Here we go, a classifieds specifically for moms – it’s a new online shop where you are able to purchase, sell, donate or even just give away your gently used baby, kid, pregnancy items…. and more, but read the site for all that.

It’s a super cute site which has just recently launched. I was bummed at first because there was no option for my city, or even close to my city. But I’ve spoke with Norah (who happened to be the nice lady who answered my email inquiry) and she assures me they are adding other big cities soon and eventually even some not quite so big, but not little either cities… So go ahead, and register ( I live in Ohio and chose New York as my city… why, I don’t know, but there I go). Norah assured me it should be easy to switch between cities so you can always check out what’s going on over here and there.

So, sell those gently used, but still awesomely cute baby clothes.. your most comfy maternity tops and jeans, and if you have a bag of t-shirts you plain just don’t want any more donate or give them away (please… please.. just get them out of my house! we all have some of that, don’t we?)

P.S. Register before February 13th, 2009 for a chance to win a Clek Olli Booster Seat – ooh, la, la!

I got this message from one of my Ohio Homeschool yahoogroups. It’s about a family who got “tired of it all” and decided to sell everything and hit the road in an RV with 4 kids, 3 dogs and a hamster.

They have a show on TLC, called Six for the Road, journaling their travels. It airs this week (website, dates & times below) and I’m looking forward to watching it… I never watch tv. And my apologies, lately I’ve been to sick (and getting sicker) to even do much on the computer. wah, I know.

-:-:-:-:-

Hi I was wondering if you could pass this information along to your group.

Hi my name is Kati Loud. My family and I are homeschoolers. We RV full time and we have a show airing on TLC called Six For The Road It is about our life and journey. One year ago we gave away and sold everything we own and bought a fifth wheel and hit the road. We realized that we became caught up in life and became so busy with daily routines that we needed to take back our life. So we did what we have always dreamed of. We decided to leave it all behind and we have never looked back.

We love roadschooling! We have enjoyed learning so much while we are on the road. We have been able to learn hands on in the most able places. We have been from Williamsburg to the Toilet Seat Museum. We have been to NYC and experienced the big city and we have been to a small town in Tennessee to help tornado victims try to put their life back together.

We have done this as a family and we have loved it.

It is hard to go from 3500 square feet to 300 square feet. We have four kids. Two girls 15 and 13 and two boys 12 and 10. We also have 3 dogs and a little hamster. Life in an RV can get really crowded and hectic but it is fun. The first 2 episodes air on October 29 Eastern Mountain and Pacific time zones are at 10:00pm and Central is at 9:00pm. Our next two episodes air on November 5th. Same times. Each night they will show 2 episode in a row. Please watch and help us show how many homeschoolers may be interested in a show like this. We are on right after Jon and Kate plus Eight. Our production company also does there show. Please pass this info along to anyone that you think may be interested. If you would like TiVo the show and even turn all your TV’s on to help our numbers:-) We also re- air that night at 1:00am if you want to TiVo that also :-)

We have a website at www.ourloudfamily.com We are having our site re built and it will be 100% in a week or so. We have a great forum for homeschooling info, travel ideas, etc. We have our blogs that are stories and pictures of our journeys. We do have a contest right now . We our looking for people to help us design 3 new bumper stickers. There is a $100.oo first prize for each one. Here is the link for the dimensions etc Loud Family Bumper Sticker Contest – Win Big Money

If you go to our site you can sign up as a member. By doing this you can get Homeschool deals, travel deals and updates. We also have a MySpace type program for families. This is a safe MySpace type page program without a lot of junk added. Just go and design a page. We have around 200 homeschool members right now. This has been a fun way to meet other moms and to see pics of each other’s families and learn about their styles and making new friends.

We will also be on the TODAY show October 29th during the 9:00 am hour. They may have a glimpse of the show for you to see. If and if you enjoyed the show and you would like to let the network or our producers know go to our website after the show and we will have contact info for you.

We would love to have you pass the word to all that you can.
Happy trails to you and hope to meet some of you soon our travels.
Kati Loud
mom@ourloudfamily.com
momofmy4@msn.com

My hosting company – whom I typically never have complaints about – was having some server issues yesterday (and about a month ago).

Apparently the issues were bad enough they moved all the sites on that server to a new server. About 9 or so last night, all my sites were up and looking good. I made a post about the down time, about the pumpkin carving kit giveaway and 20 minutes later, poof. Momma Muse was gone. Literally, everything was gone… well, my 350+ posts from the past 3 years, hundreds of comments.. all.. gone.

I called my host and to make a long story short, I was told I’d have to start over. They do backups, but don’t guarantee them. Great. I cannot tell you how hard I cried last night.

This morning, I found a back up as recent as July 18 of this summer… and a woman from the hosting company got it imported for me. In the end, I’ve only lost 2.5 months of posts. I wish I had all my posts emailed to me.. I could copy/paste them.. Oh well. I will be subscribing to my own email rss feed though, and scheduling regular backups.

I highly recommend you do regular backups. You don’t have to keep the older backups, just keep the last couple (in case of other issues). But really, back up your stuff, posts, database, whatever is important to you. It is NO fun to lose so much.

Thankfully, I have all the comments for the Pumpkin Carving Dremel tool kit and will take of that today. Unfortunately, the contest information is, well.. gone. I’ll be working on a new post today and taking care of comments and announcing the winner.

Only 7 days to Win a FREE Dremel Pumpkin Carving Tool!

I was at one of the big box home improvement stores a few weeks ago and saw what I thought was one of the coolest pumpkin carving kits – made by dremel, a tool to carve your pumpkins.

So, here you go, I’m giving it away. I will definitely have to get another one, as I think these are just too cool!

The kit allows carvers to quickly create intricate designs, such as a haunted house or a pirate, on the surface of a pumpkin after it has been cut open and cleaned out, giving the gourd a sophisticated, iridescent appearance compared to jack-o-lanterns of the past.

Creating a spectacularly sculpted pumpkin with the Dremel Pumpkin Carving Kit is fast and easy. The kit’s 6-Volt Dremel Alkaline Cordless rotary tool features two speeds – 7,000 and 14,000 rotations per minute – to aid carvers with varying levels of experience. The lowest speed, 7,000 rpm, is the most manageable for beginners and is ideal for providing control over small and intricate designs. As carvers become more experienced, they can speed up their cutting process by switching to 14,000 rpm.

The tool’s compact size, light weight and cordless power make it easy for carvers to maneuver for intricate carving. Alkaline battery power from four AA batteries eliminates the need for a battery charger.

Also included in the kit are 10 spooky carving templates, such as a witch, ghost and skeleton, that range in levels of difficulty. By affixing the template to a pumpkin, carving becomes as easy as tracing a drawing.

The Dremel Pumpkin Carving Kit can also be used to create fun, fall decorations by carving designs in gourds, miniature pumpkins or fake pumpkins. Because the kit contains a sharp object, children are encouraged to use only with adult supervision.

Additional templates can be downloaded from the carving templates page on the Dremel Web site, or carvers can easily make their own by printing a black and white image.

Want to win this handy dandy halloweeny tool? Comment here, on this post (this is the only post that counts for the giveaway). Contest ends September 30th 2008. Winner will be chosen randomly on October 1st 2008. Halloween is just around the corner – so you must respond within 24 hours or another winner will be chosen. See Contest Guidelines for all the small print.

You don’t have to subscribe to my feed… but, I’d really like to see that number go up, so you know, if you want… please do. :) And don’t forget to Stumble, Digg, Favorite at Technorati, etc, etc.. click the button(s) below.

Contest Listed:
Contests & Sweepstakes for Moms

Generate New Traffic With Entrecard – New Member Contest

If you haven’t checked into Entrecard, now is the time to do it. Between March 15th and April 15th any new members will have the chance to win over 45,000 entrecard credits.

Sense to Save organized this awesome giveaway when, at about 3 months old, Entrecard reached and then surpassed it’s 5000th active member.

Entrecard is free, provides free advertising, has the potential to generate a lot of traffic (up to 350+ visitors a day), provides the opportunity to network with like-minded bloggers or to broaden your knowledge and interests with others outside your niche.

Explained simply, you upload a 125 x 125 banner to entrecard (or just create a simple one on their site) and this becomes your web 2.0 business card in which you visit other members and “drop” your card. For each card you drop (up to 300 a day), you get a credit. For each card dropped on you, you receive another credit. These credits are then used to purchase a daily ad on the blog(s) of your choice within the entrecard network.

How did this affect Momma Muse? Traffic has increased steadily over the past few years. Mostly my traffic generated from searches. Networking and building a community wasn’t something I really cared much to do. But I started seeing Entrecard ads and before long I really wondered what it was about. I joined and well.. I love entrecard. Entrecard gave Momma Muse a renewal, it bumped up the traffic – though some of it is “drop and run” and that’s fine with me! But within Entrecard, we are developing a recognition and branding of our sites, communicating through the forums and messaging.. friends are being made, comments are being left and the sense of community (for me) is becoming more important. So Entrecard brought MM traffic and Community. Two very important aspects for a blog and it’s blogger.

To quote the original contest details:
The Largest Entrecard Giveaway Ever

To help Entrecard’s community grow, we posted on the forums to rally everyone together and hold Entrecard’s largest community giveaway. The responses have been overwhelming – over 45,000 credits will be donated from 38 current members! Only new members will be eligible to win.

What would 44,000 credits mean to you? It would take nearly 144 days to build up this amount.

Here are the contest details:

* The giveaway will be held March 15 – April 15.
* Only new users that sign up with Entrecard during this promotional period will be eligible.
* Comment and mention your Entrecard username at any of the hosting blogs (listed below) on their contest post to receive a contest entry. You can comment one time on each hosting blog to receive one entry each comment.
* A 1st place prize of 34,000 credits will be given randomly to a new user.
* Smaller 2nd place prizes will be given within each Entrecard niche category.

Last, please note that Entrecard has a little something for everyone and will be worth your time. Even within the Official Entrecard Blog, users have differing perspectives about whether Entrecard is a place to gain visibility in the blogosphere or make new blogging friends . There is no right or wrong way to benefit from Entrecard.

Currently, there are 38 members participating by donating and hosting this, the “Largest Entrecard Giveaway“.

• Blogging Resources:
  TysBlog.com (Host, Donation received) – 1000
  MeAndMyDrum (Host) – 1000
• Business
  ReapMoneyOnline (Host, Donation received) – 1000

  Career Jobs:
  Bloggin-Ads (Host) – 504 (168 * 3 people, for "prosperity")

• Computers and Internet:
  Orangeinks – 1000
• Cooking and Dining:
  Jenn Cooks  (Host, Donation received) – 1000 *Contest up*
• Education:
  Education Connection (Host)
• Environment:

  We Love Nature (Donation received) – 1000

• Finance and Investing:
  Sense to Save (Host) – 2000 *Contest up*
  Personal Finance Management Guide (Donation received) – 1000

  The Money Kings (Host, Donation received) – 1000 *Contest up*

• Health and Medicine:
  Diet Pulpit (Host, Donation received) – 1000 *Contest up*
• Hobbies:

  ahkong.net – Deimos Tel`Arin’s domain – Gamer, Blogger, Philosopher – 1188 (Host, Donation received, for "prosperity")

• Home and Garden:
  You Can Learn Series (Host, donation received) – 1000 *Contest up*
• Internet Marketing:
  Yimto Affiliate Marketing Blog (Host) – 1000
  Dot Com Mogul (Host) – 1000
• Lifestyle:

  Momma Muse (Host, Donation received) – 2000
  My World (Donation received) – 1000
  MarcRoger.com (Host, Donation received) – 1000
  When Silence Speaks (Host) *Contest up*

• Make Money Online:
  CK Marketing (Host, Donation received) – 2000
  Internet Business Guide For First Class Progress – 3000 (Donation received)

  Make Money Online – 1000

• Marketing:
  1 Million in 365 Days (Host) – 1000 *Contest up*

  Josh’s Unconventional Marketing Blog (Donation received) – 1000

• Men’s Interests:
  Trend Spike – 1000 and a Fast Pass (Donation received)
• Mixed Bag:
  An Unsuspecting Notebook (Host) – 1000
  Unique Log – 1500
• Parenting and Family:

  Mommieshome.net (Host, Donation received) – 1000 *Contest up*
  Parent Life (Host, Donation received) – 2000

• Personal Diary:
  An Unsuspecting Notebook (Host) – 2000

  Lee Doyle – Contains Nuts (Donation received) – 2000
  Joan Joyce (Donation received) – 1000
  Blogging MoRe (Host) – 1000

  Crystal – 1000
  Geek Mom Mashup – 1000

• Sports:
  Fantasy Baseball (Donation received) -1000
• Technology:
  Michael Aulia (Host, Donation received) – 1000
  Technology Blog and More (Host?, Donation received) – 1000
• Travel:
  Gilbert’s Frugal Travels (Host)
• Women’s Interests:
  Five Blondes (Host, Donation received) – 1000
• Writing and Literature:
  A Time and Place (Host, donation received) – 1000 *Contest up*