10
Nov
09

thankful

Last night for our family night we ‘made’ a thankfulness box and read Bible verses about being thankful. So simple!  (We really just decorated a box with stickers.)  We decided that we will make this a new family tradition during the month of November.  Each night this month that we have family dinners, (we try to eat all together at the table at least 3-4 times a week), we will go around and have everybody say something they are thankful for.  We will write it on a post it note and then put it in the thankfulness box.  On Thanksgiving we will open the box up and praise God for all the many things we have to be thankful for!  Last night, Ella said she was thankful for Grandma.  So sweet.  Rilyn said she was thankful for her Build A Bear.  hmmm.

Paquette family thankfulness box

Last night I said I was thankful for our health. But today, I am thankful for the $500 check that came in from another one of my online offers!!!! ($500 Home Depot card should be coming soon…)

Asher trying to grab my check!

I did this offer in late September and it cost me $55! If you are interested in doing online offers-they obviously really work!-you can check it out here. Or here. Or here. Or you can message me and I can host another ‘get trained’ class. (I already taught 2 other ladies last week!)

05
Nov
09

countdown vegas!

We love Vegas!  The lights, the energy, the food, the entertainment, and yes, the gambling!  It  feels like another world when you enter ‘the strip’ and sometimes it is nice to just take a break from your daily routine. Together, James and I have been to Vegas twice, and in a few weeks, we are going again with some old (and newer) friends!  (We all happen to be Aggies though!)  In honor of me getting excited about our KID FREE trip, I am posting some past trips…

Spring Break 2002…(We went with some of our college friends, Halim and Jen were some of them!)

When you’re broke, you stay at the Excalibur!
Halim, Carson, James and Noel getting their ‘model’ on at the Paris hotel
We saw Blue Man Group at the Luxor!  Great show!
On top of the Stratosphere

Halim, Jen, me, James, Noel, and Carson

May 2006

We went back to Vegas for our 5 year wedding anniversary! 

 

We had a little more money, so we moved on up to the Monte Carlo hotel!  ;-)

Slot machines are not my favorite, but this is

 

the only place I could sneak a picture in the casino!

We saw Mystere’ Cirque Du Soleil and Hairspray

 

Both great shows!

James tells me that we are staying at the Bellagio and we are seeing “O” – I am super excited!!! Friends, fun, food, FREEDOM-here I come!!!!! (AND I’m not even going to stress out that the day we fly in from Vegas, it is my sister’s rehearsal dinner for her wedding and my girls are flower girls, Asher is the ring bearer, I’m a bridesmaid, and James a groomsman!) Nope, not me, I never stress! ;-)

02
Nov
09

halloween 2009

a brother and his Disney princesses
Look at this lion on the PROWL!!!!
Before trick or treating each year, we have a neighborhood party with all our friends and eat chili!  The most notable thing about this photo is how Rilyn is holding newborn Ivey Peck (4 weeks), and Cole Richardson is lovingly looking on as if they are married and staring at their own child!  Yikes!  Oh, and I guess the Suh kids don’t like group shots!  ;-)
trick or treat!
Malachi Suh getting the best of Asher!  I foresee a rematch in the near future…
01
Nov
09

ahoy!

We had a BUSY Halloween!!  To start off, we took a boat cruise down Town Lake (Lady Bird Lake) in Austin.  The cruise was a ‘thank you’ to all the Kidstuff volunteers at our church.  We got to bring our families (Asher stayed behind to nap at a friends), and it was just a relaxing afternoon!  (Well, besides the pirates that visited us…)

the skyline
daddy and ella
there was definitely some dancing!
we saw pirates next to us in the waters!  they launched water balloons at us!
Ella was freaked out by the pirates and hid

for the next 30 minutes

rilyn dancing
Not quite the Titanic but you get the picture
31
Oct
09

happy halloween!

30
Oct
09

leo and gemini

I was hoping I could get the 3 kids to dress up as ‘a theme’ this year for Halloween, but with Asher’s costume a hand-me-down (can’t pass those up!), and the girls wanting to be the same Disney princess, the only theme I could come up with is ‘zodiac signs’?!? :-)

Our little leo
Ariel 1
and Ariel 2-’our gemini’
28
Oct
09

backstage!

Last night, James and I went to So You Think You Can Dance Season 5 show in Austin with our good friends Jen and Jeff.  It was AMAZING!  I was surprised how funny it was too!  Melissa Sandvig’s husband, Erik, hooked us up with backstage passes too!  Enjoy the pictures!

Jen and I before the show
Top 12 Season 5
Caitlin and Jason performing Bollywood
James, Ade, me, and Brandon (I couldn’t believe I was as tall as Ade!)
Jen, Evan, and me
me, Melissa, and James
Season 5 winner-Jeanine!
This was a surprise-we recognized ‘Jason Street’ from Friday Night Lights

backstage.  He was there with his girlfriend meeting everyone like us!

24
Oct
09

18 months

My baby boy is 18 months today! He is no doubt NOT a baby boy anymore, but a crazy toddler who is teaching mommy a thing or two about raising boys! He is repeating almost everything now, and loves to play with his big sisters who will gladly push him around! I am starting to think seriously about getting a leash on him because it is getting increasingly harder to hold him or keep him contained in a grocery cart/high chair! He wants to run or walk down the stairs-both of which he is not proficient at yet!  We love our busta’ and are continually amazed at the joy,(and sometimes frustration!) he brings us each day!  :-)

new hobby:  tearing up the toilet paper rolls
he loves his sisters!  (he calls both of them ‘Ella’)
21
Oct
09

I did it for the t-shirt

I’ve heard that line a time or two in college from James as he was explaining why he signed up for another credit card!  I am PROUDLY saying that line today, though all in jest, because I definitely did NOT “do it for the t-shirt”, but rather for the $500 Visa gift card that came with the Michael Jackson t-shirt (which is coming to a white elephant party near you…)

Michael proudly displaying my gift card

So….why did I receive a $500 gift card in the mail today???  I’m so glad you asked!

The quick version is:

I have a friend from Houston, named Misty, who introduced me to doing online offers.  She was receiving all these gift cards and checks and I was starting to get intrigued.

Misty pointed me to Carrie from Money Saving Methods.

I read all the instructions and signed up for my 8 ‘online offers’ in late August.  I spent $20 total to get my $500 gift card.  I should be receiving a $500 Home Depot card (I spent $45) and a $500 check (I spent $55) in the coming weeks!  (I will post when I get them!)  I am about to start a $500 gift card to American Airlines this week too!

If you are interested, e-mail me or comment and I’ll be happy to help you get started!  Also, for all you Austin folks, I will be sending an e-mail to those interested for a ‘get trained’ class at my house!  ;-)

**It’s been a good week for free stuff for me. I got a $10 Amazon gift card with my Swagbucks. Swagbucks is like Google, just search what you normally search, and earn ’swag bucks’ sometimes. I have earned $20 of Amazon gift cards since March just by searching on the internet. I make Swagbucks my home page so I always remember to use it!
Search & Win

And then I got a $20 gift card to Build-A-Bear (my choice) from my Pampers gifts to grow points! Woo-hoo!

19
Oct
09

costumes of old

Thought I would share some of my favorite costumes when I was growing up!

The angel with the foil wings and halo!
The ballerina I never was…I wore this costume for 2

Halloweens I loved it so much!

My favorite one!  My dad drew the card and I colored it
James as count Dracula!



What’s playing…

Watch videos at Vodpod and other videos from this collection.

Mandy’s vintage and handmade goodies

Shanna’s homemade kids clothes!

Sewingirls at Etsy

Piper

Richard Halverson, the chaplain of the U.S. Senate, pointed out something that bothers a lot of people and excites a few. He said,

Jesus Christ said more about money than about any other single thing because, when it comes to a man's real nature, money is of first importance. Money is an exact index to a man's true character. All through Scripture there is an intimate correlation between the development of a man's character and how he handles his money.

That is a good paraphrase of Matthew 6:21 where Jesus says, "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." In other words, what your money goes after is a signal of what your heart goes after. And Jesus cares more than anything about what your heart is going after.

What our hands do with our money shows what our hearts are doing with God. Or to get right at the heart of the matter: what we do with our money shows what we believe God is doing with us. What money is to us shows what God is to us. Jesus said, "A man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions" (Luke 12:15). No, it consists in his relationship to God. "This is eternal life—true life —" Jesus said to his Father in heaven, "that they might know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent" (John 17:3). What we do with our money shows where we believe life—and joy and love and hope and security and meaning and freedom—is found.

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