Summer Time Fun

Yesterday, we (and by we, I mean Damien) blew up Dylan's frog pool that Nana got him. I was hoping that he would love it, but I didn't get the reaction that I expected. He loved playing with the squirty fountain part but no so much being in the pool. Granted, it was filled up with cold water from the hose pipe, and it didn't have time to marinate and get warm. That could have been the main problem.  Another problem, he didn't have any friends playing with him. I truly believe that kids learn by watching other kids play. At any rate, it was a good 30 minutes or so have playtime outside before we headed to Movies at the Park, where Dylan jumped in his first bounce house. Unfortunately, I don't have any pics, but he was not afraid to crawl in and play. I will take some pics of that at next month's movie.

Here are some pics from the pool fun.

Thankful and Blessed

As many of you know, I am going to Malawi, Africa in July, with a team from my church, on a mission trip. At first, I was really nervous about asking for money as I felt that it was my responsibility to purchase everything. I was encouraged by our leaders as they said people want to help. I am humbled and blessed by the outpouring of donations. My trip is officially paid for as well as my vaccinations and malaria pills. Can you believe it! While I did pay the deposit out of pocket, the rest of it was donated. I was shocked. I thought if I raised $1000, I would be happy. You may remember that we had a yard sale where I raised $1165. Then, my monetary donations equalled $1,810.  I am truly blessed by wonderful friends and family. 

I am still trying to raise some funds, not for me, but for a recent high school graduate who is returning to Malawi in June. His dream was to go for a year after graduating, but there were some hiccups. He will be going for an extended stay leaving in June and coming back with our team at the end of July.  Look for an upcoming post that will help him raise funds.

Thank you to my financial supporters: (in no particular order)

Mom and Dad

Uncle Buddy and Aunt Nancy

Glenn and Jill

Steve and Lindsay

Katherine B.

Stephen and Sarah

Daniel and Rachel

Ben and Mande 

Michelle L.

Dave and Meredith

Matt and Misty

Jared and Kim

Visit with the T's

For Memorial Day weekend, we went to Atlanta to visit with Damien's sister and her family. I call them the T's as they have names that start with T's first and last. Their names are Troy, Tracy, Taryn and Taylor.  We left for Atlanta bright and early on Saturday morning, like at 6am, so that Dylan would go back to sleep. He did eventually and then we ate breakfast right outside of Chattanooga. Then once back in the car, Dylan watched 2 baby einstein DVDs. I was really impressed how well he did in the car, oh and we borrowed my mom's car seat so that Dylan could be turned around. (We are still waiting on ours to arrive.)

Dylan kicked back in his seat

Once there, Taylor and Dylan played and played. She wanted to know when her cousin was going to be awake so she could play with him. I just loved seeing them play together. 

We really didn't have an agenda when we went, so it was a lazy weekend. We did get out on Sunday to go to church. I loved the worship and teaching at their church. Dylan seemed to love his class. When I went to pick him up, him and another boy were sitting in the floor playing with a toy. Afterwards, we went to lunch at Sweet Tomato. It's my favorite place to eat in Atlanta, I don't know why, but I just love it. That was my only request for the weekend. Dylan ate really well. Lots of beets, mac and cheese, pizza, grapes and a few peas. 

Dylan, Taryn and Taylor

We even had a fun night of hula hooping. Funny as adults, we loose are ability to move our hips, but Damien seemed to be happy at his small little feat when he had it going for 5 seconds.  Here's some video of Taylor and Dylan playing and Damien's small feat (he's going to kill me).

1 year pics with Keri

The saturday before Dylan's birthday, we met with Keri, to have his 1 year pics taken. As always, I was stressed. I don't know why, but going to the studio with a mobile child that won't stay still long enough, stresses me out. I think, I am paying money for this, why can't you sit still. UGH! Then on top of that we ran into nap time, so we were fighting the sleepy monster. Keri is amazing and was able to get some good pictures. Enjoy!

A Day of Celebration

Not only is today Mother's Day, but it's Dylan first birthday. First, happy Mother's Day to my mom! I am so grateful to have a loving, giving mom like her. I know if there's anything that I ever needed, I could count on her. She's always been there for me, and she's a great Nana to Dylan. He will more than likely be spoiled, but I am okay with that as long as it's not with a bunch of sugar.

Next, Happy 1st Birthday Dilly! I cannot believe how fast it went by. Everyone said it would, yet I didn't believe them. I hope I have snapped enough pictures and burned enough memories into what has become my pea sized brain. I am so proud to be his mom and cannot imagine what life would be like without it. In his one year of life he has mastered sitting up, crawling, walking and can say a few words like duck, dog, da da, ma ma and I swear I have heard him say light and Turbo. Also, he has had 4 haircuts and has 8 teeth. He has flown on a plane to San Diego. He knows what a lion, a fish, a snake and a monkey says. He knows where his hair, ear, teeth, belly, belly button, hands and toes are which seems like my kid is backwards from all the other kids as most learn their nose and eyes first, but he's struggling with those. He loves to read books and can identify in them ducks, elephants, monkeys and dogs.  If you ask him where a light is, he looks up. Yesterday, we had a birthday party for him yesterday, and he received lots of new toys, but as I sit her typing this out, he's "reading" all his books. I tell you the kid can't get enough of them. I hope to have a little genius on my hands, but not one that expects me to help him with his homework.  I cannot wait to see what kind of boy, teenager, and man he becomes. 

The Birthday boy

The cake

The reaction to the cake

The present from ma ma and da da

UGH Turbo!

As you can imagine with all the rain that we have been having, we have some standing water in our yard. Yesterday, our yard was mowed and that standing water was revealed. This morning, it was raining again and the dogs got put in the backyard to use the potty.  Turbo found the standing water or should I say mud and came back looking like this. 
Needless to say, he got hosed down before coming in the house.

the rain came down as the floods went up

I am so sick of rain. It has been raining for almost a week and I am done. We have gotten a few breaks, but it's not just raining, it's pouring. If you have been to our house then you know we have a small creek that runs behind our house. In the 4 years we have lived here, we have never seen it flood and create a river like this.

that spilled over and created a lake like this....

I really wanted it to be pretty for Dylan's birthday, but I have a feeling that it's going to be nasty. Not to mention no one will be able to go out as our grass is almost up to our knees, no lie. I should have done a safari theme for his party.

Harris Teeter trip

Normally, I do not grocery shop at Harris Teeter. The main reason is that the closest one is 30 minutes away. After visiting the store, I would say my secondary and tertiary reasons are selection and customer service (other than the store manager who was fabulous).  However, because of triple coupons this week, I thought I'd give it a go, and because of their rules when they do triple coupons, I had to go two times. 

Here's the loot from the first trip:

huggies wipes, 2 pastas, taco shells, refried beans, 3 cake frostings, 3 sour creams, 4 mustards, tortilla chips, and 12 yogurts. 

Since I just got a VIC card, it didn't ring up, so the cashier (in training I might add) said he'd override it at the end. Well, he did, or so he said....and my total came to $20.24. I thought that sounded high and asked if my coupons tripled. He said yes. I went to the car and tried to tally what I thought should be my total and I came up with $6 plus tax. I went back inside and talked to the manager. She went to the register, retrieved my coupons, got my receipt and scanned it. Come to find out, some of my coupons weren't even scanned, GASP, so she adjusted my bill and gave me back $12.15. Total spending on this trip. $8.09.  Total savings this trip $47.98.  (I miscalculated when I posted on FB)

Here's the loot from the second trip: 

3 packages of frozen rolls, breyers ice cream, eggo waffles and arm and hammer shower cleaner

My second trip wasn't as successful as they didn't have a few of the items, but I still got out with a savings. Total Spent: $1.15.  Total Saved  $18.56

Total spent $9.24 ---- Total Saved:  $66.54