From The Mud Puddle

2011-07-24T17:58:00.000-04:00

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2011-03-16T00:30:00.002-04:00

I guess I should start by saying, hi-followed quickly by ....um....meet Chloe, our 14 week old American Eskimo Spitz puppy that we adopted at the end of January.

The next thing that comes to mind is how it just seems that unlike many other bloggers out there, when life stuffs happen - rather than run to my blog-I disappear for a bit. At least this time it was only for two and a half months-right?

Anyway...just popping in to share our new furbaby and to try once again to jump start this here blog. At least when I am not here, you'll know what I am probably up to; chasing a quick ball of fluff known as Princess Chloe Kit Kat.

2011-01-05T00:50:00.003-05:00

Today was another quiet day of resting my leg from my fall. I still am debating if I need to go to the Dr to get it looked at or not. I figure if I go then they will tell me that it is just a deep long-lasting bruise. If I don't go, my leg will probably fall off or something due to neglect in not going to the doctor (thank you internet for settling fears when I need medical reassurance! Ha!)

We watched the Christmas Story for the first time today. It came via Netfix; one of a few things we have on a DVD queue there(of things they do not stream). It was a cute quirky movie and we enjoyed it for the most part (minus the language-what is it with the language in movies that are suppose to be holiday movies or family movies? Seriously-I just get tired of hearing the words again and again when there are better ways one can express themselves.

We also watched a weird movie called Play the Game that had Andy Griffith in it. He is no Andy Taylor of Mayberry in this movie. Again, language brought this movie down; well that and some of the sexual topics being discussed. I don't know if this movie was a network movie or just a cable thing, but I cannot imagine it being played often-even on cable. I guess it is safe in the Netflix streaming category. It didn't have this huge storyline but was mildly entertaining for an evening when two out of three of us just didn't feel up to our usual activities.

Yet again, my nose is stuffy-and so is Hannah's. I guess it is just our year to pick up everything, though I am suspecting the last two things are allergy related and not so much a cold. Both seemed to present shortly after doing some moving around of things that were a bit dusty. Oh to have a cleared out nose! I can dream anyway.

2011-01-03T16:58:00.003-05:00

Hannah, my daughter, just drove down the road towards Bojangles. (BTW-why doesn't Microsoft works like the word "Bojangles"-puzzling...Microsoft had to be taught the word LOL) She worked a 4AM to 10 AM shift at her job this morning and just woke up after a nice long nap. We are hungry now!

I play words with friends now-have for several months. If you play-I'd love some more contacts there-Just let me know you saw my query on my blog. I am Kittysunflowers there.

It is quiet here today. Christopher is at work, Jay is at work and as I said, Hannah had been taking a nap. I didn't feel much like playing my other games, so I sat here reading the news online a bit. I don't feel a lot more informed than I did a while ago, but was at least entertained by the stories I picked out to read through.

A few months ago, we subscribed to Netflix again so we could try the streaming feature they offer. We can watch instantly through our computers but also through the Wii which is amazing to me. We have several things in our queue that we rotate through as well as some movies that interest us. This go-round with Netflix we are concentrating on the things we can stream and not so much getting DVDs mailed to us. So far, its been worth the money spent.

One of the things we've been enjoying is Curtis Stone's Take home Chef from a few years ago. We are on episode 77 or 78 of 115 from season 1 right now. We will get our own dinner or take out ready and then start to watch Curtis make an "amazing meal" for someone. He certainly has a fun personality it seems. I'm not crazy about everything he makes, but there are a few things we might try in the future, God willing.

We also started watching Friday Night Lights. I've heard for a while it is a good program, we just have never tried to watch it more than once. So far we are interested.

Tree was taken down and put on the porch to be planted last Friday night. I was glad to go ahead and do some undecorating. We still need to get the outside stuff inside, but that can wait a bit (and will have to since our blow up santa will need to dry out a bit now.)

After all that typing, I am still hungry. I think I smell chicken-got to go now!

2011-01-01T00:03:00.003-05:00

Good-Bye 2010

I didn't like you-glad you are leaving.

Welcome 2011

Hope we can be friends.

May God bless you all in the new year!

2010-12-21T21:26:00.002-05:00

Here it is ...um...1-2-3-4 days until Christmas and I just did get my cards out. I was kind of beginning to wonder if they would actually be Christmas cards or if I'd have to rename them New Years Greetings.

I had taken the kids to Northeast Park a few weeks ago to take advantage of the rare snow that was on the ground as a backdrop for a photo. I took many as I usually do and then sifted through them a couple of times before making a final selection.

I debated burning the image on CD so that I could just go to CVS or Walgreens for a print-but opted to just order online instead. How long would it take afterall?

Apparently, it takes it two weeks in the middle of December-something I was not prepared for.

I had the cards mostly ready; addressed before the photos came. All I had to do was to sign them, label the pictures and then seal the cards up and mail.

Now I sit-hoping the cards make it to their destination before Christmas Day. Most should, but a few stragglers that have further to go probably will not quite make it in time. At least the thought was there.

I also keep going back and forth if I am really done with my shopping or not. I know I have the bulk of my shopping finished, but there are still a few odds and ends I hope to pick up for stockings here and there. It plagues me to try my best that each of my kids get equal amounts of things (or at least money spent) in their gifts. My desire is to always be as fair as I can possibly be. They are old enough now that they really know how much I try and how sometimes it is not possible. They know my heart in it all-which eases the mommy guilt....but still-I just keep hoping and praying to always be fair if I have anything to do with it.

Decorations are more or less out. By now it is probably too late to consider adding anything to our house. I do have a couple of unused light sets that we could string along somewhere, but I dont know if it is really something we'll take the time for.

I am getting ready to watch some TV with the kids,something lighthearted and fun to enjoy as we count down the rest of these slow days before Christmas.

God Bless my friends

2010-12-13T19:37:00.002-05:00

The snow has melted-yet it is still pretty cold outside. I am glad that December actually feels like December should-even if it means a higher power bill next month to pay for heat that we didn't need most of October and November.

My daughter, Hannah, just finished her classes today; taking her last exam at 6 PM. She arrived home excited to be done and ready for a break. We just finished eating dinner and it seems like a nice calm has settled over our house for a few weeks.

I realized over the weekend that we were only two weeks away from Christmas. I know it will go fast; yet I want to savor the season. I want to enjoy each and every day between now and then and not miss a moment in being busy or hurried.

I am thankful that for the most part, I am done shopping for presents. Oh, I may see a few tiny things here and there; but am done with all the main things I had on my list. I am happy that the chore part of the holidays is done. It means that as I go out over the next few days and weeks I can just enjoy myself.

My husband and I will celebrate 24 years next Monday. In case I don't make it back beforehand or on that day, I love you Jay-Happy Anniversary sweetheart.

2010-12-04T23:42:00.003-05:00

First things first...

Today, it SNOWED!

Emphasis mine-because I love snow. It's a beautiful snow because it came the day that we had planned to decorate for Christmas. I have never put up our Christmas tree in the snow. What a treat. I am glad that I bought the tree on Thursday night so that we did not have to go get one today in the wet weather.

Bayley would have loved this snow. It wasn't too deep, and would have been the right consistency for him to take a few bites of it as he wandered through the yard admiring God's handiwork. He always loved walking through the snow....and he was missed today as we thought about how much he loved the snow and how much he always loved it when we'd put up the Christmas tree.

We bought him a small blue spruce to place in his garden area where he rests. We figured after all these years he could have one of his own. Pretty cool that the first day thereafter, it snowed on his tree.

This year for Christmas, we went back to our roots, the ball root tree that is. We've skipped two years in doing so, opting to go with an artificial last year and a cut tree the year before. We really wanted a ball root tree this year as that is always what Bayley seemed to enjoy the most. this year, this tree will also be planted out in his garden. I doubt it will survive any better than the other ones, but for a time, it will be there by his side-and that makes us happy.

We usually put up our Christmas stuff during Thanksgiving weekend, but this year everyone was sick. It feels weird that we are now several days into December and just now getting around to starting with decorating. I guess it will balance out when we don't take things down until after Jan 1 as seems to be the case most of the time anymore.

2010-11-29T01:59:00.002-05:00

On Thursday-Thanksgiving Day to be exact, my son started warming up some food in the microwave. He came to me and said, "There is a hole in the bottom of the microwave". He said it so calm-like, so nonchalantly that I almost didnt pick up on the importance of what he was trying to tell me-THAT THERE WAS A HOLE IN THE BOTTOM OF THE MICROWAVE AND THAT EVERY TIME WE COOKED WE WERE BEING RADIATED!

As the situation became clear to me, I wondered how long the hole has been there. I mean, we live busy lives and something like a hole there could have gone unnoticed for a while.

I counted my toes and was glad to find that I had not grown any new ones, so it probably has not been there for long; but still- RADIATION!

I guess this is where on Thanksgiving we should have given thanks we found it out now rather than when our toenails fell off in a few weeks, but since we were in the midst of the crud/flu of 2010 details have been a bit fuzzy and we probably just went back to sleep a few more hours.

The next day, even though I didnt really feel like it, my husband and I braved the crowds at Sears in search of a microwave. We did at least wait until 5 PM or so-rather than the Black Friday 4 AM crowds.

I had looked around online before we left and determined that the microwave I wanted was a Kenmore based on ratings and reviews. The internet is so handy like that; cutting edge information in seconds right at my fingertips.

If only I had known that just figuring out what I wanted was going to be the easy part; going to the store and dealing with a clueless cashier was a completely different matter. That my friends is a story for later.

The important thing at this moment is that if you are driving by our house and see a microwave by the road, do not pick it up and take it home and use it. Remember, RADIATION is not your friend when it leaks out through a hole in the bottom of your microwave. I'd just keep walking and let that baby sit there for the trash guys to cart off in a few days. You can thank me later. Next time, I promise I'll put something out at the road you can take home if you just forget about this old appliance.

Ahchoo and Amen

2010-11-25T09:31:00.002-05:00

It is Thanksgiving Morning and I am awake while the rest of my family sleeps. We are all sick with some sort of crud; week two of us having something passing around between us. I am grateful for the fact that we do not have to go anywhere-besides perhaps to CVS or Walmart later to get some vicks salve to put under our nose so we can breath better.

Below is the column I wrote for Thanksgiving. May you and yours be blessed this season as we all give thanks to God.

As my husband, son, daughter and I walked out into the parking lot tonight, they were a couple of steps ahead of me. I watched as each of them laughed and talked about nothing much in particular. It was a moment of being content; of being thankful for these wonderful people that God wove together into a family so many years ago.

These three people have shaped who I am as our lives intertwine daily. My kids are at such an age that I learn as much from them as they have learned from me. My husband gives of himself daily to give his family the best possible life. He is my best friend and the one that I have built a life with all these many years. Our children, now adults, add to that joy.

I do not take the blessings in my life for granted; though there are many. To me, thankfulness is not just saying the words, “thank you”, but more an attitude of gratitude. The word, gratitude, defined as a feeling of thankfulness or appreciation seems to denote a deeper expression of praise more than words can convey.

Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind. Psalm 107:8a

To “give thanks” is sacrificial; it is giving away a part of ourselves in appreciation for what has been done for us and those around us. It is an offering of our heart to God as we express our gratitude.

I feel gratitude for the home that we have; however humble it may be. It is a roof over our heads when the cold rain falls. It is walls surrounding our bodies when the blustery winds blow strong. It is a place to lay our head at night when we are tired from a day of work and play. It is a safe place to be when the rest of the world seems to be fighting against us.

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18

I am thankful for food in our pantry and cabinets; overflowing at times from all the couponing that I have done as I’ve stocked up on staples. Even as times have been lean, my family has always had God’s provision in one way or another for a meal or the creativity to find a meal out of whatever is still there.

You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance. Psalm 65: 11

There is appreciation in my heart for the warm water to take a bath and to wash our dishes. I am grateful for just having water at all that runs through pipes and the tap directly where I need it each day. Water to keep us hydrated daily is not taken for granted as we know there are others in this world that do not have access to the creature comforts we have here.

Right now, as I am writing, I can hear the washing machine and dryer run. Neither would be necessary without the blessing of clothes to wear or sheets and blankets to wrap ourselves in that get dirty through daily use. I am grateful for the technology that makes this chore simpler than my grandmother and those before her had it.

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever. Psalm 118: 1

This Thanksgiving season, a song of praise to God will rise up from our hearts as we sacrificially give thanks to our Lord Jesus for everything he has done for us. He has seen to all of our needs in His time and way including making a way for us to know Him through his son Jesus Christ.

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:15-17

2010-11-24T00:22:00.003-05:00

So, the other day, I cut my husband's hair as I've mentioned in the past that I do. As I was cleaning the sheers afterwards, a tuft of blondish-red hair fell out of them.

My eyes filled with tears I tried to push back. Again, here was another reminder of the life we lived with this amazing dog.

I picked up the one-inch curl and held it for a moment. It was the first time since his death that I had touched his fur. It was so soft and pretty; left over from the last time I had cut Bayley's fur.

Not ready to let it go, I laid it in the container we keep the hair cut supplies. I probably should dig it out and put it somewhere safe, but for the time being, this was the best I could think of to do.

The reminders are everywhere-constantly reminding us of the joy of raising Bayley from his puppy-hood and the life we experienced because he was here always causing us some sort of mischief.

The loss is still profound; yet we know we are all doing a little better than we were that day in August when he died. One step at a time we move forward better for having shared our lives with a little puppy that wrapped himself around our hearts.

2010-11-23T00:08:00.000-05:00

Dear Suntrust,

A few years ago, I picked up this drink cozy at one of your locations inside of Harris Teeter. I have loved having this drink cozy and have used it faithfully, especially in the summertime when condensation seems to be a problem more than any other time.
My drink cozy has seen better days; yet I cannot find another one just like it. I am attached to this drink cozy and have considered if it is even possible for me to restitch it together. It is falling apart one stitch at a time.
I would love another drink cozy just like this one. Could you oblige? I doubt you still have any that have the NASCAR logo on them like this one, but that's OK since the main thing I wish to have is a good replacement for this cozy before this one completely comes apart at the seams.
Thanks for your consideration,

Muddy aka Linda

2010-11-22T03:23:00.002-05:00

It is hard to know how to follow the last post on my blog. It's been three months and every time I have come here to consider what I should write, I get distracted by Bayley's picture and go on search for other pictures or videos that I have posted on here of him. He is missed and it seems not a week goes by that we have some memory stirred of what life was like when he was here living with us.

Just last week, I had the roaster up on the counter top in order to cook a turkey. In the past, whenever we'd cook something in there, Bayley would circle around underfoot hoping something would drop into his food dish or mouth. We'd shoo him out of the kitchen and make him watch from afar. It was odd picking the turkey apart without him here.

Life goes on and we have had to continue walking in order to stay in step. Its just nice to remember him here and there as we think about him.

I cannot believe it is the week of Thanksgiving already. I am scheduled to pick up a ham on Tuesday for us to have here on Thursday for the four of us from Honey Baked Ham. It was just a little treat we thought would be nice this year rather than baking our own. It will be nice to just concentrate on cooking the sides rather than the whole meal.

My mother in law has invited us to come Thursday, but with the uncertainty of the kid's schedule's Thursday and Friday (Hannah has to be at work at 3 am Friday morning), and the fact we are all still sick with fever, coughs, stomach upset etc...it seems to make more sense to stay home and make sure we are all well enough to do our jobs. I just hope we are all well enough to enjoy the ham by then.

Recently we subscribed to Netfix streaming and have enjoyed having instant access to so many various titles. We do not have cable, so even cable shows that are several years old are new to us and enjoyable. It's pretty reasonable in price to subscribe and there is the benefit of being able to stream it through our computers or the Wii. Technology amazes me.

2010-08-17T00:42:00.000-04:00

"Bayley"

April 22, 1999-August 15, 2010

We love you Bayley-now and always!

2010-07-01T01:21:00.002-04:00

It's July, and I am here and you are there and it's once again been a bit of time since I wrote something on my blog. (Hey, I am being optimistic that there is still someone out "there" that is reading what I have to say here every now and then)

I really didn't pop in right now to say anything life altering, but since my daughter made the comment on twitter that the year is now half over, I just felt like I wanted to mark the day, the moment when that occurred.

Have I accomplished at least half of my plans for this year so far? Did I have plans? Should I think up something that I did accomplish this year and claim I planned it on January 1st so that I can say, "Oh yeah, I am all over that one-it's done!"

2010-04-16T01:36:00.002-04:00

Just sharing a couple of updated photos of Bayley, our dog. He will celebrate his 11th birthday on the 22 of April. He has good days mostly-but has some where he really shows his age. I still see the puppy in him though-which makes me smile on the inside and out.

2010-04-16T01:15:00.002-04:00

It's been a while since I've posted any of my columns. Some of the stories were not uploaded to the newspaper site, so for now this will just be stories that I can direct link. The rest are .pdf and on my other computer.

Rhythm of the rails a family’s soundtrack

Never Say Never With The Internet

Lesson Learned: Sewing can be fun

We're Your Customers, Not Statistics

Tree Mishaps Renew Christmas' Focus

Ornaments Trace A Family's History

Photobooks Preserve Memories

Random Shots of a Family's Holiday

Learning Never Stops, No Matter What Age

Playing with Legos Fun for Young and Old

Will try to catch up a few more soon.

2010-04-15T01:05:00.002-04:00

Was that a tumbleweed that just rolled by my screen?

Here, let me remove some of the cobwebs from the blog corners!

Since late 2004, I have tried to post something at least once a month-even if it was just a photo or a "here is my such-and-such month post". Sometime after that last post, cute as Bayley was, the wheels seemed to fall off.

This blog has been different things to me at different times. At first it was just a placeholder in case I wanted to blog sometime. Later I used it to start talking to whoever was listening. For me, as I look over older posts, it's a collections of memories as I can remember where I was and what was going on in my life as I read along and enjoy the pictures again.

So, no, this blog has not died-nor been forgotten. I just need to start typing what I've stored in my mind again to share with anyone of you still playing along at home.

God bless you all!

2009-12-31T23:37:00.001-05:00

The end of the month-The end of the year

May you and yours rest in God's peace this New Year's Eve 2009 and throughout 2010

2009-11-30T17:09:00.002-05:00

It's the end of the month, and here I am-finally. Rather than point out the obvious(again and again) that I have not posting much lately and why, I'll just begin.

November started with my birthday on the first. It was my 43rd and yes, I feel 43 most days. It was a good day, spent simply in the company of my husband, kids and dog. We went out to eat and I was given a sewing machine to replace the really old one I had that just quit about a year or so ago.

My husband was also on vacation the first week of November, which was really nice. We contemplated going off-just the two of us without kids, but in the end, we decided to clean out closets instead. I do not think the trade off was equal, but it did feel good to purge some things that we really should have gotten rid of years ago. We also spent a fair amount of time going out to eat and watching TV...just enjoying the days spent together.

The second week of November, my husband came down with the flu. Going to the dr, it was determined that he had the regular flu, not the H1N1 variety since he did not have the symptomatic severe sore throat in his list of ailments. He spent a week in bed recovering.

The third week of November was relatively quiet compared to the first half of the month. I started the week out by getting a much needed haircut. Amazing how a fresh haircut can make you feel. I always dread getting my hair cut-but am always glad I did.

The fourth week of November started with a bang as my husband had an accident on the way to work. He ran off the road and then overcompensated as he came back onto the road, landing his van into a tree. We were thankful that he was OK, that the van, while hurt was still drivable once it was pulled out of the ditch and that no one else got hurt and no property damage was done. As the officer that helped my husband out during the incident said, we were indeed blessed.

So, instantly, my days got a lot busier with an extra person to drop off somewhere. It will be a crazy couple of weeks as we attempt to get everywhere where they need to go and picked up again when it's time to return home. Our auto guy is looking for the fender he needs to make the necessary repairs.

Thanksgiving included praises to God none of this was worse.

I am amazed we are now at the end of November, as it seems to have just flown by in a flash. We spent the weekend decorating our tree and house, adding a few new things while incorporating some of the old. I found an artificial tree for a really good price at one of the black friday sales (yes I was one of the crazy ones out there for the first time in MANY MANY years)-but am somewhat mourning not having a live one...especially not having a live ball root tree as we've enjoyed in the recent past. There is just something special about having a live tree-but there is also a plus in having an artificial one that can be put up when you are ready-without having to wait until the tree lot gets in a tree to your liking. Pros and Cons-what would life be without them? :)

Catching up with stories from the Rock Creek Record, here are a few links for now:

Rhythm of the Rails a Family's Soundtrack
Never Say Never With The Internet
Lesson Learned-Sewing Can Be Fun
We're Your Customers-Not Statistics

2009-10-29T14:49:00.005-04:00

This afternoon, after my husband, Jay, brought the mail inside, I noticed that we received THREE identical postcards from the same Gibsonville Alderman candidate running for office. One was addressed to my husband, a registered voter; another was addressed to myself, a registered voter, and lastly one was addressed to my daughter, also a registered voter. Under each name it said, "or current resident".

My first, second and third impression of this local candidate, Ted Barber, was if this is how he handles his campaign monies, there is NO way I would trust him to handle Town of Gibsonville monies. This is wasteful. One postcard to our household would have been sufficient. One postcard to ANY household would have been sufficient (if postcards HAD to be mailed at all). I realize that he probably just gleaned the registered voter database in order to know who to send the postcards to, but it is still irresponsible, wasteful and lazy to not take the time to weed out duplicate addresses in order to save money and resources.

And yes, those postcards are torn in half because after my first, second and third impressions as listed above, my next thought was to tear the postcards in half and throw them away.

Also, and probably more importantly-he takes the exact opposite stance from those I hold on local issues. Like some of his opponents have stated, if you do not have money-you do not spend money.

2009-10-14T15:22:00.001-04:00

My Dog is a Master Food Snatcher

2009-10-09T20:46:00.018-04:00

Back in the summer, I saw where Legos for education was offering a small lego set to encourage educators to help them come up with educational ideas. The insert in the mail says "Are You Lego Smart".

One of the activities was to build a duck using only the red and yellow pieces included in this set. It said that each duck would be different and that it would be interesting to compare them all.

So, curious what we as a family could come up with, I decided we'd try it. My duck turned out like this:

My son, Christopher's looks like it is skimming the waterways:

Bayley was mildly interesting, probably because he thought that the sound of plastic indicated food for him to stare at:

Bored, he laid back down and went back to sleep again:

My daughter, Hannah, took her turn creating the Bunducky-patient pending of course:

My husband's duck, well...I think he has some sort of floatation device to assist him:

It was a fun activity, and sure enough we all created different Lego Ducks out of the pieces. We are not sure what we'll end up submitting for the educational lego thingy-but one thing is for sure...

I have fallen in love with this lime green piece that was in the pack. Who knew that lime green was a color? I didn't know-so if nothing else, this pack of legos taught me that lime green legos exist!

2009-10-08T21:07:00.000-04:00

Playing catch-up with posting columns I've done since the last time I've shared.

Stay Cool Drink in a Good Book

Summer Ends Sooner For Merchants

Wii Game offers a New Level of Fun

Repeat Computers Are Not Human

A Trip Back To Tweetsie

Bowler Beats Injury Wins Silver Medal

Phone Courtesies Still Apply

Thirtysomething Through Aging Eyes

Acting Out As EcoBroker

Whistling A NC Potter's Tune

2009-10-05T01:59:00.002-04:00

Earlier this year I posted about the writing on the side of a box from starbucks. Today, my purchases were put inside of a paper handled bag that reads:

You're holding something special,
A tasty treat. A Thoughtful gift.
All inside a handy carrier.
Which becomes a lunch bag, A puppet,
A keep-it-new book cover
A garden tool holder,
A "bring a few CDs over for dinner" carrier.
Unwrapped, it's a sketch pad,
With handles,
So reuse it, Reincarnate it.
Re-imagine it.
And when it's served its
every purpose,
recycle it.

Love the creativity of these wrappings-keep it coming Starbucks!

2009-09-21T00:40:00.002-04:00

Static

Neatly Folded Towels

Stacked in a Very Tall Pile

Fresh From the Dryer

Haiku by Linda Vestal aka Muddy

2009-08-17T21:48:00.002-04:00

A few recent columns:

How A Friendship Was Born

Stay Cool-Drink In A Good Book

Summer Ends Sooner For Merchants

Wii Game offers A New Level of Fun

2009-08-16T23:33:00.019-04:00

Two weeks ago, on August 2nd-We celebrated this:

Hannah was so tiny to us when she was born, so fragile. We asked ourselves, "now what" when we arrived home from the hospital.

We enjoyed learning about the ins and outs of taking care of a little baby, totally dependant on her parents for care. She arrived home in this little yellow elephant outfit-bought just in case she was a boy-or just in case she was a girl. We wanted something that could go for either. It had cute little knit pants with smaller elephants crawling all over them.
We affectionately called her chicken head, because of the hair of hers that stuck up on top. She found comfort in her "binky", the pink passy that we bought on a whim as we were trying various kinds.

I loved this little outfit she is wearing below. We called it her pebbles outfit since she looked like pebbles in the Flinstones. We teased that we could have taken some of that stick up hair and wrapped it around a bone just like pebbles. :)

She was quickly introduced to Scotty-the dog we had at the time. The first meeting did not go very well with Hannah, though Scotty seemed to enjoy the photo completely!(I must have been holding a cookie!)

Later on, we tried again....

and again....

They seemed to warm up to one another eventually....at least until she invaded Scotty's space.

I could do a whole series of photos dictating the Scotty/Hannah relationship.

From the very start, Hannah loved books-something that is still very true today. She would listen intently to the sound of our voice, and eventually tried her hand at making sounds-VERY loudly I might add...

She even practiced her rolling over skills as she took in a good book. Apparently she was a multi-tasker even at that early age.

We wrapped her in a "pea-pod" as we got her ready for bed for naps and night. This was before the "Back to sleep" campaigns that started in 1992 (or there abouts)..In this top photo she is laying on a spare bed in her room that is covered in an old bed spread of mine (can you say early 1970's?) I still have it somewhere around here...it's loud and bright-and it had curtains to match-but I loved it.

After the pea-pod roll, we would lay her on her tummy and tuck another blanket on top of her-tucking her in nice and tight. I cringe looking at these knowing the prevailing advice today. We did it to keep her still-from rolling over and waking up-at least for a few months. It worked-but ....wow-live and learn huh?

Her daddy and I love her to pieces, even to this day...

She was for the most part, a very happy baby-easy going....happy just be a baby.

She did have her moments though...

Don't we all?

She traveled well..

And made friends easily...

Eventually she learned to walk, and strutted her stuff around the townhouse we lived at that time..

Before we knew it , her first year had come and gone...and we were celebrating her first birthday...

Likewise, 19 years have also passed in a flash...as we celebrated her 19th birthday two weekends ago. Happy birthday Hannah....you make me feel old! Ha!

2009-08-07T01:04:00.002-04:00

I've been doing Send Earnings and Inbox Dollars for a year now. I havent really said anything (though did have a referal button for a short time in my sidebar for a short time) . I guess I wanted to make sure the money I earned was "real" before encouraging others to go check it out via a link.

Back in April, I got my first check from Inbox Dollars, and then today got my first one from Send Earnings. It's not a huge amount of money, but it's something. Some was made reading emails, other parts of it was doing an offer or two for things we were looking to do anyway. Still other parts of it was made when I did a couple of surveys for them. No one will "get rich" doing this-or be able to quit their job to stay home, but it's money still the same....and who doesn't like getting a check in the mail now and again?

So in case you are interested, I'm putting my referal banners in the side bar in case you'd like to check it out. No obligation or pressure-just there with the above explaination of what it is if you're interested. Otherwise, carry on...and thanks for visiting my little part of the internet!

2009-07-30T21:38:00.002-04:00

You know, a blog is a lot like a pile of stuff you need to sort through and organize. You can walk by it a couple of times a day, unfazed. You tell yourself that you need to get to that pile/blog - but you just keep walking because it's easier than dealing with the pile/blog at hand.

I guess this space is my dumping ground of sorts at times, much like a place where I might put papers or things that I need to sort through later. It's a bit of this, a smidge of that and a lot of messy disorganization.

I like to post stuff that made me smile or caused me a bit of silliness in my day. Sometimes it is a place to keep track of my columns or to join in MSM's fun TIMHT as I am able to.

It's not like I am not online-for I am...but my time here is often spent reading more than commenting or writing as you can tell. I enjoy the back and forth between bloggers - I just have a hard time dedicating the time to keep up with everything.

Last year (2008) I tried to write or post something daily for a while. It was fun-but then I saw the "shiny shiny" in the corner over there~~> and became distracted with other things.

This is where I am today, right now....at times I guess I'll write some stuffs here, post some "you tube" (get ready for when I do, because I have saved some real good ones recently I want to share), and type out whatever else seems to be on my mind that day. There is no pattern or reason in it all, just me-finally getting to the pile/blog when I make myself sit long enough to churn out a coherent thought from time to time. (or at least a stream of consciousness of garbled words)

So am here, saying hello. Not going anywhere....just making sure that my blog still knows who I am!

2009-07-17T00:19:00.003-04:00

For this week, I share a special deal that I got this week at CVS. This week at the drug store, they are offering their 6 x 8 photobooks for $7.99. When you make your purchase, you recieve back $7.99 in Extra Care Bucks (CVS money) that you can apply to your next visit. The advertisement said the limit was one, but I learned that the limit supposedly is 5...so..

I made two at first, (one for me, one for my mother) and then made two more (one for my brother, one for my sister) of pictures that I took at a get-together from last year (yeah, just like I am so much of the time with TIMHT, I am really behind with getting these pictures shared to my family-Ha)

While the CVS books are very nicely done-they are not in the same quality as shutterfly (my only other experience with publishing a photobook.) Difference comes in that shutterfly publishes on both sides of the pages, CVS-just one side. It's just a bunch of pictures essentially stapled and bound.

Still-free is free (and since I had some ECBs from earlier in the week-even my first one was free). I am hoping to go back tomorrow to get one more done if possible. (probably of dog pictures as I dont have a book of that yet)

Thanks for looking-for more TIMHT visit MSM's blog !

2009-07-08T14:40:00.000-04:00

Time Passes Slowly At Doctor's Office

2009-07-03T20:01:00.001-04:00

Couple of new columns that didn't make it to the newspaper website:

Coupon Shopper Explores Storage Options for Collection

Drugstore Days Still Stick

(concerning my very first job)

2009-07-02T14:26:00.004-04:00

For this week, I wanted to share a bit of kid artwork. This was made by either Hannah or Christopher in 1991 at church. They each made one...I have this one and the other one was given to my mother. I think this one is Hannah's, but am unsure.

(they were in a group of three or four kids-so nothing has a name on it from that era where we were attending a Calvary Chapel home church.

This has been in the closet with some other kid art. It is made of art foam, gold stars and ribbon.

It felt approapriate to share in honor of our Country's 233'rd birthday (I think I got that right)

I am not crazy about the direction our country is going lately. What this country is today does not reflect where it started. I trust the leaders who are in place are there for a reason God knows, and so will trust God rather than men.

God Bless America,

Land that I love.

Stand beside her, and guide her

Thru the night with a light from above.

From the mountains, to the prairies,

To the oceans, white with foam

God bless America, My home sweet home....©Irvin Berlin

Likewise, I know from a heavenly perspective, America is not my home...

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. Ephesians 2: 19 & 20

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. Hebrews 11: 13

Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. 1 Peter 2: 10-12

Praise God

2009-06-29T23:13:00.000-04:00

Today, as I was running errands, I went into a thrift store that is across town that I do not usually get to because it is just so far out of my usual path.

While there, I found this Ravensberger Puzzle Ball for $3 in their stack of puzzles. It looked like something we might enjoy doing, so I bought it.

My daughter and I opened it and found that the original owner had organized the pieces into ziploc baggies according to what part of the world they belonged to. Since I was unsure how easy doing this puzzle would be-we decided to take advantage of the organization rather than to start with a big pile of pieces.

We started from one of the poles and started building our way up to the middle. The puzzle is numbered on the back of each piece-likewise making it easy to put together (or check yourself if you want to do the puzzle by the picture. I think my daughter and I both decided that our main goal was to get it together-regardless of HOW. (at least for this first effort)

In this last picture, you can see the numbers inside as my daughter, Hannah, holds the puzzle ball up....We are about half way done right now. It is a lot easier than I thought it might be-but then again-there are lots of helps to make sure you get it right.

2009-06-25T23:41:00.001-04:00

Well, with moments to go-I sweep into blogger to try to actually post my TIMHT post on THURSDAY this time. I know-will wonders ever cease?

For this week's submission I offer the neo to go-antibiotic neosporin in a handy little spray thingy:

As you can expect, I had some handy little coupons that I matched up to a nice little sale Walgreens was having a few weeks ago and got a few of these. I've had my eye on them for a while...yet just had not found a good match.

Once I brought it home, I found it fit quite nicely on my coppertone ring-another good deal found at Walmart a few weeks back as well...

A small antidote concerning Neosporin....

Growing up, as we came inside after playing outside, if we found bug bites on our skin (summer+outside+mosquitos=red bug bite welts in me), my mother would say, "go get the bug bite medicine". This medicine had a name-but we did not call it by that-we called it the "bug bite medicine".

Years past and I started working at a local drug store. Low and behold if the stuff we called "bug bite medicine" was really Neosporine. Ha! I had no idea. This was news to me.

Perhaps the fault is in the fact that often the label would rub off the tube back then or that no one in my family called it by it's real name. Regardless, I have never gone back to calling it bug bite medicine as I learned it could be used on so much more than those pesky welts compliments of some naughty bugs!

For more TIMHT -hop over to MSM's blog .

2009-06-23T18:58:00.005-04:00

Thanks to Money Saving Mom for the heads up about a special Always Infinity deal at CVS today (this week?)

She had learned that these pads were ringing up for $4.99 a box (for the larger size) just like the regular pads were. I decided to check it out this afternoon when I ran some errands.

I bought 5 boxes of these pads @ $4.99

I used 4 -$4 off coupons and 1-$1 off coupon

I had $6 in ECB's left to apply to this order and another $3.15 on a gift card

leaving me with a total out of pocket expense of .08 cents.

.08 cents!!

It was an amazing deal to add to this week's persuit of the big savings !

Fun stuff to watch your bill drop as you check out. I love the reactions between the cashiers/managers and other shoppers as I stand in line. Lots of fun.

2009-06-20T00:37:00.002-04:00

It's hard to know where to pick up and begin to post after a few weeks of not writing here. It seems June hit and time has just been consumed with so many other things.

The first week, my husband had off from work. It was a nice simple stay-at-home week where we lived unstructured lives for those few days. We did some projects around the house, went out to eat some and ran some errands. The main accomplishment was that we all had a good chance to reconnect with one another (kids took off from their pt time jobs as well)

After everyone went back to work, life just seemed even more busy than it was beforehand. I guess I had several things that I put off until after vacation week that now needed to be taken care of once we were back to normal (whatever that is anymore) I cannot even think to everything that I did, but I know I've stayed busy most every day since.

While I have not written anything here, I have submitted stories for my column. Here below are the links to those:

Value of Doodling Revealed

Comfort Turns To Love For Baby

Easy Rebate Not So Easy

Dollhouse Made With Heart

Some of the stories touch on things I've already wrote about here on my blog. Other things are new.

Um...yeah...in the dollhouse story...my room was pink and green on alternating walls at the time this photo was made. I inherited this special room from my older sister when she moved out of the house. When I was 17, four years after this picture was taken, the room was painted a nice shade of yellow-the color it is still today.

My son also turned 17 Thursday of this week. Happy Birthday Christopher! Mama loves you dearly. You make me laugh on a regular basis and I marvel at your deep thoughts and ability to solve technical and logic problems with ease.

May God bless you as you grow in His grace and wisdom.

Oh and the picture at the top? I found that in the catalog from my husband's work as it introduced the post it note section. I kind of feel that way most days right now.

I make no promises, but hopefully I'll be back sooner (than later) with less time span in between posts. Y'all be good-

God bless and take care!

2009-05-26T14:56:00.002-04:00

I thought about just saving this photo for THIS Thursday's TIMHT, but in reality, I had it ready to go for LAST Thursday's (yes-really) . I just never got around to posting it.

For TIMHT-I am sharing some of the recent things I've bought for free. These are just a few of the FREE items of late. I guess to say that I have "bought" them and then to say they are "free" is contradictory-but since I still had to PAY sales tax on the items-I think it is correct to say I BOUGHT them for free?!

Anyhow...with coupons matched with sales...this is just a part of what has covered my kitchen counters lately-

I honestly have no plans for the Hot sauce-though my husband assures me he knows of someone that would love to have it if he decides not to try it (he is much more brave than I). My mother also uses prizes for the games they play at their senior gatherings at church each month-so she might get some since she indicated that she needed some "men" prizes if I came across something good. Ha!

Paper plates were from Food Lion with coupons matched with a sale.

Free is fun....time consuming some weeks-but very rewarding when you see the benefits in both your kitchen and wallet in the big picture.

I am still working on getting everything stored efficiently. My husband loves coming home to see what "deals" I've scored that day...and enjoys it even more when he comes with me.

Oh and the barbecue sauce (who hasn't bought some free sauce the past few weeks?), that is just a third of what I've stored away and given away...Harris Teeter did good on their recent "buy two get three" deal when combined with awesome coupons!

For more TIMHT jump over to MSM's Blog !

2009-05-26T14:54:00.000-04:00

Why Do My Gray Strands Bother Me

2009-05-14T23:52:00.007-04:00

Monday a lot of the news on the couponing sites had to do with these really good Kraft Foods Coupons . I printed and printed...and printed, ending up with a nice stack of coupons to use over the next few weeks as I shopped.

I started cutting them out with scissors, slowly, meticulously...until my daughter said, "Why don't you use your paper cutter thing".

What a great idea, I thought. I pulled the paper cutter thing out of the filing cabinet where it lives and began to cut. Originally this was bought for scrapbooking, but apparently it now will double as a coupon cutter, saving me tons of time.

I cut and cut and cut-ending up with a nice stack of coupons to use on food we buy over the next few weeks.

Likewise I also ended up with paper strips an inch wide.

The first thing that came to mind to do with the paper strips was...can you guess?

It was to make a paper chain-of course!

For more TIMHT-visit MSM's blog

2009-05-13T12:14:00.001-04:00

List of Family's Food Disasters Still Grows

2009-05-08T00:11:00.003-04:00

This week for MommySweetMom's TIMHT, I present the Brother Advanced Deluxe Labeler Model PT-1880 P-touch system (for home and office).

In other words, I present my newest toy.

I went to Staples to buy the Casio Labeler that they had for sale for $20 that had a rebate for $20. Free appeals to me. I got there and asked where the labelers that were on sale were. The salesman grabbed one off the pegs and handed it to me. I did not have the sale's ad with me and did not check to make sure it was the one with the rebate. I paid my $20 bucks and went home. As I poked around the Internet trying to figure out where the rebate was since the sales guy did not give me one, I came to realize that I did not get the eventual free one after rebate. I got another one that was for the same price. Mine had an instant rebate taking the price from $50 to $20.

I knew that somewhere this sales guy-a young guy that did not seem to have the ability to listen to what any customer had to say after some long observations (made when the power went out for 20 minutes during a downpour). The salesperson seemed to think he knew what we were going to ask or say and tuned out anything we said beyond what he wanted to hear.

Anyway...so I sat here...sad to find I did not have the right labeler to get the free one...but likewise finding myself sold more and more on this one in particular the more I looked into it's superior qualities.

It was too late to take it back that day (and a 30 minute drive in the rain at that) . I called my husband, who is in the wholesale office supply business, to ask him some questions about my new problem that would not have been a problem had they given me the RIGHT LABELER!!!

Breatheeeeeeeeeeeeee

Anyhow, he informed me that I had the better labeler between the two....one of their "best sellers" at that and encouraged me to just keep what I had since I in reality got a $30 dollar savings rather than the $20. (But Freeeeeee is Freeeeee I kept thinking)

I decided to just open it up and keep it. I placed the batteries in the back and loaded the label tape. It did not work.

I checked to make sure I had the batteries in right. It did not work.

I checked to make sure I had fresh batteries. It did not work.

I plugged it into the wall with an adapter. IT DID NOT WORK!!!

Breatheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

I shoved it all back into the packaging and into the bag with the receipt. Frustrated, I knew I'd have to make another trip to Staples the next day. Oh joy!

At this point I rethought the whole thing and debated the two different labeler machines. I compared the features online and thought and thought some more.

Thankful that this was my biggest problem for the day, I went to bed indecicive about which labeler, if any, should come home with me the next day-provided the Staples I went to would have options.

I ended up doing an even exchange. With all that this one can do, all the neato features, I think it will service us well as we try to um...er...label things. It really is a neat machine-something I have had on my "wish list" for several years since using one.

The only thing that really bugs me in this is that the original sales guy sold me the wrong thing. I do not know if it was ignorance on his part (not knowing what I was asking for) or if they did not have the special ones or what. When I went to exchange the one, I did not even see the special ones on the shelves or a regular place for them on the shelf. I am guessing it is something you had to ask for by pointing at the picture in the sale paper or something and they would get it from the back or something. I kind of feel "had" a little bit-but am happy with my new machine. I did not put out MORE money than I would have for the other one initially-I just am not getting any back.

2009-05-06T20:55:00.000-04:00

A Mother's Loss Can Be A Bridge To Strong Faith

2009-04-30T21:30:00.001-04:00

Once again, chicken is the theme of my TIMHT entry. This week I share my chick fil a sandwich from earlier today-it was surprisingly in the shape of a heart. My husband brought me this sandwich in love and in turn the chicken molded itself into the shape of a heart enroute!

::nods::

For more TIMHT fun skip over to MSM's Blog !

2009-04-29T17:08:00.000-04:00

It's Your Birthday-Try to Have A Good Time!

2009-04-24T16:03:00.002-04:00

Animal Crossing Feels Like Home

My character in Animal Crossing, "Kitty" standing outside of her house with net in hand ready for a day of catching bugs and butterflies.

2009-04-23T15:50:00.004-04:00

For this week's TIMHT I submit a bag of frozen chicken. This is not just any baggie of frozen chicken-oh no! This is a bag of chicken that when being placed in the freezer decided to wrap itselve around the bar of the defunct ice maker that we no longer use. This bag of chicken is now hanging on for dear life as it does not want to come out of the freezer without a fight. I continue to try different things here and there, but I am about to the point where I need this bag of chicken, so it's days are really numbered.

For more TIMHT fun hop over to MSM's Blog. You'll be glad you did!

2009-04-22T15:35:00.002-04:00

Earth Day-

I remember the "Give a Hoot, Don't pollute" campaigns of the early 70's and other various messages passed along so that people would think before acting. Our problems seemed as simple as do not throw trash out of your car when you are riding down the highway.

As Earth Day came this week, I felt more inundated with the "Earth Day" message more than ever before. Store Sales all revolved around saving the Earth and being kind to the world. Everywhere you went this week there was some message-reminder that seemed to border on Earth worship. There were giveaways of light bulbs and specials on products that were made from recycled materials. I scored some reusable shopping bags from Walgreens-for free, though hated it took Earth Day for them to offer something that essentially saves the store money in the long run. I guess I was just so surprised how this has developed in some new holiday almost.

While I am all for being a good steward of what God has given us, so much of the message of Earth Day gets turned into something more. Even in our Wii Game, Animal Crossing City Folk, the day was called Nature Day and Tortimer told us to remember to thank the earth on this day.

This whole week, I've had this very on my mind though-and how it just seems to apply to Earth Day in particular right now.

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.Romans 1: 21-25

2009-04-17T14:53:00.002-04:00

The first time I fell in the wet grass, it was an accident. It did free
me up to fall on purpose the rest of the time though.

As spoken by Christopher, my son refering to the deep grass stains on his pants.

2009-04-16T14:49:00.003-04:00

21 years ago today...

At 3 pm...

Shock and Loss on an April Day

Photo of my daddy in his recliner by the big picture window in the living room of the house i grew up in. When I was little, I would crawl up in his lap when he was there to snuggle or sneak pieces of popcorn out of his bowl.

2009-04-16T14:34:00.005-04:00

I haven't participated in TIMHT (or blogged much) in a while. This week, I actually have something that seemed worthy of posting for this weekly meme.

Let me present to you:

The lid off my jello pudding cup as it appeared naturally as I peeled it off the cup. It looks amazingly like a face IMO-more specifically like my son's character in

Animal Crossing: City Folk

For more TIMHT-be sure to visit MSM's Blog !

2009-04-12T02:03:00.001-04:00

Who Will Call Him King of Kings -Sandi Patty

Their cold despair,
they'd laid Him in the tomb
the body of their master fair.
Third morning came as they returned to pray
light was shining every where
But Jesus body was not there

And as they gazed at an empty grave
the earth around began to shake
and they were so afraid
But voices of angels filled the air
Their shouts proclaimed "He is not here."
And you could hear them say

Who will call Him King of Kings
and Who will call Him Lord of Lords
Who will call Him Prince of Peace
Such a wonderful counselor, Mighty God
Who will call Him King

Their spirits soared as fear was turned to joy
standing there before their eyes
Jesus clothed in radiant white
and with a voice they they heard before
he told them to go and tell the world that I'm alive
They ran as fast as feet could fly
"The Lord is rise", was their cry
and you could hear them say

We will call him king of kings
We will call him Lord of Lords
We will call him Prince of Peace
Such a wonderful counselor, Mighty GOD

We will call him king of kings
and we will call him Lord of Lords
We will call him Prince of Peace
Such a wonderful counselor, Mighty God

Just like he said
He's risen from the dead
And the people say

We will call Him King of kings
We will call Him Lord of Lords
We will call Him Prince of Peace
Such a wonderful counselor,

I will call Him King of Kings
and I will call Him Lord of Lords
I will call Him Prince of Peace
Such a wonderful counselor, Mighty God

I will call Him King
I will call Him King
I will call Him King

2009-04-09T15:07:00.001-04:00

Easter's Crown of Thorns

2009-04-02T15:43:00.002-04:00

Memories of Fisher Price Little People as they Turn 50

Hannah playing with my house in 1992

2009-03-30T00:24:00.004-04:00

Caffeinate Cleverly Lattes Don't Have to Break the Bank: We wouldn't dream
of asking you to quit cold turkey, but weaning off Starbucks could save you
money. A 20-ounce latte from Dunkin' Donuts runs $3.29; at Starbucks, the
same-size drink sets you back $3.65. Plus, at Dunkin' Donuts you don't have to
say "venti" when you want a large.

Kiplinger's March 2009 Issue

I am not a coffee drinker, but I do love a Venti Hot Chocolate with extra whip for a treat now and again from Starbucks. I found this clip in their March issue made me smile. A rose by any other name is still a rose. (in other words, call it a large or a venti-it's still the same amount of drink, Yes?) My hot chocolate obsession/issues/addiction?! is not a regular enough thing to matter-especially with spring here and summer close on it's tail. Speak to me about this again in November or December when all the cute Christmas Cups are out again.

Oh and BTW, this was a magazine that I found at CVS for $1 in a buggy full of month old magazines as they new ones were brought in. Nice to find a Personal Finance Magazine for a discount . That too made me smile...saving money getting tips on saving money. :)

2009-03-30T00:19:00.002-04:00

Pinching Pennies

Kind of a recap of this post -but with a little more information after the fact. I continue to go and see tremendous savings there.

2009-03-20T01:41:00.002-04:00

It's been a couple of challenging weeks here at my house...some of which may or may not eventually make it into my blog...

For now a post of two of my more recent columns...

A Rare Treasured Snow Day

Campbell's Chicken Noodle-No Longer a Hit

2009-03-08T22:23:00.003-04:00

Sometime last year I first heard about "CVSing". The first mention was on a blog somewhere that I stumbled upon. The author of the blog was talking about how she wasn't going to CVS anymore. The whole thing was starting to drive her crazy.

I had no idea exactly what she meant. I kept stumbling upon various posts on various blogs though that discussed what CVSing was and how consumers were able to get many products for pennies on the dollar if not totally free. I know I had received coupons in the past which said $2 dollars off $10 or more or $3 off $20, but I had not seen any like these bloggers were speaking of.

Interest was peeked somewhat. Most of our purchases are done at Wal-Mart. It's quick, easy and inexpensive. Rarely have I run across any other prices to come close to what Wal-Mart charges, so I just tucked back information here and there.

A new CVS was built close to us on our main pathways through town a few months ago. Once again I thought back to what I had read on blogs. With a CVS so close now, perhaps it was a good time to give it all a try. I could play with it some and see if it really did make a difference.

About the time I decided to play with this, my son had to have some oral surgery. They gave us a prescription for pain meds. On a recent visit to CVS, as I scanned my CVS card, I was given a coupon that was good for a $25 Gift Card with a new or transfered prescription. That $25 became my "Play money", money not out of our regular budget for me to use to see if I could get this CVS thing to work for me as it appeared to be working for others.

With the $25 Gift Card, I bought can Coke drinks that they had a special offer on. If I bought $20's worth of Coke Cans (at the sale price of $3.50 each) I could get $10 back in ECB or Extra Care Bucks. My husband would get his drinks for the next week. Everyone would be happy.

This left me with $2.58 on my gift card and the $10 ECBs that I could use on my next purchase.

>My next visit to CVS a few days later found me picking up some deodorant (2), a box of carnation, some reece cups and some valentine candy hearts that Bayley likes for treats. I also bought two things of toothpaste that we use that was on sale that I had coupons for. I used the remainder of my GC and the $10 ECBs leaving me only $11 and some change out of pocket (oop). I also received an ECB coupon for 4.99 off my next purchase and one for $2 off my next purchase.

Today I went again as the new sales were posted. I did four transactions to maximize the savings.

The first transaction I bought three boxes of lucky charms for $10. I also had a coupon that was in today's paper for $1.00 off. I used the leftover ECBs from last week that totaled $6.99 off my order. I paid $2.01 oop on this transaction. I received $5.00 in ECB's to roll into my next transaction.

In the second transaction I bought four 12 packs of coke products. Three packs were diet dr pepper, the other was a caffine free diet coke one. The deal was to buy 4 for $13.00. I used the $5 ECB off of this transaction that I received in the first. My oop was $8.54 for the 4 -12 pks . I also received $3 in ECBs to use on my third transaction.

In the third transaction I bought Palmolive dish soap. I bought two of them for $1.49 each. I used the $3.00 in ECBs to pay for the dish soap, which was adjusted down to $2.98. My oop was nothing on this transaction. I received $2.00 in ECBs to roll over in the last transaction.

My fourth transaction bought a tube of Crest Pro Whitening Toothpaste for $2.99. I had a .50 cent off coupon and the $2 in ECBs from the previous transaction to pay for the toothpaste. My oop was .56 cents. I walked away from the store with another $2 in ECBs to use next time I need to go to CVS.

The cashier at my store was nice and patient, totally understanding what I needed to do. He did not make me feel weird or cheap for breaking this all down like I did. I was happy as I walked out of the store with what I had purchased knowing that everything I just bought were things my family will use.

If I had more Manufacturer coupons I probably could lower my oop even more, but for now I am satisfied with the savings until another day when I can go and try my hand at CVSing again.

Last week, as I ran errands in Greensboro, one of the bigger towns near me, I also tried my hand at Walgreen's specials. That trip was successful too-but likewise is a whole other story.

2009-03-07T02:38:00.002-05:00

MSM gave me the Kreative Blogger Award so that I could list 7 things I love.

Jesus: There is nothing or anyone I could list without first mentioning Him. Grace.
My husband, Jay.
My children, Hannah and Christopher
Bayley, our dog
Photographs-snapshots of our memories.
Words
Our Country-the USA....It is disturbing to watch how what was founded "In God We Trust" do a 180 into such a godless, mean, hateful, greedy society falling ever so quickly into a nation I do not recognize anymore. While this is not our home, our time on Earth has purpose and meaning and I pray that God's will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.

I'm not going to tag anyone right now. If you see this and want to do it-leave your blog link in the comments to let me know. Thanks MSM for the nod...

2009-03-06T16:23:00.000-05:00

2009-03-04T03:22:00.000-05:00

Soundtrack of Our Lives

2009-03-02T23:45:00.025-05:00

It started snowing here in my part of NC late in the day Sunday....after a day and a half of very cold temps and a very cold rain.

Bayley's first inclination is to eat the snow. Ever since he was a tiny pup, he has loved to shove his face in the cold white powder and begin to graze. He loves cold food; ice, icicles, etc-so it's no surprise that he loves snow.

My son and I went outside with Bayley for a little while. It was a very wet, cold snow at first.

When we got cold, we told Bayley it was time to come back inside. He was not done with the all you can eat snow buffet that now graced our yard. The look he gave me when I informed him it was time to come inside says it all.

As homeschoolers, we've never officially had a snow day-until today. (What's the point when you are already home and at school-right? LOL) Oh sure they got to play in it those few times we've seen snow.....but they still got to work on their studies while they warmed up.

We had a relaxing morning before going outside ....allowing the kids to enjoy their first real snow holiday. (My son, a junior this year in our homeschool was allowed a day off as well-a first in the many years our homeschool has been in existence!)

It was fun walking around in the yard and up the road to take various photos.

My daughter, Hannah, enjoying her snowday! (son is behind her in the picture)

Both my son, Christopher and daughter, Hannah posing for mom for a snow day photo!

Bayley once again was grazing in the front yard eating all he could. Eating snow makes you shiver.

Eating snow also makes you quite adorable as the flakes stick to your fur.

My son, Christopher enjoying his snowday!

Bayley continued to eat more snow-and continued to shiver. I walked up to the front porch to let him in , yet he did not want to go inside yet. He was having too much fun....even though he was freezing.

My daughter, Hannah ran inside to get his red sweater. I put it on him. He still seemed cold, but at least was not shaking quite as much.

Bayley warmed up to the idea of continuing to eat more snow.

My kids have long had a snowball rivalry. It's been many years since we have had this much snow (we got 5"), so they have not had a good chance to fight it out in a long while. My son has been waiting for all these years for the chance to "cream" his sister with a snowball as she did to him for many years.

They tossed a few back and forth....mainly just enjoying throwing the cold round balls of snow...but I never got a full report of the result.

Bayley and I walked around the house, trying our best to get out of the way of the flying snow.

Soon, he walked up the porch-ready to go inside. He finally had ate his fill and was tired of being outside.

The day continued mostly inside, taking a nice long nap with my husband while the kids did their own thing...Ordering some pizza...watching some TV. All in all it was a day to remember and to praise God for. Snow doesnt come nearly as often to these parts as we'd prefer, but we enjoy it whenever it does decide to brighten our part of the world...fluffy flake by fluffy flake.

2009-02-28T22:46:00.003-05:00

Over a year ago, I posted several sketches that I had made in my church notebook over a period of time. The first link above sort of explains my thoughts behind why I doodled beside of my notes during the teaching at church. Interesting that tonight I found this link that backs up what I have known about myself for many years.

Doodling Increases Memory Recall

2009-02-25T11:25:00.000-05:00

Family Feels Blue and Bands Treats

2009-02-18T02:50:00.001-05:00

My Own Shaggy Dog Story

2009-02-16T01:39:00.003-05:00

For Valentine's Day, my husband gave me this cute little heart mug and some candy from Starbucks. His card read that I was his sweet heart. He told me that the candy represented the sweet and the heart represented his heart.

Go ahead and say...awww....

The mug came in a box that they found somewhere in the back of Starbucks. The words on the box were blog worthy I believe:

The bean forever remembers

it's birthplace:

the terraced hillsides,

the equatorial rains,

the lilac-blue shade of

the jacaranda. The Bean

eternally harbors

the nurturing touch of the

farmer deep within.

The bean gives back

blessing each warm cup

inviting flavor of it's

coffee-land

origin...

I am not a coffee drinker (the mug was meant for hot chocolate and milk -or perhaps my bowl of morning oatmeal or grits)...but to consider the saying...that a coffee bean or the bean as it calls itself has such a deep meaning...well...one should .....

um...

laugh deeply-as I did

Who thinks this stuff up?

I almost think the box was about as good as a gift as the mug and candies....

2009-02-14T00:05:00.000-05:00

This week, you'll have to download the .pdf if you want to read my column since for whatever reason the link for my story is blank online LOL

Valentine's Day Gifts Not Always So Simple

2009-02-13T23:59:00.002-05:00

Where is That Loyalty Card When I Need It?

This link takes you to a .pdf file for the story as it did not appear online like the others. It's from a few weeks ago-I'm just now getting around to getting it here on my blog to share.

2009-02-05T00:09:00.002-05:00

For TIMHT this week, meet "Mack", our dehumidifier. For the past year or two, it seems we've had a lot of moisture in the house - enough that we started noticing some floorboards warping and some additional mold that we never had before. The house as a whole just felt kind of damp. We have a couple of ideas of what might be causing some troubles(fixable things), but knew we really needed to call in some reinforcements before more damage could be done.

When I cut Mack on for the first time, he told me that our house's humidity was 85%-very high. (normal is around 50%) Since running Mack, our humidity levels have stayed where they should be. It's amazing the amount of water this little guy sucks out of the air each day in order to keep things even while we take baths, wash/dry clothes and dishes etc.

We named it Mack because it sounds like a diesel Mack truck idling in the kitchen. It makes for some great white noise...and well is a good trade off if it means our air is less heavy.

For more TIMHT fun, jump over to MSM's blog !

2009-02-04T16:01:00.003-05:00

Old Family Photos Get New Look

2009-02-03T00:34:00.007-05:00

I know to some who get large amounts of cold and snow each year, this is nothing-but to us, to me...to see just one flake...or a grouping like this on my car-it's a big deal-big enough to blog about it each.and.every.time.it.happens!

The white specks are snow, falling preciously down from the sky...as Bayley walks down the sidewalk...

Our $10 smallish Christmas Tree...yes, sitting right there (in our front yard). This is as far as it has gotten towards it's goal to get to the road. It still looks really good to be close to three months since it was cut back in November. It was on the porch, waiting for me to check it over real good before we put it at the street. I wanted to make sure it did not have any unseen tiny ornaments left on it before we ditched it out there. Then we gave Bayley a bath (where he ended up on the front porch), and I moved it to the yard. I have looked at it now, and have told my son he can undo it from the stand now and take it on out...but this is where it sits. I kind of like it there...kind of like how we would dig a hole and plant the ball root ones....though this one has no roots....wouldn't it be funny if it actually stayed green longer than those did ? LOL!
(talk about a random paragraph!)

And yes, these are Christmas lights still on our porch. We are THOSE people apparently this year. Seriously though, I thought it might be nice to keep them on there in case I found some heart shaped lights or something to mix in for valentine's....so I did have a reason for leaving them....even if I haven't acted on looking for such heart lights yet....(still time!)

And last...a cold dog waiting on his crazy people mama to hurry up with the photo shoot and let him back inside!

Patience Bayley-patience!

2009-02-02T15:27:00.003-05:00

While my Webkinz World Groundhog, "Chuck", predicted an early spring...

My real life plushie Groundhog "Chuck" predicted six more weeks of winter...

Guess only time will tell to who is right!

2009-01-31T22:01:00.003-05:00

Maxine Clark started a blog this month. She is the CEB or Chief Executive Bear of Build a Bear Workshop-one of the most fun places to go in the whole mall, world even!

Be sure to check out her posts!

2009-01-29T02:38:00.003-05:00

For TIMHT I offer this piece of Fine Art

Sometime in grade school, I molded this little dog out of clay and painted it. Like the scratches I added to the ear for effect? Like that it is blue? Yeah, me too!

My mom dug this out of the attic a few years ago and I have it sitting here in my bedroom. Overlook the dust on it's back and paws(yes those ARE paws!)...that is it's "protective coating"....uh huh! I love this little dog as I always have loved messing in clay. There is a story there...more to it for another day....

For more TIMHT fun, skip over to MSM's Blog ! You won't regret it!

2009-01-28T17:37:00.003-05:00

Last Tuesday, we got some snow here in my part of NC. While it wasnt much, it was still a big deal because we just do not see that much snow here. Anytime it falls, it is picture and mention worthy. Only problem was that I did not feel that wonderful that day, so did not enjoy it quite as much as I usually do. (feeling much better now-thank you very much) My son took these pictures for me that day. Thank you Christopher.

Here are a couple of views...it was less than an inch...but still....we had SNOW!

Praise God for the Snow :)

2009-01-22T18:43:00.000-05:00

From Rick of Andyland (thanks Rick for the chuckle)

Emboldened by their success in declaring Pluto not a planet, the
International Astronomical Union determined this week by a close vote that
February is too short to be considered a true month. It has, however, been
granted the newly-created status of “dwarf month.” It shares this dubious
distinction with several other calendar time spans, including Labor Day Weekend,
Christmas Vacation, and the Time Between When You Were Supposed to Get Your Oil
Changed and When You Actually Did. “It only seems fair,” said IAU President Ron
Eckers. “February reaches a peak size of 29 days, averaging only 28 days for 75
percent of the time. Recent research has shown that other periods, such as the
Time Between When You Were Supposed to Get Your Oil Changed and When You
Actually Did, often exceed this meager time frame. In fact, this erratic
behavior only strengthens our case that February does not belong in the same
classification as the eleven 'true' months.” Eckers also warned that the crop of
30-day “so-called” months should be careful to maintain their number of days.
“They're already cutting it pretty close in my book.”

2009-01-22T18:07:00.003-05:00

This week's TIMHT features my empty Starbuck's Hot Chocolate Cup. This is all that is left of the warm hot chocolate goodness with extra whip.

I love that one of the Starbucks we go to still has these seasonal Christmas cups that look like sweaters.

The warm milk is one of the few things I've found this week to coat my throat-easing it's irritation from the cold I've had.

For more TIMHT-visit MSM's blog !

2009-01-19T18:17:00.004-05:00

The cold...As the temperatures in my part of the world dropped last week due to the cold, my daughter started coughing, sneezing and being feverish due to the cold...of a different kind. One by one, the rest of us have fallen to the cold.

And now-unusual as it is for my part of the world, the cold....the weather kind...has brought us some flurries. While my hope is that we'd get snowed in by the 1-2" they are calling for (especially since both kids have the day off from work)....reality is there are things to do and places to go if any of us feel good enough to get out the door.

In 1992 my daughter(seen left) started mothers morning out. It lasted three months. I was not impressed with their efforts to make sure they got fresh air each day when it meant letting them go outside to play in the rain. We ditched mother's morning out and never looked back except to comment, "That was interesting". LOL

In 2009, my daughter (seen right) started at the local community college. She is taking two classes and things seem good so far for her. These two pictures pretty much sum up the "going to school elsewhere" scene as opposed to ones we took her first day of kindergarten (in our homeschool) sitting at the kitchen table with scissors in hand ready to take on the world one piece of construction paper at a time.

2009-01-16T00:40:00.002-05:00

Welcome to TIMHT-Friday Style!

Thanks to some crud that my daughter passed along to me and the fact that when an hour or so ago when I wanted to post this my Internet was doing odd things....I am posting this in the wee hours of Friday.

(that and well, I procrastinated as usual)

This week's submission is of one of the things my daughter stuffed in my Christmas Stocking this year. It is a playmobil puppet stage. I have named the little girl Alexis after Jon and Kate plus 8's adorable little girl...since she is holding an "Aldigator"

My daughter, Hannah bought this at the same time she got the now famous

Playmobil Nativity Scene .

This little puppet stage sits here on my desk, making me smile when I look over at her each day.

For more TIMHT fun, roll on over to MSM's blog !

2009-01-14T22:03:00.002-05:00

Marley Brings Back Memories of First Dog

My daughter Hannah is delighted to find Daddy and Scotty Dog under the spare bed in her room in 1991

2009-01-08T23:39:00.002-05:00

Last Week MSM posted about the lovely heating pad cover her daughter, Jessica made for her for Christmas.

This inspired my TIMHT post for this week. This below is my heating pad and cover. It was made by Dearfoam many many years ago. It was a gift from a good friend. It is microwavable and came with a terry cloth cover that the pad slips inside of. I have tried to find exact replicas, but have not been able to find the EXACT same thing.

I mainly use this pad in the winter. I will pop it in the microwave right before bedtime and tuck it in the covers to get things nice and warm when we first go to sleep. It holds it's heat well...and is really nice to warm things up.

For more TIMHT, go to MSM's blog. I am cutting it right at the last minute on Thursday...but hey...at least I am actually posting on Thursday this week

(unlike some other weeks)

2009-01-07T03:15:00.002-05:00

Wii: Skiing-Without the Cold, Bumps and Bruises

2009-01-05T01:16:00.003-05:00

I live in an area where if I drive less than a mile down the road I am deep into the countryside. If I drive a mile in the other direction, I find myself in our little country town. Driving about five more minutes in that same direction I am in the suburbs and have close to every store I could want within my reach. It's really sort of odd to be right here in the countryside, yet right here so close to convenience. I'd say I have the best of both worlds. Cows, horses, pigs and chickens to my left and town to my right.

Driving home on Sunday, my daughter and I took a detour through some of the backroads to cut through the area quicker. As we came upon this one area we are well familiar with, chickens greeted us from the middle of the road. There was no getting around making a joke about 'why did the chicken cross the road' since they were right there. . We determined they crossed the road to find food.

Finally, that riddle is solved

We drove slowly through this area, not really wanting to hit one of the chickens. Highly amused, we drove on the short distance home and grabbed the camera so that we could return to capture the chickens photograph.

This one was more than happy to oblige, and preened and posed as she or he strutted there stuff...with the sun setting in the background...

Most of the rest of the chickens had safely made it across the road and now were pecking in the gravel of their owner's house. Perhaps they were "graveling" for food?

The horses across the street looked on too, amused at the entertainment of the chickens, and then the humans that found the chickens and goats (no picture) and lastly the horses so engaging.

As we turned around, the owner of the animals was walking down the driveway with a feed bucket in hand. We waved as we drove by.

2009-01-01T01:52:00.001-05:00

2009-01-01T00:01:00.001-05:00

In my ever growing desire to top the TIMHT where I posted about my Mayonaise Packet , I bring to you this week's submission:

My brand new trash can!

Ta Da!

This was on my Christmas list for this year. I know at first it may seem dull...unexciting...borderline weird...but for me, it was the perfect fit beside of my computer desk. It matches my computer perfectly. The black accents bring out the black in my desk and the personal fan I keep nearby.

Not only that, but no longer do we have to make sure to place my trash can on top of some piece of furniture when we leave so Bayley the dog does not get inside of it...decomposing each and every piece of trash as he spreads it throughout the house!

The flip top lid is opperated by a quick push on this button at the bottom(usually done by my toes!). It is not only a very useful trashcan, but a fun one at that. Throwing trash away is fun again...I am so proud!

For more TIMHT check out MSM's Blog !

2008-12-31T22:57:00.000-05:00

It's Time To Flip The Calendar Again

2008-12-27T22:23:00.002-05:00

I had such good intentions of getting my TIMHT post set up, ready to autopost for Thursday's meme...so much so that I took this photo on Tuesday night late. Somewhere after that, though, the wheels fell off the cart and I never made it back to actually construct the post that I wanted to.

My son cooked this tater tot casserole on Tuesday night while my daughter and I went to the grocery store. He made a double batch to insure leftover would be available for later. We ate it Tuesday night for dinner, saving the rest for the days to come. It came in handy when he got off work late Wednesday from his grocery store job and for when my husband got off work Wednesday evening too.

My daughter and I enjoyed some late Christmas night...and well...now it is all gone. It represents all the good food we've been blessed with this holiday season. It was nice to have in the busy times this past week when we had so much to do....

For more TIMHT head on over to MSM's Blog ...and join in with the fun~!

2008-12-24T13:12:00.001-05:00

2008-12-24T11:29:00.001-05:00

Ornament Brings Back Wonderful Memories

2008-12-22T07:27:00.001-05:00

Bell Game

Thanks Mrs Miles for the link!

2008-12-20T00:01:00.001-05:00

December 20, 1986, I married my best friend

Happy Anniversary Jay!

The picture below is of my mom and dad and myself right before the ceremony. It's one of my favorites from that day. The photographer was coming up with photo ideas to take beforehand and said, "Lean in and kiss her on the cheek". They did and for a reason I dont know I closed my eyes like this.

2008-12-19T22:35:00.002-05:00

2008-12-17T15:45:00.001-05:00

At Age 90, he's Still Tops At Toys For Tots

2008-12-14T23:31:00.026-05:00

Last year I participated in Boo Mama's Tour of Homes. That post can be found here.

Since a lot of what I do for Christmas decorations is traditional, I'm just going to share some of what's new for this year in this post.

I'm glad you came!

Bayley, our 9 year old cocker spaniel is glad you came too. To him, your arriving meant "getting" to wear the reindeer antlers for a photo opt....

Yeah, I don't think that "getting to" is quite the phrase Bayley used either....

He quickly shook those things off of his head...I think he is on to me. He knows that these photos end up on the Internet nowadays, and he wants no part of it.

He did however wait patiently for his Bil Jac Dog Treat though....

As you come up the walkway to my house, you will see that we added some outdoor decorations this year. Lit trees and candy canes line the walk..

and a big "chubby" (says it on the box) santa watches you as you make your approach...
We kind of figured Bayley would bark at it as it inflated....he barks at anything that moves in our yard (or the neighbor's yard-even the neighbors)...But santa-no barking. I guess Bayley knows who fills his stocking up each Christmas and is on good terms with him or something...

I ditched the greenery this year that I usually put over my porch railing. I went to Target instead and bought white corded lights. I have a confession to make. As much as I love Christmas, love decorating for Christmas and all that Christmas is...I just had a hard time getting into it this year. The decorations sat in the dining room floor for a good couple of days before I touched them...We went for a small $10 live tree this year (yeah I know-good price huh?) that is about three feet rather than the ball root tree...and we just got around to decorating the outside yesterday. Maybe this is one of our off years. In years past we had deadlines because of phone book deliveries and even further back we had small children that prompted us to decorate early. This year nothing...just busy stuff...and lack of motivation. Now it's there, I like it and am glad we finally got our acts together...but it's different and feels different. Maybe this is how it feels when the kids become adults (I have an 18 and 16 year old) and things change once more.

With all that said, these window wreaths that have sat in this box on the front porch are going back into the attic without being put up this year. I like that we bought some new things this year and are changing it up somewhat. So here is the box filled with greenery that we've used for many years! It is not a part of my house tour really-just being real here on the Internet you know...

This is our house flag of a puppy sitting outside of his dog house saying "snowed inn".

Inside, we put up the live $10 tree as I mentioned and the three little trees you can read about in last year's post if you are so inclined. What we changed from last year is that instead of having a homemade ornament tree...we made one a playmobil/webkinz ornament tree after my daughter hijacked it decorating it with some of her old playmobil and using some of our webkinz ornaments we bought this year. I loved it....it made such a cute "toy" tree.

Brown webkinz cow with cookies!

Playmobil snowman stuffed on top!

Webkinz Googles

Playmobil boy practicing apparently a rescue move....or um...being rescued?

Using the playmobil ornaments brought my 18 year old daughter, Hannah great joy as she remembered the Advent Playmobil thing that I bought her and her brother when they were smaller. She decided it was time for something new playmobil wise..so she bought the nativity scene.

As she unpacked the pieces and we examined them....I became concerned that we might be rewriting the nativity story somewhat....I have to share exactly what happened.....(LOL)

We mean no disrespect in the least. Praise God for the advent of his Son Jesus. We were just having some fun with how playmobil depicted the nativity....as we really did like this set. It also came with the story of the Nativity in six different languages.

This guy below became known to us first as the wise man with the twig in his turban. Jay, my husband, later corrected us and said that the thing sticking out of the turban is really a weave. He also seems to be a bit darker than the other two wise men in this nativity set. It made me wonder if the two other wise men were the only ones from "the orient" as the song goes....and that they made a swing through Africa picking up their best buddy there. He holds his suitcase and a big trophy thing. Inside the suitcase Hannah placed another box that she said really looked a lot like the same shape the baby powder playmobil piece looked like(that she has through another set). I suggested perhaps this king was bringing Baby Jesus baby powder among his gift mentioned in scriptures? He also is wearing gold chains around his neck like Mr T (which was Hannah's first comment about him!)

This king below got dubbed "Burger King". He carries an empty suitcase of gold and his staff. We believe that as he left the stable, he took with him the cow you see in the last picture as he started his burger empire. He did not really look like he was from the East either...he had a more Anglo Saxon appearance. What's up with that?

This king comes bearing a neti pot and salts . It makes perfect since since the neti pot is made by the Himalayan Institute since the Himalayas are in Asia and all. We dubbed this guy "Yankee Doodle" since he stuck a feather in his cap...and well you know the rest of that song... He probably is the more authentic looking wiseman...

Why is this shepherd walking around with a bag that makes him look like a hobo or a runaway? Yeah, we did not really know either. As Hannah placed his head gear in place, she said "and this is his "do rag". Um yeah...

This girl angel got dubbed "Allysa" from the webkinz site. It really does not make a lick of sense unless you are familiar to the game...but to us we found it funny . Hannah placed the book in her hand so that she could remember her words...you know..."Fear not, for behold I bring you tidings of great joy which shall be to all people"..... I just shook my head .....

The animals....the longhorn cow went home with Burger King

Hannah also got two mini sets....we wondered why Santa had a stick....and then also noted that the snowman and boy seem prepared with shovels in case santa came at them with same stick....I'll let you know if we wake up one morning to casualties! Oh and Hannah noted that the snowman had a cute lil chamber pot on his head. Oohhh...I really need to make sure that I need to review the correct nativity story with both my kids this year as well as the traditional ways the holiday stories are told. They seem to have become a little misinformed...doncha think?

And with all seriousness, I wish you and yours a Merry Christmas. Thank you for coming to my house for the open house!

For more Tour of Homes hosted by BooMama, be sure to visit her site:

God bless and Take Care!

2008-12-11T01:38:00.003-05:00

For this week's TIMHT-I present....

Christmas Music!

This is just a small collection of my Christmas CDs....These just happen to be the ones I loaded onto iTunes to have on my computer, and so they were handy for a photo moment.

Specifically the ones above are:

Point of Grace-Christmas Story

Amy Grant A Christmas To Remember

City on a Hill-It's Christmas Time

Selah-Rose of Bethlehem

Andrew Peterson-Behold the Lamb of God

There are other favorites not pictured, and a few single MP3 downloads that I've enjoyed...but you get the picture.

MSM always does a great job hosting this fun meme . Be sure to visit her blog for more TIMHT action!

2008-12-10T20:54:00.003-05:00

Delivering Directories Created Fun Memories

1999, when it all began....my driveway covered in phone books as we bagged them before deliveries.

2008-12-04T02:11:00.006-05:00

For this week's submission to TIMHT hosted by MSM, I share these three tin saying bears that now hang in my bathroom (which has an outside/woodsy theme being developed as I find "just the right things" that fit)

I bought these bears back when my daughter, Hannah and I traveled to Asheville NC in August.

They were tucked away...lost kind of until this past weekend when I dug them out from under a small pile they had somehow found themselves in. I hung them immediately-happy to have something new to add to the bathroom....

They could describe myself-but more accurately describe my husband (who has the online handle here and there of "Black Bear Jay)

There were several other tin signs where I bought these-but I decided that since buying tin signs is a part of my treat to myself when I end up in one of these mountain stores...that I would restrain myself and space it out. I'm glad I did...

They hang next to our bathtub...and make that corner of my house cute IMHO :)

2008-12-03T14:10:00.000-05:00

Warm Christmas Spirit on a Cold Night

2008-11-29T14:57:00.003-05:00

Looking Forward to this movie!