girlymama

wearenotgettingapuppy, weareNOTgettingapuppy

On Sunday, we went to the pet store to begin researching different pet possibilities for the kiddos.

We were thinking maybe a gerbil, but then I saw the gerbils. Did you know how much gerbils look like rats? Neither did I. So we're not getting one of those. We have mouse traps set up in our house to get RID of mice, so WHY would we buy one AS A PET? YUCK!

Humm... maybe a rabbit?

ANYWAY, then I saw the cutest puppy in the entire universe. It was a Cockapoo and looked like this, only much, much cuter:

I fell in love. But I've always said that we weren't going to get a dog until the kids were much older. But he was SO CUTE!!! SO SUPER STINKIN' CUTE!!!

So I put out this tweet: 

totally fell in love with a puppy yesterday. please remind me why I do NOT want a dog. like NOW!!

And boy did I get some answers:

• "the carpet always smells. the doors all have scratch marks. hair everywhere. enough?"
• "It's taken me three days to find and pick up all the dog poop in my back yard that was hidden under three months worth of snow."
• "Cause it's like having another baby. Except babies wear diapers."
• "poop poop poop poop poop poop poop poop poop poop poop poop poop poop poop poop poop poop poop poop"
• "walks at odd hrs, cleaning up poops, scratched floors, jumping on U & yr guests, poop in the back yard (I can keep going)"
• "Vet bills. Walks. Dog breath. Buying dog food. Another reason vacations are challenging... (I love my dog, I swear!)"
• "dog takes off after cat leaving muddy paw marks on the cream carpet after you have just spent 5 minutes cleaning off the dog's paws..."
• "At one point, it will lick one of your children. They will lick it back."
• "B/c to really be a part of the fam they need to be inside. THE MESS, oh the extra mess dogs create! 3 kids' worth of mess."
• "It is like having a newborn, gotta potty train every hour or two, even in the middle of the night."

and my favorite....
• "Steamy poop in little plastic bags you have to carry through neighborhoods. Ew."

You guys are LIFESAVERS!! WE ARE SO NOT GETTING A PUPPY!!

simply playing

Despite all of the high-tech toys and video games, its  simple, classic toys  my kids love the best.

even the container is fun to play with!

a taste of summer in the middle of winter

This weekend, we took a little family retreat. We needed one, believe me! Life has been so crazy lately. Since we returned from Disney two weeks ago, we've all been sick, my husband has been traveling, we've had EVEN MORE snow and our house has been annoying the heck out of us (what with the furnace not working and needing a new oil tank and all). Needless to say, we needed to recharge.

We headed up to Greek Peak Mountain Resort in Cortland, NY. Just what we needed.

We had such a fantastic time! I've never been to a indoor water park before and wasn't sure what to expect, but it was really nice! The kids had a blast swimming. And they even tried tubing. (And, boy, did they sleep well. Holy cow, they were exhausted! It was awesome!) And it was so nice to go somewhere that was warm... even if it was inside ;-)

Colin was totally hysterical! He has zero sense of self-preservation and just throws himself into the water. He was seriously depressed that he could not go on the gigantic slide with Daddy. And he loved the small kiddie pool with a tiny slide (which he went down face first, of course)!

 Gracie was the biggest surprise of the weekend. Our normally timid little girl loved the waterslides! She was barely tall enough to go on them and once she did, it was all she wanted to do. Even if I was on the other side of the waterpark with Colin, I could tell when she went down the slide... she screamed the whole way down. Ellie and Gracie both loved the pools that went outside.

And the girls LOVED tubing with Daddy! (Mommy stayed in the room while Colin rested. Sitting by the fire. Sipping a hot cup of coffee and reading a book. Awesome.) I even got treated to a massage Saturday. It was fabulous!

I highly recommend running away from home!!

disclosure: greek peak provided our family with a room for the weekend. i was not compensated financially for this post. a review coming soon to girlymama reviews.

disney social media moms celebration: day two

Thursday morning, all of us moms were up bright and early to catch the bus to Epcot for breakfast.  I met some fabulous 'Disney moms': JL, Jennifer, Jackie, and more delightful ladies than I can remember!  While we were enjoying a yummy breakfast, we listened to a fabulous presentation by Guy Kawasaki. He was so real and funny as he gave us tons of tips on how to harness the power of Twitter for our sites... such great information that was  especially appreciated by us busy moms who are always trying to make the most of our time!

Then came one of the highlights:  Disney’s involvement in the conference was to share about Disney’s Give A Day, Get a Day program. Already, 600,000 volunteers have signed up and completed the program to date - but Disney's goal is to get to one million volunteers. The entire day's events focused on honoring those who have volunteered, spotlighting volunteer opportunities and encouraging people to continue to give. It was inspiring! 

And, boy, was the audience surprised when Ty Pennington from Extreme Makeover: Home Edition  made an appearance and had the audience to shout with him “move those balloons!” to reveal the  world’s largest canned food sculpture–more than 115,000 cans.   (Later that day there was a volunteer event to pack all the canned food into boxes for distribution to food shelters.) Can you believe I forgot my camera for this morning? Of all mornings! Like I'm going to run into Ty Pennington again someday. UGH!!

After the presentation, my family and I headed over to the Princess Storybook Dining at Norway's Akershus. We've never been to any character meal at Disney and it was everything I'd heard! This was the highlight of the trip for Gracie, so for me it was worth every penny. We met Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Ariel, Belle and Cinderella:

I was worried the kids wouldn't really enjoy Epcot after our day at Magic Kingdom, but they had a blast. Disney has done a great job of providing fun activities throughout the park. They loved walking through World Showcase (where we saw tons of characters: Aladdin, Jasmine, Mulan, and Mary Poppins to name just a few). The girls were crazy about Test Track and rode it twice. But the highlight for the entire family was when Colin got to see Nemo! The Seas with Nemo and Friends ride is totally amazing... I was blown away. SUCH a cool ride! We rode it three times, I think. I wish it had been around when Ellie was 2 and totally obsessed with all things Nemo.  Colin was squealing with excitement the entire time. I'll never forget it!

Later that evening, we were treated to yet another surprise: an amazing dinner prepared by Chef Robert Irvine and his crew from Food Network's Dinner Impossible. Thursday night’s event was held outside and it was cold, but Disney staff was handing out hand warmers and had outdoor heaters to help kept us warm. We parked ourselves next to a heater at a table with Mandy's adorable family and enjoyed the food that was inspired by the Disney Princesses!  I loved the seafood shepherd’s pie while Gracie and Colin inhaled the chicken lo mein: I  can’t wait to see the show when it airs on Food Network in the spring!  
After dinner we were treated to a concert by a new band, Allstar Weekend (winners of Disney’s Next Big Thing contest), then  Joe Jonas and Demi Lovato took the stage.  The night ended with a fabulous fireworks display. This was my girls first concert experience and they were totally into it! They were waving their glow sticks and dancing around with their arms in the air... they were so cute they even got up on the big screen :-) It was a fantastic night and a terrific party. I love how Disney pulled out all the stops to honor the volunteers!

Disclaimer: I paid a fee to attend this conference, but as an attendee I received complimentary items, special discounts, and other exciting benefits such as food and entertainment, so my family and I could experience the magic of Walt Disney World.

i've been bursting to tell you this...

My brother got engaged on Valentine's Day!!!

We're so super excited. His fiancee is already part of the family and now its officially official for real. We have another wedding on the horizon! (Deep breaths, Mom-who-is-still-looking-for-a-dress-to-the-first-wedding! We've time to shop!)

The girls are beyond thrilled and we're running around their room screaming when they told them - so super cute! Husband and I are so happy for them and now I just need to see them in person to deliver hugs (for my brother) and jumping-up-and-down-while-screaming-and-crying (for his fiancee).

If you can, click on over to my future sister's blog and tell her congrats!

quick disney social media moms recap!

Yesterday we  returned from 5 fun-filled days at the Walt Disney World Resort, where I had the privilege of attending the Disney Social Media Moms Conference (#DisneySMMoms).   

I've been to many a bloggy event and I must say, this was the event to end all events. It was not only tons of fun, but it was also intimate, very well-organized, offered inspiring and informative speakers and it included my whole family. There is no way to cut down all that we did into a post that is less than 5 pages long, so here are just a few quick highlights...

• the Disney touch: When I say this conference was well-organized, I am not kidding. They thought of everything. Events started and ended right on schedule, buses were waiting to take us directly back and forth to the hotel and they were handing out umbrellas when it rained. Even little details, like the media fast pass or the activities for the kids during meals or serving the kiddos hot chocolate at a chilly outdoor event or handing out hand warmers at the evening concert... Disney does it right and this conference was no different!
• the speakers: I don't know who was in charge of lining up speakers for this conference, but who ever you are, you did a fantastic job. Maxine Clark, the founder and CEO of Build-A-Bear was inspired us to chase our dreams, Tony award winner Marissa Winokur encouraged us to find humor in balancing work and motherhood, Kathy Ireland challenged us to never give up and find our passion. Guy Kawasaki gave us tips on how to harness the power of Twitter for our sites while Chris Brogan gave us some common sense advice on marketing -- both were terrific for busy moms who are always trying to make the most of our time!
• the people: I got to see many old friends and meet some fabulous new bloggers! I could not even list all the terrific people I met even if I tried. I loved hanging out with Colleen from Classy Mommy and Whitney from Mommies with Style (my Philly girls!) It was great to see Audrey from Mom Generations again and Danielle from Extraordinary Mommy was so lovely. It was a diverse group of moms (with a few dads thrown in :-) and they were such a great bunch. People were so friendly and genuine - it really made the conference for me!
• my family: This was the first conference that I've seen that included my entire family. Like most other moms, my main struggle in attending conferences and events is arranging childcare. So to be able to bring them along was perfect. It was such an amazing event and being able to share the magic with my husband and children was priceless. Plus, it was great to meet everyone else's kids! As Mommy bloggers, so many of us write about our kids every day, so it was fun to meet the stars of all the blogs I read :-)

There's so much more to share... but it will take a while it get it all down! I'll be posting more soon!

you're invited!!

Tomorrow night I will be hosting my very first Twitter Party!! And you're invited!!

Its Ubisoft’s Style Lab Games – Week of Style

Date: Wednesday, December 9
Time: 9-10pm
Host: @girlymamamel
Sponsor: Ubisoft
Location: #games4girls
RSVP by entering the link to your Twitter ID so we can follow you. 

I'm so excited to be partnering with Ubisoft to bring you this fun evening of fashion, make-up and games for girls!! We wants to know the thoughts, concerns and memorable moments that mom’s experience with their daughters (and in their own childhood) around style firsts. During our discussion, I will be giving away some fabulous prize packs with Style Lab: Makeover and Style Lab: Jewelry Design!

The Twitter party hashtag will be #games4girls. Any Twitter user who uses that hashtag during my party time (9-10 Eastern) – either to answer a question, retweet their favorite questions or retweet - their favorite answers will be eligible to win. 

We just love the Style Lab games in our house -- they are favorites of my two girls! I hope you can join me for some fun fashion talk and fabulous prizes!

disclosure: party prizes are provided by ubisoft. i also received copies of style lab: jewelry design and style lab: makeover to review.

happy birthday to my baby brother

you are loved.

 

h1n1 vaccine - finally decided

Yesterday afternoon, Ellie got her H1N1 vaccination. After much debate, we decided to just do it. We read all sorts of things, and it seemed like there are risks either way. Its been getting closer to home - we've been hearing about more and more people being diagnosed around us - and having a baby in the house, we decided to be cautious.

Ellie's vaccine was the easy one -  it was through the public school. Getting the other kids their vaccines will be rough. I've heard rumors about people waiting in 4 to 5 hour lines.

Have you heard anything like this? What is it like where you are?

adventures in boyland

after having two little girls and living in pink princessland,
i am learning about the world of the boys!!!
the thomas trains, the cars, the growling, the wrestling... love it.
just love it.

(not that he doesn't play with the occasional princess or feather boa.)

what did you learn this week?