Behind

I am so behind in keeping up this here blog. With that said, I won't be making any excuses. My days have been filled with keeping up with normal household tasks, grocery shopping, being a mommy bus, potty training (will he ever poo in the potty?), and loving on my friends kids. I have been doing more of that as of lately - loving on other's munchkins that is. I count it as a blessing! I took on a PT child care job for my neighbor and good friend who has two adorable beans as well as keep the VM kiddos each Thursday morning. My kids love having day long play dates when the extra ones are here.
I have been thinking ahead as to what our summer days will look like. I am excited for our frequent pool outings, weekly story time in the park, trips to Deanna Rose & the OPA as well as several community events we plan to attend. Gabi will take private swim lessons again this summer with her swimming buddy Kamryn and she is enrolled in an 8 week summer program one morning a week that I pray she finds enjoyment in. She is looking forward to her June date night with daddy to the father/daughter dance at our church. We have an extended family celebration in late June (my cousin is turning 40!), Travis & I will reach a mile stone anniversary in early July & we are excited about spending time with my "2nd family" the Morris's at the lakes this summer. I personally am in hopes of doing some reading and crafting when possible while Travis spends countless hours indulging in his love of the game of golf.
Rambling here I know. Moving on.
Why is it that little kids are sponges? Both good and bad? I am learning this more and more each day. Here are just a handful of examples:
-Dawson firmly slaps his hand on the dinner table and says "Oh crap!"
Gabrielle is taught what hell is in full detail. Great teaching moment for Travis and I that we expounded on promptly.
-Dawson now says frequently "I'm gonna shoot you or kill you," "nananabooboo," "I won't be your friend anymore," - all learned while playing outdoors. Enough said on that one.
-Gabrielle wants clarification on exactly how a baby arrives into this world. Some friends have said that they come out your bottom. She would like to believe the doctors take them out when God tells the mommy it is time. I am OK with her thought process at this stage in life. Innocence people. I am trying to protect their innocence. Not make them completely naive to the things of this world.
-I was enjoying a margarita this past weekend and wouldn't you know my son decided he wanted to become the worlds first two year old lush? He was insistent on sharing that drink if it took all the strength he had in him. He did "enjoy" a taste or two. He lives on.
Any words of advice on the above matters are greatly appreciated.
I have so many more thoughts and miscellaneous things running through my head, but will spare you in order to get my littles tucked into bed and get a little snuggle time in myself.

Silly Faces

A couple of silly faces that brought a smile to me this week.
Dawson giving me fishy kisses!

and Sis' sporting a Backyardigan Tattoo
That little bugger was there to stay too ... I scrubbed and scrubbed until her skin was nearly raw before it was completely removed

Fit for a Princess

The kids were invited to their dear friend Kamryn's princess & cupcake party to celebrate her 5th birthday. Ms G went upstairs to get herself assembled in her Belle dress and Dawson (her constant shadow) followed behind her. Much to our surprise he presented downstairs in her 2 piece cheerleader outfit. Sidenote worthy of mention ... he has a favorite princess dress that his Daddy put up high, very HIGH so as not to tempt Dawson into dressing like a princess any longer.

I know I am his Mommy which makes me a little biased, but come on doesn't he make a pretty princess? Um, I mean handsome prince!

This is the face we got when Daddy put his foot down and insisted he not leave the house dressed like this. Guess who won out? The little man. I took video of him twirling and grinning from ear to ear which I am sure he will hate me for in the future.



It isn't often that I get geniune natural smiles from Gabi when I break out the camera so I was so pleased to get not one, but several which capture my little beauty.

The girls had access to every fancy fixing known to mankind to add to their cupcakes. It was quite a sight seeing the concoctions they were putting together. Here is Gabrielle intent on piling as much goodness onto hers as possible.

And then relishing in the glorious sugar high!

CFL Daddy/Daughter date night #2

Travis adopted a new monthly ritual of scheduling a special monthly date night with the little miss in his life. This month's date was a no brainer. The good folks of Chick-fil-A took care of all the work. This girl loves any reason to wear a dress, so getting dolled up for a date with Daddy was a high priority to her. She picked out a new sundress & her "rosie toe" shoes. I had purchased her the new hair bow the evening prior which just so happened to match perfectly. Gabrielle (for reasons unknown) does not choose to eat the delic' food at CFL so she relished every sip of her milk shake. If I were in Travis's shoes I would have been happy to have a cheap date :)

She is definitely a Daddy's girl!


If anyone has ideas for great daddy/daughter date excursions I would appreciate your suggestions.

Disney on Ice

This was Gabrielle's 2nd year to attend Disney on Ice at the Sprint Center. This was MY 1st time experiencing the joys of the magic that happens on ice alongside her. I purchased tickets months early for myself, Gabrielle & Mema to see Disney on Ice - Worlds of Fantasy on opening night. (We were accompanied by our good friends the Anderson crew). I loved the look of excitement on Gabi's face when I finally revealed to her what the evenings plans were - see top left photo with her hands on knees and BIG cheesy smile!
Mickey, Minnie & gang opened the show, followed by CARS, The Little Mermaid, Lion King and Tinkerbell. We were fortunate to enjoy the Disney Princess Preshow which featured the newest princess Tiana from The Princess and the Frog (she was breathtaking, a natural beauty as seen in the photo below) as well as Cinderella. They had all the beautiful ball gowns on display for the children to view. Gabrielle's favorite was Belle's gown from Beauty and the Beast.

My only regret was not having the rest of the family with us. Dawson would have been in awe over Mickey and the whole CARS segment. Until next year he can enjoy the dozens of photos I snapped.

1st Day of Spring

Spring greeted us this year in true Kansas fashion.
10 inches of fresh, fluffy white stuff!
I love Dawson's expression as he tries to figure out what to make of the snow.

Making snow angels

Going in for a kiss ...

A little eskimo kiss to warm up the soul

This one just makes me smile!

We enjoyed playing out in the snow for as long as our fingers and toes allowed (which I am sure did not exceed 30 minutes) before heading in to warm back up. 48 hours later the temperatures reached the mid sixties and there was no sign of getting the snow.

Coupon Passion

I have been a couponer for as long as I can remember.
Some times more dedicated to it than others.
But, I was going about it all wrong!
I have learned a new refined couponing process over the past 6+ months that has worked for me and I am convinced can & will work for anyone who puts forth the effort.
It DOES take organization, time AND dedication.
With that said, I profess this is something I am a little over zealous about. Call it a passion of sorts if you will.
I would love to help any of you get started, refine your current process, answer ?'s, share couponing finds and free deals, etc.
Leave any questions or list specifics topics you would like to see me post about in the comments.

Here is just one dealio in my quest for cheap training pants for little man.
He is 100% pee trained and 0% shooey (poo) trained. Go figure!
I purchased two packages of Pampers Training Pants (Pull-Ups) - 46 total count - for an out of pocket total of $7.23 (this total includes a $.99 green bag tag purchase - ask me about this if you are clueless what it is).
Here is the breakdown:
$8.97 per package x 2 = $17.94
minus $6 in coupons - $2 CVS printable & (2) $2 manufacturers coupons
I applied $7 ECB from last weeks purchases to my "order" paying $7.23
I earned an add'll $6 ECB to apply towards my next purchase
With all that said I ended up "paying" $.13 per pull-up.