UPDATE: The winner is comment #61! Congratulations, Tara.

Our tree is trimmed with the oh-so-classy theme of kiddie ornaments from the last 4 decades. My hubby and I have favorites from our childhood and my kids have carefully placed their “special” ones at eye-level. I just can’t do anything fancy or grown up. And all these people who have multiple trees HOW? It was all I could do to get one together.

But my tree does spin.

So, there’s that.

I bought the tree stand spinner when it seemed crucial one year to true Christmas happiness. Every year when my hubby drags it out and we roll our eyes at my silliness for buying something so unnecessary, he says, “I’m so thankful you were rescued from wealth.” But we have it, so we use it.

I sort of have a thing for Nativities too. I just love them. But besides the festive colors and twinkly lights, it’s the music that makes it really feel like Christmas in our house. I love Christmas music in the background of our busy life.

My new favorite Christmas album is by Mandisa, called It’s Christmas. It has an great selection, including the song Somebody’s Angel. Have you heard it? The movie footage in the video below is from the Gospel Music Channels original movie Christmas Angel that premiered this month. It will be playing throughout the Christmas season. This song is a simple reminder in a hectic time, to be somebody’s angel this year.

I know there are so many needs right around us if we’ll just look. I’m so excited about our family adopting a local single mom to secretly deliver gifts and groceries too.

I want my kids to feel the magic of Christmas, get something from their list and enjoy the wonder of it all. But more than anything, I want them to remember the reason we celebrate.

It’s Christmas.

It’s about Him.

Today, I am giving away Mandisa’s new Christmas album PLUS the Christmas Angel DVD and her entire collection of albums to one lucky winner:

What If We Were Real

Freedom

True Beauty

Remixed: Get Movin’

Leave a comment as your entry.

This giveaway ends Thursday. Winners are announced on giveaway posts once they close.

UPDATE: Comment #1035 was randomly selected as the lucky winner of this giveaway. Congratulations Hillary S. – an email has been sent your way.

[Hint: You'll want to read this post to the very end!]

Our kitchen is the busiest place in our home. And by busy I really mean dirty.

Eating. Homeworking. Snacking. Cooking. Drawing. Cleaning. And now Googling.

Googling?

I bought my hubby an iPad for his 40th birthday a couple of years ago. Now that’s a gift. He loves it and uses it daily. It’s really become a family iPad. He shares well with others. It’s such a portable resource and is handy in every room of the house. The kids use it for researching their science project, I use it for recipes and my hubby watches the Texans stomp all over other teams.

And now, a new little tool has taken the iPad limits to the max. It’s been called the missing link to making the most of your iPad in the kitchen. I give you:

When my new advertiser sent us The Kitchen iPad Rack, we quickly and easily mounted the plexi glass shelf to make cooking with the iPad easier.

Or watching football while you’re supposed to be setting the table. Ahem.

Product Description: Super-easy to use, it stores away in the cabinet when not in use and pops into place when you’re ready to cook.

The Original Kitchen iPad Rack is constructed of solid acrylic with a beauty to match any kitchen.

And get this, with every order this holiday season, $5 goes to Mercy House. Awesome, huh?

Some of you may be thinking, well, Kristen, this is fantastic, for people who own an iPad. Well, in celebration of such a handy kitchen tool (makes a great Christmas gift!), this generous company is giving away an iPad rack and an iPad2 to one very lucky reader today!!!! Yes, you read that correctly!

Please, hop over and check it out: (The specs on the shelf, extra mounts for easy iPad use all over the house, and some great Amazon reviews!)

Entry requirements: Visit the Original Kitchen iPad Rack store and then come back and leave a comment on this post.

For extra entries:

• stumble, tweet, pin and/or facebook this post
• leave a comment for each that you do

[details on iPad: ipad2 16GB (winner has option to upgrade)]

This giveaway ends on Friday. May the odds forever be in your favor.

UPDATE: Melody, comment #88, has been selected as the winner of this giveaway. Congratulations – an email has been sent your way.

I’m a sucker for personalized shirts.

I’d have family uniforms with our names on the back if my hubby would let me.  I think it all goes back to those matching red Christmas sweaters we wore in family pictures with our dogs (yes, they matched too) before we had kids. This is where I don’t insert that picture because I value my relationship with my spouse. Ahem.

When my newest sponsor, Petite Lemon, said they were going to send a Little Sister shirt to our little sister, we couldn’t wait! Look how cute. She may be turning six soon, but she’s my baby and I’m going to personalize that child as long as I can. We chose this cute Lil Sister baseball shirt with friendly owls. It’s a super soft adorable shirt!

I also LOVE Petite Lemon’s birthday, name and special occasion shirts:

This great company also does personalized posters, growth charts, and more!

So fun! Today, Petite Lemon is offering a $100 gift card to one lucky winner! 

Go look around and leave a comment on this post with what you love.

This giveaway will end Tuesday.