Monday, May 7, 2012

Land-O-Lakes + Giveaway

I have always loved Land-O-Lakes butter, but had never tried the eggs until recently. They are very delicious!

 If you go to the Land-O-Lakes website you can find some wonderful recipes to try for Mother's Day dessert. 

Really want to try this recipe: Lemon Jewel Cheesecake


Make sure you "Like" Land-O-Lakes on Facebook
There are always great recipe ideas on there.

We all hope you have a wonderful Mother's Day, and you have the chance to win your very own prize pack! 

GIVEAWAY TIME
1 Winner will receive the Prize Pack pictured.
 The product, prize pack, information, and additional prize pack have all been provided by Land O'Lakes Eggs through MyBlogSpark

Mother of Pearl


Welcome to Pearl Girls™ Mother of Pearl Mother's Day blog series - a week long celebration of moms and mothering. Each day will feature a new post by some of today's best writer's (Tricia Goyer, Sheila Walsh, Suzanne Woods Fisher, Bonnie St. John, and more). I hope you'll join us each day for another unique perspective on Mother's Day.

AND ... do enter the contest for a chance to win a beautiful hand crafted pearl necklace. To enter, just {CLICK THIS LINK} and fill out the short form. Contest runs 5/6-5/13 and the winner will on 5/14. Contest is only open to US and Canadian residents.

If you are unfamiliar with Pearl Girls™, please visit www.pearlgirls.info and see what we're all about. In short, we exist to support the work of charities that help women and children in the US and around the globe. Consider purchasing a copy of Pearl Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace or one of the Pearl Girls™ products (all GREAT Mother's Day gifts!) to help support Pearl Girls.

And to all you MOMS out there, Happy Mother's Day!

Priceless Treasure by Cindy K. Stiverson

We've heard it said and often find it true:
You don't know the value of a treasure until you're without it. 

We take for granted the things in life that seem so readily available.
   A paperclip or rubber band, to hold things together.
   A tissue or napkin, to wipe our nose to clean our face, to absorb our tears.
   A Bible to speak words of wisdom and instruction and life and love.

And a Mother, who is all these things and more.
   She is readily available.
   She holds things together.
   She wipes our nose, cleans our face (and our fingers, and, well…everything else!)
   She absorbs our tears and calms our fears.
  "She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue." (Proverbs 31:26)
   She loves.

Within hours after my mother passed into the gates of our heavenly home, I was missing her. Her quick wit…humor…charm. Her warm smile and melodious laughter, which served her well to the very end, as did our Lord Jesus Christ, who so graciously allowed her to slip quietly and peacefully into His arms.

She simply stopped breathing.

As I stood at her bedside in those priceless moments after her passing, I wanted to touch her skin as much as possible while there was still warmth in her body; to nuzzle my nose against her head and breathe in the scent of her hair while she was still there. Priceless treasures I was guilty of taking for granted, clouded by unmet needs. I was so consumed with what she was not, that I never fully appreciated who she was. It’s like I was blind, but now I see!

I see her strength, her commitment. Her perseverance…sacrifice…her unspoken love. I see how much she meant to me, how much she did for me, how much she taught me, and how much of the good in me was modeled by her.

She was a virtuous woman, as described in Proverbs 31 of the Bible.
“Her children stand and bless her… a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised. Reward her for all she has done. Let her deeds publicly declare her praise (vs. 31).”

This last verse of the poem serves as an epitaph for the woman of virtue. It speaks of the legacy she leaves in her passing. It spurred me to write a personal epitaph for my mother, which I read at her funeral.

We publicly declare your praise today, 
and in the days to come,
for you deserve to be praised and blessed,
"We honor you, Mom, for all you have done!"

In my earliest of memories, 
You worked so hard, striving for the rest.
You persevered through great trials
and did your very best.

I know you are being rewarded
in ways far beyond our reach.
We honor you now by practicing what you've taught,
and even what you preached!

You've stood for us for all these years,
Today, we stand for you!
I pray that our applause on earth
will reach your heavenly ears.

With the reading of this poem, I asked everyone to stand. We clapped our hands in celebration and praise of the life of my mother, Margaret Alice Stiltner.

Imagine our surprise to discover that she had left a poetic epitaph for us! She had clipped it from an old magazine and framed it. I found it when I was cleaning her home, on a nightstand by her bed. My mother was never versed at expressing emotion. This was her sweet way of kissing us good-bye: a priceless treasure to remember her by.


###

Cynthia (Cindy) Stiverson is a speaker, writer, and artist.  In 1998, she founded Woven: Women of Virtue Network, a spiritual formation and friendship ministry. She pastors the women at Newark Church of the Nazarene in Ohio. She is currently working on her fourth Woven Workbook, and also a book for mothers and daughters on the subject of sexual abuse. Cindy considers raising her daughter, speaker/author Nicole Braddock Bromley, to be her greatest achievement. She loves the men in her life, hubby Mark, grandbabes Jude and Isaac, and son-in-law Matthew. You can find more of Cindy at www.WovenWomen.blogspot.com and www.CynthiaStiverson.com





Exciting News – the latest Pearl Girls book, Mother of Pearl: Luminous Legacies and Iridescent Faith will be released this month! Please visit the Pearl Girls Facebook Page (and LIKE us!) for more information! Thanks so much for your support!

Friday, May 4, 2012

MAM Oral Care

We received a great big box in the mail. Inside of it were all of these fabulous oral care products by MAM.
 
 These are some pretty awesome products. So of course we had to make a party out of it with some friends of ours. We hosted our MAM's Smile Baby Smile Oral Care Party! The guests' gift bags included the following:

Oral Care Rabbit: 

Healthy affection for tiny ones. Oral Care Rabbit cleans baby’s mouth even before first teeth and easily removes plaque and bacteria. Just slip an index finger into one of the ears!

Massaging Brush:

Teething is forgotten in no time. Massages sensitive gums and cleans first teeth. Different textures make the Massaging Brush exciting for babies.

Training Brush:

Doing everything the grown-up way. The Training Brush has an extra long handle so that parent and child can hold the brush together. This makes it easy to learn the correct cleaning motions.

First Brush:

The first personal toothbrush. First Brush is perfect for imitating adult dental care. Independent tooth brushing is learned correctly right from the start.


The moms and babies were happy to take home their goodies. They also received a coupon to buy some other MAM products.

One of the toddlers trying out the big brush.

 We just want to thank Child's Play Party and MAM for allowing us to host this party by giving us these products to share.

Make sure to check out MAM on Facebook

"As a member of Child's Play Party, I receive product samples and promotional items to share and use as instructed. The opinions are my own."

Thursday, May 3, 2012

More From the Garden + Giveaway

My family had the honor of trying out the five new flavors from Peter Rabbit Organics. These products feature:
  • 100% Vegetables and Fruit
  • No added sugar
  • Made in USA
  • Nothing artificial and not diluted with water
  • 100% USDA Organic
Peter Rabbit Organics pouches contain a generous 4 to 4.4 oz. serving of 100% USDA certified organic fruit, with no added sugar, preservatives or artificial ingredients and provide 100% of the recommended servings of fruit and/or vegetables for kids. You won’t have to read the label – the fruit you see on the front is what’s inside! If you do read the label you’ll see your snacks are high in vitamin C, have between 60 and 90 calories, 0 fat (of course – it’s fruit!) and 1.5-2 grams of fiber. 

Peter Rabbit Organics are sold in convenient, BPA-Free, resealable pouches so children of every age can enjoy a healthy snack when you're on the go. The best part is, you don't need a spoon or a refrigerator to store them in! It's a great substitute for those sugary snacks we sometimes give our kids. It's easier to eat than the yogurt tubes too. No messes to clean up is always a plus for busy moms.
The new flavors you can start looking for are:

  • Peach & Apple
  • Banana & Apple
  • Pear & Apple
  • Pear & Pea
  • Pumpkin, Carrot & Apple
My kids really enjoyed these new flavors!  

You can find their products for a great price on   Amazon.com, Target.com, & Diapers.com, or go to the Peter Rabbit Organics website to see which nationwide store you can purchase yours from.

 We received these 5 new flavors from the wonderful folks at Peter Rabbit Organics to review and share our honest opinion.

GIVEAWAY TIME
1 Winner will receive a box of 12 assorted pouches