Can you believe it's been two years? A blogoversary giveaway for you, my friends.......

When I typed "blogger.com" into my browser bar two years ago,

(at the insistence, I might add, of my oldest son, 

who'd been badgering me

to move my black and white marble notebook musings

into online form for an insane number of years, and 

wow, am I happy he's relentless....)

I thought I'd have a nice little happy home in 

a corner of the web and that maybe a few people, from time to time,

might click over and peruse and then click away.

Well,  while I know some aren't big on the frills and the blinkies and 

as said son, mentioned above, that same encouraging kid,

 now tells me there's so much hyperactivity loading my

page, it's akin to stepping back into the late 70s,

 spinning disco ball,  Bee Gees, Tony Manero, 

flashing dance floor be damned

it turns out, yes, I do have myself a nice little home on the web.

Anyhoo, the part about a few people clicking over?

Yeah, they did.

And while I do not, by any stretch, have major stats

I do have something a heck of a lot more important:

 major friends.

Hey, I'll take the people to the numbers any day.

Oh, I've "made connections" through this here little blog and had a few 

articles published on things like 

homeschooling, faith, family, our pro life position.

Homeschool.com,  Mater et magistra, Seton magazine

 all kinda liked what they saw here, 

actually re-posted a thing or two  and in a couple of cases, asked for more.

Yup. Pretty darn cool.

But I've no grand illusions.

Just two years worth of  life's memories and life's musings

organized into nifty little posts   

and great friends, all cultivated through the blogosphere.

So I'd love to celebrate and since distance impedes a gathering......

 some of my friends are as "close" as 400 miles;

some as far as 9000!  (Sue 9000 miles, really? )~~

I guess I'll just have to settle for a little party and giveaway

right here  on the blog!

You know, if you've been around these parts a bit,

that I have a great affinity for our Blessed Mother, as do many of you. 

Well, my blog had its beginning on the feast day of 

Our Lady of Guadalupe and you know I can't resist the candles, 

the scapulars, even all things OLG-cheesy!

And, heck, there are a good number of super cheesy-OLG items out there!

Have you seen them?

yikes

So I have for you an offering of giveaway gifts,

Our Lady and Christmas-y related.

Here they are:

Believe it or not, I  picked up this OLG candle in the brand new religious item section at

our local Walmart.

And here's a lovely pewter cross candle decoration

 that a glass votive holder fits right into:

For your votive and for the OLG  candle, when the original one has burnt down, 

there's a package of  6 Christmas sugar cookie scented votives.

Yum. We're actually using one of those as our advent wreath's Christ candle.

Perfect size and really does smell like a tray of cookies baking.

Because nothing says advent like cookies?

Yeah, we're doin' it right.

Also, those little waxy cubes?

Those are cinnamon fragranced.

To tell you the truth, we don't use those as instructed. 

There are six in the package.

I break off one at a time and just leave it sitting in a drawer in the bathroom

or in a votive candle holder when I'd like to make a room fragrant,

but can't because there are too many kids around 

or there's too much activity.  

So if you, too,  have a devotion to OLG and adore  candles and 

seasonal fragrances for

your Christmas-decorated home, 

I'm happy  to offer you the chance to win:

the Our Lady candle, the votive holder with cross,

 a pack of red wax cubes < cinnamon scented >,

 a package of white replacement votive candles <vanilla cookie scented>.

Here's how you enter:

No fancy rafflecopters.

 uggh I hate those giveaway hoops  and

 I'm not asking you to jump through them.

Please just~~

1. Keep the conversation going...

Leave me a little comment;  say hi

and tell us how your advent and your Christmas season are  going!

2. Please subscribe to receive my posts by email and follow on FB:

It's easy:

Enter your email address:

                                                                            

And here's how to follow on Facebook as well.....

Because~~~

!!!  

3. Winners will be randomly chosen the old
pull-the-name-out-of-the-hat-way
and announced right here next week,
 on December 12th, my blogoversary.
Good luck! 


Before I close, may I share some good news and ask a favor!?
Campfires and Cleats has been nominated in THREE categories

 at the Homeschool Post Blog Awards #HSBA2014 and

I. Am. Thrilled!

It is truly an honor and I'm blown away!

May I ask you to click over and vote?

It's quick and easy. 

I promise.

Here are the three links...

just click my blog name and then scroll down a touch to 

click on the "vote" button.

Best Encourager Blog

Best Photos Blog

Best Homeschool Field Trip/Nature Blog

THANK YOU!

Friends, as always,  

thank you for stopping over and 

spending some of your precious time 

here at my home on the web!

Oh and by the way~

If you are shopping at  amazon this Christmas season,

would you consider clicking through my link?

Here it is:

http://www.amazon.com/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&linkCode=ur2&tag=campfandcleat-20

In this way, I will receive a small commission on the purchase.....

a few pennies per dollar.

If YOU are an amazon affiliate, please send me

your link and I will do the same!

THANK YOU!

Until next time,

~Chris