Get ready..

Get ready because you are about to read the best money saving tip for the holiday season.  Maybe you already know this tip, I learned it from my friend Suzy.  If you are a person who does not like saving money or trying new things, you may not want to read on.

Do you send out Christmas photo cards each year? How much do you spend to make them?  At Walgreens.com their "Simple Holiday" card with only one picture starts at $15.99 for a set of 20.  EXPENSIVE.  After Easton was born, Suzy used Photoshop to create a birth announcement for him using several pictures, sent them to Walgreens as a digital picture and only paid 10 cents per copy.  This made the 30 copies I needed for family and friends only $3.00!!  

I do not have Photoshop on my computer and I do not want to buy it, so I found the next best FREE thing.  There is a program made by Google called Picasa.  Picasa is a free download and with it you can touch up photos, create borders and backgrounds for your photos, make collages and type on your photos.  This is what I am going to use to make our Christmas cards this year.  If you want to see examples of what you can do using Picasa, just look at my blog.  The top border of my blog was made using the program as were all the picture collages in my recent posts..  So there you go, was it worth the read?

Here's an example card I made using Picasa...keep in mind I just threw it together quickly for this blog post!  Now go and save some money!

And I think this says it all...

A picture worth a thousand words.  This picture tells why kids are worth the hard work, the tears, the fits, the never getting time to yourself unless you get up before they wake up life that is yours once you become a mother .  They look like angels, don't they? It probably helps that I added a "soft focus" feature to the photo, but still the same, in this picture they are my angels. I love them and even when I get frustrated beyond belief it all circles back to the fact that they are mine and worth every minute of frustration.  Children bring happiness to a home, giggles to a room, and everyday smart little comments to a conversation that make you wonder, "where did they learn that from?"   Take another look at the picture, it will say everything else that I don't write in this blog entry that should be said about the wonders of children.                                                                            

     

Tutu for a two year old..

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens. Ecclesiastes 3:1
This last Saturday was a time to party! A time to celebrate our baby girl turning two, a time to wear a tutu, and a time to get together with family and friends.
Even a party is divided into "times" for each activity.  This is how Melanie's party went down.

Yes, there is certainly a time for everything, and this time was a success! Thanks to all who helped, and thank you Lord for such a precious and beautiful little girl!

A trip to the Danner Boot Factory a boring day does not make..

We drove to Portland. We looked at boots.  We bought some for daddy and a car seat to boot! :)

Why Portland you ask? Well, apparently the winter work boots are about $100 cheaper there and tax free! Thus, we bought a new car seat to boot, because, well, we needed one, and hey, no tax!
Surprisingly, boot shopping is not boring, it was quite fun..but when are spur of the moment road trips NOT fun?  I think the kids especially loved it that we took the portable DVD player so they could watch Elmo on the way.  Here are more pictures of our day...

It was a good day. Truly, a very good day..the kind of family day you dream of having before you even have a family.  And I'm so glad I get to have the family of my dreams.

Loving the things of fall...

And here are some of the fall things going on in our world.  Candlelit kitchens with cups of coffee and warm baked treats...

Caramel apple pies made of apples from a friend's backyard...

More candles and a touch of Halloween candy to make fall feel right...

And horsey rides in our pajamas...

And introducing our newest tradition of fall...

warming our hands on mom's hot mug of coffee...

She's always been my little Starbucks girl...

With autumn comes more memories and traditions.  Melanie is going to be a princess this year..still pondering Eastie's costume..any ideas?

I get these phone calls..

Almost daily, I get this phone call, sometimes I dial too, and it is one of the absolute highlights of my day! They're fun, these phone calls, because I can say whatever I want and the person on the other side understands.  You see, I have this friend, and to put it simply, she's really a pretty darn good friend, a best friend, the kind you can tell anything to and she'll be able to muster up a response that's both appropriate and leaves me feeling good and loved.  We're miles apart, like across the country far from each other, but in our hearts we're neighbors.
Just like neighbors we swap recipes, swap advice, swap stories about the crazy people and things in our lives.  We talk about our kids, husbands, the Bible, family, trials, hopes, basically everything. We don't judge, we just share.
Her name is Skyelynn, and she is just what her name says.  She is as pretty and nice as the sky is blue.  She is so special to us that if we ever have another girl, she will be named after Skyelynn.  I have not seen her in over 2 years.  She has not met my kids and I have not met hers.  BUT, someday this will happen!  It is often the subject of our phone calls.  One day, we plan to be real neighbors.  We plan to share a vegetable garden and make family dinners together with our produce.  It is our dream.

And even though she doesn't know my kids, at least in person, we talk about Tia Cielo (Aunt Skye) all the time. She sends them gifts, and I send her little one things too.  You know you have a good friend when she loves your kids without having met them.
She is the type of friend everyone should have.

made with love and sealed with a kiss.

Ode to Evite: You are so easy to use and have so many invites to choose from and the best part of all...YOU SAVE ME SO MUCH MONEY!  I used you yesterday to invite 41 people to my daughter's 2nd birthday party.  Let's see, 41 times 44 cents (the current price of postage)  equals $18.04 plus about $30 for store bought invitations comes out to a $48.04 savings..that's almost $50!
I have been criticized for using you Evite...some say you're not personal enough, well I say, how is sending something in the mail any more personal than email? Is it because you spent money on a piece of paper and postage that will eventually be thrown in the garbage?  I think the only way you can make a party invitation more personal is by delivering the invitation or news about the party "in person."  Therefore, Evite, I will continue using you for my party invitations, because even though you are not tangible, you are still made with love and sealed with a kiss!

Disclaimer: I am not criticizing those who like to use store bought invitations and send them in the mail. I love getting mail!  I am only stating my reasons for loving to use Evite. ;)