I REALLY should be cleaning...

Ode to Sugar

2012-01-28T09:23:00.000-08:00

Dear Sugar,

It has been five days since I broke up with you. I know, it was sudden and abrupt. We have been through so much together and have been especially close since the holidays. You have been there for me when I needed you, and even when I didn't. I know on Sunday it seemed like our love was only growing stronger. My coffee creamer, brownies, hot chocolate, and ice cream indulgences only showed that my love was strengthening. In reality I was getting ready to say good-bye to you for thirty days. I was hoping I could make our love last. Alas, like most good things, there can be too much of it. I was enjoying your company too much. You were a part of my life in ways that I didn't even realize....that chocolate chip when I get something out of the pantry, that dab of honey on peanut butter toast. You brought me joy, but you also allowed me to continue to drag around this flat tire around my waist. You brought me happiness, but also cavities. So, on Monday morning, I said a temporary goodbye. I need to retrain my brain and body not to want and need you so much. Oh, but I do miss you so (SO SO SO) much. I hope that this is not goodbye forever, but only so long for a while. I want you to know though, that I am hoping to change and I may not need or want you in my life the same way as before. I may only want you on occasion. I hope that I do not continue to pine for you as I do now. But for now, my friend, my love, know that I am still thinking of you, and wanting you back in my life ever so much. I miss you.

Amber

2011 Recap

2012-01-23T12:39:00.000-08:00

I saw this yearly recap on Rage Against the Minivan and thought it looked like fun. Here's mine!

1. What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before?
I did a 365 photo project. I took a photo (at least one!) every day for the entire year. There were three days that I totally and completely forgot which really irks me, but I'm proud to say I stuck it out! I still have to finish uploading the photos and editing them...I'm still working on June! :) I'll hopefully bind them into a book. I LOVE having all of these little moments captured.
2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
My resolution was to have more discipline. Mainly in spiritual matters, but also as far as being a more disciplined mom and wife and completing tasks around the house. Let's just say this is also my resolution for this year. :)
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yes. There are always tons of people I know giving birth! We are in the military community and most people are around those child-bearing years. I can't even begin to list them or I would be in trouble for forgetting someone. :) I also had one close friend adopt this year and that was fun to finally see their dream of becoming parents realized in that way.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
No. Phew!
5. What countries did you visit?
Japan! (We lived there)
6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?
Besides self discipline? :)
7. What dates from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
The day that Alex got a family. The day that we left Japan. The day my son started Kindergarten. The day I started homeschooling my daughter for preschool. The day my husband finished a training he had been working toward for a long time. Those are just off of the top of my head. :)
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Losing the baby weight I had been carrying around for a year.
9. What was your biggest failure?
See #2
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nothing too significant, thankfully. Shin splints and some asthma attacks in Japan.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
Our new to us Honda Odyssey minivan.
12. Where did most of your money go?
See #11. Also some of our furniture and other items got mold damage when it shipped from Japan back to the U.S. We got reimbursed for it, but not enough to buy new. So we ended up buying a new couch and loveseat that we weren't planning on buying and a few other items.
13. What did you get really excited about?
When I found Alex's picture on the MFFM page. I was also really excited to go see Alaska for the first time (it didn't disappoint).
14. What song will always remind you of 2011?
JJ Heller: What love really means
15. Compared to this time last year, are you:
– happier or sadder? Happier. My hubby is home a lot more. There is WAY less drama in my life.
– thinner or fatter? Thinner. Yay!
– richer or poorer? Poorer.
16. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Praying and reading the Bible.
17. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Hmmm.
18. How did you spend Christmas?
Visiting my in-laws. It was very relaxing.
19. What was your favorite TV program?
Probably the X Factor. I was very surprised by the talent in that competition.
20. What were your favorite books of the year?
Hands down it was The Help. (was that this year??). Hunger Games, Room.
21. What was your favorite music from this year?
David Crowder Band, JJ Heller...um, I'm not really sure!
22. What were your favorite films of the year?
The Help
23. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 31 this year. Just spent it with my hubby and kids.
24. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Less stress?
25. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?
Try not to look TOO much like a stay-at-home-mom.
26. What kept you sane?
Praying. My husband and kids. Friends.
27. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011.
God is sovereign.

Coming out of the Woodwork

2012-01-22T18:57:00.000-08:00

After all of the excitement about Alex I decided to take a little break from blogging. I decided that I'm going to get back at this! There are way too many cuties to advocate for and I'm sure my fbook friends are sick of me sharing (but I still will!).

Here is a little guy on my heart:

This is Malcolm. Malcolm is a sweet, sweet little boy in Eastern Europe (different country than Alex). Malcolm has cerebral palsy and is able to walk a few steps. He is in an orphanage right now, but will be transferred to an institution on his birthday in April. He is described as a sensitive boy who is being hurt by the other, physically healthy children in the orphanage. Can you imagine? Being bullied by other children with no mom or dad to stand up for you? To hold you when you are sad? Poor sweetie! He is also described as a cheerful little boy who also has friends in the orphanage and has attachments to caregivers. He is just waiting for a family to call his own. Could he be your son?? Check out his Reece's Rainbow webpage to find out more about him or to donate money to help him find a family!

The winners are...

2011-09-28T13:39:00.000-07:00

Well, I think we all know who the BIG winner of the week is....our FAVORITE boy, Alex! If you missed the news on the facebook page, ALEX HAS A FAMILY!!!! I am BEYOND excited and know that you guys are too. This is an answer to prayer and to all of the hard work you guys did sharing about him and praying for him and donating to his funds. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! This boy has a special place in my heart and I know in the hearts of many of you as well!

I put all the names of all of the commenters in a bowl and had my kids draw the names. I DID have to redraw for one of the prizes though when someone won the item they donated :). Other than that, this was a completely random drawing! There are a few instances that one person won more than one prize. This is because their name was entered for each item on the list as I stated in the post. There were also a few times that people commented on fbook that they had donated, and not on my blog, but I counted those entries too and put those names in the drawing.

Best buy gift card: ktmae
Walmart Gift card: Courtney
Wild Olive gift cert: Hannah homemade
Mary Kay set: Sarah
Mary Kay set: Sharon
Hand knit hats: Kristen
Headbands (knit): Sarah
Ribbon headbands set 1: Slow me down
Ribbon headbands set 2: Katie
Pillowcases: Hannah homemade
Doll and necklace: Tricia
Earring and necklace set: Erin
Blog makeover: Catherine
Photography tutorial: Natalie

Congrats! Contact me at mitchandamber (at) yahoo dot com to claim your prize(s)!!

We did it!!

2011-09-25T19:15:00.000-07:00

Thank you SOOO much to all who donated! Comments are now closed for the giveaway. Some of you commented on the fbook page instead of on the blog and I will add your names to the giveaway too. Winners announced SOON!

Happy, happy birthday sweet Alex! You are five and celebrating without your family, but there are SO many people here who love you and are praying for you. Hoping so badly that this will be the LAST birthday you will celebrate alone! We love you!

Only a few minutes left!

2011-09-25T18:11:00.001-07:00

Only 50 minutes left in the giveaway! Can we raise $80 more??!!

The change

2011-09-23T12:01:00.001-07:00

It is amazing to read about this family's journey to get their son. Their son has CP like Alex. He was transferred just 3 months ago to an institution....here is their experience

http://bringinghomeonelittleboy.blogspot.com/2011/09/what-difference-week-makes.html

Someone please rescue little A!

Is it YOU?

2011-09-22T12:39:00.000-07:00

My heart is very heavy for Alex today. Many tears have flowed at the thought of this boy. You see, on his Reece's Rainbow page, it no longer says that Alex is facing transfer to an institution, it says that he has been transferred. In his country an institution typically refers to a mental institution, a place where children and adults from 5- 60 or older are placed. Until now Alex has been at the baby house orphanage- where he likely gets more attention and love and care. On his RR page it says that once Alex is transferred he will likely be bedridden for the remainder of his life. And now, he has been transferred. Now, there are exceptions, and I'm sure there are some nicer institutions, but I think chances of that are slim. Though I pray this is the case for him.

Alex's need for a family is more urgent than ever. The need to raise funds and awareness is greater than ever. Is God asking you to do something radical? Is He asking you to donate more than you thought possible to his adoption fund so that his family can step forward? Are YOU his family? Have you been thinking and praying about adopting him? I believe with all of my heart that this little boy has a family out there. He is so special and so loved by many around the world. He just needs a family to come forward to rescue him from this life in an institution and to give him love, attention, support, and hope. I believe that God has great things planned for this little guy!

Claiming this verse for Alex:

Jeremiah 29:11

New International Version (NIV)

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

And I just read this absolutely perfect post for today:
http://thispoeticpresent.blogspot.com/2011/09/modern-day-psalm.html

Please consider helping Alex today! Don't forget to enter the giveaway in the previous post!

Birthday Giveaway for Alex!

2011-09-15T06:11:00.000-07:00

It is September, Alex's birth month and he is still waiting in the orphanage for a family :( . He lives in Eastern Europe and has cerebral palsy. Because Alex turns 5 this month, he is at risk for being transferred to an institution where he will be bedridden for the rest of his life. He needs to be starting Kindergarten soon, playing outside, learning and loving. Not lying in a bed! But fellow Alex fan Joanna and I want to make this birthday the best ever...by showering him with prayers and funds for his adoption, and HOPEFULLY a family!

Alex is a little boy who has been waiting for a mom and a dad...and maybe some brothers and sisters...someone to love him just as he is.

He has cerebral palsy and is currently unable to walk on his own. He has spent his days in this baby walker, seen here at age three.

And still in the walker here at age four.

While he may lack the ability to walk, it is clear that one thing this little boy does NOT lack is JOY! His smile lights up the camera!

With your help he will hopefully soon be using that smile to light up the room of his home with his forever family!

As we celebrate his birthday, we need to raise funds for his adoption. Adoption is EXPENSIVE! Any family who is interested in him may be deterred from adopting this precious boy because of finances. But we know that nothing is impossible with God! He can provide what is needed to bring Alex home. Can you give up anything in the next ten days and give that money to Alex? How about making your coffee at home instead of stopping by for a fancy drink? Can you skip that manicure? Can you give money to Alex instead of buying that t-shirt you've been eyeing at Target? These seem like small things, small amounts of money, but to Alex they mean the world. Join me by donating money to his grant at Reece's Rainbow and by sharing about him to your friends and family. Hopefully September will bring him the best gift ever- a FAMILY!

We have collected some amazing prizes for this giveaway....

A $25 gift card to Best Buy

A $50 gift card to Wal-Mart

A $25 gift certificate to Wild Olive Tees

Two Mary Kay Time Wise Miracle Sets.

Adorable hand knit hats

Sweet hand knit headbands

Child sized ribbon headbands: Set 1

Child sized ribbon headbands: Set 2

Beautiful Indian Pillowcases

A handmade African doll from Uganda with a paper bead necklace

A recycled glass earring and necklace set from Uganda made from old soda bottles and glass windows

A free blog makeover worth $40. This includes a custom header, custom template, matching background, up to 6 decorated sidebar pictures and/or titles, coordinating font colors, personal signature (provided by http://andrewandannagrace.blogspot.com/)

A photography tutorial session by Courtney of Click it up a Notch. Courtney is a very talented photographer and teacher. She will do an hour long Skype session (or local if applicable) on any photography related questions. This could involve taking photos, manual mode, editing, etc.

A crystal heart necklace (photo coming soon)

How to enter:
You can get an entry for each of the following:
- DONATE to Alex's adoption fund on Reece's Rainbow. Leave a comment letting me know you did.
- Share about this giveaway on Facebook, Twitter, or your blog. Leave a comment letting me know you did.
- Like Alex's facebook page (Adoption and Awareness for Alex) AND Reece's Rainbow and leave a comment letting me know you liked both of these pages.
- Check out Joanna's blog AND start a change jar for Alex. Leave a comment letting me know you did both things and are intending to donate said change on the 25th.

That's it! You can get up to four entries! The giveaway will close on September 25th at 9pm Central time.

Keep praying and thank you SO SO SO much!

Amber

Sale Recap...Finally!

2011-06-27T11:02:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! So sorry for the long delay between posts. We were in the process of moving from Japan back to the United States. We have finally arrived in our destination, and so has our computer which had all of the flea marked pics on it. Hopefully you all stayed informed via Alex's facebook page and saw that the flea market was a HUGE success!!! The morning sale raised over $450 and we were unexpectedly blessed with another load of stuff and went to an afternoon sale that brought in over $200 more! So I immediately was able to deposit over $700 into Alex's fund!!! Praise God!

The flea market took place on Mother's day, and I awoke to the sweetest note from my husband. It read "We are proud of you for sacrificing your mother's day so that someday Alex can say 'Happy Mother's Day' too". Yeah, I definitely cried when I read that! My awesome friend Courtney sacrificed her Mother's day too and helped out at the sale. I'm SOOO glad she was there. Not only did we have a ton of fun, but it was crazy and we needed to have two people to manage all of the buyers.

Here are some photos of the day: (Disclaimer: Courtney and I are normally cuter than this, but we woke up at 5am and didn't shower before the sale...plus it was a HOT day and we were dressed too warm for it!)

Courtney with our stuff, presale

Looking down the row at the other Americans selling stuff

The Japanese lined up at the gate presale

The line at the other end of the parking lot

Courtney was nervous (and so was I!!)

Here they come!

Yes, they were RUNNING in to get to the sales

One last photo before I ran back to our booth!

Me with our leftover stuff post sale. I ended up getting a friend's leftover stuff to and was able to take it to another sale later in the day.

It was so interesting to see what items the Japanese bought quickly and what they weren't interested in. The hot items: candles, some half-melted; half used lotion bottles; baskets; ANY shirts with English on them (think high-school sports t's). Other things we thought would sell fast but didn't: high chair; baby walker; Puma shoes, etc.

It was a fun, crazy, exhausting day, but I am SOOO thankful that we were able to raise so much money for Alex!!! I love that boy!!

Our winner!

2011-05-06T06:34:00.000-07:00

Congrats to Carla D!!! I used Random.org to generate a random number and number 8 was selected!! You have won a $35 gift certificate to Amazon!!! Yahoo!!! I will email you and arrange for delivery of your gift certificate!

Stay tuned folks as I and other fans of Alex try to coordinate to fundraise. The 5/5/5 Warrior campaign has officially begun to raise money and awareness for Alex. Our challenge is to raise $5000 for his funds! If you have any ideas let me know!

One of my ideas is happening tomorrow:

Check out the pile of goods for my yard sale...and this is only about 1/2 of it! We are moving in less than two weeks from overseas back to the U.S., so we have plenty of stuff to purge. I've also gotten some donations from friends and Courtney is going to help me at the sale. Pray for some good weather and that we raise money for Alex. I'll let you know how much we raise!!!

Update on Alex

2011-05-04T00:26:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! I'm so glad to see so much interest in sweet little Alex. It does my heart so good to know that there are others out there who care about him and are trying to find him a family. So far his adoption funds are up to $508.50! This is over $80 from where his funds were at when we started advocating for him. Awesome job everyone! There are still a couple of days to share and donate in order to qualify for the giveway!

This Saturday I'm having a garage sale to raise money for his adoption fund. We are moving soon and so I have a lot of stuff to purge and am also asking for donations from friends. Pray that the sale is successful! I'll keep you posted. :)

Blessings!

Giveaway for Alex!

2011-04-24T22:54:00.000-07:00

Well friends, it is time for a GIVEAWAY to raise awareness and funds for sweet little Alex! Here are the details....

The prize: A $35 gift certificate for Amazon.com! SEE, I told you that you'd want it! :)

How to enter: Leave a comment on this post EVERY time you do one of the following things:

- Join/Like Alex's facebook page
- Share Alex's facebook page on your wall
- Link to Alex's Reece's Rainbow site or to this post on your blog
- Tell at least 5 people in person about Alex
- Donate to Alex's fund on the Reece's Rainbow website (ANY amount will help!!!). His funds are currently at $428.50. It will help SO much for him to have more funds. Adoption is EXPENSIVE and I want to bless the family that commits to him! Donations are tax deductible.

That means you can enter to win this gift certificate up to five different times. (If you have already joined/liked his facebook page go ahead and comment on this post already.)

For example: Jane Doe wants to be entered for this giveaway...she decides to "like" the facebook page. She does that and then also shares about his page on her wall. She will come back to this blog post and leave TWO separate comments telling me what she did to advocate for Alex. Comment one may say: "I liked the fb page", and a SEPARATE comment may say "I shared his page on my wall".

I know some people may be uncomfortable sharing if they donated or not, but I can't think of any other way to easily track the donations as counting for the giveaway. So, do NOT tell me the amount you donated, it could be $1 or $100, just leave a comment saying "donated".

The giveaway will be CLOSED on May 5 at 9am EST! Drawing will be soon to follow!

Thank you all for helping this sweet boy find his family! I know of at least one family who is very interested in him. Join me in praying for them and direction as to if they are his family or not!!

COMMENTS NOW CLOSED. Winner announced SOON!!! Thank you SOOO much for all of your donations and for sharing about Alex!

Advocating for Alex

2011-04-22T15:59:00.000-07:00

I have recently become the 555 Warrior for Alex, the little boy in Eastern Europe that I told you about in the previous post. Alex is almost 5 and when he turns 5 he will be transferred to an institution where he will be BEDRIDDEN. I can't even imagine this precious boy, so full of hope and life, confined to a bed. No one deserves that!! Just think, if his family finds him, his life will be full of love and joy, therapies to HELP his mobility instead of hinder it. I pray every day for him. Are YOU his family??

I have started a facebook page for Alex. Please "like" the page and recommend the page to your friends. The more people who see him, the more chances there are that his family will see him! The page is called Adoption and Awareness for Alex.

In the next few days I hope to have a giveaway on this blog. It should be a great prize that everyone will love, so spread the word about that too!!! Let's find this little boy a home!

In Love

2011-03-28T04:36:00.000-07:00

Sigh, I am in love with a little boy in Eastern Europe that I have never met. I read a ton of adoption blogs and occasionally peruse the adoption websites with waiting children. I know, I know, with three kids ages 5 and under I hardly need to be doing that. But, it is in my heart and so I look. There is an amazing website/ministry called Reece's Rainbow that lists children, mainly from Russia and Eastern Europe, with special needs who may be more difficult to find families for. Many of the children have Down Syndrome, some are HIV +, and others have other various conditions. While looking I saw this one boy, named "Alex" and for some reason I instantly fell in love. I mean, look at that SMILE! He has cerebral palsy and cannot currently walk. The site says he is very smart and that when he turns five (in September) he will be transferred to an institution where he will be bedridden. Just like that, no hope of walking unless a family, HIS family comes to get him. I asked God if we were his family (thinking that God REALLY had a sense of humor if we were---if you know me in real life you KNOW how crazy our life is at the moment), but I still had to ask. And the answer was clearly, 100%, "no". So, what I want to know is...are YOU his family??? Look at him! Isn't he cute?! If you click on the Easter Warrior link underneath his bio it will take you to another person's blog that has a few additional pics of him on it. I'd love for him to find his family!

Cleaning out the car

2011-03-07T19:20:00.000-08:00

I know, I never really write on here, but thought I'd share this with you today. My hubby cleaned out my car and unbeknownst to me kept a list of what he found in there so that I could ~~embarrass myself~~ share the list on my blog.

Contents of my car:
1 lego
2 bags of trash
1 winter hat
4 socks (all different)
7 spoons
8 books
1 box of crackers
1 box of cheezits
1 box of Scooby snacks
1 empty cinnamon spice bottle
1 feminine product
2 umbrellas
4 empty water bottles
1 full water bottle
2 coffee cups
1 purell dispenser
1 bottle of kids ibuprofen
1 bag of kids chapsticks (6 tubes)
2 matchbox cars
1 plastic pear
2 magnadoodles
5 used wet wipes (not used for diaper changes...)
1 pencil
1pen
1 comb
7 letters
6 unused diapers
2 raisin boxes
2 maps
1 speech pathology book
1 sleeping child :)

I learned...

2010-12-08T19:09:00.000-08:00

Courtney, over at Click it up a Notch has a weekly feature where we can link up and post something we learned this week. Earlier in the week she had a post about how to photograph Christmas lights. I read that post, got my camera out and started practicing! This week I learned how to photograph lights! Here is the shot I like the best. 1/13 shutter speed, f/4.5 and ISO 800. I'm limited by my kit lens on the aperture setting, but hopefully Santa will buy me that new lens I asked for. :) Suggestions? Should I have increased my ISO and increased my shutter speed or doesn't that matter? (Click image to enlarge)

I did it!

2010-06-03T00:02:00.001-07:00

I feel like such a domestic goddess (let's ignore the fact that I have someone who cleans for me, and the fact that I sometimes burn grilled cheeses) because I made wheat bread from scratch. And it turned out really yummy! I followed this recipe exactly, except that my yeast was "rapid rise" yeast (it was all I had) and I followed the "new breadmaker" tips suggested by the third commenter "bizzybrandi". The house smelled SO good too. Let me know if you try it or if you have a bread recipe that you love!

Eating Healthy finally!

2010-05-19T19:11:00.000-07:00

Well, I started a new "diet" last week and have been doing it for a week...so far it has been going well. I'm not necessarily cutting calories or starving myself...gotta keep that milk production up, but have been eating MUCH healthier. I found a magazine called Clean Eating and read it and thought "Yes!" this is how I should be eating! Healthy food, fruits, veggies, whole grains...and the best part is they had a 2 week meal plan in it. All meals and snacks are outlined for me and there is a grocery list too! I follow it almost exactly except I add calories with my coffee and creamer (cant skip THAT!), an Odwalla bar, and one Dove Dark Chocolate. Maybe one more healthy snack after dinner too if I'm still hungry. Also, we have TONS of social events here that always involve food, so at least I'm eating healthier the rest of the week when we don't have those! I feel really good and have already noticed some of my cravings changing. I didn't expect that to happen so soon. I used to have a half a can of C0ke in the afternoon to wake up a little...well two days ago I popped one open in the afternoon and took a couple of sips...and it was WAY too sweet for me! CRAZY! I didn't even drink it! I also found myself craving some grapes, where usually all I crave is chocolate. Hopefully I can continue to make some healthier choices! I feel great so far!

Getting in Shape?

2010-04-14T05:14:00.000-07:00

Hey Y'all--

Keeping busy over here...way TOO busy in fact! :) I'm starting to feel very frustrated by the baby weight I have on me! Still about 30 lbs left to lose. I thought it was all supposed to miraculously disappear if you breast feed?! I guess it would probably help if I stopped eating like I were still pregnant. Seriously though, how did you lose your baby weight? I know I need to exercise, but still unsure of how to fit that into my day. Thinking that maybe once the little one sleeps better at night and I'm less desperate for a nap in the middle of the day I may be able to use a little time there to do some sort of workout. Hmmm. I know that I also need to drastically change my eating habits. I feel like meals that are easy are not usually synonymous with healthy. And right now, easy is winning. Any suggestions for me?!

This time around

2010-03-02T00:36:00.000-08:00

Wow...I know I'm a totally horrible blogger, but didn't realize I hadn't posted since November. Good thing a newborn provides a good excuse (that I will be using as long as possible for many, many things).

Things are going better this time around than the first time I had a newborn. Although having a newborn with two other children is a craziness I never knew was possible! (that's a post for another day though). I find that I am worried about so many fewer things. With my first I NEVER let him sleep in bed with us...now I don't care where he sleeps, as long as I'm getting some sleep! He is not on a schedule for nursing yet and I feel like this is totally right for him. From the beginning he has been more of a cluster feeder...eating every hour or two for several hours, then napping, then repeat. He seems to be eating in more regular intervals right now as he is getting older, so eventually we may get into more of a groove.

In case it helps anyone, I wanted to list some things that I'm really liking this time around, things that I didn't have last time:

- my M0by wrap. My son LOVES this. It seems to fit a newborn much better than the baby bj0rn does. It is easier on my back. He falls asleep in it almost every time which allows me to get something done since he often resists sleeping without being held.

- Medel@ brand lanolin. I like it much better than the Lansinoh...seems to go on better. Thankfully though I haven't even needed it past the first week or two.

- Medel@ Swing pump. SO great. I have only used it a couple of times but it is SUPER easy to use. Speaking of pumping...WHEN am I supposed to pump when I am exclusively breast feeding every 2 or so hours? I don't get it!

Randomness

2009-11-26T20:14:00.000-08:00

It is the day after thanksgiving and I have a lot of random thoughts running through my mind:

- I am thankful for my wonderful family, great friends, new and old, and being saved by the grace of Christ. I am also thankful for the anti-reflux medicine that allows me to enjoy eating :)

- I think that I have bought the kids way too much for Christmas this year. We try to limit what we buy them, but I went a little crazy buying stuff at an online/ebay type store....so, not a TON of money, but too much stuff. Thankfully their bdays are right after Christmas, so now I can roll over the gifts to bdays and I already have that shopping done!

- I have been telling people that I don't FEEL as huge and pregnant as I did with my first pregnancy...and I truly don't....then I caught a glimpse of myself in a full length mirror yesterday...all optimism is gone :)

- Finally Disney has an African American princess....seriously....I am glad, but that took a LONG LONG TIME

- Thanksgiving is over, which means that either Christmas or NEW BABY are the next big event for our family...yikes.

- I am nervous to ask for breastfeeding items for my shower, because last time I only did it for 2 months....I don't want to be wasteful if it doesn't work out, but am looking forward to trying it again.

- I have totally forgotten how much labor hurts. Crazy how that works.

- We are slowly getting rooms painted in our house and curtains hung. The painting has stalled out until December 1st as the paint mixing machine at self-help is out for repairs. I painted the baby's room two different shades of blue I got from a friend, but neither looked good, so I have to wait a few more days to get the exact shade I want.

Good blog reading

2009-11-05T03:42:00.000-08:00

Like these posts:

http://stuffchristianslike.net/2009/11/watching-the-wrong-movies/

and

http://livingproofministries.blogspot.com/2009/10/like-slaves-in-search-of-little-masters.html

Pre Baby List

2009-09-17T23:28:00.000-07:00

I'm having one of those "oh my, I only have a few months until the baby is born" freak out moments....one where lists and lists of things are running through my head (while I lie on the couch and rest instead of completing any of those things). Thought it might help to blog my list of things I want to finish before the baby comes (not necessarily baby related items, however):

1. Paint my kids' rooms, including baby's room

2. Paint our living room (at least one wall)

3. Do my daughter's "baby" book

4. Buy big girl bed for my daughter, move crib to baby's room

5. Download and organize songs on ITunes i.e. Kid's playlist, my playlist

6. Curtains for our house

7. Order photos from snapfish

8. Knit at least one item for the baby

Okay, I'm sure there are lots more things, but I feel a little better. Off to rest :) heehee

A note to....

2009-08-30T22:03:00.000-07:00

My rear-end:

Dear Rear-end,

You seem to have already forgotten the lecture I gave you at the beginning of this pregnancy. I thought I would write you a note to remind you. You do not need to grow during pregnancy. The baby is NOT, I repeat, NOT growing inside of you, rear-end. He is growing in my uterus...on the complete OPPOSITE side of my body. Therefore, it is my belly's job to grow larger. It is NOT your job to pack on the pounds with every passing day. There is no need to "even out" the weight distribution between the front and back side of my body. Please (oh pretty pretty please) stop this nonsense.

Much Appreciated,

Amber

Broken camera

2009-08-25T22:25:00.000-07:00

Well, it is official. Our trusty old Canon point and shoot digital is dead. It has been a great camera and takes surprisingly good pictures (or maybe that's just the photographer...heehee). My hubby and I went on an awesome day trip to an island and had to buy (gasp) a disposable camera! We shall see how those photos turn out. My very first (yes, I'm bad) belly pic of the pregnancy is on there, so hopefully at least that one turned out.

As for a new camera: I've been longingly gazing at digital SLRs. My husband has been even eyeing them. But, it feels like SUCH an indulgence to buy one. Especially when it would be just a hobby for me, taking pics of my kiddos. What do you think...unnecessary indulgence, worthy hobby??? It is getting very close to decision time. The disposable camera pics are all used up!

Baby Boy

2009-08-14T23:48:00.000-07:00

A few days ago we had an ultrasound and found out that baby #3 will be a little BOY! I am thrilled! As for my kids....well, here is there reaction:

Me: "Mama went to the doctor today and found out you guys are having a little brother"

Kids: "Mama, mama, we wrapped up in blankets like sausages" (apparently a game they were playing with their babysitter while I was at the ultrasound). So yes, apparently they are thrilled as well.... ;)

Other thoughts on having a baby brother, as said by N to his grandparents on the phone:

"It matches me! It has short hair like me"

And when I asked the kids this morning what we should name our baby boy:

A: "boy"

N: "Mary Legs"

????? Um, yeah, I'll go ahead and write both of those down on our "possible names" list :)

Trying again....

2009-08-11T22:06:00.001-07:00

A LONG while has passed since I have last blogged...and I've been itching to do it again. I'm not promising ANYTHING...and I'm sure no one even checks this anymore....but I'm going to start out and blab about whatever I feel like and see what happens!

Today I went on a LONG walk....about an hour and a half with the kids and my pregnant belly. It is insanely hot here (as I hear it is just about everywhere right now). I am so amazed at how little exercise it takes for my heartrate to skyrocket, now that I am pregnant. The minute I begin walking up a hill I start breathing fast and can feel my heart beating rapidly. So, I guess it is my body's way of telling me that is enough. The kids were not too happy to go on such a long walk in the heat and therefore spent much of their time whining and picking on each other. Next time I need to remember to bring snacks and cold drinks. Ah well, at least it got us out of the house for a while!

Organic Recommendations

2009-01-31T22:54:00.000-08:00

I am not an "organic foods" person by any stretch of the imagination. I will occasionally buy some organic things to try, but at this point do not feel super convicted to change my diet. I do; however, like yummy food and to try new things. I have found (probably via Tricia or Serina) a couple of organic foods out there that are super yummy, my kids, hubby and I all love them and they are easy to cook. Definitely worth a try and worth buying again!

Amy's Organic Chunky Tomato Bisque

Amy's Organic Lentil Soup (yes, my kids love it too!)

Annie's Shells and White Cheddar

Do you have any organic "must eats"?

Hair Bow Cuteness

2009-01-26T13:41:00.000-08:00

I am SO excited. I ordered bows for my daughter's hair off of Etsy last week from three different sellers. They all arrived today and I absolutely LOVE them all. What a talented group of ladies. I can't wait to try them all out on her hair. The 3 sets on the left are from Sassy Lil Ones, the middle set (and I think my personal favorites) are from Hair Sprinkles, and the 3 sets on the right are from Emma Lee's Boutique. The quality looks fantastic on all of them, the customer service from all was amazing and SUPER friendly, and shipping was very fast. I should also mention the prices...awesome.

I especially encourage you to check out these and other awesome Etsy sellers of children's goods in the next week. All handmade products for children under 12 will have to be tested for lead starting February 10...In theory it is a great idea...I am all about safety for our children. In practice, this law will put all of our small businesses, like the ones listed above, out of business. They either have to choose to break the law and continue selling items, pay thousands upon thousands of dollars to have their items tested for lead (which most cannot afford), or discontinue their business. So, please, click here to educate yourself on the new law, and how you can help get it amended to keep these and other wonderful Etsy sellers in business.

Never thought I'd hear myself say: Vol 2

2009-01-07T21:35:00.001-08:00

A while back I posted some things that I never thought I'd hear myself say, but now that I'm a mother I say.

Lately I have found myself saying to my son multiple times a day:

"We don't eat brown snow, we only eat white snow"

He loves to eat snow and keeps trying to eat snow that is near the road and is all nasty and dirty. The phrase isn't terribly funny, but I say it so many times in one day, it is unbelievable! I suppose this principle will become extremely important though if he ever encounters yellow snow.

Shout Out

2008-12-03T14:09:00.000-08:00

Had to write and give a shout out to Z@ppos! I ordered some new running shoes from them yesterday at 2:30 pm....and selected their free shipping option (I think it is supposed to take 5 days or so) that they always have. A few hours later I got an email that they were upgrading my shipping options free of charge. My doorbell rang a few minutes ago and lo and behold...my shoes had arrived. Less than 26 hours later! Did I mention shipping was FREE???? They also have free shipping on the return and great customer service (we have used them multiple times). Thought I'd share my great experience.

Also, I updated a few links/blogs on the sidebar. Check them out if you are bored. I'll probably be adding more in the next few days/weeks.

The Fatherless

2008-11-23T11:51:00.000-08:00

This weekend my husband and I were invited to an an fundraising gala, An Orphan's Ticket Home. We were invited by a couple in our church, and went with some other friends of ours who are adopting as well. It was an amazing and powerful night. I can't stop thinking about the night, the things that were said, and mainly, the orphans...the fatherless.

The evening started out with praise and worship by the Billy Foote Band. WOW! That about sums up their talent. His wife is the lead singer and MAN can she sing. She has probably one of the best female voices I have ever heard. Go take a listen to them. You will be blown away! The head of the band told an illustration that one of his friends had told him. His friend grew up during the time of the holocaust. His town was one of the places that the trains stopped in on their way to the concentration camps. This man grew up hearing the screams and pleading of the Jewish people on the trains...begging for food, for water...anything. Apparently, even in church they could hear the screams and moans of the people on their way to the concentration camps...and to drown out the sound, they sang louder. Billy Foote's point in telling the story was that today there are millions and millions of orphans in the world; here and abroad. Are we as a church listening to these orphans and helping? Are we doing something to better the situation or are we just singing louder in our comfortable churches and ignoring their cries?

Next Tom Davis spoke about how we as Christians are called to care for the widows and the fatherless. He showed this video...and I think it speaks for itself. I think I want to adopt them all! At the end of the evening I got into the car and cried...for the orphans, for the fatherless. One important point Tom Davis made, however, continues to stick with me. Many people feel like I do; overwhelmed, that there is little hope, little that something one person or one family can do to truly make a difference. He said, however, that rather than let this feeling of hopelessness lull us into complacency, and rather than it let us do nothing and ignore the cries, we should take one, small step toward helping the fatherless. We don't necessarily have to send gobs of money to an orphanage (while that would be great) or adopt several children (while that would also be great). We can send our prayers to the orphans, we can pray that God would show us how He wants us to be involved, and/or we can donate our time/resources to a variety of organizations that promote helping the orphans.

To finish off the night, the President of America World Adoption spoke on how their agency is trying to raise money to help identify children in orphanages for adoption. He said that many of the children in orphanages are not eligible for adoption, simply because they do not have a birth certificate. Someone needs to do an investigation on that child's history in order to get them a birth certificate to either find relatives, or an adoptive family. This gala (and there were only about 200 people there!) ended up raising over $25,000 to help fund social workers and others in foreign countries who can help investigate these children and hopefully eventually find families.

Let's hear the voices of the orphans around the world and take that first step toward helping the fatherless.

Beauty Advice Needed

2008-11-11T12:44:00.000-08:00

I need some beauty advice. I am looking for a face soap that I can use BOTH for cleaning my face and for removing my eye makeup. I have tried a lot of different liquid face cleansers, bar soaps, expensive and cheap, but have not found "the one" yet. Anyone have any recommendations???

Thanks, Angie!

2008-10-19T12:17:00.000-07:00

I got a birthday gift in the mail on Friday. Look at this awesome handspun yarn from Angie! I absolutely love it. She continues to amaze me with her knitting related skills. I have been knitting for longer, but she has blown by me in her abilities. She suggested a hat for this yarn...I think it would be perfect!

Thanks Ang!

Blog Facelift

2008-10-14T19:45:00.000-07:00

For those of you reading this only in Google Reader (which I highly recommend you sign up for if you don't already!), I changed the look of my blog...finally! I love my new background...especially because it was FREE!!! Check out the Cutest Blog on the Block website for free background downloads.

Why God wants us to be like children...

2008-10-10T17:33:00.000-07:00

My son has a new hobby. He loves to play our little xylophone style piano and belt out songs that he knows. He also prays before each song (why?? No idea!). It is so cute...let me give you an example:

-"say prayer to Jesus"

and he bows his head and says

-"Dear Jesus, Thank you for go to the park. Amen!"

then he will bang away on random keys while he sings one of his favorite songs (Deep and Wide, Jesus loves the little children, or even Wheels on the Bus). Between each song he bows his little head and says another prayer to Jesus before singing the next song.

The other day I was watching him do this and chuckling to myself. I thought "oh, how cute, he prays before each song". It was SO endearing, but I almost thought, silly...Then I realized...it isn't silly AT ALL! That is what God WANTS us to do! Be like children SO much, that we pray before each song, before each little thing that we do. I needed to learn this lesson from my son!

Best Voice EVER

2008-10-03T05:03:00.000-07:00

Found this video on YouTube of a Third Day concert we went to last year. They did taping for their DVD at the concert. Anyway, Mac Powell, lead singer has the best voice EVER in my opinion. Have a listen for yourself!

Also, this is a hint of where we get to go this weekend for a little prebirthday present for me!!! Woohoo!!! Third Day, Jars of Clay, Switchfoot......

Never thought I'd hear myself say

2008-09-01T13:36:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd start a little "series" on my blog. I'd like to call it "Things I never thought I'd hear myself say as a mother". I have been thinking about posting some of the random things I tell my son. Apparently "Parents" magazine has a similar series, but I swear I thought of it first! :)

So, here are a couple of things I never thought I'd say

"Eat your hot dog and your Cheetos and then you can have some cake". Um yeah, hello....cuz dinner is clearly the healthier choice than cake

"Stop eating your (styrofoam) cup!" When I noticed that his drink cup had three bite shaped moons missing from it. I couldn't find the remainder of the cup at first, so I assumed he had actually swallowed the styrofoam. Thankfully he didn't!

How about you moms out there?

I cannot lie...

2008-08-21T13:16:00.001-07:00

I know, I STINK at keeping up with this blog lately. After many of you getting mad at me I thought I'd actually post something! Some friends and I were discussing random songs...and I got to thinking about songs that are pretty much guaranteed to get me out on the dance floor at weddings. Some I am not proud of, but sometimes you just can't help dancing to the beat!

Songs Guaranteed to get me dancing at a wedding:

1. Baby got back

2. Brass Monkey

3. Boot Scootin' Boogie

4. Ice Ice Baby

5. Ride Wit Me

6. Pour Some Sugar on Me

(like I said I am NOT proud) :)

What are your songs you just can't help but dance to?

75

2008-06-26T18:53:00.001-07:00

75...it is the number of books that I have marked "to-read" on my Goodreads list. As if I need any more! I was looking on the Goodreads website and found a posting where someone asked "what 5 books you must read before you die?". So, what I want to know is what are YOUR top 5 books that you would recommend reading before you die? I know my number one is obviously the Bible...but other than that I don't know! Too many good choices! If I had to choose right now without giving it TOO much thought...I'd say...in no particular order

The Bible

Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl

Pride and Prejudice

Little Women

Harry Potter (#1)..if for no other reason than to see what all the hype is about!

Tell me yours!

The Bee-ah Song

2008-06-11T18:10:00.000-07:00

Conversation with my two-year-old today:

Him- "Mama, sing the Bee-ah song"

Me- "Sing what??"

Him- " Sing the Bee-ah song"

Me- "what?" NO IDEA what he is talking about

"you sing the bee-ah song"

Him- "The bee-ah bee-ah eee. That ...for me.....Bee-ah, bee-ah, eee"

Me- "OH! The B-I-B-L-E.....yes, that's the book for me..."

It was so cute! Probably much cuter than it comes out in print.

Happy Mother's Day!

2008-05-11T09:45:00.000-07:00

I wanted to wish a happy Mother's day to all of the moms and soon-to-be moms out there who read my blog! I know I have been blessed to be the mom of a wonderful, silly little 2-year-old. It is truly one of the best and hardest jobs out there! I wouldn't trade it for the world. It gives me a new appreciation for my mom (whom I already love dearly!). Happy Mother's day mom!

We don't have too much planned for today, although my hubby promised to take me out to dinner so I wouldn't have to cook- yay! He also gave me a gift certificate to get a pedicure at a great nail place here. I know I will enjoy it!

What are you up to today? Anything fun or relaxing?

Look what I got free today

2008-05-06T18:24:00.000-07:00

Well, after a couple of slow bargain weeks, I finally got some CVS deals today. I got all that you see above (not that I need anymore Venus razors or toothpaste, but that is beside the point!) for FREE using manufacturers coupons and extra care bucks...and I ended up with the same amount of extra care bucks that I started with. Gotta love that!!!

Confessions of a tea purchaser

2008-04-28T19:37:00.000-07:00

I have a problem. I love to buy tea. Weird huh, considering that I LOVE LOVE LOVE my coffee with my yummy creamer, and I rarely drink tea. However, I can't seem to resist continuing to buy tea. I think I am hoarding it for some unseen event in the future when all of the tea supplies in the world are depleted. Don't worry...if that happens, I'll share with you. (I also seem to have an insane amount of shampoo, toothpaste and excedrin, but that's a story for another day) Anyway, there was a period of time when I could not go to the grocery store without purchasing a new kind of tea. I have since sworn off tea buying, but it continues to tempt me. I must use up some of my stash before I buy any new tea though!

Some of my favorites:

Stash Green and White tea fusion

Any brand of Ginger peach

Lipton Bedtime story tea

Lady Grey tea with cream and sugar

Any tea lovers want to tempt me with their favorites? Anyone else hoard something and not know why?

A Few favs

2008-04-15T12:39:00.000-07:00

A few of my new favorite things I had to share:

- I am loving this show. I caught up with it while the writer's were all on strike. ABC has all episodes on their website which is great. It is a cute, funny show that is just good fun. Plus I love all of the supporting characters; especially Suki from Gilmore Girls who plays Samantha's friend. You'll have to check it out. It is a great 20 minute distraction from life. :)

- I really love her blog lately. Just makes me laugh. Especially this post.

-We got some GREAT frozen blueberries the other day from here. It is a farm in Oregon that ships to other parts of the country. We also got some frozen raspberries and salmon. All very yummy, but the blueberries taste like candy. I have to ration my 2 year old so he doesn't eat too many. I have been making a smoothie almost everyday! Thanks Jessica for doing our order with this company!

-This is my favorite type of Starbucks coffee. Just FYI. Not a new favorite, just had to add something coffee related somewhere in my list of favorites. I have a wonderful sister-in-law who works at Starbucks and periodically surprises me with a some in my mailbox.

Anyone else have any new favorites??

Outsmarted

2008-04-06T08:55:00.000-07:00

This blog is really not supposed to be about my little monkey son, but since we are living in Quarantineville, I have little else to write about this weekend! Every morning I let my son watch a movie while I shower. The past week or so I got out of the shower and I would hear a banging noise every few seconds. I could never figure out what he was doing. Inevitably I would go into the living room and he would be sitting in his chair innocently. Today the mystery was solved when he walked up to our magnetized tv stand and gave it a big kick (which produced a loud bang). Sure enough, the door swung open and he began to play with the DVDs. So much for child-proofing!!!!

New Diagnosis

2008-04-05T16:01:00.000-07:00

Well, the self-made diagnosis of hand food and mouth started to look a little dicey yesterday when the rash went all up and down my sons legs and lower torso. After waiting all day for a call back from the pediatrics clinic and never receiving one, we emailed photos of his rash to our doctor who is also a friend of ours. He consulted with several other doctor friends of his. The diagnosis? Chicken Pox!!!! He's been vaccinated too, so I guess that's why the rash isn't too terrible or too itchy. How weird. We're going in to see him on Monday, so we'll see what he says then. I'm hoping that the quarantine will be lifted then! Today we got out because our friends wanted their children to be exposed, so that was nice for us!

ANOTHER addition to the day

2008-04-03T18:03:00.001-07:00

Note to self: Don't post about your day until it is done.

Just figured out that I'm pretty sure my son has hand, foot, and mouth disease!

Ack!

An addition to my day

2008-04-03T16:00:00.000-07:00

Yeah, so, it wasn't in my daily schedule, but gonna have to add

"backed over our garbage can on my way to the grocery store" to the list of things I did today!

Whoops!

Today I...

2008-04-03T13:12:00.000-07:00

(Warning: non-exciting post, it has just been a while so I felt like I should post SOMETHING!)

Got up at 6:45 (typical waking hour of my 2-year-old). About once every 6 months I get to sleep until 7:30, which basically I think he does to give me false hope of it happening more often.

Went outside with above-mentioned 2-year-old to just "quick take out the trash". Spent the next 30-40 minutes walking around the neighborhood in my pjs while my son pushed his toy airplane up and down the sidewalks while I said "mama's hungry, let's go inside" and he ignored me. Then he made ME sit on his airplane while he attempted to push it. I can only imagine what the neighbors were thinking when they saw that.

Showered, dressed while my son watched Monsters Inc (his first time seeing it....don't worry I didn't let him sit and watch the whole thing!)

Met with our home warranty guy to see if he could fix a few minor things. Most things he can't fix, but some he can (all minor cometic things)

Went to the local children's museum. A very cute and fun place. Don't let the name "museum" fool you. It is like an indoor play area with a mini grocery store, tents, hospital, rocket ship, etc. All hands on and kid centered. Not like adult museums with lots of boring signs.

Ate a picnic outside at museum.

Came home, put my son down for a nap.

Checked email, read blogs, made my bed, emptied trash, (yes a little bit of cleaning, I know, it happens).

Made dinner for a family in our church going through a lot right now. I made my famous beef and bean enchiladas. I say they are famous because whenever we make a meal for anyone (had a baby, surgery, etc) they get the enchiladas. Easy and yummy and freeze well!

Met the Terminix guy.

After Terminix guy leaves I'll probably hunt for my $3 off 2 Huggies Clean team wipes and go to the grocery store to get some free wipes and some miscellaneous grocery items.

Then make our dinner...I think I'm going to make some chicken with pears (recipe from an old real simple). After dinner and my son's bedtime I'll go running with a friend.

Not a terribly exciting, but that's my day!

Free Starbucks!!

2008-03-25T18:14:00.000-07:00

Got this link off of Money Saving Mom's website for a free sample of Starbucks coffee. WOO HOO!!! This is so meant for me. So go here and register your information, then answer a short survey and you get free coffee in 6 to 8 weeks! Now that's a great deal!

Shopping Lessons Learned

2008-03-23T14:12:00.000-07:00

I went shopping yesterday for a little bit and last weekend for a little bit for some clothes for myself. I was not very successful, but I did learn a few "lessons" along the way that I'd like to share.

1. I will never (NEVER) try on another pair of Bermuda shorts. If you are shopping with me, and see me pick them up to try on...please, please stop me. Don't let me waste my time. No matter how cute these look on other people, they DO NOT look cute on me. No matter how many different brands I try on. No matter how many stores I go to.

2. Medium is the new Small (especially in those stores that cater to high schoolers).

3. Shopping with my squirrelly two-year-old is likely preferable to shopping on a Saturday afternoon in our local shopping mall. Way way way too many people (especially during spring break/holy week). I got one of the last carts at Target!

4. I still have no idea how to shop for my post baby (or should I say 2 years post baby) body. In my mind I am still teeny...until I try on clothes meant for teeny people!

5. I fear that the day when I am too old to shop in the "teen" section is rapidly approaching.

6. I have hit the stage where it is much more fun (much easier and more successful too) to shop for my child than it is for myself.

7. I still like to shop, despite all of this!!!

The Ultimate "Bargain"

2008-03-21T11:22:00.000-07:00

Sorry it has been so long since I have posted! We've been busy! I did do some bargain hunting last weekend...as did some friends of mine, so I'll post about that maybe tomorrow or something.

Today though, in light of Easter on Sunday, I want to tell you about the BEST bargain I have ever gotten. Yes, it is BETTER than paying no money for 4 bars of soap and getting $4 to spend the next time you shop. BETTER than my favorite CVS bargains, and believe it or not, BETTER than the time I bought 4 pkgs of Robitussin cough drops and got $100 Visa card!!!!

What is this bargain?? It was Jesus, taking on my sins and dying on the cross for me so that I could have ETERNAL life in heaven instead of spending an eternity in Hell. All I had to do was believe in Him and accept Him as my Lord and savior. Talk about a bargain!!!!!! To add icing to the cake, I get to live my life with Him by my side. He comforts me in times of sorrow and blesses me with undeserved blessings. Yeah, I'd say this is MUCH better than any bargain CVS could ever have.

May you have a wonderful Easter weekend!

Favorite CD/Download

2008-03-11T18:03:00.000-07:00

Hey! I thought for a change of pace (I know some of you are thinking "finally!!") from the couponing I want to know what you are listening to a lot lately! Are you listening to a favorite CD or favorite download a lot? Which ones?

I typically listen to books on CD or children's songs (Veggie Tales, Curious George...etc) but every once in a while I pull out a CD.

I am listening to a CD by a Christian group called Selah, specifically the CD called Greatest Hymns. Their voices are absolutely INCREDIBLE. I recommend that you give them a listen here
Just scroll down and you will see a list of songs from this album. Click the play button next to the song to listen.

Another CD I LOVE is actually a Christmas album. I know, how weird is that to listen to Christmas music in March?? I promise these songs don't sound like Christmas music. They are awesome. It is Third Day's Christmas Offerings CD. We had the opportunity to go to this concert this past December and it was SO SO SO AWESOME!! Have a listen here.

Now it is your turn! What is on your Ipod/in your CD player?

Today's trip

2008-03-09T15:39:00.001-07:00

Just returned from my weekly (okay, sometimes more than weekly) CVS and Walgreens trip. I actually bought some things we needed...like the shave gel, the gum, and the little Disney washcloths. The Disney washclothes are birthday gifts for a kids bday party next weekend. The rest of the stuff...well, it was essentially free! I spent 1.50 out of pocket on all of this!!!

I did find one "no brainer deal" for this week. If you got the Sunday paper there is a coupon for buy one get one free trident gum in one of the coupon inserts. At walgreens this week there is a coupon in the weekly Walgreens ad for buy one get one free trident gum. So, you can get 2 packs of gum totally free! I bought some pomegranate blueberry gum which is really yummy!

Coupons = clean water

2008-03-05T05:14:00.000-08:00

Just got an email that for every coupon from the Proctor and Gamble ad (comes in the Sunday paper the first Sunday of the month) that is redeemed in March or April they will donate 1 liter of clean drinking water to needy people in third world countries. Pretty cool! Read about it here.

The Weekend Haul

2008-03-03T20:04:00.001-08:00

Had a fairly successful bargain shopping trip this weekend. My first stop was Walgreens where I bought what you see below. There were a few hang-ups, but thanks to some helpful employees, I got the deals I went in for!!!

I did several different transactions. The first few I did were the Olay bar soap deal. Walgreens has a deal this week where you buy 2 pkgs of the Olay bar soap and you get $4 back in "Register Rewards" which are like money to use the next time you shop. Well, I had 6 coupons for $2 off each pkg of bar soap, meaning I got the soap for FREE and then got $4 back. A GREAT deal! I then did the deal where you buy 6 of any certain items listed (including the herbal essences/olay body wash) and get $12 back in Register rewards. This got a little complicated because for some reason the computer wouldn't recognize it. I recommend that if you do this deal you get 6 of the same item for it. It is reported that if you buy 6 of the small (trial size?) Pantene and spend something like $8 you will still get the $12 register rewards. I also bought vitamins which are free after rebate this week, and Kotex pads which were on clearance for $1.60 ish and I had a $1 off coupon.

CVS has some good monthly deals as well as weekly deals. If you are just getting into CVS shopping make sure you pick up a flier at the store which lists their monthly Extra Care Buck deals. More toothpaste...just what we needed...I think that brings our total up to 7 unopened boxes!

I know some of you ventured out to CVS and Walgreens! Tell us about your deals!

Couponing Lessons #1 and #2

2008-02-26T14:35:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd start a little "series" here at IRSBC with some couponing lessons that I have learned in the short time I've been doing it. So, today the first lesson is:

1. Save all of your coupons.

- I know this goes against everything others have told you...they say, don't buy something you don't need, just because you have a coupon for it. However, I say save ALL of your coupons...see lesson 2

2. Be willing to buy something you don't need in order to get money toward things you do need.

- This one is a little tricky to wrap your mind around, so I'll give you some examples

Okay, first example...six tubes of KY Jelly and 2 pkg of Monistat cooling wipes. Now, I know what you are thinking, but NO, these are truly items that I will not use (stop, I mean it). So, I know you are thinking "then WHY did you buy so much of this stuff if you don't use it". Well, here is why! I had 6 coupons for the KY and 2 coupons for the monistat. The coupon value was greater than the price of the item, meaning I got $1 overage for each item. I bought these along with my groceries for the week, so by buying these items I saved $8 on my grocery bill!!! (Boy did I also feel bad for the 15 year old boy who scanned all of my KY Jelly!)

Here's another example. This one I did at CVS. I definitely don't need 8 bottles of 6-hour energy (well, most days I don't!), nor do I need "Dry Mouth" mouthwash. I spend somewhere around $12 on these items and got back $24 dollars to use on my next shopping trip! So, in other words, I made $12 to spend at CVS on something I do use, like diapers. Get it???

Hope these lessons help some! Look for more "lessons learned" posts periodically!

Oh, and if anyone wants any KY jelly or energy drinks...let me know! :)

Give Thanks

2008-02-22T06:14:00.000-08:00

Just sitting in our office with sunshine coming through the window and feeling happy and blessed.

I'm thankful for:

The beautiful sun

My wonderful family

A day off

Playgroup with friends

Coffee with yummy creamer

What are you thankful for today??

How Often Do you Pray?

2008-02-19T20:11:00.000-08:00

I am involved with an international Bible study called Bible Study Fellowship (BSF for short). Some of you may have heard of it. Each week we study part of the Bible. Everyday we are given verses to read with questions to go along with them. When we have our weekly meeting we first meet in small groups and go over our answers to our questions. Then we get together in a large group (Ours has maybe 100 or so women) and hear a speaker do an in depth look at the verses we read throughout the week.

This year we are studying the book of Matthew, which is one of the books that documents Jesus' life from birth to death to resurrection. During Jesus' life, he was incredibly busy! He was constantly healing people and preaching, feeding the poor, etc. Yet throughout the entire book, before he is about to do anything he PRAYS. In fact, sometimes he prays all night long.

This week our speaker asked us how often in a 24 hour period (how many minutes...) do we spend in prayer. Yikes, I am sad to say that while I pray throughout my day and before bed, it really does not amount to much!!! This is one thing I really need to work on. I mean...if Jesus, who was SO busy each day he was alive, still found time to pray, and prayed often...it CLEARLY must be important and we should do it too!!!

So how about you? How much of your day is spent in prayer?? Will you work on increasing that? I know I'm going to!

No longer a virgin

2008-02-18T19:32:00.000-08:00

To CVS that is.....

Here is the CVS loot that my friend Melissa got today! It was her first CVS bargain hunting trip and she did awesome! She got all of that stuff (worth over 50 bucks) for just over 25 bucks! Way to go Melissa!!! I think she's hooked. I like to say that all it takes is one hit of a great bargain and you're addicted!

Here's how Melissa did it:

I had $1.50 coupons for each of the diapers making them $7.49 each and the $4 off $20 (CVS issued coupon). i also had 1 dollar off the sunsilk, which was buy one get one free. the batteries were also buy one get one free. i got the diapers and toilet paper which gave me my ecb (Extra Care Bucks...these print out on the bottom of your receipt and you can use them on any future purchase), then with that i got everything else (soap, face scrub, sunsilk hair stuff, batteries) and paid out of pocket $0.74 for the starbursts because i had a negative total and i guess she couldn't give me a nickle back. :)

Can I Persuade you?

2008-02-15T07:06:00.001-08:00

To join in on the Persuasion book club discussion happening over at Simply Serina?? I confess I haven't read it in a few years. I meant to catch up this week, but it hasn't happened yet. Maybe during nap time today (when I really should be cleaning..hee hee).

I am looking forward to reading some in my awesome antique copy that I found at Goodwill a year ago. There is no copyright date, but the inscription that someone wrote after their name says "1910". Here are a couple of photos of it. Isn't it cool?

I love how the pages don't line up on the edges and the tissue paper over the drawings. Makes me feel very Jane Austeny just holding the book!

I love oatmeal...when it's free

2008-02-13T20:27:00.001-08:00

A quick little post to show you my "bargain high" of the day. 7 boxes of Quaker Simple Harvest oatmeal, 1 container of old fashioned oats, 2 boxes of granola bars...grand total...40 cents. Yes, that's right! 40 CENTS for ALL of that!!! Woohoo! I love couponing!

Have I talked anyone else into doing it too???

The Loot

2008-02-10T19:42:00.000-08:00

Made a run to CVS and Walgreens today to get some great bargains. I spent $2.69 out of pocket on all of this!!! The Playtex tampons were on clearance at Walgreens for $1.69 and I had $1 off coupons for them. The Kotex pads were on clearance for about the same price and I had $2 off coupons for them, meaning overage! The chapstick was $2 at Walgreens, then I used a $1 Walgreens coupon and got a $2 printout to use the next time I shop at Walgreens. The CVS run was good too! The only thing I really needed was the milk, but I can always use the toothpaste too. For .69 out of pocket I cant argue with getting all of the rest of the stuff for free!!! If you haven't started clipping those coupons and doing some deals, you'd better get going!!!

I thought throughout my posts I'd try to highlight some "no-brainer" deals...deals that you don't have to do major brainwork to do. The "no-brainer" deal for this week is to buy the Chapstick naturals chapstick from Walgreens. In their weekly ad they have a chapstick coupon which makes it .99...then you get a $2 "register reward" that prints out after you check out. Basically it is $2 to use the next time you shop. So the end results are that you make $1 on chapstick!

Happy bargaining!

Good fish recipes

2008-02-05T15:52:00.001-08:00

In an effort to eat healthier, I've been trying to incorporate one serving of fish into our meals each week. Plus, fish tend to be easy and fast to cook. I have found a couple of really tasty recipes that I thought you guys would enjoy!

The one you see pictured above is for an Orange Salmon. I got the recipe from my mother-in-law. It is very easy and yummy!

Orange Salmon Grill

1/3 cup honey

2T olive oil

1/2 cup orange juice

1T orange zest

1.5 T lemon juice

2T red wine vinegar

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

2 garlic cloves (crushed...I use minced)

1T mustard

1/4 tsp salt

Heat broiler on low. Sprinkle salmon with salt, pepper, and 11 crushed fennel seeds (optional fennel seeds). Bring glaze ingredients to a boil in small sauce pan and simmer 7 minutes. Baste salmon with glaze. Cook for 5-10 minutes until done, basting salmon throughout cooking time.

Another recipe we have really enjoyed is the following tilapia recipe. Tilapia is a white fish with a very light flavor. We often find it frozen in individual packets in our freezer section of the grocery store. The following recipe is courtesy of my sister-in-law.

Zesty Tilapia Fillets

4 tilapia fillets

olive oil cooking spray

1.5 tsp soy sauce

1/4 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp garlic powder

dash of tabasco (optional)

Spray broiling pan with olive oil. Combine remaining ingredients and spoon over fish. Should be a paste-like texture. Broil about 4 inches from heat for 5-10 minutes depending on thickness of fish, until it flakes easily with a fork

Anyone else have any good fish recipes? Let me know if you try these and how you like them too!

Enjoy!

Persuasion Online Book Club

2008-02-05T11:09:00.000-08:00

Anyone ever read Jane Austen??? I admit to being a fan of hers. In fact, when I was pregnant and bored out of my mind I divided my time knitting and reading Jane Austen books. Persuasion was one of my favorites. My friend Serina is hosting an online book club on the book persuasion. It begins next week...so get your books and start reading!

Anyone going to join?

Mystery Kitchen Tool

2008-02-03T20:03:00.000-08:00

My sister-in-law emailed me with a question about this little object. She says that she inherited it from her husband's grandmother and that it is a kitchen tool. She has no idea what it is. She said it is porcelain and has a bunch of tiny raised bumps on it. Zesting a lemon with it did not prove to be successful, so it isn't that. Any guesses??? My guess is a soap dish, but that doesn't explain the circular hole at the top. What do you think?

To Do List

2008-02-01T07:45:00.000-08:00

This weekend I hope to...

- finish my February scrapbook page for my scrapbook calendar (!)

- start reading some of the books I checked out from the library

- choose pictures to enlarge for some frames I have already bought

(and enlarge them at CVS where you can get two 8x10s for 99 cents this week using their Buy one get one free deal and two manufacturer coupons)

- clean our master bathroom (yeah right!)

- plan some trips throughout the year

What is on your list of things to do this weekend??

Random Food Favorites

2008-01-30T19:33:00.000-08:00

Thought I'd post a little list of some of my favorites in some different food categories:

Salad Dressing: Ken's Steakhouse Lite Caesar Dressing

Coffee Creamer: Int'l Delight "Hershey's Chocolate Caramel" creamer

(drink at your own risk...may prevent losing any baby weight..ever)

Crackers: Kashi TLC 7 grain or honey whole grain (or whatever they are called)

Yogurt: Stoneyfield Farm Vanilla

(I eat it in the morning with frozen raspberries, dry oatmeal, sliced almonds...yum!)

Granola Bars: Again, kashi...something like honey nut chewy?

Pickles: Meijer dill pickles

Junk food: Planters Cheese balls (do they still make these?)

Cookies: Lofthouse with the frosting...mmmmmmm

I have many more favorites....these are just a few for now. What are some of YOUR favorite brands????

Off to Walgreens

2008-01-26T11:27:00.001-08:00

Today only at Walgreens their "Easy Saver" books overlap. These are checkbook sized booklets they keep at the front of the store near their current ads. Each month a new book comes out with coupons and rebates in them. Well, it has been reported that there is the overlap of a day on these...so some really good deals to be had.

Here's what I am going to do...

L'Oreal HIP Makeup is on sale for Buy one get one free.

Buy Two $6.99 eyeshadows.

You are allowed to use coupons for Both items and you are allowed to combine Manufacturer coupons with store coupons...so...

Spend $6.99 on 2 eyeshadows, use two $2 off manufacturer coupons from a recent insert in the paper, use 2 $2 off coupons from the easy saver catalog.

Get 2 FREE eyeshadows, plus OVERAGE...money to use on something else you buy.

Another deal....

Garnier Fructisse Shampoo is on sale. There is a January $1.5o ES coupon and a $1 mnf coupon. Pay .45 cents out of pocket...use the overage on the eyeshadow to pay for the shampoo...still have some overage left..buy some gum?

In the end, 2 free eyeshadows, free shampoo, and free gum!

I hope they are all in stock so I can do these great deals!!!!

Check out these deals...

2008-01-25T10:51:00.001-08:00

Most end tomorrow, but click on the Money Saving Mom link on the sidebar. She has some really great deals listed from the past few days. Lots of grocery store deals, pharmacy deals, etc. Let me know if you get any! I may have to do the CVS M&M deal (I've done it once already this week, but didn't have the coupon...) and maybe the Walgreens makeup deal!

There are UFOs...

2008-01-25T06:35:00.000-08:00

All over my house!!! UFOs is the knitter/crafter term for Unfinished Objects, and MAN do I have a lot of them. I seem to have NO problem starting projects (definitely no problem BUYING the stuff to do the projects); however, I have a problem seeing the project through to the end.

For example:

My perfect-fitting pair of socks...oh wait, I still need to knit one more sock!

Another unfinished sock...

That will never be finished. Check out how huge it is in comparison to my perfect-fitting sock! I need to rip it out but it hurts my heart too much!

A baby hat...for a baby that was born a while ago...

A mini-album about our Thanksgiving...what you see is all that is completed.

Not to mention the 4 picture frames that are awaiting prints to be selected and enlarged so they can be hung on the wall, the balls and balls of yarn for projects that I haven't even begun, and the 5-10 scrapbook pages that are sitting half done in my scrapbooking room! Sigh!

Maybe I should cut myself off from starting a new project until I have finished some of these.

Nah!

Can't stop crying...

2008-01-22T12:25:00.000-08:00

because I am laughing SO hard!

List of the day

warning: Some somewhat inappropriate, but most are just plain funny!

(I predict Brian B and Meghan will enjoy this more than anyone else I know!)

Recent Reads

2008-01-21T11:43:00.000-08:00

Those of you who know me, know that I LOVE to read. I am constantly reading magazines, listening to books on tape, or at the library getting new books. I read while I'm brushing my teeth, using the facilities, taking a bath, eating breakfast...you get the picture! I tend to read mainly fiction books, but occasionally venture into non-fiction. The problem that I have discovered with getting motivated to read non-fiction books is that I feel smarter merely by buying them and putting them on my shelves! Almost like I learn through osmosis. As a result I have a lot of really good titles sitting on my shelves that make me feel smart or make me a better person just by looking at them! Anyone else have this problem?

Recently I have been reading a couple of non-fiction books that I'm enjoying so far. The first is Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas. I started reading this book last night and it seems pretty good. The premise is that marriage is not for our happiness and romance only, it is primarily designed to make us holy. A very different perspective than one we are given these days. So far it looks a lot at how loving our spouse can help deepen our love for God. So far very interesting. I'm only about 50 pages into it, so I'll let you know what I think when I am finished. Looks like it will be one of those "convicting" books!

Another book that I'm reading is called The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease. It was lent to my by one of my teacher-friends, but as a mother I am finding it very motivating! It talks about how to read-aloud to kids, why, and gives some new ideas on how to connect stories with everyday life.

This weekend I finished a fiction book Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos. This was a beautiful novel about families and love. The author has a different rhythm to her writing that took a little getting used to, but I really liked once I got used to it. The author was very descriptive and almost poetical. One of my favorite quotes from the book was "Maybe love comes in at the eyes, but not nearly as much as it comes in at the ears". An interesting thought.

What have you been reading lately? Anything really great, fiction or non?

P.S I've signed up for goodreads...and will post a little button on the sidebar for it as soon as I figure out how!

And the Winner is.....

2008-01-19T18:52:00.000-08:00

Shari (or Mom, as I like to call her)!!!

Well, it turned out to be a three way tie for the winner...with Shari, Katie, and Catherine guessing 2 of the 5 questions correctly. Sorry Melissa and Kurt...you guys tied for last with one correct each! Shari, you will be getting a package of goodies (think chocolate!!!) in the mail soon!

The answers were:

1. E :spent $10.76 out of pocket on the hand sanitizers, candles, etc. Never fear though...I will be getting a $10 rebate in the mail for those hand sanitizers, courtesy of Walgreens.

2. A: spent .11 on the sippy cup, garb bags, tooth brush, glucose tester, etc all at CVS due to some CVS sales, but mainly with my Extra Care Bucks (more on these later.

3. D: spent 9.62 out of pocket at CVS using manufacturer coupons as well as Extra Care Bucks. Could have spent more like $2 but did the deals in the wrong order. Oh well, still a good deal!

4. A: spent .50 cents out of pocket at WalMart using manufacturer coupons (from internet and Sunday paper)

5. A: spent NOTHING out of pocket for these items using manufacturer coupons at the local grocery store and WalMart.

Thanks for guessing to all. I hope this peaks your curiosity!!! Look for a post in the next day or two on how to start couponing and getting some of these good deals too!!! Also, check out money Saving Mom's website for some great tutorials and links on how to start couponing and which stores offer good deals. Most importantly, make sure to get the Sunday paper this week and save ALL of the coupons (even ones you don't think you need) so that we can do some good deals together this week!!

Time's UP!

2008-01-19T15:31:00.001-08:00

Time's up for the contest! Winner will be announced later tonight! Stay tuned!

Couponing Quiz

2008-01-17T05:38:00.000-08:00

Can you guess??????

I promised more posts, so here's a little quiz for you to get you reading my blog again and to entice you to keep reading!!! I'm also attempting to tempt you to join me in my latest hobby, couponing. So, quiz time....I'm posting several pictures and I want you to guess how much I spent out of pocket on each photo. I will be giving a small prize to the person who guesses the most correct. If there is a tie, then I'll have a drawing between the tie-breakers.

Oh, also....I have changed the commenting feature, so you should be able to post without having a Google ID. Good luck! Contest ends Saturday at noon eastern time!!!

Now for the quiz:

For each photo you need to answer how much I spent out of pocket. Choose one answer for each question.

A. less than $1

B. Between $1.01 and $2

C. Between $2.01 and $5

D. Between $5.01 and $10

E. $10.01 or more

Question 1

How much did I spend on: 2 glade scented oil candles, 5 Walgreens hand sanitizers, 2 bottles of some sort of fancy vitamins, one box of children's Dimetapp, and one mini highlighter (too cute to resist buying)?

Question 2

How much did I spend on: 1 Ascencia Breeze blood glucose tester, 1 box garbage bags, 1 bag teeth flossers, 2 toothbrushes, 1 sippy cup?

Question 3

How much did I spend on: 2 boxes HN Cheerios, 2 boxes granola bars, 3 bottles soft soap, 1 bottle palmolive, 1 pkg excedrin, 2 pkgs of Kotex maxi pads, 2 tubes lip gloss, and 1 can of Redken texturizing spray?

Question 4

How much did I spend on: 1 box Kashi crackers, 1 bottle Huggies kids hand soap, 1 jar PB?

Question 5

How much did I spend on: 1 box kleenex, 1 pkg Kotex, 5 Johnson's buddy bars kid soap, 1 jar PB?

Best of luck to you all!

I'm Back!!!

2008-01-16T19:49:00.000-08:00

Well, so sorry to tempt you all with a new blog, and then not post! My intention was to post much more often than this...unfortunately that was not my computer's intention! It decided to die on us last week, so we have spent the week shopping for a new computer. It's been driving me crazy not to be online! So...please check back frequently! I promise to redeem this rocky start!

Here goes....

2008-01-04T13:12:00.000-08:00

Well, here it goes! I'm finally in the blogging world! Hmmm, actually, to be more acurate, I've been in the blogging world for a long time, just more as a commenter/lurker/stalker :). Now I finally have my own blog and I can spend even MORE time procrastinating those things I should be doing (like cleaning).

Basically, I'm starting this blog as a way to write about my many, varied hobbies. I am completely addicted to scrapbooking, knitting, reading, taking pictures, shopping (yes, it's a hobby!), and most recently, couponing. I spend a lot of free time doing these things, as well as hanging out with friends and family, talking to friends and family...and a little bit of free time doing those OTHER obligatory things that make a household run (grocery shopping, errands, cleaning....).

So anyway, welcome and a big

from me to you!