My Campers Returned

Sorry for the delay! My campers were gone all week and I was a free Mama!


They had a blast! They have all lost their voices from screaming so much! They have tons of candy they purchased from the canteen and lots of treasures in my washing machine!


I hosted a spend the night party for my peeps at the cabin! WE had a blast! Played Phase 10 until all hours of the night, slept late then went shopping!!! We had so much fun together we decided to buy Kenny Chesney tickets for this Sunday. Husband caught wind of what we were doing and was absolutely deflated. He had been working on hosting a radio remote at work and was trying to get free tickets! and HE DID!!! AND WE ARE GOING THIS SUNDAY!


I am just a little bit excited!!!! We bought the People magazine this week to read up on Kenny and his amazing boat (I know...smutt and trash). I feel so in the know! My Mama would be proud I am up to date with "Current Events." ha! She always gets so frustrated that I do not keep up with the news. It is too depressing.
We went to Atlanta for the fourth! It was great! We went out to dinner on Thursday night for an adult dinner and took the children to the new Aquarium on Friday! Amazingly it was not as crowded as I had thought it would be. They loved going through it!

Later that night we went to Lennox for the fireworks! It was such a great show! Mike Mike had a "blast" with all of the grandbabies on his hotel bed...

This week the children have VBS and Music Week at our old church! I have a course I am taking on Wednesday, so the timing is great! I redid some of the girls bedroom since my sister needs her bunkbeds back for her four children since her husband needs an office since he works from home now! I bought new bedding and organized things! I'll post pictures later!

Still ebaying! Had a fun week!

Happy July Fourth

We are gearing up for the Fourth!

I hope you have a great weekend!


We will be wearing stars and stripes in Atlanta this weekend for the Peachtree Road Race! I will not be running but my Father-in-law and a brother-in-law usually run. The kids love watching out the hotel window for them! Everybody "saw them." There is only thousands of people running by... It is always a blast!



We will be stopping by Home Depot for the free Kids-Build-It Clinic! My children love doing that! We need another room in our house for all the things they have built! Last summer I set them up in the garage and they painted all of their masterpieces! We will have to do that again soon!



All of these photos are from years past! I will post current Forth pictures over the weekend!
Have a safe Fourth!

Thank You Mama Lou

Sister and I want to thank Mama Lou

for taking us to the beach!

She mentioned she loved a pie my

Mother-in-Law sent her last Christmas.

Get ready Mama Lou, your great-grand babies

are sending you some Yam Good Pie!

If anyone else wants a Yam Good Pie check this out!



Yam Good Pie is an all-natural dessert using the freshest ingredients with no preservatives added. It has a freezer life of 12 months and a refridgerator life of ten days. The pies arrive to your home frozen and fully baked. They may go directly to the freezer, or to the oven to warm. Try topping your Yam Good Pie with; marshmallows, pecans and brown sugar, cinnamon, whipped cream, toasted hazelnuts, vanilla ice cream, chocolate drizzle, or any of your favorite toppings!

Free Starbuck's Atlanta

Check your Sunday paper carefully. In the Atlanta Journal Constitution, there's a light blue flyer with a card that you can take to Starbucks every day through July 14 for a free 12oz cup of brewed coffee, hot or iced. Good in Atlanta and Indiana. Not valid at Barnes and Noble Cafe.

Thanks to the Affuent Pauper for this heads up! :)

July Is Upon Us

We are finally slowing up for a couple of days! We have been on the go since school let out. We are going to spend the fourth with Husband's family like we traditionally do! The children look so forward to that!

The week of July 7th, ALL of the children are going to church camp - THE SAME WEEK, at the SAME TIME!!!! Husband and I have been on trips without them, but we have never been at the house for more than a night without them! I am so excited! I probably won't get a thing accomplished while they are gone! I need to "plan" my days carefully! Not too much, but at least something!!

I turned in my application to take the Substitute Teacher Course. I figure I spend so much time at the school already, might as well get paid for some of it! I had to request my transcript - WOW! Blast form the past! I miss those days in our apartment, but not the classes! Don't tell my children, but I was not the best student! I made all A's and B's after I met their daddy the begining of my junior year, but before that...Lawsy Mercy... Mama, you should have had my hide for some of those grades. Hopefully my Freshman year will not hinder me getting a call to be a substitute teacher for third grade! How would I ever explain that to the children? "Do as I say, not as I did???"

Great-Grandmother feed him a DOUGHNUT!
Here we are getting slathered-up for the Water Park!

Couponing 101

I received an email from my friend Cat. She came over to my house a couple of weeks ago for Coupon 101. I typed up a "How-To" and showed her actual receipts. Then we actually went to the stores together and I showed her little quirks about each store! I would love to email you my 101!


She got the hang of it! Check out her purchases! I am so proud of my first pupil!!! Here is her email:

I am having so much fun with coupon shopping!!! Let me give you an example:
TODAY 6/24/08
Between CVS, Walgreens and Publix

24 Charmin BIG rolls toilet paper
16 Bounty paper towels rolls
5 boxes of cereal
4 boxes fruit snacks/fruit roll-ups
4 boxes Zataran's rice mixes (David's fave)
4 boxes Barilla pasta
2 bottles Hunt's ketchup
2 bottles Ocean Spray Lite Cranberry Juice (David's must have!)
1 doz eggs
2 1/2 lb bananas
1 loaf sunbeam bread
8 sticks Smart Blend butter
2 Lysol Neutra-Air sprays
1 ALL Small and Mighty 32 loads
1 ALL Ultra 32 loads
1 75ct Advil (my must have!)
2 Colgate Advanced Whitening toothpaste
1 CVS after shave lotion
1 Brut Deod 2.5 oz
1 Brut Anti-Pers/Deod 3.0 oz
1 2pk Oral B C/A toothbrushes
2 Huggies Bath/Hair Wash ( I have a new niece I will be visiting soon!)
1 Aqua Fresh Kids toothpaste
2 Ajax dish detergents


Total: 168.27 BUT........................

I PAID 40.96!!!!!!! OMGosh!!!!!!

I am loving this! Who needs a job when you have coupons??!!

Old Navy Flip Flops $1.00

I had to let those with an Old Navy know about the great sale tomorrow!
If you need flip flops for $1 check out this site!

Money Saving Mom

I am still saving money! It is so addicting! My favorite is Publix. I love watching the screen as I check out to see if I save more that I spend!

I even took my coupons to the beach. The Publix there did not double coupons, give you half off each of their buy-one-get-one items, nor would they give the best price on a 3/$5 deal. CRAZY - I am so glad we do not live there! I could not handle it!

I will not post play-by-play actions of my savings, except if it is a money making deal! Sister and I had a ball clipping coupons and shopping together! The best deal was the Shrimp Boil we had! Seafood at the beach... there is nothing like it!

We did not do so good positioning ourselves for this picture, but it is us!

These are MY People- where I come from. Ain't always pretty, but its real!!!!!

My oh my what a crew... Wouldn't you love to be my brother-in-law? He flew down Wednesday with my son. Son was at Junior University Monday -Wednesday!

I need to tell all my coupon friends out there about the free Kraft Cheese I scored! There was a coupon in the Parade Magazine Sunday - Buy three items (Kool-aid included) get a pack of cheese for free.

Kroger has Kool-Aid for 10/$1.00 (.10 Each). So I bought three $.10 packs of Kool-Aid for $.30 and I got a $2.75 pack of Kraft cheese for FREE. So of course I did it five more times with my coupons and I now have 18 packs of Kool-Aid and 6 packs of Kraft cheese singles for $1.80. Wahoo!!

Anybody want to come over for a grilled cheese? Now if I could score some cheap bread!

If you are wondering how I have SIX coupons, let me explain. I buy the Sunday Atlanta paper, bundled (Journal & Constitution) for $2.50. I also buy the Daily Paper for $1.25. Husband brings home his paper on Monday that arrives at work and Father-In-Law saves me his papers from work as well. That is six sets of papers with six sets of coupons!!!

A friend of mine has connections at the Daily Paper and we are trying to score coupons from there, but it has not happened yet...

Junior University Graduation

We went to Son's Graduation from Junior University this morning. We are so proud of him!

His Great-Grandmother and Grandmother were there to celebrate this special day! Out of everything that he learned he is most excited to have his Summer back! He can't wait to sleep late!

Summer Time Fun Continued

I love Summer!
The children love to play inside and out! Our only battle has been over the computer. They rotate around, but it is killing me! I do not know why sharing is so hard for three children about to enter fourth and sixth grade, but it is!

Husband was not able to go to the beach with us. he sent me some beautiful roses and told me how much he missed us!
He also got outside in my garden and weeded that BIG mess! He enlarged it and built a new fence around it! He added a new gate and put bunny-proof netting around the bottom! He did such a good job. I was so surprised!!!! I am now so proud of my garden! I will post pictures real soon!

This is the crab that the GIRLS caught! They were so proud, and so was I. My sister had gone to the Outlet Mall with her youngest daughter and son! I took the four girls to the beach and we had a ball!
Sister is making Ree's Apple Dumplin's! I had to take a picture of her preparing it like so...
Oh My He is such a beautiful baby, even if he did wake up a couple of times a night! He was not so cute at 3 AM, but I loved him through it!
Since we needed more FUN in our week, we went to the Big Kahuna! The children had the best time! This water park was HUGE! They loved it!

SummerTime

It has been way to long! WE have been at the beach with my mother and grandmother! My sister and her four children were there! We had a blast!


Here are a few pictures from the trip! Baby was not having so much fun taking 20000 pictures! We were there from Saturday to Saturday! We made some great memories!!

Mother's Day

I hope all of the Mothers had a beautiful day yesterday! I did!!
We went to church and then made our rounds!



Twin M Caught a huge wide mouth bass at her Grandpa's house! My girls were having the best time fishing! Son rode his bike everywhere and loved it! We have a long gravel driveway and they do not understand why we did not pave it ?$?$?$?$



Each of the children wrote me a very special thank you note for being their mommy and Husband framed them! I will treasurer them forever!!!!
Sorry about not blogging in a month! We have been so busy. I have taken on PTO at the girls school and it has consumed me! (but I let it) :)


I get to visit my mom and sister in the morning! Looking forward to that! Can't wait to get my hands on those little chubby cheeks! My nephews!!!

It's Been Forever and a Funny

Wow it has been a while! Husband is home, still under the weather, but home now! Children have had piano recitals, Fastest Kid (Track Meet) and so much more. The day light hours are getting longer and so is my to-do list!
I enjoyed this and thought you would too!!

The next "Survivor" series:

Six married men will be dropped on an island with one car and 3 kids each for six weeks.

Each kid will play two sports and either take music or dance classes

There is no fast food.

Each man must take care of his 3 kids; keep his assigned house clean, correct all homework, and complete science projects, cook, do laundry, and pay a list of 'pretend' bills with not enough money.

In addition, each man will have to budget in money for groceries each week.

Each man must remember the birthdays of all their friends and relatives, and send cards out on time.

Each man must also take each child to a doctor's appointment, a dentist appointment and a haircut appointment.

He must make one unscheduled and inconvenient visit per child to the Urgent Care.

He must also make cookies or cupcakes for a social function.

Each man will be responsible for decorating his own assigned house, planting flowers outside and keeping it presentable at all times.

The men will only have access to television when the kids are asleep and all chores are done.

The men must shave their legs, wear makeup daily, adorn himself with jewelry, wear uncomfortable yet stylish shoes, keep fingernails polished and eyebrows groomed.

During one of the six weeks, the men will have to endure severe abdominal cramps, back aches, and have extreme, unexplained mood swings but never once complain or slow down from other duties.

They must attend weekly school meetings, church, and find time at least once to spend the afternoon at the park or a similar setting.

They will need to read a book and then pray with the children each night and in the morning, feed them, dress them, brush their teeth and comb their hair by 7:00 am.

A test will be given at the end of the six weeks, and each father will be required to know all of the following information: each child's birthday, height, weight, shoe size, clothes size and doctor's name. Also the child's weight at birth, length, time of birth, and length of labor, each child's favorite color, middle name, favorite snack, favorite song, favorite drink, favorite toy, biggest fear and what they want to be when they grow up. The kids vote them off the island based on performance. The last man wins only if...he still has enough energy to be intimate with his spouse at a moment's notice.

If the last man does win, he can play the game over and over and over again for the next 18-25 years eventually earning the right to be called Mother!

Over the River and Through The Woods

We went to visit my grandmother this past weekend! We really had a good time. The children enjoyed playing their DS the whole way up there. I do not know how they are not blind.

I picked my Mom up and she went with us. I enjoyed getting to talk to her in the car! It is rare that we get to spend that much time together.

We went to the Mall and walked around! It has been ages since I have been in a mall. Target and TJ Maxx are about it for me these days. It is hard to look at those prices and believe people actually pay that. Sorry if I just offended anyone, but the prices are unreal!

I found a salt bowl to set by my stove. I have seen them before and this one was of course on sale! A great keepsake from our trip. The girls each got a webkin and Son got a new belt and two shirts.

When we got there it was COLD! I had packed two skirts and was rather chilly! We went to Target to buy my grandmother a digital camera. While we were there I found two pairs of Capri's that I just love! Definite two new staples in my spring wardrobe.

I was hoping to post pictures from our trip, but it will be old news if I wait any longer! Maybe later...

Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry's

Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry's - April 29, 2008

Ben & Jerry's scoop shops give out free ice cream cones all day. This year's event, taking place on Tuesday, April 29, 2008, marks the company's 30th annual Free Cone Day. Over one million free cones are given away each year, prompting the company's ad slogan "Be One In A Million." Charitable organizations are often present at the stores each year and enjoy a significant amount of fundraising success.

Tip of the Day

I am an organizer! Not a surprise to many of you! I love for everything to have a place, not that it is always there, but I know it has a "home."

I recently found this website that gives tips about everything from normal people living normal lives. Now some of the ideas are crazy, but others have become part of our everyday lives.

You should check if out! It is called DAYTIPPERS

Spring Break

Wahoo...Here we are. At home, with the whole week ahead of us. I have spent the day doing laundry, cooking several real meals and playing on the computer all day.

I have committed to NO SHOPPING this week. My freezer is stocked with meat and veggies. We have two gallons of milk in the fridge and plenty in the pantry. Did I mention that the children are home? The thought of "ruining" my reputation with all my sales clerk/friends brings tears to my eyes. My children forget who they are and WHOSE they are when we get behind a buggy! I have spend months building this repiore with my fellow workers and one visit with Frick and Frack would do it in!!!

So that is why we are eating out of the pantry. At the end of this week, we are going to pick up my mother and travel up "North" to visit my grandmother for the night. Husband will miss us for the night, but hopefully there will still be something left in the fridge for him when we leave!

Tomorrow I am taking them to have a picture made! It has been a while, I am really looking forward to it! I look back on some of the ones from when they were little, I am so glad I spent the money, even when we did not have it to spend on pictures!

You cannot go back! It was money well spent! My favorite ones are black and white and 11x14 from their shoulders up! They are huge close ups and I love them!!


Do You Remember These Girls??? October 2004 They were 4 years old.

Hot 'Lanta

Having grown up in Marietta, GA, this was very funny to me and I thought I would share! I hope you enjoy it! I know my Mom will!!

This is for anyone who lives in Atlanta, Georgia, has ever lived in Atlanta, has ever visited Atlanta, ever plans to visit Atlanta, knows anyone who already lives in Atlanta, or knows anyone who has ever heard of Atlanta.

Atlanta is composed mostly of one-way streets. The only way to get out of downtown Atlanta is to turn around and start over when you reach Greenville, South Carolina.

All directions start with, 'Go down Peachtree' and include the phrase, 'When you see the Waffle House.' Except that in Cobb County, where all directions begin with, 'Go to the Big Chicken.'

Peachtree Street has no beginning and no end and is not to be confused with:
> Peachtree Circle
> Peachtree Place
> Peachtree Lane
> Peachtree Road
> Peachtree Parkway
> Peachtree Run
> Peachtree Terrace
> Peachtree Avenue
> Peachtree Commons
> Peachtree Battle
> Peachtree Corners
> New Peachtree
> Old Peachtree
> West Peachtree
> Peachtree-Dunwoody
> Peachtree-Chamblee
> Peachtree Industrial Boulevard

Atlantans only know their way to work and their way home. If you ask anyone for directions, they will always send you down Peachtree.

Atlanta is the home of Coca-Cola. Coke's all they drink there so don't ask for any other soft drink unless it's made by Coca-Cola. Even if you want something other than a Coca-Cola, it's still called Coke.

The gates at Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport are about 32 miles away from the Main Concourse, so wear sneakers and pack a lunch.

The 8 AM rush hour is from 6:30 to 10:30 AM.
The 5 PM rush hour is from 3:00 to 7:30 PM. Friday's rush hour starts Thursday afternoon and lasts through 2 AM Saturday.

Only a native of Atlanta can pronounce Ponce De Leon Avenue, so do not attempt the Spanish pronunciation. People will simply tilt their heads to the right and stare at you. The Atlanta pronunciation is 'pawntz duh LEE-awn.'

And yes, they have a street named simply, 'Boulevard.'

The falling of one raindrop causes all drivers to immediately forget all traffic rules. If a single snowflake falls, the city is paralyzed for three days and it's on all the channels as a news flash every 15 minutes for a week. Overnight, all grocery stores will be sold out of milk, bread, bottled water, toilet paper, and beer.

I-285, the loop that encircles Atlanta, which has a posted speed limit of 55 mph (but you have to maintain 80 mph just to keep from getting run over), is known to truckers as 'The Watermelon 500.'

Don't believe the directional markers on highways: I-285 is marked East and West but you may be going North or South. The locals identify the direction by referring to the 'Inner Loop' and the 'Outer Loop .'

If you travel on Hwy 92 North, you will actually be going southeast.

Never buy a ladder or mattress in Atlanta. Just go to one of the interstates and you will soon find one in the middle of the road.

The last thing you want to do is give another driver the finger, unless your car is armored, your trigger finger is itchy and your AK-47 has a full clip.
Possums sleep in the middle of the road with their feet in the air.
There are 5,000 types of snakes and 4,998 live in Georgia ..
There are 10,000 types of spiders. All 10,000 live in Georgia, plus a couple no one has seen before.
If it grows, it sticks.
If it crawls, it bites.
If you notice a vine trying to wrap itself around your leg, you have about 20 seconds to escape, before you are completely captured and covered with Kudzu, another ill-advised 'import,' like the Carp, Starling, English Sparrow, and other 'exotic wonders'.

It's not a shopping cart, it's a buggy.

'Fixinto' is one word (I'm fixinto go to the store).

Sweet Tea is appropriate for all meals and you start drinking it when you're 2 years old.

'Jeet?' is actually a phrase meaning 'Did you eat?'

'Momma-nem' means: How's Mother and all of the other children and other members of the family doing.

If you understand these jokes, forward them to your friends from Atlanta, Georgia and those who just wish they were.

Lordy, I love ATLANTA

Gerbils and Hamsters Oh My...

The girls have decided to put their money together and get a hamster. I cannot wait for them to get home from school so i can tell them their Aunt has scored them the BIG one! her neighborhood is hosting a huge yard sale in two weeks and her neighbor has a cage and water bottles for $2.00. WaHoo!!

That is music to this thrifty girls ears!

The moral of this story - ASK everyone if they have a cage collecting dust before you sink $30 into one!!!

Typing Is Now Easier

I want to thank everyone who gave me their two cents worth on learning how to type! I have figured out something special about my laptop! On the actual mouse, there is a small button that I can push that turns the mouse off. I know what you're thinking - duh! But it is really tiny. Husband even took my computer one night and tried to disable the sensitivity of the mouse and could not help me.

The other night I was typing in bed with the laptop propped on my knees (kind of high, at eye level) when I noticed the button. HUGE defining moment for me! To memorize the keyboard is just to much! I am a fast typer, but need to be able to glance down, more than I look up! Does anyone understand????

So I now feel so liberated, typing so freely with out skipping around the screen typing all over the place!

Life here is normal! Soccer games last night. Both teams won! Son had a 8PM game. That is so late on a school night. They did not get home until 9:30pm. I had brought the girls home and put them to bed. They have runny noses from all of the pollen.

Hopefully everyone will be well. We are taking the children to my sister's for her third child's birthday party. She is going to have inflatables and games - carnival theme! Circus would have been more appropriate, but I guess she didn't want any more animals???

Two of my friend from College are also friends with Sister and they will be there too! I am looking forward to seeing them! After the party the children have talked us into letting them get a Hamster. We will see if we get it Friday? I wanted to go to a couple of Garage Sales and see if we could find a cage for $5 bucks instead of $30++ Hopefully I can hold them off until Monday to actually get the rat, I mean gerbil or hamster. Speaking of a circus... Here is my Mom and Sister's #4. Oh he is so sweet! I can't wait to get my hands on him Friday (I mean see me Mom and Family)...