Thanksgiving Tree

I saw this on Carrie's and Tara's blogs and decided to start this tradition myself! The girls and I sat down this morning, after Thanksgiving I know, and made our Thanksgiving Tree. It took them a while to warm up to the "what are you thankful for" idea. At first we got a lot of weird answers like "juice, paper, barrette" and other miscellaneous objects at the kitchen table! We ended up with a lot of family and friends! It turned into a great conversation piece on what it means to be thankful and all the things we have to be thankful for. This will make a great Thanksgiving tradition!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We were blessed with the opportunity to drive to PA for Thanksgiving and stay with Uncle Mike, Aunt Jenna (Jason's sister), and our four precious nieces and nephews, Micaiah, Elias, Toben, and Miah. It was very relaxing, the kids got along beautifully, and we thoroughly enjoyed spending time with dear family. On our first day there, I was introduced to Wegmans, a much spoken of grocer out here, ate venison sausage that was 100% provided by Uncle Mike ☺, and played Settler's of Catan when the kids went to bed. Thanksgiving morning started with an early run to CVS, which I will post about next, and a very, very relaxing day playing with the kids and watching Jenna make the Thanksgiving feast! The kids took naps, we ate lots and lots of food, watched Elf, and ate lots and lots of Pie and Apple Crisp! After the kids went to bed, an unfortunate flooding was discovered in their basement. But their pastor and a friend from church came over to help fix it and we had the pleasure of meeting them! Thank you so much Mike and Jenna for your sweet hospitality and peaceful home!

Pinching Pennies

So part of the reason that I have been absent from the blog world for so long is because I have been reading a bunch of stuff on how to save money on our grocery budget. On the recommendations of a couple of friends out here, I have begun frequenting this awesome new website. The "money saving mom" has basically the same family as I do, married with two little girls, and so I have been inspired by her $40/week grocery budget. Yeah, I know, seems impossible! Especially when you consider that that includes toiletries, cleaning products, and diapers! I am not aiming for that number just yet, but anywhere close would be just dandy! I am also attempting the whole CVS thing that my friends, this website, and a bazillion other websites all talk about. I was pretty excited today when I went to CVS and bought $25 worth of Duracell batteries and only paid $2.26 and got $15 back in their Extra Care Bucks! I have a whole new appreciation for these coupon clippers! After the girl's nap, I am headed off to a triple coupon sale to see what great deals I can find. I already know that I can get Kraft salad dressing for $1/bottle. Then maybe I will have enough time to go to Target and get some free coffee! This bargain shopping thing is pretty fun! I also bought the money saving mom's ebook, Supermarket Savings 101, and am trying to apply the principles in how I plan meals for my family. I would also recommend this CVS related website.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Wow, almost a month since I have posted last! My sincerest apologies! With that much time elapsed, I am not even sure what all to post about, it seems kind of like a blur. Which is the whole purpose in blogging to begin with I guess! Well, first things first...
Halloween! remember that holiday way back :)
Abigail and Katie were the cutest Thing 1 and Thing 2 you ever saw! The best part was their blue hair! I was going to attempt to stick their hair straight up but decided against it because of the mess of cleaning it up and Katie still having her cast. But the blue hair still totally made the costume. We thought about going trick-or-treating, but changed our minds at the last minute and joined many PC families at the Harvest Festival at Covenant Life. There were all sorts of games set up for the kids and they got candy if they tried them. It was especially fun this year with Abby! This was the first year that she was really able to understand and wait in great anticipation of Halloween and candy and costumes! She was so excited to get dressed up and carry around her little candy bag! So cute!






Hmmm what else happened this month? Well, the leaves and their colors definitely came and went. And they were everything everyone told me they would be! I was so struck with God's amazing artistic nature! It wasn't just, O the leaves just kind of change colors, they were bright, vibrant, breathtaking colors! God is certainly glorified in His creation! We unfortunately didn't get all that many fall leaf pictures. Here are a few...




There was one path in a nearby neighborhood that the girls and I walked along and took some pictures. The ground was covered in several different colored leaves and it gave it an amazing rainbow affect.







Well, there are a few of our November (and Oct. 31) memories. I am sure I will think of more to post soon!

Melt My Heart!

Okay, for the record, we are NOT wanting to get pregnant while at the PC. But... this absolutely melted my heart! Matt and Hannah, great new friends of ours here, just had their first baby at the end of September. Isn't that awesome! Coming to the PC nine months pregnant with their first child! We love them! The other night the boys all went to watch a world series game and Hannah and baby Case came over to keep us company. The girls were beside themselves! Katie just said, "Baby, Baby, Baby" and kissed him all night! Hannah let Abby hold him and we got some adorable pictures. She held him so gently and gave him several sweet kisses! When it was time for the girls to go to bed, Abby tried her absolute best to convince Hannah to spend the night! "You can sleep on the couch? You can sleep on a blanket? You can go get his crib?" It was really sweet!

Pumpkin Harvest Days!

Here at the PC, we have worked our schedule to have a family day on Mondays. I love it! There is definitely not a shortage of things to see and places to go. This past Monday we went to Butler's Orchard for their pumpkin harvest day. Butler's Orchard is usually not open on Mondays, so this was Jason's first visit. The weather that day was so cold and so windy! We are still learning to bundle everyone up! The good part about it being cold was that there was hardly anyone there! Admission was only $6 a person, great for families on tight budgets! It included a really good sized pumpkin and two apples from the farm. There were tons of play houses for the kids to play in, a two-story castle, picture spots, three enormous slides, a barn filled with hay to jump in, and tractor hay rides. It was a blast! The best part was the slides at the top of the hill. These slides were definitely nothing to scoff at! You barreled down these steep, slippery slides on potato sacks! At first, we sent Abby down by herself. That wasn't the best of ideas! When we went down with them, they thought it was the best thing ever! I was really proud of the girls, even Katie wasn't afraid! I guess they still have that belief that they are invincible in Daddy and Mommy's arms! We'll tell them later! After the slides we went into the barn and the girls had a great time climbing and jumping off of the hay barrels. We probably spent the most time in there because our bodies needed some serious thawing out! After we had all that we could take, we headed home for lunch. We ate hot grilled cheese sandwiches with hot tomato soup and hot chocolate! He He! Praise the Lord for more great memories!

Happy Birthday Jason!

We celebrated Jason's birthday last Wednesday the 22nd! The girl's and I started the day by baking cinnamon rolls and dropping them off at the school with some Happy Birthday balloons. We wanted to make sure everyone knew it was his birthday! Then I let Abby skip her nap that afternoon to help me bake Jason's birthday cake. She was so excited and so adorable! When Katie woke up we decorated Daddy's birthday cards. Abby and Katie chose a Dora and Diego card and stuck Dora stickers all over it! When Jason got home we had a little family birthday party before the babysitter was to arrive.




Then we kissed the girls good night and headed out for a little birthday surprise! Jason knew that I had gotten a babysitter and had planned an evening, but he didn't know what we were doing. We went to Uncle Julio's for dinner, a mexican food restaurant at the Rio. After some good food and great conversation, it was time for the surprise! Matt and Hannah Wassink, good friends at the PC, showed up at the end of dinner and jumped into the booth with us. After some good laughs, we handed Jason his birthday present, tickets to see Brian Regan! Jason was totally surprised and really excited! We had a fabulous time! Brian Regan had a bunch of new stuff and was hilarious! Of course! How great that Brian Regan was here in town on his birthday and that somehow we were able to totally keep the surprise! Another great memory! Happy Birthday Love!