How important is education to you?

A startling statistic: Every nine seconds of each school day one young person drops out of high school in the United States. According to my calculations, in an 8 AM to 3 PM school day, 2800 kids drop out of high school each day! That seriously breaks my heart. Knowing how important education is to each individual's future as well as the future of our nation, I want to know what can be done about this. More personally, what can I do to  help?

Well, thanks to Procter & Gamble's new campaign GIVE Education, I can do something simple to help - and so can you! There are a couple of ways we can help:
**Each month P&G releases a brandSAVER in the Sunday newspaper. The P&G brandSAVER released July 31 is a special one -- for each coupon that is redeemed, P&G will donate two cents to Communities In Schools! There is no cap on the amount that P&G are willing to donate - the more we save and redeem, the more they donate.
** Watch an exclusive video from John Legend on Facebook. For each view P&G will donate 25 cents, up to $10,000 to CIS.
Here is a little more about the GIVE Education campaign:

P&G’s new campaign, GIVE Education, will increase awareness of the student dropout crisis in the U.S. and raise funds to help keep millions of students in school. By partnering with Communities In Schools (CIS), one of the nation’s leading dropout prevention organizations, and one that is proven to increase graduation rates and decrease dropout rates, GIVE Education will enable CIS to continue channeling much-needed resources to students who are at greatest risk of dropping out.
P&G has improved life for more than 300 million children around the world and focused its efforts on helping children in need get off to a healthy start, receive access to education and build skills for life. GIVE Education will enable P&G to touch even more lives by bringing together the power of P&G's education commitment and reach, CIS's innovative programs, and Grammy Award-winning recording artist and philanthropist John Legend's passion for education.

FREE Freschetta By The Slice Pizza Event!!

As a Freschetta Fresh Connections blogger, I get to bring you some great news! Freschetta wants everyone to be able to try their {fairly} new pizza by the slice, so they are having a free pizza even on August 4th.

Starting at 11 AM Central time Thursday August 4th --that's 9 AM here in the Pacific time zone-- head on over to score some FREE Freschetta by the slice coupons on their FreeFreschetta site. Mike, your "free pizza concierge" will be giving away 5,000 free slices of pizza every half hour! There will also be fun, interactive games where you can win additional coupons! Sounds great, right!? Well, if you are like me you might forget a few hours after reading this post, eek! Freschetta thought about that too, just head on over to the and sign up for an email reminder that you will get August 4th!! Nice work Freschetta!!

If you'd like a little more info, check this out:

My kids' unique styles #jcpback2school

When it comes to style in my house, we have some similarities and some major differences with the girls. I think that all kids have their own styles and I enjoy letting my children explore and develop their own styles, as long as I find them to be appropriate! I am going to tell you a little bit about Emily’s style and Natalie’s as well.

Emily is my girly-girl. She loves just about anything pink and if it sparkles she likes it even better. Lately, she has been in this stage where she only wants to wear dresses. She loves them! So, of course, we have quite a few pink dresses in the laundry room at any given time!! J

She is learning to compromise and wear skorts and even shorts and pants (gasp!) when she needs to. Emily is my kid who loves to match and will literally show her dad why certain clothes do not match! I love it!

Accessories are a must with Emily! She loves to spruce up her outfits with bracelets, necklaces, earrings, purses, and sunglasses! She tells me that she wants me to add sparkles to some of her clothes, so when she gets a bit older I can totally see her altering her clothes to fit her eccentric style! I honestly can’t wait! I love it!!

Natalie is not that extreme, all though she does like to wear dresses too! A few weeks ago we went and got the girls some new dresses and as soon as we got home they needed to change – of course!! Natalie put on one of her new dresses, followed by her bib overalls! She prefers purple and blue to pink, so I get to shop in multi colors, which makes it more fun for me!!

In the stores, when Natalie sees a shirt or some other clothing that she likes, she could not care less whether it is in the girls’ section or the boys’. It was really funny at first having two children whose tastes n clothing were so different, but it has been fun to watch! Natalie is now in the stage where she wants to be more like her older sister in every way … including choices of clothes!

As the girls get older, I look forward to seeing in what ways their personal styles change…and seeing if I am right about Emily wanting to alter or design her own clothes!!

What about you, does your child have their own unique style that you would like to share?

I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and jcpenney blogging program, for a gift card worth $50. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

Do everything in love!

Do everything in love.
This is a concept that seems so simple, yet can be so difficult at times. At least for me.
Being a stay at home wife and mother is one of the most rewarding positions that I have ever had. I get to teach my children and instill in them the values that my husband and I choose, I get to be here for all of the milestones, I have a little window into their minds when I watch them play! There are so many blessings that come with staying home and raising a family.
There are also so many thankless tasks that need to be done. It is so easy to complain when I am starting the third load of laundry in a day, or doing the dishes again, making beds, etc. Really, it is easy to grumble and complain -- mostly in my head!
When I remember that God wants us to do all things in love (1 Corinthians 16:14) it helps me to find enjoyment in the things that I do. I am happy to teach the kids how to make their beds, even though I sometimes have to re-make them. When I am doing the dishes or cleaning up, cooking dinner or dealing with cranky children, and I do it thinking of the love I have for my family, it doesn't seem like so much of a chore any more. Now my prayer is to continue to think of the love that I have to give because of the love Christ has for me!
I wish you all a great day and that you would reflect upon the love of Christ and how when we show that love in our lives how it makes us feel better and those around us too!
Be blessed!

A Picture Worth A Thousand Words

I absolutely love this!



Olivia and Papa
"buds"