Bonfires and photo shoots

Good morning to you! I have so many fun pictures to share, I hope I can get them all uploaded:-) I'm excited to dress Nicole up like an Indian today and Hannah like a clown. However, I'm having problems with Nicole...now she wants to be a clown like Hannah:-( I think this stemmed from yesterday....
We were making Nicole's feather headpiece for her costume. It was finished and on her head, and I told her to run into her room to look at it (she has mirror closet doors). She ran alright, and tripped and fell right into the corner of the door. I was fully expecting a smashed nose and blood everywhere...she hit THAT hard. However, she wasn't hurt that bad, a small fat lip and several minutes of crying. poor thing. Anyway, I think she's afraid to put that head piece back on. GREAT! I'll try to post pictures tomorrow of the little cuties.

Well...bon fire season for us is in full force. Jeremy, Nicole and I sat outside last night for an hour, then Nicole went to bed and Jeremy and I stayed out for another couple of hours. Nicole sat on Jeremy's lap half the time and mine the other half. She just loved it! She wanted to fall asleep out there:-)


Nicole and I had a photo shoot with Hannah the other day. Hannah is fully sitting up now, no problems at all. She is growing up so very fast!



Then, this morning Nicole and I had a photo shoot. She got a bath this morning since she smelled like bon fire smoke and I dried her hair out while Hannah napped. Then, we had fun taking silly pictures.


We also carved our pumpkin the other day. Here are a few pics. Nicole wasn't as "into" it as I hoped...maybe next year. The carving session ended with Nicole sitting and watching and Hannah crying from her crib. hahaha...oh well. I also tried to roast some seeds, but I think they are burnt.


The past few days have been great. Nicole and Hannah both have been very happy and content, for the most part. I think it's because we haven't been busy. We haven't really gone anywhere for several days. Life at home is better this way when we are home a lot.

10 Things I love...

10 Things I LOVE about our cool weather right now (70s High, 50s low)

10. Softball season for Jeremy
9.Hot Chocolate (and soon....fudge....)
8. No more hot car seatbelts for Nicole to cry about
7. Being outside every possible moment
6.Crawling into bed with cold sheets and a warm fuzzy blanket on top
5. The girls took longer naps (yesterday at least)...I think because of the fresh air and being bundled in their blankets
4. The house automatically feels cleaner when the windows are open and a cool breeze rushes through.
3. Putting on the few long sleeve clothes I own...it's a nice change
2. Wrapping up in a warm blanket
1. Bon-Fires!!!!! (the first one in 6 months was last night...and I still smell like smoke, well, that's because I haven't gotten a shower yet! ha!!)

OK, you northerners...you can't make fun of me because I drink hot chocolate and wear long sleeves in this weather...I'm a Florida girl. I always have been, and I guess I always will be:-)

I had to add this picture. AVI took Jeremy and the crew out to Iguana Mia's (Mexican food) for his birthday and his co-worker/friend's birthday a few weeks ago. Here is their silly picture. These two can't ever be serious in a picture.

Apple Smile

Regular ole' update

Posting of pictures will be few and far between right now. We just bought a camera in August, and one night I left it outside for the sprinklers to hit it! Yikes...I know. Anyway, it still works, but there are some water marks on the screen, so we finally took it back to get it repaired. Hopefully they will do it. In the meantime, there won't be many pictures. We do have our old camera around, so maybe I'll post some anyway.

OK...We had a busy and at times crazy weekend. Oh sheesh...now I can't think of what we did! I know we carved a pumpkin...which was fun, for me and Jeremy anyway. Nicole wasn't totally into it:-( Maybe next year. We carved hearts all over the pumpkin because we really aren't into celebrating Halloween...but there are just a few silly traditions I can't give up. So, our pumpkin is totally not scary:-) perhaps a picture will come later.

Publix had Edy's ice cream Buy One get one free this week. So, I bought a flavor I wanted to try, Girl Scout Cookies Samoas....oh boy...I have a new favorite. I'm not a huge ice cream person because it tends to hurty my belly....but the cookie bites in this ice cream made it declicous! Yummy....do try:-)

Nicole spent the night at Yaya and Papa's Saturday night. Here are some good pictures.

And...I got my hair done Sat. morning (Thank you Jeremy for watching the girls...he did great, fed them lunch AND put them both down for a nap, at the same time without much crying...I wish I could do that:-) This is kind of a weird picture...but you can see my hair. It's nice to have most of the grey gone:-) And, I think I like my bangs short

I think perhaps that is it. We had a nice weekend with the family. The weather is perfect right now, so we are enjoying being outside.

Sad Lady

There is a lady who lives a few houses down from us that we see every day walking her dog. Unfortunately, her husband passed away a few weeks ago. Nicole and I saw the ambulance and firetruck. I knew something had happened, but Nicole was excited (and scared) to hear the sirens. Well, I wanted to do something nice for her, so Nicole and I made her cookies yesterday. OK...it is true that part of the reason I wanted to make cookies was to eat the dough:-) Anyway, while we were making the cookies I was telling her that we were going to take some to the lady down our street whose husband just died. I said, "Nicole, she is sad because her husband isn't here anymore, and we want to make her cookies so she can feel happy again". So...she became known as "sad lady" around our house. Well...the girls and I went down yesterday morning to drop off the cookies (still warm)...but she wasn't home. When Jeremy got home, we took a short walk down there (in the drizzly rain) and she had just walked outside to check her mail. Anyway, after I handed her the cookies, we stood and talked for a little while. The whole time Nicole is saying, "mommy sa yady, mommy sa yady, sa yady, mommy sa yady..." yeah...you guessed it, Nicole was saying "sad lady". I don't think she understood Nicole, which was good. Jeremy and I kept looking at each other tryng not to laugh. This had great potential to be extremely embarrassing...I'll have to be careful what words I use to describe people more often! It was pretty funny, and amazing that Nicole remembered the story and connected it to me giving her the cookies.

On another note...Hannah decided to chew on a piece of raw broccoli while I made dinner last night. She was totally into it!

I thought this was a funny pic of Hannah drinking from her sippy cup.

Mouse Paint

This morning I took the girls over to my friend Teri's house. She has a son, Hunter who will be 3 in November and Nathanael who is 7 months old. Teri is also my coupon teacher....she is the one who has inspired me to find ways to save money. She's also very much into organic food and getting rid of toxic items that can potentially hurt our children, so I learn a lot when I'm around her. Anyway...here's a look at our day.

Hannah and Nathanael "playing" They actually played more at first than Nicole and Hunter did. Hannah even started sucking on Nathanael's toe at one point! hahaha.

Hannah LOVED this elephant. It was in her mouth a majority of the time

Nicole and Hunter waiting to color...aren't they sweet?

Teri's super fun veggie face. I would totally eat more veggies if someone did this for me:-)

Nicole and I brought over a fun paint activity. We have been learning about colors this week. We've been reading a book called Mouse Paint. It's about 3 mice who fall into three colors (red, blue and yellow) and they make little mouse tracks all over a sheet of paper. They also discover that when you mix two colors, you get a new color. So...we thought it would be fun to have Hunter paint "Mouse tracks" with Nicole.

At first they just used their feet.

Then they started using their hands

By the end, they were painting themselves!

All in all, it was a really fun morning.

Sweet Dreams

Just short of two years ago I wrote the following note on Facebook, my birthday night...probably 1 or 2 in the morning....
Tonight, my wonderful husband took me out all by myself to celebrate my birthday. We had lots of fun and it was great to relax and enjoy ourselves. So, since we went out, Nicole hung out with my parents. This meant she had to go to bed in a place other than her own bed. Tonight was a difficult transition for her. She normally sleeps through the night and is disturbed very little when we move her from car seat to crib.However, tonight she cried off and on for a long time. I went in a few times to settle her, then the moment I would leave, she would lose it. OK...here comes the sweet part. Finally, I gave in and picked her up. I spent an hour settling and then holding our sweet little girl. What a precious gift from God she is. She finally fell asleep in my arms, and I seriously contemplated sleeping in my gliding chair holding her. As she slept in my arms, she began to dream and smile and even laugh in her sleep. I can not describe the feeling it is to hold such a tiny and beautiful little person and when she is asleep, it is twice the fun. I'm tired and ready for bed, but I would not have traded the past hour for anything. God is so good!

Tonight was sort of de ja vu. The girls went to sleep a bit earlier than normal since they didn't get much of a nap. Jeremy was so helpful tonight after a long day at work and he ended up falling asleep soon after them. I wasn't ready to go to bed yet, so I got a good hour to myself to...well, what else...work! haha. I cleaned the kitchen, folded clothes and stuffed diapers (and listened to 3 John Piper sermons). Just as I was finishing, Nicole woke up crying, which is unusual. She was pretty upset, so I picked her up and brought her into the living room and rocked her for close to thirty minutes. As I sat holding my little girl, I couldn't help but think of the night above, when I rocked and held her for so long in the middle of night as she slept in my arms. Almost 2 years later, here I was doing the same thing (well...it wasn't the middle of night, so that was good). It was wonderful to have her in my arms. Every time I would move she would grab my hand. I got to kiss her, snuggle with her and tell her I love her. It was a precious time for me. I just wanted to share, and really...document the moment. She's sleeping peacefully now, as is everyone else, hehe. I guess it's time for me to hit the hay. Goodnight.

Money Saving Monday

OK...I know I'm going post crazy today. So sorry. But, I had to share. This was what I got at Publix today.

My total should have been $39.93...instead I paid $15.73

Here's how....btw...Q means Coupon

Prpridge Farm Bread Reg. price $3.59 sale $2.50 Q for -$3.00...FREE

3 frozen potatoes Reg. price $1.75 sale $1.00 Q -$.25 each...$.75 each

Yoplait YoPlus yogurt Reg. price $2.30 sale $2.00 Q-$1.50....$.50 (4 pk)

10 Vit. Water...no sale $1.33 each

8 pk Powerade $5.79 Q-Free if I buy 10 vit. water

Apple Juice Reg price? Sale $2.00

Pinapple Reg price $4.99 Sale 2.99

I used a $5 off a purchase of $25 or more from Whole Foods and several other competitor and vendor coupons. I know I could have gotten the vit. waters cheaper at Target this week...but, I just don't have time (or patience) to galavant around town looking for the best deals. Besides, I "made" $.50 on the bread and $1 on another coupon and I needed those waters to go over the $25 amount (and they are a big treat to me...I just love them). I think I made out pretty good. No more shopping this week.

My best deals for the week (including yesterday's big trip)

8 beachnut babyfoods for approx $.11 each (normally $.50-.70 each)

Yoplait YoPlus yogurt $.50 for a pack of 4

French Toast BOGO and $1.00 off each coupon...made them $.79/box!

Tyson Frozen chic nuggets...normally $6.59 with the sale and 2 Q they were $2.99

Roasted Salted Almonds BOGO and $1.00 made them $1 each

Huggies Wipes $6.99 with 2 Q made them I think $3.99...maybe $4.50

Tylenol Cold Multi symptom $5.93 with 2Q made them$3.93 I believe

I had other deals too....but not as big. I saved $55 in coupons and sales yesterday...plus another almost $25 today. I'm a little over my budget for the week...but the last several weeks (months) I've been $40-$50 over my budget...so a few dollars is much better. I'm shooting for much lower next week...we'll see.

I'm smiling so much right now

OK....It is now an hour and half into nap time...Nicole is still not asleep, and Hannah is now awake. I just peeked in and heard Hannah laughing hysterically. Nicole had one of their large flowers in her hand. She was hitting Hannah's mobile above Hannah's head. Each time she hit the mobile, Hannah started laughing. Then, a few minutes later I notice of of Nicole's beloved doggies in Hannah's crib. Nicole has reaching through the crib rungs trying to get it. However, she rubbing Hannah's head (I believe thinking she was grabbing her doggie).

Oh...one last funny thing I forgot to share. At the park today, Nicole was swinging. I was holding Hannah and pushing Nicole. Every time Nicole came backward, Hannah laughed. She was cracking up at Nicole on the swing. It was sweet. Hannah just adores Nicole. Now, please pray with me and Nicole will have the same affection towards Hannah.

Anyway...neither one is sleeping, but they are both making me laugh. I wish I were two years old:-) I think I'd be a happier, more laid back person, hahaha

Just one of those days...

Actually, make that, just one of thos weeks (picture me rolling my eyes). I'm really struggling with keeping up with everything. Nicole of course is a sweet little girl, but oye! She's really pushing me on some issues (as in nap time right this very moment!!!) She hasn't been a great listener and just when I'm getting frutrated with her, she does something really cute or sweet and it make my frutrations go away. Which sometimes makes me even more frustrated...does that make any sense at all? hahaha. I feel like I can't catch up on anything. My house feels never picked up. There are always dishes in the sink (and drying on the counter), there's play-doh on the floor, stepped on cheerios in the play area, dried up milk under the table, dirty clothes in the bathroom, clean clothes in a heaping pile in the girls' room, drying clothes on the clothes line, dirty clothes...well at least there where they should be, in the clothes hamper. Jeremy is so great at constantly reminding me why we have chosen for me to stay home and teach and train the girls, but sometimes I still lose my focus. OK, to be honest...almost all the time I lose my focus. It's not even that I need more help...I just feel like I can't be GREAT at all things. I can be GREAT at one thing, and so-so in everything else. I can have a super clean house, but then the girls don't get as much attention. I can play with the girls all day, but then my house is a disaster, dinner doesn't get cooked and more cherrios get smashed into my already dirty floors. I long to be a wonderful wife, wonderful mother, wonderful friend, wonderful homemaker, wonderful teacher, all at the same time! Why can't I be all at once? I feel like my husband and my daughters deserve this. (Ok, this is not a pity party...I know I'm a good mommy and a good wife...I just want to be better, which I don't think is a bad thing) I don't always understand why God takes so long to change a person. We are so used to instant gratificiation, instant results in our fast paced culture (think about it...instant rice, faster internet, disposable diapers, dinner in a bag you microwave for 4 minutes, diet pills to make you loose weight in a week, or better yet....surgery to make you thinner, you lips fater and your eyes less saggy....everything is done fast!). It's so hard to be patient and allow God to work in my life...to change my heart and mind. I want a mind like His...I want to be used by Him, to Glorify Him with my life...especially where I'm at right now, in my home as Jeremy's wife and Nicole and Hannah's mother. But, I struggle to know how He can be glorified in me as I constantly struggle with the same sins every day.

Jeremy and I were reading an article last night that reminded me of God's Sovereignty. Why do I constantly put my trust in others...even in myself when others and myself always fail. Why is it so hard to put my trust in Him...the creator, not only of the universe, but of me. He is really the only one I can fully trust and stand on. He will never fail. But I seem to always struggle with this...somehow I think I know best. What foolishness! Nicole and I were reading this morning about Noah and "The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time." Gen 6:5 and "...because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from chidhood." Gen 8:21 (just a portion of it). Without the Soverign Grace of God, every inclination of my heart is evil. But, now...since I have the Holy Spirit...I don't have to satisfy the desires of my sinful flesh....but I can live by the Spirit. This really is where the battle lies. Every choice I make throughout the day is a choice of responding and gratifying the flesh (acting out in anger, frustration, pride, etc) or of resonding and living by the Spirit, (It's fruit being love, joy, patience, kindness...etc). God promises that if I "live by the Spirit, you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature." (Gal 5:16). He even says they are in conflict with one another (Gal 5:17). So...this is it then...what will I do today? Will I live by the Spirit, or will I gratify the desires of my sinful nature. It is much better to live in the Spirit.

Now, for news on the girls...um...really no news. We went to the park today, a different one than normal. It was a lot of fun. We had lunch and chased ducks away from our food. Hannah of course spit up all over me and herself. Nicole likes to swing (high of course). Pretty normal right now. Nicole's new phrase is "all by myself" (although it sounds like she's saying "applesauce" haha)She not only says it when there's something she wants to do all by herself, but also when she seems something done with no help. For instance, we were in an elevator this weekend and the door close "all by myself". So...that's really cute.

Wow...this post went everywhere! hahaha. It was good for though to have a little Bible study...thanks for joining me:-)