Book Reviews by Ehlen Administration

Congratulations to Liz , the lucky winner of the $35 CSN Gift Certificate! Enjoy that Dutch Oven (which reminds me, I so need one of those - not that I have any room to store it in my tiny kitchen) courtesy CSN! CSN has a lot of blog giveaways out there, and a lot of products to offer so go take a look!

So the nice folks at CSN offered to do another giveaway on my blog, this time for a $35 gift certificate. Guess they don't know my readership is somewhat limited huh ;) Anyway, details are below. CSN Stores is an online retail store that has EVERYTHING. Seriously, if you don't believe me go look around. You can find anything from an ottoman coffee table to cookware, strollers to pet supplies. The site offers hassle free returns and many items come with free shipping (although not all, so pay attention to what you're buying if you win the gift certificate!). I personally was drooling over the flooring options - yep they do home improvement too - but you'll understand why if you look at the post below that show pictures of the bottle of BBQ sauce David spilled all over the carpet. Rules for the giveaway: · You must complete Entry #1. If you do not, no other entries will count. · You must leave a separate comment for each entry. · ...

Ok I'm too tired to actually create the whole post, but CSN Stores has another giveaway to be offered here on my little ol' blog! Be thinking about what you want from their store and the giveaway post will be up shortly!

I'm very excited about my newest score in the in online winnings dept. There's a blog called Leslie Loves Veggies that routinely has multiple giveaways going on all the time. Not sure how Leslie keeps up with it, but I'm sure happy she does! It's one of those blogs that always has upwards of 300 comments on each post because everyone wants to be a winner, so while I do enter periodically I never think I have a chance of winning, given the number of entries. But guess what - I WON! And I won a big one too - well big for our family anyway. We've been considering getting David a bike, since he does so well with the big wheels and tricycles that he plays with at home and at grandmas. Now those of you with small children know that while bikes are great, they are expensive, and particularly when kids are little and growing fast it's hard to keep up with a lot of expensive toys and equipment. That's why I'm so excited to win a Glide Bike! We're getting Dav...

Ok, thanks to the fabulous random.org (my kids are napping so no Thomas lunchbox this time - ok they're supposed to be napping but the thunder may kill that plan) the winner is comment #15 - heartandsoulcooking! I am about to email you, and you have 3 days to verify your information or I will draw another winner. Thanks to all who participated, particularly those of you who had helpful suggestions for my adoption agency. Please do not hesitate to ask me if you have any questions about adoption or want to refer someone to my agency.

As most of you know, I’m an online contest addict. Sweepstakes, blog contests, promotional giveaways, you name it I enter, as long as I don’t have to pay anything or get spammed. (Note to all you contest junkies – opt out of further communication if you don’t want it! Or at least opt out when you get that first email newsletter.) I don’t do too badly either, I’ve won some nice stuff, although as yet no trips or giant cash prizes, not for lack of trying. But still, I enjoy getting freebies in the mail, even when I know they’re coming. So, when I was approached by CSN Stores about hosting a giveaway for a $40 gift certificate to one of their stores, I decided it was time that I give a little back. So without further adieu, I give you my first blog contest! CSN Stores is a group of online department stores that apparently has EVERYTHING you could possibly want. They have furniture like headboards , dining room sets and cribs, they have home décor, housewares, baby and kid stuff, stuff...

I have to admit, the concept of celebrating Earth Day always struck me as sort of ridiculous. I have never been the hug-a-tree type, although I dont' go out of my way to litter or spray cans of aerosol into the air either. Recently, as I am wont to do, I've been trying to figure out what exactly it is that rubs me the wrong way about Earth Day and its various celebrations. While I really despise how everyone tries to shove it in your face and make you feel like some horrible person if you throw a piece of paper in the garbage rather than recycle or forget to turn out a light if you leave the room (and GOD-FORBID you forget to turn out a fluorescent rather than CFL!), and I really get annoyed by all the energy companies pretending to have a conscience apart from turning a profit, which dang it all is what I want to see in my for-profit companies, and it's not simply because I despise the obvious political agenda or valuing EVERYTHING above human life, I've discovered tha...