301st Post!

This is my 301st post.

I missed #300 because I already had a post written and didn't want to put it off...ha.

So, here ya go..in honor of post #300....a NEW layout! What do you think? It is very different from other themes I have done before...but I think I like it.

And....for your laugh of the day...some art by Katie. She drew this last night while laying in the bed "trying" to go to sleep:

She said it is a picture of her sneaking out of bed in the middle of the night to get a cookie.
I love the body language!

Thirty-One (and 300th Post!)

I just noticed that this is my 300th post, but I already had this ready...so maybe I will commemorate #301 instead..:)

My friend, PJ, recently became a consultant for Thirty-One Gifts. It is a Christian company and the name comes from "Proverbs 31." I had hosted a party before for another friend of mine, Amy, but she has moved to Arkansas. So, when PJ signed up I decided to host a party for her to help her business get going and I also was VERY motivated by the hostess special for the month of April (if I got $500 in orders I got $150 in free stuff!). ALSO...it coincided with my birthday month so all my friends were motivated to order something for me to help me get free stuff for my birthday while getting something cute for themselves or a friend too!!!

Anyway, I had not posted what I got with my hostess rewards, so I thought I would go ahead and share....Thanks to my generous friends, I was able to make my goal and get $150 in FREE stuff! WOO HOO!


I know that Amy sometimes reads my blog and I wanted to clarify anyway: The brown insulated bag that is shown (with Thompson on it in tan) is one I ordered the last time I had a party. I put it on here to show because as part of my order to make my $500 I had ordered two bags "like" that one but in the black and white print shown below as Mother's Day gifts. We got one embroidered with "Meme" and one with "Nanna" for our moms. The paisley print bag is SO cute. I wish the colors had shown up brighter on here.... It is a wipeable material which makes it a GREAT out and about bag. It holds lots of stuff! It is called the "Mommy Tote" and I got it as part of my freebies from my party! The little containers are soy melting accents for a warmer I got at my last party. They smell so good!

Here are the rest of the items I got for FREE. The big bag in the back was my "big" wishlist item. It is called a "Carry-All Tote". I got the matching Spa Train Case and I am so excited to use it, oh, the next time we go somewhere...ha ha! That big bag currently has a twin size quilt stuffed in it to make it stand up for the picture, and still has plenty of room for stuffing! I can't wait to see how much I will be able to get in it! The spa train case has a wipeable inside so it will be perfect for makeup, toiletries, etc. The little bag on the left is called a Wristlet. It is SO cute and handy! I was able to put everything from my small purse inside and it has a wrist strap (you can see better if you click on the link) that makes it easy to carry around with all the essentials inside. In June they are coming out with one that will match my Mommy Tote that I so want to get! It clips right inside most of the bigger totes!

So, there you go! All my adorable freebies! If you live in Cartersville, Rome, etc, you should contact PJ about hosting a show. She does such a fun night with games and all it is just a ton of fun! Plus, this stuff is just TOO CUTE to pass up! I might even come, who knows? Check out the latest hostess and customer specials on her website, there is always a great offer going on!

Girls' Art Night Out!

Last night I went painting again with a group of friends. Bethany, Emilee (her sister), Chris F, Laura W., and I went out for a night out for Bethany's 30th birthday. We went to the same place I posted about before where you pay $25 and they walk you through step by step painting a 16x20 canvas that you take home at the end. It really is fun and again, we got to see how different personalities shine through with the same picture and instruction. Last night the painting was "crazy flowers." Mine actually got pretty crazy because I was NOT patient enough to paint precise little circles like the teacher was showing us to do...ha ha. You can read Bethany's blog about it by clicking on the link at the beginning of the post....

My "crazy" flowers.
Of course, my children are my biggest fans, so they wanted a picture with my masterpiece.

Here is a group shot that I stole from Bethany's post (thanks!). Isn't it so cool how everyone's interpretation is so different? It was a fun night! We stopped at Steak and Shake on the way home and didn't get home until AFTER MIDNIGHT on a TUESDAY! WOW, pretty wild night, HA!

Memorial Day

I have to start off by sharing the sad ending to our day. It was so completely frustrating and I don't want to end on a sad note, so I will get it over with now.
As you will see later, we went out for ice cream today. We ordered three things off of this "sweet deals" menu.
The lady gave us our total and I pointed out that it sounded too high.
She said (as this sign says) that I had to tell her before I ordered because they have a separate button for "that."
I said, "Seriously?"
She said, "Yes."
I said, "That is completely ridiculous."

I know that there is a sign under this menu that says "mention the deal when you order." But COME ON! It is RIGHT THERE HUGELY displayed on their menu. Who would NOT want the SPECIAL?
I am so mad. We will NEVER go back there. I can promise you that. That is a crazy policy and extremely annoying that she didn't offer to fix it or re-ring it for me.
It would have saved us OVER $2!!!!

Okay...so now on to the post...re-start:

We have had an AWESOME weekend! It started with absolutely nothing being planned! ha!
We started Friday with starting to work on Noah's fossil kit. They had fun but there was no way we were going to finish that in one night....
so we put it aside for another night for finishing.

This thing takes FOREVER! But, we did see a few bones starting to peep out...

Here is Corey practicing for church...

The kids wanted to have a sleepover.... they were so cute!
They talked and giggled and played! And FINALLY went to sleep!

On Saturday we met Matt, Erin, and baby Kaidence at
Ridgeferry Park for a picnic and playing.

Katie with her favorite baby....

I did not know that Ridgeferry park had a nature trail! It was neat!

We had church on Sunday, then today we had planned to go to the Renaissance Festival but the weather was so rainy yesterday and we figured it would be muddy so we decided to wait again on that. Instead we went to the park again and walked ALL THE WAY from Ridgeferry Park to Broad Street...WHEW! It was quite a walk! We had some lunch, then Corey and Ben went to get the cars so they could pick us up! ha ha!
THEN we went BOWLING! It was the second time the kids had ever been bowling and they had so much fun!
Here's Noah getting cooled off by the hand dryer.

The kids did great, here is Noah after his spare...

The final score:

Then, the last treat of the day: ICE CREAM!

Guilty.

We have finally hit the point that our kids have tiny teeny itty bitty toys. Toys that are VERY easily vacuumed.


Wait. I better back up.

Yesterday was cleaning day and we spent pretty much all day doing it. The kids worked in their rooms while I worked in the rest of the house. We have this thing where I tell them "how many" things to go put away and they hurry and go do it and come back for the next number. I know, pretty boring, but they love it. I try to make it interesting by making up different ways like "go pick up as many toys as you are years old." They love it.

So...after a couple hours of cleaning I go to check on the progress. Katie's room was a complete disaster. She takes after me, ha. I investigate further to see that the toys that have been "put away" are actually just stuffed under her bed. As Bethany commented: Classic.

I took a big container lid and pushed all the STUFF out from under the bed and told her I was disappointed that she was stuffing everything under her bed when I specifically asked if she was doing that and she said no. She said I hurt her feelings.

Well....EVENTUALLY both rooms were clean and at the end of the day I was doing the vacuuming, which they were not allowed to do because it took them ALL DAY and much whining and complaining to get the job finished...it was completely exhausting. They love vacuuming, so part of their punishment was that they did not get to do the vacuuming (ironic huh).

When I was vacuuming Katie's room I saw a couple of tiny itty bitty Polly Pocket shoes.

I hesitated for a millisecond...then.........

I vacuumed right over them.

Should I feel bad?

There may have been a lego pirate coin that got sucked up too...

New Wishlist Item!

I was on facebook today and saw an ad for something that looked pretty interested. So, I looked it up and found a fascinating website that will take your blog and turn it into a softcover or hardcover book!

The site is called Blog2Print..you can click the name to go to the site.

AND you can choose to include all the comments from your posts or not. I decided to set mine up and it was really easy! You just enter your blog web address and it gets all the information from there. It took at few minutes, but it finally loaded ALL my posts along with an introduction of my choice and WOW it was SO NEAT to see all my blog posts in a neat little book. It even included any photos I uploaded to the posts...(not slideshows, just uploaded photos within a posting). So, here's the bad news! ha ha! For a softcover version of my blog as a book, it could cost $124!!!! WOW! The hardcover edition would be $10 more. BUT, that is for 330 pages!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think that might be worth it actually. But, I better think quickly because every time I post that price will go up! ha ha!

What do you think? Would it be worth that much to you to have a copy of something that is pretty much like a diary of the past 2 years with photos? I am wondering if anyone knows of a company that does something similar so easily? Blog friends, help?

A Busy Week!

Here is a picture of Noah and his friend Joshua, at their last t-ball class. They got a bat and ball as a gift at the end. They played a game and it was SO cute! I am sure the upcoming t-ball season is going to be so much fun! This picture of Katie is from when we were leaving her ballet recital on Saturday. She was showered with flowers of course, and she did a great job! That will be her last dance recital for a while since she has decided she wants to pursue music next and will be taking lessons in the fall.

After her dance recital, Katie went on a date with her Daddy! He took her to the Melting Pot for a celebration of the day and as a special time for the two of them. Here are pictures of her leaving on her date. Of course since it was just Corey and Katie, he didn't take many pictures while they were out... just a couple but they were on his phone. She LOVED the Melting Pot...especially the cheesecake dipped in the chocolate fondue.

Yesterday we went to Canaan's 6th birthday party. It was so much fun. Bethany planned a "Camo" themed party with all the kids wearing their camo, a tank cake, an obstacle course, a snake hunt, and actual "MREs" for the food for the kids. It was so funny to see them all trying to figure out (with the parents help of course) how to cook those things! It was hilarious! There was even a USO performance to entertain the troops during the party... a puppet show! I am sure Bethany is going to post plenty of pictures of that soon, so check it out on her blog.

THEN, last night I went to an AWESOME surprise party for Bethany thrown by her mom and sisters for her upcoming 30th birthday. We had a "Sweet Tomatoes" type salad bar and muffins and ice cream bar. We also played the American Idol game on Xbox which was SO much FUN!
She did not have a clue about it and was SO surprised!!! It was GREAT! More pictures to come of that later too, probably on her blog and her sister's blog. I was able to meet a couple of my "online" blogging friends that I know through Bethany at her party too! Mary and Heidi were both here for the party and it was very neat getting to actually meet them in person and hang out together...they were so much fun!

*Whew!* What a weekend! I was actually looking forward to today...MONDAY morning, so that I could sleep in! ha ha!

Best yet!!!!

This is what I got at Publix today for $4!!!! That is FOUR DOLLARS!!!!!!

I believe this is the best I have done yet.... :) These items were not marked down because of going out of date.. The yogurts were on sale BOGO for $1.25 each and then the fifty cent coupon in the paper was doubled for a total of $1 off each one!!!! The butter was on sale for BOGO at .95 cents each, and with the doubled 45 cent coupon that was another 90 cents off!!!! LOVE it!

(6) 4 pk. of Yoplait Fiber One Yogurt (.25/each..)
(4) 4 pk. of Yoplait Yoplus Yogurt (.25/each)
(4) 2 pk. Country Crock spread (.05/each)
1 box of Raisin Bran Crunch - I dunno, does it matter exactly how much it was?! ha!

Ah.... it was so nice! Now we will be eating some yogurt over the next few weeks!

You Saw It Here First!

Here is some video I took at the dress rehearsal yesterday. Hope it works!

Happy Birthday to Corey...again!

As always, click the collage to see it bigger!

Last night we went out for Corey's birthday dinner. He originally picked Mellow Mushroom but when we got there the wait was 45 minutes or we could sit outside with the smokers...no thanks! So, we went to The Varsity!!! It was delicious! Afterward we went to Cold Stone Creamery for some wonderful ice cream!!!!

Katie's dance recital is Saturday. She had dress rehearsal today. Here she is in her cute costume! She loves to pose!

Happy Birthday to My Husband!

You may have noticed I skipped yesterday.....yeah, it was Mother's Day. It turns out we didn't order our Mother's Day gifts in time to get here
so we will be celebrating that in a few days, ha ha.

Anyway...Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband today!!! He was born May 11th, 1980... Corey Jason. ELEVEN POUND and EIGHT OUNCES! This will make the 10th birthday that I have known him through and the 9th we have celebrated "together." I would like to say that he has grown up so much and matured since I have known him,
but as George Washington never said, "I cannot tell a lie." HA! Just kidding.

Click on the collages to see them bigger and better!

A collage of just a few of the silly pictures we have. Notice top left and bottom right...
Andy and Corey showing off how much they have matured in the past years....ha ha!

Corey, in truth...is not the man I married almost 8 years ago. And I am SO happy for that. Don't get me wrong, he was (as all brides think) Absolutely WONDERFUL the day I married him...(ha ha).. but I am so happy that he has grown in being more responsible, more understanding, and who knew he would be such an awesome DAD?! I have never ever had to worry about him being a provider because he has a dedicated work ethic and would work anywhere he had to in order to provide for our family. I know that without a doubt!
He has stated that he would work two jobs before he took me out of the home again and that means more to me than anything!!! I am so happy he is accepting and supportive of my opinions about raising our children and has been agreeable about homeschooling and my "new thing of the week" that I come up with that is the best thing ever we need to try for our home/diet/finance/school/vacation.

Thanks for putting up with me.

We are really a good match. I love Corey so much... and I am thankful that God saw the potential we had and has let us grow together into it.

Happy 29th birthday!!!!!

If you know Corey, feel free to leave him a little birthday note here... check out his mom's tribute on her blog HERE. At least go over and commend her for bringing 11 pound into the world....and that was before the rush to do C-sections if you get my meaning on that ladies!!

Corey: Day 6

Well, there will only be one more post after today before Corey's birthday.
Poor Corey, his birthday is almost always overshadowed by Mother's Day. :(

I even almost didn't get a question posted today, and he probably won't get to answer it before tomorrow! ha.
We have had a great date night and day last night and today. We ate a huge meal at The Melting Pot last night and then today we drove up to Chattanooga to scope out McKay's Used Books (got some AWESOME deals on homeschool stuff for next year!) and ate lunch at P.F. Chang's.
So, here is a weird question for today based on eating out:


If tomorrow, every single fast food restaurant had to be the same, what fast food restaurant would you want them to be?
Same for sit-down restaurants. What would your choices be????

Corey: Day 5

I was very disappointed that Corey did not submit a caption for his photo yesterday. boo! But, he chose Frank as the winner, pretty funny caption though I had to look up who that person was...
Yeah, many times I don't "get" jokes bc I don't have a clue about the reference.
Anyway...

Today's question (a classic):


What superpower would you want to have...AND WHY?
I know that Corey has thought about this question before,
so I expect an answer from him today...
and anyone else too....

Corey's Birthday: Day 4

Today's question is really not a question, but it will be fun anyway. I decided to do something "Corey-esqe" and add some humor with a caption-contest,
except there will be no prizes. ha. So, submit your best caption for this picture of Corey.
I am thinking it could be pretty funny....so caption away!!!!!

Birthday Countdown: Day Three

Today's question is completely an excuse to put up this picture:

This is Kilie and me at Sips n' Strokes in Marietta. You pay a flat fee and they walk you step by step through painting a picture on a canvas! It was SO MUCH fun and I can't wait to go back! Thank you, Kilie, for taking me...it was a fantastic idea for a birthday present! I am so proud of our paintings and thought it was so cool that they showed everyone the same steps but everyone's painting was unique...kind of an interpretation of their personality!

So, here is today's question for Corey's countdown:

What completely unlikely and/or impractical profession would you wish you could be successful in?
For example: I would love to be able to make money being an artist of some kind... either in painting or music or something similar to that. I think it would be great to get paid good money for doing something that was 100% pure fun to you! I find this to be a very unrealistic possibility for me! ha ha!

And...everyone else... what is a job that you think would be really really fun but extremely unlikely for you to be good at or make a decent living in?

Husband Birthday Countdown: Day Two

Corey, here is your question for today:

What is your desert island food?
What food could you eat 3 times a day, 7 days a week, and not get tired of it?

Other readers: What is YOUR desert island food? If you recall, mine was spaghetti...YUM!

Birthday Countdown: Round Two

I would first like to say that I have not bailed on my prize winners...it is coming! I promise!
That Target gift card is as good as in your hands and spent! I just haven't made it to Target yet...

Secondly.... I am starting my second birthday countdown... As it is now 358 days until my next birthday.....


HA!

Just kidding.... I am actually going to countdown to my husband's birthday which is on
May 11th, exactly 6 days from now.
He was born on Mother's Day, 1980.

Turning 29.. his last "twenties" birthday.

So, in honor of his birthday, I am going to try to get him to comment on my blog everyday for the next 6 days by asking HIM a question. Please check back to comment on his answers. They are sure to be interesting.

Question Number One for Corey's birthday countdown:

Does turning 29 make you feel old? and WHY?!

There will be no contest for this one. The last one about broke me! ha ha!

In case he boycotts my countdown, would some other people answer the question to make me feel better? :)