My couponing adventure

Since we started tracking our money, one of our largest expenses (not including our mortgage) has been food & grocery. At our last MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) meeting, I sat in a presentation on couponing. I couldn't believe that you could walk out of a store with free items. Furthermore, I was surprised at how much less I could be paying for things that I've been paying retail for.

With resources like http://www.southernsavers.com/ & www.thekrazycouponlady.com/ I've learned that by collecting coupons and using them when items are already on sale, I can buy at rock bottom prices. Compound manufacture coupons with store coupons, and you walk out of there with free items in your cart.

At my MOPS table was a savvy shopper, who met me at Publix to show me the ropes. My plan was to follow her around, but she had a few coupons that she shared with me. I bought:

1. Two pledge wipes at $1.29 each

2. Two Barilla Pasta's: $0.14

3. Whole Fruit Sorbet: $0.45

4. One box of Crackerful Chedder Snacks & One box of Saltines, 1/2 gallon of milk: $1.85

I spent a total of $4.60 and saved $12.69!!! I am hooked, I'll never pay full price for something unless I absolutely need it. This gave me such a sense of accomplishment, because it's a tangible result of my work here at home. I know I add value with every moment I am interacting with the girls, managing the home, and nourishing our family. However it's a totally different experience when you see the fruits of your labor immediately.

I am still a young whipper snapper at this couponing game, but I'll climb the learning curve in no time. Stay tuned for more savings.

Go Aggies!

It's been about three years since we've made it to an Aggie
game. Since then we've been busy having and raising children, leaving us little time to keep up with the team.

So, tis morning, when my loving husband reminded me that the Aggies would be playing tonight, I sent Isabella to school with her Aggie gear.

We did let her watch about 2o minutes of the game, where she had an opportunity to practice her gig'em sign. I can't wait to take my girls to see the promised land that we call Texas A&M. :)

Abigai's 10th week.

Here are a few pictures of our 10th week with baby Abigail. She's starting her own sweet little laugh, and is smiling at Isabella on a daily basis.

Isabella sleeping with her Elmo.

Abigail at her best.

Tim spent two days away from us and this was taken upon his arrival. Although we did fine on our own, we were all very happy to see him.

This picture was taken on September 25th, when Isabella was rewarded with a petit four and, not satisfied, then wanted mine. Nobody comes between me and my sweets. :)

Isabella with my shirt. Tim and I think she looks like a little biblical character.

Grandpa Chendo Visits

My father offered to spend some time working on the house, so we immediately took him up on it and flew him in . The main purpose of the trip was to work on the basement and landscape the girls play area. He was here for 10 days, and we got a ton of work accomplished during that time.

As some of you may know, my father bought a little piece of Georgia near Monticello. With that came a need for some sort of lawn mowing device, so we bought a riding lawnmower. Isabella had the luxury of taking the first ride around our yard with Grandpa Chendo.

Here are a couple of shots of the almost finished play area. Tim and Dad put up this fantastic looking fence and spread about 20 cubic yards of mulch. Isabella & mommy LOVE the area, as it's now a safer and much cleaner space for her to run around. We even put up a clothes line for me to dry some of our heavier/delicate clothing out to dry. All we have left is for Tim to build a gate and add a decorative header at the entrance. Thank you Dad and Tim for all your hard work!!!

As I started to blog about my fathers visit, I could not for the life of me think of a time where he left the house (with the exception of his time at the ranch). I feel a little guilty for being the slave driver I was, but when I see Isabella's face running around the back yard...I know we wouldn't have done it any other way.

Daddy takes a day off...well sort of

After a very tiring but productive weekend with Rosendo (my father), Tim needed a day off. We started the morning with Tim & Isabella dropping off my dad at Marta, and a quick breakfast. Then off to my new favorite family hang out: Stone Mountain. It's only 25 minutes away, and the prefect little suburban retreat. We spent our time feeding the ducks and soaking our feet in the lake.
Isabella was so at ease with her feet in the lake, and really enjoyed playing with the clam shells daddy picked out for her.

The ducks are always fun, even though Isabella ate more bread than she tossed out. One goose got a bit too close for comfort causing us to get a little uneasy. So, we moved over and tried feeding a squirrel.

Unfortunately, Tim's day off ended at Stone Mountain. We returned to a leaky toilet in the basement and since it is Aimee's only toilet, it took priority. On the surface replacing a wax ring on a toilet seemed to be an easy fix, but it was anything but. The main flange was completely destoryed. So after three trips to Home Depot and five hours later, we still had not fixed the issue. Although the day was more stressful than Tim needed it to be, we count our blessing for the few precious moments we did have.

Isabella & Sesame Street Live

Auntie Aimee bought tickets to Sesame Street Live for Isabella's birthday gift which afforded her the opportunity to wear her Elmo dress once again. I was a little sad not to be there with them, but glad they had that special time together. Aimee said she really enjoyed the show, so much so that she hardly blinked. She danced and clapped her way through the entire musical and all the way home to the soundtrack.

Isabella wearing her Elmo harness while on her first ride on Marta.

Isabella and Tia Aimee at the show. We love you so much.

Isabella Sleeping

Tim and I checked on Isabella before going to be last night and found her in this crazy position. Her legs were up and out of the crib with her arms out. We moved her into a more comfortable position after snapping this picture. It cracks me up when we peek into her room to find her sleeping, like Forest Gump said "It's like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get". Thank you girls for making us smile.

Isabella Rocks!!!

Lately Abigail has dominated my blog space, but today I want to take the time to brag on my little toddler. Isabella said her first two word sentence that I could understand on September 10th, it was "Abi Cry". Isabella's been speaking a language all to her own for months, but the past few weeks she's really added several English words to her vocabulary.

Another development is that she used the potty for the first time. I've had a plastic stand beside the toilet since February that she's enjoyed sitting in before bathtime, but yesterday (13th) she went number 1!!!!! We're far from potty training, but still very proud of little Isabella. As a reward I gave her a little temporary tattoo, which is now referred to as "the potty tattoo". When she walked into school today that was the first thing she showed the teacher when she walked in. Too funny.

Isabella has really enjoyed practicing her dance moves with anyone who is willing, and even those who aren't like Abigail. Here is a little video of the loving sweet big sister:

As the Isabella Speak & diapers gradually phases out of our lives, I find myself sorting through a sea of emotions. Happy that she'll better communicate her needs, but sad as our baby phase will soon be in our rear view mirrors. No matter what, we're thankful that with every milestone a part of our daily prayer is answered: "That the girls grow strong, wise, and come to know God." We love you so much Isabella Rose Walker!!!

Abigail at Eight Weeks

Here is our little papoose at eight weeks. She's already followed us around with her eyes and smiled at us, but now it's all the time and more obvious. Her latest development is that she's grabbing on to things, and it seems to be deliberate. We're still sleeping well and through the night, which mommy and daddy are very grateful for. A couple of my favorite things are her deep stretches after she wakes from a swaddled nap and her natural Mohawk.

Isabella at The Music Class

My parents and our close family friends Rosemary and Manuel contributed toward classes at The Music Class. Isabella had so much fun, and the teacher said that she did surprisingly well given it was her first time. The class offers all sorts of activities such as playing with shakers, scarves, bouncy balls, and drums. We're so grateful for this gift. She definitely enjoyed herself and I can see that she'll learn something at everyday class.

Isabella playing with the scarves dancing to Jessie's Girl.

Isabella beating on her bouncy ball. We had a great time rolling the ball to each other.

Video of Isabella playing with the drums. This was the last song of the class the instructor dumped several different types of instruments out for them to grab. Isabella's instrument of choice was the drums.

Girls First Bath

Here we are during bath time. Isabella was a great big sister helping mommy during the entire process. Only once or twice did she pour a bit too much water over Abigail's face, but it seemed to bother me more than Abigail. It requires an extremely vigilant eye on Isabella, but necessary as I don't know when I can get it done otherwise.

Our Labor Day

The first few days of Labor Day weekend were full of life's minutia: laundry, home improvement, and lawn maintenance. Even amidst all that, we still took the time to play with the girls inside and out of the house, attended church, and went out for our old time favorite IKEA breakfast.

Our real family time happened today, Labor Day. We went back and forth on what to do all Sunday night, and finally decided to visit Stone Mountain. In case you haven't figured it out, we're big breakfast people. Might have stemmed from my upbringing, where we had almost every breakfast together. It was where my parents would grill us about our lives, and we would debate why we should have more freedoms than were given. Ok where was I going with this? Oh yes, we started off with breakfast at Cracker Barrel, and that put us at Stone Mountain around 10:15 am. We parked the car near a lake to feed Cheezits to the ducks (the only thing we had in the car). Let's hope ducks are cheese tolerant.

The rest of the morning we spent walking around Stone Mountain, and let Isabella run to her hearts content. I can honestly say that Isabella's favorite thing was watching the miniature Coke train go around the ceiling of the concession stand.

Isabella fell asleep on the way home, but didn't make a peep as we transitioned her to the crib. As much as Tim wanted to take a break, he had to pick up some stuff from Home Depot. If that wasn't enough for the day, we met up with the Sewells for fun in the sun.
Riverside Park has a fun little water feature, that both Isabella and Mia enjoyed at the side of their daddies. Isabella hasn't enjoyed the water features that shoot up and down at random intervals, but this one was different in that the water didn't change making it safer in her eyes. There were such sweet girly moments between Isabella and Mia. It warms my heart to see their friendship develop.

Our Little Ballerina

I found this little leotard at the Dunwoody United Methodist Consignment Sale for $1.00, and couldn't resist bringing it home. Aimee put it on her this afternoon much against her will. It didn't take her long to fall into character and come to love the outfit. She learned how to put her arms over her head and walk on her tip toes, just like a little ballerina. It was a glimpse of what is yet to come, and how it warms my heart!!!