Remember when I said that I loved Easter?  Honestly, it takes everything within me not to buy Easter candy every single time I go to the store!  Well, I am so excited that my love for all things Easter has led me to a way that I can give back this year!!!

This Easter, Hershey’s is partnering with bloggers to donate $5000 to the Children’s Miracle Network!  I will give you a little history here, I’ve always been a big supporter of CMN.  In college I participated in and organized a fund raiser (Dance Marathon) to raise money for our local CMN.  It is a fabulous organization helping children’s hospitals around the country.  So, YAY for Hershey’s continued support of CMN!

Here is what Hershey’s is doing:  Hershey is hosting a blog hop this Easter season and, for each blog that participates, Hershey’s will donate $10 to CMN. How can you help?  Easy! Spread the word about the blog hop through writing a blog post (including the rules below) and passing on virtual Easter baskets to your friends, encouraging them to participate!

Here is who I am sending my virtual baskets to:

Katie from A Listmaker’s Life

Jodi from Jodimichelle

Jill from The Diaper Diaries

Kelli from Dykstra Blog

Heather from Autumn At Oak Hollow

Colleen from Mommie Daze

Cat from 3 Kids and Us

Jo-Lynne from Musings of a Housewife

If you read this and would like to join in the fun please let me know!  I’d love to add you to the list!  Really, it’s as simple as just writing a post!

Here is the info to include in your blog post:

Hershey’s Better Basket Blog Hop Rules

1.  Copy and paste these rules to your blog post.
2.  Create a blog post giving a virtual Easter Basket to another blogger — you can give as many Virtual Baskets as you want!
3.  Link back to the person who gave you an Easter Basket.
4.  Let each person you are giving a Virtual Basket know you have given them a Basket.
5.  Leave your link at BetterBasket.info/BlogHop in the comment section.  You can also find the official rules of this #betterbasket blog hop and more information about Better Basket with Hershey’s there.
6.  Hershey’s is donating $10 per blog participating in the Better Basket Blog Hop to Children’s Miracle Network (up to a total of $5000 by blog posts written by April 4, 2010).
7.  Please note that only one blog post per blog url will count towards the donation.

Thanks so much to Courtney at DetroitMommies.com for sharing this opportunity with me!  I hope you’ll take a few minutes to participate in this blog hop and support Children’s Miracle Network!

And, if you saw my Easter basket goodies list, I think I’m leaning more and more toward the super hero capes!

I’m so excited for these two families as they will be enjoying a great family outing at Disney On Ice: Finding Nemo this weekend in Grand Rapids!

Winners: Jen (Big Binder) and Katie (A List Maker’s Life)

Thanks to everyone who entered!  I love doing local giveaways and spreading the word about the great events happening right here in our community!  If you are still interested in taking your family to Disney On Ice: Finding Nemo, you can purchase tickets online at TicketMaster.com.  Disney On Ice: Finding Nemo will be at Van Andel Arena with the following show times:

Friday (March 19) at 7:00pm

Saturday (March 20) at 11:00am

Saturday (March 20) at 3:00pm

Saturday (March 20) at 7:00pm

Sunday (March 21) at 2:00pm

For more events coming to the West Michigan area, visit Feld Entertainment.  And, if you’re not from the West Michigan area, you can look for Disney Live events in your area at Disney.com.

Thanks again to Feld Entertainment for sponsoring this giveaway!

I love Easter.  Love it! I would dare say that it is probably my most favorite holiday.  I’m not sure why exactly but I think it has something to do with Spring and new life and new beginnings.  I just love it.  And the candy is awesome!  Peeps!  Cadbury Eggs!  Hollow chocolate bunnies!!!

I love coloring eggs (although no one in my family, except me, eats hard-boiled eggs) and doing Easter baskets — minus that messy green plastic grass stuff.  I probably put more thought into what I get my girls for Easter than I do for Christmas.  But that probably has more to do with the fact that I don’t spend as much on Easter basket gifts.

Here are some fun things I’m thinking about for baskets this year:

Super Hero Capes — my girls love dressing up and Abbi likes to tie her blankie around her neck like a super hero cape

Crayola Outdoor Chalk Hand Tools — always a good option, we definitely need new side walk chalk because we’re down to one or two pieces (the dog keeps eating it)

Disney Princess Micro Bicycle Helmet (For Zoe) and Disiney Princess Bicycle Bell (For Abbi)

Strawberry Shortcake: The Berryfest Princess — Can’t go wrong with a Strawberry Shortcake dvd. Plus, Abbi has the other Strawberry Shortcake dvd that we have completely memorized!

Princess Costumes (Belle, Tiana, Snow White, Cinderella) — Abbi has worn her Snow White costume from Halloween so much that I’ve sewn it multiple times and it’s going to come to a point where it just needs to get thrown away.

That’s a whole lot of girly stuff but that’s the fun of having girls!  I’m sure I’ll come up with even more stuff.  I also need to look at what to get Zoe for her birthday (possibly something from this list…bicycle helmet!).

What are you doing for Easter this year? Does your family do Easter baskets or do you have some other family tradition? Oh, please tell me you do an Easter egg hunt…I’ve always wanted to do one with the kids but the weather doesn’t quite cooperate here in Michigan!

I probably should be putting up a picture of something green or Irish in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, but, for many reasons, this is all I have today.  My fashionista!

You can enjoy more Wordless Wednesday and even join in at 5 Minutes for Mom.

I’m a bit late on announcing the winners for the giveaways that closed this week but I have a very good reason.  I took a nap.  A NAP!  I never nap and yesterday seemed like a great day to take one.  And it felt good.  And my kids napped at the same time so I actually got a restful nap.

Ok, enough about my nap and more about winners!  Thanks to all who entered the Free Style dvd, Fantastic Mr. Fox dvd, and Pamper’s Cruisers giveaways!  Don’t forget to check out my current giveaways as well: Fairy-Gram and Disney On Ice: Finding Nemo!

Free Style

Starring Corbin Bleu (High School Musical), a very cute teen film about believing in oneself, allowing others to believe in us, and following our dreams!  Free Style is rated PG and is currently available on dvd from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.

Winners:  Steph S,  Lori Z,  Cheryl W

Fantastic Mr. Fox

An all-star cast (George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Owen Wilson, Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe) bring you an animated tale of adventure, friendship, family, and discovering what’s really important in life. Fantastic Mr. Fox is rated PG and is releasing to Blu-ray and dvd on March 23 from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.

Winners: Cheryl W,  Chacoy,  Jessica

Really, who couldn’t use a weeks worth of the new Pamper’s Cruisers with Dry Max? And a fun Liz Lange diaper clutch? Fabulous!  The new Pamper’s Cruisers with Dry Max are hitting store shelves this month and, if you have little butts that need some diapering, you’ll definitely want to check them out!

Winner: Jennifer Austin

This past weekend my family had the pleasure of attending a performance of Playhouse Disney Live and it was a huge hit!  Next weekend we will have the pleasure of attending a performance of Disney On Ice: Finding Nemo!

I’m so excited for my girls to see this show for two reasons.  First, one of my very first live performance shows that I saw as a child was a Disney On Ice show.  And it was amazing!  The skating.  The dancing.  The music.  Amazing!  Secondly, Finding Nemo is one of my girls’ favorite movies.  Finding Nemo was one of the first dvds my girls watched and they still love watching it! I cannot wait to see their faces as they see their favorite sea friends come to life on ice!!!

The world of Disney/Pixar’s Finding Nemo, is brought to life on ice as you swim along with the frantic Marlin and the forgetful Dory as they search the ocean for Marlin’s son, Nemo.  The adventure has you face to face with sharks, riding the current with some bodacious sea turtles, and plotting with the Tank Gang…without a doubt, laughing along the way!

Disney On Ice: Finding Nemo will be coming to Grand Rapids (Van Andel Arena) March 18-21, 2010 and tickets, starting at just $15, can be purchased through TicketMaster.com.  If you are not from the West Michigan area, you can still check Disney.com to see if one of the many Disney On Ice shows will be coming to your area!

The GIVEAWAY

I have 2 Family Four-Packs of tickets to Disney On Ice: Finding Nemo at Van Andel Arena (Grand Rapids, MI) to giveaway!!!  The winners will get to choose which show time (Friday-Sunday) that they would like to attend.

To Enter:

Mandatory Entry - Simply leave a comment below telling me if you’ve ever been to a Disney On Ice show or if you’ve seen the Finding Nemo movie.

1 entry - Subscribe to Stacey Says… via RSS.

1 entry - Subscribe to the Stacey Says… email newsletter (sign up on the sidebar)
(make sure you confirm your subscription by clicking on the link sent to you in your email)

1 entry - Follow me (@Stacey_Says) on Twitter and tweet about this contest (you can do this every day and receive one entry each day!).

5 entries - Blog about this contest and leave me a link to your post.

5 entries - Not a blogger? Send an email to 5 of your friends with a link to this contest. Make sure you CC me (staceysays (at) me (dot) com) on that email and then leave a comment here saying that you did so.

The Details:

The TWO (2) winners will be randomly selected from the comments posted by Wednesday, March 17. All entries will be verified and must include an email address where I can contact you if you should win. Please remember that this giveaway is for an event in Grand Rapids, MI, March 19, 20, or 21.  Please, only enter if you are able to attend the show!  Also, because the winners will be selected so close to the show date, you must respond to my email if you win within 24 hours.  You can read more about Giveaway Policies here.

*Disclaimer: I am receiving complimentary tickets for my family to attend the Disney On Ice: Finding Nemo from Feld Entertainment show so that I can bring you a review of that event in a later post.  However, receiving the complimentary tickets in no way affects my opinions stated here.

Oh Finances.  That dreaded f-word.  Raise your hand if you hate talking about finances.  Raise your hand if you avoid talking about finances.  Raise your hand if you actually like talking about finances.

I fall somewhere in between all of those options.  I like talking about finances when the bank account is looking good.  I hate talking about finances and often avoid talking about them when the bank account isn’t looking so good.  Finances seem to be that unique category where our willingness to talk depends on how well things are going.  When things like parenting, weight loss, or work aren’t going well, I’ll still talk about them but, when it comes to finances, I don’t even want to talk about them with my husband when things aren’t going well.  And I’m not sure why.

Our financial situation is always changing. Some times I’m skipping through a peaceful financial forest, other times I’m sinking my teeth into a financially poisoned apple.  The tough thing is that I never know which situation I’m going to be in until I’m already there.  And that becomes frustrating and stressful and disheartening.  Here is the gist of our situation:  My husband works full time and I stay home with the kids.  We also have two small companies.  One company is pretty self contained and the other is where we filter all my husband’s side jobs and my design and writing work.  We own a house and have another that is under land contract.  We have debt.  Credit card debt.  Student loan debt.  We have self-provided health insurance because the other option was bleeding us dry.  We don’t have a budget.

I’m guessing that you probably resonated with a few of those items.  In some ways we are the typical American married couple.  In other ways we are not.  Regardless of how your situation differs from mine, I’m sure you’ll agree that all of this can be frustrating and confusing and you are ready for some clear cut answers!  Now, while I am far from being any sort of financial guru, I do know one thing…when you don’t know the answers you look to someone who does! And that’s what I’m planning on doing!

Over the next year I am going to focus once a month on a specific financial topic. I’m hoping to dig up some answers to the questions that confuse me and come up with ways to demystify the financial fairytale.  At the very least I am hoping that the monthly feature creates some dialogue where we can all help each other, either through things we have learned or mistakes we have made.  Because, let’s be honest, we’ve all made a few financial mistakes and paid a little “stupid tax”.

If there is a certain topic you’d like to see me cover in the monthly feature, speak up!  If you have a field of expertise and want to contribute, let me know!  And if you are a financially geared company and want to jump on board with this project, Awesome!  You can leave a comment below or email me at StaceySays @ me.com.

You can check out more Wordless Wednesday posts at 5 Minutes for Mom.

Not a day goes by that my girls are not dressed up as princesses, ballerinas, or as fairies.  They love to dress up.  And I love that it is something that they enjoy doing together!

Fairy-Gram is an amazing online store that I came across one day on Mom Made That.  I’m pretty sure that Fairy-Gram was designed with my girls in mind!  Ok, maybe not just for my girls, but for any little girl who loves to dress up or loves fairies!

Everything a little girl needs to be a fairy is wrapped up in this amazing little Fairy-Gram.  Each Fairy-Gram includes Fairy Tutu with a stretchable waist to fit ages 1yr to 8yrs, Fairy Wings, Fairy Ribbon Wand, Fairy Halo, and 2 Butterfly Clips.  All your little girl needs to add to make her fairy experience complete is her energy and imagination!

The woman behind Fairy-Gram is a stay-at-home mom who created Fairy-Grams out of the love her daughter had for dressing up, especially as fairies.  She says that Fairy-Gram was founded “directly from the heart of a 5 year old little girl.”  And you can tell because every single piece of the fairy outfit, right down to the ribbon wand, is something a little girl would love!

While the idea is something straight from a child, the quality of each piece is anything but childish!  The Fairy Wings and the Fairy Tutu are both lined with with satin, making them so comfortable for even your littlest girl to wear (and putting my homemade tutu to shame)!  My two-year old wore the wings and tutu for hours in nothing put her pull-up and it never once irritated her skin.

Fairy-Grams are available in hot pink, lavender, lemon, pink, white, rainbow, and turquoise and cost $29.95.  I would definitely recommend sending a Fairy-Gram to the little lady in your life…the look on their face as they open the box will be priceless!  Remember, Easter is only a few weeks away and this would be a magnificent gift for those Easter baskets!

GIVEAWAY

I am so excited to be giving away one Fairy-Gram to one lucky reader here!  And you even get to take credit for it when your little girl opens the box and tells you are the bestest, greatest, most super wonderful person in the whole wide world!!!

To Enter:

Mandatory Entry - Visit Fairy-Gram.com and tell me which color you would choose if you won.  You must do this to enter.  All entries below are extra and optional.

1 entry - Become a fan of Fairy-Gram on Facebook.

1 entry - Follow Fairy-Gram on Twitter.

1 entry - Subscribe to Stacey Says… via RSS.

1 entry - Subscribe to the Stacey Says… Email newsletter (link on the side)
(make sure you confirm your subscription by clicking on the link sent to you in your email)

1 entry - Follow me (@Stacey_Says) on Twitter and tweet about this contest (you can do this every day and receive one entry each day!).

5 entries - Blog about this contest and leave me a link to your post.

5 entries - Not a blogger? Send an email to 5 of your friends with a link to this contest. Make sure you CC me (staceysays (at) me (dot) com) on that email and then leave a comment here saying that you did so.

The Details:

The One (1) winner will be randomly selected from the comments posted by Friday, March 19. All entries will be verified and must include an email address where I can contact you if you should win. This contest is open to US shipping addresses. You can read more about Giveaway Policies here.

*Disclaimer: This review was made possible by MomMadeThat.com.  I did receive a complimentary Fairy-Gram from Fairy-Gram.com so that I could provide you with an accurate review of this product. However, receiving the complimentary product in no way affects my opinions stated here.

The lovely people over at Mabel’s Labels are currently holding a contest to send one lucky person to Blogher 10 this summer in New York City.  As a part of Mabel’s Labels BlogHer ’10 Contest, they presented this very interesting hypothetical situation:

Electrical storms are going to wipe out the Internet (perhaps forever).  You have one day left to write about your passions: What do you want to say to the blogosphere?

Wow.  Very good question.  And very scary scenario!  No more internet?  Like, forever?  That means I would actually have to open a phone book when I needed the number to a business and I would, once again, have newsprint on my fingers and papercuts from magazines.  Oh the horror!  I kid.  But seriously, one day left to share my passions with you?  Where would I begin.

I could write about my kids, how animals often deserve more respect than we give them, or how to use tech to better our lives as parents.  I’m certainly passionate about all of those.  Although the third seems a little moot in this situation.

No, instead I think I would write about relationships.  Real, person to person, look you in the eye relationships.  Real life relationships.

As bloggers we tend to have most of our relationships and friendships online.  We share our highs and our lows on Twitter and Facebook.  We offer a virtual shoulder to cry on through blog comments and forums.  For many of us we are our most open, honest, and vulnerable selves with our online community.  And they are, indeed, our friends.  But how many of us actually meet those friends face to face?

There is something to be said about our in-person interactions with others.  While online friendships are wonderful, there is something that connects us even deeper when we share a glass of wine together as we soak in each other’s laughter, feel the love your friend has as she gushes over her kids, or the unspoken support that is extended as you reach out and touch the shoulder of a grieving friend.

Yes, online relationships are amazing.  The internet has offered us a portal where we can reach out and connect with others across the world.  I can share my joys and frustrations at 3am and there is always someone there willing to “listen”.  But, what I’m quickly becoming more and more passionate about is extending those online friendships into real life relationships!  Whether it is meeting a local group of bloggers for dinner or chatting at a local or national conference, I believe it is so important that we discover ways to extend our online friendships into our everyday, in-person life!