Adoramapix photo books are printed on actual photo paper (Fujifilm Crystal Archive Album) so they have unbelievable color and detail, and the hard cover is thicker and the binding sturdier than any of my other photo books. Their unique binding system allows every page spread to lay flat without any gutter or unsightly seam to separate the pages. And you have complete control of what goes on the cover of the book — your photo can go edge to edge, front to back or spine.

When I made my first photobook at Adoramapix, I used one of the custom themes because I thought that would be the easiest way to learn the process. I made my second book “from scratch”  in that I designed it without a pre-designed theme , and I have to say I think I like that option better. But even if you choose a pre-designed theme, you can manipulate everything within that theme, so it’s still very customizable. Either way, here’s the basic process for making a book on Adoramapix and the things I like about the process:

Create a free account.

Choose Photo book and then Create a Book.

Choose the size (portrait, landscape or square, with sizes ranging from 6×4 to 12×12, 14 pages to 76 pages, prices ranging from $12.95 to 189.95)

Choose a theme or “build your own” from a blank book. (There are 39 different themes, including Baby Boy, Baby Girl, Wedding, Autumn, Gallery, Love, Portfolio, Guest Book, Recipe, Seniors, etc.)

Upload your pictures. I love that you can upload your pictures directly from Flickr, Picasa or your computer.

If you chose a blank book, you can now begin choosing backgrounds, stickers and banners. Or you can place your photos on pages and then go back and choose those things. If you chose a theme, you can simply begin putting your pictures into the pre-designated places for photos, or you can manipulate some of the layouts and designs to better suit your needs.  There is nothing you cannot change in the pre-designed themes.

Here are some other features to love about the Adoramapix process:

• You can easily crop your photos and pan your photos so that just the part you like shows up on the page.

• It’s super easy to add borders and frames around your photos, and you simply drag a slider to increase or decrease the point size of those borders and frames, or click on a color box to change the color.

• You can easily rearrange photos on pages, and rearrange the pages within the book.

• With just the click of a button, you can change the page background colors, and you can add stickers over the top of photos or click the “send backward” button to have them print behind a photo.

• You can copy and paste page layouts that you like, so that you don’t have keep “re-creating” a page style throughout the book.

• If  you discover as you are making your book that you need to add more photos, it is very easy to add pictures to the gallery with the click of a button.

• Adding text boxes is easy (click a button) and manipulating the text size, color, text box background and text orientation is even easier (click buttons on a text toolbar).

I was a little reluctant to share pictures of my photo book here for two reasons — 1) the photos I used to make the book were taken from very far away, without a flash, inside a natatorium, so the photo quality is less than perfect, and 2) Taking pictures of “less than perfect” pictures inside a book should be left for professional photographers.  Still, I wanted to share the book with you to give my excitement about the final product more validity. The book, which I made for my teenager whose high school swim team won state, is one of her prized possessions!

Downsides?:  The only downside I found to this program is that your book must have one of the pre-established number of pages (14, 26, 38, 50 or 76). You can’t have 21 pages, or 16 page, etc. In some other programs I’ve used, you can start with a “pre-determined” number of pages, but you can add pages one at a time. So, this is where the feature of being able to add photos to your gallery easily comes in handy.

Now, if you’d like to make a fantastic photo book (size of your choosing) at Adoramapix, enter the contest below:

Giveaway Guidelines

To win, visit Adoramapix then come back here and tell me  in the comment section below what on that landing page makes you want to try their photo book product.

Receive additional entries by doing any/all of the following, but be sure to leave a separate comment for each thing you do:

1. Blog about this contest
2. Subscribe to my mailing list/RSS feed
3. Tweet this giveaway on Twitter
4. Favorite Lipstick to Crayons on Technorati
5. Stumble this post
6. Add Lipstick to Crayons to your blogroll or my button to your sidebar
7. Become a fan of Lipstick to Crayons on Facebook.

This giveaway closes at 11:59 p.m. Central time May 28, 2010.  Be sure to include a valid email address with each of your entries. Winner will be randomly chosen via random.org and will be notified via email and announced on this post.

If winner does not claim prize by June 1, 2010, he/she will forfeit the prize to alternate winner who will be drawn at random.

U.S. &  Canada residents only, please.

THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED. CONGRATS TO KELLIE C., COMMENT #16.

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These stories in this book are divided into these subcategories:  How We Met, Adventures in Dating, Meant to Be, The Proposal, The Wedding, Keeping the Love Alive, Lessons in True Love, Happily Ever After, Gifts from the Heart, and Love Everlasting. Each story is introduced with a “love quote,” such as “Happiness often sneaks in through a door you didn’t know you left open.” — John Barrymore

You can read a full description of the book here.

Now, since everyone loves a love story, I’m giving away three copies of this book. Enter the contest below:

Giveaway Guidelines

If you want to win one of these books, leave a comment below briefly describing your own favorite love story.

Receive additional entries by doing any or all of the following, but be sure to leave a separate comment for each thing you do:

1. Subscribe to my mailing list/RSS feed.
2. Blog about this contest.
3. Tweet this giveaway on Twitter (you can tweet daily if you want, but make sure you leave a comment each time you do).
4. Favorite Lipstick to Crayons on Technorati.
5. Stumble this post.
6. Add Lipstick to Crayons to your blogroll or my button to your sidebar.
7. Become a fan of Lipstick to Crayons on Facebook.

This giveaway closes at 11:59 p.m. Central time  March 2, 2010.  Be sure to include a valid email address with each of your entries. Contest open to United States residents only. Winners will be randomly chosen via random.org and will be notified via email and announced on this post.

If winners do not claim prize by March 3, 2010, they will forfeit the prize to an alternate winner. This contest is closed. Congratulations to Katy, comment #6, Marc, comment #11 and Amanda, comment #14.

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What I am giving away is an adorable potty chair and a set of two new books by Samantha Berger — Princess Potty and Pirate Potty.

Both books provide a helpful, step-by-step story that introduces girls and boys to the concept of toilet training. Pirate Potty is a pirate-themed, toilet-training book that is fit for the little swashbuckler in your life!  It includes a pirate’s hat and reward stickers! Princess Potty follows the same theme…a toilet-training book that is fit for the Royal Highness in your life and the book also is complete with a tiara and reward stickers! I’ve read the book several times and am preparing to stay home for a few days and try the book/reward system on my rather stubborn 2-year-old (who, I might add, tarnished my mother-in-law’s potty-training success rate over the Christmas holiday). So, I’ll have to let you know how it works for me.

In the meantime, if you’d like to win a set of the books and a potty, see the contest below. The grand prize winner will get  the Boon Potty Bench, valued at $34.99 (pictured to the right) and a set of both books. Two other winners will get a set of both books.

Giveaway Guidelines

Leave a comment below telling me about the little one you are trying to potty train.

Receive additional entries by doing any/all of the following, but be sure to leave a separate comment for each thing you do:

1. Blog about this contest
2. Subscribe to my mailing list/RSS feed
3. Tweet this giveaway on Twitter (you can tweet daily if you want, but make sure you leave a comment each time you do).
4. Favorite Lipstick to Crayons on Technorati
5. Stumble this post
6. Add Lipstick to Crayons to your blogroll or my button to your sidebar
7. Become a fan of Lipstick to Crayons on Facebook

This giveaway closes at 11:59 p.m. Central time Feb. 19.  Be sure to include a valid email address with each of your entries. Contest open to United States residents only. Winners will be randomly chosen via random.org and will be notified via email and announced on this post.

If winners do not claim prize by Feb.  22, 2010, they will forfeit the prize to an alternate winner.

This contest is closed. Congrats to Stephanie V, comment #13 — our grand prize winner. Also, congrats to the winners of the sets of two books: Danielle, comment #32 and Rosey, comment #140.

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Leapfrog has long been a leader in creating educational but FUN toys, and now they’ve gone and created one that even a two-year-old can enjoy. The Tag system makes it fun for toddlers to connect words with pictures and other thoughts. By pressing the Tag Junior Book Pal onto the pages of specially designed books, the words and pictures come to life.

 The Tag Jr. is easy for a toddler to use because all she has to do is touch the  book pal (which fits perfectly in a toddlers chubby little hand) anywhere on the page and she will be rewarded with a response. Each Tag Jr. book has a theme and focuses on a skill.

The Tag Jr. system is geared toward young preschoolers ages 2-4. Leapfrog
also lets you create an account at LeapFrog’s Learning  Path site where you can track your child’s learning progress online and download and print free activities to compliment your child’s Tag Jr. books.

LeapFrog toys are always fun-forward and engaging with educational benefits and skill-building fundamentals that last well beyond the holiday season. In other words, they’re invaluable.

Upsides:

• Easy for a toddler to use
• Great learning tool
• Encourages reading
• Portable – great toy for road trips and hotel stays
• Reasonably priced

 Downside:

• The process of downloading the audio from the Leapfrog site to your Tag Jr. Book Pal was a little tricky for me, but there is lots of online support on the site.

You can buy the Tag Junior here for $24.99 and it comes with a book. You can buy extra books here and here.

Also from Leapfrog is the Text & Learn. Tech-savvy preschoolers on your shopping list can imitate Mom and Dad (Big Sister in our house) with this durable, just-for-kids learning PDA.  Games focus on letter recognition, shape matching, and QWERTY keyboard skills, allowing preschoolers to exchange text messages with Scout, check Scout’s planner, and explore in a pretend browser mode. You can buy it  here for $21.99.

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“The Grandparents Handbook” by Elizabeth LaBan offers modern grandparents a variety of fun pastimes and educational projects to share with their grandchildren. The book also provides a refresher chapter on various baby-related tasks such as changing a diaper, swaddling a newborn, and giving kids a bath. Plus it includes some advice on respecting your children’s decisions on how they raise their children. (The full book title is “The Grandparents Handbook: Activities, Tips, How-Tos, and All-Around Fun.”)  

The book is divided into four sections:

• Bringing Up Baby: A Grandparent’s Refresher Course
• Indoor and Outdoor Fun and Games
• Crafts and Cooking
• Sharing and Exploring the World Together

The Grandparents Handbook features such activities as:

• How to Baby—and Kid—Proof Your Home (page 30)
• How to Handle Toddler Tantrums (page 50)
• Holding a Backyard Olympics (page 60)
• Planting a Fairy and Goblin Garden (page 85)
• Creating Your Own Ice Cream Cake (page 107)
• Making Homemade Pickles (page 109)
• Planning a Special Meal Together (page 178)
• Creating Your Family Tree (page 180)
• And much more!

With dozens of interactive projects and featuring whimsical illustrations, this book will lead grandparents down surprising paths of discovery as they teach the youngest generation about family, friendship, and the world around them. It is the perfect gift for modern grandparents and grandparents-to-be!

The book retails  here  for about $12 but one lucky Lipstick to Crayons reader can win the book for free by entering the contest below. (Don’t count on this contest to deliver the book to the winner by Christmas  — it’s not happening.

Giveaway Guidelines:

Tell me in the comment section below why you want to win The Grandparents Handbook.

Receive additional entries by doing any/all of the following, but be sure to leave a separate comment for each thing you do:

1. Blog about this contest
2. Subscribe to my mailing list/RSS feed
3. Tweet this giveaway on Twitter (you can tweet daily if you want, but make sure you leave a comment each time you do).
4. Favorite Lipstick to Crayons on Technorati
5. Stumble this post
6. Add Lipstick to Crayons to your blogroll or my button to your sidebar
7. Become a fan of Lipstick to Crayons on Facebook
   

This giveaway closes at 11:59 p.m. Central time Dec. 22. Be sure to include a valid email address with each of your entries. Contest open to United States residents only. Winner will be randomly chosen via random.org and will be notified via email and announced on this post.

If winner does not claim prize by Dec. 26, 2009, he/she will forfeit the prize to an alternate winner.

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Dean Mandis, a father of two students in the Rockwood School District (also the school district of my children) addressed the district’s school board last week regarding his concerns that his daaughter was being taught the concepts of B.C.E. (Before the Common Era) and C.E. (Common Era) as alternatives to the dating system that has been in place for HUNDREDS OF CENTURIES!

“Introducing B.C.E./C.E. in conjunction with B.C./A.D. in the classroom is to deny the historical basis of the dating system and ultimately leads to confusion,” Mandis told the board. Mandis said this teacher’s decision was “irresponsible” and possibly “a dangerous and slippery slope.” (quoted from Tim Townsend’s article in the Post and on stltoday.com.)

Apparently, according to a source in the article, the movement to use C.E. and B.C.E. in western academia began in the 1980s. When something similar happened in Kentucky in 2006, Christians fought it and the effort to use the new dating system disappeared. Gotta hand it to you, KY! (that’s for my husband and his relatives.)

Not surprisingly, the same textbook companies that have been re-writing history for the last few decades to make it more politically correct and less offensive are at least partially to blame for this effort. Craig Larson, Rockwood School District superintendent, wrote this explanation  on his blog:

“Within the last 10-15 years, CE/BCE has started to appear in student textbooks, usually along with AD/BC and sometimes with just one or the other mentioned. Teachers make sure that students are aware of both designations so they are literate when they encounter either notation.”

I understand the textbook companies desire to sell textbooks. When I was a newspaper reporter, people used to accuse us of writing things “just to sell newspapers.”  I’d say, “We need to sell newspapers, folks. This isn’t a not-for-profit operation.”  But that didn’t mean we had license to write things that were false. I understand that you can probably sell more textbooks if your books are vanilla enough to not offend ANYONE, that doesn’t make them accurate.

I’ll never forget when my oldest came home from kindergarten telling me that the pilgrims celebrated Thanksgiving to thank the Native Americans (see, I can be PC) for helping them survive in the new country. Seriously? While the pilgrims may very well have owed a debt of gratitude to any Native Americans who helped them learn to live in this untame land, it was NOT the Indians who they were thanking that first Thanksgiving. Still, when I investigated, that was the message of the book my daughter’s teacher was reading to her class. No mention of thanking God on Thanksgiving — just the natives.

As Larson pointed out, Rockwood School District doesn’t write textbooks, and the district has a responsibility to help our students understand dates in any way they may be presented. But I’m with Mandis — it’s a slippery slope. I think the district should reject any textbooks that teach an inaccurate history of Thanksgiving, and then the textbook companies won’t print falsities about that holiday.

Our dating system shouldn’t offend anyone. B.C. doesn’t stand for ”Before Christ, the one true God, Son of Man, Risen Savior.” And the newer system of dating doesn’t change anything — the calendar is still measured in terms of the birth of  Jesus Christ. So let’s stop erasing God from our history.

Larson says the school district doesn’t have a “policy” on dates. Maybe we should have a policy and that policy should be that we will continue to teach our children the principles upon which this country was founded in regard to everything, including the dating system. If you are a Rockwood parent and you feel strongly about this, a group of parents have started a petition on the topic. You can sign it here.

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Tiny Baby Jesus offers a fresh look at the Christmas story as it talks about Jesus in terms of his very human condition. Plus, it’s a perfect book to share with my toddler, because she loves the idea of identifying Jesus from his head to his tiny toes.

As you read this book to your children, they will discover the wonder of hands that develop into those of a carpenter and swaddled shoulders that grow to carry the weight of all mankind. Readers can share in the humble birth of tiny baby Jesus while remembering the life and teachings of the grown savior. The book’s messages are simple yet profound, and the illustrations are beautiful.

You can purchase this book on Amazon, but three lucky Lipstick to Crayons readers can win a hard copy for free by entering the contest below. 

Giveaway Guidelines:

Leave a comment below telling me why you want to win the book.

Receive additional entries by doing any/all of the following, but be sure to leave a separate comment for each thing you do:

1. Blog about this contest
2. Subscribe to my mailing list/RSS feed
3. Tweet this giveaway on Twitter (you can tweet daily if you want, but make sure you leave a comment each time you do).
4. Favorite Lipstick to Crayons on Technorati
5. Stumble this post
6. Add Lipstick to Crayons to your blogroll or my button to your sidebar
7. Become a fan of Lipstick to Crayons on Facebook
8. Enter my GE appliance giveaway here.

This giveaway closes at 11:59 p.m. Central time Nov. 24.  Be sure to include a valid email address with each of your entries. Contest open to United States residents only. Winners will be randomly chosen via random.org and will be notified via email and announced on this post.

If winners do not claim prize by Nov. 27, 2009, they will forfeit the prize to an alternate winner.

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The book is full of heart-warming dog stories — my personal favorite being one about a young girl whose dog was her pal as she recovered from polio as a child. Each story is introduced with a quote about dogs, such as “The dog was created especially for children. He is the god of folic” by Henry Ward Beecher.

There are stories about strays, about pups and about lifelong pets. The 101 stories are broken down into sections including:  Learning about Family, Learning about Courage, Learning to Heal, and Learning to be Kinder. Some will make you laugh and others will make you cry.

Three lucky Lipstick to Crayons readers can win this book for free by entering the contest below.

Giveaway Guidelines:

Leave a comment below telling me why you want to win or a favorite dog story.

Receive additional entries by doing any/all of the following, but be sure to leave a separate comment for each thing you do:

1. Blog about this contest
2. Subscribe to my mailing list/RSS feed
3. Tweet this giveaway on Twitter (you can tweet daily if you want, but make sure you leave a comment each time you do).
4. Favorite Lipstick to Crayons on Technorati
5. Stumble this post
6. Add Lipstick to Crayons to your blogroll or my button to your sidebar
7. Become a fan of Lipstick to Crayons on Facebook
8. Enter my GE appliance giveaway here.

This giveaway closes at 11:59 p.m. Central time Nov. 9.  Be sure to include a valid email address with each of your entries. Contest open to United States and Canada residents only. Winners will be randomly chosen via random.org and will be notified via email and announced on this post.

If winners do not claim prize by Nov.11, 2009, they will forfeit the prize to an alternate winner.

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————–

We’ve all experienced mean girls.  And most/all of us have probably been mean girls at one time or another (or another, or another). I recently had the pleasure of  listening to an amazing lecture on the subject of “mean girls” that really got to the heart of the matter for me as a mother.

As I’ve mentioned, I’m currently doing the Beth Moore Bible study, “Esther: It’s Tough Being a Woman”. During today’s video lesson, Beth (if you do one of her studies, you come to think of her as a friend and start calling her by her first name) shared some very insightful things about meanness, many of which were Bible-based. Some of my favorite thoughts were:

• Meanness alwayshas a history. (Isn’t that so true? We may not want to admit it, but there is always a story behind someone’s meanness — even our own).
• There is nothing meaner than a coward. (‘Nuf said.)
• Meanness catches like a virus and we can spread it down from generation to generation or horizontally to those with whom we come in contact. (This truth makes my stomach hurt. I think as women and mothers we must, must, must acknowledge our responsibility in NOT spreading the meanness virus.)
• We are most likely to compare ourselves to someone we perceive as a threat. (Why is that? I believe it’s true, but it baffles me.)
• Insecurity is at the heart of every rivalry. (Duh! This one is so obvious, I almost didn’t include it. But it’s a good reminder, whether we’re the ones feeling insecure or the “rival” of the one feeling insecure.) 
• Coming in contact with a mean girl raises up your own mean girl. (AMEN!) 
• Meanness is curable. Don’t repay evil with evil. (This is one that’s easy to skim over because Beth uses the word “evil.” We don’t think of our actions as evil. But what if you swap out the word “evil” with “harsh words” or “gossip” or “the silent treatment” or “criticism?” Then it hits a little closer to home, eh? 
• Be nice to your mean girl. Don’t serve her or bow down to her, but be nice until her heart sears with conviction. (This one is along the lines of love your enemy. Or  pray for your enemy. I have often been given this advice. Sometimes I’ve followed it. It ALWAYS helps — it might only help me, but it always helps.)

Okay — if you can’t relate to EVERY one of these sentiments, wisdoms, facts — whatever you want to call them — then you don’t have two X chromosomes. But there are probably a few that really strike a chord. For me, it’s the “coming in contact with a mean girl raises up your own mean girl.”

When I became a mother, I thought I’d inherently develop a tenderness and protection toward all children. And for the most part, that’s what happens — unless said child does something to one of MY children. Whoa! I did not know I could have such evil thoughts toward someone who hadn’t even reached puberty until a wicked little second-grader spread her meanness to my first born many years ago. My husband wasn’t even sure he knew the woman who expressed those somewhat-violent fantasies with him.

That’s why I was so thankful to hear Beth talk about a similar reaction in relation to one of her daughters and a nemesis. It’s helpful and healing to know that we’re not alone and that “coming in contact with a mean girl raises up your own mean girl.”

Still, that doesn’t excuse us when we act like mean girls, and it doesn’t excuse us when we simply have “mean girl” thoughts. So, I prayed for forgiveness for any mean girls thoughts I’ve had recently and not so recently. And I’m sure I’ll have to do so again – and again, and again. How about you?

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