Happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy Thanksgiving!  I have so much to be thankful for!  I'm looking forward to a relaxed day with family & friends.  Hope you have a great day too!

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Happy Birthday Logan!!

Ten years ago today I learned that my heart was big enough for 2 precious boys!  

Where have those 10 years gone?  

Logan you are such a sweet caring boy.  I love your creativity and imagination.  

We're celebrating with wings and apple pie ... the Birthday Boy's requests of course!

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Lego Cake

My son Logan is a Lego fanatic!  He spends hours building sets and his own creations.  So it was fun and fitting to make a Lego cake for his 10th birthday party!  Plus I earned some BIG "cool mom" points with Logan for this one.

Using 4 cakes mixes total, I made 5 cakes in loaf pans and 12 cupcakes.  I filled the loaf pans two thirds full and the cupcakes less than half full.  The loaf pans took longer than a 9x13 to bake. I didn't watch the time though so I can't tell you just how long. They were a great shape for Lego Bricks with the cupcakes as the pegs.  I used toothpicks to help keep the cupcakes in place while I frosted the "bricks" with bright colored frosting.  I stacked them and added a handful of the real thing around the cakes.

When he saw the cake, my neighbor's son commented "I'm having that kind of cake for my birthday too."  His birthday is in September.  Guess he's planning ahead!

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Halloween Costumes - Do You Make or Buy Them?

My boys as Link from Legend of Zelda, a Ninja and French Fries in 2009

Thinking back to Halloween as a kid, the first thing that I remember is the excitement over what I was going to dress up as.  My mom and dad always made our costumes.  I don't remember my mom sewing often but her sewing machine came out at Halloween time.  I don't own a sewing machine but I enjoy making costumes for my kiddos.  I probably get more excited about it than they do.

We spent yesterday evening working on this year's costumes.  (I'll post pics next week.) I'd like to tell you that I save by making costumes instead of buying them ... sometimes I do and sometimes I don't.  And yes it takes time to make them. The money I spend and the time it takes to make them is worth the fun to me!

Whether you make or buy costumes I do think the best way to save is to recycle them.  We have a friend who plays in and wears his costumes all year.  Two years ago, Dylan went as Kermit the Frog in a costume my mom made for my brother about 30 years ago.  I remember Halloween pictures where I was dressed as an Indian Girl and a few years later my Indian dress was cut off to be an Indian shirt for my brother's costume. Consignment stores and resale shops are a great place to find or sell Halloween costumes.  Trading costumes with friends is another way to save. Check out the Halloween clearance sales next week for next year's costumes.

Homemade, store bought, new or used costumes .... I hope you and your little ones enjoy dressing up for Halloween this year! 

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First Day of School 2010

Where has time gone??

My baby started kindergarten today.  He climbed up on the bus without even the slightest hesitation!  My sister asked if was all smiles or teary.  I answered "Both! But the tears waited until after Dylan was gone."

Logan started 4th grade last week. His last year at the elementary school!

Zachary is a Big 6th Grader!  It doesn't seem possible!

I'm so proud of all three of my boys!! It's gonna be a great school year!

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Happy Birthday Dylan!!

Happy 6th Birthday to my Sweet Baby Dylan!!

How did you go from this .....

To this so quickly??

You are such a blessing and joy.  You will always be my baby even as you keep growing to a fun, loving and super smart boy!  I love you! 

Here are a few highlights from the Backyard Water Fun Birthday party ... including the "Whipped Cream Pie in the Face" fight.

Notice the hat .... it was a gift from Dylan's friend Nick who happens to have the same hat.  Dylan hasn't hardly taken it off since the party.  So Cute!

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I'm a Lucky Girl!

I am very impressed and couldn't resist sharing!

Look what my hubby and boys made for me ....

They used this recipe. Can you see what the strawberries "say?"

A perfect ending to an awesome Birthday dinner with my hubby, boys, mom and brother.

Thanks Guys!  I love you!

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Have You Ever Been Ziplining???

This has nothing to do with saving or earning money... and actually it's far from frugal!  But .....

I just made reservations for a 3 hour Zipline Tour on Sunday with my mom, hubby and my 2 sisters.  Now I'm a little scared!!  I don't have a fear of heights but I don't know what to expect.  Have you ever been Ziplining before??  What did you think? Any thoughts?  I'll post some pics and my thoughts next week. 

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Unplanned Blogging Break ...

So you may have noticed that I've been slacking taken a break around here lately.  This past weekend especially .... we we went to Tennessee to visit a friend of my hubby's from college.  I took my laptop and planned to use it but found out when we arrived that their internet service had been down for days.  That's okay I thought.  We planned to come home Sunday morning which meant that I would have Sunday evening to catch up or at the very least get my Menu Plan and this week's grocery deals posted.  Well the sunshine and new ski boat hubby's friend just bought (he lives on a lake) enticed us into another day on the lake.  We got home last night around 11:00 pm.  I did my Menu Plan and went to bed planning to get caught up tonight instead. 

Yeah sure ...

Tim took vacation days for Monday and Tuesday to play with the boys and I.  We went to Boomerang Bay at Kings Island this morning but were quickly rained out.  We came home and watched Toy Story snuggled up together.  We scratched the pizza plan for dinner, went to Champps and back to Kings Island for the evening.  We closed the park!  Once again it's late and I'm headed to bed.   

Tomorrow's plan ... Stay home for the morning and afternoon.  Get Caught Up! (If I put it in writing then I must follow through right? ) Then go see Toy Story 3 tomorrow evening. 

I hope you're having fun Summer days like we are! 

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A New Learning Curve ....

Bear with me a little while I figure out a blogging schedule with my kiddos home on Summer Break.  I'm sure that I'm stretching it a little to claim that I'd figured out a blogging schedule while they were still in school but it's definitely going to be a new challenge now.  This is the first time I've been on my laptop all day and that's very unusual!

We celebrated the boy's first day off with friends at Kings Island.  After a hot day of rides/roller coasters, we came home and quickly left again for some time at the YMCA outdoor pool.  I was thrilled that all 3 boys ... especially the youngest ... passed the swim test on the first try.  That means there will be lots of water sliding in their future!! We're getting ready to watch a movie together now.  I may or may not get back on the computer tonight.  Have a great evening!!

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Lowe's Build & Grow Clinic --- Success!!

My hubby took all 3 of our boys to the Lowe's Build & Grow Clinic this morning. They made Catapults. It's the first one they've gone to and with the stories and smiles they came home with I'm sure it won't be the last! My boys were too cute coming in the door in their aprons (two of the three of them at least ... the year old didn't want the apron) and googles. Just wanted to share!

The next Build & Grow Clinic at Lowe's is next weekend May 29th. The project is a race car.

And two weeks after that on June 12th they will be building a Picture Frame.

Register Here for either one or both!  Oh and they are FREE!!

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Happy Easter Everyone!

I hope you enjoyed a wonderful Easter!  This post is several hours later than I planned it.  We had an incredible day that lasted hours longer than we could have imagined it would last.  Friends and my mom came over at 11:00 am for brunch and an Easter Egg Hunt.  The weather was picture perfect.  I don't remember an Easter with such beautiful weather.  After the Easter Egg Hunt we found ourselves relaxed on our deck.  The sunshine bright and kids ... and adults ... having a great time playing outside.  More friends came over. An impromptu dinner was put together and after a calm, relaxing and enjoyable day everyone just left about an hour ago ... 8:30 pm.  I couldn't have asked for a better day!

With that said ... I am still relaxed and calm and not ready to think so.... planning my Menu Plan hasn't even occurred to me yet.  Two of my three kids go back to school and my hubby goes back to work tomorrow.  That will mean more of a normal schedule than we've had here for weeks.  Look for Menu Plan Monday on Monday this week along with several things I want to catch up on.

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Happy Birhtday to my Sweet Zachary!!

It can't possibly have been 11 years ago that I became a mom. 

Where did the years go? And what happened to my baby boy? He is growing up so fast!

Zachary you are such a caring, smart, fun-loving boy and I am amazed every day that I get to be your mom! I love you!

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13 Years Already ....

Look what I found waiting just outside my garage door this morning!!

Even though he is busy working long days in New Jersey my wonderful hubby, Tim, enlisted the help of a friend to spoil me for our anniversary.  We actually get to celebrate 2 anniversaries today.  It was 15 years ago today that we met and 13 years ago today we got married.  I can't believe that many years have gone by. All these years and three kids later .... I love you more than ever Tim!

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Sometimes Plans Change

There seems to be a common theme at our house for the last few days .... sometimes plans change!  Of course I knew that before ....

Last week when I did our menu plan I had a dinner at home planned for each night.  On Tuesday, our boys .... All 3 of them .... were invited for a sleepover at a friend's house on Friday night.  No kids for a whole night ... WOW!!  So of course hubby and I didn't have Chicken Tetrazini for Dinner.  We made plans for a much needed date night with dinner out and a quiet morning at home on Saturday.  Then I heard that Ikea was having $1 Meatball Meals this weekend.  So that added to the fact that my boys were having pizza at the sleepover, we decided to change our menu plan for Saturday from homemade pizza to meatballs instead.  Add that to PJ Day and free ice cream at Bruster's .... sounded like the perfect family date night out for Saturday.  (Read on because my information about Bruster's PJ Day was wrong.)

So all of that sounds like good changes right?  Well yes the boys went for their sleepover and hubby and I had a great night out.  Then the phone rang at 3:30 am.  My middle son, Logan, had just gotten sick all over his sleeping bag at his friend's house.  Off we went to get him.  We got a few more hours of sleep and woke to Logan still not feeling great but asking for breakfast.  Good sign for the day, right?  We played as a family outside .... in the 50 degree sunshine .... Logan included .... for hours.  We had lunch on the deck and decided that the plan for Ikea and Bruster's was still on.  4 of the 5 of us got showers and dressed in our PJ's.  Then Logan came to me and said "Mom I think I'm going to be sick."  And he was right.

Now what's for dinner?  We decided that the other 2 boys and I would go to Bruster's and come back home for a chicken nachos/tacos dinner.  This is where having dinners prepared ahead and in freezer is so valuable!!

The 3 of us got to Bruster's in our PJ's and found a PJ Day poster in the window.... with a date of March 20th.  Remember today is March 6th.  I commented that I thought the PJ Day was today.  A manager (I think) came to the window ... commented how cute my boys were in their PJ's and asked what kind of ice cream we wanted in our waffle cones.  She then told the boys to make sure to have me bring them back on the 20th for another FREE cone! She didn't have to give us our ice cream for FREE today but by doing so she made a future customer out of me .... that and the fact that the Cherry Cheesecake ice cream is to die for!!  So mark your calendar for PJ Day at Bruster's on March 20th.

So yes life is full of changes ... some good and some not so good.

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Happy Valetines Day!!

Hope you've had a Happy Valentine's Day spent with those you love!  We had a great stay at home day today.  I decided to do something I always say that I won't do again ..... and the outcome was GREAT!!  The boys (all of them including my hubby) and I spent the day making Valentine Treats. See my favorite new treat below.  Usually baking together starts out with lots of interest and participation .... but the participation fades very quickly and mom is left doing most of of it by herself.  We baked in stages today and everyone stuck around through most of the day.  It was an enjoyable stay at home family day!

Logan and Zachary being goofy with their licorice.

My Crew posing for a picture. 

No bunny ears for once!

Dylan worked hard helping to roll out and cut cookies.  He's not shy for the camera!

Logan and Zack worked to ice the heart shaped cookies.  
Pink was okay for once.

Our Finished Products

Dylan had a treat at his Valentine's Day party at school that I HAD to try.  Red Licorice dipped in white chocolate and topped with sprinkles.  YUM!!!  I had never seen this before.  It is sooo good and also very easy.

The boys then bundled up and delivered a plate of cookies and licorice to several neighbors.
It's time to put away the rest of the cookies.  I've eaten way too many .... they need to be out of sight!

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