Friday, July 27, 2012

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

The Monarch Caterpillar





My mom is a retired first grade teacher. Every year, she would do a unit with her class about how the Monarch Caterpillars turn into Butterflies.  We were trained from a young age to spot the monarch caterpillars in a patch of milkweed.  I have many fond memories of playing in the milkweed patch with my sisters and cousins, who lived across the street from my grandmother's house.  I grew up in rural Maine and my grandmother's house had lots of little trails and fields out back with a healthy milkweed patch.  As a little girl, I loved to pull the dried milkweed pods apart and feel the milkweed silk with the seeds.  We would pretend that we were princesses and the silk was part of our treasure.  Now as an adult, the true treasure is the wonderful childhood memories.

The tradition continues now with my children.  We went to Maine last week and saw my folks.  While my husband and I sought out our own adventures, my parents took my kids out looking for caterpillars.  When my husband and I went to pick up our little ones, Dave, my 5-year-old could not wait to tell me about the caterpillars he had found with Grammy and Big Guy.  We have 3 little caterpillars that were only a few millimeters long when we got them.  They eat a lot of milkweed and are getting bigger everyday.  We anxiously wait for each of them to form a Chrysalis in preparation for the Butterfly Transformation.  Time to add The Very Hungry Caterpillar to our bedtime reading list!  Stay tuned ...

Christmas in July - A Frenzy of Etsy Giveaways! Parker Storybook Scene

Monday, July 23, 2012

Promoting Creative Friends: Scavenger Hunt - BIG PRIZES


Welcome to the CHRISTMAS IN JULY SCAVENGER HUNT!
Over $360 in prizes to be won!


The contest will begin at 9:00am EST on July 21st, and will run until midnight July 31st.

There are 34 participating shops, and all will have a hidden picture (below), in one of their listings, that you will have to "hunt" to find! Each of these shops has donated a prize worth at least $10; that is a minimum of $360 in prizes!!! There are 7 prize packs available to be won, each worth a minimum of $50. Winners will be chosen at random by random.org, based upon the number of complete entries received. 


********************HOW TO ENTER*******************
First go to: JemLouProductions. Find the candle image in one of the listings and then follow the link to the next shop on the scavenger hunt list! Every time you find the hidden picture, that item description will give you a link to the next shop. As you go through the shops, make a list of all shops in the order that you are given them. At the very last shop, you will be given an email address; you will send your completed list to this address. If anything is incorrect, you will be notified, and given a chance to re-do the hunt again to get it right!

****WANT MORE CHANCES TO WIN? READ ON!!!****
Everyone who sends a complete shop list, in the correct order, will receive one entry to win a prize pack. 
If you "FAV" all the shops in the hunt, you get another entry.
If you "FAV" one item from each of the shops in the hunt, you will get a third entry.
If you promote the event on your Blog, on Facebook, Twitter, etc, and send Nichole (kidd.robin [!at] ymail.com) a link to the promotion, you will get 5 extra entries!

***SUPER DUPER PRIZE PACK DETAILS***
 MINIMUM $360 VALUE 

In addition, all the participating shops have donated second prize! All 36 prizes have been combined into one HUGE prize pack. This pack is valued at a minimum of $360!!! The winner of this super duper prize pack will be drawn from entries made by shopping at PCF Team (Promoting Creative Friends Team) shops during this event. Each dollar spent at a PCF Team shop during this event will earn you one entry...each dollar spent at one of the 36 shops in the hunt will earn you 2 entries. The more you shop, and the more you shop the more chances you have to win! Please send transaction links of all purchases to Nichole at kidd.robin [!at] ymail.com. Please include the transaction links, dollar amounts for each purchase, and the shop name you purchased from.


Winners will be chosen on Aug 3rd :) They will be announced here and on the PCF Team Facebook page atwww.facebook.com/#!/pcfteam, and will also be notified via email. 

Good luck and have a very Merry Christmas in July!


***** all entries and PCF shop purchases must be submitted by midnight July 31st
....and NO entries will be accepted after this time***