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"

Ten Time Savings Tips including the #StarbucksApp

As a mother of three small children, four years old and under, I know that every second counts in a day. There are many days that seem to fly without half of what needs to get done being done. I am sure that I am not the only one who wishes there were a few more hours in the day, but since that is completely out of our control, I would like to offer ten time saving tips to make your busy life as a mom a bit easier!

1. Get organized and then stay organized. There is nothing worse than being in hurry and not knowing where everything is that you need. The one thing that I am absolutely horrible with is my key ring. I have been trying, and doing pretty well, to always put my keys on the key rack. Seriously, organization makes a huge difference when it comes to saving time.
2. Keep healthy snacks easily accessible. One thing that I have started doing is buying a large bag of carrots and peeling them and cutting them into carrot sticks and keeping them in a container of water in the fridge to keep them fresh. This saves a lot of time when you or your kids want a little snack – and it promotes healthy eating habits as well.
3. Pick out your outfit for tomorrow tonight! Picking out an outfit to wear and getting it all together for yourself and children is time consuming. Doing it the night before saves that time in the morning.
4. Set your coffee pot the night before and put it on a timer. Not only will this help save a little time in the morning, you will have hot fresh coffee when you wake up! Nice!!
5. When you are going out to go shopping or whatever, have a tentative itinerary. Of course, allow for more or less times at places, but knowing what you want to do and accomplish in a given time sets a pace and saves time.
6. Multitask!! While you are getting the kids breakfast ready and sitting them down at the table do the dishes from making breakfast, while you are talking on the phone pick up the toys, etc. Women are amazing multitaskers!!
7. Cook a little extra when you are making dinner and have enough for leftovers or enough meat to make another, different meal. Cooking once for a few days is a definite way to save time, and money – you are less likely to go out to eat if you have it at home!
8. When you are going grocery shopping, make your list ahead of time and get whatever coupons you will be using together with your lists. This saves tons of time and makes check out a breeze! I still bring the rest of my coupons with me too, just in case I deviate from my list!
9. Schedule playtime, especially during busy days. Kids need time to unwind and be kids! When you give them the play time they are less likely to have melt downs while they are doing your stuff with you.
10. Most of the grocery stores that I shop at have loyalty cards, I find that it saves time to use my phone number as opposed to having to dig around and find the card that goes with the store. On the other side, make sure you use the same phone number or it takes more time!

Starbucks has made it easy and fast for you when you go get your favorite drink. Here is some information on how to save time using your smart phone at Starbucks:
Starbucks for Android™ and the Starbucks Card Mobile App for BlackBerry®, iPhone® or iPod® Touch have five core features:

• Pay with your phone: Enjoy the fastest, more convenient way to pay at nearly 9,000 Starbucks locations. Just download the app, enter your Starbucks Card number, scan and go.
• Manage your card account: Access your Starbucks Card balance directly from your phone.
• Reload your card balance: Use your smartphone to reload your Starbucks Card using any major credit card.
• Check your My Starbucks Rewards status: Find out how close you are to earning your next free drink.
• Find nearby Starbucks stores: Save time by finding a Starbucks store near you.

I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Starbucks blogging program, for a gift card worth $30. For more information on how you can participate, click here

Do you have a GPS?? Great deals on a few, looking for advice!

We are getting ready to go to Montana in about two weeks. I am pretty sure that it is a route that I could drive in my sleep -- for the most part. {that was a slight exaggeration, I don't drive while I sleep} Zack and I have been talking about getting a GPS. I have been looking at them and researching them for a while now. I have my eye on two and am looking for any advice and experiences that might help us select a user-friendly, efficient GPS. Here are the ones that I have been thinking about - they have smokin' hot deals on them on Amazon too!!


Honestly, I am not sure what the big difference is between these two. We have also heard good things about the Garmin nüvi 1300LM 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigator with Lifetime Map Updates. I think that any of these three will be a great choice. I think that since they are all so similar, we will probably end up going with the cheapest of the three. If you have suggestions or advice I would love to hear it! Thanks!!

Wordless Wednesday -- Peach, Blueberry, and Blackberry Cobbler -- LINKY

Summer time means fresh berries and fruit!! I saw this recipe on Guy's Big Bite and knew that I had to make this cobbler. It smells so good. It literally just came out of the oven - I'll let you know how it was later!!


If you have a Wordless Wednesday and want to link up, do so below!
Have a blessed day!!

Wordless Wednesday -- Katrina Versus Weeds {{linky}}

The other day, the girls and I decided to take a walk to the mailbox. When we were almost home I asked if anyone wanted to pull weeds for a few minutes. Emily got excited and wanted to have a weed-pulling party -- everything is more fun when it's a party, right?!? Anyways I got into it, and quite a while later was wore out. Here is what happened:

I pulled a lot of weeds! The stupid weeds gave me two blisters and a fairly nasty little hole in a part of my finger (cut?) But, I am going to claim the victory for this round!

Weeds:0  Katrina:1

Check back later for an updated score!!

If you have a Wordless Wednesday that you would like to share, please link up below!

Some *cute* Father's Day printable coloring sheets!!

What daddy doesn't want something that their kid(s) made or colored for them?? I don't know any! Here are some cute Father's Day printables from Kiboomu.com. To print them, just click on the image and it will enlarge and is ready to be printed, colored, and given to daddy!!

Enjoy!!