Unforgettable Childhood

THE WINNER OF THE CHEERIOS GIFT PACK IS KELLY! I HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS GIFT PACK AS MUCH AS I DID!!

Cheerios and Books, what could be a better combination?

Did you know that there are books inside of Cheerios boxes right now? I didn’t. I was lucky to be provided with a Cherrios gift pack from MyBlogSparkTM. It was like Christmas opening the box, a big box of Cheerios, 5 books and a $25.00 gift card for Barnes and Noble.

What is even better is that I get to give one of you the exact same gift pack. Awesome!

So Cheerios and books, what is the connection? Here is a little explanation for you from MyBlogSpark.

Over the past eight years, Cheerios has given away more than 40 million children´s books by distributing them free inside cereal boxes and has donated $3.2 million to First Book, their non-profit partner, which provides books to children from low-income families. The program is part of Cheerios´ ongoing commitment to helping parents provide their children with a healthy, nutritional and educational foundation.

Beginning this month, Cheerios is again bringing books to the breakfast table, by providing six million children´s books free inside Cheerios boxes. The books are for children ages 3 to 8 years old, and include a brand new book in the popular “Trucktown” series, available only inside Cheerios boxes. And for the first time, all five books have been specially printed in both English and Spanish.

This year´s book offerings from Cheerios – all by Simon & Schuster Children´s Publishing – are:

Junkyard Fort, written by Jon Scieszka, and illustrated by David Shannon, Loren Long and Dave Gordon: Join Gabriella, Jack, Melvin, Ted, Lucy and the other Trucktown characters as they make their own fort, using things found in the junkyard. Ages 4-8.

Tea for Ruby, written by The Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, and illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser: Wherever Ruby goes, a bit of disaster seems to follow. But one sunny morning, things change when the postman brings Ruby an amazing invitation: would she like to have tea with the Queen? Ruby needs to polish her manners, and quickly. Ages 4-8.

Sleepyhead, written by Karma Wilson and illustrated by John Segal: In this rhythmic bedtime story, a cat is the parent and a teddy bear is the child who doesn’t want to go to bed. All ready for bed with teeth brushed and story read, Sleepyhead teddy tries anything to prolong his bedtime; books and his quilt provide ample fodder for his imagination. Ages 3-7.

Ballyhoo Bay, written by Judy Sierra and illustrated by Derek Anderson: Mira Bella, an artist who teaches painting and sculpture, loves Ballyhoo Bay and what it offers: sun, sea, sand, and sky. But one gray day a billboard arrives, announcing an impending development that would take all the fun out of the place. Read along to see if Mira Bella and her art can save the day and Ballyhoo Bay! Ages 4-8.

What´s Under the Bed?, written and illustrated by Joe Fenton: Young Fred cannot stop worrying about the scary creature that might be hiding beneath his bed. Finally summoning the courage to peer under his bed, Fred, with his cumbersome glasses, sees that the only thing there is Ted, his friendly Teddy Bear! Ages 3-7.

When we received the books, my girls made me read every book in one sitting. All five of the books are great and the illustrations are, too. Each of my girls has their own favorite and it would be hard for me to pick just one. Simon & Schuster did a great job of picking out which books to include in the Cheerios boxes.

So how do you win the awesome gift pack? All you have to do is leave me a comment with a title of one of your child’s favorite book titles, or your favorite book as a child. (And if you want an extra entry click on the button at the top of my page that says subscribe to my blog & leave me an extra comment that you are a subscriber). I will give the gift pack away on Monday morning. You can comment until Sunday night (November 1, 2009) at midnight.

Thanks to the One2One Network I have recently added two albums to my playlist on my Ipod.

The first is Brandi Carlile and her new album Give Up The Ghost.

This is Brandi’s third album. She explains the title on her website as this, “Brandi Carlile’s third album, Give Up The Ghost, unveils her talents in their truest form. After two albums and non-stop touring, she has let her guard down and offers her most candid recording to date. If the phrase “give up the ghost” most often refers to death or dying, it can also be used to describe the passing of stages in life, of transformation.”

I am glad that I had the opportunity to listen to this album. I probably never would have picked up this album on my own. It is easy listening with a folk feel. I love the guitar and Brandi has a unique voice that I really enjoy. Check out her website and you can listen to a little of her music. I am sitting here listening to it in the background while I write. I find the album relaxing to listen to.

The second album I reviewed was Five for Fighting’s new album Slice. I absolutely love this album! I find myself listening to the title song Slice over and over. The tune is so catchy and I love the words to the song. There is a lot of piano on the album and I love it. All of the songs really tell a story. I highly recommend that you pick up this album!

Here is a little background on the album from the website.

If every album provides snapshots of where an artist’s mind at heart is at the moment, Slice, the latest offering from John Ondrasik (aka Five for Fighting), is a collection of digital jpegs and faded Polaroids. The album takes stories of friends, family and even American servicemen, and sets them to music shot through with the spirit of the great songs of his youth. It’s a diary, or a blog, in which Ondrasik speaks his mind about current issues, experiences and sentiments, while setting those thoughts to piano, bass and drums.

The title track, featuring Ondrasik’s soaring falsetto, comes from a daydream that we’ve all had at some point in our lives—that moment when we long for a simpler time when life seemed better and the songs were bigger. It’s a sly play on one of those grand songs, Don McClean’s “American Pie”: “There was a time a long, long time ago/Chevies and levies played on the radio/No cell phones just 20,000 lights, swaying on a Saturday night.”

Thanks again One2One Network for the opportunity to check out two great new albums! Just what I needed for a Mom’s Time Out.

The birthday party last week was a success. We had 13 models that had fun dressing up, dancing and crafting. I saved decorating the cake until the morning of the party. That is always a little stressful, but we still had plenty of time to get ready for the party.

Here is the runway for our models. All of the dress-up clothes were set up behind the doors so the girls could get ready and come right out to the runway.

The tablescape was paper plates and napkins. Our menu was cake, ice cream and puppy chow. I have learned that little girls are so excited about the party. . .they have very little appetites. (I should have taken a picture of all of the leftover cake and ice cream on their plates. They really wanted to get back to the runway.)

Here are a few pictures from the runway show.

Then we had a photo shoot. The girls loved posing for the camera.

The girls had a lot of fun designing clothes on their Project Runway Model sheets. My daughter got this for Christmas last year from the Justice for Girls store. It has been a huge hit.

After eating and opening presents we ended the evening decorating purses with Iron-ons and puffy fabric paint. I tried to explain to the girls that if they wanted to iron-on something they needed to do that before they put on the puffy paints. (Some of them listened). They turned out super cute.

Project Runway was a wonderful party theme for 7 year-olds. They loved to dress up, walk the runway and pose for the camera. Next party on the agenda. . .a blue and brown baby shower.

Usually I am the one in the middle of all the crazy creative messes with the family, but for this activity I stood in the shadows with my camera in hand. . .

Aunt Darla & Uncle Doug hosted a Pumpkin Carving Day at Grandma and Grandpa’s House for all of the cousins. We let the little ones start off the fun. Nadia decided that she wanted Daddy to carve her pumpkin so the above pumpkin is their masterpiece.

Nadia wasn’t so sure that she wanted to stick her hand into the pumpkin so Daddy did most of the work.

Madelyn dug right in and got dirty. She did make a few comments about how “disgusting” it was, but she did the work all by herself.

Taylor started her pumpkin and then got bored so she went to play. Later she came back to finish it, because she said, “I don’t want to be the only one without a carved pumpkin.

So what do you think?

A new party plan is underway in our house. My middle girl is turning 7 next week. She wanted a Diva party. . .I convinced her that with a Project Runway Party she could let her Diva self shine.

Stay tuned to the party planning process. So far all that is in place is the invitations that went out yesterday. Here is a look inside the invitation. Now I just need a successful trip to Hobby Lobby.

I was sent this book to review from Literary Ventures Fund. I will admit, I was unsure what I would think of the book when I first saw it. I thought it looked interesting so I decided to start reading it.

Monique and the Mango Rains is written by Kris Holloway. Holloway was a Peace Corp volunteer in Mali, West Africa. The story focuses on a friendship she formed with a Mali Midwife named Monique. This is an amazing story of hope that one woman provides to a village. It shows that one woman can truly make a difference in the lives of many.

This story also portrays the life a peace corp volunteer endures living in a village without running water and the amenities we are accustomed to in America.

After I started reading this book, I was so glad that I did. Monique captured my heart in the beginning of the story and kept me captivated until the end of the story. If you are in a book club, this would be a great pick for your group.

For more information you can visit the book’s website here.

Yesterday the girls enjoyed a beautiful fall day. They dressed warm and played in the leaves. They built leaf houses, and hid under the leaves. The leaves kept them busy all afternoon.

This morning we woke up to this. . .

I guess today they will build forts out of snow. They are already asking me to find their snow boots.