The Apronista giveaway!

The Apronista is giving away this incredible apron from Heavenly Hostess for the Fall, Y'all giveaway! I didn't want to link to it. Really, I didn't. But I want the apron. So I had to do it for a second shot at winning it.


The apron is reversible. Both sides are so cute! I think I would look so hot in this, to Donnie, of course, why else would I care?
And I know as soon as Kaytlin reads this she's gonna scream "Mom! Mom! Oh my gosh, you are such a geek! Mom, really, I can't believe you said you would look hot." If nothing else, this posting was worth that.
But, the apron also comes with this matching headband! REALLY hot!

Closes today, so please don't go enter unless you plan to give it to me if you win. But do go and check out the other aprons and buy yourself one if you want.

I AM the Meanest Mom...

I am the meanest mom.
My kids pretty much hate me. You see, I am controlling. And mean. And frightening.
I demand to know where my kids are at all times. I expect to know that they are going out of the house at 5am to watch the sun come up at the river and commune with God, or off to swim practice at 6am. By golly, if you dare to decide to be later than you've said, you had better call me or you are in for it next time you think you are going somewhere.
Go somewhere? Well, the answer to that question is "Did you do your chores today?" No?? Well, there's your answer.
Date? What? Are you kidding? You are not ready to be looking for a spouse, and are certainly not ready to take care of yourself and a family and a home. There is no reason for you to date. You need to enjoy life, not get your heart broken every other month!
See? I am controlling.
Who is that on the phone? A girl? Is she your sister? Get off the phone! You don't need to sit and chat your life away with someone of the opposite sex! And I WILL get on the phone and tell the girl to stop calling if she does call back. There is one that does. (Eight times!!!)Until I told her I was going to talk to her parents.
See, I am mean.
There was a time that Kaytlin was so afraid of me that she was scared to come out of the bathroom. She would open the door and I would jump at her and scream. She would drop to the floor instantly. It tickled my funny bone, but scared her silly. She doesn't find it funny, so I have moved on. Now I have two terrifying Halloween masks right outside the bathroom door to terrify innocent children who have, thankfully, just emptied their bladders. (I'm scary and mean, but not dumb.)
See? I am frightening.


I have many other tortures, too. I do not allow fighting. I expect kids who can, to get A's, even if it means taking away privileges. They are never to sass me. New rule, thanks to Works for Me Wednesday, if they are nasty in their speech, they are to speak in an English accent for the rest of the day. If it continues, they have to sing everything. From there it goes to rhyming. If you can't rhyme it, you can't speak it. Oh, the wails when I announced that one. I made the kids sign a family contract to make sure they knew the rules of the family about fighting, leaving the house, chores, letting me know where they are, etc.

I am the Queen of Mean. Times Seven.

Go enter why you are the meanest mom over at Momsblogging.

Snorgtees.com

snorgtees.com and fuelmyblog are having a contest for $500! Check out the competition page for details.

I am a big deal blogger and deserve to win this funny t-shirt and win $500 because no one else is willing to amuse you and entertain you and horrify you like I am with just my daily life as a parent. It is funny to you, because you are not the ones dealing with these things.
I lived through the 2 years Trinity would play with her poop. Painting her crib daily, finger painting her sheets and walls with poop. "White washing" her doll house fence with poo. She even made little poop figures to decorate my staircase with. I survived that. Just those years alone should qualify me to win that $500, or at least a t-shirt, but it didn't end there.
Now I have Sam. This is Sam. After his trip to the litter box. Yes, that is cat litter stuck to the snot on his upper lip. Why, yes, he does enjoy eating cat poop.

And lest you think I am kidding, click on this picture and you will see the litter inside his mouth. I know, he seems to be such a cute kid, but really, he's a disgusting monster.

Don't believe me? This is the SAME night. That is not cat poop. That is HIS poop. And yes, it IS on his mouth. He decorated the chair, the carpet, his sister's toy AND ate it.

But he sure cleans up good!

So, who else is willing to not only admit that their kid does this, but also post pics of it to amuse and horrify you? That's right, only me.

So, since I need that $500 to help us fix all the things that have decided to die around here recently (furnace, van, car, dryer, washer, fridge/freezer, to name the biggies) I would appreciate it if you would all show me the love and go vote for me and put me in the top 100.

I promise you, if I am elected the winner of the $500 I will end the posting pics of my child eating poop. I will bring you more entertaining stories of my life with 7 kids. And I will even make a cake.

Please go vote! You do have to register and confirm your email, but after that it is easy to do, I promise! Remember, if I get in the top 100, I will never post another poop picture on my blog again!

Thursday Thirteen~ Randomness

Thirteen Things about Lisa 1. My mom posted a really funny little something on her blog, something said by a little kiddo! Check it out for a quick giggle. 2. Love contests and giveaways? Check out my contest blog and my contest column. 3. Even with all the things that have broken down at our house lately (washer, dryer, car, furnace, freezer), I am so thankful that I have a great home, family and husband who is willing to work 6 days a week to help us get through this. 4. I am thankful that I am able to babysit for some extra income, and I am thankful it is only two days a week, but long hours so it is still good money, and I am thankful that it is for a friend and her kids are good. (though they ARE busy!) 5. I am so happy with meeting new friends via blogs. I've just been so blessed by people. 6. Oh my goodness is it ever fun to win giveaways! I won an amazing scrapbook box STUFFED with cool things, I nearly cried when I saw all the wonderful things in the box. I won a t-shirt, and you can, too. I also won a nursing necklace! And that is just in the last week. 7. Monopoly Goes Cashless, seriously, Monopoly is going to start selling their new games with credit cards and NO cash moolah. Is this wrong? How are kids going to learn real money skills and not irresponsible credit card usage? 8. A friend of mine had an 11lb even baby boy last week. Yes, he was 11 pounds! Barely fit in the bassinet! He's so yummy! 9. Why do teens turn into disrespectful know-it-alls? We show them time and time again that we are right and they are wrong but they never get it. It is apparently dumb luck that we are right more than they are? 10. Diet Dr. Pepper is just the bestest! 11. Quelf is the most amazing game! I think it is tons of fun and am so glad I found it. I want to promote it all over the place! And I have some plans in that area soon! 12. You can see my pee in a cup at To Drano, or not to Drano... seriously, lol. Only my friend Sarah or I would be that weird, right? 13. You think you are having a bad day? Think again! This guy has the award. We've all had trouble with our animals, but I don't think anyone can top this one: Calling in sick to work makes me uncomfortable. No matter how legitimate my excuse, I always get the feeling that my boss thinks I'm lying.On one recent occasion, I had a valid reason but lied anyway, because the truth was just too darned humiliating. I simply mentioned that I had sustained a head injury, and I hoped I would feel up to coming in the next day. By then, I reasoned, I could think up a doozy to explain the bandage on the top of my head. The accident occurred mainly because I had given in to my wife's wishes to adopt a cute little kitty. Initially, the new acquisition was no problem. Then one morning I was taking my shower after breakfast when I heard my wife, Deb, call out to me from the kitchen. "Honey! The garbage disposal is dead again. Please come reset it." "You know where the button is," I protested through the shower pitter-patter and steam. "Reset it yourself!" "But I'm scared!" she persisted. "What if it starts going and sucks me in?" There was a meaningful pause and then, "C'mon, it'll only take you a second." So out I came, dripping wet and butt naked, hoping that my silent outraged nudity would make a statement about how I perceived her behavior as extremely cowardly. Sighing loudly, I squatted down and stuck my head under the sink to find the button. It is the last action I remember performing. It struck without warning, and without any respect to my circumstances. No, it wasn't the hexed disposal, drawing me into its gnashing metal teeth. It was our new kitty, who discovered the fascinating dangling objects she spied hanging between my legs. She had been poised around the corner and stalked me as I reached under the sink, and at the precise moment when I was most vulnerable, she leapt at the toys I unwittingly offered and snagged them with her needle-like claws. I lost all rational thought to control orderly bodily movements, blindly rising at a violent rate of speed, with the full weight of a kitten hanging from my masculine region. Wild animals are sometimes faced with a "fight or flight" syndrome. Men, in this predicament, choose only the "flight" option. I know this from experience. I was fleeing straight up into the air when the sink and cabinet bluntly and forcefully impeded my ascent. The impact knocked me out cold.When I awoke, my wife and the paramedics stood over me. Now there are not many things in this life worse than finding oneself lying on the kitchen floor butt naked in front of a group of "been-there, done-that" paramedics. Even worse, having been fully briefed by my wife, the paramedics were all snorting loudly as they tried to conduct their work, all the while trying to suppress their hysterical laughter......and not succeeding. Somehow I lived through it all. A few days later I finally made it back in to the office, where colleagues tried to coax an explanation out of me about my head injury. I kept silent, claiming it was too painful to talk about, which it was. "What's the matter?" They all asked, "Cat got your tongue?" If they only knew!

Thursday Thirteen~ Contest Answers

Last week I used my Thursday Thirteen to celebrate my 1yr blogaversary. I asked 13 questions that could be answered somewhere in my blog. One was really tough because you could not find it in the search blog feature! Seven people got all the answers right, so I put their names in for a drawing for a $25 Gift certificate to Amazon, or elsewhere if the winner chooses.

The WINNER is...................... Denise of Denise's Den! I numbered all the entrants and used a random number generator to get the number.

Now, as promised, here are the answers to the questions:

1. What is my favorite sitcom/tv show? I love this show! Its the only show we've bought on DVD. But I wouldn't watch it at first because we thought it was so stupid it would dumb us down. (is that enough hints?) Scrubs!

2. Where were my first 3 kids born? Germany it is number 47 on my list of 100 things.

3. What is my one true phobia? Spiders! This is probably ALL over my blog. #62 on my 100. It is number 10 in Thursday Thirteen #20.

4. Who is my favorite author? (there are two listed) Beverly Lewis or Jeanette Oake. #95

5. Why would my husband be afraid to give me jewelry? Because it frequently accompanies me getting pregnant. #83

6. What was the topic of my very first Thursday Thirteen? 13 Things I like about my kids.

7. What did Devon do to shave time off his swim that made his father gag? Shaved his legs!

8. Boys are pretty gross, but what is the most disgusting thing my boys have said they would eat for money, and for how little bit of money? Poop, for as little as $50.

9. You have to have a sense of humor when you have lots of kids! What is my favorite come-back to the question "Don't you know what causes that?" (there are two answers, either one is fine!) Yes, but we just love pizza! or Yes, and we are REALLY good at it!

10. Here's a tough one: What sport is a "religion" to our youth group? Dodgeball! The kids love it and play it every week. They had shirts made that say "Dodgeball is a religion, Christianity is a relationship." This was a hard answer to find because the answer is in a picture.

11. What did we tell our kids is the most powerful weapon on Earth? The Tongue! Several people said "A Devotional" from the title, but in the post is the answer.

12. Besides the computer and blogging, what am I addicted to? (sick, twisted addicted, according to the kids) Not coffee or chocolate! Cloth diapers!

13. Who was the uninvited guest at our ladies night out? Bats! That was a fun night out!

Thursday Thirteen~ Blogaversary Contest

Instead of just a give-away for my blogaversary, I decided it would be fun to do a contest inspired by No Diet Coke for Mommy! She ran a TT contest while on vacation, ensuring we'd be back over and over to find all the 13 things she had us hunting for while she was gone. I won the $25 gift certificate!

Now I shall do the same thing: 13 questions for you to answer about my blog. And I will give the winner a $25 gift certificate to Amazon.com.
1) This contest is open to anyone who can use Amazon.com, the gift certificate comes in an email, so I don't even need an address! (if you would really like the certificate to be from somewhere else, I'm open to that, too)
2) Email the answers to qtpies5(at)msn(dot)com.
3) Contest ends Wednesday, August 29th. Winner to be announced Sept. 1st.
4) Winner will be picked by the respondents with the most answers correct randomly drawn by one of my kids. No, family and friends, you can't win! Sorry, but you know me too well.

Don't forget my Blogaversary Give-away! for the movie Joshua. And tomorrow there will be another give-away starting!

1. What is my favorite sitcom/tv show? I love this show! Its the only show we've bought on DVD. But I wouldn't watch it at first because we thought it was so stupid it would dumb us down. (is that enough hints?)
2. Where were my first 3 kids born?
3. What is my one true phobia?
4. Who is my favorite author? (there are two listed)
5. Why would my husband be afraid to give me jewelry?
6. What was the topic of my very first Thursday Thirteen?
7. What did Devon do to shave time off his swim that made his father gag?
8. Boys are pretty gross, but what is the most disgusting thing my boys have said they would eat for money, and for how little bit of money?
9. You have to have a sense of humor when you have lots of kids! What is my favorite come-back to the question "Don't you know what causes that?" (there are two answers, either one is fine!)
10. Here's a tough one: What sport is a "religion" to our youth group?
11. What did we tell our kids is the most powerful weapon on Earth?
12. Besides the computer and blogging, what am I addicted to? (sick, twisted addicted, according to the kids) Not coffee or chocolate!
13. Who was the uninvited guest at our ladies night out?

I will answer these next week with links to the posts.
If you are not interested in playing, then you should at least have something fun to take away from here! The Perfect Gift is the perfect post to get a laugh, enjoy! There is also a funny story on my post Day 2 of the blog party!

Guess what??

Its finally time to reveal my secrets!
See that little count down to the left?? The one that says "Blogaversary 1 day"????
Yep, tomorrow is my blogaversary! And I have a couple of events planned for this week.
Tomorrow I will be starting a giveaway, and then on Thursday I am having a contest with a prize. There may be another little prize or two tucked up my sleeve, you never know!

Nursing moms!

I've been a nursing mom with all 7 of my kids. I have never had a kid who was willing to be covered up, though. It is tough being modest and still nursing when your child needs it. I was really good at it, but with my last two kids my cup size is double what it was for the first 5 kids. It is MUCH harder to not be exposed!










So when I came across this product I was just totally head-over-heels in love with it! And the attached burp cloth is just a big ol' bonus!
Mom4Life is giving one away. I will be spreading word of this incredible product because I think it will be a life saver for many women. This week's contest ends Wed the 22nd at 9PM PST.

Babywearing

I love to wear my baby. I have tried 3 brands of ring slings with little success. I thought I loved the Over the Shoulder Baby Holder, but when Sam started standing up in it I knew I had to find something else.
Sam likes to be held. I like to hold him. But I need my hands free with 6 other kids. I finally chose a wrap and bought it. I love my wrap!
When I walk with Sam in a stroller he looks around, but mostly just sits there. When I wear him in the wrap he grabs for tree branches, squeals, tries to fly (at least that is what that arm flapping looks like), talks to people, and generally interacts with the world. It is like two different babies. He is never afraid someone is going take him away from mom, so he is comfortable with everyone talking to him. He is safe and secure.
That is why I love wearing my baby. Not to mention that he can't get into things when I am wearing him. Or take his diaper off. Or eat cat food (or worse).

Go tell Renee why you love wearing your baby. Baby you will be rewarded.

Contests

Check out my Contest Frenzy post at Momsblogging for more great contests!
Update**
I can't believe I missed this one!
You can enter to win a $25 gift certificate to Mom 4 Life! Just sign the Mr. Linky and be sure to link toAdventures in Babywearing as well as Mom4Life.com for a chance to win before this Friday August 17, 11 PM (CST) when a winner will be picked at random. If I win, there will be a few more Babylegs at our house! I even got my s-i-l hooked on them!

My Two Boys and Signing Time is having a series of give-aways of sign language products. A winner will be drawn at random this Friday after midnight for Week One.


Shannon at Rocks in my Dryer is hostessing a giveaway wherein one lucky winner will win a sign of their choice from the Prim and Proper Sign Shop. Check out the details on this post. Friday, August 17th.



Sheri from Purely His is having a giveaway for back to school goodies for those teen girls in your life.


Win a Bag of Books and some bath goodies from Welcome to My World of Dreams, who is celebrating the birth of her new book review blog by giving away a book bag full of well, books, of course, and bath goodies, too! Enter by August 26 and be sure to visit The Long and the Short of It on Monday, August 27, for the Grand Opening Bash.


Enter to Win some Bella Bubs goodness from Mums the Wurd! Deadline to enter is Friday, August 17th at 10 PM.
They are also giving away a Tutor.com 75 minute session ($40 value) to one lucky reader. To enter this giveaway, just leave a comment. Winner will be drawn on Saturday, August 18th.

Mommy Life is giving away an autographed copy of Real Women Scrap for a comment by 8AM EST August 20.

Multi-Tasking Mom, in conjunction with momAgenda, is having a contest so that one of you Multi-Tasking Moms can win a momAgenda Desktop Planner! Add a banner to your sidebar. Click here for more details on how to enter. Enter by Friday, August 17, 2007.


Pinks and Blues Girls are at it again! Enter these two contests by Friday, August 17th: Gotta Go giveaway for a DKNY bag and TONS of toiletries (write a post about a potty experience) AND Win a $20 Dunkin’ Donuts gift card (send an email)! Enter by August 20 to win a pair of Czela Bellies CesareanWear, panties for the mom who recently had a c-section! (enter by email)

Five Minutes for Mom is giving away a KooKoo CaChoo Baby Blanket! Leave a comment, I could not find an end date, but the contest started August 14th. Does Your Toddler Want A Comfy Easy PC? enter by August 24th!

Have you entered the Write-Away Contest at Scribbits? What is up this Saturday? You will have to stop by to see! Ok, so I do happen to know it will be Shoshona Snow Pottery. I wish I was not going to be camping so I could enter.


Renee from When 2 became 3 is doing her second give-away, which ends August 22. You need to write a post about why you love baby wearing, and you can win a gorgeous wrap that Renee made! It is beautiful!

Skimbaco has a custom Tuuli Tunic, from Riiminki Design, to give to one lucky Mama.Leave a comment on the giveaway post, mentioning your favorite Riiminka Design product and your link or e-mail address. August 19th.


If you didn’t make it to BlogHer you can still experience the “swag.” Hop over to Who’s the Boss? to check it out.All you have to do is comment on the giveaway post by Friday, August 17, 2007

End of Summer contests!

Tasra at Lessons from the Scrapbook Page is hosting an End of Summer Blog-Abration through August 31st. Tasra has lined up tons of fabulous prizes! All you scrapbookers should head over on the double!
I want to scrapbook again. I need to pick it back up, its been years and years. My last 2 kids aren't in any albums at all! Maybe I'll win something and I'll get motivated to start again.


Blue Thistle Books is having a big giveaway.... and a huge Back to Homeschool Sale throughout the month of August!

Blue Thistle Books is giving away a brand spankin' new Cuisinart Pure Indulgence 2 QT Frozen Yogurt, Ice Cream & Sorbet Maker! It is an amazing machine, valued at $79.95! This contest is also open until August 31st.

The BIG Reveal!

A week or so ago, my mom told me that she thinks I should write for a magazine. Now, being that it came from my mom, I just laughed it off, not because my mom isn't smart, but because she is biased about me. But then Kaytlin didn't laugh about it, so maybe I should think about it. Donnie didn't even laugh, though he wasn't enthusiastic, he said he thought I could do it. I'm not really looking for a magazine to write for yet or anything.

Well, I was going along checking out blogs and things and came across a new site about mom blogs. Nell at Casual Friday Every Day started a new website for mom bloggers called MomsBlogging.

Nell has two podcasts up right now, which is a great feature of this new site.

While reading through the site, which I found because Heather was featured on there, I saw that Nell was looking for a columnist for contests. All my readers know I LOVE contests, and my mom thinks I am a good writer, so I applied! Now, personally, I think that I was the only one looking for the position, because I don't think I'm all that great, lol, but my family thinks its great!

I waited to make the big announcement until my first Contest Frenzy post was up. It is now up!

I will be featuring contests on mom blogs in the column. So, hopefully, I will not fill as much space here with contests, though I will still be linking to them in order to enter if I need to! Plus the other great contests that are not on mom blogs, like the crazy guy who is giving away $2500!

I don't do this for pay, so make my day and leave a comment over there! I work for comments, people!

For now I plan to post on Thursdays, but that may change. I need a few days to find all the contests, and I need to get them posted before the end, which is usually Friday or Saturday, so I may change to Wednesdays. We'll see. If you find great contests, please pass them on to me! And if you are a mom blogger who is going to have a contest, give me a heads up so I can get it out there for you.

Now, this is just ONE of my August events! The other will have to wait a bit longer, but it will be worth it, and it will be featured in my column...........

More contests!

I will soon post less of these contests, and I will tell you why later. But for now, here are some awesome contests, thanks to my friend Laura!

Wow! This mom blogger is giving away 3 Disney Software to celebrate her 300th post! This is quite a collection!

Contest ends 9PM (PST) on Wednesday August 8th!

Would you like to win a $50 gift certificate to KooKoo Bear Kids?

You can win over at An Island Life if you enter by August 4th.

Musings of a Domestic Crunchy Goddess is having a giveaway for a super cute shirt of your choosing from her CafePress store Cute As A Bug! And these shirts are really cute!

Enter by August 3rd.

Win A Hawaiian Prize Pack! This prize pack values at over $60! Bonus Prize: If you link to this contest from your blog or website, we’ll add a $25 Amazon.com gift certificate to the prize pack, if you win.
Sometime between now and the end of August, Go Visit Hawaii will put a secret message (at the bottom of one post) that only subscribers will see. Once you see the secret message, copy and paste it into this contact me form along with your name and e-mail address. I will then include your entry into the random drawing.

Robinznest is having a giveaway in honor of her 100th post. She is giving away a one year subscription to Martha Stewart Living, Today's Christian Women, Real Simple or Home Companion. You can read her "100 Things About Me" and get more details on the contest.

When 2 became 3 is having a contest, her first ever!
Renee is giving away a canvas grocery bag from Myconservationbaby.com. Join the mailing list, link to them both, and post a pic of you doing something "green" like cloth diapering!

The bag is fun and useful! It says "Paper, Plastic or ME?"

My new addiction.....

I think I've become addicted. Seriously. It all started innocently enough. One here, one there. Pretty soon I was even blogging them. Then I started winning. Then came the Dog Days of Summer Blogging Giveaway, and I was so completely hooked on contests and give-aways that it has pretty much become an addiction.

So, here are some more!

Gymboree is offering two of Love Shak, Baby's readers a $250 Gift Card to be used at the Gymboree store or Gymboree online. Go read about it at Love Shak, Baby for all the details so you know what kind of comment to leave! Contest open until August 17th.

Lille Punkin' Reviews is offering a fun prize pack now through August 12th! The prize pack includes the new American Idol All Star Challenge DVD game along with some fun samples! Linsey wants to make life easier for parents by finding and reviewing new products.

In Style Moms is giving away a Camouflage baby sling to one lucky winner who signs up for her newsletter in the month of July.

Tangled and True is offering a super chic Square Dance Area Rug, from FLOR, to one one lucky winner! All you have to do is leave a comment! The rugs are so neat, they come in pieces that go together so you can design it the way you want it to look. Comment by Monday, July 30th.

Go to Scribbit's blog today to enter for a Mint Workshop pouch, with King Leo mints. Closes noon on July 30.

Mamanista has a few contests running:
Mamanista has a darling little girl, Diva, who has congenital heart defect, she has had a successful heart surgery. Please head over their and learn about what you can do to help other little ones with this diagnosis.

***Heart Healthy Birthday Contest***Donate to the American Heart Association and spread the word about congenital heart defects to win one of two AWESOME prize baskets, including sweet mother's jewelry, hip and fun clothes for kids, children's book, the best swaddling blanket ever, and more... see the contest for prizes and details. (deadline: August 9)

Lindie & Friends Contest: Huggable and Lovable and Baby-Safe! Win a Lindie & Friends Handmade Doll. See post for details. (deadline: July 31)

Miracle Blanket Contest: Sign up for our newsletter or leave a comment on the contest post to win a blanket that helps baby (and you!) sleep. Click here for details on how to win a Miracle Blanket for swaddling your baby. (deadline: August 8)

No-Cry Discipline Contest: Help other parents with your stories and tips and win a signed copy of "The No-Cry Discipline Solution". See post for details. (deadline: August 20)

Facipiers and Stinky Toes is have a cool give-away of Mustard Sprout Marshall Diaper Bag, compliments of Baby Browns! You can enter once a day until August 5th.

You have until August 1st for the free template contest!

And then you have the Remove Before Flight t-shirt contest! "For all those out there that would like a Remove Before Flight shirt, you can enter in the new contest by posting a comment to any post from now until August 18th." Just go check out Pilot John's blog and leave a comment and you are entered!

Check out Laura Williams Musings for free sample leads! Thanks, Laura, for the contest and sample leads!

Yippee!

My prize winnings have been arriving!

First is a Berit Design onesie that I won on Adventures in Babywearing. This will not fit Sam, but there is a baby shower I am throwing next month, this will be perfect!

I just recieved this the other day and Drew is reading it first. Can't wait! I won this on Book Splurge, Bloggin' Out Loud told me about it. There are book giveaways on there regularily. Go check it out! There is another one on the site to read and review during an author's tour.

Now I didn't actually win Apples to Apples Bible Edition, I won a $25 Amazon.com gift certificate from No Diet Coke for Mommy. She hasn't posted all week, and I miss her!

I bought this game because we love the original game so much and we need some new cards to entertain us, and I can't wait until it gets here!

Callapidder Days had a bunch of book give-aways and I won this book. I was so excited because I love romance novels and pirate romance novels, but since becoming a Christian I have stopped reading books with smutty stuff in them. (thats sex, if you didn't get it, hehe) This was just the ticket! Christian, romance, AND pirates! I need to buy the first book now, and there better be a third one coming out!

I will say that this was a bit graphic for me. I loved the story and would probably have told my 16yo not to read it, but she read it without asking me. We were both a bit torn up about it, but there is so much scripture throughout the book, and the graphic parts are part of piracy, but they are never glorified, so I still have to say its good. Oh, and the author autographed it to me!

Then there was the Viking post. Diary of 1 had a Sports logo contest in conjunction with TeamMascot, her business website. I wrote a post about my favorite sports team and plugged her business. And she sent me this awesome pillow! It arrived yesterday and has a place of honor on my bed, but will not stay long as the boys start sneaking off with it.

I also won a cute sleeper for Sam from Apples'n'Oranges and blogged about it. That is in the mail on its way, and I'm anxious to get it, even though Sam can't wear it for a couple more months when the weather gets cooler and Sam gets a smidge bigger.

More contests!

Where to start??? There are so many going on that I'm going to link up to them in one post.

Pinks and Blues Girls Blog is giving away for a Vera Bradley Nantucket Navy “Little Betsy” purse with matching coin purse. Also thrown in is some Coconut Body Butter courtesy of Sheena Williams, a consultant for the Body Shop! Check out Sheena’s site for her July Buy One, Get One event and see what The Body Shop has to offer. This contest closes Monday, July 9th at 8pm EST.
5 Minutes for Mom is giving away TEN NeatReceipts Scanlizers! Check out the demo on the NeatReceipts website. This is a handy little travel scanner. It would have helped my husband so much when he was traveling for business, he could have just scanned in his receipts when he got back to his hotel room so he would be sure not to lose them. Now I would use it to scan photos and recipes and articles that I want to keep. I love to send pictures to family, and this would help me get them some extra pics.

Adventures in Babywearing is giving away The Podonbutai! A new baby wearing creation by Jenn at All Natural Mommies. I love wearing Samuel around, it makes for such a happy, contented baby! This is a three in one morph of baby wearing products. Exciting!

Mums The Word has got a rocking prize to win from XY Factory! A $25 gift certificate for their store! Kaytlin would flip if I won this prize and got Sam a t-shirt with a guitar on it!

Mama Speaks has had a great opening week and still has goodies for you to snatch up every day! Add the Mama Speaks button to your blog (the html code can be found here) ! She has so many prizes, its just too cool!

You can win a designer children's necklace at the Skimbaco Lifestyle blog! She uses the proceeds for children's charities.

Special K Family is having a great contest!! A $50 gift certificate to Splat Designs, or Amazon or a restaurant if you don't CARE about your blog design. You just need to put a button to her site on your blog. (That would be that top button on my blog!)

Whew, I think that's it! I've been on a winning streak, which I hope hasn't ended, but I hope you all will ignore the Splat Designs one because I really, really want that one! OH, ok, do it anyways!
In about 2 weeks time I have won 2 books, a onesie, a $25 Amazon gift certificate, and a Vikings pillow! The last two I had to earn, they took work! But it was worth it!

MN Vikings

I'm a Vikings fan, I admit it. Its not that I watch football, because I only watch one or two games a year, but I'm loyal. I grew up in Minnesota and Minnesotans love their Vikings! My dad was a fan, I speak of him as though he is dead, but really he's just a traitor and gave up on them, don't hate him, he is getting old and feeble, and besides, I already kicked him. My husband is a fan, and a rule in our house is: You are a Vikings fan or you find somewhere else to live.

So there you have it! What else can I do?

We wear our purple and gold on game days. We check to see if they win or not, and my husband watches them most of the season. We search yard sales for Vikings clothes for the baby, the boys, even us girls sometimes. We display our Viking's Fan post in the yard year round. Even when they lose. We even tried to get rid of a girlfriend of our son because she was a Packer Backer!!! Evil!!! (Our pastor is, too, but we somehow adore him anyway)

Soon it'll be that time of year! Diary of 1 is having a Sports logo contest in conjunction with TeamMascot. The first 20 people to blog about their favorite team and link up to here will win some merchandise from her store. I love the pillow picured here! These mugs are pretty wonderful, too!

There are many other great sports logo merchandise, also. Take a look-see!

Another give-away!

You all know how much I love a give-away! I post these and post these and post these, but I don't win. I see others winning on a couple different give-aways, and me nothing. I finally won a book and I can't wait to read it!! I want to read it cover to cover, so I'm waiting, and today Donnie is taking the kids to the zoo, so when I get home from work I'll be alone for at the very least an hour, but probably 2!
So, here is another one for you to go enter into! I found it on my friend Michelle's blog Heart of the Prairie.
Mrs. U of “Making a House a Home” is celebrating her one year bloggiversary and is providing an amazing, large give-away to commemorate this special event. One lucky winner will receive a set of Marth Stewart every day towels, a choice of earrings from an Etsy shop, an autographed copy of a really neat book, and a TWO year subscription to Victoria Magazine!
Hop on over there and congratulate Mrs. U on her blogaversary!
Don't forget to stop at Five Minutes for Mom via the button on my sidebar, they have 7 give-aways up so far!

Oh, and I won a Golden Keyboard Award from Owlhaven today! That cheered me up a bit!

Fourth of July contests!

I love contests! Five Minutes for Mom
is having 12 between now and July 4th. Just click on the banner to check it out!
There is a Krupps Ice Cream maker
with a cute set of bowls, no need to add ice or salt with this maker!
How about a custom swimsuit from Land's End? We only need 9 of them each year, so I'd love to win that one.
There will be a new contest each day, so check them out!

Plus!!! Adventures in Baby Wearing is having a Summer Sling Give-away! An amazing Solarveil sling that blocks out the rays from the sun, perfect to wear while swimming, or walking those state fairs and summer amusement parks. These are made by KimzKreations on ebay. I am definately in love with wearing my baby, I have a sling and a wrap, but my sling is rather hot to wear, and Sam learned how to arch his back and stand in it in .02 seconds. My wrap is awesome, but no sun protection.

I won something! I won!!!!!

Callapidder Days had a bunch of book give-aways, and I finally, finally won something! I love contests and give-aways, but I never win. Now I have!

The Reliance by Marylou Tyndale! Finally a pirate and Christian romance all wrapped into one!

I can't wait to read it!