First Field Trip of the Summer

Today was our first field trip of the summer and I took my girls to Cheekwood.  The girls took a friend and her mom (my friend) along with us.  We had a great time.  The gardens at Cheekwood are just gorgeous.  The girls love to run outside.  There are all sorts of paths to follow and waterfalls and fountains to make a wish in.  Addison plucked a beautiful flower from a lily pad in one pond.  Oops!  I’m pretty sure you are not suppose to “pick” the flowers at Cheekwood.  Oh, well.  Lesson learned.  Here are some pictures of the girls.

There is a new exhibit in the gardens entitled, “Happily Ever After” and the kids had a blast looking at Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood and so many other fairy tale stories, all outdoors.  One unique thing we like at Cheekwood are the ponds.  There is one set of three ponds that each drop down and feed into the other.  We got a great nature lesson today in the subject of (none other than) FROGS.  Isn’t that what every girl just loves.  Icky, slimy frogs.  The girls LOVED them!  We heard a bullfrog and boy was it loud!  Ava Jane replicated the sound with her throat and it was hysterical.  We saw oodles of frog eggs on the edge of the pond as well as hundreds of tadpoles swimming along the banks.  And then there were the bazillions of tiny little frogs jumping around everywhere in the grass right by the pond.  The girls were squealing and catching them, but couldn’t hold on too long!  They were fascinated!  Here is a picture I snapped of one of the frogs:

Cool huh?  This was our first field trip of summer.  The terrible part is that we chose this outdoor activity today because it was only suppose to be around 80 degrees.  It was very overcast and insanely HUMID!  We were so hot – and it is not even June yet!  Looks like we will be at the pool A LOT!  Do you have any fun field trip ideas for your summer at home with the kids?  I’d love to hear about them. . . no matter where you live!

Scripture for New House

I have something I need help with. We want to go through our new house and put some scripture over the different rooms on the framing of the walls before they drywall. I have several scriptures that I have come up with that have special meaning to us or that we just like. But I need some help thinking of more scripture. . . any suggestions for scripture? Here is some of what I have:

Laundry Room – Phil. 2:14 “Do everything without arguing and complaining.”

Over the front door as you walk out – Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”

Office – Colosians 3:23 “Whatever you do, do it with all your heart, as working for the Lord and not for man.”

Living Room or Dining Room – Psalm 34:3 “Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt his name together.”

Other scripture. . . don’t know exactly where it will go. . .

Psalm 127:1 “Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain.

Joshua 24:15 “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

What other suggestions do you have?

Memorial Day Weekend Recap

First let me say that I have been trying to write a post for a week and for some crazy reason I have not been able to. . . I mean that the site I write on has been messed up (for me) or maybe it is just my crazy computer.  But here I am FINALLY.  And I have a lot to say.  So, unless you have a few minutes, you may want to skim the surface and come back to read later.

Our weekend was a good one, as weekends usually are.  Friday night we went to eat at Casa Vieja and sat outside on the patio.  It was wonderful.  We saw lots of people that we knew who also thought it would be fun to bring the kids and eat mexican outside on a Friday night.  Except that there was this table beside us with three young adults (early 20s) – two girls and a guy.  One of the girls was using every expletive word she could.  Rick went over and politely asked her to watch her language because our children could hear her.  Of course, our kids didn’t have a clue, but I just LOVE IT when Rick stands up for us like that.  Mmmmm- I just wanted to squeeze him!  We didn’t hear a peep out of her after that.  But you know me, I was ready to snap and yell at her about how rude she was being.  I am glad that my husband has patience and kindness and self-control.  I need a little more of those fruits in my life!  Wouldn’t you think that being home with two preschoolers would help develop those fruits of the spirit. . . patience, kindness and self control??  Clearly, I need to be more filled with the spirit and not live in the flesh. . . but that could be an entire blog post itself.  Anyway. . . after dinner we went to see the house and were happy with the progress.  Most of the wiring inside is done.  They are suppose to do insulation this week and drywall next week and then it is just a matter of 6-7 weeks!  Yippee.  The girls were anxious to get home b/c they had been begging Rick to take them to the pool.  Yes, we had already been to the pool that day, but they wanted to go back with daddy.  So, again, wonderful man that he is, Rick took them to the pool for a night-time swim.

While the family was swimming, I took what was suppose to be a quick trip to Walgreens.  I had a fabulous $5 off $20 coupon and lots of others – walgreens coupons mixed with manufacturers coupons – that would get me several much needed items for very little money.  DO NOT GO TO THE INDIAN LAKE WALGREENS.  I should have known this after several attempts by friends with the Jane makeup did not work out.  But, it was closest, so I went in, got exactly what I needed and headed to check out.  Items rang up. . . $24. . .used the $5 off coupon. . . just fine. . . started ringing other coupons and WHAM-O. . . $5 coupon was voided out.  I ask for the manager. . . he says he can’t override the computer.  Okay, seriously. . . you are the manager – you can make things happen.  I explain that I have done similar transactions and never had a problem.  I tell them I am sorry that I need to cancel the entire deal.  And I walk out VERY FRUSTRATED.  I was kind, but frustrated that in my attempt to save money I have just wasted 30 minutes and am now driving to another store to try to make this work.  Probably a dumb move. . . but whatever. . . I go to another store.  I ask the lady at the front register if she has seen the $5 coupon today.  She says that she has rung it up many times.  I explain all my coupons and want to make sure I can get what I need.  She says no problem.  I get all I need, ring up. . . $28 (I got a couple more things). . . give her all my coupons. . . she looks at me and tells me I am a coupon freak. . . nice. . . I don’t care. . . ring up all coupons. . . total of $11 and change.  Yippee!  I did realize after I paid that I forgot to give her one $.55 coupon. . . but after the “coupon freak” comment I decide it might be best to just forget about trying to get that $.55 back!!  Back home again, exhausted and ready for bed!!!

Saturday morning everyone in our house slept until 7:30.  That is unheard of!  That is called four very tired people.  Rick took the girls to his parents cause he had to get a couple of things done.  I stayed home cleaned and did laundry and organized the massive number of coupons that I had.  Then I went shopping at Kroger, Publix and Aldi.  Whew!  I spent very little money between the three locations.  Always a plus when you are making dishes for three different cookouts.  Saturday afternoon we went to a neighborhood cookout in our new neighborhood.  They have a fabulous pool and the kids had a blast playing with all the other kids.  We met lots of new neighbors, including our next door neighbors who had just moved in.  It was lots of fun and a great way to end the day!  After the kids went to bed, I started cooking for our cookout on Sunday night.

Sunday was church.  It was good.  Guest speaker. . . I kinda thought I was at Zanies Comedy Club instead of church.  He was funny.  A few things were a little “border line church humor” in my book. . . maybe funny if not from the pulpit. . . but it was a good message about religion vs. Christianity.  We came home after church, had lunch and the kids were begging to go to the pool at the apartment.  We applied sunscreen like crazy and walked across the parking lot.  There were lots of people at this tiny pool.  There really are not too many words to describe the experience. . . but I will try to paint a picture for you. . . many kids with floaties on arms in pool. . . females in two piece swimsuits who should NOT BE ALLOWED TO WEAR TWO PIECE SWIMSUITS. . . I don’t mean because of modesty. . . I mean because when you have a belly that hangs, no one want to see it. . . anyway. . . belly bling. . . tattoos EVERYWHERE. . . lots of cigarettes. . . coolers. . . guys lounging in floats with big cups in their hands. . . remember the pool is pretty small. . . more tattoos. . . do you see what I see??  Needless to say, our pool experience on a Sunday afternoon didn’t last too long.

After swimming and naptime (for everyone except mom) we headed to a cookout with some friends.  It was a great night of food, fellowship and fun with some friends we don’t always get to hand out with.  The kids played, played and played some more.  We had to drag them home.  They were filthy dirty but had a blast!

On Monday, Rick went to ride his motorcycle with a group of other guys.  It was a half day trip.  I had to pray numerous times that he would be safe and I would not worry.  With all the tragedies that have surrounded us this past nine months, I don’t want to be the next one.  Thankfully, he had a great morning and arrived back home safe and sound!  His friend, however, wasn’t so lucky.  He “laid down his bike” (aka – wrecked it) and broke his collarbone.  He will be okay, but it was just another reminder to me that motorcycles are dangerous!!!  I took the girls to our neighborhood pool despite the rain and cloudy sky.  We took some friends and were the ONLY ones that showed up!  It was fun even when it started raining.  The kids loved that.  I remember as a kid loving to swim in the rain.  But then we heard thunder and it was over!  Short-lived, but fun while it lasted.  Monday afternoon we went to the in-laws for a fish fry.  It was a good time and LOTS of fried fish!  Unfortunately, it rained most of the afternoon, but it made for a pleasant evening to sit on the covered porch.  I wanted to come home and watch a movie, but I was so tired I could hardly keep my eyes open.  So, I went to bed about 9:30 and thus ended a fun 3 day weekend for the Lafayette family!  I hope your weekend was a good one too!

Visit Here

Here are the link to two different sites that I wanted to share with you.

First, is a link to the caringbridge site for a little fella I know, Erik Jackson. Last week, Erik had a terrible accident at Mother’s Day Out. He is now in Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital in critical condition. You can link to his site to read the story of what happened and to get updates on his condition. Please pray for this little guy. And pray for his mom and dad, Kelly and Bruce. Erik is their only child. They call him their “miracle baby” and we are all praying that God will do a great miracle to heal his sweet body. http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/erikjackson

Second, is on a much lighter note. . . but here is the link to the site with my shopping reviews. The first review isn’t all that, but it is posted and I would love some comments from my fellow bloggers about where you like to shop, etc. (on that site).

Thanks for checking out both of these sites.

Update on the Weekend

I like to give a weekend recap but I can hardly remember by Monday morning what we did on Friday night. Mental capacities are diminishing – I’m too young for that. Oh well. My brain hurts from thinking so hard, but here was our weekend.

We started by going to eat dinner at Chili’s on Friday night. This is always a favorite place for our kids. We have some free kids meal coupons, so they love it because they don’t have to share and there is lots to choose from on the kids meal. We left Chili’s for under $25 and headed to the Sears Outlet to look for a new washer/dryer. Yikes. They are expensive. Our dryer has been on the blitz for a while now and something made Rick snap the other day and he said we were getting a new one right away – oh I know what it was. . . there was some big streak on his new pants that won’t come out. It has been showing up on a few other pieces of clothing and making me crazy. So, I was in total agreement that the dryer had to go. No luck at Sears so I guess we will spend Saturday on the hunt for the new goods.

Saturday morning started with a phone call that my sister had her baby! Her fifth baby in seven years. Yes, that’s right, her oldest will be 7 in September. She never finds out what she is having so it is always a huge surprise!! It was a GIRL!!! yeah! We were all excited in our house. She has two girls, then two boys and now another sweet baby girl. Her name is Virginia Faith (named after her husband’s mother). They will call her Faith. How precious!

Rick and the girls went and had my car washed and came home and dried it and shined it up all nice for me. Addison helped Rick to vacuum and clean the mirrors and pick up her room that she shares with the messiest child in America, Ava Jane! Addison is such a big helper. Rick went to ride his motorcycle and the girls were spending the late morning/early afternoon with me! We went to Lowe’s to look for a dryer. Of course they tried to sell me the nice Whirlpool Duet Steam frontload washer and dryer. Guess what? I would love that, but I cannot spend $2000 on a washer and dryer people. I am moving into a new house and I would much rather have some furniture or curtains or rugs than spend $2000 on something that will stay hidden in a room that no one will ever enter. I decided while I was at Lowe’s that I would look on Craigslist and see what I could find in the “used” department.

I put a few items in a friend’s garage sale so we headed over to collect our millions and gather up the (hopefully) few items left. Well, so much for the millions – I settled for $29.50. And brought home a basket full of stuff and my printer that I really wanted to sell. Not terrible and I am grateful that they let me bring my junk to add to their junk. I took the girls to Backyard Burgers for lunch. Yuk. I’m not a huge fan. But for some reason they had been begging for a couple of weeks to eat there. I think they just wanted to play on the playground there. So, I spent $9 of my garage sale money on lunch. We then made a quick stop at the grocery to pick up a couple of things before the sale changed on Sunday. Both girls took a nice nap and I continued to pick up around the apartment.

We went to a cookout at my friend Kathy’s house late in the afternoon. It was such a gorgeous afternoon. All the kids played and had a great time. I loved that I got to hang out with some people that I don’t see too often. The food was delicious and the fellowship was fabulous! Kathy’s mother-in-law volunteered to help me with some floral arrangements for my new house!!! Yeah! She is the sweetest, kindest lady. Can’t beat a night like this. We left before the sun went down so we could run by and see what’s been done to our house. Yippee!! They have started bricking. Some of the duct work was in as was some of the plumbing. It is starting to come together. I pray pray pray that they will have us in before August first. I need a week to get my kids adjusted before Addison starts kindergarten. We were thrilled with the progress. Back home for much needed baths and bed!

Sunday was church.  After church we all went to the grocery together – not the best idea. We spent well over our grocery budget for the week. Ooopps! I guess the extra $20 from the garage sale just bought us some groceries. We had a normal Sunday lunch of hot dogs. yum yum yum. The girls had “rest time” today – no one napped. I spent the afternoon at Terry Franklin’s home. She is a wonderful and very Godly lady who is gracious enough to take one Sunday afternoon a month and “invest” in younger wives and mothers. I love the time I spend with her. She has so much to share from her life and what God is teaching her. I just can’t get enough sometimes. She has seven children and is the most humble woman I know. She shared with us from a book called the Ministry of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson. I need to get the book and read it. It is full of wisdom for moms like me!

When I got home, Rick and Addison had dinner ready for us. We were having a big ‘ole salad. A family favorite. They had all the veggies cut, meat cooked, eggs boiled and it was all sitting out waiting on me. How wonderful. After dinner we took a little family walk down by the lake. We stopped to look at worms under a log and it was eeewww! We drove back out to the house to see if anyone had come out to work, but they had not. I was glad they weren’t working on Sunday. Addison said it was because they were in church (I hope that was true). We stopped by the redbox to rent a movie. Not much good selection. We came home to a child totally melting down. Nice way to end the weekend. After we dealt with that, we got the kids in bed and sat down for our movie. It was awful. I stopped watching after about 30 minutes and went to bed to watch the country music awards.

We had a good weekend overall. I am thrilled about my new niece. And prayerful that I will find an inexpensive used dryer to last a couple of years. I hope your weekend was good too.

On a different note. . . I am writing this on Monday morning and I have just come home from my 5 am class. Seriously. I don’t think I am going back on Mondays. Last week our instructor didn’t show up and I was so happy. That sounds terrible, I know. But for whatever reason she wasn’t there and we all got 5 FREE classes for showing up with NO class. One of the classmates ended up teaching a very impromptu class – but it was good. Well, today, we get there and no instructor. Then she came right at 5:00. That’s all fine and good. Then she tells us we each need a step and 10 RISERS!!!! Are you kidding me??? You could hear people murmuring under their breath that they were only going to get 6 or 8 and then she started yelling at everyone to get 10 risers and do what she said because if we didn’t have them then we wouldn’t be able to do the class. Whatever. All I can say is that you could have done everything just fine with only 6 risers. So, yes, we had our steps stacked 5 high and everything we did revolved around this. So, needless to say, I was behind, slow, exhausted, embarrassed, etc. About 5:30 I almost just walked out. I wanted to take out a couple of risers and she emphatically stated that if we took them out we would HAVE to put them back because we would need them for something else. I took out two risers, leaving me with four on each side – plenty for a good workout. But that was with only 20 minutes left of the class. Here is my thing, people. If I pay to come to an exercise class I want a good workout. But I also am the only person who knows my body and what I can do and how hard I can push myself. I like a good challenge, but not at the expense of feeling humiliated. It’s just not that worth it to me. I’m not on the Biggest Loser. I don’t need someone yelling at me. And I don’t need someone doing things just to make a point. All I can say is that I am glad that I didn’t throw any of my risers at her (which I really did consider) and I am glad she didn’t hear all the things I was saying in my head during class. I confessed all that and told God I wouldn’t be going back on Mondays. The temptation to be angry and sin is just too great and we are suppose to “flee temptation,” right? I am running far far away from this temptation. Whew! Thanks for letting me get that off my chest.

I hope this is a fabulous Monday. I have been insanely busy and not had the time to blog. But I have lots to blog about. . . what God is teaching me, budgeting, and more!! So, check back and feel free to comment! I love to know what you are thinking too!!

Weekend Update

My post yesterday gave the low-down of how our Saturday went. . . spending money we didn’t really have.  To top it off, on Saturday night when Rick was hooking up the new printer, he realized that the printer did NOT come with a printer cable.  That seems silly to me.  And it is frustrating b/c the sales guy didn’t even mention that we needed one.  Rick immediately went back to Office Depot (it’s only 5 minutes away) to get the cable and told the manager what happened.  The manager said that no printers are sold with a cable and that the sales guy should have told us we needed one.  Ughhh! 

We had a yummy “mustgo” dinner on Saturday night. . . all the things that must go from the fridge.  I marinated chicken tenders in italian dressing and then grilled them on the grill pan with bbq sauce.  Yum-O!  We also had corn on the cob, baked beans and deviled eggs.  The girls got to eat ice cream for dessert which they loved. 

Sunday we all woke up early so we went to the 8 am service.  They showed a video tribute to moms where they had asked kids of all ages questions about their moms.  Ava Jane appeared and answered the question, what is one thing your mommy has taught you.  She said, “well, she taught me to wash my hands and brush my teeth.”  Whew!  That is safe enough and a good thing for her to know!!    At least she didn’t say that I am trying to teach her to wipe her own bottom.  hahaha!  We came home for lunch and then we did nothing.  We just lounged around in our “cozies” and all took naps and watched a movie.  We ran by to say Happy Mother’s Day to Rick’s mom and then went to eat dinner at the new Red Robin Restaurant.  Of course I had a coupon. . . so our dinner for four was only $14.95 – unbelievably cheap for that restaurant. 

We took a family trip to Publix for a few things on my list.  The girls went with Rick to the magazine aisle while I shopped.  Apparently they had to go potty so Rick sent them in the ladies room.  The next time I saw them they were running down the aisle toward me.  Addison was shouting, “Mom – I pooped in the potty.”  While Ava Jane shouted even louder, “And mom, she even wiped her own bottom!!”  Wow!  Great news.  Don’t think everyone in Publix wants to hear about it.  But I smiled and congratulated and high-fived Addison – all the while, so thankful that I am the mommy to these two precious little girls. 

I am reminded every year on Mother’s Day of the last Mother’s Day before I was pregnant.  I remember having to leave the church service b/c I was crying so much.  I was so sad that I was not pregnant b/c I wanted to be so badly.  And I had tried for what seemed like forever.  I wanted to be a mommy and couldn’t understand why God didn’t want me to be.  Of course now I know that God just had a different time table for me to be a mommy, and boy am I glad that he is in control and I am not!  But I am mindful of all those ladies who want to be moms and are not yet.  I pray that they will continue to trust God and find peace wherever they are in the process. 

I hope all my mommy friends had a great day.  And Happy Mother’s Day to my mom, too!  I love you mom!

 

Money Matters

Do you ever feel frustrated about money? UUGGHH!!! I am at that point today. Those of you that know me, know that I am a budget queen. I love to help people get on a budget, stay on a budget and I love making our budget work for our family. With gas and grocery prices getting higher everyday, I have had to increase those two categories in the budget and decrease a few others. Not fun. We live on a set income, so what we have is it. God is always so incredibly faithful and we have never gone without or had needs that were not met. I do work hard at not just creating a budget, but living by it. When the money in my entertainment envelope is gone. . . then no more eating out that month. Every now and then I will steal from one budget category to give to another. But I try hard not to do that very often.

Anyway. . . on Tuesday night at 8:30, my computer crashed and died. I mean, dead, won’t come on, no way to bring it back, dead! Now, all my little “jobs” that I do (Just Say No, shopping reviewer, mystery shopping and even MOPS) require me to use my computer – a lot! My hubby had been telling me that our computer was way outdated and we needed a new one. . . but I am not the spender in the family and I was gonna use this thing until it died – which it did. We have to buy a new computer. So, on Wednesday, he purchased a new computer (just the CPU) and had it hooked up and ready to go by Wednesday night (It was around $515). I was thrilled with the computer, not the cost. Except that the new computer runs on Microsoft Vista which I know nothing about. But it doesn’t matter as long as I can get on line. Well, when I went to print, we realize that the printer is not compatible with the new computer. Okay, I can handle that. I go to Office Depot and buy a $50 cable (excuse me, how much?) to make the computer and printer connect. Hubby informs me that the cable works, but the printer is so old that it is not compatible with Vista. AAAGGGHHH! Are you serious? I have a great laser printer that works just fine, but yet I cannot use it anymore. So, today we leave to go return the cable and look for a printer.

Before we leave Rick reminds me that I need to take my jeep Cherokee in to have the tires rotated/balanced. He thinks we may need two new tires, not sure. We drop off the car and later get a call that we need FOUR NEW TIRES and that the front brakes are bad. They wanted $150 for the brakes and $415 for the tires. Tires we had to have. Hubby said he would do the brakes himself. We bought new brake pads for $35 and he will put them on. Whew! At least we saved $115 there. But still, spent $415 on tires.

We returned the printer cable and got that $50 back, but spent $200 on a new printer. It is an all-in-one (print, copy, scan, fax) machine. I am beginning to become ill about all the money. I decided to turn today into a game of “let’s see how MUCH money we can spend this Saturday.” Rick thinks it’s great and is ready to buy a new car (to replace his car that has 255,000 miles on it). He was just kidding. Though I was reminded as we drove the old Honda that he desperately needs new struts – we hit a tiny hole and it felt like we fell into a pothole; and when I asked what the popping and clicking sound was, he informed me that his drive axle is going out. GREAT! For heaven’s sake. . . when will the madness end????

After I picked up my car, I went to Walgreens by myself to pick up a few things we needed. I was armed with my coupons and the store flyer. I proceeded to spend a good hour in the store, but left THRILLED about the money I saved. I got $40 of stuff for only $9.20 out of my pocket ($11 was paid with a gift card I earned from rebates on a previous purchase). I coupon-ed the poor check out lady to death. But I got most of what was on my list and didn’t have to pay much for it. Even so, I am frustrated that the whole $20+ I saved at Walgreens pales in comparison with what we spent today on items we had to have.

All that to say, that so far today, I have spent:

$25 on family breakfast at IHOP (our one eating out adventure for the weekend) – we had money in our entertainment envelope for this

$415 on tires

$35 on brake pads – I had money in my car maintenance envelope for this

$200 on a printer

$9.20 on toiletries at Walgreens – I had money in my walmart envelope for this

The money for the computer, printer, and tires all had to come from our savings fund for the new house. Yikes! But we will trust that we will have all we need when it is time to move to the house. For today, I think I am done spending money. Tonight we are having “mustgo” for dinner. Have you ever had that? You know. . . you eat all the food that “must go”!! It will be a fun food adventure for a family on a budget!!  I must say that God is good and continues to bless our family in ways we can’t imagine.  I used to roll my eyes when my dad would tell me and my sisters, “Girls, we may not have much money, but we are a wealthy family.”  Oh gag, dad.  But now I really do understand what he meant.  Money isn’t everything.  And the more you have the more you want.  But we are blessed with good health, a good marriage, two precious children, a roof over our head and food to eat.  That is truly more than most of the world has.  I am going to choose not to be “ill” anymore today about these money matters, but instead focus on all the blessings in my life.  Whew!  Thanks for letting me vent!  I feel much better now!

Here are a couple of questions:

1) Do you live on a budget? and 2) How have you made your budget work with the increase in the cost of gas and groceries?

Totally Random Thoughts

Has anyone noticed how unbelievably beautiful it has been with the bright green tree leaves against the stunning blue sky? And don’t you just love the color scheme that God chose for us to enjoy?

Charmin Basic really is a great and inexpensive toilet paper.

Do you find it odd that “Obama” and “Osama” sound eerily alike?????

Everyday at 8:05 am I run to answer the phone, only to realize that it is not my phone ringing, but Handy Manny’s phone ringing!

I keep hearing people say that they don’t like the economic stimulus plan. . . okay. . . so send your check back to the government!

I just noticed this morning how oddly smooth Hilary Clinton’s face seems to be for a 60 year old woman. Anyone noticed this? Can you say FACELIFT?

Once more, why to they make plus size clothes with horizontal stripes? VERTICAL people! VERTICAL STRIPES!

The one great thing about about living in an apartment is that you don’t have to mow the grass.

Eggs are on sale at Kroger this week for 1.19 (regularly 1.99). . . that 1.19 used to be the regular price not too many months ago. We’re eating lots of eggs this week!

We had a new instructor for our 5 am class yesterday. She was great, but I am sore today. No dude, no belly bling and no outfit lady. They have totally disappeared! So sad.

I’m sort of glad it is raining today. I really need to do laundry and clean bathrooms and when it is pretty I have a hard time staying inside!

I have found lots of old friends on facebook – it really is amazing to be able to connect with people you have not talked to in a million years.

That’s all my random thoughts for today. If I think of more I will edit my post and add to it! I just have the most random thoughts sometimes and this is a great outlet to get them all out!

It’s Been a GREAT Weekend!

The Lafayette family has had a great weekend.  Saturday morning we celebrated with Rick as he GRADUATED from Trevecca Nazarene University.  He went back to school to get his bachelor’s degree and is finally finished.  He was one fine looking graduate, I must say.  The graduation was outside (the day turned out to be gorgeous) and it was beautiful.  We took the girls and they did pretty well.  Considering we were there for almost 4 hours.  They started asking for snacks at 8:20 am!  Good thing I brought along plenty. . . and an array of coloring books and crayons.  Rick’s parents were there along with my dad and step-mom.  And I have to say that the graduation ceremony at a Christian university is MUCH different than at a secular university.  The speeches were phenomenal and the whole service pointed to God and his glory.  It was unbelievable.  I loved it.

Here were some of the funnier moments of the morning:

1)  A bumper sticker that said, “I didn’t claw my way up the food chain to eat vegetables.”

2)  When Noni pointed out the American flag to Ava Jane – the one with the red and white stripes and the stars and Ava Jane responds, “No, Noni.  That is the hockey flag.”  I guess she has only seen the flag at the one Predators hockey game that she has been to, and clearly that was the hockey flag to her!

3)  My chair that was in the wet grass that sank into the muddy ground as soon as I sat down.

4)  The fact that two times we almost had a domino effect of people falling on top of one another. . . primarily because my heel sunk into the mud when I stood up and I lost my balance.  It could have been really bad.

5)  My girls managed to find a fountain of water and play in it and get soaking wet – imagine that!

Graduation was followed by lunch at Jack’s, a family favorite.  Thanks dad and Karen for treating us to a great meal.  We did make it home for naps (which the girls didn’t take all week long).  Later in the afternoon we went to see the progress on our house and it is looking good.  They are framing it and have most of the second story in place now.  Yeah!  It can’t be ready fast enough.  We enjoyed a cookout with some friends while the kids ran around and played outside.  We had some great conversation and spent lots of the night laughing.  Those are the best times!

Today (Sunday) was my birthday!  Ava Jane told me this morning that I was old.  Thanks, babe.  I had lots of birthday wishes from friends and family.  Church was good.  I learned something in my connect group today and enjoyed a wonderful time of worship through song during the service.  We came home for leftovers and decided to forgo the naps once again for some outside playtime.  We spent the better part of the afternoon outside. . . at the creek, by the lake, at the park.  My mom came in town this afternoon for my birthday.  She always comes in for our birthdays.  I just love that.  We got pizza and took it to the park to eat and play.  And then to Baskin Robbins for ice cream cones for mommy’s birthday.  That is what the girls wanted to do.  It makes me happy to see them enjoy something so much.  And there isn’t too much they enjoy more than an ice cream cone!  The rest of the night I have spent chatting with my mom.  I love getting to talk to her in person since I don’t see her too often.

I have had a fabulous birthday and a phenomenal weekend overall!  I am excited that my mom will be here all day tomorrow and Tuesday til lunch!  We are sure to have a great time.  And the girls love to see their Mimi!  I hope your week is a good one.