Tag: mom blog

September 2016

Happy 3rd Birthday Orlando Moms Blog!

casademurphy

Last weekend, we gathered together to celebrate a very happy occasion….

The 3rd Birthday for Orlando Moms Blog!!

While the blog was created in May 2013 by our owner/founder, Ms. Kristi Corley, it officially launched & went LIVE in September 2013. So, for that, we celebrate this September as our 3rd birthday.

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We were also SO excited to celebrate this birthday because this year has been one of significant growth for OMB. We reached a milestone with our Facebook page following with 5k followers during the year, and now proudly have over 6k!!! We also have almost 2500 followers on Instagram and over 1k followers on Twitter. We love Orlando Mamas & look forward to all the new adventures this next year will bring ❤

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So fun to be able to hang out with some of our team…love these ladies!

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Also got to have my favorite boys along with me for the evening ❤ …so fun!!

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photo credit for above two pictures — Where You Went Photography

Liam enjoyed coloring these cupcakes 🙂

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HUGE thank you’s to all the sponsors for the fab swag bags we got to take home!

Sweet by Holly!

Mustache on a Stick

Orlando Just Between Friends

Aleva Naturals

The Fluff Factory

The Confetti Bar

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Also, thank you to the Paper Goat Post for hosting our soiree. Such a lovely venue!

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It’s been 2 years and 3 months since my 1st article when live with OMB. You can check out all my posts with them HERE.

It’s been a while since I’ve cranked out a post for OMB, but Kristi has been so supportive in allowing me to make family a priority these last few months so that’s why you haven’t seen me there…but my support for those mamas remains strong. I love that this group is a great parenting resource for our community, and I’m excited to see the ways we will grow in the future! Each contributor brings their unique background, story, and perspective to each post, and I really love that!

Orlando Moms Blog is part of the City Moms Blog Network, and if you’re not local to Orlando, please click HERE to find a sister site in your area 🙂

CHEERS TO YOU, ORLANDO MOMS BLOG!! …AND, HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY! 

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June 2015, Latest & Greatest News

New Look & Celebrations!

casademurphy

Happy Friday, friends!

I am super excited to share that we have made some changes to our appearance around here 🙂 ….hope ya like it! The pages are even updated to reflect more current info & happenings.

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It’s also been 2 years since I started this little blogging journey, and I have to say it’s really turning out to be a fun experience that’s evolving & growing all on it’s own. Last year’s anniversary post can be found here, and my very 1st post can be found here 🙂

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With that, it was AWESOME to see that I had celebrated my 100th blog post with last week’s post! WOW!! — that’s a lot of sharing 🙂

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I’ve got a lot more to share with you, so I hope you….

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Until next time!!

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June 2015, Latest & Greatest News

The Moms Magazine — Summer Issue

casademurphy

Happy Monday, friends!

Excited to kick off the week with another feature in The Moms Magazine!

I continue to be honored to be a part of this wonderful publication ❤

Click HERE to take you to the digital copy of the Summer Issue, where you can find my “Summer Essentials: After – Beach Bathing Kit” on page 11 🙂

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Also, if you have not already singed up to receive your FREE print subscription, do it NOW! Click HERE to sign up….even shipping & handling is free…can’t beat that!

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Until next time!

~H

Latest & Greatest News, May 2015

Just Keep Swimming {A Refresher}: Our Little Fish

casademurphy

Little man recently wrapped up his spring swim refresher lessons with SwimSprout. Last spring, and into early summer, we spent about 9 weeks going through his initial lessons, & it was an awesome experience. You can catch up on that here.

With the refresher lessons, we just wanted to ensure he remembered everything that was taught to him last year. We plan to be in the water a lot this summer & the temps are already climbing, so it was definitely a good idea to get back into the pool now. We honestly hadn’t been in the water since September.

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We had lessons with Ms. Katie, again, and that made all of us happy. Consistently is key, especially at this age. She remembered his learning style & we pretty much picked up where we left off last summer. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised at Liam’s performance in the water on the 1st day. Given the amount of time spent out of the water, I was expecting him to have forgotten a lot, but I was SO wrong. He got right in & started swimming like we had been in the pool yesterday. It was awesome!

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Swimsprout teaches the basics of ISR, and little man did much better in his 1st week of refresher lessons with his rollback. He has definitely proven to be a strong swimmer and can hold his breath for a significant period of time. That can be both good and bad with learning the ISR technique. We have to remember to make him follow through and roll onto his back to take a breath and flip back over to swim to us and/or the steps or edge of the pool. Sometimes, he tries to power swim…and, that may not always be the safest route.

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At the end of the 1st week, I got in the pool with him & Ms. Katie so we could go over his skills & things to watch out for over the summer.

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Refresher lessons usually last 3 to 4 weeks, according to the info we received at registration. However, little man did so great that we only had to go for 2 weeks! Nice for the wallet, but we were a tad bit sad to not spend as much time with Ms. Katie this time around. She really is the best 🙂 …..Liam still asks at pick up from school if we’re going to swim lessons to see her {so cute!}.

We ended our last lesson with asking him to jump off the pool deck. He knew he had to land in the water by himself without having anyone catch him. He had never done this before, but we knew he was ready! He was a little leery, but went for it — he was terrific and we were SO PROUD!!

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Way to go, Liam!! You are such an awesome little fish! It’s gonna be a great summer of swimming….can’t wait!

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Before I end this post, let me just say that having ANY type of swim lessons does not make a child 100% safe in the water. NOTHING replaces parental supervision (that’s my PSA 🙂 ). Also, everyone remember to use pool gates, locks or alarms on doors / windows, and know CPR. Everywhere you look there are bodies of water….it doesn’t take you personally having a pool for your child needing these life saving skills or supervision. PLEASE be safe ❤

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Until next time, friends!

~H

April 2015, Latest & Greatest News

Our Easter Egg-Stravaganza! {2015}

casademurphy

As usual, I am a bit behind with my post but luckily, not as late as I was at this time last year 🙂

April just ends up being a busy month for us. Lots happening — Liam got a new room, we just finished up his swim refresher lessons, me & Stephen’s anniversary, and all the other fun day-to-day business that keeps this family afloat. I will definitely be sharing some of this with you soon!

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We knew Liam would be doing a few Easter Egg hunts throughout the Easter week, so on Easter weekend, we decided to do something a little different & headed out to the City of Oviedo’s Annual Marshmallow Drop.

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It was pretty cool. Liam got to see a helicopter drop an enormous amount of marshmallows on the field & we ran out to gather them up in his basket. He just made the 3 & under age group, so that was fun. The event separated the kids by age, so there were several “drops”. The kids then got to exchange their marshmallows for candy. Cute!

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The Easter Bunny came while little dude was asleep….I’ve mentioned before that Liam does NOT like characters in costume (e.g, the Easter Bunny). We had told him he was coming while he would be sleeping to leave him a basket of goodies. Well, normally, he would come out of his room as soon as he woke up…not Easter morning. We had to go in & get him — he wasn’t scared but he definitely asked us to make sure the bunny was gone 😉

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Most of his basket came from the Target dollar spot (so dangerous but I LOVE it!!) …he was super excited to see Baymax in the mix and the new Tinkerbell movie!

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After he had some time to explore the findings in his basket, we headed out front in our pj’s to discover that EB had left many eggs hidden all over the yard 🙂

Later that morning, we enjoyed lunch with several of our friends. Yes, I took a pic of the dessert — it was only fitting….haha!

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There was an egg hunt for the kiddos after we ate. Serious business, peeps! Some of those eggs were really hidden. So funny! The girls did a great job putting it together for them.

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Liam was thrilled to have his buddies, Allie & James, to play with. Here they are after the hunt exchanging their finding from the hunt 😉

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There was even a pinata! Look at the swing on this kid! I think T-ball is in his future 🙂

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We really enjoyed our Easter weekend and had a great time with great people!

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Until next time, friends!

~H

Latest & Greatest News, March 2015

Sea World

casademurphy

How is today the last day of March?!?! It has definitely been quiet around the blog here lately for me, but today I’m back sharing our adventure from Sea World over a few recent weekends. March was a busy one for Casa de Murphy & I have some more super fun things to share with you soon about what we’ve been up to!! 🙂

Sea World Orlando recently ran an AWESOME BOGO deal for annual passes (sorry, it’s over now!). Taking that deal into account on top of their other current promotion for the Sea World Orlando 2015 Preschool Pass & this was an offer we just couldn’t pass up. All 3 of us have a whole year of fun ahead of us for less than $200. Score!!

If you have a kiddo that’s age 5 or younger & you are in our Orlando area, you should definitely take advantage of the Preschool Pass. It’s FREE….seriously, can you beat that?!?!

Stephen & I hadn’t been to the park in several years, so it was fun to get reacquainted with things & see all that had changed. There are so many new, fun things to do. You can great information about the park to plan your next visit!

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We didn’t have Liam the last time we visited, so this was our 1st time checking out Shamu’s Happy Harbour ….he really loved the choo-choo train ❤

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Acting like Shamu 😉

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A current fav is Pacific Point Preserve — where the Sea Lions are. Liam loved feeding them & I am sure this will be a stop at each visit.

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A new exhibit for us: Antarctica — Empire of the Penguin ….Liam almost didn’t want to go in here {still not sure why…the whole area is very close to the Manta & Kraken roller coasters & we think he may have thought we were walking onto one of them when we were waiting in line to go into the Antarctica buidling}. This attraction replaced the old penguin exhibit & it’s so fun! It’s a ride that then takes you to get off at the penguin exhibit, where you can walk around & view the little guys.

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In love with the many underwater aquarium viewing areas found throughout the park ❤

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Such a great time learning about the animals & exploring the park. Time permitting, we hope to make it back at least once-a-month to continue to enjoy it.

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Until next time, friends!

~H

Latest & Greatest News, March 2015

The Moms Magazine – Spring Issue

casademurphy

Happy Hump Day, friends!! 🙂

I am beyond thrilled to once again be a part of an amazing issue of The Moms Magazine!

Click HERE to take you to the digital copy of the Spring issue, where you can find my “Egg-cellent” Easter crafts on page 8 😉

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Also, if you have not already signed up to receive your FREE print subscription, do it NOW! Click HERE to sign up….even shipping & handling is free….can’t beat that!

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Until next time, friends!

~H

January 2015, Latest & Greatest News

The Moms Magazine!

casademurphy

Hi Friends! I am SUPER EXCITED to share with you that I am a contributing writer for the Winter 2015 Issue of The Mom’s Magazine! 🙂

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I wrote my article — “10 Simple Tips for Positive Parenting in 2015”

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Please check it out from the digital copy of the magazine here

Also, you can request your FREE subscription to the magazine HERE! (includes FREE shipping & handling too….awesome!!) The magazine’s goal is to share the incredible articles and information from every issue of The MOMS Magazine as far as possible within the continental United States of America!

I am so proud to be a part of this issue ❤

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Until next time, friends!

~H

Latest & Greatest News, October 2014

Week-In-Review

casademurphy

Last week was such a fun week at gymnastics! Liam overcame his fear of flipping upside down and did his pull-over on the un-even bar with Coach Elyssa! He was super proud, as were we! Even more exciting was that his coach sent him a ‘star student’ certificate in the mail later in the week to recognize this awesome achievement 🙂 …that really was such a sweet gesture from her! Much appreciated by this momma & daddy!!

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We enjoyed a busy, but super fun weekend, as we geared up for the upcoming Halloween celebration. The festivities kicked off on Friday evening with our annual bash at the Bengel’s. Liam sported his costume and looked awesome!!

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Lisa had the house all decked out and I was in love with her ‘floating candles’ in their family room. Great touch!

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The kids decided to break out some pretty sweet dance moves. Liam definitely has some moves of his own, people….so cute!

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On Sunday, we took our little guy out to UCF for ‘Trick or Treat on Greek Street’. This was the 1st year we made it out there, and it was fun for him. He definitely was happy about the early trick-or-treating, and he did pretty good participating in a few of the games that they had set up.

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Trick-or-Treating is hard work 😉 …..water break!

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Sunday evening, the boys did a little pumpkin carving out back. Even the fur baby got in on the action 🙂

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Posing with his finished ‘jack-o-lantern’ …the smaller pumpkin is a fake one but he insisted that it was ‘the baby’ and that the one Stephen carved was ‘the daddy’, so they had to stay together….LOL!!! Too Funny!! What an imagination!

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By the time the candle burned out on this guy on Sunday night, I was exhausted….such a busy weekend, yet so much fun…..and, so many wonderful memories! Lots more Halloween fun to come this week. We are looking forward to sharing with you soon.

Until next time, friends!

~H