free chipotle burrito

Tonight was Free Burrito Night at Chipotle! We were able to receive free food for just dressing in foil from 5 p.m. until closing. I enjoyed my foil ponytail holder, foil bracelet, and foil choker. Noah was decked out with a cool foil hat. But the best family member was Clay. He was covered chest to knees in foil. He looked like a big burrito!

We enjoyed going to the same restuarant in August and received free burritoes for their back-to-school event for all Seminary students. The burritoes are HUGE! They are literally several pounds worth of food. Noah barely touched his tonight, so it looks like one of us has lunch for tomorrow as well. And the only cost of a meal for 3 (plus leftovers-not to mention a fun time!) was $1.60 at a local Family Dollar for a roll of aluminum foil!

pray for the daltons

Some good friends of ours left for West Africa on Friday to serve as missionaries with the IMB. The Dalton family is such a special family to us. When we first moved here, over 2 years ago, Billy Dalton, was the first person we met. We had to make a call to the Seminary to find out what to do with the loads of moving boxes we had piling up in our living room and in our front yard. Since this was a Sunday the only department available was the Security Dept. Billy was working this particular Sunday and came over to our house to help us out. He gave us all the ins and outs of proper box disposal. But more importantly, he gave Clay his phone number and said that if we needed anything to give him a call. He also mentioned that the Security Dept. was hiring if Clay was looking for a job. Of course Clay was looking for a job! We moved to Fort Worth with a 12 day old baby and needed some income badly. Clay did end up contacting the Security Dept. and landed a job as a Security Dispatcher. This job got us through our first year of seminary life!

While Clay was being trained as a dispatcher, he had to make a few rounds with Billy to get more familiar with the campus. Billy introduced Clay to Christ the Redeemer Church, which has been our church home since September 2006. On our first Sunday at Redeemer Church, I met Heather Dalton. Heather and I served as Nursery Coordinators and one-year-old sunday school co-leaders together. During this time we spent a lot of moments learning from each other and laughing together. Not only was she a ministry partner, but a great friend as well. I learned a lot of great advice from a more seasoned mom than myself. Their children, Leianna, Caleb, and Nyah are also very important to our family. Noah and Caleb are the same age so they were quite the buds. They both have a pretty mean arm when it comes to baseball!

Here is a picture of Noah, Leianna, and Caleb. This picture was taken in May when they moved from Fort Worth to South Carolina to visit their family for the summer before moving overseas.

You can visit the Daltons' website at http://web.me.com/daltons2africa/Site/Welcome.html and find out how to pray for them.

We love you Dalton Family!

great deals

Clay and I pray often that we will be good stewards with our budget. I get so excited about a good deal! I went to Kroger and Wal-Mart today. I usually only go to one store, but Noah was in school today, so I didn't mind making 2 stops with just one kiddo in tow :)

I called Clay several times during my excursion to check my math. Nothing bothers me more than getting to the register and not getting the deal I was anticipating. I used coupons at Kroger and price-matching at Wal-Mart. Look below for details about my great savings!

This bag of mini-ricecakes was on sale for $2 at Wal-Mart. I used a coupon for $1.50 off any package of Orville Redenbacher's mini-ricecakes that I received last week in a mom's package (free) while shopping at the same store. So, my end price was 50 cents!

I divided the large bag into 13 single serving bags. That means that each single serving is less than 5 cents. Wow- what a deal!
I received some coupons in the mail for having a Kroger Plus Card and used them on things that were on my list. The ground meat (Angus Premium) was on sale for $1.67/lb. I had a coupon that if I bought $5 worth of beef I got $1.50 off. One pound of this beef is usually over $4. I got 3 1/2 lbs. for $6!! Another coupon was for $2.50 off $10 of fresh poultry. Each package of 2 1/2 lbs. of boneless, skinless chicken tenderloins was half off for using my Plus Card. Then I also used my coupon, so I ended up getting 7.5 lbs. of chicken for about $10. That's approximately 75 cents/lb.!!! My coupons also allowed me to get FREE strawberries and an 8 pack of Gatorade. I got a total of 14 items. I spent $20.96 and saved $47.57!! I call that a deal!

my lil' artist craft

I was googling one day looking for Christmas gift ideas and came across a fun craft for displaying children's artwork. I'm always looking for fun ways to show off Noah's cute drawings and paintings. Magnets just don't do the trick. This inexpensive project was just the ticket for my fridge!

i also made a couple to give to my mom and sister

Instructions for Making Art Hanger

You will need:

1. 1 paint stick (free in paint dept. at Wal-mart or any store that sells paint)

2. craft paint (color of your choosing)

3. paint brush

4. permanent marker or paint pen

5. 3 clothespins

6. adhesive magnetic tape

7. wood glue or craft glue

8. scissors

What to do:

1. paint stick and clothespins with craft paint, allow to dry; you may want to paint a second coat

2. glue the clothespins onto the paint stick- one on the left, one in the middle, and one on the right, spaced evenly across the stick

3. write message such as "my lil' artist" across the stick using marker

4. cut 3 strips of magnetic tape and apply to back of stick

5. stick to fridge and hang artwork!

first post

I've decided to have my own blog! I enjoy blogging about my boys (you can view that blog here)but I also have interests of my own! I plan to use this space to share my thoughts, ideas, recipes, crafts, questions, bible readings, etc. as they pertain to godly living. My goal, as in everything I do, is to give God all the glory. May He use me as a wife, mother, and homemaker to honor my family and others around me, including those that read this blog!