How is it almost THANKSGIVING???

You know you need to update your blog when your husband gets on to you about it! :)  LOL!

Seriously, Jordan told me that I am really dropping the ball as far as this goes, and need to get it together.  So, for all 3 of you who actually read this... I'm sorry, my plate has been a little full, and I promise with a cherry on top to do better.  

That reminds me of that horrible country song "I'll Try".... Jordan and I always laugh at it because its so bad, and I think its TRYING to be sweet! "I'll tryyyyyyy, to always love you, and I'll tryyyyyyyy to be true to you, I'll try...".  Sorry- tangent.

Anywhooo, tomorrow Riley and Jace have their Thanksgiving feast and program at school... I'm sure I'll have some really entertaining stories about how my daughter was a perfect angel and sang every word to every song, and about how my son spun around in circles the whole time on the stage and took out three other kids while singing.  Good times.

Riley will be an Indian, and Jace, a grey squirrel.  I'll leave you with that.

Coupons are a girls best friend...

Well, that might be over-doing it a little.

Jordan, I'll still take diamonds/expensive jewelry any day over a stack of discounted food items.

That being said, I just have to toot my own horn for a minute...

I have posted once before about my new adventures in the world of couponing, and now, I think I am getting the hang of it!  Today, Jace and I went to Kroger while Riley was at preschool  and did some major damage (and I'm not just talking about the end-cap he knocked over or the 13 free cookies he ate from the sampler platter), but I saved like 40% on my total bill!

I bought $85 worth of groceries and only paid $50!  

Do you hear the angels singing!!??  I know it sounds silly to be so excited about saving $35, but I AM!!! 

 Today Jordan and I went to Double Dave's (God Bless America) for lunch with Jace.  We got the lunch buffet (again, God Bless America), and I ended up stuffing 4 pepperoni rolls in my purse to eat at a later time just to make my $7.50 buffet price count. :)  Not my proudest moment, but none-the-less, a profitable one. :)  Soooo, my point in all of that is right now in my life, we need a dollar to stretch, and I mean really stretch.  And it looks like my coupon clipping is just what the doctor ordered. :)

Go team!! :):)

Now I'm done.

Happy Halloween!

One little panda bear and a baseball player... thats what our Halloween looked like!  :)  

We had a great time touring all the different neighborhoods (we were definitely the family that left our own street block and headed all over town in search of the best candy-givers).  AND, we won!  Well, actually, we lost.  I now have two HUGE bags filled to the brim with  every assorted candy and mint your mind could ever dream of.  Riley and Jace both have their names on the outside of the bags, claiming which one is theirs, but what they don't know is that it really doesn't matter whose name is on what- they are both mommy's and daddy's. :):):)  I think I have gained 5 pounds in one week.  Blame it on baby Kendall.

Here are some pics from our night!

Camp Newton

I am a little late in posting this, but 2 weekends ago we fulfilled a long-time promise (made exclusively by my husband) to go camping in our backyard!  He told Riley and Jace  last  fall that we could have a backyard camp-out, then time just got away and it was too cold .  So, we decided to capitalize on the beautiful weather we've been having, and let me tell you, we had an absolute blast! 

The kids were so excited.... the entire day they asked  me WHEN we could set up the tent and have s'mores!  Honestly, I was so pumped when Jordan walked in the door with a tent in hand- it was comparable to a mall giftcard or perhaps a massage.  So, the tent went up... and the little people started playing inside it!

Then, of course, you can guess the next question that arose... "Mommy, Daddy, can we make S'MORES!??"!  Yes, yes we can dear.  Mommy knows how to do that very well.  Necessary supplies... CHECK.

Fire's ready... CHECK!

And they were off... I'm pretty sure Riley had at least 3 and Jace probably had more.  I found empty Hershey wrappers in the tent the next morning. How can something so simple taste SOOOO good?  Anywhooo...

 

  After the s'mores, we went inside and gave the kiddos a bath- not quite traditional camping I know, but they smelled like smoke and we had to maintain a little civility here. :)  Anyway, after that, since we hadn't had enough sweet treats, we had hot chocolate by the fire!  

Then we all loaded into the tent and each kiddo read everyone a book. Oh to have had my video camera in there... I am so mad at myself!!! Listening to them read was HILARIOUS... so precious.  

And, as Jace would say, "after that, they hit the sack"!  Notice, there was only enough room for 3 people in the tent.... so someone had to sacrifice and sleep inside in the cozy bed.  I took one for the team.  And I would have bet all the money in the world that AT LEAST one child, if not both, would be cuddled up next to me before sunrise... and I would have been BROKE!  They slept out there all night long!!!  

I'd say Camp Newton was a success.  :)

The Pumpkin Patch

On monday we went to the local pumpkin patch (aka. the grassy lot next to the church by our house) and chose a few pumpkins to carve!  On the way there, we decided that everyone could choose their own, but once we arrived and saw the prices, it changed to Riley and Jace getting their own (out of the medium-small pile), and Jordan and I getting one medium to share.  Who knew pumpkins were so expensive?

Here is Jace's cute little baby one... 

And Riley with her pick...

And I had to throw this pic in because it makes me laugh... who taught her to pose like that?  It's like it's already ingrained in her?  The little hands on her hips... just cracks me up.

Without Further Ado...

Dun dun dun dunnnnnnnnnnn...

I am proud as punch to introduce you to my new kitchen!!!! YAY!!!!

My sweet husband worked super-duper hard and did an awesome job covering the completely outdated maple colored cabinets with a rich chocolate brown paint.  I did my part and shopped at Hobby Lobby to find the complementary corally/red knobs with coppery brown embellishments in the middle.  It was hard work, but somebody had to do it.  In the picture, you can see we are missing a few red knobs here and there- Dear Hobby Lobby, please get my special order knobs in PRONTO so my kitchen can be complete! Thank you.

Also, I had to show you what the middle of our breakfast table looks like.  It's pretty tricky to cover fall, Halloween and Thanksgiving in ONE centerpiece.  That's talent ladies and gentlemen.  :):):)  And maybe a little tacky, but I'm over it. :)

Go A's!

I've been meaning to post these pictures since last week, but for some reason I can't always get things done on time?  I don't know what the deal is! :)

Riley had her first t-ball game last tuesday!!!  It was hilarious!!!  She is one of two girls on the entire team, and both girls are the youngest players by far.  Riley and Ella are both 4 and the other boys are 5 and some have just turned 6!  So needless to say, mommy was watching VERY closely to see if I needed to put an end to all this t-ball stuff before it could even begin.  I don't need to watch a 6 year old boy throw it full speed at my little girls glove, which may or may not even be on the right hand, or even in the vicinity of her body!  Thankfully, they are all on about the same level, though the boys parents would probably kill me for saying that. :)

Here are some pictures from her debut game... and just fyi, we have since purchased grey pants to give the team a more uniform appearance.  That's very important in 4 year-old t-ball, ya know! :)

And this is a picture of "The Crew".  Riley got in the car after her game and asked if we could count all of her fans! :)  I think the grand total was 10 (including Gran's dog, Sweetie), so a few people aren't represented in the picture.  Thanks everyone again for enduring!!!  See ya tuesday! :)