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The Secret of Happiness – Susan Egan

Posted on November 16, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Have you ever had a moment when you hear someone sing that you get chills. You just know that something magical has happened and you are lucky enough to be listening to it. That was my feeling when I was at Walt Disney World in March and blessed to experience a private concert with Susan Egan and Georgia Stitt.

There must have been some major Pixie Dust in the room that day for these two brilliant women. After leaving the event, Susan and Georgia started to work on their new CD The Secret of Happiness which was released today.

I received an advanced copy of The Secret of Happiness to review and our entire family has been listening to it non-stop. Yes, my children have let go of their “kids” music and beg to listen to Nina’s Mom or Belle as they refer to Susan as we ride around town. When I told the boys that there was going to be a video for “Nina Doesn’t Care” (our favorite song), they could not wait to see it. They wondered if Susan would be dressed up like Belle. Why you ask? Well, Susan was Belle in Beauty in the Beast on Broadway and received a Tony Award nomination for her fantastic portrayal of the Disney princess. Susan Egan IS a Princess in the eyes of my family. Of course, I wondered how Ariel would be shown given Nina’s love the Little Mermaid.

The Secret of Happiness was produced and music directed by Georgia Stitt. The combination of her musical brilliance with Susan Egan’s versatile and breathtaking voice are phenomenal. When I listen to the CD, I get chills, am inspired, want to hug my children, and know that I am not alone in the parenting world.

For laughs and to confuse my children, I love to listen to “Momsense”. I actually captured Susan singing this at Disney on video, so it is even a little more special to me thanks to this.

Picking just one favorite song to talk about would be impossible. The first song on the CD “The Me of the Moment” is my current morning anthem. I put it on in the car on the way to taking the kids to school and it gets us pumped. The lyrics by Georgia Stitt hit home and remind me that it is ok to be going down a different path in life than I expected. Yes, many of us do not expect the journeys that we head into. Getting distracted, dreams moving away, stupid decisions – they happen and it’s ok.

As I mentioned before, “Nina Doesn’t Care” is our family favorite. For my boys – they are in awe that a little girl has a mommy that wrote a song about her. To this mom, it talks about the reality of motherhood. Our kids often do not know what we do. To them we are Mom and nothing else really matters to them. Just the other day, my four year old told me I can’t be a teacher. Since he has never seen me go off to teach, it can’t be true. To JSL, I am the one that plays games, takes pictures, helps him when he is sick, and does the things Mom is supposed to do. Of course, at the end of the day, a hug from our kids makes it all right.

I can not do this song justice and want to share the beautiful video that was released today. As Susan said: “My hope is that, in honor of Thanksgiving, the story of this song will help busy parents like us will stop and take stock of what is truly important and how fortunate we all are!”

I do not have words to express just how much I adore this video. It took the song that I fell in love with in March and brought it to life. I can not wait to share it with my boys when they get home from school today. I know they will love the pokes at Ariel and the animated items within it thanks to Duncan Studios who animated Susan’s character Meg in Disney’s Hercules. Yes, this Disney family is in love!

I could go on and on, but I think listening to the CD is the best way to truly experience the talent that is Susan Egan. The CD is now available on iTunes, Amazon, and also on LMLMusic.com. Thanks to Susan, if you purchase the CD from LMLMusic, you can receive a 20% discount by putting MOMBLOG into the discount code box at check out.

A huge thank you to Susan Egan for reaching out and sharing this beautiful CD.

Disclosure: I received this CD complimentary of Susan Egan and Levity Entertainment Group in order to facilitate a review. No other compensation was given. The opinions expressed are my own as a huge fan of Susan Egan and Georgia Stitt.

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Favorite Child Syndrome

Posted on October 19, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Let me begin by saying that this post is inspired by Rene Syler, head GEM or Good Enough Mother. I was lucky enough to meet Rene in March at Disney. In May, I had lunch with her and then saw her earlier this month at SheStreams. The woman tells it like it is and is not afraid to admit that she is not perfect. The reality is that Rene has helped countless other parents, including myself, to accept that being good enough is perfectly acceptable. Rene also reminds us to take care of ourselves so we can be the best we can for our children.

Monday night, Rene mentioned that she was going to be on a segment of Tuesday’s Anderson. The topic of the show Are Parents Playing Favorites? Rene also let all of her GEM fans know about it Tuesday morning. I set the DVR, but happened to be able to catch it and sat there with my mouth on the ground. Here is the show preview from Anderson’s website.

Leading up to the segment with Rene were two parents telling the world that they admit they have a favorite child. Then, we saw video of one mother discussing it with her six children. WHAT?! No really, I could not make this up. Next, Rene came onto the panel:

The one mother stated that she didn’t think that this was going to cause any issues for her children. In the back of my mind, I could see the future therapy bills racking up. As you can see in the clip above, Rene did NOT agree. She kept bringing up the point that we birth our kids and our role should not be to have favorites. The other mother on the panel stated that she had a favorite parent and kids often do. Once again, Rene noted that it is one thing for a child to say this about a parent, but completely different for an adult to say to their child. Amen Rene!

The odd part of this show is the timing. Driving home from school the other day, my eight year old son asked me a question. He wanted to know if I had a favorite child. I told him no I did not. Of course, then I wanted to know why he was asking this. He said he was just wondering and had asked TechyDad the same thing the day before. I told NHL that both of them were my favorite boys. I love both of them with all of my heart, and that even when they may not make the right choices, or do something that makes me upset, it does not mean that they are not a favorite or that I love them less.

I have to say that my parents did an amazing job. My brother and I often joke that one or the other is the favorite child, but neither of us is really serious. I think they knew the importance of this for our growth into the people that we would become. Thank you Mom and Dad!

TechyDad and I always tell the boys that they are our favorite 8 and 4 year olds. The reality is that at any given moment my attention may be with one child over the other, but it is not because of favoritism. Parenting is a balancing act and each day we try to make it work. I am a parent and spread myself to the kiddo that needs it at that moment. Is it perfect? Nope, but that’s the beauty of parenting. We learn from our mistakes and our kids become better humans because of it.

So, what do you think about this subject? Should parents have a favorite child?

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Video Cameras 1980’s Style to Now

Posted on October 10, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

I am a child of the 80’s, although I was born in the 70’s. I remember the birth of cassette tapes – although I still recall using the 8 track player that my father had to listen to the Muppets Show soundtrack.

My aunt and uncle had a VCR before we did. I would go over there and spend hours watching a tape they made especially for me of Barry Manillow in concert. You see, I would blush because he was singing just for me. We eventually got our own VCR (it was huge and heavy) and life definitely changed in our house. Thank goodness I grew out of my Barry Manillow video thing, and matured into his cassettes and ditched him for Billy Joel, Elton John, Paul Simon, and even the voiced behind Milli-Vanilli when CDs came onto the scene.

We eventually got our first family video camera. This bad boy was huge and I remember my father lugging it to school for my elementary school lip sync show. Not sure if my mother ever used it or not. I do not think so since it had to be balanced on the shoulder and weighed so much. Oh, did I mention there was also a separate bag that held the machine that was recording the video? This dinosaur should have been in a museum. This is a photo of my father with that camera (I think). You can see the cords running from the camera to the bag on his other shoulder.

Fast forward to March 2011 when TechyDad and I decided to buy our own video camera. We had been given a hand-me-down from my aunt and uncle, but digital cameras were not the norm. We were going to Disney World and wanted to be able to have something to capture those memories that we had missed over the years, or were on the video option on our point and shoot cameras. Oh and I was already looking at vlogging and video review options for my blog. We asked around and decided against the Flip and went with the Kodak.

I am in love with this little camera. She has gone with us to Disney Social Media Moms Celebration where I captured one of my first videos of Susan Egan and Georgia Stitt performing. We also caught the boys running up to Tigger and Pooh, meeting with the Princesses, opening their first Vinylmations, and more magical moments.

My handy dandy camera has also been tossed into my purse for blogging adventures, conferences, and school functions. Since she is so easy to use, I also have learned to love using her for recording fun messages on my blog and of course to review items. Another perk, she is small and light enough for the kids to use – should we want to let them take a try at making a video down the road.

Thanks to my recent experience at SheStreams, I plan on using her a lot more. Hmmm…. perhaps I should name her. So I am asking all of you for some assistance. What should I call my amazing little camera? She has many more adventures ahead and we have so many things to accomplish now that my goals have been reset and revamped. So please let me know your thoughts and please keep it rated PG. I refuse to talk like a hockey player about a cute little camera.

P.S. Don’t forget to enter my three current giveaways (1) Real Steel prize pack, (2) Star Wars Cereal and $25 gift card pack, and (3) Three copies of the book The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes.

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Conquering Rope Bridges and Crocodiles

Posted on August 29, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

The opportunity to go on the Wild Africa Trek at Disney’s Animal Kingdom was something I could not pass up. As I have written earlier, the Trek is a behind the scenes tour that takes you to places you will otherwise not visit. Friends of mine had gone on media tours of the Trek and reported back with photos, video, and lots more. Of course, everyone spent a lot of time talking about the rope bridges. Even Disney’s own video did. Shannon and I laughed with each other for weeks about the two of us doing this part. Fact – Since I had my kids, I have a slight fear of heights.

So when I last left off we had finished with the hippos and Alex walked up to a skull marker on the path. *gulp* What you can’t tell is that Alex and Bethany are really into their roles. The entire time you go on the trek you are IN Africa – not Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

Then Bethany showed us a few more pieces of the puzzle. Check out these pearly whites that belong to some “critters” that we would soon be seeing from way up high.

Suddenly Bethany mentioned that the route that we should go on was not available to us. Instead we would have to be brave and go a different way – over the water. Insert dramatic music here! Yes, this involved heading up onto the platforms to the rope bridges that we had practiced for. I think Alex was having too much fun watching us. Some in the group could not wait to be first, others were just waiting and watching.

Bethany would head across the bridge first to show us how it was done. Conveniently, it would also place her across the way to take some photos of each member of the group as we made it across. This was the view from the top as we stood waiting.

This is a photo of members of our group waiting to be hooked up to the safety lines for the trip across.

I have to admit, I had lost a lot of my fear at this point. My biggest worry was TechyDad’s camera. Recall it was hanging around my neck and the lens cap was way back in the lockers. So imagine me on a slightly wobbly bridge trying not to knock said camera into the side of the ropes (being short it was perfect height for this).

Seriously, the bridges were not bad at all. The only moment I cringed a little was when one of the safari vehicles traveled under me when I was in the middle. Thanks to the vibrations from below the bridge swayed a bit. Here is a view just before I stepped onto the bridge for my second trek across a bridge.

When you travel across the second bridge – these are the critters that are looking up from below.

Here I am almost at the end of the second bridge. My bridge buddy is behind me. You can see I am more at ease now – the camera is going to be ok!

Of couse, I was not nearly as at ease as Alex. I mean check out how much fun he had watching all of us and then crossing the bridge.

From here we went down to wait for everyone to take their gear off. Yes, we no longer needed those contraptions on. We were heading to a safari vehicle for the next part of our adventure into the savannah and eventually to the Boma for a meal.

More about the African Trek coming soon. To read the previous parts of my adventure you can check them out here

Disclosure: Although we paid for our own trip to Disney World, we were given an incredible deal thanks to Disney. The sweet conference fee included 3 nights at the Grand Floridian, several meals for the entire family, 7 day park hoppers for everyone, conference/meals for me and some other items to take home. Also note that Disney never asked us to blog about this event. As a long time Disney fan, it is my pleasure to share my experiences from the event.

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Happy 8th Birthday NHL

Posted on August 17, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Dear NHL,

I can not believe that you are already eight years old. It seems like yesterday that Daddy and I were in the store picking out your crib. Then, we brought you home and suddenly you grew up before our eyes.

So much has happened in the last year. Some were amazing, while others ones I wish we could have shielded you from. No matter what, you will learn and grow and have survived these bumps in the road of life.

Now let’s take a walk down memory lane at the last year – NHL at 7.

After your last birthday, you really started to enjoy using the Nintendo Wii, and, with time, the DS. Daddy and I allowed you to try your new games and often your little brother watched on in amazement. Of course, now he’s starting to get some of the Wii games thanks to you helping him. (August 2010)

Second grade, well it proved to be a challenging year. Academically, there was no issues for you. Sad to say, it will probably be the year we hope to forget. Rather than dwell on the drama that included switching schools, let’s recall the happy times. Just after the year started, we went up to the lake for a big extended family weekend. You were so thrilled to drive the boat with Uncle M. (September 2010)

Much of October was filled with preparing for Halloween. You were thrilled to be Luigi again since your love of all things Super Mario was really getting started. (October 2010)

Thanksgiving this year was even more special thanks to Uncle I, Aunt M, and cousins SG and BA coming. This meant celebrating Chanukah a little earlier. I think your favorite part was often reading to the little kids. I loved one of your gifts – your new Thing 1 shirt. You may not remember this, but when JSL was born Daddy and I used to call both of you by those names. (November 2010)

December found us keeping busy with Chanukah, snow, and a fun outing. We all went to see Toy Story 3 on Ice. You loved the entire show and could not wait to see Lotso. It was a magical family outing that we all needed with special time together. (December 2010)

Snow, snow, and more snow greeted us in January. There were several days that school was canceled. This was also the time that I gave you my old laptop to use. You adored playing math games and more on it. I think your favorite snow day was the one where we never got our of our pajamas and stayed warm playing games. (January 2011)

February brought us even more snow and a lot of ice. At a certain point, even you were getting sick of it. Of course, since you were 7, you liked to play outside, build, and try to keep warm. By the end of the month, we were all dreaming of our upcoming trip to Florida. (February 2011)

The magical month of March arrived just in time for a much needed escape from life here in NY. We were lucky enough to be able to go to the second Disney Social Media Moms Celebration. You certainly showed that you are a NDK (Neurotic Disney Kid) and enjoyed every minute wanting to know when we could go back again. Seeing the joy in your face and the stress melt away was beyond magical. I think the highlight for you was meeting Beast since you had been begging for that moment for months. (March 2011)

The snow finally melted away and some warmer weather came to stay. You adored the times when we could head to the park and run around without a worry in the world. Of course, it also allowed you time to be silly in front of the camera. (April 2011)

Much of May was spent getting used to new things. A new school, your little brother turning four, and heading to the circus. You were fascinated with the circus clowns, animals, and acts in general. May was definitely a month where we turned things around and started to see the light at the end of the second grade tunnel. (May 2011)

Lots of things were going on in June. The end of the month officially made you a third grader. Much to our surprise, you were so sad to see things end at your new school. It made my heart so happy that you liked the new place where you learned so much in a short time. We also found a new favorite ice cream location. Yes, we met Nana and Papa there for lunch a few times and we were ok with that. (June 2011)

This summer, we have kept busy going to crafting events. You really do enjoy trying new crafts, as well as learning new things at the library’s passport program. Different countries, lizards, t-shirt making, and more thanks to our travels. Of course, the summer would not be complete without time under the water at the fun new park we found.

Suddenly, it is August again and the end of being a seven year old. You now love chapter books, are into Harry Potter (with a crush on Hermione), and are determined to finish and win DS games. You are a big helper, especially when it comes to your littlest cousin. You loved spending your birthday party weekend helping him around the park and other locations. (August 2011)

With tears in my eyes, I honestly find it hard to believe that you are already eight. You start third grade in a few short weeks. Getting to really watch you and spend time being creative with you this summer has taught me so much. I look forward to watching you grow, learn even more, and become the person you want to be. With some help, I hope that Daddy and I can make it more stress free and fun this year. I truly hope that your dreams and wishes come true and you have an amazing year – you deserve it!

Love,

Mommy