How do you make a grown man cry?

P-Ditty made TV Joe this card for his birthday...and the tears started to flow. It really is very sweet. He spelled "hero" wrong...so cute.


I would show you the inside, but it was too hard to photograph. It was a picture of TV Joe and P-Ditty...in the shower. But P-Ditty said "don't worry, I didn't put our privates!" LOL that kid is hilarious.

And Bergen gave him this.

And I gave him this...which will be served in heaven. Did I mention how good this cake is??

I'm just logging for logging's sake...since I don't scrapbook or write anything down, I have to put it here.

Joe's birthday was Monday and we've been eating on Nothing Bundt Cake Chocolate Chocolate Chip all week. I'm convinced this will be served in heaven.

The kids ate early on Wednesday because they played so hard at the gym and came home hungry. I made them Spiderman macaroni and cheese and green beans. (*note -this will likely not be served in heaven). They kept asking for cake and I kept saying "wait for daddy". This happened about 85 times in 30 minutes.

Daddy finally got home, opened the door hoping for the usual greeting of both kids running to the door to hug him. Instead, P-Ditty ran to the door and Bergen yelled (loudly...if you know him, you know how loud!!) "HI DADDY!" then looked at me -

"I WANT CAKE NOW!!" So funny!

Ice Day

No school today - we have 1/3" of ice on the ground. It's 19 degrees outside. Ding dong daddy that's coooold! This chunk of ice came off the trampoline.

Off to do some much needed housework!

TV Joe

Happy Birthday to my sweet, sweet husband, TV Joe.

I love you more than life - you are the rock in this family. I'm amazed by you daily.

And you are closer to 40 than me. ha ha

We went to TV's aunt and uncle's house Sunday for his birthday dinner. While eating homemade chicken enchiladas, Aunt J told us she found an old VCR tape with TV Joe playing football, circa 1982 or so. She also found a tape of Joe's mom's 40th birthday party (we call her Mimi). Sweet little Preston said "40? WOW!" to which Mimi said, "that's only 3 years older than your dad!" And TV Joe's face turned 3 shades of white, one for each year until you reach 40. We's gettin' old baby!

Thank you for taking such good care of us and loving me when it's easy and when it's not so easy.

We love you!
Ed, P-Ditty and Biggie B

Sending up prayers

Good morning -



If you are reading this, I ask that you lift up this sweet family in your prayers. My friend Allison mentioned Kelly and her family yesterday in Sunday School. They have struggled with fertility issues and she's been blogging about their journey. She has quite a following in the blog world. Kelly gave birth to a sweet baby girl named Harper a few days ago. Harper is very, very sick with pneumonia and other related heart and lung issues. They live in Arkansas, but the baby was lifted to Tulsa where she is being treated. She is so very sick and her condition is improving slightly with each prayer, but it's still touch and go.


Please pray from baby Harper and their family. God is good.

uh, one more thing

Holiday candy rocks. Easter candy is my favorite, but these little gems only show up at Christmas. This year I didn't buy a bag, because I'm the only one that eats them, and my boss gave me 8 tons of butter cookies. I was trying to be good.

This week a bowl of this little nougaty yumminess showed up at the office. Not sure why I felt compelled to share this...guilt I guess. Carry on.

Two Thoughts for Today...

Um, wow... deep water and air travel...I have no words...too busy trying to not have a panic attack just thinking about it.
That pilot and crew and passengers deserve a metal of honor and a big steak dinner. Wowowowow. (pic nod to AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

Potty training, dreading it...starting today...gooood times! Goodbye baby, hello big boy. Excuse me while I melt into a ball of "where did the time go???".

Get Over It!

I got a new car. Well, new to me anyway. We are a leasing kind of family. We had 2 cars leased for 3 years, and within a month of each other, we turned in my Expedition and bought Joe's leased SUV. My Expedition went to auction right before Christmas. (btw...there's a pretty cool story about that...maybe later) It had bucket back seats and a DVD player. It was nice. Lots of room.

So now I am driving a later model, really nice German SUV. It was Joe's for 3 years and he took amazing care of it - so it's basically new. He leased a 2 door Japanese speedy something or other. They are both nice cars, and I am not complaining...but...it has been challenging getting use to the smallness of my new ride. Let's be honest here. It's not an SUV. It's an SAV - "sports activity vehicle". There's not nearly the room I'm accustomed to. But we've adjusted nicely. I just can't use this car as a second closet or toy chest.

But...there's...no...DVD. I know! I'm a horrible mother. I now make my children listen to the radio or actually talk to me in the car. I'm expecting a call from CPS at any moment.

Every morning now we listen to the radio. It's morning DJ time and they are all trying desperately to entertain us and make us laugh. This morning they were doing a bit called "Get over it" where people call in and say things like "I know my voice mail is full - get over it". Or "Nickelback rules - get over it". That one almost made me wreck my car. Nickelback...ugh. What a beating.

Anyway...so in the middle of the calls, they played that Eagles song "Get Over It". So I'm listening, laughing, trying not to wreck my car over people's horrible taste in lumberjack music. I hear the little Bergen bear voice from the back singing and dancing "get over it get over it". Hahahalarious! All the way into daycare - "get over it get over it".

Still waiting on that call from CPS.

Couponing

I have a new hobby! Couponing. Yes, you read correctly - couponing is now a hobby. It's like a little game to many women out there. There are books and websites dedicated to the practice of couponing. There are pay-for websites and free websites that compile in-store specials matched with Sunday coupons, telling you where to go for the best deal. I've done a little researching on these website lists and have not yet decided if I want to pay monthly for a list. There are ladies who save literally 50-60% off their grocery bills with these services!

Last week was my first dive into paring and matching stores and savings. I went to the CVS with a few coupons and a very detailed list. I've lost my receipt (or it's in the car), so I can't remember what I spent, but I know I saved about $25. That's exciting stuff! I bought myself a little coupon caddy thingy and made some labels and got to organizing! I put my Entertainment Book in the car and made a vow to check it before entering a store or restaurant. You see, we went bowling over the holiday, and there was a stinkin' 50% off coupon in that Entertainment Book. So now I'm clippin' and cuttin' and saving these coupons.

Yesterday I got my Sunday paper and started the clipping process. I planned suppers for the week, made my list and away I went to the Kroger because Kroger doubles coupons up to $.50 and they triple coupons up to $.35. After a quick trip BACK home to get my purse that I left at home (yeah, don't let all this planning and couponing fool you - it's still me!!) I made my ways through the aisles of the Kroger. My 1st observation was this store didn't suck like I expected. I've become a bit of a grocery store snob - I prefer Central Market or Market Street. But they don't double coupons, so too bad for them. Back to the Kroger. It didn't suck. Now the produce left a bit to be desired, but it IS January and most produce departments are kinda gross right now. The apples were pretty, so I'll take that. The store was laid out nicely and I really had no problem finding things.

I had my coupons and watched for in-store specials. I also had my back-stash of coupons - things we didn't really need this week - just in case there was a wicked in-store deal that I couldn't pass up.

I made my way to the checkout with a mess load of groceries. I applied for the Kroger card and gave the dude my coupons and waited anxiously for my results. I spent $237.70 on groceries, had $29.33 in manufacturer coupons, $25.85 in Kroger card savings for a grand total of $55.18 saved!! I paid $182.52. That's about 23%!! I know that bill seems a bit high, but I got pull-ups ($20) and some other health and beauty products that make the bill a bit higher. Things that I don't have to buy every week.

I was proud of my savings and I know I can do even better if I subscribe to one of these lists. Being frugal is fun!