Wordless Wednesday #11

MGM 2008

Birthday party help! Please!

Ok, so planning a childs birthday is not the easiest task at hand, well, you should try doing it over seas! There are 3 venues to hold a childs party total in my town, two of them are disgusting and out of the question and the third is booked by every kid in town, ridiculously expensive, and just boring after the 10th time you've been there for a party. There is no walmart, target, party city, etc ... So, even though my child's party isn't until February, I have to start planning now. First, I need to find a venue that is not already booked! Second, I need to know exactly what I've got to buy while I'm in the states over Christmas to bring back with me! So, my tentative theme is a pirate/princess party. I chose a double theme if you will because Audrey's school requires that if you invite one child in the class you invite them all, meaning no all girl parties! I think it's a stupid rule, but what can I do? Plus most of my friends have boys for some reason, we only have one other little girl in our playgroup, the rest are boys! So I'm looking at about 30-40 kids total plus both parents (in cyprus you don't just invite the kid you invite the whole family including brothers and sisters)! I was thinking about having the kids come dressed as princesses and pirates but I don't want people to not come because they don't have a costume, so maybe i'll just make princess crowns, and find some pirate hats while i'm in the states for the kids to wear instaed of the traditional birthday cone hat. What do you think? I was also trying to think about what to put inside a pinata? I don't want any candy or anything bad for the kids, so I thought about stickers/tattoos, crayons but what else could I put in there? I was also trying to come up with games and entertainment. So far I've got a treasure hunt, where they can find their "goodie bags" and the pinata (I'm thinking a pull string since they are so young). I think I need at least one other game if not two. Or I could get a facepainter and clown/magician ...The age range will be mostly between 3 and 4. What you y'all think? What should I do? Should I pick a different theme?

I got a web award!

This is unbelievable, I actually got a web award and she called me delightful!!!! I'm so grateful to Michelle http://eatsleepcreate-michelle.blogspot.com/2008/08/2-blog-awards-what-honor.html You made my day and made me feel so special! Thanks so much.

She gave me this award:


And now I'm supposed to pass it on to seven other people.
I'm really new to blogging but these are the 7 blogs I read the most!

Kelly @ http://busymamas.com/

Kim @ http://accidentalmommies.com/

Jessie @ http://mutheringheights.blogspot.com/

sara @ http://saralifeinwords.blogspot.com/

Renee @ http://babystam.blogspot.com/

Lisa @ http://crazyadventuresinparenting.blogspot.com/

Tiff @ http://www.three-peas.com/

Travel, Travel, Travel!

Well, the summer is almost over for us here and I was thinking back to all the travel we did this season! We started in Hamburg, Germany then on to Copenhagen Denmark, back to Hamburg and then on to the states! There were many highlights this summer, but I'll just give you a few of the quick highlights dealing with kids! If you are in Hamburg, Germany you absolutely must take your children to the Hagenbeck Tierpark, AKA the Hamburg zoo. This was an amazing experience! A must see is the ringtail lemur exhibit, because you will be part of the scenery! That's right you open this sliding warehouse type door and bam there are lemurs bouncing off thewalls, you, and your bags! It was awesome! Audrey thought that it was hysterical! The botanical gardens with their hugemongous childrens play area is also a must for the children!

She also loved feeding the elephants and the giraffes!
In Copenhagen, Audrey and I did the walking tour (me, by myself with a map walking and pushing the stroller) while Timothy was in conference. It was awesome! We were able to see all the "main" sites including the palaces with changing of the guard, the little mermaid statue, and the King's gardens. And, Audrey had a great time helping mommy read the map.

Finally, we made it stateside for two weeks with my parents at Sanibel Island, one of the most awesome family beach vacation spots in the U.S. It's secluded so the beaches are quiet and uncrowded! We went fishing, bike riding and shelling. After the break with my parents we drove to Atlanta to see my grandparents, where Audrey enjoyed a private tour of the aquarium. We then headed up to Tennessee to watch my sister compete for over 12k in Scholarship monies! She didn't win but she looked beauiful,performed awesome, and came home with $2700 for school! Then back to Florida for another 4 weeks of hanging with my mom and my sister, where we took Audrey for a special girls day only at MGM! She totally flipped for the new playhouse disney area!

For travel with a young child, this is my must have list ...

Ask for the baby cot on the plane if your child is under 12kilos. This is an arm saver even if the baby doesn't sleep! You still have a place to lay/sit the baby down for 2 seconds and give you two free hands to do whatever!

If you have to buy a seat for your 2+ child take an FAA approved carseat! This was awesome! Audrey was able to sleep comfortably and for a longer period of time than she had previously when she outgrew the cot and wasn't old enough for a seat.

Portable DVD player - This will keep the little one entertained for whatever part of the trip they are not sleeping!

A pacifier, - if your child does not use a pacifier than have some juice, water, a bottle, or succer or whatever handy for when the plane is taking off, landing, or experiencing turbulence. Audrey has never ever had a problem with her ears on a plane because I have always been ready with her pacifier or bottle. If this fails, remember that yawning is contagious, make sure your child is looking dead at you and give a nice big convincing fake yawn, this works I have used it several times!

A blanket, -the planes get cold and nothing is more comforting to your child than a familier "blankie" from home.

Rely on the cabin crew. You paid to be on the flight and for their services, many of them are mothers and will understand or empathisize with your situation. If you really really need to use the toilet and the baby is asleep, more than likely, they will sit in your seat while you relieve yourself and watch your child. Don't be afraid to ask for help, Don't be afraid to take your tray to the cabin crew when you are immediately finished eating. A few bad news stories still mean that 90+% of the cabin crew are friendly and willing to help!

Enjoy your trips and travel!

Stop the muffin madness

The crazy mommy bloggers over at MomDot blog, is hosting a contest to make the world a better place and to fight muffintop. Please come over and enter to win an amazing giveaway from Blush, where you can keep or pass along an awesome topless undershirt. They need 200 entries to get more shirts to give away, so come enter this worthwhile fashion cause. And while you are there, dont forget about the other awesome giveaways and new chat room.

Wordless Wednesday #10

What we did this weekend!

More Giveaways!

http://www.momdot.com/ and http://www.blooming-babies.com/ are giving a way a personalized stamp!

They are very nice and professional looking! Best of luck!

Wordless Wednesday #9

Ugly Jewelry

http://www.momdot.com/ is giving away some littlewindows jewelry to the person with the ugliest jewelry. So here is my entry. There's nothing like left over pageant jewelry! My goodness these earrings are big! So hear I am with my Miss America wave and my beautiful pageant earrings from my skinny days :D

And, of course, Audrey wanted in on fun ;D

Win a stroller ...

http://www.momdot.com/?p=466#comment-11174 Another great stroller giveaway. This time by momdot.com and strollermama! Check it out ladies!

Chic Shopper Chick is giving away a microlite stroller! I suggest you get on over there and try to win it! This looks like an awesome stroller, our combi is starting to show a little wear from all the planes, trains and Automobiles that it's been on. When we decide to have baby#2 I think this would be a great stroller to have. And,since we spent so much on the graco and the combi I don't see Darling hubby letting me buy another, so winning one is the only option :D

http://www.chicshopperchick.com/2008/08/micralite-fastfold-stroller-giveaway.html

Pet Allergies?!!?

A few days ago I posted about what I would do with the 3 puppies being offered for adoption by the wonderfuly ladies over at 5 minutes for Mom. Well, naturally I've been checking out the competition on all the comments and the Mr. Linky. I cannot tell you how my heart breaks for all the kids who are either allergic or have someone in their family who is allergic to pets! Well, I came from a family that always had pets, many pets and a house without a pet would just seem empty to me! So, today I am here to tell you all about my hypoallergenic cat, Barnie! Yes, you read right, Barnie is an allergen free cat! He is a purebred Russian Siberian and this breed of cat does not produce the allergen causing hormone. He's awesome, not only is he allergen free but this particular breed of cat are very large (small dog size), very fluffy and extremely cuddly! My husband's mother would never let him have a pet for I have no idea what reason. So 6 months before we got married I bought him his first kitten for Christmas. Well, a very long sad story later we had to put the kitten to sleep for health reasons. So, I was due to have our Audrey in 3 months time and I knew that having such a horrible experience with his first pet (My husband took it really really, extremely, tragically hard) that we had to get him a new kitten and fast. (The whole if you fall off the horse get right back on thing). So, this time rather than adopting a shelter cat I was going to a breeder for a full on health guarantee etc... Well, in all my reasearch I stumbled across an article on the russian siberian cats and it mentioned how they did not produce the allergenic dander and I thought to myself, what if our little girl who is due to arrive in 3 months happens to have allergies? So I did some more research, found a breeder and off we went to meet Barnie! I have to say his father Ivan sealed the deal. Ivan was the biggest bundle of love and fur I had ever seen. Not only was he easily the size of a small bulldog, he was not intimidated by the fact that there was only about an inch and a half of lap for him with my huge baby carrying belly. He popped right up in my lap and startedto purr and cuddle and I wanted to take him home right that instant, unfortunately Ivan was not available. So, then we were brought his son, soon to be Barnie. Now Barnie was fixed and not used for breeding so he is about half the size of his father Ivan but he is amazing. He is also an excellent "mouser". We don't have mice but anything that moves or crawls doesnt last long in our house. If i see a spider I don't get a shoe, I get Barnie. He can leap 4 ft into the air and catch a fly! So, I say if your kids want a bundle of fur to love, find a breeder and go do a test run, let your allergy stricken family member nuzzle one and see what happens. I have 3 close friends who visit often all with cat allergies, they have never had a problem cuddling Barnie.

The Great Unknown ... School

So my little Audrey is 2 and 6 months old this month. Come September 8th she will start school. When she was born I never thought I would send her to preschool until she was 3 almost 4. However, Audrey is VERY extroverted. She loves people and has no fear. She is always on average or above average when it comes to her develpmental skills especially language. I think that is mostly because she is getting two languages at home and because I have the luxury of being a fulltime mom. Anyway, my pediatrician has recommended that we put her in school. He says she needs it, and I'm inclined to agree. While my daughter is so excited about going to school I have fear, anxiety and trepidation with the impending start of a new chapter in her life. Here on the island we only had two choices. We can send her to one of the local village schools where they only speak greek and the facilities are government regulated or we could send her to the very pricey private schools that are available. Well, since my husband's company will pay for her schooling when she starts kindergarten we decided to front the costs for the private preschool til then. This is going to be one of my biggest challenges since moving abroad. She'll be learning on the English school system, which is "Greek" (hahaha) to me. As the "headmaster" was trying to explain the way it works to me I couldn't help but feel like a charlie brown character and he was the teacher .... It made absolutely no sense to me. Also, my daughter is required to wear a uniform. I'm adamently opposed to uniforms on any level of education except for inner city schools. However all schools on the island wear a uniform so the only way around that was to move or not go to school, neither of which were an option. I'm also worried that most of her classmates will be British or Russian and she is most likely to be the only American/German in class. I want my daughter to speak American English not the "Queen's" English. Not because I don't like the English (I could listen to Hugh Grant for hours :D) but because being so far from home it is a small partof her American heritage that I can pass on to her. I also don't want her self esteem effected negatively because she talks different. And, then of course I have all the other fears of what school will bring. Is she going to be Sick all the time? Can I manage without her for that long each day? What the heck do you pack in a preschooler's lunchbox? What should she have in her backpack? Is she going to be as happy as we think she will be? Is it the right choice to send her off to school so young? Is it worth the money? Will she get enough attention? Will she be bored? Will the teachers take good enough care of her, since I won't be there to see? Did I hem her skirt too short? Did I get her the right shoes for playing on the playground? Am I already "THAT" parent who causes the teachers/staff to run and hide when they see me coming? I know I must sound silly, but I know that is part of being a mommy too, right?

Wordless Wednesday #8

Puppies!

The lovely ladies at www.5minutesformom.com are having give aways all over the place! Today there are 3 lifesize puppies up for adoption from their store http://www.a-rocking-horse-to-love.com I would love to adopt these cute little guys! Audrey says she wants the german short hair and agree I think he is just adorable. I have several options for the other two dogs. I think I would either give one each to my sister and her roommate as guard dogs. They live on the Union university Campus that was destroyed by the tornados in TN this year and I can see that these two beautiful dogs would make them feel much better, and safer, especially since they aren't allowed to have pets on Campus. My sister still has nightmares about the buildings crashing down on them. The other option I have for the other two dogs is to take them to the rehab/nursing facility that my grandmother spent the last two years of her life in until she passed away in January. My mother spent every day there with her and really got to know the residents and staff very well. They were so kind to our family. My sister and I would perform concerts for them off and on and of course visit my grandmother everday when we were home. I can see these dogs bringing lots of joy as a sort of mascot for them! So anyway, I can assure these adorable little puppies very good homes if you choose us. Thanks again ladies for all the great giveaways! If you would like to adopt the puppies then follow the links above!

Summer fun photo contest

http://www.5minutesformom.com/ and The skinny cow (http://www.skinnycow.com/) are giving away $500 in their summer fun photo contest. I had a really hard time deciding which photo to use but I chose this one. It's from the fourth of July while my sister and I are trying to keep audrey entertained until the fireworks start. I love this photo for several reasons. Now that we are grown and not living under the same roof anymore I cherish the memories I make with my sister that much more. She is and always will be my best girl friend! I also love watching my sister and Audrey interact because I can see the same admiration for her in Audrey's eyes that I have in my heart. And, in the name of summer fun how many people have their most awesome magical summer memories from trying to pass the time until the fireworks started?