Make An Online Commitment To Safe Driving #CelebrateMyDrive

Disclosure:  This is part of a sponsored collaboration with Latina Mom Bloggers and State Farm. However, all opinions expressed are my own.

I've been talking about how important teen driver safety is on my blog for the past month now but I can't emphasize enough how I didn't just start here.  Talking about driver safety starts at home when your children are young and it continues.  And if you don't have children, talk about it with your nieces and nephews!  We need to set the example and continue to practice it daily.  Creating positive habits will have young drivers truly thinking before driving!  You can practice what you preach by setting these rules:

• Always buckle your seat belt before you start the car
• Make sure all your passengers are buckle up
• Avoid driving distracted (no eating, checking your phone, doing your makeup, etc.)
• Don't speed or tailgate
• Don't drive if you are angry or tired

I monitor my teens activity on social networks and just last week my 16 year old uploaded a video on Instagram of him and his friends dancing in one of their cars.  I commented with, "Make sure you are wearing your seatbelt" and he commented back with, "I know mom, I am".  That was definitely a proud mom moment!   Can you promise me right now that you'll make an online commitment to safe driving?  Safe driving saves lives!

For more information on teen driver safety including free tools, tips and resources designed to help teens and their parents throughout the learning-to-drive process, visit teendriving.statefarm.com

National Teen Driver Safety Week 10/18-10/26 #CelebrateMyDrive

Disclosure:  This is part of a sponsored collaboration with Latina Mom Bloggers and State Farm.  However, all opinions expressed are my own.

For us, teen driver safety started when our kids were young.  Ever since they learned to ride bikes and scooters and skateboards.  We have always taught our children that their safety is number one and that they can insure their safety by being safe themselves.  We also remind our kids that driving as a teen is a privilege, not a right and the minute they abuse that, keys will be taken away and locked in the safe.  We are always reinforcing safe driving habits such as 2N2 - keeping 2 eyes on the road and 2 hands on the wheel.  Crashes are the No.1 killer of teens. The first year of driving is the most dangerous.  That's why it's important when communities encourage young drivers to make safe driving choices every time they're behind the wheel and I'm so happy State Farm created Celebrate My Drive in 2012.  Check and see if your teen's high school is registered here!  If not, contact your school's administrator and encourage them to register!    

CELEBRATE MY DRIVE® Powered by State Farm® encourages teens to make positive choices as they start driving. We’re proud to help them stay safe as they explore the road ahead.

WHEN: National Teen Driver Safety Week | October 18-26 | AND BEYOND!

HIGH SCHOOLS AND STUDENTS AGES 14+ will unite their communities to generate support for their school by making safe driving commitments. $3.25 million in grants* will then be awarded to 100 winning high schools!

• 2 schools get a Grand Prize Concert by a chart-topping music artist and a $100,000 grant
• 8 schools get $100,000 
• 90 schools get $25,000 
• Take part in a local Celebrate My Drive event

Learn more and register your school at CELEBRATEMYDRIVE.COM 

Like us on facebook.com/CelebrateMyDrive for updates.

*10% of each grant award must be dedicated to teen driver safety

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Teen Driver Safety With State Farm #CelebrateMyDrive

Disclosure:  This is part of a sponsored collaboration with Latina Mom Bloggers and State Farm.  However, all opinions expressed are my own.

My oldest Tyler is a go-getter.  He was ready for his 16th Birthday because here in California, that meant he could get his license.  He's a responsible and smart kid, deserving of his license so his wish was granted.  He did driver's ed and got his permit before his birthday in January.  It wasn't until he got his license in August that I really started to worry.  I know my kid is a good driver but what about everyone else?  When I came across State Farm's new survey that reveals an alarming gap between parents and teen views on driver licensing laws, I was stunned.  Most shocking for me is how much parents overestimate their teens obeying two key provisions of graduated driver licensing laws.  You can click the GDL infographic below to see that only 43% of teens state they almost always obey the passenger restrictions while 70% of parents say their teens obey the passenger restriction.  This one is huge for me because I'm always telling Tyler he can't drive around his friends!  Especially since the presence of teen passengers increases the crash risk of unsupervised teen drivers.

For nighttime restrictions, 66% of parents said they almost always monitor while only 32% of teens said their parents monitor.  In this case, our son isn't allowed to drive at night.  There is no reason he should be out after 10pm - 6am.

When I asked Tyler what he thought about the survey results, he said he agreed but that I need to just trust him and I do.  We all do.  It's other people we don't trust.  For as long as I can remember, I have always pushed my sons to obey the law - especially on the road because they can hurt themselves or someone else.  Too much responsibility to bear if something ever happened.  Life changing.  What are your thoughts on the State Farm survey?  

You can check out the Teen Driver Safety Website and Celebrate My Drive on Facebook.

Spend The Summer at Knott's Soak City

One of our favorite things to do in Southern California with kids is spending the day at Knott's Soak City.  We had season passes when I was pregnant with Duke.  We were there just about every day and I had the best tan.  Our routine was to get there early and get chairs in the shade but in a central area.  That was the #1 priority.  Once that was settled and sunscreen was applied, the kids went on their own and I got to relax.  

Of course I would insist on family time and our family favorites are:

Gremmie Lagoon offers our smallest thrillseekers their own pint-sized playground of interactive octopus, submarines and other oversized landmarks that squirt, sprinkle, soak and splash kids and parents too! 

Height Requirement: Must be UNDER 54 inches barefoot  

Sunset River You can’t resist the lazy river action of the 1,780-ft.-long Sunset River. At one-third mile in length, Knott’s giant figure-eight waterway is the widest and one of the longest water park lazy rivers in the world! 

Height Requirement: Guests under 42 inches must be accompanied by a responsible adult 

Rider Safety: Swimmers under 48 inches must wear a life vest

Tidal Wave Bay Locals know to head for our 750,000-gallon Tidal Wave Bay for the City’s best surf. Here, you can bask in the sun when the waves are “off” and shoot the curl when the breakers start rolling in! 

Height Requirement: Guests under 42 inches must be accompanied by a responsible adult 

Rider Safety: Swimmers under 48 inches must wear a life vest

Toyota Beach House Exclusively for tomorrow’s surfers, the Toyota® Beach House offers three stories of hands-on water fun including interactive water guns, nozzles, faucets and other surprises. And beware! Every five minutes the water bucket unloads 500 gallons of water on anyone below!

The kids would beg for Dippin' Dots before we called it a day and if they were lucky we'd do it all over again the next day!  I highly recommend getting Season Passes.  They have been the answer to boredom for us and necessary for those intensely hot Summer days.  We are so excited for opening weekend, we're excited to let the baby play in Gremmie Lagoon!      

2013 Knott's Soak City Pass Prices:    All 2013 Season Passes allow unlimited admission to Knott's Soak City during public operating days.

Adult Season Pass $59.99 - or 6 payments of $9.99

Jr./Sr. Season Pass $56.99 - or 6 payments of $9.49

PRICES GO UP ON MAY 27th!!!  

For more information on Soak City, please visit www.soakcityoc.com

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Disclosure:  I am a member of GigaSavvy Blogging Network and will receive tickets for this event as well as for the giveaway.  All thoughts are my own.

Raybern's To The Rescue!

Our family is always on the go.  We are busy!  Especially with an almost one year old!  My husband works and goes to school.  I work at home and homeschool.  The teens are busy with high school and Boy Scouts.  The teens love coming home from school and relaxing before they get started on homework.  Relaxing to them means having a full belly and playing videogames before dinner.  Their food of choice - sandwiches and chips.  All the time.  I don't think growing kids ever get tired of sandwiches!  I know I didn't!  So we switch it up for them and make sure we have Raybern's Philly Cheesesteaks in our freezer!  This week is an even busier week for us because we are in go mode for Omie's First Birthday party on Sunday!  I needed to shop smart - make sure I bought everything we needed for the party not only to get it out of the way but make sure I bought food that would be easy to make during the week and have enough room in my kitchen!!!  

The additional dilemma is... Duke is a picky eater.  The teens love Raybern's sandwiches - they just pop one in the microwave for 90 seconds and it is done.  Easy, tasty, portable and filling!  I figured the way to sell it to Duke would be to pair it up with Funyons.  I usually don't buy them because they aren't in the budget.  I will make it work!!!

So many choices but we know which ones we want!      

I love that the roll stays soft!

Here we go... trying to sell it to this picky eater by letting him choose a bag of chips!

He's showing me that you put your 2 choices in that big bag!  He's interested... YES!  Which chips do you think he chose?  You can check out my Google+ Album with my whole Sam's Club shopping trip!

I loosen the wrap, microwave and eat the sandwich right from the wrap - So simple I'm sure my 7 year old can do it!  The plate is only used to hold the chips!!!  Yes he chose Funyons!

Duke likes it!!!


Get Social with Raybern's:  Raybern's on Facebook / Check out Raybern's Sandwiches

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias® #CBias #SocialFabric

L'Oréal #MagicBBCream Review

Another confession!  I was a little bit of a tomboy because my mom was a natural beauty and never talked girly things with me.  I wore dresses, had Barbies but I was the one climbing trees and playing in the mud.  My BFF in junior high school wore makeup when we were 13 but I was 16 years old when I went for it.  I was inspired by a Madonna music video on MTV.  It was in the 90s when MTV still played music videos.  My weapon of choice: pencil eyeliner.  And you had to have a good sharpener and a lighter.  I remember the first time I applied it, my mom was out grocery shopping with my siblings and they came home and I was so stoked to show it off.  What a dork!  I wish I could tell you that I really got into makeup but I've always kept it simple.  Foundation, liquid eyeliner (I upgraded!), mascara, blush and lipgloss.  My younger sister lucked out and got the talent and true love for makeup (she's a MUA!)

Fast forward to now --- Being pregnant, labor, delivery and taking care of a baby sucks the life out of my skin and hair.  My body suffers for about two years.  My face has been breaking out like crazy and I really want to mellow out my foundation use.  I have tried unsuccessfully for a few years to find something that would work for lighter coverage and I finally found it - L'Oréal Magic BB Cream!  I wasn't sure what to expect.  I squirted the tube on my palm and out came white liquid.  Its not firm at all and I went with my instinct and rubbed it together.  Thats when the color started to change and it actually matched my skin!  I applied it to my face with my hands and when it started to dry I was a bit nervous that there was no coverage.  After a few minutes I could definitely see it working.  I tried to take a selfie but I don't even know how to do it right!  I spent my day out & about and it felt like I barely had any makeup on, I loved it!    

About L'Oréal Paris Magic Skin Beautifier BB Cream: This product gives the sheer coverage needed to create a natural bare skin finish, while delivering built-in skincare benefits. With four beautifying actions, this all-in-one innovation primes and smoothes, perfects to hide flaws, hydrates all-day, and corrects and evens skin. The product is infused with skincare ingredients like Panthenol, Vitamin E and Glycerin for 24-hour moisturization.

To apply, simply dot on and blend with fingertips. Self-adjusting beads will instantly transform and blend to your skin tone.

L'Oréal Paris Magic BB Cream retails for $10.95 for 1 fl oz. It is available in four shades and is sold at mass food and drug retailers nationwide. Click here to find out more.

  

I checked Target and the current price on L'Oréal Magic BB Cream there is $7.99

Drugstore.com has it for $10.95 with 30% off EVERYTHING in their makeup department! 

Join me at the #MagicBBCream Twitter Party w/ @SheSpeaksUp & @LOrealParisUSA 3/7 9pm ET! http://bit.ly/loprsvp

Lucky winners* participating in the Twitter Party will be randomly selected to win prizes including L'Oréal Paris beauty baskets that include Magic Skin Beautifier BB Cream and more! We're giving away over $700 in prizes.  One lucky winner will take home our grand prize, a $250 Target gift card!

Disclosure:  I received a complimentary product from SheSpeaks/L'Oreal to facilitate this review.  There is an affiliate link in this post.  All thoughts are my own.

I Have A 16 Year Old

I have been referring to Omar as my littlest, Duke as my little, Damien as my big and Ty as my biggest for a few months.  My biggest officially turns 16 tomorrow.  SIXTEEN.  I didn't think I was going to be as emotional as I have been all day but when it hit me, it hit me.  My Tyler will be sixteen years old, only two years from the big eighteen.  Last month alone, he took Driver's Ed, got a car and is ready to get his permit.  He's been counting down the days till his 16th birthday so he can start applying for jobs.  I keep telling him to wait till he graduates from high school, to enjoy his teen years.  I remind him that I started working at 14 and he doesn't need to follow in my footsteps.   But he is exactly like me.  Ready to make money and not have to depend on anyone to give him money.  I can't believe what a responsible kid we've raised.  I can't tell you how proud I am of him - I have seen him tell his friends that drugs are dumb.  I thought standing up to my peers was hard in the 90s but these days, I know its rough.

The day after Christmas my kid wrote something on Facebook about being blessed that he has everything and that gifts are just a bonus and some kid told him he could lose some weight.  I was about to go off on the kid but my kid handled it well.  (I think he knew his Mama would've hurt the kid)

Thank you for being comfortable in your own skin and loving yourself.  Thank you for being strong, funny, smart, respectful, sweet, responsible, proud and kind.  I always wish for health and happiness for you my beautiful son.  I love you so much!  I am so proud that you are my kid!

My sister uploaded a picture of me at the hospital about 12 hours before I delivered on Instagram and then Ty uploaded it on his Instagram with the sweetest words.  No I'm not 16 in the picture, I was 21.  Excuse my ombre' hair - I refused to dye my hair when I was pregnant.   

A couple days old!

Almost 16 - towering over everyone at 6'2" (His height is a big deal to me, yes!)  Besides getting a job and his license, he's going for his Eagle Scout Badge!  

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TY!  WE LOVE YOU XOXO