Saturday, October 31, 2009
This Is It
Friday, October 23, 2009
Fall Fun!
Fall arrived early here, the way it's seemed to for a few years now! (At least we don't have snow yet...I am definately counting my blessings there!) But since we had such a wet summer it's taken the leaves a while to start changing color, so we're just now reaching peak color here and it's gorgeous to behold! I don't think anything beats a Kentucky fall (except for maybe a New England one!)
Last night for Family Night we watched "Spookley the Square Pumpkin". It's a cute little movie about a pumpkin who is square instead of round and all the other pumpkins laugh at him and are mean to him because he's different. But in the end they learn that being square is good and that Spookley was a very special pumpkin. It was really cute and taught a great lesson. For our activity we carved a pumpkin using The Pumpkin Prayer. If you've never heard of it you should check it out! Basically you cut the eyes in the shape of hearts to remind us to love all we see, the nose is a cross to reminds us not to turn up our nose at the things we've been given, the ears are shaped like Bibles to remind us to open our ears to God's word, and finally the mouth in the shape of a fish to remind us to tell others of Jesus. It turned out so cute and was a great way to incorporate scripture and prayer into the evening.
We hope that you all are having a great fall! When it stops raining I'm going to get some pictures of our fall landscaping-it turned out so cute this year! We're loving having a yard to decorate each season! So happy fall, ya'll! Have a great time!
Sunday, October 18, 2009
6 Years Ago
Went to the church and met up with this hottie....
And I promised to spend the rest of my life loving, honoring and cherishing him.
(The loving and cherishing I've got down pat...still working on the honoring!!! LOL!)
It was like a fairy tale! And six years later he's still the only one that I'd want to spend the rest of my life loving. I love you Steven, and I'm gonna love you forever!
Friday, October 16, 2009
Family Night with Friends
Last night for FHE we invited our neighbors, Nelissa and Orlie, over to talk with us about the Philapines. They moved here 3 years ago and they tell us things about their country sometimes (they're not US citizens yet) but we thought it would be fun to learn more about their culture. They talked to us about holidays that they celebrate (no Halloween, but All Saints Day on November 1st is a HUGE holiday! They actually party in the cemetary complete with food and games, and some people even spend the night in the cemetaries!!) Holy week leading up to Easter is very big (including reenacting the crucifixtion complete with young men who volunteer to be hung on a cross in the streets!) They talked to us about what schools are like and how much things cost there compared to here. We talked about family sizes and foods. I love Philapino food (she's actually bringing me over some of my favorite tonight! I don't remember what it's called but it has rice noodles and cabbage and it is sooo yummy!!!)
The kids kind of ran around crazy with their son Carlo, and didn't really sit down and listen much but Steven and I learned a lot! If you have neighbors or friends who are from another country (and if your kids are a little older!) invite them over to talk with your family about their native country. Maybe ask them to bring a favorite food or dessert to share. Have them teach you some words or phrases in their native tongue (Nelissa and Orlie's native dialect is really hard!!!) and maybe play a native game. You'll be amazed how much you will learn about our differences, but most importantly how we are all similar, no matter where we are from. It's a great reminder and a wonderful lesson for our children, especially as the face of this country continues to change! (Which is not a bad thing!!!)
Monday, October 12, 2009
What Matters Most
This seems to be the theme to the last few posts that I've made, and it's because it's something that has been weighing on my heart lately. My friend, Leila James had this posted on her Facebook so I took a stroll over to watch it. It's a video that was made using Pres. Thomas S. Monson talk in 2008. For those of you who don't know who Pres. Monson is, he is the current President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (otherwise known as Mormons.) This message is short, but no matter what your religious beliefs, we can all agree with this!
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Camp "In"
One more picture to share: Micah has started smiling... A LOT! His smiles are precious! You just can't help but to smile back! I LOVE this age!
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Coupons for Troops program
Some of you know that I have been bitten by the coupon bug! I have discovered the joy of going to the store and paying cents for something others pay dollars for! For example, Friday to Monday of this past week the Bigg's stores here ran a triple/double coupon special. Coupons up to 50 cents were tripled, and coupons 55 cents to $1 were doubled (so a $1 coupon became $2!!!) Well, I walked out of there saving $120 on my bill! I was ecstatic, and was able to get quite a few things that were put into our food storage, things for 72 hour kits, simple lunches Steven could keep in his desk at work, and just other stuff we needed. I was thrilled!
The one thing about couponing that makes me crazy is a coupon expiring before I use it! I feel like I'm throwing away money! But today I found out about a wonderful program called Coupons for Troops. Toni at The Happy Housewife conducts a program called Coupons for Troops. At military commissaries families pay more money than we do at a store here. However, they can use coupons that are up to 6 months expired. They can only use grocery coupons (so no store specific coupons like Walgreens, CVS, Rite-Aid, etc.) but they can use all manufacturers coupons, as well as internet printable coupons. She is looking for more military families who could use coupons, but she's also taking requests from couponers who would like to adopt a family to send their expired coupons to. If you coupon, and hate throwing away those expired coupons as much as I do, go here to find out how you can support our troops and their families in this super simple way!
Keep on saving! ;p
Monday, October 5, 2009
Kids say the darndest things
On Sunday, Jonah had to go to the bathroom during church, so Steven took him to the back to go potty. There is an intercom in there where you can hear the priest, or whatever might be happening during mass at that time.
So Jonah's sitting there and all the sudden he looks up at the ceiling and says
"God? God is that you?"
Steven says, "No, Jonah, that's Father."
And Jonah says, "Nope! That's God. I hear you God!"
Hehehehe! Kids are so cute!