All Aboard, the CSN Giveaway Train!

This Giveaway is Now Closed.

I've been seeing CSN giveaways and reviews on a number of blogs, and here I am hopping on the the Giveaway Train! I'm so excited to say that I've been asked to hold a CSN giveaway for a $35.00 gift code. I recently was moving along the CSN site searching for a good Christmas gift for my hubby, I looked a barstool, or two. (Ok, so I really don't have a place in my home for something like this, but they are so cool.)

Come on what guy wouldn't love a barstool
that held both your drink  and pool stick,

or just a barstool with an eight ball for the
pool hall?

I could totally see Joe have something like this if he ever got his game room with a bar. However, I did find him something more practical, that I know he will like and use. However, do to having to up hold the tradition of Christmas gift secrecy you'll have to wait until after our family Christmas for the CNS review to learn what it is.

As for myself I'm crossing my fingers that I'd get some new stoneware dinnerware,

Or some Stoneware Bake ware.

Of course I even took look around at some really great toys for my boys



Anyhow, so now that I'm on board, I'd like all of you to jump on with me, so take a look around CSN online store, then pop back here and enter into my giveaway.

Rules for Entry (open to the US and Canada only):

The CSN giveaway does not cover shipping, but many of the items already have free shipping anyway. Also this giveway will end Nov. 22, 2010 at 11:55pm. The winner will be chosen randomly at Random.org.

Mandatory:

You must go to CSN online store look around and find something that you would like to purchase and come back here leaving a comment on what that item would be. You must also leave an email or another way to contact you.

Extra Entry:

You can earn  an extra entries (post a comment for each):

• by becoming a public follower via GFC. (+1)
• by posting about this giveaway on your blog (+ 2, leave two comments for this, make sure to leave a link.)
• by grabbing my button and posting it to your blog (+ 2, leave two comments for this. Again make sure to leave a link and where to find the button on you blog.)

"Est Ba-a-daee Ev-er."

Nov. 5, 2010 was my baby boy, Gannon's 2nd birthday! We spent the day watching his newly favorite show Go Diego Go on Netflix instant play and mommy baking a birthday cake and finishing his blanket that I was making for him while the big brothers were in school. Daddy came home from work sick (poor Daddy). I almost thought something was horribly wrong when he called saying he was on his way home, which he hasn't done in the 3 years he's worked there. He laughed and said he should have played it like he got fired, or something. Once we all were home the pizza was ordered and we held our party in the living room watching a movie on TV while we ate. Then it was time to open presents (because we were all to full for cake and ice cream).

Gannon would say, "Rip, rip, rip." while opening his gifts.

Daddy was the box opener when Gannon couldn't get the toys
out of the box. Gannon would hold the box out toward Daddy
saying, "It's stuck, stuck! Hurry, help, Daddy."

Happy to get his birthday gifts.

Birthday Cake Time

Ok, so the cake was suppose to be Diego, but I didn't do such a
great job. However, Gannon knew it who it was, and wouldn't
blow out his candle.

I also gave it a strawberry preserve filling,which was yummy on a white cake
with homemade butter cream frosting,

Eating cake.

Skip the fork, fingers are faster.

 

Royce put Gannon's blanket I made on his
bed then we took Gannon to go see it. In a mild voice
Gannon said, "its the est ba-a-daee ev-er."...
(Its the best birthday ever.
Something he's heard his brothers say)

 

...then he hugged his new Diego blanket.





My Bloggy Friends First Giveaway

Ok, so I noticed that my bloggy friend has very low entries on her first giveaway for CSN stores. I thought I'd try and help her out by directing some of you to go that way and sign up (even though this may give me less of a chance to win ;) ) so hop on over to Keepin It Thrifty. Anyhow she also has some other cute crafty ideas that some of you may be interested in trying out.

Revamp the Lamp

I'm a reader, I love to read and have since childhood. I blame this on my mother, in part because she was a reader too and if she had no book she would tell my siblings and I stories that she had memorized like Little Red Riding Hood, and The Three Little Pigs, or she’d recite poems to us like Little Boy Blue, or Jack Sprat. She would even tell us funny stories from her childhood. I also blame my love of reading on my father, not that he ever read to us (not that I can remember anyhow) and not because I ever seen him reading, but because he enabled me to be a reader. He purposefully installed a lamp above my bed on the bed frame so that I could read into the night without bothering other family members (my sister in particular whom I shared a room with). I couldn’t imagine life without reading, and so I set out to instill that same love of reading into my boys. Royce started out H-A-T-I-N-G to read; he struggled through learning the process of reading and found books dull. By third grade, he seemed to get a better grasp on it and found a book series that he enjoyed, but in fourth grade, he found a series of books that struck a true cord within him (Thank you, Rick Riordan for writing Percy Jackson & the Olympians). Anyhow, he is now at the stage where he’d like to read a bit before bed, which always irritates his younger brother because Royce wants the light on and Giovonnie wants it off, so I found that Royce could use a bedside lamp. I found a base without the shade at a thrift store for $1.00, and then found a lampshade for $.50. I thought I could revamp the shade to help dim the light coming from it, as well as to help it match the boy’s room a little better.

 

Do It Yourself:

The Items You Need:

1. Material of your choice

2. Old lampshade

3. Lamp base

4. Spray Adhesive (I used 3M Spray Adhesive)

5. Hot Glue Gun

6. Glue Sticks

7. Scissors

How to:
 1. Gather the Materials that you will use to recover the lampshade.




Here's what I started with: 1 pair of old blue jeans,
 a lamp base, and lampshade.

 

I thought I'd use these old blue jeans that
my son Giovonnie cut up for the material to cover the lamp  .
(I've been holding on to them for weeks)

 2. Cut the fabric to size.

 

Cutting the legs off of the jeans, then to the size of the lampshade.
I cut these in different sections to cover the shade properly.
I also cut the bottom hem of the jeans off, to make a
finished edge on the top of the lamp shade.

3. Spray the Spray Adhesive on the back of the Fabric.



4. Place the Fabric onto the lampshade, line up the bottom edge and smooth over so that there are no bumps in the cloth.





I used the inside seem of the jeans as the finished edge for the
bottom of the lamp shade.



 5. Trim the excess material from the top of the shade.

6. Aline and hot glue the edges, so they stay in place.

7. If you used jeans: Cut a back Pocket around the edge (leaving it a pocket).



8. Hot glue the back of the pocket and place it on the lampshade. 

 

 9.  Use the bottom hem of the blue jean leg and hot glue it around the top of the lamp to give it a finished edge.

The pocket can be used to store pens, bookmarks,
or other little things.

Here's how my Lamp Revamp turned out.



Halloween Havoc



Lt. to Rt.: Andrew is Jet, Giovonnie is Sokka (wolf warrior), Lexi is Katara,
 Royce is Aang (The Avatar and Last Air bender), and Spencer is  Prince Zuko.





The hood Pattern for
Giovonnie's helmet.


 The past few weeks have been a bit crazy in my house! Somehow, I was roped into making Halloween costumes for my two older boys, and my niece and nephews who live near us. (I was supposed to make costumes for my husband, brother-in-law, and youngest son too, but I ran out of time and had to nix them.) It maybe would have been a bit easier if I hadn't had to create my own pattern for each costume, but I couldn't find any that were already made. Joe did end up lending a hand in the last costumes for our niece and nephew cutting out material, and pinning it together, along with some good advice. Anyhow, the big idea was that they would all dress like the characters from the cartoon Avatar, The Last Air bender (Here is a site about the cartoon and some of the characters: http://www.nick.com/shows/avatar/characters/iroh.html). Over all the costumes turned out pretty good; however only, one guy admitted to knowing who they were supposed to be.


Giovonnie, Lexi, Andrew, Gannon, Royce, and Spencer.





Jet (Andrew), Sokka (Giovonnie), Katara (Lexie), Aang (Royce), and Zuko (Spencer)





The Gang Trick-or-Treating



Gannon ended up being the lion, which was a costume I had bought for Royce when he about one yrs old (that would make the costume about 10 yrs old now), Giovonnie wore it too at one point. Almost every door that opened complemented him on how cute of a lion he was and would give him extra candy in his Halloween bucket.



Gannon and Daddy (Joe), Trick-or-Treating.



Riding in the back of the pick-up, looking up at the stars.



Halloween Pizza Party at Uncle Scott and Aunt Melissa's house.

 After Trick-or Treating we finished out the night with a pizza party. The kids had so much fun, and I'm glad that they had a good night together.