Sneak Peek…

I have been such a bad blogger lately and I apologize to any readers I may still have out there for not updating my blog more often!  Not only have we been really busy, but I also feel like I have little to write about except the day to day doings…and that can get kinda’ boring!

 

My mom, Hannah and I had a great time shopping on Black Friday.  It’s been a tradition for years that my mom and I go out early that morning but Hannah has also joined us for the past 3 years now!  We have a fun time…it’s a little tricky if I need to get gifts for Hannah but she goes off on her own so I can sneak a few gifts in the cart here and there.  I’m happy to say I am almost DONE with my shopping.

 

My Christmas cards are ready to go out too!  Here is a sneak peek of what they look like…they really turned out cute although, as usual, Peter would NOT smile for any of the photos!  I love the zebra tan lines on his little chubby feet!!

Although I haven’t been posting here as much, I do still read all your blogs!  Have a great Monday!!!

Wordful Wednesday-Braces and A Giveaway!

As we approach Thanksgiving, I stop to realize how very thankful I am.  I have a wonderful, healthy family, great friends, including my “Blogging Buddies”, my health (that wasn’t always the case as I battled cancer at age 27!), and my faith in Jesus as my savior!  I need to be more mindful of all that I have in the upcoming days and not lose sight of what’s really important.  I tend to get swallowed up in the busy-ness of my life.

This week, Hannah, my second oldest, went from looking like this….

To this….

Isn’t she beautiful in her new braces??!!!  She spent the day at home with me yesterday as her teeth were really hurting her.  It’s amazing to me how fast the teeth move into correct alignment once braces are on!  She has to wear them for 20 months!

On a separate note…want to win a $25 gift certificate to my Etsy shop???  Go to my buddy Pam’s blog and register for a drawing that she is having there!

To see more Wordful Wednesday posts, go to Angie’s blog.  May you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!

Black Friday

I have a tradition each year on the day following Thanksgiving.  My mom and I get up at some ridiculously early hour and sneak out the door.  First stop is for coffee.  Then we begin the craziness of waiting in the cold in long lines to get those Black Friday deals.  I can’t wait to see what the deals will be!  We love the crowds and the excitement of the season.  After that day, my shopping will be done and I will be able to relax and truly enjoy the Christmas season…after all, I started my Christmas shopping on December 26th of last year!!!

But while I am out shopping, I just wanted to let you know of a great deal that you can get in on and not even leave the comfort of your warm home!  If you place an order at my Etsy shop on Thanksgiving Day or Black Friday, you can get FREE shipping and FREE socks!  Go HERE to check it out!!!!

Remember, I am constantly adding new items to my Etsy shop.  Here are a few of the latest…

Tinkerbell Ruffle Socks

Disney Princess Ruffle Socks

Word-Ful Wednesday

This past weekend while we were at our lake home, we met the newest member of our extended family…baby Gabby!  She was just 9 days old in these photos!  What a sweetie she is. My girls just held her for hours and absolutely fell in love with her!

Gabby even got her first job modeling a star bunting for my new Etsy shop.  To see more of my cool stuff, check it out HERE. And remember, 50% of all the profits from what is ordered at my Etsy shop in November and December, goes to an awesome organization…Reece’s Rainbow!

Go to Angie’s blog and see more Wordful Wednesday posts!

Backyard Visitor

We returned home from a weekend at our lake home on Sunday afternoon.  As I neared the patio door leading to our deck and back yard, I saw this…

This guy was huge!!  I have seen deer in our yard throughout the years that we have lived here but have never seen a buck, especially one this big!  There is a pond right behind that cluster of trees so he finally got up and headed for the water.

Our kids love seeing nature up close like this! 

FFF-“Beautiful Gifts”

This weeks’ theme for FFF is an easy one!  Of course the most beautiful gifts I have ever been blessed to receive were FIVE precious gifts from God!!

There was a time in my life when I battled cancer and was told that I might not be able to have children due to the side effects of some of the very potent chemo drugs I was given.  When you are fighting for your life, your priorities are survival.  Once I won the battle with cancer and met and married my husband, it wasn’t long before I realized that I could still have children! Can you imagine my shock and gratitude?!

Each of my children is a blessing in their own ways.  It was also such an awesome experience for our entire family once we made the decision to adopt.  Our children had all been praying for a little brother and Peter is just the light of our lives…the icing on the cake!

To see more FFF photos, go to Hannah’s blog. Have a wonderful weekend!

Oh, and don’t forget to check out my clearance sale going on right now at my other blog…great prices on Christmas gifts, baby gifts, and stocking stuffers!! Click here:

Sox That Rock

These Won’t Last!!

I am having my best Inventory Reduction Sale EVER!!!  Prices will never be this low again!  If you have ever thought about trying out my custom-made socks, now if the time!  They are perfect for Christmas gifts, stocking stuffers or baby gifts.  Hop on over to Sox That Rock and check out the selection starting at $2.00!!

Here’s a sample of the sale socks….

Wordful Wednesday

My blog readers are going to start wondering about what goes on at our house!!  Seems like we have lots of silly Peter pictures!  His older sisters are forever dressing him up and being crazy with him.  He is such a good sport…I suppose that’s why they keep doing it!  Here is the latest antics from my teenagers…yes, that’s a bra(not mine) on his head!  Hannah was helping me fold clean laundry and decided Peter needed to get in on the action…probably not what he had in mind however!

He reminds me of Aunt Jemima!

To see more Wordful Wednesday posts, stop over to Angie’s blog!

LED Christmas Lights

I just took advantage of a great savings on LED Christmas lights.  If you live near a Home Depot Store, they are currently offering a nice savings on these new low-energy holiday lights when you recycle your old ones. 

If you bring in even one string of incandescent minis or C-7 lights to recycle, they will give you a coupon good for $3.00 off each box of LED lights.  (up to 5 boxes) Some of their LED lights are marked down right now so I got 5 boxes of these white lights which were regularly $9.99 for $3.49 a box! 

It’s amazing how much energy they really do save over the Christmas season. Here is a comparison of three types of holiday lights for 30 days of usage at 7 hours per day:

600 LED lights- 45 cents

600 incandescent mini lights-$6.00

600 incandescent C-7 lights-$31.30

Also, check with your local electric company.  Many offer incentives and savings to their customers this time of year to encourage the purchase of lower energy holiday lighting!

Back to the 50’s and Guatemalan Custom

Ricky and Greta’s school had a 50’s day this past Friday.  We have gotten lots of use out of the 2 poodle skirts that my mom made for my older girls 10 years ago!  Then later that evening there was a Sock Hop at school.  Unfortunately I didn’t get any pictures at that event!  I stayed home with Ricky who just got strep throat.

Now that’s two of our children with Strep!  Last night Peter complained that he didn’t feel well and he had a slight temp….do you think he might be my 3rd kid with strep??!!

On Saturday, Rich and the kids attended a special celebration for some friends of ours who are from Guatemala.  Apparently, it is a custom there to honor girls as they turn 15 years old with a huge celebration.  It’s kind of like a Coming Out Party or a Sweet 16 celebration!  Our friend Anna explained to me that it is a major festivity almost at the level of a wedding.  She said that some people she has known have spent up to $6000 on the event!  Cindy, the 15 year old, didn’t want as big a celebration as she wanted to instead be able to go back to Guatemala and spend a month with her aunt there.  She will go in December and plans to spend time in a Missions Group helping those in need! 

Cindy arrived with her dad about 1 1/2 hours after the party began…another tradition…wearing a beautiful dress.  Everyone stood as she made her entrance!  Then there was amazing Guatemalan food and music!  It was a fun time for my family…the only non-hispanic people there!  Peter fit right in and met a sweet little friend too!

Does another know about this Guatemalan tradition and what it is called???  I am curious!

FFF-“Black and White Beauty”

This week’s theme for FFF is Black and White Beauties.  Here are some of my recent favorites in Black and White and also in Sepia tones.

We were missing one in this picture!  I think Greta was at a birthday party when we took this shot.  It is so difficult to get all the kids to cooperate with a good smile, eyes open, looking the same direction…

 

She’s growing up, but Greta is still my pretty princess!

Hannah took this picture of Peter the other day.  She does a nice job with photography!  I think she captured his great smile!

 

To see more FFF, go to Hannah’s blog.

Sick House!

Greta has complained about a sore throat for a couple days now.  It’s hard to really know when to take her serious as she’s my hypochondriac!  Anyway, yesterday she woke up saying it really hurt and although she didn’t feel hot and acted like her usual perky self, I allowed her to stay home from school.  As the morning went on, she started getting a “tummy ache”.  I figured I should just rule out anything so I scheduled an appointment at the doctor’s office.  Sure enough….STREP THROAT!!!

 

Thursday is my “day off” each week.  Peter goes to a Mom’s Day Out program and I actually get 4 1/2 hours to MYSELF!!  Except today I guess Greta will be hanging out with me!  Actually, she’s my little sweetie and I am looking forward to just spending some time with her!!!  Maybe we will even sneak in a little Christmas shopping!!! I usually have it all done by Thanksgiving!  Anyone else like getting their shopping done early!!??

Word-Ful Wednesday

This week’s theme for Wordful Wednesday over at Angie’s blog is “Sleeping”.  Instead of taking photos of my kids sleeping, here is one of my kids asking for yet another sleepover with each other!  With 5 children, there is always one who is asking if they can sleep in someone else’s bedroom for the night.  This usually translates into lots of fooling around, staying up late, and often fighting!  My rules are no sleepovers with their siblings on school nights.  Even Peter has gotten into the action and announces to me each night whose room he thinks he’d like to sleep in that day!  Ricky usually starts a sleepover with his sisters only to end up back in his own bed within 20 minutes…he’s a little creature of habit and he loves his own bed!  This will be sweet memories for all of them someday!!

Many people have asked me to start an ETSY shop.  Well, after much thought, I am giving it a try in an effort to increase my business.  I’ve added some new items and will be adding more each week.  Please mark it as a favorite shop and stop back often!  For the months of November and December, I am donating 50 % of my profits to a cause that is dear to me…Reece’s Rainbow.  This organization seeks to find families for children born with Down Syndrome or other disabilities in other parts of the world.  Please consider purchasing items now from my shop…they are great for your children, grandchildren, Christmas gifts, stocking stuffers and baby gifts.  AND… keep check checking back here.  I will be doing another good giveaway in the next week or so!!!!!  Go here to see my shop! http://www.etsy.com/shop/SoxThatRock

Whew!!!  Busy weekend!  I am glad to have the kids back to school this morning.  They have been off since last Wednesday for parent/teacher conferences.  They are all doing well in school.  I am especially pleased with how well Ricky is doing in 2nd grade.  He spends a fair amount of time each day in the regular 2nd grade classroom and the rest of it in his small center-based class with peers of similar age and ability levels.  He is becoming so independent in the regular classroom setting.  He does, however, tend to fool around with another boy from his class so I suggested to the teacher that we split them up during group times when they seem to want to visit instead of listen to the teacher!  Hopefully that will help!

 

For several years, we hosted a pre-Trick-or-Treat BOO-FAY in our garage.  It was a fun way to feed a lot of people right before we all took our kids out for the night.  Everyone brings something to share and we always had tons of food and drinks.   Then I decided it was just to much work for such a short time that we were all actually together.  A neighbor of mine took it over for the past 3 years now.  So we all met at her house(it had to be moved into her basement this year as it was too cold out) and had a nice quick meal before heading out to trick-or-treat. 

This is Greta(Jasmine) and some of her friends at the BOO-FAY.

And here are my little Trick-or-Treaters all ready to hit the streets and bring home the loot!

Peter really got into Halloween this year.  He couldn’t believe his good fortune at getting so many yummy treats going door-to-door!  Poor thing won’t get to eat half of it as his mommy limits his sweets.  Seriously…does anyone let their kids eat all the treats that they get!!???  We donate a lot of ours to various charities.  I don’t need all these temptations in our house!!!