:: Coupons are for Sharing ::

:: Most of my girlfriends know that I can't help getting a good deal, and one of the places I hit when I go down to Bellingham is Big Lots - It's a place that buys extra lots of products from bigger stores that have bought too much to sell. So we save on their products because they buy them for such a good deal. Most of the time I get our hair products from there (except the boys are bought from Dollar Tree in Bellingham), plus our 'oxi clean', clothes detergent, snacks, cereal, tooth brushes, and any other random items that I find are a real good price! ::


:: Well, if it's not a good enough deal to get name brand items for 45% (average) off the regular retail price, Big Lots has a coupon out until the end of January - the only catch is you have to become a member of the "Buzz Club". The coupon is for 20% off your total order - Now that's a coupon! ::

:: Find the coupon here ::

:: Here is the link to the weekly flyer as well --- I think we're going to make an emergency (ha!) trip to Bellingham sometime this weekend....now if Hobby Lobby could just come to Bellingham, we'd be set! ::

:: Why? ::

:: Okay, so this is a random {very random} post about a discussion Paul and I have had over the past year or so... ::

:: This conversation consists of him not understanding why us as women {okay, maybe not all of us, but most of us} can talk about dating/relationships, weddings , homes & babies even after we've done all of these things. He thinks that since we've dated, wed, bought a house & now have kids...why on earth I want to re-live, watch someone doing these things on t.v. or converse about it with a girlfriend! I tried to explain to him in this way; if you owned your dream car {Porsche 911} would you still want to look at other cars, talk about them, hear new info about them, sit in them, try it on for size, watch about them on t.v.? He said it wasn't the same ::


:: I lost the discussion - because I didn't want to fight the issue ::

:: However, for me as a girl {but not an overly girlie-girl}, I love to hear, watch & talk about all these things that we look forward to as women --- is this just me and Mr. L or do y'all have the same stupid conversations in your house?

:: Can't wait to hear what y'all have to say! ::

:: XO, *Shawna ::

:: Family First ::

:: While on my quest to start off my year right and taking my word of the year into account (more on what that is later) -- I went down to the crawl space and took out a few books that I wanted to read through again ::

:: Cause I really have so much time for reading. Ha! ::

:: I do actually make time for reading; I really really really love to read, and I'm one of these people who actually marks up my books and highlights them as I go along ::

:: One of the books I pulled out was Family First by Dr. Phil -- Now I don't, nor will I ever put all of my trust in another human or take every ounce of what they say to be 100% applicable to my life - however I do think that some thoughts and ideas from an outside source is sometimes welcome, especially when it comes to raising a family ::

:: Here is a quote from his book that I read last night, this is truly how I feel and reading this book just gives us the tools to bring our kids up on the straight and narrow path that we are called to walk ::

It is time that as parents we say, "hey, I do not surrender, I do not give up. I will not be intimidated by all the forces tugging on my children and family. I will not accept that disconnected children are just 'how it is' these days. I do not accept the epidemics of oral sex, drugs and alcohol in the middle and upper schools. I do not accept a child that appears 'deaf' when I say, 'pick up your toys and don't hit your sister in the head anymore.' I will not continue to parent out of fear that my kids won't like me if I require more from them behaviorally, academically and spiritually as I teach them that relationship-building is important in life. I will not feel guilty and go into debt trying to keep them in designer clothes and toys/activities from preschool on up! I am not charged with being their friend, I am charged with being their parent, their protector, their teacher and their leader. I will 'rise above my raisin', if necessary, to break any family legacy that may be contaminating how I lead my family and deal with my children. Give me the specific tools, guidance and techniques and I will work to socialize my children in a way so that they become immune to the many seductive promises of instant gratification, false realities and provocative lifestyles of today's fast paced world. I will not let the television or Internet 'babysit' them as I communicate only through emails, pagers and cell phones. I will instead plug in the old-fashioned way and prepare them to deal with the distractions that assault them and blur their vision of self. I will create the pride, unity and loyalty and 'team spirit' that is so critical to a phenomenal family."

:: What a stinkin' great statement, and I totally feel that we as parents are called to do just that. Now if anyone knows what 'rise above my raisin' means, I would love to know - cause just in case y'all forgot I was born in the North but I've got roots somewhere in the South - I'm sure of it! ;) ::

:: The other book that I pulled out was Bringing Up Boys by Dr. James Dobson, I have yet to crack that one, but in a few weeks I'll probably post a bit about that one too...do any of you have a great 'self help' type book (other than the Bible) that you could share with me? ::

:: Understandable ::

:: I'm trying to get things done today, things that have been on the "to-do" list for weeks now...it is the 19th of January for crying out loud... ::

:: But my kids are not napping today, last night they didn't go to bed until 10ish, this is all from being out WAY too late on Saturday night, we're now paying for it. Long naps in the afternoon, then no sleep @ 7:00 like normal - I don't really care about them, but I (& Mr. L) need them to be sleeping for 7 pm. So it's easy to understand that I may not get all the things completed off my "to-do" list and that includes blogging ::

:: Because I will be busy cuddling the little gaffer who just fell off my desk because he was dancing a little too crazy to I Gotta Feeling, by the Black Eyed Peas - due to lack of his daily nap. Hopefully all returns to normal tomorrow, but probably it won't. Ha ha ha, at least y'all understand! ::

:: Fly Beau, The Bachelor ::

:: Oh my goodness...the past few weeks have been quite the wild ride with this Bachelor & all his girls! ::

:: I still have (at least until tonight) my eye on Tenley, Ali & Elizabeth --- However all that changed tonight! More on that in a moment ::

:: We obviously all saw the gong show that was last weeks news...Rozlyn being asked by Chris to leave due to her having inappropriate relations with a "staffer". We don't know what this means, but obviously since she didn't fight Chris on the allegations, something improper happened! I felt bad for Jake and for Rozlyn (kinda!), it was a horrible train wreck! ::

:: So this week, I have to admit that I missed the first 3/4 of the show as I was out at a meeting and then dealing with my babes when I got home ::

:: At any rate, there was plenty of action that I did catch! ::

:: There was the amazing date that Jake took Ella on, in the helicopter, to the aquarium and then his surprise...which wasn't such a surprise, her son joining them - it was lovely, but so predictable :::: Then there was all of the issues surrounding Vienna, I didn't really like my first impression of her and it still stands - she doesn't seem true to me, but Jake gave her a rose (that's part of the show I missed) -- I don't think she'll last through next week ::

:: Oh, and sweet Tenley, sharing her heart with Jake, just lovely. Then she had to go and loose points by calling Vienna out after Vienna apologized to the girls..not cool Tenley. But you still gots my vote ::

:: OOpps, apparently it wasn't Tenley that called Vienna out it was Ali...sweet sweet Ali! ::


:: Ali, sweet, sincere, lovely, Ali - not only do I love your name, but I love that you are true to yourself, much more than any of the other girls in that house. Now hopefully he likes you as much as I do! ::
:: Elizabeth, I think you're beautiful, but obviously a little slow. What was all this come here, come here, go away, go away stuff with Jake? Don't play games, you're too beautiful to play around with guys, if you need power over others, become a teacher...don't do it to your man. It's no good for your ring finger, it stay empty forever! Ps. if you don't want to kiss, talking with such vulgar language on a stage in a comedy club will definitely confirm that wish - best of luck to you - bye bye ::

:: Now about, Melissa or was it Michelle??? I don't even remember her name now...and I don't have a picture of her, but oy, she was a crazy!!! She needed Jake to kiss her, he gave her a peck and she was all over him - yuk. She wanted it so bad. He wanted nothing to do with her. She told him that if he didn't want her there, that she would leave. She left. Good-bye ::

:: Here's to next weeks drama...I love it when it get's to the mid point in this show, it always starts getting really juicy once the first 12 are gone and the real battle starts! ::

:: Now we'll return to regular broadcasting, er, I mean posting ;) ::

:: Victoria's Birthday ::

:: We went into the City to join with our family celebrating Victoria's birthday, she's all about the Wiggles so she had a Wiggles cake, a big bouncy castle and we heard Wiggles playing all over the place ::

:: What a great time the boys had celebrating with you Victoria - Happy birthday to YOU! ::

:: Fly-Beau, The Bachelor ::

:: So as you I'm sure guessed, I saw the season premiere of "The Bachelor" On the Wings of Love {what a corny name!} with Jake. Let me just say that Jake is lovely, he's sweet, sincere and a little bit of a loner {this worries me a bit}. At any rate, he's an all around good guy, not sure what the producers were doing by setting him up with a whole bunch of girls that were less than classy {can I just say landing strip!?!?} and filled with plastic {don't get me wrong, I have no problem with plastic..it was just everywhere on the screen on Monday night!} ::

:: So here is my synopsis, Jake is great, some of the girls not so much...he knows what he wants and he wants a wife. Now I don't know if he really knows what that means or looks like, but that will be determined in the next few weeks ::

:: My top picks for the girls {in no particular order} are these three {sorry the pics are so small, my computer revolted while I was uploading them}, you can find full size ones here ::

:: Ali, 25, Advertising Account Manager -- she's home sweet home ::

:: Tenley, 25, College Admissions -- She's easy {not like that!} but she's confident and sweet, yet perfectly humble - I really like her, she's from Oregon - I have lovely girlfriends that live in Oregon, their just good girls! ::

:: Elizabeth, 29, Nanny -- She's the girl next door on steroids, not sure how confident you would have to be as a wife/mom to hire her as your Nanny! Yikes! ::

:: It'll be a bumpy ride to remove the baggage on the runway of love for this Fly-Beau, but once the runway is clear for take off, it'll be a lovely smooth flight! ::

:: Oh, and did you hear about the scandal on set with one of the producers and girls in line dating??...ah, the drama of living real life on t.v. - nobody said it would be peachy! ::

:: 243 ::

:: 243, that's how many posts I have to weed through to get up to date on my google reader. Seriously lovelies, I am so way behind it's not even funny! Let alone, the 6000 things I want to write about and post here - but that's what January is for, catching my breath, at least that's what I'm trying to do! :::: I'm going to do a brief review of my thoughts on the bachelor {new season started tonight} but I can't promise it will be highly detailed. I just don't have the time, but you'll know who I'm pulling for and who I'm throwing in the gutter {don't worry most of them have their own flotation devices so they won't drown!} ::

:: And like I said, I'll be updated {and back-dating} my posts about our birthdays {all three of us} our celebrations for Jesus' birthday & maybe I'll even get our Las Vegas post posted {all the way from June!}. In between all that I'm busy trying to line up all the wedding cakes I have this upcoming Spring/Summer as well as trying to pull Mr. L away from his job so we can take a few family vacations ::

:: Happy New Year Y'all - I have GREAT expectations of what 2010 is going to look like, and I'm sure by the end of January I'll come up with a key word that I want 2010 to be for me, so stay tuned for that, I know y'all are on the edges of your seats - I'm sure! ::

:: Today I'm off to take the biggest little boy to school, run to Costco and pick up a new day-timer...I did get my much desired Blackberry for Christmas, but I just can't do life without a paper trail, so I'm going to have to get one. I've tried Lovelies I really have - but it's now the 5th of January and I already feel lost without my best friend, I mean, day-timer ;) ::

:: Happy trails today and if you're still living out there in cyberspace please let me know you stopped by, I love visitors and the comments! ::

:: XO, *Shawna ::

:: Merry Christmas! ::

:: Ha Ha Ha --- I can't believe I'm doing this but here I am wishing y'all a fabulous Christmas and it's January 5th 2010! Oh well, my intentions were to have posted this a long long time ago, but I was too busy doing plenty of other things, of which I hope to update y'all very soon ::

:: Love to you all and Happy New Year! ::

:: 9 years ::

:: As I said before, November is a big month for us. We have Cole's birthday, Paul's birthday, then my birthday -- all within the first 11 days of the month ::

:: We also have a quiet celebration of sorts, just before November. I say quiet, because we don't really do anything to celebrate it, it's just a day as any other. But it's not. It's the day 9 years ago that my Daddy had a severe seizure and collapsed in a hotel room with my Mom. They were away on a trip for the family business ::


:: Dad ended up in the hospital as this seizure was not in anyway expected and he had no real signs of showing the reason of the seizure. Obviously upon an MRI scan of his brain, they knew the cause and it was pretty much the most horrible news you can get. My Daddy had a brain tumor ::

:: Nine years ago, around this very celebratory time, my Daddy was told that his life would change - it affected everything. I took a leave of absence from my job at the time in the Big City to help take care of business with Dad because Mom still had to keep the "show" going with the family business - it was a crazy time ::

:: None of us really talk of that time nine years ago, as it's truly a distant memory - a pang of desperation to see your Dad in that situation, but good reigned. God fixed it all, if you don't know yet, we are a family of great faith in our Heavenly Father. This is how I remember it {it's the Cole's notes version}, Dad went into the hospital for another scan, it was there and forming and growing, not giving him any other side affects but still there. The doctors were neglectful to remove it as it was so close to the, well the rest of his brain - and SO many other side affects could be caused by removing it. Then we had a prayer meeting at our house one of these Fall nights in November and prayed for complete healing over my Daddy. A few days {probably more like weeks} later, Dad went in for another scan - the doctor couldn't believe his eyes, the tumor was gone ::

:: Beyond anything else that we had gone through we knew that Dad had been healed by the Great Physician - our Heavenly Father. So, it's been nine years since that great ordeal. The other day, I had to just say to my Mom "it's been nine years" and she knew exactly what I was talking about. See, it's not that far from our minds and certainly not far from our hearts, everyday I am reminded that God's promises are true and we are blessed to know personally the healing hand of God ::

:: Daddy - Grampie - Bobob * we celebrate you and the life that you have nine years later ::

:: Love Love Love ::
*S