Winner, winner.

The winner of the contest on this post is Jennie Shellenburger!

Congrats Jennie! Contact me at beaverbunch (at) gmail dot com so I can mail you your Storybook Bible!

Technically, Mikaila was first but she said she already had a JSB so Jennie is the first runner up. Like Miss America except with less tears and make up and there's no swim suit round.

Winner, winner chicken dinner. Jennie, if I don't hear from you by Friday, I'll go on the the next person. Cool beans?

A mothering milestone contest!

In 2002 it was 50% of our household.

In 2004 it jumped to 67%.

In 2006 it rose again to 80%.

In mid-2008 it climbed to a staggering 83% of our household.

By the end of 2008, when I thought it couldn't possibly get any higher, it rose to an all time high of 86%.

In 2010 it fell just a bit to 75%.

In mid-2012 it was 56%.

Today, a milestone in our home, has lowered it to the lowest ever at 33%!!! Yipppeee!

In 10 years it's not been even in the neighborhood of the 30s until today, which brought me a glimmer of hope, people.

If you can guess what these percentages are referencing, I'll mail you a paper copy (or buy you the Kindle or Nook copy if you live outside the continental US) of the Jesus Storybook Bible, our family's favorite story time Bible.

To enter, simply leave a comment with your best guess. The most precise guess wins! You can only enter once per user id. If your user id doesn't take me to an email or way to contact you, please leave that in the comments section also in case you win!

* I have not been compensated by the Jesus Storybook Bible or Zonderkids for this post, I simply love this Bible.

** If I texted you the big news this morning, you're automatically disqualified. Sorry!

Entries accepted until 12:01am Saturday, October 6th, EST. Happy guessing!

Das Not Funny! Friday: A real winner

Your regularly scheduled laughs at my children's expense are being postponed this week to reveal to you my nerdiness. Reader discretion is not at all advised. Unless you have an aversion to nerds, then you might want to look away.

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Hey folks. Well, I stayed up super late just so I could draw a winner for the kikoi/iTunes giveaway. Okay not just for that. Actually, a friend and I had plans earlier this evening and I'm up because I'm still a tiny bit giddy from the little excursion we took.

If, at any time, I've ever deceived you into you thinking I was cool get ready because I'm about to blow my cover big time.

When I texted (clearly the spell check powers that be have not caught up with the coolness of 2010 because "texted" has a red squiggly line under it and I know it's a real word) my friend to confirm our plans for tonight, she texted me back saying she had to run an errand. Let me just say that when she told me where we'd be going I got a tad lot excited. This place just makes my little heart flutter for reasons totally inexplicable to me. Remember that time I was NOT Type A? Yeah. That's now.

Anyway, I know that you're just dying to know where we went, aren't you? Well, brace yourself people. Serious nerd alert.

Staples.

Yes, the office supply store.

I can't tell you how much I love going into office supply stores. My affection for them isn't something that I share freely, er....at least until now. But y'all, I love them. Something about the fresh paper, all the pens full of ink, the crisp, new folders and the stickers and post-its. Well, it's more than my little self can take.

Oh. And tonight. GET THIS. They have this new snazzy idea. There's this little station filled with fun shaped paperclips and soccer ball erasers and highlighters and large paper clips and magnets and other such fun and you get a little tub and you can put as much in as will fit and it's ONLY $5.99.

I just about peed my pants I was so excited. I may have even clapped my hands. Seriously. I dropped my container once on the counter and once on the floor. I guess my hands were a little shaky from all the excitement.

I'm totally serious.

See? I told you I'd totally ruin any coolness you ever saw within me. Who gets that excited over office supplies? Especially when THEY DON'T EVEN HAVE AN OFFICE TO SUPPLY?!

Me = total dork.

So how do office supplies relate to the winner for my kikoi/iTunes giveaway? They don't. Not one bit. But I thought you should know the truth about me. And the truth is. I'm a freako nerd. Welcome to my world.

Alright, now for a winner. Thanks to Random.org the choosing of the $15 iTunes giftcard is totally unbiased by my nerdy, office supply store loving self. There were a total of 16 eligible entries (Because not everyone knows how to follow directions...ahem). Random.org chose lucky number 1 as our winner!

Wooo hoooo Chasity!

Congrats! Email me at beaverbunch (at) gmail (d0t) com and we'll work out getting your gift card to you.

In the meantime people, enjoy your weekend. If you need me, I'll be sniffing my new erasers and sorting my new five dollar and ninety-nine cent container full of office supply goodies.

I'm totally serious.

iTunes Giveaway: Last Chance!

You have until 11:59pm EST today to enter my giveaway for the $15 iTunes gift card. All you have to do is either buy 1 (or 2) of the remaining kikois or blog, tweet or post on facebook about the kikois for sale. All the funds from the kikoi sales will help bring home orphans by supporting the adoption of my friends Chris and Lindy.

Click here for full details. Don't forget to leave a comment for EACH entry. Please leave those comments over on the original post. Thanks!

Winner

Remember this post? You know, the one that made me famous? Heh. Yeah, I'll admit I almost forgot about awarding a winner. I went back and forth, back and forth over whether to be lazy and award someone with stupid, useless Beaver points (which, I mean SOUNDS cool) or to award someone with an ACTUAL prize.

I chose a prize. I mean, if you like what I'm giving away, it's a PRIZE. Otherwise, use it as a coaster.

Annnyway..... (insert drumroll)

The lucky winner is the 8rd (chuckle, chuckle) commenter which was The Bannister Family! Congrats Bannisters! I'll be giving you a copy of David Platt's new book Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From The American Dream.

You can see my original post of Elizabeth's messed up birthday cake by clicking here.

And, as for clarification on the "fixed" version of the cake...if my memory serves me correctly (which most times my memory does not serve me at all, much less correctly so take this as you will)...

Almost 4 years ago, when I ordered this cake, I stood beside the lady as she wrote out our cake order. On her scratch pad she wrote, "Happy 2rd Birthday Elizabeth."

To which I said, "Don't you mean second?"

In turn, she scribbled out the entire "2rd" and wrote something, undecipherable, above it. Yes, I should have asked for further clarification. No, I didn't. Clearly.

And, just for the record, when I write "2rd," in my head, I hear the word "terd."

Poop is inevitable when you read my posts, people. Even when I talk about cake. Deal with it. I do do.

I'M FAMOUS!!! Except, not really

It shouldn't be a surprise to you that one of my favorite sites is Cake Wrecks. I mean, what could tickle me more than brilliantly remarkable screw ups that make you laugh, literally out loud, AND they're made entirely of cake?

Nothing, that's what.

I mean, come on people. It's like the hilarity and flavor of heaven all in one website. Perfection I tell you. Well, not really perfection because, hello?, they are messed up cakes.

At any rate, when I first found the Cake Wrecks blog, I immediately submitted a cake that was made for one of my family members.

TODAY ON CAKE WRECKS, my cake made it to press!!

That's right people, it's like the 7 phases of Kevin Bacon except without the Kevin Bacon. Which means I'm totally famous now!

So, here's the deal, check out this post over on Cake Wrecks. Come back and leave me a comment telling me which cake is the one I submitted (it's not that difficult because I've blogged about our cake screw up before). Of the correct answers I will randomly pick a winner and award them with a prize.

Your prize could be as arbitrary as 584 Beaver points (which are totally worthless). Or possibly something a little more enticing. (Cut me some slack here people, I've gotta figure out what would be a cool gift and right now I DO NOT have the brain power. Work yourself up for the points and if it's something better, well, then HOORAY!)

You have until 11:59pm on Friday, May 28, 2010 to enter. After that, and when our lives return to normal (normal for us anyway) I'll pick a winner using Random.org.

Happy caking, everyone.

Hummm...that reminds me...I've gotta go order the twins' birthday cakes for their party on Saturday. Think I should use the same place as when I ordered the Wreck? Naaaaaaahhhhh....

Tell 'em what they've won...

Well, I was all excited about using Random.org to generate a fancy, schmantsy list of 5 random entries.

But, there was no need. That's because, in all, there were only 5 different people who entered the giveaway! (Although I would have sworn there were 6, but my list shows differently. So #6, if I left you off the list below, email me and I'll send you one as well. I love how my brain works SO efficiently when I'm pregnant).

Anyway, here are the winners in no particular order:

Wendi

Vonda

The Hall Family

Lady Araujo (I love that her plug for R4R was bilingual! I just wish I could understand the rest of her blog!)

The Caldwells

Congratulations!

For those of you to whom it applies, please email me your mailing address at: beaverbunch (at) gmail (dot) com and I'll try to pop your Bible in the mail early next week!

Oh, and #6, if I really did omit your entry somehow, please email me also. I just knew there were six people but......

Giveaway! Giveaway! Last day to enter!

Today is the LAST day to enter my giveaway for your own copy of the Jesus Storybook Bible! The contest closes tonight at 11:59pm EST.

Check out this post to see how YOU can enter. It's easy and painless and I PROMISE you won't be disappointed if you win.

I'll announce the winners (hopefully) tomorrow!

Y'all have a great Wednesday!

Giveaway! Giveaway! Read all about it...

What's that?

You didn't know you could win something? Shame on you! Here are the quick details....

I'm hosting a SUPER, AWESOME, FABULOUS giveaway. Click here to read about how YOU can win 1 of 5 copies of the Jesus Storybook Bible!

Giveaway ends at 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, November 18th. Go! Click HERE now! Um.....you know, please.

Jesus Storybook Bible Giveaway!!!!

I will begin this post by saying that I have not been financially compensated by Zonderkidz, Zondervan or any of its affiliates for any endorsement of their product. I heard through some webish grapevine that there is a new, boring law that could get me in trouble if I host a giveaway and do not disclose whether or not I have been financially compensated. I have not.

I wish I had. What a life, huh? Paid to give stuff away. Bring. it. on.

Mmmmkay. Now that those technicalities are outta the way...

I'm am SO STOKED!!! This will be a lengthy post where I overuse the italics feature and possibly too many exclamation points!!!!

Somehow, by the grace of God himself, I won several copies of the Jesus Storybook Bible Deluxe Edition. First of all, lemme just tell you what an incredibly, cool Bible this is. Then I will tell you how YOU have a chance to win 1 of 5 copies that I'm gonna give away, right here.

Oh yes people, I'm that fancy.

First of all, this Bible.

I LOVE it.

Yes, technically it is a Children's Bible.

Technically.

But I've never been one to classify myself by a mere technicality.

Our kids love this Bible, I love this Bible and Luke loves this Bible. It's fun to read, easy to understand and sparks some seriously great discussions with our oldest three children. It is beautifully illustrated and the author does an incredible job of taking every story in scripture and richly bringing it full circle, back to the miracle of Christ.

I'm tellin' you, that Sally Lloyd-Jones is magnificent.

Most times, when we read these stories to our children I get teary eyed. And that's just the plain 'ol regular version. You see, we've owned this Bible for some time now. My mom got each of the big kids their own copy a while back. It's been a frequent reading in our bedtime story routine for almost a year.

But this Deluxe Edition is something real special. It comes with 3 audio CDs where you can listen to this guy, who has an incredible accent by the way, read with passion and all those fancy voice inflections that your English teachers always wanted you to do in school.

It's superb. Just superb.

Check out the Jesus Storybook Bible's website to see samples of the stories and hear excerpts of the audio CDs. (I tried to steal some of their photos and such, but they've got it all copyrighted and blocked. Darn those big wig publishers and their fancy, schmantsy computer nerds!)

I promise you won't be disappointed if you check out their stuff. Some stuff, like downloads, are even FREE.

Okay, so onto the Giveaway, right?

Up for, er, giveaway are 5 copies of the Deluxe Edition Jesus Storybook Bible. Each copy includes:

1 Deluxe Edition Bible in Hardback
3 Audio CDs of the stories included in the Bible
1 case to store your new Bible treasure
1 promise from yours truly that this will become your new, favorite family Bible (and isn't that worth more than the other 3 combined? No? oh well...)

I PROMISE you will want to win one of these sets.

You have several options to enter the giveaway. Here they are, in no particular order.

Option #1. Read my post about Run 4 Revolution. Then, click here to donate $5.00 toward ending child sex trafficking and to support the International Justice Mission. Once you go to the Run 4 Revolution site, scroll down and click on "Sponsor" on the left side of the page.

For every $5.00 you donate, you get an entry. (For example, if you donate $15.00 that is THREE full entries.)

If you are thinking of going all in and purchasing 7 or more entries, you can simply click here and join Run 4 Revolution for the low, low price of $35. You'll get lots of cool stuff, support a great cause (one that is currently awaiting it's 501(c)(3) status) AND you'll get TEN whole entries for the price of 7. That's a bargain people, and you all know how I'm all about bargains.

And, the best part is, you DON'T HAVE TO BE A RUNNER TO JOIN. It's simple, really. So grab a donut and click away peeps.

Please be sure to put "Bible Giveaway" in the text box when you pay via Paypal. And it probably wouldn't hurt you to double up and shoot me an email me (beaverbunch (at) gmail (dot) com) telling me you've donated and how many entries you purchased. My friend Lindsey will be checking on the R4R side but just to be safe, email me too.

Option #2. Read my post about Run 4 Revolution. Then, YOU blog about Child Sex Trafficking AND Run 4 Revolution. You must link to the Run 4 Revolution website somewhere in your post. You'll get bonus sprinkles if you use the logo by swiping it from their site. Sprinkles don't count as entries. They just look good.

Come back and leave a comment giving me the URL address of your POST.


Option #3. Read my post about Run 4 Revolution. Then, put the Run 4 Revolution widget on your blog. You can see what it looks like by checking out my upper right sidebar. It's super cool and super easy. Simply go here, copy that funky looking text/code at the bottom of the second box and paste it into an HTML/Java Script Gadget in the Layout section of your blog.

Come back and leave a comment giving me the URL address of your blog.


That's it! Three incredibly simple ways to enter. You can gain an entry into the giveaway by doing EACH of the things listed above. However, you will only win one Bible. Sorry folks. If you don't have a blog, well, sorry. Looks like you'll just have to purchase your entries OR start a blog ASAP and get to bloggin'.

Entries will be accepted until Wednesday, November 18, 2009 at 11:59pm EST. Winners will be announced the following week.

The retail price for the Deluxe Edition Jesus Storybook Bible is $24.99 and can be purchased by clicking here or on your favorite retail site, such as Amazon.

Good luck! Let the RACE begin!

Monday, Monday

Wow. Today has been a MON-DAY.

Baby Girl has therapy on Monday mornings and when the therapist showed up I was half dressed and still brushing my teeth.

At lunch, Aaron decided he only wanted apples and yogurt for lunch. Which works out fine except that he likes to swallow all foods completely whole. That works well for yogurt. Notsomuch for apple slices.

Finally, at naptime Lucas decided that he was afraid of his room because of dinosaurs, then zebras, then hungry wolves.

So, I decided to let him rest with Elizabeth while I got some much needed housework blogging done. Instead of napping the two of them played and giggled and ultimately broke Lucas' most prized possession. A "Spirit" horse statue.

Insert massive freak out by Lucas.

He is currently screaming at/for me from his bedroom. I am praying he finally falls asleep so that he won't be a screaming-banshee-terror-child later.

Sigh.

Is it Friday yet?

Stay tuned this week because I am super excited about an amazing Giveaway I have scheduled for Wednesday!

That is, unless Lucas' room continues to be invaded by gorillas or zebras or crocodiles or....