You Must See Snow White & The Huntsman

The 411:

Lips Red as Blood, Hair Black as Night, bring me your heart my dear, dear Snow White.

 

I was so excited to see this movie and prayed it would live up to the hype. So happy to report that it does! It is a great movie with a lot of action.  

The movie is beautifully done and as far as fairy tales goes it is both creepy and dark with dramatic special effects especially when it comes to Charlize Theron as the evil step mother and the dark dagger army. I have no idea what they were but they were AWESOME!  Wonderfully creative imagery. 

My favorite parts were when Charlize was on screen. She was an evil queen with wicked powers. 

Kristen Stewart as Snow is a great choice for this adaptation. She is dark, moody, brooding and beautiful! 

Visually the movie feels far from the Snow we all know but it is a beautiful piece of work!

Polly Pocket Playtime Pet Shop Playset

We love it! There is so much to do and it even travels easily. Goddess took it with her to my girlfriends the other day to show her daughter and lost none of the pieces. Each piece has a suction cup that kept it attached to the unit which made bringing all the pieces home again that much easier. We didn't lose so much as a cup!

This week were were able to review the Polly Pocket Playtime Pet Shop Playset. It was the perfect way for Goddess to end her first day back to school. A package from Mom Central is always appreciated!  Goddess loves animals and was so excited to put this playset together. She needed no help from me opening the box or putting it together and when I finally walked over to the table she was playing with both playsets.

The 411 by Maria & Goddess

This is the perfect gift for little girls who love Polly Pockets. Goddess' favorite toys are any and all animals. She is gaga crazy about anything featuring an animal. 

I love that the playset is affordable and has so many surprises inside. There is so much to do. Polly can give a pet a bath, feed them, showcase them in a little pet merry-go-round! We are both deeply in love with the 3 sleeping kitten and how Polly can stand up bathing the pet with her feet anchored to the ground. This is seriously a cute gift and if you are thinking early Christmas gifts, this should be one of them!

The girl colors are fun and as someone who still likes playing with toys, I can tell you this is fun. Goddess and I have it on her bedroom table so we can play with it anytime we have time together.

Goddess:  (as quoted by my 7 year old)
I like the kittens and the animals. All of the animals. They are all my favorite. 

My favorite part is the little trap door that drops the pet down and the slide for Polly to ride. This has an elevator like the first one so I guess elevators are big.  I have a ton of Pollys and they all can be used in this. I thought I was ready to give my Pollys away but now I really love playing with them.

I like this playset better than the first one I reviewed because of the animals. We also think the paw print cut outs are adorable.

Always Wanted To Take Ballet? Check Out This Amazing Workout!

The 411 by Maria:

WOW! WOW! WOW! I love this DVD. Mary Helen Bowers was the trainer for Natalie Portman in Black Swan and while I will never look like either of them while doing these exercises I am excited to try them.

I love the breakdown of the exercises and how fluid and easy the exercises look.  The music and set impressed me also. Very pretty, relaxed and subdued.

Since my surgery was only 3 weeks ago I will not be trying the exercises until I get a medical OK and as easy as Mary Helen makes the exercises look, I bet you really feel it after you are done.  Watching the arm exercises I was tempted to try but I know that each exercises requires a strong core and that is not something I have at the moment plus my tummy band reminds me that I need to wait however, I am extremely excited to try these and can't wait to dive in.


While watching I did wonder where it was filmed because every once in a while there was a clanking that was distracting. Perhaps she is on a dock and there were anchors being pulled in. Oh well, made it even more interesting.

Very excited to start this program. Let me know if you are doing it to and how you like it.

Mom Guilt To The Hilt

This is the 3rd Summer in a row that I feel like I let my kids down. Don't get me wrong, I am completely aware that they are thriving and happy but I wish I had more time with them. Two months goes so fast. Today they headed back to school and I feel like I lost a whole month of their summer vacation. Between working, summer classes, swimming classes and than my medically compromised August, I missed a lot of time with them. Thankfully they are completely unaware of how the other half lives and this is a good thing. They enjoyed their summer but I feel bad not having done anything with them.

We didn't bowl.
We didn't go to the movies.
We didn't have play dates.
We didn't go on vacation.
We didn't visit family and friends.
We didn't go to the zoo.
We didn't do too muckin fuch!

We did go to the beach (lake) a lot.
We did watch a lot of movies.
We did go for ice cream a few times.
We did go to breakfast a few times.
I just wish it could have been more.

This morning the rain kept us from getting too many pictures. I was able to get two or three of them in class before backing out to allow the teachers to get on with their class. I know they are not babies anymore but I want to experience their morning. I want to see their desks. I want to be there to hear about their day.

Today work kept me from being there to get them off the bus so that I could hear all about their first day. Thankfully my good friend, someone I know and trust completely was there to get them and take care of them, but it wasn't me.

There was no video of their morning but on the bright side. This morning was awesome. They were up and dressed and hour and a half before they had to leave. We listened to music and danced. We had breakfast and talked about their morning and school. They were excited to see their friends and make some new ones.

I was thrilled when I walked into Goddess' class and saw that 5 of my brownie troop was together. Goddess and her friends, one who has been with her every year since Preschool once again have the same teacher.

Life is good. My guilt doesn't keep me awake at night because I know that things could be a lot worse. I know that I am lucky to be with them because 2010 that could have changed. This surgery will hopefully be a good thing and allow me to do the things I have been unable to do. While I probably won't ever be able to give them another piggyback ride ride ever again, I remind myself that I must have given over 500 in the past 9 years.

Yes, I have mommy guilt, but as a rational person, I know how much I love them and that if things could have been different they would have been.

As I sit at work, I think about my babies at home and can't wait to see them and hear all about their day. Working moms have been dealing with this for years but it is new to me and hopefully, with work comes extra money and that my friends is worth it right now!

Letting Go - A Movie Review

The 411 by Maria:

One thing I really love about being a movie reviewer is that I get to see movies that wouldn't normally be on my radar. I have watched so many movies over the past three weeks. Recovering from surgery will do that to you.

In Letting Go, we meet Joel played by Jake Torem who lives with his super crazy girlfriend April who although played by Shirley Brener, I can't not see Heather Graham's face.

Joel's life is coming apart. Between, his girlfriend, his three big dogs, his boss, his life, everything is insane and he thoughtfully seeks therapy.  The therapist helps Joel break down the barrier that has been holding him back from being truly happy with his life.

Looking for something different check out Letting Go. I was surprised to see Peter Brady, I mean Christopher Knight and Bosom Buddy Peter Scolari; faces I haven't seen in forever.

The movie and acting, especially by Torem, is very well done and full of little side stories especially Joel's relationship with his parents, especially his father.

Definitely worth a watch.

Almost Naked Animals Is Silly!

The 411:

I love cartoons but I am a bit picky. I love cartoons that I can watch with my kids without rolling my eyes or feeling like I've seen this 1000 times before. For me cartoons have to first be funny. second have great lines that appeal to both kids and parents and have odd and interesting characters. Basically, you need to think about the parent before creating a cartoon since we will have to listen to them in the background of the house noise for months or in some cases years. Blue's Clue's anybody?

We were sent a fun gift pack of Almost Naked Animals which my niece kindly took care of with Goddess as I was on the couch recovering from surgery.

The pack was passed out right before she put the movie in for all of us to watch. A T-Shirt for Handsome, Journal for my niece, tote bag for me and the DVD for Goddess! We all sat around the TV to watch our first episode of Almost Naked Animals which Goddess informed us she has seen before. I am not sure if she has seen it in commercials or watched an episode as this was my first time watching and we watch a lot of TV together.

The Animals are Almost Naked because they are all wearing their underwear and while you can see their nipples, they are mostly just funny and very obviously cartoons so other than the name, fear not my friends, your kids will love this!

Some Post Op Stuff

Feeling much better since surgery. This little guy was my friend for 3 days and now the kids are playing with it. I know Sally knows what this is, do you?

Light A Candle, Lose A Pound Courtesy of St. Roz - A Review

The 411 by Maria: 

Imagine being able to light a candle at a church under a statue of a saint and lose a pound while eating whatever you want? Light 5, lose 5. This is actually what happens in St. Roz starring Rachel Wilson who plays Judy.

When a mysterious statue shows up outside a suffering church, the church suddenly finds itself with more money than a loan shark and undergarment decorations.

Judy is the daughter of the weight loss Queen, Minnie Barr who has helped thousands lose weight. Minnie's goal is to get her daughter the only one she can't seem to help lose weight, quickly married. At her comfortable size 12, (I swear that is all she can possibly be) no man will ever love her. Minnie quickly hires a dashing young man to romance Judy just as Judy finds the statue. She places her money in the box, gets home and finds that wah-la, she has lost 5 pounds and as long as she pays the church and prays, her weight continues to fall off.

The cast does a great job with this small movie with a decent premise and Michael Lamport who plays  Father Culkoski looks so much like Robin Williams I had to look up the cast while watching the movie to see if they shared any lineage. Alas, I don't see any. Just a Doppelganger. We all have one you know!

Not a mainstream movie but so worth the view.

See this award winning movie and imagine being able to eat all your cakes and cookies while dropping pounds. Nice!

Milk Unleashed

The kids go back in 9 days and while I am very sad about it, I can't wait to see what they learn this year and how they grow. We are starting to grab some snacks and lunch ideas for the kids lunchboxes and this giveaway couldn't have come at a better time.

Milk Unleashed is the perfect addition to our back-to-school planning.

As this is my first time hearing of Milk Unleashed I am excited to here about the shelf-stable milk for lunches and all the kids’ other activities. We are constantly on the go and I worry about the juice boxes so we constantly bring water. This will be an added addition to the kids lunch and go boxes.

What The Heart Remembers by Debra Ginsberg- A Review

The 411 by Maria:

I read this last week while I was recovering from surgery oddly enough. Although it was nothing like the heart transplant in the book, it was a good read to get through the worst, most painful of my days.

In What the Heart Remembers we meet Eden who has received a heart transplant from a donor. She suddenly changes her life after dealing with feelings that aren't necessarily her own. For most of the book, I was unsure of who the heart belonged to. The writer does a great job of building suspense and crafting a story with great characters. 

 Darcy, Eden, Derek are the main focus of the book with three secondary characters that are quite important to the story.  The story of Eden leads us to wonder, are our organs really just components to allow our body to do what they need for us, or do they make up who we are, storing memories and personality traits that are our personal makeup? 

Great read! Easy to jump in and out of if you can't dedicate constant time to reading.

Medical Update 2012

Well if you don't already know I ended up on surgery again!

As if my already compromised, Franken Belly wasn't already nasty enough, I am hosting 5 additional holes from my surgery on the 16th.

So let's start at the beginning.

My last surgery was December 2010, it was the most horrific year of my adult life and I prayed I would not end up back in surgery for a few years although I felt another would unfortunately be in my future. It was just something I knew. I have also told my friends and family that my stomach issues will ultimately be the death of me because they will never be the same and never good! After speaking with a nurse the other day I know that if my issues of 2010 had happened 20 years ago, I wouldn't have stood a chance. Another reason to be thankful that the medical field is where it is today.

This time the surgery was scheduled for a day that Teach could stay close by. It was wonderful knowing knew he was close by and hat the kids were home with my niece and fine.

Over the past few months, I would stay it started around April of last year, I started noticing a lump on the left side of my belly button. For some reason my angle (looking down) was the only way it could be spotted. Two months later I asked Teach again and he saw it. I went to my family doctor to confirm it was a hernia and she told me that I could repair it when I got insurance but it would be for cosmetic reasons. It would never give me a problem.  Over the next 4 months it got much bigger and right before I went into the hospital, I looked about 6 months pregnant on one side. 

November of 2011 I had a horrific stomach pain that lasted for 6 hours and had me pleading with Joe to kill me. It wasn't pretty. I am not proud but the pain was unbearable. He asked if he should call an ambulance but I couldn't talk and asked him to just hold me and after many antacids, vomiting and crying, the pain went away and I was finally able to get some sleep.

The next episode was around Easter and I blogged it here.

There were a total of 6 other episodes before I went to the gastro doctor who told me that the next time it happened I should go to the ER. I explained that when it happens I can't think or move and if it happens with the kids home I wouldn't know what to do. He said call an ambulance and they can do a cat scan to see if there is an obstruction in your intestin.

He asked me to make an appointment with a surgeon which I did right away. The surgeon had assisted at my surgery and while he didn't recall I hoped once he had my records he may remember. My surgeon retired last year (I wonder if he should have before he cut into my belly).

The surgeon set up surgery telling me that I had a hernia that could potentially become strangulated and cause really big problems. Ugh...

I was told that they would go in laparoscopy but not know if they needed to go further (scar tissue issues) until they were in. If I was on a gurney when I woke that means it was laparoscopic and I was going home. If I was on a bed, they had to open me up and I was in a room. We were of course praying for a same day because the Teach had his first business trip 2 days later and it was a must.

The Pre-Op nurse was nice but my first one was nicer. The anesthesiologist the last time was nice, this person was nicer. He made me laugh. They wheeled me to OR and he ran up alongside of me and said, "drive by drugs" while inserting the meds into my IV. I kissed Teach goodbye and the nurse stopped so he could kiss me again. I told him I love him as the nurse said, there is always time for another kiss. He kissed me and I said bye. I heard them ask "Maria, do you want to get on the bed?" I remember saying yes but don't know if I ever did then I woke in recovery 2.5 hours later and was swiftly wheeled back to the room I was in prior to surgery.

The doctor came in with a piece of paper with pictures that I am dying to see right now. Teach had my glasses and I am blind without. He held it up to me. Told me that I had multiple hernias and that they were eventually going to meet up causing one massive size hernia. Awesome!

Currently, my niece is drained and watching Almost Naked Animals with Goddess.  Teach is on a plane from Illinois back to us. Handsome is playing Wii and I am sitting on the couch trying to find a comfortable position. I haven't found one in 7 days hopefully before it is all over I will know which way to sit that doesn't feel like I have a massive metal plate going through my abdomen.


This has been so much easier than my prior surgery but I am still very nervous. Three small fevers over the 7 days but never above 100 and I am trying not to do too much research on the surgical mesh they used to close my hernias.

There is no alternative and I couldn't eat anything that wasn't low residue. Praying at the end of this I will find some relief.

Thanks for listening and reading

Dinosaur Train - Goddess

Goddess and her DinosaurTrain: Big, BIG Dinosaurs! Giant Coloring Book!

Walmart's Must Have Back To School Products

I cannot believe that school for us in less than 12 days. It has been a crazy, busy summer and it is never long enough. If you are like my family you spend July not thinking about school at all. We like to give the kids a break from their school work and us too. No schedules, homework or rushing to do it all in just a few short nighttime hours. In August we shift gears and try hard to still enjoy the summer while reminding ourselves that our fun is quickly coming to a close.

This year, school wasn't far from our minds as the kids had summer courses to help them be ready for the next grade. We have been preparing for September for two months and have 85% of our back to school shopping done.

Thankfully this year we don't need to purchase any of the big ticket items but if we did, Walmart has us covered in fact my beautiful niece who is starting the new path of her life after college is moving to California and buying all three of these items after I shared this Walmart bargain friendly package idea with her.