Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Pillsbury Party


Thanks to Pillsbury through Myblogspark.com, I was given the opportunity to host a "Pillsbury Party."

The party was suppose to be a potluck to try out all the recipes that Pillsbury.com offer, from Crescent Cranberry Wreaths,  to Spicy Chipotle Twists. 

But with the upcoming holiday season, instead of a party for us, I used the coupons to give back to the local VFW, and make cookies for everyone. Hopefully it will become a tradition for us!


We were able to make little tins full of cookies and treats for about 30 people! 

So to sum it all up, Thanks to Myblogspark.com and Pillsbury for the opportunity to give back!

“Disclosure: The Pillsbury product, information, food ideas, and online coupon link, have been provided by Pillsbury through MyBlogSpark.”

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Kai's Birthday Celebration Part 2

Day two was spent at Disney's California Adventure. We've never been there so we didn't have any expectations. 

We grabbed our pre-ordered picnic meals from the Sonora Terrace. For about 15 dollars a person we got a decent meal (which was really good, I've never had cold chicken before!). The meal also came with a bag, and a flashing bracelet for Kai. If that wasn't enough we got reserved passes for the World of Color show. 

The first ride we went on was California Soarin'. Kairi loved it, but it gave Aaron a headache. The layout of the park was very nice, there wasn't that much of a line on any of the rides so we enjoyed every single one that Kai was tall enough to get on.

Kai had no idea we had a birthday surprise for her here. We made reservations to have lunch at Ariel's Grotto. She got pretty angry waiting in line and us not answering her questions about what was inside of the grotto, but when our names were called, her eyes got real wide and smiled real big! Wish I got a picture of her reaction!

The concept of Ariel's Grotto, is you get a nice sit down meal, and "traveling princesses" stop by and spend a little time with your child. It started upstairs, and we moved down a spiral staircase, which at the bottom awaited Ariel. They took a few pictures that you were able to buy after the meal (for around 30 dollars).
I'll start by saying the food was amazing! Each princess spent a few minutes talking to Kairi, take a picture, and signed her book. She is still asking to go back to the place.
It was a nice surprise to see Mulan! Never seen her at a Disney park before.
It was a little spendy, but I believe it was worth it. It came with appetizers, salad, entree, and a desert. The meal kept us full until the next day! I would go back every time we are at California Adventure.

The rest of the day we spent at the pier, and riding the rides we didn't get to before lunch, and at the Bug's Life land. They were still constructing "Car's land" so hopefully we can go back to see it finished.

The best part of the park in my opinion is the World of Color show. It was simply amazing, we got really wet being up front but it was worth it. I don't understand why they put the scene where Mufasa dies which makes me instantly sad, but after a long day, the show was perfect!
Only thing I would change, is to dress warmly! It was really cold, and I had a hard time finding a jacket I liked at the park that wasn't a million dollars.
 Part 3 coming up soon! (that's if i get my butt into gear)

Friday, November 18, 2011

Giveaway: Cheerios Prize Pack (giveaway over)

Winner: Tiffany R. Congrats!
Now until the end of November, on specially marked Cheerios boxes, will feature a "Cheer Postcard." Teamed up with the USO, the Cheer Postcards offer everyone a chance to write a little message to military families. As a military wife I found it encouraging to get little messages when my husband was deployed and this was a great way to pay it forward to everyone. 

Thats not all, for every single Cheer Postcard the USO receives, Cheerios will donate 1 dollar. To get it started, Cheerios donated has donated $150,000. The USO is a very wonderful organization very close to my heart. 

The Cheer Postcard is a simple, and easy way to send a little "spark" into someone's day. 

In honor of the Cheer Campaign, I have a prize pack to give away! Just leave me a comment about anyone in your family that was military, or what you are thankful for this year, the giveaway will end on Monday, November 21! I'll announce the winner on this page when the contest ends.

Prize Pack Contents:
  • 1 Cheerios cereal bowl
  • 1 Cheerios cereal spoon
  • 1 cereal dispenser
  • 1 “Cheer” box of Cheerios

“Disclosure: Cheerios cereal, information, and giveaway have been provided by General Mills through MyBlogSpark.” 

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Kai's Birthday Celebration Part 1

Being bad parents, we told Kai that Disneyland was "broken." That bad guys came in one day, knocked it down, set the castle on fire and ripped the princesses dresses. They had to fix it before we could go there. We came up with the idea to take her to the beach instead of Disneyland (the beach was near Anaheim so she wouldn't wonder why we were driving for a while.) Straight from her gymnastics class we started on our 5 hour trip.

It was dark when we arrived at Costa Mesa, so we saved the beach for the next morning. Who would of thought it would be cold in California. Hence the reason we all had summer clothes. Kai always brings her jacket so she was prepared. 

The beach was fun, Kai picked up shells, played in the sand and got all dirty. We were just killing time till 3pm which was when they let everyone in for Mickey's Halloween Party. 

Thank the man above that it was super foggy in Anaheim. We drove right by Disneyland and Kai did not see a thing, didn't suspect anything either when we checked into the hotel. Which thanks to the staff didn't mention anything about it. The only problem was they had Disney pamplets everywhere but everything fell into place and she was clueless.

I'll let the video fill on what happened next:

This was not the reaction I anticipated, but it made me cry a little. She was so happy!

I don't think anything is better than seeing your child so happy. Still makes me happy to this day thinking about her reaction. After being let in, our first stop was to Bibbity Bobbity Boutique. It was right behind Sleeping Beauty's Castle and 1 of the Birthday Presents we had for her. 

Sarah our "Fairy Godmother in Training" was wonderful. She made Kai open up which was nice since she can be overly shy. Kai got the Crown Package which included a hairstyle, hair piece, nails, makeup and lots of glitter! 

After the reveal, she just kept staring in the mirror. I think she liked it. The hairstyle stayed intact for the whole trip. 

Mickey's Halloween Party was a blast, there was candy, no lines for any rides, and Kai got to meet her favorite princess:

It was a great start to a wonderful vacation for all of us. Stay tuned for part 2 and 3!

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Busy busy!

Well not that busy but enough to keep me away from blogging. Since my last update, my daughter turned 5!! We spent her birthday at the State Fair, she really enjoyed it.

I'm really glad they had such a big area full of rides for the little ones. She went on most of them, we should of got the unlimited pass so we wouldn't have to count the amount of tickets we had left. They had a card system which was neat, but made it hard to keep track of things. I think I like the actual ticket system better.

Kai had a blast riding all the rides , and having her dad there. She got her face painted and lots of treats at the fair.

The next few posts will be about our recent trip to Disneyland and California Adventure. I'm so lucky to have the opportunities to take my daughter all over the country. Since she's been born, we've been in: California, Arizona, Washington, Oregon, Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama and Kansas! Hopefully soon we can add a few more destinations. 

I'll post more tomorrow :) Got a few videos also!

Friday, October 21, 2011

Read-a-thon oct 2011

Hour 1
1)Where are you reading from today?  
Glendale, Arizona!


2)Three random facts about me… 
a) I just got back from Disneyland
b)my favorite food is the philly cheese steak
c) I collect postcards


3)How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours?  
Honestly, no pile this time just whatever I feel like reading out of all the books I've bought the last few months and haven't read.


4)Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon (i.e. number of books, number of pages, number of hours, or number of comments on blogs)?  
Hoping to finish as many books as I can! It would help with my goal of 200 books this year.


5)If you’re a veteran read-a-thoner, any advice for people doing this for the first time?  
Take breaks!


Hour 2


Mini Challenge: http://athomewithbooks.net/2011/10/character-photo-mini-challenge/


I'm currently reading The Hunger Games, and being lame and half asleep only thing I could think of was the birds I have on my wall. I'm not that far in so there wasn't much to go by, but my favorite part so far was Katniss memory of her father and how the mockingjay's would flock to him whenever he sung.


Hour 3


Mini Challenge: http://librariansbookreviews.blogspot.com/2011/10/read-thon-mini-challenge-book-puzzle.html


Guess the book :) :




might be a tad easy, but I'm falling asleep here -_-


Hour 4
More awake this hour since everyone else in the house is up, my daughter leaves in an hour with daddy to her dance class. Not participating in this hours mini challenge, figure I need to get caught up in the book!

Title of book(s) currently reading: The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
Number of books completed since I started: 0

Pages read since last update: 141
Running total of pages read since I started: 141
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 3
:00
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 3:00
Mini-challenges completed: 2


Hour 5
House is empty! It's daddy daughter time, so I'm left at home to read :)

Title of book(s) currently reading: The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
Number of books completed since I started: 0

Pages read since last update: 57
Running total of pages read since I started: 198
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 1
:00
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 4:00
Mini-challenges completed: 3


Hour 6
Yikes I fell asleep! -_-

Title of book(s) currently reading: The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
Number of books completed since I started: 0

Pages read since last update: 15
Running total of pages read since I started: 213
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 0:05

Running total of time spent reading since you started: 4:05
Mini-challenges completed: 3


Hour 7
Almost done with the book :)! And hubby is coming home with Arbys. Thank you to everyone that has commented so far its been a nice distraction to read.

Title of book(s) currently reading: The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
Number of books completed since I started: 0

Pages read since last update: 42
Running total of pages read since I started: 255
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 1:00

Running total of time spent reading since you started: 5:05
Mini-challenges completed: 4


Hour 8
I have to head to the grocery store in a few to get milk since we ran out :\.

Title of book(s) currently reading: The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
Number of books completed since I started: 0

Pages read since last update: 53
Running total of pages read since I started: 308
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 1:00

Running total of time spent reading since you started: 6:05
Mini-challenges completed: 4


Hour 9
taking a break :)

Title of book(s) currently reading: Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins
Number of books completed since I started: 1

Pages read since last update: 66
Running total of pages read since I started: 374
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 1:00

Running total of time spent reading since you started: 7:05
Mini-challenges completed: 4


Hour 10
break over! Back to finishing the hunger games trilogy

Title of book(s) currently reading: Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins
Number of books completed since I started: 1

Pages read since last update: 0
Running total of pages read since I started: 374
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 0

Running total of time spent reading since you started: 7:05
Mini-challenges completed: 4


Hour 11
Nothing new really to share, my chair is getting uncomfortable though. Thinking of throwing it out the window.

Title of book(s) currently reading: Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins
Number of books completed since I started: 1

Pages read since last update: 50
Running total of pages read since I started: 424
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 1:00

Running total of time spent reading since you started: 8:05
Mini-challenges completed: 5
 


Hour 12

nothing interesting to say, I may be getting old or Disneyland drained the life out of me.

Title of book(s) currently reading: Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins
Number of books completed since I started: 1

Pages read since last update: 66
Running total of pages read since I started: 490
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 1:00

Running total of time spent reading since you started: 9:05
Mini-challenges completed: 5


Hour 13

Have a random picture:
Mini Challenge: 
Mid-Event Survey:
1. What are you reading right now? Catching Fire
2. How many books have you read so far? 1

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? finishing this book and mockingjay
4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day? not at all, wish I could!
5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? A bunch, but that comes with being a wife and mom, just finish whatever they needed done, and get back to reading
6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? How fast this day is going
7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? Maybe not plan a vacation that ends the day before a read a thon
8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year? plan a day to myself somewhere like a hotel room where no one can bug me
9. Are you getting tired yet? wide awake now :)
10. Do you have any tips for other Readers or Cheerleaders, something you think is working well for you that others may not have discovered? Not really, just have plenty of snacks, take breaks, and sleep if you have to!
Title of book(s) currently reading: Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins
Number of books completed since I started: 1

Pages read since last update: 59
Running total of pages read since I started: 549
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 1:00

Running total of time spent reading since you started: 10:05
Mini-challenges completed: 5
 



Hour 14


Title of book(s) currently reading: Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins
Number of books completed since I started: 1

Pages read since last update: 53
Running total of pages read since I started: 602
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 1
:00
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 11:05
Mini-challenges completed: 5

Hour 15


Title of book(s) currently reading: Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins
Number of books completed since I started: 1

Pages read since last update: 45
Running total of pages read since I started: 647
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 1
:00
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 12:05
Mini-challenges completed: 5

Hour 16


Title of book(s) currently reading: Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins
Number of books completed since I started: 1

Pages read since last update: 53
Running total of pages read since I started: 700
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 1
:00
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 13:05
Mini-challenges completed: 5

Hour 17


Title of book(s) currently reading: Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins
Number of books completed since I started: 2

Pages read since last update: 67
Running total of pages read since I started: 767
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 1
:00
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 14:05
Mini-challenges completed: 5

***As of now I will not be updating every hour and will update at the end of the read a thon! I'm still active though! Just want to step away from the office***

HOUR 24!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
  1. Which hour was most daunting for you? The first few
  2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? I'm not sure
  3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? Not really I like it how it is!
  4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? reading a whole book series
  5. How many books did you read? 3
  6. What were the names of the books you read? The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay
  7. Which book did you enjoy most? The Hunger Games
  8. Which did you enjoy least? Catching Fire
  9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?
  10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? very likely, and reader :)

Title of book(s) currently reading: Mockingjay
Number of books completed since I started: 3

Pages read since last update: 390
Running total of pages read since I started: 1157
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 6
:00
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 20:05
Mini-challenges completed: 5

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Homecoming number 3? 4? I lost track

Today is the day! Heading to the Airport in a couple hours to go pick up Aaron. I should be sleeping!