I love e-cards!  They are so handy - especially for those times when I have totally forgotten an event and it's suddenly upon me and I'm embarrassed because I haven't purchased a card.  I also enjoying sending them to my friends - just because!  Let's face it, you don't have to pay for a postage stamp, and an e-card is so much more fun than a plain old e-mail.  If you've got a friend or relative who could use a little pick-me-up, I'd encourage you to send an e-card their way.  I know I get excited when I see an e-mail telling me that I have one waiting.

There are a lot of free e-card sites out there.  I actually have a list of them in my favorites so that I can quickly access them.  However, I don't know about you, but I have come to find that EVERYONE accesses these same sites.  So, after awhile, all the e-cards I receive (and send) are the same.  And, I hate that, because I don't want to send my friends an e-card that they might have already received from someone else.  It's much the same with real cards - when you have a birthday or a new baby - you can quickly tell which stores your friends all shop at when you get repeat cards! 

Well, I've been introduced to a new e-card option and I wanted to share it with you...
OJOLIE is an e-card site.  What's different about this site is that you pay to join.  But, don't let that deter you!  Once you pay your membership (which is just $10 a year), you have full acess to all their e-cards.  And, let me tell you - these cards are beautiful!  The cards are animated and are based on the artwork of Frederikke Tu.  You need to see them to truly appreciate the beauty, so I would highly encourage you to visit the site.

I sent one of these e-cards to a friend last week and she quickly responded telling me how beautiful the e-card was.  I was thrilled because I knew this was definitely an e-card she hadn't seen before!

I have 3 FREE MEMBERSHIPS to Ojolie to give away!  So YOU, too, can send these lovely e-cards to your friends.  If you would like to win one, please comment below.  For a 2nd entry, blog about this contest, with a link back to this post (don't forget to tell me that you did so).  I will leave this contest open for 2 weeks and announce the winners (via random drawing) on Friday, the 17th.  So sign up and be sure to tell all your friends about this fun contest!

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I have been tagged by my friend.  It's been awhile since I've gotten a tag, come to think of it.  And, this one is such a fun tag for fall, so I just have to participate......

1. Favorite Smell? things baking - such as pumpkin and apple pie, and candles that smell of these scents
2. Favorite Food? my favorite food-food is probably a yummy salad, but if we're talking fall-food specifically, then it's probably something pumpkin or apple-related - like apple dumplings or pumpkin chip cookies
3. Favorite Color? I love all the colors associated with fall - burgundy, burnt orange, browns, gold, and olivey  greens
4. Favorite Drink? hot apple cider
5. Favorite Treat? pecan pie (I only make it at Thanksgiving)
6. Favorite Place to go? my parents' house for Thanksgiving dinner
7. Favorite Candy? I'm not a huge fan of candy - does caramel apples count?
8. Favorite Movie to watch? that's too hard - I can't narrow that down to just one
9. Favorite Clothing to wear? jeans and a 1/2 decent shirt (to go out) or velour sweatsuits (around the house, cozy in fall and winter)
10. Favorite Outdoor Activity? walking
11. Favorite Football Team? I don't follow football
12. Favorite Fall Holiday? Thanksgiving
13. Favorite Haunted place? none - I'm not really "into" the whole haunting thing!
14. Favorite Food at Thanksgiving Dinner? filling and gravy
15. Favorite Pie? pecan
16. Favorite Fall Hobby? reading (it's my favorite anytime hobby)
17. Favorite Fall Memory? making big leaf piles at my grandparents' house with my cousins - burying each other in the pile
18. Favorite Fall Sight? the PA mountains - they are beautiful this time of year
19. Overall Favorite thing about Fall? the colors & the smells
20. Overall Favorite Season? fall (but I don't like that it leads into winter!)

I'm not going to tag anyone specific, but if you decide to play along and do this tag, please leave a comment and let me know. 

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I know I've shared about this book before, but this truly is our favorite Andrea Carter book yet!  (And we had that opinion long before my daughter Gracie became the cover model for Lin Mei!)

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My friend Ruth is just the sweetest thing.  In addition to being sweet, she's also very talented.  She is always working on some new craft and making me wish I either had the time or would make the time to do the same. 

Anyway, she shared a tutorial for making homemade scarves at Growing in Grace.  Go and check it out - while you're there, you can sign up to win one of her beautiful scarves. 

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Homeschoolers are invited to vote in their very own Presidential Election at CurrClick.com! Educate your kids about the election process and make a statement about the powerful voice that is the homeschool community!

POLLS OPEN on October 1st and will remain open until November 4th. Visit CurrClick.com on October 1st to cast your vote: Participation is completely free and will include information about each of the candidates, real time results, quotes from each of the candidates about their position on homeschooling, an "I Voted" coloring page and printable sticker and an optional exit poll. Results of the exit poll will be posted on November 4th. http://www.currclick.com

Results of the election will be sent out to news organizations across the country. Don’t miss this opportunity to make your voice heard.

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Show your holiday spirit and share your favorite new card design for 2008!
You could win a $50 gift certificate to Tiny Prints!

A leader in holiday photo cards, Tiny Prints is so excited about the upcoming 2008 holiday card line that they couldn’t wait to offering a sneak peek to showcase the  all-new card designs.   Enter their contest to help determine what cards will be most popular this coming holiday.  During this early preview period, the new holiday cards are not yet available for purchase; however, for a very limited time you can receive amazing early-bird savings on their soon-to-be retired photo cards, Christmas cards and holiday invitations. 

To help them celebrate the launch, they’re looking for contestants to review any of their very newest 2008 Christmas cards, holiday photo cards and business holiday cards for those who work in or own companies.   Simply go to Tiny Prints (www.tinyprints.com), browse your favorite 2008 holiday card designs currently being previewed and save your favorite 2008 design in your account by clicking the “save in favorites” button. Then come back to my blog and provide a link to the specific holiday card in the comments below indicating what you liked best about it.  Please note that some designs are so new that they cannot yet be customized, but will be soon (early October and hundreds more designs)!

The contest will run through Tuesday, September 30^th  2008.  Winners will then be drawn at random from people who have properly followed the above directions and placed comments in my blog post.  If you are not a homeschoolblogger, please place your e-mail address (the same one you used to create your account at Tiny Prints) in the field marked "anonymous", so participation can be verified.

These cards are fabulous and, depending on your holiday card list, $50 will go a long way in getting you some gorgeous cards to send to family and friends!  I'm anxious to get mine.  The only problem is, there are just so many gorgeous cards to choose from, I can't decide.  Go pick your favorite and come back and let me know.  You just might be the winner!  If you'd like a 2nd chance to win, post about this contest on your blog, with a link back to mine (don't forget to let me know you have done so!)

And the winner is:
Entry #1 - Leahlovesebooks!
Congratulations!

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If you still have a little one in diapers, I'm sure you can relate to the title of this post.  Though potty-training has been crossing my mind a good bit of late, we still came home from the grocery store with 3 packs of diapers last night!  They're upstairs, downstairs, in the diaper bag, and even occasionally in my purse, or floating loose in the van. 

I like to joke and say that Ian is a "diaper snob" - no cheap diapers for his bottom - no way!  He wears only the  best - HUGGIES!  I never really wore Huggies on the girls - so I'm not sure if they've really perfected things over the years or if they are just so much better for boys.  But, whatever the case, we are die-hard Huggies users at our house.

We don't have TV, so I haven't seen their newest commercial.  Maybe you have.  It looks like a funny one.  I enjoyed seeing this "making of the commercial video" - what a riot!

If you have a good "geyser story" of your own to share, go to this site and leave your story in a comment - winners will be awarded 3 Huggies diaper coupons and 2 Huggies wipes coupons - these are FREE coupons, not dollars or cents off! (did I mention we also use only Huggies wipes?  They are the best, I'm telling you!)  While there, check out how you can receive extra entries by sharing your story on your blog.  This is a great contest (for US residents only).

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I saw this meme over on Gina's blog and thought it looked like a fun (though somewhat time-consuming) way to start out the week.  The rules to this meme are simple: Just answer each question below by doing a Google Image Search for each answer. Display an image from the search as your answer (with minimal words of explanation). 

Here is my attempt to introduce myself via Google images:

The age I will be on my next birthday:

(I am so not into science, but this was the only graphic that actually showed the #)

Place I want to travel to:

(and will be in January!)

My favorite place:

(yes, I know, I'm repetitive!)

My favorite food:

My favorite pet:

My favorite color combination:

(I am so totally wanting this for my blog background!)

My favorite piece of clothing:

(only not so low-rise!)

My all-time favorite song:

(really, I love many songs and can't pick a favorite)

My favorite tv show:

First name of my significant other:

(apparently this player's name is Brian and since Brian likes football this seems the best of the worst photo choices I had to pick from!)

State I live in:

My screen name/nickname:

(I am SO proud that this book came up for my screen name 'cause that's my baby girl on that book!)

My first job:

(dipping ice cream at a campground - one of the only remaining paddleboat ferries in the US, I believe)

My dream job:

(yes, I'm living my dream!)

One bad habit that I have:

My worst fear:
SNAKES
(and I hate them so much I couldn't stand looking at the pictures)

Thing I'd like to do before I die:

(take my kids back to Vietnam for a Homeland Tour)

First thing I'll buy if I win a million dollars:

(a piece built onto my house)

My husband:

Present I would like for my next birthday:

(yes, I want a whole array of colors!)

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Wouldn't you love to win that assortment of goodies?!
It looks so much like fall and the things I love best about fall-
the smells of baked goods-
especially pumpkin and apple scents.

If you'd like to win, go to Moms in a Blog and find out how!

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I am running a contest over in my group at Christian Women Take Root.  The corresponding review will be posted tomorrow, but you are welcome to stop by and leave a comment to win anytime between now and next Friday.

The prize up for grabs is a dvd/cd combo, featuring an awesome talk given by Louie Giglio and a cd with 5 great worship songs. 

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