Why I LOVE Being a Mom......

I haven't shared anything too personal lately, especially about my kiddos. I have been so eager to share my new letters with you though...You know, kids are just plain AHMAZING!!! As they tend to get older, all the way from infancy, you think to yourself (well...I did)....oh this is such a great stage in their lives. My oldest (Trent) is now 12, Faith is 6, and Blakey is 5. EVERY stage they have hit has been their BEST stage. I LOVE IT!! Right now, Faith is changing soooo much. Her and I seem to get along better now and she just has soooooo much to say. She is really turning into quite a young lady. Anyway, with her GREAT personality we do tend to hit a few speed bumps here and there. Recently, we had a "tiff." I can't remember what it was, but I was pretty frustrated with her and had sent her to her room. Well........this is what she came back with.......

I am going to translate a couple of the words I circled.
1-Sory=sorry
2-caird=caring
3-If you wodent be a cuponr we wod not have any mony. If you dident have any cupens we wode be foodlis.=If you wouldn't be a couponer we would not have any money. If you didn't have any coupons we would be foodless.  I LOVE IT!!! THIS IS TRULY PRICELESS!! I think my kids are starting to grasp the "coupon" lifestyle and learning that it is good to be frugal. ☺ Isn't this just the sweetest?

Here's another letter she wrote. She was just so darn proud of this. This is a letter that accompanied by mother's day gift, from her.....

Another translation....
1-beoodeful=BEAUTIFUL (I LOVE THIS ONE!!!) ☺
2-slurpis=slurpees (we have just recently introduced our kids to Slurpees and they are now madly in love).

She just melts my heart with all of her new letters and what not....

Now for the last one... A little explanation before I let you see it....Part of her big brother's (Trent/TJ for short) chores is to fold and put laundry away. Well, "TJ" has taken it upon himself to enlist the help of his little brother and sister, which is just fine with us. So, he takes the clothes and gets them together and then when they need hanging it is up to the little ones to get them hung in their closet. Well, Faith doesn't much like that idea very well.....

Translation

Dear dad:

Can you ask TJ to hang up my clothes?

Thank you.

This is sooooo funny! I only wish we could do stuff like this to get out of stuff we don't want to do. Wouldn't it be nice? Yes, this was hanging on her closet door, so it would NOT be missed. ☺

Anyway, I just love all of these hand-written notes she is supplying us with lately. And, YES, I am saving these. These are PRICELESS!!! ☺

By the way, I did ask her before posting these and she said it was okay. ;)

Have your kids done anything lately that "AHMAZES" you? I would love to hear. I LOVE kiddo stories even animal stories too. ;)

Have a great weekend guys!

Cheryl

The Life

Apparently, this is what you can look like after you go on a food binge.....

I shared with you the other day that it was Blakey's birthday. Well, that was the day that it snowed really really hard and it was CrAzY driving conditions outside. One of the things Blakey wanted to do for his birthday was go to Ben's Yogurt. My kids love his frozen yogurt. They just think it is the BEST. And, that is a plus for us because it is well within our Weight Watcher points budget. So, my husband got home really late that day and brought pizza home for the kiddos as, again, that is what Blakey wanted for dinner. He actually said that he wanted pizza for lunch and cake for dinner. :) Anyway, I made myself a couple of porkchops (more WW friendly) and my husband had some Garden Burgers. Anyway, we ate dinner, pretty quickly actually, so we could get out the door to Ben's before it started getting REALLY slick outside. It is habit to cleanup after dinner on an everyday basis, but today was different......We were in a hurry to get out and get back quickly. So, we decided to just leave the dinner dishes and the rest of the pizza on the table and leave. We would be back in less than an hour and we would clean up then.

Well, we left to Ben's. We get there and enjoy our frozen yogurt. (He had cake batter flavor....YUM) The kids get all of theirs and we stay there and eat it. Okay, well, now we are on our way home.....Things are good. Blakey is happy and the other kiddos are happy. We are all happy. We decide to come in the house through the back door. We did not want to drag a whole bunch of snow in the front door and the back door leads into the kitchen, so that is better for us. Well......the kids walk in, my husband walks in, and before I could walk in all I hear from each kid is "OH MY GOODNESS! SAAAADIE! OH MY GOSH! SAADIE!!"  Well by now I'm thinking she did something wrong because tore off like a bat out of hell downstairs. She ONLY does that when she has done something wrong. I come around the corner and it look like a tornado hit our dining room. The pizza box was on the floor, pizza was scattered from one end of the room to the other. I had left my open Snapple on the table that was now down on my chair and dumped over. The bone from the porkchop was now on the floor and licked clean. Well, amongst examining everything she got that little 20-pound butt up onto my dining room table and had a feast! She ate the topping off of four pieces of pizza, had a whole tomato, ate the rest of my porkchop, and whatever else my husband left on his plate!

She did get herself in big big doggie doodoo AND she got herself REALLY REALLY sick. Needless to say....without being too graphic.....she had one heck of an upset tummy, AND now she does not get to run free while we are gone, which she does not like too well.

On a side note, I can't help but think of how funny that must have looked to see her on top of my table just scarfin' down. :)

Just thought I would share.....

Thanks!

Cheryl

Somebody is turning 5 today......

He has gone from this.....



To this......

And this.....

I have NO idea why it posted two pictures. Everytime I try to take it off it messes EVERYTHING up though. Anyway, I think you can get my drift.......

 My little "assistant," Blakey, is FIVE today!!! WOW, time REALLY does fly when you are having fun! So, that means that he will be starting school in the fall. I REALLY can't believe it! This is my baby. Well, as you can tell, he is not much of a baby anymore. He would be very proud to tell you that he is five now. He has been trying really really hard to catch up to his sister because she is 18 months older than him, so he struggles with being the "little" one. So, he is now a very proud 5-year-old. Boy, I guess that means my husband and I are gettin' old. We have an 11 (soon-to-be 12-year-old), a 6 year-old, and now a 5-year-old.

 Anyway, I just wanted to take the time out post a Happy Birthday to Blakey from mommy. Blakey, I love you forever and ever and ever........I hope you have a very special birthday today!

Love,

Mommy

**FYI...so, I just finished up with my work from this morning and so I am going to head upstairs and get myself and the kiddos ready for the day. Then, we will party it up as much as we can being stuck in the house. Needless to say, I probably will not get back in here too much as I would really like to take this day and be with the kiddos and celebrate Blakey's special day with him.

Thanks everyone!

Cheryl

FYI.....

I am up to my ears in work over here. I am trying to get caught up so I can take off tomorrow afternoon for the Christmas drive and then be off for the Christmas holiday. So, I am having a hard time getting over here to post deals. I just wanted to give you all a heads up.

I can't wait to meet those of you who are able to come out tomorrow! Thanks again for all of your support. I REALLY appreciate it!

Thanks!!

Cheryl

FYI-

I am swamped over here with work so far. I REALLY want to get out and shop too! :( So, needless to say, I haven't been posting much and I'm not sure how much I will get posted either. I will let you know if work lets up at all. I hope it does.

Thanks for your patience. :)

Happy shopping and have an AWESOME day!

Cheryl

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, I have spent most of the day with my husband and one of my little men, Blakey. We have been out shopping and trecking the wild roads. It is crazy out there. Anyway, I hope if you go out today that you be careful it is cold and crazy out there (at least it is over here). If your not local and you have no snow, I'm jealous!

Anyway, I did manage to do a shop today and saved $101 and only spent $1.03! Oh, and I got a $3 Catalina back from the Pillsbury promo. Yep, I did that at Albertson's, but we are in a mad rush to get things put away (well......my husband is, I'm sitting here blogging). :) So, anyway I am not able to get a picture. Anyway, if you are doing the promo on the back page of the ad and you are doing it with some Pillsbury "stuff," make sure that your $5 comes off. I have tried it at two different Albertsons and it does not want to come off. They can manually make it come off for you, so just keep an eye on that.

So, my dad is coming into town this afternoon and will be in town all weekend, so I will not have time to blog as I will be spending the next few days with my family, although all my family is not here. We have family in Oregon, Arizona, and Wyoming still. So, we will definitely miss of all them, but we will get to see most of at Christmas, which we are super excited for!

This is just a time for "me" to really think about what "I" am thankful for and really really make the most out of what "I" have and the awesome life that "I" have. "I" really really am very lucky!

So, please, yes, go get some good deals, but also take the time out for "yourself," before everything REALLY starts to get busy and "remind" yourself of what you have to be thankful for. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in "our" lives that we need to be reminded of how "great" we have it.

When I get like this, for some reason (maybe it has to do with one of my little brothers), I tend to think about all of the men and women over in Iraq and all of those crazy places "fighting" for us and the way that they have to live their everyday lives. I tend to think about how I get to sleep in my own bed, get to be annoyed with my own kiddos, get to drive in this crapy weather, get take a nap when I want, work in the comfort of  my own home with my kids around me, get to drink coffee when I want, heck I can even work in my PJs if I want which I often do, and celebrate Thanksgiving with most of my family. I think about how they would give to do all of the things and then some of what I just listed.

Well, many many thanks to those men and women who are "fighting for us," and many many thanks to their families for sharing them with us, so we could go on about "our" lives like we do. THANK YOU!

I just want to take this time and tell you all (all of my supporters) and your friends and family HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I hope you all have a wonderful, happy, and safe Thanksgiving! Try not to eat too much. Can I just share that I'm not doing so well in the eating department? Can I just say that I LOVE FOOD?!

Thank you all for supporting my blog and taking the time to read what I have to share with you!! THANK YOU!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Cheryl

FYI-I will be in and out all day

Actually, I will be in most of the day, but I am trying to get caught up on my work, so I can take tomorrow off. As it is, I still see myself getting up around 3 or so and doing a couple hours worth of work before the kiddos and hubby get up (he took the week off from work and DIDN'T even tell me until the very last minute). Yeah, I had quite a few things to say about that, but he had a good reason. He "says" he didn't tell me so he could get things organized/cleaned up around here. He knows that if I knew, well......then I would "have" to take time off too, and then NOTHING would get done. So, here's the good in all that.....I DON'T HAVE TO ORGANIZE/CLEAN!:) He's an accountant so he does VERY well getting things organized. Me, I'm the opposite. So, anyway, HE'S DOING IT!! :) Blakey likes it because then he gets his daddy all to himself. :)

Well, okay, enough of that.

He did actually do a shop for me this morning, so I plan on taking a picture of that later and showing you what he came up with. He had to resort going to the not-so-friendly Albertsons (Trent and Argonne), but he still did really good. The roads were just way to bad to try to venture on out to Liberty Lake, where they are much friendlier.

Okay, I'll talk to you later.

Happy shopping and be safe and warm out there.

Thanks!

Cheryl

Seriously?

Who gave these two paint rollers?

and......

So, I spent all day Saturday finishing up the painting job in my front room and thought that I would allow for some help from these two. All I have to say is NEVER AGAIN!:) As you can probably tell by the picture, they had WAY MORE FUN than I did. Trying to keep them from spilling paint on the floor, trying to keep them from getting paint on unintended surfaces. Yep, that lightswitch in Blakey's picture got a coat of paint. :) The door in Faithy's picture got a little coat of paint. I guess the object, when you are that little, is to try and see how far you can get the roller to go up on the wall while jumping is of GREAT fun! Nevermind the messes you make when you come (fall) back down.

Anyway, I just thought these pictures were soooo very cute. The kiddos did have fun, until I had to say no more. They really do just crack me up.

Thanks!

Cheryl

Today is

my day to go spend time with my daughter's class. So, I am off to the wonderful world of first graders. I can't wait to hear what they have to tell me today! :)

Thanks!

Cheryl

I just wanted to give you a heads up

that I am going to be out most of the day. I get to go on a field trip with my older son's class for most of the day. So, I am finishing up here in the next few minutes, then off to the treadmill I go before getting ready to go to the field trip.

Make sure you use up your "doublers" today. I can't believe we are getting more doublers this weekend! THAT IS AWESOME!!!

Thanks!

Cheryl

To Top Off My Day

She.......

PEED in the house!!!! How do I dare get upset with this though? She's just sooooo cute. Look at the little bow I found this morning (from when Faith was a baby). It didn't stay in the hair long, but oh soooo cute!

Thanks!

Cheryl

Okay, so after

getting the pants scared off of me and rushing out of here at the last minute.

I had my whole day planned out with shopping and getting some good deals, and I still am going, but will not have that much time to get down here and post. I was going to get Faith off to school, then come back and work a little (and find some deals too). Then, I was going to do my treadmill for 15 minutes. After that, take my shower and get ready for the day, all the while getting Blakey his lunch ready, so we could head out the door. (I know I don't need to be sooooo detailed, but really this is how my day goes).

Okay, so, I get Faith off to school (late for us though. Like 4 minutes late). Okay, so I come back, call my husband (as I was a bit cranky this morning with him so I wanted to sweet talk him). Anyway, I have to interrupt myself here.....I just saw the sweetest thing.....I looked down at my desk and low and behold there is a note amongst all of my "stuff/junk," that is from my oldest son and it says......"I heart mom! I luv U! Have a great day mom." Is that not the sweetest thing or what? Now, I feel bad for being cranky with him too this morning.

Okay, so now back to my long, drawn out story. So, I am on the phone with my husband and the call waiting starts going off. I don't recognize the number, because it comes up as "unknown." So, I'm not gonna answer it, but "something" tells me I should. Sooooo, I answer the phone. IT'S MY DAUGHTER'S TEACHER!! She asks me if I am at the school. I tell her "no, I haven't even showered yet." (yes, I always share this much information with people) Then, she proceeds to tell me that Faith is getting student of the month for "Responsibility." So, I start panicking. I ask when they are going down to the gym. She tells me that they just called for her class to come down. What?! I am pretty sure that I used a WHOLE BUNCH of profanities in my panic, but she says I didn't. Phew! She says that she can go last, I say yah yah, PLEASE do. I will jump in the shower REAL fast and go in there looking like a "crazy" lady. I got to the school in within 20 minutes of talking to her AND I MADE IT (with like two minutes to spare), BUT I MADE IT!!!! My daughter didn't think I was going to be there. So, in the end it was well worth it, but now my routine is a little out of whack, so I am going to finish "getting ready" and head out. I hope to get down here and find some deals, although when I was looking this morning there was not much to be had yet. Hopefully, this will change as the day goes on.

I hope my story wasn't too long, I just wanted to share what another crazy morning it was around here. Another good thing came out of it though, I'M NOT CRANKY anymore, which, I think, my husband will appreciate. ;) Sorry, Ry.

Okay, so now we are off to the grocery store.......

Thanks!

Cheryl

P.S. I have another giveaway coming up for some FREE Fiber One Bars, FREE Fiber One Cereal, and a $25 gift card to Safeway. I will be posting either later today or even tomorrow. So, stay tuned........

New Addition To Our Family

I am very happy to announce that we are expecting a little one. Yes, we are expecting a girl. Her name is Sadie. I have been very very busy lately trying to get ready for her arrival, as I am not used to having such a little one around the house again. Oh, having to deal with "potty" AGAIN! We have been out of that stage for a while now. My husband and I have had a lot of heart-to-hearts about bringing another one into our family and we think that we (as the adults and parents in this family) and we as a family (our kids too) are ready to make the move. So, we were really excited because we have been waiting to bring Sadie home and TODAY was supposed to be the day, but now we can get her until tomorrow. So, because we are soooooo excited and I have wanted to share with you all all week and have not been able to, as our kids did not know yet either, I want to show you a picture. Now, it is not the greatest picture, but you will get my drift.

Yes, she is behind bars. We were not able to bring her home yet becaused she needs to be spayed before she comes home. She is getting spayed tomorrow. She is about 8 yrs old and she is a Yorkie. We are rescuing her from one of the local shelters. We actually had our eye on her on Saturday, but had to wait until today as she needed to be on hold for 72 hours in case her previous owners wanted to reclaim her, so it has been a really hard and long week for my husband and I. Having to keep this from our kids was REALLY hard. We just did not know if we were REALLY going to get her. Were her previous owners going to reclaim her? Were they going to say that she was not adoptable? Was she going to be good with kids? I tell you, I was soooooo nervous today when I was on my way there, I almost turned around and came home. I didn't want to have my heart broken. I have been so sad for her all week long, knowing that she was there in the shelter and there was absolutely NOTHING that we could do until the 72 hours were up. They said be there between 12-noon and 2 pm to claim her if you want here, let me tell you WE WERE THERE RIGHT AT NOON! Then, we found out that we could not take her home quite yet. So, we were a bit bummed, but we definitely understand. So, when she goes to the vet tomorrow she will actually get groomed too, which will be really nice, as my little Blakey says that she does not have any eyes. :) Yes, he was the only one that got to meet her today. So, we let him break the news to his brother and sister. All of the kids are SOOOOOOO excited and VERY VERY emotional about it. Emotional good, not emotional bad. We did some tears of joy out of those two. Very, very sweet.

Anyway, I just thought I would share with you all of what has been going on.

By the way, we were just at Walmart on Broadway tonight looking for some "doggie" stuff and found that those Ceasar treats (doggie treats) are priced at $2.98. There is a coupon in 10/3 RP for $2/1. We paid $0.98 for some (I guess) yummy and expensive treats!

Thanks!

Cheryl

Houston We Have A Problem....

MY INTERNET HAS BEEN DOWN!!!! :) I know I said I was going to announce a winner this morning. I still will, but please be patient with me. I have to finish getting my daughter ready for school. She has late start today, and then I will announce a winner when I get back. I just spent THREE hours on the phone with tech support! I am relieved, but still irritated, and a bit overwhelmed as this kind of stuff ALWAYS happens on the days that I am SWAMPED with work. Why?

Okay, I will be back.

Thanks!

Cheryl

Today

has been a very busy day AGAIN. I get to go be with my daughter at her school again today. So, I will be in and out today, but will "try" to post some good deals later.

Thanks!

Cheryl

Today,

I am soooooo far behind on EVERYTHING. I have a TON of work sitting on my desk to be taken care of and I am still typing my little fingers away. I will do my best to get on here and post, but I really don't see any light at the end of my tunnel today. I still have yet to take a shower! I have to be at my daughter's school around 1 or so, and then from there I have to get my son from his school and take him to volunteer in his old class (different school). Oh, then, my in-laws are coming over for dinner. I have no idea what I'm making! Yikes!

But, for now, I am signing off to take a little time out for myself and "run" on my treadmill for 15 minutes. This will help me, if I do it tonight, hit my goal of running four days this week (although with all of my shopping that I did yesterday, I only walked yesterday BUT I GOT ON :)).

Okay, if I don't chat with you later, have a GREAT weekend and happy shopping.

P.S. Don't forget to enter my giveaway. I ONLY HAVE 8 ENTRIES! Another Yikes! ;)

Thanks!

Cheryl

Today

 have to take my kiddos to the doctor, so I am getting ready to sign off the computer for a while. I will "try" to check back later and see what we can come up with. I am also going to try and snag a few deals this morning after dropping them off at school, and I will come back and share with you what is to be had.

Okay, have a great day and happy shopping.

Thanks!

Cheryl

Today

has been a real hectic day with work and stuff (very busy). Right now, I am getting ready to volunteer with my daughter's classroom, so I will be out for the afternoon.

I just wanted to give you a heads up.

Thanks!

Cheryl

Today,

I am the ill one. So, I will not be in here posting.

I am so sorry!

Cheryl

Sick day

Well, looks like I have to take a sick day today. I have a "pukey" child in the house.:( Yuck! Anyway, I need to be with him, so I will not be posting anything today. I hope I don't miss anything good. By the way, have you taken the time to check out Target's AWESOME clearance. If you haven't I highly recommend that you do. They have a bunch of stuff at 75% off right now. This would be a GREAT time to stockup on stocking stuffers, if you celebrate Christmas. Even if you do not celebrate Christmas, this would be a great time to stockup on supplies for next year. Check the endcaps AND the isles. You just might find some awesome treasures.

Okay all, have a GREAT day and Happy Shopping!

Cheryl