Sonic Happy hour 101

It was a long warm day, the kids enjoyed a nature walk, we were on the way home, the kids were thirsty, the time was just after 2PM, we saw a Sonic in the distance... no brainer--- slushes for everyone


I think they approved--- check out the exhausted, satisfied little faces

walmart rebate deal

If you are a Walmart shopper, then you’ll definitely want to take advantage of this special offer from All You Magazine. Through April 15th, purchase any two of the products pictured above at Walmart and you’ll snag a $10 Walmart gift card in the mail!
Here’s what you need to do…
* Purchase 2 of the following items at Walmart through April 15th: Cottonelle Ultra Toilet paper 12pk, Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes Family Size, or Any Zicam Cold Remedy product. Keep in mind that there is a $0.50/1 Cottonelle coupon found here; there is also a $2/1 Zicam coupon found here.
* Print and complete the form found here
* Mail in the completed form along with the original Walmart store cash register receipt dated between 3/11/11 and 4/15/11 (be sure to circle the participating products on the receipt).
* Your request must be postmarked by 4/30/11. This offer is valid ONLY on purchases made at Walmart stores and is only good in the United States. Limit of one submission per household. Allow 4–6 weeks for shipment.

no spill buble tumbler for free

Parenting Early Years has this freebie advertised in their magazine… just go on over to littlekidsinc.com/parenting to request a really cool and free no-spill bubble tumbler sample.

What is going on around here?

I love walking around the house and seeing things that don't quite add up right. With my two it is not just a daily occurrence, but more of an hourly one ha.
Sam has "rest time" everyday. This means, Sam must go up stairs and be in his room and rest (play quietly). It is always interesting to find the different things he plays with and the specific placement he has them allMolly is funny. She is a tornado, hurricane and tsunami all wrapped up into one, HOWEVER, she has to place her toys all in a row.

Kirk went to "rest" during rest time, Sam wanted to go in the bed with him. They both took a sweet little nap.

Yup, that is my candle, Yup, that is the turkey from Molly's sandwich, Yup, she told me she was "all done". Yup, my line of questioning has changed.

I went through my coupons and looked for expired ones... the kids enjoyed "going through" them as well.
After I took down the Christmas decorations, Molly decided the little nitch needed something else in it---

Elmo, Minnie Mouse and magic wands on top of our bedroom pillows?!...

No, I can not explain this one--- It looks as though my children are actually 1) calm 2) sweet and 3) sitting next to each other without hitting/pinching/pulling/pushing one another.--- yup, this is DEFINITELY NOT a normal sight at my house

target beauty bag and samples

Hurry and request a Beauty Bag filled free Beauty Samples from Target plus up to $25 worth of savings inside.

what happened

Here is a cool site to see... something fun and different

All of these things are related

What do all of these things have in common?
cars
princess
spiderman
lysol,
M&M's
interruptions every 10 minutes
and lots of praise?
a slit
constant gnawing
moaning,whining and complaining







Yup, we are potty training again... only this time it is going so much better---- it is actually working this time--- we are getting there, we are getting there, we are getting there (my new mantra)
cars-- pull ups (yes, left over from Sam, but she thinks they are cool ---thankfully)
princess--pull ups
spiderman--see cars above
lysol, oh yes, lots and lots of lysol
M&M's-- these are preferred over smarties that is for sure
interruptions every 10 minutes--- seems that bladder goes into overtime when mommy is busy doing something--- or is it the candy treat? hmmm
and lots of praise?--- I will give it, cause I am ready for this to be DONE DONE DONE!
a slit-- I cut a slit in the coveted green friend in order to break this addiction
constant gnawing--- fingers, toys, elmo's eyes... everything in the mouth (we are cutting 3 molars)
moaning,whining and complaining--- I want to say it is because of all the changes occurring--- can't necessarily say that :)


funny moment---
Let me preface it by saying that Sam has been quite the encourager--- well, only because he is also the recipient of the candy (M&M's). I knew it was only a matter or time, but did not expect it so soon. About a week or so ago Molly announced that she was going to go to the potty, I of course jump up and run in after her (note: always, run after Molly on way to potty) I got there a few seconds after her only to see her bare bum standing in front of the potty. Thankfully I was able to redirect her to the sitting position, but she did not quite understand why this was necessary... Oh the joys of having an older brother.

funny moment #2--
Molly is not too fond of the slit. She sucks and sucks still, but you can see that it is not what she is expecting. The one morning when I got her up, she showed me the pacifier and said, :uh oh mommy, I break it" I just went with it. I think she was expecting me to "fix it"

funny moment #3--
So, I slit 1 pacifier. A day or so later we were 'unable' to locate that one. I found an un-slit one in the bed?! hmmm, how did that happen? So, I take that one and slit it. Again a few days later, there was an unslit one in the bed and the slit one was no where to be found. I thought I had gathered up all of the green friends that we had (there were quite a few, to say the least) prior to this weaning process. I have no earthly idea as to where Molly's stash is, but she obviously has one. I have looked, I have tried, but I can not find the 2 slit ones, but a total of FOUR unslit ones have since made their appearance. Just goes to show, if I did not know it before, she truly does have an addiction!

diva, and a wallet full of cash

wow! what is going on around here? My kids are acting like grown ups!! we were preparing to go out (to where else, but Target) and diva girl goes and gets her shades and purseAnd then Sam had to grab his wallet. (That wallet was burning a hole in his pocket for weeks!!) He had $4 in it (plus some change) and loved to keep it in this pocket on his sweat shirt. (in fact he wanted to keep wearing that sweatshirt just so that he would have a place for his wallet)
Oh yeah, and the boots, well they seem to complete EVERY outfit lately :)

curly Q

I have always imagined if I ever had a little girl that she would have big blue eyes and really great curly hair. (2 things that I don't have, but always wished I did)
Well, I did get my blue eyed beauty, but unfortunately she has straight as a board hair. It is also very thin, baby fine, so won't hold curl at all. And then I found these amazing things called "curlformers". They are not actual 'curlers" they are made of a mesh type material and are in like a spiral shape. You need a hook as well for them to work.
I love them!!! They really do work, and last throughout the day. Molly doesn't seem to mind them either. I usually put them in after bath, and she sleeps in them (I have tried the hairdryer, but she is not as fond of it and it takes too long.) I tell her we are going to put on pretty hair and pretty curlers and that is that! Isn't that hysterical? You can get them to lay down, but I just got a kick out of this :)I do think she is now ready for the longer ones now, as her hair is longer, but isn't she cute?! I know, she looks really different doesn't she?!

Pass the Good

Sports Authority has an AMAZING deal.

Until 3.31.11, you can donate used cleats, gloves and NFL merchandise and get a $10 cash card that can be used on almost everything in the store. They will give the used items to help underprivileged kids. (Remember to only donate items that you would use again yourself)

new furniture, in a state of limbo

Here is the long story--- every year I have asked for a king sized bed, every year I have been told no. Then we got an AWESOME opportunity for a King sized mattress set (thank you) Next step, we need a new bed to hold our mattress set. We were suppose to look at frames/headboards over Christmas... but that was a crazy, busy time of travel etc so we were unable to. Then, we were suppose to go over the weekend after the new year. But, my back went out and that took care of the rest of the days this month so it never happened. So, fast forward to this past Sat night. We went to the dump, but were unsuccessful. On the way home I wanted to go to another store to look at a few other things. We tried to get in, but they had shut down all of the streets (and parking lot) to this store because the cirque De sole was in town (does this not sound typical to my life?)
And, as we were maneuvering our way to get to the other store, we came across a furniture store. On a whim, we go in. It was 8:35, they close at 9. Then he showed it to us. The floor bedroom set that they were discontinuing. I loved it, but we were there only to get a head board to match our current bedroom suite right?! long story even longer... we got it... the whole set... we did have to special order the chest, but other than that, we got it.
Fast forward... we were to pick it up (um, apparently if you buy the floor piece, they will not do any sort of delivery) on Tues. Severe weather alert... We had to change plans and pick it up on Monday evening. CRAZY! Talk about rushing around, we were gone all day on Sunday so we did not have much time to get things together.
When we arrived, they had wrapped the pieces as promised, but apparently one of the legs had broken off of the dresser. They were trying to "find a fix" for it, but were unsuccessful... there were phrases like, well when you buy the floor stock it is "as is" blah, blah, blah. UM, NO, um we have not officially "bought" it yet... it turns out that they will now come out to the house to fix it in a couple of days...
fast forward. We get it all home and in the house (again, without my help--- I keep claiming that my back hurts --- no really, it DOES... STILL) Thanks dad and mom!!! we appreciated your help! We went to dinner, and on our way out the weather had changed and was spitting...
Fast forward again... the next night Kirk goes to set up the bed. They stripped the screws and failed to give us any of the hardware. Really?! UGH. Do we own bolts long enough?! nope. look outside- ice storm has frozen us in. What to do, what to do, what to do... queen bed broken down, king bed frame up. Simple... just place the queen mattress inside of the king frame... yup, we felt like we were sleeping in a cave, but hey, it worked!

****UPDATE: Thankfully Kirk went out to the "man store" yesterday and the bed was fixed last night. YEAH! *****

so, all of the clothes that were in my old dresser are in bags in my closet, I can not put them into my new dresser because they have not come to fix it yet (remember, city shuts down for the week after big ice storm) My old bedroom suite is in the dining room, can't advertise it now, (ice storm)
So, I have furniture everywhere, and unable to use any of it!!!

pictures of finished project--- when project finished :)

Don't even get me started on the bathroom project I started before Thanksgiving...

the card

ok, so why am I such an incredible procrastinator? I mean I do this to myself ALL of the time, BUT, I am going to really work on this fault of mine this year. (I know it will make my life, as well as my family's a whole lot less stressful :) )
I came up with the idea for our CHRISTmas card last spring, I had the basic concept, just did not know how I was going to execute it. now skip ahead to December--- I was busy doing this and that and then some, so every day the cards were placed on hold. First of all, I needed to find and make a gingerbread house of sorts. I did not really find the one I wanted, but I, did find a rice krispy treat one that I thought would be good (the kids are not particularly fond of 'ginger') Then I wanted the kids to make it, thought it would be cuter that way, but then Molly was sick with "the germ that never dies" so that didn't work. So yes, I ended up making the house myself in a matter of minutes so that I could quickly take a picture and send it off. The picture searching was now on-- you know, you want the most recent, cutest ones you have, preferably the Christmas-y ones.. I FINALLY chose my pictures, and no, they were not from our Christmas pictures--- we never got around to that, but from October and November. (in other words, I no longer had the excuse that I couldn't make the card because I didn't have the right picture of the kids ha)
So, all that to say, I did like my cards, yes, I would have done some things differently (probably could have, had I allowed myself enough time) so... onto next year's.... guess I had better get started now!!!--- because I don't want to send them out on the 24th again next year UGH!!!

The front--- a picture of the rice krispy treat house

Open the windows and the doors and you will see pictures of the kids
Open the house and see a picture of the whole family... The first line on the inside of the card says "Merry Christmas from our house to yours"

Ps: If you did not get one of our Christmas cards... do not feel that I do not like you, I ran out of time, then lost my list etc... I WILL be more organized next year!!!

Are you sure he didn't see his shadow?!

BRRRRRR wow has it been COLD outside!!! Just 2 days ago was groundhogs day... here was the result, and his prediction: (EARLY SPRING). THIS is what we woke up to this morning:so what do you do when you have 3-4 inches of snow on top of 2 inches of ice?! you go out and play in it of course!!! please prepare: picture overload!!! I mean really, it rarely snows here (well, except for this year and last year) so you gotta snap as many pictures as you can before it melts away right?!

snow, glorious snow!!!

preparing to attack mommyLet's try our hand at the roller coaster shall we?!

Oops, forgot to mention it was FULL of ice from the ice storm a few days ago... This is what we call a WIPE OUT!!! and full of smilesThe slide tends to be "slid-y-er"

I think they are teaming up to throw snow on me here!!

And when it is all over... remember to THAW out BEFORE you bathe!!! (other wise those frozen hands and feet will feel like they are on FIRE!!!

Here is ONE of MANY snipits of our fun in the snow on video

I think it is pretty funny how "thick" my thin little children look--- I did dress them in sumo wrestler attire, but that is only because we do not have the appropriate clothing for snow down here. Poor kids were cold, but did not want to come inside. I finally had to make them, as poor molly's shoe would not stay on her triple layered foot and i was concerned about frozen toes!!!

ice, frozen pipes, electricity outage oh my...

To say that it has been cold would be an understatement. I think that the storm that has come through is the storm of the century!! The reason I say that is because this state has shut down for 4 plus days. When I say shut down I mean it... Schools were out for not one, not two, not three but 4 days.. 4--- that is unheard of here. The ice came on Tues and never went away. Temperatures dropped to -12 degrees Fahrenheit, then last night there was SNOW on top of the ice. Not just a little snow--- but just about 4-5 inches!!!

Oh yeah, and you know that phrase: "neither rain, nor slett, nor gloom of night...? Well apparently that does NOT hold true here in Texas... we have not had mail for several days now!-- I told you, the town has SHUT DOWN!!!!

We were literally iced in. 2 inches of solid ice on driveway, in the alley and on the front street. Kirk went out yesterday and barely got the truck back up the drive into the garage (thanks to the top soil we used he got in)

Did you know that they do not insulate pipes in Texas? No, they don't want to know how I know? We had a frozen pipe... No hot water and we were questioning as to IF and WHEN it would burst. Kirk worked on it most of the day. He guessed correctly and found the source... The hot water heater is on the outside wall of the garage. He stood on a step ladder and blew the hair dryer in there for quite a while and then he cut into the wall to help get the hot air in there--- just a wall and pipe-- NO insulation of any sort... ZIP, ZERO, ZILCH. Way to go honey, thanks for preventing an enormous headache not to mention bill!So, it is the COLDEST day of the week. wind chills below zero and what happens? The electricity goes out. It was exciting for the kids (until they realized that all cartoons are attached to electricity) but we were questioning how long this was to happen, and when do we need to get the blankets out. Thankfully it was only out for 30 minutes, we were able to find out that they were randomly turning off electricity state wide. (whew, good to know it was controlled and not a snapped power line) Thankfully it only happened 2 times, for just an hour!

This was to be a busy week, instead it turned into crazy, lazy house-bound-ness. I love my house, I love my family, but I am SO ready to get out!! I mean, I live in Texas for a reason you know?!
I do feel really sorry for Jerry though--- we are hosting the super bowl, not so sure the bad weather and shut down towns were in his big plan!

deals around town....

Gap is currently giving customers 40% off their entire in-store purchase. Just say “Emma40″ when checking out . This deal is good through December 20th. Go here to read more about Gap’s 5 Days of Deals.

*Not valid at Gap Kids, Baby Gap, Gap Body, Gap Maternity, Gap Outlet or gap.com

Through December 16th, take this coupon to Sears and receive $10 off your apparel and/or accessories purchase of $20 or more.
* This coupon prints with a red background. You may want to adjust your printer settings to save ink

Save $50 on your purchase of $100 or more at New York & Co. through December 16th with this coupon. If you prefer to shop online, use code 6207 to see the discount.

In celebration of turning 50, Dominos released a code on their facebook page worth 50% off your next order. Use code 50OFFPIZZA through December 19th to score 50% off your next online,carryout order

It pays to be a facebook user. Through December 17, or while supplies last, When you purchase a $5 eGift card, you’ll receive another for FREE! Go here for Kmart or here for Sears.

send a card to our service men

Let’s Say Thanks is a service that allows you to send a FREE postcard to U.S. Military Personnel Stationed Overseas! What a great way to send out encouraging words to all the brave men and women that serve our country!

Want to send a free postcard?!

*Choose your design here
*Choose a message
*Hit “send”

It’s that simple!

send cookies to soldiers

Wow! Kenmore is doing some amazing things on Facebook! Just head on over to the Kenmore Facebook page, “Like” them, then click on the “Cookies4Troops” tab to send a dozen cookies to a soldier away from home with your personal message of support. Even sweeter—by helping them reach their goal of sending a quarter million cookies to the troops, Kenmore will donate $50,000 to Heroes at Home Wish Registry to assist military families in need.

Can you believe that in less than a few minutes you can send a batch of cookies and a simple Christmas greeting to a soldier? …and you won’t have to spend a penny out of your pocket to do so.

Please take a few minutes out of your day to send some cookies. They deserve it, and it couldn't get any easier

All cookies sent to the troops are 100% natural and fresh baked by Katy’s LLC, a company dedicated to supporting the military community. Rich in fiber and high in protein, Katy’s cookies are the ideal treat for soldiers away from home.

keepin' busy

1)She doesn't feel well,
2)she is currently watching her new video from ma for about the 10th time in a row (not exaggerating here--- they can't get enough of this cute Christian video about lying, cheating and stealing-- well it is dogs telling you not to do these things... Molly calls them germs for some odd reason?! ok, I digress...)
3) she knows her mommy is busy in the kitchen creating chocolate truffles for the Christmas cookie exchange that evening.
4) she takes this opportunity to just go for it and....

decides to put on my mascara:This is what she did when I asked her what she had done: points to her eye and says "pretty" I gotta say, she did a pretty good job, she had no mirror, yet she did manage to get it on her lashes (as well as her eyelid, cheek, nose etc etc etc)

supersize it---

I am so glad I recently chose to go with the GIANT box of kleenex boxes, I did not, however, plan on using them all in less than a week though.... (um, off topic, and I thought about cropping it out when I first noticed it, then I thought it just fit -- do you think I need new socks? :) )

Yes, the bug has hit our house. Molly started with a little cough, then a croupy cough and stuffy, runny nose. Poor girl is not a pleasant sick person. (who am I kidding? she is not a pleasant well person ha ) I am just glad she is starting to feel a little better, ONLY to pass along her sweet germs to ME!!! UGH. She apparently had a "headache" and thought the nemo ice pack would help. (not sure if it did or didn't, but she did keep it on there for quite a while!!) Oh yeah, and did I mention, EVERYTHING is more tolerable when you have elmo by your side :)Sam has been a good little trooper--- apparently his "throat was broke" (sore throat) on Monday, but it has been fine since. Since Molly WILL NOT have anything to medicine (liquid, pills, fast melts... it does not matter) Sam will show her how to swallow medicine. He is so good to her. He just swallows it down and says "look Mowlly, just do it like dis" she then promptly says "oh, ok" but then quickly changes her mind and goes into convulsions... Hopefully this bug will completely bypass Kirk (yeah, right--- good luck there buddy ha) I gotta tell ya, I do not wish this on my enemies (um, do I have any of those?)

sam sings

ok, here it is, that proud mama moment. Sam and his M&M group from church got to sing in "big church" today. here ya go:





I am the teacher for the kindergarten class, so I had to be up front to "assist" my camera man (Kirk) was only there for the first service. The kids sang for both services. Too bad Sam and Jessica weren't in the front row until the second service. You could see them so much better then. --- maybe Jessica's mommy got it on video for me :)



His little group sang in front of the church a few weeks ago for a Thanksgiving missions meal. That left them with only 3 times to learn these songs--- I thought they did pretty well.
I was also pretty impressed that Sam did some of the hand motions. I asked him why he doesn't ever do the motions, he just told me it was because he did not like to. (ask a dumb question, get a dumb answer)

hit and run

How does a $15 haircut end up being $265? When your car gets hit in the parking lot and the idiot gentleman who hit me just takes off. GRRRRRR!!! I am now going to stand on the beloved soap box. It has taken me a while to write this blog post just because I had to think about the whole situation.
I was unbelievably calm when the whole event took place. Those of you who know me know that I am usually a little high strung about things like this. But I know that God had a hand in it and kept my little family safe and that is all I need to know. Am I frustrated? yes. Am I angry? yes. Am I safe? yes. Does my guardian angel typically work overtime? YES!!!
Here is the story....
Sam has been looking scruffy, I was trying the longer hair thing for a while to see if that would help that sweet huge little cowlick he has (It really didn't, just makes him look scruffy with a cowlick) SO, since he was going to be singing in church that night I decide it was time for a haircut. We went to a new place, a place just for kids. It looked really cool, but I was not about to pay the price they charge when all they were going to do was snip/snip and done. We leave the place, Molly runs on ahead, she bolts gingerly walks the parking lot to the side of the car where she gets in. I think nothing of this, we get in, and drive down the strip to another place. Sam gets his hair cut, we walk out, THIS time Molly is holding my hand, and Sam is right beside me. There is a man standing in front of my car looking into the parking lot and states "That man just hit your car!" Then he looks at me like... Go get him!! I then look at my kids, my car and the fact that the car that just hit me was now almost out of the parking lot and onto the road. yeah, no way I could "go get him"
The 'witness" was really nice, wanted to be a helpful as he could, but of course he did not get a license plate number (ugh) Apparently the man who hit my car was on his way INTO the parking spot, opened his door, (I have another ding to prove that) saw the damage, shut the door and bolted out of there. At this time we were coming out of the door, (unaware of what just happened) witness ran out of his store, and I realize that God protected us from what could have been a very bad situation. What if Molly had run to her door as she had just done 10 minutes earlier? What if the "hitter" had come into the spot as we were getting into the car seats. I just cringe to think of these "what-ifs" and just have to say Thank you to God for keeping us safe (yet again) Isn't God good?
Sam thought it was really cool that a police man came to talk to us, He and Molly kept telling people that someone "broke our car", Kirk and I were very thankful, yet frustrated, and relieved (our deductible is only $250 since it was a HIT and RUN!!!)
So still on that soap box, If you ever hit someone else's car, scratch their bumper or cause $2,000 damage as our idiot gentleman did. Please own up to your guilt!!! Don't leave the car all dinged and scratched, requiring the unsuspecting car owner to have the hassle of getting it inspected, wait on parts, wait on car rental and be out a lot of cash at Christmas time (or anytime for that matter) Though I am very thankful that we are safe, I am still a little miffed that we are stuck with the inconvenience, the bill and a rise in insurance rate grrrrr. And all this because I wanted to save a little less than 10 bucks on a haircut ha ha ha

These pictures do not quite do it justice, you cant see the dents, oh well. It does however remind me of a similar event almost 3 years ago...check out THIS post. I thought I had pictures of the previous one but as you see I don't :)