If you came expecting to see my new April theme, and could hardly stand the anticipation, I apologize for the let-down! I probably won’t write much until it’s fixed, for the same reason I don’t invite people over when the house is a disaster; it’s hard to see past the dirty dishes and appreciate the good conversation. Unless you’re a really good friend.   

Enjoy a lovely April! I plan on learning how to plant a vegetable garden that will succeed in Central Oregon, cleaning out my guest room, writing letters to my cousins, catching up on some French, and celebrating the risen Lord. What about you?

I’m looking forward to a Saturday of catching up around the house. It’s as bad as my header at the moment. Boxes from our move fill one room and are scattered throughout the house and garage as well. I took one van full of “stuff” to Goodwill yesterday, and I hope to gather another van load today. I’m setting aside nicer things for our school’s rummage sale, but other than that, I don’t like to take the time to put on a garage sale, so typically, the bulk of things I give away.

My husband has been listening to Dave Ramsey lately, and keeps telling me, “rice and beans, beans and rice!” Basically, pare down, live simply and frugally, and within our means. Part of the issue in our family is time, which translates into an economic product if you really think about it. An enormous amount of time (and thus money) is wasted in organizing our “stuff,” finding it, putting it away neatly again. A move is a fabulous time to get rid of the non-essentials, as your possessions are being eyed in their entirety, perhaps for the first time in five or ten years.

My sister visited last week, and I was able to finally begin to purge my linens of my endless collection of baby blankets. She has a young one, and just as the little girl happily took my pile of pint-sized blankets, I was lighthearted to be free of the emotional attachment. At one point, though, I did snatch back one of my first child’s blankets, saying, “Wait! This was Little L’s crib blanket, I can’t get rid of it!” However, the thought of perpetually carting this baggage through life for no good reason won out, and the girl took home the blanket. (Don’t worry, all you memory-lovers, I’m keeping one special hand-made baby blanket per child!)

Will you leave me a comment and share with me what five non-essential items you can get rid of today? I’ll leave notes in my comment box for you, and tell you about some of my belongings that I clear out today…

First, there are the logs:

The axe…

And the beautiful pile, a nice beginning, stacked by my nine-year-old son…

Here are the wonderful entries for this week:
From the Sojourner, My Kids thought I was crazy…a dog food bag made into a tote bag. How fun and cool…but will all the neighborhood dogs be following her around?

Fowl Visions brings us Backyard Plans for Wild Bird Feeding and Bird Watching…welcome to some great bird watching in Clay County, Florida!

Hobby Lawn Care tells us Why Is Proper Lawn Clipping Height So Important? Hint - it’s not “as short as possible.”

Make it From Scratch prepares Pumpkin Pie - my absolute favorite! It’s the homemade crust that makes it extra special.

Stop the Ride has some Soil Surprises…thankfully, this post has nothing to do with diapers or laundry.

Little House in the Suburbs teaches us about Clipping Chicken Wings…for chicks who escape.

From the lighter side, we have German Fresh Apple Bread - mmmm, apple bread from any country is delicious.

A Pondering Heart says I Nominate…it’s time for the homeschool blog awards.

It’s a Learning Experience asks What’s On the Menu? This is for a family of eleven, for a whole week…wow.

From Vermont’s Northland Journal, I found this lovely little story about the warmth of a woodstove. Here is an excerpt I enjoyed:

Townsfolk and neighbors not only judged a man by the color of his chimney smoke, the shape and size of his woodpile were also scrutinized. A woodpile, besides being straight and sturdy, needed to be piled so the wood would cure and keep, while at the same time look like a picture. There was an art to putting up a good woodpile.

Next week’s Carnival of Homesteading will be hosted by Oak Hill Homestead. You can submit your homesteading blog posts here by next Sunday, 9 p.m. EST.

A few weeks ago, I found Tawny high up in a tree, meowing rather pleadingly. After spending an hour finding a ladder tall enough to reach the cat, coaxing him with soothing kitty calls and finally food, I rescued the feline. The cat could starve or freeze to death, trapped up here indefinitely, I had thought.

Later that evening, when my husband returned from errands with the kids and I related to them the cat story, my 9-year-old son laughed, “Mom, Tawny always climbs up there and gets back down by himself!” Oh.

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Recent blog carnivals:
Carnival of Education
Carnival of Family Life
Christian Carnival
Carnival of Homesteading

Up next: Carnival of Homesteading, here at Diary of 1, on Monday, Oct. 20. Submit HERE by Sunday, 9 p.m. EST.

JJ and her teeny-tiny garden:

Here in Central Oregon, the August night heavens have been proclaiming His majesty:

It’s hot! I have to go water some plants now before they die. Blessings to you, and I hope to be back soon.

Technorati Tags: Central Oregon, child’s garden, sunsets, night sky

I told Becky how badly I needed them, because I couldn’t find a single oven mitt in the house, and I was in danger of burning off my sweet fingers. I need my fingers. These arrived the day after my birthday - I love surprise birthday gifts! And the day after that, I found the one oven mitt I did own - in my 7 year old daughter’s underwear drawer.

I had to explain the craziness to Becky, who may have wondered about my daughter’s stability - why was she stashing away an oven mitt with her underclothes?! An unknown fact was revealed: my mother, with Alzheimer’s or some mysterious mind-confusing disease that can afflict almost-80-year-olds, lives with my family. She loves to help put laundry away. You may find my t-shirts in my son’s dresser, dirty clothes mistakenly folded neatly into drawers, or oven mitts filed away with underwear. We work with it.

Another blog perk came my way when Sheila at Meditations and Confessions of a Homemaker sent me this pack of handmade cards. Each card has an inspiring scripture, wise saying, or encouraging word for women. Sheila is truly gifted (in many ways), and you can find more of her cards for sale at her Etsy shop. She has a great big heart for hurting and broken people, she blogs for the persecuted church (don’t miss her post on China), and is simply refreshing.

Sheila has also given me a few blog awards recently, which I’ll pass on soon. They are the Arte y Pico (best art) Award, and the Brillante Weblog Award. Thank you from the bottom of my heart! Coming up (or whenever I get around to it!) will be my awards reception in which I present these to some other excellent bloggers.

Have you enjoyed any blog perks lately?

Technorati Tags: Alzheimer’s, blog contest, blog awards, humor, oven mitts, persecuted church

Today’s blog posts will be salted with Christian humor, and I do pray you come away with a smile on your face. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!

A little boy was sitting in church next to his mother one evening. In the middle of a song, the mother thought her son was singing the song a little differently. She leaned over and heard him sing, “We bring the sacks of rice and beans.” The song was “We bring the Sacrifice of Praise.”

Keith Williams presents My NLT Odyssey: A Bible translation story posted at NLT Blog.

FMF presents Robert Kiyosaki on Tithing posted at Free Money Finance.

My daughter (now 19) was about 2 years old when we sat down at the dinner table to eat. When asked if she would like to say the blessing, she was excited to pray. With hands folded and heads bowed she began…God is great, God is good, let us thank Him for our food….. if he hollers, let him go…eeeenie……

Robert Minto presents Living In Heaven Today: A Meeting of Newman and Kline on the Subject of Holiness posted at The Veil Away.

Ali presents A sin with a lasting stain. posted at Kiwi and an Emu..

A Sunday school teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five and six year olds. After explaining the commandment to “honor thy father and thy mother,” she asked “Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?” Without missing a beat one little boy answered, “Thou shall not kill.”

Tiffany Partin presents I Want It My Way posted at Fathom Deep: Sounding the Depths of God.

Raffi Shahinian presents Incoherent Ramblings That Might or Might Not Have Something to Say About Jesus and Affirmative Action…You Decide posted at parables of a prodigal world.

A kindergarten teacher gave her class a “show and tell” assignment. Each student was instructed to bring in an object to share with the class that represented their religion. The first student got up in front of the class and said, “My name is Benjamin and I am Jewish and this is a Star of David.” The second student got up in front of the class and said, “My name is Mary. I’m a Catholic and this is a Rosary.” The third student got in up front of the class and said, “My name is Tommy. I am Methodist, and this is a casserole.”

simplyeddie presents Shadows of Christ~ The Death of Abel posted at Simple Life In Christ.

Erich Bridges presents The stars in their courses posted at CounterCulture.

The young couple invited their elderly preacher for Sunday dinner. While they were in the kitchen preparing the meal, the minister asked their son what they were having. “Goat,” the little boy replied. “Goat?” replied the startled man of the cloth, “Are you sure about that?” “Yep,” said the youngster. “I heard Dad say to Mom, ‘Today is just as good as any to have the old goat for dinner.’”

Steve Mounts presents A Vision of God’s Power posted at Steve Mounts.

Allen Scott presents Passports posted at A View from the Nest.

Arris Charles presents Anyone Can Balance On Their Head posted at Spirited Ink.

A Sunday school teacher was telling her class the story of the Good Samaritan, in which a man was beaten, robbed and left for dead. She described the situation in vivid detail so her students would catch the drama. Then she asked the class, “If you saw a person lying on the roadside all wounded and bleeding, what would you do?” A thoughtful little girl broke the hushed silence with……”I think I’d throw up!”

Richard H. Anderson presents Priestly Blessing posted at dokeo kago grapho soi kratistos Theophilos.

Michael presents Encouragement posted at Chasing the Wind.

My son James is four. Whenever he hurts himself we lay hands on the injury and pray for healing. The other day he cut his left finger, took hold of it and prayed: “Jesus come out of my heart, go down my arm and fix my finger. Please Jesus, Amen.” Another time he said grace before our meal. “Dear God, bless our food and don’t let my sister’s head fall off”. His sister was 6 months old at the time; I couldn’t help wondering what James had planned to do with his sister.

Diane R presents Postmodern Philosophy for the Rest of Us–Part 1 posted at Crossroads: Where Faith and Inquiry Meet.

Fr. Joshua Wagner presents Miracle Grow! (Homily for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A) posted at Total Possibility.

A Sunday School teacher asked her class, “what was Jesus’ mother’s name?“ A Child answered, “Mary.” The teacher then asked, “and what was her husband’s name?“ Another child answered, “The Verge.” Confused, the teacher asked, “where did you get that?“ The child replied: “You know, they are always talking about “the Verge ‘n Mary.“

Mark Olson presents A Bone To Pick (with my brethren in Christ) posted at Pseudo-Polymath.

e-Mom presents Bible Study: Jesus’ Use of Q & A posted at C h r y s a l i s.

A little child was looking through his grandmother’s Bible and found a crushed flower that was quite wilted. As it fell from the Bible He called to his Mother, “Come quick Mom, I think I found Adam’s suit.”

Drew Tatusko presents Making Pro-Life Plausible posted at Notes From Off Center.

Angela Williams Duea presents Cleaning my spirit house posted at angelawd.

My children began reciting the Lord’s Prayer at 2 1/2 years old and I remember my daughter very seriously praying, “Our father, whose art’s in Heaven, Howard is His name…”

David Porter presents A Boomer in the Pew: “Children of the Living God” - Sinclair Ferguson (Chapter 1c) posted at A Boomer in the Pew.

Ken Brown presents Islam, Christianity and the Freedom to Insult posted at C. Orthodoxy.

Stephen Hawkins presents Did Christ establish two kinds of churches? posted at Waters to Swim In.

A little boy got a new tie for his birthday. Sunday morning, he wore the new tie to church. He was so proud of his tie. He made sure everyone noticed it. Once the congregation settled down, the preacher approached the pulpit in preparation for the offering. The preacher said, “Now is the time we give back to the Lord. Please give your tithes(ties) and offerings to Christ.” The little boy looked at his father and said, “Daddy, he wants my tie!”

William Meisheid presents Knowing God Study Guide Now Complete posted at Beyond The Rim….

Weekend Fisher presents “Miracles violate the law of nature”–or do they? posted at Heart, Mind, Soul, and Strength.

A father was reading Bible stories to his young son. He read, “The man named Lot was warned to take his wife and flee out of the city, but his wife looked back and was turned to salt.” His son asked, “What happened to the flea?”

Jeremy Pierce presents Novel Interpretations and Confidence posted at Parableman.

Elementaryhistoryteacher presents Reverend: False Elevation or Grammatical Error? posted at Got Bible?.

An elderly woman had just returned to her home from an evening of church services when she was startled by an intruder. She caught the man in the act of robbing her home of its valuables and yelled, “Stop! Acts 2:38!”

(Repent and be baptized, in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven.)

The burglar stopped in his tracks. The woman calmly called the police and explained what she had done. As the officer cuffed the man to take him in, he asked the burglar, “Why did you just stand there? All the old lady did was yell a scripture to you.” “Scripture?” replied the burglar. “She said she had an ax and two 38’s!”

John presents How to Be a God-Focused Encourager posted at Light Along the Journey.

Jot and Tittle presents Confessions of a techno geek… posted at Jot and Tittle.

Billy Graham tells of a time, during the early years of his preaching ministry, when he was due to lead a crusade meeting in a town in South Carolina, and he needed to mail a letter. He asked a little boy in the main street how he could get to the post office. After the boy had given him directions, Billy said, “If you come to the central Baptist church tonight, I’ll tell you how to get to heaven.” The boy replied, “No thanks, you don’t even know how to get to the post office!”

ChrisB presents The Bible and Capital Punishment posted at Homeward Bound.

Heath Countryman presents How Big Is Your Satan? posted at Esprit d’escalier.

Our little girl had just attended a baptismal service (by immersion). When she came home she ask her mother to fill the tub so she could baptize her dolls. Her mother listened carefully as she put them in the water…”I baptize you in the mane of the father, the son and in the hole you go!”

Rodney Olsen presents Pushing against the wind posted at RodneyOlsen.net.

Henry Michael Imler presents The Jobian Take on Righteousness posted at Theology for the Masses.

After the Christmas pageant, I asked my 6-year-old son if he remembered the gifts that the Magi brought to Jesus. He thought for a minute then said “gold, frankincense, and humor.” We could all use that!

Thank you for visiting this hilarious edition of the Christian Carnival! Next week it will be hosted by A True Believer’s Weblog. You may submit your blog post here by Tuesday, July 22, Midnight ET.

Technorati Tags: Christian Carnival, humor

Dad says, “Ouch, my body is heavier than it used to be.”

For more Wordless Wednesday, visit the main page or 5 Minutes for Mom.

What are YOU doing outside today?

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In the blogosphere, we have the current Carnival of Family Life, Carnival of Homeschooling, Christian Carnival, Marriage Monday. It’s summertime and I can’t keep up with all of these like I want to!

I will be the host of next week’s Christian Carnival, and you can submit your post HERE by Tuesday, July 15, before midnight ET, and publishing at Diary of 1 Wednesday, July 16. More information on the Christian Carnival guidelines can be found at Parableman.

Technorati Tags: Central Oregon, gymnastics, outdoor play, wordless Wednesday

Ho, ho, ho!! Merry Christmas in July from my little soap-beard-Santa.

For more Wordless Wednesday, visit the main page.

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Blog carnivals:
Carnival of Family Life
Carnival of Homeschooling
Christian Carnival
The Homesteading Carnival

Technorati Tags: children, Christmas in July, wordless Wednesday

The Carnival of Country Living has been posted. The Christian Carnival is up, The Carnival of Homeschooling is going strong, and The Carnival of Family Life continues as well.

Julie is hosting a fun giveaway, don’t forget about Heather’s art lessons, Laura was kind to mention my Father’s Day giveaway, and today is the last day to enter Debi’s hammer giveaway.

A local blogger is getting her own newspaper column, and also for you locals, check out the upcoming events at Camalli Book Store in Bend, like the “What to plant and when” talk this coming Tuesday evening by local gardeners/authors.

Thank you, and have a sunny day.

Technorati Tags: blog carnival, blog contest, blogging

The Oregon Trail was a route to not only Oregon, but the only feasible pathway to the entire western United States. Travel to places like Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Idaho, Utah, and California was only possible because of this passage over the mountains. The 1843 wagon train, with about 1,000 pioneers making the journey, kicked off the big westward expansion, with over half a million travelers over the next 25 years braving the journey.

Carole DeJarnatt presents Build A Chicken Feeder Series posted at Fowl Visions.

Also commonly found slung on the sides of emigrant wagons were water barrels, a butter churn, a shovel and axe, a tar bucket, a feed trough for the livestock, and a chicken coop. A fully outfitted wagon on the Oregon Trail must have been quite a sight, particularly with a coop full of clucking chickens raising a ruckus every time the wagon hit a rock. From End of the Oregon Trail.

GP presents The Innside Scoop on Hosting House Guests posted at Innstyle Montana- Come on Inn.

Bush established a successful farm near present day Olympia on land that became known as Bush Prairie. He and his family were noted for their generosity to new arrivals and for their friendship with the Nisqually Indians who lived nearby. From HistoryLink.

Jennifer Bogart presents Planting Rhubarb posted at Measure Twice, Cut Once.

A typical day started before dawn with breakfast of coffee, bacon, and dry bread. The bedding was secured and wagon repacked in time to get underway by seven o’clock. At noon, they stopped for a cold meal of coffee, beans, and bacon or buffalo prepared that morning. Then back on the road again. Around five in the afternoon, after traveling an average of fifteen miles, they circled the wagons for the evening. The men secured the animals and made repairs while women cooked a hot meal of tea and boiled rice with dried beef or codfish. Evening activities included schooling the children, singing and dancing, and telling stories around the campfire. From End of the Oregon Trail.

Belle presents Did You Know……All Soaps Have Lye (Sodium Hydroxide)? posted at Born 100 Years to Soon.

One pound of Castile soap was recommended for the journey (for one man on a three month expedition).

Dora Renee’ Wilkerson presents Soap Creations review posted at Y-2K Hippie.

Minimal cooking utensils included a cast iron skillet or spider, Dutch oven, reflector oven, coffee pot or tea kettle, and tin plates, cups, and knives, forks, spoons, matches, and crocks, canteens, buckets or water bags for liquids. A rifle, pistols, powder, lead, and shot were recommended for hunting game along the way, and for self-defense. Candles were used for lighting, as they were far less expensive and lighter than transporting oil, and several pounds of soap was included. Only two or three sets of practical, sturdy, and warm clothing of wool and linen had to last the wear and tear of the journey, and a small sewing kit for repairs was important. Basic tools such as a shovel, ax or hatchet, and tools to repair wagon equipment were essential. Bedding and tents completed the list of necessities. From BLM Oregon Trail Interpretive Center.

Jacque presents Summer Plans posted at Walking Therein.

June 3 Passed through St. Joseph on the Missouri River. Laid in our flour, cheese, crackers and medicine, for no one should travel this road without medicine, for they are almost sure to have the summer complaint. Each family should have a box of physicing pills, a quart of castor oil, a quart of the best rum and a large vial of peppermint essence. Elizabeth Dixon Smith. From End of the Oregon Trail.

Miss Jocelyn presents Making The Home: Washin’ The Laundry posted at Growing In Grace Magazine.

Resting on Sundays, in addition to giving the oxen and other animals a needed break, also gave the women of the wagon train a chance to tend to their domestic chores — particularly doing the laundry, as the dust on the Trail pervaded every article of clothing exposed to it. Occasionally, a wagon train’s arrival at a source of clean water was enough to prompt a special stopover for laundry day. From End of the Oregon Trail.

Lady Olivia presents Cherry Pie in a Cup posted at Growing In Grace Magazine.

In procuring supplies for this journey, the emigrant should provide himself with, at least, 200 pounds of flour, 150 pounds of bacon; ten pounds of coffee; twenty pounds of sugar; and ten pounds of salt. From Emigrants’ Guide to Oregon and California, 1845.

Thanks for visiting, this is the end of the trail! The next Homesteading Carnival will be hosted by The Daily Planet. You may submit your post HERE.

photo credits:
www.historyglobe.com
www.isu.edu
Diary of 1

Technorati Tags: blog carnival, Homesteading Carnival, country, family life, gardening, Oregon Trail

Julie, you will be receiving the Oregon State Beavers hat and pewter keychain.

Go visit Julie if you get a chance, she just opened up her own blog right after I posted that article about her, so I didn’t get a chance to tell you yet. Congratulations, Julie!

Debi still has her Father’s Day Giveaway open, so you can give it another shot over at Stroller Strides of Bend.

I gotta say, these Central Oregon bloggers are pretty impressive! I just met another one yesterday. Christy happened to be at the same homeschool swim group I attended, and I’d been reading her blog for a while (which I would direct you to except that she shut it down a while back), and had never met her. I’ve gotten used to introducing myself in my new social-media-fashion: “Hi, I’m Jen, from Diary of 1.” Just like when I first met MooBeeMa, PebbleChaser, and Mrs. Darling, it was like meeting up with an old friend.

Technorati Tags: blog contest, giveaway, Oregon State University, sports business, TeamMASCOT

AND, Debi S. of Stroller Strides in Bend, OR, is also running a fabulous Father’s Day Giveaway. Click on this post, and leave a comment about why you love your dad (read her story, it’s wonderful!), and you have a chance to win a hammer with your dad’s favorite team logo! Enter by the end of Thursday, June 12 - hurry!

The Homesteading blog carnival description reads:

A carnival full of homesteading articles… from your kitchen with yummy recipes, your sewing room with homemaking ideas to planting your garden, raising farm animals, and raising a family on the homestead. Please join us on the homestead and submit something from yours!

Now, if you don’t have a big ranch or farm with 12 children milking goats and collecting eggs every day, do not exclude yourself from this carnival! The Homestead Act (1863) provided the original homesteader with 160 acres if he could build a home on the property and inhabit the place for five years. But how many folks have 160 acres these days? And certainly not for free.

Homesteading has a broader interpretation these days. There are urban homesteaders who may not have a lot of real estate but sure have a lot of self-sufficiency. Maybe you have a balcony vegetable garden, maybe you have some good advice for living simply, being frugal yet generous, becoming debt free, or have figured out creative ways for how to make do with less. Please share your wisdom!!

My theme will be The Oregon Trail, so pack your wagons, and prepare for a long, bumpy ride, with paradise at the other end. [p.s. Your post isn’t supposed to be about the Oregon Trail, that’s just my fun way of organizing the articles.]

Technorati Tags: blog carnival, gardening, homesteading, Homesteading Carnival, recipes

All of the childhood exploring was possible because my husband and I were busy breaking our backs trying to get the yard prepared to plant some grass. I snapped off my shovel handle just above the spade (is that a bad sign?) trying to pry up a boulder and I bent the prongs of my husband’s $50 rake. I’ll go soak my weary bones in a hot bath and try to focus on how green that grass will be in a few months.

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Well, it’s June now. I have a special giveaway for DADS (or grads). Father’s Day is June 15, just two weeks away. I’m going to let the winner choose any in-stock item under $30 from our online sports store, TeamMASCOT.com. We carry team logoed products across six leagues - NFL, NCAA, MLB, NBA, NHL, and NASCAR. If you’re not going to settle for giving another necktie on Father’s Day, consider a key chain, wallet, or even a hammer with his favorite team’s logo!

Please be sure the item is in-stock (noted after the product description), because I’ll need to get this shipped by the end of the week to guarantee arrival for Father’s Day. CONTEST CLOSES Friday, June 6. TO ENTER, leave a comment on this post, letting me know which product you would like. Open to U.S. and APO addresses. Make sure you leave a way for me to contact you, so I can notify the winner and get this shipped to the correct address.
******

Marriage Monday, hosted by Chrysalis blog coming tomorrow! Submit your post after today on any aspect of your wedding here.

There are several blog carnivals that you may want to catch up on. Just topical collections of blog articles.

Christian Carnival and up again Wednesday at Ancient Hebrew Poetry.
Carnival of Homeschooling, and up again Tuesday at Tami’s Blog.
Carnival of Family Life, and coming again tomorrow at Live from Waterloo.
Homesteading Carnival, and coming again tomorrow at Lighter Side.

Technorati Tags: blogging, family life, blog contest, giveaway, Father’s Day, outdoor play, outdoors, parenting, baby jackrabbits, ranch, sports business, spring

Could you please give me some blog feedback? My husband/tech guy/designer extraordinaire will be working on my site this weekend, and any feedback you give will help him troubleshoot the problem. The browser we use is Safari (the world’s best browser according to Mac-geeks like my husband) and Diary of 1 looks just beautiful with this application.

SO, if you’ve stopped by here, would kindly tell me:

1. What browser (and version) do you use? (For example, IE-7, Firefox, Safari). If you have NO idea what I’m talking about, read this.

2. What do you first see when you go to www.diaryof1.com? You should see something like this:

3. Are there any other annoying things (not looking for critiques of my writing, people!) that you’ve noticed?

Thanks for your help!!

Technorati Tags: blog feedback, blogging, troubleshooting

But, I still HEART the blogging, do YOU?! This is my Aloha Friday Question. Could you share one reason why you enjoy blogs?

Here’s a few reasons from this week why I think blogs are great:

Number 1:

The lovely, talented, kind, and generous Heather at An Untraditional Home painted this watercolor portrait of my children, which I was able to give my husband for his birthday on Monday of this week. Heather does commissioned work, and even though she lives in Pennsylvania and I live in Oregon, this was no problemo! I emailed her this photo:

And voila! My husband was incredibly pleased, and my 6 year old daughter was absolutely amazed: Mommy, how did you find a painting of children that look just like us?!

Heather’s art site is Elasah.com, and she just started offering art lessons online for your children (and you!). We’ll be giving this a try, so keep an eye out for really disproportionate drawings of the human body being posted here.

Number 2:

Reason No. 2 that I love the blogs is this delightful springtime package of goodies I received in the mail yesterday from that charming Tennessee gal Sarah at Small World. (In the interest of full disclosure, that chocolate box is already empty.) You know those fun contests that bloggers occasionally run? Well, I actually won something -Thanks, SmallWorld!

Why do you love blogging?

p.s. Here are some of the themes I’m seeing in your responses: community, encouragement, education, a forum for self-expression and self-exploration, entertainment, a place of connection with family…good stuff, good stuff.

Technorati Tags: aloha friday

My two country boys.

Wordless Wednesday.

Technorati Tags: brothers, children, country, wordless Wednesday

Classical Education, Logical Fallacies, and Mushrooms
Ben Stein’ Expelled
Non-metric Measurements, and Poetry

2. I always find some interesting perspectives on the absurdities of our culture and world at the Carnival of the Insanities, including these:

Throwing Bashar a Lifeline
No use worrying about global warming…
Don’t Drink the Water!

3. Make it From Scratch - a carnival full of inspiring ideas, including:

Five-Minute Homemade Pancake Syrup
A little lovin’ relief from hay fever and colds
Anzac Biscuits

4. The Christian Carnival will be up tomorrow at Brain Cramps for God.

Technorati Tags: blog carnival, blogging

By the eighteenth century tea had taken hold of Britain and one remarkable consequence was the rapid development of pottery and porcelain for tea wares. The original Chinese tea cups were tiny fragile things without handles or saucers. The Europeans modified accordingly to suit their grand tastes for tea, making a bigger cup, and giving the teacup a handle to make holding a hot cup an easier matter.

One ingenious tea cup variation of the late nineteenth century was the mustache cup. This cup was fitted with a bar across the inside for the drooping mustache to rest upon so the tea could be swallowed without first passing through a hairy filter. Which brings me to the first post about family pets (just thinking about hair):

Matt M presents Polluted Pets

EDUCATION

Josh Lien presents Free Rosetta Stone - Learn a Foreign Language

Elaine presents 2 - Two Little Dicky Birds

Rose presents Trendy, green, frugal, and homeschooling

Mark Montgomery presents Visiting College Campuses: Observations by a Professional Tour-Taker

Renae presents Muss-Makers
Before the end of the eighteenth century the firm of Twining was using tea wrappers, printed in the style of tradesmens’ cards of the period. Grocers also began to wrap their customers’ tea purchases in tin and lead foil, which was included in the gross weight of the tea. But the practice led to abuse, and unscrupulous grocers gave false weights. At the same time, some Chinese merchants began to colour their cheap teas with artificial powder so as to make them look like the best. G. Huxley, Talking of Tea

FAMILY FINANCE

iMagxz presents 22 uses for Toothpaste

tipsandtricks presents Getting More From The Tube

Neelakantha presents 101 Tips & Resources for the Upside-Down Homeowner

Matthew Paulson presents Lunchtime Lessons: Cheap Fixin’s and Good Ideas

Debbie presents Paying Attention to the “Fill Line” Will Save You Money

Debt Freedom Fighter presents 5 Ways To Save Money On Everyday Purchases

Ken Clark presents Mother’s Day: Shop for Mom and Save for College

Linda W. presents How To Talk About Money With Your Partner

Mark Butler presents Living With Less

Fathersez presents How I intend to help my daughters secure jobs they would like

Leaving The Folks presents Creating a Budget

Amy @ The Q Family presents Be a Hero. “Save the Cash, Save the World”

Stephanie presents Coupons and Deals

Matthew Paulson presents Cheap Vacation Idea: Don’t Leave Home

Debt Freedom Fighter presents Why God Doesn’t Always Answer Prayers About Money

K presents Meal Planning On Vacation

What should mightily recommend the use of Tea to Gentlemen of a sprightly Genius, who would preserve the Continuance of their lively and distinct Ideas, is its eminent and unequalled Power to take off, or prevent Drowsiness and Dulness, Damps and Clouds on the Brain, and intellectual Faculties. It begets a watchful Briskness, dispels Heaviness; it keeps the Eyes wakeful the Head clear, animates the intellectual Powers, maintains or raises lively Ideas, excites and sharpeneth the Thoughts, gives fresh Vigour and Force to Invention, awakens the Senses, and clears the Mind.
Dr. Short, 1750 Discourse on Tea, from Talking of Tea

FAMILY HEALTH AND WELLNESS

Theresa L. Twogood presents Big Picture Progressive Exposure

Amy Vernon presents Are plastic baby bottles really dangerous?

Aparna presents Correcting a gummy smile

Thank God for tea! What would the world do without tea? How did it exist? I am glad I was not born before tea.
Sydney Smith (1771-1845)

FAMILY HUMOR

Robert Bach presents Daddy Daughter Day

Harrison presents Top 20 Wedding Dresses You Wouldn’t Be Caught Dead In

Jenny Rapson presents My Daughter, the Cover Girl

Tipper presents Lightning Strikes & Granny

Terri Mauro presents Our First Special Olympics

The maid led him through the darkness of the drawing room to the terrace in the patio, where he saw Fermina Daza sitting beside a small table set for two. She offered him tea, chocolate, or coffee. Florentino Ariza asked for coffee, very hot and very strong, and she told the maid: “The usual for me.” The usual was a strong infusion of different kinds of Oriental teas, which raised her spirits after her siesta.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Love in the Time of Cholera

FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS

Evan Pangburn presents Park Chapel Christian Church Baby Dedication

Erica presents Kids or Career? American Women Are Still Forced to Choose

BeThisWay presents Love Uncluttered

Jen presents Seasons Come and Seasons Go

Amy Dyck presents Raw Passion

Steven Chang presents Reconnecting With Your Spouse

Leslie Williams presents The Nature of the Beast, A Problem to be Addressed, or Failure as a Mother

“You can ask Diana to come over and spend the afternoon with you and have tea here.”
“Oh, Marilla!” Anne clasped her hands. “How perfectly lovely! You are able to imagine things after all or else you’d never have understood how I’ve longed for that very thing. It will seem so nice and grown-uppish. No fear of my forgetting to put the tea to draw when I have company. Oh, Marilla, can I use the rosebud spray tea set?”
–L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

FAMILY ACTIVITIES AND TRAVEL

Christine presents The Earth Laughs in Flowers

FitBuff presents Nintendo Wii Fit Release Date

GP presents Mending Fences.. Not for the Sheepish

Riley presents A Plumm Summer

Kelsey presents Kids’ Face Painting

PARENTING TIPS AND ADVICE

Fred Black presents Have we Forgotten

Amanda presents Keeping up, the story of three journals

Abel Cheng presents What I Did When My Daughter said, “I Don’t Want to Go to School!”

Lori Jewett presents Baby Talk

Jessica Jones presents Winning at Parenting through Trust

Neena presents Parenting Tips: Naptime

Chief Family Officer presents Potty Training Tips

Melitsa presents Tip: Sound communication

This concludes the Carnival of Family Life: Tea Edition. Said Rev. Sydney Smith on tea and posts: “It is a place with only one post a day…In the country I always fear that creation will expire before tea-time. (from The Smith of Smiths).

Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Carnival of Family Life using the handy BlogCarnival Submission Form. Up next at All Rileyed Up.

Technorati Tags: blog carnival, Carnival of Family Life, tea party, tea time

Welcome to the Diary of 1 search for a new BBF (Best Bloggy Friend)!! This is a reality bloggity show where only the best will win. As Paris says,

I just want to see the contestants and see how they are. I don’t care if it’s a boy or a girl, just as long as its someone I can trust, someone I can have fun with and just someone who’s going to be able to like handle all the other things that are going to come with being my best friend.

Wow, the word “just” three times in a mere two sentences. And the word “like” when it has nothing to do with being partial to something. Can I JUST say that one requirement for my BBF is a decent grasp of grammar. Go grab a Strunk & White if you need some help.

So, what else do I look for in a new best bloggy friend? Well, I’d have to agree with Paris, that since my blog is SOOOOOoooooo popular, I have to be careful. I can’t trust whether someone wants to be my blog friend or simply wants to get in on all my links and comments, so I turn to Paris for advice once again:

So when I meet new people, I’m always a little wary of the reason they may want to become my friend. I can usually just tell by when we’re out in public and there’s paparazzi around, I see, you know, who gets a little bit too excited or whatever.

And of course, Paris never gets too excited about the paparazzi. So watch your excitement level, please.

The next requirement for my BBF is that you divulge all your deepest secrets to me. Never mind that I’ve never met you in real life and probably never will, but I expect you to tell me your real name, the exact location of where you live, your personal email address and phone number, your user name and password so I can access your admin section and blog stats, the opportunity to guest blog on your own site, AND I want you to reveal every tip you know about increasing blog traffic. Once again, straight from the horse’s mouth, I find the elusive best friend advice:

Just people who are fun, people who I know are going to be great on TV, people who have fun personalities, they’re not shy, the people who tell their deepest secrets, people who are open to being honest and having a great time. That’s what my show’s about.

Oh, and knowing how Paris loves other beautiful people, I would also like my BBF to have the slickest looking blog format around. No overused templates, please. My BBF will have a high-end custom job with all the latest widgets and a stellar Technorati authority.

Now, on with the show!! I’ll be on the lookout for blog comments on every single post, personal emails, high participation in all my contests, lots of blog awards, gobs of links, thousands of clicks on my google ads, subscriptions to my RSS feed — just think, YOU could be the next Diary of 1 BBF!! Just being my best bloggy friend will make you instantly famous.

And of course, I would never assume that you’re a fortune hunter. I’m sure all the 6 million page views and the thousands of freaks folks who have posted profiles and videos at Paris’ new BFF site are from normal people just looking for a good friend, who care nothing about fame, because all of Paris’ other friends are just normal people.

You can post your BBF profile on your own blog, or in my comments below, and tell me why I should choose YOU. Let the auditions begin.

Here is Big L, in all his nearly-nine-year-old glory, with his first motorcycle. I guess this is what comes after the “big boy bike.” First they shed the training wheels, then they shed the pedals. He was enjoying a ride around the trails Dad made at the property, his reward for spending a few hours helping clean up the drywall debris.

He’s big enough for real work now, and when Dad called me to drop Big L off at the property to help him, it was not out of an affectionate desire for his company (although that’s a nice benefit), but because he truly needed a hand. I feel like I’m in a sort of time warp, watching my boy become a man before my very eyes. Vroom-vroom!

Technorati Tags: parenting, motorcycles, children, growing up, family life

I look forward to presenting your excellent family posts! Be sure to come back here to Diary of 1 to see the great variety of articles on Monday, April 28.

Oh, and the Christian Carnival is hosted this week at Everyday Liturgy.

Technorati Tags: blog carnival, Carnival of Family Life

Carnival of the Insanities
Carnival of Family Life
Festival of Frugality
Carnival of Homeschooling

Do you know of another fabulous blog carnival? Let me know!

The winner of my ziplock-bag-books (The Child’s Spring Book) is commenter #9, Shannon at Song of my heart!! These will be on the way shortly. Email me with an address, Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: blog carnival, blogging, giveaway

My current book giveaway is two homemade books from the Diary of 1 family, for those interested in native plant life. You may leave me a comment on The Child’s Spring Book by this Sunday to learn about these books and enter the drawing.This giveaway actually has a project attached to it - my kids are putting together an Oregon plant/nature book - a cute ziplock-bag-book - to pass on to a child who lives anywhere other than where we live. And I hope that child will then create a book highlighting his/her region to pass on to another child, and so on. It’s a very simple book, so don’t be intimidated to try it! -P.S., our Oregon book will have some child-intriguing extra odds and ends from our property, like these:

One more note about contests: I actually won something!! SmallWorld had a spring poetry contest, and my mom’s poem, Morning, was chosen, and I hear that I have a basket of spring goodies on the way to me, which of course I’ll share with my mom - can’t wait to show you!

And those blog carnivals: The Carnival of Homeschooling, the Carnival of Homesteading, the Carnival of Family Life, the Christian Carnival, the Make it From Scratch Carnival.

Technorati Tags: children, contest, garden, gardening with children, giveaway, Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots

So here is a very SIMPLE carnival, which I suppose is in keeping with the theme of homesteading! There were just 12 submissions, which I’ve listed first, followed by some of my own Top 10 Editor’s Picks that I grabbed from around the blogosphere, which fit the homesteading motif. You’ll find my own small commentary following each post.

(Let me know if you find any errors, omissions, bad links, etc.)

Rose Denson presents Spearmint Hot Pepper Horseradish Spray posted at Grandma Rosie’s Texas Home.

This is for the bugs, not for you!

Dora Renee’ Wilkerson presents Making Cottage Cheese posted at Y-2K Hippie.

This looks yummy. There is also a recipe for hand milled soap here.

Belle presents My Diary of No Shampoo—-Day 4 and 5 posted at Born 100 Years to Soon.

Belle shares her egg shampoo experiment. Yes, the kind you crack open and out comes gooey stuff. Find out why in the world she’s putting this in her hair on purpose.

Valereee presents Foraging: hot new foodie trend, or the hottest new foodie trend? posted at Cincinnati Locavore.

Finding wild edible treasures - is this trend here to stay? Is it fueled by fears of a depression? Read more!

Dave Trenholm presents How to Make a Square Foot Garden posted at Alberta Home Gardening.

Learn how to plant in blocks and eliminate the 80% of your traditional garden that you just walk on.

Moobeema presents MooBee Farm: The Burn Barrel Incident posted at MooBee Farm.

What happens when WIFE wants a burn barrel to match the color of her house…MooBeeFarm delivers up some amusement for you.

Sister Brenda presents Da Yooper Pasties Recipe and Tutorial posted at haflinger.

Mmmm, meat pie!! Having lived in Michigan for many years, I knew right away what this was all about! “Da Yoopers” are those great folks who live in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Flossie presents Aunt Lizzie’s Pound Cake posted at The Funny Farm.

Oh, my, this isn’t just the aunt’s recipe…it’s the great, great aunt’s recipe! And Flossie knew her! This family must have started having babies young. I didn’t even know one single great aunt, let alone a great-great.

Stephanie presents So Much to Say! posted at Adventures in the 100 Acre Wood.

We know about the guard dog, but a guard donkey? Oh, yes, read on!

GP presents How Green is Your Garden posted at Innstyle Montana- Come on Inn.

Just get a load of her greenhouse! I’m positively green with envy!

Miss Amanda presents Cake Baking Photo Essay posted at My Learning Experience.

What a sweet sister to make such a lovely cake for her brother!

Jacque Dixon presents From the Archives- Gardening 101 - You *Can* Teach Your Children!! posted at Seeking Rest in the Ancient Paths.

There is something for every age in the garden, and Jacque gives some great tips on teaching children that incorporate science, math, art, biblical lessons and more.

And now for the 10 other goodies that I discovered in cyberspace:

At Tales from Creekistan, I found The Daffodil House. Just don’t look inside the house.

At Blind Pig & the Acorn, I enjoyed The Fields of Home. I love that field, and read her garden wisdom.

At Hidden Haven Homestead, this author is Counting Blessings. I’m just trying to count the goats.

Down On The Farm shares some “Tails” From the Farm. In search of the perfect Jersey cow - bringing Buttercup home to the Back Forty.

At Kentucky Hollers, Running Into the Neighbors can be a literal experience, and Catherine discovers that sometimes movie stars retire to the Appalachian foothills.

Adventures in Farming coins a new saying, Snug as pigs in straw. The cutest little things I’ve ever seen.

In My Kitchen Garden has an intriguing offer: Attention Homeless Organic Vegetable Lovers: Would You Like To Move To A Farm? Seriously. Pack your bags and go live with the enormous pot-bellied pig.

Old Red Barn Co. clarifies work: It’s the reason you have kids, afterall. It was planting time, and lucky for Dana, she has a few sprightly young’uns.

Yarnstorm muses about tulips and tempests.Wow, those colors.

CraftApple instructs us on Gathering. For the seamstress in you - simple, foolproof techniques for a perfect gather.

Happy homesteading, now get on with your baking, planting, stitching, haying, milking, crafting, canning, quilting life!

Stay tuned next week, when the Homesteading Carnival will be hosted by Jacque at Seeking Rest in Ancient Paths. Submit your Homesteading posts HERE.

Technorati Tags: blog carnival, carnivals, farm, garden, gardening with children, homesteading

This week’s theme: Twist(ed)

About 1/4 mile down the road from me, this twisted barbed wire fence marks the boundary between one old farm and another. At times it held back cattle, at times perhaps a feud.

Technorati Tags: barbed wire fence, country, photo hunt, ranch, farm

This blog carnival description reads:

A carnival full of homesteading articles… from your kitchen with yummy recipes, your sewing room with homemaking ideas to planting your garden, raising farm animals, and raising a family on the homestead. Please join us on the homestead and submit something from yours!

Now, if you don’t have a big ranch or farm with 12 children milking goats and collecting eggs every day, do not exclude yourself from this carnival! The Homestead Act (1863) provided the original homesteader with 160 acres if he could build a home on the property and inhabit the place for five years. But how many folks have 160 acres these days? And certainly not for free.

Homesteading has a broader interpretation these days. There are urban homesteaders who may not have a lot of real estate but sure have a lot of self-sufficiency. Maybe you have a balcony vegetable garden, maybe you have some good advice for living simply, being frugal yet generous, becoming debt free, or have figured out creative ways for how to make do with less. Please share your wisdom!!

Here is an unfortunate thing for a Christian like myself: Christian perspectives about homesteading are lost among the ideas of earth/nature worshippers, pantheists, pagans, socialists, New Age thinkers, and other extremes of the “green” movement. I believe that the Bible has answers for a rightly balanced life, with God at the center, and that Christian homesteading can be a piece of this balance.

Once again, submit your homesteading blog post HERE, and I look forward to presenting an educational and inspiring collection of articles on Monday!

OH, and don’t forget to leave a comment on my Gardening With Children post if you’d like to win a copy of Roots, Shoots, Bucket & Boots: Gardening Together With Children. Closes on Sunday evening. (The author, Sharon Lovejoy, left me a sweet comment on that post! Not a paid post, just a kind author.)

Two weeks ago in North Lauderdale, Fla., funeral services were held for Russell Shaw, a prolific blogger on technology subjects who died at 60 of a heart attack. In December, another tech blogger, Marc Orchant, died at 50 of a massive coronary. A third, Om Malik, 41, survived a heart attack in December.

I don’t blog anywhere near the level of the individuals discussed in the article, and I’m not paid for posts, but it’s still a warning to heed about technology in general and maybe I should be paying attention to how global media may be affecting my life in smaller ways.

So there’s your warning, before I list all the great blog carnivals to visit. Proceed with caution.

Carnival of Family Life, and also more here.
Marriage Monday
Christian Carnival, and next up on Wednesday at Chasing the Wind.
Make it from Scratch Blog Carnival, and up tomorrow at The So Called Me.
Carnival of Homeschooling, and up tomorrow at A Pondering Heart
Carnival of Homesteading - up later today
Carnival of Travel
Carnival of European Travel

While I was at the Europe Travel Blog, I came across What I See Out My Window - “bringing the world together, one window at a time…” Anthony is simply posting pictures from folks around the world, of what they see out their window. What a neat project! If you have a photo to submit, and a little story about what you see out your window, send it over there.

And I must tell you about a truly fun, different, and kickin’ Appalachian site I found!! If you remember, I wrote a post about my dad called The Appalachian Accent. There are many warmhearted comments on that post, as people shared their own bits of family history, and this is how I met Tipper, a brand new blogger from down in the hollar:

Blind Pig & the Acorn

I go there to reconnect with the mountain folk and just to listen to her family’s pickin’ and grinnin’ - you must go see what I mean. :-)

Well, dear readers, be safe today and NO heart attacks, okay?

Technorati Tags: blog carnival, blogging, carnivals

Here’s a verse that caught my eye as I thought about Good Friday, the day we commemorate the Crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ.

He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God. Psalm 50:23

I thought this was an appropriate response for believers; as Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice, we can respond with a sacrifice of thanks. What struck me about this scripture was that our thank offerings help pave the way for our salvation! Having a thankful heart, a constant spirit of gratitude, is honoring to God and critical to our eternity.

I’m hosting the upcoming Christian Carnival, and I hope you’ll consider submitting an article. You can click here to submit your post. This carnival publishes on March 26, and I need your submissions by Midnight Eastern Time on Tuesday, March 25. Here are two past Christian Carnivals I have hosted, if you’d like to see the format:

Christian Carnival 189: Dietrich Bonhoeffer Edition
Christian Carnival: Renaissance Edition

Have a blessed Easter.

Technorati Tags: birthday party, blog carnival, Good Friday, Christian Carnival

I’ve been wandering all around. The Christian carnivals, Carnival of Family Life, food blogs, homeschooling blogs, homesteading blogs, BendBlogs. And principled government.

Whew, I’ve been to a lot of places, and more to go!

Puss ReBoots thinks I rock. Wow, what a compliment! I’m passing this blog award on to:

Sometimes I’m Actually Coherent
Funki Planet
The Parenting Diaries
MooBee Farm
Peregrinations

Check out these blogs that rock - I think you might agree.

Announcing the winners of my sports products Giveaway:
(please email with a shipping address)

Living For God: New York Giants Rug
An Untraditional Home: Pittsburgh Steelers Stainless Steel Thermos
Thou and Thou Only: Georgia Tech Trailer Hitch Cover
Funki Planet: Ohio State Watch
Brett’s Blog: Dallas Cowboys Tire Cover

Congratulations to these blogging winners!

BlogCatalog

Welcome, I’m so glad you stopped by! The 5 Minutes for Mom blog is hosting another Ultimate Blog Party, which is basically a “carnival” to meet other mom bloggers and surely win some prizes! The idea is to go to their sites and browse through the hundreds of mom-bloggers who’ve linked up there - get your own blog noticed and get acquainted with some you’ve never encountered.

So, if you’ve come here through 5 Minutes for Mom and have never noticed me before, here is my introduction:

I’m Jennifer and I live in Central Oregon. You’ll figure that one out pretty quickly, since I write about my region quite a bit - I love where I live and can’t help but tell you about it! We are country folks, me and my husband and four children and dog. We’re desert dwellers trying to live a simple life with a high-tech twist. We have a few internet businesses, including one that I mention here fairly often, TeamMASCOT.com. I manage that store and am about to give away some cool prizes, so keep reading!

My husband got me into blogging one year ago, as an experiment in marketing. He designed my lovely site and enjoys tinkering with it - myself, I have NO clue how to program and have trouble placing simple icons in my sidebar. Well, I discovered to my amazement that I loved to write and now I can’t stop! My husband and I have always made a nice business partnership - he creates businesses, I manage them; he programs, I write. Except for that one day early on when he fired me and I quit all in the same breath. Oh, we’ve come a long way, baby.

We changed my blog format last month, and I’m really excited to see where this goes. You’ll notice on my main page that I have a monthly topic, and each week I publish a “feature” article. Last month was famous artists, this month is vineyards, next month will be highlighting some of my industrious girlfriends who have their own businesses. This new endeavor has been a blast - sometimes, I just need a little direction and my features keep me focused as I explore topics that I want to learn more about. I still blog in between my features about the other issues that are very important to me, like education, faith, family life, and world news.

Thank you, those of you who check in here regularly - I can’t tell you how enjoyable it’s been to meet people from all over the world, some of you even in real life! And are you ready for my prizes?? Of course, these all come from my business, which happens to be a sports-themed store, so if that’s up your alley, here’s the list of truly excellent products:

1. New York Giants Rug
2. Dallas Cowboys Tire Cover
3. Pittsburgh Steelers Stainless Steel Thermos
4. Ohio State Stainless Steel Mens Watch
5. Georgia Tech Trailer Hitch Cover

TO WIN, just go follow each link, browse around TeamMASCOT to see what other items you like, and come back here and leave me a comment, telling me which product you’d like to win. You will get special consideration if you mention this contest on your blog and link to TeamMASCOT! And that would just be really nice of you. Let me know if you link. But, you do not have to be a blogger to win. I’ll choose 5 winners (in honor of 5 Minutes for Mom) on March 14, the end of the Ultimate Blog Party. Be sure to fill in your email in the comment form so I can notify you if you’re a winner! Oh, and you don’t even have to be a mom to win!

Thanks again for stopping by, and I hope you come back soon!

Technorati Tags: blogging, children, giveaway, contest, prizes, sports business, ultimate blog party

This week’s theme: Party

Oh, the happy days of a tea party childhood. Would you like some more, my dear?

Technorati Tags: photo hunt, tea party, children

In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day that we take it easy and look forward to the weekend. So I thought that on Fridays I would take it easy on posting, too. Therefore, I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing heavy or too thought-provoking.

If you’d like to participate, just post your own question on your blog and leave your link below. Don’t forget to visit the other participants! It’s a great way to make new bloggy friends!

So, my question is:

What is one of your best childhood memories? I have precious memories of the poplar tree that grew in our yard. I would climb the tree and sit for hours on a branch, shaded in my leafy hideaway, looking at the blue sky and imagining the Apache Indians in the distant mountains. I spent my early childhood in the Arizona desert, near the stronghold of Geronimo. My tree gave me a bird’s eye view of the Cochise Stronghold and I was sure the warriors were still hiding there.

Thank you, SmallWorld, for reminding me of my tree!

What is your best childhood memory?