Happy 100th Birthday!

Happy 100th Birthday Southern Miss!! 

 

Oh how I absolutely love my alma mater!!  Thank you Southern Miss for lifelong friends, XO sorority sisters, a great education, and the most amazing college memories anyone could ever ask for!

Pop & Bebe came to visit!

So this is looong overdue, my parents were here about two weeks ago, but since they left I have been taking care of a bump on the head, more on that in a minute.  Then our entire family was hit with a horrible stomach bug…first Bo then mommy.  Daddy was able to dodge the worst part of it.  Bo and I were both sick about 5-7 days with this crazy bug, one of the worst and most bizarre bugs I’ve ever had.

 

Anyway, we are finally getting back to normal and in our routine so I wanted to update with some pictures from my parent’s visit.  It was a wonderful visit, and we loved having them here.  We didn’t do much that was too exciting (until their last day).  We pretty much just stayed around the house and let Bo be spoiled completely by Pop and Bebe.  They were planning to leave Wednesday morning and Tuesday afternoon around 4:30 Bo decided to throw a little fun into the picture.  He was running through the house and fell.  We heard him start crying so mom ran in and picked him up, none of us had been in the room when it happened.  When I went to look at him I noticed a HUGE black and blue knot forming.  So I called the pediatrician, who of course had just finished seeing patients for the day, but wanted him to be seen since we weren’t exactly sure what he had fallen on. So we packed up and headed to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, the afterhours/ER for kids.  After waiting for a full two hours we finally saw the doctor who examined him, did things like “where’s the cat, dog, cow, etc” since she couldn’t exactly talk to a 2 yr old like you would an adult.  Then she wanted to do xrays to make sure there wasn’t a skull fracture.  That was the hardest part on mommy and daddy…we had to stand there holding him down while he was screaming and crying.  After the xrays the nurse brought him a popsicle and life was good again!  There wasn’t a fracture, we just had to keep a close eye on him for the first 24 hrs, waking him at night, etc…  I’m sure this will be the first of many trips for bumps, bruises, etc…  And of course you know I had my camera so YES I did pull it out in the exam room while we were waiting.  They were playing Madagascar, Bo’s new favorite movie, so he and daddy watched while we waited.  It was hard to get a picture of the knot, but it was about the size of a golf ball when it was all said and done.

Thanks you Pop and Bebe for coming to visit, we miss you so much!

Food Revolution

I don’t know if anyone has seen this show, but I think it’s just fabulous!  Jarrod and I watched it for the first time on Friday night.  Chef Jamie Oliver is going into schools and trying to bring healthy eating to the kids.  On the show they showed kids eating pizza for breakfast, I just couldn’t believe this!  School is where kids should be learning, learning what to eat, how to take care of themselves, exercise, etc… What happened to that???

He did an experiment with 1st graders asking them to identify vegetables…they didn’t know!!  They didn’t even know what a tomato was.  However, as soon as he held up fries, chicken nuggets, and hamburgers they ALL knew what they were.  I was just blown away!!  Now, I truly think I have the pickiest eater on the planet…trying to get him to eat a vegetable is near to impossible.  I have to say whoever said “the impossible is possible” never tried to reason with my child!  Yes, Bo eats chicken nuggets and mac n cheese, but I can say he’ll also eat his weight in fruit!  I did see where Jamie Oliver has recipes for homemade chicken nuggets (not frozen)  that I’m anxious to try.  Bo isn’t quite to the age where I can say “this is your dinner, end of discussion”, but I am getting to where I don’t change his meal as easily as before.  Even before I had kids I knew I wanted to get them involved in the kitchen.  It’s a proven fact that if you have kids help you cook they are more likely to eat whatever it is that you made.  It’s going to be a battle, but I am determined that Bo will know what a tomato is!

The show airs on Friday nights, try and watch a little, you’ll be amazed!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

A little early, but Bo made this yesterday while we were at MOPS!  He was so proud of it, wore it the entire way home, during lunch, after his nap!

 

Germs, Germs Go Away!

So since someone in our house (usually Bo & I) have been sick since, oh…JANUARY!  I decided to clean the house from top to bottom.  Mainly all of Bo’s toys.  We have so many kids over here, which we love, but I knew his toys were just swimming in germs.  So last Thursday, a day we were home without anything going on I decided to get out the Clorox and soak everything that could be soaked, and wipe down everything else!  Here was my kitchen counter for the day!  This is something I need to do a better job of, but man has this kid got some toys!!!  Took hours to get everything done!

Welcome to the South!

So 3 1/2 yrs ago I did the unthinkable, I married a Yankee!!!  However, I love this Yankee with all of my heart, but it doesn’t mean on occasion that I don’t still have to remind him of how we do things in the South.  Which reminded me of an email that has been in circulation for a long time now and I just happened to save it!  Thought I would share with you as a friendly reminder to all!

 

1. That farm boy you see at the gas station did more work before breakfast than you do all week at the gym.

2. It's called a "gravel road." No matter how slow you drive, you're going to get dust on your pretty little car.  However I have found it is MUCH more better/fun to drive down them fast :)!

3. The red dirt -- it's called clay. Red clay. If You
like the color, don't wash your car for a couple weeks
-- it'll be permanent.

4. We all started hunting and fishing when we were
seven years old. Yeah, we saw Bambi. We got over it.

5. Go ahead and bring your $600 Orvis Fly Rod. Don't
cry to us if a flathead breaks it off at the handle.
We have a name for those little 13-inch trout you fish for -- bait.

6. If that cell phone rings while a bunch of Mallards
are making their final approach, someone will shoot it out of your hand. You might want to ensure it's not up to your ear at the time.
7. Tea - yeah, we have tea. It comes in a glass over
ice and is sweet. You want it hot -- sit it in the
sun. You want it unsweetened -- add a lot of water.  And no one makes it better than your grandmother.

8. So you have a sixty thousand-dollar car. We're
real impressed. We have a quarter of a million-dollar
combine that we only use two weeks a year.

9. Let's get this straight. We have one stoplight In
town. We stop when it's red. We may even stop when it's yellow.  It starts flashing after dark, when it then becomes a four way stop…abide by the rules!

10. We eat dinner together with our families. We pray before we eat (yeah, even breakfast). We still address our seniors with "yes, sir" and "yes,
ma'am," and we sometimes still take Sunday drives around town to see friends and neighbors.

11. We don't do "hurry up" well.

12. They are pigs. That's what they smell like. Get over it. Don't like it? I-55 goes two ways – I-20 goes the other two. Pick one.

13. Grits are corn. You put butter, salt, and maybe even some pepper on them. We also put cheese in them. If you want to put milk and sugar on them , then you want Cream of Wheat - I-55 north will take you somewhere you can find that.

14. The "Opener" refers to the first day of deer season or turkey season. Both are holidays. You can get pancakes, maple syrup, and sausage before daylight at the church on either day.

15. So every person in every pickup waves? Yeah, it's called being friendly. Understand the concept?

16 . That Highway Patrol Officer that just pulled you over for driving like an idiot -- his name is "Sir," no matter how young he is.

17. We have lots of pine trees. They have sap. It drips from them. You park your pretty little car under them, and they'll leave a logo on your hood.

18.  Little girls need big bows in their hair....always, and little boys need to play outside and get muddy.

19.Men open doors, pull out chairs, and stand up when a woman enters or leaves the room. They also take that hat off their head for prayer and the National Anthem, and you should do the same.

20.And finally, we have three religions down south....Baptist, Presbyterian, and Football.

Snowballs with Daddy!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

This is from our snow Valentine’s weekend!

Crazy for Coupons!!!!

I’ve been meaning to write about this for a while now and just haven’t had the time...it takes a little more brain power than just telling you what we did today and by the time I actually get on the computer my brain is usually done for the day! 

So my newest craze is over coupons!  Yes you heard me correctly…COUPONS!  Now let me just start with saying this is not your mother’s old way of cutting coupons.  This is planning, strategizing, and waiting!  Here is where I came from…I was a Walmart shopper, I bought everything at Walmart because that is where I, like many people thought I could get the best deals.  I would only run to the local grocery store if I needed one or two things, I NEVER did my big shopping there and if I did shop there I would buy the store (Publix or Kroger) brand only because…it was always cheaper (at least that’s what I thought).

The past few months we have really been trying hard to save as much money as possible.  2009 was a very expensive year for us and we really would like some more financial stability, who wouldn’t??  So as Jarrod and I were looking over our spending I couldn’t help but just gasp at the amount we were spending on groceries and household items.  There are only 3 of us in this family and one of us basically lives on Goldfish and yogurt…it can’t really be that expensive?  I’ve always been very good at making my lists and not buying anything that wasn’t on my grocery list.  Mondays are usually my grocery days because Bo goes to school so I’m able to go alone, makes it much easier!  Sunday nights I always plan out what we are going to eat every night that week, I then make a list of what is needed for each meal, go through my pantry, mark off what I already have, and then head to the store.  Still after all of this our bills were so high.

UNTIL…I became interested in coupons.  Turns out my good friend, Janice was also discovering this at the same time.  She came across two fabulous websites that we now turn to every day to see what good deals are out there…http://www.southernsavers.com/ and http://www.faithfulprovisions.com.  Between the two Southern Savers is my favorite.  It would take me days to explain it all, but to give you a quick idea of how these work…The lady who has the SS website basically does all of the leg work for you.  You can search by your store name, I go to Publix and sometimes depending on the deals I’ll go to Kroger.  She lists everything in the weekly ad and then tells you what coupons (some you can print online, some are in your papers such as SmartSource and Redplum, those are the booklets that usually come in your Sunday paper.  Now here is what I do, I keep all of my weekly inserts from the paper, if it’s an item I know without a doubt I’m going to buy I go ahead and clip that coupon.  I keep the inserts because let’s say there is a coupon for something that I would use, but only if I could get a really good deal on it, I still have it just in case I need it.  Also something very important to know, our grocery and many out there will double coupons.  Publix will double $.50 and under, this is great when it allows you $1.00 off of something that is on sale for $1.50!

So how do you save all this money is what many people are probably asking…every week Publix has items that go on sale as Buy One Get One Free.  You do NOT have to buy two items to get the deal, instead look at this as each item is 50% off.  For instance…Ragu Spaghetti Sauce, this week was Buy One Get One which made each jar $1.14 (50% off regular price), I then had a coupon for $.30 off of 1 item, which the store doubles, making it $.60…making my jar of spaghetti sauce $.54.  I had two coupons so I was able to get this…

for $1.08

 

I also got this…

for $.24

AND

this…

for $.54 (total for both)

Then Kroger also had a great deal going so I got all of this…

for $7.00!!!!!

My Kroger bill should have been $83.00 and I walked out paying only $40.00!  My Publix bill should have been $150.00 and I paid $96.00!  Do you see the savings here!?!?

One of my favorites is from a few weeks back…Excedrin was on sale as Buy One Get One making it $2.50 each, I had a $2.00 off coupon making my Excedrin $.50!!!

Here is what I’ve learned the past few weeks in doing this…Try to save your coupons for when an item is on sale, grocery stores rotate coupons and sales about every 6-8 weeks so you know that things are going to come back around.  Do not assume that the store brand is the cheapest…most times you can get a name brand item with a coupon for much cheaper.  Don’t assume you have to go to the big Super Centers to get good deals.  It takes a little time getting started, but once you get the hang of it, it gets easier and easier.  At first I thought oh good grief I don’t have the time or patience for this, but I promise if I can do it anyone can do it.  Also a big thing to point out…don’t assume that you have to buy junk to get a good deal.  Granted a lot of things you find coupons for are cookies, kids cereals, sugary snacks, BUT there are also healthy items out there…I can assure you Bo isn’t fed kids sugary cereals or cookies.  And don’t just buy things to be buying them.  I’m not going to spend money just so I can say I saved $2.00.  I will admit it takes me a little longer now to get my list together and organized but it’s worth it to be able to save!  It’s also a lot of fun having a partner, like my friend Janice, we are constantly calling each other with how much we saved at the grocery or what’s on sale, good deals, etc!  Hope this will help someone in save a little cash!

Under the weather

So we spent this past weekend snuggling with our little man.  Bo woke up Saturday morning with a fever, it wasn’t high it never went above 101.5, but for a child who never runs a temp (there’s only been one other time I can remember) it made him feel terrible.  He’s never still and all he wanted to do was stay on the couch laying with myself or Jarrod.  Fever went away Sunday afternoon, however this morning he woke up covered in a terrible rash.  He did this the last time he had a fever.  It’s apparently viral and after the fever goes away the rash comes on and then they are better.  By the time the rash appears they are no longer contagious.  This time it was much worse than before so we went in just to be on the safe side.  He’s not contagious, but since he looks so bad we are staying in, people who don’t know what it is would probably be worried.  He’s acting like normal Bo so hopefully this will all go away soon!

first indicator something was wrong…he fell asleep somewhere other than his bed (never happened before)

He found a sucker this morning then wanted in our bed…the things you do so you can get dressed!

Not sure if you can see the bumps… it’s all over his little body.