Now You're a Santa Too!

C H R I S T M A S M A G I C My Dear Will - Hey… you wanna know a secret? Just between me and you... You've been asking if there's REALLY a Santa.... Why YES my dear it's true! You see… you can be a Santa And I can be one too... A Santa's magic - is Christmas magic that lasts the whole year through. Like when you you win the match… Catch the pass Score the run… You're KING for a day! And butterflies make your belly flutter - it's your day of all days. Magic is when a pretty girl catches your eye And smiles back at you - Your cheeks get warm and own grin grows - It's magic - WHOO HOO! Wouldn't it be amazing - If reindeer really flew? And a jolly old man with a long white beard really made wishes come true? When you believe And REALLY believe - with all your heart IT’S …. TRUE… And then you’ll see - a Santa… lives inside of YOU - Because you my dear are the only one… that can REALLY make wishes come true. So find the good - Spread some joy - Let your heart be light - The world is full of wonder - And so many delights…. You’re young right now but growing fast - Oh how fast you grew. Don’t ever let this great big world - take the wonder out of you. Keep the love of Santa- always in your heart - And don’t let the magic of Christmas - ever, EVER depart. You’re old enough to understand - this season is filled with magic So go out and and help someone believe - You know you’ve got the magic!!! And one day when that jolly old man with a long white beard winks back at you - You’ll know that you’re a Santa And the magic of Christmas will forever… live inside of you! Love, Mom Christmas 2017

Mom, I don't belive in Santa!!!!

Cruisin' with Tom!!!!

Ok - the day is finally here - in June 2015 I wrote this blog after spending 10 hours with Tom Cruise. I planned to save it until the movie came out. Having worked in television news for decades - I don't get starstruck - but it was hard not to get starstruck today since he is my #1 laminated Hollywood list crush!!! So after more than two years of waiting - I'll see on 9/29/17 if I'm officially Tom's co-star! Either way - experience of a lifetime - can't wait to see AMERICAN MADE! CRUISIN' WITH TOM by Lisa Lossie My husband said if he didn’t marry me, he hoped to marry a B type Hollywood actress. Someone kinda sorta famous who wouldn’t cause too much of a ruckus, but famous enough to a score a last minute table at a trendy restaurant or get recognized on the kiss cam at a local sports game. So when I showed up at his office on June 25, 2015 with fabulous hair and two booster seats in hand, the joke was about to become a reality. “You’re going WHERE and I have to do WHAT?” he asked starring at me in bewilderment. I’m heading to Midtown to star in a movie with Tom Cruise. Yes, mega super star THE Thomas Cruiser Mapother IV, known to zillions of adoring fans as simply Tom Cruise. With my best cheshire cat grin, “your B actress fantasy just got an upgrade, babe, Don’t forget to pick up the kids.” Of all things, actress I am not. Never dreamed of being one or acted a single day in my life except for the gig as Fair Ellen in the 4th grade school play. For two decades I was a serious news journalist who graduated from the Edward R. Murrow School of Journalism, interviewed former President Bill Clinton, flew with the Blue Angels, shot a news campaign at Miramar Air Base in San Diego at sunrise, very Top Gun style I have to admit. Ok, see a pattern? Now as a magazine writer, I was determined to get an interview with Tom Cruise, filming his new drama American Made, minutes from my Milton home. And total never gonna happen bonus, shall we bbq and do lunch? Suri can swim with my kids! At this point, you can probably tell, I may just a little obsessed with Tom. Forget the couch jumping and Scientology stuff, I’m not a starstruck kinda gal but he has always been my #1 on my laminated Hollywood list and I’m convinced he would have had me at hello if we only had the chance to say hello. His peeps keep a tight ship around this guy, if I can’t get an interview with THE MAN, maybe I could get cast as an extra in the film and get a few questions answered. My Risky Business sounded more like Mission Impossible. On a random Thursday morning, I rolled out of bed in my tank top and shorts, brushed my teeth and shuttled three kiddies to three activities in three different towns. Settled in at my computer with a nice cup of coffee ready to crank out some articles. After checking in with my top secret Tom Cruise sources, I checked Central Casting Atlanta and with a wild hair, submitted my info and snap for an extra role. Five minutes later my phone was blowing up, how fast can I be in Midtown to shoot a scene with Tom Cruise? If he’s sending his Gulf Stream to get me, super fast, otherwise pretty darn fast! What should I wear, hair, make-up, I was wake-up Milton Mom gym ready besides fabulous hair from a 3 day old Dry Bar blow out! Driving to the address they gave me, with racing heart, I parked my car and followed the yellow signs to WTM as they instructed me. I was seriously thinking it stood for What The... when a black Mercedes van pulled up, the doors opened and a guy said, “Welcome To Mena, hop in!” They have since changed the name of the movie to American Made. Arriving at the location on Spring Street, I noticed Tom’s pimped out Escalade parked right in front. Yes, he’s here! I was greeted and given paperwork to fill out. No photography, no cell phone, no talking to the talent, they meant business and the hundred or so security guards meant to enforce it. I was escorted to hair and make-up and told it was 1984 and I was playing a White House aide. Like totally awesome for this 80’s girl! They gave me a puffy sleeved ivory blouse with orange and green stripes and a velour chocolate brown pencil skirt. The fabulous hair I rocked from three day old Dry Bar wasn’t 1984 White House Chic so they slicked mine back into a low ponytail, did my make-up with a sweep of lovely blue eyeshadow. Not quite the look I was going for to make a first impression on Tom, but I’m sure he would understand, I AM in character. I was then escorted to the “extra holding pen” to wait, and wait and wait. Fruit, chips, pretzels, candy and cheese balls were brought in by the truckload to keep the extras happy. Seriously, I’m about to meet Tom Cruise, do I risk eating cheeseballs? So about 60 of us sat and waited and waited and waited. “You,” someone yelled shattering the silence, “... and you, and you too,” come with me. YES I was one of the “you’s!” We walked around the building and went downstairs. There were about ten of us lined up. “Ok, the first five, come with me, the rest of you, pick an animal name?” Someone yelled Tiger! “Ok, you guys are the Tigers, if we need more, we’ll we say Tigers, got it?” I was thinking, oh crapola, I missed my chance, I’m a Tiger and the others are filming with Tom Cruise. Shortly after getting back to the holding pen, we were loaded up on buses to head to lunch. Lunch was an elaborate spread at American Made Camp. Tom’s trailer, Doug Liman’s trailer, and the cinemetographers trailer were all there along with a ginormous spread of darn good food. At this point, extras started loosing up. The first question, what have you done? What have you done, like this morning, in my whole life, oh, films, what have I done. Nothing. They looked at me, Nothing???? Nope, nothing. My new extra pals had made the circuit. Film hopping from one to the next, hoping for a featured part, maybe a speaking role, half of them were heading to Captain America tomorrow. Me, I have 6 Emmy Awards on my living room shelve but not one for acting. Getting back from lunch, it was now 7.5 hours in the holding pen with one failed casting attempt, successfully resisting the cheese balls and no sightings of Tom. I was about to leave and call this extra gig quits when they called TIGERS! I jumped out of my seat like a jungle cat on the prowl, followed the crew downstairs, through a hallway and down more stairs. Last in line I would not be. My 7.5 hours of extra experience taught me this is cut-throat even at the lowest levels. When we got outside the room, they told us to be quiet because “they” were rehearsing. With dozens of security guards and crew members outside the door, I heard him before I could see him, that low sultry unmistakeable voice that was just so Tom. Then, there he was, standing 8 feet from me, looking every bit as good as the Tom Cruise he looks like on the big screen. After working in television for two decades, I have met hundreds of celebrities, sports stars and politicians, at last I was truly star struck. Tom walked out of the room and Director Doug Limon scouted out the crowd of extras. “You and you,” he said and pointed to go inside the room. We made eye contact, “Me please!” I managed to squeak out and he ushered me inside the room. Score one for the rooky! The senior extra shot me a wink from across the table! So here we were in a White House briefing room with actor Oliver North and actress Fawn Hall and a fake Senator. We were passing around pictures of El Gordo, aka Barry, the biggest drug traffikar on the planet played by Tom Cruise. Doug walks into the room and pats me on the shoulder, “Don’t get too starstruck kid, when he’s in here kid, remember, he’s in character,” he warns. Then HE walks in the room. Wearing tight fitting Wrangler Jeans, cowboy boots, a cowboy style long sleeve blue button up, a silver watch with turquiose detailing and a smile to die for, he looks me in the eye, “Hi, I’m Tom, how are you?” He had me at “hi”, not quite the memorable line I had hoped for but “hi” will work. “I’m so nervous,” I managed to say.

“Don’t worry,” he said as he pats me on the shoulders, “I do this all the time!” Ok, seriously Tom Cruise and I were conversing! Darn, violated rule number one, but he did talk to me first! The scene goes down a dozen times, Tom isn’t liking it. He is intense, in the moment, in character. Wow, he is darn good. We are cleared from the room, when we come back, the cameras are rearranged and Tom is sitting next to me. We lock eyes and he winks. Across the table is Oliver North, Fawn Hall and the fake senator, I look up and smile an uncomfortable smile, and they all smile back. There are 12 people plus the director, cinematographer, security and assistants all in a 12 feet by 12 feet room. The scene starts again, a dozen more takes, Tom still isn’t feeling it. “What are these people doing? Someone needs to look at me or something,” he says. Director Doug Liman looks at me, “You! What’s your name?” I can barely choke it out. When Oliver North says biggest drug traffiker on the planet, you, Lisa, look from the picture to Barry, got it.” “Yes Sir.” He looks at me again, “Ok what’s your line?” “Biggest drug traffiker on the planet, look at Barry (aka Tom Cruise). “Ok, let’s roll,” says Liman. Calm blue ocean, big deep breathe, you’re just shooting a scene with Tom Cruise, think Nicole Kidman, Renee Zelwegger, Kelly Preston, you know you’re just a typical leading lady. Then I hear Oliver North. They’re saying my line, they’re saying my line, I look at the picture and then look over my shoulder with my best non-actress, non-trained, never in my life done anything like this big screen stare with Tom freakin’ Cruise. Six inches from his face I am starring into his eyes, they’re big, they’re green they’re intense, his eyes are locking with mine, there is such intensity in his face, there is such shock in mine. I am starring at Tom Cruise and he is staring back at me, oh take my breathe away, he had me at hello, this mission if you chose to accept, seriously is this for real???? “Alright, alright, just a glance, you don’t have to stare at him that long,” says Liman. We do the scene several more times. If only I had an incling I would be shooting a scene inches away from Tom Cruise’s face I would have packed a breath mint and some face powder. Then it was over and we were told to leave the room and we were put in another holding pen. I am now the extra superstar about to become the banter of extra legend. “Whoa, stuff like that just doesn’t happen, you got the money shot,” I was told over and over again. I couldn’t quit walk and I couldn’t really speak. Here I am, Real Mom of Milton by morning and Tom Cruise co-star at 10:30pm that very same night. I met Tom Cruise, we had a conversation, I filmed a shot with him and our eyes locked 2 inches apart. Just pinch me and shoot me. We are on a closed set, no pictures, no autographs, nothing but my memory. If only I could invent the technology to take a print from a snapshot in my mind, this is one moment I never want to forget. We went back into the room and filmed for a couple of more hours. Then it was done and Tom walked out flashing that smile that broke so many hearts. I gave back my ’80’s wardrobe, had my voucher signed to get my paycheck and boarded the WTM bus back to reality. I didn’t get my interview and I don’t have a selfie - but what was I really going to ask Tom anyway, how do you like your tea, sweet or unsweet? About the Writer: Lisa Lukas Lossie is a
 6 time Emmy Award Winning Television Writer/Producer. After a 20 year plus career in television news as an anchor - reporter - writer - producer - she is now a stay at home Mom to her three Chunkies. She now writes freelance articles for local and national magazines and co-stars with Tom when she is free!

Lossie Family Adventures Takes to the High Seas 2017

Ok - it's been awhile! Life got kinda crazy for awhile. It finally feels good to be back in my happy spot and writing! The summer of 2017 had a lot of "firsts" for our family! The first summer the older Chunkies did sleep away camp (loved it!) and the first time our family set sail on the high seas for a cruise! Many of you have cruise hating hubbies like mine. I'm never going on a cruise - I don't want to be shuttled around with the masses and cattle called to see the giant ball of twine and have to sit at a table and make small talk with people I don't care about and will never see again! Ok, it wasn't my IDEAL vacation, but after visiting all the places on my "list" within a 3 hour flight of Atlanta and towing along three kids who are eating me outta the house - a cruise - wasn't sounding so bad! So in March of 2016 I booked a family aft cabin suite on Royal Caribbean's Adventure of the Seas for June 2017. Yes - a year and a half in advance. Enough time to convince the hubby - and with 5 peeps in tow - you need to book WAY in advance to get a suite. Before I knew it, my kids had finished 3rd, 1st and Pre-K and sleep away camp was conquered successfully and the cruise I had planned a year and a half in advance was happening tomorrow. First of all - I love traveling more than anything! I wish I could be that woman who visited every country on Earth, because every place I go makes me realize what an amazing planet we have and how short of time we have to explore of all its wonders. I'm very excited two out of three kiddies share my passion for travel. When I was planning the cruise - I asked the two older chunkies if they would like to go on a big boat or go on a smaller boat and explore places they have never seen. They both voted hands down to go exploring! Yes - I have some cool kids! So I booked the Adventure of the Seas which departs out of San Juan, Puerto Rico and explores the jewels of the Southern Caribbean - St. Maarten, St. Kitts, Antigua, St. Lucia and Barbados with just one day at sea. With a year and a half to plan this trip - the first thing I did was take the cruise ship excursions and chunk them! I wasn't about to pay overpriced cruise ship prices and be shuttled with the masses. Using my favorite app, Trip Advisor along with Cruise Critic and Lonely Planet I researched each island and came up with an excursion/plan on my own. Now the cruise ship will warn you against this rogue behavior - saying planning your own excursions can result in death or missing the ship! Ok, I thought about this - but took on the risk! So we flew into San Juan the day the ship set sail at 8:30pm. Arriving at noon, we had plenty of time to explore San Juan, but my kiddies were too excited and wanted to get right on the ship! It was an easy 20 minute cab ride to the port. When we arrived at 1:00pm ish - it was a long long line. One of the perks of booking a suite is VIP baby, the short line was for us and saved at least an hour with an easy check in and our room key handed to us! Booking an Aft Cabin - I knew we were on the back of the boat - and yes it's a longer walk but so worth it! We had an amazing 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom suite with a sitting area, fridge and huge balcony - big enough to hold four chases and a table for four! They dropped a bunk from the ceiling so all three kids had the "kids room" and took turns sleeping in the bunk which they thought was super cool! We spent the afternoon swimming in the pool, riding the slides and enjoying our adult alcohol package. After an early dinner we retired to our suite to enjoy the view and all of a sudden we were moving and the kids were so excited! We all fell asleep to the gentle rocking of the ship and woke up with the 5:32am sunrise to the wonders of St. Maarten. After a very insightful 30 minute cab ride about the Dutch side and French side of this island nation - we arrived on the French side at Kontiki Beach Club at the recommendation of a friend. A beautiful white sandy beach with tranquil glass blue waters and mountains in the distance made Orient Beach a beach of dreams. While is it a "naked beach" we never once saw a naked or topless person - and my kids made plenty of friends - it was mostly families. At the beach club we enjoyed champagne and an amazing sushi lunch. For my non sushi eating kids, they enjoyed burgers and chicken and were perfectly happy! Around 3:30pm we said goodbye to paradise and our cab driver picked us up and we headed back to the boat. After showers we headed to the concierges lounge (included in our suite) for apps and drinks. It was very nice and our kiddies were super happy they had Orange Fanta here! Afterwards it was on the the main dining room for dinner. Food was good, it was not great but service was amazing! My youngest did not like anything on the menu and our server asked him what he wanted and he said Chicken Teriyaki - he had it made for him and brought it to our table! We were on a small ship and there really wasn't much to do after dinner and since we had a port everyday - we would just head back to our room, let the kids watch a movie and have a glass of a wine on the balcony and enjoy our amazing view! The next day we arrived in the enchanting island of St. Kitts. I wasn't expecting much from this place since the reviews I read were very average - but I did have a fun day planned. We started the day with a quick cab ride to Dolphin Discovery. We swam with the dolphins before but never in the open ocean and this time we would get to ride a dolphin too! The cruise ship price was $199 a person and did not include pictures, when I booked directly we paid $99 a person and it included ALL of our pictures. I had an amazing time with the older kiddies (minimum age is 8). Our dolphin Angela pulled us through the ocean and pushed us at warp speed. We became dolphin trainers in minutes and she responded to our hand signals. Truly amazing time! Afterwards we head to Timothy Hill where the Atlantic meets the Caribbean and then on to a dive bar called Shipwreck. We had a beverage and looked for monkeys for didn't see any. After a 30 minute stop we headed to our next stop - Spice Hill on Cockleshell Beach which has amazing views of Nevis. The roads of St. Kitts are not for the faint hearted. They are twisty, turney roads over high mountains with shear cliffs, amazing views but super scary! Spice Hill was an amazing restaurant on a huge strip of beach with breath-taking views to the island of Nevis. We a delicious lunch of salad and fish tacos. Our kids made friends with a local kid and foudn a sea puss! Hated to say goodbye to this island, but the wild monkey sighting on the way back made it worth it! I would come back to this place for sure if I could find a reasonable flight from ATL! The next day we woke up in the beautiful island of Antigua! We took a 30 minute cab ride to Jolly Harbor where we boarded Catch the Cat - a catamaran with a delightful crew of Captain Lushi, Marigot and their grand-daughter Amara. What an amazing find on Trip Advisor! The crew was so attentive and so good with our children! We made a stop at Cade's Reef and snorkeled. Our oldest pulled up a few conch shells up but they had critters so we had to throw them back. We saw tons of yellow snappers and a baracuda! Our next stop was Cow Beach - a beautiful beach with cows roaming wild! We pulled anchor off the beach and enjoyed an amazing lunch prepared by the crew of bbq chicken, salad and fruit. Sadly our 4 hour adventure was over and it was time to head back to the boat! The next day was the biggest bummer! We were supposed to go to St. Lucia where Brian and I got married 11 years and 3 months to the day! We had a vow renewal ceremony planned and our kids were so excited to go to the island where where mommy and daddy got married! But two days before our trip - we received an email we would not be going to St. Lucia because of port dredging so instead we were going to to Martinique. God must have been crying too because it was a rainy awful day. We heard story after story of people coming back on the boat, they hated Americans, yelled at them, would not accept American money and only spoke French. We decided to make it a low key day and hung out on the boat and ordered room service in our room for breakfast and lunch. Not the best of days, but it could be a whole lot worse! Our final day was on the island of Barbados. We booked a boat with others called Cool Runnings. There were three stops, swimming with the giant sea turtles, a shipwreck and a beach. The crew was over the top fun and the kids said it was the best day ever! The boat was very reasonable - $40 for adults and free for my youngest - we had three stops, unlimited drinks and a delicious lunch of fish, chicken and salads. My oldest son said he liked Barbados the best because they didn't make him wear a vest! The crew was over the top amazing with our kids, making them flowers, talking to my surfer girl daughter about surfing in Barbados and taking the oldest out to see more fish. Super fun day which ended in a dance party heading back to the port! And yes there was Brandon, our native Barbados dude, one picture turned all my girlfriends into surfers and made Barbados tourism go through the roof. Brandon - we'll be back! We had one day at sea - we slept in and spent the rest of the day at the pools and water slides and docked the next morning in San Juan. We spent two additional days in San Juan which was good and bad. I had explored the city before and wanted Brian to see it - but the kiddies were done and baked. We stayed at the Ritz on Isle Verde which had an amazing beach and the kiddies were super happy to find starfish and seashells and play in the waves. We wandered a few blocks down and found some amazing local places for lunch and sampled local favorites like Monfungo. We hired a sitter through the hotel and had a night out in Old San Juan at Marmalade - an absolutely amazing restaurant. A 10 day trip with kiddies 9, 8 and 5 was a lot - our longest vacation EVER! We had a blast on the cruise. For us - it was all about visiting amazing destinations - I treated the ship as my floating hotel, taking me to hard to reach places and exploring some amazing islands! Overall the cruise ship was VERY GOOD. The alcohol package was totally worth it, the suite is a must do, if I could do it again I would book more speciality dining - the main dining room is very average - breakfast was good - dinner was ok to good. Room service was very good and we did do that a couple of times especially on the day at sea. My very picky hubby gave this vacation a 7 - and gave the approval to book again!!! My kids said this was the best vacation EVER! With all you can eat food, unlimited ice cream and all the soft drinks you can drink - it's a kids dream! So summer of 2018 we are headed to Italy, Montenegro, The Greek Islands and Crotia. Mommy gets to see a little slice of the world and the kiddies get lots of free ice cream. You take the wins!

Boys of Summer

Here in Georgia, the Boys of Summer are - uh - the Boys of Late Winter/Early Spring. It's barely 50 degrees but the baseball fields are full swing! This year, William was drafted by the Braves for his senior season in the 5U league. We were very excited to get "the home team" but William wasn't at thrilled. He preferred the Pirates or the Orioles - thinking some lucky kids were having a yo ho ho good time and others were eating cookies! At the season opener, William got two hits and one out playing first base!

BAHAMAS

We just got back from the Bahamas with two out of three Chunkies in tow and had THE TIME OF OUR LIVES! With the kids 3 & 4 - this was our first real family vacation where we weren't schelping baby gear - no strollers, diapers or bottles! We stayed at The Cove at Atlantis and upon our arrival got upgraded to an enormous corner room with beautiful views of Cove Beach and Dolphin Cay where we could see the dolphins jumping! After a good nights sleep we had a date with the dolphins at the crack of dawn! We got to pet and hug our dolphin Meg - watch her jump and feed her sardines. Both kids loved it but Madi could not take her hands off the dolphin and cried when we left.

Cowgirl Madi is 3 - Yippee!

Madi turned 3 on May 21st - her last year as a tot - and her first official birthday party! For the little who loves ponies and princesses - we celebrated with a Cowgirl Party - and she received lots of princesses as her birthday gifts! Awhile back when we were planning this, Daddy mentioned MAYBE getting a pony - well little ears heard this and did not forget this and told everybody PONIES were coming to her birthday party! Notice PONIES - not just a pony! So luckily Mommy found some on their way to the glue factor and Madi got ponies for her birthday! Her and the posse of 18 tots partied down to country music, pony rides and the chuck wagon served up piggies in blankets, cowboy chips and watermelon for lunch. It was a giddy-upping good time for all! Happy 3rd Birthday to our Princess of the Ponies - Madison Taylor.