~A Year of Boats!~

We don't tend to buy lots of things throughout the year 1) because we never save the money & 2) we just don't! So when our tax refund comes we usually do something big with it! This year I booked a cruise on this BIG boat




Tyson on the other hand has been Jonesin' for a flat bottom fishing boat.







He took us out in the new to him boat today! We tried to fish but the kids were too noisy and we didn't stay long, so we didn't get anything! Jed really enjoys fishing~Heather & Caroline not so much!

Later, Heather, Caroline & I went roller skating! The Skate Ranch was PACKED! I've never seen it that busy! Hangin' at the skating rink brings back fond memories of my childhood! AHHHH Skate-o-rama! Fun times! It was so funny to see the teenyboppers squeal and think they were cool when they played "celebrate" and the YMCA! HAHA I didn't fall at all, so I think I've still got it~whatever it may be!

Oh and for the record~I think I got the better deal!:)

Happy St. Patricks Day

I decided to make today a fun day for the kids! We started with the leprechaun's turning our toilet water green, then we had Lucky Charms for breakfast! Thanks to Kristi over at 2cleverblog.com! She always has great ideas and I'm glad she shares them with the rest of the world!:) I also bought some of the green foods she suggests too! :)

After breakfast, I gave all the kids a green bandana (Heather already had one) and called us TEAM GREEN! I introduced the kids to Geocaching! What's so AWESOME is we barely went 3 miles from our house for this FREE fun!!! Here we are after our 1st find & best one of the day!



heres us after #2



when we pulled up to #2 these people were looking for it too!



us after #3



We found one more and our new found friends came while we were there & helped us find it! We had a great time hanging out today! :)

Couponin' Again! Great Deals to be Had!

I love to coupon but I rarely have the time that it takes to get the plan together to go shopping, but since I'm on spring break I did a little research! I've started cutting coupons again in the last month or so, also. The Lufkin paper doesn't really have any good coupons so this last week I bought a Houston paper also. The cuttin' was good!

I hit Walgreens today b/c there were a few things on my list that were a GREAT deal!

They have the small box of Raisin bran on sale for $1.99 & if you go to the Post website there's a $2.00 off 1 box coupon so that makes your piddly little box of RB a Money Maker of a penny!

I bought some Electrosol gel pacs for the dishwasher~they are on sale for $3.49, then they give you a Register Reward for $1.00 to use later~if I can remember to use it this is a great deal & if I don't they are still .40 cents cheaper than at walmart!

I had a coupon for buy 2 packs of Stride gum get one free. They had some bubble gum flavor (the pink pack) on clearance for .77 cents each. I don't mind buying gum b/c the kids chew it like crazy! So I got 3 packs for 1.54!

I also got 2 bags of Lifesaver Jelly Beans. There's a printable coupon online for $1 of 2 bags, then when you get to Walgreens there's a coupon book at the front. There's another $1 off 2 bags in there you can use both b/c you are buying 2 bags and you can have one coupon for each item so the jelly beans were 2/$5 -$2 in coupons=$3.00 for 2 bags/1.50 each! Another great deal!

I picked up a couple of other things like envelopes & then 2 cases of water (on sale for $2.69 each)

I walked out of Walgreens for $15.24 with a RR for next time! Not a great job, but otherwise it would have been $30! So I saved half! :)

Happy Shopping~!

Food Snob?

OK I'll admit I'm becoming a food snob~There I said it! I've always mostly bought the off brand of most of our groceries, but my mom was here a few weeks ago and she bought these cinnamon rolls If you can't tell in the picture the are Pillsbury Grands Cinnamon Cinnamon Rolls


OH MY goodness! They were so much better than the great value brand! So now I'm spoiled~they are outrageously priced but they are so worth it! I justified it to myself the other day when I said "you can't get a breakfast for 5 people for $5 right? Yeah, they run about $2.50 per can for 5 cinnamon rolls, but they are so worth it!

here they are outta the oven




Here they are with the icing



YUM-O!!!Enjoy!

Caroline's Makeover

Several weeks ago after one to many brushing out tangles Caroline demanded/requested that her hair be cut short like mine! ok really it wasn't a demand, or request it was more like begging! LOL She had a great idea




She's also been begging to get her ears pierced so we were together by ourselves the other day so we did it! She's requesting earrings for her birthday!:)



Isn't she the cutest little girl you've ever seen?

Spring Break Movie Day!!

Whoever invented Redbox~I love you! When I woke up this morning, it was overcast & cloudy with a chance of rain! I immediately thought we would have a Movie Day! I checked out the Redbox app (on my Ipod Touch) and found 3 movies that I thought my kids would enjoy! Once it started raining this afternoon, they've been snuggled up on the couch watching the movies!

We rented Princess & the Frog, BandSlam, & AstroBoy!

Cub Scouts!

OK I know, I know! I've moaned and groaned about this calling since I've been called to do it. If you haven't heard me moaning & groaning, consider yourself lucky! It's starting to grow on me~I think because 1)I'm figuring out my own activities to get the achievements marked off for the boys & 2)those activities were more enjoyable then the ones they (BSA) have lined out for you as a leader! The BSA provides this thing called Program Helps & all of the big Scouters think it's the best thing since sliced bread, me on the other hand, thinks it needs to go in the trash! LOL

One of the leaders for the older boys taught the boys about pocketknife safety & then we made a carving from soap. I think the boys really enjoyed it!Here's Jed with his soap carving.



I called Home Depot & asked if they would donate some of there free project kits that they offer on Saturdays to our PACK! They did~so next week we are making those!


Then in a couple of weeks, I've talked Tyson into helping me teach the boys how to make Marshmallow Shooters. Then the week after we are going to have a marshmallow war at our house in the backyard! I am so excited! LOL See I told you it was growing on me!

And the best discovery this week, I found a free app on my Iphone for CubScouts! It's called BragVest & you can track what your scout has accomplished on that app! It's so awesome & I know I'm turning into a Scouting Nerd! :) I'm figuring I'll be in this calling for awhile so I might as well embrace it right?

Runner's World

Have you ever read Runner's World Magazine? I picked one up a few weeks ago & also a fitness magazine. Wow the information in these 2 magazines kept me reading for hours! Even Heather said "are you still reading that magazine?" LOL I am still running & working out regularly, but I think I need to kick it up a notch! I've been at the same weight for a couple of months now, which is good at least I'm not gaining but still I would like to lose about 15-20 more lbs before summer!

~Living Like No One Else~

Several years ago I was introduced to Dave Ramsey. I have his book The Total Money Makeover & now FPU Revisited. I've wanted to take his FPU class for awhile now but it just never worked out. I FINALLY talked Tyson into taking it so we signed up! I am really excited about listening & learning how to be more financial savvy & changing our lives NOW so LATER we can live like NO one else! And really to become better Stewards of our money! We sat down this last Sunday & made a budget~it was really eye opening!

~Church & Inspiration~

I have a blog that I read almost daily, yes I said DAILY! Jill is very good at capturing her daily life & making it interesting! I don't take pics of the things we do because I think no one will be interested in our doings, but as I was reading Jill's blog the other day, I made the resolve to do better at capturing our life! I always think afterwards I should have taken pictures, well of course it's too late to do it! This is the kids & I before Church this past Sunday! I am loving afternoon Church! We can laze around for a little while before we have to get ready & we function much better! I should also mention that Jill has mastered the art of the self portrait~me not so much! LOL

~Busy, Busy~

We have been so busy over the last few months! It's hard to believe we have 9 weeks left of school! We have been to Austin twice, once for a cheer competition & then for my cousin's baptism! I love getting together with my family!

Jed started baseball this week & is getting excited for it to start again!

Yesterday was our first day of Spring Break~We didn't do much b/c it was so pretty Caroline said "I wanna stay outside all day!" so that's what they did! It's great when your kids don't fuss & fight AND entertain themselves all day long!

Tyson & I booked a cruise for May! We are going with our friends, Ted & Kasi, (and who ever else wants to go)! We (me and Kasi) are so excited! I don't know if the guys are so much! LOL

~There are NO words~

yes, these are hanging on my living room wall~the deer have been there~the hog is new & hanging in the living room was NOT part of the deal. That's all I have to say!

Lookey What I Made...

Caroline needed a Valentine holder~of course her teachers suggested a shoe box! HA I made one of these for Heather when she was in 2nd or 3rd grade. I am so giddy with the way it turned out.

*Just another Saturday...*

It's my favorite day of the week~Saturday! Mostly because we usually don't have anything to do except hang around the house & chores! I can actually relax, but today I'm overwhelmed by the chores! I can never keep up~that's no secret! What I do get done, gets un-done very quickly around here! UGH

We are having a few people over tomorrow night for a Super Bowl party~um, yeah I can count on one hand how many football games we've watched since we've been married, but it was Tyson's idea and it will be fun, so we are going with it! haha This means I have to get my house in some kind of order! HAHA AND my mom is coming to visit next week~we will be gone next weekend for a Cheer competition so I HAVE to get it done today!

on to the fun stuff~Heather is loving my new iphone probably as much or more than I do~well, not really b/c I don't think that's possible! haha but we are trying to master self portraits!











look at these cute treats for Pinewood Derby that my friend Sunshine found on the net & re-created She's always coming up with something super cute! I wished I was as creative as her!





Caroline was picked as a super Bobcat at school and I was able to go to Cici's with her! This is us waiting on the bus to go in. They double booked us with another school so we had to wait. She was not a happy camper!



Tyson went hunting with some friends of his from work and church last weekend & they had a grand time! Here's what they got




This is a picture of a game that we (the bears) taught the wolves last week at scouts. I think the boys really enjoyed it!







Caroline received some awards at school for the first semester! I love being at my kids school so I can watch things like this!:) She was so excited and proud.




This little boy is Caroline's friend Caden~I hear about him all the time! I finally got to meet his parents too! His mom said the same thing that Caden talks about Caroline all the time too! LOL



Caroline also got to celebrate the 100th day of school! Here she is doing some of the activities in her classroom!







it's hard to believe that she's almost a 2nd grader!:(

whew! We had a busy week! These were just pictures taken from my phone and not my camera! LOL I might be in trouble since I'll always have a camera with me!:)