Now, That's Dedication!!

I read this news story today and just couldn't help but to share!

Sometimes, you should just let the turkey burn :)

Avery's 9th Birthday

About a month ago, Avery turned 9 years old. We had a great day. We started the morning with breakfast sandwiches. After much debate between herself and herself, Avery decided she wanted to stay home and watch a movie and play outside. She is so my home-body.I know this isn't the greatest pic... but this is all the kids enjoying the movie and eating in the living room (big treat around here).

We had some frozen pizza for lunch and then headed to grandma and grandpa's for chicken pie dinner with the whole family.

The week before, Cory took the kids to Georgia for 4 days and she celebrated with Mimi and Papa. She was so excited to get a brand new bike!! Actually, I think that is the first new bike my kids have ever gotten. Until now, we have been fortunate to get bikes handed down.

Back to Orlando, she also asked that she be the one to decorate her cake. So, we got a cake mix, frosting and different colors of icing and sprinkles. Below is the result. What a creative little girl! She is one of a kind.

Happy Birthday, my little love bug!! And yes, she is already planning her 10th birthday party :)

My Baby Turned 10!!

No, this does not mean that I am back to blogging, but I couldn't not mention my oldest girl turning 10. She crossed over to double digits on the 13th. Since, we only do non-family parties on milestone years, she has been planning this one for a long time. But, before I get ahead of myself, let me back up.

The weekend before her birthday, I decided to take her on a weekend away with just her and mommy. The purpose of the weekend was 2-fold - to have a rockin' girls weekend and to have "the talk" (yes, that talk) with her. Cory and I have been discussing what age is the right age to have this talk. As much as I would love to wait another couple of years, the last thing I want is for her to hear about it from someone other than her mom. And, I know several of her friends already know. It was only a matter of time. So, we ordered a great kit called Passport2Purity by Dennis Rainey. A great friend told me about it.

So, I got the hook-up from my dad for the hotel. He is part of the Florida Barter network and was able to get me 2 hotel nights at no cost! Sweet. Now, I just got to plan the fun stuff.

We started the weekend by heading to the hair salon and Morgan receiving her first ever professional cut! Take a lookThen, we headed to the mall and got some shoes on a great sale! She has outgrown every pair she owns and we just happened to find exactly what we were looking for at a better price than I expected. Don't you just love it when that happens? After the mall, we headed to the local pizza shop where I had a coupon for a free pizza with the purchase of 2 drinks. Perfect. Dinner for $3.75. Gotta love it. After all that, we headed to the hotel to check in, watch some t.v. and go to bed.

The next morning, we started the day by getting matching pedicures. I let her pick the color and boy did she pick it :)The rest of the day, we spent window shopping, a little actual shopping, swimming and just hangin' together. It was fun.

"The talk" went without a hitch. She was a little grossed out and thought it was weird, but didn't have any questions for me. She also knew NOTHING!! When I first asked her if she had ever heard the word sex before, she answered yes. I asked her if she knew what it meant and she said whether you or a boy or a girl. I asked if she knew the other meaning and she said no. Then, I asked if she knew how a baby gets inside a mommy's tummy and she said, "I have NO idea!". Well, now she does.

One more thing I have to share. The packet I ordered comes with cd's where he does all the talking for you and you just sit together and listen. Well, after he described what exactly happens, he asks her to repeat back to her mom what she thinks it is. With a very confused look on her face, she looks at me and says "When a boy (now the tone in her voice turns to a complete question) pees on a girl?" I almost bust out laughing! Instead, I decided to describe it again to make sure we had the info right. So, that was our birthday weekend away.

On to the actual weekend of her birthday...

She chose 2 friends to have a sleepover on Friday night. We kicked daddy and Jordan out of the house and Morgan and her friends slept in my room while the littler girls slept downstairs. We stayed up till midnight watching a movie and actually got to sleep by 1.

The next morning, Morgan picked waffles for breakfast at Grandma's and wanted to swim most of the day. So, her friends hung out and swam their hearts out. For lunch, she picked homemade pizza and dessert was ice cream sundaes.It was a fun-filled and busy weekend. It is still hard for me to believe that she is already 10. The years have flown by and I know these next 8-10 are going to go even faster. Lord, thank you for blessing me with such a fun, confident, loving girl.

Taking a Break

I am going to be taking a break from blogging for a couple of weeks. I realized this week how much I have to get done and how little time I have to do it and something had to go. So, for grocery deals, I would point you to the grocery gathering
where you can find several choices for the stores you shop at.

As far as family updates, that is just going to be put on hold.

To give you an idea of what I am trying to get on top of in the next 3 weeks:

I am now working about 30 hours a week
I have 20 weeks of lesson plans for grades K-7 to plan for the 1 day a week school I am teaching at.
I have to put together a school schedule for my kids for the days I am away.
I am still trying to figure out if I can do girl scouts and plan for that.

Life is a little overwhelming. Pray for me.

Full House

No, not the show... my house. This week/weekend we are having another family join our home. Our good friends are moving in on a temporary basis. Here's how it all came together...

They have been looking to buy a house. Right now, they are renting and wanting to move closer to this area of town.

We have not had any income for 6 months and, as you might imagine, having a hard time paying the mortgage.

So, they are going to move in, pay us rent (so we can pay the mortgage), and they are going to save up money for a down payment on a home of their own. I love that we both are able to help the other one out.

I know what you are thinking, "where is everyone going to fit"? Well, things will be a little tight, but it is going to work out good.

Their 4 year old girl is going to join my 3 girls and they are all going to share a room. There was already one set of bunk beds in that room and we just added another. So, 4 girls, 4 beds, 3 dressers, 1 table, 1 t.v. Ya, it's a little tight. Fortunately for them, this is the old master bedroom, so it is big enough to accommodate all that.

Their almost 2 year old boy is going to move in with our 5 year old boy. This room is much smaller but half the kids, so it works too.

Then, right across the hall, Jess and Nathaniel will have a room to themselves. They will share the bathroom with the boys.

Cory and I will still have the master bedroom upstairs and we will share the office/school room. Jess is also going to homeschool, so we added another desk and organized the room to fit all school supplies.

Cory and I realized as we talked about this possibility, that we have had people live with us 5 other times in the past 8 years. It's always an adjustment and involves flexibility from everyone, but it also can be a benefit for all parties involved. We are going into this situation with the understanding that we will not allow for this to ruin our friendship. We know there is potential to do so and we are ready to nip that in the bud.

Living It Up With Mimi and Papa

This post is written specifically for the Mimi and Papa of my kiddos. They left yesterday to spend 5 days in Georgia. I know they are going to have a great time, but I thought it might be nice to send the grandparents a do/don't list. Here goes:

Do

Make them eat their fruits and veggies (fruit roll-ups don't count, Mimi)

Make them say yes ma'm and yes sir

Give them hugs and kisses from mommy (you may have to chase Jordan down, but he'll be glad in the long run :)

Make them clean (you are not their maid)

Teach them a new language... you know the langauge of the South. I wanna hear some ya'll and drawl when they get back :)

Take lots of pictures

Don't

Let them convince you that they can watch anything they want (Texas Chainsaw is OUT! :)

Buy them everything they want... REALLY, I mean it!

Make 4 different meals for 4 different kids. I promise, if they are hungry enough, they'll eat it.

Try to make them all happy... It's impossible

Buy them everything they want... wait, did I already say that? I mean it!

Publix Weekly Deals and Coupons for 7/23-7/29

Publix will allow you to use 1 manufacturer AND 1 store coupon (this includes competitor store coupons) on every item you buy.

When an item is 3/$5 or such, you don't have to buy 3 to get the sale price.

Remember, you can use 2 coupons on BOGO items!!

Sunday Paper Insert Code:
SS - Smart Source
RP - Red Plum
GM - General Mills
P&G - Proctor & Gamble
KL - Kellogg's
V - Vlassis
UN - Unilever

If you want multiple coupons of bogo items for this week, be sure to order your coupons today from


$10/$50 Gas Gift Card (BP or Shell - with coupon from 7/9 ad) - The Coupon expiration date is extended again due to a lack of availability - the 3 stores closest to me are still all out)

Jif PB and Smuckers Jelly (bogo @ $6.09/2 and $3.39/2)
Use $1 off wyb both from ebay AND/OR
$1/2, $.35/1 Smucker's from ebay
Makes them $.70 - $1.35 for the Jelly and $2.54 for the PB

T-Bone or Porterhouse Steaks ($6.29/lb. - save up to $4.30/lb.)

Bananas ($.49/lb.)

Hebrew National Hotdogs (bogo @ $5.09/2)
Use 2 $1/1 printable or here or $.75/1 from ebay
Makes them $1.54 - $1.79 each

Cherries ($1.99/lb.)
Use $2/5 produce Food Lion printable

Mangos or Rainier Cherries(bogo)
Use $2/5 produce Food Lion printable

Alexia Natural Crunchy Snacks (bogo @ $2.89/2)
Use 2 $.75/1 printable or buy $1/1 from ebay or from SS 6/14
Makes them $.45 - $.70 each

Yoplait Go-Gurt 8 pk (bogo @ $3.09/2)
Use 2 $.40/1 or $.80/2 printable or here or $.75/2 from SS 5/31, 6/7, 7/12
Makes them $1.15 - $1.20 each

Simply Smart Milk (2/$5)
Use 2 $1/1 from recent spitters
Makes them $1.50 each

I Can't Believe It's Not Butter (bogo @ $2.99/2)
Use 2 $.75/1 from Family Is It's Own Reward Booklet or buy from ebay
Makes them $.75 each

Popsicle Ice Pops (bogo @ $2.98/2)
Use 2 $1/1 from Family Is It's Own Reward or
2 $1/1 from Raise Your Hand for Savings Booklet (new) or buy from ebay
Makes them $.49 each

Starkist SeaSations Fish Fillets (bogo @ $5.99/2)
Use 2 $3/1 from RP 6/21 or buy from ebay
Makes them FREE!!

Pillsbury Supreme Cake Mix (bogo @ $1.69/2)
Use 2 $.35/1 from RP 5/17 or buy from ebay
Makes them $.50 each

Kellogg's Cereal (bogo @ $4.31/2 - includes Frosted/Unfrosted Mini-Wheats)
Use $1/1 or $1.50/2 printable or $1/2 from ebay
Makes them $1.15 - $1.65 each

Lawry's Garlic Salt (bogo @ $3.69/2)
Use 2 $.50/1 from RP 4/5 or 5/17 or buy from ebay
Makes them $1.35 each

Kraft or Seven Seas Salad Dressing (bogo @ $3.07/2)
Use $1.50/1 from ebay AND
FREE produce wyb Kraft SD from ebay AND
FREE meat wyb Kraft SD from ebay
Makes them $.03 each and FREE produce and meat!!

Lawry's Marinade (bogo @ $2.81/2)
Use $1/2 from RP 4/5 or 6/28 or buy from ebay
Makes them $.90 each

Snapple Tea 6 pk. (bogo @ $4.99/2)
Use 2 $.75/1 from ebay
Makes them $1.75 each

Muir Glen Tomato Paste ($.99)
Use $1/1 printable or here or here
Makes them more than FREE!!

More BOGO Deals w/ NO Coupons:

Publix Macaroni Salad ($2.19/2)
Mott's Apple Juice ($3.07/2)
Immaculate Baking Co. Cookie Dough ($3.09/2)

Kid Cuisine ($2.47/2)
Fat Boy Ice Cream Sandwich ($4.49/2)
Bird's Eye Voila Meal ($3.99/2)

Quaker Granola ($5.29/2)
Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Bars ($3.59/2)
Near East Rice ($2.19/2)

Eight O' Clock Coffee ($5.13/2)
Bumble Bee Chunk Light Tuna ($3.67/2)
WISE Chips ($2.99/2)

Arnold Bread ($3.69/2)
Honey Maid Grahams ($4.09/2)
Doritos Chips ($3.99/2)
Keebler Vienna Fingers ($4.09/2)