Seriously, it seems like it should only be Wednesday.  I have been playing catch up all week and definitely need a couple more days to finish it all! 

Hubby and I had a super afternoon yesterday.  We get far too many opportunities to hang out … just the two of us anyway!  So it was heaven to be able to chat about just about anything under the sun WITHOUT INTERRUPTION!  I know …. amazing!   We had a wonderful lunch together then went to the mall where my hubby (who’s been trying to decide on a cell phone for a while now) discovered the Apple Store.   Can I just say that it’s a dangerous place to set a non-techy loose with his somewhat-techy wife? 

Suffice it to say he found the PERFECT phone for himself.  Sure they were out of stock, who isn’t …. he discovered who wasn’t and many hours later had one for himself (oh, and one for me too LOL).  So there’s our anniversary in a nutshell . 

I think we do our most major purchases on our anniversary.  We don’t spend a lot of money (we don’t have a lot to spend for Heaven’s sake), but three years ago we had just found out we were pregnant for the 5th time (didn’t have the remotest clue it was twins though) and we purchased our Yukon.  

So, here I am on a Friday-that-should-be-a-Wednesday and I desperately need to get going on all my projects.  Should have a fun contest posted for you a little later today here, so be sure to hop back over this afternoon to take a peek.  Have a great Friday and a wonderful Weekend!

My wedding anniversary that is! Yup, we’ve been married for 15 years today!!!!! I realized recently that I don’t post about my Hubby a lot here and that’s actually quite unfortunate. He’s a great guy, truly the best! He’s a wonderful dad, but an even better hubby! He works very hard to support his family!

I could go on and on, but he took the day off today (yay!) and I need to start thinking about getting ready. So, at noon we’ll begin our Anniversary Date … kidless! The weather is turning out to be very different than we had planned, but that’s the good thing about having a “fly by the seat of your pants” spouse …. nothing is ever set in stone .

So you may hear more from me tomorrow … until then, have a great day!

Hi everyone, if you like my designs you’ll want to head over to Froggy Reviews and check out this post: http://froggyreviews.com/2008/07/fbff3-noahs-ark/.  This week I’m offering a cute Noah’s ark design.  Remember these are still one of a kind designs and You don’t need to enter to win! 

FBFF designs are available on a first come first served basis so if you are interested or know someone who might be, simply read through the Free Designs details page.  You’ll even find a form on that page to fill out all of your information to let me know you want it :) 

Oh and there are a couple other great contests going on over there as well, just be sure to click on the contests category to see all of them

If you’re anything like me taking a vacation is a MAJOR undertaking. The one thing you probably have in your favor though is less family members. Scheduling a vacation for a smaller family is a lot easier, but for most of us, even then we can’t always seem to get it all together.

Vacation shouldn’t be stressful or intimidating, and for many families taking vacation in the summer just doesn’t sound like any fun at all either. So how about vacationing in September or October? Sound good?

Now is the time to start planning a fall vacation and I recommend taking a look at WonderFALL!  Beaches offers great family vacations, and WonderFALL is all about taking a fall vacation that is completely planned and at prices that are up to 45% off!

I actually did not know all of the wonderful things they offer for a family vacation, so I had a lot of fun digging around the site to see what they offer …. you should too!   A perfectly planned vacation for the entire vacation in an exotic location could be a very tricky thing to orchestrate … or you could let them handle it all for you and take a once in a lifetime vacation for a more affordable price.

Be sure to hop on over to A Frog in My Soup to enter an unbelievable contest for a Starter CD Pack offered by Wiggle Giggle Learn (a customized cd for two winners each containing age appropriate learning plans and more for your child[ren] worth $139.95 each). They have also offered 25% off if you go shopping with them before August 30th. Just visit Wiggle, Giggle, Learn and use the code baby.

I am truly excited to be able to introduce this brand new company that offers a unique and diverse learning system for toddlers and preschoolers. Wiggle, Giggle, Learn is owned by Tracey Stuckey and when shey contacted me and asked if I would try out some of the products with my little ones, I was very excited!

Tracey compiled product specifically to meet the needs of my children. She breaks down activity plans for specific ages … and I mean SPECIFIC! If your child is 2 years and 2 months old, there is a specific activity plan for that month. There’s also some great finger plays, nursery rhymes, coloring pages and much more!

ENTER HERE … http://froggyreviews.com/2008/07/wiggle-giggle-learn/. 

Angela Nazworth of Becoming Me also blogs at All That Naz. She has just started a very fun monthly meme there called 9 on the 9th. Although I’m unable to participate this month (trying to write up a couple of contests for all of you), I sincerely encourage all of you to take part! This month Angela shared about her favorite love songs.

Oh, and while we’re talking about Angela, she has another fun event coming up at Becoming Me. This time it is a week where everyone puts together a mission statement for their blog. The Blog Mission Tour takes place July 13 - 18, so check it out!

Hope everyone had a fantastic 4th of July!!!  We had a lot of fun.  It was a really crazy weekend with some very late nights, so it will probably take me all week to recover LOL! 

We had some family over on the 4th like always and we didn’t get to bed until about 1am.  Then on Saturday we decided last minute to go to a drive in movie!  They were playing Wall-E and Get Smart, so it was a LATE one!  We didn’t get home that night until after 2am!  Unheard of in our predictable and child-filled life. 

Crazy thing happened at the drive in though, the only one in our entire area is in a town about 35 minutes away from us.  It is ULTRA popular because it is the only one, so especially if you go on the weekend you need to get there early.  The gates open at 7:30pm so we were there at about 7pm and there was already a lineup.  The line always extends beyond the three gate line areas, out onto the side of the road.  So we were a couple of cars back onto the road in front of the drive in.

Out of the blue a vehicle in the first lane up in the lane parking area for the drive in decided to leave and that opened up room for the car in front of us and ourselves.  As we pulled into the lane we suddenly realized that the car to our left was my cousin and her 3 children.  We had absolutely NO clue they were going that night.  So we ended up hanging out the whole night with them which was a lot of fun for the kids! 

So after all that excitement, we slept in rather late today.  But, my dear hubby was able to get the bathroom floor done today which was one of the major jobs still hanging around on our big To-Do list.  We still have a couple more projects and some serious detail work in the painting department needs to be done, but I love checking off tasks from that hideous list!

I’ll have to try and post a picture tomorrow, so check for an update .

Not leaving town or probably even getting out of the house, but I’m taking a little vacation from my computer.  We haven’t been getting along much lately anyway, so it is a much needed break!

Later today I am going to finish up a couple of Sweet ‘n Simple Design projects and take care of all of the Week of Giveaway winners and then I will begin my “vacation”!  I will still check email once a day to keep in touch with friends, occasionally post here, and put out any “fires” for design customers, but that’s pretty much it.

Just a heads up for anyone thinking of purchasing a design from me … prices are set to increase middle of July, so I suggest purchasing your choice during my ‘vacation’ so that you are guaranteed the lower price (and a spot on my ever expanding calendar).

Hope you’re having a little ‘vacation’ this summer too! 

There’s only one more day left to enter all of the great giveaways at Froggy Reviews!  We had such a great group of sponsors support the Week of Giveaways event, make sure you show them how much you appreciate it by entering the contests.

I have more great contests lined up for the site, so be sure to check back often!

Ever get to that place where life isn’t going the way you thought it would?  Where things are going backward and you’re desperately peddling forward?  Where you feel like you’ve lost control of every facet of life … but not in a good way? 

That’s where I’ve been finding myself recently.  The good is being overshadowed by the crazy parts.  I work hard each and every day to find joy, peace and growth in my life.  To be content with where I’m at and to try and make my world a little better place.  Every once in a while though you may get to the point where you find yourself in “the depths of despair” … that’s where I’m at. 

The kids’ last day of school was yesterday, but when they got home from school I was so frazzled I didn’t even know what to do to celebrate or make the day fun.   I’ll be spending most of the rest of this week trying to come up with a plan for the rest of the summer … for all of us.  Fun things and the things that simply MUST get done around the house.  Setting up any necessary appointments for the summer and hopefully some activities to keep everyone moving.

Through it all though, I’ll be desperately crying out to God for the answers and direction!  If nothing else, just to give me peace and rest in the midst of it all.  He is the one solid thing I have on my side!  The One I can call on in my time of need and despair.  The One who loves me more than I can even fathom.  I often don’t call on Him soon enough or take His promises to heart. 

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6 NIV)

“The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” (Deuteronomy 31:8 NIV)

The “them” in my life is everything on my “To Do” list, and even in a small way the fear of the crazy, potentially life-threatening things my Twinkies will attempt each and every day. 

Do you have any “Goliath’s” in your life that are leaving you feeling a little discouraged or even terrified?