Central Texas News

Shrek the Musical is coming to Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD October 15th!  

My kids love Shrek! I will be honest, it is a bit crude for my taste. But I really feel it is harmless and they enjoy it. To see it as a play and out of the cartoon looks really funny and entertaining.

The greatest fairy tale never told comes to life as never before in DreamWorks’ Shrek The Musical, the highly acclaimed Broadway production based on the smash-hit movie. Called a “triumph of comic imagination” (Elysa Gardner, USA Today) that “never stints on spectacle or laughs” (David Rooney, Variety), Shrek The Musical received eight 2009 Tony Award® nominations including Best Musical, winning Best Costume Design of a Musical (Tim Hatley) and received a Grammy Award® nomination for Best Musical Show Album.

Featuring a fantasic score of 17 all-new songs, Shrek The Musical was filmed on stage to capture the magic of a Broadway performance and stars an amazing celebrated cast including Brian d’Arcy James (Shrek), Sutton Foster (Fiona), Daniel Breaker (Donkey), Christopher Sieber (Lord Farquaad), and John Tartaglia (Pinocchio). The film was shot live on Broadway with 10 cameras and directed by Michael Warren. Now you can bring the magic of Broadway to your home and get the best seat in the house when the Deluxe Edition Blu-ray^™ and DVD arrives on October 15^th!

Fans can join in on the performance with sing along Shrek-tastic songs on the Deluxe Edition Blu-ray™ + DVD + Digital HD^™ or single-disc DVD. And the Deluxe Edition Blu-ray™ goes even deeper into the fairytale’s journey, taking viewers behind-the-scenes to see how the show became a smash hit that “will make your heart dance.” (Cindy Adams, The New York Post).

Shrek The Musical tells the story of a swamp-dwelling ogre who goes on a life-changing adventure to reclaim the deed to his land. Joined by a wise-cracking donkey, this unlikely hero fights a fearsome dragon, rescues a feisty princess and learns that real friendship and true love aren’t only found in fairy tales.

The musical is based on the story and characters from William Steig’s book Shrek!, as well as the DreamWorks Animation film and features a book and lyrics by Pulitzer Prize® winner, David Lindsay-Abaire, music by Olivier Award-winner Jeanine Tesori, and is directed by Tony Award® nominee Jason Moore. Shrek The Musical is produced by DreamWorks Theatricals and Neal Street Productions, Ltd.

The other day I was doing some local shopping for my two oldest girls for school. I couldn’t help but drop in to Naartjie Kids. I love this store. They have the cutest clothes for children! I found this adorable set for the baby on clearance. They have clothes from newborn to size 10. If they had a Naartjie credit card I would be doomed lol

The kids are back to school now. If your house is any thing like ours you waited till the last minute to get every thing for the kids. In my case that includes shoes. In August I was able to visit the Rack Room Shoes store grand opening in Bastrop Texas. I have to say, it was a mad house at first. But that really is not any different from any other grand opening especially when they are giving away free stuff!

Not sure if you can see but there is a line  of people all the way around the inside of the store. These were the lucky first 100 in the store! They got something good 🙂

The store was really nice, clean and organized. Every person that was working there was very polite and I was frequently asked if I needed any help. There is nothing more infuriating than going in to a store and not being able to find some one to help you. That was not the case at all here at Rack Room Shoes, even with the huge crowd.

The BOGO sale is always nice as a mom of 2 school aged kids. I am not 100% sure but I think the BOGO 50% off is a sale that never ends.

They had a large variety of shoes for the whole family. And that makes it pretty much a one stop shopping experience for the whole family. Saving mom time and frustration!

If you are in the Bastrop Texas area, stop by Rack Room Shoes and tell them Central Texas Mom sent you.

Located at Burleson Crossing 772 Hwy 71 West  in Bastrop.

(For Labor Day weekend get 10% off with this coupon valid through 9/2/13 here)

http://www.facebook.com/myrackroomshoes
https://twitter.com/myrackroomshoes
http://pinterest.com/myrackroomshoes/

Disclosure / Disclaimer: No monetary compensation was obtained for this post. I received a complimentary product to facilitate this review. The opinions expressed here are mine and may differ from yours.

As a new mom I am always looking for cute and creative ideas for clothing and accessories for my baby girl. I was delighted when I was introduced to Melakee, the owner of Naked Sheep Designs.

I am amazed at the skill and artistic ability she has to create one of a kind original knitted pieces. You can see pictures of previous works of art on her Facebook page.

She was so kind and generous to create a baby hat for my baby so that I could review her work and tell all of you about it.

The design phase was basic; we decided on a Lady Bug design and before I knew it she had completed the design! Super-fast.

The hat arrived quickly and was packaged very well. Once I opened the package, I was in love! The Lady Bug hat was even more cute in person than in pictures that Melakee had sent me via email. My little girl looks so cute in her new Lady Bug hat and I would not be more happy.

I would highly recommend checking out The Naked Sheep and getting your orders in before the Christmas rush!

The Naked Sheep: Melakee’s Bio

I am 30 years old mom of two and married to Daniel, a firefighter. I started knitting/crocheting in the 3rd grade and have always had a passion for anything that involves fiber.

I grew in Israel, in a village filled with goat and sheep herders, which fueled my passion for these animals and how they contribute so much to society and have done for centuries. I have worked on sheep farms for several years in the past, love to spin wool, and have the dream of owning my own little farm in the near future.

I began making hats just this year at the request of a friend, and after my Sundae became a hit, I decided to take designing more seriously and to come up exclusively with all original that are unique to my brand. I also am working on publishing some of my patterns.

I have always wanted to have a business that involved knitting or crocheting in some way, so this is sort of a mini dream of mine. I want to specialize in 0-12 month hats, and mainly newborn at that. I am working on a Masters and internship in Professional Counseling, and so this is something that allows me to stay home with my kids and bring something in to help financially.

I love this more than I can even tell you, I get such joy from coming up with the designs and seeing them come alive. My items are in 2 stores currently in the nation, and can be purchased on Etsy and also simply by emailing me at my Facebook page. I take mostly custom orders, but plan to complete 20 series of my designs to sell on a steadier basis.

Naked Sheep Designs on Facebook

Naked Sheep Designs’ Etsy  Shop

Join the Croods on the journey of a lifetime in the epic comedy-adventure that “has the magical wonder of How To Train Your Dragon” – Jake Hamilton (Fox-TV). When their cave is destroyed, the Croods set out to explore a spectacular landscape filled with fantastic creatures, strange surprises…and a whole new world of adventure!

The purchase of the Blu-ray™ or DVD unlocks additional content on THE CROODS Coloring App, which allows children to color their favorite characters and scenes from the film, add text and voice to the story, and then share their storybook on their TVs at home. Also on the Blu-ray™, families can join Guy, Eep and Belt as they introduce the crazy “Croodaceous Creatures” – the striking and unique animals from the film – and much more. And for a limited time only, any purchase of the Blu-ray™ or DVD comes with a lovable Belt toy! Dun Dun Dahhh! Pre-order today! 

These shows are so cute! So worth buying to have great entertainment for all the little ones.

Blythe and her best friends — Zoe the spaniel, Pepper the skunk, Sunil the mongoose, Russell the hedgehog, Penny the panda, Vinnie the gecko and Minka the monkey — are back for five more exciting adventures in the Littlest Pet Shop! On October 1, 2013, Shout! Factory Kids, in collaboration with Hasbro Studios, will release Littlest Pet Shop: Petacular Escapades on DVD.  This collection features encounters with legendary parrots, movie stars and Blythe’s sudden inability to understand the pets! All of these adventures and more happen in these petacular episodes of The Littlest Pet Shop!

Littlest Pet Shop: Petacular Escapades delivers captivating entertainment the whole family can enjoy and contains a brand new bonus sing-along. Featuring all-new original music by Daytime Emmy^® Award nominee Daniel Ingram and the vocal talent of Ashleigh Ball, Tabitha St. Germain, Nicole Oliver and Peter New, Littlest Pet Shop currently airs on The Hub TV Network in the US.  Fans can pre-order their copies of the collection now by visiting ShoutFactory.com

Episodes Include:

Blythe’s Crush
Dumb Dumbwaiter
Lights, Camera, Mongoose
What Did You Say?
Terriers & Tiaras 

Bonus Features:

Sing-Along

Disclosure / Disclaimer: No monetary compensation was obtained for this post. 

Our new baby is almost 12 weeks old now and I could not be happier. Although this is not our first child, it is shocking how much love you can feel for one teeny tiny person. I could not imagine a life without her in it now. That having been said, the journey through this pregnancy was less than perfect.

I saw a post form another blogger a few months ago that shocked me. She was pregnant with her third child. She said that since her first two pregnancies were without issue, she and her Doctor decided to cut back on the number of Doctor visits. Well, my first to pregnancies were without issue as well. Let me tell you how my third went (in order).

Morning Sickness:
I pretty much had morning, noon and night sickness until my third trimester. Thought I was able to eat, I know it could have been much worse for me. The constant nausea drove me insane!

Symphysis Pubic Dysfunction:
This started at the end of my first trimester while shopping at WalMart one night. It lasted till I delivered. If you have no idea what it is, you are not alone. I had no idea what it was and apparently neither did my Doctor. But it is real, and it is painful! There were nights were I wanted to cry. Every time I turned, when I sat down, when I walked. I was so happy when on occasion I did not have pain.

Symphysis Pubic Dysfunction is when the hormones that you produce during pregnancy loosen the ligaments that hold the pelvic bone aligned and they become too relaxed and stretchy. I have read that 1 in 4 women experience SPD at some level.  I would suggest that if you think you are suffering from SPD, to research what you should and should not do. I was able to feel a little better by controlling my movement (as much as I could). I think it helped prevent me from further hurting myself. Here is more info…. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphysis_pubis_dysfunction

Gestational Diabetes:
I know a lot of people live with Diabetes. But I could not help but feel defeated when I got the diagnosis that I had Gestational Diabetes. With a LOT of work and dedication I was able to keep my numbers in check with diet. I know we all say we will do whatever we can for the baby, but admit it…. You really wanted to eat ice cream, or cake or…. Lovely carbs!!! In the end I was able to do it without medical intervention.  Here is more info http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gestational_diabetes

Pregnancy Carpal Tunnel Syndrome:
Seriously? I kid you not, there is such a thing. In fact I have been so blessed that even almost 12 weeks after giving birth I continue to have pain in my hands and arms. It actually got worse after birth than it was during my pregnancy. Sometimes I can’t open doors let alone hold the baby bottle. Here is more info http://www.webmd.com/baby/tc/pregnancy-carpal-tunnel-syndrome-topic-overview

Pre-Term Labor:
At around 7 months we had to go in to the hospital in the early morning hours to stop the contractions that woke me. The contractions were about 3 min apart and very consistent. Contractions were not something new to me though, I had started noticing contractions from about 12 weeks. By the end of my pregnancy I could not walk in a store without contractions… constant contractions. I am not exaggerating; it felt like I was walking with a hard basketball in my belly.

Swelling:
I have never in my life had swelling like this experience and hope to never have it that bad again. My feet and legs were huge! This goes along with the Carpal Tunnel as well as the Pre-eclampsia. It just ached and felt like my feet and legs were going to split open.

Pre-eclampsia:
I saved the best for last, so did my body! Pre-eclampsia is when you have high blood pressure and protein in your urine. It should always be taken serious because without being in a Doctor’s care you and or the baby could die! I was admitted to the hospital for observation for 12 hours and then released (I barely made it to my Baby Shower). The following week I was admitted again and stayed in the hospital until my BP went dangerously high and it was decided it was better for me and the baby if we induced. I was 36 week.

After our amazing daughter was delivered I still had elevated BP. I had to go on medication and hopefully will be getting off it soon. I hope.

So you see, pregnancies are just like children; each has their own personality. Would I do it all over again to have my daughter? Yes! Would I do it again in the future? Probably not. My husband and I agree that three is enough for us. This last pregnancy has helped me understand that there are limitations for our bodies even if we think we are invincible.

I love my babies!

Its time to start shopping for back to school shoes. What better way to do that than at a grand  opening?

Today, Saturday August 3, Rack Room Shoes will be celebrating its Grand Opening at Burleson Crossing 772 Hwy 71 West  in Bastrop. 

They will have a ribbon cutting ceremony, exclusive discounts and special giveaways to the first 100 shoppers in the door. One lucky winner will receive free shoes for a year and another a two minute shopping spree! 

I will be there today as well 🙂 maybe I will see you there!

I am a little late on this post, but I bet there are a few parents out there who have not taken their children to see DreamWorks Turbo.

From the makers of Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda, TURBO is a high-velocity 3D comedy about an underdog snail whose dreams kick into overdrive when he miraculously attains the power of super-speed. But after making fast friends with a crew of streetwise, tricked-out es-car-goes, Turbo learns that no one succeeds on their own. So he puts his heart and shell on the line to help his pals achieve their dreams, before Turbo-charging his own impossible dream: winning the Indy 500.

 Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Paul Giamatti, Michael Pena, Luis Guzmán, Bill Hader, Richard Jenkins, Ken Jeong, Michelle Rodriguez, Maya Rudolph, Ben Schwartz, Snoop Dogg, a.k.a. Snoop Lion and Samuel L. Jackson

Most often when I go to movies there is always a point where I want to see what time it is. When watching Turbo it did happen but it was 5 min from the end of the movie. So in my book, that is a great sign! 

My girls loved this movie! There were so many colorful and funny characters. I can’t tell you how many times the theater was filled with laughter from children as well as parents. I do not want to go in to too many details about the movie. But I think different people get a different message from the movie. For me it was:  It does not matter how big or small you are, you should always go for your dreams.

We saw the Turbo in 3D, I would say it is a bonus but not required.

Disclosure / Disclaimer: No monetary compensation was obtained for this post. I received a complimentary tickets to facilitate this review. The opinions expressed here are mine and may differ from yours.

DRAGONS: RIDERS OF BERK Parts 1 & 2 are now available on DVD. To celebrate the release, you can down load this super cool APP that bring Hiccup and Toothless to life!

You can purchase both DVD’s at Wal Mart right now! The DVD’s are loaded with exciting bonus content for the whole family to enjoy, disc one contains episodes 1-11 and disc two features episodes 12-20. Based on the DreamWorks Animation Academy Award®-nominated hit movie How to Train Your Dragon, the series features original voice talent from the film including Jay Baruchel, America Ferrera, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Zack Pearlman, and more.

Today I packed up my three girls and visited the the closest baby store (Babies R Us). They were having a special on the formula that we use for the baby. I found the last 2 of the formula I needed and proceeded to go to the checkout counter. 

The baby was starting to get cranky in her stroller/car seat. It was about time for a diaper change and a feeding. So I was trying to get through the checkout process as quickly as possible without her getting too upset.

I just signed the machine when my middle child said “Mom, milk is coming out of her nose”. This has actually happened often to the baby. Some times she is just fine then other times she needs a little help. This time was neither, she could not breath and was turning red!

I unbuckled her as fast as I possibly could, turned her over and started patting her on the back. After a few second she started to scream. Thank god! I was relived and just wanted to get the heck out of there.

The cashier handed me the receipt, I threw all my stuff in the car seat and left. One thing that pissed me off though was that NO one said any thing! No one asked is she was okay. No one acknowledged the incident at all. I know that there ARE nice polite people that work there but clearly the cashier I had to day was not very compassionate at all. Not to mention all the other parents standing around me. It makes me really sad that no one even bothered to say something, any thing.

Maybe I am asking for too much? But some times just a kind word can make you feel better when something stressful like that happens.

Sam in the Trees is a fantastical tale about a 9-year-old boy with a knack for climbing trees. Despite his love of the ascent, Sam comes face-to-face with his fear of climbing back down. Whisked away on an adventure by a benevolent cloud and helped along the journey by numerous species of animals, Sam learns what it means to be a tried and true climber of the trees.

Ages: 4+

For Readers: 7-8+

Sam in the Trees is written by Alexandra L Cohen, a 21 year old Austinite. On July 20, there will be a release party at Central Market (4001 N Lamar Blvd) from 11 AM to 3 PM to celebrate and get the word out about the book. There will be 3 local singer-songwriters as musical acts, Good Pops (as sponsors), face painting,  as well as a reading and image projections from the book. This sounds like a great event for all ages! Be sure to pack up the kiddos and head on out to this party!

More information can be found on the website: www.SamInTheTrees.com