Sometimes as a blogger you get pitched for a sponsored post and you think, “I don’t know how I am every going to make that work.” As in all the pitches I have gotten lately for pet owners (I own fish. FISH). But other times the stars align and you get to write about something you are already really passionate about and get paid for it.

Such was the case in the last two weeks. Last Monday I got to tell you about our leap of faith into foster care courtesy of Honda (and thank you for all of your awesome support-truly). Just as I accepted that post opportunity I got another opportunity that allows me highlight a program that fits so well with our passion to help the children who need it the most.

Most of us our blessed with a lot of resources to help provide for our children’s basic needs. And as parents we take our responsibility to keep them safe very seriously. But, as I have learned time and time again in our foster care training, there are so many children in our communities whose needs aren’t being provided for. It is truly shocking the kinds of homes many children live in.  Words fail me.

So what would it look like if those of us in our community who were blessed shared our blessings with those in our community who aren’t nearly as blessed?

Energizer is making it so easy for us to do just that with their Light Up A Life Simple Service Project campaign. The concept is simple. They are challenging people to take a few moments our of days and a few dollars out of our wallets to put together a small care kit for kids. Their vision is to mobilize 20 million people by 2020 to become Champions for Kids!

I can’t be 20 million people, but I can be ONE of millions 

I am SO excited to get my kids involved making care kits for our foster care agency so that they can begin to become invested in the process. We have talked to them a lot about it but I am not sure they are completely grasping what is going to happen. I am hoping this will be a good first step.

When kids come into foster care they often have just the clothes on their back. Nothing to remind them of home. Nothing to make them feel safe. Nothing to make them feel loved.

Care Bags consist of a new backpack with clothing, personal care items, and a toy for them when they meet their foster family and move to their foster home

We have found that the children have found the Care Bag is comforting to them and gives them something that belongs to them as they experience the trauma of being removed from their home and family. – DA Blodgett

I am just struck by the phrase “something that belongs to them.” They are separated from their family that they belong to, so to have ANYTHING that they can cling to as their own is a really big deal. It may not be much. But it is their own.

I would love to encourage all of you to look around you community and see where you can be a Champion for Kids.

In the coming weeks, I will be posting about the kit our family put together and I would love to know how you are doing the same. If it is something your family feels inspired to do, I would love to know what you are doing and who you are doing it for. The possibilities are really endless. Join me in becoming One of Millions.

This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias, but, as always, all opinions and ideas are my own. #EnergizerCFK, #CBias

One Of Millions- Giving Back is a post from: The Diaper Diaries

Oh Lisa-Jo, this one hit me in the gut::: Because Real Life is Never as Pretty as the Internet Pretends It Is, But Real Life Friends are Even Better

I have been thinking a lot about what “down time” means lately.::: The One Thing About Siri That Scares Me

Hoping we can all start loving our baby birthing bodies::: What Our Post-baby Bellies Really Look Like

this post is linked up to Saturday Stumbles at Simply Staci

What I’m Reading is a post from: The Diaper Diaries

I sat and watched my girls jump waves for what seemed like an eternity today. The joy in their face was contagious.

I watched them marvel as a dolphin came yards from the shore. Climbing in and out of the water way closer than a dolphin should be. A gift for my girl who had just fallen in love with Dolphin Tale.

I watched them spend an hour digging a giant hole in the sand and squeal with delight as they realized they had dug so deep they had reached water again.

I watched my son realize that he could scare (some rather aggressive) seagulls away by growling at them. And becoming quite pleased with his newfound skills.

I watched my son discover the feeling of sand between his toes (not his first time, but he must have forgotten). I watched his mind try and decide if he liked it. The jury is still out.

I think it is going to be a good vacation……

Friday Thoughts is a post from: The Diaper Diaries

  Blogging conference season is upon us. Although does the season ever end? I am so excited to be heading back to Blissdom this year (p.s. I would love to know that you are going so we can connect. I am a Community Leader for the Parenting Tribe. WOOT!).

One thing that is a MUST for conferences is business cards. And it something a lot of newbies forget. But people hand them out like candy and many companies in the exhibition hall will have giveaways that are easy to enter by throwing a card in the jar. They are definitely a key way to make a good first impression.

But, after using the same business cards for the last several conferences I am ready for something new. Now that I have a new blog, I want my business card to highlight both blogs and be more focused on ME than my blogs. That way when all the book deals, speaking engagements and endorsement deals come, they know I am more than just a blogger. ahem.

So I headed to my go to resource for ideas of where to get good business cards. Twitter. I got a few ideas and headed over to the various websites to check out what each offered. One stood out from the rest. Yet again, it was Tiny Prints.

You may recall back at Christmas time that I sang the praises of Tiny Prints and used them for our family Christmas cards. I absolutely loved the way they turned out. So I knew if I used them for business cards they would be of the highest quality. Now to narrow it down.

I toyed around with using something that had my picture on it so people would remember me better. But then I remembered that I universally hate all pictures of me. I also didn’t really want to use one with a logo since I wanted to highlight two separate blogs. So I just wanted to find something that was just me. I think I found it.

Whatcha think? Do you love them? Cause I think I love them. They have a TON to offer so browse around and see if one fits you!!

Will I be seeing you at Blissdom? What conferences are you going to this year? What one thing do you NOT forget for blogging conferences?

Tiny Prints provided me with some business cards in exchange for this review. As always all opinions are mine.

What are you loving this week? Come play along with Things I Love Thursday. All the guidelines are here if you are new, but is is super easy! And don’t forget to go spread comment love to fellow participants and to use the #TILT hashtag if you tweet so we can retweet each other. Thanks for participating!

Tiny Prints Business Cards- Things I Love Thursday is a post from: The Diaper Diaries

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and I have no idea what we are doing. I usually just buy some lame store bought cards and we call it a day. Then Pinterest came along and suddenly my store bought cards seem inadequate. Okay who are we kidding, I will probably still do the store bought thing, but for today we are going to pretend I am a crafty mom. Which one are you loving?

  

I have a whole lotta crayons in this house. I could probably make enough of these to give the whole school. They look easy. Then again, crafts and I don’t exactly go together like peas and carrots.

Aren’t these adorable. I have a STRONG affinity for the Tootsie Pop. But this one looks like it requires things like glue sticks and paper punchers. So it might be out of my

Perhaps this Tootsie Pop idea is more manageable. Hannah loves butterflies. And surely that is a stamp right? Cause I would DEFINITELY get a hand cramp writing all those words.

I think this is beyond adorable. And I am thinking this would KILL IT in the 3rd grade. And I am pretty sure I can still make a mean friendship bracelet. It is like riding a bike?

I have quite the thing for the mustache trend. This is CRAZY cute!! Can I do this and send out Valentine’s?

I feel like my girls wouldn’t be so into these, but I am keeping them in mind for when Silas hits school. All boys hit a pirate phase right? Right now we are smack dab in the middle of the planes, trains and automobiles phase (Those Aren’t Pillows!!!)

I think these are super cute. And they alleviate the embarrassment when you kid is the only one in class who didn’t stick candy in their Valentine (seriously, have you noticed this?). I am just wondering where you find all the shovels for a reasonable price. Any ideas?

Ok these are totally doable. My kids would pass out if I let them take goldfish to school. They are on the no processed food list. In fact, if I sent these to school with them they would probably sit and eat them all in the bathroom before handing them out…..

These seem easy too. And super adorable. So far they are majorly in the running. Plus they remind me of the Simpson’s episode where Ralph gives Lisa the "I choo choose you" Valentine. Classic. And totally unrelated. Anywho….

I think these are the winners. I simply print out a template on a printer (I can do that!!!) and my kids color them to look like their classmates. I just love everything about this. Mostly the idea that glue sticks aren’t involved.

What do you do for your kid’s class Valentine’s?

This post is linked up to Works For Me Wednesday at We Are That Family.

Easy Valentine’s Ideas- Works For Me Wednesday is a post from: The Diaper Diaries

Last week Lily came home and told us that some girls came up to her at school and said, “We’re popular and you’re not.” I felt like I had been socked in the gut. I also suddenly felt very strongly that there were somewhere some 4th grade girls who I wanted to hurt a little.

Mean girls. I have actually been on both sides of the equation. I am not proud of the fact that I know back in the day that I was on the mean end of the mean girl spectrum. But as I listened to a sermon this weekend about how much words hurt, I was immediately transported back to a 7th grade bus where my “friends” sat and said horrible things about me. And it barely hurt less in church last weekend than it did at the time. Mean girls suck.

I am acutely aware that my job in mothering my girls is to do my best to help them understand that they are amazing not because of what anyone may or may not tell them, but because of whose image they were created. It is an uphill battle that I know will only get harder as they get older.

Tomorrow, I’m co-hosting a live chat tomorrow with author Rachel Simmons. She is the author of The Curse of the Good Girl: Raising Authentic Girls with Courage and Confidence. To be honest I haven’t read the book, but I love the concept. We will be talking about raising confident girls and I can totally get behind that.

I don’t know if you have done a Motherhood chat before, but I always end the chat AMAZED at the info I have learned. Imagine a bunch of mothers getting together and flooding you with their wisdom. As I navigate motherhood, I can use all the advice I can get.

The chat will take place on Tuesday, January 31 at 12:00 p.m. EST, on TheMotherhood.com, I really hope you will join us. I would love to “see” some familiar faces around.

While I am being compensated for participating in the chat tomorrow, I was not required to blog about my participation. I just think it is a great topic you might be interested in so I wanted to share the details with you

Mean Girls Suck is a post from: The Diaper Diaries

A while back I wrote a very vague post about change coming in 2012. So vague in fact it actually caused one of my dear friends who had disappeared off the face of the earth call me to see what on earth I was talking about. Apparently that is the only way to get her to call me is bizarre vagueness. So there will be much more of that in 2012 as well.

Anyway back to the change. To tell you about the change coming in 2012, I have to take you back to 2001. It was the year I got married and the first time Ryan and I first discussed adoption. I don’t know why we started talking about it exactly. But I remember that we both were enthusiastic about the fact that one day we would adopt. And a little seed was planted.

Obviously as the years went on, we began to have our own kids. But every few years we would discuss it again and see if it was the right fit for our family. I would, from time to time, poke around on various websites, ask friends who had adopted and look into agencies. But it never seemed to be the right time.

Last year we began to begin the paperwork for foreign adoption. But the whole time we were doing it, nothing about it felt right. Finally one day we admitted to each other this just didn’t seem like what we were supposed to be doing. So we stopped. And started down a different path.

This past weekend we just completed our 6th training session to become foster parents. It is probably the scariest thing I have ever done. And although I wrestle with the fear, I also know in my heart that it is what we are supposed to be doing. But I’ve been afraid to “say it out loud” on the blog because that makes it all too real.

Life is so very good. Life is so very comfortable. Life is so very safe. Life is INCREDIBLY blessed. And out of that blessing we hope to bless some children for whom life is anything but good, comfortable or safe. To take some liberties with a quote from one of my favorite books, it isn’t safe, but it is good. To be continued….

Someone else wants you to take a leap of faith in 2012. From bumper to bumper, the all-new CR-V is loaded with pretty much everything you need to tackle your Leap List. It’s your ultra-versatile adventure partner, and it’s built to take you just about anywhere you want to go. Learn more at leaplist.honda.com.”

Compensation was provided by Honda via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Honda.

A Leap of Faith is a post from: The Diaper Diaries

There are so many things wrong with this, I don’t even know where to begin::: Hooked On Chicken Nuggets

On the opposite end of the spectrum, here is how to eat healthy without breaking the budget::: Keeping Expenses Low While Eating a Healthy Diet

That’s all I got for you this week. Linked up to Saturday Stumbles at Simply Staci.

What I’m Reading is a post from: The Diaper Diaries

Are you reading the new marriage blog? Cause I would really love it if you were reading over there as well. I love The Diaper Diaries and my readers but you know how when you have a new baby you just want everyone to ooh and aah over it? Yeah. That.

The hubby has written a great post today and there is so much good stuff over there. Will you all just indulge me and head over there. Maybe even subscribe……

The post where I refer you to my other blog is a post from: The Diaper Diaries

  Wait, I hear you. You don’t have a Mercantile Bank where you live. That is ok, because I have a greater point to this post.

We had been with our previous bank for like 10 years. And there wasn’t anything necessarily wrong with them per se. But there really wasn’t anything right with them either. I mean they were a huge corporate bank based somewhere far away who fee’d us to death so that kind of stunk. But when things were going well, it wasn’t something I really thought about. But when things went wrong. UGH. Pain in my behind!!

A year ago I was part of a banking focus group and there were all these people raving about their bank. I didn’t even know it was POSSIBLE to rave about a bank. So at that point I came home and told the hubby we were switching. But then I realized what a giant pain it was to switch banks. And we dragged our feet.

But 2012 is our year. We switched end of December and it was the BEST decision. I never knew it was possible to rave about a bank but I am RAVING. The personal service astounds me. They have called no less than five times to make sure things are going well and to help us get set up with everything online. So impressed.

In case you ARE local let me tell you a few quick reasons why I love them:

• Mobile Deposit: I can scan or take mobile pics of my checks and they are deposited. I don’t even have to go to the bank. Perfection.
• No ATM fees: They know that they don’t have many branches. So they refund any fees you get from using other people’s ATMs. Seriously. Love.
• Interest bearing checking: Yep. I get interest. In my checking account.

If you AREN’T local, can I just encourage you to bank local? And shop local. And eat from locally sourced restaurants. It truly makes a difference. Local is the new black.

What are you loving this week? Write about it, link up here, and make sure to spread the word about Things I Love Thursday through your favorite social media platform. Here are all the TILT guidelines.

Mercantile Bank (Shop Local)- Things I Love Thursday is a post from: The Diaper Diaries