Here are a few of my favorite things #6

E-Mealz.   I'm so glad you are reading this because if I say it out loud it sounds like "e-mails".   Anyway on to why it's one of my faves (if you already haven't heard it about a bagillion times from me).   Just in time for those of you that are busy with back to school schedules or are just wanting to get organized/back in control of you life, this website has been EXTREMELY helpful to me for the past 5 months.  This is a website that does all of your menu planning for you.  Not only does it do all of your menu planning, it even does your grocery list.   Not only does it do your grocery list, it prices everything out for you.  Not only does it price it out, it includes any diet restrictions you need.   So, let's say you are on a tight budget.   You would click "Aldis meal plan" and it would come up with a meal plan for you in which all of your food was from Aldis.   Lets say you wanted to eat healthier and eat more fruits/veggies but need some help with recipes (that's me!) they have a Portion Control plan that  is HEAVY on the fruits and vegetables.  They also have gluten free, low carb, low fat AND vegetarian.   I have found so many new, easy ways to not only buy food but prepare it!   The best part?  It's $1.25/week.   If you use the coupon code "DAVE" when subscribing its even cheaper.   Why Dave?  For those of you that know Dave Ramsey  (he's a financial guru),  Dave Ramsey says it actually SAVES you money.   If you're like me you either end up ordering out/going out because you didn't think ahead OR you ending up grabbing anything that looks good at the store and buy WAY more than you need.   If you are at all interested just click on one of the banners or go to e-mealz.com.  Hope you love it as much as my family has!!  

 

Flashback Friday

I was uploading pictures to iphoto yesterday and it said I didn't have enough room!!   I think there are 2 reasons for this:

1) We bought a new camera in January and while the pictures are AWESOME in quality they are ginormous.  
2) I need to clean out my iphoto storage.   

So, I'm going to not only upload them to shutterfly so they are in cyberspace if I need them, but also download them to DVD as double back up just in case : )   Before I do I wanted to share some photos from a year ago with you!!   

Anna helping Grandpa at our annual (not anymore...sniff) garage sale

On a hike at Castlewood Park

ugh...makes my stomach grumble.   Eli and I made "cograts on potty training" cookies and both got really sick after wards : (

Meeting baby Gianna (my BFF Catana's daughter) 

Eli draws a person for the first time!  

The girls (aka my sorority sisters) and their girls weekend.  

Eli and cousin Jameson being...boys. 

I scream YOU scream

We ALL scream for Ice Cream!   Team Watkins is one of our favorite families and we were so excited when they came through Dallas.   These are people we have "done life" with the past 6 years.  We've lived down the street from them, led a House Group with them, been in bible studies and raised our children with them.  They've cried with us, prayed for us, encouraged us, cleaned with us, eaten with us, studied with us and celebrated with us.  One of Eli's 'happy places' was "Casey's house".  They weren't even here 24 hours, but in that short amount of time we were able to show them around town and reconnect.   What a reminder of how the Lord constantly provides for us...even when we are miles away from our closest friends and families.  The best part?  Ice Cream for breakfast before they left!!    Such a sweet reminder of how true friends can help you throw rules to the wind and just encourage you to enjoy life to the fullest. 

Emma

Eli

Abigail

Casey

Anna

"There is nothing better than a friend, unless it is a friend with chocolate."
— Charles Dickens

Feeling the love

 

We've been really, REALLY spoiled.   There have been so many visitors since we've left, y'all are making it so we don't need to come back for a visit ; )   One of the biggest blessings about our location is that we are close to my Aunt Jane and Uncle Richard (Eli calls him 'uncle Rich') who are 25 minutes away, and my cousin Lynn who is 1 hr away.   Since we've been here they've really reached out to us and welcomed us with hugs, kisses, dinner and ice cream : )   My Aunt Jane has many toys and activities at her house.   Eli already is asking when we come in the door "what is my craft today?" (and sure enough she has an airplane project for him)  He also gets to pick a prize just for cleaning up his mess!  

This is my cousin Doug's mom, stepdad and sister.    A lot of you know Doug from his stint in St. Louis when he married one of my BFF's...Christi!  

Todd and Doug...yes they're being annoying.

Christi and me

They also have a daughter, Ashleigh, who is only 2 months younger than Anna.  So, an added bonus about this location is I get to see them more!  (they moved to AZ 3 years ago)   Here are some pictures from our short, but sweet, visit with them.  

The girls did this themselves...we didn't even plan the desert sc

ene on the TV in the background

I love this next sequence of pictures because it reminds me of our sisters (Lynn and Rebecca) when they were this age : )  They've always had a love/hate relationship.   Anna and Ashleigh seem to be following in their footsteps.....

Ashleigh mad because Anna has the baby bottle.

Now Ashleigh has the bottle and has her eye on the sippy cup.

Ashleigh now has both and Anna looks P*I*S*S*E*D

Our Aunt Lynn is wonderful with the kids and will do anything for them!  She's even been known to get in the wagon with them just to be awesome.   (FYI the wagon is a HOT commodity while we are there.)  

Probably because Aunt Jane decorates it for us (it's called the Star Spangled Express right now) AND we get to go and feed the ducks with it.   

We love you all and thank you so much for loving us so well!   Team Provost, come back to visit soon, ya'hear?  These girls need some quality time...

I love this picture because it appears that they are sweetly holding hands.  However if I know Anna, she is actually pushing Ashleighs hand away : ) 

Moving on...

I know some of you have been chomping at the bit to see a glimpse of our new house here in Mckinney.  Yes, we're here!!   We have been in our new house/town (we were in the city of Plano since we left St. Louis) for exactly 12 days and I have to admit...I like it.  I know some of you don't like hearing that because it means I like something other than St. Louis.  Notice I haven't said I LOVE it, yet.  Here are some of the things I "like" already: 

*A garage.  Need I say more?

*A back yard that I can just send my kids out to and see from the kitchen.  Yes, it's hot here.  (Record breaking, even for Texas) However, my kids STILL go out there and have a good time.  We are saving up for a swing set!  

*A family room attached to the kitchen.   In our old house the kids either played upstairs while I cooked, or awkwardly got in the way while I cooked.  Here it is so open that we all can be together without (too much) annoyance : ) 

*The kids have a bathroom and we have a bathroom.  We have always shared with them and while I don't NEED my own space, I really like it.   I even have my own SINK!  (although I did notice a booger in there today and realized I couldn't blame that on anyone else...sorry to gross you out.)  

*A neighborhood pool.  Even though it feels like bathwater, I love it.  

*Grocery stores that have TV's built into their carts.  I am not joking, isn't this ridiculously AWESOME?

*Todd's work is only 15 minutes away.  He even came home for lunch last week!  There is hope for a new building in a few years that will only be 3. miles. away.  That's would be nice.

*Sweet tea.  I am a believer!  Nothing sounds better on a hot afternoon.  (as I'm sipping some right now)

I've been pretty horrible about taking pictures.  My parents were my saviors last week and watched the kids while I unpacked, unpacked, and unpacked!  We then had visitors all weekend/week so we've taken a bit of a break.  Here a just a few photos to hold you over ( a lot of them borrowed from my mom, with cousin/aunt and uncle in them) 

Keys to our new house

    

Kids Play Room.   We are disgusted at the volume of toys we have.

Eli updated the look of his room

This room (our office) is on hold.  This is what they all looked like before we started.

Anna's room is almost done!  I am in love with her window seat!

Our entryway

 

 

 

A sewing nook!  We'll see if I'm able to keep it here...may be VERY wishful thinking.

Ahhhh...need I say more?

Our Living Room

A GINORMOUS island in the kitchen...I love it.  You can see the family room behind me, and the window lined wall looking out to the back yard.

Family room (kitchen is attached)

Anna's new favorite spot...the fireplace in the family room.  (she's obsessed with seats of any kind)