Summer Camp Tunes Inspired by Pink and Nate Reuss - Teen Tuesday Post by Rebecca Elspas

Teen Tuesday

by Rebecca Elspas, Teen Blogger

In last week's post on my Camp Counselor Flash Mob Experience, I shared how music can be a fun summer surprise. Here at camp, music really is the backbone of everything we do. Everyone, even the little one year-old campers live, breathe and embody music appreciation every day.

Me in costume after singing in school play, MommyBlogExpert.com

Some of my fellow staff members at camp play piano. In fact, that was my life's wish, too. But when I was little I was told my fingers were too small so I studied violin instead. While they were jamming out the other night to Stay by Rihanna and Just Give Me a Reason by Nate Reuss from Pink's The Truth About Love album, I sang along.

Singing is my passion, too -- yeah, maybe that sounds kinda cheesy. Seriously, I feel like it helps me push through anything even a wall (figuratively).

I really like this video shot at the Pink concert where Nate Reuss made a surprise appearance on stage singing that hit song!

My summer 2013 top artist & group playlist choices include

• Pink
• Nate Reuss 
• Michael Buble
• Lana Del Rey
• Christina Aguilera

I also love the Pitch Perfect soundtrack, which I know backwards and forwards. Invite me over to watch that musical movie and I will literally quote every single line, like a one hour 20 minute conversation with myself. To anyone who hasn't seen it yet, I highly recommend watching Pitch Perfect because your summer bucket list won't be complete without it. 

Shoutout to Pink and Nate Reuss for creating my favorite song of the moment!

Comment & Connect
Have a question for me about the songs and artists I like best right now? Better yet, make up your own summer playlist and share it below as a comment or Tweet it to me @RebElspas so I can get into some of your most loved tunes this season, too. Then, from all of you that submit one, I'll pick the playlist I like best and give you a shout out in an upcoming Teen Tuesday post. Don't miss a beat cause I can't wait to hear from you. You can also stay in touch with me by following on Twitter and on Pinterest.

FTC Disclosure: No payment or other compensation was exchanged in association with this post. See complete FTC Disclosure information that appears at the bottom of MommyBlogExpert's main page and at the bottom of every individual post on this blog, including this one.

Preschool Home Learning Ideas Contest - Prizes: $100 + $200 Giftcards, iPad Mini and iPad

Giveaway

This is a compensated post

8/5/13 Update: Vote HERE for the winners of the Zorbit's Math Home Learning Ideas Contest for your chance to win 1 of 3 $100 giftcards just for voting! Vote daily until end of contest on 8/9/13.

Hurry! 

Contest Entries Due 7/29/13

Since my own kids were young, as a mom of four I've been an advocate of leveraging all the ways technology enhances family life, especially when it comes to expanding the minds of children. So, when I was offered the opportunity to promote the importance of early childhood learning via a fun contest with awesome prizes hosted by Zorbit's Math Adventure, I was onboard from the get-go.

MommyBlogExpert.com

Thinking back to my own sons and daughters early years working with numbers and learning basic math, they always seemed to retain the most when the activity involved was fun and creative. For example, one of my kids was born in October so when he was three years old we started carving a pumpkin each year with the number birthday he was celebrating. He's a teen now that has grown to love math, continuing this tradition he started as a toddler every year since, even after taking his last Calculus class.

Now it's your turn to come up with something novel from your own experiences. Zorbit's Home Learning Ideas Contest has just begun and the deadline to submit your entry is Monday, July 29, 2013.

Awesome Prizes

Simply for entering this sweepstakes you have a chance to be one of three random winners who will win a $100 gift card.

Then participants also have the opportunity to win one of three even bigger prizes if your entry is chosen during the contest's voting phase including

• 3rd Prize ~ $200 Gift Card
• 2nd Prize ~ iPad Mini
• Grand Prize ~ iPad

I can't think of many things sweeter than winning an iPad Mini or iPad, can you?

MommyBlogExpert.com

How to Enter

Entering is easy. All you have to do in 100 words or less is share a creative way that parents can inspire kids ages 3 to 5 years old to learn the basic building blocks of math skills. Think along the lines of enjoyable and engaging learning ideas where kids use things such as toys or every day household objects like sorting LEGOs by color or counting out 10 small candies (like M&Ms) and then getting to eat them.

For your contest entry, just think outside the box to come up with your own original activity or idea for preschool children to learn one of these concepts

• Counting
• Identifying shapes
• Recognizing colors
• Comparing amounts (more than, less than)

Image from ZorbitsMath.com

Zorbit's Home Learning Ideas 
Contest

Entry Deadline: July 29, 2013

Enter HERE

Help spread the word about this great competition by Tweeting the following:

Preschool Home Learning #ZorbitsMath #Contest Deadline 7/29; Prizes: iPad, iPad Mini, $100+$200 GCs http://tinyurl.com/m867coy Pls RT

About the Contest and Brand

The purpose of this contest is to get those with kids thinking about the importance of early childhood learning.  Best Boy Entertainment, will be introducing an iOS app for children age 3 - 5 in mid-August called Zorbit’s Math Adventure and will be posting the best ideas on creative home learning as part of the contest as well as sharing ideas from real moms for encouraging learning all year long.

You can learn more and stay up on the latest news about Zorbit's Math Adventure on the official site and by following the brand on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

FTC Disclosure: The content for this post was sourced from Best Boy Entertainment, online resources and family traditions and I was compensated for this post. However, opinions here are my own. See complete FTC Disclosure information that appears at the bottom of MommyBlogExpert's main page and at the bottom of every individual post on this blog, including this one.

Preparing Your Family for #BlogHer13 While You're Away - Taking Care of Kids & Hubbie

Blogher

This post is especially for mom bloggers coming to BlogHer 2013 in Chicago who have kids still at home, like I me.

It's the last weekend before BlogHer and a great time to think about this...

MommyBlogExpert.com

But before we do, each of us has our families to think about...

Having attended BlogHer San Diego 2011 and BlogHer New York 2012, this is my third BlogHer. I've already shared earlier posts about 8 Essential Tips to How to Pack Your Bags for BlogHer and Decisions About Smartphone, Tablet, Laptop, Camera, etc for BlogHer to bring to this conference. There's also the story I did How to Get Invitations to Brand Parties during the conference.

Now, I want to turn the attention away from what we're all doing before we get to BlogHer for ourselves to prepare for the biggest women's blogging event of the year. Instead, let's talk about what us moms are doing to prepare our families for the time we'll be away.

Me at the Lees Carpet booth at BlogHer San Diego

Like other typical mom bloggers, I'm with my family pretty much most of the time -- since I blog and do social media strategy counseling from my home office whilst also cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, carpooling and taking care of four teens plus hubby. In fact, we usually have a home-cooked dinner with the entire family each night. But lest you think I'm perfect, you should also know that I'm not the best housekeeper so it can be a tad messy around here.

BlogHer New York Fashion Show, MommyBlogExpert.com

So, when I am going out of town like this, my family does take notice. They may even whine just a little about what they're going to do without me (it's nice to know I'm loved and appreciated). I'm guessing I'm not the only one with a family that expects you to live up to your job description no matter what else is going on. Come on. Who else has family that sort of doesn't want you to be away from them, even for a day next week?

One thing I try to do to combat this quandry is prepare food ahead of time that my really really likes. That way they'll look forward to when I'm going away instead of bemoaning it. That's why I'm baking batches of their favorite Cowboy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies right now as I write this post this afternoon.

Making Cowboy Chocolate Chip Cookies Today, MommyBlogExpert.com

I still have some other things I want to do for them, like stock the refrigerator and cook some of the dishes they like most since -- believe it or not -- my kids have never been to a fast food restaurant and actually prefer homecooked (not frozen or pre-prepared). Another thought: like just about everyone else, I've got lots of blogging work and thousands of emails to go through before I can head off to Chicago.

How about you? How do you cope with all the pre-trip chaos at home? What are some of the things you're doing (or have done in the past) to get your family ready for managing on their own while you're at BlogHer? I'd love for you to leave a comment and share.

FTC Disclosure: I've attended multiple BlogHer conferences and have also been a speaker at this event. I have paid for my own 2013 full conference ticket and did not receive any compensation for this post. Thoughts here are my own. See complete FTC Disclosure information that appears at the bottom of MommyBlogExpert's main page and at the bottom of every individual post on this blog, including this one.