Secret Keeper Girl

Posted by SKG Intern, Melanie CherlandWOW KINGWOOD! You officially rocked my socks off-in fact it’s hard for me to even remember what socks look like! Woodridge Baptist Church was packed with moms and daughters, and even more so packed with excitement, this Thursday night as they discovered what true beauty is all about with our SKG team!What stuck out to me even more than the incredible energy brought on by our raving fans in the audience, were the volunteers that helped put us put on such an incredible show. From before we arrived until after we walked out the doors Miss Linda and her team were ready and willing to preform any task we needed. Some of our volunteers, as you can see in the pictures below, were so dedicated they flowed from one task to another without stopping for breath- such as our model moms who doubled as merchandise saleswomen. One dad was dedicated enough to actually put on a Secret Keeper Girl shirt. Now that’s a confident dad! You gotta love a guy like that!

My name is Melanie and I’m the new SKG intern- that means that I’m going to be on stage at ALL of the events this spring, starting THIS WEEK! I’m SO excited to meet some of you girls (and moms) plus I get to travel to states I’ve never been to. States like Louisiana, Florida, Alabama, Tenessee, and Mississippi. We’ll also be going through some states I HAVE been to- Texas, North Carolina, Illinois, and Ohio. Phew! It’s going to be a crazy tour- crazy fun!

This week I’ve been preparing for our marathon of 4 events in 4 days in Texas and Louisiana- There was a LOT of packing to do. Check out some pictures of me getting SKG ready to hit the road!

Posted by Dannah Gresh

Hi moms and Secret Keeper Girls. No doubt, you’ve heard about the devastation in Haiti and may even be considering how you can help. I have a great idea for you. Holt International is the 2010 sponsor of the Secret Keeper Girl Tour. They are a leader in international adoption and orphan care. (We met them when we adopted our daughter Autumn in 2007, and we love them.) Specifically, my friend Kris Thompson is our liaison to Holt. Kris was in Haiti Tuesday with the Christian singing group Julian Drive who was visiting Holt Fontana Children’s Village. Kris and the band are still there, helping with the aftermath. None of the orphans was harmed, but some of the staff members lost family members. They continue to work faithfully. As you can imagine, Haiti has a lot of new orphans this week who will need love, support and possibly new families. Please pray for Kris and the staff at Fontana Children’s Village. If you want to do more than pray, consider giving to Holt’s Emergency Relief Fund for orphans in Haiti.

Today, I got the final cover for my next book. Pretty stoked about it. I really love the title. (Thank you for helping me with that.) And the cover. (Nicely done, Harvest House!)

I could use a little help as I pray my way to the March 5th deadline for this book. I’ve got fantastic research and stories of raising my own girls in the book, but it’s missing something. You. I want the thoughts of real moms, struggling with the same thing that I did when my girls were tweens. So, could you take a moment and answer one of these questions in the blog comment? I’m going to include these tips in sidebars, so include your name and the city you are from to be included in the book.Todays topic:The Great Change of Life! (I couldn’t very well start with something easy, could I?)1.) What did you do to make talking to your daughter about her period easier?2.) What do you wish your mom had told you about boys, sex, your period when you were younger?3.) At what age did your daughter get her first period?

If you weren’t the winner of our great “punk rock” look given away last week, have no fear. A cuddlier, and cuter outfit is here. Make room for our 2009/10 Winter “Must Have” Outfit. This season it seems like everyone is sporting a buffalo plaid tunic—ours is bright pink and black. We paired it with really great, distressed jeans and a cozy, cuddly sweater in grey. (You supply the boots, hat and glasses!)

This outfit hit the SKG runway show during our fall season and was a favorite. In a size 6/7, it can be yours just in time for Christmas. (Imagine wrapping it up with a photo of you and your girl at the SKG event you attended.) All you need to do is share a comment below telling us about your favorite family Christmas tradition. Traditions are a great “glue” for families, and a critical tool in a mom’s ability to form values in her little girl. Social science aside, they’re fun. What’s yours? (Come back next week to see our winner posted.)

Help! Our fiction authors are eating way too many Christmas Wreath Cookies—a Secret Keeper Girl favorite. We must stop them. Our only hope is to give them something to do with their hands. So, we have Suzy, Janet, Chizzy and Dannah autographing books to go in Secret Keeper Girl stockings. Find out about it by visiting one of these links:�

• Get Dannah’s autograph in your books and a personally written Christmas card encouraging your Secret Keeper Girl to really dig into devotions in 2010. Visit this link for our super bundle of SKG products.
• Get the autograph of the author of your favorite fiction book and a recipe to make your own Christmas Wreath Cookies. Visit this link and select your favorite fiction book.

Black Friday means fighting the crowds for some, but for the Gresh Family it brings the hunt for the perfect tree. This year, I actually talked Bob into a smaller one. Six feet. Tiniest we’ve ever had! Stormie was sure to tree a cat on the Kuhn’s Farm…a tradition for her. We discovered a hole the size of Jupiter in Robby’s jeans. And…well, here’s my favorite photo from this year, taken just after Bob let the tree fall onto Autumn! You can “friend” me on facebook to see the whole album of photos (but not the hole in Robby’s pants.) Let the Christmas fun begin, Secret Keeper Girls! 

A winner has been selected for this giveaway and it is now closed. Thanks everyone for participating!

We are giving away two of our Secret Keeper Girl stage outfits just in time for Christmas. You could have this week’s outfit—the Punk Look—, and a special hand-written note from Secret Keeper Girl founder Dannah Gresh under your tree! This size 12 fashion-show outfit navigates through a couple of critical Secret Keeper Girl danger zones—the mini skirt and the punk look. The punk look went goth this fall with lots of skulls and crossbones. Since a Secret Keeper Girl loves Jesus, she represents life. So, we vote “no” to darkness and skulls and crossbones. Instead, try bright pink with a touch of black and other funky symbols. We also solved the mini-skirt problem with a pair of this season’s trend—imprinted leggings. This week’s winner will receive a white t-shirt, lime green “peace” leggings, plaid mini skirt, black jacket and hot pink scarf. How do you get a chance to win this random giveaway? Just tell us your favorite mother/daughter memory from 2009! Come back Wednesday, December 9th to see if you are the winner and to find out what outfit we’ll give away next! 

Actually the fact that we were very close to the Florida State border probably had something to do with the heat…BUT nevertheless Secret Keeper Girl made its 3rd stop of the weekend in Brunswick GA and had a BLAST! Thank you so much to the church and volunteers, we were just blown away by your hospitality and your home-made chicken noodle soup and mini-pumpkin muffins- their memory lives on in our hearts. (and actually they brought tears to Cali’s eyes- the deliciousness was almost too much for her to handle!!!)

It is funny how the little things can mean so much to us, I mean chicken noodle soup does not usually stir up such strong emotion in people! But just knowing that someone took extra time out of our day to prepare food for our group was what made it so good- it really is the thought that counts!

I want to encourage you THIS DAY to do something special for someone. It can be anyone! Write a little note to your grandparents, rake the leaves in your neighbors lawn, bake some cookies for someone who is sick- the possibilities are endless! Just show someone you care by doing just something a little extra special for them, and I can tell you from personal experience just how much it means!

Thanks for everything Brunswick- we LOVED HANGING WITH YOU!!! Check out these pics from our event!!