An interview with my children. -May is for Moms link up, part 3.

I had so much fun doing this link up! Thank you Amy for coming up with it and inviting us to do it with you!

This is probably my favorite one so far. I giggle a lot while asking Fin and Maddie these.
Fin's 5, Maddie's 4.
They're cute.

Spring Cleaning and Reminiscing

(source: http://i1-win.softpedia-static.com/screenshots/Super-Mario-Bros-Screensaver_3.png)

It's spring time around these parts-even though it's acting more summer like than anything (well summer for me. Summer here is 100+ but that's not my point at all)

Along with spring comes cleaning.
You know I'm right. David and I have begun to dig through old random storage boxes that we have, pausing long enough to reminisce on funny memories of course.
We've come across our Super Nintendo that just reminded us of nights pre-kids that we would stay up late playing Super Mario and stuff like that.
It reminded me of when our friend Jeff and I would stay up til about 3 am just playing Donkey Kong while I'd be on the phone with David back when David was stationed in Colorado pre-married days. 

We came across Wedding books that I bought when we first got engaged and just sat on a shelf or in a box pretty much since then.
We came across these mad libs that we'd done together on a road trip to Colorado.
We cracked up rereading the things we'd put and filled out.

We came across old baby clothes and remembered how teenie tiny Fin used to be. He's going on 6 now!! HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?!

We came across David's CD collection...... and oh good golly there are over 300 of them bad boys.
We no longer need them-or at least a good chunk of them. We managed to sell them online, easy peasy and make a little bit of cash so that was nice.

So tell me, when you spring clean do you trash more than you keep?
We kept a lot of it, gave away a lot of it, sold a few things and mostly just reorganized it for the next time that we decide to spring clean and spend hours reminiscing again.

Huge favor. Honest post. I keeps it real. Good deeds. (What a title)

Happy Friday everyone. I hope you all had a wonderful week! Mine was pretty decent thankfully.
It didn't really start until Wednesday since we were out of town so that might have something to do with it. HA!

<center><br /> <a href="http://www.mythreebittles.com/p/52-weeks.html" target="_blank"><img alt="52 weeks of kindness" src="http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g431/Amber_McCain/52weeks.jpg"/></a></center><br />

This week I went halvsies (what is that word? how do people spell that?!) on some birthday goodies for a friend's husbands surprise party. (Which doesn't sound like a huge thing but keep in mind the financial mess with the IRS/identity theft crap-read about it here if you're lost).

I gave my lovely blogger friend, Lena a $30 gift code I had to eShatki since she was talking about shopping there for some new dresses.That made me happy to send that her way!

Oh and while shopping, Maddie wanted a little $1 toy and the lady behind us was digging in her purse for $.75 to buy a paper, I handed Maddie a $5 bill and told her to pay for the ladies paper too. The lady offered to buy Maddie's toy instead but Maddie replied with, "But I have this!!!" and shook the $5 bill at her. It was funny and really cute. The little old lady thanked Maddie so many times, it was just so sweet. And so amazing to watch my daughter perform an act of kindness like that.

Oh and Thursday at the carnival, as we were leaving I saw a phone on the ground and picked it up only to almost get run over by the owner. I knocked on his window and I think he thought I was mad about him almost hitting me (I wasn't-it was packed). I asked if it was his and he was like, "OH MY GOSH!!! THANK YOU SO SO MUCH!!! And I'm sorry!!" He thanked me 3x then thanked me again as he drove past us (this time without almost hitting us). So yeah.... I saved him a big from possibly smashing his phone with his car and/or it just getting stolen.

Also, do you guys know Allison of Okay, Allison? Well if not, you should. She's funny and awesome.
I made the comment of liking a dress on her etsy page and she just sent it to me! I was so shocked at the kindness of it! So so sweet!

And then I've just been overwhelmed by the amount of people tweeting and retweeting for me to win this shoe contest (Go vote for me if you haven't already! Literally just click "VOTE")
But then I saw this and almost cried-it was just SO sweet!




Now... about this contest.
You guys, please please go vote real quick!

The winner gets $500 to spend on the site.
I have three kids. Two of which will be in school this fall and need shoes.
They have kids shoes.
If I win, my kids will get new shoes without me having to budget them in.
Do you have any idea how messed up our budget is right now?!
And it's just been hit after hit after hit.
I need this! But I need your help!
It ends Monday!
Please go vote for me!

The Sunny Summer Swap & a giveaway

First and foremost, GO VOTE FOR ME!!! HERE

OK girls, for those of you who signed up, it's time to really start thinking about shopping for The Sunny Summer Swap!

Emails went out yesterday, so if you signed up check your email and your junk mail folder! If you still did not receive an email please send Sarah a message at fantasticalsharing@yahoo.com. There is a chance there was a typo on the form you filled out or an error in transferring your email addresses from the list (mistakes happen- I admit it) so if you checked all of your folders and still didn't get the email, get at Sarah and make sure she has the correct email for you.

Here's a recap of the info you need for the swap:

• Sign ups: today through May 14th
• Email with partner assignments: May 15th  Check your inbox & junk folder
• All packages sent out by: June 1st
• Reveal post/link up: June 10th

• $25 spending limit
• Open to US residents only
• Fill out this form here to sign up. Sign ups now closed!

You have from now until June 1st to shop for your partner and get your package mailed.

That's 17 days people.

 Plenty of time for you to get to know your partner a little and shop for her.

Please remember to be fair. If you signed up and were partnered, please don't back out and just not send your partner anything. A lot of this swap is based on mutual trust, so if you said you were going to participate, please do so. I understand that circumstances change and things come up financially that might interfere or that you didn't foresee happening, but there has been plenty of time to contact any of the 3 swap hosts if you had issues. Also, if you signed up and don't participate or don't send your partner anything (especially if she sent you something!) you will be banned from doing any other swaps, linkies, etc in the future with me :)

Keep this information in mind:

Mark these dates somewhere on your calendar, and check your email often- even your spam or junk folder. Lots of blogger's emails end up in the spam folder (maybe because we send out so many? Who knows!)  Emails will go out on the 15th, so keep an eye on your inbox for a message saying Sunny Summer Swap or something similar.

Follow the hosts on Twitter to stay up to date on swap stuff!

@MelissaSwenson

@Amber__mack

@FortuneFavors11

We'll be tweeting updates & love connecting with you guys through social media!

Use the hashtag #SunnySummerSwap when tweeting all things swap related :)

Once swap partner assignments are sent out, get moving! Don't let that email sit in your inbox without replying to it. Get in touch with your partner ASAP! Say hi, introduce yourself, follow each others' blogs, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, etc and get to know each other a little. What does your partner like? Does she like to read? What's her favorite color? Is she a nail polish fan? Does she drink tea or coffee? Does she live somewhere warm? Ask some questions and check out each other's Pinterest boards or Goodreads lists for swap ideas.

Once we email swap partners assignments, it's in your hands. How this swap turns out is entirely up to you and how active/social you are with your partner. You have to take the initiative and contact each other- communicate! Let her know when you ship her package (give her the tracking number if you can!) Tell her if you're having problems finding something for her. Ask questions and keep each other informed. You can't expect to have fun with this swap and have a good experience if you don't actually participate, so have fun and don't be shy! This swap is all about meeting new bloggers.

Need some ideas? I thought you might. I went to Target the other day to get some ideas from summer must-haves. Your swap box can be filled with whatever you want:

A good summer read, your favorite summer nail polish (think bright, fun colors), self-tanner, sunscreen, magazines, makeup (summery shadows, lip glosses, bronzers, etc), lotion, summery fragrances (Bath & Body Works type stuff), anything coconut scented, favorite tea or summer drink mixes, sunglasses, a cute sun hat, fruity bubble bath/shower gel, stationary items- notepads, mini calendars, to-do lists, etc, flip flops or inexpensive sandals, beach tote, beach towel, picnic blanket, can koozies (beer/soda can coolers), jewelry- earrings, necklace, rings, bracelets, etc, a light-weight scarf, hair accessories (clips, headbands, wraps, etc), beachy candles or Scentsy, summer-themed picture frames or wall art, grilling accessories, bright kitchen accessories, plastic margarita glasses, colorful wallet or clutch, bright colored tank top or sun dress, gift card

Feel free to leave a comment with some more swap ideas! I'd love to hear what you come up with and what some of your favorite summer must-haves are.

 Please don't hesitate to email me or tweet me if you have any questions or problems regarding the swap! I would be more than happy to help you in any way that I can, and I would like to know if you have issues with get in touch with your partner.

Remember, the reveal date is June 10th, so don't post about your goodies until then!

(Thank you Melissa for letting me steal this whole entire post!)



And now a giveaway for you.
Celebrate summer in style with a personalized cooler!
Enter to win a personalized cooler.
Awesome right?!
I so want all of them.
Big thanks to  Wedding Favors Unlimited for this awesome giveaway!!
Winners will be notified via email & have 3 days to reply.
Winners will be chosen at random and will pick one of these coolers valued at up to $42
must be 18+ yrs old and from the continental U.S.

a Rafflecopter giveaway