Title: Lazarus Awakening Author: Joanna Weaver My Thoughts: Joanna Weaver has a gift. Weaver’s conversational writing is so easy to read; however, her words impacted my heart deeply. She uses the biblical story of Lazarus and how Jesus raised him from the dead to encourage her readers to delve deeper into a love relationship with the Lord. We need to invest time into that relationship so we can hear His voice and in return He will set us free from mediocre living, and give us an abundant life. We need to surrender ourselves completely to Him in order to move into that new life. I find this the hard part, letting go. Weaver said that we need to relax and just let Jesus love us. Stop trying so hard and just let go, choose to believe that He loves us unconditionally.

Author: Sandy Coughlin

Publisher's Synopsis: Real Entertaining for Real People

True hospitality is not about being perfect, cooking a fancy meal, or spending a lot of money. Rather, it's about an open door and an open heart. Rather, it's about an open door and an open heart. Popular blogger Sandy Coughlin offers a simple but savvy approach to help women break free of the anxieties that keep them from opening their homes. Emphasizing the forgotten goal of entertaining--connecting deeply with others--she shows how women can use the gifts and talents God gave them to reach out in love.

Yippee!  Our taxes are filed!  It took about a total of 9 minutes for me to run through the amazing TurboTax program.  I used the TurboTax last year so it was a breeze.  It imported all our information, yes all seven of our deductions along with social security numbers, employers and even pin number for the IRS. We E-filed free too. If you are looking for a tax program give TurboTax a try.  Best of all, I received the TurboTax Basic free in the mail as a thank you for using their program last year.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday do not have to be just about gift giving.  Though you can score some pretty awesome deals on those days and really stretch the gift giving budget, it may also be a good time to do some major bargain shopping for non-gift items.  Need to add a few pieces of clothing to the wardrobe? Think the house could use a little sprucing up with new decor pieces? Use Black Friday and Cyber Monday to your benefit. 

With a three week old, we are still making baby purchases.  We are looking at video monitors, strollers, and baby sun tents, among other things.  We haven't purchased those specific things since he still sleeps in the same room with me and is always close enough so I haven't had a need for the monitor as of yet.  I've procrastinated on the stroller since I've been debating which type I actually want to get. I was considering a sit-n-stand for awhile, but have been leaning more toward the frame that his carrier can snap into. It costs less and seems to take up less room.  The baby sun tent we haven't had an immediate need for since he is still so little, he isn't actually "playing" yet or getting out and about much.  As for other things, we just discover what we need as we need it. Some things we still have from our first child and some things we buy as needed. 

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are great days to pick up these "needed" items while shops are offering rock bottom deals for Christmas gift-giving.  As you prepare to do your chopping, write down a few things you may need around the house in case you find a really awesome price on it.  This will save you money down the road when you may otherwise decide to buy it, but at a higher price.

Links provided by Smarter.com. All thoughts & opinions are 100% my own.

I started moisturizing at 19 years of age.  I do not care for the heavy, greasy, sticky products either. I began using Olay products in the late eighties (yeah, I know, I am OLD).  I started using Total Effects when it first came out and I loved it.  I have six kids and I have had chemo and radiation so skin care is very important to me and every woman needs that extra little help, right?  I switched over to Regenerist when it came out and I still use it today.  In my opinion it is well worth the cost.  It soaks right in an hydrates immediately. It is very light and has a great scent. I have been told by slews of people that I don't look close to my age (42).  (Thanks Olay!!!) Try it, you should like it. I sure do. (Don't bother with the Olay Definity though!!!! Another post on that one some day.)

If you have hair issues, you need this stuff. I recently had the opportunity to try Got2B Smooth Operator Hair Lotion through BzzAgent and fell in love with it. If you have trouble with frizz or flyaways, this stuff is for you. I first tried it on my 3 year old daughter's hair. She has extremely curly hair that is prone to major frizz, espeically along the hair line areas. Not only did this help control the frizz, but it left her hair smelling great. Even a friend who sees her often, noticed how well it helped maintain the frizz and the flyaways. I also used it on my hair. It also provided me with great control with stubborn strands and was great to use before I flat ironed my hair. As I mentioned before, the smell of this product is great, so I enjoyed that as well. Got2b has a whole line of products that comes in very cute, girly looking bottles. Be sure to check your local retailer for their product line.

I cut four heads of hair at least once a month.... that's a lot of hair cutting for this mom of six. I go through a lot of cheap clippers. I just cannot bring myself to fork out the $120.oo at the beauty supply shop for just the clipper in addition to each size blade! Well we go through at least two sets of the cheap slippers a year, easy! Yesterday, I bought the Wahl Color Pro hair cutting kit at Wal-Mart. The clipper combs are color coded for easy identification. The kids can remember their own colors! They worked great but I found a spray can of Wahl "Total Clipper Care" coolant, lubricant and cleaner that just made my day. I know it seems silly but this stuff works! It seems to be a lubricant mixed with compressed air or something but it blows out the debris between the blades and ... WOW! This certainly simplified my haircutting last night. I did all four heads in half an hour! WOOT!

As a mother of 3 girls, we have had to deal with seasonal allergy issues with each child. Right now my youngest 2 are dealing with all the irritations that come with spring. Personally, this has been one of the worst seasons for me, so I can only imagine how much they are suffering.they are suffering just as much. Recently, I had the opportunity to try Children's Claritin through a BzzAgent campaign in a pill form. In the past have always used liquid allergy meds. They all have needed meds at younger ages, so its been easier to dispense.

The things that I liked about the Children's Claritin is that it was easy to dispense. You pop the pill out of the packaging, kid chews and you move on. Also, I liked not having to rinse the dispensing cup out afterwards. One day I forgot to give my kids their meds, so I just simple grabbed a pill and was able to hand it to them in the car.

The few things I didn't like about the Children's Claritin is that I could not give half doses easily. My kids don't always need a full dose of medicine, so I had to cut the pill in half. The other downside is the cost compared to liquid. I usually always have 2 kids on allergy meds at once. The liquid gives you more bang for your dollar compared to the pill form. We went through the box pretty quickly compared to the amount of time it takes us to go through a bottle. Overall, I'm very glad I got the chance to try the pill form. It's something I've been wanting to do, just never stopped to buy. I defintely see it as something we'll use in the future. When my girls are over taking liquid or when we travel and I don't want to drag a bottle.

It is the VETERAN, not the preacher, who has given us freedom of religion.

It is the VETERAN, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the VETERAN, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the VETERAN, not the campus organizer, who has given us freedom to assemble.

It is the VETERAN, not the lawyer, who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the VETERAN, not the politician, Who has given us the right to vote.

It is the VETERAN who salutes the Flag,

It is the VETERAN who serves under the Flag,

This book was written by Rueben Martinez and illustrated by Raul Colon. I think they did a awesome job on it. The pictures are wonderful and I love that they put each little story in English and Spanish. I had never heard of these Latin American Tales but they were funny and cute. My favorite would be The Wedding Rooster. Also liked Pedro Urdemales and the Giant. Going to give this book to my nephew who is five and speaks Spanish and English. I also think this book would be good if a child spoke English and the parents only spoke Spanish,good way to still do reading time and both understand what's being read. You can buy this book here

*This book was given to me for my honest review