F at 18 weeks 3 days

We are so blessed that our family is growing again.  It is always exciting when God blesses.

Since this little guy gives us 3 boys and 3 girls, I have been told to expect Brady Bunch comments.  We shall see.

PrintKEG, Tony’s print company, is giving away FREE PrintKEG T-Shirts.  These shirts have dual purpose.  

First, you get to see the quality of the shirts first hand.  I love these shirts, they are soft and the design has outlasted even our clan!  My shirt is quickly becoming one of my favorite shirts to wear.

Second, when you wear your PK shirt around town, you will be helping get the word out about a great little online company. 

The shirt is free but supplies are limited and this promotion is only available through May, so don’t wait!  Also, PrintKEG may be holding contests in the future.

**contest may involve taking a picture wearing your PK shirt somewhere cool**

To find out more information and get your FREE PrintKEG Shirt shipped to you, click here and fill out the quick form. 

So this year, I want to be more active in blogging. At least to keep a journal of ideas and thoughts. Hopefully my wife will appreciate me posting here instead of at my site (www.wecentral.com). We’ll see how long I keep this up.

I was elated when I was offered the chance to review the ebook Hermie, a Common Caterpillar by best-selling author Max Lucado.  My children love to watch the Hermie DVDs, but this is the first of the books we have been able to read.   I decided to read it aloud, but as a level two reader, it is a great book for a Reader in Training, roughly ages 5-8.

The story helps to remind children that they are special,  that God has a plan for their life and that they can always talk to Him.  It lays out these truths in a colorful, fun story of two caterpillar buddies who are sad because they see themselves as ordinary and everyone else as extraordinary.  The author did a fantastic job of reiterating how even though Hermie and Wormie may seem ordinary to the onlooker, God sees them as special.

The illustrator, Daniel Howarth, did a stupendous job – focused art that looks like what I can only describe as beautifully done watercolors.   My only very minor complaint was that some of the artwork was not on the same page that it was designed for – sometimes being a page after.

Overall, this piece of literature was a nice little read and sent my children into a flurry of coloring pictures of butterflies and discussions of what God might have planned for them.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

It is so great to say those words.  This has been the longest time in our family not to have picked a name.  I was starting to get concerned we would be holding the baby LONG BEFORE the name!  D has just been a difficult letter.

Well, as I said, we have picked a name.  Her name is Danielle Liana (pronounced lee-AHN-ah.)  Danielle means God is Judge and Liana means my God has answered, so her name literally means My God is Judge and He has answered.  Naming Danielle this was so appropriate.   In April, some dear friends had been praying for some minor health related issues I had been having.  Out of the blue I suddenly developed an appendicitis, and the x-rays revealed the problem believed to have been causing my issues.  And after that, everything seemed to fall into place.

God was so gracious to have given us this blessing, that we really felt He deserved all the glory.  We are blessed.

We love Chick-fil-a and recently discovered some of what we will do for a free chicken meal.

Our herd is so CUTE!

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.  He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.  In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.

1 John 4:7-9 (NKJ)

I have found my new favorite breakfast food for the children!  Yes you read right, popcorn cereal.  I made it for breakfast and after letting the children know that some cowboys might have eaten this when they where little ones, it went over with a big hit! (It was apparently used in Colonial America.)  I would have liked to have gotten a picture to post of it, but the children downed 2 bowls each faster than I could think to grab my camera.  I got the recipe from Tammy’s Recipes, a website I like to frequent for, you guessed it, recipes.

Okay here is the how’s and what for’s.  Pop some corn in your air popper.  Take some of the plain popcorn and put it in your cereal bowl, filling to the brim (it will reduce to about half.)  Sprinkle on a spoonful of the sweetener of your choice.  We used sugar to try this first time, but brown sugar or honey also sound good.  Add your milk, I went with Tammy and added 1/2 cup.  Finally stir to coat the popcorn and enjoy.

I decided to try this because, hey what do I have to lose, right?  I am SO glad I did.  This breakfast, for all 3 of my children, cost about sixty cents.  And the time it took was less than it would to boil water.

On Sunday, one of the angelic 3 year olds in my class gave me a flower.  I was delightfully surprised at her gift.  She painstakingly picked out just the right colors and worked hard to paint the flower.  I was especially taken by the beautiful purple…(along with the other colors streaking through it.)  Purple is my favorite color; it also happens to be the favorite of about half of my3 year old girls.  And the pink, green and blue allows it to blend into some other nick-knacks I have and love.

I have receive gifts from my children before and I am always thankful for whatever they bought or made for me.  But there is something that just shouts love when you receive a hand made item from someone when you least expect it.  I am so blessed to be able to teach such thoughtful children.

As you can see from the title, I didn’t succeed at writing 2 posts each week.  I forgot that sometimes life gets in the way.  We have had sick people in our house these past 2 weeks.  Everyone is fine now, but it did limit my free time.  I have a new respect for bloggers who post daily, semiweekly or even once a week.  For those of you out there, how do you do it?!

In other news, I have been doing great on my budget.  Last week I spent down to the last penny (I was fishing out coins).  My greatest deals were on Saturday.  I spent 4.24 on 2 packs of diapers and 1 pack of pull-ups (thanks to a gift certificate and coupons).  I also found a local store that is selling milk and eggs at a fantastic price.  Milk is $1.99 and a dozen eggs are $.99!  This week I am going to try not going to the store at all.   So far $80 is tight, but we can do it.