Warm Fuzzies

I love Holidays!!

2012-01-25T09:13:00.001-05:00

I love the Holidays. I love to decorate my house and bake and have friends and family get togethers. It makes things hard when I am not living so close to family anymore but I make the best of it. We have some terrific friends where we are now and that makes it nice.

Christmas may be over for now but My anniversary is coming up on Friday so I decorated my facebook page with hearts and pink!! hehe. I am also searching Pinterest for fun Valentines ideas for the kids. I can't wait to make some fun goodies for the kids to bring to school. We will probably make some home-made Valentine cards this year. I found some great ideas that are cute and economical. :) I will take some pictures after we have made them.

Well, off to watch Seseme Street with my toddler and then get my treadmill on!! ;)

2011-12-22T11:34:00.000-05:00

My 1960's version of my tree. :D

2011-12-22T11:22:00.000-05:00

A friend suggested doing this to my photo.

2011-12-22T10:05:00.000-05:00

Our beautiful Christmas tree 2011. I touched the photo up a bit. i love the "old" effect. Classic and nastalgic. Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Chia for Health - Dr. Weil

2011-10-24T22:32:00.000-04:00

Chia for Health - Dr. Weil

E-Mealz!

2011-09-12T22:41:00.004-04:00

I recently decided to do what is suggested by Dave Ramsey (of daveramsey.com) and try out E-Mealz. E-Mealz is a site that For $5 a month, E-Mealz will provide a weekly meal plan tailored specifically to your store & based on your store’s sale ad, helping you plan delicious meals using ingredients that are on sale. You can get a low fat meal plan or a meal plan for 2 or a family or vegetarian, gluten free, Portion control, low carb.. the list goes on!! It is super cool!! Most of the recipes are super easy & pretty fast too. (The biggest downside is that E-Mealz currently only does store-ad specific lists for Publix, Kroger, Wal-Mart, Aldi, & Ralphs, but they do provide an “any store” option too)

I love the meal plans! I am so busy these days with a child in middle school and a child in 5th grade and a 2 yr old.... sports and doctor appointments 3 days a week from a car accident (still!) that I get so frazzled and 5 O'clock comes around and I am scrambling through my stockpile to figure out what to make that is easy and we won't have to eat dinner at 9pm. I love that this site organizes a whole weeks worth of meals for you and uses all the items that are on sale at your fave store that week! So cool! Click the linky thing I have on my blog here to go to the site and sign up! The first three months you can get for only $12.50 that is $4.17 a month by using the code DAVE. So use my link and sign up for three months and try it out!! You will love it!!

Stinky!

2011-07-11T14:27:00.001-04:00

I am bummed! I went to the docs today for one of my three weekly visits (due to the car accident) and I told him about how I ran about a week ago and I hurt bad from it. Well, I still hurt and today he said that I have to wait at least another 4 weeks before I can start up again. He said my back is not ready for it yet. I had a terrbilbe weekend pain wise.

I need to do something. I have gained a good 15 pounds since the accident and I can't be gaining. I need to watch what I eat super close now and I have to find something I CAN do for exercise. I know I can walk (booooorrrring!) so I will do that with the kids and I will see what I can do for leg stuff like squats and lunges. Those are always good for getting my heartrate up.

Have a great week everyone!! Run if you can!!

Running!!

2011-07-07T11:49:00.002-04:00

Since the car accident (April 9) I have not been able to do anything at all in the form of exercise. I try to do housework and the pain just gets so bad i have to stop. I hate it and I am just itching to get going and move.

Yesterday I decided to try and do an easy day one week one of the c25k program. It is a 5 minute warm up walk and then one minute of running (I did a 5.0 mph) and then 90 seconds of walking. You repeat this for 20 minutes. Then do a 5 minute cool down walk. It was easy but I was feeling the pain in my neck and upper back for the rest of the day. the migraine started to set in later that night. I slept on an ice pack all night. I am going to start walking again in the neighborhood but I will take it easy. I need to get moving. My legs felt like lead yesterday. I was surprised. i have only been sedentary since April 9. Amazing how out of shape you can get form only 3 months of nothing.

I went shopping on Monday. I got $135 worth of grocery for $51.33. Not bad. I am sorry that I do not have a picture but I was in a hurry to get all the groceries put away and run out the door for more errands.

The kids and I may take a trip to the Imaginarium Museum in Ft. Meyer's soon. I have a super cool new camera and I will take some pics and post them. They have a neat chemistry thing going on for the kids this month.

Just saw some great Target deals that I need to run out and get with coupons. :D I can get $15 worth of stuff (some of it school supplies and some of it Gerber graduates meals!!) for only $2 after tax! So, I am off to Target!!

2011-05-26T13:11:00.000-04:00

Our first corn ever! What a pretty corn it is too. They are not growing very large but maybe our garden is too small. Oh well, It was fun to grow them. :D

2011-05-19T19:49:00.002-04:00

Here is my shopping trip on 5/16/2011!! I paid oop $28!!! This was $130 worth of grocery! Some of the items I have here are 8 bottles of Fuze drinks, 4 raman type noodle thingys, 14 bags of the Kraft Homestyle mac n cheese, 2 Ben 7 Jerry's ice cream, some Breve Creme for coffee, 2 7th Generation dish soaps, veggies, fresh basil, Zatarans, 2 bags of Doritos...and more! This was a great trip!!

Basil - Dr. Weil

2011-02-16T22:09:00.000-05:00

Great article!! Good read. I and my family are going to start using Astragalus and Echinacea again. Last year when the swine flu scare was evident, we used this a lot trying to boost our immune systems. We got sick maybe one time that whole season. This season, however, we are sick on a daily basis. It seems that for months now we have been super sick with a mega virus that will not quit. Just 2 weeks ago I had a temperature of 103 and I am still sick from it. The laryngitis is gone but I feel lowsy and the headaches will not go away. Kids are coming home from school early. I dread the calls form the nurses office. I started my Wii EA Active program and my running program and thought I was on a roll. I had been well for about a week and then got this thing I have now. It is crazy and I am worn out form it all. So Dr. Weil, I am gonna read more of your stuff!! This guy is really on top of things and knows his stuff!

Basil - Dr. Weil

My EA active 2 exercising so far...

2011-01-29T18:20:00.003-05:00

Wow... wow.... I LOVE this program!!! It's great! I set up my profile and picked the cardio program. I am on the 9-week cardio plan. I have done 3 weeks of it so far. I love that it only takes me about 20 minutes to do and It is different every day!! The soccer stuff is the most fun. I love the fitness trails it takes me through.

The jump squats are fun because you are doing soccer headbutts while doing jump squats. When on the fitness trails you have to squat to go faster on the bike or skateboard and then jump when it tells you. The runnning is fun because you can see yourself getting ahead of the trainer the fatser you go.

I am sweating up a storm when doing this workout. It tells me what days to do. If I choose to take a rest day when it has me scheduled I just workout the next rest day and tell it I want to do the last missed workout. That way I am all caught up. I am down a few pounds and I can see major definition in my legs.

I am also doing the 4-weeks-to-a-mile program on the treadmill. This is why the 20 minute workout on ea active 2 is great. I take about 20- 30 minutes on the treadmill training to run a mile again. I will do the 5k next. Monday I start week 2 on the running program.

I have done 2 5k's in the past couple months but since I am not conditioned I have a hard time breathing and this is why I am training now. I am tired of walking the 5k's. I saw a picture of myself at one of the races. I was going pretty fast. I walked 3.1 miles in 40 minutes. But... the picture makes it look as if I am taking a little stroll. I hate that. I need ot run again!!

EA Active Sports 2.

2011-01-04T08:59:00.003-05:00

I got some money for my birthday and Christmas last year and decided to get a Wii system. I think we may have been the only family we know that did not own a Wii! I have always wanted one and when my husband and I realized how expensive it would be to get a Kinect and an xbox 360 we thought the Wii would be a good option. We got it with the help of my hubby chipping in some cash because I wanted the EA Active 2 program. I did one workout so far and I LOVE it!! i am going to do the 30-day program and blog about my experience and results as well.

I am going to start eating more "clean" too. I really want to be healthy and be more fit and I know the key is diet combined with exercise. I have done the whole, gym 5-days a week for 2-hrs a day with no results and I realized it was because I never changed my diet.

When I come up with a really yummy "clean" food or recipe I will be sure to post it. At the insistence of my husband I am still going to use coupons when I shop which will make it more difficult to eat right but I will prove it can be done!! :D

The first trainer on the EA Active 2 program I chose was the girl trainer because she focuses on cardio. I do get a Chance to build muscle in the routine and I like this!! I want to focus on that right now because I have a lot of weight to lose and if I gain muscle tone without losing the fat on top of it then I will just look bigger without seeing the results of the muscle tone.

Today I was tired because the baby was up until about 4 am. He seems to be crying in pain and I was concerned and rocked him most of the night. making breakfast this morning was not the priority on my brain. :D I decided to get a decaf coffee at McDonald's and I also got the new Fruit and Maple oatmeal there too. It was not bad at all. I did not add anything like sugar or anything else to it. I ate it as-is. I also had a banana earlier before dropping the older kids off at school.

Now to get the baby down for a nap and for me to take a much needed nap as well. Sleep is really important when trying to be healthy and lose weight.

True Prep

2010-09-07T08:48:00.002-04:00

We all remember “The Official Preppy Handbook” from the 80's. Admit it, we all read it. we all used it. I for one LOVED it!! Well, there is now a new book out by the same author, Lisa Birnbach. It is an updated version that tells how it is to be preppy in todays society.
You do not need money to be preppy. You need good manners and etiquet. It is said that you can wear hand-me-downs and thrift store finds but have a great preppy handbag and look the part.

Of course Lilly is still "in" as preppy and there are blogs like Summer Is A Verb. or Monigrams and Manicures.I love Kelly Green and Navy as well. There are many more so be sure to look them up and check them out! I'm excited and can't wait to get this book and read it!!

Review of Nature's Gate Products

2010-08-21T23:26:00.005-04:00

This review was a looooong time coming. I apologise for this. Sometimes life and vacations and dear children get in the mix and things get so crazy.

I had a long and lengthy review for these products. I decided to scrap it and give you my unbiased opinion in a short and sweet form.

I said before, I was sent the Acne treatment kit, a Pomegranate body wash and a shampoo and conditioner. Here are the reviews:

I will start with the Shampoo and conditioner. The shampoo I was sent was the Persimmon & Rose Geranium Color Protecting Shampoo and the conditioner was the Asian Pear & Red Tea Color Protecting Conditioner. The smell of both of these were ab-so-loooot-leee fabulous! I loved how refreshing and sweet and fresh these both smelled. I loved how they made my hair smell. I was proud to walk around after my shower and "show off" the scent of my hair. I had lots of compliments from people on the scent. It was a strong scent enough where it lasted awhile after the shower. I liked that. Not overpowering strong but strong enough to last. I felt like I smelled clean and freshly "washed" all day. ....Now, the part I did not like and unfortunately it is the most important part,...How it worked for me. I thought at first it was because I had just had my hair colored a couple days before trying this. I used both the shampoo and conditioner for sever weeks before stopping because I had to be sure. I truly wish I had not. When I used them the first day I found that my hair felt like straw in the shower. I even used an extra dose of conditioner to hopefully solve the problem but it did not work. I then got out of the shower and found I could NOT comb through my hair at all. I had to add a leave-in conditioner to my hair to make it a bit more manageable but I still heard hair snapping and breaking as I struggled with the comb. My hair was very hard to dry and after a week the ends started to look very brittle. Like I said before, I wanted to believe it was because I had just had my hair colored. But, after several weeks of this I finally gave up, with shampoo and conditioner still left in the bottles, and used a different shampoo and conditioner and the difference was AMAZING!( not the Nature's Gate brand) I was able to comb through my hair very easily and my hair felt and looked great. Now, my hair did not have that same fabulous smell but I will take to healthier version of my hair over the great smell any day.

The body wash I was sent was the Pomegranate Sunflower Velvet Moisture Body Wash. I really like the smell of this as well. I do think that all these natural and organic ingredients are the best when it comes to the fragrances. I just love a good organic, fresh scent. I think the wash did a good job cleaning my skin. My skin did feel moisturized and I felt clean after I got out of the shower. No residue and it rinses off cleanly. The only problem I had with the body wash was the container it was in. It was bulky and heavy when full (not so great to have when your hands are wet) and I could not get the pump to work so I had to unscrew the pump each time I took a shower and pour some of the wash onto my cloth. I hesitated to ever go back for more because it was so clumsy and too much work to do this each time.

The last thing I was sent was the Natural Results Acne Treatment Kit. I can not say enough great and wonderful things about this!! Seriously I have nothing bad to say. There are no negatives. I have tried every popular acne treatments out there. Granted I have not tried the "newer" versions of some of them that have come out lately but I did try the originals and nothing, I say nothing, worked like this kit. Not only did it work and made my skin look clear and clean and fresh but, I love that it was all natural and organic stuff I was putting onto the delicate skin on my face. I liked the subtle scent it had. It was a little medicinal but lite and fresh too. It has a face wash, (watch the eyes girls and guys, as always!) a nice toner and a controlling lotion. As long as I used this in the morning and at night before bed, I had very little to no acne at all. I wish I had a before picture to show but I was so ashamed of my skin that I would not allow my photo to be taken, or, I got rid of the evidence if someone had managed to get a click in. But, the difference is truly amazing. I have recently run out and plan on placing an order for another kit. I find my skin breaking out after a week of not using it. So, yes, it is a product for maintenance and you will have to continue using it to maintain the clear skin but that is the case with all the over the counter acne treatments out there. One thing I would like to see with this kit that I have seen with others, is some kind of supplement (all natural and organic of course!) to go along with the kit. Something to treat the skin from the inside out. That would just make this the most fabulous Acne Treatment Kit I have ever used! If a company out there would like to claim they have a better one or has a newer version of their old kits and would like me to try and see which truly is the best, I say send them along! :D I am always willing to try. I do have a bit of scarring from all the acne I had and the sun does not help as it accentuates the marks leaving darker scars. (the severe acne I had was for a time period of about 2 years. Stress and hormones will do it everytime) I would also like to see an organic lightning agent such as green tea or something that will work in the toner and the lotion.

Anyway, that is my review of the Nature's Gate products that I was given the privilege to try out and review. I wish I could have given a better opinion on the shampoo and conditioner but I have to be honest with my opinions. Maybe someone else will have a different experience.

ok, so that was not so short but hopefully it was sweet. :D

You can find Nature's Gate products and this wonderful Acne Kit HERE.

2010-08-09T19:33:00.001-04:00

The first of our watermelons that we are attempting to grow this year. We are using a large plastic container to grow them in as we did not want to dig up the small yard we have and our soil is very acidic. We used some good growing soil in this container. They are looking good so far. We shall see how it goes.

2010-08-04T10:29:00.001-04:00

Simple things..

2010-08-04T10:15:00.002-04:00

Simple things. Things that can't be bottled or restrained but last a lifetime in our hearts. Pausing in the woods to ponder the most miniscule but rewarding things like being a mom or married to a wonderful man. Sitting among the calm to think about night ahead.....laughter....pounding feet....children enjoying the simple woods. I wake up from my daydream to the bustle of my nieces and my children. I see my brother-in-law with his daughters and my husband with our baby. I see my oldest two laughing and trying to skip rocks. Life is nice.

Crazy busy life...

2010-08-02T16:09:00.000-04:00

Life can get so crazy busy sometimes...but, I love it!! Sorry it has taken so long to post and get that review on Natures Gate up. Like I said, crazy busy. I am on my way home from a wonderful vacation and I plan on posting the review soon after I arrive back home. I also plan on keeping up with my blog more.

2010-06-12T19:05:00.000-04:00

Park

2010-06-11T12:36:00.000-04:00

Just a few more of my faves. They are such great models for me! Very photogenic!

2010-06-11T12:33:00.000-04:00

2010-06-11T12:31:00.000-04:00

Here are a few of my fave pics of some of my fave extended family! I took these last Christmas (2009) of my brother and sister-in-law and my neices. We miss them so much!!

You're in for a treat!!!

2010-06-11T12:22:00.002-04:00

I am still writing and editing my review for Nature's gate but I wanted to update everyone on this. I stated before that I tested out a few of the Nature's gate products. They were a shampoo, conditioner, body wash and the Acne treatment system. I do have some opinions about all of the products but I wanted everyone that have ever searched high and low for an acne product that works then you are in for a treat!!! I have tried everything on the market from Murad (this was about 7 years ago), to Proactive (again, 7 years ago) to drug store stuff and nothing worked like the Nature's gate product!!!! NOTHING!!

Ok, there is your teaser. I will post my reveiw soon!!

Nature's Gate Organic Products!!

2010-06-08T08:40:00.002-04:00

I recently had the priviledge of trying out some of the Nature's Gate line of products! I will be writing a review here very soon.

Nature's gate is an organic line of products that range from sun care, acne treatments, hair care and oral care to body care. The scents of these products are fantastic!!! The three I was able to try out are a shampoo and conditioner, acne treatment system and a body wash.

Please be on the watch for my review! You won't want to miss it!!

Great Preppy find!!!

2010-05-04T09:54:00.005-04:00

I was at Walmart a week ago and saw the cutest beach towel on sale! it was among the rest of the beach towels priced at $15 and up but this one was marked as $5!! I took a picture of it. It is a really cute red, nay blue and white towel with lobsters and gold fishermans rope on it. Totally cute! great deal too! I bought it of course.

Saved big today!

2010-05-04T09:38:00.004-04:00

I went to Publix yesterday and brought the baby with me. I usually like to either take my daughter (to show her how to save money while shopping) or go alone because it is easier but I really wanted to get my shopping done earlier than normal. I like to sit with my husband and enjoy the evening rather than heading out to go shopping til 9pm.

I bought a lot more than I usually do. but... I went to the southernsavers.com and did up my list. Then, I decided to look at all the comments ion the comment section that they have under each stores shopping list and the Q's that go with the products. I learned about a few more deals that I could do and I was excited and had to add a few more items to my list!! I keep forgetting that I can use competitors coupons at Publix and that includes CVS and Walgreen's Q's!! There was a comment about a product at Publix that was on sale and I had a manufacturers Q for it but then Walgreen's also had a Q for it. Walgreen's is considered a store coupon so I can stack it with the manufacturers Q to get a great deal! I walked in with about 50+ coupons and it took me a good hour to shop. The baby was absolutely wonderful. He is also a HUGE flirt. It was around noon when I went shopping. The store is filled with all the elderly people who shop at that time to avoid the after work crowds. My son just caught everyone's eye. I had older men and women coming up to me wanting to see and talk to the baby. My son Loves to smile and that usually grabs everyone's attention when a cute toothless baby smiles at them. :)

I finished shopping and gave the cashier my Q's and she said "Oh boy.". I thought that was funny. The total for my order came to $213.66!! That is with tax. After sales and coupons I paid only $76.92 (tax included). I saved a total of $136.74! Wahoo! A deal I found right away when I walked in was a new booklet Publix came out with, Tampa Bay Food and Wine Festival booklet. All the coupons in it are food Q's. One of the coupons was $1 off 1 Chobain Greek Yogurt. Well, publix has them on sale this week 10/$10 so $1 each! I grabbed 15 booklets (there were tons of them so I was not taking then all. Trust me I would never do that to other people) and cut out the Q's and got all 15 yogurts FREE! My kids have snacks for after school all week and it is good for them too! How fun is that!?

until next time...

"Follow You Monday" Episode 2 (Publix & Target Shopping)

2010-04-27T11:39:00.001-04:00

"Follow You Monday" Episode 1 (Publix Shopping)

2010-04-27T11:39:00.000-04:00

coupons are wonderful...

2010-04-27T10:07:00.002-04:00

Oh my goodness I forgot to take pictures again!!! SO sorry. I was tired and the baby needed to eat as soon as I got home. Hubby had work to do in the den so I was on my own for a bit. I bought a lot of refrigerated stuff and frozen items that needed to go into the freezer and fridge asap. As soon as I realized I put everything away before I took photos I just thought :next time:. Sorry.

I got some super great deals. I got 4 Windex multi surface and 4 Shout stain removers all for $.19 each! I got lots for Dannon crush cups for the kids school lunches for only $.25 for the pack so I got 4 packs. I got lots of Capris Suns for the kids. Organic granola bars, meal kits.... the list goes on. my receipt is a good 3 feet long! (I just measured) Great shopping trip. I think I will donate some of the cleaners to our church for anyone who needs it.

My bill came to $180.02 and after sales and coupons I spent only $64.82 (tax included) !! I saved about 65% again! now, I would have saved about $10 more but I strayed from my list a bit and got a little more than I expected. I saved $115 for that trip. Not too shabby. :)

Publix is sooo cool!

2010-04-26T09:20:00.006-04:00

OK, so I forgot to take a photo of the groceries I got but... I wanted to post what my savings were!! My total bill came to $172 and some change. I actually spent (after coupons and sales and stuff) $62!!!! Not bad, huh? I saved 65% I am going shopping again tonight and I hope to save even more. I will try to remember to take a photo of the groceries before putting them away. I will also see if I can scan the receipt to show the savings are real. :P

Walgreen's is a good place to shop this week. get these three things and save BIG! Stayfree maxi pads ($2.99)get back $2.99 RR
Skintimate Shave Gel($2.99)get back $2.99 RR and the Clio Beautytrim personal hair trimmer. ($4.99) Get back $4.99 RR!!

You get back what you pay for these in Register rewards! At Walgreen's you do not need a card or membership to get RR's so when you buy these things for $11 you will get back $11 in RR back! Go back and get the same items but do not use the RR you got for that item to buy it, use another and you will be able to keep getting these without paying any more money at all and just keep receiving RR's. For example: Use the $2.99 RR that you got for the Stayfree when you buy some more Skintimate Gel. (make sure you buy it alone the 2ND time so the stayfree coupon is not used when you buy stayfree again) Then when you buy the stayfree use the skintimate RR to buy that. and you can keep doing this all week. Stock up and save big!! The other $5 RR can be used on anything you want. All the RR can too but I was just telling you how to get a bunch of stuff free this week. :) Another HUGE hint: There was a stayfree coupon in a past circular for $2 off stayfree. use this to pay only $.99 for the stayfree but still get $2.99 in RR. Cool huh??? so pay $9 for all three items and get back $11! I have 4 of these coupons so I will use them 4 different times and I will basically make $2 with each purchase!

Mrs. Meyer's Dish soaps

2010-04-21T17:55:00.008-04:00

I received samples in the mail recently of some Mrs. Meyer's dish soaps. I wanted to write a review on these samples because I think that everyone should go to their health food store or drugstore.com and buy some because these will bring you back in time! I not only love the wonderful scents but also the way these soaps lather up.

I went to the mailbox and saw a nice white envelope (the bubble wrap kind) that seemed full to the brim! I was excited to see what it was. I opened the envelope to find the prettiest little samples in cute colors of lime green, turquoise blue, hydrangea purple and a peachy color. They were all dish soaps and a small note came with them stating that the only samples the company have are the dish soaps and that they hope I will like what I try.

This company is about being GREEN and organic. I like that. I am all about being GREEN these days. :) I saw on the packaging of the samples that it says the materials were all biodegradable. Now, when I have always thought about biodegradable I think of stuff that may sit in a landfill for a year or so before it starts to compost into the ground. Well, when I used the first soap on my baby's bottles I set the remainder of the soap in the sample pack on the counter behind the faucet. That night I went to the sink to wash more bottles and the packaging of the sample pack was starting to break down already!! By the next day it was almost gone!! When they say it is biodegradable they are not kidding! The packaging practically desinigrated before my eyes. It was so cool! I think the materials of the packaging interact with the water and whenever I would touch it or water got onto it it would degrade even more. That is very GREEN.

Now I want to talk about the scents!! The scents I received to try were the lavender, lemon verbena, geranium and basil. The first one I tried was the lavender. This scent brought me back to the days when I would visit my grandmother. The smell was just like the soaps my grandmother used in the 70's to wash her dishes. I actually loved washing the bottles when I would use this sample because it was such a wonderful memory to have and I was brought back to this era ever time I would use this soap. I have to say I was disappointed when it was all gone.

The next one I used was the geranium. This was a nice and subtle scent. Very refreshing and pretty. A slight floral scent and not real perfumey.

The Basil was next. I found this interesting. Probably because I had preconceived notions that it would smell "herby". Well, it did not. It was clean, crisp and smelled of a garden full of subtly fragrant flowers and a hint of sweet basil. I liked it a lot.

The lemon verbena was fabulous!! When I used this I swear it smelled like bubble soap!! The stuff kids play with. It was so fun to use this. I was a kid again, in the backyard playing with bubbles!! Again, disappointed when the sample was gone.

OK, now for the lathering review. When we use products like this we want something that is not only natural, organic and earth friendly but we also want it to work. Well, this dish soap was better than any other dish soap I have used from the grocery store. I only had to put a little bit of the sample on my sponge and it lathered up so wonderfully and the sponge stayed soapy for so long. I was amazed at the suds and the amount of them from such a small amount of soap. I was quite impressed. the bottles came out clean and ready for my baby and I felt good that this soap would not leave all kinds of chemicals on the bottles.

here is a statement I got off Drugstore.com for the lavender soap.
"
Mrs. Meyer's™ essential oils not only have naturally occurring, hard-working-yet gentle-cleaning agents, they also provide a special, singular fragrance for your entire home.

For years, the Lavender herb has been valued for its wonderful RELAXING SCENT that's soothing & believed to RELIEVE FATIGUE. What more could you ask of an herb?

Household Hint: Before washing your dishes, scrape off food. Rinse milk, egg and other starches in cold water; greasy dishes, pots and pans in warm. Stacks of dirty dishes are unsightly and quickly become smelly - ick! - so wash up right away.

Mrs. Meyer's products are cruelty-free and are not tested on animals. Biodegradable. Please recycle all packaging where facilities exist.

Questions? 1-877-576-8808"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I went to the site for Mrs. Meyers and saw that through April 22 they will be giving FREE shipping on all orders in honor of Earth Day!! Hurry, that only leaves one more day!!

I also saw on the official Mrs. Meyer's Website that they have two new scents to add to the collection. Apple and Honeysuckle. Sounds good to me!!

In fact, Mrs. Meyer's also sells other products like toilet bowl cleaner and laundry soaps. I would love to fill my home with these products and the fabulous scents they carry. :) I did also see a plug-in diffuser and candles with these scents. I must say that I would LOVE to have those!!! To have those wonderful smells wafting throughout my home!!!

Been busy saving!

2010-04-19T01:23:00.003-04:00

Sorry, I have been so busy saving that I have not blogged about it!! I got a great deal yesterday. I spent $5.50 at Walgreens and got back $7.50 in Register rewards!! How fun is that!!? I will do it again tomorrow because I have the same Q's to use and I am also going to Publix. I should save a lot tomorrow at Publix and I can't wait to write about it!!!

Friends are the best!

2010-03-22T22:18:00.002-04:00

I wanted to blog about my friend, mentor, Esther Philips. Esther was my youth leader when I was a teenager in high school. She and I hung out at her husbands parents house and ate fudge in the green house that her in-laws owned and sold plants from. She and her husband, Bob taught me a lot about the Bible, life and corny jokes. :) Esther and her husband were co-leaders with Jay and Kathy Stephenson. I love them so much too.

After I graduated from youth group and became an adult myself, my youth leaders became my good friends that I went to for advice or just friendship. I love them a lot of I always hold them close in my thoughts and prayers.

Esther recently got into couponing and saving her family money every week with her savvy shopping skills. She would post about it on her face book page and that got me thinking about trying this myself. I asked her how she did it and she gave me a TON of advice. I read over her advice but got frustrated when I went to the store with a few coupons in hand and realized I no longer get double coupons where I live and that the stuff on my list were still too expensive after the coupons. I didn't think about it again until recently. I have another friend who also loves to use coupons and she told me about hip2save. I realized that there are more ways than one to learn something. The Internet is a wonderful tool if you use it right. I re-read what my Friend Esther wrote to me and then I went to YouTube and watched videos on couponing and I learned so much that I was excited about going shopping and could not wait to see how much I could save. That shopping day was a few posts down and I think I have gotten progressively better every week. The hip2save site has a cute series of videos called "follow Me Monday" and that is where I realized that "Oh my, I can watch videos on this stuff too!" You see, I am a visual learner as well as a hands-on learner. I need both. I can read something but them I need to do it and watch it being done before it clicks sometimes. I was a 4.0 GPA student in nursing school but I give a lot of credit to my professors who taught us visually as well as tactically. (I did, of course study really hard too.)

Anyway, I wanted to say that my friends have really supported me in a lot of things in my life and I am so thankful for them. My friend Esther wants to start a business giving live seminars on how to do the coupon game and win big at it. I think she will do a wonderful job!!

One thing that Esther taught me that really helped me to start out right that first week I did well, was that I should not go into the store with a list made out of what I have chosen to eat that week. I need to first look at and study the fliers and see what is on sale, gather coupons for only things on sale and then plan my menu around that. When I was planning a menu first I was limiting myself. I find it much easier to plan my shopping now if I wait to plan a menu till last. :)

You do not need a store that doubles coupons to do well at this 'game'. It is fun to see how much you can get for so little every week. I think while so many people have been suffering a little financially, this is a wonderful thing to learn. I was never really a thrifty person. Drives my husband a little batty. My husband now waits for me to tell him what I have saved every week and I think he may even be a little proud of me. ;P

My Publix shopping today!

2010-03-22T16:34:00.004-04:00

I wanted to post this photo real quick of what I got today at Publix! My bill would have been $130 at full price but after sales and coupons I paid oop (out of pocket) only $53!! I saved $77. The cashier was excited to announce it loudly to me. It was very funny. :)

I am not sure if you can see here but I have 8 boxes of Arm & Hammer tooth paste that normally sells here for $2.99 a box and I got them for $.25 a box. I also got 2 packages of New England Coffee at a BOGO so I paid $2.75 a bag. I went to CVS before Publix and got a couple tubes of tooth paste, free. I also paid $3.97 for a couple jumbo packs of Pampers diapers, each! Not bad. :)

While I was in CVS I saw a girl at the front of the store going through her binder of coupons. I was standing in line waiting so I decided to tap her on the shoulder and tell her that I was excited that I was not the only one who walks into this CVS with her binder of coupons ready to snag lots of deals. She thought it was great. :) I think I made a new Friend, but, I never got her name. Oh well, next time. ;P

I love CVS!

2010-03-20T22:26:00.011-04:00

This was from my trip to Target. I got the hand soaps free as well as the 8 bottles of shampoo. Getting the cereal got me a $5 target gift card to use on anything in the store. Total for trip was $16 but the cashier was sick and did not ring in all my coupons. I did catch $2 of it and the customer service man gave that to me so only $14 spent out of pocket but if I paid closer attention it would have been only $12. I caught another $2 mistake after I was in the car. Oh well, I learned a lesson. Pay attention when cashier is ringing in the coupons. :)

My CVS trip. The powered toothbrushes cost about eight dollars and change each and the manuals were a little over $4. The total for the trip came to $46 but I only paid $4 for all of it. :)

I am not sure I will ever have to pay for toothbrushes or toothpaste or even deodorant for that matter, ever again!! I paid $16 for $40 worth of items @ target. Yay. Then, at Publix, I spent $51 for about $96 worth of groceries. Not too bad. I think I could have done better though.

I can't wait to see what is in the Red Plum and the Smart Source tomorrow. :) Every week I have gotten coupons for a free item in the paper inserts. Last week it was that new no-sugar sweetener called Ideal. I got 4 boxes, FREE. The week before it was Marcal products and the week before that it was Greek yogurt. Love this couponing!!

GREAT FIND: I found a coupon on the Internet through Hip2Save for Cetaphil. It was a $5/1 coupon. I printed it two times and found the 8 ounce bottle of it for $5.24 at Wal-Mart. I paid $.24 each!! I had never used it before and so I have now started using it and I really LOVE it! My skin is not breaking out at all and it leaves my skin so fresh and clean! I think it smells like my babies shampoo and I love that smell. Very subtle. It does not affect my allergies at all. I think Cetaphil cleanser for the face is a keeper!

Shopping and what I got!!!

2010-03-09T20:26:00.004-05:00

Here is a picture of all the groceries I purchased yesterday at Publix. I spent $55 and got $99 worth of groceries. I think that is pretty good. Last week was better. I saved over 60% last week and about 50% this week. I am happy though. My husband loves this. he likes to hear about how much of his hard earned money I didn't spend on shopping days now. :)

My coupon Binder..

2010-03-09T20:12:00.004-05:00

Here it is, my coupon binder. I will make a new post with the groceries I bought yesterday and the savings I was able to acheive. :)

I have this binder seperated out into different catagories like baking, meats, fruits and veggies, health and beauty (I have to sub catagorize that one becasue I have way too many different things in there like make-up, tooth paste, shampoos, tooth brushes, meadicines...ect) breads and cereals, snacks... you get the picture. I got some baseball card pockets to house the coupons to keep them organized and to allow me to see them easily. I have dividers to seperate the catagories. My binder is a cloth zippered binder with lots of pockets. I also have a green pencil pouch to hold the coupons I will use for a specific shopping day. That way they are all right there.

I go to 3 different stores so I have my shopping list and the coupons for that specific store paper clipped to the list. I do this 3 times for all three lists.

I love this binder meathod as it allows me to be organised and I can weed through the various coupons so much easier than I did before when all 100+ coupons were in one large envelope. Now, if I see coffee on sale in a store I go to the beverages section of my binder and look for the coffee by flipping through the few pocket pages and it takes me seconds to see what I have on hand.

I keep a pair of scissors, pen, highlighter and a calculator in my binder.

Coupon Binders are the best!!!

2010-03-09T00:02:00.004-05:00

I made a coupon binder today. It took my a little while but it is sooo worth it!!! I went shopping tonight and saved $95+!!! I spent about $90 so I saved 50% today. I was a little tired and I know I could have saved more and spent even less if I was feeling better. I have been a little flakey since yesterday. I will take a photo of my binder and post it soon, along with my groceries for tonight and the total savings.

I love my coupon binder so much that I am thinking of putting them together for anyone who wants and NEEDS one. I will add them to my Etsy store when someone orders one and save it there for you. :) You will save so much time and money and they make is so easy to flip through coupons while you are browsing a store. I will sell them at a great price and it will pay for itself with your first visit to the grocery store!!! The savings will add up. It is wonderful!!! If anyone wants one, send me a comment with your email and I will email you about them. you can get a zippered binder or not and it can be any color you choose. I can even make really cute preppy ones!!!

The Grocery game!!

2010-03-06T00:45:00.004-05:00

I happened apon a website that is called the gorcery game and it is fabulous! It takes all the guess work out of your couponing and shopping lists. It is not expensive compared to what you will save every week. Let us say you save $50 (or more!) a week then that is $200 a month at least. (I know you will save more but I am being conservative) I have 5 stores I am using so that is $10 every 8 weeks for the first store and then $20 for the other 4 every 8 weeks. that is $15 a month plus I am gonna sunscribe to the Sunday paper for about $1 a month so that is $16 a month I pay to save a minimum of $200 a month. How exciting is that!!!?

Please, if you sign up (even for the trial period which is FREE for 4 weeks!!!) use my email kcrewfive@gmail.com as a referral so I can get free weeks. Thanks everyone!!! You will be amazed at how much FUN grocery shopping can and will be once you try this whole coupon thing!!!!

Grocery shopping with coupons!!

2010-03-04T03:55:00.010-05:00

Walgreens:
Lady Speedstick
2 packs Dentyne gum

Total paid with tax $1.86!
Plus, I got a $1.00 Walgreens coupon to use on anything in store on next visit. So it is like I only paid $.86!
Total saved was $3.77. ( or $4.77 if you count the $1 back coupon I can use next time) I would have paid $5.63 I used store coupons with MFG coupons and store sales.
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2- 24 packs of Zepherhills water.
2 -Arm & Hammer laundry detergent
2- mens Speed Stick Deoderant
1- softsoap body wash with moisturizing beads

Total with tax $15.95!

Saved $22.38! Plus I got $7.00 CVS store coupons to use on anything in store for next purchase. So it is like I only spent $8.95! I used BOGO coupons along with store sales and a $5 CVS coupon from last visit. Total would have been $38.33!

to "Hip2Save"PUBLIX: 4 boxes Cinnamon Toast Crunch 17oz
4- 64 oz bottles Juicy Juice
4- jars Ragu (1lb 10oz) spaghetti sauce
4 boxes of whole wheat spaghetti
Pepperidge Farms Goldfish
2-Aveeno Baby Shampoo
Thermacare neck heat wraps (3 pack)

I Paid $28.93! (Saved $33.89!! Total would have been $62.82) I used mfg coupons along with store coupons and BOGO's. We do not get doubled coupons here and I do have to pay tax but I think I still did pretty good. :)

Hi Ladies!!! I am soo super excited to tell you about something I am learning to do. I have never really used coupons because I found them to be useless. For example, I would find a $1 off coupon and go to the store to get this item and find that it is a $7 item and I only went for that one thing so I would usually walk out empty handed. Well, I found this FABULOUS site Hip2Save and I have been learning so much from Colin, the site creator. She is so fun and witty and knows so much about using coupons. Check out the site and let Colin know what blog sent ya. ;)

I went shopping on Monday this week and I just had to show you all what I got and how much I saved!! I am learning about price matching and combining coupons and stacking and all that great stuff!! I took only a day and looked through the flyer's of Publix, CVS and Walgreens. I went into the stores as well and grabbed the coupon books they have at Walgreens and Publix. (Publix will accept competitors coupons by the way!! Call yours to be sure first but most do.)I also bought a Sunday paper for $1.75 to get the coupons in there. I have pictures on here of what I bought and a description to go along with each of what it would have cost without the coupons and sales and what I actually paid! It was so fun to see how much I could get for as little as possible.

I have to tell everyone that Colin visited a girl named Sarah from Tampa, FL that reads Colin's site and they went to Publix together and got $258 worth of stuff and paid only $3!!! There are 2 videos
you just HAVE to watch. It is amazing! I aim to achieve this someday. :)

OH and I want to give a shout out to Colin @ Hip2save!! Hey Colin. Thank you to her for teaching me all this great information. :)

Exciting Lilly find!!!

2010-02-03T23:11:00.003-05:00

Hi Ladies, hope tonight finds you all well. :) I just had to share this new Lilly find a friend told me about tonight at church. My friend used to be a Lilly Model. She is gorgeous and receives a lot of Lilly clothing from Lilly whenever a new line comes out.

Anyway, my friend was asked to do something with this new Lilly facebook page and she told me about it tonight. It is a place where people can sell their used or new Lilly! They wanted it to be better than Ebay and it really is a great place to find super Lilly deals!!! Here is a link. Tell them Krystal sent ya!! Re-Lilly

Enjoy!! ~xxoo

Got rid of mop 'n glo residue on my hardwood floors!

2010-01-21T00:15:00.002-05:00

I am sooooo ecstatic! I have gorgeous hardwood floors throughout my house. When we moved in I started using mop 'n glo to make my floors shiny and I would caution everyone to not walk on the floors til it was completely dry. Well, to my dismay, the floors started to lok really dull and had lots of patches where it was worse, like there was stuff caked on the floor. I went to Home Depot and got some hardwood floor cleaner and sprayed it on the floor a dozen times and mopped and mopped and mopped but nothing was getting this gunk off my floors. I even got down on my hands and knees with some Murphy's oil soap and scrubbed but, nothing. This stuff was not coming off. I could not figure out what it was and why my floors looks so dull and grungy. I asked a friend who has hardwood how her floors always look so shiny and my floors are newer. She asked me what I use on My floors and I told her I used mop 'n glo and she immediately said "Never use that!" I didn't know.

I went home and looked it up on google and low and behold lots of others had the same problem with mop 'n glo. This residue that never comes off. I finally found a woman willing to give FREE advice on how she got the residue off her floors. (Most were trying to sell and e-book about it) Here it is folks..... the secret! 1/2 cup of ammonia to 1 gallon of hot water! That's it! Use a rag and scrub the residue off the floors. It will take time and some elbow grease but it works and my floors are shiny again!!! If you have a laminate floor like pergo or something else like it you can follow the woman's advice and put a little of the ammonia water onto the floor and let it sit for 5 minutes before scrubbing but since I have hardwood that does not do well with water just sitting on it I had to squeeze the rag almost dry and scrub with it and then follow it with a dry rag to mop up as much water as possible as I was scrubbing. I noticed that the second pass of the damp rag took the stuff off as the first pass allowed the ammonia to penetrate the residue on the floor. I was so happy to see my beautiful floors again. they no longer look dirty and I feel like I can wash the floors now and they will lOOK like it!!

Mission accomplished!

Made some Zucchini crisps last night....

2010-01-09T11:56:00.002-05:00

They were ab-so-lute-leeeee fabulous!!!! Love them!!! Will definitely make again soon. Just cut up some thin slices of zucchini. Dip the slices into an egg white or egg beaters. Drop into a zip lock baggie that has some low fat grated Parmesan in it and then put on a baking sheet and roast for 15 minutes at 400 degrees.

I ate them all but I am still down 9 pounds now since Monday!!! I love South beach!

YUMMY South Beach dessert.

2010-01-06T11:04:00.002-05:00

This is phase 1 friendly and sooo good!

1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
2 packets Splenda
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 Tb Ghiradelli unsweetened cocoa powder

Mix well.

Add:
10 mini chocolate chips (Unless they are sugar free then do not add in Phase1)
1 Tb toasted sliced almonds

Mix gently. Makes two servings.

Biggest Loser season 9!!!

2010-01-05T13:19:00.003-05:00

I don't know about anyone else but I am very excited about tonight's biggest loser. I really feel like I am on track now with my weight loss. I realized I had to first get rid of my sugar cravings. I am on day 2 of the South Beach Diet and I think about candy all day and it is sad but true. I have not had any sugar for 2 days now. I am being strong and not giving in. I am determined to be the size I need to be.

I still have not gotten my goal dress yet because I could not find a Lilly in TJMaxx that I wanted. The only Lilly dress I found was a navy blue, long sleeve dress with a nay blue and white belt and a collar to match the belt. It was gorgeous, of course, but.. That was not what I was looking for. I want a nice Springy, pink or green or yellow in color. I wanted a sheath. I am still looking and in the meantime I am losing weight. I know the first 2 weeks will be water weight but hey that is better than no weight, right? I have already seen a 3 pound drop since the weekend!

Will look again for a Lilly dress at the Max soon. I did see some cute Lilly PJ's there but that will not help me in my goal. :)

OK, I will be watching Biggest Loser tonight and getting inspiration. :)

Just found the cutest preppy wedding invites!!!

2009-12-30T00:50:00.003-05:00

No, I am not getting married nor do I know anyone planning a wedding soon ...but... I was looking up all thnigs preppy tonight and came across these gorgeously fabulous Secret Garden Wedding Invites . They are fun and flirty and the perfect colors!!! I found them in a fun little Etsy shop called Tualoo. Check it out for some other great stationary items. I saw some Holiday photo cards and some save the date cards and the cutest little Flat notes you ever saw!!

Anyway, just had to mention this little find. :) I put a picture of the "Secret Garden Wedding invites" so that you could see how wonderful they are!

Lilly gave me an idea!

2009-12-26T00:17:00.004-05:00

I love this! I bid on this on Ebay but lost the bid :(

(One of the dresses on Ebay that I bid on. Isn't it sooo cute!?)

I was browsing Ebay tonight for some good Lilly Pulitzer deals and I came across a couple really cute sheaths. I saw that they were size 10's. I was an 8/10 when I got married and for 6 ft tall that is pretty thin. Well, I am not a 10 or an 8 anymore but I hope to be back there someday. I am not far from it. I watch the show "Last 10 Pounds" and I see that if you exercise and eat right then after losing 10 pounds you can be down 2 dress sizes. The people exercise intensely and it takes 4-6 weeks usually. Now i will probably take a little longer and I don't plan on eating like a bird. I will eat wisely and still go to the gym as much as possible during the week.

but....... I had an idea that I got while looking at Lilly dresses. Right now I will not wear a Lilly dress because I do not think I would look good in it and do it justice but if I find a cute one in a size 10 then I am going to bid/buy it and that will be a goal outfit. I sooo want to wear a Lilly dress and so if I actually get one and have it staring at me waiting for me to wear it I can be more motivated to eat right. Exercise is not my problem it is the eating.

I can not really afford Lilly right now and that is why I was browsing Ebay. I was outbid on 2 of them. I think I will go to TJMaxx and Marshall's and see if they have anything in a 10 that I could buy. I need this dress very soon so that I can hang it on my door and look at it everyday and motivate me. No other dress will do it. It has to be a Lilly dress.

I did try the Bodybugg recently. I rented it for $50 at my gym for 3 days and they use the website (it costs a lot to buy a bodybugg yourself and then you have to subscribe to the site every 6 months which costs a ton) and get me my info. I found out exactly how many calories I was using in a 24 hour period for 3 days. On a day I did nothing but sleep cuz I was not feeling well I used 2100 calories all day. My goal is 2300! Wow. Another day I did nothing but take care of the baby and then went to church and helped my husband in the youth group and I used 2300 calories that day. Wow! Then I went to the gym and worked out like mad the next day and I used 2900 calories that day. Crazy! I found out my metabolic rate (BMI) is 1690! That is high! I always thought I had a low one because I am not losing weight fast. Then we went through my eating habits with the trainer and we realized I am a junk food junkie and I eat it when I am not thinking and that is sabotaging me. I was told that using the data from the bodybugg we can determine that I can eat 2000 calories a day and lose a pound a week as long as I exercise like I did the day I burned 2900 calories. As long as my food is the right food I should have no problem losing weight.

WOW, that put things into perspective. My new years resolution is to lose weight and fit into a Lilly dress size 10!! I need to do this for myself. I need to keep this goal but to keep it I need to get the dress. If/when I find a dress I will take a picture of it and post it here so you all can see it. then when I can fit into it I will take a picture of me wearing it so you all can see. :)

Ciao for now.

Merry Christmas!!

2009-12-26T00:03:00.007-05:00

I have been so vacant from my blog and I am so sorry. I had been busy, busy, busy.

First... My older son got a severe concussion during an activity at church. I saw my husband walk into the nursery where I was with little bear and he said we had to leave older bear was badly hurt and we need to take him to the ER. I went to the gym where he was and the adults who saw it told me what happened. One kept saying to me "He left us, he left us for a moment." .... I guess they were on small square scooter and one kid would sit on it while another would push him across the gym trying to get a ball from one side to the other. Well, the boys decided it was an opportune time to push the person on the scooter as fast as possible and watch the kid on the scooter go flying. Well, kids were flying and no one was getting hurt...yet... Then when it was my sons turn to sit on the scooter the kid pushing him push so hard and fast that the scooter flipped up from under my son and came back down and landed on the bridge on my sons nose. that knocked him silly and he went flying backwards and hit the back of his head on the concrete/wood gym floor very hard. they said he instantly was knocked out and his whole body went stiff and he started seizing. They said when he was done seizing they could not tell if he was breathing at all. Then he started to come to and he opened his eyes, smiled, his eyes rolled back into his head and he was out again. They said he was in and out of consciousness a lot. then he came to and my daughter went up to him and asked if he was alright and said his name and he kept telling her that was not his name and he gave a different name. He did not know who he was or who anyone was for that matter. he did know where he was. Someone carried him out to my husbands truck and we raced to the hospital. He has some short term memory loss and still does not remember that night at all. Not even events that happened an hour before the incident. That was very scary for us.

Then we had a cold going around the family and little bear got it along with an ear infection. I did not realize he was sick and just thought he was fussy at church. We did see the pedi and he put little bear on antibiotics and said to give him Tylenol for the fever. Even with the Tylenol he was running a 101.3 fever. That scared me. He is still recovering and has a cough but he seems to be getting better.

So... that was my drama for the rest of the year and years to come. No more, OK!!

I wanted to post something that my grandmother sent to me in an email. I thought it was really neat. It was titled "Christmas In Prospective"

Letter from Jesus about Christmas --

It has come to my attention that many of you are upset that folks are taking My name out of the season.

How I personally feel about this celebration can probably be most easily understood by those of you who have been blessed with children of your own. I don't care what you call the day. If you want to celebrate My birth, just GET ALONG AND LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

Now, having said that let Me go on. If it bothers you that the town in which you live doesn't allow a scene depicting My birth, then just get rid of a couple of Santas and snowmen and put in a small Nativity scene on your own front lawn If all My followers did that there wouldn't be any need for such a scene on the town square because there would be many of them all around town.

Stop worrying about the fact that people are calling the tree a holiday tree, instead of a Christmas tree. It was I who made all trees. You can remember Me anytime you see any tree. Decorate a grape vine if you wish: I actually spoke of that one in a teaching, explaining who I am in relation to you and what each of our tasks were. If you have forgotten that one, look up John 15: 1 - 8.

If you want to give Me a present in remembrance of My birth here is my wish list. Choose something from it:

1. Instead of writing protest letters objecting to the way My birthday is being celebrated, write letters of love and hope to soldiers away from home. They are terribly afraid and lonely this time of year. I know, they tell Me all the time.

2. Visit someone in a nursing home. You don't have to know them personally. They just need to know that someone cares about them.

3. Instead of writing the President complaining about the wording on the cards his staff sent out this year, why don't you write and tell him that you'll be praying for him and his family this year. Then follow up... It will be nice hearing from you again.

4. Instead of giving your children a lot of gifts you can't afford and they don't need, spend time with them. Tell them the story of My birth, and why I came to live with you down here. Hold them in your arms and remind them that I love them.

5 Pick someone that has hurt you in the past and forgive him or her.

6. Did you know that someone in your town will attempt to take their own life this season because they feel so alone and hopeless? Since you don't know who that person is, try giving everyone you meet a warm smile; it could make the difference.

7. Instead of nit picking about what the retailer in your town calls the holiday, be patient with the people who work there. Give them a warm smile and a kind word. Even if they aren't allowed to wish you a "Merry Christmas" that doesn't keep you from wishing them one. Then stop shopping there on Sunday. If the store didn't make so much money on that day they'd close and let their employees spend the day at home with their families

8. If you really want to make a difference, support a missionary-- especially one who takes My love and Good News to those who have never heard My name.

9. Here's a good one. There are individuals and whole families in your town who not only will have no "Christmas" tree, but neither will they have any presents to give or receive. If you don't know them, buy some food and a few gifts and give them to the Salvation Army or some other charity which believes in Me and they will make the delivery for you.

10. Finally, if you want to make a statement about your belief in and loyalty to Me, then behave like a Christian. Don't do things in secret that you wouldn't do in My presence. Let people know by your actions that you are one of mine.

Don't forget; I am God and can take care of Myself. Just love Me and do what I have told you to do. I'll take care of all the rest. Check out the list above and get to work; time is short. I'll help you, but the ball is now in your court. And do have a most blessed Christmas with all those whom you love and remember :

I LOVE YOU,
JESUS

““Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32).

Need help with Math???? Seriously check this out!!!

2009-11-13T17:57:00.001-05:00

Need help with math?? Having trouble with algebra, calculus, precalculus, geometry, trigonometry, statistics, probability, linear programming? Do you have a child who needs help with K-12 math?

I visited a site tonight that is a complete math tutoring program!!! It is fantastic! If you need help with math or if you just need some assistance figuring stuff out before an exam, this is the site you need to check out. I know there are home schooling moms that read my blog and as a former home schooling mom I know how math can be tough t teach our children. It can be tough on them as well as us. This site is easy to navigate and understand and very helpful no matter what math subject you are looking for help in. There are online math tutors that will give you instant help, homework help and help with assignments in Math. What could be better than that!!? These Math tutors are experts in the particular Math subject you ask for help with. These Math tutors are familiar with the National and various State Standards required across grades in the US.

For Math concepts they have Geometry, Number Theory, Algebra, Discrete Math, Trig, Calculus, statistics and probability, and Boolean Algebra. SO much that I am sure you will be able to find whatever you need!

Kids (or adults) can study by grade level by clicking on the grade they are currently in. The grades range from 3rd through 12th.

Right at the top of the home page you see a huge search box where you can type in whatever it is you are looking for specifically. So easy!! You can connect with a tutor Free instantly.

There is a sidebar to the right of the screen where you can see tons of “related Concepts” that you can click on and explore. For example…conclusion of binomial theorem math subject math subjects conclusion sequence and series the product of any two binomials is a binomial? PROBLEMS OF PERMUTATIONS AND COMBINATIONS… these are just a few!!!
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Gained weight but on track again..

2009-11-12T11:02:00.002-05:00

I had a horrible gain. I went nuts, I will admit it. I had these cravings for candy and Halloween was in sight and candy was everywhere. I could smell the candy as I walked into the store and walked the isles. I was eating candy bards (3-4 ) a day and buying M&M's and eating huge bags of them. My kids were looking at me like I had an addiction. I went to my weigh-in at Weight Watchers and I had a gain and it was bad. I was now 4 pounds over what I started with. Yuck!

Last week I saw an article in a prevention magazine extra. It was called the 2-week turnaround. I read the article after buying the magazine. After reading it I decided it was something I could do. It was only 30 minutes of cardio a day (6 days a week) and then a little strength training exercises (with simple equipment like dumbbells that I have). I really have been having a hard time trying to get on the treadmill with little bear crying all the time when I do. He sleeps until it is time for me to exercise and then, boom, he is awake and crying. I figure 30 minutes is not bad. they mix it up too. you do a different routine every other day with both the cardio and the strength training. Also, they have an eating plan where you only have 1600 cals a day. For some funny reason I find it easier to count calories than points. I decided to do this.

I have been doing this for 4 days now. I have stayed on plan and it is actually kinda fun! I eat approximately 1585 a day. I come as close to 1600 as can. I have been getting the 30 minutes on the treadmill in too. Sometimes little bear wakes up part way through but it is not too bad as long as it is only a few minutes of crying. The strength training is fun with routine A I hate routine B but I do it anyway. :) I have to say I am soooo sore! I can hardly walk but it feels good because I know I am doing something that is working. I have also lost 4 pounds in a few days!! I needed this jumpstart! The article says you will lose up to 14 inches and 12 pounds in 14 days. We will see.

I still go to the Weight Watchers meetings to weigh-in. I need the accountability of the weigh-in. I also like to think I am on the Biggest Loser and I have to weigh-in every week and it is all recorded. I also like that you are recognised when you lose every five pounds. That will help to keep me motivated. I just won't tell anyone at the meeting that I am not following the points system. ;)

Tuesday weigh-in..

2009-10-07T09:51:00.005-04:00

I was a little anxious about yesterdays weigh-in. Partly because I thought I gained weight and partly because my leader wanted to see my food journal.

I had not been doing the food journal as I had been doing it online with the e-tools and not on the paper journal. I am not home a lot so I forgot a lot to record things online. Well, on Sunday when the leader said in an email that she wanted to see my journal I decided to start doing it on paper that day. I did it Sunday through Tuesday. I found it to be better too. I can carry ti with me all day and I keep much better track of my food when I am out all day. I really think I like it better than logging in on the computer. I like the other e-tools and the recipe builder and activity points calculator and such but i think I will track points on paper from now on.

OK, I stayed on point for those 3 days afraid I would get scolded by my leader. I was about 3 pounds above last weeks weigh-in on Saturday. Well, exercising and staying on point (no weeklies) and I lost weight at Tues weigh-in!! I was only down 1.2 pounds but hey I was down! Now I am below what I started again. It says that in 5 weeks I have only lost .8 but hey I am on my way again and I am going to try much harder this week. I have been tracking everything I put in my mouth on my paper tracker. I was also told by my leader to make sure to get ALL the HG's in too. They are the oils, liquids, protein, grains...etc. I was told by my leader that my journal was all junk food. She said that I am not eating fruits and veggies and that all my points I use are junk. That is why even though I stayed on points I only lost a tiny bit. She said to try eating fruits and veggies for my points and not cheese-its and Starbucks. (even thought the cheese-its were 3 points (25 crackers) and the Starbucks was only 2 for the non-fat capp with pumpkin spice, she said that I could have had a huge amount of fat free popcorn with those powdered flavorings for only 2 points or 1/2 a cantaloupe for 2 points. That would fare me much better. I think I will try it this week and also try to get in more exercise. I did 5 days but only 30 minutes a day. The baby screams when I am on the treadmill or doing any other form of exercise. It seems he knows. No matter when I try to do it he knows and is no longer napping and just creams. it is very difficult to exercise when you have a baby screaming for you. he is so precious to me it breaks my heart. I even had my daughter babysit him in his room (right next to mine and I had the door open) and he still screamed. My daughter was at a loss. Poor girl. She tried. :)

anyway, My week was hectic and I ate poorly but I did lose. I think if I stay on track with my eating this week. (the whole week) and exercise consistently I think I should do OK. I really want that bookmark and my 5 pound sticker!! I saw a girl get her 10% key chain yesterday and it is a cute gold keyring. I can't wait to reach my 10%. I have not been there for a few years now.

I will keep y'all posted!!

I did it again!

2009-09-29T14:27:00.004-04:00

I got on the treadmill! That makes 2 days in a row! I know, I know. You might be thinking that 2 days in a row is not a lot but like I said in a previous post, Mini goals.., I am trying to accomplish things in mini goals. I am happy that I did it 2 days in a row. Usually I would say, "Well, I did it yesterday so skipping just one day will not hurt. After all, I can do it every other day and still get 4 days a week in." Then I would never get it in the third day and so on. I have to stop making excuses for my laziness sometimes.

There was a time I worked out at the Gym 2 hours a day 5 days a week. I felt great. There were days when I think I worked out too much. I gave myself headaches but at least I was consistent and I did it. I need to make a new mini goal now. I have accomplished getting on the treadmill 2 days in a row so now my new goal is to finish up the week. I need to get on the treadmill everyday for the rest of the week. (Wed, Thur, Fri).

My little bear got upset while I was on the treadmill and that made my heart rate a bit high but I will try to figure out how I can workout without little bear getting upset. He seems to know. That is the one time he will not nap. No matter what time I choose. He just knows. :) He loves his mum and I think the treadmill scares him. He is only 2 months old after all. :)

OK I have a weigh in tonight so I will post about that later. Now, I am off to prepare 4 chicken pot pies for the freezer. (Not WW friendly but my husband loves them)I feel that if I eat a small portion then I can enjoy it without the guilt. Plus as long as I am exercising then I will have those activity points to count. :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Update. I weighed in and had a slight disappointment but next week will be better. I gained but only 1.2 pounds. I was told it could be water weight or even muscle mass since I started to exercise again. I am betting on the water weight. (water retention) I should have a better week next week. I will not give up because of something like this. :) I will keep pushing forward. :)

New week..

2009-09-28T09:55:00.004-04:00

It is a new week. I know my weigh-in's are Tuesdays but it is Monday and it is a new week for me. I got on the treadmill and was able to finish my workout before the baby got too upset. I am now off to do errands. I feel great and have no desire to eat candy because that would ruin my workout that I had done. I love working out in the morning as it seems that once the day starts and you are part way through it , you just seem to get too busy to exercise. I told myself "No excuses." Not today. I dropped the older bears off at school and drove home. I did my devotions and then learned some moved for turbo jam. I them jumped onto the treadmill for 20 minutes. I have a heart rate monitor and saw that I burned 540 calories!! I have not eaten yet but I will. I have a protein shake I will drink. It is from Arbonne (I sell it if interested) and I will drink the fiber drink and the the NRG tablets as well this am. It is all natural stuff and I am feeling good about staying out of the candy and getting my workout in. I think i may have gained this week but we will see. I have my weigh-in at 6pm tomorrow afternoon. I will let you all know how I did!!

On our way to the park...

2009-09-25T13:22:00.004-04:00

I have not gotten on the treadmill all week. I keep telling myself I will. I keep telling myself every time I eat a candy bar from the freezer that I will get on the treadmill and burn the calories off and yet... I never do. I need to get motivated. I know that if I gain at this coming Tuesday's weigh in I will be motivated but at the same time discouraged. I don't want to get discouraged. I can't wait for this candy fundraiser to be over. Ever since the kids brought home the candy i have been tempted to go to the freezer in the garage and grab 2 at a time. (2 because each kid has a box to sell. I tell myself this will be the last time I grab some Candy so I have to be fair to both kids and take one from each box) I am seriously sabotaging myself. I need to stop this.

I have some friends that meet at the park for a home school group thing for a couple hours on Fridays. I think I will head over there and maybe get some walking in. I have a jogger stroller but I can't jog yet because the baby is only 2 months old and his head is not strong enough for me to be running with the jogger.

Maybe i could convince one of my friends to make a date every day (weekdays) to meet me at the park and we can go power walking. I need someone around me to help me.

I used to exercise everyday. I loved it. I was strong and thin and felt powerful. I felt great when I exercised. So...what happened to me? I need to start to make this a habit again. I have read that if you do something 15 times in a row then it becomes a formed habit. I need to do this. I need to make it a habit to exercise again. I need to stop eating candy. I feel guilt every time I do it but I keep doing it.

I hope to have a better rest of the day (already had 2 candy bars today.) I ate oatmeal this morning hoping that would stop me from eating the candy and it did not. I also owe about $28 for all the candy I have eaten. You would think that was a motivator to stay out of it. Right?

OK, have to get a shower and then off to the park. I will let you all know how things went and if I will get a partner in exercise. :)

I can't beleive I lost..

2009-09-23T05:44:00.003-04:00

I really can't. I had a bad cold all week. I was off plan all week. I got so off plan that I decided to see how my Tue weigh went and just start all over on plan this week. I ate probably 20 candy bars (My kids are selling them for school so there are tons of them in the chest freezer and oh so tempting) and I had nearly a gallon of cider this week. I just did not focus on diet or exercise all week. I thought for sure I was gonna weigh at least 2 pounds heavier and yet I was down .6 pounds today!!I know it is not a lot but it is still down. Yay!! So imagine if I had actually been on plan and gotten onto the treadmill or went for a walk a few times this week!! I am down a total of 1 pound for 2 weeks. I am thinking i want my 5 pound sticker since that is to be our first goal. I will try for 4 pounds this week. If it does not happen fine but I will try anyway. The goals are: 1) 5 pounds
2) 5% (of what you started at) and 3) 10%. Then after you lose 10% the leader at the meeting will help you make a goal.

I had never done i this way before. They used to ask us what our goal was and I would always come up with a number a few pounds lighter than I was before I got married. (pre-babies) I think people were planning unrealistic goals and that is why WW is doing things this way now. They find a more attainable goal that is healthy and doable. I know I can get to pre-baby weight someday but my focus and goal should be just a healthy weight and when I get there I Can then get to pre-baby.

I used to be very, very thin. I am really not far from a healthy weight now but I am not where I want to be. I have read the WW booklet and a (high end) healthy weight for me would be 179. I am almost there! I like making smaller, more attainable goals. It it less frustrating of a process when you have mini goals and can accomplish them faster. Maybe that is why I failed so many times before. My goal was too big and it took too long to get there and I gave up before reaching it. Not this time!!

Tue weigh-in

2009-09-17T09:20:00.004-04:00

I went to the meeting on Tue. I was late. I thought it started at 7 and realized it started at 6pm and ran out the door. I got there as everyone was leaving but I did get to weigh-in. I stepped on the scale and the woman wrote down the weight loss. I took the book and looked at what she had written and it said .4. I was shocked! point four!!!??? You have got to be kidding. I was disappointed and thought I needed to change my points profile. I took the quiz again and realized I need 5 less a day than I had originally thought.

I was happy about one thing. I had taken my measurements the week before just because I had never done that and I was curious how many I could lose. I also know that when you lose you sometimes lose inches and not pounds.

I re-took my measurements on Tue night after the weigh-in and I lost 6 inches all around!!! 2" on each thigh. 1" on the bust and 1" on the hips!! Yay! Ok, now I am encouraged again. I even had someone tell me in church yesterday that I was looking skinny. I don't think this but that was great to hear!

I have not had anything to eat yet today and it is already 9:30am. I do need to go eat my oatmeal and FF milk before I gorge myself on the kids candy for the school fundraiser. That is a bad habit I have always had that I need to break. I love chocolate and candy and sweet stuff in the morning. I would gorge on it and before I had children I could do it without gaining a Pound on my svelte figure but now I can not do that.
Ya know I was thinking, if i had a chef come over and cook me egg white omelets every morning and some whole grain veggie wraps with Quiona and tilapia for dinner... I think I would do ok!!! It is the preparation that kills me. I just feel like I don't have time and I need something fast. I would love to eat healthy all the time and have it ready on the table when it is time for it. I need an easy button. *smiling*

Started Weight Watchers again.

2009-09-15T11:55:00.003-04:00

I am embarking on the Weight Watchers journey again! I started it about 12 months ago and then a couple months later found out I was expecting!! I am now ready to lose those baby pounds that crept on and continue to my goal weight! I am 5' 11" and my goal is 145! I was 193 (Yikes!) at the WW weigh in last week. I weigh in again tonight. I will let you knwo what it says. I did the waist to hip ration thing today and found out it is 7.8 and that is actually high normal for a female. (Jillian Michael's said this on the TODAY show this morning) I want to be lower than that and I want to be the weight I was when I got married. I know that with discipline and motivation and some cheerleaders on my side I can do it!! (I can hear Tony Little ringing in my ear "You can do it!!")

Please encourage me on this journey.

This is my 100Th post by the way. I am still waiting for my followers so I can get sponsorship and some great prizes for contests!! Maybe I will make it my 125Th post will be a cool contest! I have written to some companies and got no response. I think I will try Etsy companies but I do want to encourage these sponsors that I do have people that Read my blog and they will get some good advertisement from the contest. So please, if you will for me... tell all your friends to read my blog and follow my journey through life, Weight loss and even view some of my Fave things! I have lots of those. :)

Thanks all!!
Ciao!

Sooth your colicky baby.

2009-08-26T14:04:00.004-04:00

We just bought the Fisher Price Lil lamb sleeper swing and I have to say it has been a life saver!!! My sweet little baby is a bit colicky these days and I thought I was losing my mind. I have been delusional early in the morning after no sleep for over a month and I am getting cranky because of the lack of sleep and "me time" and cuddle time with hubby. I can not get housework done or anything.

My baby loves to be with me and lying on my chest 24/7 and as sweet and precious as that it I do have to do other things sometimes. I love this baby more than m y own life and I love the quality time I spend with him but I do need to put him down once in awhile and that was just not happening. Thus the lack of posts in my blog lately. We bought this cradle swing and has been so wonderful!!!! I wrote a review on it here on Epinions.com Please check it out. I would recommend this swing to anyone with a young baby. The price is well worth your sanity. :)

Southern Living: Preppy Style is having a 100th post giveaway!!!

2009-08-14T11:30:00.002-04:00

Southern Living:Preppy Style is having a 100th post giveaway and you don't want to miss it! Check out her blog and enter!! It's all about the feet ladies!!

That reminds me. I am about to hit my 100th post and I will be having a really great giveaway soon. Please check back often for details!!!

Ciao!

New & Exciting Giveaway!! Details soon!!!

2009-08-14T11:13:00.002-04:00

I have a very exciting giveaway to tell you all about and the details will come very soon. Stay tuned and tell others so we can make this a great contest with lots more to follow!!!

Ciao!!

Fall is around the corner

2009-08-13T23:29:00.004-04:00

I love fall. I am from New England and I think New England epitomizes what fall is all about. I get all nostalgic when it comes to fall and fall decorating. I now live in FL where we do not have fall but believe me, when you walk into my house it is New England all over! I love decorating it for the seasons too. It is so much fun.

I was recently given a Yankee Candle that is "flavored like Caramel Pecan. I think it is a very sweet smell. Literally sweet. It makes the whole house smell like candy. I love it. It is my precursor to fall. I usually have apple spice and pumpkin smells in the house for fall.

I lit the candle tonight and now I am enjoying some animal crackers and the smell of sweet caramel and pecan while I am blogging. The baby is stirring a bit and I will have to feed him in about thirty minutes. It is so relaxing to have the house all quiet and smelling delicious and it makes it a pleasing thing to stay up all hours of the night with the baby. I love this time I have with him.

Whoops, off topic a bit there. Sorry the brain thinks baby all the time these days.

Anyway, I have some great finds I will share with everyone soon. I saw some pink and green in Marshall's the other day that I have to share with you all.

Until then...
Ciao!

Please click on my google ads and I will do same for you!!

2009-08-09T02:10:00.003-04:00

I wanted to ask everyone of my readers a favor. I have google ads on my blog here and I was wondering if you all could bookmark my blog and everyday come and check out the google ads I have. this will help me out tremendously. I will return the favor back to you as well. Just post a comment here that you will do this for me and I will also return the favor. Also, be sure to follow my blog. I want to start having more contests soon and I want to be sure I have a lot of people that will participate. That way I will get good sponsors and prizes!!

These ads have some pretty cool sites that I have visited from others google ads. Really worth the look. :)

I am so in love with our new baby!!

2009-08-07T15:27:00.002-04:00

I have 2 other kids and love them more than my own life. It is so hard to think sometimes that you could possibly love anyone else. there can not be any more love in me to give. But, when this little baby was born 3 weeks ago, I fell head over heels in love with him. I would die for him and I can not get enough of him. I love the bonding we have at night when I feed him and everyone else in sleeping. I love talking to him and Reading to him. I worry about the swine flu with him and it makes me cry to think about it.

I am 36 years old so my husband said no more babies. It makes me sad but I am soaking in every single moment I can with our new baby. I love with with all my heart. I love all 3 of my kids and God is sooooo good to us for allowing us this privilege for the third time. :)

Swap a dvd!! Cool site

2009-08-06T10:36:00.006-04:00

I just came across this neat site SwapaDVD You can take DVD's you do not watch anymore and get something you want to watch! It's great for excerise DVD's as well. I think I will use it for that! I like to switch out my exercise DVD's. It gives me more of a challenge and my nuscles get toned better this way too. I will not have to spend the fortune to buy a new set of exercise DVD's as well. they can get pretty pricey.

It's worth checking out. :) Hey, do me a favor when you sign up. tell them I referred you. Thanks. The nickname to put in the referral box is Kcrew5

Here is something i coppied and pasted form the site that tells about it.

You have original, playable DVDs that you do not want to keep.
You post those DVDs to your "DVD Tower" to offer to other members.
After you have posted the first 10 DVDs to your DVD Tower, you get 1 "gift" credit from SwapaDVD to get you started swapping (limit one per household). After that, you earn credits by sending out DVDs to others.
You may order available DVDs for 1 credit per disc (some DVDs do cost more than 1 credit)

If you want a DVD that is not currently available, you can place it on your Wish List and we will notify you by email when it is available for you to order. You can even have it sent to you automatically when it becomes available, with no email necessary.
When a DVD is requested from you, we notify you by email, provide the address for you to send it out, and even provide a wrapper with postage printed on it if desired!

Wrap and mail your DVD.

When the requestor receives it, you earn 1 credit per disc mailed. Yes, you pay the postage to send out your DVDs, but when you request a DVD, the sender ships it to you and you pay 1 DVD credit (some DVDs do cost more than 1 credit)!
The DVDs you receive from SwapaDVD are yours. We hope that you will repost them to share with other members when you have viewed them, but you can certainly keep them, or give them away. Similarly, the DVDs you send out to others belong to their new owners.
SwapaDVD is a great way to share DVDs with people all over the country!

Baby feet

2009-08-02T14:14:00.003-04:00

These are the feet of our precious litle one! he is the newest addition to our family. He was born on 7/17 and we are totally and madly in love with him!!!

Sorry I have not blogged much but I was busy having a baby and then recovering from it all. I have been soaking in everything about this baby and the pregnancy as this will almost definitely be the last. :(

I will start to blog more often now that I seem to have a few minutes of time to do it but I can not guarantee it will be everyday. I will try to make it at least once a week. :)

Ta for now!

Father's Day cookie!

2009-06-20T20:00:00.004-04:00

My kids saw a table at the grocery store with one little girl sitting there decorating a cookie. My kids asked if they could do it too. This usually is a "free" table where the kids get faces painted or whatever during special occasions so I said OK. Then my son sat down and the lady whipped out a large cookie and gave him some blue frosting to start decorating. My son jumped right in without hesitation and started to decorate. It occurred to me that this was a Father's day thing and that there was no way they were going let us have the giant decorated cookie, free. The table never had a sign or anything telling you this, but, I just knew. My daughter wanted to decorate a cookie too since her big brother was doing it and I whispered to her that I did not know how much it would cost for one so they would have to decorate the same cookie. She was not thrilled but did it anyway. My son got up and my daughter sat down and started to sprinkle edible confetti onto the cookie. She then put a "Happy Father's Day" plastic thing-a-ma-gig onto the cookie and as soon as she did this the lady at the table whisked the cookie away and slapped a clear plastic lid onto it and then a price sticker. It was nearly eight dollars for this cookie. (It was not THAT giant!) I was a little surprised and I did not have the money for it so we discretely placed the cookie on a shelf in the store (Horrible, I know.) and bought a roll of cookie dough.

When we got home I knew that I had food coloring and I can make frosting. We made a giant cookie (Bigger than the one at the store.) and the kids decorated it nicely. It only cost me $2.50 plus tax. I am sure my husband will love it. :)

33 weeks!

2009-06-17T13:14:00.004-04:00

I am now 33 weeks along in this pregnancy and I am so sorry for not keeping up with my blog lately. I am so bad! I can't sleep well because of the leg, hip and back pain and the baby is getting so big now that when he moves about it disrupts what sleep I might be getting sporadically. :D
Anyway, I went to the park today with my other 2 kids and I felt so hot and tired that I had to go back home to the air conditioning. I feel like passing out a lot these days.

I have been working at the church doing yard work and weeding gardens when I feel up to it Even when I don't feel up to it I try my best and my kids help me. I should take some pics and post them. I will be there tonight as we have youth group and we, of course, are there for that.

It is hot and feels like it is getting hotter everyday. 95 today and the humidity makes it feel like it is over 100 degrees. Of course, I am pregnant and so I may feel hotter than normal.

My kids and I found a way to the park without taking the major road. We have lived here 3 years and never even tried to ride our bikes to the park before. I never wanted them on the main road. It may take a little longer to get to the park but it is a nice ride and it is a few miles. When the baby is born I will see about getting a bike attachment for the baby and me and the kids can all ride there. Or, I can take the jogger stroller (got it at the baby shower!!!! I registered at Target.com for it and my hubbies aunt got it for us!!) and my kids can ride slowly in front of me on the sidewalks.

I am so excited for this baby to come. I am anxious about the whole delivery part but I know it will go fast and it will be over before I know it. God will be there protecting me and the baby like he did with my 1st and 2ND. I should have died from the first but God took care of me even when the docs messed up and did not.

OK, I gotta see if my kids will watch a movie and let me take a quick nap. I am so tired. :) Then I will make an egg salad for supper. Cold dinners are best these days. :D

32 weeks pregnant!!!

2009-06-08T17:02:00.006-04:00

here I am @ 26 weeks along.

32 weeks in this pic!! On the home stretch!

I am really huge and now 32 weeks along! I can not wait to have this precious baby and start exercising again like I used to!!!!Weight Watchers, here I come!!!!

I do think I need to bend my neck differently as I think I look a bit retarded here. :)

too much faith?

2009-06-04T11:15:00.002-04:00

No way! You can never have too much faith. It has been tough the past 3 months. I have no posted in a bit because I have been struggling with trying to pray without ceasing. My hubby had been out of any work for 3 months now. Recently he picked up a couple odd jobs but not enough to pay our bills. .We are behind in mortgage and medical bills. I am due to have the baby Aug 5 but the baby may come a little early so probably 6-7 weeks from now. It is been hard to pray thinking that I have been praying for 3 months now and no work has shown up. My husband is self employed so he does not qualify for unemployment and we used up our entire savings to pay our bills 2 months ago. We have been living on pure faith with some days being easier than others. today seems to be a good day but of course with the pregnancy I may start to cry in about an hour. :) *smile*

Husband has been trying to start up a new business of mowing lawns and that is big in FL. We will just add it on to his current business and that way we can use the Ins. and business name we already established.

God is so good and we know He will not leave us alone in all this. We have our human emotions and we feel alone and abandoned sometimes but that is not the case. It is our human side feeling this way but it is not reality.

We will continue to have faith and let God do His perfect work. I will keep everyone updated.

I'm thinking of writing a childrens book!

2009-05-18T16:19:00.002-04:00

I have always wanted to do this. Even as a child I wanted to write a book. I think that I will start small and write a children's' book. I have so many ideas and I have a friend who can draw anything. I will write the story and ask her to illustrate to her hearts content. I will be sure to let you all now how it is going and let you know when it gets published. ;)

I am very excited about this and I want to get started right away. I will go sit in a quiet spot in the house and start brain storming before I start to write. I also want to send a note to my friend to see if this is something she would be interested in. :)

What do you all think? Have you ever written a book before? Was it published? How was the process?

Fundraiser...Please help!!

2009-05-12T21:03:00.003-04:00

We are doing a fundraiser for our Youth group. I will be taking orders for only a week. (til May 19) The proceeds from the sales will go to the youth group and help us to do a lot more activities with the kids this summer. We tend to have a lot of the teens fall off the attendance list during the summer months and we want to be able to have lots of activities to keep them coming to church.

We have 2 items for sale they are the Sea Salt Scrub and the Sugar Slush Scrub. I am adding photos of each in this email. There is a flat $4.00 fee for the shipping and tax. The sea salt scrub is $28 and the Sugar Slush Scrub is $22. Please let me know how many you would like to order. I will send the items to you as soon as they arrive. The items are all natural and from the company Arbonne and superior products. I use them and absolutely LOVE them!

Please support the Calvary Baptist Church, Englewood, FL youth group and our Summer Activities!! Please respond to me ASAP so I can place your order. ( I will need the money by the 22th of May) Send the money in a check written to me (Krystal Brobst) As soon as you know you want to order. Thank you. :) Send me an email for my address to send the money.

~Krystal

Volunteering today..

2009-05-07T10:17:00.002-04:00

I am off to the Christian school to watch a couple classes while the teachers have a meeting with parents. I am overseeing the K-5 thru 2nd grades. What fun!

I am also waiting for the exterminator guy to show up (between the hours of 10 and 12!) so I can leave here. I do hope they come soon so I can be on time to volunteer at the school. :)

I am also posting a request for anyone wanting to host a book party for me in my cupcakesandarbonne blog. Check out that blog for details. :)

Thank you to all those followers of this blog as well as my cupcakesandarbonne blog. I truly appreciate all of you!

Remember the 2 Spring Giveaways I have end tonight!!!

2009-04-30T18:22:00.001-04:00

One is in the cupcakes and arbonne blog and the other is in this blog. Click the link to the right to see it. Win a gorgeous plate that will be personalized and monogrammed just for you!

Swine flu? eek!

2009-04-30T12:00:00.004-04:00

I have been feeling a little under the weather recently and with all the hype about the swine flu I got a little worried. I am pregnant after all and I have a compromised immune system.

My daughter is feeling a little sick too but I think we both just have a cold. We are stuffy and have a throat thing going on. No big deal. I am a little scared of going to the park though. You know with all the germs on the equipment I would hate to get anything else going around our house. Am I being unreasonable?

My son is just about finished with homeschooling. My daughter finished last week. yay! Summer break is nearly here!!! Beach without the guilt! lol!

The beach was beautiful!

2009-04-23T08:51:00.003-04:00

Boy, we had a nice week.It started last Saturday when we decided to take sometime to head to the local beach and just sit and relax. We watched the kids play in the sand and scream about how cold the water was.(it if FL for goodness sake.How cold could it be? ) Then we went home and I made meatball subs with these yummy polish rolls and some provolone cheese. Yesterday we went to the beach again but this time we headed out to one of the top 10 beached in the US, Siesta Key. It was gorgeous! We packed some snacks so we had plenty to eat and munch on. We had stopped by UC and AJ's for lunch before going to the beach and had a good visit.

One of the reasons we left the house for such a long time away from home on a Wednesday (something we never do as Wed. nights are so jam packed for us) is because we had a tick problem in our house. Yuck! Our dog ran away (again!) and got a tick when the dog catcher caught her her in his dirty truck.Well, she is a large dog and since she had never in all these years had a tick we never thought to check her. Well,one day i started to find ticks allover the place hiding in the crevices of things.It freaked me out.I hate bug but especially ticks.I called the exterminator and they said we probably have a really bad problem because they breed so fast. EWE!!! We asked them to come and kill the bugs.We had to leave the house for 4 hours after they sprayed the house. SO off to the beach! I was a little worried about being in the house after the poison was in it being I am pregnant but the house was not bad smelling when we got home and the company assured me several times it was ok. You would think that because of liability issues they would say no way of there was even a question. Right?

Anyway, I just prayed hard that Nothing would happen to the baby, me or the rest of my family.

Husband has gotten a couple little jobs! Not much right now but soon it will be more. Yay! God is good and will take Care of us. That job I was going to get back with LiveOps (A virtual call center company) did a background credit check on me. I passed the background but failed the credit check! I could not understand this as I passed the last time and I do not have terrible credit. Well, I looked over the credit check and saw a couple names on there that were not mine. I also saw a bunch of addresses of places I was supposed to have lived at and they were never mine.That scared me and I will be checking with the credit bureau about this asap.I hope someone did not open accounts in my name. Man, I never thought identity theft would happen to me.

Sorry I have been so MIA

2009-04-16T20:05:00.005-04:00

So sorry, I have been online looking for at home work I can do. It has gotten crazy now. More later.

I just found out today that I got a position with LiveOps again. I am soooo happy. It is a work form home job where I will take calls from clients of LO. I have done this before and I loved it. I can only work late at night after the kids are in bed so please keep me in your thoughts. I need to have a lot of stamina for this. But we need the income right now. My husband is going on 6 weeks of no work. It is tough but we know God provides. I feel God provided this opportunity to me (us) again.

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.

Remember the giveaway in my cupcakes and arbonne blog!!!

Got the Lilly fever~!

2009-04-14T08:59:00.004-04:00

I was able to finally acquire the Lilly Entertaining book and the Lilly Holidays book from the library yesterday! I am so happy. I read through them last night and they are fabulous and so fun to read! The recipes are looking really yummy too. There are a few I would like to try. But... I do love the stories and the history in them. What a wonderful way of thinking. She never believed people should try to be like her or anyone else. She encouraged people to have fun while entertaining and not fuss and to not try and copy her style but find your own fun style. I love that! One thing I tend to do is fuss about everything when I entertain. That is probably why i do not do it very often. I think that everything has to be perfect and if certain people are coming over I feel like Things need to be extra perfect putting a lot of pressure and stress on me. I then become not such a great hostess because I am stressed. Lilly says to laugh when the lamb falls on the floor and do what Julia Child would do and throw it back on the platter. (Not sure I would throw it back on the platter but I think I can learn to laugh). Lilly also said to treat a duke like a dustman and a dustman like a Duke. What a great thing to think about. I do need to show respect to people like my Pastor and such but I do not have to act so frantic when I invite people I respect over. That takes a lot of pressure off and I think I would be a better hostess because of it.

Anyway, I love the Lilly books and plan on finishing up the reading today. :)Then, I think I might plan a little get together soon! How fun!

Had to go to maternity triage today..

2009-04-10T22:33:00.004-04:00

OK yesterday was a nice, fun, relaxing day for the family but today was a whole different story. :) I woke up at 3am with this sharp pain that jolted me right out of bed. It scared me a little since I am 23 weeks along in my pregnancy. I was very thirsty and tired so i went to the kitchen, got a glass of diet ginger ale, and then went back to bed. I got up this morning to my dog whining to go out. so I took her out and I just felt really tired. More so than usual. I told my husband that that pain was still there and has been there for a month now. It has never jolted me out of bed before though. I called my OB to see what they thought and they told me to go right to the Triage at the hospital. Now, I hate doing that so I asked the doc if I had to go "right now?" and he said "yes!" So off we went, as a family, to the ER.

My kids thought this was very exciting. They were all giddy and my son told me he should have brought a camera. (just like mom, always wanting a photo opp) I had to put a gown on (I left my shorts on, i hate those things) and I was wheeled around in the bed to the ultrasound room. (I refused the wheelchair they offered when we first got there. I hate to feel helpless and I get embarrassed) My kids thought it was great seeing mom being wheeled around in the bed and my son kept saying that "If i knew this would happen i would have grabbed mom's camera!" *with a huge grin on his face* All I said was "Ha, ha. No thanks." :)
We were at the hospital a good 4 hours. My husband took the kids to a yummy but not so inexpensive lunch in the hospital cafeteria. I was not allowed to eat or drink anything. I was starving.

Finally I got to go home and they told me they thought my gallbladder may have to come out. Eek. Not while I am pregnant? They said yes. I have to see how things go and if the pain subsides and if not we may have to do something about it. Brother. I will do a lot of praying and hope that is is God's plan I need no surgery of any kind. Especially not while I am pregnant. I hear it is a harmless procedure but, still. :)

Anyway, I do feel the pain still but they also told me that I could have a real badly pulled muscle in my ribcage. They are still searching the ultrasound. I can take Tylenol (extra strength) but that is about it for pain.

My baby inside me loved the whole adventure. he was sleeping until the ultrasound and all of a sudden he decided to hop around, a lot! He was doing somersaults, I think. :) I really can't wait to meet him face to face. That will be exciting. I also can't wait for my kids to see their new little brother. They were both babies themselves at the same time. It will be neat to see how they interact with this little baby. I remember the joy in my husbands eyes when he saw our children after they were born. It will be neat to see that again. It has been 8 years since the last one. It will be all new again. Just like this pregnancy. I feel like I am learning all this all over again. You really do forget what it is all like after awhile because you get so busy with life and raising your ever rapidly growing children.

I will cherish every moment of this new baby like I did with My other two. I recall people telling me that they grow up too fast and I knew that they knew from experience and I should listen so I soaked it all in every moment. I feel privileged to be given the Chance to do it all over again. )

Relax...

2009-04-09T19:25:00.004-04:00

I had such a wonderful and relaxing but productive day. My husband was home today so he helped me out with homeschooling. My son was doing geometry today (3rd grade!) and since my husband was with him I was able to get some housework done and water the flowers outside. I then looked up a lap book project online and we have Ecosystems and Abe Lincoln books started. It is a lot of fun. We went to Wal-Mart and bought some colored printer paper to print out the projects for the lap books. (Makes them much more interesting) We went to the library today as well. I found the Martha Stewart craft book (the new one!) in there and so I, of course, checked it out! We then went to the pond in front of the library to see if we could find the baby alligator and we did not but the birds were all there and it was nice to sit with my husband on a sunny afternoon and watch the birds while the kids were peacefully playing.

I have found a few projects so far in the Martha a Stewart book I want to try right away! One is the custom envelopes project. I can't wait to make some really pretty pink and green envelopes! How fun will it be to correspond with family and friends with those!? I also saw a paper box project that I recall doing as a child and thought it would be fun to make some cute pink and green ones. Not sure what I would use them for though. Any suggestions? The paper cutting and punching stuff looks like a lot of fun and real elegant. I have lots of punches in my craft closet so I can make good use of them now!
Oh so many things to do. I may have to extend the time I can check out this book until I can get one of my own. :)

Remember the contests going on in April one in this blog and one in the cupcakesandarbonne blog. Those fragrance sprays are so light and subtle but really refreshing! Also, none of the products are tested on animals and they are all natural Swiss products. I love them! Please help me to get to word out :)
Have a great night everyone!

Giveaway reminder.

2009-04-09T13:59:00.002-04:00

Remember we have a really fabulous giveaway of some really lovely monogramed plates to suit you. There are photos here to show you a couple examples. Rules are simple. Please show support for Terri and her wonderful business and her generosity upon givint to this contest. :)

Have a happy, preppy filled day!!! I am off to make some white coconut cupcakes with green frosting and pink sprinkles!!

Gorgeous giveaway!!! Monogrammed plates!

2009-04-08T17:23:00.008-04:00

This would be adorable with a green monogram!

Isn't this a lovely pink and green monogrammed plate!

Love this plate!

Terri of Peace Love & Applesauce Boutique is generously offering to giveaway a gorgeous monogrammed plate that she will create for one lucky winner! You will love the Pink and green plates she has as well as the really cute picture frames she makes. I saw some pretty hair bows that my daughter would absolutely love as well!!

Rules of the contest...
you must do all these things to be entered. One entry per person.
(1)Please leave a comment here after going to Terri's Boutique on which is your fave of all her items listed.
(2) become a follower of her Peace Love & Applesauce Boutique blog (mention this in your comment)
(3) post a blurb about this on your blog so others can see the fabulous things Terri has to offer as well. Put the link to your post in your comment. :)
We will run this contest for the month of April and pick the winner on May 1st.

Giveaway!!

2009-04-07T22:47:00.002-04:00

Just wanted to wish everyone a great night tonight and I hope your day was just fabulous!!

A reminder that I have my April contest going still in my blog cupcakes and arbonne. Please spread the word. I would love for my first contest to be a really great one!!

Have a great night and have fabulous dreams!!

I won!!

2009-04-06T19:46:00.005-04:00

I won the cutest baby outfit for our newest edition coming in July. I was entered in the contest during the Ultimate Blog Party and Karen was so very generous. the outfit is the one shown above. It is 100% linen and has the cutest embroidery on it!! It is a Will'beth and I love it!! Please check out Karen's store for more precious baby clothes. :)

arbonne F.Y.I. April giveaway!~!!!!!

2009-04-06T15:55:00.003-04:00

go to my cupcakesandarbonne blog to see the contest and the rules. It is absolutely fabulous and definitely one to enter this April!!!Please spread the word!!

SHI SHU STYLE give away!!!

2009-04-06T01:37:00.004-04:00

SHI SHU STYLE is a fabulous company and is giving readers of Pink & Posh a chance to win of of these gorgeous baby snugglers!! These are made of all natural fibers and as moms we all want the best and most natural things for our babies. Go to Pink & Posh's blog to enter.

check out my other blog for giveaways!!

2009-04-04T18:24:00.004-04:00

I have a blog for my arbonne business. if you are interested, please visit this blog anfd tell others about it as well. I will have giveaways with unopened arbonne products!! I am trying to promote my arbonne business and gather newcomers to the arbonne business if you are interested. I can answer questions you have concerning arbonne and we will have a lot of fun!!! my arbonne blog is www.cupcakesandarbonne.blogspot.com !!

Another giveaway!!! Gorgeous Blueberries and cream earrings...

2009-04-03T17:29:00.002-04:00

CJ's Fine Design's is featuring a fabulous giveaway for April. This month she is featuring a wonderful Etsy seller from EllaScottJewels . Go to CJ's Fine Design's blog to enter a comment to win these great earrings. The contest rules are on her blog as well. :)

Muffy is giving away a lovely necklace!!

2009-04-02T18:02:00.006-04:00

Muffy is giving away this lovely one-of-a-kind necklace from Jewlery Without Jewels made with a charming MADRAS fabric!

Go to her site to enter the contest. Hurry, the contest ends this Friday. :)

Not feeling well

2009-04-02T15:40:00.004-04:00

HI everyone. I am sorry for not writing a lot today. I woke up and felt a little under the weather. It got worse as the day wore on. I have 2 kids and I am 6 months along with my third so as you can imagine I am busy, busy, busy. I have tried to take it easy but it is hard sometimes. My son is also sick and has been coughing for 2 weeks now. I got him some of the Nyquil childrens cough and cold. He seems to be taking to that well. He hates the taste (that is not a bad thing :) ) but I reallt think it is helping him a lot. I had some pretty bad cramping and a headache today as well. I am in my 2nd trimester but bad things could still occur this far along. I just prayed things would be alright and I made some juice with my jack lalane juicer and I feel a bit better. I have to just take it easy today.

Best skin care line I have tried!

2009-04-01T13:32:00.005-04:00

I love Arbonne. I am an independant rep for
arbonne . I love the stuff. I had some bad acne and skin isssues on my face and then someone introduced me to
arbonne and it cleared me right up! I also love the Figure8 products for weight loss. I still use it now for the nutrition while pregnant. I just don't try to lose wieght with it now. :)

I wanted to put this out there because I am trying to get a clientel going. If you or someone you knows would like to buy some
arbonne from me (or even sell it themselves) please follow my blog or tell them to do so. I can also contact anyone if they want me to. I am telling you this stuff is soooo fabulous!

I found Lilly at TJMaxx!!

2009-03-31T18:50:00.007-04:00

Okay first we had some homeschooling for my DS (dear son) and then we went to TJMaxx and looked for some Lilly as I had heard TJMaxx usually has Lilly There. Sure enough we found Lilly!!!! I was so excited to have found 3 different Shift dresses that were perfect and would fit me except that I am 6 months pregnant!! (That was disappointing to know I can not wear them right now). I did not buy them as I am not sure how long it will be before I could wear them but it is something to look forward to when I lose the weight. It is an incentive after I give birth! I have a goal: to fit into the Lilly shifts! I took a photo of all 3 with my cell phone but only one ended up getting saved to the phone so I will add the photo here. It was my fave of all three anyway. Sorry the lighting was so bad but cell pics don't always come out that great indoors. (My son broke my small camera recently. It was a nice one too. I am not into lugging the professional one into stores. lol) Maybe I will look for the dress on the Lilly site so you can see what it looks like in real life. :) ...Anyway, The dresses were at least 50% or more off the original! What a deal!! I love that!

2009-03-28T19:52:00.002-04:00

Isn't this just the coziest outdoor furniture!? I love this. It is called Tropical by Frontgate The furniture and such that they have in this catalog are absolutely the best ever. I think everything in it is fabulous and I want it all. :)

2009-03-28T16:50:00.004-04:00

I love this card!!! I had an inspiration the other day and I came up with this idea. I think it is just great and the perfect note card to send to anyone! You can look to the right and see a link to my Etsy store in my "fabulous links". It is called Preppy Place.

Enjoy!!

Lazy Saturday

2009-03-28T16:17:00.003-04:00

Lazy days are arriving soon. The weather is getting much warmer. It is pretty mild here during the Winters here anyway but this Winter was brutal for our plants here in FL.

I walked out to the Lanai with my husband this morning and it was kinda humid and warm at 8am. That is a sign of the really hot times to come. In the summers here we have seen it get to 90 and severely humid by 8am. yuck! Don't bother with make-up or doing anything with your hair except a nice bun or ponytail.

I have a new card I made to put in my Etsy store. It is a gorgeous pink and green note card made with a toile design. It is just perfect to send to anyone. I love note cards. I think the old style of writing to each other and getting a fun handwritten note card in the mail is ultimately the best way to communicate with those that live far from us.

Anyway, my DH is out at a meeting and hoping to get a deal going for business. :)

Ciao for now!

My Photography site..

2009-03-26T12:19:00.002-04:00

I will be updating some photos on this site. I have some more to add that are just fabulous and endearing. :) I was having trouble with the site the last time I added photos and thus the reaosn I did not add as many as I wanted. :)Please check it ut and leave me a comment in my guestbook about what you think of my work. :)

UPDATE: My contest will start 4/19 and end 4/20

2009-03-24T20:52:00.001-04:00

go to the giveawayaday site (button on my blog here) to see it on 4/19.

work day

2009-03-24T13:21:00.003-04:00

The kids and I worked in the yard today cutting down diseased branches off shrubs that were not looking so hot anymore. We also had a bad winter and there was a lot of frost that killed some plants that had to be dug up or cut out. Our front yard looks so bare right now. Our back also looks bare as I had to dig up the shrubs and the Gardinia. The shrubs will grow back but the Gardinia is toast. Luckily no one sees the back so I have to wrry about the front right now. We need to buy some mulch and remulch the areas and then replant waht we had to dig up. We have had no rain for months so we will have to be sparing on watering the plants as we are in a drought. That will make it hard for the plants to grow healthy but in time. :) We will make due with what we have now. Our rainy season starts in June so we are praying for a lot of it. Our hurricane season also starts in June so we are praying that those stay away. :)

Just relax...

2009-03-21T16:04:00.003-04:00

Today was a productive but ineventful day in our home. We were going to take a trip to the beach but decided not to as it is Spring Break and the beaches are packed like sardines right now. I really hate when people smoke around us at the beach and you just can't avoid it during Spring Break. So, we went out to find my DD a bathing suit to fit her as she has grown out of her old ones. We saw some really nice ones for about $50 a piece but that was way too much knowing she would grow out of them in a few months anyway. Then we found other around $20 but they were so low cut or missing too much fabric for an 8 year old to be wearing so we decided to forego those. I think we checked 5-6 stores before we finally found the perfect suit. It is cute and modest and came with a pair of shorts. My husband was very patient with the whole shopping experience and dressing room after dressing room. (He hates shopping)
We got home from shopping for the bathing suit and my DD and I decided that we were having a sweet tooth attack so we looked through a favorite church cookbook of ours and found a no-bake cookies recipe that looked good. We had all the ingredients and so we make some yummy cookies.
Now, we are looking at blogs and relaxing on this lazy Saturday afternoon.

Ultimate Blog Party 2009!

2009-03-20T21:59:00.004-04:00

I am joining this party and you all should too! Gte you blog noticed and have a ton of fun~! Win prizes too. The prizes I would love are The Kitchen Aid Stand mixer! #1 and most of all! I have always wnated one. I got a sunbeam a couple yeasrs ago from my DH but it broke the first time I tried to use it. :( I would love a kitchen Aid now but my husband is currently out of work so to win this would be a blessing! 19, 30, 49, 50. They have a ton of great prize give aways!! Go to the llink button on the right of my page. :)