Tall Mom on the Run's Giveaway!!!

Our good friend Melanie is hosting a giveaway on her running blog this week...Please be sure to check it out. It's an amazing prize, and she's an amazing person! Here's the info:

BROOKS FOR HER GIVEAWAY:

Brooks created the Brooks For Her (BFH) collection to help support the fight against breast cancer. For each BFH piece purchased from March through December 2009, Brooks will donate 6.25% of the suggested retail price to three organizations that research and support those affected by breast cancer: The Young Survival Coalition, Making Memories Breast Cancer Foundation, and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, earmarked for breast cancer research. Your vote, between March 1, and December 31, 2009, determines how much of the total donation each group gets. No purchase necessary to vote. Learn more about the three selected charities Learn more about how BFH works See the Brooks For Her collection


To introduce you to the Brooks for Her Collection the wonderful people at Brooks are hosting this amazing Giveaway. THANK YOU BROOKS!!!

WHAT WILL YOU WIN???

Brooks for her Jacket

(Chose your size S, M, L, or XL)

• Function: Pink-and-white technical zip-up with brushed interior and retro track-jacket style will likely become your favorite performance "sweatshirt." Even better, your purchase of this item helps support those affected by breast cancer.


• Fabric: Equilibrium Knit: 100% polyester


• Fit: Semi-Fitted


• Features & Benefits:
  Zippered side pockets store essentials
  Ready to carry your MP3 player
  Embroidered pink emblem on front; white star on back
  

HOW DO YOU ENTER:

1. (Required Please) Visit the Brooks for Her Collection website HERE tell me, and Brooks, which products you are interested in and/or what you would like to see in the future. Leave a comment.

2. (Required) Contest open to Tall Mom Bloggy Pack Members only.. If you are a Follower, you are in luck, if not click to Follow. If you do not have a Blog please email me and I will comment on your behalf. I realize there are many readers who do not have Blogs and I do not want to leave you out. (tallmomontherun at hotmail dot com)..

BONUS ENTRIES:

3. You can earn 10 entries if you purchase an item in the the Brooks For Her Collection. If you buy more than one item, you get 10 points for each. This is on your honor, please let me know what you bought in a comment and I will credit the POINTS.

4. If you have run/walked/sponsored/donated/volunteered at a Race for the Cure event, or any event supporting Breast Cancer Awareness, please let me know which event Name, Date, State, etc. You will receive 3 points for each event.

5. SHARE: Post a link to this Giveaway including the pictures and details about the Brooks for Her Collection and you will get 3 points. Leave a Comment with the link. (If you post on more than one Blog you will get points for each and if you mention the Giveaway in more than one post on your Blog, you will get 3 points for each mention. Add up your points and let me know.)

6. Tell me about how you plan to Go Pink in the year to come. Leave a comment 1 point.

• CONTEST ENDS ON Sunday November 1st at 3:33PM. Winner will be announced on Monday November 2nd.

Many will enter one will WIN.. Happy Commenting..

The Pumpkin Palace

Yesterday we made our annual pilgrimage to Scholtz Farm's Pumpkin Palace in Orting, WA. We've been going here as long as I can remember. We often visit other patches with friends, but keep coming back. It's not the fanciest patch, with special themes every year. It's also not the patch with the most stuff to do. But it's the patch that we feel comfortable letting the kids run wild at, never have to worry about pumpkins in standing water, and don't have to pay a fortune just to GET IN! Hope you enjoy the pictures of our visit this year:)

Jackson thinks he's cool :)

Little Logan and Big Logan as they are known

Keira hitches a ride

Pretty pumpkins!

Preschoolers and Science

So for those of you who don't know, I teach preschool two days a week. Now, it's only four kids...and it's at our daycare...but it's great. One of the nice things is that since I actually have the kids all day, five days a week, we can start things in class that might take us longer than actual "class time." Most of these things involve our science experiments. Here is one that I thought I'd share with you all. We are learning about farm animals, and this ties in great with conversations about where food comes from. It is very easy, but super fun for the kids.

To start you will need:

whipping cream, a jar or container with lid, spoon, bread or crackers

Next:

add cream (we only used about half the carton) and spoon

Then:

Have kids shake-a shake-a (put back in fridge when gets warm)

And:

Repeat!! Do this until it becomes fairly solid (it won't be solid like you usually see...and it won't be yellow).

Finally:

Enjoy!!!

We tied this in by talking about how cows eat grass and hay, from this they make milk, from milk we get cream, and we made butter from that cream today!!! They were super excited, and everyone got a chance to shake the container. Here is one of the crafts we accompanied the "experiment" with:



Now try this with your kids:) I promise, they'll love it...and the butter's pretty good! (And isn't that craft cute?!)

My handiwork...and a beautiful surprise!

So for fun, and to earn a little money, I make cards. My aunt has a flower shop on Whidbey Island and she sells them in her shop. I also make them for friends and family when they ask. I had been getting a lot of requests for Autumn and Halloween cards, so instead of taking orders this time, I made up about 50 cards. I sent around 20 cards to my aunt for her shop, and the others are "hanging out" in the entry of my mom's house. They are a hit, and are going fast:) I took a couple of pictures of them to share with you all. I have been thinking about starting a shop on ETSY to sell them, so let me know what you think.

Halloween...Please excuse the pictures, I know the quality isn't great.

Autumn...Again, please excuse the fuzziness.

I am currently selling them for $3.50 each or 5 for $15. I have been charging $4 for special orders. What do you all think?

What a BEAUTIFUL surprise!

For the last week, one of our daycare families has been telling us with a sly smile on their faces, that they have a surprise for us. Imagine our faces when the grandma walked in today with two of these:

Isn't it beautiful?!

Can you tell from the picture that it's handblown glass? Look at the craftsmanship! We are blown away...Here is another view.

AWESOME!

Apparently little Jaiden's Uncle does this as a HOBBY!? He rents out the studio and does as many as he can of whatever he is making. He gives them away as gifts or sells them. His pieces range in price from $60 - $100. If you have ever looked at glass, you know what a STEAL that is. I have ALWAYS wanted to own some glass pieces, but the cost is prohibitive. Now I have the most AMAZING piece, from some AMAZING people. How blessed am I?!

Go Seahawks!

Or "Go Teehawks!" As Keira would say. Up until a few weeks ago she couldn't get that "S" out at the beginning of Seahawks. She's definitely her mommy and daddy's little girl. She will sit on the couch playing while the game is on, and cheer when appropriate. Yesterday coming home from the birthday party she started yelling, "Seahawks!" and pointing. We realized that the truck in front of us had a big 'Hawks decal in it's back window....Her daddy was so proud:) Enjoy!

Her new "Sea Gal" outfit Grammi and Auntie Ree Ree got her

Did you know that her first words (after mama & dada) were yelled at a TV? Yup, at 10 months old she yelled, "Go Teehawks" at the TV during an away game:)

Birthday Party Fun!

A friend of mine from high school, had her daughter's 3rd birthday today. She paid for all the kids to have a day of fun at Maris Farms! Maris Farms is an old dairy farm that became a pumpkin patch about 10 years ago. They have lots of fun things to do. In the evenings they even host a "Haunted Maze" for those who want to try it. We've done it with friends a couple of times, and had a blast! The kids had a great time today playing, petting animals, eating homemade chocolate cupcakes, and getting REALLY DIRTY! Hope you enjoy the photos, and Happy Birthday Molly!

Molly, Logan, and Keira eating yummy cupcakes!

Keira on the ropin' steer. I roped her three times:)

Logan, Keira, and Jackson on the "Cow Train." They pull these cow "cars"
behind the tractor down the field and back. If you notice we put
Keira in the cow named Bossy...'cause she is! It just fit.

Jackson is playing the rubber ducky race game. Pump the water and
see if your ducky is the first to the other end.

Filthy Keira

What a great time! Keira got a jack-o-lantern on her cheek, and they all were drinking the yummy chocolate milk that was, "Fresh from the cow yesterday!" That's what the Smith Brother's Farm lady who was handing them out said. And of course it's hormone free. Lots of fun...Thanks Kim, Curt, Maddie, and Molly!