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By Mom Unplugged, January 1, 2008 3:34 pm

Something amazing has happened.

My mailbox was knocked down several weeks ago by a snowplough and we only just fixed it yesterday. Yesterday I also went to the post office to collect my wheelbarrow-load of catalogs, bills, and junk.

But among all that mundane waste of trees was something totally unexpected. Cards. Many cards and notes addressed to my children. From people all over the country, people I do not know, unfamiliar names and addresses on the envelopes. Each one contained dollar bills, thank yous and well-wishes to my daughter from complete strangers for her Heifer International Project.

We were stunned, awe-struck and literally moved to tears. As my husband and I sat there teary and speechless, my daughter opened envelope after wonderful envelope.

I don’t know which of you dear blog friends organized this, only a few of you have my name and address, but you and your friends have given us the absolute best Christmas gift ever.

But this is really not about Christmas. It is bigger than Christmas. We all agree that these simple, thoughtful notes and donations to my daughter’s favorite charity from complete strangers, deepens our faith in humanity and in the power of people to do good for each other in this world.

That is absolutely the best gift we could ever possibly receive. Thank you. Thank you all.

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By Mom Unplugged, October 21, 2007 10:31 am

Amanda from The Rowdy Pea drew my name out of a hat as the lucky recipient of her “crafty giveaway.” I was quite surprised, since I never win anything. But sure enough, Amanda’s package arrived a few days ago much to the excitement of us all!

I wish I had taken photos of how everything was wrapped, because even the wrapping was lovely, but I didn’t get to my camera in time. The children and I joyfully opened the package to find:

- A lovely handmade baby smock (here it is on the baby). Can you see the adorable pattern on the fabric? Kind of a retro kitten print:

- Some clever handmade note cards with sweet illustrations and the cutest little doll I have ever seen (the children have named her Loreena for some reason):

- There was also a very handy Burt’s Bees Lip Balm that my 7 year-old daughter was excited to appropriate.

Amanda’s handiwork is just gorgeous and I am deeply impressed. Not being a “crafty” kind of person, I simply can’t imagine the painstaking work involved in crafting little Loreena for example.

Amanda has just opened an Etsy shop called Dream Child Studio where you can buy your own Loreena and friends, as well as gnomes and adorable wool felt dress-up crowns. Her shop seems to have really taken off as I notice that she has sold most of her inventory already. Please keep checking it though, since I am sure she will be restocking it as soon as she can make some more treasures.

One last thought: Amanda’s acorn-capped dolls and gnomes would make perfect stocking stuffers and they are lovingly handcrafted in Minnesota by Amanda (no toxic ingredients!).

Thank you so much Amanda, for sending us your sweet gifts and brightening our day!

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By Mom Unplugged, October 7, 2007 9:34 am

I just want to say a big thank you to DeepBlog for choosing to list Unplug Your Kids as one of their “Promising New Blogs. ” DeepBlog is “an easy to use guide and portal to quality blogs for newcomers to the blogosphere.”

They also published my two “why I blog” posts (Why am I Doing This? and Why I Blog) on their “Why I Blog” page. The “Why I Blog” page has essays and first posts from a wide variety of bloggers from all over the blogosphere writing about (…obviously…) why they blog and what they get out of blogging. It is definitely worth a look, especially if you wonder, as I constantly do, why we do this crazy thing!

Thanks so much for the support DeepBlog! I am honored.

Thanks to morguefile.com and photographer penywise for this great picture!

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By Mom Unplugged, August 29, 2007 8:33 pm

Thank you so much to Jenny of Wildwood Cottage for thinking enough of me and my blog to award me a Nice Matters Award! Jenny said some really sweet things and I am truly flattered!

I am very pleased to have this award because I do genuinely believe that “nice matters” in this life. Some days it seems that there is not nearly enough “nice” in the world today, but other days, “nice” seems to abound.

If you haven’t visited Wildwood Cottage yet, please go there. Since we are on the subject of “nice,” I must tell you all that Jenny is one of the nicest bloggers I have come across in my short blogging career. She is someone that I would really like to meet in person.

Wildwood Cottage always has lots of great book suggestions for both children and adults. I also really enjoy reading what Jenny and her 2 1/2 year-old daughter CJ are up to. Jenny finds all kinds of interesting Montessori-style activities for CJ to try. It is fun to see, plus I am taking notes for when my now 20 month-old daughter is old enough to try some of Jenny’s ideas!

Now I get to pass this along to five other “nice” bloggers. This will be hard, not because so few bloggers are nice, but because so many bloggers are nice that almost everyone I can think of has this one already.

However, there are still several bloggers that I would like to pick who do not seem to have this award yet, so I will list them:

Heather of Celtic Mommy (Ramblings of a SAHM) always has a nice comment and her blog is full of great posts about recycling, reusing, educating, crafting, and any thing else that she feels like writing about.

Jules of Andamom.com writes all sorts of interesting, informative, and insightful posts. I enjoy visiting Jules because she always makes me think, and I never know what she will be talking about next. If anyone has a Thinking Blogger Award to give away, please consider Andamom.com!

I also nominate Whymommy of Toddler Planet. Whymommy has always seemed like such a nice person to me. Her blog is fun to read, and her writing is wonderful. Whymommy has recently been diagnosed with Inflammatory Breast Cancer. If you have never heard of it (as I hadn’t), I strongly urge to read this post of hers. Whymommy once said that she never thought her blog would become a cancer blog, but it has to some extent, since Whymommy is now on a mission (and a successful one at that) to inform the world about IBC.

I must include Wishy the Writer since she is one of my very best real-life friends so I know she is a nice and wonderful person! Wishy hates it when I tag her for memes and such (sorry Wishy!), but hopefully this time she will make an exception. Unfortunately Wishy is on a “blog hiatus” at the moment in order to pursue her “real” writing and her dog agility, both of which she is amazing at!

I would also have chosen Meeyauw, Jenny (who gave this to me), and Nina but I was beaten to it. Thank you anyway, for being “nice” bloggers in my mind.

If anyone that I chose does not wish to acknowledge, display, or pass on this award, I completely understand. I just want you all to know that I enjoy your blogs !

Comments (5)

By Mom Unplugged, July 25, 2007 9:25 pm

Wow! First a Rockin’ Girl Blogger Award, then I make the Vegetable A-List, and now I have been awarded the Schmooze Award! What a month! Perhaps I should go away more often.

Meeyauw has kindly bestowed upon me, the Blogging Community Involvement Award, aka. The Power of Schmooze Award. This is what the Schmooze Award means:

“As it goes, schmoozing is the natural ability “to converse casually, especially in order to gain an advantage or make a social connection.” Good schmoozers effortlessly weave their way in and out of the blogosphere, leaving friendly trails and smiles, happily making new friends along the way. They don’t limit their visits to only the rich and successful, but spend some time to say hello to new blogs as well. They are the ones who engage others in meaningful conversations, refusing to let it end at a mere hello - all the while fostering a sense of closeness and friendship.”

Thank you Meeyauw! As a naturally shy person, this is an unlikely real-life award for me. Obviously Meeyauw and I have never met at a cocktail party otherwise she might feel compelled to reconsider her choice of recipient. However, I am grateful and am eager to bestow this honor on other bloggers whom I have come to “know” through mutual schmoozing as defined above.

There are several friendly bloggers out there who I have recently “met” via comments and the occasional email. I always enjoy their thoughtful comments and since they are spending time reading my blog, they obviously are not seeking out the “rich and successful”!

I pass this award on to the following blog friends (take it and put it on your blog (or not if you don’t want), and pass it on to others):

- Jen of Never a Dull Moment

- Gattina of My Cats and Funny Stories and Writer Cramps

- Heather (aka. Celtic Mommy) of Ramblings of a SAHM

- Jules of Andamom.com

-Cheryl of A Day in the Life of our Homeschool Journey

Thanks again to Meeyauw who also would have been on this list had she not been the blogger to award me with this one!