Out with the old & in with the new

Goodbye 2011, I am blessed beyond measure for this past year, for a wonderful family and friends. It has been a year of UPS and downs for sure. I can't remember much from January and February but then March we celebrated Ashlynns 1st birthday and then more crazy months and then in July Brandon went from working for my parents to working for Chick fil A, we had done a lot and I mean a lot of praying about this change and God opened every door for this change and it has been great. We have had ups and downs finacially with the change but I think that is all smoothed out now. Then some more crazy months went by and Matthew started kindergarten in August and that was a big adjustment in schedule and getting used to our new routine but we have adjusted well and are loving his teacher and the school. If you know me well you know when I say crazy months that it is crazy in the life of the Terrys, I am always doing something and I have an in home daycare so my days are full. So after our crazy couple of months we get to October and have a miscarriage yes it was very very hard and I tried to show off my big girl pants and I finally caved after some really hard days and weeks. I still have my off days but I am doing well. Then we get to a really crazy November we have Brandons birthday, Matthews 6th birthday and our 10 year Anniversary and then Thanksgiving yep that month flew by and then we hit December wow here already and it went by fast as well and we Jesus our #1 focus for this season. We are very thankful for this year and getting to share this holiday with family. And thankful for all our friends. We are looking forward to what 2012 has for us. Happy New Year Friends and Family, I am praying for each and everyone of you this year.

Holiday Tradition Winner

Congratulations to Rebecca for commenting your Holiday Tradition, I will bring you your Large Utility Tote.
Thank you all for commenting you had wonderful traditions. Stay tuned to January for more giveaways!!!!!

Family Photo

My sweet family photo ~ Merry Christmas!!!! 2011

New in 2012

I have big plans for 2012 with the blog and monthly giveaways and my new craft room and all the projects I have planned and the goal of starting and Etsy shop. I am gonna be busy for sure but I think this is gonna be my extra job, lol.... If you know me well you know I never have just one job I always am doing something it is crazy.
I am planning on trying products and then blogging about it and hopeing to have that product to giveaway. I have the emails going out contacting companys etc.... I also want to have my blog grow and have more folowers all over the world possibly. So here is a question for you should I change the name from The Terry Times to something else or do you think that will still fit??? Also let me know of maybe some products you might like to see featured next year, I would love to know what kind of ideas you are looking for.
Merry Chirstmas

17 Days

Wow is it only 17 days till Christmas???? Wow I think I am ready, well need to be ready. We are having a snowball effect finacially right now and it is tough. Brandon switched jobs at the end of the summer and took a bit of a pay cut at first and slowly caught up with us. We did not realize it was going to take so long for pay to pick back up so we recently had a major slip up in our account and built up a few to many fees which makes it tougher to catch up. I got a couple waived but not enough. I want to be out of this hump. I know God has a lesson for us out of this and to trust in Him and His plan for us. He will provide and we have to trust and abide in Him and not let this HOLIDAY season over power is and we loose sight in the true meaning of Christmas and the reason Jesus was born. God provided for Mary and Joseph during this time, they trusted in Him. I am so glad we have Him apart of our lives. I pray for those that have lost sight in Him or have not found Him yet and will see that He is our Wonderful Counseler, Prince of Peace, Mighty God who is here for us and created us. To Celebrate this wonderful holiday season we are going to have a Happy Birthday Jesus party on Christmas Eve complete with cake and candles. As we are counting down the days to Christmas with our advent calendar let us read today Luke 2:3-5 Merry CHRISTmas

Fake-It Frugal: Homemade Tomato Basil Spaghetti Sauce...for the Fr...

I made a batch of this sauce 3 months ago and it was fantastic and so we are making it again it was so nice to be able to pull fresh homemade sauce out of freezer and throw some meat or meatballs in it and noodles and easy dinner! Enjoy!!
Fake-It Frugal: Homemade Tomato Basil Spaghetti Sauce...for the Fr...:

Countdown continues

We had a super busy weekend with every attention of posting on the blog but it did not happen. Every year we go to Brenham to get pictures with Santa, our kids know Santa is not real in bringing the gifts but we do love the Santa in Brenham I will post our pics soon. Our laptop is down and it just is not as easy to go to the other computer and do everything. I am posting from my phone now so short and simple posts this month and for the giveaway if you have not entered yet please do. I am giving away Large Utility tote value $30. Well back to our busy weekend. Pictures with Santa done, family pictures done, Christmas shopping done and had company over for lunch on Sunday and I made Crockpot fajitas that had been cooking for 16 hours and they were so yummy and easy. If you have not checked out crockpotgirls.com yet you must the recipes I have tried so far have been amazing. Our top 2 are Chicken and dumplins and Crockpot Fajitas. Great simple warm meals that feed a lot. Check it out. Have a great week and keep in mind during this busy holiday season that Jesus is the reason for the season and don't let that focus leave you during this crazy time of year.

24 Days

24 Days but who is counting,lol... I am ready for Christmas I love seeing the joy in my kids and teaching them the meaning of Christmas. I don't know if it was intended this way or not but growing up every Christmas morning we all had to go into the den together for the first 11 years I was the only kid then after that the 3 sibblings seem to appear.... I always seem to get a remote control car or a bike. I love getting a remote control cars and want to start that with our kids one of these days. Not only did I just get one so did my dad and mom and then the siblings when they were old enough and then we would race and play all day lots and lots of fun. Now while we opened presents we had cinnamon rolls and Orange danish rolls baking in the oven to eat for breakfast. So much fun and yes every year since I have been married we have had cinnamon rolls and Orange danish for breakfast. I love it. Our kids know that Santa is us giving the gifts. I know we are not nice but Matty had know problem with it and he is so good at not telling those that do believe he has done a fantastic job. Well don't forget to tell me your favorite family tradition, I am giving away a Large Utility tote. I will leave you with day 24 read Luke 1:28-30

Happy December 1st!!!!! Let the Countdown begin!!!! Now to begin our countdown why don't we start with a giveaway and I will have to post picture later but if you are familiar with Thirty-One (I do sell it) I am giving away a Large Utility Tote. What you have to do is post a comment of what your fav orite Christmas Tradition is. I will do the drawing on the 15th. Now to start our countdown here is our first scripture - In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgins name was Mary. Luke 1:26-27
Have a great day!!!!!!

Halloween

Growing up we did not really do Halloween, I went to a few carnivals/fall Fest growing up and then when my siblings got older I would take them to a couple of houses and Fall fest but never went all over the place or bought costumes just came up with something. Now I do remember one year I was a witch and another year a clown but that is about it. So now that I have kids what do we do well, I guess I am doing what I always wanted to do go to fall festivals and trick or treating, but of course I am particular where we go. This year I bought costumes in the past we really didnt we either borrowed or got as gifts etc or created it. This year my kids, Matthew Darth Vador (given the costume) and Ashlynn a Ladybug (I ordered it) and super cute they both are. So we went to our Church fall festival last night had fun and got a littlle bit of candy and tonight I think we are going to do some serious candy hunting tonight. We also have the tradition of going to my friends parents house since Matty had his first halloween it is fun and my kids enjoy it. So I am sure we will make that stop tonight as well. Have a safe and Happy Halloween

Tough week

Well this week has been a hard week and I of course try to be strong and try to do everything by myself, lets start back to Tuesday of last week, I went to Bible study and while there I knew something was not right and came home and realized yes something was not right went to bed trying not to think about it (I am leaving out gory details) I was up all night and knew something was just not right well got up Wednesday morning got Matty off to school, daycare kids started arriving and I was doing fine well I was sitting on couch and another something is not right moment and it went downhill from there. I had kids picked up and I called Dr and went to get blood work done and well passed out at the Lab twice yep not fun I even had Ash with me. Then went to my moms for the rest of the day yes it was a rough day, on Friday went back to Dr and confirmed Miscarriage, I did not know I was pregnant I was suspicious though that I was but when all this started I knew it was just not normal. I tried to be strong, Brandon left for a retreat on Thursday so my trips to Dr was by myself I was fine with that, I try to be tough but I lost it Saturday I shed a few tears, we went to Tyler this weekend for my nephews 6th birthday and to see my new neice which was fantastic to get away and get to be with family but I was ready to be home and with Brandon since it had been a rough week. I was reminded many times this week of the plan God has for us and I am in awww of that and how He is with us each step of the way. I also have great friends and family that has been Praying for us. Couple of verses that have been on my mind this past week John 15:7 and Romans 8:18 says"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be reavealed to us." and then John 15:7 says "If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." He may not answer us right away but He has a plan and we must abide in Him. God takes great pleasure in us having time with Him each day and I try so hard to take that time and pray and listen to Him. I told Brandon I dont know if I need to have a good cry or sleep (have not slept in several days) and he said I need time. This is the beginning of a new week and I am happy and blessed in so many ways and am looking forward to what God has for me each and everyday this week and the weeks ahead.

Under Construction

Lots of things going on in The Terry household
Under Construction - Blog (what do you think so far?) our hearts,organizing house, organizing life, and planning Holidays and birthdays yep we are going non stop around here.

What a weekend

Wow it has been a busy weekend and I started my weekend taking everything out of pantry and painting and re organizing it. It was job for sure. I ad help from the hubby with painting it and putting contact paper down and that was a huge help. We also painted all the door knobs that were put in when house was built and back then was this popular cheap gold plain knob and over the years are just plain out ugly so we had to do them in secions because of the kids trying to get in places they can not go so it tooks us a week to do these, but we painted them a rubbed bronze and they look awesome. Instead of costing us $500 on new knobs for whole house it cost $8cant beat that for sure and I had a gift card so what I bought for the pantry and knobs has not cost us anything yet love gift cards. Love organizing Next HUGE project is garage and I have a deadline on that so the process will start tonight and will take a week or longer I am sure.

Transforming Christmas

Brandon and I are both doing Bible studies and love it. He goes when he can every Tuesday morning at 6:30am and then I have one on Tuesday evenings at 6:15 I am doing Transforming Christmas led by Angela Turner and it is AMAZING and cant wait to do it again next year. I love the class and learning about what God has showed her to write for a Bible Study and showing us the true meaning of Christmas. I am making some changes this year and am super excited. We have also been making some wonderful gifts for presents and planning what we will spend for each person. I see our Christms being very relaxing and Celebrating the Birth of Jesus. I would love to post pics of what I have been doing but then that would give away my gifts for some of those that read this. So I guess I will have to share my ideas later on. But one of the ideas for this year I am super excited about is we are going to have a Birthday Party for Jesus on Christmas Eve complete with cake and candles and party hats looking forward to this.
Lots of exciting plans and will have to post them.

For the month of December I will have a countdown from the first till the 25th with scripture verses, recipes, giveaway and much more. I am looking forward to hopefully acomplish this goal I have set for myself during the busy holiday season, but hope it slows us down and that we pray and spend our time with the Lord each day. I went to a retreat this past weekend and something that stuck out and this could have been Jesus talking to me telling me that God takes great pleasure in spendig time with us each day. We do need to spend that time with Him, I do notice the days I forget to or say I dont have time my days are horrible and until I stop and take that time with Him things will continue on the wrong path. Take that time with Him and have a positive day.

My sweet Kids

Matthew is such a big brother and loves his sissy Ashlynn, Ashlynn started calling him bubba soon after she started saying mommy and dada but has now started calling him Matty and it is super cute. They get along so well I love seeing them together. When a fight breaks out it is usually Matty starting it but it is Ash that wins I know I should not laugh but if you could see it, it is funny. Ash wants to do everything big brother does and she seems so much older then she is because of everything she can do. They are so sweet together love these 2 blessings so much.

I need Help

I would really love to blog I just forget about it and need to come up with what I want to blog about do I want to do daily or weekly or monthly or I just dont know. I want my blog to look cute. I just dont know all the ends and outs yet. I am sure they have a blog for dummies book for me but I also know I can do this. I love reading my friends blogs and getting super cute ideas. So I know I can do it so for now I am going to re vamp my blog and have a debut Party and giveaway on it so I am getting to work on my blog if you bloggers haved any tips or great add on websites or layouts let me know. Till then have a fantastic weekend and stay tuned to The Terry Times Debut

My Guys

"My Guys" Matthew and Brandon are 100% Aggie they love to go to games together and Brandon eats,drinks and sleeps football me not so much so when it is football season dont make any plans during football games, I am learning. Matthew loves watching the band at half time and loves watching the game, but he is like me LOVES the concession stand, I am addicted to concession food, but the price not so much. We would love to someday have season passes for us to go to the game but for now we always go to the "Maroon and White" game and then Matty and Brandon go to at least 1 other game maybe 2 during the year. Brandon would be at every single one if he could. He has a fantastic Aunt and Uncle and if they have extra tickets they have invited my guys and that seems to be the most talked about game when the go so sweet. Now Basketball season, I love, and Ash went to her first basketball game and loved it as well this year. I love basketball and baseball. But football concessions and halftime are my favorite,lol. Matthew wants to go to A&M he will be
"Class of 2028" if I did the math correct. My all sports guys they love it!!!! My guys always seem to have an Aggie shirt. Gig Em'

Valentines Day!!!

I love Valentines Day, I love all the fun crafts and making sweet Valentines day gifts for Matty to give his friends and goodies for my daycare kids. It is a fun day, now as for me I dont get a thing we always seem to be broke ever since we had kids they get the treats first,the last Valentines gift I did get from hybby was a rechargable battery charger and a package of batteries, yep you read that correctly and so I kind of band gifts around here after that. I did not want that for Valentines day for sure. This year for Valentines day we made goodies for Matty's teachers, school friends and daycare kids. We had friends over Sunday night and cooked a Steak dinner and it was yummy and then Monday we did a party with daycare kids and then had pancakes,bacon and eggs for dinner and watched Nanny McPhee Returns (cute movie) so it was a fun filled Valentines day!!!!!
Well I know some of you are wandering what did I make? Well for all the kids we bought a pair of socks and tied a ribbon and a tag on it and the tag said "You Knock my socks off" to cute and such a better allternative then candy. I made 17 of these and spent $16 dollars on socks. I bought the boys socks in pkg in the sock section and they had a 3pk on clearance. Then all the girl socks I bought in the dollar spot at Target.
Then for the Teachers and a couple of my friends I did a bottle of hand soap $1 at Target and tied a ribbon and tag with "I was SOAPIN you'd be my Valentine" super cute and I think well liked. I am looking forward to next year and what I can do then. Super fun!!!!!!!

Our New Puppy

We have a new Puppy, I am crazy because I had been trying to find a new home for our dog and possibly our cat a nd be pet free well instead we added to our pet family. But I think our dog "Aggie" was just lonely and now loves having a new buddy to play with. "Aggie" we got about 7 years ago we rescued him from Cavelier King Charles rescue, Brandon always wanted a Cavelier but they go for $1500-$2000 a dog and we just would not pay that much for this dog, well "Aggie" was abused as a puppy so he has some issues but he has gotten better over the years and now having a playmate and her name is "Zoey" it has been better for "Aggie" all though she has only been with us for 2 weeks (seems longer) puppies are hard work I will not lie about that. Zoey is 8 weeks now she came from a litter of 13 puppies and the mommy quit feeding them at 3 weeks. They say Zoey is part lab/bloodhound (mommy side) and Blue heeler (dad) but she really does not favor any of those very much we will just have to see when she is older what she is like, right now she is a cutie and just precious. Matty loves her, Ash on other hand doesn't know what to think. Well we will have to see now how it goes now with 3 animals but so far so good, and we dont plan on being in this house forever we want to move to land and a bigger house so it will be nice to have a bigger dog when we do that. I tried to get a picture of all the pets together but instead got this cute one of Matty and Zoey.

Homemade Laundry Soap

I do make my own laundry soap and I make it 5 gallons at a time and it lasts about 5 months sometimes longer. It costs me about $3 for 5 gallons which is awesome. In the picture I have a Meyers soap bar (I did not have a Fels-Naptha soap bar) I make it exactly like recipe below and I get all 3 ingredients on the laundry isle at Kroger. Enjoy let me know if you make it and use it what you think. If you want to try it I will sale you a gallon for $2. Gallon lasts me about a month. Happy Washing!!!!


Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap- Front or top load machine- best value

4 Cups - hot tap water
1 Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda*
½ Cup Borax

- Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)

-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.

-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.

-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)

-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)

*Arm & Hammer "Super Washing Soda" - in some stores or may be purchased online here (at Meijer.com). Baking Soda will not work, nor will Arm & Hammer Detergent - It must be sodium carbonate!!

Selling Thirty-One

I have tried many businesses over the years and when I told Brandon that I wanted to sell Thirty One he told me know I said ok, well I had a huge wish list. So I decided I would pray about it and also plan to have a party. Well the night I asked him he started researching it and was looking at stuff I had brought home from a show. Well then the ext day he told me I could do it, something I could get out of house and do and schedule parties when I wanted to schedule them. I always long for adult converstaion since I am home all day with sweet little kiddos. Well all this had taken place on Thursday well Saturday I signed up scheduled my debut party and now was waiting fo my "Pink Box" to come in. Well some of you may have not heard of Thirty One well its not a birthday party,lol... Thirty One is a Faith based business and has been around for 7 years. The name Thirty One comes from the Old Testament where Proverbs 31 shows how women who are kind,work hard, and possess courage and wisdom are worthy of praise and reward. We are all about Celebrating, Encouraging and Rewarding woman which is why that is our Motto. It is amazing to grow with this company and I love the products they get used everyday in our home,car,purses, diaper bag. If you have not had a chance to see these AMAZING products send me a message or check out my website our NEW catalog starts February 1 with New products. I have a new wish list started again. Visit my website at www.mythirtyone.com/lindseyterry
Happy Monday and have a great week.

Matthew

My sweet boy Matthew, it breaks your heart when your child asks you why you dont love him anymore, I asked him why do you say that and while he has tears rolling down his cheeks tells you I pay more attention to Ashlynn, oh how sad that makes me feel. It is hard being a parent of 2 kids and showing your love equally and we try. After calming him down and getting more from him he just did not understand why I feed, dress and hold Ashlynn, and he has to do all that by himself. So explaining it all to him and also saying we did all that for him when he was the sam age as Ashlynn, and when she is 5 she will have things she has to do by herself. But we love them both the same, but that we have loved Matty longer. He is such a big helper but he does have his moments.
So here is a little about Matty, Matthew Laban Terry was born November 8, 2005 and we were the happiest parents ever (I know we all are) I was so glad to have my sweet boy, I was very protective of him and still am in some ways, he has grown into a very sweet boy, he likes things calm and on schedule and does not like to be agrivated he can be such a great kid when you dont ignore him and you include him in everything or just let him be a boy and he does great, Matty has always measured off the charts on height since he was born and so everyone always thinks he is older then he is so they expect him to be mature he is still a little boy. At his 5yr checkup he measured the size of an 8yr old so he is very tall for a 5yr old. Matthew loves to go to pre school and goes M, W, F and will start kindergarten this Fall (I am so nervous)he goes to gymnastics once a week and loves it he has been doing this about 3years now, he will start soccer in March and he is so excited he played last year and had a fantastic time, I am looking forward to it again as well.
As I am typing this I can hear my little guy singing in the shower it is so cute.
Matthew is a great "Big Brother" and loves his sister so very much. I just love his jokes, his stories and his creativity, he love to build with legos and it amazes me what he can create. He gets these difficult sets and puts them together by himself it is fantastic. We love to build with him as well. I am getting the hang of trying not to make him wait and say I have to do this for your sister etc... Days are going so much better juggling 2 kids, 2 personalities, 2 very independent children and things a certain way, but they play together so well even with a 4 1/2 year difference between Matthew and Ashlynn. Matthew is such a blessing in our family and keeps us on our toes.

Childrens Craft Display

I love seeing all the ideas of how your childs crafts are diplayed even those that are just a scribble is special, before I had seen lots of different ideas on how to display the never ending pieces of paper, I thought I was creative and came up with this myself. Matty had a huge wall and I had no idea what to put on it first I painted it with magnetic paint and was going to use magnets that failed. So I went and bought this long Curtain rod and curtain clips and hung it up and nowwe clip pictures to it for each season and at the end I take a picture of it and then throw away the non keepsakes (I do have a picture of them all) and then save the sentimental ones. So easy and I love it. I have ideas for Ashlynn's room when she starts bringing home projects.
I love to organize, you would think after living her in the same house for 9 years it would be organized completely well still a working progress and one of these day it will be done..

A Day with Us

I wander myself how I get through each day and friends seem to call me "Super Mom" "Energizer Bunny" "Super Woman" But really it is by Gods Grace I make it through each day, I have battles with my kids, I am tired, I get frustrated, I give up, yes us mommys all have experiened one of these things I am sure. I am so busy when I want to sit down for 5 minutes it usually does not happen. The only way I am getting to do blog is Ashlynn is in the bath tub and I am sitting in bathroom with the laptop so using time wisely I guess. Growing up we had routine everyday all the way down to snack, now most of you know there is a HUGE gap betwen me and my siblings so example "Snack Time" was always at 4:00 and we watched Barney well they did but that is how they learned to tell time. So my day usually runs that way now. I am a big plan ahead person I pretty much have till the end of the year already planned, my hubby on other hand is not a planner but after almost 10 years he is getting the hang of it or asks "What is the plan" even Matty asks every night what is the plan when we wake up. So I got them trained, ok so you wander how I do everything I do here is a typical day in The Terry household
I wake up at 7:00am and go to couch yes I get the best 30 minutes of sleep doing this, then daycare kids start showing up, most which go down for morning nap we are slowly taking this out of morning routine. Then when my kids begin waking up we have breakfast most days consist of a waffle, nutri grain bar or poptart, sometimes oatmeal, we are not morning people at all. Then we play or Matty is off to preschool MWF so it just depends. Then we do preschool with daycare kids, play outside, all over house, it does get messy around here. Then lunch I start cooking around 11:15 and we eat at Noon, I cook a home cooked meal everyday. Then we do more school stuff, music etc... Then after noon nap and I usually get laundry, clean kitchen, etc done as much as I would like to nap with them it rarely happens. Then after nap we have snack time (we do not watch Barney) then we play and play until time to go home. Then it is life with my family and the evenings go fast. Most evenings are just me and the kids and we get bored. Hubby does not have the typical 8-5 job but not vary many of those out there these days. A typical hubby week is M 9-6 T 9-9 W 2-Cl or O-Cl Th 9-6 Fr 9-6 Sa O-Cl and Su Off So I only cook dinner nights he is home which is not very often. We do Family night dinner every Wednesday at my Parents and Tuesday Matty has Gymnastics so we go to Chick Fil A after so we stay on the go. Mondays I teach piano after daycare kids leave. So we live a crazy busy life and it just gets crazier. I also squeeze in my Thirty One business.
I love my life and what God has done in our lives each day. I am sure I overwhelmed some of you and I did not add everything we will leave that for different blogs.
Have a great weekend Friends.

2011

Lets see if this works!!! I have got to get this blogging thing figured out. This picture is for those of you who needed a smile or a laugh today. I just love this cute picture of Ashlynn, it makes me feel good even on those very stressful days!!! Happy Wednesday everyone!!!