Cookies for Christ

Trey started a new tradition with the girls last night. He is calling it "cookies for Christ." We have a box of cookie recipes for kids. He decided he'd let the girls pick one recipe and they would make the cookies together on Sunday. We will also try to relate the cooking making to our devotion lesson for the week.

This week was easy to connect the two since we are still on obedience. Trey talked about following directions. The girls had a lot of fun and hopefully learned something as well.

Swinging Anna Grace

Anna Grace got a swing for her birthday last weekend.   Being blessed to live in the south, we were able to get outside and enjoy it THIS weekend and not have to wait for May.   She really seemed to like it.

-Trey

Anna Grace eating a cupcake

Anna Grace had her first cupcake last night.  Below is a little footage.  Please note the outfit is not one of her regular outfits. She ran out of clothes at daycare and this was what they put on her.

Anna Grace is walking

Not the best quality video, but this is the best I've been able to capture so far.

 

 

 

 

Enjoying the fire

Enjoying the fire on a cold night

Happy Birthday Anna Grace!!

Our sweet precious baby turned one year old today. It is hard to believe it has been a year. It is hard to remember those first few days of her life as she had to stay in the NICU.  I hated being apart from her.

But I am so thankful that she is a healthy little girl now.  Brooke was so excited when we brought her home from the hospital.

 

 

 

We had a small little family party with just the four of us. Anna loved her cake, but did not make a big mess. Brooke enjoyed the cake as well and helped blow out the candle.

 

We love you so much, Anna Grace. We thank God for blessing us with you. 

 

Obedience Part Two

We had our second family devotion night on obedience. We started out by reviewing what we learned and discussed in our first lesson. Then we practiced some different prayers that we can pray when we need help obeying. Brooke prayed, "dear God, please help me to be good." Trey concluded our time by praying for our family.

I have seen some small improvements in Brooke's behavior. Last night, she actually stayed in her room and was asleep by 9 pm.

Valentine's Day 2013

We do not go all out for Valentine's Day at our house, but we do like to do something small for the girls. I leave the presents up to Trey. He likes to get the girls something practical. This year all three girls received socks and a balloon. The girls were very excited about their balloons and even liked the socks. Trey also surprised me with socks. I also received red roses from Trey.

Halloween 2012

Wanted to post pictures of the girls from Halloween

Rite-Aid

Another successful week at Rite-Aid.  This week I spent $22.  I got back 12 Up rewards to use on my next shopping trip plus I should get back a $10 Rite-Aid gift card for a rebate offer.  So I basically got the following for free:

toothpaste
Pull-Ups
Vick's Day Quil and Night Quil
Vick's humidifier (I wanted an extra so we could have one in each little girl's rooms)
box of Cheerio's

Obedience

Last night, we started a new family devotion on obedience. Brooke has really been testing us lately and we have not been as strict as we need to be with her.

Trey started out asking Brooke if she knew what obedience meant. Brooke's answer was, "timeout." We explained to her that she has to go to timeout when she is disobedient. We then tried to explain obedience and told her it meant doing what you are told to do immediately. We then talked about the people she should obey. She understood obeying her parents and teachers, but I think she was a little confused when we told her she should also obey God.

After our lesson, Trey asked her to go clean her room. She immediately did it and was pretty good the rest of the night. I am hopeful that if we remain firm and consistent, we will see improvements in her behavior.

We will continue with the theme of obedience for at least a week if not longer. We are using kidsofintegrity.com.

Weigh-in Monday

I don't know how I did it, but somehow I managed to lose another 1.8 pounds last week. It was a crazy week. I did not work out as much as I wanted due to headaches. Then we ate out a couple of times and celebrated Trey's birthday with cheesecake. So I was just hoping I didn't gain any. To actually lose weight was a nice surprise. I am only about 18 pounds from my goal weight now.

Date night

Trey and I actually went out on a date last night thanks to our daycare offering babysitting. I think this is only the second time we've been out since Anna was born nearly a year ago.

In other news, Anna Grace has begun taking some steps. I cannot believe she is about to be a walker. She is growing up so fast. We also went ahead and moved her to a forward facing car seat this week.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband!!

I am so blessed to have you in my life.  Looking forward to many years of birthday celebrations with you.

What's for dinner?

With some changes we made recently, it is easier for Trey to pick up the girls after work. This change means I am doing a lot more of the cooking.

Tonight we had one of my favorite easy meals - ranch chicken.

All you do is dip the chicken in ranch dressing and coat with bread crumbs and bake in the oven. A 4 ounce breast is only 6 PPV.

As you can see, Brooke really enjoys it as well.

Grandpa

We had a difficult conversation at dinner last night. Somehow, Trey and Brooke started talking about grandparents. Brooke eventually looked at me and said, "what are your parents names?" I told her their names and then she asked what she would call them. I told her that mom was Grandma Pat. Then I paused for a minute and said, " I don't know what you would have called my dad." During this conversation, my heart was breaking. I was so close to my dad and so wish he could be here so my children would know him.

Well, Brooke took about 10 seconds before she responded. She said, "I'll call him Grandpa." It is hard to believe she is only 3 years old. I did have to fight hard to keep the tears from flowing after that.

Weigh-In Day

Monday is my weigh-in day at Weight Watchers.  I lost another pound this past week, so my total weight loss since November is now 21.6 pounds.  Trey and I have both visited the local Goodwill store to purchase new pants.  I am actually down 2 pants sizes. 

In addition to eating better, we have also both begun to workout.  We both enjoy taking walks in our neighborhood.  We also purchased an exercise bike.  So we have no excuse even if the weather is too bad to take a walk.

My long term goal is to lose another 20 pounds.  I know this is a lifestyle change and I can never go back to eating the way I used to.

Couponing

We are slowly getting back into couponing.  We are definitely not extreme couponers; however, we do like to save money especially on items we already plan on buying.  Trey used to do all of the shopping, but since his surgery I've been doing more of the shopping.  It truly is rewarding to find deals and save money.

This weekend I shopped at Kroger and saved 40%.  Our total was a little over $78 plus I was able to redeem $1.50 on ibotta.  Not bad for what should cover a week's worth of meals and snacks over the next couple of weeks.  I would really like to get our weekly grocery bill down to $50, but not sure if I'll be able to get there since we are trying to eat healthier.

I am also getting back into shopping at Rite-Aid for non-food items.  My favorite deal so far has been some men's shampoo/conditioner that I bought today.  It was on sale for $4.99 with 2 UP rewards.  I didn't have a coupon, so I didn't think I'd buy it.  However, when I picked up one of the bottles it had a save $3.00 now coupon.  I also had .75 cents on ibotta.  So I actually made .76 cents for buying the shampoo.  Now I just have to hope and pray that Trey doesn't mind using the anti-dandruff shampoo.

Daddy/Daughter Date Night

Their first daddy/daughter night at Chick-Fil-A.

Christmas 2012

I know this is a little late, but I want to record as much as I can remember from Christmas 2012 since it was Anna Grace's first Christmas.

Christmas Eve is my favorite part of the Christmas season.  I love the traditions we have begun with our family. First, we attend the Christmas Eve service at our church.  Nursery is available for children under 4. Brooke wanted to go to the service instead of nursery. She did pretty good, but about halfway through the service she asked to go to the nursery. 

After church, we head to the Dickersons for dinner.  Cynthia always makes lasagna for dinner.  I consider the Dickersons my family.  I lived with them for a couple of years in my early 20s and they adopted me into their family.  Both of my parents have passed away, so I am thankful to have the Dickersons in my life.

My favorite tradition is opening our new pjs on Christmas Eve.  Cynthia buys pjs for everyone including the adults.  She buys matching pjs for the children that are close in age.  It is so cute to see the kids dressed in their pjs. 

The kids went straight to bed when we got home.  Santa does visit on Christmas day, so we had to get everything ready before we went to bed.  Below are pictures of the things Santa brought the girls.  Audrey's big gift was a bike, Brooke's big gift was a princess dollhouse castle, and Anna Grace received a little people princess castle. 

Brooke's Santa gifts

 

Audrey's Santa gifts

 

Anna Grace's Santa gifts

Trey and I agreed to start a new tradition with the girls this year.  The girls will only receive 4 gifts from us in the following categories: something you want, something you need, something to wear and something to read.  Here's what each girl received this year:
Audrey: Boots (want), window blinds (need), several dresses and a couple of shirts (wear), several books (read)
Brooke: Set of Disney Princess dolls (want), underwear (need), Hello Kitty outfit (wear), several books (read)
Anna Grace: Toy (want), formula (need), Dora outfit (wear), several books (read)

I am glad we scaled back on the gifts, but I think we still overdid it on Santa gifts.  We are so incredibly blessed and I thank God for all He has given us.

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

We have a new favorite movie.

 

Brooke was super excited when we pulled out one of Audrey's old costumes.