Managing the MotherLoad by Jennifer Applin

And the winners are.....

Well, it's official! I used random. org to randomly pick 20 numbers of the 274 comments/entries I received. Then I wrote those down, threw them in a hat and had my kids pick three (I think that's about as random as you can get)!.

The winners are:

Jean at Working Momma 247

Dawn at Snakes and Snails and Sugar and Spice

Crystal Broyles

Congrats to the winners! This was a lot of fun and I'll definitely be doing this again. Thanks to Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer for coming up with the idea and hosting the giveaway carnival!

Oh, and just a little update...since so many of you raved about Starbucks in your comments I thought maybe I should give it another try. I got a raspberry mocha something or another when I picked up the other two gift cards and it wasn't half bad ;-)

Bloggy Giveaway-$5 Starbucks gift card

Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer came up with the grand idea of hosting a blog giveaway carnival!

So I'll be giving away a $5 Starbucks gift card to one lucky winner. Why do I have this gift card? Well someone gave it to me knowing that I'm a writer and you'd think I would have marched right over to the nearest starbucks to start sipping away on something hot and foamy. The thing is...I don't really drink coffee and therefore have only been to Starbucks once (I can hear you gasping "what!?!" through my computer)!

So if you want to enter my drawing for the $5 gift card simply leave a comment on this blog post. On Friday I will randomly draw the winner from all commenters on this post.

This Dog Days of Summer Bloggy Giveaway carnival will be going on all week. So be sure to check out Rocks in My Dryer for other chances to win fun free stuff (it looks like there will be well over 200 giveaways)!

******UPDATE-well with so many people in NEED of Starbucks coffe how could I give away just one $5 gift card? So on Friday I'll pick THREE winners of a $5 Starbucks gift card. The winners will be drawn Friday at 10:00 am est********

S.M.A.R.T. Habits Saturday

Lara at The Lazy Organizer hosts SMART Habits Saturday and I think it would be fun to start doing this!

Since this is my first time I'm going to start by writing a list of habits I'd like to start working on. One thing I'm going to pay attention to is the difference between weekday and weekend habits. Certain things I want to do everyday, but others just during the week or just on the weekend. Taking this into consideration may change things up a bit. For example right now I'm really good about filling up a big water bottle to keep at my desk while I work during the week. Even though I work from home and that same desk is there on the weekend (and yes I'm there more than I'd like to be), my weekend morning routine is different and I always forget to fill up my water bottle. By midday Saturday I start to feel sluggish and I know that's why.

So that's the plan for the week-coming up with my list of habits to start working on and keeping in mind that my weekday and weekend routines are different, so I'll need to make some adjustments.

Check out Lara's blog to see what others are doing for SHS:-)

Introducing the Little People

Introducing the little people in my life:

6 years

4 1/2 years

2 1/2  years   

 

13 months                                                             

Another parenting blog?

So here I am, hopping on the the blogging bandwagon. I have been blogging on a few other sites for about 10 months now, but this is my first personal blog. It's mine, all mine, and I love that! But does the blogsphere really need another parenting blog? Well, as a writer I've learned that you can never have too much helpful information. So that's why I'm blogging. Parenting, more specifically mothering, can be so daunting and just about the time you feel you've got things figured out then your kids pull something tricky like growing and starting a new phase. We can all benefit from sharing information to become better mothers.

Why the title "Managing the MotherLoad" and what does "helping moms manage the important aspects of life" mean? The moms this blog targets are those who have many "loads" to manage. We play a primary role in helping these little people entrusted to us reach their full potential and grow into beautiful adult human beings. We are responsible for most, if not all, of the domestic duties at home. We strive for a sense of balance in our lives and at times struggle with putting our needs (especially sleep) last. We are trying to stay connected to friends, family, our spouse, and even other aspects of our own identity. We are charitable women who give of our time and talents to help others. We are faith-filled women. We understand that everything we have is a gift from God and we are committed to making the most of these gifts and sharing this responsibility with our children. These are some of the aspects of motherhood I find most important and what "Managing the MotherLoad" is all about.

Now just a few words about my blogroll. The majority of the blogs listed are like-minded blogs, but not all. You will find a few listed where I don't have a lot in common with the blogger as far as parenting style or philosophy, but I admire their commitment. For the most part they don't do things the way I do them, but what they do, they do well. I can respect our differences and reading these blogs helps me grow as a mother.

So can the blogsphere really benefit from another parenting blog? I think so, and I know I'll benefit from having one. Thanks for reading!