I am so excited to be able to offer my readers these things. But I’m also excited that I also get to try them out. Not only are we planning a trip to NY this summer, but now we can add Boston to the list of day trips we’re going to take. With another cruise on the agenda only of Boston Harbor. You too can take a cruise of Boston Harbor. With this $10 off coupon you can cruise Boston Harbor for $32 a person. Children under 14 are half price and babies 2 and under are free. So are you heading to Boston this year? Take advantage of this amazing tour. Here’s what it’s all about…

Dedicated to providing the most impeccably luxurious and hospitable sailing experience in Boston, we here at Classic Harbor Line are looking forward to the privilege of escorting you on a breathtaking excursion aboard the most elegant sailing vessel in Boston Harbor: Schooner Adirondack III. Boston’s rich maritime history is best viewed from the water, so why not do it in style? While out on the water on Bostons best boat tour, you will be treated to skyline view and Boston Harbor that cannot be captured any other way. This is the best way to go sightseeing in Boston! So come on out, kick up your feet, and let the Classic Harbor Line crew do all the heavy lifting (and drink pouring) for you. Sailing on the Adirondack III with us will provide a new perspective on the city of Boston for the first time visitor and the seasoned local alike!

Whether buying tickets for one of our Boston Day Sails, Sunset Sails, City Lights Sails, or privately chartering the schooner for a special family or corporate event, you will be amazed by the comfort and beauty of Adirondack III. Like all of Classic Harbor Line’s fleet, the unmatched Adirondack III was built and is maintained by the Scarano Boat Building Company in Albany, NY.

My Readers Receive $10 off each ticket purchased at Boston Sailing using ONLINE promo code FAMILY10

If you go share with me how it was.  I will leave you with one last picture of the breathtaking cruise you could be missing out on.

I have a great deal for you.  You can take 15% off Kidecals which are name labels which you can personalize for your kids.  Label everything of the kids without worrying that it will come off when wet.  But when you do need it to come off, it comes off cleanly.

Personalized Kids Name Labels

Do you have a kid who’s always losing her stuff?  Kidecals might just be the answer for that. You can label water bottles, clothes, books, toys, and even sports gear with fun kid friendly designs.  Kidecals are so durable.  They are dishwasher, washing machine AND dryer safe, and they don’t damage surfaces.

Waterproof Labels

Sharpies are fine for labeling things, if you want it to come off after a wash or two.  Kidecals are waterproof.  You want to label pool toys?  Not a problem with Kidecals.  No matter what you put them through they stay put and on many different surfaces too.

Fun Mustache Stickers

I don’t know what the deal with with the mustache trend, but it seems to be here to stay at least for now.  Kidecals is up on the latest trends and they even have these fun Partystache stickers to use as drink markers, and Mustache Chalkboard Stickers to easily label/organize anything in your pantry or craft room.

Chalkboard Labels

Chalkboard things are really coming back.  My kids want everything chalkboard now.  Almost seems vintage, but with kidecals they make some really pretty designs, and their chalkboard labels are super durable and can even go through the dishwasher!  This is perfect for organizing and labeling things that are going to change so you don’t have to print out new labels.  I’m thinking my clothing bins.  So I know if I’m saving stuff for summer or winter and for which child.

Daycare/School/Camp Labels

Daycare, preschool, or camp, everything has to be labeled.  And I do mean EVERYTHING.   This is no problem with Kidecals.  Label everything right down to your child’s socks with their durable daycare labels.  It’s fast and easy to do.

Kidecals was even recently seen on the Today Show.

I know my readers could really use something like this so I’m so happy I get to share this save 15% off Kidecals promo code with you.  Just use promo code: bestlabels.

Let me know how you like your Kidecals if you order them.

Mother’s Day is Sunday and just in case you were looking for more reason to say thank you to Mom check out this great infographic which shows just what moms do. Don’t forget mom this Mother’s Day. And remember we appreciate the from the heart gestures over anything else. Sure jewelery is nice, but when my middle daughter asked me what I wanted for Mother’s Day this year I told her no fighting between your siblings for just one day. That would mean more to me than anything just having a break from playing referee for the day. Oddly enough she would rather buy me something, in that case something from the heart.

Via: Promocode4share.com

Are you planning a trip to NY city anytime soon?  Well, if you are, then I have a fun treat for you.  You can save $10 off a ticket to Classic Harbor Line and cruise NY Harbor.  That makes it as little as $31 a ticket and you get an hour and a half tour aboard a luxury yacht.  Check out NY city skyline and the Statue of Liberty from the water.  And enjoy a relaxing evening on a luxury yacht.

We don’t have any vacation plans this summer, but I think we’ll make a trip to NY city one of the days my husband is on vacation and give this a try.  Sounds like a great time.  Here are the details.

Dedicated to helping locals and visitors alike enjoy the unique wonders of New York City, Classic Harbor Line hopes for the privilege of escorting you on a relaxing, inspiring and breathtaking sightseeing cruise through the waters we proudly call home. Our classic yachts – the Schooner Adirondack & Adirondack III and the Schooner America 2.0 (our sailboats), and the Luxury Yacht Manhattan (our motorized yacht) are reminiscent of the classic boats that cruised New York Harbor a hundred years ago. My Readers Receive $10 off each ticket purchased at www.sail-nyc.com using ONLINE promo code FAMILY10

If you take advantage of this offer please share your pictures with me.  I would love to see how much fun you had.

Photo courtesy of The Wall Street Journal and Julie Rothman.

I think I’m about to take an unpopular stance in the world of mom bloggers when it comes to the Wall Street Journal post about the Mommy Business Trip from last week.  This keeps popping up everywhere and mom bloggers are outraged at this article.  Reminds me of the outrage over Time Magazine last year.  Honestly, I think it was the title or really just the term Mommy Business Trip that has people up in arms.  And controversy does sell so it’s not entirely surprising that a huge publication like the Wall Street Journal would recognize this.

I however would say it’s a relatively accurate description of blog conferences.  Now mind you this is coming from someone who admittedly has never been to a blog conference.  I have been to other conferences though and I have seen what sort of wild crazy parties happen through social media at some of the larger blog conferences.  And I also know people (men and women) with a 9-5 job who have business trips all the time and none of them ever seem to happen quite like blog conferences do.  Heck, even the clown conference I once went to didn’t have as wild of a time as I’ve seen through social media at conferences like BlogHer.  And you know a bunch of clowns get into a room together and anything is possible, but that experience of mine just doesn’t seem to compare.

So I thought I would break down my limited knowledge of both the regular 9-5 type job business trip in comparison to the blog conferences I have seen out there.  Then maybe more of you will see why I think moms going to a blog conference isn’t just your normal run of the mill business trip which I might add fathers and mothers do take with their 9-5 in an office jobs.

A More Traditional Business Trip

My neighbor has done her fair share of traveling for her job.  It is absolutely not something she ever looks forward to and she really could do without.  It’s exhausting and it’s a pain for her.  She misses her own bed and her day is jam packed.  Last summer she was going away every other week for the entire summer.

She would fly out on a flight which was chosen by a company travel agent that either left very early in the morning or very late at night.  She would arrive to her destination after traveling all day long just to get there and head straight to her hotel room and crash.  Then it was up bright and early the next morning to spend an entire day in a hotel conference room getting lectured.  She might get a break for lunch.  But for the most party she stayed in that one room all day long.  She didn’t get to choose what she got to learn about.  Everyone was there together getting training.  If they were lucky they would break by 5 p.m.  No one was up to doing anything after it was all said and done.  So you have a group of grumpy employees grabbing elevators to go to their room, call up room service, and crash.

Then the next day it started all over again.  If they were lucky on the last day they dismissed early and maybe had some time to kill before their flight would leave.  An entire week, the only time out of the hotel was on the last day when they were checking out anyways.  They would find something to do where they were, but sometimes it meant just eating a meal out.  Others it was a meal and some sight seeing.  But that was it, that was how my neighbor’s summer was spent last year.  She would then get on a plane after having been up since 5 a.m.  It’s now over 12 hours later and she’s still going.  She gets on the plane, tries to sleep, but can’t, and then ends up being awake for a total of 24 hours by the time she gets home.  The traveling took up her whole weekend so it was like she was virtually working 7 days a week for 3 months.

So who’s ready to sign up for that?  Trust me, this isn’t the only person I know of who takes business trips very similar to this.  It’s always dreaded and there’s very little fun/sight seeing.  And there are never parties.

Blog Conference Business Trips

Now I don’t think all blog conferences are necessarily created equal.  However, the big ones like BlogHer and Mom 2.0 Summit are all set up a certain way.  And that is with a huge focus on the parties, or the networking.  Even in the Wall Street Journal article the conferences they were talking about and the people they interviewed were centered around the parties.  They were looking forward to not having to deal with the day to day grind and letting their hair down and hanging out with just the girls.  Eating from the mini bar and not watching Sponge Bob.

Last year during BlogHer12 I wrote about how I was watching the tweets go by pertaining to BlogHer someone said she goes to feel like a superstar.  And I felt sorry for her because she must be missing out on something at home if her family isn’t making her feel like a superstar.

So yes there is learning for your business happening at these blog conferences and of course not everyone goes for the same reasons.  I probably would do the daily conference stuff and skip the parties throughout the night stuff.  Some people truly do look at it as a getaway from their kids with the bonus of learning something new, but the child free time and networking/partying is number one to them.  But there is more of a want to be at a blog conference rather than a you have to go or lose your job.

However, like I said I have been to other conferences before.  One was only a day long one for the PTA.  Honestly it was a pain to schedule with childcare, but I felt it was important that I went.  Ultimately I was glad to have gone for the information I learned, but it was a long day centered around learning.  Learning about new computer programs we could get families connected with and learning about what PTA can do for our school.

The other conference in my life I went to was a clown conference.  Yes, they have those.  That one was a weekend thing.  A bunch of us clowns piled into a car (not dressed as clowns) and drove up to MA where the conference was being held and spent the weekend together learning our trade.  There were vendors there selling everything from balloons, to makeup, to gag props.  During the day we attended seminars which were of interest to us and at night we hung out in the hotel room.  The last night there was a costume party which I attended.  It was fun and some of the clowns really let loose and got wild, but for the most part it was a pretty subdued group.  There probably was alcohol there (I was 17 years old when I went).  Perhaps there were after parties or private parties going on, but I didn’t know about any of those.  And the partying wasn’t the be all end all of the conference.  It wasn’t even a huge focus of the whole thing.  And I didn’t run into a bunch of drunk clowns in the lobby or on the elevator either.

Leading up to these blog conferences there is a lot of excitement.  People talking about what to wear and what to pack.  They have them set up to be a really fun weekend to draw the crowds that they draw.  They get huge names to speak at them like Martha Stewart.  Bloggers become awe struck when they meet some of their favorite bloggers.  I’m just not seeing this as your typical business trip.  Even your typical business conference does not have the same set up.

And again, we’re not talking about smaller conferences for blogging which are selling the learning and the learning alone.  Even the Wall Street Journal isn’t focusing on that.  I think if bloggers were honest with themselves about this article and what the larger conferences do mean it isn’t your typical suit and tie business man business trip.  Perhaps Mommy Business Trip isn’t the right term.  Perhaps it should be Blogger Business Trip, but lets be honest here, BlogHer and Mom 2.0 Summit appeal to so many people because of the kind of getaway that it provides to its attendees.  Not because they are providing any really new and ground breaking education on the art of blogging.

There is nothing wrong with this.  Moms need to get away.  And this just might be the guilt free way to do it by saying it’s for my business.  Everyone’s going to go for different reasons and get different things out of the experience, but I truly do not think one can compare a blog conference to a business trip.  I really don’t even think blog conferences necessarily compare to other business conferences.  I see nothing wrong with the Wall Street Journal article though.  Looked like a pretty fair assessment of these blog conferences which are marketed towards moms.  That’s who companies want to reach out to and to get them there you have to give them what they want.  And for many moms that means a weekend away without the responsibility of knowing where everyone’s belongings are and listening to Sponge Bob all day long.

How do you feel about the term Mommy Business trip?

Photo Adapted from Monster Trax

Thrifty Nifty Mommy recently reviewed this Monster Trax ride-on toy. You can read all about it by clicking here. Then, enter to WIN your own Monster Trax Convertible Battery-Powered Ride-On NOW!

This is the perfect time to win a ride on toy. The weather is finally starting to warm up where I am and the kids are playing outside more. And I don’t know about your kids, but mine get bored quickly while out there, even with all of their bikes and balls and chalk. I can see my kids loving cruising the streets in this convertible.

Disclosure:  I received no compensation for sharing this post.  The participating bloggers are not responsible for sponsors who do not fulfill prize obligations.  

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Eleven years ago today this beautiful young lady to the right here was born.  Her labor story is an interesting one.  She was 4 days early, but after a long pregnancy which included wearing a halter monitor when I was 8 months pregnant because my doctor was concerned about my heart rate I was so ready for it to be over.

My oldest daughter’s 3rd birthday was coming up and the unknown of when she was going to come was making me anxious.  My doctor had offered to induce me and I agreed to it and was going to go in for my appointment on the 11th to see if I was favorable for an induction.

But as always she had a mind of her own.  On April 10, 2002 we had been out all day shopping and walking around.  We finally were home and relaxing and I was playing my new found obsession of Bejeweled on the computer.  My husband was sitting next to me watching me play and watching my face.  He kept asking if I was okay.  I told him I’m fine.  So he started timing my facial ticks which were every five minutes.  He told me, I think you’re having contractions.  So we argued about whether I should call the doctor, ultimately he won.  My oldest was a fast labor and we had a 15 minute drive to the hospital.  So off we went to the hospital.

It was 10:00 at night by the time we got there.  They checked me and I was contracting every 3 minutes and was 5-6 centimeters dilated.  And yet they weren’t sure I was staying.  The doctor came in, said, “You’re staying.”  I was admitted and blood work was done and by midnight they were breaking my water and at 2 a.m. I was pushing and all 8 pounds 15 ounces and 22 inches of her was born at 2:10 a.m. on April 11, 2002.

And that’s how she got here and now I would like to tell you 11 things about my girl that we have had the pleasure of watching develop in her.

11 Things About My Girl On Her 11th Birthday

1. She loves arts and crafts.  Painting, coloring, beads, making bracelets, whatever she can do creatively she will do it.  She sees something to make out of everything she finds.
2. She doesn’t give up.  No matter how hard something is she plows through setting huge goals for herself to achieve.
3. She loves Tinkerbell.
4. She talks, a lot.  Like non stop at home.
5. At school though she is very quiet.
6. She is learning to play the clarinet and loves it.
7. She wants to be a hairdresser to the stars when she grows up.
8. If she’s not a hairdresser, then she’s going to be a teacher.
9. She is really good at math.
10. She is a really great big sister.  She sits with her little brother on the bus everyday and walks him to class.
11. She is always ready to chip in and help with things when asked to, even when not asked.

That’s the birthday girl.  I could probably go on for another 11 things, or 111 things.  That’s how great she is.  Happy 11th birthday on the 11th to my girl!

Was there anything you were surprised to find out about my newly turned 11 year old?

5 Minutes for Mom is hosting the Ultimate Party and I thought I would join in. Seems like a great way to meet new people err blogs after all. So be sure to hop on over to 5 Minutes for Mom and see some other great blogs over there and learn about some other really great bloggers. But before you go stick around and learn a little something about me.  I promise I don’t bite, well unless you want me to.

My Name Is Monica

In case you didn’t get that from the title of my blog, my name is Monica.  I am the mother to four children and one angel in heaven.  My kids range in age from toddler to teen.

I have been a SAHM for almost 14 years. Before I was a mom though I was a college student.  I became a mother at a young age so I didn’t get to experience a whole lot.  But I was born and raised in CT, went to college for two years at Florida Southern College, and now I live in CT with my husband of 13 years and our 4 children.  We met at my summer job at Dunkin Donuts and had a bit of a whirlwind romance.

My oldest, a girl, is almost 14.  She is smart, funny, and can be extremely shy.  She is the most like me, looks and attitude wise.

My 2nd, also a girl, is almost 11.  She is my artsy creative butterfly.  She works harder at things than anyone I know.  She is very outgoing and usually with a smile.

My 3rd is the only boy and he’s 5.  He is silly and goofy and always with a story to make people laugh.  He can be quiet, but people seem to gravitate towards him.

And rounding out the bunch is my toddler girl.  She’s 2 and very strong willed, but also very sweet.  She wants to be just like all of her older siblings and do everything they do and thus she has been growing up faster than the rest of her siblings ever did.  I’m trying to hold on a little longer and she’s trying to chase after the big kids.  She keeps me on my toes, that’s for sure.

I also have an angel baby.  Another little girl who we lost at 20 weeks gestation in December of 2008.  She has a special place in my heart as she has taught me so much about life and death and I never even got to hear her voice.  I will continue to talk about her and share her because I will never forget her and I don’t want you to forget her either.

The Blog

I actually started blogging five years ago on another blog.  I still have it, I keep that as my family blog.  In June of 2011 I decided to branch out and make a blog more specific to parenting and issues that arise when you’re a parent.  That way the other blog could be about the kids and the things that they do and I could still write about my thoughts on parenting.

So that’s how Monica’s Mom Musings was born.  I share how I became the parent I am today and who I hope to become.  I also talk about some current event issues.  And from time to time I will share a review or two.

Raising children is the toughest job there is and having children ranging in age from toddler to teen has proven to be extremely interesting.  The realization that for the next 16 years I will continue to deal with school and mood swings and hormones blows my mind away.  But I also know it will all be over before I know it.  So I have to blog it so I don’t forget it.

So that’s me, my family, and my blog.  Do you have a blog?  Come party with 5 Minutes for Mom and tell us all about it.

I’m no math whiz, but I do love pi, or maybe it’s pie I love.  Either way today is 3/14 and that means it’s Pi Day.  Probably one of the few things I actually remember from my upper level math classes, since as suspected I do not in fact need algebra and geometry in my day to day life, is that Pi = 3.14.  Then there’s a whole mess of other numbers that follow, but that was ingrained in me in school.  The value of Pi = 3.14.

I do wish I remember more of my Algebra and Geometry and the Pre Calculus I took in college.  Now that my children are getting into the upper grades I feel like I’m really relearning all of this stuff.  Which stinks because when my daughter comes to me with her PEMDAS (parenthesis, exponent, multiplication, division, add, and subtract – hey look at that I remembered something else) problems and her Distributive Property questions I’m looking online trying to refresh my memory on this stuff and how it all works.  Then I have to try to explain it to her.  Needless to say, she doesn’t come to me for help with her homework much these days.

And the truth of it all while I remember that Pi = 3.14 and I know what the symbol for Pi looks like I had to look up what its purpose was just to write this blog post.  And when I saw it I was like, oh yeah, duh.  So Pi is a constant in math that is the ratio of its circumference to diameter of a circle.

Makes sense that Pi would have something to do with a circle, because the pie we eat is round.

So what’s the point in all of this?  Well, I don’t really know.  Remember, I’m in a blogging funk.  I needed something to write about.  And when it dawned on me it’s Pi Day I thought this would be fun.

Facts About Pi

I know you all come here for the math lessons.  Hey, I did after all teach you all the ladder method of division.  I’m a wealth of math knowledge for you all.  So lets talk about Pi.

• Pi is an irrational number which goes on forever, never repeating itself.
• The symbol is a Greek letter which was first used in 1706 by William Jones.
• Pi has been calculated to over 1 trillion numbers past its decimal.
• With Pi you can find the Area of a circle (A= πr²) and the Volume of a cylinder (V=πr²h).
• The first 144 digits of Pi add up to 666.
• Albert Einstein was born on this day (3/14/1879).
• The official celebration of Pi day begins at 1:59 P.M. on 3/14 to signify the beginning numbers of Pi (3.14159).

There’s so much interesting information out there about Pi.  It’s fascinating to not find patterns in a number.  I personally love patterns.  Seriously, the fact that my youngest daughter was almost born on the 3rd was annoying the heck out of me since we are a family of 1s and 2s.  Luckily she kept with the 1s and 2s in a big way since there are nothing but 1s and 2s in her DOB.  I am such a stickler for numbers you might also notice I always always schedule my posts for a round time, except today.  Today I have this post scheduled for the official start time of Pi day celebration 3-14-1:59.

Now let us eat pie.

What interesting facts do you know about Pi?

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I have stuff to write about, but no drive to do it right now.  I hate to let you all down.  I mean I should be banging this stuff out, I just took my little mini vacation, but alas there are a ton of topics sitting in my draft box only half finished.  So in lieu of actual blogging today I thought I would put a request out to you my readers.  Hope you stick around for what’s to come because once I get out of my funk I’m gonna kill it with the blogging.

Ask Me Questions, I Will Answer

Maybe I’m just too close to what I’m trying to write about right now and I need a break.  So I want you all to ask me anything.  I promise to answer honestly.  I can’t guarantee I’ll answer all questions because I do have to protect my privacy and that of my family, but I will do my best.

Whether you want to know something more specific about me or something that has been making you struggle and you think I might have the answer to.  Or maybe I can point you in the direction of the answers.

We’ll make this a sort of bloggy Q&A session.  What do you want to know?