$1 Blended Coffees at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf TODAY!

I don't deny it - I'm a HUGE coffee fan.  If you're at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf fan, you'll want to head down today from 2-6 pm for a $1 blended Mocha Mudslide or Cookies & Cream (12 ounce).

For more information you can head to their Facebook page here or just head down to your local store!

Enjoy!

Read more...

Sunflowers for Teacher Appreciation Week - Wordless Wednesday!

It's Teacher Appreciation Week at my son's school.  Monday was bring a flower day and my boys chose to bring giant sunflowers! (the above picture is the actual flowers!)

Have a great rest of the week!

Read more...

Skinnygirl Daily Vitamin Power Packets - Perfect for After a Workout!

I've been working really hard at losing weight (ok that might be an understatement - I've been working my tail off!).  I've been counting calories, hitting the gym five days a week for a good 1-2 hour workout.  It's paying off big time, but I still have a long way to go.  I'm down about 30 pounds (yay!) in the last couple months.

Since I have been getting in such intense workouts in (lately I'm doing 4-6 mile runs on the treadmill in addition to weight training), by the time I get home I am needing to rehydrate big time.  And it seems to feel like I spend the rest of the day guzzling water.  I love water, but it definitely gets boring! 

I'm totally a fan of Bethenny Frankel (Skinnygirldaily.com) and had see that she had created a line of powdered drink packets, so I jumped at the chance to try them out!

What I absolutely love about them is they are so unique and different than all the other drink mixes I have seen.  There is Strawberry Lemonade (for energy and alertness), Wild Berry (for hair, skin and nails), Tangerine for Immunity and my personal favorite is the Blueberry Lemonade (for stress relief and calm).  Each packet contains multi-vitamins and electrolytes so they are perfect for re-hydration after a workout!

Readers of OCMomActivities get a special $5 and purchase of $14 or more through their website through May 20th when you enter the promo code MOTHERSDAY at SkinnygirlDaily.com.  Note this is the only place you can purchase these and the other fabulous items in the Skinnygirl Daily line.

Another bonus?  Orders of the multi-vitamin packets now through May 15th will also receive a free t-shirt!

Note:  I received several packets to facilitate my review but the opinions as always are 1000% my own!

Read more...

Surviving Those First Haircuts & A Coupon from Cool Cuts 4 Kids

I'll never forget my oldests' first haircut.  The stylist chased my son around the salon getting a snip in here and there as he could.  We couldn't stop laughing at how comical it was.  I think it took almost an hour to get a full haircut in, but we all agreed it was worth the entertainment.  He was my regular stylist and father to 4, so he was laughing as hard as the rest of us.

It was at that point I knew there had to be a reason there were kid specific places for haircuts!  A neighbor with kids mentioned to me that there was this perfect place to take kids for haircuts - called Cool Cuts 4 Kids.  From the moment I walked in - I knew it was perfect for kids!  There were totally cool booster seats at each station, video games and movies for each station.   They have learned that it's easiest to get the haircuts done when the kids are distracted and we all know they love watching movies and playing video games!

Cool Cuts 4 Kids has locations across the country (you can go here to find the one closest to you) and print out the below coupon for $5 off your spring haircut (you can also download the coupon here)!  Post your pic on the OCMomActivities fan page.

Read more...

Happy Birthday to My Mom

The silence and sadness my mother and I felt as we got ready for her birthday lunch so many years ago is one that brings me so many mixed emotions looking back.  I treasure that one last lunch with her that we could pretend everything was okay.  One last time that we could shut the real world out and forget what was looming. 

My world had crashed down around me. Twice.  First with her initial terminal diagnosis and second with the knowing the cancer was back and going to win.

After that day we couldn't ignore the signs that her cancer was back with a vengeance and that the time had come to say our final goodbye, her battle was coming to an end.  The battle with cancer she had been so fiercely fighting for months had taken its toll on her physically and emotionally. She was ready to stop fighting and it broke my heart but I understood. 

She had been given 3 days to live at her initial diagnosis.  3 days.  The 11 months we had after that initial diagnosis were a gift.  Taking care of her 24/7 as her body deteriorated is something I wouldn't trade for anything.  As a teenager it was something even then I saw as a way to give back to her for all the years she had taken to raise me.  As a thank you for everything she had given up for me.

Her birthday every year brings me such mixed emotion.  I'm glad she is in a better place - free of worry and sickness, but I miss her more than I can put in to words.  Losing her left a hole in my life - one that exists even today over a decade later.

I'm only left with beautiful memories and the peace of knowing that nothing was left unsaid. I miss her so incredibly much and choose to be the best mother I can be each and every day because of her.

Read more...

Organic Garden Solution for Bugs

I was organic gardening before it was popular, but I had no idea.  Growing up, my mom was constantly tending to her multiple compost piles and elaborate garden.  I'll never forget the one day we got a panicked call from the neighbors saying the compost pile was smoking and appeared to be about to catch fire!  It wasn't, but it was working so well that smoke was coming up from it!

Needless to say with my my mother's constant supply of fresh compost and tender loving care - the garden flourished.  I learned at a very early age that a healthy garden was not one full of pesticides.  Turning to pesticides was a last resort.  Setting up a garden (veggie or fruit in particular) needs to have the right balance. 

My mom and I had planted an elaborate rose garden one year and I remember there was an infestation of bugs.  My mom didn't make a made dash for pesticides, instead we stocked up on lady bugs!  Lady bugs eat smaller bugs and are an inexpensive and non toxic way to eliminate bugs FAST. 

So when my newly planted lime tree was infested with black bugs I made a mad dash to the local nursery to buy a canister of live lady bugs!  At a cost of about $8 (for 1500 live lady bugs!) it was a great solution and talk about an organic approach!  And not to mention the endless fun my boys had as lady bugs filled the yard and needed rescuing from puddles, etc.

Within 24 hours (literally) the massively infested lime tree was completely clean of the black bugs!

What tips and tricks do you have for finding the natural balance in your garden without turning to chemicals?

Read more...

A Children's Book Must Have

Raising our children to grow up to become happy, healthy, well adjusted and responsible adults is what all parents should aspire too.  I'm always a fan of finding great stories to read to young children to inspire them to BE the change they want to see in the world and to be able to look back at their childhood with fond memories of just being a kid is such an important gift to a child.

There is a wonderful book that does just that - it inspires kids to be the change they want to be.  It's a story about a young boy inspired to run for President called Roger Nix, President at Six by Nick Daze.  But he is self publishing the book and needs help with pledges to meet his goal so he can get it to print! 

So take a minute and head here to pledge a donation (each level of donation gets you different thank you.  A $30 donation gets you a hardcover copy of the book!).  He is over 2/3 of the way to his publishing goal on Friday so any donation helps (no matter how small)!

Happy reading!

Read more...

Inspirational Web Chat Wednesday on Otter 501 Documentary - Join us!

Being near the ocean has always been my "happy place".  My walls are covered with ocean art and I start to get antsy when it has been too long since I've been at the ocean. 

Our oceans are in trouble - there is no doubt about that.  They are under assault from everything from over-fishing to pollution.  If you listen you will hear countless news stories about the plights of the polar bears, the overfishing of this or that animal (harsh fishing restrictions are constantly implemented and is even currently being shown on the popular Deadliest Catch show on tv).  Some of the amazing sea creatures we have long since taken for granted are suffering. 

What do I think is the absolute most important thing we can do to help reverse this?  As parents we need to teach our children to have a love of the ocean and the creatures in it.  It all begins there.  Does that mean I'm a radical tree-hugger?  Not at all.  What I do have is an understanding of the circle of life.  We can't allow certain sections to disappear and not expect everything else to collapse!

I was asked to co-host a web chat on a documentary (watch for my review of the movie next week!) on Otter 501.  It's a powerful documentary that really drives home the plight of one species in trouble - the California Sea Otter.  It was filmed in one of my favorite places in the world - Monterey Bay.  Much of it set at the Monterey Bay Aquarium highlighting their conservation efforts. 

Please take a few minutes on May 2nd Wednesday morning (10 am pacific time/1 pm east coast time) to stop in and hear amazing insights in to the filming of this documentary, the messages behind the documentary and ways to get kids involved in science and conservation.  You can go here to participate and help us spread the word to everyone you know!  The web chat should last about 30 minutes.

Otter 501 will be released in select theaters in May 11th (you can find those here). 

Can't make the web chat?  Become a fan on their web page here or check out their web page here!

Read more...

Delicious Berry Muffins (Easy too!)

I feel like I'm always saying this, but life really has been crazy around our house recently. I'm finding myself looking for as many nutritional alternatives as possible to get us more healthy in the midst of what feels like chaos!

Snack type foods that aren't "junk" food is something I'm really focusing on these days.  With two growing boys (they are 10 and 8 now!), I'm noticing they are always wanting to graze on food.  If chips are around - they get inhaled.  So when I realized that they loved snacking on muffins I got to work on finding several easy go to recipes to have.  I use fresh berries, whole wheat flours and skim milks whenever possible.  Muffins freeze very easily, so every weekend I make a batch or two of whatever berry I pick up that week and they all seem to be gone by the next weekend!  And I'm totally ok with that since I know what has gone in to them.

My current favorite recipe is below.  I switch out the berries for whatever I have on hand (fresh strawberries work great in the recipe).  Cook up a batch and let me know what you think!

• 1 stick of butter
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup of milk
• Lemon juice - fresh squeezed and zested

• 3 cups of flour - whole wheat or unbleached
• 1 cup of sugar (switch with brown sugar 1:1 if making strawberry or peach muffins)
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

• 2 cups of frozen or fresh berries (blueberries or strawberries work great, I have also used peach fruit cups with this recipe and they were amazing!)

In a large glass measuring cup - melt the butter.  Add milk, eggs, lemon juice, zest.

In mixer bowl - add all the dry ingredients.  Mix.  Then slowly add in the wet ingredients from the glass measuring cup.  Mix thoroughly.  Then add in the fruit you are using.

With an ice cream scoop, add to paper muffin cups in muffin tin.  Bake at 375 degrees for about 25 minutes.  Makes about 20 regular sized muffins.

Then enjoy!  They never last long around our house... 

Read more...

Pirate Mickey Ears Birthday Cake!

I've had house guests for the last few days, it's been crazy but super fun!  Earlier this week was my godson's birthday so I took the chance to make him a themed fondant cake.

It's probably pretty obvious from my posts that we're pretty big Disneyland fans around our house and my godson shares this love of Disneyland.  He has also recently gotten in to the pin trading so my goal was to make a cake as similar to one of his favorite Mickey pins as I could.  This is what the pin looks like:

And this is how my cake turned out! 

What do you think?  (P.S. it was dark chocolate with Oreo cookie filling and it's actually about a foot in diameter!)  I handmade the fondant, cut the cake to the shapes and decorated it with shimmer edible color dust.  I'm pretty excited about how it turned out!

Read more...