{ making your list checking it twice }

LobotoME List ME/Doodle ME pad makes a great gift for co-workers, teachers & friends!
Store locations or online shopping here.
Free shipping thru the holidays!

{ BE thankful }

Be thankful for what you have: You'll end up having more.

- Oprah Winfrey

{ BE grateful }

"May gratitude continue to take over your heart -- crowding out worry, fear, jealousy, envy, hate and the litany of other useless emotions."

Wise words via Domestic Reflections.

{ advent calendar FUN }

We began an Advent Calendar tradition last year...instead of the days being filled with candy & toys & trinkets...each day is a note or clues about an ACTIVITY we are going to do together as a family - skiing, sledding, volunteering at the local Food Bank, baking cookies together, making christmas tree ornaments going to see the Nutcracker, etc. So, its all about EXPERIENCES and time together vs. STUFF. You can see the calendar I made outlining each days activity here (click on the Dec. 08 calendar tab).

Need some Advent Calendar inspiration? Look at this lovely handmade advent calendar from Green Kitchen. Not so crafty? Garnet Hill has some great ones, as does etsy.

And if you need some more ideas of activities or things to include in your families advent calendar, click here.

{ all you need is love }

Doug Wilson's great letterpress print is back in stock!

And to further illustrate this point, as of today Stephanie & Christian are together, back in Utah, recovering with their families. See, ALL you NEED is LOVE.

{ future stationary pioneer }

Samme has been busy making cards! We made a bunch of {blank on the inside} ones to put together in bundles for all of her grandparents & teachers for Christmas gifts and loads of Christmas themed ones to send to {Holiday Mail for Heroes} - a really great program that sends your holiday cards to soliders across the world. From now through Dec. 10, the public can send their greeting cards, with adequate postage and a return address, to Holiday Mail for Heroes, P.O. Box 5456, Capitol Heights, MD 20791-5456. {To speed delivery, mailers should not send care packages, money or any inserts, including glitter.}

{ more simple christmas tips }

Love this compilation of simple holiday tips found here.
Love this one: {Focus on the meaning and spirit of the holidays rather than the rush and desire to buy more, more, more.}

{ blessing tree }

Sorry I've been light on posting {still trying to get my ACT together post-Henry's arrival} and with the holiday madness coming up, I feel like I don't know where to start most days!

Anyhoo, this weekend we made a {blessing tree} with Sam. We each wrote down things we were grateful for, hung them from a branch and voila...our simple, Thanksgiving decoration. And a good reminder to SLOW down and remember all we have to be thankful for this year.

A few other things on my MIND this week...

I have some more stuff listed on EBAY {I can't seem to get rid of stuff FASTER than it comes in these day}!

The winner of the make your own sparkling water soda maker is: carrieb - please email me your mailing address and we'll get that in the mail to you soon! enjoy! for everyone else you can buy one here.

I've been dreaming of a vacation here next year. They had ME at {we'll entertain your kids while you go to yoga classes on the beach and surf with your husband!} Hello! That is enough to make ME never BUY anything again so I can go here every year for a few weeks! :-)

Despite my adorable distractions of late, I have been making some progress on Holiday To-Do's...how is your planning for the holiday season coming along?

We've been busy making cards for this great cause.

I'll post later this week about our Advent Calendar plans this year.

{ make your OWN sparkling h20 - win one today! }

Make your OWN sparkling water with this FANTASTIC home fountain jet!

Reasons why this thing rocks!

#1. No more cans and bottles. Re-usable, BPA-free carbonating bottles eliminate the lugging, storage and disposal associated with store-bought sparkling water and soda. Good for you, and great for the environment!

#2. Faster & easier than making coffee. Ready in less than 30 seconds. Fill. Fiz, Flavor & Enjoy!

We LOVE this thing...We used to spend tons of $$ on Pelligrino and other brands of sparkling water and RECYCLE bazillions of glass bottles...NO MORE! Now we just make our own. We like to add fresh lime & lemon to the bottles (sprite taste without the high fructose corn syrup and other crap found in soda) or flavored stevia (root beer). {note: it does come with soda flavors but we don't use those since they aren't as healthy}.

And ONE of you lucky readers is going to LOVE it too because one of you is going to WIN ONE! ($99.00 value). Just leave ME a comment about why you think this rocks and I'll choose a winner Monday 11/17.

{ sustainability + organization = LobotoME }

a new sign for stores...thanks sarah!

{ Today is a new day }

"Every morning we have twenty-four brand new hours to live."
- Thich Nhat Hahn

We can't get time back, but we can make the most of the time we do have. What are you going to do with these precious 24 hours? I encourage you to carve out an hour for yourself - go to a coffee shop, browse through a bookstore, go to yoga class, go for a run, make quality time for the people you love...What will you do for yourself today?

Oh, and it IS a new day.

{ find a brain retailer near YOU }

Click on the Brain Retailers page on LobotoME.com and a google map showing all of the stores where LobotoME products are sold now appears (as does a separate map showing The Container Store locations nationwide). Note: The Container Store only carries the Check ME, Feed ME & Save ME notepads.

If you don't live near a Brain Retailer, you can shop at anyone of these great online retailers of LobotoME goods.

Delight.com
BroadwayPaper.com
GiggleFishGifts.com
PreciousPersonalities.com

If they don't have what you are looking for you can order online at LobotoME.com and enjoy FREE shipping on your orders thru the holiday season! Give the gift of organization + sanity this holiday season! LobotoME goods make great gifts for teachers, friends, & unique hostess gifts.

We are also now offering an Organize ME Starter Kit online for those of you that really need some help getting organized! In this kit you receive a weekly Organize ME planner, 8 of the popular Brainiac notepads, an inspirational Mantra ME poster and FREE shipping - all for only $99.99 (retail value: $125). This kit will save you time + money! It will help you plan your healthy meals using the FeedME weekly meal planner and along with the Check ME grocery shopping list you can make just ONE, organized stop at the store each week. The Fit ME notepad will help you schedule & track your workouts so you stay fit + sane! The Help ME honey do list is a nice way of reminding your partner what you need them to help you with (without nagging) and the Save ME & List ME notepads are a great way to keep track of all of the to-do's jumbled in your brain. The Pack ME list is a must for any trip you take and the Sit ME list will help your babysitter/housesitter/petsitter take care of things while you are away. This kit is guaranteed to save you time, money and a trip to the Loony Bin!

And just a reminder that LobotoME goods are made in the USA using recycled materials and soy based inks! Good for you + the planet!

{ fun find }

I couldn't possibly love these reversible skirts anymore than I do.

{ remember ME }

I am terrible about writing {memories} down...I've got journals/notebooks all over the house and I never make the time to write in them. My family photos are tucked away with just the picture to remind us of that day in time, but no notes. I'm not much of a scrapbooker...just can't get it into it. My blog captures some of those moments but not enough. Anyway, I think I've found the THING. The thing that will help me record life's little + big moments. To remember what we did today, Nov, 5th, the day after this historic election. To remember what silly thing Sam said today. To remember the elation of Henry's first little smile. To remember the MOMENTS. So, this is it. It is a 10 year journal with just a few lines for each day...just enough space to jot down a little something. I think it is the THING for ME. (I do wish it was cuter, more colors, more graphics, etc...next LobotoME product idea perhaps?) So it is going to be my goal to write down a little something in it everyday in 2009 and beyond.

And it reminds ME of one of my favorite quotes that I have posted above my desk...

“The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make. … I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of [my three children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night.
I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed.
I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less.”
- Anna Quindlen

Here are a couple of other options that blog readers have sent into ME.

Wonder Time Instant Journals

Mini Diarys from Mini Mart

{ i couldn't have said it better myself }

Why we all have something to be proud of today.

{ pretty please...go VOTE }

just a reminder to go VOTE and have your VOICE heard today.

sorry for the lack of posts but we've been volunteering our butts off for Obama here in Southwest Colorado (oh and raising 2 kids and running 2 businesses...) :-)

poster from here.