Still saving money

Yes, I have made a resolution to save money again this year.  I think once you have started saving, it will always be on your heart and mind.  I want to save MORE than I did last year, so I am excited to hear what a PROFESSIONAL has to say about couponing at our next MOPS meeting.  We have Katie Kitterman coming.  She is from here in Iowa and is going to share her secrets to saving in our meeting.  She gives seminars in our area.

One of the chief ways that I save money is buying meat in bulk.  Fareway grocery store is the best place for me to find chicken.  I am able to get 10 pound bags of chicken for 39-49 cents a pound (it is hindquarters – legs with thighs)WOW!  Then I take it home and divide it up into dinner portions for our family.  I am able to get about 4 dinners from a 10 pound bag.  AWESOME!  I usually get 4-6 bags when it goes on sale like this!

I also just got a HUGE pork tenderloin (about 21 inches long) from HyVee for $14 with a Hormel coupon.  I took it home and divided it into 2 large pork roasts, and then several meals of THICK pork chops for our family! I was able to get over 6 meals for us for $14 (I know that we will have LO roast!)!

Just wanted to show you what I do…. Maybe it will inspire YOU! 

              

 

                

Hannah learns to write H!

Hannah has been much more hesitant than Grace to learn!  It is so hard NOT to compare the two girls, especially since Grace is an OVER ACHIEVER and WAY BEYOND HER YEARS!  Poor Hannah!  She is a really smart cookie, but she doesn’t get much credit because of her sister’s talents.  BUT we have made a break through.  She wants to read like Grace and has now identified every initial letter from our names – M for Mommy, D for Daddy, G for Grace, H for Hannah, J for Josiah and N for Nanna!  She knows a few others as well!  She is so proud of herself and RUNS to show me the letters that she finds in books!  I LOVE IT!  What a smartie! 

Last week, she was writing on a mirror down in the school room with her special window markers while Grace and I were working.  She started writing Hs – “Down, down, across!”  She kept repeating it over and over out loud as she wrote each stroke!  Just ADORABLE!  She is so proud of herself for being able to make Hs… the first letter in her name.  Now she is marking everything with an H.  I need to make doubly sure that she does NOT write on walls, books, etc. to mark them with her sign! 

Here is the proof… can you see the pride in her smile?!

                              

 

Swings

We have had some unseasonably warm weather in the last two weeks, so the kids and I have been outside every chance we can!  We love being outside, and as I am writing this the temperature has dropped and we are getting flurries!  The wind is supposed to be around 40 MPH tonight... BRRRRR!!  We are finally getting some winter.

While the warm lasted, we got outside and enjoyed the new swings that the girls got for Christmas!  They are working great!  Thank you, PopPop and MomMom.

                                         

A baby BOY is on the way!

Of course Danny and I have been praying for a healthy baby growing inside of me.  We have been name planning and trying to figure out who will sleep where when the baby comes.  But deep down both of us were really hoping for another boy.  Grace and Hannah are great friends (most of the time), so we were hoping that Josiah could have his own brother for a playmate.  God has granted us our desire.

We went to the doctors as a family last Friday and ALL went in to see the ultrasound.  The kids sat in chairs and ate fruit snacks while I laid on the table.  Danny attended to them.  They oohed  at all of the pictures of the baby. They loved seeing the heart beat, the little arms, legs, head, belly, etc.  They were so funny.  Hannah was a little more concerned with the jelly stuff on my belly than anything else.

The technician asked us to close our eyes while she decided what the gender of the baby was.  We gave her an envelop to put her decision in.  When I was all finished, Hannah climbed up on the table just like me.  The Tech was so nice... she did a little ultrasound of Hannah!  She got to see her own kidneys!  She LOVED the cool jelly on her tummy.  What a brave little girl!

When we left the doctors, we went right to lunch where we opened the envelope to reveal that we were having a boy.  I will not post the pictures that show the proof, but it is obvious!  :)

We are already praying for this little life -- BY NAME  -- and asking the Lord for him to be a man of God, one who loves the Word of God and desires to serve Him all of the days of his life.  What a honor to raise another boy to make an eternal difference!

PS.. After we opened the envelop and cheered, I resumed eating only to be interrupted by Danny's comment: "But I really liked the girl's name we had picked, too!"  Oh, Danny!  I nearly choked on my food!  :)

Favorites from Vacation

I don’t have the pictures from the Lightner Christmas PA loaded onto our computer yet; I just got the CD of the pictures from Vicki this weekend.  I will be loading them soon and then blogging about them, but I need to get some of these posts written for the scores of you who are just waiting by your computer and refreshing this blog every hour!  HA!

On the Friday before Christmas we went to see our great friends Brett and Jamie and their son Judah.  They are the type of friends that you see only once a year, but you pick up right where you left.  We talked about family, ministry, friendships, our relationships with the Lord and more.  It was great to see them.  They also had my buddy Rachel and Tim, too!  We are so happy for them and their relationship.  They are really growing and we can’t wait to see what the Lord has for them!  What a story of the Lord’s faithfulness!

The day after Christmas we loaded in the van really early – 6:30am – to drive to VA for the Chase Christmas.  On the way we had plans to stop at Cracker Barrel to visit with Brad and Karen and their kids!  I was so excited that I could hardly sleep and I was all jittery when I knew that we were getting close! We had an amazing time from the first hugs and tears to the goodbye hugs and tears.  It was so special seeing them again and getting connected to friends that we truly care about like family.  We had never met Jadon and they had never met Josiah so that was a special time.   Our girls and Sadie chatted, sang, acted, and just had some great girl time…. it was like they had been friends forever.  I think that they sensed the deep friendship of their moms and dad and just knew that each other were special!  Danny and I felt even more blessed that they agreed to come because it was Sadie’s birthday and they planned their day around seeing us!!  I am glad that we will not have to wait another 20 months to see them!!  We will see them in September!  

After we left the Illians – with hardly a dry eye – we still had about 3 hours to go to my aunt’s in Virginia!  We didn’t have to stop for lunch or gas, and we knew the kids were tired from being up early.  I was hoping for GREAT naps by the time we reached the mountains – AND THEY DID!  

When we arrived we were greeted with lots of hugs and kisses. The kids dove into playing with the kids and loved being out of the car.  Hannah was most looking forward to playing with Bella – my 2 year old cousin. 

Here are some of the adventures while in VA…

 

Coloring on the HUGE cardboard castle and space shuttle that Grampa and Nanna bought for the kids:

                     

 

Meeting Mr. Justin Waples… in person!

Seeing all of the kids play with each other and the grandparents and great-grandparents lovin’ on them!

Seeing my brothers and their families… my girls LOVED their Uncle Adam!!!

                         

We even played a lot outside.  Going for this walk in the woods was FUN!

      

 

                                                       

 

                        

 

 

 

      

              

Bowling…. the cheers throughout the alley made it obvious where the Chases were!

                                                

 

                        

 

                        

 

                   

 

The Chase Gang… minus KK!  We had a great time…