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.

Fun times

Well the past two weeks have been filled with fun stuff! To start off both boys didn't win their playoff soccer games. It was quite the thrilling night at Bry's game though. The other team's coach and parents were totally out of control. They are the prime example of why parents need to control themselves. They were yelling things and totally acting ridiculous and it got worse as we were getting close to beating them. It's a long story but it was totally ridiculous and I even complained to the director of the soccer program. To top it off the other coach , who by the way was totally obnoxious and totally screaming at the top of his lungs the whole time at the kids, came up to Bry after the game and wanted to meet his parents. He came up to us and wanted to recruit Bry onto his team for next year...uh....as quickly and sort of politely I said "sorry, but not happening" and I walked off with Bry. Are you kidding me...if he somehow ended up on that guys team I would totally protest and demand to be put on another team. That coach and the parents were just so out of control over a recreational 8 yr old soccer game....seriously!! They are setting such a horrible example for their kids that I can't even believe it. Anyway....

On to the fun stuff! Our beach trip was amazing!!  The worst part was that it was too quick!!! The weather was beautiful!! A little cool the first day for our south Florida blood, but it was great weather!! The kids played on the beach and in the pool all day while the adults watched, relaxed, enjoyed drinks etc. It was such a great trip! All the kids got along great, not that I expected any less though. It was sad to leave, I wish we could of had a longer trip!

We saw sting rays in the water right off the beach! It was cool. This is a small one compared to a giant one we saw. If you took your arms and pretended to make a really big circle with them...that's how big it was! I was able to watch him swim away wearing my snorkel mask. It was very cool! The boys didn't get in the water too much, still a little apprehensive and the water was still fairly cool, but they enjoyed it!

One morning we were up early for a walk on the beach and a local fisherman let all the kids reel in fish with his pole. They loved it and they loved digging for sand fleas. I didn't take a picture, but they aren't small like you might think. They are actually about the size of a peanut in the shell! I think they use them for bait.

We also saw several dolphin swimming right off the shore! 

The girls! We had a great time! Lisa, in the middle, only joined us for a few hours one of the days but she brought yummy drinks, cool drink cups and a delicious chocolate cake..yum!!

Denise's Mom was also quite the sand artist! She created several awesome things in the sand! These are a few of them. She also made a really cool swordfish type thing but I didn't get a picture of it..  boo!

This past week we took the boys in for a yearly school check up. Well let me just tell you it was quite the adventure!! They didn't know they were going to be getting shots, actually neither did I. The Dr. suggested a finger stick to check for anemia and a Hep A vaccine. I was fine with it, but the boys were not!! Dev actually did good. He started to cry but as they did the finger stick he realized it didn't really hurt that much and the same with the shot. Bry on the other hand was screaming bloody murder before Dev even started to get his. It was so terrible...Bry was screaming, threatening to leave the Dr. office and everything. It took three of us to hold him down for the stuff. Wow...I felt terrible....we got it done but it was torture! Yikes! He said he wasn't having any of that again until he was 18!! wow....That was quite the ordeal!! I think the shots ended up hurting him worse because he was so tense and squirming all over the place, poor thing...Not a fun visit! Otherwise they are doing good, they are perfect for their height and weight ratio. They are still measuring tall for their age. Dev is in the 75% and Bry is 81% percentile. Meaning they are  taller than most kids their age. wow...I will interested to see if they reach the 6ft tall mark!!

Bry decided he was ready to cut his hair! I'm a little surprised, but I think the heat started to get to him. So anyway, we took a few goofy pictures the night before the hair cut! His hair was so bushy! I don't think the pictures truly show how big it had gotten, which was just what he wanted by the way!! ha ha..

Yep! It's all gone!! Ha! I love his facial expressions!!

He likes it and so do we. He was excited to go to school as the "new boy" today thinking no one will recognize him!!

So a neighbor posted a pic of this gator in one of the ponds in our neighborhood. Yes, it is very common to see gators in almost every pond or lake around here. Mike has even seen one walking on the golf course!! 

Well then a neighbor posted this picture!! yikes!!  The gator is out for an evening stroll! This is right by the clubhouse in our neighborhood! This is exactly why I don't like to run outside before or after dark!! There are too many wildlife species out and about around us!! seriously!!! yikes! He looks pretty good size!

So we had a great Memorial day weekend. We spend a lot of time at the pool and had some friends over for a cookout. It is starting to feel like we are getting back settled into our normal lives again....I'm liking it!

So it's the last week of school. Tomorrow is the last day! Wow..I have to say I'm relieved! It's been a bit of a crazy year so I'm looking forward to new adventures next year and hopefully not so much stress. We are changing schools and I know it will be for the best. The boys seem to be OK with it too. Even though it's been a crazy year they both did awesome! Dev finished out the last quarter with all A's and 1 B! and Bry still managed to get all A's!! I'm so proud of my boys for getting awesome grades all year!

So let summer officially begin!!! Toodles!

Lotsa Lotsa....

So many things happening around here!! Wow..it's been a great week!! We started off with Bry finishing his last prep class for his 1st Communion. Mimi and Gran J arrived earlier in the week and were able to watch some soccer practices during the week. Saturday morning came early and we were up to the church to help celebrate with Bryson. It was a beautiful service!! No photography was allowed during the service but they had a photographer taking pictures throughout. The pictures aren't ready yet, I'm excited to see them! Bry did great!! After the service Mike and Dev had to leave so that Dev could get to his soccer game scheduled for noon! Me, Bry and Mom and Mimi and Gran J went to the reception and enjoyed some cake and light snacks. I'd say Bry was very hungry because he kept eating!! I didn't want to rush him since it was his reception..ha ha... Once he finished we rushed back home to change clothes and head to the soccer field to try to catch the end of Dev's game. We would of went right to the field, but it was 90 something degrees outside and Bry would of melted in his outfit! Bry and I ran in the house and did a superman/supermom change literally!! I don't think we were in the house more than 3 minutes...seriously!!
Here are some pictures from Bry's special day:

My handsome boys!!!  The wind was blowing as you can tell by Dev's tie. Oh yeah, he insisted on wearing a pen in the pocket so he could be like Daddy!! LOL..
Don't let the picture fool you, they are almost as tall as me! I have high heels on here!!

We headed to the soccer field and got there in time to catch the last half of Dev's game. I'm glad we made it, his team won in a tough nail biting game. Then we all headed to Red Robin for some lunch. It was great!! I have been wanting one of those burning love burgers for quite awhile!! so yummy!!  Then, I had to leave a little early to get to a hair appointment that I had scheduled. It was definitely time for a touch up. I love my hair dresser she is wonderful and the place gives complimentary wine!! Oh yes....so relaxing...just what I needed after such a busy morning!!

HA HA!!

Sunday of course was Mother's day! It was a wonderful day! I had both Mom's in town and we ate a wonderful dinner grilled by Mike. To top it off Mike's cousin Len and his family and MIL came in town for the day also..it was great!! It felt like old times having a large family gathering and eating and having great laughs! Loved it!! Thanks to Mimi and Gran J for all their help this week!!

!!

This week started off busy too! Bry had school all day, then TKD, then his TKD competition class, then TKD testing..then a soccer playoff game!! Yes, you read that right....wow!! This was all on Monday afternoon!! It's a good thing he has that young energy level to keep him going!! TKD testing went great and his team won the playoff game. Now he moves onto semifinals this Thursday. I hope his team wins, but he won't be there to play in the championship game this Sat. since we will be at the beach....we will see how Thursday goes!  Dev's team also won their playoff game this week so he will play Thursday night also in the semifinals!!  wow....

 I have some video of the boys breaking their boards at TKD that I will share on here also. 

As you can tell I'm using a new photo app to make collages! Ha...I'm loving it!! 

Bry got a hold of my phone and decided to leave me some selfies!! LOL.. He is such a hoot!!! Love him to pieces!!

So we finish this week off with soccer playoff games, Bry has part of a project due,and I will be packing for our beach trip!! yay!! So excited!! The weather is going to be excellent!!

More school troubles....I won't go into details...it's a long story. But let me just say it's not my boys, it's problems with the school. Good thing I'm on top of things is all I have to say. So Mike and I are exploring other options for next year! We hope to know something soon. Praying God will lead us in the right direction and the right choice for our boys!!

Well that's all I have for now...oh wait...one more photo collage with my new app!!

This one totally cracks me up!!! Have a great week!! Toodles!!

Whirlwind

Wow.. the past few weeks seem to have just flown by in a whirlwind! Let's see...well our dinner night out in Naples was just fabulous. The food was great, the atmosphere was great and our server was the best! We had such a wonderful night!

Easter was great too! The boys were happy with their Easter baskets. Although, they wanted to know why the Easter bunny didn't hide any eggs out in the yard?? hmm....I didn't know he was supposed to! Oh well, that's ok, we hid eggs later out in the yard as a family and they got to hunt them. In fact I think I saw one yesterday in one of our bushes that they must of missed..ha ha...
I forgot to post this one super cute picture of Bry enjoying his bunny car treat!

So Bry had yet another school project due. I have to say I'm not that fond of the school projects. He had to create a habitat. He chose the safari so we printed out pics of animals and added some shrubs from the yard and voila....that's what you get! ha ha..

We are very excited for this upcoming Saturday. It's Bryson's 1st Communion. This is the banner he gets to hang on the Church pew to designate where his guests will sit. He is very excited and has practicing over this past weekend of what he is supposed to do. It's so cute! Mimi and Gran J are driving down to help him celebrate and he is so happy! I had him try on his outfit that he is wearing...oh my...he looked so cute!! It's been awhile since he has been all dressed up...wow ,... my little man!! I will definitely have some pictures to share next week!

I was back in the kitchen again for Cinco De Mayo today. I made sombrero cookies!! Of course some people at work had other ideas of what these were...LOL....

I've been able to have a little time off from work and  finally had a chance to work on some projects. I'm happy that the house is finally starting to feel more like our home.  

The weeks have been filled with the usual stuff, homework, soccer practice, TKD practice, soccer games, a birthday party and all the usual house chores. 

Only two weeks and we will be enjoying the sandy white beaches of Destin with great friends! Dev is so happy to be able to see his BFF since preK!! He hasn't seen him since 2012!  It will also be nice to see the white sandy beaches again! The beaches here are very nice, but the sand just doesn't compare to the panhandle beaches! I hope the boys finally get more in the water and enjoy jumping those waves!!

I'm back to getting up at 4:30am to get to the gym at 5am before work. YUK!! I tried doing my workouts and running in the evenings instead. It was OK, but so much easier to get busy with other things and not do the workouts. So...back to the early grind! I hate it honestly, but it gets the job done and I feel good for the day and I don't have to worry about fitting it into the evenings. sigh......

Well you would think I would have more to share since it's been a few weeks since my last post, but this is all I have. I will have fun stuff to post in the next few weeks though. 

Oh yeah....I can't believe there is only three weeks of school left!!!!

Toodles....