DEALS FOR THE WEEKEND....

*FREE Weekend Pass to over 100 Museums with your Bank of America ATM, Credit or Debit Card: Get FREE general admission to participating museums, zoos, science centers, botanical gardens and more on the first full weekend of every month just by presenting any Bank of America card!

*OLD NAVY: 30% Everything in the Store from Friday, April 30th at 9AM-Sunday, May 2nd at 9PM!! Click here for all the details and be sure to check your local store for hours and details

*Sears Family & Friends Sale: Saturday, May 1st at 8 PM CST through Monday, May 3rd at 4 AM CST at Sears.com; In-store Sears sale on Sunday, May 2nd from 6-9 PM; and In-store Sears Hometown Store sale All day on Monday, May 3rd. You can snag an extra 20% off clothing, fine jewelry, watches, beauty; an extra 15% off shoes, bed & bath, window coverings; an extra 10% off appliances, floor care, frills, outdoor furniture, fitness, sporting goods, tools, auto, electronics, small kitchen appliances, mattresses, luggage, furniture & décor, baby furniture, gear & bedding and more; and an extra 5% off Lawn & garden and toys! Click here for all the details.

*FREE Comic Book Day: Saturday, May 1st, you can snag a FREE Comic Book at participating comic book shops across North America and around the world; be sure to check with your local shop for their participation and rules.

Bye Bye Sam and Molly

Release day. This is the day we decided that "Samuel and Molly," our duck friends needed to go off on their own. We made a big deal about it, talked it up for a couple of days saying how they will get to be around all the other ducks and make friends and swim in the big pond. We also talked about how we would be able to and visit them periodically and take them bread etc. So the whole family is on board, Sat is the day. I packed a picnic, the whole nine yards. Well, it was not quite the smooth transition we had expected. It was COLD, it drizzled on us, there were people out fishing (we had hoped we could do this a little more privately :) ) And, oh yeah, the ducks would not move. We initially tried to coax the other Mallards over to us with our bread. They did not want to come. (guess they had just had lunch ha) we could not get them to come for anything. Then FINALLY the UGLY ducks came over. We gave them bread, and introduced them to Samuel and Molly. They of course could care less about them-- which I guess is a good thing so we know (or can assume) that they will not try to hurt our little ducks)
Here is Sam and Kirk trying to coax Samuel and Molly into the pond (did I mention they did not want to go into it?)Then Sam telling them where they need to goThey eventually went into the water, we had to go. We went back to check on them a week later. Samuel was there, but we were unable to locate Molly (I am sure she was just looking for dinner when we got there so we just missed her right?!) Samuel the duck came right up to us, I was able to pick him up without him getting upset. I think he might actually miss us :)

The ducks

We have enjoyed our new little house guests. It has been a lot of fun watching them grow and lose that soft downy hair and sprout feathers!! They have gotten too big for the rubbermaid tub we've been keeping them in, but since we did not want them loose in the yard yet (there are areas that they could get out under the fence etc) we allowed them to occupy our new playhouse. I think that they enjoyed it, though the kids couldn't quite understand why they could not play in there too.(that is Molly peeking IN the window)
Sam was pretty good with them. As they have grown, they have also gotten a little more skiddish around people (probably has nothing to do with the fact that a 4 year old chases them with his tricycle or a 1 1/2 year old just chases them screaming at the top of her lungs) So I would have to catch them (before, they would just let the kids get them) and them let the kids hold them. I would talk softly to them and tell them that they were ok -- you know, all the things you do to try and relax a scared duck. Well, I guess Sam realized this was a good way for them to stay on his lap, as I would hear him in a soft, sweet little voice saying, "you are ok" "I won't hurt you" "I'm going to pet you now" etc. so sweet!!It seems the only way we can get Molly to sit down with these guys is to let her feed them some bread. She really thought that that was funThough she thought she should have a treat as well, so e had to watch that she did not "steal" the bread from themLike I said, it is cool to be able to watch these little creatures-- (excuse the picture, we just got back from the zoo, so no, I was not looking my best ha)Kirk wanted the whole transition of keeping ducks to releasing ducks to go smoothly, soo he wanted these guys to go nameless, just call them ducks. Sam decided all on his own to name them. He came up with some really original names..."Samuel and Molly" um, so much for not becoming attached HA

Easter

Easter was fun this year. Rod, Kelly, Ethan and Savannah were able to come up for a couple of days before Easter. They came with some interesting gifts... 2 little ducklings. What a funny, unusual gift. Kirk even agreed it was fun (and he is an ANTI pet person) But since these little house guests are not "keepers" let the kids have them. Sam thought they were fun, though we had to teach him how to hold them gently
Molly liked to look at them and called them 'doc, doc" though she was a lot more interested in their swimming water then the ducks themselves!

All the kids were able to go on an Easter egg hunt. The bigger kids teamed up with the little kids and helped them find the eggs. It was fun watching them all work together.


I have no idea how he did it, but Kirk gets the award for best photo of the day--- check it out, all 4 of them looking at the camera and all with smiles!!! now that is worth a thousand bucks in my book!
Thanks again Uncle rod, Aunt kelly, Ethan and Savannah for our fun new little friends!!!

33

This is just DRIVING me CRAZY. count them... 33 single, lost socks. Where, oh, where are their mates? They go from feet to wash to dryer and somewhere during this process the matching sock goes AWAL. very frustrating, so much so that I had to blog it ha

obsessions/addictions

There are a lot of obsessions and addictions going on in this house:

TRAINS

it does not matter if they are in a magazine
small enough to play withor large enough to ride in

HATSBLANKET AND ELMO
She calls her blanket "winkie"and Elmo "oh-mo"
BANDAIDS SUNGLASSES PACIFIERPretty impressed that I have a picture with all 3 of these things in it? Not me, it is not uncommon ha

Sam is all about the bandaid. Any little mark, or thought of a cut it needs to be covered. I kind of miss the last phase he had about bandaids--- he freaked out when he saw them, and wouldn't let me put them on.
My Sister-in-law gave the kids sunglasses. They are now Sam's favorite accessory
This one pretty much goes with out saying, as at least 70% of all the pictures taken of Molly have this ugly green thing in her mouth.
We are working on decreasing the pacifier time that Molly has, it has not been easy on ANY of us, and I have to admit I do give in more than I probably should, but boy is she a sweeter baby with it!!! I do think she has a stash of these things hidden throughout the house. It also doesn't hurt that her big brother likes to give them to her whenever he finds one either. I will think that we are having a good paci-free time and then see her walking around with one in her mouth--- where in the world did she get that? who knows. Then there is this: You know you are an addict when...you find the pacifier attached to the jogging stroller (because you have a habit of losing them and then daring to get upset with your mother for not bringing extras along) and must stop for a quick "fix"

CIRCUS

It was a last minute decision, but one I am so glad we made... We took the kids to the Shriner circus when it came into town. it was a lot of fun and we had some GREAT seats. (we moved from our original seats during the show, there were not that many people there so we were able to snag some great ones!!) Sam was really fascinated and enjoyed the whole show.
Molly seemed to really be fascinated as well, which surprised us.

Arboretum/ZOO-- Spring Break

We were able to head down to the Arboretum a couple of weeks ago with some friends from church. It turned out to be a beautiful day. The kids were good, just busy as always. (you would think with all the running I do I would be able to shed a few pounds huh?) Sam was camera UN-friendly yet again, so there are NO pictures of a smile from him. Molly was just too busy for the camera to snap, so of the nearly 180 pictures that I took, I only have a few half way decent ones to prove that we were there.Molly LOVES dirt. Does not matter where we are or what we are doing, an area of dirt seems to just call her name. This was the first picture of the day, but it did not matter, I have about 30 more just like it!! notice the way she is sitting---( looks just like Sam.)
notice, more dirt...
We were then able to hear to the Zoo the next day.
Here is the group we were with, Lots of kiddos, none wanting to be photographed. Check out Molly the clepto--she tried to steal that little girl's sippy cup a few times that dayNot many places to take pictures at the zoo. BUT there is a cute turtle figure that Sam and Hanna of course wanted to ride it, so what a perfect opportunityonly there were 3 little boys that kept jumping in as soon as the camera appeared. They would NOT leave either. wish you could have seen Sam and Hanna's faces.. they did not care for the intruders either.

Once they finally left, Molly was on the scene. She is a good tormentor, she loves to pester Sam... here is one of her favorite ways:Yup, she pulls his hair.
Then the 2 big ones have a hard time deciding who gets to sit in the front... and they both start crying... Of course Molly could care lessWhew, it has been a long long day, the big kids get to ride the carousel, Aubree and Molly just have to sit, wait and watch...

Big deals on tax day

Here is a round up for all the great food deals and freebies at restaurants tomorrow! Yum!

Baja Fresh – $2 burritos for their Facebook fans with this coupon

Boston Market Restaurants – Buy 1 plate and get one free (excludes 2.99 – 5.99 meals). (Valid 4/15 to 4/18)

Cinnabon – free bite-sized samples of their cup cakes from 6pm to 8pm at mall-based locations

El Pollo Loco – Free Taco Al Carbon or any item from the Loco Value Menu with the purchase of any size drink (good until 4/18)

McCormick & Schmick’s – $10.40 Dinner and drinks specials at the bar, as well as giving everyone a $10.40 certificate good for your next visit.

Maggie Moos – free slice of their Ice cream pizza from 3pm to 7pm

McCormick & Schmicks Seafood Restaurants - Get different specials plus a $10.40 “tax relief certificate” good on your next visit. And if you are a Tax Preparer, present your business card on April 16th and get free dessert with entree purchase!

Mr Jim’s Pizza - Become a fan and get a coupon for a free small 1 topping pizza

PF Chang’s – 15% off your food purchases with your Warrior card (free to sign up here)

Starbuck’s Coffee – Bring in a reusable travel mug and get it filled with free brewed coffee!

Also McDonald’s and Chickfila are offering free food tomorrow but it varies by location. Be sure to call yours and ask!

Free hat at Disney store 4-22

Stop by your local Disney Store on April 22nd for a free ball cap (click on "upcoming events" for more info)when you bring in 6 plastic water bottles or pop cans. (Last year they offered a free reusable shopping bag.)

Walgreens phot deals

If you miss the Wed only deal, rumor has it that these are the deals upcoming the next few days:

Thursday (4/8): 80% off 4×6, 5×7 & 8×10 Collage Prints

Friday (4/9): FREE 8×10

Saturday (4/10): 20 Prints for 20 cents

FREE prints at Walgreens Today only

ok guys, time to get those cute Easter pictures printed out... now you don't have an excuse... here is a code for 20 FREE prints at walgreens. You can upload your prints and do the checkout process, but you do not have to pick them up today. So long as they are ordered today you are good to go :)


As part of the Walgreens 7 Days of 7 Deals promotion, today, April 7th ONLY, they are offering up 20 FREE 4×6 Photo Prints for only $1.99! Just go here and upload your photos. After doing so, start the checkout process and use coupon code PRINTS20! Your final cost will be FREE!

**You can also print this coupon and create your 4×6 Photo Prints in-stores.