Our new prayer card

Just as a reminder...if you don't receive an email copy of our newsletter and would like to be on the mailing list, email me or leave a comment. Or if you have been getting our newsletters via postal service and would like to get an email one instead, let me know that too. I sent it as a pdf file so it looks the same as the one I mail out.

Korey's latest trick

Last night in church Korey was just needing to be out of church. He wasn't being bad, just silly! So, I took him in the back and let him walk around for awhile. I went to pick him up to take him back in and he said, "Mommy, paper (his word for diaper)." I said, "what's wrong with your diaper?" To which he replied, "Yuck". So, I went to the restroom, checked it was NOT yuck!

Funny what some people do to get out of church, huh?

I just wanted to share this article with you all. A lot of you will relate to it and it helped me so much. God's been dealing with me in this area, and Crystal put it so clearly. I used to think the world was falling apart if my house wasn't spotless and every piece of laundry was put away, but God's been showing me those things are important and I will strive to do my best to get those things done, but not to sacrifice my children and husband by doing that. If my relationship with God and my family is 2nd to a perfect house, I've lost it all!

Strawberries

Thanks to our friends Philip & Collette Burch for bringing us some awesome strawberries from Mexico this week! I'm looking forward to some good jam, smoothies & strawberries shortcake in the future! Oh, by the way -- that big basket only cost $5!

The playhouse

My children are blessed with the best 2 sets of grandparents in the world! The playhouse is a joint effort from all the grandparents! Grandma Lynn gave us the key to Sarah's old playhouse & her food and dishes in the summer but with all the things going on it took me a few months to get it cleaned out and fixed up! For Christmas Pappy & Grandma got them a table and chairs and a kitchen set. I just have a few little things to do to get it fixed up the way I want it! =) I'm having fun too, can't you tell?? I always wanted a big playhouse when I was little...it just took me a few years to get it! We have curtains for the windows and I have some books to bring over for the reading corner. And I need to clean up the food & dishes. And I want to get a little basket of toys in there for Kamryn since she's not quit old enough to enjoy the big toys! So...according to these pictures ~ this project is a total success!!! They are having a blast!

A fun family day!

The past months have been super busy and crazy for us with getting ready for our trip, Jonathan working tons of hours (He recently got a new job, so his stress level is so much less! Which is awesome!), studying and taking his test, and the next 5-6 weeks are going to be just as busy...so, I talked Jonathan into a no-work, fun family day on Saturday!! It really wasn't too hard to convince him. =)

We decided to take the kids to the zoo in Brownsville and then to eat supper at our favorite little restaurant on South Padre Island. On the way it rained REALLY hard, but I kept praying that God would let the rain stay away til we got done at the zoo...well, it didn't go totally away but we didn't get too wet and God worked it out that when it down poured a lot we were close to a building, and by the time we were done inside looking, it would stop raining. He's so good, huh? The older two kids had a blast! The monkey's rated number 1 to both of them!! Kamryn slept though most of it but her turn will come. =)

He was aw-struck by the monkeys...he kept saying WOW! WOW!

Me petting a baby camel...it was just born in Dec. 08!

Now, this week its back to work, and not much play for a few weeks til we get our special visitors...then just a few days after they leave ~ we leave!! Please keep praying for us...we seriously have a LONG to-do list, but want to keep focused on why we're doing this, instead of all the stuff we need to do! Its such an exciting privilege to serve Jesus in this way and we don't want to forget what its all about!

Little people

I had this conversation with Kylie a few days ago!

Kylie: Kamryn's a little girl.

Me: Yeah, what's Korey?

Kylie: A little boy.

Me: Right. What's mommy?

Kylie: A little girl.

Me: Ok, thanks. What are you?

Kylie: A little girl.

Me: What's daddy?

Kylie: A little man!

This might fall into the 'useless information' category for some of you, but it was helpful to me, so I thought I'd share it. Did you know you can freeze eggs??? I spent the whole morning in the kitchen frying and packaging my 10 lbs of hamburger I got at Sam's Club yesterday for $2.24 a lb. Its the 90% lean grade too! I can't remember how it came up but I think my mom & I were talking and we wondered if you could freeze eggs. So I googled it and found out how! Its so easy!!

This is what you do....

1. crack them and put in bowl
2. beat them (I used a mixer to get them good and mixed)
3. pour in muffin pan (grease it first) or ice cube trays
4. freeze
5. take them out and put in freezer bags. (I mixed up 6 eggs at a time, since I know this about how many I need for a batch of scrambled eggs)

To defrost them, you need to unthaw in the fridge the day before.

I just have to share with everyone, that Jonathan passed his National Registry/Texas State EMT-Basic test today! He is thrilled and thanking God for His help! And thanking everyone that prayed for him! Now, he will be able to focus the next 5-6 weeks on getting ready to leave. Its been a long year of school & studying and we're both very happy its over!

Korey

This is just a glimps of my silly little man! Sorry, there's not any pictures to illistrate this event, but you'll have to use your imagination! =)

Last evening we were all hurrying to get ready for church. I had just dressed Korey and left him in the kitchen/living room to go to the bathroom to comb Kylie's hair. We heard this 'not so good' noise from the kitchen and I came to investigate! =)



The scene I came upon was priceless! He had taken a half gallon of milk off the table, spilled it on the floor and was using it as a slip & slide activity! He would run into the living room, then run into the kitchen until he'd slip & fall on the milk, then was splashing in it!! The look of pure delight on his face was so worth all the mess we had to clean up! (Well, daddy cleaned it up!) I just sat on the chair and laughed (and then went to change the boy!)

Our 5th Wheel

This will be our home for several months...

A new "aunt"

Uncle Jeremy finally got the kids a new aunt! Congratulations guys! And welcome to the 'family' Mary! They were married in December and were here for a visit this week! Kylie was so happy to see Jeremy! Pray for them this week as they are traveling to their new post, Fort Drum, New York! Thanks for being willing to be so far from your families for our country! We love you both & will be praying for you!!

Becka's blog

If you had been reading my sister blog, then got bored because she didn't post for MONTHS, well, you'll want to check back in over there. She's been blogging a lot lately and it's always so entertaining! You'll especially want to see this post, about her wonderful brother-in-law! Love you Becka, and I love reading your blog about all your adventures!

Our shopping trip

This week is awesome at Walgreens!! I just had to share this with everyone! If you need cleaning supplies, this is the time to get them! Go over to www.moneysavingmom.com to find out how to get these deals...they are all with printable coupons! You'll have to scroll down through her posts to find it.

Drano $3.50

Glade Sense & Spray (2) $8.99

Windex Wipes $2.50

M&M's .89 (not in the picture because the kids ate them! They deserved a treat for being good ALL morning while we did our shopping)

Used these coupons:

BOGO free glade -$8.99

Glade -$4.00

Drano - $1.50

M&m's -.40

total was $10.80 and I'll get back in rebates $8.00! So all that was $2.80!

I even had another coupon for the wipes but I forgot to give it to her. There were out of stock on some things, but I for certain am going back by the end of the week! Some people might think I'm crazy to stock up like this, but my goal in Jan 07 when I started couponing and stocking up was to help us to save money when we moved to Mexico. I never had any ideas then that we'd be spending 4-6 months in the US traveling for deputation. When I went to the storage place where I have my stuff, I found out we should not need to buy toothpaste, soap, kids soap, shampoo, cleaners, toothbrushes and any thing else like that you can think of. Since we were able to purchase a 5th Wheel travel trailer (that was our big answer to prayer....I still need to get pictures on here of it!) we will have the room to take this stuff with us! God is so good to allow me the privledge of 'having fun' and geting what my family needs!

Our grocery trip today was simple! The only thing I was really excited about was boxes of brown rice pouches for $.83! There is 4 bags in each box. They were $1.83 but there was $1.00 coupons on the boxes! So, that's 4 meals of rice for $.83!

Here's the rest of what we got!

Spaghetti sauce mix .34

box of white rice .64

tomato paste .50

pizza crust 1.25

cream of mushroom soup (2) $1.08

sugar 4lb 1.65

tomato sauce .29

garden salad .99

3 green bell peppers $1.00

2 tomatos .87

tortillas .99

sub rolls 1.69

soft spread butter (2) 1.50

4 bags small elbow noodles $1.00

total $17.11!! And that is enough for my menu this week, along with some stocking up!

Fun at the park

Tuesday, we were able to have a fun day out! The kids & I went with our friends Crystal Mason, Kyle & Taylor to Denny's for free breakfast (ours ended up being lunch!) and then to a park for a few hours of fun! I forgot my camera ( I seem to be doing that alot lately) but Crystal had hers and took these darling pictures of my kids! Thanks, Crystal! You can see a few more pictures of the day over at their blog. Enjoy!

God is so GOOD to me!

I can't give all the details but there has been something we've been praying about for a few months. God answered in a wonderful way!! The answer is above & beyond what we were asking for! Every detail is PERFECT! I still can't believe it myself! I'll be able to share in a few days! (with pictures!!)



There was a few other things we needed recently and God brought them 'just in time'! It wasn't big things, but little things that mattered to me. A few weeks ago I found Kylie a really nice denim jumper at a thrift store, it needed a red shirt. A few months ago a lady I met at an appointment asked me if I would like some clothes for Kylie, I said, sure! So, I saw her last week and she had this big box of clothes for me! You guessed it...inside was a red shirt, the perfect size!

Off subject a little but its only 2 month from today that we'll be heading north for 6 months or so. We are so excited! But have lots of things to do yet! And time is going fast! We are looking forward to enjoying Sea Breeze Camp via live streaming starting Feb. 5th and then after that is the annual camp meeting here, and about a week or so after that we're getting company for almost 2 weeks, so it'll go VERY FAST!! So, please keep praying for us! Today I went and got some stuff organized that I need to take,(all my stocked up shampoo, soap, ect. and food) and this afternoon I think I'm going to go get the clothes the kids will need (next sizes and such) while we're away. I'm so thankful I kept all Kylie's clothes! Jonathan has been busy getting the truck ready. He changed the oil the other day to Amsoil, so we'll be good for about 10 or 15,000 miles! And he has a few other things to do to it to help the fuel milage while pulling a 5th wheel.

My little darlings just all fell asleep so I must get busy on some more of my list! =)

Full menu for week of Feb 1 - Feb 6

Monday
Breakfast - cereal w/ milk
Lunch - pizza on bread
Supper - potato soup

Tuesday
Breakfast - waffles
Lunch - PB & J sandwiches
Supper - Swedish meatballs over white rice & veggies

Wednesday
Breakfast - hot oatmeal
Lunch - leftovers
Supper - bbq chicken, fried Parmesan potatoes, salad

Thursday
Breakfast - french toast
lunch - egg salad sandwiches & grapes
Supper - hog dog wraps, M&C, carrots

Friday
Breakfast - cold cereal w/ milk
Lunch - grilled cheese & tomatoes
Supper - spaghetti, french bread, green beans

Saturday
Breakfast - waffles & yogurt
Lunch - leftovers
Supper - Navajo Fried bread w/ Salad