Wordless Wednesday!

Extreme Couponing!

Well sorta ;)

Yesterday I went to the store after work and bought 57 items ALL of those I used a coupon for, except milk. I saved over $50 by using said coupons! I was very excited!!

It took me over an hour to do all that shopping making sure I bought the right sizes, quantities, and brands but I did it! And our house is stocked!! I haven't felt like that in a very long time, this time last year our cupboards were on the empty side no we weren't starving but there was no way I could've bought things a head of time that we use just because I had a coupon. I think that is the secret to this couponing business is to keep a 'stock pile' or buy stuff you use with coupons even if you don't need it right now and put it back.

Anyways back to the good stuff!



Here is what I got, minus the food items, except the buns they got to stay in the picture for some reason ;)



I got a ton of food and juice too should've taken a picture but I just wanted to put it away!!




I HAD to take a picture of this diaper stack, that is almost $50 in diapers and wipes without the coupons! I was pretty excited about that and yes I bought more tiny diapers for a future Roper :)

One more little tidbit about this whole couponing thing is to buy the smallest size that the coupon will allow, because more than likely you will get another coupon before you use all of the product. Do this especially with toothpaste, shampoo, dish soap, etc.

Yesterday's coupons all came from my local paper, the city paper is only a Wednesday and Sunday paper for less than $20 a year to subscribe. I am also going to start checking websites for my next run!





And what's couponing without a cute coupon holder! I got this zipper pouch from Thirty-One in yesterday too and it is perfect for all my coupons and supplies! I have them separated with binder clips by category. This probably isn't the best way to organize them but I am also going to get some index cards with tabs to help me out.

My new flower from Thirty-One, which has nothing to do with couponing! Ha!

So there you have it, my couponing experience thus far! I am certainly no professional and have so much more to learn but I love saving my family money and eating good so I think I will keep trucking at this! Any new tips I find I will surly share!

Has anyone else out there jumped on the couponing band wagon? Do tell!

Weekend Round-Up!

This weekend was one for the record books for sure!

I'll get to that in a minute though.

Friday we got home from school/work and Lucas had a package waiting on him! He was SO excited to see what it was, opened it and his Shutterfly book was here! I made him this book a few weeks ago, I put in a ton of pictures of things we have done as a family and wrote him a little letter on the last page. I put the dates on the front page also. He loves it! It's something he can keep forever.

I also got it for FREE which makes it just plain awesome!

Lucas and his new book.

Friday, on our lunch break, Jessica and I ventured down to a re-sale shop we like to look in from time to time and Jessica found this pair of bke jeans for a whopping $20! They fit me pretty good! I have never had a pair before but I wore them all day Saturday and I am in love!!

Speaking of Saturday....

Lucas went to the racetrack for the first time without mommy :( as sad as I was thinking he is growing up and able to do things without me, I am so blessed he has a daddy that will take him to do things and I don't have to worry about him.

Picture of a hot sweaty Lucas having the time of his life!

Brent, Matt, and Lucas left around 3 and didn't get home until 12:30 am! That was a long time to myself! I wish I would've used it more wisely, ha! But seriously for the first hour I just sat thinking wow this is really happening, ha!

After I snapped out of it I went to the dollar store to get some little plastic baskets to organize my spice cabinet, I also went to the grocery store to get stuff for dinner Sunday then went home and stated my organizing I ended up doing the spice cabinet and the medicine cabinet. I also did a bunch of laundry and organized the garage so I could pull my car in (just in time for a rainy Monday!).

Then Chloe and I went to Sonic for some ice-cream. Taking Chloe anywhere is a rarity these days, not that she's bad it's just harder with kids to tote a dog around, ha!

We went back home to relax and catch up on some t.v. I went to bed early around 10 I was just board I guess. The boys came in around 12:30 and I got back up for that.

(kinda skipping around but it goes with the pictures)

Friday night Brent and I went to eat at Maria's while Lucas hung out with his uncle, aunt, and mema. I had something to return at Target and I wanted to look at their Dupelo sets, I'd been wanting to get Luke some. We found one with "Mater" from Cars so Brent had to get him that one. I also had a few things to get at Wal-Mart so we peeked at their sets too, well what do you know they had one with a whole slew of Cars in the kit and a truck and trailer so we ended up leaving with that one too. Some days I'm not sure how many 2 year olds I have :)

But that gets be back to Sunday. After lunch Lucas and daddy got to open all the new toys and they had lots of fun!

So $50 worth of duplo blocks and 2 happy boys!

Sunday I made dinner for some family. I love making a bunch of food and having people over to eat! My mom,dad, and grandma, and Brent's parents and uncle all had a yummy *mostly* home-made dinner last night. We had a pot roast cooked in pickled bell peppers, mashed taters, corn, beer bread, salad, chocolate cake and ice cream! To bad no pictures of all that!

We had a great weekend after a hard week and it was needed.

Now on with the week so we can get to the 3 day weekend ;)

The Fever...

Ok all you seasoned momma's out there, I need help!!

How does one get over the baby fever!? O my gosh the past couple of weeks I have it bad! It's becoming all I think about! I mean how could I not want another on of those precious faces, but we don't NEED another right this second. I know, rarely do you get to plan what you need but I think it would be good for Lucas to get our full attention for all long as possible.

I just cannot shake these thoughts from my mind, I try to remind myself to be thankful for Lucas and enjoy him as we are, to enjoy our family of 3 and all things.And we have so much planned to do before we have another. But it doesn't seem to be working.

My brain keeps playing tricks on me and I am also scared to keep waiting in case it doesn't happen again, I know it's truly a miracle to be given a child and I don't take it for granted.

And as hard as it is I cannot wait to do all those baby things again, and again, aaaannd maybe again ;)

So there you have it what's on my mind right now, so if you see my head up in the clouds you will know what I'm thinking about.....

Tidbits for Thursday!

• There obviously hasn't been much on my mind this week besides Mamaw, I just can't get over the thought that I won't see her again. My heart is broken but time heals all wounds and time is what we all need right now.


• We are considering getting Luke a puppy for his birthday in February, he will turn 3 and I think it's a good time. We have been so wishy washy on the getting another dog thing so I can't say for certain but this gives us lots of time to research pups :)


• I am getting excited about my "No-Spend September" kind of wishing I would've called it "Saving in September" but O well, I had a hand full of people say they want to try it too so that is exciting!! I hope we can all keep each other on track!


• I ordered "The Help" and "5 Love Languages" and I cannot wait to read them! I want to read The Help before I see the movie.


• Ugh I cannot wait to get my planner but when I check my order status it STILL says "pending" I ordered over a week ago and my card has already been charged. They said it would ship by the 30th and I am going to hold them to it ;)


• Isn't it amazing how kids keep you smiling even on the hardest days.


• Today is going to be a very tough day, when Brent is upset I loose it, so I am going to do my best to hold things together for him.

Hurting Hearts.

We have had quite the heartache around my neck of the woods lately. Some of this post is going to be from months ago that I just haven't felt like talking about. I LOVE to talk about happy stuff on here but sometimes life is just sad and hard and I for one need to get better at accepting that instead of ignoring it.

In February we lost my Grandmother, my Mema S. the grandmother that lived with us for many many years and took care of my brother and I as a 2nd mom. We stayed with her after school and during summers, she made our dinners and did our laundry, did all the house work, and taught me so much about life. My mom worked full time and my Mema loved doing that stuff so it all worked out well. We miss her so badly, she was my best friend when I was growing up, she meant the world to me.
After about 3 years of cancer, surgeries, lots of chemo treatments, and in and out of rehabilitation clinics she had fought for so long and I think she knew it was her time. It was the day after Valentine's Day.



Then this Sunday we lost Brent's Grandmother, his Mamaw. She had just been diagnosed with cancer a few weeks earlier. But not 5 weeks ago she was babysitting Lucas for me, which is no easy task! It all happened so fast with Mamaw. We are still not over the shock of it all. We will miss her so badly. She loved her family more than anything and it showed.
I feel like the "backbones" of both Brent's and my families are gone, if that makes since. The ones that made everyone come together.

This Thursday is Mamaw's funeral, it's going to be hard for everyone. I am just so thankful we have the little ones to keep us smiling.
Please pray for us as we take on this new season of our lives.

Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. Psalm 30:5

No-Spend September!

I am going to give myself a HUGE challenge starting September 1st! I have thought about this for a while now and I think next month is a good month to do it!

For an entire month I will not spend any money on un-necessary things! So that means no new clothes, no new hair products, no new books, no new toys for Luke, no craft supplies, nadda, nothing!
I am going to set aside some money for the Growing Kids Sale that will be here in September to get Lucas some clothes but I am only going in with a certain amount and cannot go over that!

Here's the thing we don't NEED anything, and since Brent went back to a steady income I have been spending money like a mad woman, Brent calls it "spoiling ourselves because we haven't got to in a long time", I call it crazy! I'd just like to see for a month how much I can put into savings if I didn't spend a little here and a little there on non-sense!

I will continue to give myself my "pocket money" but for food ONLY! And what ever I have left a the end of the week goes into savings!

To hold myself accountable I will post each week and tell where I am at with this! Might tie it in with my "Thursday Tidbits"

So wish me luck and if you would like to join me let me know so we can comfort each other when all the super cute new fall lines come out!! O dear, is it to late to change my mind ;)

Saturday Snapshots!

Chloe after getting a bath and a hair cut on Thursday! She is such a sweet dog and I love her to pieces! She is 6 years old now and I can't believe it! She was my very first "baby" and I don't know what I'd do without her.

Funny story:

Lucas and I went to drop Chloe off yesterday at a new groomers up the road from us that is also the vet we have been taking Chip and Chloe to. We get there get Chloe out and Lucas HAS to hold her leash when we are walking somewhere with her. We go in and the ladies are talking to Lucas telling him that Chloe is going to get a bath and a hair cut and that she will be OK they are going to take care of her. He was a little sad about leaving her there.
We are walking out and he starts crying saying "My Chloes" O. my. word. it was so sad but so cute I didn't know weather to laugh or cry. But we made it to school and he got to tell everyone that Chloe is getting a hair cut so he thought that was fun. He also went with me to pick her up after school and was so happy to see her and her bow.

Wednesday Night.

This week I started back in the Church nursery on Wednesday nights! I am so happy to get to do this and to spend time with the women in there, they are such godly examples for me. I have to say I was a little apprehensive about returning this year I was suffering from a case of mommy guilt. I am glad I am not the only one, this post let me know that.

You see before the summer "break" started when we (Lucas and I) would go the nursery on Wednesday evenings he was so unhappy, he didn't want to be without me, that was our time. I felt terrible thinking he has been is school all day and now I'm taking him to another school like setting where he is with other kids and "teachers" and not at home with mommy and daddy. I would hear him crying down the hall when I would leave him.

I got a letter from Tonia on Monday and had pretty much made up my mind that I was not going to serve this time around, I went to bed thinking I would get with Tonia and tell her my plans. Well Wednesday rolled around and I still hadn't got in touch with her so I started thinking about it again and I just had a push to just go! I know who it was from ;) I started telling myself it's only for an hour and half and Lucas may like it better since he will be in the preschool part with the "older" kids and they get to go outside and they do some coloring and craft type things.

So we went.

And Lucas had a great night as did I! I am so glad we went I just love seeing those babies and having the ladies to talk to and learn from. AND I feel so blessed that Lucas has somewhere to go and learn about Jesus and have friends who are in church and teachers that really care. I have wanted that for so long.

So thank you Tonia for the letter and serving ice cream and cobbler so Lucas would be excited and thank you nursery ladies for always making me feel so welcome and loved and a huge thank you to Him for not giving up on me once again.

I am so blessed.

Tidbits for Thursday!

I am so happy to be posting my 2nd "Tidbits for Thursday" these are so fun!

• The other night when we went to Hob Lob, Brent and Luke went to look in the model car section while I went to find what I was needing, as I am taking a quick gander through the home decor section I can hear Lucas laughing and talking when I get closer I look down the aisle and both of my boys are sword fighting with some foam swords they found. Priceless.






• I often ask myself in the morning do I want to fix my hair today or stop for a coffee, coffee wins out way more than it should. I wonder what my co-workers would pick for me? Happy but messy hair or grumpy with pretty hair. Ha!






• The baby bug has bit me again! So bad that the other day I bought a package of size 1 diapers, good grief! But I had a coupon and they were for a brand that doesn't work for Lucas anymore.






• It still amazes me that Lucas is speaking in full sentences that we can all understand!






• Lucas went #2 in the potty at home last weekend, I am so proud of him!






• Brent will most likely not have to got to Pennsylvania ever! I was pretty relieved to hear that! 3 to 4 days at a time is one thing but 2 weeks to a month is a completely different animal.






• I bought an Erin Condren life planner, not that my life is busy or anything but I would love to have a notebook type thing to keep bills, lists, appointments, playdates, birthdays, etc. in and it would all be in the same place AND I could keep it in my everyday bag that all sounds so nice! I can't wait until it comes in!!






• I haven't been in much of a crafting mood lately, last weekend I painted the matting on an old picture that we had in our bedroom before the redo but I just can't decide if I like it, Brent says he does but I'm just not sure.






• Speaking of crafting this weekend I'm determined to make a ribbon wreath for the fall, Jessica showed me the idea :)






• I am so stinkin excited for fall this year! I always am but this year I am getting over the moon about it! I'm throwing the idea around in my head to have a Halloween party for Lucas and his friends.






• I have to say Halloween is my all time favorite holiday! Of course I like them all but there is something neat and interesting about Halloween, Brent does not share in my excitement over this! Ha!






• I still miss my Corben dog so bad. Brent told me one day last week that he had thought about him oddly enough I had thought about him a lot that day too. He was such a huge personality in our home. Of course we love Chloe but Chloe is like me very passive and Corben was like Brent and Lucas very animated and loud, and I mean loud in the best way. I just don't think we will ever find a dog with as much personality as Corben but I hope some day we do. As much as he drove me crazy he was such a joy.






• A couple of weeks ago I started the Dave Ramsey envelope system for our extra "pocket money" and our eating money I have to say that it hasn't worked for us yet, we've spent way more that what was in our envelopes but I am hoping that was just because I was off work- in other words spending to much money. We will see how it works in the next couple of weeks.

That's all for this week!

Wordy Wednesday!

Gettin to know ya:

1. What time did you get up this morning? 6:30 am


2. How do you like your steak? I don't, if I have to eat it I need a ton of steak sauce


3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema: Good Grief! I think it was that Adam Sandler/ Kevin James movie not Chuck and Larry, I don't know it's been way to long!


4. What is your favourite TV show? Intervention or the local news I know booorring!!

5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? The beach in a small cottage!


6. What did you have for breakfast? peanut butter and crackers!


7. What is your favorite food? Hummm gosh I have so many, I'm going to go with potato soup!


8. Foods you dislike? lots of meats.


9. Favorite place to eat? Chilies or Firehouse Subs :)


10. Favorite dressing? ranch


11. What kind of vehicle do you drive? Mitsubishi Outlander


12. What are your favorite clothes? I would have to say leggings and a dress/tunic <---- easy to chase a 2 year old in!


13. Where would you visit if you had the chance? Lately I have really been wanting to take a trip to one of the Carolina's!


14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full? 1/2 full most days ;)


15. Where would you want to retire? anywhere with my hubby and close to my kids.


16. Favorite time of day? I am a morning person through and through

17. Where were you born? Ft. Smith!


18. What is your favorite sport to watch? Ice skating! That's a sport right!?

19. What is your favorite fragrance? My little one right after a bath.


20. What is your favorite face cream? none?!


21. Favorite baby/kids products? O goodness I love all things baby, can't pick just one!

22. People watcher? yes.


23. Are you a morning or night person? Morning.


24. Do you have any pets? Yes, Chloe my dog and Chip the cat.


25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? humm nothing major but I did order a new life planner that I am thrilled about!


26. What did you want to be when you were little? a farmer

27. What is your favorite memory? Finding out I was going to be a mommy!

28. Are you a cat or dog person? umm I would used to say both but I am becoming more of a dog person with age.

29. Are you married? Sure am!


30. Always wear your seat belt? I don't. I know, I know I always were it when I'm driving but when I am a passenger I don't.


31. Been in a car accident? A few finder binders.

32. Any pet peeves? Rude and/or untactful people. I have been this way since I was little bitty!


33. Favorite pizza toppings? lots and lots of veggies!


34. Favorite flower? Daisy


35. Favorite ice cream? Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

36. Favorite fast food restaurant? hummm I guess Chick fil a


37. How many times did you fail your driver's test? a ton of times, like maybe 5!


38. From whom did you get your last email? Mom

39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? Pottery Barn for sure!


40. Do anything spontaneous lately? Why yes I did but I am not saying what ;)


41. Like your job? I do like it but some days it is hard to be here.

42. Broccoli? with butter and cheese!

43. What was your favorite vacation? I will have to say when Brent and I went to Florida, it was a lot of fun!

44. Last person you went out to dinner with? Brent and Lucas


45. What are you listening to right now? Office chatter.

46. What is your favorite color? blues

47. How many tattoos do you have? none.


48. coffee drinker? Yes if it has a ton of chocolate and whip cream in it!

My StayCation

I had such a good time staying home with Lucas last week!
It was so So hard to come back to work yesterday! I had just an awful day yesterday, it was truly a miracle I was able to post something, but I didn't want to forget more than I already had about our anniversary by putting it off.
Luke's first day of "school" was yesterday, during the summer they don't do much "teaching" but during the school year they kick it into high gear! We also had to get up and leave the house earlier than we had during the last few months to get there in time because it was everyone else's first day of school in our town! I was exhausted before we even left the house! Then I had to catch up on everything on my desk at work! Whew, I had a huge headache by 11 am and it stayed with me throughout the day. Awful!
But I got home and relaxed, Brent got home pretty early and we ordered pizza and ate ice cream cones one the deck so it went from a horrible day to a perfect day :) I love when that happens!

Note to self: NEVER try and go into the first day of school/ back at work without a coffee!


So today I started my day off with one of these to insure a good day at work, so far so good!!

Anyways back to my week last week....

Brent started his week in Conway on Monday morning, sigh I miss him so much sometimes. So it was just Luke and I for 3 days straight! I am not going to lie sometimes it was HARD! I love being with my little buddy but I do believe Monday he was seeing how far he could push this whole mommy being with me all day thing. But we made the best of it!


Outside looking at "that moon" with is two suckers (yes I do pick my battles;)


Playing in his room!

Monday we just hung around the house, I honestly don't remember doing anything much.

Tuesday we got up early and went for an oil change which turned into needing a new battery and over $100 and almost an hour later we were on our way to town! I say with a hint of sarcasm, if you couldn't tell! Ha!
I had a few papers to drop off at work so Luke got to my office, he loved it and all the girls loved seeing him. We also met Mema for lunch and that was fun. On our way home we stopped by to see Miss Eviee, I held her for hours! I could hold her all day I think, she is so sweet and tiny! She is still smaller than Lucas ever was! So crazy to me! Lucas was pretty good we only had two incidents where he was trying to "help" and helped a little to hard, but he wasn't jealous at all that I was holding her that long so that made me pretty excited!
After seeing Eviee we went home to get Lucas ready to go to Mema's while I went to his back to school orientation. It was fun getting to meet his new teacher and see how she decorated his new classroom, we will defiantly miss his other teachers but he already loves Ms. Kristen!



Sweet big boy!

Wednesday we hung around the house it was really stormy that day so we went to Wal-Mart early and stayed inside the rest of the day! Ethan and Olivia came over to play in the afternoon and just before they got there daddy made it home so we were excited! Brent took a nap while the kids played and us girls caught up on things! I love getting together with them and chatting and eating yummy food ;)
After they left we had dinner and played!





Thursday I don't remember doing anything special, Brent was in and out during the day and we ate lunch together and spent time with him! I will have to say being at home all day it is so much easier when he was home in the evenings and Lucas got a change of scenery! I went to Wal-Mart that night and got some goodies for our trip the next day!

Friday morning we got up bright and early, picked Mema up and headed to the Tulsa Aquarium! It was two hour drive but Lucas did SO good!



Lucas LOVED it! He was so excited when we got there and loved looking at all the animals!



Lots of "Nemos" to look at!



He insisted I take his picture with this fish ( the one right behind him, ha!)

I love these fish! They were huge much bigger than the ones in the pet stores!

I was kinda sad I forgot my "real" camera but the trusty iPhone didn't let me down.

Having a snack at the aquarium!

We stayed until about 3 (we were trying to hold out for the otter feeding) then Lucas had a meltdown and I could tell we better be on our way!

We headed home without eating lunch because Lucas was sleeping so hard, he was wore out! But mom and I went on an adventure down the old highway home, I thought she was taking me out to the boonies!! But we had fun and got home around 5 just when daddy did! We ate a "funny" dinner as Brent calls it, just a bunch of stuff that doesn't go together! Haha! and called it a night.




Saturday we stayed home and Brent put up Luke's new fan! Then went to town to Best Buy to get me a GPS for all my future outings! Loving this thing! We also went to Hob Lob then to Chick Fil a and to the hospital to visit Mamaw!


Luke's before fan, gold again, surprise surprise!


New fan!

It goes perfect with his Razorback room! He loves it and was so excited! The blades look blue in the picture but they are black.

Sunday I cleaned out my craft room and we organized the garage! I am selling stuff on CraigsList and I donated a bunch too! I am so sick of all the junk!! Plus we had to make room for Brent's new car when that time comes :/ ha!

I had a blast getting to spend some much needed time at home! I can't wait to do it again at Christmas time ;)

Crossing my fingers I can turn it into my full time job one day.... we will see!

Anniversary Weekend!

Hello There!

I had an amazing week off work with my little man (and big man:) I will post much more on that later.

First I wanted to do our anniversary weekend post before I really forgot what we did! Ha!

Friday night (Aug 5th) Brent got home from Conway where he had been most of the week and we had dinner with my family, it was yummy and I always enjoy spending time with them!

Saturday we got up early to wait on the Cox man, of course he didn't come until 30 minutes after his latest allowed time, figures. We decided on two DVR's instead of doing the whole home DVR. Thank goodness Brent was home to figure all that out! ha!

Before the Cox man got here Brent insisted on making the bed, so he made it and I had to laugh about that. We never make our bed and I thought it was funny he wanted to make it for a total stranger.

I think I facebooked this picture but here is Lucas un-making daddy's bed (still no headboard as you can see ;)

Once all the cable stuff was taken care of we loaded up and headed to town! We have been wanting to change out the celling fans in our house since we moved in but never had the time then we never had the extra money. We decided it was time and thought they could be our anniversary gift along with our new bedding (cotton is the 2nd year gift).

We went for lunch at Schlotzsky's then went to visit Brent's grandma who is still in the hospital. Our last stop was Home Depot we found two we liked, on for the living room, one for our bedroom but we couldn't find one for Luke's room, we decided to look online.

Sunday we spent our day putting up new fans and putting in a new door knob!

Here is our living room fan before

And this is the after! Much better! I HATE that oldy goldy that is everywhere in our house! But we are taking care of it one by one!Ha!

Here is our bedroom fan before ( I forgot to take a picture before Brent took the blades off)

And here is the after! I cannot tell you how happy I am with how our room is turning out! I am just in love!

And last but not least we are going to change our our door knobs one at a time, every week I am going to change one out so it doesn't seem like such a huge chunk, these puppies are not cheap I'll tell ya!

Here is the before. Gold! Ugh!

And the after! Ahh such a breath of fresh air!

One more with my rag wreath! Ha!

A very low key anniversary, this one. But I loved it! I wouldn't choose to spend it any other way, we were together doing something we love and that's all that matters to me!

My mom got us a gift card to Joe's Pasta so we will be going on a "date" soon! Yippie!

And for the record I still cannot believe I have been married for 2 years already! Wow.