Two things - first, although I wish I did, I did not write the poem below :) I don't know who did but it wasn't me. But it's awesome huh?
And second, check out the giveaway at moneysavingmom.com. If you think it's not worth your time to enter giveaways on blogs or elsewhere for that matter, I would beg to differ. Over the summer I won a three month supply of diapers and just last week I won a ton of OxiClean cleaning and laundry supplies. Two great deals for just a few minutes of my time!
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Friday, December 11, 2009
Once upon a special day in Heaven up above, the tiniest souls sat at God's feet, surrounded by His love. ‘The time is coming, very soon’, God said, ‘Do not be scared. Your family awaits your arrival, now let us get prepared’.
And so God looked upon these souls, in mute consideration. He knew the life each one would live, He weighed each situation.
The souls chatted amongst themselves, and wondered who they'd be. They knew the day grew closer; soon, they'd meet their family.
‘How would you like to change the world?’ God asked each soul in fun. The chance to change a soul, a heart, is held by only one.
‘I'm going to make the world laugh’, one soul said with a smile, ‘for laughter heals a broken heart, and helps us through each trial’.
‘Then take with you the brightest smile, and share your laughter well’. The soul thanked God immensely, and down to earth he fell.
‘And I'll remind the world to sing’, a sweet little soul told the Lord. ‘I have the gift of a beautiful voice; I can hit every note and every chord’.
‘You’ll have the gift of music then, a voice, lovely and strong. Share your gift with others, and let them hear your song’.
‘I will show compassion’, the next little soul raised her hand. ‘Some people only need a friend, someone to understand’.
‘Compassion is a good thing’, God said with much delight. ‘To you, I will give mercy. You'll perceive wrong from right’.
And so each soul shared every thought, their plans, their hopes, their dreams. And God explained that life, it is, much harder than it seems.
And as each soul began to leave in a scurry of laughter and fun, Heaven became quiet and still, for left was only one.
‘Come sit with Me my little child’, God said with just a sigh. ‘Do you know how many you will touch, in a world left wondering why? Before your life comes to an end, you will know much strife, but you'll teach those who know you, to cherish the smallest things in life.
'And some may only know you through a simple photograph, they'll never hold you in their arms, or memorize your laugh. Some may only know you through the words they read each day, but you'll do something wonderful, you'll make them stop and pray’.
The tiniest soul raised her head up, to touch God's firm, strong hand. ‘Father, I am ready for the life that you have planned. And I will do the best I can without a word or deed. For you Lord, are the planter, and I will be Your seed’.
She could already hear many praying, and although they had not seen her face, they were praying for her safe arrival, they were asking for mercy and grace.
‘What talent do I leave with Lord? What gift do You impart?’
‘All that you will need’, God said, ‘I've placed within your heart’. And so God kissed this tiny child, knowing all that she would be, and whispered as He watched her go...'You'll teach them . . . to love Me'.
And so God looked upon these souls, in mute consideration. He knew the life each one would live, He weighed each situation.
The souls chatted amongst themselves, and wondered who they'd be. They knew the day grew closer; soon, they'd meet their family.
‘How would you like to change the world?’ God asked each soul in fun. The chance to change a soul, a heart, is held by only one.
‘I'm going to make the world laugh’, one soul said with a smile, ‘for laughter heals a broken heart, and helps us through each trial’.
‘Then take with you the brightest smile, and share your laughter well’. The soul thanked God immensely, and down to earth he fell.
‘And I'll remind the world to sing’, a sweet little soul told the Lord. ‘I have the gift of a beautiful voice; I can hit every note and every chord’.
‘You’ll have the gift of music then, a voice, lovely and strong. Share your gift with others, and let them hear your song’.
‘I will show compassion’, the next little soul raised her hand. ‘Some people only need a friend, someone to understand’.
‘Compassion is a good thing’, God said with much delight. ‘To you, I will give mercy. You'll perceive wrong from right’.
And so each soul shared every thought, their plans, their hopes, their dreams. And God explained that life, it is, much harder than it seems.
And as each soul began to leave in a scurry of laughter and fun, Heaven became quiet and still, for left was only one.
‘Come sit with Me my little child’, God said with just a sigh. ‘Do you know how many you will touch, in a world left wondering why? Before your life comes to an end, you will know much strife, but you'll teach those who know you, to cherish the smallest things in life.
'And some may only know you through a simple photograph, they'll never hold you in their arms, or memorize your laugh. Some may only know you through the words they read each day, but you'll do something wonderful, you'll make them stop and pray’.
The tiniest soul raised her head up, to touch God's firm, strong hand. ‘Father, I am ready for the life that you have planned. And I will do the best I can without a word or deed. For you Lord, are the planter, and I will be Your seed’.
She could already hear many praying, and although they had not seen her face, they were praying for her safe arrival, they were asking for mercy and grace.
‘What talent do I leave with Lord? What gift do You impart?’
‘All that you will need’, God said, ‘I've placed within your heart’. And so God kissed this tiny child, knowing all that she would be, and whispered as He watched her go...'You'll teach them . . . to love Me'.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Tribute to SIU!
Would you just look at this cute child? So I am biased and yes, I do realize that the hat is almost covering his eyes :) He's still super handsome! Thanks to cousin Gavin for the hand me down!
Saturday, October 31, 2009
I've got a pumpkin ...
What's up ya'll? It's Saturday morning and J went right back to sleep after eating so I thought I'd hop on here and say hello! It's also Halloween, which we were quasi excited about, but it's pouring outside and I'm pretty sure that it's supposed to keep it up all day long. Jackson is going to be a lion (a sweet friend from church let us borrow a costume that belongs to her son) and so I guess we'll dress him up and take pictures - not too sure if we'll make it out anywhere or not. We are basically homebodies these days except for going to work .. there's just too much yuck going around for me to justify taking the little man out and about too much.
We went to an orchard last Saturday and had a great time. It was cold and rainy then as well, so we mostly stayed in the barn area and ate good food, bought some yummy apple butter, local honey and apple cider and of course, a pumpkin! We didn't realize it at the time, but the pumpkin is as big as Jackson! He stayed in the stroller the entire time (that probably sounds bad, but it was chilly, rainy and there was a lot of people everywhere) so we when got him out and sat him next to the pumpkin, it was comical. Obviously we could have used a smaller one and it would have been fine, but this one has more effect. Tennessee also played that day so hence the attire (and if you saw the game, ouch! Two blocked field goal attempts .. by the same Alabama guy? Nuts!)
Not much else is going on here - we were disappointed not to go visit our family last weekend, but several people had a fever and we thought it best not to chance it. Pretty sure no one actually got sick, but you just never know .. so maybe soon we'll get to see some peeps and just enjoy each other's company. And my grandmother turns 90 on the 3rd of November - isn't that awesome? And she's such a great lady .. loves her family lots and it shows.
On a totally different note, can I tell you how ridiculously behind I have been with people's birthdays? Usually I can at least get a card in the mail, but goodness. I haven't been able to remember anyone's until it's the day of or already passed - sad, people, sad. I think the problem is that I usually have a good system where everyone's birthday is on our calendar and I also try to keep a bunch of cards on hand as well. Well the calendar isn't updated, I don't have but three cards and I was out of stamps until a couple of days ago. Sounds to me like a surefire way to forget something, doesn't it? At any rate, I'm working on my system :)
Okay enough rambling .. enjoy some pictures of the great pumpkin and some of Jackson's first solid food experience. He's been eating only cereal and bananas, but last night we added green beans. It's been fun overall, but why didn't anyone mention that the food gets everywhere? EVERYWHERE! I found green beans for three hours last night :) And the one of the bear costume was what he was going to be, but the pants are way, way too small.
We went to an orchard last Saturday and had a great time. It was cold and rainy then as well, so we mostly stayed in the barn area and ate good food, bought some yummy apple butter, local honey and apple cider and of course, a pumpkin! We didn't realize it at the time, but the pumpkin is as big as Jackson! He stayed in the stroller the entire time (that probably sounds bad, but it was chilly, rainy and there was a lot of people everywhere) so we when got him out and sat him next to the pumpkin, it was comical. Obviously we could have used a smaller one and it would have been fine, but this one has more effect. Tennessee also played that day so hence the attire (and if you saw the game, ouch! Two blocked field goal attempts .. by the same Alabama guy? Nuts!)
Not much else is going on here - we were disappointed not to go visit our family last weekend, but several people had a fever and we thought it best not to chance it. Pretty sure no one actually got sick, but you just never know .. so maybe soon we'll get to see some peeps and just enjoy each other's company. And my grandmother turns 90 on the 3rd of November - isn't that awesome? And she's such a great lady .. loves her family lots and it shows.
On a totally different note, can I tell you how ridiculously behind I have been with people's birthdays? Usually I can at least get a card in the mail, but goodness. I haven't been able to remember anyone's until it's the day of or already passed - sad, people, sad. I think the problem is that I usually have a good system where everyone's birthday is on our calendar and I also try to keep a bunch of cards on hand as well. Well the calendar isn't updated, I don't have but three cards and I was out of stamps until a couple of days ago. Sounds to me like a surefire way to forget something, doesn't it? At any rate, I'm working on my system :)
Okay enough rambling .. enjoy some pictures of the great pumpkin and some of Jackson's first solid food experience. He's been eating only cereal and bananas, but last night we added green beans. It's been fun overall, but why didn't anyone mention that the food gets everywhere? EVERYWHERE! I found green beans for three hours last night :) And the one of the bear costume was what he was going to be, but the pants are way, way too small.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Racking up at Rite Aid!
Run, run, run to Rite Aid! I love awesome weeks when I get re-encouraged that coupon clipping is worth the time and definitely worth the money! The picture above shows you what I got yesterday and today at Rite Aid. All in all, I spent $98 out of my pocket, BUT when I submit all of the rebates that this stuff is eligible for, I will only have spent $13.50! And $13.50 is worth 120 loads of laundry detergent, eight sticks of deodorant, three body washes, three bottles of shampoo, two things of face moisturizer, cold medicines and gum, among some other things. There's also an Olay eye roller missing from the picture. I have made an investment in Rite Aid money, so I constantly just use my rebate money to buy more items that are eligible for rebates. So it doesn't keep coming out of our monthly grocery money. Now some of this stuff will go the other person that I buy rebate stuff for, but still .. exciting! And it's all stuff that we actually will use, not things that will go to waste or that we don't even use.
For those who are skeptical, keep checking back for more updates each week - hopefully I can encourage you to get to clipping!
Friday, October 16, 2009
Six months and growing!
So I totally thought that I had updated at five months, but apparently not! If there is anyone who still reads this, thanks - you must be loyal friends :)
Just a quick update about J. He's getting to be so much fun and today he is six months old. Can you believe it? Half a year has passed since he was born .. what?? Crazy and it lets me know how quickly time passes - next week he'll be 20 or something.
Couple of new things .. Jackson started talking a lot recently, has been slobbering like a mad man (think he might be teething a little)and started sleeping through the night at five months (and you can believe that God got some glory about that)! Justin and I were SO excited - we felt like we got a little piece of heaven in our own home. He was going to sleep around 8PM and sleeping until around 6:30AM or so. The past week though he's been waking like clockwork at 5AM .. because he's hungry! He eats and then goes right back to sleep. Of course, he still only gets milk at this point so I think he's definitely ready for some food! I don't think the milk is getting him all the way through and he can only drink so much at a time so we can't just add more to his bottles during the day. His six month check up is on Monday so I think we'll get to give the boy some solid chow!
He also laughed for the first time on August 31st .. I cried and cried like I was a baby! I couldn't figure out why I was so emotional but then it hit me that it was for two reasons. The first is that I was so happy to hear him laugh out loud. We kept wondering when the little dude would laugh and then he did out of nowhere when I sat him in his little seat (which he now hates by the way). He still is very selective about what he will laugh at and when but just this morning he was cracking up at Justin. Some of the pictures I took were mid-laugh!
The second reason I got so emotional is because it only took me about three seconds to wonder what Addison would be like now and would she have been laughing too? I went back and forth between being happy to hear Jacks laugh and sad because I wanted to be hearing two babies laugh together. It was then that I realized that our lives will be full of these emotions, where Jackson will experience or do something awesome and we will be able to enjoy and celebrate it, but we will also always think of Addison and how much we miss her in our lives. I know I haven't really spoken much about this topic, but honestly it's because I can't .. it's harder now than it was six months ago if that makes any sense at all. When the babies were born, so much was going on that it was all we could do to get through those days and to care for Jackson. Thoughts of Addison continually came to mind during that time, but they tend to linger more and more and the questions about why come more often than they did back then.
All that to say that I know that God knows the depth of our joy and pain, our celebrations and memories and he holds us close as always. There's just a piece of our family missing and we will never be the same. With the holidays approaching, I look forward to watching Jackson enjoy new things, do new things, eat new things but also know that we will remember that our daughter isn't doing those same things. With that in mind, I know that we will approach this season with a new confidence that Christ is truly who he says he is and that he is the Savior that the world needs and we will rest in the peace that he gives ... and we'll remember that Jackson has been entrusted to us here and Addison is in absolute perfect health in the presence of the very one who gets us through each day.
Whew - that was heavier than I was going for but I guess it was much needed because I certainly feel better! Didn't know I was carrying that around with me :) But without further ado, enjoy some pictures of our precious little guy - we love him so much!
Just a quick update about J. He's getting to be so much fun and today he is six months old. Can you believe it? Half a year has passed since he was born .. what?? Crazy and it lets me know how quickly time passes - next week he'll be 20 or something.
Couple of new things .. Jackson started talking a lot recently, has been slobbering like a mad man (think he might be teething a little)and started sleeping through the night at five months (and you can believe that God got some glory about that)! Justin and I were SO excited - we felt like we got a little piece of heaven in our own home. He was going to sleep around 8PM and sleeping until around 6:30AM or so. The past week though he's been waking like clockwork at 5AM .. because he's hungry! He eats and then goes right back to sleep. Of course, he still only gets milk at this point so I think he's definitely ready for some food! I don't think the milk is getting him all the way through and he can only drink so much at a time so we can't just add more to his bottles during the day. His six month check up is on Monday so I think we'll get to give the boy some solid chow!
He also laughed for the first time on August 31st .. I cried and cried like I was a baby! I couldn't figure out why I was so emotional but then it hit me that it was for two reasons. The first is that I was so happy to hear him laugh out loud. We kept wondering when the little dude would laugh and then he did out of nowhere when I sat him in his little seat (which he now hates by the way). He still is very selective about what he will laugh at and when but just this morning he was cracking up at Justin. Some of the pictures I took were mid-laugh!
The second reason I got so emotional is because it only took me about three seconds to wonder what Addison would be like now and would she have been laughing too? I went back and forth between being happy to hear Jacks laugh and sad because I wanted to be hearing two babies laugh together. It was then that I realized that our lives will be full of these emotions, where Jackson will experience or do something awesome and we will be able to enjoy and celebrate it, but we will also always think of Addison and how much we miss her in our lives. I know I haven't really spoken much about this topic, but honestly it's because I can't .. it's harder now than it was six months ago if that makes any sense at all. When the babies were born, so much was going on that it was all we could do to get through those days and to care for Jackson. Thoughts of Addison continually came to mind during that time, but they tend to linger more and more and the questions about why come more often than they did back then.
All that to say that I know that God knows the depth of our joy and pain, our celebrations and memories and he holds us close as always. There's just a piece of our family missing and we will never be the same. With the holidays approaching, I look forward to watching Jackson enjoy new things, do new things, eat new things but also know that we will remember that our daughter isn't doing those same things. With that in mind, I know that we will approach this season with a new confidence that Christ is truly who he says he is and that he is the Savior that the world needs and we will rest in the peace that he gives ... and we'll remember that Jackson has been entrusted to us here and Addison is in absolute perfect health in the presence of the very one who gets us through each day.
Whew - that was heavier than I was going for but I guess it was much needed because I certainly feel better! Didn't know I was carrying that around with me :) But without further ado, enjoy some pictures of our precious little guy - we love him so much!
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