Thursday, December 23, 2010

Christmas Eve-eve!

I still can't believe tomorrow is Christmas Eve! Z is off tomorrow so I most likely won't be back online to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, so here you go!!!


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Monday, December 20, 2010

Amazing!!

Chase has been doing and saying so many new things lately!! His vocabulary is really coming along. Some new things he's saying are:

- bu (means bus. He absolutely LOVES school buses and anytime he see's one he will squeal "Bu! Bu!")
- mom (he likes to walk around the house saying "mom, mom, mom...."....I love hearing it!)
- dada
- ta-ta (means Santa. he also loves to squeal "TA-TA!" anytime he see's a Santa or Christmas lights)

He still says "ba-ba" for alot of things and when we tell him the correct name he does try and repeat it. He is also saying "hi" still, but in his drawn out southern voice.......I have GOT to get it on video so you can hear it! His new thing now is to point to everything! It's absolutely adorable.

I'm trying to wrap my head around the fact that in 3 weeks Ty will be 7.........he is inching ever so quickly to the double digit age and that scares me!! He is such a smart boy.......still in the highest reading group and doing SO well in math and other areas! And he still says when he grows up he wants to be a teacher.....I think he would do an amazing job. We still have moments where he is super mouthy and grumpy, but what kid isn't?!? I wouldn't trade him for anything! (same goes for Chase, obviously...LOL)

Christmas week!!

I can not believe Christmas is this week!!! I'm hoping Chase and I are feeling better by the end of the week, but other than being sick I am SO excited about this week!!!! The tree has survived, albeit barely....LOL! Decorations are up and baking will be done this week, as ty's last day of school is today! Christmas eve we are going to Pigeon Forge, even though they are calling for rain. (why does it seem to rain on Christmas eve every year?!? LOL) I want to get some pics posted of a few of the decorations.......hopefully i'll get a chance later today!!! Anyone else have any holiday decorations to share?!?!? I LOVE this time of year!!!!! Photobucket


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So excited.....

....and yet worried at the same time. Last Thursday Ty was supposed to have his school program, but because of the ice storm we had school was cancelled, as was the program. (they actually missed3 days of school last week because of the weather and didn't have enough time to practice their program) They decided to reschedule the program to tonight, and he also has his Christmas party today at school which we are all invited to. I am SO excited!! Now the worried part.....Chase and I are both sick. :( I was really bad last Friday and even though i'm not as bad right now, I have a horrible cough and runny/stuffy nose and poor Chase has a nasty barky cough and a runny nose. :( I really was looking forward to going to the Christmas party, but I don't want to make all the other kids in Ty's class sick from Chase and I, and now i'm worried he and I will have to miss the program tonight. *sigh*

Monday, December 13, 2010

Christmas shopping

For myself! It felt so weird buying something specific, that I actually didn't need, and was just for me! The in-laws sent money for Z and I and for the boys (plus Z's brother sent money for the boys), which was so very sweet of them to think of Z and I. We knew they were sending money for the boys, mainly because it's so much cheaper to do that and not have to mail a huge package! LOL We picked up some awesome gifts for the boys; for Ty we got a HUGE Hotwheels garage set and a nerf gun with some darts. For Chase we got him a musical drum and a HUGE Tonka Chuck and Friends playset, plus a CHuck and Friends school bus. (he LOVES school buses!) I had seen some adorable mittens at Walmart that I had wanted to get, but they only had two pairs and they both had holes in them. :( I had also seen the socks before, so I picked up a couple of pairs. One had Santa and the other pair had a polar bear on them. Here is a pick of the Santa socks:



I didn't get a pic of the polar bear socks because I was wearing them! ;) I did end up getting a pair of mittens, but they weren't as cute as the original pair I had seen. They had an adorable snowman on them, so I was happy! Well, we ended up going back to Walmart last night and I decided to check one more time for the mittens I wanted......they had two pair again....one pair had a hole still, but the second pair was perfect!!!! I was SO excited!!!! Here are my mittens....the snowman pair AND the cute pair!!!



I don't know what it is about the striped pair, but I just LOVE the colors!! And they are both so warm and comfy.

Snow day!!

Yesterday we got some snow flurries on and off all day, but overnight we got close to 2" of the white stuff!!! It looks SO beautiful out there. And the best part, school is closed!!! I'm actually really glad they closed school....I would hate to have to drive on our road the way it is right now. Heck, I drove on it when it just had a dusting of snow on it and I slide a few times, so I can only imagine how bad it is now!! But get this......last night not only did I get a call from the school board letting me know school was closed, I also got a text AND an email about it! LOL

I'm going to start my spaghetti sauce sometime soon so it can simmer most of the day, plus i'm thinking today is going to be a baking day! Later this week i'm going to make some more peanut brittle and some extra cookies to mail out some goodie packages.........i'm going to try my best to stay out of the peanut brittle this time!!!! ;)

Thursday, December 9, 2010

How is it possible......

That my little doodle is 18 month old today?!?!? I feel like I blinked and the time just flew past me! He is such an amazing boy and has been a true blessing to our family..........

Happy 1 1/2 years old, Chase!!!

Snapfish deal!

Snapfish is offering 50 free prints AND free shipping!! (this is different than the 50 free they offer with new accounts)

Coupon code is: HPINK50

Also, I think you HAVE to order 50 prints in order to make the code work......but I am such a photo junkie I had plenty of pics to print!!


Enjoy!!!

Monday, December 6, 2010

Letters from Santa *EDIT*

I totally forgot to post about the boys mailing their letters to Santa a week or so ago! Well, Saturday they each got letters back from Him! They are so sweet......they are both pre-printed letters, but "Santa" hand writes something at the bottom as a "P.S." and it usually has something to do with what the letters they received said. Like the letter for Ty.......he told Santa he had been such a big help to mommy with his baby brother, and on the letter he received Santa wrote at the bottom "I'm glad you are a big help to mommy!" He got the biggest kick out of that!!! The letters are totally free.....well, it's the cost of a stamp to mail a letter to Santa first, but it doesn't cost anything to get a letter back. You can mail your letters to Santa at:

Santa's Elves
P.O. Box 1
Santa Claus, IN 47579

Even the return envelope is adorable!!



Make sure you mail them by December 21st!! Enjoy!

**Edit!!** Here is a link to their site where you can print your own letters.

Some grocery deals

To try and be a little more upbeat, I should mention the great grocery deals we got this weekend. Kroger has a special going on where you buy 10 participating items you get $5 off. (can mix or match things) and this past Saturday we really cleaned up. They have Orville Redenbacher popcorn for $1.49. Right where the popcorn is there is a small machine thingie attached to the shelf that had coupons for .55 off when you bought one 3 pack of Orville popcorn.......that made the popcorn .94 a box. They also had the Krusteaz cookie box mixes (the ones I have raved about) on sale for .99. Attached to the Chocolate Chunk cookie boxes (and one of the Snickerdoodle boxes) are coupons for .55 off......that made the cookie mixes .44 a box! I know i've gone on and on about how good the Krusteaz cookies are, but I just can't get over how good they taste for being a cookie mix!! The only cookie I didn't care for was their peanut butter. (and anything peanut butter is my favorite!) But the sugar, chocolate chunk and snickerdoodle are amazingly yummy. And SO darn simple to make!! Just one egg and a stick of butter! I don't know how Krusteaz has managed to make a cookie mix taste so good, but they have. The one thing we have done differently is with the chocolate chunk.....I run the mix through a sifter to remove the chocolate chunks they use and replace them with my own chocolate chips (either Tollhouse or Gheridelli chips). Don't get me wrong, I love their chocolate chunks, but I prefer the other chips added.

Anyhoo, Krogers has the same sale going on this week as well. We ended up actually saving more than we spent on Saturday! I think we spent a little over $50 and saved close to $70! If you have a Krogers near you, you really need to check out their sale this week. :)

Sad weekend

This was such a rough weekend for the family. We had to say goodbye to our beloved furbaby Honey.

This is how I will remember her......smiling........




Love you sweet baby girl.......mommy misses you so very much. I'm so sorry I let you down......Photobucket

Thursday, December 2, 2010

New teeth!!

I just discovered Chase now has two new teeth coming in!! They are up at the top, and i'm thinking they are his first molars. His gums on the bottom feel slightly swollen, so i'm thinking he may be getting new ones there as well. Whew, I was wondering when he would get more chompers in.....he's been stuck at 8 for what seems like forever!!

Monday, November 29, 2010

Shutterfly rocks the cards!!

I can't say enough about Shutterfly's Holiday cards! They have such an amazing selection of cards to choose from, and their print quality is SO top notch! I have never had any problems with quality when I have ordered anything from Shutterfly, but their cards totally rock. They are printed on premium card stock and the color is so bright and vibrant! They not only offer holiday cards, but they have wall calendars at a great price! They make GREAT gifts!!! Shutterfly also offers up some really cute birthday cards. I just can't say enough about Shutterfly! Their customer service rocks, shipping is VERY reasonable, and super quick! Their website is VERY easy to navigate and it's so very simple to create your cards or whatever you decide to create. Everyone who has received something I created has always raved about the quality and how much they loved the item!!

I have to say my favorite card design is this:



How cute is that?!? I also love this design:



I'd say the only "problem" with Shutterfly is trying to pick one design! And to prove how great they are, Shutterfly is offering 50 FREE Holiday Cards if you are a blogger!! Sign up here. Trust me, you will NOT be dissapointed!!

Yummy!!

This weekend I finally got a candy thermometer and decided to try making some candy for the first time.....peanut brittle!!! I've been wanting to make this since I tried the recipe last Christmas....Z finally got the recipe for me and I couldn't wait to try it! Let's just say it is a HUGE hit.......



I seriously can't stay out of the container! I want to do up a few goodie boxes this year as gifts and was hoping this would turn out yummy so I can send some........now to try the orange fudge recipe!!!! Photobucket

Our tree is up!

Yesterday we finally got the rest of the tree out and up.....it looks SO pretty!! Ty and Chase love it......now to figure out how to stop Chase from messing with it.



I wasn't going to much else, but I did get the boys stockings up. With us being in a smaller home I didn't want to clutter it too much with decorations, and for me that is SO hard, as I love to decorate for Christmas. I may still put a few things up here and there, but for the most part I think the tree will be it.

Friday, November 26, 2010

Thanksgiving is over....

Hope everyone had a fantastic Turkey day! Our Thanksgiving was nice....we got a really nice surprise; Z's paycheck went into the bank a day early!! We had plans to take the boys to Bass Pro Shop to get free pics with Santa and weren't going to do any shopping, but with his check going in early we got in on a few deals yesterday! Pics with Santa went good.....poor Chase cried!




The santa was AWESOME!! He was so patient and sweet.....they were offering one free 4x6 print, but we got 5! And that included a family pic! They were all so nice. While at Bass Pro Shop, we got Chase an adorable footie sleeper........



And in case you can't see what it says at the top left:



My dad would SO approve!!! LOL I'll be sure to get pics of him wearing this sleeper........

So last night Walmart started part of their black friday sale at 12:01am, and what we wanted was in that sale so Z decided to run out while the boys and I stayed home. (they had pj's for the boys for $4 a set and sleep pants for me for $4 also, adn we always get the boys new pj's for Christmas) I woke up right around 11:30 to pee and it was pouring outside!!! Z had already left for Walmart, so Idecided to stay up and see if I could find some deals online. (didn't find any) Z got home right after 12:30am and had almost all of what we wanted to get! They didn't have any footed sleepers for Chase, but he did get Ty two pairs of pj's; Spongebob and Toy Story. And he got a pair of sleep pants for me. He said the store was crazy!!! People were tearing into the pallets of stuff before midnight to get toys and clothes and stuff was everywhere!! Plus add the rain to it and it was a mess.....but he said he was glad he went. I tried to order some things for Chase online at Walmart since they were offering some things for the sale prices....and of course the sizes I wanted were all sold out....and to top it off, Walmart didn't start their sale prices online until after 3am!! Photobucket Oh well......at least we got the footie pj's yesterday. All in all we had a great Thanksgiving......now bring on Christmas!!!!


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Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Getting ready....

So i've been slowly coming around to the idea of Christmas....ok who am I kidding, i'm SO excited that Christmas is coming!!! Photobucket I have almost all of the boys gifts wrapped and hidden, and all we really need to do is get a few stocking stuffers for them and we are done. (I keep saying this and I keep picking things up for them.....) This past weekend I decided to work on pics of the boys for Christmas cards.....yeah, that was fun. I'm not going to post any of the pics here as I still haven't ordered cards yet....let's just say i'm going to work with the pics I did get and leave it at that. Photobucket


I am really looking forward to this Thanksgiving.......bring on the turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, veggies and of course pumpkin pie with tons of Redi-Whip. Photobucket

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Wow, how is it possible?

2 weeks from today is Thanksgiving?!?!? How did that happen? I'm actually looking forward to eating some yummy food, especially pumpkin pie.........Photobucket



Wow, before I know it it will be time for Christmas!!! Photobucket Not that I am rushing time at ALL, but I can't wait to start getting Christmas decorations out!

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

WOW, what a freebie!

I had signed up for a freebie from Natrelle through a Facebook freebie they were offering but I honestly thought I didn't sign up in time. (especially since I had seen so many have received their freebie the past few weeks) Well, Fedex just left an amazing package on the doorstep!!! It's my freebie from Natrelle!!! This is the cute bag......



And here are the goodies inside!!!!



The blue book is a beautiful journal. This was such a shock to get!!

Cookies!!!

So I had mentioned here that we had bought Krusteaz cookie mixes from Krogers. We had peanut butter and sugar, and the sugar cookies ROCKED!! The peanut butter were ok, just kind of blah tasting. Well, we went back to Krogers and got several more boxes of sugar and a box of Chocolate Chunk. (and we got an amazing deal on them!! They were on sale for $1.49, and the 4 boxes we bought had a coupon peelie on them for .55 off....so less than $1 a box!!!)



So today I made the Chocolate Chunk and let me just say.......YUM!!!! They have such an amazing taste.......I just can't get over how easy they are to make, just like the sugar cookies!!!

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Days like this.....

This morning has been so flippin' rough. Chase was wide awake at 4:30am.......when I got up to make him another bottle to see if that would help him go back to sleep, I stepped in something wet. Great, one of the dogs or cat got sick on the floor. Brought Chase his bottle and laid back down to see if I could go back to sleep....started smelling something and got up to see one of the girls had gotten sick again. Nice. I finally just get up to get my day started. I had thought Chase went back to sleep but he didn't.....he was at the end of the bed chatting away. I decided to get him up so he wouldn't wake Ty too early. I was getting Ty's lunch together and Chase grabbed a Cheeto cheese crunchy off the table. No biggie, just one isn't a big deal. A little later on he came up to me to pick him up and I notice something white on his face.......then I could smell it. He had gotten sick, but only a little bit was on his outfit so I figured that was it.....WRONG. I go into the living room and there are 3 places where he got sick. *sigh* How in the world did I not hear him?!?!? Get him and the carpet cleaned up, then got some Febreze sprayed. Put everything away and I hear Honey cough a little.....no biggie, she's had that cough for about a week but it's getting so much better now that she's on some meds..........I looked and she had gotten sick. Photobucket I got the carpet stuff out again and scrubbed the carpet. All of this happened before 6:15am. I sat down at the computer to relax and Chase was walking around saying "mom, mom, mom.......mom, mom, mom..." That totally made up for the crappy morning I was having.......Photobucket

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Yum, yum, yum!!

This past weekend to went to Krogers, and they had a really good deal on boxed cookie mixes made by Krusteaz.



I had heard they were fairly decent, but were a little pricey. Well, Krogers had them for $1.45 a box, so I got 2; peanut butter (of course) and sugar. I decided to make the sugar cookies today......it was SO simple!!! Just add 1 egg and one stick of butter or margarine (I used margarine because we are out of butter). The dough smelled oh so yummy, and I couldn't wait to bake some!! Let's just say these bad boys are going to go fast in this house!!! Photobucket They have such an amazing taste, considering they came from a box! (and considering how EASY they were!) The recipe can be changed to make the dough ready for cut out cookies, and I am so going to try that for Christmas!!!

Here is the end result........minus a few cookies Photobucket



Also, this past weekend we went to Dollar Tree and I found something I had been looking for for years.....a cookie spatula!! Z saw it and said "Who in the world would want a cookie spatula....you don't flip cookies over!" I saw what he was talking about and squealed!!! I told him you use it to take the cookies off the cookie sheets and he just looked at me weird......I had one of these a long time ago but it broke and could never find the right "spatula". And here it was.....and for only $1!! I only bought one, but I am definitely going back this weekend to get several more.......



I love this thing!!!! Photobucket

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

ENT follow up

Yesterday's appointment went great!! I got the all clear and was officially released from his care. In fact, he said my throat healed so well it looked as though I never even had tonsils! I did ask about the adenoids and he said they usually do go away on their own. He also said the labs came back just fine on my tonsils, and he thinks the right one was hard because at one point it developed a cyst/bad infection and the scare tissue made it hard. But all in all he is very happy with how things went, as am I!!! I am SOOOO glad I had those nasty tonsils out!!!

Monday, November 1, 2010

Some new kicks!!!

This weekend the boys got some new shoes!! Chase got his very first pair of shoes, and we didn't have to spend a small fortune on them!!! When we first put them on him he hated it....he kept sitting down and trying to undo the velcro! LOL But once he got used to them, he LOVED them!!



*sigh* He looks so grown up. Ty got some boots for the winter, but he wouldn't let me get a pic of him wearing them. :( He was grumpy this weekend!!! Hopefully i'll get a pic of him in his boots to share soon......

Monday rolls around again

Boy did this weekend go by fast. We were so busy and on the run that it just flew by! Friday Z went to the bank and got our Christmas fund out so we could start getting things for the boys. We got some really great deals, and they are just about done! It feels so good to be able to say that, knowing that we don't have to worry about where the money will come from for the boys gifts. Money is tight all year long, but it's usually extra tight around the holidays! For Ty we got him:

- a Penguin Pillow Pet. He wanted the pig, but everytime I went to order it it was either sold out or kept going up in price!! He said he also liked the penguin and puppy, so we got him the penguin.
- a Spongebob Lego set, plus a starter Lego kit.
- a Leapster 2. he has the original Leapster but we feel he is ready for the next one, but not quite yet ready for more expensive handheld gaming systems....so far the Leapster can take his abuse! LOL
- I Spy Leapster game....He just LOVEs those I Spy books, as do I!!
- a 5 pack of Hot Wheel cars....like he needs more....he has SO many of them and they are always laying everywhere, but Kmart had them super cheap so we couldn't resist.
- 2 Matchbox play sets that hook together.

I still want to get him a few Chapter Books, since he loves to read so much.....plus we still need to get him a few more things for his stocking. And for Chase we have gotten:

- an Elmo play set. Kmart had a huge markdown on toys a few months ago and we got an amazing deal on it!!
- an Elmo alphabet bus
- a Monkey Pillow Pet. Of course I had to get him the monkey....he is, after all, my little monkers!!!
- a 5 pack of Hot Wheel cars...we are such a gluten for punishment. Photobucket
- Yo Gabba Gabba dvd
- Spongebob hat and mitten set.....I saw this at the store last Friday and tried it on him....he looked ADORABLE!!!!



We also need to get him a few more things for his stocking. Not too bad, huh?!? I am SOOOOO ready to get started with decorating for the holidays.....ok, is it wrong that I already have our first decoration up?!?



Ok, to be fair I had to hang it up because the little wooden thingie broke and I need to keep it flat so it wouldn't break any worse.....that's my story and i'm sticking to it!!! Photobucket

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Missing my creativity

I SOOOO miss scrapbooking. We moved so I had to pack up all of my scrapbook stuff and we honestly just don't have the room to get it all out and set up......even the kitchen table is cluttered with junk! Photobucket I could probably make room in the boys bedroom (where we have all of our unpacked boxes right now) but I really don't know how long we will be staying in this home and I have no idea where in the world to put the stuff we still have packed up!! I've been doing a little digital scrapbooking, but it's not really the same..........ugh, i'm such a whiney hiney!

Speaking of the kitchen table being cluttered, i really need to get that cleared off and get more things organized around here. Apparently Ty's teacher (along with a second grade teacher) are doing home visits and I really want to make sure the house is in some kind of order......obviously i'm not going for spotless, but "lived in" would be nice! Photobucket Ahhh, I guess we'll see what I can accomplish today.

So it has been 3 weeks, as of tomorrow, that my tonsils have come out. I still have a dry cough, but other than that they healed nicely. I can pretty much eat what I was eating before, and the drinks that were tasting off are now tasting normal again. But get this......this morning I woke up and my right tonsil was hurting, especially when I would swallow. (just like when tonsilitis was strarting) How is it hurting when it's not even there?!?!? So weird......I took some of the pain medicine they gave me and it helped a little. I have my follow up appointment with the ENT doctor this coming Monday so we'll see what he has to say.

I can't believe Halloween is this weekend! Ty is getting so excited........I can't wait to see my boys all dressed up again. Photobucket

I also can't believe that November is Monday.....where has this year gone?!?!? I'm hoping to do some Christmas shopping for the boys after I drop Ty off at school on Monday. We have a few things for them already, which is good. We're going to get both boys a Pillow Pet.....Ty has been asking for one of those things for months now!!! He loves the pig they have, but so far I can only find that one online. He has also said he likes the puppy and the penguin, and i've seen both of those at Walmart. Of course we're getting Chase the monkey, which i've also seen at Walmart! I'm also hoping to get Ty some chapter books, as he just LOVES to read! Chase has been a little tougher to shop for......he's at that age where he's not quite big enough for things, or is too big for it. We are going to get him a Yo Gabba Gabba dvd, and we've gotten him some Elmo things so far, but that's about it. He LOVES anything with music, so i'll see what I can find at the store on Monday. Plus both boys will get new pj's, which we get them every year.....plus they will each get an ornament. I actually am looking forward to Christmas this year!!! In fact, yesterday while I was cooking dinner I put a Christmas cd in and was singing and dancing while cooking....Chase LOVED the music!!! Ty was outside playing and he came in and asked me "Mom, why in the world are you listening to Christmas music already?!?" Before I knew it, all three of us were dancing in the kitchen! I just love moments like that........Photobucket