2 more days

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." John 14:27

Day after tomorrow I leave for AR for a whole week. I've never been gone from my kids for more than a weekend. I've never been gone overnight from Mal or Baby Z. And while I've been thrilled about going for months, now that it's here...well, I'm ready to come home. I miss them already.

G'ma is coming and will be a great distraction for Mal and Z. She will be a big help to Lane and Honey. The week will probably go fast.

But I'm praying John 14:27. I don't wanna worry about it. I wanna enjoy the time. I'm looking forward to....
~ seeing my friends!!

~a beautiful wedding.

~ chatting on the porch with my old neighbor and laughing as he fusses about politics and tells me how great his new grandson is.

~walking around my old neighborhood in the mornings.

~going to my old church and hearing Pastor Dale.

~hearing how much fun my daughter is having with *her* friends.

~snow cones.

~coming home!

Please pray for us if you think about it. We're flying stand by so that is always iffy.

Interesting Story

My watch battery died. And while I didn't really want to get out today I also didn't want to go all day without my watch. Besides #1 wanted to get her hair cut and tomorrow it's supposed to rain.

So the hair cut place is 2 doors down from the jewelers. While I'm waiting a man in a wheel chair comes in. He is in a lot of pain and asked the manager to call the paramedics. Some time before he had fallen from his chair and hurt his hip. He could hardly move in his chair b/c of the pain.

While waiting for the paramedics (and my watch) I asked him if I could pray for him. When I was praying the manager comes over and starts praying with me too. Nice.
The paramedics come and take him and I'm still waiting for my watch. I'm looking in the cases at all the pretty things when all of a sudden the manager hugs me from behind.

This was quite a surprise b/c I didn't even know she was behind me!

I said something like "Oh! I thought you were my daughter."
She replies, "No, just your sister."

Awwww. I left thinking about how God puts you in just the right spot at just the right time for just the right purpose. Not even sure what the purpose was for me to be there but glad for it just the same.

Pray for James if you think about it.

An Attitude Of The Heart

Yesterday we had a horrible parenting day. Ever have one of those where you feel like you've totally blown it? God and kids are good to forgive but it still leaves you feeling terrible. I read this morning about Paul's ministry to the Thessalonians.
He compares his ministry relationship to that of a parent/child relationship and here God gives us a glimpse of what it should look like.

"but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children. We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well." 1 Thes 2:7

"For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting, and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory." 1 Thes 2: 11-12

I noticed the words:
Gentle- the opposite of gruff, sweetly caring for someone with a smile, kindness

Love- in a way that goes out of your way for someone else.

Delighted to share - happy in doing what you're doing, not resentfully wishing you could do your own thing.

Dealt with each of them - learning who each one is and not employing a cookie cutter style of parenting.

Encouraging- cheering them on and not expecting them to already get it.

Comforting - helping them along when they are down and discouraged.

Urging- wanting so much for them to taste to goodness of God that you never "let it go".

We would've done well to read this yesterday. Today is better than never though and I'm looking forward to a new day with new opportunities. Thank you God that Your mercies are new everyday.

Forgiveness

2 Cor 2:10-11
"If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And what I have forgiven--if there was anything to forgive--I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes. "

Unforgiveness gives Satan a foot hold in our lives. It is an open door to our hearts for him to come in and wreak havoc.

I tend to be one who can hold a grudge or nurse a wound for a long time. But this week the Lord has shown me why this is so dangerous. And just to make sure I get the point, I was put to the test right away. However, and thanks be to God that he prepared me long in advance.

Not only was I reading about forgiveness in my Bible study but also in the Young Peace Maker books I'm reading aloud to the kids. This particular book teaches 4 promises of forgiveness to help us to forgive from the heart and not just with the words from our lips.

1. I promise I will not dwell on what you did wrong. I will think good thoughts about you and do good for you.

2. I promise I will not bring it up to use against you.

3. I promise that I will not talk to others about what you did.

4. I promise that I will be friends with you again.

Aren't those good?
It's a sweet reminder.

Today

~I asked the Lord for a present today. I asked Him to let Baby Boy be quiet in his bed until 7am so I could read my Bible without him whining and crying for me. A couple of whimpers was all I heard until 7am. Thank you God! I got to work on my Bible study book and I'm all caught up so far.

~The dishwasher repair man came just when he said he would! He said nothing's wrong with it and to rinse my dishes better. I don't think he knows.

~My 7yo got past lesson 76 in his reading. He's so happy. Lesson 76 was a doozie.

~I got a going-to-AR errand done all on the phone.

~I finished our Mothers Day presents...late, I know.

~Beautiful (almost hot) day, then very cool and way too windy, then rain and it might snow tonight! I've decided that May is not my favorite weather month in CO. One thing's for sure. I'm going to have to pay more attention to the forecast. Dressing for yesterday's weather will not do.

~Early soccer practice this afternoon and I decided at the last minute to take everyone. I should've planned better. I got home and had to put together a quick dinner. Why didn't I think ahead and put something in the crock pot?

~Hey, speaking of crock pot did I mention that she BROKE?!! My new one! So sad. It has a long crack down the side of the bowl. I'm looking for a replacement bowl online but no luck so far. I'm thinking that after shipping, I might do better to just buy a whole new one. We'll see. Still have my old faithful.

~I got home from practice to find a present in my mail box. My moms sent me their cereal coupons! So sweet. Thank you!

~My son left his soccer bag on the field tonight. Honey drove him back up there. Lane and I prayed for it. It was still there. Whew!

~Mally and I took Baby Z for a walk in his stroller. We rolled over a twiggy branch that caught up in the stroller wheels. Since she was helping me push, it caught up in her feet too. I kept pushing forward thinking that we would shake it loose. She finally looked up at me (trying to keep it together although she wanted to throw a fit) and cried "Not the leaf!!"

~7 more days!!

Some more bargains at Walmart

Organic tomatoes at $.27/can with this coupon. Click under Mom's Nutrition on the Muri Glen link. You can print this a few times.



Huggies wipes refills for $.17 with this coupon. Great for the diaper bag! The coupon is on the last page and you should be able to print it at least twice. It took me awhile to find these wipes. Not every store has them. I found them on the soap and shampoo aisle at Walmart...not in the baby area.

Here's another one for the Buddies soap in case you couldn't print the first one.

Please let me know if these links don't work. I'm still learning how to do it!

What's That Smell

"But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him." 2 Cor 2:14

This reminds me something of a parade. A victory parade with God right up in front. Have you seen those parades where the participants throw out candy to the spectators? That's what I think of when I read this. God's in the front, we're following throwing out to the spectators something that God has given us that's even better than candy. The fragrance of the knowledge of Him.

"For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing." 2 Cor 2:15

The same smell is different to different noses. To my mother-in-law, the smell of Korean food is a yummy aroma. To me it is an awful stench. To those being saved our aroma is a pleasant encouragement, a gentle reminder, a worshipful praise to the God they love. To those perishing, it is foolishness at best. It turns them away just as the smell of Asian food does me.

Lord, make me a pleasing aroma of Christ that spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him. Amen

Give Me Words To Speak

God is so amazing that I am totally humbled and awestruck. You see, I have been praying for the Lord to increase my audience for Him. To bring into my life more people to share with and the ability to do it.

I feel like I do have so much I want to say sometimes but I am verbally unimpressive. I just never have the right things to say. The nice sounding words just don't come. I can't even play Scrabble b/c the best word I can come up with is DOG.

This week God has answered my prayer in ways I never expected. As far as increasing my audience...the door has opened in areas I never expected. In my family and also in my church.

But as far as helping me speak, well that is an interesting one. In response to my pastor's question of "What would be the one new thing you'd like to learn" I would answer to be a sign language interpreter in the church. Perfect for me b/c I could share God's Word with people who may otherwise not "hear" yet not have to fumble for the right words myself. I just say what he says.

Henry Blackaby said it in a different way. He said, "I have no right to respond to anyone apart from God's Word. That is why I just go around quoting Scripture." Wow. Even better than sign language (though I still love the idea) is just repeating God's Word. Never would I have to fumble for just the right thing to say. Never have to worry about getting tongue tied or speaking on my own. Who wants to hear what I have to say anyway when you could hear what God has to say?!!

I have set my mind and heart to memorizing Scripture in earnest now. In my Bible study yesterday I read Phil 4:6-7...

"Do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."

The Lord has enabled me to use that verse several times the last couple of days. He has opened my eyes to show me His Word and the ways in which it can apply to those around me. What an incredible God! So living! So HERE!

Walmart Deals

Free cereal!! Go here to print a $3/1 coupon. You can print at least two, but it is rumored that some can print 10! Not me though.

Anyway, Walmart has them for $2.50/box so you can get 2 boxes free with a $1 overage.

Here's another one. Print this coupon for $1/1. These are .94 at WM making it free with a .06 overage.

I had a good shopping trip today. I hit Walgreens first for the soap deal. BUT...they didn't have as many as I wanted b/c somebody bought them all up! Was it YOU? ;-p I guess it's best to go as close to Sunday as possible. But that usually doesn't work for me. This week shopping day was Wednesday.

Then I hit Walmart and got the cereal plus 4 boxes of wipes for .17/each with coupons. I wish I could find that site so I could post it for you. I'll keep looking. Anyway, I got the groceries for the week and saved about $15 in coupons.

Henry Blackaby

Just guess where I've been tonight? To see Henry Blackaby!! Henry Blackaby!!

If you're not familiar he's the author of Experiencing God as well as lots of other books. I first did EG when I was a new believer years and years ago. It totally changed my life.

Then Honey went to a Promise Keepers in Dallas and heard him speak. These were the days before cds were the thing and he bought the cassette. I listened to it over and over again. My girls listened to it in their beds when they were litttle. I pretty much memorized it and then the tape got so bad at the end you could hardly understand it. Honey burned it to a cd later and now it's on my MP3. I also had the opportunity to speak to group of teenage girls on it years later. Fabulous stuff.

But tonight I had the opportunity to meet my hero of the faith in person! He spoke at a church in a near by town. When we got there, the ushers told us that most of the pews were reserved and if we weren't with a group we had to sit in the last 3 rows.

ME! In the BACK?? They obviously didn't understand. I tried to talk Honey into making friends with someone up front.

He was just as wonderful as he was in book or tape. I came away with oh so many treasures to meditate on for a long time. I'm so thankful. So happy to get to go. I know already that this is the beginning of a personal revival long overdue. What a special privilege.

Determined to not be in the back again, we cut out early to the book table for signings. I brought all my books from home. Guess who was FIRST? That would be me.

Poor man had to sit there and sign 7 or 8 books for me and listen to me talk the whole time. (I was really excited.) Actually I got to go through the line 2ice since we went back and bought some more. He was very gracious. I took a pic with my phone that maybe I can talk Honey into fixing up for me later. And guess what? They recorded his message tonight so after I get it I can again listen over and over and over again. Not to mention my new books to read (!).

God's goodness never ends.

Super Deals At Walgreens

I'm really excited about the WG deals this week b/c my friends in AR can do them too.
















On page 5 of the ad there is a page of Register Rewards . Basically you buy 9 of those items and get $20 back.

Here's the deal: On the same page is a coupon for Charmin wipes for 1.99. Cascade is on sale 2/$5 Buy the wipes plus 8 Cascades for a total of $22 +tax. Get $20 back!
Basically you're paying for the wipes and getting 8 detergents for FREE. (Does this make sense?) Of course if the wipes aren't useful to you you could just buy an extra detergent to make the 9th item. The wipes are just the cheapest.

If you're not familiar with Register Rewards it works like this. Buy the participating products and a coupon will print along with your receipt. Use the coupon on anything in WG on your next transaction.

So you can do the first deal, then turn around and use your RR for another identical transaction and only be $2 out of pocket. Of course if you have coupons your OOP will be even less. The $20 RR will print every time.

There are other products included too but the Cascade is among the cheapest, not to mention the most useful for my family. I will probably do this deal several times and get enough soap to last for the year.

Here's some other good deals I noticed:
Printer paper 2.99
foil 2/$1
trash bags 3/36ct @ $6 (after rebate)

A note about rebates: If you get your rebate on a WG gift card they will give you an additional 10% (free money anyone?) This of course brings your trash bags down even lower.

Further back in the ad is another RR page for personal products. See if any of these are useful to you or if you can work up a screamin' deal. Even with coupons, I couldn't find a deal worthwhile there.

Here it is!

What do you think?

PS: Aren't the colors of my neighbor's trees beautiful?

Whining and Crying

He did the unthinkable. Honey took the kids on a bike ride and left Joey HERE!! Oh the betrayal. He's pacing the house whining and crying and driving me crazy. Gotta tie that leash onto some handle bars next time.

Speaking of bikes...I got one! I was the only one who didn't have a bike. Those days are over. $20 for a nifty green 2-wheeler. It's a man's bike but for $20 ya can't be picky. I want to post a picture but I can't seem to make it work right now. I need my compu-guru. We're going on a ride for date night and I'll post a pic later.

Now we're in the market for those bike baby seats. Something tells me I won't find a coupon for those.

More Veggies

Don't you love the fresher foods when the warmer weather hits? I made this today in a new attempt to get everyone to eat more salad. I'm going to try to keep it filled all the time with new and different things. I'm hoping that my kids will become more salad friendly if they can pick their own toppings.

Pear Streusel

I made this for breakfast yesterday and it was gone in no time! It's one of the new ones from the Cooking Light magazine.
5# pears (or apples) washed and cut into chunks

2/3 C. pineapple or apple juice poured over pears

Topping:

3/4 C. ww flour

3/4 C. sucanat or brown sugar

1/4 C. melted butter

3 T. honey

1 1/2 t. cinnamon

3/4 t. salt

3/4 C. chopped nuts

Mix all topping ingredients except nuts. Sprinkle evenly over pears. Top with nuts. Bake @ 375 for 30 minutes.

Guess Who's Who

Sometimes these guys look so much alike.

It's hard to tell the difference from the back.

Pretty handsome in the front too!

Cooking Light

I LOVE this magazine. I've picked up used copies at the library for 25 cents. At first I was leery thinking it would probably be a lot of low fat cream of mushroom soup type stuff. I decided to risk the quarter and get it anyway.

Its not at all what I thought. Most of it is whole foods type recipes or can be easily converted. There are a few sugary desserts, but not many. Most of it is truly healthy. I've pulled out about 15 new recipes to try this month. I'll be posting the good ones....

A New Month

I was doing so good on my grocery budget for April. Then I fell flat on my face at the finish line. I came in at $827, which is only $41 less than March.

But now is a new month! My new price to beat is $827.

I went shopping today with Mayfee and Bird. Whenever I put something in the cart, he'd ask "Is it free?" No Buddy, no freebies today.

$501 later we have a full pantry/fridge/freezer. That should do for awhile...until next week anyway.

Pumpkin Muffins

These are quite moist and tasty. I like making them for breakfast or tea time.

3 C. ww flour

1/2 C. wheat germ

3/4 C. sucanat or brown sugar

1/2 t. salt

5 t. baking powder

2 3/4 t. cinnamon

2 1/2 t. nutmeg

Mix in big bowl. Make a well in the center and pour in wet ingredients.

1 1/2 c. pumpkin

2 t. vanilla

4 eggs

1 1/2 c. milk

1/2 c. olive oil

Mix all together. I also threw in a handful of chocolate chips. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes.

April Pay Load

It's official. I'm a nerd. I've become the person I used to make fun of. Here I am taking pictures of my groceries when I said I never would.

But I am doing it for 2 reasons:

1) To show you that it really does work. I was sure only super-moms could pull it off.
2) Because I'm really excited about it all.

So here goes...

This is my favorite freebie. It's 2 Hallmark cards. Easy to do...just go here.
Samples in my mailbox are a nice change from the usual bills and junk mail.

I LOVE this! This was my big cereal sale of the week. I ended up getting 20 boxes of cereal and 10 boxes of granola bars for $12.50. What will we do with all of this? Save it for the Wing visit! With 17 of us eating it it'll be gone in no time. Plus I'll have more time out of the kitchen and visiting with our friends.
My very very favorite. All this stuff was FREE. As in free free. Not B1G1 free....cause I don't think it's really free if you have to buy something first. Most of this came from Walgreens or Rite Aid. The cereal was from Walmart combined with a sale and coupons.

It was so much fun to find the bargains and watch them accumulate. All of this was for the whole month of April. Now I'm starting over for May. I am well under budget for this month with only 2 days left to go. I think I'll make it!

This Weekend

These guys are all gone today... Doing this.....

And this...In a town called Greely.

While they were gone, I took these guys to the park.

Fun time.

Today

~Honey rode his bike to work. Nice.

~Story time! A new librarian and it was shorter than usual. I got a new cooking magazine to peruse. They raised the price to a quarter! The nerve. No story time for the whole month of May. Whatever will we do? I guess I'll come to AR. ;-)

~We hit the sales at KingSoopers. With my coupons I got 4 boxes of cereal and 4 boxes of granola bars for .5o each. I spent $10 and got 5 bags of food.

~School went pretty fast with no tears.

~Left overs for lunch.

~#1 made brownies for Bible Study.

~My 10yo daughter helped me work on the clothes exchange today. What a huge job. With everyone's help, it's going pretty smoothly.

~I took a nap. Haven't needed to do that for awhile.

~Beautiful weather. aaahhhh.....I love hearing boys play outside. They even broke out the water guns. A little premature I think but they had fun.

~Soccer practice and the boys left their room a mess. We'll visit about that later.

~We're almost finished painting our room! Doors and window sills left.

~Bible study tonight.

~One more sleep until Friday! I got Beauty and the Beast to watch after pizza.

Prenatal Vitamins Make Me Cry

Because I have no reason to take them. I'm not pregnant and Babyest is finished nursing as of today. It's been over 7 1/2 years. :(

Date Night

So I'm looking through pages and pages of pix to find just the right one...or any one really...of my Honey and me to put at the top of this post. This is it. Pathetic huh? We take lots of pictures of the kids but not so many of us. Honey we gotta do something about that!! (Guess which one is me)

On to my blabbings...

Last night was one of my favorite date nights.

~We had a B1G1 coupon to Chipotles and actually went *out*. We almost always spend date night at home..which is very cozy I think...but this time we went somewhere.

~After dinner we drove home, sat in the driveway (pretended that we were still gone) and talked and talked and talked. Ok well I talked and Honey listened. He's a good listener. We talked about church, the neighbors, our future re-model, and our friends at home.

~We spied on the kids b/c the blinds were cracked and watched them be silly. They finally saw the car and waved.

~We watched the moon rise. I've seen a sunrise but I don't think I've ever seen a moonrise until last night. It was full and bright and beautiful.

Sunday night has been date night for as long as I remember...even when we only had little kids. I look forward to it all week. It's a nice ending to a week full of busyness.

My Latest Deals

On the way to soccer tonight, Sticks and I made a quick trip to get some bargains. Little by little I am learning this whole sale/coupon/rebate game. It's quite the fun and my son loves helping me figure it all out. Today we took the calculator..a first for me..b/c I wasn't real sure about the Aveeno deal.

Here's how it went:
Walgreens

20% Aveeno + buy 4 get $10 back
So I found the smallest lotion (which I'll use for my purse) and bought four. I had coupons totalling $3.50. It came to $7 and I got $10 back. That is a $3 profit which I used to buy 2 dish soaps that were on sale and I really needed. So it all came out free with a .40 profit.

We then headed down the street to Rite Aid.
I got a free toothbrush after rebate
A free bag of chocolate after rebate
2 more toothbrushes for .25
2 Dawn dish soaps for .50 each

It was a good trip. I came home to find 3 more samples in my mailbox. I love my samples!

My total grocery bill this month is up to $705. I'm keeping my eye on it since I still have over a week to go and company coming over for dinner on Saturday. Considering we've had 3 birthdays this month, maybe it's not so bad though. Plus I haven't added up my rebates. Those will be fun to get in the mail!

My Latest Faves

Sweet!

My Right Arm

Mally looking all model-like

Deafing the ants. See Honey's blog??

Oompa laughing at the silly Frog

Mommy and Mally

Soccer Saturday

My son's soccer coach gave us 7 Rapids tickets for tonight! Fun Fun Fun!! Thank you Coach Dan!

3 Soccer games today = 2 wins and 1 tie. All my boys scored at least once in their game. My oldest son got an assist then tied up his game with a header goal! I cannot possibly come up with words to describe the excitement. It almost makes me cry when I re-play the noise of lots of people screaming for my son. Header goals are very hard to come by. He's been playing soccer for 8 years and this was his first header goal in a game. We celebrated with ice cream.

Sports can be so emotional. I did not grow up watching or liking sports. I never understood the hype. Now that I have a son that plays competitively, I do. It's either a ton of fun, or it is sad and frustrating. Rarely is it anything in the middle. It is never "just a game". There is always something more.

I bring it to the Lord every week. Just about every day. 3 boys playing soccer equals 6 practices a week and at least 3 games. That means the Lord and I have a lot to talk about!

I Did It Again!

2 days in a row! Honey didn't even believe me at first when I called him to bring keys. I am such a goof ball.

This time was more fun though cause we were at Dick's Sporting Goods getting new soccer balls for little boys. Dick's has an escalator! Oh yes, as much fun as a roller coaster but at a much better price.

The first couple of times up the boys were pretty nervous. By the 3rd time, they were pros. The ride down was a different story. Very scary! They would hold on to my hand then step on like they were catching a wave. Arms out for balance, swaying back and forth. Laughing the whole way down! By about the 9th time around they were a little more stable and it was more fun on each ride.

Honey showed up with more keys. He was the picture of grace with just a smirk on his face. I think I'll be hearing about this for years to come....

Where'd It Go?

I go to Sams. Right before I get out of the car I remember that I need to have my Sams card so I dig it out of my wallet. I show it to the lady and put it in the front part of my purse so it'll be easy to get to when I check out. The front part of my purse where I keep my keys. But wait a minute...my keys aren't there!! My keys aren't there! Lip gloss, but NO KEYS!!

I look all through my purse....in vain. I go back to the car and there they are right in the cup holder! Just right there...but so out of reach.

What to do? I could call Honey but I know he has a busy day at work. I call but he doesn't answer. Maybe cause I have his blackberry in the car too. Hmmm....I leave a generic message not willing to confess just yet. I know he'd feel an obligation to do something and I don't want to mess up his day. Also I'm on a tight schedule and need to get home for soccer practice and Bible study. Oh man! My mind is spinning. I guess I need a lock smith. Surely they don't cost too much.....

I go to the customer service to ask for a phone book. The lady says:

"Can I help you?"
"Probably not."
"What's wrong?"
"I locked my keys in my car.......And I'm trying not to cry."
"Don't cry. This has happened before."

This lady saves the day. She calls the Ford dealership and asked what could be done. He guy tells me to copy down my vin# and walk on over. The shuttle bus guy is out.

Lucky for me it's only about 3 blocks away and it's not snowing (wonder of wonders!). They cut me a new key for only $4. They shuttle guy is back and takes me to my car.

The key works! Yipee!! The shuttle guy gives me the thumbs up and is on his way. Now to get those keys. Wait....those aren't my keys! Those are some kind of keys my husband uses for work. If those aren't my keys, then where are my keys???

They aren't in my pockets. I scrounge through my purse looking in every little zipper part and pocket, pulling out things and really starting to panic.

Then, lo and behold there they were in the BACK zipper part! I know what you're thinking....BUT I LOOKED!!

Big sigh of relief.

Now where is that Sams card??

Kitchen Tip Tuesday

It's Kitchen Tip Tuesday on Tammy's blog and I thought I'd try to post my own.

I've been saving different food bags and using them for messy jobs instead of ziploc bags. Breading chicken can be done in a brown sugar bag and saving bones to cook for broth can be done in a bread bag. Since you have to throw away those yucky ones, it's nice to use a free one.

One Year Ago Today

The most beautiful baby was born.

Mommy and Daddy loved him.

His brothers were crazy about him

and his sisters thought he was beautiful.
He slept and ate and brought much joy to his family.

He grew and grew.
He smiled and laughed and did all sorts of sweet little baby things.

And now he is ONE!

He practices walking.

He likes to eat.

He is good at blanket time.

He doesn't talk much...the strong silent type.

He laughs and smiles and does all sorts of little "big boy" things.

He is a joy to his family.

He likes cake!

He's good at making a mess.

He is now the cutest little toddler babe that you've ever seen.

Happy Birthday Baby-est!!

Birthdays Again!

Scroll down a bit to see my new 4yo!

My Friend

"You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasure at your right hand." Ps 16:11

Joy is how I feel right now after talking to my friend whose house was destroyed. I wish I could describe the cheerfulness and thanksgiving in her voice. Sweet.

So many people have been blessed to have been able to serve them this week. Lots of opportunities to share about the Lord...and let me tell you, she used every one of them to its fullest! Seeing her faith through this tragedy has made me appreciate and love her even more.

I've been blessed to see how the Lord has worked through our church and homeschool group to provide for everything. Everything! And even though I can't be there, I'm enjoying watching our Friend help our friends.

Spending Accountability

See the new thingy on the left of my blog? I saw this on another blog and thought it was a good idea.

I have a grocery budget of $900/mo for 11 of us. We came in at $868 for March and I'm trying to beat that for April. So far I think we're doing ok at $469 b/c we have a lot of food. But I do need to buy wheat and I know that will definitely hurt the budget. We'll see....

I've enjoyed bargain shopping so much. I'm finally learning how it works and it's been fun to see the deals add up. A friend asked me last night if I thought it was helping. Right now I have to say no b/c everything I've gotten free or on sale has been stuff I don't need right now. For instance, I don't need toothpaste but I've gotten 2 free ones this month. However, as time goes on and the bargains add up I think we'll certainly see the benefits. In the meantime I love showing my family what I find and they are a good audience to "oooohhh and awwwww" for me.

Guess Who's Four??

This guy!! Here he is on his first birthday.

Mayfee had a good day. G'ma and G'pa were here so of course it was a fun day! It snowed again so he stayed in and played. We went out for lunch with some friends from church. We invited the cousins over for dinner but they couldn't make it b/c of snow. Here's the meals he picked:

Breakfast...cake

Lunch........cake

Dinner.......cake

I modified the menu a bit but we did have cake for dessert. Here's what it looked like:

Here's some funny things about my boy:

~He hates long sleeves, long pants, and socks that are not skin tight. (Thanks G'pa and Nana for the small socks!)

~He has the most hilarious eye brows. Every emotion he has is expressed above those brown eyes. He's like a cartoon character...he can make them go down in a "V" when he's angry, raise one in a quizzical way, or almost take them right off his head when he's happy...just like on cartoons.

~He hates chocolate cake but never remembers it.

~He is his own little man. He does not follow the crowd or even his big brothers if it's not what he wants to do.

~He enjoys crying.

~He likes shoes that slip on. He's excited about getting summer sandals and hanging up the tennis shoes.

~He sleeps with his Spiderman blanket and likes me to "whoosh" it over his head.

~He likes sleeping somewhere else on Fridays....his sister's bed, the floor, under the coffee table, in the bathtub, wherever.

~He's jammin' to Bingo Was His Name O on his new music player.

~He's finally big enough to have chips! Family rule: no chips, nuts, or popcorn until you're four. We bought him special chips for his birthday.

And here he is now!

Mixed Emotions

I have this huge goofy smile all over my face.

Honey says, "What's so funny?"
I say, "You know."
He says, "Are you going to walk around like that till June 4th?"
I say, "Oh yeah!!"

Why????

Because THE WINGS ARE COMING!!!!!!

BUT...
I HATE not being in AR right now to help my friends. It has been sweet to hear how everyone is gathering around to help in every way. How I wish it could be ME! I wish I could just hug her neck and do her laundry or watch her baby or clean up the mess or something!

They were a great help to us during our move and now I can't help them.

Please Pray!

Huge storms hit Ft Smith last night. One of my very closest friends had 2 trees fall on her house and totally destroy it. They have 6 kids and no one was hurt. God is so good! Their family is safe but they have no house. They are in clean up stage now. Please pray for them if you will.

New Bread Update

I baked the new bread in 2 loaves instead of one. The size was better but still not exactly what I had in mind. One loaf is way too big, two loaves is just a little too small. Next time I'm going to try to double it in my bread machine and see if I can do 3 medium loaves.

Here's how to do it if you don't have a bread machine....

In a bowl add yeast, then warm water (must be warm to activate the yeast), then brown sugar. Whisk together and let sit until it's bubbly (sponge). Add oil, salt, and egg and mix. Add flours and mix well. Turn out on the counter and knead for 5-10 minutes. Cover with a towel and let rise until doubled. Shape into loaves and rise again and bake.

In The Kitchen Today

My in-laws are here visiting for a couple of days so my kitchen is extra busy right now.

~My mil was up bright and early making eggs and slicing bananas and apples for the early risers. The coffee pot is full.

~She made 2 dozen apple muffins which are in the oven right now.

~One of the things I love about my mil is how she makes herself perfectly comfortable in my kitchen. We enjoy each other's cooking.

~When that kitchen is cleared out then I will get in there for a bit while Baby is napping. I need to grind more wheat and try another loaf of sandwich bread. I wanta make an extra loaf to send to Emo's to see what they think. They LOVE bread.

~Leftover quiche and potatoes for lunch.

~Chicken thighs in the crockpot with a creamy white gravy with rice for dinner.

Tonight Honey and I are going to the Lincoln Brewster concert....a date!

New Bread Recipe

My clan prefers the texture of store bought wheat bread for sandwiches instead of homemade bread. Since it will soon be sandwich/lunch box weather, I wanted to try a new bread recipe to hopefully copy the texture of the cheap store bread. This is from Laine's Letters and is pretty close.

1 C. water
2 T. oil
3 T brown sugar
1 t. salt
1 egg
1 C. WW flour
2 C. bread flour
2 1/2 t. yeast

Put all in bread machine and hit the dough cycle. Let rise in machine. Shape into loaf and rise again. Bake at 350 for 26 minutes.

This came out of the oven just in time for tea. My guys loved it. Way better than the GV bread with such a nice flavor. It rose huge and made a beautiful loaf but a little too big for sandwiches. Next time I'll divide it into 2 loaves to see if I can get a better size.

This Weekend

It was a fun filled weekend indeed. Here's some of the fun....

~We finally started painting our room! Our whole house is ugly flat white. Now our room is called Oat Straw. It's sort of tanish color with shiny white trim. The trim isn't done yet and the whole room is turned upside down with the mess. It already looks better though so I can just imagine when it's done.

~Almost all of the kids' bikes had flats from riding down the thorny sledding hill. (There's a lesson in that) Honey and CT spend a good amount of time changing tire after tire. CT learned to do it by himself!

~2 soccer games = 2 wins!

~We visited with G'ma, Emo, and Mangnay.

~The girls and I went to a fancy tea party at church. It was nice but not Lane's "cup of tea" if you know what I mean. When we left, the boys were playing football in the front yard. She commented "That would've been a lot more fun!" I agree, but it's good to stretch ourselves a bit.

~I had a little time to plan some things for this week. I re-assigned jurisdictions and issues a new kitchen cleaning policy. For this week I decided to give myself some challenges to try to meet.

1. Be "On Duty" whenever the babies are up. No computer distractions or phone calls.
2. Include the little kids in my kitchen duties more.

~I hit some bargains at Walgreens.

~Church

~Almost no cooking b/c we have so many leftovers. The frige looks better now.

~A couple of soccer games in the cul-de-sac.

~Date night! We ate frozen lasagna that my mother-in-law bought for us and watched I Am Legend. Weird show.

I just noticed that Honey also posted the weekend on his blog. Nice to read his perspective.

It was a good sunny couple of days. Just in case you're wondering...hot chocolate or popsicles? It's hot chocolate! Snow and cold. You just never know.

Popsicle Day!

It's nowhere near summer time here in CO. At this point you never know if you'll wake up to beautiful sunshine or beautiful white. No matter, it's good either way.

Right now though its nice and sunny. Bikes are busy and boys are digging in the dirt. And at least once a day somebody will say "Momma, do we have popsicles yet?"

Today is the day! Popsicle Day!
That's the first day of the year that I make popsicles. I've bought a box here or there when I've taken a little Tag to the store with me and they stare longingly while I'm picking out juice. But today is the first day I've pulled out the molds and made them.

Most of the year I use juice. Now and then I get creative and come up with something else. Today I blended some homemade yogurt with honey and blueberries. Oh they were so excited and can't wait until tomorrow when they will be ready.

I wonder what it'll be...popsicles or hot chocolate?

Happy Birthday!

It is that time again at our house! Now my firstborn son is 12!!

~He is tons of fun to have around.

~Soccer! Ok, I won't go there. But you know.

~He is going to be the romantic type. He likes things like b-day decorations and the way his room is arranged. He is picky about "special" things and everything has to be just so.

~He hates hot dogs.

~He collects coins and today after lunch we're going to hit the rare coin shop in town.

~He is Honey's shadow going anywhere and doing anything that Dad does.

~He is totally responsible for his soccer stuff. He plans ahead making sure whatever he needs is clean. His bag is packed with extra shoes and warm clothes if needed. He takes care of his own balls and water. He eats appropriately beforehand. He knows where he needs to be and reminds me when it's time to leave.

~This kid rarely ever gets mad about anything. He usually has a big smile for everyone.

~He is one of those exceptional individuals that is good at whatever he tries. He does not need to work hard, things just come to him easily.

His sister surprised him with his b-day decorations. We just bought new decorations for the March b-days but she didn't want to use the "same ol' things". We bought a grassy green plastic table cloth, soccer plates and napkins, and green balloons. They spent some time yesterday making black and white paper chains. The dining room looked great when they were done and he was quite surprised this morning.

His meals are easy for me this year.

Breakfast: Donuts. We went early this morning to pick out all the special ones he wanted. He got a pink star donut with sprinkles for his baby sister and lots of fun icing/sprinkles/cream filled stuff for everyone.

Lunch: Olive Garden

Dinner: Hot wings from Sams, Velveeta cheese dip, salad with cherry peppers.
I guess being health conscience isn't one of his strong points!!

Happy Birthday Son! I love you!

Good Deals

I have had such fun bargain shopping this week. It is one of the fun things I've discovered about living here. I am very much a student with the whole rebate/coupon thing but I wanted to share what I've learned and what bargains I've found in town for my CO friends.

Walgreens
free printer cartridge refill
free aquafresh with rebate (I also had a $2 coupon so it came out to a $2 overage)
free toothbrush w/rebate (With a $1 coupon I have a $1 overage)
Cascade $1.50...cheaper than Great Value at WM
free granola bar
deoderant $1.31 each

Rite Aid
free Colgate (on sale for $1.49. I had $1.50 coupon making it free with a .01 overage)
free conditioner or shampoo w/rebate
free shower gel w/rebate ($1.50 coupon overage)

Walmart
organic diced tomatoes (with coupon these will be .24 each)

Kroger (King Soopers) There are lots of deals here this week. Too much to type.

Here's what I've learned....

~Keep your coupons until they expire even if you don't normally use that product. You need a good coupon stash. And ya never know...

~Think outside the box when it comes to what you buy. For instance, I make my own baby wipes so I never buy them. However, if I'm ever able to buy them on sale/rebate/coupon (or with a possible overage) then I may be able to buy them cheaper than make them. Organic tomatoes is another thing that I'd never consider but at .24/can it's much better than the cheap brand. We don't normally use shower gel since bar soap is cheaper. But since I got it free, we will definitely enjoy it. I'm not at all brand sensitive so that helps. Also, some things may be given as gifts if it's not something you like for yourself.

~Not everyone can do this. It would not pay to drive all over the place to different stores if you don't live close. For me, these places are on the way to where I have to go anyway so it is no trouble or extra gas. I would not have been able to do this in AR b/c in my home town, we don't have some of these stores.

~Sams is wonderful but sometimes you can get the basics cheaper if the right deal comes along.

~The Money Saving Moms site is wonderful! Lots of good info there.

~It does not take much time but like everything else, it does help to be organized with it. I made my list, paper clipped my coupons for certain stores, and kept them all together in an envelope my purse. It's not a big deal.

Tomorrow I will go hit the KS deals since it's right there by the library (Story Time!). Then that will be all of my bargains for the week.

Check out the MSM site on my blog. Lots of coupons, freebies, and good info. Happy shopping!

Date Night Recipe

This is what I made for date night Sunday. I tried to copy something I had at Noodles once. It's pretty close. I don't have a name for it yet...ideas? It's kinda spicy so maybe kids wouldn't like it but my older ones got the leftovers and thought it was great.

1 lb linguine noodles cooked and drained

Sauce:

Saute whatever veggies you have in the frige in a little butter and oil. I used onions and zucchini.

When they are soft, sprinkle them liberally with flour. This will thicken your sauce.

1 can chicken broth

1 28oz can crushed tomatoes

1 T. crushed red pepper flakes

basil, oregano, s/p to taste. You may need to add a squirt of honey since canned tomatoes can have the canned tomato taste.

When the sauce is nice and bubbly and thick, stir in enough milk to give it a little blush. It should be a rosey color. Stir in mozzarella cheese. Pour over pasta and top with Parmesan. Yummy!

Next time I will leave the veggies out of the sauce and add them to the top instead topped with the Parmesan. This would be great with grilled chicken. We had it with garlic bread and salad.