Goodbye Chevy Traverse – We will miss you.
November 13, 2009 by Danielle Smith
Filed under Featured, Traverse Mom Squad
As a final task, in our final week of the Mommy Madness campaign – we return our cars today – we were asked to do a ‘commercial’ for Chevy. These are our thoughts:
Chevy Mommy Madness Wrap Up – ExtraordinaryMommy from Extraordinary Mommy on Vimeo.
Thank you Chevy, thank you Mommy Madness Team – The Smiths definitely had some fun this past month!
Oh – and friends – you still have until November 29th to test drive an Equinox or Traverse and get a FREE MASSAGE from Massage Envy (why would you pass that up?)
Navigating in the Chevy Traverse
November 13, 2009 by Danielle Smith
Filed under Featured, Traverse Mom Squad
As I prepare to return my lovely Chevy Traverse, I have to confess – one of the things I will miss the most – the OnStar and Navigation systems – so, I wanted to leave you with two videos….
A preview of OnStar:
<object width=”400″ height=”300″><param name=”allowfullscreen” value=”true” /><param name=”allowscriptaccess” value=”always” /><param name=”movie” value=”http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=7595295&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1″ /><embed src=”http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=7595295&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1″ type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” allowfullscreen=”true” allowscriptaccess=”always” width=”400″ height=”300″></embed></object><p><a href=”http://vimeo.com/7595295″>Chevy Traverse OnStar- an ExtraordinaryMommy Favorite</a> from <a href=”http://vimeo.com/user1320608″>Extraordinary Mommy</a> on <a href=”http://vimeo.com”>Vimeo</a>.</p>
and
How (not) to use the manual Navigation System (User Error)
Navigating in the Chevy Traverse – ExtraordinaryMommy from Extraordinary Mommy on Vimeo.
Meet The Mom Squad
Emily Braig
MHPM (Married Hot Pregnant Mama) with spacious garage, a quirky, loving husband and a precocious 2 year old sidekick, who went from Bean Counter: Master of the Spreadsheet to Kitchen Counter: Folder of the Bed Sheets, from rock ‘n roll to rock ‘n stroll, from convertible to convertible car seat, from first class and a Coach bag to coach and a diaper bag, from hot dates with him to playdates with her.
Seeks all-American, stable, reliable, economical, low maintenance traveling companion with a good body to share the road of life’s ups and downs. Are you someone who doesn’t mind playing the same DVD for the hundred millionth time, who is good with directions (OnStar equipped), and can go from zero to sixty, well, eventually? Is your upholstery flame retardant AND “Scotchgarded”? Showy racing stripes a turn off. Must love kids.
Megan Dunham
Megan first heard the word “blog” in 2003, shortly after her fourth daughter was born. Unfamiliar with the trappings of HTML and RSS feeds, she just liked to write, typing out blog-like entries on the homepage of an old family website. Finally, a tech-savvy friend eventually fed those entries into a blog template for her so he could begin leaving comments on her smatterings, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Megan is married to her author/school teacher husband, Craig, and is mama to their four girls. Megan directs a local Classical Conversations program for homeschooling families, and she and the girls spend their days doing math, writing stories, and folding endless loads of laundry. Megan also blogs for WORLDMag.com and writes for God’s World News for Kids. Her life is an acquired chaos, but she says she wouldn’t have it any other way.
Kim Julian
Kim is married to her college sweetheart and has two children 2 1/2 and 5 year old boys. Kim has a Masters Degree in Social work and worked for many years as a Psychiatric Social Worker in Saint Louis but after having her second son she felt it was time to quit working and focus more on her family at home.
Although she felt that staying at home was critical, she also missed helping others so she started a “Pay-it-Forward” site called STL Mommy. STL Mommy offer savings and deals on everything you can imagine, you will find, free samples, coupons, rebates, drug store and grocery store weekly advertisements with coupons linked, kids eat free locations, restaurant and entertainment deals plus more! She found that she had the best of both words by working from home and helping others in her community.
Elaine Mooney
I am a married mother of two, Cecilia who is 21 months old, and Charlotte who is 5 months. My husband, John is a junior high and high school band teacher and we have been together for 10 years. I received my degree from Cal State-Fresno in enology, and I work for my family as the winemaker at the Sainte Genevieve Winery. I am also a professional international wine judge, and I teach many different wine related classes. I enjoy traveling, playing my bassoon, cooking, photography, and Grey’s Anatomy.
Colleen Murphy
I am the mother of seven. Six girls and one very spoiled boy. Before you ask….yes I know what causes that and no my TV isn’t broken. Trust me I’ve heard it all. Raising a big family isn’t always easy but it is definitely never boring, especially when you live in a house of hormones like I do.
My oldest daughter Sam (23) is in graduate school at Washington University, she has her own apartment and comes home when she is hungry or needs a Murphy madness fix. My next oldest daughter Lauren (22) is a senior at Fontbonne University majoring in Fashion. She developed a passion for shoes when she was eight and things have progressed ever since. She comes home every weekend just to make sure no one is wearing her clothes. Next is Erin (17) who I affectionately refer to as Sybil. She has several personalities, depending on her mood, you never know what the day may bring. Then comes Shannon (15) my stubborn red head. I swear I have at least a dozen pictures of her with her arms folded or the back of her head. She, unlike Erin, doesn’t have mood swings she just pretty much stays crabby all day long. Then there is Kelsey (13) my athlete, she is highly competitive and lives for soccer. She is very clumsy and falls down the stairs at least twice a week. Put her on the soccer field and she is the picture of grace. Ryan (10) is the best educated 5th grader in town. Not in subjects like Math or Science but in women’s issues, he is an expert. He is the family comedian and he is also Erin/Sybil’s nemesis. Deep down I think she actually loves him but her feelings are repressed, some day a personality may emerge that loves her brother, but for now, we are just waiting it out. Last, but not least, is little Maggie (8) the family princess. She is our sweet one who adores her brother and looks up to all of her sisters. She, like Ryan, is probably more educated than most eight year olds and is so independent she could probably raise herself. What am I saying by the time this one came along I was so busy she did raise herself!
Not only do I have seven kids, I also have a (4) year old cockapoo named Seamus who wears diapers. He is afraid of people, with the exception of our family, and pees on anything in our house that isn’t moving. I used to keep him in a crate when we left him home alone but he ate his way out. Next, I bungee corded the door to the crate, he managed to escape that too. After he peed on my laptop and broke it, something had to be done in order to keep him from moving to “the farm”. I decided to put him in a diaper every morning. Hey, I changed diapers for my kids for over twelve years straight I figured why not, what’s one more!
Three years ago we moved to a bigger house with a mother-in-law quarters and my mom moved in with us. She has the lower level. For us it works great, I haven’t done laundry in three years. For her, however, she compares the sounds above her to living in a bowling alley.
My husband Dave is normally the butt of all my jokes on my blog. Considering I make fun of him daily, he is a great sport and still makes me laugh after all these years. I swear having a sense of humor is key to keeping my sanity with all these kids.
Danielle Smith
Danielle is the wife of one of the funniest guys in the world and Mommy to two sweet and sassy small people. In her ‘free time’, she balances work as the founder and primary author of ExtraordinaryMommy.com as well as hosting The Spin Cycle on MomTV- a show that keeps you current and helps you to balance your world as it spins around you. She also Co-Hosts Why Moms Matter on Blog Talk Radio, is the Video and Vlogging Editor for online woman’s magazine, BlissfullyDomestic.com and the Inspiration Channel editor for MomItForward.com.
ExtraordinaryMommy.com is a website designed to remind moms of the Extraordinary work they do daily while loving and raising their children. The site provides resources as well a regular blog chronicling life as a Mommy – as Danielle sees it.
In her previous life (aka before children) Danielle was a Television News Anchor and Reporter as well as a Wedding Planner. Therefore, much of her life’s experiences have been in writing, talking and listening. Both career paths have served to make her the author, organizer, social media addict and right-brained, creative girl she is now.
Danielle, her family and ExtraordinaryMommy.com made international headlines during the summer of 2009 when a family photo – one used for their Christmas card, was taken from one of her sites and used in a life-size window advertisement in the Czech Republic. Danielle found out about the ad as a result of her social media connections.
Danielle has been seen on CBS’ The Early Show, CNN, and Fox News, as well as many local stations. She has also been featured on NPR and mentioned in USA Today for her relationship with a children’s publisher. Much of Danielle’s energy is focused on teaching and sharing gratitude and ‘giving back’. Through her ‘Give Good, Get Good’ Project, Danielle hopes to help parents learn new ways to make a difference, and by example, to teach their children one of the most important traits they can possess – a kind and giving heart.
