Bittersweet

Last week I got in the attic to get out the kids clothes out from last Fall. I could not even move up there! It is packed with ALL kinds of things, but most of the stuff are things that we will never use again!!!

So yesterday I decided that I am having a yard sale on Saturday! Last night Daniel and I cleaned out the attic! Now you can't walk in my house, but at least the attic is nice and clean!!!HA!

I started pricing some things last night and it hit me like a ton of bricks. Most of the things that we are selling and will never use again were baby things. We are selling EVERYTHING from the crib, strollers, to all of Drew's baby clothes. Looking at all of these things made me really sad! I looked through the clothes and remembered my Drew Boo wearing them and how tiny he was and then I went and looked at both of the kids sleeping in their rooms and thought about how big they have gotten and how fast the years go by.

Last night, it occurred to me that Daniel and I were closing the chapter of have children and moving onto the next chapter of our life. We both have struggled over the past several years whether or not our family was complete and we now have a peace about it. Even though I have a peace about it, it is still hard getting rid of all this stuff! This week is going to be BITTERSWEET!!!

I am looking forward to the next chapter and what God has in store for our family. I am so blessed to be the mother of His children and I pray everyday that I will be the mother that He has called me to be!!!

My morning............

Drew and I was out and about bright and early this morning! We went to breakfast and then

headed to Harris Teeter for the super double coupons(double coupons up to $1.98)!!!! You all know by now that I am NOT a morning person, but some deals are just too good to pass up and if you don't get there early, the good deals will be GONE!!!

Here is Drew after we finished our shopping. He spotted this dragon on our way in HT and wanted to ride it, so being the good mommy that I am I rewarded(bribed) him with a ride after our shopping trip if he was good in the store. That Dragon is my new friend! Drew did GREAT in the store and that was even with him walking and not riding in the buggy!!!:-)

Back to my shopping trip, this is what I came home with..........

(you can click on the picture to make it bigger)

my total was $27!

And the best part is that since I have my stock pile built up, I have everything I need for my grocery shopping this week! $27 is not too shabby for a weeks worth of groceries!!!!

I added up all the money that we spent on groceries this month. When I say groceries I am talking about food, washing detergent, cleaning supplies, paper products, health and beauty supplies, everything that I normally bought at Wal-Mart.

I have spent a total of 331.54 this month!

Before I starting using coupons I spent at least $500 a month at Wal-Mart, so I have saved $168.46!

My goal for September is to spend less than $300!

Saturday FUN!

We met friends at the splash pad

for some end of the summer fun!

Drew, JD and Grace Anne having a BLAST!

Grace Anne, Morgan and Drew

Drew and his partner in crime:-)

It was a fun day with good friends!

Our week....

We have had a good week. It has been a bit of a challenge for me. Getting up early is for the birds! Have I told ya'll that I'm NOT a morning person!!!:-)

Grace Anne has had a GREAT week at school

I asked her what was her favorite thing about school and she said EVERYTHING!:-)

I have ENJOYED spending some one on one time with my

Drew Boo!
He is getting so big and he will start 4k next year, so this is my last year with him at home with me all day!:-( They grow up too fast!

He has been busy helping mommy

grocery shop

(don't worry he is learning to use coupons too!ha!)

and doing laundry!

(His wife will thank me one day!ha!)

My little cowboy/batman

keeps me entertained!

Have mentioned that I LOVE my job????:-)

Ready or not, 1st grade here I come!

Grace Anne was so excited about school starting back. I am trying to get excited and adjusted to our "school routine".:-)

This morning went Great! We could not get to school fast enough for Grace Anne, and I had NO tears!!! Yay!!! That is HUGE for me, last year I cried for a week!

Most of you already know that I am big on traditions. Last year every morning on the way to school we would pray with Grace Anne before she started off her day. This year thanks to my friend Tami, we have added another tradition.

Every night before the first day of school we read "Oh the places you'll go".

after we read the book she tells me her favorite part of the story and we write it down along

with the date and and what grade she is going into.

She also signs her name beside it!

It was so neat to look at Alexander's book and see how the meaning of the book changed to him each year. Thanks Tami for the GREAT idea! We are praying for Alexander as he starts his first year of COLLEGE!!!!

Now on to this morning!

Lunchbox and book bag packed and ready to go!

my sweet girl is ready for the

1st grade!!!!

Here she is in the car and ready to GO!

Walking into her school

looking for her class!

She found it with NO problems!!!

and I left her waiting in the hall with her class ready for school to start!

We are excited and ready for a GREAT year in 1st grade!!!!

Back to School Family Night!!!!!

Grace Anne can NOT wait until school starts, she has been counting down the days! So tonight we ended our summer with a BACK TO SCHOOL FAMILY NIGHT!!!

We started off by playing with play dough

Next Drew worked on matching colors

while Grace Anne did some math games with sorting raisins

After the game she used them on her snack.....

Ants on a log! GA requested this snack for family night, she and her daddy enjoyed it while Drew and I did NOT!!!yuck!

Then we moved on to our pencil hunt!

The kids had a blast, we had to play this game several times!

For dinner we went lunchroom style!

After dinner Grace Anne and I picked out clothes for her to wear the first week of school and we then had a BACK TO SCHOOL FASHION SHOW!!!!

She LOVED walking up and down

the runway!

It was a fun night and just what we needed

to kick off the school year!!!

COUPONS!!!!!

Okay, I have had tons of you email me about my last coupon post!

So, you are wanting in on the secret of SAVING TONS OF MONEY????

Well, for my out of town readers, go to www.southernsavers.com and start saving! If you are new at coupons click on the "Getting Started" tab. This is a GREAT site and it should be a big help! If you have any other questions, just let me know!

For you local readers(Florence, SC), check out www.southernsavers.com and if you have any questions, I am available for a small fee! HAHA! JUST KIDDING!

This site has been a HUGE help to me. The workshop that I went to was taught by the lady that runs this website. She does a GREAT job!

I will be more than happy to share with you how I do my shopping and SAVE $$$$! I have been known to go shopping with friends and show them ropes of coupons!:-)

I am having WAY to much fun grocery shopping and I can't wait to hear about your savings!!!:-)

Go check out www.southernsavers.com! If you have any other questions PLEASE ask!:-)

Also, thanks to all my blog readers for posting comments and emailing me this week! I was beginning to wonder if I had any readers! I have felt the love this week! Keep it coming!!!!!!:-)

all good things come to an end.....

This is our last week of summer and we are going to make the best of it! This week we are going to have LOTS of playdates and do our best to enjoy every last minute of summer!:-)

I sure am going to miss having this sweet girl home with me during the day

but I know that this sweet boy will keep me BUSY!!!

I am so blessed to be able to spend so much time with my kids

I thank God everyday for calling me to be a stay at home mom!!!

Fun at the pool!

Today was Daniel's off day,

so we packed up and headed to the pool!

I can't believe that summer is almost over! Next week will be our last week of summer!

Grace Anne starts back to school on Aug. 17, my how this summer has FLOWN by!

Speaking of school, we went yesterday and registered Grace Anne for the 1st grade! She was beyond excitement when she found out that her best friend Maggie was in her class! She also got to meet her new teacher, who seems very nice.

Before yesterday Grace Anne said she was NOT ready for school to start, well after yesterday, she can't WAIT!!!! She is ready for the 1st grade!

It's so ADDICTING!!!!

No I am not talking about FACEBOOK!ha!:-) I am talking about COUPONS!!!! The first of June I was "talked" into going to a coupon workshop. I was not happy at all about going, but I went anyway. I have NEVER liked coupons and I would get VERY upset when I would get behind someone in line with 50 million coupons!!! How dare they hold me up, my time is precious you know?

Well, I went to this workshop and left there very confused, but willing to give this coupon thing a try. I told Daniel I would try it for a month, but I was not happy that the lady told me that I would not save money by shopping at WAL-MART!!!! Let me tell you I LOVED Wal-Mart and I had withdrawals the first month!:-)

To make a long story short, I have turned into "that lady" that you don't want to get behind in the checkout line! I LOVE my coupons!!!!!

I have cut our grocery bill in half by using coupons. Before coupons I spent an average of $125 a week for grocery's and now I average $60 a week. I have to say it was not easy at first, I am a creature of habit and I always bought the same thing each week. Now I buy what is on sale and what I have coupons for. We have more food now than we have ever had!

My family laughs at me and says I won't buy anything without a coupon. Well, they are right, and I am PROUD of my addiction!!!!!

I usually do my shopping on Wednesdays or Thursdays, but this week I went on Sunday since we had been out of town. I was not planning on going shopping again for another week or so. But today when I looked at the new Bi-Lo sales add I grabbed my coupons and the kids and we headed to our new favorite store!!!!

Here is the deal I got today.........

The total bill was $66.95 but after my coupons the total was $12.95!!!!:-)

Now do you see why I get so giddy about coupons????

We're Back!!!!

It is sooo good to be home and have our little family back together again!!! I have LOTS of pictures to share with you, but first I wanted to update you all on Donnie(Daniel's dad). He had surgery on Friday and God yet again allowed us to see a miracle! The tumor was sent to the lab and it came back BENIGN!!!!!

Praise the Lord!!! What a mighty God we serve!!!!

Donnie is at home and doing good, please keep him in your prayers as he continues to recover from the surgery.

Now on to some pictures from our week in Alabama!

Grace Anne and Drew got to visit with

Great Granny(Daniel's grandmother).

She loves GA and Drew so much, we wish we

could pack her up and bring her home with us!

We also would love to bring PawPaw Andy(my grandfather)

home with us too! The kids love to go to his house and play.

We took the kids to different places that we liked to go to

when we were kids........

Here are the kids at

The University of North Alabama

They LOVED

watching the lions

Here is Leo

and Una!

Then we headed over to Spring Park

for a fun afternoon

with Austin and Emma

(my brother's kids and GA & Drew's only cousins)

The kids loved the train ride

Me and the girls enjoying the day together!

We had a great week spending time with family. We wish we could spend more time with them, but since we can't we do the best we can to make memories that will last forever!