Tag, You're It!

* Don't forget to enter my giveaways: 'Curbing' Knitted Bag Kit (ends 5/4) & Fused Glass Pendant (ends 5/6)*

One of my fave bloggers and fellow OH-natives, Vanessa (The Ohio Girl), has tagged me! So here goes nothing:

What’s your current obsession? Learning as much about yarn crafts as possible
What’s your weirdest obsession? YARN! I buy it as though I would ever, in my lifetime, have enough time to knit it all up. I have amassed a lifetime's worth of yarn stash.
What are you wearing today? My most-awesome fitting jeans and a breezy swing top.
Why is today special? Because every day God gives me is special
What would you like to learn to do? SEW! (I'm with Ohio girl on this one.) I want to quilt and sew in the worst way.
What’s the last thing you bought? Books at Barnes & Noble
What are you listening to right now? My 4 year old laughing
What’s your favorite weather? sunny, breezy, & 55 - 70 degrees
What’s your most challenging goal right now? Losing weight. I gained a ton of weight with my thyroid and now that my thyroid is under control, I still can't seem to lose. I hate that summer is coming up and I look like a stuffed sausage!
What do you think about the person who tagged you? She and I have ALOT in common and think ALOT alike!
What's your favorite guilty pleasure? Buying yarn
Favorite vacation spot? I've never truly been on a vacation..so I'd LIKE to go somewhere out of the way where I could spend my days enjoying the outdoors reading a good book or knitting up something useful. -Maybe the English countryside in spring time.
What would you like to have in your hands right now? Hubby! {blushing} I feel like I haven't seen him all week!
What would you like to get rid of? Probably this funk I've been in!
If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go? To my house in Ohio (Currently living in PA)
Which language do you want to learn? Italian. I'd like to visit Italy one day - perhaps on a knitting retreat!
What super power would you like to possess? The ability to make everyone happy.
What’s your favorite thing about the city you live in? It's truly the first place we've lived where we had to be all on our own. - All of our family is back home in Ohio. It's been really good for us as a family and we've grown so much closer.
What’s your favorite piece of clothing in your own closet? My black sweat pants - they're are like track pants, only sweat pants material. They are comfy and cute.
What’s your dream job? To make a living blogging or crafting
If you had $150 now what would you spend it on? Summer clothes for the kiddos
Do you admire anyone’s style? I admire alot of people's style - all for different reasons. I'm not really a fashionista, but I appreciate people who have a good sense of who THEY are independent of what fashion mags tell them.
Describe your personal style. Mommy-chic. LOL! (That's code for: sweats and comfy clothes. NOT very stylish.)
Who’s fashion show would you want tickets to? Vera Wang
Who’s closet would you want to raid? Jennifer Koppleman Hutt - I think she's stylish and dresses comfortably. She always looks great and is not pretentious.
What are you most proud of? The fact that I have taken what little talent and brains I have and made the very most out of them. I took a 9 month certificate and ended up a teacher and contributor to a panel on career technical education for Gov. Strickland. I always try to make the MOST out of what I have to offer.
If you could choose one person who has passed to have lunch with who would it be and why? My Grampie - I miss him terribly. We were really close.


Now the rules of this tag:1. Respond and rework: answer the questions on your blog, replace one question you dislike with a question of your own invention.2. Tag 7 other people you would love to learn more about. Here’s mine:

• Melinda from Bloggin' It From the 'Burbs
• Christina from Christina's Creative Expressions
• Melanie, The Reluctant Housewife
• Suzi from Pink Vanilla Cupcakes
• Breedale from Perpetually Changing
• Carissa from Good N Crazy
• Diane from Good Mourning Glory
  

Tag, You're It!

Fun Fact Friday/Shout Out

* Don't forget to enter my giveaways: 'Curbing' Knitted Bag Kit (ends 5/4) & Fused Glass Pendant (ends 5/6)*

Cockroaches can live for 9 days after their head has been cut off.
Source - FunFunnyFacts.com

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I'd like to take a minute to give a shout out to the VERY talented Cesia of Design by Cece. If you remember, Cesia sponsored a giveaway a while back on the Mommatudes Blog for a free blog makeover. And by all accounts, Stephanie (the winner of the giveaway), is pleased as punch with her new blog design. Design by Cece is sponsoring another giveaway - this time on Home Based Working Moms. Check it out here.

Fun Fact Friday/Shout Out

Fused Glass Pendant Giveaway!

*Be sure to pop over to my KnitPurlGurl Blog for the ADHD Knitted Bag Kit Giveaway - Ends May 4th!*


The talented Maggi of Dye Lot Collective is sponsoring a gawgeous giveaway here on Mommatudes. She will give away 1 pendant to 1 lucky Mommatudes reader! Here's what you'll be playing for:

Teal and Green Striped Fused Glass Pendant

This pendant was fused with a clear base glass, stripes of teal and green in the middle and a top coat of clear glass.
Pendant measures 1.25" wide and 1.5" long and comes with your choice of a 16", 18" or 20" stainless steel cable with magnetic closure.
All glass is fused by Maggi in her home studio in Maine. Each piece is unique and completely handmade.

Here's the 411 (Remember that all comments are moderated - so please allow 24 hours for your comment(s) to appear.):

• Visit Maggie's Etsy Shop, Dye Lot Collective, and browse her beautiful pieces. Come back to Mommatudes and leave a comment indicating which piece is your fave.
• Giveaway is open Aprill 22 - May 6th. Winner will be chosen via random number generator and announced on May 7th.
• Make sure to include your email address in your comment if your profile doesn't link to it. If I can't contact you, I'll have to choose another winner.

Want more entries? Do any or all of these things for additional entries (Be sure that each entry is in a separate comment so that the random number generator counts all of your entries.):

• Become a follower of the Mommatudes Blog. Come back and let me know in a comment for another entry. Already a follower of the Mommatudes Blog? Leave me a comment for an extra entry.
• Join the new Mommatudes Social Network. Come back and comment - letting me know your user name for another entry!
  
• Make Dye Lot Collective a fave on Etsy. Come back and comment about it for yet another entry!
• Blog all about it on your blog with a link to this post. Come back and comment about it (be sure to leave a link to your blog post) for still another entry!
• Tweet all about. Come back and comment-leaving your Twitter name for another entry!
• Follow Maggi on Twitter. Come back and comment about it for an additional entry!
  

*** Do you have your own business or know of someone who does? Why not sponsor a giveaway on Mommatudes and drive traffic to your site?! Contact me at knitpurlgurl[at]gmail[dot]com for details!!***

Fused Glass Pendant Giveaway!

Top 10 Signs That You're an Adult

10.) Hair removal is a part of your life.

9.) You find yourself passing up the sugary cereals in favor of cereals with 4g of fiber or more.

8.) You feel you cannot face the day without proper chemical mood enhancers (ie. caffeine).

7.) You've uttered the words: 'Because I said so,' 'Back in the day,' or 'I'm so tired'

6.) Boxed mac & cheese and processed cheese slices have lost their appeal. (Fish sticks & chicken nuggets also fall into this category.)

5.) You can't wait for bedtime.

4.) You enjoy bathing.

3.) You find yourself arguing with the evening news.

2.) Dangling from a steel jungle gym over concrete doesn't seem like a good idea anymore.

1.) You hope and pray for naps.

Top 10 Signs That You're an Adult

Are You Listening, Ethan Allen?

I was just tweeting with the amazingly talented Cre8tive KJ about our shared preschool mess woes. I mean really - who is designing and testing the furniture and carpet we buy? Do they know of the destructive force that is a 3 or 4 year old? Apparently not. I am convinced that every furniture company should employ preschoolers in their R & D and quality departments (or at least their mothers). We've had our fabric couches for only 6 years and they look ready for the dumpster! The oversized arms are no longer smooth and regal - but lumpy and bumpy from what can only be described as preschool gymnastics. The fabric is no longer a beautiful moss green, but now a moss-ish green with hints of cherry Kool-Aid and Teddy Grahams. Dog hair gets caught in every fiber and I find myself grooming the couch more than the dog.

I firmly believe this could all be avoided if those involved in developing pieces of furniture spent 1 week in a typical household with preschoolers and pets. Do they make a food, beverage, pet hair, baby puke, formula, and preschool gymnastics -repelling fabric? If not, they should! Are you listening, Ethan Alen? Maybe 3M could get on board with this. How about BASF? BASF boasts they make the things we buy better. I'm just thinking out loud here. Let me know if you need a 'typical' household in which to test your new family-friendly products. I'm sure the kids and dog would open to product reviews.

Be sure to join Karen (Cre8tive KJ), Lara, Stacy, & I (Karrie) on the new Mommatudes Radio Show coming in May.

Are You Listening, Ethan Allen?

Fun Fact Friday

Scotchguard was accidently discovered when inventor Patsy Sherman's assistant spilled an experimental compound on her new shoes.

-Source: AmusingFacts.com

Fun Fact Friday

Fab Winner

And the winner of the Fab Essentials Coffee Cozy giveaway is:

Janetfaye

Congrats! Thank you to everyone who participated in the giveaway. And a special thanks to Robin of Fab Essentials for sponsoring this cozy-rrific giveaway! Please show your appreciation by visiting Robin's Etsy shop today! Robin has some amazing cozies and beautiful bags and totes as well as pins!

Fab Winner

Mommatudes Goes Social!!

I've taken Mommatudes social - that is Mommatudes is not just a blog anymore, it's a social network! So get your 'tudes over to the Mommatudes Social Network and join today; Please create a group or two; and invite your friends!

Mommatudes Goes Social!!

Mommaganza!

I'm pulling together a gift giving guide and giveaway here on Mommatudes for Mother's Day! Would you be interested in giving away a prize and being listed in the guide? If so, here's what you've gotta do:

• Take a pic of the giveaway item
• Email me the pic and approx. retail value
• In the email explain any and all Mother's Day discounts or sales that your shop has going on
• Be sure to let me know what your shipping restrictions are (if any)

The guide will list items by price range. There will also be a product review section. If your company/shops would like to participate in the product review section as well - please email me for PR info.

I would like to have this guide up and going ASAP. Contact me today! knitpurlgurl[at]gmail[dot]com

Mommaganza!

Product Review: Playskool Spring Characters Play-Doh

Moms - are you looking for something fun to put in your kiddo's Easter Basket? Look no further. The Spring Characters Play-Doh set from Playskool is pretty darned cute. Included in the set are two plastic spring characters: a chick and a bunny, each containing Play-Doh. So right off the bat, your kids will love the cute characters instead of the usual jar-like containers Play-Doh comes in. My 4 year old daughter was enamored with these plastic containers. When I revealed that there was actually Play-Doh inside, she went bananas! The bunny container comes with a brightly orange colored Play-Doh and a carrot shaped cookie-cutter bottom (or stamp design) that can be used to stamp the playdough into fun shapes. The chick came with a pretty robin's-egg blue Play-Doh with a chick design on the bottom for stamping onto the dough.


My daughter and her 4 year old friends played and played with this. They stamped every inch of Play-Doh we had. They even played with the containers. (My daughter actually named them Quacky and Hoppy.)

Product Name: Playskool Spring Characters Play-Doh
Number of pieces: 6 (2- 2 ounce containers with lids and 2 balls of Play-Dough)
Age Appropriateness: 3+ or for children older than 3 years that can be trusted NOT to ingest Play-Doh
Personal Rating: Going to give it 5 out of 5 stars as I had 4 little 4 year olds completely occupied with this toy!
Approx. Retail Price: $1.99 - SO affordable!

Run out and get them!

Product Review: Playskool Spring Characters Play-Doh

That's Me Thursday!

**Don't forget to enter the Oriri Draco Designs Yarn Giveaway (Contest ends 4/13!) and the Fab Essentials Coffee Cozies Giveaway (Contest ends 4/15!).

Okay, I've just started to participate in the "That's Me Thursday Meme" from The Classy Closet. This week's 'That's Me' is to pick which Golden Girl is most like you and why. This is a tough one.


I think the Golden Girl I am most like is Dorothy. I'm more of a level-headed, independent type. I'd like to think I'm not as ditzy as Rose; not as sex-crazed as Blanche; and not as outspoken as Sophia.

That's Me Thursday!

Fab Essentials Giveaway

**Don't forget to enter the Oriri Draco Designs Yarn Giveaway. Contest ends 4/13! Click HERE for details.**

Robin of Fab Essentials is sponsoring a super-cute giveaway here on Mommatudes! She is giving away THREE of her coffee cozies to one lucky winner!! Interested?

Here's the skinny: (All comments are moderated. Please allow up to 24 hours for your comment to appear.)

• The contest is open April 1, 2009 - April 15, 2009.
• The winner will be chosen via random number generator and announced on April 16, 2009.
• The winner will get to choose any three cozies from her Etsy shop.
  
• Visit Fab Essentials and browse Robin's Etsy shop. Come back to Mommatudes and leave a comment as to which item in her shop is your fave.
• Your profile must link to your email address or you must leave your email address. If I cannot contact you to tell you that you've won, I will need to choose another winner.
  

Want extra entries? Here's what you've gotta do: (Please leave each entry in a separate comment so that the random number generator counts each entry.)

• Become a follower of Mommatudes and leave a comment for another entry. Already a follower? Leave a comment for another entry.
• Make Fab Essentials one of your favorites on Etsy for another entry. Be sure to leave a comment here on Mommatudes for another entry.
  
• Blog all about it! Link this post in a blog post and then come back and provide the link to your blog post in a comment for yet another entry.

Good luck!

Fab Essentials Giveaway