Don't Forget to Enter Our Giveaway!

Thank you to all our wonderful subscribers.  We have gone over the 100 mark with email subscribers. YEAH!
 
If you haven't left your comments already, click here http://www.oursevendwarfs.com/2011/02/we-did-it-we-reached-100-verified-email.html to do so! 
 
The prize is a sign like this with the word of your choice:
 

 
Remember, you only have until Tuesday, February 8th, at 8:00 pm (EST) to enter this giveaway. Good Luck!
 

We Did It! We reached 100 verified email subscribers! Giveaway time!

One of our very lucky subscribers will win a sign like this:

And there's another surprise giveaway too!

This is what you need to do to enter to win.

   

     You must be a verified email or RSS subscriber to enter this contest.  If you are not sure that you are, just email us oursevendwarfs@gmail.com and ask.  If you aren't a subscriber, we'll help you become one!  

1.  Leave us a comment telling us you are an email subscriber. (Let us know who sent you to our site!)

2.  Leave us a separate comment telling us you like us on Facebook. (If you don't like us on facebook yet, go over and like us and come back and tell us you did.)

3.  Leave us a separate comment telling us you are a follower of our blog.

4.  Email at least 5 friends and tell them about our website and encourage them to become a subscriber.  Leave us a comment that you emailed at least 5 friends.  Wait for it... Here it is... If your friend becomes a verified email subscriber, have them enter this contest.  For their first comment, where they tell us they are a verified subscriber, have them tell us you sent them.  For every person that tells us that you sent them, you are entered in an entirely different giveaway... another chance for you to be a winner!

We are beaming with excitement about having such a great following. We've been blogging less than three months! The larger our following is, the greater chance we have to be sponsored by companies that will give us great things for giveaways.  We are working hard to make you winners!

Remember, you can leave a total of four separate comments.  You have until Tuesday, February 8th, at 8:00 pm (EST) to enter this contest.  The winner will be announced by 9:00 pm (EST).  The winner has until 2:00 pm, on Wednesday, February 9th, to send us their address and the word they'd like featured on their sign.  We'll get this in the mail in time for you to display it on Valentine's Day!

We'll also announce the winner of the secret giveaway at the same time.  The same rules apply.  We'll need your address by 2:00 pm in order for you to receive your prize by Valentine's Day.

Remember, leave a separate comment for each entry.  Good Luck!

Our Connection

A follower asked us how Jill and I met.  I have to admit, I kind of chuckled.  Jill and I are breast friends.  We are!

In my bio I said how I met many of my friends from my children.  Well, it's true.  It's also true that things happen for a reason.  At least in my case.

Breastfeeding did not come easy for me.  So, in September, 2006, as a mom of a two week old, I went to a breastfeeding support group.  There I met Jill, with her four month old son, Ryan.  We also met our three other breast friends. Amy, whose daughter Samy was a month old when we met her. Jennifer, whose son Jack was six weeks old when we met him.  Karla, whose daughter, Antonia, was five months old when we met her.  Our oldest kids have known each other most of their lives.  The five moms connected and Amy coined us, "Breast friends."

We've connected so well that in May, 2008 Jennifer had her second son, Abe.  In June, 2008, Jill had her second son, Evan.  In December, 2008, Amy had her second child, Quentin.  In January, 2009, I had my second daughter, Mariella.  Karla held and loved all our babies and told us how much she was enjoying her sleep!

Here are breast friend photos from November 2009.

Evan, Jill, Chris, and Ryan

John, Jack, Jennifer, and Abe

Sam, Samy, Amy, and Quentin

Chuck, Antonia, and Karla

Mariella, Shannon, John, and GraciAnn

The Kiddos

Jack, Ryan, Evan, Abe, GraciAnn, Mariella, Antonia, Aria (a neighbor), Samy, and Quentin

Jill decided to add a third to her mix and welcomed Anna in August of 2010.  Jennifer and I smile at Anna and tell her how beautiful she is.  Then we tell Jill that we are really enjoying our sleep.  Karla giggles and hugs her "only", beautiful almost five year old. Amy contemplates whether or not she wants to add a third. Then there's Jilll who's actually considering a fourth.  Amazing!

So, you see what I mean when I say things happen for a reason. If breastfeeding would have come easily for me, I wouldn't know these wonderful women that mean so much to me.  My children wouldn't have these wonderful friends they've known literally, all their lives.

Dear follower, would you ever have thought we'd have such a connection?  Interesting, eh? 

Apple Chicken Salad Recipe

My sister called me the other day wanting some recipe options and it reminded me of this delicious recipe.  It is another wonderful Paula Deen recipe, but this time, a healthy one!

Apple Chicken Salad with Red Grapes
Recipe Courtesy Paula Deen

2 skinless boneless chicken breasts, roasted or boiled
1 cup red grapes, halved (I used black grapes)
1 red apple, unpeeled, finely diced
1 two oz package slivered almonds, toasted
1/2 cup chopped celery

Dressing:
1/2 cup mayo
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp celery salt (I used seasoned salt)

Combine the chicken, grapes, apple, almonds and celery in a medium bowl.  Combine the mayo, honey, lemon juice and celery salt in a small bowl.  Whisk to combine.  Toss the dressing with the salad ingredients.  Chill until serving time.

This is great on fresh bakery rolls or sub rolls!

Enjoy!

I have a craft room!

On Friday, we will be blessed with a 'new to us' dining room set.  My husband's Aunt and Uncle are incredibly generous to us!

Since we will be getting this new set, that means our current dining room table needs to move.  We plan to it our kitchen, which in turn means we need to move our kitchen table.  Bingo!  I have a new craft table.  What does a new craft table need?  A craft room to exist in!

We have a family room downstairs that isn't getting utilized. As of this morning, it was a storage room for all the junk we have accumulated since Christmas and before.  Here is its sad state:

Evan doesn't seem to mind its messy state!

When I get an idea in my head, it is hard to convincing me otherwise.  I am a woman on a mission to transform this room into my craft room.  My Mom calls be the "Human Tornado."  I don't move slowly and I do more than I should.  The hubby wasn't home so anything that needed to be moved out, was done by me. You can call me patient as well (note sarcasm).  I did wait for him to help me move the table downstairs though.

I now have a craft room that can also be used by our family to watch television as well.  My husband announced to the kids tonight that they wouldn't see Mommy anymore in the evening as I would be in the craft room.  That's not completely true as the craft room is right next to the play room.  I think that is quite convenient!

After working for a few hours, this is what it looks like:

Now I get to utilize my craft room by creating some art for the walls!  They are bare and need some attention!  I will share my crafts and new pictures as it continues to transform!

A few money saving tips

I have a few money saving tips that I wanted to share with you!  These are things I have learned recently that have really helped me and I hope they will help you as well.

Tip #1:  Don't buy shaving cream!
Did you know that conditioner works just as well if not better than shaving cream?  I always have leftover conditioner.  When I run out of conditioner I make sure to purchase moisturizing conditioner.  It doesn't need to be expensive conditioner, just moisturizing!  I have found that my legs are softer and don't need lotion since I have substituted conditioner for shaving cream.

Tip #2:  Grow Green onions from the ones you used in tonight's dinner!
Green onions are expensive.  I recently learned that green onions will grow back when put in water.  When I use green onions in a meal, I cut off all the green portion for my meal and then I put the white part in a wide vase of water.  In a matter of days you will have long fresh green onion again.  This is also fun for the kids to watch!  Change the water every couple of days so it doesn't get funky smelling.

Tip #3:  Where to buy replacement glass
I have two boys, enough said, right?  I bought a beautiful large picture frame for our living room.  Evan got interested in the frame and decided to hit it with one of his plastic golf clubs.  Ugh!  The glass was shattered to smithereens! I was then on the hunt for replacement glass.  I called every glass shop in a half hour radius.  The replacement glass would cost me just a few dollars less than the cost of the frame.  Then I thought about those huge home improvement stores, you know the names, I don't need to advertise for them.  I got a sheet of glass cut for my frame (with leftover glass to keep) for $10!  That was a fourth of the cost of the glass shops!  Now, I even have extra glass for future breaks and also for some crafts!

Those are my favorite tips from the last month or two.  I'll have more and I promise I will share them with you!

Facebook Giveaway Winner & Another Upcoming Giveaway!

We are very thankful for all our new Facebook followers!  We gained a few more followers from this giveaway!  Welcome new followers!

We had 24 comments.  Sorry to those who didn't understand where to post, but we must stick to the rules. Now for our winner...

Congratulations #4!  Leslie Sowash wrote "Those are cute! Would love to have those." 

Leslie, please email us at oursevendwarfs@gmail.com with your address so we can send your heart clippies right away.  Thank you to all who entered!

We are less than 10 verified email subscribers away from our next giveaway! A frame like this one (a word that fits your situation) might be the next prize.  Hint, hint!

A few people were confused on how to enter the Facebook giveaway, so we are making it easier for you to enter this one.  Plus, we are giving you additional entries.  You can save yourself time, by checking that you can get all the entries now!  As soon as we have 100 verified email subscribers (see below for what that means), we will do the giveaway!

Here are the entries for the future giveaway:
1.  Subscribe by email.  An email subscription request will pop up.  Put in the letters in the box and then click 'complete subscription request'.  Then head to your email and click on the confirmation email.  Once you have clicked the link in your email, you will be an verified email subscriber.  Many people forget to verify which means you don't get our posts!  We would be well over 100 if all people verified!  You won't qualify for any entries unless you are a verified email subscriber.  Not sure if you are?  Email us, we will check.
2.  "Like" us on Facebook if you haven't already.
3.  Follow our blog if you haven't already.
4. Email five friends and send them to oursevendwarfs.com. Make sure you let us know you shared our site.


That is four ways to enter this FUTURE giveaway.  We want you to be prepared and have every chance to win.  If you are ever confused on how to do any of these things, email us, we will be happy to assist you!


Thanks for following us and Happy Crafting!

Jill's-All about me!

Our 2010 Christmas Picture

I have to start with my roots. I'm a Kentucky girl. I bleed blue (University of Kentucky) all the way. I'm a proud alumni!

I love living in Georgia, but I will always be a Kentucky girl at heart.  I think Ashley Judd put it best, "Tough girls come from New York. Sweet girls, they're from Georgia. But us Kentucky girls, we have fire and ice in our blood. We can ride horses, be a debutante, throw left hooks, and drink with the boys, all the while making sweet tea, darlin'. And if we have an opinion, you know you're gonna hear it." We aren't southern or northern, we are just Kentuckians!

I married my high school sweetheart, Chris.  May of 2011 will mark our 10 year anniversary!  Chris is a wonderful husband and fantastic father.  I couldn't ask for a better man.   God blessed me with  my better half.  Chris is the Associate Minister at our church.  He works really hard to balance time in ministry and family time. (I don't have a picture of just the two of us.  The last time we had a picture made of just us was 10 years ago!)

I have three little blessings that call me Mom.  Ryan (4), Evan (2) and Anna (almost 6 months).  They are all 25 months apart. (We didn't plan it that way either). I never knew how happy and fulfilled having kids would make me.  My kids bring me so much joy, laughter and love.  I understand God's love for me more now with my own children than I ever did before.  Some people think I am crazy for having three kids, but I love it.  They keep me busy and are the best free entertainment!  After the kids go to bed at night, my husband and I just laugh at all the funny things they did that day.

Ryan

Evan

Anna

Our Family 2010

Before staying home with my kids, I was a Middle School teacher.  I loved teaching those sarcastic, hormonal teenagers!  It definitely takes a special breed to teach Middle school.  I say that I am retired for now, but I know I will eventually return to teaching.  It has been nice staying at home as it has given our family more flexibility to spend time together.


My days are busy.  I am shuttling Ryan to preschool, running errands, meeting up with friends, eventually getting the house clean and laundry completed, crafting, blogging, playing with the kids,  napping, making dinner, spending time with the hubby, and staying up late crafting some more!

My love of crafting started at a very young age.  My great-grandmother taught me to crochet at around 7 years old.  Unfortunately, she died when I was 12 and I lost my knowledge of how to crochet. During my senior year in college, I picked up a book on how to teach yourself to crochet and voila, I am back in the swing of it!  In addition to crocheting, I grew up doing cross stitch.  On our family vacations, my sister and I  would do cross stitch in the backseat as we drove to our destination.  

I didn't start sewing until I was married.  I asked for a sewing machine for my birthday and once again, I'm self-taught.  I cannot do a pattern for the life of me!  I think it is my self-diagnosed ADHD.  I just can't seem to follow the directions and do it just like the pattern wants me to.  Instead, I like to examine other products and try to figure out how to make it.  I do better at that.

I love to take every opportunity I have to learn new crafts.  About 6 months ago, Shannon told me about the Silhouette cutting machine.  Now, I am a Silhouette junky!  It is so nice to be able to cut any shape or font and make some beautiful creations.  I have lots of projects in the works to show you.

If you can't tell, crafting is my outlet.  I can't just sit still.  I have to be doing something.  After the kids go to bed, I am either working on the computer or crafting in some way.  It is my stress reliever!

I am looking forward to new craft adventures and all the friends we make along the way!