Author: Laurie

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Are You Christmas or Thanksgiving?

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Dude. I love these blog-things!

You Are Thanksgiving

You don’t need a lot to make you feel happy during the holidays. You already feel very blessed.

It is easy for you to be thankful. You think the holidays are the perfect time to express your gratitude.

You are definitely not a materialistic person. If anything, you feel like the holiday season has been infected with greed.

An indulgent meal in a warm home surrounded by those close to you is more than enough. Anything extra is just whipped cream on your pumpkin pie.

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What’s Your Stereotype?

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You Are a Girl or Guy Next Door


You are as all American as apple pie, and you’re so normal that you belong in a TV sitcom.

And really, that’s a pretty great thing. You’re a solid person, and you pride yourself on being quite down to earth.

You value your friends and family, and you don’t need much in life to be content. You feel grateful for what you have.

You are honest and you have a great work ethic. You believe in giving back as much as you can.

Girly Girl

Cuz I’m a Glutton for Punishment

Laurie6 Comments

I’ve been reading all kinds of frugal blogs lately and thanks to Alyssa for helping me make sense of it all, I’m now a couponer. {{again}}

About every 2-3 years I pick it back up. Then I get burned out and stop, next I run out of supplies, and then remember how much money I used to save and what my 3 month supply used to look like. Apparently, it’s a revolving process.

This week I spent $75.21 and saved $131.13 at Kroger. I only bought things I knew my picky eaters would consume. Whoohoo!! As you can tell, it’s a ton of meat. Luckily for us we’re carnivors.

If you’re interesed, here are the blogs:

Krazy Koupon Lady
Deal Seeking Mom
Kingdom First Mom
Surviving the Stores
Money Saving Mom

Drake has been having nightmares about flying saucer spiders with wings. It’s been a week of crying and interrupted sleep. He fell asleep in the car and I was able to trick him into thinking I was still snuggling him – thanks to a lot of pillows. {{sneaky}}

However, he was ticked off when he woke up for quite a while – so I think that 30 minutes of peace was a complete wash.

That night we had our first free dinner – sausage and egg mcmuffins. Yes, I actually cooked. {{gasp}}

Mother of Boys

The Kids Day Off

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Last week the boys had the day off of school (why – I have no idea) so we loaded up and headed over to the movies.

We saw Astro Boy and the kids really enjoyed it.

Even Drake sat through the entire thing. Thank goodness for refillable popcorn and friends who are good examples.

After the movies, the older kids planned a nerf war at our house.

They came over and battled it out. It was quite fun to have so many kiddos running around and pretending to be in the secret forces.

Everyone was included and luckily there was a gun for everyone.

Davis was a sniper and REALLY got into it. Can you tell?

Mother of Boys

Picture Perfect Boys

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I got the boys winter church outfits in the mail this week. I realized on Saturday as I was opening them up, that I had better get their pictures taken BEFORE they wore them. You never know how an outfit will survive a Turk boy and 3 hours. {{giggle}}

So on a complete whim we ran over to Sears and got some quick shots of the boys. I was really proud of how well they did. Even Drake took direction and moved his hands and chin when asked. Who knew he could do that?!?

We all had a good time and this marked the 2nd round of pictures we have done that I haven’t gone home in tears. Boy we’ve come far. {{not kidding}}

Way to go boys!

Mother of Boys

Happy Birthday Davis!

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Davis turned 11 years old this month. Holy Cow!! He started the day at 6:30am with his favorite breakfast – pancakes.

Jason took 30 cupcakes up to the school for his homeroom class, and all of his teachers and aids. Due to time constraints they ended up eating them at 7:40 in the morning. Turns out we gave 25 kids a sugar rush that day. {{evil laugh}}

Davis came home from school and everything was ready for the family party.

Well, I thought everything was ready. When Jason came home a couple minutes later he reminded me of 2 presents I had hid in my car.

We had Davis go up to his room while I got them out. This was his reaction when he saw his bike ramp.

Needless to say, he loved it.

He also got a beginner grinding station for his skateboard.

Gramma Betty & Grandpa Gary – this is your present for him.

He LOVED it!!

Since we really didn’t have a “theme” for the party – I ordered a sponge bob cake. I thought it would be funny. Davis said, “Mom this is very unexpected”. In a very serious voice.

Oops. Next time I’ll ask. 🙂

Jason got the duty of putting all the Nerf guns together.

Lisa got a pretty great Nerf gun war going with all the boys. They even wore their Russian hats Jason brought back for them.

They were having so much fun in fact, that Davis didn’t want to go out to his favorite restaurant for dinner. So we had frozen pizza instead. HA!

Davis,

Happy birthday big guy! I can’t tell you how impressed I am with how much you’ve grown in height and character. 6 years ago when I was reading a ton of parenting and autism books they warned me about your adolescense and the dificulties and chalenges you would be facing right now. They painted a picture of what you would be like and what I should expect from you.

I’m so happy to tell you that you have surpassed those expectations and are nothing like the descriptions in those books or what the doctors said you would be. Everyone who really knows you and works with you on a daily basis is so pleased with your humor, your social skills, and how loving and caring you are.

I knew from the moment we received your diagnosis that you would be the young man that you are today. Your father and I knew that you had the potential to surpass the weak milestones that the world would have laid out for you. It has been a lot of work and I’m still pushing you daily to learn, grow, and become aware of the world around you. There are days when you really don’t like it and wish I would be easier on you.

I want you to know that I know, that I push you and expect a lot out of you. However, I love you too much to let the world dictate who you are! I know who you are and what an amazing being you are with such incredible talents. It’s my job to make sure you have many different experiences to give you the skills you’ll need to be a productive, hard working, caring, spiritual father and husband.

There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to give you an opportunity to live the beautiful and loving life that I live. That’s my goal for you and I remember it every single day.

I love you more than the universe,

Mom

Mother of Boys · Party Planner

Halloween Recap – ‘Bout Time

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You can always tell life is completely insane when I don’t update my blog for a holiday. Especially to commemorate my favorite one – Halloween!

I took the boys to Dylan’s school carnival. The PTA seriously outdid themselves this year as it was completely OTT with a variety of things to do. Drake loved the petting zoo.

We all had a great time. Drake had a hard time trying to decide what prize to pick after each game.

The only problem we encountered was when Drake discovered the bounce houses. He ran me ragged running from one bounce house to the other the rest of the time we were there.

Davis has the best luck of anyone I know. The little guy was banned last year from the cake walk because he won EVERY TIME he participated. He was completely devastated last year when it happened.

This year he took things into his own hands and after winning twice in a row, told the principle that he was banning himself this year. This way all the other kids would have a turn to win. Such a sweetie – looks like we’re growing up. 🙂

Unfortunately, Dylan has my luck. {{Poor little guy.}} He finally did win something (after like 8 tries) at the cake walk but it was a 4 pack of muffins. He was stoked until he saw the Halloween cookies and huge pumpkin cake Davis won.

For Halloween we went trick-or-treating with Lisa & Billy, and Wendy & her family.

Davis went as Duke from GI-Joe, Drake as Lightening McQueen’s pit crew chief, and Dylan went as a ninja. Can you tell I let them each pick out their own costumes this year? {{giggle}}

I broke out my brunette barbie pony tail for the occasion. Dude, I love that hair. Although not as much as I love the man in the picture. {{smooches}}

Here’s the gang all together ready to get juiced on sweets.

They had a complete blast! I actually did too. The men stayed at home and passed out candy while Lisa and Wendy kept me thoroughly entertained as we went from house to house. Drake really got into it this year and went to each door with the kids. I was able to hang with the adults which made things a lot easier and more fun.

Lastly, here is the Beyonce, Kanye, and Taylor Swift spoof that my sister, Billy, and I did for our mandatory Halloween party skit. We completely nailed it during practice but got a little distracted by all the laughing during our live performance.

Oh well. And yes that’s a little girls leotard I’m wearing. $13 bucks baby! Enjoy and I hope it gives you a good laugh. Billy nailed it!!

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Is Social Media a Fad?

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Ladies!

I have really been surprised at how many Mom-prenuers (women with at-home businesses) do not have a Facebook Fan Page AND a Networked Blog page for their business, do not have a blog, or a twitter account.

This thing called “social media” is not a fad and will not go away just because you don’t understand it. If you want to make money online from your home – please sign up for these accounts and play around with it for a while. If you need help, I know a thing or two and would be happy to help you out. If I can’t answer your question – I know someone who can.

Please catch up!

If you aren’t trying to make money online – ignore me all together. {{cheesy grin}}