Games Galore!

(1) Elefun

+

(1) Gator Golf

+

(1) Twister

+

(1) Connect 4

+

(1) Operation

+

(1) Bop It

+

(1) Monopoly Deal

+

(2) Stuffed Animals

=

$25.95 OOP (Out of Pocket)

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$15.00 Rebates

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$10.00 Gift Cards

=

$.95

That's right! $.95 for all of that! Plus I will be going back to Target to work a few more "deals" tomorrow to bring my total OOP to $5.90 and my total game/stuffed animal (they were free!) count to 13.

And I already have plans for my $10.00 gift cards! :)

Shaun was actually impressed with this deal tonight!

Don't be surprised if you get one of these games for your birthday! :)

This is how our weekend was spent:

Having lots of cuddle time with Grammy

Eating Ice Cream from the carton while wearing matching outfits after little brothers went to bed!

Taking pictures with Grammy in pretty Easter clothes.

Making silly faces.

Showing off big boy teeth! (Enlarge pic)

Being crazy!

We also spent the weekend celebrating Daddy's birthday -- AGAIN! Friday we watched The Blind Side, Saturday we had a birthday party at our house for Shaun and our friend Jenn. And Sunday was Daddy's big day. Even though it was jammed pack full of non-birthday stuff, he still had an awesome day. (Oh yeah, and we had 2 extra kids all weekend! It was great!)

Happy Birthday Daddy!

We LOVE you!

My Very Own American Idol

What a voice!

I love this girl!

Sunriver

Shaun's birthday is this Sunday, but we are babysitting my cousin's kids all weekend, so we decided to head over to Sunriver last weekend for a little birthday trip and a nice way for my mom to kick off Spring Break. . . oh yeah, and Janel was in town too! 3 great reasons to have some fun!

~ SATURDAY ~

We played tennis . . .

and watched some tennis!

We enjoyed some yummy ice cream!

We headed to Red Robin for Shaun's birthday dinner!

Look at my 2 men! They are so cute!

We watched Daddy open presents, and had the waiters sing to him!

We all spent time keeping the 2 crazy kids entertained!

After dinner we headed back to the house to enjoy some birthday cake!

And Daddy played with one of his presents.

(Anyone know what Bucky balls are? I don't really either, but he really REALLY wanted them so when I ordered his new computer monitor from amazon.com, I ordered those too. If you think they are as cool as Shaun does, let me know. Then I won't think he is so looney!)

~ SUNDAY ~

It was a pretty low key day. We watched some March Madness, hung out, sat in the hot tub, played games, played basketball out in the rain. . .

. . . and tried to teach Maisey how to ride a bike!

She wasn't so sure about it! Maybe because Daddy let her crash!

~ MONDAY ~

We woke up to a light covering of snow, so naturally we took Maisey. . .

SLEDDING!

She loves to be pulled down the long driveway on the sled.
Then we packed up, ate lunch, and headed home!

It was a fun trip. I wish it was more relaxing, but with 2 kids, one can only dream! :) I think I need a vacation from my vacation now!

11 Months

Do you know what 11 months means?

Only 1 more month of formula, 1 more month of a backward facing car seat, and 7 more months til nursery!!!

Gage's favorite toys: Busy ball choo choo, books (especially Dora and Clifford ones), sensory balls, lion punching bag, this little rolly vacuum thing that you push and it makes music (not really sure what it's called.), cars, pretty much anything with wheels, Maisey's kitchen.

Gage's favorite things to do: take off his shoes and chew on them, go on walks in the wagon or stroller, swing, bite Maisey and my toes, play peek-a-boo, unplug his night light.

Gage's favorite foods: Bananas, mac n' cheese, peas, carrots, apples, string cheese, peaches, pears, all natural Cheeto puffs, chicken nuggets, formula.

Gage's schedule: He still takes 2 naps a day for about 1.5-2.5 hours each. Sleeps from 7 pm to 7 am. Eats 3 solid meals a day with an extra sippy cup in the afternoon.

Gage's NOT so favorite things: being away from his mama, going to church (hope that changes--but right now he's a MONSTER!), loud noises, babysitters, getting dressed.

Apparently he likes to read Sports Illustrated!

Taking his pictures are getting harder and harder. He either crawls away from me, or is always sticking his tongue out! ALWAYS!!! Just like his papa used to!

I'm pretty sure Gage thinks the space between our ottoman and our couch is his secret tunnel or something. He always crawls away from me into this space.

My little escape artist.

"Just checkin to make sure you're still trying to get me, Mom!"

Where's Gage?

Peek-a-boo!

Female and Fabulous -- Part 2

Tonight was the BIG night! The unveiling!!!

And she looked FANTASTIC!

The picture that they took of her before they did anything!

Walking on the stage! Check out those wedges!

She looks SO.DANG.CUTE!!!!

The 3 makeover winners

Mom and I post show!

The fan club!
(Janel Grimmett, Helen Curry, Kelly Kercheski, Laurie Nelson, Judy Olsen, Emily Grimmett, Jenn Nicoli, 2 ladies from my mom's school -- not quite sure what there names were.)

It was such a fun night! My mom was so graceful and poised. The show kind of reminded me of when my sisters did Jr. Miss. They asked her questions that she wasn't prepared for, but she still did wonderful!

Let's be honest. . . My mom is incredible!

I'm Lucky. . .

. . . to have these 2 crazies in my life!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Oh, BTW we finally got our couch at the end of last week after almost a month! I love it!!!

I really am so lucky!

*
*
P.S. St. Patrick's Day is my 2nd favorite holiday (1st is Christmas, duh!) because I LOVE corned beef and cabbage! It is probably my favorite meal. I make it in the crock pot with apple juice and it is to die for! This morning for breakfast, Maisey requested green pancakes! :) I just love this holiday!

Losing my mind - quite literally!

What is going on with me?

In the last 3 days:

*I was shopping at the outlets (Surprised?) and bought some stuff at Nike. Only to realize hours later in Gap that I had lost my bag! $70 worth of stuff. . . GONE!
After a quick prayer, I miraculously found the bag 5 minutes later.

*I went to the Target pharmacy to pick up my prescription and left my phone on the counter there.

*I lost my Credit card!!! Again, I prayed and hours later found it in my wallet! Don't laugh at me! It wasn't where it was supposed to be.

*I lost my keys! Shaun and I searched and searched and searched our whole house. They had to be there somewhere because I came home with them. After another prayer, I found them in Gage's car seat at 11:30 last night!

Heavenly Father has got to be sick of hearing from me! Why am I so scatter brained?

This morning I was helping Maisey go potty and she said to me, "Mommy, you have beautiful earrings." Quickly followed by "Where'd you buy them at?" I told her at the mall. Then she said to me, "Mommy, you have a funny head, where'd you buy it at?" I just laughed!

Anyone know where I can buy a new head?

PINKALICIOUS

My mom's school is having a book fair right now so she invited us to her school for lunch and to let the kids pick out some books yesterday! Maisey saw the book "Pinkalicious" and HAD to have it! Everything has been pinkalicious at our house since!

(If you've never read the book, it's about a girl who eats too many pink cupcakes and turns pink!)

She didn't want to wear her jeans anymore. She HAD to wear her pink pants!

After reading the book at least 15 times yesterday, Maisey begged to make pinkalicious cupcakes! I told her we could in the morning.

Usually in the morning Maisey greets me with a loud "Good Morning Mommy!" but not this morning. She said, "We make cupcakes! We make cupcakes!"

So at 7:30 am, that's what we did!

What a nutritious breakfast huh?

The final product: A happy pinkalicious girl, with her pinkalicious book and her pinkalicious cupcakes that she took to play group to share with her friends!

Hope nobody turns pink!

Gage's steals from the book fair: Star Wars Heroes, and Happy Easter Mouse.

One year ago. . .

One year ago from last night we attended our ward temple night. We went out to dinner afterwards with some friends. Everything was "normal". We had no idea that our world was going to come crumbling down the next day.

Around 10 am the next morning Shaun got the "call" that would shake things up.

I can't believe it's been a whole year since I was sick with worry, had permanently puffy eyes, and exercised extreme faith in the Lord.

It has been 1 year since Shaun left KPMG.

Looking back on things it was such a blessing that he was laid off! He wasn't happy there. He didn't look forward to going to work.

2 jobs later, we are where we're at today! As we were driving home from our ward temple night last night we were reflecting on our situation. Shaun LOVES his job! And I know that because he tells me all about it every night, and I try my best to understand it all, but most of the time I just have to nod and smile! :)

Once again, I express sincere gratitude to our Father in Heaven who constantly watches over my family and is ever aware of our needs.

An AWESOME week of deals!

What a GREAT week for deals!

24 Double Rolls of TP

12 BIG rolls of Paper Towel

30 boxes of Fruit Snacks

12 boxes of Kleenex

3 boxes of Tampons

3 packages of Pads

2 Lip Treatments

6 Powerades (Shaun drank one before I could take the pic)

5 packages Fudge Shoppe Cookies

5 Bananas

2 Prego Pasta Sauces

5 lb. box of Clementines
4 Catalinas

*** Missing from pictures -- $5 target gift card***

Spent: $40.46

Saved: $174.29

RR, Catalinas, and Gift Cards left to use: $24.5o

TOTAL out of pocket cost: $15.96

FOR ALL OF THAT!!!

Not too bad huh?

The best part is we actually needed tp, paper towels and kleenex.

Female and Fabulous

My mom called me from school a few weeks ago and told me about the Female and Fabulous makeover contest at Wellspring (a local health clinic) that a coworker had told her about. She told me not to laugh at her but she wanted to enter. So she came over so I could take a full body picture of her and then I edited her little blurb that she had to submit.

She got a call yesterday saying that she was one of the 3 ladies picked! I am so happy for her. She gets a skin consultation, a hair makeover, and a new wardrobe! Wooo Hooo!!!

My mom is already so cute. . . with the help of wardrobe suggestions from me, of course!!! :) But I think this will be a great experience for her!

Her "unveiling" is Thursday the 18th! Check out this Wellspring site for the info for that night! I'm so excited to see the new her!!! I may just need to post some before and after pics!

One of those days!

Today was just a BLAH! day. My kids were very needy/cranky and always in my face. I finished off the Reeses eggs, jelly beans, and Cadbury eggs that were left over from an Easter package that I sent to Uncle Ryan, and ate 3 packs of gushers. It's one of those nights where I know I need to exercise, but every fiber of my body is forcing me to sit in this chair, watch American Idol, and work on my blog, which btw, I tried downloading this new font to my blog. Pretty sure I worked on it for over an hour. . . and well, you're still reading in the original font, so obviously it didn't work. Grrrr! I'm starring at a pile of laundry waiting to be folded, but frankly I don't really want to do it tonight.

Off to bed. . .

Questions?

Oh, the questions game has begun at our house!

Remember the annoying kids you used to babysit who would always ask, "Why?" Well, we've got one of those! When I get annoyed after hearing it 50 times I try to remind myself that this little inquisitive mind is growing and exploring at rapid rates. . . so reluctantly, I try my best to answer every "Why?"

Another funny question I hear all day everyday from my brand-savvy 2-year old is "Where did you buy it at?" From her clothes in the morning, to what she is eating, to her toys, pretty much anything she comes in contact with she asks, "Where did you buy it at?" If I don't respond, she will start rattling off store names, "Target, Walmart, Walgreens, Safeway, Albertsons, the mall" until I answer her! She is quite the little shopper!

I love my little smart girl!

Extreme Makeover -- Family Room Edition

Some of you may remember this post.

I guess I didn't remember how much hard work goes in to redoing a room.

With our tax refund, we bought a new couch! A red one! And it's coming any day now!

So this weekend we put our old couches up on craigslist and decided to shampoo our carpets before the new couch comes! So we moved our couches out to the garage and the rest of the furniture into our kitchen. At 2:00 pm on Saturday I decided we should paint! It would be so much easier to paint now than it would be once we have the new couch. We put the kids to bed EARLY and my totally awesome mom came up to help us! We got the whole room painted in just a few hours!

Yesterday we shampooed the carpets, scrubbed the base boards and took down all of the tall blinds and washed them! Our room is looking in tip-top shape --- just waiting for our couch to come! And our new bookshelf and curtains that I just ordered last night!

I am so excited for the project to be finished! I will post pictures once everything is here!!!

Severe Flashbacks

My mom and I were at the outlet mall on Saturday and she was trying something on. There was this brand new mom with her little baby girl who looked just a few weeks old. The baby's grandma was in the dressing room and the poor little baby was SCREAMING! The mom didn't know how to calm her baby and I'm sure she was just secretly praying that her mom would hurry and finish!

All I could think about for the rest of the day. . . and even now where those first several months with our big boy! Makes me cringe!