I don’t enter voting contests often because the feeling of rejection when I don’t win doesn’t feel that great and I hate refuse to bug all my family and friends to vote for me over and over. If it doesn’t involve me… then that’s a whole ‘nother story.

Back in December I entered Chiquito in an Angry Birds photo contest on the Hartz Facebook page. I asked for votes a couple of times here and on Facebook, but forgot about it for the most part when Christmas came around.

This morning, as I was trying to kill time playing with Facebook on my phone while on the treadmill, I saw a message from Hartz in my “Other” folder. Have you ever checked that folder? So much good stuff in there that I missed. Apparently if you’re not my “friend” and message me, it automatically goes there instead of my inbox. Annoying. I digress.

Chiquito won the contest! Well, he didn’t win win. With 76 votes, he was the last runner up out of 14 winners, while the grand prize pet reached over 1000. Wow. All the winning dogs and cats are here. My Chiquito is the cutest. Just saying’.

I know the prize is Angry Birds themed, so Chiquito will be thrilled! It’ll be nice to see what surprise they send out.

YOUR TURN: Do you enter photo and/or voting contests? How often do you win?

While we were expecting a little rain on Monday afternoon, the SNOW was a complete – but welcome – surprise! Enough to make snowmen and even break in our new sled…

The REAL treat was seeing Chiquito’s reaction to snow!
Being from Mexico, he had never seen the stuff before!

Not quite sure what to think of it at first, he tried to eat it, and quickly shook off what ever landed on his ears. I’m guessing he didn’t like the coldness of it, so he would shoot from one side of the yard to the other, much, much faster than he usually runs, with his little behind up in the air.

The cutest thing ever.

No, I didn’t fall off the face of the earth…

I’m still here!

It’s soooo hard to get back into blogging after not doing so for a while! I needed this week off (or was it 10 days?) to spend time with my kids and reflect on how I’m living my life.

Gone are the days when I tell my girls “hold on, I need to check my email!” I mean, really. Obviously there is no product pitch or blog comment more important than them, but I know there have been many times when I pull out my iPad during playtime or grab my phone at dinner. No more of that.

One of my resolutions for 2011 was to get more sleep and I was good with that for most of the year. I’d average 8 hours a night, sometimes a little more. In November I started going to bed late again, though… deadlines, projects, gift wrapping, baking… but oh my, have I been catching up on sleep these past couple of weeks! Just last night I slept for more than 11 hours. And it felt amazing. It may seem trivial, but I truly believe sleep is a debt that you cannot repay! As good as my intentions may be, I’m known to not follow through with my resolutions past, say… January 3rd… so this is a big deal to me. I plan to keep it up this year.

Learning to say no… I got really good at this last year, too. [patting myself on the back] The hardest move was to stop writing for other media outlets. While it meant less cash in my pocket, it also meant more free time. I also went to only one conference and declined a handful of blogger events so I could focus more on my kids and home life. It’s been worth it.

Now for the elephant in the room…

Every January I set out to lose weight. That’s just a given, as far as resolutions go. I lose steam within a couple of weeks, and then things pick up again in May, when it hits me that summer (and my birthday) is just around the corner. My birthday comes – I turn a year older – and, feeling sorry for myself, stuff my face with cake and ice cream. Same story every year for the past decade.

This year, I’m not going to resolve to lose weight. It’s going to happen naturally, as long as I stay on the Medifast plan and exercise often.

I’m not going to resolve to exercise everyday, because I know that’s not realistic. I’ll do so several times a week, penciling it in on my calendar.

I’m not going to resolve to be organized. I’ve realized that I don’t need to stress over the little things, like keeping the playroom tidy – what’s the point? – so as long as I keep my mental clutter under control, everything else will fall into place.

I hadn’t thought about it much, but from the looks of it, my resolutions seem to be:

• Sleep
• (Keep) Saying no
• Follow the Medifast plan
• Schedule my workouts
• Clear the mental clutter (vague much?)

YOUR TURN: What are your resolutions for 2012?

Last weekend we had the pleasure of visiting Busch Gardens in Williamsburg. While we’ve been to the park a handful of times in the past, this was the first time we were able to experience Christmas Town.

For 5 short weeks each year, the world’s most beautiful theme park transforms into Christmas Town: A Busch Gardens Celebration. Park guests enjoy a heart-warming Christmas experience that comes from walking among five million twinkling Christmas lights, sipping Busch Gardens’ signature peppermint fudge hot chocolate, watching wonderful Christmas-themed live shows, listening to Dickens-style carolers, and visiting Santa at his workshop. It was just what my family needed to get into the Christmas spirit!

Fun Facts about Christmas Town

• Five million Christmas lights (more than twice as many as in 2010)
• Enough light strands to stretch to Canada
• 1,500 fresh-cut Christmas trees
• 25 miles of cables
• Three miles of garland
• More than 700 wreathes and artificial trees
• 800 lit snowflakes and stars
• 20,000 Christmas ornaments
• 900 window candles and luminaries
• Thousands of hours of installation completed by a 70-person team
• And a partridge in a pear tree…

Our Christmas Town journey started in England, with a production of “A Sesame Street Christmas,” a cute show where Abby Cadabby learns about giving and sharing with friends and family during the holiday season. The girls loved it. There are other shows, including Miracles in Italy, which features classical and contemporary movement and dance, and O Tannenbaum in Germany that showcases an iconic 50-foot Christmas tree lighting up the night and dancing to a booming musical score.

We then floated high above the park aboard a Flight of Lights gondola, which offers a breathtaking view of the park’s Christmas lights and decorations. This may have been our favorite attraction! It loops around the entire park, giving us plenty of time to relax and take it all in.

We took some time to get on a few of the ‘Kidsiderate’ rides, like the Little Gliders in Italy, Wirbelwindchen swings in Germany, and the Kinder Karussel at the North Pole. The lines for all of these were surprisingly short!

Visit Santa at his workshop at the North Pole was one of the highlights of the night. Mrs. Claus invited us in after a short wait outside, and the girls giggled with delight! The gentle, jolly Santa took his time to listen to what both my daughters had to say, posed for some photos, and was so very nice. We were given the option to buy a photo package, and then went on our way.

As for food, there are tons of choices. Das Festhaus has an all new buffet-style dinner featuring signature Christmas Town entrees and priority seating for Deck the Halls, a fun Christmas production that is fun for the whole family. You need a reservation for this, so we opted for another restaurant, Trappers Smokehouse in New France. There was a bit of a line, but it moved fast, and the food was plentiful and delicious.

After dinner, we took the train from New France to Scotland, made our way to the parking lot tram, and were home (spent the night at a local hotel, actually) by the girls’ bedtime. The night went by so fast, but it was worth the trip!

One thing I regret is not sneaking away from the kids setting aside some time to do a little shopping. There were so many wonderful artisans in Germany’s outdoor Mistletoe Marketplace and candles flickering in every shop window!

New at Christmas Town this year

Polar Pathway
Polar Pathway turns Escape from Pompeii into breathtaking waterfalls of light. The smell of pine trees wafting through the crisp frosty air welcomes visitors to this winter wonderland. Amazing and so creative!

Gloria!
This all-new production reaches into the audiences’ souls and leaves their hearts singing. An ensemble of the park’s finest musicians and singers shines bright in the Abbey Stone Theatre as the true meaning of Christmas is revealed.

Alpengeist
Experience Christmas Town at light speed aboard one of the world’s most intense roller coasters. German villagers have long told stories about a legendary snow beast they call Alpengeist, the ghost of the Alps. After climbing to an Alpine high of 195 feet, riders are hurtled through six staggering inversions at speeds up to 67 miles per hour.

Mäch Tower
Get a Santa-eye view of the five million twinkling lights from the park’s newest thrill ride, Mäch Tower. Riders are lifted 240 feet above Oktoberfest and dropped at breathtaking speed. This was a lot of fun. To watch from the ground.

Visit

Christmas Town is open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 3 – 10 p.m. starting through December 15th, and daily from Friday, December 16th through December 31st, excluding Christmas Day. The park will close at 9 p.m. on Christmas Eve.

Expect the park to be crowded. My advice is to try to arrive when it first opens and try to catch a show or two before dark. This way you’ll have more time to stroll around the park enjoying the lights in the evening. If the weather is a concern, hot drinks and outdoor heaters abound, and you can always sneak into a live show or a gift shop to warm up.

Tickets cost $24.99 per person for ages 3 and up. I highly recommend paying a little extra for the Christmas Town Quick Queue Pass. This provides you with priority access to some of the most popular attractions, allowing you to make the most of your visit to Christmas Town. For example, we only waited 3 minutes to see Santa, when the regular line was almost 2 hours long! So awesome. Visit www.christmastown.com for complete details about this holiday extravaganza!

Disclosure: My family was provided with complimentary Christmas Town tickets, Quick Queue cards, meal vouchers, and a parking pass to facilitate my review, but all opinions are my own.

Our dog, Chiquito, has been with us for almost 6 months now. The novelty of having a new dog has worn off just a little, so I try to keep things fresh with some fun toys. It gives my daughters something to do with him and gets them running around, having fun, which is SO needed when taking care of a dog seems like all work and no play!

Now, pets can play Angry Birds, too.

The Hartz Mountain Corporation, a leader in the pet products industry, just launched an exclusive line of Angry Birds pet toys featuring many of the wildly popular Angry Birds characters just in time for the holidays! Whoever thought of combining this popular app with a dog toy? Genius! We’ve had so much fun them. I say we, because while they are dog toys, the entire family has been playing. The girls will put the pig up on the edge of the couch and attempt to knock him over by throwing the bird at him, but sometimes Chiquito beats them to the punch! It’s often hit or miss with him when it comes to new toys, but fortunately he really, really loves these. Maybe too much. Angry Birds is addictive, after all.

The new line of Angry Birds products includes:

Hartz Angry Birds Plush Ball

This plush ball dog toy comes to life with real Angry Birds game sounds! Choose from the Red Bird, the Yellow Bird or the Green Pig. Available in a 2.5” version for small dogs and 4” for large dogs. You can see just how big the large is compared to Chiquito’s head!

Hartz Angry Birds Hard Heads

These latex toys are equipped with a squeaker. A really loud one. Chiquito (and my daughters!) can’t get enough of it, much to my (ears’) dismay.

Hartz Angry Birds Two Heads

Made of soft plush material with a squeaker in the middle, this is available in a 17” version, from end to end, and a 7” version for smaller dogs, like mine. This was Chiquito’s favorite, by far!

There’s also a double-sided Angry Birds Tuff Stuff Flyer. Constructed of super-durable ballistic nylon and double stitched seams, it’s made to stand up to even the toughest chewers. It has a squeaker in the middle, and can even float!

For cat owners, there are Angry Birds Catnip Heads, a refillable catnip Running Bird that vibrates, an Angry Birds Wand, and Angry Birds: Birds Gone Crazy, a set characters with little bells inside, sure to keep your furry friend entertained for hours!

BUY IT

If you’re looking for something to stuff your pet’s stocking with this holiday season, definitely consider Hartz Angry Birds products! I have a feeling they’ll be selling out fast. Ranging in price from $3.99 to $10.99, they are currently available nationwide at major retailers like Walmart, and online retailers such as Walmart.com and Amazon.com. For more information about Hartz Angry Birds pet toys or to find additional Hartz products, visit www.hartz.com or watch the Angry Birds Toy Preview on Hartz’s Facebook page.

WIN IT

Giveaway has ended.

To enter to win a Hartz Angry Birds Two Heads plush dog toy (the large 17″ version, as long as my dog!), please leave a comment below telling me what your dog’s favorite toy is. Just look at Chiquito napping with his little one. Adorable.

For extra entries:

• Subscribe to my feed by reader or email (or let me know if you already do). 1 entry
• Tweet about this giveaway one time using the Tweet button below, or copy this: #Giveaway! Stuff your pet’s stocking with #AngryBirds dog toy from The Domestic Buzz! http://thedomesticbuzz.com/?p=15328 #TDB - 1 entry
• Like The Domestic Buzz on Facebook. 1 entry
• Vote for Chiquito in the Angry Birds photo contest. 1 entry per vote (up to once a day)

We were provided with product samples pictured above to facilitate our review. Giveaway entry period ends Sunday, December 18th, 2011. US entries only, one person per household. Leave a separate comment per entry and a valid email address. Winner, chosen at random, has 3 days to claim their prize.

We’re pulling the Christmas decorations out of the attic this weekend… and I’m thinking that I may have to change the way we do some things since this will be the first holiday season that we have a dog!

Did you know that the holidays are one of the most dangerous times of the year for our four-legged companions? House guests, decorations, and rich foods can provide potential hazards for your family pet. Dr. Jessica Vogelsang, small animal vet and founder of Pawcurious.com, shares the following expert tips for keeping your pet safe during the holidays.

• Ensure you’re prepared if your pet gets out

With all the holiday visitors and festivities, it’s easy for stressed pets to slip out the door or backyard. Be sure your pet has its tags and microchips updated with your current address and phone number.

Consider a GPS product like Tagg – The Pet Tracker to calm your fears. Tagg attaches to your pet’s collar and will send you an alert if your pet does slip out, and then allows you to track your pet’s location in real time so you can pick him up and bring him home!

• Be aware of holiday fragrances

Candles are a fire and burn risk, of course. Many owners turn to scented potpourri, thinking it is a safer option, but it is extremely caustic when ingested and can cause esophageal ulcers.

• Mind the string

Cats love ribbons, string and tinsel. But when ingested, they can lead to a painful condition called “string foreign body” and can actually perforate the intestine.

• Keep an eye on the holiday treats

Although everyone knows chocolate is toxic, the most common reason pets wind up in the ER is because they ingested too much fatty food and gave themselves an upset stomach or pancreatitis. If you have a relative who insists on feeding the pet treats, keep a bowl of special pet-friendly holiday treats nearby and ask them to feed your pet those instead of pieces of sausage!

• Know where the emergency vet is located

If your pet has an emergency, you can’t call 911. The last thing you want to have to do in that situation is look up directions to the vet clinic when you’re stressed and in a hurry! Know their phone number and map out the location ahead of time.

YOUR TURN: Do you have any advice on anything I should keep an eye out for?

Haha! Not exactly what you expected from the title of this post, eh? This is what Maura drew in my notebook, so I don’t “miss” my iPad when she’s playing with it.

What cute things have your kids done for you lately?

I took a couple of days off for Thanksgiving, and I come back to find that my blog has been hacked. Again. I couldn’t see anything wrong with it right off the bat, but when I was getting ready to post one of my contributor’s reviews, I saw that there were several additional users registered in my WordPress account as administrators. Names I obviously didn’t recognize. I did a little more searching and found a bunch of (I’m assuming, malicious) code in my theme files and plugins. Sigh. I spent what felt like hours cleaning it all up, backing up files, and updating and installing clean versions of WordPress and my blog theme. I think I hope I resolved the issue. Things might look a little different around here for now, as I haven’t adjusted my theme yet. Just to be on the safe side, I did install the Bulletproof Security plugin and will do frequent scans with the Exploit Scanner plugin.

What’s funny is that I’m always telling people – “Back up, back up, back up! Keep WordPress updated! Delete plugins you don’t use!” – but do I follow my own advice? Nope. I hadn’t done a full backup since June. I had 11 plugins that needed to be updated, 4 of which were infected, and half of which I didn’t even use anymore. I didn’t have the most current version of WP, and didn’t realize there was a more current version my blog theme as well.

Lesson learned. I’ve set an alarm on my computer to remind me once a month to back up my blog. I’m going to actually pay more attention to WordPress updates, and do them right away. It really only takes a minute or two and will save you so much trouble in the long run!

That said, I did do some online shopping today. These are a few of my favorite deals that I bought into:

• Ruckus Media has all their apps on sale through midnight tonight. $1.99 each. Not only that – with every download, they’ll donate 100% of the proceeds to St. Jude’s. Read more here, but hurry! They have some really great ebook apps like Chuck & Friends, My Little Pony, The Night Before Christmas, and more.
• 4all by jofit has an awesome Cyber Monday sale. Up to 70% off their fitness apparel, plus free shipping! I bought two shirts this morning. Couldn’t help myself! Use code: 4SHIP at checkout, today only.
• Disney Store has PJ Pals and nightshirts for only $8. Awesome deal. Plus, free shipping. Today only! Use code: CYBER.
• Mattel Shop has free shipping all day, plus 20% off the entire site from 6pm to 6am EST (for you night owls).
• Sephora has free shipping with orders over $25, plus they give you free samples and a choice of free gifts. Love it.
• 30% off at 5 brands – Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republic, Piperlime, and Athleta – with code: HUGECYBER.
• Nike Store lets you use multiple promo codes! I got free shipping on my new running shoes with code: SWOOSH (ends December 21st), and 25% off clearance items with code: ADVANTAGE (ends on November 30th). Great deal.

Thankful for all that I have in life. Thankful for all our blessings.

A few photos from SOME’s Turkey Trot 5K that I ran this morning in DC.

And my delicious lunch

Happy Thanksgiving! Have a wonderful day!