Contests and Awards

We all love to win something right????

Run people do not walk over to SITS and enter the great contest!!! For a CAMERA!!! Oh how I need to win!!!!! Ok --well I want you to win too!!! Anyway tell them that I sent you!!!

There is also another great contest over at the Saucy Eats Blog.... $50 Williams Sonoma Gift Card!!! Holy cow that store is almost like Heaven.... there are great recipes posted on there everyday. There are also tips too. I loved these Slow Cooker Tips. Check it out and then got enter you fools...oh yeah once again...tell them I sent you PLEASE!!!

Now on to the award….. My good friend Nicole gave me a blogging award. Thank you Nicole!!

Once an award is received, the rules are as follows:

1. Put the logo on your blog.

2. Add a link to the person who awarded you.

3. Nominate at least seven other blogs.

4. Add links to those blogs on your blog.

5. Leave a message for your nominee on their blog.

Ok, now for the people I nominate in no particular order:

Stretch Marks: What a GREAT writer!!! Did you know she’s going to have a book out?

Z’s Mom: What a cute blog, a cute girl and an adorable little boy!!!

Seven Clown Circus: Amazing woman!!! That’s all I can say….AMAZING!!

Texas Word Tangle: Ya’ll she’s from Texas!!! When I read her blog I try to do it in my fake Texas accent…. A great read!!

Jessica – Me and Mine: I just found her blog today!!! BUT…. It’s really cute and she is a photography hobbyist too!!!

Amy: She leaves great comments!! What a sweetie!!!

Patti’s Pantry: I love good food people – I admit – I eat too much…. Patti has some great recipes!!!

There you have it….. There are so many bloggers that I love --- but this time I had to pick just 7…..

Adoption Story --- Part 13

In case you missed anything:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
Part 11
Part 12
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Friday afternoon we went to the agency again. This time we were meeting Michelle and her mom. Micayla came with us so they could meet her, she didn’t stay the whole time just about 15 minutes – then my mom came to pick her up.

When Michelle came in she immediately started to cry. She was so cute and so nervous. She asked us a couple of times, “Are you sure you want my baby?” Of course we were sure. We chatted with them for almost 2 hours – but the time went so quickly. We made plans to meet again in 2 weeks.

During the weeks before the baby was born we exchanged several letters with her. From reading her letters we could tell that she had had a difficult childhood. Her parents had been divorced for many years. There had been abuse, mental breakdowns, and foster care in her past.

The next time we met we brought her favorite flavor of ice cream and she brought us a game that she and her family liked to play. We talked for a little while and then we sat around a big conference table and she kicked our butts at the game.

We met 2 more times before the baby was born. We chatted laughed and she helped me tease Matt. We really bonded with her. She told us time and time again that we were what she wishes that she would have had growing up.

The final time that we saw her she was in a lot of pain. She was having contractions and the visit was cut short because her mom had to take her to the hospital. It was a false alarm but we were worried about her.

On September 2^nd we got a phone call from our caseworker telling us that the baby would be born on Labor Day, the 5^th, via c-section. Michelle wanted to make sure we knew and that we were ready. Since it was a c-section they would be in the hospital until Thursday.

On September 5^th Matt, Micayla and I were all a little under the weather. We had colds. It was also the day of Hurricane Katrina. We decided that we wanted Jamba Juice but we also didn’t want to be away from the phone. I went with the promise from Matt that he would call my cell phone if he heard anything. He didn’t call me. When I walked in the house I just figured that we hadn’t heard yet. I sat down by him and he looked at me and said “7lbs 8 oz.” We wept.

To be continued..................

Frugal Tip Friday 7/18/08

If you need to see how this works click here. Don't forget to link your post back here. And also don't forget to comment!! You are welcome to use the "Frugal Tip Friday" picture on your blog!!

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I have been trying really hard to consolidate my errands -- getting everything done in one day. By doing this I am saving gas money and time. The only problem is that when you are out of your house with your kids so long you all kind of get a little hungry. I am guilty of swinging through Wendy's but even buying things off the value menu add up.

Here's my new idea...... pack a lunch.... I have a small cooler that I could throw a couple sandwiches, fruit and drinks into. We can either eat in the car or a great idea to keep your kids entertained at the grocery store would be to let them eat their lunches in the cart while you shop (make sure you clean the cart thoroughly with Clorox Wipes).

What's your Frugal Tip for Friday?

Pop'rs

A couple weeks ago I was one of 10 lucky winners, thank you Veggie Mom, to win some Pop'rs. Pop'rs are marketed as a way to get you family (kids) to eat more veggies. I got my 2 flavors of Pop'rs yesterday so I put them to the test. The flavors that we got (my choice) were Taco and Buffalo. I tried them plain and quickly learned why they were called Pop'rs. They are like 'Pop Rocks' - remember those. They taste really good - once you get over how strange they are.

I sprinkled some over the carrots that we had for dinner. Micayla asked why her food was singing. Then when she took a bite she said, "Oh my gosh! My carrots are singing in my mouth." As strange as I thought they were I have to admit they actually worked - the kids ate more carrots then they probably would have anyway.

There are lots of flavors of Pop'rs. I may get some of the sweet flavors - they would be good on ice cream, yogurt, pudding, or cupcakes.

Thank you Z's Mom!!

Z's Mom gave me a little bloggy award!!! Thank you so much!!! She said some very nice things about me!!! I really appreciate all the great comments that I am getting and the support in my adoption stories.

I will now share the love:

Insane Momma --- Just look at what I have to look forward to with teenagers. I love reading her stories!!!! This girl tells it like it is!!!

Deb --- What a cute family and man can you believe the patience of this woman? She is a 1st grade teacher!!! Thank you for the Gateway Discovery Passes!!!

Janae --- As an aspiring photographer myself I am BLOWN AWAY by Janae's talent!! Janae I want to meet you somewhere so you can teach me to take urban photos!!! Janae is also a fellow penny pincher!!!

Fruit Cocktail Cake

A while back I had a friend bring me some cupcakes with fruit cocktail baked into them. They were really good. I had forgotten all about them until this morning when I was trying to think of a yummy cake to make.

Here's the recipe that I came up with:
1 White Cake Mix
3 Eggs
1/4 C. Oil
1 Can of Fruit Cocktail with the juice
1 small box of vanilla pudding

Mix it all together add the fruit cocktail last and then just mix that in gently so the fruit doesn't get mashed.

Bake in a greased 9x13 pan for 45 minutes at 350.

I just topped it with some fat free whipped topping. I was thinking though that this would make a great poke cake. Poke holes in the top and pour pudding over the top.

My kids loved this cake!!! Caleb was excited that it had "beeps" in it --- beeps are grapes

Sweet Grandma

I can't believe that it is Tuesday already!! This past weekend has been a difficult one. On Saturday we had to send my sweet grandma to the hospital in an ambulance. She lost her mind.
Saturday was Farmington's parade and it goes past Grandma's house. Every year for as long as I can remember we have all congregated there to watch the parade.

Sweet Grandma was like my second mom. Since my mom worked grandma was the one who took care of us when we were little. Her house is the one we all threatened to run away to. Grandma is now 91 years old. She has been in overall very good health. For the past couple of years she has been declining a bit. She's been falling and forgetting things. My sister's and I have taken a big role in taking care of her. We have taken her shopping and helped her around the house a little. We have all be afraid that one of us would be the one to find her...sniff... no longer alive.

Staci thought the nightmare had come true. On Saturday morning Staci and TJ found grandma crumpled up on the floor against the wall and the TV stand. She was asleep or in some degree of unconsciousness. They woke her up. She fought them. She did not know them. Her house was a wreck. The TV was on. The front door was open. She was still wearing yesterday's clothes. Her favorite meal - a Banquet Salisbury Steak dinner was on the counter, in the box thawed out, uneaten. Her companion, a little white dog that only likes her, "Rebel" was running around crazy.

It appears as though she crawled around on the floor all night pulling things off of the lower shelves and out of drawers in at least 2 of her rooms. Poor sweet grandma.

The paramedics came and took her to the hospital. After lots of tests and such nothing conclusive has been determined. She is going through bouts of confusion and lucidity. Sometimes she knows us. She can't remember who has visited her. On Sunday night she wanted to leave the hospital - she pulled out her IV and catheter, pulled off her heart monitor and took off her "winter clothes" which was every stitch of clothing she had on. She wanted to go home and make sandwiches for her husband (Grandpa passed away seven years ago). Luckily she can't remember what happened. There are just some things she doesn't need to know.

Right now she is still in the hospital. In the next few days she will be moving to her new home. She will be moving into a nursing home. It's sad. It really is!! She needs full time care. It will be much safer for her.

Adoption Story --- Part 12

In case you missed anything:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
Part 11

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So we sit there for a few more minutes and she’s telling us something. I don’t even know what. I was now wondering about the “good stuff:. Right when she was ready to get into the “good stuff” Micayla pooped so I had to take her in the bathroom to change her. She was just over 2 ½ years old. When I got her in the bathroom I started to cry a little. I asked her if she knew what we were going to get at our house. She smiled at me and said, “A baby.”

One of the policy changes was that they now talk to the adoptive families about the birth mom and baby instead of just having the birth mom sending something. This way the caseworker can make sure that the adoptive family is open to different situations, medical issues, etc. She told a little about this girl, her family, upbringing and she gave us a small bit of information about the birth father. There were some mental health issues but nothing that worried us. We were excited!! We knew that the baby was due in about 13 weeks. The one thing that she couldn’t tell us was the sex of the baby. The birthmom had a special way that she wanted to tell us. Our caseworker said to expect an announcement on Thursday and to plan on our first meeting with the birthmom on Friday.

Matt had to go back to school Tuesday night. We decided not to tell anyone about the baby until the next day when we could do it together.

My mom called and wanted to know what had happened at the agency. I just told her that they really just had some policy changes that they wanted to tell us about and that it was pretty stupid. That was hard. I wanted to tell her so bad.

Wednesday morning we spent time running around looking for a gift that we could give to Michelle and her mom on Friday. Our caseworker had given us a couple of ideas of things that she liked. I painted “I’m a big sister” on a shirt for Micayla.

Wednesday night we went to my parent’s house. We went in a talked to them for a while and waited until they saw Micayla’s shirt. It seriously took like 20 minutes. My mom looked at Micayla and said “Hi big sister” but she still didn’t get it.

Me: “Mom do you get it? Do you see what her shirt says?”

Mom: “I know what it says. Where did you get it?”

Me: “I made it. Do you get it?”

Mom: “What does it mean”

Me: “What do you think it means?

She finally figured it out. Then my dad put down his newspaper. They were excited!!

We then went to Matt’s parent’s house. His mom read the shirt and figured it out within about 30 seconds of us being there.

It was fun telling everyone that way.

On Thursday our case worker called and told us that we had a package. We went to the agency and opened a box wrapped in blue. When it opened blue balloons came out announcing “It’s a boy!!!” We cried!!! It didn’t matter to us whether it was a boy or girl, but I know that Matt was extra excited about the prospect of having a son.

To be continued.......

Great Coupons from today's paper.....

$1/1 Powerade --- this is on sale frequently for $.69-$1.00 so it would be free! Depending on your store you may even be able to get overage ---- which means that say the price is $.60 (it is at Walmart) use the $1 coupon and basically get free Powerade plus $.40 back...

The other great one is $2.25 Electrasol Gelpacks or Tabs.... I love the Electrasol tabs!!! I think the shelf price at Walmart is $2.88 or something ---- and it goes on sale frequently at other stores.... Gotta love cheap dish soap!!!

Random thoughts for Saturday....

OK so I am a geek --- I forgot about Frugal Tip Friday!!! Forgive me!!!!

Don't you hate it when you can't find a sippy cup? Right now we have at least one missing. It is one of our favorite because it is bigger than the others. Caleb drinks milk all day long so the bigger cups work out great for us. The thought that somewhere in my house there is a cup, I don't know how full, of yucky sticky 3 day old milk. I know what you are thinking....how messy is her house if she can't find a sippy cup.... it's not too messy! I promise! Those things just have a way of hiding!!!

What has happened to manners? Last night I went to the drive through of a favorite ice cream shop here in town. When the annoying teenage kid handed me out the ice cream I thanked him. I thanked him even though I had been sitting in the line for over 10 minutes..... His response, " U--huh" It's not just him ---- I am always IRRITATED when I thank someone and the response is less than appropriate ---- the response should be YOU'RE WELCOME!!!! Not U-Huh or yep......

Have you been waiting for the next part of the adoption story? I will get it posted soon..... I haven't forgotten it. I have been helping my sweetie build a new deck at our house... It will be nice!!!