Savings

I'm sure most of you are looking for deals, just as I am. A friend blogged about Cellfire earlier this year. I have to admit, I only used this service one time, but I was amazed at how easy it was to use. I need to try and use it more often.

Cellfire is a free service that allows you to load coupons, for local stores, directly onto your store savings card. All you do is access cellfire from your computer or mobile device. You can then save grocery coupons onto your savings card or non grocery coupons onto your mobile device. There is no longer a need for printing the coupons. When you buy those items at the grocery store the coupons are automatically deducted from your total or for non grocery items just show the coupon (on your mobile device) to the cashier. How simple is that? You can also print out a list of all the items you have added to your grocery savings card so that you remember what you added.

Let me know if you are already using this service and how it works for you.

Christmas and Birthday

We had a wonderful Christmas. We enjoyed spending time with family and the gifts were an extra special treat. The boys were so much fun this year. Keegan kept repeating "this is the best Christmas ever." Truitt loved each gift he got. He was so excited about each one that he actually cried when we tried to take it away so he could open the next one. He finally got into it though and had a blast. We consider ourselves very blessed!

We celebrated Truitt's 2nd birthday yesterday. It was a great party with family and friends. When Truitt woke up Sat. morning the first words out of his mouth were "happy." He was trying to tell us that it was Happy Birthday. He then showed Chris how to blow (blow out candles) and immediately pointed to his mouth. He was ready to blow out candles and eat cake.

Today was his actual birthday. We had a great day together as a family just taking it easy.

We love our little man. He is so opinionated. He definitely knows what he wants. Someday that will prove to be a huge asset for him. It is very obvious that he loves his family. I love the little kisses he gives and the big grunts he makes as he trys to squeeze us hard as he hugs us. Most days he asks for Keegan and Daddy first thing when he wakes up from his nap. He loves his cars and balls. He is definitely a little boy! Truitt, I think God for you and can't wait to see what he has in store for you this next year!!! Happy 2nd Birthday, Snugga!!!!!

Holiday Meme

I stole this from Kristen. I can't wait to see everyones answers.

Eggnog or hot chocolate? hot chocolate

Does Santa wrap the presents or leave them open under the tree? There is usually a large gift left unwrapped for each child and then a few wrapped from Santa.

Colored lights on tree or white? White!

Do you hang mistletoe? No

When do you put decorations up? The day after Thanksgiving. I want to enjoy them as long as possible.

What's your favorite holiday dish? Christmas Eve Potatoes...YUM!

Do you open gifts Christmas Eve or Christmas Day? Chris and I each grew up with the tradition of opening one gift on Christmas Eve. We continued this tradition when we got married and now do it with our boys. We always get new pajamas. Everything else is opened Christmas morning.

How do you decorate your tree? We also grew up with a tradition of getting a new ornament every year. This is something that we enjoy doing. It is so much fun to pull out our ornaments every year and remember all the great memories that are attached to each one. It is fun to see what ornament each family member will pick each year. They usually represent something that we enjoy or something that has happened in the last year.

Snow. Love it or hate it? Love it...as long as I don't have to go out in it.

Can you ice skate? I don't think I have ever tried.

What's your favorite holiday desserts? How do you choose just one?

What's your favorite holiday tradition? I am all about tradition. I love each one. I wouldn't ever think about changing anything we do!

Candy Canes- yum or yuck? I'm not a huge fan of candy canes. I hate the sticky mess. I do like a little peppermint flavor in certain things though.

Favorite show? All the old animated Christmas classics....Frosty the Snowman, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Charlie Brown Christmas......

Creation and Souls

I just read this post on facebook from Randy Alcorn and it got me thinking.

"What message do we send secular people when we dismiss environmental
concerns? What credibility do we have when we say we love the Creator, but
aren’t concerned about creation? We can disagree about global warming &
should never worship creation. But if they see us leading the way in reasonable
care for God's world it ...can build relationships, open doors to the gospel.
“The Lord rejoices in all he has made!” Ps 104:31"

lack of pictures

I have so many pictures that I have wanted to share over the last several months, but I am having problems with my computer. All of my pictures sit on my camera. I need to figure out a way to get them off of my camera. My hard drive is full and my laptop is having so many problems. I wish I could share some of the cute pictures of my family. Maybe someday I will be able to share pictures again. Until then, I will post without pictures.

Readers

Mostly I blog so that I can remember what is going on in our life. It is also a great reminder of how God is working in our lives. Sometimes I wonder though if I should just journal. Is anyone reading this blog anymore?

Holiday Meal

I love tradition! Every year I grew up with the same holiday meals. I look forward to it every year. I am one that does not like to mess with tradition. Why mess with it if it is working?

Well, I am adding something new to our holiday meal this year. I almost feel like a trader saying that. LOL! I stumbled across a salad recipe last year and fell in love with it. I will be adding it to our Christmas Eve dinner. It is a simple, refreshing and festive salad. Some might consider it a dessert since it has whip cream, but I still consider it a salad :)

Cranberry, Grape, Pineapple Salad

2 cups fresh cranberries

1 cup of sugar

1 cup of red grapes

1/2 cup heavy cream, whipped

1/2 cup broken walnuts (optional)

1 small can pineapple tidbits, drained

Put cranberries through the food grinder, using coarse blade. Or chop in processor. Stir in sugar. Let stand overnight.

Next morning, drain well, pressing lightly to remove excess juice. Cut grapes in half and remove seeds if necessary. Add grapes, pineapple and nuts to well-drained cranberry mixture. This much may be done ahead. Refrigerate.

Just before serving, fold in the whipped cream.

Serve immediately. Recipe doubles easily.