The Big Bloggy Move Blog Design GIVEAWAY!

Happy New Year, friends!

Christy and I are thrilled to be able to showcase two fabulous blog designers as part of our Big Bloggy Move blogging event. These two lovely ladies have offered completely free blog makeovers to get the new year started out right.

For those who are looking to give their Blogger blogs a face-lift OR for those who have been wanting to start up a beautiful blog of their own on Blogger, let me introduce you to Jennisa of Jennisa's Bloggie Designs! As I looked through Jennisa's work, I kept saying to myself, "Precious! So cute! Just DARLING!" Go browse through some of her work and see if you don't agree.

Jennisa is offering a free blog makeover for a Blogger blog. To enter, all you have to do is leave a little comment on this post. (If you don't have a blog yet, just make sure I know where to find you if you win.) Though not a requirement, it would be really, really awesome if you could link to our giveaways and The Big Bloggy Move on your blog as well! (Check Christy's blog for a design giveaway from Blue Yonder Designs.)

This giveaway will run from January 1st through January 6th. Winner will be announced on January 7th! And even if you don't win the giveaway, Jennisa's prices are so reasonable and her work is so cute, who wouldn't hire her for a sprucing up of your bloggy home?

Who doesn't love Lands End?

I am knee deep in photog books and blogging platform research which lends itself to being drained dry of creative thought. As I was breezing through my G Reader, I saw that super cute, super chic dcrmom over at Musings of a Housewife is hosting a super cool giveaway! And really, who does not love Lands End? I hear their diaper bags are amongst the best.

If yourself or someone like you (yeah baby, vintage Matchbox Twenty) is in need or want of a new Lands End bag to add the bag stash, pop over to Musings to enter her Lands End Giveaway!

chapped thoughts and new cameras and maybe moving

Short and sweet today, ladies!

As usual, I called upon random.org to help me choose a winner for my lip balm drawing. The winner of the tube of lip balm of her choice from Clear Hills Honey Company is Gretchen from Lifenut! Gretchen's comment (My thoughts are kinda chapped, so I will play along.) was concise and witty, just like her amazing writing over at Lifenut. And for those of you wrestling with some "what should I blog about? why am I even blogging, anyway?" thoughts right now, I highly recommend you check out her "Bravery" post over at Mile High Mamas. Heck, go read it even if you aren't a blogger. It's good stuff.

Okay, gush over.

On with the show.

Thank you to everyone for the feedback! I haven't quite decided what I need to do about managing my blogging time. I am sorta afraid the answer is to pare back on the blogs I am following. In fact, that seems the only realistic thing to do, unless of course as a special Christmas gift just to me, God creates an extra two hours in my day so I can sit and do nothing but read and comment . . .

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I am sad to report there will be a dearth of D and AJ photos for a bit. Our camera bit the dust yesterday. I am currently camera shopping which is overwhelming with a capital Yikes! Hence the short, blathery post today.

Do you have a camera you just love, love, love? I will never be a pro, I just need something that shoots non-blurry pictures that I don't have to photoshop the life out of to get the lighting and color halfway decent. Recommendations? I am all ears.

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Finally, I am thinking about moving. Oh, not moving away from my sweet house under the shady trees! But I think the time has come to move away from Blogger. Christy at After a Cup of Coffee . . . or Two and I are toying with a big moving party. Is anyone else entertaining the idea of leaving Blogger?

Also, if you left Blogger, where are you now and do you like it there?

Obviously, I am in need of lots of hand-holding today. Thanks for tolerating my neediness!

Lip Balm for Your Thoughts!

So here's the deal . . . I am struggling with keeping up with my blog reading. I think probably I am not managing my blog reading very well and I would love to hear how you guys do it. I also know we are all pressed for time these days, so I want to make it worth your while to share your secrets, hints, and tips with me!

If you will answer these questions for me in the comments for this post, I will enter your name for a fun little drawing. The winner will receive one lip balm of her choice from Clear Hills Honey Company! Because CHHC is about to close for the holidays, I will close this drawing at 2 pm central time on Thursday, December 13. Winner will need to email me her address no later than 8 am on Friday, December 14 so I can get the order in promptly. (both bloggers and non-bloggers are eligible, so that means all my lurky and/or non-blogging readers are more than welcome to de-lurk today!!)

Okay, so here is what I am wondering . . .

1) Do you use a feed aggregator like Bloglines or Google Reader to do your blog reading? If yes, skip to #3

2) If you don't use a feed aggregator, how do you keep up with your favorite blogs?

3 a) If you do use a feed aggregator, how often do you "click through" to the actual blog to comment?
3 b) If the blog you are reading publishes truncated (shortened) feeds, does that make you more likely or less likely to click through and read the whole post?

4) For everyone - how many blogs do you read/subscribe to? Overall, are you happy or unhappy with how often you are able to read AND comment on your favorite blogs?

5) Feel free to share any advice or feedback that you think might help me better manage my blog reading time. :)

Busy day in blogland

I realize that everyone who is anyone is busy with THE fall blogging event - Shannon's The Fall, Ya'll! Bloggy Giveaway! I think Shannon is an absolute peach for hosting a giveaway festivus again.

I had a blast doing the Dog Days of Summer Bloggy Giveaways, but having just done a giveaway on my lonesome, I am going to sit out the fall giveaways. Oh, I will be entering those that my dear readers/fellow blogistas are holding, to be sure. But I think I will spend the rest of my down time today reading my back issues of Mothering Digital that I just haven't quite gotten around to yet.

Hope the start of your week is as gorgeous as it is here!

Catchin' Up

Blog Business . . .

Finally! I had a little time to update my sidebar by taking down Barefoot Buys and adding the Delightful Hands section. Here you will find links to work-at-home-moms whom I either know "offline" or through the blogging community. Did I leave anyone out who wants to be on the list? Let me know!

I came across this really fun giveaway at Crunchy Domestic Goddess! This is the most darling idea . . . baby and toddler t-shirts with sparkly words spelled out in braille! The company is called Bitty Braile and their designs are clever and original. They also offer personalized shirts with the child's name spelled out in braile - perfect gift for the baby who has everything! If you want to enter this giveaway, too, pop over to Crunchy Domestic Goddess before November 5th.

Hey Jen! I found these two articles at Ask Moxie for you! Maybe they will help with your cloth diaper dilemma? I was going to do a pro-and-con list of each of the different systems, but it looks like Moxie has pretty much covered it all.

Finally, a big thank you for a couple of awards I've recently received:

My sweet friend Corey gave me the Community Blogger Award! Thanks, friend!

The community of bloggers I have come to know are an absolutely joy to me. Three bloggers I would like to pass this award on to are Deb of Mom of Three Girls, Kristen of Diary of a Shoe Addict, and Karla of Looking Towards Heaven. Thanks, ladies, for all you do to promote community in blogland!

The Wooden Porch was nice enough to pass on the Nice Matters Award to me. Thank you, mama!

It would be utterly impossible for me to choose just one or two to pass this award on to. All of my friends and readers are wonderfully, marvelously nice!!

That's all the blog business for now. Make sure you have asked me a question for my SortaCrunchy Q&A NaBloPoMo challenge!

Delicious winner!

Good morning! The girls and I will be scooting off to Bible study soon, but I was too excited to wait much longer on choosing the winner of the SortaCrunchy Deceptively Delicious giveaway winner.

Thanks to Random.org who helped me randomly draw a number for today's winner . . .

JEN AT THE THINGS YOU DIDN'T DO!!!!!!!!

Yay! Jen is a new mama to Nate and an all-around really neat woman. Be sure to check her out!

Congrats to Jen and THANK YOU to everyone for entering.

Back later with today's Bit O' Crunchy!

You have got to be kidding . . .

Seriously? Could my two year old (okay, quickly-approaching-three year old) really be giving up her gloriously long afternoon nap? I mean, just drop it cold turkey?

Oh please, Lord, I hope not.

We are on day two of the Great Nap Strike. The weather is cloudy and cool and perfect for napping, if you ask me. In fact, I could use one myself.

Please tell me she is too young to give up napping. Please tell me that dropping a nap altogether won't be as painful as when she dropped her morning nap. Please tell me what to do with an almost-three-year-old all the livelong day . . .

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Have you entered the SortaCrunchy Deceptively Delicious giveaway yet? You still have time!

Bit O' Crunchy, October 12: DECEPTIVELY DELICIOUS GIVEAWAY!

Today marks the return of my weekly natural living spotlight - Bit O' Crunchy! I began my Bit O' Crunchy series over the summer, but it has been sadly neglected in the midst of the wonderful hecticness of welcoming home a new baby. I am excited to kick off the return of this feature by focusing on food. Healthy food, even! (And how to trick your family into eating it!)

If you had your TV on at all this week, chances are you caught Jessica Seinfeld's media tour promoting her new book Deceptively Delicious. In this book - which looks oh-so-cute and fun - Ms. Seinfeld shares her secrets on how to get kids to eat healthy . . . whether they know they are or not! Basically, she shares how to sneak vegetable purees into foods your kids already know and love (including brownies! and cookies! and mac and cheese!).

I used a lot of homemade veggie purees when D started on solids and found the process to really be quite easy. In fact, D is really a good veggie eater to this day. D's Daddy, on the other hand, almost always passes on the vegetables passed 'round the table, so I am thinking I could employ Ms. Seinfeld's tactics to deceive my man into some good-for-you eating.

Anyone else want to give this a try? I am ordering one copy for myself and one for a lucky reader. This giveaway will be super simple. All you gotta do is leave me a little comment on this post! No blog? No problem! Just leave me an email address where I can find you (or email me your email address if you prefer - my email can be found in the sidebar). If you do have a blog and you want to post a link to this giveaway, great! But it's not a requirement to enter.

Deadline to enter is 11:59 pm, Thursday, October 18. I will announce the winner in next Friday's Bit O' Crunchy installment. Good luck! Happy healthy eating!

Business meeting

A dear and wonderful friend of mine invited D over to play with her little boy (who happens to be one of D's very best friends - so that works out nicely for everyone), so I thought I would take advantage of some quiet time to clean my kitchen um box up my maternity clothes err . . . catch up on blog business. Because that's what is really important, right?

1. Check it! I have gone through and updated my blogroll. If you are a regular around here and don't see yourself listed and would like to be, please do let me know in the comments or by way of email.

2. I am going to add a new feature to my sidebar (because really, why have just a few features when you can have a lot?). I want to spotlight my friends and readers who have work-at-home businesses. If you have a business you would like to see included here (so all fifteen of my readers can check you out!), please let me know. Hope to have this up by the end of the week.

3. I know everyone has been waiting with bated breath for this announcement - Bit O' Crunchy is coming back! My Friday natural living spotlight went on babymoon with me, but I am ready to roll it out again. By way of celebrating, Friday's Bit O' Crunchy will be a giveaway! It's a surprise, but I will give you a hint . . . it will make you excited to get out your vegetable steamers and food processors! Think you know what it might be? Keep your guesses to yourself and be sure to come by on Friday to enter.

4. I need your help with something. I am trying to coerce my little (ahem, 27 year old) brother into starting a blog. Well, technically, into starting a new blog. He blogged for a long time at MySpace in a blog he called The Jack*** Diaries (expletive asterisked out). He and my sister-in-law are expecting baby #1 in early December and I desperately want him to blog the journey into new fatherhood. Here's where you can help - can you point me in the direction of some really good daddy bloggers? I know there have to be some out there, I just don't have time to scout them out. Link me up to what you find!

5. Finally, a long, long time ago (late August, to be exact. That's not a long time ago? Hmmmm, sure feels like it to me!), my Sweet Friend Corey bestowed on me a wonderful award:

I never got a chance to publicly thank her or to choose five more recipients, what with the last-minute preparations for AJ's arrival. I still can't quite decide to whom I will pass the award, but I sure do want to make sure I say THANK YOU Corey. You, my dear, are an amazingly thoughtful blogger and friend. If ya'll don't read Corey's Living and Loving Every Minute of It, you are truly missing out. Witty and tender and full of gorgeous photography - it is truly a treat to get to know even better this wonderful woman I have known for more than two years now.

Okay, so I think that's it. Business meeting adjourned. And don't forget to come back by on Friday!

Shocked, delighted, surprised . . .

Something wonderful happened!

It's really quite embarrassing how excited I am to have won this. Nothing thrills my heart like a brand-new planner. I have been cultivating quite an obsession over personal planners since I was about, oh I don't know, twelve . . .

I am a terribly lazy journaler, so I often rely on my planners as the keepers of the stories of my days. What a blessing this will be!

Thank you again, Jeana!

We have a winner!

This morning, I had to giggle when I read Musings of a Housewife's post about choosing her giveaway winner. I also had originally planned to write out all the entrants and post really cute pics of D drawing a name out of a ballcap or something equally precious and ohsounique, but once my comments spilled over the one hundred mark, I began looking for a different solution.

Like dcrmom, I turned to the random integer generator at Random.Org. The Lord, He had mercy on me this morning . . . the number selected by random was number 44! Far, far easier than counting into the two-hundreds, yessir.

So, Sunny Kristi at Sunny Pond Home, it's your lucky day! I look forward to your BIG (hee hee) shopping spree at Northern Essence.

Dog Days of Summer Bloggy Giveaway!

DETAILS - I am not so good with them. I will close comments for entry at 7 am on Friday, July 27th. Winner will be drawn around 9 am on Friday morning. Best of luck! Thanks for stopping by!

Hooray! The day has arrived to kick-off Shannon's Dog Days of Summer Bloggy Giveaway!

I am excited to offer to you the chance to do a little shopping at one of my favorite natural products companies - Northern Essence! Northern Essence is a Work At Home Mom business that creates and carries all kinds of great natural products. Stuff for moms, stuff for babes, even stuff for the man in your life! The winner of my giveaway will choose up to $15 in products from Northern Essence, email me your order, and I will place the order for you so I can cover shipping. Your order will come shipped directly to you. Giveaway offer open to residents of the USA and Canada.

To enter, simply leave a comment on this post. I will randomly select a winner on Friday, July 27th. Good luck! Happy Giveaway Week!

Blessings! And a little housekeeping . . .

Oh, how happy I am that proverbs31 at Bringing Good Home shared about this great giveaway at Fina' Drea! This darling little (Texas-based!) company called Blessed Baby is giving away one of the precious, faith-inspired onesies from their sweet little collection. I am all about cute and funny clothes on babies, but this is the first company I have come across that blends cute with a great message. Don't ya'll think Little Sister needs one of the Love is Patient onesies? I surely do. Lots of you sweet friends are growing some blessed babies right now, so I know you will want to head over to Fina' Drea to enter!

Now, a quick housekeeping note. I am doing some changing and shuffling around in my sidebar, and over the weekend, I am hoping to get a post up regarding some SortaCrunchy policies. Just wanted to give you the heads-up, but I truly hope that over the weekend each of you are out and about and enjoying July somewhere with some fresh air. Or at least some air conditioning.

Presenting the Royal Heinie!

Ya'll are going to LOVE this!

As part of Stephanie's summer of giveaways, she is offering up a super cool diaper purse from Stroller Mama. Um, take yourself just a minute to shop through Stroller Mama! Clearly, they have some of the best selection of such cool baby gear!!

But isn't this My Royal Heinie just the cutest little thing? And ya gotta love mom-invented stuff because you know it's been tested by the pros. As it turns out, the Key West (which Stephanie is giving away) is the very one I would have chosen myself.

Be sure to get your entry in by Sunday evening. As with all of Steph's giveaways, it's so super easy.

Happy shopping!

Father's Day Giveaway!

Can you handle one more post from me today? I hope so, because by the end of this week, I am sure to be knee deep in boxes and soaked with sweat . . . not a pretty place from which to write.

I wanted to let everyone know that Jules at Everyday Mommy is honoring both daddies and mamas of boys with a really neat Father's Day Giveaway!! I've already emailed a heads-up on this giveaway to my mama friends here in town who are raising up some amazing young men, but I want to make sure my online community sees this, too. Meghan! Colleen! Karen! Lori! Keara! Amanda! Mandy, Devon, Yan, Nichole, Sara, Lauren . . . and anyone else I left out -- this means you! I have heard stories of your wild boys and been fortunate enough to actually meet a few of them. I so hope you will take a minute to write up something for the masses to read and enjoy. And hey - you just might win what looks to be a spectacular book!

Blogging advice, The Momma Code, and a GIVEAWAY!

DONE AND DONE!

Somehow, amazingly, I have finally gotten caught up on my blog reading. Thank you, dear Google Reader, for allowing me to skim thoughtfully read and reflect upon all sorts of wonderful posts from the vast array of feeds you deliver so faithfully to me everyday. And WHEW! I feel a great burden has been lifted now that I am caught up. I didn't get to comment as much as I would like to, but please know I have read.

Anyway, a couple of posts stuck out to me as I was reading from the last week:

1) I hope each and every one of you have, by now, added Scribbit to your feeds because she is just the coolest. Last week she published Ten Housekeeping Tips for Your Blog. Definitely check this out! Even if you don't feel you want to or can incorporate everything she suggests right now, this article still offers some great direction and advice!

2) Another treasure from last week was Shannon's republication of The Momma Code. Very much worth the read! Such truth.

3) Finally, SO EXCITED to tell you about Stephanie's latest giveaway!! A $75 gift certificate to MamaKanga!!! Don't ya just love how easy (and generous!) Stephanie's giveaways are?

Now, if the babywearing gods smile gently upon me and I should somehow win this giveaway, oh what would I buy? I have to say I am torn. For wearing Little Sister, I have a trusty pouch and several lovely ring slings. I am thinking with $75 to spend, I would want to go with a Mei Tai. Or maybe a wrap. No, definitely a Mei Tai. But I hear such great things about The Gypsy Mama wrap! But I have never tried wrapping before, and I feel a little intimidated. But look how lovely! Ahhhhhh, the choices. So fun to shop and drool.


So those are my highlights from the week. If I can possibly fit it in, I am hoping to participate in Chilihead's Blogging Story carnival. Such fun to read everyone's blogging stories!

Have ya'll made that chocolate cake yet? Let me know when you do.

"Dear Children" Group Writing Project!

Just a heads-up for all my writing mama friends . . .

Very Cool Jordan over at MamaBlogga is hosting a fantastic Group Writing Project this week. Here is what you need to know. I am so hoping to put together an entry, and I really can't wait to see what everyone comes up with!

Amongst my little circle of friends, there are some fabulously talented writing mamas. Girls, I expect to see your entry there!

Happy writing everyone. :)

Super! Cool! Contest!

Oh, friends. This is exciting!

First of all, thanks to AnnaLiza at Ventanahoos Candid, I have had the joy of discovering yet another amazing and super cool blog. And this blog mistress is having a very cool, very fun contest - but it ends Friday morning at 9 CST, so hurry, my friends! Hurry over Adventures in Babywearing to enter her giveaway to Mason & Matisse! Since we are having a little baby boom in my online community, I know I don't have to twist anyone's arm to browse the hip and chic collections Mason & Matisse carries . . . and while you are there, check out this toddler bedding! Rad, right?

But, so yeah - how I have not stumbled across Adventures in Babywearing before tonight?! Although I don't write about it nearly enough here, babywearing is a serious passion of mine. So looking forward to reading more from this cool mama. Ahhhhhh, yes. Babywearing. That reminds me. I've got some serious shopping to do . . .