Faith, Family and Fun

Gratitude Challenge

November 8, 2010

Today is Day 8

One of my quiet and faithful TOS crew leaders, Brenda, over at Garden of Learning, is doing a Gratitude Challenge for the month of November. I am pleased to join in and should be posting something I am grateful for each day.

Today, I am grateful for my nomination in the Homeschool Post Blog Awards.

I really am. Last year, I got all excited about these awards. As a new blogger, I had visions over writing inspirational posts to save the world all the while teaching my children to perfection and making beef bourginnione. (which I actually have an awesome recipe for from Ina Garten, if you are interested)

Anyway, several months into blogging, I realized that I:

am not Anne over at Holy Experience or Ree over at Pioneer Woman
inspirational posts do not inexplicably come out of my fingertips. Bummer.
homeschooling is hard, and
some nights I totally don’t even do dinner (thank you God, for Nick, who loves to cook!)

So, while I am now a bit more realistic, it is sometimes hard to pull coherent thoughts together and have fun while doing things I have:

promised to do
thought might make a good blog post if I could get it done in that 5 minutes while the kids were busy working
to do for a company because I got a review item

Anyway, I do try to share things I think will help families. Whether that is a family story, homeschool item or a healthy product or just a freebie or great coupon. Shoot–I’m the oldest in my family–I love to tell people things!

So, I love it that I was nominated for Best Homeschool Mom. It does mean alot to me and I thank those who did nominate me. I don’t even have a problem asking people to vote for me…because, well, why not? If you want to, go ahead. If not, no biggie. I’ll do my bit of quiet, hopefully useful blogging tomorrow or the next day either way.

And I will pray that I am considerate and thoughtful with my blogging–because it is supposed to be useful and fun!

Anyway, I am grateful for this!

Join in the Gratitude Challenge

In Gratitude Challenge

Thank you! I’m a Homeschool Blog Award Nominee!

November 8, 2010

Thanks so much!! I have been nominated in the “Best Homeschool Mom” category in the Homeschool Blog Awards!

I appreciate the nomination…and my kids are enjoying this as well. I have gotten quite a bit of teasing this morning!

If you haven’t been by to check these awards out, you can click on the logo and go see what this is all about, and vote for some of your favorite blogs. I have seen many of my favorite bloggers represented over there and have already found a couple of new blogs I like.

And, if you have a minute–please vote for me! It will be fun to get some votes on my nomination from my friends and readers!

I wonder if there is a plaque I can put in the kids playroom?

In Homeschooling blog, Blog carnival, Directories, Homeschool, HSBA Awards, Mothers, parenting, Web Rings and Cliques

Whole Foods Holiday Gift Boxes.

November 8, 2010

I love gift boxes!! Honestly, my favorite treats are gift baskets. It is even better when the mailman comes…and you don’t know what you’ll find inside…I just love the anticipation with this kind of gift!

Anyway, suffice it to say I’m a sucker for the Holiday gift boxes and baskets. So, when I saw that my favorite store, Whole Foods, is offering Holiday Gift Boxes this season, I got, well, a bit over-excited. Those of you who know me, know that I did.

So is it wrong to have that kidlike eagerness?

Nah. Enjoy life, right?

And, if you want to treat friends and family…but not load them down with foods with artificial preservatives, flavors and hydrogenated fats, this is a great way to go. All the products inside the gift boxes meet the Whole Foods Quality Standards.

I may just order myself another one. Or two.

As you can see in my video, I got the Ciao Down Package. This is a great one for large families—A healthy, full meal, with a special appetizer and bit of dessert!

I loved the selection of Whole Foods Gift Boxes. You can choose from:

The Gift of Grub – Summer sausage (with no artificial nitrates!), shortbread, nuts, caramels, chocolate and more.
You’re Zenzational — Lotions, bath salts and other personal care products.
Get Warm, Get Fuzzy – Coffee, tea and cocoa together with plenty of sweet treats.
“You Rock” Box o’ Choc – A tremendous amount of chocolate, including bars, cookies and brownie bites.
Ciao Down – Pastas, sauce, pesto and other classics combine for easy Italian feasts.

I can’t decide which other one I’d really want. Shortbread vs. Coffee? Spa products? Who decided what was to be in the boxes? They are geniuses. The only hard thing about giving these gift boxes is making the choices. Seriously. (If you really cannot decide, they have gift cards, too)

Also, how often have you felt badly when you get tons of packaging? I was impressed that my package was sturdy but not overpackaged. Whole Foods says that they went green for these gift boxes. Want specifics? Here you are:

“By using a higher quality corrugated cardboard in one box instead of lower quality in two, we were able to use fewer resources. And the cardboard we did use is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (license code FSC-C101601).”And, for packing materials, they use 15% post-industrial waste shredded paper that is compostable and recyclable.

Prices range from $40 to $60 (plus shipping).

You can’t get these in-store—they are only available online. You can also check out Gift Box FAQ!

I received a Ciao Down Gift Box from Whole Foods for my Review. I have given my honest opinion.

In health, organic Basket, Box, FAQ, Food, Forest Stewardship Council, Gift, Gift basket, Healthy Holiday Gifts, Holiday Gift Boxes, Whole Foods Holiday Gifts

Gratitude Challenge

November 7, 2010

Today is Day 7

Today, I have to say that I am grateful for the Gratitude Challenge. I am enjoying reading everyone’s posts about what they are thankful for so much!

I actually had tons of ideas for what I would be grateful for today. I went on a fantastic homeschool field trip on Friday and then came home to a husband who surprised me with tickets to an Opera for Saturday evening…I had never seen The Marriage of Figaro and I thought it was wonderful. What a treat!

Now, for me, that’s a good week~and I was all ready to post about those things when I began going through my reader. One by one, I saw some of the Gratitude Challenge posts from others and my heart was warmed by all the blessings. I realize how much I like this meme! Not too hard…and very uplifting:)

Anyway, I am grateful for this!

Join in the Gratitude Challenge

In Gratitude Challenge Gratitude

Collectorz.com Book Collector

book mess

I adore books. One of my dreams is to have an old fashioned library, complete with deep, dark cherry workwork…a meticulously organized book collection…comfy leather seats…

But, I don’t have that yet. In fact, I have a hard time just barely storing all our books….they often look like the photo above, I’m sorry to say.

One of my sons, Nick, is a crazy book lover like me. He has attempted to catalogue our books many times. He is creative and has tried “our own” system and many free versions of cataloging software.

To be frank, I have never put time aside to try to help keep track of our library and I do regret that. I think Nick had the right idea.

So, I was intrigued when I got Collectorz to review for the TOS Crew.

We received a book collecting software from Collectorz.com called the Book Collector Pro Version that allows us to catalog our book collection on our computers!

Basically, the program is pretty intuitive—you can just catalog your book collection by ISBN.
Just enter ISBNs or scan ISBN barcodes, and the program automatically adds book details and cover art. Book Collector key features allow you to:

Try Book Collector Free for 30 days (100 book limit)

Nick and I have been playing around with it and I like it! Some of the features strike me as very useful. For instance, we can print out lists of our books, keep track of any books we lend out, and we can even update our lists with the iTouch.

You can also catalogue your existing ebook and audio book files just by scanning your folders…

And, you can upgrade your Collectorz account to Book Collector Connect and do even more:

Browse your personal book collection online
Search and sort your collection in List, Detail or Cover View.
Publish your book database online on Collectorz.com servers
Access your book inventory from any online computer or mobile device.
Share your collection list with friends & family
Make your collection public (optional), then just email a web-link
Connect is a fully stand-alone book organizer tool
Connect is a cool add-on to the Book Collector downloadable desktop edition for Windows or Mac, but it can also be used on its own, as a super-easy online book cataloging tool.

Book Collector Standard Version is $29.95, and Book Collector Pro Version costs $49.95.

Collectorz.com has all kinds of options. Go check out their site! I know my kids are waiting to try out the Movie Collectorz and Game Collectorz!

See what my crewmates have to say about Collectorz!