I’m finally back in the swing of things, so we are on our regular fun schedule again…which includes visiting the playground regularly! Here are a few photos from our adventures this week!

Last night, we took our son to his very first Orlando Magic game. To say he had a blast is an understatement! The kid sat and cheered for the entire first half. There was no whining, complaining, running around…just a little boy watching the game and cheering nonstop (sometimes for the wrong team, but that’s ok)! At half time, we let him stretch his legs at Stuff’s Magic Castle (an amazing playground at the Amway Center)! He was sad we lost, but asked if we could go again…so it was a hit!

The previous day, we visited the Monster Jam at the Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium. He was AMAZED by the monster trucks and wanted to touch all the huge tires! Only thing that disappointed him was that he didn’t get to drive one. He’s SUCH a boy!

A few weeks ago, I blogged about the free SeaWorld Orlando and Busch Gardens Tampa preschool pass.

How can I get my free preschool pass?

• Fill out this form.
• Print your confirmation and bring it to SeaWorld Orlando or Busch Gardens Tampa.
• Bring your child’s birth certificate or passport along to prove date of birth. School id’s are NOT accepted.

More details and eligibility information:

• Florida residents age 5 and under (if your child is turning 6 this year, as long as he/she is 5 when you register, then your child is eligible).
• Pass is valid through December 31, 2012.
• Ticket is NOT available at the gate, follow instructions above to obtain your pass.

The bond between these two just blows my mind! At one time, they couldn’t stand each other…now, they cannot stand to be apart!

Here we go again, another fake email that could make you think twice and consider clicking the link…but don’t. This one is claiming to be from the Better Business Bureau (BBB) about a customer complaint.

The official BBB site confirms this is a total spoof email. You can read their actual warning here.

The official BBB site also says “Beware of fake complaint or request for information email claiming to be from bbb.org. If you receive an e-mail from a bbb.org address, DON’T OPEN IT!”

The email I received came from: BBB <support@bbb.org>. The subject is “Your customer complained to BBB”.

Hello,

Here with the Better Business Bureau would like to inform you that we have been sent a complaint (ID 82108050) from a customer of yours related to their dealership with you.

Please open the COMPLAINT REPORT <hyper link was removed> below to find the details on this case and let us know of your point of view as soon as possible.

We are looking forward to your prompt reply.

Sincerely,

Carlos Baxter

Dispute Counselor
Better Business Bureau

 

Underneath the message, the following information was displayed.

Council of Better Business Bureaus
4200 Wilson Blvd, Suite 800
Arlington, VA 22203-1838
Phone: 1 (703) 276.0100
Fax: 1 (703) 525.8277

Despite how real this looks, it is not! The scammer is phishing for your personal information. Do NOT click the link inside the email message or respond.

I received the following email this morning that claims to be from Mark Zuckerberg, Chief Executive Officer of Facebook. The email address it came from is worsellzib@hotmail.com, the subject is “Dear Facebook User”.

This is NOT legit! If you received this message or a similar one, do NOT click the link inside the message (I removed the link when I pasted it here)! You have not won an Apple iPhone or iPad, someone is phishing for your information!

Below is the actual message.

Hello Friend,

My name is Mark Zuckerberg, Chief Executive Officer of Facebook. We have recently joined up with The apple company regarding a one-time promotional event today, we are giving away no cost Apple iPhones and iPads to randomly selected folks who have been fortunate to be picked as one of our latest winners for today. We randomly selected users from our systems database and you have matched with our latest drawing.

We have partnered up with Apple inc to advertise their most popular product yet, the Apple iPhone and iPad. Once again, we are running this campaign for one-day only. All you need to do is CLICK HERE <link removed> to go to our site made for this promotion and fill out this short survey to get yours for free. Simply make sure you enter your email so we may locate our records to ensure that we have reserved one for you. That is it!

Congratulations on winning a free Apple iPhone4 and iPad2. In case you have any query or concerns, feel free to e-mail me back. However, you should claim your free iPhone and iPad first to ensure one will be reserved for you before the deadline ends. We do understand that you may well not receive this e-mail until after the deadline, but, we suggest you check the web site and enter your email to see if we still have got yours on hold, which we often-times do because others haven’t claimed theirs in time.

Mark Zuckerberg

CEO, Facebook

Here’s a recent email I received (it went to my spam folder). Please do not fall for these types of bogus emails!

I am sharing so others who receive it will hopefully realize this is a total scam.

I’m Barbara Cole, I’m 15 years old girl I live in Bolton UK before my Dad passed away in a car accident 3 years ago, I now live with my step mother in Warrington, My mother died immediately she gave birth to me. My late Dad Mr.Norman Cole was a big business man in UK before he died in a car accident 2007 I am the only child of my Dad, he died 3 days after the accident, He Will all his life savings to me, I have been trying to collect the funds from the bank but the bank MD CEO refused, he said I should present someone old enough so he can transfer the funds to the person that I can’t be in control of the huge amount of funds because I am still a teenage and it is against the UK law.

I would have told my step mother to assist me in collecting the funds from the bank but she is not a good woman, my Dad warned me about her before he died, now that I live with her I now understand that what my Dad said about her was true, because she don’t give me attention she don’t care if I am alright or not, all she do is to take hard drugs and bring different men to the house. I don’t want to have anything to do with her. If I get her involved in this she will use all the funds to take hard drugs.  All I wish for right now is someone old enough and honest to help me collect my funds from the bank as I am still a teenage and it is against the UK law.  Why I can’t wait until i am 18 years is because what my step mum is doing to me is not fair and i don’t want her to Influence me with her bad life style i just wan’t to live so i can live a better life.

I know we don’t know each other but please I need your help if you can assist me to collect the funds from the bank I will give you 50% out of the funds, Then you will help me invest my 50% until I am 18 and I will be staying with you or you will get somewhere for me to stay until I am 18 years old.

If you agree to help me, I will send you a copy of the Will and my picture so you will know me, and I will send you the contact of the Bank and tell you how much is the funds so you can contact them, and I will inform the bank that you will contact them that you are the person that want to help me.

I will be waiting for your urgent reply so I can send you the contact of the bank and my father’s Will and death certificate.

Please this letter has to be confidential,and I need your 100% trust and loyalty because the lawyer I got involved wanted to made away with the money, so I told the bank not to transfer the funds to him, I already promised to give you half of the funds so please be honest with me.

If you are interested please reply me on my email: bcole014@yahoo.co.jp

Best Regards

Barbara Cole

Before Christmas, I shared a link where you could nominate families for Share The Love, Spread The Comfort campaign by BearPaw footwear. Basically, BearPaw was asking for people to nominate families who could use a little help, have been an inspiration, have fought great battles, OR just deserved some blessings during the holiday season.

I nominated a family that truly inspired me with their positive attitude and compassion and guess what, THEY WON! I was so excited to share the good news with the Preston family on Christmas eve when I dropped off their BearPaw gifts.

Here is the blog BearPaw shared about the winning family!

And here is a photo of their little girl proudly displaying her BearPaw boots! How cute is this?!?! And for the record, I LOVE these boots!

And here is their youngest son with his! Both kids were eager to model their new BearPaw boots.

Congratulations to the Preston family! They have been a true inspiration and taught me NOT to sweat the small stuff. I hope 2012 is filled with good health, happiness and lots of blessings for this lovely family!

Take a look at my dog’s face in these 3 photos…

OMG, why is the small person so close to me?

Hmmm, this isn’t so bad.

I think I finally love you.

Remember back in July when I mentioned being interviewed by the Eat Street crew about my obsession love for The Yum Yum Cupcake Truck? Well, the episode will be airing TOMORROW night on the Cooking Channel, December 27th at 8:00 pm!

I haven’t watched a sneak peak, so I am anxious to see how the Yum Yum segment goes and very excited for Joey & Alex!

I did catch the segment with Big Wheel Truck on Eat Street a few weeks ago and it was fantastic! I LOVE that the Orlando food trucks are receiving the publicity they deserve.

To read more about the Yum-Yum Eat Street segment, click here.

If you are a Brighthouse customer, tune in to the Cooking Channel (channel 180 or HD 1253) at 8:00 pm EST on December 27, 2011 to watch the Eat Street episode called “Yum Yum”.