LUV BBW club

I know I've already told you how much I LOVE Bath and Body Works - but today I'm going to rave on a little more about them. :)



A while ago I was visiting a blog I like and it mentioned how you could sign up for this LUV BBW club and how you would get a free item each month just for joining. So I thought, sure, why not? And I signed up and then forgot about it.



Until one day when my LUV BBW card arrived in the mail and I was all excited again to go see what free item they would give me.



*The details are the card is good from Jan. 2011 - June 2011 and you can go once per month and get a free item, but you have to go on a Thursday. Not sure why, but anyhow, that's the only catch. Otherwise there is no purchase necessary and you just go in, get your free item and leave. {Or shop if you want to.}



Anyway, in January I went in and since I had just gotten a bunch of new BBW stuff in Dec and for Christmas I really didn't need anything else. So I was half expecting that the free item would be a tiny little sample size of something and that's it. I was totally shocked when she said 'pick out a FULL size hand soap, plus a travel size hand-sanitizer, plus one of those cute little rubbery case things to put your hand-sanitizer in.' ALL FOR FREE. They punched my card for January and I was on my way. {oh and gave me new coupons for Feb.}



Well February sort of got away from me {what's up with such a short month!?} and I almost forgot about going in. I got a reminder email saying yesterday was the last Thursday of Feb so I figured I better get there if I wanted my free item for the month! I almost skipped it, I didn't really need anything, but ended up figuring that why not, I might as well go in.



Oh, did I mention that my girls also LOVE BBW now too? I think they have almost as many lotions, sprays and body washes as I do!



Anyway, back to the store - so I had my LUB BBW club card which this month got me a collection of 3 trial size items - one spray, one lotion and one shower gel. And trial size isn't too bad from that store, the body spray will last quite a long time. AND, I had the coupon that they gave me last month which was get a free full sized signature collection item with any $10 purchase.



Sorry this is getting really long - basically, I ended up coming out of there having spent only $10 and got $42 worth of stuff! The girls each got 3 trial size items and I got the new Carried Away body spray for myself. All 3 of us were very happy campers!







I wanted to share the link for the LUV BBW club - I'm not sure if you can still sign up or not, but it's worth a try! I think I will start stockpiling some of my items to give as gifts - since the girls and I already have SO much of it!

Have a great day friends!!

Decorating Advice please!!

I am re-painting and re-decorating my living room. I am painting the walls a neutral tan color and hoping to change the curtains, some pillows and other little details.

But today I need your advice!! The pic below is the way my front living room windows looked prior to last night when I started painting ...

I am planning to get/make new curtains. Here's my dilemma - I HATE covering up the windows with the blinds + curtains - I love having lots of natural light coming in during the day.

However, at night I like having the privacy of closing up the blinds.

So, when I do new curtains how should I do them? Should I stick with 4 panels, one between each window, should I just do one on each side of the large window as a whole? Should I do a valance across the top and long panels on the sides? Should I leave the blinds down and just have curtains that pull closed at night?

I need some IDEAS!! In the next pic you will see how the window looks uncovered, I love it all open like that!

The other 'issue' I have is that the blinds are 3 separate sections ... so I always felt like I needed the curtains between every set of blinds because they sort of cover up the edges of the mini blinds - does that make sense?

So, if this were YOUR living room ... what would YOU do? How do you make it look great, take advantage of all the natural light AND still have privacy at night??

1,000 Gifts {375-397}

*open windows and milder temps {at least for a couple days this week}

* melting snow

* feet feeling free in flip flops {only for one day, but it still felt good!}

* taco salad made by my awesome friend Caroline

* laughter with my girlfriends

* my little sweetheart girl helping to make her own birthday cake

* licking batter-covered bowls

* going out for dinner to one of our fave places to celebrate the birthday girl - the food and company were fabulous and we had a great time together - just the 4 of us!

* working together to make decorations for Joy's party

* sister sleepover on a Friday night

* 8 wonderful years with our sweet daughter

* streamers taped across the bedroom door so that when the birthday girl wakes up she will burst through them {a family birthday tradition}

* homemade waffles

* little girls dancing and giggling

* fresh paint

* little girl sleepovers

* loving Grandparents

* the feeling of comfort when I first climb into bed each night ... aahhhhh!!!

* a brand new GAP skirt {for me} from the consignment shop {for only $2.50!}

* a sparkly purse for the oldest daughter - something she saw a couple months ago at the consignment shop and wanted, but we didn't buy when she saw it. So when I saw it was still there this week {and 75% off} I got it to surprise her, and she was very surprised and excited to see it!

* really great books

* my prayer journal

* workout videos

This post is linked to Ann's blog ... if you'd like to hear more about joining this community of gratitude and the counting of One Thousand Gifts, click on over to her page to join in ...

Our Joy is turning 8 today!

And WOW, I'm overwhelmed with how fast time is flying! Seems like just yesterday she was a little baby that I rocked to sleep in my arms. Eight years have flown by in the blink of an eye ... and I have no doubt that the next 8 will go just as fast. I can't imagine her being 16 but know it will come ALL TOO SOON.

This year we have been blessed to see Joy grow in amazing ways ... here a just a few of the things she has accomplished this year:



*moved up to a big girl bike

*learned how to roller skate and ice skate

*hiked up 2 mountains

*learned how to tie her shoes

*lost A LOT of teeth - she has now lost the same amount as her older sis

*became an excellent reader who now loves chapter books

*won 2 art contests!

*won a costume contest at Halloween

*tried a dance class and found out she LOVED it

*grew taller than all her peers and even cousins & friends that are a year older than her {yes we think she might play in the WNBA someday!}

*found out that she loves the taste of crab, just like her Daddy



This has been a year of tremendous growth for Joy and we are so proud of her! She is a blessing to our lives every single day.

1,000 Gifts {350-374}

*a ripened pear in the afternoon

* printing and copying school pages at home

* new binders for organization

* my bread machine/keurig/kitchenaid/crock pot -- all of which were being used at the same time one afternoon this week -- oh, did I mention the washer/dryer and dishwasher too? It's wonderful to be blessed with modern conveniences!

* my 'baby' girl wanting me to sleep with her every night

* crafting Valentines together

* the warmth from the oven/stove that warms my bones

* Hope scoring THREE baskets in her basketball game!! woot woot!

* My Mom showing up for the game unexpectedly

* a fantastic lunch visit with my recently widowed friend Jen - what a blessing she has become to me! Her hardships and grief have helped me see so many things in my life with fresh eyes.

* a good night of sleep - finally!

* the girls giving hubby and I back and foot massages

* a fun Friday night dinner party with great friends

* a nap on the couch on a Saturday afternoon

* Sunday afternoon playdates for the girls

* our Shepherd group 'family'

* praying over friends that are about to move to the other coast

* a Valentine surprise on my doorstep early in the morning

* treats brought over from my neighbor Jane

* going out to lunch {& having my fave sandwich!} and bowling with our girls on Valentines Day

* my hubby cooking an amazing Valentines dinner

* a bright sunny morning

* an afternoon of errands all by myself

* Dunkin Donuts Vanilla Chai Tea



A quick camera update: I finally had a chance to take it in to the camera shop today. They are going to send it out to Canon and see what the estimate is or for that matter if it's even worth fixing ... so we'll see!

I honestly feel LOST without it. Yesterday was an absolutely WONDERFUL Valentines day and we had such a great day as a family. There were about a hundred times yesterday when I wished I could take pictures. I guess for now I'll simply have mental pictures ... but I really, really can't wait to have my camera back and I hope it's a simple fix. ;)

The Egg Pan

Most mornings my hubby makes his own breakfast. He likes to make himself an egg or two and he cooks them up in this small, non-stick skillet.

Then he takes the skillet and puts it in the sink and fills it with water and leaves to go to work or wherever else he needs to be off to that day.

I think it's wonderful that he cooks his own breakfast. What I don't think is wonderful is an egg-y pan with egg-y residue sitting in the sink, then being filled with water which makes the egg-y junk float to the top of the egg-y pan. And when you get ready to take care of the dishes it makes you want to puke because you can't just wash it all down the drain {trust me I've tried!}, it clogs the sink. You literally have to stick your hands in the {now cold} water-filled pan and scoop out the nasty, icky, egg-y slop - take it to the trash can to dispose of it - then wash the pan.

This morning I actually took the egg-y pan and set it on the counter, full of water and egg-y junk and purposed that I was going to leave it there ALL. DAY. LONG. and let him take care of it when he got home from work later that night.

Then, something happened which changed my thinking. I've told you that I'm reading One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp, right? I've told you that it's changing my life? It literally, truly is.

As I got busy with my day I began to reflect on all I have to be grateful for. We were having a great day, accomplishing much with school work and house work and baking and cooking and such. I started thinking about how fortunate I am to be staying home with my girls.

My husband works so hard for us. He works at his job all day, then comes home and still pitches in doing many, many things around the house here. Today he got out of work a little bit early and rushed home because he WANTED to be able to take our daughter to her basketball practice. He usually misses the practices because of work, but he wanted to be there and see her practicing and share that experience with her. So even though he was tired and came home with a headache he still took her. Not because he had to, but because he wanted to.

He willingly sacrifices things for us, his family, over and over and over again.

So back to the egg pan ... as I went about my busy day I got to thinking ... if he goes out and earns a living for our family, and MY JOB is to be home with the girls, teaching them, keeping our home, etc. Then shouldn't I be SO grateful for my 'job' that I don't mind cleaning up an egg-y pan? Did I make the egg-y mess? No. But that doesn't change the fact that I am BLESSED beyond words to be home, doing the 'job' that I'm doing. Does my husband sometimes have to do things he doesn't want to do in his job or here around the house? Absolutely. I'm sure he does. Does he grumble about it and make it known every time I make some kind of mess? Does he leave it for my to clean up on my own? No. Of course not.

So today I'm thankful that God saw fit to teach me a little lesson about gratefulness and being thankful and content right where I'm at. Even when that means cleaning up a yucky, nasty, egg-y pan.

Sweet Baby Girl

My youngest daughter will be turning EIGHT in about 10 days. For some reason the number 8 seems SO, SO grown up to me. I'm feeling a little sentimental lately about how quickly the girls are growing! For the last couple of years I've been saying how much I absolutely LOVE the ages they are at right now ... and now those ages are coming and going way too fast for me. :(

In some ways though, my youngest is still very much my baby. She's still full of innocence and at times still acts much more baby-ish than an almost 8 year old. I don't mind though - I want her to stay young and childish as long as possible and enjoy just being a kid without having to grow up too fast.

Today she learned to tie her shoes for the first time. I know many of you are thinking 'what??!! she's almost 8 and didn't know how to tie her own shoes??' ... and yes, you'd be right. We have tried and tried and tried with her and it's one of those things that she just tried and quit and tried and quit and pretty much wanted to stay little and let someone else do it. But today she finally mastered it and I'm so proud of her!

Another thing I want to remember about these days is bedtime. My husband and I still sing songs to the girls each night before bed - Bob sings them 2 songs and then I sing them 2 {different} songs. He sings the same two every night and I sing the same 2 every night. We've been doing this every night since they were babies and they still ask for it every night. If we forget, they remind us. They love having their bedtime songs from Mom and Dad. I often wonder when they will feel they are old enough that they won't want songs at bedtime anymore.

Also every night at bedtime {well almost every night}, Joy will ask me 3 questions:
1. Mama, can you sleep with me? {I answer no.}
2. Well then can I sleep with you? {I answer no again.}
3. Can I sleep in Hope's room then? {No sweetie, you need to sleep in here in your own room.}

She doesn't make a big deal of it, she doesn't cry or fuss over my answers or give me a hard time. She just sweetly asks me the same things every night.

Tonight I went to tuck her in. She moved over and told me 'I made room for you to lay with me'. So I did. She then went through her usual questions. I said 'why do you want me to sleep with you?' And she said 'because then you can be near me'. I said, 'but then Daddy will be lonely if I don't sleep with him' and her reply cracked me up, 'Daddy can sleep with Big Bear'. hahaha

She really is my sweet, sweet girl. I love that she loves me so much that she wants me to sleep with her every night, that she loves to snuggle in my lap and that she just wants to be near me. I pray that as she grows she will always feel this close to me and will always love spending time with me. I am so thankful for my little sweetheart and want to remember these days forever.

Two Book Rec's

Back in November I went to Women of Faith and heard a speaker named Andy Andrews. He was hilarious to listen to, he seemed to be all over the place when he spoke. However I learned that he was also a NY times bestselling author and decided to check out one of his books.

I am happy to say I was blown away by the book! After the first book I ended up borrowing another of Andy's books from my Mom and loved that one too. I'd love to tell you more about the books but wouldn't want to spoil things for you in case you should decide to read them. Below are the two titles I read {and LOVED!}

1,000 Gifts {317-349}

Oh friends! I got my book in the mail! One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. I started reading it the first day I had it. I'm taking my time, trying to fully absorb it all ... but already it's been wonderfully life changing.

I will warn you all, should you choose to read her book, that the first chapter is sort of tough. You will have to get through the tough stuff in able to move on to the good though. So just grab your tissues and a quiet moment alone and read it. I promise you it will be worth it.

It's not too late to join in on the book club too. They posted the first video from chapter one just yesterday and you can still go back and watch it at a later time if needed. So if you're interested grab a copy of the book and get started!

***************************************************************
Last week the girls and I had a little out of town trip. We met my friend Julie and her daughters in Pennsylvania at Julie's in-law's house. We planned to stay just 3 nights and let the girls all play together while Julie and I got some scrapbooking done. It's a 6 hour drive from our house and I am not a fan of driving long distances by myself. {My husband does a lot of the driving on car trips.} On the way there we drove through the Poconos in a snowstorm! There were times I couldn't see any other cars on the road and was very fearful. I prayed A LOT on that car ride and thankfully we made it there safely.

Well, the day we were to travel home there was a significant snow and ice storm across many of the northeastern states and we needed to just stay put.
We ended up staying another 2 nights until the storm was all done and the roads cleared enough to safely travel home. One of the days we lost power for the entire day. The wonderful thing was that it forced the girls to just play and not be connected to TV or wii for the day ... and ended up being a really great day for everyone. I have so much to be thankful for from last week ... here is the continuation of my counting of one thousand gifts ...

* a fun Mommy/daughter date of going out to lunch and the movies

* having a very productive day

* scrapbook supplies

* comforting my little girls

* more snow and more snow and more snow!

* baking cookies with my girls

* the elliptical machine

* 1,000 Gifts book arrived in the mail!

* quiet time with a cup of tea, warm blankets and a good book

* safety in travelling to PA through a snow storm

* girls who are so good in the car

* my awesome friend Julie

* the girls having a blast with their friends

* having a safe place to wait out the storm

* a warm home {even without power} because of the wood stove pumping out heat

* fun things to do together even with no power in the house

* knowing a tiny smidgen of what it would be like to be Amish ... and thankful that we have modern conveniences MOST of the time

* Nana's delicious canned peaches and apple dumplings

* wonderful hospitality - we were never made to feel that we were overstaying our welcome, even though we did by 2 full days and nights

* seeing many Amish people and their different way of life

* recognizing the gift of living a simple life

* layers of warm quilts

* great kindness shown to Hope - who got to have an overnight with her friend at 'Aunt Steph's' - to have a sewing lesson and go out to eat and go shopping -- it was a wonderfully girly, fun day and I know how much she loved and appreciated it.

* clear, sunny days so we can travel home safely

* seeing my hubby after a long 6 days apart

* 83 scrapbook pages done - enjoying the gift of the memories they bring

* little girls who lend a hand at home

* Friday night "date" with my family which involved dinner out and a food shopping trip

* my Mom who is always helping, always supporting, always praying

* Saturday lunch with my Mom and girls - having a good talk with Mom

* a relaxing Super Bowl 'party' with just a few people over

* laughter over silly commercials

* growing girls. ever growing. and growing. and growing.

One Thousand Gifts #317-349
If you would like to join this gratitude community and count your blessings one by one - or perhaps learn more about the book and/or book club, click on the link below to go to Ann's blog ...

The Newlywed Game

Here's a fun little survey I got from my friend Jessica's blog ... ask your husband to answer each of these questions and then post your responses on your blog. My husband was cracking me up with his answers, you'll see my comments below his answers ...


1. She’s sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen?
AMERICAN IDOL
{I told him that was a cop-out answer since it's not a fave show of mine at all, but since it's been on TV lately I have tuned in a couple times. I think it was the first thing that came to his mind. LOL}

2. You’re out to eat, what kind of dressing does she get on her salad?
RANCH
{I'm a fan of many different kinds of dressings but yes, I fall back on ranch a lot of the time.}

3. What’s one food she doesn’t like?
OYSTERS
{Very true, I do NOT like any of those slimy things that come from the sea like clams, oysters or any of that.}

4. You go out to eat and have a drink, what does she order?
VODKA & CRAN
{Well, sort of ... sometimes I do. It really depends on where we are. At Ruby Tuesday's I love their 'Ruby Relaxer', at Margarita's I love their 'Coco Loco', at Chili's and SolToro I love the Strawberry or Raspberry Mojito ... basically I love the sweet and fruity drinks.} =)

5. What shirt size does she have?
LARGE
{Either large or medium ... I hate being kind of in between. But I hate when shirts shrink up on me so I buy large a lot of the time}

6. What shoe size does she have?
7&1/2
{pretty close, I'm usually a 7 but it depends on the shoe}

7. What’s her favorite type of sandwich?
TURKEY
{yes please, esp with REAL turkey breast, stuffing and cranberry sauce - YUM!}

8. What would she eat everyday if she could?
ICE CREAM
{true, I would if I could but I REALLY shouldn't! haha!}

9. What is her favorite cereal?
LUCKY CHARMS ... UH, I DON'T KNOW ...
{I'm not a big cereal fan, it's OK but I don't eat it often. I do like LC but would rarely eat it b/c of all that sugar. I'd say the thing I eat most often is Kashi Go Lean Crunch or granola}

10. What would she never wear?
HE HAD NO ANSWER FOR THIS ONE! HAHAHA

11. What is her favorite sports team?
NONE, SHE DOESN'T LIKE SPORTS.
{very true! But I cheer for the Red Sox, Celtics and Patriot's for my hubby's sake}

12. What is something she does that you wish she wouldn’t do?
SHOP
{aw come on, I hardly ever shop!}

13. What is her heritage?
CANADIAN
{yes, I am but do you think heritage means going back more than one generation? If so I have Irish, English and Scottish in me}

14. You bake her a cake, what kind of cake?
CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH CHOCOLATE FROSTING
{sounds good to me! I love most kinds of cake and don't really have a fave}

15. Did she play sports in high school?
YES, SOFTBALL
{yep, I did.}

16. What could she spend hours doing?
SCRAPBOOKING
{again, very true}

17. What is the unique talent that she has?
ENCOURAGING OTHERS
{haha ... not sure I would classify that as a special talent, but I don't really have any special talents so I'll take it!}

18. What is her type of coffee?
FIRST HE ANSWERED HAZELNUT, THEN I SAID, HEY THAT'S YOUR FAVE, NOT MINE - SO THEN HE SAID OH YEAH PUMPKIN SPICE
{truth is I love ALL kinds of flavored coffees. Pumpkin Spice, Island Coconut, Blueberry, Spicy Eggnog, etc ... }

Wanna play along? Copy the questions, ask your hubby for his answers and blog about it!