New Pics

We had some fun pictures taken of the kids with the Miller cousins.

Jenni Price did a wonderful job!

Thank you

Save the Date

“Cornerstone Ladies Getaway”
February 26th-28th

Getaway with your favorite Cornerstone ladies and meet some new ladies, too!
Enjoy fellowship with friends.
Be inspired by the work God has done in the lives of four Cornerstone ladies as they share their testimonies.
Relax in Cascade Locks at the Best Western Columbia River Inn.
Refresh with free time to read, shop, sit in the hot tub, sleep in, and have a weekend free from cooking!

The Inn is beautiful, take a look at the blog we created http://cornerstonemoms.blogspot.com/
(The Cornerstone Ladies Getaway is not just for moms, I already had the blog address with the “mom” title…this getaway is for ALL LADIES, young and wise!)

Registration begins January 10th, 2010

Soccer

Ellie played her last game of the season this past Saturday. She loved every second even when it rained! She said the best part of soccer was, daddy and Mr. Moffat coaching, her friend Kari, running, and scoring goals! The worst part was being pulled out of the game so other kids could play. If it was up to her she would have played all 40 mins of the game.

I love that Ellie is board waiting for the game to start.
That's our girl!

One more then I promise I will stop posting about coupons

Saved 25.14 at Safeway
Saved 3.80 at Winco (they truly do have the lowest prices unless you coupon on Fred Meyer or Safeway sales)
Best of all saved 14.40 at Fred Meyers and look what I got for $20.66!
My Thanksgiving turkey (used a 2.00 coupon) - 16.01
Romane Lettuce, Pears and Apples on sale .67/pound(used 2.00 coupon on produce)
6 yogurts (.40 coupon)
2 packs of Oscar Meyer lunch meat (used a 2/$5 coupon. However, when I went to Winco right after I found that Winco has them priced at 2.44 all the time...hmmmm still learning I guess.)
I also used my Fred Meyers reward bucks totalling $9.00

My total sale and coupon savings this week was 65.36! Best part is I didn't buy unnecessary things. This is fun :)

My very first coupon experience!

Thanks to Leah, she has inspired me to become a coupon clippin’ queen.
First Stop: Fred Meyer
Coupon Savings (both fred meyer & merchant coupons) Saved additional $20.02 off sale prices.
What I got:
Two dozen eggs - .99 each
Powdered sugar and 2 brown sugars - .99 each
Two packages of chocolate chips sale price 1.99 each with MC – 1.74 each
Toilet paper 12 rolls on sale for 8.99 with coupon – 5.49
Danimal yogurts sale for 1.99 with coupon - .99
4 boxes of FM cereal for $5
I missed the big sale on rain boots last weekend but I got Blake a pair with 15% off the sale price today.
Oh and my favorite two 1 lbs bags of Starbucks coffee on sale and with FM coupon and Merchant coupon for less then $5/ pound!
Next stop Safeway to get a $3 savings on Tide, and then to Winco with the rest of my merchant coupons…THIS IS FUN! Thank you Leah – LOVE YOU GIRL!

Happy Birthday Blake

What Ellie loves about Blake

"When I need someone to play with Blake always plays with me."

"When I get hurt he cares about me."

Blake we love you so much. You make us smile and laugh everyday. You are a fun, caring, energetic, hungry (Ellie), a great cuddlier, rowdy, cool, funny, compassionate, animated, and lovable!

Hugs and Kisses,

Daddy, Mommy, and Ellie

From the other side

Our family has officially made it through having the swine flu. We learned a few things along the way and I thought after sharing them with some friends and family I would just write it down for you all to read. I can’t take credit for most of this my mom is an excellent researcher and Melissa (Marlene’s sister) also gave me some great information. Blake got it first and it quickly turned into pneumonia. At first we thought it was just the flu but then realized he was taking very shallow breaths and it became painful for him to breath. He refused to breath deep and would cry and moan every time he coughed or yawned. So pay attention to your kids breathing if they come down with the as Leah put it piggy flu. A high fever will cause rapid breathing but shallow breathing sounds different.

Here are a few other things we learned:
-First, ask your friends and family to pray for you. I was so thankful that Andrea encouraged me to let our church send out a prayer request. Yes, lots of people will get it and you’re not the only one but that doesn't make it easier.
-Let your friends bring you a dinner or two, or pick up things you need at the store.
-Mucinex, don’t suppress the cough and cold break it up. This was advice from our Doctor.
-Drink Emergen-C, very yummy with orange juice and sparkling water. They have adult and kids packets.
-If you are in the high fever stage take Ibuprofen and then three hours later Tylenol, repeat, repeat, repeat. This will help keep the fever under control and will assist in not getting dehydrated.
-Sleep, I know impossible if you have kids. However, if you can take turns with your spouse and get some rest…it will help!
-Sinus flush, get that crud out of there. It will help prevent sinus infection.
-If you start feeling tightness in your chest pound on your chest, keep breathing deep, and sleep slightly elevated – can help avoid pneumonia.
-Of course drink lots of water.
-A few natural things we did to help boost our immune system, take garlic pills, and Oreganol (helps fight upper respiratory infections).
-If you’re a coffee drinker substitute or add green tea while you are sick. I wish I could do this indefinitely but I just love coffee too much. Green tea has antioxidants and won’t dehydrate you like coffee does.

Disinfecting your home:
I have done this several times now, here are a few places you may forget to disinfect.
Doorknobs
Light switches
Refrigerator handle
Night stands
Cupboard handles (especially the one under your sink if your garbage is there)

You could get really carried away with this. Don’t go crazy trying to stay germ free, that is impossible. However, if you can keep a bottle of Clorox wipes or Lysol spray around and hit the “high touch” areas you might avoid spreading it to everyone. Ellie was fortunate enough to not get it. She was the only on in our house who has stayed healthy. Who would have thought that the kid who is in public school for the first year would (or at least has for now) escaped the swine flu. Don’t forget to ask and except help and pray for your family. Remember God has your family in His hands.

Ellie

A few nights ago I was cleaning some stickers off the bathroom counter. Ellie had told Blake to stick them on the side of the counter with her while they got ready for bed. Well they didn't come off. In fact it took a razor blade and lots of Windex to get it all clean.

While I was scraping away I said, "Ellie this really wasn't a good idea. Let's not do this again." She replied, "Blake did it too."

"Yes he did, but you told him to so I am letting you know that it's not a good idea."

"Mom. He listened! Just like Adam, it's not all my fault!"

Wow, my five year old is pulling scripture out on me.

And she was right, I should have addressed them both.

Blake

Thank you everyone for your prayers! For those of you who don't know Blake got hit hard by "THE FLU" and then got pneumonia this past week. We had a few scary moments earlier this week and we sent out the request for prayer. I have heard people say they could feel people's prayer before and I never fully understood what they meant. Now I do. On Tuesday night Blake was having a really hard time breathing and it became so painful that he had, the only way to describe it was a panic attack. We rushed him to the doctor's office when they informed us that he had pneumonia and they were ready to treat it. They calmed us down, put him on a nebulizer, and gave him an antibiotic shot in the bottom, sad but good! That night I held him when he finally fell asleep. I started to get scared and then realized God is BIG and GOOD! I closed my eyes and imagined the sound of our friends and family all over the country praying for Blake. What a beautiful sound to God to hear his children praying together even though they were scattered. I know that things could have been so much worse and that others have to face much bigger obstacles, however in the moment the reality can feel so helpless. Knowing that so many people were praying gave me an over whelming sense of peace. I simply prayed, "God I know you hear our prayers, let your work be done." I am thankful for our doctors quick diagnosis and treatment, help from family and friends, and all you who prayed. Thank you!

Here is Blake... ...doing so much better!

Thank you Cornerstone for the get well gift.

Gave Blake big smiles!

What's New

Ellie and Kari braved a new spot this fall and they are doing GREAT! We had our kick-off Jamboree last Saturday and it was so much fun. Ellie is taking to the spot rather quickly and surprising both Mike and me. She scored her first goal on Saturday! Michael is an awesome asst coach and the girls are loving the fact that their daddies get to be on the field with them. Hopefully their enthusiasm will stay strong when the rain comes.

Ellie and Daddy ready for the game to start!

I can't believe it's here. How did the past 5 1/2 years go so fast? We have lived in our house for almost 8 years now. Every time I drove down the street and passed the Elementary school I would tell Ellie someday that will be your school. It felt like the day was so far away. Now here she is an official kindergartner! Mike took the morning off and we all walked her to school Tuesday. She did great! I was glad Michael was here because I was on the verge of tears for about the first hour that she was gone. Ellie gave us the run down of the day but come to the conclusion that it's really not that big of a deal:) She doesn't understand why everyone wants to talk about it...it's just school. I think that translates to a successful day.

Melissa has a few month off work and has been able to bring Baby Ava over for us to cuddle. She is just adorable and I am so happy we finally get to hold her.

The school year is back and so is Viola!

She is walking and starting to talk and loads of fun :)

Blake and his growing imagination will keep me and Viola quite entertained this year. Here he has created a BATMOBILE complete with a computer and headset. I have found myself hugging him a little tighter and longer knowing that these next two years of him being home with me are going to be gone before I know it.