Pampered Chef Product Winner Announcement

I'm sorry for the delay, but very excited to announce my winners for the Pampered Chef giveaways sponsored by Maryanne Taylor, Pampered Chef Consultant.  First off, I'd like to give a special thanks for the readers that made a purchase to benefit the families affected by Hurricane Irene.  I wish I had a prize to give all three of you!  That being said, I don't... so let's get right to the winners.

The winner of the Bamboo Block Knife Set is post #2, Kathryn.  Congratulations!  I've verified your purchase with Maryanne, and we'll get your prize out to you ASAP.  I hope you enjoy your prize!

The winner of the 1-2-3 Dip! Set is post # 45, Jean.  Congratulations!  Please check your email & get your shipping address to me soon so you can receive your prize!

I'd really like to thank Maryanne for being so generous to donate a portion of her proceeds, as well as sponsoring the giveaways for my readers!

I Like To Eat Eat Eat... Apples & Bananas

Or Apples & Pears, according to this adorable girl's dress:

I made this cute peasant-style top several weeks ago.  It's a fabric I never would have selected on my own, but couldn't be more thrilled with the result.  My friend Christine brought it over one night several weeks ago for us to do some sewing, and voila!  And I must say that I was very pleased with myself for adding custom-made pockets to the front.  I'm getting to be quite brave, you know.  (Olivia has a matching one in-the-works, my sore back has prevented me from doing any sewing for quite some time... so her photo shoot will be a bit delayed)

This dress is so free and fun, it could be worn just about anywhere.  And it was seriously so easy, I think I'll make a whole bunch just like it!

Katelyn thinks it looks best with her boots...

Don't you agree?

Our Little Bookworm

More often than not, Katelyn prefers to read books over pretty much any other activity or toy that we have.  She frequently sits upstairs all by herself with a big pile of books for hours on end.  Recently, on a lazy Sunday where we weren't doing much of anything at all, I'm pretty sure Katelyn spent a total of over 4 hours reading books to herself.  It is one of the cutest things I've ever seen.  We have even found her reading to a row of stuffed animals or baby dolls that she set up on the floor, although I have yet to capture a picture of that one.

I love how each of our kids truly has their own personality, and I am in love with watching them develop into unique individuals.  I often wonder how the way that they do things now and the things that they enjoy now means in terms of what they will become as adults.  Will Katelyn be as fascinated with books as an adult as she is as a two-year old?  I certainly hope so.  Whether she continues to love books as a hobby, or it helps her to become a successful intellectual, I hope that she never stops wanting to learn in the way that she does now.

Here are a couple of pictures of Katelyn & her books:

Caution: Prescription Pain Relievers Are Addicting

I recently hurt my back really badly.  I'm not exactly sure how I hurt it, but I do know some of the triggers that have caused me to be in pain for a full month.  Last week I finally went to see a doctor, who gave me strict orders to rest as much as possible until it is 100% better.  She also gave me some information on ways that I can help prevent this from happening again, as well as a couple of scripts for meds that I've been taking responsibly.

I believe the medications that she gave me are in the "narcotic" category, and I am not writing this to declare myself a drug-addict.  No need to worry.... I am not the next Anna Nicole Smith.  My tits aren't big enough for that gig, anyway.  I'm simply writing to acknowledge the fact that I can see why people get addicted to taking meds like this.  Especially people that are sleep-deprived, stressed, or in constant pain.  It's actually scary how easy it would be for someone to begin feeling like they "need" a pill to get a good night's sleep.  And then they "need" a pill to get though the day.  And then they "need" a pill to start the morning.  It is totally crazy how quickly something as simple as taking a pill to stop hurting and get some rest could become a dangerous habit for someone that could potentially ruin their life.

Not for me though.  While I felt like I got the best night's sleep I've gotten since before I had children, I don't like sleeping so soundly that I feel like I couldn't get up if you blew a foghorn in my ear.  (My husband will tell you that I'm that difficult to wake up on a regular basis, but I only act like that on the weekends so he'll go take care of the children!  Shhhhh... don't tell him I admitted that.)  Aside from that, I also did not like the crazy weird, often creepy dreams I had when I took the meds.  So don't worry.  I'm not an addict, nor will I become one.

So what exactly is the purpose of this post?  I guess it's just to point out the obvious... that prescription pain medication can be habit-forming.  But also to point out that I'm pretty sure regular, normal, seemingly in-control people could easily get addicted to the narcotic variety as well. It's not just the crazy non-celebrity celebrities & Michael Jacksons of the world.  So use with caution.  Obviously.

Pampered Chef Fundraiser/Giveaway Ending Soon

Who doesn't love a good kitchen gadget?  And who doesn't love helping out people that have been affected by extreme natural disasters?  Well, for a few more days, any purchase that you make from The Pampered Chef will help raise money for families that were affected by Hurricane Irene last month. *To make a purchase, enter "thoushallnot whine" in the first and last name text boxes as your host.*  And don't forget, any purchase that you make will make you eligible to win a fantastic prize:

The Bamboo Block Knife Set features a 5" Santoku Knife, a 5" Utility knife, a 3" Petite Pairing knife, and Kitchen Shears (my personal favorite kitchen tool!). 2 additional slots allow for you to store your already existing knives, or add to your set at a later date.  The retail value of this set is $149!

Once you've made a purchase through Maryanne's personal Pampered Chef Website, please return here and leave a comment.  That comment will count as your entry to the giveaway for the knife set.  Every purchase, big or small will benefit the families affected by Hurricane Irene, so please consider making a purchase to support this great cause.

This Fundraiser and giveaway will be open until Tuesday, September 27th, 2011 at 11:59 PM EST.  Winner will be selected via Random.org, verified as a purchaser, and notified shortly thereafter.  Now hurry on over to The Pampered Chef & do some shopping!

Hurricane Irene Relief Fundraiser & **Knife Set Giveaway**

***Sponsored by The Pampered Chef***

Last month Hurricane Irene battered the East Coast and caused as much as $6.6 billion dollars in damages to homes, businesses, structures, and vehicles.  46 Americans lost their lives, and thousands of American families are left homeless due to the dangerous storm surges and catastrophic flood waters.  Luckily, my family remained safe from the storm, and unharmed (other than the inconvenience of no power for several days).  However, I'd like to remind you all that not everyone in our country has been so lucky.

This week I was contacted by a Maryanne Taylor, a Pampered Chef Consultant who is working hard to raise money to help the families affected by Hurricane Irene.  Over the next 2 weeks, for every purchase through her website, Pampered Chef will donate 10-15% of the proceeds (the more sales = higher percentage) to The American Red Cross to assist those struggling from this devastating storm.  Ya'll might be saying, what's in it for me?  Think of it this way: you will be getting great products, and at no added cost to you make a donation to the thousands of fellow Americans who have lost their loved ones, homes, belongings, and more from Hurricane Irene.  This is an awesome opportunity for us all, as we are able to purchase high-quality kitchen and entertaining products and help others in the at the same time!

Want to help?  Great!  Please visit Maryanne's Personal Pampered Chef Website, and make a purchase.  Remember that 10-15% of your purchase will go directly to the families who have lost so much due to the storm.  Once you've made your purchase, come back and leave a comment on this post to be entered to win this incredible Bamboo Block Knife Set, a $149 value!

This set features a 5" Santoku Knife, a 5" Utility knife, a 3" Petite Pairing knife, and Kitchen Shears (my personal favorite kitchen tool!). 2 additional slots allow for you to store your already existing knives, or add to your set at a later date.

Due to the high-value of this prize, this giveaway will be open to those that make a purchase through Maryanne's personal Pampered Chef Website.  Every purchase, big or small will benefit the families affected by Hurricane Irene, so please consider making a purchase to support this great cause.

This Fundraiser and giveaway will be open until Tuesday, September 27th, 2011 at 11:59 PM EST.  Winner will be selected via Random.org, verified as a purchaser, and notified shortly thereafter.  Now hurry on over to The Pampered Chef & do some shopping.  We all deserve to spoil ourselves with another fun kitchen gadget, and it's for a great cause!

Disclosure:  All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.  No monetary payment was received for this post.  I was provided product and information from The Pampered Chef.

The Pampered Chef Fundraiser & Giveaway *revised*

***Giveaway Item Revised***

Last month Hurricane Irene battered the East Coast and caused as much as $6.6 billion dollars in damages to homes, businesses, structures, and vehicles.  46 Americans lost their lives, and thousands of American families are left homeless due to the dangerous storm surges and catastrophic flood waters.  Luckily, my family remained safe from the storm, and unharmed (other than the inconvenience of no power for several days).  However, I'd like to remind you all that not everyone in our country has been so lucky.

This week I was contacted by a Maryanne Taylor, a Pampered Chef Consultant who is working hard to raise money to help the families affected by Hurricane Irene.  Over the next 2 weeks, for every purchase through her website, Pampered Chef will donate 10-15% of the proceeds (the more sales = higher percentage) to The American Red Cross to assist those struggling from this devastating storm.  Ya'll might be saying, what's in it for me?  Think of it this way: you will be getting great products, and at no added cost to you make a donation to the thousands of fellow Americans who have lost their loved ones, homes, belongings, and more from Hurricane Irene.  This is an awesome opportunity for us all, as we are able to purchase high-quality kitchen and entertaining products and help others in the at the same time!

Maryanne has been generous enough to offer to sponsor a giveaway on my blog, and everyone has a chance to win this 1-2-3 Dip! Set from Pampered Chef:

This set includes the exclusive Lemon & Rosemary Oil Dipping Seasoning, Parmesan-Garlic Oil Dipping Seasoning, a Small Bamboo Spoon Set, all packaged in a adorable Muslin Gift Bag.  Perfect for treating yourself, or giving as a gift!
There is NO PURCHASE NECESSARY to enter to win this giveaway.  However, people who do make a purchase from Maryanne's personal Pampered Chef Website are invited to enter this giveaway for an awesome Bamboo Block Knife Set, valued at $149! Here is how it'll work:

• 1st entry: Visit Maryanne's personal Pampered Chef Website & leave me a comment on this post to tell me one item that you would LOVE to own. (no purchase necessary, although strongly encouraged!)
• 5 additional entries: Make a purchase from Maryanne's personal Pampered Chef Website (using Thoushallnot Whine as your host).  Leave 5 more comments on this post to count as your entries. -Purchases will be confirmed with Maryanne when the winner is selected, so please do this after you've placed your order.  Also be sure to enter the giveaway on Pampered Chef Hurricane Irene Relief Fundraiser Post. (open to purchasers only)

Please remember that I must have a way to get in touch with you if you win.  All are welcome to enter; please leave your contact info if it's not visible through your profile.  The giveaway starts now and will close on Tuesday, September 27th, 2011 at 11:59pm EST.  The winner will be selected via Random.org, and notified shortly thereafter.

Disclosure:  All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.  No monetary payment was received for this post.  I was provided product and information from The Pampered Chef.

Proud Mom Moment

My proud mom moment of the weekend:

We took the kids to the children's museum on a rainy, humid, Labor Day Monday.  Katelyn is potty trained (wearing underpants), Olivia is working on it (sometimes wearing underpants or free-balling it at home, always wears a diaper out of the house.)  Getting my kids ready to leave the house is a little like a circus act.  Clothes flying everywhere, shoes on wrong feet, last minute potty trips, sippy cups & snacks packed, etc. etc. etc.  Somehow in the midst of all of this neither Ron nor myself remembered to put a diaper on Olivia.  She was wearing the cutest little dress that I made, low cut socks, and sneakers -we sacrifice style for practicality around here... (sneakers are a must for climbing, running around, etc.)  Fast forward 50 minutes later: Olivia & Katelyn are playing with the plastic fruit at the pretend farm stand at the VERY crowded kids' museum.  I'm standing 7-8 feet behind them wondering how much longer I have to endure this kind of heart-palpitating kid watching/losing/finding/watching/losing cycle.  Olivia turns to me, says "pee-pee."  I proudly call out, "do you have to go pee-pee baby?"  I walk over to her, reach down to feel her diaper to see if it's wet and discover that there is no diaper, my daughter is now wearing wet socks & sneakers and standing in a puddle of pee, and my hand is also wet with pee.  Awesome.

I immediately grab each girl by their hand, drag them around the area of the museum that we are in, dump Katelyn with Ron & whisper to him that we forgot one very important thing: Olivia's diaper.  Off we went to the restroom to clean her up, remove wet socks but put back on the wet shoes, (didn't know I had to add extra shoes to my diaper bag), and notify a museum staff member that my daughter had "a, ummmm, ahem, an accident" over near the farm stand of the play area.

Yea, that was definitely my proud mom moment of the weekend.  Maybe of the year.  What's yours?

Imaginary Friends

I think lots of kids have an imaginary friend (or friends) at some point in their childhood.  I've read that it is healthy and normal for children to create a fictional character to "hang out" with.  I know that I had my fair share of imaginary friends growing up.  One in particular that I can remember is the one that I named Katie, my sister's name.  Although I'm pretty sure that my reason for having that imaginary friend was just so I had yet another way to annoy my sister growing up.  I would constantly call out, "hey Katie," and when my sister would reply I was then able to yell at her about the fact that I'm was not talking to her, I'm was talking to my imaginary friend, Katie. (Yes, I truly was a horrid sibling!)

Joey has had two imaginary friends so far.  About a year and a half ago Joey's first imaginary character came into our lives.  It was a cow who lived with us in our Raleigh apartment, and Joey was often found feeding it (imaginary) soup or (real) goldfish crackers.  The cow stayed with us for probably 6 months or so, and was usually hanging out in the hallway.

Recently Joey started talking about his friend Emily.  Emily has red hair (coincidence? um... no.), lives with her mom & dad, does NOT have 2 sisters, and is always on her way to our house.  Emily has never actually come over to our house as of yet, and I'm wondering if she ever will.  Today she went to school, but not the same school as us... a different school.  The funniest thing I've learned about Joey's imaginary friend Emily is when he told me that she has her own room, but she sleeps in her mommy's bed because her bed is "all messed up." 

Lately we've been having an issue with Joey staying in his own bed all night, so the boy is clearly living vicariously through his imaginary friend's privilege of being able to sleep in her mommy's bed.  I'm wondering if he is going to do something to "mess up" his bed in hopes that he'll get a free ticket to sleep in my bed one of these nights.  I sincerely hope not.  I'm not a happy mommy when I get awoken in the night, so this getting out of bed thing has got to come to an end soon.  And his damn friend Emily is not helping the situation with her stupid messed up bed!

Aside from the fact that I don't want my kid picking up any bad habits from his imaginary friend, I have to admit that I think that this is one of those really neat things about childhood.  I love having conversations with Joey about his imaginary friend.  I love the way his little mind is working to think up random stuff about a person (or cow) who doesn't even exist.  It's one of those things that is cute for little kids to do for a certain amount of time, and then it's gone forever.  I mean seriously, I couldn't just come home one day from the store and tell Ron all about some woman that I met & became friends with who has wonderful, well-behaved children, a magic wand to make them disappear whenever she wanted, and a money tree growing in the backyard.  Oh, and she's going to come over tonight and cook for us & do all the dishes and clean up too.  Well I could try to tell him all of that, but he obviously would just know that I've now completely lost my mind & that it is time to begin looking into group home options for me.  So I won't do that.  But I will continue to talk to my kids about their imaginary friends because I think what they have to say is so creative, funny, and innocent all at the same time.

How about you?  Do your kids have any imaginary friends?  Do you?