There Is No Reason To Spend $100's On A Birthday Party

Why do we feel we need to spend $100's on our children's birthday parties these days? Is it to keep up with the Jonese? Is it because we think it is what our child wants? Is it because we want them to be popular? Whatever your reason, there really is no reason for it. Kids, just love being together.

Yesterday the kids and I headed to a the beach for a friend's birthday party. Last year I spent over $500.00 on each kid's birthday party and this year about $225.00. My girlfriend and her family of 4 with number 5 on the way in a month invited a slew of family and friends to celebrate at the beach. When we got there, her husband was grilling, the kids were playing on the water and the tables were set.

The kids ranging from 2-12 and had free play for about 45 minutes and were then called to the table for hot dogs, veggies, ziti and Capri Suns. They went back to the water and played frisbee!

After that, our host called us out for games of:
Potato Sack Race
Watermelon Eating Contests
Water Balloon Toss

Everyone had a great time and she probably spent a total of $100.00 with the food, cake, drinks, balloons, and gift buckets. Plus the kids loved it!

Wisharoo Park Makes A Sweet, Shining Entrance Into My World

Wow, what a way to end the school year. We got home on Thursday and found a box waiting at the door. I honestly had no idea what it was and we like surprises. I opened the box with the kids, nipping at my heels and inside was....

They look like proud parents, don't they?

At first I thought, is that a hat? But, when we took the wrapper off, we found it was...

Can you even imagine!?

If you loved chocolate as much as Goddess, you would have this face on too!

Inside the chocolate bowl was a DVD and the cutest, colorful, finger puppets.

We have watched the DVD at least three times this weekend and this morning while making the beds, the theme song was the song we sang.

Buzz Chic Was Featured On Babybindle

Some of you know that I am Buzz Chic and work on the team of a good friend of mine, Sandra and her company Babybindle.

This past weekend, Sandra was at the auditions of Shark Tank in Texas, toting her product, The SeatPak for the show. Hopefully, they see the same special person and her product as I do!

Below, please find Sandra's post about my little company Buzz Chic! I am honored to have been interviewed.

 

Happy Saturday to everyone! Hopefully you are all enjoying the start of Summer. I am in Texas, getting ready to wait on line for auditions of the show Shark Tank on ABC, wish me luck!

There I am. See me in the reflection!

Please allow me to introduce you to one of our behind the scenes team members. Our very own Social Media Specialist, Maria.

Maria, runs a company called Buzz Chic which she created to help companies like babybindle to facilitate their online marketing. By working closely with the company she brings her 6+ years of Social Media expertise and social online direction by growing our online audience and cross promotion opportunities for mass exposure.

Social media networking is an important part of our strategy because it involves facilitating and working out a way to achieve the objectives and goals of all areas of the company. From sales to cross-promotional functions, Maria finds a way to enhance the personality of the company to all potential clients and associates.

Tell us a little about yourself

I am a stay at home mom of two who started blogging after second baby was born. I was at home with a 22 year old tantrum king and a newborn who cried 18+ hours a day. I really needed a place to vent. I started Maria's Space and eventually blogs where I spoke in my children's voices. It was great therapy. 


My kids are my first priority. I love documenting their life in word and photo form. I love, talking, writing, reading, photography and creating jewelry which I sell on Etsy under Street Angel

What is the biggest hurdle facing female entrepreneurs today?

I think the toughest thing about starting a business is Fear! Just taking the first step and doing it is scary. Once you do that, it is only a matter of motivation and not giving up.

What business lesson have you learned that you will never forget?

"Your time is money" which I learned from Sandra. My husband has told me this over the last 8 years, whenever I would run  out to take photos for a friends, party, band, business opening, School, etc., Eventually Sandra was the one who got through to me. She made me believe that you are good at what you do. When she asked me to take her prototype photos and then to head up her social media direction, I felt that I could do it. Sometimes, it takes one person to make a difference.

What have been your major challenges? 

Growing Buzz Chic while maintaining, everything else I do, life, parenting, kids, product reviews and book reviews for Maria's Space and supporting my clients. It is a challenge I appreciate after being out of the work force for so many years before my kids started school.

What would you say has been your major success?

Being featured here!

If you could offer one piece of advice to someone thinking of starting up a business, what would it be?
Just do it! 

Balancing business and family is a conscious effort. How do you keep a healthy balance? 
Working at home makes this a little easier. Waking two hours before the kids helps. When they were in school I worked when they were there. It will take a little more balancing now that they are on summer vacation.

Name two things you must carry with you at all times.

My blackberry and my wallet

Do you have a favorite business tool or resource? 

I love Tweetdeck. It makes tweeting so much easier when you run more than on Twitter account.

Do you have a motivational quote? 

All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better -  Ralph Waldo Emerson

On your most challenging day, what inspires you to keep going?

Knowing and believing that This Too Shall Pass!

Mellow Yellow Monday - Fribee with Friends

Happy Monday

Happiness is getting the perfect shot!
I love this one because it is so funny to me. My son put his thumbs up because I asked, "are you having fun." He loves the beach. With the bikini in the background, it looks like he is enjoying the view. At 8, he is thankfully oblivious to girls and the only thing he was focusing on was the time and knowing, eventually, mom would be telling him it was time to leave.

Blue Monday - Potato Sack Races Are Always Fun

Message to Sally: Keep fighting the good fight! Hope to see you blogging again soon. Get well my dear.

Quotography - Summer

We headed to the beach today for a birthday party. It was a great way to spend a Sunday. The kids loved playing in the water, and I gave them as much freedom as a self proclaimed hoover mom can give two kids under 9, playing at the beach.

Diary of A Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules DVD Review

Thanks to 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, I was given a complimentary copy of Diary of A Wimpy Kid Rodrick Rules on DVD.

What I Can Tell You: 

I thought this was even better than the first one. In this one, mom has decided to offer the boys an incentive to get along. Greg would be more than happy to get along with Rodrick but for Rodrick, what's the sense of having a younger brother if you can't make his life miserable. Mom's "Mom Bucks" eventually work in Rodrick's favor as he works the "system" and swindles some awesome  presents for himself.

Eventually the boys work together to get the most out of the opportunity which makes for some fun times and brotherly love and acceptance. 

This is a great movie for the whole family. I love movies that my kids will watch and that I can actually sit through without feeling I am wasting precious time.

Camping Indoors

Camping has become so much more popular since vacations are so expensive and depending on where you live, camping is a normal way of life. Where I am, families I know go camping very frequently, which I find very enduring, however, doubt my family and I will do much of it unless we head out with people who are frequent campers. 

We do however, let the kids camp indoors at least twice a year. We put up a tent and allow the kids to sleep in it, watch TV, play, eat, for a few days before we take it down. They are never happy with it coming down but we always promise to do it again. If the house was bigger, we would probably keep it up all the time.

As Alice Cooper Said; School's Out For Summer!

Hooray! I am so happy that school is over for the summer. My readers may remember that I was very sick last summer. Our summer vacation was a bust, as I couldn't really go anywhere because I was heavily medicated after spending two weeks in the hospital and finally having surgery in December. This year, I vow will be different. This week, I am working on a calendar so that the kids know exactly what we are doing and when. Now that I am a working mama, things need to change a little but our plan is to give them an awesome, fun filled summer.

Yesterday, school ended at 12:30 and the kids seemed to almost not realize that they will not see some of their friends until September. Hopefully, we are able to set up play dates and meet ups with most of them throughout the summer.

Handsome and his teacher on the last day of school

Goddess and her Kindergarten Teacher

One of Goddess' classmates parents owns a local deli, and invited her class there for a pizza party. It was the perfect way to end the school year.

We took a yearbook with us and had the kids sign near their names. They ran around with their friends and I got to hear some conversations that made me happy and sad at the same time.

A little girl that Handsome went to preschool with but moved away for Kindergarten came back in the middle of this year. While they are not in class together, I am thrilled to see them together again.

She told me at the circus that Handsome loves her. Then yesterday morning, I heard another little boy telling Jewel that Handsome said, he is going to marry this little girl.

I was a little shocked because I didn't think he thought about things like this.

Yesterday while at the pizza party, how Handsome feels about this girl was the talk of the kids. One little girl in Goddess' class who states she is going to marry Justin Bieber, overheard this is was like, "what, he said that? Why, why her?"

So funny and disturbing, why are kids growing up so fast. I don't believe I was thinking about boys until the 3rd grade. They were so far off my radar before that.

20 minutes later, this little girl again, stood up, put her hand on her hip and stated, "I can't believe he said that? Why her?"

Too crazy. Then I overheard my son's supposed crush telling Goddess while she poured her a drink, very matter of fact like, "my cousin Charlie, tells me all about you. I hear about you every afternoon." Thankfully Goddess was uninterested. While it is very cute, crushes and broken hearts, I was hoping would be very far in the future. However, with the kids these days hearing from other kids at school about boy and girls they like, parents are dealing with crushes much sooner than our parents.

All in all, it was a great day. My kids had a fun time hanging with friends and I got to be a fly on the wall in a moment in my children's life. Good times.

ABC Wednesday - W - June 22, 2011

W = Wake Up Brother, you are sleeping too long

W = What! Get away kid, you bother me!

 

The Big Apple Circus

I took my daughter to the circus for the first time last week and she loved it. She didn't sit for the first 40 minutes and clapped for 25 with a huge smile on her face.

Tuesday Takes - Moving On Up!

The kids had a moving up ceremony today at school although they have a half day tomorrow which they will be present for. Mostly because they have so much stuff to bring home but also because, it is MY LAST MORNING to work on MY SCHEDULE.

Look at the pride on those faces. 

Ruby Tuesday - The Circus is Here

I just had to snap a photo of these boys as they watched the Big Top going up. So cute

Perceptive Perspective - Water Fun

One of the best parts of Summer is the Water Fun! Watching my kids playing with smiles on their faces always makes me happy. This past weekend, my husband took some PVC piping and created a one of a kind sprinkler for the kids. They were thrilled.

Finding A Happy Balance Between Work and Summer Vacation

If you know me at all, you know that I wish my kids could stay home forever. Sending them to school at all is mostly because they need to socialize as I am a firm believer in home school and just love being with them. If I could pause life, I would. They are growing up way to fast and eventually will have their own lives.  Now that summer is here, I am thrilled to have them home however, this will be the first summer in 8 years that I will be working. Scheduling and balancing will HAVE to be a part of our daily routine. One of the best things about Summer was that it was unscheduled. It is the only two months we are unscheduled in the year. This year will be DIFFERENT.

When I started my company Buzz Chic the end of April, I hoped that I would eventually have clients and NEED to schedule work time. Thankfully, I have clients so work and family time will have to be coincide.


Here is my plan:

1) Wake two hours before the kids so I can get Twitter, Facebook and Blogging done.

2) Mon, Tues, & Wed (month of July) I will be babysitting until 2:30. Those three days, work will be done 5:00 - 7:30 a.m. and then again 9-11 pm. The times in between will be dedicated to the two I am babysitting and my two.

3) No work on the weekends. All work will need to be done on Friday and pre-posted.

4) 1/2 hour set up 3 times during the day to attend to email, Tweets and Facebook.

Allowing myself time to do things with the kids has to be a priority. Last year I was sick the entire Summer. We only went to the beach two times. This Summer; park, farm, visiting friends, beach and a day trip or two will be planned.

Set time aside to exercise! Including the kids will make this easier.

Kids love knowing what to expect. The calendar will be full but as long as we all know what is coming down the pike, we can plan accordingly.

My plan for the rest of the week is to create a summer calendar that we can reference so we are all on the same page.

How do you balance your work and Summer vacation? I would love some ideas.

Quotography | Happiness

Happiness is so many things...but it is seeing my children happy that brings me the most joy!

Blue Monday - The Big Top

The circus comes to my town every year. I never go because I am not one for crowds and spending money that I don't have.

This year was different because now that Goddess is in school, she learns about the things that are happening and is aware of her community. I used to be able to hide things thinking if they don't know it won't hurt them.

When she asked everyday (for 7 days) if we were going, I knew I had to take her. I am so glad I did.

The day the big top goes up is a big deal in my little town. This year there were so many people there. I took Goddess when she was 3 and no one was around. I snapped a few photos before getting my tickets for the evening for Blue Monday although I could have done these for Mellow Yellow Monday and Ruby Tuesday as well.

AND we are up!

Mellow Yellow Monday - McDonalds Birthday Party With Friends

Goddess has been friends with "Rocker" since she is 4 years old. He was the boy who gave her her very first Valentine's Day card and gift. Adorable!

They are very cute together. I love watching them when they see each other. Like an old married couple.

I Am Raising A Drama Queeen

Don't get me wrong, not by my intention...let me explain.

This weekend Goddess saw, Aurora Dreamy Eyes Prancer Pony and just about lost her mind.

"If I don't get him, I'll die, die I say"!

A little melodramatic I'd say. Wouldn't you!

But then again, most of my readers know she is just crazy. Asking her to pose with a product review these days, is like pulling teeth. Shoulder Buddies was her last review and as you can see, I am in trouble.

Self Portrait Sunday - June 18 - HAPPY FATHER'S DAY TO ALL!

Hello everyone, I'm back. It has been hella crazy here with so many things going on. Buzz Chic my Social Media Company is moving along with three clients. Woot! Fun, Fun!

Things I Miss.....

• Rocking my children to sleep.
• Reading for hours at a time.
• Going on long drives to nowhere with my husband (boyfriend at the time).
• Doing absolutely nothing.
• Really listening to music and lying on my bed
• Sleeping past 7:00 a.m.
• Cassette's - You could rewind them and listen to your favorite part over and over again. I must have replayed Pearl Jam's Black 1,000,000 times. 
• Spending the day in the house with my infant Handsome, and just breathing!
• Photos - The kind that you could hold and pass around a table.
• Nursing my children. I know, some of you must think I am crazy but it was some of the most relaxing times I have ever had. Knowing I was nourishing them from my body, made me feel like "Mother Earth". Plus all that Oxytocin!

Sepia Scenes - Stuff!

 

While at a local shop, I noticed this beautiful set up. I would love all these pieces especially the dream paperweight!

New TOY Alert That Will Have Your Kids Saying, "I Want One!" Mine Did!

It's a toy!

It's an accessory!

It's adorable!

What I Can Tell You:

We recently received two Shoulder Buddies to review. My son and daughter love them, in fact, I plan on getting myself one (Pirate's Adventure).

My daughter wore hers to school the first day we got it and everyone loved it. In fact, the teacher mentioned it to me during a morning meeting and asked where she could get one for her daughter.

The Magic Coin that comes with each character is a magnetic that goes under the article of clothing you want to attached the buddy to. Simply place underneath, put the buddy over the fabric and you have company for the day.

The Shoulder Buddies have a back story that I found unnecessary but my kids loved.

The Story

The Shoulder Buddy Smarts come from a magical wishing star, and inside that star is the Land of Understand. Shoulder Buddies go to the "School of Smarts" so they can earn their Fluffles on top of their head to fly. Once they have learned their "Smarts" they fly down from the Land of Understand and look for a Buddy to journey with and share their "Smarts".

While the age on the toy says 4-8, I believe they will be loved by children of all ages (excluding 3 and under).

I am so happy to inform you that the company has authorized me to host a giveaway for one of my readers.

ABC Wednesday - V - Virtuoso

Wow...look at that Virtuosity on that Virtuoso!

We went to a local circus last night and was truly dazzled by the skill by most of the performers.

Price: $30.00 for two adult tickets, $7.00 for one child.  $6.00 for cotton candy, $12.00 for a light toy, $3.00 for a snow cone but in the long run, it was worth it.

Kick Off Summer With A Sugar Free Ring Pop = Goddess Thinks They Are Pretty

Here is Goddess trying to figure out if it was "pretend jewelry" or candy.

Budding Artist Tuesday

A little late getting this new meme up today. Sorry about that.

Do you have an artist in your house? One who is constantly drawing, creating and inspired by all things art? If so, check out this new meme for the summer called "Budding Artists" for kids age 3-18. 

I love blogging and I especially love when my kids are involved.

Interested? Come back every Tuesday morning and link up your post starring your child's artwork. I can't wait to see it.

Here is my submission for the week:

Alphabe-Thursday - H = Happy

There is nothing as a parent than seeing your kids HAPPY. Really happy. It doesn't take much to make them happy. They are excited over the best things. I love hearing them yell "Hooray" whenever I mention things I know they are going to love. Usually this happens on our ride home from school in the afternoon. Usually they play at the park for 1/2 hour or more than we get in the car and talk about our day. Sometimes, it is just the mention of a snack purchased at the supermarket or a piece of mail that came in, or a TV show we are going to watch. It is the small things that make them happy. We should all take a moment and be child like. Imagine the joy we would get if we took a breath and appreciated the little things.

This Way ThursWay #105 - Red Light, Green Light, 1, 2, 3

These boys are playing some serious red light, green light games. I don't remember ever taking this game this serious.

Wordless Wednesday - Cooling Off The Old School Way

Wordless Wednesday