You've Got Mail

I found these CUTE little mailboxes at Target (in the dollar bins!). Starting February 1st, up until Valentine's Day, we will have these mailboxes out in our kitchen. If your flag is UP...YOU'VE GOT MAIL! My boys love the element of surprise, so they are really excited about this activity. As you can see, the flags are UP! Can't wait until tomorrow morning. Chop, chop - go to Target and get some! A lot of fun for only a buck!

How Full is Your Bucket?

Paul bought this book for the boys for Christmas. It is officially our FAVORITE children's book EVER! I can't tell you how many times we've tried to explain to our boys...

"Don't say mean things, it makes people feel bad."
"It hurts mommy's feelings when you don't obey."

After reading this book - they TOTALLY GOT IT!

The book shows how everyone is walking around with a "bucket" over their head. We can either FILL each other's buckets, or EMPTY them.

The bully on the playground has an almost empty bucket. Which explains why he's a bully.

We first read this book in the car on a road trip. We had a lot of time to say nice things to fill each other's buckets. My boys really got into it. I told them, saying "yes, ma-am" filled my bucket, so they KEPT SAYING IT!

"How full is your bucket" is everyday language in our home now. If you don't have this book for your kids - go get it!!! Or maybe even for a hubby! :)

Some things my boys have said after reading this book:

Wes - "Daddy took me to Waffle House this morning and it filled my bucket!"
Will - "Mom, when you lay down with me for a while before bed, it fills my bucket."
Will - (eating dinner at Stevie B's, we went around the table to say how full our buckets were that day)..."My bucket is already full, just being here with the family!"
Wes - (seeing mommy deal with an unfriendly person at walmart) "mommy her bucket is NOT full AT ALL."

10 things that EMPTY my bucket:
1. My boys arguing.
2. A messy house.
3. If Paul and I are in a "funk".
4. Stress.
5. Not enough sleep.
6. Someone being mean to my kids.
7. Confrontations.
8. Feeling uncomfortable in my clothes/unhealthy.
9. Sick kids.
10. Feeling like I can't do everything I've committed to.

10 things that FILL my bucket (in no particular order):

1. Family time.

2. Time alone with God, me time.

3. Having a clean house.

4. Watching a good movie.

5. Exercise.

6. A sincere compliment.

7. Gifts, Gifts, Gifts! (even little itty bitty ones)

8. Hearing my boys or my husband belly laugh.

9. A trip or getaway.

10. Good food.

This breaks my heart.

This is a mother with her children clustered around her after the earthquake in Haiti. How will they not die? Where do they get water? What about the girl's bandage that needs to be changed before she gets infection? Who will clothe them? They have their mother. Sleeping next to her. Dear God, give her the strength she needs and please take care of them.

If you want to help the people in Haiti, click HERE

Slim Shady

I can't stop laughing and this is why...I was cutting coupons this afternoon when I came across this SERIOUS ad for men:

This is called "The 5 Second Transformation".

"Guys! Look slimmer and get a flatter stomach! You'll get an amazing figure in an instant!"

WHAT???? Oh my, I can hardly type. My sides hurt from laughing so hard. What the picture doesn't show real well is that there are control panels throughout the abdomen and control panels that criss cross on the back...LIKE. A. BRA.

Oh dear. What is this world coming to?

The funny thing is, women are usually the ones flipping through the ads and clipping coupons. So...

Do THEY order it FOR their hubby? I'm sure THAT will go over realllllll well.

Okay, I just noticed there is a before/after picture. I gotta stop.

A WHOPPER of a deal!

My "Clipsy Chick" friend, Dana, and I ran some errands together today. We worked up quite an appetite, so we flipped through our coupons and found BOGO Whopper coupons to Burger King! We also had a FREE funnel cake sticks coupon with purchase of a value meal. We asked them if we could use them together and they said, "SURE!". CHA-CHING! Now, this isn't the kind of meal you want to eat every day, but every once in a while won't hurt ya. The funnel cake sticks were FABULOUS! I love that I have a friend who's not afraid to tear into a whopper with me! The Burger King coupons came in the weekly local paper. Look for them in Sunday papers too!

Ready, Set, GO!

I'm ready for a routine again. I loved having down time for Christmas - but I need my schedule back!!! I'm ready for the counters to be bare and free of clutter. Yes, that's right - all you little stacks of paper starting at me right now - LOOKOUT! Today I'm cleaning out my house. It's gonna be a marathon clean. The kind where drawers will actually close at the end of the day. When the boys head back to school on Monday, I don't want to have to come back home and CLEAN.

We just got home from a trip to VA to see Paul's pa-paw and family. It was a great trip. There was plenty of snow for the boys to play in. Here's some pictures from our trip...Oh and ps - I got my hair cut!

Here's some pic's from Christmas. I have to brag on my sweet hubby for a second. One of my favorite things he did for me was that he bought special wrapping paper just for ME! He knows how much I love a pretty package. So, he bought Vera Bradley paper for my gifts. We scaled back this year for each other, but I felt so spoiled when I saw those packages! The little blue box was a pendant from Tiffany's with "A" on it. I was shocked!