Contest

5 Minutes for Mom is hosting quite a bit of giveaways right now in celebration of the 4th of July. This one in particular is for a set of Mommy calling cards. I've heard of these before and keep having desire to make my own, but haven't found the time. Basically what they are, are business cards designed specifically for moms. You hand them out at your kids activities.

Seth's Birthday Pics

Finally, they're here. Seth's second birthday.

The big two-year old:
His little sister, Patricia, she's 4-months-old now:


Tabitha devouring her ice cream:
Seth with his new weapon (a golf club):

Some of the guests:

Sierra was able to come for the party. She's my cousin's daughter. We haven't seen her in over a year and a half. Notice her Mickey mouse ears, Seth's theme:
Doesn't the cake look just like Mickey Mouse?? Well, I tried as best as I could. Sierra's mom, Helene, my cousie-wusie, painted his face for me. It was an ice cream cake, so we didn't have much time to work with:

Quick Update

One of these days I'll get Seth's birthday pics posted. In the mean time I just wanted to give an update on our situation. Tabitha has been fighting a cold. Her colds lead to horrible coughing/wheezing. This particular bout started last Wednesday night. Her wheezing didn't go away with the asthma medication and her fever stayed, so I'm now treating her with an antibiotic given normally for pneumonia. This is the ninth time she has been sick in the past year. I feel so bad for her. She is really tired from taking all the medication she is always given and her body is worn out from the many hours up in the middle of the night coughing.

If you think of us, pray for us. For Tabitha's health and for Enoch and I to have wisdom as to how to prevent this in the future. Thanks. Any advice is welcome at this point.

Saturday Smiles

This past weekend the kids and I went strawberry picking. As much as I've wanted to, I have never actually gone picking before, so this was a special treat for me. I chose an 8 quart basket. Tabitha and Seth each got a little green bucket to fill. Tabitha did great, she filled hers in no time at all. She kept telling everyone that we were going to make a strawberry pie and she walked all over looking for the "most perfect strawberry in the whole wide world", of which she found many.

When we went up to pay for the berries I placed my basket on the counter. Tabitha knew the drill and she followed suit. Seth saw what we did and he, in all innocency, placed his empty basket on the counter. You could see how proud he was of himself, because he was sure he was doing what was necessary. That moment made me smile. Seeing him give his empty basket, meanwhile the crime was written all over his face. Red strawberry juice had painted his mouth and fingers. It was indeed precious.

Here are the goodies we got out of our labor:

Strawberry pie This was most delicious. My only advice would be to pile on lots of strawberries.

Strawberry jam My first time making jam! I put mine in five freezer containers (1 1/2 cups each). This is definitely easy to make, just like the recipe says.

Strawberry bread I must say that this isn't the greatest sweet bread that I've had, but it is good. I have four small loaves in my freezer.

I must admit that I am thrilled with the outcome of our little adventure.

Happy Birthday Seth!

Seth turned 2 today! Unfortunately, I'm not able to upload any today pictures of him, but here he is on his first birthday. He has matured SO much (although he gets food all over him just the same). He has about 100 words in his vocab now, give or take 5. He's able to keep up with the bigger kids when running at Tabitha's preschool. One of his newer favorite things is to smother you with kisses. Literally he'll squish your face as he plants 10 plus kisses on you, then hold his cheek to your mouth waiting for a reply. He laughs heartily whenever he hears someone else laugh...or fart! His favorite joke:

Seth: Knock, knock
you: who's there?
Seth:Mickey Mouse or Pappa
you:Mickey Mouse who?
Seth: (hearty laugh)

Saturday Smiles

Ok ladies, I'm trying something new here. I know for myself, sometimes I can get so caught up in disciplining and getting frustrated that, often the important things are overlooked. So, this is a way to remind ourselves of the good in our kids. Saturday Smiles is here so we can share at least one moment during the week that our little one(s) have been able to put a smile on our face.

I'm going to limit myself to one incident: Every morning Tabitha picks out her own clothes and gets herself dressed. That's enough to make any mother smile I think! This morning I found such a cute surprise. She folded up her pajamas and placed them nicely on top of her pillow. As disordered as I feel my house is at all times, I love seeing her and Seth show signs of learning order. Slowly but surely we will arrive, I am convinced.

I do need some help here, so sign in on the fun!

Frugal Friday

I know everyone in the world has heard of coupons, but I've been going coupon crazy lately. I was encouraged from one of Rachel's posts to subscribe to the Washington Post Sunday paper. It so happened that the paper was having a 50% off sale, so for a 6 month subscription I paid a whopping $15.

Now when I get the ads for my supermarket or a nearby store I check the sales and my coupons. Coupling those two together has saved a lot of money. Usually over $15 per trip. I do make sure that I only buy things that I will use. Currently I have about 5 tubes of toothpaste, so I'm not planning on adding any more to that. On the other hand it is nice having a surplus, because you can give some away. At that point you're happy that you were able to get such a good deal and even more happy that you were able to supply someone else with a need they might have.

Often when new items come out they will have a coupon for you to get a free one, no strings attached. In the last two weeks I got a free razor and some Kandoo wipes. I will offer a word of caution about these free coupons. Both of the times that I had mine in the pile of coupons they didn't actually go through, with neither the cashier or I noticing. I had to go back and get a refund. So double check your receipt before you leave the cash register.

For more great tips visit Biblical Womanhood.