Divine Appointments: Unplanned Foster Mom Meetups

This morning you would have found me at my favorite coffee joint with my favorite man and a bottomless mug of my favorite beverage. I planned my lesson for church. He brought home the bacon.

While we were soaking up the freedom from tending and shushing, the foster mom of last weekend's visitors came in for a caffeine fix. We talked foster care, and she asked if we'd want to have the kids back next month. Apparently the kids enjoyed their stay with us which makes me happy.

God plants us right where we need to be. Sets our appointments for us. Love it.

That's not the only appointment God made for me this month. It turns out that one of the newbie foster moms from our licensing class works at my orthodontist (Yep, I'm a new Invisalign patient- even have a spiffy t-shirt to broadcast it).

We swapped contact information at my diagnostic appointment, and we're getting our families together for a barbecue this weekend.

Running into another foster mom is amazing. We talk like we've known each other for ages, and that's huge for me- a gal who takes a bit to warm up. I'm so blessed that I've been able to have those impromptu support group meetings, been able to compare licensing procedures and gab about house preparations and talk about fostering with bio kids. We're walking the same walk, which means we know what questions to ask and what reassurance to offer. Basically, we're talking to ourselves and we're happy to listen.

Holiday Giveaway Reminder!

Tomorrow is the final day to submit your entries for a chance to win 100 Personalized Mommy Contact Cards from Itsy Bitsy Smiles. Be sure to post your comments by 11:59 Central Time!

Click Here to Enter!

Best of Luck,

Mommy Cards: A Holiday Giveaway

The Christmas season makes me a little overly ambitious. I tend to start with a humongous wish list of activities to do with the kids, stores I want to shop, date nights I plan to take with my husband, and events to attend as a family. More often than not, school lets out for break, and before I know it, it's Christmas Eve, and I've done good to get my shopping done online and bake a batch of candy cane cookies for Santa.

THIS year, I decided to throw my expectations to the wind and wing it. Short of my Advent devotions, I'm allowing myself to do whatever seasonal activity comes to mind each day. Today, I decided to give a Christmas present to one of my readers in the form of a...

HOLIDAY GIVEAWAY!

I'm crazy-excited about this one. Really. I've been eyeing and researching these things for months, requesting samples, just waiting for a good time to kick off the entries!

Mommy Cards are the trendiest way to network with other moms (at least that's my croc-wearing opinion)! I love the thought of pulling one out of my Coach purse as I'm pushing my kid on a swing, wearing JimmyChoo heels and sipping my nonfat blah blah blah...

Even though I'm more likely to be found chasing my runaway child while wearing flips and dying of thirst because I didn't have an extra hand for my Diet Dr. Pepper, I can still stash a couple Mommy Cards in the pocket of my $5 clearance purse, and they're really handy to pass off to teachers, birthday party hostesses, club leaders, or anyone else who might not have your contact information on hand when you entrust your offspring to them!

Itsy Bitsy Smiles has a simply adorable selection of double-sided Mommy Cards at a price more reasonable than other comparable companies. Check out the site! My personal favorites are "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" and "Poodle Skirt" (love the emergency contacts on the backside!).

The site also features birth announcements, invitations, and greeting cards, all equally adorable! And if you don't see what you were searching for, they'll create a custom design just for you!

For this HOLIDAY GIVEAWAY, one reader will receive 100 personalized Mommy Cards from Itsy Bitsy Smiles in a design of her choice!

To Enter: Browse through Itsy Bitsy Smiles' Mommy Card selection and leave a comment sharing your favorite design!

Don't Stop There! Take advantage of these opportunities for extra entries:

1 Entry: Follow my blog by adding yourself to the group on my right hand sidebar, and leave a comment letting me know that you follow me.

2 Entries: Blog about this holiday giveaway, and leave a comment letting me know where to find your blog!

1 Entry: Link to Mammalog from your blog, and (yep- you guessed it) don't forget to leave a comment and let me know!

** Please leave a valid email address for contact purposes!

Deadline for entries: Thursday, December 11th 11:59 PM CST

The winner will be chosen using random.org and will be notified by email. A response is required within 3 days or the prize will be awarded to another participant.

OMNs

I've joined a couple online mommy networks- and have come across some fantastic fellow bloggers in the process- but the abbreviated lingo is out of control!  Here are a few that I've noticed.  Some I've deciphered, others I'm guessing about, and the rest have me completely confused even within context!

DH- dear husband?

SS- step son 

LO- Little one?

TTC- trying to conceive

PIOG- huh?

BF- breast fed

MIL/FIL- mother in law, father in law

Seriously, the list is endless.  Here's what my first sentence would read like in mommy forum language.

"I've joined a few OMN- and have come across some fantastic FBs in the process- but the AL is OOC."  

I find this whole element of the forums mildly amusing.