Organizing Your Gift Lists with Wishpot

Since we have been spending time lately in our 8 Weeks to a Frazzle Free Christmas program creating gift lists, I thought it might be helpful to introduce Wishpot.  Wishpot is an online shopping community that allows members to create and save gift lists for themselves or family.  I have been using it a lot lately to create a gift list for my family and myself and we have also started to add the ability for our customers to add things from our store directly to their own Wish List.  Here are some of the features and benefits that I love about this service.

• Wishpot allows me to create individual gift lists for myself, kids, and husband and keep them all in one place. There is no need any longer to keep separate gift or wish lists at individual stores. Also, there is no limit to the number of gift lists you create, so you can easily create gift lists for any number of family or friends.
• Wishpot gives me an easy way to make note of and remember something that I find online but am not quite ready to buy yet. I simply add it to one of my lists and it is there when I am ready to buy.
• Wishpot makes shopping easier for my husband because he REALLY dislikes shopping in stores and prefers to shop online.
• There are many ways to add products to your gift list. You can either add gift ideas directly from one of the many products they have listed in their community or you can manually add it either through an add-on to your browser or through a link. I’ll talk more about this in a later post.
• There is a privacy setting for individual items or for my entire list that lets me control what other people can see. You can set your privacy setting to Public, Wishpot Friends Only, or Private.
• It’s free!

So if you haven’t already, head on over to Wishpot, set up your account, and start getting familiar with the features.  Tomorrow we will talk about how you can add gift ideas to your list.

Video – 8 Weeks to a Frazzle Free Christmas – Week 2

This is Week 2 of our 8 Weeks to a Frazzle Free Christmas.  You can find complete day by day details of the plan as well as printables and additional resources at http://www.familieswithpurpose.com/. #frazzlefree

Video – 8 Weeks to a Frazzle Free Christmas – Week 1

8 Weeks to a Frazzle Free Christmas begins today, so if you haven’t already, download your free ebook at http://www.familieswithpurpose.com/frazzle-free-christmas.html.  You can choose to follow along via Facebook, Twitter, email, or in our forum.

How Do You Monitor and Control the Media in Your Home?

Giving Away Kids’ Reminder Note Sets

We are giving away 4 sets of the Mom’s Plan It Kids’ Reminder Notes. To be eligible to win, simply join our Facebook fan page. That’s it!. Winners will be drawn on Friday, October 9, 2009 at 2:00 PM EST and will be notified via Facebook of their prize. Winners have 48 hours to claim their prize.

It’s Not About Our Hair

What I Think I Know – A tongue in cheek commentary of things I’ve learned (or so I think)….

I haven’t talked about this yet, because I wasn’t sure what to say and I still can’t watch the video without crying for the entire day, but I know her life wasn’t lived in vain and that she was brought into my life for a reason.

Louise was the only one of my friends who got just as excited as I did over creating family journals and making family vacation jars , and she was even the inspiration and creator of some of the activities like the giant S in our family room.  She would call me all the time with ideas for the website and about products she thought we should add to our store.  She was a “family geek” just like me and I loved her for it.  She was a true friend who believed in what I did and inspired me to be a better person, mother, and friend.  And watching her battle cancer over several years and finally having to surrender at the young age of 37 was one of the hardest things I have had to go through in my life.  She lived her life with integrity and died with integrity and never once complained about the bad hand she was dealt.

After she died in February and we had the chance to say goodbye at her funeral, I started to take the time to look through our family photos to see if there were any of me.  If you have been a reader of our newsletter for a while now you know that I spend a fair amount of time worrying about how my kids will remember me , and after Louise’s death I realized I spend no time making sure my kids have pictures of me.  I couldn’t find any pictures of me and my kids together.  They were all of just the kids or the kids and my husband.

My reasons for not being in the photo’s are just like many other moms, my hair is a mess, I don’t have makeup on, or I just want to make the good times about the kids not me; all selfish excuses that come from my own insecurities and desires and none of which are in the best interest of my kids.   Because in the end, my kids won’t care if I have make up on or if my hair was a mess, my kids are going to care that I took the time to be present in their lives and left behind physical proof of our life together.  Pictures of me give my kids more than just memories, they give them proof that I lived and loved them.

So PLEASE do your kids a favor and take some time to make sure you are in the photos, in their lives, and in their memories.  Someday they will thank you.

American Cancer Society Halloween Charity Event

If you live in the Metro Detroit area, this charity event is for you.  On October 10, 2009 Beth Merritt Photography is hosting an American Cancer Society Halloween Charity Event.  Beth is offering participants a free 15 minute photo shoot of their children (or pets) in their Halloween costumes.  In exchange for this free photo shoot, Beth is requesting that  parents make a donation to the American Cancer Society in the name of my dear friend, Louise Guindi who passed away this past February from cancer.  For every donation that parents make to the American Cancer Society, Beth will match it with a gift certificate toward the purchase of Halloween prints.  For complete details, visit Beth’s website or contact or her directly at info {at} bethmerritt(.)com or 248.250.6085 to schedule your appointment.