Events
Holiday Gift Giving: Give the Gift of Amazon Prime
The Christmas Holiday will be here soon, next week in fact! WooHoo! If you are still looking for the perfect gift for someone on your list you can give the gift of Amazon Prime. This gift is perfect for anyone (men, women, kids, college students, couples, and more) on your gift list! You can now give the gift of Amazon Prime Membership.
Gift of Amazon Prime includes:
- FREE Two-Day Shipping on millions of items (no minimum order size)
- Unlimited, ad-free access to over a million songs and hundreds of playlists
- Instant streaming of thousands of movies and TV shows with Prime Instant Video
- Free unlimited photo storage in Amazon Cloud Drive
- Read free books each month through Kindle First and the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library
Amazon will send your recipient their gift on the day you choose along with the redemption instructions. The gift recipient can begin their Prime Membership immediately. If the recipient currently has a Prime Membership they can exchange their gift for an Amazon.com Gift Card.
The Amazon Prime Membership is perfect for any family and friends that enjoy online shopping. They will get FREE Shipping and many other perks with their membership. It is a great gift that could be used for as a Holiday, wedding, birthday, anniversary gifts, and more!
Intentional Living: Weekly Goals
It was a whirlwind of a week, but I managed to get some projects completed during the week. The kids had a lot of homework, school activities, work travel, robotic competition, and so much more all squeezed into last week! This is the kids final week of school for 2014 so I have several projects that need to be completed this week. I want to make sure once they are out of school that I have more time to relax and spend with them enjoying the Holidays.
Last week’s goals
Family Goals
Read the book Wonder’s First Race by Joanna Campbell to the kidsPlan one special activity with the family– took the kids to see the Easley Baptist Hospital display of Christmas Trees, Lights, and Gingerbread HousesPrepare for Upcoming Winter EventsSpend time Monday – Friday helping the kids with HomeworkAttend After School ActivitiesLunch Boxes & Book Bags packed the night before- Play a Game with the Kids
- Start Organizing the Kids Scrapbook Items – this is going to have to be put on hold until after the Holidays since other items are taking priority at this time
Dr. Appointments for KidsFinish Decorating for Christmas- Send out Christmas Cards – hoping to get it done this week
- Complete Our Christmas Shopping – I bought my first gift (does that count!) I actually started this week now that I am feeling better and moving more!
Start Wrapping Gifts
Personal Goals
- Drink 8 glasses of water each day – had a couple busy days that I didn’t do well with, but need to keep it up because I don’t want to be sick for the Holidays!
Continue my YouVersion plan(s)– hard to believe I am almost done with my year of Bible Reading!Go to my Doctor Appointments Scheduled this week
Home (Yard & Pets) Management Goals
- All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day – it took only 2 days this week, getting closer still cannot carry the laundry baskets so have to wait for assistance
Weekly Dinner Menu planned out for the week- Do at least one “Make 1 & Freeze 1″ Meal Prep (make a main dish to eat that day and one to freeze for later) – with the extra evening activities this did not get done
Clean House (Focus – House Decorated & Christmas Bins Back Up in the Attic)- Organize Chaos (Focus – Clean Out the Pantry) – got pulled into other activities
Yard Cleanup (Focus – Blow Leaves Off Deck)– my amazing husband did this for me! Thanks Handsome!!!- Pet Care (Focus – Skipper a Bath) – with it being cold and wet she managed to escape the bath this week
Business Goals
Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts- Respond to Inquiry – Business Relation Emails – couple of business contacts I need to work through some exciting opportunities with this week
Keep up with the day to day items that need my attentionWork completed for clients
Ministry Goals
Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
Financial Goals
- Payoff the Car – working on it
- Payoff Outstanding Debt – (replacement microwave, refrigerator, hot water heater, and other debt) – working on it
Pay Bills & File PaperworkGo grocery shopping one time to one store this week and stay within budget
My goals for the upcoming week
Family Goals
- Read the book The Cat Who Came For Christmas by Cleveland Amory to the kids
- Plan one special activity with the family
- Prepare for Upcoming Holiday Events
- Spend time Monday – Friday helping the kids with Homework
- Attend After School Activities
- Lunch Boxes & Book Bags packed the night before
- Play a Game with the Kids
- Take the Kids to the Library to pick out books to read over the Holidays
- Send out Christmas Cards
- Complete Our Christmas Shopping
- Finish Wrapping Gifts
- Ship Out Grandparents Gifts
- Deliver Neighbor Gifts
Personal Goals
- Drink 8 glasses of water each day
- Continue my YouVersion plan(s)
- Go to my Doctor Appointments Scheduled this week
Home (Yard & Pets) Management Goals
- All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
- Weekly Dinner Menu planned out for the week
- Clean House (Focus – At least 15 minute daily “pick up” to keep the house clean as we prepped for the Holidays)
- Organize Chaos (Focus – Get Gifts Wrapped, Mailed, or Ready to put under Christmas Tree)
- Yard Cleanup (Focus – Leaves)
- Pet Care (Focus – Skipper a Bath)
Business Goals
- Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
- Respond to Inquiry – Business Relation Emails
- Keep up with the day to day items that need my attention
- Work completed for clients
Ministry Goals
- Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
Financial Goals
- Payoff the Car
- Payoff Outstanding Debt – (replacement microwave, refrigerator, hot water heater, and other debt)
- Pay Bills & File Paperwork
- Go grocery shopping one time to one store this week and stay within budget
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.
When You Choose Joy…
Holiday Gift Giving: 12 Days of Christmas
As the song says “It’s the most wonderful time of the year!” It took me a little more time to get in gear for the Christmas Holidays this year, but the girls Holiday spirit along with the countless Christmas songs is quite contagious! Once again the excitement is building in our house and we are counting down the final days. One of the ways we try to spread out the Holiday Cheer in our house is by doing the 12 Days of Christmas. I used bigger boxes this year so it is actually pretty tall (it’s taller than me….not that I am a giant, ha), but it made it more difficult to get a great picture.
The 12 Days of Christmas allows the girls can open one gift a day for 12 days prior to Christmas. By doing it this way they have the time to enjoy each gift because they get one gift every day versus everything packed into one day! Starting December 13th the girls will be able to open one gift a day with the last one being opened on Christmas Eve. Plus, doing the 12 Days of Christmas motivates me to wrap some gifts early so I am not up late the day before Christmas trying to get all the wrapping completed, instead I can relax and go to bed at a decent time!
Some years I keep the cost to under $20 total, including boxes and wrapping paper, while other years we add their main gifts to this stack. Most of the gifts were bought on clearance, using coupons, or at discount over the past year. We did a joint stack for both of our girls again this year, although you can choose to do a stack for each person. You can chose to do whatever works best for your family.
In the past I have shared the items that I put into their 12 Days of Christmas packages, however, it is not possible to do that this year. Mainly because the girls are fluent readers AND they are frequent readers of my blog (wink…wink)! So in order to keep their gifts a secret I will not be able to spill-the-beans on the contents of the packages. I would be happy to share the list of the items I put into their boxes if you send me a message and promise not to tell my kids (shhhh….it’ll be our secret). I just cannot post publicly what is in each box. I have compiled a list of ideas on items that work well in the 12 Days of Christmas packages to get you started!
Ideas for 12 Days of Christmas:
- CDs
- Hair Accessories
- Make Up
- Socks or Tights
- Chapstick
- Socks
- Gloves or Scarf
- Card Game
- Construction Paper
- Markers or Crayons
- Matchbox cars
- Small Toys
- Baby Doll Clothes
- Christmas Underwear
- Shoes
- Slippers
- Books
- Clothes
- Pajamas
- Popcorn Tin
- Mix Nuts
- Sweet Treats
- Christmas Ornaments
- Crafts
- Games
- Gift Cards
- The ideas are endless! 🙂
I wrapped the items in the original boxes or found boxes around the house to put the items into. The Christmas paper was purchased on clearance and I used a coupon. Many of the items we purchased on clearance throughout the year and / or used CVS – ECBs and Walgreens – Register Rewards, Swagbucks Gift Cards or Coupons. I cannot remember the price for all the items but with the rewards it very reasonable price for 12 gifts and some days had multiple items in them.
We did a joint stack for our girls to save money, however, the items we picked match their individual interests. The kids recently discovered the 12 Days of Christmas presents wrapped and ready by our tree! I love seeing their faces and hearing their comments when they first see the stack.
If you need some more ideas you can check out our previous 12 Days of Christmas posts for our family over the past few years:
Travel & Vacation: Aquarium Underwater Dining Adventure (Nashville, TN)
We were able to go to the Aquarium An Underwater Dining Adventure Restaurant with the kids while we were in Nashville, TN. They thought it was the best place to eat. I am not entirely sure they even tasted their food because they were so fascinated by all the fish and the aquariums all around us. It was a unique experience and a lot of fun especially if you have kids. The kids were so excited about the fish I forgot to take a picture of our delicious food!
One of the huge circular aquariums! We planned to go there for dinner as a surprise for the kids. They were hooked and excited as soon as they stepped foot inside the door.
Karlie wanted to take a picture at one of the sharks1
The last time we saw sting rays we were swimming with them at Grand Cayman Island. These were on the other side of the glass.
I see you hiding…a sprinkle of sand doesn’t make you invisible!
Colorful fish!
In the middle of the restaurant was a giant aquarium you could see from any where in the restaurant. Fascinating!
So many fish!
The girls decided they would enjoy one of these huge aquariums at our house! 🙂
Travel & Vacation: Adventure Science Center (Nashville, TN)
During our recent visit to Nashville we went to the Adventure Science Center. The kids LOVED it! It was a lot of fun hanging out, playing, and learning with the kids for several hours. We were there when it opened that morning and left when it was closing 7 hours later, I would say it was a hit with the kids! Even better is our whole family got in free (WOOHOO) because we are members of our local Roper Mountain Science Center in Greenville and the museums are part of the same affiliation.
Brina and Karlie discovered that they CAN lift a car off the ground, using the right tools!
Activity that simulates walking on the moon, they had a blast!
Karlie especially liked the Space Chase room. Standing near her favorite planet….Saturn!
The space room was two stories high, this is looking up from the ground level. Pretty neat!
Chatting with Brina, the old fashion way!
Brave Karlie putting her hand into the mouth of a fish and pulling it out of the log.
The water table was a popular spot for the kids!
Brina checking things out!
Karlie using the wind from the Jungle Gym to blow the sails on the sailboat!
Karlie in the bubble under the dinosaur as Brina points out that the dinosaur is moving.
Karlie generating energy on the bicycle! Pedal faster!
Parachute race! Whose going to win! You raise the parachutes on the pulley system, when it clicks they release and see who lands first!
Locating our house!
Found Grandpa and Grandma’s house too!
Exploring particles and magnets….
Feeding the giant mouth!
Trying to master the digestive track maze!
At the top of the 3 story jungle gym you can look out over downtown Nashville. Great view!
Jake and the girls waiting for me to come down from the top. They obviously move faster, ha! Fun times with the family.
It’s probably been awhile since Jake’s been on a 3 story jungle gym. He was a good sport and allow the girls to “show him around!”
This was a laser game that we played several times. The good activities compete against the germs / sickness to see who will win.
Jake playing checkers with Karlie.
Brina maneuvering the wheelchair around the ramps and basketball court. Takes some skill getting around places in a wheelchair.
Travel & Vacation: Nashville – Parthenon Park
Our family was able to spend a couple days in Nashville, Tennessee recently. We had a little bit of time to burn before heading to our next adventure so we stopped at one of the parks near our hotel. The contained a full-scale replica of the Athenian Parthenon. It was massive! The re-creation was built in 1897 for Tennessee’s Centennial Exposition. The Parthenon represents classical architecture. It was pretty neat seeing it!
Sitting near the statue with the Parthenon replica in the background!
If you look closely you can see two people on the steps of the Parthenon (that is Brina and Karlie). They look tiny!
The side of the Parthenon. Can you see us?!
Hanging out on the steps. We look so small!
This statue near the Parthenon is of John W. Thomas. John Thomas was a native of Nashville and was the President of the Nashville Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway for many years.
The outside of the Parthenon replica in Nashville, TN
Venting some energy out on the play ground for a few minutes!
Teaching Our Children: How to Build a Catapult
A fun little experiment for the whole family
The girls were talking with Jake recently about catapults. He decided to make it a teachable moment for the kids. They worked on designing and building a catapult. It was a lot of fun to watch them working together. The girls were super excited to see how well their catapult experiment worked! Thankful for a husband who takes the time to do fun and educational activities with the kids. Great memories with their Daddy!
Jake & the girls catapult design
Little pieces of the catapult that the girls have sanded
Brina working hard
Karlie sanding her piece of the catapult
Teamwork!
Ready to launch the first unsuspecting acorn across the driveway! It worked really well! 🙂
Free Ebooks: Creative Homemaking Guide to Christmas Recipes, Christmas 100 Recipes, Baked Chicago’s Simply Decadent Brownies, Four Week Mini Bible Study, and more!
The price to download these books is currently $0.00 (although the price may change at any time, please confirm prior to downloading). The ebooks are specifically for Kindles, however, you can click here and download the free application that allows you to read Kindle ebooks on your PC.
Download a free copy of Creative Homemaking Guide to Christmas Recipes, Traditions, and Crafts by Rachel Paxton
Download a free copy of Christmas 100 Recipe by T. L. Sheppeard
Download a free copy of Baked Chicago’s Simply Decadent Brownies Cookbook by Harvey Morris
Download a free copy of Friendship – Four Week Mini Bible Study by Ashley Ferris
Download a free copy of Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success (Smashwords Guides 3) by Mark Coker
Download a free copy of The ABCs of Money by Natalie Pace
Download a free copy of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
Download a free copy of A Practical Guide to Risk Management by Thomas S. Coleman
Download a free copy of The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
Science Experiment: Why Do Leaves Change Colors?
Why do leaves change colors?
Recently we did a science experiment with the kids. We were talking about leaves and why they change colors. In the Spring and Summer they are various shades of green, but once the cold weather of Fall hits the leaves start changing colors.
What is chromatography? The definition of chromatography is the separation of mixtures into their constituents by preferential adsorption by a solid, as a column of silica (column chromatography) or a strip of filter paper (paper chromatography) or by a gel. We decided to uncover the rainbow of colors found in each leaf. The kids picked 9 leaves to experiment.
Science Experiment Items:
- Leaves (different colors and types)
- White Coffee Filters
- Rubbing Alcohol
- Scissors
The leaves contain a green pigment, chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is used to capture sunlight. By using chromatography you will be able to see the different colors present in the leaves.
Collect a variety of leaves to test. Pour 1/4 inch of rubbing alcohol into the bottom of a jar. Cut the leaves into small pieces and put each leaf into its own container. Cut the coffee filter into 1 inch strips. Put a strip of coffee filter in each container (the bottom of the strip should touch the rubbing alcohol) and you can fold the top of the strip over the top of the container.
Watch carefully as the rubbing alcohol moves up the coffee filter paper. You will notice the colors moving up the paper as well. It takes about 15 to 20 minutes for the rubbing to move up the paper.
We did the experiment saw the results and then “just for fun” we left it overnight to see what would happen.
One of the girls picked out 2 dark green leaves and one flower petal to test in this experiment. I figured they might as well see what happens with it too!
One of the girls picked out a red, yellow, and orange leaf to experiment with today!
Check out the cool colors!
What one of the leaves looked after sitting over night; after the rubbing alcohol evaporated.
As you can see the red flower petals (in the container on the left) did not amount to much color on the paper. The other two leaves did great!
Some cool colors found in these leaves.
Our 9 different leaf experiments and the colors we found inside them. We found the most variety of colors in the dark green leaves. The lighter colors on the left were ones that were turning colors (yellow, orange, and red leaves). The one on the right that looks almost white with a very faint yellow color is the red flower petal. Glad I let the kids experiment with that too even though it wasn’t a leaf, it was still a good learning lesson.
