Inspired By It Giveaway and Holiday Deal with FREE Shipping

Do you remember when I posted about the Inspired By It cards in THIS post? Well, I received my cards a while back and I absolutely LOVE them. The cards are printed on high quality matte card stock with vivid  designs on the outside and the Cool Kids cards contain vibrant colors on the inside as well. The cards are just dreamy. 

You see, I am one of those people that still look forward to getting the mail each and every day. My kids love writing letters to their cousins and receiving letters in return. Social media sites and nifty electronics have made it super easy to keep in touch with people. However, I am a firm believer that there are a number of occasions that still warrant a handwritten note. Birthdays and Thank Yous are just two of those occasions when an email, text or Facebook message will just not cut it in my book.

I also love writing notes to my kids to let them know how much I love them. My first grader has been working extremely hard on his school work recently. I've noticed his improvement and let him know how much I appreciate his hard work and effort. I placed the "you." card (from the Just.One.Word. line) on the chair that he usually sits in at the breakfast table. He was so delighted to receive the card from Mom and promptly taped it to his bedroom door. I keep catching him smiling at the card when he passes it.

The box that all of my Inspired By It cards came in had a sticker affixed to the side that read,

"We believe that words

presented in the right way, at the right time

are pretty amazing little tools

In creating our collection, we've chosen words

which we believe have power.

Power to effect change. Power to create a smile.

Power to motivate and inspire."

I could not agree more. Words are powerful tools that really can make a difference.

Right now Inspired By It has a fabulous deal going on. From now through December 15th they are offering FREE SHIPPING plus 2 FREE cards with any boxed set purchase. Each boxed set contains 12 cards for $16--that's less than $1.50 a card . When you throw in the 2 FREE cards you're actually getting 14 cards for only $16! What a steal!

These boxed sets would make great gifts--if you can bare to part with them. Each card is truly a work of art and deserving of its own frame. I even have the "Dreams Are Free" card in a frame in my boys' room.  

There are three boxed sets to choose from.

The Just. One. Word. boxed set :

The Quotes to Inspire boxed set:

and the Cool Kids boxed set:

**This giveaway has ended. Congratulations to Kristen M. and Jenny P. Enjoy!

Happy Halloween! It's Almost Time for Mr. Bones

In our family we have a fun tradition before we head trick or treating on Halloween night. We get to eat Mr. Bones! Yes, that's right, eat him. The kids LOVE this tradition and look forward to it every year. On the very first day of October the kids started asking about Mr. Bones--not Halloween candy. You gotta love that.

Last year, Mr. Bones was made out of pizza, pasta and bread sticks. The kids loved eating his spaghetti guts and olive tipped fingers. The asparagus hair and portabella mushroom nose--not so much.  But they sure added a nice touch.

The year before (our first year of enjoying the frightfully delicious Mr. Bones) we constructed Mr. Bones out of breakfast foods. He had a big pancake head with cherry eyes and sausage link ribs. (The kids always get to help making Mr. Bones. I love where they placed his toes on one of his pancake feet.)

This year we are making a breakfast Mr. Bones again, but changing a few things. I'll add the picture to the post later.

Happy Halloween!

Make Your Own Adventure: Visit a State Park

Tomorrow morning my family heads to a lodge in the mountains with four other great families. This is an annual trip for us and we love it! The state parks in Virginia are absolutely wonderful--and there are 35 of them to explore! You've read about how much I love First Landing State Park in the summer, well Douthat is the place to be in the fall. Not a camper? No worries. Did you know that many of the state parks offer cabins at reasonable rates throughout the year? And a number of them offer lodges that can accommodate more than one family.

Want to find out more? Visit Virginia State Parks and plan a fun adventure with your family.

Here's more about Douthat from the Virginia State Parks website:

The Outside Family Vacation Guide named Virginia’s Douthat State Park one of the nation's 10 best. The park, which straddles Bath and Alleghany counties, is on the National Register of Historic Places. Douthat is one of the original six Virginia State Parks that opened June 15, 1936. It's nestled in the Allegheny Mountains and features some of Virginia’s most outstanding scenery. In addition, a 50-acre lake offers swimming, boating and seasonal trout fishing.

When you're visiting Douthat State park it truly feels like you've stepped back in time and are living inside the original Parent Trap movie. It's hard for me to not walk the trails, holding hands with my sweet kiddos, and not sing that catchy ditty that Hailey Mills sings as they march off to camp. Do you know the one I'm thinking of? Love that show. Love ALL those classic Hayley Mills movies now that I think about it.

Anyway, while we're down that way we always spend a day at Virginia Safari Park in Natural Bridge. We LOVE this park and look forward to many laughs and photo ops here each and every year. I highly recommend you visit this park if you get a chance. It's a wonderful opportunity to get up close with a variety of animals.

I hope you all have a fabulous fall weekend and take advantage of spending time with the ones you love.

Don't live in Virgina? That's OK! Go HERE to find a state park near you and let the adventure begin.

Send an "I'm Grateful" Card

We've been working on expressing gratitude in our family. There is so much to be grateful for and I want my children to grow up with an understanding of what gratitude is instead of a sense of entitlement. I believe that it's important to be able to express gratitude to those around us as well as for those things which we have been given--such as our health and a home to live in.

William Arthur Ward stated, "Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it." With that being said, when I ran across this offer I knew this would tie in perfectly for one of our family nights.

Snapfish just extended a great offer – get five (5) FREE 5×7 folded greeting cards for only $2.50 shipping when you use promo code TRY5CARDS at checkout.  That comes out to only $0.50 cents a card! You can do this promotion up to FIVE times per account (but you will need to do separate transactions each time). This promo code is only valid on cards $2.99 or less.

So here's what we're going to do. I'm going to order the number of cards needed and include a picture of my kids on the front. We are then going to send them to our loved ones that we do not get to visit with on a regular basis as well as those that live nearby. In each card we are each going to write why we are grateful for that person.  Miss G, being only 2 years old, can draw a pretty picture instead.

Even if you don't use Snapfish to order the cards, pull out your pen and paper and send a card of gratitude to someone. As Thomas S. Monson stated, "Have an Attitude of Gratitude".

I just ran across this quote and had to share. I'm adding this to our Monday morning discussion. Have a great weekend.

“Have the courage to say no. Have the courage to face the truth. Do the right thing because it is right. These are the magic keys to living your life with integrity.”

– W. Clement Stone



A New School Year a New Motto

We started school last week. We're a homeschooling family, but we start and end with the rest of the kids in our neighborhood. My kids were SO excited about beginning a new year. And I'm happy to report that it was a great success.

One of the things we do at the beginning of each school year is to choose a family motto. Last year our motto was "We Can Do Hard Things". I loved that I'd hear them remind each other of the motto when they were working on something that they did not think they could do.

This year I wanted to somehow incorporate our last name. I found a family motto that went with our name from days long past. It was perfect for us and my boys were thrilled to find out that it had once been the motto of a Turner family during the time of "real" knights.

Our motto for the 2011- 2012 school year is

 Animo et fide     "By Courage and Faith" 

We spent the first day of school discussing the motto and how it would apply to our school year. I'm liking this motto so much that it may prove difficult to find another next year.

The school year may have started, but it's never too late to sit down as a family and come up with a motto for the year.

Want to find out more about your last name? Visit Armorial Gold to find a motto that works for you.

Tell Them in a Note: 50% off Inspired By It Cards

My kids are hard workers. They work hard on their schoolwork and are great at helping out around the house. Just last night my 6 year old insisted on running errands with me so that he could keep me company. I mean, what was a mom to do running errands all by herself? I love and appreciate my children and am so grateful that they are in my life and that I have them to "keep me company". So, with that being said . . .

I'm really loving this deal from Plum District today. For only $8 (woohoo--shipping is included) you'll receive 12 beautiful cards designed with kids in mind by the company Inspired By It.  That's less than 75 cents a card shipped! You can't beat that! If you're new to Plum District and you sign up through THIS LINK you'll get a $5 credit making this deal only $3! Now that's a steal at a quarter a card!

These cards contain fabulous lines like You're not just a kid, you're a Shining Star, kids will feel incredibly special receiving the fun, yet simple cards. Each card also contains lots of room to write your own loving message, these cards are perfect to accompany a gift or for a just because thought. I'm looking forward to sliding them into their schoolwork or setting one on their pillows for a fun surprise.

What a fun way to let your child now how special they are to you, while creating an even tighter bond as a family.

The Fine Print

•Limit 2 per person
•Expires 12/31/11

This deal was also posted on Hip to Clip.

Welcome to our New Blog!

Hello! We're so very excited to share what goes on in our homes with you. We truly believe that family comes first. We cherish this opportunity that we've been given to be parents and are excited to share our joy in the journey with you. We love comments, ideas and suggestions so don't be afraid to leave your own tips and tricks of the parenting trade. We believe that it's HIP to be with your family and our number one goal is to Help Inspire Parents to make the most out of the time they have with their children. Welcome to our blog!