Archive for May, 2011

Happy June!!!

It’s time for our monthly UltraStar Cinema Kidtoon Giveaway!!

(In case you don’t know about Kidtoons, check out last month’s giveaway and our awesome Care Bear birthday party.) 

This month’s movie is…

(Who doesn’t love a little Thomas the Tank Engine action?!?!?!)

If you are looking for something fun to do this Saturday (June 5th) you can catch a The Thomas Kidtoon then meet Po the Kung Fu Panda – he’ll be there in person for pictures!! AND free face painting for the kiddos!! How fun is that??

Giveaway…

4 folks will win unlimited tickets for all the Kidtoons!!

Yay for free family date days!!!

How to win…

Mandatory entry: Leave a comment on this post with your favorite FREE summer activity! 

Extra entries…

~Follow UltraStar on twitter here. They give out free passes every week!! (1 entry)

~Follow Eli’s Lids on twitter. (1 entry)

~Follow Eli’s Lids on Facebook. (1 entry)

~Facebook about the giveaway linking to this post: http://www.elislids.com/ultrastar-kidtoon-giveaway-thomas/ (1 entry)

~Tweet about the giveaway with this tweet: (1 entry)

OC Folks – Win free movie tickets from @UltraLuxeCinema over at

@ElisLids: http://bit.ly/luSy8N

For every extra entry, be sure to leave a separate comment on this post! i.e. If you follow Eli’s Lids, and Facebook about the giveaway leave 2 separate comments!

***Giveaway ends Wednesday June 8th, 9pm.***

Kiddtoons every Saturday and Sunday at 10:30am

321 West Katella Ave, Anaheim, CA 92802

We REALLY do wear our Lids all the time around here, and of course I’m always snapping pictures. Somehow they just don’t make it to the blog… till now! We’ve added Lid-Tastic Tuesday! Most Tuesdays we’ll do a flashback post of pictures I never got to put on the blog.

Remember Cora Jane’s Chick-fil-a bday? Some of our good friends (Kendra from Totally the Turtle and Evan from Getting off the Bench and into the Triathlon) have a rainy season bday in their family and decided Chick-fil-a would be a great party place as well! It was adorable!!

Flashing back to January 2011…

The décor… I’m not sure how they did it but I brought everything in the night before and they set it up! Easy-peazy.

The Trucker Lid shots (it is a Lid-tastic Tuesday!)

The Chick-fil-a cow brings out the cake for the birthday song. How fun is that for the kiddos?!!?? (Unless they are terrified of walking 8 foot cow.)

The Moms…

You know I just love traditions, here is a great one from their family – for every birthday they make cookies in the shape of their new age. This has been passed down from Kendra’s childhood… which makes it even more special!

Kick a&$ favors…

The end.

###

I just couldn’t do a post about Chick-fil-a without mentioning my friend Jaime! She taught me how to make freezer jam AND she goes to all the openings. You have to read her posts about the shenanigans-o-fun they have!!

All about the latest one in Lakewood.

See Jaime get interviewed at the Brea Chick-fil-a opening… (and I just noticed the husband of someone else I know in the video as well!)

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/video-news-on-demand/?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=5466055

Check back tomorrow for June’s UltraStar Movie ticket giveaway!

My mom has this lil’ book from her mom. The copyright is 1938 a year before World War II started in Europe. I was thumbing through the beautiful artwork yesterday and came across this prayer about war…

War

O God, we have been thinking about wars,

And what happens when there are wars.

People are sad:

Fathers are gone away;

The trees look as if they had been struck by lightning:

Children and grown people are hungry and sick.

It makes us wish that instead of war, where people try to kill one another, we could all be happy, and parades would all be gay, peace-time parades.

And fathers could be at home;

And soldiers would be used

To build up schools

And community halls and hospitals,

And to plant trees,

And to protect the weaker folk around them,

And to help when floods and earthquakes

And accidents come.

Make all people wish this wish, and never

Want more wars, O God.

            -Jeanette Perkins Brown

Thank you to all the men and women who have died for our freedom and to their families for living bravely on!

Whenever we see a soldier in uniform I go out of my way to thank them for joining the military and how proud our family is of them. Honestly, it can be a little embarrassing to go up to a stranger, but I think it probably means more to them than I’ll ever know!

(I’m thinking we’ll resurrect these beauties before 4th of July!! Let me know if you are interested in one.)

Has it been a week???

Cy was sick then I was sick. And if your house is like mine, you know the world stops when mommy is ill.

Before all the illnesses hit we had a family Date Night at Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlor. We should have known something was coming when Cy refused to eat ice cream! Our sundae was a hit but Cora Jane thought the birthday songs were too loud…

Summer shoes… check!

Just happened to go to Old Navy on their $1 flip flop sale. I’ve never gotten them before but I couldn’t be happier with the fit. Got 3 for me and 2 pairs for each of the kiddos. I’m thinking the $1 sale will be a new summer tradition!

When Cy’s fever hit, it hit hard. His highest was 104.1! Our happy baby was a grump. We were up most of the night with the lil’ buggar. All my kiddos have REALLY high fevers while teething. Is that normal??

Eli likes his hair long (like Samson) and I keep trying to get that long flippy surfer boy look… but it mostly ends up looking like trailer trash. We were so surprised when he announced he wanted to cut his hair!

Listening to scripture time before bed is rad!

McCafe + cupcake + park = our once a week routine

Storytime at the libray = another weekly routine

I like routines.

Kitchen counter.

If you haven’t seen the new In-N-Out Burger onsies, you need to! Cute overload.

Runny nose, watery eyes, tired and cranky. I think the tired and cranky might be from the fetus. Either way, the green tea has been a flowin’ and the messy house is a growin’.

I’ve mentioned my fetus is lazy and non moving (boy?). At my monthly appointment I become a nervous wreck thinking they won’t find a heartbeat. My mind goes down a slippery slope of thoughts about infant loss. And it makes me cry. Irrational, I know. But I think I’ll start scheduling my appointments for earlier in the day to keep my crazy thoughts at bay.

Happy InstaFriday and join in over at Life Rearranged!

We were invited to check out Ridemakerz over at DownTown Disney last weekend. Here’s how it went…

As you walk in the kiddos may have trouble concentrating on the Ridez because of the giant car hanging from the ceiling. It’s pretty cool to a preschooler (and their parents!).

The place is filled filled filled with car choices and everything is VERY organized for lil’ folks to easily pick and choose to their hearts’ content. In the center of the shop is a pit-stop(ish) work station, where the kiddos can do all the building themselves. It’s cool.

We had the privilege of meeting the ZEO (CEO) of Ridemakerz and he was rad. Really! He loves what he does (Who wouldn’t? Kiddos + cars + Disney + making people happy = AWESOME) and his enthusiasm is infectious! Really!

They give you these fun lil’ baskets so you can gather all your custom car gear. You choose your chaise, tires, and rims (they have fun stuff like dragons, pirate skulls & hearts). The baskets were about as fun as choosing the ridez. (Aren’t lil’ boys awesome??)

I think what I loved most about the heart of Ridemakerz was their TRUE desire for the children to have an experience. One where the kiddo feels empowered to make choices, as well as watch their project go from dream to reality with their own sweet lil’ hands! (Dads like it too!)

Did I make one?

You bet ya!!

There are all sorts of different car models to choose from, including the stars the best kiddo car movie out there! Within seconds of walking into the shop Cora Jane had her heart set on Mater. I tried to sway her a bit toward Sally or a pink car, thinking she would change her mind. She didn’t… in fact, she has slept with her Mater Ride since we got it!! She did customiZe it with pink stickers.

Things you should know before you go…

~The Ridez are durable! You are paying more than a drugstore remote control car but this car can take a beating. Really!

~The Ridez go fast (again it isn’t a cheap car) so a daddy or bigger child will still have fun with it.

~The shop can get busy in the afternoon so try to go in the morning if you can.

~The monster trucks and cars have different steering on the remote. Hot Hubby says the monster truck one is easier for kiddos to control. (just ask while you are there to make your own choice)

~Each ride has stock options that are included in the price and there are hundreds of things you can add on for extra $ (they are reasonably priced but can add up). If you have a budget warn your kiddo BEFORE you start choosing to prevent meltdown. (One of our favorite ‘extras’ were the construction cones. We use them to make car paths/courses.)

~I would recommend a one on one parent/child day. The whole experience is all about hanging with your kiddo, and I think if you don’t have to divide your attention your kiddo will have a more memorable time! (just my humble opinion)

~They have birthday parties!

~Since it’s at DownTown Disney, if you have Disney passes you can stop off at the park for the afternoon on the same day. Or if you don’t have passes you can tell your kiddos DownTown Disney is Disneyland… ahem…

~Use this coupon!! Father’s Day gift AND activity is DONE!!

In case you were wondering what Cy was doing…

… just being a-dorable the whole time.

RIDEMAKERZ®
Downtown Disney® District
1540 S. Disneyland Dr., Suite 103
Anaheim, CA 92802
Telephone: 714-776-0216

(They also have locations in Arizona, Florida, Missouri & South Carolina)