As many of you know, my family and I are heading to New York this summer to help the economy.  :)  Okay, more seriously, we are going to visit my sister-in-law and her new baby (he was born on March 1st).  However, I didn’t want to fly for many reasons.

I don’t care how many times everybody keeps saying they don’t pat down kids.  I have seen 100s of videos on YouTube where they have.  Except, I would be getting arrested, because I couldn’t stand there while they fondle my kids (security my ass.  More like security theater.)  So I take my money where my mouth is — we are not flying.  Also, you have crap like this (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-belkin/children-on-airplanes_b_1492051.html) where you have people who take their position to the extreme.  I don’t need that crap.    Plus, flying would cost us a ton of money.

We had many reasons to drive besides not wanting the TSA patdown.  It is cheaper to drive even with gas as expensive as it is.  As a family, we drive to Green Bay all the time.  However, my kids haven’t really gone anywhere else.  After our disastrous trip to Florida without a car several years ago, we learned the importance of having a car.  (We flew on that trip before all these stupid TSA rules were in play).  Plus, we are looking at sightseeing along the way, so my kids can see more of the country!  Lastly, we are being loaned a Cadillac Escalade.  That vehicle alone is worth driving!  To be honest, a Cadillac Escalade gets around the same gas mileage as the van I drive everyday.  Plus, there are some features it has that my van doesn’t like 3 DVD players.  I wish we were a family that could all get along on a car ride.  We are not.  Instead, I have no problem flipping on a DVD and with 3 players, there is no fighting over what movie we are watching (WOOOHOOOOO!!)  Some other really cool features are GPS (which I need), satellite radio, heated and cooled seats, and cooled cupholders.  The really cool thing is that since it seats 8 adults, both families will fit in here for any sightseeing we do in New York.  (There are about 100 cool features that the Escalade has, but these were the ones I cared about the most!).

I am super excited for our trip.  Are you flying for your summer vacation?  Why or why not?

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With the holidays upon us, this is a time of year that can be joyous for some and heartbreaking for others. Last year, my cousin’s wife died right after Christmas, so I know this year will be a tough one for him. Some people just don’t like the holiday. Others, well they have to work. With all different people like this in your life, it can be tough keeping everyone’s spirits bright during the holidays.

First, remembering others circumstances at this time of year is very important. Like I said above, remember everyone’s circumstances. You may be celebrating. Others, well, they may be grieving. Do what is comfortable for everyone and that will keep everyone’s spirits bright because they won’t feel uncomfortable. Finding toys like KRE-O Transformers sets can be a conversation starter for adults and kids alike. The third Transformers movie, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, was a smash this past summer and the KRE-O collection is inspired by the Generation 1 Transformers. Kids and adults have something alike that they can talk about (or argue about if they want to get into which generation is the best).

Next, get toys without batteries. There is nothing worse than being at a Christmas gathering when all you hear is a bunch of toys screaming at you. Instead, KRE-O Transformers sets are a great gift for the holidays. They allow your kids to use their imagination to assemble and dissemble them. Plus, it allows them to role play with them which also requires creativity on your kids part. I love watching my kids when they are making up the story as they go. The stories they come up with are sometimes better than anything else out there. Plus, it allows for the adults to keep their sanity.

Another way to keeping everyone’s spirits bright during the holidays is donate your time and your money and maybe even some toys. Not everyone is as fortunate as we are, and this is the perfect time of year to remember that. There are twelve KRE-O Transformers sets available, from Basic sets for beginner builders to deluxe sets for the pros. The sets range in price from $7.99-$59.99 and each set allows kids to construct one of two models: a Transformers character in robot or vehicle mode offering two different builds in one! Most also come with a unique, collectible KREON figure that add another level of play to the sets. This is a great gift to donate to your local Toys for Tots. This keeps your spirits and the lucky kid who is getting it spirits up too!

How do you keep everyone’s spirits bright during the holidays? Do you donate your time, your talent, or your treasure to those you love and care for?

I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Hasbro blogging program, for 8,000 My SocialMoms Rewards Points and a KRE-O gift. The opinions expressed in this post are mine and don’t necessarily reflect the opinions of SocialMoms or Hasbro. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

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We got to take the kids to Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey presents Fully Charged last night. It was awesome. Before the show, we got to talk to the clowns and get their autographs. Will was a little weird — he’d talk to some of the clowns and not others. Madison ran from activity to activity they set up. If you watch the slideshow, you’ll see how she and her friend Eva got to join one of the circus rings and dance. They also got to jump rope there too!

Here’s what it looked like:

As you can see, the circus was a ton of fun for the kids and the adults. I love how they reinvent the show every single year. My husband especially liked how the clowns reenacted a lot of what we had already seen in their own funny and unique way. This is what my kids thought after the show. I have to apologize, but it was super cold out, so I took this video immediately after the show was over. We were in the van and well the audio is great. The video not so much.

The really cool thing is that this circus was Madison’s friend Eva’s first time. What I learned last night was that her mom hadn’t even been to the circus either! When it was over, her mom texted me about how awesome the show was, so it’s a hit with circus newbies and circus veterans alike!

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Robert Scoble wrote a post about why your mom won’t be using Google+.  If you read my post from last week, you know I’ve had the ability to play with Google+ for a bit now, and I have to disagree.  Why?  Well, I’m a mom.  And I use Google+.

1.  I love Circles.  The argument seems to be that non-geeks won’t understand circles and won’t use them.  I can think of many reasons why they will.  Let’s say you want to vent about your inlaws or your job or pretty much anything you don’t want the whole world knowing.  You can easily just send a message to your friends complaining (make sure you disable the share option) and you don’t have to worry about the world knowing.  (Yes, I know they can still screenshot it, but if they are your friends, do you really think they will?)

2.  The mobile app is beyond easy to use.  I downloaded in the car on the way to a camping trip, and used it in the car (Need to add that I was not driving).  I was able to easily have the picture appear in my stream (it was a picture of how full my van was packed!).  It was a great test post and I have even been told how great the pictures looked on Google+ versus Facebook.  They just have a much more crisp look to them.

3.  Hangouts.  If you are like me (a mom) and your family lives far away, this is a great feature.  I can talk to my sister and my parents (who both live 4 hours away) and they don’t have to be at the same house!  We can be a family together even though we are in 2 states.  It just makes it easier to get online and talk.  As long as I can write directions on how to use it, my parents (who aren’t all that tech savvy) can figure it out.

4.  Simple interface.  Makes writing direction to use things much easier (see above).  Remember the saying, Keep in simple stupid?  That’s what Google did with this interface.  Simple makes it much more friendly to nongeeks.

5.  Adults are here.  This is exactly what the doctor ordered for us stay at home moms.  Facebook limits you to your friends.  On Google+, you can expand your horizons and follow those who you may not personally know however find interesting.  You can have adult conversations with people who may have opposing viewpoints and you don’t have to worry about whether or not somebody you knew in high school is going to read your insightful comment.

6.  One stop shopping.  Moms need our lives to be as simple as possible.  We are busy.  I like having my email, social networking, documents, etc all in one spot instead of having 20 bookmarked sites to do the same thing.

7.  Sparks.  This looks for videos and articles it thinks you’ll like, so “when you’re free, there’s always something to watch, read, and share.”  If your bored, have a go in there

8.  With a Google+ account, you get unlimited photo storage on Picasa.  I love being able to take a picture with my phone (which I have available to me most of the time.  I don’t normally carry my camera all too much), upload it, and not have to worry if I’m going to exceed my storage space.  And who doesn’t like free?

9.  You control your privacy unlike Facebook who doesn’t bother to tell you that they sold your information till after the media catches it.  Google Plus also makes it easy to control your privacy settings.  You don’t have to dig through 20 menus to get there.

10.  I’m here, and your mom loves me.  Why wouldn’t she want to hang out where all the cool people are?

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We are celebrating Will’s birthday party over the weekend.  If you can believe it, he is going to be 4 years old!  I know — it seems like it was just yesterday! I can guarantee it will rain though. Why?  We can’t throw that kid a party without some sort of rainstorm.  All of his birthdays and even his baptism all had rain!  I swear we can’t catch a break on that one.

What do you get a 4 year old though?  He already has Swivel TV stands in his room that hold my 12 inch TV (that I got in high school.  Can you believe that still works?!?!), a DVD player (the first DVD player Bill and I bought.  It was when they first came out.  Can you believe that still works too?!?!), and the receiver for our cable TV.  It’s not like we are adding any audio racks or media cabinet furniture to that setup.  Actually, he has a setup at 4 that some adults don’t even have.

He is a huge Spiderman fan, so I’m sure he’ll be getting a ton of Spiderman stuff (including the huge Spiderman we already got for him).  Will’s “real” birthday isn’t until Tuesday, so he’ll be highly confused on why we are celebrating this multiple times for him.  Well, off to clean and I’ll let you know how the party goes!

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