This month’s group writing project was based around the theme of “Motherhood to me.” We had eight beautiful entries that cover a wide range of motherhood (and future motherhood) experiences:

• Lessons from my Children by Elisa Allan
• My Little 3 Year Old by An Ordinary Mom
• Motherhood to me by Jordan (MamaBlogga)
• Sing it, Perry by Lindsey
• Motherhood and Me by Danyelle Ferguson
• Motherhood to Me by Shelly Brown
• Motherhood to Me by Brooke Anderson — that’s my sister!
• Dear Kids by Erin — that’s also my sister!

All of these great entries explore motherhood in brilliant ways. I’ve found them all inspiring, and I hope you’ll read and comment on them too! (I’m a little behind in commenting, but I’m hoping to get to it today.)

Now, feel free (but, of course, not compelled) to spread the link love by copying the above list (instructions) and posting it to your own blog.

The Winna!
Chosen at random, the winner of our prize, a $30 Amazon.com gift certificate, is <drum roll>…

Motherhood to Me by Shelly Brown

Congratulations, Shelly, and thanks to everyone who participated!

So far, we’ve got three great entries:

• Lessons from my Children by Elisa Allan
• My Little 3 Year Old by An Ordinary Mom
• Motherhood to me by Jordan (MamaBlogga)

Read, comment—and join in!

Oh, wait. I think I wanted to tell you it was time for a MamaBlogga Group Writing Project! As I posted yesterday, the theme for the October Group Writing Project is “Motherhood to me.”

As always, feel free to go in any direction that appeals to you. Even if you don’t choose to participate, you can encourage others to participate!

• Although the inspiration post is a fantastic essay-in-list-form, your post can take any form as long as it reflects this theme—this includes anything from serious to sarcastic, about your children, your future children, your pet, etc.
• You can participate with a blog post, a podcast, a video, a page on your website, etc., etc. If you don’t have a website, contact me and I’ll be happy to publish your entry here on MamaBlogga.
• Only NEW posts (i.e., posts have not been published prior to 10 October 2011) are eligible. Posts must be submitted through the submission form before Sunday, 16 October 2011.

Why participate?
There are lots of reasons to participate! All entries that meet the guidelines will be listed and linked to here on MamaBlogga. This an opportunity for you to discover new blogs (and for others to discover yours!). Also, see how you can get the most out of the GWP.

And, of course, there is one more incentive: one lucky post author, drawn at random, will receive a $30 gift certificate to Amazon.com (to be announced Monday, 17 October 2011).

Finally, we’d appreciate it if you linked to this post or to the guidelines/submission form on your entry post so that others can learn about the project and participate.

Get the badge!
Copy and paste this code to get the MamaBlogga GWP badge above (it includes a link back here, but I’d still appreciate a text link, too).

<a href="http://www.mamablogga.com/blogoversary-group-writing-project/"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3513/3809317958_29e3f156e4_m.jpg" alt="MamaBlogga Group Writing Project" title="MamaBlogga Group Writing Project" /></a>

Previous Group Writing Projects:

• May 2007: Dear Children
• June 2007: Three things I want my kids to . . .
• July 2007: Thanks, Mom
• September 2007: Motherhood is . . .
• October 2007: The best things about this age
• November 2007: I’m grateful for my child(ren) because . . .
• December 2007: The best time of the year
• January 2008: Me time
• March/April 2008: Savoring the season
• August 2008: The new normal
• January/February 2009: Choosing happiness
• August 2009: Before I was a mom
• October 2010: Feeling fulfilled
• July 2011: Five years from now

I’ve been crazy busy since I received my [Disclosure] free review copy, but I did take a few minutes to look through the recipes (I’m a sucker for cookbooks!). The recipes are designed to be truly family-friendly, and are grouped into chapters according to ages—but don’t let that fool you! The “Baby” recipes are absolutely adult-friendly (and vice versa). They’re also packed with vegetables. Woot!

Each page of recipes features quick guides at the top, too, showing off some of the key information about the recipe at a glance, including age-appropriateness, prep time and more. And the beautiful photos don’t hurt, either.

Since Rebecca has become pretty picky in her eating habits, I’m looking forward to trying our these recipes myself! Author Annabel Karmel says that her recipes are designed to make it so that you only have to cook one meal for your family—no more last-minute PB&Js to satisfy a picky eater. There are also lots of fast and inexpensive meals, and I’m getting hungry just thinking about them.

One lucky winner, chosen at random, will be able to try these dishes out too!

Would you like a copy of Top 100 Pasta Dishes? Comment below to enter!

For additional entries:

• Follow this blog (see the sidebar) and leave a comment saying you did.
• Tweet about this post and leave a comment saying you did with a link to the Tweet itself.
• Mention this contest on your blog or Facebook and leave a comment saying you did with a link to the FB or blog post.

Entries (aka comments) must be received by midnight on Saturday, July 30, 2011. Winner to be announced Monday, August 8, 2011.

Giveaway open to residents of the US only.

• …I will be nine years old. by Esmé Maritz
• Five years from now by Jordan (MamaBlogga)
• How to Get Over a Broken Heart by Kate
• 5 years by Elisa Allan
• Five. Years. by Lindsey

The winna!
Chosen at random, the winner of our prize, a $30 Amazon.com gift certificate, is <drum roll>…

…I will be nine years old. by Esmé Maritz

Congratulations! The gift certificate is winging its way to you (well, your mom) from Amazon right now!

What do you think? Should we bring back the Group Writing Project? If you want to participate but didn’t this time, what do you need from me to help you?

I’m already using my free review copy of Totally Together by Stephanie O’Dea—and soon I won’t be the only one!

The winner of a copy of Totally Together, chosen at random (I promise, and thank you, Random.org) from the comments, iiiiss……

An Ordinary Mom!

We’ll get your copy of Totally Together on its way to you soon!

Thanks to everyone who entered.

• …I will be nine years old. by Esmé Maritz
• Five years from now by Jordan (MamaBlogga)
• How to Get Over a Broken Heart by Kate
• 5 years by Elisa Allan
• Five. Years. by Lindsey

And remember, one lucky winner, chosen at random, will receive a $30 Amazon gift card!

Our giveaway this week is a new book designed to help moms get it Totally Together. Subtitled “Shortcuts to an Organized Life,” Totally Together is part homecleaning system, part organizer.

The Amazon page describes it this way:

From a New York Times bestselling author, a planner and organizing system to help women conquer chaos.

This book combines a practical planner with a smart system for women who are feeling frenzied (that is, most of them!). With sets of daily, weekly, monthly, and season to-dos, Totally Together lets women manage their priorities and prevent molehills from turning into mountains.

From keeping the household in order to keeping the in-box clear, this valuable, attractive volume helps women maintain their balance in today’s crazed world.

The first forty or so pages of this little spiral-bound book cover tips for streamlining house cleaning, getting kids involved in chores, and planning for the holidays (and for real, we’re talking starting 8 months out). Some of the advice is fairly standard fare, but personally, I’m really excited to have a calendar-based system written out for me (the other 100+ pages of the book) to make sure the whole house gets cleaned and runs smoothly.

Since I read my [Disclosure] free review copy yesterday, I’ve been working to start implementing the seven habits Ms O’Dea lists as the chores to do every day. It’s not a lot of work, and it can make a big difference—I should know since a few of them are things I’ve been working on for a while (doing a load of laundry a day, timed cleanup sessions). Right now I’m sitting in a 98% clean family room—and it feels good.

I’m excited to start this program soon!

Would you like a copy of Totally Together? Comment below to enter!

For additional entries:

• Follow this blog (see the sidebar) and leave a comment saying you did.
• Tweet about this post and leave a comment saying you did with a link to the Tweet itself.
• Mention this contest on your blog or Facebook and leave a comment saying you did with a link to the FB or blog post.

Entries (aka comments) must be received by midnight on Saturday, July 23, 2011. Winner to be announced Monday, July 25, 2011.

Giveaway open to residents of the US and Canada only.

Make sure I have your address and I’ll get that in the mail!

Thanks to everyone entered.

As always, feel free to go in any direction that appeals to you. Even if you don’t choose to participate, you can encourage others to participate!

• Your post can take any form as long as it reflects this theme—this includes anything from serious to sarcastic, about your children, your future children, your pet, etc.
• You can participate with a blog post, a podcast, a video, a page on your website, etc., etc. If you don’t have a website, contact me and I’ll be happy to publish your entry here on MamaBlogga.
• Only NEW posts (i.e., posts have not been published prior to 15 July 2011) are eligible. Posts must be submitted through the submission form before Saturday, 23 July 2011.

Why participate?
There are lots of reasons to participate! All entries that meet the guidelines will be listed and linked to here on MamaBlogga. This an opportunity for you to discover new blogs (and for others to discover yours!). Also, see how you can get the most out of the GWP.

And, of course, there is one more incentive: one lucky post author, drawn at random, will receive a $30 gift certificate to Amazon.com (to be announced Monday, 25 July 2011).

Finally, we’d appreciate it if you linked to this post or to the guidelines/submission form on your entry post so that others can learn about the project and participate.

Get the badge!
Copy and paste this code to get the MamaBlogga GWP badge above (it includes a link back here, but I’d still appreciate a text link, too).

<a href="http://www.mamablogga.com/blogoversary-group-writing-project/"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3513/3809317958_29e3f156e4_m.jpg" alt="MamaBlogga Group Writing Project" title="MamaBlogga Group Writing Project" /></a>

Previous Group Writing Projects:

• May 2007: Dear Children
• June 2007: Three things I want my kids to . . .
• July 2007: Thanks, Mom
• September 2007: Motherhood is . . .
• October 2007: The best things about this age
• November 2007: I’m grateful for my child(ren) because . . .
• December 2007: The best time of the year
• January 2008: Me time
• March/April 2008: Savoring the season
• August 2008: The new normal
• January/February 2009: Choosing happiness
• August 2009: Before I was a mom
• October 2010: Feeling fulfilled