January Joy Dare

1. Three Gifts Heard...

My grand children's giggles.

The beautiful voice of my friend Kathy Walters on her new CD.

My kitty purring in my ear.

2. A Gift Outside, Inside, On a Plate...

Outside...The rain pouring down

Inside...The warm air from the heater

On a Plate...Grandson's Birthday Cake

3. Three Graces You Overheard...

Amber practicing her flute in her bedroom.

Abi declaring to her Daddy that she wanted to save the rest of her ice cream for Aunt Paiges

"I Love You" whispered in my almost asleep ear as my husband left for work.

4. A Gift Old, New, Blue...

Old...My Dad. So thankful he is still alive and a part of our lives. His love and wisdom are beyond measure.

New...Our new house! It's exactly what I always wanted.

Blue...The sapphire engagement ring from my husband.

5. Something You are Reading, Making, Seeing...

Reading...The Grimm Diaries Prequels

Making...A Nintendo Scarf for Grandson

Seeing...Beautiful flowers in a vase

6. One Thing in Your Bag, Your Fridge, Your Heart...

Bag...New whimsical insect checks

Fridge...Ice cold sweet tea

Heart...Love for my family

7. Three Graces from People you Love...

Unconditional Love from my Dear husband.

My Family's Absolute Faith that I can do Anything

Weekly Phone Calls from my Best Friend.

8. Dusky Light, Surprising Reflection, Lovely Shadow....

Dusky Light...The opportunity to witness the beautiful sunsets on the beaches of Oahu.

Surprising Reflection...Catching a glimpse of an expression on Abi's face that makes me see Paige as a toddler.

Lovely Shadow... The adorable Grand daughter that follows me everywhere, like my own little shadow.

9. A Gift Held, Passed By, Sat With....

Held...My Husband's hand, reassurance that he is here and not deployed to some foreign land.

Passed By...All the smiling photos in my hallway.

Sat with....My family, at the dinner table, every evening.

10. A Gift Sour, Sweet, Just Right...

Sour...Lemons

Sweet...Juicy Strawberries

Just Right...A Juicy Honey Crisp Apple

11. Three Yellow Gifts of Fresh Mercy...

The Bright Sunshine, Promising Another Day to Live for Him

The Golden Band on my Left Hand, the Start of a New Beginning for Me

The Beautiful Hair on my Miracle Youngest Daughter

12. Something Above, Below, Beside...

Above...A Gorgeous Rainbow

Below...Snow on the Ground

Beside...My Wonderful Husband

13. Three Things About Yourself You are Grateful for...

My Time Management Abilities

My Natural Need to Nurture

My Creative Talents

14. Three Startling Graces of God

His Love and Mercy

My Husband, I DO NOT Deserve him

This Lovely Home we Have

15. A Gift Worn, Given Away, Shared...

Worn...Fuzzy Socks that Keep my Feet Warm on Cold Days

Given Away...All the Projects that Flow from my Crocheting Hooks

Shared...Many Good Books

16. Three Witnessed Blessings...

My Son Patiently Baking Cookies with his 3 y/o Daughter

My Exhausted Husband Setting Aside his Personal Free Time, to Fulfill a Want of his Daughter

Beautiful Snow Fall from the Sky, Blanketing the World in Peaceful White

17. A Gift Bringing Laughter, Quiet, Prayer...

Laughter...My Silly Kitty Playing with her Christmas Toy

Quiet...My time alone at night after everyone else is in bed.

Prayer...Daily conversations with God

18. Three Gifts from God's Word...

Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish , but have everlasting life.

Psalm 118:24 This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

19. Three Gifts that Might Never have Been...

My Husband

My Children

My Grandchildren

20. Three Gifts only Seen Close Up...

The Perfect, Unique Beauty of a Single Snowflake

The Beauty of a Spiderweb

The Laugh Lines around my Husband's Eyes

21. A Gift in Sky, Water, Memory...

Sky...Gorgeous Lightning as it zig zags across a dark sky

Water...Our Beta, Professor Plum, playing games with kitty.

Memory...Memories of my Grandmother, with her white sweater, chocolate cake, and endless supply of Wrigleys Doublemint gum.

22. A Gift Wrinkled, Smoothed, Unfolded...

Wrinkled...Saved school work from the kids

Smoothed...Fresh sheets on the bed

Unfolded...Soft fuzzy blanket at the end of the bed.

23. Three Gifts Found in Christ...

Hope

Peace

Forgiveness

24. Three Things Blue...

The Blue Jay that lives in my backyard

The Blueberries my Husband Loves

Bluebells climbing on a fence

25. A Grace Borrowed, Found, Inherited...

Borrowed...Books from the Library

Found...A talent that allows me to create and to give

Inherited...Love of Nature

26. A Gift Before Dawn, at Noon, After Dark...

Before Dawn...Quiet Moments alone

At Noon...Naps

After Dark...Lightning Bugs

27. Three Gifts in the Kitchen...

My Wonderful New Fridge

Double Ovens

My Crockpot

28.Three Graces Found in Friends...

Acceptance

Forgiveness

Encouragement

29. A Song Heard, a Soft Word, Light Seen...

Amazing Grace, my Favorite Song Ever

"I too" ...Abi's way of saying I Love You Too

Headlights in the Driveway...means my Sweetie is home.

30. Three Old Things Seen New...

Mardi Gras Beads changed into Art by Amber

Old Blue Jeans Made into a Quilt by Jazmyne

Reruns of the Waltons

31. A Gift on a Paper, in a Person, in a Picture....

Paper...A Book of Poems Written by Amber

Person...Dedication and Love for his Family in my Husband

Picture...A picture of all five of my children together, taken last summer

Thursday 13 Jan 24, 2013

This is not the list I had planned for this week, but in light of everything that has happened today, I don't have the brain power left to complete my original idea, so that must wait until another week.

Here is a list of everything that has gone wrong so far today.

1. Between a sick husband keeping me awake with trips to the bathroom, a sore hip, and a 3 year old crying...I got a grand total of 3 hours of sleep.

2. When I finally fell asleep this morning, I was awakened by my daughter texting for a ride home because her school had a water outage and classes were being cancelled.

3. When my husband went out to the Jeep to go get her, he discovered someone had tried to steal the Jeep during the night and messed up the ignition and the steering column.

4. Landyn has been going from one rage to another all day. He has spent more time in time out than he has out of it.

5. Abi has whined and cried all day. Mostly it's because Landyn is torturing her, so while it's understandable, it's still giving me a headache.

6. My cat has a UTI and peed on my daughter's bed.

7. The dog puked on the living room carpet.

8. My dishwasher is going out.

9. My back and hip are killing me.

10. My cordless phone came unplugged and I didn't know it, so the battery died. When I tried to plug it back in, I accidentally unplugged mine and hubby's computers. Of course, because it was an incorrect shutdown, I was signed out of all of my sites. Took forever to remember the passwords to everything.

11. Tried to pay my gas bill online and it wouldn't let me. GGGrrrrrr.

12. One of the buttons on my Kindle broke off.

13. When I accidentally shut down the computers, it wiped out the homework hubby was working on.

  I want a redo on today!

Thursday Thirteen

One of my goals for this year is to try and lower our shopping costs, including food, clothing, personal products, paper goods, etc. I do not have the time, nor the motivation, to spend hours searching every ad for every store and driving to a hundred different places to save a few cents, nor will I buy tons of products we don't normally use, simply because I may have a coupon for it. But, I will take a few minutes to peruse the ads for the three places close to me, where I normally shop, before I make my menu for the week, and I will make more of an effort to actually use coupons instead of forgetting them. The ability to load coupons onto a store rewards card makes this process easier. Anyway, here is a list of 13 different savings I had recently.

1. Philadelphia cream cheese for .99 per 8 oz package, plus there was a coupon for $2.00 off when you buy three, making the cost for 3 packs .97 total.

2. Turkey for .50 per lb. Bought an almost 14 lb turkey for less than $7.00. This provided 3 dinners (roasted turkey dinner, turkey pot pie, turkey and dumplings) and 2 lunches (sandwiches) for my family of 8.

  3. Large green bell peppers for .39 each. Stuffed peppers for dinner. Some for the freezer. And the guinea pig got lots to eat. He loves peppers.

4. Avocados for .29 each. The rest of my family couldn't understand my excitement over this deal. They would gladly pay at least that much for someone to remove all of the avocados from the house, but I LOVE them, especially on a turkey sandwich.

5. Pillsbury Chocolate Peppermint Chip Ready to Bake Christmas cookies for .25 per package of a dozen cookies. Bought the last 5 packages in the case. Not everyone in the house is a peppermint fan, and I prefer made from scartch, but it was too good a deal to pass up. A couple of family members will enjoy them.

6. Buy 3 boxes of cereal, $7.50, and get a 24 pack of water free. Plus I had a .50 coupon for the cereal, which the store doubled. Two boxes of Honey Nut Cheerios, one box of Lucky Charms, and a 24 pack of waters for $6.50.

7. A pair of pink jeans for Jaz, regular $17.99, on sale for $9.50.

8. A black lace skirt for Amber, regular $24.99, on clearance for $7.00.

9. A pair of black boots for Jaz, regular $57.88, on clearance for $14.87.

10. Little Caesar's Hot and Ready large pizzas, $3.99 Monday special. Can't beat it for lunch when this old Grandma is too exhausted to feed the munchkins.

11. Nature's Own Honey Wheat bread, $1.00 per loaf.

12. Breakfast sausage, $1.00 for a one pound package, when you buy 10 packages.

13. Buy 2 bottles grapefruit juice, $4.00, and get a 5 lb bag of grapefruit free. My husband and 15 y/o daughter love grapefruit.