7 Week Easter Devotional for Families, "So Much Bigger than the Bunny"---Chance to Win a FREE Copy

I went to seminary with Tasha and keep up with her through her fantastic blog Afraid of Failing

"The book has two tracks. 1. A track that takes you through the entire season of Lent beginning on Ash Wednesday (March 9th this year), devoting about three days a week to each lesson; and 2. The Fast Track that focuses on each day of Holy Week–the week leading up to Resurrection Sunday."

"Bigger Than the Bunny is an excellent resource that will enable you to teach your children the true meaning of Easter. The activities are applicable to all age levels from preschoolers to older children as well as simple and effective. It's sure to provide a fun learning experience for everyone in your family."

I would definitely recommend getting this book before March 9th of this year. You can get it on Barnes and Noble for 23% off by clicking here. It is available on amazon for full price and not in bookstores yet. Also part of the money she gets from the book will help her financially in their adaption process.

Tasha's also has a great post on teaching your children the envelope system here

But one of the most exciting news is.......

She is giving a book away FREE here on my blog!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just comment here on this post that you would like a absolutely free copy of this book. The winner will be picked at random.

Great Worship Song: The Desert Song

by Hillsong

This is my prayer in the desert
And all that's within me feels dry
This is my prayer in the hunger in me
My God is a God who provides

And this is my prayer in the fire
In weakness or trial or pain
There is a faith proved
Of more worth than gold
So refine me Lord through the flames

And I will bring praise
I will bring praise
No weapon forged against me shall remain

I will rejoice
I will declare
God is my victory and He is here

And this is my prayer in the battle
And triumph is still on it's way
I am a conqueror and co-heir with Christ
So firm on His promise I'll stand

All of my life
In every season
You are still God
I have a reason to sing
I have a reason to worship

This is my prayer in the harvest
When favor and providence flow
I know I'm filled to be emptied again
The seed I've received I will sow."

We sang this song in worship this morning at David and it was wonderful. I highly recommend you downloading this song on itunes. Additionally, if you stay at home I would also recommend having time where you listen to your ipod (like while doing laundry, dishes, etc). Every day is a spiritual battle.

What are some of you favorite worship songs on your ipod?

Fun Friday: Pictures of us Celebrating KK's Birthday

I am so blessed that we now only live 50 minutes away from my parents house. On Monday, I was able to go to Spartanburg to celebrate KK's birthday. I am so thankful!

Budgeting

Keeping finances in order during the holiday season is always a challenge. It is so important to have "X" amount of money saved for Christmas. Sometimes I literally hide that money so I forget that I have it.

We decided to adjust our budget for the new year.

Some things that work well for us:

1. When I am at Walmart I break out my massive scientific calculator that I've had since college, and once I hit "X" amount we are done. This is so helpful because I am never surprised when I check out about how much money we have spent.
   
2. We are also budgeting weekly amount for Ingels, and an amount for dining out. We try our best to plan out our entire week of eating.
   
3. Watch and listen to financial advice on TV and the radio. Dave Ramsey is great, and I have recently discovered a show entitled "Till Debt to Us Part." This show comes on Saturday night.
   
4. We got an idea from "Till Debt to Us Part" to get cash out for groceries as well as dining out for the month (as opposed to using our debit cards). This helps us stay within the food budget. Eating is a cost you can really cut down on! Using cash can really help keep your spending under control.
   
5. Also, I am still "old school" and write down every thing in my check register that we spend money on.
   
6. Lastly, I try to pinch every penny that we save actually into our savings account. Many financial experts say you need at least $500 in savings for emergencies, but it would be better to have $1,000.

It has been a struggle keeping two houses going (keep praying our house in Columbia sells!). Additionally, we owe many different services for Charlie having to have his gallbladder out last year. His tummy hurts.

BUT...

We are SO blessed with all the finances God has given us, and I am blessed to have a wonderful woman of faith from church who gives me her newspaper with coupons in it for free every Sunday. I also enjoy printing coupons off the website coupon.com.

Do you have any tips on budgeting or any good books to read to about budgeting?

PS-Last week, Walmart has had huge clearance section in the Christmas section, and got a fleece for Abigail for $3.

Abigail's 2 Year Old Stats

Weight: 27.8 pounds 50%
Height: Did not write it down but she is in the 50-75%

She went for her 2 year check up back in December, and the doctor said she looked great. She is above-average with her language and lots of other categories, and I do not take it for granted for one second! It is so nice having babies in the 50 percentile because they actually wear their age (2t). Jackson weighed 27 pounds at his 2 year check up, (here) and the strange thing is that they are always 10 pounds apart. Jackson weighs 38 pounds now...crazy!

She has the sweetest voice, and to me she gets prettier and prettier every day. Her favorite new phrase is "not again" (too cute). Today she wore panties for the first time and if it was summer time, I would have her potty trained! Every day, I am thankful for my precious Abigail. I love our one-on-one times where we snuggle in the bed. It is so nice that she will sit still for 30 minutes or so. Lastly, she is a great singer, but gets VERY shy when she is in front of people or I break out the video camera (unlike Jackson). One thing though I am praying for her is that she will learn how to not be so dramatic. Her cry is the same if she has hurt herself or if Jackson took a toy away from her (this is of course hard on mommy and daddy).

I am overwhelming thankful for my babies who are growing up so fast.

Snowed in All Week=Time to Get Organized!

I got sterilite containers at Walmart before we got snowed in which I am so thankful for!

What I did to clean out the junk drawer:

1. Went through it all and put everything in piles, and threw away a lot.
2. Organized everything into three main piles. Tools, writing stuff for the kids, and miscellaneous. I do still have one zip lock bag for a game we take to play at restaurants.
   
3. After I dumped everything out, I did clean the draws really well.

Now, that I have all their "Preschool" worksheets organized, we were able to have "school" time two times this week while snowed in. The school lets me know ahead of time what they are working on, and this week they would have been working on the letter "X".

Do you have any suggestions on how to help Jackson write his letters on his own, beside worksheets, and a chalkboard?

Do you have any organizational tips for organizing your house? The sterilite containers were key for me being able to organize this drawer (the big ones were $3).

"Trade These Ashes in for Beauty"

We sang a great newer song in church entitled, "At the Foot of the Cross"

I got this song on itunes and I got the version that Kathryn Scott sings and would highly recommend it.

Lyrics:

Where grace and suffering meet
You have shown me Your love
Through the judgment You received
And You've won my heart
And You've won my heart
Now I can

Chorus:

Trade these ashes in for beauty
And wear forgiveness like a crown
Coming to kiss the feet of mercy
I lay every burden down
At the foot of the cross

Verse 2:
At the foot of the cross
Where I am made complete
You have given me life
Through the death you bore for me
And You've won my heart
And You've won my heart
Now I can

It was emotional for me singing this song on Sunday. Molly always would say that my babies were "a beauty." So, when the line, "Now I can trade these ashes in for beauty," came up for us to sing, I was not able to without crying. It was just a year ago where Molly was doing so great and even able to travel to Charleston for a funeral where she was able to hug and kiss all over my babies.

Another hard thing is explaining death to a 4 year old. Many experts say that children cannot understand abstract concepts till around 7 years old. Mimi and Pop Pop's dog Jack passed away in December and it was really hard for him to wrap his little mind around it. Over Christmas, he asked Mimi if she missed her doggy, and told her that he was in the clouds. He definitely is tender- hearted! He asked this weekend, why did your grandmommy die? I said most people die when they get older and she lived a long wonderful life.

Do you know of any good books explaining death to Preschoolers? Susan recommended When Dinosaurs Die and actually is letting us borrow it right now which is a huge blessing.

Molly

Today my precious grandmother Molly passed away at 92 years old. She was one of the most positive people I have ever met. I cannot remember her saying anything negative ever (this probably had a lot to do with her living so long). She was my last living grandparent. She also was my dad's mother so keep my daddy in your prayers this week.

I will always remember:

• Her playing cards with me for hours on end when I was little, even though she did not have to.
• Our sweet trips to get her hair done. In seminary, I had the privilege of taking her to get her hair done. She would tell me wonderful stories about her being one of the first women to graduate from the college of Charleston. She had some pretty amazing stories to tell.
  
• Her being there to watch me marry my prince.
  
• Her meeting my babies. She loved babies as much as I do (she had four of her own). She was so happy to kiss and love all over them.

Lately, God has been teaching me so much about faith. "Faith is being SURE of what we hope for and CERTAIN of what we cannot see." Part of being a woman of faith is being a positive person. Positive that whatever happens in life, God has a plan. Molly taught me more about being a woman of faith, through her actions, than any other person has. I pray I can live a life where I do not say much of anything negative and have faith like my sweet Molly.

A New Year, A New Resolution: Getting Organized!

This "junk drawer" sums it all up....

Before we moved I spent lots of time organizing and throwing out things. So, when we moved to this wonderful house we are renting, I was burned out of organizing and had a lot to unpack. This house is wonderful because we have so much storage space. We have a carport room, a big room in our backyard, and a huge attic. But, because of all this space, I do not have to be organized to make it all fit it. After it took us 2 weeks to find our Christmas ornaments, I am now very motivated to get back organized and would love to have your advice.

Here is the plan:

• Everyday, only after I have had my Bible time, I set a timer and organize something for 15 minutes.

What I have done already:

• Got my desks draws cleaned out and organized
• Got all my clothes that I want to keep from my babies in the attic
• Got all Christmas stuff in the attic

I am pretty much starting with the back of the house and going through the house. The big bears are going to be this junk drawer, and my coat closet, and our outside room. I have gotten are sterilite bins to organize this massive junk drawer (one container for batteries, one for tools, one for crayons).

Some good free resources:

• FlyLady
• Abrams Boys + Girls (read her links for resources)
  

Do you know of any good books on organizing your house or free resources?
Do you have any other advice on how to organize a big deep junk drawer?

Hopefully I will post once a week on how organizing is going and what has worked for me.