Thursday, December 31, 2009

Goodbye 2009

It is the last day of 2009. I can't believe that it was a decade ago that we were ringing in the new millennium. I was sixteen that year and I went to a youth group party at swan lake resort. It was my first new years I could drive. I went on a subway run and I got lost somewhere in Amish country for almost 2 hours trying to find my way back to the hotel. I almost hit a buggy, and we never did get subs, but that sure was a memory. That was also the last New Years I spent without my husband. The next year I had a party in my parents basement Dan was absent because he was with the Purdue marching band, but we had fun with a Karaoke machine just hanging out at home. Then there was New Years of 2002. I went to the youth party to show off my engagement ring. By 2004 I was married. 2005 I was expecting our first baby. 2006 Isaac was here. 2007 Asher was here. 2008 we were pregnant with #3. J

So that brings us up to now. Funny how fast ten years goes. So much has changed. In 10 years I went from high school to wife and mom of 3. It has been a wonderful and eventful 10 years. This year alone has been eventful. There were goals that I wanted to reach, new additions, friends that have moved away, and lots of stuff in between.

It has been a big year for Isaac. He has accomplished potty training, a task that seemed impossible for so long. He started Tuesday school in September, which is a free once a week preschool. He is in 5t clothes because he is so tall. Yesterday I had to loosen his jeans because he is starting to fill out. That is a huge blessing after a month long scare with illness. After lots of testing and a long string of yucky sickness all is fine and he is very healthy.

Asher is at a very challenging age. The terrible two's has reared its ugly head in my sweet boy. He is my most emotional child, and at time that is wonderful we have to learn how to channel this emotion for good. He is so smart and I think he may have his Daddy's brain. He loves blocks and can build towers that are very cool. Anything with wheels appeal to him, and of course his love for football is unchanging. He and Dan will sit on the couch mesmerized. It is funny to watch. I think he is almost ready for potty training. He has started taking off his diaper…here we go. In a strange turn of events I had to tighten, bubba's jeans the other day. He is getting tall and thin now. He is still in 2t, but shirts he needs a 3t. It will never cease to amaze me how different they are.

July 29 we welcomed Levi Brian Robert to the world and our family. He is now five months old. He is such a joy. I love this age. They are smiley and so much fun. He has been a struggle to nurse, but now that we are mostly on bottles I feel like he is happier so I am ok too. He is quite the spitter upper though. That is a stage I look forward to moving out of. He is getting so big so fast. I love that he is so cuddly and sweet. I know it won't be long until he is running around with his brothers.

Dan is the most amazing husband ever. He is consistently wonderful. I love to watch him be a dad. He does an amazing job. He is such an amazing example to us of Christ's love and I am so thankful for him. He also had a big accomplishment this year. After months of studying he passed the professional engineering exam and is officially state certified. Passing on the first try is a huge thing. I'm so proud of him. He never ceases to amaze me as to how well he balances everything and does all aspects of his life well, and to the glory of the Lord.

Then there is me. I feel like so much of my accomplishments are wrapped up in that of my family. God has been teaching me so much through my job as a mom. I'm learning that my selfishness so often affects how I parent. I am working hard to train the hearts of my children, but all too often I don't take the time to do it. I have started homeschooling for preschool (when Isaac isn't at Tuesday school). I am at this point about 99% sure we will be starting out homeschooling. I am so excited for the opportunity to teach my children and train them in the Lord. I am blessed that I am surrounded by several friends who also home school so I will have mentors along the way.

I'm looking forward to seeing what 2010 holds for our family. I know that the Lord has big plans and I am excited to see them played out. Happy New Year every one.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Living on less

As is the custom I have been looking at what goals I'd like to accomplish in 2010. I feel like I have some lofty goals to accomplish. I will later post about all of those goals, but for now I want to talk about my grocery list.

One of the ways I keep my weekly shop so low is because I stockpile. I've talked about that in the past. I have been so blessed this year that I have an over abundance of food. Even after giving away some to needy families over the holiday I have quite a bit left. So for the month of January I will be attempting to eat out of my stockpile. I'm not sure exactly what this will look like. I know I will have to go to the store for things like milk, eggs and produce. However, the main portion of my meals will be from what I have on hand. I'm hoping to get creative and have fun with this. I'm not sure that this will change a whole lot of how we eat, but we will see come the end of the month if I still feel that way.

I'm hoping to only spend $75 this month on groceries. We'll see how it goes. The rest of my budget I'm hoping to put in savings. We have some big savings goals this year so we will be trying to cut back in a lot of areas.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

I'll be home for Christmas

We will be heading to South Bend tomorrow. I'm so excited to go home. I haven't been there since one of my best friends got married back in May. It will be great to spend the holiday with family.

We are starting our festivities tonight with Christmas with our immediate family. Open our presents to each other and have birthday cake for Jesus. Then tomorrow we will do gifts with Dan's parents. Then on Thurs we will spend time with his mom's side. Friday we will spend time with Dan's dad's side. It will be a long week, but so much fun.

I'm hoping everyone has a wonderful Christmas as we remember that Jesus came down in the most humble of ways to save us all. What an amazing gift our God has given us. That is a true reason to celebrate.

Target has cheap Pepsi

If you are a Pepsi drinker it looks like Target has a pretty good sale right now. Check it out here. I would jump on this, but we are going to be working hard to lose some weight starting Jan 2. So having pop in the house won't help. But, I hope some one can get some use out of this deal.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Amazon: Shake n go speedway


So, I have found some decent deals on amazon lately. I just got Isaac his birthday present. Hip to save has details here on how to get the shake and go race way at a pretty good price. I know Isaac will be excited.

Monday, December 14, 2009

I love Melissa and Doug!


So I just took advantage of this awesome deal on Amazon. This see and spell puzzle set from Melissa and Doug is marked down to $9.99 from $19.99. Plus, it qualifies for Supersavers shipping. I added a few things I was going to get anyway, but I see this being helpful with some of our home school activities.

Monday, December 7, 2009

Menu Monday

So, I figured out my weekly menu and then I looked at the store ads...nothing is jumping out at me. I think this will be a good week to just use what I have on hand. I only need a handful of things so I may just do a quick trip for milk and produce and wait and see if next week has anything better for me...I'm feeling a little down in the coupon dumps lately. I haven't been overly amazed by grocery deals. I've stayed with in my budget, but I've mostly just been eating down some of our stockpile. Which is good because it was getting a bit too full (if that is possible).

I'd love to hear about anyone else getting some good grocery deals. I need some motivation.

Fun deals for the day

Here are a few fun things I've found around the blogoshpere that I thought you might enjoy.

Have you seen BK's Christmas promo. So, funny! You pick a card and they stick a $1 bill in it for a 1/4lb cheeseburger. But the cards are awesome. If nothing else you should look just for a laugh, but it only costs a dollar and they mail the card with cash in it. I actually did a few just for fun. Click here for a good laugh.

Also, I just ordered a LeapFrog Didj gift set for only 27.99 shipped! All the info is in this post. It would be an awesome Christmas gift if you had a little one who is into star wars. Isaac isn't quite old enough, but this was a great deal so he will get it next year.

Also, today is the last day for SeeHere's 50% off promo. You get free shipping too. Use the code 2day and get 50% off all photo books and gifts. Get the mini books for only $2.50! I did a few of these for Christmas presents.