Morning all! Nothing new here, pretty boring day on tap. Looks cloudy and kinda gloomy so I've had difficulty getting going. DD and I watched Cinderella and cuddled on the couch, and I need to go make us some oatmeal. Then we will hit up Gymboree this afternoon, I have found shopping is replacing my food addictions - oops! Sorry hubby. :)

HMA, thanks! It is, it's called "An Exposition of The Sermon On The Mount" by A. W. Pink!!!!!!!! I've been wanting this for awhile, but was waiting to finish William Gurnall's "The Christian in Complete Armour" before purchasing it!

Morning chicks..... I have been a little slack in checking in, but trying to get on the fall rountine and getting back into the fall dance schedual. This year dd 2 is dancing as well. She is doing Hip Hop, she we live at the studio, and my days have been filled up with outdoor chores and laundry. I have been eating well these last few days as the scales hates me right. But for some reason I am 8 days late for TOM, and I am so bloated and it is driving me crazy. Well gotta to dash again as I have dh in bed with a cold, another on of the kids on the couch with a belly ache and my wee one just came in the door. Have a great day.

Thought I'd add to the work rants by copying over what I wrote on my baby message board yesterday. I feel some of your pain, Lisa. :(

Things are looking a little brighter today but I am still worried. I am also a wee bit annoyed because I have to go to a video shoot next week. Usually I would be thrilled for that, but my mom is going to be in town. She lives 12+ hours away so we rarely see each other and I am bummed I will have to give up some of our time to WORK--nights and Sat morning! She is going to go to the shoot and be in the audience, but I have to be in the control room.

SIGH.

Good morning everyone,

Busy day at work again, boss is gone for the whole week so have more work to do, no time for personals.

Gonna love your avatar

I was just at Gymboree the other day.....they had some really great deals on their summer clothes. I stocked up for next summer.

Also, The Children's Place has some ADORABLE fall/winter clothes.

Pearl thanks for the avatar comment. Good luck on getting that work done.

:wave: Jessie, LC & Autumn you chicks have a great day!

Autumn & Zeff--I have to stay away from Gymboree. Far, far away. Way too cute. I bought this whole ensemble a few weeks ago...and would love to have everything in this line!!

http://s7ondemand1.scene7.com/is/ima...8287?$240x305$http://s7ondemand1.scene7.com/is/ima...8290?$240x305$
http://s7ondemand1.scene7.com/is/ima...8280?$240x305$http://s7ondemand1.scene7.com/is/ima...8288?$240x305$

Not to mention...just looking at those tiny baby clothes makes me cry. I can't believe I'm going to have a daughter in a few weeks!

Those of you with preschoolers and early gradeschoolers - I found a great website for pre-reading and early reading.

www.starfall.com

It teaches the sounds of the letters with fun little songs and pictures. My 2 year old loves it :)

Funny that you post about Gymboree! LOVE their clothes too! I started buying Gymboree clothes off eBay for DD. They aren't always this years line, but still SO CUTE! Most of the stuff looks like new, or is new, and is so much cheaper! I bought my DD an entire outfit: pants, shirt, jacket and hair clippies WITH shipping for $12. Looks brand new.

Jenny- the consignment shops around here have a lot of Gymboree stuff. I love scouring the consignment shops for good deals on clothes that look brand new!

Jessie, awww the outfits you have picked out are adorable. So I gather you're due soon?? That's really exciting! I remember the thrill as I got closer to my due date. I remember the pains (heeh, the heartburn, the back pain, everything), but the thrill. I'm very glad for you! :D It's exciting.

Gonnabe165, girl you ARE gonna be 165, look at your avatar! I'm impressed! Awesome job. Looking at your avatar motivates me.

Yeah consignment shops rock. I like to go to those and look around for really good deals. Another little secret is, I go to the salvation army and since babies grow out of clothes so quickly, you can ALWAYS find clothes that look BRAND new for really cheap. There are some hideous stained clothes which I naturally bypass, but there are always stuff that looks brand new.

At Walmart, they've got summer clothes on sale. I got an outfit for DS 2 weeks ago for only $2. It was dark green khaki shorts with a bright green white-flowered hawaian button up shirt... too precious. I'm not a fan of Hawaian shirts but on babies, it's absolutely adorable. My mom said he looks like a miniature version of my Grandpa who favors such shirts. Baby Liam looks like a little grownup. :) Just a tip, check out your local Walmart, they may have the same deals. I love when walmart has sales, their stuff is always CRAZY cheap.

To elaborate on some of the stuff I find that looks brand new, I've found brands such as Ralph Lauren (seriously!), osh kosh, gymboree, carters, and pretty much any line you can think of. I found a little yellow button up Phat Farm shirt... that's my bf's type of thing... Phat Farm... so we got it and Liam looks adorable in it, a little baby with some uh, hiphop flavor.. aww.

Ruthxx, please tell us your doggy is okay. I read about that the other day. I think we all probably understand what it's like to have an ailing pet. Pets are like our children! We love them like our own family, 'cause they are family! Sending out good wishes to you and the pup.

Lady Nessa, EXCELLENT!! :D

Okay this post is turning out to be really long but since we're talking cinnamon coffee, I thought I'd share some of my coffee blends I make.

I like to make my coffee and add a bit of hershey's cocoa to the liquid when it's done being microwaved and has been milked (I'm currently using instant, good god, it has really went up in price, one jar was like $10). It makes it really rich and the chocolately flavor is sinful.

Cinnamon coffee? Yum, done that. I would add like a teaspoon of vanilla flavoring and a pinch of nutmeg, too, after it's been milked, for a delicious autumny treat.

Around christmas time, they sell all of these minty creamers which are obviously not legal, but you could find a sugar free bag of peppermints and just drop it in and let it melt. Yum!

i had to make a lunch break run to the grocery store ( i shop at publix) and they finally got in two things i have been wanting agave nectar and almond butter

melanie thanks for the avatar comment. my inches are going fast however my weight is a different story.

Jessie that outfit is adorable, so funny shopping for little ones.

Jessie - That outfit is too cute.

--

It's official, the 1/4 cow that we were storing at my mother in law's house in her chest freezer is bad. I'm not sure how to feel...I've never had to basically throw away $800 before. *sigh* and it was good, organic beef!!

Our insurance won't cover it because it wasn't at our home at the time and even if it was, there had to be a power line ON OUR PROPERTY for them to count food loss in a power outage. Ridiculous. In-laws are telling us to consult Fema to see about reimbursement...not sure how I feel about that....