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Macey started getting sick with a stomach virus on Sunday evening. She felt puny, but overall okay on Monday, but still had to miss school due to the virus and fever. On Tuesday, she felt considerably worse. She slept almost all day which is not like Macey at all. Her fever broke on Tuesday afternoon and she started to feel a bit better. Her appetite and energy levels were still way down, but she was at least feeling somewhat better. Wednesday was a much better day. Macey still couldn’t return to school because she had not been fever free for 24 hours AND she was still not feeling 100% yet. She ate a little bit better yesterday and even had more energy to play which was a beautiful thing to see. This morning, she ate a good breakfast and felt like going back to school. We are so happy that she is feeling better. In the grand scheme of things, that nasty stomach “bug” was short-lived, but it was a rough one during the time she had it. We are so grateful that she is well now! Praise God! Here’s to hoping that Macey has a wonderful day back at school. She was so excited to return and was even looking forward to jumping rope in PE today.

It’s a new era in our house. Well, maybe it’s more accurate to say that it’s a revived old era. Either way, I am no longer a “mini van mama.”  We traded in our 2003 Ford Windstar mini van yesterday and came home with a “sangria red” Ford Explorer. This is not the greatest photo, but is one I snapped with my phone just this morning:

Isn’t she pretty? I have never had a red vehicle prior to this one. I should admit that when we were initially starting to look, I didn’t think I wanted a red one. Figures that it’s the one I wound up with, right? But, actually, I’m loving it. It’s a nice red. It’s not blaring, but is nice and fun. And, hey, you can definitely pick it out in a parking lot.

Our poor old van was getting on up in years and miles and since we do a lot of traveling, we knew it was time to take the plunge and trade it in. I have to admit, it was somewhat bittersweet. We got our van a couple of months before Mariana was born. Prior to that, I had been driving what was my dream vehicle at the time – a taupe colored Jeep Grand Cherokee. Man, I loved that Jeep. I had always wanted one and we found a honey of a deal on a used one when we moved back from Alabama. But, with an almost three year old and a baby on the way, a mini van made more sense at that time. So, when the Jeep started to have issue after issue, we knew it was time to trade.  We found our van at CarMax and made the trade. I  will say with all honesty that going from the Jeep to the Windstar was a great move for us. The ease of getting the girls in and out of the van was incredible. Having two auto sliding doors? LOVED it! Everything about the van fit just right for having two little ones. And, for right at four years I was a mini van mama even though I never imagined that I would be one.

Of late, the van had started to show signs of her age. We knew that we were approaching the “now or almost never” stage for trading because we wanted to make sure that at least some value was preserved in the van. So, we’ve been watching rebates/cash incentives and finally contacted our favorite “Ford guy” late last week. He called yesterday to say that he had an Explorer for us, so we took our sweet old van in for a trade. Like I said, it was bittersweet. That was our first family-of-four vehicle. We brought Mariana home in that van. It was time for it to go, but the memories were sweet.  We went and picked up our new truck yesterday and we all love it. The girls think it’s great. It’s so nice to drive also. I love that it’s roomy, but it doesn’t feel like I’m driving a tank. I’m so happy and feel so blessed to have this new vehicle and can’t wait to make many fun memories along the miles.

~Kelly

Several months ago I discovered Young Living Essential Oils. My friend Christi had been telling me about them for years, literally, and I finally tried the oils last fall. I am blown away at how wonderful oils are and how great they have been for our family. Let me tell you more…

Ever since Mariana was an infant, whenever she would also get terrible coughing spells. Her first pediatrician insisted that she had asthma as an infant. I had never dealt with this with Macey, so I went along with the antibiotics, breathing treatments, allergy meds, etc. You wouldn’t believe the amount of meds she had Mariana on at once as a baby. A red flag went up quickly for me at that point. So, we changed pediatricians and the new ped confirmed what I long suspected – Mariana was prone to sinus infections which caused post-nasal drip and contributed to the constant coughing. She also had recurrent ear infections that absolutely plagued her, so we had ear tubes put in her ears. The ear tubes helped tremendously. The first set went in when she was 19M old. She didn’t get another ear infection for about a year and when one tube came out, the infections resumed. At that point, the ENT wanted to also take a look at her adenoids because she continued to be plagued by sinus infections and snored also. Turned out that her adenoids were huge and he felt they were contributing to the problem. So, last March (2009) Mariana had her adenoids removed. At the same time, the ENT replaced the ear tube that had come out and cleaned up the remaining tube. That procedure helped her and she didn’t cough or have any colds, infections, etc. for months. When fall came and a new set of allergens popped up, she had a flare. At first, I was disheartened and worried that we were back on track for antibiotics, etc. This was NOT something we wanted for Mariana, of course. I took her to a chiropractor that I had met in Bible study over the summer. Dr. Jamie adjusted her and recommended putting RC essential oil on her feet for the coughing. I’m not going to pretend like I wasn’t somewhat skeptical, but I was more than willing to try it because it was all-natural and worth a shot. So, we took home a sample bottle of RC and used it on Mariana’s feet at bedtime that evening. I kid you not, Mariana didn’t cough once the whole evening! She got a full night of rest! The oils helped her tremendously. At that point, I started to see just how amazing essential oils really are!  I went from being skeptical to very optimistic about oils at that point.

Mariana continues to be the subject of my oils testimonial because in the fall she sustained injuries to her face which required stitches. I contacted my friend Christi who has a lot of knowledge about oils and she recommended that I get helichrysum to help with the scarring. She also recommended Super Salve from Nutritech because it is WONDERFUL and made using essential oils also. I used Super Salve until the wounds started to heal nicely and then we started putting helichrysum on the wounds. I have to say that both the Super Salve and the helichrysum worked WONDERS!! Mariana’s wounds are now light scars and it has been about four months since she was injured. We have been using the helichrysum daily and we are amazed at how wonderfully she has healed! It’s been incredible and we are SO grateful for her healing!! (As a side note, Super Salve is great to have on hand because it’s a great healing agent! Way better than things like neo-sporin and such.)

I could go on and on about essential oils. We have purchased a home diffuser and use it daily. I have used peppermint oil in the diffuser when I have had a bad headache. I’ve used Purification to help with allergens too. And, for Mariana’s coughing I’ve used melaleuca (great for sinuses!!) and the RC I mentioned previously. These oils really help and work beautifully and naturally! I know that some may be skeptics and I can relate because I was there too. But, I can vouch that they are incredibly helpful. God’s products work best, that’s all I can say.

I have become a Young Living distributor now, so if anyone is interested in purchasing any oils, I’d be happy to help you with that. I am still learning, so I rely on Christi (my dear friend who has been using oils for year) and I also sign onto Oils-Testimonials for recommendations and guidance. The thing I value the most about the oils is that they are natural and Young Living oils are all therapeutic grade oils. The more I learn, the more I appreciate oils and what God has given us in them!

God bless,
Kelly

{{{YAWN}}} We are still adjusting to Daylight Savings Time in our house, are y’all? I’m sure we’ll adjust in another couple of days, but for now we’re kind of thrown off kilter a little bit. Mariana had a hard time going to sleep last night and slept in this morning. That would have been a nice treat if we didn’t have to get up at 6:30 to get breakfast ready and get Macey off to school.

Spring is taking its sweet time in gracing us with its permanent presence. The last few days have been chilly. I know I keep saying this, but I am SOOOO ready for warm weather to get here and stay. We are leaving for the beach three weeks from today and I keep holding out hope that it’ll be nice and warm by that time, at least. We are ready to soak up some sun, play in the sand and just have a really relaxing vacation at the beach. I cannot wait!!

Hope everyone has a great day. Rise and shine and give God the glory.

The last couple of days have been gray and rainy. While those aren’t my favorite kind of days, I do appreciate that we need these spring* showers. It’s so nice to look around and see trees and flowers beginning to bud and bloom. It won’t be long before our infamous pollen explosion happens and everything gets a nice yellow-green coating to it. Fun times. I am eagerly anticipating the day when I can look at the weather forecast and see temperatures consistently in the 70s (or higher) each day. Oh, I’m so excited!!

(*I know it’s not officially spring yet, but I’m done with winter, so for me it’s SPRING. )

In other news, our church’s HUGE consignment sale takes place this weekend. I always look forward to this sale. It’s held twice a year and I participate both as a seller and a buyer. Mickey and I are going up to the church later this morning to drop off the clothes I have ready for the sale. I enjoy getting money back, especially after shopping, but I have to admit that hanging and tagging clothes is NOT my favorite thing ever. At least it’s done. YAY! I will shop the pre-sale this evening and I can hardly wait. So much fun! Via this sale, our church receives 30% of all sales to go towards missions and I just love that. It makes me feel good knowing I can get some money back AND contribute to missions. What a great sale!!

Happy Thursday,

Kelly

How many of you have fond memories of the book fair from when you were in school? I always loved it. I don’t remember there being an actual “book fair” on site, but I know we got those cool order forms and I always picked out the books and posters I wanted and put in a campaign to convince my mom that I needed every single last one of them. I mean, the kitten posters were the cutest things EVER. Who didn’t need one every time? Seriously.

Last week was book fair time at Mariana’s preschool. She didn’t actually go to the book fair, but Mickey and I went and did some fun shopping for her. She got some really fun books like Clifford the Champion, Katie Loves the Kittens and Dinner with Olivia. Mariana loves books and loves to “read.” She rarely lets us read to her these days. Instead, she prefers to take the books and “read” them herself which means that she makes up the stories as she turns each page. The cutest part is when she turns the page around to show her “kids” just the way her preschool teachers do. Love it!! It’s really cool to see her have such an interest in books and to see her creativity and imagination in bloom.

Macey’s book fair is this week. Today we get to go have lunch with Macey and then visit the book fair as a family. This is something we do twice a year at her school and we all look forward to it each time. Last week her class got to go to a preview of the book fair and the children got to create their wish lists at that time. Macey’s list includes the following – Library Mouse – A Friend’s Tale, There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Chick and Pinkalicious. This time, there aren’t any chapter books on her list, but that could be because she has a ton of them already. She loves reading all sorts of books. Macey loves reading and enjoys reading to us too. She especially loves when she checks out AR (Accelerated Reader) books from the library each week because she likes to see which grade level she read each time.  It’s really amazing to me to see both of our girls blooming in their love of reading!

I’m just as excited as the girls about the book fair. Yes, we already have a library full of books at home. We have plans to donate some of them. Our friend Annie is serving as a missionary over in Kenya and she has requested books for the orphanage where she is serving. So, we are going to go through our books shortly and find a way to get them over to the orphanage in Kenya. It’ll be a great opportunity for me to go through the books with the girls and determine which ones to send.

We also donate at least one book to the classroom each time. The teachers fill out wish lists and we choose at least one book from the list for the classrooms. The teachers are always appreciative and it feels good to give back. So, book fair really IS a fun time for the whole family. I can’t wait to go again today!

I haven’t done well with keeping up the tradition I was going to start with listing blogs that I recommend for following on Fridays. Well, today I’m going to do it. I won’t post five, but I’ll share a few of my favorite blog links with y’all.

Southern Savers – If you live in the South, you really SHOULD follow this blog. Seriously. Jenny is the lady that runs this blog and she is a coupon queen. She can help save you and your family a LOT of money, especially on groceries. And, her site is completely free. I recently attended one of her seminars and I am officially all geeked up on couponing again. She’ll get you hooked too. Check it out and enjoy the savings!

The McGinnis Message – This is my friend Jawan’s blog.  Jawan and I met at music camp back in the early 90s. Now, I won’t say how old YOUNG we were back then, but let’s just say it was during high school. We became friends at camp and pen pals after that. As time went along, we lost touch. The Lord has allowed us to reconnect online first via MySpace, then via Facebook and blogging. I really enjoy Jawan’s blog. She is such a beautiful person – inside and out. Her faith and her heart for the Lord are so genuine and true. Check out her blog and you’ll even find good deals posted from time to time. (See a theme here?)

Proverbs 31 Ministries – Okay, so this is not a blog. However, it’s a wonderful and resourceful website for Christian women. There are daily devotions that you can read online OR subscribe to via email and so much more. Check out P31. It’s good stuff!!

If any of you have any blog suggestions for me, please pass them along. I’m happy to bookmark and read along.

Click here to print a 20% off coupon for Family Christian. This offer is even good on sale items and expires on March 28, 2010.

With Easter coming up in a few weeks, this would be a good way to stock up on some nice items, right? I always love shopping at Family Christian. There is a nice big store not too far from our house and I am notorious for wanting to wander around that store for a long time. Just browsing is fun, but who can resist buying – especially with a coupon?

Happy shopping,

Kelly

We wound up getting more than a dusting of snow today. Not MUCH more than a dusting, but enough to make Macey want to get out and play in it a bit. Mickey can never resist playing in snow either, so the two of them set out this afternoon to enjoy what little snow we got before it melted. They had been outside maybe 20 minutes when I heard two snowballs thud against the front door. I figured they either wanted me to open the door so they could pelt me with snowballs OR they just wanted my attention. Thankfully, they wanted my attention. (Whew!!) They also wanted me to get my camera. The two of them had built a really TALL snowman. I grabbed my camera and my zoom lens so I could stand in the front door and still shoot good pictures of their lovely creation.

Here they are putting the finishing touches on the snowman:

Love this one – can you see Macey? She discovered that I had come out with the camera:

Posing with their TALL snowman:

Mickey shows just how tall their snowman really IS:

Snowman huggers:

An adorable Miss Macey having fun in the snow:

You might wonder where Mariana was during all the snow fun. She was inside. Somewhat surprisingly, she wasn’t interested in going out to play in the snow today. She’s a little like her mama that way. We already played in it once this season, after all.

Macey and Mickey had a ball building this big snow guy. When Macey came inside as I was uploading photos, I asked her the snowman’s name. She didn’t hesitate before she said “Ed.” So, he’s Ed…the tall snow guy. Hopefully he’ll still be standing tall in our front yard in the morning. I’ll keep y’all posted.

18 more days. I can do this. 18 more days until spring. Two and a half weeks. COME ON, SPRING!!

I am not normally so “weather fixated”, but it’s been a cold winter by Georgia standards and this Southern girl is more than ready for some good ole sunshine. Today it’s cold (again) and we have rain and snow mixed. Mickey is bummed because our forecast originally called for up to 4″ of snow, but now we are maybe going to get a dusting or possibly an inch of snow. That’s nothing as far as he is concerned. As far as I am concerned, it’s more than enough. Brrrr. I just may hibernate today. It sounds so appealing, actually. I woke up at 1am and was awake for at least two and a half hours last night, so I’m tired and crawling back in bed to hibernate this cold day away sounds pretty good right about now. I won’t do that, but I just may sneak in a nap sometime today.

In other news, it’s “spring” picture day at Macey’s school. Oh, the irony of this crazy weather. Spring pictures in long sleeves – go figure. She looks adorable, I must admit.

I have to give a shout-out to Southern Savers because after hearing Jenny speak the other night, I’ve been back on the coupon wagon. I saved a LOT at Publix yesterday, so I am geeked up on coupon love again. Woo hoo!!

Off to do something productive around here. I think.

Happy Tuesday,
Kelly