Link Party No. 67! / Monaluna Fat Quater Bundle Giveaway Winner

Hi everyone, the link party is back! Since my three children are ALL in school full time, I thought I am going to have a set schedule and be able to work on my projects.... well, I am not there yet. Seems like there is always something that needs to be taken care of or places to go. I actually haven't had that much time at home so far.



I am really looking forward to start cleaning and de-clutter the house. Ahh... I am dreaming of clean and organized space. I know once it is all done, I can work more effectively. Right now, all the fabrics are scattered all over the place and it is hard to find the ones that I am looking for. I bought this special display shelf (the kind that spins) at Border’s store closing sale. I am filling it with fabrics and it is so awesome! I am often squealing with joy while I am filling the shelf and spinning it. I am also keep bugging my husband saying; "Look, look, isn't this SO amazing!?"



Of course I know he couldn’t care less, but being a supportive hubby he usually says, "yeah, that is awesome" or "I am glad you found that" but because I bug him so much that the answers have become "u-huh" or just a glance and nod (oh, wait I think I do that to my kids sometimes).



Well, in case you are wondering what I have been up to, that is part of it... (BIG grin on my face)



I have been planning something special for you, yes, my beloved friends!

September 20th is my 3rd blogaversary, and I am going to do a month long giveaway. At the beginning of each week I will post a giveaway item and announce the winner at the end of the week. How does that sound? Isn't it so fun? I am still trying to decide on a few details, but stop by sometime to make sure so you won't miss the giveaways!



As you have been reading this post you might be thinking "when is she going to announce the winner for the giveaway?" Sorry, I dragged enough... the winner is...



jamie (The Pinterest Project)



Congratulations!! Please email me with your shipping info, so I can send you the amazingly pretty Monaluna fabrics to you. Enjoy!



OK, are you ready to link and share your fabulous projects?



1. Please post something YOU made. It doesn't matter if it is crochet, quilt, clothing, anything would be fine. I want to see it! If you use someone's idea or patterns please give them the rightful credit.



2. Link to your specific post, that way it is easier for everybody to find and read it.



3. Please grab the "Tea Rose Home" grab button, and link back from your post. If you can mention the party in your post or place the button on your side bar, that would be great! I want more people to have a chance to come and show off their creation.





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A Fun Little Contest and a Giveaway from Me to You!

So as you know, I am due with my third child, a baby boy, on September 6th.  Right now I am scheduled to have a repeat c-section on that day.  I had a regular delivery with my oldest, Savannah, and then an emergency c-section with Matilda due to her heart rate dipping and her face front presentation.

If I go into labor naturally prior to September 6th, I will attempt a VBAC (assuming everything looks good).  If not, we'll play it safe with our scheduled c-section. Things are kind of up in the air.  But I thought it might be fun to do a little guessing game with you guys if you feel like playing along.

Here I am at almost 39 weeks with my enormous belly.  I can't tell you how many people have asked if I am carrying twins.  Nope, only one baby in there and I always carry really far out in front.  My oldest daughter was born five days LATE with an induction due to preeclampsia and PUPPS.  She weighed 7 lbs. 15oz. and was 21 inches long.  Matilda was also a preeclampsia induction, but five days EARLY and weighed 7 lbs. 12oz and was 20.5 inches long.  So far with this pregnancy no signs of preeclampsia at all!

So I've let you know about my previous deliveries to give you a basis for your entry into the contest.  Here's how it will go.  Leave me one comment and let me know 3 things:
1) How much you think baby boy is going to weigh?
2) How long will he be? and for the tie-breaker........
3) What day and time you think he will be born (hour and minutes, please)? 

So I will pick the winner based on the person who gets the weight or closest too it, but if we have two people who picked the same weight, then I will use the length and if we still have a tie then I will use the date and time as the tie breaker.  Sound good?

Want to know what you are playing for........here's the prize - I'm going to let you choose two yards of fabric from my personal collection.  You can choose two full yards of one print, a yard each of two different prints, or a half yard each of four different prints.  I'll leave it up to you.  But these are all 100% designer cotton fabric and some of this fabric can be a little difficult to find lately.

Here are your choices:

These are all fabrics that I currently own by the bolt.  I may be selling some of this yardage off in the near future if I don't need it all for the shop......we'll see.  So if you aren't following along on Facebook, it might be a good idea to head over and join us to find out the latest from The Cottage Mama (click HERE to visit the facebook fan page).

**PLEASE NOTE: This contest is for The Cottage Home blog readers ONLY.  Why?  Because I love you guys and want this opportunity to be just for you.  You MUST be a follower, feed subscriber or email subscriber to enter.  If not, feel free to become a follower or subscriber and enter to win!**

And one last thing, I am writing this post on Sunday, August 28th and am pre-scheduling this post.  So who knows..........have I already had baby boy?  Probably not, but you never know!

Blog Swap/ Some What Simple

A few month ago, I was contacted by Tara from Dating Divas (their blog is full of ideas of how to strengthen marriages in many different ways. Also, they love to incorporate some crafty ideas to bring romance into marriages, how fun is that!).



She wanted to host a blog swap among some bloggers from now through December. I was paired up with Stephanie from Some What Simplethis month. Her blog is filled with fun and fresh ideas, if you haven't visited her blog in the past; please do so. She is here today to share One of her fun ideas!

Hi everyone! I’m Stephanie from Somewhat Simple and I am excited to be here today to share with you a fun date idea as part of the huge blog swap organized by The Dating Divas.

 

In 2008 my husband and I were HORRIBLE at making time to spend together just the 2 of us, so I came up with the idea to pre-plan a date night for every month in 2009. I chose dates we probably would not have chosen to do had we decided on the fly to go out, which is usually what we did. Things like going to a comedy club or miniature golfing- all fun activities, but not something we ever made plans to do.

 

I wrote a cute little poem for each date idea and assigned each idea to one month out of the year. Then I made this gift into a book, 1 page for each month, and I gave it to my husband for Christmas.

 

Feel free to copy any or all of these and give them to your special someone this year for Christmas. Maybe it will spark your creativity enough for you to come up with some of your own as well!

 

Enjoy!

Thank you Stephanie for visiting us, it was so nice to have you!

First Blackberry Harvest

We enjoyed our first blackberries from the berry garden this past weekend. 

To say that I was ecstatic would be an understatement.

My sweet Graham joined me for this festive occasion, although we only picked a few berries together before he started grabbing fistfuls of vines and leaves (with a readied open mouth).

His fingers touched their first blackberry and it was a marvelous wonder to watch. xo

There were enough ripe berries that morning to serve with our breakfast -

mmm mmm, so sweet.

I also picked the very last of our blueberries. 

A colander of sweet summer berries made my heart sing.

We enjoyed our fresh picked berries over whole wheat pancakes. It has become our weekend tradition for Mike to make us pancakes on both Saturday and Sunday mornings. 

He makes them mostly for me, I'll admit it. Although I do know that he enjoys them, it is mostly I who think it's perfectly acceptable to have them two mornings in a row... 

Although sometimes, I go out on a limb and request french toast...I know, I'm unpredictable. 

Pure organic maple syrup completes our weekend breakfast tradition.

xo 

Baby Boy's Room: A Nautical Nursery

One week and counting until our little bundle is scheduled to arrive!  I thought I would share some pictures of the nautical themed nursery that we've put together for our special little guy.

My husband, Brett, painted the room.  Surprisingly, he let both girls help for about 10 minutes.  That was enough time for them to get covered in navy blue paint from head to toe - he is a brave, brave man (and a super-wonderful daddy).  Brett had already put up the chair-rail and crown molding when we did the girls nursery, but he painted the navy blue and tan that I picked out from Home Depot.  Both paint colors are Behr and they are in satin finish.

This room has always been our nursery, but it's taken on a whole new look now.  No more pastel pink and green, we've moved onto navy blue, tan and red.  I definitely think it shouts "boy"!  All of this furniture was already in the room from the girls and I'm really happy that we went with a honey colored wood because it works just right for a boy or a girl.

We had this little round table in the nursery before, but I just changed out the overlay.  I sewed a large square of fabric from Riley Blake's "All-Star" fabric line and kept the cream colored tablecloth that was already on the table.

I've always loved our glider.  I just love rocking and gliding with little ones.  Occasionally I still take one of the girls in this room when they need some mommy cuddle time.  Both of them still love the soothing motion of the glider.  If you are debating on whether or not you might want one for your nursery, go ahead and get it, it's well worth the money.  Ours has an ottoman that glides with it as well.  We ordered this one through target.com and it has held up really well.

The pillow on the glider was sent from my mom.  As I'm sure you know by now, she's always making special, handmade things for the kids.  She made this pillow and matching quilt for baby boy's nursery.  She named the quilt "Oceans of Love". 

Here are some more pictures of the "Oceans of Love" pillow and quilt made by Grandma Jane......

I love that my mom puts a label on every quilt.  The beautiful thing about quilting is that these things can be cherished forever; therefore, a label with a date makes this a true family heirloom that can be passed down.

My mom was inspired by a quilt she had seen on "Moda Bake Shop" but she adapted it to make it her own.  I think I need to get Grandma Jane on the blog to do some quilting tutorials, what do you think?  Don't know if she'd ever do it, but you never know.....hint, hint.

I added a bunch of different nautical accessories around the room that I really think pull the theme together.  I wanted to do some accessories that were nautical, but not necessarily "baby".

This distressed wooden flag is probably my favorite piece in the room.  It is screwed into the wall above the crib so it is nice a sturdy.

The sailing ships rug was something my in-laws had in their basement that they had never used.  It even still had the tags on it.  It must have been there just waiting for us to have this little guy.

These three pillows won't stay in the bed during our little guy's first year, but we usually keep our newborn in a bassinet in our room for a little while.  So for now, they just look cute in his crib.  The polka dot sheet is from Pottery Barn Kids.

The "Welcome Aboard" steering wheel as to be another favorite of mine in this nursery.

Now this poster does not exactly go along with the "nautical" theme, but it's my husbands favorite childhood book and he really wanted it in the room.  This shelf is right above the changing table.  I think the poster looks nice and the colors match just right!

"Dream" is a word that I hope my children always keep in the forefront of their minds.  I want them to always know that anything is possible if they put their minds to it.  Life is so much more exciting when you have big dreams.  Hopefully this sign will remind our little guy of this always.

I ordered these three art prints from Finny & Zook on Etsy.  I love to support etsy sellers if I can and I fell in love with this shop when I found them through my etsy search.  They offer many, many different prints and you can choose any color you would like to match your room or nursery.  There are many different images from A through Z as well as alphabet signs and different sayings.  

I purchased these prints and then found photo mats and frames at my local Michael's craft store.  All three prints are next to the large mirror on top of the dresser (didn't get any good pictures of the dresser).

Our little baby boy should be here soon and we can't wait to meet him!  

I hope he loves his room........I think he will, don't you?

Hey, I Thought I will Let You Know

I had an opportunity to get together with a bunch of wonderful women this weekend (and it was an overnighter!). After a very nice meal, we sat around and talked for a long time, it was really fun and liberating at the same time.



We girls need girl time, don't you agree? Mr. Tea Rose Home and I have a very close relationship and we talk to each other all the time. (well...sometimes we both want to talk so much that we might need to learn to be better listeners), but some how I still need to talk to other women. I read it somewhere that women say an average of 20,000 words a day and men only 7,000. I kind of believe that. :)



I guess as women, most of us love to talk, exchange ideas, connect and support each other. I am not a super social person, but I still like to get together with friends every now and then when my schedule allows. Also blogging is a perfect outlet for that too. growing up, well, after I was all grown too, I try to keep a journal. Every once in a while I will start a new one, and never go past three weeks. Although, I am happy to say that it has been almost THREE YEARS since I have started blogging.



I think the secret is I feel like I am talking to someone through blogging. I will receive comments and feedback, and they motivate me to keep posting.



The "Dear diary..." doesn't cut it for me. The diary doesn't talk back to me.



So, friends, I thought I would tell you... THANK YOU for coming back to visit me often. I really appreciate it.



I had a really busy day, and I don't have pictures to share or anything, but I wanted to tell you that before I drag myself off to bed. :)



I will see you soon in my next post.



Note: Don't forget to enter Monaluna's giveaway, the contest ends soon!

FIVE GOOD THINGS ABOUT A HURRICANE

Hurricane Felix over the coast of eastern Honduras. Credit: NASA via Universe Today.

  
1. Tropical cyclones are important rainmakers, providing 25 percent or more of available rainfall to places like Japan, India, and Southeast Asia—not to mention Texas, which desperately needs a dousing ASAP.
  

In the course of a year, low latitudes gain more heat and high latitudes loose more heat. Tropical cyclones help transport heat from the equator towards the poles. Credit: NASA.

  
2. Tropical cyclones help maintain the global heat balance by moving warm tropical air away from the equator and towards the poles. Without them, the tropics would get a lot hotter and the poles a lot colder... A typical tropical cyclone releases heat energy of about 50 to 200 exajoules a day. That's equivalent to 70 times our worldwide energy consumption.

Long Island, New York, with multiple barrier islands. Credit: NASA.

    
3. Paradoxically, fragile barrier islands need hurricanes for their survival—especially now, when sea levels are rising. Although hurricanes erode beaches on the ocean side of barrier islands, they build up the back sides of the same islands by depositing new sediments via winds and waves. This dynamical process keeps barrier islands alive.

Global thermohaline circulation, aka the ocean conveyor belt. Credit: Avsa via Wikimedia Commons.

    
4. Tropical cyclones stir up the ocean and drive the process of upwelling, thus playing a part in the thermohaline circulation—another important transport mechanism distributing heat between the equator and the poles and keeping the earth's temperature in better balance.

Mangroves, fish nurseries, can benefit from a hurricane's stirring of the waters. Credit: MIT-WHOI.

       
5. By stirring the ocean, tropical cyclones also cycle nutrients from the seafloor to the surface, boosting ocean productivity and setting the stage for blooms of marine life.

HURRICANE SKIES

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