Whew.

I'm trying. I really am.

Yesterday I started my shopping. Today I wrapped. WRAPPED. Can you believe it? Things are wrapped.

in case you are wondering... i always put off wrapping until the last minute.

I am trying to improve :) Slowly, babysteps. It helps that the kids are older.

I have my purchase list going and my envelope with my receipts.

Now.. to just get the grocery shopping done for the week. ack!

snow

It snowed here! Really, it did. Big flakes. Puffy flakes. Flakes that fell fast. Flakes that fell in a swirl.

It was beautiful. It was magical. It was special.

My youngest and I walked around outside watching it, enjoying it and building small snow people and tossing snowballs. How special a memory.

Then I remembered it would have been my Grandmother's Bday today. She loved the snow. :) Warmed my heart.

I hope she saw how much we loved her Bday gift :)

Tgiving Festivities

My brother and his family came in this past weekend, so we did our Feast on Saturday. I worked Tgiving, which was super slow, so it really worked out great. I sent my husband and the kids for lunch at his aunts. No reason for them to sit home just cause mom is working, right? They had a great time visiting and I was happy they were able to relax and visit with family. They brought me back a yummy plate of food.. who can complain?

Friday was even slower at work. Friday evening my friends and I went to the Casino. I think we played all of 2 hours and were back home! Blah! Not a good night.

Saturday morning I got the sweet potatoe casserole and green beans going. We headed to my sister's and spent the day laughing til we cried, being silly, teasing kids, eating good food and making more memories.

Saturday night the girls borrowed scary movies from the neighbor and I made a platter of grapes, celery, carrots, pea pods, cheese, apple slices, dip, 7 layer dip, crackers and fried cheese. Then we had drinks of every kind...chips, dip, gummy bears, oreos and candy bars! They were begging for bed by 10pm hahahaha

Sunday it was lounging and laundry and ... I cooked our turkey. I think we are gonna turn into turkeys. We like our own leftovers, and I have always cooked a Tgiving dinner every year for us. MMMM.. I'm thinking turkey pot pie is on the menu soon! Or turkey salad sandwhiches. MMM

It was hard going back to work today.. I enjoyed the time off!

who dat!?

My GIRLS and I are watching the game :)

Good memories.

Homecoming 2009 - done frugally!

Sarah attended homecoming this year. She's in the 9th grade. They grow way too fast. We hit the mall right after she was asked to find the perfect dress. We found it at Dillards. I know! DILLARDS! Her date shopped with us, so he get coordinated. I was so proud when she told me she found his tie for 34.00 at Penny's and refused to let him buy it until after they checked around. They hopped over to Kohls and found the same name-brand tie for 15.00. He already had the pants and shirt.

My sister popped over to snap some photos. She has an awesome camera, loves to take pictures and it really good at it!

We found the perfect accessories. Not too gawdy, and her older sister has already claimed them to wear for her Cmas party at work so they must be cute.

Her older sister did her hair.... cause you know.. it's means so much more.

Here is our baby girl .....

All smiles!

Dress at Dillards was first marked down to 80.00, then 23.00, and then I got an additional 30% off... so I paid 16.83 for her dress!!!! I got the accessories buy one get one free for 20.00. Her sister did her hair 0.00. She borrowed her sister's shoes 0.00. His boutonniere was 8.00. Total = 44.83.

She did draw the line at using a coupon for the dinner HAHA. He paid for that... so maybe I should have asked him directly.

They had a wonderful time.

I am a mean mother.

I love butter. REAL. BUTTER. My kids, well, they want the spreadable kind. Let's face it, real butter is hard. yummy, but hard.

I love to make things from scratch. I had a friend who asked me once why I liked doing things the "hard way". Needless to say, that girl is not someone I keep in touch with anymore. Hard? It's BETTER. As my husband says, "It is made with love." :)

I have butter and I want to make it spreadable. What to do? Hit the internet of course. Who better than Heather?? It works. It really works. Until it came to the taste testers.

My oldest said it didn't even LOOK like butter. It was pale. It should be YELLOW. She claimed it didn't have much of a taste. It should TASTE buttery. What's a mom to do to feed her kids right?

Bring out the immitation butter extract flavoring and yellow food color! HAHAHAHA

I have to admit.. it really is much more eye pleasing and it does give that hint of buttery flavor. I have refilled the butter container.. let's see if they notice!

Yes.. I am a mean mom who is about to fool her kids, but they will thank me for it later!

shopping

I made a dash to the grocery store before the sales changed. I found a lot of things on sale for Tgiving. Great!

Lots of coupons. A grocery cart FULL.

Great. The only checkout line is the 15 or less ... and the self check. I do not do the self check.

Sorry for the one's behind me.. Kroger needs to get more checkers. :)

I saved 70.00 in coupons and store savings.

I was happy!

Preparing for Tday!

My brother and his family are coming in this year for Tgiving. Today, my sister, mom and myself got together to decide the Tgiving menu. I was glancing thru the grocery ads and noticed a few things on sale to use for Tgiving, and I have coupons :) Great!

Today we celebrated my grandmother's 89th Birthday! Whoohooo! We gave her a snuggie and she loved it hahaha. It's a big joke in our family because my oldest hates them and we keep telling her we are all getting her one. Everyone else loves them.

Are you getting ready for Tgiving too? what's on the menu?

Turkey
Corn casserole
yams
green beans
rice dressing
rolls
cranberry sauce
desserts

Seems like I'm missing a few things.... i'm debating on doing the carrot souffle. We shall see!

time to meet some friends !