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A Late Night S’Mores Buffet and Smiley S’More Monsters

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I have a confession to make.

I. Love. S’mores.

There’s just something about ’em. Gooey, chocolately and crunchy all at the same time.

While we haven’t gone camping yet this season (camping=s’more-fest), we DID go to the beach. One of my sisters lives at the beach so you could say we’re a WEE bit lucky.

Late Night S’Mores Buffet

Being that I’m in love with S’mores, I jumped at the chance to work with Hershey’s to encouraging families to create their own S’mores memories with the Say S’mores campaign. They needed no encouraging from me. Our beach late night S’mores buffet was a hit. And you HAVE to see the Roo kids get messy in the video I made (see below).

After a late dinner at my sister’s house, we heated up the fire pit and brought out the goodies. I thought it’d be cool to do a S’mores buffet so we had two types of graham crackers (regular and cinnamon), marshmallows (the store only had regular ones) and an assortment of Hershey’s chocolate: Milk Chocolate, Special Dark, Milk Chocolate with Almonds and Cookies ‘N’ Cream.

Low lighting prevented me from getting super great shots but I couldn’t help but post these pictures. Why? Because I think this signifies what eating S’mores is all about. Hanging out with family, breathing in the faint smell of the ocean, feeling the cool breeze all while smiling and laughing at the gooeyness (and yumminess) of the s’mores.

Big Roo made his with the Cookies ‘N’ Cream Hershey’s bar.

My sister reminds me of what would happen if S’mores made it to tribal council.

By the time I got into a picture, all I had left was a chunk of marshmallow.

Smiley S’Mores Monsters, the Video

Since Little Roo missed all the action that night at the beach (way past his bedtime), we decided to set him up with our own smore-a-thon when we got home. I captured the highlights on video. You’ll get a kick out of them getting messy with the S’mores (and be sure to catch :20  to witness some CUTE brotherly giggles).

My house looks like a wee bit of crazy, right?

Want a Chance to Win a Canon Rebel (& Other Cool Stuff?)

Another reason I was happy to share some of our S’mores moments was because of this. Capture and share your fave S’mores moment on their Facebook page for a chance to win some super awesome prizes like the grand-prize Canon Rebel Camera, slate marble outdoor firebowl, $250 SnapFish gift card, roasting skewers set and all of the ingredients needed to make S’mores, including Hershey’s Milk Chocolate bars.

Plus, if you visit the page to download the Say S’mores application so you can participate in monthly photo contests, you’ll receive a $1 coupon good toward the purchase of any two Hershey’s Milk Chocolate bar 6-packs. SWEET.

Grab your roasting stick and go check out the Hershey’s Facebook page to get your S’more on.

This post is a part of my participation in the Hershey’s “Say S’Mores” promotion. All opinions are mine.

Ready to Get My S’More On

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You guys know that my family loves to be outside. A couple of years ago, we took Big Roo on his first camping trip. Not only did he sleep under the stars for the first time, he got his first taste of gooey, chocolately S’mores.

I’ll never forget his curiosity in watching the marshmallows roast. And that wide-open mouth as he tries to devour all the layers in one bite. It’s one of my fave memories of our first camping trip.

This summer, the Hershey Company is encouraging families to create their own S’mores memories with the Say S’mores campaign. And I’ll be working with them to spread the word.

Dang, that looks yum-tastic.

Capture and share your fave S’mores moment on their Facebook page for a chance to win some super awesome prizes like the grand-prize Canon Rebel Camera, slate marble outdoor firebowl, $250 SnapFish gift card, roasting skewers set and all of the ingredients needed to make S’mores, including Hershey’s Milk Chocolate bars.

Plus, if you visit the page to download the Say S’mores application so you can participate in monthly photo contests, you’ll receive a $1 coupon good toward the purchase of any two Hershey’s Milk Chocolate bar 6-packs. SWEET.

So, where does Adventuroo come in? Well, later this summer I’ll be posting something S’more-rific (but it’s a surprise theme- even I don’t know yet)! And I’ll be giving away a S’more kit so you and your fam can enjoy all the chocolate and gooeyness too.

In the meantime, grab your roasting stick and go check out the Hershey’s Facebook page to get your S’more on.

 

This post is a part of my participation in the Hershey’s “Say S’Mores” promotion. All opinions are mine.

The Elusive Date Night: Found!

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Before we had kids, we decided we weren’t going to be “those parents.” Ya know, the ones who NEVER went out on dates. We figured we’d at least have a couple of dates a month. Hellooooo, babysitter.

Um, yeah.

It’s been over four years since we brought Big Roo into the world. We laugh whenever we think of our pre-kid proclamation.

That’s not to say we don’t EVER go on dates. But to give you an example, since Little Roo was born 15 months ago, we’ve been on maybe five or six dates. I say MAYBE because I can honestly only remember like three but I’m sure my forever-baby-brain brain forgot one or two. I’m pretty sure one was a work Christmas party too so that probably doesn’t even count. According to our 2006 selves, we should have had 30 dates since Little Roo graced us. Hahahahahaha.

So, why don’t we have dates that often? Money and time. Mostly money cause I sure as hell would make the time. When you don’t have in-laws nearby, dates become a $100 affair for dinner and a movie. Even “cheap dates” still call for a babysitter (need to get on the co-op thing).

That’s why I was STOKED to get tickets from Disney to see the new Pirates of Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides.

Who? What? US? A date? Do you see how excited we are?

Look ma- no kids!

I honestly didn’t know what to expect with the movie. I mean, you get to the fourth movie in a series and you wonder if the series will jump the shark. But I was pleasantly surprised.

First off, I just loved that the movie brought back a “treasure hunt” we’re all familiar with: the search for the fountain of youth. The movie even brought one of the most famous pirates of all into the mix: Blackbeard. Oh yeah, and there were mermaids that freaked me out yet mesmerized me at the same time (the visuals in those mermaid scenes were fantastic). I actually enjoyed Penelope Cruz’s character even better than Keira Knightley’s. Did I mention those mermaids? They sure weren’t anything close to Ariel.

In fact, the movie was so great I felt pirate-y afterwards. Arrrrrgggghhhh, me hearty.

Like my dreads?

We were back in about 3.5 hours and spent most of the time watching a movie. BUT we did get to talk in the car to and from the movie without kids talking over us, screaming in the background or wondering aloud if we’re “there yet.” And that was just as great as staring at Johnny Depp—I mean, watching the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie.

So, tell me: how often do YOU get out for date night?

Disclaimer: I was given free tickets to the Pirates of the Caribbean 4 screening but decided to write this because helloooo we had a date. Let’s hope there are more dates in our future.

I’m Practically Jumping Up and Down at How Cute These Pictures Are

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I’m picky about pictures. While I love taking pictures with my own camera, I love a good photography session from someone else even more.

Last week, I welcomed Sarah Fitzgibbons over to the Casa de Culbertson to capture a few holiday shots of my ever-squirming children and to get Little Roo’s nine month shots.

A good photographer makes everything look pretty darn perfect, even if behind the scenes it’s more like me corralling the kids while things like this are going on: running, crawling away, flailing, squirming, fake smiling, jumping, twitching and who knows what else. Then the photographer finishes up and you hope- HOPE- that they captured at least a few shots worthy of a shiny frame.

Well, Sarah sent me proofs and I’m blown away, y’all.

Blown away NOT because I doubted her talent but because these pictures capture everything– the boys’ energy, our home looking its best and pure squeezable love.

Love the angle of this one and the santa hats. Good thing they wore the hats for a total of 30 seconds.

And this one… I look pretty chill but inside I’m thinking. “O.M.G. Crazy. Boys. Are any of these shots going to look good?”

It had snowed the day before and so we didn’t get a chance to buy a tree in time for the photo shoot. Crazy person that I am, I spent the evening before the photo shoot grabbing boxes out of the attic and wrapping them to create some sort of nice backdrop. Sarah had the idea to leave a box open to put Little Roo in. Of course, Big Roo couldn’t miss an opp to jump in a box either.

I really can’t even stop posting these pictures because I love them so much. Humor me.

And now some of Little Roo for his nine month photos…

*kerplunk* That’s the sound of me falling over from the cuteness of that picture.

One thing I love about Sarah is that she saw things about my house that I didn’t see. I saw an ugly gold kickplate of the front door.  She saw a reflection of my little munchkin.

She brought all sorts of props and was at the ready if we needed them. Love how prepared she was.She also tried fun angles and perspectives rather than only straight-forward smile-at-the-camera shots.

I couldn’t be happier with how these pictures turned out!

Just For the Locals…

Sarah moved to Raleigh not too long ago and is building up her photography business. She’s an outdoor lover like me which is how we connected.

If you’re in Raleigh and looking for a photographer, she’s offering a generous $50 off her normal session rate of $225 if you book between now and December 31 (you can schedule the session for 2011, just need to book by the end of 2010 to score the deal).

For $175, she’ll come to your house (or wherever you want to do the session), provide you with 35-50 of the best edited images AND give you a DVD containing high resolution files and a print release so you can print them wherever you’d like. Professional prints are available for an extra charge. You can even give the photo session as a gift if you won’t be needing it anytime soon.

As you can see I’m happy as a mommy clam with Sarah’s work. The pictures truly beautiful. Now I have to finish designing my Christmas cards before it’s actually Christmas!

To see more of Sarah’s photography or to schedule a session, visit her website. You can also see more on her Facebook page.

Disclaimer: I would have never discovered Sarah’s awesomeness if she had not provided me with a free photo session. The gushing over the photos is genuine. She rocks.

77kids by American Eagle $50 Gift Card Giveaway

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Heeeyyyyyyy ladies (and guys, you aren’t forgotten)!

Yesterday I wrote about the Wish-4-Snow charity drive from 77kids to benefit our local children’s hospital. Well, if donating to charity isn’t enough of a motivation, then how about the chance to win a $50 gift card from 77kids? Yeah, I thought so. SWEET!

Mandatory Entry

Make yo self a snowflake on the 77kids website. Leave a comment with the name of your snowflake (I’ll verify your flake through the “Find yer flake” link on the site so no funny business.)

preeeeetttyyyy

Extra Entries

Leave a comment for each one of these bad boys.

  • Like 77kids on Facebook
  • Follow 77kids on Twitter
  • Like Adventuroo on Facebook
  • Tweet this: Help @77kids & @adventuroo raise money for WakeMed Children’s Hospital & enter to win a $50 gift card! #77kids http://ht.ly/3bE2o

The deadline to enter is December 6 at 11:59 p.m. so be sure to make lots and LOTS of snowflakes between now and then. Don’t forget it’s also a great way to teach kids about the spirit of giving too!

Disclaimer: This post is part of a campaign I’m working on with The Motherhood and 77kids. I received a stipend and gift card for participating.