Snoozing Pirate's

Summer School is FINALLY over!!! Now there are only 3 more weeks left until the real stress begins. Since our school is becoming a magnet school, we have magnet workshops to attend next week. Teacher workdays begin Aug. 17th and school starts the 25th. Not sure why I am telling everyone this...probably more for myself so I can figure out what I need to get done before then.

K has been walking (almost running) everywhere! She has also learned how to make pretend food and eat it. Sometimes she'll even try to give me some, but all I'm really getting is a spoonful of slobber! The other day K was so tired she fell asleep right in the middle of the floor. It was soooo cute! I captured the moment before it ever left:

J and I have a super fun weekend ahead of us (can't wait to see you Grantham and Shelley). I'll save the details for later blogs....Not much else has been going on. Just taking each day and making the best of it.

Here's a picture of my favorite Pirates!!! Arrrrrghhhhh!

Recent purchases:

Lots of crayons from Office Max (remember...they're still $.01)! Next week, Staples will have packs of paper for $.01 (limit 5)....They will be seeing A LOT of me next week! Still on the look out for folders, notebooks, and pencils....oh my!

Winnings:

From being a BOB 93.3 Friends with Benefits loyal member, I won a $25 gift card to Tripp's restaurant in Greenville. We decided to save it for a football game night! With all my luck lately I should probably do the lottery this week!

Guess who just got her 10% key chain?!?!

Yes..Me of course!! It took long enough, but I got it tonight and was so excited...all for a key chain (and an applause all for me)! I have officially lost 17 lbs. To meet my goal weight, I have 11 more lbs. to lose. I only wogged 4 days this week and really should have done 5, but it was my first week of exercising. This week I'm going to try to workout 4-5 times....we'll see! Next goal...here I come!

Office Max Deals Jul 26

We went to Office Max today since they are having another week of penny sales. This week crayons are $.01, so I'm thinking of returning the Walmart crayons I bought for $.20 each and getting them all for a penny. What a headache!!!! Here's what I was able to get:

12 plastic folders for $.25 each
9 containers of erasers for $.25 each
9 boxes of crayons for $.01 each
9 scissors for $.20 each
4 pks (3 in a pack) of index cards for $.99 each

Total spending at OM: $11.85

Now its time to make a trip to Walmart....yikes!

One Year Stats!!!

The numbers are in:
Weight: 19 lbs. 5 oz. (20th percentile)
Length: 29 in. (40th percentile)
Head Circumference: 45.4 cm (50th percentile)

Looks like we have a skinny minnie on our hands. The shots went ok...broke my heart to hear her scream at the top of her lungs as she looked me right in the eye with a "Help me Mom!" stare. Poor thing! She got 2 Big Girl stickers as a reward, which she chewed all the way home. Her next shots will be given when she is 15 months old...so October. I'm thinkin' it might have to be J's turn next...what do you think??

Peek-A-Boo

Just a quick update for the week. On Saturday, K and I rode with Nana Janice and Papa Keith to VA. K did pretty well considering it was a 4 hour trip. A few screams and squeals every now and then, but I was able to preoccupy her with toys and food (now I know how snacking habits begin). We hung out at Uncle Ernie and Aunt Sarah's pool all day and mingled with family. Of course there was my favorite food....BARBECUE! K got to spend some quality time with Papa Keith in the pool. She loves to splish and splash in the water and float around in her personal floaty seat. We had a lot of fun...and I was so happy when she finally fell asleep in the car on the way home...so happy I fell asleep too!

K sometimes sleeps with her mouth open, so if you look closely, you can see her two bottom teeth. Silly Nilly!

K had another coughing episode. It has lasted for 5 days now and is probably one of the most frustrating things she gets. I figure in the past year, she has had this wet, rattling cough about 5 or 6 times. Each time we wait until it gets really bad, take her to the doctor, only to find out they won't do anything or give her anything to help break up the congestion. WHY CAN"T THEY JUST GIVE HER SOMETHING?!?!? So now I have resorted to at home remedies.

Since school will be starting back soon, I decided to drive by the brand new Smith to see what it looks like. It is humungous!!! I just wanted to break in and check it out. I am so excited that I get to unpack my belongings one last time (I have moved my classroom 5 times now). I took some pictures of the school, but its just so BIG it won't fit in the camera frame. I hope we get an email or phone call saying we can get in early...like next week. Please o please!

I have finally started exercising this week....3 days so far. I was so disappointed in my .6 lb. weight gain last week that it has motivated me to JUST DO IT! Waking up at 5 am is unbearable, but I just pull myself up by the boot straps and fling my body out the front door. Some people say they feel more active if they work out in the mornings...not sure I can say the same.

K and I have been on a few walks after work in the new Radio Flyer. K loves it! Some of the kids around the neighborhood have wanted to hop in and go for a ride. I think we'll be packing it up for a trip to the pool this weekend! Other than that, we have been pretty low key.

So I just took a quick break and checked my Old Navy weekly coupon deal and finally...yes finally...I won a coupon!!! $50 off a $100 purchase...and you can send it to a friend on Facebook (which happens to be Jon), so now we have 2 of them! $200 worth of clothes for only $100...now that's a pretty good deal! You really have to watch the site because the coupons go very quickly.

Tomorrow K will be getting her 12 month shots. Poor baby! I'll just have to smother her with lots of love, hugs, and kisses. Stat update coming soon! We love to love this little string bean!

Here is a video of K's new favorite game. Yes I'm driving...no I'm not watching the footage as I'm taking it...don't get any wrong ideas guys!

The Zone

If you are a resident of Raleigh and get the newspaper from News & Observer, you have got to make sure you sign up for their weekly drawings. I have won something two weeks in a row. Last week the DVD Unborn showed up in the mail and today I got an email saying I won 2 tickets (which are on their way) to see Orphan which comes out next week!!! I love winning new stuff! Click on the icon to sign up!

School Supplies...Here we go again!

Yes...so it begins...the search for the cheapest school supplies to get my next class through another full year. It is probably one of the biggest things I dread doing each year....spending MY money on other children's supplies. I decided that I'm going to document everything I buy so everyone can see what deals I come across and how much a actually end up spending even before school begins.

This week Office Max had their Teacher Appreciation Day on Sunday (had no clue, but ended up going there on that day by accident)! They had binders for $.20, simple pencil sharpeners for $.01, and colored pencils for $.25. Unfortunately you can only get 3 at a time, so I had to ask in advance if teachers can get more than the limit. They allowed me to double it. So after going in and out of a few Office Max's, here is what I got:

Transaction #1
3 protractors $.05 each

Total = $.16

Transaction #2
6 binders $.20 each
6 colored pencils $.25 each
6 pencil sharpeners $.01 each
Stickers $7.29 (need them for incentive charts)

Total with 15% off = $9.11

Transaction #3
3 ball point pens $.50 each
6 binders $.20 each
6 colored pencils $.25 each
6 pencil sharpeners $.01 each

Total with 15% off = 3.39

Transaction #4
3 colored pencils $.25 each
3 binders $.20 each

Total = $1.44

Transaction #5
6 binders $.20 each
6 colored pencils $.25 each
6 pencil sharpeners $.01

Total = $2.94

At Target, there are a few teacher supplies in the $1 bins. I hate that they now have $2 items in this section as well. When I see something I want, I get so excited because I think it will only be a dollar...only to find out its two. So here's what I bought at Target:

Certificates $1
Name Plates $1
2 Lesson Planner $1each
2 Multiplication Bingo $1 each
2 Bookmarks $1 each
2 Space Puzzles $1 each (we study planets this year)
2 Scheduler $1 each

Total = $18.14 (Sounds bad, but most of these items at the teacher stores around here are $3-5 each)

Walgreens had some items on sale last week. I'm keeping the receipt on these items just in case I get a better deal somewhere else.

10 note cards $.39 each
5 pkg. pencils $.39 each
7 pkg. plastic sleeves $.39 each

Total = $9.16 (I saved $32.75 on this trip!!!)

And finally Wal-Mart. I have found that there prices go down as the school year approaches. I bought crayons and erasers so far.

16 crayons (NOT crayola) $.20 each (I might have almost 30 kids this year....yikes)
4 pkg. erasers $1.00 each
4 colored pencils $.25 each

Total = $8.93

I am on the hunt for pocket folders (which one day will go down to $.01 somewhere), pencils, paper, and notebooks. All these items are still pretty pricey. My total spending so far on school supplies = $53.27. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?

Happy Birthday Kelsey!

Yesterday we celebrated Kelsey's 1st Birthday (which is actually today)! We can't believe our little K is already one. We invited friends and family over to our house and had a scrumptious cookout. Lots of preparation....all worth it for such a special day! The highlights included:

With some helpful cake decorating wisdom from my Grandma, I was able to produce these bad boys!

Just enough food to have a few leftovers for later!!! Perfect portions!

With a little help from K's cousin Josh, we finally got K to eat some cake. She wasn't exactly sure what to do, but Josh was able to give her a few spoonfuls.

Tons of gifts...THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYONE!

K helped open the first few, but due to her short attention span, I ended up opening the rest on my own...

K had such a great time. She gleamed her cute little smile the entire evening and actually made some new "adult" friends. Once K went to sleep, Jon and I stayed up and partied with the remaining guests. Fun times...pong, mini cornhole, and Uno attack (which lasted an abnormally long time)!

The next morning, K and I got to visit with Andrea and Ashley. We got to explore through some of the new toys and Ashley and K had a quite interesting puppet show event! Thank you girls for all your help....what would I do without you ;)

This weekend was a big success! We love you Kelsey and can't wait to see all the wonderful things you will learn to do this year. Our seashell is growing so quickly!

Red Hot and Blue!

Today is July 4th, and a hot one at that! I have enjoyed doing absolutely nothing today with my two favorite people in the world...J and K! Ok that was a lie...so we really did more than we usually do on a Saturday. We woke up early (well...when K woke up) and went to yard sales. We've never been before and just wanted to see what kind of treasures can be found. We drove all around Raleigh to 4 separate ones and were highly disappointed. Nothin' but junk. No treasures today. Our favorite item from the hunt was a small wooden chair (could probably fit two kids in it) and on the chair, in vibrant colors was "TIME OUT VICTOR." Poor Victor...and now his parents want to pass on the naughty seat...ha!

K just moved into her Big Girl car seat today. We were all highly excited for the big event. Finally I can see her sweet little face and watch as she looks around in amazement at all the things she can look at now besides tree limbs from above (which was all she could look at before). You can tell by her expression she knows what a Big Girl she is now (especially with her cell phone and car keys) ;)

Later on in the afternoon, when K took her afternoon nap, J and I decided to take one too. Wish we could do THAT everyday! Then after we all woke up and got settled, we went and hung out at Grandpa and Grandma's house. This is Alena (Leland) and Jenny's last weekend here before she returns to Kansas. We will miss them A LOT, TONS, MUCHO! Here's K on the rocking horse...somehow, she knows how to rock back-and-forth...not sure where she learned that (K...keep your eyes open!!!)After dinner we returned home just in time to see some fireworks (P.S. they are still going on...K is asleep, but for how long...who knows). Here is my favorite picture that I caught tonight. It almost looks like a massive star in the sky! Sooooo pretty!

Happy Birthday America!

Priceless

The picture that needs no explanation ;)