Shutterfly Photo Book Giveaway

Shutterfly was kind enough to offer me two free Photo Books to make and use however I wanted! I had so much fun creating these for my kids for Christmas!

Okay...actually I had a bit of a difficult time trying to create them when my kids weren't around to see what I was doing. Other than that, I had a fun time creating them. Everytime I uploaded a picture into the Shutterfly website...they'd come over and want to look at the picture and ask what I was doing. :)

The first photo book I created was an 8x8 inch Soft Cover Photo Book filled with pictures of all our boys...baby pictures up to big boy pictures. We'll give this book to them all for Christmas. That book makes me excited because it is the ultimate BROTHER book. I think they'll get a big kick out of it.

BUT...the second book I made...I'm even more excited about. I've mentioned before that our second son Justus LOVES cooking and wants to be a chef. Because I have so many pictures of food...and so many recipes...and so many pictures of Justus cooking, I put together a 5x7 inch personalized photo cookbook for Justus. It's filled with recipes and pictures of some of his favorite foods...all recipes that are easy enough for him to prepare with little or no help.

I think Justus is going to adore this Christmas gift.

Here are the things I loved about working on the Shutterfly website while building my photo books:

• Once I had my pictures uploaded into the Shutterfly site...the books were simple to put together. I just had to drag and drop my picture into the page wherever I wanted it.


• There were tons of page backgrounds and layouts to choose from. But...there were not so many that I was confused or overwhelmed. I liked that I could pick different ways to set up the pages...and that I could pick fun "manly" background designs.


• Editing the photo books was easy. If there was a possible mis-spelling...Shutterfly gave a red flag. If I wanted to change the picture position or wording...all I had to do was click and I could change it without a problem.


• Once I finished creating the books and ordered them...I received them in less than a week. Talk about instant gratification!


• The quality of these books is outstanding. The pictures are clear. The pages are thick and nice. These books look very professional. My boys are gonna love 'em.

You can create ALL KINDS of photo books with Shutterfly and today they're offering to give TWO of my readers a free photo book of their own.

Leave a comment here for a chance to win either a 7x9 inch Soft Cover Photo Book or an 8x11 inch Hard Cover Photo Book. There is no limit to the kind of fun book you could create for your family or for a gift!

I will draw two random winners on Monday, October 5!

Creative Correction Winner

The winner of the Creative Correction Bible Study is Andrea! (andraya@)

Thanks everyone! Thanks Jessica for your generosity!

SpellQuizzer Giveaway!

Dew yore kidds nead xtruh spelling practis? Check out SpellQuizzer!

SpellQuizzer is a spelling program for helping children learn their spelling words...or for helping them practice their vocabulary.

The folks at SpellQuizzer were kind enough to let our family give this spelling software a try. Here are some of the things we love about SpellQuizzer (oh...and pardon me while I sharpen and expand on my spelling and vocabulary r.e.p.e.r.t.o.i.r.e.):

1. SpellQuizzer will work with any and every curriculum your kids use. Yay for v.e.r.s.a.t.i.l.i.t.y.!


2. If you homeschool...this software can be a great s.u.p.p.l.e.m.e.n.t. to your spelling program. If you do not homeschool...this software will help r.e.i.n.f.o.r.c.e. what your kids are learning in school and provide a fun way for your kids to practice the words on their spelling lists.


3. SpellQuizzer recognizes US and UK English spelling. Colour...or Color. Either one is p.e.r.m.i.s.s.i.b.l.e.
   
4. If your PC has a m.i.c.r.o.p.h.o.n.e. you can record the words you want your child to practice. I LOVE this feature. (If your PC doesn't have a microphone, you can find one at Walmart for about $10.)


5. You can import and export spelling lists...which means you can share lists with others who use SpellQuizzer. Very s.o.l.i.c.i.t.o.u.s.
   

Go check out the SpellQuizzer Demo here and see what you think. See for yourself how simple and a.c.c.o.m.m.o.d.a.t.i.n.g. it can be for your kids!

Interested in a chance to win SpellQuizzer's spelling software? Yes, I thought that possibility might i.n.t.r.i.g.u.e. you.

Leave a comment here telling us how you would use this spelling program. And oh my word...please tell me that there are no spelling errors in this post.
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This giveaway is now closed! :)

Creative Correction Bible Study Giveaway!

When I mentioned Lisa Whelchel's book, Creative Correction, in my recent post discussing the reasons our family chose to homeschool...Jessica emailed me right away with an amazing offer for you!!

Jessica works for LifeWay. They published a Bible study based on Lisa Whelchel's book!!!!! AND she offered to give away one of these Bible studys to one of my readers!!!

Isn't she NICE?!

Here's what Jessica tells us about this Bible study:

"Creative Correction is Bible study teaching how we can build character in our children using scriptural truths--the same way that God corrects His children. With a little creativity, Lisa Whelchel offers help for when time out and other standard disciplinary methods just don't seem to be working anymore. The Bible study is in a six-week format with seven DVD session, excellent for individual study or a group format.

The DVD sessions are between 17 and 27 minutes and include a panel discussion between Lisa and other moms, Lisa's teachings, and home movies from the Whelchel household.

Lisa, a homeschool mom to three children, tells her stories of triumph and failure through this Bible study and accompanying DVD. Her sense of humor and insight will keep you laughing and learning at the same time."

This program is worth $149!! Doesn't it sound like SUCH a great study for Christian parents!!?? For a chance to win, leave a comment following this post. Then, be sure to head over to Jessica's and give her a big thank you!!

This giveaway is now closed. Thanks everyone!

iPod Touch Winner!

Thank you everyone who signed up to win an iPod Touch from Norton Family Online! What a fun giveaway!

The winner, selected by Random.org is...

Sandra (@ little apple tech.com)

Congrats!!

Discovering Discover's New Tool

We like using credit cards. (Ooooh, but we do NOT like credit card debt...so we ALWAYS without fail...pay our entire bill at the end of the month...just so ya know.)

We have one card for regular household spending...

And we use our Discover Card for business. Any supplies we buy for our Shaved Ice Business or for Matt's construction business...we put on our Discover Card. We've always liked how that keeps our finances separate so that we can keep track of where our money is going and what our business expenses are.

And that is why I'm very excited to tell you about this new tool that Discover offers it's users. It's an Online Spending Analyzer and I THINK IT'S REALLY COOL.

The Online Spending Analyzer breaks down all of our spending into specific catagories....places it into pie charts and other impressive graphs...and lists all of our spending for the month. It's all the information we need...right in one place.

If we need to see what we've spent in the past several months...it's all right there. If we want to know how we're doing for the entire year...it's there.

I love that all the information we need is one simple click away...instead of having to wait for a monthly statement to come in the mail.

And that if Matt somehow misplaced a receipt for the door he purchased to put in Joe's house...all he has to do is look it up on the Discover Online Spending Analyzer.

Very cool.

It looks like Discover just made keeping up with our business transactions even easier.

Oh, I like it when things are made easier, don't you?

What do you think? Do you use credit cards? Do you think Discover's new Online Spending Analyzer would be a helpful tool for you?


This is a paid review from BlogHer and Discover. Read more reviews here!

Sign Up to Win an IPod Touch From Norton Online Family!

Did I tell you we got a dog? No? It's a cute little black watch dog. How could I have forgotten to tell you? It's quiet and helpful and doesn't make messes.

Okay, so we didn't get a dog. (And we never will if I have anything to do with it.) (I smile lovingly as I say that of course.) Instead we've been able to try out some new software from Norton Online Family that acts like a watch dog on our computer.

With this software, I'm able to check which websites my family has visited. Online accountablility and safety...gotta love it. AND, if any of us click on a website that the Norton Online Family software thinks in questionable...the little watch dog pops up and asks "Are you sure you want to go to this website?" (Hehe, it even popped up once when I was going to someone's cooking website because it warned that it "might be a weapons site". Why? Because you have to cut carrots with a knife?)

Ah, well I'd much rather this software be over cautious than under.

I like knowing that when my kids go to check their Webkins, if anything fishy goes on, I'll know about it. Anytime anything weird pops up that they aren't used to...they'll holler, "MOM! Can we click on this?"

I gotta tell you, this is the nicest little watch dog I've ever had in my house. I'm almost always close by when my boys are on the computer to see what they're doing...but sometimes ya know...I have to leave the room to fold laundry.

Hm...I wonder if Norton Family Online has another pet that is as helpful in the laundry department as their little watch dog is online... :)

Laundry pet or not...Norton Family Online IS nice enough to offer all of you a chance to win a FREE iPod Touch!!

Wouldn't you LOVE to win an iPod Touch!?

Just leave a comment here letting us know how you stay in the loop with your kids and whether this new software will help you. You may leave a link to your post or twitter message about this contest in the comments for an additional entry. Contest runs until March 9 at 5:00 pm PST. U.S. residents only, sorry my beloved friends from other countries. Winner will be chosen by random.org and notified via email. See official contest rules here. Please be sure to leave your email address so that I can contact you if you win!

Leave only one comment here, but you have more chances to win by following this link.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to visit my main blog www.heavenlyhomemakers.com to learn all kinds of homemaking tips and to find healthy recipes...and to read about why we don't have a dog! (Doncha think taking care of four boys is enough?)

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED...THANK YOU TO ALL WHO PARTICIPATED!