This week for movie night, we watched the first Shrek movie. There is a new Shrek coming out soon. Normally, I wait until movies are in the $3.00 theater near my house before I go to see them.
Caleb is still little enough to get into the theater for free, and so I only pay $3.00 for myself. That way, if Caleb throws a tantrum or has a potty accident, we didn't lose out on a lot of money if we need to leave. I think a lot of people feel the same way, because I have never seen more toddlers in a movie theater than at the $3.00 theater. Every kids movie is full of 2-5 year olds! It's almost like a kids club; I see the same parents there all the time!
Caleb is SO into Shrek right now. He insisted that we get a box of fruity cereal with Shrek on the front. (It was lucky for him that we were in the market for cereal anyhow.) It was no surprise that he picked Shrek for movie night. I have been wanting to watch all of the Shrek movies with him, leading up to the new one.
The first movie that he ever went to in the theaters was when Toy Story 1 and 2 were re released in 3D. Caleb didn't really like the 3D glasses. They were too big for him and they were uncomfortable on his face. It's too bad because I would like to see the movie in 3D, but I don't know if he would be that into it.
This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Medical Guardian. All opinions are 100% mine.
I've mentioned in earlier posts that my parents were looking for a new house. The whole reason that they were even considering getting a new home was to accommodate my grandmother. She is getting to the point where she needs constant care. My parents are the ones who are stepping up to the plate.
Right now my grandmother lives on the East coast. We have a lot of family that live in her area; they all help to take care of her. Even though she has family living near her, it's not enough. She needs someone with her, not just near her.
My grandmother may be aging physically, but mentally she is sharp as a tac! She hasn't had any loss in her mental capacity whatsoever. She loves her independence, and goes back and forth on the idea of living with someone. One day she is all for the idea and ready to pack her bags. The next day, she will say that she doesn't want to share her living space with anyone.
It seems like my parents are just waiting for her to make up her mind. One thing is for sure something needs to happen. Even if she waits longer before making the move to the West coat to live with my parents, something or someone needs to be with her while she is living alone.
My parents have recently been talking about the idea of getting my grandmother a Medical Guardian. This is a wireless emergency button that you wear on your wrist or around your neck. In any kind of emergency, you just push the button and a live person contacts you through a base station in your home. If you need help, they will call your family, your local police, or EMTs for you. This is something that my grandmother could have used a long time ago. She lives all lone in a 2 story house where she has trouble getting around. She has fallen more than once, and most of the time, those falls end up in trips to the hospital.
Everyone in my family is so afraid that one day my grandmother will fall and not be able to get up. What if she were to fall and have to lie on the floor injured for hours or even days before she was found?
Some people can reduce their risk of falling by consulting with their doctors. I have heard that many seniors fall at home because they may have a medication that makes them dizzy or sleepy. My grandmother has bad knees, and it causes her to lose her balance and fall.
We have tried to do everything we can to make sure that she is safe at home. We have had handrails installed in the bathrooms for her, and when it snows, my cousins de-ice the steps to her door. We had to secure her rug to her stairs because she refused to let us remove it. The same goes for all of her area rugs. My mom went to visit her and made sure that there were night lights in every room. She bought the night lights in bulk at Costco to be sure every room was well lit with them.
They've done everything to make her home safer, now they have a way to make her safer at home with the Medical Guardian. My grandmother isn't ready to give up her independence and that's okay. This system is a way to guarantee her independence for as long as possible. I'll just be happy that I don't have to worry about her all the time. I think it would give peace of mind to every member of our family - especially her.
Dozer Days was a complete hit! Caleb had a total blast. We started by climbing on real construction equipment. Caleb got to sit in the driver's seat and honk the horns while he was playing with the controls.
Next, we rode in the back of am articulated hauler, which just looked like a humongous dump truck to me. We sat on bales of hay as seats and rode down to the main event area. There were all kinds of contruction machinery everywhere. Excavators and bulldozers were digging and pushing dirt around and they were all being driven by supervised kids!
They gave each of the kids a lot of time on the equipment, and so it felt like the line moved pretty slowly, however; there were probably over 30 machines available. Having so many different machines to choose from meant that the lines were shorter to begin with. I felt like it was set up extremely well.
Caleb drove a bulldozer, which he calls the "big dozer". He was taking it so seriously, that we couldn't help but laugh. I will have to remember that he has that mentality for when he gets older. He is only 2 and I was able to embarassing him with my cooing and waving.
There were all sorts of snack vendors and activities for kids. We got Cal a bubble gum flavored popsicle that he picked out himself. He also won a giant box of candy for finding plastic bugs in a big bin of dirt. He got up close to a garbage truck and got to work the controls.
We had so much fun at dozer days this year, and thank the Nutter Fiundation for putting on this even for children's charities. We will be sure to attend for years to come. Now that Caleb knows it exists, I don't think we will ever be able to get away with skipping it!
I'm very excited to say that Shawn and I are taking Caleb to Dozer Days at the quarry today. I told Caleb last night that I got tickets for him to drive a real construction truck. I have never been before but when I talk to people who have, they have all had lots of fun. I will be taking lots of pictures of course!
This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Incendia Health. All opinions are 100% mine.
I have only one pair of contacts left and they are old. I didn't even want them in the first place. It's a long story that starts with Caleb breaking my glasses and me finding out that I no longer have vision insurance. Contacts were a cheaper choice. The prescription is weaker with them and so I don't see as well.
Shawn recently found a very old pair of glasses that I got long before Caleb was born. Since my prescription hasn't changed, I was excited to wear them again. With my spectacles on, I could see that my old glasses were kind of fixable. I super glued them and I'm wearing them right now.
When I was on vacation, I mostly wore my contacts so that I could wear non prescription sunglasses. I had to carry my glasses with me in my purse along with my contacts case and cleaning solution. I was worried that my contacts would start to irritate me and I would need to take them out.
Shawn has been asking for Lasik surgery for years. His optometrist says he is a perfect candidate. After the hassle of trying to have both options on vacation, I decided that I want it, too!
Too bad it's so expensive, and too bad that I didn't know about the iLASIK Video Contest. The grand prize in this video contest was $5,000. Now that will get you some eye surgery! There were a lot of other great prizes, like an HDTV package or a camcorder. Both things that are better enjoyed if you have perfected vision.
All of the entrants in the iLASIK Video Contest have perfected vision and that's what all of the videos were about. Contestants made videos for the contest that showed how their new vision has changed their life for the better. There is one about how surfing is easier without contacts. I can believe that! You can't swim with your contacts in without being scared to death they will fall out. And if you're not wearing glasses, or contacts, you wont be able to see what's going on around you in the water. You can check out the winning videos, as well as the others that were entered at the AMO website.
Well, it's time for me to take off my glasses and hit the sack! Good Night!
Caleb is sick tonight and so we had an unofficial movie night. He had several naps throughout the day because his fever left him very lethargic. Because of that, I knew he would be staying up late, but also that he wouldn't have a lot of energy.
When Bolt came out I really wanted to take him to see it, but he hadn't yet been to a theater and I knew he wasn't ready. So, I decided to rent it for him tonight. He loved it! Dogs, cats, and hamsters are some of Caleb's favorite things. It was so cute to watch him laugh at the funny parts. My little son has quite the sense of humor. He thought the funniest parts were when the characters hurt themselves on accident.
Another thing that I noticed was his ability to relate to the characters emotionally. When the Dog was separated from his friends, Caleb would remark, "he's so sad..." When they were reunited he would beam and say, "he's happy!"
I thought the movie was just adorable! It was funny, cute, and entertaining. And I have to tell you, I cried at the end. The little dog just loves his person so much and it reminded me of my little dog Samson (after whom Caleb is named). I think I am probably going to add this movie to our DVD library.
This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Lunchables. All opinions are 100% mine.
I feel like I went on a lot of field trips when I was a kid. I vividly remember them all. I went to the firehouse, a dairy farm, the zoo, a science museum, Multnomah Falls, and an aquarium, just to name a few. I do have a top 2 on my list of best field trips. Those were the ones that lasted the longest - swimming lessons, and outdoor school.
I went to public school, so no fancy tuition to pay for our field trips. We didn't have the nicest newest things, but what we did have was opportunity. When I was in the 4th grade, we able to travel to Landover Athletic Club once a week for a month to take swimming lessons in the pool there. By "we", I mean every 4th grader in the school. Each 4th grade class had its own assigned day, and everyone got to go as long as their parents signed the waiver. I was sad to learn that the next year, the 4th grade classes missed out on going due to funding.
Another of my fondest field trip memories was outdoor school. Outdoor school was in the 5th grade. All of the 5th graders in our school went to Camp and stayed a full 5 days! Our camp counselors were high school kids who had been to outdoor school themselves a few years before. When we got to camp, we were assigned cabins. They mixed up our classes, so I got to meet girls from other classrooms and made new friends. We looked up to our counselors and thought they were so cool and so mature, even though they were really only highschoolers. But hey - they could DRIVE.
Thankfully, outdoor school stuck around for a while. I got to watch my brother and my sister, and then my youngest brother experience it. Sadly, it is a program that has been discontinued. Again, the problem was funding.
I learned that The American Association of School Administrators reports that this school year, the amount school districts that will be eliminating field trips will increase by 56 percent. That’s more over 30,000 schools. That's why I think that Lunchables is working toward such a noble cause.
Field Trips For All is an effort of Lunchable's newly launched initiative called Project Potential. Lunchables will be rewarding 50 classrooms with an inspiring and educational field trip. How are they going to choose these deserving classes? You, of course!
Anyone 6 years of age or older can go to http://www.lunchables.com/potential/ and nominate a deserving classroom. I nominated my nephew, Ryan's classroom to go on a fun field trip! Because anyone 6 or older can vote, that means that everyone in his classroom will be able to get online and vote for their own class!
I voted for Ryan's classroom because I know that he is going to school in a time where he will not go on as many field trips as I did. I want for him to be able to experience as many fun opportunities as I did when I was his age. He is at such an impressionable age, the future is wide open for him, and he is ready to discover the world.
I first became aware of this program when I saw this commercial from Lunchables. I would love if something like this happened to my Nephew!!!
If you forget the link, you can stop by JustaHouseBear, I'll be posting it in my side bar so that it's easy to find!
I just wanted to take some time to remind all of you that Mother's Day is on May 9th this year. That means THIS Sunday, for anyone who is not counting. Remember that this day is for you mom who loves you. I never understood what Mother's Day was all about until I had my own little one. Now I know that it is, in fact, a deeply cherished and very important holiday to mothers everywhere. So, don't forget you mom on Sunday. Make sure you at least give her a call and tell her that you love her.
Oh, and just a heads up, you're going to want to re-celebrate Mother's Day on your birthday as well. That day is really more for her also - just in case you didn't know.
This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Freschetta. All opinions are 100% mine.
Check the bottom of this post for a link to coupons for Freschetta FlatBread Pizza!
Last week we had a family movie night, as you all know - I LOVE family movie night. We watched The Tale of Despereaux and ate Freschetta FlatBread Pizza. While I was not very impressed with the movie (it is probably a better book), the pizza was a whole other story!
There are 4 different types of FlatBread Pizzas available, but all of them come on a delicious, crispy, thin crust and they all have just the right amount of Italian seasonings and cheeses. We chose the Zesty Italian pizza, which has peperoni, sausage, and Genoa salami, mozzarella and asiago cheeses, and a red sauce with just a little zest to it. Also available are Roasted Garlic & Spinach, Peperoni, and a 5 Cheese Pizza.
I would have liked to have the Spinach and Garlic Pizza myself. it has Parmesan and Mozzarella cheese with a creamy garlic sauce. The boys like the red sauce though, so we compromised. I have to say that I didn't feel like I was missing out. The Zesty Italian was great tasting and was just the right amount for us, plus it costs way less than delivery and it's hot when you eat it, not cooled off from being in the delivery guy's car.
When I pulled the pizza out of the box, it didn't look very impressing. The toppings had shifted in the box and were all on one side of the pizza. I spread them out and popped it in the oven. Since the pizzas have a thing flatbread crust, the cook pretty quick; ours were done in less than 10 minutes. After the first bite, I was sold.
I love the flavor of the sausage, and it didn't taste like it had been frozen. There were great seasonings on the pizza, and the cheeses were really tasty. This is the best pizza I have ever had from a freezer, and that is the truth! I even went out and got more for another time. When I picked them up out of the freezer at the grocery store, Caleb let out a cry of glee, "Pizza!"
Here is a website with the different pizzas listed and a a coupon for $1 any Freschetta Pizza, but I do recomend the flatbread for sure!
Today at Costo, I had the pleasure, nay; the priviledge of witnessing an amazing sight. I was standing near the neverending hot dog line when I spied this metallic wonder. I was wishing to myself that my eyeballs could take pictures, when I realized I had one better. Pretending to text, I took a snapshot with my iPhone and am now able to present to you in 3.0 megapixel imagery, the one, the only, The Fantastic Hat.
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