Slow afternoon...

After a busy day cooking and cleaning yesterday and having company last night, I didn't feel like doing much today. So while the kids took their nap, I piddled on the computer checking out grocery ads and comparing them to the coupons I had in my book. I LOVE doing this and seeing what kinds of things I can get for free or nearly free.  After a trip with the family to Lowes and Harris Teeter, and after $24.51 out of pocket, this is what we came home with....

Gallon of Milk

Reddi Whip

2 Bakers Joy baking spray

10 Green Giant frozen vegetables

2.5 dozen eggs

3 blocks of cheese

bag of baby carrots

3 sweet potatoes

4 Frusion yogurt smoothies

1 Betty Crocker cake mix

2 Garlic Tabasco sauces

2 JFG coffee

3 Pace Salsa

4 Philadelphia cream cheese

10 jars of Gerber 2nd baby food

2 Progresso chicken broths

2 Daisy sour cream

1 sweetened condensed milk

1 box of Reynolds oven bags

2 Tennessee pride sausages

2 Cool Whips

Any Resemblence??

Steve's Freebies

My DH has just stumbled upon the fact that there are many free things out there in the world. All you have to do is take advantage of them.  His new favorite hobby is seeing how many free things he can get from trips to CVS and sometimes Walgreens.  Here is what he purchased today:

From Walgreens: 2 bottles of Excedrin Migraine (Jude, these are for you)  

Regular price: $4.49 per bottle

Steve's price (for 2 bottles):  $0.79 including tax

From CVS:  2 bottles of Coke   $1.89 each

      2 Maybelline mineral powder foundation   $8.99 each

      2 Complete Saline  $8.99 each

      2 Hershey bars  2/$1.00

Steve's price: $0.04 -- yep, that's right. With coupons and ECB's he only paid 4 cents. He also started with 30 ECB's and ended up with 36 ECB's.

Song of the Day

I have been pondering this post for quite a while, but have never gotten around to it. Now seems as good a time as any. The kids are sleeping (or are supposed to be sleeping) and I have had caffeine today to give me a bit of a boost and get things done, so I have a bit of time on my hands. So here goes...

    I find music to be such a vital part of my life. I love to sing (not that I am any good at it), I love to play, and I love to listen.  It is such a great outlet of worship for me. Because of how inbred the love of music is for me and how songs tend to run through my brain throughout the day over and over again, I try to listen to songs that I know worship and glorify God.  Why, you say? Because isn't that our overall purpose here on the earth, to glorify Him? 

   I say all this because many times I will wake up and find myself in a different mood than I was the day before. So I like to pick a different song to fit the day.  Then I like to play that song over and over again on my ipod and then I find myself thinking of the song and the words all throughout the day.  I have been practicing today for a wedding that I am playing in next month. Ironically, it is on my anniversary. The girl getting married was one of our program attendants.  She is having me play this song.  It was one sung at our wedding.  As I am practicing, I find myself coming back to this one over and over again. I just love to play it. I love to think of the words. And most of all, I love what the words mean. So here it is...my song of the day.

YOUR GRACE STILL AMAZES ME

My faithful Father, enduring friend,

Your tender mercy's like a river with no end.

It overwhelms me, covers my sin.

Each time I come into your presence 

I stand in wonder once again.

Your grace still amazes me,

Your love is still a mystery.

Each day I fall on my knees,

'cause Your grace still amazes me.

Oh, patient Saviour, You make me whole.

You are the Author and the Healer of my soul.

What can I give You, 

Lord, what can I say.

I know there's no way to repay You,

only to offer you my praise.

Your grace still amazes me,

Your love is still a mystery.

Each day I fall on my knees

'cause Your grace still amazes me.

It's deeper, it's wider,

it's stronger, it's higher

than anything my eyes can see.

Your grace still amazes me

Your love is still a mystery.

Each day I fall on my knees

'Cause Your grace still amazes me.

How to get a free bottle of barbecue sauce and what to do with it once you do.

Hehe....I love this coupon game.  Especially when it works out that I can get something for free.  Pretty amazing. Anyway, if you like barbecue sauce, go here and get the 75 cent off KC Masterpiece barbecue sauce.  If you then take the coupon to Lowes Foods, they just happen to have the little bottles of KC Masterpiece on sale from $1.99 to $1.50 this week.  They also double any coupon up to 99 cents, so when the 75 cent coupon is doubled,  TA DA.....your barbecue sauce is free.

Here is a quick and simple, but tasty idea of what to do with it - BBQ Chicken Salad.

You will need for sure:

1 chicken breast per 2-3 people

onion

lettuce or salad greens

tomato

cheese  (I prefer cheddar)

bbq sauce

ranch dressing (Hidden Valley is the best!!)

Other options:

shredded carrots

sliced cucumber

bacon bits

croutons

any other salad item that you like

Cut the chicken into cubes and saute in a little bit of olive oil.  Season with a little bit of salt and pepper.  When almost cooked, add sliced onion to the pan with the chicken and cook until the onion has carmelized.  Add barbecue sauce to the point of sauciness that you like and heat through.   Using the lettuce, tomato, cheese and whatever other salad fixings you like, make a salad.  Hold the ranch until later though.  To the top of the salad, add the bbq chicken mixture and then add the ranch.  Tastes just like a BBQ chicken sandwich without the bread. I bet you will have it more than once!! :o)

If you do try it out, let me know what you think or if you have any other ideas of how to improve it.  Thanks. 

Food Lion Drama

Act One:

 Lorena, being ever so frugal, is at home checking out the weekly specials at the different grocery stores. She compares the specials to the coupons that she has to see if any of them match.  She knows this is the way to get the best deals.  Discovering that Food Lion will have the Michelina and Lean Gourmet on sale over the weekend for 77 cents each and knowing that she has four 'one dollar off every five' that you buy coupons (two for Michelina and two for Lean Gourmet), she decides this would be a great deal since it would make them only 57 cents a piece.

Act Two:

   One the way home from the zoo on Friday, Lorena stops at Food Lion. She runs in quickly to get a few of the things that she knows are on sale and that she has coupons to match.  She is excited about the 12 pack Cottonelle that she got on sale for $4.99 and also the 75 cents off coupon making them only $4.24 a piece.  Add to this diapers and a few other things. But she is mostly excited about the Michelina and Lean Gourmet that she buys.  20 to be exact, because she knows that they are on sale for 77 cents a piece.  After purchasing her items and returning to the car, she is reviewing her receipt on the way home (don't worry, husband is driving) and realizes that the Michelinas rang up for 77 cents, but the Lean Gourmets rang up at $1.69. Frustrated at missing this while they were being rung up and then second guessing whether or not they were really on sale, she quickly runs to the computer on her arrival home to check.  Yes, the online ad says that Michelina and Lean Gourmet are both on sale.  She prints out the ad and tucks it, along with the receipt, in a safe place for her next return visit to the store.

Act Three:

    Early Monday afternoon Lorena heads back to Food Lion for a few things, both kids in tow.  She heads into the store and patiently waits for someone to show up at the Customer Service Desk.  When the lady arrives, Lorena nicely explains to her that what she paid for the Lean Gourmet did not match what was advertised in the online ad.  The lady goes and confers with a couple of other coworkers.  They discuss the issue and the lady returns with the store ad showing that only the Michelina were on sale not the Lean Gourmet.  Lorena shows her again where the online ad shows as you scroll the mouse over the Michelina that both Michelina and Budget Gourmet are on sale. The lady points to the bottom of the page on the store ad where it says they are not responsible for typographical errors.  Therefore there is nothing that they can do. It is an error from the corporate office and they are not responsible for it at the store level. She calls over both of the other coworkers who try to explain the same thing to Lorena and they tell her that the only thing that she can do is go home and bring back the Lean Gourmet and they would be happy to exchange for the Michelina at the 77 cent price.  Lorena is not very happy since she would have to spend quite a bit in gas to go home, get the meals and bring them back, not to mention that it is not an easy task to get two little ones in and out of the car a multiple amount of times.  Lorena gets very frustrated at this point, and as they are saying "I am very sorry" to her (which she doesn't exactly believe), she departs the store without making any purchases and considering never returning there again.  She proceeds to Walmart where she purchases the items she needs.

Act Four:

    Lorena comes home and writes a nice email to the corporate office explaining the whole situation.  At the present time, she is anxiously awaiting the reply to see how the story will end.

What I am up to these days...

 Well, some of you know and some of you don't (so I will share) that I am working hard this nest year to try to become more disciplined in my life.  I know some of you are shocked to hear me saying this because you think I am disciplined already, at which I just laugh.  In all honesty, I put on a good front. Anyway, my goals are to be more consistent in my quiet time, spend more QUALITY time with my kids and husband, keep up with things around the house better, and bemore disciplined in my spending.

    I have been trying to do "school" with Josiah three days a week. We have been doing a lot of coloring, painting and gluing and it has been a lot of fun.  One day soon I will have to post a picture of the wall of stuff he has done.  It is rather cute. And yes, I have to help him out a lot, but give him a break. He is only 2! :o)

    I have given myself a spending budget, not because I have to have one, but because I wanted one. I only have an allotted amount of money for the week to go spend on food or whatever else.  If I am under, I get to put what is left over in the "bank" for whatever I want to save it for.  If I am over, I have to pull money out of my "bank" to make up for the difference.  It makes me think twice about that large sugar-free vanilla iced coffee that I have to have from McDonalds.  (Okay, so I don't think twice about the coffee, but maybe the double cheeseburger?!?) :o)

     Another thing I have done is to start using coupons again when I can. I used to use them all the time when I was single and living on a Christian school teacher budget.  There is really no reason that I shouldn't still do it now, even though I have a husband who is supporting me and I am not on the limited budget that I once was.  I want to be responsible with the resources God has given to us, so I want to try to cut expenses where I can.

    All this said to say that after lunch at McDonalds today, I went with the kids on a trip to Walmart.  Here is my purchase:

 The entire purchase before tax is worth 24.44.  I paid 15.56, including tax.  Without tax, 14.69.  When you take out the eyeliner that I didn't have a coupon for (and it comes out of my personal budget), everything was 11.91.

Here is the breakdown:

Toaster Strudel - 1.88         $1 off coupon         Price paid:  $0.88

Deli Creations - 2.50 $1 off         $1.50

Juicy Juice - 2.57 $1 off        $1.57

Kotex pantiliners  - 1.00 $1 off FREE

Granola bars - 2.58 $1 off $1.58

Wet ones - 0.97 $0.75 off $0.22

Baby soap - 0.97 $1 off -$.03

Diaper rash cream - 2.24 $1 off $1.24

Now I know this is not as incredible feat as some others have achieved (i.e. Pam & Sherri), but I felt pretty good about it.  I find couponing to be somewhat of a game.

Just a note on the Juicy Juice - the 64 oz bottles were priced $2.57 and the 46 oz were priced $2.67.  Go figure.

Well, since spending my time blogging on the internet when I have other things to do is not being disciplined, I had better run.  I will return when I am caught up.....

The girl loves food!!

We started Zoe on food last week. So far she has tried sweet potatoes, peas, carrots and squash, with sweet potatoes being her favorite.  She loves to eat!! (Must be like her mommy!) :o)

10:12 PM

my life was forever changed at 10:12 PM on September 6, 2003

That's the moment I first heard the voice of an angel, my angel.

Ninety minutes later I hung up.

With that phone call, a wondrous journey began.

One week later, shortly after noon on September 13th I first saw her up close.

When she opened the door,

my knees buckled,

my heart pounded,

my first thought,

"She's much too pretty for me."

As the date progressed, I was captivated by her heart;

a willing prisoner of the woman who would become my wife.

It was her easy smile and fun spirit that first drew me.

It was her huge heart for kids and love for ministry that left me wanting more.

When I hugged her goodnight 8 1/2 hours later, I just wanted to be near her.

I was smitten.

Things went pretty fast after that.

A surprise visit to her church the next day, another date on Tuesday, then Friday holding hands

and dangling our bare feet in the water at High Rock Lake.

I'm not sure how or where it happened, but she fell in love with me before I did with her.

I knew she loved me, and she knew the pain that was holding me back.

Insightfully beyond her years, she reached into my heart and said everything was OK.

Her verbal caresses released me.

Two days later I could wait no longer.

Scarcely two weeks after I first saw my angel up close, I told her I loved her.

She said, "I love you too."

I've never been happier.

Not even one month later, on October 18th, I would ask Lorena Lynn Finley to be my bride.

She said, "yes!"

I am the luckiest man alive.

Now as I stand on the precipice of a lifetime - as I peer into our future,

I see our kids to to school, then off to college.

I hear the laughter of our grandkids.

I feel the wrinkles of my face pressed against her aging cheek.

This I see; this I embrace.

a lifetime to love together,

a lifetime to play together,

a lifetime to serve together.

A lifetime with one so precious,

one so pure,

one so lovely.

A lifetime for which I dared not even dream before 10:12 PM on September 6, 2003.

Steve Hungerford

(It has been five years since the first time I talked to Steve. He wrote this poem and placed it on all the tables at our wedding reception. It has been very touching to pull it out and read it tonight. I thought I would share it with you.  He is such a wonderful man and God has richly blessed me with him and our lives together, more so than we ever deserve.  I am forever grateful to Him! To Steve - Thanks, Sweetie, for these five wonderful years.  I am looking forward to many, many more to come. I love you with all my heart!! - Your doll.)

New Pics

There has been a ton of things going on around here lately. Too many things to write about at this time. I might get around to it one day....then again, I might not.  I have managed to capture a few cute pics of the kids that I thought I would share.  I have been trying to work on my photography skills.  Here you go...

ABC's

This came from Sarah.  I will be a nice girl and play along. :o)

A. Attached or Single? definitely attached
B. Best Friend? Steve, for sure!
C. Cake or pie? cake
D. Day of choice? Sunday 
E. Essential item? food :o)
F. Favorite color? brown, green,  purple....it is so hard to choose
G. Gummy bears or worms? worms
H. Home town? Winston-Salem
I. Favorite indulgence? iced coffee
J. January or July? July (although there are great sales in January!!)
K. Kids? Yes.  Josiah & Zoe.  They make me smile.
L. Life isn’t complete without? My family.
M. Marriage date? December 13, 2003
N. Number of brothers and sisters? two brothers
O. Oranges or Apples? Apples - pink ladys to be exact
P. Phobias? snakes....ewwww
Q. Quotes? "There is never an excuse for bad behavior." - Steve Hungerford
R. Reasons to smile? My husband's silly jokes, my kids laughter, worship music, one great God!
S. Season of choice? Summertime!
T. Tag 5 people: Jenna, Johnson family, Mavis, Pam, and Josh Lindstrom [and yes, I know you will find out about this because your blogstalking wife will read it! :o)]
U. Unknown fact about me? I once sewed an entire shirt for my dad by hand....no sewing machine!
V. Vegetable? brussel sprouts 
W. Worst habit? messy and disorganized. Oh, and I am always running late. 
X. X-ray or Ultrasound? I have had both.  X-ray for broken elbow and Ultrasound for baby.
Y. Your favorite food? Anything Italian
Z. Zodiac sign? Virgo
(Another) Z. Which zoo animal is your favorite? Fish (if they are considered a zoo animal.)

Ups and Downs

Today has been a day of ups and downs. As a result I have a lot of things on my mind tonight. First the up.  Zoe laughed for the first time today. She was on the changing table in the laundry room and I started singing this silly song we made up with Josiah called "Scrub your body".  All of a sudden she started giggling. It was the cutest thing I had ever seen.  (Don't tell Josiah, but her laugh is cuter than his!)  Steve was in our bathroom, so I quickly called to him to come see her.  We also called my parents so they could hear it over the phone.  What warmth filled my heart to see the laughter in her eyes and to finally hear it out loud. God knew what he was doing when he gave us little things like this that bring such joy to our hearts.  It was much needed after the news that I heard earlier in the day. This is the down.  I found out today that a former pastor of mine who was my pastor when I was in high school, college, and through my early adulthood life has Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.  This disease is also known as mad cow disease.  (Oddly enough, the interem pastor that we had at our church just before this pastor was called had mad cow disease too.  He passed away in 1999, just shortly after being diagnosed with the disease. ) My heart is aching right now for him, his wife, and his family.  I grew up with many of them being a part of my life. His wife was my piano teacher, so was his niece.  His brother-in-law was our music director and my history professor in college.  His sister-in-law was my brother's kindergarten teacher and my co-Sunday School teacher. And it just goes on and on...  He and his wife were there for my family when my brother died and now it just might be the reverse.

My thoughts are reeling around in my head. I can't find a way to put them into words right now, so I am going to close. Please keep the Gaines family in your prayers over the next few days/weeks.  God can give them the grace that they need.  We know all things work together for good to them that love God.  What a great promise to cling to.

Did a whirlwind just blow through here??

   Sorry for the lack of posts as of late.  It seems as though there has hardly been a minute to stop and breathe around here over the last week.  Even as I am sitting here typing while listening to Josiah sing and play with his little piano, I can hardly wait until his nap time (which is over three hours away).  I am that tired.  But it was worth it all and I know I will catch up on my sleep over the next couple of days. Then it will all start over again!! :o)

    I will start with last Wednesday, the 16th.  I went with Heather to Concord Mills to do some shopping for the kids for next summer.  I came away from the Children's Place with 37 pieces of clothing for $120.  That averages out to be about $3.25 an item.  You can't beat that for new stuff!! (I actully bought $155 worth of stuff. I had accidently picked up 5 items that weren't on clearance, so I took that $35 worth of stuff back to the mall here and exchanged it for 11 things that were on clearance!)

    Steve's mom flew in that same day for a visit.  She had decided to come for Zoe's baby dedication that would be on Sunday.  On Thursday, Steve went to do the radio show, but then he came home to spend the rest of the day with us and his mom.  The fence guys were here working so that kind of put a damper on our plans to go swimming, so we ended up just hanging out here around the house.  My parents came over in the afternoon and we played some scrabble and had dinner together.

    On Friday, Steve's brother and sister-in-law took his mom out to the Mellow Mushroom for lunch. My parents agreed to watch Zoe, so I took this opportunity to go to the mall with Josiah for some mommy-Josiah time and also to find some last minute things, including shoes for Zoe for Sunday's dedication.  Josiah and I ate pizza at the food court. Or should I say Josiah ate most of the pizza at the food court. He ate all of his piece and almost half of mine.  It was thin crust, but still!! We ran around. I exchanged those clothes at the Children's Place. We looked for an outdoor umbrella. I tried on numerous outfits. Bought a baby gift. Then we headed home.  Once we arrived back at my parent's house, I realized that I never looked for shoes for Zoe. "You should have put it on a list", you say?? Well, I did. I just never looked at the list!

    Friday night the three nephews came over and we all went swimming in the pool.  Zoe sported her new bathing suit that I bought at Concord Mills.  Josiah had a blast.  His fun came not from swimming, but from being the "ball boy".  They convinced him to get the balls every time they landed up on the deck.  He loved it!! Steve's sister and her husband came that night to spend the night with us. They had to go pick up his nephew from camp on Saturday.

    We had lunch visitors on Saturday. 

 We swam for a little bit in the afternoon. Then I had to spend the evening preparing for Sunday lunch. We were having quite a few family and friends over for Zoe's baby dedication.  I made lasagna, and thanks to Pam and her recipe, a carrot cake trifle.  A couple of other people provided the salad, bread, and an eclair cake.

   Zoe was dedicated along with four other babies on Sunday morning at church.  It was a very special time. We are so thankful that God has given her to us and we want to commit her to Him and to raise her in the way that he would want us to. We are so thankful to have a church that is supportive of us and friends that encourage us along the way.

   Sunday afternoon/evening was a time of swimming, eating leftovers and other miscellaneous items we had in our fridge (Steve loves "getting rid of stuff" when we have people over) and watching "No Reservations."

    Steve's mom left on Monday. I did a ton of laundry and started trying to put the house back in order.  Josiah went to spend the night with Nana and Pawpaw. Steve and I went to play cards at his dad's house.   

   Tuesday I went with my mom to visit a couple from our old church. She had been my Primary Sunday School teacher and the librarian at my school when I was in 3rd grade. I haven't seen them in a quite a while.  We picked up Kernel Kustard and went to their house.  We had such a nice visit. Josiah was in rare form, showing off all of his skills including the newest - counting to five in Spanish. We stopped at Costco on the way home for a few things.  That evening I made a Walmart run for the things I needed for a dinner on Wednesday night.

   Wednesday I cleaned a lot of the house and made dinner for a group of our friends who are doing a book study with us this summer. We are reading "The Sacred Marriage" by Gary Thomas and discussing it.  

   And that brings us to today.....

    I am going to relax and take a nap. I am going to slow down and take time to really enjoy my children.  And that is all....

On another note: Josiah loves Zoe more and more all the time. He now demonstrates rolling over for her and tried to help feed her when she is taking a bottle.  Zoe is now sleeping through the night and for the first time last night slept in her pack and play. She has been sleeping in her swing up until now because she was spitting up so badly.  I am so happy to see her moving up!

Happy Birthday, Josiah!

My sweet little boy turned two yesterday. It is so hard to believe. People always say that if you blink, your kids will have grown up. I used to think they were kidding. Now I know what they mean.  Time goes by so quickly and we have such a short time with them.  I am really trying hard to enjoy every moment. Josiah is that joy! He always brings a smile to our faces with something he says or something he does.  I love this little boy soooo much!!

     We started off the day by going to the Children's Museum with Josiah, Nana and Pawpaw, and Josiah's friend Isaac and Isaac's mom Sarah.  Here he is in the car. We had been singing 'Happy Birthday' all morning. I think he is a little bit excited!

    We did lots of fun things at the Children's Museum.  Here is a little sampling:

             Drawing snow men.
"Making Donuts" in the Krispy Kreme shop

(I think this was their favorite!)
"Row, Row, Row your boat" with daddy.
Helping Pawpaw put the balls in the air tube.
Making puzzles with Sarah and Isaac.
Making a picture of a watermelon.
     After the Children's Museum we had lunch a Mary's, Of Course.  We sat outside in the breezeway.  The boys had tons of fun squealing at each other across the table! After lunch, we headed home for some cake.  Josiah had a Diego cake.  Steve told me that Josiah wanted a strawberry cake with cream cheese frosting, so that is what we had.  It was a lot of fun to make, although there were a ton of colors! Mixing them all up and changing tips and bags the whole time wasn't too fun.  I think next year he will get a soccer ball cake -- two colors--black and white!! haha

Here he is after he has just taken a HUGE bite of cake.  He did much better than last year when he just smeared the cake all over his tray! :)     Nana and Pawpaw got him a little vaccuum cleaner.  He loves to vaccuum and it makes it difficult on us if we are vaccuuming and in a hurry to get it done.  So, now he has his own and he can "help" us! Thanks Nana and Pawpaw! :)

We have a winner!

Since Zoe came out of the womb crying, we have tried everything we can to comfort her.  I tried giving her the MAM pacifiers that I bought before she was born.  She would spit it out.  Heather gave us some Soothies to try. Again, she spit it out.  I bought some NUK pacifiers. Spit straight out.  Today, she figured out what she likes -- her thumb.  She sucks on the left one with the right one up on her head. It is really cute! (p.s. I am not really in favor of thumb sucking, but if it makes her happy, we will go with it for right now.)

Girl loves her daddy!

Zoe is in a much happier mood these days.  It is definitely much more pleasant to hold her. She isn't always squirming and screaming in your ears. In fact, she likes to look in your face and smile at you.  Steve got to hold her tonight while she was in her good mood and I got some cute shots. Here are a couple.  It is obvious that she loves having her daddy hold her. 

Two months old and Pool!!

Our sweet little baby Zoe is two months old today. I say sweet because that is what she has become.  After a rough start, she has finally figured out some things about life and is much more content. She smiles all of the time, especially when I am changing her diaper, and her crying is down considerably from where it was before.  She has been sleeping longer at night and I am looking forward to the day when she makes it all through the night without waking up.  She is such a joy and we are so thankful to have our little "missy" as a part of our family.

In other news, the pool is finally finished.  After construction was completed and the concrete poured, we had a huge growth of algae in the pool as a result of all the dirt that ended up in there when they were using the bobcat to smooth the land before pouring the concrete.  We finally got that cleared up and yesterday I finished vaccuuming out the pool.  Steve and I took a quick dip before our date last night and then today I was in there most of the afternoon.  Josiah loved it! He was especially glad to have his cousin Caleb come over and go swimming with him! 

Atlanta Trip

Last weekend we went on the Hungerford Family trip to Atlanta. There were about 50 of us in the group. Not all were actual family. Some were just close friends. The majority of the group rode to Atlanta on a charter bus.  Steve and I drove down with the kids, and those not from NC flew.  After our 7:00 a.m. departure Thursday morning, we arrived in Atlanta in the early afternoon to tour the Coke Museum, CNN and eat dinner at Agnes & Muriels.  Friday morning we went to the aquarium, followed by lunch at the Varsity. After an afternoon nap (that was much needed), the majority of the group went to an Atlanta Braves game.  Robin and I skipped the ball game and went to the mall for a quick walk around and then to Maggiano's for an absolutely fantastic meal!! Saturday we visited the zoo.  Our kids were extremely tired, so we took them back to the hotel while the others went to the puppetry museum.  Saturday night we all had cake from Costco to celebrate Steve's birthday that would be on Sunday.  Sunday of course was the trip home.  We did stop in Gaffney for a little bit at the outlets and I scored some great deals at the Children's Place.  It has taken me a while to blog about this vacation because it has taken me several days to recover from it!! :0)  Overall it was a great trip.  Next year -- Chicago!

He is starting to like her....

I can see it happening. Slowly, but surely, the boy is warming up to the girl.  I have to admit, I can understand why it has taken so long. Zoe was pretty much anything but enjoyable the first few weeks.  She cried, A LOT, and threw up, A LOT!   The crying obviously bothered Josiah.  Now she is starting to calm down and is in a good mood more than a bad mood, so she is much more tolerable for him to be around. He has now begun to try to "take care" of "sister".  If we are in the car and her head flops forward, he goes crazy until we know what has happened. If she starts crying here at home, he grabs her pacifier and tries to shove it in her mouth, or he pushes her swing really fast to try to get her to quit. He has also tried sharing his fruit leather and pineapple with her before.  I am glad to see that he is beginning to show interest in Zoe, even though it means we have to keep a close eye on him when he is around her.  His latest, and I must say cutest, thing is pushing her around the house in the umbrella stroller.  I was able to capture this quick shot.

Best buds

Sarah came over today so we could work on a cake.  Josiah and Isaac had a good time romping around together and "negotiating" with one another.  I do think they will be good friends when they grow up.

Here is a cute picture of the two of them. Don't they look so innocent??

Five weeks

Our baby is five weeks old today.  She was one month this past Monday. Crazy how time flies. Here is another comparison picture.  One is of Josiah taking a bath and the other is Zoe. Can you tell who is who??

It has been a couple of weeks since I have posted.  Things have been kind of crazy around here. To make up for it, I am posting a few cute pictures.