Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Granpappy and GG Time and My New Passion!!

A couple weeks ago we went down to Georgia to visit Granpappy and GG (my Grammy and Pappy) and Kerry, Rich and Marissa. The kids were SOOOOO excited before we left! The whole way down, Caleb kept asking if we were in Georgia yet. Yeah, that got old fast. :) BUT all of the kids traveled REALLY well and the ever faithful DVD player did not even need to make an appearance (on the way there OR back! 18 hours total in the car!).
Last spring when we went to visit, Granpappy took Caleb out for a spin on his lawnmower. Well, little Caleb's memory is like nothing I've ever seen (well, besides his father's of course) and he remembered all about it. One of the first things he asked when we got there was if he could go for a ride. So, the next morning, Granpappy got out the lawnmower and took him for a ride. He actually let Caleb steer. . .not sure if that was a good plan. :)
Caleb also stole Granpappy's work hat from the garage. He was all decked out for the Bears!
GG made some popcorn for the kids for a nighttime snack. As usual, they were engrossed in a movie while eating their popcorn!
For what has now basically become a tradition, we had to go to Toys-R-Us for Caleb to pick out his birthday toy from Kerry and Rich. Of course Miss Abby had to pick out something as well, and she chose a princessy little skirt.
Caleb and Abby like to dance together too. . .it's really cute because he actually turns her!
One of the coolest parts of our trip was getting to see my cousin Marissa's gymnastics meet! She just turned 14 and it's amazing what she can do! Unfortunately we couldn't get the camera to work the greatest so the pics are a tidge blurry, but she was moving pretty quickly. I'm so proud of her and all she's done!!
The kids brought their blankets and pillows out into the living room and thought they needed to lay down with Aiden. Caleb wouldn't cooperate with the picture though.
My parents also surprised everyone and drove down from North Carolina (250 miles) for the weekend! It was GG's birthday so they called Rich to figure out where the birthday dinner was and told him to keep it quiet. We walked in and there they were! It was a great surprise and the kids couldn't contain their excitement! I don't have pictures with them though. . .check their blog for some of those.

Now for some other random pictures. . .

This past weekend we got the exersaucer out for Aiden and he seems to like it a lot! Hard to believe he'll be 4 months next week!
The next morning, I heard the rattles and toys on the exersaucer and thought Caleb was standing there playing with them. . .when I walked into the room, this is what I saw. He had climbed in himself and was sitting there playing. Nice. The kids like to stand next to him and play with the toys with Aiden. I really, REALLY hope the kids all stay this close because they all like each other for now!
Another time I came into the room and Caleb had put his blanket over Aiden then laid down next to him. Like I said. . .they all like each other. Here's baby Aiden in the little sweater Aunt Judy made him. He looks so cute!!!So, the kids are great and I'm loving how much they are growing and learning!! BUT, I have a new passion that I am hitting with a vengence and am very excited about! I'm in the process of learning all about couponing and finding all the great deals!! Never in my life have I done something like this. Last week at our MOPS group someone spoke to us about little money saving tips and I felt like the sky opened, the angels were singing and all was right with the world! I have soooooo much to learn, and it could be time consuming but I don't think I'll be one of the die-hards (not yet at least). I'll let the die-hards do their thing and tell me where to go!! There are many blogs/sites I've found that spell out where to go when and with which coupon for "x" amount of savings. THAT is my kind of couponing! Just an example. . .this Sunday our small group (minus three of the eight kids) is attending a Pacer's game. We have 14 tickets and all were FREE except for Ticketmaster fees!! So each ticket ended up costing $2.60. YAY!! So, I say bring on the deals! :)

3 comments:

Unknown said...

You are so brave to travel that far with 3 kids - I hate even traveling to Milwaukee from South Beloit with 2 kids!! And you didn't even use the DVD player?!? Good luck with the couponing - and let me know if you learn any great tricks! ;)

Anonymous said...

What next? Decorating for Easter?LOL
Mom

Judy K. said...

What a scrapbook of memories you've made!! That's Priceless!!! Glad the sweater fits Aiden. He does look cute. Free tickets - now THAT'S a real find! Thanks for sharing everything!