All 3 Bubble Guppies Plush Available!!

Cheap, ships free in two days with Amazon Prime membership!!
All three Bubble Guppies are available right now, but probably not for long -- so don't wait!

Go now, get someone a great surprise!!

Bubble Guppies Gifts For Less!!

Bubble Guppies is one of the hot kids shows on Nickelodeon, and if you have anyone on your shopping list this year who is anywhere from 2 to 6 here are some great gift ideas. These are great prices on Amazon and are selling out fast! Some of them sell out and are restocked, if you order them now you can still get the great price and they will ship as soon as they are in -- the date is available on the product description at Amazon! If you have Amazon Prime, these ship with FREE 2 day shipping!!
   

Halloween Parties at School = Great Lesson for My Daughter

We do not celebrate halloween. My family does not feel like it is an appropriate holiday for us to celebrate as Christians. That doesn't mean that we think other people should not celebrate it. This is our first year with children in school. We have one child in preschool and another in kindergarten - and one more who is Mama's helper all day!
The preschool did a survey, of sorts, upon enrollment and one of the questions asked was if the child celebrates holidays. We put on there that we do not celebrate halloween, or santa at Christmas. The teacher was very kind, letting me know that she didn't know yet what their plans are for halloween but that at Christmas time they do have a visit from Santa. Again, just because it is not what we believe doesn't mean that other people should have the same feelings or beliefs - and that is what I told the teacher.
Kindergarten, apparently, has quite the halloween celebration, complete with a parade of {kids in} costumes. Emily, who is 5, has a great understanding of why we don't celebrate halloween, but was a little sad when she found out that her whole school will be celebrating it. She wanted to just stay home from school that day.
After a few talks, we decided that it is not always easy to stand for what you believe - that sometimes you might be the only one. Then we talked a little about Jesus, and how it was not always easy for Him, and how people actually hated Him for what He taught and stood for. It was one of those ah-ha moments in my daughter's life where she realized that being a Christian will sometimes set us apart from the world. I am glad that she learned this now over a pretty simple matter than later over something much bigger. I am proud of her.
What about you, how do you feel about halloween in general, and about halloween parties at school?

Presidential Election

I am just now finishing watching last night's Presidential debate.
Wow! These two men obviously do not care too much for each other, and they do have some fundamental differences. I have seen and read many posts on blogs, facebook, twitter, etc about each of the two presidential candidates and with references to the debates. I think that in this particular election there are very clear differences as far as policies, morals, priorities, taxes, everything. It's going to be an interesting election!
I am glad that the elections are almost here, because I am pretty tired of the political ads on television, on the radio, in the mail. Speaking of the election -- I hope that all who are able to vote, register and VOTE! It is our responsibility to have our voice heard.
Here is a little video that I came across on facebook one day, it's short and worth the few minutes it takes to watch it!

Wordless Wednesday ~ Fun At The Splash Park

One of my favorite things about our family moving to Billings, MT is that there is so much more for the kids and for our family to do! This is one thing that we never had the opportunity to do living in Carson City/Dayton, NV.... SPLASH PARK

Link up your Wordless Wednesday post here so I can come check it out :)

Have a Blessed Day!!

Madagascar Movie Party!!

I like to move it, move it!

I swear I hear that for days after we watch Madagascar or Madagascar 2!

As a member of the Children's Claritin Mom Crew, I was sent a Madagascar movie party pack! We received DVDs of Madagascar 1 and 2 as well as Children's Claritin syrup and chewable and samples of both Children's Claritin and Claritin, and of course some cute little popcorn containers and Madagascar stickers for the kids.
Madagascar is a fun series of movies, following Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Gloria the Hippo, and Melman the Giraffe from the New York Zoo to the wild and now they are trying to find their way home to the zoo. These movies are fun and full of family-friendly humor, which I appreciate!
I know that we are all excited to see Madagascar 3, which is released into movie theaters June 8! The cast of animal characters join up with a  circus in their new attempt to get home to New York! There is all kinds of fun Madagascar 3 circus-themed activities on the Claritin Facebook page, here so that your kids have some collaring and stuff to do before they get to go see Madagascar 3 in theaters!! You can also check out all things Madagascar 3 and have some fun with the characters here!!

Another thing to check out before heading out to the theater for some hilarious Madagascar 3 circus fun, is the local allergy forecast on the Claritin web site.

Thank you to Mom Select for having me as part of the Children's Claritin Mom Crew!!

Cepia LLC's generousity is AMAZING!! Random Acts of Zhu 2011 #RAZ2011

How many kids do you know who LOVE Zhu Zhu pets? Tons, I am sure! There is a little bit of everything in the Zhu Zhu hamsters line up - original Zhu Zhu pets, Zhu Zhu babies, Kung Zhu Zhu Zhu pets, Zhu Zhu princesses, Zhu Zhu puppies, and Zhu Zhu pets Safari! Plenty of choices for boys and girls alike.

Cepia LLC, the "parent company" of the Zhu Zhu's, has for the last couple years created an amazingly generous program where they donate TONS of toys to charitable organizations through bloggers. I was blessed in being asked if I would like to participate in Random Acts of Zhu 2011! #RAZ2011

One day the FedEx truck pulled up in front of my house and the driver asked where we wanted them, he had over 40 boxes (!) of Zhu Zhu babies, outfits, accessories, and playlands. Each box had somewhere from 2 to 6 products inside of them!

We were able to donate the Zhu Zhu babies that we had received to Lyon County Community Coalition, for the annual Toys for Tots drive. The program director was very excited because, as Zhu Zhu is such a hot toy item, they had received many requests for Zhu Zhu items!
Thank you Cepia LLC and Mom Select  for allowing my family to participate in such an amazing program! We were blessed by #RAZ2011 and have developed even more brand loyalty toward the Zhu Zhu line up because of their desire for every child to be able to have an amazing Christmas!!

We Made It!! And a quick update on everything...

It has been a while! Things are good, though. We made it to Billings, MT and are getting all settled in and cozy! We are in a pretty good neighborhood and are close to everything!!
The drive up here was surprisingly dry, the only snow that we ran into was a little bit around Idaho Falls, praise the Lord! The weather has, until very recently, been pleasantly warm. As you can see, we now have a little bit of snow and our temperatures have dipped below zero. Eeek.
The girls are loving it, they are excited to be able to wear and play in their snow suits and boots!

We are still "shopping" for a church but have found an AWANAs group for the girls, they love it! We are hoping to find the right church for us soon so that we can start being more involved in things, so your prayers on that are appreciated.
Of course we miss Nevada and our family there, but it is fun to be here and have the opportunity to be around family that we only got to see occasionally before. And to have snow that is heavy and wet enough to finally make a snowman!!

Sometimes a Gentle Reminder Of What Could Have Been Is a Good Thing...

It is amazing how time changes things, very few things remain unchanged with time.
I was reminded last night how much EVERYTHING for me has changed in the last 8-ish years. I got a message from an old friend, a friend who has been through a lot with me. In the message she said that she is glad she found me still alive and actually doing good. That statement kind of took my breath away.
Had God not changed my life, I probably would not be alive today. If I were to still be alive in the life I was living, I can guarantee you that there are very few people who would consider me to be doing good.
I needed that reminder. The reminder of how awesome God it. How He can change anything, if we let Him. How much He blesses me with - I have an amazing husband and three daughters and actually have relationships with my family members.
Something that my pastor said in church this Sunday was that whatever we are going through now, God is using to prepare us for what will come next. I think that I appreciate my life now and the people in it more because of my past. I am not sure if that makes much sense, but it is true.
Looking at my life right now, things don't seem so bad. My little gripes about things, seem less important...

Have you had any gentle reminders, that seem to come at just the right time, to help put things in perspective?
Have a Blessed Day!!

It's December Already??

My, oh my, time sure flies! It is already December!

My little Emily is going to be turning 5 on December 6 - she is almost ready to start school. I am not sure if I am ready for it, but this marks a BIG milestone in our lives.

It is the third of December, that means that Christmas is creeping up on us in just over 3 weeks, eek! For us Chirstmas is going to be a little different this year. On December 21 the girls and I are leaving to go to Montana. Zack has been there for a few months now and we are ready to be together as a family again.

I know that things have been few and far between around here, but I have been busy with school and packing. Ok, not as much packing as I should be doing, but what can I say, it is seriously crazy in our house. We have a total of ten, yes TEN, people living here right now. As much as I enjoy having the company, I am going to love the peace and quite when life gets back to normal...or maybe I will miss it, who really knows!