And the winners are . . .

Thanks to all of you who commented on my recent Christmas Card post!

And I'm happy to announce that the three fortunate winners of 25 free cards from Shutterfly are:

Suzanne Dobbertin
Kelly Glupker
Tracy Hall

My kids chose these names randomly out of a bowl.  Really high-tech, I know.  :)

(I'll message each of you on Facebook with your unique promo code to use at Shutterfly.com for 25 free cards.  Email me at aliciamhorn (at) gmail (dot) com if you'd rather I email the code to you.)

And remember if you're a blogger, you can still register yourself with Shutterfly to get 25 free cards.   Register here: http://goo.gl/DDw7Q

Happy card-making!

A Heinous Injustice

My Solomon hit the 18 month mark a few weeks back.  He's growing and developing in every way imaginable!  He's a spunky (read: a disciplining challenge), independent, joyful, interactive, book-loving, dancing, rough-housing toddler. 

The Heinous Injustice, you ask?  He STILL wakes up in the middle of the night.  And I'm certain it's my fault.

Thankfully, he doesn't wake up EVERY night.  Whew.  And despite the occasional teething or sickness episode his sleeping habits were lovely between 6-14 months. 

But now he's up once a night 2-4 times a week.  For this nap-loving narcoleptic mom that's almost more than I can handle.  It's not like we're up for a long period of time.  Just long enough for him to suck back his sippy cup of milk while we lay on the couch together.

I'm pretty sure the problem with this boy's restless nights is that he's a milk addict and not taking in enough regular food during the day.  This week I cut him off (almost) completely from his sippy cup of milk in hopes that the milk-absence would force him to eat more solid food.  That seemed to help him eat a bit more than usual at mealtimes but still not as much as I expected.  I've also been feeding him a snack before bed in an attempt to fill up his toddler tummy.

The other complication in the Solomon sleep issue is that he shares a room with his older brother, Clive.  So, while I'm a 100% believer in the crying-it-out method my stubborn Solly can really wail and often wakes up my sweet sleeping Clive.  And then I have two boys to soothe back to sleep.  Said soothing sometimes translates as Clive crawling into bed with us.  Which means I end up sleeping on the couch since I don't enjoy being kicked or have my knees used as a pillow. 

All told, I'm not getting as much sleep as I'd like.  :(

HELP!  What else should I try?

Solomon's coffee consumption may or may not be linked to his sleepless nights.

Christmas cards already?

I don't usually start thinking about Christmas cards until mid-November at the earliest.  But this year, Shutterfly is getting me started earlier than normal.  Last week they emailed me offering me FIFTY FREE CARDS if I blog about their holiday card selection.  That's a no-brainer for this cheapskate!  

And the coolest part of the promo is that I get to offer YOU some free cards too!  Three fortunate commenters to this post will be chosen at random to receive a promo code for 25 free cards of their choice from Shutterfly's expansive holiday card collection.

To prepare for this review I spent much time browsing and exploring Shutterfly's holiday card site.  And man was that fun!  Since I want to send out Christmas cards with a strong religious message I spent most of my time searching through the religious section. I wasn't too disappointed.  Shutterfly's religious card section has 68 choices and many include Bible verses.  I'm quite choosy when it comes to religious cards.  I want my card to have a clear, strong and Biblical message.  My favorites were as follows:

Seal of Christ.  Love the red and brown combined with black and white photos.  Sepia photos would look great with this design too.  Also like the cool square shape and impacting cross-centered verse chosen for this card.

Mighty God. This is my favorite one because of the verse choice and light blue paired with traditional red and green.  Now to snap a picture of all three kiddos smiling simultaneously.  That's going to take a miracle.

Open your hearts.  I really dig the personal call-to-action of this card's message.  And I LOVE the rainbow colorful-ness on the black background.

Rejoice.  Brown and light blue is such a classy color combo.  And the verse is a powerful statement for Christmas. 

There are MYRIADS of unusual and vibrant designs at the Shutterfly website.  I'm especially drawn to the colorful and non-traditional color choices of their cards.  There's an entire "Merry and Bright" category of cards that is just that!  Super fun rainbow colors are usually paired with black and white photos to make for playful and festive cards.

And they have some unique twists of format on the traditional Christmas letter.  If you're into writing Christmas letters or family highlights from your year, Shutterfly has some cool options like top 10 lists and story bubbles to position around photos.

I also appreciate how many different ways there are to navigate the options for photo cards at Shutterfly.  You can narrow your choices by clicking checkboxes for 1, 2, 3 or 4+ photos per card design.  You can narrow the choices further by color or collection style.  And if you're indecisive like I am, you can use their "compare cards" feature to select favorites and check them out side-by-side.

To enter my giveaway for 25 free cards from Shutterfly, just answer the following question in your comment: What do you do with the Christmas cards you receive post-holiday?

[I'll pick 3 winners at random by Friday, October 28.  And by the way, Shutterfly did NOT pay me for this review -- unless you count the 50 free cards that is.  These are all my own thoughts and opinions.]

Are you a blogger? Want a chance at 25 free cards this holiday season? Register here: http://goo.gl/DDw7Q

The pumpkin patch racket

Like the rest of America I aim to take the kiddos to a pumpkin patch every fall.  There's just something nostalgic (even though I don't recall visiting pumpkin patches growing up) and so autumn-y about pumpkin places.

After researching various nearby pumpkin spots, I realized what a money-making racket the pumpkin-experience has become.  Every place I checked offered a variety of super-fun fall themed activities but all for a price.  Hay rides?  $3 a person.  Corn maze?  $5 a pop.  Climbing on straw bales, scavenger hunt and leaf-raking?  $5 each for an activity wristband (including accompanying adults).  And of course that doesn't even include the cost of the pumpkin itself.  Ay-ay-ay!

So, instead I found a happy cheaper medium for the pumpkin experience.  I knew the kids would really enjoy a tractor-pulled hay wagon ride -- especially my machine-loving boy -- so we spent the $9 to do that.  The leaves and rakes were available for raking so we did that for free.  There were wagons sitting around for toting pumpkins which functioned as toys for the boys.  Add to that a few cups of apple cider, noshing on cheap cookies and wandering around the pumpkins (couldn't bear to buy any as I know my local drugstore sells them much cheaper) and we had ourselves a lovely morning!

I know I'm an uber-cheapskate but I really am glad folks were dishing out so much moola for the pumpkin pandemonium today.  Way to support a local farm, people!

Have you visited a pumpkin patch yet this season?  If so, I'm curious . . . how much did you pay for your pumpkin?

All tuckered out from the pumpkin morning.

My cutesy Chloe posing nicely for the camera.  Why don't the boys follow her lead?!?

Rakin'

A rock is truly as much fun as a ball.  Just duck when Solomon comes your way.

Who knew raking someone else's leaves could be so enjoyable?

Waiting patiently for the hayride.

Sizing up the tractor wheel.

Hayride!

This boy LOVED all aspects of the hayride!

Wagon pulling and pushing

Pumpkins in a bathtub?  What?

The best shot of the three rascals I could get.

Checking out the pumpkin selection.

Balancing on the bridge over a sea of pumpkins.