Hurry! Time's Running Out! Greatest Giveaway ever!

Want to spend the night with Matthew McConaughey? He is a hottie...Personally, I don't think they are made much better looking than him!





Enter here for the best giveaway EVER to be offered on a blog. Sound good?

Giveaway ends Wednesday February 10. 2010 11:59 P.M. EST. Entrance rules follow:

1, Tweet this giveaway 99 times. For each additional tweet earn 4 extra entries.
2. Become a facebook fan and earn 20 extra entries for each friend of yours who
also becomes a fan.
3. Leave a heartfelt comment.
4. Leave a funny comment.
5. Post a blog about this fabulous giveaway.
6. Place a sign above your place of employment/residence.
5. Generally kiss my a** in any creative way you can.

The prize: ONE FABULOUS NIGHT in PARADISE sleeping (yes, SLEEPING) with MATTHEW MCCONAUGHY in bed. HE CAN BE YOURS FOR ONE FULL NIGHT!!!

I will send this picture for free to one lucky winner. Return postage included.

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Bedtime for Francis--and Lil Bits, Too

Okay, so I bought it...the concept that reading to your child is significant; so important, in fact, that the impact is indicative of future success. Well, who am I to deny the best for Lil Bits? We buy books, new, used, old, recently published, classics and when buying books gets to be too much...we borrow them...I like reading to Lil Bits and it's an activity she enjoys, especially at bedtime, but that can't be because she's stalling the inevitable, can it?

If truth be told, Lil Bits now "reads" alot...turning the pages and telling the story. She also has a pretty extensive vocabulary, and I think reading has something to do with that.

This weekend, stuck in with the snow, was the perfect time to sort out those books ready to retire to book heaven...so many, often touted as "best" that just didn't carry appeal--for her or for me. And if I don't like it, it shows...At the same time we found among the stacks (yes, stacks) "Bedtime for Francis", put away in the "save for later" being too long to read at the time it was given to her. (yup, it was my mother!)

Francis was a favorite of mine in childhood, and Lil Bits enjoys "Bread and Jam for Francis". Last night I enthusiastically read her "Bedtime for Francis" loving every moment being transported back to my own childhood. I used to laugh at people who went nuts over illustrators of children's books, elevating them to demigods. I have, ahem, become one. Garth Williams did these, and they are so endearing the characters seem real rather than on the page. (Did I just say that?)

As you may know Francis has a hard time going to bed. She sees a monster, needs a drink of water, until she finally frustrates her parents no end. Sound familiar?

Content and sleepy, Lil Bits kissed me goodnight. Ten minutes later she came out of her room. "Mommy, I'm thirsty". Twenty minutes after that "Why are the shadows on the wall?" And this went on, and on, and on...

I'm so glad I like to read to my daughter!

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Breaking News

Several days ago I came across this weird story. A 35 year old woman was removed from a toilet in Kansas and taken to a hospital with toilet seat attached. Seems she'd been sitting there for two years. Reportedly she was unhappy about the medical intervention and her boyfriend was being questioned on why he waited that whole time to call. Hmm..very strange I thought.



Until this morning I had a fantasy. Lil Bits and I have been in the house for six days. First she was sick, then I was sick, and now we're in the midst of a snowstorm predicted to leave about 24 inches of snow. By 9 A.M. I had given her a time out. I'm not big on giving them; usually a warning suffices. Usually I enjoy our time together, well aware that too soon she'll be in school full time. To say, however, she's been climbing the walls is putting it mildly...which brings me to my fantasy. I can see the headlines now:

"FOUR YEAR OLD TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL WITH CARPET ATTACHED TO BUTT".

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A Label With A View

Lil Bits was sobbing after bedtime tonight. PANIC! At one she had cried at night when I left her room. Not knowing what to do, uncomfortable sleeping next to her crib on the floor, I did what any self-respecting sensible mother would do: I asked everyone I knew for advice. Consensus was clear: the Ferber method...the only one that works, the most highly respected, a definite need to follow to allow your child to develop a healthy, normal, well balanced life.

Ouch, it was hard. You had to let your child cry a little longer each interval while you waited to reassure her you were still there. No touching was allowed; no staying in the room. I survived. She did, too.

Fast forward...what? three years?...attachment parenting is all the rage, theory being that the development of bond between parent and child supersedes any other intervention...Oh, God, did I harm her for life?

Hi! My name is Alyssa and I am an "expert addict". I am trying to abstain from seeking any "expert" advice one day at a time. I have been free of reading any parenting books now for...

Really, these "parenting experts" should be mandated to carry a label:






I should have known better. My parents were "expert addicts" too. Warned in the seventies of the detrimental effects of stereotypical violent characteristics of fairy tales I wasn't encouraged to read them. Instead I was fed a steady diet of the "realistic fiction" so highly touted at the time...Judy Blume, Little Bear, Frances...yeh, talking animals, that did me goooood....By today we ALL know the virtues of imagination that only fairy tales can bring. And Mother Goose? It's a wonder I ever learned to read without it!

That brings me to my point. I knew better than to listen to my mother. But I have found, that for some of us, at least, seeking expert opinions can be detrimental to our health.

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Rumor Has It The Pioneer Woman May Have Competition

I am very excited because drum roll please...



Testing...Hello...

Can you hear me?...Is this thing working....

Checking One..

Checking Two...

Checking Three...



I have decided to participate in Wordful Wednesday which is a meme/carnival from Seven Clown Circus and I really want to thank Angie for being so kind, wonderful, and sweet! As described on her site: Wordful Wednesday is a way to showcase a photo(s) that we just can’t seem to keep our mouths shut about. So without further ado ladies and gentlemen I present the very first Wordful Wednesday to you.





I think the Pioneer Woman may have some competition.




Although I don't see a cookbook in the near future.



After all she is only four. I am not the pushy mom type!

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