Bloggy Giveaways: Mighty Leaf Tea

***This Giveaway Is Now Closed. Thank you to everyone who entered.***

Bloggy Giveaways is hosting yet another carnival of awesome giveaways! Already there are hundreds of blogs participating.

I thought that this time around I would have a giveaway that is near and dear to my heart.

Chocolate. AND. Tea.


Put them together and you get Mighty Leaf Tea.


Now I haven't actually tried this out yet, because my hubby insists that I need to clean out some of my tea in the pantry first.

I like tea. And I like variety in tea.

So I have a few different boxes and tins sitting in the pantry.

But I DO use them all on a regular basis. Most days I have at least one or two cups of tea.

Nevertheless, I emptied one tin earlier this week so that should be good enough for hubby, right?!?

I have it on good authority that Mighty Leaf makes some pretty darn good tea. Their website is fabulous and they have glowing remarks in the testimonials section. I have been waiting months to put in an order.

So with that being said...onto my giveaway!

For your drinking pleasure, I am offering up one sampler tin of chocolate truffle tea. There are 6 flavors to choose from: Mayan Chocolate Truffle, Masala Chocolate Truffle, Chocolate Mint Truffle, Chocolate Orange Truffle, Mocha Pu-erh Truffle and Pear Carmel Truffle.

Mmm. Don't those sound delicious?

This giveaway is open to everyone, everywhere.

In your comments, please let me know which flavor you would like to sample.

For a second entry, please subscribe to my blog and leave a Separate comment.

For a third entry, please read through The Story Of Us and tell me (in another Separate comment) what you appreciated the most, or what you would like to hear about next.

Thanks for looking at my blog and good luck!

Brr!

It's only 8:30 and already I am FREEZING!!

You know it's turning cold when you check the weather forcast and it gives a wind chill factor already.

Darn wind chill.

It really ruins everything.

Mitts and toques are out.

Boots are ordered and on their way to the post office.

Agh.

I really don't like winter.

I hate being cold.

I can't wait for January when we go somewhere warm. We've been talking about it more recently as the travel packages continue to go down in price and we browse websites looking for good deals.

Ahhhhh....I can almost feel the warm sun beating down on me right now.

Almost.

Zelda

We have never been the first ones to own the latest and greatest game systems.

In fact, years ago we received an N64 from John's brother who wasn't using it anymore.

That went great for a couple of years until it died. But we were able to take it in to a store that gives you money for the games and systems and we traded up for a Game Cube.

That was about 2 1/2 years ago now, just when the WII was coming in.

I rarely pick up a game with the desire to play, but lately I have been playing a lot of the game Zelda: Twilight Princess.

It may have something to do with the lack of good TV, but at least I am enjoying something to do in the evenings.

Actually I'm having so much playing this game that I've been playing it during the day now too.

Apparently the girls have picked up a lot watching John play this game in the past. He's not much of a video fanatic either, but every once in a while he goes on a playing kick that lasts for a couple of months.

So whenever I play, the girls gladly offer up their advice in the game. Quite often they are absolutely correct! It stunned me for a while to see how much they remembered from watching their daddy play.

Ella is actually quite THE FAN of video games. She begs and begs for me to play it during the day.

She talks about Zelda to random people, who are probably wondering who on earth this Zelda person is.

Now I must add that I really am not much of a "gamer". Hah hah, that title alone just makes me laugh because I am so far from that! Actually I enjoy the fun aspects of the game, but as soon as I have to fight an "end boss" in a level, I save it and leave it for John to fight. I get too stressed out and end up dying otherwise.

Yesterday John came home from a few hours at work playing catch-up and Ella asked him if he could help me beat the bad guy because "Mommy isn't very good at it".

Yep. Daddy gets the bad guys. Literally.

And me? What do I do?

I keep my girls entertained. At least for now.

But I'm really looking forward to the day when we retire our Game Cube and buy a WII. I think we will have even more fun then!

Mysterious

We have gone over 1 full year without a mysterious rash appearing on Ella's body.

Unfortunately yesterday a new rash suddenly appeared all over her skin.

Last year Ella had 3 different types of weird rashes. No two were alike but we kept on taking her to a local doctor to diagnose.

Then we were referred to an allergy specialist. Fortunately we were able to get in to that office fairly quickly and from all of his questions (and the lack of a rash while we were there) he didn't think that these rashes were any type of allergic reaction. His suggestion was to take pictures if a new rash was to appear.

That was over a year ago.

The new rash this weekend is not very red and the bumps are very small so I don't even think it would show up in a photo. But it covers the core of her body, front and back. It doesn't bother her, but it sure bothers me!

So now what? If the rash is still there tomorrow, I may be calling the local doctor to see what to do. Agh!

Good TV?

Is anyone else sick of all the crap on TV these days?

Seriously!

I feel like I am starting to sound like an old lady but there really isn't much that I enjoy watching on TV anymore.

So many new shoes are just filth and I don't want to waste my time.

I don't have many favorites but even those are going downhill.

Today is the first time that I haven't watched Grey's Anatomy. I have decided to stop watching that show.

It used to be one of my favorite shows but this season the new lesbian storyline is a bit much for my liking. I know that every show has to have their token gay story but I really don't need it to be in so much detail. Plus, it just seems to have the same stories over and over again. Kinda like ER. I haven't watched ER for several years now.

So really I only watch Heroes now. I occasionally watch Criminal Minds too.

No more CSI 'cause it's all the same stuff over and over.

No more reality shows...same reason.

I'm anxiously waiting for January when Lost and 24 will be back on.

For now, I will be watching The Office on DVD. I was saving the episodes for when I was on the treadmill, but what am I supposed to do all evening when John is working nights? And he usually works nights. But I gotta do something.

And I'm anxious to see what happens with Jim & Pam in Season 3.

What are you watching lately?

Practicing Piano

Brianna is 3 weeks into piano lessons and we are trying our best to practice each day.

I never realized how difficult fitting a little practice in each day can be. But I truly want to set a good routine NOW before it becomes a chore in the later years.

I have also been trying to practice for myself several times a week. I have not had a lesson yet, as it was recommended to me by my mother-in-law (who also teaches Suzuki piano) that it would probably be best to start in Brie's second year of lessons.

We listen to the Suzuki CD a lot each week and we are slowly learning the words to the songs. Actually, Ella is the fastest learner in our family when it comes to music. She knows the lyrics better than anyone! She claps out the rhythms and sings her heart out. I just love it!

Since we listen the CD so often, I am learning the songs in my head quite well (which is the whole point of Suzuki anyways). I have been plucking away at those ivory keys and have actually impressed myself with how quickly I am improving each week. I am FAR from playing well, but I am beginning to play with both hands and it doesn't sound completely terrible anymore. I have even noticed improvements from day to day which helps stress the importance of daily practicing for both of us!

Life is just getting so busy.

We have completed 4 weeks out of 10 for Music Pups already. We are having a lot of fun each Thursday morning! Ella has a couple of girl friends in class with us and they all have a blast together. Sometimes they are a bit of a challenge to rein in before we start another song, but the main thing is that they are having fun with the music. It's always fun to see how each week the kids have more fun as they know the songs better and are more comfortable with me as the teacher.

We are excited that Gymnastics finally starts tomorrow. It turns out that the high school will have room for us afterall. Ella is quite thrilled to be starting this and I know that this will be a great outlet for all of her extra energy. Sitting at home (especially with Brie gone during the day to Pre-K, piano and dance) she is getting bored.

Bored children drive me crazy.

Probably because I am a reformed bored child.

I am now a bored adult.

Which is getting much better since we are getting so busy!

Chef In The Making

Every time I bake or cook in the kitchen, Ella offers to help.

Most of the time it's really sweet.

Other times, like when I'm trying to quickly make something for supper because I've left it until the last minute, it's not so wonderful when she tries to squeeze her way into the kitchen, dragging her little wooden chair behind her and crying and whining when I don't let her help.

Really, I love that she loves to cook.

She loves pouring.

She loves stirring.

She loves turning on the mixer.

She loves getting out ingredients.

However, not all of the ingredients are tasty with whatever we are making.

Like today, for example. Today we are making pumpkin pies.

Mmm.....pumpkin pie. With real whipped cream. Mmm.....

Oh wait! I can't eat them yet.

Anyways, Ella thought that salt & vinegar popcorn seasoning would taste great in the pie.

Fortunately the shaker did not open and my wonderful pie is not defiled.

Here she is helping me today.

And this was taken last week when she helped John make a pan of brownies. He let her hold of the container of sprinkles. Note the location of the sprinkles. I could have predicted this outcome!!

It's just so strange. How does she know every single time when I am about to start baking? She shows up as soon as she hears me pull the mixer out of the cupboard. It's almost like her mind is ahead of me. Then the pulling out of ingredients begins. A lazy susan cupboard is nice, unless you have a very helpful 2-year-old and then it's a struggle to keep her out of it.

"How about this one mommy?" No, I don't think baking soda would be good in a quesadilla.

Ah, my sweet little girl. I don't know why she enjoys cooking so much more than her sister. I know that all kids like to help, but to her, this is a true interest of hers.

I look forward to the days when she is baking on her own. Hopefully there are no strange ingredients by that time and she follows the recipe EXACTLY as it is.