christmas '08 - part 1

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I'm finally getting around to looking at all of our Christmas photos from the past few weeks. We had a crazy array of family Christmas events to attend this year starting the Saturday before Christmas at my grandparents' house. The Bugs did their usual "hang on Mommy's leg" routine for the first few minutes, but eventually warmed up to everyone and had lots of fun with their cousin Anna.

After dinner there was a little ice cream eating

There was lots of playing after the present opening.

A few horsey rides,

Kellan was very sad when he wasn't allowed to have any more party mints (after eating very little dinner)... how can you say no to this face??? and he even signed "please."

And last but not least, what would a family gathering be without at least one weirdo...

hmmm...

I wonder who he gets his expressions from????

Love you Sissy! You can thank me later :)~

ten on tuesday

1. I know that we've been rather absent as of late and I've gone from "not so good blogger" to "worst blogger ever." I promise to work on it. I will also apologize for the lack of pictures today. We haven't taken many pictures the past few weeks, and what we have is still on the camera.


2. I've been keeping myself busy reading the "Twilight Saga." If you aren't aware of these books you should be. If you have been avoiding them because they are "cheesy, young adult, vampire books" run to the nearest book store and buy them ALL immediately. You won't regret it, I promise. I haven't read a fiction book for fun in YEARS, and have read a good 1200 pages in the past week (which consequently also means I haven't slept in the past week, cleaned my house, parented my children, bathed, eaten, cooked, or anything of the sort....oops) Maybe that was a slight exageration. All I can say is "Edward Cullen... SWOON!" (The book Edward, not the Movie Edward.)


3. Bitty has had his first "nasty" cold of the season. It upset his tummy to the point of throwing up Friday at Miss Kim's, so daddy spent the day at home with the bugs. They had an eventful day of chasing birds out of the fireplace and around the house. There may have even been a failed attempt at feeding the poor thing a peanut before he was finally released.


4. Bugman had his yearly check-up with Dr. Liston last Thursday. He's been having his eyes checked yearly since he was 9 months old when his crazy Mama thought he was cross eyed. He has inherited an astigmatism from his crazy Mama and Pappaw and will be sporting some new glasses the next time you see him. Don't worry, he picked out some frames with "race car stripes" on them. We'll see if he keeps them on.


5. Ashley and I braved Black Friday for the first time this year. We predicted that we would make it to one store, have an anxiety attack (or two), hit Starbucks, and be home by 5:00am. Turns out we had a great time left home at 3:45, hit Elder Beerman, Sam's, Wal-mart, Target, Office Depot, (Starbucks), and Kohl's and were home by about 11:30. We have a date for Black Friday 2009.


6. What do you all want for Christmas? The Bugs are finished but I'm still at a loss for most of you. Feel free to leave your requests in the comments section. Thank you, Santa.


7. Thank you to whoever ordered High Five for the Bugs. I ordered Bugman a subscription last year for Christmas and was getting ready to renew for this year. What a surprise when a new copy arrived addressed to both Bugs. I think I know who you are, so THANK YOU, and we'll see the 3 1/2 of you on the 20th!! (Let me know if I'm wrong).


8. Daniel and I are looking for a good Tuesday evening show to watch. Our current schedule looks a little something like this:
Monday - Privledged
Tuesday - Stare blankly at one another
Wednesday - Private Practice
Thursday - Gray's Anatomy (My FAVORITE)

9. Bitty bug is just about graduated into 12-18 month clothes (especially all the already washed hand-me downs from his brother). WOO HOO that kid is a growin! (Did I mention he is 20 months old??)


10. Did I just say 20 months old?!?!?!? My Bitty Baby is going to be 2 in less than 4 months. Sigh. Maybe its time for another...








J/K... not anytime too soon anyway!

halloween... a month later

I haven't been the best blogger lately and realized that I hadn't posted any pictures of the bugs from halloween. Last year, you may remember that the bugs were peas and a carrot, which, while not the most elaborate costumes, were both homemade and a HUGE hit around the neighborhood.

Being the super creative individual I am, I came up with ABSOLUTELY NOTHING for the bugs that would coordinate. The Bugman decided that he would be a dragon and that Bitty should do the same. I was a little short on time at this point, but trudged ahead in my effort to make the bugs' costumes again this year (after all, my mom did make all of our costumes growing up and everyone knows that to turn into a productive adult you need homemade Halloween costumes right??) To make a long story short, the sewing machine broke, I got a nasty cold (or something of the sort) and only ONE of the dragons was finished in time for trick-or-treat. GREAT, go ahead and sign me up for the mom of the year award!

We did decide that maybe we could find a knight/dragon slayer costume for Bitty and they would at least coordinate. no. such. luck.

In the end we had one dragon (whose pants may have been too short) and a recycled lion. No big deal... except that EVERYONE in the neighborhood remembered them as the peas and carrots and didn't seem all too impressed with this years picks. Oh well, we'll get 'em next year...

The Dragon

The dragon ROAR!

Telling that daddy who's boss.

The pants that may have been too short :)

A bug on a mission...

I love this kid :)

the bugman, a series

we're still here!

We're still alive, just very busy. Grad work, football, illness (me), and conferences. Things are slowing down, so we'll be back around this week!

john wayne hayes

Sunday Grandma and Papaw Jerry stopped by our house and told us about John Wayne Hayes, the man riding his horse from Michigan to New Mexico. He left home earlier in the month and had made his way to New Lebanon. He stayed the night in the field next door to my grandparents and they had gotten the chance to meet and talk with him. He was heading towards Germantown on Sunday, so while my grandpa and Daniel worked on fixing the Saturn we went to look for him. We spotted him near the highschool and pulled over to take a picture and let Bugman see his dog and horses (Bitty fell asleep in the car).

He was incredibly friendly and stopped to chat and take a few pictures.

He gave Bugman his first piece of gum (which he swallowed). Someone was rather shy, so mommy got her picture taken too (in her oh so attractive Sunday Sweats :)

...And then he was on his way, hoping to make it to his next stop by dark.

Wordless Wednesday

PS Someone's still famous a year later ;) Check it out here!

Couponing 101 - Now what?

If you did your homework a few weeks ago you checked out The Grocery Game, Money Saving Mom, and Thrifty in the Cincy. Hopefully you've been clipping (or at least saving) the inserts from your Sunday paper. So now what? I had some doubts and questions when I started.

1. I don't have any of the coupons that I need.

This is where you have to be patient and diligent about clipping your coupons. If you notice the expiration dates on your coupons, you'll notice that they expire in 4-6 weeks. What this means is, it will take you a good 4-6 weeks before you have all of the coupons you need for a particular week. This part is frustrating in the beginning. Trust me, give it a good 6 weeks before you give up.

2. I didn't spend any less at the grocery.

Another frustration in the beginning. As you begin stockpiling (buying items when they are at their lowest price, before you need them) you will notice that your NEEDS list will still be pretty long. As your stockpile grows, your needs list will continue to shrink, as will your grocery bill. This can take a few months time. Once you feel that your have a pretty good stockpile, I would suggest starting a grocery budget. Look at what you are currently spending per week and what you think you could easily manage to start. We used to spend at least $125 a week in groceries. I cut back to $100, and then to $75. Could I cut it more? Sure, but $75 gives us plenty of wiggle room, room to buy all natural and organic products, and works for us. By cutting $50 a week in groceries I've freed up over $200 a month for other things. What would you do with $200 a month??

3. I don't see anything that I use.

Some weeks are better than others. There are definitely weeks that I don't see much on the list that we need/use. Those weeks I spend less than our weekly budget or stock up on some organic products/meat/etc. I also suggest being open to trying new things, and new brands. Would you try a new deoderant if it were free? Would you try a different brand of bread/milk/butter/vegetables if it saved you money? We've tried different cuts of meat that were on sale, but weren't cuts we would typically buy.

What I don't suggest is buying items just because they are a great deal. Even if I can get it for free, I don't let my kids eat sugary cereal. Daniel doesn't like boxed lunch meat. These are a couple of items that we NEVER buy, even if its free. It wouldn't be used and would go to waste.

Naptime Stuggles

Soon after Bitty was born we figured out that it was necessary (for sanity's sake) for both boys to nap at the same time. Luckily, by the time Bitty was about 6 weeks old, we had figured out a daytime routine that worked for him and had him and Bugman napping at the same time during the afternoon. That summer, both boys would sleep anywhere from 1.5 - 3+ hours each afternoon. I could clean up the house, blog, catch a nap myself, or all three, depending on the day. This afternoon time has remained sacred ever since.

Lately, Bugman has been refusing to take a nap. We had this problem occasionally over the summer, but were able to tell him he did not have to sleep, but he did have to read or play in his bed. Inevitably he would fall asleep. This old trick is no longer working. Because the Bugs share a room, he is keeping his brother up as well, talking to him, and climbing into the crib with him.

One theory could be that he is outgrowing his nap, but he is still napping for 1.5 - 2 hours every day at Kim's. He is also EVIL by 5:00 on days he won't nap. This tells me he is tired and needs to rest. Because the Bugs get up at 6:30 on weekdays and sleep until 8:00 or 8:30 on weekends, I lay them down a little later for a nap. The only current solution I can come up with is getting up at 6:30 on the weekends to keep their schedule the same. Ummm, not gonna happen - this momma LOVES her sleep.

Any ideas??? Anyone??? HELP, our sanity depends on it!!!

Fall Parties - Part 2

Daniel has been officiating Peewee football on Saturdays this fall. For fall party #2, he took the day off to go with us. We headed out the Voss' farm in Farmersville for an evening of fun. After the boys let go of our legs, they had a great time playing in the playhouse. Soon they were running around the outside with all of the other munchkins. The bugs L-O-V-E big kids, and love 'playing' with them, even if the big kids don't realize they are there.



Both Bugs enjoyed kicking the soccer ball, and The Bugman kicked it right into the bonfire... Goal or Disaster?? Luckily once the ball was retrieved and the fire smothered out, it was good to go again.



Favorite part of the night - Bugman found the Fooseball table. He was enamored and is hoping that Santa might bring him a table for Christmas. Uhhhh, Santa, could you finish my basement first??



















We ended the evening listening to some music around the bonfire, and with two little bugs fast asleep.

Fall Parties - Part 1

Our October calendar has been full of fun parties starting with my school team party in Tipp City. I have to be honest when I say I was not too sure about driving all the way up to Tipp for a party, but one of my teammates insisted we would have a blast at their family farm - and she was right. After we finally arrived (after a detour to New Carlisle) the Bugs both decided to cling to my legs. Sigh, I love that they love their mommy, but sometimes the shyness is a little much, especially since Bugman's big 0-3 b-day.

We started the evening with a Hayride around the farm and through the woods.

Here is our fabulous driver.

It quickly turned the Bugs' unsure faces into this:

and this

Towards the end of the hayride we saw some dust in one of the fields. Bugman had a guess as to what it was, and he was right.

A BIG combine! Pure Bliss for my truck/car/tractor lovers.

When we came back we had a scarecrow building race. Here is our team's masterpiece. What can I say, we tried.

Next the kids found candy that had been left by fairies in the yard (there was a cute story to go along with it, but I cannot remember it).

As it got dark we ate and sat around the bonfire until it was time to go home. Bugman is still talking about the hayride and wants to go back to "that farm."

too little, too late

Last weekend after the Pretzel Festival we took the boys to Cox Arboretum to get some fun fall fotos. Unfortunately we got there a little later than planned and quickly ran out of light. Maybe we'll try again one night this week.

Oh, how I love those short little legs!

Laughing with that big brother.

Wishing mommy would put that darn camera away already!!