• Vacation: We’re HOME!!!!

     

    Brina & Karlie riding on the airplane! Thankful to two kids who LOVE to travel, what a great adventure for them!!!

    The girls and I had a wonderful trip out to the Midwest to see family over Spring Break and Easter.  We are thankful for the amazing memories we made during our visit.  The girls learned a lot more about the farm and were able to spend time with extended family.  We arrived home late last night (or should we say really early this morning).  Today we have hit the ground running and are back to work, school, and a busy routine.  I have a lot of catching up to do over the next few days between appointments and work.  It was a super fun time in Kansas and our time away went by very quickly.   It is great to be home with Daddy and Skipper again, hopefully they are ready for their 3 silly girls!

    I apologize for being a little out of touch and off schedule with the posts.  As soon as the dust settles I will be back to the full schedule.  It was wonderful meeting and speaking with several people across the United States that read this blog.  I am very blessed with amazing family, friends, and readers.  If you haven’t done so already make a comment for the Giveaway at the end of this week!

  • Book: “Green Eggs & Ham” by Dr Seuss

    In honor of Dr. Seuss’ birthday this week the girls have been celebrating by reading his books at home and with their class at school.  One of our projects earlier this week was to pull the Dr Seuss books we have in our home library and take them to school so they could read to the class.  After gathering all our books together I was surprised to see how many we had accumulated over the years but after much exploration I realized that we only have just a handful of the ones he wrote.  Since Dr. Seuss has been on my mind this week with all the celebrations and he was a successful children’s writer I want to highlight one of our family favorites by Dr. Seuss –  Green Eggs and Ham.  We have read this book so many times over the last 6 years I think we have it almost memorized. One of the reasons I like this book is because it teaches a valuable lesson, sometimes we have a preconceived notion that something is bad or that we won’t enjoy it but unless we try it we will never known.  Taking the opportunity to try something different (it can be as silly as a strange looking meal as illustrated in the book) can often lead to a pleasant surprise and had we not tried it we would have missed out on fun, excitement, blessings, or even the simple pleasure of eating strange looking food.

    We have several other Dr. Seuss books that we read quite frequently but “Green Eggs & Ham‘ ranks pretty high up there with my girls.  Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss thanks for writing some amazing books that we can read to our children!

     

     

  • Save A Lot: Deals for the week of February 23 – March 1, 2011

    The deals from last week are continuing again this week, if you didn’t stock up on these great deals already you have another opportunity.  Here are this weeks deals at Save A Lot.   Sign up for the Smart Shopper Club, by doing so you will get a $5.00 off of $25.00 coupon!

    Meats and Seafood

    Hillshire Farms (Beef, Polska, Smoked Sausage) – $1.99
    Use $1/2 coupon from 1/23 Red Plum (Expires 2/28/11)
    $1.49 each after coupon

    Fast Fixin’ Chicken – $4.00

    Pick 5 for $19.99 promo on going: Pick any 5 specially marked packages of your favorite cuts of fresh, frozen or smoked meats and pay just $19.99 (about $2 per pound).

    Fridge and Freezer

    Mr P’s Pizza (Supreme or Pepproni) – $0.59

    Fisher Boy Fish Sticks – $0.99
    Use $0.75/1 printable coupon from Fisher Boy
    $0.24 each after coupon

    Ocean Market Fish Fillets – $0.99

    Morning Delight Buttermilk Biscuits – $0.39

    Home Churned Spread – $0.99

    Fairgrounds Sliced Meat – $0.50

    Armour Lunchmakers – $0.99

    McClary’s Singles – $0.99

    Deli Pride Sandwich – $0.99

    Household

    Luster Facial Tissues – $0.99

    Ajax Liquid Dish Soap – $0.99

    Pert Bath Tissue – $0.89

    Produce

    Red and Green Grapes – $0.99 per lb

    Cantaloupe – $1.49 each

    Vine Ripe Tomatoes – $0.99 per lb

    Grocery

    Frito Lay (Doritos, Cheetos, & Scoops) – $0.89

    Maruchan Ramen Cups – $0.79

    Red Gold Tomato Sauce – $0.50

    Hungry Jack Specialty Potatoes – $1.00

    Betty Crocker Hamburger or Tuna Helper – $1.00

    Del Pino’s Canned Pasta – $0.69

    Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix – $0.39

    Portside Chunk Light Tuna – $0.53

    Hargis House Vienna Sausage – $0.37

    Hargis House Chili with Beans – $0.99

    Hargis House Chili without Beans – $1.29

    Sundia Fruit Cups – $0.89

    Caskey’s Cream of Mushroom Soup – $0.59

    J. Higg’s Classic Saltine Crackers – $0.89

    J. Higg’s Cheese Bit Crackers – $1.49

    Coburn Farms Hot Chocolate – $1.19

    Portmann’s Tartar Sauce – $1.39

    Kool-Aid Bursts – $0.99

    Vista Sandwich Creme Cookies – $0.99

    Chef Karlin Potato Pouches – $0.79

    Ravella Swift Mac – $0.69

    Remember you can use the $5/$25 printable coupon to sweeten these deals!  Plus you can earn up to 5 additional $5 off $25 coupons for sharing the coupon with your friends.

    For more information about Save A Lot’s coupon policies go here.  If you find additional deals or savings please let me know and I will add them to the list.

  • Finding a Warm Spot!

    Our little feather friend found a warm spot between our storm door and back door! She was surprised to see us heading out to play in the snow!

    Recently we had a good 6 plus inches of snow in South Carolina which is pretty rare.  The whole family was out for a little bits throughout the day.  Brina and I lasted the longest the first round of snow playing.  I ended up carrying her up the hill to the house after sledding.  We got inside had hot chocolate, read books, ate lunch, had Snow Ball Ice Cream, did some laundry and relaxed before heading back out.

    The next time when the girls were all bundled up ready to head outside Jake opened the back door to let them out and we were startled to find a “friend” that must have tried to follow Brina and I inside to find some warmth!  We weren’t too excited about having a small bird flying around our house so we sent the girls out the garage then Brina came around to the back of the house to free the bird who was caught between the storm door and the back door of our house.  I think the bird was happy to find such a warm spot until she encountered us.  I am sure she was very glad find another warm spot away from the house!  Even the birds are looking for warmth on the snowy days.  I am thankful for a warm home especially during these cold days.

  • Life Simplified: Hosting in Our Home

    One of my goals in 2011 is to simplify my life more by enjoying the blessings and not wasting what God has given us.  I have been sharing with you the successes and challenges on those specific areas in my life as I go through them.  One of the areas I am working on is making the best use of my time.  While spending time hosting family and friends in our home is important to me I must also make sure there is time on the schedule to spend with my immediate family.  The girls are growing up fast and the times we have together are precious.  In order to make sure I don’t go overboard I am setting a goal for myself and asking for your help to keep me in line.

    Here are the current challenges I am working on:

    Explanation of the Goal: As a family of four we LOVE hosting people in our home!  We are blessed to have a home to share with family and friends  whether it is for a party, game night or just to hang out together.  I would probably host a get together several times a week if we had the time, money, and energy to do it.  Part of learning how to simplify my life is making decisions on what to do with my time.  Hosting typically requires time for cleaning, cooking, prepping, and/or decorating for guests.  It is my goal to host at least one other family in our home once a month but no more than four.  When I spend time hosting that means I must give up some for something else.  Having up to 4 hosting events in our home means that there will be time to spend together as a family of four.  I want my girls to have the experience of hosting even at a young age.  Sharing our home and their toys is a valuable skill they can learn at an early age, but they like anyone, need a time to relax and refresh.

    We have already started working on this goal.  We had 3 families of three over in the month of January.   February is a busier month in our household not because of Valentine’s day but because we will be hosting the girls birthday party.  One of the many benefits to having twins or higher multiples is their birthday parties hit at the same time.  Brina and Karlie’s birthday party will be our major event this month and we have at least one other hosting event already on the schedule.

    I will share with you the challenges, successes, and updates as I go through this journey so you can keep me accountable or even go through it with me by participating  and sharing your story. Taking the extra time to invest in the lives of others is important to our family.  I hope that we have been able to host many people in our home without going over board.  It is important to me to make time for my family on the weekends as well as the people around us!

    Life Simplified is a series on getting rid of the extras in our life while learning how to enjoy what God has given us so we can continue to be a blessing to others.  Our homes can quickly start are bursting with “stuff”  and if you are like us we just have too much.  I am doing a series on ways we are learning to simplifying our food, homes, and lives.  When our hearts, lives, and homes get too cluttered we may start missing out on opportunities to serve and bless the people around us.

    Photo by MaryTClark

  • The Kids Christmas Tree

    When Jake and I were first married we didn’t have a Christmas Tree so his Mom gave us a small one that she had and wasn’t using anymore.  We used that little Christmas tree for several years!  It was easy to put up and take down.  Plus, a lot of the Holidays we were traveling to visit family so a real tree didn’t work well for us.  We were in an apartment at the time and the tree was perfect.  When Jake’s Mom moved to Seattle she gave us their family tree.  It has been nice being able to decorate a full tree for the Holidays, especially now that we have kids, even though it is more work we have a grand time.

    Since we no longer use the smaller tree as our main one we have let the girls adopt that tree to put up in their bedroom.  We put the tree up on a small folding table and they do all the decorating.  The ornaments on their tree are wooden or plastic so if they should fall off they will not break.  It has been a lot of fun seeing them decorate and re-decorate their cute little tree.  Every year they have gotten better at spreading out the ornaments and decorating. They love falling asleep with the Christmas lights glowing on their tree.  It has been a fun Holiday tradition we started three years ago that has really been a hit for the girls.

    Do your kids decorate their rooms?  What do they do to get their rooms ready for the Holiday season?

  • Don’t Leave Home Without: Your Phone

    We live in a society with cell phones.  They store our contacts, calendars, and contain many pieces of information.  Some people have even replaced their home phone with a cell phone to save extra cash.  Cell phones make us more accessible for anyone wanting to get in touch with us.

    On my way to a meeting recently I realized that I left home without my cell phone and going back to get it would make me really late so I continued on my way.  I was going to be back in the area in a couple hours and decided I would pick up my phone then, emergencies rarely happen so it shouldn’t be a problem.  Boy was I wrong!  During the meeting another person in attendance received an emergency text for me.  I used her phone to call my husband to find out what was going on.

    The school was calling because one of the girls was sick and they needed someone to pick her up right away.  My phone was on my desk therefore they left me a message then went on to call my husband at work but his phone was disconnected.  Later we found out that they didn’t dial his number correctly (switched some numbers around).  The school nurse proceeded down the list of contacts for the girls.  They got a hold of my brother who happened to be out of state working in Kansas at the time, obviously, he would not be able to pick her up any time soon.  Thankfully my brother knew my husband’s phone number and was able to get the message to him so he could reach another person in my meeting.

    I left my meeting early and had her picked up within 45 minutes of the initial phone call.  It is amazing the domino effect that happens when someone needs to get in touch with you and the cell phone is left at home.  Don’t leave home without your phone because that could be the day when an emergency occurs.

    The crazy thing about all the commotion was my daughter wasn’t even sick….grrrr….she saw a classmate throw up at school and when the teacher asked she said her stomach hurt too.  She had no fever,was  bouncing off the walls, and eating well although I made her take a nap.  Maybe a little rest was necessary for her that week, who knows!

    I am a firm believer that you are only as organized as you need to be.  Don’t Leave Home Without……is a mini-series of items that you really shouldn’t leave home without in today’s society.  Most days I am organized which saves time and energy for the entire family, however, there are times that life gets crazy and items somehow manage to find another location in my home.  If something is not in it’s place (even though the spot it is in makes perfect sense) it can cause additional drama, scurried moments, and in the end laughter. Hope you enjoy the humor as I have (later in the day or in some cases later in the week).

  • Book: “The Power of a Positive Mom” by Karol Ladd

    This is my second time reading the book Power of a Positive Mom by Karol Ladd.  As a Mom of twin daughters it is important to me to be the best Mommy I can.  Life is full of surprises and I want my home to be a fun, safe and enjoyable place where the girls will continue to grow and flourish. The author, Karol Ladd, has a series of books on the “Power of Positive”.  In this book Karol Ladd offers positive ways we can make an impact of the lives of our children.