Wordless Wednesday

First day of preschool :)

Travel Tip Tuesday: Hawaii

If you've ever wanted to travel to Hawaii here are a few tips...

1. Hawaii does not have all inclusive resorts - only hotels, so any hotel that includes breakfast for a good price is a bargain
2. When you are there, check out corner stores, a lot of them have racks of coupon books that can reduce your meal costs.
3. You HAVE to go to a Luau (feast and native dance program) although check with your travel agent to recommend an authentic one as there are many that are not. (also the coupon books may come in handy for this too)
4. Hawaii has nice weather but not necessarily HOT weather if you are looking for a 35+C vacation.

Precious Moments :)

At the end of August I packed up the kids and we headed north to visit my parents. The kids had a great time and many precious moments were captured. I wish we could live closer to the kids' grandparents (both sets!) and that we could visit both families more often - but right now it's not a reality for us. I grew up with my Grandparents in the same town and I knew I was lucky, I got to know my Grandparents farely well and remember many special moments that a lot of my cousins never got to experience (because of distance). So here are some of the captured moments my kids had :)Sunday after church, waiting for lunch time - this one is a favorite of mine!TJ with the best ever grin on his face!! ICE CREAM!!!TJ watching as Grandma and Grandpa prepare to lead the music for church the next day. One of TJ's favorite things to do... make COFFEE!! Grandma and Grandpa even have a coffee grinder!!! (we don't drink coffee at home)

The kids playing wonderfully together!! (better capture that one for sure! haha)

K playing with the new kittens we brought to Grandma's house - the look on her face is one that means she would just like to pet the kitten SOOOOOO much that she might squish it :)

Before and After: the Garden

We have been pretty busy throughout the summer - I just downloaded my camera and have a ton of great pictures to share!! So I am going to try to blog through them, and so some of these will go back a little :) I'm not sure if you remember my sidewalk/garden project, this was the start:

Here is a picture of what it looks like now that I finished :)

It sure makes a world of a difference :) A lot of hard work, I laid every one of those 12"x12" blocks!! Now when it gets wet outside I don't have to worry about the kids getting all muddy!

Travel Tip Tuesday

When you are travelling always leave a copy of your itinerary, flight numbers, passport, travel insurance, reservation numbers, any other important phone numbers, etc, with someone you trust. That way if you lose your originals (or they get stolen) you have a back-up. You can also take an extra copy of your important documents and store them in a different spot than you do the originals.

Feeling Sad..

I got some sad news today. A young woman I know, who is a cousin to my cousin, that is from the same town as me, died unexpectedly today. Even though we were never close, it has really impacted me today. I cannot imagine the sadness and shock her family and husband will be going through, she was so young (about 25ish). Life is such a gift, I need to remember not to take it for granted and to cherish each moment and make it count!! Make sure my words are sweet and not harsh, that grudges are forgiven and not held - we never know when our time is up, I wondered if she would have known today was the day if she would have done anything different - if today was my last day, would I do anything different?

I know that this young woman has gone home to be with Jesus, but there are many people that will miss her deeply, so if you have a moment today, say a little prayer for Bobbi's friends and family.

Travel Tip Tuesday: Flying

Although some of you may have heard this before, it's worth saying again!! When you fly, make sure to pack on set of clothes in your carry-on. In the sad event that your luggage may get lost, at least you will have a clean set of clothes to wear at your destination while waiting for them to find and deliver your luggage. (and for while you go shopping for some new clothes :) Don't forget to ask or check out the luggage/carry-on restrictions that apply to the airline and any airline that you connect to or return on (if you have a travel agent, she can tell you these guidelines). Happy flying!

Can YOU help??

I just read a very compelling post. This post is on a blog that I frequent; the author is actually a relative of mine (distantly) and her and her husband are missionaries in Africa. They are with a legit mission organization (AIM I believe) and are doing a great work out there. The post I am referring to is an amazing, heart crushing life story of a man named Elly - Elly could use your help. So please read and pass on his story!! I want to assure you that if you do decide to help, your gift will be put to use wisely. Even if you can only give a small amount, give.. if $9 is a days wage for him, think about what we waste $9 on!! If you can't give (or even if you do) pass along the story of Elly, blog about it - God can work a miracle through everyday people!! I will be honest with you, I have pledged a small amout as we don't have a lot of money to spare these days but I'm hoping that by passing along the need - if we can all contribute a little God can multiply!!

Can you help?

**Note that I do not believe that tax receipts will be given as this is a private donation from the goodness of one's heart!

Travel Tip Tuesday...

I love travelling - so I decided to do my own special weekly post (or I'll try to keep it weekly). Tips may be funny, they may be common sense or they may seem unimportant, or maybe slightly useful, but there will be a tip none-the-less :)

Travel Tip: When travelling abroad (or even if it's just a long distance) do a little research about whether it is high or low travel season. If you are like me and don't care for crazy line-ups at attractions or streets PACKED with tourists, check and see when their low season is. If you think low season is only when the weather is cold, think again - very often the beginning or end of low season is a GREAT time to travel weather wise, and you can avoid the majority of tourists and most of the time prices are CHEAPER!!! It can be a good idea to also check out if there are major holidays (like spring break) happening at the time you want to go (unless you want that kind of atmosphere) and remember that not everyone has spring break at the same time!

You are not alone!

I am not sure if anyone has noticed my sidebar - but let me explain, along with my kids birthdays there is another ticker, a ticker to remember our third child. July 30th my third little angel went to be with Jesus. I had a miscarriage at around 7 weeks. I have never known what really to say to someone who had experienced a miscarriage, and now I know - really there is nothing a person can say. I understand you can try to encourage or say things that are well meaning - but nothing a person can say can really touch the hurt and pain of a loss. Besides the natural grieving process that one goes through, it was really great for me to talk to a few friends that had gone through miscarriages as well - they were probably the greatest comfort to me. I think that one thing that complicates everything is the fact that besides the emotion and grief that a woman feels after losing the hopes and dreams of her child, there is also the added hormonal affects - it just intensifies every feeling! A good piece of advice from my mom was to talk about it (once I was comfortable), mention it to friends so they understand what is going on in my life - it is great therapy. Miscarriage is a very common although you don't necessarily hear about it. Someone once told me that 2 in 5 pregnancies end in miscarriage - that's a lot!! Anyway - I just wanted to do a shout out to all the women who have gone through or will go through a miscarriage, you are not alone **hugs**

New Layout :)

I kinda like this new layout :) I was fooling around this evening and this is what I came up with. The only thing that I'm not supper happy with is the header - anyone have a good idea how to center it a little more.. or any other good idea to make it look a little more even :) I figured I was due for an update!

It's my birthday this weekend, so I decided to do a little fun morning with the kids and daycare kids.. so besides a few extra fun activities, we baked my favorite kind of cake too. Husband is away at work this week - so other than my self-induced birthday party I am taking my kids for breakfast Sunday morning with a friend who also shares my birthday and her husband shares the same type of job that mine does.. so we decided to celebrate together :) Happy long weekend everyone!!

Me and my boy and my 'non photogenic at the time' girl :)