Uncategorized — Page 35

Making Easter Special and a Hershey’s Easter Candy Giveaway!

March 22, 2014 by amushro

~This post has been sponsored by Global Influence, but all opinions are my own~

Maybe it’s because we’ve been buried with snow all winter long, but I have never been so excited for spring in my life. I love every part of spring: the unpredictable weather, the sometimes muddy playgrounds, and flowers and trees whose pollen makes my nose itchy. Yes, friends I really do love it all (maybe not the muddy dog and kid feet). So maybe that’s why I really love Easter.

When Hubby and I unleashed our kids on a dozen hard boiled eggs and several cups of bright dye, I started thinking about Easter traditions from my childhood. The big Easter dinner, racing through my grandparent’s yard searching for hidden eggs, elaborate baskets hidden from the Bunny, and black eggs.

The black eggs were my grandfather’s specialty and as a kid, I thought, much like my feelings about my Pappy, that his black eggs were the bee’s knees. After we dyed what seemed to be a million eggs, he grabbed the last egg, mixed all of the colors, and let the egg sit and sit until it became the perfect shade of black. That black egg looked silly among all of those bright pink, blue, and yellow eggs, but truth be told, it was always my favorite.

Traditions, big and small, make the holidays so precious even when things change. Now my parents are the ones hosting the big Easter egg hunt and family dinner. My mom bakes special bunny treats with my kids and we’ve added a few traditions of our own, like burying jelly beans outside the night before Easter and finding out they had grown into lollipops over night. And of course, no round of egg coloring is complete without the trophy black egg.

While I love the idea of baking with my kids, the truth is, I must have been waiting in the sarcasm line when they were passing out baking skills. So when we “bake” in this house, it’s only easy, kid friendly (OK, it’s really Amanda friendly), and something we can do quickly because we are on to the next activity pretty quickly. So these Easter Cookie Pops were perfect and yummy!

Easter Cookie Pops

Buttery Crackers
Reese’s Peanut Butter
Hershey’s semi sweet chocolate chips
Lollipop Sticks
Wax Paper
Colorful sprinkles and icing

Spread the Reese’s Peanut Butter between crackers and insert the lollipop stick.
Place the cookies in the freezer for a few minutes. This way the you the peanut butter hardens and your stick won’t fall out while dipping or eating
Melt the Hershey;s semi sweet chocolate chips in the microwave or in a double boiler
Dip the cookies into the chocolate and cover all sides
Lay the cookies on wax paper and allow time for the chocolate to set.
Decorate with fun sprinkles or icing, eat, and enjoy!

Hop on over (did you see what I did there?) and check out Celebrate With Hershey’s for a ton of adorable basket idea, recipes, crafts, and other ways to make your family’s Easter memorable. Don’t forget to enter the giveaway to sample some of Hershey’s yummy candy. Trust me, Hershey’s was kind enough to give me a huge sample of their Easter candy (that I enjoyed from the comfort of my bedroom closet) and it was SO GOOD! Now you need your own Easter Prize Pack. So enter now!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

We Lost Her Lovie. It’s Time To Panic

March 17, 2014 by amushro

Only a parent can understand the sheer panic and distress when a beloved “lovie” has gone missing. Whether it’s a thread worn blanket, a cyclopsed bear, or a filthy dirty rag doll, that “lovie” often means sleep or no sleep, cry uncontrollably or peace and quiet, a glass of wine for Mommy at night or drinking straight out of the bottle when the kids aren’t looking. As a parent, part of our duty is going on frequent expeditions for that special friend. So when we lost my daughter’s significant other, I went all Code Red, Code Red this is not a drill. Repeat this is not a Drill.

“Baby” was dubbed with her unoriginal forename long before my girl could even scream at the top of her lungs “Where’s MY BABY?” Since she was a tiny peanut, she could only sleep if Baby was by her side, well to be more specific, Baby had to be across her face. When I would hear my infant fuss or cry in her crib, I would roll over to my snoring husband, shake him a few times, then jab him really hard in the ribs (you know, just to make sure he was up) and say “Go put Baby on her face.” Within seconds of Baby being applied to her face, silence. That silence was only broken by the other cry that meant “Where’s the boob at, Lady?”

Even now when I peak in at my slumbering gal, this is how we find her

There is a strict policy for all guests: if you are in her bed, you must have a Baby on your face too.

Baby must can also be worn in times of stress, anxiety, fear, anger, or just hanging out.

Learning from other mothers, I knew it was imperative to have backup Babies, but no matter how hard I tried, Baby 2 and Baby 3 never made the cut. Their fresh faces and pink dresses were turned away for the muted attire and reeking Baby she has grown to love.

Our nighttime ritual always includes bath, books, and a Baby search party. Usually my girl has no idea where she’s left her beloved and my patience runs thin as we all search for her. “Baby needs to stay in your bed,” I tell her “No more searching for Baby every night.” She nods and I nod, but we both know that tomorrow it will be more of the same.

So last week when Baby went missing, I assumed it was the usual game, but this time Baby was nowhere to be found. After tearing thorough every possible hiding space, we had to abandon our search for the night. I assured her that Baby 3 would suffice. With a little sob, she agreed and went to bed with Baby 3 on her face. Surely Baby would turn up tomorrow, but after four days and no Baby, I started to think she was a goner. Could I file a missing persons report for Baby? If the officer was a parent surely he would understand.

Slowly she was adjusting to Baby 3, but I was the one longing for the original Baby. Even though that toy smelled like old milk and dirt and I was afraid to wash her for fear of decapitation from lack of stuffing, it was my baby’s lovie and the one thing she cherished the most in this world. I envisioned someday sneaking Baby into her pillowcase when went to a sleepover with friends or Baby finding her way into dorm room when she heads off to college. I was CRUSHED but my daughter was dealing.

I couldn’t take it anymore. I needed to find Baby. The day she disappeared, we had a marathon day of errands so I called every place Baby had been. I grilled each person that answered the phone about Baby’s whereabouts. Nothing. In an act of desperation I searched the house high and low one more time. Nothing. Just before I gave up I remembered yelling at the kids for making their own bobsled team out of the old crib mattress and bed in the spare bedroom. I swung the door open and started searching the room. And there, wedged between the wall and the bed was Baby. Her half-smirk beckoning me to save her. I hugged that dirty little doll, tried not to vomit from her smell, and raced up the stairs to return her to her sleeping owner. I tucked Baby under my daughter’s arm and breathed a sigh of relief. Mommy:finder of all that once was lost.

The next morning my little girl came downstairs shaking Baby “Mommy! It’s Baby! She’s back!”

“I told you Mommy would find her! Oh God get her out of my face. I might puke, and this time I’m serious. If you lose her again, Mommy is not going to find her.”

I will ALWAYS find Baby for you, but for real, get her out of my face. She stinks.

Check Out the March Mommy TMI Vlog!

March 13, 2014 by amushro

Hey, Spring! Is that you? I can’t tell because I’ve been buried in winter for too, too long. Let me break out my short sleeve shirts, take my usual spot on the playground, and enjoy a little Vitamin D. Isn’t it amazing what a little bit of sunshine can do for the soul? For real, I feel like a new woman after a few days of sunny. warm weather. It also motivated me to get my March Mommy TMI vlog ready to share with you. Even better, I have my main man to help me this month. So check out my thoughts on luck, spring forward, and what you must watch on Netflix right now!

)

Some Days I Feel Like a Legit Writer

March 4, 2014 by amushro

Sometimes I have these really grand ideas that I’m a legit writer. I’ll pack up my laptop and head out the front door to the neighborhood Starbucks for some quality writing time, but before I leave to find some writing space of my own, I mumble to my husband “Deadlines! So many deadlines!”

In reality, most of my writing takes place on my living room floor because the closest outlet it too far from the couch. Usually two kids are barking their demands of “Mommy, I need chocolate milk,” and “Mommy, I need you to wipe my butt!” as I attempt to make some sense on my blog. I hit save on the two words that I wrote with every intention of coming back to the post once the kids are in bed. However, I’m usually so drained that only nonsense comes across my computer screen past 8:30 PM.

This weekend I told my husband that I needed to write, he was in change of the children, and I was not to be disturbed. I snuck upstairs to work in my bedroom (laptop in one hand, coffee in the other, box of Girl Scout cookies under my arms). I opened the blinds on every window and started to click, click, click away on my next blog post. It was bliss. It was heaven. It was over in five minutes.

My daughter, who is just at the starting gate of potty training, decided that she needed to poop in the company of her mother. Better yet, why not do it on mommy’s bedroom floor! Where was her father, the one that was taking over the parenting reins this weekend? Well when I carried a freshly bathed girl down to the basement, I found both of my boy in front of the tv playing video games. Normally the poop on the floor and the blank stares during a video game would have been enough to send me over the edge yelling “I can’t work in these conditions!”

So no, friends, most days I don’t feel like a legit writer; however, this weekend I had a little boost to my legit writer ego. Not even fecal matter or Mario Brothers could bring me down. Because this weekend I found out that an essay I wrote would be featured in a book! That’s right, I’m officially a published writer and seriously considering only introducing myself that way to the new people I meet, “Hi, nice to meet you. I’m Amanda, published writer.”

The book is entitled Not Your Mother’s Book on Being a Mom and will be in book stores and sold online April 8. This book is actually part of a series created by the team responsible for the Chicken Soup for the Soul books. So this is a modern, edgy, snarky take on motherhood and I’m thrilled to be a part of it!

While I was relishing in my new found success, I found the reactions from my fan base (read: my family) to be my favorite part of this experience.

My dad asked how much they were paying me, my husband is excited to make-out with a published author (Pretty sure he just wants to make-out), my kids asked if I would read it to them (gonna need to wait a little while on that one, kids), but leave it to my own mom to have the best response.

When I told my mom I would pre-order her a copy she insisted she wanted to go to a book store, find it on the shelves, take it to the register to check out and tell the cashier “My daughter is a writer in this book.” Yup, pretty sure that makes me a legit writer.

The Top Three Times I needed a Walgreens Healthcare Clinic

March 3, 2014 by amushro

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a

social shopper amplification for #CollectiveBias and its advertiser. #HealthcareClinic

Sharing is caring, but lately the only thing we seem to be sharing in this house is germs. Seriously, I cannot remember a another winter when my entire family has been sick so many times. My usually super healthy kids have been passing back cold germs to one another for what seems like an eternity. While hubby and I have an ongoing competition of who needs the sick day more, it seems that the dog has been the healthiest one of the bunch. But sometimes just being sick isn’t the worst part of being sick. Performing the juggling act of schlepping your sick kiddo to the pediatrician’s office with your healthy kid in tow, trying to make an appointment for yourself at your doctor’s office even though you can’t find the time to take a shower, and when things go wrong (as they sometimes do), trying to find the fastest and easiest way to help your kids feel better means you need convenient and reliable help that I’ve found at the Walgreens Healthcare Clinic Washington DC.

So for these reasons, here are…

1. When I needed a flu shot and couldn’t find the time to make an appointment with my primary care physician.

In an attempt to stay healthy this winter, I knew I needed to get a flu shot, but when I called my doctor’s office, the appointment times didn’t work with my schedule (read: I would sooner fight off the flu than take my kids to the doctor’s office with me). So I popped into Walgreens Healthcare Clinic, got the flu shot, and was out in 15 minutes. I was vaccinated, the kids got a few snacks from Walgreens, and visions of my children wrecking the doctor’s office waiting room or making it rain with tongue depressors and cotton balls were just a distant memory.

2. The whole family is sick and I was sick of everyone being sick

Right around Thanksgiving everyone in this house had a nasty cold. We treated our symptoms with over the counter meds and lots of TLC, but a few weeks later all four of us were still snotty messes. I try really hard to wait it out before taking antibiotics or giving them to the kids; however, it was clear we needed a prescription to get over a cold turned into a sinus infection. The logistics of getting both kids to their pediatrician, an appointment for me, and an appointment for my husband, plus a trip to the pharmacy to get all of our meds hurts my brain a bit. I knew it would be quick and easy for all of us to hit up the Walgreen Healthcare Clinic, get checked out by their healthcare provider, pick up the prescription right away since we were inside our pharmacy, grab a few TLC items, and head home to get better. The life of a mom made simple, yes please! More information here: https://antibiotic-store.com/

3. A sick kid in Disney and a snow storm on the way

In what can only be described as “the perfect storm,” my little lady started off our recent trip to Disney World in Princess bliss but ended the trip sick as can be. Here she is meeting all of the Princesses in Cinderella’s castle. How adorable is her little face?

Then all of a sudden her smile was gone and she was miserable in the happiest place on earth. It broke my heart to see her with a fever, body aches, and complaining that her ear hurt. No one should ever be sick in Disney.

Our flight was scheduled to land back home the morning of yet another major snow storm. I knew there was no way we could get off the plane, get an appointment with her pediatrician last minute, and get home safely before the storm hit and had us snowed in for at least a day. So we stopped by Walgreens Healthcare Clinic where they saw her right away. While I grabbed her prescription, hubby grabbed all of the essentials to help us make it through the snow. Teamwork! Then we were back home to get our little lady healthy and wait out the snow.

To check if one of the 400+ Walgreens Healthcare Clinics is located near you, check out Walgreens Healthcare Clinics online!

February Mommy TMI–Best and Worst Valentine’s Day, Superstitions, and Mom Gold Medals

February 28, 2014 by amushro

Holy cannoli this month has flown by! I almost ran out of days to put together my Mommy TMI for the month, but I made it before March comes in like a lion because apparently more snow is headed our way. NOOOOOOOOOO!

Sigh, so here’s to spring coming fast and the awesome More Than Mommies for another great round of questions for the Mommy TMI!

How My Poky Little Boy Has Slowed Me Down

February 18, 2014 by amushro

If I’m moving, I’m moving fast. Fast, fast, fast. I talk fast, walk fast, think fast. Before my feet hit where I’m going, my mind has already been there and is movin’ on to my next destination. Fast, fast, fast.

So when I was blessed with a little boy to have in tow every day, it just seems fitting that the universe decided to give me not a fast mover and shaker like myself. Nope, my main man moves a little slower. Try Poky Little Puppy slow.

While he reserves this tortoise like speed for our walks to the car in a parking lot, down the long hallways to his preschool class, and his usual morning routines, he isn’t always slow. He feels the need for speed when it serves him best: beating his sister down the stairs to get his little hands on the iPad first, if I offer up a dessert (super-fast if it’s ice cream), or if I’m yelling STOP as he runs into the ocean or a pool. He already has that selective hearing thing down.

His snail’s pace wasn’t noticeable until his sister came along and he lost my hip as his major mode of transportation. When he moved up to the big brother role, he had to hoof it next to me and I’ve been slowed down ever since.

If you see me moving towards you at lightning speed, take a look a few yards behind me, that’s where you find my boy. Just strolling along, no sense of urgency, taking it all in.

Daily I plead with him to pick up the pace; however, my pleas fall upon those little ears with selective hearing. When I’m on the move, he’s behind me hop, hop, hopping on just the blue floor tiles at school because the white are full of “hot lava.” If I’m darting down the mall, he will be dragging his feet and trailing his hands down the wall making sure to touch every crack and crevice.

“Buddy, come on! Hurry up! You are killing Mommy!”

“But Mommy, I’m just a little boy and my legs don’t move that fast.”

“Look alive, pal. LOOK ALIVE!”

“Mommy, I am ALIVE. Wanna play I spy?”

If there is one thing I’ve learned as a mother (besides my amazing abilities to pass back juice and Goldfish crackers to my backseat passengers while never taking my eyes off the road and that no one tells you that your feet get bigger with each pregnancy), if you can’t beat them, join them. So goodbye fast, fast,fast days. You can find me strolling alongside my guy, playing I Spy, and checking out the view from his perspective.

Now someone tell me what we do about this selective hearing.

Valentine’s Day:Time to Return the Love

February 14, 2014 by amushro

Happy Valentine’s Day, lovebugs! I do hope someone special is going to shower you with delicious candy, heartfelt cards, a few foot rubs, and maybe something shiny. Well even if you just get a few dead flowers from the last bouquet at the grocery store, remember: it’s the thought that counts (whatever).

I’ll be honest, my husband rocks Valentine’s Day Every. Single Year. I’m pretty amazing at planning this hearts and flowers day for my kids, but when it comes to him, I usually drop the ball, big time. So this year I’m changing all that. This year, I’m going to end this day saying “Valentine’s Day…Nailed it!”

Wanna see how? Well head over to Felicity Huffman’s site What the Flicka? where I am the sharing my Valentine’s Day plans. Take notes, friends. Take notes. Click right here to be magically transported.

Felicity Huffman's What The Flicka - How I Plan To Make My Husband's Valentine's Day

Where ya’ been? Whatcha been up to?

February 6, 2014 by amushro

I’m a lucky girl that other people let me write on their websites. I mean most times when chatting with my husband I think he just tunes me out. And lord knows my kids don’t listen to me. So it’s nice that I can blah, blah, blah on the interwebs, you know?

This week I ‘ve been hanging out at What the Flicka? where I share my makeups and breakups with my running shoes

Felicity Huffman's What The Flicka - Breaking Up and Making Up with my Running Shoes: This Time It’s Serious

And I was chatting it up on the DC Ladies about getting ready for Disney!! Yikes! That reminds me, I need to go pack for Disney!!

The-dc-ladies-parenting-Where-to-Start-When-Planning-a-Trip-to-Disney