Miscellaneous babbling's

Mail goodies

2012-02-17T12:25:00.000-05:00

It's been so long since i've posted about some of the freebies i've gotten so I figured I would post what I got today......maybe that will help me get out of this funk?!? (even though it was only 2 freebies)

- Dulcede Leche Cheerios sample (Chase likes it so far....it's ok. not what I expected, though!)
- Midol carrying case (actually kind of cute!)

Some great deals yesterday

2012-02-17T10:18:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we hit Super Target to return some clothes I had ordered for Ty. (Target clothes are cut ALOT different than most stores.......most stores he is wearing a size L......well, Target shirts that are L are WAY too big on him!) They had the shirts in the store, but the dino pj pants we could only get online, and of course all of the size Medium were OOS. :( Anyhoo, I was able to get the correct size for the shirts, and also got him a pair of jeans. (which I need to return for a correct size......I swear I hate buying clothes for that boy sometimes!) I was looking through the winter stuff (gloves and hats) and they were all marked 70% off!! I got him several pairs of gloves and two pairs of long johns; a pair for this winter and a pair for next winter. The gloves were .50! When we were leaving I walked past the ladies winter things and got myself 2 pairs of gloves for .60 total!! I didn't see any winter stuff for Chase, but I did find him a REALLY cute hat/mitten set online for under $5......I love mittens for him instead of gloves but they are SO hard to find in his size. I was shocked I found them online, in his size AND at a great price!! And they are made my Columbia so they should hold up really well.......

If you haven't checked out Target for their clearance stuff, I highly recommend it!!!!!!

I apologize

2012-02-11T08:03:00.000-05:00

I know my posts have been sporadic the past month or so and i'm so sorry. Things have been so freakin stressful around here. We found out that Z has to have surgery on March 2nd to remove the second tumor he has......well, now that tumor is bleeding so the surgery has been moved up to February 24th. And with no help here in TN, the boys and I won't be at the hospital when he is there. Then add to the mix we have been trying to find another home and that proved to be extremely frustrating!!! And to top it off, the buttheads next door are only getting worse. Last month one of them knocked on our door and then proceeded to turn the door knob to try and open the door. They are always peeling wheels out front and speeding up and down the road....and we have called the sheriff about it and all they say is "Well we'll send someone out to look into it..." and nothing happens. Most recently they have taken magnets (and a sticker) off of our van and broken them into pieces and left them in the driveway. Two magnets were about cancer; one was an ovaian cancer ribbon magnet and they other was a cancer survivor ribbon magnet. They also destroyed my Feel Your Boobies magnet and actually took the time to peel off a Feel Your Boobies (for breast cancer awareness) sticker. So yeah, we are doing all we can to get out of here.

Hopefully once we get moved and settled and Z gets his surgery out of the way i'll be able to post more frequently.

My little artist

2012-02-11T07:32:00.000-05:00

Chase brought me his Doodle Pro and said "Mama, I draw apple!"

Not too bad for a little over 2.5 years old, huh?!? Ty has always loved to draw and still does....and he is great! It looks like Chase is going to take after his big brother.

My new love

2012-02-09T11:19:00.000-05:00

Ok, so this is probably going to be a "silly" post, but I just have to share my new love with everyone!

Yes, my new love is a vacuum!! You see, when Z and I first got married I purchased our first vacuum together. It was just a regular Hoover vacuum, nothing fancy or special. Within 6 months it stopped working. Considering we had a Sheltie, lab mix and a cat I figured we would need a slightly better vacuum so I purchased a more expensive one with more bells and whistles than the first one. Well, within 6-7 months it too stopped working properly. After going through 2 vacuums a year for 2 years, I knew it was time to get serious. In comes the Dyson. Some friends of mine on a pet forum raved about the Dyson Animal, how it was wonderful for pet hair and everything else!! And even though it cost more, it was supposed to be worth the money. Also, we had our first baby on the way, so we HAD to have clean carpets for the little one! So in November 2003 (Black Friday, to be exact) Z got his Christmas bonus and we bought our Dyson Animal. $500 was a HUGE amount of money to shell out at once, but this vacuum was supposed to be the sh*t! 8 years and another kiddo later, that bad boy proved to be the BEST money we had ever spent!!! We most definitely got our moneys worth (and then some!) out of her!! But now, I hate to say, she has seen better days, and it was time to *gulp* replace her. Last year at this time we started to buy the Dyson DC25 (exclusive to Target) but money was tight (as usual) and we decided to put it off until this year. It turns out it was a GREAT idea to wait!! We got an AMAZING tax return this year so the $500 was doable.....but, Target now has the DC25 on sale!!! When you purchase it, you get a Target gift card for $100!!!! Last night we went to Target and when Z took it off the shelf and put in under the cart, I felt all giddy inside and actually giggled a little.....I couldn't believe this beauty was going to be ours!! And yes like I said, I know it's silly to feel this way about a vacuum.....but how can you NOT fall in love with this.......

Just........ahhhh. I can not get over just how easy this beauty is to maneuver.....and the carpets are SO clean and soft to walk on!! (which says alot about the nasty carpet in this house...) Ok, I think I need to go spend more time with my new love.......I do want to say thank you to my old girl, she was an amazing vacuum and so good to us for such a long time. Thank you for getting us hooked on the Dyson!!!

Growing up

2012-01-27T12:27:00.000-05:00

I am just so amazed at all the new things Chase is doing! He is counting everything he can, and can count all the way up to 20! He also recognizes lots of letters......in fact, yesterday he was trying to show me something he had but I was having a hard time understanding what he was saying. I looked in his hand and I asked him what he had and he said "letter X!" and sure enough, he had a piece of Lucky Charms cereal that was shaped like the letter X!! And in the van he has an Elmo school bus toy that has the alphabet on it and when you push a letter it says what it is. It also sings the alphabet song and will play a game with you by asking you to find the letter that starts a certain word. Well, Chase can correctly find at least 10 letters! And as for colors, he knows at least 4 different colors and is always pointing at something and telling me what color it is!

*sigh* It seems like just yesterday I found out I was pregnant with him.......time goes by way too fast......

Yum, yum!

2012-01-26T16:07:00.000-05:00

I'm so sorry i've been a little scarce. I've been trying to keep up with things around the house, as well as pack AND hunt for a home for us and i'm wiped out!!! Mail hasn't been too bad lately, but I haven't been signing up for too many goodies since we are hoping to move very soon. I did get a Schick Hydro Silk razor that I can not WAIT to try!! But today I got an amazing package from Psst and General Mills: 5 boxes of cereal!!!

Chase was SO excited when he saw the Cheerios and Ty was excited about the Cinnamon Toast Crunch! :)

Varolo

2012-01-14T13:58:00.001-05:00

Ok, a few weeks ago I joined Jingit, a site that pays you to view ads. Well, they have slacked off big time (not that I was expecting to make a fortune, but no ads in a few days isn't a good sign) so i went searching and found a site called Varolo. They seem fairly legit and offer tons of ads/videos to watch so you can earn money. And obviously, you won't get rich doing these sites, but any little bit helps, right?!? Varolo pays you through Paypal, which I love because I use that for my "scrapbook/mad" money! Here is a link to join, and yes it is a referral link. On Varolo, you can refer people into something called your "village", and the more people who join your village the more money you can earn!!

8 years ago today....

2012-01-13T06:22:00.000-05:00

At 5:29am, after 3 hours of pushing and finally needing a vacuum to get him out, we welcomed our first born into the world!! He weighed 7lbs 2oz and was 20 inches long and was the most beautiful person I had ever seen.

Happy birthday, Tyler Kenneth!!! Mommy, daddy and Chase love you so very much!!

Thank you for making us a family.........

Christmas has come and gone

2012-01-06T07:48:00.000-05:00

Each year I am shocked at how fast the holiday goes by. This Christmas seemed to go by even faster since I took the decorations down the day after! I usually leave them up until at least New Year, but we really needed the room. I still keep finding decorations here and there, but I think I got it all up now. I foudn a few Christmas cards that we got this year, and I must say I don't think we will be sending out cards next year. And if we do, it will only be a small few. I am truly amazed at the lack of cards we got this year. I know it's really not a big deal, but it always meant so much when we got cards from family and friends......it really showed they were thinking of us. We got a total of 6 cards this year. So yeah, i'm not really thinking about doing cards anymore. (and I hate being that way, as I LOVE doing Christmas cards )

As for Christmas, we had a GREAT day!!! The boys got so much and loved everything they got. Some things we had to put up until we move, since we just don't have the room for everything. I think Chase's favorite was the Fisher Price Stand and Play Rampway. Actually, we ALL love playing with it!! And some of the reviews were people complaining about the cars flying off the track....well, Chase cracks up everytime one of his cars goes flying!! I'm hoping to get him a few more cars to use with it, although he loves to use his Tonka Chuck & Friends as well as Hotwheel cars on it. Ty's favorite thing he got was his Spongebob Lego sets!! In fact, he is getting a third one for his birthday! But he plays with them every day. They both also love the Crayola paints they got from my sister and her family. All in all it was a great Christmas.

Well, Ty has been on Christmas break for 2 weeks now and he is BEYOND ready to go back to school!! I'm SO thankful we had decent weather since he loves to play outside. If he would have been stuck in the house for most of his break I think I would have lost my mind. I love him so much, but he needs to be around other people!! He goes back this Monday, thank you Lord. He's also excited about this coming week, since his birthday is a week from today!!! How is it he is going to be 8 years old?!? We're going to actually celebrate his birthday on Wednesday, since Z is off that day. Ty had asked Z if he could get home a little earlier on his birthday so they could have dinner together, but Z's work is moving to a new shop and he has to stay late that night. Z mentioned about celebrating on Wednesday and Ty said he would love that!! He's asked for chinese food for dinner and an ice cream cake for dessert.

Poor Chase has been having issues yet again with his ears.We had to take him to see the doctor on Wednesday because his right is was now bothering him. The doctor checked his left ear but couldn't see much since he had so much wax in it, but he said his right ear was really infected and it looked like the eardrum may have ruptured. They gave us some stronger antibiotics and he said he wanted to see him back in two weeks so he can make sure the fluid is going down. If not, Chase will need to see an ear specialist and may possibly need tubes in his ears. I mentioned to the doctor about Chase's speech and he said it could very well be because of his ears being infected and that he isn't hearing well enough to speak clearly. So, if it does come down to him needing tubes it won't be a bad thing, as it will not only help his ears but possibly his speech. I just feel so bad for my boy, though.

Well, Chase is now awake so it's time I get off of here. Hope everyone has a GREAT weekend!!!

Happy New Year!!

2012-01-01T16:40:00.000-05:00

Wow, how did I not post this already?!? We've been so busy around the house I totally forgot about it! It's SO hard to believe yet another year is starting. 2011 wasn't one of best years, that's for sure. Between finding out Z has cancer to him losing his job thanks to his asshole ex-boss....well, I think that was a blessing actually. He was SO miserable there....between his boss's mood swings and another co-worker that treated everyone in the shop like shit (karma will get her, though ) he was dreading going to work every day. But the way he was let go was not right at all. Then with the issues we had with where we are living, it's been a rough year. 2012 should really be our year, though. Yes, Z has to have surgery again but this time he has short term disability so we should be ok as far as bills go. Plus we plan on putting some income tax money away to get us by...but the best thing, we are moving!!! (we have moved 6 times since being married and i've always dreaded it, but not this time!!) Hopefully within the next 2-3 months we will be out of this neighborhood and into something permanent...meaning all ours!! I can't wait to feel safe in my own home again.

I don't really have any resolutions for this new year. Just to get the boys through it in one piece is enough resolution for me!!! Hope everyone has a wonderful and blessed new year!!!!

Pineapple Upside Down Cupcakes!!

2012-01-01T12:22:00.000-05:00

I had seen this recipe and just couldn't wait to try it!! I had some pineapple, but it was in syrup so I couldn't use those....so last night when we went out Z picked up another can of pineapple tidbits in juice so I could make the cupcakes. Here is the first batch, ready for the cake batter: (I went back and added more pineapple after I took the pic)

The second batch, ready for the oven! (I forgot to get a pic of the first batch after I added the batter...LOL)

All done!!

YUM......

I was really proud of how well these turned out! Some of the topping did stay inside the pan, but it was easy to just scoop out and re-add it to the cake. And i've only had a tiny bite of one, but it tastes SOOOO good.

Montagne Jeunesse

2011-12-29T14:22:00.001-05:00

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!!!

Merry Christmas!!

2011-12-25T14:58:00.003-05:00

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!!!!!

Ty surprised me today!

2011-12-20T15:27:00.003-05:00

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!!

Think it's time

2011-12-19T06:39:00.002-05:00

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?!?!?!?!

NYC New York Color

2011-12-17T17:53:00.002-05:00

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!

imPRESS Press-on Manicure

2011-12-17T16:31:00.004-05:00

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?!?

2011-12-17T14:23:00.002-05:00

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!!!!!

WOOT!

2011-12-16T12:46:00.003-05:00

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!

2011-12-16T08:20:00.003-05:00

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!!!!!!

So excited!!

2011-12-12T17:27:00.002-05:00

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

Hard to believe....

2011-12-12T08:39:00.002-05:00

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!!!

Received my Holiday Voxbox!!

2011-12-10T12:41:00.003-05:00

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!!!

On a mission

2011-12-02T07:29:00.003-05:00

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!!!!

Officially done shopping for Christmas!!

2011-11-26T14:51:00.002-05:00

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!!!!

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!!

Todays awesome mail!

2011-11-25T15:14:00.002-05:00

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! :)

2011-11-25T08:04:00.004-05:00

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!!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-23T12:46:00.001-05:00

Hope everyone has a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving........

Worry....edit

2011-11-21T12:04:00.003-05:00

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.

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

**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!!

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

2011-11-16T19:39:00.004-05:00

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!

11.11.11

2011-11-11T05:36:00.003-05:00

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.

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)

Hoo are you?!?

2011-11-08T20:55:00.004-05:00

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, monday..."

2011-11-07T08:41:00.002-05:00

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!!

Super fast!!!

2011-11-05T12:09:00.002-04:00

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. :)

More sugar cookies!

2011-11-02T08:01:00.003-04:00

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!!!

Welcome, November!

2011-11-01T06:39:00.004-04:00

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. 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!!

Well, Z was off yesterday (and it may be his last day off for awhile ) 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)

$50 Walmart gift card!

2011-10-30T15:29:00.000-04:00

Adventures in Coupons is giving away a $50.00 Walmart gift card!! Click the link to enter to win!

Beyond angry

2011-10-26T11:20:00.003-04:00

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

2011-10-26T06:42:00.002-04:00

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!!!!

Some great goodies!!!

2011-10-24T15:47:00.004-04:00

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.....

2011-10-24T08:32:00.004-04:00

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!!!

Another weekend....

2011-10-22T11:24:00.002-04:00

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!

2011-10-22T11:17:00.003-04:00

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 ()

I love mail days like this

Way cool....

2011-10-21T13:10:00.002-04:00

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. :)

Finally!

2011-10-20T13:02:00.002-04:00

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!!!

An amazing deal today!!!

2011-10-17T20:06:00.003-04:00

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!! :)

WOOHOO!

2011-10-14T18:26:00.002-04:00

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

sigh

2011-10-11T15:22:00.002-04:00

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..........

Scrubbing Bubbles One Step

2011-10-10T11:09:00.002-04:00

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!!!

Just call me Suzy!

2011-10-08T18:27:00.005-04:00

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...........

Tonights dessert....

2011-10-05T09:49:00.003-04:00

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!!

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

2011-10-04T13:15:00.003-04:00

"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

2011-10-04T06:43:00.001-04:00

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........

Bye bye, weekend....

2011-10-03T10:31:00.002-04:00

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!!!

Love this time of year!

2011-10-01T16:18:00.004-04:00

I am really enjoying the much cooler weather. This morning it was in the mid 40's when we got out of bed! It's still fairly cool outside so I can't open the windows up but it's still nice to not have the a/c on.

So a little while ago I ordered some Christmas gifts for the boys from Amazon, and one thing came yesterday!! (I SO miss my amazon prime.....I had it free with Amazon mom, but it ran out...BOO!) Every Christmas we get the boys new pj's and I found a cute pair for Chase. (i'm still holding out hope that I find him some Blues Clues pj's!)

I'm fairly certain I got the wrong size, but I don't want to go through sending them back and waiting again for another pair. I try and get pj's slightly bigger as they can sometimes run on the small size.....this time the size was correct! Ahh, well....he'll at least be able to wear the shirt and not be too big on him. And he'll have them for more than one winter! I'm still waiting on one other thing I ordered at the same time as the pj's.....once again, I miss amazon prime! :( I really need to go through the things we've already gotten the boys and write it down so I can keep track of what we have.....

OHHHH, and yesterday while we were out we got Chase's costume!!!!

And Ty has had a field day with picking on mommy because I do not like spiders.......LOL!

Change of plans.....

2011-10-01T09:36:00.002-04:00

Today we were supposed to go to the Corn Maze.....well, Z found out yesterday that he has to work this weekend. :( He had put in for today off the day I won the tickets, which was more than enough notice! But unfortunately they said they needed him to work this weekend because it is the beginning of the month and they are expecting to be busy. I feel so bad that we didn't use the tickets.....and I also feel bad for the boys, as they were both so excited about going today. :(

Happy birthday!!

2011-09-28T09:27:00.002-04:00

Just wanted to wish Z a very happy birthday today!!! After everything we have been through, especially this year, we are so thankful to be able to celebrate this day with you......love you, babe!!

Mail call for today

2011-09-26T16:28:00.003-04:00

Mail has been ok lately. Today I got some things I had been waiting for....

- College t-shirt from My coke rewards (one of 8 I am waiting for....didn't cost any points!!)
- Hanes boxer briefs/freshpair.com giveaway (I sgned myself and Z up for a fre pair and only he got a free pair! LOL)
- Cottonelle Roll Cover (had been waiting for this for awhile! They are also now giving them away on their Facebook site and I won another one today!!)

Re-potted!

2011-09-26T12:12:00.002-04:00

So I finally got some potting soil and got our plants redone. One of the plants had started to die off a little, which I sort of expected. It only has a small piece left, but it is SO healthy!!

Another weekend has left us

2011-09-26T11:37:00.003-04:00

And boy am I glad it's gone!! We had such a rough weekend here. It was actually a three day weekend for Ty, since school was closed Friday. Ty had been complaining on and off of an upset tummy, but nothing too bad. Chase had had some diarrhea issues but nothing major......until Saturday. He woke up with a bad diaper, and he decided to take it off himself. All of the sudden Ty went to yelling about poop.........on the floor. It got on the rug in the laundry room and on the actual floor. I finally got him to come to me so I could get him good and clean and get a diaper on him. That went good.....until a few minutes later when he went again, and this time the diaper couldn't hold it. Yeah, it was that kind of day. Z missed work on Saturday because he was up going to the bathroom most of the night, and Ty's tummy was giving him some issues as well. By the end of the day I was wiped out!!! Chase seemed to have all of his poop issues done by Saturday night but Ty still was having issues with his tummy. He kept getting really bad belly aches Sunday morning. Z went and got him some stuff for his tummy and after a bit it seemed to start working. We had him watch what he ate yesterday, and this morning he seemed to be back on track. I feel so bad for him, because his tummy has been bothering him on and off for about a week or so now. :( If it keeps up i'm going to see about getting him into the family doctor.

Welcome, Fall!!!

2011-09-23T07:35:00.001-04:00

Gravy.....

2011-09-22T17:20:00.002-04:00

So i've never been a huge fan of gravy. There were basically three I liked;

- my dad makes an AMAZING gravy!! Anytime we would have steak (mainly cubed steak) he would make it........
- Campbell's Chicken Gravy....has some yummy seasonings in it
- Campbell's Pork Gravy...VERY hard to find!! We have yet to find it here in East Knoxville. Anytime my parents would visit from MD they would bring us a dozen or so cans of it! (yes, I love it that much!)

That's about it. I never liked any of the jarred gravies and the canned Beef always smelled nasty to me. And I never learned to make my own gravy, no matter how easy it was!! (hey, it hasn't been all that long ago that I learned how to thicken things without leaving huge chunks of flour mixture! LOL) Well, Z showed me the McCormick powder gravy mixes and that they had a Pork gravy mix so I decided to give it a try....and I am SOOOO glad I did!! It is really, really good!!!! We also tried the brown gravy and that is just as yummy......now that I found a gravy I like, it's like eating foods for the first time!!! Hamburgers, steak, pork chops.........yum, yum, yum!!!! Thank you, McCormick!!!!

Last day of sSummer!

2011-09-22T07:56:00.002-04:00

I tell ya, I don't like rushing time at ALL, but I am so glad to see this Summer go!! Between the heat and things that happened, it was a looonnngggg Summer. I'm just hoping and praying the rest of this year is good to us, and that next year treats us much better!!

I did get a few Fall decorations up and i'm thinking about looking for the rest of it today......somehow I just can't get into decorating this house. It just doesn't feel like "home" to me and honestly never will. I mainly do it for the boys, as they love when the house is decorated.

(yes, I am VERY grateful to have a roof over my head, but bewteen the druggy neighbors and issues here at the house, which were NOT caused by us, we just can't get out of here soon enough.)

Yesterday's excursion....

2011-09-21T11:09:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was Z's day off, so we decided to get some shopping done together. After we dropped Ty off at school, we went and got a bite to eat and then hit Kroger. I love when they have a good sale going.....they had some awesome deals in their buy 10 participating items get $5 off sale. After Kroger's we headed to West Knoxville to go to Michael's and A.C.Moore. (we wanted to see if we could find something special for Ty for doing so well in school. He LOVES dinosaurs and we wanted to find him something cool that had to do with those....) We found him a cool dinosaur skeleton puzzle that we decided to just put away for Christmas. We also found Chase a super cute tiny metal school bus that goes when you pull back on it. (he LOVES school buses!) I also got a few pieces of scrapbook paper I needed. We left there and went to A.C. Moore. I think i like that store better than Michael's! At Michael's we found a really cool T-Rex dino, but it was $5.99. We thought about getting it, but decided to wait. Well, I am so glad we waited!! They exact same dino was at A.C. Moore, and was cheaper AND on sale!! We got it for under $4!!! We also got him a really cool 3D T-Rex Bookmark that we ended up giving to him yesterday for doing well in school....the other things we put away for Christmas!!

Oh, and the T-Rex dino we got.....Z added a small little eyelet to it, and made it a Christmas ornament!! The Christmas Place had a T-Rex ornament, but was sold out and didn't think they would get anymore in before the holidays, and most other ornaments I found were geared more towards smaller children. Z got the idea to make him the ornament as soon as he saw the T-Rex!!

How cool is that?!?!? He absolutely loved it!!!!!!!!!!

Last weekend of Summer....

2011-09-19T17:23:00.004-04:00

And honestly, I am GLAD to see it go! It has been such a brutal summer......we all hate the heat! Our electric bill took a hit because we used the a/c so much.....and Z keeps it SO cool in the house. But I am really looking forward to fall. I think Fall is my favorite season. The crisp air, the smell of wood burning.....and of course the pumpkins and Halloween!! I'm still not sure what the boys will be for Halloween.

So we had a decent weekend. Z had to work Saturday, but he was off Sunday. His parents and brother came down to "visit". They got here yesterday afternoon, but when they called to let us know what hotel they were staying in (right up the street from us) Ty had a really bad tummy ache and nosebleed. :( Once we got the nosebleed under control, he asked to lay in his bed. Z told his brother once Ty felt better we would call to let them know we would come to see them. (they can't come to the house, mainly because my MIL has issues with her knees and can't do the steps to get into the house) After Ty had been laying down for about 15 minutes, he said he felt better and wanted to go. So off we went. It was actually a nice visit. Ty was all over MIL, but Chase wanted nothing to do with anyone but daddy. He started to cry, so I took him out of the room for a few minutes to calm him down. Once he was set we went back in. He still didn't go to anyone, but he started to loosen up and play with Ty. After we were there for a bit, FIL decided to lay down and go to sleep. He was up the night before, so I guess he was pretty sleepy. He slept for a bit while MIL played with Ty and was trying to get Chase to come to her. He did talk to her, and she got a kick out of that!! FIL did wake up long enough to ask about dinner and what everyone wanted. Z and I had already taken things out for dinner and they all knew we had. Plus, we didn't have the extra money to eat out. And with Ty's belly still not 100%, I didn't want him to eat anything greasy or heavy. I guess FIL got upset about that, because he layed back down and went back to sleep. He only see's the boys once, maybe twice a year and this visit was only for that day (and only a few hours at that!) so you would think he would want to stay awake, no matter how tired he was. Oh well. It was so nice to see MIL with the boys...the smile on her face was huge!! After a few hours we had to leave, mainly so Ty could wind down since he goes to bed early for school. Other than FIL sleeping, it was a nice visit.

Ty only has 4 days of school this week, thank goodness!!! Love three day weekends!!!! He brought home his first interim report of the year and he did amazing!! he got all "E's" (excellent) and "A's"!!! We are so proud of him!!!

Argh, matey!!

2011-09-19T08:36:00.002-04:00

"Happy "talk like a pirate" day!!!

SHOCKED!!!!

2011-09-17T19:48:00.003-04:00

So today I entered into a drawing at Frugalissa Finds to win tickets to the Cruze Farm Corn Maze, and I won!!!!! I can not believe it!! The boys will have such a great time there, and i'm sure Z and I will enjoy it as well!!

I am just SO excited!!!!

Thank you again, Frugalissa!!!!

Ty's new pj's and swimming trunks!

2011-09-16T17:29:00.002-04:00

Wow, I just realized this child needs a haircut!!!

A rough day.....edited

2011-09-16T16:18:00.004-04:00

...for the most part, anyway. It's been a week since Licky left us. When I was sitting at Ty's school waiting for him to come out I started thinking about how that time last week is when she passed away. Made my heart hurt for her. :( The house still feels so empty without her. I keep waiting to hear her bark when we get back from being out. And I can still smell her in the house, but it's not a stinky dog smell. I miss having a dog around so much.......once we are out of this house we will add a new family member.

So today was an "interesting" day, to say the least. It started with me not being able to find my cellphone. Ty and I looked all over for it before I took him to school but had no luck finding it. I got some change together so I could use a payphone to call Z to let him know I didn't have it. (we don't have a house phone anymore, as there was no point to having it when we never used it) I stopped to get gas and then took Ty to school. I knew there was a payphone at Weigel's, so I headed there. They wanted $1 to make a 10 minute call!!! OMG, I couldn't believe it!!! Needless to say, I didn't use the payphone. Before I left to take Ty I had posted on Facebook about losing my phone. Well, once I got home I posted again about still not finding it and how expensive the payphone was. I went to get laundry started when I heard my phone ringing!! I started listening really hard for where the sound was coming from......and then I knew; the darn thing was in the diaper bag the whole time!!!! But my bestest bestie had called me to help me find my phone.....I swear I never even thought to ask someone to call me to help me find it!! Talk about a blonde moment! Also, poor Chase wasn't feeling well and I wanted to see if he should be seen by a doctor or not and not having my phone I was worried if he got worse I wouldn't have a way to call anyone. I was also worried if Ty's school needed to get ahold of me I wouldn't get the calls.

So once I had my phone found and some calls made (and Chase started feeling better), we went and did a little shopping. We went to Target first, as they sometimes have a better selection of clothes for Ty. Well they had swimming trunks, but they were still marked $9! Walmart had them for $6, so I decided to just wait and get them from there. I was about to leave when I saw something that I had been searching for for a looonnnggg time......footie pj's for Ty...and at a decent price as well!!! I squealed so loud when I saw them!!! I picked up a pair for him, and i'm hoping to go back and get him at least 2 more pairs. When we left there we went to Walmart and I got Chase a pair of sweatpants and went looking for swimming trunks for Ty. (I was at a different Walmart than we normally shop and they sometimes have a different selection...and higher prices!! ) I saw some super cute Spongebob trunks, which were marked $6. I picked up a few other things and went to check out. Well, when the lady was ringing up my things, she scanned the trunks and said "Oh, you got a great deal on those!!" and I said "yeah, $6 is really cheap..." and she said "No, they rang up $4!!" I was so excited!!! I'm sooo glad I held off on buying him new swimming trunks!! Now I need to get pics of him in his new trunks and his footies!!! Oh, and to add to the fun blondness for the day, when Chase and I got back from shopping I got him out and locked the van then closed my door....with the keys still in it!! I had to call Z to come get the van unlocked and to let us in the house. Once again.....

The main reason I got him new trunks now is because we have company coming down and they are going to get a hotel that has a pool so Ty and Chase can swim. He's really excited about it!!!

My boy is getting so big......

2011-09-15T18:04:00.002-04:00

Got a wonderful surprise today!!

2011-09-15T17:49:00.002-04:00

So, I don't know if I ever posted here on my blog, but about a year ago I lost my wedding ring. I've missed having a ring to wear so much. When Z and I were dating, he bought me a ring that was a silver band. Once I got my engagement ring and wedding band, I put that first ring away. Well, when I lost my wedding ring I went to put that ring on and it was way too tight. :( A few weeks ago Z was asking me about the ring I wear on my right hand (a birthstone ring). I never really thought much of it, to be honest. Well, today he said he wanted to go to the mall to pick up something. After we walked around a bit, we got something to eat and then left. When we were in the van he said he wanted to talk.....he then asked me to close my eyes, and said "Will you marry me again?" I opened my eyes, and it was the first ring he ever bought me......the little stinker had it resized for me!!!! It feels SO good to have a ring on my left finger again........

Licky

2011-09-12T18:38:00.002-04:00

A layout I made for Licky......

Miss you, girl.......

If you love Christmas time...

2011-09-10T13:43:00.004-04:00

I highly recommend the store Christmas Place! They are located in Pigeon Forge, which is about 20-25 minutes away from us. In all the years we have been going to PF, we never went in. Well, I was looking online for a certain ornament for Chase and their site popped up! I not only found the ornament I was looking for, but it was on sale! I also found some really cute LED photo frames that were also on sale. They did have an ornament I was going to order for Ty, but it was out of stock. So I talked to Z and he said to just order what I found online and we would go into the Christmas Place store on his next day off. (this past Thursday) Well, Thursday morning we went to the store.....and all I can say is, if you have never been and are ever able to go, you need to GO!!! They have everything you could ever imagine for the holidays!! And to be honest, yes some things were a little pricey, but for the most part their prices were not that bad! (and you know what a cheapskate I am.....) And this place was HUGE!!! Every time we thought we had seen everything, we ended up going into a new section! And the employee's were so friendly and helpful. We spent almost 2 hours looking at everything!! We ended up getting an ornament for Ty (not the one we wanted though, as they were not only sold out online but at the store. he is SO into dinosaurs and they had a T-Rex ornament but it was not in stock....we ended up getting him the Stegosaurus) and I got an ornament that goes with what I call Chase. It's an adorable baby monkey (looks like a baby in a monkey costume!) and on the belly it says "Little Monkey". (for Ty I have a pickle ornament, since i've called him my little pickle since before he was born)

Well, once we got home I put the ornaments away so the boys wouldn't see them. Later that evening, UPS came and brought me what I had ordered from Christmas Place online!! I was so shocked to get it so fast! I absolutely loved the ornament for Chase (a school bus....he LOVES them!!) and the picture frames are so adorable.......plus they sent me a free snowflake ornament!! Now I can't wait to get our Christmas decorations up!!!

The frames look super bright because they have glitter on them to look like snow....can't wait to put pics in them and light them up!!!

Todays mail.....

2011-09-10T13:35:00.003-04:00

Todays mail was fairly decent....

- Tshirt from Camel that you design (I didn't get as creative as I coudl have with the shirt, but it's still nice...and HUGE!!! Should be a nice sleep shirt.....)
- Another gift from L'oreal Test Panel/ Kiehl's Creamy Eye Treatment with Avacado & Maybelline Eyeliner

One good thing from today......

2011-09-09T15:46:00.002-04:00

Ty was so excited to show me his third tooth fell out while he was at school today.

Heartbroken

2011-09-09T15:15:00.004-04:00

It is with an extremely heavy heart that I have to do this post. *sigh*

Licorice passed away today. Losing two dogs in the span of 9 months is so damn hard. I do find some comfort in the fact that she is once again with her sister Honey and i'm sure my mom is throwing the tennis ball for her.......

Licorice A.K.A. Licky 01.17.2001 - 09.09.2011

Rest easy, my sweet girl....

Can you believe.....

2011-09-06T12:45:00.002-04:00

There are only 109 days until Christmas?!?!?!? Yes, I know i'm a little insane, but I am actually looking forward to the holiday season this year!! I honestly don't know why, as I usually stress about what to get the boys and how we can get them things without going broke!!! But this year just feels so.......different, for a lack of a better word. Z has a new job that is so much better for him, not only financially, but for his own sanity!!! We started up a little savings for the boys Christmas, and I would LOVE to be able to actually send friends and family a little something this year! Plus, we already have a few things put away for the boys, and I ordered Chase's Christmas ornament today! (we try and get the boys new ornaments every year, mainly of things they are really into) I think what mostly got me in the holiday mood was when I found the star that we are going to use on top of our tree this year. (our angel died on us last year....so sad :() When I found the star I called Chase over to where I was, and I plugged it in so he could see all the colors.....the look on his face was just priceless!!! He got a huge smile on his face and was so excited!!! I wanted to put our tree up right then and there! But, then I went through the pics of last years Christmas and our "leaning tree" and that brought me right back down to reality. But still, i'm really looking forward to the baking and shopping, and of course the decorating!!!

Rest of todays mail

2011-09-06T12:37:00.002-04:00

Not a bad day!!!

- Burberry Body sample/Facebook
- Bil-Jac dog food bzzagent campaign (Z and I both got in on this one....coupons for free 6lb bag)
- coupon for free box of Garnier Herbashine Color Creme (may not use this, as I think i'm going to stick with the John Frieda foam haircolor)
- Vichy Anti-wrinkle cream & Kiehl's Lip balm (my gift for doing a study for Loreal...anti-wrinkle cream....wth are they trying to tell me?!?)

Today's mail!

2011-09-06T12:19:00.003-04:00

I still haven't gotten the things from the mailbox, but sitting on the front porch was a HUGE box from Moms Meet!! It was for the Kashi sampling!!!!

Love the tote!!

Look at all the goodies!!!

Yum!!!!

It came with a box of Cinnamon Harvest cereal, a box of Ripe Strawberry soft baked cereal bars, and 48 Peanutty Dark Chocolate layered granola bars!! We've tried their Blackberry cereal bars before, and I can not wait to get into the Strawberry bars!!!

Labor Day!

2011-09-05T12:56:00.002-04:00

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Labor Day! It's been raining fairly heavy since last night, and is supposed to keep up for the rest of the day. We desperately needed the rain, but it's coming down SO fast! Z has to work today, so it's just the boys and I. With all the rain, it's been a pj and movies kind of day!! (the movie Up is about to come on....love it!!!) Z was off yesterday, so we got most of our running done then. We got something for Ty for Christmas. He has been asking for his own mp3 player, and he is SO rough on things and I just couldn't see getting him something that was super expensive and just have him destroy in within days. Well, Big Lots had an mp3 player at a really good price, so we got there when they opened and got him one!! It's perfect for him, and I just know he will love it.

Well, with all this rain i'm SO glad we decided to not cook on the grill today!! Thinking about making some tacos for dinner...at least that's what Ty has been asking for! ;) Stay safe out there, everyone!!!!

Recent mail goodies!! **edit*

2011-09-03T12:50:00.004-04:00

The past 3 days have been very good for mail goodies!!!

- Suave variety samples/Walmart (came with Suave for men body wash, Suave Professionals dry shampoo and Suave Sweet Pea & Violet lotion. LOVE the smell of the lotion!!!!)
- Newcastle Brown Ale beer glasses (actually got 2....love them!!!)
- Dr Scholls Custom Fit insoles/Smiley 360 (can't wait to try them!)
- Mary Kay mascara (I think it was from a text giveaway?)

(forgot to get a pic of the Suave goodies and mascara)

Z brought me a surprise home!!

2011-09-02T21:50:00.001-04:00

Why yes, I AM married to a mechanic......

Good mail day!

2011-08-30T15:24:00.002-04:00

I'm so glad some of the goodies I have been waiting on are rolling in. Today I got:

- Bic pen (Facebook giveaway)
- Clif Bar Mojo bar (can't wait to try it!!)
- Degree 24 protection deodorant

SO worth the wait!!

2011-08-30T10:19:00.004-04:00

A few weeks ago I had signed up for the Bodum Pavina campaign at Bzzagent. They sent out samples of the glasses to people who were in the campaign and yesterday I received mine! (I was starting to worry, as it took quite a while to receive and usually their kits come much faster) All I can say is, these glasses were SO worth the wait!!

I haven't had a chance yet to show them off to anyone but Z, but I can't wait to share them!! These glasses are simply amazing!!! They are a double wall thermo-glass, which means they will keep hot drinks hot for longer and cool drinks cool longer. Each glass has a little rubber "stopper" on the bottom that actually allow the glasses to "breath"! They are handmade, and you can tell they are very high quality. They are also dishwasher and microwave safe....and also safe for the oven and freezer, so even though they are high quality, they are completely versatile!!!!

I am so excited to be apart of this campaign and can't wait to Bzz about these glasses!!!

Weekend is almost over

2011-08-28T11:55:00.004-04:00

This weekend actually didn't fly by!! Z had to work yesterday and today, so i'm assuming that's why it didn't go by fast. The boys and I have had a blast this weekend, though!! Thursday night Z brought home at least a dozen HUGE balloons for the boys to play with! (where he works puts up balloons when they have a sale, and they were just going to pop them so Z asked if he could bring them home to the boys. Both boys love them!!! Ty woke up Friday morning and came into the bathroom where I was brushing my teeth and said "I didn't know Chase could fly!!" I looked at him and said "What do you mean?!?" I was thinking he was still half asleep!! He said "I saw Chase on the ceiling in the living room...I didn't know he could fly!" Ummmm, are you sure that's what you saw? LOL He came out and saw the balloons and was SO excited!! He only got to mess with them a little before he went to school, but when Chase woke up the look on his face was priceless! He had a BLAST playing with them!!

You really have to look to see him in the balloons.....

One got loose.....

Ty loves to wrap them around his legs and run!!!

I just love how something so simple makes them both so happy and they have so much fun with them.

What happens when Chase is being too quiet......

2011-08-28T11:40:00.002-04:00

He was playing with Ty in their room, but Ty came out to watch a movie.......after not hearing Chase for a few minutes we went in to check on him.....and found this:

Yes, he also put it on his lips, like lipstick.

And the best part?!? They are not washable markers, so I got off what I could with soap and water, but the rest will have to fade........

So far so good!

2011-08-26T10:32:00.002-04:00

I know school has only been in session for two weeks now, but so far things are going great!! Ty is absolutely loving school and his teacher. He was a little upset that they changed some of his favorite lunch items, like the nuggets and chicken pattie. From what I had read, they were already fairly healthy for the kids so i'm not sure why they changed them?! They aslo switched milk brands and he said the strawberry milk and regular milk tasted nasty now. So it seems as though he will be taking his lunch more often this year, which is obviously not a bad thing! Also, the school has already sent stuff home for pictures (they are taking them on September 1st! WTH?!?) and they also sent papers home for their Scholastic book drive. I love the book drive idea, but i'm a little peeved about the pics so soon. They just freakin' started school!! And of course they are expensive. I think they cheapest packet is $13?!? And that's just for 8 wallet pics! We've stopped sending so many pics out, so we may just go with the wallet packet. Besides, they also do Spring pictures and I like them alot more....even though they cost ALOT more!! We'll start saving up for those pics soon. But then again, we may not get as many as our list of people to mail to has gotten ALOT shorter. (sorry, but it had to be done....same as our Christmas card list. We are tired of mailing cards and people not having the common courtesy of mailing a card in return. I mean, that's not why we send them, but it would be nice to show you give a damn a little bit...right?!? Ok, done rambling! LOL)

Anyhoo, Ty is doing amazing and we are so proud of him! So far *knock on wood* his stomach hasn't been bothering him as much in the mornings (nerves, poor kiddo) and he's been eating breakfast every morning! It's a good thing too, since they don't eat lunch until 11:50....that's a long time to wait to eat when you don't eat breakfast!!!

Wear Orange!!!

2011-08-26T09:04:00.002-04:00

Wear orange to support Pat Summit

Furniture saga

2011-08-26T07:25:00.003-04:00

So last February (2010) we purchased a new sofa and love seat. They are made by Lane, and we got a really good deal on the pair. After having it for a few months, we noticed one of the seats on the sofa appeared to be sunken in. No biggie, since we purchased the extra warranty. Someone came out to "fix it", but it took her almost 3 weeks to make it out. And then when she did get to the house, she realised she had the wrong part to fix it and would need to order the part and come back to repair it. 2.5 weeks later she came back out and fixed the sofa. Fast forward to earlier this year. One of the recliners on the sofa lost a HUGE spring. And it's one of the recliners that hardly ever gets used! So we called where we purchased the furniture and spoke with the manager. We told him what was wrong and he said someone would get it fixed as soon as possible. Ok, that works. Several weeks later we realized no one has contacted us about it, so Z called the store yet again. The manager once again assured us he was working on it, and that he would check into getting the part at the warehouse and would call us back. Several MORE weeks pass and we hear nothing. This goes on for quite a few months, and then we are finally told "The part is in the warehouse and someone from there would contact us to set up a time to come fix the sofa." So we waited all week and no one called us. Hmmm, sounds like the store and the warehouse people don't believe in calling people back! We waited the week and decided to call back the store. The manager then tells us "Oh, the guy who was supposed to call us was on vacation the whole week." Ummm, so NO ONE else works there that could come and fix it?!? He then told us he would "call us back" and to give the guy who is going to fix it a chance to call us the following week. Guess what?!? Yep, no one called us!!! Z and I had FINALLY had enough, and after giving them plenty of time to get the sofa fixed we wanted something done ASAP! So Z told the manager we were done with the run around, and we either wanted a new sofa or our money back, and that NOW a recliner on the love seat was not working properly! He assured Z we would get it taken care of and that he would "call him back." Yeah, no call back. So Z called and spoke to the managers boss and we finally got things rolling. Z rold him how the manager was always saying he would call and never did, and that he felt he was ggiving us the run around and we were done. He said he would talk with the manager and call Z back. And he actually DID!!! We are now getting a new sofa!!! And, he said he would have someone come out and look at the love seat, but we are going to tell them it's not worth it and we want it replaced as well. All of this mess has been going on since APRIL!!! It's been so frustrating and I am beyond pissed at the customer service we received. I mean, how rude and umproffesional is it not to call someone back....and not just once, but LOTS of times!!! I told Z if it comes down to us getting our money back we will NOT shop at that store ever again.

Whew, if you read all of that ramble you SO deserve a cookie!!!! Hopefully we will have our new sofa next week!!!

Tooth #2 is out!!!

2011-08-25T08:27:00.002-04:00

Yesterday when Ty got home from school he was telling me he could feel his new tooth coming in behind his loose tooth on the bottom, so I looked and sure enough there it was! His baby tooth was SO loose, I don't know how it was hanging on! So last night he kept messing with it and it finally popped right out!! He was so excited, and couldn't wait to show me the tooth....and of course the bleeding gum.

Z CT scan update

2011-08-22T15:55:00.002-04:00

Z saw the cancer doctor today to find out the results of the CT scan he had last week. The doctor increased his cancer meds, and he'll have to have another CT scan done in 3-4 months. (he'll need repeat CT scans to keep track of the growth of the tumors left) They also said that was his first CT scan since his surgery, so they don't know if the tumors have grown any with nothing to compare it to. BUT.....he had a CT scan done in the hospital after his surgery, before he was released!!! Ummm, can't they use that scan to compare to last weeks scan?!? Oh, and he now has a hernia from the surgery that was done, and will most likely need surgery to correct it.

Weekend? What weekend?!?!?

2011-08-22T06:55:00.002-04:00

Whew, I honestly don't know what happened to the weekend!! Z had to work Saturday, and we did all of our running yesterday so i'm assuming that's why our weekend flew by. :( Like time doesn't go by fast enough?!? And this week Z has to work 6 days, with three late nights so i'm thinking this week will fly by as well. WAHH!!! I just wish time would slow donw a little, please!

Last Thursday Z had his first CT scan, and today he see's the cancer doctor to find out the results. I guess in a way i'm glad this weekend went by fast.....waiting for the results has been tough!!! I'll update once I hear from him this afternoon......

Well, I need to get things ready so I can take Ty to school........hope everyone has a wonderful week!!!!

New plant!

2011-08-19T09:42:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was Z's day off, as he had his CT scan to make sure the cancer isn't growing that he still has. ( we should know the results next Monday when he see's the cancer doctor) Well, after he had the scan, he made a few stops and came back home. It was nice to spend some time together, since he has been working some long hours with his new job. Well, we left to pick up Ty from school and to get a little running done. We went to Sam's Club and got a few needed things.......Ty and Chase LOVE the pizza at Sam's! (well, we ALL love it! LOL) So Z got a slice of pizza for the boys to share and we picked up what we needed and left. Next we went to Walmart to get some new fans for the bedroom. We all have our own fans we use when we sleep! Well, I actually now have two!! (I know, i'm so weird....but I can't sleep without a fan blowing in my face and on my feet!! LOL) So we basically now have two floor fans, one small fan on my night stand and a small clip on fan for Ty. (he's still sleeping in our room, basically because the boys bedroom is still full of boxes from when we moved last year and will most likely be that way until we move again :() Anyhoo, when we went into Walmart we went in through the garden section since the fans were right near there. Once we got the fans we got in line to check out, and Ty and I went to look at the plants they had. I am SO glad I looked, because I found a plant that I had been looking for for quite some time!! It's called a Purple Passion. I had had one many, many years ago and just loved it! In fact, one of my sisters had given me a piece of her plant, and mine grew so much from that tiny piece that I had to break pieces off for my mom and she took her's into work and it grew like crazy!!!! Mine actually got damaged and finally died off. :( I had been looking for another one for awhile, and actually found one at Home Depot but it was a little pricey. The one I found at Walmart yesterday was only $2.75!!! I picked one up and Ty was asking me about it and asked if he could have his own plant to take care of, so we talked to Z and he said go ahead and get two.....Ty was so excited!!!! I just love the color and feel of these plants.....

And I can't wait to see how they grow!!

Finally an amazing mail day!! edit pic added

2011-08-18T13:05:00.003-04:00

Whew, what a GREAT mail day!!!! I got:

- Febreze Set & Refresh (from Facebook promo....I honestly didn't think I made it in in time!)
- Venus Embrace razor (I think from Facebook? or a text offer....and it came at the perfect time, as my razor has had it!)
- cute diabetes awareness magnet

And the best part....Z and I both got survey checks, totalling $110!!!! I can not stress how these checks came at the perfect time!!!!

A great day!!

2011-08-15T15:22:00.002-04:00

The first day of school was a success!!! When Ty got in the van today I asked how his day went and he said "It was fantisimo!!" I said "It was what?!?" And he said "It was great!!" He said they didn't do alot, but mainly got to know each other and did a few papers. He said he really likes his teacher and is so glad he got her. All the teachers in his school are just amazing. Because his school is so small, it's like a close-knit family atmosphere and they really seem to care about the kids. I am so glad the year has started off great for him!!

He's ready!!!!

2011-08-15T06:59:00.001-04:00

First day of school!!

2011-08-15T06:38:00.002-04:00

Well, it's here.......ugh, I am having such a hard time with this! LOL Ty has been ready to go back for over a month now....me, not so much. He is such a big help during the day with Chase, and of course Chase LOVES playing with Ty. I know he will do just fine and obviously so will I! Just need to be strong, tell him I love him and wish him a great day and cry when no one is looking.........LOL!

Will post first day pics when I get back from dropping him off......I am SO glad today is just a half day!!!!

Layout

2011-08-13T15:36:00.003-04:00

I'm waiting for some scrapbook paper to finish up Chase's first year scrapbook, so I decided to just go ahead and get started on the next album. I was going through pics I had printed and found some recent pics I took of Chase doing a somersault........well, I just had to scrap them!!!

I'm not 100% sold on this layout yet....I know it needs something still. I need to go through my scrap stuff and see if something catches my eye to add to this......

I also need to get pics taken of Chase's first year album and get them uploaded!!

Long overdue updates

2011-08-13T12:08:00.003-04:00

I keep meaning to post updates about the boys, but keep getting sidetracked!!! Ok, on to the updates!!

Ty is doing great!!! As you already know, he starts school this coming Monday, August 15th. He is beyond excited about going back! I am so very thankful that he loves school so much and hope it continues as he gets older. I did horrible in school and hated it so much. :( (I was ubber shy and got picked on quite a bit, mainly in the higher grades....) I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that he is going into second grade. How is it I have a 7.5 year old?!? He is so amazing, though. He has his moments where he can be so mouthy and rotten, but what kiddo doesn't go through that?!? I still wouldn't trade him for anything.....not even peanut butter! LOL I checked his height and weight and he is well over 4 feet tall and 56lbs. Getting tall and skinny!! He loves to stand in front of me to see how tall he is compared to me and this morning he did it and said "Look mom, i'm now past your boobs!" Considering i'm so short, I knew he would end up being taller than me and it looks like he's right on track for that! LOL

Chase is also doing great!! He is starting to say more words now that I can actually understand! His list of words are:

- mama/mommy (depending on his mood depends on what he calls us!)
- dada/daddy
- Bubba (Tyler)
- MeeMee (our cat)
- nana (Z's mom)
- poppop (Z's dad and my dad)
- pee (please)
- tee-tee (thank you & bless you)
- me (excuse me)
- neenee (Ernie from Sesame Street)
- mo-mo (Elmo)
- owwww (sounds like E.T. saying "ouch" LOL)

That's about all I can think of, and spell! LOL Some things he says I have no idea what it is but he will show me what he is trying to say and i'll figure out what he means. Also, I can not get over this child's manners!!! He regularly says "please" and "thank you" and if someone sneezes he will say "bless you" (tee-tee). And whenever he burps he covers his mouth and will say "me" (excuse me) and he also says it when he passes gas! I'll ask him if his hiney burped and he'll giggle and say "Me!" I don't know of many 2 year olds who have manners like he does! We are so proud of him! He loves to play with his Bubba (Tyler) and tries his best to keep up with him, but poor guy is so clumsy.....just like his daddy! His little legs are all bruised up in the front, and he has at least 3-4 scratches on him, not to mention a little bump on his forehead from falling yesterday! :( I really wish I could wrap him in bubble wrap sometimes!!!! Chase is going to have such a rough time when Ty goes back to school. And i'll of course miss having Ty home with me as well.............this summer went by way to fast!!! :(

Miscellaneous babbling's

Mail goodies

Some great deals yesterday

I apologize

My little artist

My new love

Growing up

Yum, yum!

Varolo

8 years ago today....

Christmas has come and gone

Happy New Year!!

Pineapple Upside Down Cupcakes!!

Montagne Jeunesse

Merry Christmas!!

Ty surprised me today!

Think it's time

NYC New York Color

imPRESS Press-on Manicure

Hoo are you?!?

WOOT!

Yum!

So excited!!

Hard to believe....

Received my Holiday Voxbox!!

On a mission

Officially done shopping for Christmas!!

Todays awesome mail!

Friday! :)

Happy Thanksgiving

Worry....*edit*

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

11.11.11

Hoo are you?!?

"Monday, monday..."

Super fast!!!

More sugar cookies!

Welcome, November!

$50 Walmart gift card!

Beyond angry

Parent/teacher conference

Some great goodies!!!

Monday is here.....

Another weekend....

Goodies today!

Way cool....

Finally!

An amazing deal today!!!

WOOHOO!

*sigh*

Scrubbing Bubbles One Step

Just call me Suzy!

Tonights dessert....

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

3 years ago today

Bye bye, weekend....

Love this time of year!

Change of plans.....

Happy birthday!!

Mail call for today

Re-potted!

Another weekend has left us

Welcome, Fall!!!

Gravy.....

Last day of sSummer!

Yesterday's excursion....

Last weekend of Summer....

Argh, matey!!

SHOCKED!!!!

Ty's new pj's and swimming trunks!

A rough day.....*edited*

My boy is getting so big......

Got a wonderful surprise today!!

Licky

If you love Christmas time...

Todays mail.....

One good thing from today......

Heartbroken

Can you believe.....

Rest of todays mail

Worry....edit

sigh

A rough day.....edited

Finally an amazing mail day!! edit pic added