my little songbird

Walmart craziness

Lauren and I took a quick trip to Walmart this afternoon to grab a couple of groceries.  I may or may not have bribed her to get in the cart with a snack! :)

While I was driving around the parking lot, looking for spots, I was totally faked out by one of those electric shopping cart things that someone had left in a parking space!!  So I had to act quick and whip into the parking space next to it!  As I'm getting Lauren unbuckled from her seatbelt, this woman pulls her equally-huge-as-mine SUV into that parking space with the wheelchair cart (what are those things called anyway??)  She ends up parking sort of diagonally and all caddy-wompus and I could tell this would not go well when I tried to back out.

So I grabbed Lauren's hand and walked over to her passenger window.  She rolls it down and looks at me all rude.  I said, "hi ma'am, that is my car next to yours and I just wanted to let you know that there is no way that I will be able to open my door when we leave without hitting your car." And I smile politely.

 Hint, Hint.

I wanted to say, "so, move your car, dummy.  Why did you try to park there anyway??" 

But I didn't. 

Because I am nice like that. :)

And 'cause my mama taught me better. 

(and she occasionally reads my blog)

The woman looks at me even ruder (is that a word?) and says, "ok."

Then she proceeds to start texting on her phone. 

At this point, I have no clue whether or not she plans to move her large SUV from that parking space rightnext to me or not. 

As I'm walking in the store, I think "lady, it won't be my fault if I hit your door." 

I know.

Real Christian.

Anyways, Lauren and I get our shop on and make it to the check out lane in record time.  Of course there is a long line. 

That is mostly because there are 359 checkout lanes in Walmart, but there are only 6 lanes open everytime I'm there.  Do you have this problem as well?

While we are waiting, a lady gets in line behind us.  I am busy persuing the gossip magazines, trying to read about Brangelina and that girl from the Bachelorette (I didn't watch it, so I'm totally lost) and also skimming the articles on how to look 10 years younger and lose 173 pounds in one week. :)

All of a sudden, I hear someone singing "Abra, Abra Cadabbra... I wanna reach out and grab ya"  And then humming along to the rest of the song.

Seriously?!

I sort of peek at the woman behind me out of the side of my eye to see if she is loony. 

It is possible. 

So I quickly plunk my groceries and coupons down and hightail it out of there. 

I mean, I have Lauren to protect here, people!

I forget how much craziness you can run into at Walmart.

catching up and TONS of pics

Yay! My camera software is re-installed, so now I can upload a bunch of the pictures I've taken in the past few weeks.  Since I use this blog to record things for our family, this post is going to be a "catch up" one....which means lots of pictures and probably a good bit of randomness! :)

First of all, in the past month or so, Lauren has not been wanting to get in her crib at night or for naps.  We had thought about converting it to a toddler bed, but I liked the fact that she couldn't get out of the crib on her own, and she sleeps until 8:30 or so every morning.

However, I realized that I was being selfish when Lauren wanted to nap on her Dora couch.  Jason pulled it into her room and we made it into a bed and sure enough...she slept there for her whole nap.  This happened for about a week before I realized it was time for a big girl bed.

We would love for her to have a twin bed, but we agreed to wait to make any big furniture purchases until we know whether we are staying in KY or moving.  So for now, I asked Jason to just convert her crib.  I went to Walmart and bought a little guard rail to keep her from falling out (thanks, Kelli!) and just used the quilt and pillow that I had bought to match her crib bedding.  

On Sunday night, we unveiled the big girl bed, after talking it up all day.  Lauren was super excited, to say the least!  She was so thrilled to be able to climb up into it by herself! 

In fact, she was so excited about her bed and getting all her dolls and flashlights in the bed, that she forgot about asking for a "papi" (paci).  We prayed with her and gave her kisses and left the room for her to go to sleep. 

I couldn't believe it!  She forgot about the paci?! 

For 5 minutes, maybe!  Then on the baby monitor I hear, Mommy?  My papi, please! 

So I came in her room to talk to her about pacis.   I said, "Lauren, now that you are 2 and have a big girl bed, you don't need a paci anymore.  They are really for babies and you are a big girl."  Lauren says "baby pacis?" 

"Yes, Lauren, pacis are for babies and you are a big girl."

 

(Then I have a stroke of genius. I know how much Lauren LOVES babies and she always likes to give them a paci when they are crying)

So I tell her, "we gave your pacis to all the little babies that were crying and now they are happy."  Lauren says "babies happy?"  And she stops crying to think about this. 

I tell her goodnight again and close the door. 

She sniffles and whines a little bit.  Within 15 minutes, she is asleep!

The same thing happens the next day at naptime.  She asks for her "papi" and I remind her that we gave all her pacis to the little babies that needed them.

And with that little lie, those pacis were forgotten. 

I feel sort of guilty for telling Lauren that fib, but maybe she will forgive me when she is old enough to understand!

As a prize for being such a big girl, I pulled out this bag of plastic balls that I had found recently on clearance at Target.  I put them in her inflatable pool in the living room.

Lauren was soooooo excited!  Literally, she played in that pool for about an hour.  I gave her a big plastic bowl and soup ladle and she would scoop the balls into the bowl and then present me with "soup."  It was hilarious!

The only down side to the pacis being gone and the big girl bed........ Lauren now wakes up at 6:00am and comes into my room to wake ME up!! She stands next to my bed and says "Hi, Mommy!!"  (Did I mention I am NOT a morning person?!)

One day last week, Jason came home from work with a 10 pound box of blueberries that one of their customers had brought him.  Thankfully, he had shared with some of the other guys at work, so we only ended up with about 6 pounds! 

Lauren ate blueberries for days! :)  She loves them!

She also loves chocolate pudding, and I have to remove her shirt while she eats it to keep her clothes from being ruined!

Anyway, with all those blueberries left over, I decided to try my hand at making some blueberry jelly for the first time. 

It actually turned out pretty well.  But canning is a lot of work!  Goodness!!

These are just random pictures of Lauren on the couch in her new shirt and matching sandals I bought on major clearance at Crazy 8.  I had never shopped there before, but they had HUGE red "clearance" signs in the store windows when I walked past, so Lauren and I went in to check it out.

Lauren was ECSTATIC because they had a tv and a little bench and "Word World" was on!  So she sat happily and watched WW while I shopped. 

Jason had to go out of town for a work trip and so Lauren and I tagged along.  His trip happen to be to his old plant back in TN, so we got a hotel in Athens (it had an indoor pool!) and Lauren and I went swimming while Jason worked on Friday.

On Saturday, we went over to the Amish Farmer's Market in Delano.  (we used to go once every few weeks when we lived there)  We bought TONS of cucumbers and some canteloupe and a yellow watermelon.  Best watermelon ever!

We made pickles from all the cucumbers when we got home and they are Yum-O!

These are the sunflower fields in the Amish community in Delano.

It is so beautiful there!  I love taking Lauren and letting her see all the fruits and vegetables (she was busy telling me what color they all were) and she also loves to see the horse and buggies (she calls the horses "yee haws")

I could totally be Amish if it was not for

the whole "no electricity=no air conditioning thing....)

We also made a couple of trips over to Russellville to visit my mom and Royce.

Lauren LOVES their piano!!

Here she is singing "Row Row Row Your Boat"

Future Mozart?  Maybe so!

She sleeps so well after these trips, I think they wear her out! :)

She's a little angel...while she's asleep! :)

She also LOVES to climb into boxes and laundry baskets. 

Special Delivery!

One day, Lauren put her Dora couch on our regular couch and then climbed up there to watch tv!

I love her little pony tail!!

Cheeks full of grapes!!!

She's so silly!

And this is Katelyn, (or "Baby Kate" as Lauren calls her) the little girl I babysit.  She and Lauren and are good friends, and it cracks me up that Katelyn is such a diva.  When she saw this little purse of Lauren's, she knew just what to do with it!  She walked around with it on her arm all day! :)

Well, summer is over for us, and it's back to babysitting everyday and getting into a routine again!!

Maybe Lauren's hair will get into a routine, 'cause right now, it's kind of a mullet!!

And these last pictures are so sweet to me....

I put Lauren down for a nap yesterday and when I went to check on her,

she had her little boy and girl baby doll tucked in next to her side.

 (they were no where to be seen when I covered her up for her nap)

She's such a good little mama! :)

And, yes, she sleeps with those flashlights! :)

Target deals!

I just got back from Target with Lauren and we got such good deals, I felt like I shoplifted! :)

Here is what I brought home:

My total before coupons was $108.47

My total AFTER coupons was $32.78.

See why I felt like I shoplifted?!

Here is what I bought:

11 boxes of Kashi Cereal ($1-$1.50 each)

2 Boxes of Fiber Plus Cereal ($1.04 each)

4 packages of Bear Naked Granola ($0.63 each)(I had 2 B1G1 coupons)

2 (32 oz.) Dannon Vanilla Yogurt ($1.29 each & when you bought 2, you got a FREE bare naked granola!)

4 packages of Kandoo wipes ($0.49 each)

2 Wonka candy bars ($0.29 each)

2 boxes of Ritz crackerfuls ($1 each)

2 boxes of Nature's Valley granola bars ($0.89 each)

2 (8 pk) boxes of Juicy Juice Apple Juice ($0.29 each!)

2 cans Chef Boyardee (ravioli & spaghettio's with meatballs) (both for FREE)

2 boxes Bagel Bites ($0.24 each)

2 Kid Cuisines- (I don't usually buy these for Lauren, but they were $0.25 each)

2 Aquafresh for Kids toothpastes ($0.12 each)

Dora Bandaids ($0.67)

2 (7 ct.) packages Bic ballpoint pens (both for FREE)

Now, you might be asking, "does she really NEED 13 boxes of cereal?!" And the answer to that is "well, no - not right now!" However, Jason and I each can eat a box of cereal a week, either for breakfast or midnight snacking :) so this will prevent me from having to buy cereal for several months! And, Kashi cereal is usually $3-$4 per box, so I stocked up now while it was on sale and I had lots of coupons.

**And if you like Kashi products (cereal, frozen meals, bars, cookies, crackers), they are ALL on sale this week at Target and Target's website has LOTS of Target coupons that you can print out and "stack" with manufacturer's coupons from Kashi' making the items less than $1!!**

OR...You also might be thinking, "this woman is crazy, she is one of those hoarders that you see on tv!" I don't think that I am a hoarder, but when I can buy items that we use often for 50%-75% less than their normal cost; I would much rather "stockpile" these items (i.e., buy several at once) and then NOT have to pay full price for them when we need them!!

For example, I bought a bunch of laundry detergent several months ago for $1.99 a bottle (for the 32 load bottles). And I haven't bought laundry detergent since then. (and I won't have to for a long time!) I also haven't had to buy paper towels, toilet paper, razors, soap, shaving cream, shampoo or toothpaste in 5 months. And I won't have to buy any for probably 6 more months, because I stockpiled these items when they were free or almost free.

If you want to see how I got these great deals at Target, go on over to the blogs Hip 2 Save or Totally Target. They tell you specifically how to get these low prices by combining Target's sales with manufacturer's coupons and Target coupons. Just a warning, though, I had to print about 20 coupons from my computer, so that does cost some money in ink, I guess!

If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I try to answer them! :)

**And I while we were at Target, I saw 2 other mamas shopping with thier children and a HANDFULL of coupons!!** Yay!  Usually I'm the only one! :)

some 'splainin' to do?!

Just a note to my 5 or so faithful blog followers....I am still here.  I realize that I haven't posted anything in a week or more (that's not like me).  And you might have even forgotten what Lauren looks like at this point due to the lack of pictures!!

I guess I "got some 'splainin to do!?"  :)

The reason that I haven't been posting is that when my dear, sweet, precious husband "cleaned up" our computer a few weeks ago to make it run faster, he deleted my camera software in the process.  So I am currently unable to upload pics from my camera to my computer.  Oh the horror!

And...I really don't like to do posts without pictures.  That's just me.  I have been taking lots of pictures on my camera, and Jason promised me that he would help me find the camera software out there in the internet world somewhere, since mine is packed in storage 6 hours away. 

So never fear, "bloggies" I shall return. 

And just because I don't like posts without pics, here is one that I am throwing in just for fun!  Until I return, everyone just follow this advice.....

"Share a Song" Sunday

Our church showed this video this morning and it was awesome! I love this song by Matthew West, but the video really had an impact on me.  If you have time to watch it, let me know what you think.....

Are You Going Through the Motions?

packing list

Jason has to go on a little trip overnight for work, so Lauren and I are tagging along.  It doesn't hurt that the hotel that we are staying in has a nice, big indoor pool so we can swim while Jason is working!!

 I won't say where we are going here on the blog for saftely purposes,

 but we will be back soon!

Anyway, I told Jason that I would pack and load the car while he was at work so we could get right on the road when he got home.  I told him to email me a packing list so I would know what he wanted me to pack for him (I realize we could have packed last night, but I'm a last minute kinda girl, ok?!) 

Here is the email I got from him..... 

Thu, July 22, 2010 10:43:07 AMPacking for Trip

From: Jason Colburn

Sarah,

Below is a list of items that I would like to have for the trip. I hope

that you guys are having a great day. It looks like I might be late due to

a last minute conference call this afternoon around 4. I'm going to see if

I can call in from my cell phone. I will talk to you guys later.

Harbor bay jeans hanging on kitchen chairs

light brown pair of shorts

Green pair of shorts

grey polo shirt

superman t-shirt

brown polo shirt (would this look good with the light pair of brown

shorts?)

(2) pair of underwear

regular pair of socks and short pair of socks

bath products

red shorts/grey tank top for sleeping

reebok t-shirt

(2) white t-shirts

love ya,

Jason Colburn

Tooling Manager, Plant 5

ThyssenKrupp Waupaca Inc.

Ha! I love that he tells me what shirt he wants and then asks  if it would look good with the shorts that he wants me to pack! He's so funny! I guess he thinks my fashion sense is better than his, and if it is, it's not by much!  My sister will tell you, I own LOTS of solid-colored clothes.  I mean, how can you go wrong with matching them? :)

Plus, it also cracks me up that he wrote "short pair of socks."  I know what he's talking about, he has some socks that are ankle-length that he wears with his tevas, but I've never heard him call them "short socks," so it totally made me laugh outloud.

I love my hubby, and just wanted to "document" this email that cracked me up, so I won't forget! Forgive me if you found this post incredibly boring! :)