Thrilled with After-Christmas Shopping!

I was originally kind of upset this year about after-Christmas shopping. We had scheduled a family function that day that had to be moved up to accomodate my sister's husband's family and I realized I would not be able to step out into that madness of a world (that I love so much) and do my shopping. So, I went a day late. Thank you Gina and Martin :) Not only did I not spend a fortune because a lot was already gone, but it seemed like everything I needed, and wanted, was there!! I was able to get down all the aisles without running into people which was very nice :)

Between Target, The Dollar Tree and Michaels, I bought a new color scheme of ornaments to mix with some of my current ornaments for my tree in the great room.



I was tickled with the "Peanuts" ornaments I found at CVS for my game room Christmas tree (our game room is done in movie/tv memorabalia) for only $2.50 each.



I love to give dinner parties! At Walmart, I found 2 cloth tablecloths, forest green and ivory (with 8 cloth napkins included) for only $3 each. I also found an adorable set of potholders for $1.




I even bought gifts for birthdays and to put away for Christmas next year! What an awesome day of shopping! But my best find ever....my dinner chargers for only $2.50 a set of 4. As I said before, I love doing dinner parties. I dress the whole table with different sets of dishes I have found along with the coordinating chargers. I have been given sets of chargers in the past as gifts (red, silver and gold), but had never made it up to the full amount of 12 of each color. With this shopping trip, I got up to my 12 of each color :)



As I was walking across the parking lot from Target with my lovely chargers, I decided to duck into Michaels for a final browse. Could you believe it?!!!!



Plum chargers!!! Exactly 12 single ones that I got for .75 each. Now my life is complete....ok, a little dramatic, but I do love my chargers :)

Happy After-Christmas shopping to everyone else...even if it is done weeks after :)

Unto the Hills, A Daily Devotional Review

Recently, I joined a book review page called booksneeze.com. I was tickled when my first book arrived :)

Unto the Hills, A Daily Devotional by Billy Graham.

I absolutely love daily devotionals as I feel this is my way of taking a breath of fresh air for a few minutes out of a busy day and pray to our creator. Unto the Hills is a very thick book sectioned off by months where you read one daily devotional, feel cleansed and go on about your day with a new, open mind. You do not feel overwhelmed by thinking that you have to get the book read quickly as it is a book that should be read daily over a one year period.

The first thing that drew me to this book was the cover. Gorgeous! It is a serene photo of the mountains so instantly I was taken in by this book. There is even a nice feel to the texture of the book when holding it.

The first day of the book is January 1st which explains us starting off the new year with a clean slate, comparing it to erasing an entire blackboard while in school. What a great thought on life and how we can make ours better, by wiping everything clean and clear. I already know from the first page that I am going to enjoy this book very much. I plan to check in with a monthly review as this book is very long in its entirety.

Happy reading to everyone out there as well as myself!

Mailbox Monday!! Weeks of 12/20/10-1/2/11

It is Mailbox Monday!! It was a slow few weeks (probably due to the holidays) Still got some nice goodies!!

Mailbox

Interview magazine issue (free subscription)

Momsense magazine issue (free subscription)

2 Soap Opera Digest magazine issues (free subscription)

Unto the Hills Daily Devotional Book (this is my first book from Booksneeze that I need to read and review)

Feminine Product Package w/coup

Vaseline Repairing Moisture w/coupon (Kaplyn grabbed this cute little sample bottle)

Secret Scent Expressions

Elmer's Craft Bond Dots w/rebate check

Got Science Sticker (this is now housed on Cameron's Science folder)

Bedhead Extreme Straight shampoo and conditioner (Cameron also grabbed this for his curls)

Bedhead Extreme Hi-Def Curls shampoo and conditioner

Bedhead Epic Volume shampoo and conditioner

Folgers Special Roast

Coupon for a FREE Excedrin Extra Strength (up to $5.99)

Around 60 Christmas cards!!

Elsewhere

Scent Bug (Bath and Body Works) (I got this with my freebie card that came in the mail a few weeks back, love it!!!)

Project Cleanup! Week 7

I am now up to date on my Project Cleanup :)

As of January 1, I have cleaned out holiday items (fall/Halloween and Christmas), some books and Cd's from our den and my daughter Kaplyn's room. Onto Reiner and Brandis' room.




1. Candyland Castle Game
2. Commando Backpack
3. Spiderman Velcro Board
4. Sesame Street Dr. Bag
5. Bob the Builder Build it and win game
6. Baby Pooh w/popper
7. Baby Tigger
8. Cat Wallet
9. Playskool Tumble Truck
10. Boohbah mini
11. Football
12. Yellow Puff Chick




I am a crane machine queen! Most of the time, I am able to pick up any object the first time I try. This is one of the many useless items I spend money on in the addictive arcade machine just to see the smiles on my kids faces :)







13-24. Books
25-27. Wooden Vehicles
28. Harley Davidson Dog
29-35. Metal Vehicles
36-44. Random Items

Items will go as follows:

Mission-4

Yard Sale-1,2,3,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13-24,25-27,28,29-35

Prize Box-36-44

251 items cleaned out to date :)

Project Cleanup! Week 6

Continuing with my daughter's room during this week (boy, she has a lot of stuff!!!!)




1. My Little Pony Glamour Set
2. Care Bears Travel Desk
3. Best Friends Dog w/carrier
4. Plush Dog
5. Fur Real Dog
6. Ty Unicorn Beanie
7. Hannah Montana Doll
8. Sharpay doll
9. Barbie
10. Barbie
11. Future Barbara





12. Dora Drawing Book
13-16. Mini Bags
17-19. Mini Notebooks
20. Barbie Camera
21-22. Polly Pockets Cars w/Polly
23. My Little Pony
24. Flower Belt
25-26. Sunglasses
27-31. Hannah Montana Jewelery Items
32. Mini My Little Pony
33-60. Random mini toys
61-65. Girl Jewelry







This was an orphaned dog that Kaplyn found at a yard sale and gave it a home. She now thinks it is time for him to move on and make someone else happy :)






I remember being so angry when Kaplyn told me what she spent on these. I looked at them thinking she got them out of a 10 cent box. The lady charged her $1 for both dirty little change purses. 50 cents each!!! I told Kaplyn from now on that she had to show me her items before purchasing.






Hannah Montana items...proof trends don't last long.








As usual the items will go to designated places based off of their wear. I have added my prize box. This is the box I take to all parties and such for kids to pick through. Any small items that have not been used

The items will go to these places:

Trash-17,18 (used notebooks)

Goodwill/Mission-1

Yard Sale-1,2,3,4,5,8,9,10,11,12,20,21,22,23,24,27,28,29,30,31,32,61-65

Prize Box-13,14,15,19,25,26,33-60

Else-6

This brings the total of items purged to 207!

Project Cleanup! Week 5

I cleaned out my daughter's room during this week. Here is what we ended up with:



1. Clear suitcase (broken latch)
2. I Love you dog
3. Easter Ty Mini Beanie
4. Ty Ballerina
5. Dora Bingo
6. 100 piece puzzle Kim Possible (piece missing)
7. My Little Pony Playhouse
8. 25 piece Care Bears puzzle
9. Plush Pig
10. Pink Poodle
11. Princess Bullseye Velcro Set
12. Glitter Lacing Cards Set
13. Angel Wings Backpack
14. Polly Pocket House
15. Polly Pocket Church




These lacing cards never did make much sense to me. I think they are one of the most boring things to play with.






16. Hannah Montana Purse
17. Superstar Camo Purse
18. Cream Purse
19. Cherries Purse
20. Cute Ballcap
21. Camp Rock Hat
22. Polly Pocket Pool Party Set w/acc
23. Polly Pocket Boat/Pool Set w/acc
24. Polly Pocket Dolls
25. Bella Dancerella



This was the first real purse that Kaplyn ever bought on her own so I was really surprised to see her get rid of it so quickly. She carried this everywhere...just like a lady :)




26-46. Books



There was nothing better in the world to my daughter than the color pink! My mom found this book for her and she read it non-stop for 3 years. She finally realized that there were more colors in the world and she decided to part with her book.

The items will go to the following places:

Trash-1,6

Yard Sale-2,3,5,7,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,18,19,21,22,23,24,25-46

Ebay-20

Else-4,8,17

Total of items purged to date: 142

New Year's Resolutions

Just like everyone else, I have been thinking long and hard about how I want to go about my New Year's Resolutions. Do I want to create some off the wall list of things that could never possibly happen or just keep it realistic? Let's go with realistic :) Here are 10 resolutions I have come up with in no particular order:

1. Continue down my path with God. I know he is pointing me towards my destination and sometimes it is very easy to let an obstacle block my path. I want to pray more on every situation that comes about and remember that even I can't do everything without His help.

2. Read more books for pleasure. When I was a teenager, I would sit and read non-stop. Obviously, with 6 children, it is impossible to sit and consistently read, but I am going to try to fit more in (if I have a quiet moment)

3. Stick to our family fun box. Sometimes with sports and everything that comes with children, we tend to shy away from the box that keeps our family so close. We will pick from it every Sunday.

4. Do more DIY. I love to revamp things I find along curbs and such. I always have a million ideas and never make time to work with them.

5. Here is every one's resolution, lose weight. I have been shedding here and there, but would really love to totally revamp. My husband is in a bet with 4 others at work on who can lose the most % of weight. Winner gets $100. I plan on eating better along with him. He will win this bet...I am just a bonus!!

6. Visit WV more. I tend to like to hang around PA, but really need to make it a point to get down and have lunch with my mom more, do some shopping, etc....My kids love to visit and after a long week here it sometimes gets hard, but I will make it happen :)

7. Craft. I used to craft for every holiday and now I don't do anything. Fit this in...the kids love it!

8. Have a story hour. I used to attend a Story Hour at the CA library and when they went to evenings, I quit attending because, quite frankly, it stunk! I started one here every Wednesday with the kids, we would go to the Library on Tuesday, select books and then we would use Wednesday to read and plan crafts and snack around the book. Somehow we got away from this and I would really love to get back to it.

9. Find a church we like or, if need be, use Sunday to do His teachings. Being Catholic, I know how sometimes it can be hard to get your kids to go to CCD. They are at school all week and then have to do "school like work". We would really love to find a church that we like. Cameron is almost 13 and still hasn't gotten his First Holy Communion let alone Genin. Brandis has yet to be Baptised and now Matlyn needs it as well. I either need to just pick one and be done with it or at least continue to read the Bible with them at home (junior form for the little ones of course). They need to know God beyond my words so I really pray that we find a church soon!

10. Do the Serenity prayer daily.

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

I get so angry so easily with different things in life; other's situations, people. I need to remember this prayer so I don't get so upset when I cannot change life. At this point, I just sit back and watch people; people who cheat the government or rely on it and then we pay for it, people who make unbelievably stupid decisions in life, etc...No matter what it is, I have to learn that I can't change life... just let it go. Trust in God...

By 2012, I hope to say that I have been able to stick to these resolutions :)