Happy 2nd Birthday Collin!

Collin turned 2 yesterday. I can't believe my baby is 2 now, hes still nursing and of course, still rear facing in the car. We had a nice little family party, and of course, cake. I used the elmo cake pan to make him a cookie monster cake. He loved it! Thats all for now, Hopefully he'll have his 2 year old checkup this week and i'll post his stats and more pictures then.

Halloween pictures

at the pumpkin patch

me and Connor

me and Collin

me and my boys

Connor at Boo at the Zoo

Maddie, Collin, Ally, and Lanie at Boo at the Zoo

Collin, Connor, and Maddie after Boo at the Zoo

the kids zonked out after Boo at the Zoo

Connor at the Istrouma Fall Festival

Collin and Connor at the Istrouma Fall Festival

Connor at the Istrouma Fall Festival

Collin and a sweet pup at the LSU sorority TorTing

Connor and Collin TorTing on friday with friends

special halloween breakfast - orange pumpkin shaped pancakes

Collin trying out the butterfly costume
that we got at Old Navy for $2

Connor aka Duke from G.I. Joe

"Duke", "Spider Girl", and the Monkey

all the candy they got

candy zombies

Happy Halloween and Happy Blogiversary to me!

I've had my blog for a year now! I may not post often but its still be a year. Happy Blogiversary to me!!

And Happy Halloween to everybody. We've been doing halloween up big this year. I took the boys to the pumpkin patch, Boo at the Zoo, trick or treating on sorority row at LSU, trick or treating last night in a friends neighborhood and of course we're going tonight. The boys have gotten tons of candy and been loving every minute of it. And to top it all off, i went to Old Navy yesterday and got 4 costumes (monkey, tiger, dalmatian , and butterfly) all for just $2 a piece, what a deal! Oh and for breakfast i made the boys orange pumpkin shaped pancakes. I'll try to post all the pictures from everything tonight. Hope everybody has a fun and safe Halloween!

Vote For the Kyle David Miller Foundation

The Kyle David Miller Foundation is a wonderful nonprofit organization that helps spread the word of extended rear facing and extending harnessing and also provides low income families with carseats to keep children safe. They are currently in a contest where the top prize is $10,000 and that would provide seats for a lot of kids. Please visit the KDMF blog for the details and please vote for them and repost.

So good its crazy!

I know its been a month since I last blogged but I promise that this recipe will totally make up for it. It.is.delicious!

I needed something to bring to a potluck and was having a hard time coming up with an idea but then I remembered having this dip at my sisters bridal shower a week ago and decided to try to recreate it. So this is my version of loaded potato dip.

Loaded Potato Dip

1- 8oz tub of chive and onion cream cheese (plain is ok) – room temp

1- Stick of butter or margarine – room temp

1- 8oz bag of shredded cheddar cheese

1- 3oz jar of real bacon

Tonys

Mix the cream cheese and butter till combined. Add the cheddar and bacon and mix. Season to taste with Tonys. Great on a cracker or on top of a baked potato.

Trip to the New Orleans Aquarium

On Wednesday we went to the Aquarium with some of Shawns family, here are some pictures.

Connor's 4th birthday Party

So my big boy turned 4. Where has the time gone? We had a small Lego party and he LOVED it. He had so much fun playing with her friends and loved all his presents and the party was a huge success.

What an excited 4yo looks like.

Best friends enjoying birthday cake.

3rd and final attempt at a picture
of some of the party guests

Of course the cake.

This is the Lego Zoo that we got Connor for his birthday. It was the one thing he asked for (over and over, no less) and he loves it. Its super cute and I got a good deal on it since I had a $10 Lego.com gift card (thanks to Pampers gifts to grow) and a $5 off online coupon code.

Tomorrow my baby turns 4

But for now hes still a sleeping 3 year old.

Sneak Peak

Connor turns 4 on friday and we had his party sunday. A full birthday post will be up after the big day but for now i leave you with a picture of his awesome cake that i made.

Great deal for cereal lovers

ok so i am big on saving money and love a good deal (look at the list of blogs i read)

anyway, right now at albertsons they have a deal where you buy 4 boxes of cereal for $14, and then you get 3 free (same transaction). it'll ring up at $3.50 a box and then 10.50 will get taken off for the 3 free. THEN it'll print out 3 coupons, each for a free gallon of milk (up to $3). the albertsons brand is on sale for $2.99. the milk has to be done in a separate transaction but it can be immediately after. you do pay tax on the milk and you can't do a debit for only .24 so be sure to have change.

so for $14 plus tax i got 7 boxes of cereal and 3 gallons of milk. we're not actually big cereal eaters but we always need milk so the way i look at it, i got 3 gallons of milk for $9 and 7 boxes of cereal @ .72 a piece. really you can't beat a deal like that.

the cereals you can choose from are
corn flakes 18oz
frosted flakes 23 oz
rice krispies 18 oz
corn pops 17.2 oz
froot loops 17 oz
apple jacks 17 oz

Happy Birthday to me!!!

yesterday was my 26th birthday. everybody kept acting like i was so old, which was so funny b/c i dont feel old at all. not that i think 26 is old either. whatever, lol.
the day was great. i took Connor to get his hair cut and throughout the course of the day was asked 4787413282 times when i was gonna get Collin's hair cut. NEVER! ahahahaha. the funny thing is, i do realize that its a shaggy mess and i have thought about getting it trimmed but the more people tell me i need to cut it, the less likely i am to do it. i've always been very rebellious when it comes to hair. i'm weird like that.
anyway. my sisters engagement party was also yesterday and it was great. it was just suppose to be a chance for the two familys to get together and meet but i had no idea there would be so many people there. it was so much fun. not only is she marrying a great guy but he has a wonderful family.
as far as pictures if i every find the cord for my camera i'll post some

Keep praying for Stellan

Stellan is in surgery right now and we all need to be praying for him. Hes extremely young for this surgery and the doctors dont really know what they're gonna find or do so lets all pray that God gives them a steady hand and a strong mind and that Stellan comes out of this much better.

Keep those kids rear facing!

the American academy of pediatrics has finally updated their recommendation to say that children should stay rear facing in their carseat till they are at least 2 years old.... its about time.

just a quick run down, children should be rear facing at least till they are 2, but really till they reach the max rear facing limit on their convertible carseat (provided they have 1 inch of shell over their head). most convertible seats RF to 33 or 35 pounds.

Collin rear facing at 16 months (24#)

then once forward facing they should remain in a 5 point harness till they're around the age of 6. children under the age of 6 are not able to control their impulses which means they are not going to sit properly in a booster. of course if they still fit in their harnessed seat then they should continue using that until they reach the limit since a 5 point harness is safer. (4 years in the MININUM for a booster). most seats use to only harness to 40# but there are many seats out there that harness past that (50/65/even to 80#).

Connor - 3 1/2 and harnessed (35#)

then its time for a booster. the booster seat helps to properly position the adult seat belt on a non adult body. they should remain in a booster until they pass the 5 step test

1. Does the child sit all the way back against the auto seat?
2. Do the child's knees bend comfortably at the edge of the auto seat?
3. Does the belt cross the shoulder between the neck and arm?
4. Is the lap belt as low as possible, touching the thighs?
5. Can the child stay seated like this for the whole trip?

if you answer no for any of those then the child should continue to use the booster.


and above all the seat needs to be properly installed and properly used. the harness should always be snug and the chest clip should be at chest level.

Stellan needs your prayers

Dinner Menu 2/1 - 2/7

Sunday - Steak, french fries and salad (we didn't eat it last Friday so it got pushed back)

Monday - Spaghetti

Tuesday - Red beans and rice

Wednesday - Hamburgers and french fries

Thursday - Baked turkey breast, mashed potatos, corn

Friday - Fried catfish, french fries, fried okra

Saturday - Tacos

I did pretty good following last weeks menu. There were only 2 nights that I deviated and both times I just pushed everything down a day. I also already have next weeks menu planned but I wont post it till the end of this one. I bought everything I need for this week and next already and I really think its gonna keep me from having to run to the store for stuff, which is good b/c we don't have much money left. As far as saving money, I only used 4 coupons for a total of $3.45 of savings but if I did that every time I did my big shopping trip (every 2 weeks) that's almost $90 a year so I think its a great start!

Oh and I'm very excited that a few of ya'll are interested in my recipe for General Tso chicken so know that I am working on it and I should have it ready by the middle of next week. I want to test it one more time before I post it and its not on the menu till next Sunday so it'll be after that.

One last thing, happy blogoversary to Krystyn at Really, Are you Serious

dinner menu 1/25- 1/30

So in my attempt to save money I'm trying to plan out our meals for the week. That way I can actually make a grocery list based on what we need instead of just going up and down the isles tossing stuff that I know we use in the buggy. So here's tonight through Friday.

Sunday - Chili
Monday - Hamburgers and french fries
Tuesday - General Tso Chicken (homemade, I have almost perfected the recipe and I'll share mine once I do)
Wednesday - Spaghetti
Thursday - Chicken with BBQ sauce, cheddar cheese and bacon. Bacon green beans, & mac n cheese
Friday - Steak and fries and/or salad

I'm hoping that by planning out our meals I'll be able to keep from having to run to the store all the freaking time. Because trust me, with two kids, that can be quite the pain in the butt. I also started working on my coupon binder tonight, I clipped all the coupons from last weeks paper and got about 1/3 of them put in, hopefully that will make it easier to keep up with them.

my newest cake

tomorrow is my sisters birthday so i made her a cake, i needed a chance to test out my newest cake pan anyway so that would be why i made her a Lightning McQueen cake. it came out pretty good considering i had to make it in stages b/c the kids kept being needy.

I'm a bad blogger

so i'm doing a bum job at project 365, it should be day 21 and i haven't posted a picture since day 15. and its not like i'm just behind on posting, i also haven't been taking pictures much either. oh well. i have, however, added a bunch of blogs to my list to read and most of them have something to do with saving money. one of my goals is to save up some money and the best way i can do that is to not spend so much (DUH!) and so i've been reading all these blogs trying to understand things like CVSing and how to get the most out of coupons and sales. i've always been a good shopper but i can see that there are mamas out that that are amazing shoppers. so if anybody else is looking to do the same check out some of the blogs i have listed.

also prayers are needed for some of the blog familys i read about: the Tubre Quads have one in the hospital and 3 more at home sick, the Wright Five had a kido pass out and shes in the hospital now, and the Gerwer Quads are all sick and their mama is in the hospital sick too. so if you pray then say a prayer for all of them. and also for my grampy whos in the hospital, he was having an irregular heartbeat yesterday and so they're trying to get it back in sync.

Project 365 - Day 15

toddler fashion. omg, hes a toddler...eep!

Connor asked me to cut his hair tonight and heres the end look.

Connor likes to pretend hes a dog and this is Connordog giving daddy a doggy kiss