$5 Dinner Mom Cookbook Give Away...

I got this link from my friend Ashely M.

Over at $5 Dinners, Erin Chase is giving away 10 copies (!) of her new book every day for two weeks. Her book has over 200 recipes where every meal is made for five dollars or less. What!?!

I don't know about you, but I cook every night... 3 times a day if you count feeding myself and Ava. I was never a coupon clipper, but I've started doing it more recently, and now I am giddy when I find a good coupon. I've even started planning our weekly menu around my coupons. But sometimes there aren't good deals, and so I'm up for any type of idea that will help me keep our grocery bill down. This book seems to be a great answer.

Check out $5 Dinners and enter to win. Let's hope one of us wins!

Thanks Ashley!

Snow Day...

Our backyard treeline... and Na's shoulder :o)

We weren't expecting much snow this past weekend... didn't even think we'd see an inch, but we ended up with about 3-1/2" or so. Nothing grand, but enough to play in. It was then we realized Ava didn't have snow pants. So we dug out an old water resistant sweatsuit and layered her up as best as we could and headed out.

checking out the snow

waving to Joshua - "Josh" as Ava calls him

our Eskimo

the swing is even fun in the winter... she and Joshua couldn't get enough of it

After looking around, and online, I finally found a pair of snow bibs at Old Navy. There was only one 18-24mos pair, and I snatched them for about $10 and some change. I love Old Navy!

Now Ava is ready to head to WV and experience the snow there... hopefully there will be some left when we get there.

4 years...

The past four years have seemed quite short, yet long at the same time. We've done a lot in 4 years. We've moved 4 times, lived in 3 different states, held 8 (paying) jobs between us, tried out dozens of churches, made friends, lost friends, lost loved ones, bought a new car, traveled a lot - in the new car, bought a house, added to our family (pets) and had a baby. And I'm sure I'm missing something. Its been crazy, but its been an adventure we've loved being on and are looking forward to more of.

We didn't really celebrate last week, since our anniversary was on a week night. Actually we went to Journey Group and hung out with our friends. On Saturday, Ava went next door to play with Joshua and Nathan and I headed out for some anniversary coffee, and to run some errands. But Saturday also brought lots of snow our way (Friday night/Saturday) and so our "mini date" turned out to be a trip to Lowe's, returning our Redbox DVD, and a quick drive through stop at Starbucks. The roads were horrible and we didn't want to chance them getting worse by staying out too long. We're planning on a second date next Monday... dinner and a movie, our annual tradition.

As I was writing this blog, and trying to decide what to write, I started looking back over our wedding pictures. I checked out the ones I put up last year and tried to pick different ones for this year. And as I was scanning through them, I came across a picture of Tara, my childhood best friend, and figured that was a good place to start.... so here we go...

(pictures are out of order... and of course the format decided to mess up...oh well, no biggie!)


Our story begins with my childhood best friend:

Miss Tara Branham... now Mrs. Jason Miller!

Our story is pretty short and sweet. In March of 2005, a guy walked into my apartment, introduced himself...then left! (hehe) He returned the next night and has been in my life every since. I've always said he stayed because of my cookies, but he says othewise.

Sounds a little strange right? It actually went a little more like this. My roommate, Tara, was having some friends over. One was our friend Jess, the other a guy friend of her's, Pat. Pat casually asked if we would mind if some of his friends came to our apt. They were going out to play pool later and lived across the street, so this way they could just meet him at our place. No problem. In walks 3 guys... Brandon, Nathan (whose name I didn't catch at first), and Matt. The boys exit...

The next night, I'm baking cookies for a church event, and Jess and Pat are back at our place hanging out again. Pat must have been feeling lonely as the only male (hehe, they were decorating flip flops... glitter, rhinestones, etc.), and asked if he could invite someone over. Nathan happend to be that person.

We chatted, he tasted cookies, we chatted some more. By the end of the evening we were fast friends. Although I don't think I had caught his name yet. (go figure!) But it was the following night, a Thursday night, that we all decided to go out. Now what you probably don't know, is that I only went out occassionally. And the fact that it was a Thursday night, I had to be up and at work in the morning (I worked for an architect), was a big deal. But Tara has urged me to go, and actually had me call "the guy across the street" and let him know what time we were going.

The story is pretty much history from there. Nathan and I stuck together the entire night, and honestly I think we saw each other pretty much every day from then on out. We were engaged in June, and married in December. And as surprised as I was at the proposal, no one else seemed to be.

Oh, and if you are trying to do the math, we were engaged after 3 months, and married 6 months later! When it's right, it's right!

(totally forgot my bouquet!)

our wedding party!

(starting at far left): Juls Mercer, Shawna Smith, Amanda Long, Tara Miller, Amanda Huffman, Me, Nathan, Tim Smith, Brett Huffman, Luke Iliff, Brandon Bailey, Todd Berry Ann;

(in front): my sister Danielle, brothers Jack & Andrew

Our "Bests"
Matron of Honor AJ, and Best Man Tim

and one just for fun...

this is pretty much how we were all day, each of us going in a different direction.

There were so many things going on, and so many things that definitely didn't go the way they were supposed to, but I guess that just added to the character of the wedding... and made for some really funny memories!

Supermom...

is she out there? is there really a woman who can do it all?

This past Friday was our monthly DMoms meeting. (that's my abbreviation, it's really DiscoveryMOMS.) We had a very nice speaker who was there to talk about reducing our stress, and making sure we are taking care of ourselves. I desperately needed to hear what she had to say... but I really only walked away with one thing.

I already knew that it was good for me to get out alone every once and a while, but it rarely happens. And date nights.... don't remember the last one. I also know that you don't have to live up to the "Jones'," but still, everyone tries. We actually got into a conversation about Christmas cards and how much pressure it was every year to get the perfect picture, pick the perfect card, and then to get it out on time....that is, BEFORE Christmas. One woman told us how her friend actually decided to mail out Christmas cards in May. Crazy right? But the explanation was, people could either look at it as being very late, or very early. The whole point of Christmas cards, is to spread a little love and joy, and to connect with loved ones. Not to show off.

As a side note, we did our cards online at Costco this year. It was $14.99 for 50, and $4.99 for the next 25. That included envelopes and they were ready in 24 hours. And the pictures, well I took about 20 un-posed pictures of Ava playing by her little tree. Yes, she was in her Christmas dress, but it wasn't a big deal. We both had fun, and it wasn't stressful. Had we done the three of us in a picture, THAT would have been stressful!

Back to the subject...So what's the one thing I walked away with last Friday? There is such a thing as a Good Enough Mom! It's hard to swallow, I know. But in reality, no one is perfect and if you're posing as Supermom, you're hiding something. There is NO possible way to do it all. But, (gotta love the but!) we can do infinitely more and be better and good enough, with God's help.

I hate to clean! We all know this, it's not a secret. But I do like keeping my house organized even it it's not white glove clean. I probably straighten up my house, at least the downstairs part, 5 or 6 times a day. I'm not OCD, I have a hurricane named Ava that follows me around and destroys everything I pick up. I'd show pictures to prove it, but honestly, it's a too embarrassing. Anyway, because I don't clean the whole house all the time, doesn't mean I'm not a good mom. I clean when its necessary... it's good enough. Our house is "lived in," not sterile.

One of my best friends, Amanda, is an amazing mother. She lives over 3 hours away, and I've never met her son (oh so sad, it's been a year since I've seen her!), but I know how much she does, and she is just amazing. She not only takes care of the house, her husband and son, but also teaches Zumba classes at least 3 nights a week (I believe), and is taking classes to get her masters in Christian Counseling. Wow, I don't know how she does it! And I'm sure there is more than that. But she has a great support team close by to help her out, and most of all Jesus. I look up to her for all she can do and is doing, as well as to her relationship with Christ. (I try not to be jealous!)

The past two weeks were crazy for me, and I thought of Amanda a lot. Not only was I getting ready for the DMoms meeting, I'm the Fellowship Coordinator, but I was also trying to throw a baby shower, take care of my Avon business, and get the extra church work I had, done. There is no way I could have done all of that, plus kept my house cleaned, taken care of Ava, gotten to the grocery store, cooked for our family, SLEPT, and spent any time with my husband. Not to mention taking care of myself (showers, food, etc.) And having difficulty getting into the holiday spirit this year only added more stress. But God got me through the past two weeks, and now I'm thoroughly enjoying doing nothing, or little to nothing, this week. And that's with his help too. Otherwise I'd probably be filling up my time with nonsense when I should be enjoying my time with Ava.

I know I'm not Supermom, and I definitely won't try to be. But I can be good enough with God's help. For without him, I'm just not enough.


Oh, and good news, we are getting a date night. It's more of an anniversary celebration, but we're getting to go out to dinner and a move in two weeks. Yay!

scary little brush II...

and I forgot to mention that right now our mascara is on SALE!!!

superFULL $4.99

superSHOCK $4.99

Astonishing Lengths $3.99

superCurlacious $4.99

Daring Definition $3.99

Check it out!!!

http://sberry-ann.avonrepresentative.com/

2009 Christmas Cards...

scary little brush...

Isn't this scary looking?


This is what I found when I opened my new mascara last week. The bristles are so short I couldn't figure out who in the world they were supposed to add volume, and that's what I really need. Ever since college when my freshman roommate introduced me to L'Oreal's Voluminous mascara, I've never purchased anything else.

But recently, as some of you may know, I started selling AVON in an attempt to bring in a few extra dollars. I'm definitely not making much... more like breaking even after I purchase my selling materials.

Anyway, I've used Avon for many years, and decided it was time to change it up and try out their mascara. (I needed a new tube anyway.) I've never found another mascara that I liked. Most of the formulas I've tried are too thin, but Avon's superFull mascara sounded good enough to try at least.

Avon's superFULL mascara.

(gotta love how blogger turns pictures on its own!)

wanna try it out? visit http://sberry-ann.avonrepresentative.com/

Like I said, when I opened this tube, the brush scared me off a bit at first. That is until I tried it. WOW! It really works. And the brush doesn't scare me anymore.

Granted, this isn't a great self portrait, but it works... no eyeliner ladies! This is great stuff. I'm not meaning to plug my own product, but instead to share this great thing I found. If you happen to be interested in this, or any other products, we have lots of different things, let me know. (THERE's my plug!)

Ava's decorating style...

After several days of trying to get the tree up, we finally got it up last week. It definitely takes ten times longer to do things with a toddler running around. But Ava thoroughly enjoyed helping. She'd find the biggest branches in the box and pull them out and hoist them over her head. We have one incredibly strong little girl, even the doctors say so!

taking a little break...

you may not be able to tell, but we didn't put the lowest branches on the tree again this year. Usually the bottom touches the floor.

hiding as I pulled out the sweeper to pick up the extra needles,

she HATES that thing!

We always put our ornaments on the top half of the tree, that way Ava and the cats can't pull them off and hurt themselves. As noted above, we also didn't put the bottom branches on the tree because we have one cat who likes to eat them and the needles make her throw up. Yuck! Anyway, after we got the lights on and the ornaments started, Ava decided she wanted the tree to have a little "Ava style."

first there was her lambie...

then she added the ladle...

okay, maybe not the ladle...

nope, I change my mind, we needed that.

Ava pointing out one of her favorite ornaments... a Santa with wiggly leggs.

the finished product

(its okay, we know it looks a little funny, but we like it)

Up & Down...

Ava loves to go up and down the stairs... and yes, we let her! (with supervision of course.) Anyway, over the Thanksgiving Holiday, Nathan took the opportunity to show Ava how to get down the stairs by herself. Until now, she would wait at the top of the stairs until we helped her down or just carried her. After talking with several people who said if they go down on their bum, they might tip over (babies are top heavy afterall!), we decided to teach her to go down backwards on her belly. Ava thinks its the best thing in the world, and we have to admit, its much better than having to carry her up and down all the time. And for now, this works, eventually she'll learn to walk down holding onto the railing.

So here are two videos of Ava showing you how she goes down stairs.

Then and Now...

The other day I was looking through Ava's hat box (yes, she has a hat box!) and came across this hat my Aunt Mel gave us last year. It said it was a size 2T-5T, but I never once believed that. You might remember this picture I posted:

Then

8 months

I pulled the hat out to see if it would still fit, and it does:

Now

14.5 months

Ava loves shoes, she carries them around all the time, she also loves hats, whether they are her's, Daddy's, or Mommy's

Ava recently learned how to give a real kiss (not mouth wide open) . She had been able to do it for some time, but not until the past few weeks has she really responded when asked for a kiss. Now when asked, she wants to give you multiple kisses... one is NEVER enough!

Kissing Daddy

And these are just some fun pictures we took yesterday after church.... Ava was chasing the cats and trying out her new boots that her Grandma bought her.

Dancin' Girl...

Our girl LOVES to dance. She received a card in the mail this past week, one of the ones that plays music, and she hasn't stoped listening to it. As a side note, this card was picked specifically because it played music. Ava had gotten a mucial birthday card and played it so much she destroyed it.

Had the spoon (her Princess wand) not distracted her, and the fact that I had the camera on her, she would have kept going. Its hard to get a picture of her or a video these days, she'd much rather play with the camera.

And here is a short video of Ava learning to jump. She doesn't have it quite yet, and probably won't for a while, but its incredibly cute to watch her try!

happenings....

I've been waiting for about two weeks now for my cousin to email me a family picture from our Thanksgiving celebration, but it still hasn't happened yet. I had the blog post all ready... it was going to be titled: "Happy Thanksgiving..." and then go on to say, "What? If you don't know our family, then you might think we're crazy. I promise you, we ARE crazy, but we also know that Thanksgiving is at the end of the month. Every year our family gets together to celebrate Thanksgiving early, that way we can celebrate separately on the actual holiday. It's an annual reunion of sorts."

But since I never got the picture, I can't quite go that route. So instead, I thought I'd share the only pictures I do have from that weekend.

Ava in action, running after my Grandma's cat, Ellis.

I've started calling my Grandma "GG, or Gigi"... short for Great Grandma. Ava has a lot of grandparents, and distinguishing between them all isn't easy.

Ava loves water bottles, and thinks every bottle is hers.

These next two are just random pictures. The first was taken after we got home from gymnastics (okay so really, it's just the little ones running around on the mats, but it's free, so we go!)

And the second is of Ava in her favorite play spot, the laundry basket. Can you see the red bump on her head? The one above her right eye (your left). That's where Ava met the hand rail as she and I fell down the stairs... fun trip let me tell you. Luckily, she was fine and her bump went away in an hour or so. I, on the other hand, didn't end up so lucky. I now have a long scar on my right arm... not sure where that came from, and that night I woke up at 2am in horrific pain. I couldn't walk and until I hopped into the bathroom, I would have sworn my right foot was 3x the normal size and totally black and blue. It wasn't so, and now seems to be fine.

This past weekend we made a quick trip down to Morgantown to see Nathan's sister Kristi, who was home from Iraq, and brother Todd, who was home from West Point. After lunch we decided to head up to Cooper's Rock. Kristi had invited two friends and their son to come up for the weekend and they hadn't ever been to Cooper's Rock, and we had wanted to go for the past two years, and just never made it. Unfortunately we went a little late in the year to see the beautiful foliage WV has to offer.

The group heading out to the lookout point

The only picture I got of Kristi... she is taking a picture

of her friend Andrea and her son Sam.

isn't this why bibs were invented?

Ava wanted down so badly, but with the incredibly uneven terrain, she couldn't walk well. (Cooper's Rock is just that... a rock... or a mountain if you want to be more exact.)

This is the only picture I got of Todd and his Girlfriend Jenna.

They are such a sweet couple.

Daddy and Ava

Trying unsuccessfully to get a family picture.

The new friends we made: Mike, Andrea, and baby Sam. Sam was such a cutie, and a real trooper when Ava tried to get him off his own play mat so she could play!

The group heading back to our cars.

Had we gotten to Cooper's Rock a few weeks earlier, all the leaves that are on the ground would have been brilliantly colored and still on the trees. Fall foliage is amazing in WV, we both really miss it.

And this:

was another site we were able to take in at Cooper's Rock. Yes, it was very warm for a November day, it was probably 74 or so... but not warm enough to be sunbathing... if that's what they are doing. Maybe they are sleeping, they didn't move once the entire time we were there.

Our little Mountaineer

mowing the grass with Joshua's bubble mower.

And running away, as we chase her.
Its a game we play all the time.

This past week has been a long week, as Ava hasn't been feeling the best. On Wednesday evening Ava attached herself to Nathan after he got home and wouldn't let go. The following pictures were taken just minutes after she finished her dinner. (Nathan came home while Ava was eating)

He didn't even make it up stairs to change clothes....

I walked out of the room for two minutes and came back

to this:

Ava ended up staying there the rest of the night, only waking to drink some milk and take some tylenol.

She had a long day and was exhausted!