An Award and A Giveaway

What a treat!  This morning, when I opened my mailbox, I found a comment from Deb Chitwood at Living Montessori Now, as well as a Sunshine Award from her.  It truly makes me smile to receive this award again since its premise - honoring bloggers whose positivity and creativity inspire others in the blogging world - is something I constantly aim to experience and share.  So, thank you, Deb for making my morning and thank you all who keep the positivity and creative inspiration flowing over the Net!

Now, onto the rules of accepting this award:

1. Post the logo on blog. (Done) Pass the award on to 12 fellow bloggers.  (See below)
2. Link the nominees.  (Also below.) 
3. Let nominees know they have won this award by commenting on their blog. (Will do!) 
4. Share the love and link to the person you received this award from. (Done above.)

So, what 12 blogs have I recently discovered that inspire creativity and positivity?

- Step-by-Step at Home with Montessori:  I am so excited that Karen Tyler, whose wonderful online Montessori course I have taken, has just begin a blog.  She is a fantastically helpful and positive person, and I know her will be rich in Montessori resources as it takes shape!

- Itsy Bitsy Learners, written by Allison, is a helpful preschooling blog with great stuff for workboxers and others who want run printable work.  Want a taste of the printables Allison offers?  See the second half of this post about the GIVEAWAY of Allison's great stuff I am offering.

- This and That is all about crafts, photos and blogging.  I want to explore it more, after seeing Tonya's cute post about making a teeth felt board set.

- The Learning Ark is a Montessori at home blog I want to explore more after seeing the creative, helpful post about pin maps there!

- A Litte of This, A Little of That is not updated much by the busy, Catholic, home educating mom of eight that writes it, but I found the children's Eucharistic adoration post there so inspiring I wanted to include it.  Adoration is something I want to start, and reading that post made me realize I CAN do it with my kids!

- The Well-Rounded Mama is a blog I bookmarked for its helpful homeschool classroom post as well as workboxing and organizational ideas.  Scrapbooking, cooking, parenting, homeschooling... There is a little bit of everything there.

-Barefoot in Suburbia offered a post on scheduling the school year with concrete ideas and examples of how she fits in Montessori, nature Studies, art, Music and more.  It inspires me, as do some of the other posts of this stay-at-home mom of three kids, who is also into allergy-free cooking and versed in Autism.

-Coming Home Catholic offers not only a blog, but a truly rich in resources website that is a wonderful resource for cradle Catholics, converts and reverts alike.

- The Write Start is a blog I was happy to run acorss when looking up mudpies of all things.  (Oh, where my mind takes me.)  Written by an upbeat and  resourceful Mom and a pediatric occupational therapist, the blog offers ideas about the "hows" and "whys" of getting young children ready to write, as well as a visual and textual feast of other goodies.

- The Artful Parent is a blog I found when looking for photos of Reggio-inspired home spaces.  I think I am one of the last people to find this very helpful blog that encourages creative expression, imagination, joyfulness and a love of learning. Now, i just have to make time to dig into it!

- Rhythm of the Home has a great mudpie kitchen post.  Not sure if you would call the site a blog or a site, but either way, I call it inspiring with ideas for seasonal celebration, play and connection with a Waldorf-y flair.

- Teacher Tom is a blog I found by chance that I LOVE for its preschool teaching ideas -- on nature, true creativity, etc. all written by a man who obviously has found the nexus of where his great loves meet the (children of the) world's needs.  I cannot wait to try some of his gutter ideas with our kiddos with the piece of gutter I tripped over in our garage the other day!

- Filfth Wizardry is a blog I found recently and bookmarked for its DIY spellers with Duplo bricks post.  I want to explore more of the messy art and creative craft and preschool fun ideas there.

Oops!  I listed 13 while reviewing my recent bookmarked links before I realized I had reached the award "rules" amount.  That's okay!  More sunshine to spread with one extra.

And, now, onto the GIVEAWAY!

Want to win a set of Circus Printables from Itsy Bitsy Printables* that includes:

       - Lowercase Alphabet Tracers

       - Uppercase Alphabet Tracers

       - Clothespin Counting

       - Shadow Match

       - Simple 2 Piece Puzzles

       - Uppercase to Uppercase matching Game

       - Magnet Sheet

       - Workbox Numbers 1 - 6

Then, by Wednesday the 25th, enter to win up to five times!

1st Entry Chance:  Head on over to Itsy Bitsy Printables and take a look around,  Then, come back here and, in a comment, let me know what your favorite printable is.  (Everyone who enters must do this!)  And, as a bonus for you, if you see something at Itsy Bitsy Printables that you love, simply use the coupon code ITSYGIVES1 when ordering to receive $5.00 off a minimum purchase of $7.50!  Whoo hoo!

2nd Entry Chance:  Subscribe to Training Happy Hearts via email.  (Look at the top of the right column!)  Then, leave a comment saying you have.  If you already subscribe, just say so!

3rd Entry Chance: Become a Training Happy Hearts follower (Again, look right!).  Then, leave a comment saying you have.  And, of course, if you already are a follower, just say so.

4th Entry Chance:  In a comment, answer the question:  what makes your heart happy today?

5th Entry Chance:  In a comment, explain how someone has spread a little sunshine in your world this week.


Each entry will get your name in a box next Wednesday that my kiddos will draw a winner at random from.  The winner will be announced by next Saturday and will later receive their Giveaway package directly from Itsy Bitsy Printables.

Good luck and have a blessed day!


*Itsy Bitsy Printables ... and more, is dedicated to providing you with affordable, quality, downloadable printables for children aged 2 to 6.  You simply order, download, print and use!