This is what happens by the time you get to #4!

Do you forsee therapy in this little guys future??

For the Frugal mom

Coming off of my last blog where I mentioned that there are more areas of homemaking skills that I would like to acquire....becoming more frugal is one of them. I have a husband who is very frugal (and that is an understatement) and after thinking for many years that he was just hoarding all of our money and just didn't want us to enjoy it, ;) I have come around to see how it has benefited us greatly.



Now, It seems my grocery bill keeps getting higher and my own spending on miscellaneous items such as clothing, household goods and decorating, etc. can sometimes get a little (okay, a lot) out of control. I want to be a better steward of our money especially during these economic times. I found these great sites that I am getting some great ideas from and thought I would pass them along to you. Hope you enjoy.

www.moneysavingmom.com
www.grocerycartchallenge.blogspot.com
www.thehappyhousewife.com
www.frugalgranola.blogspot.com
www.free2befrugal.blogspot.com

and these last two just amaze me. You will find tips on EVERYTHING!
www.pleasantviewschoolhouse.blogspot.com
www.kellishouse.blogspot.com

I was tagged by my friend Crazy Daisy to tell 7 random things about myself…..

1) When I was single, I made a list of qualities that I wanted in a Christian husband and made a copy for my friend Cheryl for her to keep me accountable when I was dating. On my Wedding day, she gave it back to me and congratulated me for finding the mate who met them all. Now almost ten years later and I am learning he is so much more! (Mark still has the copy and keeps it in a special place).

2) I am obsessed with researching. Whatever issue I am concerned with or want to know more about, I tend to over research it….usually stressing myself out!

3) I have a lot of friends who say that since they were little girls, all they wanted to be was a mommy. That was the last thing on my mind when I was young or in my early twenties. When I got saved at twenty-four I had a great mentor, Laura Sartin, who poured into my life and shared a lot with me about being a wife and mother. Needless to say, I was “hooked” with my first experience of motherhood and now LOVING my role as “mommy”….four babies later.

4) I was offered a really good softball scholarship to OU that I turned down. This is something I have regretted for many years but realizing how different my circumstances would have been if I had taken that opportunity not yet being a Christian. I have now rested in the fact that I am where I was supposed to be.

5) I have a huge fear of planes (and elevators too) and that’s not good when your husbands favorite hobby is flying. :)

6) When I first got married, I knew NOTHING about managing a home. I couldn’t cook, clean or even grocery shop right….and you can forget about sewing, gardening, and those other domestic duties… I was pitiful! With the help of close friends and my husband (My mother-n-law raised her son well….thank you Vernell) and my own research ;), I have come into my own. I was a good student and after a few years, I have become a more confident domestic goddess. There are still some things on my list I want to learn, but I am proud of how far I have come.

7) I get my batteries charged by being around others. I love people. I love to watch and study them, trying to figure them out. I should have been a counselor.

Now I am tagging my friends Eyes Wide Open, Serene Chaos, The Robertson Crew and The Call of the Wild to tell 7 random things about themselves. Can’t wait to “figure you out”. ;)

My four little Pumpkins!

Our trip to the Pumpkin Patch

For Halloween we went to my family's for pictures and candy and then we went to a friends house to Trick or Treat on their street.

Tonight, we are all inside and cozy without a care in the world because the garage has been fixed!! My husband is awesome...along with my step-dad. They got it done in a day and now we can get the house painted on schedule. Needless to say, my bad week turned out not to be so bad afterall. Hopefully I will be able to say the same this next week come Tuesday. ;) I might still want to go into hibernation for the next four years.

What a week and it's not even over!

Well, first of all, to put all of this in perspective it is not that bad of a week when my mind considers what REALLY could be worse. To me right now though...at this very moment...I have reached for the bowl of Halloween candy that my kids got from "Trunk or Treat" the other night and picked out most of the chocolate!!

When Mark isn't working he is home working on big house projects which have been going on for quite some time now. He is usually a big help to me since he is off three and four days a week and he really helps me with the kids (even teaching them school) so that I can get housework done and errands ran. With not having his help I am now more stressed with the house not being clean, having no quiet time and having to run my errands with three kids and a baby (which has never been a problem for me before). Not until some unidentified two year old who is throwing fits and whining practically all day has kidnapped my daughter Hope and has taken her place. She is relentless! McCain behind in the polls hasn't helped things either.....but all of these things is not the kicker....NOOOOO. Tonight, on my way to pick up Dawson and Carys at Awana's, I pulled out of my garage and hit the little middle "thingy" (no, I don't know what it is called) that divides our 2 car garage and tore our garage off of the foundation!! At first I didn't think it was that bad but it is. The garage is sitting whoppyjawed (that's a real word right??). More work and more money to be spent for my dear husband who sweetly told me it was no big deal even when I know it is for him.

I wish I was a bear right now so that I could just hibernate for a long time and wake up to all the house projects done; a happy three year old and a clean house. If only.

By the way, if you happen to see Hope, please tell her that her mommy misses her and to come home ASAP. :)

"Somewhere in the Middle"

This song has become my favorite song and daily I listen to it when I jog in the mornings. The great thing about running for me is that I can really get into deep uninterrupted thoughts that can really be emotional for me sometimes. I don't know why, maybe it's the endorphins??? This song hits home to me because it is me....I am caught in the middle right now. I know what God is calling me to do/to be and one moment I want to run from it and the other moment I want to embrace it....other times I think I am there but in reality I am not.

I found the song on "Youtube" and tried to upload it so you could see it from my blog but I couldn't figure it out...grrr. I hope you don't mind following the link instead and if any of you feel sorry for me you can comment and tell me how to upload videos. :) If it doesn't work at all....I am SOOOOOO sorry...just go to Youtube and type in "Casting Crowns caught in the middle."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DveYBno-pmQ

Catching up

Well, it has been awhile so I am playing catch up. It has been real busy with a three month old and three active kids. The moments I have the time to post, there just isn't much to say! :)

Dawson had his birthday party and the boys had a great time. We started off bowling then came home and had a scavenger hunt in our neighborhood. The neighbors loved it and were very helpful and both teams actually got all the items listed. We then played flashlight tag in the dark until they were finally wore out and came inside to watch a movie as you see above. We declared lights out at midnight but they kept playing and wrestling with each other until they started to get hurt so we finally made them settle down at 1am. Wouldn't you know that they would be up at 7am!!! Aaaahh! I took a good nap that afternoon.

Carys' dance class had an open class where parents could come in and watch and at the end each little dancer had to pick a parent to dance with. Carys picked her daddy. I thought it was sweet that Hope joined in.

We went to the zoo last Friday and had lots of fun! Here is a picture of the kids....can you see Shepard on Dawson's back? Don't worry....Mark is holding him. :)

Riding the turtle

Little Shep

We then went to the park outside of the zoo afterwards. All of the kids were begging me to take pictures of them on everything.

Our Care Bear

Hopey Bope or little monkey

Sheppy!!




I just had to put this on. It looks like Shepard is just as serious as Dawson as he figures out his Sudoku puzzles.