~I'm Back!!!!~

Well, a very dear friend of mine reminded me that I have a blog that could use an update. So, you can really thank her for this!!! Thank you Joy!!!

No, seriously~ I had every intention of updating after Thanksgiving, but December has been pretty rough on me. Want to know why? Of course you do!!! Here is my list (and this is all true....makes me sound like I'm from a soap opera, doesn't it???) ~

• 2 kids that I don't think will EVER stop coughing!!!! I guess Cole may, but not Taylor.
• Taylor got pink eye
• Taylor got an upper respiratory infection
• Joy got a sinus infection
• Joy got pink eye
• Joy fell down a flight of steps~ yes, I know! Go ahead and laugh.....it's ok now. But, at the time I felt like I was 80! I thought I broke my hip and my wrist. Wouldn't have surprised me if I would have....just my kinda luck! But, after I got my breath back, I realized that I was very bruised up, but all in all, ok. So, I hurt for about 5 days & then felt much better. I've really learned to respect the steps. Ok, ok.....that's enough laughing!!!
• Joy got THE STOMACH BUG~ yes, 'that one'! It was pretty horrible.
• Then, on Sunday morning, my grandmother fell down and broke her back :(

So, as you can see, things have been a little out of control. All I can say now is ~ IS IT CHRISTMAS YET??????

I have had a tough go of it and really haven't felt much in the Christmas spirit, but I know that I have so much to be thankful for and can't wait to watch both kids enjoy the fun of Christmas. They are both now at the age to where it is magical for them..... I LOVE THAT!!!!

So, to all of you who too are having a tough go of it.....let it all go & relax. Enjoy the special feeling of it all, enjoy the kids, enjoy the family and reflect on how blessed we are. The "reason for the season".....God is good!!!

Want To Save Money???!!!

Well, do I have the place for you!!!!!!!!!!

With the financial strain that we are facing as well as many of you~ I have really been trying to save money any way that I possibly can. Cutting coupons, getting freebies...you name it. So, I wanted to share my favorite with you. And, go visit now!!!! And enter to win a $50 Wal-Mart gift card.......

www.dealseekingmom.com

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!!!!!

Good Luck!!!!

~~~The 'R' Word~~~

Yes, I AM about the say the much dreaded 'R' word~ Recession. Well, we are all feeling it in one way or another. For me, it started last July...not this passed July, noooo- almost 1.5 years ago. I warned everyone that it was coming. (So, if you didn't listen to me, you can now hear me say "I told you so!" JK). But, really~ July of 2007 is when the real estate market tanked...badly. And, it is only worse now. So, my family has been feeling the upset of the economy for a while. I thank God each and every day that Matt still has his job, but Fidelity just finished a layoff of 1300 people and is getting ready to layoff another 1700- so, I can't say that it can't happen to us.

For others, you are just getting a taste of it. Ok, ok...to my point. I just found out this evening that my younger brother who currently works at USC on campus in the marketing department, is losing his job. He is losing his job along with many others at USC. Many families are going through this same "crisis" right now. He lives alone and has no one else to help pay his mortgage, bills, etc.....so, to say he is scared right now is really putting it lightly.

My prayer for tonight (and for as long as it takes), is that people will find good in all of this. Will it be hard? YES!!! Will it be scary? YES!!! But, God has a plan and God knows us and what we are all going through. I pray that none of us take our eyes off of HIM during this time and that we can still thank HIM each and everyday for the wonderfulness (I know it's not really a word) that He has given us and continues to give us!! Our sacrifices are still NOTHING compared to His.

May you all find peace in the Lord during this scary time and I hope that we can all lean on one another....that will get us through!!!! Remember~ the Lord will never give you more than you can handle. So, to all of my family & friends...remember that, because I may need you to remind me some days!

Love you to all!
Joy

More Free Things!!!!

A new way to search ... want to join me???
Welcome to Swagbucks!!
***an easy way to earn "bucks" for searching on the internet
as so many of us do multiple times a day***

After hearing about Swagbucks, I did some investigating and learned that it is very simple to sign up for: so I did! It takes all of about one minute. There are no fees, no credit cards required, and no phone number/addresses requested.

The average person who uses swagbucks as their primary search engine will typically make anywhere between 1-5 Swagbucks per day if you're doing regular searches. Even at that rate, you should be able to win a $5 Amazon gift card (which costs 45 Swagbucks) or a $5 Starbucks gift card (50 Swagbucks) every month ... not bad for doing something you would be doing anyway!!

Here's the fun part ~~~~ if you take the time to refer people (on your blog or a note on Facebook), you will earn every swagbuck your referrals earn, up to 100 for each referral. If you have a bunch of referrals, it really adds up! And there are other gift cards available including Target, Best Buy, Subway, and more.

Why are you still on my blog????
Click HERE and let's get started earning swagbucks.
It's a win-win for you and your referrals. Who wouldn't want to use a search bar that pays you for your searches over one that doesn't, especially when the results are from Google and Ask.com, both excellent sources??

~Thankful Thursday!!!~

Well, I figured I would follow the path of my wonderful friends and begin posting my Thankful Thursdays. So, here goes:

1. A daughter who decided that she would dress herself up this morning- she is the "Ballerina Princess"....matches well, huh?
2. A hard working husband
3. A church that's growing! Even planning events is getting tricky!
4. The wonderful weather
5. Our upcoming trip camping this weekend~ the kids first time!
6. Our upcoming trip to Pennsylvania next week to visit our best friends and to celebrate Averi's 2nd birthday!!
7. Sassy Girls!!!!
8. The wonderful nap that I got today with the kids...it was hard waking up at 5:00 this morning.
9. The beautiful family picture that we just had made. WOW!!!!!
10. God!!! He is so good to us!!!

Pictures are Finally Here!!!!

You have all been very patient waiting for the new pictures. I had so many new ones downloaded that I had a hard time picking out which ones to post....but, here goes!!!

They DO love each other!!!

They love going to preschool

Boozer snuggling with his buddy

My Man!!!

Taylor loving Roxie

She loves to dance

Cutie Pie!

~Just Gotta Love Having a Little Boy!!!~

Well, all of you will get a good laugh at this one!! True story of why little boys are so GREAT!!!!

Monday night, Matt, Cole & Taylor all wanted to go downstairs to play the Wii, so I thought it would be a great time to do another load of laundry. So, down I go. I take my happy self into the laundry room, open up the washing machine, stick my hand in and I see SOMETHING! I had no idea what it was....all I knew was that it was a worm/snake/ creepy crawly of some kind. I totally FREAKED OUT!!! I totally had a hissy fit right there. Matt came running and I "tried" to explain to him what I saw. He (being the manly man that he is) walks over and is going to save me from the critter. He looks in the washing machine, yells and jumps back. At this point, I'm really about to lose it!!! He sticks his hand in the washing machine and pulled out the biggest plastic fishing worm I have ever seen in my life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Cole had put it in his pants pocket and it got washed.

Ok, so at this point, Cole realizes what is going on and is rolling in the floor laughing at me hysterically (not to mention how hard his dad was laughing)!!!

I am still trying to recover from almost having a heart attack & they just kept on laughing. So, now....2 days later, I am recovered and can giggle about it a little, but I can not laugh yet!!!

So, there you have it. I am now well broken in as a mommy with a little boy!!!!