Okay, sooooo here's the conversation that Matthew and I had this morning:
Me: "Matthew, I'm going to take a shower while Markie is still sleeping okay?"
Him: "Okay. You can take the shower"
Me: Okay, you come get me if Markie cries okay?
Him: I get you.
Me: Okay, but only if he is crying. I'll be right back, I'll just be in the shower and I'll be right here okay?
Him: Okay Momma.
Okay. This was all being said after I'd already gotten the water running, checked on Mark about 5 times, stacked extra pillows up around him 'just in case' and finally got into the shower.
My hair wasn't even completely wet yet.........
and Matthew comes in
Him: "Momma, Markie's crying."
Me: What? Are you sure? I just checked him? Is he crying?
Him: Yah, he's crying. I wake him up.
*big fat sigh*
*turn off water*
*get out of shower*
*go get Mark*
Where the voices get to come out of my head and ramble elsewhere...
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Matthew is three today
I can not believe my Matthew is three years old today. I can not believe it. He cracks me up... we talked about it all day yesterday and today
I went into his room, singing "Happy Birthday"
he smiled and said "what's a birthday momma?"
I said "today! It's your birthday!"
and he goes "What?!?! it is?!??"
LOL He cracks me up so much. He's wearing his special "Birthday Boy" Shirt. I love him so much. I love watch him grow and learn and bloom.
Thank you God for giving me this sweet life to have and hold and love.
I went into his room, singing "Happy Birthday"
he smiled and said "what's a birthday momma?"
I said "today! It's your birthday!"
and he goes "What?!?! it is?!??"
LOL He cracks me up so much. He's wearing his special "Birthday Boy" Shirt. I love him so much. I love watch him grow and learn and bloom.
Thank you God for giving me this sweet life to have and hold and love.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
(more) Pictures: Red, White, Blue
While I'm updating... we got the boys' pictures taken this week. Anyone know where my babies have gone? Here's a small sampling of the 70 plus pictures that were taken. I love that Matthew's birthday falls so close to the 4th of July, my dad's birthday; our nations birthday... It's a great excuse for me to dress him (and now them) up in Red White and Blue colors.
VBS recap
Two weeks ago was Summit's VBS and I love being a part of it. I worked with pre-K music. It was interesting to have Matthew come to my class for twenty minutes each day and send him on his way as if he wasn't part of my flesh, just another kiddo going on to the next "center." He did exceptionally well. I love doing the music. I just love it. I love planting these small seeds for the kids to take with them. All in all over the week we had over 300 present and around 20 children accept Christ as their Lord and Savoir! Amen! Since I'd finally gotten my camera uploaded I thought I'd share some favorites from the week.
When you walked in my classroom, this is what you saw: The Music Notes Track.
Matthew playing the "shaker" in my class!
Matthew with his teacher outside (they are looking for bugs)
Matthew on the Boomerang Express!
When you walked in my classroom, this is what you saw: The Music Notes Track.
Matthew playing the "shaker" in my class!
Matthew with his teacher outside (they are looking for bugs)
Matthew on the Boomerang Express!
Oh yah, and Markie had a wagon wheel !
He was not opposed to trying this new food. LOL
He was not opposed to trying this new food. LOL
coupon learning curve...
Okay, so I learned a couple different lessons today.
If the Coupon Goddess says she bought fruit loops, you better have a coupon that is for fruit loops. I guess I thought that ANY Kellogg's cereal would be fine. And my coupon was NOT for fruit loops. SOOO my deal was not as good as expected. And since that was the case, I only did the free milk one time instead of twice. BUT that's okay. Lessons learned. All in all, I spent $5.82 today and got 3 boxes of cereal and a free gal of milk AND I didn't browse around for other things. Even though I sort of freaked out when I entered the cereal aisle and saw I messed up, I really did okay. I stuck to my plan, called Jamie and we did math over the phone (GOLLLLY THE MATH!) and decided even though it wasn't as expected, it still was a nice savings. So we've got three boxes of frosted mini wheats on a shelf where yesterday there were none for still about half the cost!
If the Coupon Goddess says she bought fruit loops, you better have a coupon that is for fruit loops. I guess I thought that ANY Kellogg's cereal would be fine. And my coupon was NOT for fruit loops. SOOO my deal was not as good as expected. And since that was the case, I only did the free milk one time instead of twice. BUT that's okay. Lessons learned. All in all, I spent $5.82 today and got 3 boxes of cereal and a free gal of milk AND I didn't browse around for other things. Even though I sort of freaked out when I entered the cereal aisle and saw I messed up, I really did okay. I stuck to my plan, called Jamie and we did math over the phone (GOLLLLY THE MATH!) and decided even though it wasn't as expected, it still was a nice savings. So we've got three boxes of frosted mini wheats on a shelf where yesterday there were none for still about half the cost!
Friday, June 19, 2009
My first real couponing adventure!
Earlier in the week, I am pleased to report a savings of $15.10 at Kroger on baby food, spray and wash, frozen chicken, crescent rolls. ... all things we needed. I wrote a list, stuck to the list and did really well for my first real coupon armed list shopping.
And I'm armed and dangerous folks again... Armed with coupons that is. Tomorrow I am on a mission. I've got a road map (small circle of which stores I'm hitting first and why/what I'm after... and oh yes, I made a rough draft and then re-wrote it)...
On my list tomorrow is Party City with a 10 dollars off coupon! (Thank you MK!) Matthew's party is next weekend and I am ready to get some deals.
and
Target for cereal and free milk ! *ending tomorrow Target is doing a buy three Kellogg's cereal and get a free gallon of milk deal* (Armed with coupons that I got off ebay for a dollar... If I'm doing my math right (Oh Geeez, the math that is involved in coupons, ohhhh me....), here's the savings on this one that I will hope to be confirming tomorrow:
3 boxes of Kellogg's cereal = 5.97 retail
with 3 $1.00/1 coupons = 2.97 OOP
So if I do it twice, I'll only have 2 $1.00 coupons and have to pay full price on one box. I only have five coupons. Ooops. It's okay. I'm learning. The second order will be $3.96 OOP with a total of $6.93 OOP.
I paid $1.00 already for the ebay coupons... so I'm at 7.93 OOP on this purchase.
And in return I'm getting 6 boxes of cereal and 2 gallons of milk. What?!?! Retail that up and it would have cost double. If milk is $1.99/gal, we're looking at $15.92 (is that right?!?!?!) Do I think that my dollar for getting those coupons on ebay will be well spent??? I sure do! I called Target earlier this week to make sure the deal was still going on THROUGH Saturday and I was told yes. Please let this work!
--- the true test will be when I come back tomorrow and report how this actually went! LOL
A huge mega big enormous thank you to Melanie for inspiring me to dive head first into this world. I can't WAIT to see where it will take us. (First stop is a small stockpiling in cereal!)
And I'm armed and dangerous folks again... Armed with coupons that is. Tomorrow I am on a mission. I've got a road map (small circle of which stores I'm hitting first and why/what I'm after... and oh yes, I made a rough draft and then re-wrote it)...
On my list tomorrow is Party City with a 10 dollars off coupon! (Thank you MK!) Matthew's party is next weekend and I am ready to get some deals.
and
Target for cereal and free milk ! *ending tomorrow Target is doing a buy three Kellogg's cereal and get a free gallon of milk deal* (Armed with coupons that I got off ebay for a dollar... If I'm doing my math right (Oh Geeez, the math that is involved in coupons, ohhhh me....), here's the savings on this one that I will hope to be confirming tomorrow:
3 boxes of Kellogg's cereal = 5.97 retail
with 3 $1.00/1 coupons = 2.97 OOP
So if I do it twice, I'll only have 2 $1.00 coupons and have to pay full price on one box. I only have five coupons. Ooops. It's okay. I'm learning. The second order will be $3.96 OOP with a total of $6.93 OOP.
I paid $1.00 already for the ebay coupons... so I'm at 7.93 OOP on this purchase.
And in return I'm getting 6 boxes of cereal and 2 gallons of milk. What?!?! Retail that up and it would have cost double. If milk is $1.99/gal, we're looking at $15.92 (is that right?!?!?!) Do I think that my dollar for getting those coupons on ebay will be well spent??? I sure do! I called Target earlier this week to make sure the deal was still going on THROUGH Saturday and I was told yes. Please let this work!
--- the true test will be when I come back tomorrow and report how this actually went! LOL
A huge mega big enormous thank you to Melanie for inspiring me to dive head first into this world. I can't WAIT to see where it will take us. (First stop is a small stockpiling in cereal!)
Monday, June 15, 2009
More on Coupons...
So far, I've gotten the Sunday paper and pulled out the coupon section from it. Have I opened it up? nope... haha! I feel like a mouse in a circle maze just running round and round without anywhere to go. There's so much to do and I am not sure exactly how to proceed.
Things I've also done this weekend: I called my regular store and got my address info updated so I'll be now getting their store mailer in the mail. Interesting that I'd never thought to do that before, but it was a suggestion on the grocery game site so I nodded along and opened my phone and called Kroger customer service.
Also that being said, I did sign up on the grocery game site. For $1.00 you get to try the site for four weeks. Not bad at all huh?! So I signed up Saturday I think. This morning I went through the different lists and printed off things I think would be helpful. I have a two lists of deals and I'm hoping I have the coupons for the things I see that would be good savings to us... it may take a couple weeks of compiling coupons before I can really get underway .... as before now, I'd always (Mel, I'm so sorry!) thrown out (GASP!) coupon booklets that I'd cut coupons from and thought I didn't "need" anymore. ACK! This I'm learning is no no no. Save those booklets. You don't know what will be on sale next week or next week or the next week... Got that figured out now.
What I thought about coupons have so changed drastically lately. What I used to think was so easy... look through the insert, cut out what you'd like to save $0.50 on, use that and save your 50 cents is SOOOO not the best way to use the coupons.
I'm sitting here amazed at The Coupon Goddess's most recent "purchase" including 3 free gallons of milk. HUH!? Go here to see her amazingness.
Things I've also done this weekend: I called my regular store and got my address info updated so I'll be now getting their store mailer in the mail. Interesting that I'd never thought to do that before, but it was a suggestion on the grocery game site so I nodded along and opened my phone and called Kroger customer service.
Also that being said, I did sign up on the grocery game site. For $1.00 you get to try the site for four weeks. Not bad at all huh?! So I signed up Saturday I think. This morning I went through the different lists and printed off things I think would be helpful. I have a two lists of deals and I'm hoping I have the coupons for the things I see that would be good savings to us... it may take a couple weeks of compiling coupons before I can really get underway .... as before now, I'd always (Mel, I'm so sorry!) thrown out (GASP!) coupon booklets that I'd cut coupons from and thought I didn't "need" anymore. ACK! This I'm learning is no no no. Save those booklets. You don't know what will be on sale next week or next week or the next week... Got that figured out now.
What I thought about coupons have so changed drastically lately. What I used to think was so easy... look through the insert, cut out what you'd like to save $0.50 on, use that and save your 50 cents is SOOOO not the best way to use the coupons.
I'm sitting here amazed at The Coupon Goddess's most recent "purchase" including 3 free gallons of milk. HUH!? Go here to see her amazingness.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
The wide wide world of couponing...
A few weeks ago I found a blog site that has me HOOKED... I am in love with this site and check my dashboard DAILY to see if she's posted. Her name is Mel, she's The Coupon Goddess... more on her in a moment, but BECAUSE OF HER... TODAY...
I had my first "lesson" in couponing today... I met with a friend (let's just call her R until I can ask permission about using her name on here) to show me her system. She even "dumpster dived" for me before meeting with me and gave me half her treasures. I am floored at her savings. She pulled out two receipts from her purse then and there to show me what she'd already done TODAY in savings. And true to my new LOVE-finding blog, just as The Coupon Goddess says in her postings, sometimes you do really well, sometimes you just aren't satisfied... Case and point: at one store R did really well. Over 50 dollars "purchased" but she paid 12. The other store she didn't do as well. I'm still FLOORED over it all.
Side note: There is a lot of math... I'm sooooooooooooooooooooooo not a math person. This will become an interesting endeavour.
R showed me her "filing" system of folders by dates in a tub that she says she actually does take into the stores. I'm sitting at her kitchen table, holding Mark on my lap, my eyes wide as saucers trying to soak all this in... we sat at the table, her talking me through a ton of stuff while she separated papers into piles from her earlier "diving".
We talked about "freebies" and "nearly free" and how she doesn't pay for toothpaste unless it's under $0.30 . Again with my eyes wide. I was like "huh?!" She said... "really." We talked about $0.25 bags of candy. Free razors, free pounds of rice, $0.49 cleaning supplies... things I so pay full price on... (I bought a BULK box of toothpaste at Sams thinking I'd saved so much because if you do the math, it's way cheaper to buy them in bulk and will last me so much longer, and she buys them for less than 30 cents!) ... and we talked Extra Care Bucks from CVS and "fliping them" and "money makers" for things you might not even use but end up with the store PAYING YOU to buy them. WHAT?!?! (anyone else think I'm trippin' here?!)
She asked me where I shopped and we talked locations for a bit, what's good, what's bad, where she wont go and why... A LOT to soak into one day... We talked about this grocery game site and how it works and we moved from her table to her desk and browsed websites for a bit showing me what's what. I think at that point, I was getting a little overwhelmed, Mark was getting fussy, Matthew was beyond beyond beyond tired (with a full day of VBS prior to heading to R's house), so I did quick diaper changes for the boys and left with my stack of coupons, two printed off sheets of information, a legal pad page of notes on dos, don'ts, and hows... and my poor brain trying to grasp it all... and my eagerness to get going pounding!!
I will say this...
I'm READY to save money!
IF I can figure this out, ANYONE can... so let's see.
AND THANK YOU R for your time today! Let's hope I don't waste it!
.... You can count on there being more to come about all this....
I had my first "lesson" in couponing today... I met with a friend (let's just call her R until I can ask permission about using her name on here) to show me her system. She even "dumpster dived" for me before meeting with me and gave me half her treasures. I am floored at her savings. She pulled out two receipts from her purse then and there to show me what she'd already done TODAY in savings. And true to my new LOVE-finding blog, just as The Coupon Goddess says in her postings, sometimes you do really well, sometimes you just aren't satisfied... Case and point: at one store R did really well. Over 50 dollars "purchased" but she paid 12. The other store she didn't do as well. I'm still FLOORED over it all.
Side note: There is a lot of math... I'm sooooooooooooooooooooooo not a math person. This will become an interesting endeavour.
R showed me her "filing" system of folders by dates in a tub that she says she actually does take into the stores. I'm sitting at her kitchen table, holding Mark on my lap, my eyes wide as saucers trying to soak all this in... we sat at the table, her talking me through a ton of stuff while she separated papers into piles from her earlier "diving".
We talked about "freebies" and "nearly free" and how she doesn't pay for toothpaste unless it's under $0.30 . Again with my eyes wide. I was like "huh?!" She said... "really." We talked about $0.25 bags of candy. Free razors, free pounds of rice, $0.49 cleaning supplies... things I so pay full price on... (I bought a BULK box of toothpaste at Sams thinking I'd saved so much because if you do the math, it's way cheaper to buy them in bulk and will last me so much longer, and she buys them for less than 30 cents!) ... and we talked Extra Care Bucks from CVS and "fliping them" and "money makers" for things you might not even use but end up with the store PAYING YOU to buy them. WHAT?!?! (anyone else think I'm trippin' here?!)
She asked me where I shopped and we talked locations for a bit, what's good, what's bad, where she wont go and why... A LOT to soak into one day... We talked about this grocery game site and how it works and we moved from her table to her desk and browsed websites for a bit showing me what's what. I think at that point, I was getting a little overwhelmed, Mark was getting fussy, Matthew was beyond beyond beyond tired (with a full day of VBS prior to heading to R's house), so I did quick diaper changes for the boys and left with my stack of coupons, two printed off sheets of information, a legal pad page of notes on dos, don'ts, and hows... and my poor brain trying to grasp it all... and my eagerness to get going pounding!!
I will say this...
I'm READY to save money!
IF I can figure this out, ANYONE can... so let's see.
AND THANK YOU R for your time today! Let's hope I don't waste it!
.... You can count on there being more to come about all this....
Monday, June 8, 2009
8X8
Holly tagged me...
8 THINGS I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO:
-Tonight: Braves game, alone time no kids and nachos (prejournalled)
-the day when Matthew "tries" food.
-Matthew's birthday at the end of this month.
-Being back in MO with family and friends at the end of July
-Jamie and my birthday celebrations at the end of the summer-- we're going somewhere! Don't know where yet. (need to still book it!)
-when Mark can start "talking" ...he's working hard on the babbles currently: bah bah bah ah bah bah mmm bah.
-Being involved in kids choir again.
-our new Pastor coming
8 THINGS I DID YESTERDAY:
-busy day for me yesterday, set up VBS stuff: cutting decorations, painting, taping, stapling, all that...
-after going to morning service
-which I drove to in my own car
-sang a solo during service
-stopped at subway coming home
-had 5 hours at the church without my boys while setting up.
-journalled every bite of my day
-kissed all the men in my house (even Moses)
8 THINGS I WISH I COULD DO:
-Go back and forth to MO when ever I wanted to.
-Go to my best friend's house without kids and do best friend stuff, whenever I wanted...
-Go shopping by myself
-Take a bath without hearing anyone crying or needing something on the other side of the door.
-have a little girl.
-Talk to my Themly again.
-find a cure for the most horrible thing on the planet, Cancer.
-drive a way cooler, newer car.
8 SHOWS I WATCH:
(do I even watch 8 shows?)
-So you think you can dance! LOVE IT
-Wheel of Fortune (Matthew loves the letters show)
-Biggest Loser (OMG, I'm obsessed and hysterical when that show is on)
-Charmed
-Friends
-Extreme Home Makeover
-Can I put things like: Dora? Mickey Mouse Clubhouse? Diego? Handy Manny? Curious George? Because I do watch all those too. LOL
8 FAVORITE FOODS:
Cheese.
Cereal
More cereal.
Pasta-- white, red, it don't matter
Fried food.
White chocolate
Potatoes
yah, more cereal
8 PLACES I'VE TRAVELLED:
-Toronto
-France
-England
-Scottlan
-Ireland
-Hawaii
-NYC
-Yosemite Park
8 PLACES I'D LIKE TO TRAVEL:
-Italy
-Japan
-more France
-San Fran
-Australia
-Missouri
-any beaches
-more Italy
8 PEOPLE I TAGGED
Nic
Marsha
Jess S
Laelia
Jen
AmiLoo
Becka
Amanda
-Tonight: Braves game, alone time no kids and nachos (prejournalled)
-the day when Matthew "tries" food.
-Matthew's birthday at the end of this month.
-Being back in MO with family and friends at the end of July
-Jamie and my birthday celebrations at the end of the summer-- we're going somewhere! Don't know where yet. (need to still book it!)
-when Mark can start "talking" ...he's working hard on the babbles currently: bah bah bah ah bah bah mmm bah.
-Being involved in kids choir again.
-our new Pastor coming
8 THINGS I DID YESTERDAY:
-busy day for me yesterday, set up VBS stuff: cutting decorations, painting, taping, stapling, all that...
-after going to morning service
-which I drove to in my own car
-sang a solo during service
-stopped at subway coming home
-had 5 hours at the church without my boys while setting up.
-journalled every bite of my day
-kissed all the men in my house (even Moses)
8 THINGS I WISH I COULD DO:
-Go back and forth to MO when ever I wanted to.
-Go to my best friend's house without kids and do best friend stuff, whenever I wanted...
-Go shopping by myself
-Take a bath without hearing anyone crying or needing something on the other side of the door.
-have a little girl.
-Talk to my Themly again.
-find a cure for the most horrible thing on the planet, Cancer.
-drive a way cooler, newer car.
8 SHOWS I WATCH:
(do I even watch 8 shows?)
-So you think you can dance! LOVE IT
-Wheel of Fortune (Matthew loves the letters show)
-Biggest Loser (OMG, I'm obsessed and hysterical when that show is on)
-Charmed
-Friends
-Extreme Home Makeover
-Can I put things like: Dora? Mickey Mouse Clubhouse? Diego? Handy Manny? Curious George? Because I do watch all those too. LOL
8 FAVORITE FOODS:
Cheese.
Cereal
More cereal.
Pasta-- white, red, it don't matter
Fried food.
White chocolate
Potatoes
yah, more cereal
8 PLACES I'VE TRAVELLED:
-Toronto
-France
-England
-Scottlan
-Ireland
-Hawaii
-NYC
-Yosemite Park
8 PLACES I'D LIKE TO TRAVEL:
-Italy
-Japan
-more France
-San Fran
-Australia
-Missouri
-any beaches
-more Italy
8 PEOPLE I TAGGED
Nic
Marsha
Jess S
Laelia
Jen
AmiLoo
Becka
Amanda
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
trip highlights
Here are some photos from our recent MO trip. It will be another two months since we see our family back there again. I love the time we get to spend for weeks on end though. I am so blessed by my husband's willingness to let me be gone so long for weeks at a time. In July I'll be gone on my (our--the boys and me) own for two weeks and then Jamie will join us for another full week on vacation after being gone two weeks already. Until then, I'll be working out and working the weight watchers, so I can fit into my suit come vacation week. Anyhow, here's the pics:
Grandpa and Matthew hanging the flag out
Aunt Nic and Markie Mark
Aunt Kris with sleeping Mark.
(she was really good at putting that kid to sleep!)
Miss Megan and Mark
Mommy and Mark (I took this myself, not bad, huh?)
Grandpa and Matthew
(Doesn't he look like he's considering getting into trouble!?)
Markie and the big bear
Grammy with both her boys back in GA.
Thank you so much for driving back with me mom. I love you.
Grandpa and Matthew hanging the flag out
Aunt Nic and Markie Mark
Aunt Kris with sleeping Mark.
(she was really good at putting that kid to sleep!)
Miss Megan and Mark
Mommy and Mark (I took this myself, not bad, huh?)
Grandpa and Matthew(Doesn't he look like he's considering getting into trouble!?)
Markie and the big bear
Grammy with both her boys back in GA.
Thank you so much for driving back with me mom. I love you.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Home sweet home
For those who knew we were gone... we made it home safely. The normal 10ish hours took over 11, 12 with the time change but we did really well. Definitely a better trip than some we've had all cooped up tight in the car. I'll be posting pictures soon.
(And yes, I know it's 1am)
I'd just like to say this... as it's already June as far as the computer is concerned, even though I haven't slept yet...
WHERE did May go?!
Mark is five months old now and Matthew is turning THREE this month!? How did this happen!?
... I'd also just like to add, if you have a young child and think to yourself, "eh, ____ normally gets up to eat around X time. Maybe I'll just stay up until after that feeding..." DON'T do it. Go to bed... I have been thinking Mark should wake up "any time now" since 11... it's 1... You know as soon as I go down the hall and lay my head on that soft pillow and close my extremely heavy eyes, THAT will be when he wakes up, and not a moment before. bah. (*singing in my head: should I stay or should I go?*)
(And yes, I know it's 1am)
I'd just like to say this... as it's already June as far as the computer is concerned, even though I haven't slept yet...
WHERE did May go?!
Mark is five months old now and Matthew is turning THREE this month!? How did this happen!?
... I'd also just like to add, if you have a young child and think to yourself, "eh, ____ normally gets up to eat around X time. Maybe I'll just stay up until after that feeding..." DON'T do it. Go to bed... I have been thinking Mark should wake up "any time now" since 11... it's 1... You know as soon as I go down the hall and lay my head on that soft pillow and close my extremely heavy eyes, THAT will be when he wakes up, and not a moment before. bah. (*singing in my head: should I stay or should I go?*)
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