COMMENTS!!!

Just so ya'll know and understand....

Comments are like CRACK for the blogger!

We write with the thought that someone, somewhere, will read and like what we say!

We bloggers are opinionated people with an opinion to share.

With that said I will let you in on a secret, I am an only child and I like to talk. (and be heard)

I like to be the center of attention and I REALLY like knowing people are reading me!

SO COMMENT WILL YOU?!

ITS BLOG CRACK I SAY !

My Car and Shame, Shame people!

*This is one of my very favorite posts and it is very fitting today, we are traveling to Ohio and I have to clean the car!  While I am away I hope you all enjoy some of my favorite old posts.

So y'all know we are leaving at 2 am on Saturday for vacation and today was clean the car day, Daddy will not ride for 2 hours in the mess we call car/van more or less 14 so I promised to clean the thing up.  Now I must say I was feeling very organized with my packing techniques and I had no idea the hidden dangers awaiting me in my minivan.  Now this is one of those moments that I pray the Child's Protective Services doesn't read my blog because they might send someone for a home study after I tell you all the toxic situation in which I have been driving my beloved children in.  I really have no idea how we fit with all the mess and am very thankful we have not been over taken by bugs of some kind....  So here goes the Shame!

1 temporary tattoo

3 stickers

5 Ponytail holders

2 used band aids

16 army men

8 ink pens

19 game pieces (and they don't even  go together)

2 toy keys

plastic cat

12 candy wrapper

2 marbles

2 ninja turtle swords

Cheetos

9 barrets

2 sea shells 

play coin

pop (soda) top

3 M&M's

5 books

17  action figures

plastic bat

spoon

2 drink lids

6 feathers (birds may have been here)

marker

marker top

12 gum wrappers

2 sucker wrappers

smashed chewed gum (very old and hard)

ice tea packet

mashed penny from Smithsonian

18 french fries (very old and very hard)

4 yo go's fruit snacks

dried up strawberry

gummy bear

13 sticky penny's

9 used Kleenex's

broken slinky

plastic soda cap

tic tac toe board

sun glass lens

2 pairs of sunglasses

plastic egg

plastic Gary the Snail (sponge bob)

plastic hat

battery AAA

receipt

7 straw wrappers

bouncy ball

toy skeleton

coffee cup

plastic rock

large rock wrapped in shiny foil

mega block

bouncy frog

ear phones

sucker stuck under seat 

2 dimes

dried flowers

20 CD's

auto touch up paint

barbie shoe

fortune cookie

magnet

gift bag

diaper bag (my baby is going to be 3 she has no need for a diaper bag)

1 size 2 diaper

2 tooth picks

dental floss

toy cape

3 pull ups

2 pairs of socks (not matching)

child harness

prescription

2 business cards

Atlas

chain from broken necklace

twisty tie

5 cheerios

drinking straw

2 towel racks (I need to return)

1 toilet paper holder (also need to return)

stroller attachment (I don't even own the stroller anymore)

4 pretzels

plastic dog

jumper cables

bag of silk flowers

1 shoe

french fry container

jewelry box

umbrilla

5 sucker sticks

2 corn dog sticks

6 fishy crackers

1 sippy cup with moldy juice

1 sippy cup with milk cottage cheese

broken Styrofoam cup

paper from Sunday School

price tag

baby doll sock

little people hay stack

toy purse

pop top

toy ax

medicine spoon

medicine cup

9 plastic dinosaurs

mesh bag

bible study book (lost and now found)

daughters short's

daughters pj's

3 pair of underwear

eye patch

coupon

Lego's

1 dried black olive

3 lip glosses

lotion

more crumbs than one person can count

hand gel (after sitting in this car we could lick the cart handle at Walmart and be fine!)

1 raisin (it probably started as a grape)

and one blanket......

So we could feed a small country with the remains of this nasty minivan, we can change clothes and even touch up our makeup not to mention my kids could entertain themselves for hours on the toys in here!  I am really surprised, it's almost embarrassing but I know you all love me and I am just to busy painting my nails and educating my children while organizing our clothes to clean out the car.  But I can promise you this if Daddy sees this list he will never buy me a new car, never ever!

I know I have won the award for dirtiest car but you can still head over to Rocks in my Dryer and see what others have found in their cars.

The Upcoming Week

I will be taking a week off of this blog of mine, not that I haven't taken off a lot lately, I sure have.  Sorry.  We are going to Ohio tomorrow for Thanksgiving.  We will be staying with my brother and sister in law and their family.  We are going to my Aunt Brenda's house on Thanksgiving day where I will be spending Thanksgiving with some other bloggers you may know, Twice Blessed Mommy who is my Aunt and my best friend and my cousin in law Little Toes and Cheerios.  We will be eating and having lots of fun for the next few days.  

Yesterday at church we heard a sermon on Thanksgiving, we learned that so often we are thankful for the things we have forgetting that it is all about what God has given us and our thanks should really be directed at what he has done for us.

As hard as the holidays are going to be for me this year, I am thankful!  I am Thankful for all the years I had my Grandpa, I am even Thankful that God took him home in his time without pain and suffering.  I am Thankful for my wonderful husband, that I don't just have a spouse but a best friend.  I am Thankful for my three healthy children, each one a blessing!  I am Thankful that God knows whats best for me and even though I am saddened monthly by my lack of pregnancy He knows when and if he will bless us again, and his plan is greater than I could ever imagine.  I am Thankful for Tate and Reese, they are a miracle, many families have lost a their child born way to early (25 weeks) and we have not one healthy baby but two.  I am Thankful for my salvation, I will never deserve it, but Jesus came for everyone one in the world.  I am Thankful for the daily encouragement and friendships from this blog.  Happy Thanksgiving!

I will be posting some of my favorite post while I am away so you will be reading reruns...  Enjoy!

Some Answers part 2

I am really enjoying answering your questions.

Anonymous asked me how my day is set up, and if I have an advice on being a good wife and an marriage advice for a couple with young children~

I set my day up like this- We get up at 6 each morning, I set the coffee pot the night before so when we get up we have hot coffee waiting.  HD and I spend a few minutes reading the Bible and then I pack his lunch and make breakfast.  The kids get up between 6:30 and 7.  We eat breakfast together as a family and HD leaves for work at 7:30, We pray together as a family before he walks out the door.  I start school with the kids when he leaves.  I am teaching 2nd grade and Kindergarten so I alternate, Math with one and then the other, phonics with one and then the other.  I do some pre school with Daisy in between Math and phonics with the boys.  We have lunch around 1pm each day and Daisy takes a nap at 2pm.  I start dinner around 3 and when HD gets home at 5 its ready.  We sit together at the table and share dinner.  We will sometimes play a game after dinner sometimes we read books or even watch tv together.  The kids go to bed at 8.  I love to read so I read a lot in the evening.  HD and I sit together by the fire or on the couch and read or watch tv or just talk....

My advice on being a good wife is very simple, if your husband loves to eat make sure you feed him after a long day of work, if he hates a mess, then spend a few minutes cleaning up before he comes home.  My husband loves to eat and he likes me to be fixed up so every day at 4:45 I touch up my makeup and dinner is ready when he gets in the door.  The very best marriage advice I can give anyone with kids or not is pray for your husband!  Our husbands are faced with many challenges each and everyday and the best thing you can do is pray for him.  Pray together and if you have a husband who does not like to pray out loud ask him if you can pray with him and take his hand and just pray for you both.  Take time to be with each other alone also.  I treasure my time with HD in the evening when our kids are in bed, lets face it babysitters are expensive  so we have dates at home often, after the kids go off to bed I try and set the stage for a nice date sometimes romantic sometimes just fun.  

Little Toes asked me if I had an easy cake recipe for Christmas~  

I will give you my favorite cake recipe, its called Neiman Marcus Bars

Crust-

1 box of butter cake mix

1 stick of butter

1 large egg

Filling-

1 package of cream cheese 8 oz at room temp.

2 large eggs

1 tea pure vanilla extract

1 stick of butter melted

3 3/4 cups of confectioners sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees for the first step mix the ingredients together for the crust, it should come together in a ball.  With your fingers pat it evenly into a 9x13 pan.

Next for the filling mix the first 4 ingredients together until smooth and then about a cup at a time add the sugar, mix until incorporated well.  Pour the filling on top of the crust mixture.  Bake in the oven for 45-47 minutes it should be well browned on top and just slightly jiggle when you shake the pan,  Place it on a wire rack to cool for about 30 minutes, cut and serve.  This is one  of my very favorite deserts ever! 

Growin' with it asked me three very good questions, What did I want to be when I grew up, If I was a superhero what would my powers be and what is my favorite color and why~

I had two career aspirations, I always and I mean always wanted to be a wife and mommy!  My mother and I lived with my Grandparents from the time I turned 5 and the only really good relationship I ever saw was that of my Grandpa and Grandma, I would dream of how my husband would sweep me away and we would have 7 children, I even had all 7 names picked out -Carlotta, Calliope, Collette, Christian, Justine, Jasmine and Sky.  I wanted a house full of girls.

My other dream job was to be a famous singer, not just a singer but a famous one, I wanted to be the next Reba!  Now being that I am from Dayton Ohio and with no hint of southern accent, this is a problem...

If I was a superhero I would totally have the power to be invisible, I would use my power to listen in on conversations and rid the Christian world of Gossip!  You would never know when Superhero Happy Mommy would be listening in and bust you for talking about your friends behind their back, so all Christian Woman everywhere would be kinder and way more careful about what they say, creating unity in the church like we have never known before!  Hey God's invisible and always listening, that should make us think.....

My favorite color is red!  I love red because I look good in red, red clothes, red lipstick, red shoes, and of course red nail polish.  I think red is a powerful color and when you where red you get noticed, not in a "your hot way"  but in a you know what your talking about way.  I don't think I ever walk by a woman dressed in red and don't look twice.  And all red food is yummy!

Sincerely Fro Me To You ~ Thanksgiving

Over the last few years I have had so much to be Thankful for!  We prayed and prayed for God to bless us with a daughter, and he did.  We have 3 healthy children.  We have been really blessed to have our family travel to be with us almost every other year.  HD's brother Zack and his wife Jess come with my niece and nephew.  My sil and I have grown into such great friends, she is one of my best friends in the world and when anything good or bad happens in my life she is one of the first people I think of, one of the first people I call.  She is a great support in my life and I am so Thankful that God blessed Zack with her, I am sure most people have civil relationships with their sil's but I love Jess deeply and she is such a wonderful part of our family.  These pictures were taken on Thanksgiving 2005.

We had a very small Thanksgiving in 2006, we stayed home and had our friends the "D" family come for dinner, they have 3 boy and one little girl.  I am very Thankful for my friendship with Mrs. D, although we rarely get to see each other, I enjoy talking to her on the phone.

This Thanksgiving was not only memorable because we spent it with our friends, it is memorable because only 20 minutes after they left Daisy started throwing up and Luke, Bo and HD started the next day and me the day after that.  Nothing like the flu over Thanksgiving.

 

I am so Thankful that my Mother and Grandparents moved here a year and a half ago.  I am even more thankful for the picture of my Grandparents sitting at my table, last year was hectic, we had 20 people for dinner and I am not even in one picture.  But at some point I took a picture of my Grandparents, this was the first Thanksgiving they had ever been at my home, I am really Thankful I got to cook my Grandpa such a feast.

We had Zack, Jess and their kids, Aunt Stacey and Aunt Ruth Anne, Dana, Joe and their kids as well.  

I am also very Thankful for this Blog!  I am always encouraged by you all.  Thank you for taking these journey's with me.  For more old pictorial fun go to We Are THAT Family.

Works For Me Wednesday~ Car games

If you have kids I am sure you spend a whole lot of time in the car.  It seems like we run almost every single day.  I really thought that because we home schooled our kids I would be home more and able to keep up with everything (can you hear me laughing) that is so not the case we are always in the car!

I have found that if I am involved in a wonderful conversation with my husband the kids fall apart.  If I am using my cell phone while driving the kids again fall apart.  What I mean by fall apart is they are playing the "he touched me no I didn't keep your foot over there it's mine I had that first your not my friend anymore" game.  If you haven't heard of that game yet your kids are still young...

I really started getting sick of ride with my own children in the car!  I love them so much I did what any good mama would and I tried separating them, and then I started praying for God to reveal to me what I could do different.  Very quickly I realized I was spending my time it the car for me, and that was not working!  Is such cramped conditions we needed to talk and sing and play together.  

I started playing a few games in the car that we could all enjoy together and it work!  The kids stopped fighting and they started laughing and enjoying our time together!  I can tell you it is much better to arrive at your destination with a happy family than 3 kids who have just acted like crazy monkeys and a mama who has blown her top!

One game we play often is What Am I Thinking Of, the game goes very simple you tell the kids either it's an animal or food or place or person and you start giving clues until someone (while taking turns) guesses.  Even my 3 year old can play this game now granted she always describes an elephant and sometimes tells us it's a food, she is playing.

Another great car game is I Spy.  We just take turns describing something we see in the front of the car or outside but far enough away that we can make a few guesses.

HD came up with a great game for the car we call it I Start The Story, One of us will start telling a story and we take 4 minute turns, the last person finishes it.  We have had a lot of fun with that game!

I hope you can use some of these idea's to make you travel time easier with the Holiday's here.  Remember if all else fails and you are going to be in the car for hours bring a portable DVD if your car doesn't have one.  We will be going to Ohio for Thanksgiving and the kids will be watching movies for a good part of the drive I am sure!

For other helpful tips and great ideas go to Rocks In My Dryer.

Some Answers part 1

First Thank you for your support with the church issue!  I know many people change churches, but for us women it's hard when we don't feel connected.  Thank you so much for your prayers.  Now on to the question and answer portion of this post.... 

Jodi asked if I had infertility problems in the past~ 

The answer is yes.  I had PSOS and you can read all about it here.  I was blessed beyond measure when God saw fit to heal me and have had no other problems with my fertility since.  I have come to believe as well as the OBGYN has offered information to us that it's not me.  If we are having actual trouble with our fertility it is probably due to low sperm count with HD, having a vasectomy obviously changes things and having it reversed changes things even more.  We do know he has sperm so we can get pregnant but as for actual counts we have not had that checked yet.  We will probably do that after a year of trying if God leads us in that direction.

Twice Blessed Mommy asked what will I be wearing for Thanksgiving~ 

You are so funny!  I am still about 15 pounds over weight and nothing and I mean nothing in my closet fits right and I will not be stuffing myself into anything making myself look like a stuffed piggy with an apple in her mouth.  So with all that said, I have plans to go to Kohl's on Thursday after my massage (at the salon you got me a gift certificate at for my Bday) I want some nice Black slacks you know the slimming kind and some kind of sweater maybe in Black also, again very slimming and I will wear high heels to fill the gap in my height issues!

Little toes asked if I cook something everyday and when I grocery shop do I have a list and coupons~  

Great question!  Yes I do cook something everyday.  I make breakfast (hot) at least 5 out of 7 days a week.  That does not mean bacon and eggs that means hot cereal, or baked oatmeal or eggs and toast, muffins and sometimes bacon or sausage.  Lunch is my most laid back meal, we eat sandwiches a lot and I heat up mixed veggies almost everyday for me and the kids.  Dinner is of course our biggest meal of the day.  I make chicken about 4 nights a week, we have soup at least once a week.  If I don't cook, then we have left overs, we do that about once a week.  

I write out a 10 day meal plan before we go to the store.  My list includes all meals.  I know that we will have cereal at least 3 times in a 10 day period so I make sure we have a few boxes on hand, the kids also like cereal dry for snacks.  I list all the fruit we will need as well as frozen and fresh veggies.  I make an menu for dinner and write out all the ingredients we will need.  I do not clip coupons.  We have a Walmart Super Center, I do all my grocery shopping at Walmart.  I save money by buying the Walmart brand which I have found to be cheaper than the name brand even with a coupon, I think the Walmart brand is very good and only a few things do I buy the name brand, yogurt and mayo being the only two I can think of.  Also when you shop think of the snacks you will need for the time period as well.  

Keep the questions coming this is fun!

New church and a questioner

I have been in such a funk lately.  I have had trouble thinking of what to blog about, and it's not just blogging that's suffered it's everything.  I have just been so sad.  I don't want to feel this way, really I don't and today was good.  I was able to get a lot of school done with the boys, Daisy had ballet and I even got dinner on the table on time.

Have I mentioned that during all the stuff lately we realized we were not in the right church for our family?  I have really been struggling with this more than anything, going through a death without a church family is really hard.  For me being connected at church is so important, I need people.  We have lived about 35 minutes from our church for the last 3 years and I have tried really hard to make it work, but it's not.  After my grandpa died I realized I only have one friend at church, and when I asked my kids to tell me a friend from church they couldn't, they don't have any....

We were going to an amazing church with great music and fun activities but for a homeschooling family we need people and we live to far to be involved like some of the other families so as hard as it is we are moving on.

We have been church looking and that's really hard to.  Please pray for us.  I feel strongly that we need to go to church in the community were we live and so we are looking at churches in the next town over, the town were we have land and are going to build our house.  The church we went to yesterday was really nice and the kids had a great time.  The  boys knew 3 other boys and had a great time.  Daisy knew 3 little girls who are in her ballet class and 2 little boys, she loved it!

I would love to have some fresh blog material but lately I think I have been very boring so thank you for hanging in  here with me!  

Now I want to open the comments to any questions you have for me.  Ask away and I will spend the next few days answering, come on give me your best shot...  Ask me anything.  This might be really fun.  

Happy Monday Night!

A one word meme

Where is your mobile phone~ car

Your hair color~ brown

Your mother~ interesting

Favorite thing~ cooking

Your dream last night~ strange

Your dream goal~ consistency

The room you're in~ Familyroom

Your hobby~ Blogging

Your fear~ loss

Where do you want to be in 6 years~ here

Where were you last night ~ home

What you're not~ boring

One of your wish list items~ Table

Where you grew up~ Ohio

The last thing you did~ typed

What are you wearing~ PJ's

Your TV~ on

Your pet~ outside

Your computer~ MAC

Your mood~ sad

Missing someone~ Grandpa

Your car~ Minivan

Something your not wearing~ Bra

Favorite Shop~ Country Charm

Your summer~ wonderful

Love someone~ HD

Favorite color~ red

When you last laughed~ yesterday

When was the time you cried~ yesterday

If you want to do this meme, feel free and have fun!

Calzones and randomness

I told you all yesterday that I would post a calzone recipe and it is so easy that I shouldn't even call it a recipe!

Calzones

1-2 pizza crust (in the can the roll out kind)

mozzarella cheese

pepperoni

good tomato sauce

I roll the pizza dough out into a large rectangle on a cookie sheet.  I put pepperoni down the middle, make it thick.  Now add as much cheese as you like.  Take one side of the dough and fold it over the cheese, now take the other side and fold over the dough.  Take the long calzone and flip it over so that the seem is on the underneath side of the calzone.  Take a little melted butter and brush it on top, add a little garlic salt, and make a few slits on top.   Bake at 375 for around 10 to 12 minutes, or until it is lightly browned on top.

I serve it with a really good chunky tomato sauce for dipping.  Enjoy!  It takes 3 calzones to feed my family so you might want to buy 3 or 4 packages of dough if you have a big appetite or company.

On to the randomness~

I hate the rain I have told you that 1000 times

It's raining and I doubt we are getting dressed

I get a headache if I don't have coffee the minute I get up

I think that means I am addicted

I know I am addicted

I only drink it black

No sugar!!!

HD drinks it like a girl with cream and sugar

He doesn't think that's funny

I do

I am going to do school with the kids 

They don't know it's Saturday

I love online shopping

I don't have to get dressed and go out in the rain which I hate

I wish it would snow

It does not snow in the south very much

Maybe  it will snow when we are in Ohio for Thanksgiving

I am not looking forward to the holidays without my Grandpa

I want to make it special for my children

I am really struggling

It's time to put up the tree

That might help

I don't like eggs

Our chickens our on strike they have stopped laying

An old farmer told us to put golf balls in the nesting boxes it will make them lay again

I think that's really funny

I am tired of trying to get pregnant

I realize I want to be in control

God needs to be in control he does much better at it than me

I again am struggling with that too

I ripped up our charts

God knows whats best even if it hurts 

I don't want to miss out on the kids I already have thinking about the baby I want

Daisy got a haircut

She looks like Kit Kittredge the American Girl, she loves it

I am going to start school now, Happy Saturday!

Can you hear the jingle bells

I have been listening to Christmas music all day!  I am finally in the holiday mood and need to put up the tree!  I finished all my kids shopping today!  I think the only thing I have left is to buy things for the stockings!

I did most of my shopping online, I really believe I saved time and money this way!  I am looking forward to the boxes rolling in so I can start wrapping!

I am having a small dinner party this evening so I must run.  I am making calzones.  So so easy I will post the recipe tomorrow!

Happy Friday!

Sincerely Fro Me To You ~ Ham

Last Christmas Eve we all gathered at my Grandparents house for our traditional Christmas party and gift exchange.  We always have heavy snacks.  Last year I made a ham and brought some rolls for hot ham and cheese sandwiches with our snacks.  We also had some chicken wing dip, its very good but just a bit on the salty side.  

We enjoyed our party very much eating and having punch and presents.

Then we woke up on Christmas morning and I found my husband with his face so swollen from the ham and salty dip he could barely open his eyes.  It is actually very very funny, I'm thinking how much dip and ham did you eat?

It almost looks like it's just a bad picture but it's not, he is swollen!  Look at this one.

For more funny photo's go to We Are THAT Family.

Almost a good time... Has spread!

Luke woke up this morning, stomach cramping, and he has thrown up already.  It's only 7:22.  I should had realized yesterday afternoon when he took a nap that sickness was stirring under the surface.  HD offered to take the other kids to church, as kind as the offer I am sure they are next so we are watching church on tv.

We didn't make it to the toy store, Luke had a headache, clue number 2.  So we improvised and shopped on line.  The kids took turns in front of the computer.  I found a great website full of learning toys, classic and well made toys at really reasonable prices too.  The site is called Really Great Toys.com I found Playmobil at the best price I've ever seen.  Do you have little boys?  If you do they need some Playmobil!  They sell some of the pirate and knight toys at Toys R Us and at Target.  The store I mentioned has everything.  We ordered the boys toys from the Forestry section which is little hunters and forest rangers, and we ordered them Cowboys and Indians, toys you don't see in the store.

I am at a loss as what to get Daisy.  At 3 she is saying she wants everything she sees and she has so many toys already!  I made the mistake of getting her toys before she was ready more than one time.  We got her a top of the line $200+ kitchen for Christmas when she was 15 months old, she plays with it now but for almost 2 years it sat collecting dust.  Last year we got her a $80 baby doll, a Lee Middleton doll that looks real, the doll is laying in the bottom of a toy bin as we speak.  So ladies what do I buy my daughter, what does a 3 year old girl really need?  She wants an American Girl doll, we got a catalog last week.  She is way to young!  What do you thing?

It's only 37 outside this morning and I am going to have HD start a fire.  Happy Sunday!

Almost a good time...

One of my favorite people in the world my friend "S" came with her 3 children yesterday.  "S" lives over 3 hours away, we don't get together as much as we would like.  We plan and plan and the day comes and usually one of her 3 children or one of my 3 children become sick and we have to cancel.  Yesterday we were in the clear, not one of the six combined children had any type of illness not even a runny nose.

"S" arrived about 2 yesterday afternoon, we talked for 3 hours strait, which is simply wonderful.  Face to face talk is so valuable when most of our talk is over the phone.  Let me add now that we hugged no less than 10 times!  HD came home at 5 and by 6 we were all ready to go out to dinner.  At dinner "S" mentioned how cold it was, funny thing it wasn't cold....

She was very sick all night, I won't give you details you get the picture.  We had plans to make soup and pie today, let the kids play and visit all day.  She left at 11 only after she finally stopped getting sick long enough to leave.

We almost had a great time.  I am pretty sure a few of my kids drank after a few of her kids so you all know what that means.  

Now we wait!

Hope you all are having a great weekend.  I think when HD comes home we are going to go to the toy store and write down everything the kids want.  And then  the shopping can begin!

Sincerely Fro Me To You ~ The view home

A few weeks ago when we went away for the weekend to the neighboring state that we thought we were going to move to.  I was so unimpressed with the place we went it ruined the weekend.  I let there so upset.  When we drove across the state border this is what we saw and I started to cry.  I started praying differently and believing that God would keep us right where we are.  Thankfully he has, and we don't have to move!

Check out We are THAT family for more picture fun.

Works For Me Wednesday~ Christmas shopping

Its time everyone, its only a little over 40 days until Christmas, time to shop!  I think this is my most favorite time of year hands down.  The food the smells the decorations.  The birth of my Savior.  I wanted to share with you how I shop for my children.  First I will tell you that we don't "do" Santa and you can read all about it here, we love the big round guy we just treat him as he is fictional.

Since the kids know the gifts they receive are gifts from us and that it is all a celebration of Jesus and his birth, we want to have them choose wisely.  Its easy this time of year for the kids to tell us they want every single toy that comes on tv.  I understand I want a lot of things I see on tv too!

What we do is right around now the first or second week of November we take the kids to the toy store sometimes together sometimes alone and we have them choose 10-20 toys they think they would really like to have.  At the end of the trip we ask each of them which toy do you want more than any other toy.  There is nothing worse on Christmas morning than opening up the gifts and the kids not really getting at least one thing they really wanted, especially after we have spend so much money.

I have found this to be a great way to get my kids what they really want and they understand that we can't buy everything they want but we love giving to them and to others that's what makes this time of year so special, giving, just as God gave us the greatest gift of all, his son.

We are going to Toys R Us this weekend and I will have my list ready.  I do find that Walmart normally has everything that Toys R Us has and if it's not in the store it is usually on the web site and Walmart does free shipping to the store its called Site to Store, and this has been a great savings to me.

Happy Shopping!  For more WFMW go to Rocks in my Dryer.

I love the Orchard!

We have been going to this lovely orchard every year for our Anniversary for the last 5 years now.  We love making apple bread, apple muffins, apple pie, apple cake, apple sauce, apple butter do you feel like your watching Forest Gump?

We also love this orchard because it's nestled in the mountains and has breath taking views.

When we found out that my Grandpa had cancer we decided to go to the orchard for our Family photos this year, we planed to go this last weekend.  We had no idea that he would die only 5 days after his diagnosis....

As a family we decided to move forward.  We did go to the orchard this weekend and we took family photos, it feels strange to all be together without him, but yet we are still here, still a family and as hard as it was to take family pictures, I still want to capture those moments we are together.

News and Halloween

We received news late this week that HD's company withdrew the mandatory move!  We are so happy, thankful and blessed!  I can't even begin to tell you how much I disliked the place they wanted us to move to, or how thankful that we are that God has blessed us and is allowing us to live right here.  We are still going to put our house up for sale so that we can build on the land that we bought earlier in the year, which was our plan all along.  Thank you for your prayers!

We had a wonderful Halloween!  We carved pumpkins from our garden on Thursday night and we had Twice Blessed Mommy and Family come for the trick or treat fun on Friday.