This Baby

This is one of my favorite Christmas songs by Steven Curtis Chapman.

My Little Gun Toters

We had our first Christmas over the weekend at Pa and Gran's house. And it just wouldn't be Christmas without a bunch of cousins shooting at each other.

Put That Back

Baby Jaws has tried to be quite the little thief the past couple of days. He's not a very good one though because each time, he was caught.

(I got really good deals yesterday. I'll have to post about them later.)

Anyway...

Yesterday at CVS, I thankfully found a car cart for the boys. This store only has one cart with two steering wheels-what were they thinking? As I was paying for my deals Big Brother started yelling, "He's putting candy in the cart!"

This car cart has the car underneath the basket so I wasn't paying much attention. As long as they stay in it and aren't screaming, I really don't care. But sure enough, Baby Jaws a.k.a. my little shoplifter, had a pile of Hershey bars under his feet and a couple in each hand. I would have been beyond embarrassed if Big Brother hadn't told me and we had set the door alarm off as we were leaving.

Today, Baby Jaws and I ran into Dollar Tree so I could pick up a couple of gift bags. As I pushed him through the store in the cart, he grabbed everything he could reach. Dollar Tree doesn't have the widest aisles. I lost track of how many things I put back on the shelves. But Baby Jaws saved his best for last.

As we were standing in line to checkout while I wasn't looking, he reached over to the display by the register and grabbed a pregnancy test. All the women behind me were laughing. I took it, put it back and told him, "I really don't think Mommy needs one of those today," which made all of the women behind me laugh even harder.

I had to tell my husband the funny pee stick story. He didn't find it as funny as I did. I think his exact words were, "You'd better not need one of those things!"

Boy Talk

More often than not, whatever comes out of Big Brother's mouth cracks me up. Today was no different. As we were driving down the road he asked, "Why did they have to build vacation so far away? They should have built it around here."

He's really wanting to go back to the beach and made a good point. I'd love it if vacation were closer too. Then we could go more often.

Then he told me, "Mommy, you're growing up. When you grow up all the way, you'll be taller than Daddy."

I love his logic.

A little while later he asked, "Mommy, when will I be 35?"

I answered, "Not for a really long time."

Then he said, "When I'm 35, I'll be really old."

Yeah, thanks buddy. I'm already there.

Good News, Bad News

The bad news is my husband found a sippy cup under the seat of his truck this morning-a full sippy cup that had been in there for 3 days.

The good news is it was only juice.
The good news is it was frozen.
The good news is it is winter.

It would be horrible news if it had been milk boiling in the summer heat for 3 days.
But it would still be good news that it was in his truck and not mine.

My Good Deals

I've been having fun with my coupons the last few days. I scored 4 boxes of Snuggle at Walmart over the weekend for free. They were only $1.87 each and I had 4 $2 coupons, so I actually made 13 cents on each box toward the rest of my purchases.
I even scored some toys yesterday while Christmas shopping.

Cheap Tater #1
I had a Mr. Potato Head when I was little (actually, my Mom still has it and the boys love playing with it when they visit) and I have been wanting to get one for the boys. Yesterday at Kmart, I got a Mr. Potato Head Silly Suitcase, which is usually $19.99 or more for only $5. They were on sale for $10 this week plus I had a $5 coupon.

Cheap Tater #2
At Target, I bought another Mr. Potato Head Spud Bud which was $6.99, but I had a $5 coupon for it too, so I only paid $1.99. Now both the boys will have their own Potato Head just like I did. Now you know, I'm a sap.

Over the weekend I ordered a Leapster Didj game for my step-daughter for a Christmas gift. The Didj games at most stores and online are $29.99 each. I got the Nancy Drew Mystery game for free. That's right-free! It was on sale over the weekend for only $5, but there was also a coupon code that I was able to apply that took off an extra $5 so free! Woo Hoo! I only paid $5 to ship it. The shipping was nothing compared to the $29.99 plus tax I would've paid if I would have bought it at Walmart or Target.

These are just a few of my good deals I got this week-so far. My coupons are all clipped and organized and I am ready to hit the stores again for some great deals. I can't wait!

Who's the Anal One?

Have you ever had one of those moments? You know, one of those moments when you look over at your husband and think to yourself, "Really, I married this guy?"

One such moment occurred to me yesterday afternoon. We got home from church and were trying to decide what to have for lunch. We had leftover chicken enchiladas we had made the night before, but decided to save those for dinner. I thought a grilled cheese sandwich sounded really good until I saw the jar of peanut butter in the cabinet. I hadn't had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in so long and nothing was going to stop me. My husband thought it sounded pretty good too. So begins our story.

I will tell you I'm usually the uptight, anal one about most things. But there are a few things my husband is very anal about. I just didn't know a pbj was one of them.

I had no idea the preparation or calculated steps that must be taken to make a pbj for my husband. I was going to put the peanut butter and jelly into a bowl and mix it all together before I put it on my bread (my favorite way because that's how my grandma always made it for me). Oh, the look of disgust on my husband's face. It was as if I was about to commit the sin of the century.

He said, and I quote, "You can't do that. The peanut butter has to be on one piece of bread and the jelly on the other. It needs to be about 1/8 inch thick and has to be spread from corner to corner with no bread exposed. The peanut butter and jelly can only come together when you put the two pieces of bread together. And you have to use two knives."

Wow. That was my moment. "Really, I married this guy?"

So I decided to humor him not disgust him and forgo mixing my peanut butter and jelly beforehand. I spread out some peanut butter to which my husband said, "That's not right. You have a big ridge of peanut butter and all of the bread is not covered."

"Really, I married this guy?"

And then came the jelly. I plopped some jelly on and spread it out only to hear, "That's not right. The jelly belongs on the other slice of bread and it's not even. There's still bread exposed."

"Really, I married this guy?"

Then it was Mr. Anal's turn. As he made his perfect pbj he said, "Good thing about this squeeze jelly is you can strategically place it where you want it."

"Really, I married this guy?"

I kid you not, as he was about to join the two pieces of bread together for their first meeting, his mind was blown. "I can't do this now. The bread doesn't line up."

"Really, I married this guy?"

And here is the point where I almost choked to death on my pbj: my anal husband sat down to partake of his perfection and said, "Now with each bite I take, there won't be any dead bread."

Yeah, every last millimeter of bread was covered with peanut butter and jelly.

And really, I married this guy.

Quotes for Friday

"You don't really understand human nature unless you know why a child on a merry-go-round will wave at his parents every time around - and why his parents will always wave back."
~William D. Tammeus

"If you want children to keep their feet on the ground, put some responsibility on their shoulders."
~Abigail Van Buren

"Always kiss your children goodnight - even if they're already asleep."
~H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

"Don't handicap your children by making their lives easy."
~Robert A. Heinlein

"Don't worry that children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you." ~Robert Fulghum

"It is one thing to show your child the way, and a harder thing to then stand out of it."
~Robert Brault

"To bring up a child in the way he should go, travel that way yourself once in a while."
~Josh Billings

First Haircut

So we took our little hippie to the barber shop today. I did not want to see those curls go away, but Baby Jaws was tired of his hair getting in his face and Daddy wouldn't let me give him a ponytail. Go figure.

We were proud of the little man because he sat in the barber chair the entire time all by himself. That's not saying there weren't any tears because there were a lot of tears. But he sat there and took it like a man. Compared to Big Brother's first haircut, this was a piece of cake. I don't like how short it is. I really miss the long curls, but he looks like such a big boy now.

Yep, that's a real tear and that's the barber bribing him with a dum-dum.

All's well that ends well. A dum-dum always makes everything better.

Oh What Fun

Really, who needs new toys for Christmas when you've got a box?

Frosty the Snowman

Top 10 Reasons My Butt is Too Big

1. I drink too much Pepsi.
2. I eat too much chocolate.
3. For some reason, I really like Taco Bell.
4. I'm addicted to sugar.
   
5. I love pizza.
6. I like just about anything that is fried.
7. I really love to bake.
8. I can eat my weight in pasta.
   
9. Three words: peanut butter cups.
   
10. My husband stopped by Dunkin Donuts for me was forced to stop by Dunkin Donuts tonight because I wanted some sugar for breakfast tomorrow. Mmmm....chocolate mint donut.
    

My Walgreens Trip

On our way to see Santa last night, I made my husband stop at Walgreens so I could get some much needed lotion for next to nothing. In the end, the lotion actually did cost me nothing. I bought 2 boxes of Puffs, 6 Nivea lip glosses, and 2 Nivea lotions for $5.37. WooHoo!
The Puffs were $1.50 each, but I had a coupon for $1/2, so only paid $1 per box. The lip glosses were on sale for $.99 each. I bought six, but had 3 buy one get one free coupons, so only paid for 3 of those. I also used 2 coupons for the lotion that were buy 3 lip products get a free 13.5 oz lotion, so got two bottles of lotion free. Here is my receipt that includes my $18.95 in coupons I used plus the Walgreens savings on their sales this week. I saved $34.33. I love drug stores just as much as I love grocery stores! And I love my coupons!

Santa's Little Helpers

Here's little big man, who decorated almost the entire tree by himself. Too bad that 90% of the ornaments are in a radius around the tree about 4 feet high. But does he ever think he's big stuff for decorating our tree.
And here's my little thief who got in trouble for the umpteenth time for stealing ornaments off the tree. I have a feeling this will be a daily battle for the next 22 days. Bring it on Baby Jaws!

Christmas Time is Here

My boys put our Christmas tree up this afternoon while it was snowing somewhat snowing outside and let me tell you, it was a hoot!

A New Song

I am so glad Big Brother has a new favorite song...I think.

Let me take you back 4 years. When Big Brother was a baby, he wasn't like normal babies who fall asleep as soon as they go for a ride in the car. As soon as we put him in the car, he would start screaming and wouldn't stop for the entire ride. And it didn't matter if it was 2 miles or 200, he would scream. I, being a new first time mom whacked out from no sleep anyway, would get so upset that I would cry in the car with him. I actually got to a point that I didn't even want to leave the house because I didn't want to listen to him scream.

One day when Big Brother was just a few months old, while we were driving along, a song on my CD changed our lives forever. As soon as Big Brother heard Steven Curtis Chapman singing Let Us Pray, he immediately shut up. We thought it was just a fluke. But the next time we went somewhere and he was screaming, we put on Let Us Pray and he immediately shut up again. It was amazing.

This went on for months. One night driving home from the girls' concert at their school with my parents riding with us, Big Brother, about 1 at the time, started throwing a fit. I told my parents to "watch this" like I was doing a magic trick. I flipped on Let Us Pray and the fit was over. Big Brother was silent and happy. My parents were amazed.

For the past 4 years, I have heard Let Us Pray close to 12 trillion times or maybe it just seems that way. Big Brother has the CD in his room and has listened to it daily (at times, all day long) since he's been tall enough to push the play button. I will admit, at times, I was annoyed. Don't get me wrong. I still love Steven Curtis Chapman and I still love hearing Let Us Pray, but 12 trillion times is a little much for a person.

I don't think I'm going to have to worry about it anymore because Big Brother has a new favorite song; a song that I love, but am wondering how I will feel about it after 12 trillion listens. His new obsession is Until The Whole World Hears by Casting Crowns. I had to play it in the truck today over and over again. We'll see how long I last.

Never Again

I hate Black Friday! But I must confess. I am no longer a Black Friday virgin.

My wonderful husband had a bright idea; an idea I should not have gone along with. He thought we could get up Friday morning, run to Walmart and be back in time to be in the woods before sunrise. I turned completely stupid when I said, "Ok. Why not?"

Why not? Here are my why nots:

I am not a morning person.

I am not a patient person.

I hate shopping at the same time as other idiots. Black Friday=swarms of idiots.

I swear my blood pressure went up as soon as we pulled into the parking lot.

As we walked into the front doors at 5:10 a.m., I'm pretty sure I had steam coming out of my ears when we saw people packed from the checkout lanes to the back of the store in one gigantic line that no one would even think about letting us excuse our way through.

Walking through the store made my IQ drop a few points.

Not even seeing the toy I wanted for Big Brother was annoying. Not even seeing it in any one's cart was even more annoying. I'm sure the Walmart I went to was the only one on earth that didn't receive that toy shipment.

Almost getting attacked by Walmart employees because I walked underneath one of their ropes while trying to leave was enough to make me go ballistic.

Telling the Walmart employees that I just wanted the crap out of there was priceless.

So anyway, we were there maybe 10 minutes and it was enough to make me NEVER do it again.

Never!

Five Quote Friday

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them."
~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

"Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow."
~Edward Sandford Martin

"Thanksgiving was never meant to be shut up in a single day."
~Robert Caspar Lintner

"God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say "thank you?"
~William A. Ward

"It is delightfully easy to thank God for the grace we ourselves have received, but it requires great grace to thank God always for the grace given to others."
~James Smith

I Am Thankful

I am thankful for the big things in my life...my family, my friends, my church, my home, my country.
And I am thankful for the little things too...
thankful my husband can always make me laugh, even when I don't want to.
thankful every time Big Brother jumps up on my lap, throws his arms around me and says, "I just love you!"
thankful when Baby Jaws comes to me with his blanket and bear just to sit and snuggle awhile.
thankful every time I hear my girls laugh so loudly at absolutely nothing.
thankful that no matter how bad a week I am having, going to church completely changes my attitude and makes me feel blessed.
thankful my active boys, who may puke for a couple of days, are in good health.
thankful my boys are able to laugh and love all over each other just seconds after a big fight.
thankful for dates with my husband that don't seem to come along that often.
thankful for early mornings being awakened by two little giggling boys jumping on our bed.
thankful for slobbery kisses from Baby Jaws.
thankful for fistfuls of dandelions picked by Big Brother.
For all of this and so much more, I am so thankful.

Black Friday

As much as I love deals, I am not a Black Friday fan. I've never woken up early to be at a store by 5 a.m. I don't think you could even pay me to do it. I am not a morning person and people irritate me anyway. People pushing and fighting over stuff at 5 a.m. would really irritate me. And so help me, if I ever saw a kid wearing shoes with wheels on Black Friday, I think my head would explode.

My husband has been out on Black Friday the past couple of years. The first year, he went to Bass Pro (big surprise) to buy himself something. Last year, he went to Walmart to buy Big Brother a cheap Leapster, which he still loves playing with.

This year, we're going hunting around 5 a.m. I can't wait! There are a couple of things I would like to pick up for Big Brother and Baby Jaws on Friday. After sitting out in the woods awhile, if I can get to the store before 11 a.m. when the sales are over and if I can even find the things I'm looking for, I will be happy. If not, I don't really care. It's just stuff. Stuff that my boys would be happy with, but then again, they're still enjoying the dishwasher box.