Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Over the Meadow and Through the Woods

Over the river and through the woods, to grandmother's house we go.



My grandma lives in this little ghetto town, sorry grandma, you know it's true.

But she and my Grandpa Marv found this beautiful piece of property at the edge
of town.


I love visiting their home.  I feel like they live in a magical land.
Beautiful views of a creek running along the bottom of a hillside. 
In the spring, orchard tree's in bloom.
It's lovely.
Just don't forget your taser when you visit, ya know, in case you want to go to town.






Grandma's is magical when you're little.  The littlest even found some petrified wood.

I love visiting family, and I can't wait to go to my mom's later this month!

Christian is going to try and score a ride in Grandpa's helicopter.  Fun!

Plus he's a homeschooler this year, so it'll count as homeschooling.

Blessings to you and yours!

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

The Strange Man and His Little Dogs


Are you confused yet?

Let me explain.  I spent this weekend visiting family, at my Grandma's.


   On this particular visit, I learned my uncle (whom I did not get a picture with)  reads my blog.  This particular uncle has two very loved spoiled dogs.  (I believe it's quite possible he loves his dogs more than most of his family.)  Well, as fate would have it, the week prior to visiting I blogged my Top 10 Dislikes, and number eight read a little something like this:

"8.  Animals in general. 
 Social tip:  You may love your pets, there's a good chance your company doesn't."
      I do believe he was a "little" offended.  He even printed my list and added a social tip of his own; 

 "Social Tip:  You may like your kids, but there's a good chance your host doesn't." 

     Ha!  He's a sassy fellow!  The thing is I agree with him, there are, in fact, children I don't particularly like.  Ha!  Though my children are lovely, little darlings, and cute too boot.






And his poor dog looks a little something like this:


This post is all for you Uncle Gary! 

P.S.  You make fantastic chocolate covered strawberries!

Blessings to you and yours!

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Woe is Me

Woe is me.


This beautiful daughter of mine, likes a boy.  Excuse me, while I throw-up.

I am too young to have a daughter who likes a boy.

The worst part is he's a nice boy, and we like him.

Woe is me.

Having a fourteen year old is very different than I thought.

My rules were:  "No dating until your married".

Notice the were, in the above sentence.

Well, there still is a "no dating" clause in our family.

But, and I stress BUT, it is impossible to make them not like each other.

Woe, is me.

I am NOT old.

My children are going to always think I am the coolest, and I'm not old.





See, she's little, and she loves her mom.

Woe, is me.

I like being a mom.

I like having my kids think I'm the greatest.

I have a feeling that's gonna change, a bit.

Woe, is me.

On the upside, Sandy and I will be able to take great vacations while we are still young.



Greece anyone?

Humm... I like that. 

But I still don't like her liking a boy.

Blessings to you and yours!

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Top 10 Dislikes

  
 Shannon's Top 10 Dislikes:

1.  Cats.  Nasty little beasts, they are.  I CANNOT stand them.  Now for you cat lovers, don't hate me,  I just HATE cats, and I especially hate when they rub up against you.  Yuck!

2.  Gross smells.  I cannot stand things that smell bad.  Here's a motto to remember:  "A shower a day keeps the stink away.

3.  Whining.  Seriously.  Stop whining and do something about it.

4.  Sugar on the floor.  Yes, this is a problem at my house, I have a sneaking suspicion that my children eat spoonfuls of sugar when I am not home.

5.  Screaming.  It annoys me.  Quiet please.

6.  Dog poop.  Enough said.

7.  Books that end weak.  If your going to take the time to write a book, end strong.

8.  Animals in general.  Social tip:  You may love your pets, there's a good chance your company doesn't.

9.  Calories.  Frankly, I think calories are overrated.

10.  When I act like a jerk, and trust me I do.

  Blessings to you and yours!

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Handing Over the Finances

   Handing over the checkbook.  Yes folks, that's the plan, I will hand over my checkbook to my husband.  Well, at least I'm heading in that direction, I think.


   You see, we've had almost 15 years of wedded bliss.  Okay, that's not quite right.  We've been married almost 15 years, the first three and a half were sheer hell, the next two were sort of okay, the next eight years were pretty nifty, and the last two have been heavenly.





  Needless to say, for the last fifteen years I have been the ruler of the checkbook.  How did this happen you ask?  Well have I got a story for you:

   The year was 1996 and my studly spouse and I were getting close to our nuptials.  Now, we were quite mature, followed all proper dating etiquette and everyone around us could see what a darling match we were.  Okay, not quite true, but we were a darling match.


    One night shortly before our wedding Sandy notified me he would be taking over the finances and would let me know what my budget was.



    "Excuse me?  Come again, sir?  You're giving me a budget?  I think not." 


 Age 18



     Sandy, ever the stubborn gentleman, replied (with something close to this), "I WILL be handling our finances."



   Those are fighting words, if ever a girl heard them. 

     At that moment, I chose the hill I would die on.  Finances.  We battled round and round, but I did not waver, no I did not.  I won that battle.  Stupid, stupid girl. 

   As a result of winning the finance war I was awarded fifteen years of financial stress, frustration, and aggravation.  I'm pretty sure that wasn't the reward I was looking for.  I wanted the money and control. 

   Now we are fifteen years into this thing we call love, and I am TIRED of handling the checkbook.  I want Sandy to handle the checkbook, at least I think I do.  I want to release control in the area of finances, and I trust my husband to take care of us.  It's funny, I thought I was doing myself a favor by insisting on ruling the family finances, but really I was hurting my marriage and punishing myself.  Bizarre. 

   It's funny how life is like that.  We can choose to die on the stupidest hills.  We can chose to dishonor our spouses and fight the wrong fight, while forgetting to fight the good fight.  I was so worried about not being controlled by others that I started my marriage on the wrong foot.  And quite honestly, I did not know how to be a "good" wife much less a godly wife.

   I wish I knew then what I know now, that God calls me to be a godly wife.  I am to serve Him, and I am to be submissive to my husband.  Eph. 5: 22-24 says, "Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church of which He is the Savior.  Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything."

     I want the next fifteen years and beyond to be different.  I want to be different.   I want to release control in the area of finances and be submissive to my sweet husband.  Now, all I have to do is pry my hands off the checkbook and hand it over to Sandy. 

Blessings to you and yours!
 

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Family Night

      A few months ago we started having a structured family night.  The kids take turns choosing what they would like for dinner and dessert.  We dine together and then head downstairs to snuggle and watch a kid chosen movie.  I love family night, but the funny thing is the kids LOVE family night and get seriously disgruntled if we skip it. 


 
    Anyways, this Saturday we settled in for family night.  It was Grace's turn to choose dinner, now remember she's a seven year old, who likes the finer things in life like:  steak, twice baked potatoes, Caesar salad and fresh bread.  Now, that is well and good, but I scaled back on her meal, a little, we had steak, baked potatoes with all the fixings, Caesar salad and asparagus.  Yum!  Noelle chose dessert- chocolate covered creme puff's and a brownie torte.  It was amazingly scrumptious and I am sure calorie free.

   I wish I had a picture of the Torte, but I don't.  I'll give you second best, the recipe.

Brownie Torte

One package of brownie mix
One package of white chocolate or french vanilla pudding
1 3/4 cups of milk
2 cups of Cool Whip
2 TBSP. Instant Coffee
3 Heath Bars crushed

Bake brownies as directed and cool.  Meanwhile, blend milk and
 pudding mix and instant coffee.  Fold Cool Whip into pudding
mixture.Slice brownies and arrange one layer on a cake
plate.  Top with 1/2 the Cool Whip/pudding mixture and
1 1/2 bars of crushed Heath.  Repeat layers.  Refrigerate 30 minutes
before serving.  Enjoy!

    After making glutton's of ourselves we settled in for the family movie Booky's Crush.  It was a cute family movie, but did not compare to our second movie Like Dandelion Dust.



     This movie was excellent, though I have to admit, it made me do the ugly cry.  You know the one,  torrential downpour of tears, holding your breath so the people you're watching the movie with don't here you hiccup, swollen eye's, the whole bit.  Crazy yet, good.  This movie was based on a book written by Karen Kingsbury. It's excellent.   (Note:  We put Grace to bed before starting the movie, as I thought the content was to mature for her.) 

   There's a day in the life for you.  Hope your weekend was full of joy and adventure.

Blessings to you and yours!

    P.S.  I'm tired of couponing. 



Thursday, March 3, 2011

A Day in the Life

     Today started out eventful.  Christian, our son, has the stomach flu.  Yuck.  (Oops, I mean poor little fella.)  But, seriously, stomach flu burps and gas.  Yuck!  I have my windows open.


     Grace, our littlest, not to be out done, decided her nose is stuffy because she shared snack at school.  Ummm..I seriously doubt she is ill, though I do anticipate a call from her school any minute requesting us to pick up a sick child.  You see, Grace LOVES her mommy and does not believe she should have to attend school on days mommy stays home.  This is a sweet, albeit, annoying quality. 


She's stinking cute though.

      I take full responsibility for my children faking sick.  I have cultivated this debacle.  You see, when I was growing up, it was not fun to stay home sick.  You had to clean up the mess if you threw-up,  and chores where still on the agenda.  Not a terrible deal, just not fun.  Well, I pride myself in being fun.  (Note:  Following this method of parenting is bound to have your children regularly fake sick). 

    This is what a typical sick day looks like in the K. house:

Sick child. 
 Couch or rocking chair bed made.
 Juice in a cup (preferably with a straw).
Movies all day. 
Back scratch or rock-e-bye.
Lunch brought to you, and you can eat it in the family room.
 Daddy may or may not bring you home a small gift.
Possibly a game of checkers or Life.
Mommy reads stories.

    We're ridiculous, I know.  Heck, reading my own list makes me want to fake sick and stay home.  It's a good thing I married such a hot, amazing, responsible man.


     Sandy puts the smack down on fake sick calls.  His new method of parenting is, "If you fake sick, you have to spend the day in your room."  Harsh, yet effective.  I'm not sure Grace is buying it, we shall see...

   Have you stopped reading my annoyingly long post?  If not here is an update on today's couponing adventures:

Total Cost $18.52, plus a $10.00 Catalina good for purchase made next week.

Purchases at Regular Price:

Olay Body Wash $5.99
Olay Face Wash $3.59
Olay Moisturizer $5.00
Always Pads $5.99
Charm Toilet Paper $6.99
Downy $5.00
Downy $5.00

Total= $37.56

Coupons
(K-mart doubles up to 5 coupons through Saturday.  K-Mart doubles coupons only up to $2.00.)

Buy an Olay Face Wash get a free Olay Body Wash
Buy an Olay Body Wash get a free Olay Moisturizer
$1.00 off Olay Face Wash
$1.00 off Charmin
$1.00 off Downy
$1.00 off Downy
$1.00 off Alway's

Deals

Olay Face Wash = $1.59
Olay Body Wash = Free
Olay Moisturizer = Free
Alway's = $3.99
Charmin = $4.99
Downy = $3.00
Downy = $3.00
$10.00 Catalina to spend next week.  A Catalina works like a gift card.

Total= $18.52, plus $10.00 free next week!  Woo hoo!


Important to Remember:

1.  Shop at your own risk.
2.  To get Catalina you must spend at least $35.00 in P&G products before coupons.
3.  K-Mart offers the $10.00 Catalina each day through Saturday.  I was wrong in yesterday's post.
4.   Use your P&G coupons, if you don't use these products donate them to your local church or shelter.

Blessings to you and yours!

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Chaos and Mayhem

   Craziness and mayhem rein.  Well...no, God reins, but craziness and mayhem invade.  I think I might breed a little craziness and mayhem. 


Not the kids, though they are pretty crazy!

       You see, I have become this psychotic couponer, and quite honestly, I'm not even that good.  The issue is, I cannot get couponing off the brain.  For example, my dear friend, Shelly brought her couponing binder (yes, we have binders) to work.  She hasn't used her fabulous P&G coupons, and I wanted to beg her to give me her coupons, so I could get her the best deal for her money.  Seriously, I have issues.

   One would think I have nothing better to do than ideally sit around couponing.  The deal is I should be focused on other things, like work.  Today I found myself in All Staff (a once a month meeting we have at work), great info and all that jazz was being delivered, yet I found myself obsessing over Tide coupons.




 How on earth do I get more?

      Clearly, I need to get a grip, but K-Mart's deal ends Saturday.  What deal, you ask?  You really want to know, don't you.  Maybe you don't, maybe you do.  I'm going to tell you anyway.  Best deal of the week:

Procter and Gamble coupons, plus K-Mart doubler days.  Woot Woot!

Coupons you'll need:

Tide $1.00 off
Purchase one 75oz. Tide and get a free Tide Stain-Remover
Tampax $2.00 off
Head and Shoulders $2.00 off
Olay $2.00 off facial cleanser coupon
Olay Purchase a facial cleanser and get a Olay Body Wash for free coupon
Pantene $2.00 off coupon

Here's how the deal works.  You need to spend at least $35.00 in Proctor and Gamble merchandise before coupons, then you will get a $10.00 Catalina coupon for K-mart.

Here's what the sale is:
(K-Mart doubles up to 5 coupons this week.  They will double coupons up to $2.00.)

Tide detergent- $8.99 ( you get $2.00 off) = $6.99
Tide Stain-Remover $4.99 (free with coupon) = Free
Facial Cleanser is on sale for $3.67, K-Mart doubles your coupon and you get it free. = Free
Olay Body Wash = Free
Tampax- $5.99 (you get $2.00 off)= $3.99
Head and Shoulders $5.79 (you get $4.00 off) = $1.79
Pantene $4.79 (you get $4.00 off)= $.79

Total=  $13.56 plus tax and you get a $10.00 K-Mart Catalina to use next week.

Amazing!  Now, I was not smart enough to get this deal the first time around.  I did not know you could combine the manufactures coupons. 

Important things to remember:

1.  Make sure you spend at least $35.00 in P&G products, before coupon discounts.
2.  Realize I am a couponing newbie and may make mistakes.  Shop at your own risk.
3.  You may annoy others in-line.  The upside is not many people shop at K-Mart.
4.  Shelly may let me spend her coupons after reading this post.
5.  I acquired my coupons from the Sunday paper and a mailer P&G sent last week.

6.  K-Mart only lets you double coupons once a day, but you are welcome to go back everyday until Saturday.  I did not receive the Catalina on repeat shopping trips. 

7.  I did not get this deal, as I did not realize you could double the Tide and Olay coupons until later.  I did get a smokin' deal though.  If you want to know what my deal was follow my blog and I'll tell you.  Bribery at its best.


How's that for obsessive compulsive?

Blessings to you and yours!






Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Randomness with A Little Fat Tuesday

Did Shannon stop blogging?  No, no, no, life just got busy.

These little folks require a significant amount of time.

And then there is:

Couponing!

       Yes, I have turned into one of those crazy ladies who coupon.  I even have my own organized binder.  It's awkward to admit that I shop with a binder, but it's true.  I apologize in advance to anyone in line behind me.
       You may think couponing is lame, but I betcha want to know my best deal of the week.  Well, maybe not, but I'm gonna tell you anyway:

    One box of Dayquil, one box of Puff's Plus Kleenex, one box of Quaker Oat Squares,  and one box of Crunchy Oat Clusters, all for the amazingly low price of $.59.  Yes folks, $.59. 

      Couponing is well and good, but I need to get to Tuesday's topic:


Weight loss


      Yikes!  In all honesty, I may have subconsciously stopped blogging because I am LOSING our biggest loser competition, and I didn't want to blog about it.  I only lost .4 this week.  Failure.  I've lost a total of 4.8 pounds in 7 weeks, not my best work.  I need to lose 19.2 pounds in the next five weeks to meet my goal....it's not looking good folks. 

      In an effort to not take responsibility for anything, I am going to blame Sandy for my failure to lose weight.  It's his fault I'm not losing weight, truly.  That man of mine, he tells me I'm beautiful at least five times a day.  He even texts me little messages telling me I'm hot. Seriously...not motivating.  I just walk around thinking, "I'm hot, might as well go to Starbucks."  Ha! 

(Honey, If you read this post.  I LOVE you!  You are amazing!)

Blessings to you and yours!