Why, hello again.

I’ve been giving a lot of thought to my life lately since my father died. I’ve thought about the time I spend on things and where I can cut back. Big things. Little things. All sorts of things in between. I have a full post coming up next week about my One Word for 2012, which will explain my one word a little more.

All that to say, I’ve decided not to continue with the Capture the Everyday weekly meme. I know we have some devoted peeps (and I love you for it!) but in order to focus on some of my goals for next year, I need to limit my weekly commitments.

This blog is always about Capturing the Everyday though! And Adventuroo is going NO WHERE!

I will definitely continue writing posts about motherhood, how to capture everyday moments, the outdoors and all that stuff. I may even do Capture the Everyday link-ups on special occasions.

I hope you’ll continue to hang around because I’m not going anywhere really. Just changing things up a bit!

If you’ve seen the tweets, you know that my dad is very ill. He moved back to Costa Rica (where he’s from) last fall after living in the U.S. since the 70s.

My family and I were 8 hours from home when we found out (on Thanksgiving/my birthday actually) and so we drove home yesterday. I have spent today making flight arrangements, packing and all that stuff you do when you’re leaving your husband and kids for a week. Tough.

For those of you who saw my tweets, I got a small blessing and found a more recent passport than the first one I found. It’s current so I don’t have to get an emergency passport, but my sisters still do.

Anyway, I fly out of the U.S. on Sunday morning. As you can guess, there will be no posts on here or Momcomm for the week and maybe part of the following week. I’m sure you understand but feel better just writing a quick post to let you know.

Keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

Woohoo for the Weekend!

Seriously. I’m tired beyond belief. I’ve got so much going on lately that I haven’t slept much (but at least when I sleep, I sleep HARD). Week in My Life is definitely a lot of work but I’m happy to be capturing decent shots. Just glad we only have two more days of documenting and posting!

Funny thing is, even though I’m exhausted, today wasn’t half bad.

Little Roo woke me up at 4 am with massive coughing fits but he managed to go back to sleep. He hardly coughed at all once he was awake for the day!

The kids start the morning with a little TV. Little Roo doesn’t really watch it for long but Big Roo would watch for hours if we let him. They were watching Thomas the Train from Netflix streaming on the Roku. I think it’s ironic the character is taking a picture, don’t ya think?

Probably the most frustrating part of the day (besides not getting my iPhone) was getting to preschool. Daddy Roo took Big Roo back from soccer yesterday and forgot to put the booster back in my car. This happens almost EVERY SINGLE TIME the seat goes in there. We both forget to grab it. We used to have seats in BOTH cars but since I don’t work FT anymore, I drive the kids around mostly.

What did I do? Little Roo is still only 20 lbs. Guess who rode in the infant carrier? Putting that sucker back into my car was a beeyotch though. I may or may not have cried. Big Roo said “I love you mom” to make me feel better. For him, I turned around Little Roo’s Marathon and he rode in that. Not ideal for either of them but at least we got to school.

Tuesdays and Fridays the kids eat lunch with me. Today we chowed down while I jotted grocery items down in Cozi on my iPhone.

Then… THEN I bolted straight up during lunch and suddenly remembered Big Roo had an appointment for his flu vaccine. ZOMG! I never ever miss a doctor appointment. I tried to call the doctor office to see if they’d still see us but my dumb phone wouldn’t dial out (one of the reasons I NEED my new phone… on Verizon because I’m SO done with AT&T).

We live like two minutes from the doctor. I was 30 minutes late (GAH). But they took him and we were in and out in about 5 minutes! He got the Flu-mist thingy. She told him it was like water. Once we got to the car, his nose was tickling him. Here’s what he said:

“Water made my boogies wet and they’re all coming out!” Hysterical, this kid.

I’m desperately trying to get my crafty mojo back so I found this easy bat template to put across the door. Big Roo helped me put them up with Little Roo played “drums.”

And then they waved and yelled “hello!” at kids like four houses down. Heh.

Can’t say they always get along though. Big Roo wasn’t sharing something and Little Roo wasn’t happy in the least.

We try to hit the playground once a week at least. Weather hasn’t been especially nice to us but we finally had a beautiful day. We headed to a nearby park, where Big Roo likes to race his cars down the twisty slide and see who wins.

This has to be the only place with a merry-go-round too. Does your park have one? Little Roo ALWAYS wants to sit on it. But he also enjoys the tunnel and I got some pretty awesomesauce shots of him.

Oh and he climbs too! I have to watch him cause he wants to do things the bigger kids do.

We headed home and met Daddy Roo, who had left work a bit early to go get his iPhone 4s! He previously had a 3s. I have a 4 but AT&T service simply doesn’t work. Every single call I dial out from home fails at least once. And when it does connect, it usually drops a call. I use Skype for business calls and have just been hanging on til the new phones came out. Even AT&T told me they couldn’t fix my issue so they’re letting me out of contract. That’s why I was especially bummed when he got one and I didn’t!

I did get to play with Siri though why we drove to pick up dinner. You ask her stuff and she answers. She’s honestly not impressing me too much yet but she has a sense of humor.

I’ve heard she also answers 42 (you fellow nerds will know what that means).

I haven’t really been able to do any good documentation of our evenings until tonight. Every couple of weeks or so, we eat take-out at our coffee table and watch a movie. Our rug is gross anyway so it hardly matters. Tonight with sushi and Japanese food. Kids loved the noodles and the tofu (yes, I know, they actually eat it).

Look at that noodle!Bedtime!

Bedtime is pretty routine for Little Roo. Change to jammies. Read a book or two (on the floor since I don’t like our rocker). Brush teeth. Put out his nightlight (it’s from OXO if you’re wondering- found it on eBay) then put him to bed. After MONTHS of torturing us as a baby, he’s really easy to put to bed now.

Tonight I pretended to toss him in bed. He gets a big kick out of that (and out of the self-timer).

After finishing the movie (we watched Up by the way), it was Big Roo’s turn. His routine is similar. Read two books, brush teeth, potty, do his reward badges, then one final book. Tonight we just did one book instead tonight since he watched the movie.

One thing he and I do is read books with our legs up the wall. We don’t do it every night (and reading more than one book that way hurts your arms) but we do it weekly. Daddy Roo took this shot.

Big Roo gets into our pics. He asked me to take this over again. I did three takes I think. (He’s had a decent week badge wise. Last week? Not so much.)

For Big Roo, I DO actually throw him in bed… just a tad. For this shot, he BEGGED me to get one of him in the air. This was the closest I could get. If you want to see Big Roo’s room in full, I did a photo tour of it last year.

And then he got silly.

Finally, poor Trajan needs some more lovin so I was sure to get him a good pet tonight. I’d say he enjoyed it.

Notes about the Process

At this point I’m just tired and ready for the weekend. Just two more days, you troopers! I’ll announce the giveaway winner on Tuesday. If you’re interested in doing my weekly Capture the Everyday meme (you get an assignment each week so it’s 1000 times simpler than this), we’re moving to Tuesdays and the first one will be Tuesday, October 25! The next assignment is in this post.

ThisLife Linky Giveaway!

Week in My Life is sponsored by ThisLife, a new app that gathers your scattered “moments” from your online world (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Picasa, Shutterfly, Smugmug and more) and organizes them in one place. The ThisLife app is in beta right now but if you just head to their website and enter your email, you’ll be added to the invite list.

ThisLife has generously donated a BEAUTIFUL camera bag from Cheeky Lime for me to give away this week! You can pick either this green or a nice red too.

If you don’t have a DSLR camera, you can: store your point-and-shoot, video camera and other electronics in here OR use this as a perfect way to convince your significant other that now is the time to upgrade, baby!

To enter the giveaway, all you need to do is link up your post to any day during the Week in My Life Project. If you do all seven days? You get seven entries! Just a few more things to know:

• You’ve gotta link your post using the linky below
• Your post must be a true Week in My Life post (so a one-picture Wordless Wednesday post won’t fly)
• Your post should have a link back to Adventuroo
• Giveaway is open to U.S. residents

Yep, it’s a mostly staycation for me this week.

While we’ll get heading somewhere later this week, I’m using part of this week to regroup, refresh and catch up on a few other things. Plus, writing and launching an eBook will make ya tired.

A Few Nuggets to Share Before You Go!

For you awesome people coming here for the first time:

If you’re new here, sorry I’m gone for the week. BUT I’ll leave you with three of my most popular posts evah:

What About the Boys? (thoughts on raising gentlemen)

Joy in the Ordinary, the Everyday and the Milk Stains on My Shirt (about capturing those everyday moments)

The Secret to Great Photos (how to get the best photos you’ll ever take)

For you Capture the Everyday-ers… Your Next Assignment:

Yep, I forgot to give your next assignment (even though it won’t go up until September 9). Thanks to my awesome Everyday-ers who gave me SO many fun ideas for future assignments. In fact, the next one is from Jules at Lucid Lotus Life…

What’s in Your Fridge?!!

Is that a great one or what? You have almost two weeks to strategize what food you want to show the world- hehe.

For you spammy spammers:

No, not you. But those evil people who like to tell you about things I’d rather not get into.

Another reason for taking a break this week is my spam on this blog is OUT OF CONTROL, y’all! While Akismet is catching most of them, there’s just something not normal about getting 500 in three days!

So, I tried Kludgy Mom’s great post about blocking IP addresses. It’s caught 200 in the past 3 days but there are just too many IP addresses to flag them all. SO I installed G.A.S.P. (from the same guy who does Comment Luv). It makes people check that they aren’t a spammer and is supposed to catch what Akismet can’t. It’s already been an hour and NO SPAM!

I’m hoping that keeping it up for a week with make those spam bots go elsewhere then I can turn it out (hate having to make people check they aren’t spam). But I may have to leave it up for a while if this next week doesn’t work enough magic. If so, it’ll only ask you ONCE so there’s a YAY for that.

Well, that’s my many updates! Have a great week and enjoy your Labor Day weekend!

You knew I’d do it, right?

Last week, I gave away my blog conference virginity to the Type A Parent Conference in Asheville, NC. While I’ve been to conferences and trade shows before, this whole blog conference scene was new to me.

Yesterday I wrote about things I learned outside of the sessions.

Today I’m writing about people.

Even though I was a conference newbie, it didn’t feel new to me. These were mah peeps. My peers. Those who spoke the same bloggy lingo, had the same challenges as a blogger and were eager to learn, turn online friends into IRL ones and meet new friends too.

If you’re looking for the practical knowledge that I learned from Type A, then you’ll have to wait until next week when I’m done with Bloggy B-Card Week on my other blog, Momcomm. I’ll post all that brainy stuff over there after the 4th of July holiday weekend.

If you’re looking for the warm fuzzy part of the conference, well then keep reading.

First, there’s no better way to kick off a time away then with a roadtrip!

I drove the Raleigh crew of @allthingsfadra (aka @socialdialect), @notthecar and @goodgirlgonered over to Asheville. Here we are before we hit the road:

There are so many peeps that I was DYING to meet and lucky for me, I got to. Unfortunately, I went rogue with my camera. For someone who takes a gazillion pictures with my DSLR (me), it’s amazing that 1. I mainly took pictures with my iPhone and 2. that I really didn’t take that many pictures at all. Next time, I vow to snap way more pics.

Here are some of the pictures I managed to take of actual people:

Tina (@lifewithoutpink) was at the top of my “have to meet or I’ll cry” list. So glad we met and hung out.

Alissa (@havestroller) was also on that list. That chick was awesome.

I snagged a picture with @shellthings too after she got a picture of me with pursey.

Nights were da bomb, spending times with awesome peeps like @toddleraudrey, @kellyology and @thehhhousewife.

Dinners were some of my fave parts of the conference, dining with cool girls like @guavalicious, @thehhhousewife, @kellyology, @mommybknowsbest and @allthingsfadra.

Me and one of my road-tripsters @goodgirlgonered.

My roomie and hometown neighbor @allthingsfadra.

While I couldn’t fit all my new friends in my bag to take home, the four of us carpoolers sure had a lot else to fit into the back of my car.

There were also people I didn’t get pictures of but really loved meeting:

@staceynerdin, @mommywords, @porchswingmom, @oboyorganic, @amandapadgett, @bellebeandog, @mamadweeb, @mamaofalltrades, @windowseatbooks, @techsavvymama, @gograhamgo, @reallifesarah, @musingsfromme, @superjennblogs, @resourcefulmommy, @amybhole, @honestandtruly, @AliciaMarie112, @angengland, @daniellesmithtv, @jo-lynne, @babypop, @ciaomom, @coloradomom @caitm, @robynsworld, @chilihead, @bywordmusings, @mommywantsvodka, @youngmommy, @centsiblelife and a bazillion people I know I didn’t mention.

While I do love the conference learning, I can’t give a Power Point presentation big hugs like I can to my peeps. There are some amazing bloggers out there… and I’m thrilled to have met some of them.

When a blogger goes to a blog conference, you KNOW you’ll get at least one post about it, right? I went to Asheville, NC last week to attend the fab Type A Parent Conference. It’s a blogging conference about—you guessed it—blogging.

Yes, I’ll be sharing some of the blogging knowledge I soaked up. Stay tuned next week on Momcomm after Bloggy B-Card Week is over.

But this post is about what I learned outside the sessions… about people, about traveling and about myself.

1. The deep relationships don’t happen in the sessions.

Sessions are for learning, catching up with those you already know and casually getting to know some new faces. When you meet someone new in a session, you’ll probably exchange blogger business cards too. But the sessions aren’t where you really get to know other bloggers. That happens in the hallways, at dinner, during the parties, on the patio or in your room as you wind down from the day’s events.

2. My Twitter name might as well be on my birth certificate.

When bloggers introduced themselves at the conference, it was almost always followed up with their Twitter name. Why? Because Twitter is where online blog relationships really happen. It’s where you get to know other bloggers more than anywhere else.

In fact, I often found myself quickly saying “I’m @adventuroo!” after I said my name but I didn’t want to risk the “WHO are you?” look after saying just Melissa Culbertson. I sometimes said “and @momcommblog too” but my other account has more followers so I started there and waited for that blank look. Ha.

If you’re a Twitter noob, you’d better get on it before your next conference. You can read my post about making sense of Twitter and then sign up already, will ya?

3. You can’t always rely on technology.

Okay so this point came up in the sessions but it’s not about the sessions so nanner nanner. The wi-fi at the conference was spotty (to put it nicely) and left some frustrated peeps during a few sessions. But that’s not the only thing you shouldn’t rely on. There may not always be a place to plug in your laptop if the battery starts to die either. Always bring a notepad and pen to a session. I went half old school through most of the sessions, taking handwritten notes but also using my laptop to tweet (since I’m much faster than on my phone). I love writing things down in a notebook for some reason.

Oh and I accidentally ran my finger down my notepad once like I would on my iPhone. Technology lives on, even when I’m going old school.

4. Bring your kids a gift back from the conference.

After you smother them with hugs and kisses, won’t you look like DA BOMB when you whip out cookies, toys and a Wii Monster Truck game with its own steering wheel? Oh maybe that was just me.

Seriously though, bring them a little something. Kids dig it and you’ll feel all warm and fuzzy watching their eyes light up. Even my toddler was excited (cookies are always a hit, for real).

5. Don’t be attached to the same people all the time.

I traveled to the conference for three other Raleigh bloggers. And sure, we hung out some. But I also made it a point to meet new people. As a conference-attending pro, Fadra was my trusty sidekick at times, introducing me to people she already knew from previous conferences. But I definitely wasn’t afraid to just walk up to someone and start the chit-chat.

If you go to dinner with people you already know well, ask a few bloggers you don’t know that well to come along too. And don’t be afraid to join in on a conversation you may be standing next to (depending on the seriousness of the topic of course). I ended up doing that and met new folks right up until the last 5 minutes before I went upstairs on Saturday night.

6. We ALL need a break from our kids.

I’ll be the first to admit that three full days and two half days of traveling was a long time to be away. By no means do I regret it, but I definitely won’t do a long stretch like that often. That being said, I came from with a flutter in my stomach ready to see those munchkins. And this week, preschool is closed and ya know what? I’m not going insane. In fact, I’m more patient and generally just going with the flow more.

You may not need a conference to do that. A date night might do it. Even going solo on a one-hour trip to Target is sometimes enough to re-boot your kidometer. Point is, we all need some time away from the kids.

What I noticed at the conference is that when bloggers talked about their kids I noticed we bragged about them. We showed others their cute pictures. We put the kids on speakerphone so those nearby could hear cute, little voices. We reveled in motherhood. As they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder.

7. You can only grow your blog so much without face-to-face interaction.

This one may catch me some flack but hear me out. This doesn’t have to mean flying to a new town and spending hundreds on dollars on a conference. If you can afford at least one conference a year, go for it. But if you can’t? Get local, baby! If you want to work more with brand, start attending local networking events. If you want more followers, get active in playgroups, local mommy events, your preschool, wherever you think your readers might be.

I can tell you this. While I was at Type A last week, this point really hit me. Interacting with people in person will make connecting with them online so much deeper.

There ya have it. My first Type A post that’s hopefully relevant to those who didn’t attend! Stay tuned tomorrow for photos from the conference aka the Love Fest (or feel free to skip it- I won’t cry).

Happy Monday, peeps!

Adventuroo will be a wee bit quiet this week. I’m heading to Type A Parent conference in Asheville this week so I’m keeping the workload light.

If you’ll be at Type A too (and I know some of you will be), then be sure to find me. I’m collecting business cards for my Super Fab Bloggy B-Card Series on Momcomm (my other site) next week. Next Friday, I’ll showcase the “awesomest” bloggy b-cards so you can have a little inspiration for your next bloggy b-card run (or your first run for that matter).

If you’re new here, this post is probably boring you out of your mind. In that case, have a look at my oldest son’s modern outdoorsy kids room, read why little dangly legs make me feel like a mother or get inspired to capture the everyday pieces of your life.

And of course, come back next week! I’ll be starting a 7-week series about capturing the everyday that you won’t want to miss.

Last week, I completed a giveaway for Barefoot Books. They create AH-MAZING books, activity decks and games that encourage kids to learn more about the world around them.

My kids are big fans. Seriously. Just the other night, Big Roo was supposed to be sleep but instead was practicing yoga poses! We learned them from the book My Daddy is a Pretzel and he kept coming to the top of the stairs to show us his poses. Cute, right? (except for the “top of the stairs” part- that made me nervous).

Leah from Barefoot Books reading to her daughter (who's totally enamored).

I had a chance to interview Leah Lesser, group communications director at Barefoot Books. How important is make-believe? How can we instill good reading habits in our kids? Those answers and more are below. Ta-da! Enjoy the interview, you guys.

It’s chock-full of awesome tips and ideas.

How do you think books help kids learn about the world around them?

There is nothing like a story to spark children’s imaginations and help them learn about different places. When children see pictures of African animals, European castles, Egyptian Pyramids, Asian temples, or any other cultural scene with stories from these far-off lands, it transports them to these places. Sharing books together as a family is a perfect time to have conversations about the world and the unique ways that people live.

Asking your child questions like “What do you think people eat in Kenya?” or “How do you think it feels to ride a camel?” or “What do you think its like to Walk on the Great Wall of China?” can help them learn about different places and recognize that while each of us are different, at the heart, we also many similarities. Even at a very young age, children can learn about different animals, places, foods, clothing and customs through books. As children get bigger their ability to understand evolves and their learning grows and grows–it’s a magical time when children begin to read on their own and discover the world through books and stories based on their own (evolving) interests.

On your website, I really loved how Barefoot Books says “It’s about making the time for the make-believe and letting imagination run wild and free.” How important is this for kids in today’s world?

In today’s screen-filled and academic-test-oriented world, I think it’s more important than ever for families, educators, and other care-givers in children’s lives to help foster their imaginations and simply offer them the time to “just play.” One of the best ways children learn is through play. I see it with my own children when they come home after school. They love to learn but they also need to time to digest the world and learn about it on their own terms. The world can be a scary place and when children play they can control their world and make sense of it in a way that is comfortable for them.

Just yesterday my kids picked up a water hose and a few buckets and spent hours making a river in our backyard. They were carefree and merrily playing, and one of the things that I found so special is that they were also learning about how water flows and how mud soaks up water and how the grass feels different when it’s wet and muddy, and how many buckets of water it takes to make a river, and how buckets become heavy the more water is in them. They were learning but in a way that was very unique to them because they had time to imagine and explore on their own terms.

In addition to books, Barefoot Books also does activity decks, puzzles and other hands-on products. How do you feel kids learn differently through play?

Children are born to play, play is how they learn. When a baby watches its mother’s face and then mimics her expressions or when they start to play peek-a-boo as they get a little older, they are playing and learning about the world around them. They learn about different emotions by watching faces, and they learn about cause and effect and what happens when mommy’s face disappears when she hides under the blanket and then returns when she removes the blanket during peek-a-boo.

As children get older, their play evolves and they learn new things. Using Kids’ Garden activity deck, children learn how to grow a pizza garden, create painted rock creatures, measure worms and rainfall, and explore the earth in ways they may not have thought about before. One of the reasons we created activity decks to compliment some of our books is because hands-on fun extends the learning opportunities for children and helps bring books to life. After reading My Daddy is a Pretzel, families can then play with Yoga Pretzels or Yoga Planet and experience some of the yoga positions in the story and make up some new ones along the way. Sharing the story of Herb the Vegetarian Dragon helps teach children about vegetables and healthy eating and then when they make slurpy soup from Kids’ Kitchen it brings the story to life in new, different and memorable ways.

What makes you the most proud about working for Barefoot Books?

I love hearing how families and teachers are using our books to help children discover the world. Recently I received a beautiful note from a teacher in a public school in New York City who is using some of our sing-a-long stories in her special education classroom. She wrote that the stories and songs helped her students who were non-verbal with severe autism, talk for the first time. That was a very proud moment, and I’m fortunate that there are many stories like that, that I hear about often.

What tips do you have for moms who want to instill good reading habits in their kids?

A study was done many years ago that showed a direct correlation with the number of books in a family’s home to that of their child’s IQ level. The study showed that the more books a family has, the smarter their child.

Related to this, one of the biggest tips is to read your own books, newspapers or magazines in front of your child so they see that reading is a familiar, enjoyable, accessible activity that is part of the daily life of your family.

Another tip is that storytime isn’t just for bedtime. If your child is upset or needs a break, sit with them and read them a story. Sometimes I’ll read to our children at the breakfast table as a way to start the day off with a fun little story. Make use of your local library, especially with summer approaching. The library is a treasure trove for people of all ages, get in and explore! Many libraries have storytimes, craft times, reading programs, author events, and other fun ways to help people connect with books and the community. And children’s librarians are a very special group of people who always seem to have wonderful ideas for reading fun for children of all ages.

Finally, when your child is older and reading on their own, keep storytimes going. They will still cherish being read to by a parent or caregiver and it offers an important opportunity during the day to talk and learn from one another. There is nothing that can replace the special bond created when families share books and stories together, no matter what age the children are.

Don’t you just love their feel-good approach to reading and exploring the world? I encourage you to join Barefoot Books’s Facebook page for even more feel-goodiness.

For four years now, Mother’s Day means, among other obvious things, hiking.

Y’all probably think that I’m super gung-ho and we shuffle out the door at 6 am. Oh noooooo. Not me. I start off every Mother’s Day by sleeping in while Daddy Roo simultaneously makes breakfast while making sure the kids don’t destroy something (welcome to MY world, buddy).

BUT we do get around to a hike every Mother’s Day. We started the tradition in Arizona when Big Roo was just a toddler. NOW look who’s a toddler: Little Roo.

This year we hit Umstead Park, only 15 minutes from our house but green, pretty and with water for the kids (and dog) to marvel. Here are my little hikers:

Note: Someone *cough- Daddy Roo- cough* should have told me that my headband makes my forehead look bulging. I’m really NOT happy about that picture.

We thought rain was imminent but lucky for us, the mild weather kept us cool. And the light perfect for cool nature-y pictures.

Big Roo even got to carry our old Camelbak for quick access to water… until he decided it was a pain to do anything other than have fun (see who’s carrying it on the way back? PIC: far right)

And Big Roo can’t resist giving his flashy sorta-smile when I break out the camera. Doesn’t he just look like trouble?

I’m adamant about getting a picture with the kids each Mother’s Day but my forehead pic above (and sans shower) just wasn’t cutting it. Instead, we popped out to the deck for a couple of shots before bed. Yep, Big Roo was in his PJs already. Better late than never though, right?

How was your Mama’s Day?

My big dude is a budding photographer. His aunt and uncle came to visit and took Big Roo on a walk. In his hands? A non-digital fish eye camera.