Amplified Kids!!

Fun Size Weekend!

2012-10-22T17:15:00.000-04:00

Well, it looks like we weren't the only ones having fun at a preview this weekend! The star of FUN SIZE, Victoria Justice, was hanging out at Mall of America with many others getting a sneak peak at the movie. I let my almost 7yo know this and she wanted to meet her. She is a huge fan of the Nickelodeon show Victorious.

FUN SIZE star Victoria Justice at the Nickelodeon Universe in the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota on October 20th, 2012.

We laughed quite a bit during the movie, I just hope she didn't pick up on any of the pranks Albert was doing! She thought is was hilarious when Fuzzy was running down the street distracting the cops. Although, my favorite was during the credits when Albert let on that he was pranking his mother for the past 6 months... I won't give away what he was doing but I truly found it entertaining.

It did hit a nerve during the movie as a parent - paranoia about losing one of my kids on Halloween. So many kids in the same costume and they run around without paying attention. Thank you FUN SIZE for making me see there could be humor in it!!

Fun Size

2012-10-18T08:58:00.000-04:00

Even though I am not particularly interested in seeing this, my daughter certainly is. I don't really get it because she is a tomboy but Caitlyn does love singing.

If you are in the King Of Prussia area this Saturday please join us for free advance passes to see the film FUN SIZE starring Victoria Justice.

If you are interested please go to: www.gofobo.com/RSVP where you enter the code: MOM31EB and download a pair of passes for the advance screening! Please know that seating is not guaranteed and this screening is first come, first serve!

Happy 3rd Birthday Conor!

2012-06-27T09:34:00.000-04:00

Listening to this laugh makes me smile. You are the most wonderful little man...

Wordless Wednesday

2012-05-16T20:39:00.000-04:00

(my sweet little girl in the red gear, great side kick with her hands up)

Wordless Wednesday

2012-05-09T22:36:00.000-04:00

My family. We are not perfect but we love each other and can laugh.

Panic mode?

2012-04-27T11:36:00.000-04:00

Maybe. Yes... I am starting to get nervous. The Tough Mudder is this Sunday @Pocono Manor where it will be COLD. I think that is the one thing that worries me the most, for the past few weeks I have been obsessed with the weather. It has ranged from 65 to 45 and as of right now it is looking like a sunny (but yet chilly) 50 high. Of course at 9:40am it will not be 50!!

Will the running through fire warm me up?? I doubt it and it is pretty far into the race. Slightly concerned with my lungs going through here!

I have my death waiver all printed and signed. Bring it... :-)

Stupid or dedicated?!

2012-04-22T20:44:00.001-04:00

I just came in from a 2.5 mile run in the cold rain... My legs are still numb (you can see how red the are in the pic). The hot shower I took still hasn't warmed me. This feels AMAZING!!!

The Tough Mudder is in 1 week... Yes, 1 short week and I have started I panic that I am not ready. I've been training in my Vibram FiveFingers KomodoSports for the past 4 months and this week I got scared about my toes. :-) so, in my true nature I decided to buy a pair of New Balance Minimus Friday night. Thinking there is a little more traction and less of a chance of breaking a toe or 10.

They rub the back of my heel pretty on my left foot but other than that they are perfect. Now I just need to buy some Under Armour Cold Gear pants this week and I will be all set.

Wordless Wednesday

2012-04-18T20:14:00.001-04:00

Bring on the Tough Mudder!!!

Wordless Wednesday - get naked

2012-03-21T19:59:00.000-04:00

The.best.cupcake.ever!!!!

2012-02-10T10:34:00.000-05:00

Wow, this is great! Ryan's girlfriend made him Nutella Mocha Hazelnut Almond Cupcakes for his birthday and they are so moist and tasty... Screw my healthy eating. Two please.

Not going to get me down

2012-02-09T14:23:00.000-05:00

This has been the week from hell at my house. All 3 of us are sick from one thing or another. Yesterday I thought I had bad allergies but today I am questioning that. The mucus is still flowing but I feel great other wise.

I have to admit that I have been lazy today and not done anything towards training so I am sure I'll be up late again tonight putting in the work.

On the path to kicking this out of my system I have been drinking a green tea with a huge spoon of Manuka Honey in it. From everything I have read it should help me recover from this funkiness. I'm also putting the Honey on Conor's wound on his face, it appears to have great healing properties because he looks so much better! No matter what he is cure little dude but hopefully this will prevent an ugly scar.

I'm tempted to run outside right now... looks beautiful with the little bit of snow we have. Have a feeling that my feet would freeze with my Vibram Fivefinger on though. :-)

Wordless Wednesday

2012-02-01T15:12:00.002-05:00

Life is constantly changing. I lived in Brooklyn in the early/mid 90's near this beautiful bridge. I remember rollerblading and running along the path nearly every day during the spring and summer... Today I am finally getting back into fitness and I'd like to revisit that path again. I took this picture nearly a year ago driving through, it is time to stop and smell the roses again.

Verrazano Bridge

Should I stay or should I go?

2012-01-30T10:36:00.000-05:00

I want to keep track of my workouts and progress and I'm not sure if I want to start a new blog or keep it all here. This started out about the kids and their hearing loss but then migrated to technology and now tech & fitness? I guess it truly is a reflection of me... life is always changing and improving.

2012 will be a year of change for me. Not that there was anything wrong with me before but I want to be my optimal self this year -- physically and mentally.

Join me on my journey?

Typical Conor

2012-01-15T21:08:00.000-05:00

Conor's Day out with Thomas

2012-01-15T21:00:00.000-05:00

The look on his little face was priceless.

Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-11T08:48:00.000-05:00

Umm yeah.

Sent from my Windows Phone

Why

2012-01-04T11:27:00.001-05:00

I've been too angry, sad and lost to really post anything in a long time. I'm still not in a great position but life is always going to be a battle. No matter what happens I will always get back up and jump into the fight.

Happy New Year. I believe this will somehow be a good year...

Adios MeeGo.

2011-09-28T08:49:00.001-04:00

http://www.mobileburn.com/chtml/mobile_story.jsp?Id=16784

Sad to see MeeGo rolled into something else but it really never had a chance.

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/a1dxy3

Crappy hearing therapist

2011-09-23T08:21:00.001-04:00

Cait's last Hearing therapist was terrible and I was looking forward to a new one this year. So far this new one makes the other look like a sweet dream. We are 2 weeks into the school year... Last week she said she had an inservice which is bullshit because she has the starting date in an email she sent to me. This week she was late and hadn't even called the school to make arrangements. The office staff and principle had real issues with that.

I was willing to get over last weeks no-show from her but today pushed it over the edge. Cait had been calling her the fat lady and I was reprimanding her... Baby girl, you can now call her whatever you want.

On a side note, I am thankful she has the best kindergarten teacher ever.

Sent from my iPhone

Walk4Hearing is Sept 25th!

2011-09-20T10:52:00.001-04:00

Every year my family participates in the Walk4Hearing. It is a good opportunity for my kids to be around other deaf and hard of hearing kids, the walk takes place in a beautiful park and there is always a good time to be had. This will be our 4th year walking and each year it gets bigger and bigger.

The walk4hearing helps support advances in Technology - which you all know I am obsessed with.

If you are in PA this Sunday please come by and walk with us, the kids would be so happy. If you can't stop by we would all appreciate it if you would help this cause by donating what you can.

Please use this link to donate.

Amplify’d from hlaa.convio.net

Caitlyn & Conor's Walk4Hearing Page

As many of you may know, both Caitlyn and Conor have hearing loss. Caitlyn (5.5yrs old) was diagnosed with bilateral Sensorineural Hearing Loss in the mild/moderate range and has been aided since 3 months old. Thankfully this was caught early and she is on target with her hearing peers.

Conor was also diagnosed in August 09 with bilateral Sensorineural Hearing Loss in the mild/moderate range. He has had his hearing aids since he was 4 months old.

We are fortunate that both kids received an early diagnoisis and will be on track for typical speech development. I wish I could say that I was surprised when we found out about Conor's hearing loss but I almost expected it. Our next step is to start genetic testing and see where that takes our family. If your kid is delayed in speech or you think he/she may not hear you - please don't take the wait and see approach. Be proactive. As parents we are the kids only true advocate.

My family will be participating in the Walk4Hearing to support all those with hearing loss. I need your support to make this event a success. Please take a moment to sponsor my efforts. Thanks!

See more at hlaa.convio.net

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/a1d61j

Hangover prevention

2011-09-17T23:38:00.001-04:00

So we went to my brother in laws wedding reception tonight and thanks to autocorrect I am writing this. I never drink anymore but tonight I went for it full force. I don't want to wake up tomorrow morning feeling like ass so these are the steps to take for hangover prevention.

1. Stop drinking alcohol
2. Go home
3. Don't puke in the car on the way home.
4. Get a sugary drink - Gatorade works the best but I was stuck with a damn capri sun tonight.
5. Grab a handful of mortin, take with sugary drink.
6. Eat a slice of bread. I had fresh pumpkin bread that I made this morning so initially I thought it was a good idea. I'm now rethinking that and should have gone with the standard store bought because I put extra flax seed in the pumpkin bread. That may not be a winning combo with all this alcohol.
7. Drink an entire bottle of water before passing out.
8. Lastly, brush your teeth so it doesn't taste like you were licking the cats litter box.

Good night!!!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-09-14T18:52:00.000-04:00

Fresh haircuts!

Just 20 min ago

2011-09-11T20:49:00.001-04:00

The kids were punching and kicking each other and now they are best friends reading a book. Siblings.

She did it!

2011-09-06T08:38:00.000-04:00

First day of kindergarten is here. I can't believe today is finally here, she has been ready for years to do this! Of course she was embarrassed that I was taking her picture so this is the best I got. They don't let the parents in so this was as far as I could take her. When she walked through the doors she never looked back -- I'm so proud. Go Caitlyn!!!

Kindergarten tomorrow morning

2011-09-05T19:20:00.000-04:00

My sweet lady starts kindergarten in the morning. She seems much older than K in spirit. I'm sure she will do fine, it is Conor that will have the hardest time adjusting... He doesn't know life without her to pester.