I wanted to give everyone an update on the puppies Little Ann had almost 3 weeks ago. Wow, I can't believe they have been here that long.


They are so cute! This week they have opened their eyes all the way and are seeing the world for the first time. And we must scare them. Before when we picked them up they were quiet. Now that they can see us, they whine.


Usually you can find them laying around on top of each other. But just a day or two ago, they started moving more. They still don't go off their little piece of carpet, but they are starting to walk a little.


Anybody want a sweet little puppy? Only 3 more weeks until we have to find homes for them.

Look at this picture. These are my back steps to my home. The ones everyone uses to go in and out the house. They don't look particularly dangerous, do they?


I think these steps move while I'm walking down them. Yesterday, I fell again, while walking down them. I say again cause it's like the third time in the last 5 months or so that I've fell down them. Yesterday's fall wasn't too bad. I'll probably only have a couple small bruises from it, and a couple scratches.

The first fall was bad, completely knocked the breath out of me. I just had to lay there in the mud for a while to catch my breath. I got a huge bruise all the way across my back from that fall.

Do you think I'm getting old, clumsy, or are my steps really moving on me?

My new laptop.

When I first heard of twitter, I thought it was only something you did on your cell phone. Kinda like text messaging. But, I was wrong, yet again.

If you don't know, twitter is like instant messaging with your friends. Only instead of just one friend at a time, it's as many friends as you want. You can just pop in whenever you want, and talk. Sometimes, people talk back, sometimes they don't. It's really great when you have a question about something and need an answer. You can pick and choose who you let follow you, so you don't end up with any weird people, lol!

I know I follow some of my readers already. But, if there is anyone else who twitters, I would love to know so I could follow you too. My twitter name is NancysBlessings. You can follow me here. I look forward to talking to y'all!

You would hardly believe we had snow just a few days ago. Today it was 61 degrees and gorgeous.


We let the little one ride the 4 wheeler with his dad for the first time. He gets scared by the noise from the vacuum and the steam cleaner, so I was very surprised that he liked it. After awhile he was giving it the gas all by himself.


Isn't he just the cutest?


My friend Barb came down again and brought all her kids this time. They had fun riding it too.


The older boys had fun just playing around.

Last week I went to Walmart just to do a little shopping. When I tried to give the cashier my coupons, she wouldn't take the internet printable coupons. I asked why, and she said it was a policy they started around the end of last year. I explained I had been there since then and used them with no problem. So, I asked her to check and make sure. She spoke with customer service and they said the same thing. So, I asked her to take the items I was going to buy with the coupons off my order, and she did.

Now, I know others have had problems using internet coupons, but this was a first for me. I have read on Freebies 4 Mom and other places about this. They recommend bringing a copy of Walmart's coupon policy to the store with you. Since I did not have this with me, I did not try to force the issue.

However, when I got home, I e-mailed Walmart directly and inquired of their policy, just to be sure. You can imagine my surprise when just a few days later, I received a call from Walmart. I spoke with the manager of the store and she apologized for them not taking my coupons. She also gave me her name and the other manager's name as well, in case I have any problems in the future. I was assured the staff would be reminded of the correct policy as well. I was very happy with the way they addressed my problem.

To avoid this problem, you may want to print their coupon policy here, and take it with you when you go.

All of my bloggy friends who live where it snows a lot, know I have been jealous of the snow y'all have. This morning I woke up to my own winter wonderland! Well, it was only 4 inches, but we live in SC, so we'll take whatever we can get.


We bundled up everyone and went outside to play a little. Let me say, OH my goodness, it was so cold. It didn't take long for me to want to go back inside and get warm!


My oldest was trying to hit everyone with snowballs. He loves the snow!


The little one wasn't quite sure what to think. He did love crunching the snow under his shoes. I think he liked the snow, because later he asked to go back outside.


The guineas were a little unsure also, mostly staying on the top of the run.


The chickens didn't want to come out of the coop. They finally came out a little, but didn't go very far.


The freezing cold temperatures made me glad, it's usually not like this. I'll try not to be jealous any more of my northern friends. In fact, I feel a little bit of sympathy for y'all!

I've been tagged by Eliza at The Life of a Home Mom to tell my story.

My story - Finish the sentence:

Hi, my name is:
Nancy aka Southern Blessings

Never in my life have I been to:
Jail

I hate it when:
Life feels out of control.

If your gonna talk smack about me:
Run, far, far away!

The one person who can drive me nuts is:
I can't say, they are probably reading this.

When I'm nervous:
I talk a lot.

The last song I listened to was:
Chicken Fried

My hair is:
Blonde and shoulder length.

When I was 5:
I was skinny for the last time, lol!

Last Christmas:
We got to be with lots of family and friends.

I should be:
Cleaning instead of blogging.

The happiest recent event was:
The snow we had today.

My current annoyance is:
My kids fighting over the recliner.

I have a hard time understanding:
Word problems.

The thing I want to buy is:
New chairs for my dining room table.

Most recent thing I've bought myself:
Some books.

Most recent thing someone else bought me was:
Hot chocolate.

My middle name is:
Marie

In the morning:
I get up and make my hubby coffee and crank his truck up for him.

Last night I was:
Hoping for snow.

If I were an animal I'd be:
A cat, so I could be lazy all the time.

Tomorrow I am:
Doing nothing special.

Tonight I am:
Watching TV with the kids and playing games.

Now I'd love to hear your story. Post it on your blog and leave a comment so I can come and read more about you.

My friend Barb and her son came down for a visit this weekend. We had a great time talking and just hanging around. Even though it was the coldest few days ever, we rode on the 4 wheeler.


Barb also brought down some chickens she was going to take to the auction. She had 5 hens who had been eating their own eggs, so she was going to sell them. I just happen to have way too many roosters and needed some hens. So, I decided to try and keep them. My chickens free-range. My hope is, that since they'll have so much else to do, besides being cooped up, that they won't eat their eggs down here. I may be wrong, but at least I'll have tried.

There are 4 black sex-links and one Easter Egger. One of my roosters is in the picture too. He has taken a liking to them. The hens are about a year older and their eggs are way bigger than the eggs we usually get. The one in the middle is from one of the new girls.


We also found a new auction to go to. This one sells all kinds of things right before the livestock. I went in search of more hens. Auctions make me nervous, though. I don't know what to bid, and can't decide if I should bid on this or that. Anyway, we brought home 2 new hens. Here's a picture of one of them. The other one has been a little scared, and was hiding under the coop.

The winner of the My Fruit Roll-Ups giveaway is #3 - Shannon from Southern Grits and Tidbits. I drew the winner at random.org.


Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

3 

Timestamp: 2009-01-17 16:26:32 UTC

If you didn't win and would like to try My Fruit Roll-Ups, you can use the code BEMINE for $10 off your order through February 2.

Thanks to everyone for entering! Come back and see me soon!

This week I have received two checks in the mail. The first was from Opinion Outpost for doing surveys. It was a check for $13. I also got a deposit in my Paypal account for $6 from Greenfield Online for surveys. I usually only take the surveys where I'll earn money, sometimes I take the ones where you earn a sweepstakes entry, if they don't take long.

The second check was from The Caregiver's Marketplace. It was for $6 also. They pay me back for buying Huggies diapers. I get a $1 back for each pack I buy. And I try to get them on sale at CVS, so I'll save even more! You can also get cash back for Ensure, Depends, Nature Made, and other products that help you take care of others.

I try to make a little money whenever I can, even if it's just a few dollars. They add up over time! Do you have any ways to make some extra cash?

The other day my son wanted me to come take some pictures of our roosters to put on his blog. For some strange reason, he didn't want Prince's (my favorite rooster) picture on there. Since he was posing so good for the camera, I couldn't let those pictures go to waste. So, I thought I would show y'all some of the good shots.


Tell me he's not a handsome rooster! He's simply gorgeous. I may be a little biased, but I can't help it.


For those who wanted an update on Henny Penny, she's still trying. It's been 29 days now, so her eggs aren't going to hatch, unless some of them were the ones the other hens laid after she started setting. I'm still not sure if I should let her keep trying or not. I would love to find some biddies to switch out for her eggs. I just don't know if I can find them. If anything else happens, I'll let you know.

****My giveaway ends tomorrow. Don't forget to enter if you haven't already!****

My son's dog, Little Ann, had puppies either last night or this morning. I saw her licking something when I went to let the chickens out this morning. One of the puppies was dead, so I was a little sad. But, the rest of them look healthy.


It's supposed to be 13 degrees in a couple nights, so I ran into the house to clean out my laundry room for them. I knew she was gonna have puppies, but according to my math, they shouldn't have came until the end of the month. So, I thought I had time to make room for her by then. Oh, well, I did a mad dash cleaning and moving things session. And now they are safe and warm in my laundry room.


There are 3 boys and 2 girls. They are so cute! One of them looks so shiny, she's a girl. We have a boy chihuahua, but we never thought he was the father of the puppies (he's so much smaller than her). We thought the dad was a golden retriever. But, the puppies are darker than that, so who knows? Aren't they adorable?

I was given the opportunity to design a box of fruit roll-ups at MyFruitRollUps.com. It's a really neat site where you can choose from lots of different layouts. Go ahead and go look, it's so fun! They have birthday, graduation, and holiday themes to choose from. And you can personalize it by adding a name or uploading pictures of your own. How cool is that?


I decided to let my son help me choose what to put on them. He loved looking at all the choices, but in the end decided to go with pictures. He wanted a picture of his favorite rooster, Doe, on there and a picture of him in his Halloween costume. He also wanted another picture, but I said hey, can't I have some fun too? I chose to put the name of my blog on it.


This is how they looked when we received them. It's kind of hard to get a great shot with the camera. I think the designs would have turned out better had we chose lighter pictures, so there would be more contrast. The writing looks awesome on them and is very clear.


These are a little pricey. They run $29.99 plus shipping, but the case does come with 30 personalized fruit roll-ups. These would be great for birthday goody bags and parties. With Valentines coming up, you could make a personalized Valentines message for your kids for school. That would be so neat. They say you can get your order within 15 days. I would like to let you know for some reason mine was delayed. It could have been because of Christmas, but my order was about 10 days late.

Would you like to win a personalized box of My Fruit Roll-Ups? Thanks to My Blog Spark I have one code so the winner can make their own!

There are 6 ways to enter! Please leave a comment for each one you do.

1.For your first entry please leave a comment saying what event you would design these for.
2.Follow me on twitter and tweet about my giveaway.
3.Subscribe to my RSS feed by clicking on the orange button in the left column.
4.Subscribe via e-mail to my blog in the left column also.
5.Follow this blog. (Those who are already followers will be added automatically)
6.Blog about this giveaway and come back with the link.

Make sure you leave a way for me to get in touch with you!
This contest is only for US residents. (Sorry my friends from other countries)
The contest will end at midnight on Friday Jan. 16.
Winner will be drawn on Saturday and emailed and posted.

Good Luck!

My son has been watching me blog for a while now. So, I guess it's kinda natural that he would want to start his own. So, this weekend he did, with my help of course. He's 11, so it will be about things he loves like Legos, Hot Wheels, and video games. You know, boy stuff.

I would appreciate it if any of you would drop by and leave him a comment to encourage him. If you have children who blog too, ask them to visit also. He would love to make some young friends who blog. Anyway his blog is called My Lego Creations.

Well, here I sit at home for the second week in a row.
I really wanted to go to church today, but the baby's
cough is still so bad.  And he's pretty ill, so he
probably wouldn't have been able to sit through church
anyway. Here's a song of hope for all of us!


My Hope is Built

1. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
but wholly lean on Jesus' name.

Refrain:
On Christ the solid rock I stand,
all other ground is sinking sand;
all other ground is sinking sand.

2. When Darkness veils his lovely face,
I rest on his unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
my anchor holds within the veil.
(Refrain)

3. His oath, his covenant, his blood
supports me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
he then is all my hope and stay.
(Refrain)

4. When he shall come with trumpet sound,
O may I then in him be found!
Dressed in his righteousness alone,
faultless to stand before the throne!

Refrain:
On Christ the solid rock I stand,
all other ground is sinking sand;
all other ground is sinking sand.

I saw over at The Zimmer Zoo and at Want What You Have that it's National De-Lurking Week. So I have tried to leave a comment on every blog, even the ones I usually read and don't comment. If I missed anyone, I'm sorry, I promise to get to you soon. ;-)

I have a request. If there is anyone here who doesn't usually comment, please do so! I would love to meet some new friends! And for those of you who already talk to me, you can comment too. I love all my bloggy friends!

Thanks so much! Oh, and come back next week for a giveaway!

Back in December we had a hen go broody. In case you don't know, that's when she wants to set on eggs and become a mommy hen. Her name is Henny Penny. She fluffs up like a turkey whenever you come near her. She's really a very sweet hen. She lets me check her eggs with only a little grumbling.


I'm worried, though, because eggs are supposed to hatch on day 21. Well, that was yesterday. I saw her off the nest this morning, so I went to check. She saw me at the same time, so we raced to her nest to see who could get there first. It was kind of funny! I don't know how, but I beat her.


I checked the eggs, and none of them were pipped. Do you think there is any hope for her eggs? I feel so bad, she's worked so hard to try and have biddies. I would be happy if only a couple hatched. If they don't hatch, do you think she'll try again? I know, she probably had too many eggs under her, I think the other girls would lay more eggs in her nest when she got up to eat. Should I have taken her away and put her by herself? Any advice from fellow chicken owners would be appreciated.

This is a funny picture of my oldest son. At our homeschool Christmas party, the children played games, reindeer games. Funny huh? Mitchell let the other kids put pantyhose on his head and fill the legs with balloons to make him a reindeer. Then they put a bow on his nose to make him Rudolph. There were four or five other teams, but his won the competition.

In other news, I took the baby to the doctor this morning because he had a fever and hives. The hives would come and go, and they kinda scared me. I don't remember his brother ever having them. Turns out, he has an ear infection, so I guess it's good I took him. So, now that we have some medicine, hopefully things will be back to normal soon!

This is what I've been doing all day. Holding my sick baby. My hubby snuck in and took this while we were napping in the recliner. I think I look great, don't you?

I was really hoping he'd be getting better by now, but I think he's worse. Before he just had a runny nose, now he's coughing all the time. Before, he'd been getting up and playing, but today he just wanted to be held all day. He wouldn't even eat his breakfast. Poor thing!

We were supposed to start school back today, but I can't teach and hold him all day. Hopefully he'll get over this soon and be back to his old self. Right now, I'm kinda enjoying holding him again.

We didn't go to church today. The little one has been coughing all morning and his nose is running. My voice is all scratchy too. I didn't want to make anyone else sick, so we stayed home. I wanted to share a song that reminds me of our church. We sing this a lot as an opening to our service. I hope y'all have a blessed day!


Sanctuary

Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary
Pure and holy, tried and true
With thanksgiving, I'll be a living
Sanctuary for You

It is you, Lord
Who came to save
The heart and soul
Of every man
It is you Lord
who knows my weakness
Who gives me strength,
With thine own hand.

Lord prepare me to be a sanctuary
Pure and Holy, tried and true
With thanksgiving I'll be a living
Sanctuary for you

Lead Me on Lord
From temptation
Purify me
From within
Fill my heart with
Your holy spirit
Take away all my sin

Lord prepare me to be a sanctuary
Pure and holy, tried and true
With thanksgiving, I'll be a living
Sanctuary for You

I always knew that you were supposed to eat ham, black-eyed peas, greens, and cornbread for New Year's dinner. I just didn't know what kind of luck you got. But, I read the other day on Tatersmama's blog that ham is for looking forward, peas are for pennies, greens are for dollars, and cornbread is for gold. I can't believe I never heard that before!


Look at all that good old southern food. You'd think I cook it all the time. Well, actually I had never made collards, so that was new for me. And the peas we usually eat come in a can, so this was my first time making a bag of them. I made sure to eat lots of cornbread, so maybe I'll get some gold this year, lol! I hope y'all had a lucky meal to start off your year too!

 This policy is valid from October  26, 2009


 This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. For questions about this blog, please contact Nancy M. (southernblessings@gmail.com).

 This blog will be happy to consider your product for review. In order to have your product reviewed on this blog you must provide one product for the blog owner to review and keep, and if possible a second like item to use in a giveaway to promote the review. Products that do not fit with the content of this blog will not be reviewed. This blog does not charge a fee for product giveaways.

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I hope everyone had a happy and safe New Year's Eve. We went to a party at our church for a few hours. The little one was getting tired, so we left before midnight. We went home and watched the ball drop on TV.

I hate to say it, but I'm kinda glad this past year is over with. Our family had a lot of struggles to contend with. So, I'm hoping this year will be better for us.

I have really enjoyed getting to know all my blogging friends. You guys are an inspiration to me! I hope all your wishes come true for 2009! Seems kinda strange to be typing that. Wow! Where does the time go? Anyway, may the Lord bless you and your family this year!