Our Celtic Advent Wreath

Thank you, Danny...for this wonderful gift!

Advent Paper Chain

Head on over to The Catholic Toolbox to print out wonderful activities to do each day as you follow your Advent chain to Christmas Day.

Painting Thanksgiving Cookies

We started with simple sugar cookie cutout leaves. (I cheated this year and used it premade)
I mix food coloring with egg yolk.

Then the kids get busy.

After painting the cookies, we sprinkle them with a little sugar.

Ready for the oven.

After ten minutes of baking.

I love the cracked look of the final product.

This taste yummy, too. The egg yolk cannot be tasted at all.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy 16th Birthday, Laura!!

We are so proud of the beautiful young woman you have become!!

A Letter to My Mother

Dear Mom,

Unearthly trembles fill the even sky,
And crashing thunders fill my heart with dread.
The flash of lightning tears my soul apart,
So in my fear I scamper to you bed.
Your gentle kiss relieves my doubtful heart,
And by your warmth my demons turn to fly.

A child, six or seven, closed the door,
But now, though grown, I come to you again.
The storm of yesterday has never gone,
It rages now in bitter, driving pain.
Your gentle words will hail the coming dawn,
A man of age- your child all the more.


Attack the grey until the day is done
And vanquish monsters hiding in the night.
You never stand alone upon the earth,
You have a Lion by your side to fight-
A beast of fearsome loyalty from birth.

Adieu for now, but know my love.
Your Son.

Don't worry!!!

We are still here!!

And here...(notice window sill medicine supply)

Here---with remote
Here-in bed

We are here....

and here on the floor....

here in the basement.

And, yes, don't worry...the dog is still here, admidst the toys.

We have been bitten by the coupon bug

Year ago, when I only had 4 of 5 kids, I shopped all the area sales and used coupons every once in a while. But as the family grew and we got busier and busier, it became easier to make one big trip to the big "box" store right down the street. (and spended tons of money to feed our large family)

Well, times have changed and I find myself counting every penny to make ends meet (which they don't usually do), so I thought I would give this coupon thing a chance.

I read the blogs and found the websites and then sat down and started making my "binder." (an organized filing system for the many coupons I came across)

Amy made a cute cover for the binder and I started out on the mission of filling it up.

Of course, there are the usual Sunday morning paper coupons, but I was amazed at the amount of coupons that you can find to print out right at home.

My favorite resource for finding internet coupons is The Krazy Coupon Lady website.
There are also coupon forums, coupon blogs, facebook coupons and many other "surprise" coupon finds. In fact, my hubby and grown children have joined the bandwagon and are bringing me home coupons from newspapers at work.

In fact, I have found so many coupons, (for things we use everyday) my original 1 inch binder has been replaced with a 2 inch binder in only 3 weeks of couponing.

I have consistantly been saving between 40 and 60 percent on every grocery and drugstore trip I have made in the last three weeks.

This is a tremendous savings for our family, but it does take some work.

The most important point I have to make is to make sure to match up the store sales with the coupons you have on hand. I am also getting a good idea of where the best prices are for the things we use everyday which rarely go on sale, because,

EVERY PENNY COUNTS!!