At Home

Clean Those Boots!

2016-02-02T22:21:00.001-05:00

My children have rain boots and they love to wear their rain boots! They wear them in rain or shine. My daughter started wearing them to play with her puppies. We have two beagle dogs and they can get very excited! Wearing her rain boots made her feel confident that the dogs wouldn't hurt her feet. In the meantime, lots of poo and mud got caked inside the slots on the bottoms of her boots. I tried using a stick to scrape it out, but that didn't work. I tried using cleaner to dissolve it out, but that didn't work either. Then I looked over at my husband's grill and saw the perfect thing: his grill brush. The very tool that cleans the surface upon which we grill our food is also the perfect tool to clean the bottoms of rain boots. He was a good sport about it. That just means that he gets to buy a new brush!

Get Rid Of Those Fruit Flies!

2012-07-16T13:00:00.001-04:00

This is my fruit fly trap. It is a plastic storage tub that had some leftover watermelon pieces. I put some clear plastic wrap over the top and poked tiny holes in it with a fork. The fruit flies go in to get the watermelon but they cannot get back out. Take the tub outside, let the flies out and do the process again. It took me four times in one day to get rid of about 20 fruit flies. I hope this works for you!

Using Coupons to buy Canned Vegetables

2012-04-03T10:45:00.000-04:00

I am going to give you a great idea for using products you buy with coupons. GIVE THEM AWAY! See? It's that awesome!

No, really. My husband asked me why I buy canned vegetables with coupons. We aren't crazy about canned vegetables, so we have a little garden every year. I love the taste of fresh vegetables!

So why buy with coupons? For those people who go into the hospital or lose a loved one and need someone to help them out for a little while. I'm not saying that they don't deserve fresh vegetables, but when someone is in need, it's much easier to pull something out of the cabinet than to have to go to the grocery store.

This week at Publix, Del Monte canned vegetables are on sale B1G1 $1.39, then use coupons, and it makes them $.44 each. This is a great way to keep your cabinets ready for ministry. Have you ever needed someone to help you? Those people are a great blessing in times of need.

If you don't use the canned goods before the "best by" date, donate them. Someone will be happy to eat them for dinner tonight.

Let's be good people. Let's be God people. Give of what God has blessed you with.

Extraordinary Women's Conference 2012

2012-03-30T10:21:00.000-04:00

This year I volunteered at the Extraordinary Women's Conference at the Bilo Center in Greenville. It was sooo much fun! I volunteered to work Francesca Battistelli's table. For this conference, if you volunteer, your registration is free and you get a free lunch ticket for Saturday.

Friday night's order of service was:

Adam Cappa - Pre-show concert

Julie Clinton - Opening

Joe White - Drama Presentation

Altar Call

Break - to purchase products or food

Francesca Battistelli - Concert

Jeremy Camp - Concert

Saturday's order of service was:

Julie Clinton - Opening

Candace Cameron Bure - Speaker

Compassion International

Break

Angela Thomas - Speaker

Lunch - This year it was Chic-fil-a

Michael O'Brien - Concert; he also did praise and worship before and after each speaker

Lysa TerKeurst - Speaker

Break

Sarah Palin - Speaker

I volunteered to work Francesca Battistelli's table.

Francesca Battistelli

Candace Cameron Bure

Michael O'Brien

Sarah Palin

I was able to get one item free from Francesca's table so I got Michaela a cute shirt. She loves the song "Free To Be Me" so I had to get her that one. I also bought Candace Cameron Bure's book ReShaping It All. I have already finished it and I have to say that it was very very good. She has lots to say about food addiction and keeping your whole life in balance, in good shape. Buy it if you can! Here is her website if you want to take a look at her ministry: http://www.candacecameronbure.net/

This really was an amazing opportunity. I loved being able to hear from these women about life and what they've learned along the way. The theme for the conference this year was "Passionate Faith" and that's what most of their teaching was about.

If you've never been to this conference, plan on going next year. I think registration starts at $90 for next year, but if you volunteer, it's free and you get to hear most of the conference. Even when you are not sitting in the conference you can still watch it on the tv screens they have and you can hear some of it as well. Next year, they are going to have Pam Tebow (Tim Tebows mom). If you haven't heard her story you can look it up. I am looking forward to hearing her as well.

I hope I have inspired you to go to this conference next year. You will be greatly blessed and you can be a blessing as well by volunteering. God bless you all!

Bilo Promotion: FREE Clemson Baseball Tickets

2012-03-09T18:28:00.000-05:00

If you have never been to a Clemson baseball game, you are missing out! Baseball is such a nice, relaxing game to watch. Doug Kingsmore Stadium is nice also. If you sit in the outfield, you will be in the shade, chillaxing while watching the Tigers play ball.

Right now, if you buy 4 participating items from Bilo, you will receive a voucher at checkout for 2 FREE baseball tickets to see Clemson or South Carolina. There is a list of available games for this promotion but it is still a fun promotion. Here is a list of the items you need to buy 4 of to get the voucher:

Southern Home Fruit Snacks 6 Ct.; Any Variety
Southern Home Chewy Granola Bars 10 Ct.; Any Variety
Southern Home Grape Jelly or Jam 18 Oz.
Southern Home Peanut Butter 18 Oz.; Any Variety
Top Care Cold Relief Allergy Tablets 24 Ct
Top Care Pain Relief Ibuprofen 100 Ct.
Top Care Strong Strip Bandages 20 Ct.
Top Care Instant Hand Sanitizer 8 Oz.
Southern Home Soda 12 Oz; Any Variety
Southern Home Cajun Crab Dip 8 oz.
Southern Home Trail Mix 18 Oz. Any Variety
Sweet Dreams Ice Cream 48 Oz.; Any Variety
Southern Home Pasta Salad 6 or 7 Oz.; Any Variety
Southern Home Self-Rising Pizza 29 - 32 Oz; Any Variety
Southern Home Thin & Crispy Pizza 23-24 Oz; Any Variety
Southern Home Thin & Crispy Pizza 23 -24 Oz.; Any Variety
Southern Home Corn Chips 10 Oz; Any Variety
Southern Home Green Tea 16.9 Oz; Any Variety
Southern Home 8-7/8" Foam Plates; 50 Ct.
Southern Home Color Cups 20 Ct; 18 Oz.
Southern Home White Napkins 120 Ct

As you can see, some of these items are pretty cheap, like the Southern Home White Napkins. I'm pretty sure the sale price on them is 2/$4. So technically, you could get a voucher for 2 baseball tickets for $8.00! How awesome is that! We are definitely gonna use this promotion!

*Call your Bilo before you shop. The one on 81 always does the promotion and the one on MLK Jr Blvd does not always. Just check first!

Plumrose Bacon at Bilo

2012-03-05T17:56:00.002-05:00

I went to Bilo today to look through their meat to see if any of it was on Clearance. Bilo puts Yellow stickers on meat products that they need to get rid of. Today I found Plumrose Bacon with a $1.50 sticker on it, and it was on sale B1G1. DEAL!

$5.99 Regular Price

B1G1 $5.99 ($2.99 each)

B1G1 $5.99 (4) $11.98 - $1.50 coupon - $1.50 coupon - $1.50 coupon - $1.50 coupon = $5.98

$1.49 each!

(Basically, buy 1 get 3 free)

Slow Down

2012-02-19T21:48:00.000-05:00

How many of you would like to slow down, take a break, have a nap? God has been teaching me to slow down. When I was in school, I was a straight-A student, worked on the yearbook staff, played volleyball, attended other sporting events, sang on the praise team at church, volunteered for everything that was going on at church and lots more. My focus was on my future and my ministry opportunities. Now, I have an awesome husband and two wonderful children. I have to slow down.

Our family began attending a new church in January 2010. When we joined the church in March 2010, we began serving in Kids Church. I enjoy it very much! However, the church is a big church and there are a lot of ministry opportunities. It would be very easy for me to become overwhelmed with ministries. Sometimes I feel like a kid in a candy store. I reach my hand out to take hold of something that looks good to me and my Papa God has to slap my hand gently and tell me, "Not now. Maybe later." When something comes up that I want to do but I continuously have to find someone to watch my kids for me, I have to put a stop to that. I did not have kids for other people to always watch them. I have to slow down and cherish the time that I have with them right now. They will never be 5 and 6 years old again. Whatever it is that looks good to me right now can wait.

Sometimes I get anxious: my house isn't big enough, my car doesn't fit me, I don't have enough time, and do I have to cook again tonight?! So do I get a job, go back to school, make money like my husband does? How much time would that leave me for my family and for volunteering? But wait - my God has everything under control. He is with me today and He already knows my tomorrow. I have to constantly be giving my life to Him on a daily basis.

And the hard part is that this only works for me. My life is not like your life and your life is not like anyone else's life. God has a perfect plan for each and every one of us. It is very easy for us to compare ourselves to other people, but that is not a healthy thing to do. There is always going to be someone better at what we do than we are and there is always going to be someone who isn't as good as we are and we can help them.

My standard begins with God's word. I open my Bible and read it. Then I pray that God will guide my every step and give me the desire to see His will be done in my life. That's it. It's easy to get distracted by the little things, but I have to keep my eyes on God. I know that He will make everything right.

Photo Collages

2012-02-13T12:51:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite things to do is to make my own photo collages. I put one event on each page and then leftover pictures just get put on a page all together. I am still ordering 2009 collages and I am putting together 2010 collages now. I am about half-way done but I still have a ways to go. I am hoping that I will be all caught up by the end of 2012. Here is one example of my collage pages:

I use Adobe Photoshop Elements. My husband and I got a really good deal on it the day after Thanksgiving one year and I have loved the program! It's kind of complicated, so you have to take the time to really learn it, but it's worth the time!

I hope you have some way to keep memories of your family. I love photos. As the saying goes, "A picture is worth a thousand words." I don't know who said it or where it came from but it is absolutely true! God bless you all! Have a great day :)

Honduras Missions

2012-01-10T10:20:00.000-05:00

Hello, All!

As some of you know, my husband Brandon has been to Honduras on one misisons trip with our church and is going again this coming June. We have raised most of the money, but we still need a little more support. God has been so good to us and now Brandon is going to share that love with others.

Brandon took this photo on last year's trip. I added the Bible verse Psalm 46:10, "Be still and know that I am God." Brandon went out every morning and stood on a bridge watching the sun come up, reading and praying. In this picture is a man in a small boat fishing. The setting is so quiet and serene. Could we even imagine life like that? We are always so busy. Not that that's a bad thing! But God reminds us to take time for Him. He wants us to stop, to be still, and know that He is God, He is in control of everything.

We are offering this photo for a $15 donation to the missions trip. Last year, the group worked with a children's church, helped the kids paint, traveled to churches doing dramas and praying for the congregation, handing out care packages at a children's home and more. Your donation will show someone God's love.
If you would like to see what last year's trip was like, we put together a YouTube video for you to watch. Just search "Honduras 2011 Brandon's Trip."

Thank you and God bless!

Book to Read: Heaven Is For Real

2012-01-09T17:09:00.000-05:00

I got the book Heaven Is For Real for Christmas. I read it in a little over 2 hours. It is soooooo good! The little boy in the book left his body during a surgery, spent 3 minutes in heaven, and this book tells of what he remembers.

I am a firm believer in Jesus Christ, and this book, along with countless other stories, confirm the belief that there is life after death. If you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, you will spend eternity with Him in heaven :) If you do not, there is another place you will go :(

This book is close to my heart as well because the little boy in this book was around 4 years old when he had this experience. My little boy just turned 5. I cried once while reading this book and it was when the mother was holding her little boy in her arms and she looked up at her husband and said, "I think this is it." Boohoo! I couldn't even imagine the heartbreak she went through. God is so good to get us through the unimaginable.

If you have time, read this book. It is so nice to read about Jesus who loves us soooooooooo much :)

Thank You Cards

2011-11-15T08:00:00.001-05:00

I make and print my own Thank You cards. I know that there are drug stores and big stores and websites who can do that for you, but I like to make my own. I use Adobe Photoshop Elements for all of my photo creations. I got my copy at a Black Friday sale really cheap.

My favorite card so far is my daughter's 6th birthday Thank You card. I wanted to make sure that I got all of her friends that attended her party onto the card. Family members made it onto the card as well.

I think it is really nice to have such a personal touch to things! :)

Happy 50th Anniversary

2011-11-15T07:50:00.001-05:00

My grandparents are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary this year! That is awesome to me. I pray that by the grace of God my husband and I will be able to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary (as long as neither of us goes to meet the Lord before that). I will be 69 years old and he will be 70! I'm looking forward to it!

I took a photography course back in 2006 so I am the family photographer. Because of that, I was put in charge of the photos for the evening. The first thing I had to do was make an invitation. I took my grandparents' wedding photo, scanned it into the computer and made an invitation out of it. I use Adobe Photoshop Elements to make all of my photo creations, and then I order them through my local Sams Club.

It turned out great! The party was a complete surprise and there were so many family and friends who showed up. Congratulations, Mema and Grandaddy!

PARTY BOX!!!

2011-11-15T07:26:00.001-05:00

I have a party box! This box holds most things I need to have a party. It is a plastic tub with a lid and it has gift bags, tissue paper, balloons, paper plates, paper cups, streamers, decorations, birthday candles, napkins and tablecloths.

Every time I have a party I put the extras and leftovers into my party box. My daughter had a "Luau" themed birthday one year, so I put all of the leftovers into one gallon size storage bag.

I use gallon and quart size storage bags to keep things organized. I keep all the tissue paper in gallon size bags, napkins in gallon size bags, and candles in quart size bags. I also keep and re-use balloon weights. I haven't bought one of those in years!

I also keep scissors and scotch tape in my box to help with putting up the decorations. It comes in handy to leave a roll of aluminum foil and a box of extra storage bags so you can pack up as you clean up without having to hunt down supplies.

I love my party box! I hope this idea has helped you. May your family be filled with joy and happiness from this day forward! :-)

Babies

2011-05-19T17:44:00.000-04:00

Howdy, howdy! I have 2 children. One is 6 years old and the other is 4 years old. When I was pregnant, my friend Carrie gave me a book called Preparation for Parenting by Gary and Anne Marie Ezzo. (www.gfi.org)

As it turns out, I had perfect children! I just needed the book to show me that. I didn't know anything about having babies. I had only heard that they cry all the time and you lose a lot of sleep! Well, not if you use the schedule they have figured out. By six weeks, both of my children were sleeping 12 hours every night with 3 naps during the day and they were the happiest babies you had ever seen. They never cried! But if they did, I knew it wasn't because they were sleepy or hungry. I knew it was probably gas or some other uncomfortable thing going on. I swear by this book. I have bought it for every one of my friends who gets pregnant. The science behind the method is true and the results are remarkable! Even now, my children sleep from 9:00pm - 8:00am. They have always slept in their own bed and we always went and laid them down and they went to sleep on their own. There really is nothing like having perfectly happy babies. It also helps babysitters and family members when they watch the children. I know that I don't like to watch children that I know will be fussy. So I have peace that when I leave my children with someone, they will be perfect angels. Now that they are older, they do have disagreements but they are the best of friends. Seriously, GET THE BOOK! You will be much happier that you did.

Baby Shower!!!

2011-05-19T14:26:00.000-04:00

So, my sister is having twins! Yay! She is due in a few months so it is time for me to plan her baby shower! I am so excited about these babies and about helping my sister in any way possible. I looked around in the stores to find some invitations that she might like. They were cute, but there was no way to personalize them. I know that I could have ordered some custom ones off the internet but it was too late for that. So I made these:

Aren't they cute?! I uesd my Adobe Photoshop Elements to create the invitation, then I ordered them from Sams Club. I had the small envelopes so I had to create it in a 3.5"x6" size so they would fit in the envelopes. Then I had to place them on a 4"x6" photo so I could order them. They are photos that I cut the extra .5" off of. I got 30 of these for $5.00. Talk about a good deal!
I wanted to add a little something extra so I looked for stickers to go on the top. Not the regular stickers, but the scrapbook stickers that stick up a little. I looked at Michaels and Hobby Lobby but all of theirs were too expensive and too big. Once again, I ended up at Walmart. I'm not crazy about Walmart but sometimes they have exactly what I'm looking for. I found a page of 34 baby stickers just the right size for $1.00. So I bought 3 packs and let my kids play with the extra ones.
I love doing these kind of things! And, congratulations to my sister! She's gonna be a great mother!

Hello!

2011-05-17T08:54:00.000-04:00

Hello, World!

This is my first blog. I am a stay-at-home mom of 2 great kids and I am married to a wonderful man. I have stayed at home with my children since they were born and I absolutely love it! Sometimes I get a little tired of being at home, as I know all homemakers do. We have bad days on the job too, you know! I guess part of it is that I know that I do so much but I don't get any recognition for it. Not that I need any! But this blog will at least let me communicate with the outside world a little. So here I am! Whenever I have a project that I have completed, I will let you know about it.

Be blessed today and every day for the rest of your lives!