Thursday, December 29, 2011

Montagne Jeunesse

Once again, thanks to Influenster's Holiday VoxBox, I got to try the Passion Peel Off face mask from Montagne Jeunesse! I loved how this product felt and how easy it was to apply. And it Peeled off SO clean and easy, it was just perfect!!! Afterwards, my face felt so smooth and hydrated! I really love how they offer so many different masks and that they are SO affordable!! And another huge plus, they are easily available at places like Walmart, Target and CVS...just to name a few!

If you haven't tried these masks from Montagne Jeunesse, I highly recommend you give them a shot!!!

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Merry Christmas!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!! I posted pics from our outting last night to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg on Facebook.....we all had a BLAST!!! The boys loved seeing all the lights. And they had so much fun this morning with opening gifts......i'll try and post a few pics of the goodies they got a little bit later.

Take care everyone and have a very Merry Christmas!!!!!

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Ty surprised me today!

He brought home all kinds of crafts that he made at school recently!!

He made a really cute reindeer ornament out of clothes pins, a snowman ornament made from a popsicle stick and a candy cane ornament. He also made a calendar and a coaster to sit drinks on!!! The calendar is SO cool....he drew a picture for each month!!



He also made an amazing Christmas tree....



Also today at school was Grinch day and all the kids wore green......he said they got to watch the movie The Grinch, and even got a treat!!

Monday, December 19, 2011

Think it's time

Well, I think it's time to buckle down and get to potty training Chase. Saturday he actually did #2 in the big potty, and yesterday he peed in the big potty 5 times!! He still isn't really telling me he has to go to the bathroom, but i'm thinking he will start any day with that. For now I ask him if he has to go every 20 minutes or so, and usually when he wakes up, before and after a nap. (not like he takes naps that often anymore, though!) One incentive that seems to be working is telling him he can wash his hands after he goes potty....he LOVES to wash his hands like a big boy!! We'll get some training pants soon and then if things continue to go well we'll get him some big boy undies. I just can't believe we are ready for this.........why do they have to grow up so fast?!?!?!?!

Saturday, December 17, 2011

NYC New York Color

Once again, thanks to influenster for sending me the Holiday voxbox I got to try NYC New York Color Liquid Lipshine!







Lipgloss is one of my favorite accessories, and the NYC Lipshine is one of the best I have used!! I love how easy it is to apply, and that it doesn't feel sticky at all on your lips and leaves them looking so nice and shiny, but not too shiny. The Lipshine comes in some super cute colors, and can be found just about anywhere you normally shop, like Walmart, Target, Rite Aid, and CVS just to name a few!! And the best part? They are VERY affordable!! Prices start at just .99! Link

imPRESS Press-on Manicure

Thanks to influenster for sending me the holiday voxbox, I got to try the imPress Press On Nails!



How cute is the container they come in?!? It looks like a bottle of nail polish! Now, I didn't get a color that I would normally use, but I just couldn't wait to try them!! They were SO easy to put it....literally just peel and push on! I did have some issues with the sizes fitting my nails, but all in all I really liked these press on nails. Obviously there is no drying time involved and they came off VERY easy! They can last up to a week, but I didn't leave them on that long as I really didn't think that particular color went with my clothes. But I will definitely be purchasing a different color soon!!!

Hoo are you?!?

NightOwlCrafting

I know i'm late doing this..........time keeps getting away from me!!!




Here are this week's questions!

1. Is all your Christmas shopping done?

For the most part, yes!! We still need to get the boys their stocking stuffers, but that's it!

2. Do you decorate for Christmas and if so when?

Sure do!! The past two years i've had to downsize the decorating since we are in such a small house now. I LOVE to go all out, though!! We put our tree up right after Thanksgiving. Hopefully next year we will be in a new home and will be able to decorate outside again!!

3. Do you bake during the Holiday season?

Oh yes, and being a diabetic it isn't always a good thing!! We do basic cookies, like chocolate chip and sugar cookies and we just started doing candies, like peanut brittle and chocolate covered pretzels.

4. What are your favorite smells of this time of year?

I love the smell of cookies baking and the smell of fresh cut Christmas trees...even though we have an artificial tree!!

5. What are your favorite things to do during the Holiday Season?

Every Christmas Eve we go to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg to see all the lights!! The boys love it, and it will be even more magical since our youngest is old enough to really be into all the lights! Every morning when we take our oldest to school and we pass lights Chase will say "Christmas lights!" We also get a funnel cake up in Gatlinburg, yum!! It's our family tradition now! (and it helps that we only live 25-30 minutes away!)



I love doing these SO much!!!!!

Friday, December 16, 2011

WOOT!

Mail has been really bad lately as far as freebies go. But today was so AWESOME!! I got:

- cosmic catnip sample (MeeMee should love this stuff!)
- Christmas card from in-laws with a check
- $50 Best Buy gift card that I redeemed from MyCokeRewards when they had that special last month!! (so glad I held onto the points I had!)
- Kohl's order that I got an amazing deal on......$7.99 towels for $4.20...for BOTH!!! (and free shipping!!) They so fit into our family......


Yum!

Yesterday Z and I made chocolate covered pretzels!! A few weeks ago we got a huge block of Ghirardelli Candy Making chocolate from Sam's and couldn't wait to try it! We used small regular pretzels and some waffle pretzels, and they turned out amazing!!! We even added some cute sprinkles and red & green sugar to them:



Obviously we made more than that, but I forgot to take pics yesterday when we were making them (bad, I know!) and Z took quite a bit with him to work this morning to share. I'm hoping we get to make more next week so we can give a few to our GOOD neighbors, as well as some cookies and possibly peanut brittle. I'm keeping fingers crossed that i'll also be able to mail some peanut brittle out! I'd love to also mail some of the pretzels, but I seriously doubt they will do good if mailed.

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!!!!! Only 8 days until Christmas, AHHHH!!!!!! Photobucket

Monday, December 12, 2011

So excited!!

The boys got their letters from Santa!! Ty was so excited because Santa added his own personal message at the bottom of the letter........Photobucket


Hard to believe....

Christmas is two weeks from yesterday!!! This week is Ty's last full week of school....next week he goes Monday and Tuesday and on Wednesday it is a half day. He's so excited about the break, but I can just hear him now on his first full day off..."Mom....i'm bored!"

This weekend was nice. On Friday, after I dropped Ty off at school I took Chase to see the doctor. (well, it was the nurse practitioner) He has an ear infection in his left ear, which we kind of figured as hey would be playing and out of the blue jump up and start crying and grabbing his left ear. :( So he is now on antibiotics. After the appointment we hit Target. The in-laws sent a check to get the boys something for Christmas. (SO much easier for them since they are in MD) I found a few small things in Targets $1 section and then headed to the toys. It was so cute....Chase saw a doll and kept saying "Mama, baby doll!! Baby doll!!" I kept walking and he wasn't happy about that. Now, I don't have any issues with my son having a baby doll, but I am NOT buying a doll that "poops"!! It's enough that i'm cleaning his butt, I don't need to clean up after some doll! We left the baby isle and something else caught his eye.....a super cute and SUPER squishy bear!! (Chase is SO into bears!!!) I picked it up and loved how soft it was....and it was a really great price!! I asked him if he would like to get this bear and he yelled "YAH!" He instantly laid his head down on it, and I knew it was perfect for him. I figured that would something nice from the in laws for him. :) I also found a Fisher Price Magnetic drawing board thingie (the one that has a "pen" attached to it and he can draw, then slide something to clear the board). This child LOVES to draw and goes through almost as much paper as Ty does so this is perfect!!! I looked at all kinds of things for Ty and nothing really stood out.....they had some Lego stuff on sale, but we already got him several Spongebob sets already. I finally looked at the board games and remembered he wanted the game Sorry, so I got him that from the in-laws. I didn't see anything else, but we ended up going back to Target yesterday and we found a REALLY cool pair of dino pj's for Ty!!! He loved them! So we picked them up, also from the in-laws, but I let him have them early. He put them on as soon as we got home and kept them on all day! LOL

Friday night Z got our layaway out and Saturday I got everything wrapped. :) Now I can't wait for Christmas!! Also on Friday we got a few goodie baskets mailed out (and they should get them either today or tomorrow!) and I still have a few to make up. Hopefully we'll get them done sometime this week. Z is off tomorrow (he has a biopsy scheduled for tomorrow morning, though) and on Thursday and i'm hoping Thursday we'll get a few more goodies made up and mailed.

Well, unfortunately I have dishes calling my name so I need to get offline. Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and has a GREAT week!!!

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Received my Holiday Voxbox!!

I got my Holiday Voxbox from influenster!! It is AWESOME!!!!!

So excited!!!



Can't wait to dig in!!



Woohoo!!!



It came with:

- imPRESS Press-on manicure
- Softsoap cocnut scrub bar soap (2 bars!)
- Montagne Jeunesse face mask
- New York color liquid lip shine
- Mentos Pure fresh gum
- Larabar

So far i've only tried the Mentos gum and it is SO strong, but SO good!!!

Friday, December 2, 2011

On a mission

Today I am putting my foot down and getting some really good (and long overdue) cleaning done! The kitchen is a disaster....dishes have been sitting, the counters are cluttered and I am just tired of looking at it all. As of today, and this weekend, I am stepping up and getting things cleaned and organized!!!!!! My goal for today:

- finish up and put away laundry (had to wash Z's work uniforms)
- get every single dish washed
- declutter the counter
- sweep/vacuum the floor

Off I go!!!!

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Officially done shopping for Christmas!!

Other than a few stocking stuffers (the traditional mini m&m tubes and a few small things) we are done!! Ty has been done (even though we still keep picking things up for him.....but we are putting things away for his birthday, which is a few weeks after Christmas) and as of this morning Chase is now done!! Yesterday morning I ordered a really cute pair of Mickey footie pj's for Chase and this morning I found a Mickey table and chairs set that I had been wanting to get him.....well, I wanted to get him a small table and chair set like Ty had years ago, but the plain tables were almost $30!! I got him a Mickey table and chairs for $20 shipped!!! We'll get our layaway out in a few weeks, and then i'll get the fun of wrapping all of it......I love wrapping!!!! Dancing Santa Claus

Today I got all of our Christmas cards addressed and ready to mail out. Some will go inside of some goodie boxes I hope to get out this week. I just love this time of year!!

Friday, November 25, 2011

Todays awesome mail!

Today I got Olay Regenerist micro-sculpting cream from their Facebook giveaway!! I am blown away that it is full size...I was expecting just a small sample!! And it is the limited edition pink box for breast cancer awareness......

Friday! :)

And it's Black Friday at that! We didn't dare try to get in on any of the Black Friday stuff. We did hit Walmart last night, but it was to just get some things we needed. We got there around 6:45 and there were actually people camped out in some of the aisles, waiting for the 10pm deals!! I just shook my head. They had all of the 10pm sales wrapped up in plastic, and employees actually had to stay near them all the time to stop people from taking things before the sale started. Crazy!! I'm actually glad we got there when we did, because there were only a few "regular" shoppers in the store. When we left, which was almost an hour or so later, there were even MORE people camped out in certain areas of the store!! Just too funny......I did get online this morning and found a pair of Mickey Mouse footie pj's on Walmart online that I ordered. Shipping was cheap and it was worth paying to avoid going to the store today! LOL

SO I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Ours was just wonderful! I was worried it wasn't going to be all that good, as Z and I had gotten into a pretty bad disagreement the day before and things were still tense yesterday morning. But things seemed to work themselves out for the most part. Everyone was up early, unfortunately. LOL Chase hasn't been feeling 100% the past few days and has been getting up early. After everyone got up I went on a hunt to find a box of Christmas lights I knew we had (we put our tree up on Wednesday since Ty was off and every set of lights we had for the tree didn't work! I was so upset...:() and I finally found them!!! We usually do colored lights on the tree, but the box I found was all white lights. I didn't care as I was just happy to have lights!!! (although after Christmas this year I am buying new lights for next year! LOL) Z and I got the lights on the tree, then Ty and I got the garland put on. After a small break, we got the ornaments on the tree! Z gave the boys their new ornaments, and they both loved them!! Chase took his school bus and immediately pulled out his toy garage and played with it! Ty put his right on the tree. :) Here is the end result:



Obviously the bottom is a little bare because of Chase...and MeeMee! LOL

After we got the tree up Z decided to call the bank to see if his check went in early. (one of the reasons we got into a disagreement the day before....he was hoping (well, actually counting on it) his check was going to go in on Wednesday and it didn't) Low and behold it was in there!!! We quickly got everyone ready and went out for the day. We ended up at Bass Pro Shop to see Santa!!! The boys did so good....and the Santa there is just AWESOME!!!! He is so sweet and takes his time with each child, and lets you get more than one free picture!! I posted the Santa pic on Facebook. I also got some amazing pics of the boys throughout the store that i'll add to Facebook shortly. (i'd rather not share on here due to a lurker) But after seeing Santa they got to ride on a carousel, which was new this year. Ty got to ride a bear and Chase rode a moose!! Both boys had SO much fun looking at all the fun things there....especially the HUGE fish they have! We got some popcorn and some fresh roasted almonds, cashews and pecans (roasted with cinnamon....YUM!!!) and I actually got a super cute hoodie for only $10!!!



After BPS, we hit a few other stores near Pigeon Forge and then came home to cook Thanksgiving dinner. It was SO good! We had such a great day.

Well, I am off to add some pics to Facebook from yesterday. Hope everyone has a wonderful Friday and weekend!!!!!

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Monday, November 21, 2011

Worry....*edit*

So last week Z had a follow up CT scan to see if a second tumor he has is shrinking. Tomorrow we find out the results and the worry is just insane!! I've been praying like crazy, and to be honest I feel in my heart things will be fine, but at the same time I can't stop my mind from wandering and thinking the worst things. And then it's rough with not having family/friends close by to lean on. Photobucket

If you all wouldn't mind keeping us in your throughs and prayers, it would be SO greatly appreciated. Photobucket

**So the appointment got cancelled and rescheduled for next Wednesday. They will check his results and if they show something wrong they will call him, but if things are ok they will wait until next Wednesday to go over the results.....I hate waiting!!

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Get a Melissa & Doug 25% Off Coupon When You Take the North "Poll"

Melissa & Doug want you to tell them which of their educational toys you think is the best! Just click on the image below to place your vote in the North "Poll!" You'll Get a Melissa & Doug 25% Off Coupon** to use at MelissaAndDoug.com just for voting!

Friday, November 11, 2011

11.11.11

Happy Veterans Day!!! I just wanted to say God Bless to all the wonderful men & women who have fought so valiantly for our freedom over the years and continue to do so. Saying Thank You just doesn't seem like enough. Photobucket


At Ty's school last night they did a Veterans Day program, and they were all amazing! All of the children worked SO hard and it really showed when they performed. And I was so happy to see so many parents/family members there to support the kids. There were also some veterans who didn't even have children that attend the school, they just came to see the program!! How cool is that?!?!? And the very best part of all?!? I got the whole performance on video!! I'll try and get it uploaded on Facebook to share with everyone. (I don't want to post it here as I have at least one lurker on my blog who I would rather not see the video....long story)

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Hoo are you?!?

NightOwlCrafting






Ok, so I stumbled on a really amazing blog called Night Owl Crafting and every week they do a Blog Hop, where you answer questions and link up to their site, then go to others blogs and comment! It sounds like SO much fun, so I want to try and do this.......here are this weeks questions!!

1. Do you type on a keyboard the correct way or do you peck like a cute little chick?

It really depends on what i'm typing out. If i'm just doing a quick post somewhere I usually do the peck typing, but when I do a long post (like to my blog) i'll type the "correct" way

2. Typically how long does it take you to get ready in the morning?

Honestly, not long at ALL! During the week I get up between 6-6:30 to take my oldest to school. My routine is usually get up to pee, wash face and brush teeth, then get dressed and then work on getting Ty up and ready.

3. Do you prefer lip gloss or lipstick?

Most definitely a lip gloss/chapstick girl!! I don't like the way lipstick feels on my lips....(weird, I know!)

4. Do you take clothes to the dry cleaner or wash them yourself even if they say dry clean only?

I don't own anything that is dry clean only, thank goodness!!

5. Do you prefer Wal Mart or Target?

Target!! Actually, Super Target!!! I absolutely LOVE their dollar section...especially with Christmas around the corner!! They have so many cute things for stocking stuffers!! (and some super cute scrapbooking things for only $1!!)



Woohoo, that was SO much fun!! (I just hope I did it right! LOL)

Monday, November 7, 2011

"Monday, monday..."

Blah!! Actually, this weekend didn't fly by as fast as it normally does. I think the time change had alot to do with it. Plus the fact that Ty wasn't feeling all that great yesterday. He has been complaining about his throat hurting him since he got out of school on Friday. :( His tonsils aren't red or swollen and he has no fever, so i've been giving him Motrin and some stuff for sore throats. He went to school today (he gets his flu mist today at school) and I told him if his throat gets bad today to have them call me and I will pick him up. Hopefully it won't bother him too much.

So this weekend was nice. Would have been nice if Z would have been off at least one day, but what can you do?!? I've been really missing him alot lately. Yesterday I pulled the rest of the cookie dough out and made more sugar cookies. I'm hoping when we hit Sam's club later this week they will have the sugar cookie mix again! I also need to get some chocolate chip cookie stuff and stuff for peanut brittle so I can get started on getting some goodie boxes made up and sent out. I'm hoping more survey money comes in so I can mail out the boxes by the end of this month!

I've been feeling sort of "down" lately (just alot on my mind....I wish I had a switch in my brain that I could just flip to shut off all the bad/yucky thoughts I get! LOL) and i've been playing more and more Christmas music.....that has helped lift my spirits SO much!! And it's so weird.....I hate going into stores and hearing that music already....like they are rushing time by!! And yet here I am listening to it at home.....LOL! Ty asked yesterday about going through our Christmas decorations and I told him I still wanted to wait a little longer for that....but honestly?!? I would have LOVED to have gone through it!! But knowing me I would have wanted to put some things out and I don't want to be tempted with that!!!

This week at Ty's school they are having a Veteran's Day program during the day for the school and are doing a repeat of it Thursday night. I can not wait!!! Ty supposedly has 2 solo songs!!! I told Z I wished our camcorder worked, but i'm going to try and get it on video with my camera....fingers crossed it works, as I want to share it with everyone!!! He is so excited about it, and we couldn't be prouder. :)

Ok, I need to get up and get started around here......dishes have been sitting for far too long. I HATE dishes. I got so spoiled with the dishwasher we had before we moved. I told Z when we move again in a few months (and hopefully for the last time, YAH!!) the only stipulation I have is I want a dishwasher!!

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Super fast!!!

On October 31st I placed an order with My Publisher for Christmas cards. I had gotten 2 emails (one for each account) offering 10 free cards, so I decided to just go ahead an order them. (I had ordered free mini photo books from them in the past) Well, I got them today!! I am SO impressed with how well they turned out!!! And at how well they were packaged! I had our return address printed on the envelope as well, and it was all for free!! I ended up with 20 total cards! It actually feels so good to have that part of the holiday to-do list done. :) Link

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

More sugar cookies!

A few days ago I made up the last of our sugar cookie mix. (we bought it last year and just now finished it up!) There was actually enough dough to make two batches, so I used it all up and put the dough in the fridge, hoping it would help with the dough sticking when trying to roll out. Now, i've done this before with different types of sugar cookie dough, but never this dough. In case you are wondering what kind i'm using.....



Why yes, that IS a 6lb bag of cookie mix!! And to be honest, I never thought a cookie mix could taste so darn good. I mean let's face it, most cookie mixes just don't come close to being as good as made from scratch cookies. Let me assure you, this is by far the best tasting sugar cookie I have ever had!! And not only is the sugar cookie mix good, but so are the Krusteaz Chocolate Chip and Snickerdoodle mix!! And all you do is add a stick of butter and one egg......SO SIMPLE!!! Everyone who has tasted the cookies I have made with these mixes has raved about how good they are and can't get over the taste. And many, many years ago my mom would bring these sugar cookies home that a a friend of her's mother would make, and they were almost as thin as a potato chip....and the taste was AMAZING! For years I have searched for a sugar cookie with that taste and I think I have finally found it.

Anyhoo, moving on. So I took some of the dough out yesterday afternoon and after dinner last night Ty and I made cookies. (Chase had no nap and was SO sleepy, he ended up in bed a little after 6:30) I decided to try using two pieces of wax paper again (one on the bottom and one on the top) to roll out the dough to see if that would help with it sticking. I had done it that way a few years ago with different cookie dough and it was such a mess. Well, it worked perfectly!!! In fact, I only put a tiny amount of flour down and that was all I needed!! And I actually managed to get several batches of cookies paper thin......OMW, they were heavenly!!!! A few of the thinner cookies stuck to the wax paper, but I used my cookie spatula (which is a HUGE lifesaver when it comes to making cookies....best $1 I ever spent!!) and they came right off the paper and transferred easily to the cookie sheet. I think the hardest part now is keeping Z and Ty (and myself!) out of the cookies!!! Photobucket

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Welcome, November!

It's SO hard to believe it's November already! This year has just flown by. Last night we took the boys to the mall for trick-or-treating and they had a ball!! We decided to go to a different, bigger mall this year and i'm SO glad we did!! The boys got so much candy, and not just tootsie rolls and lollipops! (at the previous mall we went to, that's about all the stores gave out....and that's if we made it on time to trick-or-treat!) They got some super cool stickers and little toys....they even got a Cars 2 card matching game from the Disney Store! The only down side to going to a bigger mall was more people, which honestly wasn't that big of a deal. The bad part was people that would just cut in front of people in the "line". Ugh, I swear I wanted to smack some of those people...they were SO rude!! Oh, and don't get me started on the older kids that were getting candy...and adults!! They had a sign up that had the "Rules" of the mall for TOT and it said it was only for kids 12 and under. There was one "boy" in front of us that had hair on his legs thicker than Z does!! And he sure didn't look like he was under 12. Photobucket It was crazy!! Some stores did refuse to give candy to some of the older kids/adults and I like that they stuck to the rules. Ohhh, Godiva was giving kids samples!! Chase did good in the beginning with walking and saying "trick-or-treat" and "thank you!" but after walking for a bit he was exhausted....I think mainly because he didn't get a nap yesterday. He LOVES to walk, but when I asked him if he wanted to get in his stroller and he4 said yes, I knew he was wiped out! LOL Here are my scary boys and their loot!! (Chase didn't wear the hat to his costume)



And what was even cuter was in the beginning when we first started out. Chase was SO excited when he saw people were actually putting things in his pumpkin!! After they would put something in, he would look in his pumpkin and get a huge smile on his face. And the more people who put something in there, the more excited he got! We made it to 4-5 people before he decided he was ready to eat something out of his pumpkin. It was just adorable seeing how much fun he was having now that he is old enough to "get trick-or-treating". I remember Ty being the exact same way when he got into it!! Photobucket

Well, Z was off yesterday (and it may be his last day off for awhile Photobucket) so we decided to do some Christmas shopping for the boys. (well, a layaway, anyway!) After we dropped Ty off at school we headed to Kmart over in Pigeon Forge. We wanted to do a layaway there mainly because Walmart had restrictions on their layaway....like, it was only for electronics, toys and jewelry and the items had to be over $15. We were highly disappointed in Kmart. They had a horrible selection of toys and what few things they did have were WAY overpriced. We did pick up a few things, like Ty needed a certain color shirt for his program at school next week (he actually has a solo!!) and we found a sweater for him that I had been looking all over for!! It was marked $20 but was 30% off (I think? maybe 40%?) so we picked it up. When it rang up it was only $10! We also got a super cheap dvd player since we put our dvd player in Ty's room to help him sleep in there. We also ended up getting a $5 Kmart gift card back because we spent a certain amount!!

When we left Kmart we headed to Walmart and decided to just do the layaway there. I am SOOOO glad we did!! I found the Spongebob Lego sets I wanted to get Ty, AND I found the Lego Duplos for Chase!! (he loves trying to play with Ty's Legos but they are just too small for him still) I also found a HUGE plastic container for storing Legos that also came with the flat Lego piece that you can build on....and it was only $10!! We also got Chase a Tonka Chuck & Friends set (love those!) and for both of the boys (and to help keep mommy sane while Chase and I wait at Ty's school!) we got a dual portable dvd player for the van!! We got such an amazing deal on it. Z also found a pair of headphones for Ty (he is so hard on them and they break so fast). Well, when we went to do the layaway I remembered things had to be at least $15 and we had two things that were under that. The lady and man that were ringing us up told us Walmart dropped that and it can be any amount as long as it was in the three categories....so we got to put everything on layaway!! Ty is SO done as far as Christmas goes. I didn't realize how many things we had gotten for him!! There are still a few things we want to get Chase, plus we need to get stocking stuffers for both, but we'll get those when it's closer to Christmas. And thanks to some awesome deals, survey money and freebies, it didn't cost us much out of pocket!!! Now that Halloween is over, I can't wait until Christmas!!! (not that I am rushing time at ALL!! LOL)

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Beyond angry

So, we have been dealing with issues with our furniture we purchased from Knoxville Wholesale Furniture back in February of last year. We only had it a month or so when we had issues with one of the cushions on the sofa. After months of trying to get it fixed it was done. Fast forward to April of this year. One of the recliners on the sofa broke. We were back and forth on the phone with the manager named Dale for weeks. He promised he would call Z back and NEVER did. Z always had to call him back...ALWAYS. Finally, after tons of broken promises, Knoxville Wholesale decided to just replace our sofa for us. Gee, thanks so much....after over 5 months of dealing with broken promises, complaints filed with the BBB and phone calls STILL not being returned, we finally had SOME closer. That is, until the recliner in the love seat started acting up. Yeah, you can see where this is going. Once again, Dale has shown what a HORRIBLE manger he is. The customer service is AWFUL!!!! He never calls back when he says and if by some miracle he DOES call back he rushes Z off the phone!! Well, someone was scheduled to come and get the love seat last week by noon and after they weren't here by 11:30 Z called to make sure someone was still coming....guess what?!? We were not on the schedule!!! So, as it stands we are done with Knoxville Wholesale Furniture. I can not get over how crappy their customer service is and how they can keep doing things like they do to customers. Z is going to just go there tomorrow on his lunch break (the manager Dale is off today) and demanding our money back. If they want to come and get the love seat still, come and get it and keep the darn thing. I don't want to have to deal with them ever again.

I urge anyone that lives in/near Knoxville Wholesale Furniture to avoid them at ALL costs!!! You can honestly find better deals at other furniture places, anyway!! They are NOT worth the hassle and aggravation if you have any issues...and trust me, you will have issues eventually.

Parent/teacher conference

So last night we had a meeting with Ty's teacher. This was Z's first time meeting her. Ty is doing GREAT!!! She showed us some papers from tests that he took to see just where he was with learning and he excelled at so many things.....even things that they NEVER taught him! She also said he is doing better with talking out in class, and that he really isn't the only one doing it. We are beyond proud of him!!! She also thanked me for "letting him do his homework", and I told her I had seen the new homework letter she sent home and read that she actually had to put on the letter.."Make sure your children are doing THEIR homework." I could not believe parents were actually writing their kids homework for them!! She said that's nothing compared to some not even turning it in ever and I looked at her kind of strange and she said there are 5 students who don't even bother turning it in. How sad is that?!? :( And i'm sure those same parents didn't even bother doing a conference with the teacher. I just don't understand how you can not give a damn about your child education. And his teacher is SOOO nice and VERY easy to talk to!! Why they just don't care i'll never understand. :(

One thing she did say about Ty is he rushes through his work and doesn't double check himself, and that's what cases him to get wrong answers on some things, and i told her he does the SAME thing at home!! So we'll work more with him on that. She also was telling us about a website the kids love to play games on and we told her Ty has been playing that site, as well as others she has listed on her website, for quite awhile now and she said she LOVED that and wished more parents did that! She also asked about the flu mist consent form and I told her I filled it out online and she was shocked...she had no idea we could do that online! I swear, this teacher flippin rocks!! (but then again, ALL the teachers are awesome at his school!)

Way to go, Tyler!!!!

Monday, October 24, 2011

Some great goodies!!!

Todays mail was great!! I rec'd some things that I didn't think I was going to get!!

- Jarritos pocket folder
- Colgate wisp (free from Daily Steals)
- John Frieda Sheer Blonde conditioner
- Dinosaur ruler (Ty LOVES dinos!)
- adorable "rug" mousepad! (SO love this!! It took awhile to get and I assumed I didn't get signed up for it on time....and I for the life of can not remember where I got it from!)

Monday is here.....




Hope everyone had a good weekend. Z was off yesterday, so we got a few errands run and when we got home we got some baking done. Saturday the boys and I made cupcakes!! They turned out sooo yummy. Yesterday we made some sugar cookies and chocolate chip cookies, plus a batch of coconut chocolate chip cookies. They all turned out AMAZING!!! I swear, I can not get over how good these cookies are considering the mix comes from a box! Krusteaz just rocks! We actually rolled out the sugar cookie dough and after hunting forever for the cookie cutters, we went to town on cutting out cookies!! We actually got quite a few super thin and cripsy, which is my FAVORITE!!! Here is the finished product....



They have such an amazing taste, I just love them!! The chocolate chip turned out just as amazing......(I actually take the chocolate chunks out that they come with and add my own chips...and yes, I burned the last bacth, I LOVE burnt cookies!!!)



It was so nice having Z home yesterday to help with the cookies. He is great at rolling out cookie dough! ;) I'm so looking forward to doing more baking in another month or so to mail out some goodies to people.

This week should be good. We have a parent/teacher conference tomorrow night with Ty's teacher. I also need to work on getting more things done around the house, plus finish up Ty's costume. I'd also like to work a little bit on my cross stich project, as well as a few scrapbook layouts. Yeah, i'm not asking for much am I?!? LOL Now to just stay OFF of Pogo, I just may get some things accomplished this week!

Have a blessed week, everyone!!!

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Another weekend....

Is here! It's just the boys and I today, and it's been a decent day so far!! Chase is being so funny, as he is talking SO much now. Yesterday when we picked Ty up from school and he got in the van Chase told him, "Hi, Bubba! I Chase!" And we have an adorable bear (thanks to our MD love) that when you hug him it says different things...one thing it says is "What a big bear hug! Are you a bear, too?" and Chase always says "No, I Chase..." It is so flippin cute! I love all the talking he is doing now. I really need to try and get it on video. Ty got his report card yesterday and is doing really well!! Aside from the talking and worrying about others, he is really doing great with everything. We have a meeting with the teacher next Tuesday, so we'll find out more about what all he is doing.

As for this weekend, I really want to get some baking done. I took some butter out of the freezer and am hoping to get some sugar cookies as well as oatmeal raisin cookies made. Plus I want to make some cupcakes. I've been playing Christmas music this morning and I am really in the mood to bake!!!! Now to get the energy to do it!!! LOL

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

Goodies today!

What a great mail day!! I received:

- Keychain & bottle opener combo/L&M (rec'd 2, one for Z and myself)
- Crest Complete Deep Clean
- Mary Kay Lash Love Mascara/Text giveaway
- Bacardi Oakheart Beer Stein/Z's name (they are SO nice!!)
- Clif Bar/peppermint (Photobucket)

I love mail days like this Photobucket

Friday, October 21, 2011

Way cool....

Today's mail was so-so, but I did get a beautiful beer stein from Bacardi Oakheart! This bad boy is SO heavy, too!!!




Hopefully the one for Z will arrive within a few days. :)

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Finally!

Today I got my Target Beauty Bag!!! The bag is so super cute! (and I am so not into pink at all...LOL!) It had some cool samples inside....

- Ponds Towelettes
- John Frieda Full Repair
- Garnier Pure Clean shampoo & conditioner
- Tresemme Naturals
- Loreal Youth Code day/night cream
- Burts Bees lotion
- coupon book for up to $20 off beauty items at Target

It was just as nice as the bag from last year!!!

Monday, October 17, 2011

An amazing deal today!!!

Z was off work today, so we decided to head to Super Target to see what deals they had. (they usually have a better selection of things than the regular Target stores...especially on clearance items!) We found a Blues Clues DVD we wanted to get Chase, plus got Ty another pair of footie pj's for Christmas. We were walking through the electronics and on the end caps of the shelves they sometimes have their clearance stuff......well, I found something I had been wanting to get for quite awhile now.....a cordless mouse!!! I was actually going to order one from My coke rewards with the points I had, but this mouse was such a great deal it was worth paying for!!!





It retailed for $25.89 and we got it for $6.47!! :)

Friday, October 14, 2011

WOOHOO!

Today's mail wasn't much, but Fedex AND UPS made up for that!! Fedex brought a huge box for the Fleishmann's Mommyparty!! It had:

- 8 boxes of Simply Homemade bread mix (2 if each flavor!)
- $1 off coupons
- an Apron (super cute!)
- 12 (yes 12) oven mitts!!!

I so can't wait to try these breads!!

A little bit later UPS showed up and brought me a Psoriasis kit that had:

- Avenno lotion/Blueberry & goji berry
- rubber bracelet
- journal



Tuesday, October 11, 2011

*sigh*

For the past few weeks Ty has been getting into trouble for talking in class.He's also been calling out answers and not following directions when he is told to stop or quiet down. At first it was only every once in awhile....maybe once every few weeks?!? Now it is several times in one week. :( In fact, today he not only was calling out answers he got into an argument with another student in art today. When I was waiting for Ty to come out of school, his teacher came out to talk to me first, so I knew it was something "major". I know kids get into trouble for talking....heck, I was always in trouble for talking!! But this is happening way too often, and with him being a transfer to the school, they can make him have to go to the school he is zoned for. *sigh* Maybe that would be best for him?!? I just don't know..........

Monday, October 10, 2011

Scrubbing Bubbles One Step



I am SO in love with the One Step from Scrubbing Bubbles!!! I received the product from Bzzagent, and I love how it keeps the toilet so clean without me having to scrub it! All you have to do is step on the little touch pad and it automatically sprays and cleans for you. Cleaning the toilet is not something I am a big fan of (especially with all boys in the house!) but Scrubbing Bubbles One Step is such a big help!!!

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Just call me Suzy!

Homemaker, that is!! I've been wanting to bake some cookies for awhile now, so yesterday I got the things I needed to make some oatmeal raisin cookies. (I still have some chocolate chip cookie stuff here, but for some reason I wanted oatmeal raisin...) Today I decided to bake some, and the boys both helped me! Chase LOVED watching the stand mixer work the batter. He and Ty both helped me put ingredients in, which they both got a kick out of!! I have to say, the cookies were AMAZING! They are by far the best oatmeal raisin cookies I have made...........




Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Tonights dessert....

I've really been in a baking mood lately, which is odd for me since I usually am not ready for baking until late fall! Ty asked me the other day if I would make a spice or carrot cake (box mixes.....if I had the stuff to make it, I would make a homemade carrot cake!! YUM!!) so I got the stuff out and made it this morning. It's still baking, but smells SO good already!!

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

"Here's the mail, it never fails...."

"It makes me want to wag my tail, when it comes I want to wail MAAIILLLL!!!!"

Wow, mail has been incredible lately!! Things i've signed up for have really started to roll in, thank goodness!!!


- Pantene Split End Repair/Facebook giveaway
- 3 college t-shirts/My Coke Rewards (I've received a total of 4, still waiting on 4 more)
- Swiffer 360 Duster/Vocalpoint (if you are not a member of Vocalpoint, I highly recommend you join! They send out so many awesome goodies!!!)
- Lunch bag/American Diabetes Foundation (came with juggling balls, a journal, dvd and a cute little game!)
- Burt's Bees bzzkit (absolutely LOVE it!!! I have some major sensitive skin and can not wait to try it! It came with a full size facial wash, full size mousurizing cream and 6 sample moisturizing creams)

And lastly, we finally got the dvd we ordered for the boys for Christmas; Despicable Me! It wasn't free, but we got a really great deal on it.

The downside to getting all these goodies.....the mailman shoved all of this into our small mailbox, and one of the packages tore! Thank goodness nothing inside got ruined, but how lazy is that?!? He maybe had to walk a whole 20 feet to bring things up to the house, why shove it all in there?!?!?

3 years ago today

It's so hard to believe mom has been gone for 3 years. I still get the urger to pick up the phone to call her and tell her how great Tyler did in school, or to tell her something new Chase is saying. I know she is watching over my boys, and that is such a great comfort.

Love & miss you, mom........

Monday, October 3, 2011

Bye bye, weekend....





Despite missing out on the corn maze, the boys and I still had a decent weekend. Ty and Chase are just hilarious when they play! But I think my favorite thing to watch them do together is draw......Ty has always loved to draw and Chase absolutely LOVES it! We go through tons of paper in this house. It was really chilly this weekend, and I actually broke down and turned the heat on yesterday morning. (I so miss having a woodstove for heat!) It was right around 50 degrees in the house and the floors were freezing!!! I only had it on for about an hour, but it felt so odd having to use it. I love the cooler weather, though. I'm assuming as I get older I despise the heat more and more! LOL This week it's supposed to still be cool in the mornings but warm up to the mid/upper 70's during the day....I can live with that!! Hope everyone had a great weekend!!!