Joy

Caroline is such a silly little monkey! She has recently discovered her new favorite reading "nook."




Yes, she loves to climb under our bar stools and "read" her books. Notice she's reading the cover. :)

She also discovered a fun new way to eat yogurt while at Oma and Opa's a few weeks ago.



Seriously, she ate almost the entire cup like that! Silly girl!

She also loves to help me with the laundry.



I'm not exactly sure how her climbing on the hamper is helping, but I'm sure she has a reason in her active little mind!

I spend most of my days smiling and laughing and it's all because of a little joy named Caroline. She is such a blessing to us. We beg your prayers as we raise her...pray for her heart and ours, that we may instill in her a love for the Lord.

Our Life in Bullets

*We've been so busy lately I haven't had time to think straight, and I won't be getting a break from the business anytime soon. We've got full plates for the next three weeks, but hopefully after that things will slow down around here a bit. I don't really know where to begin, so I think I'll just start from the beginning! (Always a good place to start!)

*We went to Birmingham for Mother's Day and had a nice visit with Aaron's family. We had some family pictures taken of the whole clan while we were there and had a really good time. They took me to eat at Jim and Nicks for my birthday and completely spoiled me with cake and presents.



Karen and Justin got me the Sara Snow book. I've really been wanting to read it because I find "green" living interesting and she is considered a Green Living Expert. My in-laws got me the Rachael Ray cookbook to go along with....



this gorgeous set of Rachael Ray cookware! I have needed new cookware for a long time---the stuff I got when I married turned out to be no good---and I was absolutely SHOCKED and THRILLED when I recieved the cookware! Thanks again Oma and Opa!

*For my birthday my wonderful husband and daughter got me a new wallet to match my Vera bag and a food processor. I was the most excited about the food processor. When did practical gifts become exciting? My parents got me this really cool organizer for the refridgerator...again with the practical gifts that I love! I also got a really funny card from my brother---he always picks the best cards! I was so spoiled by my family...I love all of you!

*I think the MOST exciting thing about my birthday was the cake my mom sent...well, not the cake itself, but the people who brought it! Lauren and Becca came with their kiddos and arrived on my birthday! It was so wonderful to spend time with them! We had a blast!

*We went to the mall and Caroline got to ride in a double stroller for the first time.



*I discovered what a great helper in the kitchen Blair is and she helped me with the Baked Spaghetti.



*Bec and La surprised me and brought Caroline some pjs to match Blair and Abbey.





*Caroline and Logan had a blast playing with Blair through the window.




*We went to the book store and happend updon a 60% off sale of children's books. The kids had a good time reading while we shopped. Caroline and Logan also found some empty shelves to climb in....the little monkeys!




*We went to the park and Caroline loved climbing in and out of the tube. I think she only crawled across once, but she loved it.



*On their last day here we went to the beach. Caroline loves the beach and the ocean. I know she would just run right into the ocean if we'd let her. Instead of that though, I sat with her and Blair where the waves would crash over us and we had fun. I am looking forward to more beach days this summer!




*Well that's it. This week we've been busy playing catch up and I've had some Doctor's appointments. Hope all is well with all of you!

Tid Bits

On Friday we went and had lunch with some friends. It was so much fun and both Caroline and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Caroline made friends with their little man and he kept kissing her in the window! J and I couldn't help but laugh!

Sunday morning we had a little visitor.



We were in the kitchen having breakfast and Aaron looked out the window and exclaimed, "Is that a turtle?" He headed outside and took a closer look, then came back in for the camera. Caroline was watching intently, so he took her out, only after he promised me he wouldn't let her touch it. It was actually a really friendly little guy and walked right up to them and didn't seem scared at all. Caroline really liked looking at him, but she would wiggle and try to climb up Aaron if he got too close!





As I mentioned in one of my other blogs, I've really gotten into couponing lately. It's so much fun! I'm just starting out so I'm not really good at it yet, but I feel like I've made a great start. Aaron made me a spreadsheet to keep track of how much I've saved. It's really fun to actually SEE the results. I won't go into a deep analysis of all the deals, but I am really enjoying getting a lot of fee items using the CVS extra care bucks system. When I set out to start couponing, I decided that I wasn't going to buy something we don't need or won't use just b/c I had a coupon, which is a mistake I've made in the past. I've also had to learn to let go of some of my brand loyalties. I think that's been the hardest thing for me. I've had a lot of luck getting things for my home and our personal care for cheap or free. I've got things like laundry detergent, toothpaste, paper towels, toilet paper, and other things like that really stocked up. I haven't had as much luck with finding deals on food items, and I'm pretty sure it's because I have "what we like" in my head instead of what we can get for better prices. I'm trying to do better about that! I have some monetary goals that I want to get my grocery bill down to, and hopefully once I've been working on the couponing for a while I can reach or even exceed my goals.

Another big part of my couponing has been signing up to receive free samples. Yesterday was a really fun day at the mailbox! I had 3 free samples and a free magazine waiting for me!



If you'd like to start couponing and receiving free samples, I high recommend Money Saving Mom's blog. She explains things in an easy to understand way and she posts about free samples and printable coupons daily.

Couponing is FUN! :)