Thanks to these lovely blogs

who are making for a great Christmas for us! Well, maybe just for me, lol. All except one of these will be for me.
I am posting these so you can all go and see these great sites.

Who Said Anything About Common Sense? offered a Panera gift card for the Fall, Y'all giveaway. This was probably my favorite contest to enter because even thought it wasn't that super sexy apron, Panera is awesome, but the reason it was so fun was that you had to comment on what fish think about. Well, Princess Leia said that not only did the number generator pick my comment as the winner, I was one of her mom's favorite commentors, too! You'll have to go check it out to see what I think fish think.

Mommy of Three offered up two copies of Hollywood Nobody, a book. I won one of the copies! I love reading, as you can tell by all the book reviews on my blog. (got another review coming up!)

Plus, another book I won is Confessions of an Irritable Mother from Surviving Motherhood. Karen, the author, is a speaker, too.

I am so excited about winning a blog design from Erica at Butterfly Kisses! Donnie hasn't really wanted me to spend money on my blog before, and while he would probably say yes soon, I can't afford it right now. So this is an amazing treat to me! What should I do??? I love my header, but maybe I could do a different pic of the kids for fall or winter for the new design?

And then I also won a knit hat for Trinity from Kara's Custom Crochet. Trinity is so excited that someone is going to make something for HER.

Thank you wonderful ladies for your great giveaways! I am so thankful to you all!

Quelf giveaway winners!

These are the winners for the Quelf items, not the game in the Fall, Y'all giveaway.
I did the drawings the old fashioned way, wrote out every name and folded each piece of paper and put it into a bowl and had a child draw out a name.

Winner of the White shirt give-away : Laura @ Laura Williams' Musings ! You can thank little Jonah for drawing your name! (I babysit him)
Winner of the Green Quelf shirt give-away : Patti!
You can thank Isaac, whom I babysit, for drawing your name.
Winner of the The Biscuit Farmer hat give-away : Fiddle D. Dee! You can thank Trinity for picking your name.
Winner of the Red Shirt give-away : Jason and Caryn! You can thank Jonah for picking your name.
Winner of the The Dude give-away : Sarah! And you can thank Trinity for picking your name.

You can now buy Quelf at Barnes and Noble, online and in the stores. If you would, please go and thank the nice Mr. Rivaldi for donating these prizes and for making the most awesome game ever! Tell him Lisa sent you!

Love Letters Winner!

Thank you to everyone who entered and blogged about the book! I wrote down all the names and numbered them and each additional entry, then I used a random number generator to pick the winning number.
I am so thrilled with the amount of people who wanted a copy of this book! There were 58 individual entries.

Oh, you want to know who won?

The winner is..... (drum roll.................)

Sallie of Everyday Me....

Congratulations, Sallie!

(If I don't hear from Sallie, I will pick a new winner on Thursday)

What a way to cheer me up!

I've been kind of bummed today. Ok, so the furnace will be fixed pretty inexpensively, as long as there is only one problem. And we did get one vehicle working. We still have my van and my car out of commission. The washer and dryer are done for, I have a smaller washer to get me through, thankfully. The freezer was not freezing, but now the whole thing went. No more fridge either. And we were going to get another car last night, but our brother in law is psycho and decided AFTER we left to go pick it up that we can't come get it because he's afraid that he will be liable if we get in an accident on the way home, even though we'd have paid him, taken possession of the vehicle AND had insurance on it. Nothing we said could convince him otherwise. I checked with insurance and they said that is a purchase agreement and it would absolutely be our liability even thought the title would still be in his name for a few days.

Now I had the appliance repairman out and he said the fridge is dead. Great. He didn't seem to even want to fix the dryer and washer, which I just don't understand. The dryer needs a motor, $60, way cheaper than a new large capacity dryer, helloooo. And the washer only needs a belt! But he is so completely pessimistic about those, too. (he called back and sounds much more optimistic!)

So, I'm pretty much in tears. However, I checked my junk mail today, which I always do, and I found these two emails:

1. You have won a $25 Best Buy Gift Card for participating in the contest athttp://www.iwantmysamples.com I think you may have won twice LOL. I know you won one of them but my daughter also pulled out momsblogging.com and from the looks of it you posted that one too. Let me know if I'm wrong.
2. Congratulations! You are the winner in my Learning Tower contest. Looking at your blog, it seems like you could use one for your little ones! I hope you enjoy it! I really want one, too! Naomi http://superdumbsupervillain.blogspot.com/
I am completely blown away. I've kind of been on a role at these contests again. I won a nursing necklace, a HUGE scrapbook package, a t-shirt, some baby clothing, a pendant (which I can't wait to get!), and some other things, too. I know, crazy!
I was so amazed when I got the Best Buy win because we ALWAYS buy Christmas presents and gift certificates from them. And we always get them, too, since Donnie's brother works there, lol.
But the Learning Tower win blows me away. I wouldn't have even checked back to see if I won that one, because I never even dared actually HOPE I'd win it.

I'm off to get ready for my stamp club meeting! That will be relaxing and fun, just what I need.

Thursday Thirteen~ Randomness

Thirteen Things about Lisa 1. My mom posted a really funny little something on her blog, something said by a little kiddo! Check it out for a quick giggle. 2. Love contests and giveaways? Check out my contest blog and my contest column. 3. Even with all the things that have broken down at our house lately (washer, dryer, car, furnace, freezer), I am so thankful that I have a great home, family and husband who is willing to work 6 days a week to help us get through this. 4. I am thankful that I am able to babysit for some extra income, and I am thankful it is only two days a week, but long hours so it is still good money, and I am thankful that it is for a friend and her kids are good. (though they ARE busy!) 5. I am so happy with meeting new friends via blogs. I've just been so blessed by people. 6. Oh my goodness is it ever fun to win giveaways! I won an amazing scrapbook box STUFFED with cool things, I nearly cried when I saw all the wonderful things in the box. I won a t-shirt, and you can, too. I also won a nursing necklace! And that is just in the last week. 7. Monopoly Goes Cashless, seriously, Monopoly is going to start selling their new games with credit cards and NO cash moolah. Is this wrong? How are kids going to learn real money skills and not irresponsible credit card usage? 8. A friend of mine had an 11lb even baby boy last week. Yes, he was 11 pounds! Barely fit in the bassinet! He's so yummy! 9. Why do teens turn into disrespectful know-it-alls? We show them time and time again that we are right and they are wrong but they never get it. It is apparently dumb luck that we are right more than they are? 10. Diet Dr. Pepper is just the bestest! 11. Quelf is the most amazing game! I think it is tons of fun and am so glad I found it. I want to promote it all over the place! And I have some plans in that area soon! 12. You can see my pee in a cup at To Drano, or not to Drano... seriously, lol. Only my friend Sarah or I would be that weird, right? 13. You think you are having a bad day? Think again! This guy has the award. We've all had trouble with our animals, but I don't think anyone can top this one: Calling in sick to work makes me uncomfortable. No matter how legitimate my excuse, I always get the feeling that my boss thinks I'm lying.On one recent occasion, I had a valid reason but lied anyway, because the truth was just too darned humiliating. I simply mentioned that I had sustained a head injury, and I hoped I would feel up to coming in the next day. By then, I reasoned, I could think up a doozy to explain the bandage on the top of my head. The accident occurred mainly because I had given in to my wife's wishes to adopt a cute little kitty. Initially, the new acquisition was no problem. Then one morning I was taking my shower after breakfast when I heard my wife, Deb, call out to me from the kitchen. "Honey! The garbage disposal is dead again. Please come reset it." "You know where the button is," I protested through the shower pitter-patter and steam. "Reset it yourself!" "But I'm scared!" she persisted. "What if it starts going and sucks me in?" There was a meaningful pause and then, "C'mon, it'll only take you a second." So out I came, dripping wet and butt naked, hoping that my silent outraged nudity would make a statement about how I perceived her behavior as extremely cowardly. Sighing loudly, I squatted down and stuck my head under the sink to find the button. It is the last action I remember performing. It struck without warning, and without any respect to my circumstances. No, it wasn't the hexed disposal, drawing me into its gnashing metal teeth. It was our new kitty, who discovered the fascinating dangling objects she spied hanging between my legs. She had been poised around the corner and stalked me as I reached under the sink, and at the precise moment when I was most vulnerable, she leapt at the toys I unwittingly offered and snagged them with her needle-like claws. I lost all rational thought to control orderly bodily movements, blindly rising at a violent rate of speed, with the full weight of a kitten hanging from my masculine region. Wild animals are sometimes faced with a "fight or flight" syndrome. Men, in this predicament, choose only the "flight" option. I know this from experience. I was fleeing straight up into the air when the sink and cabinet bluntly and forcefully impeded my ascent. The impact knocked me out cold.When I awoke, my wife and the paramedics stood over me. Now there are not many things in this life worse than finding oneself lying on the kitchen floor butt naked in front of a group of "been-there, done-that" paramedics. Even worse, having been fully briefed by my wife, the paramedics were all snorting loudly as they tried to conduct their work, all the while trying to suppress their hysterical laughter......and not succeeding. Somehow I lived through it all. A few days later I finally made it back in to the office, where colleagues tried to coax an explanation out of me about my head injury. I kept silent, claiming it was too painful to talk about, which it was. "What's the matter?" They all asked, "Cat got your tongue?" If they only knew!

Winner of the Joshua movie!

The winner of the Joshua movie is Karen from Praise the Lord and Pass the Prozac! I absolutely love the name of her blog, it has always given me a bit of a giggle.

Congratulations, Karen! I hope you love the movie as much as I do.

End of Dog Days of Summer bloggy give-away!

Whew! This is the last day of the Dog Days of Summer Bloggy Give-Away. It was hard work going through 506 blogs to enter contests. I did not enter all of them, but I think I hit at least 450 of them to look at. I may have missed a few when the whole linky disaster happened, lol.

So I get up this morning to try to enter my mom's blog in a few more contests (she actually WORKS, so she's too responsible to sit around and let the house/work fall apart while entering all these glorious contests) and what do I find in my emails? I've already won one contest! I featured Highlights from Higher Ground on my TT post, I wanted to win her crocheted name doily, but I did win her hanging dish towel! I actually NEED a new one, so this is great news for me!

Some of the contests are still taking entries, but its too much work for me to sit and go through them to find maybe one in five that still are. But its not too much work for me to check my mail several times a day today to see if more wins filter through.

I'm hoping to win one of the FIVE Starbucks gift cards so that I have something to send with my dd on her trip to Maine. She may find one in the airport and have a nice cuppa while waiting for her plane. Or if my mom wins one, that would be great for her, too.

Is anyone else super excited????

Oh, and hands off my Scrabble Blog bracelet!!!!

*Update* I also won some pop up books (not for kids, more like cards) from Dawn at Coming to a Nursery Near You.

And again! I won a super cute shirt from Journey of 1000 Stitches in her awesome Etsy store! Go check out her store, you'll love it! (she's a part-time cloth diaper user, so you know I love her!)

Yippee!

My prize winnings have been arriving!

First is a Berit Design onesie that I won on Adventures in Babywearing. This will not fit Sam, but there is a baby shower I am throwing next month, this will be perfect!

I just recieved this the other day and Drew is reading it first. Can't wait! I won this on Book Splurge, Bloggin' Out Loud told me about it. There are book giveaways on there regularily. Go check it out! There is another one on the site to read and review during an author's tour.

Now I didn't actually win Apples to Apples Bible Edition, I won a $25 Amazon.com gift certificate from No Diet Coke for Mommy. She hasn't posted all week, and I miss her!

I bought this game because we love the original game so much and we need some new cards to entertain us, and I can't wait until it gets here!

Callapidder Days had a bunch of book give-aways and I won this book. I was so excited because I love romance novels and pirate romance novels, but since becoming a Christian I have stopped reading books with smutty stuff in them. (thats sex, if you didn't get it, hehe) This was just the ticket! Christian, romance, AND pirates! I need to buy the first book now, and there better be a third one coming out!

I will say that this was a bit graphic for me. I loved the story and would probably have told my 16yo not to read it, but she read it without asking me. We were both a bit torn up about it, but there is so much scripture throughout the book, and the graphic parts are part of piracy, but they are never glorified, so I still have to say its good. Oh, and the author autographed it to me!

Then there was the Viking post. Diary of 1 had a Sports logo contest in conjunction with TeamMascot, her business website. I wrote a post about my favorite sports team and plugged her business. And she sent me this awesome pillow! It arrived yesterday and has a place of honor on my bed, but will not stay long as the boys start sneaking off with it.

I also won a cute sleeper for Sam from Apples'n'Oranges and blogged about it. That is in the mail on its way, and I'm anxious to get it, even though Sam can't wear it for a couple more months when the weather gets cooler and Sam gets a smidge bigger.

Contest Winners!

I knew this was going to be hard! I picked the three that struck me for some reason or other more than the others. There were definitely some fun stories to read: birth in the garage, star trek doctor, feet coming out, surprise twins, winning the fertility battles, going into labor ON Labor Day, and horrid nurses and doctors.

Well, by far my favorite post, and I knew it would win the top spot when I read it was by Lauren S. Having your baby in the garage?! That's just awesome! I would actually LOVE for that to happen!

My second favorite is mostly my whole family's favorite. We are complete and total Trekkies around here, and if we went to the hospital and a Dr. Bashir was delivering our baby, well, we would change whatever name we had picked out to some sort of Star Trek name, lol. So, yofed has won the second prize! This won is a bit hard for me, because I bought gift certificates to Target, so I'll have to find something else to send to you!

Then there is the third one. This one I picked because I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE for two of these things to happen to me, and actually pray for it with each ultrasound I have ever had. First, to be laying there watching your new baby floating around in there, and then, oops, whats that? That doesn't belong there! Twins! And then for the water to break and find a foot poking out???! How cool is that! Really! Maybe it would be freaky at the time, but what a good story! (And the fact that his name is Sam had no bearing on winning, just a totally cool coincidence!) Tammy has won the third prize!

Congratulations, ladies! Thank you so much for playing along with me! I may post a couple more of my birth stories, though the other kids had more interesting pregnancies than births.

So, here is my dream birth story from these three posts!

I'm sitting on the table having an ultrasound with my hubby unable to be there. Suddenly the tech starts moving the wand around trying to see something. Whats that? Wait, there seems to be something behind that baby..... its another baby! Look, its a boy and a girl!
I get home and make a big production out of supper. And put out two framed ultrasound pics. One has the girl parts showing and one has the boy parts showing. Donnie can read an ultrasound, so he knows that this can't both be from our baby, which is it? Then it dawns on him. And he faints. Haha, no he doesn't, but he probably feels nauseated and can't finish supper. Wait, who am I kidding, he can finish supper! We are so happy to be having twins! (OK,he is just happy that I am happy, and he'll deal with it)
About 8 months along I'm having some cramping, man, I must have eaten something that disagreed with me. So, we are sitting there watching Star Trek and just as Odo melds into the pool of shape shifters my water busts all over the place, and I can feel a foot sticking out! Oh my gosh, we need to get moving! So we start packing bags and getting the kids all set to take care of things while we are at the hospital. Oh, these cramps are coming on hard now, no doubt about it, these babies are coming! Out we go to the garage to get in the car and I just can't move anymore. Donnie, quick, call 911, the babies are coming NOW! And I put my hand down to stop the baby from dropping and Donnie runs over and helps me deliver the baby right there in the garage! Donnie tries to head to the house to call 911, but the cord is still attached to me! So, I crawl/fall into the car, and he hands me the baby and runs for a towel to wrap the baby. He has Drew call the hospital and tell them we are coming. We head to the hospital, which is only 5 blocks away, to deliver the second baby. My doctor is hunting, of course, isn't he always? So out comes the on call doctor, and her name just happens to be Dr. Crusher! No way! She's the doctor from Star Trek the Next Generation!
So we have the second baby, a girl. We decide we just have to name them Trekkie names. So we went with Jean-luc Picard (last name) and Deanna Troi (last name) haha! And we all lived happily ever after. The End!


Here are links to all the entries, stop on by and congratulate the winners and comment on all the miracle baby stories! They are all amazing and wonderful and I completely enjoyed reading them, thank you for playing with me!

1. Babystepper
2. Janean
3. Janean2
4. Janean3
5. Janean4
6. Jessica
7. Ann
8. Lauren S.
9. yofed
10. Kristen
11. Pam1
12. Pam2
13. Deedee
14. Katkat
15. Tammy
16. stacitee (tessa's story)
17. stacitee (emma's story)
20. Tammy2