Leave your crayon box on the back porch.
Kohl’s Deal
I love good deals. No surprise there. Just had to tell you about this one I got at Kohl’s last night!
Yes, I paid $1.59 and saved $71! Here’s what I got:
Yes, very random (and mis-matched) stuff. I’d apologize for the unmentionables but they’re so cute and that’s what I got! I walked around with them wadded up in my hand in the store but yet I’ll put a picture of it on here. I don’t get it either.
ANYWAY, here’s how I did it:
A few weeks ago they had a really good deal on beach towels. Normally $22.99-$29.99, on sale for $7.99. So I bought EIGHT of them since we use them for the pool so much. I had a 15% coupon and THEN got back $10 in Kohl’s Cash for spending over $50. So I spent $54 for 8 towels. You can’t get half-decent beach towels at Wal-mart for that. That alone was a great deal.
Last night I used that $10 I earned and then another $5 coupon I got for signing up for their email to buy another towel, a belt, bra and underwear for $1.59. So between both purchases, I saved $200! Woot!
Wedding Weekend Recap
We had a beautiful wedding weekend in Pennsylvania. Mornings were spent around our hosts’ pool and the evenings at The Hayloft where one of the most beautiful weddings I’ve seen took place. If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you’ve heard me beg you to look at the pictures but if not, please take a moment and look at the photographer’s set here. You can see my set here where you can take a sneak peek of my purple dress I mentioned Thursday which you will not care about at all as you drool over the wedding.
Other random notables from the weekend:
- My infection cleared up and I could finally talk with a normal voice on Saturday.
- Lexi threw up at Friday night. Yay for cleaning that up in someone else’s house with no help at 2am.
- Emma got sick during the rehearsal dinner. Thankfully it was only a fever and thankfully it was at the groom’s parents rental house and she was able to knock out on the couch.
- Our host had a July 4th party that we crashed while we were there. They sure know how to throw down some food. Ribs, shrimp, scallops, pies, etc, etc.
- Our host got up before we left on Monday morning and made Scott an entire blueberry pie since he couldn’t make it to their party. The look on his face when he got it was priceless.
- I thought we might be missing on the July 4th fireworks but the display at the wedding was spectacular! I was legit ooh-ing and ahh-ing, particularly at the finale.
- My cousin was so gorgeous. I just can’t stop saying it. I think my favorite part of the whole wedding though was the horse and buggy bringing the girls in as the groomsmen walked the aisle. The clip-clop of the horses seriously took my breath away. A close second was the father-daughter dance at the reception. Or the bridesmaid’s toast. Seriously some good stuff.
- All that said, we did over 20 hours of driving this weekend. I don’t want to take a long trip for a long time!
Another Wedding Weekend
So another cousin is getting married this weekend. They picked July 4th and are even giving their guests a fireworks display. I’m pretty pumped. Also pumped about my new dress for it. It’s the most purple dress I’ve ever known and I’m pretty excited to wear it. Hopefully I won’t look like a bad 80’s prom date. My cousin probably wouldn’t appreciate that much.
Scott unfortunately is not able to go. All I can say is South Carolina drivers, beware this weekend. Heather thankfully is going with me and the girls. Also thankfully my infection seems to be headed out my nose at about a rate of 10 tissues per minute. Heather said she wasn’t feeling good so let’s pray she doesn’t have a week long thing like me because that would really stink for the trip and wedding.
Anyway, I’m looking forward to the time off and sharing a special moment with my family this weekend.
And the Bottles Are For…
I feel like this needs some documentation. The girls have been collecting empty bottles and putting them on their headboard. I don’t know why I let them really. I guess no good reason not to. The question is why? Why are they collecting empty bottles on their headboard?
You might guess they are saving them to recycle. But oh no.
Maybe they want to reuse them for a fun summer craft project?
Maybe as trophies to show who drank more?
However, if you happen to guess they are pretending they are microphones and have so many so each of their pretend club members have one, you might be right! Ding, ding, ding!
Eclipse Review
OK, gut reaction while watching the first half of the movie: This is boring. I wonder if there’s somewhere I can lay down.
Gut reaction while watching the second half of the movie: OK, now I don’t have to completely slam the movie.
Gut reaction while walking out of the movie: That was a dumb movie. Can I see Jac0b again?
Ok, yes, maybe because I’m sick but ya’ll, that was disappointing. Yes, there were many redemptive qualities but it completely missed the mark of setting up any kind storyline between Edward/Bella/Jac0b. Any kind of work New Moon did to establish the connection between Jac0b and Bella was completely obliterated. For the first half of the movie, you wouldn’t have even known any of New Moon existed. Bella seemed to have made up her mind. It wasn’t until the kiss after the tent scene that there was any connection between them.
I guess I just felt like they stuck a bunch of our favorite scenes and put them together. I mean, the Florida trip was completely forgettable and pointless. Why even have that?
However, there was some really, really good stuff.
- Taylor Lautner. Wow. Can I get a couple screenshots of that please?
- I enjoyed Edward so much more in this movie. He actually smiled and I felt like Edward really loved Bella in a normal, non-stalkerish non-Ihatemylife kind of way. Rob really was Edward in this movie for me.
- The meadow scenes were fantastic
- The bedroom scene at Edward’s was great. I particularly awed over the proposal. Hello, ring!
- I gladly give major props to Jackson Rathbone finally. He nailed Jasper this time and I really enjoyed him.
- Ditto for Rosalie.
- The guy that played Riley and the girl that played, well, the girl that they saved were spot on. Loved them.
- Tent scene was my most anticipated scene and it did not disappoint. It delivered my favorite line of the movie, “I’m hotter than you.” Fantastic line. I also enjoyed the discussion between Edward and Jac0b instead of all glares or threats.
As you can see, there are many things I did like about the movie but I just don’t think it holds together as a movie very well.
For those that have seen it, what’d you think?
Cooking with The Pioneer Woman: (2nd) Weekly Update
Alternately title: I’M FINISHED!!!!!!
I got so excited yesterday realizing I only had one left that I decided to go ahead tackle the end of the book. I also realized I’d never made the Pot Roast either! So I tackled both the Breakfast Bowls and Pot Roast as my last dishes of the book.
Breakfast Bowls
These were WAY yummier than I thought they’d be. However, this took a ton of prep time and I already had the sausage cooked, left-over from the burritos the other day. While I would eat this again I probably won’t be making it again.
Perfect Pot Roast
Here’s the thing with the pot roast. The roast my mom taught me to make in the crock pot is one of my favorite recipes ever. It’s so simple and yummy and I think I wrote this recipe off almost as soon as I saw it. Not fair but true. And while this take a lot more prep compared to my Mom’s version, this wasn’t as bad as it seemed. I still prefer the flavor of Mom’s version better but Scott was ooh-ing and aah-ing the whole time he was eating and I think he preferred this one. Simply because of the prep time, I’ll stick with the version I have but if I didn’t have a good recipe I’d definitely stick with this one.
So THAT’S IT! I’M DONE WITH THE BOOK!!!
I’ll probably do some follow-up posts on this but I have to say this is by far one of the best things I’ve ever done. I fell in love with cooking for the first time ever and I learned SO MUCH all while providing for my family. Can’t get better than that!
I’ve said it before but this was a life-changer. PW, I can’t thank you enough!!
Top Ten Tuesday: Mommy and Wifey Reminders
Oh, I had written these as a regular post but it’s pretty perfect for Top Ten Tuesday…
Scott and I spent some time with a new friend tonight. She’s older and wiser and we talked a lot about parenting and marriage. Came away with the reminder that the basic stuff still matters and works. I made a list for myself as a reminder and thought I’d share.
- Be up before or with the kids
- Fix 3 healthy meals
- Give your child your full attention, especially when he/she is asking for it
- Give one-on-one attention to each child
- Don’t send your kids off to an activity at every chance
- Have their playthings organized
- Make them clean up their messes
- Don’t back down when your kids buck your authority
- Don’t let the kids play you and your spouse against each other
- Money doesn’t make a difference whether you are a successful parent
OK, so that’s ten but I haven’t even gotten to the marriage part!
- Don’t emasculate your husband
- Don’t emotionally detach from your husband
- Husbands, lead your family and fight for your wife and kids
- The health of your marriage is a choice, one that both parties make
- Don’t give up
As you can see, a lot of these are quite convicting. It’s easy to say, oh yeah, of course I do that but I know I fail a lot. But the little stuff matters. It really, really matters. To those mommys and wifeys out there doing even some of these, give yourself a pat on the back! You’re doing your job well!
Check out more Top Ten Tuesday posts over at ohamanda.com