What's Going On?

I have not done a good job lately of updating the blog or even taking pics of Catherine and Will. I think this is the only picture I've taken of them in 2 weeks. That's unheard of for me and my usual 100 pics a month. So what has been going on here? Crazy life as usual!

Since last Wednesday.....Jay has traveled to Chicago and Milwaukee on two separate trips within the last five days. We've gone to a wedding in Columbia while Catherine and Will stayed overnight with Papa and Kay. Will has been to the allergist and for an evaluation for speech therapy. Catherine only has 5 more days to go to school (Mon/Thurs) for this year. I'm done with my Mentor Moms and Wednesday night Bible studies as of this week. We're finishing the last projects on our house (cleaning the porch and basement) and getting ready to put up a "for sale" sign in the next few weeks. And there's always the usual laundry, cleaning, grocery store, errands, baths, diapers, etc. And Eli too (the dog)! Whew! I am ready for a vacation...which thankfully we get in less than 3 weeks.

The good news is that I love my life. I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. I cherish my husband and children and am so very lucky to get to spend my days caring for them.

Easter

We had a great Easter celebration yesterday! What a beautiful day to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and all that means. The verse that really spoke to me yesterday is Matthew 28: 6 "He is not here; he has risen, just as he said." Just as he said--He always does just as He says and we can trust in that and believe in that. How amazing!

After our worship service at church, we drove to Union to spend the afternoon with my family. Everyone had lots of fun playing outside and just spending time together.

Will liked riding with Brooklynn on her tricycle.

Catherine rode horses for the very first time with Papa. She loved it and didn't want to get down afterwards.

We had an Easter egg hunt for everyone. It's a little hard to hide eggs for various ages (1 yr to 9 yrs) to find all at once, but I think we did okay. Here's Brooklynn, Riley, Kennedy, and Catherine with their eggs.

It's so cute to watch Kennedy and Will interact. I thought this picture was so sweet.

What a great day!

My Birthday Celebration

Today we celebrated my birthday. My actual birthday was March 26th, but my surprise birthday activity was dependent upon the weather so we had to postpone because of all the rain we kept having. Thankfully today was a gorgeous spring day. We went to Furman and had a picnic lunch. We played on the practice football field where there was lots of room for Catherine and Will to run and play. They thought it was great! They also gave me my birthday presents. Jay did a great job planning a fun day for us.

I had lots of help opening my presents. Then Catherine kept "wrapping" up additional presents for me with the paper: a tennis ball, her purse, a princess ball. She thought that was great fun.

Will, the little linebacker, got a start on spring training with a few football drills. He has his golf club too; just in case football doesn't work out for him.

Catherine ran all day long. She ran up and down the entire football field 2 or 3 times during our picnic. Then she spotted the track right by it and wanted to go run. We went down there and she took off. We thought she would run for just a minute and then turn around and come back. But she ran the entire track!

When she got done with the first lap, she wanted me to run with her, so we did a full second lap. She says she wants to run a race (maybe a 1 mile this summer). We figured that she ran at least 3/4 of a mile today (in flip flops) and loved it. The cutest thing was when she stopped. Will had been running around too and I said, "everyone is panting." She replied, "but I'm wearing a skirt, mommy." Too cute.

It was a great day! I love my family!

Good Deals

I've been working really hard lately with grocery shopping to save money by combining sale items with coupons. This week, I got some pretty good deals. My total bill before sales and coupons was $104.99. Total after sales and coupons was $46.59--that's over 55% savings!




Here's the breakdown:

2 Lipton decaf teas, reg price $3.99, B1G1 free, $1/2 coupon = $3.00 for 2 ($1.50 each)
Wheat Thin Artisan cheese crackers, reg price $3.19 ea, B1G1 free sale, B1G1 free coupon = $1.59 for 2 (80 cents each)
Wheat Thin crackers, reg price $3.19, B1G1 free, $1/2 coupn = $2.19 for 2 ($1.09 each)
Publix gal milk $2.79
Kraft 8 oz shredded cheese, reg price $2.98 each, 3 for $5 sale = $1.66 each
ChexMix snacks, reg price $2.45 each, B1G1 free, 50cents/2 coupon = $1.45 for 2 (72 cents each)
Kraft Ranch dressing, reg price $2.99, B1G1 sale, $1.50 coupon = FREE
sweet potatoes @ 49cents/lb = 56 cents
2 Pillsbury cresent rolls, reg price $2.09 each, 3 for $5 sale, 2 35cents off coupons doubled= 97 cents each
Duncan Hines cake mix, reg price $1.65, B1G1 free, 40 cents off coupon doubled = 43 cents
Duncan Hines brownie mix, reg $1.65 each, B1G1 free, 40 cents off coupon doubled = 50 cents
Sargento Potato Finishers, reg price $2.99, $1 off coupon = $1.99
5 lb bag Idaho potatoes, reg price $3.99, sale price $2.50, 75cents off coupon when buy Potato Finishers = $1.75
Motts applesauce, reg price $2.73, B1G1 free = $1.37
2 Rotel diced toms w/ chilies, reg price $1.09 each, = 53 cents each
Domino 5lb bag sugar, reg price $2.99, sale price $1.99, 35 cents coupon doubled = $1.29
4 Swanson chicken broth, reg price $1.09, B1G1 free, 50cents/4 coupon doubled = $1.38/4 (35 cents each)
8 Campbells Cream cooking soups, reg price $1.66 each, 5 for $5 sale ($1 each), 2 $1/2 coupons and 35cents/4 coupon = $5.3/8 (66each)
2 Progresso soups, reg price $2.39 each, 4 for $6 sale ($1.50 each) , 35 cents/2 coupon = $2.30/2 ($1.15 each)
Thomas English muffins, reg price $2.99, B1G1 free= $1.49
Pork tenderloin, $9.88, savings $3.16
Emerald Almonds, reg price $5.70, B1G1 free, $1 off coupon = $1.90

Total spent $46.59 not too bad, i think!

What you don't see from the picture are my 2 crying children. It was a rough day for them at the grocery store. Catherine literally cried from the time we left the house until after we got back. People were throwing shoes out of the grocery cart and just having general meltdowns. There are still a few things I need to go back and get b/c I had to cut the shopping trip a little short with all the crying that was going on. What a day!

My other good deals for the week were at Rite-Aid. I transferred one of Will's presciptions there and got a free $25 gift card. (Last month I did this with his other 2 prescriptions and got $50 gift cards.)

This week I bought 2 packages Huggies diapers (reg price $12.49 each), 1 pack Easter eggs (reg price $1.49, sale for 74 cents), 1 Almay eye shadow (reg price $5.99). I used a $3 off Huggies coupon, $5 off Huggies coupon, $1 off Almay coupon, and $5 off $25 purchase Rite Aid coupon. That brought my bill to $19.61, so I still have $5.39 on the gift card. The other good thing is that I'll get a rebate for $8 from Rite Aid ($3 for each pack of diapers and $2 for Almay) and $1.50 rebate from Caregivers Marketplace for the diapers (75 cents for each pack). So really, that means I'm getting $9.50 back in cash for purchases I made with a free gift card. Woohoo! I love saving money.

First Dentist Visit and 18 Months

Catherine had her first visit to the dentist today. We've been trying to build up the idea for a little while and have been practicing opening our mouth really wide to see all of our teeth in preparation for the big day. This morning she was so excited to go that at 7:45am she was asking if it was time to go to the dentist yet. I was worried the magic would fade once she got there, but she actually did really well. She didn't like the big light shining in her face and by the end she was tired of opening her mouth, but she was really great. She wasn't scared and didn't cry at all. And then she was patient enough to sit there while they cleaned my teeth and fixed a cavity. According to Catherine, I only have 5 teeth. It was a long 2 1/2 hours at the dentist office this morning, but we're happy to report that all 20 of Catherine's teeth look great!!

Will is 18 months old today! Wow that's hard to believe. I still often call him Baby Will, but that may just stick around until there's another baby one day. (and no, I am not currently pregnant!) Will is such a fun loving little guy. He likes to be rather adventerous; running. climbing, throwing things. All normal boy behavior, but I'm still adjusting at times. He can be super sweet and loves to cuddle, give hugs and kisses, and snuggle to read a book. But he can also pitch a total fit if he doesn't get what he wants.

He's still not really talking. We've had some improvement over the last week with "m" and "d" sounds. He will occasionally do "mama" and "more". He's also trying "up" and "out" and said "dada" for the first time this past weekend. I think he's been so interested in the physical movement that maybe he's just not trying to talk?? And I think Catherine does a lot of talking for him :) His comprehension is great and he actually can communicate fairly well with his grunting and pointing, but I hope he starts picking up more words soon. I'm trying to be patient and not worry, but that's what a mommy is supposed to do, right?

Here are some cute pics from splashing in the bathtub tonight. I was soaked by the time they were done, but they were having so much fun!

Happy 1 1/2 Will!!

Painting Week

Last week was Painting Week. Catherine and Will stayed in WV all week with Mimi and PopPop while I painted like a crazy woman. I seriously worked on the house from 8/9am each morning until 11pm each night. It was an exhausting, yet productive week. I kept thinking "I have to get this done before Catherine and Will get home." There is no way I can paint while they're here. I would have too many helpers :)

So our finished products are:

The Hall Bath--no more peeling wallpaper. yeah! Its updates include fresh paint, repaired grout and caulk, new shower curtain, rod, and rings & a bleached tile floor (which i scrubbed with a toothbrush for about 1 1/2 hours).

The walls in the bathroom in our bedroom were in really bad shape. Last year we put in a new vanity, toilet, medicine cabinet, and fixtures. But we had never repaired where we took down the tile fixtures from the wall. And there was lots of peeling paint. It looks so much better now (even if it is still small). I also painted our bedroom this same neutral color.

The kitchen--no more brass! We replaced the kitchen faucet, hinges, and knobs with oil rubbed bronze ones. A good sanding and fresh coat of white paint and they almost look new. Well, they still have their 45 year old charm, but they look much better :)

I also painted the living room and the hallway the same tan color as the hall bath, no more yellow.

The paint definitely freshened up the house and made it look clean and simple. I have a few more inside projects to finish up this week and then we're moving on to the outside projects in April. Hopefully by the end of April or beginning of May we'll be ready to put it up for sale. Overall it was a really busy week, but it is nice to see some immediate results from your work. I don't get that very often as a mom. It was rewarding to just do some physical "mindless" work and have hours to just think and pray. But I did tell Jay that I'm not painting the next house we buy!

Ready?

Are you ready for warmer, sunnier weather? Will is!