Water for Christmas…

Hello friends. I know… it’s been too long! I’ve got some things up my sleeve, so I can get back into the blogging groove. { that is if anyone is still reading my ramblings! lol. }

My heart has been full of gratitude lately, I truly enjoy so many blessings. As we turn our hearts towards the Christmas season, the one of giving, I started looking for opportunities to serve. I found one that I’m really excited about. I want to share it with you.

This charity is called Water for Christmas.

Did you know that unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation cause 80% of all sickness and disease and kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war.

Every day 4,500 mothers bury their children due to contaminated water. They are forced to sustain the lives of their family with a diabolical liquid that contains both life and death. This lack of access to clean water is recognized as the leading cause of death in underdeveloped nations. And it just doesn't have to be.

 

Can you imagine? This seems crazy to me, as I can go to my fridge and fill up a cold glass of water for me or my children. It makes me sick, to think that there are Mother’s out there, just like me who love their children and would do anything for them, but yet a simple glass of clean water is out of their reach. So if you’d like to donate to the cause like I just did or learn more about Project Water For Christmas, go HERE.

To donate, go HERE.

$10 will provide one person in Africa clean water for 10 years.

You can donate as little or as much as you like.

100% of the profits goes towards this cause.

Please take a minute to check it out, and if you feel like it might be something you can do, then do it!

Merry Christmas!

Live in Thanksgiving Daily {Alma 34:38}…

We don’t have many traditions for our little family on Thanksgiving, we are still trying to build some, mostly it’s just a day of reflecting on our many blessings, spending time with our families, and eating great food! I am always overwhelmed with gratitude and it’s always a holiday that I look forward to. I truly am so blessed.

 

Here are a few ideas I’ve seen around that I hope to incorporate into our day this year.

For the Kiddie Table… because we ALL know how important it is to keep them busy and happy thus keeping everyone else sane! ;)

LOVE this, they can draw until their little hearts are content!

There are coloring sheets and cute
“I am thankful for…” leaves you can print out too!

HERE

HERE

HERE

A few other ideas those sweet little blessings in our lives!

This is what we did for Family Home Evening on Monday, we made these cute little turkey’s by tracing our hands and feet, then we talked to the kids about being thankful and what Thanksgiving is all about. They loved it!

I’m also debating which one of these treats to whip up for them to have fun with. I like the rice krispie treat balls best, but am leaning more towards the cookies, since we have 1 year olds and I don’t believe in giving one year olds violent weapons. ;)  

Go HERE for the Recipe!

This is the ONLY thanksgiving decor I put up this year!

I think this is SO funny! LOVE these place cards!

{can’t remember where I saw this… if anyone knows, leave a comment and I’ll put the credits on}

I wish I had time to share more, but if I don’t get off of here, I’ll be late for an appointment! Hope you all enjoy your many blessings and have a safe and cozy Thanksgiving!!!

MIA…

Zach’s newest x-box game prompted the title (I LOVE that boy, he’s making dinner while I do this and that never happens, so I’d better ENJOY!) I really do have some great excuses for not blogging lately! This is what the last few weeks have consisted of:

 

Halloween

Packing

Zach out of town

Moving

Unpacking

Brooklyn’s Birthday

Out of town Company visiting us :)

Lots of trips to town

trying to organize!

Dance Class

 

And coming up:

Going to see New Moon!

Temple Trip

My little sister’s bridal shower

Thanksgiving

Black Friday!

Recipe Group hosted at my house

Zach & I’s Anniversary

5 fun little Christmas Parties

Girls Weekend in Utah

Little sisters wedding

Christmas!

 

Whew! I’m already exhausted!

I have had such a great year, I mean GREAT!

But I have to say I’m excited to get back to some normalcy!

So no more excuses, let’s get back to business…

I actually feel like it’s Christmas every day when I wake up in my new house! EEK! I’m LOVIN’ it!

 

Here are a few of my favorite spots in the house!

#1 The Fireplace is definitely a favorite! I make me a cup of hot cocoa every morning, sit in front of it and enjoy the peace and quiet before the day starts!

#2 This little shelf was FUN to decorate!

 

#3 I’ve had these cute little letters for about 2 years now, waiting to have somewhere to put them! ♥

 

 

I’ll be back to show you around a little more, I also want to share a few Thanksgiving ideas with you all over the next few days.

 

What are YOUR Thanksgiving traditions? I want to start some new ones, so PLEASE share!

Hope you are all having a cozy evening!

Do we let other’s opinions of us ruin who we could become…

Last week I got the November Issue of Oprah magazine in the mail, I came across this quote and loved it!

 

“ Often we don’t realize who we’re meant to be because

we’re so busy trying live out someone else’s ideas.

But other people and their opinions hold no power in defining our destiny.”

 

I love quotes, and I have a huge folder of them, from time to time, I’m going to just pop a random one up on the blog for all of us to enjoy. ;)

 

Well if you’ve been following my blog for a bit, you know we have been building a new house! We will be moving the next 2 weeks, hopefully we have internet up and running soon, so I can get back to a good blogging routine! EEEEK! SO excited! I’ll have to post some pictures and get decorating opinions from all of you!

Hope you all had a Happy Halloween! We had a cute little lion and a butterfly to take trick-or-treating!

Halloween Goodies x2…

Aren’t those little mummy cupcakes to die for! LOVE them!

 

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Both found here. I love this little jack –o- lantern drink. I would put spiced cider in the cup, with the orange slice and lime stem!

All 3 ideas found HERE.

Don’t like sweet treats? These are cute! Found here.

 

And how great is this?! Spray paint an old vine wreath black and string with webs and spiders. Easy!

 

Have you carved pumpkins yet? We are doing it this week! Need a pattern? You can print a few of them for free RIGHT HERE!

I’m thinking I need to try this recipe! Sounds delish does it not? Pumpkin Spice Caramel Corn!

Guess I have a thing for Pumpkin and Spice! This playdough sounds good enough to eat! Recipe HERE.

Enjoy your FRIDAY!

Someday…

Someday my purse won’t look like this anymore… and you know what? I’ll probably miss it.

On a side note, you see that little can in there? It’s an itty bitty version of this:

I have been carrying it around with me, just in case they don’t have any sanitizing wipes next to the shopping carts…

It has been SO very convenient and with all this talk of H1N1 flu, it’s gotten me a bit paranoid. How are you all handling it? Are you getting your kids vaccinated?

We were exposed to it last week, and the hubs works with a doctor. He told us to get our kids on a high dose of Vitamin D. So that’s what we did. It’s supposed to boost their immune systems. I stalked up on the stuff. This is where I got mine from. It’s called SOL-RD Vitamin D3. I really think it’s helping already. Plus I get a little bit of seasonal depression, and I’m hoping this will fix it for me as well. Anyway, just thought I’d share.

{Edit: TO ANSWER SOME QUESTIONS: I just break the pills open, and put it in my kids' drinks. They can't taste it at all. You can get the mini cans of lysol near the checkout stands of most places like Target, Walmart etc.} More ?s you are more than welcome to e-mail me! :)

Hope you are all enjoying your FRIDAY and this delightful fall weather we are having!

Halloween Goodies…

EeeK! I LOVE Halloween! There’s just some sort of magic in the air, it’s the gateway to all the Holidays! Little kids dressing up, bobbing for apples, hayrides, pumpkin patches!  Seriously. What could be better? Here are a few ideas I’ve come across that I thought were cute!

These little tags we made today, we will probably attach them to plates of pumpkin cookies to deliver. They are just our thumbprints!

Saw this on Martha’s site!

How cute is that!? I mean you could use this idea to put salads in for a party, to keep the drinks cool, just stick the ice in the pumpkin, and place the clear bowl inside, instant drink cooler.

This was also found on Martha, I’ve had it in my file for a while, my friend Hanna posted it on her blog too! Great minds think alike!

Loving the idea of these little darlings! Deviled eggs + black olives! Found the idea on Hostess with the Mostess.

Okay, I want to do this, I love to carve pumpkins, but this is darling, I know Zach has some extra golf tees and a hammer laying around! CUTE!

I thought this was hilarious! Not sure what I’m going to use this idea for, but I’ve got to find something! {make sure you read the poem!}

Idea found on Split Coast Stampers

Okay and this little Monster Mix Cookie jar, is SO DARLING! I am in ♥! And even better… this cute girl lets you download her ultra darling label on her blog. GO HERE NOW to make your own! SO cute for visiting teaching gifts or a friendly happy Halloween from one neighbor to another!

As if this talented girl isn’t enough… {you will all probably want to subscribe to her blog like me.} Look at these creepy candles she has a tutorial for!

 

I also have a recipe to share with you… it’s SUPER simple, and SO very yummy! Try it, it’s perfect for any of the upcoming holidays!

White Chocolate & Cinnamon Pretzels

9-10 cups of pretzels
1/2 cup oil
1/3 cup sugar + 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup white chips
1 Tbsp oil or shortening

Pour pretzels into large microwave safe bowl and drizzle with oil. Stir to coat. Add cinnamon sugar mixture and stir till all pretzels are evenly coated. Cook in microwave for about 3 minutes, stirring every 60 seconds. Spread into a single layer on waxed paper or cookie sheets. Let cool. Melt together white chips and oil till smooth, drizzle over pretzels. Let cool till chocolate is set.

 

I’m not finished with the fun Halloween ideas, so check back for more! ♥  What are your little kids going to dress up as for Halloween?

Meeting Mrs. R…

As many of you know, yesterday we had an amazing fireside! We were privileged to hear from Lindsey or many of you know her from her blog at, www.therhouse.blogspot.com where she writes as "Mrs. R." She spoke to us about Finding Hope through Infertility and Adoption. Her message was uplifting, and buoyed each of us up who were in attendance. I'd like to share some highlights from her message.

Lindsey talked about surrendering our old dreams, because as we all know infertility can be crushing news. However there is much hope in each of our journeys. As we surrender our old dreams the Lord replaces them with new dreams. Sometimes it is hard to let the old ones go, however we must in order to let our new dreams grow.

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She talked about the ways hope may come into our lives, through prayer, the scriptures, priesthood blessings, compassion for others, service, and being proactive in our approach to adoption. Because when we have hope, we are happy! We should always be hoping!

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Lindsey also shared this quote with us.
"Perhaps strength doesn't reside in never being broken- but in the courage required to grow strong in the broken places."

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What an honor to have Mrs. R speak to us. She is truly a great advocate for the adoption world, and inspires so many. Feel free to check out more of her inspiring words at www.therhouse.blogspot.com