely try it again. 

 

 

Happy 2nd Birthday to my sweet, lovable baby girl!

Go Knock On The Neighbor’s Door

 

There has been a lot of buzz lately about this blog post by DadNCharge, regarding banishing the playdate.  I completely agree with his premise of these “organized play times”.  To understand where I am coming from, I have been and always will be a full-time working Mom.  My husband is home during the day since he teaches at night and online.  My kids never really had a lot of “playdates”.  There are times we meet some kids at the park or swimming pool from preschool or some school friends are invited over to play, but we have never engaged in regular, organized play times. 

My husband and I both grew up in neighborhoods where we had friends to play with daily.  They weren’t necessarily our “school friends” but they were friends we could play with on a fairly constant basis.  We believe in the “open door” policy, if you are home and your garage door is open, come be neighborly.  This means, come over and talk with us, bring your kids over to play, have a drink as we watch our kids ride bikes and play tag, anything like that.  We do not believe you need to “make an appointment” to get together and have the kids play.

We are extremely lucky to live in a neighborhood where several families hold the same premise to be true.  We constantly have impromptu cookouts, bonfires, glasses of wine, and while this is taking place the kids play in whoever’s yard this happens to commence in on that certain night.  As my boys are getting older (5 and 8 now), they are able to play with the neighborhood kids without their parents physically sitting and watching them.  This is when I encourage them to, “Go knock on the neighbor’s door.”

This past Sunday, my boys played all afternoon and evening with the neighborhood kids.  They came home for a quick dinner break and then went right back to playing with them.  None of this was preplanned, it all came about when a neighbor kid knocked on our door and asked to play.  It continued when after dinner my boys went down and knocked on this same neighbor kid’s door and asked to play.  I love this spontaneous play and giving kids the courage to build and develop relationships on their own.  The best part?  We know all the parents and I know they are a simple text message away to say, “hey the boys are down playing, you can send them home when you need to.”  I did not need to “entertain” my children for the entire afternoon; they did that by themselves by running and playing outside!

While I am sure there is a time and a place for playdates, there is also the need to teach our children to be independent young men and women who can be assertive and form their own friendships.  I believe this helps their social skills in the school setting and eventually in the workplace.  Finally, it gets kids out of the house and unplugged.  Yes my kids use electronic devices to entertain them, but a beautiful Sunday afternoon in the summer is NOT the time to sit inside and play on the iPad!

The impromptu Friday night kickball games have definitely been a highlight of this summer, even to the point of the adults playing along with the kids.  Go out and be neighborly; you have nothing to lose but to have some fun!

Starting Chores Early - Age Appropriate Chores

Ok, maybe not that early, but she loves to help me!

In my house, the children do perform chores and we do provide a weekly allowance for them.  This allows them to have some spending money, while contributing to the upkeep of our home.

During the summer (and Christmas break) we do a formal chore system in the house.  During the school year, we do not do formal chores, the kids just help out when asked.  The focus during the school year must be on school, homework, and reading. 

Our system is very simple, I have a piece of paper (one for each of my two children) which resembles a calendar with blocks for the days Monday - Friday.  Each day I write the chore they must complete for the day.  Once complete, they place a sticker in that block.  I find it either to write the chore the night before or the day of depending on what needs to be done that day. 

5 Year Old Chores Include:

• Picking up toys
• Cleaning his room
• Empty the bathroom garbage can
• Empty the recycles
• Put away clean clothes
• Empty dryer
• Make the bed
• Dust the furniture
• Clear the table and put dishes in sink

8 Year Old Chores Include:

• Vacuum the upstairs or downstairs
• Help mow the grass
• Take the garbage cans to the street
• Take out the kitchen garbage
• Load the dishwasher
• Fold and put away his clothes
• Change the sheets on his bed
• Do a load of laundry

What kind of chores do your kids do?