Celebrating 10 Years of Blogging! (and 11 Giveaways!)

Hello, and Happy Tuesday, my friends!

Well I can hardly believe this, but it was 10 years ago TODAY that I wrote my very first post here at By Sun and Candlelight! I remember being so nervous to make this leap, taking my private life and making parts of it public ...

Who would read this? Would I have time? Would I embarrass myself (or my family)? Was it even safe?

But boy am I glad I got up the nerve, because this has been such a wonderful adventure! I love chatting with you all here - always wishing we were really sitting in my living room with pots of tea and lots of books and goodies to show and tell about - like planners and journals and nature notes and cookbooks and favorite resources and of course, our precious kids! I've loved meeting new friends through this blog and hearing from readers who've been with me from the beginning (or thereabouts). As a blogger, I've enjoyed being a little more creative than I might otherwise would be - and being curious, testing out new ideas and exploring familiar passions. Reporting in, and hearing back. Sharing pictures and memories and goals and my various attempts at this project or that. Maybe a new way to celebrate a season or a different way of keeping track of those daily to-dos?

But perhaps most of all I LOVE that with this blog, I have a very thorough family scrapbook of the past 10 years! I love reading back over all the memories ...

When I started here, this is what my boys (only three of them then) looked like:

(And now these little guys are 20, 16 and 14 years old ... while Little Bear will be 3 in May!)

So, today I'd like to bless my readers with a wee bit of the joy I myself have found through blogging. One of the ways blogging has blessed me is in finding and sharing wonderful resources - so here I have a set of 11 such resources, and I'm offering them all as giveaways! If you are interested, take a look at the picture below and then leave me a comment telling me which numbers (further described below) you are intrested in. I'll choose a winner for each giveaway from the names of those interested.

(So, say you like #s 1, 4 and 7 - I will enter your name when drawing for each of those "prizes.")

All I ask is that you let me know how you found me and what you've enjoyed seeing here at my blog - and what you'd like to see more of in the future! This will help me shape upcoming posts ... I have a crazy number of ideas but I love getting a little "direction" when I can. :)

Ok, so now, here are the giveaways ...

⭐️ No. 1 The Baby's Good Morning Book & Baby's Morningtime CD  ... my all-time favorite baby's book, a collection of nursery rhymes and poems, beautifully illustrated in sunwashed shades by Kay Charao. The CD features all these poems set to music, sung by Judy Collins. These are second copies I came to own unexpectedly and would love to pass on ...

⭐️ No. 2 The Life Giving Home by Sally and Sarah Clarkson ... a new book I purchased recently, but have not had time to read, and really want to bless someone else with what I can see is a lovely and life-affirming (home-affirming) book. I'll borrow a copy at a later date ... when I have more time to read!

⭐️ No. 3 A collection of favorite children's books - some of our go-to reads of which we have extra copies to spare! I'd love for other children to enjoy them as much as we have/do. (Click on the picture to get a better look.)

⭐️ No. 4 Montessori Play-and-Learn Handbook and The Heart of Learning (K-3) which is an introduction to Oak Meadow in the youngest grades. I have extra copies of the latter and I no longer need the former, so I'd like for someone else to enjoy them!

⭐️ No. 5 Break-In at the Basilica and Lost in Peter's Tomb ... fun mystery novels for kids set at the Vatican! My older boys enjoyed reading these many years ago (there was a time when they were fascinated by Vatican architecture), and now we'd like to pass them on to another family.

⭐️ No. 6 This is a sweet little journal I picked up on clearance - a soft, beribboned, shell-print cover protecting a tidy notebook lined in blue and red. I think this might make a handy seaside diary! The Seashore Sticker Book was never used by my boys and I think it would make a nice companion to the journal ... a way to inspire some summer nature adventures, perhaps?

⭐️ No. 7 Organic Baby & Toddler Cookbook and La Leche League's Whole Foods for Babies and Toddlers ... two really great healthy-eating cookbooks for those precious early years. I'd love to pass them on to another organic-minded mama!

⭐️ No. 8 A Child's Book of Blessings and A Child's Book of Prayers ... I forgot we even had these! They turned up recently and I would love to share them with another family. They are very pretty little board books filled with sweet words of faith and grace and charming illustrations by Susan Wheeler of Holly Pond Hill fame. :)

⭐️ No. 9 A Little Boy's Bible Storybook (for Mothers and Sons) ... I read this many years ago with my older boys but have since moved on to other resources for my younger boys. This is a colorful and easy-to-use book of bible stories for little boys (with suggestions for follow-up talks with mom).

⭐️ No. 10 The Golden Press Children's Bible ... I'm sure many of you have copies of this beloved, old-fashioned children's bible - we have three or four copies, including both Bill's and mine from when we were young! I'd love to offer one of my extra copies to another family to enjoy with their children!

⭐️ No. 11 Downton Abbey, Season 1 DVD ... my dad just gifted us with a set of seasons 1-3 so this is an extra I'd love to pass along! Plus a pretty bound notebook which would make a neat little journal for all manner of things - daily gratitude, a running to-do list, a shopping notebook for your purse?

🌞

Whenever I do a giveaway, I always wish I could name more than one "winner" and now I can! But, why the number 11 you might wonder? Well, there's one giveaway for each year of blogging ... plus one "to grow on." :)

So, my friends - I hope you are excited about these giveaways! And I hope you'll comment and let me know which of the 11 you are interested in. (You can "vote" for all, or one, or however many you'd like! Just name the numbers in your comment.) You are also, of course, more than welcome to comment even if you have no interest whatsoever in these giveaways! I'm just hoping all of these items will find good homes, and I know there are many such homes to be found with my readers. Let me know what you think, when you can ... drop me a note, cast a vote ... I will be taking a break from blogging till after Easter, but will announce the winners on Friday, April 1st. So spread the word if you will and of course, best of luck!

And as always, THANK YOU, so much, for being my readers ... my listeners ... and such very kind friends. I wish each of you a wonderful Easter and am keeping every one of you in my prayers.

In Peace,

~ Dawn