What's New, Pussycat?

I've decided to try to update more frequently with the regular, day-to-day stuff of my life so you can get to know me a little better (and vice-versa when you comment) and I can (hopefully) hone my writing skills a bit. So here goes:

Don't forget to enter to win an 18x24 digital print!
Entry deadline is 11:59 pm on Wednesday, August 5.

The UPS man brought this to my door yesterday. It's organic gold label virgin coconut oil from Tropical Traditions. I also got a book about it with recipes. I'll be reviewing it soon, so keep an eye out. We like beans here, and there's a recipe for black beans that I plan on trying, as well as a pinto bean soup. Then again, the coconut smoothie sounds really good and the nutrition information looks like it's a powerhouse.

Today's mail brought my copy of When Someone You Love Has Cancer by Cecil Murphey from Kathy. It's a lovely little book with wonderful illustrations. It's like a gift book, but doubly so, since the message inside of it is such a gift in and of itself. I hope to post a review of this soon, as well.

I've got another blog tour coming up on Tuesday, 18 August about a book called Prayer Power by Peter Lundell, so be sure you stop by and check it out.

The Apronista is hosting an Apronfest all week long to celebrate her birthday (happy birthday, btw!) with tons of apron giveaways all over the interwebs. There are currently 31 giveaways listed on Mr. Linky, so go get busy! (Well, as soon as you're done reading here, of course.) I took some pictures of Sarah modeling a great little bonnet apron in red and white that I plan on giving away to celebrate, so look for that post Wednesday afternoon or Thursday.

I got an e-mail today from the ever-wonderful Kathi Lipp about a top-secret project we're working on together, which has me really excited. You should probably get excited, too. Just sayin'...

I'm doing a series of weekly posts about Family Fun Month over at KidGlue.com and continue to highlight a food-related holiday (AKA foodieday) and a fun holiday each week. Be sure to check out my posts there.

In family news, Sarah goes for her annual check-up tomorrow and Brandon had his last week. He had to get his second chicken pox shot and he was not a happy camper. He had a mild allergic reaction to it where the injection site swelled a bit and turned red. We took him back in to have it checked and they said he would be fine, which was a relief.

Bethy is in the throes of potty training. We bit the bullet and have her in training panties during the day. The last couple of days she seems to be doing pretty well. I'm still concerned about having her "completely" potty trained before school, though. The whole wiping thing is still a foreign concept to her. ACK! Pray for us; please, pray for us!

I think that's about it for now...