Cha-Ching!

I'm not as coupon savvy as some of my famous blogging friends...aka...Carolina Clipper and Donna (we need a name for you by the way), but I feel like I'm on the brink of saving BIG TIME! Tonight, I'm on a high. I had to share my deals. I got 2 papers on Sunday, cut coupons and looked through the flyers. Publix had some GREAT buy 1 get 1 free deals. And they had buy 4 boxes of Kellog's get a gallon of milk for free...well, the cereal was buy1get1 free too, PLUS I had a coupon, so I got 4 boxes of cereal and a gallon of milk for.....$1.25!

Here's all my groceries. I spent $75.06 on groceries. Way down from my usual total. BUT I SAVED....$68.38!!! That's 3 tanks of gas. Or another week's worth of groceries! To all my coupon clipping buddies, I hope I've made you proud! :)

The Pink Shirt

At "The Real You" this past Thursday, I had the opportunity to speak and share my story. I was nervous going into it, but I felt God's peace. Thank you for those of you who were praying for me! At the end of my talk, I went backstage and took off ALL my makeup, put on my sweats and slippers, and came back out to close the evening. After all, it's THE REAL YOU! This was merely an illustration of how God's love has transformed my life. From someone who was so insecure and cared WAY too much about what people thought of me, to being confident in Christ and in my skin.

So, I came back out in this shirt.

This shirt has a story.

This was my dad's shirt when he was younger. His brother owned a t-shirt making factory and my dad had this one made. I LOVE this shirt. My dad is my hero. #1, because he wore a HOT PINK shirt as a youngster...still have to ask him about that one! But because he truly lives a life that is VICTORIOUS in Jesus. My dad's life was radically changed when he gave his life to Christ. When I got married and moved down to Georgia, I snuck (okay, I stole) this shirt. It's my favorite. And, yes, I wear it all the time. Now, when I stole it, I liked it because of the color, but now, I can really appreciate it for what it says. VICTORY IN JESUS!

Just plain loopy

I've been sick for a few days. Today I went to the dr., got some antibiotics. Started taking a decongestant. Decongestants always make me loopy. I HATE taking them. I was just in the kitchen talking to Paul, I opened the fridge and he said "I like where you're storing the DVD remote now". What??? I looked down and laughed. Don't judge my messy "meat drawer" either. I'll admit, it needs a makeover. I use my meat pan for juice and waters for the kids. I really wish I could blame the remote on the boys, but I remember doing that now.

"Mommy, you smell like Africa"

That's what I've woken up to the last 2 mornings. Wesley comes down, stands next to my bed patting me on the shoulder until I wake up. Then, he crawls into bed with me and we have a little snuggle time. All is sweet, and right with the world in these moments. So, when I hear him say..."mommy, you smell like Africa", I have to wonder. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? The only connection he makes to Africa right now is that daddy goes to Africa on trips. When we pick him up from the airport, he usually hasn't been able to shower in days. Soooooo, does my kid think I need a shower? Oh dear! :)

5 leaf clover!

Last night we had a picnic with our Journey Group at a park. Paul and Will found several 4 leaf clovers. Then, Will came running up to me with this little treasure!!!I made these little desserts for St. Patty's day. Pistachio pudding fluff - see roofwithaview for recipe. My little leprechaun's. My fine lookin' man!

Drama in Target: Mom vs Wesley

This morning I had a dentist appt. I had to take the boys with me. So, I gave them their gameboys and that worked! They sat like little angels while I was under the LAUGHING GAS (no kidding, bubble gum scented gas...good stuff). I was proud as a peacock walking out of there. All the assistants were saying..."Oh, what great little boys you have". "I didn't even know they were with you, they were so quiet". On and on the compliments went and I was loving it.

Back out at the car, I told the boys..."Mommy is so proud of you, I'm gonna take you to Target to get you both a treat!" They were thrilled.

So, we venture in to search for that very special prize. Looking around at the $1.00 bins, of course. Will picked a slinky. Wesley picked a wind up yellow chick. I should have let things be. They were happy. Content with their prize, but NO, I had to take it a step further.

me - "Why don't we go over to the candy (jelly belly section) and you can each pick 5 pieces of candy to put in your OWN bag!"

boys - again, cheering

me - "Wesley, what 5 pieces of candy do you want?"

Wesley - "I want raspberries". (you know the little black and red gummies with beads on them)

me - "okay, let's count them....1, 2, 3, 4, 5! Yaaaay!"

Wesley - "NOOOOOOOOO! I want ALL OF THEM!" (screaming and starting to cry)

me - "Wesley, (trying to sound sweet because people are watching), remember mommy said, we could get 5, so let's have a happy heart about these okay sweetie?"

At this point I'm going to stop the dialogue because, well, there wasn't any more. Will was happily choosing his 5 pieces...(2 swedish fish, 1 sour gummy worm, 1 regular gummy worm and a gummy bear). Wesley is screaming so loud, I can't hear myself think. His face was blood red and he was MAD. I managed to get him to the check out. He was in FULL BLOWN tantrum mode. It was time to put our things on the belt to be scanned.

I handed the raspberries and the yellow chick to the check out guy and said, "We won't be getting these today." Those words, turned his world UPSIDE DOWN. Wesley just looked at me screaming and I started to get scared of him. ME - I'm the MOM! Afraid of my 3 year old. There was kicking and crying, wailing around on the floor...the whole bit. I had the attention of the photo lab guy, the customer service desk, the Target deli, every other person in the store.

I noticed something. They were all staring at ME.

"What is she gonna DO about THAT?" they wondered.

me - "Dear God, please make me invisible, please make me invisible..."

Call it nerves or the laughing gas, call it whatever you want, but I just started LAUGHING. Out loud. With everyone watching me. Including my tantrum throwing son. And my 6 year old. I kept thinking to myself. "Pull it together! Stop laughing. Get control of yourself, you're the mom!" None of this worked, but only made me laugh harder. I was mad that I was laughing because I didn't want Wesley to think he was off the hook by ANY MEANS. I was desperately trying to sound firm..."You are in trouble when we get home mister." But he wasn't buying it. Will then looks up at me and says...."mom, I think you did the right thing by not buying him treats. This is embarrassing." And Will's face was all red. He was mortified too. Only he wasn't hysterical like I was.

Kicking and screaming the whole way, I managed to get Wesley in the car. More stares in the parking lot of course.

We pulled in the driveway and I told Wesley to go STRAIGHT to the naughty corner. I made their lunch. Pulled myself together and was able to discipline him out of love.

He is napping now. Night and day difference. He looks like a little angel.

If any gals from my dentist office are reading this, thank you for the compliments this morning. I'm gonna choose to remember THAT moment of the day instead of the latter.

I wonder...is it safe to give laughing gas to kids??? :)

And just so you know, I love my little Wesley. He's a spit fire sometimes, but I love him to PIECES.

You can't put a price tag on this...

My favorite gifts are from kids. Home made ANYTHING. Well, this one is now at the top of my list:

Will came in the kitchen screaming..."Mom, I've got a surprise for you, come quick!" He took me by the hand and led me to my bedroom where I saw this...He made my bed! I usually make it first thing every morning, but he beat me to it. Now, you might notice, things are not all even and straight, but you better believe I left it JUST THE WAY IT WAS all day. I was so proud of him.