Kind of obsessed

I really like blog giveaways. I will have to give something away again soon...but in the meantime, you can check out the yummy vegan body products and fun giveaway at The Muddy Moose Bath Boutique

Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

Okay, not chicken...chocolate! I won my first Blog Giveaway, courtesy of The Gourmet Foodie Blog, http://www.thegourmetfoodieblog.com . I'm so excited to receive my Torn Ranch Chocolate Truffles. Yum!

Life in a small town

Ice-skating after school.

Kusudama Tutorial

I enjoy giving these as gifts, and several people have asked how I make them. I originally saw them on the Folding Trees website, and here is the tutorial for the kusudama balls. I use traditional origami or chiyogami papers, but, with some help from my daughter, I am in the process of making a ball from paper recycled from security envelopes (the kind your bank might use). I will post a picture when it is completed.

Thank you FT for your great tutorials and this photo.

And the Winner is...

...Laura. She said,
"Purple, green, blue
And I would hang it in my bedroom. Those are gorgeous!!"

Thank you to everyone who entered.

Becky Home-Ecky

That's what my husband likes to call me sometimes. But I don't mind, and I don't think he minded much either when I made him these cupcakes for his birthday.

I was inspired by the designs in the book "Hello, Cupcake". You can check out their designs at their website.

A GiveAway

I am participating in Bloggy GiveAway's Winter Carnival. Just in time for Lunar New Year and Valentine's Day, I am giving away a handmade kusudama origami ball. Kusudama are dodecahedrons (12 regular pentagonal faces) and the word kusudama translates literally to "medicine ball". The photos are just samples - I will make it in reds and golds for Lunar New Year, reds, white, and pink for Valentine's day, or any other color combination you choose. It comes with a beaded loop and tassle for hanging it up.

In order to be eligible for the giveaway:

• you will need to post a comment about what three colors you would like, or
• any theme for your kusudama ball (valentine, baby, sports, flowers, etc), or
• where you would hang the origami ball.

Additional entries can be gained by:

• Subscribing to this blog, or
• Subscribing to my Complete Kitchens blog, or
• Posting a link on your blog to this giveaway

A winner will be selected using a random number generator on February 2nd and posted on this blog; I will contact you if you have a Blogspot account or if you leave your email address or blog address in the comments posting. I am willing to ship internationally, but I cannot guarantee delivery by Valentine's day for international winners.

Karnival

We are getting close to the Carnival/Karnival/Mardi Gras season. Just in time is the amazing Bloggy Giveaways Quarterly Carnival. More than 800 blog-writers are giving cool things away. Definitely worth checking it out (and I'm wondering how in the heck I will be able to enter all the give-aways).

Famous for the right reasons

A job well done yesterday by US Airways pilot, Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger. His skills and quick thinking saved lives and today he is being cheered as a hero. In recognition of his bravery and quick thinking, you can join his Facebook fan club (10,000 members and building) or buy a shirt for Draft Sully for Secretary for Transportation. Imagine how many babies in 2009 will be named Sully!

The co-pilot was Jeff Skiles, and I'm assuming that every pilot is only as good as his/her co-pilot, so hopefully he is getting his kudos too.

Pool Safety

Please read this - many preventable drownings and horrible injuries are caused by entrapments in pool/hot tub drains, even for kids and adults who are great swimmers. A new law went into effect Dec. 19. I highly recommend checking out the photos of "approved" drain covers and making sure that the pools and hot tubs you use and your kids use are safe. Ask the owner/operator if they have anti-entrapment drains.

You can find out more at http://www.usa.safekids.org/water/pool.html

Why Wii is better than TV

Standing instead of Sitting

Interacting instead of Viewing

Reading instead of Watching

Active instead of Passive

Choosing instead of Receiving



The current favorite Wii game in our house is We Ski. Today I heard my daughter say "Eat my powder!", shortly after picking out a new outfit for her Mii, Callie, who was carving some nice turns in a kimono and panda ear-muffs. Virtual life is good!