NOTE: I don’t usually post on weekends but this Saturday I will have an article running over at Candace Cameron Bure’s online magazine Roomag so I’ll be back tomorrow with a link to that Valentine’s-themed feature.

My friend  and ministry partner LeAnn Rice (of She Cooks) and I had so much fun writing Untangling Christmas last fall.

(Well, except for that one weekend when I had to generate nearly 10,000 words to make deadline and I thought I’d surely develop carpal tunnel syndrome!)

Writing that little ebook got us to thinkin’.

What if we wrote a traditional (as in paper) book to help women untangle the other special occasions of the year so they could focus on truly celebrating and enjoying the loved ones in their life?

It was time for us to type up a proposal, whisper a prayer and send it off with hopes that a publisher would want to turn it into a book.

In about a month or so later, we heard back. (That, folks, was lightning fast. My current book project LET. IT. GO. How to Stop Running the Show & Start Walking in Faith took over 18 months to go to contract!)

Ta-da! Announcing Everyday Confetti

This book, published by the fine folks at Baker-Revell (where my first three books were published) will release late next summer. Here is an unofficial blurb from the two of us:

We hope Everyday Confetti will be a woman’s go-to guide for celebrating with others throughout the calendar year. It will include organizing strategies, shopping tips, menu plans, easy-to-make recipes and activities for oodles of special occasions.

Whether it is a major holiday, a loved one’s milestone, a time-to-throw-a-party happening, a day on the Christian calendar or simply an ordinary day that is just waiting for a little confetti to be added to make it a celebration, this book will guide you step-by-step. Everyday Confetti will also include lots of practical outreach ideas for sharing the love of Christ with neighbors, coworkers, random folks and even strangers in the midst of our hectic-paced world.

We are beyond excited and hope our united hearts, but very different situations, will be an asset to this project. (I am married with three kids. LeAnn is a widow and mother of one. She works full time. I’m home full time working part time from my home office. Between our four children we have one who is an adult in a career and living away from home, one in public school, one in a private school and one who is homeschooled. She loves to cook and likes to organize. I love to organize and like to cook. We both think there is always reason to throw a bash. Hey—even in the Bible God dictated about a party a month for his people! We also think life is all about touching others with the love of Jesus.)

To celebrate this fun announcement with you, our beloved cyber friends, both LeAnn & I are offering giveaways this weekend.

Hop over to She Cooks to enter LeAnn’s.

Leave a comment below to enter mine.

Both winners will be announced Monday.

My package includes:

~ A birthday cake scented candle

~ A journal for party planning

~ A set of candy-colored pens with colored inks

~  Some vanilla fantasy scented lotion (mmmmm……smells like buttercream frosting)

~ Some Cover Girl tangerine fruit spritzer lip gloss (what girl can’t use a little lip gloss to perk her up and make her party-ready?)

~ A confetti cupcake mix

~ A tub of rainbow chip frosting

~ A bag of Dove swirl raspberry & dark chocolate promises

~ A “Hello Cupcake” pair of vanilla scented, shea infused, lounge socks from Bath & Body Works (I know it looks like a cupcake, but it really is a pair of socks all wound up in that muffin shape!)

~ And…..a bag of confetti (of course!!)

Whoo-hoo! Now, just leave a comment about anything.

Seriously. Anything.

Or just say “Party On!”

I really don’t care. I’m too busy right now tossing confetti, putting on my own party for thirty-three 8th graders coming over for my son’s birthday (Excedrin please?) and thanking God for this new venture!

(NOTE: If you are reading this post in your email box, you’ll need to click on the title to get to my actual site to leave a comment.)

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I found out some interesting things.

Some were just as I suspected.

Others surprised me a little.

I thought I’d let you take a peek at some of the results, and the resulting changes I am going to make.

First, who you are:

~ 40% of you are at home full-time

~ 35% of you work full-time

~ 16% work part-time

~ 9% have a home business or work from home

~ 79% of you are married for the first time

~ 13% of you are remarried after divorce or widowhood (making 92% of the readers married)

~ 8% of you are single (2% widowed; 3% divorced; 3% never married)

Those of you with kiddos:

~ 59% send your kids to public school

~ 29% of you homeschool

~ 9% of you send your kids to a private school

~ 3% of you (like me) have kids in more than one educational setting

~ The “average” gal is between 36-45 years old (32% of those who responded are in this age bracket. Less than 1% are under 25 and less than 3% are over 65)

~ The biggest block (27%) have a household income of between $40,000- $60,000. (although, on the far ends of the spectrum, 11% make less than $30,000 and 16% make more than $100,000 per year)

~ 100% of you are loved and appreciated by me!!! (just thought I’d throw that in )

Now, about the blog:

The top three topics you like to read about:

~ Spiritual growth (86% of you love to see posts on this topic)

~ Posts about home management (organizing, hospitality, holiday ideas–83% of you enjoy these)

~ Posts about relationships (marriage, friendship, raising kids–76% of you want to read about this those topics)

What you like least:

~ Posts about getting started speaking or writing (although almost 100% of you who checked that box  said it was simply because it didn’t apply to you)

Top ten topics you’d like to see addressed in the future: (NOTE: I cannot speak with expertise to all of these, so I will find guests who can )

1. How to grow my relationship with God by studying the Bible

2. Prayer (how to pray; how not to be distracted; why should I even pray?, etc…)

3. Home organization (getting my stuff in place and keeping it that way)

4. Time management (how to get more done in less time; when & when not to multi-task)

5. Friendships (how to make & maintain healthy ones; drawing boundaries with freinds)

6. How to discover God’s will in situations

7. Biblical marriage/respecting my husband

8. Hospitality

9. How to have confidence and not doubt myself all the time

10. (all tied!) How to stop being controlling/mothering tips/creative ways to celebrate throughout the year/finding my calling in life

The most polarizing topic:

~ Posts about health/weight loss (26 % said to not write about it because you feel it is being overdone and/or the information is available on other great sites. However about 58% wish I talked about it more!)

Other random stats:

~ 47% wish I would lead online book/Bible studies more often

~ 75% of you want me to still blog 3-4 times a week

~ 15% of you want me to only blog once a week because you read so many blogs you have a hard time keeping up with them all!

~ 29% of you think I should keep the main colors turquoise and salmon

~ 39% of you want more interaction (video-blogging; downloadable tools, discussion topics for you to chime in on, etc…)

~ One of you said “Just please don’t vlog. Those videos are the most grating blogs around!” lol!!)

Well, there you go. I am still sifting. sorting and processing all the comments you also left in the “other” parts of the survey where you can comment directly.

And, you will be pleased to know that if you tune back in tomorrow, I will have an announcement that has to do with one of the “requested topics”that turned up in the top ten. And it will be tied to two giveaways!

Have a great Thursday!

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This week, I am pulling back and taking a little breather. And, I am also doing a hard thing. One of those rip-your-mama-heart-nearly-out-of-your-chest hard things. It is also, thankfully, a good thing. I’ll write about it someday soon.

For now, I want to give you a few great posts I’ve come across for you to check out. I’ll be back later this week when I return to Michigan with an exciting announcement and a fun giveaway. Be sure to check back.

Oh…and the winner of last weekend’s giveaway of two copies of A Life That Says Welcome and a Starbucks card is Daphne R. Congrats! Send your home address to kim@proverbs31.org so we can mail your prize to you!

Now, for some great links:

For your marriage

For your mothering

For your kitchen

For your heart and home

Have a great week!

I can sooooo relate!

I married into a family full of interior decorators, caterers and Bed and Breakfast owners, while I myself could hardly boil water!

So, I set out to become skilled at “entertaining” to impress my new relatives. However, God quickly taught me the difference between entertaining and offering hospitality, a lesson I learned the hard way.

Entertaining places the emphasis on you and impressing others.

Hospitality places the emphasis on others and refreshing, not impressing, them.

In the month of March, I will be leading an online study of the book I wrote on this topic A Life That Says Welcome: Simple Ways to Open Your Heart & Home to Others

This book and study will help you to:

• Recognize the reason for offering hospitality
• Identify the top five excuses for not opening your home and apply simple solutions to combat them
• Arm yourself with cooking-for-a-crowd menu ideas, make-ahead freezer meals and kid-friendly favorites
• Acquire weekly speed cleaning strategies, a proven system for de-junking your house and simple, doable decorating tips
• Obtain creative concepts for living a life of welcome wherever you are

Watch for more details to come. And, if you want to join us and don’t have the book yet, go get a copy. (The last online study I did, all of the major retailers were back-ordered for weeks when it got close to the start date so you might want to be ahead of the game.)

The sign-up is simple. Just subscribe to my blog before March 19th when the study kicks off by clicking on the envelope icon in the top of the sidebar. Any new posts I write will be delivered automatically to your email’s inbox!

Now, for a little preview (and a little giveaway) here is a sneak peek at one of the recipes in the book perfect for a winter welcome for guests:

Chicken Wild Rice Soup

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 cup chopped, peeled carrots

1/2 cup chopped celery

3/4  cup flour

6 cups chicken stock (or 6 cups water with bouillon cubes to taste)

6-ounce package long grain and wild rice

2 cups chopped, cooked chicken breast

3 tablespoons cooking sherry (optional)

In a large soup kettle, melt butter and sauté onions, carrots, and celery until tender. Stir in flour. Gradually add stock until mixture comes to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium low. Prepare rice as directed on box, omitting oil and salt. Add rice and chicken to stock and simmer 10 minutes. Add sherry. Serves 10.

NOW FOR THE GIVEAWAY:

I’ll give two copies of A Life That Says Welcome (one for you & one for a friend) so you can join us for the on-line study in March. I’ll also throw in a $5 Starbucks gift card so you and your friend can discuss the book over coffee.

Just leave us a comment telling us your very favorite soup to eat. And, if you leave the recipe, your name will be entered twice. Winner announced Monday (when I’ll also have another very fun announcement too!)

(Are they even still called secretaries? Maybe it is “administrative assistants” instead).

Anyway, I have noticed she is always so chipper and helpful and patient with both scatter-brained parents and squirrelly junior highers.

My son thinks so too. He referred to Mrs. K last night as one of the most “awesome” people at his new school.

I didn’t think I should keep that info to myself.

So, this morning when I made my trek in, I told her what he said about her.

She smiled big and said how very much she needed to hear that this morning and how it totally made her day.

Who in your (or your child’s) life is a constant bright spot?

A co-worker, neighbor, pastor, teacher, coach, youth worker, fellow carpool mom?

Today, I dare you to pause what you are doing and tell them so.

Ot better yet, drop them a hand-written note.

It will make their day too.

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In the kitchen.

In our menu planning and shopping.

In our cooking.

And cleaning.

And ever-mounting paper piles.

And in lots of other areas that are scrawled on our daily “To Do” lists.

I showed one of my favorite organizing tools ever and then gave one away for a door prize.

(I wanted to rig it so my friend Lauren would win. She was sweet enough to bring me a latte for a bribe. But I thought rigging was listed as a sin somewhere in the Bible, so I refrained. Sorry Lauren. )

It is a clipboard case. On it, I keep my daily “To Do” list so I can refer to it often.

In it, I put any items that must be dealt with today. These would include overdue book notices, bills that must be paid today, permission slips that must be returned tomorrow, Red Box dvd’s that need to go back to Walgreens, etc…

Then, I make it a habit to check my clipboard every night before I go to bed to deal with what is in it.

Okay…not everynight. We too have overdue Redbox fees sometimes.

Here is a link to where you can purchase one online. I have also found them in person at Staples, Office Max and Walmart.

Now go turn your “To Do” list into an “All Done” one on its way to the paper shredder.

The Let It Snow giveaway: Lacy Joy T.

The winner’ of a pdf of Darlene Schacht’s ebook The Good Wife’s Guide:

April Bryson

Jennifer Rae

Tonya Taylor

Monica (the Monica who left a c0mment on 1:20 at 4:47 pm)

Congrats gals! Shoot an email to my assistant Kim at kim@proverbs31.org telling her what you won and giving her your contact info.

It is one of “those” days.

You know the kind.

Almost a half-dozen phone calls to make.

Two errands to run.

Laundry calling my name.

No dinner planned yet.

A few friends’ prayer requests laying heavy on my heart.

I need to tackle some mail.

I need to take my phone into the cell phone store since it is acting up AGAIN!!!!! Ugh!

I need to be in two places at one time tonight–speaking at my church’s Mugs & Muffins ladies night out and picking my son up from weight-lifting.

(Time to call the neighbor to request shuttle service for the man-cub).

I need to consult my freezer for something to thaw and cook.

You get the picture. I’ll bet it is often your snapshot too!

On one of “those days”, I remember the words I read as a young mom from the pen of one of my favorite authors.

DO THE NEXT THING.

Great advice.

However, over the years, I’ve had to tweak that saying just a bit. Too easy to get distracted and make my “next thing” some time-wasting trivial pursuit.

Or a wrong thing like wasting time worrying.

Or day dreaming.

Or doing a task that really doesn’t need to be done right now just to feel productive when in reality it is a way of procrastinating.

So instead of just doing the next thing, I will do the next “right thing.”

(I heard this friend once encourage her audience to do just that.  Then, soon after, I  spotted it on a t-shirt. I get the message God. )

So, that is where I am headed now. To my “next right thing.”

How about you?

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Be sure to check out the article I have running over at Candace Cameron Bure’s online magazine Roomag.com. It is on turning Sunday suppers into Monday soups

I live in Michigan. Usually in Michigan it snows a lot in the winter. Once, last year, after 10 inches fell and blew over night, out my front door it looked like this:

However, this winter, besides one big dumping the beginning of December, it has only lightly snowed a few times, looking more like this:

Snow or no snow, this weekend I am giving away a “Let it Snow” package that looks like this:

It includes:

~ A hat and scarf from Old Navy

~ A box of Dove Milk Chocolate Promises

~ Three packages of Land O’ Lakes white hot chocolate

~ A fun journal to write in on a chilly day

~ A pair of toasty and fluffy socks from Old Navy

To be entered in the giveaway, tell us your favorite memory of snow or, if you are slammed for time, just say “Let it Snow”. Winner announced Monday.

And if you have yet to enter the giveaway fro my friend Darlene ebook The Good Wife’s Guide click here or if you haven’t taken my blog survey to help me as I go forward here in cyberspace, click here.

Thanks and have a great weekend!

I LOVE her passion for women to keep their priorities in place so I asked her to join us today. (Oh, and I am totally trying NOT to be jealous of her book’s cover. I have always had an obsession with retro aqua kitchen appliances )

Keep reading for a chance to win a copy of this ebook and to hear about another giveaway I will have for you tomorrow.

Darlene Schacht is an ordinary mom, living an extraordinary life, because of who she is through Jesus Christ.

As help-meet to her husband Michael, she guides and nurtures their four children, leading them toward a deeper walk of faith.

Her work has been published in anthologies by Thomas Nelson, Tyndale Publishing and Adams Media.

She is the author of the eBook, “The Good Wife’s Guide,” as well as co-author with actress Candace Cameron Bure of The New York Times Best-Seller, Reshaping it All: Motivation for Spiritual and Physical Fitness.

You can find her blogging at Time-Warp Wife (www.timewarpwife.com)

In The Good Wife’s Guide Darlene encourages women to joyfully serve their families. In doing so she offers reasons for achieving a well-managed home backed by scripture and gleaned from experience. As well she provides readers with detailed cleaning and organizing schedules for practical application.

This book encourages women to make faith and family their first priorities from a place of sacrificial love. It reminds women that they were created with a specific purpose in mind, which is that of being a help meet. In supporting our husbands and living in unity we reflect God’s blueprint for marriage.

Find “The Good Wife’s Guide” on  facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thegoodwifesguide

I was able to “sit down” with Darlene (via email messages ) and ask her a few questions. Here is our interview:

Darlene, what prompted you the write The Good Wife’s Guide?

About a year ago, I came across a copy of an article that was circulating the internet. It was called, “The Good Wife’s Guide.” It looked to be a photocopy of an article published by “Housekeeping Monthly,” in May of 1955, but upon closer inspection, I got to wondering if the article might be a hoax. After checking with a few reliable sources online I discovered that it probably was.

The thing about the guide is that it was so similar to the message I was already sharing with my readers, in particular an article I had written called, “My Desire for Curb Appeal.” I clicked through several of the links, and nearly everywhere the guide was posted, it was up for much ridicule. The thing that got to me most was that our role as a help meet was being diminished by popular opinions that would rather scoff at good family values than face the truth of God’s Word:

“Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.” Ephesians 5:22-24, (NIV)

I decided to resurrect the “Good Wife’s Guide” in my own words, and according to the role that I hope to fulfill in my life. It started out as an article, but more recently evolved into an eBook because of the interest I saw from readers.

It is no longer a satirical piece written to mock the role of a help meet, but rather a guide that leads women toward a noble character and good family values. I think it’s time that women took a stand for family values that serve to grow and protect the family unit as God divinely designed it to be.

What is your biggest hope for the woman who reads your book?

Titus chapter two exhorts women to love their children and to be keepers of the home. My hope is to enforce that message while teaching them how to do it with joy.

The book may have a special appeal to the stay-at-home mom, but SAHMs and working moms alike can both take joy in serving their families and glean from the lessons therein.

My passion is to encourage women to love and serve their families in hopes that we will all strive to keep our priorities straight. In doing so I offer them reasons for achieving a well-managed home backed by scripture and gleaned from experience.

That’s my passion and my hope. In keeping our priorities straight, we put faith and family first (in that order).

You are offering a giveaway today. Tell us about it.

Oh, I LOVE giveaways, and I love to make them simple too! I’ll give away four PDF copies of the eBook to your readers, and in order to enter, all I ask is that they share this post with someone whether it is through email, Twitter, Facebook, blogging, or word of mouth.

Then, if they leave us a comment below, between now and Sunday night, we can announce the three winners on Monday.

In closing I’d love to thank both you and you readers for having me as a guest. Thanks, Karen!!

My pleasure Darlene!

Okay gals…..now go tell it on the mountain….or on Facebook…or Twitter…..or on your blog…or send an email…or phone a friend….or run over and knock on your neighbor’s kitchen window and scare the bajeebies out of her.

Just tell someone about this fantabulous new ebook and then come back here and tell us who you told. Then, you’ll be entered to win!

To make it easy for you, below are a couple of pre-made Tweets & Facebook statuses for you to grab. Your welcome.

Oh, and if you aren’t following us on Twitter or are not my Facebook friend yet, go to Twitter and follow me at Karen_Ehman and Darlene at DarleneSchacht or “friend request” me on Facebook at Karen Patterson Ehman so you will be able to tag the names in the post. You can also find Darlene on Facebook at Time Warp Wife.

Twitter:

Have you seen the new ebook The Good Wife’s Guide by Darlene Schacht? Win 1 of 4 copies on Karen_Ehman’s blog: http://goo.gl/zdmbg

An awesome resource for wives. Win 1 of 4 copies on Karen_Ehman’s blog! The Good Wife’s Guide by Darlene Schacht: http://goo.gl/zdmbg

Facebook:

Head over and hear about the great new ebook for wives by New York Times bestselling author and ordinary mom Darlene Schacht. You could win a free copy on Karen Patterson Ehman’s blog: http://goo.gl/zdmbg

Ever feel like you aren’t a good wife? Fear not! Check out The Good Wife’s Guide by New York Times bestselling author Darlene Schacht (who is also a regular mom and probably cleaning her house right now.) Karen Patterson Ehman is featuring this new ebook on her blog and four women will win a free copy. See how: http://goo.gl/zdmbg

Okay….now be sure to come back tomorrow when I will be offering a “Let it Snow” giveaway package you are gonna love!

He chose homemade enchiladas and Mandarin Orange-Pineapple cake. I mentioned on Facebook what I was making and my wall blew up with requests for the cake.

So, here is the recipe that my step-mom made not too long ago and both of my boys have requested for their birthdays this year. While I love to make cakes from scratch with no artificial ingredients, this one is a short cut that uses a cake mix and Cool Whip.

It really is tasty.

However, I refrained from eating any this go-round. (For my church’s 21 day fast, I gave up eating anything that is not a real food. That would include Cool Whip.)

Enjoy!

Mandarin Orange-Pineapple Cake

1 yellow cake mix

15 ounces mandarin oranges, undrained

1 t. orange extract

4 eggs

2/3 C. oil

8 ounce container Cool Whip (Extra Creamy is best)

20 ounce can crushed pineapple, undrained

1 regular size (3.5 ounce) package French Vanilla instant pudding mix

In a large bowl, beat eggs and oil. Add orange extract. Drain about 3 T. of the juice off of the oranges. Add oranges and remaining juice to bowl along with cake mix. Beat until well blended and there are no large chunks of orange.

Pour into a 9 x 13 pan which has had the bottom and sides sprayed with baking spray (the kind with oil and flour in it.). Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350 until a toothpick comes out clean. Do not over-bake.

For frosting, combine undrained pineapple, Cool Whip and dry pudding mix until blended. Spread over cooled cake. Cover and store in the fridge.

Enjoy a summery treat in the middle of winter!

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