Twins

  • Be My Valentine: Sweetheart Sandwich

    Valentine Heart Sandwich for the Brina’s lunch box

    It is a lot of fun putting in something different into the girls lunch box.  Around the Holidays and whenever I get the urge I do a special surprise in their lunch boxes.  I typically do at least one special lunch box note or shape or treat a week, occasionally they get a few extras squeezed in when I have the time and creative juices flowing.  In honor of the upcoming Valentine’s Day Holiday I put a heart PB&J sandwich in their lunches.

    It an easy way to show the girls that I am thinking about them and care, plus they had a blast showing off their heart sandwich at lunch time to their friends!  The majority of evenings if we have time I have the girls at least start putting together their lunches.  Many nights they make the PB&J sandwiches themselves.  Yes, they are messier and probably use more peanut butter and jelly but they enjoy pitching in and helping put together their lunches.  Also, lunch making  time gives us a few extra minutes of productivity and socializing together in the kitchen.  Sometimes after they finish their lunches I will sneak in a note or something special other times I am making the lunches so I will add a special Momma’s touch.

    All you have to do for this simple treat is make your peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  Use a cookie cutter to make the shape you want.  Put it in a container or sandwich bag and it is ready for them to discover the next day at lunch.

    Heart shaped cookie cutter that I used for their PB&J sandwiches!

    Karlie’s sweetheart surprise sandwich!

  • Intentional Living: Weekly Goals

    It was a busy week and I got sick (that doesn’t happen very often) so that slowed me down a little bit but I was able to make some headway on my goals.  Thankfully I was able to get some rest and don’t have to postpone too many items.

    Here is the update on last weeks goals:

    Family Goals

    1. Spend 1-on-1 time with each child everyday
    2. Read a book to the girls everyday – I fell asleep early one night and didn’t wake up until after the girls were in bed so the book didn’t get read
    3. Have each girl read 1 book to myself or Jake 5 days this week
    4. Schedule a Date Night with the Girls & Re-Schedule My Date Night with Jake
    5. Finalize the Girls Birthday Party Items – working on it
    6. Set up a dentist appointment for the girls – scheduled and went to the dentist, no cavities!
    7. Pick up the girls new glasses – picking them up this week

    Personal Goals

    1. Exercise – walk at least 5 days this week – with being sick I didn’t get this one done this week hope to get back on track soon
    2. Go to bed by 10:30 pm or earlier Monday to Thursday – not every night
    3. Finish reading Crush It by Gary Vaynerchuk
    4. Read and listen to the next section of  Desiring God: Finding Complete Satisfaction and Joy in God by John Piper (our church Community Group is going through this book together).
    5. Set up an appointment to get updated on shots / vaccinations – went to the doctor and got my shots, wasn’t too excited about this one, but it was necessary for upcoming travel!
    6. Finalize Upcoming Travel Plans – dates set / plane tickets purchased / visa – my visa has arrived and tickets are purchased, waiting on Jake’s visa!

    Home Management Goals

    1. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
    2. Weekly Dinner Menu planned and written by Monday
    3. Spend 30 minutes every day picking up / cleaning the house
    4. Dinner ready by 5:30 PM (Monday through Thursday)
    5. Spend time re-organizing and de-cluttering the Master Bedroom & Bathroom – the time I had allotted to do this was taken up with being sick and trying to get better, hope to get this done next week

    Business Goals

    1. Pay all bills that come in the mail this week
    2. Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
    3. Spend 10 minutes a day cleaning and organizing my desk
    4. Write a Guest Blog Post – deadline was postponed with sickness
    5. Schedule Meeting with Accountant for Business Taxes – scheduling this week

    Ministry Goals

    1. Email our weekly Community Group update including upcoming events on the calendar, praises, and prayer requests
    2. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
    3. Email Alms & Legs Ministry Team regarding our upcoming meeting
    4. Put together the Alms & Legs Meeting Agenda

    Financial Goals

    1. Stay within Budget on Groceries $40 for 4
    2. Emergency Fund – save 3 months worth of living expenses – working on it
    3. Start working on our personal 2011 taxes – we have started the taxes
    4. Put money aside for upcoming trips – putting aside some of the money

    Here are my goals for the upcoming week:

    Family Goals

    1. Spend 1-on-1 time with each child everyday
    2. Read a book to the girls everyday
    3. Have each girl read 1 book to myself or Jake 5 days this week
    4. Go on our Date Night with the Girls
    5. Celebrate with family and friends at the Girls Birthday Party
    6. Pick up the girls new glasses
    7. Schedule Appointment with Chiropractor

    Personal Goals

    1. Exercise – walk at least 5 days this week
    2. Go to bed by 10:30 pm or earlier Monday to Thursday
    3. Finish reading Everything Romance by Todd Hafer
    4. Read and listen to the next section of  Desiring God: Finding Complete Satisfaction and Joy in God by John Piper (our church Community Group is going through this book together).
    5. Finalize Upcoming Travel Plans

    Home Management Goals

    1. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
    2. Weekly Dinner Menu planned and written by Monday
    3. Spend 30 minutes every day picking up / cleaning the house
    4. Dinner ready by 5:30 PM (Monday through Thursday)
    5. Spend time re-organizing and de-cluttering the Master Bedroom & Bathroom

    Business Goals

    1. Pay all bills that come in the mail this week
    2. Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
    3. Spend 10 minutes a day cleaning and organizing my desk
    4. Write a Guest Blog Post
    5. Schedule Meeting with Accountant for Business Taxes

    Ministry Goals

    1. Email our weekly Community Group update including upcoming events on the calendar, praises, and prayer requests
    2. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
    3. Email Alms & Legs Ministry Team with the Meeting Notes

    Financial Goals

    1. Stay within Budget on Groceries $40 for 4
    2. Emergency Fund – save 3 months worth of living expenses
    3. Complete our personal 2011 taxes
    4. Put money aside for upcoming trips
    5. Pay for 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

  • Book: “God Gave Us You” by Lisa Tawn Bergren

    This week one of the books I read to the girls before bed was God Gave Us You by Lisa Tawn Bergren.  Several of Lisa’s books have become family favorites over the past couple of years.  The girls love the illustrations as well as the story and I like that Lisa’s stories stimulate conversations about God, creation, love, and more.

    The story starts as Mama Bear is tucking Little Cub into bed when Little Cub asked “Mama, where did I come from?”  Mama Bear goes through a simple version of how Little Cub was created, including pregnancy and the excitement of preparing for the new baby.  I love that the book mentions how the parents prayed for Little Cub even before she was born.  Lisa did a great job answering a common question little kids ask parents in this short and sweet book.

    Overall I think Lisa Tawn Bergren provides a good story with beautiful illustrations by Laura J. Bryant.  The story gives nuggets of valuable information about pregnancy and babies.  The only thing that I didn’t “like” in this book (which was minor) was the author used the word “borned” during the conversation between Mama Bear and Little Cub.  Even though I know Little Cub was asking the question it distracted from the overall rhythm of the book a little bit.  This would be a great book for those who are having a second child or a young child that is asking a lot of questions about where they came from.

    Rate my review & be entered into a giveaway: I reviewed this book for “Blogging for Books.”   By rating my review, it allows me to choose another book and enters you in a GIVEAWAY!   The rating is a two step process.

    Step 1:  Rate my review below (select the number of stars, enter your email, and hit submit).

    Step 2:  Check your email account for a message from Blogging for Books and click their link to verify your email.

    Once you rated my review AND confirmed your email, you will automatically entered in a giveaway for this book by WaterBrook Multnomah!!!  They will pick one person to receive a copy of the book for themselves!  WaterBrook Multnomah will contact the winner directly.

    Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes from the publisher through the Waterhouse Multnomah.  The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

  • New Upromise eCoupons for February 2012

    Upromise has posted their new eCoupons for the month of February 2012. Remember to activate your eCoupons to get additional savings. If you have not yet signed up for Upromise you can get more information regarding on our experience or directly at the Upromise website.

    This month they have 22 coupons you can activate for bonus savings. Once you activate your eCoupons all you have to do is scan your rewards card or purchase the items at the store and the cash will be added to your account. You don’t even have to carry any coupons to get the rewards!

    You can go to their website for more information on the Upromise program, it’s free to join.

  • Intentional Living: Weekly Goals

    Last week we made a quick trip out to the midwest, Nebraska & Kansas, to attend a Pro Ag conference with my family.  The girls had a blast with Grandma while Jake and I (along with other family and friends) attended the conference.  We learned a lot of great information (still processing all of it) they covered a lot in a short period of time.  We were also able to squeeze in some time to spend with extended family during the trip too.  It was a quick and busy trip but we were able to fit in some fun along the way! 🙂  Now that I am back home I have a pretty big week planned out, praying I will be able to tackle the majority of the items on the list for the week!

    Here is the update on last weeks goals:

    Family Goals

    1. Spend 1-on-1 time with each child everyday – I was not able to do this with the conference last week
    2. Read a book to the girls everyday- during the conference they were with Grandma so they probably had books read to them but I didn’t read them
    3. Spend some time with extended family

    Personal Goals

    1. Exercise – walk at least 5 days this week – did well until all the traveling
    2. Read and listen to the next section of  Desiring God: Finding Complete Satisfaction and Joy in God by John Piper (our church Community Group is going through this book together).

    Home Management Goals

    1. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
    2. Weekly Dinner Menu planned and written by Monday

    Business Goals

    1. Attend the Pro Ag Conference
    2. Pay all bills that come in the mail this week

    Ministry Goals

    1. Email our weekly Community Group update including upcoming events on the calendar, praises, and prayer requests
    2. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch

    Financial Goals

    1. Stay within Budget on Groceries $40 for 4
    2. Emergency Fund – save 3 months worth of living expenses – still working on this one

    Here are my goals for the upcoming week:

    Family Goals

    1. Spend 1-on-1 time with each child everyday
    2. Read a book to the girls everyday
    3. Have each girl read 1 book to myself or Jake 5 days this week
    4. Schedule a Date Night with the Girls & Re-Schedule My Date Night with Jake
    5. Finalize the Girls Birthday Party Items
    6. Set up a dentist appointment for the girls
    7. Pick up the girls new glasses

    Personal Goals

    1. Exercise – walk at least 5 days this week
    2. Go to bed by 10:30 pm or earlier Monday to Thursday
    3. Finish reading Crush It by Gary Vaynerchuk
    4. Read and listen to the next section of  Desiring God: Finding Complete Satisfaction and Joy in God by John Piper (our church Community Group is going through this book together).
    5. Set up an appointment to get updated on shots / vaccinations
    6. Finalize Upcoming Travel Plans – dates set / plane tickets purchased / visa

    Home Management Goals

    1. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
    2. Weekly Dinner Menu planned and written by Monday
    3. Spend 30 minutes every day picking up / cleaning the house
    4. Dinner ready by 5:30 PM (Monday through Thursday)
    5. Spend time re-organizing and de-cluttering the Master Bedroom & Bathroom
    6. Get the majority of our 2011 Personal Taxes completed

    Business Goals

    1. Pay all bills that come in the mail this week
    2. Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
    3. Spend 10 minutes a day cleaning and organizing my desk
    4. Write a Guest Blog Post
    5. Schedule Meeting with Accountant for Business Taxes

    Ministry Goals

    1. Email our weekly Community Group update including upcoming events on the calendar, praises, and prayer requests
    2. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
    3. Email Alms & Legs Ministry Team regarding our upcoming meeting
    4. Put together the Alms & Legs Meeting Agenda

    Financial Goals

    1. Stay within Budget on Groceries $40 for 4
    2. Emergency Fund – save 3 months worth of living expenses
    3. Start working on our personal 2011 taxes
    4. Put money aside for upcoming trips

    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

  • Box Tops for School

    The girls are always on the look out for Box Tops for their school!  A couple months ago I spent an evening with the girls gluing all our box tops onto the sheets.  Every full  box top sheet (50 box tops per sheet) gave the girls an entry into a drawing and a little special toy.

    Since I have two kids I wanted to fill at least two sheets.  Each box top gives $0.10 cents to your child’s school so by filling up two pages our family would be helping the school get $10 to use.  Since it takes our family awhile to build up our stash of box tops I typically do this activity once a year, but when the girls went to bed we only had 88 box tops, we were still 12 short of filling up 2 sheets (100 box tops).  They were disappointed that we didn’t have enough for both sheets but went to bed hopeful.

    After the girls went to bed I went through the pantry looking for all the extra box tops still on the boxes of food.  And guess what!?  I found 12 more to put onto the sheet for them to take to school.  The girls were so excited to see the completed box top sheet on their bar stools at breakfast the next morning.  Love being able to make my girls smile, even if it means removing the box tops off the items still in the pantry.

    To get more information on Box Tops and how you (and your school can participate) can be found at Box Tops for Education.

  • What Do You See – a Mess or a Race Track?!

    After lunch one Sunday the girls were instructed to pick up the newspaper after they were finished looking at it while Jake and I worked for a few minutes on our schedules for the upcoming week.  After about thirty minutes or so I came back into the kitchen and this is what I saw…..my first thought was “seriously, what a huge mess!”  Instead of picking up the papers they had spread all of them over the kitchen and dining room floors.  When asked as to why they didn’t pick “up” the newspaper they told me “Well we decided that it would make a great race track!”

    Although the mess was big I had to hold back from laughing.  It was a pretty cool looking race track even if it was a mess.    They were quite proud of their “track”.  So despite the fact the kitchen and dining room looked like they were carpeted with newspaper and ads I decided to let them enjoy it for the afternoon as long as they would pick it up before we left for Awana that evening.

    The silly part is that they had a blast with the newspaper.  Who would have ever thought that a newspaper could provide so much entertainment.  They rebuilt the roads several times, added new vehicles, used it as a walking track, and several other silly things all in that one afternoon.  In a matter of hours that newspaper got more love and provided more entertainment then all the other newspapers we have ever received put together.  And the best part, when asked to pick it up (the second time) the girls did it happily and in a matter of a couple of minutes.

    So was it worth me having to endure a messy house for a few hours?  Absolutely!  The girls had fun, they used their imaginations, were creative, and played well together.  The problem is I don’t always “react” well when I see a mess someone in my family has created whether intentionally or unintentionally.  Sometimes I am more worried about the mess they are making that I don’t allow them to just have fun.  Yes, having a clean has is important but if the house is always perfect then a race track would never happen.

    It was worth a temporary messy house to hear the girls giggling together over a silly newspaper converted into a race track.  Thankfully this time around I gave into just enjoying the fun moment and waited to clean up the mess later.  What do you see – the mess or the race track?

  • Family Outings: A Walk in the Park

    Brina and Karlie pausing “briefly” on our walk so I can snap a picture!

    Every once in awhile when the girls are off school and it is a beautiful day we get to meet Daddy for a quick picnic and walk in the park.  Legacy Park is pretty close to Jake’s work so he can pop over and meet us over his lunch hour.  I think the girls get more excited about going for a walk around the park then eating, ha!

    Legacy Park has paved paths for walking, biking or jogging plus a playground for the kids, beach volleyball, and a big open field perfect for flying kites or playing soccer.  On those hot days they have plenty of shade and restrooms (which are very nice for little kids).  I treasure these moments when we get get together over the lunch hour to grab a bite to eat, walk, talk, and play together as a family.  I think it is important to have some relaxing times built into our schedules.  Not only do we get a few extra minutes together as a family we get fresh air and some exercise which is beneficial for all of us!

    Do you have a park you enjoy going to for a picnic or to play?

  • Family Fun: Rocket Sprinkler

    One of the benefits to living in South Carolina is you still have warm days even in the Fall and Winter. Yes, last week it got down to 14 degrees at night but the by the end of the week we were enjoying 60 to 70 degree weather.  To help everyone think “warm” thoughts this cool winter I decided to post a fun warm weather activity that you can look forward to doing with your kids before long.

    Rocket Sprinkler blasting off!  Jake had a sprinkler similar to this one growing up (his was a clown).  At the end of summer we bought this rocket.  Since we have a girl that LOVES rockets when this sprinkler went on clearance for a couple dollars I decided it was worth trying it out!

    The rocket sailing through the air!  The girls love spending time outside playing.  The sprinkler provides a great source of entertainment (when it is warm enough).  It might be a few more weeks….

    Brina and Karlie running around in the sprinkler and getting ready to shoot the rocket off again.

    The girls have a fun time playing in the yard splashing around in the water, climbing on the jungle gym, running around with Skipper (our black lab), drawing with chalk, riding bikes or many of the other fun outside activities.  I am thankful to have a yard were they can run and play.  I am looking forward to even more fun activities as we move closer to Spring and the weather continues to warm up, maybe even a couple “snow” days too. 

  • Family Activities: Enjoying Time with Extended Family (Part 2)

    There are so many things I have to be thankful for in my life with family being one of the top on the list. As a child I had the privilege of knowing and having wonderful memories with all four of my Great Grandma’s.  All four of my Grandparents are still healthy and are now able to be a part of my girls lives.  It is exciting to see my girls spend time and with their Grandparents and Great Grandparents because I know these precious times together are memories they will cherish.  I posted a few other pictures in an earlier post.  Here are a few pictures from our most recent visit with our Grandparents, Great Grandparents, Aunts, and Uncles in South Carolina.

    Great Grandpa CE reading books to Karlie and Brina.  The girls were super excited about all the fun playing and book reading while everyone was visiting us. 

    Uncle Josh helped the girls put together a huge marble mazes!  They were quite impressed with his building skills and loved racing the marbles through the maze.  Karlie is racing her marbles while Uncle Josh helps Brina put hers together.

    Grandma Penny coloring with Brina.  Thankful for a time to relax and enjoy spending time with family.  Brina’s was thrilled to have some time coloring with Grandma Penny.

    Karlie is quite pleased with the lego, marble maze, and horse farm that Uncle Josh helped her put together.

    We had a blast with everyone visiting for several days.  The time flew by quickly and before we knew it everyone was leaving.  The girls did pretty well with saying goodbye to everybody but as they watched the car drive away they started crying…..  When asked why they were crying Brina said “I had so much fun I wasn’t ready for them to go yet.” and Karlie said “It went by too fast…I don’t think it was really 4 days…”  I am thankful for the opportunity to spend time with family; these moments spent together become treasured memories for the entire family.