40? Really, ok.

I turned 40 today. I am OK with that. I know how cliched it sounds but it is hard to believe that I have a child learning to dtive and am storing high chairs in the garage instead of filling two of them around the table. Timdes they are changing....

I'm OK with aging but the actual birthDAY itself is hard for me. The well meaning "what are you doing for your birthday?" throws me for a loop. Uh....child rearing and discipline and meal preparation and laundry and....hopefully in there somewhere but life just doesn't stop. I wasn't able to pull off a huge getaway, make time stop day for me. Shouldn't someone else make that happen for me instead of asking ME what I am doing to honor me? Wouldn't ya think?

SOOOOO I pulled together some blogging friends and businesses and have some great party swag in store for you!! Stay close today and watch for some amazing giveaways and many ways to enter!

Giveaway!

 I am giving away a Tupperware Chip N Dip set ($45 value)
(more details here)  over at:

where she has some huge and awesome things to giveaway. All to one winner. Head over and say hello. I'd love for someone I know to win and would really like for it to be you:)

Giveaway Alert

Came accross a great giveaway.


has reached 100 followers

and Cap Creations

is giving away this:

what a georgous georgous necklace and beautiful reminder.
Go on over and congratulate on 100 followers (and maybe come back wearing this necklace)

Heaven Revealed

I was given two books: One to read and one to give to the readers of this blog. The subject of the book is a good one. One we all think about but don't really know much about--Heaven.  There are so many questions and so many longings. Sadly, many of the books written or words spoken about heaven have no basis in fact. Most things being taught about heaven are feel good "we'll all be together again, happy" words spoken at funerals.

I am curious, we are all curious. Where should we look as believers in Christ? The Scriptures. Paul Enns did just that when his beloved wife of 40 years died suddenly. He wasn't angry at God or feel sorry for himself as I would have done. Paul Enns went to Scripture to learn more about where his beloved now lives. That right there wet my appetite.

Heaven Revealed is one man's quest to find  anwers to his own questions about Heaven through the study of scripture. Paul Enns serves as a professor and the director of the Tampa Extension, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He has also taught at Northwestern College, Dallas Theological Seminary and Talbot Theological Seminary. He is the author of The Moody Handbook of Theology and Approaching God. He recently spoke with Rc Sproul and . Again, I am still listenining.


His book is a quick and pleasant read and I enjoyed reading the book. Paul Enns is a very clear writer and a thorough researcher. He is coming from a dispensational premillenialist theology while I am not. I still have questions. Some of the answers that he found through the Scriptures he listed werent the answers that I found there. He also brought up questions that I hadnt even thought of and answered them profoundly. The author does a very good job of pointing us to Scripture for our answers and listing the Scriptures where he found his answers. This book was not written as a textbook to show definitively what we will find in paradise but rather a freind taking us by the hand and saying, "look! look at these things that I have discovered and found in my search of the Scriptures about Heaven." Paul Enns did a great job of doing just that and his search is one worthy of shadowing.

I will be hosting the giveaway through July 30th. to enter just leave me a comment. Any commnet.

want extra entries?
-follow this blog through GFC
-share with us another book about Heaven that we should read.
Disclaimer: Thanks to C. Grant and Company for sending me two Moody Publishers complimentary copies.
 My review is my own.

Audio Books and reading out loud (a giveaway)

I love literature. I love books. My husband loves books. Literature shapes us and there is nothing like hearing a book read out loud to you. There was a period of time where I had surgery and my husband had a back injury, we read out loud. Most of the day. We read and read and enjoyed so much together. We both got on our feet again and were blessed with two more babies. Life got busier and busier.

Don't misunderstand, we read. We read and read and read. We read to our youngest children. Our older children read to younger children (and to each other) but there are also times when its just easier to turn on Sponge Bob. I want to make it easier to quickly get good literature.

Spurred on by June being national audio book month.  I wanted to set my 10 year daughter up with an Ipod of audio books but when I started looking online for downloads I had trouble finding ones worth reading/listening to.

I was contacted by Molly of My Audio School, which she founded in 2009 to "give children safe and easy internet access to classic audio books, educational radio drama and television and radio broadcasts of historic events." I was so so impressed by the site. It's content and quality are exemplary. While searching the internet myself I had trouble finding worthy titles, but once on My Audio School, I immediately wanted to listen to many. And I could. We could.


My Audio School came out of Molly's desire for her children. Molly has a son with dyslexia, she didn't let that stop him from having access to good literature and a good education. She has chosen titles and content for her site with amazing vigor. Vigor that our families can now benefit from. I am so grateful for that.

There are many areas in my life where I could improve. Many that I want to. Honestly though, sometimes there just isn't the time or energy or resources to figure out or implement these changes. Starting in June, our family will be exposed to and benefit and grow from more literature and more reading out loud thanks to My Audio School.

********AND guess what? My Audio School has generously offered a one year subscription (a $14.99 value) to one of our readers!!

to enter:
tell me a book from your childhood that stands out in your mind

extra entries:

<3 head over to my Audio School and come back to tell me one title you want to sink into right now
            Keep in mind that what you see listd is only a small fraction of what is available to members.
<3 like my Audio School on Facebook
<3 become a follower of this site

I will choose a winner (through random.org) on 6/30

Happy Birthday Rachelle

It's Rachelle's birthday! You know when you sit down and make a list of who your true friends are, the ones that you can really count on? (You all do that right) Rachelle is on my list. But we weren't even born in the same decade, now do we live in the same state, or part of the country and we haven't met. Hello to the wonders of blogging, and the internet.

She is a gem. A sweetheart. She is turning 24 and man does she know how to celebrate!

On Friday she is hosting the mother of all giveaways. Head on over and

where there will be an AWESOME GIVEAWAY EVERY HOUR!!

It's birthday week over at

Coming Clean

Let's come clean. I have heard a lot of talk about Shaklee and how much money you can make and live the dream. Honestly, I was turned off by it. Then, I started to hear more and more about their cleaning products being efficient, non-toxic and inexpensive.

I saw this before and after on House of Grace:



I saw  pictures of Sarah at Thrifty Decor Chic "finally" clean her oven. (and wondered if I should be cleaning mine ;) I seriously looked around at my dirty house and began thinking.

I saw this cost comparison which really made sense.

I am a chemical snob. I have a son with an auto immune disease and a million allergies. I hate hate hate the smell of almost every cleaner. I have skin that gets dry and bleeds when anywhere near cleaning products. So....I don't clean:) Not a good plan huh?

I saw this video from Rachel Ray:

http://youtu.be/mTUal9QW2cE

This on toxic cleaners:

http://youtu.be/i7RhyrQMhY4


and another from Dr. Oz and Oprah that I couldnt figure out how to embedd or cut and paste.

After everything, I was sold. I finally did it. I took the plunge and tried Shaklee.

I was blown away. And, A little embarrassed at how much dirt I got OUT of my surroundings.

Empowered by Shaklee I:

cleaned my sink:


Wait though! I do clean my sink. I wipe it out often. I clean it with a natural stainless steal cleaner, I scrub it out with baking soda. So WHY did I manage to get soooo many paper towels of black gook when I used this stuff:

Scour off is AMAZING. It is made from cherry pits and smells WONDERFUL (remember how much I detest the small of cleaning supplies?)
Liked it soooo much I decided to tackle my oven:


It did come totally clean and shiny. By now, I knew it would. What amazed me was that I wasn't scrubbing and scraping and repeating. I was just rubbing on and then off. It was THAT easy.


Still empowered by Shaklee, this time armed with Basic H, I:
got dry erase marker out of a Boy Scout shirt. (no pictures, I was a little frustrated that someone would write on their brother's shirt :)

cleaned shag carpeting. In a few rooms. Because there was no sudsing and build up it was faster and a lot more efficient.

When a friend moved I ended up with her cleaning box and a bunch of expensive new fangled all in one cleaners. One said specifically it worked on glass and mirrors. I went to town on our 15 foot sliding doors and then our windowed office doors and then, then, I noticed it left a gooey sludge all over them. I sat down and pouted. Now I need to go back over them all with Basic H.


In the end, I am soo glad that I did try Shaklee and am wondering why it took me so sceptically long. It is more natural? Cheaper? and for me, so far it has been faster and simpler. Now my question is, do I become a distributor? If I do would you try it out? Wanna try Shaklee cleaners now?

Bonnie

who blogs at

 has generously and amazingly offered 5 of my readers a sample of Basic H cleaner.



yes, I said FIVE!

To enter:

Follow this blog and tell me something that you put off cleaning

for bonus entries (leave one comment for each) :
-Head over to House of Grace and see all that this powerhouse can do) and tell me which you'd like to try your sample of Basic H on
-Follow House of Grace on Facebook (Say hello for me!)

On May 31st at midnight PST I will, using Random.org choose 5 winners.

Product Reviews

Sometimes I forget to share things with you because I assume that if even I know about something that everyone does else does too. I assume I'm the last to know. I shared with you ladies some time back that I'd like to do product reviews on this blog. I failed to mention the amazing liaison that I found in doing this.

Business2Blogger

Apparently when you have 5 gajillion followers and are super uber awesome companies know who you are and contact you. Not so if you are me. I would have to cold call companies hoping to find one that is interested. I may be a great  fit for a company but they wouldn't know how to find me.

Enter Business2Blogger and the beauty of product reviews. You contact them with your company info and what you would like done. You offer a compensation of some sort and tell them what you are looking for: a blog with atleast 4 gazillion page views? a family blog? a fashion blog? a blog of any size? a small blog talking about homeschooling? Business2Blogger finds THOSE blogs and asks them if they are interested. Those blogs write why they are interested and Business2Blogger contacts the business with the bloggers info allowing them to choose the best fit. Doesn't that just make sooo much sense?

I have done some great reviews through Business2Blogger. I was given opportunities to work with large companies that would not have known me otherwise and smaller companies (like a stay at home Mom needing reviewers for her e-books) that became good friends.

I know first hand the benefits of product reviews for bloggers. This is also a HUGE opportunity for businesses big and small. There is so much power in the word of mouth. I don't buy anything because of the flashy commercials that I see on Super Bowl Sunday. I do, however listen to people I consider friends. Bloggers feel like trusted friends. Weird I know, but here we are.

Giveaway: Custom Made Photo Charm from Sodderbug

Janelle is the mother of two little ones and the founder, owner and talent behind Sodderbug.com

She made me an amazing charm a while ago. On one side it has my blog button and on the other is a family picture. I LOVE my charm and am always complimented whenever I wear it. It is sturdy and well made yet dainty and gorgeous.

I really want you to have one too! The really cool thing is that  Janelle feels the same way!

We will be giving away a  custom made Sodderbug photo charm ($48 value and free shipping)

It can bear whatever your heart desires:
a favorite quote or Bible verse
a baby picture
family portrait
Sepia toned print of a great grandmother
anything that you can desire and send to Janelle, she can make it into a soddered charm.

Here are some examples of her work:

To enter "like" the Sodderbug facebook page and come back here to let me know that you did.

For bonus entries:

(1 entry) tell me who your photo charm would be for and what would be on it
(1 entry) follow this blog
(1 entry) share this giveaway on Facebook

giveaway will end on April 23rd at midnight PST. Winner will be chosen by random.org


***Giveaway is now closed:

winner of the drawing is Camille!
commenter #20

Thank you to everyone who entered! I enjoyed introdusing you to Sodderbug!

12 Week Holiday Planner

Last Autumn I shared with you how much I love this Holiday Planner.">

Still lOVE lOVE lOVE this planner and look forward to using it every year.

Sheri Graham improved it! Little tweaks here and there, new and improved graphics, holiday coloring pages and an added two weeks after the holidays.">

This planner is an especially good fit for me because I have great ideas but am not much of a beforehand planner. I can see after the fact what we should have done differently. I now have a place to record these flops and improve next year. There are so many good ideas and implementations in here-
Sheri Graham does what I don't even think of.
She plans out things like:
- doubling meals and freezing before the holiday rush so you don't have to make dinner DURING the holiday rush.
-planning time to make decorations and gifts for others (with tons of great ideas and links)

Do you have those moments on Christmas morning when you think: OH MAN! I forgot to extra coffee? Why didn't I freeze muffins and buy sausage when it was on sale? Oh NO! Did I mail them a Christmas card already? With a holiday planner as great as this on, you won't anymore:)
The neat thing about having a planner that I come back to each year is that I can figure out what works best for us and repeat it each year instead of spending the whole Holiday season planning. I like the idea of: plan once and celebrate repeatedly.

You want to know more about this planner, right?

Here is the full product description:
What you will find in this 171 page ebook:

Blank monthly and weekly calendar pages for planning your year
Weekly "To Do" lists showing exactly what needs to be done each week
Thanksgiving and Christmas Menus forms
Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years Recipe Card forms
A Holiday Self-Evaluation form
Shopping Lists
"Sheri's Tips"- tips to make your holidays meaningful, shared throughout the ebook
Christmas Craft and Gift Ideas
Memory Making Ideas for the Family
Holiday Journal Pages
Many, many forms such as:
Christmas Gift Shopping List
Gift Making Checklist
Christmas Card Checklist
Holiday Wardrobe Planner
List of Baked Items to Share/Give Away
Favorite Meals to Freeze for Later
Decoration Ideas
Needed Supplies to Purchase This Week
Holiday Baking Schedule
Kids' Gift Idea List
Christmas Gifts to be Shipped
PLUS!!! Two bonus weeks with family tradition ideas, menus, and
PLUS!!! Some of our favorite holiday recipes!
PLUS!!! Holiday Coloring Pages!

Here are some sample pages.

You can purchase your own planner: HERE
OR
You can win one! yes I really mean it!
Sheri Graham offered me a copy to share with you. I feel so honored!

To enter, do any (or all) of the following, and leave a comment for each:
*like Graham Family Ministries on Facebook
*follow this blog
*tell me your favorite holiday tradition, memory, or something I should add to ours
*purchase something else at Graham Family Ministries.and tell me about it






This planner begins October 2nd. To ensure enough time to get all situated and excited-- I will choose a winner (at random) on 9/29/2010.

GIVEAWAY! I Surrender

I told you HERE how great I thought the I Surrender e-book is.

Judy is going to give a copy to one of our readers!!

To enter:
-leave a comment here
(if you feel inspired to share something encouraging that you recently read..Please do!)


For more entires (leave a comment for each)
You can:
follow this blog on GFC
follow Judy's blog

Giveaway! Alisons Garden

I was beyond thrilled when Toni from Alisons Garden contacted me about a giveaway. She is such a sweetheart and coincidentally ALSO the mother of 5: four boys and 1 girl (sound familiar,) We went to the same junior high AND her creations are adorable and must-haves (not to mention PERFECT gifts for birthdays and holidays!)
Don't ya love her already? Wait until you see the beauties she creates:

Toni has a great Etsy. Alisons Garden is aptly named because: "Every little girl needs her own flower garden!"





She explains her reasons for selling her interchangeable flower adorned hats, headbands and beanies:
"We finally had a daughter after having 4 boys and I was making them for her. I started to notice that she had way too many for just her little head so I decided to start selling them. I make sets to donate to The Ronald McDonald House as well. I love to see the joy that a huge flower on a little head can bring to so many people!"



We all want cool flower adornemnt for ALL the little girls in our lives and THIS is just the person that we want our money going to:)


WIN IT


many lucky little girls have been blessed by Toni's generosity through The Ronald McDonald House and now lucky for YOU, Toni is giving away this set of four flowers, a bow and two bands:
><




to enter: please go by AlisonsGarden on Etsy and let me know what you MUST HAVE and who its for:)

For EXTRA entries you CAN:
~follow this blog
~like AlisonsGarden on facebook
(Please leave a separate comment for each.)

I will ask random number generator for a winner on June 7th:)

Playtex Bra Makeover

I know we have all heard the statistics about how many women are wearing ill-fitting bras( seven out of 10) I know that 99% of us have looked in the mirror in horror knowing that does indeed apply to us:)

Have you seen the new contest with playtex?

A BRA MAKEOVER!

10 women will be flown to New York for a bra fitting with Style and Fit expert Alison Deyette. They will also each be featured in their own webisode. Very Cool.

We all must enter! BECAUSE Real Women Have Real Bra Problems!
www.PlaytexBraMakeover.com

AND my blogging freinds, the first 100 bloggers to post about this event will recieve a free bra from Playtex:)

I was not compensated for this post and my opinion that you should enter is just my opinion. I was not promised a bra but really hope I am one of those first 100:)

Cover Girl Olay-$2.00 coupons!

Been feeling pretty old and run down and realized this weekend that I don't even own any makeup.

Guess what I just got in the mail to review?


Cover Girl& Olay--Simply Ageless


And even better is that I have 5 $2.00 coupons! YOU my virtual friends can check this new product out with me!! Leave me a quick comment saying anything you like and 5 people will get $2.00 off coupons to try this new product out right along with me!
Fun times ahead!!

Swagbucks! and a giveaway

**REVISION:
this blog has been "down" for sometime until thee AMAZING Diana at The Girl Creative fixed it. She walked me through the solution and then when clueless me coudlnt do it, She did. From her cell phone, wile out of town for her sister's wedding. Wow.

Please visit her and say hello and see how talented and sweet she is!

I am extending the below giveaway through April 1st. WELCOME SPRING!!!

I have been using Swagbucks as my main search engine for a few months now and LOVE it...except for this guy, who keeps calling across the house from "my" office, "I GOT SWAGBUCKED"

I am getting "swagbucked" a lot and saving up Amazon money. Anytime I go on Facebook, check my email...I use the Swagbuck search engine and get bucks ( happens around three times a day.) I think just about everybody is using Swagbucks and earning stuff. Just in case, anyone reading my blog hasn't discovered Swagbucks yet, I thought I should share with you all:)

I am giving away a $5.00 Amazon e-certificate on april 1st. (I will take entries until then:)
to enter:
-tell me how long you have been using Swagbucks or what great prizes you have gotten

For bonus entries you can:
join Swagbucks here and let me know

-Follow this blog and let me know