Sunday Scripture

Well, today's isn't Scripture exactly...just something said in the service that stuck with me.

"God is speaking. Are you ready to obey?" Senagalese(Africa)Pastor

Hymn:

Oh How He Love You and Me
He gave His life
What more could He give
Oh how He loves you
Oh how He love me
Oh how He loves you and me.

My Heart is Sad Today

My mommy heart is so sad today for my oldest daughter. Her cow, Maddie, died this morning. It is so very hard to watch your children as their hearts are breaking. She loves all her animals but especially Maddie. Who couldn't love a cow with beautiful, big eyes. Some might say, "You weren't attached to her, you didn't milk her or take care of her". And they would be right. But I am still so sad that she is gone. She was a sweet, precious animal. I suppose it has alot to do with the fact that I love my daughter so therefore I am heartbroken when she is heartbroken. But there is also that pregnant mommy side of me who thinks about this mommy cow who lost her calf and then her life and I am just sad. Pray for B#2, that she would know Jesus peace through this loss and the she would see HIS direction and leading in her life.

Update on My Frugality Challenge

So far for my Frugality challenge to myself, I have spent $88 out of my $100 budget. I have gotten 11 cloth diapers with inserts, a bouncy seat, an infant carseat and a crib bedding set. I recently found some Bumgenius and Flip diapers on Craigslist. Usually brand new these diapers run around $14 each. I emailed a bit with the lady and she ended up coming down to $8 per diaper for me. And even better than that...they were in a town over an hour from us but we have friends who live there and they were willing to pick them up for me and it even worked out for them to drop them off to me at home because they were going to be in the area.

 

 

Then I found this beautiful Pottery Barn crib bumper on Craigslist for only $15. Actually it was the bumper, crib skirt and 2 window valances for $15. Usually Pottery Barn bumper pads go for at least $99 brand new, some even higher. Now lest you think from the very girly-ness of this bumper that we know we are having a girl, you would be wrong. We have no idea what we are having and we aren't planning to find out but I couldn't pass up this beautiful set just in case it is a girl. Besides, if B#1 and his wife have a girl, we could always see if they want it or just resell it.

I stilll have a few things left on my list and with the cloth diapers I may indeed go over but I at least have a goal and a list to work with.

Sunday Scripture

I thought it would be fun to start doing something on Sundays. So I thought I would just choose a verse or two from our Sunday sermon to share...

And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent. John 17:3


Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace

A Beautiful Day and a Big Box

 It was a beautiful day outside yesterday, a great day to get stuff accomplished.

 

Vacuum out filthy van- Check

Let kids play outside - Check

Clean up tons of styrofoam packing peanuts - Check

 

 

 

 

The kids got a huge box from Mamaw and Papaw. In it was a very heavy metal tractor. Should be sturdy enough to outlast even these rowdy boys.

 

 

The only way to get said tractor out of the box without Daddy here to help us was to basically just dump everything in the box. B#9 thought the packing peanuts were the best. She kept calling it snow.

 

 

 

WOW!

                                                               Let the clean-up begin!

                        You will notice that the boys are strangely absent from the clean up process.

Our Valentines

 

Our Valentines actually has lasted for almost a week now. Last week we started by making heart shaped sugar cookies to mail to B#1 and his wife. Of course we had to make sure we made enough for us to eat too. Then on Sunday, DH and I celebrated our Valentines Day by going to the symphony, which we both thoroughly enjoyed, and then going to dinner. Nothing fancy for us. We just aren't fancy people. We ate at Fuddruckers, which was so yummy! We also gave each other our Valentines Day gifts. As you can see below, we each gave each other "flowers". DH gave me the beautiful peach roses and I gave him "man flowers", candy which I attached little notes to.

 

Then on Tuesday, we decorated the dining room and had a special breakfast with the children and gave them each a small gift from us. Since Dad had to work today, we didn't do too much to celebrate the day. We had strawberries for breakfast, which is a special treat around here, made THESE yummy(kinda healthy) chocolate chip cookie dough truffles and went to the library and park.

They were a hit as you can tell by these messy, happy faces and the missing truffles from the plate.

My Frugality Challenge to Me

I am a pretty practical person. I see really pretty things when I am out and about but I just can't bring myself to buy things just because they are pretty. I always say I am too practical, which isn't necessarily a good thing. But I suppose in the area of baby things, being practical can be a good thing. There are so many neat things that you can buy for a new baby. Gadgets that you didn't even know you needed can be found all over the place. So for me being practical can help me not to go overboard when we are having a new baby. You probably wonder what in the world I would need for this baby since we have already had babies. Surprisingly I have a list that I am working on. Things either wear out or you realize that you need something a little different to help you make your day work smoother. That is where Craigslist comes in handy. I made a comment to DH that I think I can get everything on my list for $100, so I thought I would make that a personal challenge to me. DH works hard to provide for our family and I want to make sure I am doing my part and not spending the money he makes frivolously. I have heard that there is a local Facebook buy, sell, trade page that is supposed to be good too but since I am facebook illiterate I am not sure how you find it.

So here is my list and the progress I have made so far:
An infant car seat- got one for free, had to use some elbow grease to clean it up but it is basically brand new.
A baby bouncy seat- got one off of craigslist for $10
A gender neutral, cream colored crib bumper
A cream changing table pad cover
A cream colored crib sheet
A baby monitor
Cloth diapers and supplies- got started with 6 almost brand new diapers/inserts from craigslist for $25, usually these sell for almost $20 each.

It is kinda fun trying to find good prices. I suppose it is like hunting for men. We all like a challenge. So this is my challenge to myself. Adding in the cloth diapers will definitely make it more challenging. I think they will be the toughest pieces to find. I will let ya know how it goes.