Good Times, Good Times....

Valentine Swap 2011- Alex - Thank you Jennifer!

2011-01-31T18:23:00.001-08:00

This was Alex's first ever blog swap! She was so excited she got to participate!

Jennifer C. had Alex and it's like she KNEW her or something! Crazy! Alex's favorite thing in the whole wide world is C-A-N-D-Y! Yeesh- to be able to eat all that candy and not gain a pound! Anyhow, Jennifer's swap gift to Alex was PERFECT and I took pictures of everything for you!

Alex wanted me to give a "totes"- (teenage slang for "totally")"cool" shout out to Jennifer for getting her such a great Valentine swap gift!

I did cover up the addresses with some paper when I took the picture, but it just looks prettier with hearts :)

Look at that packaging! The note inside said "Dear Alex, Welcome to your first blog swap! I hope you enjoy these little goodies and I also hope you have a wonderful Valentines Day!"

After she opened the tissue paper, this was what was right on top! Some cut window clings and Peeps hearts!

Alex with her window clings (which are so proudly displayed on my front door right now!)

Some Jolly Rancher gummies and the Peeps!

This is so funny- I just noticed that every picture I took looks exactly the same-except this one- Skittles and Starburst are Alex's favorite candy in the whole wide world! Can you tell??!!

An adorable little hair brush, some lip gloss and a rockin' pair of fuzzy socks!

Some great smelling body lotion and a couple of scrubbies! Thank the LORD! I've never seen anyone go through scrubbies like this girl!

And what do you think was on the bottom of the box? Yep- you guessed it!

Thank you so much Jennifer! You rock! -From: Alex

Valentines Swap 2011 - Thank You Denise!!!!!

2011-01-31T17:58:00.000-08:00

This is my third blog swap I have participated in and I am SO happy to report that this one (like the others before them) did NOT disappoint! Denise had me, so I already knew I was in for a treat! Not to mention I got an email beforehand saying that she insured the package (because there was glass), so I was SUPER excited!

Today, my daughter's school was closed because of a student holiday, so Alex came to work with me. I get out at 12 noon, and when we pulled in the driveway, there were TWO boxes on the front porch! So, it was REALLY cool that we both received our swap gifts at the same time! We ripped into those boxes like the two silliest, giddiest girls you've ever seen! Lol!

So, this first post is what I received from Denise-

(I did some creative editing to hide our addresses)

Look at that creative packaging! My son wanted to play with it so bad! The note inside said-

"Enclosed are a few yummy treats for your family! AND something for you to display it on!"

Ok, so this picture doesn't even show you how beautiful the display stand is! No wonder she got it insured! I already have it displayed on my kitchen table! I absolutely love it! There is also some yummy cookie mix, frosting, sprinkles, a goodie bag with some of my FAVORITE candies (I love peppermint patties!) and a set of Wilton heart shaped cookie cutters! I am definitely making these sometime this week!

Thank you SO MUCH Denise! You seriously made my day!

DEXTER

2011-01-30T14:34:00.000-08:00

So, I watch The Bachelor, The Office, Outsourced, American Idol and I can now definitely say that I am seriously the BIGGEST fan of Dexter! Yea...I know...it can get a little raunchy at times (Debra and her filthy mouth!), but I am willing to overlook that because the story is just SO unique and intriguing! I have watched season one and tonight, Eddie and I will finish watching season 2! I have literally been on pins and needles since last night! Why haven't I started watching this show sooner?! Oh yea...that's right. I don't subscribe to Showtime! Lol!

If you haven't watch it, basically, the premise is that Dexter is a serial killer who works for the Miami Metro Police Dept. as a blood analyst. He only kills bad guys, though. (you know...because that's "ok"). Anyhow, I am literally on the edge of my seat at the end of EVERY single episode and I just want to keep watching!

Anyhow, I just had to say that! Lol!

This week was really busy. February is gonna be a crazy busy month! I am getting all kinds of crafty over here for Valentines Day!

My all time favorite craft site is Tipjunkie.com . I get SO much inspiration from that lady and all her crafts!

My friend and I are going to be teaching some couponing seminars this Spring, so all of you Richmonders who would like to learn to coupon, but find it a little overwhelming, be on the look out! We are going to make it REAL easy for you :) I have been thinking about doing this for quite some time, but lately, I've just gotten a TON of folks asking me to teach them how to do what I do, so I thought...."why not?" I LOVE saving money and I love sharing deals with others so that they can save money as well :)

To be continued....... ;)

Hello..My name is Toni...and I STINK at blogging!

2011-01-24T12:55:00.000-08:00

The first step is admitting it, right??!! Lol!!!

It's just not something I think of doing in my spare time- AT ALL! Usually if I have spare time, I am cleaning my house, organizing my coupons- for probably the millionth time that week- or playing with my kids.

By the way, Alex is 13 now! A full-blown teenager! Luckily, she is so not into boys or anything. She would MUCH rather have candy, clothes, shoes....all the "girly" stuff ! I DREAD the day she puts boys in front of all of that! She is a handful, though! She is just like me when I was her age! She is constantly playing jokes and pranks on people. Some of them are great, some of them are....well....not. One night, she and her friends ran around the neighborhood at like 10pm "ding-dong ditching" people's houses. hilarious, right? (pardon my sarcasm) On a lighter note, she is so tall! Mind you, she just turned 13 a few weeks ago and she is 5ft. 8! She TOWERS over me! She wears a womens 11/5 shoe size! Unfortunately, she hates basketball (because the shorts are too long and ugly--go figure!), but is open to the idea of volleyball. Some teachers have told me that with her height, she could play on the high school volleyball team in 8th grade next year! Which reminds me, I need to call school about the try-out process for that!

Aron will be 3 in April!! He is so stinkin' smart that it scares me! He can spell his name, tell me his b-day, recognize all of the alphabet letters AND their sounds and oh...I could just go on! One thing that is REALLY setting us back is potty training! I have tried everything and he would much rather just go in his diaper. At first he wouldn't go because he said the seat was cold. Sorry dude. The children's potty's don't come with seat warmers.....man up or stand! Well, that didn't work too well. Bribery was next. I offered to make him an entire cake just for himself! Nope! That didn't work either. I know I should wait until he is "ready", but he goes to preschool with me and he will be held back if he is not potty trained :( It's not a punishment or anything....the 3-year old preschool room doesn't have a changing table. So, until he is potty trained, he will have to stay in the 2-year old room :( Hopefully he will WANT to do it when he sees his friends moving on. We'll see.

And yes, I am still the lead Pre-K teacher at my school. It will be a year on 2/11 that I have been there. I opened the school and it has been really cool to see it grow so much. I go in at 6:30am and leave at 12noon. Eddie brings Aron to school at 8am on his way to work. That makes for a crazy morning for him every day, but he manages. I still work one day a week at the YMCA. I have been working there for 3 years this year! I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE working there! I will never leave that place!

That's about all I can think of for now. I am really going to try to get back into this. If nothing else, just once a week!

I think the most challenging part for me is uploading the pictures. Why can't I just import a picture from my computer? I HATE that I have to switch it to HTML format and THEN import it. That is super time consuming!

So, thought I'd throw in some random photos that took me about 20 minutes to put in here! Enjoy!

Aron- marveling at my beautiful painting at the Y! HAHA!

Alex- at Christmas time

Me- Can I ever have just a picture of just me? Nope.

A fun little giveaway!

2010-02-07T11:21:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine over at Shop-Leah is having a really great giveaway to get her business started!
Since her business is fairly new, your chances of winning are really good!
Click HERE to enter!!!
Good luck and let me know if you win!

Free Pants!

2010-02-07T06:56:00.000-08:00

Do you watch the Superbowl like all of the other MILLIONS of people?
Well, I do. And I have to admit, it's not my absolute favorite thing to watch, but I do it out of obligation :) I would be much happier watching the most recent episode of The Bachelor ;)
Anyways, I am REALLY excited about this year's Superbowl! Wanna know why??
Because you can score some FREE Dockers pants if you keep your eye fine-tuned for their commerical!
The first 2010 people who register HERE immediately following the commercial will win a free pair of Dockers!
They will email you the code to use on Dockers.com!
Don't forget, they also sell womens pants, too!
Good luck and let me know if you win!

Blizzard of 2010

2010-02-06T19:57:00.000-08:00

Okay, Mother Nature! I've had my fun with the snow, you can stop now!!! Seriously!
Alex went to school for one day this week (and even then, it was a two hour delay). We had about 10 inches, then it rained and washed a few inches away, only to be replaced with about 4 inches again today. Oh, bonus- it's supposed to snow again this Wednesday, then again on Saturday. I'm supposed to be training for the Monument 10K coming up in March, but the snow and ice makes that a little difficult:(

Whew! Glad that's off my chest!
On to some bigger and better things!
After taking a two-year break from working full-time, I am both sad and happy to report that I will be starting a new job next week! I will be working as a preschool teacher (4-year olds) at The Learning Experience! If you haven't checked this place out yet, you really need to (www.thelearningexperience.com)! It is AWESOME! Their phonics program is the BEST I have ever seen!
It's a full-time preschool and also a daycare for the younger ones. I DID go to college for this, so I might as well use what I've learned, right??
My hours are 6:30am - 2:30pm, so I'll get out on time to get Alex off of the bus! I am sooooo excited! Aron gets to come, too :) Of course, he won't be coming with me at 6:30am, but Eddie will be bringing him at 8:30 and he will get about 4 hours of learning/play time, then a 2-hour nap, then come home with me. It's the perfect situation for me.
I will also still be working part-time at the YMCA two nights a week, because I really do love it there. My co-workers are some of my very best friends :) Talk about having fun at work! Lol!

Also, what is your opinion on Sarah Palin leading the Tea Party movement? This is either going to be really good for the Republicans, or really bad. I guess time will tell, huh?

Whats new w/me?!

2010-01-18T10:55:00.001-08:00

Holy Moly! I just realized it's been months since I blogged!
Lets see...I (along with MILLIONS of other people) started Weight Watchers (only I did it in December instead of January). So far, I'm down 7 pounds!
I am running in the Monument Avenue 10K this year and I'm training with the YMCA!
So far, so good! Although, I don't think running in 30 degree weather is my favorite!
Alex turned the big 1-2 in December! I can't believe this is her last year of being a child :(
Aron will be two in April! I can't believe it!
I was in our church's huge Christmas production, called "GCN" (Glorious Christmas Nights)! This thing was huge! I'm talking TRBC Living Christmas Tree huge! Over 800 people in the production!
Anyhow, I made some really good friends and I joined the choir this year! So far, I'm having a blast! Brings back the old high school days of being in Mrs. Breen's choir! Alto's rule! Lol!
I'm still into couponing hard-core and am getting a little better at updating my savings blog (www.bargainnoble.blogspot.com)
I still work at the YMCA, too.
Well, that's about all that is new with me! I look forward to updating more frequently in 2010!!! I need to turn this thing into a book!

Ukrops: .05 cents Special K20 Protein Water!

2009-11-11T10:40:00.000-08:00

As I was perusing the diet section at Ukrops today, I noticed that their Special K2O Protein Water was on sale fro $1.15 (down from the regular $1.57). Not bad, right? Well, then I took a second look and saw that many of them had coupons attached to them for .55 cents off! Well, since today is super double coupons at Ukrops, I got $1.10 off each one, making them only .05 cents each!
Forget about looking at the John Rolfe YMCA, but all the other ones should have them! Hurry, hurry, hurry!!!!
This stuff is REALLY good and has 5 grams of dietary fiber, too!
YOU CAN ONLY GET THIS DEAL TODAY, ON SUPER DOUBLE COUPON DAY!

Halloween '09, done! Now for Thanksgiving!!!

2009-11-01T05:40:00.000-08:00

Trick-or-Treating was SO much fun this year!

Alex sort of dressed up as a cheerleader (just wore her cheerleading uniform from Western Wildcats) and Aron was the Campbells Soup kid!

Aron's legs couldn't quite make it ALL the way around the neighborhood, so we brought his trusty wagon!

I'm not sure WHY the weather decided to be 80 degrees out, instead of the nice, crisp 70 degrees it's been!!!! I was sweating big time!

Anyhow, I made Aron's costume this year. It was so much fun (and not to mention it only cost me a whopping $8 to make!). I just used felt, posterboard and paper!

Alex really didn't dress up this year. BUT, she definitely wasn't too cool for school, because they had "mix and match" day at school on Friday and this girl went ALL out! I can't tell you how many people came by my job and had "compliments" for Alex as they saw her at her bus stop this morning! Ha! HA! And no, she isn't posing in this picture. She was displaying her true tween attitude because she was forced to take a picture for mom's blog!

F-A-L-L Blogswap 2009! Thank you, Donna!!!

2009-10-03T18:26:00.001-07:00

Well, I knew I was in for a treat when I saw that Donna had me! And let me tell you, this girl hooked me UP!!!!!
Before I get to the pictures, I just want to say thank you to Donna for putting so much time and effort into this! From the little note to the packaging to remembering my family members, you did a fantastic job!
Okay, onto the good stuff!
The note included breaks everything down:
F- Enjoy some Fall time Flavor in your home this season. (the cider)
A- Here is a cute Fall Accent piece for your mantle this month. Trick or Treat! (the Trick or Treat banner)
L- These Little pumpkins are perfect for Rivera mealtimes in the Fall. They'll add some spice to your dinner table. (pumpkin salt and pepper shakers)
L- Another way to decorate the table this season- Leaf placemats!

Look at how festive this packaging is!

This is everything out of the package (except the banner)!
Pumpkin salt and pepper shakers, Leaf placemats (adorable!), cider mix (yummy!)
Socks for Alex, spoon & fork set for Aron and (this is my favorite)- a pumpkin whoopie cushion for Eddie! Lol!! It's like you already know him! He LOVES it!

Here is the banner proudly displayed on my mantle! It's beautiful and I've always wanted a banner! Where do you get these??! Does someone make them??

Here is Alex who could NOT wait to put on her socks! (gosh, she is getting so tall I can hardly fit her in the picture!) She wore them to her babysitting job tonight and was telling them that Donna got them for her ('cuz you know...they go waaay back! lol!--this kid cracks me up!)through her mom's blog swap. You can imagine the confused look I got when I tried explaining this to someone who doesn't blog!

Here is Aron saying "Yaaaaayyyy!" for his new spoon and fork set!

Sorry. No picks of Eddie and I. We had just gotten home from working out at the gym and were gross!!! But trust me, I LOVED it and so did my family! THANK YOU SO MUCH, DONNA!

an "off" week

2009-09-27T05:59:00.000-07:00

Since Alex started middle school this year, her schedule has gotten SO busy!
I am kind of glad, though. Better busy than so bored that you have to "find" something to do!
I am so thankful for our church that they have so many different programs for her to get involved in. We all head to church on Sunday, of course, but then she has Bible study there on Monday nights with all girls her age, then she has youth group on Wednesday night. Right now she is on a youth retreat in West Virginia. It is just so exciting to see her growing in the Lord! I really think it is so important to be surrounded by christian friends. Especially when you are in a public middle school!
Anyways, with Alex gone on this retreat, Aron has been acting so weird. I think he really misses his sister. She always plays with him. Eddie and I play with him too, but not the way "sissy" does!
So, we decided to go to Trader Joe's for their "one year birthday". He was kind of fussy at the store, so they gave him a balloon. Let me tell you, he held that balloon forever! We went to Chick-fil-A afterwards and he was screaming when we tried to leave the balloon in the car, so we thought it's not worth the fuss, so we let him bring it in. Again, he will NOT let go of this balloon! Everytime he reached for a nugget, his balloon would fly up to the ceiling and he would scream! (it was tied to his wrist, though).
UGh....so we get home and let him watch a little of his favorite show, Thomas and Friends. He is STILL holding this balloon!
He finally let go of his balloon when it was time to get ready for bed.
The next night before bed while Eddie was reading him a story, Aron didn't want him to stop! I think he read the book like 3 times, already! Check out the hissy fit my little guy threw when he stopped reading!
I could not believe this was my happy baby boy!!! I think he was overtired and missing sissy.
Alex comes home today and we ALL can't wait!!!!
For your viewing pleasure, the madness has been captured below:

Praise Him for all things!

2009-09-20T18:02:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to do a quick post as I saw this video below, I cried and cried. As a parent, I am so blessed to have two healthy children. I think we sometimes take the little things for granted. Thank you God for the health and well-being of my family.

Yea, yea...so I'm a slacker!

2009-09-17T06:01:00.000-07:00

Whew! I really do love summer, but I sure am glad school is back in session! I love being on a schedule. The summertime just kind of seems like a "free for all" or something!!!
Things are still just as hectic as ever, though! Lol!
Yesterday after my daughter came home from school, she told me that some lady at the bus stop claimed she had a son who went to Alex's school and then proceeded to ask Alex and another boy where they lived and if they ever needed a ride home, to "give her a call" and she then pointed to the house down the street where she lived.
Does anyone else find this creepy at all????!!! Not to mention, she was there in the morning for the buss pick up AND during the drop off!
So, yours truly called school to question them about how I should go about handling such a situation.
They said they would "look into it". Which, usually means "I'll write it down on a post-it and then give it a good home in the trash can with all the other complaints".
Well, 20 MINUTES later, my doorbell rang and a Henrico county police officer was on my porch! It was funny, because I wasn't expecting him to pay my family a visit until Alex was AT LEAST 16 years old!
Anyhow, after I opened the door, he asked if he could come in (as he walked past me into my living room). Ummmm....sure...make yourself at home. Bathroom is down the hall and since your here, would you mind changing the trash for me??!
Seriously!! HE just barged right on in!
In any event, he wanted to question Alex about what she saw! The whole time she just kept saying how "cool" it was that a policeman was in our living room. "This is so cool! We've never had a police officer in our house before"!
Easy child!!! Let's not make a habit of this, ok??!
So, he questioned her and left.
The next morning at 7:25am, our doorbell rings, he helps himself inside (again) and of COURSE I'm looking like every other person looks at 7:25am!.....pajamas, no bra, hair in a messy bun, no make-up....yadda..yadda..yadda....
Then, he told me that they found the lady and that she does have a son that goes to the same school and he never leaves the house and she was trying to find him some ~~victims~~ friends for him. My question is...WHO DOES THAT??!!!
UGhh.....I really can't wait to get my car in a couple of weeks! Alex is NOT going to be riding the bus for much longer!
Also, I am losing the battle on my "no cell phone until you are driving" policy!
The police officer told Alex to make sure her cell phone is on as soon as she gets off the bus. Like it's not even a question that she has one?!!!! When I told him she didn't have a cell phone, he acted like those words don't even go together in the same sentence! "Oh...um....well...maybe...cell phone....bus....middle school..."
I get it! EVERYONE has a cell phone except Alex! Sorry!!! I just don't like seeing these kids texting every minute of the day!
So, alas, she will be getting a pre-paid cell phone with a whopping $5 dollars on it to call me in the event of an emergency.
UGhg......well, that's what's going on in my life right now!
Exciting, huh??!!
Lol!!!!

Well, Well...what do we have here??

2009-07-27T11:15:00.000-07:00

Look what I found in Sunday's paper in the coupon section!!!! I have NEVER seen any advertisement for Harris Teeter in all my years living in Richmond! Don't lie to us Mr. Ukrop! We know the inevitable!

Harris Teeter taking over??!

2009-07-15T11:49:00.000-07:00

OR

I'm not sure if this is going to be good news or bad!
In the Times Dispatch today, it looks like Harris Teeter is (possibly) buying out Ukrops!
I am feeling kind of bitter sweet about this one.
Ukrops is a christian owned grocery store chain that is locally owned. They sponsor just about everything here in Richmond, including the famous Ukrops 10K!
On the other (and *ahem* selfish) hand, Harris Teeter oftentimes TRIPLES coupons!
Not to mention, I would be working ABOVE the Harris Teeter! For those of you that don't know, the YMCA that I work at is above a Ukrops grocery store! Let me tell you, it definitely has it's advantages!
Very interesting! I'm going to miss people rolling my groceries out to my car for me!

Foot Fetish??!

2009-06-20T08:08:00.000-07:00

I think my son has a foot fetish!! Eeeewww!!! He absolutely LOVES tickling people's feet! He could literally sit there for hours and do it and just think it's the greatest thing in the world!
Here is a video of him and his latest obsession-
Enjoy!

I love this site!

2009-06-18T05:39:00.001-07:00

I love to do arts and crafts, it is just that I have the hardest time coming up with creative and unique ideas! That is why I am addicted to TipJunkie!

Right now, they have gone from a simple blog to a full blown .com website!
They are celebrating their success by offering some great giveaways, so I definitely recommend you check it out!

Click HERE to check it all out!

Elementary School----check!

2009-06-14T05:52:00.000-07:00

Wow! I can not tell you how fast Elementary school went by! It is so crazy to think that my baby girl is going into Middle School in a just a couple of months! And just think....I'm not even CLOSE to being done! I get to do the whole elementary school adventure all over again in 4 more years!
Aron has been getting so stinkin' big! He is walking and talking--or trying--Ha! ha!--and this kid LOVES books and Little People!
Anyhow, here is a recent video of him trying out his new sandals!

This kid makes the funniest faces I've ever seen! He must be a "Jim Carrey" in the making!

Hello Everyone!

2009-06-04T06:05:00.001-07:00

I have just been busy, busy, busy! My savings blog is just so much fun! I'm so addicted!

On the homefront- I can't believe Aron is 14 months old already!! Where in the world does the time go?! Wasn't I JUST pregnant with him??!
He is walking now. Which is "fun". This is ALL he ever wants to do!!
Well, he also LOVES to snuggle with mommy! I LOVE IT! Alex was never a big snuggler, so I am just eating it up!
He learned how to give kisses, so of course we captured it on camera!

And, here is a picture of my BIG boy! He was fresh out of the bath in this picture (no, I don't just let him run around the house all day in his diaper!)

Also, I am...er...I mean Alex is preparing for middle school this September!
We have a summer choc-ful-of business! Alex is going to Camp Hydaway for the last year :( She is also going to our church camp and to Girl Scout camp. Very sad. Her last summer as a "kid".

I'll be updating more frequently on here. I've gotten really bad about that lately!

Whew!

2009-05-21T10:57:00.000-07:00

So, how glad are you that THIS GUY isn't your American Idol?!?!
What a sigh of relief, although I still think Danny Gokey should have won. I can't believe how much the judges pushed and praised this guy!!!! If he would have won, I could never allow myself or my children to watch that show again. Aside from him being a HORRIBLE singer (FYI, Adam- Screaming is not singing!), he is a terrible role model for children (which, by the way, is a huge portion of the audience of this show)!

So, rock on Kris Allen! He did a great job!

Cheesiest show......ever!

2009-05-19T11:53:00.001-07:00

My daughter is your typical "tween". She loves the Jonas Brothers....commonly known as "Jonai". Anyhow, they have a new tv show on Disney and it has to be absolutely the CHEESIEST thing I have ever seen! I mean, just going to the website should give you a clue! "The brothers that ROCK together, ROLL together"....isn't that sweet?! Pardon my sarcasm.
As I'm sitting here at the computer, my daughter is over there watching this junk. From what I can hear, the three brothers all like this one girl who works at a pizza place.
Of course, what would a Jonas Brother show be without their music? Yep, that's right. Now they are singing a song "I fell in love with the pizza girl and now I eat pizza every day"...
I am NOT making this up! This is the worst thing ever....yet....I can't look away.......

Nothing new

2009-05-16T18:24:00.000-07:00

Well, this isn't an exciting post. Nothing really new to report. I've just been busy, busy, busy with my other savings blog www.bargainnoble.blogspot.com

I have had time to tune in and watch American Idol and Lost, however.
On American Idol----Adam Lambert??! Seriously??! He is so nasty.
It's so overly obvious that American Idol WANTS him to win! Last week when Katy Perry (I can't stand her either) sang live on the show, her "superwoman" cape had "Adam Lambert" embroidered on the back! WHAT?! Is that even allowed??!
Also, how in the WORLD is Danny Gokey not in the finals? Kris is good, but he is no Danny Gokey.
Whew! I just had to get that off my chest!

Lost- I was REALLY hoping for more answers in the season finale. I found out who Jacob was, finally. Even though he died so easily by Ben stabbing him.
I find this whole Jacob scenario so much like the Bible story of Jacob and Esau. My theory is that is who the other guy is that was on the island with Jacob originally. I remember him saying "Do you know how bad I want to kill you right now?" That was very much the feeling Esau had toward Jacob when Jacob stole his birth right. I think that the show is somehow insinuating that the new "Locke" has come back as "Esau" and convinced Ben to kill Jacob.
Although, Esau didn't kill Jacob in the Bible....but still.....it's just so similar...

Anyhow, that's just my take on it!

I know it's been a while!

2009-05-06T18:11:00.001-07:00

Whew! Have I been busy!
In case you haven' heard, I have been crazy busy with my other new blog, Bargain Noble!
I haven't had time to update this blog, but hang with me! I'm still kind of new to this savings thing!
Aside from saving money, I have been having so much fun with Aron!
He is really starting to show his personality and it's so darn cute!
Alex is really enjoying it too....

Aron is STILL not walking, but he is getting there. Here is a video of him after his bath in his crib being brave and taking his first two steps! I still can't believe I got this on camera!
He gets so excited that it sounds like he says "I DID IT!"
Just listen......

Bargain Noble!

2009-04-30T11:08:00.000-07:00

Yep! You can remember the name easy because it's like the book store!
I am proud to present to you the newest savings blog on the internet!
I plan on keeping it pretty exclusive to the Richmond area, but many of the stores we have here are all over the USA, so it could really benefit a lot of people!
Come on over and check it out!
Bargain Noble

Recent "Finds"!

2009-04-20T10:48:00.000-07:00

This is going to be a short but sweet post!
Right now at CVS, they have the Dove Skin Revitalizer on sale for $4. This is normally 12.99, so it's a GREAT deal. But, to make it that much sweeter, head on over to www.coupons.com and print out the $3.75 off of the Dove Skin Revitalizer and you can get it for .25 cents!
For all you Richmonders, the CVS on Patterson has them in stock! The ones on Cox Rd. and Lauderdale are out, but should restock later this week!

Also, if you are looking for something to do with the kids, go penny searching within a 2 mile radius of Cici's pizza on Broad Street. They are running a very unique marketing campaign. They have placed special pennies on sidewalks and parking lots all up and down Broad street and if you find one, you can get a free buffet meal there!
We went searching on Saturday and found one on the sidewalk in the shopping center where Cici's Pizza is. That was the only one we found, though.
Don't bother looking there or the following places:
Buffalo Wild Wings Plaza
Big Lots plaza
The plaza beside Wawa (Booksamillion)
KMart
Play it Again Sports

There are a lot of other places they could be, but we searched high and low in the areas listed above.
The penny looks like this:

Have fun :)

Coincidence!

2009-04-16T04:12:00.001-07:00

Remember yesterday I posted on here that in my "All You" magazine, I read that handy little tip about if a store has a buy one get one free sale on an item and you have a buy one get one free coupon, you get BOTH items for free?
Well, today is the perfect day to take advantage of that situation!
Go to www.coupons.com and print out their buy one get one free coupon on Purex!
Then, go to CVS (stat!) because they are having a sale on Purex this week at Buy one, Get one free!!
Note: if it doesn't show up on coupons.com using your own zip code, use zip code 43123

Thanks for the tip Hip2Save !

DEALS THIS WEEK!

2009-04-15T11:34:00.000-07:00

Well, this week isn't too bad considering there were no coupons in this past Sunday's paper!

I'll start with Ukrops. Of course, there is the thrift section! I was able to grab some low fat Brie cheese there today for only $4!
Also, they have their Kellogg's cereals 3/$5. That in itself is not a bad deal, but to make it even sweeter, first head on over to Food Lion and go in their cereal isle and grab 3 of their $1.00 off any Kellogg's cereal. Then, go to Ukrops and you can get the cereals at 3/$2!!!

Also, you know the Kellogg cereal that is sold individually in the little bowl and all you have to do is add milk? Well, those are on sale this week at Kroger for only $1. Grab some more of those coupons and go "Krogering"!

For Walgreens, you are going to want to go there asap! All of their Easter candy is on sale for 50% off. This is perfect for their easysaver rebate of $5 from Hershey's. If you are lucky enough to grab some of the Hershey kisses, they are only $1.25 each. Buy 4 of them to total $5 and you will have 4 free bags of Hershey kisses after you submit your rebate. They didn't have any Kisses at my Walgreens, so I grabbed 4 bags of Hershey's Bliss chocolates. They were $2 each, but I used my $1.50 off of three bags of Hershey's chocolates, so at the end of the day, I only paid .38 cents per bag of Bliss chocolates. Not free, but not bad!
If you have the $1.50 coupon and you can get 4 bags of Kisses, you could turn this deal into a moneymaker and be in the green $1.50!

If you do not currently subscribe to the All You magazine, I urge you to do so! It is SO worth the money!
I just read in there this little tidbit of information:
If you have a buy one, get one free coupon and the store has the same item on sale buy one get one free, you will get BOTH items for free!!! I never knew that! This magazine is choc-full-of handy bits of information in addition to the loads and loads of coupons and recipes in there!!! I just signed up online last week to subscribe and I already got my first magazine in the mail this week! Talk about fast! Most magazines say your first issue will arrive in 6-8 weeks!

For today only, drive over to Maggie Moo's and get your free scoop of ice cream in "celebration" of tax day!

Although this isn't a "freebie tip", I thought I'd share my experience with Cracker Barrell (the one off of Mayland Drive)recently. We went there to eat about 2 weeks ago and had a less than pleasant experience. Instead of just "sucking it up" and saying "I'll never go there again", I decided to submit my restaurant experience to them via there feedback form online. Next thing I know, in today's mail is a gift certificate to Cracker Barrel for 4 FREE ENTREES! No price limit!
My point is that if you eat out somewhere and have a bad experience, share it with their corporate office. You never know what they might give you to make up for it.

What have I been up to?

2009-04-09T06:17:00.000-07:00

I am REALLY enjoying my new hobby, couponing!
This is not your momma's couponing, either! I LOVE saving money! There's something just so satisfying knowing that you are getting something cheaper (or even free) when someone else is paying full price! Is that so wrong?? I don't think so ;)
So, every week, I am going to try to have at least ONE post dedicated to the best deals and steals in Richmond and on the internet. Of course, if I find something too hard to resist, I'll post it right away!
So, what's on the deal menu today?
FOOD LION!

Hurry, hurry, hurry! These won't last long!
I already have 5 boxes, so I'm done, but you can still go to Food Lion and get Frosted Flakes Grab 'n go for F-R-E-E!
How? Just go to the cereal isle and pull a $1 off any Kellogg's cereal coupon off of the little coupon dispenser and the Frosted Flakes Grab-n-Go boxes are on sale for only .99 cents! They are actually paying YOU a penny to take them! Not kidding! Like I said, I've already got 5 boxes, so my daughter is going to have these babies in her lunch for a very long time! I don't think there is a limit on how many you can get, but I only got one or two at a time.

Also, did you know at UKROPS, they have a "thrift" section? It only happens once every day from 7am-9am. You go to the back of the store in the meat section and they have trays and trays of things that will expire either that day or the next and they are 33 percent off! I have gotten cupcakes, NICE steak filets, italian sausage w/peppers and onions, veggie trays....oh, the list goes on! Better to get their right at 7am to get the best picks!

At KROGER, well...not the actual store, but online, if you "design" a bag online, they will give you a FREE tote bag! Just click here to get started!

Well, that is it for now, but I look forward to posting more great deals!

Mailbox Monday

2009-04-06T06:06:00.000-07:00

If you need some inspiration on how to save money, I seriously want you to check out this blog! It's www.afrugalfriend.blogspot.com (I also have it listed on my fav. links)
Check out what she got for free!!! I am amazed and inspired!!!!!

Happy 1st Birthday Aron!!!!

2009-04-04T04:49:00.000-07:00

Well, it's here. I knew this day was coming. I am just a mess today!
I can't believe my little guy is one year old!!! Where DOES the time go?? Seriously, it feels like it was just last week that I posted I was pregnant with him!

Happy Birthday baby boy! I love you SOOOO much!!!!!
1st picture:

First Birthday picture:

Rakin' in the deals!!!

2009-03-31T11:35:00.000-07:00

I spent about 3 hours yesterday "couponing". And I'm not talking about collecting coupons and putting them in an organizer. I'm talking about comparing/contrasting all ads, looking up deals online...etc.
They pay-off was FANTASTIC!!!!!!
I got all of my groceries for the week for $53 (this included formula, diapers and 3 pkgs. wipes, too!!!!!!
At Walgreens this week, here is what I got and only spent about $3.....
-True Shimmer Chapstick
-Skintimate Shaving gel
-two boxes of Life cereal
-two bottles of Softsoap body wash

I am SSSOOOOOO excited!!!!!!!
There is also a website that you can go to and enter to receive their coupons, too! It's www.afullcup.com AND you have a chance to win a $25 Amex gift certificate! Double bonus!

Well, I'm busy preparing for Aron's 1st birthday this Saturday!!! (wow! A year has FLOWN by!!)
I'll be posting more about that later!!!

Oh, what a weekend!

2009-03-23T06:05:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was the West End Assembly of God (aka WEAG) consignment sale! Like many others, I volunteered for this sale so that I could shop the early volunteer sale.
I got there an hour early and there was already about 20 people in front of me! This is just the volunteer sale! By the time the doors opened, there was about 100 or so people behind me! This sale is H-U-G-E!
I found a lot of great deals, but I think the fall/winter sale is much better. I'm not sure why. I guess parents try to get rid of everything before Christmas to make room for the new stuff.
Since my son LOVES Thomas the Tank Engine, here are some cute finds:

I also found some really cute clothes. Sleeveless rompers are so 'presh!

On Saturday, I had to work at the Y from 8:15-11:15, then off to volunteer at the sale, then bring Alex to her first softball game of the season, then off to JC Penney's to get her a dress for the Girl Scouts Father/Daughter dance. Go back to the game, pick her up, bring her home, get her ready and off she and Eddie went to the dance. Whew!!!!
I will post some pictures of the dance later, but they had a great time.
On Sunday, our church is starting a great ministry for kids. They can sign up to be on different teams (drama, dance, STOMP, Human Video). Alex wanted to be on the dance team. This reminds me so much of TRBC growing up and being on ministry teams.
They practice at church 12:30-3:00 and then throughout the year, they will be going to various nursing homes...etc. and performing.
I can't wait for her to enter the middle school ministry. They have some GREAT programs for kids, too!

WEAG Spring/Summer Consignment sale!!!!!

2009-03-20T11:23:00.000-07:00

It's Here! It's Here! THe BIGGEST consignment sale of the year!!! WOOHOO!
Remember last year I stood in that lame line for the WEAG consignment sale? Well friends, this year I am volunteering at that sale. Why, you might ask? So that I can shop the volunteer sale!!! If you volunteer at this sale, you get to shop before anyone else!
This sale is so huge that (I hear)there is even a long line to get in just for the volunteers! I won't be bringing my camera as I am going to have my hands full and I don't need a camera to weigh me down! OMG! I can't tell you how 'stoked I am about this sale!!! It's the BEST feeling!!!
I can't wait to post about it later!

First Haircut!

2009-03-18T11:04:00.000-07:00

I am so sad! Aron had his first haircut today and now he looks like a little boy, not a little baby! I can't believe how fast this little guy is growing! It's crazy!
We went to this great little place here in Richmond called Pigtails and Crewcuts and they did a great job! They even put in his favorite tv show, Thomas the Tank Engine! That kept him still, so they could do their job! For what I paid for the dang haircut, they should have let me keep the dvd!!! I just wanted to go someplace special for his first haircut, so from here on out, it's the good 'ole barber shop for this little man!
The BEFORE:

DURING:

AND AFTER:

And this is just a random video of him making this little noise. It's hard to explain, so just take a look. He was doing this while we were walking around the mall this morning. Everyone who heard him got a little chuckle out of it!

Top 'O The Mornin' To Ya!

2009-03-17T04:18:00.000-07:00

Happy Saint Patrick's Day, Y'all!!!!!
Well, the little leprechauns came and visited us last night and caused a bit of choas. They always leave little green foot prints everywhere and the pot of gold was what you see here:

Then, I made Alex some green eggs. She wanted to have a "side" of ham, but we didn't have any. I know the eggs look like broccoli. She likes to cut up her eggs into tiny pieces. Don't ask why.

Traditionally, our St. Patrick's Day dinner consists of corned beef and cabbage, but corned beef is REALLY fattening, so, we are opting for a low-fat version of Fish and Chips! Some baked tilapia with home made mashed potatoes (colored green, of course!)
I have a TON of running around today, but I'll definitely post later what kind of cupcake I opted for and post my critique for it!

Home Alone :(

2009-03-16T04:52:00.001-07:00

I'm all by my lonesome this week. Eddie is off on a business trip until Thursday. I just don't know what to do with myself! Eddie ALWAYS makes the coffee in the morning, so I tried making it today and after 3 tries, I finally got it (somewhat) right! I have off today, so I will definitely be taking my little guy to the gym so that he can play with his friends (seriously, they are his friends! The exact same people come to our gym every day and everyone knows everyone!) and I can work on my abs! I really can't walk or run right now because my personal trainer whooped my butt on Saturday! I entered a Biggest Loser Contest at work with some friends of mine. It's myself, 3 of my friends and Eddie and our team name is "4 Bikini's and a Speedo". The contest ends in August, so fingers crossed we can pull out a win!
Anyhow, since tomorrow is St. Patty's Day, (which we all know is a BIG deal at my house - see THIS POST ) I have to prepare today! This means getting some Lucky Charms, cutting out the feet, making a card....etc. Alex now knows that there are no Leprechauns, but she still wants me to do these things for her! She also wants to help me do this for Aron, too. I guess I'll have to do two sets of footprints?
There is also a new cupcake boutique that opened here in Richmond that I am WAY TOO excited about! It's dangerously close to my house. It's called Two Sweet and tomorrow they are making special St. Patrick's Day cupcakes.
Which one to choose:

little leprechaun
sweet vanilla cake infused with shamrock sprinkles, topped with vanilla buttercream and more shamrocks

irish coffee
bailey's irish cream cupcake filled with espresso cream, topped with bailey's european buttercream

lucky charm
sweet vanilla cake filled with marshmallow cream, topped with the palest of green european buttercreams and lucky charms

chocolate stout
deep chocolate cake baked with guiness stout, topped with our crazy good cream cheese icing and chocolate sprinkles

I'll post tomorrow and let you know!
Also this week - Spring Cleaning and decorating!!!!! Spring can't get here fast enough!!!!!

Cold...Hot!

2009-03-08T13:14:00.000-07:00

Well, I just don't know WHAT to make of this weather lately! It's 85 degrees out today!!!
Just a few days ago, we had this! -

Now, today is HOT outside and we are in our Summer clothes! -

This was taken after church this morning. I LOVE little boy's smocks! I got a ton of them at a consignment sale recently! I was TOO excited to put them on him already!

Some catching up....

2009-03-06T04:54:00.000-08:00

I've been so busy lately!!!
Let me catch up here. Last week I was in Washington D.C. for some training for my job with HelmsBriscoe. It was awesome! They put us up at the Liaison Hotel on Capitol Hill and we were treated like royalty! It's so fabulous being "woo'ed" by other cities and hotels!
Then, this past weekend we were blessed by a whopping 10 inches of snow! School was closed all week and then yesterday we were two hours late. I thought I was going to go crazy with Alex in this house all day, but we were able to venture out a bit to avoid some serious cabin fever.
Then, on Wednesday, I was in a bad car crash. The car is completely totaled. My wrist is sprained, but other than that, I am good. Thank GOD no kids were in the car with me. The bad news is, we still owe money on the car, so what the insurance company gives us, we will have to use it to pay off the car. So, we are down to one car. This is very challenging as now I have to walk to work, which is going to S-U-C-K! My job is just about 1 mile away and I used to voluntarily walk to work during the fall, but with this crazy weather we have been having, I'm not sure how I feel about it.
Here is a picture of the car.....

We absolutely can't afford another car, so please pray that someone out there has a "beater" they can donate to our family or for a REALLY cheap price! I just need something to get Aron and I to work and back.
These are some tough times we are living in and let me tell you, we are definitely feeling it!

You gotta love Mel Gibson

2009-02-23T11:35:00.000-08:00

This is absolutely the best thing I've seen in a very long time!!!
Check out Mel Gibson's new "movie"...

Happy Valentines Day!

2009-02-14T08:08:00.000-08:00

I love Valentines Day!
Today I will be making my loved ones some yummy cupcakes with homemade strawberry butter cream icing! Yum!!!!
Of course, Aron can't have any sugar yet, so he will have to settle for some pureed strawberries and bananas!!!
I have so much to love about my husband on this Valentines Day, so this post is dedicated to Eddie.
As most of you know, I met Eddie when Alexandra was 6 months old. He instantly fell in love with her and had no qualms about stepping in as her father. He is the absolute best dad I have ever seen. When Alex was a baby, he would change her diapers, give her baths, even pick up her "mess" when she got sick! (so, he got plenty of experience and was ready for Aron!) I knew he was the one for me when I saw how much he loved me, by loving Alexandra so much.
It's been 10 1/2 years that we have been together, 9 of them in which we have been married and I am so thankful that he is in my life.
Happy Valentines Eddie and I love you SO much!

Throwing a ball and a fit!

2009-02-04T11:35:00.000-08:00

Well, as I mentioned a couple of posts ago, Aron is learning new things everyday it seems! I thought I'd capture some of these moments on camera.
This first one is of him throwing a ball....

Then, here is a little video of him throwing a fit! For all you girls out there who say "Oh, he seems so happy, does he EVER cry??!" He LOVED this truck when he got it for Christmas, but has now suddenly developed a fear of it??

Happy Valentines Day to ME!

2009-02-03T04:33:00.001-08:00

Woohoo!!! My Valentines swap came today! Caroline had me and let me just tell you, she is SO creative! This girl puts me to shame! Firstly, kudos for packing it in such a cute padded envelope! I love it! She attached a note to each and every item with a cute little ribbon! Thanks for putting so much time into it!
My daughter was SUPER excited (even though it is not for her) and she begged me if she could open it. She gave me the whole sob story that she never gets mail....so, I caved and let her open it, but as she took the things out of the package I took pictures of each thing!
Here is the beautiful package (excuse the coaster, but I had to cover up addressess! This is a public blog, y'all!)

The "R" luggage tag! Which I will definitely use this May when I go to Miami!

Yummy chocolates! These are SO not good for my diet! Too bad I ate them all already!

Valentines Day notecard set! (Caroline, be on the look out for one of these back to ya, girl!)

Valentines Day dish towels! I don't have any Valentines ones, so these are perfect!

Playful pez! I seriously feel like a kid again! I had to FIGHT my daughter for these! I won, of course!

And of course I had to get a picture of myself in there to prove I was there when we opened the package! 'Yea, that's right! I'm posin' hard! Ha! Ha!
These are the cutest spatula's ever!!!!

And by popular request, here is a recent picture of my little man! His recent obsession is Thomas and Friends. He wore some pajamas last night with pictures of Thomas on them and he wouldn't stop looking and pointing at his pajamas!
Also, he is crawling, throwing a ball, saying "da da", "baby", "by bye"!!! I'm such a proud mommy! Now, if I could just get HIM to say "momma"!!!! Videos to come soon!

THANK YOU SO MUCH CAROLINE! It's so great to have a new blogger friend!

Okay. I have to say something....

2009-01-30T11:55:00.000-08:00

As I am sure you have all heard, some woman this past week gave birth to eight babies at once! Firstly, I can't even imagine what her body has gone through, but I wasn't reluctant to call her "Superwoman" at first, I'll tell you that! I know fertility drugs are probably a last case scenario for some women who have a hard time getting pregnant and I know it's fabulous when it works properly. Regardless, God blessed her family with 8 children and life is a beautiful thing.
SCREETCH! Halt!
I just found out that this "Superwoman" is only in her twenties! Wait. It gets crazier. She ALREADY has 6 kids!!!!! Wait. Yes--it gets crazier! Her husband is set to return to Iraq very soon! Wait. EVEN CRAZIER- She STILL lives at home with her mother in a two bedroom house!!!!
WHAT??!!!
Why on earth would you go and try so hard to have more children when you know your husband isn't going to be there and you have no place (literally) to even put those babies??!!! She already has 6 kids!
Maybe she is thinking if she has her kids "Duggar-Style" she will get her own tv show or something? Too bad the Duggars are financially and mentally stable and have a house large enough for their children (WAY Prior to their TV show). They also allow God to guide them as far as how many children they have.
Ugh....sorry if I offend anyone, but this kind of stuff just makes me sick.

The Bachelor

2009-01-27T12:57:00.000-08:00

Okay. Many of you know that I have been watching this season of the Bachelor. I don't know why...but I can't stop watching it!!!
There are just SO many things that I have to talk about (or shall I say vent)!
For one, why does Jillian ALWAYS wear ALL of her hair to ONE side??!!!
Also, who does Lauren think she is??!! Apparently she thought she was better than everyone else because last week Jason asked her opinion of who is talking trash in the house and now she thinks she is his #1 girl. WRONG! buh-bye, Lauren!
And Nikki- Is there ANYTHING she doesn't cry about?? Why is singing so traumatic to her? She was a beauty queen for goodness sake! She should be used to doing things in front of people! Sorry-you can't use the excuse that because you are a self proclaimed "perfectionist" for everything! Get on some anti-anxiety drugs, honey.
And last but not least....SHANNON!! I am going to miss her. Everyone loves the crazy girl!
Where do I begin??! She *finally* kissed Jason and thought it was real! What?! It was acting!!!
Also, in the scene where they are sitting on the sofa- WAY TOO MUCH lip gloss! She went to wipe her lips and pieces of the black napkin stuck to her lips! Then, after her little crying spell, she started picking her nose in front of Jason and didn't even try to hide it!!!
My favorite crazy moment of the night .................................
Shannon said she was going to go home and get the electric tooth brush and brush her dogs teeth and french kiss them!!!!!!! Those POOR, POOR DOGS! Someone call the PETA stat!!!

Busy Times.....

2009-01-23T19:30:00.000-08:00

Whew! It's about time I updated this blog!!!
I have just been busy, busy, busy!!!!!
For one, I have some FANTASTIC news to share.....
I have a new job!!!
I am a Regional Manager for a company called HelmsBriscoe.
I plan National Conventions, Meetings, Events for various companies and organizations. The BEST part of my job is that I get to work from home!
I'm already working on my first meeting and I'm really excited! I also get to travel a little bit (which I really miss, actually), but I get to bring the family :)
If you know someone who is associated with a company or organization that plans annual meetings, let me know and I'll be happy to help them out! It costs them nothing. HelmsBriscoe is the largest meeting planning company in the world and the hotels actually pay us to bring them business! It doesn't have to be in the Richmond, VA area, either. In fact, I'm working with someone now who works in Dallas, TX, and I am planning their meeting in Orlando for 2010!
I am still working at the YMCA part time, but mostly because I really enjoy it and it gives Aron a chance to mingle with other babies his age and gives Alex a chance to work out.
So, as you can see, I have been quite the busy little bee lately!
I hope to post some pictures here very soon. My stupid batteries in my camera went dead!

Deal fo the Day!!

2009-01-17T15:35:00.000-08:00

If you didn't know already, two of my favorite things to do are bargain shop and cooking and baking!
What happens when you get the best of both worlds??! Well, it happened today and I was VERY excited! Someone blogged about this book a while ago (I think it was Donna?) and I never got a chance to go out and get it a copy of it and to be honest, I kind of forgot about it.
Well, now that Aron is getting older, I know he is going to hate vegetables. My husband isn't too crazy about veggies either, so this cookbook is great!
I found this little gem today at Five Below for only $5!!!!! Seriously...I have to say it again....$5!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The cover price is $24.95!!!
Apparently, someone had come out with a similar cookbook prior to Jessica Seinfeld's book and they are in the process of a lawsuit against her. I personally don't think Jessica Seinfeld copied her book (The Sneaky Chef), but I'm not going to complain that I get to benefit financially from all of this!
If you live in the Richmond, VA area, they have about 25 left at the Five Below on Broad Street. If you don't live in Richmond, but you do have a Five Below in your neck of the woods, it's worth checking out to see if they have it there. I am LOVING this book!!!

Not so good times for my baby boy

2009-01-16T12:08:00.001-08:00

Sorry I have been slacking in the "post" department lately. My poor little guy has had RSV pretty much since January 2nd :(
The first go 'round was terrible and this second time is even worse than the first. He is on a nebulizer, anitbiotics and steroids for his lungs. It just makes me SO sad. I just about cry every time I have to give him a breathing treatment.
Please pray for him, that the Lord will heal him and that he will not have asthma in the future.
Also, another sad thing that happened this week was I went to Alex's new middle school for a curriculum fair. MIDDLE SCHOOL! It just hit me as I was sitting their in the gym listening to the principal speak about how "awesome" middle school is and I just can't believe how big my little girl is. Middle school is just such a hard time for any kid. All's I got to say is this girl is NOT riding the school bus!
So, all in all, I am just super sad. I really hope next week is a much happier week for my family.

New Year, New Blog Title

2009-01-07T11:12:00.000-08:00

Well, now that I'm not working full-time and counting down the minutes until 5 o'clock, I decided to change the name of my blog to "Good Times, Good Times".
I've ALWAYS been a fan of SNL and one of the recurring skits they have on there (or used to) is "Delicious Dish". And since I'm ALWAYS saying "Good times, good times"(which is a very famous phrase on "Delicious Dish", it only seemed appropriate that this be the title of my blog.
For many reasons. Life is full of "Good Times" and I certainly pray that 2009 will bring more GOOD TIMES!!!!

I know it's been a while....

2009-01-06T06:54:00.001-08:00

It seems like it's been forever since I update my blog!!! Well, a brief recap would be:
Christmas: Went to the 'burg and spent Christmas with family. Ran into some old friends at church. Finally got that pancake griddle I've been wanting and Alex got a video camera.
New Years: Spent at home w/other side of family. Made a New Year resolution to lose the rest of this baby weight! I've also picked a word to identify myself for 2009..."Bound". Bound to lose this weight, bound to keep my home squeeky clean, bound to grow in the Lord and teach my children to do the same.
I also challenge you to pick a word for yourself. Head on over to www.tipjunkie.blogspot.com and enter their contest for your word for 2009.
Recently: Aron has been really sick. I took him to the Dr. yesterday and he tested positive for RSV. He's just SO sad:( Please pray for a quick recovery.
-My favorite TV shows are back on the air!!! Woohoo!!!
1. The Bachelor: I absolutely LOVE this guy, Jason. I was so wishing Deanna picked him last season, but she picked Jesse instead. Now, apparently, Deanna and Jesse have broken up and in the preview for this season of the Bachelor, Deanna comes back and asks Jason for another chance. OH NO SHE DIDN'T!!!! He better tell her "Don't let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya!" FOR REAL!!!! Is she serious!!!???
2. American Idol: Sadly, I am addicted to this show. Going on my eighth year now.
3. 24: Jack Bauer, need I say more?? Adrenaline rush!
4. Lost: This show always leaves me wanting more!
5. The Office: I heart Michael Scott! That show is hilarious!

Thank GOD for TIVO! I would normally NEVER have time to watch all these shows!

Well, that's about it for now. I'll post some pictures when I have a little more time. Right now my time is being totally consumed by my little sick boy.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

2008-12-24T17:11:00.000-08:00

Aron had SUCH a fun time Christmas Caroling! (in case you couldn't tell!)

"Flame"!!!!

2008-12-18T19:18:00.001-08:00

I have been struggling on what to buy Eddie for Christmas. Well, my search has ended today. I finally found the perfect gift!
Ladies and Gents, I bring you Eddie's Christmas Gift....."FLAME".....

"Behold the scent of seduction, with a hint of flame broiled meat".
This is the new men's cologne BK is currently selling!!! This website was cracking me up! If you have some spare time, you have to see this for yourself!
http://www.firemeetsdesire.com/

Merry Christmas!!.....To ME!!!!!!!

2008-12-10T13:32:00.000-08:00

Wooohooo!!!!! My blogswap gift game today!!!! Could the post office have been ANY slower in getting this package to me??! Angela had me and she sent it on December
3rd and today is the 10th! I have been waiting and waiting and waiting! Every day I hear the mail truck pull up and I would go to look out my window to see if they would be delivering a box to my door. Well......today it FINALLY happened!!!! I'm SOOOOO excited!!!!!

I'm not certain, but I'm pretty sure my mail lady thinks I'm crazy. Hand over that box, woman!

This girl went ALL out!!! First off, I have known Angela since we were about 10 years old or so. I remember the first time I met her, we played Hungry Hungry Hippo's and we were acting really loud and crazy! I was SO glad there was someone else out there that enjoyed my quirky humor (other than me, of course)! We went to school together, cheered together...I could go ON and ON..... Anyhow, my point is that it is really special to me that I was chosen as the recipient of her swap!
Thank you so much Angela!

Now, onto the goods:
As soon as I got my package in the house, I plopped on the floor and ripped it open!

First, check out that packaging!

The first thing I grabbed were these babies! I LOVE me some Ande's Candies!!! I love using these to make these cookies!

Next, I saw this beautifully wrapped candle that smells like Christmas Cookies! It's already lit and the aroma of cookies are in the air!!!

Next, I grabbed this. I didn't want to unwrap it, but I'm glad I did! It was Mint 3 Musketeers!!! Yummy!!!!

Here we have some snowflake plates and napkins! Perfect for Christmas or winter parties!

A gift card to Starbucks (wonderfully wrapped, I might add!) and I LOVE Starbucks!

I used to subscribe to this magazine, but since I stopped working full-time, it was one of the things we had to cut back on, so I am SO glad to have it! I think I'll take this up to Starbucks tomorrow while I drink my Peppermint Latte!

Now that the cold weather is approaching, I'll be needing these! They are so soft and pretty!

And last but not least, a warm, red, fuzzy blanket to snuggle in next to my fireplace!

Thank you SO VERY MUCH, Angela! You are awesome!

Christmas Lights!

2008-12-09T13:49:00.000-08:00

I just love Christmas lights! The other night, we had the privilege of visiting Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden's "Festival of Lights". For those of you not familiar with Lewis Ginter, it is the largest Botanical Gardens on the east coast! Every year, they decorate ALL of the gardens with extravagent lights! This year, Alex's class made ornaments for one of the trees there. The theme for their class tree was "Garden Gnomes". Each child molded a gnome out of clay and painted it.
Here is the tree. Notice the "topper" (It was the best picture I could get! That place was CROWDED!)

Here is a close up of the "gnome" Alex made....isn't it....um...beautiful!!??

Here is the proud owner of said ornament:

Now, each year the gardens have a theme for their lights. Last year it was fish (I think) and this year it's.......SPIDERS!!! Ugghhh...they couldn't have chosen ANYTHING ELSE??!!

Those spiders were everywhere! Finally, we took shelter in the greenhouse, where I spotted this beauty! I love it!!!! I think I'll do this theme on my tree next year!

Also, this has nothing to do with this post, but Aron is cracking me up! He LOVES the camera! He was falling asleep in his high chair and my camera makes a little noise before it actually takes the picture and as SOON as he heard it he woke up and flashed a VERY sleepy smile!!! Ha! Ha! Ha!

These are a few of my "favorite" trees......

2008-12-01T05:44:00.001-08:00

Ok.....deep breaths.....
I haven't gotten my Christmas Tree yet this year, because I am up in the air as to how I want to decorate it. I am so sick of the "same 'ole, same 'ole" every year!
Anyhow, I wanted to get some creative ideas, so where did I go to look, you might ask? The 2008 Worldwide Christmas Tree Contest, of course! (You really have to go to this website when you have some time. It is hilarious!)
I thought they would DEFINITELY have some REALLY GREAT trees there! UUUUUUMMMMMMM.....yea....well.....lets just say I don't feel so bad about my "same 'ole, same 'ole" tree anymore! Here are some of my "favorites":

Here we have the classic upside down tree (I thought that was just a "Y2K" thing??

Do you see what I see????? Are you serious???

Why even try? Definitely not contest worthy:

I think there is a tree under there somewhere:

Holy Ribbons!:

Hmmmm..."crafty"...but not something I'd want to put presents under:

How many tissues do you think they had to go through for this one?? I call this one, the "Space Saver":

Okay...this IS a Christmas Tree contest, guys! This living room just SCREAMS "Close Encounters of a Third Kind"!

I give this one an "A" for most decorations used in a background:

This is what Christmas Trees will look like in the future (even matches his "trendy" clock):

And in all seriousness, here is pretty much the ONE tree I found on there that I liked, but unfortunately, there is no way I could pull it off!:

99 Balloons

2008-11-24T03:38:00.000-08:00

I saw this video this weekend and I just can't stop thinking about how strong these parents are! God is so good and we are just so blessed for every day on this earth! This Thanksgiving, remember to be thankful for everything we have and not dwell on those things that we don't have.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! (grab some tissues before you view the video)

Gobble, Gobble!

2008-11-19T17:54:00.000-08:00

My son is gonna just LOVE these pictures when he gets older! Ha! I made this costume out of a sweatshirt, felt and feathers. I used his bib as the "gobbler".
I made some homemade treats and then dressed him up as a turkey and brought him up to Eddie's work and we passed out the goodies! It was so funny walking Aron from the car to the building because it was really windy outside and his little feathers were going all over the place. I can only imagine what people thought!
Then, afterwards we went outside and it was snowing!! I think I'm starting to get the itch to decorate for Christmas!

A Christmas Blog Swap!

2008-11-14T05:18:00.001-08:00

How exciting! I've never participated in a blog swap before, so I think this will be fun! Head on over to http://seasonalblogswap.blogspot.com/ to sign up to participate! Yay! I love this time of year :)

Gotta love the free stuff!!!

2008-11-12T17:40:00.000-08:00

A good deal is one thing, but free stuff is even better! And, well, let's face it, money is a little tight this year! So, just wanted to share that I will be posting a LOT about different giveaways and such on here throughout the holiday season.

On a different note.....are these two "separated at birth" or what??!

Just in time for the holidays giveaway!

2008-11-12T17:20:00.000-08:00

There is a website called skip to my lou that has great ideas for Christmas cards! They are giving away 5 digital downloads to 5 lucky winners. I suggest you stop by there and check it out!

Giveaways

2008-11-11T12:24:00.000-08:00

Okay, here is the deal. I go to this website http://www.tipjunkie.blogspot.com to get all kinds of really cool craft ideas. Right now, they are doing a "12 days of Christmas" giveaway and they are giving away some really cool stuff! I suggest you stop by the website and enter!

A little catching up here.....

2008-11-06T11:08:00.000-08:00

I'm not even going to talk about the election because I'm so disappointed and mad (see below post) for several reasons!
SO, on to Halloween!
We had such a good time in Lynchburg this year Trick or Treating! We went to my old neighborhood (the one I spent most of my childhood in), Poplar Forest, and it just brought back so many memories!
Check out this house! They went ALL out....You'll have to excuse the girls, but this was literally the last house and they had taken off their wigs. My niece and her friend were supposed to be Hannah Montana and Alex was a hippie. The wigs were SO gone by this point!

Aron was Mickey Mouse....

Just kidding! He was a monkey! But isn't that picture of him in the basket precious??!

We also helped my parents move to their new house. The house conveniently came with a new dog! This guy is HUGE! The picture doesn't really do it justice, but I thought he was a polar bear! He is not even one year old yet! Apparently, the people that lived their before couldn't take him with them, so my dad said he could just stay there. He's really sweet, though :)

Enough is enough...let's move on, people!

2008-11-05T19:28:00.000-08:00

I have a ton of catching up to do, which I plan on doing in the morning, but I just visited the CNN homepage to find this:

Are you serious?? Like they couldn't do "anything" before Obama was elected President?? I know TONS of extremely successful African Americans who actually saw this article and laughed. How stupid! I hate CNN!

Still loving Autumn!

2008-10-27T19:41:00.000-07:00

So, this past weekend was a LOT of fun!
I went with Alex's girl scout troop to Carter's Mountain in Charlottesville to pick apples. I havent picked apples since I was about Alex's age, so it was SO much fun! I had no idea this place existed! Carter's Mountain is HUGE! They have acres and acres of every kind of apple you can think of and they also have a gigantic vineyard. They make their own apple cider, apple cider donuts, apple pie, apple butter...well, you get the idea. Apple everything! I am SO going to come here every year to go apple picking!

Check out those Red Delicious!!!

But the favorite of the day was Golden Delicious!

I also have another dilemma. My little Aron.
Problem #1 - He has grown out of his bouncy seat (obviously), but isn't 100% sitting up on his own, yet. He will fall over after a while of just sitting there.

Problem #2 - His hair. It is out of control! Should I cut it? Alex was two years old when she got her first hair cut! I just feel so bad cutting it while he is so small :(

His hair reminds me of something....oh yea....THIS:

There are some people in our neighborhood that go ALL OUT for Halloween. Take a look at this house.....check out the eyes in the window!

Some of my new favorite things...

2008-10-16T17:12:00.000-07:00

I just HAD to share with you some of my recent "finds".
Okay, first....
Wendy's Frosties are the BEST! I went there today to get a baked potato and saw on the menu that you can buy 10 Frosty coupons for just ONE DOLLAR! What a deal! Not to mention your dollar goes to charity :)

Next, are two of my new favorite teas. Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride and Gingerbread Spice. I LOVE Celestial Seasonings and these flavors are to die for!!!

Lastly, Fig Newton Crisps. Ahhhh....I love sitting down at night, catching up on some of my favorite tv shows, while sipping on my Sugar Cookie Sleigh ride tea and eating some of these Fig Newton Crisps. Also, they are only 100 calories per pack! WAAAYYY better than those chincy "100 calorie packs" we all get suckered into buying! And besides, you had a Wendy's Frosty earlier today, so easy on the calories!!!!

You MUST watch this!!! AND, pass it along!!!!

2008-10-13T10:15:00.000-07:00

A little slow on the posts here....

2008-10-13T06:23:00.001-07:00

It has been FOREVER it seems, since I blogged!
Let's see, to catch up, my parents were in town last week and we had a lot of fun :)
We just walked around one of the malls here, went and grabbed something to eat and just enjoyed each other's company.
They were shocked to see how big little Aron is!

This past week was a bit crazy as I picked up some extra shifts at work. I did, however, manage to fit in making thumbprint cookies and caramel apples with Alex. YUM!!!!
Aron has also kept us busy as he is already getting one of his top front teeth!!! You can barely see it, but I guess that would explain all of his fussiness :(

On Friday night, the family headed off to Tom Leonards. This is an October tradition for our family. They are a fresh produce marketplace here in town and during the month of October on Friday nights, they have free movie night. Let me set the scene for you....It's an outdoor event and the movie is on a big screen. Everyone sits on the provided hay bails surrounded by hundreds of pumpkins. We all sip on our hot apple cider, popcorn, hot chocolate, hot dogs and go on hay rides. Not to mention, it's all totally complimentary! The movie this past Friday was a Backyardigans Halloween movie. It was terrible, but we are looking forward to the Spongebob Squarepants Halloween movie coming up! It's all about the atmosphere anyways!!!

Also, guess who is coming to the RIC today??

That's right! I have tickets to go see her, BUT, since there were so many people requesting tickets, they ended up changing the time to later in the day, when of course, I can't go. So, my sister in law is going to go for me and taking tons of pictures. Do me proud, Sonia!!!

Well, I'm off to make my grocery list and go shopping!

Six month check up and some yummy Gazpacho

2008-10-02T14:39:00.001-07:00

Today Aron had his 6 month check up. He now officially weighs 21.10 pounds! I was also surprised to find out he has pink eye! I didn't even know he had it! His eye isn't pink or red, but he has had some gunky stuff....ugh....just another day in my wonderful life!
The weather was sooooo nice out today, I had all of the windows open and I wanted to serve something cold for dinner (sounds yummy, right? j/k). But really, I just LOVE this time of year!
When I would travel everywhere, I had many different versions of Gazpacho soup. This is a vegetable soup that is served cold. It is realllly good! Well, I decided to make my own today and it is DELICIOUS! I will definitely be making it again! I tailored it more to fit my taste (and time)- I bought store cooked shrimp and used that. Here is a picture my creation and the recipe is below.

This recipe is actually a Rachael Ray recipe, so I really can't take credit for it!

1/4 English cucumber, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 small red onion, coarsely chopped
1 7-ounce jar Piquillo peppers in water (I didn't use these)
1 jalapeño pepper, cut lengthwise and seeded
1 clove garlic, coarsely chopped
A splash of tomato or vegetable juice
1 28-ounce can diced fire-roasted tomatoes
1 slice white bread, crusts trimmed and torn into large pieces
1 handful cilantro leaves, removed from stems
Salt and ground black pepper
Hot sauce, to taste
Zest and juice of 3 limes, divided
1 pound large to jumbo shrimp
1 tablespoon EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil, plus extra for drizzling
1 tablespoon smoked sweet paprika (I didn't use this)

In a food processor, add the cucumber, onion, peppers, garlic and juice to the processor bowl and pulse until roughly chopped. Add the tomatoes, torn bread, cilantro, salt and pepper, a few dashes of hot sauce, and the juice of 2 limes. Pulse just a few times, not to grind it up too much, but just so it is a nice chunky consistency. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

In a large bowl, toss shrimp with a drizzle of EVOO, sweet smoked paprika, lime zest, a few dashes of hot sauce, salt and ground black pepper. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add 1 tablespoon EVOO, about 1 turn of the pan. When the oil is hot, sauté the shrimp until cooked through, about 1 minute on each side. When the shrimp are finished cooking, turn the heat off and add the juice of 1 lime. Toss to coat.
Serve the Fire-Roasted Gazpacho in a shallow bowl with the shrimp on top.
I also garnished with cilantro!

Crazy Day

2008-09-29T19:24:00.000-07:00

Well, today was just an INSANE day for me! I got up early because I knew I had to run a TON of errands. Firstly, I couldn't find my keys ANYWHERE! Finally, I found them behind my coffee table. Then, I get to the mall and my hubby and I are supposed to meet for lunch. Then, of course, I go back to my car and it won't start. Battery is d-e-a-d! So, we call Geico and they can have someone come out and give us a jump start in about an hour. Well, to make a really long story short, an hour and a half later, they show up. We go to get a quote on a new battery at Sears and can you believe they wanted to charge us $189??!! What?! Do they think I'm some stupid woman who doesn't know anything about cars?? I can buy one at Auto Zone for under $80 bucks.
Then, I start feeling sick...almost flu-like symptoms, but I take an Aleve and I suck it up and go to work. I really love my job, I just was not feeling good at all.
Well, a lot of other crappy things happened today, but there is something that made everything ALL better...I mean..it truly made my day! The BEST thing happened and I caught it ALL on camera and here it is! Enjoy!

I had started doing this to Aron saying "I'm going to eat you up...yes I am!" and he would laugh really hard when I got to the "Yes I am" part. So, Alex gave it a go and there you have it!

Notice Anything New?

2008-09-21T16:46:00.000-07:00

I decided to "pimp" my blog a bit! Hope you like!
This weekend Alex went with her Girl Scout troop to Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg. She is SO tired! She went to bed at 7:30 tonight! Incredible! Those girls must have gotten NO sleep!
I am tired as well. I am working a double shift tomorrow, which will make it a full 6 hour work day for me. This should be interesting!
Trader Joe's opens this Friday and I am extremely excited!
Speaking of excited, I went to the biggest consignment sale here in Richmond this past Saturday. I thought I would outsmart the crowd and get there 30 minutes before it opened. Looks like I wasn't the only one thinking. This was the line IN FRONT of me going in.

By the time 8 o'clock rolled around, this is what it looked like behind me. That's not the end of the line, by the way. It curves around to the left. It was insane to say the least.

I got some GREAT deals! I found this gem for only $3.50! It plays music and is so much fun! I can't wait until Aron is old enough to play with it! Can we say Christmas present??

I also got a ton of books (for both Alex and Aron), a cool playdough set for Alex (only .50 cents!) pajamas, toys, bathtub toys, pack of 6 bibs, a Classic Pooh jack in the box, bag of brand new socks and a Baby Einstein dvd. My total for everything? $18.75! Cha-Ching!
Oh, and by the way, be sure to catch The Rachael Ray show tomorrow because John & Cindy McCain will be on there!

Chanel

2008-09-18T06:59:00.001-07:00

If you missed the Coco Chanel movie on Lifetime, I strongly urge you to see if you can rent it on Netflix! I have a WHOLE new appreciation for Chanel. I was hesitant at first to watch it, in fear that it would be boring, but boy was I wrong! What an amazing story! Talk about girl power!

Yesterday I worked and then after work I took a Zumba class. Now, I've been taking Zumba for quite a while and I have had many different instructors. Some are easier than others. Well, let me tell you something, this woman last night was insane! This class should have been Zumba for experts! The whole class was lost and a many walked out early because it was SO hard! Now, I WAS warned about this lady, but I did it anyways! I am SO sore all over today! I should have known I was in trouble when she walked in and was dressed like an army general. I couldn't find a picture of someone wearing the complete outfit, but here is basically what she was wearing, only her pants were tucked into the boots. It was hard core!!!

And what was I wearing, you might be wondering? I was proudly displaying my McCain/Palin t-shirt and a pair of work out pants! Surprisingly, I got a lot of positive comments on my shirt. I was just waiting for someone to say something negative....I was actually hoping someone would, but no one did.

Ahhhhh....Autumn!!!!!

2008-09-14T17:23:00.000-07:00

I am really excited for Autumn! I wish it wasn't 100 degrees outside so that I could REALLY feel like it was Autumn!
I brought out the 'ole Fall decorations and Aron went crazy over the lights in my garland! It was hilarious!

I also found some Hershey Kisses that are Pumpkin Spice flavored. Sounds good, huh? Well, I thought so too, but BLEH!!!! They are Waaaaaaaayy too sweet! I might melt them down and use them to decorate some pumpkin shaped sugar cookies.
Buyers beware!!!!

I am also excited about voting for our next President, which obviously won't happen until November. But, I just get really excited about the thought of it! I always take Alex with me, so she can see me and get acclamated to the whole process.
Which brings me to my next little tidbit.....Obama Waffles!

These things are HILARIOUS!!! You HAVE to go to this website www.obamawaffles.com . They have a section of all of the things Obama is for and against and it will just blow your mind!
I just ordered my McCain-Palin T-shirt today and I'm thinking about buying some of these waffles. I am sure they will be worth quite a bit of money in the future. They are kind of controversial, but come on.....look at all of the stuff they (left wingers and media) have put poor Sarah Palin through! This is NOTHING compared to that! If anyone watched the View last week, you can understand how I and many others feel right now!!!
And other "big news", Aron's two front bottom teeth just broke through! Unfortunately, he has a fever and "bowel problems". Please ignore the eye sleepies, he just woke up from his nap and I didn't even see them until I looked at this picture! Gross!!! I'm usually all over those things!!!

Isn't Alex getting so big??! Today was just one of those days that I looked at her and was like - did you age by 3 years overnight??

Well, tomorrow I'm cooking and baking up a storm to save time later this week!
Good times...good times!

Whew! What a weekend!

2008-09-09T05:19:00.000-07:00

Ok, well, I'll start out with Alex's brush with fame. We received an "exclusive" invitation in the mail to meet Alyson Stoner at our local mall. If you don't know who Alyson Stoner is, she is in the movie Camp Rock. For folks my age, you might have recognized her from the Missy Elliott music video "Work It" from a few years back - she was the little "white girl". Anyhow, this movie is ALL the rage here in Richmond among 8-15 year olds. It's very similar to High School Musical.

Anyhow, since Alex is a HUGE fan of the movie, I decided to take her because 1. I don't take her concerts or anything like that, so she has never met or seen anyone that she has seen on tv AND 2. We have been lacking quality mother/daughter time lately.
So, this chick was supposed to start signing autographs at 5pm on Saturday. I thought we would get there early because I knew there was going to be a long line, so we got there at 3:30 - ok, don't laugh....just keep reading.
We get there and there is already a line of about 200 people in front of us! We decided to stick it out and wait. Good thing, because when it actually came to be 5pm the line was RIDICULOUS! I can't even tell you how many THOUSANDS of people were waiting behind us! I took a picture from where we were standing in line, but it doesn't do it justice. The whole upper level of our entire mall was one great, big line!!! Bet your not laughing at me now!!!!

So, of course all of Alex's friends were there too, and since we had such a great spot in line, they all cut in and joined us. Everybody was cutting in line to join their friends so I wasn't worried about it. Here is a picture of the gang:

Here is the BIG MOMENT. Because the line was so long, we couldn't take any "posed" pictures. Alyson told Alex she like her glasses. Alex was SOOOOOOO excited! Then, she told Alex to have a good day. All day long, Alex kept saying "Alyson Stoner told ME to have a good day"! It was so cute!

Then, it was off to home, where I thought I'd give Aron his first taste of peas. I think the pictures speak for themselves:

Doesn't he look like a grumpy old man in this one!

Well, that's all for now. Since I am off today, I am going to cook dinners for the entire week, and then reheat in the oven when ready to eat. Even though I only work 3 hours a day, chasing those kiddies around wears me out!

BOYCOTTING OPRAH

2008-09-05T14:44:00.000-07:00

I USED to love watching Oprah...that is...until today. I vow to NEVER watch her show again. Her producers and co-workers are trying to get Sarah Palin on the show, but since Oprah is an "Obamanator" she refuses to do so. How DARE she claim to be an advocate for women, yet, not allow Sarah Palin on her show?? I guess it's because she knows that Sarah Palin can put her in her place and throw facts out that prove she is more qualified than both Obama and Biden.
I would also like to point out that I LOVE that the democrats are shaking in their boots because Obama is FOR infanticide in the event that the baby has down syndrome and Sarah Palin has a beautiful baby with down syndrome--sorry, but you know well in advance that your baby has down syndrome....why kill him/her during birth???! Or at all, for that matter? There is a wonderful thing called adoption!!!
I strongly urge you to send Oprah and email via her website and let her know what you think!

It was a tragic night last night

2008-09-03T10:57:00.000-07:00

My niece, Beverly, has a friend that drowned in a pool last night. She was only 10 years old. I can't even imagine that pain this family is going through. Please pray for them.
Also, a man that works for my mom and dad shot himself in the head last night and is in the hospital. This poor man needed the Lord so badly.
Of course, please pray for both of these families and for my mom and dad and little Beverly. It's a lot to lose even just one person you know in a day, let alone two people.

My little handsome and first day of last year of elementary school :(

2008-09-02T17:37:00.000-07:00

Whew! Was that blog title long enough for you??
Today, Alex went of to school to begin her last year of elementary school:( I am soooooooo sad!!!!! I can't believe next year she will be going into middle school!! Oh, just shoot me now!!!!
She is, of course, really excited about it, however.
It's nice spending a little extra time with my little man, though.
This past weekend he FINALLY rolled over! Eddie claimed he rolled over a couple of weeks ago, but he cheated because he put Aron on his side....that doesn't count!
Also, Aron is really loving his little exersaucer! He loves Baby Einsteen, too. We have been watching Baby Mozart so much that our whole family has memorized the video. So, today I went to the library and was pleasantly surprised that they had the Baby Einstein dvd's that we could check out! Woohoo!
Here is Aron rolling over:

Here he is having fun in the exersaucer (please excuse the mess in the background...I am in the process of putting away summer stuff and taking out fall stuff!:

Good Morning to me!

2008-08-26T05:13:00.000-07:00

Like most of you, I LOVE to wake up to a clean kitchen! There's nothing like walking into the kitchen and no dishes in the sink, everything put away, everything CLEAN. Well, much to my dismay, I walk into my kitchen this morning and this is what I see all over my kitchen floor. Let's see....what do we have here....the packaging for the shrimp and chicken....Aron's clear Drop-Ins for his bottles...random paper...banana peel....flour....

Now, you might be asking yourself, what kind of thing would create such mayhem, foolishness and carrying on?? Well, here is your answer!!! Notice the reciept behind him...yep...that came from the trash too!

He couldn't even look me in the eyes!!!! Good thing I don't have any plans today!

On another note, ever since Alex watched the new Cheetah Girls movie "One World" she is obsessed with Bollywood. She came out of the shower like this, saying that she was from India. What a hoot!

Aron has started his "solids". I'm so sad. It's such a turning point. He is getting big too fast :(

He is happy pretty much ALL the time. Whenever anyone looks at him, he just flashes his big, toothless grin. The people in our church nursery told us he is the happiest baby they have ever seen. Of course, my heart swelled with pride!

Oh, and other BIG news....I got a job working 3 hours a day in the YMCA nursery. I can bring my children and there are a TON of other perks as well (free membership -woohoo!). I'm really excited to get out of the house :) The cool thing is that the nursery is open 8am-12pm and then closes. Then re-opens at 3pm-7pm. So, I could work the am shift, then come home, wait for Alex to get off the bus at 2:15, then chill for a little bit and bring everyone to work with me. They are only open until 12pm on Friday and Saturday and they are closed on Sunday. What a blessing!

Well, that's all for now! I'll post more later as this is the week before school and things are CRAZY!

I have a little problem here.....

2008-08-13T11:49:00.000-07:00

As you can see from the picture below, I've got a little problem on my hands! Aron is over 4 months old and still will NOT go to sleep (& stay asleep) unless he is swaddled! How much longer will the insanity continue?! Seriously child, you are over 20 pounds! They don't make swaddle blankets bigger than this! What am I supposed to do? If he wasn't so darn cute, I'd just make him cry it out, but I'm such a sucker and I just keep swaddling him. I am just hoping he will grow out of it (both mentally and physically!)

Hail Storms, Weddings and New Jersey, Oh My!

2008-08-12T05:25:00.000-07:00

First, can I say it is good to be home! Whew! I am exhausted!
We have been in New Jersey for the last week because Eddie was in his friend's wedding and we stayed a little longer to enjoy Eddie's family up there. The car trip alone was an adventure all in itself.
It was nice seeing Grandma and Grandpops Rivera, though. It's funny to see them with little Aron. They just spoil him rotten!

Then it was off to the wedding of the century! I mean, these folks went ALL OUT! They had a violinist during the cocktail hour, which by the way, had like 20-30 different food stations, and elaborate ice sculpture...I could just go on and on about it! The reception was fabulous also! The BEST filet mignon I have ever had! Then, as if we didn't eat enough already, on the way out the door, they were making "to go" bags of Italian Donuts called "Zipoli's". Oh.....my......gosh....I think I died and went to heaven on this delicious little puff of a donut!
Aaaaaaaanyhow, here is a picture of Eddie with his friend, Gino. They have been friends since elementary school!

Of course, Eddie was feeling like a "playa" because he got to escort TWO bridesmaids. Hands off, ladies! He's mine! :)

Here is the proud grandparents with their new grandson.

On the way back home to VA, we encountered the worst hail storm I have ever been in. I was so scared I almost started crying! I thought for sure our windshield was going to come crashing in! I kept it together for the sake of the kids, though. We pulled over to a gas station and I took a picture of it!
All of those little white things are pieces of hail. Eddie and were joking that we should stand on the side of the road and make signs that say "Your on your way to hail!" and "Your going straight to hail!" for the cars on the other side that were getting ready to drive into the storm!

Well, that's about it for now. This week is a little crazy. School is getting ready to start up soon and I have to plan the back to school breakfast for the teachers and the breakfast for the kindergarten parents. I'll have to post more on that soon :)

Everybody's Doin' it!

2008-07-29T13:34:00.000-07:00

Ok, so apparently I need to post 25 random facts about me! I saw this on Donna and Dolly's blog, so here goes!

1. I have my NASD Series 6 license. I used this licensure for when I used to trade mutual funds for GE Financial.

2. My very first job ever was a lifeguard at Poplar Forest Pool in Forest, VA. I was only 15 and a half at the time!

3. I have never lived in one house for more than 6 years. My parents get tired of houses really quick!

4. I am on the Board of Directors for my daughters school.

5. I am addicted to the Style Network channel. I watch pretty much everything on there. Clean House, Peter Perfect, Dress my Nest, Whose Wedding is it Anyways, How Do I Look, What Not To Wear...you name it, I watch it!

6. We took a family vacation to Hawaii a year and a half ago. It was Alex's first flight ever! What an experience...your first airplane ride is 12 hours long!

7. I went to a Huey Lewis concert (It's Hip To Be Square!) and got to go backstage to meet him! I thought I was soooooo cool!

8. I went to a NASCAR race and got passes to the VIP lounge and hung out with Elliott Yamin. I also got to go down in the 'pit and see some of the drivers and their cars. I don't even like NASCAR, but it was pretty darn cool!

9. I was a cheerleader in high school. A base.

10. I met my husband while we were both working at Wingate Inn in Lynchburg, VA!

11. The only kind of coffee we drink in my house is fresh, local coffee beans we grind ourselves. And when I mean fresh, the beans can't be more than just a couple of days old.

12. Every week I am obsessed with finding out which store has the cheapest diapers on sale. This week it's Food Lion. $7.99 for LUVS and I had a coupon for $1.00 off! One time, Kroger had them (LUVS)on sale for $5.99! I thought I was going to go into cardiac arrest!

13. My most favorite job I have ever had was when I worked at The Closet in Lynchburg, VA at River Ridge Mall. That store was the BOMB!

14. I have a birthmark in the shape of a foot on my inner thigh.

15. My dream job is to join the cast of Reno 911. Either that or be on MAD TV.

16. My husband and I are going to retire in Bermuda. We had a our honeymoon there and just felt like we belonged there.

17. I can not have any of my food on my plate touching each other. I also can't eat off of another person's fork or spoon. This includes my family.

18. I failed 4th grade.

19. My parents let me believe in Santa Clause until I was 12 years old.

20. On various occasions, my dad drove me to school in his latest "toy"- one time it was a Monster Truck, one time it was a Limo, one time it was a Lamborghini...etc.

21. I am an excellent swimmer, but I HATE swimming laps!

22. My friend Angela (aka-Crumbs in my Butter) and I used to scare the living crap out of my niece and nephew by pretending to be some crazy person named "Karen".

23. I am only 5 ft. 2 inches tall. :(

24. About 2 years ago I had Lasik eye surgery! Best decision I have ever made!

25. I can not go to sleep at night unless I read first.

I'm Baaaaack!!!!

2008-07-28T11:08:00.001-07:00

Whew! Finally! I'm back from the 'burg! Alex went to Camp Hydaway! How awesome is that??! I remember going there as a kid! It was always so much fun. It's changed a lot since then. They have cabins with a/c and a huge slide that goes into the lake. Alex spent the night there all week!
I took some pictures-
This is the hill that I remember walking up and down and up and down as a kid...

This is a view of the big slide that goes into the lake from the top of the hill..

This is the new pavillion..

This is the field behind the pavillion. We used to play tons of water games there and the building to the left is where we used to eat all of our meals!

This is a close up picture of the slide. This thing is huge!

This is the "beach". The sun was shining right at me, so it's not that clear. But if you look hard enough, you can see the dock in the middle that we used to swim out to and dive off of!

No 'chokin!

2008-07-13T12:37:00.001-07:00

This weekend Eddie, Alex, Aron and I went to Fresh Market. Normally, we just get some fresh cheese and a few other things that you can't get at normal grocery stores. Well, wow....take a look at these artichokes!

Also, I am a HUGE fan of pancakes, however, they MUST be THIN! I can't stand really thick and "cakey" pancakes. I saw this little gem at Fresh Market and I have to say that I love it so much, I'm thinking about writing a book about it "Swedish pancake mix and me...that sort of thing is my bag, baby"!!!!

To top it all off, my little man has been making the "model" face lately...you know...Zoolander??!!

Happy Independence Day!

2008-07-04T05:30:00.000-07:00

These pictures were taken at Eddie's work picnic yesterday! It was a ton-o-fun!!!

Hot Fun in the Summertime!

2008-06-30T13:15:00.001-07:00

This week is going to be crazy. My in-laws are coming down, which is always fun because of their reaction to Aron! Eddie's work is having a HUGE picnic this Thursday, so we are all going to that and I am very excited! I love dressing my kids up in red, white and blue (as you can tell from the pictures of Aron below!)
This past Friday, I took Alex to the pool. I remember the days when "High Dives" were actually high! The high dives they have now are only like 8 feet off of the water. Oh, well. It really didn't matter, though, because we had so much fun anyways! Alex even dived off of it, which was more than I could do! Wow, I am getting old!

I also got Aron's 3 month old pictures done! I usually go to Portrait Innovations, but lately they have done a "so-so" job and were very rushed. So, I decided to go to JCPenney and I LOVE it! It's soooo much better than Portrait Innovations! I'm not stuck with like 150 pictures of the same pose and it's only $3.99 per sheet (any picture/pose) with no sitting fee! You just have to print off the coupon on their website! What a steal!

LOVE this one!

Two posts in one day? This is crazy!

2008-06-20T10:05:00.000-07:00

I know. Two posts, one day. Do I NOT have anything better to do? Well, I had to post this before I forget. For those of you that went to LCA, you might remember Mrs. Zappulla, our 10th grade English Teacher. Well, she found me on Facebook.com and told me that she wrote a short story about me and it was actually published in a magazine! It's kind of long, but funny nonetheless and it totally took me back to the good ole high school days. It's funny how much of an impact one person can make on another person. I remember being such a hellion (sp?). I remember making Mrs. Lovett in Home Ec.cry everyday (although in my defense, it wasn't that hard to do). I also remembering torturing the Home Ec. teacher before her.."Meany Matheeny". I also remember recording over the Homework hotline for Mrs. Bryant's (the librarian) hotline and using my best old lady impersonation voice to record my own version of her. "This is Mrs. Bryant in the library. I think I just wet myself. Good thing I have on Depends- don't forget to turn in your books boys and girls"! I still can't believe I did that! Why did the Librarian get her own number for the homework hotline anyways? No one has "Library Homework!"
So, anyway, here is the story that Mrs. Zappulla wrote about me. Sorry it's small, but I wasn't about to type out the whole thing:

Oh, what a week!

2008-06-20T07:36:00.000-07:00

Well, Alex has been in the 'burg all week so she could go to TRBC's Vacation Bible School. Apparently, they go all out there. She just loves it! Also, while she was there, she went to the LCA cheerleading camp. As I have stated in a previous post, my daughter is NOT a cheerleader, but it kept her busy during the day. I can't wait to see pictures of her there. I'll be sure to post those!
So, we are going to pick her up tomorrow. It's been too quiet around the house this week and although I LOVE spending 100% of my time with Aron, I miss my Alex :(
Aron is now laughing and talking gibberish. It's really cute! He is such a happy baby! I'm so blessed :)
BTW, do you know what tomorrow is? That's right kids! IT's National Flip Flop Day at Tropical Smoothie Cafe!!! BE one of the first 500 customers in the door wearing flip flops and claim your FREE smoothie!

Well, I'm back to the gym hard core now. I took a Zumba class yesterday. It's one hour of pure unadulterated cardio! No breaks! I was soaking wet with sweat when it was all over. I think I'm addicted to it, though! It's so fun!
Today I reorganized Alex's closet. I also gave the dog a bath. For a labradore, he sure does hate water! It's such a disaster every time I give him a bath. He is terrified of water!
Well, next week is basically a week of appointments. Aron has his first "play date" on Tuesday with my friend Missy, who had her baby boy about 6 weeks ago.
Aron also gets his 3 month pictures next week, too!
We are taking Alex to the pool on Friday, so it will be a fun week and I'm looking forward to it!
HEre is a picture of my little guy after his bath! I LOVE freshly bathed babies!!! His hair was wet, so I put a little hat on him :)

My Guilty Pleasure.....

2008-06-12T08:56:00.000-07:00

Well, now that all of the good shows are off the air for the summertime, I have found myself completely intrigued with "So You Think You Can Dance"! Some of the dances are really cool and some of them are...well...weird. Last night they had some guy on there dancing around and sticking his head out like a bird. That was really strange. But, entertaining nonetheless!
Also, I watched that show, Celebrity Circus. Again, weird. There is one judge on there who is gay and proud of it and feels that he needs to remind us he is gay everytime he judges a male performance. He's like "I'm not busy next week, so call me!" and "I'd like to thank your momma for making you- you are hot!". How is that judging someone again??! Then, there is this weird female judge, who apparently has been doing the trapeze for 20-some years and she felt the need to stretch her leg high above her head to show off that she can do a "split".
It was all kind of like being in the twilight zone, honestly.
To bring me back to reality, Alex made me one proud mommy yesterday! Her softball team was ranked number 7 out of 8 teams (it's the first year all the girls on her team have played softball). Most of the other teams have played for a while and been together a long time. Well, they somehow made the playoffs and beat out the number 1 team last night and are now in the big championship game on Sunday! It's such a rush seeing these girls play! Alex is starting to get really competitive now, too. She hit a "grounder" instead of a "triple" yesterday and got out and started crying because she was mad at herself :( I had to remind her this was her first year playing and it's all about having fun!
The latest news on my little boy - HE SLEPT 7 HOURS STRAIGHT LAST NIGHT!!! For that, I am posting the cutest picture ever!

Nastiness!!!!

2008-06-04T06:08:00.000-07:00

Oh my gosh! I HAVE to blog about my experience with a new Dorito flavor that Frito Lay is trying to pitch. They don't list the flavor on the bag as they want you to "guess" the flavor. I saw these chips in the store and of course, I love a good tasting challenge, so I got suckered into buying them for $2.50. Eddie, Alex and I were all trying to guess what flavor they would be prior to opening the bag. "BBQ....no, it will be chili....no, it will be hamburger..." we had ALL kinds of guesses before tasting it.
Finally, we get home, unpack all groceries and sit around the kitchen table with our Dorito Quest chips. We open it and all three take a chip each and take a bite of our chip all at the same time. Then we look at each other and eyes start to water and we all have the "worried" face. We all then proceed to spit out our chip!
The only way to describe this new flavor is "I had key lime pie about an hour ago and I just threw it up".
Yours truly is just waiting for 9am central standard time when the Frito Lay office opens and give them a piece of my mind! This is by far the most disgusting thing I have EVER tasted! I will be making a trip back to Kroger to return this bag of poison today as well.
I wasn't sure if I was the only one who thought this, so I "googled" it. Apparently, the new flavor is supposed to be Mountain Dew. That is even LESS appealing than "I had key lime pie about an hour ago and I just threw it up" flavor.
Word of advice: SAVE YOURSELF $2.50 AND BUY PRINGLES INSTEAD!
Here is a picture of the NASTY in all it's glory:

What a big boy!

2008-05-30T09:03:00.000-07:00

Well, here are the pictures I promised! Aron wasn't sure what the Bebe Pod seat was all about. He just kind of sat there and looked uncomfortable! He is starting to laugh now, so that is just so much fun :) I can't believe he is 8 weeks old today! What a big boy!!
Today is crazy. I'm reorganizing rooms, cleaning and Alex has a game at 5:30. Tomorrow morning one of the more affluent neighborhoods here is having a neighborhood-wide yard sale, so I'm all over that!
Oh, and yesterday's PTA Board meeting was something else! Just curious, who serves Mimosa's at a PTA Board meeting? Some of those moms were a HOT MESS! Really, have you EVER had alcohol before? Don't you know how stupid it can make you look?
So, yea...once again, yours truly didn't fit in. Still the youngest parent in the crowd. It's getting a little old. I thought by now some of the kindergarden parents would maybe be around my age, but alas, they are mostly all in their late thirties, early forties. They were all talking about wrinkle cream and how much grey hair they all really have. I tried to chime in, but they just said "oh, honey...you'll have this problem when you get to be our age". Of course, you know I had to make them feel stupid. Is it wrong to lie about getting a little "nip and tuck"?? No...I didn't tell them I was 38 and had some "work done"...but do you know how close I was to saying it??! I just simply told them that I look a lot younger than I might seem. This seemed to intrigue them and they asked how old I was. Although I thought this was a rather rude question, I just came back with mid-thirties. (32 is mid-thirties, right?)
So, long story short, yours truly is now the chair of the Hospitality Committee for my daughters school. Basically, this position entails organizing monthly teacher luncheons, goodie bags for teachers, holidays, special events....etc. It's quite a task, so I hope I do a good job and get a good base of parent volunteers!
Ok, here are the pictures:

Aron LOVES his mobile!

The Bebe Pod:

The Hip Fairy

2008-05-28T17:06:00.000-07:00

Today I had to go to the hospital for some follow up appointments and I ran into a friend of mine there. She was waiting for her husband to wake up from his surgery as he was getting a hip replacement.
During prayer tonight, I mentioned it and Alex had the most hilarious response! She asked me if he got to keep his old hip! She was curious if he could possibly put it in "some kind of pillow" and maybe the "Hip Fairy" would come and take it and leave him some money.
Wow. She is definitely her mothers child!!!!
On another note, Aron now weighs in at 13.5 pounds! What a little porker! He is 7 1/2 weeks old, but wears 6-9 month old clothes!
I'm getting batteries for my camera tomorrow and taking some pictures so you can see how big he's gotten! He smiles all the time now, too! :)
Oh, yea, and wish me luck tomorrow. I am on the Board of Directors for the PTA for Alex's school and we have a meeting tomorrow and those moms are all crazy. Literally. It's Wisteria Lane-crazy! I totally don't fit in, but I really don't care. I'll be giving a full report on that tomorrow!
Until then!
TTFN!

A VERY good read!

2008-05-21T06:50:00.000-07:00

I've been slacking just a little on my blogging! I guess a new baby and lack of sleep will do that :)
I have to share with you an excellent book! I went to TRBC on Mother's Day and my parents bought me this book by Macel Falwell. It's about Jerry Falwell's life through her eyes. I normally would just say "thanks mom" and then put the book on my bookshelf and save it for when Alex has to do a biography in high school. But, something compelled me to just read a couple of pages. Then, I was hooked! It is SOOOO good! There's so many things about Jerry that I did not know. We all know the media twists stuff around, but it's really interesting seeing how it works from her point of view. She even mentions my friends Dolly and Donna's dad in there a few times! The really sad part is of course the end of the book. She goes into detail about how they found Jerry after he passed. Then, they had all of the Falwell grandchildren write about their "Poppy".
He really was just a great man with a huge heart. If you have some time, READ this book. I could't put it down!

My Morning Disaster

2008-05-14T06:13:00.000-07:00

This morning was absolutely terrible! Of course, I have to blog about it!
It started when the baby woke up at 6:45am screaming because he was hungry. So, I fed him (which, by the way, he falls asleep when he feeds, so it takes almost 45 minutes to feed him). Eddie got ready for work and woke up Alex. Alex wouldn't get up. Finally, she rolled out of bed and went to the bathroom. She was in there for like 20 minutes! What does a 10-year old girl DO in the bathroom for 20 minutes??! So, we both yelled for her to get out of there because I had just realized I forgot to make her lunch. I asked Alex to please make her lunch. She brings me what is left in the bag of cheetos (which is about half the bag) and says that she is going to pack them all for snack. I told her NO WAY...only a few. So, she goes back to the kitchen and prepares her lunch. After she is done, she looked "suspicious" and headed straight for the front door. I inspected her lunch and here is what she packed:
All the Cheetos (Which I told her not to pack)
A Go-Gurt
A fruit cup
A piece of my birthday cake
A Little Debbie snack
A baggie of grape tomatoes
2 Capri Suns

Yea.....there was NO sandwich in there, either! Oooohhhh...I was burning mad! She then got "the spoon" and cried all the way school ( I have no tolerance for disobedience). As she was getting out of the car, she was still crying and the teachers that assist with car-rider circle were looking at her, then looking at me like I was the devil. What a great morning!

Long weekend and some pictures

2008-05-12T05:08:00.000-07:00

Wow. That's about all I can say. We took our first road trip with the baby to Lynchburg to celebrate Mother's Day and my birthday. I can't believe how much stuff we had to bring. Pack-n-play, bouncy seat, bottles, formula, breast pump, diapers, wipes...well, you get the idea. On Sunday, we all went to TRBC. I should have known it was going to be a disaster when as we pulled in the parking lot, a high speed chase was taking place in the parking lot, which ended with guns drawn and handcuffs! Alex is STILL talking about it today! It was an excellent service and Aron was very well behaved. That is, until the very end when Jonathan Falwell does the good 'ole "altar call" and asks that everyone be as quiet as possible and not to move as people are making life-changing decisions. Of course that is when Aron decides to wake up out of a dead sleep and start screaming with no warning whatsoever! Everyone around me "shook"-like how you do in the scary part of a movie. Can you say EMBARRASSING!!!!????
I quickly whisked him out of there, but not before stepping on peoples toes trying to get out of the aisle and accidentally leaving my diaper bag at my seat. Ugh. Eddie met me out in the lobby and took the baby and I HAD to go BACK IN and "excuse me, pardon me" my way to my seat to get the diaper bag and "I'm sorry" my way outta there. It doesn't help that my parents sit a few rows shy of the front!
We Bee-lined it out of there and went back to my parents house.
For some reason, it took us 3 hours to cook lunch. All we had was pasta and meatballs, for the love!
So, long story short, we made it home last night around 7:30pm, when our plan was to return home around 5pm. Oh, well. It's always great spending Mother's Day with my mom :)
Oh, and here are some pictures from Aron's first professional photo shoot! What a little model!
This is what we used on his birth announcements:

Enough is enough, already!

2008-05-09T10:58:00.000-07:00

Well, the Duggar family is at it again! They are pregnant with their 18th child! I just think they are so weird. If you add up all her children, she has been pregnant for 11 years, non-stop! Craziness! I wonder if they do it for all the attention and "free stuff"??
Click here to read the article about it.

Funny Faces!

2008-05-07T06:31:00.000-07:00

Aron makes the funniest faces! I guess he gets that from his mommy!

Do you know what today is??

2008-05-03T07:59:00.000-07:00

Yep, that's right! The first Saturday in May and that means free Home Depot kids workshop craft!! Today was a flower pencil holder. Alex wanted to take a friend with her, so right at 9am, off we all went to Home Depot! The weather was perfect!

An outing!

2008-05-02T17:15:00.000-07:00

We ventured out to Babies R Us today and Sams Club. I'm not used to uncrowded parking lots at stores just yet! I used to only be able to shop during my lunchbreak or after work (when 90% of people go), so to have the freedom to choose my parking spot from the GREAT available ones was fantastic!
Aron just looked so cute that I had to take a picture :) Remember this outfit when I posted it when I was like 3 months pregnant??!! Crazy! It seems like just yesterday when I did that!
After the shopping trip, Aron was tired and fell asleep on daddy!

REALLY??!!

2008-05-02T04:51:00.000-07:00

This JUST in...Mariah Carey (38-years old) got married! Guess to who?? Nick Cannon (27-years old)! This is just so weird for me because when Alex was littler, she would watch the Nickelodeon show ALL THAT and he was on there. He just seems SO much younger than she is! Oh, and the best part...No Pre-Nup!!!
Click here to read the article!! So, I guess they have been dating for weeks now, so that qualifies them for marriage!

The "Mom" Cut

2008-04-29T15:05:00.000-07:00

I broke down and did it. I got all of my hair chopped off today. It's not styled the way I want it, but it's the cut I was looking for. I'm not a fan of the "mushroom" hair, so I'm looking forward to fixing it my way tomorrow. And no, that's not a bra I'm wairing in the 2nd picture, it's a nursing tank top!
Before:

After:

Bathtime is SO much fun! (sarcastic)

2008-04-26T08:12:00.000-07:00

I'm a little slow getting these up. Aron had his first bath last week. I think the pictures speak for themselves :)

Don't you love my "sensorship" work!!!??

Look how "poofy" his hair was afterwards!