popsicles, grandma, and M&Ms

This morning, while Hannah napped, Nicole and I headed outside. She played (for an hour and half...all by herself) while I worked on a little surprise for Jeremy. Nicole painted and played in water, and painted and played in water and painted and played in water. Let's just say she had a blast. Her hair was blue, her bathing suite was covered in every color, her toes here pink, and the water in her little pool was indescribable. I was sweaty, tired, and exhausted. About halfway through my task, grandma came over and kept me company. I even got to talk to my Aunt Paula on the phone.

Needless to say though, after nearly 2 hours in the Florida summer heat, we were ready to head back inside and cool off. Although Hannah was enjoying the A.C. the whole time, even she got to have a cool little snack.




Popsicles!!!!

Then, it was play time. We enjoyed spending the whole morning at home! Nicole had fun hiding behind furniture and building a sort of fort. And Hannah had fun bringing books to Mimi to read. I know she doesn't look happy in the picture, but she was. I had just missed a huge grin from her. She loved sitting on Mimi's lap looking at the pictures.

And, I finished the afternoon off with my favorite snack. I sure hope my midwife doesn't see this, because she does NOT approve. But, I LOVE Cheerios with M & Ms on top:-) Where did I ever come up with this concoction? When I was growing up, I would often spend the night at my grandma's house and she ALWAYS had M&Ms, plain and peanut. I blame her specifically for my addiction to the little colored chocoalte candies. However, sometimes she wouldn't have the "real cheerios". One thing I never buy as a store brand is cereal. The only company that make edible "Os" are cheerios. Anyway...sometimes she would have store brand (of course not knowing my preference for the real deal, or else I'm SURE she would have bought those for me). But, to be a polite little girl and not offend, I would cover my store brand O shaped cereal with the delicious and unending supply of M&Ms. This helped me swallow the yucky, soggy immitation without hurting anyone's feelings. Now, as a grown up, this is truly my comfort food. I love to sit down with a nice bowl of (real) cheerios with M&Ms on top. Yummy!

Just Fun

A few fun pictures to share


Hannah crawled in the basket this morning and the moment screamed "Photo Op"

We played outside for a while yesterday. Nicole is totally into filling, emptying and refilling containers. Today, it was mulch in a spray bottle.

I don't know...but she's cute

What on Earth was she thinking about here? What do you think? I'd love to know!


Taking silly pictures with the camera, one of my favorite things to do.

Baby Registry List

I have had some friends and family ask me what I need for baby boy who is coming in a few months. I really don't feel like I "need" much, but there are a few things that may be helpful and definitely useful. My friend Teri likes to use a site called "The things I want". It's sort of an online registry that doesn't restrict you to a certain store, which is nice. A lot of the "things I want" can't be purchased a Babies R Us or Target. So...I'm working on piling some items together. I'm reluctantly putting this up, because I don't want people to think I'm greedy or want a lot...I'm just giving ideas to those who are interested in buying something. Some things are expensive, some aren't. I'll do a little registry at BRU and Target for some basic things (like extra sheets, wipes, etc) also.

Also....there are some (most) things that are totally fine used. Like, I put a Baby Bjorn on the list. Please don't buy a new one. There are great consignment stores around town that sell them at a much lower price ($25 instead of $100!!!!). So...used is fine. Ok...here it goes...here's the link.

Things I want

Oh...I just figured out how to put the list on my blog, so you can check it out on here if you want.

My Frugal Day Off:-)

The girls got to spend the night at Grammy and Gramp's house AND...they stayed most of today. When Grammy called to see if she could have the girls (I love when they ask because then I don't feel like I'm taking advantage of them...they want to....they of course meaning either set of grandparents). So....where was I? Oh....when I found out she also wanted to keep the girls all morning and put them down for naps, I began planning my frugal shopping extravaganza.

One thing I've been wanting to do, but just simply refuse to do with the girls in tow, is hit a bunch of thrift stores and consignment shops. It's been years (read highschool-never) that I've visited a thrift store except to donate items. So...that was big item on the agenda. I wanted to find maternity clothes and some picture frames (failed at both). BUT....I found something even better (Amanda....you're gonna love this!)


I bought 8 NEVER BEEN USED CLOTH DIAPERS for $.99 each. These are fuzzibunz and cost $17.95 EACH...I got 8 for $8.00!!!!! I'm super duper Psyched!!!!That's a $135 savings!!!!

My other main goal was to hit Staples and CVS and get some cheap/free school supplies. Why do I need school supplies when my kids aren't even close (ok...Nicole's getting close) to school age? Well...because it's fun to buy things for free...and I can donate them to someone who needs it. My goal is to stock 2 backpacks full of great, high quality school supplies, and I am well on my way. This is what I got today...


...paired with what I got earlier this week at CVS.
And there are more great freebie sales to come. Let me explain what I did.

CVS...get $5ecb for any backpack (limit 2)
Purchased each backpack at a different store. Used only ecb (save for $.30 in tax). Ended up with 5 ecb in the end. So...two free backpacks and 5 ecb.

Staples
Staples had some great rebates and in -store rebate items this week.
My total was $57.36
- $10 Office Depot Q
Spent $47.36 oop
Rebates I'm getting back $38.93
So....all of my school supplies have cost me $8.43!!! I'm totally cool with spending that much money to donate 2 backpacks....woohoo!!!!!!

Stock pile test

In Honor of what I see as a pretty crummy sales week at Publix (we don't eat tuna, and that seems to be the best deal this week), I have decided to do something drastic....for me. I will only be purchasing staple items NEEDED for the week and using whatever I have stocked up in the fridge, freezer and pantry for my meals. I will still be purchasing items for a fresh lunch daily for both Jeremy and the girls....and several Arnold whole wheat bread loaves which are the only BOGO item I want. The real test begins....is my stock pile really that good? I probably will not use a single coupon (wait...I have a few produce coupons I can sneak in) what do you think? Can I go under $25 for the ENTIRE Week? Wouldn't that be nice for once:-)

My list will look something like this....
1 gallon Whole Milk (Hannah)
1 gallon 1% milk
1 lb fresh deli meat
1 block of cheese
1 tomato
3 peaches
1 head of broccoli
1 or 2 cans of green beans
4 loaves of whole wheat bread

CVS share

Last night after the Clipper Chicks meeting, I went to CVS with my friend Sky. I'm pretty sure she would agree that we did great!


Here's what I got...
1 2pk of C Duracell $2.99 and 1 ecb
2 pks of filler paper $2.00/1 and $2.00 ecb each
2 10pk of pens $.99/1 and $.99 ecb each
1 Speed stick pro $2.99 and 2 ecb
1 Bayer Glucose monitor $19.99 and 5 ecb
2 Sobe lifewater BOGO $1.59
2 Avery binders $3.00 each *See explaination
2 Memo books $.99/1 and $.99ecb each
2 Golden emblem choc. covered nuts $.99/1
Energizer battery $7.49

Subtotal $50.99
Coupons Used $34.24
$10/$50 CVS
$19.99 Bayer Contour
$.75 Duracell
$1.50 CVS Speedstick Pro
$2/2 Golden Emblem nuts
-$6.00 for notebooks (it seems that our CVS stores do not have in stock the binders that are $3 with $3 ecb...so this store manager substituted the Avery binders for us. We didn't get ecb, but we got 2 free binders...which I needed to have my subtotal be above $50 so I could use my $10/$50 Q)

Total after Coupons and discounts $11.40
Paid with $7.99 ECB
Grand total OOP $3.41
ECB Earned $15.96!!!

Chicken Pot Pie

Before I talk about my Chicken Pot Pie...Here are two little pics of the little ones, just because...



(Mrs. P...do you see what she's holding. I had just read her letter and she said, "awe...that was so nice!")

Chicken Pot Pie

I forget how or why, but somehow, chicken pot pie got brought up in conversation early Saturday morning. I know this may sound crazy (especially to my southern food luvin friends) but I have never really had chicken pot pie. I thought it looked gross, all the chicken, gravy and worst of all vegetables mixed together with *gasp* a pie crust on top? YUCK!!!! (I don't like pie by the way)

Well, for whatever reason, ok pregnancy, I had been sort of craving chicken pot pie (can you crave something you've never had?). As soon as Jeremy mentioned it, I said, oh...I'll make that tonight for dinner. I quickly began searching for a recipe. I didn't find one that I loved, so I used bits and pieces and made my own.



It was YUMM-O....Delish. I loved it, and I'm pretty sure everyone else did too. I even think it was pretty healthy (minus one ingredient which I didn't necessarily want to put it, but needed to). Here was my basic recipe.

2 refrigerated pie crust
2 chicken breasts, cubed and cooked
1/4 onion
5 or 6 red potatoes, cubed and precooked just a bit
a good handful or two of sliced carrots
about 1/2 a bag of frozen mixed veggies
a little cheese
Home made gravy (little butter, little flour, 2 C chicken stock)
1 can cream of chicken soup

1. Lay one prepared pie crust in the bottom of the pie dish
2. Cook chicken. Remove from skillet. In the same skillet, melt 2 or 3 TBS of butter. Saute chopped onions until soft.
3. Add about 2 TBS of flour to make a roux. Mix with a whisk for a couple of minutes on medium-medium high heat.
4. Add 2 C chicken stock. Bring to a boil then let simmer for a few minutes. This is a yummy home made gravy that I love. Add some cream or milk or mushrooms if you want to make it creamier.
5. Mixed chicken, precooked potatoes, frozen veggies, carrots, home made gravy and a can of cream of chicken soup. Pour on top of pie crust.
6. Add a thin layer of cheese...just because cheese always tastes good.
7. Add the 2nd pie shell and cut in some cute pie design.
8. Cook at 375 for 30 minutes or so.

*Next time I'll also precook the sliced carrots a bit, they were a little hard for the girls. and I won't over fill the pie dish...I had a little mess in my oven from it bubbling over. I think I would also add mushrooms and maybe make a double portion of my own gravy rather than use the cream of chicken soup...I think it's probably healthier that way too. Maybe I'll use puff pastry next time too...just for fun, Paula Dean has a recipe with puff pastry.

I also made home made cinnamon rolls Saturday morning that were superb. I know it sounds like I'm bragging, I don't mean to be...I am just excited. I had a fun cooking day:-)

Swimming
Finally....this morning I did something that I have never done before. I met my friend Alison, bright and early (just after 6AM) and I swam laps! I confess...I loved it! It was a good work out, but it was also incredibly relaxing. I felt super cool with my brand new goggles ( I bet I looked cool too with my big huge belly!haha). I was just so pumped to be doing this. I felt like I was doing something great for both me and the baby. I know it's only the first day, but all day today I have been thinking about how much I wished I would have been on the swim team in high school. Not because I think I could have competed...I don't. But, because of how great it felt. I'm excited to go again, and it was nice to work out with someone else. Alison was very patient with me and all my silly questions:-) My biggest issue right now is water up my nose and down my throat. I don't know how to keep it out, any suggestions?

Becoming God's True Woman

A few of you know I've been reading a book called "Becoming God's True Woman" edited by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. The book is a collection of writings by women such as Carolyn Mahaney, Susan Hunt, Mary Kassian, Barbara Hughes, etc. It has been a wonderfully encouraging and convicting book about Biblical Womanhood and femininity. In all honesty, it has shattered some of my long held views of women and our roles in society. I have never been terribly confortable with being called a woman...it seemed to old ladyish to me (although I am pushing 30! haha) And the word Feminine...well...that was a word that was right up there near "panties" for words that made me shiver, hahaha. Whatever...weird...I know. But, honestly, after reading, and continuing to read this book...I am longing to be a femine woman who lives counter to much of what our culture dictates a woman should be. More on that later maybe.

But, right now I wanted to share a portion of a chapter called "How to Raise Femine Daugters" written by Susan Hunt. I don't think I can narrow this portion down much, so it's under the subtopic of "Some Practical Implications of Purpose and Authority" (page 140). btw...friends with sons...I think you will enjoy reading this just as much. You can use this with your boys too...and more than likely...in your own life...at least that was the case for me. Italics are the author's, bold emphasis is mine.

~begin quote~
Our daughters will be products of their tehology. Their knowledge-or lack of knowledge-of who God is and what he has done for them will show up in ever attitude, action, and relationship. Their worldview will be deteremined by their belief system.

We must teach our daughters that their value and identity lie in the fact that they are image bearers of the God of glory. This will protect them from seeking significance in inconsequesntial shallowness of self-fulfillment, personal happiness, materialism, or others' approval.

Our daughters must know the wondrous truth that their overarching purpose in life is God's glory. This must determine every decision they make, from their choice of clothes to their choice of a husband. The question that guides all of our deicions should be: Does this glorify God? First Corinthians 10:31 should be one of the first verses they memorize: "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." And they should see us making decision based on this mandate.

This world will tempt our daughters to look to their feelings and experiences as their authority, but we must show and tell them that God's Word is the ultimate authority for faith and life.

We must tell our daughters about the expanse of God's love. They must know that we are justified and sanctified by grace. It seems that women are particularly prone to a performance orientation of life. We may acknowledge that we are saved by grace, but somehow we get entangled in "works righteousness" when it comes to our sanctification. We think that if we are a little better, God will love us a little more. This distortion spills over into all other relationships. If I'm a little better, my paretns will love me more...or my friends will love me more...or my husband will love me more. This is exhausting for the one trying to earn everyone's love, and it drains the people whose approval we are trying to earn. Children who think they must establish their own righteousness through accepted behavior eventually become so weary that they give up or become masters of deceit.

A biblical understanding of justification will free our daughters. The more they understand that God declares us to be just in his sight on the basis of the finished work of Jesus Christ and that the righteousness of Jesus is deposited in our spiritual bank accounts, the more they will live in the beauty and freedom of his grace.

All of this means that I must search my own heart. Am I trying to elevate myself through my daughter's accomplisments and behavior? Is my primary concern her happiness or her holiness? Is God's glory really the driving passion of my own life? These questions take me to the cross. They take me to Jesus to plead for grace and wisdom.

It is against this backdrop that we are able to perceive the particular uniqueness of God's creation of woman.
~End Quote~

I have much to say about this...but since you've already read a lot...leave me a comment about what you thought about this little snippet. I will tell you this...once Ephesians 6:1-3 is memorized...Nicole will then be learning 1 Corinthians 10:31:-)

Oh....and here's a link to purchase the book if you'd like.

Facebook

Hey...I know a lot of you use facebook, so I wanted to make you aware of a NY Times article I found about some big changed to make facebook easily accessible to the public. I originally liked facebook because it seems more private than myspace. As you know, I'm not on there anymore, but for those of you who are....be aware of changes and learn how to protect your info.

Celebration

This past week has been a busy one for our household. Jeremy's sister and family were in town (go down a few posts), Jeremy was in a wedding (post below), we had a celebration/going away party for Justin and congrats to Erica, and my grandma came back in town. We seriously have not gone to bed before midnight for almost a week...which is not easy for preggo me who likes to get sleep:-) But, we've hung in there, had fun and enjoyed the times as they came.

We had a surprise (and very very much needed) 4 day weekend with Jeremy. So, Thursday we had a family day and had a blast taking the girls to the water park. We didn't get pictures, but it was a precious family memory. I think we all needed it...we've missed him not being around as much lately because of work. We all laughed and smiled all day long. I'm so thankful he wanted to spend time with us and took this opportunity to have fun. Hannah LOVED the water park, she played and laughed the whole time. Nicole is big enough now for us to not have to follow her around to help her up when she falls. She even went down the little slide all by herself. It sort of made me sad, in a happy way. We floated in the lazy river for a few laps and swam in the pool (until they told everyone to get out for "mandatory maintenance"...yeah...someone had a little accident in the pool and it was shut down for a few hours.... GROSS!!!!!)

Then we went to the beach for a picnic dinner with Jeremy's family (pictures are a few posts below). Friday and Saturday were taken up with wedding responsibilities for Jeremy who was a groomsman (and a handsome one if I say so myself).

Finally Sunday, we had a celebration for Justin who left today to move to Ohio for his new job and to celebrate his engagement to Erica. It was a fun day.

I have some sweet pictures to share I hope you enjoy.


Nicole and Justin...having a fun little moment together


Erica, Justin and Nicole

Erica, Justin and Hannah

Yesterday was a stressful "catch up day" for me. Today has been a bit more fun. Nicole and I fingerpainted (our sound for this week is "nt" as in paint or print) We have lots of fun painting projects this week...which Nicole LOVES. Then we went to the park for a little while, before being bombarded with zillions of summer campers.

Wedding

Saturday, Jeremy was a groomsman in our friend's Dan & Shanine's wedding. It was a pretty wedding on the beach. So, along with Saturday's ceremony, we had some other obligations. Friday I went out to lunch with the bride and a few friends. Friday night we enjoyed a wonderful Swiss dinner at her home. Saturday morning, Jeremy met the other groomsmen to set up the chairs and sweep the beach which was full of ugly, stinky seaweed. Then, Saturday evening we had fun at the wedding and reception. It was a fun weekend, but of course busy.

A few highlights....
*Shanine's family rapped a funny song to the tune of "Fresh Prince of Bel Air" about Dan and Shanine's relationship....it was great!
* The ceremony was almost rained (thunder stormed) out, so they rushed through. It ended up not raining, but the clouds and wind gave us a nice relief from the brutal sun.
*Their car battery was dead. Good thing the groomsmen found this out before the bride or groom did. As they were decorating the car, they tried to start it and realized the problem. The groomsmen all missed most of the reception after dinner trying to fix the car. But, it was running when Dan and Shanine left and I'm pretty sure they at least made it to the hotel:-)
*Dan and Shanine are finally married...woohoo...and I'm sure having a great time in the mountains:-)
*Jeremy and I got two night out in-a-row!!!! (thanks grandparents for watching them)

Visiting family

Last Monday, Jeremy's sister and her family came in town. We didn't spend as much time with them as we usually do (see previous posts). But, we definitely got some good old fashion family time in. We looked forward to spending some time with Tiffany, Chris, Seth and Susannah. Here are a few pictures to share.


Seth running from the water at our beach picnic

Nicole and Seth playing together at the beach

Hannah enjoying the sand. She LOVES the beach, sand, water...all of it!

Granny came down Friday to spend time with her grandkids


Susannah, 6 months old

Nicole is teaching Seth how to play Elefun.

Nicole's discipline strategy

Jeremy: Nicole, how many times has mommy told you today not to jump on the bed?

Nicole: Um....5

Jeremy: Yeah, and how many times should mommy have to tell you?

Nicole: Well....2

Going to the Chapel....

And my, brother's getting married...

Yep...it's true! He popped the question last night to his girlfriend Erica. They've been dating a little over 3 years. Justin just got a job in Ohio and will be moving up in about a week and a half. Erica will stay here until they get married. I know they are throwing around some dates, but nothing is very firm, so I won't mention it here.

I'm so very excited for my little brother. It's a little crazy to me that he is old enough to get married. Jeremy and I were just talking the other night about how much he's grown up and grown in responsibility. But...I still see him as little J.T. running around with a rat tail rapping "Jesus is just alright with me"...DC Talk version.

Congratulations Justin and Erica:-)

Picture update

Here are some pictures from the past few days.

Nicole was sick yesterday with a very high fever (no other symptoms though) This morning, she was feeling more like herself, only with a very mild fever. She wanted Hannah to sit next to her and take a picture, so here we go:-)





This was Nicole getting some sympathy from her daddy yesterday when he got home. She was feeling pretty miserable here. Hannah of course wanted to play (btw...Hannah has had a rough week, teething and such. She had been extremely grumpy and hard to make happy all week. I was afraid it was a new phase, however, she is now perfectly back to herself...YAY!!! Yesterday she was a delight, it was good to have her back.)


These next two were from a couple of days ago. One of our favorite silly games to play is Elefun. This elephant, with a 4 foot nose, blows butterflies through its trunk and you have to catch them in the nets. I caught to of my own butterflies here.




I know...I'm blessed:-)

Funny Wedding Story

This is the funniest wedding story I've read in a long long time. Check it out here.

In Honor of

our future SON....we have turned the blog background to Blue...for BOY.

Yep...that's right. My sweet and patient husband will now have a boy to throw balls at, teach to shave, wrestle with, and do other "manly" pursuits. Not that he couldn't do some of that with the girls (honestly...I'd LOVE to watch him teach the girls to shave their legs as teenagers, haha!)

Our ultrasound this morning went great. We did not get many pictures, just a few, and they would not give us a picture proving he's a boy. The ultrasound was not as intimate as I'm used to (in the past, my ob dr. office did it, but since I'm using a midwife from the very beginning, I didn't get any ultrasounds with them and we had to go to a radiology center with someone we didn't know), and with Hannah we got a 4-D ultrasound. This one was very basic, she showed us a bit of what she was measuring, a few profile pictures and that was it. However, almost immediately we saw it was a "Him" (very clearly by the way, he was in the perfect position) and after that, I don't think we paid much attention to the rest of the ultrasound.

So...here we go. 2 girls, 1 boy, 1 bedroom. It'll work for a few years anyway. Now...I've got to get rid of some pink and purple and bring in the blue.

I'm pretty sure Jeremy will be going shopping tonight for some baseballs and jerseys, hahaha