Delays :)

I have lost half my Christmas cards?!  Yes I know, "what?"  I ordered my Christmas cards a few months before Christmas, had them addressed and ready to mail a week before Christmas.  Stopped by the post office a few times(craziness plus kiddos), the last time being the Friday before (1 week out) from Christmas, couldn't get them mailed out so I put them in the box that they were shipped in and stuck them in the car so I could mail them when we got to NC.  I forgot all about them being in the car, buried under stuff and Christmas presents, so they didn't get mailed out!  They never left the car or we don't remember taking them out of the car?!  When we got home from NC and unpacked the car we found the box, yippee!  I put them aside so I would remember to mail them in time for everyone to get them before Christmas...I got to the post office bought all the stamps (hundreds) got home and started stamping them.  It was then I realized half were missing!!!  Seriously?!  So since then we've been searching and searching the entire house and trash (luckily it comes tomorrow) for the missing cards.  The bad thing is they are not in alphabetical or any type of order?!  So today we decided to go back through my Christmas card list and check the ones I have and order new cards for the missing families!!!  So, if you receive a Christmas card from us in the next few days I'm sorry they are so late, but there was a great reason!  And if you have yet to receive a card from us and normally do, please be patient as we order new cards and get them out!!!  Jody and I laughed at someone who tweeted about throwing all their Christmas cards away at a Long John Silvers on a roadtrip to their families house for Christmas! HA!

A few words this Wednesday...A clean room

For a short while!  

Complete with a few new toys from Christmas and minus a few toys (I'll post later about)...

Studious Student

I jut want to brag on my hubby for just a minute.  This past fall he started taking classes at Liberty University Online!  He decided to take a full load (4 classes) to try to get his school knocked out as quick as possible.  He spent many fridays & saturdays and week nights (after the kiddos were put to bed) working on schoolwork, he even went to bed well before me most nights!  It was rough for all of us, but he worked really hard!  Not only was he working full-time at the church, in school full-time, juggling 4 kiddos and a wife, but he made all A's this semester and has a 4.0 gpa!!!  We are so proud of him!!!

We are still alive!

It's been about 2 weeks since I've blogged, wowza!  A lot has happened and we've been super busy!  No my CHRISTMAS cards have not been mailed out?!  I went twice to the post office before we left for NC, but man the lines + 4 kiddos = no mailing!  I think I'll send Jody today to get them out, so sorry, I am usually really good about getting them out each year and way before Christmas ;)

We headed to Charleston, SC the Saturday before Christmas for a wedding, then onto NC, where we did Christmas with my parents & brothers then Jody's Mom, were able to see extended family & a few friends and my Dad ended up in the hospital!  I did take some pictures while we were back!  Oh and did I mention we had a WHITE Christmas here in GEORGIA!!!  The last Christmas snowfall here was in 1882, and the ground is still white as I type :)  We hope everyone had an awesome Christmas!  We were able to start new traditions with out kiddos this year, I'll blog later!

Christmas Cards

One thing I LOVE about the Christmas season is Christmas Cards!  We love receiving them in the mail, seeing all the pictures and reading the letters about the year from our friends and families!  As I've gotten older, less and less people write letters and send Christmas cards, I fell like it's becoming a lost art (if you'd call it art)!  There's always the excuse about cards being too expensive or I don't have time...we send out a couple hundred Christmas cards every year so I know the amount of money, time and energy it is to do them, but it is so worth it!  I encourage you if you are on the fence about Christmas Cards-whether or not to do them-go ahead, forge ahead and send them!  

As soon as the fall season is upon us I look for opportunities for a Christmas card picture, with 4 kiddos you never know!  I always order my cards months in advance, so I have time to work on them and you get such great deals ordering them so far out :)  This year I've had them since October and started addressing them in November, and no they have not yet been mailed!  Now there are "those" critics that say "who cares about Sally, Bob & Pete, how old they are and all their accomplishments", but I want to know how people are doing, what has been going on in their lives and what's in store for their future!  There was a year a few years ago I decided not to do a Christmas letter and boy we heard it!  So many people said they enjoyed the picture but they didn't get a letter or we must have forgotten to put one in the envelope?!  This year I'm doing something a little different, so we'll see how it goes!  Until then, we're expecting to receive a Christmas Card from everyone reading this blog!  Just kidding, however we would LOVE to receive one from you to see how you are doing and what 2010 has brought you and your family!!!  I thought you would enjoy a few Christmas Pictures from our past, I couldn't find the one from 2003, the year Emma was born, if I find it I'll post it :)

2004

2005 (I was pregnant with Lizzy)

2006

2007

2008 (I was pregnant with Jack)

2009

"This is what we do"...

These girls volunteered to watch our kiddos Friday night so Jody & I could attend our Sunday School Leader Christmas Party!  We had fun and it looks like they did to :)  When we got home they had made and edited this video for us on our Mac!!!

Thanksgiving

I forgot to finish my blog post about Thanksgiving!  Although we got to NC later than we had planned, we got there safe and with no more car issues :)  We had a great time visiting family and even were able to see a few friends while we were in!  Sorry if we weren't able to see you while we were there, these trips are very short and it's hard to see everyone!  We LOVE where we are in Georgia, but this year has been challenging being away from all of our family!  We are very thankful that we live close enough to be able to drive to either North Carolina or Tennessee to see family for a short trip or extended stay!  We are looking forward to starting new traditions with our kiddos over Christmas and New Years here in Georgia!!!

Can you believe I only took one picture the entire week we were in for Thanksgiving?  Craziness, especially since we had both cameras, the video camera and our Droids with cameras!  I have a ton of pictures to post of the kiddos Christmas Angel Brunch, Kids Roc Choir Performance, Joyful Noise Choir and Kennesaw Christmas Parade as well as a few Christmas parties we've attended!  Oh and there will be a guest poster in the next few days, so be on the lookout :)  Until then, Happy Thursday!!!

Wordless Wednesday...Our Middles

Shot & a band-aid

So last week was a doozie for our family-extended and immediate.  Monday morning Anna woke up with a stomach bug, by Monday evening she was feeling much better and just before bedtime she was able to keep down a banana and some Pedialyte.  Wednesday morning Lizzy woke up with the same stomach bug and the same thing, was feeling much better by dinnertime :(  We kept all the kiddos home from church Wednesday just in case the other 2 would come down with it later on in the week thus exposing all their friends to it!  My Mom was also having surgery in North Carolina at UNC Chapel Hill, this was the second surgery to try to fix heart palpatations.  The surgery for my Mom didn't go exactly as the doctors had planned and she ended up in ICU with a temporary pacemaker, talk about scary for me here in Georgia!  Jody & I seriously talked about me going back once we got the word Wednesday, but since my kiddos had been sick I couldn't risk going back in case I was carrying the stomach bug germs.  Thursday morning Lizzy woke up with a fever and then Friday Jack had a fever.  It was a tough couple of days with me being stuck inside the house with sick kiddos and wanting to be in NC with my Mom, but God is good!!!  Friday my Mom had a permanent pacemaker put in and she was able to go home Saturday!  She has a few weeks at home recovering from the surgery and some adjusting with the pacemaker, but we are so thankful she is doing well!!!  The kiddos had so many questions about Wanka and were so concerned with how she was doing, praying for her at mealtimes, bedtime and any other time they thought of her!  Lizzy wants to see "the shot & band-aid" they gave her-her version of surgery :)  

So for today I'm taking care of my house, picking up after this crazy week and weekend...Saturday we had a Christmas Angel Breakfast at church (where the girls performed some songs from their musicals & choir), then the Kennesaw Christmas Parade, Emma had her first limo ride that evening and the girls had their Christmas musical & choir performance yesterday!  I'll try to catch up later on this week from Thanksgiving, yikes?!  Have a great Monday :)

I couldn't help myself...

I elfed the grandkiddoa, click HERE to see :)

Crazies

Last weekend was crazy for us, it seems like it's always crazy though!  Friday we realized our Suburban needed a new hose, there had been a noise, Jody added fluid to the power steering and about a week later the noise was back.  Jody checked the fluid & it was almost gone, yikes?!  He realized the power steering hose had a leak.  Although it wasn't "broken" the Suburban is a very large vehicle and neither of us felt comfortable driving it (we could have kept adding fluid) without it being fixed and the thought of it losing control on 85, wowza!  Jody went and bought the hose and to make a long story short it also ended up needing a power steering pump too.  Jody is pretty handy when it comes to fixing our cars and has saved us so much money being able to fix things himself.  But after looking online he realized it was a large job (lots to take apart in addition to what he already had taken off) and with us leaving for North Carolina Monday morning it needed to get fixed.  So, the Burb had to be towed to a nearby mechanic, which left our family of 6 with Jody's 1972 Volkswagen Beetle!  


We had parents night out at church Friday evening, Jody & I had been looking forward to going to  movie and using a giftcard we had gotten a few months ago and our kiddos were so excited to go hang out at church with their friends (so thankful for that) so we piled in and drove the 4 miles to church and dropped off the kiddos!  Jody and I were able to relax and enjoy a movie, not really because we ended up seeing "Unstoppable", a super intense on the edge of your seat movie!  We ended up seeing it only because we had to be back to pick up our kiddos and it was the only one that fit in the time frame!  It had some language, but overall a good movie.  


Saturday morning we got the house ready for our trip, laundry, cleaning, organizing, etc.  I ALWAYS leave my house clean so when we come home I don't have a mess to clean up in addition to all the laundry!  We were hoping the car would be fixed by Saturday evening, but no luck.  Sunday morning we once again piled the 6 of us in the VW and off we went.  Came home changed clothes for the annual KFBC (Student) Turkey Bowl-I even played flag football, no one gives me credit for anything!  Then home to change again, we were not anticipating this change of clothes and the kiddos ended up getting the fastest bath they've ever had (they were filthy and disgusting from playing in a field and dirt while the games were going on)!  Then back to church for our Thanksgiving dinner!  Thankfully I had prepared my food ahead of time Saturday and was able to warm it up before the dinner!  We had a great time with our church family enjoying a huge Thanksgiving dinner!  We had so many people we had to split up in the fellowship hall and up in our student center!  All in all I believe we had about 400 people!  Then home and in bed, our Suburban still wasn't fixed :(  Monday morning we received a call from the mechanic that the Burb should be fixed by lunch time, what a relief (we had originally planned on leaving early Monday morning).  We had everything packed up and in a pile in our mud room, house was cleaned and decided to watch a few movies to keep the kiddos busy while we were waiting.  We got the call that the Burb was ready, Jody picked it up, came home loaded everything in the Burb, said bye to Jakey (our Border Collie) and off we went on our 7 hour journey to North Carolina!

Winners!!!

Anna woke up early yesterday morning sick with some sort of stomach bug, so I wasn't able to get the winners announced until today.  

I wrote down the commenters names for each day on slips of papers & drew one out, and here's the results...

The winner of the food chopper is....Laura H.

The winner of the Minky Ribbon Blanket is....Sarah M.

The winner of the necklace is....Lauren F.

Thanks to everyone who participated and allowed me to say "Thanks" to all of you!!!  If you were a winner, please send your address to SarahChef@yahoo.com so I can get your item to you!

Cyber Monday

TODAY in honor of cyber Monday, receive FREE shipping on all Pampered Chef orders $75 or more!  Click HERE for more information and to place an order on my website!  This really is a great deal :)

I'll be posting the winners of my "give thanks" giveaways later on today, so check back to see if you won!

Black Friday

Don't forget about my Black Friday Deals TODAY ONLY!!! 

Click HERE for my original post with details about this amazing sale, the best part is you can shop from the comfort of your own home!!! 
Stay tuned for my Cyber Monday Specials too!!!

We LOVE these...

Necklaces :) 

Today I'm giving away a necklace with your initial on it, for yourself or to give as a gift! 

In order to win this necklace, leave a comment about your favorite piece of jewelry, how you acquired it, why you love it AND specify which letter and background is your favorite!!!  I will choose ONE winner from todays commenters, winner to be announced next week!!!

Another way to say "Thanks"...

The holidays are fast approaching! Why fight all the crowds when you can shop from your
home, sipping coffee, while in your pajamas? Beat the clock on my Black Friday deals!!!!

On Friday, the 26th of November, I'm running a sale of Pampered Chef Products and here is how it works!!!

20% Off – Order from 5:00 a.m. - 7:59 a.m.*

15% Off – Order from 8:00 a.m. - 11:59 a.m.*

10% Off – Order From Noon - 5 p.m. *

*date/timestamp per MY computer.

If you are a past host and still within the year of your show, that 10% could count also so you
can get up to 30% off your order!! Depending on when you order! (Let me know if you are a past host!)

You can order three ways:

1. Visit my website at www.pamperedchef.biz/sarahlivingston Click on “Shop Online” at the bottom left of my home page. Select option 1, “Already invited to a show and would like to place an order?” Enter Host Name: Black Friday. Then click on “Black Friday” when it comes up as host. Place your order as you would any other online ordering.(be sure to look at the guest special!) I will contact you and let you know the new total that will be charged to your credit card.

IMPORTANT: If you do not enter Black Friday and simply place the order online, I cannot give you the discount.

2. OR Email me at sarahchef@yahoo.com Please send me item numbers, descriptions, and quantities and I will let you know your total.

3. OR Call me at 678-404-2837. If you are calling and I don't answer, please leave a detailed message. My voicemail will put a timestamp on your message - no need to worry, I'll know which discount applies to your order. Please make sure to leave me your phone number.

You have TWO options for shipping. Local (Georgia) customers can pay the standard $4.25 shipping/handling and pick up the order from me. All other orders need DIRECT SHIPPING...additional charges will apply. You can even have orders shipped directly to recipients. We can ship to anywhere in the USA and all orders are guaranteed to arrive before Christmas.If you have holiday deadlines, I strongly suggest you choose direct shipping.

I can take Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express or debit cards.

This sale only includes CURRENT items in the catalog. No outlet items please.

What a great way to shop for the greatest Kitchen items in the world.

This sale is only valid for this email sale and cannot be combined with any other Cooking or Catalog shows.

If you can't make the sale but would like to place holiday orders, this year's cut off is December 15th. If you need some great gift ideas....I've got a ton - everything from great little stocking stuffers to fabulous cookware and elegant entertaining pieces.  Any questions please feel free to contact me :)

Who wouldn't love...

a soft, colorful and interesting blanket for a child? 

I'm giving away this super cute and cuddly minky ribbon blanket :) 

It measures 10in square, with white minky fabric on one side and a red cotton fabric on the reverse.

Each side is adorned with 2 ribbon loops for your child to explore or "chew on" like our Jack does!

In order to win this giveaway, please leave a comment about a favorite blanket, blankey, lovey, you had as a child and why it was your favorite!  I will choose ONE winner from todays commenters, to be announced next week!!!

I've sparked your curiosity huh?

This being the week of Thanksgiving I thought what better way to say "Thanks" to all my blog readers than a few giveaways!!!  You'll have to check back everyday to see what's up :)

Today I'm giving away something The Livingston Family uses a few times a week...

The Food Chopper is The Pampered Chef's most popular kitchen tool ... and with good reason! Durable, stainless rotating blades uniformly chop veggies, nuts and cooked meats in seconds. Chop onions without a single tear! A flexible cap doubles as a chopping board. Handier than a food processor and much easier to clean. Dishwasher-safe.

In order to win this fabulous giveaway leave a comment stating how you would use this product in your own home or if you already have this product leave a comment about how this gadget has made your life easier in the kitchen and you can give away this as a gift, a $31 value!!!  I will choose ONE winner from commenters today and announce the winner next week!!!   

Ok, so I'll give you a small hint...

check the blog on Monday :)

Keep an

 on our blog next week, 

there will be a

or TWO or THREE... 
(and NO it will not be an announcement-LEF ;)

New necklaces

A friend of Emma's has a similar necklace to the "bottle cap" necklace pictured on the left, we were looking online for Christmas ideas and we came across these "scrabble tile" necklaces (pictured on the right) and LOVED them!!!  So, I  have 2 questions for you my blog readers...

1. Would you purchase these for your daughter, granddaughter, niece, cousin, etc.?

2. How much would you pay?

I would really appreciate some honest and serious feedback!!!  Thanks :)

It's a ponytail!

Since Anna was small I decided to keep her hair short, she just looks cute with short hair!  Recently we decided to cut bangs, for a few reasons...but in the last few months Anna has insisted on growing her hair out long like Emma, she wants to do everything Emma does, so no surprise there!  She's always asking me to put her hair up in a ponytail even though it's too short to get it all up!  This particular day I finally gave in and put her hair up, even though half of it fell out right away, but she was happy she had a ponytail!!! 

Note the hair bow, her signature hairpiece, she even wears them to bed!!!

Once Anna had her hair up Lizzy (who never wants a hair bow in) decided she should give it a try...

She looks so cute with a ponytail!  Too bad she wouldn't let me put a barrett in to keep her bangs back too!

Silly girls with ponytails!!!

Operation Christmas Child!

I'm sure most of you have heard of Operation Christmas Child!  For those of you who have not, I'll direct you to Samaritan's Purse, the organization that created Operation Christmas Child, by clicking HERE :)  We've had the opportunity to pack a shoebox for each of our kiddos for a few years now, I looked back at my blog to see if I could find previous posts, and for some reason I can't find any?!  I know I've taken pictures of the shoeboxes every year, so as soon as I find them I'll post them :)

One thing we are always trying to teach our kiddos is to serve others, especially around The Holidays when the world screams it's all about you!  People by nature are selfish, it's our job as parents to teach our children it's not always about them (once they are old enough to understand :).  The older our kiddos get, the more we realize how important this is becoming!  Operation Christmas Child is a tangible way for our kiddos to serve by giving to other children less fortunate.  It also gives us the opportunity to teach them about why we serve and give to others, to be more like Christ in everything we do!  

Each child gets a shoebox for their age & gender, we go to the store (I also pick up things throughout the year we can use), pick up items that they would like to give (age appropriate), pack them up and send them off.  Our girls LOVE picking out items for their "girl"...

Some items we sent were jump ropes, socks, hair bows, lip gloss, stuffed animal, bubbles, markers, pens, paper, small purse and other "girly" things.  

Jack especially LOVED picking out all the "boy" stuff, but not so much when we had to put all the things in the box!  In Jack's box we sent toy balls, cars, stuffed animal, football, paper & pens and other various "boy" things! 

Something new this year to Operation Christmas Child is a way to track your box!  Every year we write a little note & send a picture with our boxes, we've never gotten a response back, but this year we can track where the box ends up!  Just another way for our kiddos to see their boxes are being sent to "real" girls/boy and to remind them to pray for those little girls and boy!

Today starts of National Collection Week, so it's not too late!  I strongly encourage you if you haven't already packed a box for Operation Christmas Child, today is the day!    There are collection sites all over the place, so it's convenient too!  Go to Samaritans Purse for more information and directions!

*******UPDATE**********

Here's a shot of the kiddos in 2008 with their shoeboxes!!!

Another National Month?

Did you know that November is National Epilepsy Month?  I never thought I'd be blogging about Epilepsy, but since April of this year it became very real to us.  Emma is doing so well since being diagnosed with Epilepsy in May.  Epilepsy is a blanket term for people with a "seizure disorder", in Emma's case she has Simple Partial Seizures-affecting her right side, chest up.   She continues to take medication twice a day and will continue to do so until May of 2012 (unless she has another seizure between now and then, she must be seizure free for TWO years before they will allow her to be taken off the medication).  She has minimal side effects, usually only when we have to adjust her medication and they only last a few days!  

The most difficult part for me as a Mom is having to forewarn and make others aware of her "medical condition", the risk of a seizure and what to do if she has one.  Also letting her go and have fun despite her "medical condition".  Even after an MRI, CT scan, EEG and other neurological tests Emma's neurologist was unable to determine the cause or trigger for Emma's seizures (in 70% of cases there is no known cause), so although Emma has been seizure free since May of 2010, they could happen at any time.  With that she has medication she must keep with her at all times in addition to her daily medication.  This medicine is for a prolonged seizure (lasting 5 minutes) or cluster seizures (back to back seizures), it is a very strong and very expensive medication, she has one to keep at school and one I keep with me when she's with me at home or out and about.  This medication is basically liquid vallium, so in addition to having to use it she would have to be seen ASAP at the hospital.  

Since being diagnosed Emma's neurologist strongly suggested a medical ID bracelet, which we let Emma pick out, that she never takes off.  She has recently gotten to the point where she doesn't want to wear the bracelet or people to know she has Epilepsy.  Usually after reminding her why she takes the medicine, to prevent seizures, she knows she must take her medicine, wear the bracelet and make others aware so that they can help!  

We are extremely thankful that Emma doesn't have more frequent seizures, since Emma's diagnosis, we have met two children in our church with Epilepsy.  One is younger boy (Anna's age) who has seizures frequently and has use of a "canine" helper, the other is a girl a year or two older than Emma who had Epilepsy and has grown out of it (which is what we are hoping for Emma).  We are also very thankful for the medical insurance we have, her daily medication costs coupled with her "emergency" medication, neurologist visits, EMS, ER visit, initial tests and doctors she saw = a lot of money, but God provided!!! 

Epilepsy is serious and affects so many people around the world, I ask that you take the time to be educated, you never know when you might be around someone having a seizure and you could be the one to help!  Take this quiz to Get Seizure Smart!

Wordless Wednesday...Goofball Anna

Jack -Jack

I wanted to give a quick update on Jack and his non-talking disposition I blogged about a few weeks ago.  Turns out when we started making him talk, he started to (what a surprise and a relief)!  I spoke to his AWANA leaders at church, Sunday School Teachers and Sunday night crew to start making him ask for things by name instead of just signing "please" or "more" that coupled with us doing the same at home has doubled his vocabulary, especially in the past 2 weeks!!!  There are still many words that are un-recognizable to complete strangers, but at least he's trying!!!  I will also talk with his pediatrician when we go in January for his TWO year check-up, wow can't believe he's almost 2 years old!!!

We are so thankful for our little boisterous boy and all of his new vocabulary, new this week: "Mine" (with an extreme southern accent), "dow" (down), "elpew" (help you) and "O00-jew" (hold you)!  His favorite words are still "Emma", "Anna", "Zizzy" and of course "Mama" (which he now says with major attitude) and "Dada"!  I think you'll be surprised if you haven't seen or "talked" with him in a while :)

Happy Birthday to my Mother-in-law Teresa!

She is celebrating 20 years of being 35 :)

Happy Birthday Grandma Teresa!!!

Halloween 2010

We decided NOT to let the kiddos pick out their own costumes this year, every year it's fairies or princesses or frilly girly stuff!  Jody really wanted to do Peanuts for him & I and then the entire family!  

Anna as Patty

Emma as Lila

Lizzy as Sally

Jack as Linus minus the blanket

Linus with his blanket

Jody as Charlie Brown :)  I was Lucy, but didn't get a picture of myself!  

Sunday evening we had Trunk of Treats at our church.  Basically people volunteer to decorate their "trunks" in a theme and hand out candy in our parking lot!  We have done this at the YMCA since Emma was a baby so both Jody & I volunteered to each do a trunk!  The students decided to decorate Jody's VW and I forgot to get a picture of it :(  Since we were the Peanuts characters what better theme than "The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown"for the burb! We chose to keep it pretty simple...

Linus in the Pumpkin Patch

The moon with Snoopy's shadow

The Pumpkin Patch

Handing out candy to the kiddos!!!  Once we got home it was too late to go Trick or Treating around our neighborhood, but the kiddos were so excited to hand out candy to their friends and fellow trick-or-treaters!

They stood at the door and waited for someone to walk up and squeeled & jumped around when anyone looked like they may be walking to our house!

And Linus enjoyed helping himself to the candy :)

Pumpkin Carvin' Livingston Style

Saturday we decided to let the kiddos carve their pumpkins!  This was the first time we have carved them as a family!  Here are the before pictures of their pumpkins...

Lizzy looks creepy here!

Taking out the "guts" was NOT fun for the girls...

Jack enjoyed just "sweeping" the leaves!

Don't worry they were using "my safe cutter" as the knife!

Emma's pumpkin-she drew the face all by herself!

Anna's Pumpkin

Lizzy's Pumpkin-she wouldn't take a picture with it!

Jack's Pumpkin!  We decided to use the stick in on his rather than carving it!

The finished Pumpkins!

All a glow :)

On the front porch for all to see!!!