Monday, October 20, 2014

Cirque du Soleil's #Amaluna at Atlantic Station (Enter to win!)



Celebrating its 30th Anniversary in 2014, Cirque du Soleil brings a new show to Atlanta! Amaluna invites the audience to a mysterious island governed by goddesses and guided by the cycles of the moon. Amaluna's Tony Award-winning Show Director, Diane Paulus, drew from a series of classical influences when creating the concept of the show; including tales from Greek and Norse mythology, Mozart's The Magic Flute, and Shakespeare's The Tempest.

We got the opportunity to check out Amaluna on opening night in Atlanta and the show did not disappoint! With lots of heart stopping action and beautiful artistry, Cirque du Soleil is always one of the most anticipated shows in Atlanta and it's no wonder!

Amaluna's adventure under the big blue and yellow tent features 46 Cirque artists and the focus in this show is all on the women including the all female band! A sweet and familiar love story is intertwined in the heart of the story here and is told through breathtaking imagery. Each artist is responsible for their own makeup before each show. A body scan is used to make a detailed mold of their faces with the intricate designs cut out so they can be sponged or sprayed onto them instead of hand painted, allow for both continuity and consistency!

Experience Amaluna from Cirque du Soleil, now playing under the iconic blue and yellow big top at Atlantic Station. Save 20% on a Family 4 Pack and take an adventure to an island governed by goddesses. CLICK HERE and buy your tickets today.

Want to enter to win? Enter here!
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*I was provided tickets to Amaluna to facilitate my review. All opinions are my own!

Monday, October 13, 2014

Virgin Wireless Custom "Make it Yours"

I participated in an Influencer Activation Program on behalf of Influence-Central for Sprint. I received a device to facilitate my review.

Its crazy to think that 15 years ago cell phones were a commodity. Not something that every one had or even really wanted to have. Who wanted to be reachable 24/7?? 

Flash forward to 2014 and cell phones arent just an accessory,  they are a necessity! We are on the go more and more and being able to stay in touch with our families and friends has become much easier than it ever has been. The problem is there are so many options out there it can really make your head spin!

One of the options that people are turning to more and more is prepaid wireless. Prepaid offers no contracts and no commitment to a phone or carrier which is a win in any book! The new Custom line from Virgin wireless, allows you to customize your plan as needed, even during the service month!

Not needing as many minutes but need more data than you had planned for? Custom makes it super easy to transfer the money to a different area, making it truely their most versatile phone service available! 

Custom also offers unlimited music streaming for only $5/ month, plus unlimited social media, unlimited youtube, and others as add on services for a very low price.

Custom is really ideal for the preteen and teen crowd also because of the parental control built in. You can choose to shut down certain areas like Facebook or texting during certain hours or you can set it to only allow apps to be available for certain amounts of time! No more teens texting all night and sleeping during class!

There are three phones available on the Virgin Custom plan and they are sold exclusively at Walmart. I received the LG Pulse to try out and its an impressive little machine! It feature Gorilla Glass (hello durability!) and a 5mp camera for all those Instagram moments.

Have you made the switch to Prepaid wireless? What do you think of Virgin's Custom plans?

Monday, October 6, 2014

Why My Kids Do Chores



Seems like lately I have seen a lot of those charts for what age your child can do certain things. Not academic things, household things. Like cleaning up after themselves, helping with laundry, etc.. I've seen as many different ideals as I have pins. Some expect more, some less. Some think scripture memorization is more important, some focus more on what they can reach.

Thing that really caught my attention is that the common comment with these lists and charts is generally along the lines of "I really wish my kids would do this stuff" or "Wow, my kids would never xyz".

Really?

My boys have always been my helpers. Granted, they like to help but its also because they've always been expected to. Especially over the last few years when I had to return to work and was doing it on my own for awhile.

Kids need responsibilities. More than just doing their homework and putting their plate in the sink. They need to learn to be a productive member of a household. They need to know that the laundry fairy doesnt wash, dry, and fold their dirty clothes while everyone sleeps. That those dishes they put in the sink don't magically disapper. The bed they sleep in? Doesn't make itself either.

They live there too. I am their mother, their caretaker, and love them more than life but I am not their maid.  I simply could not do everything it takes to run a household without their help and still get to spend time with them. I want them to be able to be independent and a productive member of their household without feeling like their partner should take care of them.

The boys do chores depending on what needs to be done and what they can handle. Little things like cleaning up their toys and putting things where they belong but also helping with the yard maintenance, sweeping, and cleaning bathrooms. I spent time making sure things were organized in a way they can be independent and not require help. I pared down the things we use to clean to two spray bottles. One with vingar/water and the other with diluted lysol cleaner. Those two bottles will clean anything in your house and both are kid friendly.

D knows how to use the vaccuum correctly while K usually sweeps the hard surfaces because the vaccuum is too heavy for him.

They want to take their lunch instead of buy it? They know how to put together a pb&j.

Not that they do all of those things all the time but they can do it and they don't give me lip about it if I ask them to. It's all simply become part of how our household runs. No charts or special prizes needed*. We all have to care for it and they understand that.

Of course that doesn't mean it's all work around here. The chores and things they do take at most half an hour a day. The difference is that when you do a little every day and there are more people doing it, it goes faster and leaves a lot more time for fun and snuggles. So its a double bonus. The house stays cleaner and the boys get more of my undivided attention!


It's mostly about trusting your child with responsibility. Start small and understand it might take some guidance at first. Given the chance, any one is going to sit back and let someone else do all the dirty work but given direction any one can learn to help. Even kids.


*Not to say we've never used charts. We have used a ticket system in the past but it fell to the wayside. They just didn't seem to care about the ticket part and did their "jobs" anyway. Just another reason my kids rock my socks.


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