Wow, November is here already!

Where did October go?!! I can't believe that I skipped the entire month........ I was going to be so faithful.......ugh!! Well, if at first you don't succeed, try try again! So, here goes!

Well, it's the first part of November 2014. Thanksgiving is coming up at the end of the month and will be here before we know it! Then Christmas!!!! Then New Year's!!! Okay Lisa, you are getting way ahead of yourself, let's slow down a little bit. Okay................ now............

I have been back at My Scraps and More quite a bit lately too......feels good to be back with my scrappy friends and getting inspired!! I participated in the October Kit swap with a few other ladies. We each sent a "Kit" of our stash of scrappy supplies to someone else, for them to make a page with! Here is the page that I made and the goodies that I received!!



My Scraps and More is going to be holding a Pinspirational crop November 7 - 16.......I'd love for you to stop by and check it out!! It'll be "Pinspirational!"

I am still doing my monthly meal planning, so far it's been working out pretty well! I go grocery shopping tomorrow for this month. I can't wait to see how that goes!! I try to get as much as I can for as LITTLE as I can! hahaha! Using my coupons (what I have of them, lol!) and price matching other stores at Walmart! Last month I spent $270 for my total bill for the ONE trip, and that pretty much lasted us for the entire month. We have four people in our family, so I thought that was pretty good. We did have to get milk, bread, and cereal a few times throughout the month, oh, and coffee once for me, lol.............but other than that, I think we did pretty fabulously! A couple of the meals my girls didn't really care for, so we won't put those into the rotation again .............. we will try some new ones and stick to the meals that we know as well.

Other than that, I have been busy crafting my December Daily album!


Well, that's all for tonight. I hope to be back soon with more scrappy goodness, or meal planning tips/ideas, couponing, or just crafting or something!!! Take care and God bless!! Lisa

Day 25......Christmas Day!

What a wonderful Christmas day this was, and a wonderful Christmas Eve last night.....our two girls have had a fun-filled holiday with lots of love and a few more presents than they usually get! I've enjoyed this Christmas here at our new home in Roulette, PA.......a nice Ham dinner, yams, mashed potatoes, green beans, cranberry sauce, rice pudding, cheesecake, and king hawaiian rolls.......yummy!!! The girls got many presents that they've wanted for a loooooong time....Santa even found a Rapunzel, Flynn, and Maximus playset for Julie, and he brought Rachel a doll nursery for her babydolls......they also got a barbie house each, barbies, webkinz animals, hair accessories, playdoh pizza machine, barbie suitcase filled with accessories, and lots of other little stocking stuffers. They were soooo happy this year!! I'm glad we were actually able to get them a couple things that they really wanted, although I know that's not what Christmas is all about.

Day 23

Today is the 23rd day in my Christmas Advent Calendar......this morning was a special morning at church......the children portrayed a real live Advent Calendar for their yearly Christmas program. Each child had a numbered day of the month, and a surprise to share with everyone! My oldest was Dec. 2, a snowflake, maybe we'll get a white Christmas! My youngest was Dec. 8, a candy cane, a very sweet ornament! Julie, the oldest, said her lines and sang the songs with the other children, but my youngest just stood up in front for a few minutes covering her face and crying.....aaahhh, the life of a 4 year old in front of the congregation, lol!! I moved up front to get a picture of all the children when I noticed Rachel standing there covering her face......had to get a picture of her too.....she must've seen the flash cuz then she saw me and came running down to me.......ah well, we tried!! Sorry Ms. Debbie!! Oh well, the rest of the program went on without a hitch!

Day 22 of the Christmas Advent Countdown

Today was a pretty good day......we made Gingerbread houses today for the first time ever!! That's right, first time for all of us! I never made one growing up but always wanted to......and I thought, well, when I have children, I will do just that......well........I can check that off my list now! It was alot of fun! It took awhile for the frosting to harden so the houses would be sturdy enough to decorate, but........we did it!! We also made some Christmas cookies and some mini Christmas cupcakes to bring to our children's Christmas program at church in the morning. I think the kids will love them, yummy yummy! lol! I also had to take the girls to church this morning for Christmas program practice.....I don't think peanut pie is going to go up front and say her lines she has.....she got stagefright at rehearsal, lol! Oh well, Punky poo knows the lines just in case, so we got it all covered! Well, almost time for sugarplum fairies to come visit! Take care and God bless you all! Lisa

Day 21

Well, we're still here!! It's not the end of the world yet as we know it! Nobody knows the time or place says the Lord above!! I'm listening to Him! ;) Well, it's been a busy past few days......I haven't written anything since Dec. 14th...not bad compared to how bad I usually am about blogging.......I am getting better, but I need to be in the habit of doing it everyday! Well, just about all the Christmas presents are wrapped, more cookies need to be made, gingerbread houses might be made tomorrow or sunday afternoon, and it's finally snowing....YAY, a white Christmas hopefully afterall! Here are some pictures of my girls making and decorating some cutout cookies! Well, that's all for today.......will try try TRY to be better about posting! Til then, Merry Christmas! Lisa

Day 14 of Christmas Advent Countdown

Well, I didn't post anything yesterday due to my oldest daughter still being a tad bit sick......I cleaned alot and did laundry........same 'ol same 'ol stuff, lol!! Today was a little more exciting, lol! I was up to get J ready to go back to school today, then I got busy in my bedroom organizing and sorting some more......I think that room is done, well, as done as I can get it.....without any type of dresser in there!! Then I did some laundry today too, and played with the peanut pie, played with Bailey the hamster, watched some wild turkey in the field behind us, watched a couple of Christmas movies, had breakfast for supper, and then J and I made some chocolate chip cookies tonight! Well, me mostly.......she helped a little! ;) Yesterday I decorated the tree a tad bit more......now all we need is a topper for it! Well, that's all for today folks! Have a good night and a great weekend!! Lisa

Day 12 of Christmas Advent Countdown - Sick Girl Home

Today was a stay at home day for our oldest daughter.......she was sick so I kept her home from school. Going to keep her home tomorrow as well to rest up.....AND to study for her tests she has in science and reading on Friday! Other than that, it was a fairly quiet day here at home......this afternoon we played some Monopoly too, that was a fun time! Now tonight, after everyone is in bed, I am watching some Christmas movies on youtube since we don't get cable or tv....and I've watched just about all the Christmas movies on netflix sooooo, I needed some other place to watch them from, lol!! Well, back to watching "The Ultimate Christmas Present"! See ya tomorrow!!

Day 11 - Christmas Advent Countdown

Well, today is Day 11......the days are quickly going by........I didn't get time to post the past few days, but I did get a couple pictures of things! Day 8 my daughter helped her Girl Scout Troop host a Christmas Dinner for our little town......it was a free dinner for the whole community.....the girls really worked hard on it. Day 9 Daddy got a cute picture of your youngest daughter, and I got some more christmas tree pics! lol!! Day 10 was just kind of a blah day......wasn't feeling all that great, didn't do hardly anything and didn't get any pictures either.....oops! Today, Day 11, I took some pictures of the ornaments I made this past Saturday night with some ladies from church! Well, that's about it for today........yeah, I know, real exciting, lol!! But hey, that's all I got for now! Have a great day and a blessed Christmas season!!

Night 6 - Christmas Letters from SANTA CLAUS!!!!!!

Oh my goodness.......today after getting Julie's homework from school cuz she forgot it......we stopped to get the mail and guess what was in there........Yep, LETTERS FROM SANTA CLAUS!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh my, the girls were soooooooooooo EXCITED to say the least...... this was one of those kodak moments.........but, didn't have my camera handy right then and there, BUT...........we got pictures after they opened them!! Happy happy excited girls with their Santa Letters!!!! Yay!!!!! They even got magic santa bags to hang on the tree.......Santa will put something special in it on Christmas eve to let the girls know that he was there to visit them! Soooooooooo cool!!!!! I think my girls will surely remember their first Christmas in their new house for years to come!! "Santa Claus" sure made this a Christmas to remember!! Love you Santa!!