I have listened to and enjoyed Third Day’s music for years, but it’s only been in the last couple of months that I found out about how active Third Day’s fan base is. Their fans call themselves “Gomers,” and there are THOUSANDS of them. TENS of thousands.

Well.

There’s a lovely lady who calls herself Mama Gomer, and she runs the Third Day fan network. I liked her as soon as I heard about her, mainly because she uses the word “Mama” in her internet moniker, and I have a little bit of a fondness for that. For whatever reason.

And a few weeks ago, I interviewed Mama Gomer - because quite frankly I am fascinated by her and her Gomer people.

Plus, I mean, where but the internet could you find an interview between two women who willingly call themselves BooMama and Mama Gomer? Where, I ask you?

Doesn’t it sound like we should be the opening act at a 1958 Grand Ole Opry production? Playing some spoons or something?

Anyway, I asked Mama Gomer a few questions, a few of which I will share with you before I announce today’s fab giveaway.

Okay. First thing? I’m FASCINATED by the whole Gomer phenomenon. So I need some background info: how many official “Gomers” are there? And did you ever in a million years think that Gomer-dom would take off like it has? Why do you think it’s been such a huge success?

There are about 30,000 Gomers registered. No, I never thought it would be this big! When we first started it back in 2001, we thought we’d have maybe . . . maybe . . . 100 people from the message boards join. But it just took off like a wild fire! Certainly the success of the Gomers is due to the love people have for Third Day and their music. But there is more to it than that. God gave me the idea of starting the Gomers, and He is behind its success. He has used this family to minister to many, and I pray He will continue to do so!

I don’t think it hurts that becoming a Gomer is free and open to everyone. We’ve strived to keep it free and open to all, because it is all about love.

Initially - way back in 2001 - how did you even find other Third Day fans online? Who were some of the first people you met?

None of this would have happened without the message boards on ThirdDay.com. It is there that we started the Gomers, and there that we develop most of our relationships with one another. We have people from all over the world on the boards, and all ages. We’ve had six couples meet and on the boards and end up getting married!

The first time I met other Gomers in real life was in February, 2002, at a Third Day concert in Dallas. Back then, if you told your friends or family you were going to meet up with someone you met online, they thought you were nuts! I met some other Gomers that day: the members of Third Day! Yes, they are all Gomers with Gomer names. I’ve always found that sweet and kind of refreshing, that they would join their own fan family. Not that they are arrogant to say they love Third Day, but that they each consider themselves fans of the other four guys. And that they consider themselves equal with their fans.

Y’all are an incredibly organized fan base. Has that happened over time? Or has that always been the case?

From the start we kept a list of members, and used the internet to arrange gatherings and things like that. What makes it all possible is the band’s involvement. It’s much easier to keep everything going because the band, management, webmaster, and the record company all help by providing support, webspace, time with the band, prizes for contests, and lots of other things. We work pretty closely to think of new ways to make being a Gomer a fun and unique experience. I’ve got so many ideas running around my head. There are fun things on the horizon!

You can read the rest of the interview here. I’m telling y’all: this Gomer thing is a phenomenon.

Now.

I believe I mentioned a little something about a giveaway.

For all you didn’t-know-you-were-Gomers, active Gomers, and Gomers-to-be, there are five Third Day Christmas Offerings CDs that are yours for the taking.

Well, you can’t take them, really. But you can leave a comment to try to win one of them. I’ve had my own copy of this CD since way back in the summer, and I think it’s wonderful.

Here’s all you have to do to win:

1) Click here.
2) Watch and listen to see if you’re interested in winning this CD.
3) If you are, come back here and leave a comment.
4) And for kicks, tell me your favorite Christmas carol.
5) Because it’ll be fun.

I’ll close this giveaway Thursday morning, December 13th - so time’s a wastin’, people! Get to clickin’!

And as always, I will select the winners with the assistance of the oh-so-capable random.org.

Adios, you bunch of Gomers!

*Edited to add: I just saw that Shannon has a great Praise Baby giveaway going on here - open to the first 300 bloggers who sign up! So run! Run like the wind!

This giveaway is now closed.

A few weeks ago I received some copies of a book called I Love You More, written by Laura Duksta and illustrated by Karen Keesler. Alex and I had actually seen the book in Barnes & Noble the week before, and the cover illustration was so charming that I immediately knew I wanted to read it.

And can I just say? This book is delightful.

I Love You More is the story of a mama and her son (everybody say it with me: “AWWWWW”) who take turns explaining how much they love each other. Half of the book is told from the mama’s perspective, and the other half is from the son’s perspective. What Alex loves the most is that when we finish reading the mama’s story we get to FLIP THE BOOK UPSIDE DOWN to read the little boy’s story, and OH, MY CHILD’S JOY KNOWS NO BOUNDS.

Honestly, it’s hard to read this book to your child without getting a little weepy, but that is okay because your child will be snuggled so tightly next to you as you’re reading that it will make you feel all warm and fuzzy as you cry. So it will be a tender time.

I have three copies to give away, and if you’d like to put your name in the hat just leave a comment and tell me so. I’ll close comments this Friday, November 30, and then I’ll pick the winners using - you guessed it - the trusty random number generator.

This is a good ‘un, y’all, and I think you’ll enjoy it a whole bunch!

Three of you are about to be the proud new owners of a copy of Phooey! by Marc Rosenthal.

Commenter #66 - Heth

Commenter #175 - Amy (no blog, email at bellsouth, and WHAT IS IT WITH ALL THE AMYS? THEY’RE TAKING OVER THE WORLD!)

Commenter #231 - Christian

Congratulations, y’all! You’re going to love this book - and if you’ll email me with your address, I’ll get it in the mail this week!

Over the last few weeks I’ve received a couple of great children’s books, and I’m giving away copies of both of them this week.

ISN’T THAT FUN?

I do love me some great children’s books.

The first book I’m giving away is called Phooey, written and illustrated by Marc Rosenthal. This book is filled with wonderful, eclectic illustrations that manage to be fanciful and nostalgic and current all at the same time. In fact, I’ve even thought that I would love to frame some of the illustrations and use them in a nursery if I ever have another baby.

Despite the fact that I’m starting to give Sarah a run for her money.

Oh, I kid because I’m old.

Anyway.

What Alex loves about this book is that reading it requires his daddy to make all sorts of sound effects, and I don’t know if y’all know this, but four year-old little boys are slightly entertained by funny noises. In fact, funny noises rank only slightly below ice cream on the four year-old little boy list of BEST THINGS EVER, and yes, that observation is based on years and years of arduous research conducted in laboratories and hospitals and Other Places Where Smart People Decide Things.

You can’t argue with science, people.

And seriously? If you could hear how Alex giggles when his daddy reads him this book? You would run out and buy yourself a copy rightthissecond.

I have three copies to give away, and if you’d like a chance to win one of them, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post. I’ll close comments on Friday, November 23 and then use my BFF Random.org to select the winners.

And whatever you do, do not click here. Because you will start to play and then one of your kids will want to play and GOOD LUCK, SISTER, at tearing the two of you away from the computer.

Not that I’d know anything about that, of course.

A couple of years ago my sister-in-law Janie went out of town for a fun girls’ trip, and she packed all manner of cute earrings and bracelets and whatnot so that she would have lots of accessory options when she arrived at her destination.

As a chronic overpacker, I know a little bit about the need for many accessory options.

But what Janie wasn’t expecting was the fact that once she arrived at her hotel, her jewelry was a tangled mess. All of her longer earrings had gotten completely twisted and knotted during the flight, and she spent a solid hour trying to undo the damage.

So when she got back home a couple of days later, she sat down and decided she’d solve her jumbled jewelry problem.

For the last two years she has worked on a couple of different prototypes, and when she finally hit on the very best idea, she met with a patent attorney (OH YES MA’AM - SHE HAS PATENTED THIS PUPPY AND EVERYTHING), found a manufacturer, and started the distribution process.

And now she’s sharing her great new product - which has been selling like hotcakes at Christmas markets - with you.

Internets, meet The JJ.

(Here’s a secret - SHHHHH - “JJ” stands for “Janie’s Jewels.”)

(Isn’t that adorable?)

I know it’s hard to gauge the size, but The JJ is about the size of a long wallet - only a little bit bigger. It will fit in a make-up bag, a purse, or in the pocket of your suitcase.

So I guess what I’m trying to say is that size-wise it’s terribly convenient.

This is what it looks like on the inside. What’s so brilliant is that Janie figured out a way to hang the earrings instead of trying to fit them in little tiny compartments, and do you SEE how much stuff fits in there? Do you SEE?

You could literally take 20 pairs of earrings on a 3-day trip.

Quite frankly I don’t know how much more a girl could ask for.

And then the center pocket? The place where you can put all your bracelets? It actually detaches from the JJ - which makes it way easier to pack your stuff and then unpack it when you get where you’re going.

I also love that The JJ can stand up on a dresser or a nightstand or a bathroom counter - because it’s just so much easier to see your jewelry options.

It’s very important to be able to see your jewelry options, girls.

If you look, there are also leather strips at the top where you can put your post earrings - the ones that might not need to hang but are so easy to lose.

ISN’T IT THE CUTEST?

Janie’s working on getting a website up and running, but since it’s not quite ready yet, she sent me pictures of all the JJ fabric patterns. And if you’d like to win one of the NINE JJ’s Janie is giving away, here’s what you do:

1) Click here to see all the fun fabric options for The JJ.
2) Come back to this page and leave a comment telling me which pattern is your favorite.
3) THAT’S ALL!

I’ll leave comments on this post open until Saturday, November 17 - and then I’ll draw for nine winners.

And if you’d like to order one (or two! or nine!) for Christmas gifts, I’ll post all of the how-to information then.

Hooray for The JJ!

Y’all have fun!