I love when the leaves turn orange

Thot i would update with some recent pics of what we have been up too...

This is Alyssa Lane, we love her so much!! She's such a sweetie. Madeline was juliet from the movie gnome and juliet!!! And then theres Andrew!!

This is maddie trying to reach the very bottom toy in the toybox, she eventually fell in!!!

Here's madeline's first door on halloween night!! She was tangled!!

Maddie's first hay ride!!! (notice she's holding joshua's hand)

Catch up!!

Starting my blog back up, mainly for the purpose to share my recipes with my friends and family!! And well to keep ya updated with us, since i dont update on facebook as much anymore. Wow am i the only one who is going crazy bc next week is thanksgiving??? This year has gone by so fast. We have been so blessed this year. Were settled in to our new house and loving all the family we have thru the church. We have no blood family for 8 hours, but god has blessed us with wonderful people to be around and fill in as our family. Madeline is growing so much everyday. Everyday she amazes me with something new. just yesterday she was jumping on our bed and counting from 1-13. We have been keeping busy with the youth group and others. Last night i had a pampered chef party and tonight were going over to the Howards to eat dinner and visit. We love being with people and love having people over. Were very excited for my family coming in to visit for Thanksgiving, this will be there first time to see us since we moved in July.

Oreo's and Cheesecake!!!

Ok so i stumbled upon my old blog site.. and was super excited, bc i didnt have to make a new one!! I'm gonna start this thing up again and try to keep all my friends and family updated on how were doing and what were doing.

Well as you all know, we are settled in to our new home (YES OUR NEW HOME!! i love saying that) and adjusting well to Texas!!! I have had plenty of time for crafts and lots of cooking which is my favorite things to do!! Today i made Cookie and Creme Cheesecake Bites for the burger cook-out with our church friends tomorrow!! This recipe was so easy to make and well smelt good also, havent tasted yet:(. i'll post the link to the site i found it on!!!

http://www.handletheheat.com/2010/02/cookies-cream-cheesecake-cupcakes.html

Hope you have a special event to make these for just like i did!!!

coupon's

So today was my coupon matchup day!! Went to walmart and target and just walked the aisles to see whats on sale, and if i had a coupon for it. I found several things for free and things for $0.10. Today's sales werent the best, but still found a few things.

4pk of kleenex, no coupon just on sale $4.00
2 Lysol spray bottles $2.07, i paid $0.88 each
2 lysol refill bottles $2.07, i paid $0.88 each
clorox disinfecting wipes, $0.77
Lysol disinfecting wipes, $0.77
2 mens degree deodrant $0.97 each, i made $0.06 after coupons
2 womens degree deodrant $0.97 each, i made $0.06 after coupons
3 reach floss $0.88 each, i made $0.36 after coupons
Gain fabric sheets $1.87, i paid $0.87
3 Fixodent denture cleaners(for my dad:)) they were i think like $3.40 each and i paid $0.40 each
Glade automatic sense spray $7.89, i paid $1.00
2 Nivea body washes(1mens 1womens) FREE
1 hair brush. needed a new one, no coupon $5.00
1 bag of cheetos. no coupon, maddie was hungry $1.00

..............And for all that i paid like $11 something

Wow, it has been awile since i last blogged! Well not to much has been going on here in our part of the world. I have been doing me some extreme couponing and saving some money!! Andrew is on the phone tonight with a confrence call from Paris, Texas. We have around 10 different churches that we have set up dates with or future plans with. Madeline is now 20 big months old!! She is everything i could ask for! I'm now staying home with her full time and loving it!!! Lately i have been doing a lot of crafts in my spare time away from coupons!

Pray daily

Welp.. I figured i would update my blog, since i havent in forever. It's already the 3rd month in this year, THATS crazy! Madeline turned 18m on the 3rd! She reminds us everyday of how blessed we aree to have her in our lives. I love watching her explore the world around her and show her personality in what she does. She love to read books and sing... Her dora doll has to go with us when we leave the house and she is very fond of her friends. Every milestone in her life has been a new favorite.
Were still living in okc area and attending church at North Mac :). Andrew has put in several more apps in at churches, but no leads yet. As impatient as i am, i pray everyday "god in your time, i know you will put us in a church". God has a plan, and its not what i can plan. Everyday i struggle with the thoughts of "why?" and i remind myself this is the way god intended and there is a reason why. Were constantly praying for the church we will work with in the future and for the youth that we will be with in the future.
I'm still staying home with Madeline and working with Pampered chef and Old navy part time. I have held off on searching for anymore dispatch positions for now. I feel like i need to focus on the time i have with my daughter right now and be as much encouragement for andrew as i can be. Plus mommy and maddie time is fun!

Embracing the culture

Snow snow and more snow! Well we survived the cabin fever and are loving the view from our windows. Had our snow ice cream and did our small touch of the stuff. Madeline is now 17 months old. She is healthy and growing right on track. She knows where all her body parts are, can say anything you say, loves to talk, loves to pray, her favorite show is still sponge bob, her hair is now past her shoulders and its blonde blonde blonde. Madeline loves to play with other kids, and loves her baby dolls. We thank god every day for this happy little girl. She loves to do crafts with me and watch me make cards for people.
Were still interviewing with churches. Alot of people tell me about churches looking for youth ministers. But its a little harder than you think. Yes they have to interview us, but we in turn have to interview them just as much. We want to make sure the church we work in is completely scriptural in everything they do. Were not going to be okay with something that's not scriptural. When we do find the church god wants us in to do his work, we plan on being there for a long time and raising our family there.
Raising our family... As some of you know, i had a very bad pregnancy and was very sick. the pregnancy ended in an emergency c-section. Madeline was healthy but very small when born. The pregnancy over-all scared me about having another baby. So since then i have said that i don't want to have another pregnancy and don't think i could go thru it again. At first i loved the idea of Madeline being an only child and our one and only. After a little thought and something that has been spacial in my heart for awhile. Andrew has embraced the same passion i have for international adoption. We have decided that we would love the opportunity to adopt a child from a foreign country. Right now our focus is mainly on finding a church to work with and a home for our family. But our time frame is within 6 years we would like to have the adoption process complete. International adoption is very expensive and time consuming. There is so much that goes into the adoption and then theres also the unknown, meaning the information the government of the country we choose does not tell us about the child we chose. Were taking a big risk for the child to potentially have health problems due to the poverty in the country or the parents sickness and sometimes the government doesn't tell you about these problems. These are things were keeping in our prayers and handing them over to god. Were very excited about this and passionate about this. Were wanting to wait to start this process until we are settled in to our future home and Madeline is at least 4. Please keep this in your prayers(I know its awhile from now). Theses so much more, but i think I'll end for now.
Thanks for reading ... feel Free to leave me your comments on our future plans.