Molly Piper

Super cute bracelet, right?

My friend Tiffany makes these! She co-operates a wonderful company called Legacy Bracelets. When Felicity died, she offered to make me one to honor the family God had given to me.

At first glance you’re probably thinking, “How does that bracelet represent your family?”

Oh, just wait…

The bracelet actually flips inside-out to display whatever images you select! It’s a portable brag book. Or a portable honorarium. Or maybe both.

You can visit their website and read their FAQs, but the basic concept is:

• You browse the pattern selection and choose the design you want for the outside of the bracelet.
• You submit your photos and/or text you want included to Legacy and give them any special instructions (there are 7 tiles in all).
• They do all the cropping and color treating.
• You get your bracelet shipped to you!

I seriously love mine. If you’re trying to think of a creative, heartfelt Christmas gift, this might be the one. Their order deadline for Christmas is 12/10, so order one SOON!

PS-I have the classic design, the Tiffany.

PPS-They didn’t ask me to blog about them. I just wanted to. That’s kinda how I roll on this blog anyway. And I really love this product (“I love your product, man,” in my best Melissa McCarthy voice).

‘Tis the season for giving, right? Well the folks at Fair Trade Services are giving to the readers of MollyPiper.com!

[image via]

Anyone want to win a copy of the new Sara Groves album Invisible Empires?

Yeah, I thought you might.

I have 10 copies to give away this week!

Here’s how you can win:

Simply “Like” the page for this site on Facebook.

You can visit the page or just click “Like” below!

See how easy that was?

On Friday I’ll pick 10 winners from the people who’ve “liked” and send you a message with your download code!

If you had already “liked” my blog page on Facebook, but don’t want the album download, just give the code to someone who does! Merry Christmas!

I’m very excited about this particular giveaway. I first heard Sara Groves at a concert I went to back in 2008, right in the early days of fighting through depression and PTSD after losing Felicity, our daughter.

As I moved through that very painful stuff, God ended up bringing particular songs into my life that hit me right where I was, right with what I was dealing with. I ended up compiling quite a playlist of these songs and they were a lifeline for me. Not surprisingly, for those of you who know her music, Sara Groves made it onto that list a number of times. I love that she doesn’t bypass really hard things in her lyrics. She even takes on bioethics on this album. Not many people singin’ about that, I imagine.

You can hear for yourself what was on her mind in crafting this new album:

PS-She gives props to Laura Ingalls Wilder in the interview. Remember how we love her???

My favorite songs on the album are “Miracle,” “Open My Hands,” and “Finite.” Any of you want to share your faves?

Thanks so much for reading and supporting this blog. Hope you win!

I have horrible dry patches on my hands in the winter. There are a couple isolated spots that get really irritated and sore (probably eczema).

Of course it doesn’t help that I have to wash my hands every time I turn around, changing 2 sets of diapers and taking Morrow to the potty (and then there’s cooking, doing dishes, taking myself to the potty…). You get the picture. My hands are wet all the stinkin’ time.

I’m trying to use rubber gloves while doing dishes to see if that helps at all.

But I’m also considering trying those overnight moisture gloves. Have any of you tried them? Do they work? I think you put some lotion on and then put the gloves on?

I have to be very careful with what lotion I put on my hands, as well. It can’t have any fragrance or dyes. If I use regular lotion on my hands in the winter it burns like crazy!

A friend of mine suggested shea butter for lotion, but I don’t know if that has fragrance. If so, it’s a no-no. (ha! a rhyme!)

Anyone have a good fragrance-free, dye-free lotion for hands they’d recommend?

Also, don’t forget to weigh in on the gloves! Should I try them?

I haven’t done a “Blogs I Read” post in a really long time. Time to change that!

I’ve been telling my friend Jill that I want to link to her blog for ages now! I’m just waaaay behind on all my blogging goals, so here it is at long last.

If you like children’s literature (or your kids do), you should check out Orange Marmalade.

(Jill is the third from the left. Aren’t they a great-looking crew, by the way?)

Why you should check out Orange Marmalade:

• Jill’s really smart about lots of things, including children’s literature.
• Jill has had a faithful career as a home school mom to those four kids, and they did lots of reading together.
• She showcases a wide variety of books for kids, most of which I would’ve never heard of without her!
• She offers suggestions for poetry, nonfiction, holidays, etc.
• She writes thoughtful posts about plot and why she likes the book.
• She usually includes what age she’d recommend the book for.

So hop on over and check out her literature selections for kids. I think you’ll be really happy you did.

So I got an email the other day asking me what double stroller I use for my twins. I was going to write that person back, but figured I might as well make it into a post!

Here’s what I used/use for twin strollers!

Infant Phase

When your babies are using the bucket car seats, it’s so nice to have a double Snap & Go stroller. Actually I’ll just go ahead and say it’s a necessity.

Because it’s really impractical to have to carry two infant car seats into the doctor, into the grocery store, anywhere really….

After you graduate from the infant seats, you move on:

Toddler Phase

I know there are so many options out there for a double twin stroller. This is only what I use. I chose to go with the Combi Twin Sport.

(except mine's red)

Here’s why I chose it:

1. It’s a lot lighter than most double strollers.
2. I like the side-by-sides (especially for twins, who I think will want to see each other, since they’re together all the time).
3. It collapses pretty small (compared to other doubles) so you have more room in your trunk.
4. It’s affordable.

I imagine some people object to the Combi because:

1. The baskets underneath are small. (I remedy that with The Mommy Hook.)
2. It doesn’t “handle” as well as some of the other high-end side-by-sides. I didn’t really care about that as much. If I lived in New York City and used my stroller daily, then perhaps it’d be worth the extra cash for better handling. Wasn’t worth it to me.

So there ya go! MollyPiper.com is (un)officially endorsing these products! ;)

So obviously we’re gonna need some sort of packing solution for our minivan for our upcoming trips. 7 people and all our gear is not going to fit, no matter how much swagger is in our wagon.

We bought one of those old boxy car toppers at a thrift store (we even got it half-off), but I’m a little doubtful that we’ll have all the pieces and/or be able to figure out how they all go together without the manual. I’ve scoured the internet for any instructions for the darn thing, but can’t find anything.

In the course of researching that, I found this:

It’s called a saddlebag, but I prefer to think of it as a backpack for our van! So cute!

Why I think I might get it:

• better gas mileage without something on the top of the car.
• Stores in a very small space when you’re done with it because it’s collapsible.
• It’s much cheaper than most car toppers.

Do any of you have one of these? Do you think it’s a good purchase? HELP!

I think I might be a Brit trapped in an American’s body.

At least that’s what their television and movies make me feel.

Last week I devoured all 7 seven episodes of Downton Abbey.

[photo via The Adventures of Tartanscot]

I can’t believe I didn’t know this mini-series existed until now.

The story begins in 1912, right as the aristocratic British family (the Granthams) is receiving news that the Titanic has gone down. It follows their life and times as they live through uncertain family futures, scandal, and political unrest (as WWI approaches).

I’m not sure I’d love to be at either end of the spectrum of society dramatized in this series (aristocrats and servants), but there’s something so romantic about it 100 years later (and 100 years removed from the reality). But one thing I can tell you about without spoiling the plot is that they eventually get a telephone installed in the house and it’s super funny and cute!

You know you’ve been watching too much British television when you start doing your own inner monologue with a British accent. It was baaaad, friends. But I seriously want to watch it all over again! The costumes, the acting, the scenery, the accents…swoon.

I might have to buy the DVDs so if they ever take it off of Netflix streaming, I’m insured.

I’ve also been googling like a mad dog to find out when season 2 is set to come across the pond. The last thing I read was January 2012. Can anyone confirm or deny this?

Oh you British people, you have no idea how good you have it, getting to watch it months before me!

What’s your favorite British TV show or movie?