Thank you to all who entered my Great Pay-It-Forward Kids’ Book Giveaway.  We conducted a very high-tech draw earlier this evening (via some paper scraps with names written on them and a baseball cap), and the winner of the book is Renee of Froggy Mom. Congrats, Renee! I look forward to seeing which children’s book you choose for your own giveaway! And so on, and so on…. I hope we can keep this going for a long time!

 

And, as if giving away a cool little book wasn’t exciting enough, I have MORE exciting news! Elizabeth, at Three Channels, has awarded me a very cool little icon-y troph-y thing-y!!! Aren’t I the luckiest??!!! Obviously, Elizabeth made a mistake by awarding me with this honor. However, I’m not going to let her in on her little error and I hope you won’t bother her with it either. Let’s just pretend that I deserve an award and hope that she doesn’t have the chutzpah to take it back. *Wink wink nudge nudge.* Seriously though, thank you soooooooooo much, Elizabeth. I’m truly honored to receive this pretty little diddy from such a wonderful and funny woman. 

As with any prestigious award, there are obligations and responsibilities that come with being nominated. Here are the rules by which I must play:

 

• The winner can put the logo on his/her blog. Check.
• Link to the person you received your award from. Check.
• Nominate at least 7 other blogs. Check.
• Put links to those blogs on yours. Check.
• Leave a message on the blogs of the people you have nominated. Check.

Actually, all told, this isn’t very difficult. Why do all those Hollywood types make it look like it’s work to prance around on the red carpets and carry those heavy, golden statues? It’s sooo not as hard as it looks.

Without further nonsense ado, here are my nominees:

1. Garden of Nna Mmoy: Andrea is one of my current heroines. She has been through some really tough life experiences over the past few years and she manages to come through all of it with a cheery outlook and an intelligent way of looking back through her struggles. Always thoughtful and always teaching me something that I never knew I didn’t know, she’s an inspiration.

2. Funny Things Are Everywhere: Wendy, like Andrea above, is a friend in real life as a result of what began as an online friendship. Like Andrea, she manages to find something positive in whatever life offers her. She’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever met and she has two of the cutest little girls I’ve seen. We had breakfast today and I found myself wanting to emulate her easy-going-ness. Well, at least until I got home to my family, anyway…

3. Tongginator: This woman is just plain funny. And sassy. And kind. AND she has a daughter who, although she has struggled at times with SPD, like my own Little Man, seems as spunky as spunky gets and has great fashion sense. We could all learn something from this woman and her daughter! Laugh more!

4. Sweet Life:  Andrea is cute and sweet. She actually thanked  me for some advice on her hair that I gave her a while back. It was my first comment ever on her blog and it turns out (if I recall correctly) that she also followed  my advice. So it appears she might be cute and sweet and crazy.  Actually, she must be crazy, ’cause she posts pictures of cows and bulls getting it on…

5. Pancakes Gone Awry: Patty is one of those people who you can’t believe you haven’t known forever. Shortly after I began blogging about Little Man’s struggles with SPD, I found Patty and I have since developed a bit of a crush on her kind ways. She always leaves me the most thoughtful and heartwarming commenty love. She really does understand and yet she won’t come over for a playdate. She says it has something to do with distance. And planes. And money. Or something. I won’t hold it against her, though.

6. Mom To The Screaming Masses: There are so many reasons that I should hate Carmen. The number one reason is that she has lost 80lbs. The number two reason is that she can wear a bikini. The number three reason is that she looks good in the bikini. See? I should so totally hate this woman. But I don’t. ‘Cause she’s inspiring and she hasn’t let it go to her head. Carmen is funny and smart and skinny. Check her out!

7. Good Fountain: Now here’s a woman who I can relate to. She has a daughter, Chee, who struggles with SPD, hyperlexia and a language delay. Her posts are always thought-provoking and wisdom-laden. I wish sometimes that I had half of her abilities to put into words the struggles that our kids face daily. I can always look to Good Fountain for advice and for calming words in the midst of my anxious storms.

So I think my work here is done. Off to have my people let the nominees’ people know that they’ve been nominated. Ta-ta!

Kia