Samen Lori's Life

Bargain Shopping

2011-09-01T15:37:00.004-04:00

I've still been doing my "bargain shopping" and this is a picture of my latest purchase. Not a bad deal. These items average $1.78 EACH, which does include sales tax.

Did You Know????

2011-08-31T07:49:00.002-04:00

Hair grows slowest at night. It's growth speeds up in the morning, slows down in the afternoon, and speeds back up again in the evening! Hair also grows faster in the summer than winter, due to the persperation on your head.

Trying Again

2011-08-29T12:10:00.002-04:00

I've really missed writing my blog and I think it's good for me to jot down my thoughts, activities, and such. It's just that I've been face booking and find it so simple to just take a picture and post a comment on what I've been up to. Unfortunately with fb there is no "log" so to speak and here it's all in one place.....Please wish me luck, I do know I have a few out there who visit my blog and it's got to be boring not seeing a new post, well guess what...I'm baaaack! It's boring not getting a comment back, so once again, PLEASE leave me a comment ( you can be anonymous). But I'd also like to say I'm not doing this for the comments, I'm doing this to blog my life, however adventurous or boring it might be.

It's Been 13 Months To The Day

2011-05-19T18:28:00.003-04:00

I had my sinus surgery 13 months ago today and I'm really feeling quite happy about the whole process, I'm still breathing great, I'm not whistling when I breath, hooray! (once and a while I do get clogged up)but YES, I hopefully won't have to do that again, but Yes, I would if I had to.

End Of Year Clearance

2011-01-07T10:00:00.006-05:00

I love this time of year not because of all the clearance deals on clothes and toys, certainly not because of the snow ok, I admit I like it a little bit SOME of the time, but not a lot of the time) What I love to do is go through my coupons and get rid of all the expired ones, it's so easy, I just look at the last 2 digits of the year, if it ends in 10 they're toast, outta here, gone. I go through them quite frequently anyway but the end of the year is so much fun, that's why I'm smiling. Don't you smile when your having fun, I know I do:-) I've never went as far as weighing them but I just had to get a picture. It came to 7.5 ounces! My coupon pack is so skinny now, I feel like she went on a diet.

I'm Sorda Famous

2011-01-07T09:50:00.004-05:00

I've been following this savings blog for a while now and she asked for people to send in photos of their great shopping savings skills, and she picked me and some others. I'm Pretty excited about that. This was one of my shopping trips to CVS in December.

http://www.sarahsdeals.net/2011/01/sayved-what-3-readers-my-dollar-general.html

Cant Pick Just One

2011-01-04T11:18:00.006-05:00

I took these pictures one evening when I was told "it's too dark to take pictures"

This is Jayde and Blake out for an evening stroll.sitting around the mums
Jayde "hamming it up" for the camera

Blake happy as a race car driver:-)

One more because I just can't pick one.

Cheese!

Good-bye my darling grandchildren,

come back real soon y'all.

Jayde's Turns 3

2010-12-29T13:55:00.008-05:00

I know this is really late, but I do like things to go in order. Here is our 3 year old granddaughter, Jayde's birthday cake, her mommy made it, it's it just darling. They had her party at a park and it was a great idea because the kids were able to play while the adults visited and yet were able to keep a good eye on them. Everyone had fun, fun, fun.

Swinging and slides are so much fun:-)

Present time!

I had taken her to see Disney Princess's On Ice and she was Tinkerbell, (borrowed from a friend)now she has her own and can be Tinkerbell anytime she chooses.

another fun toy

and another

Snow White is her favorite princess

and of course princess's have a lot of jewelry.

One final look at the adorable princess and her awesome cake!

Happy birthday to our sweet granddaughter.

We love you, grandma and grandpa

Did You Know.....?

2010-11-02T15:37:00.003-04:00

The thigh bone is largest by volume and the longest and strongest in the human body. It is stronger than concrete.

You're born with 300 bones, but by the time you become an adult they have fused to only 206.

My brothers ATV Accident

2010-09-24T08:07:00.004-04:00

On Labor Day he was out with his friend ridding and his friend came up in front and cut him off, by accident. At 40 MPH. Eric was wearing full ridding gear. Amongst other things he had to have surgery:

Update on my brother (Eric) extensive spinal stenosis (narrowing of his spinal cord) Because one of his cords was messed up and slowly deteriorating over the years and his ATV accident made it worse he had surgery to prevent paralosis if a future accident occured. They went in through the side of his neck to attend to his lower vertebra's and one of his cords.

This is the report I got from my sister after his surgery yesterday (9-23-10) It was nearly a 2 hr. surgery, but it went well.

The bone and plate are in good
neck brace for 6 weeks
his disks were large an bulging but arenow fixed
they removed some bone spurs
went in through the side of his neck
no lifting, pulling or pushing for sometime(he can pour from a gallon of milk, but can't pick it up high enough to drink from it (for instance) Hey, that's how she described it to me:-)
and when he got out of surgery and was "coming to" he ripped out his IVs which I am told is "normal" for men. I guess they don't want to be "restrained" in their mind.
He gets to come home today!

Eric, I love you.

9-11-01

2010-09-10T19:58:00.003-04:00

No, I have not forgotten the 3,000 men, women and children who lost their life on this horrific day. I will never forget this day as long as I live. I have not lost anyone personally, but I feel for each family who's life was changed on that day. May God bless each one of you, and may you always feel Him near your side and in your heart.

Lori

Did You Know....

2010-09-09T16:56:00.004-04:00

I thought I'd share a little bit of info on those pesty, nasy, blood sucking, West Nile virus bugs:
Mosquitoes are attracted to the color blue twice as much as to any other color. Also, the female is the only one that bites!

My Poor, Poor Neglected Blog

2010-09-09T14:31:00.003-04:00

I will be up and running this week, back in full swing, come follow me on my random thoughts on various topics and our grandchildren's crazy adventures.

Results of My Nose Surgery

2010-07-15T11:02:00.005-04:00

It's been nearly 3 months since I had my nose surgery (2 post below this one) I'm feeling incomplete (like I can't go on w/o writting at least something on the subject), so here I go... This is just before we left for surgery. I'm happy and at peace about it.

A close up of my nose BEFORE surgery.

Another angle of my nose on the way to the hospital.

No happy drugs, just plain 'ol happy before surgery.

This is the first picture taken after surgery, (2 days AFTER), I finally got out of bed and made it downstairs. I was so sleepy for the entire day after, I just stayed in bed and basically slept. Didn't read, no t.v. no computer interest, just glorious SLEEP.

A little bit of a closer shot, you can see I look a little swollen but basically I still looked the same.

My upper lip was so sore, finally I looked in the mirror because it was so tender I just figured it was because of the surgery, well it was surgery related but I had a big bruise on the INSIDE of my upper lip, no wonder it hurt so dang bad!!!!

Not the best for close up, but this is 2 days after the above picture, it was still really tender and bad.

This is 21/2 months later. I'm still sleeping through the night and breathing very good. But I'm beginning to notice some clogging of dried blood again. Yikes!

My china pattern

2010-06-11T11:05:00.006-04:00

This china was given to my mom from a neighbor that she took dinner to every night, and spent many hours sitting and keeping Eileen company, she'd clean some for her too. Before Eileen died many years ago she TOLD mom to take that china out of her house, she wanted mom to have it and not any of her family! (and quite honestly my mom did more for Eileen than any of her family put together)

This is what we ate many holiday meals on and mom gave it to me when they downsized. I was so afraid we might get in a car accident driving it nearly 6 hrs. back to our home, I hauled it back in 2 trips. *I* didn't want anybody to help pack it but myself, and I am thrilled to report nothing was broken! We've moved it 2 additional times and *I* always pack it myself. Nothing broken and the set remains complete.

This is my 12 piece place setting, also included is a medium plate but I wasn't sure how to display it.

This is with the light on above the table.
Up close shot, I love this china pattern.

Without the light on.

Who wants to come for dinner?

My Nose Surgery

2010-04-22T21:12:00.009-04:00

In December I had had enough of sleepless restless nights and daily battles with blocked nasal breathing; this had been going on for a couple years or actually longer and got worse as time passed on.

I went to the ENT doctor and he said I have a deviated septum(a nasal septum is an approximately 2 X 1.5 inch wall inside the nose that divides the right side of the nasal cavity from the left side). The nasal septum is composed of cartilage in the front and bone in the back of the nose I also had a hole in my septum which resulted in less air intake and a whistling breathing sound occasionally. Can anybody say:EMBARRASSING??!!

He also told me I'd need an inferior turbinate reduction. Turbinates are tissue masses extending into the nose from the sides which warm and humidify the air we breathe,in many patients, the inferior turbinates become so unusually large that they contribute to not only nasal obstruction, but also nasal congestion and sometimes a persistent clear runny nose (as in my case) alternating nasal obstruction on the side one lays down on (right nasal obstruction when laying down on the right which than switches side when laying down on the left) obviously mine were too large therefore my only remedy was surgery.

I scheduled my surgery for January and did my own research on the internet resulting in reading too much scary stuff that I litterly chickened out just one week prior to surgery, so I cancelled it. In the meantime I was struggling with sleep and breathing and the author of one of the blogs I read, Brandi was having this same procedure done for other reasons (severe daily headaches). OK, so I secretly let her be my inspiration (thanks Brandi). She had a very painful rough recovery but I figured if she could do it with 4 kids under 6 I could make it through with just myself and my husband.

I rescheduled for Monday,April 19th.
Sam was with me right until surgery. I was in surgery for an hr. and the doc came out to tell Sam all went well and he believes it was a success. I was in recovery for an hr. after that, then they wheeled me into a room and finally I was able to see Sam and when I finished up I rated my pain a 2 out of a 10; isn't that amazing? From a chicken to a 2!!! I know this was the result of God guiding my surgeon and my family and friends praying for me, thank you everyone:-)

The bleeding was out of this world, (I thought I might need a blood transfusion) Sam quickly reassured me I was going to be fine. Let's just say I'm really happy I had a bag for all the tissues I went through on our way home. Even my mustache gauze didn't make it half way home!

We got home at 6:00 P.M. Sam got me all comfy on the loveseat, served us dinner, filled my eye ice bag to help reduce the pain and swelling then went to the pharmacy to get my meds filled. He really took great care of me and continues to even through Thursday night (when I am STILL writing this).

I have been sleeping sitting up in the spare bed(room) and only taking my Vicodine at night now(Tuesday I took 2 doses of it) My face is numb/swollen all the way up to my temples and my upper lip is very bruised on the inside but no visual bruising. I've been sucking on freeze pops trying to get my lip back to normal. I didn't lose my appetite and had no fever. I've been extremely tired, I can barely believe how much I've slept. My dad says you will sleep if your body needs it and since I have to sleep more-less sitting up, it's not the best sleep I've ever gotten so I'm sure I do need my sleep. I got a call from the nurse again today (Friday) she told me I can now lay down to sleep. Yippie!

Not Me Monday

2010-03-29T12:35:00.002-04:00

Over at www.mycharmingkids.net McMamma will be having people link up to what they did but making it sound like they didn't actually do it because it's so bad or just really embarrassing.

I had a great one to write about my granddaughter but as I was uploading the pictures to go with it, SOMETHING happened and I'll write about that for now, I'm just devastated!

I did not upload pictures of my granddaughter for this post and ummm, no way did I just wipe out nearly all my entire blogs pictures, nope not me, I just need some new glasses and they'll be there just like they've always been, I seen one a ways down and another one further but I really am sick about this, does anybody have any clue what I might have done? Please for the love of God, (and for the love I have of my blog) help me find my pictures. Comments of help or encouragement are greatly appreciated.

My Cleaning Tips

2010-03-26T11:39:00.009-04:00

Over at http//www.kellyskornerblog.com you can get a million cleaning tips, these are all I can think of right now, I'll add more as they come to me.

1. Use a shower head with a handle it, it only takes 20 seconds or so to rinse off the shower walls and door/curtain after every shower. You don't get slime built up and the ledges get rinsed off daily.

2. Clean up as you go, the messes are so much easier to clean when fresh, like when your cooking.

3. Speaking about cooking...use non-stick pots and pans, but if you must use the other kind and you have a big stuck on mess, just let it soak a while, don't stress over the mess, come back to it after it "soaks off"

4. When your making potatoes, rinse the beaters in cold water a.s.a.p. (it runs right off, same with the pan).

5. Invest in some baby wipes, you can use these for simple counter or bathroom cleaning every other day until you get busy with the heavy duty cleaning.

6. Get the tunes going, and blare them as loud as you can.

7. Take advantage of the sunshine, who doesn't feel like they can do anything on a bright, bright sun shinny day!!!??? Oh, and try to get the cleaning done before it's too hot and you don't want to do anything.

What are some of your cleaning tips?

Shopping Trips

2010-03-24T09:43:00.006-04:00

I had 10 50¢ coupons for these waters and Target had 'em for $1.00 each so I ended up paying $5.00 for 10. Better yet, because I purchased 10, Target was giving a $5.00 gift card. Call it what you want, but I call it... FREE!
I stopped off at Walgreens on my way to my "destination" I was there to snag some more free stuff, OK, so I had to pay tax but I still consider it free. They had these on sale for bogo and on sale price to begin with originally $3.19; SALE price: $1.99. I'm pretty clever, (if I do say so myself) I used 2 $1.00 coupons...but the scanner beeped, oh dear...The coupons exceed the price of the item, "sir can you just take 99¢ off that $1.00 coupon so It'll work?" So he did, and of course I told him to have a great day!!!

Off to my biggest bargain:
I didn't get a picture of it, but I got our new car FILLED for FREE, I'm talking like I was about to have to PUSH it, the mileage/gas indicator said I only had 23 more miles of gas left, (we planned it that way). When we purchased the car they said to fill out the survey and they would give us a full tank of gas when we wanted it. We sure took advantage of that!! We probably saved $40 bucks or very close to that maybe more:-) I didn't go to the gas station so I don't know the actual cost. (The lot tech took it.) While he did that I looked at Ford Escapes. Just let me say that after I drove about 15 miles the needle was still above the FULL mark. So we did get a FULL tank, I'm absolutely sure of that.
On my way home (finally) I stopped at another Walgreens, they had bacon 2/$6.00 and I had a $1.50 off 1 and because my printer messed up I was unable to print it again but I made good use of the other one in the Sunday coupons for JUST 75¢ off one. That's better than none (I say). So I paid $1.37 for EACH bacon, and it's Oscar Mayer, you can't beat that. When I paid, a $1.00 catalina printed out. I also noticed these Gortons Grilled Fillets which Sam and I like, they were on clearance to 75¢ EACH so I used the only coupon I had, it was for 40¢ off ANY Gortons, so I paid 35¢ for one of the 3 boxes! Then I noticed this Bertolli lasagna meal, BINGO, it was clearanced down to $2.19, I rummaged thru my coupons and found a $1.00 off one so I paid $1.19 for that bag.

That was too much fun, I wanted more, I stopped at another Walgreens to hunt for clearance items, I had to hurry I had frozen food in the trunk, I was able to snag the last Bertolli from them and use my $1.00 cat. from the previous store. YEAH ME!!!

Go visit http://www.hip2save.com/ and you'll get a million bargain/savings deal in a year, check often through out the day. And one more thing, when you see a post with an awesome deal, print the coupon RIGHT away, sometimes they reach their print pretty fast.

Mail Delivery

2010-03-23T12:09:00.003-04:00

Getting the mail yesterday was way cool....I love nothing more than FREE, well OK, I love my family more, but you know it was pretty exciting to open the mail and get 2 FREE bottles of Vitamin water and the best thing was I/we won a $25.00 Discover Card for just using "The Card That Pays You Back". I was more than thrilled because I didn't even know they were doing a giveaway. But considering I use this card for nearly EVERY purchase over 5 bucks, I ought to win something, YEAH ME!

Yard Work

2010-03-22T19:45:00.003-04:00

above: won't be long till the Daffodils pop open:-)

The other day I was doing some clean up detail.Above is before

Much better now.

I got the old plants pulled out and I need to get my flower pot cleaned out next. Maybe my grand kids will build me another flower pot for Mothers Day if I pull out the old.

I was working on cutting down the mums but my hand got tired, I have a bad case of tendinitis, TY very much Toys R Us.

Waiting for new growth, and new plants and mulch.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2010-03-18T08:22:00.004-04:00

Pistachio Pudding Cake

I made a cake yesterday, it's one that my mom made every now and then.

The finished cake.

I think it looks like one of those candle cakes.

ready for the middle layer of frosting/pudding mix

cutting in half

Cooling on the rack, I was so thrilled it just popped out of the pan with no trouble.

Fresh out of the oven.

The cake mix ready for the oven.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-03-17T10:08:00.003-04:00

This is my 2 year old granddaughter, while taking out the pieces she said she is making a "circle" and she has a great start too, notice it?

A Heart

2010-03-15T17:29:00.003-04:00

If you look close enough at anything you can see love. I just found ham in the shape of a heart, cool.

Whodunit?

2010-03-15T17:21:00.003-04:00

Do you see all that white stuff, grrrr, this annoys me, I wash the laundry and what on earth do I find, some paper in a zillion pieces. What do I do when this happens? I take it outside and shake each item and then I turn it inside out or inside right what ever the case may be and shake some more. And I like to find out who did this but this time I didn't find anything big enough to pin point whodunit.

My Trip To Matthew 25 Ministries

2010-03-15T17:02:00.006-04:00

This is from my previous postAbove is the sign, it speaks for itself.
These are just some of the nations flags, I couldn't get them all in my picture.

Here I am sorting out donated clothes, I'm checking for stains, and rips/tears, if they have any they go into another bin, maybe for rags, I'm not really sure.

A cute crib, a perfect way to recycle pallets.

A sea of shoes. Sometimes they're not tagged as a set, people sort for the missing one and then they tag them together and put them in their own separate clear bag with the shoe size written on the bag.

I hope you enjoyed my trip I was so happy to go and make good use of my time. Get a hold of me if you'd like to go with me sometime.

One of My Charieties

2010-03-12T08:35:00.008-05:00

Kelly over at http://www.kellyskornerblog.com/ is asking us to list our charity(s) so let me talk about Matthew25 Ministries. They're my latest charity, they collect, sort and distribute donations around the country and WORLD when disaster strikes, Haiti, Hurricane Katrina, and so many other places. This is copied from their website http://www.m25ministries.org/ :

The mission of Matthew 25:Ministries is to fulfill Matthew 25:34-40 of the New Testament by providing nutritional food to the hungry, clean water to the thirsty, clothing to the naked, affordable shelter to the homeless, medical care to the ill, and humanitarian supplies to prisoners.
The people we help are not receiving a handout, but a helping hand. It is only when a person’s most basic needs are met, that one can become self reliant. Because of this belief, Matthew 25: Ministries has always placed an emphasis on education, job creation and providing aid to children.

The pictures below are some I took when a friend and I took 2 large van loads over there collected by our wonderful church families:

Above you see a makeshift hut (home) with a cardboard woman, (looks real) this is a one room home with dirt floors and the kitchen too. You can see a couple hamocks hanging.

another... "backyard" they collect water it's dripping off the leaves of the plant into the barrel. You see the various items they use for "sidding"

Nothing goes to waste, this chair would be tossed in the dumpster at most anybodys home here in the U.S.A. they found a way to use it by putting a block under the leg, almost as good as new.

Cintas donated a LOT of clothing to M25, here they are folding it and passing it on.

I am heading over there today to help out a while. I'll be back with details of my visit. What is the charity your passionate about?

P.S. the next post is about my trip to volunteer. (the one dated Monday March 15)

That's a Heluva Good Coupon!!

2010-03-10T14:40:00.004-05:00

Look what I got in the mail!! I signed up for a coupon that I thought was going to get me a free dip, but instead it's for ANY Heluva Good product valued up to $4.99. I don't think I'll waste this on 99¢ dip, nope, it's going to have to be a block of cheese with this one.

My Collections...Dreamsicles and Pandas

2010-03-06T17:24:00.008-05:00

Click on the images to enlarge them. Me in the back of my glass curio cabinet w/a few of my panda statues. This is a San Francisco Music Box Company statue Sam got me for some occasion some years ago.
This is my little "MOM" corner of dreamsicles Jennifer got me. This is Jennifers' hand print she gave me some years ago.

Lot's more Dreamsicles and some pandas.

Plenty of Dreamsicles, all my music boxes and globes are from the San Francisco Music Box Company. I got them for birthdays, Christmas's and anniversary's and just because's. (is that even a word?)

Did You Know...

2010-03-05T13:08:00.002-05:00

The crocodile cannot move his tongue. The whole tongue is rooted to the base of his mouth.

My Shopping Trips Lately...

2010-03-05T08:51:00.007-05:00

This was such a fun, quick trip into Walgreen's, what makes it so fun is because Sam was with me and he got to see how I do this bargain shopping...(of course he hears about it all the time from me) This is how it played out....I had a coupon for buy one get 1 free Purex. This was great because they were running a bogo sale to begin with, so that made the other bottle absolutely FREE, so I got $12.00 in laundry detergent for FREE. Giving to my sister will be greatly appreciated by her. I also had a coupon for a FREE pkg. of Oreos when I bought a gallon of milk and an additional pkg. of Oreos(milk and cookies yum). Since the coupon didn't state what size pkg to buy I bought the small box of Oreos for 99¢ and got the BIG bag FREE. I did all the talking to the nice cashier and told him exactly how I wanted to play this coupon game out and Sam stood there quiet as a mouse taking it all in. I loved it. I had $2.00 in Walgreen's money (RR=register reward) The milk was on sale for $1.99. So I handed over just $1.35 in cash. Yeah ME!!!

Click on the pictures,you know you want to:-)This receipt is nearly as long as my granddaughter is tall!!! To get the best deal for my bucks I made 4 transactions so I could get all my Catalina's, (a paper worth X amt. off my next order, which I used to get the higher priced items: dog food, meat, toilet paper, dog treats and a jar of spice and several bags of french fries)
I couldn't even get it all in a single shot.

Not even from standing up on a chair w/ a wide lense. haha

ok, I really could have but it's too tough to see what all I have.

So I'll just "spell" it out for you.

15 boxes of B.C. potatoes FREE

12 B.C. Helpers 25¢ each

2 Macaroni Grills $1.99 ea.

2 pouches of U.Bens rice $1.16 ea.

4 cans Chunky soup 65¢ ea.

1 Barilla sauce $1.00

2 boxes of Swiss Miss 50¢ ea.

2 Welch's gr. juice $2.00 ea.

1 G-2 Gatorade FREE

3 Warm Delights 17¢ ea.

1 Louis Kemp crab delights 99¢

3 fruit cups 67¢ ea.

1 bag crappy iceberg lettuce FREE

1 bag baby organic carrots FREE

1 pkg. sliced mushrooms $1.50

3 Lunchable subs 25¢ ea.

1 Smithfiield bacon $1.58

4 Ore ida potatoes $4.00

7 Gr. Giant boxed veggies $8.?? BECAUSE I DIDN'T REALIZE ASPARAGUS WAS NOT INCL. AND THAT COST ME OVER $3.?? FOR JUST ONE BOX, SHAME ON ME. (I really splurged on that, it was really good tho, but won't do it again) ANYWAY...

2 Heluva Good Dips FREE

1 12 Big Rolls Charmin $4.79

6 pkgs. Pillsbury cookies $1.00 ea.

4 tubes Pillsbury biscuits $1.00 overage!!

6 yoplait 26¢ ea.

1 bag Chef Michaels dog food $2.99

4 B.C. fruit snacks of various kind 50¢ ea.

4 Ortega seasoning packets 12¢ overage!!

2 B.C. Supreme brownie mix around $1.17 ea.

4 Chex Mix FREE

4 toaster struddles 50¢ ea.

1 box of Tyson chicken patties $1.50

1 bag Gortons Fish fillets $2.49

1 5# box of cuties oranges $3.97

1 Kraft parm. cheese $1.99

1 shoe lace pkg. $1.59

2 different kinds of dog treats aprox. $2.49 TOTAL (one was free)

2 hershey candy bars 37¢ each, (bogo)

1 lager bag dog food $7.99

1 pkg. ground Angus beef $5.97

1 tube pillsbury sweet rolls 9¢

1 loaf bread 89¢

1 pear $1.08 OUCH!!! but it was sooooo yummy

1 pkg. Barilla pasta shells $1.98

1 small Calif. pizza $1.69

1 bag pretzels $1.34

2 bags of Joy of Cooking meals CLEARANCED out 1.99 ea.

1 jar sage $3.75

Transaction #1 Before coupons $33.98 PAID: $13.79 saved 40.59%

Transaction #2 " " $29.85 " $10.21 " 65.80%

Transaction # 3 " " $176.28 " $70.01 " 60.28%

Transaction #4 " " $49.01 " $ 6.60 " 86.53%

Combined.............. " " $289.12 " $107.01 " 63%

Target had these twin packs on clearance for $5.08 EACH. With Sam eating one just about every month, I had to tackle this deal while the getting was good. These sell for $10.35 a twin pack at Kroger!!!!
A savings of $5.49 per package and a GRAND TOTAL savings of $23.96.

CVS made a BIG woops 2 weeks ago and put ALL their Huggies wipes on sale for 2/$5.00. It was just supposed to be the little tubs but I was able to get in on the deal with a rain check. Jennifer gave me a couple coupons and so one of the 4 pkgs. ended up being free because I had a $2.00 off any Huggies coupon that printed out for me at CVS, I paired it w/ a mfr. coupon and made it free.
With all my coupons it ended up going down to $6.00 then I used part of a $25.00 gift card I had for transferring a RX. I actually gave them NO money that day! Yeah ME. These wipes come in handy for messy sticky little faces and hands, cleaning up around the counters and the bathrooms between disinfectant cleaning. I will also donate 2 packs to Blake's teacher because she uses wipes in her classroom. Donating makes me feel good.

Not Me Monday

2010-03-01T10:43:00.005-05:00

Over at www.mycharmingkids.net everyone is talking about what they don't think they did, but in reality we really did it, we just don't like to spread our faults around too much.
***This picture does not go with the day I am going to talk about here but it's the only one I have of her in her carseat.***

Last week one day I meet my daughter at her work so could have some "Jayde time" while she worked. Jayde and I went shopping and then she saw McDonald's Valentine cards in my car and wanted to go there. Naturally I gave in. It was only 10:00 A.M. and I thought she'd have a fun time in their play area and work her way up through the tubes and slide down. She had so much fun and she and another boy her age were the only ones (yippie). So we finally got done with our running around and it was near time for her mom to get out of work...this is where the NOT ME part kicks in...
We were not 2 blocks from her work and I would never have thought just for a second not to return her to her mom but instead take her straight to my house and play some more indoors while Jennifer finished up her last 10 minutes and drove the 7 min out of her way to my house to get Jayde, this way my sweet granddaughter would be riding home in a warmed up car instead of getting into Mommy's cold car in the parking lot. Always thinking about what is best for my grandkids...but not the most convient.

What didn't you do?

My Collections...PANDAS!!!!

2010-02-26T08:41:00.011-05:00

Here I am a few years back on my birthday, notice my shirt?
Isn't that pretty clever, a cupcake cake...I love it!

OK, so I collect dreamsicles too, just not as crazy about them anymore, I still like them tho:-)

A better picture of my special message build a bear from my dear husband.

My dear, dear friend drew and painted me that panda picture. I've got the border and comforter too.

The 3 8x10's on the wall were ones we took at the Memphis, TN zoo.

This is my profile picture, I'm not REALLY touching the mural with my lips, don't worry. This was taken at the San Diego, CA zoo last year. We even bought matching shirts. We have 2 more zoo's to tour...Washington, D.C. and Atlanta, GA.

Over at http://www.kellyskornerblog.com/ everyone is linking up with their collections today. These are what I collect and make me smile when I see them. This one I got in Florida on vacation many years ago. He swings above the t.v. in the living room, so I see him everyday:-)
Our bedroom, they guy with the safari hat has a special message my husband recorded at the Build a Bear store. You can't see it very well but the curtains have pandas too, and the valance has bamboo.

from one of my Sanfran music statues

This rock weighs 35 pounds and came from my parents, they brought it all the way to Ohio from PA. My sister has an armadillo (she collects them) and my brother has a groundhog (he was born on groundhog day) I've had it for about 15 years, it's been thru 5 moves! Talk about a back breaker.

Valentines Day (a little late post)

2010-02-21T20:44:00.004-05:00

Sam had been eyeing this car for a few weeks and he knows I have to be able to drive it too. The weather was not co-operating with his plan so we didn't go the first weekend because of the snow...The next weekend we were able to make a deal and put him in this bright shinny FORD TARUS SHO. Then the weather turned bad again and he hasn't drove it for an entire week it just sat in the garage waiting and waiting for a snow free trip to the local shopping center and out to dinner. Now it sits back in the garage. We need to get it sealed before we really start driving it around. He doesn't want the dealership to drive it to the sealer place because really now; don't you just love to jump on the gas and see what a new car can do???!!!! So why would they be any different? They offered to give us a loaner while it's being taken care of but we declined.
This is the message Sam had on my vase of flowers.

He totally caught me off guard because I've always told him to NEVER get me flowers for Valentine's Day because they're just too expensive. Besides I don't need flowers to know he loves me. (Awwww, I know) The were delivered the Friday before Valentine's Day. So maybe be got off cheaper than THE DAY.

I couldn't resist one more picture.

Bargain Shopping at CVS

2010-02-16T17:43:00.003-05:00

Can you read that receipt? OK, I made a close up bellow.

Oh and I still have $14.00 FUN money to spend.

Shopping Bargains Walgreens

2010-02-16T16:01:00.009-05:00

These are SOME of my purchases from Walgreens this past week

I used several coupons and brought this soup way down to LESS than 15¢ a can!!!!

after coupons and RR this ended up costing me just $1.36.

And I STILL have $22.00 in FUN money.

Our Funny Valentine

2010-02-16T15:52:00.003-05:00

Last Saturday we had our Prayer Partner reveal at church, it was such a joy to let our "anonymous self be revealed" to the person we've been covering with prayer for the last year. Jennifer was getting ready to leave and Jayde took it upon herself to grab all their bags.
and now she looks like she's been shopping for the day with 3 bags hanging off both arms.

We All Scream For ICECREAM!!

2010-02-12T20:02:00.007-05:00

Superbowl Sunday we were at our friends house and Seth was all about making ice cream, he put ice cubes and salt in one bag and put another bag consisting of milk, vanilla and I don't know what all. We tossed it around for 3 min. and wa laaaaa, we had ice cream! I didn't think to take a picture of that.

Then I suggested he make my recipe for snow ice cream, here he is after he went outside to get some clean white snow, putting in the ingredients and mixing it up. (I just discovered snow ice cream this week and right now I can't get enough of it.) Then we took a sample of each down to Cori to be the "judge"

The winner was Seth's ice cube version but she wasn't jumping up and down for either. Nothing beats Graeters Ice Cream!!!!

Tippy Tuesday

2010-02-02T19:27:00.004-05:00

I thought I'd share with you how I take my clothes out of the washer in the winter time,

I wear mittens and then my hands don't get cold:-)

Kid Chatter

2010-01-31T18:20:00.002-05:00

"I'm going to text myself" Her mother says she doesn't say "I'm going to text so and so" and I don't have a clue how to text but this child said it and when I repeated it she said "a ha!" I think she's a little too young for texting.

Haiti Help

2010-01-31T18:04:00.003-05:00

Our church is collecting items for a drop off location that will forward collected items onto Haiti, Matthew25 Ministries (www.m25m.org) I have been shopping and collected and dropped off a bunch over at the church. Since I am such a great bargain shopper, I enjoyed donating some items I got for cheap or free. Some stuff here has been bought with donations of cash from our church family but mostly I've been able to make this pile larger by hunting out of my "stock piles"

When we go to a hotel we scoop up all our freebies (I'm sure you do it too, so don't laugh at me)

20 rolls of t.p.

5 pkgs of wipes,7 if you count the Wet Ones I got for 12¢ each

2 btls of bbq sauce

4 tubes of toothpaste

1 shampoo

2 pkgs of diapers, I already dropped 3 off at church the other week.

rice, personal things, 48 bottles of water, cereal, crackers
4 pkgs. of Kleenex

2 pkgs of cotton balls

2 cans of chicken gravy.

I can't wait till Tuesday when Becky and I load up ALL the stuff at church and deliver it, it's going to be an awesome feeling. I'll try to remember the camera on that day to show you.

A BIG DEAL

2010-01-31T09:39:00.004-05:00

The other day I was at the mall and stopped in one of my favorite stores, The Children's Place. I couldn't believe I was able to snatch so many good finds. The fleece top/jacket for Jayde was just $2.99 both pj's were $2.99 each, (one has snowmen and I just know Jayde will enjoy them, not sure if they are boys but she won't mind) but my favorite finds (and ONE of my weaknesses) mittens, gloves, and hats were just 99¢ EACH. I ended up with the lion set for a friend who just had a baby he'll be warm next year (I think ahead) and I'm sure the striped mittens will go with whatever color coat Jayde has next winter. The gloves are for the following winter, maybe even the one after that, we'll see how long we can get them on her. Kids need lots of mittens when they play in the snow and a pair at grandmas house too. I would NEVER pay FULL price but w/o sale it comes to $71.50 and I PAID $14.82 and that includes tax, yeah ME.

Not Me Monday

2010-01-25T11:29:00.007-05:00

When we moved into our home a few years back certainly we didn't have new carpet installed, we enjoy ratty, old, dog urine stained and smelly carpet, yip, so I don't mind one bit trying to potty train my 2 year old granddaughter. So then why are we playing on a blanket on top of a shower curtain? I must not want our 3 year new, recently steam cleaned carpet destroyed just yet:-)

If you have any tips on keeping the carpet and furniture free of urine during times like this, (besides the obvious of keeping this precious child out of my house) I'd love to hear from you.

Enjoy your Monday, I sure am.

SHOPPING TRIPS

2010-01-25T08:16:00.003-05:00

Here are all my envelopes and I'm ready to walk out the door. My fantastic savings trip to Meijer, (I made a caption at the bottom of the picture)

I had a successful trip to Walgreens, YIP I only paid 9¢ for EACH candle; and I'll be getting $5.00 back in a rebate too!

This is from 3 different stores it wasn't much alone so I put them all together. The dishwasher tabs came out to just 6¢ a load so I got 5 boxes. Both canisters of wipes ended up costing me ONLY 25¢/ 12.5 cents each waaaa hoooo! Oh and the tide was FREE . Lean Cuisine was 79¢ and the shrimp was just 69¢.

What We've Been Up To

2010-01-19T15:50:00.007-05:00

Skating Party! A precious picture of Jayde and her baby blues
Here, they are "putting their left hip in, and shaking it all about"

Owen, Jennifer and Blake

daddy and Jayde

Jayde on wheels, not quite zoom, zooming...yet

AND...

We took Blake to the Home Depot to buildSam is so brave to hold it while Blake hammers in the nail
Sticker time, and now we have a....

pro at making calendars, pretty good, young man!

Here he is with his certificate and apron.

SOMETHING ELSE...

I kept Jayde overnight a couple weeks ago because they were calling for snow and I wanted to play with her and didn't want to drive to get her either. Our Little Bengal....

and SNOW we GOT!!! I got a work out getting her dressed and she got a work out shoveling!

Then Cori was out for a walk and here they are, they just love each other so much:-)
Jennifer, Jayde's mom, used to babysit Cori and now Cori babysits Jayde, it's the circle of babysitters:-) Hmmmm, will Jayde babysit Cori's children one day?

and after her I mean our work was done, we...

took a little sled ride:-)

Not Me Monday

2010-01-11T15:41:00.003-05:00

Over at http://www.mycharmingkids.net/ McMamma is hosting a Not Me Monday when you write what you did but make it sound like you'd never do that, so after reading and posting a comment go read some others or write your own and link up to hers, it's fun:-)

So I would never be so far behind on my blogging that I would even think about posting Thanksgiving and Christmas stories into the second week of January of the NEW YEAR. Who does such a thing. Certainly not I. Just check click on "previous post" and you'll see I'm up to date, you'll see my New Years Resolutions and my "Happy New Year To All" (ok, maybe you won't).

New Roof, New Windows, New Door, New Year!!!!!!

2010-01-11T14:57:00.006-05:00

Late last year ('09) we had a new roof installed.

We knew they were coming, we just didn't know EXACTLY when. I was more than thrilled when they just showed up at my front door on a day that was going to be 56 and sunny, see next shot:

Oh, yes, I was on my way to getting a little of a headache, lucky for me a friend and I had plans to go out that day so I didn't have to listen to a bunch of pounding for long. By the time we were driving down the road to come home, they passed us right up, excellent timing.

One I wasn't able to get away from tho was the window and door installers, Now that was a cold cold day, I'm talking like 32 degrees. They I mean he did the upstairs first and tried to close off each bedroom door while working that room, but I was checking in and did find the door open and NO window in place, so I shut the door myself, brrrr. But I couldn't take it any longer after he did the first 3 downstairs I needed to get out of the house, so I left Sam in charge it was really getting cold in here.

The next day Sam had to go back to the office and I was forced to sit with a blanket around me while yet another man came to install our sliding door. Let me tell you, these windows DO make a difference. Even just touching the glass is warmer than our old windows.

There is just one problem, ummmmm, some of these windows won't open, even with all my might! Yeah, not that I want to open them anytime soon, but that's definitely a problem, and they'll be here later this week to check things out. Oh and did I mention that some are scratched in the vinyl, yeah, so not happy right now. This should not be a fun service call. I took their sign out of the front yard till things get fixed around here.

One More From 2009: CHRISTmas

2010-01-11T11:28:00.005-05:00

We had a very busy CHRISTmas week,

First we took Blake to Erie (our home town) 2 days before his parents and sister joined us, this is Blake on our balcony at the hotel putting out reindeer food, (oatmeal and glitter so the reindeer would see it shine and stop by)

This is us floating in the lazy river, we stayed at a hotel that had an indoor water park, and it was a really fun time.

My brother joined us on the second day, here we are having some lunch.

Somebody totally caught me by surprise (Sam, my wonderful husband) I had really no idea this was coming, I told him "I don't need any more jewelery" but, I'll take it:-) After all if he wants me to have it, then I should accept it and be happy.

This is me after I stopped the "waterfall" I can't help it, it's beautiful. Thank You Hun!

Out of order but Jayde opening a present, it's Mr. Potato Head.

Still in PA, we were at our nephews house and Blake was ripping through them pretty excitedly.

At my dads Jayde is showing great grandpa her musical cards we got her.

Finally back at our house and Sam is shown with my favorite pose of the grand kids over Thanksgiving vacation, Jennifer hot glued shells they gathered in a shadow box, how sweet.

One of the things I think Jayde liked best her new tub for all her doll stuff she is accumulating at her house, mommy said she needed something to keep it all in, but I think she'll be using it for a car.

Trying to get over 2009

2010-01-10T19:38:00.007-05:00

THANKSGIVING FAMILY VACAY

I know, I know it's well into January 2010 and here I am stuck on November 2009. It's just that I like things to go in order no matter how late they are.

We took our daughter and grand kids to Siesta Beach, Florida over the Thanksgiving break. Our son-in-law was unable to get the week off, darn his terrible luck, we still had fun tho. Blake tossing his backpack onto our huge pile of luggage while grandpa went to get the car.
These are the shells he and Jayde collected from our shell walk below. (This picture is out of order)

Jayde was so happy to dig and fill her bucket with sand.

This is why she always came back to mommy with wet clothes, she's just too short!

I love this, she knows what her shirt says and she knows how to wear a smile:-)

Blake enjoyed building sand castles too.

We went out to eat and Blake was practically terrified to touch this crab leg, (I bribed him with a quarter)

Peeling shrimp IS a messy job, but it's so worth it, yum!

Several of us went shell hunting, but Blake found a coconut, and Seth was throwing it trying to bust it open. (they weren't successful)

Sam found this snail, I guess that's what it was, it was alive and so we took a shot of it.

Jennifer, Cori, Jayde and Blake. I love how Jayde is so into it too.

Blake and I

2010-01-04T18:28:00.001-05:00

Sorry about this, please go to #193

Not Me Monday

2010-01-04T18:05:00.005-05:00

Over at http://www.mycharmingkids.net/ everyone is posting what they think they didn't do but in reality they did.

Today is not anywhere near January 4 2010, I have not even finished blogging last year's events, I'm always on time, well except when it comes to blogging. Oh, how will I ever post CHRISTmas stories in January? (if you want to see them come back in December (haha) or try again in a day or two).

Oh and another thing I did not do is I did not cancel my upcoming surgery in exactly 1 week from today, what am I thinking, I know one thing I am thinking if I ain't showing up, I better get on the phone and get that cancelled, it's just the right thing to do.

Oh and as you might or might not know we're still having trouble with our new car, (does 8 months constitute NEW) my husband did not gripe and moan severely yesterday (said nicely) one too many times about the drivers mirror being defective, he first told me to get it fixed a month ago and today I finally called and I have to wait an entire week! Oh dear.

And the very last thing I just did NOT do is link to Mcmamma's post wrong, but I did correct it and now I'm on the list twice, sorry folks.

Tippy Tuesday

2009-12-29T20:46:00.004-05:00

WHAT DO I DO WITH ALL THIS OIL?

Suppose you are deep frying dinner and when you are done your wondering whether you should keep the oil or toss it out.

It used to be your mom/grandmother or maybe even you (I'm guilty) would let the oil cool and store it. This is no longer the case.

Once you use oil for deep frying, when you are done you need to throw it out.

The food that you cook will leave little particles, and even if you take the time to strain it, the oil could go rancid.

The next time that you used it you could end up getting sick from the rancidity or the oil could catch fire because of the extra proteins and sugars that are left in the oil along with the basic structure being broke down from the initial use.

It seems like a waste but getting sick or worse yet, the whole family gets sick, but worst of all; having a house fire isn't worth it because of one mistake, just throw it out and start new next time.

The Envelope...

2009-12-29T11:28:00.002-05:00

contained 2 tickets to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. I am so looking forward to this concert. I will take my sunglasses in because last year when we went, the light show was out of this world!

I do believe I've just opened my last CHRISTmas gift for the year.
Thank you honey!

What's In The Envelope???

2009-12-28T15:51:00.004-05:00

Our morning routine wasn't much different than any other morning around here EXCEPT:
Sam: "I'm going to need you to something for me today"
ME: "Oh, your making me nervous the way you said that, what is it?"
Sam: "A package will be delivered here sometime today for me, I need you to be here because it is signature required, and they've already attempted once and we were not home."
ME: "hmmmm, alright but what is it?"
Sam: "I can't tell ya"
ME: "If it's not for me then you can tell me what I'm waiting for!"
Sam: "No, I can't" (we kiss good-bye as he heads out the door)

So a little after 10:00 A.M. the doorbell rings and a lot of knocking, I run down the stairs and sign my name and bring in this envelope. The only clue is it came from CA, and addressed to Sam.

WII Fit

2009-12-17T09:10:00.004-05:00

Since my shingles are gone I'm back to getting fit with the Wii, today I did the step counter 2 times for 10 minutes each, the first 10 minutes I did 980 steps and the second time I did 1062 (whew, was I hot). I was listening to Mamma Mia songs off the dvd, and from the looks of things I was really stepping right along!

Also, I'm really happy with her (the wii voice) today she gave me a wii fit age 3 years less than my actual. whoot, whoot!

Our CHRISTmas Card

2009-12-16T13:32:00.004-05:00

http://walkwithmebyfaith.blogspot.com/ is hosting a Christmas Card exchange and I joined in.

I thought I'd show you our card. I had a tough time choosing but managed to narrow it down. I just added the caption on for this post. Sam took several photos (we had 4 photo shoots) while we were in Florida on Thanksgiving vacation, hence the lovely background.

Did You Know...

2009-12-16T07:58:00.003-05:00

A blue whale can grow as long as 3 Greyhound buses and heavier than 35 elephants. Its tongue alone is the size of a small car and weighs as much as an elephant. While immense, a blue whale’s heart beats only nine times per minute. Yet blue whales can also produce extreme sounds of more than ’185 decibels nearly twice as loud as a jumbo jet at takeoff.

Tippy Tuesday

2009-12-15T08:53:00.003-05:00

Do you need to peel a bunch of oranges? This'll make it so much easier soak the oranges in boiling water for 5 minutes then when you peel them the white part will come right off with the rind. Oh, and the bigger the orange the sweeter it gets.

note: I've not tired this personally. Let me know how it works if you do it.

I Missed My Exit

2009-12-11T15:02:00.003-05:00

I offered to keep Jayde today because I had shingles all last week and really missed her. Her mom was happy I did because she was running around Christmas shopping and did a fun activity at Blake's school with them while they had indoor recess.

I'm not surprised I missed it because for me to go more than a15 minute drive from my house usually goes like this if I don't take my trusty GPS.

Jayde and I were going to go here again today, I'm so glad she had no idea where I was taking her because I really went wayyyy out of my way, but it was just that far till the next exit, so instead we took a nice ride on a cold sunny day:-)

We got back and I fed her lunch, here I've discovered she loves clam chowder, I put it in a Tupperware midget and she just drank it up, I really can't blame her, this is the best recipe, it's home made and just taste so good.

Then it was nap time, I went to check on her and this is how she was, I think she was praying, how adorable is THAT....2 and praying.

Tippy Tuesday (Wednesday)

2009-12-09T07:33:00.004-05:00

I had a busy afternoon and way busy evening yesterday sorry for being late.

I've heard that if you take candle wax to your snow shovel it will keep the wet snow from sticking, I've been pouring my wax as I get it in hopes of a trouble free shovel, just make sure you put it in the grass first so you don't get wax on your driveway. I've also tried cooking spray last year but it didn't work as smooth as I anticipated. So far I haven't had to shovel yet...(knock on wood)

Not ME Monday

2009-12-07T07:32:00.009-05:00

Well today is the day McMamma ( http://www.mycharmingkids.net/) is hosting a Not Me Monday blog carnival it's where you actually say things you did but make it sound like you didn't, does that make sense, it might when your read what I'm about to deny doing because I would never be so anxious I mean mind whacked or be this nuts. Go see what others are denying doing.

Yesterday, while we had communion at church after I ate the bread (symbolizing Christ body broken for you and me) what I did NOT do was tip the grape juice cup (symbolizing Christs' blood shed for our sins) right straight to my mouth and then IMMEDIATELY spit it right back in my cup. If any of you aren't familiar with the method: we take the bread individually then wait till all are served and the preacher says "Drink of you, the blood of Christ shed for you") Crazy, I was busted by my daughter, I told her "but I didn't drink it, see, it's back in the cup". I have no idea who else behind me saw what I had just done, but I could have crawled under my chair.

Ok, today I didn't quickly get all ready to head out the door for an appointment. First you need to know...we got "the first snow of the season" early this morning, we didn't just purchase a new car, in May and I've already practiced driving in snow for several months with it, (like August and September) for sure I'm experienced with my 7 month car already and with all the crazy's out there I sure didn't need to be rushing. So I'm grabbing my shoes to put on and then I say to myself (which I often do) am I supposed to be there at 7:45 or 8:45, yeah after rushing and shewing the dog out the door one last time in the cold with no indication she wants/needs out, I'm ready an hour early. At least It gave me something to write about and time do deny doing it .

Our CHRISTmas Tree's

2009-12-04T08:47:00.005-05:00

I'm linking up with KellysKorner this Friday, she's doing a show us your tree day.Above is last years shot
I gave these swinging Santa's to Sam's grandma one year and after she passed I got them back. I keep them out all year long, it's the only Christmas item displayed year thru, I think they're just so sweet and make me smile every time I glance at them in the china cabinet.

A shinny bulb

Our tree from the other side of the room

Of course I have to have panda something:-)

a few of my favorite ornaments, the penguin is a San Fransisco Music Box ornament

The Merry Christmas used to be on my parents tree every year, mom gave it to me one year,

the teapots are another S.F.S.M.B.C. I love how they play music!

Mice from mom and dads tree, I keep em on here every year, just so cute.

We bought these ornaments a few years back and I really like the colors, so much that we bought 2 sets of 20 each!

Here she is our Christmas angel, I need to find something new for next year; I'm kinda tired of her

This is my little itty bitty tree, this year I let Blake put it up and decorate it.

Just a few of my Dreamsicle ornaments, I used to collect those but they've become hard to find.

Tippy Tuesday (Wednesday Edition)

2009-12-02T11:12:00.005-05:00

As you can tell from my previous post, I just wasn't into hunting for images but today is a new day and I'm here to help you do some holiday shopping or just get some for your own use (like me) okay, some will be for gifts , after all who doesnt enjoy a night off from cooking!

Here is just a small list if some gift cards that include a "BONUS CARD":

IHOP buy $25 get a $5 B.C.

Outback Steak buy $100 get $20 B.C.

Gold Star buy $25 get $5 B.C.

Container Store buy $100 get $25 B.C.

Applebees buy $50 get $10 B.C.

Smoky Bones buy $25 get $10. B.C.

Red Robin buy $25 get $5 B.C.

It is important to know usually if not ALWAYS these B.C. normally start Jan 1,10 and have a short time span; normally but not always into February. If you read the details and are careful these can make great gifts for the mail carrier, newspaper carrier, babysitter, friends or just yourself.

I'm not sure, but I would imagine you could purchase for example: at Smoky Bones a $10 and a $15 and still receive the $10 B.C. There ya have it...3 gifts.

If you find others doing a Bonus Card please post here or get in contact with me and I'll share it on my blog.

Shingles (and not the roofing kind)

2009-12-01T15:32:00.007-05:00

Shingles is caused by the varicella zoster virus, which is the same thing that causes chicken pox. If you have never had chicken pox, you won’t get shingles, however, you can get chicken pox from someone who has shingles though!

I'm feeling a sharp burning pain in my thigh (where the rash is) I have blisters and red skin, it's just awful. I really feel for burn victims, for I can only imagine what they're going through is many times worse than what I am dealing with. I have Vicodin but am not excited about taking it, it really knocks me into space for a few days even after I'm done taking it. Maybe if I just nibble on a pill it will give me some relief.

The really bad part is we just returned from a weeks vacation with our daughter and grandchildren, I sure hope the little ones don't get it. Fortunately I have a whole lot of fresh pictures to tie me over till I get to snuggle and play with them again.

This is nothing you would wish on your worst enemy.

Kid Chatter

2009-11-19T11:08:00.006-05:00

As I was driving Blake to my house for some hang out time after school yesterday we had a chat:

B: Grandma, can I ride my car in the rain?
M: No, because I don't have a raincoat for you here.
B: I don't care, that's alright if I get my jacket wet.
M: I mind, because then you'll be cold and besides I have something else planned.
B: What is it gramma?
M: I was thinking you can help me put our CHRISTmas tree up!
B: You have it already?!! (excited)
M: Yes, it's artificial (not knowing if he knew the word artificial, I said) yano it's not real
B: You mean it's pretend?
M: (sigh)No, not pretend, you can REALLY see it, it's just called artificial:-)

Kids say the cutes things.

He sorted out the branches pretty well, but I temporary forgot I had trouble packing them ALL back in the tree box and we were short the stand screws, so we had to stop and I gave him my miniature tree to see what he could do with it. He did this all by himself.

Tippy Tuesday is Back!

2009-11-17T09:00:00.003-05:00

I don't know about you but, I don't like to waste much and when my shower items get down the last bit and you know there is still some in there; (the bottle requires two hands to squeeze it out), I squeeze it onto the window sill ledge and wipe it into my hand and go from there, and if you don't have a window sill you can use the back corner of the tub ledge. Happy Tuesday everyone:-)

Friends

2009-11-15T08:07:00.002-05:00

So, after we went shopping, took our stuff home, unpacked, repackaged (one thing was broken before we got it out of the box) we nearly killed an hour and it was time we went to dinner with some friends we have known for many, many years, we just kinda lost contact when we moved out of state and life got spinning, but now we're back in town and we're out to dinner and having all kinds of stories to catch up on.

This is one of my first shots with my new camera, and after working it and seeing the pictures I know I'm going to like it nearly as much as my old one...Still miss that swivel screen it really kept it from scratches, and was easy to take a shot of me and a friend. {sniff, sniff}

SHOPPING

2009-11-14T16:02:00.004-05:00

My beloved camera died some time ago, and after months of using Sam's big, bulky camera and I do mean bulky, I finally did some research and we went out shopping to get me (us) a new one. I can't believe the deal we got and to make it even sweeter, Staples gave us an unexpected rebate to send in for another $50.00 Staples credit.

So yippie, I have a new camera! (very similar to my old one, but sadly it doesn't come with a swivel screen) {sniff, sniff} Might I add, I do like how it's a bit smaller too. I have to get used to it soon, because we have a big event coming up (please, all you who know, don't lead on, I don't want the whole world to know, not yet anyway) so I need to get my grand kids or something I can practice with.

After instant price reduction and with the rebate, this camera only cost $79.00! I can't wait to start using it. I actually might have to keep the grand kids a bit tomorrow so I can try it out.

Handdryers and Germs, NO Thank-You

2009-11-13T06:27:00.002-05:00

I can't take the credit for this post because I was blog hopping and came across this at:

http://delongzoo.blogspot.com/2009/11/for-love-of-pete.html

Everyone in the cleaning industry has always been told that hand dryers in restrooms are not sanitary, they spread germs and bacteria around. I always thought that this just came from the paper companies because they are loosing sales to the hand dryers. A couple of year sago, I was working with a rep, and I noticed that after he washed his hands and noticed that there were no paper towels, only a hand dryer he left the restroom with wet hands. I asked him about it. He said that hand dryers blow a lot of germs and bacteria around. He also told me to take a look under the hand dryer next time I was in a restroom. There is a filter underneath the hand dryer that is supposed to be cleaned on weekly basis. I looked at one, and it looked like it hadn't been cleaned in years. It had layers and layers of caked on gunk(disgusting). Since then I will not use hand dryers in restrooms. Now this is where the story gets really interesting. The schools and universities that have had the H1N1 (swine flue) outbreak this year are being told by the health department that they have to take out all of their hand dryers and replace them with towel dispensers because the hand dryers are spreading disease. Please pass this along so everyone knows not to use hand dryers.

I heard this many years ago and I just cringe when I must use one of these dirty germy things. I'll use them in the winter or when it's cold out, but seriously, I am going to try to never use one again, YUCK, I think they need to put a MR. Yuck sticker on each one, or better yet, tear 'em out and give us paper towels.

The Cleaning Crew Came Yesterday...

2009-11-11T15:01:00.006-05:00

At first Jayde said "too loud"
But then it was Blakes "turn"

I tried to show him how to make straight lines

Jayde just stood there, cute as a button.

Then it was play time, we went to the woods.

They can be so sweet walking hand in hand....

or sitting side by side:-)

or so competitive whipping sticks around.

They chose the woods shortly after the playground.

Jayde climbed up to the slide then walked back down to me.

Bargain Shopping

2009-11-08T19:23:00.003-05:00

This was just a quick trip to Kroger:

It only cost me $1.63

4 B.C instant potatoes w/2 pouches each

4 Del Monte diced tomatoes

2 Colgate toothpaste 6.4 oz size (we don't even use this, but it was free) Food Pantry item, indeed

2 Twix candy bars (Free)

+ I used my own burlap bag so -3¢

Happy Birthday Jayde

2009-11-08T11:04:00.005-05:00

Our sweet granddaughter is now TWO!
Here she is eating her cake, now where nearly as messy as last year.

Mommy makes the cutest cakes, simple but very creative:-)

Jayde loves playing with her farm animals so why not a farm cake?

Here she is feeding her baby

Present time!

showing off her new skirt we got her.

awww, just what every little girl needs...a baby to love on and feed.

Cheese!

Did You Know...

2009-11-08T11:00:00.002-05:00

Gene Simmons, of the shock-rock group Kiss, earned a B.A. in education and speaks 4 languages.

Bargain Shopping

2009-11-08T10:39:00.003-05:00

As you can tell, I like to get the best deal I can on everything I buy, and I would say I achieved it very nicely, I'm going back to get another 10 items and get an immediate $5.00 off and use more coupons I've printed and cut out from the newspaper. I may even post the shopping trip photo. Before coupons and sale prices $26.16 after coupons and sales and promo $3.82 YIP, I'm good!
The other day when I was at Target I came across another weakness of mine, I love M&M's and I got three bags @ 74¢ ea.

I opened all the bags and look at all that candy!

To make eating easier, I mean to conserve on space, I opend each bag and filled this 41/2 cup bowl nearly all the way, and oh BTW, you get 16-18 pcs mostly 18 though in each FUN size bag.

They came in handy when Jayde went on the potty, REWARD time! She's getting the hang of it.

Pumpkin Time

2009-11-05T16:45:00.006-05:00

These are late but come on, their so adorable I just wanted to share:

Jayde 2 years old waiting for me to come outside
Looks like Blake is getting "5" from Jayde

Oh, she wants to give "gamma" 5 now, aaaa..no thanks, I'm good!

This kid doesn't get the fact I don't need 5! Isn't her dress the sweetest thing.

All done and inside, picture time! Why is one kid always trying to be silly?

"all right, gimme your best smile, I'm serious"

Jayde after bath and wanting her picture taken again, why say no!

This is from our church harvest party

She wouldn't wear her costume at the zoo but she did for that night.

Did You Know...

2009-11-03T10:34:00.003-05:00

A crocodile weighing only 120 pounds exerts a crushing force of about 1,540 pounds between its jaws. But no matter how much a human being weighs, his jaws still exert a puny force of only 40 to 80 pounds.

Barn N Bunk

2009-10-31T13:24:00.005-04:00

Jayde enjoyed the scooters, she was really able to work them.
Blake had a nice ride too.

We went to the pumpkin patch to mee up with our daughter and son-in-law and his friend and his son, these are some of the fun things the kids did. Looks like Blake is just a bit over 31/2 feet this year!

Jayde measures in at 21/2 feet!

Blake and daddy sling shot apples, it was fun:-)

We all went thru the cornstalk maze, I see Jayde and mommy made it out!

Here is pumpkin head Jayde

And Big brother, Blake

They had a dark hay bail maze and a slide at the end!

Blake on the slide and Ethan is next.

Mommy and Jayde came out next.

Blake liked the peddle tractor.

Blake, Jayde and Ethan ready for a ride.

Blake making sure Jayde is well taken care of, isn't that

just the sweetest thing with his arm around her?

I hope you enjoyed our trip to the pumpkin patch, it was so much fun!!!

Bargain Shopping

2009-10-07T09:32:00.002-04:00

I went to Biggs the other day and look at the stuff I got for just $44.10. I saved 64% because my beginning total was $122.57. I could barely believe it, I knew I was good but wow!

Did You Know...

2009-10-05T15:42:00.002-04:00

Never squash a wasp that has stung you. Upon being crushed, it will release a chemical that becomes airborne; this signals guard wasps to come and sting whatever gets in their way.

Go Get Some Cheap Cheap Paper

2009-10-05T09:09:00.000-04:00

Staples: $1 HammerMill Paper

Staples has a hot deal on paper beginning Sunday, October 4th. Here's the scoop:
HammerMill CopyPlus paper (500 sheet ream) - $5.79
- $1.80 Instant Savings
- $2.99 Easy Rebate
- Final price - $1.00
There is a limit of 2 per household. In addition, there is a printable coupon here for 10% off any one item, valid 10/4/09 through 10/11/09. You can see the entire Staples ad for next week here

My poor poor neglected blog

2009-10-01T18:12:00.004-04:00

Sorry, but I've become victim of face book. I'll be posting with in the week, I truly promise.

Labor Day Weekend part 2

2009-09-18T09:38:00.009-04:00

" He'll be coming around the corner when he comes, yeah whoooo!"

This is at Waldameer Park and Waterworld, Erie, PA. We went to this small amusement park frequently as kids, it's awesome, if you don't want to drive to a big park like Cedar Point or Kings Island (if you live in the area of Erie). No fees to park, or enter the park itself. Only if you want to ride, you can purchase a ride-a-rama, combo for water and rides or just one or the other. You can even purchase just tickets, (which is what we did because Blake isn't ready for many of the big people rides (we found that out with the kid roller coaster) Enjoy:-)

Click on the roller coaster pictures, for sure.

This was our last ride of the day

probably a good thing because....

he so enjoyed driving and crashing. I think it'd want to ride it again and again....

He saw the balloon pop and was sure he could do it,

I always knew he had a good arm but Sam told him he

wouldn't be able to throw that far, I didn't want to doubt Sam but

Blake kept telling us "I can do it, watch me" and so he fed the money in and...

he popped all three balloons, (one is out of the picture)

3 darts/3 balloons. Then we heard "See, I told you I could do it!, can I do it again?" Blake, your a riot! He played again on our way out and got 2/3, not bad. We didn't think to take his picture with his bear, darn.

They had silly mirrors.

He always finds the rides with the annoying horns and beepers.

This is the kid roller coaster, he wanted to go on the big one and we decided he should try the little one first, good thing.

As much as the girl beside him loved it, he hated it, he said he almost cried but didn't. The best thing about this ride was the end. Maybe he shouldn't have rode in the first car? I hope he's not scared for life.

He needed something calm after the last ride, Pilot Blake.

and here is Captain Blake

We got in line for the water log ride then he decided he didn't want to because "what if it's like the roller coaster", I should have said "what if it's not?" I wasn't too keen on getting SOAKED anyway, but that's the entire reason he wore his swim trunks and I dressed in a big t-shirt. The plan was we were going to go to the car and change into dry clothes then do the rest of the rides.

Labor Day Weekend

2009-09-16T16:27:00.004-04:00

We took a 4 day weekend and went to Erie, PA because that's where we were born and raised, our parents live there (minus my mom) and there are a few things to do there that are fun, so we left right after Blake got home from school on Friday. Blake,here comes a good one, get ready"

We're jumping it in unison!

Probably should have wrote '09, too late now

playing in the sand while grandma takes the picture

Can you guess who didn't want their picture taken?

but these two didn't mind one bit

waving at me!

Blake and grandpa (Sam) unpacking while I shoot pictures.

We got Blake's pull out sofa sleeper all set up and it won't be long till he is a sleep.

Tippy Tuesday

2009-09-15T09:25:00.002-04:00

To remove pesky bottle tops and jar lids, put on a pair of rubber gloves. Or twist a fat rubber band around the lid, then twist open. Works like a charm.

get some FREE Disney Tickets

2009-09-14T15:53:00.001-04:00

http://www.thenewfrugalmom.com/2009/09/hip-hip-hurray-giveaway-link-up.html

Just go here and register and you might win. Good luck:-)

One Year Ago Today....

2009-09-14T15:06:00.006-04:00

Here are some facts about the blackout that affected most all of Ohio and into Kentucky:

Hurricane Ike blew in for an awful visit with up to 70 MPH winds.
Sunday Sept. 14 at 2:00 our power went out.
I had to mash our mashed potatoes with a spatula, yes, they were lumpy.
Our upstairs shudder busted in half.
We were w/o electric for 89 hrs. We have gas water heater, but electric stove.

over 1 million outages, the electric company we use had over 700,000 out.
84 out of 87 counties affected.
due to no power, there was a gas shortage because it wasn't able to be pumped out of tank.
Duke Energy had workers in Texas and had to call them home to help in this mess.
They (Duke Energy) went from 12,000 workers to 16,050 to fix this outage.
Electric company workers worked 16 hr. shifts.
The wind blew my 79 year old dad over on the road. He was a little scratched up, but fine.
The mums Sam and Blake planted on Saturday (the day before) BLEW out of the ground.

Some people were running extension cords across the street to feed off others generators to keep their food frozen.
Went to bed by 9 p.m. because nothing to do. Could be a baby boom in 9 months.(time will tell)
Level 3 on Sunday and Monday morning that means ONLY essential personnel on road.
Dad and Sue left for Oklahoma anyway on Monday morning.
No ice available for miles. Matthew 25 ministries were giving ice away on Tuesday along with bottled water.
The weather was perfect: no rain, temps below 83, and not too cold.
One week later the weather is (was) still co-operating w/ no rain and pleasant temps.
One week later, Sunday evening they still had 700 w/o power.
Now for some pictures, I didn't go picture hunting, I thought that was rude, due to the fact that some had trees in their roofs and cars smashed. So this is just our property:

This is my dad's arm and now he is forever known to his great-grandson as "grandpa, the one that got blown over by the wind" (he has 5 grandpa's so it could be confusing to him).

I actually witnessed the tree fall, very amazing that I just so happened to look out and it was falling over!

Just some of our spoiled food, too much to put in one picture.New food, time to restock the refrigerator.

Spaghetti Sauce Mak'in

2009-09-13T13:26:00.005-04:00

Here are some of my pictures: I started out with 56 tomatoes, all were given to me or I grew them myself.

Here are some of the chunked up tomatoes, and the start of my big mess!

Diced onions and green peppers, I didn't even cry when cutting them, yippie.

My BIG mess, hey it's all worth it:-)

1 pot of sauce trying to thicken up, the other is on the back burner, I had so much it took 2 pots!

Finally, I'm on the last water bath, hooray!

Ta..da...they all sealed, it sure was fun, time consuming but fun. Thanks Michelle for the recipe and the over the phone help.

I also should tell you I ran out of jars so I froze some sauce and of course we had spaghetti the next night.

LET'S NEVER FORGET 9-11-2001

2009-09-11T10:23:00.005-04:00

I know you don't need me to remind you but today is a sad, sad day for our country. Please say a prayer for the thousands that died and the many more thousands that were injured that day, and the several thousands of people who's life was changed for the WORSE that day.

Today, my daughter and I will be attending a ceremony at the court house, I know it will be such an emotional event for many. (I'm taking a box of tissues to share)

On that terrible day I was not in town, and my daughter needed me, she called me in a panic (she was 20 years old). I had no idea what was going on as the t.v. and radio were not on because I was getting ready to get picked up from my new friend, Rose, (she was coming to get me at our hotel and show me around the town my husband and I would be moving to). When Jennifer told me to turn on the t.v. I was immediately stunned, for what I was witnessing was extremely horrific. At that very moment they were talking about the daycare in the World Trade Center being struck, Jennifer was working at a daycare. Oh, all I could think was to tell her they are not going to strike your little daycare building, your going to be alright.

Tippy Tuesday

2009-09-08T10:54:00.007-04:00

Once again, you can click on the image to enlarge it.

While traveling home from our extended 4 day Labor Day weekend, we passed this magnificent statue (and church) their sign said this:

"Warning: exposure to the Son may PREVENT burning"

and so consider this is your "tip" for the week.

Here are some facts on the statue that you may find interesting:

Height: 62'

Weight: Approximately 16,000 lbs

Construction: A wood and styrofoam sculpture over a steel framework anchored in concrete. This is covered with a fiberglass mat and resin exterior.

The project was constructed in Florida, cut into sections and trucked to Monroe Ohio to be reassembled on-site at SRC. (Solid Rock Church)

Designer: Brad Coriel Artist/sculptor: James Lynch

Over 8000 man-hours in development and installation

Reportedly the "King of Kings" is the largest sculpture of Christ in America.

Tippy Tuesday

2009-09-01T08:11:00.004-04:00

Open both ends of tomatoe paste cans.
Push the last lid thru the can.

Look how clean that can is, I used this method for all 6 of my tomatoe paste cans when I made homemade spaghetti sauce last week, and it worked well....smoothly:-)

Enjoy your week. Today is Blake's first day of school, I do hope he does well.

It was a total success!

2009-08-28T08:27:00.000-04:00

Summer Fun

2009-08-26T10:47:00.007-04:00

(Click on the pictures to enlarge them)

We've been to the pool a few times lately and somebody just loved it:-)

Is she the most darling, eat-her-up scrumpchious thing you've ever seen?

Do you think I should enter her in a photo contest?

They're both enjoying the nice water on a hot day.

She would walk as far as she could and then keep going if we didn't pick her up, not afraid at all.

Another day I took Blake to the Mudfest at the local park.He's just getting started.

He almost slid into the mud, (good, he's still clean).

Well, I knew he'd find that pig pen I mean pool of mud sooner or later!

After several times around the obstical course, he's getting muddier.

He met up with his friend Ben and they chased each other around and around.

This is what you call "disposable clothes"

And this is what you call a "clean kid"

Tippy Tuesday

2009-08-25T08:44:00.003-04:00

Hello everyone, I've been busy and I want to post some things we've been doing so come back later and I'll try to get some stuff up.

Your tip for today is this: For cleaning smelly hands after chopping onions or garlic, just rub them on a stainless steel spoon. The steel is supposed to absorb the odor.

Tippy Tuesday

2009-08-18T08:34:00.004-04:00

Go to www.walgreens.com and upload a favorite photo TODAY because until 11:59 p.m. you can get a free 11x14 when you use the code FREEPOSTER. You don't have to pick it up today to get it for free, you just have to upload it and "check out" oh, and to save on shipping fees you'll want to pick it up at your most convenient Walgreen's!

I'm not done "tipping" you because each day this week Walgreen's is doing something great in their photo dept. check their site daily for the bargain of the day.

Yesterday they had 25 prints for a whopping total of 25¢! (I didn't know till later in the day or I would have told you.) All this week they have 50 prints for $5.00 and that is a really good price. The coupon code will be EASY50 each print after 50 will be 10¢ each too. (you have to make it to 50 first for the bargain price.)

It's summer time and you've been on vacations and staycations, the pool, the parks, grandmas and so on go get your fix:-)

Happy Tuesday:-)

Blake gets a blog Pen Pal

2009-08-17T18:54:00.007-04:00

A little while ago Jennifer signed Blake up for a pen pal, he got matched up with Sam, a little guy going into kindergarten from Georgia. Sam sent Blake several fun things from his state of Georgia.

Blake sent off things from and about Ohio to Sam including a photo album with pictures of Blake on his 4 wheeler and doing some of the things he enjoys, a packet of Gold Star Chili, postcard of Jungle Jim's and other places. Since Jennifer doesn't have a blog, I thought I'd share what Blake received on mine. Here he is with his package of goodies. What kid doesn't enjoy getting mail?

Here is the confederate money Sam sent, how awesome was that! Blake thought it was pretty neat!

a state quarter, a Kennesaw Georgia patch were also included.

He liked the arrow head too.

My Favorite Vacation Spots

2009-08-13T20:06:00.008-04:00

Over at Kelly's Korner http://www.kellyskornerblog.com/ we're all showing our favorite vacation spots so I hope after you leave me a comment you head over there and find a great vacation idea for your next one.

You can click on any picture to enlarge it, I hope you enjoy our vacation spots:-)

Gulf Shores, AlabamaOne of my favorite things to do when there is get up early and walk the beach, looking for whatever might have washed up over night. Plus of course enjoy the sunrise.
I found this pole and enjoyed poking around and drawing, I was using the net to capture crabs, just to look at them:-)
They're really fast and I kept taking shot after shot seeing how close I could get before he ran into his hole.

The beach is long and private, we go after the summer rush is over but still lovely weather.

The two-tone building is where we stay, we're on the 4th floor toward the middle.

This place is neat, a friend told us we needed to go to Lambert's they throw rolls at you if you want one you catch it. They come around with huge pots of mashed potatoes, corn, green beans, cole slaw, they keep filling you up till you tell them to stop.

ERIE,PAa view of the public dock, I could sit here all day on a hot day, the breeze is wicked!
One of my favorite things to do is walk the beach and find beach glass, shell, and stones for "skipping", that's what I'm doing.

They had these frogs all over the place one year, companies sponsored them and painted or jazzed 'em up, they were everywhere. Another year they did it with pigs!

CANADA/NEW YORK/NIAGARA FALLS

A view of the American Falls, click to enlarge, you can see the walkway and get kissed by the falls on your walk!

This is the magnificent view out our hotel window!!

Across the to the American side, shot from our room, on the Canadian side.
ERIE,PA (my home town)

A favorite to bring home from Erie, PA are Smith's hot dogs. They have natural casings, a light garlic flavor and a crunch to their bite, we always make sure to bring several back and freeze. An amazing WOODEN roller coaster at Waldameer Amusement Park. The roller coaster was new Summer of '08. (You get an amazing view of Lake Erie, that is, only if you keep your eyes open). This place has been in business for decades! You can get a ride-a-ramma or purchase tickets per ride, great for a few rides or all day.

Here is my dad and I standing on the dock of Presque Isle.

FLORIDA (SIESTA KEY)

Here is our granddaughter getting a feel of the sand, she enjoyed it so much and we want to take them back this fall.

Sam and Blake feeding the seagulls. Totally kay-osk (sp)

Blake and Seth having a great time.

Blake at sunset in Ruskin, Florida.

FREE FOOD

2009-08-12T05:50:00.002-04:00

Today only, get a FREE roast chicken club with any soft drink purchase. I know what I'm having for lunch today. You just have to ask for the deal and you might want to call to see if your Arby's is participating.

Tippy Tuesday

2009-08-11T11:14:00.004-04:00

When making an ice cream cone put a miniture marshmallow in the bottom of a sugar cone to absorb the melting ice cream and help prevent drips, who knows, the kids might be surprised when they get to the bottom and see a marshmallow!

Today is #21 in Anniversary YEARS.

2009-08-07T15:20:00.009-04:00

More to come later, I am off to shop today:-)
Today has been nice, but very crazy; let me share it with you:

We wake up to the radio playing "Keep On Loving You" by REO Speedwagon, I comment, "Oh, what a lovely song to wake up to on our anniversary".

A bit later I went in to check my email and Sam had sent me an ecard, how nice! I then responded back.

While packing his lunch, I decide to use a heart shaped cookie cutter to cut out the center of his sandwich. I put it in a snack cup by itself, his co-worker noticed he was missing the center.

While up at the computer scanning a wedding photo I see a delivery van pull in (flowers)...oh, and they smell so heavenly; I thought...then I said to myself, I don't know what Heaven smells like so I can't compare them to Heaven. I closed up the windows to capture all the fragrance I could possible muster out of these amazing flowers. When I got home from shopping my house smelled like a florist. (good)

The Schwans guy was coming today and I had plans to meet a friend and go to a new Premium Outlet Mall. I write my note to him, put coolers filled with ice out on the porch and speak to my neighbor about grabbing my food, if she sees it delivered. I get home a minute after he pulls away, she was already on the porch, how lucky was that!? The ice cubes that got spilled on the porch were not even melted much!

The trip to the shopping center was a crazy fiasco mess, road construction, heavy shopping traffic= just not a good mixture.

We met at Tim Horton's and I had a chicken salad sandwich and it was tasty, I'll be back.

Then onto the shopping center,lines were LONG, but bargains were great! Just one Yankee candle was $7.00 off a regular store price, I got 50%-60% off Carters brand clothes for the grand kids, (fall colors and style). This bib would be great for Harper, but I bought it for Jayde's birthday in October. I guess I had green on my mind. But I was thinking, Blake and Jayde would look fab in a photo shoot with their matching colors. Good luck with that idea, I know:-( Not so bad for Jayde, I don't know what will happen with Blake, he's very good in front of our camera, it's when he gets to the studio he turns to Mr. Unco-operative!

Back to the Schwans food, I take one item out of the carton to conserve freezer space and the plastic dish is cracked, therefore the cellophane is loose, I call em back and he brings me a new one, (he was still in the area).

2 days ago, I volunteer to watch Jayde for VBS Thursday night (since Sam doesn't want to miss VBS) we are going out to eat later in the week, I'm sure. My son-in-law was supposed to mow his dads yard for him tonight so I was keeping Jayde.

Jennifer calls and says Jim is not mowing after all tonight, he will watch Jayde instead. I quickly call Sam and tell him we could go out to dinner after all, *IF* he really wanted to change his mind, he said na, we'll go Saturday. He was picking up fast food for our dinner tonight.

I get to church and was not planning to say since I had originally planned to just bring Jayde back to my house and hang out, I end up staying, was bored but hung out anyway kitchen duty was light and mostly done early.

We get home from VBS to the house still smelling so sweet. Sam takes a bunch of pictures with me and my flowers. I'm holding up a 2 and a 1 for 21 years!

It was long, long day and at times very crazy, so hectic, I only had 2 hrs. of down time and had to finish this post on Friday.

Big VBS Week at Our Church

2009-08-04T16:24:00.004-04:00

Pictures from Monday night, Jayde is sporting a crown like Esther. She was too cute, walking around the entire church pointing at her crown, smiling when they all told her she was a princess. This is the youngest group, which she is still too young but she had her gramma (me) for her own personal chaperone. She was well behaved and enjoyed being in with the "big kids"

Joel, making some sort of art project.

me and Jayde watching Blake make his project.

Another view of it.

Look how excited the children are, they're doing the hand motions and singing.

Making a noise maker!

This was a community project, they had chex cereal, tootsie rolls, pretzels, nuts, M & M's they scooped into bags for the firemen, because we appreciate our community leaders.

I can't wait to see what tonight has in for us. I'm sure it will be fun, whatever it is.