Welcome, Claire Diane Schoolfield!

We are so excited to announce the arrival of

Claire Diane Schoolfield on October 16, 2011.
The name Diane is Matt's grandmother's middle name.

She weighed in at 8 lbs. and measured 20.5 inches.

Labor lasted 10 hours and was much easier than last time :)

Abigail met Claire at the hospital...



...and is relishing her role as the big sister.



Claire is such a sweet baby!  She loves to cuddle and be held.



We are enjoying the addition to our family, as well as getting adjusted to being a family of four (well, five if you count Jackson).  Claire is such a joy!

Fellowship Raleigh Vision Video

Here is Fellowship Raleigh's new vision video.  Watch it and understand our heart for the city of Raleigh!

Fellowship Raleigh Vision from Fellowship Raleigh on Vimeo.

Summer 2011 in Pictures

Our family started off the summer celebrating my 30th birthday.  A week later, we celebrated Matt's 31st.  One of the major epiphanies we had was that Matt is a much better baker than I am.

Fun times with our Fellowship Raleigh small group!

Cameron and Ariel Harwick, a sweet couple from our church.

Abby moved into a big girl bed with absolutely no problems...whew!



We spent time outside, but when it got too hot, we painted (wearing tutus, of course) in the comfort of air conditioning.



Lots of play time with friends at the park and pool this summer.



Our niece, Shelby, came to visit us.  Lots of dress up, watching cooking shows on cable, and texting.  I forgot what it was like to be
14-years-old :)



Celebrating the 4th of July with sparklers on our back deck.



We finally dressed up as cows for Chick-fil-a's free meal day.  I think we finally did this after all these years because we had a child to dress up and didn't feel quite as embarrassed.



Vacationing at Topsail Beach...our last family vacation with just Abigail before Baby #2 comes along.



Scratch that...Jackson came along too.



Abigail and Matt did a park district basketball class together.  This picture is deceiving.  Abigail has the spirit, but definitely not WNBA potential.  Still, a fun time by all!



My parents came for a visit and taught Abigail the rest of the alphabet.  I swear, she'll probably be reading after their next visit!  Um, kinda makes me wonder if I'm letting her watch too much tv...just kidding.



Allison & Aaron Massey, our friends from small group.  Congrats!

Band Practice

We had a showing of our house a couple weeks ago, and I needed a place to go with Abigail and Jackson for two hours.  It was hot out, so we took advantage of the fact that Matt is a pastor and we live 3 minutes away from the church...and we camped out at the back of the sanctuary for a while.  Lucky for us, it was band practice night, so I had a chance to listen for a while and enjoy a perspective that I never get on a Sunday morning.  I am so grateful for the people that serve at our church!  Thanks, guys, for all that you do!

I love this song...take a listen:

What I'm Reading...

"Some people can't believe God would create a world in which people would suffer so much.  Isn't it more remarkable that God would create a world in which no one would suffer more than he did?" (Alcorn, 90 Days of God's Goodness, p. 86)

"Whenever you feel tempted to ask God, 'Why did you do this to me?' look at the cross and ask, 'Why did you do that for me?'" (Alcorn, 90 Days of God's Goodness, p. 92)

Surfer Girl

 

Frugal Friday: Free Stuff at the Mall

As I mentioned in the previous post, the summer heat has been keeping me indoors the past week.  So, I took a trip to the mall to walk around and let Abigail play in the indoor climbing area.  The hard thing about going to the mall without a purchasing purpose is that I end up impulse buying.  Not a good idea :(  This time I went armed with coupons that let me shop for free!

Many companies have been using social media sites, such as Facebook, to promote themselves, offering deals to those who "like" them.  Not a bad idea!

The glass trifle bowl was $10.00 at Pier One, and I had a Pier One Facebook coupon for $10 off a $10 purchase (this coupon no longer available, but they are still offering different deals each day on their Facebook site).  So, a free entertaining dish that I've had my eye on for awhile.  Yes, I've been stalking trifle bowls lately, because I can't bake to save my life and I think I'm going to resort to making trifles from now on.

Bath & Body Works released a Facebook coupon (click here for it) for free lotion...hurry up and use it because it expires 7/31!

And it never hurts to sign up for your favorite store's free loyalty program.  I ended up getting something free from Victoria's Secret just for being a part of their loyalty program.  There are tons of programs like this that are free to sign up and don't require that you purchase anything.

So, in summary, check out your favorite stores' Facebook pages for fan offers and sign up for store loyalty programs because it pays off in the end!  And you can still go to the mall, not pay anything, and still feel like you went shopping :)