Corn on the Candles?

Looking for some last-minute Thanksgiving decor?

How about these?

We found these at Garden Gate (940. 387-8863) in Denton. They are a unique addition to any table and they’ll fit right in with your lovely spread. In fact, how about right between the greenbean casserole and the mashed potatoes?

LLELA: Lewisville Lake Environmental Learning Area

The Lewisville Lake Environmental Learning Area is a little secret tucked away here in the ‘burb. It is one of my very favorite places to explore with the kids. Pictured above is the main house in their 1860s homestead recreation. All the buildings present were relocated to LLELA from other places around the ‘burb and reconstructed with amazing detail.

The day we visited, it was cold. Very cold by Texas standards, but a hearty group of moms and kids from GLECPTA (Greater Lewisville Early Childhood Parent Teacher Association) braved the 30 degree weather for the adventure.

LLELA provided 3 educational guides that lead us on a trail full of treasure.

We came across antlers, animal tracks, snake skins, beaver skulls, and many other things that delighted the kids. This is a wild turkey track in a dried up puddle that was amid 9 other kinds of animal tracks.

Reid’s favorite treasure was the turtle shell. “I don’t think anyone lives here anymore…” he said.

The easy trail (we had several 2 year olds that kept up with the pace) weaves through the acreage toward the 1860s homestead.

Once at the homestead, we toured the buildings and learned about what life would be like if we had lived in that time period. There is a smoke house and house made of mud in addition to the full-size family home pictured at the top of this article.

The guides taught us to make butter. The kids all participated in the butter making (and eating) while singing a tune from that era, “Churn, Butter, Churn”.

We spent 3 hours exploring LLELA. On past trips we have spent between 1 1/2 hours and 2 hours. The nice thing is that there are porta-potties throughout the park and you are never very far from the car. There are covered picnic areas near the parking and benches to sit on in the homestead area.

More information about the Lewisville Lake Environmental Learning Area can be found here.

Others in the ‘burb have written about their LLELA experience:

The Butter Bean Report

Reese’s View of the World

June Cleaver Nirvana

If you have written about LLELA, please leave the link below.

Slow your roll

For you fast moms traveling westbound down 1171 (aka Main Street aka CrossTimbers Road) you might want to ease off the gas. Recently the speed limit changed from 50mph to 40mph. That’s correct – the posted speed for 1171 is 40mph all the way through the light at Shiloh.

The new signs have no flags on them indicating that a recent change was made, but the process of swapping out the signs was observed by many people who travel the road several times a day. Police have already been spotted at various points along 1171 – no doubt looking for speed violators.

So slow down and enjoy the scenery – at least that hasn’t changed!

Going Bonkers Play Place in Lewsiville

For indoor play fun on a LARGE scale, Going Bonkers in Lewisville is the place. The floor to very-tall-ceiling network of mazes include places to climb, slide, dodge, push, pull, jump, slither, shinny, crawl and weave through the colorful equipment. It is large enough that an adult can make it through with just a little scrunching.

The play equipment surrounds a large area with tables. Free Wi-Fi is available in the building which is why this recent burbmom.net corporate meeting was held here:

On this particular visit we had four children ages 2-7 with us. They were kept occupied for more than an hour while we got down to business.

For those of you with older children or non-high maintenance children, there is a quiet glassed-in room for adults only which hovers above the play area like a miniature heaven.

A fenced-in area for the 2 and under crowd keeps them enclosed in smaller scaled fun.

A token arcade is upstairs with a variety of coupon redemption games that can be converted to plastic toy bliss.

There is a cafe with a fair amount of food variety. We think the pizza is pretty good. Small, private rooms are available for birthday parties.

A word of caution, Going Bonkers does not allow outside food…even your venti soy chai tea latte. This has caused me to sit cross-legged on the floor in the vestibule while my children play inside and I finish my Starbucks with my laptop logging into their network…

More information about Going Bonkers can be found here.

If you have written about Going Bonkers, please leave the link below.

Twilight before daylight

Tonight I was one of those people. The kind that buys tickets weeks in advance. The kind that plans to stand in line for hours. The kind that gets really defensive about who gets in line in front of them – especially since people saved spots. I was even the kind that threatened to elbow and cat fight.

No, this wasn’t some VIP event for Coldplay – this was the good ‘ole AMC Movie theater in Highland Village. That’s right folks – I was planning on bringing some ghetto to the burb!

The night started out predictably – a long line welcomed me when I got to the theater. Good thing I had threatened asked my friend Britt to get there early since I couldn’t be there until 8pm. By the time I got there – there were already about 30 prepubescent girls in front of us. And yes, I think I was the ONLY person in line NOT wearing black or red. Shame on me. Anyhow – I settled in on the floor in line and started what would be about a 4 hour wait until the movie started at 12:01am.

Shortly after I arrived the buzz started through the crowd: they were going to open the theaters at 9pm to allow us to begin seating! Everyone was excited and we all stood up. I reminded my 2 friends that our goal was to sit in the first row of the back section so we could prop our feet up on the railing since no chairs are in front of it. Plan set.

On your mark…get set…go!!!!!!!!!!

I have to admit – I was not prepared for what came next. The closest thing I can compare it to would be a cattle heard on fast forward. My life flashed before me. I saw flashes of color. I heard screams and cries. Before I knew what was happening, I was being swiftly carried into the theater, as if the tide had come in and literally swept me away. I recall seeing a manager angel in a yellow shirt as the sea ushered me by and I quickly yelled, “Are we going to have other options?” I saw his head nod and relief swam over me. But my relief had come too soon.

Sweet faces like these:

Were now menacing. The caffeine kicked in and the claws came out. Then it happened. I got pushed. That’s right. Some 12 year old girl shoved me out of the way in an attempt to make a run for a seat. After I recovered from the shock of being pushed by a kid 15 years younger than me – I looked up and was in awe. There in front of my 2 friends and I was the largest gathering of underage girls I’ve ever seen. They were all decked out in their Twilight shirts and squealing with delight. I had to admit – I was intimidated.

Remembering the yellow shirted angel’s promise, I grabbed my 2 friends by the arm and said, let’s go. We made it past the second wave and found the manager. I looked at him pleadingly, “Uh. That. Is. Crazy.” I said.

“Yeah.”

“So, you said something about having ‘other options?’ right?”

He nodded. “Yes, go sit on that bench over there and if no one shows up for Madagascar 2 then I’ll open that theater for adults only.”

(Heavenly choir sings in praise)

The three of us did as we were told and about 15 minutes later he comes up to us. “Go ahead and go in to theater 4,” he said.

The three of us grabbed our stuff and walked in. Silence. Golden, beautiful silence. We were the only ones in there.

It was like a private VIP showing…we got a little excited!

After a while (2 hours) more people joined us, including this lovely bunch of local burb moms:

All in all we kept tight security on the door and followed a strict “adults only” policy – though at times we were all acting like children! My thoughts on the movie?

• If you have NOT read the book – you may not understand what all the hype was about.
• The sparking effect was pretty awesome. Better that I imagined they would do.
• The chemistry between Bella and Edward was obvious. So were the awkward moments they shared.
• The only violence shown was in a fight scene near the end. (This may be too much for younger children.)
• There is one kissing scene which is quite tame by today’s PG13 standards, but Bella is wearing short shorts in it and many people thought it looked like she was in underwear.
• Of course the book was better…
• But nothing beats a 20 foot screen shot of Rob Pattinson. Delish!

So, overall the movie was good, but the experience – well…it was to die for.

“Invite Your Friends” Contest

burbmom.net is proud to announce our very first contest!  Many more will be coming your way!

It is important to ‘burb headquarters that burbmom.net is NOT kept a secret!  So important that we are willing to bribe you, give you free stuff provide you with wonderful gifts as an encouragement to tell your local friends about our site.  To do so – please go to our social networking site – burbmom.ning.com – and click on INVITE – send out your invitations and just let us do the rest of the work for you!

If you have not created a profile on the networking site – go there … NOW … it is a blast and you are missing out!

So – here are the contest details:

1. Contest is being held from Thursday, November 20th to Thursday, November 27th, 2008(Thanksgiving) at Midnight.

2. We will know who sent new members through our Profile Questions – make sure your friends know to enter your name there.  All members can participate – even the new ones who get here from the contest!  Bring it on, ladies!

3. Qualified entries will include: women in the DFW Metroplex who are moms. That is not to say that non-moms cannot enter the site – we love that actually – but for this contest purpose – only the moms will count.  ***If needed – we will go to their homes and make sure there are kids – so no cheating.  If no kids exist for these “moms,” I will personally drop all three of mine off there.***

4. PRIZES Include – but are not limited to:

• $15 iTunes Gift Card
• $25 Brinker Gift Card (Chili’s, On the Border, Maggiano’s, Macaroni Grill)
• $10 Pei Wei Gift Card
• $10 PF Changs Gift Card

5. First prize Winner will choose their card of choice, second prize winner will choose from the remaining three – and so on… In the case of a tie – those members will participate in a tie-breaker…we will call it the “24-hour ‘burb-Blitz.”

6.  WINNERS will be announced on Friday, November 28th by NOON (the day before Shauna’s birthday, in case you were wondering)

holly’s story

Holly in 3 words:

1. perky
2. patient
3. silly

My version of how burbmom came to be…

If you know me in real life, I promise I have worn you out with my BIG ideas. My BIG ideas are all over the map. One week I will be inventing a portable pizza cutter to cut up toddler food on the fly. Another time I will be opening a coffee shop with a play area. The next time you see me I will be coming from the foam manufacturer with a proto-type of my new coccyx cushion with plans for a fancy fabric cover. Purse pockets, light bulb changers, luxury minivans, drive-thru ANYTHING, washable EVERYTHING, the list goes on and on of the things that my brain gets stuck on. The list goes on and on of things that have NOT come to fruition…

I started a blog a year ago, June Cleaver Nirvana. I soon found it a place for BIG ideas. Not in a way of “hey, this is my BIG idea”, but more in a creative outlet way. A creative outlet without known boundaries. A creative outlet without rules. A creative outlet with feedback through reader comments. Comments lead to conversations. Conversations lead to a community. When a community is online it often leads to, “hey why don’t we meet in person!”

And that is how I met Shauna. A group of us that “knew” each other through blogs were meeting for a weekend of IN REAL LIFE fun. There ended up to be six of us. One from California, one from Georgia, two from Oklahoma and two from FLOWER MOUND. What are the chances? It turns out that Shauna lives a few miles from me.

The BIG idea for burbmom.net hit me like a truck. Within 20 minutes of the initial thought I had purchased 7 website addresses. It was so obvious! Why not take what I love about blogging and apply it to the community I love.

So, one thing I know about myself and my BIG ideas…I could NOT do this alone. Not even a chance. That is where Bianca and Shauna take over. Really, these are girls of action. The funny thing is that Shauna had been running this same idea through HER head.

And so it starts. The further we get into this BIG idea, the more I love burbmom.net. The picture above is my serious side taken at the burbmom.net lawyer’s office. Yep, we are THAT serious.

Serious about FUN…

shauna’s story

Shauna in 3 words:

1. sassy
2. loud
3. genius

My version of how burbmom came to be…

BURBMOM.net was something that I envisioned about 2 years ago. I started a blog called “Flower Mound Living” in 2007 – I always felt like our town needed a website with a personal touch.  A place that moms could go to feel at home.  But, my vision got lost in the shuffle of life.  With a web design company and three kids at home, it was easy to let it go. 

So, in July 2008, I met Holly on the Internet – not in some creepy chatroom – but I wouldn’t go as far to say that it is any less creepy. We worked up a girls weekend in October 2008 with a few bloggers from all over the country.

We even wore matching shirts.  In the mall.  And not just any mall…the Galleria.

I digress.

Holly and I hit it off right away.  I don’t think either of us had any idea where our friendship was headed.  A few weeks after our weekend get-together, Holly & I had coffee and the plans were in play.

Through a series of events that include Waffles, Coffee, Castles, and more coffee…your Dear Website was born.

Holly, Bianca and I have a vision for BURBMOM.  In addition to the vision, we cannot seem to sit still…so that vision is in action! Join us as Burbmom.net takes your town by storm!

-Shauna

Horse-drawn Romance

Beginning Novemeber 28th, The Shops at Highland Village will be offering free horse and carriage rides every Friday and Saturday evening from 7 to 9pm. Take the kids on a ride through the shops or spend the evening with your special someone under the stars of The Shops.

bianca’s story

Bianca in 3 words:

1. pint-sized
2. creative
3. type-A

My version of how burbmom came to be…

Ever heard the saying “guilty by association?” Well that’s me – guilty as charged. I’ve known Holly for about 2 years now and during that time we have worked on a variety of projects together. I’ve always noticed her knack for coming up with great ideas – and have often encouraged her to pursue them.

In fact, I’ve always had a bit of an entrepreneurial spirit myself. However I lacked both the time and experience needed to start my own business. But all that was about to change…

In September I officially left Corporate America (though I really did enjoy my job at the time) and decided to willfully become “unemployed.” Now I know what you’re thinking – “ARE YOU CRAZY!?!??!“

And yes, I am. Well, not totally because I’m on medication for that, but I prefer to refer to myself as ADVENTEROUS. Oh, and TRUSTING. That is, trusting in God to help me stay alive now that I’ve given up all my stable income!

Enter Holly and her grand ideas. Holly approached me with the idea for burbmom when it first came to her. She had been talking with a few other moms in the neighborhood about having a resource for local moms to help them out. She approached me because that was something I had already been doing for quite sometime. That is, I am a sort of mom-for-hire. A babysitter. A nanny. A substitute. Whatever you want to call it – I help moms have moments of peace and sanity from their children.

Don’t be modest – you all know there are days when you fantasize about getting away. Whether it’s to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico or just to Target sans the screaming kids.

That’s where I come in. Being that the purpose of burbmom was to create a network of support for local moms, Holly felt I brought unique, yet necessary skills to the table. It was then that she recruited me for this new adventure. Once I was in, we began dreaming. Dreaming BIG.

Holly told me about Shauna (a neighbor who I hadn’t met at the time), and how she was a perfect fit to round out our trio; I was sold the minute I met her. She’s nothing short of awesome and everyday I work with her I realize we are so lucky to have caught her when we did!

So yeah, I’m not technically a mom…but that doesn’t mean I can’t support moms. And besides, if and when I become a mom someday – I know I’ll be in good company.

-Bianca

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