Wow!!!

I can't believe it!  I just found out that I'm one of the four finalists for The Doll Wardrobe's "The Curator's Game" Photo Contest!!  There were so many amazing photos this time around...I never dreamed I'd be a finalist!

I had to post this quickly, not only to let you know, but to thank all of you who voted for me.  It means more than I can say.

I can't stay long...I've got to get girls ready for school and then get ready to go pick up the truck.  While I'm doing that, I'll have to start brainstorming about my final picture! :D  I already have a couple of ideas, but now that I know it's happening, I can buckle down and work out all of the details. :)

Thanks again, everyone!  Without you, this wouldn't have happened. :)

Birthday Pics and Exciting News

As promised, here are a few pics of Oldest Gal's birthday "cake", although it was actually a cake plate covered with "S'mores Cups" (a recipe of my aunt's).

Here's the whole thing.  Didn't Mom and Mimi do a great job?

Hubby helped by actually toasting the mini marshmallow that Dot is holding. :)  The bonfire is made of candy clay and broken toothpicks.

A closer look at the yummy S'mores Cups. :)

Dot looks like she's enjoying herself. :)

I believed I mentioned before that Oldest Gal requested a bonfire and S'mores for her birthday (which would explain the theme of her "cake").  Here's the larger of the two bonfires we built.  Unfortunately, this day ended up being one of the hottest we've had all year, so it was too hot to cook the S'mores at this fire.  Thankfully, the guys made a smaller, smoldering bonfire as well, so the birthday girl and the family were still able to have their S'mores. :)

And since it's the third birthday of the year, as always, I completely ran out of steam and forgot to take pics of Oldest Gal's gifts.  She got some very nice things, though, including mini Crumbs and her sister Sprinkle (Lalaloopsies), the book "All of a Kind Family", and more.

I took a lot of doll-related photos tonight to share with you, but I won't be able to get to the posts that accompany them until later.  And this brings me to the "exciting news" I mentioned in the title:  my uncle is giving my husband and me his old truck!   A very nice truck (that to us is not very old) with enough seating for the girls.  It's a huge answer to prayer, as our car has been having issues.  Tomorrow I'll be traveling several hours away to go pick it up, so I'll be gone for most of the day.

Then Saturday afternoon I'll be going to a local production of "Fiddler on the Roof" with my mom, my aunt, and my mother-in-law.  I'm very excited...it's been a while since I've been to a live performance. :)  Even better, one of the kids I used to babysit is playing the role of Perchik. :)  I'll have to tell you how it goes. 

So in the meantime, don't worry that I've fallen off the face of the earth or something like that.  I'll be back with more fun as soon as I can. ;) 

I've Been Awarded! :)

Okay, my crazy weekend is over and my kiddos are in bed, so I finally have some time to sit down and do some blogging. ;)

Oldest Gal had a very fun party yesterday, but it was apparently a bit too much for her because she stayed home from school today with sniffles and a sore throat.  She seems to be back to her normal chipper self tonight, though, so I think a day of resting and reading in bed did her some good. :)  I have a few pics to share from the party, but I forgot my camera at my aunt's house, so they'll have to wait for a bit. :}

While we're waiting for my camera to get back home, I'll do a post that I've been meaning to get to for the past week.  I was recently nominated for two different blog awards.  The Bolton Girls awarded me with the "Best Blogger Award" , and then AdeleCupcake awarded me with the "Brilliant Blog Bouquet Award". :)  So here are my horribly overdue answers to the blog questions:

Best Blogger Award:

1.  What is your favorite post that you've ever created?  

I've enjoyed a lot of the posts I've done, especially my recent photography posts.  I think I'd have to say one of my very favorite posts was my Doll Comparison Post #2.  It was so much fun to get an in-depth comparison of each of the dolls I reviewed. :)

2.  What is your favorite photostory that you have ever taken part in?

I don't really do photostories on this blog since there are plenty of them on Tess and Maggie's blog and Belle's blog.  On Tess and Maggie's blog, I love all of the photostories from my vacations.  On Belle's Bulletins, my favorite photostories are Robby, Christmas Eve, Wonderful News, and Snow Day.  Sorry, it's hard to chose just one! :} 

3.  Why do you blog?

I started blogging because I was hoping to become a published author, and my writing coach had mentioned that authors were usually expected to have some sort of blog to promote their books.  I figured it would be a good idea to figure out the blogging world when it "didn't matter". ;)  My little blog about dolls, Disney, and my other hobbies has grown steadily over the past two and a half years.  It's become so much more than I ever thought it would.  While I still blog to gain experience and get feedback on my writing, I also blog to share my hobbies and joys with the many online friends and followers I've met.  I appreciate each and every one of you so much. :)

4.  How many followers do you have?

I currently have 233 followers. 

5.  Do you like being nominated for awards?

Always! :)

Brilliant Blog Bouquet Award:

1.  If you could have a "flower pen name" like we have here on our blog, Violets and Daisies, what would it be?    

I'd probably use "Roses and Gardenias", my two favorite flowers. :)

2.  What is your favorite ever Bible verse and why?   

One of my very favorite verses is Psalm 19:14.  "Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer."  This is a verse that my daughters and I recite frequently.  It's a great reminder of the way we ought to live every day after all that our Savior has done for us.  I love the fact that the verse covers both our words and our thoughts.  One is outward and observable by others, the other is inward and only seen by God. :) 

3.  What are the blogs which inspire you the most?    

There are many blogs I find inspiring, but a few of my favorites are The Toy Box Philosopher, The Doll Wardrobe, Accordion to Kellie, and Of Trims and Frills and Furbelows. 

4.  If you and your friends could visit any country in the world, where would you go?    

I'd love to see Great Britain, France, India, or Japan. :)  I'd definitely have to go with someone, though.  It wouldn't take long for me to get either totally lost or totally overwhelmed. ;)

I'm supposed to nominate bloggers to award with both of these, but I think I'm going to take the lazy way out.  These have been around for a bit, so most of the people I would nominate have already been awarded. If you're reading this and you'd like to give it a shot, consider yourself awarded! :)

I have several posts in the works and hope to get back to a more regular posting schedule over these next few weeks.  Be back with more soon! :)

EBay Listings Up

Whew!  Finally finished the last of the eBay listings for today.  I might try to list a few more things sometime tomorrow, but I may just wait until the next time around.  You can see everything I have up HERE if you're interested.

I wanted to mention specifically since it's come up so often in emails and such that I have a Madame Alexander "Friends 4 Life" doll among the listings that shares the same face mold and coloring as the "Friends Boutique" Emily.  Because she is from the F4L line, she does NOT have limbs that bend at the knees and elbows.  Just thought I'd let all of you know. ;)

Tomorrow we'll have Oldest Gal's party right after church, so I'll be pretty busy the whole day.  I should have something more interesting up by the beginning of the week. ;)

Until then...

I'm Still Here! :)

Hey guys!  Just thought I'd pop in for a quick hello. ;)  Sorry I've been rather quiet this week.  It was one of those weeks where time just got away from me.  It may or may not have had something to do with my aunt letting me borrow Season 2 of Doctor Who. :}  Not like I've been sitting around watching that and doing nothing else.  But I may have been slightly preoccupied...  ;)

I'm planning on doing some eBay listings tomorrow, and Sunday will be church and Oldest Gal's birthday party, so I can't promise any exciting posts over the next couple of days.  However, next week I will get my act together and post some of the reviews and things I've been working on. ;)

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!  Talk to you again soon. :)

And the Winner Is...

We had 42 total entries for the Lalaloopsy and Squinkies giveaway.  The winner's names were put in a bowl:

...and one name was chosen by random draw.  The official winner of the 400,000 Pageviews Giveaway is:

Abbie R!!  

Congratulations, Abbie!  I'd like to thank all of you who entered.  If you didn't win this time around, don't lose hope.  There will be more giveaways to come at a later date. :)

I will be emailing Abbie shortly, letting her know that she won.  She will have 1 week to respond to my email with her mailing address.  If I haven't heard from her by Saturday, April 20th, a new winner will be chosen.  I'll let you know in the comments of this post when I've heard from her. :)

Have a great weekend, everyone! :)  Stay tuned for my blog award post. 

Last Day to Enter the 400,000 Pageviews Giveaway!

Hi everyone!  Just a quick reminder that today is the absolute last day to enter my giveaway for the mini Dot Starlight Lalaloopsy and the Aladdin Squinkies.  We have 39 entries so far. :)

If you missed out on the giveaway post, you can get the details HERE.

Have a great weekend, everyone!  The winner will be posted tomorrow morning. :)