Great Day

Today was a great day. We did our first baby dedication as Catalyst Church (we did Keegan's but it was when we first got here and there was more family than anybody else here) and there's just something about baby dedications...I love them and I cry through most of them. I got to help Levi and it was just really special for me. Thanks Baby Annie:)

The service went great today. We sang one of my new favorite songs, "This Is Our God" by Chris Tomlin...like it alot. I went back with the kids today. I'm really going to make the kids stuff at Catalyst a major matter of prayer. We need some high energy stuff going on back there. I'm not sure what role I'm supposed to play or feel like I'm supposed to play or if I feel God leading me to play a role at all...does that make any kind of sense? I know God has a plan for Catalyst so I'm just going to pray that He would take care of us and lead the right people at the right time. I'm going to be patient and enjoy the ride. I'm really liking the DVD's we're using for the kid's teaching. It's funny and fun but it also gets the point across. And by the way, we hit 69 people at church today which is awesome. I'm always amazed when and how God brings new families our way...it's so cool :)

We went to the Callahan's for supper tonight. We had so much fun. They are great and just so down to earth. I will say, they have an INCREDIBLE house...notice the use of all caps. It's beautiful and I love that it's just them and their personality comes out in their house. Does that sound weird?? They just had a pool put in and so all 8 of us got into their hot tub tonight after dinner and just talked and had fun. It's so nice to do that. I love all these great people that make Catalyst who it is:)

Buzzing.....

I've got a lot of random thoughts buzzing around in my head right now. Levi and I went to dinner tonight...kidless. He asked our friends, Blain & Connie to watch them for a couple of hours so we could go to dinner and talk. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU Blain & Connie, you don't know how much that means to us...really!! We really hashed out some things which needed to be hashed out. I think a lot of it was things we've both been thinking but haven't shared with each other. We need to do that more often and without kids.
Which leads me to my second random thought....I've had a rough week missing all of our friends in North Carolina. I've talked to a few of them this week and some of them have had big changes and other friends that weren't apart of PowerLine are now going there and that makes me happy. I just miss them, there were so many great people there. This weekend is also their HUGE Biker Weekend. The youth ministry would do the food and so this weekend was absolutely chaotic and fun all wrapped into one. I miss that, I think teenagers keep you young....I loved being around that. It was so cool to be apart of Biker Weekend and see all the bikes and the different people and to hear the message and see them make committments to changing their lives. It was totally awesome. Our "church" people were so accepting of them and seriously Biker Sunday was like Christmas for PowerLine. There is so much anticipation, it's awesome. I'm thinking and praying for them this weekend, maybe that's why I'm missing it too.
Another random thought....at the same time as I've kind of struggled, I know we're supposed to be here. I feel confirmed in that and that God has led the way and opened doors and made provisions. I don't question that. At times, I wish it were easier but I guess that's life. We just keep trusting and "being" in Him and it all works out.
Thanks for listening, I needed to get that all off of my chest.

Sick

We had a great playdate yesterday. It was a lot of fun, there were about 10 moms and 17 kiddos running around. It was alot of fun. And, the moms are wonderful about cleaning up....that makes it alot easier to host knowing the house really won't be a mess when they leave. After they left, I wasn't feeling well. I laid down and woke up 3 hours later...Levi came home and took care of the kids, fixed pizzas for supper and kept them occupied. Wow!! I was and am so thankful. I think I'm havnig sinus and/or allergy issues. It was good to rest though...thanks Levi. I really do appreciate the extra sleep. Today we're just taking it easy and moving slow. It's nice to do that. Hope you're all having a great Thursday.

Tuesday in Review

So, we are having a playdate at our house tomorrow. I needed some supplies so I headed out to run some errands, Dollar Tree & Target were my destinations. We get out of the van at the Dollar Tree and hear somebody calling Addy. It was our friend Natalie & Beth Horting. We LOVE LOVE LOVE the Hortings. Kurt pastors Stillwater Church (where we met for 5 months). They are awesome. We got to talking and they've had a crazy last week and this week is crazy too. Beth had to do lots of running so we took Nat with us. We had a great day with her. She and Addy played so well and so hard together. Addy also had her first soccer practice tonight. She was so tired, she fell asleep on the way. She did great for not feeling well and being so sleepy. She can kick a ball. Everytime she scored she would throw both of her arms up (like a touchdown). It was so cute!! I ended my evening at Texas Roadhouse with some moms from my Mommy Group. We were celebrating the birth of one of the babies. It was so nice to get to eat in peace and talk and laugh without havnig to entertain or take care of a little one. It was a great day!!

Monkey Doodle

The inevitable happened today. I heard Keegan through the monitor waking up and then I hear a banging on his door. Only to find out that he has crawled out of his crib by himself. Addy went into check and came out screaming, "Mommy, he got out of his bed by himself." over and over and over. What to do now?

Week Ahead

This week we've got a full calendar. Addy starts soccer this week...not sure how that will go:) We're hosting a playdate at our house which is always crazy but so much fun. I've got a baby shower to go to. Levi's reffing at least one night this week but I think two. I'm tutoring but cutting back just a little this week. Oh and we've got some other dinner in Greenville...wherever the heck that is. I only got to the gym twice last week. I've got to get there at least 3 days this week. Have a great week!

Weekend in Review

This weekend has flown by. It was a lot of fun. We left for Austin Saturday mid-morning. We took our time getting there and stopped at some outlets on the way. I love hitting The Children's Place outlet. We got a TON of stuff and my bill was $18.98. I got Keegan 5 pairs of shoes for $1.99 each. I got him swim trunks, a couple of shirts, and shorts. Addy's size clothing was very sparse so she ended up with some times for $0.19 a piece...CRAZY!! I loved it. We got to hotel in the afternoon and Addy loves hotels, she says, "ho-teel." She was so excited to swim. We all had fun. We went over to the Self's house last night and had pizza and just visited with them. I love spending time with them and I forgot how much fun they are. The kids played and we got to talk. We went to Free Chapel this morning. It was cool to see another church plant that also meets in a movie theatre. It was also great just to be able to enjoy the service. We had a great time. We missed Catalyst and found ourselves calling to check on the service as soon as we got in the van. We headed back today. I know I told you it was short. The kids did nap on the way back but it seemed like the trip back took forever. Hope you all had a great weekend!!

Small World

I have to tell this story and I'll be through blogging until next week. I'm into couponing and I've been reading up on blogs of other CVS'ers and Walgreens shoppers. I tried a Walgreen's deal last week and I posted on one of the other blogs. Come to find out, one of the other bloggers lives close to me. We've been posting back and forth on each other's blogs and we've had some weird coincedences about schedules and shopping, etc. Come to find out, we have common friends that she went to high school with and I went to college with. We're both southerners...from the southeast that is. How cool is that?!! I thought it was really neat and we're going to try to meet up at some point. Just thought I'd share how small the world is:)

Update

This week has been good, it kind of got busy but still was good. Today was a good day. I've been thinking about Christmas and how it sneaks up on me and even though we do not go overboard with gifts it still gets expensive. So, I went to Target today (and Walmart actually) and headed to the clearance aisles. I got the kids some of their Christmas gifts for 50% or more off...NICE!! I'm going to keep checking out the clearance and the Thanksgiving sales and try to be done with all my Christmas shopping EARLY and cheaply (don't know if that's a word but you know what I mean).

We were invited to a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese this afternoon. Our friend, Emily, had her birthday there. Addy has been looking forward to it all week. My kids love that place, all 3 of them, Levi included. I found myself giving Levi the evil eye multiple times when I realized he was playing the games and Keegan was MIA. I do tend to get a little addicted to certain games there myself, especial DEAL or NO DEAL...yes they have it there. Anyway, we had a great time.

We're heading out to Austin tomorrow morning. I'm excited about seeing the Self Family and checking out their church, Free Chapel. I'm also excited about being away, even if it's just for a couple of days. Our family needs some "away" time. We get really caught up in church stuff which is okay but it will be nice to enjoy being together and not thinking about anything else.

I've also been thinking of Halloween and scheming for outfits for our family. I'm one of those geeks that likes to be "themed." So, Addy wants to be Ariel (Little Mermaid). I found Keegan a lobster costume from the consignment sale last week so he's Sebastian. I am not sure what Levi and I can be. I think we might be pirates. That's the easiest thing I've come up with. Any ideas?? I need cheap costume ideas people. Let me know.

Have a great weekend!!

Soon

It is late and I'm pooped. I've been tutoring a lot this week trying to earn some extra moola. I do want to blog but it will have to wait. Just wanted to let you know I'm still here and I will write more soon:)

The Day....

Today was really laid back. I had to run some errands this morning. I ended up taking the kids to Burger King. That's our new favorite place because the kid's playground is big and there's usually nobody there. The only bad part is Keegan can't crawl up the levels to the top. So, today, I crawled in there and put him up so he could play. He loved it. We had a lot of fun. I love that. I love just watching my kids have fun!! This afternoon I had a meeting at Eastfield Community College. They hired me in their Continuing Ed. Dept. However, there's not a job...remember that post from a while back? Today, they did a short training on teaching GED classes. It was really good to be with other teachers, I miss that. I wouldn't trade my time with my kids for anything. At the same time, it was nice to have a taste of my career field. I hope it works out where I can teach one night a week. I think I would like it alot. I ended the day meeting Levi and the kids at the Sonic in Mesquite. They have a great playground, 2 actually. Our playgroup was meeting there tonight to play. We had a lot of fun. I just finished tutoring so I'm going to call it a night.

Monday Monday

We had a good weekend. This week's schedule is going to be a little slower for which I am very grateful. I am taking the kids to a free music classic put on by Free Harmony. Last week was the first week and Addy did wonderful. Keegan did good until it was time for the "sticks." The teacher doesn't pass the sticks out until the child is sitting. Keegan did not get that concept and he wanted sticks. I had to wrestle him. Today we went back....Keegan did great. He even sat for his sticks, well kind of. I was so glad they both did so well. Then we made our Walmart run. I went to our Walmart Market. I did some research to use a lot of coupons. I used almost $20 in coupons. That's crazy. I couldn't believe how much I got...crazy. I made one of the e-mealz recipes for dinner, black eyed peas with ham, rice, and cornbread. It was really good. We also decided that we're heading to Austin this weekend. Sprang is preaching so Levi doesn't have to be there. We're going to go to church with our friends, they just launched their church plant last weekend. It will be fun to get away and fun to see them. This week is going to be more laid back and I'm thankful. I've got to pick up around the house and finish laundry. I'm embarassed to say that I was without laundry detergent and dishwashing detergent for the past few days and Levi was out of undies...he was not a happy camper with me. Is that TMI? Sorry, I'm back on track now...just telling you how desperate the situation was and how badly I need to stay home and take care of the house:)

I'm BACK!!

Okay what a crazy week!! Let me just give you the run down of this week. Monday, the kids had a music class, then to a birthday party then dinner at a friend's house. Tuesday indoor garage sale with our playgroup, I had band practice while Levi reffed. Wednesday nothing during the day, had a couple of couples over for dinner. Thursday had to take all the clothes (that i stayed up till 2:30am the night before preparing) to the JBF consignment sale, had a 10:15 massage (from Mother's Day), met Levi and the kids for lunch in the park, went to playgroup preschool, met friends for dinner, went to a friend's house to hang out after the kids were in bed. Friday, preschool for Addy, Keegan and I went to Sam's, picked up some friends and hit up the JBF sale had to get Addy from school, mowed the yard (my new favorite hobby....weird I know) met Levi for supper and hung out at home while Levi reffed. Saturday Levi reffed soccer this morning, after lunch I took Addy with me to Walgreens for our deals....turned out it wasn't as great as I thought it would be but that's another post in itself. We've had the effects of IKE all day. It has been super windy and rainy. I really anticipated more rain than we've had. It was much more mild than what I expected.

So, as you can see, this week has been hectic to say the least. I have been checking the sale's website and I'm making some good money so it does seem like all that work is worth it. I feel like I haven't stopped to breathe this week, let alone go to the bathroom. I don't know how I forget to do that but I do. I kind of like weeks like that, I also got the house somewhat cleaned and picked up but it's like that adrenaline rush telling you it's got to be done.

I'm going to try this week to get some things down....like my quiet time (prayer and Bible). I'm going to try to get in bed early and get up before the kids. I also want to get to the gym at least 3 times if not 4. I am drinking way too much coke so I've got to cut back on that too...those are my goals this week.

I'm also tutoring more this week which is kind of crazy, the students are more prevalent which is so nice. At least I'm not sitting there staring at a blank screen:)

I feel rushed going into Sunday so I'm going to try to calm myself and enjoy tomorrow.

Plum Pooped

This week has been really busy so far. It's been great at the same time. We've been going like mad so far this week. I don't feel like we've spent a lot of family time in the evenings...we've all been going in different directions. Hopefully tomorrow we can slow down a bit. I'm actually getting a bunch of the kid's clothes ready to consign at the JBF sale. It's a lot of work, I hope I can make some money on selling them...I'll keep you posted. I hope to write more....maybe Thursday;)

Mowing

Yesterday I mowed the yard. I was doing it as an act of love for Levi. He’s been reffing trying to earn some extra money. I didn’t want him to have to come home after reffing in the hot Texas sun for 6 hours to mowing the yard and the neighbor’s yard. Another story in itself…anyway. As I was mowing, I kept thinking the mower wasn’t cutting the grass short enough. At one point, I reached down with one hand to move a lever which didn’t move so I just kept mowing knowing something wasn’t quite right. I mean, it was cutting the tall pieces of grass but it didn’t feel like it was short enough. When Levi got home, he was very appreciative that the grass was mowed. I told him that I thought something wasn’t right. He had mowed our neighbor’s backyard a week ago and her grass was really high. He put the blades up and didn’t lower them. It made perfect sense.
I can see a spiritual correlation here for myself. I work hard, I try to do the right things but come up feeling like something's not exactly right. I try to tweak something but it's still not right. I don't want to live that way. I want to live fully engaged with all blades going. Sometimes I feel that way and I've realized it's a phase and kind of cyclical. I feel that way when I'm tired and need to refresh and renew. I've also realized that I'm pretty independent and strong willed. That carries over for me too. I want to do it in my own strength and that is so not what this spiritual journey is about. I've struggled this last week with reading my Bible. I can really tell a difference in my actions, reactions, and compassion for others when I don't stay connected, not just in reading but also in praying too. I'm going to make an effort this week to be more consistent. We've got a lot going on this week and I'm already tired....I know the week hasn't started.

CVS Deal for Newbies

Here's the CVS news for this week. I got this scenario from Alyssa at Keeping the Kingdom First. This week should be pretty easy for those of you that haven't done it before. You can probably do more but this is what she had on her site and it seems easy enough so I thought I'd share. Let me know if you do it and how it goes:)


Transaction #1
Buy (1) L'Oreal Age Perfect, Revitalift or Skin Genesis Cleanser @ $5.99
Buy (1) Chex Mix @ $1.00
Use $1.00 L'Oreal coupon from 8/10 insert
Use $1.00 Chex Mix printable here

Total After Coupons= $4.99

ECBs Earned= $5.99

Transaction #2
Buy (1) Excedrin Migraine @ $1.99
Buy (1) Purex Laundry detergent @ $2.99 (hidden deal)
Buy (1) Right Guard Extreme or Sport @ $2.99
Buy a $1.50 filler of your choice
Use $2.00 printable Excedrin coupon here
Use $0.50 Purex coupon from 8/10 SS insert (or you may have received a coupon with this sample)
Use $1.00 Right Guard coupon from 8/10 SS insert
Pay with $5.99 ECBs from above

Total after coupons= ZERO OOP (possibly tax, varies regionally)

ECBs Earned= $3.00

Grand Total OOP= $4.99 or very close to it!

Sunday Update

We had a crazy weekend. It was weird. I didn't see Levi very much. He's trying to ref which is good but too much this weekend. We went to our friend's 40th birthday party last night. Today at church, we had 61 people....what??!! I know it was crazy. We were missing about 15 regulars too. It was really encouraging. I'm amazed at what God is doing. I really am. It was so cool to look out at new faces. There seemed to be a lot of kids today which was also awesome....a lot for us at least. I was really encouraged today. I hope you felt that same encouragement when you left your body of believers:)

Preschool Blues

Today was the day that Addy started her preschool. She was so excited. She was ready to get into her class and leave us behind. I had a harder time with it. I got teary as we drove away from her. I am glad she's independent and ready. I just hope those teachers love her like she deserves to be loved. I think that might be my biggest fear about her being away from me is that the other adults that are responsible for her will love her like I do (or close). I don't want her to be an afterthought or pushed aside, mistreated, made fun of, etc etc etc. Am I weird or is that normal? She had a great day. I asked her 20 questions about what she did, who her friends were, etc etc etc. She was so funny answering them. I'm so thankful for her. I've included a picture of us walking into school.

CVS

Okay so I said I was going to get back into couponing. I did this week at CVS. I've been reading a blog where the author does $5 CVS challenges. I took the challenge this week. Basically you are challenged to spend $5 in cash ONLY and see how many transactions you can do without spending anymore. You have to use their ECB (extra care bucks) which are basically gift certificates that print out on your receipt for purchasing qualifying stuff. So, I went to CVS 3 times and here's waht I bought.
Trip #1
3 Suave shampoo products $2 each (buy $6 worth and get $2 ECB)
2 Colgate Total Advanced Toothpaste $2.99 each (get $2 back for each tube)

Coupons Used
Suave Buy One Get One Free -$2
Colgate - $1.50
Suave-$1
Colgate- $1

Total - $11.98 (pretax)
Coupons Used - $5.50

Total Out of Pocket - $6.73
ECB's earned- $6

Okay so I went over the $5 limit but I still did good

Trip #2
1 Febreeze Noticeables Kit - $6.99
1 Covergirl Wetslicks Lipstick - $5.99 (Earn $5.99 in ECB)

Coupons Used
Febreeze - $5
Covergirl- $1

Total - $12.98
Coupons Used- $6
ECB's Used - $6

Total out of Pocket- $1.06
ECB's earned- $5.99

Trip #3
3 Suave products $2 each (spend $6 on Suave, get $2 ECBs)
2 Dawn dish soap $0.99 each
1 Febreeze Noticeables Kit $6.99
2 Covergirl Lipsticks (buy one get one free) $9.99
Swedish Fish $0.99
Orbit Gum $1.19 (so I wouldn't have a negative total)

Coupons Used
2 Dawn Coupons ($0.50 each) - $1
Covergirl - $1
Suave- $2
Febreeze- $5
Covergirl- Buy One Get One Free- $9.99
CVS printable coupon- $2

Total- $28.15
Coupons Used- $21.99
ECB's Used - $5.99

Total Out of Pocket - $0.17
ECB's earned - $2

This was actually fun to do this week. I drive by CVS at some point almost everyday so to swing in isn't that big of a deal. So, I went over the $5 challenge. I spent $7.96 but I got $53 worth of stuff and still have 2 ECBs to use. Thought I'd pass it on to see if any of you wanted to join the challenge. The ad papers for CVS come out tomorrow so if you check out that link from above, you can see the deals and just copy them at your CVS. That's what I did. This does require getting the coupons and clipping them. It's worth it. You can also use those ECB's for milk, juice, diapers, etc...more of necessities. Good luck :)

Weird Wednesday

Today is weird. It's overcast but actually feels good which is nice. I think it's around 84 degrees today which is such a nice change. I went to CVS today for my second time this week. The challenge is to spend $5 cash and see how many times you can go back without spending any more money. Well, yesterday I spent $6 but got $6 in ECB's. ECB's are their gift certificates that print on your receipt that are like money. So, today I stopped in and spent $1 but got $6 back. So, I'm up to $7. I'm going again and should spend nothing if I've got my plan right. We'll see if it works. I took the kids to Burger King today. We've been at home all week so it was good to get out and let them play. They had fun playing together and they were so much fun to watch.

Labor Day

We've had a great Labor Day weekend. Last night we just hung out as a family. We actually rode our bikes up to McDonald's for supper and met a neighbor of our good friends. It is such a small world. Today Levi did some yard work and cleaned up inside. We took the kids to get shoes. Addy has to wear closed toe shoes to school. We lucked out at Dillards, they were having 75% off summer stuff. I got Keegan some shorts and shoes and Addy some bathing suits for next year. No luck for Addy with shoes so we went to Payless. We ate lunch at Pei Wei which was pretty good. Our favorite is Rice Boxx. We went to dinner at Xuan and Juan's. We have so much fun with them. We ended our night with heavy hearts. It's so hard to hear when family is hurting. My initial reaction is to fix and figure out how I can handle it for them. I've been praying really hard the last couple of hours that God would draw near and be almost tangible to this loved one.

I've been reading in Acts. Now, it's telling about where Paul traveled and who with and what happened as he was preaching and teaching. It's kind of crazy what he went through. He was stoned, flogged, put in prison, fussed at, parted ways with a friend, and more. It's amazing how strong Paul must have been.