A Blogiversary and a Giveaway

Wow, breaks are nice, aren't they?--even from something you enjoy. I originally intended to finish my holiday blogging break early last week, but I got so caught up in cleaning our house for the new year and hanging out with the chicks that I kept stretching it out.

And now, it's time for a blogiversary. A year ago today I sat down and began "Two Chicks and a Hen," a blog whose title came from Ninna who observed that, in our home that newly housed three instead of four, we were, in fact, two chicks and a hen. She doesn't know she named the blog, nor that the blog exists for that matter, but she did.

I cited several of my reasons for starting this blog here, but looking back, I realize there was a bigger reason that trumps all of those: I wanted to feel normal. Four months before I sat down and composed my first post, I had become a single mom. The image of myself as part of a family that I held so sacredly in my mind was shattered. Still deeply valuing family, and still wanting to uphold the ideals I'd always held as a mother, I vowed to myself that my parenting values and goals would stay, come hell or high water.

I didn't know what that meant for how things would turn out (and only a year and a half into this journey, I still don't), but I did know that the random collected tidbits about life in single-parent homes that floated around in my mind, when added together, formed a composite that differed greatly from the life I envisioned for my chicks. And so I've had to reformulate my vision for our lives while addressing (and sometimes ignoring, if I'm to be totally honest) those fears about what might happen.

And what better way to take note of my small successes in maintaining normalcy than to record in words and images the small things that keep us on our path to a simple, sustainable, creative life than to put them down in a blog?

The icing on the cake is that some other nice things have come along with this record I've been keeping of our lives. I've so enjoyed sharing things with my readers and receiving feedback. I've made several "blog friends" and had some great ongoing conversations with the awesome people who come and read my blog. My projects have been featured on some fun sites like The Crafty Crow. And I've even become the regular single parenting contributor for Simple Kids--something that, a year ago, would not even have been on my radar.

So as a way to celebrate, and as a thank you to all of you lovely people, I've decided to follow in the blogiversary tradition of offering a giveaway! I'm so excited to send something fun off to one of you out there. All you need to do is leave me a comment telling us about one of your goals for the new year. I'll draw a number at random on Monday, January 9th, and that person will be the lucky recipient of this (courtesy of our overflowing book and craft supply collections):

**For you or a parent in your life:Happy Times Together: Simple Fun Activities and Yummy Recipes to Share with Children

**For your little people or some you know:The Do-It-Yourself Project Book

**And some crafty goodies to play with


If you like what you read here at Two Chicks and a Hen, it would really make my day if you joined up as a follower and/or subscribed to my blog in your blog reader. My statcounter shows me that there are lots more of you coming than are visible, and that many of you are coming back again and again. I'd love to be able to "see" you and even more would love to know who you are and why you've taken the time to read about our journey.

Have a lovely, wonderful, simple, sustainable, and creative new year! Thank you again for joining us. It means so much to me. I'm excited about things to come in the new year, both online and off, and I love it that we can share our journeys together in this platform.