My Hubby Put a Hole Through Our Wall

The kids and I were super excited to come home Saturday evening to find a BIG change in our house.  The wall that divided our kitchen from the living room, which was 24 ft. wide, was missing a huge chunk!  It has completely changed the whole feel of our house...and I LOVE it!

Next time you come in our house...this is what you will be greeted with (hopefully minus the mess)!

I couldn't be happier!  Now, when I am making dinner I can see what the kids are doing in the living room.  Here is the view from the kitchen...

I am so thankful that I married a hard working man who can tackle really any house project.  Now all we need to do is finish a little drywall, mud, texture & paint!

Delicious Summer Eats with Private Selection

At the end of May my mail carrier showed up with my latest Bzz Kit for being a Bzz Agent.  I was super excited to see what was in it, and as always, I was not disappointed!

When I opened box I was greeted by my Private Selection Taste of Summer kit.  In it there was a bag of Sea Salt & Black Pepper Kettle Chips, and three FREE coupons for ice cream, pie and 1 lb of Angus Ground Beef.  In addition, I was given 5 20% off coupons for the items included which I was able to share with family and friends.   I was so excited that I immediately went to my favorite Kroger store and used my coupons to get my FREE Double Vanilla Ice Cream and FREE Cherry Pie, both made by the Private Selection Brand (which I quickly hid from this kids).   I tried to use my coupon for the ground beef, but they were completely sold out.

It didn't take long for the boys to convince me that we need to have our new bag of chips with our sandwich for lunch.   In fact, I let them munch on the chips while I made our sandwiches and Little Bro wanted to only eat the chips for lunch and not his sandwich.  I couldn't help but take a picture of him begging me for more with one handful of chips in his little hands. 

I will say that my taste buds were a little overwhelmed with the amount of pepper on these kettle chips, but I did like the taste of the chips.  The rest of the family agreed, that they were just okay.  Expect Little Bro, he was quite a fan.  We were happy though to finally have a unique flavored chip to have in the house.

I quickly made plans to invite Todd's brother & wife over to grill out and enjoy the rest of our goodies.  To my disappointment, I made three trips to Kroger to use my coupon for the Private Selection Ground Beef and came back each time empty handed.  This meat must be extremely popular.  I asked several managers if they carried it and each one said yes, but they were sold out.  I was quite bummed because I was REALLY wanting to try the ground beef out.  My dad raises his own cattle for beef and we get our ground beef from him.  I was really looking forward to comparing the taste!  So we will see if i can ever use the coupon...

In the meantime, my hubby and decided to make a little late night date/movie night and enjoyed the Private Cherry Pie and Vanilla Ice Cream.   We found that it tasted best when warmed in the microwave and topped with the ice cream.  I was really excited that we had just enough left over for the next night.  I thought it was delicious.   However, I don't think that they pie would be as delicious by itself.  My hubby is a much tougher food critic and only thought it was okay.  I admit, I am not quite sure I would pay full price for the pie.  If Kroger ever has a good sale on them, I will snatch one up!

What to find out the Bzz about new products coming out?  Become a Bzz Agent like me!

Note:   I was given all these items for Free as a Bzz Agent.  All my opinions are truly my own and I was not paid! 

My All American Cuties

We had a wonderful Independence Day yesterday. We were very blessed to have Daddy home with us all day and absolutely no obligations.  It was nice.  The kiddos even knew that it was a holiday and they slept in till 8:30!  We all snuggled in bed for a little bit and then I finally got up and made breakfast about 9:30. 
 
A bit later, I decided that I needed to do something patriotic, so the boys and I ran to the store to grab the ingredients to make fruit pizza.  I thought it was cute, and of course yummy! 

We spent the rest of the day inside doing puzzles, playing house and driving cars.  It was too stinkin' hot out!  I think the hottest it got was 100 degrees.  We ended the day with a quick trip to Grandma & Grandpa's to share some of our fruit pizza and relax outside in the shade.  I was able to snap a few cute pictures of the kids.

 Our All-American Beauty 

 Picking flowers...a.k.a. weeds

Buddies

We ended our day in our pajamas watching the fireworks from our backyard.  We had a few neighbors lighting off "Big" fireworks and then we took a little walk to an open lot in our neighborhood that overlooks the valley.  In the distance, we could see the fireworks from the nearest town. 

The boys were in bed a bit late, but they were happy to be able to see the fireworks.  I am sure we will have get out next year and go see them a bit closer.   All in all, it was a pretty great day!  So thankful for the freedom that we have in this wonderful country! 

Hand, Foot & Mouth...Say What????

My sweet baby girl has Hand, Foot & Mouth disease.  We had a really rough night last night.  She refused to take her bottle and wouldn't settle down to sleep.  She kept screaming and carrying on and I had no idea what was bothering her.  Finally at two o'clock in the morning, I gave her a bath to soothe her.  That is when I noticed the bright red bumps on her bum.   I slathered on the Desitin, but she still wouldn't completely settle down.  Finally, feeling defeated, I strapped her into her carseat and took a little drive.  30 minutes later she was fast asleep.   I came home put her in her crib and snuggled into my own bed...60 minutes later she was screaming again.  This time, I was able to sing her back to sleep and climb into bed again about 4:15.   5:45 a.m. she was up again.  This time for good.  Poor thing, had less than six hours of sleep!  Normally she will sleep 12 hours straight, so I knew something was wrong. 

This morning, I had to cancel my plans to drive to Chicago with my best friend to visit old college roommates.  Instead, I spent the day trying to keep her comfortable before getting in to see the doctor.  I had suspected that she had Chicken Pox, but as it turns out she has another nasty disease call Hand, Foot & Mouth.  This consists of sores all over her body, but especially noticeable on her feet and in her mouth. This is a very contagious disease that spreads during the warmer months.  I would encourage you to read more about it. My sweet baby girl is thankfully sleeping comfortably right now.  Hoping for a better night tonight now that I am more prepared!

My Breakfast Buddy

One thing that I absolutely LOVE about staying home is the morning.  When I was still teaching when Big Brother was a baby, I felt so completely rushed every morning to get his bag packed for the sitter and get out the door and to work on time.  I never really felt like I got a lot of quality time with my baby boy during the work week.  Now that I stay home, I can enjoy a lazy morning.  This morning was wonderful.  My sweet baby girl woke about 7:30 and we were able to enjoy our breakfast together before the boys woke up at 8:15.  (Which is another great thing about staying home...sleeping in!).  She was so sweet this morning.  I was sitting right next to her talking to her and she was babbling back to me as if she knew exactly what I was saying.  It was priceless!  We have had to make a lot of sacrifices in order for me to stay home, but I wouldn't change it for anything in the whole world.  Happy Monday!
 

My Breakfast Buddy

I'm in the mood for a Challenge or TWO!

I have been somewhat in a funk lately.  Not feeling motivated.  Not feeling like the best mommy.  Not feeling like the best housewife.  I decide it's time to make some changes!  I think God was speaking to me also.   As I was checking my email this morning,  I happened to open email feeds from a couple of my favorite blogs that I have not been taking the time to read. 

Remember when I lost my two gift cards to Lowe's a couple of weeks ago.  Yeah,  I still haven't found them.  Therefore, my house is in need for a major overhaul.  I am joining in with Sarah Mae as she challenges us to "reboot"  and get our house in shape.   I'll link up my daily/weekly progress! 

The second one that I read was from the blog I Can Teach My Child.  She is doing a challenge for mothers to take 30 minutes out of their busy day to stop EVERYTHING and play with their child(ren).  This is something that my kids and I both need! So I am taking the challenge!  I'll report back each day to keep me accountable!  I'd love to have you join me! 

Whatcha Eatin'? Monday, June 4th

Wow...it has been a while since I planned our weekly menu on here!  Things have been a bit crazy around here as normal.   I have been planning our menu, but not finding the time to post it.  It is a quiet Monday morning and the kids are still sleeping, so I thought I'd pop on here and share.

Last night,  we decided it would be fun to roast hot dogs around our little fire pit in our backyard.  However, it started to rain, so the fun of sitting around a fire with the kids was changed a bit.  We were able to roast marshmallows and make s'mores in between the rain showers.  It was a nice Sunday evening with our little family.  Hope we have a few more cool evenings like this!

Here is what we are eatin' this week: 

Monday:  Goulash, Corn, Salad

Tuesday:  Creamy Italian Chicken in Crock Pot, Brown Rice, Green Beans

Wednesday:  Cheeseburger Soup, French Bread

Thursday:  Stir Fry, Rice, Cottage Cheese

Friday:  Grillin' or Turkey Fest (our local festival) 

Saturday:  Steaks, Corn on the Cob, Baby Red Potatoes

What are you having this week?  Link up and share with me at Organizing Junkie's Blog!