Typical Suburban Family

Were you the lucky winner??

Last night we went to the circus and it was an absolute blast!  We received a great little packet of stuff when we checked in for our tickets.  The packet contained a program book which Owen studied prior to the show.

We then went in and participated in the All Access Power Up Pre-show – FREE to all ticket holders.  Owen was a little scared at first to go down to the floor, but once we were there he loved it.  We got pretty close to the elephants and watched Asia, the elephant, paint a picture.  Owen giggled the whole time saying “Elephants don’t paint!”

Both boys had a great time and enjoyed clowning around a bit.

It was a late school night for us, but well worth it. You don’t want to miss it! Fully Charged is the all-new surge of circus entertainment from Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey where megawatts of thrills explode off of the arena floor with breathtaking dare-devilry, superhuman stunts and never-before-seen performances that energize Children Of All Ages, and runs Feb. 15-20 at Philips Arena in Atlanta and Feb. 23-26 at Gwinnett Arena in Duluth.

For more information, visit www.ringling.com.

Sorry for the photos; they were taken with my phone because it was easier than maneuvering the camera amongst all the people on the circus floor.

Some of us dream of winning the lotto.  Don’t get me wrong, I dream of that too.  But I’m also realistic and know that I have no chance of winning since we never buy tickets.  I mean, seriously.  Do I really think the winning lotto ticket is just going to blow in the wind and find its way to my doorstep?  Probably not.

But what I do dream of is having a disposable $5,000 to do a few little renovations around the house.  With baby #3 on her way we have to reconfigure bedrooms and buy some new furniture to make it all work.  We have bunk beds on order for the boys and will need some new bedding for them.  Nothing fancy; just something that matches and works with the already existing wall color since I’m not in the mood to paint that room (and actually have loved the color of it!).

While we are reusing some of the boys old furniture for baby girl’s room, we do need a new glider in there.  And to paint.  Oh, and some bedding.  Again, nothing fancy.  At one point I was looking at some super cute and girlie bumpers, crib skirts, sheets and blankets and then had an anxiety attack over the $300+ price tag for it all.  I just can’t do it.

We also need some new family room furniture.  The stuff we currently have was purchased as a temporary fix about 5 years ago.  We really only expected it to make it about 5 years and we’re now going on 5.5 years.  We have been looking everywhere and have been to cheap furniture places and high end furniture places.  They all give me anxiety.  With the cheaper furniture I know we’ll be replacing before long again.  With more expensive furniture I panic over 3 children eating, drinking and playing on them.

On our date night this last Saturday evening we went furniture shopping.  How sad huh?  It was actually really peaceful though without kids running around.  We could focus and talk and discuss what we liked and didn’t like.  Amazing.  And we actually both fell in love with a set, the same set.  It’s not too expensive, but very durable.  The salesperson assured us that it would withstand our toddler boys and baby girl on the way.  It still gives me anxiety though spending this money and I haven’t committed just yet.

With a new furniture, we’ll also need a new area rug.  And then a hallway rug.  UGH!

Add some minor landscaping projects we need to do in the backyard and a vacation we so desperately want to take (just a long weekend to Florida; not extravagant!) and it all makes my back tighten and my anxiety rise.

See, I don’t need the lotto.  Just an extra $5,000.  If only I had…..

What would you do with an extra $5,000?

This proud boy just brought me breakfast in bed.

And the winner is…..

Is this you?!

Cosmetic Surgery Center of Maryland is giving away a prize pack to one lucky reader which includes:  Active Serum and Youth Eye Complex.

Active Serum:  Anti-Aging, Anti-Acneic, and Brightening

• Reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles
• Diminishes the appearance of hyperpigmentation and acne
• Smooths and softens skin texture
• Provides both rapid and long-term results

.
Youth Eye Complex: Rapidly smoothes and hydrates, reduces puffiness and dark circles

• Rapidly smoothes hydrates, and reduces under-eye wrinkles
• Reduces puffiness and dark circles
• Improves skin hydration, firmness, and elasticity
• Provides powerful antioxidant protection
• Strengthens and thickens the delicate skin around the eye
• Offers immediate and long term results.

.

Entering is easy and there are multiple chances to win.

• Follow Typical Suburban Family via email or RSS feed (both in right sidebar)
• Become a fan of Cosmetic Surgery Center of Maryland on facebook
• Follow Cosmetic Surgery Center of Maryland on twitter
• Follow Typical Suburban Family on twitter (via My Hello Designs)
• Become a fan of Typical Suburban Family on facebook (via My Hello Designs)
• Share this giveaway on your facebook wall daily
• Tweet this giveaway up to 4x per day! Suggested tweet: Win a prize pack from Cosmetic Surgery Center of Maryland via @myhellodesigns http://tinyurl.com/7zd8mcs #giveaway
  

.
Leave a comment for each of the above that you do. Remember that some of them can be done multiple times for additional ways to win!

This giveaway ends February 19, 2012 at 11:59 pm EST. Random.org will be used to determine a winner who will have 48 hours to respond to my email or another winner will be chosen. Open to US residents only. Good luck!

Disclosure: Cosmetic Surgery Center of Maryland will provide the above prizes directly to the winners. I was not compensated for this post.

Were you the lucky winner of Advanced Aesthetics Plastic Surgery Center giveaway?  The winner will receive these two amazing products!

Nectifirm Cream ($60):  The scientifically advanced technology in Nectifirm® provides three primary benefits:

• Significantly firms and tightens skin on neck
• Reduces the appearance of fatty tissue under chin and neck
• Dramatically lessens the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles

.
Intellishade Moisturizing SPF 45 ($48):  The scientifically advanced technology in Intellishade® provides five primary benefits:

• Moisturizes and blends naturally with the color of your skin
• Original Radiant or Matte formulas give skin a touch of sheer, healthy color
• Provides maximum broad spectrum UVA and UVB protection
• Reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles
• Matte formula contains pore-minimizing technology

.

Don’t miss Fully Charged, the all-new surge of circus entertainment from Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey where megawatts of thrills explode off of the arena floor with breathtaking dare-devilry, superhuman stunts and never-before-seen performances that energize Children Of All Ages, and runs Feb. 15-20 at Philips Arena in Atlanta and Feb. 23-26 at Gwinnett Arena in Duluth.

Fully Charged celebrates ‘performance power’ that boosts circus-goers’ excitement. The amazing acts, which can only be seen at The Greatest Show On Earth®, include Tabayara, a dynamic animal trainer whose rare ability to communicate with animals allows him to ride rearing stallions at a fully-charged gallop and orchestrate majestic four-ton Asian elephants in a symphony of dance. When he stands inside a cage, eye to eye with 12 ferocious tigers, Tabayara sees family where others see danger.

The fearless Fernandez Brothers dial up the thrills as they perform daring feats of athleticism on the Twin Turbines of Steel, including extreme jumps and twists inside the moving wheels! Audiences will crackle with excitement as they watch Guillermo perform a 360-degree, flying-forward somersault, three stories in the air, a feat so difficult it has only been attempted by one other person in the 141-year history of Ringling Bros. The Human Fuse, Brian Miser, sets the arena sky ablaze as he rockets through the air from his self-made human crossbow. Don’t blink as he flashes across the sky in less than a second, and travels 110 feet at 65 miles per hour.

Ever wonder how many clowns it takes to change a light bulb? The hilarious hoopla continues to flow as the clowns from the world-famous Ringling Bros.® Clown Alley, charge up the audiences’ funny bones with hysterical silly antics and clownish comedy.

The action at Fully Charged begins an hour before show time at the All Access Power Up Pre-show – FREE to all ticket holders. Get to know the world’s greatest performers, meet some our amazing animals in person, and work to become CircusFit all before the show starts! The All Access Power Up Pre-show is the only place where you can register for a chance to win a pachyderm painting created by one of Ringling Bros. artistic Asian elephants right before audiences’ eyes.

You can only experience this current of excitement at Ringling Bros. Fully Charged! Get your tickets for high-voltage fun today!

Tickets for Fully Charged go on sale December 3 and are available through www.ringling.com, Ticketmaster or the Philips Arena and Gwinnett Arena box offices.

For more information, visit www.ringling.com.

Now is YOUR chance to win four tickets that are good for the following performances:

• Wed. Feb. 15 at Philips Arena 7:30 show
• Thursday, Feb. 16 at Philips Arena 7:30 show
• Friday, Feb. 17 at Philips arena 10:30 show (there is no pre-show for this performance)
• Thurs. Feb. 23 at Gwinnett Arena 7:30 show
• Friday, Feb. 24 at Gwinnett Arena 10:30 show (there is no pre-show for this performance)

.

Entering is easy and there are multiple chances to win.

• Follow Typical Suburban Family via email or RSS feed (both in right sidebar)
• Follow Typical Suburban Family on twitter (via My Hello Designs)
• Become a fan of Typical Suburban Family on facebook (via My Hello Designs)
• Leave a comment on facebook as to why you want to win the tickets
• Share this giveaway on your facebook wall daily
• Tweet this giveaway up to 4x per day! Suggested tweet: Win 4 tickets to the Barnum & Bailey Circus in ATL via @myhellodesigns http://tinyurl.com/7x7jk6p #giveaway
  

.
Leave a comment for each of the above that you do. Remember that some of them can be done multiple times for additional ways to win!

This giveaway ends February 8, 2012 at 11:59 pm EST. Random.org will be used to determine a winner who will have 12 hours to respond to my email or another winner will be chosen. Open to Atlanta area residents only. Good luck!

Disclosure: Barnum & Bailey will provide the vouchers directly to the winners. I was given a four pack of tickets, but was not compensated for this post.

You may be in a situation like me.  Too many baby clothes!  And the scary part is that this baby girl doesn’t even arrive until May 2012.  We are I am already overwhelmed with the amount of stuff we have accumulated for baby #3.

To make matters worse, I had saved all of the clothes and boy toys from Ryan and Owen because I wasn’t sure whether we were going to take the plunge and have a third child and then whether or not it would be a boy or girl.

So….. with all that said, I have a ton of boy clothes from newborn to 3T and recently I bought a bunch of girl clothes (newborn – 18months) from a friend of a friend.  So now what do we do with all these clothes?

Well, if you know me, you know that I’ve already washed everything and organized them all.  I’ve only had them in my possession about 4 days and already they are ready for baby girl.

Here is what I started with…..

And here is where they are at now…..

I printed each one on cardstock paper, but it’s not necessary.  You can print on regular paper and just place in each storage bin for easy identification.  If you need a helping hand in the first step of getting organized, I am making my organization printables free for you to download and use.  I have both a girl and a boy version of these available to you up to size 3T.  If you need them in a PDF format instead of .jpg, please email me at jean@myhellodesigns.com and I’d be happy to send them to you.

If you do use them, I’d love to see your completed organization!  Please send me a photo to jean@myhellodesigns.com and I just might feature your accomplishment on my blog.  This is not required, but would definitely be fun to see!

Now I working on consigning the boy’s clothes and boy toys to free up some room in our house for girlie stuff!  I forgot how much space a tiny baby takes with all of their bouncy seats, swings, boppy pillows and such.

And….. happy organizing!

I’ve been seeing these all over Pinterest and I would credit whomever came up with it originally, but I have no idea.  I’ve seen it pinned with various photos to various blogs for the past several weeks now and I knew I just had to do this for the boys for their Valentine’s cards.

How cute are they?!

Cheesy grins and all.

Making them is simple.  Take a photo with your kiddo’s fist out in front of them.  If they have a difficult time with following directions and understanding why they are making a fist with nothing in it (as mine sometimes does), then you can always place a lollipop in their hand, pose them, and then pull the lollipop out of their hand.

Once you have your photo, you can add some simple graphics in whichever design software you use.  I use Photoshop CS4, added a heart, a banner and some text.  Simple and quick.  Then I ordered my prints!

Wa la!

After receiving my prints I added two hole punches on the top and bottom of their fists and inserted the lollipop.

I simply love these.  And my boys too of course.