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You are not going to want to miss a single day of this action!

Happy Holidays!

Open Your Heart

In the spirit of true Thanks and Giving, Kelly Rae Roberts is hosting a fundraiser full of heart. She and Jen Lemen are working together to make a little magic happen in Rwanda. The money donated will go directly to building Odette's mother Esteria's house. The one she's got now has since collapsed and is uninhabitable. And Kelly Rae is even giving away one of her amazing paintings as an incentive. Giving and Giving. It's so inspiring.

With even the smallest donations we can create something big together. Visit Kelly Rae's blog and donate what you can. Let's help make the magic happen, shall we?

We're All in This Together

First of all, let me offer an enormous thank you to all of you for your birthday wishes. From comments to emails to phone calls, I was overwhelmed with love! Thank you, thank you.

Besides my birthday, I just discovered that yesterday was Nie Nie day. After poking around from link to link for the details of what it all means, I am left with a big dose of perspective and an overwhelming sense of gratitude that in this sometimes surreal world of bloggering we are all connected.

Case in point- tragedy pulls us together in a way that is beyond inspiring. It is life changing. We don't know each other in many cases but our stories, or joys, our struggles are universal. We relate to and respect one another. We are a community of people that openly share our lives with one another with honor and courage and love. It is a privilege to be a part of something that authentic and powerful and it is, among countless other things, what keeps me blogging.

Design Mom is holding a silent auction in honor of Stephanie (Nie) and her husband Christian, to offer financial support for the Nielson family during these difficult days. I felt compelled to share it with you so that we continue the circle of the true community we have created, where we take care of one another because it's not only what we do, it's who we are.

A Superhero Shot for BSM

Being Seen by Andrea Scher.

My Oregon adventure was amazing beyond words. God knows I've been posting enough of the images on Flickr to prove it. I could try to articulate how much it meant to spend quality time with 11 soul-sisters but I think when the planets align like that, the words only fall flat and could never really conjure up the magic that swirled about in the salty air, beneath the Mystical Manzanita Moon.

Among countless other gifts, I came home with an entire collection of photographs of myself which is a rarity for sure. That the shots so beautifully and insightfully tell the story of who I am leaves me feeling deeply seen and makes me weepy with gratitude.

I am a soul-searcher at heart so receiving photographs that have captured a part of my soul feels incredible. Through the lenses of women I hold dear, I am able to see myself as I am and as I strive to be;

open,

alive,

playful,

happy,

content,

and full of love.

Sometimes these kinds of shots are the Best Shots there are.

Share your Best Shots today, whomever and whatever they may have captured.

A Gift from Rwanda

Jen has updated her blog with the most stunning photo of Odette's daughters Grace and Lillian.
I just wanted to share it with you.
Sigh.

Love Notes for Thursday

Spent the afternoon yesterday with my daughter's Girl Scout Troop writing love notes to the girls of Rwanda. These will go with Jen Lemen on her trip. Along with a suitcase full of zines and her camera (of course).

Have you heard? t's a Hope Revolution! And it's gonna change the world.

Something About Mother's Day

One of the many perks of having preschool aged children is getting handmade Mother's Day gifts. I'm a sucker for every painted, glued, stitched, drawn, folded, pipe cleanered, popsicle sticked work of art.

On the other hand, when you've got a near middle-schooler, they are old enough to translate to your spouse your deep and desperate desire for a spa pedicure. Pedicure gift certificates are my most favorite things. Ever. Second only to macaroni jewelry.

Speaking of jewelry, you can still enter the Blue Poppy Motherhood necklace giveaway by leaving a comment on the Mother's Day Post at Shutter Sisters.

I do hope all of you moms enjoyed your Sunday and took plenty of photos to choose from for your Best Shot Monday. I bet you did, didn't you?

A Giveaway with Heart

Finally, the "story" that I mentioned in my last post. Ready?

OK. At this point, everyone knows I’m wild for Nintendo. My family loves the Wii, of course. And my girls have the DS Lite handheld numbers as well. More love. You’ve seen pictures and have heard stories already I know, but wait…there’s more.

Right before Christmas Nintendo threw my daughter and a bunch her friends an all girl, Dazzling Pokemon Spa Party. I know what you are thinking. How can Pokemon and Spa be used in the same sentence? Well, the answer to that makes perfect sense if you think about it from a clever marketing perspective. When gather a gaggle of 10-year-old girls together, hand them Pink DS Lites pre-loaded with dazzling games to play (the Pearl and the Diamond versions of Pokemon), sit them down comfortably on a big sofa and give them sparkle hair dos and ice cream pedicures well, then you‘ve got yourself a houseful of very happy (not to mention busy and beautiful) little girls. The moms we’re not overlooked either, oh no! We were encouraged to slip away to a quiet upstairs bedroom for a chair massage. Hello! Talk about needing to decompress--it was only a few days before Christmas so a little relaxation was welcomed, to say the least. The party was over the top awesome and everyone undisputedly had a blast.

The festivities of the evening were beyond generous enough but it gets better: Nintendo left us with an enormous goody bag full of party favors. And guess what I get to do with it? I get to GIVE AWAY THE GOODS!

So, here’s the deal—I’ve got a few Pink Pearl DS Lite systems and a handful and Pokemon games (some Diamond some Pearl) to give away and I would like you to help me put these gifts into the hands of kids that could really use them. In other words, this is not your ordinary random giveaway--this is more like a Random Act of Kindness Giveaway. I love the sound of that. I’m sure that there a whole lot of super kids out there that could use a little Nintendo glow to make their day! If we put our collective mother heads and hearts together we can make this giveaway count.

If you know of a child that would really benefit from some kindness, some distraction, some playtime, some generosity, some fun, please let me know. Of course, you are encouraged to post comments here and if you feel you have a worthy candidate for the Nintendo Kindness Giveaway, you can email me with the details at maypapers at yahoo dot com and put Kindness Giveaway in the subject line. The object would be to get these kids the games in time for Valentines Day because, it just seems fitting. And by all means spread the word because everyone loves a good giveaway and kindness is a good thing.

edited to add--

Thanks Jen Lemen for being an inspiration and a catalyst for kindness.

Spreading the Good Word

Everyone seems to be Babbling about JOY!

And with kid's jerseys that declare messages like Joy, Compassion, Humility and Courage, why wouldn't they be?

Random Radiance

The fabulous Gabrielle at DesignMom is in the midst of a Random Givaway and she is offering up the most gorgeous jewelry. Remember this?

Yep, Blue Poppy Jewelry is up for grabs and all you have to do is go visit the post at DesignMom and comment to be in the drawing. Yay! You only ave until Sept 10th at midnight, so get to it.

Free Stuff

And the winners of the Word World drawing are...

Maile and Laura.

Congrats ladies! I'm sure your kids will dig the DVD.

And thanks everyone for your comments. The words your kids love melted my heart (except for the poop ones...those just made me laugh).

Can You Feel the Love?

Melody over at Slurping Life (who for the record is one of my favorite virtual friends) is sharing lots of love with Parker (of Praying for Parker) and because of her example, so are a lot of other people in Blogville.

I urge you to go visit Love for Parker and be prepared to be inspired by a courageous little boy and his family! And take your checkbook.

It All Adds Up

Back to the giving...because that's what this season is all about.

Minti is giving a dollar to the Starlight Starbright Foundation with each new member that registers over there. Wow. Talk about generous. That's going to add up to lots of dollars! And I can't think of a better place to give that kind of money to. OMG. It's a really awesome foundation.

So, if you're not a Minti Member yet, it's the perfect time to get over there and sign up. There's a button over in my trusty sidebar. And be sure to stop over to my home page there and say howdy.

The Ultimate Gift

An amazing group of my mom friends have come together to provide some relief for a needy family this season through Heifer International. I find the gesture particularly moving; providing families a way to sustain their households by giving them something as valuable as livestock which provides a long term solution instead of short term relief. Heifer Internationals mission is inspiring, ingenious and successful.

I have decided to have a Heifer campaign here and post about it at my many online homes and see what comes of it. One thing I've learned is that a blog is a great place to bring awareness to good causes and there are plenty of them. Heifer International is the one I'm choosing to support this season. Check out the my new button over there (in the right sidebar) with my fundraising meter. It's oh so exciting as I have never had a direct fundraising effort on my blog before. If you are looking to give a little something extra this year, I encourage you visit my fundraising page. If we reach the $500 mark, we can provide this for someone who could really use it. And even if we just gather a fraction of it, we can still help by providing this, this or this. Sweet.

Soon, there will be another good cause to share as the compassionate people behind it, but for today, read all about the lives that have been changed by one Heifer cow. And if you're inspired, blog about it.