For Those About to Write...We Salute You! Blogger Idol 2013

If you read a lot of blogs like we do, you'll know that there are some amazing folks out there. Great storytellers. Funny. Amazing writers. Some of them are all of those and then some. Blogger Idol is an annual contest to find THE most amazing writers who appeal to a wide audience (especially the judges). The contest allows them to show their stuff, meet new people, and maybe find some new readers who wouldn't otherwise stumble upon their URL. You can also win some cool prizes. But nobody plays just for prizes (right?!).

And we're throwing our three amazingly stylish hats in the ring.

Liz (finds her hat under the desk): Damn it, mine's made of paper and covered in purple marker scribbles. I swear Silas writes on everything. I'll never have anything nice until that kid's 18 and at art school.

Robyn (perfectly coiffed): Mine's pink and sparkly camo with a Harley logo on it.

Lisa (takes her hat off): Seriously. There's wolf hair. All. Over. Mine.

Why would we do this? Because it looks like fun. Because we'd love the challenge of weekly prompts and the excitement of possibly making it at least two weeks before we get eliminated (because we know we're not going to win). But who cares. Not us.

So this is our audition post. *Ta dah!* Who are we? We're three moms from different parts of the US. Liz started this blog in 2011 as an outlet for writing about her experiences with her first son. It waxed, it waned, until finally something clicked and she decided to play "go big or go home." In August of 2013 Liz invited two friends, Robyn and Lisa, to write with her, expanding the scope of the blog and adding in some fresh voices (Robyn's the fresh one, Liz and Lisa are pretty tame in comparison). The focus of our blog is, obviously, on parenting, but we tend to stray into different areas, flexing our writing muscles and our brains (which can get taken over by children). We write a weekly "What We've Learned" post which shows parenting experiences from different perspectives. We write about parenting stories in the news, cloth diapering (since we all cloth diaper our Littles), cooking, and introspecting, all things that parents these days may spend some time doing.

We hope that you have enjoyed what you've read and that you get a chance to click around the blog at different recent posts. We love seeing new faces around our Facebook community, so be sure to stop by!

Want to learn more about Blogger Idol or follow the contest on Facebook? Do. It.

Open Giveaway: Safety 1st Advance Air+ Car Seat

Are you an expecting parent or does your family need a new car seat? How fantastic would it be to win a car seat that will fit your child from 5 pounds all the way to 40 pounds rear facing and 7o pounds front facing? Safety is important for our Littles, and that's why we've partnered with other bloggers to bring you this awesome giveaway. Be sure to enter and enter often before it closes on September 29th!

Sept 15-21 marks Child Passenger Safety Week. Did you know that car crashes are the leading cause of death for children age 1 through 12 years old?  Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the goal of Child Passenger Safety week is to make sure all parents and caregivers are properly securing their children (ages 0-12) in the best car restraint (rear-facing, forward-facing, booster, seat belt) for their age and size.  

In honor of this important week, I've partnered with Thrifty Nifty Mommy, IHeart-Motherhood, Housewife on a Mission, Viva Veltoro and a handful of other great bloggers to offer our readers a giveaway for a Safety 1st Advance 70 Air+ Car Seat!

Product Details (provided by Safety 1st):
This convertible car seat was inspired by race car drivers. Air Protect+ combines Safety 1^st Air Protect® Technology with GCell HX™ - hexagonal rebounding foam used in the body of the car seat to protect the child from the multiple hits that occur in crashes. Coupled with this is the placement of Air Protect® Technology which takes crash forces away from a child’s head.  This technology was developed in partnership with racecar engineers at Bald Spot Sports and INDY Car Driver Scott Dixon to better understand the energy dynamics that a high performance driver faces in the event of a crash. 

One lucky person will win a Safety 1st Advance 70 Air+ Car Seat, valued at $190!

Open to the US only, ages 18 and up.  Ends 9/29/13 at 11:59 PM EST.

Enter using the Giveaway Tools form below.  Good Luck!

Entry-Form

Disclosure: The participating bloggers have not been compensated to host this giveaway. Prize fulfillment is the responsibility of Safety 1st. If you are a business or company and you're interested in being featured in a giveaway like this, please contact Thrifty Nifty Mommy.