I just can't do it...

Nasty virus that wouldn't go away + Swine Flu + Bronchitis = Very. Annoying

I have been sick for 17 days now. 17 days! For the love of all that is holy! Can't a girl catch a break here?! I'm also a little cranky. And I just can't bring myself to do a Friday Favorite today. But hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to rally enough to do an "I love Halloween" post. No promises though. Even though I really do love Halloween.

Happy Friday Everyone.

doTERRA Dr. Mom Kit Giveaway Winner

And the winner is.....

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

10

Timestamp: 2009-10-28 16:41:07 UTC

Commenter #10 is Alisha and she said, "So I just have to say that you are fabulous! Your children are adorable and your blog is super cool!"

As you can see it does pay to flatter others. Congratulations Alisha!

Oink Oink

Remember how I've been whining about being sick lately? Well, I now have swine flu. But I also have Tamiflu, so we're good. And from the stories I've read about swine flu, I've gotten off pretty easy. Knock on wood. The doctor said that since I've had a virus lately, it made me more susceptible to catching swine flu. He said I probably just picked it up while grocery shopping or something. I officially blame Albertson's, where I went shopping on Friday. It's entirely their fault that I was so sick-zombie like that I forgot to wipe down the cart before using it.

Anywho....don't forget to enter the Dr. Mom kit giveaway that ends tonight or whenever I get around to picking a winner. Isn't that an ironic giveaway to be having this week.

Friday Favorite-Halloween Party

Well, I've been sick for a week and a half now. A week and a freaking half. Clearly, I'm annoyed. So, we're focusing on the positive in the hopes of all this positive energy chasing away the germs and oh so annoying cough. Also, it's Friday. And we celebrate our favorites on Fridays. So, without further ado, the church Halloween Party pictures!

The costumes.....

Rosetta (from the Tinker Bell movie)

Tinker Bell

The Girls. I went as a Super Mom. Which is hilarious. Because I'm SO not.
The Face Painting
We love Halloween around here.
CG has an award winning costume of which I did not get a picture of. I'm a slacker. But it involved a blue super hero cape and few hats. Any guesses?! The first to guess right gets full bragging rights and some sparkly fairy dust from the girls.

doTERRA Dr. Mom Kit Giveaway

This weeks fabulous giveaway is brought to us by doTERRA Essential Oils. I was first introduced to doTERRA oils at the Summer Social Retreat this past July. We each received an introductory essential oil kit which included Peppermint, Lemon and Lavender oils.

Now, I'm new to all this essential oils stuff and Nicole, who is a representative of doTERRA, has been kind enough to send me some information to help me along my essential oil way. AND! She is sponsoring this weeks giveaway of.....drum roll please.....the Dr. Mom Kit! It is a fabulous kit, retail value of over $140, of the best essential oils to use to help treat your family's various illnesses. And it comes with instructions!
You can visit Nicole's blog here. It is filled with a wealth of essential information. Or visit her doTERRA site here.

Now we get to the good part. This is a super fabulous giveaway and the winner officially has my full jealousy. This is the kind of giveaway that just speaks to my Earth Mother/Hippie Heart. Even if you're not an essential oils kind of gal, you can always enter, win and then give it to your favorite chaotic blogger for Christmas. Oh, I jest. Not really.

Here are the official entry rules. Please leave a comment for each of the following entries:

• Comment on my fabulousness, my children's adorableness, or the coolness of my blog
• Follow.....if you already follow you still get an extra entry so make sure you comment
  
• Tweet it
• Facebook it
  
• Blog it with a link back for 2 additional entries

This giveaway will go until Sunday, October 25 at, let's say, midnight. I will then post the winner on Monday....probably. Let the giveaway begin!

All Things Good Store Giveaway Winner!

I have risen from my sick bed/couch to announce the winner of the $25 gift card to All Things Good Store. And the winner is......

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

9

Timestamp: 2009-10-18 21:26:52 UTC

Commenter #9 is Jill and she said "Tweeted!". It pays to be related on this blog because the winners of my two giveaways so far are sisters. Maybe they know a trick the rest of us don't?!

Congratulations Jill! We'll be sending you the winning information soon!

And don't forget....All Things Good Store is offering a 20% discount on orders of $10 or more to all my tens of readers through the end of October. Just enter the coupon code LADYPC in the promotional code box when you're checking out.

Friday Favorite-Cough Syrup

Dude. I am sick. Oh so sick. So today's favorite is cough syrup with codeine. Amen and amen.

Also, this weeks giveaway ends tomorrow so be sure to enter and tell all your friends. Please leave a separate comment for following(old & new), tweeting, facebooking or blogging.

Tip Tuesday-Nutrition

Go get a Pumpkin Pie Shake at Arctic Circle. It's super yummy. And I'm pretty sure that it counts as at least one vegetable serving. Don't worry if you don't like pumpkin pie because I really don't like pumpkin pie. But the shake is yummy.

This was not a paid endorsement but I was gifted with all the fat and calories of a 12 oz. pumpkin pie shake topped with whip cream. Maybe next weeks Tip Tuesday will be about exercise.

Another Giveaway!

As you may or may not know, I'm a big fan of starting our Christmas shopping early. I've always been a bit of a planner, but the early shopping takes priority around our house. As a matter of fact, I've already started our shopping for this year....back in August. But let me give you a little back story as to a few of the reasons why. One is a totally freak incident, but the most important reason really has a lot of benefits.

About 4 years ago, my little Lolly was just under one. I decided that year to start my shopping in early October, mostly because I was finding some good clearance deals and I was just so excited to be celebrating our first Christmas with Lolly where she would actually care about what was going on around her. We were in that good phase where everything was going well....Lolly was in a good routine, I was feeling good and finally over having a baby, the house was actually clean most of the time and dinners were not coming from McDonald's every night. A good place.

Fast forward to early November that same year. Lolly and I got sick. Just a pesky, annoying virus. She was better in about 3 days. Two weeks later, I was in the hospital with pneumonia. Not good. I was there for 5 days and came home just before Thanksgiving. I was very grateful for the wonderful medical care that I received, but it was a long time before I started feeling like a human being again. Thankfully, and by complete accident, I did not have to worry about going out in the crowds to do our Christmas shopping because it was done. And the few little things left and grocery shopping could be done by CG. I think if I had had to send him out to buy all the Christmas gifts for our sweet daughter, the poor guy would have had a heart attack. Or course, at her age, she really didn't care. But every year this is in the back of my mind encouraging me to get Christmas shopping taken care of early in the season.

Also, December is a pretty crazy month. And gets crazier every year as our family grows and our children get older. The benefit of having the shopping done is that it leaves all of the December more open to celebrating the season as a family. It also takes the focus off the gifts and puts it back where it should be. I cannot even begin to tell you how much this has helped me over the years. Plus, I truly believes it saves money in the long run. Have you ever been out shopping at the last minute and got caught up in the craze, suddenly feeling like you don't have enough and need to get just a few more things. Those few more things really add up and usually are not necessary. Shop early and avoid all that.

Now, I'm sure all of this has just been riveting storytelling. But you may be wondering why am I boring you with all these details. Well! This is where the fun begins. I'm not just going to tell you to do your Christmas shopping early. I'm going to help you!

This weeks giveaway is sponsored by All Things Good Store. First of all there are a few promotions going on to share with you. Right now everything in the store is 15% off until October 20, 2009. If you register as a new shopper you will get a $10 gift card to be used on anything in the store. AND, on orders over $100, you get a $25 gift card. This is for everyone, not just the lucky winner.

To make things even easier for you, I've looked through the site and found a few things that would make great gifts for people on your lists.

For all the cow lovers in your life, there's the Floppy Cow Plush.
For the Bug Catcher, a wooden home to make the creepy crawlies feel welcome.
We all need a little pampering and this Coconut Lime Bath Tote Set would be fabulous. There are many different scents to choose from so everyone will be happy.
For the emergency preparedness gurus, the Hand Crank Radio & Light.
And for the Domestic Divas in your life, the Martha Stewart Mixing Bowl Set. It's a good thing.
And one of my personal favorites, Wind Chimes.
Now for the giveaway details. One lucky winner will receive a $25 gift card to All Things Good to spend any way your heart desires. Here's how to enter: comment!

Receive one entry for each of the following:

• Basic comment telling me how much you adore my blog. ;o)
• Follow!
  
• Tweet it!
• Facebook it!

Receive 2 additional entries for posting it on your blog with a link back here. That's a total of 6 chances to win! Please leave a separate comment for each entry to make my life just a little bit easier.

And just to be extra nice.....All Things Good Store is offering all my readers a 20% discount off orders of $10 or more until the end of October. Just enter coupon code LADYPC in the promotional code box when you're checking out.

Now Let's Get Shopping!

*Full disclosure: I did not receive any monetary compensation for this giveaway. But it is my mom's store so I definitely benefit by getting a discount on cool things.
**Thank you Kristina P. for sharing the full disclosure necessity.

Halloween Giveaway Winner!

I have tamed the Random.org beast and have a winner for our Halloween Giveaway!

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

2

Timestamp: 2009-10-12 03:09:55 UTC

Commenter #2 is Camille and she said "I'm a follower!"

See? It pays to follow people!

Don't be too disappointed though. I've got a month full of giveaways all for your entering pleasure. The next one will be posted tomorrow! Hopefully.....

Recipe Swap Wednesday-Breakfast Casserole

This past weekend was our church wide conference which translates into two days of our church leaders teaching us on the television while we're in our pajamas. It's a good thing. And even though my house is a complete disaster in any direction you look in, I have an uncontrollable urge to bake. Or cook. Whatever. There are some good eats to have around our house on conference weekend. Today I'm going to share with you a couple of the yummy things that I made.

First of all, these Blueberry Orange Muffins from Scattered Mom. I've yet to try a recipe of hers that wasn't wonderful. Her Peanut Butter Cup Cookies are a family favorite and necessary for every Halloween celebration from now on.

I also made a yummy breakfast casserole. We have it every year on Christmas morning. It's a great one because you make it the night before and just pop it in the oven when you wake up. Perfect for bleary eyed celebrations where creating "Martha Stewart" memories are crucial to a happy childhood.

Breakfast Casserole
1 bag shredded hash browns
1 green pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 package sausage, or equivalent of ham or bacon, cooked
4-5 eggs
1 can cream of chicken soup

Whisk together eggs and cream of chicken soup and set aside.

In casserole dish, mix together hash browns, vegetables and sausage.

Helpful hint: I often use Potatoes O'Brien because it comes with peppers and onions already chopped up in it.....a great time saver.

Pour egg mixture over the top and mix together.

Top with shredded cheese. (This is where you can stop and put it in the fridge overnight.)

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes.

Another helpful hint: I usually put the casserole in the oven during the preheat so as to more slowly heat up the pan instead of put a cold pan from the fridge straight into a hot oven.


Sorry there are no pictures for this recipe. I had wanted to take pictures but didn't have time because of making Halloween costumes and all. There will be pictures of those....to come.

Tip Tuesday-Secret To My Success Part #112

I love art. Art in all forms and functions. I just love it. And I want my girls to grow up with an appreciation for art, at the very least, if not a love for it. And what is the best way for children to learn to love art? For them to experience it, of course! Being the fabulous mom that I am, I try to provide arts and crafts for my girls frequently.

Behold, the carnage.....
My table is still blue.
The clean-up....
They even got me. I really need to add "pedicure" to my To Do list.
Yep, I try to do art with them whenever my precarious sanity allows. **sigh**

Halloween Giveaway!

I love Halloween. It is seriously one of my most favoritest holidays. CG and I got engaged on Halloween. That's how fabulous this holiday is.

So to celebrate this wonderful holiday I decided to do a little giveaway. Nothing fancy....I raided the Target $1 section and the dollar store....but still lots of fun. And very necessary to the proper celebration of Halloween.

I present to you the Official Perpetual Chaos Halloween Starter Kit!
It's filled with all, okay some, of the necessities for Halloween including, but not limited to, socks with pumpkins on them, pumpkin post-its and a whoopi cushion with a pumpkin on it. Classy.

Now, for the legal details of this giveaway.....here's how to enter.

• Leave a comment

Want more than one entry?

• Become a follower & leave a separate comment. If you already follow, just leave an additional comment letting me know.

Want even more entries?!

• Blog, Facebook, or Tweet it and let me know by leaving a comment with a link.
  

Now I know y'all are just desperate to win this giveaway. But please no pushing, shoving or obscene gesturing to get ahead of all the others trying to win. The giveaway will be open until Friday October 9, 2009 at 10 pm. Or whenever I close comments and pick a winner. Winner will be randomly chosen by our friend Random.org. Or by one of my children if I'm not able to figure out how to use Random.org.