Going to Press

Not long ago we read about a family who would take a family picture for their annual Christmas card. Well, the family had a handful of kids and after awhile they realized that taking a family picture that was presentable was pretty challenging. So, they came to the decision that whatever picture was taken, good or bad, was the facts and that was what was going to press for that year.

So, here is our 'fun times' picture that happened not long ago. Some days are just like that though. :-)

Holy Ice Cream Deal!

So, here was my deal today! Wow. This was a fun one!

4 Sara Lee pies (3 pumpkin, 1 apple)

4 Breyers Ice Cream (our secret weakness is Breyers Rocky Road)

Retail/sale price - $ 51.12

My out of pocket price - $0 .78 CENTS!!!

Here was my deal @ Albertsons :

BUY: 1 Sara Lee pie(6.39) and get 1 more pie free AND 2 Breyers Ice Cream FREE!

- 1.00 Sara Lee coupon

- 5.00 Catalina coupons from last weeks Albertsons promo (I had 2 of these)

__________

.39 cents!!

AND REPEAT! Yipee!

If you didn't have the Catalina that I had, your deal would be 5.39 which is still a smokin' deal! There is also a Breyer's Ice Cream coupon online (-1.00/2), but I couldn't get it to print for the life of me. If you want to do this deal, I'd get there fast the shelves will clear pretty quick.

My Kids Are Getting Huge

I was looking at some recent pictures and it struck my that my kids are getting huge. Evie is such a little girl and getting to be such a great talker! She is starting to say such giant sentences that we can understand nearly 90% of what she is saying! It's always fun to understand your kids. :-)

Leyton is loosing his little boy face and beginning to look and act more and more like a little boy. Recently he's done a few things that have been really hard to watch him do because it is making me realize my first born baby is getting more and more independent and more capable of doing big-boy things all on his own. It's wonderful and heart breaking at the same time.

Farming with Grandpa and the cousins.

Overalls at Grandpa & Grandma's house.

Evie

Life As We Currently Know It.

As some of you know we are in the midst of major life change again. No, I am not joking, I am serious...again. Jared had found a great job doing landscape stuff here in Yakima and was really loving the physical work and doing a job where he could actually SEE what you are doing in a tangible way and then poof...the job was gone. Nuts. Suddenly his boss couldn't afford to keep him with some of his clients needing to scale back on their services.

So, praise God Jared had already been pursuing a few church leads prior to this happening and already had some visits with churches lined up. Sadly, we just made a trip to Kansas City and after learning more about the church Jared had to decline that job offer. That was a big disappointment because we would have loved living in KC, Kansas for a lot of reasons.

Please pray for us, as we head into a few weeks of definite unknowns and uncertainties in many every area of our lives! Our house is on the market and that is of course a slow process right now. We are trusting in the Lord that His timing will work out and we will be able to look back and see how His sovereign hand was moving in our lives - regardless of whether is will be an easy road for us or not.

We will be heading to a church in Atlanta in a few weeks (literally the opposite side of our nation) and we are hopeful and anxious about that trip. Not the location that we would hand pick for our family, especially with little kidos, but we are willing and ready to move if that is what God calls us to do. Pray that we would have the strength and joy to do whatever God has for us next.

My New Hobby

I thought I'd better post about my newest hobby: saving lots of money!!! I'm doing a whole lot of blog following and cutting a coupon or two and having a blast! I think it's my competitive spirit that makes this so fun for me.

My new goal - $50 per week to buy groceries, diapers and all toiletries for our family of four. I've been doing this for 9 weeks and my weekly average spent is $60.83, so I'm staying pretty close to my goal! I've gone over a few weeks and I've gone under a few weeks and I'm hauling home at least double the amount of groceries, diapers and toiletries as I did before and spending a great deal less. It's so much fun!

So, I thought I'd post what I did yesterday just for fun.



I purchased the follow items:

Albertsons:
4 boxes cheerios
1 box Wheat Thins
1 box club crackers
1 jar beef bouillon

Walgreens:
lotion
chx broth

Target:
3 Glade Reed Diffusers

Total spent: $4.59 (after factoring a $5 rebate) + I have a $7 gift card to Walgreens to spend! So, basically I made $2.41 yesterday for buying all that stuff!

Cousin & Blueberries

My brother and his family came for a visit a few weeks ago and we had a great time together! One day we picked blueberries just up the road from our house and had a great time and the blueberry patch had a great view of the Yakima Valley, so that was a bonus as we picked!

They give the kids these fun pails! It's the best blueberry patch around!!

Evie and Uncle Corey

Leyton & Issac...sleeping...finally! They love each other so much!

Locking it Down.

Well, we are going private for a couple different reasons.

I hope this doesn't keep you from checking in on us from time to time!

Blessings,

Christi

The Setting Sun

I've made a special effort this summer to catch as many sunsets as I can and I am loving it. Who takes the time to watch God's sun set on the horizon at night? I'll answer that question...me! We cannot see Mt. Rainier from our deck, but one of the little 'bumps' on our horizon is the peak of Rainier, so I like to pretend I watch the sun set on Rainier!

Here is one of the sunsets from our deck that was rockin' my world this week. Our God is amazing folks. No question. Here is a very familiar passage, Isaiah 45:5-7 to remind me/us that our Father in heaven is greater and bigger than we can even hope to imagine. The sun rises and sets to declare to us that He is God and to call us back to Him and remind us our need for Him. Crazy stuff.

⁵ I am the LORD, and there is no other;

apart from me there is no God.

I will strengthen you,

though you have not acknowledged me,

⁶ so that from the rising of the sun

to the place of its setting

men may know there is none besides me.

I am the LORD, and there is no other.

⁷ I form the light and create darkness,

I bring prosperity and create disaster;

I, the LORD, do all these things.

Start Typing

You may have already seen this video, if not watch it, it's six minutes long.

We The People Stimulus Package

If you already watched it and didn't do anything...join me! Do something! Both of my senators and congressmen will receive a letter from me later this week.

Taking Joy

I was recently listening to an audio sermon series by Douglas Wilson, Loving Little Ones, which has been so wonderful and life giving to the task of raising kids. During one of his sermons he talks about taking great joy in your children and acknowledging that they are the cutest and sweetest little kids in your life. Often I find myself, as Christian parents, trying to 'control' our kids and have them on their best behavior 24/7. But I'm learning to take a step back and relish in the simple beauty and joy of the good gifts our Father has given us in our kids. In his series Wilson gives a great balance of structure, allowing kids to be kids, training up our children and understanding their position in the Lord, which is so stinkin' refreshing it's nuts!

So, in that spirit here are the cutest and biggest blessing in our lives doing their thing.

Digging in their little garden.

INTENSE guitar playing.

What's This Two Day Weekend Stuff?

As some of you know, my hubby recently resigned from his position at our church. After wrestling for several years with some doctrinal issues, he came under some convictions that forced him to part ways with our church several months ago. Through all of this Jared decided he was ready for a break from leading worship and has found a new job (praise and glory to God in this economy), and we actually go to church as a family now! It's crazy! For the first time in nearly nine years I now travel to church in a car with my husband and for the first time our kids get to worship on the Sabbath with their dad!

Another perk...we get a two day weekend! So, here are some pictures of our most recent THREE day weekend excursion into the beautiful South Cascades over Independence Day.

It's swimming lesson time

For the first time in my life I'm an official swim lesson mom, and I have to admit it's pretty fun! Both of our kids are in lessons and they are really enjoying them! By the end of last week I was kind of tired and I realized getting up and getting somewhere each morning kind of takes it out of you. But, I've caught my second wind and I'm excited for this new week and I know my kids are looking forward to it too! Here are a few pictures of our time at the pool with our friends.

Evie and Jacob sitting poolside eating snacks after their 'lesson'

Leyton...what a big boy!

Learning to jump in!

Evie...eating snacks...again.

Sowing and Reaping

We had our first official 'garden harvest' of the season this mornings during our time in the garden. We pulled a lot of radishes and turnip greens today which was fun. I need to figure out a good recipe for turnip greens, which I think you can treat like spinach but I need to do some recipe searching.

I must say, one of my favorite things about gardening and digging in God's earth is the way you see sowing and reaping in real, tangible ways. This is a principle I've been reminded of in the task of parenting lately. What the Lord (sometimes through us as parents) sows in the hearts of our children will be harvested later, whether it's a harvest we as parents will be honored by or not.

I enjoy the quick 'harvest' time as a parent, just like I enjoy the quick harvest of our early summer/spring veggies. I really love the times when I work with our kids on a certain issue and I see the results quickly...I'm not as motivated by the long haul issues, but I must press on and work toward the bigger goal in parenting our kids - children who live lives to glorify the Lord.

Being in God's creation is so good, because I think He has many lessons for us if we open our eyes to His world and take the time to enjoy His creation...even if it's just in a little backyard garden!

Bunk Beds and Randomness

Of course it's been awhile since I've blogged...so I hope I'm not loosing ya!

We recently got the kids bunk beds from a friend who was selling their old ones and they are WONDERFUL! Our kids have transitioned seamlessly from a toddler bed and crib to top and bottom bunk. They are awesome kids! We got each kid a light for their bed so they can read in their bunk if they want, which they just love.

Then, below are just a few random pictures of stuff we've been up to the past month.

My newest niece, Eleanor, born in May. What a little beauty!

Major garage sale with Tyffany and Jessie! Yet another attempt to rid our house of unwanted, unused and unneeded extra stuff. We are still getting rid of our amazing collection of 'stuff' from our house in Omaha...the curse of a basement is still haunting us. However, I would LOVE to have a basement again! :-)

Evie at my parents house in May, fearless of the sheep and happy to help feed hay.

Leyton feeding grain to some lambs...what a farmer!

Busted out the camera

We had a fun little photo session at our house yesterday, inspired by my friend Jill, who came over to take a few pictures of her kids.  So, since we set up all of our equipment we took advantage of having our gear out.  We need to do this more often!  Our kids had fun being silly and we got a few good shots.  Here are a few cute ones I thought I'd post.  

God is so good, children are such a blessing!  Not just because they are sweet or beautiful, but because they are a precious gift from our Father.  What a delightful and fearful thing to be blessed with such a gift.  Glory to God for His good gifts in our lives!

Lot's of catching up to do

It's been awhile, so I'm going to do a quick smattering of pictures for your perusal and enjoyment. Life is looking a little different at our house these days, we have TONS of house projects going on and Monday's and Tuesday's are seeming like a daycare at our house, which is pretty fun to tell you the truth!  I'm watching a few kidos on those days and my kids are enjoying having friends over for those two days and it's fun to make a little extra spending money also!  

Easter egg hunt in our backyard.

Candy from the hunt.

Crazy weather day #1 - 3 hail storms in one day.

Next day - GIANT snow flakes

Playdoh mania with friends.

A little remodeling going on in our house.  

Here is our kitchen floor before:  PINK diamonds...gotta love it!

Kitchen floor after, much better.  

Piggies and sewing projects

First real pigtails for Evie, just had to post!

Getting the cheesy smile down.

 

They are getting to be such good friends!  I love it!

Now...on to the crafty stuff.

Purse I made for myself, Amy Butler 'frenchy' bag.  Very fun, thanks Trish for lending me the pattern!

Gotta love this fabric, also Amy Butler.  Can you tell I love Amy Butler?

Shower gift for Tyffany's new baby.  A little "L" for her name and some clips to match.  What kinda gift would it be without some hair clips.  A girls gotsta have hair clips to match!