Saturday, July 11, 2009

Free Veggie Tales DVD ($2.99 S/H)

Since I seem to feel a bit of a thrill when finding a good deal and I LOVE freebies, I had to pass this one on to some of my frugal friends.  Sign up for the Big Idea newsletter here and get one of these three Veggie Tales DVD’s for free. You just have to pay $2.99 minimum shipping for 7-14 day delivery or you can upgrade. They also take PayPal which is perfect for me.

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(Photo source: Big Idea)

Audrey wanted the ‘cowboy’ so we ordered The Ballad of Little Joe. ;)  My kiddos love getting things in the mail, so this is perfect!

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(Photo Source: Fisher-Price)

We just received the free Precious Places: The Princesses Save the Ball DVD from Fisher-Price two days ago. It’s short, but Audrey loves it.  If you haven’t taken advantage of that offer, go here to find out more.

Monday, July 6, 2009

Give a little, get a lot!

Last week my friend, Kristi, invited us to go to the local Humane Society to volunteer for awhile with the kids. It turns out that Cole is a pretty great helper when it's something he is passionate about. ;) When we got to the Humane Society, Cole, Audrey and I got to feed the dogs and puppies some Pupcorn treats. (I'm pretty sure that’s all the employees thought Audrey could handle.) It didn't seem fair that we got to do something so fun when Kristi and her boys were having to do laundry, but I think they managed.

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Cole and Audrey feeding the pups.

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Cole would barely be still long enough for me to take a picture.

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Audrey really enjoyed feeding the treats to the dogs.

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Filling the dogs food bowls

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This cat enjoyed hanging out with Cole.

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Kason and Cole were having lots of fun washing and rinsing dishes.

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Audrey is suppose to be handing Kory the dry dishes, but she is easily distracted.

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Some of the dishes really needed scrubbing and I’m pretty sure that most of them had things on or in them that I normally wouldn’t let my kiddos touch, let alone while in bleach water.

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Audrey’s finally able to help rinse the dishes.

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When Cole finished washing everything, his hands were seriously like raisins. Poor guy! He didn’t complain once though.

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All the kiddos in an assembly line.

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I’m pretty sure this was the only thing I did, seeing how I had so much time to take pictures and all. :) 100_1364

Audrey really liked these dogs and she wanted to pose by them.

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The REAL hard workers today: Kristi, Audrey, Kason, Cole and Kory.

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Kristi and her hard-working sons!

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Me and my hard-working/playing kiddos!

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Cole wasn’t allowed to feed this dog a treat and it had him all curious about why. He wanted his picture specifically taken with the dog he calls “Quarantine”. Poor doggy!

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After we finished working at the HS, we grabbed some Happy Meals and headed to the park. I had my kids wear play clothes today, but I never imagined Cole would be completely soaked. I had no extra clothes for him,  so we opted for playing outside and drying out. This little park was secluded and fun.

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Kory is enjoying the slide.

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Kason is enjoying getting his picture taken with his little dog.

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Audrey thinks she’s big stuff climbing up the big slide. I have to admit, the slide not having anything on the sides was kind of scary for me She is such a risk-taker that it scares me a lot! I am pretty sure I could feel gray hairs popping out as I took this picture.

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Cole takes it a little easier.

Overall, this was a great experience for us and something we would love to do again. Cole wanted to go back again tomorrow. We probably won’t go back that quickly, but I think it’s definitely something we need to do again. You even kind of get use to the kennel smell after awhile. I’m so glad that Kristi invited us to do something so selfless and fun.

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Isn’t she a beauty?

This is for you, Mom and Dad! All the charm for the low, low price of….well, you already know. :)

**Edited** I have to clarify that we took these pics for my parents. They have their pontoon at the lake and would like to have something to stay the night if they need to instead of going back and forth each time they go to the lake. I wish we had time to do something with a little camper. I am pretty sure this is the only way I could camp. I don't think I can do a tent if there isn't a shower involved. :)

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Photos courtesy of John. :)

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Happy 4th of July!

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I hope everyone has a wonderful day honoring our freedom. We are definitely blessed. We have lots of fun things to do today. I hope to post some pictures later this evening.

Monday, June 29, 2009

Please pray for this amazing adoption!

My friend and co-worker, Suzanne, is in the process of adopting a precious little boy, Sam, from China. They are in China right now picking him up and have had quite a journey. They are aware of a long road ahead of them due to problems with his heart. This is their second adoption from China within the last few years. Little Sam is lucky to have them. Please pray for a safe journey for them and an easy transition when they get back home.

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Don’t they all look happy? It's looking pretty official that this will be Sam's forever family.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Whirlwind Week

I have lots to catch up on, but getting the living room ready for new furniture means repainting, cleaning, more cleaning and even more cleaning, so things have been pretty busy. I'll catch up soon!

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Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Mr. B’s super fun 4th birthday!

On Saturday, we were invited to Mr. B’s 4th birthday party.  It was held at Imagination Station Express and my kids absolutely had a blast! It was a great little place full of discoveries, role playing and all kinds of kid friendly activities.  It was such a safe atmosphere that I truly enjoyed myself, too. There were many other things that aren’t pictured since my camera batteries died, but you can bet that the kiddos were in all of it.

There were all kinds of things to do, like…

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a puppet theater,

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a doctor’s office,

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a construction room,

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drums,

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exploration, 

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housekeeping,

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a movie theater,

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a party room,

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train cake,

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presents,

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and at least two kiddos who were beaming from all the excitement!

 

Thanks for inviting us to share in your fun, Mr. B!

My sweet little fish

I confess, it was mid June before we finally got a pool for the kiddos. It was June 17, to be exact. I waited for them to go on sale and we found a 15” x 42” for $99. That’s a great price for the size.

Last year, my parents picked up the same pool for Cole and Audrey, but ended up getting in a small wreck in the store parking lot. Needless to say, I didn’t ask them to pick it up this time. (I still felt really awful from last year!)

My kiddos LOVE the water!!! Between the hammock and the pool, I’m never going to keep Audrey inside this summer. She’s already getting the cutest little tan lines from her swimming suit. 

 

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Audrey thinks Cole’s pool is fabulous! 

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I thought it was so sweet that Cole tried to teach Audrey how to float. :)

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Acting silly

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Cole is trying to fit Audrey into the tube.  She just trusts him so much.

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Audrey kept going to the side of the pool. She would lay her head down and say to Cole, “Let’s talk.” It was so sweet!

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This was Audrey’s floaty thing for the pool last year.

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I thought Cole looked kind of like an alligator here.

Father’s Day weekend 2009

We had a lot going on this past weekend, so here’s a recap. I’ll include a few pictures later.

Saturday morning

9:30 – Met Shelly and kids to go to Blake’s birthday party

10:00 – Went to Imagination Station for the party

Saturday afternoon

12:00 – Wal-Mart, McDonald’s and Taco Bell

1:30 – Dropped off Shelly and kiddos to head home

1:45 – The kiddos swam in the pool.

2:30 – Started packing to go to Spfd.

3:00 – Left for SnowFest

4:00 – SnowFest with Wynne, Kristi, Alicia and kids

Saturday evening

6:00 – Picked up my grandma, Nannie

7:00 – Incredible Pizza for my niece Lexi’s birthday party

9:30 – Left for Wal-Mart

11:15 – Finally left Wal-Mart to spend the night with my parents

Sunday early morning

12:30 – Audrey and Cole finally fell asleep

1:30 – I finally fell asleep

(Every 30-45 minutes Audrey kept waking up)

5:00 – Woke up to get ready for our fishing trip

6:00 – Left Mom and Dad’s to meet my brother and sister-in-law

7:00 – Dad decides the alternator may be going out and we can’t risk getting stuck at the lake

8:00 – Switch vehicles and Mom repacks everything

9:30 – Arrive at Lake Taneycomo and board the pontoon

Sunday afternoon

2:00 – Arrive back at the dock to clean the fish and unpack the boat. We caught our limit of 24 trout!!!

3:00 – Left the lake to go eat lunch

4:00 – Ate lunch at  Charlie’s Steak House

Sunday evening

5:00 – Arrived back at Mom and Dad’s

6:30 – Arrived back at our own house and finally saw John to wish him a happy Father’s Day

6:45 – Audrey and I crashed for a long nap

12:30 We finally were all in bed to start over again on Monday

 

Needless to say, I was completely exhausted!!!!

MeMa’s Birthday

Wednesday we went to Mom and Dad’s house for MeMa’s birthday party.  Dad grilled hamburgers and hot dogs for everyone. I enjoyed visiting with my brothers and sisters-in-law. We don’t get to see each other nearly enough since we are all grown up with our own families.  We have lots of nieces and nephews, so Cole and Audrey really enjoyed seeing their cousins and getting to play together.  Hopefully my mom enjoyed herself.

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Mom and her cake

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My grandma, Nannie (my dad’s mom) and my niece, Hannah

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My grandma, Bette (my mom’s mom) with Myric and Ryan

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Cole, enjoying a burger

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My nephew, Dakota

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Audrey and my nephew, Jacob

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My nephew, Gage and niece, Rhiannon

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My nieces, Rhiannon and Kira

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My SIL, Maegan

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My other SIL, Niki

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Dad, being silly

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My little brother, Ryan

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My big brother, Chris

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Hannah and Audrey hiding under the table

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John is holding my newest nephew, Myric.

 

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We brought out the parachute to provide a little peace and quiet to the big people still inside the house. We’re thoughtful like that!