Manly beach- day 2

Manly beach






The ferry ride to the beach... this is where we are retiring! :)



This is this year's Christmas card picture! ha

Day One- The Wiggles

A few weeks before we left for our trip, I found out that the Wiggles (who are from Australia) would be in Sydney the day we arrived. I knew it would be a gamble if we would feel up for it, so I didn't buy tickets. But the day we arrived we knew we needed to stay awake so we decided to go. We took a train ride and a "short walk."

(We were told a 5 minute walk, it took us 45!) Anyway, the theme of the show was "A Wiggly Circus" and I must say, Ben and I liked it as much as the kids! It was very well put together. Here is a picture:



Oh, and we also saw this building. Not too important. :)

It is more beautiful in person than I imagined.

I love Australia!

Just wanted to give a quick update on our trip (and a few pictures, since that's all most of you really care about anyway!).

Can I just start by saying my kids are amazing travellers? They did SOOOO well on the 3 plane rides we had and received lots of compliments from other travellers. On the 15 hour stretch, Landon slept 9 straight hours and Allie slept 10! Then she took a couple of naps after that! Unfortunately Ben and I did not fare that well, but really only had jet lag the first day we arrived. I did read, though, that the week of pregnancy I am in could possibly be the most tiring! Yay for timing! But thank God I did not have any problems on the plane. I envisioned myself puking for 15 hours straight. :)


Here are some pictures from travelling:

My good friend Yessica that we got to visit on our 10 hour layover in LA. I miss her so much! She moved there in September and I haven't seen her since.




Some of my dad's family that also lives near LA. They all met us at Santa Monica Beach, which is quite lovely.




A very depressing sight when travelling!



But it went by relatively quickly.

I am thankful for....

In my Bible study I just started (Anointed, Transformed, and Redeemed- it's awesome!), it asks one way this week I could show my gratefulness. So what better way than to make a list of things I'm thankful for? (and not even at Thanksgiving- gasp!)

1.) My husband- I truly cannot imagine my life without him. He brings me so much happiness and I hope I do the same for him.
2.) My two little blonde-headed bundles of joy. Oh my goodness I love them so much.
3.) My wonderful parents and siblings. I miss being with them as much, but am so glad to go home when I can!
4.) that I am finally doing well navigating our big city and its infamous traffic!
5.) pan de queso- a Brazilian bread that will change your life people! It is amazing, and best of all, I live in a city where I can get all the ingredients and actually made it yesterday! yumm-o!

Okay, I know the list is way short but I hope to incoroporate this practice regularly. Have an awesome weekend!

How I got 2 100 oz bottles of All detergent for $1.48 plus tax

Now my intent here is not to become a coupon blog (yet anyway!) but I would like to share this deal with you. Several of you have asked how I do my couponing- it can be very tricky getting started- and this is an excellent (although rare) example.

Target has a deal going where you buy two 100-oz bottles of All for 7.99 each and you get a $5 Target card. Well, I had 2 All manufacturer's coupons (1 for $1 and 1 for $2 off; also called MFCs) then right before I went to the store I checked my booklet of Target coupons and found a $1.50 off All! Target's coupon policy lets you "stack" manufacturers coupons with their own coupons.

To make things even better, I had a $5 target gift card already from a previous deal similar to this one. So here is how it breaks down:

Two bottles of All @ 7.99 each = 15.98 - $2 MFC - $1 MFC - $1.50 target coupon - $5 previous gift card= $6.48. Then I got the $5 gift card, bringing my total to a grand $1.48. This detergent should last 2-3 months.

Such an exciting deal! Ben and I are getting on a very strict budget and deals like this make it much more exciting.

If you want extensive lists of coupon match-ups, check out moneysavingmom.com Prepare to become addicted!

Facebook freeeee!

My husband and I had never observed Lent before. Blame it on growing up Baptist, I guess. Last year, though, I heard a few of my friends from church talking about observing Lent and how meaningful it was to them. Let's get this straight: I am NOT a fan of observing if a person just does it for tradition and has no idea what it means. Instead, it should be a meaning-filled time of reflection.

So I decided to give up Facebook. For six weeks, people! Now I hardly ever get on the computer for FB, but I had it on my phone. So I would check it first thing in the morning (baaad idea). I would check it at stoplights. I would check it while bathing the kids. All in all, I guess it had become an addiction of sorts. So time to break that habit and spend more time with God!

Here are some things I have learned in my journey: (which is about 1/2 way over today, I just realized.)

I am not the most important person on FB! I'm sure you already knew that. But since I did leave my e-mail settings on for messages (just in case someone didn't get the memo I was off and NEEDED to get in touch with me!) I have received ONE message notification in three weeks! ha!

It is okay to not know what is going on EVERY single second of EVERY single day with EVERY single of my 450ish friends. (I would check the exact number, but ya know...)
It is actually quite peacful to be away for a while.

And last but not least, anything I need before my relationship with God is NOT good. Now I am certainly not saying FB is bad. I have been able to keep in touch with family and friends that I never would keep in contact with otherwise. But do I really need to know what that random person I met at youth camp 15 years ago is doing?

So all in all, my fast has been productive and eye-opening. Will I go back and check it after Easter? Probably so, but it will definitely be a different priority in my life. Like a very low one.

So what did my husband give up for Lent, you ask? Coffee!!! Who said the whole house had to suffer for one person's sacrifice? Just kidding, it hasn't been all that bad.

Do you celebrate Lent? If so, what did you give up?

The funny things they say!

Update 2/6/2010
Landon asked if we could take a spoon to Heaven in case Allie got an attitude! What a selfless young man!

Dec 17, 2009

The kids are really saying some funny and/or profound things lately and I don't want to forget them!

Landon to his babysitter the other night about a picture in his room: "That's Bethany. She's my girlfriend and we're gonna get weddinged one day!"

Allie tells us, "Y'all are wearing me out!" in the most country accent you have ever heard. She is also requesting pink birthday cake for Jesus' birthday party, which is coming up soon!

Landon asked me not too long ago how people got to Heaven before Jesus died on the cross. Try explaining that to a four-year-old. He also cried the first time Ben explained Jesus' death to him. Wow, that kid has a heart.

One thing Ben and I tell the kids is "I love you to Australia and back." Well the other day Landon told me he loved me to Heaven and back. Pretty sweet until I told him "that is such a loooong way!" He said, "Not really, it's only to the sky!" That stinker.

Well naturally I can't think of many examples since I'm taking the time to "write"
them down, but I am hoping to update as more occur!

Updated 1/1/10:
When we were moving Landon's furniture to paint his room, we asked him if he wanted his bed in the same place or if he wanted us to move it. He said, "I want it moved." We asked him where, and without missing a beat, he said, "Into y'alls room." ha!

On the way home from a Rockets basketball game last night, Allie told Ben (who was driving), "Be careful, father!"

Also, after the game, the kids were talking nonstop about Louis Scola. They want to meet him and talk to him.