Wordless Wednesday - Santa 2012

A few weekends ago we decided to go see the Legendary Santa.  It was a very last minute decision, but we knew it would be the only time we would be able to go.  This whole school thing is really messing up our social calendar! ; )

So we dressed the kids up and headed to the Children's Museum to wait, and wait, and wait.  2.5 hrs to be exact, but the kids did awesome.  They did not complain once....even Troy waited patiently!

So after a wonderful 2.5 hr wait.....this is our $30 picture with Santa!

 

Am I upset?  Of course not.  I'll just put this picture next to O's first picture....

 

 

Because in our family, it's not a good picture with Santa unless someone loses a shoe!  You can't tell in B's picture, but she did indeed lose hers!

 

We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!

 

 

 





Wordless Wednesday - Our Christmas Cards

Here are our cards that we sent out this year....

 



 



I LOVE them!!   Troy and I took all the pictures two Sunday's ago in our neighborhood.  I ordered them from Card Store who stamped them and mailed them out for me.

I did have one little problem - the greeting at the bottom - did not print on the ones that were directly mailed.  I'm not sure why it didn't print - since it printed on the extras I sent to the house.  I sent Card Store an email at 9:30 pm, and they had responded already when I checked my email at 8 AM the next morning.  They didn't question it, they simply refunded my money 100%!  Now that is great customer service!

I understand that things happen, and I will definitely use them again in the future!  The cards themselves are wonderful quality!

Wordless Wednesday - Winner

So, this is what I won at my work Christmas party.....

Yep...an ipad - I am so excited.  This is what I was asking for for Christmas (and yes, I told Troy he could wrap it and give it to me then, but he said I could have it now!) and totally did not expect to get it, since I didn't really "need" it.

Of course, I won this on Friday, and have yet to open it, because I know once I do, I'll play with it for hours, and I have 5,8408478403574 to do first!  I'm thinking I will open it up tomorrow night or Friday, hopefully.

It's kinda funny that we won the "Grand Prize" since I've worked her for 14 year (15 in January) and have NEVER won at our Christmas party....we started keeping a tally and it took 8 years of not winning, before I won.  I was even strategic in my raffle tickets, I would make sure to enter the ones that only had a few tickets, and still, nothing!

Oh well, it was worth the 9 year wait!

Please link up below - and go enter to win a Thunderstruck Blu-Ray package - giveaway ends tonight!

Harlem Globetrotters Coming to a Town Near You

The Globetrotters play at the Richmond Coliseum, Dec. 31st, 2pm

Looking for an awesome event the whole family will enjoy? Get your tickets to the Harlem Globetrotters brand new "You Write the Rules" tour. Your family's smiles will start before you even get to the game as the Globetrotters take kid participation to a whole NEW level. Your family can vote at harlemglobetrotters.com and decide rules for the game that could affect the final outcome. With rules like double the points for every basket, and two balls in play at the same time, there's an exciting rule that every kid will enjoy. After the game, Globetrotter stars will stay on court to sign autographs and take photographs with your kids. The only thing better than finding an awesome event for the whole family, is getting a great deal on it. Use the promo code "USFAMILY" when you buy tickets for your family to save $7 on each ticket purchased*. Get ready to experience the show your family will remember for a lifetime!

 

 

You can get your tickets here and don't forget to use the promo code USFAMILY to save $7 on every ticket!

 

*Discount available on select seating levels

 

 Owen picked the best time to start basketball. We had his first practice last night, and well, he does need a lot of practice, but he had fun and he made 2 baskets and he can't wait to go back.

He will be so excited to find out that the Harlem Globetrotters are coming into Richmond 12/31. Unfortunately my husband and I both have to work (it's a 2pm tip off) but Owen's Papa said he would take him. I'm sure the two of them will have a blast!

Thunderstruck Combo Pack (Blu-Ray + DVD + Digital Download) Giveaway

This is coming out just in time for the debut of Owen's basketball season!  His first practice is tonight and I am seriously thinking about taking the video camera, because this could be extremely funny!!  I did play basketball one year in high school, and well, I was horrible.  I'm not afraid to admit it.  I only made the team because of my athletic ability, my speed, oh and we needed a few more players!! ; )

O loves all his family sports movies, The Mighty Ducks, The Sandlot, Rookie of the Year, and the list goes on!

Warner Bros. is proud to announce the release of Thunderstruck on DVD and Blu-ray December 4th 2012, along with the Thunderstruck Blog App!

NBA superstar Kevin Durant plays himself in this action-packed family film about a basketball star who switches talent with a klutzy 16-year-old fan. When Brian (Taylor Gray) magically switches basketball skills with his hero, Kevin Durant, he becomes the star of his high school team... while Kevin Durant suddenly can’t make a shot to save his life! But with the playoffs approaching, Brian learns that being a true winner means working hard at your own game, and he tries to make things right in time to prevent a catastrophic end to his hero’s season.

WHY You will love the Thunderstruck Blog App:

• Free-Throw Challenge Game! Are you up for a Free-Throw Challenge? Show us your skills! Make as many baskets as you can and unlock special clips along the way!

• 7 Thunder-ific Tips for Kids! Does your kid dream of going pro? Use these awesome tips to help them sharpen up their skills! “Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.”- Kevin Durant.

• Get Social! Tweet with the #ThunderstruckBluRay hashtag to get you revved up for the release of this action-packed family film.

The prize will be sent via FedEx or UPS. No P.O. Boxes please, US ONLY and ends 12/12.  The winner will be contacted via email and has 24 hrs to respond or a new winner will be chosen.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I am working with Warner Bros. who supplied the information and prize listed in this post.

 

Wordless Wednesday - Oh Christmas Tree

Owen couldn't wait to put up the Christmas trees (yes, that is plural, we have 4, but 3 of them are smaller)...he kept asking each morning...do you think we could just start tonight?  He was finally able to convince us to start the Tuesday right before Thanksgiving.  He was so cute...we kept telling him that we had to wait until Thanksgiving and he very seriously replied " Why did they have to put Thanksgiving so close to Christmas?  It's really messing up my decorating!"

He was very into his tree decorating...he put up and decorated his own tree all by himself and was so proud!

The next morning, he woke up and decorated our main tree downstairs.  Brynnleigh pretended to help. 

At one point I noticed that he had two very similar ornaments side by side on the tree.  I moved on a bit so they wouldn't be so close and the following conversation took place:

Owen - "Mom, are you moving my oinaments?"
Me - "Yes, honey, they were a bit too close to each other"
Owen - "So, what's wrong with that?"
Me - "Well I was afraid they would get made at each other because they were kinda in the same space, I didn't want them to get jealous"
Owen - "Oh, it's okay Mama, they are best friends, they have the same mouth."

So needless to say, they are back to being beside each other!

Later that weekend I tried my hand at making Brynnleigh a tutu, or "pwincess skirt" as she calls it.  I used too much white, but she loved it, and that's all that matters.  (now I need to go find her a shirt to wear with it...somehow all of our Christmas shirts are pink!)

We have always had an artificial tree, but I would love to start getting a real one.  Come over to the FB page and discuss the pros and cons of real vs. artificial!

We hope everyone else is having fun decorating their house for the holidays!

KEEN - Kids Enjoy Exercise Now

I have a very good friend who is the Executive Director for KEEN (Kids Enjoy Exercise Now).

"KEEN is a national, nonprofit volunteer-led organization that provides one-to-one recreational opportunities for children and young adults with developmental and physical disabilities at no cost to their families and caregivers. KEEN's mission is to foster the self-esteem, confidence, skills and talents of its athletes through non-competitive activities, allowing young people facing even the most significant challenges to meet their individual goals."

This girl is awesome.  She's even a great singer...she sang at our wedding (which everyone thought was a CD, not a live singer) and even belted out a few National Anthems here and there.

After reading her story (which I'm not sure how I missed this until now) I feel like I too should get up and go do something.  I LOVE to help others, and love to see kids get excited at their own personal accomplishments.

I can't physically help KEEN at this time, but I can help by voting in the Eagle Rare Life Honor Award and Contest.  Seven out of the top 20 stories will win a prize for their charity:

The Grand Prize

• $30,000 donated by Eagle Rare in his/her name to the charity of his/her choice.
• Eagle Rare will also host a local award reception for the Grand Prize award winner.

Runners Up

• Eagle Rare will also donate $3,000 to the other 6 finalists charities' of choice in their name.

If you know someone who leads a Rare life, click here to submit their story. For more information, please watch the video below or read our terms and conditions.

 

So please, read Maggie's story and vote HERE to help make the difference in a kids life!