The day finally came... I knew it would... don't all kids do this...
We were sitting at the dinner table and J.D. said, "Mommy, I learned all about love and marriage today."
"Oh," I said, "from who?"
"I don't know," replied J.D.
"Who are you going to marry J.D.?" I asked.
"You, Mommy." J.D. replied.
My heart jumped for joy. I am his girl! I tried to contain my excitement over this. As a mother, I knew this was coming... and it was a moment that I was looking forward to treasuring in my heart for always... and I will (even on the days that he says I "break his heart"- mostly b/c he can't have more gum or candy... another story... another blog...)
"But, I married Daddy. You can't marry me." I kindly told him.
"Then, I'll marry Natalie. And, we will be happy together forever." J.D. said assuredly.
(Yes, on a good day they would be happy together forever. On a bad day kicking, not sharing, hitting and biting are a part of the marriage agreement in that scenario. Not to mention, this was just too far for Jason to handle... he jumped in with some explanation about not marrying your siblings... )
But, I am holding onto the moment. I am his gal! I love being his gal! He is my guy! Now, to await for Natalie to fall head over heels for her daddy and for Carson to profess his undying love for me... now this just sounds weird. Oh well... I am going to treasure it anyways... I love my kids, I love that my kids love me in spite of me, and I am thankful to God for giving me GREAT kids!
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
My latest obsession- COUPONS!
I thought I would share with you my most recent obsession... I am becoming quite the couponing expert! Yesterday was my best savings yet... I saved 78% at Safeway! Boxes of cereal for $0.75... Duracell Batteries for $2.99 (8 of them... and let me tell you...with all these electronic toys in the house... I know a good deal on batteries when I see one:), FREE California Pizza Kitchen Frozen Pizza (actually, the store paid me $2.51 to take it home!).
Now, most of you are laughing... because you know me and you love me... because you know I am a shopper, and you know that I love a good deal. And, I have to admit I am laughing, too! I am having so much fun at saving money at the grocery store- it makes me giggle! Plus, I have almost cut our grocery budget in 1/2 in the last 5 weeks.
Not only am I making better choices on what vegetables and fruits to buy each week, my freezer is stocked with meat that is on sale... and I can use it anytime... Plus, I am stocking up on fun snacks for the kids for our car trip with Nana... (to come to Cincinnati for most of June and part of July.) I got Oreos for $0.04... 6-pk of Pringles snack bags for $0.99... and FREE Quaker snacks... I got boxes of triscuits for $0.88- fun, so much fun!
If you want to join in the madness... Here are my favorite sites:
http://www.springsbargains.com/ - This is a local site for me. A mom here in town looks through the weekly grocery circulars and matches up coupons and tells us what are good deals and what are not. (Then, local readers leave posts and links too... about other deals they have spotted in the store when shopping!)
For those of you in Cincinnati, there is http://cincinnaticents.blogspot.com/ that does the same thing!
Walgreens offers crazy deals every week: My favorite site for finding out those deals is: http://www.southernsavers.com/ The other day, I got $7.50 worth of stuff for $3.50, plus I got a $5 coupon back. Insane!
For baby stuff: http://www.babycheapskate.com/ This mom tells readers where the best deals on formula, diapers, kid clothes, etc can be found!
And, not only can you clip coupons from the Sunday newspaper, but there are tons of online 'printable' coupons out there:
http://www.target.com/ (and you can use the in-store coupon with a manufacturer coupon for increased savings... bought dressing the other day- and the store paid me $0.07 cents to take it home... cool!)
http://www.safeway.com/- go to their coupon tab
You can also load up your Kroger/King Soopers card with coupons from
And, these will come off of your purchase, in addition to the paper coupons, again, INSANE.
If you don't get the paper, starting getting it... http://www.discountednewspapers.com/... way cheaper to subscribe to newspaper here than through the local paper subscription desk...
Can you tell I am obsessed! I just had to share!
Monday, April 13, 2009
What Natalie ate for Easter
It was another snowy Easter here in Colorado Springs. About 3 inches of heavy wet snow! Enough to build a Snow Bunny! And, while this is remarkable... what is really remarkable from today is what Natalie ate...
That's my girl!
Happy Easter Day... as we say around here!
Breakfast
Hard Boiled Egg with 1.5 tsp salt
Coffee Cake
Orange Juice
Followed by:
Finding the Easter Baskets and eating
2 mini cadbury eggs
1 pack of smarties
a handful of jelly beans
(yes, all before 10am!)
Lunch
Ham and Cheese Sandwich
1/2 an apple
Apple juice
After nap snack: she had something, I don't remember what...
Dinner
Ham
Sweet Potato Casserole
Asparagus
2 HUGE rolls
Black Olives
Sweet Gerhkin Pickles
Dessert
Chocolate Bunny...
followed by 2 more pickles...
followed by Peeps...
followed by Napolean (puff pastry with whipped cream and powdered sugar)...
followed by more black olives dipped in powdered sugar!
That's my girl!
Happy Easter Day... as we say around here!
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Natalie is 3! Happy PINK Birthday!
My girl is 3! I can't believe it. It happend some time before today that she became 3... wasn't dependent upon the date... it just happened. How did I know? What were the signs?
She talks more clearly, she is taller, she likes girl stuff- no longer content to play whatever J.D. wants- she has her own ideas. She reads books to herself in her bed for 30 minutes before she goes to sleep, she plays dolls, sleeps with over 20 animals, dolls, bears, dogs, stuffed things (like a green rabbit... a pink horse... etc). She can chew gum and not swallow it (you have to be 3 in our house to be eligible to have gum- unless you are on an airplane and you are screaming b/c your ears hurt and the mommy is out of lolli's (a.k.a. lolly-pops). She notices the color pink everywhere. She sings and dances- the girl loves her music. She has an opinion on clothes, shoes and hair accessories. She is starting to have more confidence on her bike. She has friends. She tells J.D. she isn't done talking and to hush so she can finish talking- hmm! She likes flowers and butterflies. She likes make-up (grandpa John gave her the first set at Christmas- we gave her more today. She sits at her vanity and does her make-up- I used to sit at the same vanity with my cousin Nikki and do make-up, too. ) She loves LIPS as we call them- lip gloss, lip stick, chapstick, whatever. She loves lotion (which she calls soap). Lightening McQueen and Cinderella hold top spots for her animation preferences. She wants a puppy (BADLY). She no longer wears pull-ups (day or night). (We have recently purchase a waterproof mattress pad... but that is another story.) She loves babies. She washes her hands constantly- the girl can get dirty with the best of the them... but loves a little foaming soap to get clean! She pretends a lot. She throws temper tantrums. Her scream is piercing! The giggles and laughs... She enjoys jewelry. She reads her Bible (pictures) and loves Jesus! She is a delight- my joy (okay... one of the 3 joys).
Today is Natalie's 3rd Birthday. She wanted a PINK party. It was great. Here was the day...
As typically Smith fashion- the day started like Christmas morning (she awoke to decorations, presents and fun breakfast). Donuts with pink sprinkes, eggs and juice; followed by presents and presents and more presents. Then, a PINK outfit and a PINK party with friends. We had 5 friends over (Garrison, Daniel & Caroline; Avary and Evelyn). It was FUN, FUN, FUN! We made our own party hats (which would have been better with the right elastic- but oh well, the colored and stickered while lunch was getting ready- it served the purpose); we had PB&J (strawberry jelly of course), fruit with pink fruit dip and red peppers. Then, off for a pink scavenger hunt (I collected ALL of Natalie's pink toys to use either as decorations or for the hunt). The hunt was a huge success (and each kid found 7 things... everybody won- thank you, Lord!). We had white cake with pink icing and hot pink sprinkles and pink ice cream. Then, we opened presents... gave our friends their pink candy and called it a day! Whew...
This year, Natalie loved getting the following presents:
outfits (pink and green, perfect!), hair stuff- we LOVE hair stuff!, seeds for a butterfly garden, a princess lamp for her bedroom!, a plant for her bedroom, Fancy Nancy- dressups and book- (if you have a girl and don't know Fancy Nancy - like I didn't until today- you've got to check her out- she is wonderful- I'm a total fan in one day!), cake party set (Grandpa John- she has 'blown out that candle' a thousand times today!), kitchen items (Nana's were the best), make-up, gum, princess wand (obnoxious- may the batteries last till Nana gets here!), magnetic dress up dolls (Oma- they are awesome!), clothes for doll babies, more snap on pieces for her Fisher Price snap on dolls, a movie and more clothes! I think that is it... I'm not sure... the list is long- the presents pilled up... the fun of paper shredding and bow ripping was monumental in this house today!
Here are some fun pictures of our birthday gal today!
Watching Curious George awaiting the time to open her presents- look at them- so many!
Friends making party hats!
My girl has a face made for hats! So, far, we have never seen a hat that doesn't look good on our cutie pie!
She talks more clearly, she is taller, she likes girl stuff- no longer content to play whatever J.D. wants- she has her own ideas. She reads books to herself in her bed for 30 minutes before she goes to sleep, she plays dolls, sleeps with over 20 animals, dolls, bears, dogs, stuffed things (like a green rabbit... a pink horse... etc). She can chew gum and not swallow it (you have to be 3 in our house to be eligible to have gum- unless you are on an airplane and you are screaming b/c your ears hurt and the mommy is out of lolli's (a.k.a. lolly-pops). She notices the color pink everywhere. She sings and dances- the girl loves her music. She has an opinion on clothes, shoes and hair accessories. She is starting to have more confidence on her bike. She has friends. She tells J.D. she isn't done talking and to hush so she can finish talking- hmm! She likes flowers and butterflies. She likes make-up (grandpa John gave her the first set at Christmas- we gave her more today. She sits at her vanity and does her make-up- I used to sit at the same vanity with my cousin Nikki and do make-up, too. ) She loves LIPS as we call them- lip gloss, lip stick, chapstick, whatever. She loves lotion (which she calls soap). Lightening McQueen and Cinderella hold top spots for her animation preferences. She wants a puppy (BADLY). She no longer wears pull-ups (day or night). (We have recently purchase a waterproof mattress pad... but that is another story.) She loves babies. She washes her hands constantly- the girl can get dirty with the best of the them... but loves a little foaming soap to get clean! She pretends a lot. She throws temper tantrums. Her scream is piercing! The giggles and laughs... She enjoys jewelry. She reads her Bible (pictures) and loves Jesus! She is a delight- my joy (okay... one of the 3 joys).
Today is Natalie's 3rd Birthday. She wanted a PINK party. It was great. Here was the day...
As typically Smith fashion- the day started like Christmas morning (she awoke to decorations, presents and fun breakfast). Donuts with pink sprinkes, eggs and juice; followed by presents and presents and more presents. Then, a PINK outfit and a PINK party with friends. We had 5 friends over (Garrison, Daniel & Caroline; Avary and Evelyn). It was FUN, FUN, FUN! We made our own party hats (which would have been better with the right elastic- but oh well, the colored and stickered while lunch was getting ready- it served the purpose); we had PB&J (strawberry jelly of course), fruit with pink fruit dip and red peppers. Then, off for a pink scavenger hunt (I collected ALL of Natalie's pink toys to use either as decorations or for the hunt). The hunt was a huge success (and each kid found 7 things... everybody won- thank you, Lord!). We had white cake with pink icing and hot pink sprinkles and pink ice cream. Then, we opened presents... gave our friends their pink candy and called it a day! Whew...
This year, Natalie loved getting the following presents:
outfits (pink and green, perfect!), hair stuff- we LOVE hair stuff!, seeds for a butterfly garden, a princess lamp for her bedroom!, a plant for her bedroom, Fancy Nancy- dressups and book- (if you have a girl and don't know Fancy Nancy - like I didn't until today- you've got to check her out- she is wonderful- I'm a total fan in one day!), cake party set (Grandpa John- she has 'blown out that candle' a thousand times today!), kitchen items (Nana's were the best), make-up, gum, princess wand (obnoxious- may the batteries last till Nana gets here!), magnetic dress up dolls (Oma- they are awesome!), clothes for doll babies, more snap on pieces for her Fisher Price snap on dolls, a movie and more clothes! I think that is it... I'm not sure... the list is long- the presents pilled up... the fun of paper shredding and bow ripping was monumental in this house today!
Here are some fun pictures of our birthday gal today!
Watching Curious George awaiting the time to open her presents- look at them- so many!
Friends making party hats!
My girl has a face made for hats! So, far, we have never seen a hat that doesn't look good on our cutie pie! Sunday, January 25, 2009
December Pictures
Precious Natalie under the tree!
J.D. and his guitar on Christmas morning.
Natalie with Carson's drum, Christmas morning
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve.
Mommy's Birthday
Mommy's Birthday
Carson, Christmas morning.
Mommy's Birthday
Mommy's Birthday
Carson, Christmas morning.
Flew to the East Coast... To Fly home to the West... seriously!
It is a snowy-Sunday morning as I am writing this. The kids are parked in front of the Disney Channel... and I am hoping to get some pictures posted of December happenings. But, this story about our holiday travels is a good one!
Right before Christmas, Jason's grandfather passed away. He was in his mid-90's. Lived a long, good life. And, he will be missed.
At first, just Jason and Carson were going to attend the funeral. With it being just days before J.D.'s birthday and Christmas (and the price of airfare), we decided only Jason could/should go. Then, plans changed and I was hunting for more airline tickets at the last minute. So, here are the details...
Jason- flew ouf of the Springs, the last ticket out... with Carson as a lap child. His connection was cancelled in Chicago. They booked him on the next flight out in First Class.
The next day, Carrie/J.D./ Natalie flew out of Denver. (we left the house at 3am!) We arrived in Salt Lake City for our connection... a 45 minute layover turned into a 5.5 hour layover due to mechanical problems. The whole airport had travelers in it that were stranded. And, yet, I will never cease to be amazed at how God provides... I literally ran into a member of our old youth group (Annapolis) in the airport. She was scheduled to fly on the same flight to Baltimore- as she was headed home for Christmas. So, I had HELP for those 5.5 hours! Thank you, Lord. When we got on the plane, we weren't all seated together (due to the last minute booking). So, I needed to ask the man in the row with the Children to switch with me. He said NO. Then, Natalie bit, kicked and hit J.D. The man switched places! And, if you believe in God having a sense of humor... the man in the row with the man that said NO... well, he was Morman and proceeded to take the whole flight to try to convert the man that said NO to me. HA!
We arrived in Baltimore at 11:30pm... thankful for The Millers helping me navigate the 2 baggage claims that the bags came in on... they hubbed the kids while I navigated between the 2 carousels where the luggage was coming out of, don't know what I would have done without the help... got the rental car... drove to Drew's... Jessi had a botttle of wine open and ready... she really is a wonderful sister in law! The kids were overjoyed to see Kayla. We played, chatted and then slept! Drew made a wonderful breakfast, Kayla painted Natalie's nails, the kids loved being together and I needed a dose of Drew and Jessi! Again, thank you Lord for this quick visit with them.
We piled in the car at 10am... drove to Carlisle... visited with John and Jill for about an hour... then went to the church for the funeral. My kids wouldn't sit still... so we went to the nursery. I missed the funeral! At the reception, J.D. got his finger slammed in a very large, heavy, wooden church door. He was inconsolable. So, I think both Jason and I missed the reception for the most part. Then, it was time for kids to go to sleep- we went to the hotel... and that was that.
The next morning... dropped Jason and Carson at the Harrisburg airport. Drove the rest of us to Annapolis for another quick visit with Kayla and Drew and Jessi. Went to airport, dropped off car, schleped all our stuff from rental car to baggage/check-in; got to the gate- DELAYED! Sat on the plane for 1.5 hours... because they didn't have enough ground crew to load our bags on the plane. Landed in Atlanta at the exact same time our connecting flight was taking off. Missed it. Got in line at customer service (more than 100 in front of us) leading to one agent. I called the Delta Hotline... they said go to front of airport, find an agent, get hotel voucher, we are booked in First Class on the first flight out in the morning. (Nothing like flying First Class in yesterdays clothes, with no make-up or hair stuff... hmmm).
Got to front of airport... another 100+ people in line. Kids LOSING it... Natalie scratched J.D. Some grandpa saw us... grabbed us... took us to the front of the line... told the people behind us to 'deal with it, she's got kids'. Thank you , Lord for that angel! Got our hotel voucher, had to go find the shuttle to the hotel... with about 300+ people waiting, yikes! Got to the hotel, slept for 5 hours, back to the airport... flew first class on J.D.'s birthday- he loved it! Got home, got pizza for J.D.'s birthay, and got busy getting ready for Christmas.
It was crazy. Essentially, I feel like we flew to the East Coast just to fly back! And, yet, it was good to see family even just briefly.
Right before Christmas, Jason's grandfather passed away. He was in his mid-90's. Lived a long, good life. And, he will be missed.
At first, just Jason and Carson were going to attend the funeral. With it being just days before J.D.'s birthday and Christmas (and the price of airfare), we decided only Jason could/should go. Then, plans changed and I was hunting for more airline tickets at the last minute. So, here are the details...
Jason- flew ouf of the Springs, the last ticket out... with Carson as a lap child. His connection was cancelled in Chicago. They booked him on the next flight out in First Class.
The next day, Carrie/J.D./ Natalie flew out of Denver. (we left the house at 3am!) We arrived in Salt Lake City for our connection... a 45 minute layover turned into a 5.5 hour layover due to mechanical problems. The whole airport had travelers in it that were stranded. And, yet, I will never cease to be amazed at how God provides... I literally ran into a member of our old youth group (Annapolis) in the airport. She was scheduled to fly on the same flight to Baltimore- as she was headed home for Christmas. So, I had HELP for those 5.5 hours! Thank you, Lord. When we got on the plane, we weren't all seated together (due to the last minute booking). So, I needed to ask the man in the row with the Children to switch with me. He said NO. Then, Natalie bit, kicked and hit J.D. The man switched places! And, if you believe in God having a sense of humor... the man in the row with the man that said NO... well, he was Morman and proceeded to take the whole flight to try to convert the man that said NO to me. HA!
We arrived in Baltimore at 11:30pm... thankful for The Millers helping me navigate the 2 baggage claims that the bags came in on... they hubbed the kids while I navigated between the 2 carousels where the luggage was coming out of, don't know what I would have done without the help... got the rental car... drove to Drew's... Jessi had a botttle of wine open and ready... she really is a wonderful sister in law! The kids were overjoyed to see Kayla. We played, chatted and then slept! Drew made a wonderful breakfast, Kayla painted Natalie's nails, the kids loved being together and I needed a dose of Drew and Jessi! Again, thank you Lord for this quick visit with them.
We piled in the car at 10am... drove to Carlisle... visited with John and Jill for about an hour... then went to the church for the funeral. My kids wouldn't sit still... so we went to the nursery. I missed the funeral! At the reception, J.D. got his finger slammed in a very large, heavy, wooden church door. He was inconsolable. So, I think both Jason and I missed the reception for the most part. Then, it was time for kids to go to sleep- we went to the hotel... and that was that.
The next morning... dropped Jason and Carson at the Harrisburg airport. Drove the rest of us to Annapolis for another quick visit with Kayla and Drew and Jessi. Went to airport, dropped off car, schleped all our stuff from rental car to baggage/check-in; got to the gate- DELAYED! Sat on the plane for 1.5 hours... because they didn't have enough ground crew to load our bags on the plane. Landed in Atlanta at the exact same time our connecting flight was taking off. Missed it. Got in line at customer service (more than 100 in front of us) leading to one agent. I called the Delta Hotline... they said go to front of airport, find an agent, get hotel voucher, we are booked in First Class on the first flight out in the morning. (Nothing like flying First Class in yesterdays clothes, with no make-up or hair stuff... hmmm).
Got to front of airport... another 100+ people in line. Kids LOSING it... Natalie scratched J.D. Some grandpa saw us... grabbed us... took us to the front of the line... told the people behind us to 'deal with it, she's got kids'. Thank you , Lord for that angel! Got our hotel voucher, had to go find the shuttle to the hotel... with about 300+ people waiting, yikes! Got to the hotel, slept for 5 hours, back to the airport... flew first class on J.D.'s birthday- he loved it! Got home, got pizza for J.D.'s birthay, and got busy getting ready for Christmas.
It was crazy. Essentially, I feel like we flew to the East Coast just to fly back! And, yet, it was good to see family even just briefly.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
