And the winner is...

The Chex Mix Muddy Buddies Giveaway has come to an end. There were 12 people entered so let's get right down to business.

Random.org, can you tell me who the winner is please?

#4 - Danielle who says, "Mmm looks yummy! And will be super easy to pick up a bag at the store :)"

Congrats Danielle!! You will be receiving an e-mail shortly:)

Did you miss out on this giveaway? Would you like to see another one? When my blog's Facebook page reaches 300 followers I am giving away 8 full size toiletry items from my stockpile PLUS a cute Origins tote. So head over there and "like" me if you haven't and spread the word!!

Chex Mix Muddy Buddies Giveaway

Did you all know that Chex Mix is soon going to be selling Muddy Buddies YEAR ROUND? Neither did I. But the people spoke up and the people were heard!

If there are any of you who have never heard of Muddy Buddies they are a combination of Corn Chex cereal, peanut butter, and chocolate, dusted with a powdery sweet coating. Now everyone who knows me knows I do not like peanut butter. No, not even in candy or cookies. I know, weird. So I personally don't eat Muddy Buddies for that reason but I do know that everyone else in my life loves them. I have been making them for years for my husband, the guys at his work, my kids, holiday parties. Always a huge hit. I am so excited that they now come pre-made because I don't have to touch the peanut butter to serve these goodies to my loved ones!

I was lucky enough to receive a package from MyBlogSpark and Chex Mix that included a bag of Chex Mix Muddy buddies, an airtight sealed container, a snacking bowl, and a magnetic clip. My boys plowed through them in no time and have been begging for more!

I am not just showing you all of this to brag. MyBlogSpark and Chex Mix is also providing an identical gift pack for one of my readers. Isn't that cool?

Here's how to enter:
Leave a comment saying how you are going to take advantage of Chex Mix Muddy Buddies now that they are available year round. That's it! I will pick one winner using random.org. Make sure you leave your email in your comment so I can contact you if you win. (Giveaway is open until Wednesday 6/15/2011 at 8pm PST) - THIS GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED-

**This product was given to me by Chex Mix through MyBlogSpark but the opinions expressed are 100% mine**

Joining the Challenge

One of the blogs I read, Moogie Mama, is starting a Love Dare Challenge (you know, from the movie Fire Proof) and is encouraging other bloggers to participate. We will follow the Love Dare Monday through Friday and then blog about it on Saturday. I have been interested in trying the Love Dare and have heard many great things about it so I thought this was a great opportunity to get started. Hope you'll follow along. And if you have a blog feel free to join in and link up as well:)

For those of you who don't actually own the book yet (like a certain someone who is typing this) here is a great link that goes through the book day by day so you don't miss anything. There are even free journal pages you can print off:
http://www.klove.com/blog/post/2010/01/05/The-40-day-journey-starts-Wednesday!.aspx

Inner battle

I think the worst kind of battle to fight is one within yourself. Those moments when your inner voice is screaming so loud you can't hear anything else. When what you feel takes over and the ability to discern what is true becomes blurry at best. Do you have moments like that? I do. Luckily as I get older they seem to be fewer and further between. But when the moment is present it feels powerful and in turn I feel completely powerless. Wrestling with a flight, fight, run, hide, scream, cry mix of emotions that threaten to take over the peace I normally rest in. What do you do when you feel this way?

Me, I turn to those I love and trust. To those who make me feel secure and who will hold me tight and tell me everything will be okay. Mostly my husband, my mom, my Jesus. I talk until I have no more words to express what I am feeling. I dive into things that will make me feel better and for a time remove me from the moment...quality time with my kids, baking, and crafting all do the trick. I pour over scripture. Letting the living word sweep over me, penetrate me, work in me. The latter is really my most powerful weapon against myself. When truth feels lost, I can find it in the one place it will always be. In the word.

"When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul." (ESV Psalm 94:19)

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." (NIV John 14:27)

Car seats and Carboard boxes

My mother-in-law was kind enough to buy Isaiah a new car seat for his birthday. She even let me pick the one I wanted so we went with the Graco Nautilus 3-in-1 car seat. I love it because we won't have to buy another seat or booster for as long as he needs one!

Yesterday my husband got it installed and Isaiah went for his first front facing car ride.

 Let me say that we are well aware of the American Academy of Pediatrics updated recommendations that state children should remain rear facing until closer to the age of 2. After much consideration and after advice from our trusted pediatrician, we made the choice that felt right for us and turned his seat forward. I just wanted to put that out there for those of you who may have been wondering about that. I completely respect and understand that there will be people who do not agree with this choice just like I hope those who feel that way can respect that this is our personal choice.

Not only did Isaiah benefit from this gift, but so did his big brothers. Jeremy cut some doors in the box and I added a hole for a paper towel roll spy lookout device and Nathan and Jordan now have themselves I hideout.

I don't even know why we bother buying actual toys...they will go for the box every time!

Out of the Mouths of Babes - Little Brothers

I think Jordan (3) is in need of a break from his little brother this week.

Yesterday we took the two older boys to see Kung Fu Panda 2 and left Isaiah with a friend. As we were driving back from the movie Jordan stated, all so casually, that perhaps our friend would like to keep Isaiah. I assured him she would want to give him back and Jordan went on to explain that some people don't have babies so they might want ours. I told him they may want him but he's ours so we get to keep him. This didn't deter him at all...he responded with, "The baby store might run out of babies so we should take back Isaiah." The baby store huh - that's a whole other discussion!

This morning he started back up again out of no where. "I think Isaiah wants to go back in mommy's tummy," said Jordan.

I don't know what Isaiah did but Jordan sure seems set on finding a way to put him back where he came from! I am sure this is just a phase and soon they will go back to loving on each other like they have been known to do:

A Dinosaur Birthday Party

We finally had Isaiah's birthday party after postponing it due to Isaiah being sick and our niece being in the hospital. Hence the reason I haven't been posting much...life has been crazy! But all the party prep was worth it because we had a blast celebrating our little guy turning 1.

I decided on a dinosaur theme which was tons of fun to play with. I made his card (and matching Thank You cards) based on the green fellow in this picture I found:

Amazingly enough, I did that dinosaur totally free-hand. And trust me, I am no artist! I usually bust out my Cricut (and did for other parts of the party prep - see dinosaurs on banner) but decided to give this one a go without it. I am pretty pleased with how it turned out!

I wanted to make a banner for the party and had been brainstorming for sometime without settling on anything I really liked. Then I happened to stumble upon an easy adorable banner idea over at Small Fry & Co (banner post here). I had all the supplies necessary to make it so I sat down and got it done in one night. I just glued everything together instead of sewing for sake of time but I think the sewing looks really cute too. I decided to just do his name so that I could reuse the banner as decoration in his room.

Because we usually only invite a few close family members to our kids' birthdays, we don't have a lot of little kids besides our own and our nieces in attendance. For this reason, I decided to pass on traditional party favors and make each of the bigger kids something special in honor of the party theme. Dinosaur tails! I got the idea for this over at Running with Scissors (dinosaur tail post here). Can you tell I love scouring blogs for creative ideas? I saw these tails and fell instantly in love. My boys and my niece love all things dress-up so this was the perfect gift both for sporting at the party and for wearing over and over when the need to be a dinosaur arises.

Finally, we had the dessert. Nathan and Jordan helped me make dinosaur sugar cookies:

 Typically I make our boys their own smash cake for the first birthday and make something separate for everyone else. As the party grew closer I realized that the cake planning was starting to stress me out so I decided to go with cupcakes instead. I made a mix of Jumbo and mini cupcakes, decorated in green and red. With my husband's help, we used the cupcakes to create a dinosaur that was fun and easy. I am pretty pleased with how it turned out and I think Isaiah was plenty happy with his first icing experience!

 All in all we had a great time celebrating Isaiah's first birthday...dinosaur style:)