Archives for November 2011

T-Mobile Holidays Giveaway!

30 Nov ’11 By

Hi Friends!

Running on America’s Largest 4G Network, the new T-Mobile myTouch and myTouchQ are the latest Android -powered smartphones to join TMobile’s line of myTouch devices. I’ll be giving away ONE of EACH! How exciting!

In celebration of the upcoming #TMobileHolidays events all over the country… I’ve been given these phones to share with you! But first… Let me tell you a bit about the event in Phoenix. It’s an open house style event! We’ll be tweeting, seeing the new product lines, eating yummy food, and of course walking away with goodies! The first 25 attendees will get an exclusive swag bag filled with fun! Phoenix attendees register here.

Now… back to the national blog giveaway!

The T-Mobile myTouch features:

  • Sleek form-factor featuring a 3.8-inch touch screen with Swype for easy text input on the virtual QWERTY keyboard
  • Genius Button for simple voice control to call, text, or search the Web
  • Full HTML Web browser
  • Android 2.3 software with access to thousands of applications on the Android Market
  • T-Mobile TV in Mobile HD to access live and on-demand TV
  • T-Mobile Video Chat powered by QikŒ allows face-to-face chat through T-MObile’s 4G Network or wifi
  • Slacker Radio offers over 150 free, personalized radio stations
  • TeleNav GPS NavigatorŒ for turn-by-turn directions, traffic alerts and more
  • Full Microsoft® Exchange support
  • 5-megapixel camera with digital zoom, autofocus, face detection and front facing camera; 720p HD video recorder
The T-Mobile myTouch Q offers these fine features:
  • Sleek form-factor featuring a 3.5-inch touch screen with Swype® for easy text input on the virtual
  • QWERTY keyboard and a full slide-out QWERTY keyboard
  • Genius Button for simple voice control to call, text, or search the Web
  • Full HTML Web browser
  • Android 2.3 software with access to thousands of applications on Android MarketŒ
  • T-Mobile TV to access live and on-demand TV
  • Slacker Radio offers over 150 free, personalized radio stations
  • TeleNav GPS NavigatorŒ for turn-by-turn directions, traffic alerts and more
  • Full Microsoft® Exchange support
  • 5-megapixel camera with digital zoom, autofocus, face detection and LED flash; 720p HD video recorder
Fabulous! Right?! So how do you win?
  • Follow @TMobile on Twitter.
  • Like the T-Mobile Facebook page (http://facebook.com/TMobile).
  • Answer the following question in the comment section: What is the biggest question you have when it comes to buying a wireless product as a gift?
  • Contest ends at midnight 12/13 and the winners will be chosen at random on 12/14.
Good Luck!
Filed Under: Everyday Posts Comments

Luke, I am Your Mother.

29 Nov ’11 By

Last night I chuckled as I listened to the twins.  Now aged four years, they argued over which of them could claim me as their mother.  If they were just siblings (and not twins), I probably wouldn’t even have tuned into the argument at all.  But that they were both at one point residing in my uterus together simultaneously made this conversation so obnoxious (and actually, kind of offensive) to  me.

One child, who shall be named Baby A so as to remain anonymous*, suffered towards the end of my pregnancy with so little room left in my innards that she set up camp in the deepest, darkest parts of my digestive system–and that I’m still writing about it really reflects how uncomfortable that was.  I clearly remember finding a pregnancy message board and asking, “Is it normal to feel like I might birth a baby out of my butt?  My actual butt?  I think her foot may enter the world through my anus and I am so unhappy and uncomfortable right now.”

And the reason that the six pound girl had so little room down deep in my innards is because she was joined by her five pound brother, who was all zen like the Beach Boys and couldn’t be bothered to move head-down or otherwise respond to outside stimulus whatsoever.  As a matter of fact (FACT!  I HAVE MEDICAL RECORDS), my abdomen was tasered on Baby B’s side with the expectation that he would move and confirm for us that he was still hanging in there, waiting for the D-Backs to win another World Series.  The taser moments were slightly zing’ish, but did not otherwise compel me to turn my sonographer in to local authorities.

Whatever, my point is that nobody in my house should ever question if I am their mother.  I can’t afford to claim more than I actually birthed, and all my kids look so much like their father that even an attorney would laugh if I tried to claim that one of them isn’t ours.  Stand down, kids.  If I weren’t your mother, I would likely have sold you by now.  Though keep up the “I’m gonna light saber you, Mom!” talk and then this particular paragraph becomes a big fat lie.  Santa doesn’t bring presents for people who cut their mamas in half.

And with that, they’re arguing over whether I am the Wicked Witch of the East or the West.  So much for discreetly applying a Pond’s exfoliating face mask.  How do kids even notice this crap?  Le sigh.

*Unless you are me, my husband, my sonographer or anyone who knew me, my husband, or my sonographer or read my blog during the time period between 26 December 2006 and 26 June 2007–the era when we incessantly complained about how mobile, uncooperative, uncomfortable and moody Lauren was.  Oops, so much for remaining anonymous, baby girl.  Or boy.  Ha!  Still anonymous.  Boom.

~~~~~

Cassandra can be found on Twitter @aclevergirl.  Learn more about her family’s unique challenges and why they have hope for a cure for muscular dystrophy at byrdsforacure.org.

Filed Under: Everyday Posts, Twin Tuesday Comments

Lessons my kids learn from watching the news.

22 Nov ’11 By

I don’t usually get serious, but for this post I shall.

Penn State.  Sex scandal.  Jerry Sandusky.  Ten year old boys.  Showers.  Sex abuse.  Police.  Joe Paterno fired.

This is what my seven year old has been exposed to over the last few weeks.  My husband and I can’t resist watching the news–riveted to this extraordinary story of alleged abuse and failure of campus figures to report the abuse to police.  We have no ties or loyalty (or vengeance for or ill will toward) Penn State, and we understand that all parties are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

But let me tell you this:  Standing idle while someone of authority abuses, molests, or otherwise makes a subordinate uncomfortable is not something I teach my kids to do.  This is a topic which has come up previously when teens on the news are found to have committed suicide because they were bullied.  The lesson of those stories is usually regarding how devastating bullying is and how kids shouldn’t do it–but I never let a teachable moment pass before I explain to my kids their obligation to not only not  bully, but to not allow someone else to bully a peer without reporting it to a nearby adult.

My kids ask why a man named Joe Paterno is on my television every morning on the news.  They ask what a “Penn State” is.  My oldest asked me what a pedophile is.  I have explained it all, in age appropriate terms, but I cannot ignore what a teachable moment this presents.

Standing up for people who can’t stand up for themselves is not just a value for the grade school playground, and it’s not just a line from a (admittedly, pretty great) Tom Cruise movie.  It’s truth.  In this case, I don’t care what our written laws say–if my kids know to tell their principal when a peer is being pushed around, we should reasonably expect highly paid university employees to report when they witness men of power raping young boys.  Period.

~~~~~

Cassandra can be found on Twitter @aclevergirl.  Learn more about her family’s unique challenges and why they have hope for a cure for muscular dystrophy at byrdsforacure.org.

Filed Under: Everyday Posts, Twin Tuesday Comments

TGI Black Friday!

18 Nov ’11 By

Happy Friday!  One of the busiest shopping days of the year is soon upon us, as are the great deals on holiday gifts and sleep-deprived, manic shoppers who would likely shiv anyone who gets in the way between them and the last Ultimate Singing Dancing Cures Cancer Elmo doll.

By now, most of us are aware that in the United States, Black Friday ads get leaked every year.  It used to be that you had to wake up and go get the newspaper from the driveway before you could survey the deals for the following day, but now those ads are leaked online weeks in advance.  The TGI Black Friday app compiles all the sales in those ads, as they are leaked, and puts the information at your finger tips.

Yesterday, I found myself at a Toys R Us looking at some pretty decent deals on toys that are on my kids’ Christmas lists and couldn’t help but wonder how those sale prices compare to those planned for Black Friday next week.  So I punched up the app on my phone and my question was answered.  Available for iPhone and Android, it’s called TGI Black Friday and it’s the best thing since Negotiates World Peace Yo Gabba Gabba doll.  Seriously!  Go check it out!

Example:  My oldest wants a Barbie camper RV, which runs roughly $70.  Toys R Us was offering a free something-or-another with a $50 Barbie purchase, and the free item was worth around $25–unless I could save $50 on this Barbie camper if I waited until Black Friday.  So I launch the app, search “Barbie”, and scroll down a list of deals on Barbie at every store with a Black Friday ad.  I determined that nobody was going to have a better deal than what Toys R Us was offering at that moment, and therefore scored big with an extra-cool gift.

So go check it out!  You can always delete it from your phone after the holidays. How else will you know if you’re getting the best price on that Teddy Ruxpin abomination?

(I suggest this app because I used it and loved it and want to share.  I have no idea if anyone makes money on this app, and the developers are not aware that I love it so much or am telling you to download it.  And after you download it, if your phone crashes or your 401(k) loses a ton of money, it’s totally not my fault.  I just really dig it.  The end.)

~~~~~

Cassandra can be found on Twitter @aclevergirl.  Learn more about her family’s unique challenges and why they have hope for a cure for muscular dystrophy at byrdsforacure.org.

Filed Under: Everyday Posts Comments

Toast to Dad

18 Nov ’11 By

Editors Note: Hi friends! Friday on my blog is actually one of my very favorite days. Reading about parenting from a Dad’s perspective is a very eye opening thing. Today, we have John from The Daddy Yo Blog. Read on as he reflects on what being a dad means to him. And leave him some love… xo

I believe it was Bob Dylan that wrote “The times, they are a changing” . My little kiddos are growing up so fast now and they are getting so smart. I wake up every morning loving them the same as I did when I first laid eyes on them. Beauty, wonderment, marvelous. They are little gems given to me by God. Blessed I am truly for these two amazing gifts. I stand everyday in awe of them. I learn from them and in turn I learn about myself. I discover more of the expansiveness of love in my life. I learn about who I am by watching them. I see the future in those blue eyes, those adorable smiles and their incredible hearts.

Sometimes I lie awake at night. I think of things of the adult world. I worry about finances and paychecks. Taxes and health. Gas, food, bills, they consume my thoughts. I think of my work schedule and when I will get other things done outside of there. So many things consume me when I hit that point of the day where the adult world must get some attention. I like to spend a lot of time in my kids world when I am home. It helps me understand them. It gives me a new perspective on life and the mental break that all parents need. I am their dad. I am also a playmate. I am here to be whatever they need me to be, whenever they need me to be it. That is my job.

I think about all the bad things that could happen. What they will face in life. I say a prayer, and through it to the side. Because I can see so much more of the good when I look at my children. I can see the joy they bring to the lives of everyone they meet. I see the love they give to everyone, and the love that they receive right back. It is magical. It is breathtaking. It is the essence of life that makes all other things seem so minuscule. I don’t know about all of you, but those facts of fatherhood make everything in life seem so tolerable.

Being a dad is the greatest thing that could have ever happened in my life. Next to my wife of course! I bask in the glory of it. I rejoice in its awesomeness. Quite honetly, I enjoy every last minute of it every day of my life.

So here’s a toast: Here’s to being a dad. Cheers to the moments that make our lives what they are. Lift your glass to the children of your lives. To their health, to their heart, and to their lives. Here’s to them. without them we would be just guys. Here’s to them for making us who we are. Here’s to dad!

Filed Under: Everyday Posts Comments

Community Forum Call to Action

17 Nov ’11 By

If you haven’t become part of the Million Moms Challenge… I highly encourage you to do so. It’s been a really amazing experience for me. Below is a question I posted but I’ve not gotten much response on. I’d love your input.

My girls love playing with the girls across the street. They have a blast every time they play or have a sleepover. The problem is… Read More

Filed Under: Everyday Posts Comments
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