Rest in Peace

What a week this has been! A very sad week to be sure. We would like to extend our deepest sympathies to the families of these very special people.

Last week started out sad for our family as my husband's Aunt Noreen passed away last week. She lived in California with her daughter Darla and granddaughter Noel.

Also passing away were:

Ed McMahon.........

and Michael Jackson...........wow, was this a shocker! I couldn't believe my ears when I heard about him passing away.

and Farrah Fawcett. So sad indeed!

For many of us these were people of our generation..........who didn't want their hair to flip like Farrah Fawcett. And the dance moves of MJ were out of this world. Even the music stars of today have had influence from MJ and his performances.

Rest in Peace and May God bless your families as they go thru this time.

*pictures from the web

10 on the 10th- third edition

Wow, where does the time go? It seems like we were just celebrating Memorial Day and here it is just about the middle of June! Wow! I've been in a blogging slump lately so this is coming at a good time! I have been reading blogs, commenting on blogs, but just haven't found much to write about. So for today's edition of 10 on the 10th, I thought I'd post about my favorite television shows. I'm not a huge TV person but there are a few shows that I do enjoy. I hope you find some that you like too!

1. Beverly Hills 90210-- old school though........the one with Luke Perry, Jennie Garth, Jason Priestly, Tori Spelling, etc. I love watching this show and still watch it today! It comes on around the time I start dinner so I get a little BH fix each day! My boys like it because they laugh that this show is where I found there first names!

2. Biggest Loser-- What a great inspirational show! My DH and I have watched it for the last two seasons and have enjoyed it a lot. I'm looking forward to the next show!

3. Dancing with the Stars-- Love this! Nothing is more family friendly then watching people dance.........ballroom dance too!

4. Brothers & Sisters- this is such a neat show. It's really funny how I feel like the Walker family lives right next door to me! LOL

5. Clean House- Now if you haven't had a chance to watch this show, you will get a kick out of it. Nicey and crew help people de-clutter their houses AND their lives! It's amazing to see how much people can pack away!

6. House Hunters- I have been watching HH for several years and love learning about the different cities and housing markets. I've fallen in love with several towns in Texas thru this show!

7. Dave Ramsey Show- Love the no nonsense tactics of Dave Ramsey! We have just started on our pursuit. I'm learning a lot from the show! I even have the podcasts on my iPod.

8. Weather Channel-- this is weird I know, it's not a show really but a channel. The goofy thing is that we actually enjoy watching the weather channel.........everything from the weather reports to the special reports! So interesting!!!

9. Bachelorette- I wasn't a fan of this show but I had some interest after the whole Bachelor program last year. I'm not too keen on many of the men but I am hoping that it works out for Jillian!

10. Gilmore Girls- I never watched this show before so it's all new to me. SoapNet has this on their schedule now and it's been fun watching something that is supposed to be a rerun but I'm watching it for the first time!

Time flies............

I've been running ragged lately. We have four, no make that three more days of school for the year. I can't believe it~ I'm looking forward to the break. I made the decision not to do any summer activities for the most part. Not only will it save money but it'll make for a more relaxing summer. I will be working from home in the mornings and then doing things with the kids in the afternoons. I've signed them up for free bowling at http://www.kidsbowlfree.com/ . If you haven't done that, check it out and see if there are lanes near you that are participating! My plan is to take them at least twice a week, although they can bowl two games every single day till the last day of August for FREE! We just don't live that close to the bowling center and I don't want to make it a pain. LOL

The rest of this week has me running in all sorts of directions. Not only am I working but I will be volunteering in Shelby's class on Wednesday. They have a Nature Hike and then a kindergarten picnic. On Thursday Brandon 'graduates' from the fifth grade (wow, that is hard to believe!) in the morning then we are taking him out to lunch. That evening Dylan has a graduation banquet for eighth grade. I can't believe my boys are finishing up milestone years in just days! It seems like yesterday that they were little babies. Time does go by very fast!

Have a great week!!

Giveaway Winner!

Sorry for the delay in posting the winner of the giveaway. We had a massive storm come thru and dumped a ton of rain and we were under a tornado watch, then it went to a warning because there were two tornadoes spotted nearby. Thankfully all is well, I just don't like being online during storms.

So we have a winner! I had my daughter draw a name from the box and the winner is:

..........~eunice (rsmile2u @..........)

Congrats!!! I will email you direct to get your shipping info!

Spoonfuls of Stories Giveaway!

As a former Reading teacher, I've always loved having books for my own children. I love to read and love to take my children to the library often to check out books. So when I saw this giveaway, I had to join in on the fun!

Over the past seven years, Cheerios Spoonfuls of Stories has given away more than 35 million children´s books by distributing them free inside cereal boxes and has donated nearly $3 million to First Book, their non-profit partner, which provides books to children from low-income families. In addition to encouraging children to read, Cheerios is looking for anyone interested in writing children´s books. Now in its third year, the Cheerios Spoonfuls of Stories New Author Contest is a way to encourage previously unpublished, up-and-coming children´s book authors and to continue to nurture a love of reading. Entries are being accepted March 16 through July 15, 2009 and will be judged on appropriate story and content for children ages 3-8, emotional connection, writing quality, uniqueness, and read-aloud potential. More details on the contest can be found at http://www.spoonfulsofstoriescontest.com/.

Shellie Braeuner, the first year´s winner, won for her book "The Great Dog Wash". This nanny from Nashville won a $5,000 cash prize and the opportunity to have her book reviewed by Simon and Schuster Children´s Publishing. Simon & Schuster offered Shellie a book deal - and will publish her book, illustrated by Robert Neubecker, in hardcover this summer. In addition, Cheerios will be featuring "The Great Dog Wash" free inside 1.5 million boxes of Cheerios. The book has been specially printed in paperback in both English and Spanish and will be available free inside boxes of Cheerios this spring.

I have the opportunity to giveaway a special box with these books included! Simply add a comment to my post sharing your favorite children's book. Pretty easy, huh! I will draw for a winner on Friday, May 22. All enteries must be in before 9 a.m. on the 22nd. I will draw for a winner after noon.

A riddle for you...........

What does alligators and snow have in common? Give up? Shelby! ROFL Our weekend was full of activity. I am so thrilled to have the Casio camera to use for these shots. Compact and great shots! Love it! I accidently left it in the car on Saturday but will make sure I have it for next week's game.

On Friday Shelby's class visited the Reptile World Serpentarium on a field trip. Nearly 60 kindergarten students ventured on this field trip just down the road from their school. They had a lot of fun.

Shelby in front of the bearded dragon display. These looked just like the one's featured in the movie Holes!

The momma gator was especially active when we were there. She had five baby gators in the pond with her so as the kids walked around the fenced area, she followed! The owner of the serpentarium let the kids watch her feed the gators. As she approached with the bucket she taped it and was calling out for the gators. All of a sudden you saw this HUGE momma gator running out of the pond! She ran around the grass area and back into the pond. I was amazed how fast she ran!

The classes watching the venom show! This particular serpentarium was founded in 1972 as a research facility for the production and distribution of snake venoms. The kids were able to see Diamondback Rattlers, King Cobras, Vipers, and giant Pythons!

The kids loved watching and feeding the turtles! They also had some land turtles in the turtle area.

On Saturday we spent most of the afternoon at the football fields as the boys had a flag football game. They didn't win, but they played a great game. 12 to 13. I forgot my camera in the car so I didn't get any pictures but I will make sure I have it next weekend. After the football game, I headed out to Kmart to get a few last minute items with their double coupon sale!

Birthday parties were on the agenda on Sunday. Brandon went to a birthday party with some family friends. They had an outdoor water slide and then pizza for lunch.

Shelby went to her friend's party at the ice skating rink. Brrrr was it cold in there! Shelby was able to skate for the first time. She had a lot of fun. I think she only fell twice and got right back up, which is good! They had these little 'skating carts' for the kids to use.

Here she goes!

All the little girls had so much fun skating!

After pizza and popcorn, the kid's opened gifts and had birthday cake. Then outside they went to play in SNOW! The kids had fun throwing snowballs and making snowmen! The snow melted fast as it was nearly 88 degrees that day! But they had a blast!

Because of the birthday parties I didn't put out anything for dinner and since we have been eating at home and not going out, we decided to go to the lakefront and eat at Crabby Bill's. It was really nice to eat and enjoy the great weather while looking out at the water!

What a great weekend !

Double coupons at Kmart~

Our local Kmart finally participated in the double coupon days this week! I went on Sunday and am planning on going again tomorrow. They had a ton of great items available and I was lucky to have coupons for the items that I wanted! The basic rules are that they only allow 25 coupons with one shopping trip and that all coupons valued at $2 and under are doubled. So a $2 coupon takes $4 off! Woo Hoo

I bought everything in the picture above for $30.53. I was (and still am) pretty excited about this trip to the store.

I love saving money at the store, don't you?