Queen of the Road Meets Peter Pan the Show

Sisters with the Cap'n

We just finished up production for the next  Chevy Traverse commerical.  This time we filmed on the streets of Boston in the rain!  I got to bring my big sister along for the ride and we had a lot of fun meeting some of the cast members from Peter Pan the Show.  Have you seen the big white tent on City Hall Plaza?  Have you purchased your tickets yet?  You can win some tickets by following @ChevyQOTR on Twitter and LIKING Queen of the Road on Facebook.  And keep an eye out for our new 30 second spot on WCVB 5!  This one promises a few good laughs!  We can't wait for it!

Some friends needed a ride

Is that Nana the Dog in my third row?

Buckle up Hook!

Swashbuckling trio!

Rain

Camera man Carl with the sisters

It's a cushy job, right Dave?

Post-production meet-up with the hubs at The Whiskey Priest

The Halloween Parade

So does your kid's school do a Halloween Parade?

Ours does.  I find it kind of obnoxious.  But only because I am a working mom.  Maybe I wouldn't mind if I could go.  Maybe I should be grateful that Halloween hasn't been banned?

The parade takes place at 10:30am on Monday morning.  Moms and dads are invited to come and take pictures as the kids parade around outside for a quick display of costumes.  

I was just explaining to Emily that I won't be there on Monday morning.

She said, "I know.  You have to work.  Don't worry.  Stephanie's Mom is going to take pictures and send them to your blog.  And Mrs. Babbitt knows about Facebook.

She really cracks me up.

What happens at your kid's school?  This working mom is missing the costume parade.  But I do get to write her a love note.  I'm focusing on the love note and looking forward to telling her how much I love her and how proud I am to be her mom.

Impressive Printing in Kindergarten

I know I'm her Mom, but wow!  Impressive, right?  She can read the list too :)
Just gotta work on tall, fall, small!  

Ten Things I Love About OnStar

I really love driving my Chevy Traverse every day, but I particularly love the convenience of the built-in GPS system and the magic of OnStar.  Together, they make my life SO. MUCH. SIMPLER.

1. I never have to look up or print directions.  EVER.   Instead, I push the OnStar button on my rearview mirror and I am connected to a real, live person in seconds.  I then tell this person the address of my destination and the directions are sent to my vehicle.
2. When I'm far away from home and need to get back home, I can simply press my OnStar button and tell the friendly advisor to take me "HOME."  When I speak the H word, directions are quickly sent to my vehicle.  They always know which way to go.
3. If I need to find a gas station while driving in an unknown area, I can ask an OnStar advisor to send me the route to the nearest gas station.  Handy!  Especially when your husband leaves your car on E with 3 cranky kids in the back while on the way home from Grandma's.
4. The advisors are always friendly and upbeat.  They call me Mrs. Stow and ask me how my day is going.  I can count on them.  I like them. 
5. It's fun to use when you have passengers in the car who are unfamiliar with OnStar.  I like listening to their reactions.  "How'd you do that?"  "Wow!"  "That is sooo cool!"  It really is.  OnStar is magical.  I think it's life-changing, especially for those who don't have a sense of direction, like Christopher Stow.
6. Gone are the days of manually entering an address into the GPS.  With 3 kids, who has time for that?  I just speak directly to an OnStar advisor instead!  
7. No more suction cups and dangling, messy wires!
8. You don't have to be technologically savvy to get where you're going!
9. Saves me time and sanity!
10. Hands-free calling is super convenient; especially when you forget your cell phone.    

Do you have OnStar in your vehicle?  What do you love most about it?  

Boston Juice

Daily Deals on Juice in the City

I know some of you may know that I recently started working as a Local Business Consultant for Juice in the City. It's an amazing opportunity for me to reach out to local businesses, create some super hot deals in and around the suburbs of Boston and share these deals with all my mommy friends.  Who doesn't enjoy a bargain?  If you want to join me in the fun, Juice is still hiring and looking for more moms to help out in their communities!!

But the first thing all you mommies out there (across the country!!) have to do is sign up for Juice in the City so that you can start keeping track of these daily deals!  You wouldn't want to miss any of the fun, especially with the holidays sneaking up on us!  63 days until Christmas!

So do me a favor and go sign up for JUICE!  I'm so excited to start sharing the Boston deals with all of you!  The Boston launch of Juice is right around the corner!

Here is a list of all the U.S. cities who are currently offering/or soon to be offering Juicy Deals!

Atlanta

Austin

Baltimore 

Boston

Charlotte 

Chicago

Cincinnati

Dallas

Denver

Detroit

Grand Rapids

Houston

Los Angeles

Miami

Minneapolis

Nashville 

New York

Philadelphia

Phoenix

Portland

Raleigh

Sacramento

Salt Lake City

San Antonio

San Diego

San Francisco

Seatlle

St. Louis

Washington, DC

Happy Birthday Stowed Stuff!

This month marks 6 years of blogging history for the Stow family.  What started out as a fun new way to document our first child's milestones has turned into quite something!  Here's a little bit about how we got started...

• It was 2005 and we were just tapping into the blogosphere.  Chris started two blogs.  One was Rebel Without A Crew and the other was Litoralis.  FIL started blogging too!
• I later became the primary blog holder and changed the name of Rebel Without A Crew to Stowed Stuff.  I began documenting photos and videos of Emily for all to see ~ in particular, all of our relatives in England, Ireland, Australia and South Africa!  It was a good excuse to not have a baby book (or 3),  right?  
•  6 years,  3 kids, a Chevy Traverse for the family, lots of fun commercials and 365 blog posts later here we are (my little hobby became something more in 2010.)

Have you started your blog yet?  It's fun and it's easy.  In fact, if you have a blog and you'd like to link up here for all to see, join the link up!

Happy Hot Dog Man: Not a Joke?

Emily wants to know if we're getting him.

My Little Pony App Giveaway!

I loved My Little Pony as a kid.  Now, Emily is loving her My Little Pony toys from Hasbro too.  But get this, Ruckus Media has recently partnered with Hasbro to create a new app for the iPhone and iPad around My Little Pony!  It's an interactive storybook application for kids!

My kids absolutely love playing on our phones while we wait for an appointment or during down time in the Traverse.  And as a reading teacher, you know I love any kind of online games or apps that will build upon our children's reading skills!  Bring it on!

Your kids will love playing with Twilight Sparkle: Teacher for a Day!  Kids aged 3-11 will be able to play and hear stories either at home or on the go on the iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch!  It was designed to engage children with interactive activities, video and an entertaining story.

Features include:

• interactive storybook to read from to help develop reading, vocabulary and motor skills
• brand new story with new characters
• as the story progresses, children are rewarded with video clips, spot the difference activities, mazes and more!
• randomization of activity content and level of difficulty
• personalization with the ability to record voices in the storybook!

Would you like to win this app for your child?  And who knows, Ruckus Media and Hasbro might just throw in a few of their other best selling kid apps for you to try!  Here's what you have to do:

1. Mandatory Entry:  Leave a comment below telling me which little person in your life would love to try out the My Little Pony app.  You must also follow Stowed Stuff on facebook!
2. Receive an extra entry for following Ruckus Media on Twitter.  (separate comment below)
3. Receive an extra entry for following Ruckus Media on Facebook.  (separate comment below)
4. Receive an extra entry for leaving a comment on Ruckus Media's FB page telling them Stowed Stuff sent you and why you or your child loves My Little Pony.  (separate comment below)

2 winners will be chosen at 8pm (EST) on October 30th.  Good luck!  

4 Kids...Too Many?

Yup, I have a problem.  I have friends who are about to pop and I see lots of amazing bellies around me.  No, not really envying how it feels to carry around that bowling ball between your legs, but having some major issues with baby clothes bins, watching my baby grow up and thinking, "Is this it?"

"Is this it?"  What is that supposed to mean?  Am I happy?  Yes.  Is my life crazy?  Ummmm, hell yes.   It is C.R.A.Z.Y. dragging little brothers to ballet and soccer, working, trying to work my way up and over on the teacher pay scale, wondering how/when/if I would ever be able to stay home.

Annie, you're 34 years old with 3 kids, probably never going to be a SAHM...

3 kids.  Blessed.  But what about all the cute girl stuff packed away in boxes on the 3rd floor?  What about a sister for Emily?  I bring it up a lot and Emily says,  "Would you be all set with just one more?"  LOL.  I wonder where she's heard that.

Yup, I'm one of 4.  Girl, boy, boy, girl is how my mom did it.  She has always said I will end up like her with one more.  But how?  What if it's not a sister for Emily?  Of course I love my boys.  But is wanting a sister for Emily enough reason to go for #4?

Nope, I'm not pregnant.  Thank you, Jesus.  But I'm not so sure about this baby thing.  I listen to so many other moms tell me "We are DONE."  They say it with such certainty.  What is wrong with me?

We can't afford college for 4.  What am I, nuts?  Does everyone feel like this after 3?  How do you know when you're DONE?  How do you really know?  Or is it that I'm obsessed with the little tiny things called babies?  They do grow up, I know.  They're not kittens.  That year of baby goes by way too fast.  But don't they keep you young?  That's what my mom always told me.  I kept her young.

Emily is turning 6 next month.  Six years old.

Brothers are cool.  Would I go for #5 if I didn't get Em a sister on the next go?  Is this a disease?

What is wrong with me?  Family vacations?   Restaurant booths?  Stow, party of 6 would be a bit much, right?  But we'd still fit in the Traverse...

Oh, the Lord save us.

Wordless Wednesday

Emily and her workbooks

She hasn't stopped since she got off the bus.  She's been working in her "Get Ready for First Grade" workbook all afternoon and evening, with a little bit of Reading Eggs thrown in too.  Reading Eggs is giving parents a free 14 day trial and teachers get a free month's trial!  Sign up now!  Emily loves it.

Her "favorite friend" at school told her today, "You are my favorite person" during center time.  Gaaaahhhh!  Kindergarten!  She kills me.  "9 days until his birthday, Mom."

Five Tips for Your Kid's First Trip to the Dentist

Emily's Fourth Trip to the Dentist

Aidan's First Trip to the Dentist

Today's was Aidan's first trip to see Dr. Laura for his very first check up.  I'm not so sure these are my smiling children.  If you know me, you know that I still have a big fear of the dentist and would rather give birth than have my teeth cleaned.  Cavity after cavity, cleaning after cleaning, bloody gums and Novacaine, I just never liked the dentist as a kid.  I am now taking my very own kids to my childhood dentist in Norwood, but the new Dr. Sullivan is the lovely daughter of my Dr. Sullivan  (the one I kicked in the face when I was 7.)  Dr. Laura took over her dad's practice in his retirement and I've been doing my very best to make sure my kids don't develop that same fear of the dentist I had as a kid.  Here's what has worked for us:

1. Make it fun.   Read Dr. Seuss's The Tooth Book.  Read all the dentist/teeth books and watch all the dentist show episodes of Caillou/Berenstain Bears you can handle before you go!
2. Go crazy discussing the fancy chair that moves up and down and the special sink, lights and instruments!
3. Take them as soon as you can!  As soon as your child turns two and a half (or 3 if you're late with kid #2 like us), it's time to make your first trip to the dentist!
4. Choose a friendly dentist who welcomes children and has a knack for making them feel special ~ fancy kid prizes, special tooth brushes, lots of books, etc.  
5. Make it a family affair.  Have your own teeth cleaned the same day as your child's first visit or let siblings go together.  

Oh, and let me add that I rescheduled my own appointment today to let Aidan get in on the fun.  What a great mom, right?   Aidan did an amazing job with a fat lip and all!   No cavities for the Stows and Emily survived her first set of x-rays!  I've earned myself 4 more weeks before it's my turn to sit in the torture chair!  Four weeks of dental anxiety.  Guess I better start flossing! 

Rough Patch

Ya, no blog posts in over a week.  What is going on?  I had a rough patch.  I'm over it.  I've learned A LOT.

1. I will never please everyone.
2. Don't sweat the small stuff.
3. Positive energy is a lot more useful in the world.
4. We're just doing our best.
5. Life is too short.
6. Be grateful.
7. Be happy.
8. Be kind to one another.

Making Strides: Boston

Team Queen of the Road

Hatch Shell

Thanks for helping us reach our goal!

Terrible Towel Syndrome

Yes, this is a towel from my wedding shower, but STILL!  Is this ok?  NO!  Not all the towels, mind you, have done this, but a good few have.  I hate them.  I hate folding them.  There is no more corner-to-corner.  I'd rather fold fitted sheets, for God's sake!  But this shouldn't happen, Seduction Grand Patrician.  And this is not recent.  This happened after the first wash, back in 2004 and I just can't let go! It could easily be mistaken for a dress, with all the cinching.  I have them in 3 colors.

I think it might be time.....

They're a disgrace to my linen closet.  (Who am I kidding, that closet is a mess!)

Not a great shape.  Is that a tube top?

Am I the only one suffering from TTS?  (Terrible Towel Syndrome)  


I'm taking names.  Give me the 411 on your amazingly plush bath towels.