And the winner is ...

And the winner of the first Celebrated Family giveaway is Manya! Congratulations my wonderful friend. Although there were some comments saying those who will be using this card to purchase an ice coffee to drink by the pool should be swiftly elimated by those of us up here in the artic tundra - the card is on its way to sunny Miami. Thanks for all your great comments this month.

I will post the prize for February tomorrow. I'm going to wait to see what the Groundhog sees tomorrow before I pick a prize. Will it be more winter or is spring on the way?

Daily Dose

Do you have those blogs you check everyday to see if there is a new posting? I know I do. I have about 6 blogs who make me chuckle, sigh, cry or think. The Daily Dose blog honor is one that bloggers give to each other for being just that - a blog you look forward to getting your daily dose from each day. Joanne passed this honor on to me on Monday. I love that it came from Joanne because she is my blog guru. The first time I met her, I wanted to start a blog and didn't know where to start. I asked such enlightened questions as, "What do you write about?" I love that now four months later, I write a blog that she enjoys reading. The Daily Dose could not have come from a better person! Thanks Joanne!

So now to pass the honor on. Many of your know Courtney Orrange. Those who don't should check out her blog and website. Courtney went to college with me at UM, so we have known each other for a while. Courtney and her husband are passionate about social justice and committed to seeing the end of child sex trafficking. She has a huge world view, and reading her blog pulls me out of my comfy suburban box. Something I am very grateful for. She reminds me that we can all do something great with our lives.

Polar Bear Picnic

Our family loves picnics. In warm weather we eat lunch outside every chance we get. Our girls seem to eat anything if it is cloaked in the adventure of a picnic. The other day Sarah asked if we could go on a picnic. My gut reaction was "no, of course not, it's freezing outside!" But giving it some more thought, I thought, why not. On Friday, my friend Katie and I brought the kids on a polar bear picnic. We put blankets, sandwiches, a thermos of hot cocoa and cookies in a back pack and headed to the state park near us. I brought a set of binoculars and gave the kids the important job of being on the look out for polar bears. We walked for a while and then found a spot to have our cocoa and lunch. I brought polar bear shaped cookies and hid them for the kids to find. It was so nice to spend the afternoon outside in nature, letting the kids explore and just be wild frolicking kids. I will try to get some of Katie's pictures and put them up.

** Reminder – only 4 more days to leave a comment to be entered in this month's drawing for a Starbucks gift card. The winner will be announced Friday. Good luck.