I hope you are encouraged today by one of my all-time favorite songs!

httpv://youtube.com/watch?v=0i5MzJ9nLjo 

Every once in a while we have a contest sponsor that gets so excited about their contest entries that they decide to make their giveaway even better!  I can’t tell you how excited I was when Sheila emailed me today and told me that due to the fabulous response from all of you, she wants to give away another burpee!!!! 

So I have updated the contest post, but wanted to let all of you who entered know that you have an extra chance to win :)  Feel free to say thanks to Sheila by leaving a comment on this post if you’d like ;) 

* PLEASE NOTE: Comments left on this post will NOT enter you for the contest! Follow this link to enter: http://afroginmysoup.com/?p=486

“Kids are just like that today.” A generation of victims who can blame anyone or anything but themselves for everything that happens.  I hear the words “It’s not my fault!” an awful lot these days.  By the time they are 12 many children have been exposed to sex, alcohol and drugs.

Bear with me here as we meander through my mind.  I will not be bleak for long, I promise!

If there is one thing I have always been completely dedicated to as a parent it is that my children not grow up too quickly. The trend today is to expose children to very adult themes, behaviors, attitudes, ideas and information in an attempt to make them a generation that is more informed and less naive. Or at least I think that is why.

Personally, I struggle with this and want my boys to grow up as carefree as possible. Sure I’m busy trying to instill plenty of morals and values along the way and our goal is to help create good, clean, hardworking men who are a benefit to society! Not a bunch of dramatic victims who are desensitized to life, pain and the people around them.

Trying to figure out an appropriate way to talk to our 12 year old about STDs and Sex and more ~ ugh! The school district had a three week long course of material that they taught all of the 5th graders last year. Thanks to an understanding and supportive teacher our son was not exposed to this information as we want him to learn it all from our perspective . . . he’ll know what the world thinks soon enough. Bottom line, it’s absolutely not their place to teach him this information and thankfully we know that they cannot go against our wishes (despite their attempts to inform us otherwise LOL). 

Parenting today can be an interesting combination of truth and counter-”truth”.  A balancing act for those who want to have children who are grounded and morally sound.  But thankfully it is possible and being involved, informed and proactive parents is a key ingredient to raising our children to be healthy adults. 

But there’s an even bigger gift to parents . . . God!  Resting in His guidance, leaning on His knowledge, trusting for His Truth to guide the way!  What better gift could we have been given and I am thrilled and honored to accept that Gift!  Children have wills of their own and will make their own choices through life, but I’m very thankful that every step of the way I can be praying that God’s hand is guiding and directing those decisions. Praying that He helps me to know how to respond and react and direct. Praying that these boys of mine learn that without Him life is indeed very bleak and meaningless. 

2 Corinthians 9:8-10 says this:

“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.  As it is written: ‘He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.’ Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.”

Be blessed today!

It’s Friday and I would like to invite all of you to visit me at 5 Minutes for Mom where I will be featured in the first official post for The Sampler.  In case you haven’t heard about this column, The Sampler is a weekly column at 5 Minutes for Mom that I am hosting and occasionally will write for. 

The idea is to feature mom bloggers and highlight their writing style by publishing a brand new post from that mom.  It’s exciting because even though you will not find the posts published for The Sampler on their blog, it gives you a great peek into what you will find when you visit them!  There are so many creative and wonderful mommy bloggers I really hope that you visit each week to meet someone new! 

It’s all about promoting mom blogs and I’m all for it!  If you have questions about the column or are interested in submitting something you have written just for us to use please feel free to visit The Sampler Guidelines for Submission page!

Ok, before I explain the title of this post I want to remind everyone to visit Little Piddles and go shopping.  But remember to use the code: AFROGINMYSOUP to get 15% off your order through April 30th!

We had 185 entries for this contest and I’m amazed to announce that the winner is . . . .

#185 ~ Roseanne

I feel like there should be confetti and fanfare surrounding that little announcement!!!  Proving once and for all that every single entry counts :) 

Congratulations Roseanne and make sure you check your email for a note from me!  Thank you all for participating and remember to enter all the latest contests we have going on!!!

 This contest has ended, thanks so much to all those who participated.  We have more great contests going on so be sure to click on the “contests” tab above!

Through the course of motherhood many of us come up with creative ways to solve problems and situations that arise with our children.  Usually these solutions are a quick fix to try to make life easier along the way, but sometimes the idea is so creative it is enough to spark an entire line of products!  This is the case with mompreneur Sheila McGoldrick, inventor of the Handy Burpee!

Sheila is the busy mom of three children, Tyler, Brody and their newest addition Laney Paige!  Here’s what she had to say about how the Handy Burpee was created:

It is because my children had horrible acid reflux like symptoms that I started the awesome journey toward inventing the Handy Burpee. My fun-loving husband, Wayne, is my “down to earth” partner in this business. I invented the Handy Burpee about 2 1/2 months after Brody was born in 2004 and around 2 1/2 yrs. after that I launched my website.

Our Burpees are perfect for any baby, whether breast or bottle fed, spitters or non-spitters. It sort of gives you a free hand while still having protection for you and baby. Our new line will be coming out soon and we are also working on a new style of bibs and washcloths!

I am very excited to see what they add to their wonderful and unique line of products.  I always love the handmade “mom” feel of products like those offered at Handy Burpee! My readers are welcome to go shopping and get a 15% discount by using the code: PREGGIE. They are also offering free First Class shipping within the US for any order over $30 right now!

Sheila has been very generous and is giving away a Handy Burpee to TWO lucky readers! All you have to do to be entered for this prize is to visit Handy Burpee and pick your favorite pattern, then make sure you come back here and leave a comment letting us know what pattern you love and/or why you like this great product. Be sure you leave your comment by 10pm on Tuesday April 8th!

Don’t forget to hop over to Little Ladybug Designs tomorrow where she is hosting a fun Virtual Baby Shower!!

Remember we’re hosting a great contest featuring products from Little Ladybug Designs! 

We had a lot of fun playing outside in the yard on Saturday!  The little boys found an old fishing pole and I couldn’t help but think that it looked like they were fishing in the grass .

Happy Wordless Wednesday!!!

We have a winner for the Sweet Pea Cakes, Etc. contest but before I announce who that lucky person is I want to encourage all of you to enjoy the discount Dawn has extended to my readers!  Just enter the code FROGSOUP to get 10% off your order!

 And the winner is . . .

#143 ~ Kristina 

Remember to check your email for a note from me with the information on how to claim your prize! 

 This contest has ended, thank you for your participation.  Please feel free to enter all the latest contests by clicking on the “Contests” tab above.

 As a mom with 6 children I am forever desperately trying to figure out a way to keep (or even get) all my children, their things and their schedules organized!!!  So when Jennifer Tankersley contacted me about her site I was thrilled to check it out!!! 

List Plan It is just what it sounds like, a one stop location to access tons of lists for almost any need you may have!  If you need to schedule your family, your business, your home, your day, your meals, your life (you get the idea) then you really should check it out!!!

I was excited to interview Jennifer and find out more about the business and why she began it:

I got the idea for ListPlanIt.com just after Christmas last year. I was plotting the lists that I needed to make to try to get my house and my family back in order when I started to think how nice it would be if there were already the lists that I needed and all I had to do was to fill in my own information. I love lists, but sometimes to get organized I’ve had to worry about organizing the list in a logical and neat way. All of a sudden I thought that if I felt that way, then I’d bet lots of other moms would feel the same way! So I got started making the lists and launched ListPlanIt.com on May 9, 2007.

In addition to your lists and planning pages what else do you offer?

We mainly sell access to the lists themselves, but ListPlanIt.com also offers Magnetic Laminated Lists, a Magnetic Grocery List Notepad, and various planners compiled of our lists.

I’ve seen all the amazing categories of lists you offer and I’ve used some of them for myself (I love them by the way!), what might you say to the mom who is a wanna-be organized homemaker? Or even someone who feels they are doing ok with their organization?

ListPlanIt.com’s current count of lists is over 300! Subscribers will find grocery lists, meal planning page, to do lists, calendars, birthday/holiday planning pages, chore lists, cleaning lists, and so much more!

I think most people like that the site is organized so they can go directly to the lists that they want. Others find it helpful to browse through the List of Lists and read the descriptions. I’ve heard several people tell me that they didn’t even know they needed a particular list until they started using it on ListPlanIt.com!

This very affordable resource offers a variety of subscription options depending on your individual needs whether you need it for one month, three months (quarterly) or an annual subscription!   I have been looking over all of the lists available to me at List Plan It for about a month now and I have to admit I am shocked at how many areas of my life can be simplified just by using these lists.  I’m still in the process of building my household lists, but I see a light at the end of the dark tunnel of dis-organization I’ve been living in!

Jennifer has offered my readers $5 off a Yearly Subscription by entering the discount code spring5!

She has also VERY generously offered the opportunity for THREE of you to win a Quarterly Subscription!!!  All you have to do to enter this contest is

1) Hop over to www.ListPlanIt.com and have a look around

2) Come back here and leave a comment letting me know what area of your life could use the most organization. 

It really is that simple!  Be sure to enter by 10pm on April 3rd to qualify to win this prize!