CSN stores gift card giveaway {CLOSED}

Hello lovely readers, it's the end of the week! Let's celebrate with a giveaway! CSN stores has offered to give one of my readers a $40 gift card redeemable at any of their 200+ online stores. They have just about anything you can think of. Whether you're in need of a laptop messenger bag, cookware, or toys + games for kids, you're going to want this gift card!


It's easy to enter, just leave a comment on this post for your first entry.

Additional entries, leave one comment for each fulfilled.

~Post the Breaking New Ground blog button on your site. In your comment, let me know where to find it.

<a href="http://www.breakingnewground.us/"><img src="http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y229/shandell/blog/MLBbuttonedit.jpg" /></a>

~ follow Breaking New Ground with Google Friend Connect. Just click the "follow" button in the left sidebar.

~follow Stories for Kiddos with Google Friend Connect.

~ tweet this giveaway using the following:

"Visit Breaking New Ground and enter the @CSNstores #giveaway for a $40 gift card from @ShanLeAnn http://bit.ly/gpzPrO "

OR (this means one or the other. If you do both twitter + facebook it's still only 1 entry.)

~Facebook the following

"Visit Shandell's Blog, Breaking New Ground for a chance to win a $40 giftcard to CSN Stores! http://bit.ly/gpzPrO "

please, oh please be sure that your email address is in your blogger profile, on your site linked to your open ID or within your comment (format shanleann1 at gmail dot com) so I can notify you if you win. Otherwise, you forfeit your chances.

This giveaway will end January 25th, 2011 at 11pm PST with a winner announced + notified January 26th, 2011. Winner will be selected at random via random.org and will have 48 hours to respond in order to claim the prize or it will be awarded to an alternate. 

Open to U.S. + Canadian residents only. All comments will be verified. Comments subject to removal without notification based on their relevance to contest. All comments will be verified. So, please be sure to follow instructions carefully. 

Questions? As always click on the "email me" button to send me a message. Please do not leave a comment here that isn't intended to be an entry into the giveaway. 

Disclosure: I received no compensation for this giveaway. All opinions are my own. Click for additional disclosures and PR policies.

Happy Friday!

Thankful on a Thursday: Community

I truly believe that we are made to exist in community. I'm not theologist or pastor, so I'm not going to give you a sermon with a slew of Biblical examples. I believe this, because the Bible does illustrate it, but also because I feel it. When I'm in fellowship with others, my spirit is lifted and even when some things aren't going well, life feels more "right". If I'm away from others for an extended period, it has the opposite effect. Something feels off and I of course miss my family, friends, + church community.

I know this could also be due to the fact that I'm mostly an extrovert, but even so I'm also very much a home-body. I would often rather hang out at home than go out to dinner or a party. I also know many an introvert that know + feel exactly what I'm talking about when it comes to the need for community + authentic fellowship.

Recently our church went through some major changes. Much of it has been very difficult, and we've lost some valuable members. However, I feel an overwhelming sense of community among the remaining congregation. Especially among a new group of volunteers + leaders who have stepped up to make sure ministries still function to serve the congregation, our city, and the world. It amazes me how God uses hardships for change and gives beauty for ashes.

I'm so thankful for...

471. a community of believers with which to worship, serve, create, lift up, minister, love + so much more.

472. well fitting clothes + a husband who sometimes spoils me.

473. the way Malakai says "mama!" + smiles at me randomly throughout the day. It's like he's seeing me for the first time in ages, even though I've been right by his side the whole time.

474. lists. I just can't get enough of making lists. They help me stay organized get the jumbled thoughts out of my head to make room for more.

475. amazing deals.

{adorable slippers, $1.50 clearance yo!}

476. infant's ibuprofen + sesame street on our tivo. Without which, last night's sleep strike may have lasted forever.

477. being busy in a good way. When I feel depended upon to get something done, it motivates me and makes me feel useful. When I have a ton of things to do, none of which are enjoyable and all are thankless, that's when it gets a little rough.

478. God's way of guiding us by flinging doors open, gently closing them, or even slamming some shut.

479. the sun peeking through the clouds twice in one otherwise grey wintery week.

480. some quiet time to myself to type out this list of things + people I'm oh so grateful for.

What are you thankful for this week?

petite

This past weekend I went on a mission for some new dress pants. All of my other pairs don't fit, which makes me sad because I have a couple of really great, like-new pairs that are now 5 sizes too big (to avoid any awkwardness, I am not going to talk about my specific size).

Being 5'2" makes finding a good pair of pants pretty hard to find. I usually just deal with the length issues or have my very talented mom hem them up for me.

I went to Target first since I had a few other things I needed there. I did not anticipate the issues I ran into. Their selection was very small and nothing fit correctly. They had a large selection of their clothing on clearance, but no dress pants.

Next I went to the mall. I'm not a fan of shopping in the first place, and I RARELY go to the mall. I can't even remember the last time I went by myself. I was hoping that JC Penney or Gap would have what I was looking for. Well fitting dress pants for under $30. Sadly I couldn't even find well fitting pants after looking above my price range. I was getting pretty frustrated.

I went to Macy's, Charlotte Russe, and Ann Taylor Loft. The Loft had a petite section with a ton of great choices. I fell in love with one too many pairs of their pants, because they were $80! However, everything was on sale for 40% off. I didn't want to spend that much, so I tried a few other places, including Forever 21. I can't wrap my mind around that place, it stresses me out (which makes me feel old).

After 3 hours of shopping, I felt defeated. I looked online, but didn't want to deal with the hassle of shipping things back + forth. I decided to go in to Old Navy while Kai was napping on Sunday afternoon. I found some really great sweaters for me + T-shirts for Kai on clearance with an additional 40% off. They had barely any dress pants in "short" length, and they happened to be in everything but my size.

I decided to go back to The Loft + use my birthday money to get the pants that I loved. I couldn't believe I was making my 2nd trip to the mall in two days. I barely go that many times in a whole year. There are a few styles that are really similar so I had a hard time remembering which ones were my favorites. I tried them on all over again and discovered that I am actually one size smaller than what I had tried on the day before.

There were 3 pairs that I really liked. So, I decided to get Ben's opinion. I bought all of them to take home, with the plan to return two pairs after he helped me narrow it down.

{Black Cotton Trousers, Grey Fluid Structure Pants, + Linen Denim Trousers}

Last night I put on a little fashion show. We still had a dilemma, Ben liked all three as well. However, he was able to rank them for me. He liked the Linen Denim Trousers best, followed by the grey pants and he wasn't the biggest fan of the black (he thought they were too plain). 

I still couldn't decide between them, so Ben smiled at me + said I could choose two. I asked him if he was sure a half dozen times. Then I still couldn't decide for myself, so I went with his choices and am taking back the black pair. Of course they are the least expensive. 

It's hard to believe that it was such a hassle to find a decent pair of (petite) dress pants. I was especially surprised by the lack of choices at big department stores. I've discovered that nothing in the juniors section looks even the least bit appealing to me anymore, but everything in the ladies or "misses" sections is usually too old for me. 

Petite or not, tell me, where do you shop for pants? How much are you willing to pay?

Sunny Day

I was not expecting a sunny + somewhat "warm" day today, but here it is! Malakai hasn't tromped around outside in way too long with the cold + wet weather we've been having, so I jumped on the opportunity to take him outside.

I didn't feel like getting myself ready to go out, so we played in the backyard. I think it's safer that way anyway to be in the grass, leaves + mud than to want to play on the wet play structures and soggy bark.

He had a ton of fun and looked too cute in his galoshes + hoodie. He got super muddy because it's apparently hard to stand up after falling when your stiff rubber boots go up to your knees.

{we started out clean + dry and really excited}

{it didn't take long to fall + get wet, but it was still fun}

{the start of the muddy clothes phase}

{super grumpy about coming in for lunch}

I'll spare your hearts the ache of seeing his face after he got really upset about coming in. Luckily, he likes food just as much as he likes outside. Once he understood I was going to feed him, he calmed down considerably. 

I'm hoping for some more sunny days + time outdoors. It's so good for him to explore and really fun for me to watch him learn + play. 

Did you have sun today?

About Malakai: eighteen months

Malakai Benson is 18 months old today.  A year and a half ago he looked like this-

{my teeeensy tiny, peaceful, + quiet baby}

And today he looks like this-

{my big, wild, + noisy toddler}

These days he is doing something new everyday. Yesterday he pointed at G'Pa and said "whatdat newt?"..."what's that nose?" We all had a good laugh. A little later he found the microphone for his Aunt Nanner's Disney Wii game and started to sing + dance while watching himself in the mirror.

Kai is all boy. He loves to wrestle, run, and jump. He also does a few strange things like bash his head or his mouth into the wall, the couch, daddy's knee. As I type this he is putting his mega blocks in the sink while daddy tries to do the dishes. He knows when he's doing something wrong, he'll say "no no no" or "uhoh" but then continue to do it. He doesn't seem to mind time-outs very much, but they can still be a good reset for unwanted behavior. 

He loves to try to push the buttons on my laptop or shut the lid on my hands while I'm typing. He puts toys into the back of the tv's speakers, tries to push the power button, gets into all drawers + cupboards. He climbs whatever he can to get to the couch, drags the end table from the living room into the kitchen + back, slides the outlet protector off, opens the oven door latch, and unlocks the latch on the dishwasher while it's running. He likes to turn the handle on the diaper pail, throw toys, hit with toys, grab other kids by their clothes to move them out of his way, and he is still resistant to sharing- especially toys that he knows are his. 

He also loves to gives hugs + kisses, snuggles up on daddy's shoulder at night, dance while holding his glow worm, climb into a loved ones lap to listen to a story, flip through the pages of his Old McDonald book + sing "eieio". He still falls asleep in the car + lets mama transfer him to bed. He loves to play peek-a-boo, giggles endlessly at a specific scene of Elmo tripping on a pile of apples, says "bwease" if you dare stop swinging, tickling, bouncing, or pushing him in a basket or box around the room like it's a racecar. He always has a smile for someone new, even when he's acting shy at first. He gets so excited when he sees his grandparents, waves "bye" when anyone is leaving, blows kisses, tries on everyone's shoes, and puts mama's purse on his shoulder. He knows that when the garage door creaks it means that daddy is home, and he does a little happy dance and runs to the door. He's loving + sweet and so perfectly innocent + full of wonder. 

Some of the words + phrases he's saying are:

"what's that?" 

"there you are!"

"Elmo, please"

"hi, mama!"

"bye!" with a wave

"up, please!"

"all done"

"nuh-night"

"eieio"

"niiiice"

"doggie"

"meow"

"nana" (banana)

"nummies"

"pizza"

"hot dog"

"water" (when it's raining)

There are many many more. He's just soaking up information like a little sponge. Ben + I are always looking at each other in awe of how quickly he learns something. 

He's been working on all four cuspid teeth at once and has been for over a month. His gums are inflamed and at times he is visible (and audibly) miserable. Last night he was chewing on everything and despite some pain meds, he would not go to sleep after 2 hours of trying different techniques to calm + soothe him. At 18 months old, we had to go back to the tried + true method of going on a long drive. Thankfully he almost always transfers well. 

So, he is very much a toddler, but still sometimes my baby. It's going by so fast, each stage that has passed is already hard to remember. I want to soak him up and live in the moment. 

We're so proud of our growing little boy.