Love to Save $$

I just have to share my most recent shopping experience.  I went to Kohls because I had a 30% off coupon and I ended up saving $597 and only spending $130 combining my coupon and clearance items.  With $130, I got a top for me, 4 pairs of pants for the boys, two winter coats for K&C, two spring jackets for K&C, four boys shirts, a knit cap, a girls sweater, two pair of girls pants, two girls tops and a girls hat.  Nineteen articles of clothing for $130, that averages out to $6.84 per item!!

I made the kids pose with their new clothes

I went shopping last night and saved this much.

Then I went back today and got a few other things that I forgot to get last night.

Thanks for letting me share!  I'm super duper uper smoocher excited!!

B'ham Zoo with Grandma

It was 70 degrees outside.  The sun was shining.  Who could possibly think of doing school on a day like that?  Well, we did do school, but in the form of a field trip to the Birmingham Zoo.  Thank goodness Grandma has an Erie zoo pass.  It gets the kids and I in for free to our zoo!  (I'm not quite willing to drop $120 for a season pass - although it would pay for itself in two visits...)

Roaring like a lion.  My kids are always attracted to these picture opportunities.  I limited them to one each.

Gt couldn't stop laughing.  He's such a cutie!

C's favorite animal.  We learned that the White Rhino is not named because of its color.  White (weit) in Africa means 'wide lipped'.  We also learned that up to a dozen rhinos stay together and that is called a 'crash'.

Love the flamingos!  They get their color from their diet...Shrimp!

Feeding the pelicans.  Gt threw one fish and then was disgusted with the residue left on his hands.  The rest of the kids couldn't get enough and kept on throwing fish.

With Grandma watching the Seal Training session.  Maps were always ready to plan on where to go next.

Beautiful Macaw

This elephant loved posing for the kids.  He'd walk back and forth in front of them.

Gv liked the peacock.  Unfortunately it refused to show us his plumage, so Gv showed the peacock his.

C & Gv chose the elephant to have their pic taken.

Gt's favorite animal at the zoo.  He was one big turtle!  (Side note: Feb must be mating season for turtles because this was the only turtle exhibit where I could get a kid friendly picture.)

A Valentine's Day Surprise

I absolutely love surprises.  I'm the kind of person who doesn't like to know what I'm getting for Christmas, my birthday, or any occasion until that day. I didn't even find out the gender of any of my kids when I was pregnant.  I just love surprises.

My problem with surprises, is I usually figure out what they are beforehand.

Well, today I was absolutely clueless.  I had made plans with a friend to have a homeschool Valentine's Day party at 10am.  Matt left the house with K at 8am to do some shopping at Sams Club.  I told him I needed K back at the house by 10.  He got home at 9:45 and then asked all the kids to help him do stuff outdoors.  He took off in the car, and I was like, What are you doing???  He came back about 10 minutes later with roses, chocolates & strawberries...and NO kids!

Beautiful bouquet of roses from my sweet husband

He then told me that he had asked my friend (the same one that was supposed to bring her kids to our VDay party) to watch our kids for a couple hours, and that he was taking me out on a lunch date.

Do Di Yos Restaurant in Homewood, AL

We went to this amazing Mediterranean restaurant and got to spend a couple hours of quiet together...Our first date since last August.  We celebrated our 13 anniversary of the day we got engaged.  We had a great time and great food. 

And I was totally surprised!  Great job Matt!  And thank you Amy!!

Let's Build Something Together

I am one of those people who balk at having to take all my kids out in public by myself, whether it be Publix, the library, the playground, wherever.  So, when a friend of mine emailed me on Friday telling me that Lowes was having a Build and Grow for Saturday morning, my initial reaction was "NO WAY am I taking all these kids out by myself!"  But then I thought...we never do anything fun, because I'm such an introvert and a homebody.  So, I said a few prayers for sanity and signed my kids up.

I've seen other people post pics with their children at these things...goggles on...hammers in hands...wearing their little aprons...and underneath the pics, comments about how much fun they had...  Then there is my experience.  Don't get me wrong.  I asked the kids if they had fun and they said "Yes!"  Ask me if I had fun, and I'll tell you, "Not as much as the kids did."

We get the projects enclosed in little baggies.  We get our miniature hammers, goggles, and eventually our aprons.  I line all my kids up around a large stack of plywood.  I open all their bags and lay out their supplies.  I'm already exhausted at this point.  haha!  Little tiny nails that look like screws roll all around the plywood.  Kids are calling, "Mom!  Mom!  MOOOOM!"  I run from child to child trying to start their nails, only to have them bending on me or splitting the wood.  Some kids sit patiently.  Others do not.   In my chaotic haste, I accidentally make a mistake on all four of their Valentine Boxes.  I end up pulling them all back apart.  We start again; this time I'm paying a little better attention to the directions.  But I'm still making mistakes that I won't find out about until the end.  Another mom, who feels sorry for me, helps me with Ks after she finishes up with her kids.  While she does that, I have to tear the other three kids' boxes back apart, and fix yet another mistake I made in quickly looking at the directions.  Lowes workers stand behind the counter staring at me.  Who knows what was going through their heads.  But, I know what was going through mine..."Stop staring and HELP ME!!!"  They don't, and I exercise patience.  I chalk my abundance of patience up to homeschooling.  I think if I weren't doing that, I would've thrown the projects twenty feet down the aisle and stormed out the door. HAHA!

They finally get all done.  Some kids are ecstatic, others are disappointed that they didn't get to use the hammer and build it totally themselves.  I can't blame the disappointed children...I was really hoping just to stand there, take pictures while watching my children put their boxes together.  But, that's not the way it went.  At some points in the project, it was difficult for me to put together.  With the help of some parents who had great sympathy for me and my poor kids, we eventually got all the boxes done, the right way.  Did I mention that we were the first to get there, and the last to leave???

After we were done, I treated my kiddos out to Chik-Fil-A.  There was no way I was cooking after that project.  I was exhausted!

And because I'm a glutten for punishment, I signed us up for a racecar themed project in two weeks.  So if any of you friends that live close by wanna join me, either to do a project with your kids, or just watch me try to run a 3-ring circus, be at Lowes Saturday Feb 25 at 10am!  Now that I know what to expect, I'm hoping our projects go a little easier.  =)