SIMPLE Giveaways!

My friend, Jennifer, introduced me to a fantastic blog called Simple Mom.

Knowing my daughter’s desire to be “more green” and my terrible FEAR of being pulled into that vortex, she passed on an email about having a Paper-Free Kitchen:  simply getting rid of paper towels and paper napkins…  I LOVED it!  It was a first (and easy) step toward being “green” that made Lydia happy and was actually a lot of FUN for ALL OF US!  I enjoyed that blog entry so much, that I signed up to be alerted by email to MORE!  I’ve not been disappointed!

This morning, I had an email from Simple Mom about some fantastic FREE GIVEAWAYS!
One Mom has the chance to win: One 70″ silver baroque pearl strand from One Pearl, a package of 365 photo overlays, valued at $29.95, from Ali Edwards, and one annual subscription to Seeing the Everyday magazine, valued at $20.

Visit Simple Mom to enter!

Let me share more Giveaway Opportunities with you from OTHER GREAT SIMPLE SITES:

Simple Bites: a 25 bean bundle of Bourbon Vanilla beans PLUS a sample of pure vanilla powder from I HEART VANILLA, one Diamond Edge Gourmet Electric Knife and Scissors Sharpener from Smith’s, one hardcover copy of Blog Aid: Recipes for Haiti from Blog Aid, Savory Herb & Cheese Tortellini Soup, Old World Sundried Tomato Flat Bread, and Northwest Apple Cake Mix from Canterbury Naturals, a Keurig Platinum Single Serve Brewer KUB70 from Keurig.

Simple Homeschool: a $50 gift certificate to Imagine Childhood!, the entire Story of the World Volume 1 (Ancient Times) Combo Pack. This includes one copy of the revised paperback text, one copy of the bound Activity Book, and one copy of the Test and Answer Key, a downloadable copy of each of Flip Flops and Applesauce coloring books–six in total!, one one BusyBodyBook planner to help you get organized, one signed copy of  Steady Days

Simple Kids: a Subscription to the Book Of Days, a Multi-Play Soccer Station , a copy of The Creative Family and Handmade Home.

Simple Organic: one (1) Deluxe Soapnut Kit., one (1) Bummis Organic Cotton Diaper Kit., one (1) DivaCup in the size of your choice., one (1) free custom cereal capsule from [Me] & Goji., one (1) copy of The Creative Family and one (1) copy of Handmade Home.

So… what are you waiting for?!?  Go check out these awesome giveaway opportunities!!!

Unfaithful Blogger…

… I just haven’t had anything terribly interesting to say…

That, and facebook.  Darn facebook!  That’s where I seem to post everything these days.  It’s just so…

CONVENIENT!

I’ll try to be more diligent for my friends and family who refuse to join the facebook frenzy.

POWER-Pellets

So- I’m having a pow-wow with Noah about concentrating/focusing/meeting goals/setting your eye on the prize… trying every analogy I can think of… not even ninjas were working… I don’t know where Pac Man came from… but he was wide-eyed and smiling and nodding his head… I thought: He’s GETTING IT! I went on about having to get all of those little pellets before you could get a huge POWER-pellet and then DEVOUR the ghost (in our scenario: Math)… so I’m really excited that he’s pumped… he’s with me… he’s getting it… he seems ready for the attack… and then his shoulders and eyes and smile droop simultaneously as he mumbles, “Yeah… But you know, most of those power pellets are far away in the corners…”

Ow! That IS a bit of a drag. I suddenly found myself with Balboa in his despair, slumping with him.

So now what? Well… they ARE there! We’ve experienced them before… the few that are closer in, pumping us up at the start of the game… We’ve chomped them and have defeated ghosts with them before… so we KNOW they’re WORTH the effort… even though those ghosts start moving faster… coming at us from every direction… The POWER-pellets seem harder than ever to get to… but you keep pluggin’ along… because the ghost-guys are after you and that’s all you’ve got to fight them… so you’re turning here… going backward there… and then you get one!… you get a POWER-pellet!… and now, instead of freaking out because they’re on your tail, you go after those ghosts with confidence and gusto and you devour them! Not because you’re strong… but because of the POWER-pellet IN you!

But you can’t store the power up… If you get too many big POWER-pellets at once it’s wasted… you get just enough for the ghosts at hand and then you’ve got to keep going back for more of those big pellets… but they’re there.

p.s.  We’ve finished Math today and only have one more ghost to chow down on in order to clear this board… but we persevere when it’s hard… chomping… chomping… POWER-pellet!

Exodus 16:16-20
This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Gather of it, each one of you, as much as he can eat. You shall each take an omer, according to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent.’”  And the people of Israel did so. They gathered, some more, some less.  But when they measured it with an omer, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat. And Moses said to them, “Let no one leave any of it over till the morning.” But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it till the morning, and it bred worms and stank.

Deuteronomy 8:3
he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

Lamentations 3:21-26
But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”
The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul who seeks him.
It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.

2 Corinthians 4:7-9
But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair;  persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed…

2 Corintians 10:3-4
For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.

1 Corinthians 9:24
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.

and oh… so many more to chomp on…

©PortCityPrincess 2010
All Rights Reserved

The Joy of Words

TODAY I AM THANKFUL FOR:

WORDS!!!

Today, I am especially thankful for the word RAVISH!

ravish — to overwhelm somebody with deep and pleasurable feelings or emotions

RAVISH me, Oh God!  Overwhelm me, not with some sort of silly, childish emotions, but with DEEP and PLEASURABLE feelings and emotions that are based on Your TRUTH!

RAVISH me!

“The more we enjoy of God,
the more we are ravished with delight.”
—Thomas Watson

 

©PortCityPrincess 2009
All Rights Reserved

Running the Race

TODAY I’M THANKFUL FOR:

Today I find that I am still impressed with my 5-year-old little munchkin who ran 2.8 miles in under 30 minutes last week and then managed to run 2.24 miles in 30 minutes yesterday despite the cold, hard wind, and a muddy & bloody fall… She kept on trucking and taught her mommy a lot about perseverance.

Thank you, God, for Lydi-Lou. ♥

Thank you, Sweet Father, for also giving us Balboa!  What a BOY!  It does my heart good to see him racing along… cold, tired, sore… still pushing… not complaining.  Please make me more like Noah (when he’s running!)   *chuckle*

Hmmmm…  Thank you, Spirit, for reminding me that the complaining of my boy mirrors the complaining of his mother and that the sharp answers and harsh tones of both munchkins  are reflections of their mommy, too!  YIKES!  It’s so gross!  PLEASE help me to get rid of it!  I’m a weak mess!  Thank you that you will not show me these things and leave me here!  Let’s make WAR and destroy this disgusting SELF!

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
~Philippians 1:6

 

©PortCityPrincess 2009
All Rights Reserved

♪♫In the Stars His Handiwork I See… ♪♫

TODAY I’M THANKFUL FOR:

We got to watch the Space Shuttle Atlantis launch today! It’s always so much better LIVE! I’m in awe that God lets us do that! We are so absolutely NOTHING! I’m thankful, too, that it was a safe and successful launch. What a dangerous thing, when you really dissect what’s going on! Oh! The DETAILS!!!

THANK YOU, God, for letting us have space shuttles and for letting us live in space for months at a time! Thank you for the knowledge (yes, thank you even for the MATH) that goes along with making all of that possible! Thank you, God, that Jeffery Williams is on the ISS right now! I pray that you will RAVISH him! I pray that the two of you will have an unbelievably special time together and that his crew mates will covet a relationship with you because of what they see in him.

Your majesty is Unsearchable, Oh God!

“How you have helped him who has no power!
How you have saved the arm that has no strength!
How you have counseled him who has no wisdom,
and plentifully declared sound knowledge!
With whose help have you uttered words,
and whose breath has come out from you?
The dead tremble
under the waters and their inhabitants.
Sheol is naked before God,
and Abaddon has no covering.
He stretches out the north over the void
and hangs the earth on nothing.
He binds up the waters in his thick clouds,
and the cloud is not split open under them.
He covers the face of the full moon
and spreads over it his cloud.
He has inscribed a circle on the face of the waters
at the boundary between light and darkness.
The pillars of heaven tremble
and are astounded at his rebuke.
By his power he stilled the sea;
by his understanding he shattered Rahab.
By his wind the heavens were made fair;
his hand pierced the fleeing serpent.
Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways,
and how small a whisper do we hear of him!
But the thunder of his power who can understand?”

~Job 26

©PortCityPrincess 2009
All Rights Reserved

Neck Nuzzling…

TODAY I AM THANKFUL FOR:

Well… I’m thankful for LOTS of things today… there are so many wonderful things that God has done and is doing… but at this VERY moment, my thankfulness to God for giving me a fun husband with the most intoxicating neck is most persistent …

I would be so very happy to have my head on his shoulder and my nose buried in his neck FOREVER… So there you have it: Today I am thankful for Charles’ delicious neck! *happy sigh* It’s so safe and comfortable there! ♥

©PortCityPrincess 2009
All Rights Reserved

♪♫ Busting Loose with some Thanksgiving ♫♪

TODAY I’M THANKFUL FOR:

Jazz, community, beniegts loaded with powdered sugar, dancing and laughing children, tiny (but cozy) living rooms, gumbo, deck time, and good God-picked friends (old and new) to enjoy them with. ♥

©PortCityPrincess 2009
All Rights Reserved

The Mercies of God

TODAY I’M THANKFUL FOR:

As Charles walks out the door tonight with a heavy heart, to attend a wake for one of his 11-year-old students, my children are happily, cozily, healthily chomping on pizza with not a worry… not a fear.

I am overwhelmed with thankfulness at the mercy of God at letting me be with the M* Munchkins another day. I’m so thankful, too, that that little boy had my husband for his teacher and that God gave Charles many opportunities to share the gospel with him and to be a walking testimony of the power of God to change hearts.

©PortCityPrincess 2009
All Rights Reserved

Chicken Gunk

TODAY I’M THANKFUL FOR: (I know it’s late… but it’s been a long, busy day!!!) I’ve a lot to be thankful for… just today… BUT-

While many of you know I HATE deboning chicken- so much so that my husband RARELY gets the gumbo he loves, poor thing- I am so very THANKFUL for deboning chicken tonight!!! Crazy, huh?!? Wanna know why? Well… deboning 20lbs of chicken tonight gave me HOURS (I’m slow) to think and be thankful! God is so NICE like that! Just a little taste:

First of all, I was deboning chicken because God has given me some AMAZING friends and I want to hang out with them and be cozy with them and revel in God’s greatness with them and listen to jazz music with them… and it’s fall… and gumbo is cozy and festive… Deboning chicken because I have neato God-given friends is FANTASTIC! I’m so thankful I get to debone chicken to show LOVE to them! I’m so thankful for the godly people God is surrounding us with (it is answered prayer).

Then, while I was deboning chicken, Noah came to me (my hands covered in nasty chicken gunk) and softly said, “Mom, I’m having a really hard time knowing God.” I’m so happy I was covered in chicken gunk and that I got to sit and listen to my son pour out his little heart to me… I will happily debone chicken every day if God will give me more of THAT!

After Noah was in bed, we got a phone call… and because my hands were covered in chicken gunk, and I was on a mission, I couldn’t and wouldn’t answer- so Charles did. Someone was a gazillion times nicer to me and more generous to me than I deserve and while Charles relayed the message to me, I wept and snotted (have no fear, nothing got into the chicken!) and desperately needed to have my nose wiped, but my hands were covered in chicken gunk… and my gorgeous hunk of a husband took a Kleenex and lovingly and tenderly wiped my nose… SEVERAL times! *embarrassed chuckle* I’m so happy I was covered in chicken gunk! It spared me an argument and left me weak and let my husband be strong and tender. Bring on more chicken gunk.

More than all of these amazing and precious things, though, I am so very thankful for my God who can make even CHICKEN GUNK a BLESSING to His silly, selfish, tired children.

©PortCityPrincess 2009
All Rights Reserved