Happy 14th Birthday, Haley!! :)

(NOVEMBER 1, 2009)

It's official...my baby girl is one more year older :(
Makes me sad. Not quite sure if it's because I can't REALLY call her my baby girl anymore, or if it's because this means I am getting older...too...hmmmm...

She had a little party with a few friends.
It was nice. They just hung out and did goofy girl stuff.
Just like this....lol...


Here is Jackson...just admiring all his new "toys" lol


Jenna, taking a little break to flash me a smile, while she was helping me frost the cupcakes :)


AND....the finished product!!

It's kinda like a tradition, now, that I make these 'cupcake creations'. It's fun and the kids like them...so it's worth it ;)

I wish I could have gotten a pic of Haley WITH her friends...but I I guess I will have to settle for a picture of Haley's friends TAKEN by Haley...lol.

Jackson...outside :)

Here are a few pics of the little man, hangin' out outside.
We had yes ANOTHER tree blown down by crazy winds about 2 months ago.
It's just crazy!
At least once a year one of our trees, or part of one, blows down!

Well, Jackson wanted to try and help Daddy cut it down, but he was only getting in the way :(
So I thought it was the perfect opportunity to get some pics of him :)





I don't know what it is about the look on his face...lol...but to me, this just doesn't look like him AT ALL. But the glow in his eyes is beautiful! :)




Yes! This pic is more my Tin-O :)
...with Daddy in the background, cutting the big tree branches.

Dirty Deeds...

Just wanna let ya'll know that a VERY good friend of mine, Rachel, has started up a blog.
It is all to help you save LOTSA money...and trust me...her info. is LEGIT and has helped me and my family save sooooooo much. AND stock up on things that everyone needs.
You totally should see my laundry room cupboard...ummmm...I won't need any shampoo/conditioner, deodorant, baby wipes, toothpaste, toothbrushes, laundry soap, bounce bars...whew...I won't need any of that kinda stuff for a LOOOOOOONG TIME!! :)

So, check out her stuff...you WON'T be disappointed!!

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap!

PS--I ALSO recommend either finding a "hookup" on getting extra Sunday coupon inserts or just buying 3 or 4 Sunday papers. For real...you will NOT regret spending that extra money on more papers!!!

Fall...or Winter?

Well, it's Fallter. Fall+Winter=Fallter. Or whatever combo you would like.
I honestly think we had 2 days of Fall type weather and now we are sitting in the 30s-40s and it's snowing/flurrying almost every day! What the??? (as Jackson would say)

And I was saying WHAT THE...? when I saw THIS face!!!



YIKES!!!
The girls found a raspberry bush in some weeds, so they picked as many as they could and brought them in. He devoured them...if ya couldn't tell?!?! lol

OK, keeping up with the FALL part of Fallter...lol...we woke up to this, in our side-yard on Saturday (Oct. 10).



I LOVE those colors. This is THE perfect Fall picture I have taken this year, so I had to share it :)

Now, we move on to yummy Fall things :)

I just LOVE this recipe. I started making it just last year. I saw it on a local TV show and tried it out right away. Sooooooooo insanely easy!
AND you can find the complete recipe HERE (my blog entry from last year) or HERE (original recipe at www.fox11online.com)



Now, for a teeny taste of winter AKA, Haley getting bundled up to play in the "Fall" weather.



Rudolph shirt and all! LOL
OH...and this is the girl that is "too cool" to wear a winter coat.
BUT she will bundle up like Ralphie and Randy when she is just staying home.



Here she is again, not so bundled...lol.
Can ya'll believe she will be 14 soon? Ughhh...I can't believe it!!

ANYWAY...
I promise to TRY and update my blog more often through the end of the year.
But that's all for now, folks :)

Busy Summer!!

First I have to apologize that I haven't been updating like I should :(
This Summer has been extremely busy for us and when I do get some free time, I just want to "be"...you know...not worry about anything and just do whatever.

A lot has happened to us, this Summer. Dave and I celebrated our 10 yr. anniversary, we lost Dave's Mom :(
One happy thing, one extremely sad thing... No matter how long you have expected the loss of a loved one...it just doesn't make it any easier. Dave's mom was a patient, kind and understanding woman. She was timeless...we will forever miss her. It STILL feels odd knowing that she is gone.
I love my husband, so much more than any words could say, and it saddens me beyond belief that he no longer has his mom.
She will be forever missed....

As for the rest of our summer, we took a little vacation to a cabin on Chute Pond, Dave and I took our 10 year anniversary trip to Vegas, Dave and Jenna went camping, we did lots of swimming, we did some home improvements...the list could go on and on and on....but you get the point!

Haley begins 8th grade this fall and Jenna starts 6th grade. Two girls in middle school...oy!!! And Jackson...he keeps me running, yes, literally running. Not just keeping me on my toes, but sprinting!! He will be 3 in November and not really showing ANY signs of being ready for potty-training :( We bought him a "potty", Huggies pull-ups and he has TONS of real underwear :)
...just no REAL interest in going on the potty :(

I have started "couponing". Meaning...I cut coupons like crazy!! I even have some friends who live in other states send me some inserts. A friend of mine turned me on to this website... www.afullcup.com - it is AMAZING!! LOTS of helpful info on savings lots of money on there! This week, it helped me buy Dove deodorant at Target for .29 !! And it wasn't a trial size!! Also, Pop-Tarts for .65 a box !! AND free Johnson & Johnson Bath Soap Buddies!! So, we have a TON of these items right now...and I will be going back for more...probably tomorrow...and almost everyday until the coupons expire :)
I also save TONS of money at CVS and Walgreens with their frequent buyer programs. CVS' is called ExtraBucks and Walgreens' is Register Rewards. You can read up on both of these at these websites: www.iheartcvs.com AND www.iheartwags.com .
Since I cannot find a job, saving money for my family and coupon clipping IS my job. It does take some time to get used to and lots of reading up on how to make each and every dollar S-T-R-E-T-C-H ... but it is soooooooooooo worth it for me :)

Well, my lovelies...it is time to go and have a chat with a good friend of mine, so I will have to keep up with these updates...and post pics, too!
I hope you all have a super weekend!!!

Jackson & Build A Bear ;o)

MARCH 28, 2009

Jackson made his first build a bear!!!


Well, OK...he has 2 other ones, but those, we made for him...

Jenna wasn't too enthused and couldn't wait to get outta there!! lol...
she would rather be in Justice ;o)
And Haley had to put his Turtle's shell back on.


Here is my little man, typing in his info ;o)

Happy Birthday Jenna!

MARCH 26, 2009

My middle child turned 11 this past March...


She had a little party with a few friends.

We began at home with the girls playing Wii, hanging out, eating pizza and cupcakes
and then Jenna opened her gifts...which consisted of Webkinz, jewelry and lots of Gift Cards ;o)



After all that, we packed up the cars and went Roller Skating ;o)


Everyone had lots of fun!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Jackson and I decided to make a cookie cake today.
Well, our plans were to make a white cake with lime jello mix in it (to make it green), but I only had a chocolate cake mix ;o)
Soooo...we made a lime jello cookie cake, instead!



He was actually a really good helper! He put in the melted butter, mixed it in with the cookie mix and egg, and also poured in the jello mix ;o)

And here is our finished product...Mommy made the buttercream frosting that he COULD NOT stop eating ;o)

Christmas '08 ...Continued....

DECEMBER 25, 2008

Christmas Morning....
It's a tradition that we wait for everyone to wake up before any presents are opened. Then we let them rip open their gifts, one at a time so they can all see what each other got.
Jackson is a little hard to handle, since he wouldn't wait and just wanted to open everything ;o)

BUT...his first present, he didn't have to open. He woke up, came downstairs and saw his Cars tent and ran to it....


Then the girls dug in...

MCQUEEN!!!
It was a Christmas made up of various Cars toys and a bunch of Planet Heroes ;o)
And even an Imaginext Castle!


As for the girls, they got their clothes from Limited Too, some jammies...Jenna got her snowboard and Hannah Montana beanbag chair, they both got Webkinz and a couple Kooky Klickerz pens. I know they got more, I just can't remember ;o(
BUT
the highlight of their Christmas morning, was getting their phones. I wish I had a pic of them opening them up...but I have something even better! A VIDEO!
But for some odd reason, I can never upload video to bogger ;o(
I will try to upload it to my FB page, but can't promise anything...

After all that, we had our yummy traditional breakfast of Breakfast Bake then cleaned up and headed out to my brother's...

CHRISTMAS 2008

DECEMBER 24, 2008

First, I want to share a couple of pictures of our Christmas tree. We got a new one...FINALLY! Our old one was a hand me down from my Dad, which he got from someone else; So it was super old! I have had that tree since 1996, so it was time for a new one ;o) Then...this super cute pic of Jackson.
I think it was taken on Dec. 22, after the girl's Church Christmas service.
He was smiling so wide and kinda standing still, so I had to snap a quick pic ;o)

Here he is on Christmas Eve, hanging out with Hall the Moose (he got Hal from his sisters for Christmas).

Every year, we spend a few hours on Christmas Eve with my Grandma and my Dad's family. O forgot my camera, so I have no pics of that ;o(
Jackson was, of course, running around like crazy and making friends with my cousin's little boy, Ayden. They were soooo stinkin' cute, running around, getting into trouble...playing in the bubbler in the hallway. I am sure it was all Jackson's idea...he's a bad influence ;o)

ANYWAY--after we got home, everyone cozied up in their jammies and we watched A Christmas Story.

This year was THE FIRST year that Dave actually helped me wrap presents. He did pretty good, except for his shotty job on Jenna's snowboard...lol...
You can kinda see it, off to the right.

This is a pic I shot after we "set up" their gifts under the tree.
I sure do love our new tree!!

All I want for Christmas...is a NICE pic of my 3 kids; WHAT a workout!

DECEMBER 4, 2008

Trying to get Christmas pics taken of the kids has turned into a marathon of chasing, bribing and an overage of screaming...by Jackson...


Look at how nice my girls are smiling...while trying to tame their brother...LOL...they are just too sweet ;o)
This is only ONE of many failed attempts, but I will spare you all the heartache of seeing poor Jackson suffer through having to sit still for more than 5 seconds at a time...lol

I did get a couple of nice shots of the girls, by themselves...I did want a pic of all 3 by themselves for a collage, but yeah...you can see that wasn't going to work ;o(


My 13 year old, Haley


10 yr. old Jenna


This is THE best shot that I got of all three together. Yes, we had to BRIBE Jackson to sit still for...I think it was 4 seconds...with a Candy Cane.


Here is the finished product.
With a bunch of help from Photoshop and a ton of free online scrapbooking papers and elements; I think our Christmas '08 picture turned out pretty good!

Christmas Cookies

DECEMBER 13, 2008

Every year, my mom and my sister come over and we spend the whole day baking cookies, making candy and spending time together. It's usually around the middle of December.
This was the first year that Jackson was able to help out ;o)


Let's just say he had his fill of cookie dough...lol


Jackson, my Mom and Jenna - She's busy rolling out the dough with my broken rolling pin...Jackson broke it ;o(
Only one of the handles busted off, so it was still usable.


Here is part of Haley, helping out with the Peanut Butter balls, or maybe she was putting caramel on the pecans??...yummmmm!


...just a bit of our supplies.


Just a teeny bit of the cookies ;o)

So, we made over 100 Peanut Butter Balls, countless Pecan Turtles, 2 bags of Peppermint Bark and dozens and dozens of sugar and chocolate chip cookies. OH...we can't forget the yummy Peanut Butter Kiss cookies -- Can't wait til next December!!

New Boots ;o)

NOVEMBER 30, 2008



Just a couple of pics of my little guy in his new winter boots ;o)
They are his very first pair of boots and he just could not wait to try them on...


They are 'Cars' boots...with Lightning McQueen, so of course he LOOOVES them!!