Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY~December 12, 2011
Outside my window... Cloudy right now, it looks like the sun is trying to peek out.  It is much too green outside yet for my liking!
I am thinking...about volunteering to run our church's Christmas program for the children next year
From the learning room...We've cut waaay back.  It is time for a break, and I want to be able to do some fun Christmas things with the kids~baking, decorating, crafts. 
I am thankful for...our health~a few of us have had bad colds and coughs and it reminds me to be thankful for good health
From the kitchen...taco night
I am wearing...jean skirt and white long sleeved t~shirt
I am creating...baby quilts for the local hospital
I am going...to take less time on the computer and enjoy the true meaning of Christmas
I am reading... Bible
I am praying...with a friend this afternoon.  We are going to start calling each other every Monday to pray for our kids and the challenges they are all facing
I am hearing..."Silver Bells" playing in the background, the washing maching running
Around the house...more decorating (I just love Christmas time!), and getting the house ready for a family Christmas party this weekend
One of my favorite things...sitting in the living room with just the Christmas tree lights on and drinking egg nog
A few plans for the rest of the week...IEP meeting for Spud, Youth group Christmas party for Stinkerbelle, and Christmas party with hubby's family on Saturday
Here is picture thought I am sharing...

I love how much he likes to  help out around the house!

Thanks for stopping by!  For more daybooks, please visit Peggy at The Simple Woman's Daybook.  Have a great week!

Blessings,

Thankful Thursday

“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
I Thessalonians 5:16-18

Happy Thursday!

If you read my post last Thursday, you know how our son convicted me to take a more thankful approach to life.  Participating in Thankful Thursday's is just a small way I can take account for my attitude.  Today I'm thankful for....

Grandparents!  My own grandparents,, my husband's grandparents, and my children's grandparents.  My husband lost all but 1 of his grandparents when he was small.  His last living grandmother passed away just after we got engaged.  I did not know her long, but for the short time I knew her, she was a blessing.  I know his grandparents left an impression on his heart as he still speaks of them.  I am blessed to have a few grandparents living yet, and I am very thankful for their health as they get older.  And since I still have grandparents, that means my children have their grandparents and great grandparents.  They are a blessing in my children's lives and they love them very much.

At Christmas time, I am especially thankful for grandparents.  My grandparents lived near to us and we visited them often.  They were (and still are) a very important part of my life.  They were included in some of the best memories I have as a child.  I miss the grandparents that have passed away more at Christmas time~I miss seeing their faces at the table, listening to them, their hugs, and just having them around.



Sweetcheeks with her great grandma



My grandparents left a big impression in my life and are a part of who I am today.  I have a grandmother who has passed on her love of sewing to me.  I have a grandmother who has passed on her love of baking and having her family near to her.  I have a grandfather who used to make me crazy when he called me that pet name in front of others~how much I would give to hear that again (in front of the world!).  And a grandfather who taught me that sometimes keeping quiet was the best way to solve things.  They have passed on their love for the Lord, for family, and for others.  I know I would not be the person I am today without their love and care.



Sunshine with his grandpa



Sunshine and great grandpa~almost 90 years between them!

If you still have grandparents in your life, consider yourself blessed and be thankful.  If you are a grandparent, never underestimate the value you have in your grandchildren's lives.  You can never be replaced, and are loved more than you know.

All our kiddo's with grandpa and grandma

What are you thankful for?  For more thankful thoughts, please visit this months host, visit Iris at Grace Alone.  Have a blessed week!

Blessings,

How Our Christmas Is Free, Part 4

This is a part of a series of posts sharing with you how we are "purchasing" our Christmas gifts this year for FREE!  I set out a couple of years ago to try to save money on gifts and spend more time reflecting on the TRUE reason for Christmas.  This is our journey...

 

Pampers Gifts to Grow:  

 I didn't use disposable diapers very often, but I do use wipes and Pampers are the only kind I like.  We are now in the season of potty training, and we use training pants at night.  There are codes on each of the packages of wipes, diapers, and training pants, and after creating an account, just enter your codes for points to be added to your account.  I used those points to "purchase" a gift for our son.  There is no charge for shipping (except on some of the gifts from Shutterfly), so this gift was entirely free!  Just by purchasing something I already needed.  Some of the rewards include toys, books, digital downloads, free pictures, picture books, magazines, coupons, and many others.  It is easy to start, and has helped with my FREE Christmas gifts for several years in a row.  Also, Freebies 4 Mom is a great resource for promotional codes.  I wouldn't have gotten nearly as many points this year if it weren't for Heather!



Give it a try!  Head over to Pampers.com!



Blessings,

Attitude of Gratitude

Each year at Thanksgiving time, we pull out our Thankful Box.  This is just a box that I decorated many years ago when my first kiddo's were small and I attended a MOPS group.  It had pine cones glued to the top~most of which are now missing!  It has seen better years.  But each year it is the kids that want me to get it out and put it on the table.  Then during the month or so before Thanksgiving, we all add little notes stating what we are thankful for.  We usually save last years notes so we can look at them this year, but for whatever reason, last years are missing.  So we started new again. 

On Thanksgiving day, after we are all thankful for our stuffed bellies, we go around the table and take turns reading the notes.  There are the ones you would expect~family, home, food~ and there are silly ones~the window, snow, chocolate, and our annual Thanksgiving Monopoly game~ but this year we had an abundance of thanks due in part to one child.

One of the kiddo's had put a LOT of paper into the thankful box.  And each piece of paper had more than one thing listed on it.  We laughed as we read some of them.  Some of them touched my heart.  But that night after all the kiddo's were in bed, I started thinking about that box.

While he hadn't intended to, the child that placed all those notes in the box was right on track.  He had listed some of the ordinary, mundane things in life to be thankful for.  Things that we usually take for granted.  While I am very grateful for the blessings in my life, I don't always (I can even say rarely) say thanks for the little things in my life.  The things that I take for granted.  The things that I expect will happen.  The things that I've been blessed with even though I don't deserve them. 

Gratitude is really a choice.  I can choose to see all things as a gift from God and be thankful for everything~even the things that I wouldn't really have chosen~ or I can complain about those things.  I am sad and ashamed to say that my children haven't always seen their mamma with a grateful heart.  I am purposing to change that.  I want my children to see that life is a gift from God, and all things that go with it are also.  I want my children to grow up with an attitude of gratitude.  I want my children to fill their thankful boxes even when they are adults.

I have been reminded often lately of something that was said at our wedding by a sweet aunt....

"He does not promise all sunshine and roses, but He does promise that 'My grace is sufficient for thee'."

So...what can you find to be thankful for today?

Blessings,



As part of my desire to achieve an attitude of gratitude, I am going to start participating in Thankful Thursday's again.  Please visit Iris at Grace Alone as I am linking up with her this week. 

I'm Thankful...

...for a sweet boy who is doing VERY well with potty training!  We started on Friday, and he has only had an accident Friday morning.  He has been DRY since then!!  We still need to work on night time and *ah hem* going #2, but I am so thankful he's doing so well.  I really think he is my easiest trainee yet! 

Blessings,

Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY~November 21, 2011
Outside my window... Cloudy start to the day
I am thinking...about this Thanksgiving week, and looking forward to it!
From the learning room...A very short week.  We are just spending some time remembering the reason for Thanksgiving, making a thankful turkey craft, and enjoying time together this week.
I am thankful for...so much!!  Since this is the week to remember how much we have to be thankful for, I'm trying to count my blessings "one by one".
From the kitchen...taco night
I am wearing...jean skirt and purple sweater
I am creating...baby quilts for my Etsy shop
I am going...to eat WAY to much this week!
I am reading... Bible, Woman After God's Own Heart by Elisabeth George
I am praying...for too many people suffering from cancer, a sweet boy named Noah who is still sick, our church family as our pastor announced last week he will be leaving our congregation at the end of the year, and two families who are going through the adoption process right now (been there and know how difficult it can be at times, but know the joy that follows as well!)
I am hearing...Elmo on TV, and littles laughing at it
Around the house...want to get the house cleaned today and tomorrow so I can focus on baking and cooking on Wednesday and Thursday
One of my favorite things...putting up our Christmas Village (we did it last night~we couldn't wait!) while drinking some eggnog!
A few plans for the rest of the week...enjoying the week!
Here is picture thought I am sharing...

my nephew got ahold of our camera and left behind the evidence!  It made us laugh!

Thanks for stopping by!  For more daybooks, please visit Peggy at The Simple Woman's Daybook.  Have a great week!

Blessings,

How Our Christmas Is Free, Part 3

This is a part of a series of posts sharing with you how we are "purchasing" our Christmas gifts this year for FREE!  I set out a couple of years ago to try to save money on gifts and spend more time reflecting on the TRUE reason for Christmas.  This is our journey...



Nielsen/National Consumer Panel is accepting applications for select groups again!  This has been such an EASY and fun opportunity for myself and my family.  Even our kids think it is interesting to scan products we buy with our scanner!

If you are not familiar with National Consumer Panel, it is a way to make your buying habits known to manufacturers and retailers.  If you are accepted into the panel, you will receive a scanner in the mail.  After setting up your scanner, you are all set.  All you have to do is scan each item you purchase.  You can then transmit your scans via phone each week.  It is that easy!

You will receive points for each transmission you send in.  You can also earn points taking surveys through their website.  You can then use those points to "purchase" gifts from their catalog.  Some examples of gifts are electronics, children's toys, home furnishings, kitchen gadgets, and so much more.  I have been saving my points through this year and will be "purchasing" some free Christmas gifts for our children.  I am sooo excited about FREE gifts!

To see if you qualify to be a participant, click on the following link:

http://www.ncpsignup.com/start.asp?id=1067&refid=00013939

Good luck and Have fun!

Blessings,



While it is my intent to share with you what works for our family, please know that some of the companies I share about I may receive an incentive from.  This does not change my opinion of these companies, only because I have been using them for a long time and I know and trust how they work.  I just want to share with you what works for me!

Homeschooling: Fall

We've been plugging along with homeschooling and it is going very well so far.  We are happy with our curriculum and we are keeping on track.  We will be starting a homeschool co-op after the holidays and are looking forward to meeting some new people there.  We had fun making a project for fall, working together and learning new things, and Sport had fun learning about cells and eating them!

We're off to a great start.  This week we're looking at things we have to be thankful for, and we'll be taking a bit of time off during December so we can focus on our family during the Christmas season.  We'll be doing lots of baking, decorating, celebrating, singing and enjoying time together.

Blessings,

Frugal Living~~Do It Yourself!!

Over the past 2 weekends, we have started some work on the inside of our house.  When we bought our house 3 years ago, all the walls in the house were either white or cream colored.  At first we were glad, white goes with everything, no need to paint the walls before moving in.  Now that we've lived here for a few years, it was time to start making it our own!  We painted the kitchen/dining room last spring and tackled the living room the first weekend.  We are very happy with the color and think that the room looks nice!



We just work them sooo hard!!



This past weekend, we tackled another part of our kitchen~~the countertops!  We (well, to be honest, mostly me!) had thought about what to do with the countertops, but it was just a huge expense we didn't/couldn't take up.  Then a while ago, I saw  THIS post from Frugal Fine Living about her kitchen countertop re-do using Giani Granite.  Hubby and I thought about it for a while and decided to do it last weekend.

Giani Granite is a granite paint for countertops.  You can order it through their website, and now they are selling it at Walmart.  We bought the Sicilian Sand color for our kitchen for $70.  We had to wash the countertops down very good the day before, and the night before, we primed the counters with the black color.  We now had black countertops~~no turning back now!!

The next morning we started with the coloring of the countertops.  You are given 3 different colors in your kit depending on the finished coloring you want.  They tell you in the directions which color to put on first, second, and third.  You can really create anything you want on your countertops.  If you want it a little darker, add more of the darker (first) color and less of the lighter (third) color.  If you want it lighter, use more of the lighter and less of the darker.  When you are all finished painting, you sand it down and apply a couple of layers of the topcoat for a shiny "granite" finish.  Here's our finished product....

(Please excuse the dishes in the sink.  We couldn't use the dishwasher for 24 hours and didn't want to wash them until we were done with the countertops to protect against water damage on the counter!)

Overall....we are very pleased with how the counters turned out!  It was a nice change from this...

....and only cost $70!  We're looking forward to doing the bathroom countertops next!

Have a great day!

Blessings,

Where, Oh Where Has My Little Girl Gone?

How did we go from a tiny baby girl to this??  In just a matter of a couple of weeks, Sweetcheeks learned to ride a bike with no training wheels.....

....Then she lost her first tooth!

She is growing up so fast!  She loves to tell us that she isn't a little girl anymore, she is medium!  What a funny girl. 

We love you Sweetcheeks~our Medium girl!!

Blessings,

The Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY~October 31, 2011
Outside my window... SNOW!!!  It started as heavy rain early this morning, but has turned into snow and we have a few kiddo's who are super excited about it!!
I am thinking...about a family from our church who have lost their son in a drowing accident this past weekend.
From the learning room...Sweetcheeks is learning about Thanksgiving and Pilgrims, and reviewing her numbers.  Sport is learning more about metrics, the digestive system, the results of man's fall, and predicate adjectives and predicate nomnatives and about Thanksgiving as well.
I am thankful for...so much!!  Healthy Children, a warm home, my husband's job, good friends, and great family!
From the kitchen...grilled brats~hubby's choice~it's his birthday today and we always let the birthday person pick out the supper.  So I will be grilling in the snow!
I am wearing...jean skirt, white turtle neck and brown sweater
I am creating...hot pads that are going to be Christmas gifts (Shhh...don't tell!), and an idea for a baby quilt for our niece who is expecting another baby!!
I am going...over lots of things in my head right now
I am reading... Bible
I am praying...for a woman in our sister church who was just diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, the family in our church who have lost their son, a sweet boy who is very sick~lots to be praying for and lots to be thankful for!
I am hearing...dishwasher, the older kiddo's are outside and Sunshine is napping.
Around the house...bathroom cleaned, towels washed and dried(just need folding), kitchen clean!
One of my favorite things...watching the snow fall from my front window
A few plans for the rest of the week...hubby's birthday today, painting our bathroom this weekend.
Here is picture thought I am sharing...

I just love to see the older kiddo's reading to the littler ones!

Thanks for stopping by!  For more daybooks, please visit Peggy at The Simple Woman's Daybook.  Have a great day!

Blessings,

Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY~October 31, 2011
Outside my window... cool, cloudy....last of the leaves are falling off tree's...fall is here!
I am thinking...about truly becoming a Simple Woman
From the learning room...Sweetcheeks is learning about Elijah, and reviewing her numbers.  Sport is learning more about metrics, the muscular system, the discovery of North and South America, the results of man's fall, and predicate adjectives and predicate nomnatives.
I am thankful for...the great recovery our daughter has had since her surgery, and the advances in medical care
From the kitchen...chicken, rice, and peas
I am wearing...jean skirt and red turtle neck sweater
I am creating...hot pads that are going to be Christmas gifts (Shhh...don't tell!), and an idea for a baby quilt for our niece who is expecting another baby!!
I am going...to start on a weight loss program (more on that later)
I am reading... Bible
I am praying...for a woman in our sister church who was just diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, my dad and grandpa as they are both dealing with some heart problems, and changes I can make to my life to become healthier
I am hearing...lego's
Around the house...oatmeal cookies in the oven right now, the mountain of laundry is slowly shrinking
One of my favorite things...flannel sheets~we just put them on our bed last week, and most mornings I just don't want to leave the bed!
A few plans for the rest of the week...taking my dad to a couple of appointments, orthodontist appointment on Thursday, and an exciting project in our kitchen on Saturday~I'll share next week!
Here is picture thought I am sharing...

Stinkerbelle after she was brought to her room after her surgery~I'll so thankful for the recovery she has made!  I't so hard to see your kiddo's hurting.

Thanks for stopping by!  For more daybooks, please visit Peggy at The Simple Woman's Daybook.  Have a great day!

Blessings,