<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" media="screen" href="/~d/styles/rss2full.xsl"?><?xml-stylesheet type="text/css" media="screen" href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~d/styles/itemcontent.css"?><rss xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:openSearch="http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearch/1.1/" xmlns:blogger="http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008" xmlns:georss="http://www.georss.org/georss" xmlns:gd="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005" xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0" xmlns:feedburner="http://rssnamespace.org/feedburner/ext/1.0" version="2.0"><channel><atom:id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047329648876187243</atom:id><lastBuildDate>Wed, 01 May 2013 03:17:09 +0000</lastBuildDate><category>Safety</category><category>Summer</category><category>Reading</category><category>Motherhood</category><category>calendar</category><category>education</category><category>fundraiser</category><category>babies</category><category>Fashion and Beauty</category><category>The Lighter Side</category><category>comedy</category><category>Parenting</category><category>Relationships: Family and Friends</category><category>thanksgiving</category><category>Non-Profit Organization</category><category>events</category><category>Young Reader's Club</category><category>Opinions</category><category>Grocery Shopping</category><category>Green Thumbs And Glue Guns</category><category>sleep</category><category>neighborhoods</category><category>Organization</category><category>family</category><category>Pre-school and School-Aged Children</category><category>National Auction</category><category>Premium Membership</category><category>Saving Money</category><category>Holidays</category><category>sponsors</category><category>Frugal Living</category><category>Homeschool</category><category>Health and Wellness</category><category>webinar</category><category>The Mommies Network</category><category>gratitude</category><category>cultural awareness month</category><category>Science</category><category>Business</category><category>howtobeadad.com</category><category>friendship</category><category>Pre-school (2-5 year olds)</category><category>Weigh-In Challenge</category><category>Learn About Us</category><category>Santa Letters</category><category>community outreach</category><category>Domestic Goddess</category><category>Veteran's Day</category><category>Mommies Talk</category><category>Recipes</category><category>Fall</category><category>National Forum</category><category>Books</category><title>HighCountryMommies</title><description>HighCountryMommies.com is a free community for moms in Ashe, Avery, and Watauga Counties, North Carolina. We realize that all moms need local support -- and who can't use another friend?</description><link>http://highcountrymommies.blogspot.com/</link><managingEditor>noreply@blogger.com (The Mommies Network)</managingEditor><generator>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>128</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>25</openSearch:itemsPerPage><atom10:link xmlns:atom10="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/HighCountryMommies" /><feedburner:info uri="highcountrymommies" /><atom10:link xmlns:atom10="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" rel="hub" href="http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/" /><feedburner:browserFriendly></feedburner:browserFriendly><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047329648876187243.post-5864023416929296117</guid><pubDate>Thu, 15 Nov 2012 12:29:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2012-11-15T04:29:00.676-08:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">The Mommies Network</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Santa Letters</category><title>Making a list, Checking it twice</title><description>&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-os3RAAOzU-c/UKG3ziVoowI/AAAAAAAAADc/MaM0ZMniddw/s1600/letterimage.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-os3RAAOzU-c/UKG3ziVoowI/AAAAAAAAADc/MaM0ZMniddw/s1600/letterimage.gif" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;span style="background-color: white;"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #323d4f; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"&gt;Don't get caught on the Naughty List because you forgot to order customized &lt;a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/133646640117502/?fref=ts"&gt;Santa Letters&lt;/a&gt; for all your favorite kids!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style="color: #323d4f; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /&gt;&lt;br style="color: #323d4f; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /&gt;&lt;span style="color: #323d4f; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"&gt;For just $6 for the first letter and 10% off for each thereafter with the discount code SANTA, you can send the magic of Christmas to any child. A unique letter that you personalize will arrive from North Pole Station in Alaska in time for Christmas. Choose from a variety of themes including The Reason for the Season and School Days templates. Each one is special- just like the children.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style="color: #323d4f; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /&gt;&lt;br style="color: #323d4f; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /&gt;&lt;span style="color: #323d4f; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"&gt;Act now before Santa gets too busy making toys and packing his sleigh! Ordering is open through Tuesday, November 20.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style="color: #323d4f; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /&gt;&lt;br style="color: #323d4f; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /&gt;&lt;span style="color: #323d4f; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"&gt;Proceeds benefit The Mommies Network, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to providing a safe, secure, FREE place for mothers to find support and encouragement from other mothers and to empower them to be better women, mothers and community leaders.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;</description><link>http://highcountrymommies.blogspot.com/2012/11/making-list-checking-it-twice.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (The Mommies Network)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-os3RAAOzU-c/UKG3ziVoowI/AAAAAAAAADc/MaM0ZMniddw/s72-c/letterimage.gif" height="72" width="72" /><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047329648876187243.post-37186710079449097</guid><pubDate>Tue, 13 Nov 2012 03:01:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2012-11-12T19:01:11.893-08:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">The Mommies Network</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Santa Letters</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Holidays</category><title>You better watch out; You better not cry</title><description>&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-os3RAAOzU-c/UKG3ziVoowI/AAAAAAAAADc/MaM0ZMniddw/s1600/letterimage.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-os3RAAOzU-c/UKG3ziVoowI/AAAAAAAAADc/MaM0ZMniddw/s1600/letterimage.gif" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Santa Claus letters are coming to town!&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This year share the magic of the holidays with your favorite children by ordering personalized letters for each one.&amp;nbsp; Each unique letter will be mailed from North Pole Station in Alaska in time for Christmas.&amp;nbsp; For just $6 for the first letter and 10% off for each thereafter with the discount code SANTA, choose from one of our eight templates to customize the perfect letter for each child on your Nice List.&amp;nbsp; Whether it be Baby's First Christmas or encouraging an older kid to Keep Believing, we've got the right message for Santa to send! And if you order more than one, use the discount code&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Santa gets very busy this time of year, so place your order by Tuesday, November 20.&amp;nbsp; All proceeds benefit The Mommies Network, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to providing a safe, secure, FREE place for mothers to find support and encouragement from other mothers and to empower them to be better women, mothers and community leaders.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Place your order today by clicking on our&lt;a href="http://www.themommiesnetwork.org/santa"&gt; Santa Letter&lt;/a&gt; campaign here, on our forums, or through our &lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.facebook.com/#!/events/133646640117502/"&gt;facebook event&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt; that you can share with all your friends and family.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;</description><link>http://highcountrymommies.blogspot.com/2012/11/you-better-watch-out-you-better-not-cry.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (The Mommies Network)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-os3RAAOzU-c/UKG3ziVoowI/AAAAAAAAADc/MaM0ZMniddw/s72-c/letterimage.gif" height="72" width="72" /><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047329648876187243.post-262829462632618422</guid><pubDate>Thu, 04 Oct 2012 06:02:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2012-10-03T23:02:29.305-07:00</atom:updated><title>Want to Help Make a Difference? </title><description>&lt;span style="font-family: inherit;"&gt;More than 30,000 women have been touched by &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.themommiesnetwork.org/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: inherit;"&gt;The Mommies Network&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: inherit;"&gt;. Our members have found friends when lonely, help when needy, answers when confused, comfort when grieving. All this is possible through 84 chapters nationwide that provide a safe and FREE place for moms to meet online and in real life.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt; 
&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: inherit;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 
&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt; 
&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Du98rG-Di_Q/UFyAFU96XSI/AAAAAAAABHk/x5LKAXCPvro/s1600/800px-Families05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="266" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Du98rG-Di_Q/UFyAFU96XSI/AAAAAAAABHk/x5LKAXCPvro/s400/800px-Families05.jpg" width="400" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt; 
&lt;br /&gt; 
&lt;br /&gt; 
&lt;span style="font-family: inherit;"&gt;Little things mean a lot to moms. That's why we are asking you to share your story and our &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://bit.ly/U6D6B7" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: inherit;"&gt;fundraising campaign&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: inherit;"&gt; to help us grow and improve. Every $10 donation helps us connect moms to the resources they need to change the world - one family, one neighborhood, one community at a time. Each social media share, on average, helps us get $18 closer to our goal. So, please, take a moment to give us a boost.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt; 
&lt;br /&gt; 
Thanks for helping us make a difference for mommies, families, and communities across the country.</description><link>http://highcountrymommies.blogspot.com/2012/10/want-to-help-make-difference.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (The Mommies Network)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Du98rG-Di_Q/UFyAFU96XSI/AAAAAAAABHk/x5LKAXCPvro/s72-c/800px-Families05.jpg" height="72" width="72" /><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047329648876187243.post-4231499059165891228</guid><pubDate>Tue, 02 Oct 2012 05:40:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2012-10-01T22:40:42.249-07:00</atom:updated><title>Please help us meet our goal!</title><description>&lt;iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/XBpaTowKsRQ" width="640"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt; 
These voices represent the tens of thousands who belong to our communities and many more who just haven’t found us yet. Help us continue to provide the valuable connections that makes every mom's life better. 
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://www.razoo.com/story/Annual-Appeal-2012-1?referral_code=share"&gt;&lt;img alt="Donate Now" border="0" height="200" src="http://www.razoo.com/assets/brands/1/donate_now_piggy.jpg" width="183" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://highcountrymommies.blogspot.com/2012/10/please-help-us-meet-our-goal.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (The Mommies Network)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://img.youtube.com/vi/XBpaTowKsRQ/default.jpg" height="72" width="72" /><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047329648876187243.post-2931399722995751874</guid><pubDate>Mon, 24 Sep 2012 04:12:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2012-09-25T21:12:48.331-07:00</atom:updated><title>TMN Annual Appeal</title><description>Moms just like you are finding support, encouragement, and friendship every day on &lt;a href="http://www.themommiesnetwork.org/" target="_blank"&gt;The Mommies Network&lt;/a&gt;. What started with two new moms ten years ago has grown into a nationwide network of over 30,000 women! Where will we be in ten years?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-A_foSHmeQDY/UFx_P6_cSgI/AAAAAAAABHc/wJ3cV1ZwaGY/s1600/FBEvent.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-A_foSHmeQDY/UFx_P6_cSgI/AAAAAAAABHc/wJ3cV1ZwaGY/s1600/FBEvent.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
We are dedicated to providing valuable connections to all moms at no charge. In order to continue that, and to expand and improve our network, we rely on generous donations from the communities we reach. Please take a moment to view our &lt;a href="http://bit.ly/U6D6B7" target="_blank"&gt;fundraising campaign&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;and share it via social media or word-of-mouth. Just $10 keeps our network running for 80 minutes. That's enough time for a lonely mom to find a friend, a struggling mom to find support, a grieving mom to find a hug, and a searching mom to find answers.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Thank you for supporting the network that supports moms. We are excited about sharing the next ten years with you!</description><link>http://highcountrymommies.blogspot.com/2012/09/tmn-annual-appeal.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (The Mommies Network)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-A_foSHmeQDY/UFx_P6_cSgI/AAAAAAAABHc/wJ3cV1ZwaGY/s72-c/FBEvent.jpg" height="72" width="72" /><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047329648876187243.post-5164855272540293717</guid><pubDate>Fri, 03 Aug 2012 01:23:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2012-08-07T00:02:02.915-07:00</atom:updated><title>Don't lose it! Label it.</title><description>&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://img705.imageshack.us/img705/8366/mlblognewsevent.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="300" width="180" src="http://img705.imageshack.us/img705/8366/mlblognewsevent.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;Bookbags, gym shoes, lunchboxes and more: You send your kids to school with so much stuff. So how can you help them keep track of it all? Place a Mabel's Labels order through HighCountryMommies between August 1 and August 19 and a portion of your total comes back to our community!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;Mabel's Labels has well-loved products for anything you need to keep track of. From allergy alerts to clothing and shoes, baby bottles to books and media- you're sure to find exactly what you need to get back what you send with your little ones.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;Order online through HighCountryMommies direct shopping link to ensure we get credit for your great products. Spread the word, share with friends, and thanks for supporting the chapter that supports you!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;Here is HighCountryMommies' link to start your shopping: &lt;a href="http://www.highcountrymommies.mabelslabels.com" target="_blank"&gt;www.highcountrymommies.mabelslabels.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;</description><link>http://highcountrymommies.blogspot.com/2012/08/bookbags-gym-shoes-lunchboxes-and-more.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (The Mommies Network)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047329648876187243.post-2375623382815086148</guid><pubDate>Mon, 28 May 2012 07:00:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2012-05-28T00:00:02.119-07:00</atom:updated><title>Time is running out!!!</title><description>&lt;div&gt; 
Time is running out to vote for your favorite non-profit, The Mommies Network, in Eleventy Marketing Group's &lt;a href="https://www.facebook.com/eleventygroup/app_289947384417182" target="_blank"&gt;Eleventy Group's 4Good contest&lt;/a&gt; The winner will receive a free ONCORE marketing package to maximize fundraising- freeing up our volunteers to focus on our mission of providing a safe, secure, FREE place for mothers to find support and encouragement from other mothers and to empowering them to be better women, parents and community leaders. Fundraising not only provides technology upgrades to our expanding network, but it also goes to support all our Chapters and the "moms on the ground."&lt;/div&gt; 
&lt;div&gt; 
So join our &lt;a href="https://www.facebook.com/#!/events/310674799010659/" target="_blank"&gt;facebook event&lt;/a&gt; to vote and share. Get those votes in by 11:59 p.m. EST and help us spread our wings!&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://highcountrymommies.blogspot.com/2012/05/time-is-running-out.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (The Mommies Network)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047329648876187243.post-6076973039491973367</guid><pubDate>Wed, 23 May 2012 07:00:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2012-05-23T00:00:02.326-07:00</atom:updated><title>We're on our way!!!</title><description>We're soaring high with your help!&lt;br /&gt; 
The Mommies Network is in the running for a fundraising marketing package that will increase our development efforts. A free ONCORE package from &lt;a href="https://www.facebook.com/eleventygroup/app_289947384417182" target="_blank"&gt;Eleventy Group's 4Good contest&lt;/a&gt; will benefit all our members by raising funds with less effort. More money means a better network for mommies across the nation.&lt;br /&gt; 
Join our &lt;a href="https://www.facebook.com/#!/events/310674799010659/" target="_blank"&gt;facebook event&lt;/a&gt; to vote and share. A minute of your time is all it takes.&lt;br /&gt; 
With gratitude,&lt;br /&gt; 
The Mommies Network</description><link>http://highcountrymommies.blogspot.com/2012/05/were-on-our-way.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (The Mommies Network)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047329648876187243.post-3016297781087970458</guid><pubDate>Mon, 21 May 2012 19:57:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2012-05-21T12:57:25.684-07:00</atom:updated><title>The Mommies Network needs your help!</title><description>The Mommies Network is a finalist non-profit in &lt;a href="https://www.facebook.com/eleventygroup/app_289947384417182" target="_blank"&gt;Eleventy Group's 4Good contest&lt;/a&gt; With a simple click to vote and another to share, you can help boost TMN's fundraising power. Better fundraising means technology upgrades, an expanding network, and more time for our volunteers to focus on what they do best: make mom-to-mom connections everyday.&lt;br /&gt; 
&lt;br /&gt; 
Join our &lt;a href="https://www.facebook.com/#!/events/310674799010659/" target="_blank"&gt;facebook event&lt;/a&gt; to spread the word that will help us spread our wings. Voting costs nothing but a minute of your time.&lt;br /&gt; 
&lt;br /&gt; 
From everyone at The Mommies Network, thanks for your support.</description><link>http://highcountrymommies.blogspot.com/2012/05/mommies-network-needs-your-help.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (The Mommies Network)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047329648876187243.post-8680226144718481963</guid><pubDate>Sun, 18 Mar 2012 21:24:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2012-03-18T14:24:03.161-07:00</atom:updated><title>Secret Sisters!</title><description>&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i323/appleworms/HCM_SecretSis-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="600" width="800" src="http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i323/appleworms/HCM_SecretSis-1.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://highcountrymommies.blogspot.com/2012/03/secret-sisters.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Pam Allen)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047329648876187243.post-555310321020438859</guid><pubDate>Wed, 14 Mar 2012 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2012-03-13T17:00:02.786-07:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Premium Membership</category><title>Free Premium Membership Access for a Limited Time</title><description>&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/4356/smallimaget.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="179" src="http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/4356/smallimaget.jpg" width="200" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;Ever wonder what's so special about Premium Access to the National Forum? For a limited time The Mommies Network is offering FREE access to premium content like Debate This and Buy/Sell/Swap to all members.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;See what you've been missing by logging on to &lt;a href="http://www.themommiesnetwork.org/nationalforum/index.php"&gt;http://www.themommiesnetwork.org/nationalforum/index.php&lt;/a&gt; and get started today.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;Free Premium Access is available to all current and new members of The Mommies Network National Forum. &lt;b&gt;It is available NOW through April 30th.&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;</description><link>http://highcountrymommies.blogspot.com/2012/02/free-premium-membership-access-for.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (The Mommies Network)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047329648876187243.post-5631194664254796296</guid><pubDate>Thu, 08 Mar 2012 16:00:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2012-03-08T08:00:00.386-08:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">community outreach</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">neighborhoods</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Grocery Shopping</category><title>HCM Canned Food Drive for MARCH!</title><description>&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vE6upjwmHeA/T01aj5tp2xI/AAAAAAAAAKM/IiHAigILjxE/s1600/hcmeawmo10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vE6upjwmHeA/T01aj5tp2xI/AAAAAAAAAKM/IiHAigILjxE/s1600/hcmeawmo10.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;</description><link>http://highcountrymommies.blogspot.com/2012/03/hcm-canned-food-drive-for-march.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Pam Allen)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vE6upjwmHeA/T01aj5tp2xI/AAAAAAAAAKM/IiHAigILjxE/s72-c/hcmeawmo10.jpg" height="72" width="72" /><thr:total>0</thr:total><georss:featurename>Boone, NC, USA</georss:featurename><georss:point>36.216795 -81.6745517</georss:point><georss:box>36.165552 -81.7535157 36.268038 -81.5955877</georss:box></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047329648876187243.post-244990263080503310</guid><pubDate>Tue, 06 Mar 2012 16:00:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2012-03-06T08:00:11.479-08:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">fundraiser</category><title>How Does Your Garden Grow?</title><description>&lt;a href="http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/2387/flowerpowersmallgraphic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/2387/flowerpowersmallgraphic.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.highcountrymommies.com/"&gt;HighCountryMommies'&lt;/a&gt; fabulous Flower Power fundraiser is drawing to a close, so if you haven't placed your order yet, now is the time! It's never too early to plan to improve your curb appeal or beautify your backyard. From begonias to tiger lilies and everything in between, Flower Power is the place for quality flower bulbs with a 100 percent money guarantee.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This fundraiser runs until March 20, 2012, and your bulbs will arrive in April and May, just in time for beautiful summer blooms. Time is running out!&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Save time, money, and gas by planning your perfect garden from the comfort of your computer. Spring over to &lt;a href="http://www.flowerpowerfundraising.com/i/t/240203/oq89R2Ljw8V5"&gt;http://www.flowerpowerfundraising.com/i/t/240203/oq89R2Ljw8V5&lt;/a&gt;, and check out the wide array of lovely lilies and pretty peonies, among other bulbs. As a bonus, if you spend $40 or more, Flower Power will send you a free bag of 10 Twilight gladiolus, a $10 value.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
So what are you waiting for? Don't delay: Grow with us today!&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;i&gt;Profits made through our fundraising link go toward our chapter's operating expenses.&lt;/i&gt;</description><link>http://highcountrymommies.blogspot.com/2012/03/how-does-your-garden-grow.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (The Mommies Network)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047329648876187243.post-8209287050099763023</guid><pubDate>Mon, 27 Feb 2012 18:09:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2012-02-28T08:19:23.515-08:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Motherhood</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Health and Wellness</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">education</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">babies</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">community outreach</category><title>Endless Blessings Birth Doula Services</title><description>&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://www.endlessblessingsbirth.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Endless_blessings1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="210" src="http://www.endlessblessingsbirth.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Endless_blessings1.jpg" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;What would it be like to have your ideal birth experience? Would it be the same as the&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;child or children that you already birthed or would it be different? Would you have&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;different support people there or did you feel fully supported? Do you feel like you had&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;all the education that you need before you had your baby?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;At &lt;a href="http://www.endlessblessingsbirth.com/" target="_blank"&gt;Endless Blessings&lt;/a&gt; our mission is to support birth parents and pregnant women&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;in the High Country, so that they feel valued and of worth; by serving, educating,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;supporting, and encouraging them, so that they might have an empowering and&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;satisfying birth experience and confident early parenthood.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2b2IN0iMUWM/T0vGo6iKCFI/AAAAAAAAAKE/ur3a4oLTJ7U/s1600/iStock_000013876191XSmall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="212" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2b2IN0iMUWM/T0vGo6iKCFI/AAAAAAAAAKE/ur3a4oLTJ7U/s320/iStock_000013876191XSmall.jpg" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;We know that as a mom, starting out right is important and we are passionate about what&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;we do. We are passionate about women having an empowering birth experience where&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;they have enough information to call all the shots, even if everything doesn’t go perfectly&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;as planned. And, we are passionate about supporting women as them embark in early&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;parenthood.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;We recently unveiled a new website that will be the High County source for information&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;when it comes to pregnancy, birth, post-birth and have services that can fit some of your&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;needs.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;Right now, we have some fabulous giveaways going on to celebrate and we want to&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;invite you to join in on the party! Don’t worry, you don’t have to be pregnant to enter.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;There are lots of great giveaways that we hope you will also share with your friends.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;Giveaways being currently offered are:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_41778758"&gt;Local Scenes Photography by Betsy Cain&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_41778758"&gt;Odor Remover from Market America (low enteries)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_41778758"&gt;Maternity or Newborn Session by TaraMichelle Photography&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_41778758"&gt;Wee Cycle Children’s Consignment Sale&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_41778758"&gt;One + Tutu&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.endlessblessingsbirth.com/blog" target="_blank"&gt;EB Childbirth Doula Package&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;New giveaways are being presented daily! Stop by the party, &lt;a href="http://www.endlessblessingsbirth.com/blog" target="_blank"&gt;enter to win&lt;/a&gt;, and click&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;around &lt;a href="http://www.endlessblessingsbirth.com/" target="_blank"&gt;the site&lt;/a&gt;!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.endlessblessingsbirth.com/"&gt;www.endlessblessingsbirth.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://highcountrymommies.blogspot.com/2012/02/endless-blessings-birth-doula-services.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Pam Allen)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2b2IN0iMUWM/T0vGo6iKCFI/AAAAAAAAAKE/ur3a4oLTJ7U/s72-c/iStock_000013876191XSmall.jpg" height="72" width="72" /><thr:total>0</thr:total><georss:featurename>Boone, NC, USA</georss:featurename><georss:point>36.216795 -81.6745517</georss:point><georss:box>36.165552 -81.7535157 36.268038 -81.5955877</georss:box></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047329648876187243.post-581843544804810120</guid><pubDate>Mon, 20 Feb 2012 15:16:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2012-02-20T07:16:58.846-08:00</atom:updated><title>Spring Yard Sale THIS SATURDAY, Feb. 25th!</title><description>&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-p900VQYwJ-U/T0Ji1MzVMZI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/WixIEc6aSxQ/s1600/eawgs2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="328" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-p900VQYwJ-U/T0Ji1MzVMZI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/WixIEc6aSxQ/s400/eawgs2.jpg" width="400" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;"&gt;We will have a huge variety of items for anyone in your family from womb to retirement- household necessities, clothing, toys, vehicles, climbing/hiking/camping gear, cribs, furniture, computers, televisions, baby essentials and gear, movies, electronics, home decorating&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;"&gt;items, yard care necessities, antiques, collectibles, diapers, personal care items, handmade items, Eco friendly toys, and much much more. There will also be a few local vendors there with deals, coupons and freebies. We will also be collecting donations of clothing, toys and house hold necessities to give to local non profit organizations that benefit families in need in the High Country.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sellers: If you are interested in Renting a space For this sale, please contact Jenny Young, jenny@highcountrymommies.c&lt;wbr&gt;&lt;/wbr&gt;&lt;span class="word_break" style="display: inline-block;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;om&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A special thank you to Aaron's for helping us with the space!&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1150808821"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="52" src="http://www.rtohq.org/rent-to-own/wp-content/uploads/image/GRAPHICS/Aaron's%20Logo%20Arns%20Gold.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="200" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.aarons.com/"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://highcountrymommies.blogspot.com/2012/02/spring-yard-sale-this-saturday-feb-25th.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Pam Allen)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-p900VQYwJ-U/T0Ji1MzVMZI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/WixIEc6aSxQ/s72-c/eawgs2.jpg" height="72" width="72" /><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047329648876187243.post-2905158629556840805</guid><pubDate>Wed, 15 Feb 2012 15:17:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2012-02-15T07:17:00.216-08:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">cultural awareness month</category><title>Learn a New Language During Cultural Awareness Month!</title><description>&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/3348/handslogo180.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/3348/handslogo180.gif" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;i&gt;Bonjour! Ciao! Hola!&lt;/i&gt; Have you been checking the &lt;a href="http://www.themommiesnetwork.org/nationalforum/index.php" target="_blank"&gt;National Chapter&lt;/a&gt; and participating in Cultural Awareness Month? In our &lt;a href="http://www.themommiesnetwork.org/nationalforum/viewforum.php?f=45" target="_blank"&gt;Multicultural Mommies forum&lt;/a&gt;, we’re talking about foreign languages and discovering fun facts about different cultures. Join the celebration, and add some new words and phrases to your linguistic repertoire!&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Do you have something to add to the conversation? Share your knowledge with other moms who are learning a language with their children. Go global with &lt;a href="http://www.themommiesnetwork.org/" target="_blank"&gt;TMN&lt;/a&gt; as we highlight the many languages and cultures that make our world wonderful!</description><link>http://highcountrymommies.blogspot.com/2012/02/learn-new-language-during-cultural.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (The Mommies Network)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047329648876187243.post-2127025079969259790</guid><pubDate>Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:17:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2012-02-01T08:17:05.044-08:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">cultural awareness month</category><title>February is Cultural Awareness Month!</title><description>&lt;a href="http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/3348/handslogo180.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/3348/handslogo180.gif" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
February is Cultural Awareness Month at &lt;a href="http://www.themommiesnetwork.org/" target="_blank"&gt;The Mommies Network&lt;/a&gt;, and we're thinking globally! Share a love for foreign language and different cultures with your child in our &lt;a href="http://www.themommiesnetwork.org/nationalforum/viewforum.php?f=45" target="_blank"&gt;Multicultural Mommies forum&lt;/a&gt; on our &lt;a href="http://www.themommiesnetwork.org/nationalforum/" target="_blank"&gt;National Chapter&lt;/a&gt;. Each week, we'll feature several languages and cultural tidbits. You may also participate and strengthen your language lingo in a special webinar. Additionally, our sponsor will provide information on how you can continue your language-learning experience after the month is over.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
According to Associated Content, brain research shows that children are at an optimal age for language learning. Although language study is effective at any age, some studies suggest that the human brain is more open to learning a foreign ­­­­­language ­­­from birth to preadolescence. Fortunately, researchers have not found an age in which the language window closes completely, especially in the areas of grammar and vocabulary.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Take advantage of this opportunity to think globally, and join us as we learn about foreign languages and different ways of life during Cultural Awareness Month at TMN!</description><link>http://highcountrymommies.blogspot.com/2012/02/february-is-cultural-awareness-month.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (The Mommies Network)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047329648876187243.post-4475283334580186860</guid><pubDate>Sun, 22 Jan 2012 16:00:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2012-01-22T08:00:03.882-08:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">fundraiser</category><title>Do You Have Flower Power?</title><description>&lt;a href="http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/2387/flowerpowersmallgraphic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/2387/flowerpowersmallgraphic.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Are you looking for some curb appeal? Do you need to beautify your backyard? Spring planting season may be a few months away, but there's no  better time than now to grow with &lt;a href="http://www.highcountrymommies.com/"&gt;HighCountryMommies&lt;/a&gt;! We've partnered with  Flower Power to bring you a fabulous fundraiser to help you plan the  garden of your dreams.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Flower Power sells quality flower bulbs  with a 100 percent money-back guarantee. Gorgeous geraniums, tantalizing  tiger lilies, and beautiful begonias are just a few of the many bulbs  available and ready to be shipped to your door. This fundraiser runs  Jan. 22–March 20, 2012, and your bulbs will arrive in April and May,  just in time for beautiful summer blooms.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
So save some gas and the  trip to your local nursery or big-box store, and plan your perfect  garden from the comfort of your computer. Visit &lt;a href="http://www.flowerpowerfundraising.com/i/t/240203/oq89R2Ljw8V5"&gt;http://www.flowerpowerfundraising.com/i/t/240203/oq89R2Ljw8V5&lt;/a&gt; to view the  enormous array of flower bulbs, and spring into Flower Power and HighCountryMommies' fabulous fundraiser!&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Special bonus: Spend $40 or more to receive a free bag of 10 Twilight gladiolus, a $10 value.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Grow with us!&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;i&gt;Profits made through our fundraising link go toward our chapter's operating expenses.&lt;/i&gt;</description><link>http://highcountrymommies.blogspot.com/2012/01/do-you-have-flower-power.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (The Mommies Network)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047329648876187243.post-4256139486973603016</guid><pubDate>Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:00:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2012-01-20T08:00:00.083-08:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">sponsors</category><title>Reminder: Ring in the New Year With TMN!</title><description>&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LIvSjUFlddE/TtOziAq_t3I/AAAAAAAAAd8/lCjyIhBMOPU/s1600/forumad2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LIvSjUFlddE/TtOziAq_t3I/AAAAAAAAAd8/lCjyIhBMOPU/s1600/forumad2.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;The New Year's parties may have ended, but our sponsorship promotion hasn't! We're still ringing in the New Year at The Mommies Network with an incredible deal that will have you reaching for your noisemakers.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Moms may have the greatest buying power, sharing business experiences and trends with one another. And since women make more than 80 percent of all purchasing decisions and control two thirds of the nation’s disposable income, targeting this group benefits your company. Resolve to reach this influenial portion of the population by taking advantage of this limited-time promotion.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
With all new/renewed sponsorship agreements, your business will receive a complimentary blog feature (advertorial to include logo/product image and 500 words). Prepaid agreements receive a 5 percent discount and a complimentary two months on one sponsorship listing. Sponsors also receive 20 percent off event sponsorships. Offer expires Jan. 31, 2012.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The end of the month is just around the corner, so what are you waiting for? Celebrate with TMN by taking advantage of this amazing deal.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
For more details on how your business can ring in the New Year with moms across the nation, please contact Jessica Van Dyke at Jessica.VanDyke@TheMommiesNetwork.org.</description><link>http://highcountrymommies.blogspot.com/2012/01/reminder-ring-in-new-year-with-tmn.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (The Mommies Network)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LIvSjUFlddE/TtOziAq_t3I/AAAAAAAAAd8/lCjyIhBMOPU/s72-c/forumad2.jpg" height="72" width="72" /><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047329648876187243.post-7660134923899819944</guid><pubDate>Mon, 16 Jan 2012 16:00:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2012-01-16T08:00:10.222-08:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">The Mommies Network</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Weigh-In Challenge</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Health and Wellness</category><title>TMN Weigh-In Challenge News</title><description>&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://74.220.207.199/%7Ecomplex7/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/ballroom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://74.220.207.199/%7Ecomplex7/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/ballroom.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
Hello, and Happy New Year to everyone!&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
My name is Karen Skidmore, and I am the  owner of &lt;a href="http://www.completely-fit.com/" target="_blank"&gt;Completely Fit&lt;/a&gt;, a personal training and fitness company located  in Mount Airy, Md.  I am a team leader for one of the groups in The  Mommies Network Weigh-In Challenge.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
All my team members have started off strong and are working very hard to accomplish their goals. They were asked to fill out a detailed questionnaire about  their current nutritional and fitness habits, and answer questions about  what changes they wanted to create. Based on that information, I have  helped each person come up with a detailed action plan that will not  only help to accomplish her goals, but more importantly, help to improve her lifestyle.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
If you are looking to make a change in your life but  are not a part of the Weigh-In Challenge, you too can do it with just a  few small changes at a time.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
If your nutrition is off track, start by taking away one unhealthy food once a week and replacing it with a healthy food.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
If  your exercise routine is off track, start by finding something you  really enjoy doing — walking, biking, or swimming — and adding 10 minutes of  that exercise to your day.  Before you know it, exercise will have become  a daily routine.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Be sure to track your results, as we do much better when we can see our progress.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
I am very excited to be a part of this group and team, and I look forward to reporting our successes back to you each month.

&lt;i&gt;— Karen Skidmore, &lt;a href="http://www.completely-fit.com/" target="_blank"&gt;Completely Fit&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/i&gt;</description><link>http://highcountrymommies.blogspot.com/2012/01/tmn-weigh-in-challenge-news.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (The Mommies Network)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047329648876187243.post-6525122227916016078</guid><pubDate>Sun, 08 Jan 2012 18:51:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2012-01-08T10:53:01.531-08:00</atom:updated><title>The Family Organizer</title><description>I'm forever looking for ways to get better organized. It's even more of a challenge when you have a family to keep track of. The schedules, shopping lists, and tomorrow's to-do's are always being lost or shuffled from one place to another. I've put together a family organizer that helps me keep track of my family's activities from week to week. This organizer makes it easy to keep track of almost anything. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;One day I was looking at the ready-made templates that came with my word processing program, and I noticed there were many home-related templates already made up for me to use for my organizer. There was a monthly calendar and a weekly menu planner and grocery shopping list. I made a calendar for every month of the year to write important dates to remember, and printed out enough weekly menu planners to last a&lt;br /&gt;month or two.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The weekly meal planner has columns for every day of the week with "Breakfast," "Lunch," and "Dinner" listed for each day. Every weekend you write in your meals for the week, and then make up a shopping list to take to the grocery store. The menu planner has a place at the bottom to write in your shopping list, or you could make up a separate list. Download a free menu planner template from http://www.creativehomemaking.com/download.shtml. Just print, and photocopy as needed for your organizer.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The best way to organize your calendars and menu planners is in a three-ring binder. You can buy dividers that already have the months of the year printed on them. Just file your monthly calendars in the binder with your weekly menu planners in between. This is just the start. You can create sections in your binder for whatever you want. For instance, file your children's school or sports schedules in your organizer. Just punch holes in the pages and file them in the appropriate month. You could also include a list of phone numbers and addresses, or a list of family birthdays and anniversaries. You can buy folders for your binder that have pockets in them. Make one for greeting cards and one for coupons. How about one for your monthly bills? The possibilities are endless.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;One of the great things about the family organizer is that it keeps so many things handy and in a central location. Now if someone wants to know what's for dinner or has something to add to the grocery shopping list they can refer to the organizer themselves. We keep ours in the kitchen next to the microwave, where it's easily accessible. If you're afraid of pages getting messed up, sheet protectors work great. You can design a cover, too, and slip it into the front of the binder.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Family organizers are fun to make, relatively inexpensive, and limited only by your imagination. Start getting your family's schedules in order today!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Rachel Paxton - rachel@creativehomemaking.com&lt;br /&gt;Originally posted on &lt;a href="http://www.charlottemommies.com/"&gt;CharlotteMommies&lt;/a&gt;</description><link>http://highcountrymommies.blogspot.com/2012/01/family-organizer.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Pam Allen)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047329648876187243.post-5828873030064464381</guid><pubDate>Fri, 23 Dec 2011 16:41:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2011-12-23T08:43:06.457-08:00</atom:updated><title>Happy Holidays!</title><description>&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-siYiaEU5njc/TvSvZvP6s7I/AAAAAAAAAIY/WBcHtYGLD1Y/s1600/408822_331127173566568_150555121623775_1344407_1923112316_n.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 247px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-siYiaEU5njc/TvSvZvP6s7I/AAAAAAAAAIY/WBcHtYGLD1Y/s400/408822_331127173566568_150555121623775_1344407_1923112316_n.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5689365085990597554" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Wishing you save travels and warm memories from HighCountryMommmies.com!</description><link>http://highcountrymommies.blogspot.com/2011/12/happy-holidays.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Pam Allen)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-siYiaEU5njc/TvSvZvP6s7I/AAAAAAAAAIY/WBcHtYGLD1Y/s72-c/408822_331127173566568_150555121623775_1344407_1923112316_n.jpg" height="72" width="72" /><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047329648876187243.post-2196816004229333648</guid><pubDate>Wed, 21 Dec 2011 16:08:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2011-12-21T08:09:47.792-08:00</atom:updated><title>Wordless Wednesday</title><description>&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WQXmilsOXuw/TvIExXM56qI/AAAAAAAAAIM/8HEJpUXDFXI/s1600/IMG_2325.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WQXmilsOXuw/TvIExXM56qI/AAAAAAAAAIM/8HEJpUXDFXI/s400/IMG_2325.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5688614525410601634" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;</description><link>http://highcountrymommies.blogspot.com/2011/12/wordless-wednesday.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Pam Allen)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WQXmilsOXuw/TvIExXM56qI/AAAAAAAAAIM/8HEJpUXDFXI/s72-c/IMG_2325.JPG" height="72" width="72" /><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047329648876187243.post-3334138576410085806</guid><pubDate>Tue, 13 Dec 2011 04:51:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2011-12-12T20:53:51.954-08:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">howtobeadad.com</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">sleep</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">babies</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">family</category><title>"Snow Angels"</title><description>&lt;a href="http://media-cdn.pinterest.com/upload/219691288042186355_8qbhyjP1_c.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 480px; height: 640px;" src="http://media-cdn.pinterest.com/upload/219691288042186355_8qbhyjP1_c.jpg" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://highcountrymommies.blogspot.com/2011/12/snow-angels.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Pam Allen)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047329648876187243.post-2645399022520527146</guid><pubDate>Mon, 05 Dec 2011 13:41:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2011-12-05T05:41:51.755-08:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">The Mommies Network</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">sponsors</category><title>Ring in the New Year with TMN!</title><description>&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LIvSjUFlddE/TtOziAq_t3I/AAAAAAAAAd8/lCjyIhBMOPU/s1600/forumad2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LIvSjUFlddE/TtOziAq_t3I/AAAAAAAAAd8/lCjyIhBMOPU/s1600/forumad2.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;Ring in the New Year by reaching moms across the nation!&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Women make more than 80 percent of all purchasing decisions and control two thirds of the nation’s disposable income. And moms may have the greatest buying power. What mom doesn’t share the latest trends or personal experiences with a business that has provided products or services for her family or herself?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
To help you start the New Year with a bang, &lt;a href="http://www.themommiesnetwork.org/" target="_blank"&gt;The Mommies Network&lt;/a&gt; is offering the following:&lt;br /&gt;
With all new/renewed sponsorship agreements, your business will receive a complimentary blog feature (advertorial to include logo/product image and 500 words). Prepaid agreements receive a 5 percent discount and a complimentary two months on one sponsorship listing. Sponsors also receive 20 percent off event sponsorships. Offer expires Jan. 31, 2012.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href="http://www.themommiesnetwork.org/" target="_blank"&gt;The Mommies Network&lt;/a&gt; can help your business reach moms across the nation or in your community. We are a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide a safe, secure, free place for mothers to find support and encouragement from other mothers and to empower them to be better women, parents, and community leaders. Through our online forums, our chapters connect local mothers, enabling them to ask questions, seek support, offer encouragement, find volunteer opportunities, and grow as leaders as they volunteer their time with our site. Our organization provides a valuable service to a portion of the population that is nearly always overlooked, overworked, and taken for granted: moms!&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
For more details on how your business can ring in the New Year with moms across the nation, please contact Jessica Van Dyke at &lt;a href="mailto:Jessica.VanDyke@TheMommiesNetwork.org"&gt;Jessica.VanDyke@TheMommiesNetwork.org&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
How are you reaching the greatest buying power in our nation?&lt;/span&gt;</description><link>http://highcountrymommies.blogspot.com/2011/12/ring-in-new-year-with-tmn.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (The Mommies Network)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LIvSjUFlddE/TtOziAq_t3I/AAAAAAAAAd8/lCjyIhBMOPU/s72-c/forumad2.jpg" height="72" width="72" /><thr:total>0</thr:total></item></channel></rss>
