Country for Kids Concert on Thursday Night!

Thursday night... be there! Only $25.00 - proceeds to visit this amazing place: http://www.ncchildrenshospital.org/

Buy tickets online at http://www.dpacnc.com/default.asp?dpac=19&objId=371.

Details:

Country for Kids concert at DPAC to benefit N.C. Children’s Hospital

Curtis Media Group announced the addition of a charity concert, dubbed ’Country for Kids,” to the ninth annual N.C. Children’s Promise Radiothon/Telethon with proceeds benefiting North Carolina Children’s Hospital.

Presented by 94.7 WQDR, Country for Kids will feature live performances from four artists, Rodney Atkins, James Otto, Clay Walker and North Carolina’s very own Jason Michael Carroll. The concert event will be the celebratory culminations of a day full of miraculous stories being broadcast live from the N.C. Children’s Hospital lobby on nearly 20 Curtis Media Group radio stations and Time Warner Cable’s News 14 Carolina as part of the N.C. Children’s Promise Radiothon/Telethon, UNC Health Care’s largest fundraising event each year.

PS: Jason Michael Carroll also has a new five song holiday album out from his very own label - Stray Records. Download it on iTunes today! (I can certainly approve the playing of his holiday music prior to Thanksgiving. ;-))

PS #2: Jason is the Grand Marshall at this year's Raleigh Christmas Parade taking place on Saturday. Get excited!

{Image: http://www.dpacnc.com/default.asp?dpac=19&objId=371}

Calling All Mommies, Awesome Aunts, and Grand Parents...

As I was thinking about buying gifts for tomorrow’s Jingle Ball (www.jingleball.org), I realized that I obviously don’t do all that much toy buying!

I am wondering if any of you awesome readers have any tips on how to maximize $25.00 in the world of toys?

Since this is such a great cause, I want to try and contribute as much as I can with a $25.00 value of gifts donated, but I don’t want to buy things that will go unused. I know this is probably not the best time of year to try and work some magic for toys, but didn’t know if there were any good options outside of a traditional toy store that I should be looking at.

Or, if there are any toy retailers, who always have a coupon available like Bed, Bath, and Beyond does for household items ;-)

Thank you - in advance - for any tips!

I also emailed this to Sue Stock to see if she has any tips. If she does, I'll be sure to post them here in the comments.

PS - Daddy input welcome, too. Sorry I forgot about that major group!

N.C. Children's Promise 2009

They have already raised over $500,000.00 today.

AMAZING.

I called in a few hours ago to renew my $12.00 x 12 months donation.

ANY little bit you can donate helps. The NC Children's Hospital turns no child away based on their family's ability to pay for treatment.

Here are my posts from last year about this amazing event and hospital, if you are a new reader!

Keep Your Eyes Open!

I know there are a lot of moms (and dads!) who read this blog (including my own - Hi Mom! Hi Dad!), so I was really excited to see that our friends in law enforcement have harnessed the power of technology when it comes to Amber Alerts.

Many thanks to Lisa S. for sharing!

Amber Alert Text Site

"Statistics show that the first 3 hours after an abduction are the most critical in recovery efforts. By signing up for free wireless Amber Alerts you could play an integral role in the recovery of an abducted child." -From WebsiteBe sure to read her post as she gives you a good run-down of the features of the program!

Holiday TV

Even though we have a bunch of these on good ol' VHS (and some of the newer on DVD) at Mom and Dad's, there's just something about catching your favorites on TV.

Many thanks to my Aunt Deborah for this great link to pretty much any and all holiday programming you could want to catch on TV.

Christmas 2008 Holiday Movies, Specials, Favorites
http://www.chiff.com/home_life/holiday/christmas/whats-on-tv.htmPS - I'm still trying to delay the onset of the holidays a bit, but a lot of these will be airing this quickly-approaching Thanksgiving holiday week/end!

I Can't NOT Help

My aunt sent me this email from her friend's church's youth group (I don' think that was too hard to follow):

Our Younger Girls Action Group is taking up donations for the Crossnore School in Crossnore, NC, near Banner Elk, NC.

Founded in 1913, The Crossnore School is a private, non-profit children's home and school in the western NC mountains, serving children who, for circumstances beyond their control, can no longer live at home, whether permanently or temporarily. Most residents live at Crossnore because their primary care givers are abusive or have neglected them to the point that their well being is threatened. Residents come from all counties in NC.

The needs of these children in residence are very basic things that are needed for day to day living. We are asking members of Pleasant Grove Baptist Church to go to the Crossnore School website and view the "SPECIAL NEEDS" section.

If you have any of these items listed here that you can donate, please drop off your donation between now and November 12th in the lobby area of the top floor of the Family Life Center, adjacent from the Fellowship Hall. Ms. Lou Jean Peace and a friend of hers will actually be delivering the items the Younger GA's collect to the school in person the week of November 17th. Further questions and comments can be sent to Deborah.Upchurch@sas.com.When I checked out the website and read that not only are they providing a wonderful home for children, they have also taken in a whole family of displaced dogs who provide a "pet nurturing' program that teaches children - through their responsibilities for the dogs - how to deal with human problems", I knew I wanted to help.

Many of the items on their needs list (answering machines, curling irons, G-rated videos, small pet bedding, etc.) WON'T EVEN COST YOU A DIME of anything other than the time it'll take to pull it out of storage or the hall closet.

I'll be glad to pick up any donations from any readers - just drop me a message or email!