A birthday that was never meant to be

This is a topic that is hard for me, but I feel led to share. This week, every year, is a difficult one for me. You see, we would be celebrating a birthday at this time, a birthday that will never actually get to be celebrated. In November of 2001, we lost a baby. That baby would've been born around the last week of June in 2002. Every year I think about what that child would've looked like at that age. She would've been eight years old this week.

The first year after the miscarriage was horrible. I struggled with my grief and started sinking into a terrible depression. I did not know many people at the time who had experienced this, and so I felt very alone. I also struggled with feelings of self blame (what did I do that caused this?) and even struggled with being angry at God for taking my baby away from me. But, the pain did ease as time went on, and in June - the very month I was due, I found out I was pregnant with my beautiful boy, Stephen! I was a nervous wreck the whole pregnancy, but I had a wonderful, understanding doctor, who performed an ultrasound at every appointment to reassure me. Then, in Janurary of 2003, Stephen was born. He was a month early, and had a rocky start due to respiratory distress syndrome, but, he came home healthy. I will always carry our third child (as part of the healing process, we gave her the name Aimee Hope) in my heart, and she could never be replaced - but, I know now that when she went to be with Jesus, she made it possible for Stephen to come into our life.

When I go to be with the Lord, I will be reunited with her, and this thought has truly helped my heart to heal. The pain has mostly gone, but it is the "anniversaries" that are the hardest. My heart goes out to everyone who has experience pregnancy and baby loss.

There is a beautiful song, performed by the Christian group Selah, that truly captures how I felt at that time. It is called "I Will Carry You."

There were photographs I wanted to take
Things I wanted to show you
Sing sweet lullabies, wipe your teary eyes
Who could love you like this?

People say that I am brave, but I'm not
Truth is I'm barely hanging on
But there's a greater story
Written long before me
Because He loves you like this.

Chorus:
I will carry you
While your heart beats here
Long beyond the empty cradle
Through the coming years
I will carry you
All my life
And I will praise the One Who's chosen me
To carry you.

Such a short time
Such a long road
All this madness
But I know
That the silence
Has brought me to His voice
And He says...

I've shown her photographs of time beginning
Walked her through the parted seas
Angel lullabies, no more teary eyes
Who could love her like this?

Chorus

Happy birthday, my angel baby.

A fun, cheap family fun day

I'm a little behind in posting this, as it was 2 weeks ago, but it was such a good day that I have to share it. It also goes to show that there are plenty of fun things out there to do with the kids that don't cost an arm and a leg.

The first thing we did on this Saturday was attend a Lowe's "Build and Grow" clinic. These clinics are completely free! They supply each child with an apron, a hammer, safety goggles, and all the supplies to build the featured project. They hold these every other Saturday. It is such an awesome thing, and the kids had fun! We plan to go to every clinic we can. This particular one was building photo frames for dad in honor of Father's Day.

Look at the expression of concentration on Stephen's face!

True to her personality, Emily was very meticulous in her work and took her sweet time.

Daddy helping Stephen with a stubborn nail.

The finished projects! Now we need to find just the right photos to put in the frames! Daddy is taking these to work to put on his desk.

Next we tried to figure out what to do for lunch. We realized that Stephen has never been to Casa Bonita *gasp*! We used to go ALL the time when the girls were little, but then they shut down for awhile, then changed hands, and we had heard it wasn't the same. But they somewhat recently went back to the original management, so we decided to give it a go. I have always LOVED their cheese enchiladas! Well, it was not a cheap lunch, that was for sure, but we decided that it was a good way to celebrate Billy's recent promotion! We stuffed ourselves silly, and had a great time!

We definitely did not leave hungry!

Next, we went to Philbrook Art Museum in Tulsa. Every second Saturday of the month, they offer free admission and lots of kids activities.

When we signed up, each of the kids got an art case that held a sketch pad, pencil, eraser and some information about the art they would see. Each time they go, they will get a new art supply for their case. They got to make "scarab" necklaces in keeping with the Egyptian theme for their newest Egypt exhibit.

We participated in a scavenger hunt in the gardens. They followed clues to find each animal on their list. It was super hot, but the gardens were beautiful!

Done with the scavenger hunt!

Here they got to do "Egyptian" painting. Basically, just paint something you think might be considered Egyptian. Stephen painted a picture of a pharaoh's sarcophagus, Natalie drew some hieroglyphics, and our little rebel, Emily, made a Happy Father's Day greeting, lol!

It was a great day, and fun was had by all!

Eating out on the cheap (or free!) with kids this summer

I admit it - I like to eat out. The combination of being in a different environment and not having to cook and clean up is very appealing. The kids love it too! But, let's face it - it adds up! But there are affordable options, especially in the summer time.

Did you know that many school districts open up the cafeteria in the summer time and feed kids under the age of 18 for FREE? They do! And adults can purchase a meal for about $3 - so 4 hot meals for $3? Pretty darn good deal! Sometimes, I'll just bring a sandwich, so it's completely free. Today was macaroni and cheese day, so I had to eat too. I don't care what anyone says - school macaroni and cheese is the best!

For treats, keep an eye open while going through the Sunday paper coupons for freebies. Just this last week's alone there were 2 Taco Bell coupons for FREE limeade sparklers and FREE "margarita" frutistas (not to worry - they are non alcoholic!) AND there were Krispy Kreme coupons for a free lemon creme doughnut - no purchase necessary for any of these things!!

So, today, we swung by Taco Bell for our limeade sparklers - the kids were excited b/c we NEVER go to Taco Bell (Bueno all the way!) so it was something new. We ordered our drinks, handed over our coupons....and waited...and waited. Well, apparently the guy forgot about us! I cleared my throat and he got really embarassed. He not only apologized but gave us a big bag of cinnamon twists ON THE HOUSE! WOOHOO - score!

Another option is looking for "Kids eat free" deals at restaurants. The ones I know of off the top of my head are IHOP (this deal comes and goes though - so call your store first), and El Chico (.99 kids meals all day Thursday) I am going to research a list on kids eat free deals for my next blog update - so stay tuned!

Picked up my freebies at Homeland today...6/08/10

ALL this for......wait for it.....$12!! One of my best weeks, I think! I actually went on Sunday too, but I didn't take a picture, and I've used a lot of it already. So, this is just from today.
2 24pks Nestle bottled water @ 2.99 ea - 1.00/2 IP (www.coupons.com) = 1.99 each
8 pkg Yakisoba noodle dinners @ 1.00 ea - 1.00/2 newspaper coupon = ALL FREE
2 bags Malt O Meal cereal @ 2.00 - 1.00 coupon I got in the mail when I complimented the company = BOTH FREE
4 bottles Xtra laundry detergent (I never knew the cheap stuff could smell so good too!) @ 2.99 ea - 1.00 newspaper coupon = .99 each
1 bottle Pert Plus shampoo @ 2.50 (used raincheck) - 1.00 newspaper coupon = .50
2 bags Kraft 100 caloried cheese bites @ 2.99 ea - 1.00 IP (www.coupons.com) = .99 ea
2 boxes Blue Bunny Star Bars @ 1.69 ea - 1.00 IP (www.bluebunny.com) = FREE plus .31 back on each
2 boxes Blue Bunny Big Fudge bars @ 1.69 ea - 1.00 IP (www.bluebunny.com) = FREE plus .31 back on each
2 bottles Wishbone salad dressing @ 1.59 ea - .75 newspaper coupon = .09 ea
2 bags New York croutons @ .99 ea (used raincheck) - .50 newspaper coupon = BOTH FREE
8 pkg Bar S hot dogs @ .99 ea - 1.00/2 newspaper coupon = ALL FREE
4 pkg Chinet napkins @ 1.59 ea - .75 newspaper coupon = .09 ea
2 bottles KC Masterpiece bbq sauce @ 1.09 ea - 1.00 newspaper coupon = BOTH FREE plus .91 back on each!!
2 pkg Hormel compleats dinners @ 2.00 ea - .55 newspaper coupon = .90 each
1 tub Best Life butter @1.19 - 1.00 newspaper coupon = FREE plus .81 back!
1 can diced tomatoes @ .79 - no coupon, just needed it

Total spent = a little over $12
Total saved = about $83! (about 90%!)


Don't know if this is very readable - but here is the "proof" - Top 2 receipts show 93% savings at the bottom and the bottom 2 show 85% and 93%!

Give this a try and see how much you can save!

I'm getting eaten out of house and home!

I got this idea from a friend, but it's a really good one! My kids are always (especially during the summer) telling me they are "starving." And somehow I seem to always run out of their favorite snacks before the next shopping trip. Sooooo, I bought some 1 gallon plastic containers at Walmart, some letter stickers and cutesy stickers (hamsters for Nat, goldfish for Em, and race cars for Stephen.) I put their names down the front with the letter stickers. Then I filled their containers with 14 snacks - enough for 2 snacks per day. If they decide to eat 5 snacks in one day, then they will soon figure out that they may not have enough for the rest of the week. I hope this will teach them the skill of "rationing", lol.

I used individually wrapped snacks such as rice krispy treats, chips, slim jims, trail mix, crackers, as well as some snacks I portioned out myself into snack size ziploc bags. I also put "vouchers" for cold items, such as pudding.

This is the weekly supply of cold snacks: pudding, jello fruit cups, string cheese, yogurt and cheese bites.

Thanks to Jennifer W. for the idea!