Ouch! That hurt!

Things have been a mess around here lately. Earlier in the week, I was sick. I basically spent most of Tuesday and Wednesday in bed. My hubby was also sick, but he graciously allowed me to rest. Well, Wednesday night I sent him off to urgent care...because he had a bad case of pink eye in BOTH eyes. He came home with eye drops and cough medicine. He had been coughing for a few days before that. Friday, I felt almost back to normal and Bill went back to work...maybe we were on the mend. Yeah, right.

Saturday, Bill had to work all day and I needed to catch up on the mountain of laundry. Well on one of the trips down the basement stairs, I was on the top step and then I was on the floor at the bottom of the steps. I fell down the entire flight of steps (8 steps). Thankfully, I kind of slid down, but today I am very sore and my back and my butt are very sore to the touch. I also tweaked my arm and foot, but it could have been a lot worse. Who knew laundry could be a hazard!

Last night, Bill spent most of the night awake coughing up a lung and sweating and freezing. I sent him back to Urgent Care today, and he came home with a diagnosis of bronchitis, so now he is on a z-pack and a steroid to help his coughing. I am hobbling around sore. We sure do make a sight to behold.

Rebecca's 9th birthday party

We had a small party at our house on the day of Rebecca's birthday. Both sets of her grandparents came, as well as her Aunt Mary (home from college) and her Uncle Josh. We also had a family friend and her 2 daughters over.

Rebecca requested a taco bar and an "Alvin and the Chipmunks" birthday cake. I was able to get her both things. We had things to make taco boats--- taco boat shaped tortillas, taco meat, all the toppings, mexican rice, mandarin oranges, tortilla chips and salsa, and carrots and celery and dip. And I made her an "Alvin and the Chipmunks" chocolate cake which she loved!

Rebecca got a lot of nice presents...including a new coat, books #1-5 in the "Captain Underpants" series, clothes, shoes, etc. She was truly spoiled!

 

It was a very nice little get-together. Rebecca had a blast and I think/hope everyone else did as well. And the best part was that almost everyone in our house was feeling pretty good that day, unlike years past when people were sick.....We didn't know then that that was going to change.....

30 Days of Gratitide: Days 29-30: Finishing up

As I shared, for the month of November, I am going to try to post at least 1 thing each day that I am thankful for. I invite each of you to do the same, either on your own blogs or in the comments section. I hope that it will help me to see that I have a lots of things to be thankful for....

Sorry this is almost a week late...I have been extremely busy...add in sickness...and well you have a recipe for disaster....

DAY 29 and 30: 

I am thankful that I spent the month of November trying to be more thankful. I think it helped my attitude and made me overall positive. I am also thankful for vacation days for my husband. He was able to be home the last day of November and did a clean out of the basement and helped get Christmas decorations up.


If you are joining in with being thankful....what are you thankful for today? 

Books that I read for fun in November

Last year, I spent the last half of the year documenting the books that I read for fun.  I have decided that I need to continue that as reading is important part of how I relax. Books that I read for fun are books that I have not been asked to review and that I have chosen to read, well because I like to read.

Here are the books that I read in November for fun. I read several books for review, but still found time to carve out some fun reading time as well. 



Here are the books I read for fun in:

October 2015 
September 2015
August 2015 (didn't read any for fun!)
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015  
January 2015
Books from 2014

                                                 Have you read any good books lately?

30 Days of Gratitude: Day 28: For my daughter's birthday

As I shared, for the month of November, I am going to try to post at least 1 thing each day that I am thankful for. I invite each of you to do the same, either on your own blogs or in the comments section. I hope that it will help me to see that I have a lots of things to be thankful for....

DAY 28: 

I am thankful everyday that I was blessed with becoming a mother 9 years ago today. At 11:28PM on 11/28/2006 Rebecca was born and I became a mom for the first time. I am so blessed to have 3 wonderful kiddos, but Rebecca has a special place as she is the first.  I can't believe she is 9 years old!


If you are joining in with being thankful....what are you thankful for today? 

30 Days of Gratitude: Day 27: For Christmas movies

As I shared, for the month of November, I am going to try to post at least 1 thing each day that I am thankful for. I invite each of you to do the same, either on your own blogs or in the comments section. I hope that it will help me to see that I have a lots of things to be thankful for....

DAY 27: Today I am thankful for Christmas movies and cartoons. Every Friday night is movie night with the kids. They tend to pick the same dvds over and over. Well since it is after Thanksgiving, I pulled out our Christmas dvds! Yay for different things to watch! Tonight featured "Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer." I love watching the classics that I grew up watching and sharing them with my kiddos.


If you are joining in with being thankful....what are you thankful for today? 

Thanksgiving 2015 Recap: The WHOLE bottle of Bailey's

Yesterday, we spent a nice time at my parent's house for Thanksgiving dinner. Overall, we had 15 people in attendance-- Myself, Bill, Rebecca, Jacob, Benjamin, my mom, my dad, my sister, my brother, his girlfriend, my other brother, his wife, and their 3 kids.

The kids spent LOTS of time running around and being crazy. They jumped on their Pappy (my dad). They played with toys and made a mess. They colored pictures. They had fun being kids and playing with their cousins.

The adults spent lots of time laughing and talking.

Dinner was very yummy! We had turkey, mashed potatoes, rolls, sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top, stuffing, gravy, green beans, and cranberry sauce. For desserts, we had pumpkin pie, apple pie and kolacky (all of which my sister had made, under my help).

After dinner, we also had cake for my niece's birthday which was the day before yesterday!

After my brother and his family left, my mom pulled out the bottle of Chocolate Cherry Bailey's that she had chilling in the fridge. After pouring shots for herself, my dad, me and Bill, we toasted the holiday and shared a lot more laughs. I will admit that I hardly ever drink. Well....my dad and I managed to finish off the entire bottle of Bailey's between us.

It was a good thing that Bill really wasn't drinking, because he had a head cold, because I was in NO shape to drive home. On the drive home, I kept thinking Bill was veering towards the left line.

We came home, got the kids to bed and watched the Packers lose before we headed to bed with full tummies and thankful hearts.

30 Days of Gratitude: Day 26: Thanksgiving Day

As I shared, for the month of November, I am going to try to post at least 1 thing each day that I am thankful for. I invite each of you to do the same, either on your own blogs or in the comments section. I hope that it will help me to see that I have a lots of things to be thankful for....

DAY 26: Happy Thanksgiving

Today on Thanksgiving Day, I am stopping to give thanks for ALL the blessings, big and small in my life. 

I am thankful for my family-- my husband, my kids, my parents, my sister, my brothers, my nieces, my nephews and my in-laws. In each of their own ways, they have enriched my life-- whether through their love, kindness, lessons learned or epiphanies about life that they have helped me to learn. 

 I am thankful for friends near and far who bring life and craziness into my life in so many ways. Some friends are in real life and I see them often. Others are friends I have made on this blog or through other means online that although we have never met in person, you are still in my group of friends who have meant so much to my life. 

I am thankful for love. Because at the end of the day, that is what really matters... the love that we have shared with others and that is shared with us. 

To everyone who reads this blog, may you and your family have a truly wonderful, blessed and happy Thanksgiving. (And if you are not in the USA and have already celebrated your country's thanksgiving, I hope that you have a wonderful day as well!)  

If you are joining in with being thankful....what are you thankful for today? 

30 Days of Gratitude- Days 23-25

As I shared, for the month of November, I am going to try to post at least 1 thing each day that I am thankful for. I invite each of you to do the same, either on your own blogs or in the comments section. I hope that it will help me to see that I have a lots of things to be thankful for....

DAY 23: Today I am thankful for patience and being open to change. I had several things that were supposed to happen, but didn't and I had to change plans at the last minute. That is okay....life isn't always going to go according to plan. 

DAY 24: Thankful for thoughtfulness. I have a tutoring client, who Rebecca used to go to school with. I changed her tutoring time to accomodate a last minute violin lesson at her mom's request. I had no problem doing this. Well, her mom brought me a cinnamon coffee cake from Bob Evans in appreciation for being willing to move the tutoring time. That was so thoughtful of her. 

DAY 25: Today I spent the day at my mom's house "domesticating" my sister. My sister doesn't cook. However, today I helped her make a homemade pumpkin pie, apple pie and kolacky from scratch for our family's Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. It was nice to spend time with her and my mom and to laugh and be silly. It was truly a delightful day. 
 

If you are joining in with being thankful....what are you thankful for today? 

30 Days of Gratitude- Days 19-22: Catching Up

As I shared, for the month of November, I am going to try to post at least 1 thing each day that I am thankful for. I invite each of you to do the same, either on your own blogs or in the comments section. I hope that it will help me to see that I have a lots of things to be thankful for....

The last week has been a blur of activity. I haven't had time to come on her and update so today I will be catching up...

DAY 19: I am thankful for clothes that fit! I find that most shirts shrink when I wash them and then they become too short for me to wear as I have a longer torso. I finally found that Old Navy sells tall women's shirts so I ordered 3 off of ebay and they are fantastic. They are the right length and I have been wearing them over and over. 

Day 20: I am thankful for the ability to stand up for what is right. I have a tutoring client that was almost a month behind in her payments. She had told me at the beginning of the week to make sure I had an updated bill for her when I came on Friday so that she could pay me. Well, Friday came and she was trying to guilt me into letting her not pay saying if she paid me she couldn't get groceries, etc. Well I didn't back down. I know that tutoring is an extra, but I also need the money and I shouldn't have to wait a month to be paid. 

Day 21: My parents. My mom called to ask if Ben had a dvd as she was at the store. I was teasing her that she should pick me up some eggs as I was out and really didn't want to go to the store before Monday. I hate going to the store on the weekend. Well about an hour later, I get a call that says that she is at my door and to let her in so she could give me the eggs. LOL

Day 22: I am thankful for the smiles and joy of children as they see the first snowflakes of the winter. Yesterday morning, it began to snow very lightly while we were in church. At the end of mass, they opened the doors and it was a beautiful scene out the doors. My kids were smiling and laughing and were so excited to see the snowflakes. As we were walking to our van, Jacob kept catching snowflakes on his tongue. He said they tasted delicious! The snow only lasted about 10 minutes and non stuck but the kids were so excited! 

If you are joining in with being thankful....what are you thankful for today? 

30 Days of Gratitude- Day 18: Creativity

As I shared, for the month of November, I am going to try to post at least 1 thing each day that I am thankful for. I invite each of you to do the same, either on your own blogs or in the comments section. I hope that it will help me to see that I have a lots of things to be thankful for....

DAY 18: 

Today I am thankful for creativity. 

I know so many creative people and they bring such light and brightness into the world. My own sister is going to college to become an art therapist and she is a very talented artist. Many in my family like to draw, color, and create in their own ways. My kids are no exception. Benjamin likes to color. Jacob is always drawing. Rebecca is always creating something or other. Yesterday, she wrote a poem for fun. 
I love the creativity that brings brightness into my world.

If you are joining in with being thankful....what are you thankful for today? 

30 Days of Gratitude- Day 17: Warm Weather

As I shared, for the month of November, I am going to try to post at least 1 thing each day that I am thankful for. I invite each of you to do the same, either on your own blogs or in the comments section. I hope that it will help me to see that I have a lots of things to be thankful for....

DAY 17: 

Today I am thankful for warm weather. The weather the last couple of weeks have been unseasonably warm with little precipitation. As I got on facebook yesterday, I had a reminder that one year ago that the kids had their first snow day. We haven't even had a flake of snow yet this year. And I am okay with that. While I like snow, to me before Thanksgiving is too early for any. So for today I am thankful for the nice weather.

If you are joining in with being thankful....what are you thankful for today? 

Zonderkidz books discount code!

The last couple of days, I have shared with you a couple of great kids Christmas books that have been published by Zondervan publishing company, including Song of the Stars and The Legend of the Christmas Cookie. I believe that Christmas books are a timeless Christmas gift for kids and adults alike! That is why I am so excited to be able to share a discount code with you readers today for 30% off Zonderkidz books and Bibles (Blink YA books included, too!) ONLY AT ZONDERVAN!!

Here are the details:  

The promo code discount, CHRISTMAS2015, is valid from November 17th through December 1st, 2015, and can be used on ALL Zonderkidz books and Bibles (new and old), including Blink books. The code can ONLY be used on purchases at  www.Zondervan.com, so it cannot be used at any other online retailer or in stores, and cannot be combined with any other offers and discounts. It cannot be applied to books currently available for pre-order, adult books and Bibles, or curriculum products. This is a special opportunity to get the latest faith-based books and Bibles for kids and teens, at a great discount.

How it works: To shop, visit www.Zondervan.com, click the tab at the top that says "Children", and choose the category on the left side that best fits what you are looking for. You can also search products by title using the search bar at the top of the page. Once you've selected and added all of your items to your cart, click Checkout. You will be able to see a list of the products you've selected. At the bottom of the list, you'll see text box where you can type a discount code. Type CHRISTMAS2015 in this box. Then click Apply Coupon to process the discount. Finally, click Proceed to check out, where you will see your discount applied and be asked to follow prompts for payment and shipping instructions.

There are MANY great books to choose from including:

My Christmas Stocking

The Berenstain Bears

The Beginner's Bible: A Christmas Celebration

Goodnight Manger

Song of the Stars

The Legend of the Christmas Cookie

 HAPPY READING!