Payback

Our cat taunts our dogs by going to the french doors leading out to our back deck, and batting at the dogs (who enjoy sitting there, begging to come in) through the glass. Well, our Doberman, Bri, threw her back out a couple of weeks ago. Feeling badly for the poor dog, I let her roam the downstairs freely, only to discover that she had parked herself beside the litter box!! So there, cat! :)

Cheap Deer Park Water

My husband calls me a bottled-water snob. This is because even though we have perfectly good well water that comes out of our tap, I refuse to drink it. There is actually a reason for my dislike of our tap water, as we lived off city water for several years, and with construction in the area, our water went from brown to super-chlorinated to just having a funny smell. Then we moved to the country, with well water that had an extremely large amount of sulphur in it. Having dealt with morning sickness and rotten-egg smelling water at the same time, I still can't make myself drink it, even though we bought a nice, expensive water treatment system, and everyone else tells me that it tastes fine.

Buying enough bottled water for both my husband to bring to work with him every day (4 bottles a day!), and for me to have at home can get pretty expensive. Therefore, seeing that Deer Park is running a deal on their bottled SPRING water has me pretty excited (because there's really no point at all in buying purified water when we have the exact same thing coming out of our tap...read the label, some of them say they are purified water that came from city's water source!).

Anyway, here's the promotion....

If you buy a certain number of 24 packs of the water, you will get a coupon that prints out for an

amount off your next purchase, courtesy of Deer Park.

Buy 2 24-packs, get $2 off your next purchase (of anything...not just more water)

Buy 3 24-packs, get $3 off your next purchase

Buy 4 24-packs, get $5 off your next purchase

But wait! It gets even better with the $1 coupons that have been found on the cases of water! So, if you can find a store that has the Deer Park water on sale, you can get some pretty cheap bottled water! (so far, for this week, I see that Kroger has them for $3.99/case...not quite as good as Food Lion last week at $3.50/case, but I didn't know about this deal then) Just make sure that you peel off the coupon that is stuck to the case of water and hand it to the cashier, and that the cashier hands you the coupon that will print out after they ring up the water. I have left the store before, only to find that my cashier didn't give me those coupons....frustrating!

This Wednesday, May 20-Tuesday May 26, Safeway has Deer Park water on sale for 2/$7. If you buy 4 and use 4 $1 coupons, you will be paying $10 for 4 cases of water, and will get back $5.

May 5, 2001

Is the day my husband and I got married!!

Some unusual things about our wedding day:

• I bought a fishing license just hours before we were married!!
• We took his truck on our honeymoon, complete with a small boat hanging out the back! (my poor family must have thought I was nuts to marry this guy!!)
• Our entire wedding cost us less than $4000, including the $700 (total) matching rings that I have since lost. :(
• My husband drove 350 miles to pick out his tux several months before the wedding, then had his groomsmen bring it to him the night before our wedding....boy am I glad they didn't mess it up!!
• All I ate at our reception were a couple of grapes, and a bite of cake, which was smeared all over my face.
• I later danced with my new husband, and had one of my bridesmaids hand me another piece of cake....my husband caught on to this, and stood in front of me with a puppy-dog expression on his face. Being egged on by the crowd, I then proceeded to apply the cake to HIS face! :)
• When our pastor told me to put the ring onto his finger, I couldn't...it didn't fit!! I was able to eventually get it on, after trying for what seemed like an eternity!
• I wore absolutely NO makeup, and was happy I didn't.
• We had our reception out in front of our church.

Well, that's about all I can think of at the moment! What a special, and interesting day it turned out to be for us. I am very thankful that we had enough family and friends supporting us to completely fill the sanctuary, leaving only standing room in the back! We have certainly been blessed throughout these past eight years!

Why do I potty train my kids early???

Here's why!! I just went in to cover the kids up again before going to bed myself, and this is what I found!!!!

Her diaper, having been taken off, was then discarded onto the floor (and it was unused, too)

AND her pajama pants were then put back on, lest Mom come in and find her naked little bottom and correct the situation!!! (and yes, I did put the diaper back on her...and she slept through it!)

The little sneak! This is exactly why I believe children under the age of 2 are perfectly capable of being potty trained!

We're having a.....

BABY!!! (are you surprised?!) Actually, it's more like a baby elephant, since this little one weighs approximately TWICE what it should right now!! I think my doctor figures that I am just further along than I think I am. After having four kids, I think I would know how far along I am just by gauging the morning sickness, though!

As for the fibroid tumor my doctor suspected was growing in or close to my cervix....gone! Yep, there is no sign of it at this point. Thank you to all my friends and family who were praying that this very thing would happen!! On another note, although no one mentioned it, I did see the ultrasound technician write some words, followed by "placenta previa". At this point, they didn't bring it up to me, I believe, because this condition (where the placenta is lying low in the uterus, sometimes covering the cervix.) typically will correct itself by the time I go into labor. Just something I thought I would mention. I will get to have another ultrasound in a few months because of the scare I got last month, anyway, and we will see exactly what is going on at that point.

So, to summarize...I have a huge baby, who appears to be completely healthy, is living in a wonderfully normal environment, and is causing me to gain tons of weight! Man do I love having the excuse that I am pregnant so I can eat whatever I want!! (just kidding...I try to eat pretty healthy foods, since I don't really think a multivitamin is the best thing to rely upon for my or my baby's nutrition)

My 5-year-old is also teetering on the edge of whether she is ready to ask God to forgive her sins, and accept Jesus as her saviour. For some reason, this is something she brings up regularly, but not something she has allowed herself to do. I am actually happy that she is not making this decision with a light heart. It is a very tough decision, and one that should change your life. I believe that when the time is right, she will make her choice, and it will be one that she will remember for the rest of her life. Our 7-year-old is saved, and is very confident of where he will be spending eternity. I am thankful to have kids who, although stubborn, are taking God's Word seriously.

Resurrection Cookies

I remember (somewhere in the waaaay back of my mind!) having heard of these before, but have never seen them, or the recipe that goes with them. Since one of the ladies at my church was kind enough to print a copy of the recipe for me to use with the kids this Easter, I figured I would share with anyone else who doesn't know about these "resurrection cookies".


"Resurrection Cookies"

ingredients:
1 cup whole pecans
1 teaspoon vinegar
3 egg whites
a pinch of salt
1 cup sugar
a Ziploc bag
a wooden spoon
tape


directions:

These are to be make the evening before Easter. Preheat the oven to 300F (This is very important, the oven needs to be at 300 degrees by the time you are done with the recipe). Place pecans in the Ziploc bag and let the children beat them with the wooden spoon to break into small pieces. Explain that after Jesus was arrested, He was beaten by the Roman soldiers.
Read: John 19:1-3

Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1 teaspoon of vinegar into a mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross He was given vinegar to drink.
Read: John 19:28-30

Add egg whites to the vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life to give us life.
Read: John 10:10-11

Sprinkle a little salt into each child's hand. Let them taste it, then brush the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus' followers and the bitterness of our own sin.
Read: Luke 23:27

So far the ingredients are not very appetizing. Add 1 cup of sugar. Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to know and belong to Him.
Read: Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16

Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12 to 15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed (you can tell you have stiff peaks when you hold the mixer so the blades are horizontal, and the mixture holds it's shape on the ends of the blades). Explain that the color white represents the purity in God's eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus.
Read: Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3

Fold in broken nuts. Drop by the teaspoonful onto a waxed paper-covered cookie sheet. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus' body was laid.
Read: Matthew 27:57-60

Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF.

Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door. Explain that Jesus' tomb was sealed.
Read: Matthew 27:65-66

GO TO BED!!!!

Explain to the children that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus' followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed.

Read: John 16:20 & 22

On Resurrection Sunday (aka...Easter) morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow!! On the first Easter, Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty.

Read: Matthew 28:1-9

Go Steelers!!!

Just to show you which team this house will be cheering on to victory later today....