Awesome Giveaways! (October)

Awesome giveaways I have found! Check back frequently as I will be crossing out the ones that are over and adding new ones almost daily! 

••Giveaway for the most adorable baby/toddler shoes on Penelope's Oasis! ENDED OCT. 2nd
••A good reminder about good giveaway manners, plus tons of links to awesome giveaways! :) (Thanks Annie!) CLICK HERE!
••Win a cute turquoise knit baby RuffleButt bloomer on Piece of Me! ENDS OCT. 9th!
••Win a baby outfit from Kumquat on Piece of Me! ENDS OCT 11th!
••Win a gorgeous hand-smocked dress by PerryWinkles on Piece of Me! ENDS OCT. 13th!
••Win a bingo game from Work and Play Day by Day! ENDS OCT. 15th!
••Win Christopher Bean coffee from Take Time To Smell The Rose! ENDS OCT. 15th!
••Penelope's Oasis is doing a giveaway going for a darling "Flirty Apron!" ENDS OCT. 16th!
••Piece of Me is giving away an adorable coveral pajama from Hatley! I have to say these are the most adorable pajamas I have ever seen! ENDS OCT. 16th!
••I Thode You So is doing a giveaway for a Happy Baby Foods gift pack! It's organic, people- check it out! ;) ENDS OCT. 23rd!
••I Thode You So is giving away a full sized plush blanket from Modern Baby Co. ENDS OCT. 28th!
••Enter to win a Starbucks gift pack from Mevolving! You know I love me some DCCF from SB! ENDS OCT. 29th!
••Piece of Me is giving away as $50 gift card to Just Ducky Originals. Boy do they have some cute stuff! ENDS OCT. 30th!
••Win a set of Vision Forum CD's on Joyfully Living. These look like  some really good info! ENDS OCT. 30th!
••At the Well is also giving away some Vision Forum CDs, so go check it out! ENDS OCT. 30th!
••Familylicious Reviews is giving away a BornFree sippy cup! ENDS OCT. 30th!
••Win a cute pair of piggy tail bows on Mommy Chic! ENDS OCT. 31st!
••Win a classic children's book (The Story of Ferdinand the bull) on My Review Blog! ENDS OCT. 31st!

••OODLES of giveaways HERE and HERE!



Your turn! :) MckLinky up! You can still link your giveaways even if I have already highlighted them above. ;)
In the space that says Link Title, use this format: YourBlogName - Giveaway Title [End date]. Link to the giveaway post specifically, not just to your blog in general. You may make a new MckLinky entry for each giveaway.
PLEASE make sure you follow this format so it is easy for me to maintain and easy for people to view and use. Entries will stay on the list until they expire (until the giveaway ends). I will try to delete expired giveaways daily to keep this list fresh and easy to view.
I will create a new list each month. This MckLinky list will run now through Oct. 31st. Check back Nov. 1st for a new list.
>>>>MckLinky for October is now CLOSED<<<<

To the Mothers of Boys, and of girls

This is a post that you really should read. We as mothers (and fathers) have an obligation to our sons to raise them up to be REAL men. Book learning and a few good manners are a wonderful start but they also need to have a good work ethic, integrity, and the willingness to FOLLOW THROUGH and TAKE RESPONSIBILITY for their actions! And not only our sons, but our daughters too! Do your kids know how to help around the house? do a thorough job? fess up and pay for it if they break or loose something? respect adults?

http://artschilipepper.blogspot.com/2009/09/where-are-men.html

To mothers of daughters, what kind of man do you want your sweet daughter to marry? Do you want her to marry someone like one of the boys in the linked post?
Do you want your sons to marry decent hardworking girls? If we aren't careful to make sure they don't turn out like the ones in the linked post then what decent sort of girl would have them?

My son is only 1 year old and my daughter only 3 so I really don't think long and often about dealing with their character as teens, but that post was a good wake up call. It reminded me again that these toddler years are so precious and valuable in character training and I should not put off thinking about their adult character until they are teens. Now, I do know this already that character training begins at birth, as I'm sure you already know too, but don't we just get so caught up in daily life sometimes that it's good to have a reminder to bring us back? Here was a post that served as a reminder to me to get my thinking back on track, so I wanted to share it with you dear mothers. Perhaps you needed the reminder today, and perhaps you did not. I hope you get something good out of it anyway. :)

Smockity Frocks: On Comments

Smockity Frocks: On Comments

My two-cents:
When I read blogs by bloggers that never reply to their comments, I don't post any comments because I feel like if the person can't take the time to at least post once in response her 47 comments "Thank you all for your input!" or something appropriate to the content, then I assume she doesn't even read her comments. ... When I take my eyes off my two toddlers, things tend to deconstruct rapidly. So I want to know that my comments (composed sometimes over the course of hours in the spare seconds between screaming kids, diaper changes, potty training, the little one eating crayons and the big one coloring my kitchen table, and figuring out what's for dinner), are actually being seen and appreciated.

But as others said I don't expect a personal reply to every comment by any means. It's just nice to see one by the blog author occasionally so I know my comments aren't just floating around unnoticed in cyberspace. ;)

... As to whether or not I come back and see if there's a response... Yep. I do. Sometimes it just takes me a few days, but I do like to check back if I've posted something I think might be responded to.