McFavorites

remember, I'm not being paid or compensated in any way for these products/companies I mention in McFavorites
I received a great little gift for my birthday/Christmas this year!  Scott's mom introduced me to Scentsy.

I love for my house to smell good.  With 3 kiddos, a husband, and a multitude of diapers (for the little ones, not the husband), accomplishing that can be next to impossible.  Not to mention the lingering bacon smell that lasted 3 days after I cooked it... love bacon, but don't want to smell it every time I walk in my house.

Candles are a no-go with kids.  I've tried plug-in types, but they're generally too strong or I forget about it after I plug it in and rediscover it WAY after it's dried out.

I usually stick with my Lavender and Vanilla Febreze spray.  Not as much anymore, though!

Scentsy is a company that sells flameless candles (wax scent bars, really) that are melted in a warmer using a low-watt bulb.  The cool thing is (pun intended), the wax really doesn't get all that hot. 

They have gobs and gobs of scents from which to choose, ranging from strong outdoorsy scents to light, fresh scents, to flowery scents, to yummy scents.

It's simple really, you just grab the scent bar carton, separate however many blocks you want to melt, and plop them in the removable warming dish. 

Then, you flip on the rotating switch part-way down the cord and get ready for the scent to fill the room.  I have mine up high and out of reach on our bar/counter, but the wax cools so quickly out of the dish that I don't think it would cause any harm to Caleb or Anna if they were to jostle it.  (Common sense caution still encouraged)

Check it out:

I have a few scents, and so far my favorites are Cutiepie Cupcake (sweet clementines, yellow cake batter, vanilla, and sugary icing), Sugar (lemon drops and cotton candy), and Coconut Lemongrass.  Skinny Dippin' (light scent of green apples with melon and pear) and Camu Camu (mandarin, camu camu, and passionfruit) are fun too!

The thing I like best is that all you have to do in order to switch scents is pour the warm wax back into the plastic case to cool, then after a quick swipe with a Kleenex, the dish is ready for new cubes!

Thanks, Nanny, for the delightful gift!

When He Whispers

Things have been really tight.  My political/economical soapbox will not make an appearance here, but let's just say that we're feeling the squeeze much like many others are.

We've experienced this in the past once or a couple of times, with unwise spending or with medical bills, but when you know you've practiced self control and it still happens, there's a helpless feeling that can be difficult to shake.

I had to make a conscious decision the other day not to wallow or despair.  That's when a little verse popped into my mind... I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content... (something something something) in abundance and in need, I can do all things through Christ...

Wild how the Holy Spirit can whisper a verse back into your mind that you memorized a long time ago, even though it is against your very nature to be in automatic Spiritual Response mode.

So, I dragged myself to the Word and decided that I needed to get some context on that verse.  Over time, I've learned a couple of things about God's Word:

• All Scripture is straight from God, and it's useful in every aspect of life.  
• Every part of Scripture is a message originally written to a specific audience for a specific purpose.  The undergirding principles in that message are of ultimate importance for me today, regardless of whether the original audience is "outdated" or the situation is foreign to me.
• If I don't read before and after a verse, I might misunderstand it.
• If I don't get that surrounding context, I might be tempted to twist it to apply to my situation, when it really doesn't.

Here's what I read:

written by Paul to the group of believers in Philippi (modern day Greece near Turkey)  
Philippians chapter 4, verse 4 and following

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Ouch.  I wasn't rejoicing always.  I was being unreasonable and anxious.  However, WOW.  The Lord is at hand.  I can take my concerns to Him instead of being anxious.  Because Christ has redeemed me, He gives me unfathomable peace in exchange, which will guide my heart and mind.

8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

Ok.  That's what I need to be thinking about instead of having a pity party. This will be so much more easy with that unfathomable peace that guards my mind.  God is with me.

God's Provision

10 I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. 11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Financial abundance does not necessarily indicate God's approval or blessing, nor does lack of money mean that God disapproves.  Paul had seasons of both as he faithfully lived out God's call on his life. 

14 Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble. 15 And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only. 16 Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again. 17 Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. 18 I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. 19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. 20 To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Verses from the ESV Study Bible

That's it.  Because I'm in Christ, my needs will be taken care of.  For His glory.

I wanted to believe that.  I do believe that, in an abstract way.  I choose to trust.


Then He whispered again.

Something I had done a few days prior that popped back up again without warning.  I discovered our neighbors' 3 schnauzers out one afternoon because their garage door was left open by accident when they left for work.  We don't know our neighbors well, but I wrangled the dogs back into the garage, and managed to shut the door without them getting out.  I told them that evening about putting their dogs back, but that I wasn't sure if their belongings in the garage had been affected or taken during the time period before I came home.  (They have a really nice car that was in the garage also and was still there). The neighbor thanked me profusely for helping rescue the dogs.  I went home.

Within half an hour of reading Philippians (above) and deciding I would choose to be a doer of what I read instead of reading and forgetting, there was a knock on the door.  I don't like answering the door when Scott's not home, but when they wouldn't go away, I answered.  It was my neighbor and her husband.  This is why they came over:

A week's worth of groceries and a toy dog for my kids in thanks for something I thought was inconsequential and just something neighbors do for each other.  It was my turn for profuse thanksgiving, both to the neighbors...

and to my Lord, who whispered a tiny little concrete reminder that The God of Peace is near to those who follow Him.

I'm thankful for this time of frugality.  This required simplicity will teach me to not be attached to material things.  It has already opened a door to get to know our neighbors better.  I choose to rejoice and eagerly learn whatever else the Lord will teach us during this season of our lives.

In the interest of full disclosure...

This...

is why I should not be blogging right now.

Just keepin' it real.

I mean, LITERALLY...

Our sweet 3 year old girl is in a very literal stage of communication. I didn't really realize the extent of it until this morning, when I left to take her to school on a day Caleb was out.

Mama, I don't want to leave Cayub. I'll miss him.

I know, sweet girl. He'll be there to pick you up with me today when school is over.

But he's [I'm] too big.

Too big? Oh you mean to pick you up. No, I mean that he'll be there when we get you from school.

But he can't drive.

You're right, Anna. Mama will drive. Caleb will ride with me when we come get you.

Right here?

Yes

But he's too little to ride with you.

Oh, (seeing her point) yes, he's not old enough to ride in the front seat with me. He'll be in his seat. You'll be able to see him in his seat when you come to the car after school. It'll be so fun.

But I'll miss him...

Friday Nerdy Funny

HT: Z

In Stitches

I have a little thing I've been working on... my embroidery machine!

I received it as a birthday gift from my parents one year, and I've taken to tinkering with it recently...

It's fun to see how a computer graphic or professional embroidery design can become a tangible embellishment with relative ease.  I've resurrected the little "business" that I started back in Missouri with my friend Alisa, and now Little Lamm Designs is a little embroidery and gift boutique online via Facebook and the indie crafters marketplace Etsy.

If you're curious, here are some examples of designs I can sew:

You can find a pretty thorough catalog of my designs here, and there are a few products for sale here.  The coolest part is that I can digitize most computer graphics as well as add text and monograms on anything that can fit in my embroidery hoops.

On a side note, I'm looking into making embroidered patches as well! 

McFavorites

Scott always lovingly says that I'm a nerd (he's right), that I love to gather [useless] information, and that I like to be "in the know".

He's mostly right. I do love to gather information! I feel like passing it along might help someone, whether it's current events/issues, our faith, or just a dandy little product I've discovered that we love for its efficiency or quality.

So, here we go! I'm not advocating products on behalf of anyone, so if I mention a company/publisher/etc, they'll have no idea who I am.

Can I just say that I love quality kids music that teaches Biblical Truth?  We gave this to Anna for Christmas, and while its target audience is more kids Caleb's age and up, she is already learning some of the songs.  This album focuses on the "fruits" that living a Christ-centered life will produce:  Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.  Each "fruit" has a song, with a couple of others thrown in.  We. Love. This. Album!  Click the picture above to go to the Sovereign Grace Music site and listen to samples!

No similarity. None at all. Nope.

Caleb Snapshot

Here's a snapshot of your 6 year old life, sweet big boy!

Caleb, you awake most mornings with a smile, but you like to take your time getting going.  The exception to this is if you have awakened early on your own with the idea of sneaking into the living room to take part in your favorite pastime:  your Nintendo DS.  There have been many mornings that we've discovered you in your secret spot -- the nook between the big chair and the wall in the piano/book room.  You love to shimmy in there and play DS in the dark.  Sitting underneath tables is an alternative choice for your sneaky game playing.

You love to have a breakfast of Honey Nut Cheerios or DinoBites (knock-off of Fruity Pebbles). Then, it's off to school.  First grade has been a good experience so far, and you are thriving and working hard on your school work.  Your favorite class subject is computers.  You read well for your age, and some of your favorite reading material consists of Star Wars chapter books and any Oriental Trading Company catalog you can get your hands on.

Your classmates consider you to be friends with everyone.  They say you run fast and make good choices. When you enter a room or when you arrive at school, you observe/survey the situation before getting involved (or getting out of the car!), much like your mama always did. 

You love Love LOVE building with your Legos.  You've been able to follow those instruction books since you were 4, and you say you want to be an engineer when you grow up.  You like to know how things work, and you are enthralled by television infomercials, since those products are "new", "improved", and make things more efficient.  You also say you want to go to Texas A&M for college.  Mama and Daddy have no problem with that!

We are so proud as you are memorizing Bible verses for your Sunday Night lifegroup.  You are learning 1 Corinthians 13 so quickly!  You are pretty competitive.  You don't like to lose.  You have a great sense of humor, and you love puns, riddles, knock-knock jokes, and any type of puzzle. You have learned alot in your piano lessons over the last year and a half.  You can already sight-read some songs!  You are a good big brother and help Mama quite a bit with your sisters.

Soccer has been a great sport for you so far.  We've watched as you have progressed from on-the-field observer to more aggressive and strategy-savvy player.  We are excited to see how you do the same in Upward basketball this spring.

 Caleb, we're proud of you.  We pray for you, that you will become a man who loves God and glorifies Him with all you do.

0.333333333 Years Old

My dear sweet third child turned 1/3 year old on Christmas Eve!  Our first check-up of the new year showed her growth to be on track, but still in the upper percentiles for her age:

Sweet girl (or "chunkers", according to our nurse) is nearly 16 lbs, 26 inches at 4 months.  That's almost double her birth weight, and 6 inches taller than her birth height!  Way to grow!

Random thought:  Why is it that when you're pregnant/have a baby, you count by weeks, but if you switch to months, the count isn't consistent? 

Here's my point.  Abby at 4 months was already 17 1/2 weeks old.  It would be nice if 1 month = 4 weeks.  Full term pregnancy is 40 weeks (give or take), but we cling to 9 months, when it's actually closer to 10!

Moms out there:  When did you switch from telling people your child's week-age to month-age instead?

New Look!

I'm still teaching myself CSS and Html code, so I'm tinkering a bit with the layout.

That said, though, what do you think?

** I must add that I did not create the graphics or layout, but that I DID do some major tweaking last night to get everything to work right. **

We are the Aggies, The Aggies are We

By the beginning of December, Abby was only 3 months old and had already been to TWO Aggie football games! Such a trooper! Anna got to go to her first two games this year as well! Caleb was a pro by now.

Our first game was in October. I must say they all did well. While we were dubious as to whether we could handle all 3 at the game BY OURSELVES, the world didn't end, and the experience was surprisingly pleasant, all things considered.

We had begun the adventure by visiting some friends in Houston. THAT was a great experience until, as we were walking out the door, sweet Anna threw up all over the entryway of their house. Thank goodness for wood floors! Our gracious friends helped us clean her up and even sent us with towels and washcloths just in case it happened again. Sure enough, a little further down the road to the Lego store, she had a repeat episode. Imagine our dread at having potentially exposed friends and their kids to a virus, and trying to figure out what to do next on a trip that had just started! Much to our surprise, she had no further trouble from that point on! No one in our family got sick either! Phewww.

We spent the night in a hotel there that night and proceeded on to College Station the next morning. No trip to Aggieland would be complete without a few stops:




Caleb had his first Freebirds burrito -- the Hybird (formerly known as the half-bird). Way to go, big boy!






Anna is not quite ready. Quesadillas were the thing for her.








Abby could only dream of the day she could join in on the fun.








We even got to hook up with my cousin Gary, who lives there in town.

Then it was time to visit Kyle Field... Whoop!


We walked the tunnel to the stadium.


We took pictures in front of E King Gill's statue. He's the original 12th man. Click here to read about him.

Anna and Caleb posed with Daddy just before we walked the spiral ramps all the way up to the third deck where our seats would be. (The bottom of the third deck can be seen at the top of the picture, and you must walk the ramps to the very top to get to any of its seats! Huff...puff...)


The game went well (I missed all of the 2nd quarter and halftime trying to feed Abby...long story) Abby did great with the earplugs I found for her at the grocery store.


We even got to go on field after the game!





Gig 'em!!
We went again at Thanksgiving. I'd say it's worth it, and I'd do it all over again!

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner! aka Serious Underestimation

Serious Underestimation #1: I grossly underestimated (grossly as in greatly, not nastily, you guys - ha!) my time ability to post the winners yesterday. Close the giveaway? Check. Choose a winner randomly? Check, with pictures! Post the winners? No way, José. My sincere apologies!

I also seriously underestimated how excited and disappointed I'd be at the same time in declaring a winner! Excited, obviously, because I get to award a random reader with a super cute set of frames. However, I didn't realize how sad I'd be that the other participants couldn't receive one as well! :D Perhaps csnstores.com will permit another fun giveaway soon!

I let Anna randomly choose the winner Monday morning!

Yes, those are bath-time numbers...

Shake 'em up


Shake 'em again


Find my assistant


Try to take a picture with neither of us looking at what's being picked
looks like her feet were the only things in focus...

And the winner of the first ever McDonaldSpot Giveaway is...



Commenter #4

Betsy, I believe you were that commenter, so would you please email/comment to confirm your choice? I'll summarily submit your address to have your prize delivered!

To the rest of you, I was so sad that I couldn't include you as well! I am truly grateful for each of you. Keep your eyes peeled, for I may have another giveaway soon!