We Declare A Work Day

I really don't have much to say today but I thought I needed to write a little something to let you know I'm still here. Even though today is Sunday (and all you good Baptists know that Sunday is the day to rest), we are working today. Or at least the men in the family are. Gabe is outside cutting grass, Zane and Jack are shoveling river rock around the pool and Jim is installing a invisible dog fence. We skipped church this morning. We just needed a day to get some things done around here. Since tomorrow is Labor Day, we decided to labor today and relax a little tomorrow. Yesterday we went looking for a new car. Gas prices are killing us in our SUV and we have decided to buy a 3rd car. We are going to get a small car that just me and the kids can drive during the week and keep the SUV for times when the whole family needs to go somewhere. So we drove around all afternoon looking at cars. I took a break from yard sales and we just spent the day looking at cars. So this has been another lazy weekend. Can we get this lucky every weekend? Probably not.

Tonsils and Tornados

WE ARE HOME! Thank goodness! Jack went in to have his tonsils removed (after much sickness). He was a little scared but he was a real trooper. It was a long day. It takes careful planning to coordinate schedules when one parent is missing in action. We woke up to much needed rain and headed out about 6:45am.When we arrived we were carried to his "holding" room, where he slipped on everybody's favorite hospital attire, the open backed gown.

We immediately found something for our "Redneck Viewing Pleasure".

(And Jack even knew the names of the trucks: Grave Digger, Bounty Hunter, Superman, you get the picture).

Jack was getting a little ancy so he started climbing the walls (literally)!

So after waiting and watching, he was rolled back to the Operating Room where one of my best friend's, Cindy, was waiting on him. He was in surgery for about 45 minutes and in recovery for about an hour. They took him to his room about 10:45 and that is where the fun began. The throw up. For those of you who don't know me, I don't do throw up. That is my husband's department. But yesterday, I had to.

This is what Jack looked like most of the day.

He wouldn't let us move the bed pan from beside his face. How comfortable do you think that is? (Actually, the vomit was not near as bad as being at home. I always had someone to come help clean up. And since he had no food, it was mostly blood and mucus. Isn't that a pleasant thought?).
Around 2:30, the nurse opened the door and said, "A code gray has been issued (which means there is a tornado warning) and we have to move everyone out in the hall." So instead of moving the whole bed, she just moved a chair and asked me to hold Jack. When we reached the hall dragging Jack's blanket (another post in and of itself), bed pan, cell phone, and all the IV equipment, he immediately vomits all over the floor. Thank God for the nurse walking down the hall at that time! So they figured out we at least needed a recliner. So until 4:40, we were in the hall. (A tornado did touch down in our county but not close to the hospital.)
Finally at about 9:30pm, the nurse gave him Phenergan and the rest of the night was great. He slept better than he does at home. At 4am this morning, the nurse came in to check on him and woke him up. He was wide awake for the rest of the night.

We lounged on the hospital bed and watched cartoons until the doctor came in at 7:30.

We ate breakfast, he was given Tylenol with Codeine and a dose of his antibiotic and off we went.

I think the itty bitty wheel chair is great.

We stopped at the pharmacy and he was a bundle of activity.

They gave him lollipops and off we went to spend the rest of the day relaxing. What is he doing now? Why, watching Spongebob, of course! Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers.

Precious Weekends

When school starts back our weekends become so precious. We are always so busy during the week, it is nice to try (and I say try) to keep our weekends free. We don't always succeed but this was one of those weekends.
Friday night, we went to eat pizza and we tried to watch a movie. We both fell asleep.
Saturday, we headed out for garage sales. Jim never goes but he decided to ride along this time.
Usually if Jim is riding along, I don't really find anything. So I had a typical day with Jim tagging along. I only spent about $15 but there is always next week. Here are some of the things we bought.

I got all of these books + one more Halloween treats cookbook (that I can't seem to locate right now) for $6.

I got 2 pair of jean shorts (one pair is Old Navy) and the little pink skirt for .25 each.

Jim got this shirt for $1. I just think it is hilarious. But I really can't see him wearing it very often. But it is still funny.

This piece of fabric was 25 cents. I already have a plan for it.

And 3 pair of size 7 slim jeans (one is already being worn) for Zane.

We made out way toward Greenville, so we could hit Old Navy for the $12 jeans sale. We got there about 11:30am and all the kids' jeans were gone. Thank goodness I found the 3 pair for Zane at the yard sale. But I bought 2 pair and Jim bought a pair. I had a $10 gift card so we ended up with 3 pair of jeans for $26.
Then we ate at one of favorites, Taco Casa. Then we headed out to look at used cars. We are trying to buy a smaller car that just me and the kids can drive during the week. Gas is killing us in our SUV. So we did find a couple that we liked and we will probably go back later and look again.
Finally we headed home and this is what we did for supper.

We built a fire in our copper fire pot on the deck.
We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows.

Even Roxie had a little hot dog. And Lucy, the dog had several.

Of course, on Sunday we headed out to church. We ate lunch with my mom and Jim and I ran to my neighbors' house for home owners' association meeting.
So our weekend was pretty uneventful but that is always a welcome change around here.

Tomorrow Jack will be going in the hospital to have his tonsils taken out. Please keep him in your prayers. He has been really sick for about 2 years and the last month has been really rough. We finally got to see the ENT and his tonsils are so bad he didn't want to wait so we are headed in tomorrow at 7:15. He does have to spend one night in the hospital. He was a real trooper today for the blood work (she stuck him several times to try to get the vein). Anyway, I'll be back Wednesday to let you know how things went. Thanks for all your prayers.

Something to Make You Laugh!

Being at the Boston concert the other day reminded me of this. I even did an imitation while they were playing the cow bell. You just can't beat Will Ferrell on SNL. Enjoy!

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Homework Baskets

I bought these cute little dollar store baskets for .25 each at a yard sale with something else in mind but then I decided on this.Homework baskets for each child. They are tagged with each name and have the essentials for completing homework everyday.


We keep them in the entrance hall on the bottom shelf and when the kids come in from school they can grab them and be on their merry way. So far it is working for us.

See more ideas here at Rocks in My Dryer's Works for Me Wednesday.

What Do You Do With Leftover Mashed Potatoes?

Shannon over at Rocks in My Dryer is hosting another Works For Me Wednesday. Some of you may call these Potato Croquettes but I call them Potato Patties.

Mix an egg (or 1/2 egg according to how stiff your potatoes are)
1 onion, chopped and the leftover potatoes.

Make them into patties and fry them in a pan that has been sprayed with PAM or any other cooking spray.

Our Anniversary

My poor husband. I am terrible about remembering our anniversary. It's not that it is not important to me. It's just our lives are so busy. My friend, Katherine, always says, "You're such a man." Yesterday was a really busy day. After dropping everyone off at school, Maci Clare and I went to the flea market for a little while. I had intentions of coming home after lunch and posting an Anniversary post. No one took a nap yesterday so I didn't get a chance. Then Jack had a ENT appointment at 2:30 and by the time I got home, baked brownies to take to church and actually got everyone to church, my time was gone. So last night, we left the kids at church and went to a little local hole in the wall called Auntie Ann's. Don't get me wrong, it is a great place to eat. It's just not anniversary material. (I'll try to get some pictures next time so you know what I am talking about.) After getting home and feeding everyone and trying to finish up homework and baths and bedtime, I crashed. So much for a romantic night on our anniversary. Maybe we will get to do something this weekend. I promise I'll try to do better next year. Sorry, honey! (Oh my gosh, I do sound like a man!)

Just a Little Meltdown

We went to see Lou Graham (Foreigner) and Boston at the Bi-lo Center last night. It was just okay to me but I really don't know any Boston songs. I knew a total of 4 songs. I knew more Lou Graham songs than Boston. The friends we were with thought I was lying when I said I didn't really know the songs but I wasn't. And now I know why I don't. I need words, people. These guys (and girl) are great musicians but you can only listen to so many drum solos and guitar riffs. But I still had a LOT of fun. My friend, Cindy and I, just made fun of all the drunk people around us and laughed so hard my throat hurts today.

Anyway, our late night (12:15am) made for a pretty rough morning. I did manage to get the 2 older boys to school on time but Jack was another story. When we were ready to put his clothes on he decided the motorcycle shirt just wouldn't do. So we had to find the camo shirt with the "buck' on it. After getting dressed, we were ready to go. So I thought. No, we had to have a mohawk today. Needless to say, we were late. Only a few minutes but tonight we will lay out all clothes (with Jack's approval) and decide if we want the mohawk. Hopefully, our morning will be a bit smoother tomorrow.
By the way, it's our 14 th Anniversary. I will be posting a commemorative post later today.

First Day of School

My boys are off on their new adventure today. Just look how happy they are.

Our morning conversation:
Me: This will be the best year ever.
Gabe and Zane: How do you know?
Me: I don't but if you think that maybe it will be.
So I hope I'm not wrong. I'm always a little sad but they are on their way to learn new things, meet new friends and make new memories that they will remember always.

As for Jack, this is his first experience with school. He has jealously told the two older boys goodbye every year and watched as they went off to school wishing it was him. Now it is!

As we left the house, he had his lunch box and his Skittles machine quarter, he was excited.

We paused at the door of his classroom to take this picture. When we opened the door, the children were all putting puzzles together on the carpet. Jack grabbed my shorts and held on for dear life. There was a monkey on the floor and Ms. Brandi told him there were other animals to find in the room so off he went. I backed out the door.
As I peeked through the window, my baby boy was deep in conversation about the tree frogs on his shirt. Then, as I listened closely to the conversation, I heard him say, " I pick them up and they pee on me." What a great way to start off a new school year. There were no tears. (From me or Jack). So maybe this won't be so bad. My baby boy is all grown up. Good luck, little Jack. I'm praying for you as you take your first steps into your new adventure.

If You Are A Frugal (And You Know Who You Are)

You have got to go read this. It is hilarious. I can't wait until Jim sees it. He can so relate.

Are Ya'll Sick of Looking At My Shoes Yet?

I know, I know. We are just so busy, it has been hard for me to even think of blogging. Zane's football has been every night. Gabe had fiddle one night last week. With church responsibilities and trying to prepare for school to start, I just haven't had much time. But School starts tomorrow and my goal is to post at least 3 times a week and hopefully more. Jack will be in morning preschool and the other two boys will be all day with lots of activities in between so maybe I can catch up on some of my long awaited projects.
Here are some things I plan to accomplish:

1. CONQUER THE PAPER CLUTTER. (If anyone has any great organizing tips, resources, websites, please let me know)

2. Catch up on my scrapbooks. (Poor Maci Clare doesn't even have her baby book started and she will be 17 months old on Saturday.)

3. Make a few pillows to put by the pool.

4. Finish the decorating in the boys' rooms.

5. Paint and re-decorated my bedroom and bath.

6.Take a sewing class which will be starting in a couple of weeks.

7. Cook more meals.

And I probably have a few more but I can't think of them right now.

How deep is my love...

...for shoes. I love shoes. I can't stop buying shoes. I buy as many shoes for my baby girl, who, coincidentally is developing her own love of shoes, as I do for me. I thought I would just show you how deep my love is with a few pictures. It started in July with this.
I bought these at Old Navy. First, I bought black and brown. I left my black ones on the deck and they melted (Yes, melted!). So I went back and now I have black, brown, and navy blue.

Then on our first trip to Pigeon Forge, I got these. Sketchers are my favs. And of course at the Sketchers' outlet they had a sale B1G1 half off.

So I got these 50% off. And I got a pack of Cali Gear bits for free.
This past weekend in Kodak, TN at Bass Pro Shops, I found these cute sandals clearanced for $6.97 and who can pass up a deal like that?
Then upstairs in the same Bass Pro Shops, I found these cuties. Also clearanced! $9.99!

Then on a recent grocery trip (with a short side visit to The Shoe Department),
I found these babies on a clearance table for $6.50.
8 pairs in less than a month. Now do you understand my deep, deep, deep love?

My Latest Project

I promised the boys many months ago we would work on their bedrooms. We decorated the nursery when Maci Clare was born but we have neglected the boys' rooms. So begins my list of projects. I am starting with Zane's. We decided on a hunting theme since we have a bear rug to work around. (The bear was hit by a car and picked up and given to us.) So I painted the camo letters. I thought they turned out really cute so I decided to post them. Your opinion?

Some Homework While I Am Away!

While on our Mission Trip to Atlanta, I met a wonderful woman by the name of Catherine Palmer. If you enjoy Christian fiction you may have heard of her. She has written many books and even a few with Gary Chapman. She and her husband, Tim, moved to the middle of the International Village in Atlanta ( "in da hood") from the middle of the country overlooking a lake in Missouri. What a sacrifice they made because they also brought their autistic son, Andrei. This family is awesome and they have a blog so you can keep up with what is going on in their mission field. Please go by and give her some encouragement. It is so interesting to see and read about the things they face daily. Go her and give her some bloggy love and if you pray, please put on your prayer list. God is working throught these great missionaries everyday. So check it out here.

Headed Out One Last Time

We're headed out of town for one last trip before school starts. We are going back to Dollywood. I'll be back!

Feeding the Ducks and Publix

We went to Furman University (which, I must say, is one of the most beautiful colleges I have ever seen). We like to go there and feed the ducks and walk at the lake. We took our lunch and had a picnic.
This is a picture of the bell tower. We usually drive over and park close enough to walk and feed the ducks there. They had the road blocked because they are doing lots of work. So we parked across the lake and I snapped this picture.

The boys were trying to feed the turtles too but the ducks wouldn't allow it.
There were lots of ducks and they kept coming and coming.
Jack and Maci Clare liked eating the bread instead of feeding it to the ducks.

The late comers didn't get too much. They got chips because the bread was gone. The swan closest to the camera is a baby swan. It was so funny looking. The Ugly Duckling.

We decided to walk over to the bell tower and we took a little detour. There were Canadian geese on the walkway. Zane was really excited that he got that close.


We finally made it to the bell tower. I did manage to get a halfway decent picture.
And this one with my mom.

After we left Furman, I ran by Publix to score some deals. I bought:
8 boxes of Pop Tarts
6 boxes of Granolas (Quaker and Fiber One)
2 boxes of Live Active cereal
2 rolls of Basic Paper Towels
3 cans of Chef BoyarDee Ravioli
4 boxes of Kraft Deluxe Shells and Cheese
4 boxes of Eggo Waffles
5 boxes of Betty Crocker Supreme Brownie Mix

The total was roughly $46 and I paid $20.37. Another successful shopping trip with some extras to give away.

Awesome Shopping Trips

On Thursday night, I went to buy groceries. It was triple coupon week at Ingles so I planned my trip and headed out. When all was said and done, I had $105 worth of groceries and paid $39.97 for them. I just couldn't bring myself to pile it all on the table and take a picture and somehow the receipt has been lost. But I promise it is true.

Then Saturday after a few garage sales I did a couple of transactions at CVS. I bought 2 bottles of Listerine, 2 tubes of Neosporin, 1 box of Benadryl, 4 12pks. of Coke products, 1 box of Bandaids for $9.52OOP. I would've come out better but I screwed the first transaction up and had to re-calculate and add another transaction. Oh well, still a good trip.

Maci Clare and I went to several yard sales. I will try to remember to take some pictures of what I bought. I got some pretty good deals when it was all said and done. I'm off to Publix tomorrow for some more sweet deals. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Im Honored:

I received another award. Thank you to Hearts Full Of Love for giving me this award. I will be passing it along shortly. We are heading out for a picnic and duck feeding tomorrow morning and football is in full swing so we will be busy, busy, busy!

More of our Mini Vacation

On our 2nd day at Dollywood, we decided to try to get a picture of all the kids.

I thought this one was pretty cute. Those poor outnumbered girls. But I must say they hold their own. After that we rode Mystery Mine. I will never get on this ride again. It was terrifying. But of course, the kids loved it.

While we were all riding the big rides, Grandma took the two little kids to play in the water and sand. They loved it.

But I think Maci Clare loved the old cars the best. She just laughed out loud the whole time she was driving. It was so funny.

On our last day, we headed out to the outlets for a little back to school shopping. I found a few things but not very much.
The highlight of the trip was getting to stop at Bass Pro Shops. The boys love this store. We stocked up on t's and hats. When we came out, I snapped this picture of them in the Arctic Cat.

Right after I took this, Maci Clare did a flip right over the seat and landed on her head. She didn't even cry. We had a great trip and I can't wait to go back again. We are so glad our family from the mid west came down to share in the fun. School is starting soon and it seems like we are just getting started with the fun.