Be a Hero, Save a Blog - This rocks!

Be a Hero, Save a Blog- This rocks!
Blog lifted from my cousin Natasha - she knows all the cool people! Here is what she said...

A friend of mine's husband and his friends started a blog back-up and publishing service called Bloggled. To launch their new website, they are having a contest in which you could win a Cricut machine or an I-Pod Touch. The other great thing is that right now with their service you can back-up your blog for FREE! Awesome for people like me, who use their blog as a family journal of sorts. So, check it out! Here is their 'official info':

Have you ever had this experience? You are posting to your blog, click the publish button, and the very next thing you know the screen is blank. So, you click back to your drafts and nothing is there, then you click your published posts and nothing is there. At this point you are starting to think to yourself…oh no, what just happened? As you continue searching your blog admin for information you see that all your uploaded images, videos, files, and everything is gone.Living through this situation would be enough to devastate any bloggerKnowing that years of data about your person, family, or business is gone can be difficult to overcome emotionally, but even more difficult of a problem to solve. If you haven’t backed up your blog recently, or ever, chances are your posts and everything else are gone for good.This is the kind of situation that led Brent Ramey to the idea of creating Bloggled.com, “and to honestly save anyone in that situation the act of going insane.” Bloggled.com is a blog backup company that is allowing bloggers to backup their blog for free as an introductory product to celebrate their official launch out of beta and as a holiday gift this season. Bloggled is also offering multiple prizes to those who participate in their “Be a Hero, Save a Blog Contest” that is running through the day on Monday, December 15, 2008. Winners can choose from either a 16GB iPod Touch, or a Cricut Personal Electronic Cutter Machine and it’s quite simple to enter. All you have to do is one of the items below, but if you do more you get entered more times into the drawing…but you have to enter on Monday 12/15 to qualify so act fast, or should I say slow so I have a better chance of winning.

Join Bloggled. Register and sign up for a Bloggled account (http://www.bloggled.com/).
Friend or follow Bloggled on one of the following social network profiles:
Twitter: http://twitter.com/bloggled
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/people/Brent-Ramey/1002883214
Subscribe to Bloggled’s RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/bloggled.
Blog about the Blogger Contest on another blog then notify Bloggled about the new blog post by commenting on their blog.

THE SIMPLE WHITE ENVELOPE

It's just a small white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas tree. No name, no identification, no inscription. It has peeked through the branches of our tree for the past 10 years or so. It all began because my husband Mike hated Christmas--oh, not the true meaning of Christmas, but the commercial aspects of it -- the overspending, the frantic running around at the last minute to get a tie for Uncle Harry and the dusting powder for Grandma -- the gifts given in desperation because you couldn't think of anything else. Knowing he felt this way, I decided one year to bypass the usual shirts, sweaters, ties, and so forth. I reached for something special just for Mike. The inspiration came in an unusual way.
Our son Kevin, who was 12 that year, was wrestling at the junior level at the school he attended. Shortly before Christmas, there was a non-league match against another team sponsored by an inner-city church. These youngsters, dressed in sneakers so ragged that shoestrings seemed to be the only thing holding them together, presented a sharpcontrast to our boys in their spiffy blue and gold uniforms and sparkling new wrestling shoes. As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the other team was wrestling without headgear, a kind of light helmet designed to protect a wrestler's ears. It was a luxury the ragtag team obviously could not afford. Well, we ended up walloping them. We took every weight class. And as each of their boys got up from the mat, he swaggered around in his tatters with false bravado, a kind of street pride that couldn't acknowledge defeat.Mike, seated beside me, shook his head sadly, "I wish just one of them could have won," he said. "They have a lot of potential, but losing like this could take the heart right out of them." Mike loved kids – all kids -- and he knew them, having coached little league football, baseball, and lacrosse.That's when the idea for his present came. That afternoon, I went to a local sporting goods store and bought an assortment of wrestling headgear and shoes and sent them anonymously to the inner-city church. On Christmas Eve, I placed the envelope on the tree, the note inside telling Mike what I had done and that this was his gift from me. His smile was the brightest thing about Christmas that year and in succeeding years. For each Christmas, I followed the tradition--one year sending a group of mentally handicapped youngsters to a hockey game, another year a check to a pair of elderly brothers whose home had burned to the ground the week before Christmas, And on and on. The envelope became the highlight of our Christmas. It was always the last thing opened on Christmas morning, andOur children, ignoring their new toys, would stand With wide-eyed anticipation as their dad lifted the envelope from the tree to reveal its contents. As the children grew, the toys gave way to more practical presents, but the envelope never lost its allure. The story doesn't end there. You see, we lost Mike last year due to cancer. When Christmas rolledaround, I was still so wrapped in grief that I barely got the tree up. But Christmas Eve found me placing an envelope onthe tree, and in the morning it was joined by three more. Each of our children, unbeknownst to the others, had placed an envelope on the tree for their dad. The tradition has grown and someday will expand even further with our grandchildren standing around the tree with wide-eyed anticipation watching as their fathers take down the envelope. Mike's spirit, like the Christmas spirit, will always be with us. May we all remember Christ, who is the reason for the season, and the true Christmas spirit this year and always.
-Author Unknown

Sorry

I just wanted to apologize for my "woe is me" post that I put up. I was just having one of those days. Things have just been overwhelming lately but I know that it is only for the hort term and I will get through it. :) Good thing I have such good friends.

Love ya,

rach

What a drag...

I shouldn't read anyones blog ever. I swear I used to have a life...I used to hang out with friends and do things that were fun! Now it seems like all I do it work, sleep, clean and help kids with homework. (and I can't even seem to get that done most of the time!) I have been so flippin busy that I haven't even posted in almost a month!
Sorry, I guess I am just having one of those mornings...you know the kind, you wake up feeling ok and then as the rest of the house wakes up grumpy and things just seem to spiral! At least it is Thursday!

TAG - Christmas Style

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends. I am starting a tag. I got this by email but thought it would be great for my blog since I haven't posted in like, forever!......Tis the Season. I know before Thanksgiving even...shame on me!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I like wrapped presents better but it gets tedious at times and sometimes a bag is all you have time for!2. Real tree or Artificial? We put up an artificial tree during the month and then on Christmas Eve we buy and decorate a real one!
3. When do you put up the tree? Sometime after Thanksgiving.4. When do you take the tree down? The first week of January.
5. Do you like eggnog? It’s all right. I do like eggnog ice cream…everything is better in ice cream form!
6. Favorite gift received as a child? I always loved baby dolls.
7. Hardest person to buy for? My hubbie. My mom also gets stumped with that one!8. Easiest person to buy for? Usually the kids, but now that Andrew is getting older, everything is getting $$$.
9. Do you have a nativity scene? I had one but the movers broke it when we moved here! I have a little wooden one but I would like a real one again.
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? I’m not huge on sending cards…I wish I was, but usually email.
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Not really sure. I am pretty easy to please.
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Any
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? At the After Christmas sales for the next year.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Of course…have you met me?
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Anything…the holidays are a dangerous time! 16. Lights on the tree? Yes. I typically like white non-blinking but we might mix it up a bit this year…we will see.
17. Favorite Christmas song? Oh my…can’t say that there is a favorite, but I am definitely going Christmas caroling this year! Anyone is welcome! The more, the merrier.
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Home.19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? (please enjoy yourself while I sing---) You know Dasher and Dancer, Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid, Donner and Blitzen, but do you recall….the most famous reindeer of all…bum, bum, bum, bum….Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer! 20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Star.
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? One present Christmas eve, the rest Christmas morning22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? This year it is going to be that I am working!!! Bah-humbug!
23. Favorite ornament theme or color? Anything beautiful
24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? All of it.25. What do you want for Christmas this year? Hmmmm, not really sure. Peace on earth, good will toward men?

I tag Mandee John!

Hair"dos" and Hair"don'ts"

So these overnight hairdo ideas have been intriguing me because how much easier does it make it in the morning? Easier right?  So last night after Cali's bath I decided to take advantage of the few extra minutes before bed.  She has curly hair but it sometimes is more frizzy than anything so after her bath I put some defrizzer in and then decided to try this technique that I saw online.  So you section the hair and then twist it really tight into a bun.

Hey, I thought that she looked cute just like this.  I mean, you only get to be five once right?  Why not have fun with it???  So I sent her off to bed.  In the morning a few had fallen out and they looked pretty...or at least I thought.

Then we took them all down and we separated them....This is where the 'rule of thumb' comes in.  If you have a sweet little girl with sweet little curls (albeit a little frizzy at times) try not to section her hair too much because the curl is going to take like it is going out of style!  Woooo! How to control this???? 

Well, with a little more defrizzer and a lot of patience, this is what we came up with.  I think it turned out cute.  Next time I think I will try only four sections and maybe it will turn out looser - hopefully a lot looser.  

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Spoooooooky

These pictures were taken by LaRae Roberts (thanks LaRae) at our Ward Halloween Party!  So much fun.  I just grabbed the ones of my family but there are over 200+ photos so you should check it out on snapfish.com!  If you haven't gotten a link to view the photos for the Blythe Ward then email me and I will send it to you!  Happy Halloween!

Adam looks adorably cute...notice the smarties attached the his pants cuz he was a "smartypants".  Aidan's hair is just always fun...and then there's me...

Cute cali as a cheerleader.  Her hair looked better when she went to school.  Ah well.

Me, Stephanie, Lohnay and Linda.

Just another picture of the smartypants....too cute!

Colton bobbing for apples...he was soaked by the end of the night, but he had fun!

Cool picture LaRae!

Um, I am sorry, I know that I am his mother and so I am biased but dang this kid is cute!

If only he really were a nerd...then momma wouldn't have to worry sooo much about him!