I Heart Saturday AND......free stuff

Panera Bread had free coffee this past Wednesday! How did I know to go and enjoy a free cup?

Jen at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam!

She gives such great advise on memory building, homemaking, coupon shopping, meal planning, freebies....all with a great sense of humor in the bedlam of it all. Go have a visit!

dinner time?

why is Bria holding out her piggy bank to me with all the change she has left in life?

Well, it all started when I found out that Brian was taking some older gentleman from church out to dinner tonight. Of course, he tells me as I am ready to leave for carpool and already have a chicken dish prepped and ready to go. I really don't like to make a big dinner when Brian is not with us. I would rather make something lite for me and the kids. Its actually kinda fun. Well, as the kids are begging me to stop for pizza, I pull into the grocery store and tell them to just pick something quick and easy just for themselves.

Nate and I pick this...

mmmm had never tried it before, but it was good. No PF Changs, but still yum.

Bria picked this.....

So while I am reading blogs and ejoying my lettuce wraps (see that is what is so fun about not having hubby home for dinner) Bria walks in with her piggy bank.

Bria says "this is all the money I have mommy"

and I say, "oh, that's ok, just keep saving"

Bria says, "I just cannot eat that dinner. I will pay you back I promise. I like real food. Can I have an apple and a bananna instead?"

That just made me laugh! Really , I have never made the kids pay me back for food not eaten and then just the fact that she thought that's what she should do for picking out something gross, and deciding it was gross on her own, was just too much :)

Nate had a birthday - his 15th one to be exact

....and that just seems not real to me. Time really does go too quick. It would be nice to be able to freeze it. The problem with that is that I would have frozen him a while ago (about age 4) and missed out on seeing him growing into the man God has him to be.

We celebrated simply. Steak dinner with just our family. Baked his favorite cake, or cakes. He could not decide so I made German Chocolate and Mamaw made Boston Cream Pie. Mamaw and Papaw came over for birthday cake and presents for both Pap and Nate. He got lots of cash which is just what he wanted. He is saving for a new amp for his bass guitar. I was shocked that I remembered a book he has been eyeing at Barnes & Noble when we stop in, a collection of Edgar Allen Poe poems and short stories. He was happy.

His brother and sister think he is the best! They were so excited to be celebrating him.

My mom writes a poem for each of the kids - EVERY birthday. They are sweet and silly and always capture tidbits of their year. Here is the one she wrote to Nate this year.

Happy Birthday to Nathan

Where did the time go kid?

something ol' mamaw would simply

forbid

A new experience this year

Temecula Prep Shools

introduced good friends

but...a new set of rules!

Handsome and charming

in your uniform shirt and tie

a smart and witty student

one simply can't deny

Church life appears

good thus far..

there's Core Group, bible

and our course Bass guitar

Happy Fifteenth Kid

With heartfelt love I must say

"I could go on and on"

but, not enough hours in the day!

Nate, your are really fun to be around

A teenage appetite, that's no lie..

Enjoy with love...

Mamaw's Boston Cream Pie!

And yes, this is my 4th birthday post this month. They bombard me in January! It's just not fair :)

I Heart Saturday AND......Lincoln's Bible

just because you can, doesn't mean you should

...that is what we learned from California City. Sometimes there is a reason that land is so cheap. You just might not need to build a hotel there...yet.
I LOVE taking the kids with me on field days like this. They love the little road trips too. I always promise them a nice lunch or some other treat. Nate has been going on these work trips with me for so many years. I was telling him that I used to stop at nearby malls and take him to the Thomas the Train store for a new item for his Brio set. This trip, his requested stop was Guitar Center in Palmdale.

A totally unexpected surprise was stopping in Wrightwood to see the snow. Driving through Palmdale, we could see the snow along the freeway. We had to stop. It was fun - very California - to be in the 80 degree desert during the day and the snow a few miles later!

this is my dad and its his birthday

Happy Birthday Dad! He is so amazingly supportive and proud of me and my family. I am so thankful for him. He is crazy about my kids and takes great care of my mom (whom he is 11 days younger as he loves to remind us! ) i LOve YoU MoRE!

so I made this picture coffee mug

I have made a few of these now. They are so easy and fun to do. I am going to make myself one next because every time I make one, I want it.
The picture mug comes from Starbucks, its about $10.95. Get some cute scrapbook paper (not thick kind). I chose this one for my mom's birthday since she loves brown, black and everything argyle (the ribbon).

Take out the little paper they have inside the mug - it comes out from the bottom. Cut your scrapbook paper to the same size.

Print out small sized pictures and arrange (that cute bow did not make it, too thick). Glue all and let dry.

Roll it up like this and slide it back in

Now its cute and custom. I made one for my dad this Christmas and added black scrapbook letter stickers that said "papaw's" and he just love it.

I Heart Saturday AND ........my violinist

where's the roxy? Matt loves this one - dogs and violin.... his two favorites!

Thanks Tracy!

it's nice to see them working so well together

recession roots

Ahh, Bria and I were playing around with the self-timer on my camera and took some shots with the dog.

but all I notice, in every picture, every time I look in the mirror, is what I call my "recession roots". When the grocery budget got cut and we were trying to come up with money for music lessons each month, I just couldn't spend to get my hair done. This made me feel a little, tiny bit better....

Check out her dark roots! Poor Cameron - it is a recession and all. She and I can really relate to these kinds of hard choices. Im sure being a size 2, wearing a pretty dress helped her feel better.

I Heart Saturday AND......five Presidents for lunch

I told you she was cool

My dear friend Doreen (the sauce lady) showed up at work today wearing these babies....

love them! and yes, she is really 73. oh and she e-mails, texts, scans and has a british accent which just makes her really, really cool. Some day I will post a picture of her dressed up as Posh Spice (yes, and her husband was dressed as Beckham).

to garage sale or not to garage sale

This (commitment to garage sale) may or may not be included in my goals for this year. I'm still weighing it over.

Reasons NOT TO garage sale:

* Saturday is for sleeping in or going to a sporting event

* I probably can live without it

* waste of gas

* breeds a spirit of greediness (see guy who picks up Woody in Toy Story)

* do I really want to be this thrifty? (I have no problem with used, this just sets in when observing too much of my surroundings)

* I'm not very good at it

Reasons TO garage sale:

* but what if I find the perfect.....

* saves lots of wasted money

* teaches my kids to be smart with money

* makes me think ahead

* makes me wait

* God has surprises at garage sales

I Heart Saturday AND.....this guy (or these guys)

happy birthday honey!

oh- and in our family, we think its extra cool that he shares a birthday with this guy...so today we raise a glass to him as well

J.R.R TOLKIEN