Teeccino

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

TwiceGirlie's Practicing for Christmas Play

This year's Christmas play is going to be so cute. Not only is the name of the play cute, so are the character's and all the people in the play. The songs, oh the songs are so much fun and I really can not wait to see the whole play put together. Each cast member was given their lines, lyrics and CD to practice at home and last night one part of the cast learned what they are to perform and how to sing their song as well. Oh goodness, I can not wait to see this play on December 18th.

Our play director, if I am not mistaken, said the cast has four weeks to practice the play: lines, songs and places on stage. This is not your typical Christmas play either and this play will make the crowd laugh and just have so much fun watching the whole cast interact and bring this play to life.

If you want to know what the name of the play is...you will have to come with a family member or friend. In fact, that is a great idea. Laughter is always welcomed at Christmastime, right? Along with laughter, we are celebrating the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Reason for the Season!

The Christmas Play will be at Traina Elementary School and you can contact Calvary Chapel Tracy for more details.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

The LG DoublePlay is the Ultimate New Smartphone from T-Mobile

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of LG DoublePlay™ for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

The LG Smartphone, by T-Mobile, will make for an excellent Christmas gift, birthday gift or a gift for yourself. This phone is simply unbelievable, especially if you are a fan of texting, taking photos and video. I do not know about you, but I love texting. In fact, I have become addicted to texting. I am not saying I do not like to talk you my family or friends, but texting is so much and it is great when I am in a place where talking is not allowed.

When texting, this is the phone for you too. This LG DoublePlay allows you to text from your PC, tablet or create group chats on the go for faster content sharing. Oh and if you are worried about the screen, this LG DoublePlay has a 3.5 by 2.0 display screen. This is also known as the Cloud Text and Group Text. Oh and there is a QWERTY keypad making it all the more easier to text everyone in your address book and Swype easy input . If you, like me, have a Facebook account, then this smartphone lets you update your pages at the same time you are surfing the Web, checking email and texting, of course.

This LG DoublePlay features the Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), giving you access to Android Market  and giving allowing users to completely customize their seven home screens and create up to nine touchscreen shortcuts for easy navigation. How cool is that!

If this smartphone sounds like the ultimate social networking and multi-tasking handset, you would be correct. I mean, how could it not be the best with all the above features..seriously...

Okay, I have told you all the awesome features, now let me tell you why this smart phone is something that is right down my ally. First of all, as I have told you above, I love texting so this smartphone is a no brainer for  me. As it is, I must write over 200 texts a month. I text at home, in the car (not driving), walking, at a friends home, in the mall, etc. So, yeah, this is so the phone for me.

As for social networking, I check my Facebook account at least ten times a day and I am always uploading video from YouTube, articles I write on my blog and articles I write for public and private clients. Yeah, I am pretting busy on Facebook. It would be so excellent to update my FB pages from my phone instead of my laptop.

LG DoublePlay™

Alright, now I highly recommend you check out this amazing new LG DoublePlay Smartphone for yourself and tell me how many hours you text each month and chit chat with your friends and family on the social networking websites you go to.

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Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Fashionable Eyeglasses For Any Budget With No Middleman

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Zenni Optical for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

It's about time there was an eyewear company that made and sent you eyeglasses directly from them and cut out the middleman or pay any overhead fees. Not only is there no overhead, there is hardly any advertising costs. Zenni eyeglasses may be inexpensive, but this does not mean they are cheap eyeglasses either. Anyone who wears glasses knows what style they are looking for, whether they are thick, thin, round, square or colorful, they can all be found at a low cost and at the tip of your fingertips.

Wearing prescription eyewear is a must for many people and Zenni understands how important this is to all their customers, especially with the economy as it is today. So, customers to do have to sacrifice a style they are looking for over the price of eyeglasses. Above all, Zenni takes pride in their products and  they are made of high quality material which means your eyeglasses will be durable and always safe for you to wear.

Now that you are saving money purchasing one, or two, pairs of Zenni eyeglasses, what will you do with that extra money? Saving money has never been so easy, especially when it comes to purchasing something you need on a daily basis. Just as you think your eyes are important, so does Zenni. The eyeglass I like the most are the Metal Alloy(Memory) eyeglasses. I like them because they are lightweight and do not leave red marks on the bridge of my nose. With all the all the money I will be saving on my Metal Alloy (Memory) eyeglasses, it will be going towards my twins Christmas gifts or paying off bills.

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Saturday, November 19, 2011

TwiceGirlies Are Flower girls in Cousin's Wedding

Saturday was my niece in law's wedding. My twins, her cousins, were in her wedding. Oh goodness, they were do beautiful and behaved so well. Yeah, even that surprised me and Daddy. The wedding was at 2:30 and we had to be at Auntie's home at 12:30 for primping from head to toe. The hairdresser working on the Twins hair just loved their hair because of their natural curls. Their natural curls made it easy for her to curl their hair under with the curling iron. My twins hairdresser is a twin too, a fraternal,  in fact. She thought my twins were identical. Well, so did her friends, until she began to grow out of her childhood. As we were talking, I told her about the fraternal twins next door to me. I said, "What are the odds on two sets fraternal twins living next to each other?"

Well, after my twins got their hair done, I dressed them in their beautiful flower girl dress. The flower girl dress was a cream color with a brownish bow sash around their waist. The brown bow sash matched the bridesmaid dresses. My twins had fresh flowers pinned to the back of their head with clips, that would barely stay in. The flowers in their hair matched the bouquet they walked down the aisle with.

Oh, I was so proud of them....

As for the bride, she was just lovely. Her gown was strapless and the train was not overly long, just the perfect length and looked stunning on her. She worn a veil, not over her face, but cascading down the back of her long and flowing, curly hair being held with a fancy clip.

When I look at the photos I took, I will post some here. I was not able to take photos of my twins walking down the aisle, but I am sure to receive all the photos with my twins in them..I hope to receive photos from the ceremony.







TwiceGirlies Being Primped at Auntie JuJus Home Before Wedding

On the day of the wedding, my twins, bride's maids/matron's and bride were at Auntie JuJu's home getting primped. All the ladies, including the littlest of the ladies, were having their hair worked on my several hair stylist. All their hair was being curled into ringlets and the hair stylist doing the Twins hair was a fraternal twin as well. It is interesting how I keep meeting fraternal twins, who also look like identical twins.

After the bride's maid's/matron's, flower girls and bride had their hair done, they stepped into their dresses. Oh, it was so much fun seeing them all get dressed. Just like the professional photographers, I too was taking photos, of my twins and some of the bridal party.

The mood in the house was hustle and bustle and the excitement could be felt in the air and seen on the faces of not only the bridal party, but the hair stylist and photographer's. The photograph's being taken began with the bridal party primping, in their dresses and photos of the bridal party at a variety of places in the house.

Here are some of the photos I had taken from what I saw taking place.






















































































































































































Wholesome, Clean Fun with Stand Up for Family

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of American Family Insurance for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

This is a comedy series, for families. If you thought comedy could only be fun it the jokes were dirty, it is time to rethink your position. In fact, you can watch some of these "clean" Stand Up For Family right here. Just because you are a parent now does not mean the laughter has to stop. In fact, when you watch these videos, I am sure you will find one that reminds you of your childhood.

I watched all the AmFam videos and the one that had me rolling on the floor laughing was the one titled, "Street Lights". I mean, who does not remember being able to stay outside, all day long, in the summertime as a kid? This memory is still vivid in my mind today,  In fact, I can see this memory in my mind's eye, right now. My goodness, I remember playing all around my block on the hot summer nights on my Big Wheel, Bike, Slip N Slide on front lawn and playing with my Barbie Dolls. Of course, my friends and I did all this before the street lights went out. There was a street light somewhat in front of my home and as soon as that light went out....inside my friends and I went.

Everyone likes to laugh right? Well  now the whole family can laugh together and not worry about unclean words falling on little ears. The American Family Insurance will make sure of this. Now that I have told you one of my childhood memories, tell me one or two of yours.

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Friday, November 18, 2011

TwiceGirlies At Wedding Rehearsal Dinner at Auntie JuJu's Home



The day before "The Big Day" the wedding party, including my twins who were Flower Girls, went to the church to practice walking down the aisle. Even though I was not able to take photos of them going down the aisle, I did take some cute photos of my twins with the rest of the wedding party.

After the wedding rehearsal, the whole wedding party drove to Auntie JuJu's home for the Wedding Rehearsal Dinner. The dinner was fun and the food was delicious. The food included Tri Tip, (another meat I can not recall), ravioli, salad and so delicious pies.

The atmosphere during the party was fun, relaxing and I mingled with Hayley's friends and family.

The whole party was in the basement, with a lot of tables and chairs set up. The theme of the party was a mix of Fall decorations/Country. The music was mainly country with a mix of other music on the radio today, which I do not listen to, as I just listen to Christian music on K-LOVE.

Here are some photos I took from the party, Hope you like them.















































Receiving Fresh Flowers Lightens Up Everybody's Day

There is nothing like opening your front door and seeing a person standing in front of you with a bouquet of flowers. Fresh flowers with an aroma to light up any one's day. Receiving flowers is not always expected, but are always welcomed by the person receiving them.

At Serenata Flowers, they make it so easy to look at and purchase any of the warm flower arrangements for your anyone in your family or your friends to celebrate a birthday, anniversary, wedding or through the holiday season. Just a fresh flowers are important, and a must, so to is receiving same or next day delivery flowers. This ensures your family, friends or yourself, will receive fresh flowers all the time and will bring a smile to your face. And, there is no need to leave your home to place an order because you can order flowers online, right at your fingertips in minutes.

For Thanksgiving, there is an array of flower arrangements to look at and choose from. In fact, there are twelve arrangements to choose from right now. Some of the colors are Pink, White, Purple and Orange for the Fall/Thanksgiving feast. These flowers can be sent to your home, family or friends in one day! Whether your dining room table is small or large, having a lovely Thanksgiving floral centerpiece will have your family and friends talking about how beautiful the arrangement looks and smells.

When Christmas time comes around, there is also an array of flower arrangements to look at and choose from. You can look at colorful flower arrangements, poinsettia arrangements, bright red roses, flower arrangements with candles, colorful Christmas Wreaths too. If you like wine and chocolate, there is a variety of these too to choose from. What goes better with a Thanksgiving feast than a bottle, or two, of a red or white wine. Then as a simple, yet delightful dessert, a piece or two of chocolate will match perfectly with a sip of wine or a glass of wine.

It is so easy now to put a smile on someones face with a floral arrangement during the holiday season or at anytime through the year. One more thing, once you receive your flowers, they have to be taken care of for them to last a long time. Taking care of cut flowers require the proper food, such as the "flower food" given with each bouquet, but the additives such as aspirin, vinegar and pennies can be used as well. The most important additive, of course, is water. Once the water begins to leave the vase, refill it as often as possible to help the cut flowers last longer.

TwiceGirlies Thanksgiving Holiday Begins Monday

My Twicegirlies begin their Thanksgiving Holiday after today.Yes, they will be home all next week as I am my readers with children will be as well. Wow, that is a lot of children home for a whole week! What will they do, what will parents to do keep them occupied? Oh goodness, let's see, there are baking, craft making, reading, coloring, doing puzzles, reading, play board games, reading, watching movies when the weather begins to drop and possibly walking if it is not raining or snowing.

Last month when my twins girls school had their holiday fundraiser, I purchased some cookie dough: chocolate chip, peanut butter and other flavors. So, with them staying home for a week, we can stay occupied making cookies. My twins love baking and being in the kitchen with me. It is a shame my kitchen is so small. though. There just is not enough room for three people..but we maneuver though the kitchen anyway.

For crafts, I went to Michael's yesterday with my girlfriend and we stocked up on crafts for our kids to do during the Thanksgiving week. Right now, Michael's has individual or packaged, wooded crafts for kids to do. There are some wooden ornament crafts and other wooden crafts for kids to do. There is no need for your child to be bored when they are having fun creating a fun gift for family, friends or their selves.

Of course reading does not have to stop because they are not in school. This is especially true if your children, like mine, are in elementary school and are just learning to read. Scholastic has some really cool Fall and Winter Sight Word books for 1st graders. My twins are proud they are beginning to read. The sight words really help them learn to read and this is the best way for learning to read. I am sure your 1st grader(s) are learning to read this way as well.

So, as the Thanksgiving week come upon us and your children are home for the Thanksgiving week, you now have so ways to keep your children busy, busy and busy..

Cold Weather Upon Us, Little Girl's Can Dress Warm and Still Look Cute

As the weather gets colder, children will have to bundle up as the temperature drops. Just because the weather is dropping does not mean your children has to sacrifice their fashion sense. The Tea Collection has the Winter Clothing line out right now and these can be given as Christmas gifts to your children, a relative or friends who have a boy or girl.

Girls will love covering their head with fancy headbands and hats. The headbands are made from stretching material and knitted flowers. This headband will look great with any outfit whether a dress, skirt/top and jeans. Little girl's clothes will have their friends asking where they got this headband. Another cute head wear accessory is the cotton beanie hat with a knitted flower. Covering up the ears in very cold weather will be necessary and wearing this adorable beanie hat will be another way to not only look cute, but stay warm too.

Just head wear accessories are important for staying warm, so to are the legs. Leg warmers are all the rage this year. When your little girl opens up her gift and find leg warmers, she will have a big smile on her face and put them on right then and there. I mean, who does not like leg warmers..The leg warmers from the Tea Collection come in the colors brown, pink and black with white strips. The brown and pink legwarmers have three buttons on them which make the leg warmers even more adorable.

Not only are clothing and head wear available for Christmas gifts, so are water bottles, books, a tea set for 4 and much more. Shopping for your little girl is now fun and easy to do from the comfort of your home. No need to look for a parking space at your mall, look for cute children's clothes in a department store and then stand in line for who knows how long! This year, make Christmas shopping easy and shop from home with the Tea Collection.

Are You More A Fan of Puppies.....Or....Babies???

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Puppies vs. Babies for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Are you game for such as contest as this? If so, you are in luck! Right now there is the most awesome contest going on allowing you, the viewer, to watch some videos about the Puppies vs. Babies online contest. Well, as a Mother to twin girls, fraternal not identical, I have to say my twins win hands down over any puppy. Now, in the defense of any puppy, I do think they are adorable, especially when they are first born. This is the perfect age of owning a puppy because they have yet to rip and or tear into any household item. Yeah, to me puppies are just perfect the day they are born.

As for babies, they are the most precious all the time, especially when they arrive in this world and make their grand enterance crying to let you know they are alive and have left the safe place in their Mommy's womb. Once babies are born and begin to grow and show their personalities, this is when babies become fun and create lasting memories.

Yeah, so when it comes to Puppies vs. Babies as much I think puppies are cute, babies win, hands down over any and all puppies. Oh yeah, puppies do not wear diapers to avoid messes, whereas babies wear diapers to keep their messes in one place until their diaper is changed.

I would love for you to post a comment on my blog and tell me who you are going to vote for: Puppies or Babies. I'd would love to read your comments as everyone has an opinion on who they like better, right?

PvB-CuteDar-Green-300x250-Backup.jpg

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Getting an Early Start: 5 Fast Ways to Boost Your Daughter's View on Body Image

Your daughter may be young now but eventually she'll hit puberty. And while puberty is a time for development and evolvement, it's also a time for major low self-esteem and negative body image for a majority of girls, according to experts.

In fact, according to a 2000 study commissioned by Harvard University, how young girls view themselves while in their developmental stages is quite alarming. The survey, which followed a group of pre-pubescent girls into their late teens, found that at age 12 two-thirds of underweight girls already considered themselves too fat; At age 13 half of the surveyed girls were unsatisfied with their appearance; At age 14 complaints shifted specifically to hips and thighs; And by age seventeen 8 out of 10 girls already tried dieting at least once.

But having a negative body image can lead to more severe conditions such as developing an eating disorder, depression or even worse—suicide. That's why it's so important that you as a parent begin to instill the ideas of having a positive body image into your child as young as possible. To learn a few tips on how to do this, continue reading below.

1. Focus on Health, Not Diet. When trying to get your child to eat better, it's important that you explain that you're offering a variety of fresh fruits and veggies to encourage your child to be "healthier"— it's not so much about losing weight. Healthy eating means that the body will function better and thus your child will feel better too. So unless otherwise suggested by a physician, don't reduce your child's caloric intake and deprive them of all "treats." Instead, cook healthier meals and try to incorporate a variety of good-for-you alternatives. It's also important that you talk about the dangers of emotional eating (eating when you're bored, stressed and or upset). You should encourage your child to try to only eat when they're hungry. But you can't be a hypocrite. You have to eat healthy foods too. You lead by example, which leads us to the next tip—

2. Be Positive about Own Body Image. It’s crucial that you refrain from making comments about your own body in a negative light. For example, don't get caught staring at your reflection and saying, "my butt is too big," "my breasts are too small," or "my nose is huge." If your child sees you in action, she might just develop the same negative sentiments about her own body.

3. Give a Scientific Approach. Often times your child's size/frame is out of their control—genetics pays a huge role in someone's shape and physical features. Make sure your child knows this.

4. Scrutinize The Media. "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all." This classic fairytale idiom might have been uttered from the lips of a wicked queen, but young girls still strangely find themselves staring in the mirror trying to compete with the modern day Snow Whites of this generation—the Kim Kardashians, Blake Livelys and Mila Kunises just to name a few. But it's important that you teach your children that these celebrities have a team of expensive beauty experts that help them look the way that they do on a daily basis— we're talking on-site makeup artists, hair stylists, fashion stylists, estheticians, personal fitness trainers and dieticians. And without their team of image-perfecting professionals, most of them look like just like you and me—check out a picture of a makeup-less Eva Longoria here.

Not to mention that just about every cover girl is photoshopped and airbrushed—she can appear thinner and in some cases tanner or even more fair skinned. In other words, what your child sees on magazine covers and on television is fake and altered to sell products—thus trying to achieve the "celebrity look" is an unrealistic goal. Instead, you need to teach your child that women come in all shapes and sizes and that eating healthy and being active can help preserve their own body.

5. Grow Thick Skin. Lastly, you need to teach your child how to handle teasing and dismiss a bully's negative comments. Kids are cruel and may very well pick on your child, but you need to teach her how to overcome this negativity while giving reassurance that you love and are proud of your child just the way that she is. You also need to teach your child that being a bully is not the route to take either.

By-line:

Mariana Ashley is a freelance writer who particularly enjoys writing about online colleges. She loves receiving reader feedback, which can be directed to mariana.ashley031 @gmail.com.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

TwiceGirlies Mom Hanging Out with Casey

On Friday, my friend Casey and I went out for lunch at In N Out. This is my favorite fast food place to eat at. I have always loved it, I love their simple menu. It has never changed, ever and the best hamburger on their menu (it is not really on their menu) is the Animal Style Burger. This is a hamburger only SoCal peeps really know about. I grew up in SoCal and I ate this all the time. My friend Casey, who also grew up in SoCal, has eaten this style hamburger, so we both had one, with cheese, and it was delicious!! A simple, and never changing menu, is the best way to go. When there are too many items on a menu (shall I say the name of the *other* hamburger "restaurant", to choose from, it gets confusing and the quality of the food goes down, down and down.

I remember, growing up in SoCal, this commercial from In N Out where they talked about their hamburgers and how they never used *heat lamps, heat lamps* because everything is made with fresh ingredients, never frozen made when you place your order.

Yeah, you can tell I LOVE In N Out and when I moved up North, I was Sooo happy to see an In N Out in my city. But I digress.....with a smile of course!

Okay, so after lunch, we went shopping in a neighboring city. We went looking for Pier 1 Imports and do some other shopping..LOL well, we ended up getting lost. We thought we knew where it was, but we were wrong. So, we called another store to see what street it was on. When we got the street name, we knew the name of the street, but not sure what side of the city it was on..Oh goodness. We finally found the store and were so excited. Our city used to have a Pier 1 Imports, but they closed down. It was such a shame and it saddens me to this day. Other big, and popular, stores such as Pier 1 Imports also closed down in our city and I do not think it had nothing to do with lack of interest.....

Well, we looked around and found some really cute Christmas items. As I was walking though the store, I looked on their wall of candles and sprays. Now, years ago I used to always purchase my favorite scent, First Rain, but Pier 1 stopped selling it!! Oh I was so disappointed. When I was looking at all the Christmas scented candles and sprays, guess what scent I came across!!! Yes, it was First Rain!!! Pier 1 brought it back..there must had been more customers who liked it as much as I did. So, even though it took us a while to find the store, it was way worth it when I was finally able to purchase some more First Rain candles and spray..yeah!!

After Pier 1 Imports, we next door to Starbucks..they were having their buy one, get on free coffee deal. The day before, Casey and I went to Starbucks and I bought the buy one, get one free coffee. Casey got a hot Christmas coffee and I got the Peppermint Frap..it was delicious so I got it again!!

Oh, we had a fun day...I love hanging with Casey..

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

TwiceGirlies Having Tea Party in Backyard

A couple weeks ago my twins wanted to have a tea party, with the tea set Auntie Amy gave them for their 5th birthday. Yeah, we opened it, but had to played with it because the tea set is made of porcelain. Well, as soon as we set the table with the tea set, one of the tea set pieces, sugar container broke. Actually, this was Mommy's fault, more than Twice Girlie "A", because I had not place something soft under the table.

My twins wanted to party outdoors and I had not placed something soft under the table, in the first place, like I should have. BAD MOMMY!!

Well, even though we had this little mishap, we still had out, their, tea party.