Announcing the Winner of the CSN Stores Giftcard!!!

I was so excited to see that there were 69 entries for this giveaway!!!

As always, I prayed before hitting that "Generate" button on Random.org that this giveaway would go to someone the Lord knew needed it...or just needed a little blessing from Him in this season of their lives!

So with that, I'm so happy to announce that the winner is...

# 28...Jill @ PathwayToPurpose!!!

I even decided to decorate the house for my Giveaway Reveal...

Well, okay, not really... it's actually for Trusten's birthday celebration , but the festiveness was too fun not to share!!!

So congrats Jill!  I'll e-mail you soon with more details!

I'd encourage everyone to go visit Jill...she is such a sweet woman who has had an emotional year with her son Brandon who had some medical issues that suddenly arose in the Spring.

She also recently started her own business called "Simple Delights".  She'll be donating a portion of all her profit to families in the process of adoption!  Pretty cool, huh?!

A $35 Giftcard Giveaway!!!

****This Giveaway Is Now Over...Thanks for all your entries!!!!

I was so excited to get an e-mail a few weeks ago from CSN online stores asking me if I would like to host a giveaway on my blog!

So of course I said YES!...I'd love to bless one of my readers with this $35 gift card to any of CSN's 200 online stores!

200 online stores?  Yep, CSN has over 200 online stores selling everything from a wide range of dining room chairs to adorable diaper bags...not to mention...

accessories for your spoiled dog, 

affordable decorative clocks,

festive holiday decorations,

designer shoes,

purses,

 tons of home decor

and MORE!!!

You can see a list of their stores HERE.  CSN has an amazing selection and great prices too!!  Whoever wins this giveaway will have SO much fun shopping!!! 

So here's how you can enter into this giveaway...

1) Simply leave a comment telling me you are a follower of my blog!

2) For an extra entry, mention and link this giveaway in your next blog post and leave me a comment with a link to it! (It doesn't have to be a post all about this giveaway, just mention it!)

Pretty easy huh?!

Good luck to all my awesome followers!!!!

(**Giveaway will end Thursday, October 14th at midnight!**)

Please note: there may be international shipping charges in the case of Canadian addresses (CSN only ships to the US and Canada).  Thank you!

The Creation Museum (Vacation Part 6) and a Giveaway!!!

(Be sure to see end of this post for giveaway info!!!)

Anyone who attended the "Defending the Faith" conference, also recieved a free 2-day pass to the Creation Museum in Kentucky!

We were all so excited!  After leaving Tennessee, we headed 5 hours north to get there.

My sister and I's families

(They bought this whole vacation for us!  What a blessing!!!)

As soon as we walked in, a man was in the lobby with a real-live snake to pet and hold...

My boys were so enthralled!...Well until it got a little TOO close!

Then they got to touch a real dinosaur fossil found in Montana!

We were there 30 minutes and Trusten said it was the best place he's ever visited! :)

Learning how they dig up fossils...very carefully!

The kiddos

First he really wanted this picture...but then when I stepped back to take it, he changed his mind!

Learning about the creation of the universe (and Man's wisdom compared to God's wisdom)

Daddy teaching them about the 7 C's of History

(Creation, Corruption (the fall), Catastrophe (the flood), Confusion (tower of Babel), 

Christ, Cross, Consummation)

"Meeting" and hearing from men in the Bible

I love this picture!  Praise the Lord for Truth...and my Blessings!

Now to the Garden of Eden!

(Samuel was little unsure of what that bear wanted...)

Adam is naming the animals behind us!

Inside the ark!!

Smaller replica

The people perishing

(Trusten was amazed at how tiny the people were...I was too!)

Noah's family, after the ark landed on ground, they worshiped and made an alter to the Lord

Then it was on to the DINOSAURS!!!

We had such a great time!  It was so neat to see these stories we've repeated to the boys so many times, displayed in such a real way!  

How encouraging to be able to take your family to a place where everything you've been teaching them and trying to pass onto them is reiterated and reinforced through sight, sound, touch and feel!

As adults, there were several times we were ALL moved to tears at the power of the Word, the strength and perseverance of our past fathers and the wonder of God's creation and his infinite wisdom in it all!

We look forward to returning again when the boys are older and can get some of the deeper concepts taught throughout the Creation Museum!  (I wonder how many kiddos we'll have then?!?!)  :)

This post will be linked to Wednesdays Walk Down Memory Lane at my friend, Jenilee's blog!  Not too long ago her family visited this museum too!

Today Jenilee is hosting a giveaway on her blog for a super-cool candle warmer!  You can see the warmers here (main site) or here (blog site) and join in the giveaway here!

***********************************************************

First vacation blog post: The Beginning of Our Vacation...Part 1

Second vacation blog post: Life at the Cabin: 14 people Living Together For a Week (Part 2)

Third vacation blog post: The Conference (Part 3)

Fourth vacation blog post:Out and About in the City ~Happy Birthday Hudson! (Part 4)

Fifth vacation blog post: A Smokey Mountain Hike (Part 5)
Next: The Saddest Day--Heading Home (and another hotel adventure!)

Friends Blogs!!!

Okay, I usually don't do this sort of thing, but I'm making an exception today!

I want to "send" you over to two of my friends blogs!

The first one, is my best friend Kathryn.  She's new to blogging and has a hilarious/all-to-familiar/real-life post today that's a must read!  So head on over there and be sure to "follow" her for more insightful posts!  She is an amazing woman!!!

(My) Brahm and (Kathryn's) Eli~

They are exactly one month apart in age!

(My) Trusten and (Kathyn's) Grace~

I tease that maybe someday she'll be "Grace Wheeler" too!

Me and (Kathryn's) Sarah~

She's 6 months older than my Liberty!  Isn't she cute?

Kathryn's husband, Victor~

Throwing knives in our backyard, a favorite past-time of the husbands!

Jill (left~holding my Liberty) and Kathryn (right~holding her Sarah)~

I'm pretty sure they don't want their picture taken :)

And also, my sweet friend Gwen (we met in blog-world), has a terrific giveaway that I'm REALLY excited about!  Plus, it's just overall a great post about reading Missionary Biographies to our kiddos!

You'll be SO blessed by her blog!  I know I have been!  She's not only inspiring, she's just a great woman to follow!!!

Be sure, if you head over to either blog, please comment and tell them I sent you (that'll get me another entry in Gwen's giveaway and it will just bless Kathryn!)

Have fun visiting some new friends!!!

Getting To Some Bloggin' Business

First order of business:

Several of my friends are hosting giveaways on their blogs:

Amy's is for a $25 gift certificate at "Next Day Flyers", a printing company, (click HERE for more details)

Lynnette's is for a "Champion Juicer" (click HERE for more details)


Jill's is for 4 different homemade pieces...each one is SO cute and made with love (click HERE for more details)

Shonda's is for a childrens book by Tara on her "teaching" blog (click HERE for more details)

Second order of business:

My blog friend Jenilee (who is a beautiful blogger herself) awarded me with this beautiful little thing...

So in lieu of that, here are 5 random things you may not know about me...

1. My husband and I are HUGE (no pun intended) fans of "The Biggest Loser"!  So even though we don't have TV channels, we watch it weekly via Hulu online!

2. I have trouble playing pretend...even as a little girl I could never get the hang of it.  It's just not my thing.  I try...but my boys usually end up saying "mooom, you're not doing it right!" But at least I try, right?!

3. My eyes water like crazy.  If I'm laughing, if the car's air conditioning is blowing in my face, if I'm squinting the in sun...they just water, water, water.  I'm often mistaken for crying when really, my eyes are just misting :)

4.Growing up I wanted to be a professional gift wrapper...you know, like the ladies you see in department stores during the holidays wrapping presents?  Yep, I wanted to do that.  I thought I had a special "gift" for taping, cutting and wrapping!

5. At first, I was a little scared to have a baby girl--I grew up a tom-boy and am still one at heart.  So how how was I going to raise a GIRL?  But I'm finding out more and more each day, that the pink, "prissy" girl I thought I lacked really is inside this momma after all!  Who woulda thunk it?  (check out her birth story HERE)

Third order of business:

I'm guest posting on I Dream Of Clean next week, so stay tuned for a link to that post!  I'll be talking about HOW TO set up a chore schedule for littles (where to start, what to include, how to decide on jobs, etc!)

Fourth order of business:

I recently designed a header and button for my good friend, Crystal's blog business!  It's not real professional, but I'm getting there!  It was my first design (besides my own site here) so that was exciting for me and fun for her too!  So be sure to check out my work and her hair bows at HairBowShop.blogspot.com!

Cue The Drumroll Please...Giveaway WINNERS!

I have the winners of the giveaway!!!

Can you believe that while there were only 19 people entered (because all commenters got one entry to start) that there was a total of 80 entries because of all the points awarded for extras?!

So, I used Random.org again and it picked...

Tanya!!! Tanya, you win the 3 hair bows from Hair Bow Shop by Crystal!!!!

Jenilee!!! Jenilee, you win the shawl or afghan by Bundled In Prayer by Christina!!!

Congratulations to both of you!!!

***And while this is the end of the giveaways, be sure you check back at the Hair Bow Shop in a few weeks because I'm designing a custom header and button for Crystal...and you'll want a button...it's too cute to pass up ;)

Oh, one more thing, recently I won a giveaway from So Sweet Accessories thanks to my friend Amy! It's a super cute sunflower headband for my Sunshine...Liberty Joy! Want to enter for another great giveaway? For a chance to win some adorable reusable nursing pads, you can sign up for her current giveaway at here!

And The Winners Are...(and one last chance for MORE winners!)

This giveaway went so well that I'm gonna have ONE LAST giveaway to feature two more of my friends' businesses! I should have included them in the first one, but hey, better late than never!!!


I usually don't do giveaways, so 2 in 2 weeks is unheard of for me, but I just didn't want you all to miss out on this great opportunity to win 2 more great prizes from my dear friends!

Sooo...even if you didn't win this giveaway (or even if you DID) enter for a chance to win one last time!!!

BUT FIRST, the moment you've all been waiting for!!!

Our winners!

Random.org selected...

*Grace--Cupcake Kisses!!!

*Krisiti--Angie's Essentials!!!

*Karen--Lynnette's autographed book!!!

*Mrs. McFadden--Personalized Blanket!!!

*Laura P--Personalized Baby Bracelet!!!

"Bri"--Wahmie cloth diaper bag!!!

*Pam Ponder--Passionate Housewives book!!!

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL SEVEN OF YOU!!!
(since I don't know many of you, please e-mail me your full name and address and we'll get your prizes mailed to you!) graceannewheeler@gmail.com.


Now for those of you who still want a chance to win, check out below...

NEW GIVEAWAY ITEMS!!!

~~~Hair bows from "The Hair Bow Shop" by my friend Crystal




This giveaway is acutally for THREE items from her shop! You choose!!!

Everything she has is SUPER cute and she even has CAMO ones for daddy's girls!
Her selection is awesome and she will even make them custom by request!
She also has baby head bands for bald babies (like mine)!
Can you believe you get to pick THREE?!?!


~~~A custom-made "Bundled In Prayer" shawl or blanket by my friend Christina
**(a shawl can be made for anyone, anysize, any age!)
**(the afghan  would be perfect as a baby blanket or a throw for your couch!)

Bundled in Prayer is a 100% NON profit ministry. All proceeds go to charities such as Gleaning the Harvest (fund raising for single or widowed homeschooling moms)!

What makes these afghans and shawls so special is that she only takes custom orders so that she can pray specifically for the recipient!
If it's a blanket for your baby, she has prayed over your baby while making the blanket! If it's a shawl for your little girl, she has prayed for your little girl while making her shawl!

Isn't that awesome?!

To Enter

***Leave me a comment***


Extra Entries
***Become a follower of the Hair Bow Shop for TWO entries***

and/or

***Become a "fan" of Bundled in Prayer on Facebook for TWO entries***
***Put my button "The Mommy On the Bus Says" on your blog for TWO entries***
***Be a follower for TWO entries***

***Leave a comment at either site for ONE extra entry***
***Update your Facebook, Twitter and/or your blog about this giveaway
and each will be ONE entry***
((just leave a comment telling me which ones you did)

Come back in ONE WEEK to find out if you are a winner!!!

Just LOOK at all of you!!!

Do you see all those names?!


So far there are 102 entries!!!


And the giveaway is still open for more entries until 10pm Tuesday night!


Crazy fun, huh?!


I'll be announcing all the winners on Wednesday, so stay tuned!


AND one more thing, I'm gonna have one more great giveaway featuring 2 MORE ITEMS starting this Wednesday, so come back not only to see the winners from this giveaway, but also to enter for one last chance to win!!!

Giveaway Extravaganza! (featuring WAHM's!)

Horray! It's giveaway time!!! A while ago, I said that I'd have a giveaway to celebrate my blog makeover and now it's finally here!

I'm so excited about this, because not only do I have SEVEN GIVEAWAYS, I also am trying something new with this giveaway...it's a unique spin on things and I explain that in the Vlog below!... 

Another cool thing about this giveaway, is that I am featuring WAHM's (Work-At-Home-Moms)...so all these things are the works of a momma's hands! Yea!
(Because these are all by WAHM's some of these are kinda geared towards moms and little ones, so if that's not you, remember these could make great gifts!!!)

GIVEAWAY ITEMS:
(Update: EVERY giveaway has been unlocked!  So we will have SEVEN winners!  Keep spreading the word though...people can enter up until next Tuesday night!)

#1~An assortment of "Cupcake Kisses" by my friend
and fellow MOMYS, Cheryl

(Check her facebook page out by using the link above. She has an amazing selection and great prices!)

This assortment includes 1 salve, 1 lip balm, 1 bath tea,
and 1 aromatherapy roll-on

#2~ Personalized Baby Blanket by my friend Shelby at SewShelby.blogspot.com

(Be sure to check out the rest of her selection on her blog! She has matching bibs, onsies and burp cloths as well as a really neat "portable highchair" and more! Very creative and chic selection!)

#3~A signed copy of Lynnette Kraft's book,  
"In Faithfulness He Afflicted Me"

This book is an up-close, emotional look at Lynnette's life as she walked through the death of three of her children. Her journal entries are amazingly honest and raw...yet you don't feel discouraged or even "sorry" for her. If you're at all like me, you'll find yourself encouraged by her strength and spurred on by God's faithfulness and healing in her life! It's a book like no other and worth buying even if you don't "win" it for this giveaway!

#4~ Personalized Baby Bracelet by my friend Danielle
(here in my daughter's name, "Liberty")

Upclose

On Liberty's hand:

(For information on how to order one of these darling (and affordable!) bracelets, send Danielle an e-mail at daremboldt@yahoo.com)

#5~1 fitted cloth diaper from my friend and fellow MOMYS at Angies Essentials

(Angie has all sorts of cloth diapering accessories at her site linked above! I love her selection because they are FUN, unique, homemade (of course) and are a display of her (and her helpers) awesome talents! Plus, your babies bottom will look oh-so-cute in an "Angie Essential"!)

#6~ "WAHMie" wet bag for cloth diapers
(or pool items if you don't use cloth diapers!)

*This WAHMie wet bag I bought at a second-hand maternity boutique
that is out of a momma's home, so not only is this wet bag made by WAHM's,
it was also sold to me by a WAHM! Doubly cool :)!

#7~Passionate Housewives, Desperate for God
by Stacy McDonald and Jeannie Chancey.

***How to Enter***
1- Leave me a comment telling me you are a follower of my blog AND which two giveaways you like. All my "followers" will be entered automatically, so just sign in under"Follow That Bus!" and tell me you did (along with your 2 top choices)...that is one entry.

2-Additional entry: Mention this giveaway in your blog and leave a separate comment with the link
to that post and that will enter you in a second time!!

3-Additional entry: Put my giveaway on your Facebook and leave a comment telling me you did
and that is one entry!!!

4- Additional entry: Twitter my giveaway and leave me a comment telling me you did so,
and that is another entry!!!!

***Rules***
1- You must be a follower of this blog.
2-You have up tp 4 chances to enter your name in for this giveaway.
3-For every 5 people (not entries) who enter, the next giveaway will be "unlocked".
4-The 7 giveaways will all go to 7 different people (no person will win more than 1).
5-The giveaway will be open for entries until Tuesday night, April 6th.

And one more thing, if you are visiting from Lynnette's blog, don't forget to mention that when you comment, so you will be entered into HER giveaway too!...

See?! Now you know why I called this a "Giveaway Extravaganza"!!! :)