And now I’m offering you, my readers, a chance to win five books on Mother’s Day! FIVE!

That’s right. Five books. For you. They include: Just Let Me Lie Down by Kristin van Ogtrop (which was reviewed by the SV Moms Group recently), God Never Blinks by Regina Brett, Heart of My Heart by Kristin Armstrong, The Cradle by Patrick Somerville and Roses by Leila Meacham.

I agreed to run this giveaway, partnering up with Hachette Book Group USA, because I love books. I think books can change things for people. I know that certain books, like the one we’re currently reading for the Open Adoption Book Tour, have changed how I view myself and my situation(s). As I said above, Mother’s Day is hard for me. I don’t know if that will ever change for me, though I assume some years might be easier than others. What I do know, however, is that I can make some other mom’s day by letting her know that she won five books! I’m a giver. When other people are happy, I’m happy. I could probably use some happiness on Sunday! So, here we go!

Mandatory Entry:

Comment on this post with a thought about mothering. It doesn’t have to be about Mother’s Day, just about mothering in general. The ups, the downs, the omgz!, the challenges, the triumphs. Hit me. Make me cry. Make me laugh. You may leave one comment of this nature.

After you complete the above mandatory entry, you can complete any of these additional entries. Please remember to leave a comment for each additional entry so that I may count them properly. Example: if you tweet, leave a comment elsewhere and write a blog post about it, you would leave me three separate comments (in addition to your one above) telling me about each step. Questions? Email me.

1. Follow me on twitter, @FireMom, and tweet: RT @FireMom Win 5 books for yourself this Mother’s Day! http://bit.ly/cdgq1x . If you’re already following me on twitter, keep on doing so and tweet the above message! It still counts!

2. Follow @HachetteBooks on twitter.

3. Blog about this giveaway on your public blog. Link to this blog post in your post.

4. Visit this BlogHer post and comment about which book was your favorite, thus donating a book to a child in need.

5. Share a link to this giveaway on any social networking site. Just let me know which ones in an individual comment for each separate site!

This giveaway is live through 7:30pm on Mother’s Day, May 9, 2010. At that point, I will hit random.org, pull a winner and contact that winner via email. The winner has 24 hours to reply with their shipping information or I will pull an alternate winner. Books will be shipped directly from Hachette Book Group USA (though it would help me greatly if you let me know when you receive your books!). If the winner is a blogger (she doesn’t have to be), I’ll make sure to link to her blog on the announcement post on Monday, May 10, 2010. Free books. Free links. Free awesomesauce.

Now get to commenting. And, really, please try to have a decent Mother’s Day. I’ll try if you do, okay?

_
[Disclosure: I received a copy of the books in exchange for this giveaway. I received no other compensation, other than the joy of reading your mothering comments and knowing that someone else got to be happy on Mother's Day. That's all the compensation I needed!]

Making the Most of Mother’s Day (A Giveaway!) is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

I asked my Mom if she still had the Sebastian (Little Mermaid) costume that my paternal Grandmother made for my (much younger) little brother in 1991/1992.  She hunted around and found it, cleaned it up and delivered it to me. It fit BigBrother just fine. So, at that point, I was going to have a lion and a crab-lobster. (The costume is technically a lobster but we used it to represent Sebastian as I had a homemade Little Mermaid costume that year.) But Mom really wanted that theme to happen.

She started hunting for a Flounder costume for LittleBrother. She hunted high and low. She kept losing auctions on Ebay. Turns out the thing has been discontinued and so getting your hands on it was like, well, getting your hands on a slippery fish. Eventually she found one. In England. It arrived in time (even for the party we attended on the 24th) and, as luck would have it, we had our theme!

I’m sharing all of this today because the Steelers don’t play until tomorrow night (Monday Night Football) and the Parent Bloggers Network is having a Halloween costume blog blast. And the prize is a Blurb book. And, man, I love me some Blurb books. And so I’m entering the boys in the contest.

First up: BEST HOMEMADE COSTUME! BigBrother as Sebastian the Crab/Lobster. (Made by Grandma in 91/92. So, if there was a best vintage costume category, we could also go that route! Paired in 2008 with red tights and red clogs.)

He’s showing you his pinchers in this costume. And, yes, his hands were closed in. Which? Was a great costume “flaw” as it kept his hands warm and kept him from taking candy by the handful. The antenna are actually the original pipe cleaners from the 90′s. Who knew those kept that long?

Second: CUTEST COSTUME (2 and under)! LittleBrother as Flounder.

Also note that he’s standing on his own in this shot. Win! I’m sure some cute little girl in something frilly will win “cutest” costume, but, come on, folks! Boys! In costumes that aren’t big! and! scary! are most definitely the best! thing! ever!

Third: CUTEST PICTURE! Titled: Interspecies Love.

I wanted to put in a picture of the boys together but, honestly, they weren’t ever looking and smiling at the same time. Not exactly a cute picture. (Except for that one where LittleBrother is trying to pull off his hood and falling over. Classic.) So, I chose this picture of BigBrother kissing his girlfriend, A-One (her sister is LittleBrother’s girlfriend and is A-Two). A crab and a cat. You don’t see this kind of cuteness everyday.

And, there you have it. The cuteness of Halloween was overwhelming this year. Which does my heart good. Someday I am sure that these two boys will want to be big! scary! things! and I’ll just have to deal with it. But for right now? They are fine being cute. And I’m fine with them being fine with being cute.

I hope you all had a safe and happy weekend. I also hope you changed the batteries in your smoke detectors. Happy November (birthday month here) to all!

Our First-Ever Themed Halloween! is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

Winning Feels Good! is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

My Kind of Giveaway is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

Great Giveaway (Plus Info On Mine!) is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

Win an Expectant Mama Gift Pack is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

Mustang Not-Sally! is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

Pink is Fun is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.