Personalized Christmas Ornaments.

I am participating in a "grow your talents" fundraiser.  Please consider purchasing a Personalized Christmas Ornament.  These make great tags for a special gift.  It's a great and inexpensive hostess gift.  Or just a small way to commemorate your 2009 Christmas.  I can personalize any of the ornaments to suit your needs.  I may even host a giveaway....we'll see.  What do you think?  Do you think I should host a giveaway for one of these items?                                                                                                                                                                    Please Add $1.50 for shipping and handling.  If ordering multiples I will personalize the shipping cost.  (Probably US Postal Priority Service--whatever is cheapest)                                                                                                                                                                                      Please leave a comment and the best way to contact you.  Or email me.  HIP MAMA's EMAIL            

                                

Sparkle Tree-$7

Personalized with your families names or a friends

STAR-$4

TREE-$5

I can personalize any message to fit your needs!

Large Hearts w/ Small attached-$7

Large Heart Only-$5

Any personal message...but I like "All Hearts Come Home for Christmas...."

Remember all monies will be donated directly to my Church's Fundraising Campaign...we are building a new Kids area, worship center, volunteer center, and hospitality area.

Hip Stuff & Giveaways

This is the second time I'm posting about a giveaway, but I've found some stuff I really like.  I'm tempted to just Link up Brown Paper Packages to the Hip Stuff button...just cuz Sarah finds such neat stuff...stuff I actually would like and use.  I normally don't have time to enter each and every giveaway on the blogosphere, but she's been the exception.  So Here goes:
This site is full of super cute totes and storage solutions.  The patterns are adorable.  I could totally see myself using these products.  And isn't this little doggie so adorable.  Though I'll stick with my Great Dane!  A few of my fave items are the Spirit Liftah (a wine tote), the Doggie Bag Lunch Tote, & the Weekender.  I think out of all the tote's though, I would get the most use of "The Pocket Rocket" Tote!  So if you're interested enter in the giveaway HERE.

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The other giveaway that I entered this week was a jewelry designer...Hot Mama, sort of like Hip Mama, except she's obviously hotter and more creative than me...He He.  Anyway, a $100 gift certificate is up for grabs over at Brown Paper Packages (I know she  gets all the cool stuff to review...wishing I could get in on that) for Hot Mama Designs .  I love absolutely everything she had on her site, which is VERY VERY bad...especially since I'm trying to keep costs down at the Hip House.  However, what a fabulous gift idea for Hip Hubby to get me...or for a grandmother or a dear friend.  Right?  These jewelry designs were so "me" I love simple and beautiful things...silver and my kids :0)  So this was obviously right down my alley.  Here's the item I REALLY want...A pretty charm bracelet with my children's names & birth stones...sweet.  I'm hoping I win the giveaway! We'll see!  Enter the Giveaway for the Hot Mama Designs HERE.

I'd appreciate you mentioned you heard about the giveaway here! Thanks! Enjoy your weekend!

Dare: Love is Thoughtful, not Selfish

This was our First Christmas married! December 1999.

Love is not Selfish.  I've concluded that most things that are considered "sin", or most things that we do wrong in life is from a core component of selfishness.  Day 3 in the Love Dare pointed this out.  What hit home to me, or something I hadn't really thought about is-that things that  be generous on the outside, or a good deed, may come from a selfish inner motive.  One of the questions that really hit home for me on this day was:

"Why do we have such low standards for ourselves, when we have such high expectations for our mate?"

"....True love looks for ways to say 'yes'....If you find it hard to sacrifice your own desires to benefit your spouse, then you may have a deeper problem with selfishness than you want to admit."

 The Bible says: "Do nothing out of selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves." Philipians 2:3

The Dare for Day 3 was to continue staying away from negative comments and to buy your spouse something that says "I'm thinking of you." 

Day 2 Focused on Thoughtfulness.  I loved how the chapter starts out and pretty much summed it up for me:

"Love thinks.  It's not a mindless feeling that rides on waves of emotion and falls asleep mentally.  It keeps busy in thought knowing that loving thoughts precede loving actions."

Though I sometimes wish that Matt was thoughtful in the "bring home pretty flowers" and "write me love notes" kind of way...I am blessed to have a husband who is thoughtful in more practacle ways.  He often textes me to ask about my day.  Checks to make sure there isn't something he can pick up on his way home and often jumps right in to help me with the kids right when he gets home from work without complaining.

The Dare for day 4  was to call him at work and ask if there was anything I could do for him.

So far the Love Dare has helped me to think before I react.  It's helped me to be conscious of the words that come out of my mouth.  It's good to be deliberate in your actions and aware of them.  Often I think we blindly go about our days without purpose or direction, and for a change, I think it's good to be focused on something other than the daily grind while being in the middle of it.

Does that make sense, or am I babbling?

Dare: Love is Patient & Kind

Matt's co-workers at Starbucks took us to Disney as a wedding present just before we got married, it was a great day! We look so young...and kind of dorky with the hats...but it was hot that day I swear!

Oh boy, am I in trouble!  I have 4 children...so naturally people say things like "oh wow, you must have a lot of patience."  I get it all the time.  I smile, shrug my shoulders and laugh.  The truth is, is that I have an uncanny ability to tune things out.  That's not patience.  It's just ignoring...while I go about my business.

So now you know, I'm not patient.  Before we moved to Texas, we lived in South Florida, which is known for some of America's worst drivers.  My husband used to make fun of me for tailgating (I didn't think so but he did) and because I always had to be at the front of the pack....leading the way at the stop light or on I-95.    I was a "yellow light means hurry up, right?" kind of driver.  I was a speeder...I knew were I could speed, push the limit and where I couldn't. Yep...and I got cured of the speeding real quick after moving to Texas, and got a ticket that cost me over $1000 within the first few weeks.  You can read about my traumatic experience HERE.  But my skin still crawls when I'm stuck in traffic.  I am terribly impatient.  I have to admit, I've gotten better since moving here but I still need a lot of work in this area. 

So Guess What!?  The Title of Day 1 of the Love Dare is "Love is Patient"  Yea! Lucky Me! I should have known...but it's too late now, and I've committed to this. 

Here are some Questions I was asked in the first couple of days: 

"If your spouse offends you, do you quickly retaliate, or do you stay under control?" 

Um....hmmm, I'm a REDHEAD, What to you think?  What's your first guess?

"Do you find that anger is your emotional default when treated unfairly?"

Duh! Doesn't everybody?

 (See the verses for Day 1 on the side bar)

Basically Do I allow my husband to be human?  Do I allow imperfection?  I know I'm imperfect, and I have accepted it, but have I accepted that my husband is allowed to be imperfect as well?

"But can your spouse count on having a patient wife or husband to deal with? Can she know that locking her keys in the car will be met by your understanding rather than a demeaning lecture that makes her feel like a child?  Can he know that cheering during the last seconds of a football game won't invite a loud-mouthed laundry list of ways he should be spending his time?"

"How would your husband or wife describe you on the kindness meter? How harsh are you? How gentle and helpful?

Ouch.

DAY ONE DARE: 

"....Resolve to demonstrate patience and to say nothing negative to your spouse at all...."

DAY TWO DARE:

In addition to no negative talk...."do at least one gesture as an act of kindness."

The no negative talk was a much harder than the kind gesture...but, I tried to do gestures that were less obvious.  I'm not even sure he's noticed them...he knows I'm reading the book, and I didn't want him to "realize" what I was doing...I wanted to be subtle.  I had to consciously keep my mouth closed when it came to the negative talk...I think I must be a "glass is half-full" kind of gal.

Would today's dare have been hard for you too?  Which part the gesture or the negative talk?

Busy Body Book

Hey Hip Mama's!  I've been reading A LOT of blogs lately...and I'm looking for really cool stuff.  I found another really Hip Mama, she is the proud blogger of one Brown Paper Packages Tied Up with Strings And boy, does she have some cool stuff over there!  I am especially liking this really cool calendar called the BusyBodyBook.  It looks perfect for my family of 6 and there are several options depending on the needs of your own family.  Of course there are some hip designs too!  With 2010 quickly approaching they are worth checking out as you look for a calendar to keep your family in order next year.  Sarah is having a Give-Away.  Check it out HERE to see how you can enter to win!