Trying not to fall behind on Christmas!!

We’ve made it through Thanksgiving and now it’s officially the Christmas season!!! WOOHOO!! One thing I am working furiously to get done is my Christmas cards!

I’m way behind on this (obviously), but I was so excited to see that Shutterfly was offering 50 free Christmas cards for bloggers. If you blog, go here to check out this deal!

There are SO MANY cards to choose from: PHOTO CARDS!

These are a few of the ones I liked! You’ll have to wait to see our final choice!

I love the simpleness of this one. My cards are usually pretty plain! I just like to showcase the photo!

I do like this one with the Christmas tree though! -

And if you notice, they all say “Merry Christmas”. Just a personal preference, but I much prefer it to say that over “Happy Holidays”. 

Maybe you aren’t sending cards, but are hosting a holiday party. They have some great options for invites: INVITATIONS!

Not only does Shutterfly offer holiday cards, they have other items that can showcase your photos!

One year I made a calendar like these: CALENDARS!

I use Shutterfly to print the hundreds of pictures I take. You can’t beat their service, prices, and deals! If you sign up for an account with them, they will email you when they have special offers for you!

Don’t miss out on this offer! Go here to learn how to get your free cards! Oh, and please forgive me if my cards are a little late this year! :)

So blessed – SO thankful!

Happy Thanksgiving!!! My life is so abundantly full of blessings that I’m thankful for each and every day, but I just want to highlight a few of them today.

“And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 5:20

1. First, and foremost, I’m thankful for Christ my Savior. His love and promises are so vast and I truly believe everything in my life is from Him. He is the constant when nothing else makes sense and my heart is full with praise & gratitude.

2. My amazing husband – even more so, I’m thankful for Zach today. Four years ago today, I married my best friend. There is no one else I’d rather share my life with than him. Thank you, Zach, for being my rock and for knowing just what I need. Happy anniversary and I love you!

3. My sweet Ava – this girl brings me more joy than I have ever known. Random sweet kisses and “love you mamas” are the best gifts in the world.

4. Family – Zach and I are surrounded by wonderful families who love us and support us. We are so blessed to have people who love us unconditionally and are always there for us.

5. Great friends – Good friends are truly treasures and we are so grateful for those in our lives who we can lean on, encourage, trust and share laughs!

6. My job – I’m so thankful to have a place to work that pays the bills and where I’m surrounded by some pretty great people.

I’m thankful for sooooooo much but these are the things at the top of my list this year.

Wishing each of you a very Happy Thanksgiving!!

Winner of CSN Stores Giveaway!

Thanks to all who entered! I used Random.org to draw the winner and the Lucky Number was 18.

The winner was LAMusing! Be watching for an email giving you the details of you prize! Thanks again!

CSN Stores Giveaway!

I have something exciting to share with all of you! I was contacted earlier this week by CSN Stores asking if I’d be interested in doing a review or offering a giveaway to my readers! I chose to do the giveaway! They have offered to so generously give one of my readers a $45 gift certificate for anything on their site!! CSN Stores include over 200 online stores where you can find anything from cookware and home decor to children’s luggage and toys!! With the holidays on the way, wouldn’t $45 extra be great?!

What would you get? Maybe a new purse?

 

Maybe a mixer like I want?

Pretend laundry set for your child?

This giveaway is open to US and Canada residents. For 1 entry for each, do the following:

1. Visit CSN Stores and leave a comment telling me what you would buy if you won

2. Become a follower of the blog or let me know you already are

3. Follow me on twitter!

4. Tweet about the giveaway

5. Write a blog post and leave the link

The giveaway will close on Tuesday, November 23rd at 10:00 p.m. central and I will draw a winner on Wednesday!! Good luck and thanks to the great team at CSN Stores for this wonderful opportunity!!

Also, beginning November 22, CSN Stores will be offering items at incredible discounted items at the following sites:

http://www.csnbaby.com/holidaydeals

http://www.everygameroom.com/holidaydeals

http://www.fitnessequipmentandmore.com/holidaydeals

http://www.toysandgamesonline.com/holidaydeals

Be sure to do some of your holiday shopping early and from the convenience of home!! Happy shopping!!

Single no more

So I have had a few people ask for an update on my brother, Stephen, and whether or not he met anyone from my post about him during Kelly’s Show Us Your Life – Single boys!

I’m pleased to tell you, he did meet someone! They have been dating since the end of July and said that I could give you a little update so here they are!

Meet Stephen and Leslie!! Aren’t they cute?!

It’s sooo funny how God works things out. They work very close and live several minutes apart, but the way they met was through this little ole blog! I must say, we’ve met Leslie, and I think she is just a doll! She’s so sweet and seriously is so perfect for Stephen!! I can’t wait to see what’s in store for these two!

I’ve been kind of at a loss for blogging lately. There’s some stuff going on that has me simply physically, mentally, and emotionally drained. Everything will be fine, but if you’ve got any prayers to spare, they’d certainly be appreciated! I’m keeping my focus on getting through this week and then having a short week of work the next!

sick Ava :(

There just hasn’t been enough hours in the day to sit down and write a blog lately. We’ve just been pulled in lots of different directions and by the end of the day, we’re exhausted! Our weekend good, but Ava was incredibly whiny and just a pill, honestly.

She’d had a bit of a cough and a runny nose, but that’s nothing abnormal for her this time of year. She never really exhibited any signs of being sick, except just being very crabby and not sleeping well. About an hour after I dropped her off this morning, her teacher texted me and she was pulling at her ear a lot and was crying off and on. I asked her if I needed to go get her and she said it was up to me. I decided to go pick her up because I didn’t want her to be at school miserable. I called her doctor to get her an appointment and they couldn’t see her until 4:20. After getting to Ava’s school, she looked about 10 times worse than she did when I left her. She was tugging at her ear constantly and crying so I decided to just take her to a walk-in clinic. I’m SO glad I did. She has a very bad ear infection – the dr said her ear drum was about to perforate! :( I feel like such a bad mom for not getting her to the dr sooner, but she never ran fever or tugged at her ear before today. I’m so glad we went though because she’s had two doses of her antibiotic already and seems to have improved a little. If we’d waited to go to her dr, we’d probably barely be home! When we left the dr, the nurse said she could pick a prize, and she went for a sucker. She wanted that thing so badly that I had to take picture of her. I told her she couldn’t go in the living room with it. She was soooooo tired and feeling badly, but she wasn’t about to give up the sucker so she laid down with it.

 

She finally got a little bit of (restless) sleep this afternoon and was feeling a little better this evening. She’s still got a ways to go but I’m glad she’s at least got a day of antibiotics in her! Here’s to hoping she feels better tomorrow!!