Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Brady decides on a gift idea!

Today, I decided to show Brady the invitation to Barber's birthday party - which is this Sunday. I don't know why I decided to tell my two year old about a party that is 5 days away...but we had a cute conversation and I had a little bit of a laugh too.

After I showed Brady the very cool Lightning McQueen invitation, made by my sis, I asked him if he would like to go to the party on Sunday...(because he know the difference between Tuesday and Sunday!)...he immediately said, "Yes!" and ran over to the shoe rack, grabbed his shoes and was trying to put them on (without socks!).

What did I just do!!! Why did I tell him about the party already?! I went over to him and we sat on the bottom of the steps and I explained that the party was not today, but it was on Sunday, after church...he seemed to understand...thank God!

So, this led into a conversation about what we should give to Barber on his birthday:

Me: What should we get for Barber for his birthday?

Brady: PRESENT! (said enthusiastically)

Me: What type of present?

Brady: (Thinking really hard and then exclaims) GIFT!!

Me: What type of gift?

Brady: (More hard thinking) THINGIE!! (he is soooo excited about our conversation!)

Me: A thingie?

Brady: yes...SPOON!

Me: You want to get Barber a spoon for his birthday?

Brady: Yes! (he was playing with his play spoon and food earlier, so I guess that was still on his mind!)

So, Barber will be getting some type of present, gift, thingie, (or maybe even a spoon!) for his birthday! We will have to see what we find!

Sunday, April 27, 2008

I'm Picking Up A Baby Bumblebee...OUCH!

Brady LOVES letters - he loves to say his letters, the sounds that they make and think of words that start with the sounds. He really amazes me - he is only 28 months! I have to say that the Leapfrog videos have really been a factor in his love for letters - especially the videos, The Letter Factory and Talking Words Factory. They are fun videos to watch and definitely learning videos - I even enjoy watching them!

When we are in the front yard, he enjoys going to the back of our cars, and spells the names of the cars out loud - he usually touches each letter while spelling.

Yesterday, he was over by one of the cars, spelling out the name - I was by the front door of the house, because we were going inside after he was done spelling. Well, he came away from the car and said, "Finger hurt." After asking him questions, I have came to realize that he saw a bee (I think a yellow jacket) and he grabbed the bee(!) and the bee stung him! Poor little guy!

I looked at his finger and saw a little red mark and his finger was swelling up! So, I gave him some Tylenol, and after his nap, his finger looked SO much better!

Oh, the curiosity of a toddler! Hopefully, he will not grab a bee again!

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Go Green!

It is definitely the "in" thing to "Go Green" these days...but, that is a good thing! Hopefully, we are all more aware of ways to make our lives a little more healthier and are also learning to be a good steward of the earth that God has given to us.

So, today, I decided to walk/push the boys in the stroller to the place where I vote - I think that it was about a one mile walk one way. So, I got a great work out and I did not add more pollution to the air, and I brought my kids to vote with me...okay, the fact that we are down to one working car was not the only reason why I did this! :)

On another "Go Green" note...my sister, TCC, is hosting a giveaway on her blog that includes hand crocheted dishcloths and 16oz bottle of Dishwash Liquid Concentrate from Shaklee. We grew up on Shaklee products, which are all natural products, including cleaning products. I really like the Basic H2 Organic Super Cleaning Concentrate - I use the degreaser dilution the most - it is the best cleaner that I know of! One of the things that is cool about Shaklee's cleaners is that they are concentrated, so you have less packaging of the product that is entering the environment, and then the cleaner lasts such a long time because you have to dilute it before using it. Anyway, it is great stuff, and if you want to try the dish-washing liquid for free, click here and enter my sister's contest! If you are interested in other products, click here for my sister's website of Shaklee products (yes, she does sell the stuff, and no, I do not).

What did you do to celebrate earth day?

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Busy and Tired...

I have been wanting to blog lately, but at the same time, I have not wanted to. I have actually thought about what I wanted to write, but have not had the time or energy to sit down and write what I have been up to and what has been on my mind.

So, here is a list of things that have been on my mind, that I might post about soon, when I get the chance:

1. Baby + gas = crying + gas drops = relief!

2. Still thinking about ways that I can be a good steward with my money...

3. Is it worth going to a store to get a good deal? How many of them?

4. Your time vs. getting a good deal - you really have to consider this!

5. NCAA glasses - fell through...however, $25 gift card was the new prize!

6. I am so blessed to have such a supportive and loving husband and wonderful kids!

7. CVS - I really enjoy getting the deals, and I am not tired of it!

OK, that might be all that I really need to write about some of that stuff, but I may embellish soon!

Time to get some rest!

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Some Freebies For You

There are quite a few blogs that I check out that let me know about samples that I can sign up for and how to get free items. I LOVE FREE items! If a company wants to give me something and I don't mind trying the product out, I am all over that!

There are a couple that I wanted to let you know about:

1. Totally Toddler Stain Remover FREE
Go here to find out how you can get a 24oz. bottle of Totally Toddler Stain Remover FREE! I love this stuff - it is great at getting just about any stains out - especially spit up, which my lil' guy is a pro at doing...lots and lots of spit up every day! I am looking forward to getting my free bottle, and I am hoping that my Giant will carry it soon!

2. FREE Scotch Brite toilet bowl cleaner starter kit
Go here to print out a coupon for a free Scotch Brite toilet bowl cleaner. The coupon that prints out says one coupon per purchase, so I printed out a few of these coupons so that I can get one each time I go to the store - I already have 2!

3. Lowes coupon
If you use a VISA card, go here to sign up for a coupon to be emailed to you for a $10 off a $25 or more purchase. That sounds GREAT to me! I signed up for it tonight and I already got it! Hooray!

I hope that one of these will work for you!

Monday, April 14, 2008

And the Winner of the Glasses is...

My sis, TCC! Since she was the only one who left a comment, I did not even have to pick a random number! Congrats, sis, and thanks for entering the contest! You will not only get the Coke Zero glasses, but you will also get a certificate for a free Bloomin' Onion! YAY for you!

Monday Musings..."Normal"

My sister and best friend, TCC, has begun hosting something called Monday Musings. She posts a quote and then challenges us to critically think and post our thoughts on it...then we can link back to her! How fun...yet, I have not had the chance to partake in it until today! My critical thinker has been a little busy! However, I would like to start partaking in this! I don't know how deep my discussion will be, but it is what is on my mind at the moment!

So, the quote of the week is:
"The only normal people are the ones you don't know very well." by Joe Ancis

So, what is normal? According to Merriam-Webster, it means "conforming to a type, standard, or regular pattern."

What do I think of as normal? Does it mean that you do not have any problems and your life is peachy? Does it mean that you eat white bread and white rice instead of brown? When we were kids, my sister would ask for "normal bread and normal rice" which meant "white" bread and "white" rice - she is a funny one! I always preferred wheat or oatmeal bread - so, does that make me not normal? (BTW, my sis does eats wheat bread now! So, she is not normal anymore either!)

When I do think about the normal way of doing things, I think of what is acceptable or doing what the majority of people are doing. In America, it is normal to have credit card debt and live outside of your means...the "American Dream"! That sounds like a nightmare to me - and stressful too! When Dawson and I were married, we were swamped in debt - from college and our cars, but we worked hard to be where we are today - debt free, besides our home, and we plan on staying that way - and I hope that many others are in the same boat as us...making a new "normal".

I guess I do not think that anyone is really "normal" - because I really do not know what normal is. We may have similarities, but we are all different. I think that if we were all "normal" that is would be really boring around here - like we were all made with the same cookie cutter. It is nice to have similarities with others, but differences are fun too - it makes us who we are.

I think that I may understand what he means though. Sometimes, it seems like everyone else has things together - the perfect life, when in fact that is just the surface that you may see of this person. Once you get to know them, you can see what problems they are facing. So, they may appear "normal" when you initially meet someone or see them from afar...but when you really get to know someone, you see that they are not perfect or normal. So, I suppose I can agree with his quote in if he meant it in the way that I just wrote about. However, I do not believe that anyone is really normal.

Well, that is all that I have tonight for this post. Thank you for hosting this sis, and I hope that you enjoyed this and that it made some sense...it is getting a little late!

Sunday, April 13, 2008

From the Mouth of Brady

Today, Brady said some really cute and funny things, and I thought that I would share them:

We decided to go for a walk this afternoon, and since it was a little chilly out, Dawson put on his red and black fleece - I have not seen this fleece this whole winter and neither has Brady. Brady looked at Dawson and said:

"Daddy, look cute!"

This made both of us giggle.

When we were in the family room today, Brady looked over at my scrapbooks and then asked me:

"Look (at) Mommy's Crapbook?"

This made me giggle too - and I joked around with Dawson saying, "I did not think that my scrapping came out that bad!"

Our little Brady is a cutie pie!

He is also learning that his 3 month old brother cannot play catch with him! Thankfully, the ball did not hit the lil' guy too hard, and Daddy was there to block it!

Thursday, April 10, 2008

My Fun Birthday

Things have been a little busy around here, and I have not had the time to write anything about my birthday! The only thing that I did get to write about was a giveaway that ends tomorrow. Even if you are not interested in basketball...you can still win a free Bloomin' Onion! So, head over here and leave a comment!

Ok, back to my birthday!


The boys and I spent the day at my parents, and my sister and Barber were there also. We had a really nice time together. My mom made chicken salad that was placed inside a ring of cantaloupe. It was delicious! Then we made ice cream sundaes for dessert - Brady and Barber really enjoyed them! So did I! We had Turkey Hill's Eagle's touchdown Sundae flavor - that is my favorite ice cream!



I went home briefly because I was expecting a delivery and it was there! You may remember that I was going to receive a replacement bouquet of flowers from ProFlowers, since one of the flowers never opened up from Valentine's day. Today, I received a beautiful bouquet of pink long stem roses! They were gorgeous - in fact they are still on my dining room table. They are in full bloom right now, but they still look nice. I have come to realize that I like red roses the best so far though. Pink is pretty, but red is more "me" I suppose!

Dawson picked us up and we headed out to Damon's for dinner (they send you a coupon for a free dinner on your birthday when you sign up for their emails). Brady was a really good boy and our Lil' Guy relaxed and slept the whole time! It was great! After dinner, I headed over to get my free Maggie Moos ice cream! YUM! Another freebie on your birthday! It was a relaxing evening and we had fun together as a family.


Dawson ordered me some presents, and they actually did not arrive until yesterday, but it was worth the wait! He gave me the movie Pride and Prejudice - I love it!!! That is definitely one of my favorite movies! (I will be getting around to that meme that Classic Mama tagged me for...this will be one of my favorites!) He also gave me three books: Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility and Persuasion - all by Jane Austen! I am looking forward to reading them - especially to see how close the movies are to the books! Now, I just have to find some time to read the books!


Dawson says that there is one more present that is coming through the mail...we will see what it is! How fun! My birthday keeps on going! :) My family is so special to me, and I am blessed that the Lord has given each of them to me!

Monday, April 7, 2008

NCAA Final Four 2009 - a chance to win tickets!

Have you been enjoying watching the NCAA tournament? My husband and I have been enjoying some of them, and we are watching the final game tonight in the comfort of our own home (Go Kansas!). BUT...

What if we had the chance to watch it at the actual stadium - would we do it? You bet! However, I would not want to purchase the tickets myself, so the only chance that we would have of going to the game, is if the tickets were given to us...

Would you like a chance to win some tickets...

I cannot promise you that you will win the actual tickets, but there are 2 ways that you can give it a shot.

Right now, the Outback Steakhouse is having a promotion where they are giving you a chance to win tickets to the 2009 NCAA Men's Final Four. In order to get this chance, you have to order one of their current special meals and a glass of Coke Zero. What you get in return is a Coke Zero commemorative glass, a coupon for a free Bloomin' Onion, and a ticket with a code. You enter that code online and then you can see if you won something - actual tickets to the game, or other prizes. However, there is another way to get a chance to win tickets...

The second way involves another GIVEAWAY right here on my blog! I have been given a set of glasses (with the items in it described above) from the Outback to give away to one lucky reader!

To enter this giveaway, all you have to do is:
1. Leave a comment here and then link back to my post on your blog (if you do not do this, your comment will be deleted)
2. Nonbloggers are also welcome to enter - please tell your friends about this giveaway
3. Comments will close on Friday, April 11th at 9pm and I will announce the winner on Saturday, April 12th.

Good Luck!

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Go God!

When I picked up the mail from the mailbox a few moments ago, I saw a letter with the return address of a former student. He is now a junior in college (time sure does fly by!), and his family lives on the same road as us.

This student was not one of my "enjoyable" ones - he was not the "worst" either. He definitely was one of those that liked to test the waters - and would say a "smart" comment here and there. I had him in 9th grade homeroom, 11th grade honors chemistry and then a chemistry elective in his senior year. He definitely was one that I did not expect to really hear from again - a hi here and there in passing, but that was probably it.

Well, this letter brought tears of joy to my eyes. He is going to a state university and he wrote in the letter that he has found Christ while attending there! Thank you Lord!!! He is involved in a Christian group called The Navigators and is going to get involved with them during this summer - this is a group that has encouraged him in his walk with the Lord and he wants to help others also. He remembered that I was a Christian and thought that I would be interested in knowing what he was up to and how he was going to serve the kingdom of God.

I am so excited that he has become a Christian and he is doing his part to "know Christ and make Him known" - that is the slogan that the Navigators use. I am looking forward to talking with him when he returns from college - to see what God has been doing in his life.

God is so good!

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Happy Birthday To Me!

I have had such a wonderful birthday today. I will tell you more about it tomorrow because Dawson is waiting for me to watch a movie together! :)

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Outback Steakhouse - A Review and Giveaway!


**Update**I will be keeping this post at the TOP of my blog until the contest is closed, so scroll down to see newer posts! :)
When was the last time you had a Bloomin' Onion? For me...I cannot even remember! It has been a long time since I even visited the Outback Steakhouse. So, I was really excited when I was asked to visit it during its 20th birthday celebration and write about my experience!

Last night, Grammie, Poppy, Dawson, our two boys and I ventured out to eat at the Outback Steakhouse. It was the first time that we brought our lil' guy out to a restaurant (he is 11 weeks now) and it has been a LONG time since Brady has been out to eat (he is 26 months). So, I was not sure what to expect...but, we were excited to eat out.

We decided to go out to eat during the week and to get there around 5pm, so that we would not have to wait to be seated and that plan worked out well. We were seated right away and we had a great waitress - very friendly, attentive and knowledgeable (she did not know that I would be writing about my experience on my blog).

For an appetizer, a Bloomin' Onion was ordered...how could you go to the Outback without ordering one! Here are some interesting facts about this menu item: Outback has sold more than 133.5 million Bloomin' Onions in the past 20 years and 15 million Bloomin' Onions are sold each year. Before it is "bloomed," each onion is specially grown to be 16 ounces big and 4 inches wide. The Bloomin' Onion remains true to its original recipe: 17 different spices to flavor the onion and an additional 37 spices in the dipping sauce.

Everyone, but me, enjoyed the onion...why did I not eat it??? I had to decline because our lil' guy does not do too well with the gas that onions produce in his body. So, although I would have LOVED to eat some, I decided that I could ask the others what they thought about it...their response...mmm, mmm good! Brady even ate some of it, until the spices got to be too much for him!

I am not a red meat eater, so I ordered the Chicken on the Barbie, and let me tell you - that was SO delicious and moist. YUM! All of their meats are seasoned with 17 spices (not sure what they all are, but they were tasty!), but they are able to tone it down...which is what I asked for.

Dawson ordered a steak and asked for it to be medium-well done...that was described as being pink throughout. Usually when it is ordered that way, it comes out too well done. So, I was interested to see what it would look like. Dawson was pleased with it...pink throughout and was very tender and delicious. He enjoyed my barbeque sauce with it too!

Grammie ordered Alice Springs Chicken and Poppy ordered one of the specials (steak, shrimp and scallops) - they enjoyed their food too. One thing that we all appreciated was that you could substitute in a different side from what was "supposed" to come with your meal, at no extra charge.
I was a little surprised that the kids meal was $4.99 - but when we received it, I thought that the portion was large, so I was "ok" with the price. Brady had chicken fingers and fries - there were three large chicken fingers that came with it and two of them came home with us! His drink also cmae with it, so the price was reasonable.

We really enjoyed our dinner at the Outback and I would go back there again. The service was great, the food was delicious and both of my children were so well behaved - PTL! Brady enjoyed the food and they gave him four crayons and a coloring book to keep him busy too! Our Lil' Guy fell asleep and slept during the whole dinner. It was great!

Although we enjoyed celebrating the Outback's 20th birthday, they did nothing to help celebrate mine. That is the only "disappointment" that I had. My birthday is next week, so we figured that last night was the beginning of the celebration. My Dad told them that we were celebrating my birthday, but they did not do anything special. I went to their website to see if you are able to sign up for a birthday club, but all I found was something to enter your email and "keep in touch." Maybe there is something that they do, but I do not know what it is.

So, if I was to rate my overall experience, I would give it a 9 out of 10. The food was delicious and the service was very good too. I was just disappointed that they do not do anything to make you feel special on your birthday - many other restaurants do that these days.

Now.....to the giveaway. I have a $25 gift card to Outback Steakhouse to give away to one of you readers! Isn't that exciting?! In order to be eligible for this giveaway, please leave a comment here and link back to this post on your blog. (If you are a nonblogger, you are still welcome to leave a comment and be sure to tell your friends about this giveaway!)

This comments will be closed on Monday evening (March 31st) at 9pm. A random number will be chosen and I will announce the winner on Tuesday, April 1st. Please be sure that I am able to contact you in some way if you are chosen to win! Good Luck to all of you!