Celebrating Another Year!
When I came home one day this tower of goodies from Harry & David was sitting on my front porch from my Mother-in-Law! The girls were thrilled to help eat the goodies with me! 🙂
I recently celebrated my birthday (on Thanksgiving Day). The year flew by so quickly it was hard to believe I was yet again celebrating another birthday. I have so much to be thankful for in my life. What a wonderful day to celebrate and reflect on the many blessings over the past year.
Cute candle from Karlie
The night before Thanksgiving we had a Game Night with some family and friends. That night my sweet husband brought out an ice cream cake to share. I am not one that thrives on big celebrations and being put in the center of the spotlight so this was the perfect way for me to celebrate with close family and friends.
Brina ready to play the new game (In A Pickle) her and Karlie got me for my birthday.
On Thanksgiving day we had an amazing dinner and relaxed playing games (even a new game the girls picked out for me), reading books, and having fun together. It was so sweet getting the phone calls, texts, birthday cards, and other goodies to remind me of yet another great year.
My Handsome Man reading the directions so we can play the new game!
Then this week once life had calm down (a little bit, maybe) a great of girlfriends got together for a Girls Night Out to celebrate my birthday. It was nice to get out for a little bit and hang out with friends. Thankful for the neat people in my life.
Thanksgiving morning opening my gifts from the girls.
They had a blast picking out their gifts and wrapping them all by themselves!
It is my hope and prayer that this next year will be another year packed full of great memories. May God use me to make a difference in the hearts and lives of my husband, kids, family, friends and people I encounter from day to day. Even though I am another year older I feel like I still have so much to learn. May it be a year of learning, growth, and wonderful experiences!
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Below is a great Christmas craft you can do with the kids!
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A special thanks to U.S. Family Guide and Colortime for sponsoring this post. Any specific product information was provided by Colortime and U.S. Family Guide, however, the opinions expressed in this post are our own. Blessings Multiplied will be receiving a free craft for this post.
Way to GO!
So proud of my man! XO
My husband has to travel occasionally for work since he has teams he manages in various areas. Sometimes the traveling is due to speaking engagements as well. Earlier this year he had to travel for a Technology Summit speaking engagement where he was a keynote speaker.
I am so proud of him and thankful for all his hard work! He is a great provider for our family. God has truly blessed us with many great opportunities.
When he came home from this speaking engagement I had a case of Orange Crush waiting for him in the fridge. On the carton was a note from me “Jake, Way to Go on your presentation! I love you! XOXO – Bridgette”
Taking the time to pick up a special item, write a note, or some other activity to show appreciation for someone only takes a few minutes of your time, but the positive impact of your action is usually much greater. Spend a few minutes coming up with a way to show someone you love how much you appreciate them today! You and the one on the receiving end will be blessed by this thoughtful action.
Pampers Gifts to Grow – 10 Free Points
You can receive another 10 free points from Pampers with a new Gifts to Grow code!
This code is different from the previous codes I have given.
- Use Code: NOVWIN12NLSPNMR
(Expires 11/30/12 at midnight CST)
You can save up the rewards to purchase gifts! For more information about the Pampers Gift to Grow Program and how you can start earning Pampers “Gifts to Grow” Rewards for your family go to Pampers Gifts to Grow!
Teacher “Thank You” Gifts
Thank You goodies for the girls teachers!
For Thanksgiving the girls always enjoy bringing in a “thank you” note and a little surprise for their teacher. Here is one where they put M&M’s in a mason jar, added a ribbon on top, and a little note. The note said:
Mrs. __________,
We are a thankful for a Magnificent & Marvelous teacher this year!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Love,
Brina & Karlie
If you are looking for a simple and easy thank you gift for a teacher, friend, neighbor, or family member this is a great one to try!
A Spooktacular Halloween
Monster bags, note, and goodies on their bar stools at breakfast. They were excited to see a little treat waiting for them at breakfast. These bags were too cute, the package came with a variety of eyes and mouths that you could put together in any combination.
Here is a picture of one of the pancake, sausage and bacon Halloween monsters the girls ate for breakfast.
Jake even got festive Halloween sprinkles on his toast!
Karlie’s goody bags to share with her class are all packed and ready to distribute!
Brina’s Halloween class goodies are packed and ready to go!
Teacher Halloween Gifts
A monster and note waiting on Karlie’s seat when I picked her up from school.
Brina had an orange monster and note waiting on her seat in the van when I picked her up from school.
Our little Dancer and Superwoman!
The girls were super excited to have the opportunity to meet up with their cousins (we were able to capture a picture of the adorable blue crayon….there was also a cute little monkey that joined us that evening)!
Every day for the month of October the girls got a little treat in their pumpkins (if they did well at school, after school activities, and at home). On Halloween Day they got their last little goodies. Some of the items they received were Halloween socks, Halloween Underwear, books, glow sticks, crafts, and more!
CONGRATULATIONS to Our Toys R Us Gift Card Winner!
The name has been drawn for the giveaway!
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Toys R Us Gift Card!
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Enjoy your next shopping trip to Toys R Us!
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*Giveaway must be claimed within 5 business days of the prize being announced. Failure to claim the prize within the allotted time frame means you forfeit the prize. The actual gift card may or may not be identical to the one pictured above.
Pampers Gifts to Grow – 10 Free Points
You can receive another 10 free points from Pampers with a new Gifts to Grow code!
This code is different from the previous codes I have given.
- Use Code: FBHA012PR46DY12
(Expires 11/06/12 at midnight CST)
You can save up the rewards to purchase gifts! For more information about the Pampers Gift to Grow Program and how you can start earning Pampers “Gifts to Grow” Rewards for your family go to Pampers Gifts to Grow!
Kids “Welcome” Buckets
Goodies for the kids (nieces, nephew, and our girls)
I love having family come visit us! 🙂 Earlier this year Jake’s sister and her family came to stay with us for a couple weeks. The kids LOVED having extra time playing together.
Before they arrived I picked out some buckets for the kids, put their names on it, and had them ready for their arrival. Every day all five kids got a little toy, items, candy, etc…. in their buckets. As you can see from the picture the first day the kids got their buckets, a new water bottle with their names on it, and marshmallow twist candy.
The kids had a blast checking their buckets every day. Before long the buckets were overflowing with goodies. I had a lot of fun putting together the treats for the kids too!
I am thankful for the opportunity to spend a little extra time with family. It is always fun being able to “spoil” my nieces and nephews for a few days. A lot of great memories were made during their time at our house!
Book: “The Five Love Languages of Children” by Gary Chapman
When Jake and I went to marriage counseling over 11 years ago we were encouraged to read “The Five Love Languages” for married couples by Gary Chapman. Several years ago I read The Five Love Languages of Children and decided to read it again recently. I tend to read several books at once so I started this one again a couple weeks ago as a refresher. As the girls get older I want to continue finding ways to both encourage them and show them that I love them. The Five Love Languages are the same ones that are discussed in Chapman’s other book but he applies it to raising children. The following are the five languages with examples (some examples are from the book, others are ones I came up with).
- Quality Time – Spend one on one time with each child, go on Mother Daughter Date Night, work together on a project
- Words of Affirmation – encourage them through words, praise them for a job well done, put a “love you” note in their lunch box
- Gifts – give gifts as an act of love, cherish the gifts or pieces of artwork they give you, buy a box of their favorite cereal and give it to them as a “I was thinking of you” gift
- Acts of Service – doing something for them, making them lunch, picking up their room
- Physical Touch – a hug, pat on the back, walking and holding their hands
One thing that I like about the book is it encourages parents to not only focus on their child’s primary love language (which can change throughout life) but to make sure to show love through all five love languages so their emotional love tank is full. After reading through most of the book again I went to a parent event at the girls school and the speaker talked about the principles taught in this book. I was thrilled to hear such an amazing message was being presented to the parents of students in the public school. I hope and pray the girls know how much a truly love them. I am willing to go the extra mile to find ways to be a better Mom to them. If you are looking for a book to read on raising children this one would be a great one to check out.
