Rain out and money making!

Well our baseball game started out great! The boys were waiting in the grassy outfield to catch a homer. We decided to move closer to watch the game. There were not a lot of people at the game so you could sit pretty much wherever you wanted. Both boys got asked to participate in some on field activities after the 5th inning. Only Bry agreed to do it. Let me say, it was the longest 5 innings ever..haha..Bry was excited to get to go on the field. Well as the game continued the dreaded rain clouds, thunder and lightning started to roll in. Boo! Finally at the middle of the 5th inning, we had to leave the seats due to lightning. We checked the radar and the strong storms were really close and not going to miss us so we decided to go ahead and leave. How depressing it was to leave because only 1/2 of the inning was left before Bry's big appearance. Oh well, it was a good thing we left because the sky opened up with torrential rains, thunder and super scary lightning!! Maybe another game day will be in our future! We still had a great time though. 

Well.....I'm still working on my couponing and doing a pretty good job and getting some great savings on things we actually normally use and normally buy. Here is an exception: This Starbucks iced coffee. I have never tried this or tasted it but I had coupons so I thought I would. Here's the best part......I made money!! You heard me right!! Ok, so here's the breakdown. They were originally $1.99 at Walgreens, but on sale for $1.00 with a register reward coupon that would print out at the end for a $1.00 coupon to be used on anything at Walgreens. I also had a $1.00 off coupon for each one...

$1.99 on sale for $1.00 minus $1.00 coupon = zero dollars to pay AND they gave me a $1.00 coupon to spend at Walgreens with no minimum purchase. I did this on both so I have 2 of the dollar coupons now. I haven't tried the coffee yet, that will be tomorrow, but if I like it I'll go back and use my 2 dollar coupons to get two more coffees for FREE and get two more coupons for $1. each...ha ha..... Funny! I hope I like it! I'll let you know.

Mike posted this picture on FB for throw back Thursday of us in Hawaii in 2001! Wow...We went again in 2007 and we want to go again  now!! We were hoping for 2015, but with some unforeseen events looks like we will be planning for 2016, but that's OK. We are determined to get there, so hopefully one day we will make it back and take the boys...it's so beautiful and we love it!!

It was a nice relaxing weekend. Saturday we decided to check out the local flea market. Let me just tell you it's the mega-flea market!! It's so huge! We only saw a little bit of it so we will go again to see more, wow it was overwhelming!! We need to go early, without the boys, and plan to spend several hours browsing!! Then we spent some time in the afternoon relaxing at the pool. 

I'm looking forward to this being a short week for the 4th holiday.  We are going to have some friends and family over and cook burgers and hot dogs and play some yard games. I might even make my Sangria punch! It is fabulous!! We will probably get a few sparklers for the boys and hang out at the house for the evening. I'm not into getting in the big crowds and traffic to watch fireworks. The best fireworks we ever saw would have to be the ones in St. Louis for 4th of July....wow!! Those were worth the crowds and traffic! 

Well it's time to "Wine" down for the evening and get ready for the short week ahead. Toodles!! 

Live life to it's fullest!

I read this article on FB and wow...it is so true! This has been my new outlook this past year or so. We all have our own insecurities but you have to think of your kids and not yourself. This can apply to multiple situations and not just a swimsuit. Read it and think about it...we only get one chance at life! Live life to it's fullest! 

This article is a must read...  click here to read it.

A few lines from the end of the article:

I refuse to miss my children's high-pitched, pool-induced giggles because of my insecurities.

I refuse to let other women's judging eyes at the pool prevent me from exposing my kids' eyes to the wonder of the sun glittering on the water.

I refuse to let my self-image influence my children's.

I refuse to sacrifice memories with my children because of a soft tummy.

Because at the end of the day, it is not just about me.

It is about my kids.

I want them to remember twirling in the water with their mom.

I want them to remember splash fights together.

I want them to remember jumping off the edge of the pool into my arms.

I want them to remember that their mom was there, with them.

A little home work...

Well I did actually get the cabinets hardware changed out this weekend. I bought two templates from Home Depot that really helped a alot. Although, luckily I started with the top cabinets that went all too smooth! Then the bottom, the template wouldn't work so between me, Mike and Mom we all collaborated to make a new template using the one I had. Eventually we got it figured out and working and finally got the drawers finished too. I think it really helps the look of our cabinets.

Before:

After;

Before:

             

                                                                         After:

I didn't get to the curtains yet thought. That will have to be another weekend. 

Sunday was a nice day. We drove a little south and had brunch at Cheesecake Factory in Naples after Church. The food was great. We were all stuffed but made sure to order some cheesecake to bring home for later..yum!! Then we stopped by a few outlet stores to browse and get the boys some new shoes. It was a nice day. Then we watched the World Cup. Wow...the boys were totally cheering for Portugal and we thought USA had it in the bag until that last minute goal by Portugal!! Bummer...oh well. Looking forward to the USA vs. Germany game on Thursday. 

Two random pics from our Panama city trip. Dev was working on his artwork trying to draw pineapple Willy.

We also saw this store on the way home. We had to stop and take a pic for Granny. The boys were tickled and wanted to know if it really was Granny's store! ha... 

I found a cute shirt to wear for my Disney Tower of Terror race in Oct. The girls and I are planning to do a Disney Diva/Villaness type theme. So I went with this one..ha! It glows in the dark too! The first pic is actually the back of the shirt and the 2nd pic is the front. I love it!

One of our neighbors gave us some free tickets to the Ft Myers Miracle baseball game on Thrusday night.

It should be a fun, free event..yay...I'm just hoping it doesn't rain. We seem to have entered the rainy season and it rains almost every afternoon/evening now.  

Here are a few of my pics from the trip. I have a few others to share too later. 

The view was spectacular!!

I don't know how to flip this but this was Dev's card he made for Daddy for Father's day. Too cute!!

I also have to share this...the boys have been terrified of the beach water. Here is Dev in 2009 compared to our trip this year. Wow!! I'm so glad he and Bry can enjoy the water now!!

Well that's all I have for now. I'm excited to get home and hear how the first day of vacation Bible camp went today. Toodles. 

Summer has arrived!!

Yay! Summer has arrived, although I'm still working..LOL..but in a good and bad way they have cut my hours back at work so that I'm only working 4 days a week. I would otherwise be over joyed with this option, but since we are changing the boys to private school in the fall with $$ tuition..it's a bummer, but we will make things happen.
On that note...I've started couponing! Wow, it's very overwhelming! Let me just say that I will not be once of those people buying 30 toothbrushes and 25 bottles of dial soap just because I have coupons and can get it all for under $5!! Seriously..some of the people really take it to extreme. In my opinion, they also make it difficult on the rest of us. Several stores are changing policies due to this and also when I go to try to get just 2 or 4 of an item the shelf is totally cleared out because someone else got there and got 30!! Crazy! But I do have to say that I am doing pretty good. I'm focused on buying what we need and what we would normally use. My very first attempt was pretty cool. I got two bottles of marinade and two boxes of Italian Ice for only $3.31! The total without the deals and coupons would of been $13.38! Not too bad! Then my second try I got 4 containers of Crystal light drink mix, 1 Digiorno pizza, and two loaves of Nature's Own bread for $10.79. The price without deals and coupons would of been $22.90, again not too bad.  I shopped yesterday at two different stores with coupons and sales and did awesome! Between the two stores I saved $129! Luckily my two stores aren't far from each other or my house so it's worth it. The key is to find out who is having what sales and then to stack the coupons with the sales! I'm learning this all by following a few couponing web pages and FB pages. It's a lot of info but I have learned a lot of information. The two biggest things I've learned about couponing... #1 you can stack a store coupons, manufacturer and a competitor coupons on same items  #2 you can also use two coupons on buy one get one free items. Did not know this! Also several of the coupons that print out at the register at Target are actually manufacturer coupons and not Target specific..didn't know that. One instance of buy one get one free deal, Popcorn was BOGO...normally 4.79 a box. So with BOGO you get two boxes for 4.79, then you can stack two $1 off one box manufacturerer coupons, with an end result of 2 boxes of popcorn for 2.79! By the way..I forgot to use my 1.50 off 2 boxes Publix coupon. so total should of only been 1.29 for both or .65 cent each!!.. oh well next time! wow... any way.. I'm excited and still learning on how to save some big $$. It is a little time consuming but well worth it, even if I'm not getting 40-50 items for .25 cents like some of the other obsessive couponers! This is what I mean..this is ridiculous..I got two bottles and they got how many???? REALLY!!

To keep in the $ saving mode Mom and I enjoyed a great grilled chicken sandwich from Chik-Fil-A that I had coupons for so we both enjoyed one each for free!! whoo hoo.. and it tasted great!!

We had a FABULOUS week vacation in Panama City Beach! Wow, the weather was gorgeous and the kids had a blast, as well as the adults!! We spent most of the week at the pool or the beach. The water was great and had huge waves! The boys actually got used to the water on this trip and were snorkeling and jumping waves all the time! I'm so glad they finally were able to enjoy the beach water! One day there was quite a bit of seaweed in the water from a storm out in the water overnight but we still enjoyed it! One day we went to an interactive kids museum and also did some go carting and indoor glow mini golf. We also took a trip one day to a state park that had a protected cove swimming area. It was very shallow and they weren't any waves. We had a great time there also and found some cool shells and caught a few hermit crabs. We let them go of course when we got ready to leave. One night me and my girlfriend walked down to the Daiquiri shop. We got some drinks and walked around taking some silly selfies of ourselves in some of the tourist shops....totally fun!! It was a blast!!  It was very sad to have the week come to and end and have to return home to work, but oh well. The resort was in such a great location and we had a beautiful view from our balcony! I would def stay there again if we head that way again! I do have some pictures to share, but I'll have to add those on here later. Down from us in Gulf Shores..approx 2 hours or so from where we were they were having shark warnings!! Seriously...they were spotting 100-150 near shore and I even saw a video where you could see two of them right off the beach in shallow water! Wow...luckily we didn't have those problems and I tried not to think about it...LOL..

The boys started their Taekwondo camp this week. They are really enjoying it. They even want to go early in the morning so they can participate in some of the early morning free play activities. Next week we are changing it up and they are going to a Bible camp at our Church for the week and then they will return to the TKD camp the following week.

We've been watching quite a bit of the World Cup games. The boys are really enjoying it since they are into soccer so much. They already know a lot of the players from watching soccer and some of the video games they play. I have to say..wow...it has been fun to watch some of the exciting games, but also the guys are pretty nice looking too! Who knew?! LMAO!! The boys are excited to see USA vs. Portugal this weekend. They really like Ronaldo who plays for Portugal so I'm not sure who they will be routing for??!!

Hoping to finish up a few house projects this weekend. I bought new curtains to hang in our family room and take down the vertical blinds that are on our slider doors. I also bought some new handles to go on our cabinets in the kitchen to help give it a little different look. I'm hoping to get those changed out this weekend too. Luckily I already got all the grocery shopping done thanks to my day off during the week. Otherwise, looking forward to a nice weekend of family time and some quality R & R!!

Toodles.