Mommy of Many®

I recently had the pleasure of meeting Michael and Moneka McDermott, the owners and culinary creators behind The Place, a new restaurant in Old Roseville that’s not only serving up fabulous food that’s full of yummy goodness, but also full of heart. This couple has spent the last few years designing the layout and menu for what’s becoming a building place for community. With their culinary backgrounds (Moneka studied food biochemistry at UC Davis and then headed off to Rhode Island to continue her culinary education and Michael worked in restaurants for years before moving to California) and passion for their restaurant they’re successfully creating a warm, welcoming place to gather and enjoy fabulous food.

I dropped in at lunchtime and ordered the homemade clam chowder, to start.

It was delicious! I made sure to go in hungry so I could sample a couple of different items. After the warm, hearty, clam chowder, I tried this delicious, wood-fired pizza.

Check out all those yummy mushrooms and that sauce! I WILL be going back to have this again (Did I mention the bar? I think my next visit will be in the evening when a cocktail can be enjoyed!)! Not pictured is the assortment of biscotti that Moneka sent me home with. She makes all of the restaurant’s pastries and judging by what I sampled, they’re wonderful! The tiramisu is on my list of items I want to go back to sample.

While I was talking with Michael and Moneka (though Michael was busily tending to all the lunch guests and had to be caught for a word here and there, along with the photo), something struck me. Many of the patrons were fellow business owners from the nearby streets. They were all gathering for their lunches and greeting each other, sharing news of their businesses and actively building community! When you can offer fabulous food in a warm and inviting setting and be an integral part of bringing your community together, you know you have a formula for success!

I’m looking forward to the Tweetup this coming week (Tuesday, February 21st) to be able to sample more of the food offered and to continue to visit this great little restaurant (Their official name is That Little Italian Place, but they can be found as The Place on their facebook fan page). If you haven’t already registered to join in the fun at the Tweetup, be sure to click here to get started! And then get ready to meet fabulous people, in a warm and inviting setting where we can all feel great about supporting and building up our local community of business owners!

One of the fun things we did over the Christmas Break was to have an Xbox 360 party. Thanks to Redbox and the good people at Smiley360 I was provided with some complimentary rental codes, planned a good day to get together with friends, rented some games, put together some snacks and watched the kids (and dads) have a good time.

The girls enjoyed Sonic Generations

We had plenty of snacks on-hand so the gamers had plenty of energy to keep playing

The boys enjoyed Spider-Man: Edge of Time

Gathering around to watch and wait for their turns

Then the pizza arrived to make it a REAL party!

Pizza and gaming-a great combo!

This dad waited patiently for his turn and chose to play Sonic Generations

Little kids enjoying the fun of the game

Not only was I provided with rental codes for our party, but I was sent our own copy of Sonic Generations to keep and enjoy. The kids took it to their dad’s house for a weekend of gaming fun.

Lex (5) was intent on playing

Tristan (12) said he really liked it and was happy it was ours to keep because he wants to keep playing it.

All the Little Langs had fun exploring the game and watching each other play!

Redbox makes it inexpensive and easy to put together an afternoon of fun. To ensure the game (or movie) you’re looking for is in stock and ready for you, I suggest using their handy online “Find” feature. Go to their website, click on the game or movie of your choice, click “rent” and click “Find”. You’ll be sent to the exact location where your item is waiting for you. Easy! Redbox carries games for 3 gaming systems, PS3, wii and XBOX360. Chances are you can easily and inexpensively find what you’re looking for! Don’t forget to go to the Redbox Facebook Fan page and like them to keep up on all that’s new and enjoy special offers and promos!

We’ll be going back for more! Thanks to Redbox and Smiley360 for adding some extra fun to our vacation!

Doing the Dance of the Children and Patiently Awaiting My Turn at the Game~

You know I’m ALWAYS on the hunt for cool, FREE, fun for the kids. Being new to the area, I’ve been keeping my eyes and ears open and in the last week I kept hearing about the lights on Pebble Creek Dr. Last night, when there was nothing but boredom and bickering at my house, I told the kids to load up and be ready for something great. I managed to convince even the teens to get in the van (a sure sign that extreme boredom had been reached!). Off we went to find the lights. On the way we found some great houses in our own neighborhood and a house not too far away that modeled itself after the famous internet video of a light display playing to Trans Siberian Orchestra’s Wizards of Winter. Good Stuff! Then we found Pebble Creek Dr. Oh MY GOODNESS!!!! House after house of themed light displays. We were in a long line of cars that drove very slowly through the loop. It took us about 20 minutes to creep through the neighborhood and the kids were constantly finding something to shout out about-”Look! Frosty! It’s Charlie…”. We saw many, many favorite characters and amazing decorative feats! There’s even a red wishing well in front of one house that’s playing a video and is a drop-off point for canned food to benefit the hungry. If you’ve never been over there and are local, GO! And if you HAVE gone, go again! We will.

The only problem I can see is that when we were on our way home, we were saying our night prayers and Lex had this prayer, “Dear God, please let my house look like those houses for Christmas.” Yeah, I whole-heartedly believe in the power of prayer, but I am no Christmas light’s genius!

Doing the Dance of the Children to Other People’s Talents~

What could be better than a discount on services that make you feel better?!

I recently had the pleasure of trying out the massage services offered at Placer Wellness Group. 30 minute chair massage is offered as well as 60 and 90 minute full-body massage. Why not treat yourself to a hot stone massage? All massage services are $1 per minute. However, as a Cyber Monday special if you mention Mommy of Many® now through December 31st, you will receive 10% off ANY services offered at the office! What a great deal! Pain management, Medical Weight Loss, Chiropractic and Physical Therapy are just a few of the services offered. For a full listing of all offerings be sure to visit their website here. Also, don’t forget to check out their facebook fan page for up-to-date info on all things happening at the office. While you’re there, become a fan!

Placer Wellness Group, because Life is Health and being healthy certainly keeps me Doing the Dance of the Children~

Yesterday I had the fun of being the Story Time reader at our local, Big Spoon Yogurt. 3, holiday-themed books were preselected, the room was rearranged and kiddos and mommies came in to enjoy some yummy yogurt and listen to some Thanksgiving fun. I’ve always enjoyed reading to my little ones and thought being able to participate in this monthly event would be fun. I was right!

Every 3rd Thurday from 1-2pm Story Time can be enjoyed, complete with a free 4 oz. yogurt for all listeners 6 yrs old and younger.

If you missed out on this month’s Story Time, be sure to mark your calendars for next month and THIS Saturday, November 19th from 1-2pm a Free and Fun special Holiday craft is being offered. A complimentary hot chocolate can be enjoyed during this craft time. Go! Free fun is my FAVE!

Big Spoon Yogurt, serving up yummy yogurt and a lil extra fun on the side.

Good Stuff that helps me keep Doing the Dance of the Children with a spring in my step~

Talk about a M.O.M.’s dream review! Right before the holidays, I’m asked by the owner of Delight Cleaning if he could come clean my carpets so that I can review the services offered by the company. YES!!!!

Ray arrived, cheerful and on time to see if I had any problem areas and helped get a few pieces of my living room furniture moved (I moved most everything, but the big pieces proved too much for me, on my own). I pointed out the spots I’d been unsuccessful at removing from the dining room and hall and headed out the door to take care of some errands.

I came home a couple of hours later to a perfectly cleaned front room, dining room and hall. Yea! No more spots! Get your home in shape for entertaining for the holidays! Check out all of Delight Cleaning’s cleaning services on their website. You can also follow along on Twitter where helpful cleaning tips are offered and questions can be asked.

Lots of Good Stuff from Delight Cleaning that will help me keep Doing the Dance of the Children in a clean home~

Nothing spectacular has happened, we didn’t go to a parade or win the lottery, but having the extra day to just be has felt SO good!

On Friday, 11/11/11, we celebrated Max’s 9th birthday. It was cloudy out, so we chose to spend a couple hours at an indoor playplace-Wacky Tacky. It was crowded and full of the energy that kiddos with a day off have to burn! Tristan and Max especially liked the foam, air guns. They spent quite a bit of time shooting at anything and everything. When as much energy as possible was expended, we headed home for lunch. Then it was present time! Whoo Hoo! In the last few weeks, we’ve discovered the Plasma Car. One of our neighbors has them and the kids really fell in love with riding them. So not only did Gabi get one for her bday (pink, of course), but Max is now the happy owner of one in yellow. These really are great! They hold up to 180 lbs, sit low to the ground and require nothing but kiddo energy.

Then we enjoyed a nice dinner and dessert was some special Daddy n Max time at a frozen yogurt shop that also boasts a hot chocolate bar! Yum!

Yesterday we ran errands and spent some time visiting with a friend that was up from Pacific Beach. The kids enjoyed some time finding items to add to their Christmas lists at Barnes and Noble while I got to hear what’s been happening at the beach. A great afternoon!

This morning has been leisurely, with kids waking up one-at-a-time over the last couple hours. Max has been taking his Lego Creations vehicle (another bday gift) apart and rebuilding it into one of the other vehicles it’s capable of making. This would NOT of been a toy I would’ve enjoyed. I want things put together and to perform whatever function they’re created to perform, but Max and Tristan both LOVE taking their Legos apart and recreating over and over again. The difference between girls and boys? Or the difference between brains that function at what’s been deemed “genius” level and those of us who have regular ol’ brains? Who knows! But I’m glad they have so much fun with it all!

So it’s Legos and Apple Crumble muffins for breakfast and onto a Sunday that will involve some leftover homework, the beginnings of a school project, church in the evening and then youth group.

A good weekend!

Doing the Dance of the Children and Feeling Thankful For All of It~

I’ve been spending time each day exploring all the new places around me and this is by far, one of my VERY BEST finds! There are global issues that make us all feel so small and helpless and Human Trafficking is at the top of that list for me. As a mom it’s one of those things that absolutely hurts my soul and I’ve never known what to do, except pray for the victims.

A couple of days ago, Lex and I were on the hunt for a new place to grab some iced tea or coffee and I saw the sign for Origins Coffee & Tea. It intrigued me because it said something about making a difference. A coffee house making a difference? I had to go in and see what it was about. I’m sure glad I did!

Origins Coffee and Tea was started by dads who couldn’t let this issue go without a fight. You can read Chad Salstrom’s blog here. Arianna, Maddi and I went in today to find out about volunteering and we were able to meet Chad, get a tour and hear a little of his personal perspective. The shop is run by volunteers who are asked to give a minimum of 4 hours a week for 3 months. These are people working for free to help this important cause. You can easily sign up to give a little time, but if that won’t work for your schedule, you can simply patronize the shop. It’s spacious and comfortable, offering free wifi and is open from 6:30am-11pm each day. Chad showed us the meeting room they have available for groups looking for a place to hold a meeting or a gathering. There’s no charge for this room! Think about holding your next meeting there and let the coffeehouse provide your drinks and refreshments.

I’m so excited about this shop and what they’re doing! The girls and I are signing up to donate our time and plan on visiting the coffeehouse often. I’m drinking coffee anyway, my caffeine addiction might as well help out those in need!

This is seriously Good Stuff! If you’re local to the Rocklin/Roseville area, consider visiting the shop, bring your laptop, your friends and your goodwill!

Doing the Dance of the Children With the Hope of Helping a Little~

What could be better than a HUGE box of premium snacks being delivered to your door?

R.W. Garcia sent me a sampling of their premium chips and gluten free crackers to try out with the kids and when the box arrived at the door, it was torn into and several different kinds were opened all at once so we could compare and find our favorites. This is what happens when you let the kids in on a review! From their Classic Yellow Corn Chips to their super yummy Thai Sweet and Spicy Flaxseed chips, we all found our favorites (I hid the rest of the Thai chips for NOT sharing later. Yum!) and knowing that R.W. Garcia snack products are verified by the Non-GMO Project as meeting or exceeding GMO avoidance standards made me feel better about digging in! Give their flaxseed line of chips a try. The nutty taste and crisp, crunchy texture made them my favorite .

Look for the R.W. Garcia line of premium snack products in your favorite local market and don’t forget to Like them on Facebook. If you’re near me, you’ll have to look REALLY hard for those Thai chips because chances are, I’ve cleared the shelf!

Doing the Dance of the Children and Enjoying some Healthy Snacking~

Twist-An American Musical! This show is a fresh take on the literary classic, Oliver Twist. Now the setting is New Orleans in 1928. Twist, an orphan boy, looks for and finds family in the most unlikely of places. Along the way he does some pretty deep soul-searching for a youngster, asking about the meaning of his very existence. Twist is choreographed and directed by non other than Debbie Allen, the Golden Globe and mutli-Emmy Award winner!

Check out the the official site where you can learn more about the story, meet the cast and watch the promo video.

To enter for your chance to win these tickets, simply “like” the Twist an american musical Facebook page and then leave me a comment to let me know. Your comment is your entry. I’ll be announcing the winner on Friday (tomorrow!). The tickets are good for any date between NOW and June 24th-subject to availability. Win on Friday and see the show as early as Saturday!

Good luck!

Math Blaster! The great people at Knowledge Adventure have opened a new world your kids can blast into! I’ve had the fun and privilege of working with these great people on several occasions and the kids have always loved what they saw. So when I was asked to review Math Blaster I said “Yes!”. I was given a 6 month, complimentary membership, logged in to create my “Blaster” and to get started exploring what was out there. Ummmm…one problem-I couldn’t figure out how to move! I clicked and clicked and rolled over my Blaster and couldn’t get it to do anything! I finally decided to wait till the kids were home to ask how they move around when they’re on JumpStart (figuring the same actions would apply to both worlds). It appears that I truly don’t know the FIRST THING about online games-how to move. When I asked the kids I received 3 voices, talking over the top of each other and giving advice. My problem? I wasn’t using the arrow keys and spacebar. Silly M.O.M! So I decided I’d give up on playing and leave it to the experts-the kids! Over the last few weeks, my 11 yr old, 8 yr old and 6 yr old have been having a GREAT time playing, exploring and learning with Math Blaster. When I sat down to watch (a little skeptical that they would actually be using math skills), I saw kids having fun and needing to do some fast math-thinking to get through the games. Awesome! Of course, they’re each at very different learning levels, but the site accommodates each of them, using simple addition and subtraction for the young kids, while Tristan, my 11 yr old, 5th grader chose multiplication for his game.

When asked what they liked best and to show me their favorite games, they knew just where to take me. Tristan went straight to “Hyperblast Training”, chose multiplication and began battling aliens by quickly answering the problems to earn “blasts” that would help him through the rest of the quest. Max, my 8 yr old, 2nd grader had fun with “Monster Morph”. He answered addition problems that led him through his quest and was then able to go into what appeared to be a lab and mix formulas to create monsters. Gabi, my 6 yr old, kindergartener, patiently waited through her brothers’ exciting demonstrations until it was her turn to show me what she liked best. Her choice-making her Blaster; the character that you dress, design and name, who you move through the games. She lingered on this for a long time. The rest of the game didn’t interest her as much and she needed help moving through the site. I’ve seen her on JumpStart and she does just fine on her own. So, I’m guessing that the Space theme of this site just isn’t as interesting to her as it is to her brothers.

As a mom, I prefer my kids use on-line games that have educational value, as opposed to just spending their time on sites and games that don’t truly challenge them. I was happy to see that Math Blaster had them quick-thinking those math problems! It’s a site I can say “yes” to on school afternoons, where our house rule is “educational games only”.

Parents, be sure to check out Math Blaster on Facebook and you can keep up with the latest additions to the site and see what people are saying on the Math Blaster blog.

Of course the EASIEST way to check it all out is to WIN a free, 6-month membership! Each membership allows up to 6 kids to be registered. Way To Go Math Blaster for thinking of all the families out there with more than a handful of kids! To enter to win, go to the Math Blaster Facebook page, “like” them and then leave me a comment that you’ve done so. The winner will be chosen at random in 2 days (Thursday afternoon).

Go! Enter! Win!

Good luck!

I’ll be over here, Doing the Dance of the Children and Trying to Figure Out How to Get My Blaster to Jump~

*Disclosure: I was provided with a membership good for Math Blaster and Knowledge Adventure at no cost by Knowledge Adventure in order to test the products’ abilities and give my own personal opinions on it. The opinions I have given are mine and may differ from others but were not influenced by the company or the free product provided.

Orange juice! Yum!

The great people at Smile.ly contacted me and asked if I’d be interested in reviewing Florida’s Natural® brand orange juice. Yes!

I received a voucher for the price of a carton of juice and headed to the store. I purchased an extra carton, knowing the kids were going to make short work of the one.

I thought it was great-not too sweet, full of pulp (I chose the juice with pulp, knowing that the kids and I prefer it to the juice without pulp) and a great addition to my breakfast!

I asked the kids to join in the review. My 15 yr old said she really liked the amount of pulp and that it tasted like fresh oranges. Then she asked me to go buy more

My 17 yr old said it was really good and not sugary.

There you have it-Florida’s Natural® orange juice was happily tested and reviewed in the Lang house.

We recommend it!

The great people at Smil.ey asked me if I’d be interested in reviewing the RelaxZen™ Day and Night Formulas. After I agreed and received my free samples, I decided to start with the Day Formula. You can read that review here.

Then it was time to choose a good night to try their Night Formula. I decided to try Sunday night since we had Monday off and if I woke up groggy it wouldn’t matter. So, Sunday night I drank the little bottle (I’m reminding myself of Alice right now), and went to bed.

It did exactly as it claims! I woke easily from a full night’s sleep. No groggy feeling, just up and ready to go! Good Stuff!

If you’d like to give the RelaxZen™ line of products a try for yourself, you can receive 10% off your order and free shipping by going to Thirstmonger.com and entering the code-SMILE. Wanna keep up with the RelaxZen™ line of products? Check out their Facebook page!

Doing the Dance of the Children With a Little RelaxZen in My Day and Night~

I was recently asked if I’d be interested in trying and reviewing the RelaxZen Day and Night formulas by the great people at Smile.ly. Every mommy can use a little Zen, so I agreed and my free samples were sent.

The first thing I did when they arrived was read the ingredients. I’m not a fan of energy drinks or artificial sweeteners, so I was looking to see if I was going to be willing to consume whatever was in these little bottles. I was pleasantly surprised by the ingredients-Vitamins B6 & B12 and extracts of acai and passionflower were included. I was willing to give the samples a try!

I decided to try the Day Formula during a workday when a little Zen and plenty of focus could certainly be used. I was pleasantly surprised by the berry flavor. There was no icky aftertaste. I can’t say that I felt anything particularly different in my day. I dealt with the 15, 4 and 5 yr olds pretty much the same as I would on any other day. I did feel relaxed, but maybe a little too relaxed. By 11am I was yawning.

I’ll give the Night Formula a try in a couple of days. I’ll let you know how it goes.

If you’d like to give the RelaxZen™ products a try for yourself and bring a little more Zen into your day, you can go to Thirsthmonger.com and enter the code SMILE for 10% off plus free shipping on any RelaxZen™ product. You can also find RelaxZen™ on Facebook.

Doing the Dance of the Children with a little RelaxZen™ in my day~

Burn the Floor!

From beginning to end, this was a great, fast paced, smooth flowing show! The dancers were fantastic! Watching their energy and incredible dancing had me wanting to leave the show and find the first place I could sign up for swing dancing lessons. Admittedly, my 2 favorite parts of the show were the jive, swing, boogie portion and when they performed to Proud Mary. Let me say here, that Vonzell (you may remember her as the 2nd runner up in the 4th season of American Idol) rocked Proud Mary in a way that would make Tina Turner proud! Her rich, soulful voice was a pleasure to hear throughout the show.

I suppose I need to admit that Proud Mary was my favorite portion. I was stunned by Mary Murphy’s high-energy, booty-shakin’ part in the whole thing. Don’t get me wrong, she came out and gracefully showed off her ballroom talents on several occassions, but she brought a smile to my face with the way she pulled it out for Proud Mary!

The whole show was fantastic! Music, vocals, dancing, costumes, choreography-all made for a fun evening! If you get the chance to go, DO!  The Show is in San Diego through Oct. 17th!  I took my 16 yr old with me and she enjoyed it just as much as I did. As a matter-of-fact, she was on YouTube looking up all the dancers and clips from the show. I think that speaks volumes!

Doing the Dance of the Children and Humming Proud Mary While I Have Visions of Swing Dancing to All That Great Music~