Party at the Pettyjohn's

Extreme Couponing

2011-04-07T13:37:00.003-04:00

Last night I watched some of the TLC Extreme Couponing show. It is obviously like all reality shows meant for entertainment purposes. So hopefully no one thinks I go and buy 300 toothbrushes or 200 deodorants on a shopping trip. And I think it is no coincidence they aired this episode before the Hoarders show. I also didn't think some of it was that great of deals. The one lady was paying 39 cents each for French's mustard...so she bought 62 of them I think. I have never spent any money, besides tax, on mustard. And since Audrey is the only one in our house who uses mustard, besides for making deviled eggs, the 1 bottle in the frig and the 2 downstairs will probably last us for at least 2 years.

On that note, I did go to Publix yesterday. And included in my order was 6 bags of Banquet chicken nuggets...crazy huh?? Well I am splitting it with a friend so only 3 bags are staying at our house. The total this week was $50 ($90 something before coupons), which is higher than usual for me. But I did earn a $10 gift card to Publix and I can never get the Diet Cherry Dr. Pepper for less than $3 a case...and at our house it is a necessity.

Victoria Bryant State Park

2011-04-04T09:53:00.003-04:00

We spent an absolutely beautiful day hiking and having a picnic at Victoria Bryant State Park in Royton. I would do this every weekend if schedules allowed.

This is at the observation deck at the beaver dam. A tree had fallen on the deck and the men were throwing the tree parts back to the beavers.

Our junior hikers. We walked for around 4 hours...they did a great job.

Playing around on the rocks and in the water was probably our favorite part.

Budgets

2011-03-31T14:11:00.005-04:00

At the end of last year I wanted to make my couponing more exciting. I had couponed for more than a year at that point and while there were some deals that made me feel great, it had lost some of the excitement. So I decided to set myself up a budget for 2011. I gave myself $250 a month to spend on groceries and drugstore items (paper products, medicines, cleaning products, and stuff like that). I found a nice excel spreadsheet that someone had created and put in my goal. The way the spreadsheet works is you enter each receipt on a monthly tab and then it rolls up into a nice summary. Below is my completed table for the first quarter of 2011. It is great to see where you are spending and saving the most. After January, it became obvious to me that I was spending too much at Walgreens for what I was getting, so I stopped going there unless they had a really good deal on something I really wanted.

It is hard to see (I think you can click on the picture and see it better). The great news is I have been under budget each month (in February $82 under) and that my savings rate is around 81%.

I am usually not a fan of budgets. I consider myself a saver but usually when I set myself up on a budget I immediately think of something I “really” need. But this budget has been a lot of fun. It is a game for me. How to get everything we need, and the most, with the smallest amount. And then using those items to create meals. Of course I still have some trips where I just walk into Publix and grab what I want. But those trips get logged in the table as well, so it helps me to try my best to plan ahead. I am still thinking of new ways to throw some excitement into all of this. But for this week 8 cents jars of peanut butter and 50 cent milk has me pretty excited! Happy shopping!

Skyrocketing food prices

2011-03-17T08:01:00.004-04:00

Yesterday the AP published a news article about the skyrocketing price of food. This is due to several factors including the increase in oil prices and vegetable crops not being as plentiful. Food prices rose 3.9% in February, the steepest single month climb since 1974. I am sure you noticed foods that you buy seem to be increasing in price each time you shop. But you can do something about it. While there may not be a coupon for everything you need on your list...it still makes a difference. Yesterday at Publix my total was $128.37 before they started taking off my coupons. I ended up paying $80.14, which included $50 in gas cards...so I paid around $30 for the food pictured here. This weeks sales will make the kids very happy...lots of things the kids always want and that make packing lunches very easy. I will go back to the store this weekend and get milk, produce and a couple of meats and expect to spent around $20. That will be right on target for spending $50 a week on groceries.

So what is on your list at Publix this week?

Props

2011-03-14T09:41:00.004-04:00

I am always surprised how things work out when I request "special" customer service from a store. Somehow this weekend I lost a small wallet that I carry my drugstore "fake" money in. It was quite a bummer because I had $11 in CVS money and $10 in Rite Aid money...which can go a long way at a drugstore. I figured CVS would be able to reissue my money...they are always so accomodating. I had heard Rite Aid does not reissue rewards. So this morning I called...and the outcome:

CVS: even though my "money" shows up on the website when I log in under my account the lady on the phone says she can only reissue my $1 reward, not my $10 one. I am shocked and really bummed.

Rite Aid: based on everything I read online I wasn't even going to try. But they have an instant chat where you can talk to a customer service person. I told her I lost my $10 heart healthy reward and wanted to know if it could be reprinted. Without hesitation she said she could mail it to me (but they generally do not reissue them).

So I only lost $10 now instead of $21 and my loyalty has slightly shifted towards Rite Aid. Now if I can only find a way to get back some of that "losing my mind" feeling from losing the wallet in the first place.

And since I have no picture to go along with that story...

The Drugstore Game

2011-03-08T07:56:00.003-05:00

There are huge benefits in shopping the drugstores (CVS, Rite Aid, and Walgreens).

At the beginning of 2011 I put myself on a budget for grocery and drugstore shopping. My goal was to spend no more than $250 a month. I found an excel spreadsheet which keeps track of my trips calculating the amount saved and allows me to see which stores are actually saving me the most.

CVS is my long time favorite, but lately Rite Aid has been having awesome deals. Walgreens, well, every once in a while they have a deal I take advantage of but for the most part I stay away. As for grocery stores there is no question, Publix is definitely the way to go.

So I thought I would show some of the benefits of drug store shopping. I decided to go to Walgreens this week because they had a great deal on liquid acetaminophen, and we our on our last little bit. Kelsey is the only one in our house who still takes liquid, but since she takes 10 ml a dose, a bottle doesn’t last that long.

All the drugstores have “store money” that is basically like cash that you can use on your items at that store. Walgreens calls their money Register Rewards (RR) and they print on a Catalina machine after your purchase. I had a $3 RR I wanted to use at Walgreens, so this was my plan.

Buy:
4 Pediacare acetaminophen liquid (6.99 each) = $27.96
1 Nice and Easy hair foam (7.99 each) = $7.99 (generates a $1 RR)
3 cans of mandarin orances (1.29 each) = $3.87
TOTAL: $39.82

Use:
Walgreens Pediacare in ad coupon ($5 off each one) = -$20
Facebook coupon for a free nice and easy foam = -$7.99
Walgreens mandarin oranges in ad coupon (0.79 each) = -$2.37
Manufactures Pediacare printable coupon ($3 off 2) x 2 = -$6.00
And my $3 RR from last week = -$3.00

So my total was 0.46 plus $1.17 tax (so $1.63) and I had a $1 RR print that I can use on my next Walgreens trip. So basically I bought the oranges just so I could use my $3 RR from last week.

Rite Aid has two money-back programs. They have UP rewards (which are Rite Aid play money) and SCR (which are rebates). You enter your receipt online and if your qualify for a rebate (these are advertised) you get that amount entered into your account. At the end of the month you can request your check and you get a check in the mail for all your SCRs that you can cash at the bank. Rite Aid also has an online advertising program where if you watch these 30 second or so videos you get ride aid coupons for that product (or some are just $1 off any product). These are called video values (VV).

I went to Rite Aid with a $10 and $20 UP rewards (their form or Rite Aid money) that I wanted to spend. So basically my goal is to have my pretax total be slightly over $30 after coupons.

So I bought:
3 packs of dixie paper plates (3.59 each): 10.77
1 themacare: 3.59
2 Lysol disinfectant sprays (3.99 each) = 7.98
1 Keri lotion = 6.99
1 Tavist allergy tablets = 6.99
1 comtrex cold and sinus med = 4.99
1 bufferin 130 ct aspirin = 6.99
1 snickers bar = 0.88
1 cottenelle 12 pk toilet paper = 6.99
2 sambucol (herbal flu relief tabs) = 2.00
2 reese king size peanut butter cups = 1.59

TOTAL = $59.76

And then I used:
A $3/$15 coupon for completing a survey (printed on my receipt) = -$3.00
2 x $1 printable sambucol coupons = -$2.00
A video values reese printable coupon = -0.50
The in ad $5 off 3 dixie plates coupon = -$5.00
The video value $5 off 3 dixie plates coupon = -$5.00
2 mfr coupons ($1.50 each) for the Lysol disinfectant = -$3.00
A video values coupon for cottenelle = -$1.00
A mfr coupon for cottenelle = -$0.50
An in ad thermacare coupon = -$3.99
A printable keri lotion coupon = -$3.00
A mfr coupon for Comtrex = -$1.50
2 printable $1 Video values coupons (off anything) = -$2.00

Then my $10 and $20 rite aid UP bucks

It ended up being -0.82 before tax…normally you can’t go negative because UP rewards can’t be used to pay for tax…not sure why it worked but fine by me! After tax I paid $1.55 real cash.

But it gets even better. I had $1.88 print in new UP rewards print (from buying the snickers and the cottenelle). Then when I go online and enter my receipt I will get the SCR rebates for the Lysol, Keri lotion, Tavist, Comtrex, and Bufferin. These rebates will total $23 that I will receive as a check in the mail.

I don’t match up the coupons with the sales myself. Websites such as www.southernsavers.com and www.hip2save.com do most of the work for you. You just have to figure out which coupons you have and make up a scenario that works for you.

The way to make the drugstores really pay is to “roll” the play money these drugstores give you into the next week’s deals. You buy the items next week with your rewards that will generate new rewards. Most of the time you are not buying items that are on your shopping list for that week but eventually you will end up with a drugstore in your bathroom and when you need something you will never have to pay full price. Or you can just think Rite Aid paid me $23 to shop at their store today and go and give away all your items and make your friends or shelters happy!

My Great Idea

2011-03-07T08:58:00.003-05:00

I had one of the greatest ideas ever this weekend. Randy and I were working on assembling Kelsey’s old bunk bed down in the basement play room. Once that was finished, we were cleaning up and moving things around. I saw a DVD shelf we no longer are using against the wall and it hit me…the idea not the shelf.

For a few weeks I have been looking online for a food rotation system for canned foods. These shelves allow you to easily rotate your canned foods so that you are using the oldest cans first. Currently I have my extra cans in our basement “food closet” on a shelf, so when I would buy more I would have to put the older cans in the back and slide them all forward…this was not one of my favorite things to do.

I found some really nice shelves online, but they were more expensive than I was willing to pay. Then I found some cardboard ones that were reasonably priced but when I went to order them the shipping was outrageous, so I reconsidered that. Then I found instructions on how to make your own out of scrap cardboard boxes, and thought maybe one day I will do that.

Then came the DVD shelf. I works PERFECTLY to hold cans. I stacked the cans from with the oldest cans on the right and the newest on the left, and they easily slide left to right. For normal sized cans each shelf holds 18 cans. For the small cans tomato sauce or paste cans it probably holds at least 32. I now have the fanciest canned food holder ever!

This freed up tons of space on my shelf so I reorganized the rest of the food closet too. The canned food shelf is on the facing wall to this shelf.

And here are some pictures of the cleaned up play room. I am sure in a few days it will look again like the Lego store exploded in here, but for now it is nicely organized and cleaned up.

Of course I have a running list of things I want to organize in the house. Audrey suggested I figure out which room can be her "trophy room" as her trophies keep getting bigger. This weekend she won first place in her karate sparring tournament. She thinks this is the best looking trophy ever.

We love Publix!

2011-02-24T07:58:00.003-05:00

Here is a summary of my very exciting Publix trip.

Reese king size cups (2) 2.00
Reese mini king cups (2) 0.00 Used 2 B1G1 coupons for king size cups above
Thomas bagels (1) 2.10
Doritos (2) 3.99
Reach floss (4) -0.04 Used 4 x $1 coupons
Pillsbury Grands biscuits (4) 2.80 Used 2 x 0.30 off 2 (doubles to be $1.20 off total)
Hunt tomato sauce (4) 1.34
Mueller pasta (4) -1.22 Used 4 x $1 coupons
Idahoan potatoes (3) 2.00 Used 1.00 off 3
Bayer aspirin (2) -1.26 Used 2 x $2 publix coupons and 2 x $1 mfr coupons
Ground chuck 3.04
Strawberries (1) 0.67 Used $1 off produce wyb 2 frito lay chips (Doritos counted)
Hot mama garlic knots (1) 1.40
Classico alfredo sauce (5) 1.73 Used 5 x $1 coupons
Bread (1) 1.25
Green giant canned vegs (8) 3.16 Used 2 x $1/4 publix coupons
Hunts tomatoes (4) 2.54 Used 1 x 0.45/3 (doubled to 90 cents off)
Publix choc crème cookies (1) 0.01 Penny item for this week
-5.00 1 x $5 off 30 purchase publix coupon (was in last weeks paper)
-10.00 2 x $5 off wyb 20 participating Italian items (hunts, pillsbury, green giant)

Total from above ends up being $10.50 before tax, but my receipt says $9.61 before tax. It's not worth the time to figure out where my error is. I did get "lucky" on this trip and got an extra $4 off. There is a publix coupon for $1 off 4 hunts tomatoes that I didn't have and asked if the cashier had the code (publix coupons are a 4 digit code they enter). She didn't have it but asked the bagger to ask customer service for it. They ended up giving her the code for the $5 off 2o items (which i had already used). But she rang it up too fast because it was the last coupon. So I went to customer service and the lady said to not worry about it and that they weren't going to let me pay back the $4 difference.

I use http://www.iheartpublix/ and http://www.southernsavers.com/ to find these deals. Now I am off to find some deals on gas! :)

Catching up - Disney!

2010-09-20T10:37:00.001-04:00

Kelsey

2010-04-14T09:52:00.004-04:00

Kelsey has taken her lunch probably 95% of this Pre-K year. So now I pretty much don't even ask in the morning, I just pack her one. So this morning....

Me: Hey Kelsey I packed your lunch and put it in your bookbag, why didn’t you take your lunch yesterday?
Kelsey: Oh I wanted to eat at school. I want to eat at school today too.
Me: What?
Kelsey: I want to eat peanut butter and jelly at school. I want to eat at school everyday.
Me: I just packed you a peanut butter and jelly.
Kelsey: Yea but if I eat at school AND I want peanut butter and jelly I get to be in the front of the line. I like being in the front of the line.

I am such a pushover…I ate her peanut butter and jelly sandwich for breakfast. She just totally cracked me up, and from the eyes of a 4 y/o I am sure being in the front of the line for the short walk to the cafeteria is HUGE.

Audrey

2010-04-08T07:59:00.001-04:00

Audrey came home from school earlier this week with an honor roll certificate.

Me: Audrey, what is this?
Audrey: Oh that means I am the smartest kid in my class.
Me: Really?
Audrey: Or maybe my teacher said ONE of the smartest kids in my class.

LASIK and Six Flags

2010-03-23T08:24:00.003-04:00

I don't have any pictures from the LASIK, but you probably wouldn't want to see them anyway. The procedure was a lot more uncomfortable than I thought it would be, but it is only like 3 minutes per eye, so you just bear it. The surgery was last Thursday and after about a half day of pain, I was seeing great! So on Saturday we went to Six Flags.

The weather for Six Flags was perfect and the crowds were not bad at all. The kids had a great day and I was able to avoid getting on most rides. Audrey would ride every roller coaster 10 times or more if you let her...and was quite upset that there are height restrictions on them.

Kelsey had to fight the crowds to ride this...

It is soooo cool to have a Daddy that can win those stuffed animal prizes!

Crazy girls being silly in line for the Monster Mansion. It was quite funny on this ride as we saw a toddler throw his mom's flip flop in the water while we were waiting in line...I don't think they were ever able to find the flip flop...hopefully they sell shoes somewhere in the park.

We have season tickets so at least every other day the girls are asking if we can go back. Audrey's favorite ride was a tie between the Mindbender and the Great American Scream Machine. Kelsey also loved the Scream Machine but admits it was a little bumpy. Audrey is trying to stretch herself so she can be 54 inches and ride more roller coasters.

Disney 2010!!!

2010-03-16T08:21:00.002-04:00

I am counting down the days!! Randy surprised us and booked us a week at Disney. I am as impatient as the girls and wish every day was the day before we were leaving. We went last July and it was the most fun trip ever. This year it will be a little different because we will stay at a Disney hotel and have the Disney dining plan. We have already booked lots of fun meals. Oh and the best part is no driving, we are flying! We can leave Atlanta and arrive 1.5 hours later.

Tide at Target

2010-03-04T08:00:00.002-05:00

Around 2 months ago I was thinking, man I wish I could find a good deal on Tide. I am pretty loyal when it comes to laundry soap. Well since then I have found tons of deals on Tide, and I probably have an 18 month supply of laundry stuff. But the deal this week at Target ranks among my favorites. So I bought....

2 - Tide w Febreeze 75 oz ($19.98)
2 - Tide Stain Release 18 ct (I love these things) ($13.98)
1 - box of fruit snacks ($2.04)
2 - Gillette Body Washes ($3.58)
6 - Special K Fruit Crisps boxes ($15) Audrey's new fave snack

Total - $54.58 + tax

Coupons used:
-3.00 for 2 target tide coupons
-0.70 for 2 mfr tide coupons
-13.98 for 2 free stain release coupons when you buy tide
-4.00 for buying 2 gillette body washes
-3.00 in target special k coupons
-4.25 in mfr special k fruit crisps coupons
-1.50 fruit snack coupon
-5.00 target coupon ($5 off $50 purchase)

So my total was $20.08 including tax. But get this. Part of the deals this week are if you buy two Tide you get a $5 gift card and if you buy 5 boxes of Kellogg's snacks you get a $5 giftcard. So if you take off the $10 in gift cards I received, I paid $10.08 for everything! I was very happy!!

Oh, and the Purex in the picture I got free from Walgreens this week. They had it B1G1 free and I had a B1G1 free coupon. I haven't ever used it but can't complain about 2 bottles of free laundry soap...so much for my Tide loyalty!

Family Hike

2010-03-02T10:15:00.002-05:00

Last Sunday, we went on a family hike. We walked through the woods behind our house and around to some other woods we had never been through and then we came to a "highway" and crossed the road. We ended up here in the picture above. It is an area that they cleared last year or maybe even longer ago. I am not sure if a neighborhood was supposed to be built or what. But for now it is just piles of logs and dirt. It reminded me of the badlands or whatever they were called in The Lion King. Then when I saw this picture and noticed that Audrey had brought "the lion king" on the hike I had to laugh. While we sat here and had our snack we were swarmed by vultures. They were getting a little too close for me (and were starting to outnumber us). I guess they must have nests somewhere nearby.

The girls were asking yesterday if we could go another hike. I guess we could go a "snow hike" tonight. Yes, snow again...

An almost Friday funny

2010-02-25T08:17:00.002-05:00

Too funny....

I went to Home Depot recently while not being altogether sure that course of action was a wise one. You see, the previous evening I had prepared and consumed a massive quantity of my patented 'you're definitely going to crap yourself' road-kill chili. Tasty stuff, although hot to the point of being painful, which comes with a written guarantee from me that if you eat it, the next day both of your butt cheeks WILL fall off.

Here's the thing. I had awakened that morning, and even after two cups of coffee (and all of you know what I mean) nothing happened. No 'Watson's Movement. Despite the chilies swimming their way through my intestinal tract, I was unable to create the usual morning symphony referred to by my dear wife as 'thunder and lightning'.

Knowing that a time of reckoning HAD to come, yet not sure of just when, I bravely set off for Home Depot, my quest being paint and supplies to refinish the deck. Upon entering the store at first all seemed normal. I selected a cart and began pushing it about dropping items in for purchase. It wasn't until I was at the opposite end of the store from the toilets that the pain hit me.

Oh, don't look at me like you don't know what I'm talking about. I'm referring to that 'Uh Oh, crap, gotta go' pain that always seems to hit us at the wrong time. The thing is, this pain was different. The chilies from the night before were staging a revolt. In a mad rush for freedom they bullied their way through the small intestines, forcing their way into the large intestines, and before I could take one step in the direction of the toilets which would bring sweet relief, it happened. The chilies fired a warning shot.

There I stood, alone in the paint and stain section, suddenly enveloped in a toxic cloud the likes of which has never before been recorded. I was afraid to move for fear that more of this vile odor might escape me. Slowly, oh so slowly, the pressure seemed to leave the lower part of my body, and I began to move up the aisle and out of it, just as an orange aproned clerk turned the corner and asked if I needed any help.

I don't know what made me do it, but I stopped to see what his reaction would be to the toxic non-visible fog that refused to dissipate.. Have you ever been torn in two different directions emotionally? Here's what I mean, and I'm sure some of you at least will be able to relate. I could've warned that poor clerk, but didn't. I simply watched as he walked into an invisible, and apparently indestructible, wall of odor so terrible that all he could do before gathering his senses and running, was to stand there blinking and waving his arms about his head as though trying to ward off angry bees. This, of course, made me feel terrible, but then made me laugh. .........BIG mistake!!!!!

Here's the thing. When you laugh, it's hard to keep things 'clamped down', if you know what I mean. With each new guffaw an explosive issue burst forth from my nether region. Some were so loud and echoing that I was later told a few folks in other aisles had ducked, fearing that someone was robbing the store and firing off a shotgun. Suddenly things were no longer funny. 'It' was coming, and I raced off through the store towards the toilet, laying down a cloud the whole way, praying that I'd make it before the grand explosion took place.

Luck was on my side. Just in the nick of time I got to the john, began the inevitable 'Oh my God', floating above the toilet seat because my butt is burning SO BAD, purging. One poor fellow walked in while I was in the middle of what is the true meaning of 'Shock and Awe'.. He made a gagging sound, and disgustedly said, 'Son-of-a-gun!, did it smell that bad when you ate it?', then quickly left.

Once finished and I left the restroom, reacquired my partially filled cart intending to carry on with my shopping when a store employee approached me and said, 'Sir, you might want to step outside for a few minutes. It appears some prankster set off a stink bomb in the store. The manager is going to run the vent fans on high for a minute or two which ought to take care of the problem.'

My smirking of course set me off again, causing residual gases to escape me. The employee took one sniff, jumped back pulling his apron up to cover his nose and, pointing at me in an accusing manner shouted, 'IT'S YOU!', then ran off returning moments later with the manager. I was unceremoniously escorted from the premises and asked none too kindly not to return.

Home again without my supplies, I realized that there was nothing to eat but leftover chili, so I consumed two more bowls. The next day I went to shop at Lowe's. I can't say anymore about that because we are in court over the whole matter. Claim they're going to have to repaint the store

New Hobby

2010-02-24T16:44:00.005-05:00

So it has been a little while since I posted :) So in summary, we celebrated all the holidays, Audrey turned 7, Randy and I celebrated our 10th Wedding Anniversary, and it seems to snow here all the time lately.

So this is a picture of my latest hobby...extreme couponing. The picture below is from a trip to Publix, it was $50 but after coupons it was $11.73. I have so much "stuff" these days I have had to put a limit on myself. Since the end of January I have had a $50 a week grocery budget. Otherwise, I will just keep buying stuff. I am also shopping weekly at CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid. I am using cash for those (from rebates) so technically I am not spending any new money there, I just keep "rolling" my money. I haven't been to Walmart in over 8 weeks and do not think I will ever go back. I do still shop Target but I haven't yet decided how to create my Target budget.

So most of this was learned by http://www.southernsavers.com/ I also use http://www.totallytarget.com/ and http://www.iheartpublix.com/. The woman who runs the southern savers website is doing a couponing workshop in Monroe on March 25th. The cost is $10.

It amazes me how much you really can get for free, or almost free. Since this was on the penny item day, the toilet paper was a penny (I have heard it isn't even worth that...we will see!). The 6 cans of Hunts tomoto sauce and the 2 cans of Muir Glen organic tomato sauce were free. The margarine was 15 cents, the knorr sides 10 cents, ragu 35 cents, uncrustables 45 cents, and lunch meat 50 cents. The cereal was $1 box (I can't believe how much I use to spend on cereal).

An Almost Friday Funny

2009-11-12T07:43:00.002-05:00

Two rednecks walk into a bar. While enjoying a shot of whiskey,
they talkabout their moonshine operation. Suddenly, a woman at a nearby table who is eating a sandwich, begins to cough and sputter. After a minute or so, it becomes apparent that
she is in real distress.

One of the rednecks looks at her and says "Kin ya swallar?"

The woman shakes her head no.

"Kin ya breathe?"

The woman begins to turn blue and shakes her head no.

The redeck walks over to the woman, lifts up the back of her dress
yanks down her drawers and quickly gives her right butt cheek a lick with
his tongue.
The woman is so shocked that she has a violent spasm and the
0bstruction flies from her throat and out of her mouth. As she begins to
breathe again, the redneck walks slowly back to the bar.

His partner says, "Ya know, I'd heard of that there 'Hind Lick
Maneuver,' but I ain't niver seen nobody do it."

Pumpkin Patch and Aikido Audrey

2009-10-25T21:46:00.005-04:00

We went to the Washington Farms pumpkin patch with the Otto's and Dauphin's. The weather was great and the crowd wasn't bad at all so it made for a great day. We saw the pig races, rode the cow train, the hayride, spent way too long in a corn maze, picked out some pumpkins, rode some big bikes and saw the farm animals.

This is my favorite picture of the day. Duane and David were chasing Kelsey on the big bikes and she was just so determined that they would not pass her.

Don't let these smiles fool you...we were thinking "if we don't get out of this corn maze soon..."

Kelsey on they hayride, also known as the roller coaster (at least when you ask her about it).

Audrey and Randy at the pumpkin slingshot. They were too strong, kept overshooting the target.

We came across some cute farm animals...

Almost everyone smiling....

Zoe, Kelsey, Trinity, Audrey and David. It is rough being the only boy (besides Baby Daniel).

Audrey is loving her Aikido class. She earned her blue and red stripes last week and was so excited that she could barely tell me about it. She said usually you can only earn one stripe in a day but she got two! So this means she knows her punches and her kicks for her white belt. I think she has already memorized all the colors of the belts before she gets to black.

I just loved Audrey's expression in this photo...she laughs so much during class. Even when she looks like she should be hurt she hops up laughing.

Happy spectators :)

Audrey breaking the blue board. She has put these breakable boards on her Christmas list. Along with all sorts of other things out of the martial arts holiday catalog her Sensei gave her (earrings, a shirt, some gloves for punching, and of course the giant foam thing you practice kicking...I asked her where we would put that and she said in her room...guess we could just get rid of her bed).

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Halloween here we come

2009-10-09T07:53:00.003-04:00

This year we will get to enjoy a magical witch and Minnie Mouse. This is such a great time of year. There is all the fun of Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. You can also throw in the excitement of college football and the cooler days and beautiful trees. If only work and school didn't get in the way...

They wanted curls

2009-10-05T08:27:00.002-04:00

When Kelsey was little she had a little bit of curl. Audrey has always had my hair, very straight (even though when I was 2, I did have quite the curls). So I bought some of the sponge curlers to see if we could make the curls happen.

Here are the girls all rolled up...not sure why my phone made the picture a little orange.

And the end result for Audrey. Before I pulled it back a little she thought she looked like a boy movie star (I am thinking a Jonas brother) but she reminds me of Annie. She wanted the smallest curlers...the curls ended up very tight!

Kelsey has a lot less hair and she wanted the pink curlers, so hers wasn't as curly.

We had a great weekend. I had a parent teacher conference with Audrey's teacher last week (it was kind of an unplanned one) and she had such good things to say about Audrey. Ever since then Audrey has been picking up books and reading them. I think she heard the teacher tell me that "Audrey is a great reader" and it convinced her that she can or now she knows that I know she is a good reader.

We also went on a bike ride on the Suwanee Greenway. We all made it the 3.5 miles to the end of the trail and then we sent Randy and Pa back to get the cars. It was a great ride with bridges, tunnels, and boardwalks. There were only a few wipeouts on some sandy areas (it looked like it had flooded last week and had a lot of extra dirt on the trail). At the end of the trail we had a picnic with lots of food.

Now back to work.

New Stuff

2009-09-24T07:44:00.003-04:00

We have been doing a major furniture shift in our house. I love it because I LOVE moving furniture around. It is a great chance to clean and organize things. Now Audrey and Kelsey are in their own bedrooms. We gave Audrey our bedroom furniture (it was just a dresser and nightstand and then the headboard was stored in the basement) and we bought new furniture for our room. Actually Randy went and bought the furniture since he is the negotiator in our family. We are going to be finishing the final room in the basement which will become the new toy room. So for now we have toys and toy room furniture kind of dispersed among the girls rooms and my office.

Here are pictures of our room, the furniture was delivered yesterday. The walls are bare and we need some sort of window treatments, but that has always been a problem for me. I never seem to be able to find something I like for the windows. And it is just hard to take a picture of the bedroom where you can see everything.

Audrey started karate this week. You can't really see in the picture but she is in the middle in red. She practiced some of her moves on us after her class, and seems to really enjoy it. We are reminding her often that she can't just walk up and karate chop someone in the side (like she did Randy)...so if she says anything to you like "hey grab me like this, or raise your hand up like that" I wouldn't do it....she is just setting you up to take you down.

We had a fun week and are heading towards a fun time of year. Randy is going to be playing softball, Kelsey is loving school, trips are planned to the pumpkin patch and Halloween costumes are being decided.

Small World

2009-09-08T10:03:00.003-04:00

I took Audrey to a birthday party Saturday of a girl that she went to preschool with and still sees at school and in carpool. It was such a small-world moment. One of the other mom’s has a son in Kelsey’s PreK class and they were in the same preschool class last year. Her daughter rode the bus with Audrey last year (when Audrey was still fascinated with riding the bus) and Audrey always talked about how she wanted that girl to come over and play. They actually live one subdivision over from us. Another mom I saw last week at the Title 1 meeting and so we got to talk about that and another mom was Audrey's preK teacher.

So for two hours or more the girls all played and their moms sat and talked about school mainly. It feels good to hear everyone has the same complaints, joys and worries...and to get all sorts of inside scoop and the school and teachers.

Title 1

2009-09-04T08:09:00.002-04:00

Randy suggested I blog my journey though figuring out Title 1. It has only been a week, so I don't know if that constitutes a "journey" but it has been an experience. Last Friday we received a form letter from Audrey's school addressed to the "parents of Audrey" that indicated that she qualified for title 1 services to help with various skills and invited us to attend a school wide meeting the following Thursday. My first reaction was "what skills does she need help with?" We have received only positive feedback from her teacher. So I emailed her teacher and asked the question and then went online to see what I could learn. Online I didn't learn much. I spoke over the weekend to some other parents and teachers, and by Monday decided that this didn't really mean much.

On Monday I received an email from Audrey's teacher that said, "this just means I get more help in my classroom...no need to worry!" Audrey's teacher doesn't come across as someone that would say something just to make you happy so I decided I would just go with the flow. When the meeting came around on Thursday I had pretty much decided that I wasn't going to attend...why go if it wasn't specific to Audrey? So last night after running I found myself walking into the gym for the meeting...I know I am a sucker...

Somehow (later to realize luckily) I ended up sitting with all the teachers and parapros. A lady gave a presentation about Title 1. In summary Title 1 is federal money that a school receives when they meet an eligibilty requirement. The eligibility requirement is based on the economic status of the students at the school. So for Yargo Elementary, this is the first year they have qualified. So the school gets all this money and then they can decide how to spend it. Yargo decided to spend their money by hiring 12 parapros (actually they are certified teachers who couldn't find a job) and building another computer lab. The parapros are divided up among grade levels (2 to 3 parapros per grade level). They work under the direction of the teacher and basically hold small groups with the students to work on whatever subject the teacher wants them to work on (counting money, sight words, handwriting, etc). The "title" students also get to go the new computer lab once a week for 45 minutes. Sounds like a pretty good deal for both the teachers and the students.

So then we get to the question portion. It was crazy. I thought they were going to have to call the sheriff. Parents apparently are not thrilled with their kids being titled a "title 1 student". It got very heated and I felt badly for the lady giving the presentation. Then the teachers around me got upset at accusastions that the school was simply "creating more jobs for teachers" and the need wasn't really there. To be called a title 1 student either you have to have scored a certain level on the CRCT or simply a teacher's recommendation. What teacher wouldn't want to have another teacher helping?

I was able to speak with a couple of the parapros including Audrey's. They taught me more than the lady presenting. She said that pretty much all the kids are participating in Audrey's class because her teacher recommended them. She explained this isn't EIP (early intervention) and that there was nothing specific that we needed to focus on with Audrey...this is just an extra helper and extra attention. I left the meeting feeling good...and I still think this is a good thing. I have always heard the complaint about public schools is that there isn't enough one on one focus. That teachers have to deal with behavior problems instead of teaching. Right now Yargo is a targeted assisted school. That means that only students that are labeled as "title 1" get to participate in the new computer lab and have small group with the parapro. They want to make the school a school wide program which means that parapros and the computer lab are still there but ALL kids get to partipate. All it takes is a desire to make it school wide. If you get a chance, go and vote to make it school wide:

http://www.barrow.k12.ga.us/yes/ (click on the school wide Title 1 parent survey - it is just one question and you don't even need to be a parent at that school)

Disney Photos

2009-08-03T20:28:00.005-04:00

We took a million pictures on our trip, so this is just a sampling. If you want the "entire show" you can come by the house and watch the DVD of the pictures. We had a wonderful time. The kids were in great moods, the lines for the most part were short (at least with fast passes), we had some great time with family, and we will have great memories forever. We were in Orlando for 7 nights and went to the parks 6 days. We saw so many of the characters and had them sign autograph books. The girls rode pretty much everything. They didn't like the Tower of Terror. Audrey's favorite ride was the Aerosmith Rocking Roller Coaster. Kelsey's favorite was the carosel but she like Thunder Mountain Railroad a lot too. Some highlights include: we had to have an emergency evacuation of It's a Small World and ended up behind the ride with the dumpsters, Audrey and Randy were made movie stars as a "two headed monster" at the Monsters Inc. comedy show, the talking trash can spoke to Matthew, and Marsha managed to make it through the week without losing anything (though she tried to on several occasions).

Audrey and Kelsey at the entrance to the Magic Kingdom, waiting for the "good morning show"

The first characters we saw were Cinderella's stepmother and stepsisters. It was definetely the real thing...Audrey didn't know what to think when they acted just like they do in the movie. And Kelsey didn't want anything to do with them...but we did get a picture of Kelsey with them (she just didn't know they snuck up behind her).

Audrey with Belle (we later saw the village Belle with the Beast). This Belle commented that Randy could be her Beast.

Kelsey with Cinderella. She liked the "nice" people, but was not a fan of any villian or character that was over a certain size...even though she claims Pluto is her favorite she would only stand by him if I was between them. Better than I thought she would do considering she screams when she sees the Chick Fil A cow across the parking lot.

The longest line we stood in at the Magic Kingdom was to see the fairies (and that was like 30 mins). This is Silvermist, Audrey's favorite fairy, she is a water fairy.

Alladin and Jasmine with the girls. Jasmine is the favorite princess in our house.

Back at the condo after a long day.

Jocelyn, Audrey, Pa, Ma, Aunt Raven, Kelsey adn Greg and the boys way in the back on Thunder Mountain Railroad.

This is a neat picture. Looks like Rita and the boys are really flying on Alladin's magic carpet...just have to photoshop out that arm thing.

Marsha, Greg, Ma, Raven, Jocelyn, Pa and Rita wet after riding Splash Mountain and about to get on the jungle cruise.

The cousins in front of the castle. It is pretty tough to get these 5 in a picture together. They are wearing the hand made shirts by Aunt Rita. She could have sold them...people kept asking us where we got them. The shirts that is, not the kids.

Randy and Audrey about to ride Star Wars at Hollywood Studios.

The girls with Prince Caspien from Narnia. He has now made Audrey's list of people she loves. He was talking all sweet to her...and she still blushes when you mention his name.

Us with Mickey Mouse...one of many many times.

Audrey and her Chinese fan at Epcot.

The girls with Ariel. This was the missing princess that we ended up finding on our last day.

Kelsey posing by Splash Mountain. We were waiting for Randy and Audrey who rode it a couple more times on the last day.

All of us after the night time parade.

Back from Disney

2009-07-30T07:55:00.002-04:00

Had a great time at Disney and will eventually get around to posting pictures. Too much going on with school starting on Monday, work changes (Randy promoted and at a new store, rumors about my work change daily), and trying to get the house organized.

Joshua and Kelsey...not sure where they were at...

Merial News

2009-07-15T12:52:00.002-04:00

It looks like we are going to be sold. Not sure to whom or what changes that will bring. Good news is everyone seems to want us...bad news is just the normal stuff that comes with a new owner or merger.

Animal health offers growth for big pharma
Wed Jul 15, 2009 12:28pm EDT
By Jessica Hall
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - After years of being dismissed as a secondary business, animal healthcare has become a coveted niche for pharmaceutical companies looking for new growth markets.

Thanks to two mega-mergers -- Merck & Co's (MRK.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) planned purchase of Schering Plough Corp (SGP.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and the pending merger of Pfizer Inc (PFE.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Wyeth (WYE.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) -- several animal health assets are currently up for sale. The merging companies must divest the assets to gain U.S. regulatory approval for their deals.
"Ten years ago, pharma companies looked down their noses at animal health. But as growth in human health has slowed, animal health has remained stable and is actually growing," said one healthcare investment banker.

"All of a sudden it looks like a crown jewel and not an after-thought," said the banker, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the press.
Even though the economic crisis has forced some animal owners to give up their pets or delay veterinary visits, the sector is still growing revenues in the low-teens range, the banker said.
The animal health sector, which also includes medication for livestock, remains attractive compared with the stagnant or shrinking sectors of the human health field, he said.
As large pharmaceutical companies have been hurt by the prevalence of generic drugs and few new drugs in their research pipeline, they have been looking for acquisitions in biotechnology and animal health.

"Animal health looks like a darling compared with human health. Patients don't complain. There's been a secular change as people spend more and more on their pets," said the investment banker.

A second round of bids for the animal health businesses being divested by Merck and Schering Plough are due this week with a final decision expected by the end of July, sources familiar with the situation previously told Reuters.

Merck is a partner in the Merial joint venture with French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis SA. Merial's products include flea and tick treatments for dogs and a medication used to kill parasites in livestock.

Sanofi-Aventis (SASY.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Eli Lilly and Co (LLY.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Bayer AG (BAYG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Novartis AG (NOVN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Boehringer Ingelheim of Germany submitted offers in the first round of bidding, sources previously told Reuters.
Private equity firms are also interested in the animal health businesses, sources familiar with the situation said.

The sector has predictable cash flow that makes it attractive to buyout firms. But the corporate buyers all have deep pockets and a keen interest to find new growth products.
"All roads point to Sanofi winning, but it's a matter of price," said one person close to the Merck talks, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Schering's largest animal health business, Intervet, generated $1.9 billion in revenue last year. One complication of the Merck-Schering auction is the structure of the sale, the source close to the Merck talks said.

During the first round, bidders were able to submit offers for various assets since the sellers had not yet decided which businesses would be sold, that source said.
The decision would be made on whether to divest Merck or Schering's animal health assets once the companies reviewed the bids, that source said.
Pfizer and Wyeth also are divesting animal health assets due to their pending $68 billion merger and that auction is expected to conclude by the end of the month, as well, said two sources close to those negotiations.

"For the bidders, buying an animal health business to add to their existing business makes a lot of sense -- you can take out tons of costs because the same sales people can now sell more products," said a second healthcare investment banker.
"It's a reasonably good growth area -- there's the average flea and tick prevention, but there's now more and more vaccines vets are adding to the list of what you can give your pet. People are just spending more," the second investment banker said. (Additional reporting by Megan Davies in New York, editing by Leslie Gevirtz)

7 Days!

2009-07-10T07:39:00.004-04:00

Seven more days until our disney trip. I am not sure who is the most excited...I think it is me! But we have been keeping busy. We had a family fun night at the Mall of GA. We went to Build a bear and jumping on the bungee thing. We also had a surprise birthday party for Randy. I didn't have any pictures of that on the phone and can't log on to the homeserver for some reason.

Look at me, look at me!

Audrey getting ready to jump as high as a giant!

We got a double jogging stroller off craigslist for disney. They keep bugging me to push them around the neighborhood while I jog...yea right...they would be flying down a hill with me dragging behind them. Oh, and that is one of those duck things in Audrey's mouth. If you ever take a duck tour (ours is from Stn Mtn) then they give everyone one. I would suggest you make it disappear before you ever leave the park...

Does anyone have any idea who this is? Kelsey just looks so unlike herself in the goggles. The girls have been like fish this summer. Audrey is able to swim along the bottom of the pool underwater and has learned the backstroke. Kelsey can dive down to the bottom to pick up the rings. And the water is never cold to them...you just have to get used to it!

Beach Photos

2009-06-24T09:49:00.005-04:00

We had such a good time at the beach. I wish we were still there. But as Audrey would tell you if you stay at a hotel too long you will run out of money! So in no particular order, some pictures from the beach:

This is Audrey enjoying a tomato. I took this picture to show Grammy and Papa that the love of tomatoes skipped a generation (me and Randy) and landed on Audrey.

Audrey pulling me and Kelsey around on the raft at St. Andrews State Park.

I was picked to be a magician's helper at the Gulf World magic show. Audrey was not very happy about this. They pretended that they were going to cut me in half and she was freaking out about that. After I went back to the audience she would hold my hands down because she didn't want me to raise my hand and volunteer again.

Audrey shaking hands with a dolphin at Gulf World. She described the dolphin as hard but soft.

Randy and the girls on the Sea Dragon pirate cruise. This is one of our favorite things to do at Panama City. Kelsey will tell you all about it, over and over and over again. She has tons of favorite parts - mainly the chicken dance. She is still asking when we can go back to the pirate ship and the high divers (at Gulf World) her other favorite part.

Audrey being creative with her bread.

Kelsey and me - waiting for our food. The beach makes you very hungry!

Look out Audrey!

Ah! Now it has Kelsey!

The hottest game of putt putt ever! Audrey had to find Kelsey's ball in the cornfield behind them. It was sooo soooo sooo hot!

Making a sand castle at the beach. We also found tons of sand dollars on a sand bar out in the water. Luckily Randy's suit had pockets :)

Audrey posing.

Kelsey posing:

We miss you beach! We hope to see you again soon!!!!

Biltmore

2009-06-15T07:40:00.002-04:00

We took my mom up to Asheville, NC to visit the Biltmore house this weekend. It was a birthday surprise for her and we had a great time. We walked through the Biltmore house and gardens. We had a snake fall from a tree and land on a bush next to us at the gardens...ahhh that was a close call! They also have a farmyard with a petting zoo and a big barn that is catered towards the kids. The can dress up like farm girls and they had crafts and games for them to play. There was hardly anyone at the farm so they had the attention of the workers. They walked all around the farm in their dresses carrying their babies. We saw cloggers and gospel singers, we had old fashioned bowling, hula hoops, a tea party, and of course we ate ice cream.

The next day we went tubing in North Georgia. The girls absolutely loved it. Well Audrey loved it. Kelsey wasn't a big fan of the "white water". That is all Audrey wanted...rapids and more rapids.

The farm girls posing with the "dancer with the loud shoes"

Sleep

2009-05-29T07:21:00.003-04:00

If we were meant to pop out of bed, we'd all sleep in toasters.

We can make it, one more week of school!

Random stuff

2009-05-26T07:50:00.002-04:00

We have had tons of rain this spring. Our grass looks better than ever. I even emailed Scott's and told them about how great the yard looked so they are coming out to shoot a commercial. Just kidding but they did sent me an email wanting to see a picture. Mowing is one of my favorite chores but speed mowing because I can hear the thunder coming kicked my butt last night.

Audrey and Kelsey went swimming at Ma's house yesterday. They did admit it was very cold water but they still loved it. I was amazed at how long they lasted...just the few drops that landed on me were sooooo cold. I like to swim in hot tubs.

And here is little Miss June Cleaver. What else should Kelsey wear when she cleans except a dress and heels? Isn't that what she sees her mommy doing?

A Friday Thought

2009-05-22T12:40:00.002-04:00

1. Everything is possible.
2. Nothing is easy.
3. When you are optimistic, see Rule No. 2.
4. When you are discouraged, see Rule No. 1.

This was in one of our work global newsletters. They said it was China's "golden rules." I thought it was a good thing to remember.

Have a great long weekend!

Left in the Dust

2009-05-20T09:26:00.003-04:00

If you look closely you can see my new running partner. Audrey always begs to go running with me. It's a little demotivating to have her running beside you. "When can we run faster?", "Running this slow hurts my legs.", "Can we kick this rock while we run?" And then her ability to sprint at a moment's notice, to jump over curbs and limbs and run backwards all while non-stop talking. Let's just say, it takes all my effort to just run.

In other news, I just learned that a Chick-fil-A milkshake has 700 calories. I was shocked. I didn't know anything that would fit in a cup could have that many calories. I think the cup should say "drinking this = 7 miles of running" . I'll write the company about it today.

Field Trip

2009-05-19T09:12:00.003-04:00

I was able to go with Audrey's class on their kindergarten field trip to INK in Gainesville. This place is an interactive neighborhood where kids can pretend to be/play all types of stuff. It was a lot of fun but wore me out!

Audrey checking out with her food at the grocery store. This room was her favorite.

This was at the veterinary office. I made her pose with the Heartgard desk mat...lots of Merial stuff in the room...even on a field trip I can get away from work!

Audrey on an old fire truck. They also managed to turn on the lights of the police car...luckily the must have had the sirens disabled.

Audrey and our future son-in law Jordan in the airplane. Audrey and Jordan apparently want to marry each other and she told me she has kissed him on the cheek (because he asked her). Jordan's mom was the other chaperone.

This was the group of kids I was in charge of keeping up with. They obviously gave me the best behaved kids in the class. They were a lot of fun. The boys were always trying to make me laugh.

Only 12 days left of school! I was very excited for school to be out but after hearing them practice their graduation songs yesterday it made me sad. It is interesting to think of what these kids will be like and what they will grow up to do. Each one a unique spirit with their own abilities and choices to make in life...I am wishing them all the very best!

Toggle Headbands

2009-05-13T08:36:00.004-04:00

So I had a friend who saw these toggle headbands and I did some research and apparently they are the latest craze in hair accessories. People like them because they are adjustable so they fit babies to adults. They have a toggle clip which allows you to slide the ribbon through to make it tighter or looser. You can also attach a clippie if you wanted a bow or flower or whatever at the top. People claim that their children don't even notice that they are there so they don't try and remove it...and it actually stays put all day. They can be worn with the hair up or the hair down with or without a matching bow.

So I wanted to find out if this is something people are interested in, if so we will whip some up. They would probably be $2.00 to $3.00 depending on the size of ribbon....and Jaime you can have one "on the house" ...thanks for the "research" :)

Build A Bear

2009-05-12T11:44:00.005-04:00

Audrey really really really wanted to go to Build a Bear last week. So she ended up counting her money and we went Friday night. They didn't have the exact dog she saw online that she wanted but she found another dog and since we found a coupon also she even got to buy a dress for the dog. It was a great lesson in how much things cost...she was a little shocked when she saw how much of her money she would have to spend. This is a picture of her at Longhorn's with her creation (we went there on Saturday for lunch).

Kelsey giving her blue bear Sally a bath.

On Saturday they also played in the water sprinkler. It was hot outside but that water was cold. I was surprised at how long they lasted.

I saw a sign yesterday that said "don't count days, make every day count" but I have to say that there are 19 days left of school, 36 until we go to the beach and 66 until Disney...and I am counting!

Kelsey's Birthday

2009-05-06T07:36:00.003-04:00

Since there were thunderstorms Kelsey ended up having her party in Ma and Papa's basement. It was kind of crazy because there were tons of people but everyone seemed to have a good time. They watched Tom & Jerry cartoons, colored pictures, danced the chicken dance, played on an obstacle course and had there faces, arms and legs painted by Mrs. Angie. I guess I will give up trying to plan outdoor parties!

Audrey showing off her butterflies.

April

2009-04-22T08:08:00.006-04:00

We returned from our trip to Chattanooga and realized we hadn't downloaded any pictures off the camera in quite a while.

So first to catch up from Easter. Here are the girls all dressed up.

We also went to Cleveland, GA to the Cabbage Patch Babyland General Easter Eggstravaganza. The girls ate breakfast with the cabbage patch kids and had an egg hunt. Then we went to a festival downtown and visited the babyland hospital. The Easter bunny brought the girls cabbage patch kids and ever since we have been changing clothes on the dolls.

We just returned from a spring break trip to Chattanooga. At the Aquarium, both girls seemed to like the Nemo tank the best. Here Nemo is looking at Audrey.

Kelsey wasn't feeling the best when we went to the Aquarium. So she spent most of the time on someone's shoulder.

Audrey isn't even scared in the shark cage. She also was able to touch a snake and a big fish.

Nothing makes a sore throat feel better Ben and Jerry's free cone day. That is Kelsey if you can't see her behind that HUGE cone.

Audrey at Rock City.

The girls.

The whole family at the top of the tower at Ruby Falls.

The girls posing by the eagle.

All of us on the Incline Railway. This was Kelsey's favorite part, riding the train up and down.

Randy and Audrey at the waterfall at Ruby Falls.

Getting ready to start our trip into the cave.

Synchronized jumps into the pool

They could have stayed in the pool the entire trip.

One of a million pictures of Kelsey jumping in the water.

We had a great trip. We have some more trips coming up and we can't wait.

Tea'd Off

2009-04-17T07:33:00.002-04:00

This was in the Valdosta paper yesterday.

Josh Boxx, 2, waves his flag while being held by his mother, Rita Boxx, at the Tea Party on North Ashley Street in front of Mathis City Auditorium Wednesday.

Way to go guys!

Audrey's Art

2009-04-15T07:48:00.004-04:00

Audrey had a drawing from her art class displayed in the Barrow County Schools Fine Art Festival. We received a note yesterday letting us know so we visited her art work at the Art Center downtown. Her comment when she found her picture was "why would my art teacher choose this one? does she really think this is my best drawing? I don't like the nose on this at all" The assignment was called "shape people" so I guess they had to use only basic shapes to draw. There were around 8 various pictures from kindergartners at her school, so she felt pretty special to have her's chosen.

We also heard from her teacher that Audrey told them a story about Easter that started with "The Easter bunny brought me something that was too expensive for us to buy...." That Easter bunny sure has deep pockets!

We had a very nice Easter, I will post pictures when I get them off the camera. We are going on a trip to Chattanooga for spring break in a couple of days. I am counting down the days! The girls are very excited to stay at a hotel with an indoor pool. We could probably stay at the hotel the whole time and they would be thrilled.

We also found out Kelsey was picked for a spot at the Early Learning Center for preschool next year. She is very excited to go to school all day. We know she will have a blast.

Easter Greetings!

2009-04-09T16:06:00.002-04:00

Hairbow Website

2009-04-01T18:37:00.002-04:00

It is finally ready. Thanks to Randy for helping me figure out all the high tech stuff. Thanks to Dixie for helping us out with some cool pictures. Let me know what we can do to improve the site...it is my first website! Some pictures may not load super quickly...we are still working on resizing them.

Enjoy!

www.littlehairboutique.blogspot.com

the link to the website is on the right hand column

New Bow, Blog and Website

2009-03-30T16:20:00.003-04:00

This turned out too cute. I have been trying new stuff lately. So I created this "monogram bow" and ended up really liking it. I also created a bow blog and website. It should all be ready later this week. I am also thinking that I could create a woven headband with some bow attachments that would look like Mickey Mouse ears for our trip to Disney this summer. My full time job leaves no room for creativity...this is my outlet!

Who do you cheer for?

2009-03-29T12:55:00.005-04:00

Dixie Taylor took some photos of the girls and Trinity and Zoe to help Renee and I out with our bow website. I thought it was funny that Kelsey, the one who claims to be a Florida Gator ended up wearing the Bulldog bows. Here is a sneak peak. Hopefully the website will be good enough to go public in a week or so.

Lost Generation

2009-03-25T10:08:00.001-04:00

At a meeting of the AARP (American Association of Retired People) they showed a video that was submitted in a contest by a 20 year old. The contest was Titled 'u @ 50'. This video won second place. When they showed it , everyone in the room was awe-struck and broke into spontaneous applause. So simple and yet so brilliant. Take a minute and watch it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42E2fAWM6rA

Good thing I drink Dr Pepper

2009-03-20T10:37:00.004-04:00

I thought the facts about water were interesting (I knew most of them about Coke already). But I didn't know about cleaning your toilets with Coke...I might have to try that one!

WATER
#1. 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated. (Likely applies to half the world population)#2. In 37% of Americans, the thirst mechanism is so weak that it is mistaken for hunger.
#3. Even MILD dehydration , as little as 3%, will slow down one's metabolism
#4. One glass of water will shut down midnight hunger pangs for almost 100% of the dieters studied in a University ofWashington study.
#5. Lack of water, the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.
#6. Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a day could significantly ease back and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers.
#7. A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on a printed page.
#8. Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79%., and one is 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer. Are you drinking the amount of water you should drink every day?

COKE
#1. In many states the highway patrol carries two gallons of Coke in the trunk to remove blood from the highway after a car accident.
#2. You can put a T-bone steak in a bowl of Coke & it will be gone in two days.
#3. To clean a toilet: Pour a can of Coca-Cola into the toilet bowl and let the 'real thing' sit for one hour, then flush clean. The phosphoric acid in Coke removes stains from vitreous China ....
#4. To remove rust spots from chrome car bumpers: Rub the bumper with a rumpled-up piece of Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil dipped in Coca-Cola.
#5. To clean corrosion from car battery terminals: Pour a can of Coca-Cola over the terminals to bubble away the corrosion.
#6. To loosen a rusted bolt: Apply a cloth soaked in Coca-Cola to the rusted bolt for several minutes.
#7. To bake a moist ham: Empty a can of Coca-Cola into the baking pan, wrap the ham in aluminum foil, & bake. Thirty minutes before ham is finished, remove the foil, allowing the drippings to mix with the Coke for a sumptuous brown gravy.
#8... To remove grease from clothes: Empty a can of Coke into the load of greasy clothes, add detergent, & run through a regular cycle. The Coca-Cola will help loosen grease stains. It will also clean road haze from your windshield.

Now the question is, would you like a glass of water? or Coke?

Catching Up

2009-03-19T07:45:00.003-04:00

I haven't been taking too many pictures lately so I haven't been blogging much. But we have been busy. Randy had Lasik surgery and has been enjoying life without glasses. I have been getting ready for some upcoming bow parties and festivals. Audrey seems to finally "get" that school is about doing the assignment as the teacher asked and not with her own creative spin, so we have been getting good updates from school on her. She continues to want to be an artist or a rock star. She was very excited about a leprechan visiting the school on Tuesday and told us all about all the mischeif he caused. Kelsey has announced that she is going to be a doctor and will take care of Mommy and Daddy (Audrey said she would rather not go to Kelsey's doctor's office). Kelsey loves school so we can imagine she will be a doctor.

We all have bikes now so we have been trying to ride at the Gwinnett parks. Audrey is riding a 20 inch with no training wheels newly equipped with a basket and horn. Kelsey is riding Audrey's old bike with training wheels. She can pedal for miles but the hills still give her some problems.

This is Audrey playing another new game in our house. It is like the old labyrinth game where you tried to get the ball to the end without it falling in the holes along the way. This version is played on Daddy's cell phone electronically.

Kelsey loves songs. Last night she was "playing" the piano and singing. She started out with "How Firm a Foundation" since we have been practicing that in primary. Her finale was her preschool's prayer song that they sing before snack.

And then I realized I didn't post any snow pictures from the beginning of the month. So here is Kelsey on the porch...she wasn't a big fan of being cold and wet in the snow.

Here is Randy and Audrey sledding down our giant hill.

Here is an action shot of Randy whiping out and Audrey already on her feet ready to go back to the top of the hill.

Here are the girls, my dad and I on the back deck (this is right when the snow started falling).

Soccer Bow

2009-03-11T08:09:00.002-04:00

Hey Emily, I can't find your email address so maybe you will check the blog. Here is a picture of the soccer bow and black and white headband modeled by my personal headband model Kelsey. We will give it and the extra soccer bow to your mom tomorrow. I hope the girls on the team like them!

Weekend Fun

2009-03-09T08:32:00.002-04:00

We had a very fun weekend. Since Randy was gone to Atlantic City, we decided we would have lots of fun and not do any of our normal weekend chores. The girls slept in Saturday morning which is something they never do, so everyone was in great moods and the weather was so nice.

Kelsey went to a Fancy Nancy birthday party. So she got all dressed up for that.

After that party we went to David's cowboy birthday party (quite a different theme). Audrey loved riding the horse. Kelsey would go up to the horse but didn't want to ride it.
Renee and I made lots of bows and organized our bows for upcoming parties and spring fesivals. We made a frame to hold all the clippies. It is hard to see since I used my camera phone, but it turned out really cute.

We have been making some new bows. This is a "birthday girl" bow. We also made some Camp Rock bows for someone to give out as party favors at a birthday party and some Easter bows.

Our latest addiction is headbands. I just think these headbands turn out so cute no matter what the color. And the girls love them because they do not require me pulling their hair up into a rubber band. The bows come off so you can wear just the headband or just the bow. My dad also made a "headband holder" for us to use at our shows. It was a very productive bow weekend!

A Note to Primary Leaders and Workers

2009-02-27T09:51:00.004-05:00

We have had several instances lately where I realize that our kids do pay attention in primary so I wanted to share two of them with you in hope that you do realize that even when they don't seem to pay attention they are...even Kelsey the sunbeam.

Kelsey was on the kitchen floor the other night doing a puzzle and humming. The humming then changed to the song "Do as I'm Doing" and she sang it (well wailing is probably more appropriate) over and over and over again for around 30 minutes. I asked her if she sang that song at school (since she had gone to school that day) and she said no, we sing school songs at school and church songs at church. This is a church song.

In the car yesterday out of the blue Audrey asked me if that story that her art teacher told everyone at church about long time ago being in a car and being hit by a really big truck and then going to the hospital and not being hurt badly was true. Kelsey replied, "last Sunday?" Audrey said, "no two Sunday's ago don't your remember?"

I know Sundays are a challenge right now in our temporary building and sometimes you wonder if anyone hears what you are saying much less remembering it and thinking about it. But they do. THANKS!

We love haircuts!

2009-02-27T09:45:00.003-05:00

The girls and I had hair cuts last night. I always have to wait to the day of the appointment before I tell them because they just love to have their hair done and always have an opinion of just how they want it. They are very excited to see their Boxx cousins later today and have a weekend of fun!

31 isn't too bad

2009-02-23T14:52:00.002-05:00

I had a great birthday weekend. We had a girl's night out Friday night. Randy, the girls and I went over to Athens on Saturday and went to Memorial Park and then out to eat Japaneese at Inoko's. I got a really cool Lego set, some puzzles, a waffle iron and a gift certificate to buy some ribbon online and on Sunday I got a nap. I also got several "singing" cards which the girls have enjoyed dancing too...and hopefully the video that was taken of me dancing along with them doesn't show up anywhere.

A Story about Bones

2009-02-18T07:43:00.005-05:00

In the 9 years Randy and I have been married I have bought a whole chicken that you have to cut up once. After cutting it up I promised myself I would never buy a whole chicken again. Boneless, skinless chicken is so worth the extra money to me.

So last night I didn't have anything out for dinner, and I was running short on time so I thought I would get a bucket of KFC chicken. I don't think I have ever bought a bucket of chicken in my adult life, though we use to have it when I was a kid and I always loved the chicken legs.

Sitting down to eat, I put a chicken leg on each of the girl's plates and realize that this is their first experience with piece of chicken that isn't cut up like a nugget. I show them how to eat it and then Audrey realizes that there is a bone.

Audrey: "There is a bone in the middle of this chicken...where did it come from?"
Me: "From a chicken"
Audrey: "Someone killed a chicken?"
Me: "Yep"
Audrey: "I have never seen a bone before, I didn't realize they were so slippery"
Me: no response but thinking greasy would be a better word
Audrey: "We better save this bone and give it to a scientist."

I also finished my new lego set. The "green grocer." Randy gave this to me for our anniversary. It is a four story town house. The detail on it is amazing...most detailed lego I have ever had (and I have been collecting legos since I was around 10). I guess now I have to clean the house or do something else more productive then building.

Cool Moms

2009-02-09T14:50:00.005-05:00

When I picked Audrey up from school today she was telling me about a boy in her class that hasn't been there for three days.

Me: "Man, he must really be sick."
Audrey: "There are other reasons besides being sick where you can stay home from school."
Me: "Like what?"
Audrey: "One time Mia's mom asked her if she wanted to go to school and Mia said no, so she got to stay home"
Me: "Really?"
Audrey: "Yea, but Mia's mom's cool."

So I asked "am I a cool mom?" and the response was just a laugh.

Go Dawgs!

2009-02-06T13:00:00.001-05:00

A neat story that I didn't know about the Richt's

http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/video?id=3663225

Legos

2009-02-02T07:40:00.002-05:00

After having the stomach bug go through our house we all ended up with colds. Audrey claims she isn't sick and Randy is fine but Kelsey and I are using up some Kleenex. Yesterday the girls got out the legos. Audrey created a ship and made up this facinating story that sounded a lot like the storyline of Star Wars (her and Randy watched that last week). She was the princess and everyone protected her and she had the best sword of all the people...no one could kill her.

I heard them "building" different people. All the usual people...mommy, daddy, Audrey, Kelsey. Then I heard them say this one is Uncle Greg. Kelsey ran to show me Uncle Greg. Any ideas of what makes this one as Uncle Greg? It is kind of hard to see.

We also went the park. I was reminded of how when I was a kid and sick my mom would send me outside for the day..."some fresh air will do you good." Of course the kids loved it and I was the one still feeling terrible.

Congrats!

2009-01-30T11:58:00.004-05:00

Tasha and Duane had their baby last night. So welcome to:

Daniel James Dauphin
6 lbs 7 oz
19 1/2 inches long
He was born on Jan 29th at 11:10 pm.

She said he has lots of black hair and dimples and looks like Duane. They are excited to be coming home tomorrow tomorrow. David wants them to go shopping for bunk beds so they can share a room.

Also, Audrey received an award today for being on the kindergarten honor roll. She wanted a trophy but a piece of paper will have to do.

Lots of fun stuff!

What you missed at church on Sunday

2009-01-26T13:04:00.001-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwfMMN71xUw

Birthday Party Pictures

2009-01-26T11:36:00.005-05:00

Audrey's birthday party was a lot of fun. All the girls seemed to have a great time. We had a High School Musical pajama party in the basement. The girls got to go on a cell phone hunt and find some cell phones then pick one to "bling" out with sparkly jewels...courtesy of Verizon Wireless. They ate yummy waffles made by Ma and Renee...it is amazing how much girls can eat! They had a hairbow walk to pick out their HSM hairbow and we had a pinata to bust. Then we had cake and presents.

All the girls:

Watching some of the movie:

Audrey and her friend from school Mia with her cake:

Kelsey and Daddy posing:

Eating their waffles:

Trin and Zoe stayed for a sleepover:

Audrey's 6!

2009-01-23T09:33:00.003-05:00

Audrey has a "hat day" at school today so she was very excited to be able to wear her princess hat on her birthday. Birthday dinner tonight and party tomorrow...the exictement begins!

Zoe's Birthday

2009-01-19T09:11:00.004-05:00

We had a very fun weekend. Zoe celebrated her 5th birthday so Friday evening we went to her house and had pizza and cupcakes and played games.

Saturday we went to Discover Mills. We ate lunch and rode the carosel. Zoe was getting her ears pierced for her birthday and Kelsey decided she wanted her pierced too. Kelsey was not good for business. Her screams were heard throughout the entire mall. She got over the pain quickly and spent the rest of the day looking in mirrors at her new earrings.

We also went ice skating the Ice Forum. I had only been skating once when I was around 12 and I can't say I had the best memories from it. The girls, especially Audrey LOVED it. She must have fallen 50 times but each time she would hop back up and keep going. She didn't want help (not that I could be much help) and was determined to skate fast without falling. We will be taking them back soon so they can practice some more. Happy Birthday Zoe!

Tasha's Baby Shower

2009-01-13T09:29:00.002-05:00

We had a surprise baby shower for Tasha this past weekend. We invited her family over for dinner and then invited other families as well and had a house full of people and fun. We ate some tacos, burritos, chips and cheese dip...the best type of food ever! The guys partied in the the basement and the kids had their own party upstairs. Kelsey was our photographer so we don't have too many pictures. Thanks to all who came. We are looking forward to meeting Baby Daniel...hopefully very soon!

Getting Ready for the HSM Party

2009-01-12T08:09:00.002-05:00

The girls and I went all over Athens on Saturday getting supplies for Audrey's High School Musical birthday party. We also threw in some extra fun by going to Chuck E Cheese. Later we went shopping with Ma for some new stuff for her basement.

Audrey sporting her new High School Musical Hairbows. She wanted me to make all her friends a HSM bow to wear at the party. We are around half way through and she is already asking when we are going to finish them. She is loving picking out the colors for the ribbons and matching it to a pin.

Standing on My Head

2009-01-08T07:53:00.003-05:00

Audrey has always wanted to be able to do a headstand or a handstand. Last night I mentioned that the best way to practice a head stand is by being in a corner. Lots of giggles were heard as the girls mastered the corner head stand...even Audrey ventured out with tricks with her hands.

Back from Vacation

2009-01-02T07:57:00.007-05:00

After 14 days of being away from work, I am back. To catch everyone up on our great Christmas....

Performances: Aunt Ginny had a FHE where Audrey and her cousins performed. Audrey had practiced with them and she was super excited to sing in front of so many people.

On Christmas Eve, Kelsey gave her own performance of Jingle Bells. This time Audrey performed the 12 Days of Christmas song and dance (learned in her kindergarden class).

Chrismas Sunday we tried to get a picture of the girls in their Christmas dresses but it just wasn't working out. It makes it a little more difficult when they decide that the cat needs to be in the picture too.

We also went to the Stone Mountain Christmas with Ma and Papa, Aunt Ginny and Uncle Bryan and their family and 20 thousand of our other closest friends (it was packed!). Audrey and Kelsey both loved the snow angel.

Kelsey waiting for the snow angel to fly across the sky and make it snow (it was around 70 degrees, but snow did fall). Kelsey cried after she flew away, not because she was scared but because she loved the snow angel so much and didn't want her to fly away (and maybe because it was 10:00 at night).

Audrey and Daddy after a game of crazy 8's (and waiting for the snow angel).

Kelsey enjoying her cookie she decorated.

Leaving food out for the reindeer.

Christmas morning showing off their webkins. These animals are so addicting...I just love playing on the computer with them! We also had to write a note on Christmas Eve to Santa. Kelsey woke up screaming around 10:00. She heard me feeding the cat and thought it was Santa and just freaked. So we left a note for Santa to be extremely quiet and he was not allowed to say "ho, ho, ho" because Kelsey would be scared. Of course, then Audrey was upset so we added a P.S. to the note saying he could "think it." Christmas morning I heard Audrey trying to convince Kelsey to come look at the presents but Kelsey wouldn't get out of bed. Audrey was trying hard to convince her that Santa was not there and that she didn't need to be scared. We had fun opening all the loot Santa left and then we had a big lunch/dinner and spend the day playing with the new toys.

After Christmas we went for a quick trip to Valdosta to see Uncle Greg and Aunt Rita. We also were able to see Aunt Raven, Uncle Mike and thier girls. We jumped on the trampoline, played outside, had a Nerf gun fight, and introduced Audrey to an Xbox.

Kesley, Joshua, Audrey, Zachary and Matthew at the park (it was hot!)

Wet Pants

2008-12-16T16:01:00.000-05:00

Come with me to a third grade classroom..... There is a nine-year-old kid sitting at his desk and all of a sudden, there is a puddle between his feet and the front of his pants are wet. He thinks his heart is going to stop because he cannot possibly imagine how this has happened. It's never happened before, and he knows that when the boys find out he will never hear the end of it. When the girls find out, they'll never speak to him again as long as he lives.

The boy believes his heart is going to stop; he puts his head down and prays this prayer, 'Dear God, this is an emergency! I need help now! Five minutes from now I'm dead meat.' He looks up from his prayer and here comes the teacher with a look in her eyes that says he has been discovered.

As the teacher is walking toward him, a classmate named Susie is carrying a goldfish bowl that is filled with water. Susie trips in front of the teacher and inexplicably dumps the bowl of water in the boy's lap.

The boy pretends to be angry, but all the while is saying to himself, 'Thank you, Lord! Thank you, Lord!'

Now all of a sudden, instead of being the object of ridicule, the boy is the object of sympathy. The teacher rushes him downstairs and gives him gym shorts to put on while his pants dry out. All the other children are on their hands and knees cleaning up around his desk. The sympathy is wonderful. But as life would have it, the ridicule that should have been his has been transferred to someone else - Susie

She tries to help, but they tell her to get out. You've done enough, you klutz!' Finally, at the end of the day, as they are waiting for the bus, the boy walks over to Susie and whispers, 'You did that on purpose, didn't you? 'Susie whispers back, 'I wet my pants once too.'

May God help us see the opportunities that are always around us to do good.

Demotivational Posters

2008-12-16T07:38:00.002-05:00

I have always enjoyed these demotivational posters. The blogging one I had never seen before. And in honor of our team Christmas lunch this afternoon, I put the teamwork one.

Party Weekend

2008-12-15T08:16:00.002-05:00

We had a full weekend. Friday night we hosted the National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation party at our house. We had Mexican food, lots of fun and laughs.

Saturday the girls went to the Santa Wonderland at the Bass Pro Shop with Ma and Papa. They both sat on Santa's lap. An amazing feat for Kelsey but my mom said she really really wanted a candy cane. Audrey asked him for a microphone, a purse, a bracelet, a ring and a dress. Kelsey did not speak to him but beforehand said she was going to ask him for an itty bitty real kitty. I told her that Santa doesn't bring anything that is alive.

Saturday night we had my work Christmas party at the Duluth Marriott. It isn't the most exciting thing..most of the people I work with don't go so it is just hundreds of people I don't know. But they do have these giant shrimp that Randy looks forward to all year long. While we went to the party, the girls had their first real babysitter (they don't count adults as babysitters). Chelsea came over and watched them and they apparently had a great time and were great listeners. The picture below was taken by Chelsea's mom. The girls kept wanting to make funny faces so finally she said everyone make a funny face and you can see they are all sweet and Randy and I made silly faces.

Sunday we had our first church meeting in our new location...the Barrow Rec Center. The girls were very excited to go to a new "church" building. We will be there 8 to 10 months while our building is expanded and renovated. Audrey asked during class (I team teach her class) why their classroom looked like a jail. I asked her how she knew what a jail looked like. Apparently the block walls are jail-like.

Three days of work and I am off until 2009!! yippee!

Tag

2008-12-10T07:29:00.003-05:00

I was tagged to post my fourth picture in my fourth folder from the My Pictures Folder. So here it is. This is Audrey and Trinity in August 2005 playing in the bathtub. They have always been best friends and still give each other hugs like they haven't seen each other in forever.

I tag Greg, Lia and Wendy - let's see those pictures!

Anger

2008-12-09T08:08:00.001-05:00

So it has been an interesting week for me. At work a few days ago a coworker came to my desk and we were going over some reports and it became apparent that he was going to have to make some changes to his report. He became very agitated and began pacing around clinching his fists. Then he came back to my desk and muttered some ugly words and then started talking again. Within a minute he was at it again…pacing. Then he came back and punched my cube wall and really went off with the profanity.

Of course my first reaction was fear…this guy has lost it. Then I thought man he seems a lot like a 2 year old kicking and screaming because he is going to have to do something he doesn’t want to do. But he is in his fifties.

So what makes the difference? Did this person not have a parent telling them oh so many times to not whine, to use nice words, and to not say anything if you don’t have something nice to say? Did they never learn to count to ten if they are angry and to never react in anger? Or just as you get older you forget to be polite and have some level of tact?

With our advances in technology it is so easy to react so quickly and type out a message hit the “send” button and not think about what is being said or the consequences of saying it. At work we have a name for those messages…a flaming crap ball.

So here’s hoping a flaming crap ball does not show up in my inbox and my cube walls stay intact.

Gordon T. Watts: A man can rather accurately be measured, it has been said, by the size of a thing that makes him angry. (“Slow to Anger,” Ensign, Feb. 2003, 59)

Bow Party

2008-12-02T12:37:00.003-05:00

Renee and I are having a bow party at my house this Friday night (the 5th) at 7:00. She sent out an evite but of course we didn't have everyone's email addresses and we also don't know if we have the right one for you. But anyway, everyone is welcome to come and feel free to bring relatives or friends. We will just be having some appetizers and have the bows (mainly Christmas ones) out for everyone to see. We will also be teaching you how to make a Christmas Tree Clippie which you will get to take home with you (picture below). Let me know if you want to come and I can give you directions.

Free Stuff

2008-11-26T06:55:00.002-05:00

We have a garbage bag full of girl's shoes (size 0 to 7). Some are pretty worn but there are some super cute church shoes. We also have wooden puzzles (the 8 to 10 piece kind) of all types (fruit, transportation, colors, shapes, animals) and the flat thick cardboard puzzles that come in a 4 pack. We probably have around 15 puzzles. Please comment or call (770-715-4686). They will probably go to Goodwill next week if no one wants them.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Fun with Cousins

2008-11-24T09:34:00.004-05:00

Ma and Papa took Audrey and Kelsey down to visit their cousins and Uncle Greg and Aunt Rita this weekend. From what we heard they did not want to come back. They had fun jumping on the trampoline and swinging, carrying Joshua around, playing treasure hunt, jumping in a bouncy house and playing in the woods. They are already planning their next trip. Audrey wants to have her birthday party at Aunt Rita's...man that must be a fun place!!

Rocks for Sale

2008-11-17T15:40:00.002-05:00

Audrey has been asking to paint this collection or rocks she has accumulated for weeks and I finally said okay. So I went downstairs to check on her (I work from home in afternoons). She showed me her different rocks...the halloween rock, the rainbow, and the star rock. She said she was going to display them when we sold our bows and people could buy them. So we have a little entreprenuer. I told her that I wanted to buy the star rock and she said "you probably don't have enough money." So grandparents and family...be warned your Christmas present might be a little heavy this year!

First Fire

2008-11-17T11:07:00.003-05:00

We had our first fire this weekend. We never built a fire at our other house and didn't have one last year at the new house. I think Kelsey thought we went to the store and bought fire and brought it home. Yesterday she asked if we could go buy some more fire. It was very nice. The girls ate cereal (for dinner) in front of the fire. Those jammies Kelsey has on are her new "Grammy Jammies" made by Randy's mom. I think we will have to wash them secretly while she is at school. If Kelsey is at home she has these jammies on. The design on Kelsey's face is from the Winder Methodist Church Christmas Fair. We did really well selling the bows and luckily we got a space inside so we were nice and warm and had a great comfy spot. We sold all out of our UGA bows.

Audrey and Kelsey playing "mommy - baby" one of the most popular games at our house.

Friday Funny

2008-11-14T12:01:00.002-05:00

Always Check Your Child's Homework

Mommy works at Home Depot. She was selling a shovel.

Family Fun Night

2008-11-13T07:57:00.003-05:00

We went to the Mall of Georgia and walked around the Disney store, the toy store, Claire's, the bookstore and created some new friends at Build a Bear. We ate happy meals, rode the carousel and this super cool car. We rode escalators and elevators and saw the biggest Christmas tree ever (even taller than Daddy as Audrey pointed out). Audrey wanted to play in the fountain but didn't have her swimsuit on (it was freezing)...and according to the sign no lifeguard was on duty. We can't wait until our next family fun day!

All kinds of stuff

2008-11-10T12:19:00.006-05:00

First off, we had another visit from the tooth fairy! I am sure she is going broke! Audrey lost her 2nd tooth while having a sleepover at Ma's house. I have been so lucky and haven't had to witness any of the extractions...just the end result.

Free Armoire! We got this a while back (it actually wasn't too long ago but you know I have to say that because I change my mind on TV entertainment centers soooo often) off of craigslist. It is solid wood and very heavy. The TV fits in the top portion and their are two drawers covered by doors on the bottom. It does need some work, mainly the bottom portion where it needs new rails on the drawers and latches for the doors to catch. You will need a truck to move it (and a couple big strong men...I can only volunteer one!). It was in our living room but then we got rid of the TV in there now that the Pettyjohn Theater in the basement is set up. If you would like it please just call me (770-715-4686) or Randy (770-714-6445).

And finally an update on Christmas in Braselton. It went really well. We did much better selling our bows than at Auburnfest. There wasn't as many people there as most of the vendors expected (many people near us sold nothing). But people who came to our booth were buying several bows and we got good reviews. This Saturday we will be at the Winder Methodist Church. They are having a Christmas Craft and Gift Fair. After that we will be taking a break from the fairs.

The Boss's Go-To Guy

2008-11-07T20:23:00.002-05:00

Congratulations Randy!! The regional manager called and personally requested that Randy accept the position of assistant manager at the Lawrenceville store. The sales tracking system that he created which everyone loves was also officially picked up by corporate and will now be part of their policy and supported there by IS. Whoo hoo....you're the best!!

I was Drugged by my Parents....

2008-11-05T09:22:00.002-05:00

The following is a statement of answers to many of the ills of modern times. This was published in newspapers around the country.

The other day, someone at a store in our town read that a Methamphetamine lab had been found in an old farmhouse in the adjoining county and he asked me a rhetorical question, "Why didn't we have a drug problem when you and I were growing up?"

I replied, I had a drug problem when I was young: I was drug to church on Sunday morning. I was drug to church for weddings and funerals. I was drug to family reunions and community socials no matter the weather. I was drug by my ears when I was disrespectful to adults. I was also drug to the woodshed when I disobeyed my parents, told a lie, brought home a bad report card, did not speak with respect, spoke ill of the teacher or the preacher, or if I didn't put forth my best effort in everything that was asked of me.

I was drug to the kitchen sink to have my mouth washed out with soap if I uttered a profanity. I was drug out to pull weeds in mom's garden and flower beds and cockleburs out of dad's fields. I was drug to the homes of family, friends and neighbors to help out some poor soul who had no one to mow the yard, repair the clothesline, or chop some firewood, and, if my mother had ever known that I took a single dime as a tip for this kindness, she would have drug me back to the woodshed.

Those drugs are still in my veins and they affect my behavior in everything I do, say, or think. They are stronger than cocaine, crack, or heroin: and, if today's children had this kind of drug problem. America would be a better place. God bless the parents who drugged us.

Christmas In Braselton

2008-11-04T13:01:00.002-05:00

We will have our bows this Saturday (the 8th) at the Christmas in Braselton festival. It sounds like a nice event. The booths will be open 9:00 to 4:00. At 10:30 they will have a parade and then all the normal kid stuff. Around 4:00 I think they will light the Christmas tree and then at 7:30 they will be showing a movie (Fred Claus) on the lawn. It is supposed to be beautiful weather. If you come out, be sure to stop by and say hello! The location is the Braselton Park. It is off Hwy 53, kind of across from the Braselton Town Hall.

KJ sporting her supergirl bows.

It’s all about the Ice Cream……

2008-11-03T12:47:00.000-05:00

The most eye-opening civics lesson I ever had was while teaching third grade in 2000. The presidential election was heating up and some of the children showed an interest. I decided we would have an election for a class president. We would choose our nominees. They would make a campaign speech and the class would vote. To simplify the process, candidates were nominated by other class members. We discussed what kinds of characteristics these students should have. We got many nominations and from those, Jamie and Olivia were picked to run for the top spot.
The class had done a great job in their selections. Both candidates were good kids. I thought Jamie might have an advantage because he got lots of parental support. I had never seen Olivia’s mother. The day arrived when they were to make their speeches Jamie went first. He had specific ideas about how to make our class a better place. He ended by promising to do his very best. Everyone applauded. He sat down and Olivia came to the podium. Her speech was concise. She said, “If you will vote for me, I will give you ice cream.” She sat down. The class went wild. “Yes! Yes! We want ice cream.” She surely would say more. She did not have to. A discussion followed. How did she plan to pay for the ice cream? She wasn’t sure. Would her parents buy it or would the class pay for it? She didn’t know. The class really didn’t care. All they were thinking about was ice cream. Jamie was forgotten. Olivia won by a land slide.

Every time Barack Obama opens his mouth he offers ice cream, and fifty percent of America reacts like nine-year-olds. They want ice cream. The other fifty percent know they’re going to have to feed the cow.

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-03T07:47:00.002-05:00

"Fire" and "Supergirl" had a great Halloween. Thanks to Grammy for making Fire's costume. This year the girls and their friend David went to lots of houses in Ma and Papa's neighborhood. They could barely carry their buckets of candy. As Kelsey would say "they are very very heavy."

The Best Thing Since the Magic Eraser

2008-10-31T12:53:00.002-04:00

I just love this stuff. It is called Kids N Pets and you can find it at Walmart for around $3. It gets rid of every type of stain on the carpet. I originally tried it to combat cat puke and it works soooo great. Now I have found out that it works on pretty much any stain or mark on the carpet. It also eliminates odors...it is just amazing stuff...and cheap. When the magic eraser first came out I would walk around the house hoping to find a mark on the wall. Now I walk around looking for all the carpet blemishes. Happy Cleaning!

Friday Funny

2008-10-31T11:19:00.000-04:00

Shrek, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Lopez were all having lunch together.
Shrek said, 'I have always thought that I'm the strongest man in the world, but how can I be sure?'
Brad Pitt said, 'I'm pretty sure I'm the hottest man alive but
I've never had it confirmed.'
Jennifer Lopez agreed. 'I'm told I'm the sexiest of them all, but sometimes I wonder.'
They all decided that the best way to find out if their beliefs were true was to approach the wicked Queen's mirror to confirm for them whether Shrek was the strongest, Brad Pitt was the hottest and Jennifer Lopez was the sexiest.
They agreed to meet again the next day for lunch to discuss their findings.
The next day Shrek walked up with a smile. 'Well, it's true. The mirror told me that I am the strongest man in the world.'
Brad Pitt walked in and boasted, 'It is true, it has been confirmed that I am the hottest man alive!!'
J-Lo walked in, head bent, tears in her eyes and asked, "Who the heck is Marsha Pettyjohn?"

Haha...Happy Halloween!

Shhhh...guess who is due in 2 months???

2008-10-29T08:49:00.000-04:00

I thought that you would like to hear this from me and not from someone else. I know what you are probably thinking. This is supposed to be a secret, but the truth will eventually come out.....
Anyway, guess who is due in about 2 months?
Santa Claus!

Ho Ho Ho!

Bumper Sticker

2008-10-28T09:13:00.001-04:00

'I'll keep my freedom, my guns, and my money, you can keep "THE CHANGE."
Vote for McCain/Palin

Confused Priorities

2008-10-27T21:43:00.003-04:00

What happens when you bring home a 52" television and show it to your 3 and 5 year old? Easy, they barely notice it, run right past it, and drool over the box that it came in.

We have been informed that we are never going to throw it away, and that they will be able to play with it forever! It was such a success that I just might need to get a TV for my office too so they can each have their own castle! I'll make the sacrifice for my girls! -Randy

New Hairbows

2008-10-27T17:12:00.002-04:00

I made some new bows this weekend (it has been a while so I was going through withdrawals). You can see all the bows on the photo album on the right column (below the Etsy block) but the ones below turned out to be some of my favorites. We will be at Christmas in Braselton on November 8th.

Snowman Bows (these make me wish it was fashionable for adults to wear bows):

Infant bows (lots of people asked for these at Auburnfest, they have velcro on the inside):

And of course a UGA bow. Someone I work with requested one and I made some extras.

Visit to the Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-26T16:06:00.005-04:00

We visted the Washington Farms Pumpkin Patch last week. This has become a yearly tradition for us and the Otto's. We watched the pig races, visited the petting farm, duck races, rode on the cow train, giant bikes, hay ride and picked out some pumpkins.

Kelsey and Audrey racing their ducks.

Audrey's pick from the pumpkin patch. We carved it yesterday.

Randy and Marsha on the hayride.

Best friends, Audrey and Trinity.

Kelsey and Marsha on the Hay Ride.

Set your TiVo

2008-10-21T13:06:00.001-04:00

Get ready for next season of Dancing with the Stars!

Hairbow Update

2008-10-19T20:53:00.002-04:00

We had a busy hairbow weekend. We had the Auburnfest this Saturday. There wasn't quite the turnout that was expected, but still lots of fun. We received great reviews on our bows and were able to sell enough to pay for all the bows we have made so far. We still have several Halloween bows left so that led us to part 2 of the bow weekend.

We now have an Etsy shop. You can see the link on the right column of the blog. We also have a photo albulm of most of our bows. It is also on the right column just click the header "Hairbows." We are going through and editing the pictures so some have descriptions and prices included on the photo, but not all of them yet and some are still duplicates. Thanks to the hubby for making a chix0r out of me!

Happy Fall Break!

Pettyjohn Superheroes

2008-10-14T12:51:00.004-04:00

Audrey is going to be Fire for Halloween. Fire is a character from the Justice League that is not known by many....or pretty much anybody. You would think her outfit would be red or maybe orange...but it is green. Green hair, green gloves, green halter top, green pants and green boots. So this weekend we worked on Fire's hair...who knew you could spraypaint a wig? It turned out great!

Kelsey is going to be Supergirl. But since Audrey had green hair, she wanted her hair to be colorful too. So we might end up having Supergirl with pink hair.

Randy and I are still working on our costumes. Unfortunetly most superhero costumes consist of some sort of spandex...

Auburnfest Info

2008-10-10T08:05:00.002-04:00

Auburnfest, downtown Auburn, GA
Saturday, October 18th
10:00 to 6:00
They have all the normal festival activities plus some extras (junk food, bands, a street dance, vendors, kiddie rides, a pie tasting contest, the Auburn museum will be open, and some sort of demonstration from the Fort Yargo historical society). You can go the city of Auburn web page to read all the details.

Renee and I are finished making our bows. We are in the process of sorting and organizing them and are very exicted with our results. We have sold some of them to coworkers and friends and have had very good feedback. I had good intentions of getting some pictures posted but haven't succeeded. We have the bug bows (ladybugs, dragonflies, bumble bees, and butterflies), Halloween bows, Christmas bows, Fall bows, team bows, all occasion bows and all kinds of korkers. We have over 500 items to sell! We could keep making them but we have to stop somewhere :) Hope to see you there!

Back to School!

2008-10-09T10:56:00.003-04:00

It looks official...Randy will be going back to school in January. He will be finishing a degree in consumer economics. Everything seems to be falling into place nicely with Verizon paying for his classes and fighting over what store wants to have him/keep him, and having inside help from the college. Go Randy!

Tooth Fairy Visits

2008-10-06T08:53:00.002-04:00

Audrey lost her first tooth yesterday. She woke me up early Sunday morning to tell me it was loose. After a morning of wiggling it with her tongue and brushing her teeth a lot, Aunt Ginny squeezed it and it popped right out. Audrey is very excited...only boys have lost teeth in her class so far...and she can still whistle.

Say it ain't so Joe

2008-10-03T08:32:00.004-04:00

I stayed up way past my bedtime and watched the debate. My favorite part was when Governor Palin said "... Let's do what our parents told us before we probably even got that first credit card. Don't live outside of our means. We need to make sure that as individuals we're taking personal responsibility through all of this. "

It was refreshing to hear at least some mention that in part our current problems are because people made bad personal decisions. Now if only they had some plan that used positive reinforcement...I would love to hear them say "here is your thank you check for paying your mortgage."

If you need a good laugh...

2008-10-02T08:58:00.002-04:00

check out cakewrecks.blogspot.com

The fan favorites are found over on the right side of the blog....but most all of them are funny. Can anyone guess my favorite?

Who Needs Snow?

2008-10-02T08:31:00.003-04:00

Sleding in a swimsuit is so much more fun than a snow suit! Audrey thinks sliding down our giant hill is a blast. Kelsey wanted to join her and has apprehension all over her face but she held on very tight and actually did enjoy it.

Audrey actually has to stop by putting her feet over the side. If it ever does snow we will have to put some bails of hay at the bottom...or else they might just end up in the woods.

And now the hard part. Wonder who convinced Kelsey to pull it back to the top!