Note of absence:)

Sorry for my absence from the blogosphere the last few days. Hannah's been having a low fever and really cranky (teeth?) so I've been pretty busy taking care of her and the house. Lord willing, though, I'd like to try and post tomorrow if I have a little time. I'm mostly caught up on the house work and Hannah's a little better. No promises though. Only God knows what tomorrow will bring:)



Til later...

Coupon train derailed:)

I've gotten a couple of emails from people that make no sense about where the train is, or where it's going. If you have gotten or have the coupon train right now, can you email me at maxsonblog@yahoo.com. Thanks!!

Also, remember that you are supposed to put in as many coupons as you take out, and there should be NO LESS THAN 25 when you send it on. Also, remember, no animal related coupons... Thanks...

Lots of helpful tips...

I've had many helpful tips passed on to me recently, so I thought I'd share them here.

1. Back in February, a fellow "new mom" shared this tip with me. When the baby does a messy and gets it on her clothes, there's a way to keep from having yucky yellow stains for the life of that piece of clothing. Take the item off and put Shout on it.

2. We tried cloth diapers for a while, and people kept saying I know they'll look yucky, but don't bleach them cause they'll wear out sooner. So, I got to thinking... if Shout works for ookies on clothes, why not diapers. I tried putting some on after I cleaned the diaper and before I put it in the diaper pail, and guess what!!! It worked!!! No stain and it won't wear out as fast!!!

3. When planning a menu one week, I had hamburgers and hot dogs planned for two different meals. Since there are only two of us eating, instead of buying hamburger buns AND hotdog buns, I decided to just buy hot dog buns. Then when we had the hamburgers, I simply made long and thin hamburgers. It worked perfect!

Hope these tips help... Be sure and check out my two giveaways here and here.

Our little girl's growing up...

It's really fun watching our little girl grow up. Below are some pictures of her doing some of her favorite activities of late.

Hannah has come to really enjoy her "tummy time" as you can see by the smile on her face.

Another favorite time is bath time!!

Here's Hannah "helping" with the laundry.

 

When Hannah gets sleepy, she folds her hands and slowly drifts off. It's SO cute!

She also likes to stand with some help from Daddy.

And last but not least, here's our newest blogger!!!

Free desktop background pictures for everyone...

This giveaway is a free for all. You may choose any or all of the below pictures, save them to your computer and use them as desktop backgrounds. Please just leave a comment when you're done telling me what you think of the pictures.

Bethany

Maxson Mission to Malawi Newsletter - April 2008

Dear friends,
Thank you for praying for us! We praise the Lord for answering the prayers you offered up to Him as we traveled over a thousand miles from San Antonio, Texas, to central Florida. Bethany's family were kind to accompany us, pulling their trailer behind them loaded with our boxes and stuff! It was a long but blessed journey, and we were thankful to arrive here in Dunnellon weary but safe on Wednesday afternoon, April 2nd. It was just hard to see Bethany's family go the following Friday morning!

We are now living in Dunnellon in a small, detached apartment owned by a dear brother in the church. We praise the Lord for providing this place to stay before we go to Malawi!
It is also a great blessing to fellowship again with the brethren at Faith Baptist. This is the congregation I grew up in and was saved and baptized in! We are in the process of joining this church soon as members and look forward to being sent out from here to Malawi to serve in the harvest fields there. Our plan is to go to Malawi by October or November, as the Lord provides. Meanwhile, I plan to work for a local Christian plumber, and visit churches interested in our work.

Malawi is a land which has AIDS, orphans, and poverty. There are many needy children, and over 1 million orphans. My parents have tried to reach out in various ways while living in Malawi. Recently I was surprised and delighted to hear that I have a new baby brother. Some of you know about Samuel. Others do not. He is the second little boy that has come to my parents through the crisis care nursery in Lilongwe. He was born on Feb. 1, 2008, but his mother died soon after, and he was handed over to the social welfare system. At one and one half months old he weighed 7 lbs., which is less than my daughter Hannah weighed at birth! I am excited to have a new brother and looking forward to meeting him soon!

Please continue to pray for God's provision. I was encouraged recently by a message I heard in the assembly on worry. It is not our business to worry and fret, but how often we do that very thing! I know I do. Especially for a missionary, who must trust God more directly to provide for and protect him and his family, worry about the future can seem overwhelming at times. It is a good reminder each day to cast my cares on Christ in prayer, and let Him take the load off my back. Pray for me that I would trust God completely in everything He leads us through. I believe that God will get the glory by providing for us as we trust in Him.
We are indebted to you for your prayers and fellowship in the gospel. Thank you for partnering with us!

Please keep in touch!
Yours by grace,
Victor and Bethany Maxson


Contact details:
maxsonblog@yahoo.com
www.maxsons.blogspot.com

Sending Church:
Faith Baptist Tabernacle
Pastor Richard A. Harding

Coupon train envelope...

Someone mentioned the coupon train. I was going to do something big and fancy, but decided instead just to write Coupon Train on the top of the back of the envelope so people will know what it is. Thanks for asking LeeAnne...

Coupon giveaway...

This contest has a winner!!

Tes283... Congratulations!

This contest is closed.

I've participated on the "getting end" with Bloggy Giveaways quarterly carnival before, but this is my first time to participate on the "giving end".

I'm new to couponing and bargin shopping, so I decided to do my giveaway based on that. Since I'm trying to collect as many coupons as possible, I am also getting a lot that I really don't need. SO, instead of letting them go to waste, I've decided to do a giveaway here...

I have over $100 worth of coupons that I'll be passing on to a winner this Friday (April 25th). All you have to do, is to post with your name and a way to contact you. Would you like to be entered twice? Look around on my blog and tell me three ways I could improve my blog. Would you like to be entered three times? Then also post on your own blog about this giveaway, and come back here and leave me the link. I will be drawing a winner on Friday evening, so please come back before then. Also, this contest is only open to those who reside in the US.

Thanks for stopping by...

The trains have left the station...

Keep your eye on your inbox for an email from me with some instructions and info. Also, keep your eyes open here, as we track the progress of the two routes. I ended up splitting up the trains into an eastbound train and a westbound train. That way everyone won't have to wait as long. Also, each train will still have 25 coupons min.

Keep checking back...

Bethany

A delightful tea party with friends...

Last Thursday, I was invited to a delightful tea party with the S. children. Their parents have kindly given us the use of their apartment on the front of their house while we're here in Florida. It was a delightful time with them and their mother and I really enjoyed myself. Below are some pictures of our time together.

My delightful servers.

A delicious spread made by Mrs. S.

Mary-Lou holding Hannah. The S family is about to have

a baby girl themselves, so they loving holding our little one!!

Jessie-Joy got this picture while we were waiting for lunch.

Final boarding call for the coupon train...

For those interested in the coupon train this is the final call for "all aboard". The train will be starting out on Monday and will make over 30 stops before it returns home. Just a couple quick rules before we start.

1. There must be AT LEAST 25 coupons in the envelope at all times. You are more than welcome to add more than that, but when you send it out, it must have no less than 25 coupons.

2. Please no animal coupons. This includes food, treats, toys, etc. Many of us do not have pets and thus it would not be useful to most of us.

3. Do not include store specific coupons (Target, Walgreens, etc.) as many will not have those exact stores. You can include online coupons as long as they are manufacturers coupons.

4. When you get the envelope in the mail, please try to have it out within 2 days of recieving it so we keep it going.

5. When you pass the envelope on, be sure and email me to let me know. That way I can email the next person, let them know it's coming and give them the address for the next stop.

If I think of anything more, I'll post. When I send the envelope on it's way on Monday, I'll post a picture of the envelope so you can copy that when you send it out and everyone will recognize it when they get it. So check back here on Monday.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me.

Until later...

How great Thou art...

Last night, Victor took Hannah and I to the Rainbow Springs State park. It was cool and breezy, so there were hardly any people there. Still, the sun was shining and it was beautiful! We took sloppy joes and had a picnic. Oh what fun... then we hiked through the park and saw some georgeous waterfalls. I got quite a few pictures, but I'll just post a few here.

Coupon train... get on board!

For those of you who haven't heard about a coupon train, let me give a brief explanation. Here's how it works:

I will be the "conductor". You will email me here with your name and address. I will then add you to the "train route". I will then send an envelope with a certain number of coupons to the first person on the train route. I will also send emails to each person with the address of the next person on the route. The last person will send it back to me.

When you get the envelope, you go through and take out any coupons that might be helpful to you or any that are expired and put back in the same number of coupons that you took out.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me. If you would like to participate, send me an email with your name and address. First come, first on the route...

BeautiControl Specials...

Please check out my BeautiPage each Friday and Saturday for great deals and discounts. Simply click on Special Offers of the Month in the top right corner.

Just a little hint... April 18-20 the microderm abrasion items are on sale.
April 25-27 the Regeneration products are on sale.

Also, I haven't had a chance to try it myself, but I'm hearing lots of rumors about how great Tight, Firm and Fill is. You may want to check it out for yourself.

Feel free to email me with any questions at maxsonblog@yahoo.com.

Jehovah Jireh - The Lord will provide.

Ever since Victor and I have set our faces toward the mission field, God has provided in miraculous ways time and time again. It's amazing to watch Him work. Wether it's gifts given to us by individuals or churches, or a gift of 10,000 given to help us in start up once we get over there.



But there's also the little things. Victor and I have been talking about going to get some new clothes for Hannah, as she is quickly outgrowing the biggest size we have right now. It happens so quickly, that sometimes you don't realize it until it's a need. Anyway, we were talking about going sometime soon, but had been so busy, we weren't able to right away. Besides, the clothes she had still worked, they just wouldn't work for long.



On Sunday, one of the other young mothers in the church with a little girl a few months older than Hannah, asked if I could use some baby clothes that her daughter had outgrown. I said we could and so she brought them to church last night. When we got home, I was amazed to find not just a few outfits, but over 10 REALLY nice outfits that fit her perfect AND 4-5 shirts for me (another need) that fit so nicely.



God is so good... even when we don't think to ask, He still provides for our needs to remind us that He loves us and cares for us. What a blessing to have a Father like that!

One of the outfits from Katie!

A mother's love... it's all worth it!

Yesterday, Victor went to work for the first day in a couple of months (he wasn't working while we were transitioning, praise God we were able to do that!). Since he was gone, I had the whole day to be with Hannah. She has really grown up so much and I enjoy being with her. I don't know what I did before she was born. I must have been very lonely... As I was thinking about it, I felt a sadness in my heart for those girls who get married and say they aren't going to have any children, or at least not any right now. They must be so lonely. And like me, they probably don't even know what they're missing out on.

Now, I'm not saying it's always easy. In fact, I've had more than my share of difficulties since little Hannah came into my life. And yet, when I change that dirty diaper and she flashes me one of her big smiles... it's all worth it.

And when she's fussy and sleepy and I snuggle her in my arms and she lays her head down and falls asleep... it's all worth it.

When it's the end of a long day and I'm getting ready to go to bed and I see her in a cute position (as she almost always is:)... It's all worth it.

When I see her playing with her daddy and giggling... it's all worth it.

When she snuggles up next to me, folds her hands and falls asleep at night... it's all worth it.

Each time I look into those beautiful blue eyes and see a little soul that has been placed into my care... once again I'm reminded... it's all worth it!!

One year ago...

Today marks one year since Victor and I promised our love to each other. So much has happened in this past year. We've moved four times. We gave birth to our first child. We changed states and churches. But most importantly, we grew in our love for and understanding of one another. A year ago, we hardly knew each other. Today we know each other a little bit better, but we still have a long ways to go.

Our day started off beautifully. Victor did so much to make it a happy day for me. He let me sleep in and slipped out to Wal-Mart and bought me roses and a card.

Once he got back, I was up and getting ready for the day. We had devotions as a family and then got ready and went shopping. Maybe this wasn't the most spectacular thing we could have done, but neither of us felt like packing up again and travelling more. So, we just spent the day together do fun things. For lunch, my sweetheart took me to Firehouse Subs (one of my favorite restaurants) and Cold Stone Creamery.

After we got home, we rested a bit and watched a documentary about the Auca's and the five men who were martyred. It's a really neat story. Then we went for a walk down around the park near us. It's so beautiful down there.

After we got home, Victor took the picture at the top of this post. He actually set the camera on top of our car and put the timer on it:)

Then he made me the breakfast he had planned to make but was unable to due to a missing ingredient (oh, the joys of moving).

In the evening, I put Hannah to sleep and we lit some candles and enjoyed just sitting and talking together. What fun we had all day...

And now... we're on to another year together. We will try to keep this updated as to what we do and where we go.