A pic from the past.....

I was going thru pictures on my computer today and came across this one - it was from when we visited Gena, Chad and the twins in Georgia last August - OMG Sam looks so cute! I love how his little leg is propped up! haha

Weekend notes

This weekend we attended Adam's baptism, Mark was thrilled to be his Godfather =) Here is a pic of Sam meeting Adam:

This pic below is orientated the wrong way but its still cute - Sam liked holding his hand =)


This next pic was all Mark's idea.... ha.... no surprise there! When he heard Andrea and Nick were naming this baby Adam a light went off in his head and thus this picture was born...... can you figure it out?

Samuel Adams beer - and so we have Samuel and Adam by the beer =)

Last but not least we have 2 snapshots of Sam - one with Mom and one with Dad

Look what I got for Free!

I admit I am frugal. I watch for sales and clip coupons – I wasn’t always this way but money is tight these days with 2 mortgages, child support for the boys, 1 in daycare and your everyday bills – it adds up quick! One friend of mine, I will leave her unnamed- haha – wont sign up for free samples cuz she doesn’t like to give out her email address – I signed up for a yahoo account specifically for snagging free samples and my internet shopping – that way I never get spam on my home email account =)

I have gotten TONS of free stuff in the mail… pampers, huggies, razors, shampoo, energy bars, lotion….etc etc etc

I was quite proud of myself when I stacked manufacturer coupons with store coupons and rebate checks – I ended up getting everything below FREE and I actually made a few bucks too – here’s the breakdown:

Free Banquet Meal - Zac likes these - I added some parm cheese and melt it and its just like chic parm! Free Digiorno 200 calorie pizza -yum! Had it for lunch yesterday-

Free Connect Four - On sale at Target for $7 - I used a $4 manufacturer coupon and a $3 target coupon - - the guy at target was amazed when this rang up - his mouth dropped! haha final price: FREE

Free Rimmel Mascara and Free Tuna snacks - mark likes to put these in his salad

This was my best deal - I actually MADE money! Olay wash was on sale for $5.50 each - when you buy 3 you get a $5 target gift card - so I spent $16.50 and got a $5 gift card - then I had a $15 Mail in rebate for the wash - so.... when all was said and done I got 3 free Olay body wash AND got $3.50 on a Target gift card - woo-hoo!!!

I already have my sights on some free contact solution for Mark and sunblock this week - will post my great deals when I get them =)

King Samuel turns 18 months!

It was Medieval day at school today so I figured we should knight Sam on the 1st day of his 18th month ;-) He however, wasnt thrilled with the idea.



I can’t believe I have an 18 month old!!! Gosh, the last 6 months he has increased his vocabulary and his understanding words immensely!!!! Its crazy! We still have some very trying days but man, the good days are awesome!

His word list is growing too – some of his newest are trash, airplane, car, bus, shoe, sock, thank you, amen, frog. He likes to moo when he sees a cow and ribbit when he sees a frog and neigh when he sees a horse. He also hisses for snakes and ooo ooo’s for monkeys. He can get the red ball or the blue block – he gets me his pjs and socks from his drawers each night after his bath. I would say he understands most of what I say – which is nice! He recognizes lots of his nieces and nephews and if I point to their pic he says their name. fun times!!!!!!


At least the night ended on a good note.... reading with daddy

Weekend Adventures and other ramblings......

It was a beautiful weekend! In the 70's both days so we took advantage of it and stayed outside as much as we could! We focused on the backyard mostly, clearing away dead branches from the yard, removing weeds from the flower beds and putting out fresh mulch. I added a few frogs (sam loves frogs and says ribbit ribbit every time he sees one!) and a new garden flag and it was complete!

Another project was rain barrels. We try to be environmentally conscious - we recycle, we reuse items (mark prides himslef on finding uses for scraps he saved - haha), and so forth. I was reading about using gray water for outside use and saw some rain barrels so I convinced mark to hook me up! We have 2 sump pump drains on each side of the house and they run alot so the backyard is always wet - ugh! Now, the water will run into the buckets where I can fill my water can and use it on the flowers and plants in the back yard - love it! Mark isnt thrilled with how they look so I offfered to find some tall shrubs to block them from the road - here is a pic of one:

Another project involved another "reuse" item - hahahah - Our neighbor was throwing out his 2 front bucket seats from his VW beetle - Of course Mark wanted them.... The guy happily gave them to us and Mark got to work! He connected them to some wood and made "gaming" chairs for the boys to use in the basement - they turned out cool and the boys liked them too! Here is Sam and Daddy checking them out!
Saturday, Sam and I were in the play room waiting for it to warm up outside - he likes to run and jump on you when you are laying down - he laughs and laughs - well, this time after he jumped on me he stood up and head butted me on the cheek bone...OMG pain!!! He laughed.... my kid has a HARD HEAD! The pic doesnt look to bad but I felt weird going out in public with a black eye:


In other news Sam finally ate green beans!!! He had 4 or 5 and I was all excited - so for the lunch the next day I put some in his bag but Miss Jen told me he wouldnt eat any of them.... oh well......

Sam loves the Xbox controller! Seems like he will be following in his brother's footsteps.....

LOVE this pic of Sam and Josh - so sweet! He was talking with a friend on the headset and he asked who the kid was and Josh said "thats my little brother" awwwww!!!!!

We snapped this one outside on Sunday - I told Sam to say Cheese and got this smile - so cute!

Sam and Zac were playing peek-a-boo in the door - the last one is a favorite as well - love the REAL expression on Z's face =)

This one I call "Life with a toddler" - yep, thats my bathroom after Sam was in it - I really need child locks on the cabinets!!!!

God, grant me patience.... but hurry!

This is my new mantra – I remember growing up my mom had this posted somewhere.

I have never been a patient person – I get irritated easily and worried about this constantly when I was pregnant…. How could I handle a child when I have zero tolerance for whining???
I learned that just as miraculous as babies are so is learning patience and I must give myself 2 thumbs up for doing so well. Granted, I still don’t have much patience in general but when it comes to Sam I have learned to have a lot of it.

Take last night….

We are sitting at the table eating dinner and he is eating beans (pork-n-beans, NOT the green ones – ha-ha), pumpkin and meatballs – everything is going great until he decides it would be fun to fill his spoon with pumpkin and then pound the spoon on the table – thus spewing pumpkin everywhere….. patience…. patience…. I calmly tell him dinner is all done and take the spoon and food away. Well, he freaks out – trying to get out of his chair, trying to hit me even though I am by the sink (not close by) and the tears are flowing!!! I clean off his hands and this is also met with much resistance – I give him a kiss and tell him we don’t throw food then offer some water (from a water bottle which he LOVES) and he calms down and takes a sip – I tell him yummy! And instantly he smiles…. Tears have stopped and the “event” is over.
Mom and child are both happy =)
Whew!

My future's so bright I gotta wear shades....

Spring has Sprung!

The snow has finally melted and look what I found :

We have been taking advantage of this beautiful weather and staying outside in the afternoons - We pulled out Sam's bike and walked around the neighborhood

A boy