A Change of Address

No, we are not moving!  However, I have been considering a change of blog address for a while now and I am finally giving  the Mac site a try.  I may be back, I am not completely sold yet so let me know what you think.  You will have to tell me what you think on this site thought because I still can't figure out how to allow comments on the mac site (hopefully I figure that out soon or I'll be back REAL soon!)  Basically has anyone used it or have opinions about it?  Let me know! 

In the mean time here are the links to the new site.  The first link takes you to my websites home page which has tabs to the Blog.  But then I get confused on how to navigate  so the second two links are to the two posted blog entries!  Enjoy!

Welcome to my world

    I don’t know how or when it happened

    Reflections on the Day

Idol upset bigger than we thought???

Before I begin this you should all know that I DO like Kris Allen. I will probably buy his music and love it. However, as much as i LIKE Kris, I LOVE Adam. The talent is undeniable. Plus, whenever Kris sings and extended note he shifts his chin to the right and it bugs me to no end. It just.....looks seriously weird and some what demented.  I would cringe every time he did it, obviously he was way too modest because if he had ever tried singing in front of a mirror he would have fixed this.   I wasn't going to blog at all about the upset, I was able to vent to a friend who agreed whole heartedly and thought I was done with it. After all, it isn't like Adam wont have an incredible career without the title of American Idol! But, this morning as I was skimming through the news headlines on the internet I came across this story. Who knows how much of a difference all this made, but I thought it was noteworthy none the less. Plus it helped explain things in my own mind. 

Take it for what you will....
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/05/27/earlyshow/leisure/celebspot/main5042391.shtml

My Excuses, for what their worth...

*****OK, so I just went back and re-read my post. All I can say is WOW, I really need to proof read these thing before I press the publish button! My apologies too all who already read it. I think I have the mistakes out now! I think I must have been so excited to actually be publishing a post that I got carried away!


So I am sure there are a few of you (granted a small few - but a few none the least) that are wondering why I haven't been blogging these past few months. Well, I have reasons, they may not be the best reasons, but their mine. The first has to do with my latest obsession, coupons. I know it sounds lame, I know to a lot of you it probably doesn't sound nearly as fun as blogging, but you have no idea - so let me educate you! :) Like most of you, I would always see the news clips with ladies saving an unbelievable amount of money using coupons. I was skeptical, yet curious. I tried it a few times and decided it wasn't worth my time. It was always hard to customize it for the stores in my area and I figured that I would end up buying things I wouldn't use anyway, so I would eventually give up. Then last fall I gave it one more try. Except that this time I had a partner in crime. My friend Charity had started up the quest once again and was making more progress than I ever had. She had a cousin that told her about some great web sites and with that information, we took off and haven't looked back since. It took a while for us to perfect the process, the organizing and the all the local stores coupon polilcies, but doing it with a friend made it really fun. So... just how good are we talking? Well, last time I went to Publix I had a cart full of groceries, I spent $28.00 and saved $114.00. Not every trip is as good as this but I do save a least minimun of 60% most every time I go, usually more. I have always given them a higher value in coupons than I do in actual cash. I am sure you are now thinking that I must be buying things I wouldn't normally buy. Nope! I am buying things I would normally buy and also things I would have liked to buy but maybe wouldn't because of the price. My pantry and freezer are so full I have had to get creative on where to keep stuff! Last Monday I bought 5 boxes of Post Select Cranberry and Almond (It's Sean's favorite so I stock up when it's on sale) for $1.00, not $1.00 a box, $1.00 for 5 boxes or 0.20 per box! For those of you that know how much I love a good deal, you can understand how much fun I have been having! For anyone interested who lives in the south, my favorite website for help is www.southernsavers.com . For anyone else you can look up help for your area at the grocery gathering at www.becentsable.net . They have a compiled list of helpful blogs for different areas.
There is a cute story to all of the coupon madness. Obviously my kids are learning the value of searching for good deals and coupons. They love it when I buy something for nothing or when the manufacture actually pays me to take the product from the store. Apparently Jackson started collecting coupons when we would go to the store (he would take them out of the little red boxes, or blinkies, located in the iles or from tear pads...anywhere he could find them. Then, on Mother's Day he brought me a big old pile of wadded up coupons, and with a proud smile on his face gave me a hug and said, "Happy Mother's Day, Mom." It was priceless. Knowing that he had thought about what would make me happy, planned it out and had done it all by himself made it so special to me. Gotta love that kid! In honor of mothers day... here are some pix of me and my boys.

I know....I know....please don't remind me

Ok...so I KNOW it has been FOREVER since I last blogged. I got behind at Christmas and then it seemed like the more I had to blog, the more overwhelming it was to get it done. And now it's April and I can't believe how fast 2009 is going! I now there's lots I need to write about but first I figured I just need to rip off the band aid and blog something, anything, just get it done!
Highlights from this year so far....

January-I can hardly remember...it seems so long ago!
I think Jason had his first Pine Wood Derby for scouts.-

We headed home to Wisconsin (well, my home) for my uncle Bill's funeral. He was way too young and it was hard but I am grateful we were able to be there with my family. One of the benefits of living within driving distance.

February-Sean turned 36 and we had some friends over to celebrate

Jackson was chosen as the Star Citizen of the quarter in his school. I always thought he would be my trouble maker when he got to school but he is proving me wrong! This gives me enormous hope for Tyler...he is at that age that can be...trying on some days! :)

March-

My dryer started acting funny (more to follow)

New school boundaries for our city were announced and my life became consumed with canvasing the neighborhood with petitions, attending school board meeting and meeting with the superintendent. Surprisingly, I loved it. All of it, from the meetings to working with other moms to just feeling like I was making a difference. I had forgotten how much I enjoy stuff along those lines. It was a good wake up call for me to stay involved however I can.

April -

Dryer still acting funny. Bought new washer and dryer (which I LOVE!!! Seriously, I could write an entire post on it! Load of towels...30 minutes to wash, 30 minutes to dry!!) On removal of the old dryer we found a bird inside it! It looked like it had been stuffed, it had been cooked by the dryer. Then we found a complete birds nest inside the dryer vents in the roof. FUN! But, at least I got a new washer and dryer out of it.


Jackson turned 6!! I can't say much because this one has to have it's own post with pictures but it was a fun day and he is a great kid!

We started a major re-landscaping project on our house and I am loving it. As soon as I finish this I am heading outside to plant more and I can't wait! :)

My parents came for Easter. It was lots of fun and the boys all cried when they left. Tyler still asks me daily why Grandpa can't come over!

Swine flu... The kids school closed for a while but thankfully opened back up again last Wednesday. Originally they were going to keep it closed until May 14th!!

And now...it's May. I can't believe it. This year is going by so fast. I can't believe the kids are almost out of school!! I will try to be better in the coming weeks about keeping up with the blogging! Sean got me a mother's day present that should help greatly with that effort!! (more to come about this one if future posts!) Hope you're all doing well. Enjoy these few pictures that I will post to prove to everyone that, yes, we are still alive!

A Lesson Learned....

Last Saturday it was military appreciation night for the University of Alabama Hockey Team. So, we were able to get free tickets to the game. I was excited to go, I knew the kids would love it and you can't really beat free. My biggest dilemma as we were getting ready to leave was which camera to take. I didn't really see a need to bring the big powerful canon. My thoughts were that I wasn't going to be framing any pictures of Hockey players... I could take some pix of the kids before we left the house and then I wouldn't have to carry around the big camera. My other reasoning was that my 8 year old has taken a serious liking to photography and is constantly trying to convince me to let him take pictures - I am MUCH more comfortable with him using my older camera. So... I had decided, and I felt good about the decision, that my old, somewhat reliable Canon power shot would suffice. I packed up the 40D, hoping not to hurt it's feelings, grabbed the power shot and was out the door.

The game was so fun, so exciting and both Jason and Jackson were having so much fun taking pictures of the players - each getting really excited if they managed to capture the puck in the picture. Then, during the break between the first and second period they introduce the parents of all the players. (It was homecoming - I don't think they do this every game) Guess who we then find out is sitting just below us.....Kurt Russel and Goldie Hawn. I could have died, I sat there with all my earlier thoughts running through my head..."I won't need a powerful lens or zoom, what will there really be to take pictures of?" And then, there they are with their perfect hair (seriously, Kurt Russel had AMAZING hair) and I am sitting there with my useless camera. A camera, I had just begun to hate. Why such a strong word, you may wonder? Well, it is because my old camera goes through batteries in what seems like a matter of seconds. (it didn't help that we bought some terrible batteries online because the price seemed so great) So, by the time I realized who was there, I had no camera abilities at all. I did however, have a ton a hokey shots, some even have the puck in it - if your lucky you just might find it.

Here he is....the son....the number one. It was probably a boring night for his whole family. This Mr. Russel is the back up goalie and didn't play all night! :(

So....lesson learned - never again will I leave my nice camera at home. Jason can take all the pictures he can get out of 4 double A batteries on the old one, but I, will always take the newer one. You can never know what picture you may be missing.

On a side note - the part of the evening my husband found hilarious was when in the midst of my frustration I turned to him and said, "I am SO blogging this!"

All for One and One for All!

All last month, at least 3 or 4 times a week, I would consistently hear the words, "Mom, how much longer until Halloween?" Well, after much anticipation, it finally arrived. The boys were thrilled to dress up in their Musketeer costumes and head out to gather as much candy as they could carry!

The evening began with a Truck or Treat at the church building. (Trunk or Treat= cars lined up in the church parking lot with trunks open as the owners of those cars pass out candy and visit with friends) It was supposed to start at 5 pm and due to the kids excitement, we were actually on time. The problem was that not many people were. My kids made the parking lot circle in about 6 minutes and then what? Well, cars were still pulling in...so they just kept circling!! All in all it ended up with plastic pumpkins filled to the breaking point and then they were ready to leave. Except for Tyler, who went around the circle maybe twice and then found a place in the grass to sit and eat his treasures!

This is my friends daughter as little red riding hood. I couldn't resist posting it! She is so cute!

After the Trunk or Treat, we headed home to conquer the neighborhood. Jason, Jackson and the friends we had over couldn't wait to start. But, once again, Tyler felt a little differently. Here is what he looked like as soon as we got home:
So, while Tyler slept, we went from door to door having lots of fun. That lasted for about an hour until we realized that Jason was no longer with the group. This is NOT the first time I have lost Jason on Halloween. I think too much candy does things to his brain. I wasn't too panicked this time, he's 8, he knows his address, and last time he was only 5. So, I ran back home and he was getting there at the same time I was. All was good but we decided that was enough fun for one Halloween night. We went inside where the adults had fun visiting and the candy trading between the kids began. All in all, it was a great Halloween. We still have TONS of candy if anyone needs some! :)

Cotton Belt of America

So apparently we live in the Cotton Belt. This is a phrase that even a few months ago would have meant very little to me. But not anymore. I have fallen in love with cotton! (Is this sounding too much like a fruit of the looms advertisement?) I mean, I had seen the plants, they were green, they were every where, toward the end they had little white dots on them and then suddenly, they were gorgeous. Breathtaking. I had no idea cotton looked like this. I am sad I didn't get my entire family into the field for a picture but we aren't going anywhere so there is always next year. Here it is, my newest love. Let me know what you think!