Life Lessons: Giveaway and a free printable!

Thanks everyone for all your advice on last weeks post. I love all the input!! You can still enter to win the $500 shopping spree if you missed the post last week! Click here to check it out.

I'm having a lot of fun with these Blogfrog chats we're having every once in awhile and hope to revamp my own Blogfrog community really soon! I've been kind of a hermit the last few weeks so it's great to still get some adult interaction with my online buddies.

Today I have another sweet giveaway and of course a freebie to go with it :)   To win, all you have to do is share your advice. Easy peasy!

So Today we're talking about what life lessons your kids can learn from playing team sports. Growing up I played some random sports. Soccer, basketball, threw the javelin in high school, was the school mascot for a short time (we'll save that sweet story for another day) and I was on the cheerleading team for a bit by default. Again, another awesome story for another day. Sports were always a blast for me and I learned something different from each one. The biggest lesson I personally learned was all about support. Supporting my team. Encouraging each other. To me it's not so much about the final score, but cheering each other on to do your best and having fun. I had no intentions of becoming a super track star or being a professional mascot (hehe) but it was all about supporting my friends, being supported by others to reach my goals and having a blast while doing it.

I'm dying to hear what you think, but first I have to give you a little somethin somethin...cause you know I like to do that.

I've made some free printable banners for you to use!
These ones are sports related and there are 3 different sets: basketball, soccer and baseball. Each set comes with the alphabet so you can make your own banner with your own saying. Use one set or mix them up to support an athlete you know!

-Don't know how to use the printables? Click here for some tips!


-All Leelou Printables are for personal printed use only. No commercial use or redistribution.  Please contact me if you have any other questions about their use. Thanks!




So now it's your chance to win!
Answer the question "What life lessons do kids learn from playing team sports?" for a chance to win a $500 gift certificate for sporting equipment for your child’s team.
Want to help more children stay active by playing team sports? Go to SUBWAY® Baseball DeSIGNS Auction onEbay. All proceeds go to the Little League Urban Initiative, which helps fund inner-city youth leagues and teams.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of SUBWAY® Baseball DeSIGNS. The opinions and text are all mine. The $500 Gift Certificate Giveaway Contest runs from August 19 - 28, 2011. A random winner will be announced by September 1, 2011. Official Contest Rules.

Share your advice and you could win big!

Hey everyone! I'm still taking some time off to be with the family and the new kiddo, but I am getting into crazy Leelou school/schedule mode and have come to the blogosphere for advice. This time of year always gets me excited to get things back to a schedule as school starts and summer dreadfully comes to an end.

A few days ago we had a really fun discussion over here about back to school. (By the way, the live chat was a hoot and I think I'm going to try it soon in the Leelou forum!)  I got to thinking of all the things I need to get done before school starts in a few weeks. This year I want to pack better lunches for my 1st grader. I'm still pretty new to having a child in school and she usually just gets sandwiches daily. I'd love to spice it up but don't want to spend a fortune. Have any ideas for me? How else do you save money on school supplies?

Share your back to school money saving advice below for a chance to win a $500 Back to School Shopping Spree from BlogFrog!
Want to exchange more tips and ideas with other moms about back to school topics such as healthy snacks, school supplies and saving money?  Visit the Horizon® Healthily Families Back to School Community!
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Horizon.  The opinions expressed by me do not necessarily reflect the view of the Horizon Organic brand.

Free Printable, Huge Giveaway and Ideas needed!

School starts back in just a few weeks for us here which my daughter is thrilled about. Me though? I dread it! Not only do I lose my 6 year old who happens to be the BIGGEST helper to me, but I also lose my hubby. He is a school teacher and having him home for 3 whole months and then all of a sudden he's back to work 5 days a week is pure torture! Torture I say! Ok maybe I'm being a little dramatic, but this is one thing I will never get used to. Plus I just had a baby...and may be a bit hormonally imbalanced.

Last year was my daughter Brynlie's first year of school. I was lucky enough to be able to volunteer in her class once a week and spend some time with her while helping her teacher. I dream of the day when I can go on every field trip and help plan all the fun activities, but with the new baby and a 2 and 4 year old at home, it's going to be hard for me to sneak into her class much at all this year. I want to still be supportive and help out, but it will have to be in a different way this year. I know there are many moms out there in my same position and I'm dying to know what you do.

This year I plan on supporting my school by making posters, fliers, banners and signs. It's one way I can help my school save money as well as something I'm able to do easily from home. I also want to make some fun teacher appreciation printables that anyone can print and giveaway to their favorite teachers.

I thought this printable might be fun to have the kids give their teachers on the first day of school, during teacher appreciation week or even at the end of the school year.

This free printable folds up into a gift box with handles and can be filled with treats, glue sticks, erasers...anything you want.

I made this little hybrid box with my new digital scrapbook kit called Smarty Pants.

It's on sale right now and you can get it here!



-Don't know how to use the printables? Click here for some tips!


-All Leelou Printables are for personal printed use only. No commercial use or redistribution.  Please contact me if you have any other questions about their use. Thanks!





I have one more fun thing I wanted to share with you. My friend Carissa introduced me to a site called VolunteerSpot last year and I totally love it! They have a free online sign up sheet that makes volunteering and organizing school events so super easy. If you need to plan any kind of event or activity with your school this year, give this a try! It's simple to use and FREE!

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Check out our other printables too!

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August 2011 Free Computer Desktop Theme

By the time this post is up I will hopefully have a sweet little baby snuggling with me. If not...watch out! Cause I will be one grumpy pregnant lady!
I'm going to be taking a little Leelou break so please know that if you've made a purchase or are a customer, I will get to your emails as soon as possible. All other emails with questions about Blogger or my freebies will likely have quite a delayed response.

Before I go a little MIA I had to put up the new free computer desktop theme for August. I wanted to get one more summer theme in and when I found this paper pack I was sold! Click below to grab one for your computer.

Click below to get this free August 2011 desktop background for your computer:

1024x768 version | 1280x800 version

(regular sized monitor)            (Wide screen monitor)

And as always, if you'd like to customize it a bit, here is a template where you can install your own pictures to the desktop calendar if you'd like!

Click below to get this free custom August 2011 desktop background for your computer:

1024x768 version | 1280x800 version

(regular sized monitor)            (Wide screen monitor)

This cute paper pack I found is from Just So Scrappy and has a TON of elements that I didn't get to use in this desktop...plus it's only $1.50!!! You can't beat that.
Grab the Aloha digi-scrapbook kit and make something super cute for yourself.