Pebbles

Easter

We had a great Easter! Saturday night we, of course, dyed eggs. Our egg-dying cups just sit on top of our fridge all year, and Hunter has been periodically reminding us for months that we'll dye eggs again. He was very excited when the day finally came!

Daddy snapped a couple pictures of the fun.

Daddy also made sure we each got our own eggs:

Greg and I enjoyed fun traditions like egg-dying and Easter baskets from when we were kids and that's something we are passing down to our kids. Here's the baskets. One is for Hunter and one is for Greg. I didn't make one for Kylee, because let's be serious, a 3-month-old doesn't need an Easter basket, and I'm the one who would've eaten all the candy if I had made her one. So I opted to skip it.

Hunter enjoyed his basket. It was from us, not the Easter bunny. This video shows what we've been talking about all month. I was a very proud momma when I didn't even have to remind him of any of the answers! He may not have the timeline of events on the correct days but we'll work on that as he gets older. :)

Unfortunately, we weren't able to get a good picture of them in their Easter outfits. Neither of them would stay still. This is the best I got...

...because the photo shoot quickly turned into this:

They were all spiffed up for church though. I made Kylee's bow to match her dress. I absolutely love how well they coordinated...so much so that I'd put her in the outfit every day if that was socially acceptable.

How was your Easter?

Super Duper Math Skills

I figure my blog is the place for me to be a proud mom...so I decided to post this video here. I'd say this is pretty good for a 3.5 year old.

He eventually did write the six, which I got on video, but blogger didn't want to upload the whole thing for some reason, so I trimmed it.

We're so proud of him. He technically shouldn't even be in preschool yet and he's able to do kindergarten math!

It's a Tough Life

Sound asleep...

Spring has Sprung!

My sweet neighbor, Ms. Peggy, came over this morning and asked if she could plant some things in my front garden by our front windows. She is in her 70s, but you'd never know it. She keeps busy in her own garden on any day where the weather permits it. I'd considered the thought that planting things out front would look nice, but it never went anywhere from there.

Anyway, she brought over some plants, and we pulled weeds, tilled mulch, and planted plants for 2 hours. I didn't think about it before we first started to get an actual "before" picture, but trust me when I say that it was very rough looking. Here is a picture of when we were almost through pulling the weeds.You can see the huge piles of weeds on the walk.

Hunter had fun helping, and Kylee did great too!
I didn't think about it until I had the opportunity to do it, but being that it's my house, I was able to decide exactly where I wanted each plant, and I really liked that responsibility. I may even go up to Lowe's and pick out a few of my own. I just planted what Peggy was sweet enough to give to me, but I think it would be fun to pick out what I like at the store.

Here's the finished product. (Please note the garden ornaments Ms. Peggy donated.) It will look nicer once the plants are established in the ground and the flowers really start blooming. We also planted zinnia seeds along the back, so I can't wait for those to sprout up!

Extreme Couponing

Yesterday, my friend told me that the show called "Extreme Couponing" reminds her of me. What's funny is that this is at least my 5th friend in the past few months that has said this.

It makes me proud that people think of me when they watch that show! While I've never seen it (since we don't have cable...just another money-saving technique) I like clipping coupons and getting awesome deals as (I would assume) the people on the show do also.

I always text my mom and sis with my weekly deals. They aren't fellow coupon-clippers, but they humor me and congratulate me on my good deals, which I appreciate. ;)

Just yesterday, I got all of this: for $6.38! (Don't worry, I did get 12 eggs, but I made banana muffins and used one before I took the pic.)

I've had a few people ask me where I get my coupons, which I love because I want other people to use them too to save money! It definitely does take time, but it's invigorating to me to pull out a stack of coupons and save at least $10 in one trip!

Anyway, in addition to getting the Sunday paper for the coupon inserts, I print a lot of them too. Here are my favorite sites:

Moms by Heart - This one is my favorite! There are a ton of coupon sites by people to help you match up coupons with sales. But in the past when I've tried to use them, these sites just annoyed me because I could never find my way around them. I love this site though, because it's very well organized and I can always easily find what I'm looking for. She posts weekly posts for Target, Walgreens, CVS and Rite Aid with the best deals per their sales and using coupons, and tells you where to find the coupons.

Here's my favorite sites to print coupons:

Coupons.com

RedPlum.com

SmartSource.com

Target Coupons

My main method of saving a ton with coupons is going to a store that doubles coupons up to $1. It's a grocery store that I go to, but I even buy a lot to toiletries there. Example: they had toothpaste for $2.50. I had a $1 coupon, which they doubled, giving me $2 off, and getting a tube of Colgate for $0.50! I highly suggest finding a store that doubles coupons up to $1.

Hope this information can help someone save some money!

Cute Photos of the Day

From Hobby to Obsession

So I posted yesterday about finding a new hobby...well I think this new hobby has turned into a bad obsession (or at least has the potential to become one.) I made numerous hair bows yesterday for Kylee...nothing wrong with that. I even made one to match her church outfit for today. Then, this morning, I decided I wanted her to wear something else (because that's what women do.)

So what did I do? I whipped up two more hair bows that matched her outfit...TWO of them, because I wanted to have choices...for a decision that needed to be made in a half hour.

I need bow-making therapy. Keri, you're invited too.

But look! Aren't they super cute?! Don't worry, it's only been 24 hours. I'll be adding to this collection.

I Think I've Found a New Hobby

Making hair accessories!!!

Mysterious Ways

I love the way the Lord works.

I love when he blesses you in a way that only He is capable of.

If you read my More Blessings post, you know that we were just blessed with great furniture at a great price. At the end of it, I jokingly threw out there that we were still waiting on a replacement for our sad coffee table.

Well...

I get this comment on my blog. It's from a friend of a friend. Our mutual friend's name is Keri, and she lives in Washington state, which is where they know each other from. Anyway, the comment said that she happens to live near me and happens to have a coffee table to give away! How awesome is that?!

So she and her kids came over and visited with us today (she was even gracious enough to deliver!) It was very nice to visit with her and her children and I am so thankful to her, and ultimately, the Lord for His mysterious ways that He provides.

Not only did we get a new coffee table, but we made new friends too! :)