Swagbuck with me!!!!

Okay, so I heard about this, tried it out, and now love it! Swagbucks is an online search engine that randomly awards you dollars (known as swagbucks) as you search the web. It evens uses Google as it's search engine! After you have accumulated certain amounts of swagbucks, you can go to their swag store and buy lots of different things. They have other ways for you to earn swagbucks too. I was surprised it actually worked. I have been using it now for about 2 weeks and have earned 25 swagbucks, and I don't even search that much! So I was going to send you all invites to it, but I wasn't overly comfortable handing out a bunch of email addresses without permission. So, if you sign up by clicking here, then they will match the dollars you earn to my account! If you sign up right when you click on this link, it should work to link up to my account. Yipee! Sign up with me! I can't wait to get my first Starbucks card!

A Week With Jerry Bridges

One of the many reasons that the Pastor's College is so unique and so amazing, is the group of men that serve as teachers throughout the year. Two weeks ago, Jason had his class on grace and sanctification taught by Jerry Bridges. He came home every day so affected by this man's life, his humility, and his love for the Savior. Jason even had the opportunity to take him out to dinner! Neat huh! Every Thursday, we have gym day and the guys come down and join us for 20 minutes or so. Jerry Bridges came that week and enjoyed the big family atmosphere. I forgot my camera, of course, but a friend took a family picture for me. While he was here, C.J. interviewed Mr. Bridges and the audio link is on the Sov Grace website. Listen in if you get a chance! It is so affecting to see his life, long-lived, as a joyful servant! I want every chance I can get to look alongside his gaze as he draws near to the cross of Christ!

CVS on Thanksgiving

What in the world do CVS and Thanksgiving have to do with each other? Answer, a whole lot of free stuff! So, I am definitely into this coupon thing and this CVS thing. Wednesday night I got out my coupon notebook and all the ad prices and deals for CVS's big Thanksgiving sale. I figured out all of the transactions I needed to make in order to spend very little money out of pocket. And I waited... till Thanksgiving morning! Jenna and I headed out bright and early to CVS at 8 o'clock in the morning and scoured the aisles for all of the deals. I missed out on the razors and one of the toothpastes, but got everything else. I walked out of the store with $108 dollars worth of merchandise and only spent $6! And I ended up with $5 more dollars in Extra Care Bucks than what I started with! It was fabulous!

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!