Home today...

I'm doing a rare thing...staying home today. I caught a little stomach bug yesterday evening, but thankfully I'm starting to feel better. I have to admit, I'm enjoying the extra time with the boys, even if I'm not at 100%. Cuddling and watching dvd's is always a good thing. ;)

I made a fun scrappy discovery today. I was catching up with emails and some sites I had bookmarked, and I found out that Top Shelf Memories is having a launch party on their blog. I'm personally giving the sketch challenge a try...I need a push to start scrapbooking again! Definitely check it out - they're having a great sale in the store as well!

Before I close, I thought I'd share a couple pictures from the past week.

First up, muffins...we made chocolate chip, strawberry, and blueberry muffins this weekend. Yum!



Next up is the jumbo-lego mini golf course that Will created in the playroom. That boy is super talented!



And lastly, here's Christian feeding one of the horses next door. I'm not sure if I'll ever get tired of looking out the window and seeing horses at the fence...and the boys have definitely made some four-legged friends!

Have a great Wednesday! God Bless!

Saving money is good...

We're trying to be more frugal (not an easy task for me) and have decided to start using coupons. I used to be a great sale/coupon shopper, but got out of the habit. With the help of the Southern Savers website, I embarked on grocery shopping trips to Publix and Winn-Dixie, coupons and sales flyers in hand. I stocked up big-time...we were over-flowing the back storage area of the van. In the end, I spent $190, but I saved $155! Math nerd that I am, I had to figure out the percentage - 44% off the grocery bill! Besides milk, we're now stocked for at least two weeks.

For Mother's Day, Max let me go on a little scrapbook shopping spree at Scrapbook Chicks. They happen to be having some fantastic sales running right now. I bought over $60 worth of product for $35 (including shipping)!

Moral of the story...saving money feels really good!

A season of change...

I feel like I've lost the entire month of April. Working full-time has been hard on me and the entire family. I'm so thankful I'll have a few weeks at the end of this quarter to spend at home with my boys. I miss them so much every day; it's hard to walk out that door and leave them behind.

Fridays are my favorite. I only have a half-day at work, then a full weekend at home with my guys. Makes Momma happy. :)

Things have been so busy with work that I still don't have the scrap-room unpacked and organized. It's sad really, as we've been in the house since February. I'm making it a priority to get that room finished because I need to start creating again. I've got so many ideas in my head that I really want to get out - plus it's just plain fun to play with paper and paint, not to mention all the embellies floating around! I've decided to commit to submitting to some mags and really putting forth effort into my scrapbooking. I have a couple ideas up my sleeve and want to move forward with them.

Before I close, I want to share a couple pics of Will and Christian. We recently had a visit with "Flat Tyler" and the boys took some pics with him in the yard. I have to say, I'm still a little blown away by the fact that we can pet horses from our backyard. Living in the country makes me very happy!





By the way, that's Max mowing the lawn in the backyard. That riding mower was our 10-year anniversary present. We're so romantic (insert eye-roll here!).

P.S. I got an email today from Vocalpoint...Pampers is giving away samples of their new Dry Max Cruisers. Just follow this link! You must be a Vocalpoint member to get the diapers, but the sign-up process is super quick!