Events & Holidays

  • Happy July 4th!

    Fireworks display taken from our family trip to Disney!

    Wishing you a very Happy July 4th!

    Hope your day is full of fun with family and friends!

    In celebration of Independence Day the girls drew a United States Flag on the sidewalk!

  • Giveaway: “More Than Enough” by Dave Ramsey

     

    I am thrilled to announce a new giveaway on Blessings Multiplied!   The winner of this giveaway will receive the More Than Enough book by Dave Ramsey!  I have read and listened to several of Dave Ramsey’s books including this one in the giveaway.  This book discusses topics such as discipline, goal setting, accountability, patience, and generosity (both with your time and resources).  To read more about what this book is about check out my earlier post on it.   Here’s how to enter the giveaway:

    1. Sign up to follow my blog (if you haven’t done so already) and leave a comment below telling us how you follow Blessings Multiplied.  Sign up to receive Blessings Multiplied via email or like on Facebook.
    2. You can get a bonus entry into the drawing if you leave a separate comment below sharing your best tip money saving tip.

    All comments must be made by July 31st at 10:00 PM EST to be entered into the drawing.

  • Intentional Living: Weekly Goals

    Last week was busy with Vacation Bible School for the girls, work, looking for a new vehicle and a bunch of fun summer activities.  The girls have been doing a great job reading everyday and completed a chunk of their goal.  It has been fun being able to enjoy some extra time with them and participate it the fun summer activities.  I was able to tackle quite a bit of my list for last week!

    Last week’s goals:

    Family Goals

    1. Read at least one book or a chapter in a book to the girls every day – I read over 20 library books, a chapter book, and about 20 books from our bookshelves to the girls this past week, they soaking in our reading time together.  
    2. Listen to the girls read at least one book to me or Jake every day
    3. Participate in at least 2 fun Summer Activities with the Kids
    4. Take the girls to Vacation Bible School – VBS – they had a blast!
    5. Get to the 1/4 Goal Mark (500 minutes) on the Girls “Swim Into Reading” Summer Reading Goal (total 2,000 Reading minutes) – they blew past 500 hours and getting close to our 1/2 mark
    6. Go to the library with the kids
    7. Go on a Date Night with Jake

    Personal Goals

    1. Exercise – at least 5 days this week
    2. Finish reading More Than Enough by Dave Ramsey

    Home Management Goals

    1. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
    2. Weekly Dinner Menu & Schedule planned out for the week
    3. Start My Summer Organizational Schedule
    4. Pay all upcoming bills

    Business Goals

    1. Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
    2. Keep up with the day to day items that need my attention
    3. 1o minutes a day Cleaning / Organizing my desk

    Ministry Goals

    1. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
    2. Email the updated schedule to our Community Group – been a little more relaxed with this since we haven’t been meeting regularly throughout the summer months

    Financial Goals

    1. Stay within Budget on Groceries $40 for 4 – went over on this one
    2. Emergency Fund – save 6 months worth of living expenses – on hold until we get the money set aside for the vehicle
    3. Save money for another vehicle to replace the one that was totaled – moving forward with it
    4. Put cash aside for 1 year of Jake’s College Classes – on hold until we get the new vehicle

    My goals for the upcoming week:

    Family Goals

    1. Read at least one book or a chapter in a book to the girls every day
    2. Listen to the girls read at least one book to me or Jake every day
    3. Participate in at least 2 fun Summer Activities with the Kids
    4. Get to the 1/2 Goal Mark (1000 minutes) on the Girls “Swim Into Reading” Summer Reading Goal (total 2,000 Reading minutes)
    5. Go to the library with the kids
    6. Celebrate July 4th with the Family
    7. Narrow down what type of vehicle we want to get

    Personal Goals

    1. Exercise – at least 5 days this week

    Home Management Goals

    1. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
    2. Weekly Dinner Menu & Schedule planned out for the week
    3. Work on My Summer Organizational Schedule
    4. Pay all upcoming bills

    Business Goals

    1. Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
    2. Keep up with the day to day items that need my attention
    3. 1o minutes a day Cleaning / Organizing my desk

    Ministry Goals

    1. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
    2. Email the updated schedule to our Community Group

    Financial Goals

    1. Stay within Budget on Groceries $40 for 4
    2. Emergency Fund – save 6 months worth of living expenses
    3. Car Fund – save money for another vehicle to replace the one that was totaled
    4. College Fund – put cash aside for 1 year of Jake’s College Classes

    I think it is important to share and encourage each other as we seek to improve our lives and the lives of those around us.  I want to live intentionally not just hope all my dreams and goals come true.  When I focus on small steps of improvement I am able to see results as I get closer to my goals.  Some weeks I get closer to the goals I have in my life and other weeks a take a few steps back (life happens, emergencies occur, people get sick).  Once the goals are written down and shared it provides a guideline for what I aim to accomplish this week.

    Why Share My Goals?

    • To keep me accountable
    • To share a piece of my life with you as I strive to be a better Child of God, Wife, Mom, Friend, Homemaker, Entrepreneur and the many other roles I have each week
    • To have my goals consistently written down so I can gauge progress more accurately
    • Create healthy habits in my life
    • To encourage you to share your goals with me as you continue to grown and learn

    How did you do this week on your goals?  Feel free to share or link to your list of weekly goals.

    The picture above is one that I created for my own purposes, however, The “SMART” acronym was originally coined 30 years ago by Peter Drucker in his classic work, Management by Results

  • Fresh & Healthy: Our Garden – Beans, Tomatoes, Peas, Zucchini, and Squash!

     

    Vegetables in our new beach bucket ready to be delivered to friends in Charleston!

    Items that were picked this week:

    • Purple Beans
    • Green Beans
    • Snow Peas
    • Red Cherry Tomatoes
    • Orange Cherry Tomatoes
    • Zucchini
    • Summer Squash

    We took some vegetables with us to Charleston last week to share with friends.  It was fun being able to bring fresh vegetables with us now that our garden is starting to take off and produce more.  What are you eating out of your garden this week?

  • Family Outings: Ice Skating

    Karlie and Brina ice skating for the first time with Daddy!

    There is a local ice skating rink in our town that is open all year.  The first time the girls went ice skating was for a friends birthday party and they had a blast!  Even though ice skating traditionally is a “winter” sport it is a wonderful way to spend a couple hours cooling off during the heat of the summer too! If you look around you can often find tickets to your local ice skating rink as well. Who knows you may even run into a friend or two (we have) which makes it even more fun!

    Here are some pictures from another fun ice skating adventure!

    Brina skating backwards?!  No just turning around to look at Mommy

    Karlie getting around on her own….with a little help from the wall!

    Daddy pushing his girls around the ice skating rink

    Daddy and Brina skating

    Mommy pushing Karlie around the ice rink!

  • Family Activities: Roller Blade Fun in the Basement

    Karlie roller blading downstairs….I wonder if she’ll do the splits!

    It was hilarious watching as the girls started to learn how to roller blade.  Roller blading is a fun indoor activity both on the cold winter or hot summer days!   The first few times we had them try out the roller blades on the carpet to make sure they could at least keep themselves upright.  It was a little easier to move on the tile but also much easier to fall down too.  They had plenty of falls, splits, and crashes that first time but eventually started figuring out how to move so they could stay upright.

    Brina working on her roller blading, much more serious and focused on keeping her roller blades together.

    As with any new skill your learning you may “crash”!  Karlie giggling about her fall.

    Brina getting back up after one of her crashes!

    Someone’s having too much fun…..Karlie trying to scare me as she coasts across the room on her roller blades

  • Intentional Living: Weekly Goals

    Jake had to travel last week for work so we tagged along with him since the girls were out of school.  We spent a fun week in Charleston swimming, playing, exploring, reading, and enjoying some extra time together.  We even made it to the beach which was a special treat!  Hopefully this week I will have a chance to get back up to speed with my goals and household obligations.  The pets were happy to see us come home too.  You will notice that some of my goals have shifted to reflect my priorities over the summer, it is more important to me to spend time with my family while the girls are on summer break then to ignore them so I can meet all my other goals.  Yes, I will continue moving forward with those goals as well but my highest priority the next couple months will be family since we have more time together.

    Last week’s goals:

    Family Goals

    1. Connect with each family member at least once a day
    2. Enjoy time doing one fun activity with the girls every day – spent a lot of time at parks, swimming, and spending time together in Charleston
    3. Read at least one book to the girls every day
    4. Listen to the girls read at least one book to me or Jake every day – the girls read through a whole bunch of books at parks, in the hotel and in the car, thrilled to see them get even more excited about reading
    5. Spend some extra time catching up with family and friends
    6. Finish 1/3 of the Summer Reading Program
    7. Spend time at the pool playing with the kids

    Personal Goals

    1. Exercise – walk at least 5 days this week – walked with the girls in the parks and went swimming everyday
    2. Spend quality time with my kids & Jake – spent time together in Charleston
    3. Finish reading  Am I Messing Up My Kids by Lysa TerKeurst
    4. Finish reading More Than Enough by Dave Ramsey – started it

    Home Management Goals

    1. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
    2. Weekly Dinner Menu & Schedule planned out for the week – the dinner menu was based off of Jake’s schedule and whatever coupons we could find for the Charleston area so not every dinner was planned with us being out of town (but every lunch was planned)
    3. Plan Summer Organizational Schedule
    4. Pay all upcoming bills

    Business Goals

    1. Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
    2. Keep up with the day to day items that need my attention – did as much as I could remotely
    3. 1o minutes a day Cleaning / Organizing my desk – wasn’t able to do this since I was in Charleston

    Ministry Goals

    1. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
    2. Email the updated schedule to our Community Group – didn’t get the email out but prayed for and tried to connect with each girl in our group

    Financial Goals

    1. Stay within Budget on Groceries $40 for 4 – actually stayed under with us being out of town, just brought items from home for some of our lunches, dinner, and snacks (breakfast was included with the hotel)
    2. Emergency Fund – save 6 months worth of living expenses – temporarily on hold as we save for another family car
    3. Save money for another vehicle to replace the one that was totaled – working on it
    4. Put cash aside for 1 year of Jake’s College Classes – on hold while until we get another car

    My goals for the upcoming week:

    Family Goals

    1. Read at least one book or a chapter in a book to the girls every day
    2. Listen to the girls read at least one book to me or Jake every day
    3. Participate in at least 2 fun Summer Activities with the Kids
    4. Take the girls to Vacation Bible School – VBS
    5. Get to the 1/4 Goal Mark (500 Hours) on the Girls “Swim Into Reading” Summer Reading Goal (total 2,000 Reading Hours)
    6. Go to the library with the kids
    7. Go on a Date Night with Jake

    Personal Goals

    1. Exercise – at least 5 days this week
    2. Finish reading More Than Enough by Dave Ramsey

    Home Management Goals

    1. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
    2. Weekly Dinner Menu & Schedule planned out for the week
    3. Start My Summer Organizational Schedule
    4. Pay all upcoming bills

    Business Goals

    1. Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
    2. Keep up with the day to day items that need my attention
    3. 1o minutes a day Cleaning / Organizing my desk

    Ministry Goals

    1. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
    2. Email the updated schedule to our Community Group

    Financial Goals

    1. Stay within Budget on Groceries $40 for 4
    2. Emergency Fund – save 6 months worth of living expenses
    3. Save money for another vehicle to replace the one that was totaled
    4. Put cash aside for 1 year of Jake’s College Classes

    I think it is important to share and encourage each other as we seek to improve our lives and the lives of those around us.  I want to live intentionally not just hope all my dreams and goals come true.  When I focus on small steps of improvement I am able to see results as I get closer to my goals.  Some weeks I get closer to the goals I have in my life and other weeks a take a few steps back (life happens, emergencies occur, people get sick).  Once the goals are written down and shared it provides a guideline for what I aim to accomplish this week.

    Why Share My Goals?

    • To keep me accountable
    • To share a piece of my life with you as I strive to be a better Child of God, Wife, Mom, Friend, Homemaker, Entrepreneur and the many other roles I have each week
    • To have my goals consistently written down so I can gauge progress more accurately
    • Create healthy habits in my life
    • To encourage you to share your goals with me as you continue to grown and learn

    How did you do this week on your goals?  Feel free to share or link to your list of weekly goals.

    The picture above is one that I created for my own purposes, however, The “SMART” acronym was originally coined 30 years ago by Peter Drucker in his classic work, Management by Results

  • Intentional Living: Weekly Goals

    The girls are officially out of school and on summer break now we have two 2nd graders in our household!  I am super excited to spend some extra time with the kiddos and have a lot of fun activities planned.  This week didn’t go quite as planned….Jake got in an accident so I am a little behind on some of the goals and had to rearrange other ones but thankfully he is okay and healing well.

    Last week’s goals:

    Family Goals

    1. Connect with each family member at least once a day
    2. Final Prep for Summer Break
    3. Read at least one book to the girls every day
    4. Listen to the girls read at least one book to me or Jake every day
    5. Spend some extra time catching up with family and friends
    6. Confirm the Schedule / Flights for upcoming Family Reunion

    Personal Goals

    1. Exercise – walk at least 5 days this week – didn’t get this one done
    2. Update my goals
    3. Finish reading  Am I Messing Up My Kids by Lysa TerKeurst – time was spent in other areas this past week

    Home Management Goals

    1. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
    2. Weekly Dinner Menu & Schedule planned out for the week
    3. Spend 30 minutes every day picking up & cleaning the house

    Business Goals

    1. Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
    2. Keep up with the day to day items that need my attention
    3. 1o minutes a day Cleaning / Organizing my desk

    Ministry Goals

    1. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
    2. Email the updated schedule to our Community Group – didn’t get the email out this week

    Financial Goals

    1. Stay within Budget on Groceries $40 for 4 – went over budget again
    2. Emergency Fund – save 6 months worth of living expenses – still saving up
    3. Save money for upcoming trips – put on hold with the accident this past week
    4. Put cash aside for 1 year of Jake’s College Classes – temporarily put on hold with the accident

    My goals for the upcoming week:

    Family Goals

    1. Connect with each family member at least once a day
    2. Enjoy time doing one fun activity with the girls every day
    3. Read at least one book to the girls every day
    4. Listen to the girls read at least one book to me or Jake every day
    5. Spend some extra time catching up with family and friends
    6. Finish 1/3 of the Summer Reading Program
    7. Spend time at the pool playing with the kids

    Personal Goals

    1. Exercise – walk at least 5 days this week
    2. Spend quality time with my kids & Jake
    3. Finish reading  Am I Messing Up My Kids by Lysa TerKeurst
    4. Finish reading More Than Enough by Dave Ramsey

    Home Management Goals

    1. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
    2. Weekly Dinner Menu & Schedule planned out for the week
    3. Plan Summer Organizational Schedule
    4. Pay all upcoming bills

    Business Goals

    1. Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
    2. Keep up with the day to day items that need my attention
    3. 1o minutes a day Cleaning / Organizing my desk

    Ministry Goals

    1. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
    2. Email the updated schedule to our Community Group

    Financial Goals

    1. Stay within Budget on Groceries $40 for 4
    2. Emergency Fund – save 6 months worth of living expenses
    3. Save money for another vehicle to replace the one that was totaled
    4. Put cash aside for 1 year of Jake’s College Classes

    I think it is important to share and encourage each other as we seek to improve our lives and the lives of those around us.  I want to live intentionally not just hope all my dreams and goals come true.  When I focus on small steps of improvement I am able to see results as I get closer to my goals.  Some weeks I get closer to the goals I have in my life and other weeks a take a few steps back (life happens, emergencies occur, people get sick).  Once the goals are written down and shared it provides a guideline for what I aim to accomplish this week.

    Why Share My Goals?

    • To keep me accountable
    • To share a piece of my life with you as I strive to be a better Child of God, Wife, Mom, Friend, Homemaker, Entrepreneur and the many other roles I have each week
    • To have my goals consistently written down so I can gauge progress more accurately
    • Create healthy habits in my life
    • To encourage you to share your goals with me as you continue to grown and learn

    How did you do this week on your goals?  Feel free to share or link to your list of weekly goals.

    The picture above is one that I created for my own purposes, however, The “SMART” acronym was originally coined 30 years ago by Peter Drucker in his classic work, Management by Results

  • Travel & Vacation: Charleston Trip

    Had to stop on one of the road trips because someone was getting car sick…..Daddy taking her for a walk to get some fresh air.  Poor kiddo!

    She hasn’t gotten car sick for quite awhile, but on one of our trips recently she started getting queasy.  Stopping for a little bit of fresh air for a few minutes seemed to do the trick.

    Found a cool tree house on Daniel’s Island, great place to play and have a picnic!

    Karlie having fun

    Hanging out at the turtle park

    Pool time!  Karlie holding her breath under the water!

    Brina hanging out under water

    Is it me or does the road seem to end in the sky?  Actually this is one of our favorite bridges near Daniel’s Island.

    Looking at the beautiful sunset from the bridge

    Karlie enjoying her blue rock candy treat

    Brina with a bright pink tongue

    Brina having fun

    Karlie splashing around

    Brina swimming under water

    Giving us game directions

    Karlie lining up her knee board

    Karlie spinning and having fun

    Brina’s ready to spin

    Brina having fun in the pool

    Brina going for the diving stick

    Karlie sitting at the edge of the pool chatting away

    Having fun in the pool

    Brina flying through the air

    Playing with Daddy in the pool

    Silly Karlie

    Brina shark is after me

    Karlie has a knack for losing teeth when we are traveling….once in an airport on a trip and this one at the hotel in Charleston (after eating an apple)

    Brina zooming down the slide

     The “Travel and Vacation” series is an insight into our trips together as a family and ways we relax.  Life is short and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to build memories with family and explore of of the most amazing places during our time away.  Explore with a good attitude, look for fun, and it will be an awesome trip jammed packed with positive memories.  It is refreshing having some time away from the regular routine.  Make it a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet new people and learn.  You just might see or try something new that takes your breath away!

  • Travel & Vacation: Trip to the Pirate Park & Charleston Creamery

    Stopping to refuel…..so thankful the girls both travel so well!

    We have been on some long trips with our kids (over 40 hours of drive time) which makes us very thankful that they both love to travel.  They get excited when we tell them they will get to “sleep” in the van.  The girls love it when the road trip is more than 5 hours because that means Daddy will put in the DVD player for them to watch movies while we drive.   They stay entertained when we we take the 2 or 4 hour trips as well with books, games, music, and more.  It is always an adventure no matter where we go and the girls love exploring different areas as well as going back to our favorite parks or places we have visited in the past.   The pictures in this post are from our winter trip to Charleston, South Carolina.  Love seeing their smiles, watching them play, and thankful that they had a chance to relax for a few days.

     

    Karlie relaxing on the bench and blowing some bubbles.

    Brina checking out the pirate treasure chest full of sand at the “Pirate” Park on Daniel’s Island.

    Karlie (she is wearing the black shirt in the middle of the ship) is checking out the big sunken pirate ship

    Brina climbing the lighthouse at the pirate’s park

    Look out…..here comes Karlie!

    Look out BELOW!!!  I can hear Brina giggling as she comes zipping down the slide.

    Getting ice cream from their favorite ice cream store – Charleston Creamery!  In this picture Karlie is choosing her 1st topping.  After they select their ice cream flavors and toppings a robot puts it together for them.  The girls LOVE it!

    The robot is getting ready to make the ice cream.

    Mesmerized by the robot making the ice cream!

    Ta….Da……the ice cream treat is now ready to eat!  Thanks Robot! 🙂  The robot only serves soft serve ice cream but you can get one of their many homemade flavors in a cup, cone, or shake!

    Charleston Creamery has a place for the kids to sit and play with toys while you enjoy your treat too.  It’s a great family owned ice cream store.  It is one of the girls favorite places to visit while in the Charleston area.  For more information about their store, location, upcoming events, specials, or their newest flavor of ice cream you can find them on Facebook!

    The “Travel and Vacation” series is an insight into our trips together as a family and ways we relax.  Life is short and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to build memories with family and explore of of the most amazing places during our time away.  Explore with a good attitude, look for fun, and it will be an awesome trip jammed packed with positive memories.  It is refreshing having some time away from the regular routine.  Make it a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet new people and learn.  You just might see or try something new that takes your breath away!