New Year New Memories (discount included)

   It's a new year almost (few hours left to go).  What are your plans?  Do you start in January to save for a winter vacation?  Do you plan activities and trips within a few months out?  Well it is never to early to look into how to make memories with your family.  Start planning your family fun with a trip to see the Harlem Globetrotters!

  With a 14 day advance purchase you can save 25% with code FUNFAM!  Do you know what that means? Plan a day out with your family! Save money. Make memories.  Enjoy your time!

  I have not been to a show in years and am looking forward to taking my youngest kids to their first game.  I know they will keep their eyes glued as they watch players do their dribble tricks, spin a ball on their finger and harass those refs!

  When is the last time you saw the Globetrotters?  Will this be the first time you have seen them?  Do you go every year?

   Either way let a trip to this event be included in your memories for the 2020 year!  Click here to save NOW!

    As always only sharing my opinions and comments. Said comments and opinions are my own and not influenced in any way.

All The Money in the World (movie review)

  I concluded my birthday with a late showing of All the Money in the World.  This drama runs for over 2 hours and is rated R.  It's cast includes Michelle Williams, Christopher Plummer and Mark Wahlberg.

  This movie is based on a true story around Jean Paul Getty.  He founded the Getty Oil Company and was known to be the richest man.  This was why his grandson was kidnapped.  The initial ransom was a demand of 17 million.

  Despite all the begging and pleading from  his son and his wife he refused to pay a cent.  He made plenty of excuses to justify his decision.  He had 14 other grandchildren and if he paid for one, the others may get kidnapped for ransom as well.  He also would make no money on the transaction which is all he cared about.  More money.

  Things make a turn for the worse when. The kidnappers don't receive their demands.  They decide to send proof of how serious they are straight to the newspaper. 

  I will end my summary on that sentence!  I thought this was a good movie.  I wasn't aware of the complete storyline prior to walking in.  I only knew it was based on a true story so some of the content surprised me. 

  It was a long movie.  I would like to say it goes by quick but it didn't.  The storyline was easy to follow and I was entertained through the movie.  There were some parts that could have got cut out and you still would have been able to follow.    The end was exciting because I truly didn't know what was going to happen. Of course I was rooting for a safe return but if the ransom doesn't get paid what could the outcome possibly be?

  Did I leave just enough to get you interested if not here's trailer more.
 
   It was nice to get out and see an adult movie but one of the next movies I want to see is Paddington 2! 

Why Not Me? (Book review)

  Ever you heard of Mindy Kaling?  Have you heard of a show called The Office?  It played on NBC for 8 years based on a town in Pennsylvania.  Now you know what I'm talking about, right?  Mindy was an actress/writer for that show!

  This is not Mindy's first book so that makes her a seasoned author even though she writes for her show.   This book is easy to feel in her company.  She talks to you like your her friend, a good old loyal gal pal hanging out together.  This book is a comfortable read.

  Mindy walks you through various aspects of her life.  Her life before she became rich and famous or lack there of and her current condition as a celebrity.  She doesn't paint everything to have been an easy journey.  She doesn't even make you envious at some points.  I think that's what makes it a good read.  It's a book you can read and get almost the staight facts.

  This book would be a great gift to an aspiring actress or even a struggling one because where there's good times there are also bad.  Sometimes to see someone else struggle helps motivate or encourage us more.  The flip side is you could just sit around havin a pity party for yourself and not accomplish anything.

  Mindy only gives you a small glimpse of how she got to wear she is today and she tells your in detail that she worked for it.  She was nervous and scared she knows she doesn't fit the typical actress requisite but she plows through anyways.

  This was an entertaining book and I was both entertained and relieved when I read it.  She had a lot of funny scenarios in the book and I was relieved that it's possible to work hard and get somewhere.

  It's all in what you make it so make it what you want.

Find out more about the book here.

I was provided this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

No Excuse Mom Workouts (review)

  Yesterday I introduced you to hiking with your children and today I have another group to bring the kids to.  It's great to have a safe place, a free place, a place to socialize and a way to workout all embracing the fact that you have kids.

  No excuse mom is a group of women that meet atleast weekly to workout together.  Your leader coordinates the location and the workout routine.  You are free to bring your children as they will be inches away from you in a park or in the same room inside.

  Due to my injury I was unable to workout with them prior to now.  Today I went and this particular city was having a Zumba class.

Check out noexcusemom online to find the nearest location to you.  As the weather gets warmer they will be meeting up more in parks.  After your workouts let the kids run around about in the park or playground and everyone is guaranteed to have a much more relaxed calm afternoon.

This is a free group!  They meet in free areas and the workouts change regularly.  The ladies encourage each other and the kids either hang out in strollers or play amongst themselves.  This is a great social outlet and a nice slow way to get back some energy; that we all need whether we lost it from too many sleepless nights, or chasing toddlers.

Now showing Daddy's Home (maybe a spoiler)

  I went to the matinee today for Daddy's Home!  It is rated PG-13 and runs for 1 hr and 36 minutes.  PG-13 is for the language as I am sure all the topless scenes Mark Wahlberg was in was not put into that category.

  This movie was funny!  I enjoyed the whole thing and I don't think it slowed down or got boring in any section.  From start to finish I was highly entertained and not just because of a certain actor.

  The story is a battle between two men. One the new step dad versus the old biological dad.  The step dad is very well read in how to raise step children so he is prepared to parent the kids.  The old dad of course is not ready for someone else to raise his kids, be with his wife and take his family.

  The movie circles around the two guys playing good guy, bad guy and everything in between with no rules.  It's entertaining to watch them top each other.    You could maybe foresee where certain scenes were going but its still well worth it to watch.

  Keep watching till the end because after all what did you pay for!  Good movies keep it good until the credits and sometimes during them!

Wordless Wednesday

   We finally got to check out the Garden of Lights +NorfolkBotGarden.  I think we made this an annual tradition officially.  Everyone enjoys them and we point put different things we may see and sing together.

  This is a great way to see plenty of lights in various ways, frogs jumping, a spider and many more things.  You stay inside your car and drive through the gardens and are able to enjoy various displays made of lights out of all sides of your car!

  No complaints from all the occupants in my car young and old.  It's just a nice way to get out and spend time together.  Bonus is catching neighborhood displays on the way there and back.
 
  Check times and rates for available discounts.  If you arrive early you may get to skip the privilege of waiting an hour to enter the gardens!

  Have fun and go check out some lights!

Christmas Kids Crafts

  Taking it slow with kids and pain meds has finally slowed me down to do some crafts with my kids.  I have a ever growing board on pinterest.  Jump over there and see what projects  caught my eye or that I would like to make.  My Christmas pins are a collection of kid friendly crafts, decorations and DIY projects.

  Of course I have more than just a Christmas board.  You can find a DIY board, beautiful nail art, science projects for kids and more crafty things for different seasons and holidays.

  I will try to share the fails and wins with you.  I think it makes it easier to see real people accomplishing things rather than pretty, proper, perfect pictures.


  Today we worked on 2 crafts on my Christmas board and they came out pretty well.  The kids are satisfied with them.  A great preschool project.  Discuss colors, shapes, numbers with the Santa craft.  The stained glass project I was pleased with!  I think my daughter enjoyed seeing the end result too.  We will hang this up on the wall.  She showed great patience when coloring it and took her time.

supplies: tin foil, sharpie markers, coloring page, gallon baggie

supplies: red, white and black paper, red pompom, cottonball, paper plate, crayon to color face, glue

  My kids that made these are 3 and 5.  Supplies were very basic. Use what you have on hand improvise if you have to! My kids would give up TV and video games if they could make crafts.

Day 9 with Elf and his antics

  I am taking it easy but Elf is still playing his part!  He's bringing smiles to my little ones and the little ones are finally getting into the entertainment of elf and his shenanigans.  Sometimes I have to go on a hunt to find elf myself because he has walked off and been placed elsewhere.  Sort of a time out with him has occurred.  My young ones just shake their head and call him the bad elf based on what he's done.  This makes me proud because obviously they know right from wrong, and don't appreciate this new house guest coming in their home creating havoc.

  This morning Elf was in the bathroom again.  He didn't prepare a bath for the babies this time.

 He manged to decorate the bathroom with toilet paper!  My youngest said momma look at what that bad elf did in the bathroom.  I said yep, just look at that.

 From the top of the shower curtain to the floor.  How did he even get up there?

 Apparently just like before he had to leave his signature on the mirror. Thanks Elf for the message.

If nothing else I love to clean up after you and the other members of my house.  What else did I have to do?

He is so cute! Always smiling!  Maybe it's just harder to adjust to a new home then I thought.  Poor thing I'm sure he's doing the best that he can.

Day 8 with Elf

  Day 8 was a calm one.  Elf seems to be making himself at home and making friends.  He is now helping himself to toys and entertaining himself when we are sleeping.  I don't have a problem with that as long as he's quiet, nice and cleans up after himself.

   This doesn't look too bad. Elf was playing with the dump truck and legos.  That's a nice fun, quiet way to entertain himself.  I mean maybe he couldn't sleep, or woke up early and was being considerate and not trying to wake up the rest of the house.  He even choose the mid size blocks so I didn't step on small pieces.

  It does look like he has piled the blocks on froggy but maybe they were taking turns.  Maybe froggy went first and I didn't see that part.

  After all Elf looks like he's having fun. Smile on his face.  Maybe he likes it here after all.

7th Day of Elf

  A peaceful nights sleep was maybe to deep of a sleep.

I think I even went to bed early last night. So that led to more peace and quiet in the house for a longer period of time.  It's early so let me turn the light on and see what I'm really seeing.

Oh yeah now with the light on it paints a brighter picture. My tree is clearly laying down.  Why is my tree tipped over?  We don't have a cat.  No earthquakes in my part of the world! What happened to my tree?

As I look closer I see my little friend.  

Always smiling.  Always looking as if he says "Who me, I didn't do it or what happened here."

Day 6 The Elf

There's something about an elf as a houseguest. Nothing is ever boring or at least some of the time. Your always on the lookout. Not sure if he made you a pie or is going to throw it at you. We have tried our best to provide him with good accommodations and to make him happy but I have read so many horror stories about his cousins I am always on edge.

  Today I am happy to say that what he gave us was a beautiful creation.

 You know the saying no snowflake is the same. Well neither are 10!

 Thank you for redecorating the room! You did a great job maybe next time you could pick up after yourself.

  I must say however whenever I see you so close to the proximity of an act of love from you I can't help but almost hear you say, "Who me, I didn't do it, or would you look at that."  ( As if you had nothing to do with it but merely sat there and watched.

Date 19

  As we are finishing up this week with dating friends.  The last two days are a nice change of pace.  A time to just hang out with your friend.  Time to talk or just time to be together.  These last two days offer new ideas for you to do with your friends.  As always I try to keep it unique!

  Today instead of taking those clothes to the local thrift store trade them with your friends.  You don't need to limit yourself to just clothes.  Check your jewlery, perfume or belts!  Anything you don't use, will never use or bought on a whim!  Your friend may not be the same size but we all speak the language of shoes or purses.

  One day may be short notice but give yourself a week to gather up some items.  Invite some more friends into the friend swap to get more variety.  Set a limit of  atleast 1 item per person; for example if you get 6 girls to join you all of you bring atleast 6 items.

  Pull out some wine and shop amongst yourselves.  Anything leftover although I doubt it could then go to the thriftstore.  Have fun with your new to you clothes!

Date 15

  As you know this week is for dating (hanging out) with your friends.  These dates should be stress free.  They do not require a lot of preparation other than maybe just coordinating a time and possibly a place.  Most of the ideas are minimal in cost if at all.  That makes it fun in itself too.

  Today it is all about a drink!  Grab a drink with your friend.  The drink is up to your discretion.  Coffee, tea, wine.  Of course if you choose to meet her at 8 am maybe wine could be converted into a Mimosa with champagne instead.

  Cheers to you guys today.  Have a good day and toast to your friendship!

30 Days of Dating

Who:
What:
Where:
When:
How:
Why:

 So this month we are going to focus on dating.  Dating in this context is meant to be going somewhere (or participating in an activity) with a person of your choosing whether it is a spouse, girl/boyfriend, parent or child.  To make this month and activity most effective you need to make prior arrangements.  Set a time, date and place.  Ensure money is in order if that is  necessary.  Verify and confirm a sitter is secured for the duration of the timeframe as well.  After all date night wouldn't be so hard to plan for if a lot of us didn't have children.  I remember my early 20's every night wasn't date night because I did have to work.  But the freedom and independence to come and go as I pleased.  No sitter, some weekends wide open from Friday after work till 0700 Monday!

  Now that we have the essential needs out the way let's talk about time.  A date is usually set for the weekend because it helps celebrate the work week is over.  So you can plan as early as Monday for the upcoming Friday if you know your schedule in advance.  Everyone has a different work schedule though so if Friday's don't work for you make date night midweek.  There are some restaurants that offer deals on Wednesday. (Outback has a No Worry Wednesday)  Dates can be any day of the week its all about finding something that works for you.  Once you have a date set negotiate a time.

  What is it you have decided to do?  Do you really have to go out with the rest of the crowd to see a movie at 7:30 pm on a Friday or Saturday?  No, catch a matinee on Saturday or Sunday and save yourself a couple bucks.  Matinees are the same show except they are cheaper and sometimes less crowded.  Lunch stops being served in some restaurants at 4 or 5.  Why does date night have to be about dinner and night time?  Check on your favorite restaurant and see when dinner starts.  You can catch a early dinner before your early show.  That equals a win-win and some money leftover for popcorn!

  There you go folks.  That's all I am giving you today!

Who: Anyone
What: dates and hanging out
Where: anywhere (not just the movies!!)
When: before 4 (and midweek)to save a buck

How: its settled!  Plan and follow through.
Why: because we want to have fun!