Adoption Play Day for NC/SC Family's

Will be held at the Crossroads( Latino themed )mall besides Carowinds at the playground on June 20th or 27th, at 10:30 to 11am- ? (come when you can). Please leave a comment to let me know if you will be able to attend and which day will work better for you. Everyone is invited who has an adopted child, from any country! If you know anyone who has an adopted child please invite them, send them to my blog. We have allot of fun!

They have plenty of places to choose from to eat.

This Week's Family Updates

This week marks a huge mile stone for Sara Ava. She has officially been home in the USA longer then she was in Guatemala. She came home at 2 3/4 yrs. old. She will be celebrating her 3 yr. Gotcha Day soon! It amazes me that she has been home this long ,when it felt longer trying to get her here those 11 1/2 months. Now both girls have been home longer then they lived in Guatemala. PRAISE GOD!!!



My mom made this dress for Sara Ava. I found this beautiful material at Wal-mart and then found this cute pattern, I do not have a sewing machine so I asked my mom to make it! Thanks Mom, it turned out great!!!


Yesterday Josiah Graduated the 5th grade. He is officially finished with Elementary! Waaa.... I can't believe he is going to Jr. High too!

This is his 5th grade class.....

Josiah received an Award for making A/B Honor Roll.

Then he received his diploma for Graduating Elementary. Way to Go Siah! We are very proud of you!

A quick little update on my running........

I finally started running a mile at a time. I am not running straight through yet. I have to take 3 quick little breathing breaks. But I am getting better. My goal is to be running it straight through by the end of Summer.

Finally..... I wanted to Thank everyone for praying for Karlton's work!!! We saw a huge difference last week with everyone praying for us! But this week has been very slow again. We are 3 pay checks behind now so PLEASE keep us on your daily prayer list! We can certainly use it! Pray for plenty of work for Karlton and also pray for some help with all these debts he has with his business! I'm afraid we will have to go bankrupt and loose everything! But I know God is in control and has a plan for us and will not leave us! I just have to remember that when the phones are ringing off the hook with people wanting their money. Also Pray that God will send us a buyer for a few things that we are trying or need to sale!!!! We would very much appreciate it!

FFF

Here are some recent Family Photo's that Karlton's step mom took of us. I think they turned out pretty good for 7 people. It's so hard to get everyone smiling, looking the same way with out making faces. Thanks Darlene, I love them! What do you all think? Which one or ones do you like best?

Heads Up!

OK Guys ...... after reading your comments I want to help you start saving money! With the economy the way it is and the way Karlton's work is going I feel like I needed to try to do something to help! Plus I really felt the need to start stocking up for really hard times. I have never been able to stock up on anything , especially with 2 growing , eating machines, I mean boys. Usually you can not even tell I have been to the store, now our pantry , fridge , and freezer are fuller then it has ever been!By spending less money!! Sounds weird huh! I was spending on an average of 129.00 a wk. on groceries for a family of 7. Well this month I am going to try to only spending $80 a week. But it may take me a couple of weeks to have everything before I start seeing the difference. So far this week I definitely see it. But I still have a few more items to buy for this week.

Terry ,I had to take a couple of things back to Victoria Secrets today and they do still have things on sale! Like their makeup ....... So I would still go and see what they have. Its worth it! Starting June 16th is their Semi- Annual Sale and it is always really good!!!!

Also , a reminder that Bath and Body will start their great sale June 1. This is when I stock up!

Now for an easy lesson on how to start couponing! I do not want to over whelm you so I will just give you the basics to get started!
1. Start buying the Sun. paper, every Sun and keep ALL the coupons even if you do not think you will use them. You never know when things will end up free, or you can give them to someone who may use them.
2. Sort them by categories and put them in labeled enveloped or files ( this just makes things easier).
3. Go to http://www.southernsavers.com/ to find all the deals and what coupons to use. They will have places to click on to , to print out coupons too. This is where I am getting allot of them. This site does all the work for you in showing you where all the deals are.
4. Plan your meals after you buy all the free and cheap items for the week. Don't plan your meals first and then see what coupons will help! This is what I used to do and this is why I never saved that much money!
5. Always use your coupons on Sale and B1G1 Free items!

Harris Teeter is having their triple coupon days starting today for 7 days. They always have double coupons everyday. Remember this is only coupons up to .99 cents. Bi Lo does the double coupon every day to up to .99 cents.

Does this make any sense? These are the easiest steps I can give you to help get you started. Hope you try! Once you do and you start seeing the savings you will be hooked!!!

If any one else has any heads up or you would like to add anything please feel free!! I'm all about good deals!!!

****TRY IT YOU WILL LIKE IT!!! LOL....READ BELOW AND SEE MY NEW SAVING!****

What An Exciting Day!

I am so excited! I had an awesome day of grocery shopping. I am having sooo much fun using coupons too! Here is all the loot I bought today. I went to CVS, Target, and Harris Teeter.
(view 1)
I bought 51 items which would have cost me $ 126.01
I paid - $34.08
For a savings of- $ 91.93

(view 2)


Yesterday I went to Food Lion and Bi Lo and here's what I bought.

I bought 19 items

paid $20.72

Saved $42.48

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The total for the last 2 days is:

Total of groceries before: $192. 83

I paid : $55.32

Total Saving: $138.51

I only have a few more things to buy for the week. But I have brought my grocery bill down a ton and will have things left over for a while too!

My Weekend Savings

I went to K-mart Sat. and bought the Life cereal 3 boxes for $8. They automatically took a $1 off for purchasing 3 of the same kind of cereal which brought it down to $7/3 then I had 3 -$1 off coupons which brought my total $4.14 with tax. That is $1.38 per box.



Then I went to Target and bought the rest of the stuff in the picture. My total was $8.77 , I saved $15.01. I got the travel size sunscreen, the first aid kit, and a candy bar (not pictured) for free.


Sun. I went to CVS and bought a fingernail polish for $3.99 minus the $1 coupon I had. I got back $3 in register rewards and it also gave me a $3 off a $10 for my next purchase. Then I purchased B1G1 Free Maybelline Mascara. I paid $7.49 for both and then used my $6 off for a total of $1.49. My grand total for the day was $4.84 for 3 items w/ a total saving of $14.39. But, then Mon. I went back for some things I needed and didn't do quite as well but still OK. I purchased a Band aid for $2.99 w/ $2 rr and I used a .50 coupon. I also bought a Colgate for $2.99 it also had $2 rr , plus I used a $1 off coupon, I paid $4.84. Then I bought napkins for $3.49 and a box of tissues for $1.29, after I used my $4 off I paid 84. So my total for yesterday was $5.68 for the 4 items, I saved at least $5.50. Not to bad!



I am starting to get the hang of shopping for hardly nothing. Sometimes it does not go as planned but I'm learning. Starting Wed. Harris Teeter has triple coupons up to .75 . So I will definitely be heading there. I am hoping to get most of my order for hardly anything. We will see.....

If you wanna start saving money on groceries or get things free you can go to this site. I am using this one the most. http://www.southernsavers.com/



Victoria's Secret was having an excellent sale too! I bought 10 pr. panties for $25. That's $2.50 each. I have always bought their panties because they hold up for years. I love their bra's too! They also had their make up on sale for 75% off. I love their make up too! I think the sale was just for Memorial day but June 16th their Semi-Annual sale starts. That's when you can really stock up! Also, June 1st Bath and Body starts their Sale too!

Happy Shopping..........

Lilee's First Song

This is the first song Lilee has learned all the word too.( Please excuse my singing!) I just thought I would share some sweetness with you. You will have to pause the music on my side bar to hear Lilee singing. Sorry.......

My Son Is Officially A Teenager Today! -Updated!

*****I added an update at the bottom of the page , so make sure you check it out!******


I can't believe I have a teenager now.... Waaa! Happy 13th Birthday Jordan!!!! we Love you soooo much are are very proud of you and all that you do and are! You are a very smart,(when you want to be.)handsome, pretty good, cool kid! You are the one that made me a mother for the first time and now you are the one making me the mother of a teenager.

Jordan is having a paintball party all day today with his dad and friends ( at a paintball park). I will be joining them very soon with Pizza and the party food! He has been so excited for this day for a very long time! Hope you have a wonderful, fun day today!

Jordan had a great party. He invited a few of his friends , along with his dad and brother (Josiah ended up playing after all.) and went to play paintball for the day. I came at lunch and brought all the food and then left with the 3 little ones. It was too dangerous to be there very long! Paintballs were flying everywhere! Yikes! But all the guys love it and had a great time! Jordan said this was his best party ever!

The Paintball Warriors, minus Karlton.

More Savings....

I did pretty good yesterday at Bi-Lo. I bought 23 items for $17.32. My total before all my coupons and saving was $ 49.77 for a total savings of $32.69. I went to 4 different stores for their sales and my coupons and my total savings for the day was almost $60. Usually spent around $125-140 a week on groceries for 7 people. This is with me budgeting and buying the sales things and using a coupon or 2. Yesterday I spent $124.00 and that included buying all of Jordan's B/D party foods, supplies, and cupcakes. Plus ,I came home with a lot more groceries. I can officially say that my freezer, fridge, and pantry are a lot fuller then they usually are. (but that does not mean tomorrow they will be, lol)

Some of my favorite buys of the day were:

2hot dog buns: .49 ea.

2 BBQ sauce: . 24 ea.

2cool whip: .44 ea.

2wheat thins: 1.24 ea.

2kraft singles: . 58 ea.

2ball park hot dogs: 1.15 ea.

crest multicare toothpaste : Free

razors: 1.74

secret deodorant: .47

secret deodorant: 1.34

deluxe velveeta shells mac.: .50

kashi waffles: .94

And I also hit the jack pot on 6 pk of annuals. I bought 7 pks. for .75 each. Woo Hoo!

Prayer Request and Running Update

First off, I need to ask everyone for their prayers. Karlton's business is basically at a stall, his company has been taking a really hard hit from the economy for a while now. All the builders that he worked for are either jobless or have shut their companies down. Right now he is trying to just get enough work just to pay us. But that is not helping all the credit card companies and people he owes from his business. Please add us to your daily prayer list or any prayer chains that the Lord will send Karlton work that will help him to keep money coming in for us and to pay all his debts for his business.



Karlton is an (electrician) Electrical Contractor in the Charlotte area (NC & SC), he has an unlimited license that allows him to do any size of a job weather it is putting recess cans in for an individual or wiring an apartment building, or a department store. So if you have electrical work that you need done or you know of any Building Contractors that need help please keep Karlton in mind.



We are trying to sale an old work vehicle and trying to get rid of unneeded things to try to stay a float. These times are really scary right now and with me not being able to help out financially it makes me feel helpless (useless), being a stay at home mom to 5 kids. At the worst time possible our lawn mower died, our microwave stopped working and I desperately need a new dryer!


I know we are not alone and their are people even allot worse off then we are! If you have any prayer request add them to my comments and I will certainly add them to my daily prayer list too! I don't know if you are like me but I feel so much better when I know that people are praying for me / our family!

Philippians 4 : 6
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything , by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God."


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I also wanted to keep you posted on my running.... I just completed my 2nd week. I have added another .2 of a mile a day so this week I ran a little more then 4 miles. I am enjoying it so much!!! Even with the minor aches and pains. LOL.... I feel so free when I am running! Plus it makes for a great nights sleep! I am still lifting weights everyday too. I am seeing allot of changes going on with my body.... some good.... some not! I have only lost 1 lb though. MAN it is hard to loose weight! I keep hearing I am adding muscle ,but I would rather just lose the weight! HA! I can't wait until I can run a mile a day, that will be a huge accomplishment for me! Hope I am not boring you with posting about my running / exercising.