ok, i have a lot to catch up on.
if there is anyone who reads this anymore...
We have been doing great and enjoying all of the wonderful weather. About a month ago i was a painting machine! I re-painted all of my patio furniture. I was given to us but it was rusty in spots. so i put a fresh new coat of spray paint on all of it and it looks like new. I also found a great deal on new patio cushions so it looks like a new set.
I have been taking pics for weeks with the intention of blogging about them...we'll see if dial up lets me get them up. If you don't see them...i gave up! :)
Owen is 9 months old now and crawling up a storm! He loves to pull himself up to stand. He is a joyful baby and i am so blessed to have such a great little guy.
Jackson seems so have turned a corner from the hard 5 or 6 months we had to a very pleasant and obedient little guy. He still has his moments, but seems to have grasped the concept (for now) of "yes, mommy!" or "ok, mom!" That has been sweet nectar to my soul!
i have admittedly been sucked into facebook and find my blogging time has been spent over there. i do feel as though it's been a good break. I am able to connect with lots of people in a night and i love that. i still read all of my blogs in my google reader each night, but by the time i am done i am too exhausted to write in my own! :) So, here's to better blogging days ahead.
My mom comes this weekend and will be here for the week. I am looking forward to having her here. Jackson has been saying "gramma's coming!". My grandparents bought jackson a radio flyer trike back in Apr. when i went home. I knew my mom was coming this summer, so i left the bike there. I told jackson that gramma was bringing his bike and he said "ya!" as if that was what he should say and then continued playing. The other day i asked jackson who was coming to see him and he said " my bike!" My mom will love to hear that!
I went shopping the other day and found some AMAZING deals!! I went to a store we have here called "Tuesday Morning". it's a store that's a hodge podge of housewares, and decorative items at discount prices. Anyway, i don't normally like to go in there with the kids b/c i do more stressing about them touching and breaking things than i do getting to actually look for deals - but when i saw the signs for 50% off of already clearanced items, i HAD to go in. Well, right away i saw these awesome lanterns that i figured i couldn't afford. I looked anyway and they were $44.50 (yup, that's right in my price range...NOT!) even at 50% off of that i wasn't impressed. But, i saw all of this chicken scratch all over the tag, so i investigated and saw that it said b/c the glass was missing it was $5. !!!LOL So, 50% off of $5 i could do! THEN!! i found its twin who was also missing the glass - so i got two awesome lanterns for my newly renovated patio for (do do do dooooooooooooo) $5!!!!
Then i went to our discount grocery store on a random shopping outing. (here is the side story first.... we have had these rings that are impossible to keep clean in our toilet. some sort of water issue. Anyway, i was at this discount store and found a KABOOM toilet self cleaning system for $2.50 (instead of $8 at walmart) and a replacement cartridge for $1 ($6.97 for replacement at walmart).)They ended up working amazingly and my toilet looks so great!!
So anyway, i was at this store last week and walked by the cleaning aisle and saw the replacements. I walked over and they were $.50!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So i bought 8! (i'll let you do the math!!)
ok, one last thing if you're still hanging in there...
do you go on vacation? i know i am not alone out there as far as not having tons of extra funds to just run away on a summer vacation - so what do you all do? Do you go on a vaca every year, with family? on your own? where do you go? do you save all year? any ideas or tips??
Thursday, June 05, 2008
random and a question at the end...hang in there!
Posted by Shyla at 9:28 PM
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9 comments:
Hi Shyla, We use to go camping as a family, that was about all we could afford. We took day trips to a destination, usually a historical site with picnic. Later,we put money aside through the year to go on semi=annual ski trips, but we packed our food and did not eat out. You can ask Cory if we had any fun.
By the way good job on all your bargains!!! I love finding good deals like that!!!
I can't believe Owen is 9 months.
Wow.
Nice chatting with you tonight. I miss you!
Thanks for the update! We have one of those Tuesday morning stores around here but I've never been in - I'll be sure to check it out now!
We mainly do vacations to visit our family in various parts of the country. We save up during the year so the extra vaca expenses of gas (yikes!) and food don't set us back too much.
It was fun to read about all of your deals! And your patio furniture sounds beautiful. I dream of having a yard some day.
We just went on our first official vacation last summer as a family - no grandparents. We didn't camp, so it was sort of pricey, but it was only for 3 nights. We had a big VISA gift card that Chris acquired through completing online offers. Now we're really strapped so probably will just be doing vacations to our parents until schools over. :) It's relaxing to have the help with the kids anyways.
In the past we mostly have just gone to our families houses. THis year we went on our first our family only vacation up to Atlanta. We have two great credit cards - one with Marriott suites...just for signing up they give you free nights and we just upgaded and got more free nights...all in all I think we have stayed at a hotel (Marriott) about 4 different nights now for free! We always make sure we get one with a pool and the kids absolutely love that. We also went to the Aquarium which was our Christmas present from Mike's parents. We also did a camp out night at a local campsite this year - it was about $25 and we spent 24 hrs there but fun and memory filled! Our other great credit card is with Citi cards we get 3-5 points for every dollar we spend on gas, groceries, and pharmacies. we have been able to get about $400 of gas cards this way as well as some nights to eat out at Chili's, Applebees...again free for just using our credit card! (As a side note for the credit card we use it like a debit card writing each purphase down in the check book..deleting that amount and then when the bill is due we just write the check each month and don't deduct any more...that way we don't go into debt)
Thanks for your update!! It is always fun catching up!
We do every other year big vacations...usually with my side of the family. This year it was to the OBX. On the years that we don't do that we have spent a week away camping. Camping can be a pretty cheap vacation...we have learned how to stay on a budget with food and staying at a decent campground.
This past year we put cash aside through the year. It ended up being a great idea!! The kids also collected any change they could this past year...sometimes I would go to the store and be checking out and notice all the change in my wallet was gone...hmmm...yes, they would even empty my wallet out....but anyway last week kevin went to get it counted. There was $147 in the bucket. I was so surprised. They get to do something special with...well...not all the money. ;)
If you figure out anything good let me know (as to the vacations...)we still end up just going to CO to see my family...but with 6 of us what can I exect.
Random question...I have seen a few Jackson in undies pictures...is that boy trained already, or is he just interested? Either way, that is great for a BOY that early.
That anonymous was me Shlya, I forgot to sign my name. You will have to come for a swim someday!
Courtney
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