100TH POST AND A GIVEAWAY!

I can't believe I have hit 100, yikes. I am not sure who all reads this blog, but I wanted to say thank you. I appreciate all your comments and your sweet words. I have made some great connections through blogging and some great friends too.

So for all you blog readers out there I am doing a giveaway. For those who have been reading, know that I have been making waterproof labels for bottles, sippy cups, school supplies, etc.
It has been a hit and I love it.

So today I am giving away two sheets, that is 60 labels to s special winner. The value is 24 dollars, but it is worth so much more than that when you know your baby has THEIR cup and not someone elses cup. This will be great for daycare or MOPS, or just to make your cups cute.


What you will need to do is leave a comment and you will have one entry to win. To enter again you can blog, facebook, twitter or email friends about it. Just leave me separate comments letting me know what outlet you used to spread the word.

Remember even if you don't have kids, these would be great for you or a gift for someone else.

For more info you can visit my etsy store here

If your a facebook friend, feel free to comment on my FB wall.

MOPS-serving

This morning at MOPS was awesome. Two of my very good friends Keri and Kim started coming to MOPS with me and today two more friends from church come, Alicia and Jennifer. I feel so lucky to have such a great group of people around me.
So this morning we were learning about serving and serving with your family and your own passions. I want to find ways to serve with the kids and make this a priority as they grow up so they learn to be selfless and completely compassionate. Something that was said this morning was that you can read Bible stories, teach your children about Jesus, pray every night, but the real way for them to KNOW Jesus is for the parents to reflex him in EVERYTHING they do. The kids can learn about Jesus, which is great. But to KNOW Jesus is even better.

I have already told myself to be more like Jesus a couple times today and to not blow up. So far so good, although I know I will never be as great as Jesus, I would atlest like to try and be the best mom that I can.

As I am writing this Taylynn asked me a question and I responded "yes", she said "say Yes please" ha, how funny. I guess something is rubbing off.

If you have any ideas about ways to serve with young children let me know.

Back to MOPS

First day of MOPS was a couple weeks ago and I am finally getting around to the pictures.
This is the cloest thing to their first day of school. I even bought them their own book bags. I got them from Gap and they are so cute and the perfect size. Here they are before I got their names on them.
Then here is Prestons after I had his name monogrammed
Taylynns back had too many pockets to get monogrammed so I had to buy a bag tag.

I am so glad the kids love going to Moppets, it makes me love MOPS even more. If you are a mom and aren't in MOPS you should be, it is a great way to meet other Christian moms who are going through all the same things. If you are in Topeka and want for info, let me know.

Pictures

Here are some pictures from yesterday that turned out pretty good.

OK so really I am try to blog about anything so I can get to my 1ooth post. I am now 3 way. I will be giving away some fabulous labels :)

Fall photo shoot

Today we did part one of our fall photo shoot. Thanks to Marla, my fantastic neighbor we had some really cute pumpkins in the pictures, and well we did the shoot in her yard too. I owe you Marla. :)

I found it easy to pick out the funny/bad pictures so I thought I share those with you today.



Preston was not happy. We'll try again. I'll share with you soon some good shots once I get a chance to edit them.

It's not just about the money

Aaron and I have been following Dave Ramsey and his money method. His ways are smart and will be great in the the long run, but as of now it is tough. We are only using cash and every two weeks we get our cash amount.

Let me start off by telling you what our church is doing. For the month of September we are all praying hard for ways to payoff our church's debt, (which I know Dave Ramsey would totally love) and October we are bringing all the money in. We have heard stories of what people are doing, working overtime, skipping going out to eat, shopping less etc.

I am excited, paying off the debt can only be great for us. It means hiring a youth minister, giving back to the community, feeling secure.

Aaron and I have been going through a journey on our way to help as much as we can. The truth is we haven't been helping enough in the past. So what we are changing in our own budget isn't just for one month, its for forever. We knew we were going to start giving more, but we didn't take the money out of the budget until the first half of our month budget money was gone. This basically left us with $220 for two weeks. As of today, with 10 days left, we have twenty dollars in grocery money. I messed up somewhere and spent too much to early. I am just hoping I have enough in the freezer to get us by.

You have heard of 20 dollar meals, let me introduce you to 2 dollars meals that are just as good. I will probably be blogging out what I make this week.

Another way we are giving is through my etsy store. For the month of September I am giving everything I make back to my church. It is so easy for me to do this because everything I have belongs to God and I know that. He has blessed me with creativity and the ability to make my own things rather than go out and spend money. Now he has giving me the opportunity to make money. I can't think of a better way to show him how much I am thankful and grateful for the life and opportunities he has giving me than to give him all I have for a month. Of course that won't be all he gets. Through the run of the store it will always be a portion of his. He is basically the CEO, ha!

I opened the store On April 17, 2009 selling tutus and hand painted letters. I had this scripture on my shop announcement page:

I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
Philippians 4:13

That speaks to me, even more today than it did when I put it on their. With making labels and selling at a pretty fast rate I have struggled with time and consumption of my etsy store. I couldn't seem to get it all to fit into my life while stilling being a great wife and mom. I was nervous this wasn't going to work for me and that I was never going to find a balance, but guess what I can do EVERYTHING through Him who gives me strength. After prayer God has shown me the way. It is requiring a new work space for me and a play area for the kids, which will be great for all of us.

I have gone from total nervousness and anxiety/ constant excitement to a calm and relaxed state. I am learning to only be consumed by God.

This month of praying and giving isn't just about the money, it is about life changes and making your priorities right. I am a changed person and if it takes giving God what he rightfully owns, than it is His, all His. For some reason I'd be ok with giving Him all I have, is that crazy? I guess I am crazy for God!

I knew when I opened shop that I wanted it to reflect the love of Jesus. I don't know what He is doing in others, but He has changed me through this process.
I am blessed to have the opportunity to show my love for Jesus and blessed to still have 20 dollars left over.

Show us your life- Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti

Kelly is doing dinner recipes this week, here is one I love.


Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti

This one is great, quick and easy. Plus I freeze half of it for another day and it tastes great.

Ingredients:

1 chicken cooked and shredded or 4-5 chicken breast

1 Package of cooked spaghetti (best if cooked in chicken broth)

1 can cream mushroom soup

1 can cream chicken soup

3/4 package Velveeta cut into cubs

1 cup chicken broth

Mix all ingredients in a casserole dish. I put my in two 8x8 dishes and freeze on and cook the other.

Cook 30 minutes at 350 degrees



You can always add a can of rotel to spice it up.

oh the things they say

Taylynn has been cracking me up with her ideas and songs and little sayings.

I will admit I think her favorite word is still no. Actually it is NO, but you get it. Other than that the rest that come out of her mouth is pretty hilarious. Here are some examples:

"Santa is coming....he is going to play with me"

"Mommy the monster is coming shut the door"

"Hey sweety, hey honey"

"I am going to girls night"

song.... " Pippy Locking is coming to your worl.....feckle face girl....oooooh oh"

"Stop!! No shaking it" (Yes I was dancing, ha!)

" I got my hiney"

She is a hoot, I love it.

This stuff probably isn't too funny to you, but coming from a cute little two year old, is so funny.

Shake your tail feather

So this weekend Taylynn and Preston had their first dance class. It was adorable, they worked on their rythem and the did a little tap (and yes Preston wore tap shoes too), ballet and tumbling. Preston wasn't as into it, but I think he'll warm up. He is more of a free style dancer.

The night before I decided to spruce up Taylynn leotard and I came up with this:


I was going to make a mini tutu, but I thought something to go right over here bottom would be adorable, plus I can only cute her up for so long.

Taylynn's friend Riley came with us, here is a picture of the girls admiring themselves in the mirror.

Preston found some balloons somewhere and was distracted.
But once they pulled out the mat for tumbling, he was all over it.
Here is my cute little dancer

Birds

We have had a tiny birds nest in our front yard. I think it is just big enough for a two year olds fist to fit in it. The daddy bird looked kinda like this yellow canary, but even prettier. After doing reasearch I cannot find what type of bird he was. I had never seen one like him before. He was really small too.
I think the mom sat on the nest a week before the eggs hatched. The nest was so tall I had to use my camera and hold it way up high and snap a shot just to see if any birds were inside. This is the first picture I got.

I know pretty cool picture right? Here are a few other just a couple days later. Oh and their are three babies in that little nest.
As you can tell it was time for them to move out, their little home got to small really fast.

A little bit more on Arkansas!

Whilre in AR we just had lots of fun. This post will mostly be pictures. Have fun!

Mom and Taylynn in Target. Taylynn rode
that bike almost the entire time we shopped at Target.
Dinner at the Outback. We were supposed to eat at Doe's, but they closed for Labor Day :(
My parents took Taylynn to do her first Build a Bear. Pretty cool story, my dad once worked and is pretty good friends with the CEO of build a bear.
Chuch
Boatin'
Chuckie Cheese

Thanks Mom and Dad for a great weekend, we'll never forget.

On the way to Arkansas

On Friday we left for Arkansas around 4pm. Our plan was to get there about 8:30-9pm.
We had some bad timing though. First we got stuck in KC traffic, which seemed to take forever to get through. Once we got out of it it was about 6pm and we had to stop for dinner. We at at Harrisonville and once we got back in the car we were looking forward to a straight, no traffic trip.

Turns out a lot of people were head to the Ozarks. By the time we got on the highway the traffic was all backed up again. We got trough it and we were on our way. I thought the kids would nap, they didn't. Preston was upset and uncomfortable. We stopped somewhere to get the kids out and have a potty break, then hit the road again. By 9:45 ish we were about an hour away, but the kids needed out and Aaron needed a picker upper. We went to Wal Mart and got some candy, the kids loved it.

We arrived at some point and we were beat, but we told Taylynn we were going to have a party because she pooped in the potty that day. So we pulled out the ice cream and added a candle, she was pretty darn excited.

Here are a couple moments I captured.



Much more from the weekend to come.