What are we growing in the back yard?

Kirk was edging the yard a week or so ago and called me out. I thought he must have cut the pool or broken a toy of some sort, but then he took me over to the area between the swing set and the playhouse. This is the site I saw...
close...
closer...
closest... but what is it? yup, that is animal fur, but the question was, WHAT KIND OF ANIMAL?

these little creatures barely had fur on them themselves so it was hard to make them out.... BUT I saw something very promising amongst the little feet and bodies and earswe think there are 3 of them... what is YOUR guess?

Hoppy Booday baby!!!

Wow, 2 whole years. We are starting to enter the "terrible twos" with little Miss Molly. I am guessing they certainly CAN'T be any worse than the first 2 years, but we shall see.
It has been fun to watch Molly with toys lately. She really did not have a lot of interest in them (except ELMO) until her birthday. She has a few little baby dolls, and let me just tell you... she carries them EVERYWHERE. it is so fun to watch her with them. I wasn't sure she was going to like dolls and "girly things" but I can see now that she is.
Molly loves to talk! She jabbers all of the time and will repeat everything you say. It is so fun to say words and watch her say them in her sweet little voice. She can sing the alphabet song and counts to 11. (she loves to count the beads on my new necklace) She is still as busy as ever and enjoys pestering her brother. She has mastered running, jumping, dancing and climbing. Her favorite food is no longer banana's but strawberries instead. She has stepped out of her comfort zone and actually likes grapes (if in the mood) and has been known to eat a couple of bites of peaches. A vegetable of any sort has yet to be swallowed nor has milk. She is a very good eater, though it had better something she likes, or else she can be as stubborn as a mule (hmmm, seems to run in the family) Elmo is still the end all be all, but she is also very attached to her yellow blanket and of course the "green friend" pacifier. it has been rough (on all of us0 but we have managed to only have her pacifier during nap and night time (unless it is needed for some other reason--ie a long drive without a nap etc) She has an adorable giggle and her eyes just light up when she laughs. She is very attached to "mawmee" but is starting to call out to "dadteee" a little bit. She is a very good hugger, but very stingy with her kisses. She loves to go outside to play and prefers a shower over a bath. She loves bubbles, but hates them in the tub. She loves to color, and can find pens, pencils, crayons everywhere. She is very interested in puzzles, but gets very frustrated when they do go the way she wants the first time around-- and therefore she just throws the pieces across the room. She weighs in at a whopping 24 pounds (25th %) Wow, this has been a very LONG two years, yet it also seemed to fly by. It is hard to believe my baby is getting so big. Happy Birthday baby girl!!! I love you

free woody&Tiana callsd

You can score FREE Character Calls from Woody or Princess Tiana courtesy of Pull-Ups! You’ll even get to choose the message topic and the time you’d like them to call.

good grades=good rewards

Baskin-Robbins — Free scoop of ice cream for good grades on your report card.

Blockbuster — Free family-friendly movie rental for A’s on your report card!

Cheryl & Co — Free cookie for every A on your report card!

Chick-fil-A – Free 8 pack of nuggets for your all A’s and B’s report card.

Chuck E. Cheese – Have your child bring in their most recent report card and they will receive Free tokens for good grades, up to 15 tokens maximum per child.

Family Video – Free movie rentals based on how well you did on your report card.

Krispy Kreme – Get a free donut for each A (up to 6 A’s).

Limited Too – Report cards may be taken in to any Limited Too retail store within 30 days of issuance and receive $5 off their purchase that day.

McDonald’s – Free Happy Meal if you have a straight “A” report card.

Pizza Hut – Free Personal Pan Pizza and a small soft drink or carton of milk with 3 A’s on your report card.

Sbarro Pizza – Student with A’s and B’s on his or her report card gets a free slice of cheese or peperoni pizza and a small soda plus one for the accompanying adult.

Topps – Free gift when you bring in your report card.

Homeschoolers don’t feel left out! You can bring in your report cards too, and there are even some free printables HERE that you can use.

quiznos deal

Quiznos just released a new coupon! Head on over here to print a coupon good for 50% off the Choose 2 Combos valid with the purchase of a regular fountain drink. The choose 2 combos are usually priced at 2/$5, so after the coupon ONLY $2.50 total– just $1.25 per item + the cost of the fountain drink!

free redbox movie codes

The following are the current Redbox rental codes that work for a free DVD rental:

DVDATWAG – only good at Walgreens

BREAKROOM – good anywhere

DVDONME - good anywhere

Plus you can go to Redbox.com and sign up for their newsletter and text alerts. You will receive at least one free rental a month! (usually on the first Monday of the month)

Remember these codes are limit 1 per credit card. (If you and your husband each have a credit card to the same account but the numbers are different, you can use each of them!)

Movies are due by 9 pm the following day to avoid having to pay an additional $1 to rent the movie another 24 hours.

Go here to find a Redbox near you.

Now through June 27th when you order a Real Ice Cream Shake at Sonic you can get a second shake free or get a coupon for a free shake for next time you visit! Simply order your shake(or malt or cream pie shake) and get the second free, no coupon required! Otherwise, if you just order one shake make sure you get your free coupon for your next visit! Find more details HERE

Summer reading programs

It's almost summer again, so it is time for those summer reading programs: here are just a few great programs that you can be a part of:

Half Price Books "feed your brain program"

Borders "double dog dare ya"

Barnes and Noble passport program
more info

SWAGBUCKS

want free amazon gift cards? Paypal money? Starbucks gift card? itunes gift card etc etc? well then I have a deal for YOU!


let me tell you about something really cool. As most of you know, I am always looking for things that win get me something for nothing (and, no, there is nothing out there!! UGH) BUT I have found SWAGBUCKS have you heard of it? It is really cool and is basically giving you FREE "bucks" for very little if any effort... PLUS it is "Kirk-friendly" meaning Mr. security/computer/virus patrol has APPROVED this!!! :)

Swag bucks is a site that lets you earn Swagbucks (points) by literally just searching the web… something we do on a daily basis anyways! You get 30 Swag Bucks for joining and can win anywhere from 20 – 50 Swag Bucks a day if you search until you win in the morning and in the evening. I usually win within my first 5-10 searches. They also have an excellent referral program! If you refer someone over to Swagbucks and they earn a Swagbuck, you will earn a Swagbuck too–up to 1000 Swagbucks! So you could potentially earn 1000 Swagbucks from each friend you refer! Plus, once you accumulate enough Swagbucks, you can cash them in for various rewards, including Amazon.com gift cards! (so please, if you do sign up, sign up from my link here on the page so that I can get points too :) )


SWAG BUCKS is apparently like google, though i have noticed that google is more reliable... so if there is something that you really want to know about go to the real source!!! Also, it is really easy to spot the "advertised" info sites as the link says "sponsored by" I only go to legit sites listed when I actually click on a link. "They" say that it does not matter if you actually go to a link or not, in order to win, but I am not sure. I will typically sign in, search for my "regular" sites that I go to everyday and hope for a win. I will also look at the online news for current headlines and type those in--- a lot of times I will win with this, but it is random.

How do you get started?

• Go here and register on Swagbucks by creating an account
• You will get 30 Swagbucks just for signing up!
• After registering, you can immediately start searching for anything you want on the web just by using the Swagbucks search engine!
• Periodically, while searching, you may see a pop up that says you’ve won anywhere from 10 to 30 or more in Swagbucks. From what I’ve heard, the best time to search is in the morning or the evening.
• apparently there is no rhyme nor reason as to how/when you win, guess it is completely random. So, what I have learned is that if I have not won anything after about 10 searches, I will sign out and try again after a few hours. I have seen others say that the more you search, the less your chances?! I do think that this might be true, the longer I am signed in, it doesn't work, I log out and come back in like 3-4 hours or later that night and will win on like my first search.
• Another way to earn Swagbucks, is by entering the Swagcode that is released almost everyday. This is a special code that you can enter in the swagcode box and you will instantly earn Swagbucks without having to search for them! How do you get this special code? I will try to post them when i see them so you can get them too. they are random, sometimes hard to find and a lot of times the code has expired by the time I find it... but hopefully we can get some!
• Go to the Swagbucks homepage, click on “Ways to Earn” in the top left, then click on “Special Offers” and then click on the “No Obligation Offers” blue box on the right. Once you get to this page, it will state this:
  Welcome to Swag Bucks Special Offers.
  Skip ALL the offers by clicking the skip button or the See Next Offer button beneath the advertisement. Finally after about 5 pages you’ll be awarded 1,2 or 3 bucks... not many, but enough to add up!
  
• 
  
• After you’ve earned enough points, you can click on the upper tab labeled “Prizes”.� Scroll down and under the categories section on the left hand side you should see “Gifts and Rewards”–click there. Now you can start scrolling through all the gift cards they have available. The Amazon.com gift card is by far my favorite reward! You can score a $5 Amazon.com gift card with just 450 Swagbucks, so literally in a month (possibly less) you could earn a $5 Amazon.com gift card!--pretty cool to win like $50-$60/a year in amazon gift cards for really no effort!
  
• 
  
• 
  
• apparently, you can install the Swag bucks toolbar and there are frequent special swag codes on there throughout the week, but I am not "allowed" to install anything like that, so just FYI
  

let me know if this is confusing or if you have any questions.

you can go here to sign up!!!! (oh yeah, and I always use a junk email account for things like this so that in case they send out junk email it will not fill up my good email box. I have been doing this for 3 months, have won 6 $5 amazon gift cards and have NOT received any junk mail in my box!!!!)
thanks! have fun and happy swaggin'!!!

picture deals around town

Sears is offering a a coupon for a FREE Collage Photo ($44.98 value) and 20% off your entire purchase, plus no session fee! Be sure to go here to print it before it disappears. (Just look for the mother and daughter)

My favorite deal is at Portrait Innovations (one they do year round). For just $9.95 you get a 10×13, 2 8×10s, 4 5×7s, 4 3×5s and 32 wallets plus 6 greeting cards. Go here for more details.

Picture People is offering a free portrait and 25% off your purchase. Go here for the coupon.

Target is offering a free 8×10 portrait (no purchase necessary). Go here for the coupon. (exp 5/6)

JcPenny Portraits is also offering a Free 8×10 and no sitting fee. Go here to print it. (exp 6/30)

Olan Mills – Get a free Package including 1-8×10 2-5×7’s and 8 wallets – single pose with this coupon.

latest deals

From May 7th – May 16th, Starbucks will be featuring their NEW Frappuccino’s at HALF PRICE during their HAPPY HOUR 3pm – 5pm!

Create a Mother’s Day Card on Denny’s Facebook page and you can print a coupon for a free Pancake Puppies Sundae valid May 9th to May 16th.





Get free rentals at BlockBuster Express with these codes:

G614A - Get a free rental (exp 5/5)

GT13A - Get a free rental (exp 5/31)

Register for Blockbuster Express emails and get a code for a free rental!

Remember these codes are limit 1 per credit card. Movies are due by 9 pm the following day to avoid having to pay an additional $1 to rent the movie another 24 hours

If you’re a coffee lover and you like Dunkin’ Donuts, then you’ll definitely want to sign up for Dunkin’ Perks! Just for signing up, you’ll get a FREE medium beverage of your choice (iced or hot coffee, tea, latte, hot chocolate or Coolatta)! Plus, you’ll also get another FREE medium
beverage on your birthday!

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