In So Many Words

Welcome to my humble abode – glad you could come for the party! Since I know this week is a whirlwind of activity, let me give you the quick tour and a standing invitation to come hang out whenever you want.

Oh, I see you noticed the family picture.

It’s a bit out of date, but we haven’t changed too much. Just subtract a couple of inches from my hairstyle, add a bit of facial hair on the hubby and imagine some grown-up front teeth on the little guy, and there you have it – our wonderful threesome!

If you’d like to stay awhile, you are welcome to have a seat, although you may have to push the kitties out of the way first.

I know, I hate to move them too! Maybe I’ll just show you around the place a bit then. Just like me, this place is a work in progress, as a peek into my daily life will soon show you.

Be careful not to trip over the stacks of books as you move through the house. My husband swears I would be happy just holing up in the bedroom with him shoveling in the books. He’s probably right – as long as I get my Mountain Dew fix in there as well.

What kind of books, you ask? That depends on the day. My tastes range from science fiction and fantasy to contemporary novels with a healthy dose of Christian fiction thrown in. I also enjoy a good J.D. Robb or Lee Child story to liven things up a bit.

On the nonfiction side, you’ll find almost everything is somehow related to autism, since that is a big part of our lives. I also love to share anything we have found to be helpful on that part of our journey, from advocacy tips to resources on various strategies and therapies.

I will be holding a couple of giveaways in April for Autism Awareness Month, one of which is a novel about a girl with Asperger’s Syndrome, Delightfully Different by D.S. Walker.

Well, thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you’ll come by for another visit soon! I’d love for you to leave a comment so I can return the favor. And, of course, you should definitely subscribe to future posts if you don’t want to miss any of the exciting stuff to come.

I don’t know if it’s because spring is coming or if I’m just glad to be over the horrible cold I came down with recently, but I am finding all kinds of blogging stuff to get involved with lately. So I thought I would share them with all of you in case you are feeling the same way.

First things first, the March edition of Best of the Best is now up over at Help! S-O-S for Parents. This month’s topic is on Family Life (siblings, marriage, single parenting, vacations, finances, etc.) as it relates to invisible special needs. My post on Figuring Out What *I* Need is a very personal take on the theme at the moment, and I am pleased to be included in the carnival.

Also, the April edition of the carnival is going to be the Best of the Best Biggest Blogger Book Review and Giveaway. Contact Danette for details on participating and keep your eyes open for some amazing book reviews and giveaways on her site as well as a bunch of others, including mine!

Next, for all of you readers out there, Katrina at Callapidder Days is once again hosting her Spring Reading Thing. This reading challenge has a very simple and straightforward goal – “sharing some reading goals with all the other participants and doing it in a way that works for you.”

You can read all of the details at her Coming [VERY] Soon post if you would like to join in, and you can check back here on Sunday for my own reading goals.

Of course, I can’t talk about reading without mentioning the What’s On Your Nightstand? monthly linkup over at 5 Minutes for Books. I started joining in on this one again in January after a long break and have really enjoyed sharing what I’m reading and getting ideas from other people.

This one takes place on the 4th Tuesday of each month, so it’s coming up next week. I’d love to hear what you’ve been reading – I’m always looking for suggestions!

Last, but definitely not least, April 1st-8th is the absolute can’t miss blogging event, the 5 Minutes for Mom Ultimate Blog Party 2011!!

Trust me when I say you don’t want to miss this one–there will tons of bloggers to visit, lots of awesome prizes to win and much fun to be had by all. This is one party that just gets better and better every year.

Also, it sounds like they are going to split up the link lists a bit more so it will be easier to find certain categories of blogs, which will be great since the participation seems to grow exponentially.

Hope to see you at the party!

If you are love to read, there are a couple of great challenges going on this spring. I’m planning to do them both but still need to get my list together for the first one, since it started last Friday.

Spring Reading Thing 2009

Spring Reading Thing 2009 from Callapidder Days (March 20th -June 20th). This challenge basically involves making a list of the books you plan to read this spring and then reporting back at the end on how you did. You can include reviews of the books, but you don’t have to. I’m sure reading everyone’s lists and reviews will end up making my to-read list even longer, but, hey, there’s nothing wrong with that!

Read Together 2009

Read Together 2009 from Snapshot (April). For this one, set a goal for reading with your kids. It can be reading aloud, reading the same book and then talking about it, reading as a family, whatever you choose, and then posting at the end about how it went. The goal is to connect more with your children through reading.

31 Days to Build a Better Blog

Even though I don’t blog to make money, I enjoy reading Problogger for the great information and ideas Darren provides. I was really intrigued as I was scrolling through my blog reader and saw this image.

Each day in April, Darren will be posting one way to make your blog better. It will include both a teaching component and a practical component, i.e. homework. You can also register your email for notifications and extra content.

Scribbit Newsletter

And speaking of signing up for things, did you see that Michelle at Scribbit is now offering an email newsletter? It will include lots of extra stuff like:
* Sneak peaks into upcoming giveaways
* Online coupons from sponsors
* Recipes and crafts
* Insider blogging tips
* More fun things to do in Alaska

You can sign up for the Scribbit newsletter here.

So, you tell me, what other cool things am I missing out on?

I had such a great time last night partying with the Ultimate Blog Party 2009! We totally crashed the 5 Minutes for Mom site trying to link up our posts (sorry ladies), but Twitter came to the rescue and we were able to start the party there until the Mr. Linky was available.

Or I should say Mr. Linkies, because they not only have separate sections for Entrepreneurs and for Dads, they also have linkups for your Twitter profile and your Facebook profile. Pretty cool!

I stayed up way too late, but I was a good girl this morning and did my chores before turning on the computer. Now I’m off to visit blogs and do some Twittering! (Oh, the hashtag is #ubp09 if you want to get in on the Twitter conversation.)

My party post is here, and you can find tons more at 5 Minutes for Mom.

It’s that time again – time for the Ultimate Blog Party from 5 Minutes for Mom! I participated a little bit last year, but I was still learning my way through the blogosphere and it also took place right around my son’s birthday, so I found it all a bit overwhelming. I’m so glad Janice and Susan were thoughtful enough to start it after his birthday this year.

I’ve been getting things ready for the party, trying out a spiffy new layout and making sure my family had lots of videos to watch while I blog hop for the next week! Speaking of family, let me introduce you to the cast of characters.

Come on in and make yourself at home. If you need a little break from all the partying, grab a book from the shelf, sit down and put your feet up for a while. Goodness knows, you’ll find me with my nose in a book just about any time I’m not at the computer!

Besides blogging and reading, my other great passions are stamping/scrapbooking and, on the more serious side, autism awareness.

I am a total information junkie and love sharing what I have learned with others. This obsession interest led me to create a series of Autism Resource posts and also opened the door to be part of the writing team at 5 Minutes for Special Needs.

Currently, I am posting at 5MFSN once a week as the host for the Try This Tuesday meme. It is a blessing and an honor to be part of that special community of people.

So that’s a bit about me and my little blog. If you’d like to learn more, you can subscribe to my feed, and I would love it if you would sign the guest book (i.e. leave me a comment) before you leave! Oh, and I would be remiss if I didn’t invite you to all the other great parties going on this week. Psst, one last thing. If you are a Twitterer, you can follow me here.

PRIZES I WOULD LOVE TO WIN

1. INTL 36 – Custom Blog Design by Sara*s Pixel Studio.
2. INTL 1 – Custom Basic Blog Design from Sweet ‘n Simple Design
3. 19 – $50 Gift Certificate to Target Stores from Shoot Me Now!

My other choices would be 21, 26, 68, 91, 113, INTL 61, USC56, USC47, USC15 (yes, I know, they are all gift cards – that’s my favorite thing to win, other than a blog design of my very own!)

5 Minutes for Mom is hosting the Ultimate Blog Party. Fun, prizes, and – best of all – an easy way to connect with other bloggers you haven’t met before. I plan to do some major blog hopping myself. Check it out for yourself!

For those of you who are visiting me for the first time, welcome and thanks for stopping by! The main cast of characters includes myself, my DH Happy King and my DS Little Guy. My passions are reading, stamping, autism awareness, and serving Jesus – not necessarily in that order!

Thanks for coming to my party – I’m so glad I didn’t have to clean the house first!!

My top three prize choices would be:
#117 – $25 gift certificate to Target from Angela at mommy bytes
#60 – $25 gift certificate to amazon.com from Judy at Welcome to My World of Dreams
#39 – $20 gift certificate to amazon.com from the Organized Knitting Club
(Are you sensing a pattern here??)

Other choices would be #’s 11, 62, 132, 129, 59, 56, 49, 70, 91, or 44.