Dear Daughters,

Bailey - 4 years old

Lou - 2 1/2 years old

Parker - 7 1/2 months old

• We love you more than you'll ever know. We tell you that we love you every day so that you will never forget how much we love you. As you get older, you may do things that will disappoint us, but we will always love and support you. No matter what.
• 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 - "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails."
• As much as we love you, God loves you even more.
• Romans 8:38-39 - "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
• Your sisters are your first best friends. They will be your last best friends. They will always be there for you.
• Ecclesiastes 4:12 - "Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken."
• Be kind to everyone and in every circumstance. Be respectful of others.
• John 13:34-35 - “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
• Love yourself. Be confident in who you are. Be proud of yourself. Respect yourself.
• Ephesians 4:1 - "As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received."
• Make the most of every day. Enjoy life. Enjoy your family. Enjoy your friends. Enjoy God.
• Proverbs 27:1 - "Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring."
• Pray daily. Talk to God as if He is your friend because He is your friend. He's excited to talk to you about the big events and the little events in your life. He will always be there for you.
• Mark 12:30 - "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength."
• You were baptised as an infant, and we look forward to the day that you choose to follow Christ on your own. Be bold.
• Acts 4:31 - "After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly."
• Always be yourself. Be proud of who you are.
• Romans 12:2 - "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."
• Your actions will always speak louder than your words.
• James 2:22 - "You see that [her] faith and [her] actions were working together, and [her] faith was made complete by what [she] did."
• Face all of life's challenges head on. We will be right behind you to back you up. Never give up.
• Romans 5:3-4 - "...we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope."
• Set goals. Reach those goals.
• Psalm 45:4 - "In your majesty ride forth victoriously in the cause of truth, humility and justice; let your right hand achieve awesome deeds."
• You are perfectly made. You are beautiful.
• Psalm 139:14 - "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."

We Love You More,
Momma & Dada

Proverbs 22:6 - "Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it."

Save the Boobies!

Last Saturday our team, Boob Supporters, walked in the Race for the Cure. The team was formed to celebrate my mom beating breast cancer 19 years ago. What a blessing! She was diagnosed in 1993 and we started participating in the race in 2003. We haven't missed a race since 2003. Unfortunately, as the years have passed, we have added more names (including my grandma) to our list of women that we walk in celebration of or in memory of. Each of these ladies are an inspiration to me on earth and in heaven.

Here are some pics of our team. We never got a full group pic, but we got everyone here and there. This year we had 18 team members.

Leaders of the Pack: Owen, Cole, Lou, Bailey, Alyssa,

Levi (in stroller), Parker (in stroller), & Emma (in stroller)

Kim & Dawn

Mom, Dad, Me, Nicole, Dawn, Greg, & Bailey

Emma in her pink Puma outfit - Adorable!

Ben & Chels

Bailey & Dad

Lou

Team Shirt - Front

Team Shirt - Back (Logo from my brother's store)

This is how we roll ... literally ... everywhere!

Me, My Hero (mom), & Parker

How cute are Bailey & Alyssa?! Walking and snacking!

The team

After the race we ate lunch at Fat Guy Burger and then let the kids run around so that they would be nice and tired for nap time!

Bailey, Owen, Cole, & Alyssa

Bailey, Alyssa, & Cole in "jail" at Driller Stadium

Kim & Parker

Bailey - This pic says it all!

Couponing Isn't Always Free

Yes, I coupon. Yes, I save a lot of money. No, I don't always the leave the store paying $0. The type of couponing that I do is not like the TLC show Extreme Couponing. When I look for deals, I make it a point to pay less for things that I would have paid for them at Wal-Mart (since that's where I did most of my shopping in the past). Yes, I like to get things free and occasionally I do, but my main goal is to simply be aware of the prices that I'm paying for certain items and to make sure that I shop around for the best deal.

So, here is a breakdown of my shopping trip to Target today. Everything I purchased. Item by item. I want you to get the full picture of couponing and not just the free deals. Today, I did two separate transactions. This was only my second time to check out twice in one shopping trip, and my first time to try it at Target. Guess what? It was simple, and the cashiers are used to people doing this.

Transaction #1:

• Qty 2: Oscar Mayer Lunchables. Sale price $1.25 each. I got two for $2.50 and I had a $1.00 off if you buy two Target coupon (anyone can print this coupon from their website). So, I got two lunchables for $0.75 each. The cheapest ones you can get at Wal-Mart are $1.00 each. I usually buy those, but this was a better deal.
• Qty 1: Four pack Jell-O Pudding. Reg price $2.04 and I had a $1.00 Target coupon also printed from the Target site. I got one pack for $1.04, or $0.26/cup. I have to be honest, I'm not sure about the price of these at Wal-Mart because it's not something that we normally buy, but I knew that it would be a nice treat for the girls (or myself) so I went ahead and got it.
• Total before tax $2.54.

The reason I had to do two separate transactions is because the two coupons that I used above stated on the coupon that it was "one coupon per customer." In other words, you have to check out more than once to use more than one coupon (if you have more than one of the exact same coupon).

Transaction #2:

• Repeat Oscar Mayer Lunchables
• Repeat Four pack of Jell-O Pudding
• Qty 2: Enfamil Baby Formula. Reg price $23.99 each. I had two $3.00 off manufacturer coupons so I paid $20.99 per container, or $41.98 for both. I will take any savings that I can get on formula. This is where my statement "couponing isn't always free" comes in to play!
• Qty 4: Gerber 2nd Baby Food. Reg price $1.00 each for two servings. Sale price $0.90 each, and I had two coupons for $0.75 off of two 2nd Baby Foods. I paid $2.10 for all four, or $0.52 each. Not bad when the sale price was $0.90 each!
• Qty 10: Gerber 1st Baby Food. Reg price $1.00 each for two servings. Sale price $0.90 each, and I had two coupons for $0.99 off of five 1st Baby Foods and a Target coupon for $0.50 off if I buy 6 (this quantity is already covered since I'm purchasing 10). I paid $6.52 for all ten, or $0.65 each. Again, not bad when the sale price was $0.90 each!
• Didn't intend to buy, but was on sale -- Qty 4: Acadia Farms Fruit Strips (10 strips per box). Sale price $2.79 each. We have never purchased these, but I know that the girls tried them at a birthday party and loved them so I got them since they were on sale. Even on sale, I paid $11.16 for these four boxes which is kind of high in my opinion, but that gives me 40 strips so they will last quite a while. And that breaks down to $0.27/strip for a healthy snack.
• Qty 3: Better Oats Organic Oatmeal (5 packets per box). Reg price $1.79 each. Sale price $1.00 each, and I had a Target coupon for $1.00 off a purchase of three. I paid $0.66 per box, and they retail for $1.79 per box. I've never had this oatmeal, but for that price I will give it a try!
• Didn't intend to buy, but was on sale -- Qty 2: Sun Maid Mini Raisin boxes. Reg price $2.49 each. Sale price $1.99. The girls love raisins and we were almost out so I got two packages of these. I believe that these are close to $1.99 each or maybe a little more at Wal-Mart so I might as well get these at Target since I was already at the store.
• Qty 2: Simply Orange OJ. Sale price 2/$3.00. We drink OJ off and on at our house, and right now we were on so this was a good deal. Sorry, but we don't do off brand OJ around here. For most items, the off brand is fine, but we've found 2-3 things that just can't be substituted for, and OJ is one of them!
• Qty 1: Reach Floss 55 yrds. Reg price $0.97. I had a coupon for $1.00 off so I made $0.03 on this purchase!
• Didn't intend to buy, but was on sale -- Qty 1: Angel Soft Toilet Paper (36 double rolls). Sale price $14.99. This calculates to $0.41/roll. I'm used to paying $0.46/roll so anything below that is a bargain! Yes, I've gotten better TP deals, but this is the best deal this week and we are almost out.
• Total before taxes $93.21.
• I had $30 in Target Gift Cards from my last purchases so that knocked my total down to $63.21.

Therefore, my grand total of both transactions before coupons and gift cards was $120.70. After coupons and gift cards, I paid $65.75! This is awesome considering the fact that I purchased items that I did not intend to buy, and still cut my bill in half!


Matthew 9:37 - Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few." This verse pretty accurately describes my feeling about couponing. There is a huge 'harvest' out there to save you money, but few people will take the time to figure out how to use coupons to their advantage. Take it from me - a part time working mom of 3 kids four years old and under - if I can do it you can do it! Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. morrison25@cox.net

Making A Splash!

In June, I took Bailey to her 4 year check up and her doctor asked if she was taking swim lessons. My reply was no. I hadn't even thought about it. Mom fail. I had a newborn, we had just moved into a new house, we were trying to sell our old house, and I was working full time for the summer. Who had time for swim lessons? We did. Because when something is important, you make time for it. Swim lessons were very important to us considering my parents have a pool and the girls are at their house 3 days a week. I just hadn't slowed down long enough to consider taking lessons this summer.

Back at work that afternoon, I remembered that one of my coworkers wives taught swim lessons for over 35 years so I sent her an email to see if she would like to come out of retirement. She said YES! What a blessing! She offered to teach my girls and some of their friends so we got 5 families together and started swim lessons. Miss Colette was AMAZING with the kids! She dealt with tears, resistance, sleepy toddlers, and our crazy summer weather with great ease! She was a Godsend.

The lessons were held at my parents house, which made things much easier on the 5 families involved. Not only did we have 7 kids taking lessons, but we also had 5 newborn siblings around. So, if every family member came and the swim instructor, that's 23 extra people at my parents house twice a week. THANK YOU to my mom and dad for letting us crash at your house so often! It was nice to be able to take the newborns inside on the really hot days.

Speaking of the heat, this was one crazy summer. We had to reschedule afternoon lessons for temps over 115, and then 4 days later because it was in the 60's in the morning. Thankfully, Miss Colette and the families involved were flexible so we were able to change our schedules around as needed.

Here are some pics of the lessons:

Bailey blowing bubbles

 Cade learning to float on his back

Bailey, Charlotte, and Elyse learning to kick and blow bubbles

Cade and Cole kicking super fast

Bailey jumping off the side of the pool

Lou learning to float all by herself

Owen also learning to float by himself

Owen jumping off the diving board

Lou jumping off the diving board (the big kids did this as well)

Charlotte, Bailey, Cole (hiding in the back), Miss Colette, Elyse & Cade showing off their medals. They got one for putting their whole face in the water and one for jumping off the diving board. Way to go!

Owen, Miss Colette, and Lou with their medals for jumping off the diving board. This was very impressive coming from our two year olds!

Here are some outtakes of the lessons:

Lou singing into the water hose and Elyse cheering her on

Owen and Lou eating snacks ... as usual

The Peanut Gallery

We can't wait until next summer!

Saturday, In The Park ...

... I think it was the eighth of September, or something like that. Bailey was wanting to go to the park all last week, but the weather was too hot. Until Saturday. The cooler weather came in Friday night in the form of super high winds and rain. It was a sight to see, and the cooler temps that followed were amazing. We took advantage of the beautiful weather and we headed to a local park on Saturday afternoon.

We started off with a Subway/McDonald's (don't judge) picnic dinner. Since we ran boring errands before going to the park, everyone got to pick what they wanted for dinner. We're never this fun. In this pic, Bailey is still talking about the bee that Daddy just swatted with his shoe. He's a lifesaver!

After dinner, it was on to the fun stuff...

We had a BLAST!

A Day At Home (First Day of Preschool & Soccer Lessons)

I work part time; therefore, I'm in the office three days a week and I'm at home 2 days a week. For those of you that ever wondered what I do on my "days off" each week, here you go:

Tuesday, 9/4/12 - First Day of Preschool & Soccer Lessons:

• Parker cries at 6:01am. Greg goes into her room to give her a pacifier. I fall back asleep.
• 15 minutes later my alarm goes off. I hit the Snooze. I mean, come on, this is my day "off."
• 7 minutes later my alarm goes off again. This time I get up and jump in the shower so that I can be somewhat ready for the day before the girls get up. Ugh, sinus drainage is back. Am I the only one that gets this in 105 degree weather?!
• Between 7-7:30am, Lou wakes up so I get her dressed and fix her breakfast. Bailey then gets up and dresses herself while I make her breakfast. And by make breakfast, I mean they both chose squeezable applesauce so that was awesomely easy. Parker is still snoozing. Oh wait, did I turn on the baby monitor when I went into the kitchen? Turn on monitor. Oops, she's awake. I go in to get her dressed and then feed her.
• Greg leaves for work.
• Parker plays in her excersaucer while I finish getting ready. The big girls watch the Disney Channel and color. Bailey colors her new teacher a picture. So sweet!
• I almost forgot, I also did a load of laundry, a load of dishes, and cleaned the kitchen.
• At 8:30am, Parker is ready for a nap so I lay her down.
• I pack the girls backpacks and lunches for their first day of Preschool back at our church. My goal is to leave the house at 9:10am so that we'll have plenty of time to load up the car, get to school, and talk to their new teachers before school starts at 9:30am.
• As time ticks away, I realize that Parker is napping really well so I hate to wake her. I load the car while letting her sleep those few extra minutes (you will know the importance of this nap soon enough).
• It's 9:15am, past time to leave so I wake up Parker and put her in her car seat. She's not thrilled to be awake. On the other hand, her sisters are pumped to get to school. School?! Pictures?! I almost forgot. I get everyone outside and I take these three pictures with my phone because I'm in a hurry and our "real" camera has a full disk. Too sunny. Too shady. Oh well, we got the shot. Everyone in the car!

• We arrive at school right on time. I carry in Parker in her car seat on my arm, Lou's lunch is in one of my hands, and I hold the big girls' hands in my other hand. Bailey and Lou both decided to wear their backpacks so that was a huge help!
• Here's to another wonderful year at Preschool!
• Parker and I get back in the car and we head to Tulsa for my dentist appointment at 10:15am. Parker makes some sweet sounds, but by the time we get closer to the building her sweet sounds turn in to grumbling cries. You mom's know the sound. The kind of grumbling cries that you don't want to take out in public because you look like "that" mom. She's tired, and this is why I don't like waking her up from naps. And her next feeding is in 45 minutes. This could will probably be disastrous.
• Parker is playing it cool for the first 10 minutes of my appointment, but then it happens, she loses it. My poor girl is so tired. The young dental assistant (having no kids of her own) does her best to entertain Parker, but it doesn't last long. She's tired, hungry, and mad. Thankfully, my dentist is understanding and he does the rest of my check up at lighting speed. I stayed at the office and fed Parker secretly hoping that this would buy me some time to run an errand on the way home.
• As I leave the office I decide that we will run the errand so we go the longer route home, which will drive right by the store I need to go to. A few minutes into the long route home, Parker poops. That settles it, we are going home. She's had funny looking poop for two days now and I'm hoping that it's just teething, but I'm keeping an eye on her. I know that this type of poop needs to be changed quickly so that she doesn't get diaper rash ... good thing we are taking the long route home. Geez!
• Thankfully she falls asleep (our kids rarely sleep in the car) because I get a business call that lasts about 10 minutes.
• We arrive home around 11:30am. I change her poopy diaper, and lay her down so that she can finally get a good nap.
• I decide to ruin my perfectly clean teeth by eating a PB&J for lunch along with some Garden Salsa Sun Chips, and a tea I found in the fridge from Wendy's. The tea is at least 3 or 4 days old. I opted for this quick lunch because I wasn't sure how long Parker would sleep, if at all. Sometimes those cat naps in the car can ruin a much needed long nap at home.
• Alas, she sleeps til 1:30pm so I have time to eat, catch up on work email, and get some more stuff done around the house. I also look back at the pictures I took of Bailey and Lou that morning and I realize how quickly they are growing up. Tear.
• Once Parker is up, I change her 4th poopy diaper of the day. I spared you poops #1 and #2 so you're welcome. She and I finally get that one on one time we were hoping for today! It's only 45 minutes, but we'll take it. Here she is practicing her new skill of sitting up.

• At 2:15pm, we head back to church to pick up the big girls from Preschool.
• Once we get home, Bailey sits on the couch to relax and Lou takes a nap. They're exhausted from school.
• I also lay Parker down because it's time for her afternoon nap. She keeps crying and I go into her room 3 times to lay her down from the sitting up position. She's at that stage where she can sit up, but she can't figure out how to lay back down. On my third trip in, it dawns on me that I should check her diaper. Yep, poop #5 and her poor bottom is very red. Now I feel bad for making her sit in that for however long she had to sit in it. She's screaming, but I would too if my butt was that red so I lube her up with enough Butt Paste to grease a slip and slide. She finally falls asleep.
• Around 3:30pm, Bailey and I share a snickers. A special thanks to Greg for leaving that in the fridge for us. At least I hope it was for us!
• I check work email again, catch up on Facebook, and do some more things around the house. Bailey colors a picture for her new soccer coach. Did I mention how sweet she is!
• At 4:30pm, I start getting Bailey ready to leave for soccer lessons.
• At 4:45pm, I wake Lou up from her nap to get ready for soccer lessons. She is not a happy camper. That girl does not like being awakened from a nap. I struggle to get her ready to leave. She's fussy and defiant, and all she wants to do is curl up on her floor and sleep some more. I don't blame her.
• Greg comes home.
• At 5pm we leave to go to the girls first night of soccer lessons where they were given these awesome jerseys. Please pardon the blurry phone photo's.

• Greg spends the hour with Lou in her class. I watch Bailey's class while taking care of Parker and visiting with friends. Bailey has three friends in her class and Lou has one friend in her class. These are the same buddies we took swim lessons with (blog post coming soon). After checking with other moms, we think that Parker might have a stomach virus which is causing all of her poopy diapers. Yuck.
• We pick up dinner on the way home from soccer around 6:45pm.
• When we get home, Greg plays with Parker so that Bailey, Lou, and I can eat. Then he eats dinner while I bathe Parker, feed her, put tons of Butt Paste on her, and lay her down for the night.
• While Greg is bathing the big girls, I head out to run the errand that I didn't get to run this morning due to Parker pooping in the car. We are completely out of milk and it's one of the items on my list.
• The big girls are in bed when I return. I don't like missing their bedtime, but I did give them a hug and a kiss before I left.
• I put up the items from the store and go for a short run.
• After the run, I lay on the couch and watch TV for about 45 minutes. This lazy time is unheard of ... yet very enjoyable.
• It's currently 10:18pm and I'm finishing up this blog and then heading to bed so that I can do it all over again on my next "day off."
• I don't know what tomorrow will bring, but I do know that I will enjoy my "day off" at home with my girls because every moment is a blessing! Mystery poopy diapers and all!

Jeremiah 29:11 - "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."