The Gospel for Busy Moms

I just read this post on one of my favorite blogs, girl talk. This is something I've been struggling with a lot lately and thought that I would pass it along for other busy moms to read. Actually, this is a good post for anyone to read and apply. We all need to preach the Gospel to ourselves, everyday, no matter who we are or what our lives look like.

The Stay At Home Mom

I read this article on a fellow blogger's website. As a stay-at-home mom, I really appreciate what this writer had to say. But, as hard as the job may be sometimes, rewards and blessings abound! (Thanks, Britney!)

(Click on the image to enlarge.)

Just Because

The week before Christmas my husband came home with this surprise for me - just because he loves me:



Wow, I'm still amazed daily that I have won the heart of this godly, loving, caring, kind, very handsome, very funny, amazing man! I love him more than I ever thought I could love anyone. Thank you, Lord, for the gift of marriage and my husband!

Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving 2008

Well, I'm a little behind but here are some pictures from Thanksgiving this year. We hosted my side of the family this year. It was wonderful! I really enjoyed cooking with my mom and having everyone here. Not to mention, it was nice not to do so much traveling! We had everyone here on Thanksgiving and then we traveled the next day to Bowling Green to celebrate with Wes's family. It was a wonderful holiday full of thankfulness for all the Lord has provided to His children.

Noah's Crawling!

Noah started crawling last week, on October 30th to be exact. He was 8 months old and 10 days. He started out with just a few crawls at a time but has gotten much better in only a week's time. Now he easily crawls the length of a room especially if he sees something he wants! He's also started following us around. Today, he followed me from the living room into our bedroom. He's very proud of himself and we are proud of him too! Our little boy is getting so big! Watch his new trick below.

Lil' Punkin Pie

For Noah's first Halloween, we dressed him up as a pumpkin. I found his costume for $6 at Kroger. What I loved about it was that it was called "Lil' Punkin Pie." That is what I've called Noah since he was born - my little Punkin Pie. I thought the costume was appropriate. We dressed him up and let him help us hand out candy to our neighbors. Well, he didn't exactly help us but he had fun watching all of the people pass by. Here are some pictures we took of our little Punkin with the pumpkins.

Walgreens Deal

Well, I've been a little behind in posting but I have to share with you the great deal I recently received at Walgreens. About 3 weeks ago, my wonderful brother reminded me about a special Walgreens coupon ($5 off of a $20 purchase.) At first I didn't think that I could use it until I looked at the sales flyer and some coupons that I had. I headed to the store and this is what I bought:



Purchased:

2 boxes Puffs tissues - $1.78
4oz box Reese's Pieces - $1.00
Oral B toothbrush - $4.49
Gillette Fusion Razor - $8.99
2 Gillette Men's shampoos - $10.00
3 32oz Gatorades - $3.00

Used:

$4/1 Gillette Fusion Razor
$.75/1 Oral B toothbrush
(2) $2/1 Gillette Men's Shampoo
(2) $.25/1 box of Puffs tissues

Total after coupons - $20.01

Once you apply the $5 off $20 purchase, that brings my pre-tax total to $15.01. I'm still not sure how I managed to get my total before the special coupon so close to $20 even! I was amazed.
But, I'm not finished. Some of these items produced rebates or Register Rewards (RR). RR can be used like cash on your next purchase. I earned a $5.00 rebate on the Gillette Shampoo, $4.00 in RR on the Fusion Razor, and $4.50 in RR on the Oral B toothbrush. That is a total of $13.50 in money/rewards back.

So....

My grand total for the purchase above was......$1.51!!!!

I'm so thrilled! This is probably the best I've done in the coupon world so far. The best part is not only did I save us money, but I was able to use the RR to buy supplies for the medical mission trip our church recently took to Cordova, Peru. God is so gracious!

Freedom!

Noah experienced a new freedom today - standing up in the crib! I heard him waking up from his nap and was about to fix a bottle. Then I noticed that he was pretty quiet. I thought that maybe he had fallen back to sleep which he sometimes does. When I looked at the monitor, I was quite shocked. There was my baby boy standing up in his crib holding on to the rails!! He has never done that before. Somehow he pulled himself to a sitting position and then pulled himself up. I really wish I could have seen him do it! I took some video and pictures to capture this historic moment. Here are some of the ones I took. You can tell that he is really checking out his room!







"Look at me - I'm a big boy!"

Hats off to cuteness!

Here are some more photos of our Noah. I love this cap!! I got it at our church's recent consignment sale, Angel's Attic. There is a matching corduroy jacket that he can wear with it this fall as well. As the folks at Mastercard say:

Camera used to take these pictures - $200
Driver's cap (and matching jacket not shown) - $7
Photos of my boy looking so handsome in his cap - PRICELESS!!

Bath Time!

Wes took these pictures last night during Noah's bath. Bath time is a nightly bedtime ritual and Noah loves it. He is now big enough to sit up in the tub by himself and even enjoys playing with his rubber ducky, or at least chewing on it! He is so adorable!!

Labor Day Weekend

For our long holiday weekend, we traveled to Paducah to see my parents. We had not been there since May so it was good to visit. We had a wonderful time of course and ate lots of great food! Kyle and his family came on Saturday to visit as well. It was so wonderful to have everyone together, especially the grandkids. Here is a slide show of our time together. Most of the pictures are of Noah and Ava girl (as Wes and I affectionately call her sometimes). I think they love each other very much! We sure do love them and Mr. Jacob!

1930's Marital Test

88 As a 1930s wife, I am Very Superior Take the test!

I copied this from Ann Kelly's blog. There is also a test for husbands. I'm pleased with my results. My favorite question/trait was "Puts her cold feet on husband at night to warm them". I do this all the time! I think I must have the coldest feet of any person alive (at least Wes probably thinks so.) I'm not sure if that is a trait of a 1930's wife or not but I guess it didn't hurt my score! Take the test and let me know how you did.

The Precious Gift of Life

"Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one's youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them." Psalm 127:3-5a

"Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!" Isaiah 5:20

(ht The Place Beneath)

Noah's 6 month checkup

Yesterday I took Noah for his 6 month checkup. Here are his stats:

21 lbs, 6.6 oz
29 3/4 inches long
47.5 head circumference.

That puts Noah off the charts for height and head circumference and at 94% for weight (down 1% from his 4 month check up). Basically, Dr. Childers said he's the size of a 1 year old! Of course I knew that already because he has been wearing 12 mth clothes. But he said that he is a healthy growing boy who is just going to be tall (a future athlete!) He does have a big head. Dr. Childers said that there is nothing wrong with that but he may have trouble getting hats to fit his head! We already have that problem. He was impressed with how well Noah was sitting up. He said that we could move to the stage 2 foods and a sippy cup. That definitely makes me excited! I like it when we can try new things. Oh and the best news to us is that Dr. Childers said his eyes should stay blue! We are very happy because we love his big blue eyes! That along with his big, sweet, dimpled smile makes my heart melt!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Tonight, Wes, Noah and I went to a Lexington Legends baseball game with our church's youth group. Wes has started teaching the high school boys' Bible Fellowship Group (BFG) on Sunday mornings so we were invited. It was a fun night of free pizza and a free game. This was Noah's first baseball game with many more hopefully to come! All in all, he did very well.

6 months old

Noah is 6 months old today! Wow, where has the time gone? It really does seem like a blur to me. I was putting away some of his old clothes today and reminiscing over how small he used to be (well, small for him anyway.) He is such a big boy now. Look how long he is! He changes everyday and is learning new tricks all the time. He now has his two bottom teeth. He is so sweet!

Happy 4th Birthday, Jacob!

Today is my nephew Jacob's 4th birthday. Our family celebrated with him this past Saturday. Here is a picture of him getting ready to blow out his Thomas the Train birthday cake. I also found a picture from his 2nd birthday bash which was also a train theme. I believe that this was actually the beginning of his fascination with trains. Jacob's 2nd birthday was also the day that he met his Uncle Wes for the first time. Well, actually he wasn't "Uncle Wes" yet but maybe that is what he wished for when he blew out the candles!

A Great Visit with Great Friends

This weekend we went to Bowling Green and Springfield, TN to visit family. While we were in BG, Noah and I were able to visit our friends, the Humbles. They are such a great family and very good friends. Brooke and Jason have 3 of the most beautiful kids - Sammy (5), Hannah (3) and Bella Claire (almost 1). Here are some pictures from our visit. Bella was taking a nap so I didn't get any of her. We sure do miss them! By the way, it looks like Noah likes the older girls, like his Daddy! ;)

A McYummy Deal

From now through September 1st, McDonald's has a tasty deal at their website here. Our McDonalds here is currently offering any size drink for a $1. Wes and I ate there last night for a total of $2.12! A couple of tips - you can use multiple email addresses to print extra coupons but make sure to use a color printer. Enjoy!