New blog design…..
kinda like new clothes.  It fits me perfectly now.

Happy Humpday!

These days I sometimes feel like my head is spinning.
My husband leaves in 2 days for our new home in Florida.
I wonder what life is going to be like with 4 kids and one parent again.  When he used to travel it didn’t phase me.  Now that he’s been home for a year I’m feeling a little "yikes".
So pray for me if God leads.
And for the home in Florida he has for us.
We lived in rural SC for so long.  I think the setting suits us.
My birthday is tomorrow……45.
When did we get old?

I love CVS.  I admit it.  Always have.  Always will.  But now that I coupon I love them even more.
Today I stopped in for some Valentine candy since I had some extra bucks and really didn’t feel like spending any money on Valentine candy for the kids.  I’m a little like my Rocket Man and think Valentines is overrated.  All that candy will be slashed to half price tomorrow.
But here’s what I got:

4 Tide Stain Release Tablet Packages (normally 3.99 or more each)
2 Packs of Orbit Gum (one was free)
2 Reese Cups
1 Nestle Crunch Heart
1 Dove Bliss Free + overage
2 Packages of 3 Musketeers
1 Lipstick (7.00 for 1.00)
1 TInkerbell candy pack for the girl in the family

I spent $5.34 and saved $39.50.
Can anyone give me a big ya-hoo!!!

Well I do not like grocery shopping but ever since learning to coupon it’s become a challenge thing…
Kind of "Can I beat the system" or "How much can I save?"

What i do love is coming home with a receipt this long…..like a mile long…..

And folding it in half…..

Exactly in half……

The top half has everything that I purchased ON SALE

And the bottom half has nothing but coupons on it…..(reducing my original purchase price!!)

Then the total being 60.00 less than when I began scanning coupons….

Christmas even jumped up on the table to see what I was doing

Promise I’ll clean the table before you come home honey!!

The best deals of all?

• Yogurt marked down to 1.00, .50 and .30 because it expires today.  Did you know you can freeze yogurt?
• Organic Coleman Chicken marked down to 7.00.  I bought 5 packs.
• Organic Harvest Farm Steaks marked down 1/2 price.  I bought 3 packs for my 9 year olds upcoming birthday.  He loves steak.
• All of my yogurt that I bought I had dollar off coupons for so I made money on the yogurt.
• And completely filled up the refrigerator downstairs with Welch’s Grape Juice because it was on sale and I had 1.00 off coupons for each bottle making it 2.50 a bottle.

So I’m set in the meat department for a while.

Did you girls know you can visit your grocery stores in the AM and meat with an expiration date of that day or the next is usually marked down 1/2 price?

It’s a great way to eat organic…..on a budget!!!!!

Happy Grocery Shopping…

…no actually I was reading Miss A LA MODE’s ever-so-eloquent post POLLYANNA I"M NOT

Then it took me twenty minutes to figure out how to spell eloquent.

I’m thinking, "Darn, if my friend wasn’t so good with words I wouldn’t be struggling with spelling this darn word."

If you read her words you’d think she never leaves her house but just like you and me she sees herself so differently than others see her.

Don’t we all?

She’s got the sweetest spirit of anyone you will ever meet.  She’s always quick to help anyone who only asks and she gave me shaving cream one time.  A whole bottle!  Of shaving cream!
Now that’s love!

She shares the feeling most stay-at-home mom’s have.  By five o’clock we do meet questions from our wee ones with blank stares.  Thinking to ourselves, "How can anyone have any questions left?  There were none when we were discussing The Great Schism today."  Why now?  And who really cares where asparagus come from or the fact that it’s a Veggie Tales character.

See our kids give us those same blank looks when we’re trying our hardest to homeschool them.

You know that look……    "DUH"………   "HUH?"

I know those of you who know her know what a wonderful friend she is.  My life is a better place because she is in it.  She’s openly honest with her struggles.  She cracks me up.  We’ve sworn to bake cookies in our PJ’s one day next week and drink coffee all day.  Home Economics Day, we’re calling it. 

I’ve known her for years.  We met at a Women’s Bible Study we both still attend—-then with barely one kid and pregnant, then pregnant again.  We’ve made it up to three kids for her and four for me.  At Bible Study this week we openly admitted to the sensation of lactating just holding the latest newborn in our group.  We think we’d like more kids…..at least in that shiny pretty place in our heads.  But we sometimes sleep through the night now and let me tell ya, that’s hard to give up, even for that newborn baby smell.

So don’t let her fool you. 
She’s just like you and me.  She see’s herself differently than others see her.
She listens to the nasty inner voices.
She fights the secret inner mommy monster we all do.

And she smiles, slaps on another layer of deodorant, puts her hair in a pony tail and says, "Come on in.  Please excuse the mess."  As her littlest peanut meets you and with his sweetest little "not two" voice and says, "Pee Pee Potty" as his little boy curls plop here and there.

She’s potty training her youngest boy in the same manner I did.

Just go ask another mom who’s raised a boy.

I’m not giving any secrets away here.

Power to ya sister!!
IN HIM–

This Thanksgiving it will have been 15 years since I met my husband.  Three moves and four children later, countless cats, goldfish and a dog we’re so thankful for all God has done in our lives. 

From our family to yours…Have a great Thanksgiving!  God is good!

But life got in the way and I woke up this morning realizing my surgery is tomorrow morning.
I’ve had a lot of peace. 
Until today.

But time with HIM this morning gave me back my peace and put my focus on HIM and not my circumstances.
Keeping my focus on HIM is harder today than it has been.  My tummy is a little up and downsy!
Ok, now I’m making up words.

Pray for me.
Surgery is at 8am to remove left ovary.  A biopsy will be done.  If all is well I get a few stitches and come home to recover.  If not, it’s a more involved surgery and a two-three day hospital stay.

Pray for my family.
Pray for the kids.

Jesus reigns.

Kimalita won this week’s contest.
Congratulations girl!  Email me your address and I’ll get it in the mail to you.

Next week’s contest will be for the LAST Peppermint Oil I have from Beeyoutiful! 

In our family this week…..

• *Our youngest son and one of his good friends went to see the Starwars concert this past weekend.  It was an early Christmas present and they had a blast!!!  My husband was under strict orders to TAKE PICTURES so here they are……

• *My sweet hubbie had a tooth pulled yesterday and if anyone has ever had that done…..’it ain’t no fun’.  He’s staying home, resting and taking care of himself today.
• *My surgery to remove my left ovary is scheduled for next Friday.  Please pray that the ovary is non cancerous
• *I’ve decided you can NEVER go cheap on toilet paper, paper towels or trash bags.
• *My kids all made A’s on their Math tests.  Yippee

That’s all folks! 

I want to say Thank God it’s Friday but I thank God for each day he gives me.  I also thank him that I’m just passing through!!!!  Praise God!

I went to the DR again yesterday for another round of blood work and ultrasound.  The cyst on my ovary remains.  The blood work (CA125) will not be back until Monday.  I saw a different OB/GYN yesterday.  Mine was off.  I liked him and he seemed quite content with removing only one ovary and leaving everything else.  That felt much more inline with my Spirit.

So we wait until Monday and continue to pray that God will remove the cyst.  That it is not cancerous.

O LORD my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me.   Psalms 30:2 KJV

Apple picking!~

On August 2nd we celebrated our parent’s 50th wedding anniversary.  It was low key, intimate and lots of fun.  What a legacy my parents are leaving for their kids and for their grand kids.  Rocket Man and I married late, had a handful of kids and wonder if anyone will marry young so that we’ll see grand kids.

Aren’t they a handsome couple?  50 years.
Wow.
I wonder if they know what a wonderful example they are of God’s unfailing love for us?
They’ve stuck together through the good times, the fun times, they somehow managed to raise us and we turned out ok.  Having four of my own I know what an accomplishment that is.  I don’t know how my mom did it with my dad traveling as he did for a while.  They’ve survived poor times, wealthy times, sick times, healthy times, skinny times, no-so-skinny times, active times, and sedentary times.

They’ve survived.
By the grace of God and the will of them both they have survived.
They’ve survived life.
With all it’s hard knocks, it’s ups and downs.  They’ve survived.

I hope my husband and I can be the same kind example to our kids.   That we won’t screw them up too badly.  That God will fill in all the gaping holes.  That he will love and call each one to Himself.  And that my kids will know Him as a loving and compassionate God that loves the whole.  The sin, the good, the bad, that makes up each one of us.

Here are the flowers dad gave mom:

Here are the kids Ipod-ing it before dinner…

The dinner:

The Gang minus me (behind camera) and my brother and sister in law who live very far away right now.  WE missed you guys!!

The other half of the table:

The cake (compliments of my sister)

Look at all that chocolate!!!!!  I could have bathed in it.

Happy 50 years mom and dad!!!
I hope you have 50 more!
Love…….