Fence

I awoke this morning to new sound of a fence company putting up a fence at my neighbors! This is the neighbor that has little ones that always run into our backyard, bother things and it annoys me, the Hubby and our kids, thus it will happen no more now! YES!! I have honestly been praying that they would put up a fence since we moved here. God answers prayers, in HIS time. So today, I am thanking the Lord for the fencing company that is in the hot heat putting up our neighbors fence. Thank you Lord!

I mean honestly, how hard is it to keep your kids in your own backyard. I had no problem keeping our kids in our yard when they were growing up, or even now. Heck, for a matter of fact, our dog doesn't even go out of our yard, she knows the boundries and we don't even have a fence!

So lesson for today: God cares about everything that is going on in our lives, even the small stuff!

Grocery Shopping

This afternoon the kids and I went and got groceries. I really do not like to grocery shop, but I am not going to complain, it has to be done. I spent all day yesterday making my list and looking at my saver place on line to find the best deals and what coupons I needed to use. Today I went to Publix. I am not very keen on Publix but I decided what the heck and went to Publix since they had a pretty good sale going on.

Their pretty good sale turned out to be over 275dollars at the register, minus all of my coupons and BOGO(buy one get one) items turned out to be a grand total of.....165 dollars! I saved over 110 dollars! The kids were even amazed! When the Hubby came home from work and we sat down to eat dinner, how much I saved at Publix was the first thing that came out of both of their mouths, the Hubby was shocked as well and very pleased. And if anyone has any doubts on my saving, I have the receipt to show you!!!

So want to know my new secret at saving a bundle on our groceries, and I have to admit that I am a CVS queen now too.....I love CVS, go to www.southernsavers.com and check out Jenny and her site, you'll be amazed and if you live close to where I live, you need to go to one of her seminars, only 10 dollars and so totally worth it!

So go ahead, buy those Sunday papers, clip those coupons, read those sale papers and get those fantastic and great deals for your family and save a ton of money.......and who cares if people behind us in the grocery store turn their heads when they see you or me hand the cashier our coupons because honestly, I don't care, it doesn't offend me, it just makes me know that I did exactly what I intended to do in the first place, save my family money!

Registration

Today was registration for the coming up school year for both the Princess and the Bookworm. Yes, both of them had registration on the same day, plus throw in a Doctor's appt. that I had and it made for one busy day!

So this morning the Bookworm registered for 6th Grade, yes, he will be in Middle School this year, my little boy is now in Middle School, I know that he will do well, he is one smart kid and he is excited about being in Band too! He scored 10 out of 10 on the test that the Band Teacher gave, he hopes to play the trombone, and then move to the tuba. But those that know us already know that!

The Princess registered for 9th grade at the High School, and yes, I can't believe that my first born is going to be in 9th grade, a freshman in High School! She was excited about seeing her schedule but suddenly saddened when we noticed that Band was not on it, so we took care of the situation and now she is a happy camper, Band and all! For her school actually starts on Monday with Band Camp. For those of us that were in Band, don't you remember Summer and having Band Camp for the two weeks before school started!? Yes, her two weeks before school starts will be long days from 1-9 of playing, practicing and marching! She's ready for it!

So in less than 3 weeks a new School year will be starting for us, along with Friday night Football Games and Fall Soccer for the Bookworm. You may say we'll be busy, but I say, bring it on, that's how life is suppose to be and the Hubby and I are enjoying every step that our kids make and we're there for them cheering them on!

And like we're there for our children, so is Christ there for us. He's there for us everyday and every minute of our day! Be a blessing to someone today:)

Respect and Manners

Today the Bookworm had a check-up with his asthma Doctor......we were in and out in 20 minutes, that's how well he's doing! Plus the Doctor lowered his meds again, nice! On the way back we pulled into one of my favorite stores....CVS....to pick up toothpaste, which I only had to pay 49 cents for since it was regular 4.99 on sale for 2.99 and I had a 50 cent coupon plus 2 dollars in CVS bucks! AWESOME deal! Anyhow, on the way from CVS to home I saw two police cars with hazard lights on and then I saw a hearse behing them, so I pulled over, as did the two cars in front of me and the one behind me. The kids asked if people pulled over for Granny Granny and Grangrad when we had their funeral, and I told them yes. Yes, that people pull over when they see a funeral procession out of respect for the family. Time I finished saying that a car flew by all of us that were stopped. The kids both at the same time said,"how rude, they surely did not show repect!" I told them that they were right, that that car didn't. Once all cars had passed that were part of the funeral we continued on our way, in which we caught up to the car that flew by us, wow, he sure didn't get very far!

The Hubby and I try to instill proper etiquette and mannerisms into our kids, and the number one thing is to lead by example. Ma'am and Sir are a big thing in our home, to the Hubby and I it shows respect. Although mostly a southern thing some people may think, it doesn't matter to us, it shows repect and manners. The hubby and I to this day, especially with the elder more mature people in our Church, call them Ma'am and Sir. Our children notice this and they follow. Another thing that is important to us is calling the more mature adults,and by mature I mean the older,by their last name. We do not agree with children calling older adults by their first name, not matter if they put Mr. or Mrs. in front of it. Showing repect and having manners is using the person's last name and adding Mr. and Mrs. to it. I remember plenty of times when I was growing up that my parents received lots of compliments on the mannerisms that my brother and I had, and today I receive those compliments about my children.

One other thing that we find very important is "thank you" cards or notes. It is amazing how many people do not send thank you cards. Our children know how important it is to tell people that gave you something, had you over for dinner or did something very nice for you, thank you. Sometimes a simple saying thank you isn't enough, so a letter or card is a good thing to do, and not to give it personally, but mail it. I find that people today do everything by e-mail, and when you do stuff my e-mail, it's not the same as sending it via US Mail with a stamp! So many people avoid calling people or sending letters and just turn to e-mail, what happened to picking up a pen and paper, buying a stamp, or just picking up a telephone? As of right now, the Princess is working on her thank you cards for the gifts that she received for her birthday. Sending a thank you card lets the person know that you put a lot of thought into writing a thank you, just as they put thought into what they did for you :)

As parents, we lead by example, and our children watch everything that we do, and hopefully you and I are doing what is right because they will act and follow. And when we put God first in our lives and in our family's life, how can we go wrong!

The Princess Turns Fourteen

The Princess in the family turned 14 on Tuesday. It's hard to believe that 14 years ago she was just a little baby, now look at her, a beautiful 14 year old and a blessing to have!

She had a wonderful birthday with her favorite meal made for dinner the evening before and taken out for Chinese the evening of her Birthday. A homemade cake made by me, her Mom. Homemade cakes are a tradition in our family, the Hubby and the kids prefer for Mom to make their cakes, and this past year I was blessed to have a homemade cake made by the Princess.

She received a lot of texts, and FB wishes on her birthday along with some wonderful gifts. Happy Birthday Princess....Mom loves you!

Vacation

We just got back from a week long vacation, and it was wonderful! We all needed to get out the house, out of our town and as a matter of fact out of our State! The four of us needed a break from all of the things going on around us and just time for the four of us to be together and enjoy eachother's company while seeing things that we have never seen before.

First day of our road trip we stopped in Elizabethtown, Kentucky and spent the night in a really nice Best Western. We ate dinner at Ruby Tuesday and then the kids enjoyed a dip in the indoor pool at the Hotel while the Hubby and I sat and chatted.

The next morning we got up, ate our breakfast and headed to see Lincoln's birthplace and boy-hood home in Hodgenville, Kentucky(which was only 10 minutes from our Hotel). It was very interesting seeing where Lincoln was born and where he grew up. After touring we headed toward Chicago, Illinois to see my brother and his wife and to spend a few days with them.

We arrived in Chicago mid-afternoon on Monday. We checked into our Hotel, another Best Western, parked the van in the Hotel parking garage, unpacked our luggage and then called my brother to come and pick us up. He came and picked us up and took us over to he and his wife's home. We had never been to see them before, so it was wonderful to see where they lived. They gave us a tour of their home and then we were off to have a picnic while watching a movie in the park and one of their many local parks, Lincoln Park. It was very fun. A(my sister-in-law, not using her whole name for security) packed a wonderful picnic! It was very yummy and the movie that they were showing in the Park was "Annie". J(my brother, not using whole name for security) had a speech to give to incoming freshmen at his work, so he had to leave, but he came back and joined us before the movie was over. It was a wonderful evening, with great company, great food, a good movie, and a wonderful few of Lake Michigan!

Tuesday morning we were up at breakfast and back in J and A's car for a day full of sightseeing in Chicago! First stop, Wrigley Field, second stop, Moody Church! Yes, Moody Church, the Hubby was so excited that we were stopping at Moody Church! We were able to go inside and we had our own personal tour guide! The inside of the Church is beautiful and has all of it's original features including the seats which are all wood and have the metal rack under the bottom of them in which men could put their top-hats! Beautiful, beautiful Church. I will have to post pictures of it once I upload them! Next stop was downtown Chicago! We bought tickets and took part in one of the Hop-on Hop-off tour buses. It was definately the way to go! We first got off and ate lunch at one of the favorite places of J & A, a place called Pinolli's. It was wonderful. We had the Chicago beef sandwhich which was dip in aujour and it was magnificent! After lunch we hopped back on our tour bus and headed to the Willis Tower(formerly the Sears Tower). It was the best thing that we did! It was so wonderful to go up to the top and look at all of the wonderful views!! Plus it was extremely nice to have my brother as our personal tour guide, he pointed out things and told us all about them! We had a full day of touring downtown Chicago, seeing Millineum Park, The Dome, The Buckingham Fountain, going to the Hershey Store and of course to Garrett's Popcorn(you have to have this popcorn, it's amazing!). We also had the opportunity to run by my brother's office and to see it and where he works, it was nice to see where he works at, I am very proud of him! After our full day of touring downtown, we headed back to freshen up and to we went over to my brother and sister-in-laws home to eat Chicago pizza and play PIT! We had a wonderful time hanging out with them! They are absolutely fun to be with!

Our last day in Chicago we decided to hop in the van and drive to Wisconsin since we were so close and get some cheese! It was only a 45 minute drive to Mars Cheese Company. We enjoyed a German lunch of brawts and german potato salad at the Cheese Place, it was devine! We also goofed around trying on the cheese hats that they had in their store.....it was fun! After returning from Wisconsin, we picked up my brother's wife A and we headed to Margie's for ice cream sundaes. They were so good and the best and biggest ice cream sundaes that we have EVER had! YUMMY!!! After sundaes it was time to head back to the room and freshen up, let the kids swim and get ready to go to Navy Pier for dinner and fireworks for the evening. Navy Pier was nice, we had a good dinner and the fireworks were wonderful!

Thursday morning we were up, ate breakfast and loaded up the van to head back south taking a stop in Cincinnati to see Granpa, the Hubby's Granpa. It had been 8 years since we had seen him, 6 of those years we were stationed in Europe, and not until this year have we had a chance to go and see him. It was a nice drive from Chicago to Cincinnati, and it was wonderful to see Granpa. We had a nice lunch with him at Skyline Chili, and enjoyed wonderful conversation at his home with him and Uncle E. It was nice to see Uncle E too, he always takes the time to come and see us whenever we go up to Cincinnati.

After our visit we headed south, not sure where we were going to stop for the night. We finally stopped at around 9:30 and found a Hampton Inn to stay at. The kids enjoyed swimming in the hotel pool for awhile and then we all crashed.

Friday morning and we decided that we would sleep in, eat breakfast and then hit the road to home. 4 hours later and we met my Dad to pick up our dog and then we were home! What a great vacation we had......8 states in 6 days! We are already planning next years vacation! And getting ready for our last little mini trip in a couple of weeks before school starts back!(and if you are friends with my on FB, you can view more of our 8 States in 6 Days Vacation pictures:)

ds

Summer Summer Summer Time

Summer time is a time in our family that we all four look forward to. It's a time for the kids to sleep in and do what they want to do: hang out in pajamas all day, eat breakfast at lunch time, play video games or hang out on the computer, read, swim, hang with friends, watch movies....Summer is a time to enjoy!

Our favorite part about Summer is picking a place to go to on vacation that we have never gone before. This year we can't wait til we go on our vacation, no I am not telling you where we are going....you'll have to wait!

Another fun part is having people over to our home and entertaining, be it grilling out or eating a meal in which I have prepared, or having guests over to spend a few days with us, be it family or friends or the kids' friends. Family and friends know that they are welcome at any time! We enjoy visits!

Thank you Lord for making four seasons. You knew that Spring is cool and that we would be ready for warmer weather, hince Summer, then we have Fall, which you knew that we would want cooler weather again, and then Winter....not sure about wanting colder weather, but it is nice to see snow whenever we are privelaged to have it fall in our area. Lord, you know exactly what we need at exactly the right moment, Your moment, thank you Lord for all of your blessings!