Gifts for Mother's Day

Mother's Day is coming, so I want to share some gift ideas with Alyssa and Ben all of my readers, because I just like to be helpful like that. So without further ado, here are the gift ideas:


If your mom just happens to be into photography ( A lot of moms are, you know! Not just me!), a really good gift would be this awesome lens. It's perfect for shooters looking for one lens to tackle nearly all subjects they're likely to encounter. Of course, it's a lot more expensive than, say, a box of chocolates.

Canon EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

Okay, not gonna happen. You can't blame a mom for trying. Let's look at some gifts that are more, shall we say, affordable.

Now here are some nice products from The Body Shop. 

The Body Shop is a great source for all-natural products that make Mom feel pampered and wonderful. They are having some really good sales right now, so jump right on it. Here are some of the things I really like.
I've used this and it is very soothing after a long day on my feet.

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The Body Shop: Peppermint Cooling Pumice Foot Scrub

Another product I like is their White Musk line. I'm not a floral scented kind of gal, and this musky scent is delicious.

Save 30% on all Gift sets at The Body Shop! Valid 5/6–5/13. 

The Body Shop: White Musk Libertine Shower, Moisture, and Spritz Set

 
I haven't tried this Africa Honey & Beeswax Hand and Foot Butter, but it sounds perfect. It is made for all skin types, but is especially good for dry-skinned people like me. If you saw my skin, you'd know what I mean. If I go a single day without lotion, it looks like I have reptile skin! This is a product  your mom (especially if your name is Ben or Alyssa) would love to try.

Spa Wisdom™ Africa Honey & Beeswax Hand and Foot Butter

Even though I'm not a floral kind of gal, I am definitely a lover of citrus, and this gift set would make me very happy (you do read my blog, right kids?).

Sweet Lemon Shower, Scrub & Soften Luxury Gift

The lemon gift pack includes: Shower Gel, Body Butter,  Soap, and Body Scrub. Mmmm. I love lemon!

I understand that some moms like food.

Mrs. Fields Mother's Day Bites Box

This healthy basket is also from Mrs. Fields:

This picnic hamper arrives with: 1 Red Delicious Apple, 1 Granny Smith Apple, 1 Columbia Red D'Anjou Pear, 1 Green D'Anjou Pear, Summer Sausage 5 oz, Tomato Basil Cheese 6 oz, Mixed Nuts 4 oz, Honey Wheat Crackers 3.5 oz and 12 Nibblers bite-sized cookies.

For Moms Who Like Flowers:

For the backyard mom:

WEBER� King of the Grill by Teleflora

For the traditional mom:                                                     For the sophisticated mom:

Zen Artistry

Garden Parade 

 

 

And some moms like to cook:

Magic Bullet Hi-Speed Blender / Mixer System

Personally I love a good cup of tea in a beautiful cup!

From Maryland China Company:



How gorgeous is that? Kids? Are you paying attention?



Cream Butterfly Motif Cup & Saucer

from: Maryland China Company

If no one buys me this for Mother's Day, I'm just going to have to buy it myself. I am head over heels in love!

And more food. Because, truthfully, moms like food.

Teacup Treats - Mother's Day Petit Fours & Cookies

For Decorative Moms:

Add-Heres Wall Decals, Eiffel Tower Wall Canvas

Let Mom brag!

This Is What The World's Greatest Mommy (2) by CoolTeeze
Browse Mom T-Shirts

Don't forget Grandma!

Current

Well, there you go. Speaking as a professional mom and grandma, any of these gifts would be greatly appreciated by a mom. Maybe your mom. Definitely Ben and Alyssa's mom.

Do you have a sure-fire mom pleaser of a gift? Let us know about it in the comments. Because I have a mom too!




This post is just jam-packed full of affiliate links for stuff I really like.

Hillbilly Charm and Rugged Manliness

Here he is again!

Well, it has been quite a while since I have made a posting for Cynthia. I am sure everyone has been waiting breathlessly to hear from The Hillbilly. And of course, I truly don’t want someone passing out while they wait. 

Today I am going to give you a change and move forward to a somewhat more recent time.  I know that Cynthia has told you some about how we met, but I want to go to what I would have to call our first true date.  We had spent a few evenings together attending a large church meeting and taking her niece out to various activities.   We had enjoyed ourselves and had laughed a lot but had really not had time to be alone and have any serious conversations.  So I took off early and we went to The Lake of the Ozarks for lunch. 




Lake of the Ozarks Official Site


 If you have never been there, it is called the Dragon Lake.  It is shaped like a dragon and has over 1300 miles of shore line.  It has many houses that are larger than most moviestar’s homes, and they are mostly vacation homes.   It has huge condo complexes, boats on it that are monstrous, making it great for skiing or jet skiing.  The water temperature gets to being like bath water in the summer so people don’t freeze their  tookus off, (which I personally have no desire to do).  It is a good fishing lake.  Shopping is good.  There is lots of entertainment.  There are great restaurants; in fact some of my favorites in the entire country are there!   They have deep fried lobster there.  Boy is that rich!   And for the golfer, last I heard there are about 22 golf courses (pasture pool as we hillbillies call it). In fact when I still lived in the area, it was listed in the top ten golf destinations in the United States.  {Cynthia's Note: If it sounds like The Hillbilly is trying to sell you some land, he may be. He still holds a Missouri real estate license.}

After lunch we went on to Ha Ha Tonka State Park.  To my way of thinking, it is Missouri’s prettiest state park.  We did some of the walking trails and enjoyed the scenery.  I was particularly enjoying it since Cynthia’s looks were improving it for me!  (Hey, I am a guy!) 

Ha Ha Tonka

At any rate, after a couple of hours of this, Cynthia’s complexion began becoming rosier and I am thinking that she is being affected by my hillbilly charm and rugged manliness!  (Hey, don’t knock it---she did marry me didn’t she?)  But about that time, she says, I think I am getting too hot and need to get to air conditioning and get something to drink.  {Cynthia's Note: It was the 200% humidity that was the problem!}

So I rushed her to the car.  Got the air conditioning going.  I got her something cold to drink.  Took her to the river where she got to put her feet in cool water.  Basically, I babied her!  So on this trip, she got too hot and got her first and only tick. {Cynthia's Note: TICK!!!}  Boy do we hillbillies know how to show a girl a good time! 

Though it was hot, I am sure that much of Cynthia’s getting overheated was partly the heat but mostly being close to my aforementioned hillbilly charm and rugged manliness.  As is stuttered in one country song ,th-that’s m-my st-story and I am st-sticking to it!

from The Hillbilly's Corner.

I'm linking up here.

Linking here because he makes me happy.

Alison's Baby Bash

A really great blogger and all around nice person, Alison from Mama Wants This  is having a baby! I mean, not like right this minute. As far as I know. But some friends are throwing her an online baby shower, and I'm so happy to participate. As a baby shower guest,  I'm linking this blog with our shower hostesses, Ado, Stasha and Erica!

This virtual baby shower has three games to play.

 1. Post your favorite baby photo telling us why it's your favorite & add a quote about motherhood.

 This is my brother and me with our father. Daddy is no longer with us, and this brings back so many memories. See that little bookcase on the left? That is sitting in my classroom right now. On top of it you can see Daddy's coffee cup. It contains coffee with "just enough milk to take the wang' off of it." Next to that is (I think) his bowling trophy from his league's one championship season, the year I was born. The night I was born happened to be league night, so of course, after he took Mama to the hospital, he went bowling. It was the fifties; men didn't go into labor and delivery; they just sat in the waiting room. May as well go bowling.  That night he bowled his one and only 300 game. You just have to love that!

With my mom

My quote: If you have a mom, there is nowhere you are likely to go where a prayer has not already been. 

 That quote pretty accurately sums up my mom.

2. Guess Alison's baby's due date, weight, and height.

 No baby should weigh over 7 pounds. That's just my rule. My babies were 6 lbs 2 oz and  6 lbs 11oz, and that was plenty. For that reason, I'm guessing Alison's baby will be exactly 7 pounds and be born on Mother's Day because that's just so sweet. Ummm, I suppose 19 1/4 inches is about right.

3. Pin your favorite ideas for baby shower gifts from Pinterest.

I had to cheat because I couldn't find anything I liked on Pinterest. These came from elsewhere on the Internet:



2-Piece Organic Cotton Bodysuit Gift Set



They're organic! And they have matching hats!!

How adorable is this little fireman's outfit!!! I'll take two!

So, congratulations, Alison, and best of luck. I can't wait to see pictures of your little fireman!



Yes, this post does contain affiliate links, but they're adorable affiliate links!

Quotation Marks: Everybody's Talking

Alisa asked about quotation marks. When do you use single quotation marks as opposed to double quotation marks. You know, one finger air quotes, or two finger air quotes?

Let's start basic and get more complex. Feel free to drop out anywhere along the way. Well, be sure to learn what you need, and then drop out.

Basic uses for quotation marks:

Quotation marks are used to surround the exact words of a speaker. You do not use quotation  marks if you're just giving the general idea of what someone said or putting it in your own words.

               NOT: The Princess told me "she likes cake," if you mean that The Princess is the one who likes cake (she does). She may be a princess, but she almost certainly did not use the exact words "she likes cake," when referring to her own love for goodies.

              

You don't use quotation marks after the word that as in:

              The Hillbilly said that he was going fishing.

Now sometimes we don't actually use the word that when we could:

             The Hillbilly said he was going fishing.

If that would make sense without changing the meaning, don't use quotation marks.

So, quotation marks. Exact words. Got it.

Another use for quotation marks is in the name of a short story, chapter, poem, episode of a television program, etc. In other words, a small piece that could be part of a larger piece. The larger piece (a book , a play, or entire television series) should be italicized or underlined.

But what about those single quotation marks?

               Alyssa said, "The Monster's first sentence was, 'Go bye bye.' The Princess said her first sentence much later."

 Use single quotation marks inside a quotation about something someone said. I quoted Alyssa, and she quoted The Monster. The double quotation marks are around Alyssa's exact words. The single quotes are around The Monster's exact words. Now if The Monster had also quoted someone, we would have reverted to double quotation marks within the single quotation. Don't worry though because he's 19 months old, and he's never quoted anyone. Just know that you want to alternate doubles and singles for quotes within quotes within quotes....

And, well, really that's it. The only time you use single quotation marks is when writing a quotation within a quotation. I suppose I could have just said that in the first place, but you know how teachers are. We have to make sure you get it all.

Just for fun let's get all quotation happy and color code quotations within quotations:

Helen said, "I received this letter from John which says, 'I agree with Mark Twain who said, "A person who won't read has no advantage over one who can't read. " I'm sure you agree as well.' I do agree, but my favorite quote from Twain is, 'A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way.' Experience really is the best teacher."

Red = Helen
Blue = John
Pink = Twain as quoted by John
Green= Twain as quoted by Helen


Helpful or confusing?
If you learned something new, let me know in the comments. It makes me feel useful. Also, be sure to ask any other grammar or punctuation questions you have. You know I love to answer those!

Be sure to Like Commonplace Crazy on Facebook!

Camera Crazy Getting Started!

Just a note to remind you that Camera Crazy's first assignment went live today. Be sure to check it out! This week we're getting to know our camera's so that we can use them to their highest potential.

Visit today!Camera Crazy

My First Giveaway!

Welcome to my first giveaway!

I'm excited to be working with UPrinting, a printing, marketing, and technology firm. They offer customizable offset printing, digital printing, and large format printing. Their easy-to-navigate website includes of large variety of items that they can print. In additon to printing they offer other business services such as direct mailing to your customers.

Be sure to visit UPrinting to see how they can help you and your business. Today we're looking at their postcard printing. These postcards can be for business or personal use. They make great invitations or announcements as well as business advertising.

UPrinting is giving one of my readers a free set of 100 customized postcards.

Prize Information:

100 5" x 7" Postcards for one winner

14pt Cardstock Gloss, Front Only Printing

2 Business days print turnaround time

Free US shipping only

Visit UPrinting

You have several options for entering, but you must leave me your email address. I will notify you by email after the giveaway ends if you are the winner.



The winner will be randomly chosen from among all entries.

Good luck to everyone!

Camera Crazy Cynthia

Friends, may I direct your attention to my newest endeavor: www.cameracrazy.net (NOT .com). Don't you love how the name goes along with the title of this blog? Yep. I thought of that myself. Thank you.

Camera Crazy

Of course I'll still be here; I've got lots more to talk about. I'm just trying to get a little more serious about learning photography, so I'm forcing myself to step up my game a bit. Over at Camera Crazy, I'll be posting step-by-step exercises and inviting my interested friends to learn along with me. I'm counting on some of you to help me out over there.

Even if you're not into the whole camera thing, stop by to help me launch my new blog. I'll see you here, and I hope to see you there! And I probably won't cry if you don't hop over to say Hi. Probably. Maybe. Well, if you're willing to take that chance, I just hope you can live with yourself.

Blog Hop Stardom

I'm a star, y'all! Christine over at Life's Cheap Thrills has featured me in this week's Newbie Blog Hop. Be sure to check it out!

The Spring Break Version of Random Blog Prompt Friday

*Disclaimer: I blatantly stole the idea of Random Blog Prompt Friday from my daughter, Near Normalcy. It would be totally inappropriate for me to use this marvelous idea for what to write when you're too lazy to think of something original without giving her due credit.

Me with my amazingly creative daughter and my daredevil sewing wizard son

**Disclaimer: Although the title of the post contains the words "Spring Break," there really isn't anything about spring break here. I used the term purely for SEO purposes. But I am actually on spring break, so it's not completely inaccurate or pandering to Google.

With the required funny just-because-I felt-like-it disclaimers out of the way, let's carry on with the actual random blog prompts:

What are your hobbies? Why do you like them? Oooh! A question I can answer semi-seriously! At this point, blogging is a hobby. It's certainly not a paying profession. I like it because I get to write and people read what I write and tell me I'm wonderful. I like it when people tell me I'm wonderful. Also, because of my blog, I've made friends with some wonderful, sweet, intelligent, zany people, and I like all of those qualities in a friend. I like rich in a friend too, but that doesn't necessarily help me in the virtual friend world, and also doesn't seem to have helped me in the real world friend area either.

My other hobby is photography. I like it because I'm too uncoordinated to paint. 

My Camera. Well, not my actual camera, but one just like it.

Moving on.

What's the hardest thing you've ever had to learn? Algebra. If my brother hadn't majored in physics and my best friend majored in math, I would have had to drop out of high school. This is why I majored in English.

The other hardest thing (you know you can't have two hardest things, right?) I've ever had to learn is that you can't marry someone expecting to change him into the person you want him to be. You have to marry someone who already is the person you want him to be. Okay, the actual learning of that lesson was easy; the process of living with that lesson was hard. This doesn't appear to be a humorous answer at all. We need another question.

What is truth? About a three-quarters of everything I've written in this blog since it began. 

Children are... what you have to put up with if you ever want to have grandchildren.

Us with The Newest One and The Athlete

The Monster

The Princess

Is true love real? Absolutely!! But it's not something you fall into, and a lot of people confuse love with romance or attraction. True love is full of respect and admiration. A lot of people need to learn that. True love means putting up with each other's imperfections. Like when he leaves paper towels all over the kitchen. Or how he tells you the same stories over and over. This does NOT mean putting up with abuse! That's not an imperfection; it's an inexcusable flaw.

The Hillbilly and I are blessed with true love, and I admire and respect him even though he insists on referring to the Internet as Google. As in, "Which icon do I click to get to Google?" Either the E or the fox in a circle. "My Google isn't working. Is your Google working?" No, and neither are any of the other web sites. The Google appears to be down, Dear.

Yay! We have successfully navigated another Random Blog Prompt Friday. How would you answer these really, really random questions?


Gonna link up here: