Back To School Giveaway!

Published on August 1, 2018August 23, 2018 by Susie @ Pollywog's Place Blog5 Comments

Cover photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash

Congrats to Caroline K. who was the winner of this gift card. Please check your email and respond within 48 hours.

**This post does contain affiliate links which help to support my blog and my family. The Back To School Giveaway details are at the bottom of the page.

I’ve had a couple of great successes as far a my blog goes and I want to thank everyone for their support and loyalty. Without readers I wouldn’t be where I am right now.

At the New Year I had set some goals for myself and my blog. While a lot of those goals haven’t been accomplished for various reasons some of them have. Some of you may remember that I had planned to move my blog over to BlueHost. I had some BIG plans. (Great site and exceptional customer services!)

Keep Reading to Get to the Link to Enter to Win!

Then things kinda fell apart because when we went to transfer the site it didn’t go as planned. I was panicked for a bit as I thought for sure that we’d lost my whole blog but thankfully most of it was restored.

Then the next month I had gotten really sick and had to go to the hospital TWICE. Not fun! Then I’ve spent the past ~~few~~ several months recovering and paying off those bills. Last month I finally finished getting them paid off… Yay! I also started getting back to blogging. I mean I’ve really been working hard at it trying to get back into the swing of things.

Last month I also stumbled across the Wealthy Affiliate program and did some of the FREE trainings that they offered and boy did I learn a lot. In fact I started putting the information to use right away.

Then a funny happened. I expected to see an increase in traffic on my blog and I did. (I had set a goal of having at least 20 views/day which was kind of pathetic since I had well over that this time last year but you’ve got to start somewhere, right?) I am happy to say that I far succeeded that goal and have set an even bigger goal for this month.

Along with the increased blog traffic I began to notice a dramatic increase in my Instagram followers. I had initially hoped to reach 1,500 followers by mid year but that didn’t happen, probably because of my lack of effort. This week we finally reached that goal and are steadily climbing as we speak.

To celebrate I have decided to host an Amazon Giveaway but I couldn’t decide on what to do. I debated on whether to go with back to school supplies or books/magazines as I know my kids love these:

National Geographic Kids Magazines

Then being a busy Momma I know that there are a lot of other ideas I could come up with. I know I could really use this:

Well Planned Day, Family Homeschool Planner, July 2018 – June 2019

Decisions, decisions but sadly after spending over an hour talking with three different Amazon customer reps I was not able to set up a giveaway as I have previously done. (My account was hacked a few months ago and now they have suspended most of my privileges.)

Click Here To Go To The Entry Form!

No worries as I have decided to use Rafflecopter to host a giveaway of an Amazon.com eGift card in the amount of $25.00! Then the winner can choose whatever prize they like and I can get off the phone with customer service. Amazon is not affiliated with this giveaway.

Click Here To Go To The Entry Form!

Ok, now that we have the prize decided. What do you need to do? Simply click this link and follow the instructions. The link will take you to the Rafflecopter Giveaway Page. If you already follow my blog then please just leave your screen name and leave a comment for me on a recent post.

Click Here To Go To The Entry Form!

The instructions are pretty simple. You just need to come to my blog and click the ‘Follow’ button. (Located in the left column of the page.) After you have followed my blog I need you to leave a comment on this post letting me know you entered. Then enter your username/email into the box on the Rafflecopter form so I can verify.

Click Here To Go To The Entry Form!

I do encourage you to share this post with others but it is not a requirement to enter nor will it increase your chances of winning. The giveaway will start 8/2/2018 at 12:00 am and end on 8/10/2018 at 12:00 am. The complete rules are listed at the bottom of this post.

Again, Thank you all!

I plan to do some more giveaways as I reach some of the other goals I have set in place. In fact I will host another one when my blog reaches 1500 followers and/or my Pinterest page reaches 500 followers.

Back To School Giveaway Rules

The winner will receive a $25.00 Amazon eGift card.

No purchase necessary to win; only an email address is required. Your privacy is important to me, I will not share (other than with a sponsor for the purpose of getting a prize to you) or sell your email address or mailing address.

Winner will be chosen randomly through Rafflecopter Random Selector (which uses Random.org) and contacted via email. A reply to the winning email is required within 24 hours before a new winner is chosen. The winner’s entries will be verified.

Kirby’s Korner Blog and it’s owner and writer, Susie Kirby, is not responsible for any technical failures or for any sponsors inability to live up to his or her prize obligation, nor is she responsible for lost, broken, damaged or stolen prizes.

Please allow 2-4 weeks for delivery of prize, unless other wise noted. Unless otherwise specified, open to U.S only, ages 18+. Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Pinterest, and Google+ are in no way associated with this giveaway.

The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Kirby’s Korner Blog reserves the right to publish winner’s first name and last initial.

Kirby’s Korner Blog also reserves the right to choose a different winner in the case that the randomly chosen winner refuses to co-operate with rules, reply to winning email in 48 hour time period or does not have verifiable entries.

Contact information for sponsor(s), if applicable, can be found in the review text via website links. Giveaway is subject to the laws of the state of Florida.

Taxes due, if any, on prize winnings, are the sole responsibility of the winner.

Void where prohibited by law.

Simplify Your Life: Step 4 Declutter Your Closet (and your house)

Published on August 1, 2018August 1, 2018 by Susie @ Pollywog's Place BlogLeave a comment

**This post may contain affiliate links which help to support our blog and our family.

This post is part of a multi-section post in honor of National Simplify Your Life week which is the first week of August. The original post wasn’t as short and simple as I had wanted it to be so I decided to break it down into a few shorter posts.

If you are really wanting some motivation to make these changes check out 4 Weeks to a More Productive Life.

4. Declutter Your Closet (and your house)

Go with the ‘less is more’ philosophy and get rid of those clothes that your don’t like and the ones that just don’t fit. This simple task will make life so much easier… trust me, I know as I just did this last month and I’m so happy I did.

Kids always complaining that they have nothing to wear? Declutter their wardrobe as well. I try to make sure everyone has enough clean undies and socks for a couple of weeks and at least 10-20 bottoms. They also have about the same number of tops and a few sweaters. That way they have plenty of things to mix and match and always look like they have a new outfit.

If your don’t mind them wearing the same thing again and again you could get rid of more, just make sure that the laundry stays caught up. You can also buy ‘uniform‘ style clothing. My special needs son actually prefers this as he isn’t really big on changes and I have found that the uniform pants and polos seem to hold up better than other things he has had in the past.

After you’ve decluttered your closet take a look around your house and see what else you might want to get rid off. Make sure everything you have in your home is useful and has a purpose. Decluttering can save you time and money in regards to cleaning, maintenance, and repairs not to mention how much time we spend looking for things that we can’t find because of all the clutter. Remember — Less is More!

Be sure to check out the other post in this series for more simple ways to simplify your life.

Click here to go to Step 5.

Start your FREE account with the Wealthy Affiliate program.

Special Holiday Meals:National Watermelon Day

Published on August 1, 2018January 16, 2026 by Susie @ Pollywog's Place BlogLeave a comment

*This post contains affiliate links which help to support our blog and our family.

National Watermelon Day is the day we celebrate our love for this yummy fruit! Click here to learn more about this holiday. It is celebrated on August 3rd.

I think I might make some of these yummy Watermelon Cupcakes for this day. Or we might just pick up a juicy melon at the produce stand.

Continue reading →

Is Your HomeSchool Area ‘School Ready’?

Published on July 31, 2018August 31, 2018 by Susie @ Pollywog's Place Blog1 Comment

**This post does contain some affiliate links which could possibly earn me a small commission if a purchase was made through them. These links help to support our blog and our family.

If this is your first year homeschooling this is an important step to making sure you get your year off on a good start.

You don’t need a huge Pinterest perfect school area as I’ve talked about in this post but you do need it to be organized if you want to be successful. Having stuff here and there is a surefire way to get overwhelmed in a hurry. Trust me, I know this from experience.

Our main area is our dining table. We have some bookshelves which hold the majority of our books plus I have another shelf with the books I am using that are specific to our curriculum for this year. Continue reading “Is Your HomeSchool Area ‘School Ready’?” →

Simplify Your Life: Step 3 Learn To Say ‘NO’ Without Feeling Guilty

Published on July 31, 2018July 30, 2018 by Susie @ Pollywog's Place Blog1 Comment

**This post may contain affiliate links which help to support our blog and our family.

3. Learn to say ‘NO’ without feeling guilty

I am so guilty of this! Right now I am sitting here with two laptops open, a huge TO-Do list, and a pile of notes that I’m taking care of. Not to mention that I have five kids running around who also need my attention, laundry to finish, and there will be lunch and dinner to make at some point. Many of these items on my To-Do list are not personal items for myself but things I’ve told others I’d help them with.

Why do I let myself do that? I am just a genuinely helpful person and I don’t seem to be able to say ‘NO’ when others ask for my help. This is something I really need to work on if I am ever going to have any time for myself and my family.

So many times we let ourselves get overwhelmed by making too many commitments. Sometimes we really just need to relax and enjoy life. It’s hard, I know, to say ‘NO’ but we really need to learn to do it more. Once we learn how to say ‘NO’ to the things that aren’t that important we will have more time to say ‘YES” to those things that are important. Check out this book, ‘How to Say No Without Feeling Guilty: And Say Yes to More Time, and What Matters Most to You‘, for tips.

While you are practicing saying ‘NO’ start saying ‘NO’ to multitasking too.

Are you tired of feeling overwhelmed? Check out 3 Strategies to Stop Feeling So Overwhelmed (FREE Webinar).

Stop Multitasking?

Wait, what? Yes, I know that might seem impossible. I am always multitasking as are most Mommas. The problem is that many times we start things and don’t finish them.

I have so many half finished projects laying around the house. Granted quite a few of them don’t belong to me but they are the result of multitasking.

When we are focusing on so many things we aren’t as focused on the task on hand. We need to focus on the stuff that really matters and work on it until completed before moving on to the next task. You will find that life is much simpler when we stop sweating the small stuff.

Check out these books here and here to find out how to get more done.

Be sure to check out the other post in this series for more simple ways to simplify your life.

Click here to go to Step 4.

Start your FREE account with the Wealthy Affiliate program.