Great Deal at Old Navy!

We had a fun morning picking blueberries this morning and then we decided to run by Old Navy on the way home. They have their swimwear for the WHOLE family (including women's one pieces, men's swim shorts, and kids suits) for $5! They also have a ton of shorts and tees for $5. Our store was already pretty picked over at 11:30am, but I did manage to find several great swim suits for my kids for this year and next. I was also excited that their running shorts were also only $5! Here are the suits I got.



To make the deal even better, Old Navy Weekly still has 15% off coupons available! Just click on "Get their no-sweat style" in the bottom center to print this coupon. After the coupon you'll ONLY pay $4.25 per item!

(Thanks, Hip2Save!)

$7 at Publix

I made a quick trip to Publix today to snag some of the new sales. We needed a break from teh sun so we decided to just get out and run around for a bit. There are a lot of good deals this week, but these were some of my favorite. I got all of this today for only $7.99. I saved almost $60. For these and more coupon match-ups, check out this post.

Here are some of the deals I found:

• 3-Frozen Sara Lee Products are 50% off (the cheapest I found were the Key Lime pie at $3.39.) There were $1 off coupons in several recent inserts.
• Fruitables: I LOVE these new Apple & Eve juice boxes. They have a whole serving of fruits and veggies in each one. Publix carries these for $2.99. There was a manuf coupon for $1 off in the Publix Greenwise magazine and $1 off coupon in the Summer Savings booklet at Publix so I got these for $.99. Not bad for all those fruits and veggies!
• 8-French's mustard- B1G1 at $1.89. I had 8 coupons for $.50/off so I got all of these free plus a little overage. We've been out of mustard and I missed this as they were out of stock last time so I decided to stock up.
• 3-Kraft BBQ sauce B1G1 with $1 off coupons that made these free plus overage.
• 1- Ziplock sanwich bags. (We were just out of these) They are $1.99 and there were $1 off coupons in the summer savings booklet as well.
• 2-Lawry's marinades. These were B1G1, plus I used $1 off coupons and this Food Lion coupon to get them for $1.85 plus $2 off chicken.
• 1 whole Publix chicken (using the Food Lion coupon this was only a little over $1)
• 1- Post Trail Mix Crunch- free with this $2 off coupon.
• 2- Bottles of SunDown Vitamin D vitamins. ($2.99 bottle- Free with $6 off coupon in the Green Publix Advantage Buy flyer.)
• 1- Cascade Clean Rinse- free with at home mailer.

Minnie Cake

We had a fun weekend this weekend. My baby turned 3 so we had a fun little Minnie Mouse "tea party" (minus the tea). We played some fun games and the kids came dressed up as their favorite Disney characters. Little sis really wanted a Minnie Mouse cake so I attempted to make it myself. Here is how it turned out.
It was actually really fun to make it as it brought out the creative side of me. My husband was so impressed that it actually looked like Minnie that he pulled out the video camera to show it was really me making it! :)

True Joy

I've been enjoying a break from "formal" studies this year and enjoying digging into God's Word by reading it straight through. It's been both challenging and exciting as I feel like each day there are so many new Truths that God teaches me through His Word. As I was reading through Nehemiah several days ago, this particular passage really caught my attention. It contains a favorite verse of mine, but as I studied I realized I had never truly understood this verse in the context of the passage. This is the verse that I love:

Nehemiah 8:10 "Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength."

I'm sure most of us are at least familiar with the end of that verse, "The joy of the Lord is my strength", but as I studied the purpose of this joy it became so exciting to me. God's people had "lost" the law. Upon finding it again, Ezra began to read it to His people. As he did, verse 8 tells us that "they read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read." The people had been so moved by the Truth of God's Word that they were weeping uncontrollably. Finally Nehemiah exhorted the people to quit crying and get up and celebrate. The Truth was now clear to them. Shout for joy! God has given you strength through His Word. Enjoy great fellowship together through the common grace of Biblical exegesis.

I love verse 12 where it says that, "the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them." The people were filled with joy because they were now finally able to understand the Law.

God's Word should make us joyful. Praise the Lord that we don't have a God who condemns us through His Word by showing us what miserable failures we are. Yes, His Word is a tutor, revealing our sin and showing us our inability to save ourselves, but the beautiful thing is that it is meant to lead us to our One True Savior who alone can redeem us from our pitiful state. That precious Truth contained in God's Word- among the many others- gives us reason to celebrate. Go and enjoy sweet fellowship around God's Word, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!

Cheap Weekend Getaway- St. Louis, MO

As I posted last week, we went to St. Louis for the weekend to meet my niece, Emma. We had the best time! St. Louis is a super fun city with plenty to do for an entire week, much of which is even free! You can't beat that!

We made the 5 hour drive over on Thursday and got there with plenty of time to eat dinner and see the St. Louis Cardinals play in their new downtown stadium. This was a great experience as it was the girls' first trip to a major league baseball game and the theater was just rebuilt in 1996. Tickets were as cheap as $5 if you order online for a week night game.

At the recommendation of a friend, we stayed in the Forest Park (Clayton) area which was just about 8 miles from downtown. Forest Park has some great hotels, restaurants, parks and is just about a mile from the St. Louis Galleria mall. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza which turned out to be great as they had an indoor/outdoor pool, a free game room and newly renovated rooms with INCREDIBLE beds! I found some good prices for this area on Priceline as well.

The St. Louis zoo (also located in Forest Park) is probably the best zoo I've ever been to- even over San Diego. They had everything from Hippos and Rhinos to Monkeys and Snakes, a train, a special Build A Bear workshop with unique zoo animals and plenty of places to eat and play. The best part? The zoo is FREE (although parking is $11)! There was also a free Science Center in the same area.

The next day we ventured out to the Magic House. This was an INCREDIBLE children's museum to say the least. There was a 3 story slide, a full working "grocery store" where the kids could fill up the carts with pretend food and even check themselves out, a pizza parlor run by kids, a TV recording studio where the kids could pretend to be news anchors, a construction zone, a replica of the Judicial Branch of government to explore and lots more! This is a MUST SEE if you go to St. Louis with kids. The price of admission is $8.50, but there were buy 1 get 1 free coupons in the St. Louis Visitors guide found in our hotel lobby. (p.27)



After the museum we headed downtown to walk around the Arch and attempt to ride to the top. After going through security we got inside to find that the wait was over an hour so we visited the museum inside instead. After that we went to the Spaghetti Factory for dinner and back to our hotel for a late night swim.

There were plenty of things we didn't have time to do like Six Flags, the City Museum, Grant's Farm, The Loop and plenty more. We will definitely be planning a trip back to St. Louis in the future!

Adventure Report

It's been a while since I've done an update on my one word for the year- "adventure". Little did I know how the Lord would lead us this year. Not only have we consciously tried to make decisions that push us out into adventure, but we have also been pushed out in ways we never imagined. I told Jason the other night that I never dreamed of our adventure taking us down the path of considering homeschooling or adopting from China in 2009. It's been an exciting year so far to say the least!

So far we've had some fun adventures as we have spent a week at Disney with the kids and had several other fun little getaways. As I write this I am in a hotel room in St. Louis with the kiddos. We came on a little "adventure" weekend with my mom and niece to explore a new place. We had a great trip here other than the GPS trying to convince us to continue on a closed road. Last night we went out to eat downtown and to a Cardinals game. It was so much fun! (This is a picture from our seat.) (Adeline snapped this picture of the Arch as we drove in.)

We have also finally chosen an adoption agency. We have decided to go with Holt International as they have a China Child of Promise program that looks like it will allow us to adopt from China in a fraction of the time of the normal process. As we began praying through adoption we felt so called to China, but dreaded the thought of waiting 3-5 years. At this point we are prayerfully stepping out as we fill out the application to begin our paper pregnancy.

There are many other current adventures in our life that I'll share about soon. How is your "one word" going?

From the Back of the Pack

I went with my family to one of our favorite events on Saturday- the Tennessee Baptist Children's Home Run 4 Kids. It's such a fun race. This year each of the girls ran in their own race and my hubby ran the 5K. I was also planning on running the 5K, but after a bout with the stomach bug in our family last week I opted out...or so I thought.

I got up on race morning feeling fine so I put on my running shoes "just in case". I had told my mom not to bother coming to the race to keep the girls because I wouldn't be running. So, what was my next thought? I had the not so brilliant idea of running with a double umbrella stroller...a broken double umbrella stroller...that holds 50 pounds, not 80 pounds...up hills...over speed bumps. Crazy. Call me crazy.

It started of OK, but after about a minute and a half I saw the back of my husband's shirt and that was the end of that. I'm a pretty avid runner so I thought, how bad can this be? When I had numerous men patting me on the arm saying, "way to go mom. You can do it", I knew I had entered into a whole new category. I even had a nice man who helped me pull my children out of the ditch I so gracefully ran them into with the stroller that doesn't turn. Thankfully I ran into a friend who helped me push the stroller up the last 1/4 mile or I might still be pushing that crazy stroller.

By mile 2 I was fully encompassed with sweat and had already answered 1,440 questions from my 5 year old. We then passed the water stopped (manned by Jana) and my 5 year old was struck by the need to ask another hundred questions about why all these people were littering and throwing their cups on the ground. Needless to say, this is the last time I will run a race pushing 80 pounds in a stroller that doesn't even turn on the flat surface at the mall.

MOM Jeans

Check out this hip new style we all need.

*I hope you know I'm only joking.

El Roi

In college I had the opportunity to go on a study tour of Israel. It was an amazing experience that has forever changed the way I view so much in Scripture. While I was in Israel I had this ring made. It is the Hebrew inscription of El Roi- "The God Who Sees".



At that particular time of life I was full of questions: Who would I marry? What would I do with my life? Where would I live? What did God want for my future? I found such encouragement in resting in God as my El Roi, The God who could see what I could not see. He saw my husband. He saw my major. He saw my future.

We are again at a crossroads in our lives. We have recently begun the process of international adoption. We are so excited, yet also overwhelmed as we have begun researching agencies, countries and all that is involved in this process. I have found such comfort again in resting in the fact that God is my El Roi- He sees the child he has picked out for us. He sees the agency we are to use. He sees the country we are to visit. He sees what we absolutely cannot see at this time and in that I can rest.

So, in all that is before us- schooling for our children, the makeup of our family, the future of so many unknowns, today I will rest in the fact that God is my El Roi.

Strawberry Picking!

This is the finished product of all the strawberries I either sliced and froze or left whole and froze for smoothies. I love having small containers of strawberries to pull out of the deep-freeze throughout the year. If you let them thaw about an hour before eating they are slushy and delicious!
These are 1 of the 4 containers we filled with strawberries.
This was the batch I mashed to make strawberry jam. I use the Sure-Jel (This time I used the Kroger brand that was only $1.50). You don't have to cook this kind and it only takes about 20 minutes from start to finish. We love this stuff!

My girls and I LOVE to pick strawberries and blueberries. We go every year and make a fun day of it. Today was our day to travel with my mom and a group of moms from our MOPS group to pick strawberries. We got TONS! Here is what I've made so far.

Next on my list- Strawberry Shortcake and Strawberry Pretzel Salad.

What do you like to make with strawberries? I'd love some good recipes!

$1 at Publix

I needed to pick up a couple of things for a cookout tomorrow night. I ran to Publix because I saw they have some great deals in this week's ad. Look at what I got at Publix for $1. Check out Southern Savers' post for these and more great match-ups!

Lest You Think I'm Just Mean...

In case you've read my blog for a while, you probably know that I'm not someone who has ever wanted to homeschool. No offense to any of you homeschool moms, I've just had some strange encounters with homeschool kids in the past who left me wondering if they could really function in the "real world". I love that video from a couple of days ago. It nails my deep set misconceptions of homeschoolers.

Now for the interesting part. My daughter starts kindergarten next year. We thought we knew for sure where she would be going, but as we began to explore our options, visit schools and pray for God to give us wisdom as to where He is leading us for our kids' schooling, we just had an obvious lack of peace in most directions. Our other hope is for a nearby public school. We are trying to cross zones, but it's looking like if we do get in we will only find out a few short days before school starts.

So...we have been praying about homeschooling for quite some time now. I know. Am I crazy? Probably. This is one of those "never say never" things for me. I didn't even want to pray about the possibility of homeschooling. I'd rather sell my house and move to Africa. That scares me less than homeschooling. Isn't it just like the Lord to lead us into something we would never choose on our own?

At this point we still haven't made a final decision. I haven't even researched curriculum because I feel completely overwhelmed at the thought. I'm extremely free-spirited so it could be a rather interesting experience for all of us should I choose to homeschool. I guess that's what makes like exciting. You never know where God is going to lead you. I read this in my favorite devotional book by Oswald Chambers a few weeks ago and it's so fitting:

"We are not uncertain of God, but uncertain of what He is going to do next."

Next on my "To-Not Do List"- buy a minivan and wear a denim jumper. Please enroll my child in public school should you find goats in my backyard or see me grinding my own wheat.

Why I Love Publix

It took me a long time to actually believe you could shop economically for groceries at Publix. I mean, COME ON, $1.19 for a can of green beans?!! Seriously! Once I started seeing so much talk about Publix on the coupon blogs I decided I had to try it out for myself. I'm proud to say I am now a Publix fan. Not only is it among the nicest, cleanest, yummiest-taste-testing stores, but it also provides GREAT opportunities for coupon junkies like myself to practice our skill. Today was a great day at Publix. Below is a picture of what I got. My pre-coupon total was about $110. I got all of this for $24. Oh yeah...

Don't forget- Publix honors all grocery store coupons (even ones like $5 off $50 for a particular grocery chain). I did find out today that they do not accept coupons from Target or other non-grocery store chains. It really doesn't matter when you can get a 4 pack of great yogurt for a quarter! My fridge is so full it won't close!

Why I Swore I'd Never Home-school...

If you know me well at all you know that one of my biggest fears in life is home-schooling. This video sheds a little light on my fears.

More to come on this topic tomorrow...

Publix Freebies!

There are some great deals at Publix this week. This picture is a small portion of the items I got for free (or close to free) at Publix today. My total before sales/coupons was $130 plus tax. My total after sales and coupons was $41! I got a TON of food today, too. This is really enough to last us for 2 weeks. For more great coupon matchups, check out Southern Saver's post here.

Here is what I have pictured:

• 2 bottles of V8- FREE- printable coupon.com from last month for $2/off.
  
• 4 boxes of Back to Nature cookies and graham stix- $.49/box. You can print this coupon as many times as you want.
  
• 3 packages of Jello Pudding- FREE. (used $1 Food Lion coupon and $1 manuf. coupon)
• 2 bottles Glass plus- $.25. On sale B1G1. Used 2x$.50 coupons that doubled
• Kashi waffles- FREE- coupon from Vocal Point home mailer.
• Eggo waffles- $.24- used $1 Food lion coupon and $.74 manuf. coupon.
  
• BBQ chips-FREE- penny item.

I also got a ton of meat today. I had $5 off $50 coupon from Kroger I used. I also used a $3 off $15 coupon from Kroger for meat and several other $1 off coupons from Food Lion. It's a great deal when you combine store coupons, competitor coupons and manufacturer's coupons. These Publix deals are good through Tuesday night.

Free Dinner!

Click here for a free grilled chicken dinner from KFC.

Thanks Money Saving Mom!

Children Desiring God

If you're looking for some great, God-centered Children's resources/curriculum, check out this site.

True Freedom

I have often struggled with compartmentalizing my life. It's easy to do if you think about. You have your "mommy" clothes that go with your "mommy" talk that goes with your "mommy" chores. Then you have your "cute clothes" for the nights you actually get to go on a date and talk like an adult. You have "church clothes" for going to church and there's a type of lingo that seems to fit there as well. Compartmentalizing our lives isn't always wrong, but it is pretty easy to do.

The challenge comes when we compartmentalize our spiritual life. As a mom of 2 preschoolers it is rather challenging to find a quiet moment in my house when everyone is actually asleep at the same time. That often translates into very little time to have a real "quiet time". Sometimes I only have the 10 minutes that my kids are reading books to sit down while I read and pray. What I must remember is that as a Christian God has called me to glorify Him in everything that I do.

1 Corinthians 10:31 - "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."

It's not just when I'm at church...or reading my Bible...or listening to worship music that counts as the spiritual part of my day. Every second of my day is spiritual. God has called me to glorify Him just as much when I'm doing the dishes...washing clothes...wiping noses and bottoms...brushing teeth...cooking supper.

It's so easy as a SAHM (Stay At Home Mom) to see that 5% of our day is spiritual (when we have our "quiet time") and 95% of our day is just mundane. Quite the contrary. 100% of my day, 100% of my time and energy, 100% of my life is spiritual. If I am a follower of Christ I can't compartmentalize my spiritual life. I also can't fall prey to the legalism that often reigns in my heart and tries to tell me that only when I can check off my "quiet time" and "spiritual acts" of the day will my day really be "blessed". Paul so vividly calls this being put under a spell. (Gal.3:1-5). Instead He reminds us in Galatians 5:1, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."

We have the choice. Will we walk in freedom or walk in slavery? "Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ." (Gal.1:10)

$6 at Kroger

Kroger has some great deals running this week in conjunction with current coupons. I bought all of this last night and had a coupon for every item. My total came to right at $6 with tax!

• 2 packages of Huggies Wipes $1, free with $1 off coupon.
• 4 bags Bird's Eye Frozen veggies. $1, used $.35 coupon which made them $.30/bag.
• 3 bottles of McCormick's Montreal seasonings. Free with $1 off coupon.
• 1 nail saver sponge- free with doubled $.50 coupon.
• 1 Suave deodorant- free with doubled $.50 coupon.
• 4 bottles of Softsoap- used 4 coupons ranging from $.35 to $.50 off (free- $.30/bottle)
• 2 boxes Pillsbury brownie mix- $.35 coupon doubled to make these $.30/box.
• 3 Capri Sun 10 packs (They were out of Sunrise so they let me sub these). On sale for $1.79, used $1.00 coupon to make them $.79. That's a GREAT price!!
• 3 packs of Angel Soft tissue- free with doubled $.50 coupon.

What good deals have you found this week?

God's Blessing Based On My Performance

I know in your mind you know that title is not the Truth. We know that God blesses whom He chooses based upon His Sovereign will. We know that God's blessing isn't based upon our performance. We know that with our head, but do our lives really reflect that Truth? What is God's blessing anyway? A good day? No traffic? First in line at the drive-thru? A front row parking spot at a crowded mall on a rainy day? This post was refreshingly candid and powerfully convicting. In case you've ever felt you've ever felt that God's blessing on your life is somehow conditional upon your spiritual performance, you too might enjoy this post.

This except what exceptionally challenging:

“That half hour every morning of Scriptural study and prayer is not actually commanded in the Bible.” Imagine that. He goes on to say, “As a theologian, I can remind us that to bind the conscience where Scripture leaves freedom is a very, very serious crime. It’s legalism rearing its ugly little head again. We’ve become legalistic about a legalistic command. This is serious.” We have somehow allowed our quiet time, in its length, depth or consistency, to become the measure of our relationship with God. But “your relationship with God—or, as I prefer to say, God’s relationship with you—is your whole life: your job, your family, your sleep, your play, your relationships, your driving, your everything. The real irony here is that we’ve become accustomed to pigeonholing our entire relationship with God into a brief devotional exercise that is not even commanded in the Bible.”