Gracie and Paul Singing

Here's a quick clip of Gracie and Paul singing one of their favorite songs. Sorry that it's sideways. I took the video on my phone and I'm not sure how to make it be the right way.

She's on the Move!

Well, she's not OFFICIALLY crawling, but she is very close. She can roll, wiggle, and squirm wherever she wants to go! She gets up on her hands and knees and rocks back and forth, so I know it's just a matter of time before she's on the loose!

How'd I get way over here?
Give me the camera Mommy!

Hehe - I'm so cute!

Homeschool - Purim Foods

Gracie had to make some foods from the Jewish Holiday Purim this week as part of her Master's homework. Here's what we made!

Gracie eating the Hamantashen.

Shallah
This is the Hamantashen. Mmmmmm...

And it's up!

I've been wanting to start a couponing/savings blog, so I decided to take advantage of so many people visiting my other page, and so... I present...

Mommy Octopus - Because we could all use a few more hands!

Please visit it and spread the word and I'll try to keep the best deals fresh and new. Also, whenever you need to print coupons, PLEASE print them through that site so I can get credit :-)

Thanks and enjoy!

Quick Pics

Couple pics for your viewing pleasure....

Paul in his "new to him" Batman Pjs


Anna in her new butterfly hat that I made

Our HUGE 6 month old wearing a 12 month outfit that her Grandma bought for her. Anna continues to be the happiest baby ever. I even told my hubby the other day that we should have named her Joy instead. She is Pure Joy. She loves nothing more than to be snuggled close and LOVED by anyone and everyone.

Update on Us

Eeek - I know this new look is not very attractive at all. Hopefully my FABULOUS SISTER IN LAW will hook me up soon. She does incredible work.

Anyways, we're all doing well - it was a rather challenging week with Chris going to the funeral. I wasn't able to go as Gracie had Master's and it would have been too hard to find someone to get her there and to watch the other 2.

I'd appreciate prayers for my hubby the next few weeks. As you all know, he's working as a deputy at the courthouse now and there are quite a few "high profile" cases coming up. Just prayers that he will not let his guard down and that all the deputies will stay safe.

Off to dream land :-)

We've Moved!

Please change bookmarks to this site.

I was getting hundreds of daily visitors from people searching Octo-Mom or Octopus Mommy, thanks to the lady that had the octuplets. I'm just not comfy with that many people visiting and reading about my family on accident.... so here I am!

Sad Weekend

Well, we had a nice weekend, but received several rounds of bad news. First was Friday morning, I found out my uncle had passed away. He had been battling cancer of the tongue. Then he caught pneumonia and went back to the hospital. Scans found cancer in his brain and lungs and he passed away Thursday night.

The rest of the weekend was nice. It was awesome to have a 3 day weekend. Yesterday we went skating with friends and while we were skating, hubby got a phone call from a buddy of his. He called him back when we got home. The news he gave us was quite shocking. His wife had committed suicide. She was 4 months post partum from having their baby girl and had been suffering from post partum depression. She was on anti-depressants, and from the sounds of it she wasn't taking her medication right and they ended up working opposite from what they were supposed to be doing. Hubby's friend is in law enforcement as well and came home from work and found her unconscious. Just a sad situation. Hubby's friend and his baby girl have a long road ahead of them. Please keep them in your prayers.

It's Not Delivery....

It's DiGiorno! Today I hosted our first House Party. Basically, you get to try all kinds of fun new products for FREE! All you have to do is invite friends over and host the party and the company supplies the rest! We had a great first party. We tried several varieties of DiGiorno pizzas. My favorite was the Garlic bread pizza. Mmmmmmmm!! My sister in law didn't care for the garlic, she felt it was too strong, but she enjoyed the thin crust pepperoni. No matter your preference, I'm sure you can find something you can enjoy from DiGiorno's pizza line! It takes as fresh as a delivery pizza, but is available at the grocery store. Our guests took home super coupons for their next Digiorno pizza purchase. Everyone also got DiGiorno party beads, and as hosts, we got lots of free DiGiorno coupons, pizza cutter, and oven mitt. We had a blast!

Here is our fabulous chef!

MMMMMmmmm Pizza!!

All the guests enjoying the pizza. I'm hidden behind the camera, so none of me!

And a quick shot of the birthday girl - turning 59 years young on Tuesday. Cupcakes courtesy of Gracie and Paul's bakery

Sweet 6 Months.... Already!

Wow - I cannot believe that our sweet Anna is 6 months old today! Where did time go?

Anna is still my happy-go-lucky baby and amazes us with her personality everyday. She loves to laugh and could sit for an hour just playing with her toes. I don't think it will be long before she is crawling - she's scooting around a little on her belly and if she's in a sitting position, she scoots all over the floor on her diaper. She loves her Dolly and she loves all the foods that she's tried. Here's some pics of our sweet 6 month old!

She loves her "Butterball". Chris started saying "Brother Paul" really fast in baby talk pretending to be Anna and it came out "Butterball" and has stuck. Paul thinks it's funny. Anna thinks Paul is hilarious. All he has to do is move his foot and she laughs like crazy.

Anna also adores her big sister. Gracie of course prefers playing Mother Hen instead of trying to make Anna laugh all the time. Gracie would rather feed her baby food or change her diaper. Yes, my 6 year old likes to change diapers! Weird, I know.

Anna, we love you more and more each day!

Churning Butter

As you all know, I am blessed to stay home and homeschool my children. Of course some days are better than others. Today has been a great day. We are reading Little House in the Big Woods. In the chapter we read today, Ma made butter. So for an activity, we made butter. I have to admit that this was a ton of fun, despite my arms feeling like they were going to fall off! It was very simple to do as well. We took a mason jar, poured in a pint of heavy cream, and started shaking. We shook it for a long time and finally instead of it sounding splashy when we shook it, it sounded solid. But not done yet! The solid sound is it turning into whipped cream. Next you keep on shaking and then finally the butter will start to form and you'll be left with a hunk of butter and some buttermilk. Pull out the butter and it's ready to use! And it is sooo good and tasty - better than from the store!

Here's the finished product - kinda funny looking but I don't have a butter mold!

Here's the kids, all proud that it was done (sorry camera was out of focus!)

After learning about churning butter, we went on to do a little on Martin Luther King, Jr. I plan to do a few minutes a day this week about MLK before the holiday on Monday.

In other news, the kids recently got a John Deere Gator. They have a blast with it!

And here is sweet Anna, who will be 6 months tomorrow!! Where did the time go???? She thinks her siblings are hilarious!

Money Making Mama

For those of you who are stay at home moms, like me, there are ways to legitamately make money! Now, you will not "get rich quick" but it's a nice little extra.

First way, is surveys. I am a member of several survey groups. You get points for doing surveys and cash them in for checks or for giftcards. One place I use is SayNation. Nice quizes and good prizes. I'm almost to my first giftcard. Takes time of course to earn enough to get a prize, but something is better than nothing. Another survey site I use is My Survey. I just got my first $10 check from them. Woo hoo! Not bad for taking a few seconds every now and again. If you want to join My Survey, email me at pinkalligator@gmail.com and I'll send you an invite.

Another way I'm "making" money is through SwagBucks. I just LOVE swagbucks. I've earned $95 in Amazon Giftcards from them! And it's so easy. Once you sign up, just download the toolbar, friend them on facebook, follow on twitter, and then just search everything through them instead of google or yahoo. It's that simple! Random searches will give you swagbucks and they give out codes frequently on facebook and twitter, or give hints on where you can find a swagbuck. Easy as pie!

The last way I'm making money is through Ebates. Ebates is another site I just LOVE, especially if you shop online. For example, Anna needed new Robeez shoes the other day. All I do is log into my ebates account, search for Robeez, and up pops discount codes. I click the link to the robeez website, make my purchase, and then I get Cashback from Ebates. Right now I have $16.24 cashback waiting for me, on purchases I was planning on making anyways! Even better is that you get $5 just for joining once you make your first purchase! And by referring a friend, I'll get $5 as well! Doesn't that sound fun?

Hope you sign up and start earning cashback and other prizes from your daily internet life like I am!

Saturdays with Grandma

One of the highlights of Gracie and Paul's weeks is the potential for a Saturday with Grandma! Usually about 2 Saturdays a month, my mom drives up to Athens and takes the kids out for the day. They have all kinds of adventures including Chickfila Kids Club, Lowe's Kids Club, and eating lunch out. They look forward to this all the time and frequently ask if this is the week that they get to go out with Grandma. Grandma takes the age 2 and over grandkids, so she will often be seen with a 3 year old, a 4 year old, and a 6 year old. Just wait until her other 2 grandkids are old enough to join in, then we will KNOW she is crazy :-)

Today was one of those days. We piled everyone in the van and off we went to drop the kids off with Grandma. They went to Lowe's and built banks and then to Chickfila where they made masks and edible firecrackers, followed by lunch of course!

I love that they look forward to it so much, and I'm sure my mom looks forward to it as well. They always have a blast and hubby and I get some time alone as well. I imagine if my dad was still alive, he would enjoy Saturdays with his Grandkids as well. Such wonderful memories being made that they will treasure always. Kids enjoy time being spend with them more than anything else.

What fun things do your kids have special with their grandparents?

Anna's Favorite Baby Products!

Since we're on baby number 3, we have found out what items are really a neccessity and others that aren't. It's funny - when you have your first baby, you think you need the swing, the bouncy, the jumparoo, the exersaucer, the travel swing, and basically every single contraption out there! I decided to make a list of 3 of my favorite items that we have used with Anna this time. Click the pictures to view the item.

First, I LOVE this sleep sack by Halo! It keeps Anna nice and toasty and no worries about her getting tangled in her blanket. She wears hers every single night!

Next, Anna got this from my grandmother for Christmas. She LOVES it! And I am always catching the big kids playing with it! She loves the fact that she can see herself in the mirror and dance along with the music!

And my 3rd favorite item is this awesome Fisher Price Space Saver highchair. It's great because it clips onto a chair and slides nicely under our table. It has 3 adjustable reclines as well as a 5 point buckle. I just love it!

So, my wonderful readers, what baby items are your "must haves"?