This weekend was my (35th) birthday and while Chris and I were planning on having a couples weekend away, we just felt too guilty. The past 5 weekends our family has been doing something that kept us from being a “unit”.

Wendys, Destin, Gainesville, Disney, Atlanta….my spouse and I traded trips apart for the past 5 weeks! So instead we decided to cut off our alone time for family time and took our first trip out to Dauphin Island with the kids this weekend since summer started.

For those that are going, make sure you bring $5 cash because they started charging for the parking lot.

I learned a few things.

One, the beach is not exempt from a tantrum.

And two, Phoenyx was not all about the sand.

He played in it but he kept having to go wash off his hands. He isn’t a fan of “dirty”. Which doesn’t surprise me because at home he washes his hands continuously while he eats. And of course all he did was follow around his big sister the entire time.

Here are a few pictures of our family fun weekend!

 

 

 

 

What did you do this weekend?
~Trisha

Fresh onto the  scene, Olly Murs is taking the US by storm with his new song “TroubleMaker” which is no doubt hitting the airwaves all over your local station. I am sure you have heard it, but if you are not one of the 51 MILLION plays of the video, here you go:

His voice sounds pretty reminiscent of Maroon 5 for me (which I like) and it doesn’t hurt that he is handsome!

Interview With Olly Murs

On New Album: “It was a good process for me, because I’ve done three albums, I had more of a say in the production side of things, I had more experience writing songs. This album is kind of a more mature album for me, and I showcased my age, kind of where I am right now in my life, and I feel like I’m in the right place at the right time.”

On Working With Flo Rida: “I wanted someone that was the best of the best, someone that’s in the market, he’s in the charts, he’s got hits, you know, someone that’s brilliant, and Flo Rida was the perfect choice. He’s a great artist and it was an honor to have him on the record.”

On Becoming a Singer: “I never really wanted to sing, I kind of did but I was a bit too shy and I wasn’t really confident enough to do it. And then I got to that age where I didn’t really care what people thought anymore. I thought, you know, let’s give it a go.”

Because I am always looking for new and great music, I wanted to definitely share this up and coming artist with everyone and encourage you to check out more of his music and interview on Walmarts Risers Series.

WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN!

To celebrate a his rise to the top and give back to the Momdot community, Walmart, Walmart Risers & T-Mobile  have partnered for a special giveaway!

Great Prizes:

• Olly Murs “Right Place Right Time” cd
• Autographed Olly Murs Walmart Risers poster
• $50 Walmart gift card

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Father’s Day is just around the corner, meaning it’s time to dote on the father of your children. He spoiled you on Mother’s Day, so it’s only fair that you pay him back. Because your guy is so unique, this list should help you narrow down the right gift, based on his personality and preferences. No matter why type of guy you have, you’ll find a gift here that’s sure to boost his spirits and let him know he’s truly loved.

Outdoorsy

Outdoorsy dads love to hunt, fish, hike, and camp. These dads are remarkably easy to buy for. Simply identify his favorite outdoor hobby and purchase him something that coincides with it. If you feel like he already has it all, consider getting him something decorative that speaks to hobbies.

You could purchase him something simple/yet unique like a personalized fishing pail, since he LOVES fishing. Imagine his expression when you gift him with some personalized wall art or a hilarious fishing-related t-shirt. He’ll love that you knew him well enough to pick something he likes. Personalized gifts are uniquely special, but remember to plan some time to buy ahead.

Tech Dads

Technology driven dads are going to love the latest gadget. For this dad, you could update his iPod or gift him a new set of speakers. This dad is remarkably easy to buy for, because there are always new trendy gadgets on the market.

Here are some techy gift ideas:

• ·   HD video recorder
• ·   Smartphone
• ·   Personal television
• ·   Tablet
• ·   Next-gen gaming console

Family Man

The family man is the guy who puts his wife and kids first. He’s the dad who takes out the trash as soon as he gets home from work, helps the kids with their homework, and is particularly sensitive to his wife’s needs. This wonderful dad deserves a lot of love on Father’s Day and would appreciate a sentimental gift.

Mary, a married mother of two from Orange County, recommends customizing a gift for this type of dad.

“I nearly brought my husband to tears when I presented him with a picture frame I customized for his birthday.”

Customized gifts are really beautiful. For Father’s Day, you could decorate anything with family photos. This dad is going to appreciate the sentiment, because it shows that you appreciate the effort he puts in as a family man. You could even make the wrapping yourself, or with your kids, adding homemade bows and things to the package.

The Stepdad

He doesn’t have to be blood-related to a child to be a good father. Stepdads need reminders that they’re important to their step-children and their wives. Lots of kids love their stepfathers, as much as they love the other members of their family. It’s up to mom to show a stepdad how important he is to the family.

A great gift for a stepdad is a personalized coffee mug, featuring photographs of his moments with the family. You could add a picture of him helping the boys play ball or having a tea party with the girls. These pictures will remind him daily that he’s a huge part of yours, and your kid’s, lives. A personalized wall calendar is another great way to commemorate your time together.

Everyone Else

These are some very common dad types, but they don’t encompass every type of father. It’s up to you to figure out what kind of guy you have and then buy him the right gift. If you buy him something that speaks to his personality and his sentimentality you can’t go wrong. This Father’s Day, you’ll do fine, because you’re thinking about what he wants and needs – instead of just buying him another necktie.

~guest post for MomDot.com

Last week when my grandmother, Charlotte, dad, and I went to Disney and we experienced something none of us have ever had to work with before: Disability.

You see my grandmother is in a wheel chair and its hard for her to walk, but she can transfer from a wheelchair to a ride. It was one of her wishes to go to Disney before she started Chemo for Stage4 Lymphoma and we wanted to def go and let her have that time. There were four generations of my family there!

While I knew we were going to have fun, I never realized what people go through when either in a wheelchair or with a wheelchair group, but I can promise you that most people are rude, unhelpful, or plan ignorant around you.  I am the type of person that gets out of the way for strollers or wheelchairs and always acknowledges people. I can tell you that most people are not.

All that said, the Disney park and its employees went above and beyond what customer service usually is.

Getting into the Park:

While we took the boat over to Disney World with a wheelchair they had available at the ticket areas they also have ramps at the monorail. If your party can transfer, you can do that from a wheelchair and they take it away and have one waiting on the other monorail when you get off, regardless of the park. Once you are there you can rent a wheelchair or a powered chair for the day.

Entering the park:

From the get go one of my friends told me to head over to the customer service portion of Disney World as soon as we got there. Of course I totally spaced regarding that (excitement, you know?!) and while we were visiting Fantastyland I remembered the advice. After getting all the way out into the park and through the crowds, it was so much easier to just run back by myself. So I trekked back to see what kind of options they had for families with a party with them that could not walk/had to stay out of the sun.

The general rule is that the person with the disability has to be with you (and understandably so) so I do not advise going by yourself, but in this case with her ID and port card, they did write me up an assistance card.  The card was red and had her information it and it was sorta a “green light” in getting help with park employees should we have a specific need or request.

All that said and done, we really didn’t need the card. The park was fully equipped to handle wheelchairs and disability requests. In cases where the main lines were not big enough to push through, they brought us on the back ends or up wheelchair accessible lines. They slowed down the auto walk ways for her to step onto them and offered complete assistance. There was a park attendee at every line that QUICKLY helped when we approached and the entire logistics of the process was 2nd nature.  The parades have spots specifically for wheelchair bound people, which was helpful at Epcot.

On the jungle cruise, because it has a very difficult step down, they had a specific boat for visitors that are in a wheelchair.

Disney thought of everything!

If I had one any amount of feedback it would be on the Mickeys Fantasmic show at Hollywood Studios. When that show let out, thousands and THOUSANDS of people release at one time and it’s very very difficult to get out of there when you are wheelchair bound. People were shoving and pushing and then look at you like you are in their way.

I actually had to speak up to someone that shot us a nasty look and then continued to talk to her spouse about how “there really should be somewhere else wheelchairs can go.” After a full day of hearing people be rude, I caught up with her and said “YOU’RE RIGHT. I wish there was a wheel chair lane too cause its VERY DIFFICULT to push through crowds of people.”

She got flustered and took off.

I commend Disney World for REALLY being together and our experience was like that at all the parks. We visited Hollywood Studios (Star Wars Weekend!), Magic Kingdom and Epcot and they were flawless and we never felt scattered or unsure where to go.

I also want to thank Disney for helping make this a trip that my grandmother will never forget. She is going through Chemo now and while we feel very positive about that (cause that’s all you can be) we, at the very least, have some amazing memories.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart~

~Trisha

*media passes provided courtesy via Disney

 

 

A few weeks ago I shared with you all about my grandmother finding out she has cancer. It has been a very confusing and scary time to be on the outside looking in. Of course when something like that happens it makes you question your mortality and all the gifts that we have in life that we consistently ignore.  So the past week my grandmother, dad, daughter and I went off to Orlando for a four generation family trip to Disney and Universal Studios.

(grandma in her wheel chair at Universal Studios)

After our 5 day WONDERFUL trip (more to come in other posts about that), we got home Sunday and last Monday grandma started her Chemo.

Right now her prognosis is really good. She has lymphoma and although its in 15 areas in her body due to it being a blood cancer, the doctors believe that the chemo will blast that cancer right out of there.

I talked to her yesterday and she is in a lot of pain. She has all sorts of pain prevention drugs but she said that they only last an hour if that. She has developed sores in her mouth from the chemo and many other side effects. We could use your prayers that she stays strong!

When this touches your life it makes you wonder, why can’t PREVENT cancer. To find a 100% cure? Right now, there isn’t one, but I have hope that some day no family at all will experience the heart ache of chemo, treatment, or death of a loved one.

Make a Difference, Take the Pledge

Right now for everyone that takes the pledge, Hearst Magazines will donate $1 to the American Cancer Society, up to $50,000 total.

 

#FinishTheFight

@AmericanCancer has made remarkable progress against cancer in the past 100 years!

Join us as we celebrate their 100th birthday today!

2p ET / 1p ET / 11a PT

From deadly to treatable, from curable to preventable, the progress the American Cancer Society has helped make in the past 100 years is remarkable. There was a time when the word “cancer” was spoken only in whispers – a time when we lost almost every patient. Yet today, 2 out of 3 survive to celebrate more birthdays. Let’s make it 3 out of 3.

Join us for a Twitter party in honor of the American Cancer Society’s 100th birthday to help finish the fight against cancer.

Help us make noise by taking a pledge and creating your life list on Facebook.

@theMotherhood will have five prizes to give away during the party – VISA gift cards worth $25 each. Prizes will be awarded based on correct responses to trivia questions. Winners are chosen randomly from the entire pool of correct responses.

Here are a few sample tweets you can use to help support the cause:

• Help support @AmericanCancer #FinishtheFight against cancer during a Twitter party on 5/29 at 2p ET! http://bit.ly/13Zl8aQ
• I’m tweeting to help @AmericanCancer in their mission to #FinishtheFight against cancer, 5/29 at 2p ET – join me! http://bit.ly/13Zl8aQ
• Join me to help #FinishtheFight w/ @AmericanCancer! Giving away $25 VISA gc’s, too. 5/29 at 2p ET: http://bit.ly/13Zl8aQ

 

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I will be updating in another post all that we experienced in Disney and Universal and of course as my grandmothers treatments go on how it is going. Thank you all for your support!

Trisha

*information brought to you via The Motherhood

Last night I was watching Cake Boss (Honestly, I watched a whole DAY of Cake Boss) and they were doing a cake for an FBI Agent with a theft focus that was retiring.  And before I get sidetracked and forget to write about it, Cake Boss has a new show ‘Bakery Boss’ and I really liked it. Put it on your DVR.

So anyhoo, as Cake Boss is on, Mauro Castano starts talking about when he went to get a mortgage and found out that someone tried to steal his identity. Then he launched into that is why he has LifeLock! I thought it was pretty cool considering as a LifeLock Ambassador I spend a lot of time talking to you all about LifeLock and what they do. I always love it when my favorite shows mention my favorite brands.

If you do not know about LifeLock, here is a run down:

• LifeLock supports Pat Tillman Foundation
• Are you diligent with online security?
• LifeLock for Life Sweepstakes
• Blogger Tax Tips
• Holiday Security Safety Tips
• Security for your Home and not your life?

And Right now, a LifeLock Discount Code Offer:

LifeLock’s commitment to excellence is to provide industry leading identity theft protection to its customers with unprecidented technology, experience, and knowledge. With LifeLock’s all-inclusive Ultimate package, you can rest assured that your identity and valuable personal information is secure and safe. Enroll today and receive a special promo offer for 30 DAYS FREE and 10% OFF your membership for the lifetime of your account. Click the link above or call 1-800-543-3562 and use the promo code ORG30 to redeem your discount offer and get protected today.

And this summer with all the traveling you no doubt will be doing while the kids are out for the summer, the last thing you want to do is worry about leaving your identity behind for someone to steal!

 

I do not know about you, but we have had issues (prior to LifeLock) with our credit card being stolen and used to purchase sweaters at Banana Republic (thief’s w/ high taste!). It has been our experience that since LifeLock we have had NO issues and the added benefit of knowing our credit score and sex offender alerts has been great too.

And while Lifelock for Life Sweepstakes is over, the tips are still there!
Questions about my experience? Please ask!

~Trisha

LifeLock has selected me as a proud ambassador for their brand. I have been compensated for my time, not my opinions. All statements, unless otherwise noted, are my own. Thank you for supporting this blog and reading about all my life experiences.

Sooooooooooooo.

Summer has arrived. Charlotte’s last day of school was Friday and she left immediately to go see her Aunt Sammi graduate Veterinarian school from the University of Florida.

Daddy took her alone because 8 hours in the car with a child under 2 didn’t seem appealing to either one of us, so I stayed behind and played defense with Phoenyx.

Along the way they stopped and made it into a daddy/daughter trip and went to a butterfly house and the Florida Caverns where they both assured me there was a spider the size of a tarantula living.

However despite having a Canon T3 and a Smart phone, neither one took a picture. So it may be a tall tale.

P and spent the weekend at the Gulf Islands Water Park and it took him 45 minutes before he would go into the water without freaking out.

 

 

By the time he warmed up to the whole idea, he was so near nap time that the inevitable break down started to occur and leaving the park solicited a breakdown. While we had fun, it was one of those ultra exhausting days.

I cannot wait to do it again!

And last but not least, I leave you with a warning…. the Neutrogena Sunless Tanner mist stuff works really well….but don’t spray it while you have a swimsuit and shorts on or when you take them off, you get some seriously odd tan lines.

Did you do anything fun this weekend?
~Trisha