Sorry I have been missing.  I've still tried to visit most of y'all, but haven't really took the time to blog.  I usually blog later in the evening, but here lately I've been watching the Olympics with my family instead. 

I really love to root for Team USA!  Even when they don't win I still feel like I"m supporting them by watching.  Some of the sports look like they would be such fun to do.  I especially like watching the figure skating, speed skating, snow boarding, and skiing. 

Maybe next week I'll get back to more normal  posting.  Gotta go for now and watch more of the Olympic coverage!

You may have noticed the banner above on my sidebar.  A lot of bloggers and others started reading the Bible on January 1st.  The goal is to read the whole Bible in 90 days.  They even have a special Bible you can purchase that is broken down by each day's reading.  When I started, I didn't have the money to buy a special Bible, so I am just using a Bible I already owned and following the readings found here.

Previously I have read different chapters and books of the Bible, but never the whole thing.  I have always wanted to read the it from cover to cover.  But, it always seemed like such a monumental task.  So, when I read about the challenge on The Happy Housewife, I decided to join in.  I figured with friends to motivate me, I could do it!

I am just over half way done with reading the Bible.  Right below the banner, is a tracker that tells how many chapters I've read.  Right now, it says I am 58% done with reading.  I'm a couple days behind, almost all the time.  I'll get caught up, then something happens and I miss a day or two, and I'm behind again.  But, instead of being upset with falling behind, I just start where I was and read a little extra to catch up again.

I am really enjoying reading through the Bible.  I have learned so much!  I've been hi-lighting passages I want to go back to.  I know I won't remember everything, but this is a great foundation for future reading.

How about you, are you reading with us?  If so, how are you doing?  If you're not reading through this time, another group is going to start reading on July 1st, you'll be able to find more information at Mom's Toolbox.

I was thinking of this song yesterday and I wanted to share the words.

Open My Eyes, That I May See

1. Open my eyes, that I may see 
 glimpses of truth thou hast for me; 
 place in my hands the wonderful key 
 that shall unclasp and set me free. 
 Silently now I wait for thee, 
 ready, my God, thy will to see. 
 Open my eyes, illumine me, Spirit divine! 

2. Open my ears, that I may hear 
 voices of truth thou sendest clear; 
 and while the wavenotes fall on my ear, 
 everything false will disappear. 
 Silently now I wait for thee, 
 ready, my God, thy will to see. 
 Open my ears, illumine me, Spirit divine! 

3. Open my mouth, and let me bear 
 gladly the warm truth everywhere; 
 open my heart and let me prepare 
 love with thy children thus to share. 
 Silently now I wait for thee, 
 ready, my God, thy will to see. 
 Open my heart, illumine me, Spirit divine! 

My 2 1/2 year old son is a mess!  He'll drive me insane one moment, then the next make me laugh out loud.  Just tonight we were going somewhere, just my hubby, me, and Hunter.  He got so mad because his bro bro wasn't going with us.  He wanted so bad for us to take his brother, he started screaming.  I think it's so wonderful that he loves his older brother so much.  I'm pretty sure he loves him more than he loves my husband or I.  I hope he always feels that way!


Mitchell usually loves him too, unless he's stealing toys from him, lol!  Here lately, he's actually been inviting his little brother into his room, voluntarily!  He lets Hunter play video games with him, jump on the trampoline with him, and go outside and play with him.  It's so cute they arm themselves with all their toy guns and go out play fighting. 


It was a big adjustment for Mitchell at first to go from being an only child for 10 years to having  a little brother.  I am so proud of how loving he is being to Hunter!  Don't get me wrong, they still fight sometimes.  Depends on the day, lol!  I will just try to remember the good days more than the bad!

I finally got a new camera and it's pink, my favorite color!  I'm trying to get used to it, so I'm sure these pictures could be better, if I understood all the settings.


It snowed here!  Isn't it funny how I drove to go see the snow, and this time it came to me?  We ended up getting about 4 inches.  It was beautiful and it was quick, now it's all gone.


Usually you don't see chickens having fun out in the snow, but ours seemed to love it!


We also got to make some delicious snow cream.


They said most of North and South Carolina got snow and that 49 of the 50 states saw snow.  Did it snow where you are?

 I hope everyone has a great Valentine's Day!  Spend it with someone you love!

The winner of my Skin MD Natural Giveaway as chosen by random.org is #5 Dani from Eagles Wings.  Congratulations Dani!  Thanks to everyone who entered!

 My son and I both are reading the Bible from the beginning. He has often asked me where a certain place is and I really haven't been sure what to tell him. That's why I am so happy to have gotten  Map Trek: Ancient World to review.   We both love learning about history, so these historical maps were just what we needed!

This comes as an ebook. I don't have to print out the colored teacher's answer maps if I don't want to, so that saves money on ink. The kids maps can be printed in color if you want, or in just black and white.  The only shading is on water, to help children tell where the oceans or bodies of water are.


Included with the maps are lesson plans that are broken down into 3 levels, one for elementary school, one for middle school, and one for high school aged children.  There are different activities for each group of children.  This is great because I can use it for my oldest now, and still have it for his little brother in a few years.  There is also a glossary of terms used, which I found very helpful for my son and I.

This is everything included in Map Trek: Ancient World:

• 34 Full-color teacher answer maps.
• 32 Blank outline maps for the student.
• 4 Grid maps
• 2 Blank grids (different size grids)
• Instructions for how to use these maps
• Lesson Plans
• Glossary of terms
• 89 total pages
• just $14.95

Map Trek: Ancient World can be purchased here.

I was given Map Trek: Ancient World by Knowledge Quest in association with Mama Bzz in order to do my review.

While I was changing him, he took this self portrait.  Check out those vampire fangs!

I have had the opportunity to try Skin MD Natural shielding lotion. The cold weather we've had recently has been a great time to see if it really works.  Skin MD is made in the USA with 90% all natural ingredients.  It's also free of colors and fragrances, so it's hypoallergenic.  It works with your skin to build moisture back up and heal it.

For me, the best thing about it, is it's lanolin free!  I am allergic to lanolin and it can be very hard to find lotions that don't have that in them.  You don't have to use very much of Skin MD on your skin, either.  It feels light and you're not left with that greasy feeling other lotions leave behind.  I've been using my bottle for about 2 months now, so it goes a long way.  When I started using it, I had cracked skin on my hands.  Now, they are all healed up!

You can buy Skin MD here.  Use the discount code SB10 for 20% off your order.

Would you like to win a full sized bottle of Skin MD to try yourself?  Skin MD is offering a 4 oz bottle to one of my readers. 

There are 3 ways to enter:

• Leave a comment on this post.
• Be a follower of my blog.
• Follow me on Twitter and Tweet this giveaway.

Please leave a separate comment for each entry.  This giveaway will end Friday night February 12th at midnight.  US residents only.  Good Luck!

I was sent a bottle of Skin MD in order to review it.  They are also providing the winner of this giveaway with a free bottle.

 If you know me, you know I like to see at least one snow a year.  Since we moved to SC, we don't get to see quite as much as we used to.  Last Friday night they were calling for snow, sleet, and freezing rain where we live.  The picture above shows what we got at our house.  It was mostly freezing rain and sleet an inch or so.  Where we used to live, they were only calling for snow.  I kept thinking how much I'd love to really see some snow.  So late Friday afternoon, I finally decided we should just go on up there.

It's about a 2 hour drive, and about an hour after we left home it started snowing.  There's just something special about riding in the snow.  The roads started getting kind of bad the last 10 miles or so, but we drove slow, and made it fine.  I know all you northerners out there make fun of us southern folks who stop everything when it snows.  I think that's because it's so special down here since we don't get it much.


My friend, Barb, took the pictures of me and my son at her house playing in the snow.  I'm so glad she let us come up there at the last minute to visit.  They ended up getting around 6 inches or so of snow.  It was so beautiful!  But, very, very cold!  I didn't stay out too long.


They are calling for a mix up there tomorrow  and again on Tuesday.  But, now that I've seen some snow, I'm good.  I just want it to be dry for awhile!  It's pouring down rain right now, so I guess I'll have to wait awhile for that to happen!

The winner of my Moments For Mum devotional book giveaway is comment #2, Tina from Beansie Babbles.  Congratulations!  Thank you Narelle for sponsoring this giveaway!

Sometimes I just want to give up!  Y'all know I love my chickens, but I am tired of them dying.  We had been keeping a hen named Angel in the house about 2 weeks or so.  She was really sick and we had to hand feed and water her.  In time, she got better, so we let her go outside about a week ago.  She had been doing so well, getting around fine and eating good.  Then tonight when my son went to put up the chickens, he couldn't find her.  After searching he found her dead. 

It's very upsetting to work so hard to take care of her, and then to know it was for nothing.  She was the sweetest little hen.  She followed us around everywhere and would just hop up in your hands.  My son was so upset he just held her for so long, I was afraid he wouldn't let go.  I think it hurt me more to see him upset than anything.  Just when I think I've developed a thick skin, I realize I'm still way too sensitive.

 I'm joining in with Amy from Amy's Finer Things in her Declutter Challenge.  In case you haven't heard she's inspiring others to get rid of 730 items in 2010.  That averages out to be 2 items per day.  Of course you don't really have to get rid of 2 items a day, just whenever you can and it doesn't even have to be 730 items.  The object is to simplify your home by getting rid of things you don't or can't use anymore.

If you read my post earlier this month about the mouse, you know I had a great reason to get rid of some stuff.  I started with the closet the mouse was in.  As I was going through boxes, I realized I didn't need a lot of those things.  Some were old Christmas ornaments that were broken, a few were old manuals for things we no longer owned.  There were things I thought I wanted, but after thinking about how they had just been sitting in the closet unused, I decided I could let go of them. 


Then we did my bedroom.  I had a lot of paperwork there that I no longer needed, so we tossed that.  We went through our clothes and got rid of the  ones we couldn't wear or that had holes.  We also got rid of some more toys.


So, for January my total is 78 items!  I'm sure there will be months with less items and maybe months with more items.  Even if I don't get to 730 items, I am feeling better about having less clutter in my home!  I'm also putting the total on my sidebar, so I can better keep track.  If you want to see how others are simplifying visit Amy's Finer Things.

I was tagged by The Life Of A Home Mom to do a Sunday Meme she posted, but I'm late, as always, so it's a Monday Meme.

1. Where is your cell phone? Currently in my right-side pants pocket

2. Your hair? Kind of short right now

3. Your mother? In Heaven

4. Your father? In Heaven

5. Your favorite food? Chicken

6. Your dream last night? Weird

7. Your favorite drink? Fruit Punch Gatorade

8. Your dream/goal? To have our home paid off

9. What room are you in? Living Room

10. Your hobby? Reading

11. Your fear? Something happening to my children

12. Where do you want to be in six years? Still living here and teaching my kids 

13. Where were you last night? Home

14. Something that you aren’t? On time

15. Muffins? Chocolate Chip

16. Wish list item? Camera

17. Where did you grow up? Kannapolis, N.C.

18. Last thing you did? Went to Piggly Wiggly

19. What are you wearing? Black Pants and a Carolina Panthers sweatshirt and no shoes

20. Your TV? Not on

21. Your pets? 3 chihuahuas, 2 cats, 2 dogs outside, 1 rabbit, 2 guineas, and tons of chickens

22. Friends? Awesome

23. Your life? Great

24. Your mood? Content

25. Missing someone? Parents

26. Vehicle? Neon

27. Something you’re not wearing? Shoes

28. Your favorite store? Kohls

29. Your favorite color? Pink

30. When was the last time you laughed? Yesterday

31. Last time you cried? A couple days ago watching a sad ending on a tv show

32. Your best friend? Barbara

33. One place that I could go over and over? Disney World

34. One person who emails you regularly? Barbara

35. Favorite place to eat? Chilis

I tag anyone who wants to participate.  If you do, let me know in the comments, so I can come read your answers!