Tiny Oranges – Fresh, fun blog for OC moms

Abracadabra! POOF! Disney Live! presents Mickey’s Magic Show coming to So Cal later this month and I have a discount code on tickets as well as a family 4-pack of tickets to give away to the September 25th show in Long Beach!  Make sure to read below on how to enter to win, but first a little about this show…

Magician Mickey Mouse and the always-dazzling Minnie join together with professional illusionists for a magical production on stage.  Featuring grand illusions and favorite Disney characters, this unforgettable production is performing at the Fred Kavli Theatre at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza and the Terrace Theater, Long Beach and tickets are on sale now!

Show times & info…

THOUSAND OAKS
Fred Kavli Theatre at Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza (2100 E. Thousand Oaks, 91362)
Friday, September 24 – 3:00pm & 6:00pm

LONG BEACH
Long Beach Terrace Theater (300 E Ocean Blvd, Long Beach, CA 90802-4825)
Saturday, September 25 – 3:30pm & 6:30pm
Sunday, September 26 – 12:30pm

Ticket Prices: $65.00 / $35.00 / $25.00 / $20.00
To order tickets by phone:      800-745-3000
Online: www.disneylive.com OR www.ticketmaster.com

Save $3 on tickets to all performances with coupon / promo / discount code “MOM” online or when calling in!

Click HERE to download the complete full sized flyer with the fine print.

Hooray! It’s a Tiny Giveaway!

One lucky winner will win 4 tickets to the show at Terrace Theatre, Long Beach on Saturday, September 25th, 2010 at 3:30pm!

To enter to win, please leave a comment below.  Here are the entry options! Please also include your email address on at least one of the comments so I can contact you if you are the winner!

1. Simply leave a comment below & tell me who you would take to the show – 1 ENTRY

2. {Like} Tiny Oranges on Facebook – 1 ENTRY

3. Follow @TinyOrangesOC on Twitter - 1 ENTRY

4. Subscribe to my email updates {and don’t miss one post!} Put email address in top right column- 1 ENTRY

5. Respond to a post or add a new post in our Forum – 1 ENTRY

Contest runs through 5pm PST on Wednesday, September 15th, 2010. I will post the winner next Thursday morning on my Facebook page and contact the winner via email.  Good luck!

The darling gals over at Just-Spotted {a must-read OC family guide} just announced yesterday that voting is now open for the 2010 “You’ve Just Been Spotted” OC Blog Awards!  And I received the exciting news that Tiny Oranges was nominated in not just one but TWO categories: Best Kid & Family Site and Favorite Local Blog!

I am thrilled to pieces! Happy, happy!  I put sooooo much heart, soul and time into Tiny Oranges {it’s sort of like my 3rd child} so just being CONSIDERED makes me giddy. And to win would make me one very happy mom blogger!

Will you take 30 seconds right now to vote for me?

CLICK HERE TO VOTE!

That page will take you to their post on the nominees. To vote you will click on any of the highlighted HERE’s in the first paragraph!

You will find “Tiny Oranges” alphabetically listed under “KID & FAMILY SITES” (2nd category down) and under “FAVORITE LOCAL BLOG” (last category.)

All you do is select the circle next to Tiny Oranges on both (or one, I won’t be greedy!) then click submit at the very end and you will get a message that your votes have been counted.

And, if you love blogs, and have time to visit the other nominees, take some time to look at the blogs nominated and linked HERE.   So many talented bloggers in OC!  I really am honored to be included.

Again, CLICK HERE TO VOTE, and click on any of the HERE highlights in the first category of their post to take you through to the voting page!

Voting is open today through September 12th, 2010 at 11:59pm. THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Happy Wednesday! Visit me tomorrow for a very fun giveaway!

Since it is back-t0-school shopping time, I saw this deal come across on a great local site called Plum District and wanted to share!  Plum District is a great new deal site offering super daily deals for savvy moms to help make life easier AND save some money.

This deal runs today through Thursday.  It is $12 for a $25 gift card that can be used at Jack’s Surfboards. Click HERE for locations!

To become a Plum District savvy mom, first you sign up {it’s free}, then you enter your email and click on your district (Orange County, Los Angeles, etc.)  and you will see the current deals and past deals to give you an idea of the sorts of things that are offered.

If you want to buy it, you enter in your payment info and then you will have a coupon to print to bring with you.  I bought the House of Yogurt deal from last week.  It was only $12 for $20 worth of yogurt!  These great deals can save so much money if you see places you go already! And HOY is one of our favorite stops!

Thought this was a super juicy Plum deal!  From one mom to another, you will LOVE this site!

{Disclosure:  Tiny Oranges is a part of the Plum District affiliate program so if you love Tiny Oranges, please CLICK HERE to get to their site & sign up!}

As a mom there is a first time for everything. Unfortunately last Monday that meant our first experience with a broken bone.

It started out with what was supposed to be a special three day vacation for Emma with her grandparents in San Diego.

They had all sorts of fun things planned and Emma was so excited for her “special vacation.”

We drove her down last Sunday.  She called me the next morning to say “hi” and she was on top of the world after a pancake and strawberry breakfast.  Pretty special for a Monday morning! I asked her what she was going to do that day, and she told me she wanted to go to the park and then they were going to meet friends and go swimming in the afternoon.

I thought it was weird to get another call an hour after my daughter had already called me.  But this time it was my mother-in-law  and I could tell something was wrong by the way she said “Hi Jennifer,”  I just had a sinking feeling something had happened.

It was a completely fluke fall at the park.

She was on a climbing thing and slipped and hit her elbow on the way down on one of the metal bars.

She told me she cried so hard when she moved it, she thought something might be broken. My heart started to race…

My poor inlaws, can you imagine?  They have taken her to the park hundreds of times, and are so careful with my kids. I felt badly for what they must be feeling.  It was just a total freak accident.I told them to take her to the ER to get an xray just in case.

This weekend they sent this picture so we could envision where it happened.  All I got from Emma was she was on a “snake thing.”

Site of “the Incident”…

So, I get in the car to head to SD  praying that it was a bad bruise and she was being dramatic (not an unlikely assumption.)  But for my mother-in-law to call and for them to take her to the hospital, I knew it must be pretty bad.   I tried to look on the bright side, thank God at least it was her left arm (she’s right-handed.)

The doctor called my husband from the ER with the prognosis and he conferenced me on.

Turns out she fractured her elbow and they would put it in a splint for now.  She would need a cast, but they don’t do a cast immediately because of the swelling.   We were then to follow-up with our for pediatrician to get a referral to a local orthopedic doctor who would do a cast when she got back home.

She told us the pain shouldn’t be too bad, just give her children’s ibuprofen and she should be fine.  Run of the mill, common fracture for kids her age.  She had a  ”no big deal” attitude.

But to me it was a VERY big deal…my head was spinning. I have to admit, I panicked a little bit. But I tried to think good thoughts. It could have been so much worse.

By the time I got to San Diego they were already back to their house so I met them there. She was 100 times worse than expected. When she saw me she became hysterical.  Crying, screaming, MAD (I would be too!) and very upset at the fact she couldn’t use her hand or grab anything. The splint covered entire arm all the way down to her fingertips.

She was also in a lot of pain. My heart just broke.

I got her home, but the 24 hours between “the Incident” and getting in to see the orthopedic doctor were awful.  I was not prepared for her to be in this much pain! I was sort of mad that they didn’t prepare us for what she could go through pain-wise.  This was NOT “no big deal!”

She couldn’t do anything, and any movement would make her scream.  Getting her to the bathroom was a major ordeal. Horrendous. We had been giving her the children’s ibuprofen when we could, every 6 – 8 hours.

Later that night she had a terrible stomach ache and was gagging and said she was going to throw up. I called our after-hours line and spoke to a nurse (they are angels, I swear) on call to see if this much pain and stomach upset were normal.

She told me that ibuprofen on an empty stomach is very hard on the tummy.  I think she even used the word toxic.  It was time for her next dose and obviously she was in a lot of pain so I didn’t know what to do.  She said the goal was to get anything in her to coat her stomach…even if it had to be white bread, french fries, what have you.  Just anything to get her to eat so she could have the medicine to take the edge off the pain. I didn’t know it could be this hard on the tummy and that giving it after some food is important. No one had told us about this!

The night was absolutely terrible, she couldn’t sleep and we couldn’t get her comfortable. To watch my baby be in that sort of pain was really like experiencing it myself.

Luckily we got an appointment to see the cast doctor the next day at 1:30pm so we didn’t have to wait another full day to see someone.

We went in, they took new xrays and they told us it was a simple fracture (THANK GOD)…no displaced bones or anything.  She just needs a cast for 4 weeks and it should heal quickly without issue.  PHEW.   Best news possible for a crappy situation.  Again, even this new doctor said “this is no big deal” and I was thinking, um, you should have lived with us the past 24 hours!

Here she is getting her cast on…poor thing…but she forced a smile for me!

Second thing I learned…once the cast was on she was SO MUCH BETTER and the pain subsided!!!!

Getting the cast on was scary for her, but she did great considering.  It helped she had 9 colors to choose from and this hot pink number was quite interesting to see.   It hurt her when they were putting it on because they had to hold her arm in position, but once it was all set I started to see my Emma come back again.

It was really miraculous, I had NO idea the cast would make such a difference!  The doctor didn’t make any promises, but when I asked him about the PAIN, he said she should be more comfortable in the cast because it immobilizes it.

When we got home, she actually PLAYED and was in good spirits. Just to see her playing again made me feel like everything was going to be okay. 

Moms with kids that have had broken bones: is this what you experienced too??

So we are actually doing amazingly well.  One week down, only 3 more to go.   No doubt it is a pain in the neck but I have been amazed at how much she has learned she can do with it on.  It is honestly like you wouldn’t know she was wearing it most times throughout the day.

We have had to improvise on some things. We play “beauty salon” at the sink to wash her hair which she actually quite enjoyed.

See pic below {and little sis always has a front seat to all the action.  There she is in the background offering us a graham cracker…}

And afterwards, of course her BABY DOLL had to visit the beauty salon too…

She has also gotten a WHOLE lot of attention…get well gifts, and pretty much anyone who sees her out in public makes a big deal out of it.  Everyone asks “what happened to your arm??”  The other day she told me she was going to tell people, “Oh, I’m just wearing this for fun!…I’m kidding.”  I laughed so hard. My husband said she actually told someone that at the store yesterday.

The attention did bring out a little “cast diva”  attitude in her, but I figure she’s allowed every once in awhile for what she has been through.

And lots and lots of signatures with the black Sharpie!

It is a bummer preschool starts next week, but I think the kids will be intrigued to see a girl with a florescent hot pink cast.  And we most certainly will always remember her first day of preschool and the pics in the years to come!

If you haven’t signed up yet to get the Screamin Daily Deals, trust me and take one minute today to do it, because there are so many great deals!!   PLUS, for each coupon purchased, not only do you save a lot of money, but a percentage goes back to the local school of your choice.   Such an awesome program.

CLICK HERE to sign up to get the emails.  It’s easy & free. After you sign up,  you will receive emails with SCREAMIN deals.  If a deal catches your eye, you have the day to purchase it, then you get the coupon and your school gets money.  Love love love!

Today’s deal is a fun one from Newport Fun Tours!

With today’s Screamin Daily Deal, you can cruise Newport Harbor in style with a  2-hour rental in a luxurious electric Lounge Chair for two {complete with built in cooler & MP3 player} for ONLY $20!

On your adventure, you can look forward to potential wildlife encounters including seals, dolphins, and various other sea creatures. Enjoy the gorgeous OC fall weather and the beautiful coastline of Newport Harbor from the comfort of your lounge.

I thought this would be a fun activity for the family or even to take your husband for a “date day” activity!

CLICK HERE for the details and to purchase this deal!

Happy Labor Day everyone!  We are surviving life with a hot pink cast…no beach or pool time for us this weekend! Will post next week on all the fun details. In the meantime, have a fabulous weekend!

xo Jen

{Disclosure: Tiny Oranges is a part of the Screamin Daily Deals affiliate program & this is a sponsored post. However,  my opinions are ALWAYS honest and I would be screamin’ about this program regardless of their affiliate incentive.}