Wordless Wednesday: Pool Fun

This is my 100th POST!!!!!

What better way to cool off on a hot steamy South Florida day than with some fun in the pool?

Making Birthday Wishes Come True

I feel sad for children when I hear that they haven't had a birthday party. To me, even if its a small event, every child should feel that special moment of looking up and seeing all their loved ones together celebrating their special day. I totally understand sometimes life circumstances do not permit some children to have a birthday party and it does make me sad. You can imagine how I felt earlier this year when I asked JC what he wanted to do for his birthday and he said he wanted a birthday party because he had never had one. I was crushed. I vowed to make this happen for him. I didn't have alot of money so I begged my family members and friends for help.

We decided on a pool party for July 13th. We were having terrible weather all week and I was a nervous wreck. We woke up that morning to sunshine and I was very excited. I spent all morning making appetizers and snacks. The party was set for 2pm. Around 1 pm it started getting cloudy and come 2pm down came the rain. I looked out the window and wanted to cry. JC was devastated. I told him "Don't worry, it will stop soon and if not, then we have the party inside!" Suddenly, the downpour became a sprinkle and the sun started shining. He was going to have his party. At this point, I didn't care that all the decorations had gotten soaked, I just wanted people to show up. Slowly but surely, friends and family started showing up. His kids showed up. The rain let up for a couple of hours (until about 7pm)! We were having a party!!!

At one point I looked over and I saw the biggest smile on JC's face. He was surrounded by family and friends that loved him and wanted to share with him in his special day! His birthday wishes came true!!

Shots, Shots, Shots!!

They had to help him blow out the candles.

More shots!

My soaked decor!

I made fruit salad, sweet BBQ meatballs, caprese salad, protein balls and spinach empanadas. We also served pan con lechon (Cuban pulled pork sandwiches), BBQ chicken and chicken fingers for the kids.

Quick collage of all that made it! Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Keep Track with Reebok Checklight

Today, I wanted to share with you a new product I read about called the Reebok Checklight. 

In sports, impacts are a part of the game and Reebok has a great new product called CHECKLIGHT that can alert athletes, coaches, athletic trainers and parents of impact severity. As a parent of an athlete, I think this is a product worth trying out. I want to know what is going on with my child. 

There has been a lot of buzz around Reebok’s recently released and innovative CHECKLIGHT product. Thin and light, the CHECKLIGHT can comfortably be worn with or without a helmet during multiple activities. CHECKLIGHT sensors continually measure impacts the athlete experiences and provides coaches, athletic trainers, parents and athletes with a simple visual display of impact severity.

With the CHECKLIGHT, you can count on consistent, reliable, and actionable impact data, and sensors that are directly coupled to the head to reflect direct accelerations that the head, not a helmet or chinstrap, experiences. This product is easy to use, comfortable to wear, and logs the total number of impacts recorded. A series of blinking lights indicate moderate or severe impacts, as well as batter power status. In sports, impacts are part of the game – CHECKLIGHT alerts you to the severity of the impact. Click here to learn more about CHECKLIGHT from Reebok.

I did not receive this product for review. I am just sharing a product that I read about and am interested in. As a Reebok affiliate, I will receive a small percentage of the sale, if you decide to purchase, but as the mom of a future pro -sports player (hopefully!) my main goal is share about new sports technology with my readers. 

Delicious Homemade Chicken Fingers

Do your kids survive on chicken fingers? Sometimes, I feel like that's all the kids eat. Well chicken fingers and pizza. One day, I decided that I needed to start making homemade chicken fingers for them. At least, this way, I knew what was going into their system. I have been told that these are delicious and the kids ask for them all the time. I make big batches and freeze for future use.

Recipe:

4 skinless chicken breasts, sliced into strips

1/2 cup Italian dressing

1 tbsp Italian seasoning

salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients into a bowl. Season according to taste. Set aside for about 20-30 minutes.

2 cups of boxed pancake mix (the Complete one)

1 tbsp Italian seasoning

1 egg

1 gallon-size resealable bag

Canola oil

Combine pancake mix and Italian seasoning in the resealable bag. Beat egg in a small bowl. Dip chicken strips in egg first, then place inside bag. Shake until fully coated. 

Heat canola oil to about 350 degrees. Fry chicken for about 3-4 minutes on each side. Chicken should be golden brown on both sides. remove from pan and let drain on napkins. Serve with ketchup or honey mustard. Enjoy!

My kids love these. If you try out this recipe, please let me know how it turns out.

Thirsty Thursday Blog Hop

Happy Thursday! I am ELATED to be co-hosting Thirsty Thursday with Kristen from Hopelessly Ever After!  Ready for some Thirsty Thursday Fun? Link up below and start partying with us! Can't wait to "meet" you!
1. Follow Hopelessly Ever After and Second Chances Girl via GFC or Bloglovin'.
2. Grab a button from below or Kristin's sidebar and put it in your post.
3. Write about your favorite alcoholic beverage.
4. Come back here and link up!!!
5. Get some new recipes or drink ideas for the weekend and make a new friend!! NEW UNOFFICIAL RULE!! 6. Send a tweet with #ThirstyThursday and include @leggs532 and @scggirl so we can see it!!

Anyone interested in co-hosting (it’s free) email Kristin at: hopelessly_ever_after@yahoo.com

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.hopelesslyeverafter.blogspot.com" title="Hopelessly Ever After"><img src="http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l54/leggs532/linkupbuttonreal_zpsee8b2e2c.jpg" alt="Hopelessly Ever After" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

My submission for Thirsty Thursday is Summer Sunshine. I like to make this fun drink when I host summer parties. So refreshing!

This doesn't have an exact recipe. It's just OJ and Vodka with a dash of Sprite. Couldn't be any easier!

Wordless Wednesday: Vacation Excitement

The kids were so excited to arrive in Orlando for vacation week!!!

Legoland Florida Part Two: Miniland, USA

At Legoland Florida, there is a section called Miniland, USA. Miniland USA is home to seven specially themed areas. This was my favorite part of the park. The builders at Legoland created mini versions of cities such as Miami, Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Las Vegas and more. Now when I say mini versions, I don't mean a couple of inches tall, I mean a couple of feet tall. The tallest building in the display is the Empire State Building at 20 feet tall! Once again, EVERY structure is constructed from LEGO's.

WARNING: PICTURE OVERLOAD!!!

Not to be bias, but Miami was my favorite.

The Miami section had South Beach, Downtown Miami and Little Havana. They managed to cover all the basics!!

Just to show you how detailed these structures are, here is a side-by-side view of the actual Bacardi building in Miami and the Bacardi building at Legoland:

This pic demonstrates the size of the buildings compared to a human being:

They are IMPRESSIVE!!

Since Legoland is in Florida, they also covered many other cities in Florida: Tampa, Daytona, St Augustine, Panama City Beach, the Keys. Here are a couple:

I loved how they covered the whole speedway. They had the RV's, the pit crews, the fans, the signs, ALL OF IT!

Now on up the East Coast:

To the Midwest:

Over to the West Coast:

They also had a cool pirate display the kids loved. It was a fun interactive display:

Here's a close-up of one of the pirate ships:

Miniland, USA is really a must-see. As an architect, JC was in awe of what can be created with millions of bricks and a little imagination. LEGO's really are fun for all!!!

To read Part One of our Legoland Florida Adventure, click here. 

Have you been to Legoland Florida? What did you think of Miniland, USA?

He's Home! I Missed Him!

Adrian's home! Adrian's home! Yes I know earlier in the week I was so excited about being kid-free but man, I really missed the little bugger. My sister dropped him off last night after 5 days together in Islamorada. They didn't get very good weather so the couldn't do most of the activities they had planned: jet skiing, glass bottom boat, etc. They were kinda bummed about it but did enjoy the pool and Adrian's new favorite hobby: fishing!

She sent me these pics this morning:

This one is my favorite:

What? Stand back, David Beckham, Adrian has arrived!!!!

#FABSmile Review & Win Dental Products For One Year

I am a member of the Mom It Forward blogger network. I was provided a product from Floss and Brush.com for my participation in this campaign, however, all opinions are 100% my own. 


Quick question: What makes you smile? Me? It's this little one right here:

He is cute, funny, loveable and holds my heart in his little hand.

Now let's talk teeth! How important is good dental health to you and your family? Over here, its a top priority. Teeth are flossed and brushed twice daily! Most of the time, against their own will, but it is done. Toothbrushes are replaced every three months and every 6 months you can find us at our dentist's office. So yes I have appointments scheduled but it does become hard sometimes to remember when to change out the toothbrushes. Not anymore thanks to FlossAndBrush.com.

FlossAndBrush.com is a company that makes it easy to always have new toothbrushes every three months. How? By paying just $1.00 per month, per person in your family, Floss and Brush.com will ship a a box of fresh, quality toothbrushes and floss to your home-one for each member of your family. FlossAndBrush.com's toothbrushes are top quality, age-specific and dentist approved. They have four convenient packages to choose from. Click here to check them out.

The American Dental Association says that ultimate dental care begins with flossing your teeth daily and changing your toothbrush every three months. FlossAndBrush.com is the first system in the world that actually helps keep families accountable for daily flossing and changing their toothbrush every three months. More information can be found here.

Currently, we are using FlossAndBrush toothbrushes and floss. The kids love the toothbrushes, not too hard, not too soft. I love the floss. No matter how much I use it, it does not shred and has a yummy minty taste. Each box contains 60 yards, perfect three month supply.

For more information, visit the FlossAndBrush.com site and their social media pages:

Flossandbrush.com website: http://flossandbrush.com
Facebook: http://on.fb.me/17gC3ul
Instagram: http://bit.ly/17Ti84n
Pinterest: http://bit.ly/19dHBUa
Twitter: @Flossandbrush  http://bit.ly/16PlSQP
Vine: FlossAndBrush


And now giveaway time:

• 1 Free Annual FAB Membership (every three months, a new toothbrush and 3 month supply of flows will arrive at your doorstep)
• 1 Free Annual FAB + White4Life Memberships (this includes not only a toothbrush and floss every three months but each shipment will also include FAB’s professional grade whitening to be used in custom whitening trays)

To enter simply follow the instructions on the Rafflecopter.

One entrant per household. US over 18 years old. Winner will be notified by email and will have 48 hours to respond. Otherwise prize will be forfeited.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wordless Wednesday: Ready To Go!!

Here we are getting ready to go on our first vacation together!

Legoland: Part One

Last weekend, we took the kids on vacation. They had no idea where we were going, they were just excited to go. We took them to LEGOLAND!!!!

If your kids love LEGO's like our kids love LEGO, then this is the park for your family.

Legoland Florida is located in Winter Haven, about 50 minutes from the Disney World attractions.  It is designed for families with children aged 2 to 12. I say it is designed for EVERYONE. We all had a great time. Since we went during the 4th of July weekend, the park was already operating on the later schedule so we were there from 10am to 9:30pm. It might not seem big, but if you plan on going into the water park, I suggest a two-day visit to Legoland. 

Here are the kids at the entrance. See them hugging each other? Yup! Those are happy kids.

At Legoland, everything is made of Lego and when they say everything they mean everything.....

Big or small, it's constructed out of Lego bricks.

Of course, anytime you go to an amusement park, there are character meet-n-greets. We happen to be there the opening weekend of "World of Chima." Adrian is a BIG Legends of Chima fan, so when I saw Laval, the Lion prince, I knew it would make his day to meet him:

There are character meet-n-greets all morning and early afternoon. Of course, when JC saw that the Lego Friends would be coming out at 1:30, guess where he and Amberly were:

I don't want to overload you with pics so come back tomorrow where I will cover all the fun rides, Miniland USA water park and the AMAZING Red, Brick and Blue fireworks show!