Who Won Coffee??? And Monday Mugs: Halloween

Ohmygosh!!  Ohmygosh!!  Ohmygosh!!  Ohmygosh!! 

I am so stinkin excited about this giveaway!  Know why???

.......

Because someone won!!!!

OK, I'm done being a smarty pants about it.  And thanks to my two awesome lurkers who came out of hiding for this contest!  Michaela&Riley and Laura Ickes, you both blessed my day! 

But, the real reason I am so excited about this giveaway is the fact that the winner and I were chatting via email this weekend about how cool it would be to get together for coffee when I head up to Children's next week with Katrina.  So, according to my wonderful friend, random.org,

the winner of the $10 Starbucks card is ...

Kari - now we really have to get together for coffee!!!!  Email me so we can coordinate! 

Are you in need of a mindless Monday Blog post? Are you struggling to deal with the weekend being over and can't muster the strength to type a single word? Well, Monday Mugs is for YOU! I may or may not "borrow" ideas from IheartFaces and post my interpretation of their weekly theme. Without submitting my photo for judgement and not being forced to follow the rules.

Mondays are hard! Blogging on Mondays shouldn't be!

Today's theme for Monday Mugs is: Halloween

 

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Well, we had a grand time this Halloween season.  We found these great white pumpkins at the grocery store that were just begging for an art project.

 

 

So we busted out our super expensive, art supply house palates (read: cheap paper plates), and went to town!

Little Miss Neat Freak insisted on painting "correctly".

While Thing One and Thing Two were perfectly content to mush all the colors together.

I was serious about the mushing.

And somehow, someone succeeded in painting her lip.

As well as the rest of herself...

Last Saturday was Katrina's school's Fall Carnival.  So our chicken, black kitty, and cowgirl got all dolled up...

...to hang out with a turkey...

... and get fake teeth from the principal.

And Madi made sure to wear her spurs. 

We don't do trick-or-treating because Madi is terrified of pretty much everything Halloween-related.  Even the stuffed animal spiders and bats.  And, really, I don't need that much drama.  So last night we hung out at our neighbor's house for a bonfire.  It was just right. 

Shall We Have Coffee?

If you have been around me for any length of time (usually 5 minutes will do), you know about my loves.  Now, don't misunderstand me.  My priorities are God, my hubby, then my kids.  But, right behind them (and sometimes leading), comes my love for the caffeinated beverage of happiness.  The beverage that God Himself had to have ordained, because it is so perfect.


Yes, my friends, I refer to coffee.   That blessed bean of goodness.  The joy of my morning. 


And, I love to share a coffee date with my friends.  To sit and sip the goodness, and visit for hours about everything and nothing. 


But, as much as I would LOVE to have a coffee date with each of you, Jerome has issues with me state-hopping every week to see all of you.  Sigh.  Sometimes husbands can be so, well, practical.  Sheesh.


So I struck upon a brilliant idea.  It isn't very often that I am able to take time to myself.  To go to the coffee shop by myself, and just sit and read (or people watch) and enjoy my coffee.  And, if I don't have that, I can safely assume that most of you have not taken that time for yourself lately either.


I have, on my kitchen counter, a $10 gift card for one of you to S*arbucks.  I bought it with my own money because S*arbucks knows how much money and coffee they would lose if they actually sponsored me.  And I would be honored to bless one you with it.  I seriously considered buying a gift card to our local coffee shop that I love WAY more than Starbucks (thus making a trip to Durango necessary for one of you - bwahahahahaha), but Jerome insisted that that could be considered cruel and unusual punishment.  Sigh.  So I got S*arbucks.  My only stipulation is that you have to promise to use this card on yourself - to take time to nurture yourself.  Because a cup only overflows when it is full.  Or when Violet gets involved.  But I digress.


So, how do you win coffee and alone time? 


Mandatory Entry:

• Leave me a comment and let me know what your favorite S*arbucks drink is.  Because you know we all have one. 

Optional Entries (please leave each entry as a separate comment):

• Follow me on Google Friend Connect and leave a comment letting me know that you are a follower.
• Blog about this giveaway and leave me the direct URL link.
• Call/text/email/FB my husband and insist that he fly me across the country to see you in person (just kidding - he would seriously kill me if you did that). 

The contest will be open until Sunday night.  I will post the winner Monday morning.  Now comment away!

I'm a Winner!

I never win giveaways.  Jerome ALWAYS wins stuff.  Realtors give away prizes during open house tours, and he is always winning something - bottles of wine, cash, and most recently a free 4-hour cleaning service.  Yes, he got kisses for winning that one.

But, seriously, I don't ever win.

Until this last month.

I have entered, and won, three separate bloggy contests. 

I have no idea how. 

Ok, well, maybe I understand the first one.

You see, I have a slightly unhealthy love of The Princess Bride.  Slightly in the fact that I probably have the entire movie memorized.  When we watch it with the girls, they are constantly reminding me to stop saying the lines with the movie.  So when my sweet friend Rachel, who is also a TPB lover, asked everyone to list as many quotes as they could think of, I had fun.  Ok, ok, I went psycho!  But, I love that movie!  And I know a lot of lines!  Normally, Jerome is the one who knows all the lines, but this time I remembered more than he did!  We stayed up far too late that night giggling and typing lines, having a blast but never expecting to win.

So, imagine my surprise when I found that I had won!  Just look at this beautiful tastiness she sent me:

A super sweet card with Itty Bit's face, my very-own-not-your mug, a COOKIE, and a gift card!  Because TPB is a family affair, I decided to graciously share my gift card with the family.  Katrina guzzled hers before I could even get the camera out of the purse.  Violet looked like a a lion devouring her prey.

Don't even think about touching her tastiness.

And Madi?

Well, Madi was just a little excited about having a special treat.

I found out, about the same time, that I had won a really cool new book.  It's called the Alternative ABCs, and KMama from The Daily Dribbles gave it away on her blog.  Madi has decided this book is hers, because the rest of us just aren't cool enough for it yet.

The artwork is incredible.

Although we cracked up at the "I is for ink" page.  Ink, as in tatoos. 

The last contest I won (well, actually, the first contest, if you are thinking chronologically) was for a Munchie mug.  What is a Munchie Mug, you ask?  Why, it's only the greatest invention in childhood snack time history, that's what!

I am so not kidding here.  Our Munchie Mug is my new favorite accessory.  Shana from Unexpected Bliss gave this gem away on her blog.  You can check out all the Munchie Mug official specs on the rotor here (quick, name that movie!), but just know that it is awesome.  And no, sadly, no one has been willing to pay me for my glowing testimony.  Oh well.

Violet immediately claimed the MM as her own.  In fact, the only time this thing is not in her hands is when she is sleeping, I think.  We have had a few sibling battles when (gasp!  God forbid) one of the other sisters would like a snack, but otherwise it has been smooth sailing.  I can wash it in the dishwasher (a requirement in my house) and my car seats and floors are cleaner. 

And there is the tiny princess, practicing her very messy Vanna White skills.  Yes, my children get messy.  Yes, we often go out in public with something on their faces.  My children will never win the prim and proper contest.  They will probably be too busy entering the wresting and piling-dirt-on-siblings-heads contests.  You're only a child once, after all.