All About You Basket

Good Wednesday morning!

I'm breaking a promise. That's right. I admit it. There are more birthday pics in the Gallery. I am so sorry... and ashamed... and I'll do better next time. I promise!

LAST DAY! LAST DAY! LAST DAY!

CONTEST! CONTEST! CONTEST! - Belinda's Project Life has been completed. Here are the Contest Rules and Regulations.

1. Pick your TEN FAVORITE PICTURES from Belinda's Project Life.

2. If one of your favorites matches one of my favorites, I will put your name in the drawing bowl.

3. If three of your favorites match three of my favorites, I will put your name in the drawing bowl THREE TIMES! Get it?

4. Since my Comment Section on A Simple Life doesn't work (arghhh), you can leave your favs on Facebook or e-mail me at mfaulkner1306@charter.net.

5. The Contest is OVER midnight, Wednesday, August 31.

6. The Winner will be announced Thursday morning (September 1).

7. The Winner will receive a $10 Gift Certificate from YOLO's!

My friend, Neisa, e-mailed answers to me. FIVE of her favorites matched FIVE of my favorites... so her name goes into the drawing bowl FIVE times. That's how it works, my friends.

RANDOMNESS - I'm really looking forward to our Awesome August service at church tonight. Rick from the Rick and Bubba Show will be there giving his testimony. He is a powerful speaker, and I cannot wait to hear what he has to say. (I have a feeling I'll probably be talking about this tomorrow, too!)

Wednesday Wisdom - Today's "wisdom" comes straight from The Hallmark Store... in the form of "supposedly" funny birthday cards.

Don't sweat turning 50! Nobody likes a sweaty senior citizen.

One hour of weightlifting per day helps minimize underarm jiggle. Then again, so does wearing long sleeves.

So you're 50. Hey, look on the bright side. Okay. There is not bright side. There's a bright light, but you're gonna want to stay away from that.

Good news! People are living longer than ever! Bad news! We don't get to choose which people.

Birthdays always remind me of the giant redwoods on the West Coast. The way they stand tall and proud, year after year, century after century. Their majestic beauty never fails to take my breath away... Thank you for planting them.

These are just a few of the cards that made turning 50 a little more pleasant.

All About You Basket

I was reading through www.thedatingdivas.com website (The Dating Divas), and came across this idea from a guest blogger named Lisa P.

She made this list and basket for her husband, but I thought it would make a great back-to-school tradition for the kiddos, too.

Read about the basket, and then we'll revise it a little for the kids. (This, in case you don't realize, is a two-fer!)

I recently created a list of "101 Reasons Why I Love You" for my husband. I thought back to when we were dating and how I had done the same thing, and thought it would be a great idea. I didn’t leave it at that. I decided I would create an “All About You” Basket which would include my love letter and some gifts as well. (You could create a list of any length. I chose 101 because I had done this before.)

I had to spend some time coming up with meaningful reasons. I didn’t do this in one sitting, but would write a few lines whenever I had a few spare minutes. It was easy and pretty quick to do once my brain got started.

Then I headed to the store with all of my reasons to pick out a few things to buy to put into my basket. I spent a total 0f $35 on my basket. You can be creative and include whatever you would like and spend whatever you want to spend. My basket cost only $3 from my grocery store.

I picked out specific things in my letter that I could buy something for. For example, I bought some light bulbs for the phrase, you “light” up my life! I bought some sponges because my man is so “handy.” Things like that were really easy and triggered my thoughts in the store.

I typed all of my phrases on the computer so that I could tape them onto the corresponding gift. I put the gifts and the love letter into the basket. I didn’t have a lot of room so I had to stack things to make them look cute. Once I was finished, I put cellophane around it and tied it with a ribbon. It looked so cute and I was excited to give it to my sweet husband. Not only was there great stuff in the basket, but it was totally meaningful which made it even better!

I got home and left it on the table as a present. When he got home, he was so surprised. He appreciated the gift and thought it was awesome!

The Enchanting Belinda says...

I love this idea for Mikie AND I think it would make a great back-to-school gift for the kiddos.

1. Make a list of "encouragement" for each of your children. ("You are a good listener." "You have a kind heart." "You make friends easily." "You are so much fun to be around." "You are my best movie buddy." "You are sweet.")

2. After you make the list, head to The Dollar Store and try to find small, inexpensive gifts to put into the child's basket to go with the things you put on the list.

"You are so much fun to be around." Depending on their age, buy them bubbles, a jump rope, a hula hoop, etc.

"You are sweet." Uh, candy!

"You are my best movie buddy." A DVD to watch together the evening after the first day of school.

"You make friends easily." A picture in a frame of their best friend.

3. When the kids come home after the first day of school, have the baskets wrapped and sitting on the kitchen table beside their snack. If they had a good day, the basket will only make it better. If they had a stressful day, the basket will make a hard day easier.

4. I like this idea because you can start any time and keep doing it from preschool through high school. (You just have to make the gifts age appropriate.)

Have a wonderful, wacky Wednesday. I'll be back in the morning with TWO dates, Blog Linkage AND the WINNER OF BELINDA'S PROJECT LIFE CONTEST! Be sure to enter today.

Take care, and I'll talk to you Wednesday.

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Belinda