Small Things Are Big Things

It’s about 1am and I just said goodnight to my youngest (and favorite-est) child on his first birthday. Then I got in my car and drove home. He had been admitted into CHOC hospital and my hubby is staying with him through the night (Preggos don’t sleep well, even in their warm cozy beds at home).

I took Cy into the doctor because he had a nickel sized sore on the inside of his lip (it was gross) and I wanted to get it checked out. He has had small sores come and go before – when he was sick or teething so I wasn’t too worried. He didn’t have a fever or lack of appetite and was acting just as sweet perfect as ever. After looking Cy over the doctor made me feel dumb because I hadn’t brought Cy in for his sores earlier.

Flash back to 2007ish when I brought Eli in 3 times for the sores in his mouth and the doctor made me feel dumb because he had no fever or lack of appetite and was acting normal.

All I’m saying ‘doctors of the world’ is don’t make moms feel like horrible parents. It’s super lame.

Anyway, today, on Cy’s 1st birthday, I’ll be meeting with the Infectious Disease Doctor. And if he/she makes me feel like a horrible mom I may just give them the ole’ one/two! OK, I probably won’t punch a doctor… but I will give a super dirty look and post embarrassing photos of them on twitter.

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We would covet your you prayers and well wishes. Every sweet comment on instagram (@elislids follow me so I can follow you, I’m addicted) and twitter have brought a smile to my heart. REALLY!

HUGE possibility the tests will come back saying something simple like he “needs more zinc in his diet.” But we did get the whole “we aren’t going to worry you with the what-ifs until after the test results” speech. Which causes a mom’s mind to wander to icky places.

I didn’t do InstaFriday,over at Life Rearranged, last week because (as you’ll remember me mentioning yesterday) pregnancy is sucking away my energy to blog.

When you don’t have energy to type, that’s pretty pathetic.

But I have energy today, so I’m going with it! AND with 2 weeks of updates to boot.

Had a rad craft night with my friend Kyla to watch our fave, NieNie on 20/20. I was there till like 1am chatting blogging, crafts, spiritual stuff… ya know the usual… and got like nothing done. I’m working on a birthday bunting that may be done in time for my 50th!

My mom saved everything from my childhood. EVERYTHING! Mostly it takes up usable space BUT sometimes we come across a gem. Like this sweet lil’ sailor dress I wore as a sweet lil’ girl. Love that my daughter can wear it.

My friend Julie gave me an Amish Friendship Bread starter. Or as my mom calls them, chain letters from house wives. I’m not blessed in the kitchen so I didn’t have all the ingredients and didn’t add things on the proper days but it still turned out YUMMY! I also found out (from a twitter friend) you can freeze the dough it if you want to wait on the baking for a bit.

                        

We went to LA’s Garment District to find some patches for our new lil’ Trucker Lid. I hate going down there but we always end up having a lot of fun. If you are heading to LA you must try Philippe’s! It’s been there for over 100 years – a sawdust on the floor type place – and their French Dips are delish!

         

We went to the Farmer’s Market at the OC Great Park per the suggestion of my friend Kristin at the Meringue Bake Shop. I think it might be our new Sunday after church place. And Kristin’s cupcakes are a-mazing!! If you go, be sure to grab a Push Cake togo for a naptime indulgence the next day.

I’m working on some really fun 4th of July crafts! I’ll share next week.

Cy gets to do the nebulizer just like Eli did. Since he’s the perfect child he loves it. So sad but adorable at the same time.

I can’t get enough of this picture. This is one of Cora’s signature faces and I want to just smooch all over those cheeks when I see it!.We went to a WAHM lunch at the Renaissance Club Sport. That place is beautiful. And there is a waterfall on the parking structure that is a must for a warm day!

Hot Hubby would kill me if he knew I posted a picture of him doing P90X. So don’t tell him!

I was one visit away from being the foursquare mayor of Souplantation. But that jerk “Jason W.” must have gone again and I was jilted! Mark my words… I WILL BE MAYOR. fyi – My husband and children think I’ve become an official card carrying member of Crazy Town. Whatever.

 

Don’t forget to go here and enter to win $75 CASH and an Eli’s Lid at this month’s MOMday Morning!!! (brought to you by us, BYOG – Labor and Delivery Gowns & Blessed Nest – organic nursing pillows)

Hi Friends!

Is June half way over and I haven’t posted MOMday Morning!?!?

I’ve been unmotivated.

Sick on and off.

And you should see my house…

… toys everywhere.

I’ve been doing a bit-o-nesting as well – Some much needing organizing of cupboards and some kick a&$ 4th of July crafts that I CAN’T WAIT to share with you!

But for now here is MOMday Morning. (Brought to you by B.Y.O.G., Blessed Nest, and Eli’s Lids.)

You may win…

A Lid of your choice AND $75 cash!!

Why do we host MOMday Morning??

Because we truly love you.

Yeah YOU!!

Y-O-U!!

How to win… (open to all US residents)

Main entry (mandatory): Leave a comment on this post with the Lid you would choose (or a color/style you wish we had)!

So you want extra entries??

~Follow Blessed Nest, B.Y.O.G., Eli’s Lids, on Twitter or let us know you already do. (1 entry each)

~Tweet the following about MOMday Morning. (1 entry every day!)

Win $75 #cash & Eli’s Lids from @BlessedNest @BYOG & @ElisLids #giveaway http://bit.ly/kl5Dk3

~Become a fan of Blessed Nest, B.Y.O.G., Eli’s Lids, on Facebook or let us know you already are. (1 entry each)

~Do a Facebook status about MOMday Morning with a link to this post http://www.smallthingsarebigthings.com/momday-morning-for-june/ (1 entry every day!)

For every extra entry, be sure to leave a separate comment on this post! i.e. If you follow Blessed Nest, B.Y.O.G. & Eli’s Lids on twitter leave 3 separate comments!

For more detailed rules go here.

***Giveaway open 1 week! Ends Wednesday June 22nd 9:00pm PST***

Thank you for serving, loving & nurturing us throughout the years.

We hope we do the same!

Now that Cy is mobile we have had to do some child proofing. Lame… but safety and all. If you have an easel, the chalk tray has now become a choking death trap. Fix it in minutes with this chalk holder I put together over at OC Family.

(Another useful purpose for one of my empty containers! You know I gloat over finding any reason to use something out of that filled cupboard.)

In other child proofing news: Take a look at our makeshift baby gate…

It’s a REALLY wide gap and the walls aren’t parallel. I’m thinking one at the base of the stairs will be better. But I have an unhealthy fear of falling down the stairs holding a child and the idea of stepping over a gate is terrifying.

Instead of sitting on your keesters and watching TV all summer here are some great things for you to do!

~Discounts4Fun.com

You HAVE to check out this site!! Discounts4Fun has the bestest (it’s a word) deals on local places. Just type in your zip code, get out your summer calendar and start scheduling! They have theme parks, sporting events and shows. (Water parks are a specialty!!) We plan on going to the Pirate Dinner Adventure for sure!! And I’ve always wanted to go to a Galaxy soccer game and the tickets are only $15 (that’s over half off). NOTE: You have to enter the promo code ‘Rapids2’ to get the discount!
~Brandman University’s MVP Contest

FREE tickets to an Angel Game (I refuse to call them the Los Angeles Angels! Is the whole name thing even still going on??) You have to get on the ball for this one because the deadline is in one week (June 15th)!! Just go to the Brandman Facebook page, nominate an awesome person in your life and get 2 free ticket vouchers for an Angel Game! AND if the person you nominate wins the contest (5 winners will be picked by voting on Facebook) then you’ll get: Two tickets to the Angels® baseball game July 20th in Anaheim, Pre-game Ceremony Recognition, VIP Stadium Tour, Batting Practice Viewing, $50 in Angel Bucks, a commemorative jersey, and more! (See the official rules here.) Can you believe we have never taken our kiddos to an Angel game!?!? We are bad OC locals. Thanks to Brandman’s contest we’ll be going this summer… for free! 

~UltraLuxe Cinemas Summer Movie Series at the Anaheim GardenWalk

       

UltraLuxe provides 10 weeks of recently released, family-friendly films for the one-time ticket price of $5.00. ONLY $5 for the whole summer!! The one-time ticket price of $5.00 allows each person to come back and see all 10 weeks of films. Kids 2 and under are free. Films start at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.  This summer’s featured films are: Yogi Bear, Shrek Forever After, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Ramona and Beezus, How To Train Your Dragon, Despicable Me, Megamind, Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, Alpha & Omega, Tooth Fairy. See the list with dates here!

Don’t forget to enter to win tickets to UltraLuxe’s Weekend Kidtoons here! It ends tonight!

~Santa Ana Zoo

The Santa Ana Zoo also has some fun things going on!

~Bring a picnic dinner and check out their Sunset concert series on Sundays, June 12, June 26, and July 17, 5:30 – 7:30pm.

Get there early and see Blues at the Zoo, a live blues concert on the front lawn of the Zoo. Blues at the Zoo concerts begin at 3:00pm and the shows are included with the price of regular Zoo admission: $8 for adults, $5 for children, free for kiddos under 3 years old.

~Weekend camel rides are back! 10:30 am to 4:30 pm $5 per ride.

~Every Second Wednesday of the month, you can buy a wristband for $3, and get unlimited rides on the Train and Carrousel.

Go here to see the Santa Ana Zoo Summer Calendar.

~Just Spotted Calendar

For a VERY extensive calendar of Summer events in Orange county have have to check out Just Spotted. (You might remember Kelly was featured on MOMday Morning!) The whole site is great and the calendar will not disappoint!

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Happy planning! I’ll also be signing up my kiddos for every local VBS I can find. So far, I’ve signed them up for 4!!

I can’t believe another week has gone by!! Time for an end of the week wrap-up with Life Rearranged’s InstaFriday!

I’ve always loved putting a flower in my hair… makes it look like I put some effort into my daily ponytail. I’m thinking I need some sweepy bangs in the near future…

Went to the best 1st bday party ever! They had an In-N-Out Burger cookout truck.

Jealous much?

I just joined foursquare. It’s absolutely ridiculous but for some reason I have a crazy desire to be the mayor of Souplantation. We’ll be there every weekend to secure my position. We went this week and a fire truck zoomed by. We followed it… (try to impress your kids much?) and got to watch them put out a dumpster fire behind PetSmart.

Kiddos were thoroughly impressed! Total success!

Once again BabySteals got me. I love them! Get one!

Visited my parents for a Memorial Day BBQ (my dad makes the BEST smoked tri-tip EVER) and passed the local market.

Had a dinner picnic at our community pool. I’m pretty anti-soda, but there is something about drinking them out of the glass that makes my heart smile!

Remember how I was sick last week? No dishes got done… NONE! It was gross. REALLY gross. Thankfully my hubby eventually did them. I paid him in kisses. Lots of them!! (wink)

Proof Eli is a giant.

I’ve been a book club since Eli was 3 months old. I highly recommend it. This months book was Same Kind of Different as Me. You have to read it! We had our meeting at Paradise Perks Coffee House in Irvine and it was so much fun.

Every week Hot Hubby takes one kiddo out on a Daddy Date Night/Guys Night Out (depending on gender of kiddo) and this week was Cora Jane’s turn. Which means Eli got Mommy (almost) to himself. We played Legos and drooled over the Playmobile catalog. I adore this lil’ boy!

Today we were invited to Pretend City (post coming soon) to see the grand opening of the library and the dentist office. These lil’ fellows were in the library and for some reason I {heart} them!

Follow me on Instagram @ElisLids to see all this fun through the week! (AND so I can follow you!)

If you are a So Cal local, be sure to enter my giveaway for unlimited tickets to weekend Kidtoons over at the Anaheim GardenWalk.

Happy Weekend!

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.smallthingsarebigthings.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.

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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.)