And A Happy New Year!!!!!

Wow! 2010 has flown by! It has been a great year full of fun and adventures. I can't wait to see what 2011 has in store. Our kids are growing and healthy, we have a place to live, food to eat, clothes and blankets to keep us warm. We have been so blessed. This really is the first year that I think I have really reflected on all that happened in the past year and wanted to really grow and change and learn from the past year. I am still wrestling with God as to what it all is that He really wants me to do. How to organize my time appropriately and take care of my family and home as I should. Making sure my priorities are straight. I wish it was all so cut and dry but as we grow closer to God and learn more about His will and priorities we change and have to consistently fight the flesh. I pray all the time, God show me the way and then I go back to my own thing. Back and forth all the time. I am so thankful I am saved by grace through faith in Christ Jesus and I have the power through the Holy Spirit to fight the flesh. Stand up and fight!

May this coming year be full of blessings that bring God the ultimate glory!

Merry Christmas!

What a beautiful day! Though we were without extended family it was a great day of celebration. Jamey enjoyed opening his gift as well as Lillian's and playing with them both. My wonderful husband got me two movies I have been wanting for a year. He really is wonderful. I am so blessed to be married to such a loving husband. God has reminded me once again how blessed I really am when I do not deserve it. We went to the Village Manor pancake breakfast and helped a man having a heart attack or panic attack. Either way he did not look good. Please pray for Walter.

We then took a gift to our neighbors and had a great afternoon visiting with them including a yummy Iraqi lunch! Seriously, try Iraqi food. It is delicious! Jim had to work this evening but the kids and I had a wonderful Christmas dinner with some friends from church. Again God has truly blessed us far beyond anything I ever expected.

Looking forward to seeing my family tomorrow and spending a few days with them. And by the 30th I will have a new niece, whom I will get to meet in January. :) Such a wonderful time.

Living in a Winter Wonderland

OK so Winter yes. Wonderland: not so much! It is cold. Very cold! It snowed a few times this weekend and there is still snow on the ground and on our car that has been driven everyday since the first snow. It is so crazy. I am not use to this weather at all. I am trying to figure out what clothes I really need for this time of year here in Louisville.

What makes this weather even more fun and lovely is that our precious little girl is extremely cold natured. On top of that she lost weight recently which adds too her coldness. Please pray that as we continue to try to feed her more it will help her to get the calories she needs to get some meat on her bones and help her to stay warm.

I am thankful that we have heat, warm blankets, warm clothes and pajamas to shelter us in the cold. So many people live in this weather and do not have things to keep them warm. We are so blessed!

Couponing Rocks!

So thanks to Beth Crouser I am officially addicted to couponing. I went black Friday to get started. As she explained you have to spend some money the first time to get it going, so I found products with coupons and ECBs and I though I spent a little over $30 I received all but 3 cents back in ECBs! After that I am hooked. I have also done decently at Rite Aid but it's system is not as good for me. I am excited about the rebate check I will be receiving from them though. :) I know that over time it will help save a lot of money on toiletries!

I wish grocery stores had systems like this. Though you can find good deals on food it's usually the unhealthy food. Hopefully that will change one day, but saving money in one area works for me!

7 Months, Snow and Sugar

Today, my precious little girl is 7 months old. How fast the time has gone. She decided to give us a little scare by dropping 11 ounces in very little time, but with solid food she is gaining it back nicely. God has been so good to us. It has snowed some the last 2 days. So we have enjoyed watching it fall and got a couple pictures of Lillian in her first snow. Needless to say she was unimpressed. Not at all thrilled with frozen water falling on her. She is so cold natured. I just don't know what to do with her. She is quite the opposite of the rest of the family and it is so difficult keeping her bundled enough. Hopefully with the solid food she will get some meet on her bones to help her stay warm. Today she ate a whole banana in one sitting! I was amazed.

Another fun thing today, for me at least, was my friend Ann calling to borrow some sugar. I know it seems so silly, but it reminds me of stories from "the good ol' days" and it makes me smile. I am so thankful to have people in my life that can ask me for things and I can ask them. That is part of Gospel living. We must be able to help each other and not be afraid to ask for help. We have created such an independent society that people are afraid to ask for help or people become overly dependent. We cannot live in extremes. We need each other and we need to do our part. That is how we were created and I am thankful to be learning more about that first hand.