Happy 4th of July! CONTEST!

This is the auto-bot version of Darcy's blog. Hopefully she is out doing something fantastic with her Handy Man and Boybarians. Me? I'm just a computer. I don't even get to watch fireworks.

So - homeschoolers this one's for you! Ever wanted to attend a conference but the schedule, cost, baby-sitting, travel arrangements make it too hard to get away? Would you like to attend a conference in your yoga pants and flip-flops? How 'bout in your pjs? (Darcy's auto-bot - this girl will definitely be in a pony tail and a t-shirt!)

"Shhhh! Do you hear that? It is the comfort of your home calling you. PJs, coffee or tea (Darcy will be drinking a triple-shot illy latte!), and five fun filled days just for you!

"In Heart of the Matter Online's quest to bring you the absolute best home school resource online, they have listened to your requests and are providing you with a fun filled online adventure! On July 30th through August 3rd, they will be hosting Heart of the Matter Online's first annual Virtual Homeschool Conference! They will be providing the attendees with motivational speakers, video tutorials, free products, question and answer sessions, and a vendor hall - all ONLINE! Just log on and listen live during that time or log in at your convenience and download the audios.

"This conference will be less like a "seminar" and more like a bunch of close friends in a chat room. Just wait till you see what some of your favorite home school personalities have done to educate and entertain you! At the end you will join in to chat with them, ask questions, and they will answer. (Auto-bot here again - omgoodness! Did you see who is going to be there?!? *squeal!*)

"To ensure your spot in the conference room and to take advantage of the early bird special, simply visit the Heart of the Matter Online Conference site and click the "pay now" button. At $19.95 these prices won't last long! This $19.95 includes a fabulous $30 package from Currclick: curriculum in a click! Currclick (formerly HomeschoolEstore) is the largest one-stop shop for electronic lapbooks, affordable curriculum, and homeschooling resources. HURRY - PRICE JUMPS TO $29.95 IN A COUPLE DAYS! If you do sign up - tell them "Darcy from LWM3B" sent ya'."

BUT - WAIT! (Darcy watches too many infomercials!) I am giving YOU, my wonderful readers, the opportunity to attend this amazing event for FREE. I have 5 tickets to give away! Your ticket includes the $30 package from Currclick (http://www.currclick.com/)! To enter my giveaway simply leave a comment letting me know you're interested in attending the conference. You can make me feel better if you want and tell me you'll be in a pony tail and flip-flops, too, if ya' want. ;)

Many will enter, few will win. Contest runs until Monday at 10 PM CST.

We Have a Winner!

First of all - some of you are Google cheaters!! Oh okay, I would have done exactly the same thing. But too, too funny that so many of you Googled the store name. You are smart cookies!

Most of you were right, Handy Man and I were in Galena, IL. That big body of water there is none other than the Mighty Mississippi River. The Texas shirt was an attempt to throw you off. I got that sweet little t-shirt when I went to Texas to visit Jennefer from Smooth Stones Academy. Did it throw you off?

And what is with the horse? I have no idea! I thought it was hilarious though. I thought that might be the biggest hint. I mean, how many places decorate with a horse? Would someone who knows something about the horse email me or leave me a comment? I'd love to know the story. I think it's hilarious. The horse by the way, isn't alive.

For those of you who wanted to know more, Galena is a great grown-up get away. It is a quaint river town, big on history and lined with cute shops. It is a great place to be a small business, as the town prides itself on mom and pop shops and original handicrafts and hand-made items. We stayed at a Bed and Breakfast and had 24 hours to ourselves. It was fantastic!

So, I plugged in all the entries to random.org and here is the screen shot.



So counting Kathy (the deleted one) as number 1 and removing Christa (it is HER contest!) and me that makes #5 Amy from Allen Academy. Congrats Amy! You are now the proud owner of those gorgeous pink and chocolate beads! I'll try not to be envious.

If you didn't win, you can still get a piece of Christa's Collection anyway - she is currently running a FREE SHIPPING promotion at her Etsy Shop.

Thanks for playing! I'll be having another contest - this time for homeschoolers - next week!

Surprise! Contest!

We did it!

Handy Man and I have spent years talking about getting away for a weekend. We made theoretical plans, talked about how the boys would do without us, imagined where we would eat, and how it might be nice to dress up. Well, this weekend we had a wedding on our calendar. The boybarians were left in the care of my in-laws and Handy Man and I had an adults-only weekend for the first time since 1999. Nineteen ninety-nine!

To celebrate our get-away weekend and the fact that my friend Christa is expanding an absolutely fabulous line of handmade jewelry at her etsy shop - Christa and I are having a contest here at Life With My 3 Boybarians. And what's the loot?! It is this fabulous piece that Christa calls Chocolate Drops.


Win this beauty!





Here is Christa's description:
"This chunky strand is full of deliciousness! Pretty pink "miracle beads" (they really do glow in certain lights!) with clusters of Smoky Quartz in between. Necklace is a to be worn long and lusciously. Diameter is a whopping 26 inches.

And to the winner, it will be wrapped in my special gift wrap all pretty-like!"


Want to enter? Here're the details:
* Simply leave a comment guessing where in the *World in the World* Handy Man and I are.
* You don't have to have the right answer. Your comment enters you in the running, winner will be determined at random.org.
* You have until Friday night at 11:59 pm CST to enter.
* One entry per IP.
* Winner will be contacted by Christa to arrange for shipping.

Here are your hints about our location:






**Update: Kathy guessed our location about 7 minutes after I posted it! She is still entry #1, but I've deleted her comment to let some of you guess for awhile!**

Happy Mother's Day

To all the mothers out there:
Hope this day is special. This is the toughest job with the lowest pay but greatest benefits. Hope you all have a day to enjoy yourselves and your family!

To my mother-in-law:
You could have warned me. Ha ha. Kidding. Mostly. ;) Thank you for raising the most loving husband and amazing daddy. I look at my own boys and wonder how you did it. Happy Mother's Day to the first woman in my hubby's life.

To my own mother:
Thanks for always being there when it counts, and even when it doesn't. Not only do I have the best mom, but the boys have an amazing Nanie. Happy Mother's Day to the #1 woman in my life. Wish you lived closer.

ps - Shhhhhh! Be the first to enter.... surprise BLOG MAKEOVER CONTEST over at my other blog, Graphically Designing!

The Nester is a Cuckoo GEM!

Remember my friend The Nester? She's such a cool gal. She's been such a pain in the @$$, uh, such a joy to work with on this project. She's totally picky open-minded, and loved to give me very detailed criticism good advice about how to make a space totally perfect for her. Ha! Just teasin', Nester. It's been a ton of fun! Thanks for really giving those design muscles a work out.

This is was her blog before:



And this is where we are, so far. You can click to blow up. Well, don't YOU blow up. But blow up the picture. You know what I meant.



To follow the whole transformation, go check out my design blog over at Graphically Designing.

Contest Time's Up!

And Random.org says:



Sooooo... #2 is The Nester over at The Nesting Place, who said, "I never win anything." Well, your luck changes today, sista'! You are the winner.

Please go easy on me. ;)

Here is The Nester's current blog:



Check back soon to see me unwrap my new Christmas toy and hear about Handy Man's April Fool's Day in December. Sneaky Devil, he is!

ps - I now know 'The Fiddle Piggy' by heart forward and backwards. Thanks, Nester!

What Does Your Blog Say About You?

You're hip. You've got style. You definitely aren't one of those fit-a-mold types, right?

So why does your blog feel so... generic?

There are thousands of articles out there about improving your blog space, keeping reader interest and engaging passers-by. I can't get into writing style here, but I can help with the aesthetics, at least a little.

You need a blog that reflects YOU.

The number one things that loses reader interest? Your same exact layout on a dozen other blogs. So break out! Customise! Improvise! Legalize! Errr... wait. Not that last one.

Announcing: LWM3B Header contest. Winner will receive his or her own customized, personal, hip header, courtesy of me - to the best of my meager design abilities.

"Uhhhhh, what's a header," you ask?

It's that little bar graphic across the top with your blog name. See mine up there? It's got a tidy little cappuccino, my title, and some nifty graphics. You can see some samples over at my other, new, fresh, little blog, Graphically Designing.

What will yours look like?

Rules:
* Only one entry per IP.
* All entries in by Friday at 11:59 pm CST. Winner announced Saturday.
* Winner will be chosen at random.

Enter now - just leave a comment. Wish me a Merry Christmas if you want. You can even comfort me with thoughts like, "Don't worry, Darcy, your hair will grow back." or "It's no big deal your boys are half-dressed, they'll grow out of it!"

ENTER NOW! Oh, and tell your friends. 'Tis the season to be generous, merry and bright.

The Fantastic Five

What a fun contest! It was fun to see all the weights and to try and guess how some of you reached the number you did. What a fun bunch you are!

Sooo... what did these 5 amazing children weigh at birth?



They weighed exactly 8 pounds 0 oz. - an even 8 pounds. Go ahead. Gasp.

My first born son weighed 8 lb 7 oz by himself - nearly 1/2 a pound more than all these 5 warriors together. So seeing those numbers should really make you FEEL something.

We live in America. Some of us live in Canada. I have a few regular readers from Italy and Australia. But the point is - we live in a time and in nations where birth weights like that should not be acceptable. 5 children should not be born weighing less than many singletons.

So... to continue the awareness. WHO is more at risk to have a preterm baby?

*if you were born prematurely yourself, you are 3x more likely to have a preemie.

*if you have given birth early before. One estimate says if you delivered early on 2 births, the guesstimate for your 3rd birth would be up near 100% chance of premature delivery.

*if your sister gave birth early, or you see a familial correlation with the women on your mom's side of the family. Studies are emerging that suggest there may be something in your genes that increase your risk.

*if you are African American, Caribbean or Black American, it is estimated that 1 in 6 black women give birth too soon. This discrepancy is not okay! In some parts of the country, 17% of Black Americans are having babies preterm. Studies are being done to find out if this is genetics or environmental.

*stress. if you have high stress levels (financial stress, hunger, long work hours, relationship stress, abusive relationships, etc) your chances go up.

*your age. Teen pregnancies and advanced maternal age (pregnancy over 36) are more likely to deliver early.

*if you are carrying twins or more, especially high-order multiples, very few triplets and up reach term.

* if you used reproductive assistance, or fertility help, your risk for delivering early is higher.

*if you are irresponsible with your pregnancy. Smoking, drinking, drug use, no prenatal care. This should be obvious, but in some parts of the country (Kentucky, for example) 1 in 4 pregnant women continue to smoke.

*unknown infection. There is a correlation between periodontal disease (see your dentist before you get pregnant!) and preterm birth. Also some bacterial infections can start spontaneous labor.

But the fact remains that in 1/2 of all preterm births, the mothers had NONE of those risk factors. Many people assume preemie moms are teens, moms of high-order multiples who took fertility drugs, smokers, living in poverty, etc. And while those are all factors, most women don't fit that profile.


So what were my risk factors? Why was Trouble born so soon?

I get asked this all the time. From the above list, my only risk factor is family relationships. My first cousin had a 26 weeker. My grandmother had a daughter "somewhere around her 7th month" who lived for a short while. Her cousin also lost a baby born early. It is possible that something on my X chromosome (from my mother's side) is messing with the gestational clock. It could be coincidence. My water broke. I was not in labor. I had no contractions. Babies cannot survive without amniotic fluid. And while the bag of water can sometimes repair itself and replenish when there is a leak, Trouble and I weren't so lucky. 52 hours after my water broke, Trouble was born via emergency c-section because my placenta started to abrupt. The only noise in the room was the hustle and bustle of the OB team, the neonate team and the anesthesia team. Trouble was born silent. He was too little to cry.

Those 5 children have beat some incredible odds. It's too late to turn back the clock on their births. So, as their parents, we can only work to try and prevent this from happening to another family.

To the parents of those fantastic five, who I am lucky enough to call friends - you are amazing souls. Thank you for letting me share your beautiful kids with the blogosphere. I am so proud of all those kids, and each of them makes my heart pitter-patter with great pride.

Congrats to Tammy at Evergreen Eclectic Academy. You nailed it with the guess of 8 pounds even. Shoot me an email to claim your bag.

Today is Prematurity Awareness Day

Tuesday, November 13 is National Prematurity Awareness Day. Buildings will be lit in pink & blue for babies, communities will hold Roll Calls and Light Stars. And here at LWM3B, it means CONTEST!

Look at these gorgeous children. So I am biased because that little one on the right is my little Trouble, but I adore these 5 amazing kids. Their stories are all different but they share one thing: premature birth.




Your task is to guess their combined birth weight. Simple enough, right?

Rules:
Closest wins.
Only one entry per IP.
All entries in by Wednesday November 14th at 11:59 pm.
In case of tie, time prevails - so pick an original weight. ;)
Family of the above pictured cuties don't count. They already know.
Winner will be announced Thursday.

Prize is a "brown bag" prize. What that means is that Trouble has helped Handy Man put together 3 prize bags. The contents of the bag(s) and the bags themselves vary between $20 and $80. Winner will choose Bag #1, Bag #2 or Bag #3.

Bags are themed: Metro Mama. Family Fun Night. Smart Cookie.

Enter now! And tell a friend, but enter first - you've got this one in the bag!

Weekly Report 14-16

I've been totally slacking in the Weekly Report department. But I'm up to date now, and Monday is a new week.

Stay tuned... Tuesday there will be a fabulous CONTEST!

Handy Man's Box - The Reveal

Oh my, was that a lot of laughs. My tummy hurts! Sorry for the delay. It's taken me over 2 hours to figure out how to publish a movie so you all could see it. The movie was too big for Blogger's lame little movie feature.

In preparation for the event, Handy Man went digging into the depths of our closet and pulled out his oldest items of clothing. He dressed himself in a hat he bought from the Iowa State University bookstore in 1989, the ugliest shirt in the universe bought at Eddie Bauer at the Oak Brook Mall 1993 (I hid it once, to see if he missed it. I almost trashed it, but he found it hidden when we packed to move! Soooo close!) and those jeans. The acid washed, faded jeans - Eddie Bauer - purchased to match the above ugly shirt. I just hate that he still fits in the same jeans he wore 14 years ago. What a brat! And those fluorescent orange gloves? I have no explanation for the gloves.

So here it is, the inventory list:
Porsche 911 model car (Hmmmm, Handy Man loves Porsche 911s)
Trapper Keeper
Box of Checks
markers and pens (still work!)
double sided tape
Christmas replacement lights
Card from Mother
Woodworking and Architectural magazines (are you sensing something here???)
Ink Toner for a copy machine (????)
Architectural sketches (hmmm, I'm starting to get some suspicions, here...)
a lecture pointer (huh?)
an empty notebook
a telephone message book (no messages in there from ex-roommate's mother to be found!)
University Fitness Club pass
Floppy disks (I about busted a gut on this one!)
a cardboard dinosaur box (what the ????)
a car window ice scraper
a book entitled, "The Southwest Beauty" (Ha! it's about deserts, not girls!)
Drawing triangle (seriously, this is looking suspiciously Handy Man-ish!)
Pictures (strangely enough of 2 of Handy Man's sisters!)

So... after all this. The waiting... the suspense...

The box is *his* after all. Now aren't you glad we didn't just ship it to his female, ex-roommate's mother? Boy, that would have been embarrassing. I can see it now:

"But Handy Man, love of my life, all this stuff belongs to you. But I'm sosooooo glad you tracked me down after all these years..."

And the winner?!

We actually had a 5-way tie, with Mom2LegoManiacs, Christy, LisaWa, Heather and Jennefer each guessing 3 correct items. But since time prevails in the event of a tie... Congrats Mom2LegoManiacs! Shoot me an email. You get the Starbucks giftcard.

Geraldo's Got Nothin' on Handy Man

Do you remember when Geraldo, with his moustache and daytime TV dramatics, attempted to break open Al Capone's vault? Okay, I don't remember it; that was April 1986 and back then, I had pig tails and wore a red-white-and-blue plaid Catholic school uniform. The lore, however, of the fruitless 2-hour, live, prime-time tv show lives on.

Tune in this Saturday afternoon. Your votes have spoken! Handy Man's box will be opened. And I, with my 3 cameras, 2 digital camcorders, and a partridge in a pear tree, will be there so you don't miss a thing.

And this will be no Al Capone's Vault.



Ultimately, the words of my friend Karen resonated and she found the words I was looking for.

"I am a woman and I know women and she is sure to read into the fact that he has held onto this box for so many years."

You're right Karen. If I had a boy ex-roommate, with whom I was "totally in love" and I left him with the care of my mother's stuff (uhhhh... who does that anyway?! Is that a stunt like leaving something behind so he'll have to call?) and he called me a decade and a half later - I'd consider that totally loaded.

This is just screaming *CONTEST* to me! And so, I announce Life With My 3 Boybarian's second-ever contest.

So, rules:
You may enter once (yes, I can see your IP addresses!).
You may list up to, but not more than, 5 possible items.
Whoever has the most correct items wins.
In the event of a tie, earlier time prevails.
Contest closes Saturday morning at 10 am central standard time.
No, I won't ship the amazing, wonderful, fantastic prize to Guatalahara, Timbuktu or the Great Wall of China.

Winner goes home with a $10 Starbucks Giftcard. You can get 2 great drinks, on Handy Man (Shhhh! He's buying. Don't tell!). I really recommend the Pumpkin Spice latte' this time of year. Starbucks claims their sales climb by 11% during the time of year when this lil-bit-of-heaven-in-a-cup is offered.



And I believe I account for at least 10.5% of those increased sales.

Enter now! :)

Makeover Contest Results!

Here they are, the highly sought after (humor me!) Before & After pics of Jenny's blog makeover. If you remember, Jenny won the first ever LWM3B contest. Jenny's first blog had such cute little people, fun stories of her family and kids' work. But it had a generic Blogger header and needed some personality.

The name of her school has the words "light" and "shadow" and I knew playing with light is one of the most challenging things a designer can do. And when that designer is brand-new-novice like me, well, it was a fun challenge. Her school colors are green and purple. The baby blanket background is a nod to her future pupil, her unborn child. Here are the results! You can go see her blog live here.



Stay tuned! I will be hosting another blog makeover soon. And this time, I'm using a Random Integer Generator so Handy Man won't have the pressure of choosing my winner. Phew!

Contest Winner and a little Bird Talk

That was such a fun contest! I really enjoyed seeing everyone's blogs. So much so in fact, that when choosin' time came I turned into a complete wuss and couldn't do it. I made Handy Man do my dirty work. So, who is the winner?

Congratulations Jenny of A Light in the Shadows! Your adorable family needs a hip space to show off all the cool things going on over there. Have your people call my people. ;)

Here is Jenny's before shot:

And even though my friend McTriplet Mom already has a cool blog, Handy Man totally thinks she should win a date - he said he'll bring the wine. You can pick him up at 8.

On to school stuff - we are nearly 2 full months into our new year and I started getting pangs of guilt about our lack of science. I don't want to do formal science with the boys just yet. I don't think they are quite mature enough for the scientific process. We have lots of nature, space, animal, bird books on their shelves, so they've got lots of basic exposure. I decided to add in a little nature observation, ala Charlotte Mason. We live in a heavily forested acreage with a pond and I secretly love watching the deer sneak by and the birds flitter around the yard (Remember my blog about the 17 year old version of me? She would totally pee her pants to see that in writing!). This year we have seen bald eagles, lots of hawks (this is the Hawkeye State!), woodpeckers, cute little nuthatches, colorful finches and warblers. In the Spring, we had a Great Blue Heron around the pond for awhile, and for one brief afternoon we hosted a pair of migrating Trumpeter Swans. Handy Man picked two new, sprite-looking bird feeders for the boys. We made hummingbird nectar and hung them. The very next day we were rewarded with lots of hummingbirds. The boys were thrilled with our success! I have to get a You-Tube of Trouble saying "'Ummin-bowds, Mommy! Look at the 'ummin'bowds!" I think a few nature walks paired with sketch time makes for a gentle but beneficial addition to school in the science category. We have a Peterson Guide "Birds of the Midwest" and "Woodland in your Pocket" by Mark Muller to, well... guide us. ;)

LWM3B's Very First Contest!

I always love blog contests, and thought... what would Life With My 3 Boybarians readers want that I could possibly offer?

Then Handy Man had the idea, "How 'bout a 'Win a Date with Handy Man' contest?" he asks. Such a modest man I married. I voted that down instantly. Handy Man is quite a catch, true. But he's stuck with me. He said so at the altar in front a lot of witnesses. ;)

So, inspired by room makeover contests, Handy Man and I are going to host our first "Blog Makeover" contest! How to Enter - quite simply, leave a comment. Show us your blog. In *one* simple line, tell us why you need a pretty new blog header. Then, come back on Tuesday to find out who will win a customized new header/title graphic for their blog. Winner and I can work together to find a pretty new photo, caption, font and color scheme to make the former blog-in-need-of-a-makeover into a swell, hip, personalized space!

Let the games begin, and tell your friends!