OC Fair New Years Eve Block Party!

Giveaway and Comments are now closed. Congrats to the winner, Alex L!!!

I've always wanted to go to the OC Fair New Years Eve Block Party, but I never plan far enough ahead, as usual. So this year when I got an email invite, I was sure not to pass it up. I know lots of people who go, and if this is your first year going, here's what you can expect.

Music.

Four stages encompassing four decades of music. From The Who Revue on the 60s stage to Green ToDay on the 90s stage, there is sure to be something to please everyone. If you want something a little more interactive, head over to Baja Blues for Dueling Pianos!


Food.

In addition to the delicious food at Baja Blues Restaurant, how about nineteen different food trucks? I've tried a few on the list, and there are a few there I can't wait to check out for the first time.

Fun!

There are a rides, carnival games, and a party zone. And if you're feeling a bit risky, you can try your luck at the casino zone!



Food, friends, music. I can't think of a better way to ring in the new year. And best of all, I won't have a big mess to clean up afterwards!

Wanna go?

Just comment below for a chance to win two tickets of your own! I'll pick a winner and mail the tickets out on 12/26!

Disclaimer: I was provided a parking pass and media passes to the event in exchange for posting a giveaway. Photos were taken from the OC Fair website, all credit belongs to them.

Black Friday at Laguna Hills Mall

Black Friday is the biggest shopping day of the year. Shoppers spend hours, sometimes even days, in lines waiting for the best deals to cross of their Christmas shopping lists. I personally don't have the energy to stay up all night or wake up at 4am to go shopping, so you won't find me camped out anywhere.

I'm more of a wake-up-at-7-and-casually-shop kind of girl. Most early-bird deals go on until early afternoon, and some sales even extend throughout the weekend. So instead of joining the mad rush of shoppers, I made it a family affair. Although, that does make it a little more difficult to buy presents for them.

We headed to our favorite mall, Laguna Hills Mall to kick off our Holiday Shopping. There were so many deals and sales going on, it was hard to find where to start. Unfortunately I had to concentrate on shopping for everyone else, not myself. It wasn't too crowded, so we were able to hit quite a few stores.

After a good amount of shopping, a break for lunch, and more shopping, we headed home. All and all it was a pretty good day. I was able to cross a few people off of the gift list and I didn't spend any money on myself.



There are still lots of great deals going on through the weekend. Stop by if you have the time!

Disclaimer: I am the Blogger Correspondent for Laguna Hills Mall. I am not a paid blogger, but I do occasionally receive gifts and perks. All opinions are my own and not influenced in any way.

Simon Kidgets Club - Fun For Kids!

Have you heard of the Simon Kidgets Club at Simon Malls? The Simon Kidgets Club is a just-for-kids membership club where your child can enjoy free events throughout the year, goodies, VIP treatment at mall functions, special offers and more.

We headed to Laguna Hills Mall for some Kidgets fun. My boys are not as interested in the money-saving deals that come with the cards. They much prefer the goodies and treats. The first thing we do when we get to the mall is head over to Guest Services to spin the Kidgets wheel for a prize.



Then we take our awesome prizes and play on the interactive screen.




With your membership there are lots of fun perks. Many of the restaurants in the mall offer free kid's meals when you show your card, and some of the shops will offer a discount off your purchase, or a freebie for kids. Plus, each child gets a Kidgets shirt and goodie bag when they sign up, and a birthday gift on their birthday.

Here they are checking out their bags.



What I'm really excited about is the Santa photo deal at Laguna Hills Mall for Kidgets members only. My kids LOVE seeing Santa at the mall. We let them see him almost every time we go to the mall as long as the line isn't too long. I've never purchased photos though because they've always been a bit out of my price range. If you stop by Guest Services, you can pick up a coupon which gets you your choice of 3 mini packages, and a photo CD for $34.99. We'll definitely be taking advantage of that deal. Hopefully we can get a good Christmas card picture out of it!

Disclaimer: I am the Blogger Correspondent for Laguna Hills Mall. I am not a paid blogger, but I do occasionally receive gifts and perks. All opinions are my own and not influenced in any way.

Mamavation Monday 11/7/2011

I have this tendency to disappear when I'm not doing well. I mean, personally I am okay, there is nothing to worry about there. I have always been able to handle whatever emotional garbage or stress is thrown at me. But my health? Well it's not doing so great. I started the 2 Week Challenge on twitter, knowing that I really needed a boost. I finished two whole days, got stuck at work for a few long days and then quit.

As I write this post I am battling a nasty cold. As the weather here just recently got unseasonably cold, everyone in my house got sick including me.

As my pants started to get tighter and tighter over the past few weeks, it was just one of many clues that I needed to get my crap together. When you don't feel comfortable in your clothes you lose confidence and instead of motivating me it's kind of made me feel even crappier. I stopped weighing myself, somehow thinking that I could ignore it. It only made things worse. So here's where I am now.



I'm getting dangerously close to numbers I never wanted to see again, so now is the time I need to get control back.

The first step I took was yesterday, when I went through my old emails and looked up my meal plans from when I was a Mamavation mom. I planned out some meals for the week, including make-ahead and crock pot meals for the times I work late. There can't be any more take-out or pizza nights in my house for a while.

I also need to plan ahead for work outs. I know my work schedule far enough ahead of time that I should be able to fit in some kind of workout each day. And then there's my water intake. For some reason I just haven't been drinking water. I don't know why! I need to make sure I have water on me at all times and that I am actually drinking it too.

Once I have these small steps down I will build up from there. Hopefully I can get out of this slump sooner than later before the holidays hit hard.

Having Fun With Play-Doh Play-Dates

Even with all the technology around them, the battery-powered toys and things that light up, there is one thing that kids always love playing with, Play-Doh. I remember vividly when I was little, my mom would not allow it in our house because it was too messy, or I was too messy, one or the other. I loved going over to my neighbor's house because her mom let her play with it, and didn't care if we were messy. I am definitely not like my mom, in that I don't mind the messes, and I love having our friends over for crafts and snacks as often as possible.

Play-doh recently launched a really cool site called Play-Doh Play-Dates. It's chock full of great ideas for Play-Doh projects, as well as crafts and snacks too. Everything has step-by-step instructions, making it super easy, even for younger kids.

For the month of October the theme is Haunted House, so of course we had to try out some of the fun projects. We started off simple and tackled a ghost. Next we moved on to the spiderweb. We even had fun decorating our Play-Doh cans with monsters! We set our monsters up in a scary Haunted House printable Then we topped off our play time with some Jack-o-lantern Oranges for a healthy and festive snack.

Be sure to try out some of Fresh Ideas" at your next play date. Next month's theme is "Art Class" and we can't wait!

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by SocialMoms, and I was awarded points for participating. All opinions are my own and are not influenced in any way.

Mamavation Monday 10/03/2011

I think one of my biggest downfalls in life is that I'm not the kind of person who likes to admit when I need help. These past few weeks I've been completely immersed in working and keeping some sort of order in my home, and just pushed myself to the back burner. And it's showing. As my weight has slowly started to creep back up I have gotten a little disappointed with myself.

So here I am, admitting I need that help. I can't keep ignoring my jeans as they get a little tighter. I can't keep driving by the gym and saying "I'll go tomorrow." I can't keep putting it off anymore.


I'm too embarrassed to even weigh myself, so I'm leaving it at that. I've got a lot of work to do, but hopefully I won't be alone.

Jake and The Never Land Pirates: Yo Ho, Matey's Away!

There are only a handful of shows that really captivate my children, and Jake And The Neverland Pirates is one of them. And by captivate, I mean they sit through the entire episode, follow along, and react to what's happening. When I'm not at work, I love to sit with them and watch along side them, listening and watching them play right along with the show.

They love it because it's fun for them, and there is always some kind of exciting adventure happening. I love it because it teaches them teamwork and problem-solving skills, among other things. Here's a clip from on of the episodes featured on the DVD release; Escape From Belch Mountain.




We celebrated the release of Jake and The Never Land Pirates: Yo Ho, Matey's Away as well as Talk Like A Pirate Day with a fun pirate party. We dressed up in our best pirate garb, ate some grub, played games, and of course watched the DVD!



And of course it wouldn't be a proper blog post without me misplacing me camera, but I will update with the adorable pirate pictures as soon as I find it.

Jake and The Never Land Pirates: Yo Ho, Matey's Away! is on DVD today! It retails for the SRP of $19.99 in the U.S. and $24.99 in Canada, and also comes packaged with a bonus 7-track CD sampler and a pirate eye patch. My kids have been listening to their CD non-stop since we got it!

Nickelodeon Monkey Quest - Review and Giveaway!

Recently my husband told me he was bringing Mason, our five-and-a-half year old, a surprise home from work. I was racking my brain all morning and afternoon, and when he came home from work in he walked with a computer tower and monitor. His work got a bunch of new computers, so the old ones were up for grabs. With the hard drive wiped clean and a new version of Windows installed, we were in business!

At first I thought, "Why does our five year old need a computer?" But after thinking about the time he spends playing educational games on our computers and iPhones I realized this was awesome. He has his own, which means I'm free to use mine whenever I want!

He started off by playing online games, but started to get bored of them after a while. They stop being challenging if you memorize all the answers, after all. Then we were given the opportunity to try a new game.



Monkey Quest is basically a MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) for kids. It's targeted at kids ages 8 to 12, but my computer-savvy almost-six-year-old had no problem playing! Like most online games, it's free to play, but you can upgrade to a paid account for more exciting features. Once you sign up, you pick a tribe to join and then it's non-stop adventures in the land of Ook.

A spectacular world where monkeys swing from vines, bounce on drums (and the occasional unsuspecting octopus or panda!), and uncover treasures beyond imagination. Populated with a dynamic cast of characters, the promise of wild adventure exists at every turn.

Under the visionary leadership of the Monkey King, the residents of Ook have explored and settled every corner of the land. The monkeys have formed five tribes, each originating from one of the Monkey King’s five unique companions. While all five tribes are very different from one another, they all show signs of the Monkey King’s influence.

An exciting and wild land, Ook and its inhabitants must always be on their guard. The increasing presence of Shadow Monsters, even after the supposed defeat of the Shadow Demon, Ka, threatens the monkey tribes with the possibility of attack at any moment.

There's so much to do for free, but if you would like to upgrade your child's experience there are a few options. Paid memberships are $9.95 for one month, $24.95 for 3 months, or $79.95 for a year.

Giveaway Time!
I have a Monkey Quest prize pack to give away to one lucky reader! It includes a Monkey Quest tote bag, t-shirt and hat along with an insider’s guide to best navigate the land of Ook!


How to enter:
Leave a comment telling me what your child's favorite thing to do online is! Easy!

For extra entries (leave a comment for each one):
-follow me on Twitter, tweet about the giveaway, using this link: http://bit.ly/n1owjv and putting @ninemoremonths in there.
-"Like" Nine More Months on Facebook.
-Leave a comment on my facebook page saying hi.

You can tweet multiple times a day for extra extra entries! Good luck!

Small print: Giveaway ends September 29th, 2011 at 9:00pm PST. Open to US only. Winner MUST reply within 24 hours with their shipping information or another winner will be chosen. Winner will be contacted directly.

Back to School Shopping at Laguna Hills Mall.

Mason, my five year old, has successfully made it through his first week of school! I can't believe I am the mom of a Kindergartner. There are a lot of firsts that go along with going to school, and one of them is, of course, shopping. I'm not always super excited to drag two boys along with me to the mall for a shopping spree, but this time it was fun for almost all of us. I like Laguna Hills Mall because of all of the malls in my area, I personally feel like it's the most kid friendly. There are plenty of shops for children, and tons of ride-on toys and other fun stuff. Even all of the restaurants are perfect for families.

Before hitting the shops, we stopped off at Guest Services. If you're a member of the Simon Kidgets' Club, you get to spin the wheel for a prize.



Behind Guest Services there's this screen on the floor that reacts when kids run and jump all over it. There's almost always a big group of kids stomping all over it. Mine could sit there all day and do it if I let them.

Next we headed over to the candy store for a bribe treat. And of course I had to get a few chocolate-covered gummi bears for myself too.



After that, my camera died. Upon further investigation when I got home I found a little under a million random and out-of-focus pictures that I assume Mason took. Anyway, regardless of the fact that we no longer had a working camera, we went on with our shopping.

After we spent lots of money at The Children's Place, we headed over to Rubios for lunch. Fish tacos! I love the location of the Rubios because there is always plenty of seating. After lunch, we headed home for nap time. I had a grumpy 2 and half year old who was angry because we weren't buying him any clothes.

Mason loved his new clothes and backpack, and was so excited to go to school. It's always more special when they get to pick out their own stuff.



We had lots of fun at Laguna Hills Mall and we will be heading back soon because I want to check out the used book store we saw!

Disclaimer: I received a $100 Simon Gift Card from the Laguna Hills Mall for review purposes. This posts does not necessarily represent Simon Property Group's positions or strategies, and any opinions are mine and not influenced in any way.

Mamavation Monday 9/12/2011

Technically, it's Tuesday again, even though I did start writing this yesterday. Mondays have been so hard on me lately. Two days is not a long enough weekend for me. I need at least four days to get everything done that needs to be done.

Speaking of not getting things done, I didn't weigh myself this week. It's not that I had a bad week, but it is that time of the month and I just prefer not to weigh or measure myself when I am feeling my worst.

I've been meal planning again, and that's been helping a lot. Even meal planning for the kids because my oldest has been gaining a lot of weight, and the doctor asked us to get it under control. Thanks to all the planning I had to do during the campaigns, it comes pretty naturally. But I feel like I'm fighting a losing battle when other people don't stick to it. The babysitter is great about following, but my husband and my in-laws' aren't quite there yet.

I'm still struggling with water intake. I don't know why. Yesterday I brought two of my 25oz water bottles instead of one, so that it would be super easy for me to hit 100oz. I only hit about 60. I'm going to do it again today and hope for better results.

I guess that's about it. I have to work tonight and I have a bajillion things to do before I go in, of course. Have a great week!