Sew Crafty Angel is Co-Hosting Raising Imperfection Blog Hop

It’s Sunday! ~ Welcome to Week #29 of Raising Imperfection!

It's your favorite post link party! Link your funny stories, best recipes, parenting successes, parenting fails, DIY projects and tips, photo bomb posts and more!

Please DO NOT link giveaways, other link parties or sponsored posts. This is all about a favorite post YOU have written! Then…come back for Feature Fridays! Leslie and I choose our favorite links from the link up and feature them!

If you missed the last features, you can see them HERE

Please grab our BRAND NEW button and help this link up grow!

<img src="http://i1061.photobucket.com/albums/t475/RaisingReagan/Raising%20Imperfection/NEWRIButton275x150_zpsf908716b.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo NEWRIButton275x150_zpsf908716b.jpg"/></a>

Say HELLO to your Co-Hosts for this week:

Becky - Alphabet Soup

Angela - My Personal Accent

Please also visit your co-hostess for the month of June:

Angel - Sew Crafty Angel

Be sure to visit Leslie and I for Feature Fridays to see if your post was picked to be featured!

Tweet

Want to be the next co-hosts? Enter the Rafflecopter below and you could win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

It was My Day to Clean the Pool

Can't blog now, I'm working really hard.

Angel

Aloha Friday Hop @ Sew Crafty Angel

Hey there people and a very Happy Aloha Friday to you all! Welcome to the most hoppingest of all hops - The Aloha Friday Hop :)

We have a great team for June - I know you're going to love them! Just don't forget to head down to the linky to click and follow them when you link up your own lovely blogs :) Our hosts and co-hosts links are always the first you will see, so it's easy for you to click and follow.

Grab a button and link up below! If you'd like a different sized button click here. <a href="http://acatlikecuriosity.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Aloha"> <img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7-jJtCSLvWQ-vA8AsY94D20htdRkWHbcKyHApSv3vR0AgEJwTmdWR0yuVuvBhFw3vJlLuk_NW1Ep6BhiEYNMj2BgfS1QPdeM9PuAL2RWBnF96UtWytHDYQoR1AxRfmqmKR5pKyfaqvRc3/s1600/Aloha+Friday+button+300+with+words.png" border="0" /></a>

Don't worry if you already have Jean's lovely Aloha buttons on your blogs - switch if you'd like to. Or choose one of Jean's buttons here.

The rules are the same as before and are posted below. The Aloha Hop is one of the most hoppingest hops of the week, attracting over 400 linkups on the regular. Let's keep that blogging tradition going people!

If you'd like to host future Aloha Hops with us then please get in touch at our swanky new email address alohahop@gmail.com 

We're all set for July with lots of lovely co-hosts but feel free to get in touch about August onwards. We have two spots open for August at the present time. If you were down to co-host July check your spam folder as I sent out a request for details today :)

If you'd like to spread the love even more, why not tweet and twitter all about it? Just click the pic below :)

Here's the extra special addition to our lovely hop. It's an oh-so-easy opportunity for you lovely participants of the Aloha Friday Blog hop to get some exposure to your blogs!!  What do  you have to do to enter?  Just link up to the Aloha Friday Blog Hop Below!! It's that easy!!  No extra forms or hassle, just link up!  Each week we will pick a linker to featured at random and invite you all to say ...

Grab a button if you were featured this week! <a href="http://acatlikecuriosity.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Aloha"> <img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP8yP_OUw8p6lLzSDTsOglHG20MvEJpMAcvQPQlgq6kS36wqrVTV7KoDV_lC4H5tL9srFDcyeYPiILu-t8j_j_dzRxG17T1efuYU-IVpeHST4HhUyhsH98Q5izgI5z5yJts93Iey2sVAwU/s1600/Aloha+Friend+button.jpg" border="0" /></a>

Aloha Hoapili translates as Hello Close Friend. So, without further ado let me introduce you to this week's featured friend ...

Sarah at The Not Quite Military Wife .

Sarah blogs all about being a newlywed mama and a military wife. Want a little taste of her blog? Check out these posts to find out what you've been missing:

Crib Training Conquered  Little Miss Soaking Up The Sun  Attempting a Four Hour Schedule

As it's the end of June our lovely June hop team wanted to go out with a bang by hosting a giveaway for you. Have a look at the lovely prizes on offer above, then enter to win via the Rafflectopter below. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Now let's start hoppin'! Click on the links in the linky to visit some lovely bloggers and make new friends. Oh, and don't forget to link up yourselves!

Aloha and have a great day people!

Thursdays Favorite Things Blog Hop

Thursday Favorite Things has a new twist. Now your blog link will appear on three different blogs! Right here at  

Sew Crafty Angel, Katherines Corner, and at the Guest Co Hosts blog too! 

Three times the opportunity to make new bloggy friends and to share your wonderful blog. Squeal!!!

This weeks Guest co host is Christine from I Dig Pinterest. Hello Katherine's Corner readers! I'm so excited to be here today!

I’m Christine and I blog over at I Dig Pinterest, a fun place where I share Pinterest-inspired crafts, recipes, parties, home improvement projects, and some of my own ideas that ROCK!

I have three loves/passions that my life just wouldn’t be complete without.

1. My fantastic hubby and 3 adorable kiddos
2. Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate!! (still counts as one)
3. The ever-amazing and oh-so-addicting Pinterest, of course!

I'd love for you to drop by and say "Hi" !

You can keep up with the latest and greatest on Facebook and Pinterest as well!

Thank you for being our guest host today Christine ♥

7487

The Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop is where you can link your favorite post or write a post about your favorite things and share it with old and new followers. You gain visibility for your blog and make bloggy friends too! Remember to leave us a comment if you are a new follower so we can follow you back :-) RULES Please DO NOT link and run...visit a few of the wonderful blogs that are sharing here.

• Follow Katherines Corner ,Sew Crafty Angel and our special Guest Co Host Christine
• Please leave comments when you visit.
• Share the button or a link back on your post. Grab the hop button code from The button page IT IS NOT mandatory; but a Link back to Katherines Corner is always appreciated :-)
• No adult content blogs or links directly to your shops please! ( sorry they will be removed)
• Yes you can link giveaways ( they are everyone's favorite thing) Add your giveaways to the Win It Page too!

Please contact me if you would like to be our special guest co-host.  

Now hop on and share your favorites. If you'd like to post this blog hop on your page too please just grab the linky code. If you would like a reminder to join in the fun please just fill in your email box below ( this is used for reminders only :-) )

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 --> Angel

Sew Crafty Angel Co-Hosting "Friend Connect Blog Hop"

It's Tuesday again which means it's time for the Friend Connect Blog Hop!

It's the time to meet new friends and find new blogs. You can choose to follow the cohosts in whatever way is best for YOU! Here are some of my favorite ways: GFC, BlogLovin', HelloCotton, RSS, Twitter, Facebook.

Ok, so let's get to the party, shall we?

RULES are simple:

1. Follow your host 

The First link below

2. Follow your co-hosts 

The Next 6 links below

3. Link up below using your main blog url not a specific post.

4. Make sure to visit some of the blogs in the link up and follow them 

and if you want to leave them a comment, I'm sure they'd appreciate that as well.

5. Tweet about this blog hop

Tweet

6. Share about this blog hop by grabbing a button and putting it on your sidebar!

<a href="http://www.thelifeofanotsoordinarywife.com/search/label/gfcbloghop"> <img src="http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z237/melissaenault/fcbloghop_zps81aaa394.gif" border="0" /></a>

I have cohost spots available! Email me if you're interested at melissa@thelifeofanotsoordinarywife.com

Post Sponsor Ad:

Are Kids Ruining Your Marriage?

The Family Fix: Are Kids Ruining Your Marriage? 

(this article seemed worth sharing for anyone who has kids, from ABC News)

Before they had kids, Kathi and Greg Scearce were not just husband and wife, but best friends, they say. They thought raising children would bring them even closer — but they found the opposite was true.

Mare and Joe Rivera tell a similar story to ABC NEWS' John Stossel. Before they had kids, they spent a lot of time writing songs together. But they haven't since they had 6-year-old Layla and 3-year-old Jesse, who want to be with their parents all the time.  If Mare and Joe simply want to sit next to each other, the kids try to squeeze in between.  Now they rarely go out as a couple. They haven't spent a night away together in 12 years.  In fact, they barely seem to interact at all, except when it's about the kids, Marie, 10 and Olivia, 4.

Like many couples, Joe and Mare miss the closeness, spontaneity and the sex they had before they became parents. The couple say they now have to make "appointments" for sex every few weeks. "Now it's a big, huge arrangement that's just so much work that it's not even worth it," said Mare.

According to William Doherty, a family therapist and author of Take Back Your Marriage: Sticking Together in a World That Pulls Us Apart, 70 percent of couples become less satisfied with their marriage and their sex lives after they become parents.

"After we have children for most of us our energy begins to drain out of the marriage relationship unless we put something back in," he said. "If we're married we simply must give some time and attention to the marriage if we want it to survive."

The Riveras and the Scearces grew so frustrated at how their kids were imposing on their relationships that they agreed to let 20/20 put cameras in their homes, in the hope that Doherty's advice would help them rekindle some of the passion and the romance they used to feel.

When Lovers Become Strangers

The footage showed that Joe and Mare had to practically beg their children to let them sit alone together. Getting a night out together involved a negotiation. At night, the children refused to sleep in their own beds, often falling asleep on the sofa, denying their parents any time alone.

"I want all the family to be together — not just you and Daddy," their daughter Layla told them.

Greg and Kathi also seemed to be consumed by their kids.  Almost every conversation was about them, they always helped them with homework, and little time was left to nourish their relationship with each other. After the kids went to sleep, Kathi went to the piano, and Greg to the exercise machine. They then wound down in different rooms, with Kathi usually going to bed long before Greg without even kissing her husband goodnight. (Kathi said she doesn't want him to think she's got anything on her mind other than getting sleep at that point.)

Both couples said they want the romance back — but they are concerned that spending time on their marriage will shortchange their children.

An Expert’s Advice

Doherty described Joe and Mare as devoted parents, but said they were "overfeeding their children and starving their marriage." By spending so much time with their children, he said, they neglect the relationship that created their family.

But both couples, said Doherty, can begin to take back their marriages by doing simple things.

"Children can learn to respect their parents' time," he said, so parents should insist on having one date a week. "Children, like most of us, get accustomed to that which is inevitable."

Second, Doherty recommends going to bed together, even if you're not going to have sex or if one of you isn't ready to go to sleep.

"Going to bed together creates the opportunity for physical contact, as well as emotional contact," he said.

Kathi and Greg should start kissing goodnight, he suggested, even if they have to make a pact that it need not lead to more. 

"Wouldn't it be nice to kiss each other goodnight and say 'I love you' at the end of the day?" he said.

Finally, Doherty suggested the couples set 15 minutes aside every night to talk without the kids around."If you have 15 minutes a day of friendship, conversation in which you're not talking about the bills and you're not talking about the kids' schedules, but just visiting with each other like a good friend, that would sustain a lot of marriages."

Two Weeks Later

Did his advice make a difference? After heeding Doherty's advice for two weeks, the couples checked back in with 20/20.

Kathi and Greg were firm that the kids leave them alone every night for 15 minutes. They even used a timer. At first, they said, their conversation was awkward. But gradually, it got easier.

Joe and Mare changed their lives too, getting firmer with the kids. Instead of asking the kids if they could go out, they told them what they were doing. They now have a date once a week, and are finding time to work on their music again.

Also, the kids are sleeping in their own beds.

"It's a good thing, it's a real good thing," said Joe.

Angel

Sew Crafty Angel Co-Hosting "Raising Imperfection"

It’s Sunday! ~ Welcome to Week #28 of Raising Imperfection!

It's your favorite post link party! Link your funny stories, best recipes, parenting successes, parenting fails, DIY projects and tips, photo bomb posts and more!

Please DO NOT link giveaways, other link parties or sponsored posts. This is all about a favorite post YOU have written! Then…come back for Feature Fridays! Leslie and I choose our favorite links from the link up and feature them!

If you missed the last features, you can see them HERE

Please grab our BRAND NEW button and help this link up grow!

<img src="http://i1061.photobucket.com/albums/t475/RaisingReagan/Raising%20Imperfection/NEWRIButton275x150_zpsf908716b.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo NEWRIButton275x150_zpsf908716b.jpg"/></a>

Say HELLO to your Co-Hosts for this week:

Erin - Tails from a Not So Conventional Mommy

Cathy - A Peek Into My Paradise

Please also visit your co-hostess for the month of June:

Angel - Sew Crafty Angel

Be sure to visit Leslie and I for Feature Fridays to see if your post was picked to be featured!

Tweet

Want to be the next co-hosts? Enter the Rafflecopter below and you could win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sew Crafty Angel Co-Hosts "Aloha Friday Blog Hop"

Hey there people and a very Happy Aloha Friday to you all! Welcome to the most hoppingest of all hops - The Aloha Friday Hop :)

We have a great team for June - I know you're going to love them! Just don't forget to head down to the linky to click and follow them when you link up your own lovely blogs :) Our hosts and co-hosts links are always the first you will see, so it's easy for you to click and follow.

Grab a button and link up below! If you'd like a different sized button click here. <a href="http://acatlikecuriosity.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Aloha"> <img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7-jJtCSLvWQ-vA8AsY94D20htdRkWHbcKyHApSv3vR0AgEJwTmdWR0yuVuvBhFw3vJlLuk_NW1Ep6BhiEYNMj2BgfS1QPdeM9PuAL2RWBnF96UtWytHDYQoR1AxRfmqmKR5pKyfaqvRc3/s1600/Aloha+Friday+button+300+with+words.png" border="0" /></a>

Don't worry if you already have Jean's lovely Aloha buttons on your blogs - switch if you'd like to. Or choose one of Jean's buttons here.

The rules are the same as before and are posted below. The Aloha Hop is one of the most hoppingest hops of the week, attracting over 400 linkups on the regular. Let's keep that blogging tradition going people!

If you'd like to host future Aloha Hops with us then please get in touch at our swanky new email address alohahop@gmail.com

I believe we're all set for June with lots of lovely co-hosts but feel free to get in touch about July onwards.

If you'd like to spread the love even more, why not tweet and twitter all about it? Just click the pic below :)

Here's the extra special addition to our lovely hop. It's an oh-so-easy opportunity for you lovely participants of the Aloha Friday Blog hop to get some exposure to your blogs!!  What do  you have to do to enter?  Just link up to the Aloha Friday Blog Hop Below!! It's that easy!!  No extra forms or hassle, just link up!  Each week we will pick a linker to featured at random and invite you all to say ...

Grab a button if you were featured this week! <a href="http://acatlikecuriosity.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Aloha"> <img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP8yP_OUw8p6lLzSDTsOglHG20MvEJpMAcvQPQlgq6kS36wqrVTV7KoDV_lC4H5tL9srFDcyeYPiILu-t8j_j_dzRxG17T1efuYU-IVpeHST4HhUyhsH98Q5izgI5z5yJts93Iey2sVAwU/s1600/Aloha+Friend+button.jpg" border="0" /></a>

Aloha Hoapili translates as Hello Close Friend. So, without further ado let me introduce you to this week's featured friend ...

Sara at Live It Well .

Sara blogs all about living well, eating well and life in general. Want a little taste of her blog? Check out these posts to find out what you've been missing:

Exotic Beef Salad  Homemade Soft Pretzels  Free Crochet Pattern

Now let's start hoppin'! Click on the links in the linky to visit some lovely bloggers and make new friends. Oh, and don't forget to link up yourselves!

Aloha and have a great day people!

Sew Crafty Angel Presents "Bloglovin' Blog Hop #23" from Happy Kids Inc.

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Grab A Button!

<div align="center"> <a href="http://www.happykidsincblog.com/2013/06/bloglovin-blog-hop-23.html" title="Happy Kids, Inc" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEgXNDF16tuP47dY1WCA9TRZXoHqf0uQ5uZ_sEWaEWs3wuxbDfdN4IUv_D9KqknlE8DAsbC-I9yIf2lJs8tI2MovkG8KstjDbFAvQ3yy6fSjXFTpaLF_m6hivIgyICtLvid_hjqk-DATiYsAYzIwsyyAZBtaDMsK4JSWg8gF427bxBlVlb0nxt2uYuliEiuaBxr6158p4SKUDMJkd4cs6EcrVH3z8KIW=" alt="Happy Kids, Inc" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

    

**Note: when adding your link to the linky list, if you would like your profile pic to appear (and not the default blue and white heart from Bloglovin), be sure to select the tab to "upload from computer".