Deals & Steals

Plum District, LivingSocial, Juice in the City, Groupon...all of these sites have saved us SO much money in the past few months!  These sites have a "deal" or "steal" running all the time for all sorts of things, food, products, services...We've gotten a lot of food deals/steals as well as discounts on almost everything you can think of!  May of these places (I've experienced) don't do coupons or discounts EVER, so to get a voucher is absolutely fantastic!

We only go out to eat once a week, and this has helped us stretch our budget even farther!  A few weeks ago we were able to buy 2 vouchers at $5 each, for $20 (each) worth of food at a local restaurant we eat at almost every Sunday after church!!!  It ended up being 75% off and cost us $15 with tip for our entire family of 6 to eat a delicious meal!  There was a 2 limit per family for this deal, otherwise I would have bought more, and it was a dine-in only, perfect because we always dine in anyway :)

For some of these sites, if you get 3 friends to buy the deal, you get the deal for FREE, or invite friends you can get incentives, what an even better deal!!!  Oh and I almost forgot, most of these sites also have apps for your phone, so all you have to do is log-in and show the barcode from the app and they scan the voucher/discount right from your phone, no papers to print & get lost :)  So what are you waiting for???

***WINNER***

And the winner of the GIVEAWAY is......

Lauren Faison

*Freshly picked by drawing names out of a hat this morning from Emma :)

Lauren wins this set of my reusable bag & wrap!!!

  Don't forget you can order these bags/wraps off my site HERE and use the coupon "Sarah" to receive 10% off your total :)  But remember this coupon is only valid until September 23rd!!!

Wordless Wednesday: Cookies in 3D

**Don't forget, TODAY is the last day to enter to win a set of my reusable bags :)  Check out my Etsy site HERE and leave a comment on my blog which one is your favorite, I'll announce the winner tomorrow!!!**

Yippee

Ok, so I am going to do a plug for my bags, if you aren't interested I'd still like you to keep reading in case you can think of someone who might :)  Oh and there might be a giveaway...

Since school started this year I knew we were going to be going through plastic baggies like crazy (3 in school), they are annoying to me and I always feel like I'm wasting money (even though I get them for pretty cheap by couponing ;) AND they are horrible on the environment!  Anyway, I saw them online and wanted to try them out like yesterday, of course no one sold them around my area, they were in online stores, but super pricey + shipping wasn't really an option!  So, I sat down and tried to make them on my own and they came out fantastic!  The girls started taking them the first week of school & I started getting inquiries about them, so I put them up on Etsy :)  A lady saw them on a friends page and she featured them on her blog (a crafty, do it yourself, save money, sorta blog) that gets about 700 hits a day :)  and I did a giveaway for more interest!  She also figured out the price comparison, if you use 1 plastic baggie (we actually were using about 3 each day per person) for each day of school (180) the bag will pay for itself during the school year :)

The benefits of these bags are they can be used for EVERYTHING!!!  When Jack wants a snack, we use a bag, when we go out to do errands, we use a bag, when we go to the playground, we use a bag, school lunches, we use a bag & a wrap, he often eats his cereal out of the bag too :) He loves that he can go in the drawer and pick out which bag to use!  They are perfect for almost any snack (except liquids), apples, oranges, crackers, Anna even took pickles last week!!!  We really are getting a ton of use out of them & they hold up great!  The outside fabric is cotton and the inside is rip stop nylon (completely food safe and water-resistent), which means the bags are completely machine washable (cold water) and can be dried in the dryer as well (tumble dry low heat) or can be wiped out with a damp paper towel & air dried, simple!  I do have to say the quality is pretty great too, I am a perfectionist (as many of you know;), so I take great care in making sure seams are straight, velcro is straight, lines lines up, basically what I would expect if I was purchasing them from someone!

My favorite and the girls is the sandwich wrap, it folds up & wraps around your sandwich to keep your bread fresh & secure and when you unfold it, it becomes a placemat to keep food off germy surfaces!  Lizzy likes it so much she has asked to use it at home now instead of a plate, silly girl!  The wrap is also top stitched for added durability as well as a more finished look!  It too is machine washable & able to be dried in the dryer!

These bags & wraps are perfect for school lunches, parent lunches, grandparents, teachers, anyone can benefit, and who wouldn't love a fun print?!?!?  So.....Jody convinced me to do another giveaway on my blog, yippee!!!  So, if you'd like to be entered to win a lunch set (1 sandwich wrap & 1 snack bag), visit my Etsy site HERE, and leave a comment on my blog stating what your favorite item is and why you like it ;)  I'll choose a winner on Wednesday (you have until midnight to enter) and I'll announce the winner Thursday morning, so check back to see if you won!!!  If you'd like to purchase anything off my site, use the code "Sarah" to get 10% off, but it's only valid through Friday September 23rd :)    

Pax Update

Wanted to give a quick update on Paxton!  His mom Christi said yesterday...
"Overwhelmed with love and prayers from our wonderful family, friends, and UNC team. Praising God that Paxton came off the ventilator last night and was moved out of the PICU today and onto the children's 5th floor which is much more comfortable for all of us. We are still believing for an unthinkable 
miracle. His power is made perfect in our weakness"
Your prayers are working on this sweet little boy!  Please continue to pray for Paxton & his family as they figure out where to go from here!

Paxton

Urgent prayer need for our friends, The Seneri Family...their 3 year old son Paxton has been battling cancer since December 2010.  It's obviously been a roller coaster with so many ups and downs, last night they admitted him to the hospital for fluid in his brain & a fever.  He had a rough night with 15-20 seizures and is now on a ventilator, and MRI is scheduled for later this afternoon.  Please join us in prayer for this sweet little boy and his family!!!

5 year old news...

Lizzy went for her 5 year checkup today!!!  She weighed 36lbs 8oz (28%) and was 40.5in tall (15%).  She got 4 shots too, but was a happy camper because she got to pick out a pink wand from the treasure box :)  They also did her kindergarten screening while she was there and she passed the hearing and vision tests!  We're almost all set for kindergarten!!!  Only 11 months away ;)

Terrific Tuesday

It seems as though I've been out of sorts lately, just adjusting to having only one home during the day has been weird, crazy and by no means easier!  Getting up early again :(, homework folders x 3 this year, packing lunches, picking out clothes every night before bedtime, Room Mom for Anna's class...AND these have been keeping me super busy lately (amongst my regular Mommy & Wife duties...

I've enjoyed sewing since I learned in Home Economics in 7th grade and I love being creative!  My kiddos absolutely LOVE these bags & wraps, showing off a little bit of their personality by choosing their fabric :)  Lizzy's favorite is the sandwich wrap, it doubles as a placemat once you unwrap the sandwich, perfect for preschool!  She asks to use it at home now instead of a plate, yesterday she asked me to make her matching napkins too, silly girl!  It has also become Anna's favorite for the same reason, icky cafeteria germs!  

I've had a lot of orders this past week, which has kept me down in the basement, where my sewing area is setup, every spare minute I have.  The best part is that everything I need is ready to go and I can leave it all out :)  And if I have a half an hour I can cut fabric or sew on velcro, lables, a seam here or there, I can do so!  

So I'm adjusting just in time for the craziness of the Holidays to hit in just a few short months...

Sweet Lizzy

How could I forget to post about our newest 5 year old?!?!?!

September 2nd Lizzy turned the big FIVE years old!  She had asked me a few months ago to make her a birthday outfit (she has confidence in me!)...she was very specific.  She wanted a long skirt, I thought it was too long, but it's what the "birthday girl" wanted!  She wanted a shirt to match with the number "5" on it so everyone would know she was 5, and she wanted her hair up in a "ball" like a princess!  Here she is the day before her birthday in her "birthday outfit"...she doesn't have school on Fridays so we wore it a day early to celebrate at school), she made it clear to everyone that it wasn't her birthday that day that it was "tomorrow, September 2nd"!  We decided not to have a birthday party this year because she was able to have one last year and Anna was not (this year is Anna's turn).  But I was able to bring cupcakes & balloons to her preschool so we could celebrate there and she was beyond excited!!!
 
My parents came in for the weekend, brought gifts from family back in NC, we took her out to dinner, (her choice was Chili's), she had a great day being 5!

This is what Jody & I got for her, her very own 4ft x 4ft cardboard castle!  She's been talking for weeks now about Jody building her a castle & Papa building her a tree house in the backyard (neither is going to happen), so the next best thing is a cardboard castle!  She was able to decorate it with stickers, crayons, markers, etc. and it's perfect size for her.  It's made out of sturdy recycled cardboard and is still going (not destroyed) as of today :)

I can't believe she is already FIVE years old!!!  Looking forward to seeing what the years have for our sweet baby girl!!!

I know, I know

Ok, first of all Wow!  I did not realize it has been so long since I've blogged!  I've had several requests lately to "keep up with the blog", we're missing what's happening with The Livingstons!  So here's a quick over view....

Our summer officially came to an end on August 15th when Emma & Anna started school!  Emma is in 3rd grade and Anna is in Kindergarten!!!  They are loving school!  This year we were able to put Lizzy in preschool at church.  It works out so well, she rides with Jody to work in the mornings, and he takes a late lunch, picks her up and heads home to eat with Jack & I.  She only goes to school Monday-Thursday which is perfect because Jody has Fridays off too :)  Lizzy is absolutely LOVING preschool, she missed the cutoff for Kindergarten by 1 day, according to all her testing she is really ready for Kindergarten.  We could have pushed the issue and started her this year, but she and Anna would have been in the same grade and Jody & I decided it was best to leave her where she technically belongs, cutoffs are for a reason :)  Jack is potty-trained!!!  Can I get a woot-woot?  I had decided we would start "potty training" when Lizzy went off to preschool, but the Thursday before she started he decided he wanted to wear underwears...he really had few accidents during the day and was definitely NOT waking up at night so I put pull-ups on him at night and at naptime.  But he's been "underwears" only (all the time) for about a week now & he's done great!  He still has a problem with code browns, he must be scared of the potty because he goes in the bathroom a million times before he code browns :/  Jody has slowed down a tad at the church, we now have a middle school guy and he has taken a little bit of the load off Jody!  He's also been busy fixing things around the house, like our garage door, camper, Suburban (both), etc.  He is becoming quite the handyman :)  And I've been making bags!!!  Reusable Snack & Sandwich Bags as well as Sandwich Wraps.  I saw them on Etsy and decided I could make them, sat down one day and whipped some up (not as fast as they sound).  I made a set for each of the girls and people started seeing them and wanting to buy them!  So now I've added them to my Etsy site HERE :)  I've also still been couponing and keeping busy with Pampered Chef!  I'll try to get some more updated pictures on here of the kiddos and maybe change the layout a little bit...Jack has become really clingy since all the girls are at school and I find myself being pulled around like a freight train, impersonating "Emily" or "Percy", making trains out of laundry baskets, coloring pictures, all right next to my buddy who doesn't let me out of his site!  We're doing well, staying busy and ready for Fall!!!  Things are going really well at church, we're finishing up our Lesser Things campaign (paying off building debt, new canopies, basic church maintenance), 4 months early I might add :)  And we're going to gear up for our Greater Things Campaign starting soon to build!!!  Don't lose hope, this Mama is working on getting back to some of my old routines and making new ones now that I have only ONE at home with me!  Thanks for not exiling us, namely me for not updating, yikes!  So here are some recent pictures of the kiddos...

El Salvador

Since I won't have my phone and internet is sometimes sketchy in El Salvador, I'm putting a link to our student site, just click on "news & updates".  Jody is hoping to update every day what we are doing in El Salvador, maybe a picture or two, but I wouldn't count on it :(  There is a time change, I believe either 2 or 3 hours, and the posts will be late at night, so you may have to read them the next day!  If I'm able I will update as I can!  Thank you again for continuing to pray for our team and we look forward to sharing when we get back!!!

Today is the day

Today I'm asking for you to prepare our teams HEARTS...pray that we will be open to the Holy Spirits leading, we will be obedient to God in whatever He asks of us, we will be open to sharing our faith with others, open to new things and experiences.  That being sad to leave our loved ones for a week would be replaced with comfort and excitement in being able to go and serve!  For a few of our students this will be the first time overseas, for a few this will be the first overseas trip without a parent with them or just leaving very difficult situations at home.  Pray that we wouldn't be preoccupied with the things at home, but focused on the task at hand!  Prepare our HEARTS for the week!

1 day

Today I'm asking for CONTINUATION...as I said this is a youth mission trip.  I'm asking for a CONTINUATION of God's leading in each of our lives.  As in any trip we will come back on a high, I pray that our team will continue to stay in God's word, studying God's word, staying in church, sharing God's love with others and being an example to those around us, keep that flame going!

2 days

Today I'm asking for SAFE TRAVELS...as I said earlier this week we'll be on a plane for about 4 hours, mostly over water (yikes), traveling by bus or taxi while in El Salvador, walking around sharing with the people of El Salvador and doing daily things.  Please pray for SAFE TRAVELS for our team before and during our trip!

3 days

Today I'm asking for PEOPLE...please pray for all the PEOPLE we will come in contact with on our journey, whether it be in the airport, on a taxi, people we meet on the street in El Salvador, children we visit, people we are able to minister to, or even people we can share our trip with when we get back!  We are called to be examples, please pray that all these different things we will experience, we will be able to show God through every aspect!  As one of my new favorite songs says "put your love glasses on"-see people through God's eyes, be compassionate and soften the hearts of the PEOPLE so we can share God's love with them!  

4 days

Today I'm asking for GOOD HEALTH...a few weeks ago at camp Jack got a cold, then I got it, then Emma (and about 2/3 of our youth group) .  It was a nasty cold that finally went away for me 13 days after it started!  Most of our students ended up at the doctor with either an upper respiratory infection or sinus infection, I decided to tuff it out and let my body fight it on it's own...so I'm asking for you to pray for GOOD HEALTH for our entire team.  Keep us free of sickness before we leave and also while we are away in a foreign country!  Please pray for our tummies, that we would not end up with any icky stomach viruses or any other tummy problems ;) because we are not used to the food in El Salvador!  I'm taking lots of vitamins to hopefully get my immune system ready to kick butt on some germs :)

5 days

Today I am asking for prayer for our KIDDOS.  My parents will be here to take care of them while Jody and I are away, I am absolutely confident that they will be completely taken care of, my prayer is for our KIDDOS to understand why we are going.  My immediate thought when I heard about this trip was "I can't leave our kids in the US while we (Jody) are both gone"...I even woke up one night this week so upset about our KIDDOS feeling like we were abandoning them, but Jody reassured me that we are being an example to them, God is worth it, He has called us to be "missionaries" and if He calls us somewhere we better go!  What a step of faith we are taking in both Jody & I leaving the country while our KIDDOS stay behind!  We are being obedient to God and we can be in no safer place than in God's will!  They are super excited that Papa & Wanka will be here with them for a whole week spoiling them, so we're also hoping this will help when we leave!  Please keep in mind they have never all 4 been away from Mommy & Daddy longer than a day or so, this will be a stretch!

6 days

Today I ask for PRAYER for our trip...I sent out about 50 support letters, and included self-addressed envelopes, my main motivation for sending out the letters was to gain PRAYER support.  This trip is a HUGE step for me and I need PRAYER support, unfortunately I only received a handful of the letters back :(  I'm hoping that everyone who received a letter will remember to pray for me even if they didn't send the slip of paper back saying that they would ;)  I am also a few hundred dollars short of fully funding my trip.  Although I am a worrier by nature, I was and am confident that God will provide the money I need, so this too is a PRAYER need!  If you are reading this and are willing and able to give you can do so through our church website by clicking here.

ONE week...

from today myself, Jody, 3 adult chaperones and 9 students will be on a plane from Atlanta, Georgia to San Salvador, El Salvador.  This has been an emotional week for me already, I can't imagine what next week will hold!  Emotional, I'm sure some of you are saying "Why?"  I like schedules, organization, things that are the same, it's my personality I've been this way as long as I can remember...this will be my first trip outside the US, this will be my longest plane ride (4hours), this plane ride will be over water a large majority of the time, I am leaving my 4 babies at home (in the safe care of my parents), we are traveling to latin America where things are extremely laid back and schedules look great on paper!  Jody has told me to remember 3 things...1. Flexibility 2. Flexibility 3.Flexibility.  Me and flexibility don't get along too well, don't get me wrong since marrying Jody, having 4 kiddos, being in ministry, student ministry, I have HAD to be flexible, I'm not saying I can't or won't, it is just not "normal" for me!  Already this week I've been pushed outside my comfort zone.  God has already been teaching me so many things, revealing so many obstacles in my life, things I need to change, that have been strong holds in my life for so long, things I never realized until a few days ago!  I'm excited to be in El Salvador, to be obedient in following where God is leading me, it's the getting there that will be the hardest!  So for the next 7 days I'm asking all of you to please pray for this Mama, scared to leave her babies, scared to try something new, just scared in general, but willing :)  And for the next 7 days as we are in El Salvador...  

Hey guys, I'm back...AGAIN!  We've been beyond super busy these past few weeks!!!  I'll have to do a whole months worth of updates once we get back from El Salvador, but I didn't forget you, I seriously haven't had the time to get on here and get a blurb & picture out!  Stay tuned for updates about our trip to El Salvador next week!!!

Oh how we miss Birthdays :(

One thing we definitely miss bring here in Georgia is birthdays...I've always been really close to my family, not only brothers, but cousins and aunts and uncles!  Back in North Carolina was a large part of my Dad's family, we'd get together on holidays and especially birthdays, resulting in 20+ people!  This time of year is especially difficult for me starting in May: my Dad's birthday & Sis-in-law Diana's birthday; June: Mom's Birthday, my Brother Matt's Birthday, July: my other Brother Josh's Birthday and then my niece Ashtyn's Birthday in early August, not to mentions both Mother's Day and Father's Day!  We call and sing to them on their Birthdays, but it's not the same being able to be there, go out to eat, eat cake & ice cream and just hang out :(  I try my very best to wish them Happy Birthday on the blog...know we miss you guys and so wish we could be there for every single Birthday!!!  

If you live near family and have the opportunity to celebrate with them, don't hesitate!  For those of us not close to family we cherish the moments we are able to be with them and celebrate the milestones:)  

Happy Birthday Mom/Wanka!!!

We hope you have a FANTASTIC day today!!!  

Wish we could be there to celebrate with you!!!  

We love you and miss you!!!

Mom & Dad with the kiddos on Easter this year :)

Graduation 2011

This past week/weekend was graduation for our seniors!!!  I teach the senior sunday school class, so this year is especially exciting and sad at the same time!  This year we had 12 seniors that graduated throughout last week (our church serves several different high schools).  Two Saturdays ago we had a dinner to honor them...

(pictured are 9 of our seniors as well as Sunday school teachers and youth pastor :)

The following Sunday morning we recognized our seniors during our 11am service.  They each wore their schools cap and gown, tassels, cords & medals (academic achievements) entered to the graduation march, were called up one by one and given a graduation gift while showing a baby picture as well as their senior picture on the screen behind them :)  What a fun way to recognize this huge accomplishment in the lives of our students!!!  

Jody was able to see 2 graduation ceremonies and see 6 of our seniors actually walk across the stage and receive their diplomas.  I was able to go to one graduation and see 2 of our students walk :)  Each graduation required a ticket, since there were so many students, tickets were very limited!  We were thankful our students were able to snag an extra ticket or two for us to go and share this special moment!!!

Forgive these pictures, I took them with my phone and it was dark both inside during the ceremony and outside!  These are the two I was able to see!

Congratulations to all our graduates, we're so proud of you!!!

Our "New" things...

As we pulled in the driveway Sunday after church we were so excited to see our "new" camper and "new" Suburban!  Jody's Granny had mentioned (when we were there visiting on Spring break) that we could have her camper that they no longer used.  Jody was beyond excited that we could now go "camper camping" instead of "tent camping" I too was excited :)

The camper has a king size bed on one side and a queen on the other.  The table can also be a bed as well as the couch!  It has a refrigerator, microwave, stove and it even has heating and air conditioning!!!  We're so excited to be able to go camping, we just have to figure out a time to go :-/ 

We couldn't get the kiddos out, they played in it Sunday afternoon and again Monday!

 Jody's Uncle called us late last week and wanted to know if we wanted their Suburban, they had just bought another car?!  Of course!  We were actually inspired to buy our black Suburban because of their Green Suburban!

So Sunday the Green Suburban pulled our new camper to their new home, our driveway!  Now Jody and I both have a Suburban :)  We are so very thankful and grateful to have them!!!  Thanks Granny, Jeff, Uncle John & Teresa!!!

Happy Birthday Dad!!!

Since I wasn't blogging at the time I missed wishing my dad a Happy Birthday on here?!?!...

Happy Birthday (belated) Dad!!! 

(His Birthday was May 8th)

My parents with all their grandkids :)

And my entire family :)

We're so thankful for you Dad/Papa!!!  

We know you had a great birthday, wish we could have been there to celebrate with you!!!

Happy Birthday...

To my sister-in-law Diana!!!

Hope you have a fantastic day today!!!

We love you and wish we could spend the day celebrating with you!!!

Summer here we come...

Can you believe it's almost summer???  This is Emma's last week of school (she's out Wednesday)...VBS in 2 weeks, then summer camp the week after!  Kids sports camp, then our fourth of July celebration, El Salvador Mission trip then kids music camp and then our "fall back in" festival to kick off the fall...over half of our summer is already planned on away trips, not including weekends!!!  We like to stay busy, so it's a good thing, hopefully we'll sneak in a family camping trip too :)  Our neighborhood swimming pool opened up last week and we're looking forward to many HOT days spent there...

Emma has really enjoyed second grade and her teacher is fantastic, I only hope next year she gets a great teacher too!  She has continued to be a very good student, turning in assignments early and being Miss social bug!  She still loves to read (checking out the limit of library books from her school library each week)!  She loves riding her bike and scooter, or playing outside in the backyard with our 2 dogs!  She recently finished up her last year in Sparks and received her Sparky award for completing all 3 books among other awards :)  She thoroughly enjoys singing in the KidZRoc choir at our church and performing in musicals there.  She looking forward to the summer and all the camps and things our church is offering!

Anna has become quite the "student", she loves to write, asks me constantly throughout the day how to spell things!  She enjoys playing with her younger siblings inside the house as she's not quite the outside girl.  She always has on a skirt and hair bow to match.  She is still our late sleeper and if I let her she'd sleep until 9am!!!  Anna just completed her second year in Cubbies and is so looking forward to being in Sparks!  She is soooo excited to be in Kindergarten!  We had her Kindergarten physical a few months ago and was so disappointed that she wasn't able to start school right then.  She asks me every day when she gets to go to school and when we can go shopping for her school supplies!  She loves to be Mommy's helper and help me with dinner and chores, her specialty is sweeping :)  She is still too young to participate in the camps at our church, but she's looking forward to going to the pool!!!

Lizzy loves to draw.  She still insists on you "helping" her draw animals and things, but my drawings are never good enough (I am a terrible artist) and she ends up drawing it on her own ;)  She can write her name, but doesn't think it looks pretty when she does it and often asks me to write her name too.  She finished up her first year in Cubbies and is looking forward to going back in the fall.  She LOVES being at church and asks me every day if it's a church day.  She like Emma really enjoys singing in the choir (Joyful Noise).  She is very expressive and loud during the performances and always steals the show with her awesome dance moves :)  She is our outside girl and you will often find her outside.  She still has the fearless attitude and often puts our 2 dogs (way bigger than she) in their place!  She likes to help Mommy out with cooking and has quite the imagination, she's our story-teller!

Jack is a fireball.  He runs with his sisters like he's one of them, as big as them and can do whatever they can do.  He talks non-stop, very bossy and the girls melt when he gives them his sad face, lets face it Mommy does too ;)  He is still such a happy little guy, with so much personality!  He LOVES trains, planes, cars, etc.  Anything that has wheels he wants it.  He has such an imagination and uses anything to pretend it's a train or car.  He is still a great sleeper, going to bed at 7:30 (like his sisters) and getting up around 7am.  He still takes a nap in the afternoon, 1:30-4pm (yay, his sisters had stopped taking them at this point).  He too loves being outdoors and playing in the dirt (typical boy).  He too loves to go to church and looks forward to Wednesday evenings, Sunday mornings and Sunday evenings!!!

Sarah, myself :)  I have always been a couponer, but lately I've changed my strategy to save time and more money...I'll share more about that later.  I stay pretty busy keeping up with the kiddos, church events, Pampered Chef and family visits!!!

Jody is gearing up for the summer....it's gonna be a busy one, but looking forward to all that God is going to do!!!

Just wanted to give a quick update on what we've been up to these past few months!!!  Hope you all are doing well and I'll get back into the swing of this blogging thing soon :)

Save Money!!!

I'm not sure how many of you shop at Kroger, but they have a fabulous fuel points deal running right now. You have to have a Kroger plus card, it's easy, you just sign up in the store and get your plastic card and 2 small keychain cards!  For every dollar you spend (per month) you receive a fuel point.  When you get to 100 points you can redeem those fuel points for $.10 each gallon of gas you buy (limit 35).  On Sunday they changed the program and have increased the amount of points you can use off each gallon of gas, up to $1!!!  Our Suburban hold 42 gallons and with gas prices so high lately ($3.90 here) that's an awesome deal!  Especially since I do my regular grocery shopping at Publix or Kroger (occassionally WalMart & Target) anyway, why not earn points too!  AND if you buy gift cards from Kroger you can receive up to 4x the points!  Just yesterday Jody had to purchase a few giftcards for something at church, so we went to Kroger where they have a huge gift card selection.  He scanned our Kroger plus card and received 200 points, getting us $.20 off each gallon, coupled with the 104 points I already had and we received $.30 off each gallon!!!  Anyway, just wanted to share this quick deal for all you fellow couponers and money savers :)  For more info on this promo at Kroger, click here brought to you by my favorite FREE site Southern Savers :)

Packing & Traveling for SIX

So many people ask me how I pack so quickly for trips and comment on how efficiently I pack!  I'm no expert at packing, but I do have a system for our family of SIX.  Ever since Emma was small we took her with us wherever we went, and when the others came along we did the same.  Since I am an organizational freak, I pack everything for everyone-except Jody more recently.  So, here are my tips on traveling with 4 kiddos, a husband and occasionally our dogs...

1.  Call ahead to where you are going and see what they already have for you to use for bedding-whether it be family, friends, hotels, etc.  Until recently we had to bring a pack-n-play for Jack, if wherever we were staying had one, great I didn't have to lug one with us.  Also all our kiddos have blow up airbeds with bedding & a pillow so we only have to grab those if they are needing to sleep on the floor.

2.  Never pack too much stuff-so contrary to everything I've ever heard or did with Emma (just one).  I pack ONE outfit for everyday, pajamas for every two days and enough panties & socks for ONE day each too.  I'm always able to do laundry while we're gone if I want to, so why bring so much stuff!  

3. I always dress my kiddos in comfy or sweatsuit kinda clothes for the trip-they wear them on the way to and on the way back from our destination.  A pair of pants, t-shirt or long sleeve shirt and a sweatshirt lately.

4.  I pack a snack bag with not just snacks, but water & fruit, occassionally candy, but my kiddos go crazy with any sugar so we keep it at a minimum in the car.  We've gotten stuck many times on the interstate and kiddos always wake up and get hungry!  Plus it keeps us drivers awake and alert!

5. I pack 2 pairs of shoes for each kiddo, one for them to wear in the car and one for them to wear once we are there.  I gave up a long time ago trying to match shoes with every outfit, who has the time to do that anyway and the room you will save!  This past trip we took we went to the mountains to Jody's familys' cabin, so I packed the kiddos rubber boots and ONE pair of tennis shoes and it worked out great!

6.  I made all my kiddos a travel pillow to take with us on trips, they are small and light-weight, they also each bring a blanket in case they get cold in the car (I also do this for me :-).

7.  I allow my kiddos to bring ONE stuffed animal/toy with them on trips-less to keep us with and less to lug around :)

8.  I have paper/coloring books & colored pencils (crayons will melt and ruin car seats) for them to use while driving.  We also have 2 dvd players for the car that we use on long trips to keep them occupied.

9.  I have a car bag that I always keep in the car, but I re-check and re-stock it before we go on trips.  I have a few of  EVERYTHING in there for a long trip-band-aids, antiseptic spray, Tylenol, Ibuprofen (I use the chewable so you don't have to worry about spilling the meds while driving), wipes, antibacterial bottle, Pepto for kiddos, extra napkins, allergy medicine, Benadryl, etc.  I try to find the smallest or travel size and keep them in a bag in the center console of the car.  I even keep extra diapers just in case!

10.  We like to drive at night, kiddos sleep, less traffic and you don't have to worry about spending a lot of money eating out on the road!

 11.  This is my favorite tip: I wash everything before we leave-the only dirty clothes are the clothes we have on.  I also clean our house from top to bottom...no mess to come home to!

12.  I always re-pack everything for the way home...I use the kiddos backpacks and designate them dirty or clean clothes (including mine & Jody's), that way when we get home I put the "dirty" clothes bags in the laundry room and the "clean" clothes bags straight upstairs and the kiddos put their clothes away while we finish unpacking the car.  

13.  Each kiddo has their own bag, usually a bookbag-all their stuff goes in it!

14.  I pack a sippy cup or Nalgene cup for every kiddo, for in the car and to use while we are there and usually a small cooler (Jody's lunch cooler) to keep things cold.  

15.  No matter what time we get home, we ALWAYS unpack the car as soon as we get home.  I try to throw a load in the washer and get the clothes going too.  I find it easier to do it then, rather than starting off with a huge mess to deal with later!

16.  While we are away from home I have a dirty clothes pile and try to keep our stuff somewhat organized.  So much easier to re-pack for the trip home!

17.  We don't tell our kiddos about any trip usually until the day of or maybe a few days before, it's becoming more difficult with Emma to hide things, but that way they aren't bugging us every second!

These are all tips that work for our family, sometimes I can't use all my tips (deviate), but it works for us!   

What are some of your packing/traveling with kiddos tips?

Rock Climbing

 Around Christmas we took the kiddos rock climbing (yes Christmas), here are a few pictures I took of the kiddos!  They had a blast and I had fun capturing these moments...

Rock climbing is one of Jody's favorites!!!

Can you...

support me prayerfully as I travel to El Salvador in the next few months?  I'm halfway there financially...

Thank you to those who have already committed to praying for myself & our team and to those who have graciously donated financially!!!

Welcome Spring!

I'm back by popular demand!!!  Yippee!!!  Seriously, I've had several people ask me to PLEASE continue blogging, they miss seeing the Livingston's and what we've been up to since January!  Yes, it's been since January since I've posted, yikes!  We've been super busy, I know, haven't we all?!  So I can't commit to doing a certain number of posts per week or month or even each year, but I will promise to post pictures for those family members that don't get to see us much, maybe a story or two!  After all, I created this blog for all our family and friends that live far away and don't get to see us much :)

  

Happy 8th Birthday!!!

To our Emma Marie!!!

January 27, 2003

7lb 7oz  3:20pm

19 1/2 inches long

Around 1 year

18 months

Almost 2 1/2

3 years

4 years

4 1/2 years

5 years

6 years

Almost 7 years

7 years

A little over 7 years

7 1/2 years

Almost 8!

Wow!

How time flies!!!  

We are excited to see where life will take our Emma Marie :)