Happy Birthday, Pixie!

Those were not the first words out of my mouth this morning, but they were the first ones my little pixie-girl heard from my lips!  Yes, another birthday at our house.  She is now seven.  This little bundle of energy, joy, sunshine, and giggles is growing up way too fast for my liking.  She already has boys standing in line to marry her (three at last count).  I know why, too.  She is such a sweetheart!

I am ashamed to admit it, but this was her first official birthday party.  We have always tried to have a special meal and cake, but when your birthday falls during the week of camp, or the week of moving, it tends to be less than expected.  She has uncomplainingly endured for all these years, and I believe she deserves a little praise for her sweet attitude.

Today was extra special.  We took a trip to a really cool place that I will post about later – been wanting to visit there for years.  Are you wondering??  :)

Here we are, driving down the road (well, Paul was, anyway – we were just along for the ride).  You can see she is wearing her special birthday scarf made by Grandma! 

Here are all the kids sitting down to a delicious birthday dinner of hamburgers and green beans.  Yep. That is what she asked for.  Of course, we had cake and ice cream, too.  Chocolate.  That’s my girl!

She wanted cupcakes, so that’s what I made.  Yummy!

I had left all my cake pans at home, so I had to get a little creative.  Plus, the oven in the trailer is not working for some reason.  Thank goodness for the toaster oven!

Mmm, mmm, good!

Then the opening of gifts.  Such unspeakable delights!  Sour Patch Kids from Daniel!

Socks?!?  Okay, there was a really awesome clearance sale at Wal-mart the other day! :)

There were a lot of other miscellaneous items from all of us, and she had a wonderful time opening and exclaiming over them all.  It was a very fun day for our whole family.

And a new outfit for Polka-dot Baby (that is actually the doll’s name, and yes, I do fear for my future grandchildren!  Other dolls have been named Little Italy, France, and Mrs. No-Head).  Hopefully, the name choosing will improve with age.

Happy Birthday, my sweet Esther!  I love you!  I am so thankful that God gave you to us seven years ago!

Time to Start Earning

It has been some time since I have mentioned Swagbucks, but be assured, I have not forgotten this awesome earning program.  Swagbucks has paid for a great deal of my gift-giving this year – birthdays, Father’s Day, the occasional purchase, and of course, Christmas! 

To give you an idea of how much I have earned this year I will give you a breakdown of my prize redemptions.

1.  $350 in Amazon gift cards

2.  $35 in Cabelas gift cards

3.  $20 in Bass Pro gift cards

4.  $10 in CVS gift cards

That makes a grand total of $415 in gift cards earned!  All it takes is a little bit of time using Swagbucks each day to earn these rewards and even more!  There are restaurant gift cards, department store gift cards, PayPal gift cards,  Amazon.com gift cards (my personal favorite), and other great prizes!  You can earn by searching with the Swagbucks toolbar, games, shopping online, referrals, coupons, surveys and more!  You determine the amount of rewards you want to earn.

Now that the year is drawing to a close, you should sign up and start earning for next Christmas.  I challenge you to save money by using Swagbucks in 2013!  I know it has been such a help to our finances, especially in this rather depressed economy.  So, if you haven’t already signed up for Swagbucks, do it today and start earning those great rewards!  Sign up by clicking on this link and have a great year of saving!

                                                                   

Blessings

For many years, we lived solely in our fifth wheel trailer.  The scaled-down kitchen necessitated a very economical use of space, and therefore, only a select few kitchen appliances were brought along for the ride.  One of these was my handy-dandy Sunbeam hand mixer – a wedding gift 12+ years ago.  When we purchased our first house, we had to tote often-used items back and forth from the trailer to the house.  These items were usually things like a can opener, measuring cups, the mixer, etc.  Eventually we accumulated double sets of the most frequently used items so that the traffic  was reduced greatly. 

I was perfectly satisfied with my hand mixer, but I had my heart set on one day getting that paragon of all kitchen appliances – the Kitchen Aid mixer.  A red one.  Power.  Quality.  Big money.  Totally out of my budget and only on the “wants” list as long as my hand mixer still worked.

Not long ago, I was discussing kitchen stuff with a friend.  She was talking about her blue Kitchen Aid, and if she ever got another one, it would be orange.  I laughed and said I would get a red one someday, and then we were off to another subject.  Two days later she asked if she could talk to me in private while we were at church.  I worried that I had somehow said or done something to offend her, and though I racked my brain, I could think of nothing that would warrant a private conversation.  To make a long story short, I was amazed and greatly relieved that I had not offended her at all.  She simply wanted to tell me that she would be ordering a red Kitchen Aid mixer and having it sent to my house – just in time for my birthday!  I was totally flabbergasted!  I just looked at her and said, “Are you serious?!”  She was, and when I picked myself up off the floor, I had a hard time not dancing around the room (we were in church, after all)!

So when we arrived back home in two weeks, there it was, waiting for me.  Beautiful!  I have been so excited about using it for all my holiday baking, not to mention my everyday uses for it!  I am so blessed to have such a thoughtful friend, and a wonderful Lord who laid it on her heart to bless me in this way.  I am so grateful!

Happy Birthday, Daniel!

Right on the heels of my birthday comes Daniel’s special day.  This has been a crazy week for our family, having just arrived back in town.  It seems that this time of year has extra extra-curricular activites – practices, hunting, birthdays, holidays, etc.  I am scrambling to get all my regular duties done, and as if that wasn’t enough to keep me busy, I have taken on a few projects of my own.  I will write more about these next week!

We are so thankful for Daniel. He is a ray of sunshine in our lives, and is such a happy-go-lucky little guy (most of the time). We celebrated his birthday last night due to some schedule conflicts, but who really cares when you get cake, ice cream, and presents!

Here is his cake, a delicious confection of chocolate.  He wanted a train cake, which I had been planning to do, but since it takes hours to ice it, I opted out of that at the last minute due to a lack of time. This is just a simple two-layer cake.  It has a creamy homemade chocolate icing, and a hot fudge/crushed oreo filling, reminiscent of those wonderful Dairy Queen ice cream cakes.  It was a real sugar overload! :)

Then after cake and ice cream, it was time for presents, of course…

He was thrilled with the homemade cards that his brother and sisters gave him, and the Lincoln Logs were also a hit!

The crowning joy of his evening, though, was his new Beanie Baby, Max.

My baby is four now. Sniff!  Where has the time gone?  We love you, Daniel! Happy Birthday!

Disappointments

Have you ever been disappointed?  Perhaps it was by a friend, a family member, a lost opportunity, or things just not working out like you had expected.  Life is full of disappointments, both small and great, but how do you handle those let-downs? 

This week, I received a package in the mail – something I had ordered.  When I saw the box, I was at first puzzled – what was this?!  I had ordered something, but I had expected it to be a lot bigger package, since there were two items in the box.  Upon opening the package, my eyes nearly bugged out – in fact, I think they were bigger than the items I had ordered!  I had planned to give them as birthday gifts to my girls, but after seeing them, decided they would make better stocking stuffers.  I was rather disappointed.  The promised goods did not meet my expectations.  However, I figured it would be easier to just keep the gifts and learn my lesson, than to try to return them and get a refund.  At this point, I am all about what is going to be easiest for me!  :)

The reality is, we get disappointed many times.  I can think of several situations in which I am perpetually disappointed – things beyond my control.  The good news is, Jesus Christ never disappoints me.  He is always what He says He will be.  He will never let me down, or leave me in the lurch.  He always exceeds my expectations.  So when I am facing disappointment, I need to go to Him.  Reading God’s Word and praying help to alleviate the pain of human disappointments.  Does the situation change?  Not necessarily, but my perspective changes, and I know that with Christ beside me, I can survive anything that comes my way.  So, take those disappointments to God, and allow Him to carry you through the less-than-ideal situations of life.

                                                     

By the way, today is Mega Swagbucks Day – an awesome opportunity to earn rewards!  If you haven’t signed up for Swagbucks yet, you are missing out on a great way to save money!  I earned a lot of Amazon gift cards this year, and paid for most of my Christmas gifts with them!  All at no cost to me! If you want to save money and earn great rewards, sign up for Swagbucks today!

Christmas List

In years past, I have asked each of my children what one thing they would most like to have for Christmas.  While some people might condemn this as materialistic, I do not see it that way.  There are no guarantees that they will get the desired item, and it is subject to my approval (and my budget)!

My dilemma is this – Josiah wants nothing but to give each member of the family a gift.  This is typical of him – sweet and selfless.  However, it is difficult to gift wrap. :)  He also mentioned a set of handcuffs.  I’m afraid to think about that too much!

Abigail has a list with lots of dollar signs on it.  It is so easy to buy for her – she loves all things girly – clothes, shoes, hairbows, dolls, among other things.  I have a ton of things for her already stashed away in my closet!

Daniel needs nothing.  All the toys have been passed down to him, and the ones that have not been passed down he has commandeered for his own use.  He could use clothes, though, so it may not be a very exciting Christmas for him.  What does he care, anyway?  Kids under the age of five should all be given a box full of hangers and crumpled up wrapping paper.  It would occupy them for weeks!

Esther stalled when I asked what she wanted.  Said she needed some time to think about it.  Okay – I can handle that.  Not that she needs anything anyway.  We have so much junk around our house that it is positively criminal to think of getting more.  Her Sunday school teacher told me that Esther finally decided what she wanted and announced it in class last week.  She wants a statue… of God!  I thought I would die laughing when I heard this!  Leave it to Esther to think of something like that!  I hope she isn’t too disappointed when it doesn’t show up under the tree this year!

What are your plans for Christmas?  Do you celebrate with family, friends, or not at all?  Do you exchange gifts or give to others in need?  Do you have any special traditions?