The Amazing My Disney World Experience iPhone App!

Each second year, our family is blessed to attend Epcot Center's Food & Wine Festival at Disney World.

It's a lot of fun.  Surprise guests come and stay with us and often we find ourselves outside after the kids go down to hit the hot tub!   Yahoo!  What fun!  My older daughter seen in the front is not attending with us this year, as she's in her junior year of high school and the PSAT's start for her today so she's preparing for college and cannot afford to miss school.  Rats, that's our babysitter! 

Standing behind her is my stepsister Courtney, a fabulous babysitter and excellent with kids.  Maybe she'll babysit my two daughters and niece.  They are all at age 5 so it should be a piece of cake for her to sit with them.  They can watch Snow White again this year (no maybe not a good idea, the witch is horrifying in that picture)......or maybe Sleeping Beauty, the evil witch Maleficent is not as intense in that one?

When our family gets together, we usually have a place in place.  This year most people don't want a plan: they want the pool and relaxation.  This year I actually want to visit all the parks and that's where the Disney My Disney Experience app for iPhone comes in!! 

It gets five stars from me.  So far, after creating a log in, you can plan your entire trip from your phone.  I'm old fashioned by nature so I was surprised I wanted this app.  I was referred by one parent at a park when I had already researched it myself, so she just confirmed my curiosity.  It's worth downloading and keeping it close by when in the parks. Have that phone charged!

This app allows me to check into my calendar and adjust my reservations, for example I booked a breakfast with the characters at Akershus in Norway at Epcot.  It's an early start for our day but as one Disney customer service professional explained it, "you can always call us back and will look at all the parks to find a different breakfast, lunch or dinner with the characters that accommodates your needs."  

This is fantastic news I tell her!  She also informed me that I can do all of this from my smart phone and that's even better........so when my family has stopped for a treat in France, I can check my smart phone for times for fireworks, concerts, or dining reservations all at my fingertips!!!  No need to call Disney reservations and wait and wait. 

One thing I want to point out: stay patient.  I think that's the key and if your traveling with a big party, polite communication is key.  Here are the concerned mother pics:  I have my daughter here saving her from space aliens and my husband is taking over the universe!  

At the end of it all, having some adult time at Disney is key!

When I look back I wouldn't change a thing.  Being with my family even if I don't always cooperate, is worth every minute being together at Disney.  The My Disney World Experience app is going to be an even bigger help with FastPass. From the app, book your FastPass events!!!  How easy when your somewhere else in Magic Kingdom and in Fantasy Land you want to ride the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train ride and the wait is an hour. With five year old toddlers, waiting sometimes is not an option which makes this app worth having!

This seems silly but take your children to the rest room before entering any popular ride............asking is not an option.  They have to go................and you know what, the app shows you the map in clean color and where the restrooms are!  Pinterest also helped me in my Disney World planning.  Lots of options for kids. Just do a little research.

Enjoy your Disney trip people because memories are being made.  :)

The Sweetly Decorated Life: Protecting our Children from Enterovirus 68

The Sweetly Decorated Life: Protecting our Children from the Enterovirus 68: I don't mean to scare you.  I watch the news.  I've been watching the news more often lately and I like Anderson Cooper, I can't...

Protecting our Children from the Enterovirus 68

I don't mean to scare you.  I watch the news.  I've been watching the news more often lately and I like Anderson Cooper, I can't help it.  My daughters will turn 5 in November. That scares me-I like them home here in our town-the town where I grew up.  They are all growing up so fast, our children.  More in the news: Ebola and Enterovirus 68-I cringe if I hear about another case but we must be prepared and on the lookout.

The latest news, a young boy my girls age dies in New Jersey-he was only four years old-a triplet-he leaves his twin sisters behind.  A tragic loss for the family and those close to him-a loss for everyone.  The link below is not related to the child in New Jersey but to a previous loss.  Dr. Sanjay Gupta does discuss the virus here.

My husband is a big fan of washing hands.  Believe it or not and my loving mother will say I was taught to wash my hands but I absolutely disagree, my younger brother and I were not taught to wash our hands as a precaution.  We just didn't. When we were young, we lived all summer by the beach in a small neighboring city called Mayo, where Nanny Gwen lived, by the beach.  I cut my right foot in the surf there one summer-sliced deep by a beer bottle.

I remember my Nanny Gwen running to the beach to catapult me into the ambulance, her bravado running in the summer wind, no fear, running to save me. She was my hero.  No infection, no weird disease from the sand, just a few stitches in the 1970's. I'll never forget the day or how strong she looked that day.  Thank you Nanny for everything.  Nanny's been gone for a while now. We all miss her.

In 5th grade, I ran smack into a running mate on recess and my nose obliterated, his head needing several stitches and a young fellow 5th grader named Cynthia, in her white eyelet cardigan coming to my rescue, running me into the nurses office, her cardigan soaked with my blood. I required plastic surgery that day. She was my hero that day.  A special thanks to Dr. Strawberry for my nose. (1984)

Today in 2014 we have much more to worry about. The CDC recommends "avoiding those who are sick" since the virus is spread through saliva and phlegm as well as stool and they say washing hands is most important.  Stating that sick people can avoid spreading the virus by covering their nose and mouth when sneezing and coughing cannot be overstated.  Cleaning surfaces and toys is another important measure for prevention.

I don't think when we signed up as parents, we thought heroes would be beside our names but aren't we supposed to be-helping our children along the way, teaching them, preventing illness, preparing them for the world, being safe, looking out and with hope-We must.  I'm glad I waited until I was 36 to have children.  They have my life now.  As my friend Ron Minor says, "Steph, your blessed" and so I am..............................

I hope this blog did not offend anyone in anyway.  My goal is to inform and educate.  I pray for the family in New Jersey and all the families who have experienced pain and loss due to this virus.

Nanny Gwen and her birthday cake for me.  Look at my little cousin Cody.  I've always loved babies.

Coconut Oil-magical for the hair, skin and nails!

Okay, in order for me to have a sweetly decorated life, I have to be fed, watered, and given ample amounts of sun. Do I sound like a plant?  I know I do, like one of those indoor ones.

We'll more often than not, we think we need more than we actually do, when really it's actually pretty simple: we just need the basic things to be happy and so does our skin.  Here's what I'm talking about and more:

Today, Friday October 3rd, I visited Gary's Gardens in Severna Park and Chik-fil-a.  Nice people.  Good food, the sun was out and I love flowers and pumpkins.  I spoke on the Iphone to a couple of my distant friends in far off lands. It was nice. One gf  in New York.  She's lovely and another gf in North Carolina, she's lovely as well.  It's been a great day so far.  It's approaching 2 pm and my husband is home (he works from home four days per week) and he happens to be watching what he can of the Baltimore Orioles playing the Detroit Tigers in the American League playoff series.

He went to the game last night and they won, 12-3.  I'm happy for him.  But tonight is my night with him.  No Oriole game, no hockey game, no Ravens game.  Just he and I.  We will go to dinner together and he will take me to Marshall's to peruse the skin care aisle and yep ladies, he looks too, patiently.  I love it because inevitably I find some cheap form of skin oil/cream that I can take home to try to fix the damage done to my face via sun, smoking, laughing out loud and crying.

Life happens and now at 41 I want to blend the lines around my forehead and stay youthful for as long as I can.  Why you ask?  Because I like the way it looks and feels and that's okay, and it's healthy and good. My sister in law asked me why I get Botox (I haven't for a year) and I told her I want some of the wrinkles smoothed, gone, bye-bye-I don't like them I say.  She then asked me why not enjoy my age and where I am in life?  We'll I do but it's also okay to admit that some of those wrinkles got there from squinting and going through some rough times in my life.  I'm over it and ready to take better care of my skin.  I no longer get Botox but I do love the line of skincare treatments available to us ladies today.

My recent discovery, it's lovely,

Coconut Oil is the main and first ingredient.  I've noticed in just one week my skin looking brighter, more even, and once applied, my skin glows for hours.  I apply it again right after my shower and follow it with DMAE cream on the hands, neck and chest.  I love, love, love this new anti-aging oil!!!

With any skincare regime, try to exercise and eat well and drink water always-

I found it in my Marshall's store for retail $6.99.  Happy Shopping and enjoy.