This week, Tania from Pure Natural Diva wants to know what our character flaws are.  Well, how rude!  Just kidding.  I think this is a wonderful topic – one that I am really looking forward to listening to.  One of my flaws is comparing myself to others, so it will be nice to finally hear the ways my friends are human, know what I mean?

Here is my video and please check out the other ones in the linky below!

(And if you are like, “what is Vlog Mom?” Check out the Vlog Mom website!)

Friday morning I woke up at 3am. Full of adrenaline, I drove to Kansas City and flew to Chicago to be part of the Verizon Super Savers Kick off event!  Nineteen bloggers from the midwest were chosen to work with Verizon to promote their devices and deals and I was really excited to join them.

If you remember, I already worked with Verizon before. So this was a no-brainer!

I arrived and got settled into the Hard Rock Hotel. Let me tell you, that place is so fun to stay in! Then we all gathered in a conference room and listened to the super-fun Alli Worthington speak! She shared her favorite apps and some hilarious social-media photos/facts she found through Pinterest. We chatted and discussed WOMMA disclosure. We all introduced ourselves and it was just an all-around fun time.

Then it was finally time to open our mystery devices! Ever since we found out we were going to work as “Verizon Savvy Savers” we were given clues to guess what device we’d get first. We had no idea. You should have heard all the squeals as we opened and saw the shiny new Motorola Xyboard tablets! They come equipped with data plans, 4G capabilities and ready to use!

Then we went back to the hotel and I took a nap. A glorious, quiet, kid-free nap. It was Heaven! Verizon treated all of the Savvy Savers to a delicious dinner at a restaurant overlooking the Navy Pier! (and I had fun getting dressed without kids pulling on my skirt. )

Navy Pier was beautiful! Just breathtaking! It was such a relaxing dinner – I had the swordfish!

After dinner, I went back to my room and slept. I was kinda exhausted – you know, 3am and all!

The next morning was breakfast with our team and introduction to Verizon devices and plans. Then we talked more about our role as Savvy Savers – what we will talk about with our readers and such – and then we heard from a Motorola Representative that taught us how to use our tablets.

I’m really excited about this device. It can be my remote, connect to my computer remotely, my Hulu watching device, eReader, calendar, and so much more. I’ll definitely keep updating you all with what I learn about my tablet and how I use it.

Then it was time to go home. I was so missing my family.  Unfortunately I took the wrong turn and ended up like an hour the wrong way.  But then I whipped out my XYBoard tablet and it gave me turn-by-turn navigation home. It took me around the tolls, out in the country roads. I got some lovely shots – isn’t that sunset breathtaking?

So excited to be a Savvy Saver! Click the button to the left for the full disclosure, thanks!

I used to subscribe to the CPSC email list and would get an email almost every day full of recalled baby and children items. But I quickly unsubscribed when I just ran out of time to scroll through the text-only email and try to find items that I owned or planned to own.

The Recalls Plus app is a beautiful, easy to use app that actually alerts you when an item you own or plan to own is recalled. You don’t have to check online constantly, you don’t have to google or scroll through hard-to-read emails. It tells you. That is the kind of usefulness I love in an app!

Here is a little more info about Recalls Plus from the  makers:

Our diverse team consists of parents and others who are focused and passionate about parenting issues — working around the clock to make sure we don’t miss catching a recall on kid’s products or food with undeclared allergens. Recalls Plus is designed and built for busy parents like you so you can focus on the important things in your life.

The Recalls Plus app is available on iPhones and Androids. And if you don’t have one of those, you can use the Facebook app.  This is truly available for everyone.

This is so user friendly! Just tap the “Add Stuff” button and put stuff on your watch list. Then you wait and if something you are watching is recalled it will ding on your phone. No other efforts from you.

What is it they say on infomercials? “Set it and forget it!”

Here is a quick and easy link for you to download the plugin!

Thank you SheSpeaks for this amazing opportunity.  Loved working with you – all opinions are 100% mine, I did get a fun little Amazon.com gift code as a thank you for writing this.

That ridiculous article from TIME Magazine. Riling up bloggers like Scary Mommy and vloggers like Jessica Gottleib.  Check out twitter hashtag #MomEnough – we moms are not going to let this topic divide us anymore. I support moms that love their children and sacrifice themselves to nurture and raise them.

I am sorry if I ever said anything that made a mom feel not good enough. We are our worst critics! And when we hear other moms voicing our worst fears – that we are not doing a good enough job – we crumble inside.

So STOP! Love yourself. You are good enough. And support every other mom around you.

I overcame a fear of mine – approaching strangers – and asked moms in the Chicago O’Hare Airport to share why they are mom enough. The video gives me chills and I hope it encourages you today!

Jennifer from Mama B Knows Best asks us this week:

If you could guest on one television show, what would it be?

My answer was “Once Upon A Time!”  What about you? What would you guest on?

(pssstt!! Check out VlogMom.com for next week’s topic and hop around the linky below!)

Then and now!
3 years old and today – almost 5 years old!

I love my beauty!

I have a hunger,  a yearning. This propels me forward as I chase after my dreams. Knowing simplicity brings happiness is not enough to deter me from busyness and frantic pace. I want to accomplish so much. I want to taste, feel, live.

The internet is a beautiful place. I have made some priceless friendships and received exciting opportunities.  It is also the biggest distraction and dissatisfaction-creating machine.  You never know what you don’t have, until you see someone loving it.

It is way too easy to be totally connected online and at the same time disconnected with what is happening here. now. Independent of what others would think or how it would look through the lens of the iPhone.

I think I will start taking back my weekends. Making them mine. I used to refuse to blog on the weekends, but then I got busier. Then Josh worked more. Then weekend became my only time to blog.

What am I going to make time for?

Meeting needs. Investing in the future. Savoring the tidbits in daily life. Rushing and running are not necessary! This busy season will end when the month concludes. As June begins, I am going to  take every minute seriously and decide: what am I making time for today?

My passion will always burn – but instead of consuming my energy I will turn it into fuel to help me rapturously enjoy my children, my husband, my God, my life. 

I woke up groggily. Lucy sat up and the first thing she saw were her shoes. “Eh! Eh!” she grunted as she pointed her chubby finger towards the shoes and lifted her feet into the air.

Josh was talking casually about his trip into town.

“Da, Da!” Lucy exclaimed.

“You want to go to town with Daddy?” I asked.

She started to laugh and lifted her feet higher in the air, so I’d get the hint and put them on her feet.

Lizzie began to wake up too and plopped into the living room, in front of the computer. As Josh began to leave with Lucy, Lizzie asked, “Mommy, can I watch Busy Town again?”

“Sure,” I answer. “Then we Daddy gets back we can all eat breakfast.”

I relax on the couch, laptop open, ready to blog. The house is quiet as David slowly walks in.

And as he watches the cartoon, he pees on the floor.

Ugh. I forgot to have him pee first thing!

He feels embarrassed and lays on the couch with me. 

And I sit, in this quiet moment, and love my little life. Weekdays are chaotic with my job, babysitter, meals, cleaning, ballet, blogging and chickens.  In fact, Lizzie has to be at ballet in 3 hours. But right now I am just a mom of 3 tiny kids that are not too big yet. A baby, a preschooler and a little girl.

I close the laptop, clean up the pee, get dressed and start making the french toast before our day gets busier.

There is no doubt about it – my family consumes a crazy amount of dairy every week. I make healthy choices by getting the low-fat options because there are just so many dairy products my kids ask for.

Lizzie’s favorite is cottage cheese. No joke – one time she polished off half a container. David can eat his weight in yogurt. And Lucy’s favorite is string cheese.

Back before Lizzie was eating meat (she hated the texture and gagged), I turned to cheese and dairy to help her get the protein her growing body needed.  I think that is when our family started the “dairy addiction.” Now we eat dairy at every meal – cheese in our scrambled eggs, milk in our oatmeal, cheese sauce on the veggies and sour cream in our chili.

What I didn’t know was exactly how  healthy that protein is for my kids and their growing bodies.  The Midwest Dairy Council states that cheese can be substituted ounce for ounce for meat. (Which is exactly what I did when Lizzie didn’t like to eat meat).

Another fun fact:

Some types of cheese are excellent sources of calcium, delivering 27% of the mineral in the US food supply.4 One and a half ounces of some natural cheese contains approximately 300 mg of calcium, the equivalent of 1 cup of milk.

Calcium, protein and Vitamin D – all nutritional benefits of dairy.

A super healthy way to start your day? Peanut Butter, milk and frozen banana slices pureed in a the blender. Talk about a shake jammed full of protein and flavor!

Want to win a hand held blender so you can make your own shake?

OK! I have a super awesome giveaway for you!  You could win:

*Cuisinart hand blender
* $15 iTunes Gift Card
*Cute Midwest Dairy Assocation baseball cap
*Fun cow print socks
*Brown Insulated lunch bag

Total package value of $100!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I received the same stuff in the prize pack for me to review. And all opinions are my own.