Cars digital camera

If you have any little guys left on your list this may be a great value. Right now this V tech Cars digital camera is only $19.99 at Amazon ! That is an awesome deal marked down from $69.99! Just wanted to pass along a bargain. :)

Oh Bub

One of the things my middle child is famous for is his wardrobe changes. Usually he has at least three a 

 day. Today he came down in a soccer ensemble. So, I thought I'd take a picture. He apparently was in

the posing mood. He cracks me up. 

Then there is yet another outfit that he moved on to. Oh, that boy.

Cookies

 Here are a few pictures from our cookie decorating adventures. Dan and I had some fun and decorated some the first night once the kids were in bed. It is always fun to do things together minus kids once in awhile.

 The next night we let the kids do some cookie art after dinner. Little man didn't realize that it wasn't just for eating. He did two cookies then fell into a sugar coma. :) Bubba fell asleep during dinner so he missed the first half of the fun, but he was a little happier after a quick nap. 

 Isaac had a blast this year. He is just starting to enjoy doing these kinds of things. He was not into anything remotely like coloring, but apparently he is moving past that in the name of sugar.

 So happy about his man.

 So happy about his candy.

 YUM!

 Mess...

 He eventually woke up and joined us.

 Concentration...

All done and delicious. I used this recipe I found on Pintrest. It did not disappoint and I think it will be our new fave sugar cookie recipe. What cookies are you making this year?

Mommy party

The other day I invited a few friends over for a Mommy party. I had the opportunity to host a Winnie the Pooh viewing party sponsored by Oral B.  They sent us some fun goodies to share with our friends and the new movie to watch together.

 The big boys were very excited to help decorate. They loved the balloons that were in our party kit.

 So excited to watch the movie!

 Getting snuggly and warm during the show.

 Every one found a place to crash in comfort.

 Here is more of the gang.

Drinking some hot chocolate with a popcorn snack. Oral B provided some fun goody bags with a toothbrush, tooth paste, baby wash and some coupons! I love to see how excited the kids get over "special toothpaste" and new toothbrushes. In our house that is very motivating to want to brush our teeth often... Thanks, Oral B and MommyParties for all the fun. We loved having our friends over to share a movie, snacks, and new things to try.

Melissa and Doug Sale

If you are looking for some great gifts this year Melissa and Doug are some of my favorite. Today the gold box deal on Amazon has 50% off several Melissa and Doug toys. I use a lot of these as my table toys for school.

Christmas to do list

This Christmas I have plans to make some memories. I want to do all the fun Christmas stuff that I did growing up. So far, so good. I am feeling a lot less stress about the holidays this year. I don't know if it has been planning ahead or the fact that the kids are a little older this year. I thought I'd share some of my Christmas to dos for the year. 

1. Decorate the house.
2. Make cut out cookies and decorate.
3. Make a ginger bread house. 
4. Start a Jesse Tree advent tradition. 
5. Make Christmas crafts.
6. Attend a cookie exchange.
7. Finish shopping for kids.
8. Finish shopping for grown ups.
9. Make a few gifts. ( I can't tell what just yet)
10. Wrap gifts
11. Drink lots of hot chocolate
12. Make white chocolate chex mix
13. Prep for Christmas travel.
14. Watch Christmas movies while cuddled on the couch with my family

• Muppet Christmas Carol
• Elf
• Rudolph the red nose reindeer
• Charlie Brown Christmas
• The Grinch That stole Christmas (cartoon)
• The Polar Express
• A Christmas Story
• Frosty the Snowman 

There are a few things we are considering cutting this year to scratch some stress and save some money.

1. Mailing Christmas cards. We found we were sending almost 150 cards. By the time we got the cards and paid postage we were spending a large portion of our budget. Plus, it is time consuming and it is nice to free any extra time. 
2. Eating out. In the past we have gone out to eat for lots of special events. This year we are trying to celebrate at home a little more. 
3. Busy schedule. Ok, this is a really busy month, but we are trying to do our best to stay home and do fun things here. This is a hard thing for us, but it is cutting back on a lot of stress. 

What about you? Any fun to do's on the Christmas list this year? Anything you are cutting out? I hope you are enjoying all the joy of Christmas. 

Overwhelmed

Tonight as we sat in our living room reading our devotion for our Jesse tree, I realized what a gift I'd been given. I have three precious babies that God has entrusted to me. I get the privilege of sharing Christ with these little men. My hubby and I have the chance to raise these guys in a home where Jesus is pursued. 

This thought overwhelmed me with joy. I so don't deserve this chance. I am by no means worthy to be an example of my Lord. Trust me when I say, I have some bad mommy moments. Yet, God chose me to be these little boys mom! Each I have opportunity to share Christ with my kids. How special to have that time.   What an undeserved gift. 

Then there is my husband. We met in high school and I thought I was crazy for him then. I was , but it has only grown. I am so blessed to have married the most amazing man I know. I truly hope our boys grow up to be just like their daddy. He is hard working, a servant, a leader, a friend, and a wonderful husband and father. Plus, he is super good looking. :) He each day points our family toward Jesus. I am blessed beyond measure.

I am blessed to have these guys. I look forward to the blessing of of our baby girl coming home someday. I have amazing friends. I mean, truly, I've got people in my life who I know would be there for me in any situation. I am overwhelmed when I think of the blessings in my life. 

Grace is getting what you don't deserve. As my family is taking the next few weeks to remember Christ's love for us. His perfect plan, to come to us as a baby. I am overwhelmed. I am taken back by how much God loves me. He loved me so much that he has given me true friendship, true love, true joy. He has given me beautiful children and a perfect for me husband. And those are gifts I don't ever want to take for granted. But they can't overshadow the biggest gift of all. God of the universe came down from his throne in heaven, to become a baby, and grow up to die as a sacrifice for the sins of this world. He died for me. That is overwhelming.

Betty Crocker giveaway.

It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas in our house. The tree is up, the lights are hung, and the cookies are being baked. I don't know about you, but we love our cookies at Christmas. I feel like we are constantly baking for parties, gifts, or guests. I prefer to bake cookies from scratch most of the time, but some days that isn't always in the schedule. Enter Betty Crocker cookie mix!

I was contacted by Myblogspark to try Betty Crocker's new molasses cookie mix. I was, of course, excited to try something new and yummy.  I made them up one night when we had friends over. I'd love to tell you they tasted great, but I didn't even get to try one. They were gone before I got one. I guess that says it all doesn't it.  :) They did smell good though, and they were so easy to make. I decided to frost them as well. My kiddos LOVED them, and my hubby had a few as well. They made my house smell super festive too!

I'm excited that Betty Crocker through myblogspark is giving away an awesome prize pack so you can try the new molasses cookies yourself. It includes a cookie sheet, spoon, apron, and of course some cookie mix just in time for the holidays.

To enter just leave a comment and let me know what your favorite Christmas/holiday cookie is. Please also leave your email so I can contact you if you are the winner.

For an extra entry follow my blog and let me know you do.

This give away will close on 12/6/11 at 3pm. I will choose a winner using random.org. Good luck and happy baking.

*I was provided with a gift pack by Betty Crocker through myblogspark.com. They provided pictures and links, but all opinions are my own.

Freezer cook

I know I haven't been posting much lately. It is because I have been really busy. One of the adventures was yet another freezer cook weekend with the lovely Tami. We ended up with 36 meals when we were done. I'm pretty sure it was our biggest cook yet. And I can tell you my freezer knows it. Currently Dan's heavy tool box is on our chest freezer to keep it shut.  We are classy like that.

So our day started a little like this... Oh, wait did I mention I started the day off at our local Children's museum before we headed to Tami's to cook, yep, I'm crazy, but...

 My good friend came in town to see us, and we miss them tons. So, of course the two of us had to take our six BOYS to Boonshoft for some fun.

 My boys loved the robot zoo.

 This game was pretty cool. I'm pretty sure we spent at least 30 mins just playing with it.

Where's Bubba?

 Precious little Declan is seriously adorable. He is so happy. I love him!

 My baby is getting so big! And he always has a messy little mouth. Uh, melt a mama's heart.

Then there is this kid. He is my little buddy. And he is not the least bit camera shy. He is such an adorable little goof ball. Our oldest boys have been best buddies since birth, but they didn't want to get their pictures so they are left out.

After we wore out my kiddos we headed over to Tami's place to do some cooking. We started with four kiddos and no daddies. That makes it much more interesting. 

But they are adorable distractions. 

Here is Tami hard at work. We had prepped the 75lbs of chicken the weekend before. Tami cooked the ground meat up the night before so we were able to move quickly on knocking some meals out. 

Yummy Shepherd's pie. We each got 3. 

There was a TON of chicken. 

 Our awesome hubbies helped us bag and pack up.

 He is so stinking handsome!

 The end result!

Tami has a list with links to most of our meals we made so I will let you check that out here.