Prayer Request for Our House

This Sunday we are having an Open House for our house from 2-5pm. It would be great if you could pray right now and on Sunday, that this month will be the month that our house sells. Also, if you could ask anyone else who you know who prays to pray as well that the perfect person will come on Sunday and want to buy our house.

We have lowered the price a good deal, and we have a professional photographer coming to take pictures of the house tomorrow to put online. He was recommended by a friend, and is charging us a VERY minimal price to take these pictures. We are thankful, and we are hopeful that our house will sell very soon.

Also, if you know anyone interested in a 3 bedroom, 2 bath one story house, pass this link onto them: http://www.trulia.com/property/3003132066-209-Gardenwalk-Drive-West-Columbia-SC-29170

And the Winner Is...

Lauren!

I went to a randomizer, random.org, and it selected Lauren! It is so great to be able to give a free book away. Looking forward to hearing on how she is enjoying this book.

Don't forgot you can get your copy by going to barnesandnoble.com for now 5% off, but it looks like if you spend $25 with them you get free shipping.

Wednesday's Weight Watchers: I Have Lost 13.6 Pounds Now

It has been slow going (I joined WeightWatchers in October of last year), but having a friend go with me every week has made all the difference in the world. I have lost five percent of my body weight and three pounds away from 10 percent of my body weight. I have never done Weight Watchers during November and December (Thanksgiving and Christmas), but I am so glad I did this year because I did not gain weight during those holidays.

It would be losing weight quicker if I was going to work out classes that I love, but I have not been doing that. A friend recently told me about Shapes by Jodi in Kings Mountain that I will hopefully check out soon. In Columbia, I had one of the best workout teachers ever Lisa and I loved taking Body Step and Body Combat with her.

The key for me with Weight Watchers is planning out what I will eat the day before I eat it. Additionally writing everything down is key and I got a new cute cover for my 3 month journal.

I do need to increase my veggie intake, but I am really enjoying eating all the fresh fruit I like for 0 points.

Yesterday I ate:

Fiber One Bar 4 points

Banana 0 points

Weight Watchers Smart One Meal 7 points
Weight Watchers Brownie will lite cool whip 4 points

Grapes 0 points
Fiber One Yogurt 1 point

Dry Cereal 4 points

Weight Watchers Cheeseburger 5 points
Cookies 4 points

(usually I try to eat veggies at night for supper).

Total points-29 points not going over my points and most people's point value for a day which is 29 points and you get 49 extra points for a week to use (you also can earn points by working out).

Praying I can figure out a good goal weight for me so I can FINALLY become a lifetime member of Weight Watchers.

What type of exercising to you do and enjoy?

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.

Christmas Pictures: Part 1

Abigail got Jessie for Christmas but somehow Jackson is managing to sleep with her at night...He told me that Woody and Jessie needed their picture taken in the above picture.

The above picture is of cousin Zach. We are so blessed that they are only a couple month apart in age.

Jackson loved the Toy Story 3 toy solider's he got from Mimi . I think all the kids enjoyed playing with them.

Daddy and Abigail having a tea party with the "fake" food Mimi got her for Christmas.

Charlie's uncle (mother's brother). Don't yall think they look alike?

This year we celebrated Christmas in Columbia (we went to Spartanburg on Christmas day because of the snow), and went to Rock Hill Christmas Eve to see all of Charlie's family. Jackson was very excited to see Santa there at Geemaw's house! Jackson was also so excited to open his presents Christmas morning and kept on saying, "I love it, I love it! (about his big Buzz Lightyear).

Jackson's favorite gifts were: his Buzz Lightyear (we gave him), the Toy Story 3 movie (Pop Pop's and Mimi gave him), and his leapster explorer (Grand and Gigi got him). Santa got him Toy Story 3 zippty game. We are so blessed!

What was your Preschooler's favorite toy that they got for Christmas?

I Heart Bows: Where You Can Get My Favorite Hair Bows

I loved bows even before I had a baby girl. Bows are on my everyday China. So, when I had a baby girl, for the first year of her life I do not think I went anywhere without putting a bow on her head. Someone at church even told me that they had never seen her without a bow...

Abigail's hair is pretty fine, so I am having a hard time getting it to stay back. Love to hear any advice you have on dealing with fine hair!

Anyway, when we were back in Columbia last week, I stopped by the store attached to Lola to get Abigail a few bows, and found that they were closed (the one in Lexington next to Mcalister's deli). They had my absolute favorite bows. They were ones that did not poof up too much.

So yesterday, I decide to call Lola because the lady I use to talk to about these bows told me that she got them from a company based in California. The lady I talked called back and said that the company is Weeones. I found them online and the kind I like is the mini grosgrain hair bow and the tiny ones for babies under one (they are $5 each). She also said that The Willow's gift shop in this same shopping center is planning on starting to carry them soon. Just thought if you like bows at all you would like this resource.

Where do you get your hair bows?

Pictures of Abigail's First Time Playing in the Snow

Abigail and Jackson had the best time playing in the snow. Unfortunately, Abigail ended up tripping and failing face first in the snow and the picture above is taken after she fell. She now has a small cut under her eye, but was ready to go back out and play some more in the snow after she fell.

Kelly got Abigail some cool long underwear at Target (mommy could not find long underwear for 2t girls anywhere) in Atalanta.

It started snowing late on Christmas day in Spartanburg, so the above picture were taken the day after Christmas. It was a crazy Christmas with the snow, but it was so exciting for the kids!

Video of Charlie, Jackson, and Abigail Building a Snowman

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Video of Jackson's First Ever Performance!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

We were so proud of Jackson singing in his first ever performance at his Preschool today (3 year old class)!