It is always fun to make a special craft with Nanna. On this day, I cut apart an egg carton and the kids decorated them like caterpillars – including googlie eyes. Then we added dirt and grass seed. All we needed then was water, sunlight and time to create a hairy caterpillar. They were SO cute!
By the way… Nanna made the one for Caleb since he was napping!
Having my dad come with her!!!!! My dad had never been to Iowa before a few weeks ago… he said that he had wanted to come, but he had just never bought the tickets. Mom has been a bunch of times and we LOVE having her here, but we just wanted to have some Grampa time as well… the kids were anxious for the day that he would FINALLY get here. Nanna, the kids, Danny and I all had a ton of things to introduce him to… including our home, the zoo, our church, our friends, our gold courses, our library, etc! He had just finished TAX SEASON so this was a much need vacation for him and mom. It was good for them to get away, spend time together, NOT WORK, and get some rest – Dad really liked Nap Time!!
Snuggling with Nanna and Grampa after nap time!
Thursday morning – Grace and Grampa reading their Bibles!
Coloring with Nanna…. big books are much more fun to color on!!
Not only did Grampa bring his own golf clubs.. he also brought new ones for Josiah – REAL ONES! He was thrilled to play some “dolf”! He and Grampa hit the balls back and forth until Josiah started to lift them up pretty high! They stopped before there were injuries or broken things!
Daddy helped too!
As our normal routine we took Grampa to our Library… it was hard to be quiet when they were so excited!
Having a little snack with Nanna
Grace had to read a few books to Grampa…
Josiah – still playing while Hannah listens carefully to Grampa’s story!
What would cause this otherwise sane mom to run to the grocery store at 8:45 last night? A pregnancy craving? NO! Medicine for the kids? NO! A Redbox date with my hubby? NO! Insanity? NO!
I made an emergency stop to Hy Vee last night because of some great deals that I just couldn’t pass up… the kind that pay YOU money when you buy them…. the kind that is just one day only and the rest of the day had been so crazy that I had to go after the kids were in bed! Those must have been some good deals… YUP!
Before I get to the deals, you have to know a little about our stores. We have a Fuel Saver program at our Hy Vee. Basically, there are certain items each week that give you cents on your fuel card if you buy them. Then you redeem the cents off per gallon when you buy gas at certain stations. For example, when you buy a bag of carrots you get 2 cents off per gallon up to 20 gallons. To me, that equals 40 cents of savings (2 cents x 20 gallons). I check to see if it is a good buy when I take the initial price and subtract the fuel cents of savings. If the carrots were a dollar and I saved 40 cents, then 60 cents for carrots would be a great deal… totally worth it!
BUT… this month (May) has another twist… I hope you are still following me – I am so sorry for a Math post if you are math challenged….in May all of the fuel saver cents are DOUBLED on Wednesdays! That makes for some amazing deals. Here is the breakdown of what I got last night that I just couldn’t pass up:
3 Boxes of Graham Crackers – 2 cents for fuel saver x 2 for Wednesday x 20 gallons = 80 cents off. They were $1.98 each – 80 cents = $1.18 per box
8 packets of Old El Paso Taco seasoning – 2 cents for fuel saver x 2 for Wednesday x 20 gallons = 80 cents off. They were 88 cents each – 80 cents = 8 cents each ( I usually make my own but I can’t for this price!!!)
3 bags of Broccoli florets – 2 cents for fuel saver x 2 for Wednesday x 20 gallons = 80 cents off. They were $1.98 each – 80 cents = $1.18 per bag.
And here is the best of them all…..
4 GM Cereals (Multigrain Cherrios) – 10 cents for fuel saver x 2 for Wednesday x 20 gallons = $4.00 off. They were $3 each – $4 = making $1 per box PLUS I had a coupon for $1/2. So… it was like they gave me $1.50 for each box of cereal I “bought” or I had $6.00 in credit. Understand?
So… I bought $35 worth of things (I also got ketchup, creamer, and other stuff) and then I had $28 of savings with the fuel savers. I really only paid $7 for all of the items that I got last night. What a great way to start my savings log for the month of May! YIPPEE! I was quite excited by these deals….:)
I knew Caleb’s hair was getting a little long… then one day I looked… really looked… and he had a mullet! I knew then that it was time to give him his first official hair cut…. just a little trim!
This is the before… notice the long hair in the back!
It was a little long in the front too… so I had to cut those strangling hairs! Some of the pieces were getting close to his eyes when they weren’t swept to the sides!
Here are the afters… there isn’t much of a difference, but it is different enough for me. I am glad to have him looking less homely and more trimmed. :)
When he bent over, it gave me a great chance to show the back… thanks, Caleb!
The cutie pie!
He was clapping for himself….
The first of many, many haircuts, Buster!
When my kids get into something.. they are ALL IN! Like when they get a new toy, they play with it over and over again until it is almost worn out! They like playing the same games over and over until they eventually get tired of it. The same has been true of our study about Little House on the Prairie… except they have NOT gotten sick of it – yet! We have been playing, pretending, coloring, crafting, cooking, reading, and studying Laura and her family! We just can’t get enough of it… and in time I am sure we will even watch a little of the show that goes along with the books as well!
To feed their obsession, my aunt sent us 2 wonderful gifts – the Little House Cookbook and Little House Paper dolls! They are both treasured in this house! We haven’t made anything out of the cookbook, but I know we will VERY soon! The dolls on the other hand were a hit! As soon as Grace saw them she was begging for me to cut out the pieces so she could play with them. I made her wait 18 hours so I could cut them out, laminate them and then cut them out again. I know what you are thinking… why go through all that work? Well, you have to know these obsessed girls and their reckless brother and teething brother. I knew these girls would play with the dolls from morning until night and their curious brothers would beg to play or chew on them as well. I wanted them to last more than a week… and they have with great success! You might think that was a little weird, but for me it was a necessity! ;)
Here are the little girls… with their new prized possessions!
Thanks, Auntie!
Can it be that my little peanut is a month away from being one? Can it be that I was in the hospital delivering this baby about one year ago? Can it be that he is really close to walking? Can it be that I am almost done nursing another baby? Can it be that he is eating just about everything that the rest of us do? Can it be that this little one can bring me some much joy? (And some of you would say… can it be that Sarah is NOT pregnant? I AM NOT PREGNANT, BTW!)
As I took these simple pictures today for his 11 month shoot, I decided to keep most of the pictures in this post so you can see the funny things and the funny expressions that my little boy – Caleb Andrew – makes! He truly is a little special boy. He doesn’t say much – he doesn’t have to around this crazy house – but he is growing and learning and is so special to all of us!
Caleb Andrew… 11 months and counting! :)
