
The Casio Pink EX-Z75 digital camera is specially bundled with a camera case with pink stitching and a pink ribbon-clad lanyard to show support of the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF).
Hurry over to 5 Minutes for Mom to enter.
Labels: Drawings and Contests
First, I'd like you all to know I was one of the happy winners of Boo Mama's drawing a while back...for a Mandisa single. Due to a mailing glitch it took a long time for it to arrive. When it got here I put it on the player and had the whole family listen with me. :-) Oh My! All I can say is "wonderful!". The song 'Only the World' is so uplifting. Hope springs! Go and get yourself her new CD right away!

Second, I was recently privileged to get a copy of a darling CD called Name Your Tune--
"a children's music compilation that is made-to-order and personalized
for each child. They’ll hear their name more than 80 times throughout 14
much-loved songs - a great way to enjoy music, have fun, and learn together!
We’ve been recognized in last month’s Parents Magazine, and have been
awarded the iParenting Award, too!"
They included all three of my younger children's names on one CD.
If only I could describe the look of delight that came across Little Guy's face when he heard his name being sung on the CD! Pure joy!
The songs on this little CD are delightful and all three of the little children danced and sang and smiled while listening for the fist time. I have no doubt that this will be a favorite at our house for a long time to come.
The CD even has a customizable label! Ours says: To (insert child's name) with love from Mommy and Daddy...
If you need a fabulous gift idea or just want to surprise your children this is highly recommended.

Third, I was very blessed and happy to find out I have been given the Nice Matters blog award by Dana at Principled Discovery and by MaryKathryn at Just Going With the Flow.
This award originated with Bella Enchanted as a way to award
"those that are just nice people , good blog friends and those that inspire good feelings and inspiration! Those that care about others that are there to lend support or those that are just a positive influence in our blogging world!"
I am honored that someone thought I was worthy of this award...and I'll do my best to live up to it! Thank you Dana and Mary!
I need to pass this award on to some other bloggers but am unsure who....I'll be back with an update when I've thought it over.

Labels: Drawings and Contests, Just for fun, Misc
I entered the Battle for the Toy Box Contest on the HSB Company Porch.
I hope to win over $100 worth of, Tales of Glory, Bible-based toys from one2believe!!
One2believe is a company that is in a battle for the toy box. Wal-Mart has decided to carry one2believe's new line of toys for a short period of time to see how well they sell (in only 425 stores) and one2believe would like to see children playing with their Tales of Glory action figures that are true role models.
TWO people will win over $100 worth of products!
These toys look wonderful...check them out. Some of these would make perfect niece and nephew or grandchild gifts if your own littles don't need any more toys. :-)
Labels: Drawings and Contests

Attention!
There is a cute blog here, that is having a giveaway. This lady is a single homeschool mom who runs her own homeschool bookstore. Let's hear it for determination! Hurray!
Anyway....let's see if we can give her some traffic over there to make this giveaway worth her while.
I won't spoil the surprise but the prize makes me think yummy!
Now go! Go! (don't forget to come back here later ;-))
Labels: Drawings and Contests
Hurry! The deadline is April 20th!
Labels: Drawings and Contests
I'm a few days late getting my party started but life keeps going when I stop to smell the flowers!I need to be flexible.
So, here I am anyway!
The house is not as clean as I would like but I'm a southern hostess...nothing shall deter me...
Come on in and make yourself at home!
We got started this morning before you came.
There's a couple slices left...would you like some?

I need fun stuff to do this time of year...
Go here and read about the 'from scratch' contest held by Stephanie at Stop the Ride.
I have to decide what to make...I'll post about this again when I decide.
Hope you can play too!
Labels: Drawings and Contests
Go read about it...it's an easy one to enter.
And the prize...well you just have to see for yourself!
Labels: Drawings and Contests
For those of you who don't remember or didn't know about it please refer to this post.
I am finally getting some loose ends tied up and this was one of them.
To make this as fair as possible I wrote all the names on slips of paper, folded them once, put them in a bowl and had my non-reading 4 year old choose one. My 2 oldest kiddoes were the witnesses. :-) For good measure we chose a second name for a second place prize of 1 book (she can choose from the 4 left after the 1st place winner chooses). I will email each of the winners today. My thanks to all of you who participated!
Drum Roll Please.....
ANNOUNCING ...the winners of my book drawing:
1st place: Tonya...:-) the fabulous SIL :-) (I promise this wasn't rigged)
2nd place: Kristarella from Blog Cabin
Don't faint with excitement...I know used books are probably the greatest prize ever. ;-)
Have a sunny day!
Labels: Drawings and Contests
I'm leaving it open for a few more days.
Anyone who would be kind enough to offer me tips and suggestions for organizing, streamlining and living with 5 children in a small space, please do so by posting a comment at the end of this post or by leaving a note in the chatbox on the sidebar of this page.Even if you know nothing about being organized :-) a word of encouragement would be welcome! Everyone who leaves me a comment will be entered in the book drawing. I started this drawing on my other blog back before HSB made all the changes. After that, my site traffic went WAY down...I guess no one could get to each other's blogs. Anyway, I'm copying the original post here:
Dec. 8, 2006 - Help Me and Enter My Drawing!
I have a dilemma...
A growing (almost large) family in a small house with very few closets dilemma...
We have been busy trying to make room for the little Ladybug and Doodlebug to move into a kid's bedroom and out of our bedroom. I now have an entire room worth of stuff that has no home. Everything from our office/schoolroom now has to be assimilated into our house. I have boxes of wrapping paper and supplies, computer gadgets, etc...
Here is the question: Where do you put things like wrapping paper?
I would think under my bed , but our bed sits on the floor, -- no underneath.
I would think hall closet but I don't have one. :-/
Is this question going to be too hard?
Will any of you who have creative ideas for storing things including, but not limited to, wrapping supplies, (in fact any and all organizing topics are welcome!) please leave me a comment at the end of this post or leave me a message in my chat box?
I'd love to have conversation with you and glean from some of your ideas.
Everyone who joins in this conversation and leaves me a valid email address will be entered into a drawing for 2 gently used books.
The winner can choose from two of 6 choices:
1. Your Clothes Say it for You by Elizabeth Rice Handford
2. Christian Living in the Home by Jay Adams
3. Training Children in Godliness by Jacob Abbot
4. Sink Reflections by Marla Cilley (Flylady)
5. I Kissed Dating Goodbye by Joshua Harris
(this one has our name in ink in the front cover but is in good condition)
6.What the Bible Says About Child Training by J. Richard Fugate (This one is an older bookstore discard copy with an X on the bottom--but still in good condition)
Thanks to any of you in advance and please pass the message on...the more the merrier!
Labels: Drawings and Contests, Household Helps
A growing (almost large) family in a small house with very few closets dilemma...
We have been busy trying to make room for the little Ladybug and Doodlebug to move into a kid's bedroom and out of our bedroom. I now have an entire room worth of stuff that has no home. Everything from our office/schoolroom now has to be assimilated into our house. I have boxes of wrapping paper and supplies, computer gadgets, etc...
Here is the question: Where do you put things like wrapping paper?
I would think under my bed , but our bed sits on the floor, -- no underneath.
I would think hall closet but I don't have one. :-/
Is this question going to be too hard?
Will any of you who have creative ideas for storing things including, but not limited to, wrapping supplies, (in fact any and all organizing topics are welcome!) please leave me a comment at the end of this post or leave me a message in my chat box?
I'd love to have conversation with you and glean from some of your ideas.
Everyone who joins in this conversation and leaves me a valid email address will be entered into a drawing for 2 gently used books.
The winner can choose from two of 6 choices:
1. Your Clothes Say it for You by Elizabeth Rice Handford
2. Christian Living in the Home by Jay Adams
3. Training Children in Godliness by Jacob Abbot
4. Sink Reflections by Marla Cilley (Flylady)
5. I Kissed Dating Goodbye by Joshua Harris
(this one has our name in ink in the front cover but is in good condition)
6.What the Bible Says About Child Training by J. Richard Fugate
(This one is an older bookstore discard copy with an X on the bottom--but still in good condition)
Thanks to any of you in advance and please pass the message on...the more the merrier!
• Dec. 9, 2006 - Organizing
Posted by AmyD
Hello! We used to live in a large older house with three "barely enough room for hanging clothes" closets and now we live in a mobile home that has some larger closets, but still not nearly big enough. This may sound totally hilarious but last year I bought one of those plastic conatianers that holds wrapping paper, about six rolls, that is supposed to slip under a bed. Instead of it going under the bed, I turned it on its side and slipped it behind the couch. The wrap is much easier to get to there than it was in behind my clothes in the closet! :) Instead of an end table, at one end of our couch we have a dresser that holds all of the kids puzzles, card games, crayons, makers, craft supplies, bins with cassete tapes, scissors, etc. It just looks better than the plastic drawers/bins and still functions as an end table. We have cups on several tables & shelves and one on the kitchen counter with pencils/pens. The kids decorated the cups with contact paper. Since we don't have a room just for books/bookshelves, we have small bookshelves in many places around the house. In a way it works out best for us. One bookshelf holds science books/magazines, one history, and one is for chapter books. Our bedroom is the largest room so we have a tall bookshelf in there for the kids' school notebooks, textbooks, math manipulatives, encyclopedias, and other reference books. One year I bought an old trunk and some old leather suitcases at a resale shop. The trunk cost me about five dollars and the suitcases about a dollar a piece. I have the trunk at the end of our bed holding picture albums. The suitcases sit at the ends of the kids' beds - in those we have loose photos, momentos, stored seasonal clothes. My filing cabinet actually sits in a corner of the two younger boys' room. They found that since it is tall it is a good place for the hamster cages instead of on their dressers. That way the cat can't jump up there and tease the hamsters. I don't store away winter blankets. Those remain on beds all year. We just pull back the heavier ones and use only the top sheet in summer. We do cheat a little bit with holiday decorations and clothes waiting to be handed down. We now rent a small storage space for those things since we no longer have a garage or an attic. Our old neighbor actually discovered that he could widen the kids' closets since there was dead wall space next to the original closet between the rooms. Now that's an extreme for getting organized! :) But it was a solution for them that they could make work. Well, I hope I've given you a few ideas that might work for you. It's so hard to share ideas sometimes since everyone's house is different and also the things we have to go in them. Happy Organizing! Amy
• Dec. 9, 2006 - Thank you!
Posted by sunydazy
AmyD, Those are some great ideas! I do have space behind the couch that I could somehow utilize, and I hadn't thought of suitcases....hmmm...now I've got some things to think about. Thanks! This is going to be a challenge! :-D
• Dec. 10, 2006 - Organizing tips from Tonya...
Posted by Anonymous
Wrapping paper can hang in the closet with this organizer - http://hangercity.com/gifwrapor1.html And for winter clothes, blankets, extra pillows etc, I am a space bag junkie. Ryan's bed has drawers under but has a big open space between the drawers in the back, I can put at least 8 or so sleeping bags and space bags full of all kinds of things. They come out a little wrinkled a year later but I put a fabric softener sheet in the sleeping bags before putting them away so at least they smell good. I cut plywood to make a floor for our attic and filled it with rubbermaid containers for things that I don't need often but don't want to get rid of yet. I swear I am becoming mom sometimes! (Not sure if this would work in the Texas heat...hmmm) Or...you can send the kids a few at a time to me then you have extra room!! :)
• Dec. 22, 2006 - Untitled Comment
Posted by foxvalleyfamily
I actually turned our old changing table into a 'gift wrap center.' I store the rolls of paper on the middle shelf ( they fit perfectly) and on the bottom I keep gift bags and a box with ribbons and bows , then a small pencil case with tape and scissors. We store the whole thing in our basement - next to our washer/dryer. Hope that helps! Michelle W.
Labels: Drawings and Contests, Household Helps



































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