Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Blessing to you & your family from my children & I this Christmas season!

Chili Soup

It's that time of year that a comforting soup just hits the spot! The other week, my kids asked if I could make some chili soup. I've made chili before which they love, but never in soup form. So I was tickled to have a reason to try out a new recipe! And let me tell ya, it was a hit! This was also a simple recipe to throw together and even better, it freezes well. You can make adjustments to suit your taste. I made ours with a little bit of spice to it as the kids like spicy food. I also topped my bowl with mozzarella cheese, diced red onion and cilantro (I ♥ that stuff!)

Homemade Kinetic Sand

You all have seen that moon sand in the store, right? It's a cool product but it is SO expensive for the small amount you get. Especially when your kiddo is going to spill some of it and it ends up in the trash.

My teens love looking on Pinterest for activities to do with the littles. Sarah saw a recipe to make a homemade version of moon sand using just 2 ingredients. So I told her to go ahead and give it a shot (I was busy nursing the baby so I didn't get to snap any pics as she mixed it). But she said it was super easy and came together in just a matter of minutes.

Christmas Love Letters from God - Giveaway

I can hardly believe we are already entering the Christmas season! The temperatures have dropped and Christmas music is already playing on the radio. My kids and I have been talking about some of our favorite holiday traditions as well as brainstorming new ideas.

One new tradition this year has come in the form of a newly released book to read to my younger children. A special book about Jesus' birth!

2 years ago I had the blessing to correspond with author, Glenys Nellist, when she wrote the book Love Letters from God. A year later, she wrote the book Little Love Letters from God. I am excited to introduce her latest children's book in her Love Letters collection entitled "Christmas Love Letters from God".

Saving Money with Groupon Coupon

This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own.

Groupon has been around for quite some time but they have really expanded what they offer over the years. It used to be that most people used Groupon for saving money while eating out. Did you know they also have a section called Groupon Coupon? NOW you can save money pretty much every day on many things you are shopping for!

Commissioned Board Game Review

Ever since my children were little, I always said I wanted a huge game closet. Each year our family adds a few new games to it as we LOVE playing games! We have all sorts of games for ages little to adult. We recently got to try out a game that is new to the market called Commissioned from Chara Games.

And They are 17. . .

Friday October 21st was my twins, Sarah & Susan's 17th birthday! They started the day with their weekly science class with friends but then had the afternoon to look forward to. They had off work and had 2 of their friends over to hang out and carve pumpkins.

Fun-Time Phonics- Review

Olivia has been a budding reader from quite early on. She enjoys working on learning phonics in a variety of methods. Recently, she had the chance to try out Fun-Time Phonics!™ Software - 2-PCs Win Download from The Critical Thinking Co.™.  This is a software download for Windows which means you don't need the internet to use the program. Fun-Time Phonics is part of the "Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic Before Kindergarten!™" bundle which offers several downloadable programs to help prepare your pre-K student for Kindergarten. You can also download these programs as apps in iTunes and Google Play.

Accountable2You- Review

We all know how beneficial the internet is these days. Unless you are living under a rock, pretty much everyone uses it in some form daily. Just as there are many positives to having internet access at your finger tips, we also know there are some pretty harmful things out there, not only for kids but adults as well. While there are filtering programs that can be used, another way to protect ourselves is by using a form of accountability. We recently had a chance to try out a Family Plan from Accountable2You.

Saving Money with Groupon Goods

This is a sponsored post. All opinions are 100% my own.

You all know I am big into saving money any way possible. Whether it's on household items, food, even gifts, I never pay full price. Did you know Groupon helps save you money on more than just eating out? I recently heard about Groupon Goods and boy was I surprised at all the deals I could find!!

click on photo to enlarge

Personalized Name Gifts- CrossTimber Review and Giveaway

One of the exciting things about having children is the extensive thought that goes into choosing their names. Each of my 8 children's names has a unique meaning or characteristic as to why we chose it. One thing they all have in common is that either their first or middle name came from the Bible as Biblical meanings are very important to us. My kids have enjoyed collecting different items over the years that have their personalized name on it such as key chains from foreign countries. Recently, we were introduced to CrossTimber, a family run company, whose delight is making custom name gifts! We were given a gift certificate towards a Personalized Frame Plaque with Name Meaning and Bible Verse, though we were encouraged to either choose that gift or select something else from their selection of personalized name art.

My Daughter Rocks CVS Deals

I know I've shared lately about all the great deals we've gotten from CVS as well as explaining just how I do it. But in case you need more convincing that you too can do this just as good as my 15 year old can, here are her deals from last week and yesterday.