I follow several deal blogs, including Living on a Budget the Easy Way
Tiffany has arranged with CSN Stores to give away a $40 gift card to their site on her blog.
Go check Tiffany's tips for Living on a Budget and find out how you can enter the contest by going here!
GOOD LUCK!
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Friday, July 16, 2010
An Important Reminder for us ALL . . .
I woke up this morning to a horrible e-mail from a good friend. Our families share a long history and our kids are all close in age---the 4 of them were all born within 3 years of each other. I am praising God that things turned out the way they did and that the little boy involved is home now and recovering. "Little Brother" is 3 and "Big Brother" is 5.
I am sharing this (with Mom's permission) because we all need the reminder. With two active young boys I can absolutely see how it happened. This mom is a great mom and if it happened to her, it can happen to you or me. This is the e-mail I read less than 5 minutes after crawling out of bed this morning . . . .
Little Brother is going to be OK. We have just spent the last 18 hours in a nightmare. We are at the ICU downtown for a near drowning experience. I cannot even explain exactly how it all happened at the pool in our development but it is 100% MY fault for taking his life vest off to use the potty and we were going home. In the meantime, I didn't realize he jumped into the pool. I got distracted by Big Brother...then heard the 5 year old neighbor say, Little Brother's sinking to the bottom of the pool, Mommy.
He coughed up most of the water as I pulled him out and started breathing. Chest X-rays were all clear and blood work is fine but monitored all night for a secondary drowning.
A huge lesson learned on my part, never ever assume and I cannot trust him for a second. A whole pool filled with moms, Dads, grandparents and not one of us saw him but thank GOD for our neighbor as I would have been looking back in the bathroom first and minutes would have gone by.
Needless to say, we are done with pools for awhile unless I have triple coverage on him
I am sharing this (with Mom's permission) because we all need the reminder. With two active young boys I can absolutely see how it happened. This mom is a great mom and if it happened to her, it can happen to you or me. This is the e-mail I read less than 5 minutes after crawling out of bed this morning . . . .
Little Brother is going to be OK. We have just spent the last 18 hours in a nightmare. We are at the ICU downtown for a near drowning experience. I cannot even explain exactly how it all happened at the pool in our development but it is 100% MY fault for taking his life vest off to use the potty and we were going home. In the meantime, I didn't realize he jumped into the pool. I got distracted by Big Brother...then heard the 5 year old neighbor say, Little Brother's sinking to the bottom of the pool, Mommy.
He coughed up most of the water as I pulled him out and started breathing. Chest X-rays were all clear and blood work is fine but monitored all night for a secondary drowning.
A huge lesson learned on my part, never ever assume and I cannot trust him for a second. A whole pool filled with moms, Dads, grandparents and not one of us saw him but thank GOD for our neighbor as I would have been looking back in the bathroom first and minutes would have gone by.
Needless to say, we are done with pools for awhile unless I have triple coverage on him
Monday, July 12, 2010
You know you're a mom when . . .
I've been wanting to compile this list a few times, but here it goes. Most of these are ones that come from the real experience of me and my friends. Dads . .. this is for you, too.
* Your facebook status is actually your child's potty training status "Johnny pooped in the potty today and only had two accidents!" (Bonus points if you've actually posted pictures of said poop)
* You wake up in a panic at 5am and realize you're out of milk so you get dressed and go to the grocery store at 5:30 so there's milk in the fridge by the time the kiddos wake up
* You're getting ready to head home from work at 5pm and realize, that eventhough you haven't seen your child in 9 hours, there is spit up and snot on your shoulder----meaning you've worn your "mom badge" all day.
* It's your birthday and when your mom asks what you'd like your answer is "SLEEP"
* When Grandma watches your child over night, leaving you and your husband alone for 12+ hours, you change into your jammies and fall asleep before 9pm
* You vaguely remember a time in your life when your alarm clock wasn't the sound of a child saying "Mommy, Mommy . . ."
* You consider buying stock in Band-Aid because you use so many covering up "prentend owies" on your 3 year old that you might as well try and profit from the company's success
* You look at your toddler who has the unfortunate combination of being both clumsy and fearless and pray each day "Lord, keep her safe because I really don't want to have to make a trip to the ER today and explain why my 1yo was leaping off the end table, over the arm of the couch and ended up hitting the tile floor instead of the couch"
* You're not entirely sure of the last time you went to the bathroom, got dressed, or took a shower without constant interruption from your toddler(s)
* You weigh less than you did before having kids because you don't have time to eat and when you actually DO find time to grab something, your children end up mooching half of it from you. (I know from experience eating during nap time doesn't work because my kids seem to be able to sense when I'm about to eat and they myseteriously wake up hungry at that moment)
* You are THRILLED when you have the rare opportunity to go grocery shopping by yourself!
What are some of your "You know you're a mom when . . . . " statements?
* Your facebook status is actually your child's potty training status "Johnny pooped in the potty today and only had two accidents!" (Bonus points if you've actually posted pictures of said poop)
* You wake up in a panic at 5am and realize you're out of milk so you get dressed and go to the grocery store at 5:30 so there's milk in the fridge by the time the kiddos wake up
* You're getting ready to head home from work at 5pm and realize, that eventhough you haven't seen your child in 9 hours, there is spit up and snot on your shoulder----meaning you've worn your "mom badge" all day.
* It's your birthday and when your mom asks what you'd like your answer is "SLEEP"
* When Grandma watches your child over night, leaving you and your husband alone for 12+ hours, you change into your jammies and fall asleep before 9pm
* You vaguely remember a time in your life when your alarm clock wasn't the sound of a child saying "Mommy, Mommy . . ."
* You consider buying stock in Band-Aid because you use so many covering up "prentend owies" on your 3 year old that you might as well try and profit from the company's success
* You look at your toddler who has the unfortunate combination of being both clumsy and fearless and pray each day "Lord, keep her safe because I really don't want to have to make a trip to the ER today and explain why my 1yo was leaping off the end table, over the arm of the couch and ended up hitting the tile floor instead of the couch"
* You're not entirely sure of the last time you went to the bathroom, got dressed, or took a shower without constant interruption from your toddler(s)
* You weigh less than you did before having kids because you don't have time to eat and when you actually DO find time to grab something, your children end up mooching half of it from you. (I know from experience eating during nap time doesn't work because my kids seem to be able to sense when I'm about to eat and they myseteriously wake up hungry at that moment)
* You are THRILLED when you have the rare opportunity to go grocery shopping by yourself!
What are some of your "You know you're a mom when . . . . " statements?
Friday, July 2, 2010
It's HOT out there . . . and I'm praising God!
I live in Phoenix, AZ. It's HOT here in the summer. The highs this week have been above 110. I vividly remember that July 4, 2007 it was 117! The overnight low has been around 90. While I'm thankful the low is 30+ degrees cooler than in the heat of the day, it's not comfortable.
I ran a couple of errands this morning. I loaded my two toddlers into and out of the car, across parking lots and into multiple stores. According to my vehicle, it was 102 at 8:30am. One of our stops was to drop 4 cases of water off at a local store, which collects items for Phoenix Rescue Mission. I got home and had to take a quick shower before guests arrrived because I needed to cool down.
I got in the shower and started thinking about how hot it's been, how my friends keep mentioning the heat on facebook, and how annoyed I was that in the rush of getting ready for friends to come over this morning I had to stop what I was doing to take a shower I hadn't planned on. I thought about the bottles of water I had just dropped off and realized the people who would be drinking that water would be THRILLED to be in an air conditioned house (like I was), taking a cool shower (like I was), and have a table full of fresh fruits, muffins, and cookies waiting for them (like I had).
God changed my perspective in that moment. It's hot outside. It's miserable. While it's hot and miserable outside, I get to hide in my air conditioned house. When I'm not in my house, I'm in an air conditioned car or an air conditioned building. I thought about the thousands of homeless people in Phoenix who have no relief from the heat. Each year homeless people die in Arizona from heat related illnesses. I thought about how I was inwardly complaining about an inconvenience when people in my city are dying. I realized how good I have it and that I have nothing to complain about when the mercury rises.
Here's my challenge to you (and me):
1) Turn your a/c up a couple of degrees this weekend and instead of giving money to your utility company donate it to Phoenix Rescue Mission or a group in your community that serves the homeless.
2) Buy a case of water to donate. For information about a drop off center in your area check out Phoenix Rescue Mission's Water Page. Maricopa County has several hydration station/heat refuges and you can donate water here
3) Next time you're tempted to complain (even inwardly) about how uncomfortable you are stop and think about how much you have to be thankful for. "Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure . . ." Philippians 2:14, 15a
I ran a couple of errands this morning. I loaded my two toddlers into and out of the car, across parking lots and into multiple stores. According to my vehicle, it was 102 at 8:30am. One of our stops was to drop 4 cases of water off at a local store, which collects items for Phoenix Rescue Mission. I got home and had to take a quick shower before guests arrrived because I needed to cool down.
I got in the shower and started thinking about how hot it's been, how my friends keep mentioning the heat on facebook, and how annoyed I was that in the rush of getting ready for friends to come over this morning I had to stop what I was doing to take a shower I hadn't planned on. I thought about the bottles of water I had just dropped off and realized the people who would be drinking that water would be THRILLED to be in an air conditioned house (like I was), taking a cool shower (like I was), and have a table full of fresh fruits, muffins, and cookies waiting for them (like I had).
God changed my perspective in that moment. It's hot outside. It's miserable. While it's hot and miserable outside, I get to hide in my air conditioned house. When I'm not in my house, I'm in an air conditioned car or an air conditioned building. I thought about the thousands of homeless people in Phoenix who have no relief from the heat. Each year homeless people die in Arizona from heat related illnesses. I thought about how I was inwardly complaining about an inconvenience when people in my city are dying. I realized how good I have it and that I have nothing to complain about when the mercury rises.
Here's my challenge to you (and me):
1) Turn your a/c up a couple of degrees this weekend and instead of giving money to your utility company donate it to Phoenix Rescue Mission or a group in your community that serves the homeless.
2) Buy a case of water to donate. For information about a drop off center in your area check out Phoenix Rescue Mission's Water Page. Maricopa County has several hydration station/heat refuges and you can donate water here
3) Next time you're tempted to complain (even inwardly) about how uncomfortable you are stop and think about how much you have to be thankful for. "Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure . . ." Philippians 2:14, 15a
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)