And Then Just Like That...It's Over.

Vacation is just never long enough, is it?

Best.Sunset.EVER.

The Beach (So Far)

Running with bird.

Running from bird.

Bird.

Fun.



Family.



The Final Launch: The End of Kids' Dreams?

I am so sad about Friday's final launch of the Shuttle Atlantis because of that giant helmet head right there.

When I heard last year they were canceling the manned shuttle program, I was crushed. Not for me, (although I grew up with the shuttles. A shuttle welcomed me to Florida once.)

But for my sons, who are astronauts every day!

Now, the news (I guess) is a little brighter; the shuttles themselves are retiring, but apparently the space program is not (NASA explains what's next for the shuttle).

So as the final launch is upon us and as someone who lives within viewing distance of the shuttle on the opposite coast of Florida, I worry.

Not just about what's next for the space program and the future of space travel, but even more importantly than that, what's next for my five-year-old's dreams? Or dreams of all our kids, for that matter?

Because who doesn't want to be an astronaut at some point in their lives?

Even I did! (After watching Space Camp, of course!)

I didn't become one. But I could have! (Right?) Perhaps not. But at the time, no one told me I couldn't and I'm thankful for that.

Budget, schumdget, I want to tell my son he can be an astronaut if he wants to be and I wanna mean it.

Because when he parades around in his awesome space outfit complete with giant talking helmet dreaming of walking on the moon, there was once a day where I could tell him, "Anything's possible honey!"

At least with actual shuttles, there was a one-in-one-million-bazillion chance of becoming an astronaut, but what are the chances now? Someone's gotta be that one. Whether it's mine or yours or some little boy in Montana, it should be someone.

Shouldn't it?

Are all hopes dashed?

Perhaps I can still tell him anything's possible while secretly hoping that they'll come up with a new spaceship within his lifetime. I mean, 2030 is still within his lifetime. Heck, maybe he could design the next spaceship. Anything's possible, right?

Or at least, when the space shuttles lifted off, it always felt like anything was possible.

I think that was the real beauty of the space program and space travel as a whole.

It felt like anything was possible.

It was the stuff dreams were made of.

And canceling or postponing the space program is like canceling or postponing our little people's dreams. I know today's astronauts feel this pain, I mean where would they be without these very dreams?
Whether it would be true that he would fulfill his destiny of being an astronaut or whether the dream would eventually morph into "baseball player" or "chemist" or "garbage man" (like my 3 year old), I'm ok with whatever. I am just another parent sitting here, wanting the universe for her son.

Aren't we all?

Lord Vader On Whirlwind Autograph Tour

Menacing

We have one autograph in our Disney autograph books and it's not Mickey. It's not Minnie. Not Donald, Daisy, Goofy, Pluto, Cinderella, Woody, Buzz, any of the Einsteins (am I missing anyone?)

No.

It's Darth Vader.

It seems a little weird to have Darth Vader on the first page of our little Mickey autograph books, even before Mickey himself, but it was Star Wars weekend at Hollywood Studios and all the characters were out.

Menacing

And it was no big deal to see the other characters signing autographs, but honestly I couldn't help laughing at Darth Vader, all tall and menacing in his dark cloak with his scary heavy breathing and all, standing there signing Mickey and Princess books.


Not Menacing

There was just something about it, I can't put my finger on it. He spent the day being both menacing and not menacing.

It was confusing!

Next you're gonna tell me he's starring on a Disney on Ice show.

Wait.

He really is starring in Disney on Ice?

Oh, whew. You scared me.

For a second I pictured Darth Vader skating around in his long black skirt all flowy and whatnot and I think any menace, force or authority he has in the universe would be promptly removed by the skates themselves and perhaps the triple sow cow in the choreography. Unless of course the Emperor got a final say on the choreography and struck any triple toe loops out of the program.

I know it's super exciting for the kids to wait in line for an hour to get Darth Vader's autograph but I wish there was a more menacing delivery for the autograph. Like perhaps ordering a Storm Trooper to do it after he gave them the "force hand claw" thing or something.

That might be cool.


Not really menacing but acceptable

Because honestly, Darth Vader, how can we take you seriously after this?

This is just silly.

(ps. There is a pretty interesting Caption Contest going on with the above picture  at my Facebook page. Sorry, no actual winner, just a lot of funny answers.)

PreSchool Graduation. Sort of.

Preschool is done.

I know, I know, I mentioned this already. But it's a really big deal!

And we were in a little quandary on the last day of school. Somewhere along the way he got it in his head that he was having a graduation ceremony. But we're at a Montessori school and they don't graduate preschoolers, they graduate the kindergartners because his class is pre-k-through-kindergarten and the kindergartners are the ones who move up.

So he was sort of bummed about not having a graduation ceremony. We are moving to a traditional kindergarten next year (aka public) so this is the end of the line for Montessori preschool for him, so we decided to have our own graduation at home! Cap and gown and Pomp and Circumstance and paparrazi and diploma and everything! (Thank goodness for the dollar store and the party store for making this all possible! They make really cute kid-sized gowns! Hurrah!)

I'm a total dork. I know. Yes I videotaped the whole thing.


But he played the part well! He even did the "slow walk" and got the handshake!

And he felt really special about his "hat."

So special that he wore it out to Preschool Graduation ice cream which was really cute.

So I guess that's one graduation down. Two more to go (hopefully) for him and not for quite a while.

And thank goodness. That gives me some time to prepare.

Guess the Pancake Shape (A giveaway post)

Sunday mornings have become a customary training day for me where I can get a long bike ride in or a long run (or both) with my training group (the Palm Harbor Tri Warriors).

What I love about it most though is the tradition that was born through my absence that my husband and boys have started, and that's "Pancake Sunday!"

Usually Pancake Sunday is over by the time I get home (boooooo) but I know they enjoy this time together and it's even more special because my husband cooks up shapes for them.

The latest one was pretty elaborate and specific (and creative!) so I thought I'd play a little game here of Guess the Pancake Shape!

So what do you think this one is?



How bout this one?


Yes I even have something in it for you!

Two randomly selected winners will receive a prize:

Prize #1: Free diapers! Winner will receive a coupon for free LUVS diapers, any size, jumbo pack! Woohoo! Diapers!  

Prize #2: This:
(One side)

(The other side)

The first winner will get to pick! Winners will be randomly selected from comments but I will publish the ones that make me laugh the most!

The contest will end at the end of Memorial Day on Monday night (12 a.m. Tuesday). I'll announce the winner on Tuesday!

Disclosure: Giveaway is just because. No reason. No one gave me anything for it. The end.

FRESH: The Cereal Bar (AKA Happy Hour for Kids.)

This is how you get 23 preschoolers to sit still in a restaurant. (Feel free to click on the picture to get a better look.)

Yes.

It is a wall of cereal.

And up top, there are cartoons.

You must be thinking, "How do I get me to one of these?"

It is that cool.

I want to briefly explain that in this rare instance of sugarycerealoverflow, for a brief two hours of time on this day, I removed my normal "mom" "health" "cautious" consciousness from my body and allowed my inner 5 year old to occupy this space. Because I can only imagine what 5 year old "me" would have thought when I walked into a place with a giant wall of cereal and cartoons playing on a giant television or two. I allowed myself to feel that for this day.

We went to the Glazer Children's Museum but this was the real star of the show: a restaurant called, "Fresh," in downtown Tampa.

Don't get me wrong, the children's museum was awesome and fun, but this place had a soda fountain with cream soda and black cherry soda!

I don't even remember the last time I had cream soda! Much less from a fountain!

Walking into this place was like walking into some magical cereal wonderland. The look on the children's faces when they saw the cereal wall was a look of absolute incomprehension. You could almost see the wheels turning.

Oh, a restaurant. (Looks at shoes.)

Wait. What? (Looks of wonderment.)

What is that up there? (Looks of disbelief)

Is that Fruit Loops? Is that Cocoa Puffs? Is this every type of cereal my parents won't let me have, all in one place on one wall? (Looks of astonishment)

(Am I allowed to have it?) (Looks of helpless plea-ing)

Then, the turn to mom for confirmation.

And then the mom, nodding yes.

(Looks of absolute joy and glee and overwhelming unmatched happiness!!!)

Every kind of cereal you could think of going across the wall along with two huge tvs up on top of that lovely wall that the lovely folks at Fresh turned to the Cartoon Network.

Being a class of 20-something preschool and kindergarten kids between ages 4-6 in a restaurant got us some looks from the business crowd, and yes, there was a large business crowd (the mayor of Tampa was even in there) but, I couldn't help but wonder, there is a CEREAL BAR here, how is it that WE are the weird ones?!

To Fresh's credit, the restaurant is actually a magical wonderland of paninis and salads too, I mean, every sort of pressed panini you can think of.  I had some delicious fresh mozzerella, tomato, pressed grilled melty fabulousness but I had a hard time deciding between the lovely sandwiches and the ginormous salads of love.

However, I was also really blown away by the fact that I could actually order without madness ensuing. My 5 year old was happily chomping away at his vat of cereal in a box while I had time to order, get my cream soda, actually finish my sandwich AND have an actual conversation with another parent and go get some more cream soda to go.

Now I tried to keep my mouth shut on the fact that I caught them filling up the Fruit Loops with fakey fruit rings and to be perfectly honest the fruit rings don't bother me, I just don't want to KNOW that they're fruit rings, so if they could just fill it up in the back and leave my ignorance to its bliss so as to leave the magic enchanted cereal forest unfettered and untainted, I'd sure appreciate that. Now if they could just send the mind eraser over...

Anyways, I know that this may not be the first time you've ever heard of a place like this, but it is for me!

And it was nothing short of kid/parent heaven.

(Yes, I know, I know, cereal for lunch, sugar, la la la la la not healthy, what.ever.)

This was CEREAL ON A WALL, PEOPLE!

You gotta live sometime!

And to my 5 year old whose choices are usually Cheerios, Rice Krispies or Oatmeal, that was just about the coolest thing ever.

Go to there if you get a chance.

It is way cheaper than Disney World and it yields the exact same effect.

Planning a Mad Scientist Party!!! The Best Party to Plan Ever! Part I

So you want to plan a Mad Scientist birthday party?!

I'm so excited I got to do this. My 5 year old is a science freak and to be honest with you, most kids ages 4 and up are. I mean who doesn't love stuff that fizzes, bounces, foams and shoots into the sky?!

I came across this theme unexpectedly. I was at a loss for a theme for this party and I love throwing themed parties. I have done Elmo Music, Race Car, Jungle, Cowboy, and Firefighter (email me if you are interested in any of these, I will post be posting about them too!)

I was leaning toward "astronaut" because we just saw the Discovery shuttle launch or "pirate" because a treasure hunt would have been fun, but then I came across this: Mad Science Tampa Bay, a company that brings the experiments to YOU!

Now, I lucked out here on this because I didn't have to come up with my own experiements but the good thing is that Mad Science has locations all across the world  (Click HERE to find a location near you!) not just here in Tampa Bay. There are two locations in Tampa Bay, by the way, one that serves the Tampa area and one that serves Pinellas. And both of them are super accomodating. Sidenote: I had to change my party date pretty quickly because of my trip to LA that popped up but not only did the St. Pete branch quickly accomodate me, the Tampa location was willing to if St. Pete couldn't, so they are all really nice and accomodating.

My favorite thing about this though was that you could hold the party at any location (for me it was at Safety Harbor City Park which is free to residents), have a huge guest list and the price is very affordable (unlike bouncy house places that allow for 15 kids and it costs hundreds of dollars without food.)

Now, the party itself was affordable, but darn it if I could keep myself from spending time on money on cool decorations, which I couldn't help myself! Also note: clearly think out the guest list (class? no class?) because honestly, this turned out to be such a cool theme that parents didn't want to pass it up, so if you invite them, THEY WILL COME. The good part though is that it almost doesn't matter how many people you have because the rates are so reasonable, however it might matter when it comes to food and favors. Just a thought.



So I will start first with the invitations and decorations.

Invitations

I used clipart basically and some wording I found online and put it together in Photoshop. I took one copy to Kinkos and copied it onto fun green paper and used green, blue and red envelopes.


Decorations

For decorations, I found a lot of cool ideas online. First I made a Mad Scientist Hall of Fame.

I printed out pictures of famous mad scientists (Dr. Doofenschmirtz and Dr. Evil were my favorites) but also there was Doc from Back to the Future, Dr. Frankenstein, and I had two pictures of my kids from a children's museum where they were mixing "chemicals" i.e. colored water and I used those too. I printed them out as 8 x 10's in black and white (to save ink) except for Dr. Doofenschmirtz who deserved to be in color, and I took them to Kinkos and laminated them for $2 each. I hung up a piece of string and used a clothes pin to hang them.

I also found these at the dollar store. Sweet!

I bought a cylinder set and test tubes from an educational store in Tampa (a SUPER STORE, ACTUALLY called "Lakeshore Learning"!) and filled them all with colored water. I bought dry ice which was only $1.50 a pound at my local grocery store and put dry ice chips in them to make an experiment display.

I have never used dry ice before. Have you? The only thing is, it melts pretty quickly. So you have to keep putting ice chips in it. Which was fine because it looked.REALLY.COOL. But I kept having to replenish it which was sort of annoying. I probably should have used big chunks and less water, so you can learn from me!

I found signs at the party store, they were joke signs that said "quarantine," "toxic waste," and things like that, but we had to black out some of the wording on one of them because of some adult language that I didn't notice at first (whoops! I guess the word "prostitute" at a kids' birthday party is a little inappropriate!) But it was fine print anyway so you could barely see it.

Birthday Boy!

Mad Science gave the birthday boy his own lab coat as chief mad scientist.

I wanted so.badly. to get lab coats for every child and online there are really reasonable rates for disposable lab coats. However, don't wait till the last minute on this. If you want to do this, do it early so shipping prices are cheap or free. I made that mistake. I waited too long, BUT, that's ok because it was so hot outside and I would have cooked all the children if we used them. So it was a blessing in disguise. If you're interested in lab coats though, I found some online for cheap here, at Mr. Disposable, on Ebay, Amazon and on Overstock.com. So they're out there.

What I did instead:

Nametags for each "mad scientist intern." When they came in, they went to the check-in table, got a full body scan (i.e. glow stick with me saying "beep! beep!" as I waved it around them, "cleared" them, and handed them their name tag.)

The name tags worked out well because the head "Mad Scientist" could call the volunteers by  name and also because we had a lot of kids who didn't know each other, so they could read the name tags (or at least parents could.) Also, everyone knew who the party crashers were too! Because we had two child party crashers who didn't have nametags who were mooching off our pizza.

I used colorful table cloths (orange and bright blue) and found little labels like "hypothesis" and "purpose" and taped them all over them. My mom said she overheard the parents and children talking about these words, so that part ended up being educational! On some of the other tables, I taped cutouts of black question marks. I also found squishy monster heads in the dollar store and put them in jars on the table and used rubber gloves for balloons and caution tape.

The caution tape ended up being AWESOME because it kept the kids out of the "danger zone."

Food

Honestly? Food wasn't the star of this party since it was at 3:30 and the party was packed with experiments, so I kept it simple. We had pizza, I made a fruit salad, had individual bags of chips on the tables and coolers full of bottled water, Capri Sun and soda. And cake. That's pretty much it. However, this ended up being super cool!

Kool-Aid just came out with Kool-Aid Fizzies!

So I had tiny bottled water for each child and gave them a tablet so they could fizz their water. Little tiny experiments! (That was my mom's idea, thanks mom!) That was a huge hit!


It was a packed house.

I am pretty sure everyone had a good time.


I'm "this many."


This one was in his glory.

Tomorrow I'll be posting the favors, the cake and the actual awesome experiments!
* * *
Part II of the party is HERE.

Mantra Monday: Slow Down, Breathe, KICK ASS

It's so hard to write a Mantra Monday post today about the week ahead when we had such an amazing weekend and there's so much fun weekend stuff to post about! Like the last game of tee-ball and the mad science party (rocket launch, mentos and coke, adventures in dry ice! so.much.fun.)

And then it was Easter and not to mention THE TOOTH FAIRY CAME on Easter too, which was completely unexpected!

How bout that tank top?

And also I found out what happens to a phone when a mom carries way too much stuff and is in a hurry and then the phone falls face down on the cement.

And now that the last week is over, my brain is now going a million miles a minute with the March of Dimes walk coming up on Saturday and it's time to switch gears because the ST. ANTHONY'S TRIATHLON IS ON SUNDAY!

I can't believe it's been a year since that race!

I just re-read that race report from my old blog and forgot how much it took to do that race, how much digging I had to do to cross that finish line.

So here I am, sitting, with my mind going a million miles an hour and getting a little freaked out and overwhelmed at what is about to transpire on Sunday.

The race on Sunday will not be wetsuit legal, the water is already 80 degrees and it needs to be 78 or below to be wetsuit legal. And the wetsuit, well, it actually saved my life last year. The water was so rough they had to eventually shorten the swim and the wetsuit helped me stay afloat. So I think I am getting nervous about not using a wetsuit.

However.

I did swim a mile in the ocean without a wetsuit last week and did just fine. But my fingers are still numb with nervousness as I type this.

Therefore the mantras have to be three-fold this week.

1. SLOW DOWN!
Because first and foremost, before anything I have to (calm) and slow down.

S-LOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWW DOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWN.

Make lists.

Do one thing at.a.time. Slowwwwwwwwwwwly.

Ever hear in swimming that sometimes you have to slow down to speed up? It's so that you can slow down, get in synch again and get your breathing under control and then you can go faster. I have to do that. I have to slow down so I can get myself under control here.

2. Breathe.

And then when I succeed at slowing myself down, I have to breathe deep breaths. Big ol' slow deep breaths. And not be scerred. Cause I did this before right? I know way better now what to expect! (Let's not think about the fact that knowing what to expect can actually make you scared-er. Since you're no longer ignorant to what can happen. So strike that from the record. Not even thinking about that.) The fact is, I can do this. I hope I am in the same shape I was last year though. Am I? I am going to have to assume that I am since there's not much I can do about it now! And while I'm at it, self-doubt, be gone! There is no place for you here!

3. GEAR UP FOR ASS KICKING.

Finally, after all is said and done, I have to prep my mind for the ASS KICKING I'm going to do on Sunday! In a mid-packery type of ass-kicking way of course. Because I have to go HARD OR GO HOME! This is a race against myself, my brain and all my inner voices. Sure, it's a competition against other people, but really, it's just a competition with myself.

And in the end I have to remember to enjoy each moment as I go through them this week, this weekend at the walk, at packet pickup and the practice swim, and the night before the race.

Because like the little sticker that's sitting on my corkboard in front of me at my desk says, it's the little moments that make life big.

And I don't want to miss those.

This is what happiness looks like...

When a green blanket makes it home.




(Thank you, lady at the Courtyard Marriot in Lake Buena Vista. Thank you.)

The Ultimate Blog Party at 5 Minutes for Mom!!! (A Giveaway Post)

Woohoo!! Time to party!!

I love this time of year!

Time to meet new bloggers and new friends in a giant online soiree! (Pronouncing it in my best fake deep British voice, Welcome to the SWA-RAYYYY, dahhling!)

We're blog-hopping with 5 Minutes for Mom this week in their annual Ultimate Blog Party and if you're not involved in the party yet go git your partywear on and put up a post and go visit people, it's FUUUUUN!! There are prizes and everything!

(There are prizes here too!)

But first, if you're new here, I'll introduce myself and give you the short story and the low-down.

HI!

I'm Christie O!

In my former life (before kids) I worked in tv news as a producer and a writer. I decided to stay home after my first son was born 6 weeks early.

4 lbs 6 oz.

He's turning 5 NEXT WEEK!

We're having a mad science party and it is going to be AWESOME.

It's amazing how time flies.

I had a difficult time dealing with his prematurity (even though he was just fine and spent very little time in the NICU) and found out I was pregnant again when he was 10 months old. (Surprise!)

I swear he had that goofball smile straight outta the womb.

That little boy is now 3 1/2.

He is his own man.

I have the best husband ever. He does a great American Idol dance but will deny it to the death. Right now I only know that it actually exists and no one believes me. It is like trying to explain I've seen the Lockness Monster. But one day I shall get it on video. One day.

And I gained oh, about 60 pounds (give or give some) during pregnancy and went on a mission after I regained consciousness from post-partum depression to lose it.

whoopsy. how'd that happen?

I started running (slowly).

I continued running (slowly.)

I was losing weight (finally!)

I got bored with running and tried triathlon (slowly.)

And loved that. So.MUCH.

Because I learned so much about myself. I learned how much I am capable of. How strong I am mentally. How to overcome fear like in open water swimming.

I am on a constant journey, through life, through motherhood, through wifehood, through healthy living. I don't know where the journey's going, but I'm enjoying the ride!

What My Blog is About

I am in constant awe of moms. I rarely ever feel like I know what I'm doing.

It wasn't until after my sons were born and then they were getting older and I was having to make difficult decisions and I never seemed to know the right answer and my best friends and sister were becoming mothers and women that I understood just how hard it is to be a mom and I finally thanked my own mom.

We sometimes judge each other too quickly but the truth is, MOMS ROCK!

I believe moms should be celebrated for their uncanny ability to diffuse any situation or have any item available as needed in her giant purse in a moment's notice, for getting all done in a day, for everything they are to every ONE!

I believe that the average mom wears a cape. Not the SUPER mom that we all want to be, the average mom that is ALREADY SUPER! So every month I share an awesome mom or group of moms with everyone because we need to celebrate each other's awesomeness! (You can read about this month's mom right HERE! She's truly awesome, she's feeling her way through breastfeeding now and I remember that all too well, it did not go easy for me!)

I love sharing stories about the craziness that is family life, the bad mommy moments, good mommy moments, the hard stuff, the easy stuff, and the revolution that is going from a 40+ hour a week career girl to stay at home mom/room mom/soccer mom/minivan mom in 1.2 seconds. I blog about prematurity, health and fitness, motherhood, crafts, recipes, American Idol, and everything else in between!

I love being inspired by other writers, mothers, bloggers and friends so please introduce yourself and leave your link so I can follow! I can't wait to meet you!

WAIT -- did someone say DOOR PRIZES?!

This week, I'm giving away two prizes, and they are two of my favorite things in the world!

1. A Bondi Band!

These are really cool sweat-wicking headbands with cool sayings on them! I randomly draw winner from the comments and you pick your saying! You can click on the picture to make it larger to see all the sayings.

2. A necklace from my Etsy shop, Inspire Me Chic!

Same thing, I will randomly draw a winner from the comments, you pick your style! They are handmade leather necklaces with an inspirational circle charm on it. I wear "discipline" and "focus" depending on my mood and they work, truly they do!

The giveaway will close at the end of the day on the last day of the blog party and I'll announce the winners in the blog hop recap the next day!

Please introduce yourself and leave your blog link so I can come visit you!

Welcome!

Cocktail?

Don't go without the recipe for the best sangria ever!!!

Nice to meet you!!!