Chick Fil A Lake Ridge Mom Blogger Night

Does anyone need a reminder about my love of CFA? 

Remember that time that they helped me raise a few hundred dollars for brain cancer research?

Or that time that they sent me to Atlanta? Or that time they have the perfect unsweet tea with lemon?

Except on Sundays.  I have to pass CFA Bristow EVERY blessed week on my way to Chapel Springs and the struggle is real because you never want a CFA iced tea more than on Sunday morning, let me tell you what. I've asked them about putting out a gatorade bucket of tea and an honor system can, but they don't seem to think that would work out as well as I do.

Sigh.

Anyway, I love Chick Fil A.  I love all the great work they do in our community, I love that they have healthy fast food options (grilled nuggets? Much better choice!), and I love that they offer fun events for kids. I am, after all, a mom blogger- when you really get right down to it. And because I'm a mom blogger, CFA Lake Ridge invited me to come out and sample some of the new menu items last night! (As well as some oldies but goodies!)

So much fun!! We had White Sand and Teacups, The Mummy Chronicles, Mom the Magnificent, Beltway Bargain Mom, Once Upon a Squat, and Macaroni Kid Woodbridge.  And the cow.  And the awesome CFA Woodbridge/Lake Ridge team of Helen, Krystal, and Ann!

When I arrived it had not been the best day.  So when Helen handed me a sample of their new frosted coffee (available March 14th and sooooo good.  Think a frappe from your fave coffee shop.) and Laura Harders from Beltway Bargain Mom was there, I literally almost started to cry I was so happy.  It doesn't take much for me, people.  I blame the brain surgery- it's turned me into a walking Kleenex commercial.  #SoHappyImGonnaCry

Then Helen brought out a tray of PWC Moms Amuse Bouche.  We had a mom blogger event a few years ago at the Woodbridge store, and I had joked that my husband and I went out to fancy dinner for our anniversary once where they brought me out this amuse bouche that was literally just the perfect bite of food.  It inspired me to start making everything, including my CFA order, into the perfect bite.  So I would put chicken and a little cole slaw on a waffle fry and drizzle it with Chick Fil A sauce, and boom- instant perfection.  Helen remembered and brought out a tray of my "perfect bites", minus the cole slaw that is no more.

However there is now superfood salad, which is amazing.  And also, cheese sauce.  Which doesn't taste like nasty canned cheese, but like actual cheese sauce! (Not that I'd expect nasty canned cheese from CFA, but usually when people offer you cheese sauce that's what you get.)

There was frosted strawberry lemonade (it tasted like summer in a straw....the number of times that I said I was so happy last night is probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 400.  I was only there for an hour.)

There was chicken tortilla soup (so good!) and the new spicy southwest chicken salad (with spicy pumpkin seeds that I would just eat as a snack) and the most adorable market salads I've ever seen (and, if you ask, they will make you one without blue cheese crumbles).

Did you know that if you get grilled nuggets with a superfood salad side that you can have a tasty, healthy lunch for under 300 calories? Which is pretty darn good.

Of course, a CFA sauce will add 140 calories, and it's my favorite, but I'm also a big fan of the Buffalo Sauce now, which adds exactly 10 little calories to your lunch.  I like that with the kale, broccolini, and chicken you feel really full! And I like hot sauce, so it all works out.






Thanks to Chick Fil A Lake Ridge for a fun night with some amazing local bloggers! And the coffee.  The coffee wast amazing. #Caffeine

Dinner Idea: Make Your Own Pita Bar

We had our first blissfully lovely day outside on the 22nd, and after finishing all of our "required" items for the day, we all just wanted to soak in the outdoors as much as possible.  I didn't want to tell anyone to stop playing (including myself) so I set up a dinner that everyone could fix when/if they felt like it.

This super easy pita bar pretty much makes itself.  Stir up the tzatziki sauce earlier in the day, throw the chicken in the crock pot, and you're good to go! You obviously wouldn't want to leave this out for hours upon hours (unless you've got ice under your chicken and your tzatziki) but it'll sit out nicely while people wander in to eat as they start to feel their tummy rumble.

Setup: Bowls of tzatziki, chopped tomato, diced cucumber, shredded lettuce, shredded Greek slow cooker chicken, and kalamata olives (not pictured because I'm the only one that eats them).  Feta cheese crumbles would be delicious, too.

For the chicken, I put a package of chicken tenders in the slow cooker along with some Pampered Chef Greek Rub (#NotSponsored) and the juice of a lemon.  Once they were cooked and falling apart, I shredded them.

My tzatziki recipe is mostly by taste, but I've estimated it here for you:
2 cups of Greek Yogurt (any type will do)
1 heaping teaspoon of garlic powder (this is why it needs to sit, you can also use 3-4 cloves fresh)
1/2 a seedless (English) cucumber, shredded, pour off the juice but don't squeeze
2-3 tablespoons of dried dill
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/2 teaspoon of salt
a few shakes of black pepper

I like to let this sit at least a few hours, but it gets better overnight.  If you use fresh garlic and dill it will need to sit less, but I never have fresh dill, and I like not getting chunks of garlic, so I use powdered.  Your call :)

For the pitas, I like to preheat the oven to 200 degrees, turn it off, and place a packet of pitas wrapped in foil in the oven.  Then they're warm pretty much whenever people want to grab one.

Enjoy!

Silver Sparkles Family Fun Day 2016

Join us for an awesome day of family fun with all the funds we raise after expenses going to support Brain Cancer Research.  (Can you still get your business at this event? Yup! Email me.) 

A special thanks to our sparkle sponsor, Drayer Physical Therapy Institute! 

Throughout the day we'll have free classes in the community room, lots to do in the gym, and even a few outdoor activities, weather permitting.  There will be food and raffle tickets for sale, so bring cash (we will take credit cards for raffle tickets, too).  Every vendor table has a fun thing for your kids to do, so you can check out local businesses and kid-friendly venues while your kids have a great time playing!

Why should you come? Well, come to have fun, come to meet local businesses and find places to plug your kids in.  Come to support local Mom-run businesses.  Come to support me because I run this insane website.  Come because cancer sucks.  I don't care, really, all that much about your motivation, just come!! 

TICKETS ARE PER FAMILY- you will need one ticket for everyone that lives in your home as part of your family.  If you bring grammy and grandpa and they don't live with you, they'll need their own ticket.  I really want this event to be accessible for families, so please be honest about your ticket purchases so that I don't have to start charging per person! Remember, too, we donate ALL the profit we make at this event, so it's all for a good cause!

Here's what's on tap so far:

Classroom Space:

Ballet Class with Academy of Russian Ballet

Mincraft Class with Animated Child

Special Storytime with Prince William Libraries
**Please note, admission to these is NOT guaranteed because we have space limitations**

Thanks to Just Between Friends for sponsoring our DJ!

Main Event Space:

We're updating this list as vendors sign up! Keep checking back for more fun! 
GMS Gymnastics- Flexed arm hang challenge

Jessica Salazar Photography- Family Fun Photo Booth

Jamberry Nails with Jaimie Gvozdas

Bach to Rock- Musical Performer and instrument play

Discovery Junction Children's Museum- Interactive Play Area

Chick Fil A Bristow and Chick Fil A Sudley Manor (and the cow!) Will be selling their Original Chick-fil-A Sandwiches -- all profit will go to brain cancer/brain tumor research. And the Chick-fil-A Cow will be there =) PLEASE BUY SOME CHICK FIL A :) this is a really big deal for our fundraiser!
LuLaRoe

The Freedom Center

Animated Child- Hosting our minecraft class, their table will be awesome, too! 

Soccer Shots- Score a goal challenge

Academy of Russian Ballet- hosting our ballet class, and their table will be awesome, too! 

Prince William County Parks and Recreation

Athlete's Addiction-  Agility Ladder

Game Truck- Full game truck play will be available outside during our event! 

Potomac Patriots Youth Hockey- Score a Goal

Lori Beth Willis Thirty One- Train station

Michael Chamberlin, Magician from 2:15-4:45pm

Kingdom of Azuria (Princess!) 

Brunos Bounce House- indoor bounce

DPGolf Academy- Putt Putt Golf
Pampered Chef with Doina Heinz- Food Fun
Gainesville Pediatric Dentistry- PlayDoh Dentist
JustJump Outdoor bounce
Megan Keys Photography- Temporary Tattoos
Kids Chemistry with Des & Desi
Drama Mama Cupcakes
Smoothie King of Woodbridge/Colby's Ride
DoTerra with Leah Zapata 
Stella and Dot with Melisa
MOMS Club of PWC

Raffle Items- We'll have awesome Swag Bags from Katherine Breyfogle and Got Posh for the first 200 people who purchase $10 or more of raffle tickets! (Cash or credit  cards will be accepted!) 

Raffle items include: 
We're updating this list as vendors sign up! Keep checking back for more exciting prizes! 

4 classes at The Little Gym

A one year membership at The Little Gym

Swim Kids gift baskets

Marketplace at Madison Crescent gift card set

Scentsy warmers

Toddlin Time of Manassas gift bag

The Smart Car Wash gift card

DC United Tickets courtesy of Soccer Shots

Soccer Shots Season

Simple Luxuries Travel gift basket

Barbie DVDs from Universal Home Entertainment

Passes to BeeHive Indoor Playground

Passes to Cheers Art Studio

Summer Camp from Edgemoor Art Studio

Gift Certificate to Abrakadoodle

Gift Baskets from Waterworks Water Park

Gift Basket from the Primrose School of Bristow
Birthday Party with AviationEd
Free PeeWee Golf Registration from DPGolf Academy
$105 Gift Card to DPGolf Summer Camp

Review: Monster Jam

I cannot, unfortunately, be everywhere at once, so I sometimes ask my sweet friends to go cover events for me.  There has to be some upside to being friends with me.  Free tickets are it. Thank you, Heidi, for covering Monster Jam for me! 

 Until I walked into the arena, I didn’t realize how old my preconceived notions of a Monster Truck Jam were! This was nothing like the “Sunday Sunday Sunday” old school (vintage?) commercials from my childhood showing demolition-style events for drag-racing fans who own hotrods. 

My skepticism vanished within minutes of the start of the show! Current pop music was playing, the crowd (filled with young families) was cheering, and two announcers were building the anticipation about who would be the night’s champion. We attended a Friday evening event and tickets were still available.

Monster Jam is a very family-friendly event that combines exciting competition and fun entertainment. There is something for everyone:

• ·       Tournament brackets and physics-defying tricks for the STEM student
• ·       Constant action and anticipation for the thrill-seeker
• ·       Big trucks, speedsters, and ATV quad racers for the gear-head
• ·       Cheering & rallying for the competitor
• ·       Laughter and fun for the entire family

I also appreciated the diversity of the drivers, including women and various ethnicities to inspire children of all backgrounds. Again, my preconceived notions, to my delight, were quite wrong!

The show includes various competitions allowing each driver to accrue points. Competitions include driving donuts and an obstacle course. The favorite event in our family was the monster truck free style final competition which included ridiculously high jumps that do not seem possible with vehicles of such size. The evening went by quickly, about 2 hours long with a 15 minute intermission. There were no long pauses between events, keeping even the youngest guest entertained.

We each found ourselves quickly finding a favorite driver to cheer for throughout the evening. For us girls, we chose the driver of Monster Mutt: Dalmatian. But all of us could not resist extending our arms and cocking our head to the side in true “dead-man-walking” fashion whenever Zombie competed, accompanied by Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”

This mom of a 12-year-old boy and an 8-year-old girl would absolutely recommend Monster Jam as a wonderful evening out for the whole family. Wear protective earphones or ear plugs (it is incredibly loud) and a jacket in cooler weather (the arena doors remain open for ventilation.) The only challenge to the event was the vendors selling very cool (but expensive, $15) cotton candy with a foam Grave Digger truck hat on the top, as well as other memorabilia, that the children will insist they cannot live without. Bring your credit card or set firm boundaries in advance.

You will have a blast!

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Disclosure: Heidi is much nicer than me, but would never ever lie, even if she was given tickets to be able to review an event.  All opinions are our own.  

Easter Egg Hunts 2016

Looking for fun springtime or Easter events in Manassas, Woodbridge, Gainesville, Lake Ridge, Bristow or Montclair? (Or maybe you're one of the brave folks who will drive all over Prince William County!) Here's what we've got! You can email us to add your event to this list for free, but please be kind to us and submit it in the same format you see all of these listings!!

Now, let's hop to it!

Event: Hippity Hoppity Pool Hunt
When: March 5th from 1-2pm
Where: SBDCRC
What:Egg Hunt and Open Swim event. Children will collect floating eggs in the pool and trade them for a “goodie bag”. Find the special egg and receive a special prize!  Children will be grouped by age for the Egg Hunt from 1:00pm to 2:00pm. Age Groups: 6 yrs and under (parents may help): 1:00pm - 1:20pm 7 to 9 yrs: 1:20pm – 1:40pm 10 to 12yrs: 1:40pm - 2pm  
Fee: $14/family of 4, $5/child, FREE to SBDCRC Passholders
Link: https://www.facebook.com/events/446021715595749/

Event: Breakfast with the Bunny at Matchbox (Potomac Mills)
When: March 12th from 8:30-10am
Where: Matchbox Potomac Mills
What: Potomac Mills will also be offering a chance to have Breakfast with the Bunny on
March 12th from 8:30 am to 10 am at Matchbox. The event is free, but seating is limited.  RSVP online.

Fee: FREE

Link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/potomac-mills-kidgits-kids-club-breakfast-with-the-bunny-tickets-21462583164

Event: Bunny Frame Craft Class
When: March 12th from 10am-12pm
Where: Michaels Stores
What: They craft, you shop! Kids 3 and up can enjoy a quick project and take home a finished masterpiece. Sign up in store or online, or just drop in. $2 per child, supplies included. Parent or guardian must remain on premises during the event.
Fee: $2
Link: http://www.michaels.com/classes-and-events/classesandevents

Event: Eggstravaganza (Pool Egg Hunt) 
When: March 18th from 5-7pm or 7:30-9:30pm
Where: Freedom Aquatic and Fitness Center
What: Lots of fun and an egg hunt in the pool! REGISTER ONLINE.
Fee: $14/child, parents free
Link: http://www.freedom-center.com

Event: Easter Egg Hunt (includes adaptive option)
When: March 19th from 10am-12pm
Where: Costello Park, Manassas Park
What: Ages 0-7 can enjoy an egg hunt! Adaptive egg hunt available at 12pm.  Use the codes by age group to register online. 
Fee: $5
Link: https://apm.activecommunities.com/manassaspark

Event: Flashlight Egg Hunt
When: March 19th from 7-8pm
Where: Costello Park, Manassas Park
What: Ages 8-11 can enjoy a flashlight egg hunt.  Use activity number 7313 to register. 
Fee: $5
Link: https://apm.activecommunities.com/manassaspark

Event: Tissue Paper Eggs Craft Class
When: March 19th from 10am-12pm
Where: Michaels Stores
What: They craft, you shop! Kids 3 and up can enjoy a quick project and take home a finished masterpiece. Sign up in store or online, or just drop in. $2 per child, supplies included. Parent or guardian must remain on premises during the event.
Fee: $2
Link: http://www.michaels.com/classes-and-events/classesandevents

Event: Egg-cellent Easter Extravaganza
When: March 19th from 10am-12pm
Where: Chinn Park Aquatic and Fitness
What: Come join us for an Egg-cellent egg hunt, face painting, family games, crafts and bounce house fun.  Egg hunt is for children ages 2 - 12.  Must Register by March 10. 
Fee: $5.00 per child, free to children ages 2 and younger
Link: https://www.facebook.com/events/955832027786388/

Event: Monkey Joe's Easter Eggstravaganza (Sterling)
When: March 23rd from 2pm-close
Where: Monkey Joe's 
What: On Wednesday March 23, the location will be hosting an Easter Eggstravaganza with $7 admission from 2pm to close. “Easter Bunny Joe” will be available to take photos with children all day. He will also be handing out Easter eggs to each child.
Fee: $7
Link: www.monkeyjoes.com/locations/dulles

Event: Egg Hunt at Camp William B. Snyder
When: March 26th at 9am SHARP
Where: Camp William B. Snyder, Haymarket
What: Be here at 9am sharp! This event moves fast.  Children will be separated by age to hunt for filled plastic eggs. Keep an eye out for the prize winning golden eggs and make sure you bring a basket and your camera! The Easter Bunny will be there for photo ops and fun.
Fee: $5/child by March 23, $8 day of registration
Link: https://scoutingevent.com/?CWBSEggHunt

Event: General's Ridge Egg Hunt
When: March 26, 2016 10am-12:30pm
Where: General's Ridge Golf Course
What: Join us for our First Easter Egg Hunt. Ages 4 & Under 10:00 am - 10:20 am, Ages 5-8 10:30 am -10:50 am, Ages 9-12 11:00 am - 11:20 am. Egg Hunt on our driving range. Must be accompanied by a parent. Crafts on our patio 10:30 am - 12:30 pm.
Fee: FREE
Link: https://www.facebook.com/events/849751228504328/

Event: National Community Church Gainesville Egg Hunt
When: March 26, 2016 2pm-4pm
Where: Buckland Mills Elementary School
What: Featuring carnival games, moon bounce, petting zoo, face painting, picture with a live Easter Bunny, local Fire Truck onsite, lots of free prizes, everyone wins, free raffle prizes including movie tickets, restaurant gift cards, Spark Scooter give-a-way and more. And of course a massive Easter egg hunt!
Fee: FREE
Link: http://eggstravaganzadc.com

Event: Egg Hunts
When: When: March 12/13, 19/20, 26/27 and April 2/3 at 11am and 2pm
Where: Ticonderoga Farms
What: Egg hunts and farm fun.  The Easter Bunny will make appearances, too! 
Fee: $14.95 all day admission (open 10am-5pm) 

Event: Egg Hunt and Marshmallow Harvest

When: April 2/3 from 11am-1:30pm

Where: Great Country Farms (Bluemont)

What:  Your family won’t want to miss the first “crop” of the spring– Marshmallow Picking!! Do marshmallow peeps really grow on trees? Your children will be amazed to harvest a few marshmallows to roast on the bonfire with Farmer Bob. The Easter Bunny also hid some eggs, and we need you to help us find them! There will be multiple egg hunts each day this year, with over 18,000 eggs filled with treats to enchant your children.

Fee: $10

Link: http://greatcountryfarms.com/festivals-events/egg-hunt-and-marshmallow-harvest/

Easter Bunny Pictures at Potomac Mills Mall will run March 3-March 26th.  Times vary, but can be found online here. 

Easter Bunny Pictures at Manassas Mall will run March 9th-March 26th

Review: The Climbing Knights

I’m reviewing The Climbing Knights, one of four of SimplyFun new releases.

We love games in our house! We've got one set up in the dining room right now that took us too long to finish on Monday night, so we "paused" it until we have another free evening.  (Hint: put a quarter under the piece of the player who goes next!) Because of our love of games, I was definitely happy to be asked to review The Climbing Knights game from SimplyFun.

What's especially fun about The Climbing Knights game is that it's 3D.  Rather than being a flat board-style game, this game board goes up! What's really great about this style of game is that it's incredibly engaging.  We set the game up in our family room on the coffee table and forgot to take it down before having a few friends over, and the kids were immediately drawn to the game and wanted to know what it was and how to play.  

Here's the overview:

This game is for ages 8 and up.  It takes about 30 minutes to play and is for 2-4 players (because there's only four knights).  To win, your knight needs to climb the tower twice to retrieve "banners" and then slide back down.  Guards can stop you from reaching the top, so watch out! 

Each color-coded knight is actually a magnetic game piece.  Once you set up the castle game board, you move your magnetic knight up the walls using ledges to avoid the guards (they'll send you back down the board) and rolling 3 dice, one to tell you how many spaces to move the first guard (on the first landing), one to tell you how many spaces to move the second guard (on the second landing) and one to tell you how many spaces to move your own piece.  If you're really lucky, you'll roll that each of the guards has fallen asleep! (They can't get you if they're sleeping on the job.) 

The game isn't hard to assemble- although helpful hint, you'll want to turn the pieces to line up with the slots (it's really obvious if you're not 12 and just trying to jam it together in a hurry!) in the correct way.  It took us all of a minute to assemble the castle.  

Playing this game isn't really all that complicated.  You could actually play with much younger children if you wanted to remove one of the guards.  What makes it complicated is the strategy portion- where can you move so that you don't get sent back down to the bottom.  It's not quite chess-level strategy, but your children will quickly learn to think ahead a few moves and consider where the guards will be if they get the maximum number of moves each turn versus if they're sleeping each turn.  

In addition to the Climbing Knights, SimplyFun has several other games that you and your children might enjoy playing.  These are some of their newest releases! 

We enjoyed this fun, 3D game and both my 8 and 10 year old think your kids will really love it, too! My 12 year old enjoyed playing with his siblings, but he can win the game in about 14 seconds, so we all think it's a little too easy for him.  Check out the full SimplyFun line and plan a family game night today!  I was one of several reviewers for The Climbing Knights, and there were also families that tried out Archery Dice.  Click the link below to see what others thought about these fun, thought-involved games! 

Giveaway! LuLaRoe

So, some of you may have already heard of LuLaRoe Leggings.  I had a few friends that had them- they're recognizable mainly by their super fun (okay, sometimes a little crazy) designs.  I hadn't tried them because leggings aren't usually a go-to for me because I need thicker fabric (okay, because I'm fat).  However, when Cassie asked me to try a pair for a giveaway, I figured I could always wear them around the house.

You guys, these leggings feel like a kitten and the Snuggle fabric softener bear had a magical baby.  I'm not even kidding.  They are like a hug for your legs.

LuLaRoe leggings come in two sizes, "one size" and "tall and curvy".  I'm on the edge of "One Size" so I decided to go with "tall and curvy" and the first thing I did after realizing they were amazing was to put them on my mom.  She's 6'2 and normally things that are "tall" look like she's getting ready to go wade in a creek, if you know what I'm saying.

As you can see- they go all the way to my mom's ankles! Love it! However they knit these, they seem to stretch and conform really easily to any body type, because they fit her 6'2 size 12 body and they fit my 5'7 size 14, and we were both in love with them!

The one unusual thing about LuLaRoe products is how you purchase them.  Unlike most HBB's where you order from a catalog, you'll want to actually meet up with Cassie so you can purchase from a trunk show (or host one yourself).  The patterns change constantly, and each print is a limited edition, so if you want it you need to snap it up!

In addition to their prints, LuLaRoe also carries solids, and I can tell you right now there is nothing I'd rather wear under a dress or a long sweater than magical SnuggleKitten leggings.

(Some of the prints that might be available at a trunk show, or maybe not! I love the blue starburst ones, Cassie was wearing a fun heart print when I met her...there's lots of options and you'll also notice some solids that would go with anything!)

Here's what Cassie had to say:

I host on-line sales so you get to shop from the comfort of your couch. It and my other sales are open only to the members of my Facebook group, or the members of a hostesses party - you're not competing against the entire internet for that perfect look. i can hold the private hostess parties either online or in-home for you and a collection of good friends. As the host, you earn FREE clothes as your party finds outfits that let them show off their sense of comfy-style. My inventory is ALWAYS growing - I'll have over 200 NEW items arriving in the coming days, and over 100 new pairs of leggings!

Want to win a pair of magical Snuggle/Kitten LuLaRoes to wear yourself? Enter using the rafflecopter below to win your choice from Cassie's collection!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
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Disclosure: I was provided with a pair of LuLaRoe Leggings in exchange for this review/giveaway.  All opinions are my own.  No Snuggle bears were harmed in the making of this post.  I am not responsible for you deciding you're never going to wear real pants again. Giveaway provided by LuLaRoe Shotzy.  By entering, you agree to be bound by our giveaway rules, found on this site under "Giveaway Rules."