Praise Him in the Storm

It has been a rough week for us. I cannot deny that fact. But even in the midst of all the sadness and pain, there are two things that brighten my day more than anything else.  I would be a fool if I didn't take the time to praise and thank God for these wonderful gifts.  

Pictures

A sweet girl that was in my accountability group when I was working with the youth at our former church came over the other day. She is an art student and wanted to take pictures of the kids to help build up her portfolio.  Here are some of my favorites. Thanks, Shelly, for taking the time to do this.

For Josiah...

For Josiah...

I made a video on imovie, but can't figure out how to upload it. So I uploaded it to youtube. Here is the link.

For Josiah....

new blog

So, I made another blog today to explain my coupon geekiness.  I get a lot of questions so I thought I would just start posting the info for everyone to see.  If you want to check it out, you will find it at www dot saving hyphen skillz dot blogspot dot com.    I spelled it out because I don't want it linked to this blog in case people are using a search. 

If you want to email me with questions, that would be great. That way I will know what I should post in future entries.

4 Stores - $68.68

Steve and I had a fun little "date" tonight. We went couponing and drug store shopping. It was a lot of fun.  I just have to say that God has been so good to us lately.   When it seems like there are no more deals to find, he keeps putting more and more in our laps.  On the groceries alone we spent $68.68 and saved $134.02 in sales and coupons.  The CVS and Rite Aid purchases, although included in the picture, are not included in the total.  Steve will have made money on those purchases once the rebates come back.  Here's what we got...

6 bags of Frozen Chicken Breast

5 pouches of tuna

2 mustards

3 Wishbone spritzer salad dressings

1 Roma tomato

2 bottles of Worcestershire sauce

8 Sobe Life waters

Gallon of milk

Wheat Thins

Triscuits

Egg noodles

4 cans refried beans

2 cans Manwich

4 bags of shredded cheese

4 bags of cheese cubes

2 chunks of cheese

1 pack of American cheese

3 Sour creams

Velveeta

4 Grands biscuits

2 Country Crock spread

2 packs of hot dogs :o)

1 box of Frosted Mini Wheats

3 small beef stews

10 Pizza Rolls 

green onions

2 bottles of Juice

4 taco seasoning packets

2 skippy peanut butters

2 Rotel tomatoes

jar of pimientos

3 jars of Ragu sauce

Crest Weekly clean

Bay leaves

GE Low energy light bulb

Baby wipes

travel kleenex

2 Glucose monitoring systems  (Retail price: $70 for one and $20 for the other. Both were free)

Garnier Fructis shampoo

Veet

Jumbo pack of Goodnights

Updates on the kids

Zoe will be 9 months old next week. Unbelievable! She is sitting up now and loads of fun. She has a quick smile and a laugh that would melt your heart.  She loves taking baths. Here is a shot from one she took the other day.  No, I did not tell her to strategically place the duckies. She just knew to do it.

Here she is in her attempt to crawl.  Right now, she only moves backwards and somehow managed the other day to get stuck under the couch. She didn't seem to mind too much.
Josiah is becoming a great big brother. He loves to "help" Zoe (as you see here as he pulls her out from under the couch.)  He also likes to instruct her a lot. Some would probably say he is bossy.  I have no idea where he gets that from!! :o)
His newest obsession is the Wii. We have had it for a while, but in the last couple of weeks you can hardly pull him away from it. All day long, "Play the wii, mommy?  How about bowling??"  He is actually pretty good.  You can see his top score here.  Yes, you see it correctly. 177. And he beats Steve who only got a 154. You can believe that Steve played another round and made sure he won that one!! :o)
Josiah's newest obsession is the violin.  Here he is with a toy violin that someone gave me when I was teaching preschool. It was too cool of a toy to leave behind, so I kept it. He loves it.  When listening to music, if it has a violin in it, he is quick to point it out. He has a great ear. I think he will do something musically one day.

Personal Goals for 2009

Yes, I know this is late. I have been meaning to do this post for several weeks now. All of the thoughts have been swirling around in my little brain, but I haven't had a chance until now to actually put them into print.  Here is a list of my personal goals for this upcoming year. If you know me and are reading this, feel free to ask me sometime how things are going.  

1. Finish reading through the Bible.  I am currently in 1 Chronicles. I would like to make it all the way through this year or at least make significant progress in that direction.

2.  Make something useful with my sewing machine.  It has been sitting in my closet for a while. I need to pull it out and make something creative.  I am thinking something for Josiah's room...

3.  Learn to bake. Although I love to cook, I am not very good when it comes to making rolls, bread, and such.  I want to learn how to do some of those things.

4. Teach my children diligently.  I want to teach them especially about God and his Word. We have been teaching Bible verses to Josiah. I would like to continue doing that and also show him how to put into practice principles from God's word like loving others, being kind, etc....  This one is mostly focused on Josiah at the moment, but would include Zoe as well as she continues to grow. 

5.  Be a better wife. There is always room to grow. I pray that as God reveals these areas to me in my relationship with Steve that I will embrace them, and move full speed ahead with growth.

6. Eliminate my fear.  This one is probably the most important goal I am working on this year. I struggle with the fear of man. I am always worried about what others think about me. I am always doing/saying things that I think they want to hear or see just because I don't want them to think bad things about me.  This year I want to put that behind me and to become the person that Christ wants me to be, not the person that I think others want me to be.  You may not see a big difference in me or in the way that I act, but Lord willing, the motivation behind all of those things will have changed. That I will be doing it for God's glory, not for approval of others.  

7. Be myself and have fun. I want to enjoy my life this year. I want to spend time with my husband and play with my kids. I want to try new recipes. Lay out by the pool. Cheer for the Tarheels win or lose.  Play cards with the boys.  Eat hotdogs until I can't stand them anymore. Just have fun!