Mother's Celebration at 5 Minutes for Mom

5 Minutes for Mom is having another great celebration. This one is in celebration of Mothers! Yay! for moms everywhere. If you would like to find some great items to give to your mom or to treat yourself, head on over and enter to win before May 9.

It's a Cyber Baby Shower - Margie Gunn

Congratulations Margie! Come join the party April 28 - May 2nd. There will be games and prizes and lots of people to meet. I've participated in past showers and it was very fun.

Let the games begin!

Game 1: Guess the # of Jelly Beans

This is always a big hit at parties of all kinds. My guess is 93 jelly beans.
Game 3: Guess how many diapers in the diaper cake

54 diapers

The rest of the games I can't participate in. I have no baby bump or birth story to share. But make sure you visit some of the other players posts to read/see their stories/bumps.

Happy Panda is again handling the prizes. I'm sure that is a big and difficult job. Thank you for organizing the prizes. There are some great prizes to win.

These are my top 5 choices:

Hanes prize pack & gift certificate
My Baby Can Talk dvd
Happy Panda gift certificate
Chesapeake Ribbons gift certificate
Stuff for Sprouts 3-pack of Lip Stuff

Along for the Ride's Ergo Giveaway

Along for the Ride is giving away an Ergo carrier. I would love to win one of these. They look fantastic. You have until May 30 to enter.



You can also win an organic mattress here:

Win a Free Naturepedic Organic No-Compromise Crib Mattress from Nature's Child

Earth-Mother's Day Giveaway at Crunchy Domestic Goddess

Crunchy Domestic Goddess is having an amazing giveaway for Earth Day/Mother's Day. It is the Earth-Mother's Day Giveaway. There will be 2 winners. Take a look at the wonderful products you can win. Make sure you enter before May 11.

Mama Speaks Mother's Day Gift Guide

Need some ideas for Mother's Day? Take a look at Mama Speaks gift buying guide. There are some great suggestions.

Earth Day and a Repost of My Green Family

Happy Earth Day

I thought I would post a bit of what our family does to stay healthy, and keep the Earth healthy. Well actually, I thought I would repost a post I did about a month ago.

My Green Family

There is a big emphasis on going Green right now. Is it just a fad or are people really starting to change? I hope people are starting to change. There are several things my family does to stay green.

1. I have switched from using plastic water bottles to using a reusable stainless steel container from Klean Kanteen. I love my new cup. It's easy to clean and refill with filtered water or water straight from the tap. I was drinking so many water bottles that my trash seemed to be only water bottles. I'm happy to say that we have less water bottles in the landfills now that I am using my Klean Kanteen.

2. We plant an organic garden every spring/summer. This is something my family has been doing for years. My niece is especially fond of working in the garden, looking for worms, and eating all of the strawberries.




3. Along with the garden, we have a compost pile that we use. The dirt created from the compost is used in the garden.


4. We bought bicycles last year and try to use them instead of cars whenever possible. I need to get a basket for my bike. This will help with the times I need to carry something and will make using my bike more feasible for those type of errands. Here's my bike: A Suede W from Giant. I love it. It is the most comfortable bike I have ever ridden.




5. We use organic cleaners to clean our house. We have been using Barefoot Home Essentials, which I like but we are starting to run out. We have just recently tried the new Green Works cleaners from Clorox. I would really like to try making my own. I should do a search for some recipes.



6. Bonus tip: In the summer, the girls have a small inflatable pool they play in. After a few days, we use the "grey" water from the pool to water the garden. This is accomplished with buckets and watering cans and lots of help from the 3 year old.



Things I would like to start implementing:

1. As I mentioned before, I would like to start making my own cleaners. I will have to go looking for a recipe unless someone can give me some tips.

2. Recycle the closet full of plastic bags. The closet is so full the door doesn't shut. We often reuse them but generally they sit in the closet multiplying.

Connor's Birthday Bash

Happy Birthday Connor!

Seven Dogs & a Baby is having a Birthday Bash for her little boy who has just turned one.  Stop by and join the celebration, leave a birthday wish, have some fun.

One is such a fun age.  They are able to interact more and really start to show their personalities.

Ice Cream!

Table for Five is having an awesome giveaway for a year supply of Reddi-Whip and Ben & Jerry's ice cream. This giveaway ends on April 29

I'm a Twit

Yes, I am.

I joined Twitter, and if you would like to follow my aimless and sporadic blather feel free. I'm fingerscrossed

Cultivate Kids - A Review

I was sent a wonderful shirt from Cultivate Kids. It is a beautiful melon color and says 100% Potential. Let me tell you this shirt is amazingly soft. I would show you a picture of my niece wearing the shirt but she is sick and sleeping on the couch, so here is a picture from the website.





I was so excited when I saw Cultivate Kids website. Their shirts have some of the most positive sayings. I find that in the daily "stuff" that we have to do; we, maybe I should say "I", forget sometimes that children are watching us and learning from us and waiting for us to teach them. These shirts are a reminder of that. I need to remember to nurture, love, and cultivate the childrens' potentials around me. Maybe you need a reminder of that as well? Take a look at the wonderful shirts at Cultivate Kids and use these shirts to remind us all of how precious children are.

Cultivate Kids shirts are made in America and use 100% Organic cotton. The dyes are water based and do not contain any harmful phthalates or PVCs. Sizes run from 3-6 month onesies to 6T T-shirts.

Cars, Tools and Gender Roles

As women, in the past we were told there were only certain things we could do and things we couldn't do. I am so glad that gender roles are not so strict as in the past. There are definitely things I am glad to let men do such as fixing cars, filing the gas tank and anything related to cars except picking out the color. I'll do that part thank you. I am able to check fluids and do a little bit of other tasks with cars but choose not too. Ask Patty is a new site where you can register your car and keep updated info all about your car on your own personalized page. Kind of like a MySpace for your car.

I can sling drywall mud on a wall just as good as any person. I have even helped tile a floor. I own a set of tools and use them regularly for different projects. I can unclog a sink or tub. I have also been known to mow the lawn although that's a dirty, dusty job I also choose not to do.

I'm also glad there are men who do jobs some consider womens work. I hate the dishes and would gladly pass that on to any person who likes to do it.

What are some things you can do just as good as any man or woman. The Parent Bloggers Network would love to know.

Forever New Orleans

Check out this video my brother created for ForeverNewOrleans.com. It's a great video that highlights some of the wonderful sights, sounds and flavors of New Orleans. Features Kermit Ruffins.

Matt Maher and a Free CD (if you hurry!)

BooMama told me about a great singer Matt Maher. I am not familiar with his music but the last time BooMama told me about a CD she loved, I ended up loving it also. So I think I will probably like this one as well.

Matt Maher is a Christian artist with a new CD out Empty and Beautiful. I can't wait to hear this CD. You can listen here or you can buy the CD for yourself. Or if you are a blogger and hurry up you can sign up to receive a free CD by blogging about Matt.

Simple & ReusableBags Giveaway

Simple is having a great giveaway for reusable bags from ReusableBags.com. The bags you can win are the ACME bags workhorse style. You have until April 11 to enter.

We have just purchased some cheaper store brand reusable bags. They aren't pretty but they work. They just aren't very small. They take up some room in the car. I would love something that can roll up and fit in a little pouch. This would be great for when you take them in the store and don't need as many as you thought. Just a small little ball to deal with not a huge bag that doesn't do anything but fold slightly in halfish at the bottom. These ACME bags sound great and they come in a variety of colors.

Phil & Ted Stroller from StrollerDepot

Want to win a Phil & Ted's Sport Buggy with Doubles kit from StrollerDepot.com? Well just click on that lovely stroller down there to enter and make sure to put me as your referral (lacelk [at] sbcglobal [dot] net). You have until April 27 to sign up.