To be honest, I never really expected anyone to read it – and I’m pretty sure that, at the beginning, very few were.  But thanks to the prodding of my super-supportive husband and my ever-enthusiastic sister, Mindy, I kept posting.  Now, several years later, there are loads of you out there.  Some of you have been around for years and a bunch more pop in for the first time every day.  It’s that last group I’m trying to help out with today’s post.  I know it can be a bit difficult to know where to start when you first happen upon my blog.  So my goal is to create a ‘best of MeckMom’ post that can hang out at the top of my blog and give new readers a great introduction to the MeckMom way of doing things.

For today’s Talk To Me Tuesday post I’m asking for your help to find the best MeckMom posts of the past 3 and a half years.  Which MeckMom idea have you tried at your house?  Were there any posts that jumped out at you as a particularly helpful or creative?  If you were going to recommend MeckMom to a friend which post would you mention?  I know it seems like I’m begging for compliments here but I’m really not.  I’d just like to create a great little quick-reference list for new readers to enjoy.  Additionally, your feedback will really help me know which type of posts you guys would like to see more of in the future.

I know it’s a lot to ask, but your feedback is really important to me.  So even if you’ve never sent in a comment before, I hope you’ll add your vote to this post.  Remember, it doesn’t have to be your all-time favorite, just a quick note about a post that has helped you make your everyday life a little easier.  As a little incentive, I’m offering the winning commenter a MeckMom exclusive – a great new conversation game I’ve created called Chatterbox.  I’ll be posting more about Chatterbox later this week but trust me, you’ll want to get in on this giveaway.  How’s that for a teaser?

The giveaway will be open all week and the winner will be chosen at random next Tuesday (Oct 11th) at midnight CST. I’ll contact the winner via email and post the winner’s comment name here.  Good luck, everyone!  As always, to those of you who comment, thanks for passing it on.

*This giveaway is now closed (but please feel free to keep commenting).

And the winner (randomly chosen by the iPhone app, iChoose) is… #21– Mikelle! Thank you so much for all your feedback.  I loved reading all the comments this week!  It’s so fun for me to know that you guys are actually getting something helpful from all my ramblings.  I’ll be creating the Reader’s Favorites page with all the links soon.  Congrats on your big win, Mikelle.  I’ll be contacting you via email today.

I’d pretty much resigned myself to living with my husband’s hoarding habits when I got a great email from a clutter-busting company called Campus Quilts (perhaps you heard about them on the Today show or Rachel Ray). They’ve come up with a great solution for t-shirt stockpilers like my husband.

In a nutshell, the experts at Campus Quilt Co. specialize in taking your treasured t-shirts and transforming them into fun, functional, and durable memory quilts. They sent me a quilt kit to sample and I must say I’m really impressed with their process. The kit contained detailed instructions so I can get the exact colors and layout I want, as well as all the materials I will need to ship my shirts back to their facility (the shipping was even pre-paid for me). Their turn-around is generally only two to three weeks, so my Ohio State T-shirt memory quilt should arrive just in time for football season – go Buckeyes!

The whole solution is such a win-win for me. He gets to hang on to his favorite shirts from his alma mater and I get to free up a bunch of space in our closet. It’s too bad they can’t make quilts out of old engineering text books. I could really use the extra space in my basement.  Oh well, I guess you can’t win them all.

So here’s the great news, Campus Quilt Company has generously offered to give away a Quilt Kit and a $150 gift card to one lucky MeckMom reader. The winner will receive a $150 gift card and a quilt kit with order form, layout guide, fabric swatch card, bag to mail the clothing, and a pre-paid UPS mailing label. You’ll get to choose your own layout, quilt details, and colors. They’ll even email you multiple times throughout the process to let you know the status of your order and to give you peace of mind that your treasured t’s are in good hands.

A memory quilt like this would make a great Christmas gift! In fact, you should hop on over to their site to check out their sample quilts and read their customer testimonials. They’re customer service ratings are really impressive. Here are a two sample quilts from their site to give you a few ideas on how you could put the gift card to good use.

To enter to win, you simply have to leave a comment on this post with your favorite clutter busting tip. It doesn’t have to be related to closets. It could be on any clutter-related area. The giveaway will be open all week and the winner will be chosen at random next Tuesday (Sept 8th) at midnight CST. I’ll contact the winner via email and post the winner’s comment name here. Good luck, everyone! I can’t wait to read all your clutter-busting solutions. As always, for those of you who comment, thanks for passing it on.

*This giveaway is now closed.

And the winner (chosen randomly by the iPhone app iChoose) is…Commenter #8, Mindy.  Congratulations!  I hope you enjoy your gift card.  I’ll be contacting you via email tonight.  If I don’t receive a response within 72 hours another winner will be chosen.  Thanks for playing, everyone!

• An Eye for An Eye: Often the most successful discipline takes the least amount of effort.  When my 9 year-old daughter left the lids off the markers and ditched them on the carpet (for the third time), I grabbed one of the washable markers and wrote “I love my MOM!” in big letters on her arms and forehead – then sent her out to play with her friends.  She was mortified, of course, but I’m pretty sure the message sunk in.
• Stairs to Nowhere: When I was little, my Dad would make us run laps around the house (one lap for each year of age).  I adapted this technique for my own house by making my kids run up and down our 15-step flight of stairs.  I love this one because it can be used for almost anything.  If they take 45 minutes to finish a 10 minute chore, 5 sets of stairs.  If they completely ignore me when I ask them to turn off the wii, 10 sets of stairs.  If they get out of a math test by telling their teacher I’m in the hospital having a baby, …well you get the idea.
• A Different Kind of Pillow Fight: There are few things I hate more than shouting – especially whiny shouting.  When they were little, I used to force the offenders to sit across from each other and sing the BYU fight song until they could be friendly again.  Now that they’re older I don’t have as much time to be the mediator so I’ve instituted a new rule – the kids are welcome to shout at each other as loud as they can as long as they cover their faces with a pillow and shout through it.  Generally I’ve found that the muffled result causes a lot of laughter and cools down any heated tempers.

Ok, you know the drill, I shared a few of mine now it’s time for you to share yours.  Good news!  This month I have a great little commenting incentive for you.  Mariah from the Etsy shop ‘look what Mariah Made with love‘ has generously offered to give away one of her incredibly popular Onsie Cuddle Sacs to a very lucky commenter.  These adorable little newborn garments are a perfect example of form meeting function – they’re made of gorgeous materials (don’t you just love that chunky grosgrain ribbon at the bottom?) and the clever design makes those frequent newborn diaper changes a cinch.  Whether you’ve got a little of your own or just want to have a fabulous baby shower gift on hand – you’ll definitely want to give this giveaway a try.

The giveaway will be open until next Tuesday (June 21) at midnight CST.  The winner will be chosen at random, contacted by email and announced here.  There’s no catch…you can choose any fabric you like from her collection and the shipping is included.

As always, to those of you who participate, thanks in advance for passing it on.

*This giveaway is now closed.

And the winner (chosen by the iPhone app iChoose) is #16 Rachal.  Congratulations on your big win, Rachal.  I’ll be contacting you via email tonight.  Thanks to all of you for sharing your parenting wisdom.

If fact, I’m so anxious to get your feedback that I’ve decided to offer a little giveaway as well.  The winning commenter will get their own fabulous full set of Scripture Mastery stickers in the color of their choice.  You can check out the new color options by clicking here.  Commenting will be open until Sunday night at midnight.  At that point a commenter will be chosen at random and be contacted via email.  The shipping is on me, so if you’ve got an idea to share I hope you’ll enter the giveaway by adding it to the comments below.  Thanks, everyone.  I can’t wait so see what you pass on.

And the winner (randomly chosen by the iPhone app, iChoose) is… #3 – Untypically Jia! Thank you so much for all your feedback.  I loved reading all the comments this week.  I can’t wait to make the Enrichment plan for the year.  Congrats on your big win, Jia.  I’ll be contacting you via email today.

This giveaway in now closed.  However, if you’d like to share more Enrichment ideas please keep commenting!!!  Thanks for passing it on.

Hey everyone.  Happy October!  It’s my favorite month of the year and to celebrate I’ve decided to kick things off with a fun and fabulous giveaway.

Loads of you took on the Wanda Witch party last year and from what I’ve heard – you had a blast.  Judging from the emails I’ve been receiving in the past two weeks there will be many more Wandas coming out of the woodwork this Halloween.  I wish you all the best of luck and hope you’ll comment on your successes here.

This year, I’ve received several emails from you Wanda’s out there asking for more clue and challenge ideas.  Rather than post only my own, I thought it would be fun to throw the challenge back to you.  Several of you daring readers have hosted the party and many more are giving it a go this year.   My hope is that you’ll share your favorite clues and challenge ideas in the comments area of this post.  If you have attended a Wanda Witch party and enjoyed a particluar clue or challenge, I’d love your feedback too.  My goal is to create a big clue/challenge idea bank that future Wandas can draw from and enjoy.

As an incentive, I’ve got a great witchy giveaway for one lucky commenter.  My incredibly-talented friend Alison has generously donated some fabulous Halloween decor from her popular Etsy shop.  This be’witching’ hand-made letter set is perfect for your Halloween mantle or table.  The letters are beautifully crafted – like all of Alison’s creations – and are loaded with trendy accents and finishes.  The tallest letter is about 11″ high and roughly 7″ wide.  For a full description and more pictures click this link to Alison’s Etsy Shop.  Click here to visit her new website and see more of her crafty creations.  She has several of her products listed, but she’s great with custom orders if you don’t see exactly what you’re looking for.

The shipping is on me so if you’ve hosted, attended, or are planning your own Wanda Witch party, just leave a brief description of your favorite clue or challenge idea.  You’ll automatically be entered to win the giveaway.  The contest will be open until midnight two weeks from today (deadline: October 15th, 2008).  Just thought I’d pass it on.

*For those of you that are still trying to protect your identity, feel free to leave your witch alias in the comments area.  As long as your email address works, I will be able to contact you when you win.   Thanks everyone!

**THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.  THANKS FOR PARTICIPATING!

My 5 year-old daughter had the privilege of picking the winning comment number today.  She drew the number 26.  So congratulations to Lisa.  I’ll be sending you an email shortly.  Thanks again to everyone that participated.   I hope you had a wonderful holiday weekend.  More great tips and simple solutions to come soon.  Just thought I’d pass it on.