Saturday, April 18, 2009

How much do you love our Mother Earth? GIVEAWAY...

the lil' munchkins and i are getting ready for a lil' Earth Day celebration on April 22. celebrating Earth Hour last March 28th fueled my fire to really continue on teaching my children about saving our Earth, respecting our World and trying to help them understand that how we live can truly affect our world, our Earth...
prior to having our kids, my hubby and i have been recycling and trying to conserve energy for years. now that we have the lil' ones, we are continuing on our conservation efforts by educating them about protecting our environment and by showing them how to be more respectful to our Earth and to conserve energy as much as they can.
in today's world of 'mass production', heightened desires for 'things' and slogans that 'more' is good, it's difficult to teach our kids that 'you don't always need to get what's on tv or what your neighbor has.' But by being supportive of each other, it's easier to make many decisions that are in the best interest of the children.
take for example the last two b-day parties for my lil' munchkins...
my lil' ones are Spring babies and the Earth Day campaign is simply a perfect cause for celebration. i've always believed that 'less is more.'
cutting back on guests+food and keeping it simple will be my motto this year.
you see, in the last 2 birthday parties, in the invitations, we stated to our guests that toys or gifts were not necessary but if they wanted to they could make a handmade birthday card or give an 'old', 'used', 'inexpensive' book or purchase one from an educational publishing company. this year will not be any different. it'll be a no gift policy again because, i believe that birthday parties are all about celebrating life and not about receiving presents. i know that my lil' ones are only going to be 7 but we're trying to teach our kiddos that what really is important about birthday parties is being with family and friends and enjoying each others company-not getting 'X' amount of new toys etc.
don't get me wrong, we're not opposed to toys or presents for birthdays. we're just not too crazy about the 'wastefulness' of purchasing things that'll break in 2 seconds or getting so many toys/gifts that will just get 'lost' or collect mountains of dustballs.
as parents, we believe that it's our responsibility to provide those gifts to them.
this year, we bought them new bikes. they're getting taller+bigger.
their baby bikes will be donated to a local charity,
so another child or two can enjoy such pleasure.
there's so much that we can say and do to teach our kids about preservering our Earth.
here's a question or two...do you know
when, where, why, who + how Earth day was started?
answer:
according to Earthday Network:
"in 1970, Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, proposed the first nationwide environmental protest "to shake up the political establishment and force this issue onto the national agenda. " "It was a gamble," he recalls, "but it worked."
At the time, Americans were slurping leaded gas through massive V8 sedans.
Industry belched out smoke and sludge with little fear of legal consequences or bad press.
Air pollution was commonly accepted as the smell of prosperity.
Environment was a word that appeared more often in spelling bees than on the evening news.
Earth Day 1970 turned that all around.
On April 22, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment.
Denis Hayes, the national coordinator, and his youthful staff organized massive coast-to-coast rallies. Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment. Groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife suddenly realized they shared common values."

for more information on the History of Earth Day or Earthday Network or learn how you can be a part of this wonderful cause, please go here and here.
GIVEAWAY
Now, with Earth Day, my lil' munchkins' b-day + my 100th post all quickly approaching,
i thought it would be nice to find out how you'll be celebrating this wonderful cause. so, if you'll be celebrating this worthy event,
tell me how you'll be celebrating your Earth Day (answer on this post -
also please add information regarding your e-mail address or a way to contact you).
in honour of Earth Day, my lil' munchkins' b-days and my 100th post, I will then pick the best celebration comment and i will mail off to the lucky heart winner a lil' something that i've created, of course, recyclable+sweet. this giveaway will end April 22, 2009 midnight.
i will announce + contact the winner the next day.
here's a couple of ideas to celebrate Earth Day (more ideas here , here and here: ):
~pick up trash (in your home, school, work)
~have a contest- who has the least trash in their can on garbage day?
~walk/bike to school
~shut off unused lights, computers, ipods, tvs etc.
~declutter home and donate your unused things to charity
~plant
~use a recyclable water bottle instead of buying bottled water
~make poster boards and raise awareness
~eat more healthier/organic foods instead of processed products
~go visit a nature park and see how they recycle
~adopt a highway, street, park, beach, city to help clean them up
~REMEMBER: EVERY DAY IS EARTH DAY!!!
~add the Earthday Countdown button http://ww2.earthday.net/node/162
some pretty 'go green' projects from Country Living Magazine:

(images courtesy of Country Living Magazine )
~http://www.countryliving.com/crafts/projects/green-crafts-0309
~http://www.countryliving.com/crafts/projects/
~http://www.aboutmyplanet.com/daily-green-tips/things-earth/

~http://ww2.earthday.net/files/greenyourhome.pdf

~http://ww2.earthday.net/greenyourschool4.pdf

~http://ww2.earthday.net/files/greenyouroffice.pdf

~http://www.earthday.net/files/getactivewithyourkids.pdf

~http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1654467/things_to_do_on_earth_day.html?cat=57

~http://familycrafts.about.com/od/earthdaycrafts/Earth_Day_Craft_Projects.htm

~http://familycrafts.about.com/od/earthdaycrafts/a/earthday.htm

~http://funschool.kaboose.com/globe-rider/earth-day/index.html?trnstl=1

~http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/earthday/

until then, hope you try to 'go greener' this week (and everyday!)
and help our Mother Earth...
she truly needs us!
bonne nuit
xoxo jo ;)

Monday, April 13, 2009

aaaaugh...it's time to call in the troops...computer bugs to Sweet Joy of Amity&Allure to Springtime Swap to Mail LOVES...

auuuuughh!
sorry i've been away...
couldn't have been helped.
my computer has been off it's rocker lately.
it's been like this for a couple of weeks now...
this is how i've been feeling lately with my lil' ol' computer...

(image courtesy of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Red_Cross )

found this Australian Red Cross image here and wishing they'd
just come to my rescue...
but saavy b-i-l came to the rescue...thank gosh! thanks so much, Steve!
what would we do without our trusty lil' machines?!
now...FINALLY...i'm back on-line...i'm keepin' my fingers-crossed for some smooth sailing!
how was your weekend?!
for those who celebrate this special time of the year,
i'm hoping everyone enjoyed their Easter Holiday...
so many blessings, family time, egg-hunts, surprises, delicious treats...
lil' muchkins started spring break and we had a very special Easter.
will try to post pics soon...

i've so much to show+tell...
received lots of MAIL LOVE esp. from sweet Joy of Amity & Allure
for the lovely Dionne's Springtime Swap , a lil' random act of kindness,
and a certain lil' something that i just couldn't resist getting from this truly amazing artist, Alice Wingerden, over here...


now to my MAIL LOVES:
1) a special notice from the postoffice was in my mailbox. said that a special package from Canada was waiting for me. yesssss, it's my package from sweet Joy of Amity & Allure (please visit her world and become mesmerized by her posts and photos)...before i post pics of her amazing gift to me here's what i sent to Joy (she also received her pack from me...she wrote me and said that she loves everything-YAY!!!):





lil' flower stationary i created for sweet Joy...



another lil' stationary i created + personalized with her newborn son's Grayson's name...
don't you just love his name?!




french soaps + yellow mini cake platter
'you're the best mom' book

lil' cupcake from Jasmine Kummer of Tart Heart
made some spring fever crunch trail mix that i put in some mason jars with sweet ribbons+labels
Easter cookies + mmm...chocolate sunflower seeds...
i truly had such a wonderful time finding treasures for Joy and her lil' family!!!
so happy that she loved it...

Now, here is what sweet Joy sent to me:

a pretty 'made with love' recipe card holder box and sweet lotion...

l.o.v.e. the lovely 'love' phrase...(how many times can i say the word 'love?' hee-hee! )

such a gorgeous recipe holder...cute sayings and cheerful colours!

what adorable sayings!

oh, thank you so much sweet Joy...i LOVEEEEEEEE everything!!! the recipe box
holder is so cute...how did you know i LOVEEEEEEEEE to cook/bake AND that i've been trying to organize all our favourite meals in one logical place?!
how thoughtful and sweet are you?!!!


2) ms. postwoman came and put another surprise in my mailbox: a very SWEET Calculated Acts of Kindess pack of very beautiful words/quotes/sayings to live by, gorgeous French postcards, eiffel tower cards, adorable cupid playing cards and a very sweet itty bitty 'LOVE' card... all from the sweetheart of a gal, Raesha!!! (and her adorable shoppe ) (will take pics and post in the near future!) please visit her world + cute shoppe...she just makes you have the warmest fuzzies! thank you so very much, sweet Raesha, for sending some 'love' my way...i surely + definitely do appreciate everything!!!
AND
3) came across this absolutely beautiful site, Painted White , owned by Alice Wingerden. oh how i love Alice's blog, shoppe, creations + finds...i adore her photos too!!! please try to stop by and see all the beauty Alice is sharing with all of us...you'll simply fall in love-i surely did!!! (btw...Alice was so kind enough to make my pack even more special...she sent some of her sweet ephemera to me...merci beaucoup, sweet Alice, for sharing such sweetness with me!)
(image courtesy of http://www.paintedwhite.com/item_432/Hand-Dyed-Aqua-Paper-Posy.htm )
again, thank you so very much for all the sweethearts that have sent their love my way...i truly am one of the luckiest gals in town right now...thank you from the bottom of my heart...well, i think i've caught up a bit...time to let this lil' guy rest abit...
oh, computer, please, please work again tomorrow!
bonne nuit!
jo xoxo

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Sneak Peek Springtime Swap...for sweet Amity&Allure...

...sweet Joy!

i'm participating in Sweet Dionne's Springtime Swap over here
and i've been paired up with the lovely+sweet, Joy of amity&allure.
please go check out her gorgeous blog...
she's a sweetheart and i'm sure you're going to just love her like i sure do!!!
Joy is a new mommy to a precious lil' boy, Grayson (how sweet is his name?) and has just moved to a beautiful new home last August.
Joy just started her blog and it's filled with gorgeous photographs, beautiful posts of her life, her sweet family, her exciting adventures, her designs, interesting tidbits on fashion, interior designs and simply enchanting blogs she's discovering...
you name it...just a beautiful place to visit and dream!
we've exchanged a few e-mails to find out what our interests are for this swap. there were so many things that i found on my treasure hunt but we're keeping it a surprise until we both have received our packages. the post office said Joy will be getting her package in about 6-10 business days...i'm hoping she'll get it before Easter, but if not...her lil' family can enjoy the things i'm sending even after Easter...once Joy lets me know she's received my pack, i'll post pics of what i sent...in the meantime...enjoy lil' sneak peeks of her prezzies...hoping Joy will like them...




well, that's it for now...until then...have a Happy April!!!
xoxo jo ;)