http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoVsO2HVutM

This Florida girl is heading to the west coast next month for some exciting ventures and it goes a little something like this….

June 17:  I hop on a jet plane (preferably on a clear day so I don’t have turbulence, my last trip left my knees knocking) and leave sunny Florida for sunny California. Once there I will head to the Hilton Garden Inn to hopefully relax for a few minutes and freshen up before heading to the Walt Disney Studio lot to see a screening of the upcoming release of Disney/Pixar’s BRAVE. After those attending get a sneak peek of Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie. I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am to get to see these two movies, my kids may or may not be a little envious if I tell them. This is definitely a secret mommy has to keep until after they have seen it themselves. Don’t worry though I will be sharing it with thousands of my close friends right here on my blog.

June 18:  Press Day in full force. Attendees will view a screening of DreamWorks Pictures’ PEOPLE LIKE US with a Q&A from Director Alex Kurtzman before heading over to the BRAVE press day where there will be roundtable interviews with Kelly Macdonald (voice of “Merida”), Kevin McKidd (voice of “Lord MacGuffin”), Director Mark Andrews and Producer Katherine Sarafian. Later than evening we will attend the World Premiere of BRAVE at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. Random fact: That’s where the Academy Awards are held! I am totally walking where big time celebs have walked, this is my calling, who wants my first autograph LOL. I am thrilled beyond words to get to attend the red carpet premiere.

June 19:  I will head to Disneyland in Anaheim, CA and stay at the recently renovated Disneyland Hotel. While there I will visit the new Cars Land, get up close and personal with Radiator Springs (I can’t help but think of Mater), talk with an imagineer who helped create Cars Land, join a Mad T Party, join Ariel in her Undersea Adventure, take photos with the newest Disney character (it’s not a trip to Disney without a photo), and just have a blast. Yes, I will be turning back into a child for this day. Disneyland is a place I have always wanted to visit and I plan on experiencing it to the fullest!

June 20:  Attendees with get to enjoy additional free time at Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure parks before I head home! *Wonder what the chances of me getting a late flight out is!*

As I said in the video above, it has been a wish of mine to get over to Disneyland in California. Being asked to see some movies I am already excited about and attending a red carpet premiere, is fairy dust on my already granted wish. I can’t wait to share all my adventures of this trip, with you,  as I experience them.  You can keep up with me on twitter (@ToniPatton) as well as follow the other attendees by searching for #BraveCarsLandEvent.  Not to mention I will be updating my Facebook Page throughout this event.

*This is a press trip and most expenses are covered.  Thoughts are, as always, my own and honest.  For more on my policies please see my disclosure under the PR Friendly tab.

On April 29 – May 1 I had the chance to attend an event at the Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort and Spa. Myself, along with 7 other bloggers attended the #HiltonSandestinMoms event. We were treated to fun in the sun, great food, our kids got to experience the kids crew, and the rooms with the view they had were amazing. It was a great event and I will be sharing lots of details next week in several posts (it’s too much for just one or two). I did however want to share with you some of the photos I took until I get the posts up. So without further ado, here is a photo montage of my stay so you can get an idea of what a wonderful place this would be for your family.

Remember, come back next week to read my thoughts (and see more photos) of my experience at the Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort and Spa.  My family truly enjoyed it and I am thrilled to be one of the #HiltonSandestinMoms!  Living locally this is truly a place I am planning on returning to.

*I was provided a room, most meals and other perks for this event.  Thoughts are always my own and my honest opinion and not influenced in any way.  For more on my policies please see my disclosure under my PR Friendly tab.

If you recall last week I shared with you my So Good So Sweet story of my little sister and I joining together to fight cancer. Today I am here asking for your help. My mom, who is the cancer survivor, has asked for nothing more than an iPad for her birthday this year (she is turning 50). If my story gets the most votes I can help her make that dream come true.

My sister spoke volumes when she didn’t say a word at all during the Relay for Life last year. You can vote right here in this post! Not to mention you are entered to win some great prizes just for voting! What are some of your favorite unexpected moments?

Back in 2008 my mom, who has been my best friend was diagnosed with breast cancer. A month later it was my aunt who was diagnosed. It’s such a shock when you hear the word cancer for anyone but it hits you really hard when it’s to people you are very close to.

I remember hearing the words “I have cancer” come out of my moms mouth and dropping to the floor. What would this mean, what would happen? Through her diagnosis and treatment my mom showed what strength was. She continued to touch others with her faith and words. While I watched I was so encouraged to have a new level of faith. Ever since then I have wanted to do more to help raise awareness for not only cancer but other sickness and diseases as well. I want there to be a cure, so I started participating in the Relay for Life to help raise money, not just for breast cancer, but for all cancer.

Last year was my first year participating and I still remember one moment in particular from that night. I have two younger sisters (13 & 11) and as I took my turn to walk my lap I remember the younger of the two running up to me s sliding her arm into mine. At that moment I knew it was her way of silently saying “I want to help too, I want to help others find a way to stop cancer”. Even if she wasn’t saying the words her wanting to walk arm in arm with me, when there were so many other fun activities going on, just spoke so many words when none were spoken at all. Here is a photo that was snapped of this moment I later saw in our local paper:

I would love to hear of some unexpected sweet moments you have to share. Please join in the conversation in the comments below.

A little something extra, you have the chance to win one of five great prizes, such as chef services, house cleaning, Flip Video UltraHDcamera and more from KFC! Vote for my sweet unexpected moment below! You can vote once per day, check out mine and other sweet moments at www.sogoodsosweet.com!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of KFC. The opinions and text are all mine. Official Sweepstakes Rules

Last week I was in the morning rush of getting kids out the door. I was frantic and frenzied as I am most mornings trying to rush the kiddos out the door. As we jumped in our van and pulled out of our driveway my daughter exclaims “MOM, IT’S A RAINBOW, A REAL LIVE RAINBOW“. I pause for a moment and say to her “Have you never seen a rainbow before?” and she responds with “Well only those in stories or coloring books“. I was simply in awe that this was the first time she had seen one and how excited she was. It’s the kind of excitement I want to have over things I don’t think to get excited over. An innocent and sweet excitement.

We continued our drive to school and as we pulled into the drop off lane we noticed it wasn’t just a rainbow but a double rainbow and she could barely contain her excitement. She says “Oh my goodness this is so pretty, they are just so so pretty“. To which I replied “You know God created the rainbow and the very first rainbow was a long , long time ago as a sign of a covenant, or deep committment, between us and God. He showed Noah a rainbow so Noah would know everything was going to be okay. Isn’t it pretty neat all the things God does“. She sat pondering this, and then in a raw and real moment she says to me “Mom, God is a really cool guy“

To which I replied “Yes He is sweet girl, yes He is“.

It’s moments like that in parenting that really trump every frustrating moment I have.  Moments where I see the innocence and growth.  The understanding and grasping something for the first time that make me be able to overlook the moments I feel like a failure and realize maybe, just maybe I am not doing such a bad job after all.

What are some moments that made you think “I am doing okay at this parenting thing”?

What can I say, I love living at the beach!!

If you don’t know what I am talking about you can read this post.  We have been dealing with dog attacks with no (or very little rather) help from the city and no response from the neighbor. What really bothered me about the whole situation, after the attacks themselves of course, were the neighbors had to know and never responded.  These are the neighbors my daughter had talked to over the fence several times when I was outside with her, they never came across as people who would ignore something like this.  Sure they were younger men (20′s) but age doesn’t excuse irresponsibility.

Today a step in the right direction was made.  The young man who my daughter would bug talk to here and there approached my husband today and apologized.  While this doesn’t take away from what happened it did mean that he actually accepted responsibility of some sort (enough will be found out as this plays out).  Upon talking with my husband and dad he apologized and said he too was worried for our kids and they were trying to come up with a permanent fix to keep their dogs from getting out.  That they were also trying to get rid of one of the dogs.  He asked if we were sure of the dog since our other neighbors had one similar and my husband said to him, yes we are, my wife and one of my children watched him attack our yorkie, it was your dog.  My husband mentioned to him, as well, the mounting vet bills we have had to deal with because of the attacks and he said to bring him copies of the receipts and he will pay us back.

It may not take away what happened and it may not make it completely right yet,  but it is a step in the right direction.  I am still very disappointed in the city essentially saying myself or one of my human family members would have to be hurt before they would do anything.  There is just something wrong with that.  I am, however, grateful that this is the first step in the right direction, although there is still much more that needs to be done to do to make it right and ensure these dogs are not a harm to others.  Now if only the city would take more serious they laws they have in place for leashing animals.  They need to do something other than fine when a dog continues to be dangerous.  Until either we, or the neighbors, get up a bigger fence we still can’t do anything in our yard but one step at a time is the best way to achieve results.  I will continue to keep you updated on the situation because for us (and others that have dealt with this) this is a very serious issue and how it’s been handled up to this point is unacceptable.

This whole situation has really hit me hard.  I’ve been stressed, worn our, upset, terrified, worried, panicked, angry and so many other emotions it’s really taken a toll on me.  I’ve been scared to take my dogs out and my kids lost part of their outdoor freedom.  So I want to reiterate and say again if you are a pet owner please make sure you are keeping your dogs fenced in an area you are sure they can’t get out.  If you aren’t sure or if you are going to let them out make sure they are leashed (to something they can’t break free of) so they do not harm another animal or person.  If you are a city official, don’t just sit back and watch because the victim wasn’t human.  When several attacks have been made by the same dog it shouldn’t take them attacking a human to step in because they are obviously a dangerous animal who someone is not being responsible for.  If my story even brings awareness to this situation a tiny amount I will be happy.  I don’t want anyone, anywhere going through what we have and I sure don’t want a human to be on the receiving end of several attacks like my dogs were.  Watch for more updates as other things unfold in this situation and thank you for your continued support, it has and does mean more to me than I could ever put into words.

The baby girl finally lost her first tooth.  She is rounding the bend to her 7th birthday (in June) and she has been aching to lose a tooth and finally she did.  She was thrilled and the tooth fairy visited so it was like icing on the cake!

Those are my the fur baby boys I have. This photo is several months old so Guido is no longer a teeny puppy and Dexter has a little military looking haircut but they are still my little babies none the less. A few weeks ago we had the unfortunate event of Guido being attacked by our neighbors dog in OUR very own back yard which is fenced. It has one small area that is a bit open but we have blocked off so our dogs could not get through. Unfortunately it didn’t stop their dogs from jumping over and one day I heard my little Guido barking in terror and I could not get out to help him due to fear of big dogs. Once my husband got home he was able to scare them off and we got Guido to the vet when we found out they had punctured him in 3 different areas. Luckily there was nothing extremely damaging and we were able to get him through it with some antibiotics to ward off infection from the bites.

After that attack my husband tried several times to contact them and they would never answer their door. So he went and built up the area on our side of the fence in an attempt to keep the dogs out.   Because we have to be able to let our dogs out and our children love to go out and play in our fenced backyard. All seemed fine for almost two weeks and we had my parents dog over for the day when they jumped the area my husband had fixed and attacked my parents dog. I immediately called animal control and they came out to serve them a notice. Two dogs attacked and still no response from the owners. Charlie Brown (my parents dog) wasn’t as lucky as dexter and had worse bites that needed staples to close. With mounting vet bills we continually tried to contact them to no avail and they did not respond to the TWO notices served by animal control. My husband once again fixed the fence in two different areas because now they were coming in from the field behind our house through a hole in the barbed wire fence. He closed the hole that was on the back part of the fence and the dogs realized they couldn’t get through anymore.

Even though we haven’t seen them the last two weeks we have still not been letting our dogs out without being right there on the steps to watch them and get them back in. This morning I let them out like usual and as always they were barking because they heard those dogs then I looked a bit closer and realized they were barking because they saw the dogs in the field, I am yelling for my dogs to come in and starting to walk out to get them when those dogs start running and jump the barbed wire fence completely. My little dog was fast enough but the neighbors husky threw my yorkie for a loop just long enough that he wasn’t fast enough and their gold dog started attacking him. I was screaming, crying and frantic as I watched each moment of this attack. I was frozen in place because I am fearful of big dogs and my husband comes running in to see what is wrong. He yelled at the dogs who weren’t letting go and startled them only enough to make them lose their grip and Dexter was able to get away. They acted like they were going to try to follow him until they saw my husband.  Dexter was bleeding badly and limping and my heart was broken over this all the while so angry I could spit nails.

I immediately called 911 and my husband went back over to their house, with no response to his pounding on the door. I don’t know about you but if someone is pounding on my door at 6 something in the morning I am going to answer it and be angry. Not them, no answer at all. I have been on and off the phone all morning with animal control and have an affidavit to fill out now. What if that had been one of my children? The owners are not caring that their dogs are not staying in their yard and are not taking responsibility for the attacks that are happening. They are not responding to our attempts to contact them. As a momma to human babies and fur babies I can not sit back while there are dangerous animals out and about. I don’t know what exactly the next steps are but I do know they will be taking responsibility one way or another.

Have you ever had to deal with an issue like this?

About Hop:  From the makers of Despicable Me comes an all-new comedy about candy, chicks and rock n roll! He was destined to be the Easter Bunny, but all he wanted to do was rock! When teenage E.B. (voiced by Russell Brand) leaves for Hollywood in pursuit of his dream to become a rockstar drummer, he meets Fred (James Marsden), an out-of-work slacker with his own lofty goals. Together the two encounter a series of hilarious mishaps and misadventures and in the end help each other recognize the importance of family.

Check out this clip from the movie that has us laughing all the way through:

If you hurry now you can get some special pre-order offers, just click below to find out how:

One (1) winner will receive a HOP prize pack valued $47.98:
· HOP Blu-ray Combo Pack (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy)
· HOP Book Meet the Easter Bunny
· HOP Book Chicks vs. Bunnies

To enter use the rafflecopter form below. Required entry must be done before other optional entries can be done.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway courtesy of Universal Studios Home Entertainment. I will receive the same item(s) being giveaway as a thank you for my time. NO other form of compensation has been given. All opinions are my own, honest and not influenced in any way. For more please see my disclosure.