Easter 2010

I just noticed one of my last posts was last Easter. And look how they have grown!

Easter Pictures

Having two children close in age I am compelled to coordinate their outfits for major holidays. I don't know what it is, but I like them to match.

That has gotten more difficult with one child in the big boys and one child in the little girls. They just don't make many affordable, cute options for coordinating outfits.

This year, I hired my friend to make the dress and the shirt for my children. Quite cute if you ask me. And it was very affordable. I used quilting fabric that had lots of coordinating patterns. My friend added so many nice details to the dress that it came out far better than the pattern.

I am so pleased!

Of course, you really can get the full idea since they were not so cooperative with the picture taking process!

An Easter Egg Hunt

My children had a wonderful time with our Sunday school class at our Easter egg hunt. This is the second year we have been able to all get together to have a little fun and some food too! We go out to a wonderful location, pretty much in the woods, with lots of great places to hide eggs. My son, however, could care less about how many eggs he found- he was just glad he got some candy!

Thanksgiving Pics

A collection of pictures from the day... I am just getting around to posting them!

These two cuties!

Mom and Briana--- a rare picture together.

Natalia's purple hair (a little faded).

The Great Turkey

My son figured a new way to get gifts every month...assigning a special character each month. This month, he wrote a letter to the Great Turkey. He got the idea from Charlie Brown's The Great Pumpkin. He requested one gift for himself and one gift for his father.

Get Trkey I wut u e.r.pen for Cresms
(translation: Great Turkey I want a airplane for Christmas.)

He decided later that the Great Turkey would know it was not for Christmas, but for Thanksgiving.

And BELIEVE it or not... the Great Turkey came and brought the Charlie Brown DVD set.

Next month will be a given, Santa is on his way!

Christmas Decor November 3???

Driving to the grocery store from Curves, I happened to glance up and saw a Christmas decoration (much less a cheezy Florida decoration). November 3 is a little earlier isn't it!?



o

Valentine's Day

My husband and I have never been big proponets of Valentine's Day. My birthday is in January, my anniversary is in March, so Valentine's Day is just one more event in the middle. We do not hardly even buy cards for each other!

This year, though, we were both off from work- county fair days- we are teachers. Our children both had school Valentine's parties, so we took them to school, even though we normally keep them home when we are home.

We went to breakfast all by ourselves! What joy! We even got to go to the bookstore after.

What a wonderful day with the man I love!

Click here to support breast cancer research by purchasing an original Breast Cancer No Excuses T-Shirt

NORAD Tracks Santa

Complete with updated radar imagery of Rudolph's nose and YouTube video, track Santa all day and through tomorrow. Merry Christmas!


Click here to support breast cancer research by purchasing an original Breast Cancer No Excuses T-Shirt

Happy Thanksgiving!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Get a little laugh after the holiday stress from this YouTube Video- it is stop motion- the talent!



Click here to support breast cancer research by purchasing an original Breast Cancer No Excuses T-Shirt

The Biggest Loser Thanksgiving Tips

I am a big fan of The Biggest Loser. This season seems to be a kinder, more encouraging group, except for one, Amy, that was finally voted off. Last night on the show, they had tips on Thanksgiving. One was that it takes 3 hours of walking to burn the calories from one serving of mashed potatoes and gravy! Also, pecan pie, my favorite, is 500 calories a slice! WOW! That encouraged me to rethink how I will eat tomorrow. I am still hanging on to 6-8 pounds that I have gained since the beginning of our medical problems. No excuses, but that is truly when it started. I never thought I was an emotional eater, but I now think I am! Thanksgiving has some of my favorite foods, except the turkey which is my least favorite. But I can see how you can eat a ton of calories and never even notice!
Here are The Biggest Loser Holiday Dieting Tips for you to check out. There are some great tips to keep going over the holidays- so at the end, I still have 6-8 pounds to lose!


Click here to support breast cancer research by purchasing an original Breast Cancer No Excuses T-Shirt

Holiday Giving Idea: Give a Book

If you are thinking of a special gift for a child in your life, a great idea is to give a book. All children need books! As children get older, they can appreciate stories that include tales from around the world, like Animal Tales. Some of the stories included in this anthology are Grandmother Spider, Native American; The Rabbit in the Moon, Indian; The Dragon and the Cockerel,Chinese; The Greedy Frog, Aboriginal; The Musicians of Bremen, German; Never Trust a Pelican, Thai; The Monkey's Heart, Kenyan; Sedna and King Gull, Inuit; and Magic in the Rainforest, Brazilian. As you can see from this selection, children can learn about the different types of tales from around the world. You can also choose to purchase this book with the CD that reads the stories with colorful language and sound. This type of book is also great as a read aloud for younger readers, but a great option for older independent readers too.

To purchase this book and see other great collections of stories, visit my Barefoot Books website.




Click here to support breast cancer research by purchasing an original Breast Cancer No Excuses T-Shirt

Holiday Deals at Coupon Chief

I have mentioned Coupon Chief before, because who would not want to get coupons for things you are already going to buy online!?

Since Halloween is coming up and every mom wants a cute costume for their children, I have two recommendations... Old Navy and the Children's Place. Both stores have wonderful selections of all children's costumes. Coupon Chief offers Old Navy coupons and Children's Place coupons. These coupons may be reduced shipping or $$$ off your purchase.

And don't forget Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming up soon. Why shop at the crazy stores after Thanksgiving when you can get almost everything from the comfort of your home with a discount included! Coupon Chief offers discounts at tons of stores, likeTarget coupons, Home Depot coupon codes, and Pet Smart deals, plus tons of other online stores. You have to check it out!

Florida Weather on the 4th

Today we had a wonderful day with our good friends, trying to be around the pool. But in Florida, even in a drought, it rains on the 4th.

Every year, it is a wait and see if the fireworks in our town get to go off on time. Some years, they haven't even made it on the 4th, but had to go off the next night.

Today was rain as usual for Florida, for about 1-2 hours. But luckily the fireworks started right on time. They had to... we had lightning during the fireworks! Rain looked like it was coming.

My son, who was very excited as the neighbors were sending some small fireworks off, was playing in the sand on the beach during the big show. My daughter, who would not come out at first, squealed with excitement the whole time! It was a lot of fun and worth the drizzle! For once, it was not 90 degrees and humid... maybe 87 degrees which is cool to a Floridian!