Bloggy Awards! YAY!

Home Among the Woods was kind enough to bestow the "Versatile Blogger" award to Boys Rule My Life! Thank you very much!









Then not but a few days later, Boys Rule My Life was also given the Stylish Blogger Award from Our Family Forest! Thank you very much, too! :)







Let me first say that I was pretty surprised to get these awards because I really haven't been keeping my blog up the way I used to... or the way I want to. So it certainly was very nice to get some encouragement! Thank you so much ladies!

Both of the bloggers above are new to me and I look forward to getting to know them better! But for the rules of the awards, I must share 7 things about me so you can get to know me better first. :) Here goes:

1. I am currently on a low carb, real food diet and have lost 16 pounds from my highest (non-pregnant) weight! Yay for me!

2. I don't like to chat on the phone. There is only a handful of people that I feel comfortable chatting with. I would much rather text and/or email.

3. I have no desire to try for a girl... just in case you are wondering. :)

4. I like to start projects, but seem to have a hard time finishing them. Starting is just so much more fun!

5. I don't iron. It is my least favorite thing to do. I will throw laundry back in the dryer on the steam cycle (more than once if necessary) and use Downy's Wrinkle Releaser spray to do my ironing for me. Ironing was my chore growing up and I grew up disliking it... a lot.

6. I have become more satisfied with the job I'm doing as a mom since I started homeschooling. I feel like I interact with my boys more and we have a much better, closer relationship because of it. Will (especially) behaves better when we have that time together, he begins to act out and crave attention when we've had a few days off.

7. I don't miss life-threatening food allergies at all. (But I'm sure you already figured that one out!) ;)


Now, I'm also supposed to nominate 15 bloggers for each of the above awards... Um... well... I don't consistently keep up with 30 different blogs. I've really lost touch in the blog world. :(

I don't like doing this, but it's pretty much my only option at this time... if you'd like to share 7 things about yourself and nominate 7 bloggers for one of the awards above, please feel free to bestow one of the awards on yourself from me. :) Please come back and leave me a comment linking to your 7 things so I can get to know YOU better!

If you don't want to create your own post, please just leave 7 things in the comments. I really would LOVE to get to know some new bloggers!

Thanks for reading Boys Rule My Life! I'm going to try to keep up with things a little better around here! :)

Go Ahead... Make My Day

More bloggy catch-up going on. Found another award.... I am such a bad bloggy friend.

This award is from MommyK @ The Great Walls of Baltimore.... from back in JUNE. {hanging head in shame}

I am supposed to pass this on to 10, yes TEN, bloggers. Whew.... Ummm... I'm going to do what I really don't like to see done, but I'm going to do it... oh. yes. I. am.

If you think you make my day, then go ahead and pick this award up for yourself. Go ahead, make my day! :)

(See how old this is.... even my signature is old...)

Beary Sweet Blog Award!

Julie @ Blessed with Five bestowed this award on me some time ago. I have yet to graciously accept and pass it on. Today I am doing some big time bloggy catch-up and I realized how late I am in accepting. Sorry, Julie! :)

I received this "BEARY Sweet Blog Award" because of one or all of these reasons:

Has an Inspirational Blog
Blog is updated at least 2 times each week
Shows faith
Has a positive attitude on life
Makes mistakes
Share real life stories/experiences
Enjoys Blogging

Now to pass this award onto six other bloggers that meet at least one of the criteria on the list:

Bekahcubed
A Quest for Relevance
Life and Times
The Adventures of T and Super B
The Great Walls of Baltimore
Unplug Your Kids

Somebody Thinks I'm Excellent! Thanks!

Mama Belle has bestowed the Excellent Award on me!

Thank you so much for the award! What a wonderful surprise!

Although I recently accepted this award and have already nominated my 10 favorite bloggers, I'd like to add these to my ever changing bloggy favs:

The Adventures of T & Super B
Milk Allergy Mom
Buncha Blue-Eyed Monkeys
The Great Walls of Baltimore
The Miss Elaine-ous Life

E for Excellent

A huge thanks to The Miss Elaine-ous Life for rating my blog as "Excellent". What a great surprise! Thank you so much!

I recently gave this award to 10 other bloggers; however, I wanted to be sure and give Miss Elaine some linky love! Stop by her place and tell her Becky sent ya! :)

Award: Blogging with a Purpose

Mary @ Notbefore7 has given me this blogging with a Purpose award for my commitment to Christ while blogging with a purpose through my Simple & Slow Fridays carnival! Wow, thank you, I'm honored!

The carnival is something new this year and I've only recently started sharing my faith through the ol' blawg. It peaked in a few times early on, but now I'm trying to be a little bolder in sharing.

My faith is part of what makes me, well... me - a HUGE part and I think it is important to share it, record it, and live it. (Not necessarily in that order...) And for those interested, Jeff and I are working together on a follow-up post to the Lent post - it has brought up some great discussions.

Now on to the awards!

Blogging With a Purpose Award Rules:

1. Awarded parties must nominate five people who have not received the award.

2. The blogs that receive the award must serve some purpose.

3. In their post about the award they need to link back to this entry.

4. Awarded parties must post the award banner on their site. The banner must remain linked to the above linked site.

And the winners are, in random order...

Redefining Sanity - Lulu (mom to 3) records life with her children and if there is a better purpose than that, you let me know. :) She and I worshiped together when we lived in the same town. Now we're in different states. I love her perspective on faith and the bible. She is very knowledgeable and convicted, always ready to listen, and gives her opinion based on bible teachings - not a "standard" answer that she heard somewhere. I love her open-mind and thoughtful heart.

Happy at Home - Laurel (mom to 3 boys) was the one who gave me a copy of Mitten Strings for God which spurred me on to Simple & Slow Fridays. Her blog purpose is to live simply. I love going there for ideas and sometimes for a good step on the toes and a wake up call. She has a very strong faith; although we don't always agree, we always have good conversation. :)

A Quest for Relevance - (mom to 3 boys) I never know what I'm going to find at Beth's and I mean that in the best way! Some days it's deep, sometimes it's personal, and sometimes it's about knitting. She's really Givin' Knit Away on another blog! Swing by and wish her a Happy Birthday, too!

Mama of Boys - (3 boys to be exact) - Tracy and I found each other somehow during the beginning of my dairy-free quest. She's on her own dietary quest with her middle child and the rest of the family, too. She homeschools her boys and provides some yummy recipes, too! I've even featured her Apple Muffins on my recipe blog! So good!!! I don't get over her way as much as I'd like, but it's always nice to know there is someone out there going through the whole dairy-free thing "with" me.

Coins in the Couch - Her sidebar reads: She watches over the ways of her household, And does not eat the bread of idleness. Proverbs 31:27. This is a relatively new blog and one that I've been perusing for only a short while. I thought I'd pass on some linky love (as well as the award) to her. She and I are on the same path to save money! CVS and Publix.... here we come! :)

There are a few others that I could have mentioned... it was a bit hard to narrow it down, but I have learned something from this award experience: I want to surround myself with more faith-building bloggers. There are lots of great reads out there, but I'd like to find more Christian bloggers, so I'm off to go check out Christian Women Online. Any other suggestions?

Thanks again, Mary, for the award!

I'm Big-Time Now!

Sarah at My Life with Boys and Mom24 at Heritage Academy have bestowed the same award upon my blog in the same week! And it's my first bloggy award! I am so honored and so shocked! Thank you, thank you! Just when I was starting to think I had nothing to blog about and that I was getting boring, along comes an award! Hmmm....

Anyway...

Here it is in all it's glory: EXCELLENT!



Now, with this award comes a certain responsibility; I must pass this award onto 10 other blogs that I think are EXCELLENT! Wow, 10! That's a lot. Do I check out enough blogs to award 10? Let's see...

In no particular order, of course...

1. Happy at Home- Laurel is simplifying her life and loving it! She and I are real-life friends and apparently living parallel lives.

2. Take90West
Lisa is HILARIOUS! I mean, really... how does she pull of talking about Turkey Testicles?

3. NotBefore7
Mary seems to be a kindred soul of mine. I "heart" Mary. She's a great blogger with three kids. We talk antibiotics, the bible, and other kinds of adult conversation. I have really enjoyed getting to know her and including my Tiny Talkers on her weekly carnival.

4. UnplugYourKids
Mom Unplugged has a really "current" blog. What I mean by that is, she's always got something going on over there for a great conversation or read: today it's a Target ad, but it's been lead toys, book and toy recommendations, charitable children, lots of interesting things. I feel like a real person when I'm at her blog, not just a mom. Oh, and of course she's been helpful with the whole unplugging my kids thing, too, with her Unplugged Projects.

5. Money Saving Mom
I'm just getting started in my quest to be more frugal, but if you are interested in saving some money... head over to this blog right now! I can't tell you how informative her blog is on saving! She's got a CVS 101 post, too, in case you're like me as I didn't have a clue how to "play the game". I visit her blog daily, well, I suppose it's more lurking than visiting! :)

6. Crunchy Chicken
Environmental junkie? Well, proabably. I love this blog because it's not your normal "be kind to the environment". She comes up with some crazy challenges and has fun while doing it! Personally, I've taken the Diva Cup Challenge and was surprised to have made the switch! I am currently participating in the Freeze Yer Buns challenge. If you head over there, don't bother telling her I sent you... she'll have no idea who I am as I just lurk about over there, too...

7. OrgJunkie
I lurk here, too, except on (most) Mondays when I participate in her Meal Plan Monday. I'm also getting ready for her Monthly Organizing Round-up... I hope to be an ACTIVE participant in that (as does Jeff, I am sure!).

8. Keeper of the Home
A blog new to me and I just introduced myself to her this past week. (At least I'm not lurking EVERYWHERE). Very interesting posts about what you would expect... keeping the home: saving money, feeding babies, being a mom, cooking, etc. A great place to pop in for some positiveness. (I guess that's a word as spell check didn't yell at me...)

9. Redefining Sanity
Oh, Lulu... Lulu is another real-life friend. I must say one of the best friends I will ever have. She tolerates me well. :) Lulu is a mother of three and she is wise beyond her years. She is one of the most intelligent people I know. This girl has got some brains! She is so down to earth though. She writes just like she speaks. She's new to personal blogging, so head over and check her out. You can tell her that I sent you, because she'll know who I am... oh, will she ever know! :)

10. Cooking for Mara
I really like this blog because it has been so helpful for me in our dairy-free journey. She deals with more allergens than I do, but does it with such a loving heart and makes it sound so easy. For some healthy cooking ideas or more on dairy-free, gluten-free, soy-free living, head on over.

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Obviously a portion of these 10 bloggers have no idea that I exist, but I think they are EXCELLENT! Those that do know me, well, I think they are REALLY EXCELLENT because they deal with me and my randomness.

Some of you have already received this award - so be it. If you feel the need to nominate 10 more bloggers, go ahead. If not, just know that I think you're EXCELLENT!

If you haven't received this award before, well, good! I'm the first to tell you how EXCELLENT you are! Go tell the world about your top 10 EXCELLENT blogs.

Go! Spread the word!

YOU! ARE! EXCELLENT!
(and so am I! LOL!)