Countertops Arrived!

So we've been going on over 2 weeks without countertops (it's been interesting!) and they finally arrived today. They look really nice and I can't wait to begin cutting on them. We have to wait for the adhesive to dry for 24 hours so we really can't use them and the faucet isn't installed to the sink yet so you can bet we'll probably be ordering out tonight. It's been great because we really haven't had to order out a lot (can't remember the last time we did) with the rennovations. American Housing has done a great job with making sure we've been comfortable living through everything. So far, the final things to do on the kitchen are paint, the tile backsplash between the top and bottom counters, the hood above the stove and paint along the top cabinets and we're done! We were supposed to get paint on the exterior of the house done today, but they never showed up. Hopefully tomorrow they'll be here. We were guaranteed that it would be done by Christmas so we shall see. :)

Please keep in prayer some friends of our the Jergers as they are in Russia working on adopting their little girl Ellie.

Savings, Savings, Savings...

I just thought I'd share a little secret with all my fellow grocery-shopping moms out there . There's a website called Couponmom.com and it has really changed the way I buy groceries these days. There are so many ways to clip coupons and save. Check it out when you have some time. The past few days I have found time to: create a coupon book (found plastic business card sheets at Office Depot and a binder to keep them in...complete with tabs to label), made a list of all the more expensive items we buy from the grocery store, called those companies requesting coupons (they all are sending me oodles of coupons...it's hard to find organic coupons!), called local grocery stores (we're Publix fans) to see what their coupon policies are (many differ even if they are the same company...i.e. one Publix might have a different policy than another), and clipped coupons from the Sunday paper and from Couponmom.com. I have two small children under 2 so I know the rest of you HAVE to have some time to check this out and try it. I'm going to go grocery shopping this weekend with my new strategies and helpful hints from this website and I'll post what I saved afterwards. We shall see if it works!

Just a helpful hint, when you're calling local supermarkets ask the 5 following questions:

1. Do you accept competitor's coupons (Albertson's, Sweetbay, Winn Dixie)?
2. Do you double/tripe coupon value?
3. Do you take expired coupons?
4. Do you combine store coupons with competitors' coupons?
5. Do you match advertised sales prices of other local grocery stores?

**You've hit the jackpot if numbers 1 and 2 apply, but so far the Publix that I use will comply with numbers 1 and 4. It's hard to find stores that will comply with number 4 and I've never heard of any complying with number 2 or 5 so let me know if you find one!

Happy Shopping All!

Happy Turkey Day!

TURKEY!!!

The Linkster's First Thanksgiving

Lincoln loves his Pa-pa

Nala trying to figure out how to sneak a piece of pie without anyone noticing!

Mom and Grandma cooking

Mom showing off her adorable turkey platter. We used the grandkids' hand/feet prints to create turkeys.


There are so many things to be thankful for in our family that I can't even name, but I thought I'd list a few:
- I know for a fact that Rob and I love the Lord and will be spending eternity with Him in heaven one day
- My two beautiful children are happy and healthy
- We have wonderful family members that we love deeply
- Military are across seas and here in the US fighting to keep us safe
- We have a so many friends that love us and we love in return
- We have a roof over our head
- We have food to eat everyday
- We have healthcare if one of us was to get sick
- Rob and I have an amazing marriage and we love each other incredibly
- The Lord has kept us safe from hurricanes so far this year (knock on wood!)

These are just a FEW of the many blessings we have and my list could go on and on. As for our Thanksgiving this year, we throughly enjoyed time with family at my parents' house this year. It was a first for my mom and she did a fantastic job (way to go mom!!!). Everything was cooked to perfection, the house gleamed of fall colors and decorations, the smells were amazing and we had so much fun just being together.

Lincoln had his first share of solid food (he's been reaching for ours for weeks now). We gave him some rice cereal and he ate the whole bowl. The boy loves to eat, that's for sure!




I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and for those of our family/friends that were not able to celebrate with us (China/England), you were thought of and prayed for. We love you.

Bathtime Together...Finally!

Bathtime has always been a fun time in our house. Avonlea has always enjoyed the water and just recently we've been able to let her play in the bathtub while I'm doing the dishes. She makes a lot of noise when she plays so when it gets quiet, I know to check on her (there's usually water on the floor...how mysterious!). Now, we're excited because Lincoln is sitting up (he'll sit for about 10-15 seconds by himself) and this makes bathtime much easier because we only have to give one bath instead of two. He has officially grown out of his newborn tub and is not quite ready for his duckie tub (it's a mini-tub that's inflatable and when a baby can sit by his/herself, they're ready for it). So, we use the Boppy instead and it works just great! The two have such a blast together splashing and I'm so proud of Avonlea because she does such a great job of sharing her bath toys with her brother.
Fun times. :)

Christmas pics, Lincoln turns 5 months and new appliances!

Christmas is "Right Around the Corner"...Rob's favorite saying!



All smiles! (Notice the bottom two teeth! Can you see them?)

Admiring big sister

We went and got our Christmas pictures done at Sadie's this year and let's just say that it was much easier than last year. Avonlea was old enough to understand what to do and take instruction and Lincoln was so cooperative that it made the whole ordeal pretty easy. Of coarse, taking pictures of your kids is never "easy", but we can't complain. Especially because we had to wait an hour until the prints were done and both kids did remarkably well considering the siuation. (Gotta love mall playgrounds!)

My sweet boy is now five months old and other people were right, the second child's aging does fly by much quicker than the first. The first child has your undivided attention and you remember so much more. I had a calendar that I kept for Avonlea's first year (I recorded her first solid food, first steps, that sort of thing), but poor Lincoln hasn't got too much filled out on his calendar.

Kitchen appliances were delivered today and they look so great. We went with Maytag's stainless steel. Silly me didn't think about the time it takes for a new refrigerator to cool (2-3 hours) so I have my whole fridge and freezer's food sitting out. Good thing there's a deep freezer in our garage and the old fridge is placed on the back porch (we're keeping it and putting it in our garage for extra food/drinks) so I stocked the "must stay cool" items in them and am praying that the new fridge cools fast!

Enjoy your Tuesday everyone!

To Grandma's House We Go

Backyard Bonfire

Snuggling by the fire


"Grandma Lets Me!"...Gracey

Cool Uncle Nate and LC

Mama's Little Rookie

Yesterday, there was so much banging and noise going on here at the house that I just had to get the kiddos out of here. The kitchen cabinets were being installed until 9:00 p.m. last night, holes were being patched up and there were lots of hammers, saws and other fun power tools going off non-stop. So...we headed off to Gram and Pa-pa's. We had fun playing on the playground, hanging out with cool Uncle Nate and Cousin Grace enjoyed some time holding Lincoln and making Sarah's birthday cake with Gram. The picture is of her licking the beaters and the bib says it all (although I don't think you can read it). It says, "Grandma Lets Me".

We also have been enjoying bonfires out in the backyard lately. There's so much brush, sticks and wood in the yard that we haven't actually had to buy any wood from the store yet. We sat around the fire (we always play it safe with a hose standing by if necessary) the other night roasting marshmellows (we're going to try making smores tonight) and singing songs, just enjoying family time together.

I'll be posting some major house pics next week since we're due to have lots of MAJOR stuff done next week (painting of exterior and interior, cabinets will be fully completed, flooring goes in, appliances delivered) so stay tuned.
Gotta go...crying baby!

Elmo Makes Music and Pumpkin Carving...

Sesame Street's "Elmo Makes Music"

Rob's Halloween shirt we made for him

"Dusty" comes to life!

Avonlea and "Dusty the Pumpkin"

Lincoln, Halloween 2007, 4 1/2 months old


What a wonderful week it's been. We've been enjoying some cooler weather here in sunny Florida and have we ever been taking advantage of it! Avonlea, Lincoln and I have been outside constantly, either playing on the swingset, planting plants/flowers or pulling weeds and making way for our fall vegetable garden. Isn't the Lord amazing how He knows just when we need a weather change? I'm not talking freezing temperatures here folks, but just to be out of the 90s is fantastic! Yes, we LOVE going to the beach all summer, but this summer has been a little more difficult seeing that I had Lincoln in June and the beach isn't the best place (or the easiest place) to take a newborn. I don't think we've turned on the air all week. It's been nice to feel the breeze throughout the house, knowing we're not paying for it...God provided it.

The veggie garden is underway and we're almost ready to begin planting with the exception that I'm still waiting to build the planters. I decided not to plant the plants directly on the ground (advice from my green-thumbed father) so Riley (our dog who has the tendency to dig things up!) doesn't get to them and this way, it'll be easier to weed and maintain. We used up all the extra wood from the kids' swingset/playground so now we just need a little bit more to finish off the rest of the planters. They'll be aligned in rows and each box will have its own vegetable inside. This year, I'm going to be planting tomatoes, green beans, squash, cucumbers, broccoli, lettuce and my dad recently gave me a lemon tree that will have to stay in it's pot for awhile and then it'll be replanted somewhere in the backyard. I'd like to try an orange tree (we had one at our other house and when they're maintained well, they're pretty trees with lots of fruit) at this house, but they are pretty pricey when bought at a nursery. We'll check out Home Depot or Lowe's first. My dad has also been teaching me how to harvest seeds from the plants/vegetables/fruit and keep them for the next year's planting so I don't have to go out and buy new seeds all the time, which can get expensive. Hopefully, we'll have some time this weekend and finish the planters.

Construction is going well and this week we're scheduled to have the stucco done on the outside of the house (the paint comes later...we've chosen a chocolate brown color with white trim and haven't decided on the door quite yet), the kitchen cabinets arrive tomorrow (my favorite part!) and will be measured for the granite and the flooring will begin to go in next week. Next week will be another difficult week due to the dust from the ripping up of the tile so we'll probably be paying some more trips to Grandma's house. Avonlea knows the names of most of the construction workers by now and will carry on conversations with them. It's pretty cute.

Lincoln is cutting his first tooth (bottom, front, right) and the second one isn't far behind it. He teeths very well, just like Avonlea did. No fever, fussiness or too much drooling. He's such a cool, layed back kid. I just love him! He always knows when I need an extra smile on a stressful day and the only time the boy cries is if he's hungry or tired. What a great baby.

I hope everyone enjoys their Wednesday!