Faithful Families Giveaway Winners!

And the winners are...

Sarah Price: Raising Your Kids to Love the Lord
Amanda: Building Family Ties with Faith, Love and Laughter

Congratulations Sarah & Amanda!  Email me your addresses and I will ship the books to you all.  (savgarcia18 [at] gmail [dot] com)  I hope that these books will be a blessing to you both.

I love what Amanda commented: "I believe that 'The key to raising a faithful family' is for parents to first have a strong relationship with Christ. Then they can walk alongside their children and share their faith with them. We need to be serious about wanting to make sure we pass our faith to our kids. We must live out the way God calls us to live as parents, friends etc.. in front of our children and others, every day. As parents, we also need to make sure that we have a good relationship with our kids and make them (family) a priority. We have no excuse not too." 

Papa D, Nana B & JR Photoshoot

We had such a special time with my parents over the past few days!  Before they headed to the airport, I took some impromptu photos & I'm so glad I did!  Our little man just lights up when he sees them both :)  He sure has fun with his Papa D & Nana B.

Psalm 145:1-8

I will exalt you, my God the King;

I will praise your name for ever and ever.

Every day I will praise you

and extol your name for ever and ever.

Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; 

his greatness no one can fathom.

One generation commends your works to another;

they tell of your mighty acts.

They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty-

and I will mediate on your wonderful works.

They tell of the power of your awesome works- 

and I will proclaim your great deeds.

They celebrate your abundant goodness

and joyfully sing of your righteousness.

The LORD is gracious and compassionate,

slow to anger and rich in love.

Psalm 145:1-8

3/4 of a year

My baby is 9 months old!  I will do a 9 month update soon, but right now we our soaking up precious time with Nana B. & Papa D. while they are in town for a couple days.

Oh... don't forget to check out the GIVEAWAY!  Lots of ways to enter, but you can start by just commenting on the giveaway post {here}.  Good luck :)

Sales Sales.

So many stores are having online sales :)  I keep adding items to my checkout... then deleting... then adding.  I can't buy anything, but the sales are just so good!  Additional 30% off already clearanced items at Jcrew!  Here are some things I'm loving:

(JCrew)

(gap)

(BananaRepublic)

And I'm wondering if an XL in JCrew girls would fit me :)  

These are just too cute:

Have you shopped any sales lately?  Love these additional discounts welcoming fall!

Faithful Families Giveaway!

Happy Monday Friends.  Thought I would start out this week with an awesome GIVEAWAY!!

My dad (Dave Stone) just released a Faithful Families book series offering parents creative ideas, real life stories and scriptural guidance for building families that love God and enjoy being together.

I count it a blessing to have been raised by such godly parents and to have learned from their example, but it is even sweeter to now have their wisdom and stories written down so that I can read from my new perspective as a parent.  Some stories I remember from years ago, but now I see them differently, realizing just how intentional my parents were about bringing scripture into our home and living out their faith.  Now our family is not perfect, but we strive to love Christ more daily AND have a lot of fun together along the way!  I really think you will be blessed by these two books.  If you don't win, I encourage you to pick one up {here} & be on the lookout for book #3 this spring!

This week there will be 2 winners!  Winner 1 will receive:
Raising Your Kids to Love the Lord.  Winner 2 will receive: Building Family Ties with Faith, Love & Laughter.

See winners {here}!!!

There are lots of ways to enter!  If you don't have a blogger account, you can comment as "anonymous" just be sure to leave your email so I can contact you if you win.  
Winners will be announced on September 27th.

One entry for each of the following:  
1: Visit Dave Stone's website {here} and then come back and leave a comment below answering the following question: What do you think is one of the keys to raising a Faithful Family?
2: Follow @TheFaithfulFam or @EverydayPitPat on Twitter, then come back here and leave another comment below telling me you are a follower.
3: "Like" the Faithful Families Facebook Page and then comment on this post letting me know you liked the page.
4: Tweet or Share on Facebook about the Faithful Families giveaway.  Comment here and let me know.
5: I know some of you have already read the book & want to win so you can give it to a friend!  If you have read it, email me and let me know what you thought.  How are you bringing the joy of Christ into your home?  What ideas have you taken from the books and started with your family?  I'll add an extra entry for each person who emails :)  Contact me {here}

“Christian homes don’t just happen; neither do kids who love the Lord,” says author Dave Stone. “In this book, you’ll learn that when godly living is your priority, it becomes more natural for your children to embrace faith—real faith.”

You can read the first chapter of each book for FREE if you go {here} and download them :)

Chicken Tortilla Soup

The temperatures are dropping and it's drizzling outside today...  perfect time to break out my classic fall recipe: Chicken Tortilla Soup!  Hope you have a cozy weekend with loved ones.
Enjoy!  Mine is simmering now :)

From my favorite cookbook: Vera Bradley- Cooking with Friends

Wildwood's Famous Chicken Tortilla Soup:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

3 (14 oz) cans tomatoes with green chilies (I get mild)

1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes

1 (30 oz) can white or golden hominy

1 (16 oz) pinto beans

1 (15 oz) can dark red kidney beans

1 envelope of taco seasoning mix (I get mild again)

1 envelope ranch salad dressing mix

(Tortilla chips & shredded Monterey Jack cheese)

Boil the chicken in enough water to cover in a large stockpot until cooked through.  Drain the chicken, reserving 4 cups of broth.  Cool the chicken slightly and shred.

In a stockpot, combine the chicken, reserved broth, tomatoes, hominy, beans and mixes.  (Feel free to make your soup as spicy as you like or place chilies or peppers on the side so guests can add their own heat to their soup.)  Bring to a boil and reduce heat.  Simmer for 30 minutes or until guests arrive.  

Ladle into soup bowls.  Sprinkle with chips and cheese.  

(I'm serving mine tonight with cornbread and may even add a can of pumpkin to the cornbread mix to make it moist and autumnal- is that a word?!)