The blessings of Grandparents

My kids enjoyed some quality grand parent moments lately. Every time that I think of moving south towards Florida (which beileve me crosses my mind a LOT) I think of all my kids would miss out on not being surrounded by family.
We had a family getaway to Clifty Falls Indiana for my mom's birthday, it was a WONDERFUL getaway with our family, my mom and dad and my brother, his wife and their new baby.
I was happy the kids spent some quality time with their grandparents:

We took a walk in the woods and this snapshot of my dad walking with Lauren flashed me back to when I was a kid, walking hand in hand with my dad when I was her age, so glad she has these memories now too:

My mom and Luke have this incredible bond, and it is so fun to watch them goof around together:


The getaway was wonderful family bonding time at it's best!

Then this week Tim's mom came into Luke and Lauren's school and did a wonderful demonstration about their Ukranian heritage, her great grandfather's journey to America as an immigrant from the Ukraine, and all of his successes when he arrived in America. Here she was talking to the kids:

She did an amazing job teaching the Ukranian heritage to the kids and really holding their attention. Then she demonstrated how to make Ukranian Easter Eggs. The kids were happy to have their grandmother come to school and speak:





Funny that BOTH my mom AND Tim's mom are named Georgia, that is why we chose it for Lauren's middle name.
I would be remiss not to mention Tim's dad here as well. He is a wonderful grandfather to my children, comes up with fun and creative games with the kids which they BEG to play. Here is Luke playing his favorite "left right" game at our recent family night. Tom (Tim's dad) yells out "left foot, right foot, right arm" etc. and the kids have to do it quickly and when they get it wrong they are squirted with water, HUGE hit with the grandkids.

Today I am thankful for loving grand parents, my children are blessed to have two very loving sets of grandparents and for that I am TRULY thankful!

My Bologna ........

So, I am going to try and due this "inside joke" a little justice.
To understand this you must understand two things:
1). I am ALWAYS going around singing "my balogna has a first name, it's O-S-C-A-R" at the top of my lungs goofing around the house with the kids, just something I've ALWAYS done.
2). My middle name is Marie
So........ I had a stressful day at work today and Tim knew I needed a smile so he bought me some beautiful flowers and this AWESOME card:


Does it GET any better than that???
Isn't it great when someone you love does something special that puts a HUGE smile on your face and let's the worries of the day just melt away instantly.
That card will go down in emphamy, LOVE it!

Lucky

Have you heard that song by LUCKY by Colbie Caillat and Jason Mraz? (I put it in my song list in case you haven't).
Well.......... I am LUCKY to be in love with my best friend.
In this world we live in, having a strong family is definitely a rariety. I see people so unhappy in their marriages just going through the motions, constantly fighting, not connecting, it's sad really. I feel that investing in my marriage and making sure it is strong is not only healthy for us, but so very important for our children, their well being and emmotional stability.
Of course, just like all strong marriages, Tim and I have had our up's and downs, but we are stronger for it and, after 11 1/2 years of marriage, we are stronger than we have ever been. I am indeed LUCKY to be married to my best friend. Tim makes me laugh daily, keeps me strong, is my motivation, is my coach, and more importantly my very best friend. I am so blessed that the Lord has given me such a wonderful partner in life.

A part of keeping our marriage strong is getting away, just the two of us sometimes. This weekend (as my Valentine's Day gift to Tim) we will escape to a VERY nice hotel in the Downtown Cincinnati area, enjoy a nice dinner together, movie night and hotel getaway, I CAN'T WAIT!

-Lesley

It continues

So.......... we went to the grocery store last night and SAVED............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................DRUMROLL PLEASE...................................................................................................................................................................
A WHOPPING $78.00 off of our grocery bill, that was 30% off of our bill. I am so excited, talk about motivation!!!!
I also scored BIG TIME on a deal on graveyardmall.com They had a deal for 10 pairs of women's sunglasses for 9.99 and I took a risk, well it paid off BIG TIME! I got 10 pairs of AWESOME "MUDD" brand sunglasses with price tags still on them for $20.00 each, UNBELIEVABLE!!! They publicised the same deal for men's glasses, so we're waiting for Tim's to arrive. I LOVE mine, every one is super fashionable and I love each and every pair!
As far as my working out, I have switched to working out before work. It isn't easy getting up a 1/2 an hour earlier but I find when I do it, it's nice because it's done for the day, it doesn't take time away from the kids when I get home from work, and it does give me more energy in the mornings. I'll keep you updated.
I'm thankful the days are getting longer, I love driving to school in the sunlight and am enjoying the extra hours of sunshine, now if it could only get warmer!
Hope you are enjoying life

-Lesley

Still Plugging Away

Since I last wrote you I am STILL doing my exercise routine and watching my calories, it definitely takes the dedication I mentioned in my previous post. Isn't it funny how the habits and lifestyles of others that you live with influence you in major ways. When Tim wasn't watching what he was eating or working out I was perfectly content just to be a couch potato but now that we are both doing it together we motivate one another. Tim is down to the lowest weight ever, he looks amazing and his dedication is inspiring to me. I've lost a total of 10 pounds since my adventure began in January, I'm still 10 pounds off of my goal weight. I reached a plateau and was getting discouraged and Tim found a workout called "INSANITY" for me to try. OMG this workout truly is INSANE. I did it for the first time yesterday and literally thought I was going to die, but at the same time so was proud of myself for doing it. I'll keep you updated on if I continue with that level of "insantiy" to achieve my results.
We continue to coupon and use couponing blogs to help save us an average of 55 dollars per trip to the grocery store. I found a blog "couponing my way to Disney" that motivated me to try a writing campaign. She emails 5 companies per week with either complaints or detailed compliments on their products and she said 9/10 they will mail you coupons. I decided to give it a try for one week and 3/5 companies that I wrote sent me REALLY good coupons for a signifigant discounts. Purina sent me 5 2.00 off coupons, Dole sent me 5 .75 off coupons, and Fruictis shampoo products sent me 2 coupons for free products. So, I think I'll continue to give that a try.
We have been diluged with snow here and enjoyed some days playing in it. We walked to our local park and enjoyed sledding time with the park to ourselves the first day of snowfall:

We ended up with about 12 inches of snow. We also enjoyed some snow days too which was a nice surprise and allowed us more snow playing time. We also enjoyed a quick weekend getaway to Gatlinburg which was fun.
Here's something a little random to leave you with. We've been enjoying the Olympics and during the shows have been laughing hysterically at our new favorite commercial, this one gets us EVERY time, sOOOOOOOOOO funny!

Saving Money and Dedication

I am so excited about two major things that is going on with me right now:
1). Saving tons of money using coupons and local coupon blogs
2). Sticking to a diet, weight loss and exercise plan and starting to see changes.

Tim and I are kicking ourselves that we didn't start clipping coupons sooner, but now that we are we are serious about it. We bought a coupon organizer, bought our Sunday paper and got organized, just based upon that we saved 30.00 our first time out of the gate.
That was great......... but I wanted more!
I scoured the internet for even more coupons and our trip online. So, two weeks ago (our second try at this) we went out armed with our Sunday paper coupons AND our printed out online coupons and saved a whopping $50.00 off of our bill... AWESOME feeling!................ but I wanted more!
So......... I scoured the internet more and found some great coupon blogging websites. My favorite one is www.coupongeek.net They made it SUPER easy for me because they go through the Kroger circular and suggest the best deals for you as well as link those deals with coupons from the paper and have links to online coupons to further the savings and show you what the final price would be.... this was WONDERFUL! So........ I took great notes from the site, paired them with Sunday coupons they suggested and with the printable coupons and we went to the store yesterday and were able to save $75.00 off of our grocery bill!!! I just LOVE this! I am so excited to see how much we can save over this upcoming year, we just need to stay dedicated to it (but the wonderful motivation of extra money in our pockets will make that easy).
Speaking of motivation......... I have stuck to a dieting and exercise regiment since the beginning of January. I am down 7 pounds (a total of 15 pounds is my goal by Spring Break). I feel better than I have in years. I have cut down my wine drinking to one glass per week (which for those of you who know me, know that is a sacrifice: ) I am starting to see results and I am LOVING it! It is a great feeling to have your pants get loser and see more definition in your body. I will keep you updated on the progress of both of these things as the year progresses..... wish me luck!
-Lesley

Trials in Parenting

The Lord has blessed me with two amazing and healthy children. I remember when I was pregnant with each of them I always prayed for their health. I can vividly recal sitting in their nurseries at night after they had been born rocking them slowly and praying to the Lord to keep them safe and healthy and in turn I promised Him I would raise up my children to know and love Him. Well, the Lord has kept his promises and now I am trying my best to do my part.
I can close my eyes and see my son at the very young age of 1 1/2 as a new walker, trying his best to maneuver up and down curbs outside in our neighborhood. I can still see the determination in his eyes as he would try over and over again to put one foot up on the curb and not topple over during his balancing act. It took him about 15-20 attempts, but he continued to do it until he mastered it - and that look of pure joy and accomplishment on his little face brought a smile to my own.
As my children have grown older I have watched their personalities develop in much different ways. My son who used to be the determined confident one has recently become more self conscious, frustrated and frightened to try new things. This personality trait also then evolves into bad sportsmanship because he can not handle losing or failing once he has tried at something - an uphill battle for sure. I don't know how you go from being a 1 1/2 year old with such drive and determination to an almost 9 year old who lacks that confidence and ability to try, but I am trying to get to the bottom of it with him. I've had talks with him today, and had him give me a list of 10 things he is great at (which he could easily come up with). He is a wonderful person inside and out, I want him to have that confidence that he deserves so he can be the successful man that I know he can be in life. I try to teach him to be Christ like in everything he does, I know it is a stiff order, but I am trying.
I have a six year old who is confident and wise beyond her years. She will dance and strut her stuff in front of complete strangers smiling from ear to ear. She will talk your ear off to no end and when she walks into a room she radiates it with her positivity and good nature. I am praying that as years go by she doesn't loose that self confidence within herself and her Christ like nature to serve others. I pray her ability to always want to please others won't be taken advantage of. I pray that I can be the mother that I told the Lord I would be, and that my children deserve.

Motherhood is more than I ever thought it could be. I literally wear my heart on my sleeve daily. All I can do is continue to pray that not only they will be healthy, but they will be happy and have a wonderful quality of life that they deserve. Please Lord.......... give me the strength!

-Lesley