Disney Shadow Box

I loved the idea of a shadow box from a Disney trip. I had looked on Pinterest for a few ideas and loved the idea of using a map, I liked the pin additions and really wanted to include special mementos from the trip. I had bought this fridge magnet that is flat on the back and it fit perfectly in my box.Add a Mickey head from the parade, a pin that says Walt Disney World on it, a map of the whole park and then I added some stickers and a family photo. Easy and done! I love the simplicity of it, but also that it sits out everyday and reminds me of a great vacation. I probably should add the year somewhere, in case I decide to make one for every trip! Ha!
We are headed to Disneyland in January and I plan to find a fridge magnet hopefully of Sleeping Beauty's castle and make another shadow box for that. Have you made a shadow box for a Disney trip? I'd love to see! Leave me link in the comments!

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Broken or Bruised...

First pic tow has small red spot, gate has a chip!

Scene: 4am, husband is away on business, strange noise heard hours before and confirmed strange noise with neighbors...
I have been known to have a great imagination...I don't watch intense/suspenseful/scary movies usually on purpose because when I do, on occasion with hubby, I can't get those images out of mind. I will think about scenes long after and then if I'm ever in a situation that feels like that movie I freak myself out... back to the real reason I'm posting...
I heard a strange loud noise in my backyard the night before and knew that I hadn't imagined it. I was home alone with my three kiddos, but still was able to fall asleep. Early the next morning I went upstairs to check on my babies and as I was headed back to bed I slip and fell on my petunia and slid down the last flight of my stairs. 6 steps that I slid down and then stopped myself on our baby gate that block the stairs. My butt hurt in the moment, but my foot/toe has now hurt for 2 weeks! I knew that I had hurt my foot, but wasn't sure the extent. (It's funny how now that I consider myself a runner, I would rather fall on my face than hurt my legs or feet before a race! Ha!) I put Vicks vapor rub on the sore spot immediately after, since that what my granny told me to do to minimize bruising... But I was dog tired! I went to bed even though it was hurting to just lay on my side and place slight pressure on it. I should have iced it right away - mistake #1. After a few more hours of sleep I woke up to a foot that really hurt and the bruising started to show. I also found a piece of plastic from the gate and didn't realize that I had hit it so hard I chipped the plastic! No wonder I hurt my toe!
Needless to say the bruising got worse, the pain was on and off and I was scared to run! I went to the Dr to have it checked since I had my first run ever on Sat, this happened on Monday. Here I am supposed to run 10 miles to qualify for a better corral for the Tinkerbell half marathon and now I might not even be able to finish! Long story made short the Dr thought it was broke, but after x rays, it wasn't. Just bruised. I taped my toe Thursday before my run and was able to do 5 comfortably and left it at that. On race day I used my body glide, tape and baby powder to help prevent any blisters and pain. I was in some discomfort after 7 miles and lost feeling in the last two toes the last couple of miles. The dr told me that even if I had broken it he still woould have told me to run since it was such a fun race! He completed the run that day too.

  I haven't run since Oct 14 because on that day I ran 3 miles and didn't tape the toe and my toe hurt so much worse than it did days before. So lesson to learn - ice immediately, seek medical attention especially if you are a runner (since running on a broken toe can do more damage), tape two toes together to give the hurt toe a "buddy".
Wearing flip flops kill my toe when you intially put them on and scrunch your toes to get them on. Ack! Hurts so bad still! That motion is really the motion that really hurts and here in Texas I wear flip flops all the time! We went to the Michael Buble concert and to wear heeled boots hurt too, even though I taped it! Just the pressure of the heel being elevated and crushing my toes forward. I hope it heals quickly and I will definitly be playing it safe before my half! Have you ever bruised a toe or toes? How long did your pain last?

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Disney Countdown Clipboard Tutorial

A few years ago I joined my church's mommy group. I have met some wonderful ladies and one of the fun things we do is craft every so often together. The leaders decided on the clipboard craft and then we decided what we wanted to do. Some moms made a menu board for the week, some made a countdown to Christmas, one lady made it an art holder for her daughter with her name on it. Being that I'm in my Disney prime years (Gasp - I went through a phase where it wasn't such a big thing and I never even thought about it...I don't know what happened!) I wanted to make something Disney related! I thought about making it a chalkboard countdown that I could write on daily, but then you have the logistics of the where to put the
chalk and erasing it and not being as black as it was the first time...I scrapped that idea. A couple of days before the craft day I was shopping at Hallmark for a card for a friend and came across the cutest stickers for $3! Cheap! I immediately thought magnets for my fridge, but didn't do anything with them just in case I thought of something else! So fast forward to the night before and I have a stock pile of Disney stickers and scrap booking stuff. I threw a bunch of stuff in my bag to take with me and still had no idea what I was gonna do, other than it was a countdown. I spent 1- 1/2 hours picking out my supplies (which they provided all kinds of stuff including the clipboards in a variety of sizes). Another girl had brought her Cricket machine and I knew I wanted a big DISNEY on it. So basically the first day my board looked like this. Nothing but covered in two pieces of scrapbook paper with Mod Podge. Only glue the backside lightly both board and paper get a light coat. Too much glue will make your paper wrinkle! Another lady had her laptop and was making labels, so I had her do days til on a label for me. They also had these cute little box tracers that you could make on another sheet of paper, so I did that.

The tracer for the box was where I started to "see" what I was going to do in the end...

They had these tiny Velcro sticky dots so I took some of those...not knowing how I was using them just yet! I used three rows to hold my box to my clipboard. I had to use a sewing needle to make my tiny holes to add my brads, but these were from a Disney scrapbooking kit I already had.

I had one page of black scrapbook letters/numbers and put the numbers 0-9 on the stickers. Only problem was they are sticky on the back. The entire thing, not just the face part. So I ended up putting each number on a square with a Velcro dot on the back.

They turned out pretty cute! 

 I plan to add some ribbon to the "clip" part at the top. I love the clipboard idea and that it's high enough my little ones can't mess with it, but they can see it everyday! My 4 yr old will ask what number it is and then I'll ask her what number does an 8 and a 3 make = 83 and so on. So she's seeing higher numbers and we are kinda learning from it too! I have the castle and Mickey as alternate decals for the bottom to change out. We are headed to Disneyland in January for the Tinkerbell Half Marathon, so I put Tink on it! I plan to use it over and over...if my hubby will let me keep planning trips! LOL!

 Leave a comment and let me know what ya think! 

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Training ain't for sissies!

I'm officially in training for my first half marathon! EEK! If you know me, I'm not your average athletic person. I've done prenatal Yoga, prenatal water aerobics, Baby Boot Camp all within the last 4 years. But by no means do I see myself as a "fit" person. I've still got the trouble spots like most people...I just choose to keep most of my areas covered! I own a two piece bathing suit, but let's just say it hides it all! Ha! Tankinis and skirts are my friend at the pool. I do feel better about my body though since I've started running since May of 2013. I find that my shorts fit better and the hips seems smaller. I've only been running since May, but I signed myself up for the 10 miler run Ten for Texas. I want to be in a better corral at the Tinkerbell and Princess. Corral is where you start the race from. The front of the race is corral A and then so on... I'm currently in the last corral because I haven't ever completed a 10K or longer. So I thought - hey! sign up for the Ten for Texas, it gives you a shorter goal to train in and I won't procrastinate. Not sure if I thought out the whole heat of the summer training idea, but it's been ok so  far and I hope to have that as an advantage in the Florida heat! I'm currently using the Galloway method, which if you don't know Galloway - he is an Olympic athlete who run/walks and knows a thing or two about running. So far I have him to thank for getting me this far and without injury!

5 miles done pic

Today I ran 5 miles with a friend who is also running in the Princess Half with me and then I went on and had a goal of doing 2 more miles, but felt good enough to do 3 more! I was so proud of myself! I may not have set any records at the timing pace I was running, but after 4 months of never running ever I did 8 miles- Yippee! I truly have found my motivation by registering for these RunDisney events and I plan to earn my bling! 

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Altering a race shirt!

We got our shirts for the 10 for Texas on Thursday and I hate to wear shirts like everyone else! I wasn't even sure I wanted to wear the race shirt, but since it didn't have finisher plastered on front...Major sport faux pas to wear the race day shirt on race day- I know, but I thought it was a cute shirt! Lots of other people were wearing them too! So simmer down! Ha!  I like to be unique, different, you get the idea! So Thursday evening I get this great idea to give the race day shirt a makeover! I invited a few running friends over to do the same and we each contributed to the shirts. No shirt was the same, but rather each had slight variations, which I loved! Plus it was a nasty, humid Texas day and the sleeveless part was nice!

Here all the three shirts side by side. Yes two of us were newbies to runs and this was our first one. We moved her number to the front - you gotta have the number in the front for pics. Notice the names on the back that we added. Besides that, here's how we did it.

 I wanted a tank top, so I placed a favorite tank on top of the tshirt and just winged it when cutting the sleeves and neckline off. My friend who made the racerback shirt did the same with hers by placing a favorite tee on top to see how to cut it. It was hard making the first cut, because I was worried I was gonna mess it up! But we both liked the cut!

 Hard to tell on this shot, but we "blinged" the 10 and the eye on the armadillo. We also used red glitter glue on the "for Texas" and yellow glitter glue on the "O" and "2013" One of the girls added a bow to the armadillo and nail polish - Ha! Joann's, Hobby Lobby, Michael's Walmart all carry these little jewels for cheap.  We glued the bling on with this E-6000 glue and used a toothpick to place them. Dries fast and easy to do! 

 

 The arm sleeves took forever! We had a sewing machine and the plan was to sew the red binding tape on, but the machine was acting up. So onto plan B! I had some Steam A Steam from another project and it seemed easy but was labor intensive! If I had to skip one step to make this project super easy - it would be this step! But the clean line that it added made the shirt pop! Mine started to fall off by the end, but I can sew it on still! I wish I had had more for the neckline, but between three shirts we ran out!

The sleeve is off! I had two colored ribbons from another project that I used for the tassel I found a pin on Pinterest where she turned a man's shirt into a tank and did the little sleeve thing with left over scraps. So I used ribbon and tshirt scraps. I just cut them into strips, hand sew them together and then hand sewed them onto the top of my tank strap. 

 Adding the name to the back wasn't as easy as I thought... The letters are little screens and the paint goes on just like a screen printer. This kit was from Walmart. Note to self: remember to take off clear backing before wiping the paint...it won't go through! Ha! I did think using painters tape to keep the letters in place was a great idea and rinse them as soon as you can! We did three shirts and by the end the r was a little ragged. It was fun though and unique! I had a few runners call my name and talk since I had Trout on the back. I guess they thought it was my nickname, not my last name! The other girl's name was Looney! She's not Looney and that's not a nickname, it's her last name! Ha!

Overall the shirt took way longer than anticipated, but it was fun to hang out with friends, let the kids play, and create something. We got lots of compliments on our shirts and lots of people asked us who made our shirts, I guess we don't look like the crafty type? You gonna tray to alter a shirt? It's fun!

How to survive a non-Disney themed party - Guppies Style!

I am a momma to three beautiful little girls and we have birthday parties every year so far. When they are 1 - I choose the theme- pumpkins, turkey, cupcake. When they are 2, I choose based on what they like - Minnie Mouse,etc- You get the idea. At some age they start choosing the theme. At age 4 my daughter wanted Strawberry Shortcake, and now at 3 my middle daughter chose Bubble Guppies. Now don't get me wrong, I love Bubble Guppies and their music, but I love Disney and it's hard to find stuff for a Bubble Guppies party.
I understand though that she love them and even though it wasn't Disney themed, I went with it! We rented a pavilion at a park nearby that had a regular park, but also a Splashpad! I was thinking great! Kids can play in the water and some play at the park as well. Well Mother Nature heard about our party and decided to throw a cool front curve ball and it was rainy the morning of and very chilly! It heated up to a great, comfortable temp, but it was a tad windy. I'd much rather have the cooler temps than the stifling heat from the day before though! Saturday was miserable hot with no wind and you felt as though you were melting!

Because the Splashpad was "closed" , so we told the kids, I had to come up quick with some other alternatives. I had already decided on bubbles and chalk, but last minute decided on a coloring station. As I was loading the car an hour before the party, I threw in as many little riding toys in my van and texted party goers that they could bring theirs too! Worked on great! We even had a little bike parade going on! 

I found these awesome bath squirters at Toys R Us. I knew I wanted to use them for the party, so I didn't let me BG lover see them til that day! I didn't want her playing with them! I had scrapbooking squares that I chose a coordinating color to that person as my labels. I used those sticky dots to stick them to the cookie sheet and the label. Good thing too! They would have blown off in the wind! 

Oona's Stars was my original idea. I wanted to make Rice Krispie Treats and found a star cookie cutter and some neon gel at Walmart and dyed the marshmallow before mixing with the cereal! 

 We had water bottles for the adults and juice boxes for the kids.

I also came up with seaweed juice. When I found this blue container with some yellow lemonade inside  I was hoping it would look green and it did! I used some characters off her invitation which I found at Walmart! They have lots of Bubble Guppies party supplies!

I had used this cupcake stand lots of times! I usually add some scrapbooking paper to it to jazz it up for whatever theme I'm doing. But of course hours before the party I had those scrapbook squares and decided to add seaweed to the stand. I think it turned out pretty cute! It wasn't perfect, but once you added the cupcakes and the other bath squirters which wouldn't stand up on the top with her cupcake. I just went with it and added them elsewhere!

Overall, we had a great party spent with some great family and lots of friends! Even though it wasn't Disney themed it was still magical and we made some great memories with my little one!

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RunDisney iphone backgrounds

This morning I noticed in my FB feed a new Disney app called Disney Memories in HD.

Love this app! I only played around with it for a few minutes this morning between diaper changes and cleaning and came up with some great iphone backgrounds! I made them with my Disney runs that are coming up - Tinkerbell and Princess. Then I went for a few other runs coming up! I am apart of a great board on FB call TeamRunDisney! A great group of people who give support and advice and they love RunDisney running like I do! Check them out! Here is a link to my Sharing the Disney Love FB page to the album where all the pics can be found! 
I have a free app and paid app called Big Day I use these backgrounds on my iphone to create the background for the countdown - Here is how mine looks - I love it! 

Let me know which one you love! Enjoy!

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Why I run with a Frogg...

Hi, my name is Sarah and I have a confession... I run with a Frogg. Yes, I said a Frogg. Frogg Togg that is! I found out about this product from a girlfriend of mine and originally used it to keep my kids cool when we were out and about! It a towel that you wet with water and it stays cool to the touch. I bought mine at Academy and Walmart, I have a few... I ended up altering my towel to suit me while I run. The towel in it's original state is just too big for me, so I wanted it big enough to tuck into my running bra straps across the back of my neck. Here is a pic of the towel unaltered (bottom) and then cut for running (top) I now have 2 towels for running and a section of towel that I use for my babies legs to protect from the sun or at the pool to keep her cool in the stroller if she falls asleep.

Why to use a Frogg Togg while running:
 - I love that they absorb water and cool you down
 - I ran 5 miles and kept putting water from fountains and water fountains to wipe down my arms and legs and it just rejuvenates me! Here in Texas we get weather that's a tad hot! Ha!
 - I use it at the gym to wipe my sweat and as my towel
 - I will really get it soaked and then as I run and get hot - I squeeze the towel to get the water to drip down my back or neck or even head
 - I highly recommend this running tool to help avoid heat exhaustion and to keep you cool in the hot weather. They do have other cool products on their website that I've never seen in stores, like a wrist band, headband, and even a hat! If you have any of those products I'd love to hear how they work out!

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I have not been compensated for my opinions, nor do they even know that I am writing about their products. Just sharing the Running for Disney Love!

Cheap Autograph Books turned into memory book.

Turn an autograph book into a memory book.

I knew from my research that autographs were something that I wanted to collect at the parks on our trip. I wasn't sure if the girls would even want to get them, so I didn't want to buy a super expensive book. I looked at a few on the Disneystore website and some had hardly any pages. There are people selling books homemade on Etsy. But I would hate to loose that book or accidentally spill or get something on it. I went the cheap route - I admit it. I'm glad I did too! The books I chose for each girl had 100 pages each and I bought on sale through The DisneyStore.com site. I thought at first that they would both get an autograph of the same person each time, but my little one wasn't too keen on some of the characters who weren't human form, if ya know what I mean... She warmed up by the end of the trip, but it was also more convenient to keep track of one book, rather than two. We ended up filling up 2 books almost! The second book has maybe 15 blank pages, but we completely filled one of the books and almost the second! We stopped every time there was a character, but didn't do any of them twice, meaning if we saw Snow White at Akerhaus for breakfast and then again in Germany, we still got her autograph. But we didn't go to any character spot twice. My oldest loved the character interactions - so I was pleasantly surprised! I had done research before our trip to familiarize myself with where to find the characters and I was so glad I did! I was able to figure out a few new things too!
1. Look for people standing in a random line... ask! Why are you in line? I found that people would start the line before the character was even there signing autographs. Sometimes this was from the character having been there and they took a break and planned to be back in 10-15 min. The people who were in line and didn't get the characters autograph would stay and wait!
2. Only so many people in the character line get the autograph or pic. The characters get hot in their gear and need breaks. Every character has a CM (cast member) who is their escort. On our trip they were wearing a light blue button down shirt and they move the character around and escort them to the break area and monitor the line. They will also take pics for you if there is no Photopass person around. The CM will count people in line and sometimes rope off the end of the line. We found ourselves a few times in line to meet a character only to be told that the character needed a break and we could either wait or not. So lining up before the character gets there isn't a bad idea!
3. Interact with the characters! Prompt your child in the line to ask a question or wonder about something? It will increase your time with the character and sometimes get you fun memories in itself! My 4 yr old asked Lady Tremaine why she ripped Cinderella's dress and her answer was spot on! They are so fun in character and it shows how much they know about the character they are playing. Some of the characters don't speak, but they still have ways to say an answer or be surprised and what not!
4. Write your name and address in your book!! I have seen many stories on blogs where Disney returned memory books to guests after they were lost on vacation. I think that Disney goes above and beyond to make sure their guests are taken care of, for the most part I'll say... I know that if we had lost one of our books, I would have been so sad! We worked hard to get those signatures and spent a good deal of time collecting them!
5. Make your book into a memory book! Don't just let the book sit on a shelf, never to be looked at again! My child can't read, so in order for her to know which character went with each signature, I did a simple thing. I glued a pic of her with that character on the opposite side of the book. So easy to print off the pic, put on some scrap booking glue squares on the back and have an instant scrapbook. Some characters we met and didn't have our book, so I glued those pics onto the empty pages, some character couples like Aladdin and Jasmine signed on two pages, so I just left one signature with a pic. I found that doing this simple step to their autograph books also alleviated me having to use those 150-180 pics that I took of characters interaction in my family memory book. I used a few of my favorites, but not all. I love how they turned out and I put them with my scrapbooks and we look at them together so little sister doesn't rip the pages...

How do you collect autographs? Or do you? I have seen pillowcase ideas, etc. but this worked for on our last trip and might work for you too!

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A few of my Favorite things - for running that is!

Running is a new sport/hobby for me. I've had many hobbies before and I've found that any hobby takes tools. Running tools for newbies can be expensive, but most are a one time cost. Some of these products can last you years, so you aren't having to replace them often.

Watch - I was using my IPhone mainly, but for my anniversary I got a watch that my hubs picked out and I have yet to fully utilize all the features that I know it can do! It does have GPS so that will save my phone from sucking the battery life so quick which I've noticed it does on my phone. My Nike+ watch can GPS my runs, elevation, and intervals which is why I wanted a watch, it'll also hook up to my Nike+ page. I don't like that I have to hook it up to my computer to share I did a run, but it's fine. I have Galloway in my ear on my app telling me walk/run...but for my races I want to be in the moment and not have ear buds, so my watch beeps and tells me every minute to walk, or whatever interval I choose so I know when to run. I've been using my watch more and more and really like it! We got ours at Luke's Locker which is a local run shop that has great gear!

Shoes -

I got fitted for my shoes at a local run shop - Luke's Locker. They watch you walk around and even get you on a treadmill and tell you how your foot strikes the ground and if you walk/run a certain way. I find that I'm a heel striker, so my shoes are made for my type of walk. I can tell a world of difference! It's amazing the different walking types and pronations there are in feet. They also taught me a new way to tie my shoes which was pretty cool too! Wearing just any shoes to run in can cause blisters and "hot spots". I am a "cute shoe" kinda girl - so I usually choose my tennis shoes based on the look factor. At the running shop they pick out which ones are good for your feet and if there is only two styles to choose from oh well! I would never have picked out such a flashy colored shoe, but between the options I was given this is what I choose!

Apps for running -

The Galloway apps happened to be on sale when I was looking into them and so I snatched them up at a great price! So far, I really like using his system and I think that it's not an "easy" way out of running, but rather for a newbie (non-sporty) type person like me it will help me reach my goal of finishing and within a decent time to boot!

I do use the Nike + app as well. My watch will sync with the app and I like that it tells me my pace and how I compared to another run. The Galloway app I use to help me train and the Nike app I use to help my cadence and track mileage.

Clothes-

Running in just any shirt won't do here in Texas! The heat and humidity are killer, so a moisture wicking material is best. Plus they cut down in rubbing. I wear shorts and shirts that are made for running/working out and even though I sometimes feel as though the shorts are crazy short, I don't want them chafing either!  I got this shirt from the Disney Store website long before I was pregnant with number three and I can finally wear it! I love running in it and it helps remind me why I'm training! I have found some great running gear for super cheap at Marshall's/TJ Maxx type stores.

Jogging Stroller-

The BOB stroller is the Ferrari of jogging strollers, in my honest opinion. I have had a BOB before I had my first child...yes, I ordered it when she was in the womb. My husband was doing triathlons at the time and I knew that he might want to run with her or when I went to cheer him on, the terrain at these events is not predictable. Grassy, sandy, over rough terrain - the BOB handles it all with ease. It truly is my all time favorite stroller! I use another stroller when I have all three kiddos, but I had invested in a double BOB when we had baby #2 and now that baby #3 is here... I am so glad I kept my single BOB. Now my husband runs with one stroller and I run with the other! Works out perfectly! I think that having this stroller is another way to support me in my training. 

Running Bra -

I have two bras that I run in. I have my Victoria's Secret VSX and My Moving Comfort Juno. I chose both for similar reasons. Both give you a little more coverage of the girls and have a type of padding to prevent that embarrassing see through bra effect when you start working out. I still breastfeed my 8 mo old and I wanted a bra that wouldn't contribute to mastitis, which I had with baby #2 and it was not fun! I wanted a bra with no underwire, which the Juno does not have. The VSX has underwire but it's coated in some type of cushion and is very comfortable to wear. The Moving Comfort bra also has adjustable straps, so I feel that as my body is still changing from having a baby 8 months ago, I can tighten as my body shrinks, but also if I need to feed my baby before or after a run I can easily do that in this bra. I think eventually I will have to be resized at VS for a smaller banded bra by race day, but I would buy the same kind next time.

Other running gadgets -
There are other gadgets that I have such as a running belt to hold my phone, a special towel that keeps me cool and a few other things, but I'll save them for another post! Thanks for reading! Any suggestions that you recommend or reviews? I'd love to hear them!
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