Bargains, Bargains, Bargains!

I just had to share my great bargain shopping experience from today! Kroger was having a one day only sale, where they doubled all coupons 40cents to $1, and some great instant rebates- on cereals and fruit snacks. I was able to buy $51 worth of groceries for only $20! That is a 58% savings! I got 5 boxes of cereal, 4 boxes of fruit snacks, pb & jelly, cream cheese, bread, pasta, toothpaste and a few other things all for that amount! I will go back and do the rest of my "grocery game" shopping tomorrow- but I had to take advantage of today's doubling of coupons. I even got two packs of BIC pens - completely free!

Cousin fun at Nana and Poppy's!

We just got back from spending a great week and a half at my parents house in Clinton, Missisippi. It was wild and chaotic with all 5 cousins there, but it was a lot of fun, and Rylie and Jack LOVE to see their cousins Landrum and Pace. We had a fun time celebrating Pace's first birthday, and he loved getting to have cake for the first time! It is so fun to spend time with my sisters and their families. We look forward to the next time we get together as a whole family at Christmas- it will get just a little bit crazier, with another new baby to add to the mix- my new nephew, Luke, who will be born in September. The cousins just keep multiplying- we will soon be outnumbered!

Olivia Anne

Here are a few pictures of Miss Olivia Anne, born on April 27,2009. She is such a blessing to our family, and such a sweet baby girl. Rylie and Jack love having a new baby sister!

Trick or Treat!!!

Halloween was a fun night had by all! We had some friends over to eat pizza first and carve our jack-o-lantern ( a little late in the game I know- but when it is 85 degrees here, it would have rotted had we done it any earlier!).A nice treat this year was to have Mimi going along with us, much to the jealousy of the other grandparentals! She was so excited to get to be a part of the giant sugar fest! Then it was off to neighborhood trick-or-treating! Rylie decided she would go as a ballerina ( yeah! already owned this costume, it was from her recital in May) and Jack went as a monkey- although people kept thinking he was a bear- do bears have bananas attached to their costumes? Oh well, he was really adorable!

Lots of candy was aquired, lots of costumes were admired, and definitely all of the children were wired! After filling their buckets to the max, and passing them off to mom and dad, because they were just "too heavy", we made our way back home to admire the "goods" and greet a few trick or treaters of our own. It was a fun, if not warm, Halloween had by all!

The Beach..... in October?

Yes! We went to Florida in the middle of October, and let me tell you it was fabulous! The weather was awesome, and we were able to spend everyday on the beach playing in the sand. It never rained until the last night we were there, so it was great. Jack and Rylie are at the perfect age right now, and loved getting to play on the beach for hours at a time ( under very heavy layers of sunscreen mind you!). However, Jack had acquired a very nice tan and his hair had turned almost white by the end of the trip! Rylie on the other hand is our very fair child, so we were just thrilled that she didn't burn! They had a blast looking for seashells ( okay - so maybe that was more exciting for Mommy and their aunts, but I do think they looked for them.... like once!) Their greatest joy was just playing in the sand, making all sorts of concoctions and building sandcastles or volcanoes. It was such a great relaxing vacation, and so nice to have our house within walking distance of the beach. The best part was that we were able to go with my whole family, mom/dad, grandma, sisters and husbands, and cousins. We had such a wonderful time of visiting and hanging out, making memories. It has already been suggested that we make this an annual trip- sounds good to me! Although this time next year, we will be making the trip with 3 kids instead of 2, so that might change the dynamics- traveling with a 6 year old, 3 year old, and 5 month old, for 12 hours, hmmmmmmm........ well I have a year to get my mind wrapped around that idea!

Splish, Splash! We were taking a bath.....

Soapy faced Rylie!
Jack is so serious!
Happy to finally be clean!
Me too, Mommy!
Having fun in the bubbles!

"Summer of Jack" part 2

Just wanted to add these few pictures to help reinforce my title for the previous post. I think we may be letting him try out for celebrity circus ( i can't believe that is even a real show)- as you can see from these pictures he enjoys perching on top of a knob to get better access to the sink area. He also has been known to scale the iron railing on my neighbors porch. We are 99% sure he is part monkey- or maybe just all boy.

The next few pictures are of Jack when I discovered him in my bathroom one day, after a way too long period of silence. You will notice the preferred face decorator of choice that day would be Mommy's lip gloss. He had gotten a hold of my make up bag, and was just going to town!

Lastly, just a couple of him enjoying a tasty, summer treat. A cherry push up pop. I am not really sure how much actually was digested and how much he ended up wearing. But, either way, he sure was having a good time!