Today is Monday {linky}

How was your Thanksgiving?
We had a great time and a delicious meal courtesy of my mother in law!
I don't know what is better eating or not having to cook?  lol

 Our roaring fire- even though it was quite warm out.

 My growing belly courtesy of the little guy and his awesome photography skills.

And a beautiful package from my mom- she always buys me the best stuff for my kitchen. I have a habit of breaking bowls and burning potholders.   One of the hazards of cooking all. the. time.

My oldest and I did a little black Friday shopping or rather a lot at Kohls at midnight.
It was a lot of fun.
So was sleeping the whole next day because my mom had the 3 youngest at her house!

We have started putting up Christmas decorations.  And listening to Christmas music and dare I utter the words- I am hoping to finish my shopping early this year.

How was your week?
Link up your Monday post below.  And grab my Today is Monday button from my sidebar.
      
 

Today is Monday (link-up)

Tis the Season!
I am starting to slowly Christmas shop!
How about you?
Any good present ideas or cheap gift ideas?
We took our Christmas pictures and I am ready to start addressing our cards!
I think I hand out half of them due to the price of stamps.

Had a bad head cold last week, but starting to feel a lot better!
And sometimes when I am still, I can almost feel the baby flutter about.
The little guy said it best when he said, "I can't wait to feel the baby kick!"

Still trying to sell some stuff on ebay, like the Vera Bradley bag below I picked up for $2 and sold for $16.
Score!

Hope you are having a great Monday!
Link up your post below!
And grab my button from the sidebar!

 

College Books- Now You Can Rent...

Though it has been awhile since I went to college, I still well remember the huge price of textbooks!  And as I look to send my own kids in the years to come, I can't imagine the cost.

And recently, I came across Campusbookrentals.com.

You can actually rent books at a tremendous discount.

Take this book for instance.  One of the books I used while in school.

On amazon it goes for $60, but you can rent it for under $17!

Other benefits:
-save 40-90% off of bookstore prices
-free shipping both ways
-can highlight in the textbooks
-flexible renting periods
and
-they donate to Operation Smile with each textbook rented!

Whether you are in college, have a child in college or know someone in college, campusbookrentals.com is definitely worth checking out!




**Though the opinions stated above are my own, I have been compensated for this post.**

American Girl- NYC (warning- picture overload)

Our new 9 year old has never been to the city and we decided to take her to American Girl for her ninth birthday instead of having a "friend" party. 
She was simply in awe of the city. 
She loved to watch the "walk" and "don't walk" lights.
And the American Girl store? She liked it, but she was more interested in getting her doll and getting lunch. 
We went to a restaurant and after a long wait, we had a great lunch. 
Afterwards, my daughter said, "I just wanted a hotdog from one of those trucks!" 
Ahh, our little cheap date. 
It was a great day and I hope she always remembers it. The time goes so fast.  
Of course, it seems like only yesterday the doctor placed a little redheaded baby in my arms and told me she is mine.

Today is Monday! {link-up}

And so starts another week!
Special thank you to all the veterans and especially our men over seas.
And to all the families over here making the sacrifice to be without their loved ones so we can have freedom!

Another busy week, still getting used to life after the hurricane, though our transition is nothing compared to others.

We had a birthday- can't believe our favorite red-headed girl is 9!  We are off to the city today for a promised special doll!

Our last game of the season.  We were asked if she wanted to join "futsol", an indoor winter soccer.   UHHHH, NO!  We need a break!

And I voted.  We waited a seriously loooonnnng time, because the Governor of NY allowed voters to vote at any polling station because of the hurricane.  Definitely made sense, but I waited for an hour and a half.
And I might of gotten on the wrong line- just saying.
I love being able to vote. 
And although all the people I voted for did not get in, God's got it- He's in control.

Hope you have a great week ahead!

Happy Monday!

 

I Never Thought I Would Write This Post.....

.....But, surprise we are expecting!!! 
NUMBER 5 is due late spring!
We are in shock and starting to get excited!

 

I'm Back...

Well, I am back.
I can't believe how crazy life has been.
So unexpected.
I am so emotional about it all.
We lost power for 5 days, which would not of been bad, but it got seriously cold outside.
So, we started to prepare to live with my mom or my mil.
But, last Friday, we pulled into the driveway and saw smoke coming out of our chimney.
So, I thought either we have power and our boiler is making hot water or someone set our house on fire!

Thank God, we had power.
This is after the electric company told me that they wouldn't come to us for awhile because they weren't coming out for a group of 48 houses that were out, they were looking for areas with bigger outages.

After literally crying about the power being on, I took the 3 kids I had with me and walked down to the road to thank the men working on the poles.

I tried to hold back the tears and thanked them and told them how we were praying for them and that we appreciated them.  They thanked us for stopping by.  Turns out they were all the way from Wisconsin!!! Amazing.

Gas lines are at least an hour long and sometimes longer.  Life is a little crazy to say the least.

But, when contrasted with the families that are in our town, that have lost their homes, waiting on a gas line is nothing.

We continue to pray for our state, our area, our people and try to keep explaining to the kids that even though our home is fine, others are suffering.

I am so thankful for my family.
It is amazing to think that without them, we could of easily been in a shelter- always a scary thought when you have kids, especially after hearing about Katrina.


On another note, something very exciting to talk about on the blog tomorrow, so stay tuned.
Have a great day!
 

Update: Hurricane Sandy

Good Morning!
I am writing this from my mom's house, because she has power.
My house is just fine, Praise God!
But, we have no power.
This is a drag to say the least, but nothing in comparison to the devastation that so many others have endured.
I have a dear friend whose house was flooded and many many others that are less than a half mile from my house that are completely underwater.
They say that they will not get to helping them with their electricity for another month, due to the fact that oil is spilled all over the area from homes, making the area unsafe for workers.
In the tri-state area, there have been deaths.
And stories of mothers and children dying trying to escape this hurricane.

As for us, we might have to wait another 10 days to get electricity, it is cold making it hard to stay at our home and there is a gas shortage for our cars and anyone who is trying to fuel a generator. 
But, my family is blessed to be safe and to have family.  And great neighbors who share a generator with us when they can.

Please pray for those in devastion, without family and pray for safety.  There has been looting in our area, making it hard to decide to stay home and watch the house or go to a family member's and stay where it is warm.

Pray for the workers, for their safety, as they work long hours to try and restore everyone's electricity and keep everyone safe.

God is good.  All.  The.  Time.