IN THE SUMMER OF 2010 WE TOOK A FAMILY TRIP TO CHICAGO FOR A FAMILY REUNION. We made a point of going through Springfield, Illinois on our way to the Windy City and it was a day enjoyed by everyone in our family. In honor of President’s Day I wanted to reshare our fun from that trip. I always love traveling with my kids. Oddly enough, they seem to exhibit perfect behavior while traveling — perhaps because they are learning something new?

 I’ll never forget the looks on their faces when they realized that you could rub Abe Lincoln’s nose!

BEING A PARENT IS HARD. BEING A PARENT OF A TODDLER IS IMPOSSIBLE, BUT IT PREPARES YOU FOR THE COMPLICATION OF TEENS. Any parents of teenagers agreeing with me at this moment? I’m not trying to scare anyone. Just tell the truth.

Amazingly, this post is not a rant about my teenager. The situation that caused this post — totally about what teen parents will face with this new generation. I want to say at the beginning that I am proud of my husband. He may well have had the patient parenting moment of the century. Let me explain.

Earlier this week my husband gets a FaceBook notification concerning a photo comment. The comment is quoted in his notification and it makes my dear husband fall off of his seat…figuratively speaking. The word and acronyms used are rude, vulgar, and are written under a family photo taken in November. Right there, under all the kind friend comments sits a real stinker of teenage stupidity from a young man who attends high school with our daughter.

My husband took a screen shot to preserve the moment of evidence.

Dave then begins to look for contact information associated with the comment. That’s when I get the phone call and we take a look in the school directory. It doesn’t take us long to have parent names and phone numbers. Thank you PTA. Dave calls late that afternoon hoping to catch someone at home. First time a voice answers and then quickly hangs up. The second time there is simply a pickup/hangup end to the call. Hmmm, I wonder who is answering…any bets on whether Mr. Facebook is receiving calls?

The next day Dave drops by the house after taking Will to baseball practice. The father comes to the door. Dave calmly says that apparently there has been an inappropriate FaceBook message. He goes on to say that although we pay attention to our daughter, we really don’t know everything she broadcasts to the world as a teenager. (And that’s just the honest reality of this digital age.) And then he ends by saying that he would appreciate someone notifying him if this issue ever came up in our household.

Truth be told, I had assumed there would be some defensiveness from the offender’s parents. Instead the calm, father-to-father understanding was met with appreciation. The father promised to get to the bottom of the situation.

About an hour later we were finishing dinner. The home phone rang and the name which flashed on the caller id matched the one seen earlier on FaceBook. I sushed everyone and then heard the tidbits of a very humble and polite young man. He explained that while at a party (and bored) he had logged into facebook on a friend’s computer, but never logged out. He apologized for the whole incident.

Whatever the cause of the remark, this lesson has taught us all new lessons. Parenting lessons, gentleman lessons for the offender, and a few examples of how we are paying attention to even the stray comment which affects our family name.  The comment could have been simply deleted, but that wouldn’t have made the impression on everyone involved. The older my children become, the more complicated the situations.

I want to express my thanks to both my husband and the father of the offender. Those are the examples of behavior which will last beyond the temporary FaceBook post and affect the hearts of their children. 

Grace as a ten pound newborn in the NICU.

I AM NOT SO WORDLESS TODAY…BUT QUIET WITH THOUGHTS. I’m having deep thoughts today. We had a new baby niece come into our lives this week. She’s the first grandchild for my husband’s sister. All in all, a very happy situation. But they had an emergency delivery which was very scary. I’m getting ready to go visit them this morning and spend some time remembering my own delivery of Grace. Let’s be honest, I think about it all the time. It affects a great deal of my life and I am also reminded daily what a blessing this hard headed and sparkly child is…and how close we both came to the edge of life. When I tell my nephew and his wife that I understand what they are going through it will be sincere in every way. Not many people go through something so scary. I feel like God has prepared me for this very visit. I was able to pray a most specific prayer last night.

And this morning I am remembering milestones I blogged in the past like these:

Two Years Old

Three Years Old

Four Years Old

Six Years Old

Seven Years Old

 Something difficult in my life does have meaning. Something simple to say and challenging to live. That’s where I am in my mind today.

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY! Whether you share with others or not, Valentine’s Day is often a nice day to enjoy a sweet treat for yourself. I had a delightful time compiling the list of sweets in Atlanta. I simply could not believe the number of unique delicacies in Atlanta. My first thought was, “How many cupcake shops can there be?” and by the end I was amazed by the shops offering special pies, handmade chocolate bars with exotic flavors, and unexpected combinations in Atlanta. Some traditional and some more innovative. Some of my favorites didn’t even make the list…I have enough notes to write the second part of the article one day.

The first link is to the Atlanta Sweets article I wrote:

Sweets for Your Sweet

And the second link is to the overall group of articles it fits within.

Sweets for My Sweet: Celebrating Our Love Affair with Sugar

Check out your nearest city and see if you agree with the author. Better yet, tuck this article away in your suitcase for your next business trip. You’ll be the one ‘in the know’ for the must taste treats.

Enjoy the little moments today and the people in your life!

IT’S COOKIE TIME IN THE WORLD OF GIRL SCOUTS. My friend George loves being a Dad. He’s a single father who is blessed with two lovely girls. So much so that he volunteered to be the Cookie Dad for his daughter’s troop. Today he went for the official pick-up of cookies the troop had sold. After returning this was his facebook status:

Dear Lord. Thank you for your lesson today while picking up the Daisy troop’s Girl Scout cookies. Thank you for making me a Cookie Dad, and not a Cookie Mom. Lord please show teach these Cookie Moms forgiveness towards amateurs like me — who like Mr. Mom are always “doing it wrong”.

Please teach them tolerance for us dads who (although we have no female organs) value and respect the advancement and self reliant teachings for our daughters. In my case this happens to be two little girls.

Most of all, thank you for showing me how scary hardcore cookie moms can be. Please shelter me from their wrath, their eye rolls, and their snide comments as this was indeed my first rodeo. Lastly…thank you for the gift of laughter you pierce me with, that allows me to laugh at them instead of taking it seriously.

—The New Cookie Dad…George

I feel like I should have protected him somehow!

LAST SATURDAY WE ENJOYED THE LAUGHING PIZZA RED CARPET CONCERT MOVIE EVENT AT THE GEORGIA AQUARIUM. It was an awesome event for families. We all walked the red carpet entry, but Grace was the most excited to get her picture made by the papparazi. As you can see, she was very – very – excited. Jumping for joy in fact. Jordan and I just stepped away and let her do her thing. I didn’t have enough coffee in me to jump like that.

And we were surrounded by these beautiful creatures in the Oceans Ballroom of the Aquarium. What an amazing glimpse from the other side of the huge tanks inside the public areas of the Georgia Aquarium. On one side there were the whale sharks and all of the other creatures from the Ocean Voyager tank. The baluga whales were in another window. Simply magical.

After the circus performance and the movie premiere there was a short concert with all the Laughing Pizza classics in celebration of the DVD movie release. If you have little kids you may have seen this family band on PBS Kids in between the educational programming. It’s so refreshing to have good music and wholesome lyrics…and still be entertained. I don’t know about you, but it makes me happy to see the chance for kids to explore more than just the Barney Song <no offense, Barney, but your song is annoying when sung a million times by a kidlet> or London Bridge. Kids are able to digest more than we give them credit for intellectually. Laughing Pizza sings about families, but doesn’t hold back on the rock and rhythm.

At one point during the concert, Lisa asked for answers to several questions…then she used those answers to fill in the blanks for a mad lib type song. It was an enjoyable moment. After the concert, Grace ran behind the stage to wait for the band to exit.

I was able to catch this quick photo with Emily after they hugged. (Grace has a butterfly painted on her face.)

Fast Forward to last night. I emptied Grace’s backpack and found this school library book:

So if you see a jumping butterfly on YouTube, please let me know!

AH, THE CIRCUS…IT’S ONE OF MY FAVORITE CHILDHOOD MEMORIES. Ringling Brothers and Barnum Bailey has just released a new show theme called “Fully Charged” to begin touring and Atlanta is the next city to experience the electrifying energy and beautifully kept animals. I can’t wait to take my crew to enjoy the newly redesigned show and take advantage of the preshow activities. I am also excited to announce that  I have 4 ticket vouchers to give away which will cover the complete ticket price for four people. This is a quick giveaway since a winner will be drawn on Thursday, February 9th at 12:01 am.

The winner will be able to exchange the winning vouchers for the seat dates of his choice from either Phillips Arena in Atlanta or Gwinnett Center. The date options are:
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)

Ticket vouchers must be redeemed by the recipient at the box office for hard tickets. They can be redeemed upon receipt, they do not need to wait until the day of the show.

 Follow the instructions on the Rafflecopter widget at the bottom of this article to enter. The more items you complete, the more chances you have to win.

Ready to enjoy the circus with your family? Here we go!

Disclaimer: Feld Entertainment provided my family with tickets to attend the circus and also 4 tickets to give away to my readers. As always, I present you with the facts and my own opinion in any situation on the Mundane Magic blog. 

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YOU CAN FIND ME AT THE SAVVY SOURCE WEBSITE TODAY. I have a new article which suggests some fun things to do in Atlanta with your family. It was a lot of fun to research this one. I’ve done many of the things on the list, but I think I may try to take my own advice about the ones I have missed. I have really enjoyed being the Atlanta City Editor for this parenting website. It has given me the chance to see how unique this Southeastern destination has grown through the years. I feel fortunate to be making family memories here now.

I’m wondering what are some of the “don’t miss” activities in your town or city? I love having the recommendation of a friend when I am traveling.

HIT FAMILY BAND, LAUGHING PIZZA, AND GEORGIA AQUARIUM HOST VIP SCREENING OF THEIR NEW CONCERT MOVIE

Red carpet event followed by live performance by Laughing Pizza to be held in the Aquarium’s Oceans Ballroom

ATLANTA (January 18, 2012)— Georgia Aquarium and family-favorite musical group, Atlanta’s own Laughing Pizza, invite families to the grand Oceans Ballroom for a one-time, VIP family film premiere Saturday, Feb. 4 at 11:00 a.m. The award-winning band and world’s largest aquarium are teaming up for the world premiere of “Laughing Pizza: The Concert Movie” as well as a live performance by Laughing Pizza after the screening.

Beginning at 11:00 a.m., guests will get the “red carpet treatment” with photographs, a VIP screening of Laughing Pizza: The Concert Movie, spectacular views into the world’s largest aquatic habitat, Ocean Voyager, as well as views into the charismatic beluga whale habitat from within the grand Oceans Ballroom. After the VIP screening, Laughing Pizza will perform a few of their hits and give guests the opportunity to meet Billy, Lisa and Emily, up close and in person!
Laughing Pizza is a real family band that writes and performs all original pop-music for families. Their music videos can be seen every day in more than 18 million homes on PBS stations and TV On-Demand channels around the country. This mom, dad and daughter trio travel across the nation performing at theatres, museums, music  festivals, nightclubs, schools, and other venues – including the White House (with Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers).

Lisa and Billy are both classically trained musicians and former music teachers with a history of success in the grown-up music business – including a #1 Billboard Dance Hit and a publishing deal with Warner/Chappell. Emily, their 15-year-old daughter, plays multiple instruments including flute, drums, guitar, piano, and bass – and co-writes all of the Laughing Pizza songs with her parents. Together they create fun, inspiring (and educational) music for the whole family! Their live performances are energetic, interactive, dance-filled shows that get kids and parents up and moving, and they have a loyal following all across the country.

There are two ticket options for families to purchase. VIP Red Carpet Premiere tickets include admission to the film, live performance by Laughing Pizza, meet and greet with the band, and red carpet festivities. VIP Red Carpet Premiere tickets are $15 (Children under 1 years old are free). For an even more spectacular experience, guests can upgrade their tickets to the VIP Red Carpet Premiere Plus ticket, which includes admission to the premiere and its events, as well as admission to the Aquarium and the 3:30 p.m. showing of AT&T Dolphin Tales. VIP Red Carpet Premiere Plus tickets are $34.95 for adults and $28.95 for children. Children under 3 years old only need a film pass, as they are admitted to the Aquarium for free.

For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit www.laughingpizza.com. For more information on Georgia Aquarium’s conservation efforts, visit www.georgiaaquarium.org or call 404-581-4000. 

- OR -

Enter to win a GIVEAWAY for 4 tickets through Mundane Magic: 

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CHRISTMAS IS COMING DOWN AT OUR HOUSE. WE ARE SAYING GOODBYE TO THE SEASON AND LOOKING AHEAD TO THE NEW YEAR. Before it was dismantled completely, I took a few pictures of the obvious signs of Seasonal Overload. Hope you enjoy my {not so} Wordless Wednesday:

1. Potholders have replaced stockings on the fireplace:

2. The reindeer have begun to protest about being left in the snow…uh, I mean dust storm.

They mentioned a dust blizzard and that’s when the protests really got ugly:

4. It takes a village to care for the special babe in the manger. (Possible colic?)

5. The Sugar Plum Fairy has reported a party gone awry in her jurisdiction.

But seriously, I hope you enjoyed your down time and are ready to tackle 2012 with me. Happy New Year, my dear readers!

WE HAD A NICE CHRISTMAS. Lots of photos of trees and photos of memories of Christmases past. I show things like the photos of Jordan when she was younger. Christmas in Hawaii was really a hoot. Santa wore “slippahs” (aka: flip flops), an aloha shirt, and shorts. There is a photo of Grace kissing Santa when she is about 18 months old. There is a toddler photo of William knocked out in a stroller during our pre-Christmas trip to Disney 8 years ago. Lots and lots of memories.

I love the Christmas sequined ball on the dresser because my Grandmother made it years ago. She just turned 97 and still lives independently…love her so much!

The amaryllis finally bloomed on December 24th…just as promised. Before Christmas.

But I think I like this photo of William making a “custom” purse for Grace before Christmas. 

Sometimes big brothers have a sweet side for their little sisters. More on that tomorrow.

MAKE THE HOLIDAYS YOUR TEACHABLE MOMENT Whether it’s the Angel Tree, a soup kitchen, or a mitten tree at your school, the holidays and the giving spirit just go together. I just finished a piece for Savvy Source Parenting showcasing ideas for the Atlanta area. You can be guaranteed that there are needs like this all across the county.

As our family ages into a more capable set of contributors we are beginning to find more opportunities to participate. I often hesitate when my children were young, but now those same children are out finding opportunities to serve and loving it. This has brought our family into the community in a way I could have never imagined. I’d love to have your thoughts on this. How do you serve with your family? Is it through your church or a community organization?

Of all the things I have taught my kids, giving service has been one of the most meaningful.

MAMMA MIA, HERE I GO AGAIN. MY, MY – HOW COULD I FORGET YOU? This weekend is an ABBA You Can Dance weekend at our house. Everything is almost ready to go.

Mirror Ball? Check!

Funky Glasses? Check!

ABBA You Can Dance game from UbiSoft? A must! {Run immediately and buy your wife one of these games right away…so. much. fun!}

You know how the holidays bring together all kinds of people? How being together is part of the deal? Well, I’m probably one of the most social people you’ll meet…but I have to admit that it gets a little busy around the holidays. I absolutely love having family and friends come through my door, but what happens when they crowd into the kitchen? I’m prepared this time…it’s time to have a dance party while I am cooking them food. This weekend I’ll be hosting some 70′s fun and I can’t wait. In fact, the party may go on all weekend. I hope my dog doesn’t howl too loud when I sing “Dancing Queen”.

I’ll keep posting updates all weekend if you’ll promise to laugh and dance along with me. Growing up in the 70′s did have it’s benefits…

How about you? What do you love about the 70′s?

Thank you to Ubisoft for sponsoring this blog post. Please click here to learn more about Ubisoft. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective. All opinions are my own.

YOU CAN FIND ME TODAY AT THE SAVVY SOURCE PARENTING WEBSITE. This was an article that was both fun and difficult to write. Atlanta has so many things to offer which are unique during the holidays. As I did my research I discovered that the article could have been twice as long…except my editor would have not appreciated that very much. I may take a moment this weekend and write about the activities I had to edit out of the article.

I’m a city editor with Savvy Source for the Atlanta area. When we were given instruction for the topic, our editor asked us to find unique items that were the things that were unique to our city. These thing are the items which might make her want to jump on the plane and come visit. Atlanta certainly has its fill of those items if you know where to look.

What would you show a visitor in your town? What makes where you live unique?

AND…

Don’t forget to enter the contest to win a Betty Crocker Prize kit for baking. I want one of you to win this! Take a moment and go drop me a comment on my post or on my facebook page.

THERE WAS A TIME WHEN THE TERM “WEEKEND CONCERTS” MEANT THE BANDS I WENT TO SEE OVER THE WEEKEND, BUT NOW AS A PARENT IT MEANS SOMETHING VERY DIFFERENT. I think I’m enjoying this phase even more. William’s school chorus had their holiday concert at a beautiful local church. He looked so mature standing there with all of his friends singing. The complex harmonies of young voices filled the air and echoed off the walls.

And then we went straight to our church to get ready for the Children’s Christmas Concert there. Grace did end up wearing an angel costume, but this was the first year William has not been a Shepard or Wise Man. (The following photos are by Julia Elliott Photography. She’s a very talented photographer who also happens to love all the kids at church.)

I absolutely love watching this program each year. The kids at our church are just adorable and sometimes funny. It’s a joy to watch them grow up together. William is one of the big kids on the back row  of the group photo. Grace is below him.

About a month ago I found out that Grace had volunteered to do a solo for Silent Night. Eventually she talked her brother into singing it with her. At the practice two weeks ago he decided that he did not want to sing with her. So, I had assumed that discussion was over. Grace sang alone at the final rehearsal and it sounded great. I was completely shocked when they BOTH stepped up to the mics and sang Silent Night together! It was a sweet moment.

All the rush and preparation seems worth it when you see them accomplishing something special up on the stage. It’s a milestone for them as they grow and even more of a milestone for me as a parent.

Getting the chance to see them stretch themselves and experience new opportunities…well, I realize that in those moments we *are* doing something right. These are the things I dreamed of them doing in their lives. That’s magic.

FROM THE MOMENT I RECEIVED THE BAKING KIT FROM BETTY CROCKER MY KIDS WERE BEGGING TO MAKE THE NEW MOLASSES COOKIE MIX. And it didn’t disappoint. As soon as the warm smell hit the air there were mouths waiting to eat them. Of course, my kids love being in the kitchen if they can cook. {No one wants to empty the dishwasher or take out the trash, but they will cook.} And they love cookies. No problem with those nice cookies disappearing here!

Take advantage of a 75 cent coupon off the purchase of one Betty Crocker Molasses Cookie pouch mix today!

Now you can have a chance to win one of these prize baking kits on my blog. The kits Betty Crocker Molasses Cookie Mix prize pack includes a Betty Crocker apron, non-stick baking pan, and a mixing spoon. Since it is the holidays we are going to keep it simple. Today is Wednesday so I’ll take entries until Thursday at midnight. I will announce the winner on Friday. That way you can use the baking kit over the holidays and enjoy these cookies in your household.

What do you have to do for an entry? I’ll give an entry credit for each:

• Comment on this post below. Tell me if you bake for the holidays or just buy the goodies you take to parties.
• OR “Like” Mundane Magic’s page on Facebook. {If you are already a FB follower simply leave me a comment saying so.}

So, hurry and enter the contest so I can get the goodie box out to you. It’s a quick one so just take a moment to leave a comment.

DISCLOSURE: The product, information and prize pack has been provided by Betty Crocker through MyBlogSpark.

I’VE TOLD YOU ABOUT MY BALLERINA, GRACE. She had her debut appearance in the Georgia Ballet’s professional production of The Nutcracker last weekend. My parents came into town and got to see her fight in the Mouse King’s Army during the battle scene. On Thursday night we had another dancer in our family – William!

William is on the intermural dance team at his elementary school. There are 7 boys on the team…and approximately 45 girls! He doesn’t quite appreciate the odds yet, but he will eventually. It was International Night at our school so he danced a Turkish Dance. And a Beyonce dance:

So proud of him for doing something active that he enjoys. I am still not quite sure why the back of his shirt reads “Viper” as a nickname though. He choose it because it sounded cool.

Yeah. Just what a mother wants to hear her son called as a nickname!

Here are some more dressing room photos of Grace before her big night. I love this look from a mouse who is patiently waiting for her time to go down four flights of stairs and hit the stage with the Mouse King:

Thanks for joining me on this Wordless Wednesday. Leave a comment so I know you were here visiting. {I’d love to visit other blogs, too!}

I CAN BE FOUND AT SAVVY SOURCE TODAY. My new article explores some ideas to explore in the Atlanta area with your family. I’d love to have you come on over and add your thoughts and ideas. I know many of you are exploration experts…we want to know your secrets!

While you are there, you might want to explore some of their calendar events. I do the newsletter for Atlanta also…sign up!

I AM SHARING A PHOTO OF MY MOTHER IN HER ABSOLUTE GLORY. My mother loves nothing more than a noisy house full of fun and mischief. She’s surrounded by six grandchildren making a mess of cupcakes, icing, and sprinkles. This was taken on the Saturday afternoon following Thanksgiving. My oldest was too busy with her masterpiece to look up for a photo, but everyone was having a blast. Even my mother was surprised when the two boys slipped into the project after they had professed no interest earlier in the planning.

A warm, cozy afternoon filled with cousins, football, and cupcakes. What more could you ask for?