Younger skin

I am like most women my age and want to stay young looking as long as possible. So I invest too much of Dave's hard earned (and my coupon saved!) money on skin care products. Well all I can say is that they seem to be working! I may not have baby smooth skin, but it certainly looks younger with all the zits that are popping out!?!? Seriously! When will I get over having to deal with this "teenage" problem! I remember back when I was in somewhere between 2nd and 4th grade and how my mom and her friend used to complain about zits! Nathan is in 3rd grade now and I am still complaining! Will it ever end!

Girls, ugh!

Well, today Nathan educated me on the phases of a boy's life: first they don't like girls at all; then they like girls a little; then they like girls a lot; then they date girls; then they get married. He then told me that he has entered the 2nd phase and likes 2 different girls a little! Great!! So I now have a son who likes girls a little; has been asked by 3 different girls to be their boyfriend; and has younger girls giggling that he looks cute in his glasses! What kind of mess am I in?!?! Then he tells me that he is going to date in middle school! My reply to that was no you are not! I am not ready for this!

And then there is Camden! After chasing a cute little redhead girl around the church tonight, I am told that he kisses her! On the altar of all places! And in the car he not only points to his lips when he thinks I ask him where he kissed, but when I ask who he kissed, he says in his sweet voice, "Ella Kate".


What am I going to do?!?!

Happy Birthday Camden!

Well, it has been a week since Camden's birthday, but today was his party!!! My season of birthdays is over!! (Of course Dave reminded me that his is coming up soon, to which I replied that he is not getting a party!!)

So my baby turned 3! We had a Thomas party of course since he has declared he is Gordan! It was such a fun day with kids painting, playing, stickering, tattooing, and going on a "train" ride! Three is such a cute age and his friends just added to the cuteness, esp the little girls who came! I heard, however, that one of the little girls has a crush on Nathan! Got to watch that situation!

But what can I say about my Camden? He is a joy that I prayed for for a long time. My blue eyed son who is short on hugs to most, but mommy's little cuddly boy! He is definitely growing up and asserting his independence, but will ask me to hold him at a moment's notice. Glad he is still small enough to pick up. He has a fun personality and is developing his friendships with kids his own age now. I think he may be the life of the party when he grows up! He will be the one who likes to run, that is for sure! And I think he will also be one I need to watch where the girls are concerned!

So happy birthday to you, Camden! Our family would not be complete without you! You had a great party and a wonderful birthday. I can't wait to see what the next year has in store for you!

The fun in fundraising!

Today was the celebration day of Nathan's school's fundraiser! Yeah! Double yeah because I was in charge of it and am now finished!

Last spring I volunteered to be in charge of the fall fundraiser-there were many times I either wanted to quit or have my head examined for taking the job! These really came more in the beginning when I was dealing with an outside agency that was there to help, but was stressing me out! Once we branched out on our own, it was much better!

We decided to do a serve-a-thon where we had the students send out letters asking for friends and family to support them for serving in their community. I had a great time setting up service projects for each class in the school and every one has reported that they had a great time serving and the recipients were blessed! That was my mission-to find projects that truly helped others! we were able to go to 2 nursing homes, take lunch to a school for underprivileged children, clean up a local park, help at the Ronald McDonald House, work at the Bread of Life food bank, help sort clothes at Lowcountry Orphan Relief, and make salvation bracelets for Water Missions International.



I had the privilege to go with Nathan's class to their project at a local nursing home. Their teacher did not want them to just sing songs and perform, but for the students to interact and talk with the residents. We did have two students and their teacher play the piano, but it was more for background entertainment while the students passed out pumpkins and talked with the residents. It was hard for the children to know what to say, and some were more shy than others, but as the hour progressed, it was a transformation for many of the kids! There was one boy who was very timid and hiding behind others, but then he got the idea to get the autographs of the residents. After that, he was talking to all of them; not in long conversations, but at least reaching out and not hanging back. I saw another boy have a pretty long conversation with an older gentleman about baseball after asking him if he used to play any sports! It was really neat to see! I saw lots of hugs and some discouragement when they encountered grumpy people, but mostly just smiles! I got to have a lengthy conversation with one lady about how she used to outdrink anyone with her drink of choice-straight vodka! Very interesting! And today I received a phone call from the activities director at the nursing home who said the residents could not stop talking about how wonderful the children were and how much they enjoyed their visit and to please come again! The kids also want to go back! It was a great match!




So today, we all came together as a school and went out to a beautiful property named Peaceful Way! We had lunch, played games, climbed the climbing wall, and generally had a great time! We even had great weather when the morning was a little drizzly. God inspired the idea to serve and blessed us throughout the whole journey! To date, we raised $14,600 and only around $900 will have gone out to cover expenses! Triple yeah!!!





I can truly say that I am glad that I stuck with the fundraiser when I wanted to quit! I can also say that I am glad it is over! But I hope that we can do a service day again in the future! It was awesome!









Titus 3:14
Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.

The ups and downs of couponing

Well, I have been doing good with this couponing thing (at least in my mind, can't compare to the queens of coupons out there!), but I went over $100 this week! It is amazing that not too long ago I was spending 100+ dollars every week and not thinking a thing about it, but now I am $8 over and am mad at myself!! Why? Well, triple couponing got me some deals, but too many deals do add up! And then I did want that hummus! Got to have a late night snack! And the twinkies! It is Nathan's fault! I had my Publix stuff lined up with my 25 cent chocolate chips, my 60 cent cookie dough, my 50 cent sour cream, and my free tylenol! But then Nathan finds the twinkies and tells me they are on sale and I have a coupon, but they ended up costing 2.99 after coupon! That blew my total way up there! Ok, I think I am becoming obsessive! Too much consumed chocolate chip cookie dough! Don't have time to bake it when I am clipping coupons!

Oh well, I will do better next week!

Apple picking time in NC!

Well since it is the day after Camden's birthday, I should be writing to him, but that will have to wait until after his party so I can put his pictures in! I will say that he wanted a red cake, so I bought a red velvet cake that was stale! He and Nathan enjoyed their piece and then I took it back and got my money back! How's that for saving money!



The weekend before his birthday, however, and 2 weekends after Nathan's, we took an overnight getaway to NC to pick apples-well at least to pick them out of the bins! We need to go earlier next year! But the apples were tasty and the apple cider donuts were to die for! Did I mention the apple cider was delicious!

We got to walk through the orchards and the boys had fun looking for good apples underneath the trees. They found a few! And the view from the top of the mountain was spectacular! We made it in time to see the fall leaves! Camden liked watching the goat and sheep eat pumpkins-he thought it was funny!







I love weekend getaways! My family did them when I was growing up and Dave and I used to do them when we were first married. We do them some now with the boys (like seeing Thomas!) and they are just a little bit of vacation in the midst of 2 weeks! This time Dave had taken a weekend trip to CA (not just a getaway at the cost of a plane ticket!) so I drove through Columbia, picked up my mom, and headed to the mountains! What fun!

After apple picking, we spent the night in Chimney Rock. It was an adventure finding new restaurants, finding a motel, exploring the waterfall behind the motel, and panning for gold! Nathan was interested in finding gems, but Camden just wanted to throw the gems down the trough! It was a quick, fun filled trip! Good memories!