Coupons and Candy Land

Nicole and I like to play Candy Land together. I say play, but she really doesn't follow the rules at all. When she turns over a card, let's say it's blue, she finds a blue space, places her blue card on the blue space, then places the blue ginerbread man on the blue card. I'm letting her get away with it...but if you know me or have every played a game with me, you know I don't like it when we don't go by the rules. I guess she's breaking me of that.

COUPONS!!!!!

Last night my friend Teri took me and another friend, Jennifer, out to CVS and Publix to elp us how to use our coupons and earn CVS Extra Care Bucks efficiently. Teri is amazing!!!! She's only been doing this for 2 months, but boy does she have a system down! I'm not going to try and redescribe how we did this because I'm pretty sure I'll get it wrong. We used coupons (manufacturer and store coupons) and then CVS gives you Extra Care Bucks (ECBs) on certain items each week/month. This is money you can use in their store.

Here's my picture

I bought a soleil razor (with replacement cartridges), 2 gatorades, 2 boxes of always pads, 2 tubes of toothpaste, 1 glucose monitor (i'll donate this), vitamin D, 1 vitamin water and paid $2.41!!!! Crazy...I know. But totally legit. I like shopping and not paying a lot of money.

Then we went to Publix where they had lots of great stuff Buy one get one free (BOGO). Well....surprise...you can use coupons even on BOGO items! She bought 14 jars of Classico Alfredo sauce, 6 jars of mayo, 2 boxes of breadcrumbs, I believe 8-10 boxes of frozen dinners (egg rolls and stuffed chicken). She saved approx $60 and spent $29!!!! Awesome right? I can't wait to try this again by myself and see how I do this week. I was pretty excited though..it was fun.

Nicole has a new hobby. She LOVES LOVES to help me with dishes now (really that means playing in the water)

Hannah is great. She's sleeping well during naps. Still wakes early in the morning, but that's fine. she's up with the rest of us. Oh...she's in crazy spitting up stage right now. I mean ALL the time...yuck!!

By Wisdom...

The new verse up on my chalk board wall behind my sink is...

By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures. Proverbs 24 3-4

I think this one will stay up there for a while. I don't have anything insightful to say about this proverb except that I have to figure out what it means! haha. The three big words...Wisdom, understanding, and knowledge and three big verbs, built, established and filled. And, I'm guessing the rare and beautiful treasures aren't just alluding to my rare and beautiful little girls:-)

I have some things to share from a book I'm reading called Idols of the Heart, Learning to Long for God Alone by Elyse Fitzpatrick (I bought it from Grace and Truth books...see my link to the right). But, the girls decided not to sleep at the same time today, so my thoughts will have to wait for another day.

Until then...reflect on the verse above. What do you think? How can wisdom build my house, understanding establish it and knowledge fill it's rooms with rare and beautiful treasures? How do we implement this in our lives and homes?

Is there a verse that is speaking to you today?

Special Delivery from Aunt Julie

Nicole was so excited today to get some of her very own mail today. It came all the way from Ohio. Her Aunt Julie sent her some cute magnets with scripture written on them. Here's a pic.

Thank you Aunt Julie...I liked my note and my magnets!

A few cute pictures

Saturday, Nicole fell asleep on the couch while waiting for me to come over and read to her.

Jeremy, Nicole and Greg playing Wii. (Nicole LOVES playing, although she hasn't quite figured out that she's not actually playing)

Hannah sleeping

Nicole's new toy at Grammy's. She loved being able to stand up and draw.

Our 5 year Anniversary

Saturday was our 5 year anniversary...and can you believe it...NO pictures! What a goof!!!

A few months ago we threw around the idea of going to the east coast for the weekend and going SCUBA diving. We've never been together and we thought it would be fun. But, as August ended and September began, I realized there would be no way I could pump the 8 or so bottles needed for Hannah. So, we set those plans aside for now. We are hoping we can go in the Spring when I'm finished nursing Hannah.

We really didn't talk anymore about our plans for our anniversary because I just figured we couldn't really do much since I was nursing. Jeremy started encouraging me to pump and I was able to just barely get 2 bottles in the last couple of weeks. Anyway...he had a plan, which made me feel better.

Now, everything is always a surprise to Jeremy. In case you don't know...our entire honeymoon was a surprise. I had No idea where we were going until the air line lady said "Two to Puerto Rico". So, I knew I wouldn't be able to get out of him what we were going to do.

Saturday day time was pretty normal. I made breakfast in the AM, we made a fire in our fire pit and ate outside. Jeremy spent most of the rest of the day working in the yard. I got to take a long shower and *gasp* shave my legs AND paint my toenails...yeah, I know...exciting! Anyway, then it started to rain. I don't mean just rain a little...it poured!! Our yard was more flooded that day than when the tropical storm hit a few months ago. It poured for a few hours then drizzled the rest of the night. This would have been fine and dandy, except he had planned for an hour or so of walking around at an outdoor mall called Coconut Point for an hour or so before dinner. We walked around anyway, in the rain of course. I was grateful for his thoughtfulness. At 7:30, we headed to the restaurant (still a surprise). As we were walking up, he even hid the sign with the umbrella! hahaha. I finally saw the name on the door and it was Ruth's Chris steakhouse. Have you ever been to a Ruth's Chris? Oh boy...it is incredibly yummy. We had a wonderful dinner of delicious fillet Mignon, potatoes au gratin, asparagus, and a dessert for each of us. We ate slowly and took close to two hours! It was delightful!

Then we went to see Fireproof, a wonderful Christian movie we would highly suggest to anyone! I'm thankful I finally got to see it. Finally we ended up at the Embassy Suites in San Carlos. (I've never stayed in a hotel in my own *almost* town before). It was nice though to sleep in a huge and fluffy bed. We had a wonderful breakfast the next morning...it was just great! We got to spend so much time together, talking about the past, our present and our future. We laughed a lot, ate a lot and just had a great time. It was a perfect 5th Anniversary.

I'm so thankful for Jeremy, he's a wonderful loving husband. We don't get a lot of "us" time anymore, so it was great to get away for a little while and not have any real responsibilities...hahaha.

Exciting Day

Hmmm...where do I start?

My grandpa, the girls' great-grandpa, stopped by today for a quick little visit. Unfortunately it was nearing melt-down mode because we were very late from our nap. Here are a few pics.

Also...Hannah has big news to share. She is *almost* sitting up. She still needs to prop a bit on her hands, but she's doing great. And she is extremely proud of herself! Operation sleep training is going alright. Today was an off day because we were out of whack as far as the schedule is concerned. She finally went down for her afternoon nap after a bit of a fight. But, she's sleeping now, which is great!

This morning while Hannah was taking her first nap, Nicole and I were reading on the couch when we noticed her hair was sticking up from static electricity. So, here is a fun photo.

Jeremy started his "new" job yesterday, but today was his first day actually in the office. He is now General Manager at AVI which means he will be in the office most days. It'll be an adjustment for him because he loves being in the field. But, he's going to do a great job. He'll have a lot more input on jobs and proposals, and he's great talking to customers and vendors on the phone. In fact...he's even holding an interview tonight. Woohoo:-)

We are going to a high school football game tonight. It should be fun. No pressure of trying to "look cool" or impress some guy, cuz you know what...I've got him! Tomorrow is our 5th wedding anniversary:-) More on that later....

Life's precious Moment

Oh....I just had one of those precious moments. I don't even think I have words to describe it!

Jeremy had to do a side job tonight, so he worked late. I let Nicole stay up a bit later watching a video (the zoo....she's obsessed!). She was obviously very sleepy, so we put on her PJs, and she suggested I let her fall asleep in our bed. So....we made a big deal about how this is a SPECIAL occasion. I got her all tucked in and she asked me to lay down beside her. So...I did and we prayed and cuddled a bit. A few minutes later, I shifted positions, she thought I was getting up. She grabbed my arm and said, "No...mommy, no go...stay mommy". How on earth could I resist that! So I stayed. As she started to settle in and was almost asleep, I kissed her forehead and told her I love her. She doesn't really say "I love you" yet, but she has little motions she makes. Anyway, right after I told her I love her, she rolled in real close to me, threw her arm around my neck, pulled me in, smooshed our faces together and wouldn't let me go! We stayed there for almost 20 minutes before she was sound asleep and I finally got up.

Oh....I can't even describe the feeling of falling asleep with such a beautiful, precious little person! It's good for me to have moments like that, because my days so often are spent disciplining, correcting and training. I love those wonderful mommy-daughter moments of pure love. I will be flying high on that moment for a long long time!

Operation Sleep Training

One role both Jeremy and I have with both girls is trainer. We are training them in different areas of their lives. Our current training focus is with Hannah and sleeping. We really slacked off with putting her on a schedule. She is so precious and LOVES to cuddle. She would like nothing better than to sleep in my arms all night long! And, one thing I wanted to do more with my second was hold her...because I don't think I held Nicole enough. Ah...I got my wish. Hannah is in a habit of falling asleep in my arms, which would be fine if she would stay asleep when I put her down. Since she was born, she has probably taken only a handful of naps longer than 30 minutes. This is not acceptable. She needs to be sleeping 10-12 hours at night, plus another 3-4 hours during the day right now. Currently, she's been sleeping 8-9 hours at night and maybe, maybe 1 hour total during the day.

So, today I put her on a more defined schedule, like we did with Nicole only much earlier. Today was wonderful (well..end result was, but we had to endure a bit of crying)! Hannah slept just under 2 hours in the morning, just under 2 hours in the afternoon, and a quick 35 minute nap before dinner. She went to sleep at 8...and I'm hoping she sleeps until 7. I did NOT rock her to sleep at all today, which has been my custom. The first nap she cried for 15 minutes, I picked her up (she Immediatly stopped crying, which tells you nothing was really wrong)told her I love her, that she was safe, and it was time for a nap. I laid her back down...she cried for 5 minutes and in mid wail, fell asleep. Same thing for the other two naps, only she cried a little less each time. I was nervous about tonight because we had the guys Bible study and I didn't know how long she would cry before they started complaining. But, it was fine...she fell asleep in probably less than 10 minutes.

So...in my eyes, today was a success. I hope tomorrow is just as good. I have MOPS tomorrow, which means we'll be off schedule a bit, but maybe, just maybe she'll still sleep:-)

I know this is best for her and our family. Hannah will be happier (could you imagine?), less sleepy...and hopefully this will help her not be sick so much. I never even thought the two were related, but it really could be. She's missed out on at least 5 hours of sleep a day since she was born. Maybe this will help her little immune system.

To my girlfriends who have either just had babies, or who haven't but will someday....Read Baby Wise and impliment it. It is so much easier to do when the baby is very small then to undue bad habits and re-teach! That's my advice tonight.

Pizza, your way...girl's night

Tonight I had a few mommy girlfriends over to make pizza, salad and dessert together. What a wonderful time of encouragment and laughter. My buddies Jami, Teri, Amy and Brooke came over and I got to sit and listen to some of the most beautiful and intelligent people I know. It was fun to watch 4 women who didn't really know each other except through me carry on such passionate conversations. We talked about everything from nutrition to politics, to our children and husbands, homeschooling, embarrassing stories and much more. We all love our kids and hubbys so much, but it was definately nice to get away and just laugh and carry on. I can't believe how wonderful it was. We need to do this more often. I don't have any pictures, although I totally meant to take some. Maybe next time.

Thank you wonderful ladies for blessing my life in so many ways! God is good and has placed each of you into my life for different reasons. I have much to learn from each of you.

Oh...so much fun!

I have so many fun photos to share. We have been busy the past few days.

Saturday, we went up to a little science museum with our friends, Brooke and Bryan and their sons Peyton and Caulder. Nicole got to touch an alligator (a real life one), but here is a picture of her putting her hand into the mouth of a stuffed alligator.

Nicole got to "experience" a hurricane in a wind tunnel at the museum. (it was only 45mph wind, which is barely a tropical storm). She went once with me and once with her daddy.

Then, Sunday we went up to Pt. Charlotte to visit Granny (Jeremy's grandma). Here is a good picture of Granny and Hannah and then one of Mommy with Hannah and Grammy with Hannah

Monday we celebrated my mom's birthday (which was actually last week). My mom and dad and Justin and Erica came over for some yummy ham, potato casserole and cake.

Dad was playing with Hannah. He had her cracking up, it was cute. But...here is one of my favorite pictures of the two of them.

One of our neighbors gave Nicole some big silly pink dress up hats. The girls had fun playing with these hats with their Yaya.

Finally, this video is of Hannah eating a banana with the mesh feeder. This was one of my favorite eating devices with Nicole. Hannah seemed to like it too. I put the banana in the freezer so it would be cold on her gums.

We are all doing well. Hannah is not sleeping real well. I have some ideas to try to change this around, but I won't be able to implement them for a few days. She likes to cuddle and be rocked to sleep...which I love doing...but she then wakes up just a few minutes after I put her down.

I'm having a Mom's night out tonight with a few girlfriends. We are making pizza and a yummy looking macaroon/brownie pizza for dessert. It should be fun. They are all looking forward to it. Well...I'll check back soon.