My Thankfulness Tree

Last week, Mommy and I did an art project. We made a Thankfulness Tree. I got to paint the tree. I think Mommy thought I was more patient than I actually was because she thought that using my finger prints to make the leaves would be a wonderful idea. Well, it was fun for a few seconds and then I wanted my brush back. Mommy realized I had no patience left so chose to no longer pursue the finger prints. She let me have at it with the brush and then I got to spread the paint around with my fingers too. I loved it. I even painted my nose. Mommy says every good artist gets messy. I like that because I get messy. The final product turned out nicely. Now each night at dinner, if Mommy can remember, we talk about one thing we're thankful for and write it on a leaf. Then, we hang the leaf on our tree. Last night I said I was thankful for "pus-ghetti." Yes, I love it. Thank you God for pus-ghetti.

A Considerate Sister...a Little TOO Considerate

Well, a week and a half ago (yes, we're behind on the pics) I had quite the time. I had a diaper rash that would not go away, a fever, and a bad eczema outbreak. After a worthless trip to the after hours (who by the way wondered why I had a diaper rash since I wasn't in daycare...really? We spent an hour just to hear a birdbrained question like that?) Mommy took me to our pediatrician the following day, Monday. Hannah, always aware of everyone's feelings, recognized my dampened spirits. So as we were getting ready to head to the doctor's office she felt an overwhelming need to share her stuffed animals. I really appreciated her kindness; however, I began to realize I may be having some breathing problems due to the overabundance of animals on top of all my other calamities. Thankfully, Mommy recognized this as well and chose to kindly remove them, however, not forgetting to thank Hannah for her consideration.

For an update...I am over the ear infection but still have major stuffiness. My eczema, well any of you with eczema know it's here to stay, is still here. And my diaper rash has now transformed to a mild pink...a much improvement from the bright red a week ago.

Savings, Savings, Savings!

So, here I am eating a pear...one of the items we bought this week on our grocery extravaganza. Now that Mommy is really trying to save money with the grocery list, we've decided to put up a post each week with our savings...hopefully to encourage others in their endeavors to save save save. Our plan is the same each week: coupon cutting, deal finding on Saturday. Publix shopping Sunday. CVS and Walmart shopping Monday. We go to those three stores because they're close and manageable. This week was a little tricky because our car broke down on the way home from church. YIKES. So our Publix and Wal-mart trips turned into a field trip with the Roberts clan. I sure had fun! And now that our car has been in the shop...we are even MORE in need to save save save. Here's how it went this week:

Publix:

(btw...Publix doubles coupons up to .50 and on Sundays and Mondays they always have a penny item but you have to have the coupon)

2 packs of paper towels

2 packs of toilet paper

1 and 1/2 gallons of milk

pack of sliced cheese (the penny item)

4 cans of cooking soups

1 box of stove top

TOTAL: 28.24 TOTAL SAVED: 16.39

CVS: (LOVE THIS STORE)

6 packs of batteries

2 boxes of oatmeal

2 deoderants

1 2 litre of Coke

2 dishwashing soaps

2 small jars of peanut butter

TOTAL: 20.85 TOTAL SAVED: 36.94

Walmart:

the rest of my groceries

TOTAL: 23.63 TOTAL SAVED with coupons: 1.50

My total for the week: $72.72 TOTAL SAVED FOR THE WEEK:$54.83

Here's a note: Eventually my list will become shorter and shorter as my pantry and toiletry closet becomes stocked up with the items such as deoderant, batteries, cleaning supplies, special cooking needs that I get on sale...especially at CVS.

A Much Happier Guy

Once Mommy said good riddance to those peas...I was a much happier guy. And yes, my pants were off. Why? I cannot recall at this point. But I can probably take a good guess...poop or spit up, but most likely poop. It seems to happen quite frequently in that blue seat of mine. And usually my spit up seems to frequent my upper half moreso than my bottom half. Although, there are times when it has dribbled (or should I say flowed) to the bottom half due to major force and overabundance. Hmmm...any takers on babysitting?

No More Peas Puh-Leeez!

Okay, so the cereal thing went alright...but this green stuff...what you call peas...are the most awful tasting food on the planet. Is this what most food tastes like that you guys eat? If so, I'll be just fine with my formula...permanently!

Swag Bucks

Hi friends,

I'll be back to the pictures soon. I went to Money Saving Mom and found out about Swag Bucks. Basically you earn gift cards from searching from its search engine. If you get other people using Swag Bucks, you earn more points toward gift cards. On Money Saving Mom, the blogger mentioned a friend who earned gift cards to fund her whole Christmas shopping! Wow! So I thought, I could use that! Therefore, I'm giving it a whirl. So check out this link and see if you want to join in the fun too..it's free! Click on the Swag Bucks in my title to learn more about it!

Hold Up...

Okay, the Britax carseat was a misprint on the Target website. So now we're just waiting to see if they'll honor the price or not. Sorry!!

Britax Carseat 42.99!

Hi friends,

Target has two Britax carseats on sale for 59.99 and 42.99!! It's the Britax Marathon Convertible Carseat. Only two in that line are for sale...due to colors as far as I can tell. You can get the Cowmooflauge for 59.99 and the Granite for 42.99. Usually these go for $250! They're out of stock now but you can still get it...just have to wait a little bit. Hope some of you can use this great deal! Oh yeah...it's at Target.com or go to Baby Cheapskate to the left and read about it. They have a link there. When you get to the Britax page..scroll down until you find it...there are a lot to look through.

Jess

I Love This Guy

Grandmama got me this giraffe. He's been a loyal friend ever since. I love him. He brings me great joy. I like him because he's just my size. I like him because he has a long neck. I like him because he's so soft. But most of all, I like him because he's all mine. I love this guy!

Nature Walk

Last week Grant, Mommy, and I went on a nature walk. We have a great trail in our neighborhood just a few steps away. Please note....Grant is MIA in the pictures because he rode on Mommy's tummy in the baby carrier. WE DID NOT LEAVE HIM AT HOME. That would have been irresponsible. But, he told me to tell you all he had a great time. Back to me though. Mommy said we needed to pick up leaves to do a project. So, with bag in hand, we went a searchin'. I didn't really want to use my bag though. I just enjoyed holding my leaves. But Mommy put her's in the bag. Mommy had me take some breaks during our hunt to hug a tree(s) and sit on stumps. I wasn't the most cooperative toddler though. I just couldn't get enough of those leaves on the trail. But I did cooperate enough for Mommy to get a couple of shots. So I am now officially a tree hugger. Oh and when we got back...well the next day really...we put our leaves on wax paper, sprinkled crayon shavings over them, covered the leaves with another sheet of wax paper, and ironed the paper over it to melt the shavings. Obviously Mommy did ALL of that. I'm not quite able to do such a craft. But we want to give a shout out to Mrs. Trista and Hayden who gave us this wonderful idea. Although ours did not turn out nearly as pretty as their's, we sure had a blast doing it....well...for me, watching it get done.

Little Old Man....

Mommy isn't always aware of what she's doing. Take my pants, for example. She doesn't realize that when I'm wearing pants and she's holding me that sometimes they ride up....a lot. The other day this is what I looked like when she put me down. How embarrassing, Mommy! I look 70 times my age! Please, just make sure I don't go out into public like this. It could really damage my image.

Daddy's Prize Deer

Well, we've had some requests (or shall I say A request...Mr. Jeymy) to post Daddy's prize deer on the blog. Now, we were going to get to it, it's just we're about a week behind in pictures. But, seeing this as a pressing need, we decided to bump the system just this once, to post Daddy's deer. And yes, he WAS a big deer. Daddy said he was a ten pointer. He doesn't seem very pointy to me. But, a ten pointer he is. Daddy said it's the biggest deer he's ever...uh....allowed to take a nap for awhile.

Happy

Yes, I'm happy. I like to smile. I like for people to talk to me. I like for people to tickle me. And, I don't mind a few pictures to be taken of me. So, while the girls were playing last Thursday, I sat contently in my swing to enjoy the fun. Mommy stopped from her referee job to snap a few pictures of me enjoying the morning. I was happy to see her!

30% off Gap Stores

Hi Friends,

Check out Baby Cheapskate (button to the left) to get your 30% off at Gap Inc. Stores. This includes Gap, Gap Outlet, Banana Republic, and Old Navy. It starts the 13th and goes through the 16th!

Enjoy!

Jess

Hangin' with My Girls

Mommy decided to put us all up on the couch for a few shots. Lucy and I were pretty tuckered out. The thumbs give it away. But we humored Mommy for a few minutes as she snapped away. Luckily, there was an intriguing show on about the Civil War we tuned into (or maybe it was Sesame Street).

A Group Effort

Like I said before, last Thursday Mommy watched Lucy and Ellie. We figured out three heads were better than one when it came to putting together a birthday cake...or as I like to call it, a pizza (I just love pizza). Already, we are learning to work together. It was some kind of fun even if it did only last for a couple of minutes.

A Message from Mommy...

Hi guys, we're giving Mommy some room here to share some exciting news (no she's not pregnant):

Hi guys! Well, thanks go my new friend Laura Beth...I have saved $29.17 in groceries today and have gotten a LOAD of items for less than $70!! Yesterday and today I made three trips to three different stores that are close by and shopped the deals.

In the Sunday paper I pulled out the coupons, the Publix circular, and the CVS circular. I cut coupons as always and filed them away. Then, going by my grocery list, I circled the deals at Publix that matched my list. Here are the deals I got:

2 Fridge Packs of yogurt (a staple at our house) : 2/7.50 (I did the math and found this to be cheaper than buying individual ones at Wal-mart.
2 Ragu pasta sauces: BOGO
1 Bag of chips: BOGO (only bought one because we didn't need two bags)
hotdogs for a penny
8 jars of baby food w/ $2 off coupons (Wal-mart doesn't carry that brand)

I paid $14.80 for $23.66 worth of products

Next I hit CVS.

For those of you who haven't heard of the CVS game...you really need to check it out. Here is a link that can explain it better than I can: http://www.moneysavingmom.com/money_saving_mom/2008/03/cvs-101.html

I got:
2 packs of diapers
1 bottle of dish soap
1 tube of anti wrinkle cream (free after ECBs)
2 boxes of Lipton tea bags
1 bottle of Garnier Fructis Shampoo

All for $23.45 for $42.17 worth of products

Finally, I hit the wonderful Wal-mart for our remaining groceries.
I got:
ground chuck
grapes
2 pie crusts
2 roll out pie crusts
2 cans of chicken
1 can of Veg-all
1 box of icecream
1 jug of apple juice
1 pack of applesauce
1 pack of fruit cups
Infant drops
1 box of granola bars
1 loaf of bread

for a total of $29.78. I saved $1.58 with coupons.

So, for $97.19 worth of groceries I spent $68.02. I budget $100 a week for groceries. This allows me to keep $32 dollars! It adds up...I could use that for Christmas gifts, bills, gas, or next week's groceries!

That's exciting to me! And, I'm just a novice at this CVS game. I plan to save even more once I get the hang of how to really work it. So for those of you out there trying to stretch your buck. . .this is a great way. And it's really fun to me!! Okay, we'll get back to the more fun posts now!

Dancing with Lucy and My First Trip to the Mall

Check out this move! Look at the air I got!

Last Thursday I had two friends come to play with me. Lucy was one of them. Ellie was, of course, the other (more pics to come). Lucy is 6 months younger than me. Isn't she cute? Well, we had a good time dancing. Our music of choice came from Sesame Street. Mommy calls it hip hop. So, I hopped. Well, I did a little moshing too as you can tell from my one photo. Mommy actually caught me in mid air jumping. Did you guys know I love to jump? I jump A LOT. Mommy will post more pictures of us playing together soon.

On a different note, today was a milestone in every girls' life. I went....to the mall. Yes, this was my FIRST TRIP EVER to a mall. No, we don't live in the sticks. But we live in a county that has no mall. Mommy says this is probably good. But today, Mommy, Gant, Gandmama, and I went to the mall. Now, of course, we have no pictures to document this milestone. Daddy went hunting and took the camera with him (a wise move in the long run because he killed a ten pointer...Mommy says Daddy says that's big...glad he took the camera). My favorite part of the mall was riding the carousel. Gandmama bought me and Mommy a ticket. I rode the ostrich. Well, that's what Mommy picked. I was kind of confused. An ostrich? Of all the animals to choose from (a tiger, a horse, a frog) Mommy picked an ostrich. She said it reminds her of Swiss Family Robinson. Huh? I don't know. But it was fun none the less. I waved to Gandmama and Gant as we passed by. And we got to eat Chick-fil-a. . .or as I like to call it "Chicken Lay." All in all it was a great time. I've never seen so many people in my life. Well, except for the time we saw fireworks on the Fourth of July. There were A LOT of people there. But really, there were a lot here too. Oh I almost forgot. We went in this store called The American Girl. Wow! I didn't know what I was missing out on. Baby dolls everywhere! I saw Gandmama bring out a bag from there. But she didn't tell me what it was or who it was for. I'm crossing my fingers that it's for me. But I'll be patient. After our mall trip we went back to Gan-ganma's (that's really what I call her) and Gandaddy's house to play. It was such a fun trip. I can't wait to go back again.

Perhaps We Should Do Something Else

Yes folks, I am fighting Mommy with all of my might to sit up in my bouncey. In the past, this has been a positive way to entertain me while Mommy is in the kitchen. She seems to be in the kitchen A LOT, therefore; I am in this seat a lot. However, we may need to rethink this plan. Now that I am getting stronger, I'm just not content to lean back and watch. I want to be involved. I tried to drop the hint by sitting up and refusing to succumb to Mommy's gentle pushes to lie me back. But here I still sit as I wait for a new idea to pop into Mommy's head as to what I can do now that I'm growing! The swing doesn't work too well. The exersaucer, well it stays upstairs for the most part. Hmmm..I guess I'll just have to start crawling so I can get around on my own.

Oh What a Night...

Since we don't really do the Halloween thing, we decided to go to the park and eat some Chick-fil-a last Friday. Well, it was quite the trip I must say. You see, it started off with great potential. But, it went down hill fast. It began at Chick-fil-a where the drive thru lady forgot to give Mommy her Coke. And folks, you don't forget to give Mommy her Coke! So she had to go back in and get it. Then, we finally arrived at the park (and it's an amazing park I might add). It took awhile to walk to the picnic table because Daddy was still recovering from his surgery on Monday. Well, we did make it...finally. But then we realized it was colder than we had expected. Grant bore the brunt of this problem. You see, he had no hat. He has no hair. The two combined creates a bit of a problem. So, Mommy, trying to be as creative as possible pulled out his burp cloth and draped it over his head. She then proceeded to put her coat around him. Well, our problems were solved. . .for a brief moment. Let me preface this next part by saying I LOVE "Chochet mulk." I love it. Well, Daddy had taken the lid off and put a straw in my bottle (we forgot a cup to pour it in). While Mommy was distracted with Grant's new head apparel and Daddy with his steaming chicken sandwich, I took it upon myself to grab that "chochet mulk" and get a big gulp. The only problem was that most of it ended up on my NEW jacket and pants. Uh oh. So with a few dabs of a napkin, Mommy tried to soak up as much of it as she could off of me. Well, by this point our enjoyable evening was not so enjoyable...for Mommy and Daddy at least. I made the most of it. I finished my nuggets, "fies," and "chochet mulk" and was ready to hit the playground. Gant started crying. Daddy started hurting again. And there was Mommy, trying to appease us all. So Mommy held Gant, Daddy sat on a bench to ease his pain, and I, well I had a hay day climbing the slides, throwing my new ball that Daddy found, and running on the track. Yes, I said running on the track. They have a track. And, being a "gurl" after Mommy's heart, I found great pleasure in running laps around the track. I said, "Let's go Mommy, let's run!" and we did. Well, at least I did. Daddy at this point had ventured to the car for a more comfortable seat and Mommy had Grant swaddled in her coat with the burp cloth on his head and the camera in her other hand taking shots the best she could. Most turned out blurry. Needless to say, shortly after all this transpired we were making our way back to the car to head home. I said, "Mommy we come back?" And she said yes. And she held up to her word. Yesterday, we met some friends at the park for another round of fun. This time, Gant rode in the Baby Bjorn (the first time he actually liked it) and I ran around, "chochet mulk" free. It was a blast! On our way out I asked Mommy again, "Mommy we come back?" To which she again said yes.

Overdue

Mommy said I was overdue for a photo shoot. So out came the camera. Here I am sporting my new green zebra corduoroys (thanks Grandma) and my umbrella shirt (thanks Aunt Bethany) while frolicing on the stairs. Now that I think about it, perhaps I shouldn't frolic on the stairs. It has been a place for disaster the past month or so. Me, Mommy, and Grandmama have all succumbed to its power, meaning we've all fallen down them. You could actually add Gant to the list as well because Mommy was holding him when she took a tumble. Thankfully, we've all walked away with just a few bumps and bruises and perhaps a bruised ego. We're all waiting to hear Daddy take a tumble. I try to help him avoid his fate by reminding him each time as he goes up, to "be careful Daddy." Well, I tell that to everyone. But I really need Daddy to be careful so he doesn't hurt himself even more. So anyways, perhaps this should be the last photo shoot on the stairs...at least for awhile anyways. I think the ground would be a much safer place!

Watch This

Another thing I like to say these days is, "Mommy/Daddy watch this!" To which then I'll do something just short of amazing. . .like this for example. I mean, come on, who can make this face while forcing a plastic spoon down his/her mouth (and please don't tell Daddy that this spoon is what he uses for his Netti Pot. He may be a little grossed out)? Now this picture would be a lot clearer if Mommy had taken the time to dust off the full length mirror in the bathroom. But, I can't complain. If she had done that then it would mean I wouldn't have had a playmate. And younger kids, please, don't try this at home.

Bookworm

Just in case you were wondering, I still enjoy a good book. I enjoy this book because there are babies' faces in it. I get a little concerned when I see faces that are upset, to which I say, "she okay?" to Mommy. Mommy then replies, "yes, she's okay." That makes me feel better. Mommy says I have a tender heart. I'm not too sure what that means. But she mentions it after I ask everybody in the room in they're okay. If they seem upset I'll go to them and say, "It's okay." Mommy says I'll make a great nurse one day if this compassionate heart is nourished. This past week Daddy has been home because he had surgery on a hernia. . .no not a hyena. I wanted to help Mommy help Daddy. I brought him his phone when he asked. I shared my blankey. And I asked a least 100 times if he was okay. Mommy and Daddy said he was fine..he just had a boo boo on his tummy. Perhaps I will be a nurse one day, along with being a soccer player and a track runner.

Stud Muffin

Am I a stud or what? Mommy's friend, Heather, got this for me. Boy, she definitely picked out the right shirt for me. How did she know I was such a stud though? I wear this shirt proudly. Thanks Heather for thinking of me and my manliness!

Kickin' It in My Camo!

Yes, that's right, I already have some camo pants. Actually, they are on loan from my cousin Kyle. But Daddy sure is proud of these camo pants. It's just the first small step in preparing me for my first hunting outing with Daddy. Am I cool or what?

Daddy Time

We forgot to post these pictures! They are from a few weeks ago but we just had to post them. It was a lazy Sunday after church and we were just enjoying some good times with Daddy.