My Blog Spark and General Mills are back again, bringing you another very shiny, new, rectangle-y $25 gift card to Publix. As I have said before, these are my favorite giveaways because gift cards make me smile and feel happy and Publix restores my faith in grocery store employees every time. Except when I’m using a lot of coupons.

To enter this giveaway you must:

1. Read this post in its entirety. With interest, Yall, because I SAID SO.
2. Leave a comment telling me about how would eat Lucky Charms, should you have a bowl of this breakfast delicacy in front of you. Would you eat all the marshmallows first, or would you go for the cat food shaped pencil shavings first? If your comment doesn’t say anything about Lucky Charms cereal I’m going to assume you didn’t read this post, your comment won’t count, and all my other commenters will laugh at you and probably throw spitballs at you (but not in a mean way because that would be wrong). That’s just how we roll around here, people.
3. Make sure that your email address is real. I shouldn’t have to explain why here but I won’t publish your email. It’s only used to notify you if you win.
4. You can leave a second entry if you pass this giveaway on via your blog or Facebook or Twitter or however.

Enter to win by September 29th, 2012. The winner will be announced shortly after.

Now – read on to find what this is all about.

I received a $25 Publix gift card in the mail, generously provided by Publix through My Blog Spark. All they ask is that I tell you guys about the Publix Running Out? Run In event. September 20th through September 26th, 2012, you can take advantage of the great savings available on some of your favorite brands from General Mills.

Getting the kids ready for school in the morning can be stressful enough without someone yelling, “Mom we ran out of toilet paper!” Instead of feeling frustrated because you can’t squeeze the remains from a tube of toothpaste or realizing there are no after-school snacks in the house when the kids hop off the bus, stock up on the products you use every day and breathe a little easier. This September, visit your local Publix® during the Running Out? Run In. promotion and receive rewards for buying the General Mills and Procter & Gamble items your family uses most, like Cheerios, Totino’s, Charmin and Crest. Prepare for weekday mayhem this fall with the help of Publix.

From September 20th through September 26th, look for the “Running Out? Run In.” event at your local Publix store and “run in,” to take advantage of  great savings on some of your favorite brands from General Mills and Procter & Gamble, like Cheerios, Totino’s, Charmin and Crest.

• Buy any of the 6 participating items such as, Pampers Diapers, Tide Pods, and Yoplait Yogurt Kids, and receive a free gallon of Publix® milk
• For more details on this great offer, visit RunningOutRunIn.com
• Make sure to keep an eye out for in-store coupons to make this deal even better.

So go ahead and enter our giveaway, then head on over to runningoutrunin.com to get more information on what this promotion is all about.

We will announce the winner here. I’ll also email you if you’ve provided your email address. But, I can’t hang onto your winnings forever so make sure you check back!

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“Disclosure: The Publix gift card, information, and giveaway have been provided by General Mills through MyBlogSpark.”

Hey thar all you foul smellin’, scurvy ridden, rum swillin’ mateys. This be t’ one and only Talk Like a Pirate Day.  I’ve been tryin’ t’ pursway our landlubbin’ officials t’ recognize this monumental day o’ t’ year as an official government holiday but they decline t’ acquiesce t’ me request, so instead o’ bein’ celebrated we’ll just take this day t’ drink and be pirates.

Have a lively day, try t’ stay out o’ trouble and go easy on the plunderin’, and maybe pull into a good port t’ find yer sea legs and t’ grab some tasty grub and a round o’ frothy beverages.

Drink up me hearties, yo ho.
Tis a pirate’s life for me.

I’ve got to be the best pirate you’ve ever seen.

My family has been quite sick, except Lucy. It was an odd illness, segregating us by age and then stomping us to pieces in different ways. The younger kids had fevers and sleepiness. The middles had fevers, persistent coughs, and sleepiness. And the older kids and myself got pneumonia.  The diagnosis started when I took Kait to the doctor because, while remaining as cheerful as ever, she had seemed so tired and had no appetite for 2 months. At first I figured it was just a part of a teenage growth spurt or something, but then it dawned on me that she likely had mono or lupus or lukemia because WebMD is never wrong.
Kait didn’t want to go to the doctor because she has a fear of being pricked with sharp objects, and her fears were fulfilled because prick her they did. With needles. Sharp needles. She was not amused when the guy who took her blood said, now that didn’t hurt, did it?, because apparently it felt like she was shot at close range with a 22.  Her chest x-ray looked bad and they decided on pneumonia but made her get tested for tuberculosis as well, which meant another needle.  The TB test came back negative thank The Good Lord.  Then within a week more of us ended up at the doctor.

And now we’re all on the mend. Still some coughs keeping us up at night, but we’re doing better.

And now onto other news…

Lucy is still in underwear and I’m still in disbelief.  She tells me when she has to go potty now, too, and most days she doesn’t have any accidents.  I haven’t been without a kid in diapers since the morning of April 5th, 1998.  That’s more than 14 straight years of diapering.  I’m not counting that Lu still wears diapers to bed though.

Today I gave her a cracker and she sat down at her little table and shared it with a few ponies.  And a bunny.

I’m buying an actual digital camera, people. I think Samsung makes a point and shoot for camera-dummies. Either that or I’m going to change the name of my blog to The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe Who Couldn’t Take a Decent Picture to Save Her Own Life.
Dot com.