Lazy Sunday

It is Sunday morning and we are just hanging out. Normally, we would be at church but Zane has been running a fever all weekend. I don't feel all that great either. And now Gabe is complaining with his throat. I thought I would be a good church member and not give this funk to everyone else. I actually slept until 10:30. The kids slept late too. It is already a hot day.
I'm sure we will be in the pool before the day is over. It is so relaxing to sit by the pool and watch the kids swim. It is not very relaxing to be in the pool with the kids. I'm thinking about doing a giveaway on my blog soon. I'll let you know if I decide to do this. By the way, did you know if you have a Starbuck's gift card and you register it online, you will get all kinds of free stuff. Starting with, a free cup of coffee. I bought a card on Friday. I will probably use it tomorrow while I'm in Greenville at the orthodontist.

CVS deals this week

I thought I did really good at CVS this week. It seems I can never save enough ECBs to be ahead. Anyway, I still got good deals and wanted to go back for one more tonight but never got a chance. So....

1st Trip to CVS:

2 Dawn Dish Detergents $1.00 each

2 Listerine Smart Rinse $3.49 each

2 CVS Cotton Swab 500 count $3.19 each

Total before coupons = $15.36

Total OOP = $5.30 and received $11.98 in ECBs

2nd Trip to CVS:
1 8 Roll Bounty Paper Towel $5.99 each
2 9 Roll Charmin Toilet Tissue $4.99 each
2 4 Packs Duracell Batteries $2.99 each
Total before Coupons = $21.95
Total OOP = $4.71 and received $10.00 in ECBs
3rd Trip to CVS:
Pampers Jumbo pack Diapers $7.99 each
Pampers Wipes $2.99
2 Liter Diet Dr. Pepper $1.79 (We were headed out to Home Group and I needed it)
Total before coupons = $23.75
Total OOP = $7.19 and I received $5 in ECBs

All in all I think I came out pretty good and it was all stuff that we will store to use later. I love CVS. I think next week is going to be another great week at CVS. Check here and here for the deals.

First Day of Summer (officially)

Friday was the boys' first day out of school. What did we do? We had a really busy day. Well, let me give you a few background details.
Our library sponsors a free reading program every summer. Every library in the county has some kind of educational program Tuesday- Friday. You pick up a calendar and it tells you what they are doing everyday for the whole summer. It is usually very crowded and we pick the best ones. The library in our town has the program on Wednesdays. So we went to the neighboring town for Mad Science. It was really crowded but pretty good.
Jack was a volunteer and he blew out a candle with a bucket. The whole program was on air. Very interesting for Gabe and Zane but not too interesting for Jack and Maci Clare.

And what's a trip without scoring some good deals at my favorite grocery store.

I have been buying milk at this store for months at $2.99/gallon and I was heartbroken when the price was $3.29/gallon. I buy 4 gallons a week so it really adds up. Jim pointed out that it is still cheaper than the other stores (even Walmart). So I guess I will just have to suck it up and pay the extra .30.

Next we went to Wendy's and ate. Lake Hartwell is located directly behind Wendy's. When I was a teenager and we went to the lake, we docked the boat there and walked through the woods to eat. Now there is a walking trail and all kinds of wooden decks down by the lake. Unfortunately the water is so low that you are still on dry land even wehn you walk out on the docks and decks. We walked down there and looked around. It was so hot we didn't stay very long.
Then we decided to ride up and go to the pet store. The kids love going in there and we needed to buy some crickets for the gecko and the turtle. After we left there, Gabe wanted a milk shake. We went through the drive thru and got the new Frosty Shake. Chocolate, of course. Jack wanted a doughnut so that was my excuse to go to Dunkin Donuts . Zane and I got Coconut Iced Coffee (yummy!).
We had Home Group at 6:30 so I rushed to make a dessert (brownies) and get everything together. We had a late night last night and so today we are taking it easy. Our first day out of school was fun and successful. Do you think I can pull it off for the rest of the summer? Check back to see.

New Giveaway

Shannon over at Rocks In My Dryer is giving away CDs which is right up my alley. All I have to do is post a link. So go over there and look and if you are a blogger, you can enter too. Here is the link. www.WOWonline.com You really should go over there and look around. There is some great music there.

A Lot Going On

Tomorrow is the last day of school. YAY! But I'm a little scared. What in the world am I going to do with all 4 children at home this summer. I do have some ideas. I found a great site called The Crafty Crow. She has given me crafty inspiration for the summer. (We'll see if we get anything done.)
On another note, the last week of school has been a flurry of activity. Monday was Field Day. I received a call around 7:30 Sunday night to see if I could come work. Of course, being the sucker that I am, I agreed. (We were actually at the ER when she called so I just showed up at the appointed time.) When I got there I was assigned to the "Olympic Rings" game. It was a lot of steps and very confusing for the kids so guess what I did? I changed the whole game after 2 groups went through my game. And the rest of the morning went a lot smoother. The morning was all fun with no real competition. But then after lunch, the real field day began. There were several different stations set up. I worked the Volleyball Serve. The best in each grade won the ribbons (1st through 4th place). I worked extra hard in the afternoon. I only took two pictures all day because I was so busy. Here is one I took of Gabe (Zane's field day was last week so he was happily working in the air conditioned school.)

He had to carry a ping pong ball in this spoon.

Can you tell by this awful picture, how hot and tired I was? I couldn't help but post it just so everyone could see my burnt and sweaty face with no make up. This was taken by me at the end of the day. Needless to say, when we got home we went straight to the pool.

Yesterday was the beginning of the half days at school and I spent the whole morning at the school for the Awards Day Ceremonies. Not to brag but my boys racked up once again.

Zane received a perfect attendance award and the Citizenship Award. I think this is the greatest award given because it is given to the person who has great character traits. So he should feel honored and I am very proud.

Gabe received a reading award, perfect attendance award, all A's honor roll 4th nine weeks, all A's honor roll for the year, 2nd place in the softball throw, and 4th place in the football punt. He wasn't wearing his medals but had them stuck down in the cup.

This is what Jack and Maci Clare did during the awards day ceremony. They played with one of their friends under the chairs. They were pretty quiet though. Thank goodness.

When we got home, the guys were here grading around the pool. Jack got to "help" with the work. And of course, I ran to get my camera.

Zane and Jack found this in my mom's flower bed over the weekend. We now have a new pet. We searched the internet and it is a Orange Mountain Gecko. It is pretty cool but he is really not eating much. My wish is to let it go but they are insisting on keeping him. If he doesn't eat anything soon we will have to let it go.

And here is a picture of the pool. We are almost there. We are swimming but there is still a lot of mud and several little things they have to finish before we can put a fence.

Now I am heading over to Rocks In my Dryer to see the Works For Me Wednesday (the Mom, I'm bored edition) to get some more ideas for Summer break. I'll let ya'll know if I find something good.

A Night At the Emergency Room

After the big birthday party, Jim said his back was hurting. Then when he started to cuss, I knew he was in a lot of pain. So a quick call to our in-house physician (thanks, Brad!), told us we needed to head out to the Emergency room. So with the kids at my mom's, off we went. I grabbed my camera on the way out so I could document this all important occasion.

Here is the entrance to the hospital.

Here is Jim checking in at the desk. See how he is hunched over in pain.

Now let's talk a bit about hospital fashion. I was a little embarrassed because in my hurry to get my kids together and get him to the hospital, I slipped on my brown flip flops. The reason for my concern is apparent when you see the next picture.

I have on black and white. Everyone knows you don't wear brown with black. Anyway, my mind was quickly put at ease when I saw that the most popular outfit to wear to the hospital is pajamas. There were at least 3 people with pajamas on (only one was an actual patient). Another accessory that several people had forgotten were teeth. Imagine my surprise when hubby and I were definitely the best dressed people at the hospital.

Anyway, after 3 long hours of waiting, the conclusion is 3 kidney stones.

After the pain medicine, he was a much happier person to be around.

BTW, when he was doing all of his paperwork to be admitted to the ER, I snapped this picture and scared all the ladies working there. That 's the life of a blogger.

Happy Birthday, Jack!

My baby boy turned 3 today. We had a "party" for him this afternoon after church. He wanted a bug cake so we made it last night. I can't believe how much he is grown in the past year. Just 7 months ago, we thought he would never learn to talk. He's talking! With complete sentences! He is no longer a baby. He is a "big boy". Occasions like these make me happy and sad. Another year older means another year closer to having no preschoolers and just lots of independent children.

Jack helped make this dirt cake with gummy worms and fruit snack bugs. It looks a lot better in person. I know my cakes are not perfect but my kids think they are great. That's what matters! Jack loved putting all the dirt (crushed Oreos) and bugs on .


Tearing open all the presents was the best part. It was chaotic and wild because the two older ones wouldn't leave Jack alone.

From Aunt Marian, Uncle Bubby, and Tess, Jack got a speed boat. The immediately put it in the pool and it worked. They loved it.

Uncle Chris even showed up for the fun.

This "Little Engine That Could" game came all the way from Grandma Sickels and Papa Doc in Iowa.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Baby Boy Jack!