Easily entertained

I forgot to post this video of Brody from last week.  He is very easily entertained....for some reason he thought it was REALLY FUNNY to put my library card into my mouth over and over and over.

A few more Target finds

Remember to check the ENTIRE toy section for these clearance deals.  I found a lot of the things I got in the regular toy section---not with the big % off signs.  The 1st 2 pictures are things I got on Friday but the last picture are things I got today--I'm not sure where they came from since I had been to that Target on Thursday night (my original haul was from there).  Oh and scan all prices since they may be lower than marked!  :)

$4 for this cute iron/ironing board set?  Hopefully Annabelle doesn't read this blog.  LOL

These card games were $1.48 and $1.24--notice the one on the right was marked $3.48.  Travis LOVES card games so these will be a certain hit!

These things I found today.  The Stick a doodle was $2.48, the Aquadoodle pack was $1.48 (love Aquadoodle!) and the Jeff Gordon Kinex set was $3.24!

Verdict is still out......

The cupcake stencils in theory should be very easy to use.  Hmmmm--not so much.  You will see here my best attempts and they aren't as good as the pictures in the catalog/on the website.  The first issue is that my standard sized cupcakes were a little small for the stencil--this made the stencil pop up on the sides and therefore hard to color in the sides without making a mess of everything else.  I had a few that came out with garbled end letters but the middle ones looked great.  So I need to invest in a larger cupcake pan or just buy large cupcakes at Wegmans.  This also made it difficult to use the stormtrooper or Darth Vader since the outline for those is a lot larger.

The second issue was that the frosting stuck to the stencil.  It says to gently lay it on the cupcake but unless the icing has been on there awhile it is going to stick.  Maybe next time I will frost them and then wait a long time to use the stencil.  Travis loved them and that was what counts right?

Travis using the frosting "gun"

Some finished cupcakes  The red ones are sugar and the brown are cocoa powder.

Crazy deals at Old Navy!

Today is the last day!!  I should have posted this yesterday but in case you don't get emails from Old Navy today in store they have some great deals!  I went yesterday and got Evan a bathing suit for just $4!  It was the only one in his size so the block print may not be his favorite but for $4 who cares right?

Here is the email:

TWO DAYS of CRAZY-GOOD DEALS = The LOWEST PRICES of the Season—GUARANTEED! Only in Stores: Fri. & Sat., 7/29-7/30 FANTASTIC FAMILY DEALS Starting at Just $4    •    FAMOUS Graphic Tees for Adults & Kids--$4!*    •    ALL Swimwear for Adults & Kids--$4!    •    Plus Shorts & Basic Tees for the family from $4! *Excludes Collectabilitees, licensed and fashion graphic tees. PLUS, Take an EXTRA 10% OFF** SCHOOL UNIFORM SALE! Including:    •    An Extra 10% OFF Polos Starting at $5    •    An Extra 10% OFF Khakis Starting at $10 **To redeem uniform offer, print this email and present to cashier at time of purchase. FIND A STORE NEAR YOU SHOP ONLINE Select styles only. While supplies last. $4 Deals: Valid 7/29/2011 and 7/30/2011 at Old Navy stores in the United States only. Excludes clearance and Baby Graphic tees. Excludes Collectabilitees, licensed and fashion graphic tees. Select styles only. While supplies last. Extra 10% Off School Uniforms: Offer valid 7/29/2011 and 7/30/2011, while supplies last, at Old Navy stores in the United States only. Not valid online. Select styles only. Discount applies to merchandise only, not value of GiftCards purchased, packaging, or applicable taxes. Discount applies to single unit pricing only. Customer must present a hard copy of email or show the offer on a phone to receive the discount. No adjustments on previous purchases. Cannot be combined with other offers or discounts, including Gap Inc. employee discount. Gap Inc. is not responsible for lost or stolen coupons.

I'm thinking.....

cupcakes will be in order for dessert for tomorrow night.....what do you think?  ;)

Football camp

This week Travis had tackle football camp every night from 6-8:15.  I wanted to write about it earlier but didn't want to jinx any of the things I wanted to say.  The 1st thing is that even with the heat, sun and humidity he didn't complain once about being too hot or tired.  This was a shock to me---the other shock is that he didn't "get hurt" a lot.  Sometimes the littlest thing makes him say he is hurt but he is just milking it for effect.  Thankfully that didn't happen either.  Yes there were some classic Travis moments of being hyper and in other kids faces but overall it went really well (I think).  He had fun, kept wanting more and when he was paying attention--did really well at the drills etc.

This weekend we find out what team he will be on.  He heard some kids on the 1st day of camp talking about what team they had been on last year and one kid said he was on the "Cavs".  Well Travis came right up to me and said "Mommy..... I DON'T WANT TO BE ON THE CAVS!  They stink!"  He then proceeded to tell me he didn't want to be on the Cavs since it sounded too much like UVa.  Ah I have brainwashed him right it seems.  LOL. Not sure what will happen if he is drafted by them.  ;)

At camp last night--a little hot.  ;)

Stay tuned for his team assignment.....the coaches call the kids on Sunday I hear.  (which still makes me think of football movies where the coach visits the kid to invite them on the team--lol)

Brody was "DONE" at this point--too hot for my fair boy.

Hurry and check your local Target!

This morning I went to the Target over by our gym to find that the toy clearance was still at 50% off.  I knew they mark down toys on Thursdays so I scanned a few to see if they were marked down in the system/register but hadn't been hard marked yet.  I checked maybe 5 things and not one had been marked to 75% off.  Bummer.

After leaving football camp this evening Brody and I went back to Target.  This time we found the signs still said "up to 30% off " and "up to 50% off" but a TON of the things were marked at 75% off.  As I was placing things in my cart I found a few things that were still marked at 50% off but when I scanned them they came up at 75% off.  Super score!

I spent $50 total on over $200 worth of toys and games.  Most of these will be under our tree this year but others will be saved for maybe the year after (like the Handy Manny things) or are gifts for other kids we shop for at the holidays.  A few things may even end up in the "Toys for Tots" box this holiday season.  Everything you see pictured was 75% or more off the original price. Happy shopping!

For Brody/Toddler and/or pre-school age (that big truck was $42 and I got it for $10!)

For the little girl on your list

Travis/ Family gifts

Travis/Lego aged kids

Target summer toy clearance.....up to 75% off!

You may remember my Target haul from last summer. If not you can see it here. Last year I got $100 worth of toys for $19--some ended up under our Christmas tree and others ended up under a needy child's Christmas tree.  :)

Every summer Target has a huge clearance sale on their toys in prep for the holiday season. If you look hard you can generally find some great bargains on Legos, board games, puzzles etc. I've heard that some Targets have already taken their markdowns today. I went to mine earlier and 50% was the lowest price I saw. Normally Target does their markdowns on Thursday morning so that may be the best time to check. I will be checking tomorrow and Friday as well. Happy shopping! Hope you find some great deals!

Sore bum update

In case anyone was wondering Brody's bum is a LOT better than it was this time last week.  You can barely tell he had all of the issues from last week now.  It was a long week with countless diaper changes.  I still don't really know what triggered it all but for awhile I will be keeping him away from strawberries--that is prime suspect #1. Hopefully this will be our last diaper rash for a long time--if not forever.  They are just awful.

No menu this week

This week is a little crazy with football camp every night from 6-8:30.  I will make the Hungry Girl mac and cheese from last week and post about it but otherwise it will be a week full of quick non-complicated dinners.  Something tells me when football practice starts I will be doing a lot of prep ahead meals and crock pot meals!

Working hard.....

This past week I tried really hard to work on my scrapbook at least once a day.  Usually this meant during Brody's nap or at night when he was in bed but 7 layouts later and I feel pretty good about my progress!  Hopefully this next week will go just as well!  ;)

Travis' Kindergarten class had their annual field trip at Great Country Farms

On the left is Travis with a super loose tooth and then a hole in his mouth and on the right is a jealous Brody with no teeth

Travis' class "wrote" a book and had it published.  This was the book party.

1st time eating cereal!

Hungry Girl's Cha-Cha-Cherry BBQ Chicken pack

I made this dish on Friday.  You can find the recipe here.  It was super easy to prepare and you only throw it in the oven after it's all put together.  Everyone seemed to like it but personally I am not a fan of the old school BBQ flavor from most bottled sauces.  This ruined it for me.  If I were to make it again I would put way less BBQ sauce and add way more cherries.  ;)  So it gets an "ok" rating from me.  Though it might be better with those changes.

Gym check in

Sunday-  90 minute cycle class  921 calories burned
Monday-  Kickboxing class  636 calories burned
Tuesday-  45 minute Strength class  266 calories burned/ Cycle class 588 calories burned
Wednesday-  Kickboxing class  586 calories burned
Thursday-  Barbell/Body Pump class  541 calories burned/ Latin Fusion 745 calories burned
Friday-  Latin Fusion/Zumba class  536 calories burned
Saturday- Does working on my scrapbook burn any calories?  ;)


I will have to miss my class on Friday this week because of Brody's speech appointment.  Ah the things we do for our kids.  ;)  Have a great week!

I HATE diaper rash!

I will spare you the gory details but Brody has had a terrible diaper rash all week.  We think it started after he ate a metric ton of strawberries on Sunday night.  He doesn't usually eat fresh fruit so when he ate one bite I gave him all he wanted---big mistake--HUGE.  The next day we were facing the aftermath and to make matters worse I hadn't decided it was more than likely the strawberries yet and he had another acidic fruit-cranberries for breakfast Monday and Tuesday.  Needless to say it's been a long week in the diaper department.  His bum is getting better but it still isn't great--oh and temps of 105+?  That is helpful for keeping it dry.  ;)

Funny story though.....the pediatrician told me all of these things I needed to do to try and heal it up.  One of them was to let him run around diaper-less for about 10 minutes after each change to air out.  On Thursday I tried this.....exactly 3 times......The 1st time was in the morning and he promptly pooped on the kitchen floor.  (as a side note it must be known his poops are always on the soft side-adds to the "ew" factor that it was on the floor. Before his nap I tried again and next thing I know he is peeing on the family room carpet--which btw is one of the only carpets in my house of hardwood floors.  UGH!  Why did I try a 3rd time?  Well after his bath I tried one last time.....I figured he had pooped in the tub (joy) and most babies pee in the tub and you don't know it so I thought we would be good to go.  Minutes later I hear this squishing sound in the hallway--then it dawns on me what that was......yep he pooped on the floor AGAIN but this time he had stepped in it and the squishing sound was his feet in it and walking around on the floor.  EW EW and EW.  Back in the tub he went and that was the last time he went diaper-less.  ;)

Family Fun magazine for 90% off!

Head over here to score a 1 year subscription for $2.99!  I just did this and when I logged into my Tanga account I had $1 in Tanga cash so I only paid $1.99!  For those that don't know Family Fun is a Disney magazine full of crafts, recipes and other great things for "family fun."  Remember those BBQ cupcakes I made a few weeks ago?  They came from that magazine.  :)

They also give you the option of doing a 2 or 3 year subscription at the same low price!  Wow!  Hurry....as of right now the deal is only live for another 10 hours or so!

Star Wars stuff on sale at Williams Sonoma!

You can find the entire collection here.  We already have the pancake molds and they are a huge hit (when I actually make my own pancakes-lol).  Just now I ordered the Star Wars cupcake stencil set and the Star Wars sandwich cutters.  A bunch of people have used the sandwich as cookie cutters as well---so a dual product!  Something tells me bringing lunch to school won't be as boring if there is a Tie-Fighter inside.  The cupcake stencils look so cute and a lot easier to make them look good as compared to the amount of detail the cookies have on the website.  ;)  Oh and I almost forgot to add....most of the Star Wars stuff has FREE shipping right now!  The 2 items I got shipped free--bonus!  Now I just need to decide if I save them for Christmas........happy shopping everyone!

Hungry Girl's Loaded Hot Dog Casserole

Fresh out of the oven!

This recipe can be found here.  (for the record I also want to try the tater tot recipe above this one)  For starters this was super easy to make.  I think it took me maybe 10 minutes to cut everything up and thrown it in the pan.  The recipe called for the light Hebrew National all beef hot dogs which I did get-though I am sure you can use the turkey franks instead.  I personally don't eat beef anymore but I decided against the turkey dogs for a few reasons--1.  they were more expensive  2.  Evan and Travis prefer beef  and 3.  I really don't like "smoked" and almost all (if not all) of the turkey ones are smoked.  So I tried to keep the hot dogs to a minimum on my side of the dish but failed-which led me to eat a few on accident and pick out most of them-lol.  I drizzled mine with a little ketchup and mustard as they suggest and personally I really liked it.  Travis ate some of it too-claimed to like it-but I had to "de-pepper" his before he would try it.  Evan on the other hand......hated it.  He took maybe 2 bites and that was it.  I was shocked that Travis claimed to like it when Evan didn't.  He thinks it was because the hot dog buns have egg substitute on them and it seemed like a frittata or something.  Oh well.  I guess this will be one we don't make again since I am forced to eat the leftovers for lunch today and part of my dinner tonight (without the hot dogs of course).  Let me know if your family likes it!

Sad

Today we had to say goodbye to our family's beloved German Shepherd Sadie (or Sadie Sue or Miss Sue depending on the mood-lol).  It is NEVER easy to do--they are part of your family and become a "fur kid" and/or a "fur sister" in the case of myself and Sadie.  Hopefully she is feeling better now and is playing happily with our other German Shepherds up in doggie heaven.  Brandy and Heidi--please take Miss Sue under your wing (or paw) and show her the ropes.  We will miss you dear friend.  :(

I LOVE a good deal!

In case you aren't aware....this week Toys R Us is doing a "buy 1 get 2 free" on all Crayola crayons, markers and paper.  Well doesn't school start in about a month?  Why yes it does and there are 2 boxes of crayons on the supply list this year--and one box on the list for next year (3rd grade)!  I am done buying him crayons for school now!  lol  I also got 3 packs of Washable Markers---but I may go back and see if they have the skinny markers since those are on his supply list for 3rd grade.  ;)  If they have the skinny markers I will trade in one box of the regular ones for the skinny ones and squirrel those away for the 2012-2013 school year.  Yes I need help--I paid $5.54 for all of it and I was thrilled.  :)

I don't know if I will ever catch up!

I am trying very hard to be caught up on my scrapbook like I was before I got pregnant with Brody.  Taking over the pool room for my stuff has certainly helped but I am still over a year behind.  :(  Here are the latest pages:

Last page of the last finished book

1st page of the newest book

Travis and Brody meet cousin Landon!

1st time on 2 wheels!

Easter baskets from Grammy and dyeing eggs

Visiting GiGi and Easter baskets from the Easter bunny

Yikes!  Easter baskets from Gramma and Grampa  :)

Easter egg hunt at Gramma and Grampa's

How did we live without this?

Ok I will be the 1st to admit that when Evan said he spent $100 ish dollars on a Roomba I wasn't happy.  I thought-well it does the same basic thing a Swiffer/vacuum does right?  Well sort of except you just put this sucker (haha joke) down on the floor, push start and that's it.  It will either get full and beep for you to empty it or it will just run out of battery and beep for you to charge it.  Wow!

The last week or so I have set it off in our high traffic areas (family room, kitchen and foyer leading from the mud room/cat room) every day as we are leaving for the gym.  Ours came with 2 virtual walls that you set down to keep it either out of a certain room or in a certain room.  I have to keep ours out of the living room when we aren't home or it gets stuck behind the couch and really mad-lol.  Oh my goodness if you could only see how much dust, fur, crumbs etc it picks up EVERY DAY!  I am still shocked there is that much crap STILL on the floors!  Basically you need to vacuum every day to keep up with it (especially if you have pets and/or small kids) which isn't going to happen the old fashioned way so I just let this bad boy do the job for me.

I know what some people are thinking....."does it pick up larger things?".  Here is a list of things I have found either in the trap or caught in the rollers (it will beep if something is caught instead of dragging it around).....sillybandz (under Travis' bed from last summer-oops), Kleenex, dryer sheet, whole goldfish and their crumbs of course, a Lego, a magnet and a hair band.  Crazy!  If you want clean floors without much work--look into getting one today!

Our menu July 17-23

Sunday-  Grill night
Monday-  BBQ leftovers
Tuesday-  Turkey Burgers with Zucchini
Wednesday-  Loaded Hot Dog Casserole
Thursday-  Cha-Cha Cherry BBQ Chicken Foil Pack
Friday-  Please Cheese Me (mac & cheese)
Saturday-  Breakfast for dinner...pancakes, eggs, bacon etc

This week the Hungry Girl recipes are Wednesday-Friday. Hopefully they are tasty!  The ingredients sure sounded good!  Have a great week!

Grampa's hat

I had forgotten until now to scan this picture and tell the story of Grampa's hat.  When we were at Busch Gardens it was incredibly hot and so when Travis said "I really want to go on Escape from Pompeii" we all looked around and said "why not--it might cool us off".  All 4 of us were wearing hats and we did have a discussion either before we got on the ride or on the way up about whether or not we should take off our hats since they are "loose articles".  My hat was on my head very tightly and I had my ponytail through the hole in the back so I was sure I was fine--the other 3 said they were fine too.  This was a mistake.  We start the giant plunge and Grampa and I have our hands up--a split second later we are at the bottom and he says "MY HAT!"    It flew off on the way down--he said he tried to catch it as it came off his head but it was too fast or he was too slow.  The classic part is what the Busch Gardens camera caught in all of this......

I almost forgot!

Here is my gym check in's from last week--how could I almost forget that Saturday equals letting people know I was at the gym?  LOL

Sunday-  90 minute cycle class  797 calories burned
Monday-  Kickboxing class  603 calories burned
Tuesday-  45 minute Strength class  345 calories burned/ Cycle class 633 calories burned
Wednesday-  Kickboxing class  537 calories burned
Thursday-  Barbell/Body Pump class  392 calories burned
Friday-  Latin Fusion/Zumba class  597 calories burned
Saturday-  nothing scheduled but cleaning the floors will burn some calories I'm sure!

Next week they are adding another Latin Fusion/Zumba class on Thursdays that I may start to take after the Barbell class!

Travis' 1st real "rock show"

Evan took Travis to see U2 on Thursday night up in Philly.  They had general admission tickets that are on the "floor" and apparently Travis was in awe of the whole experience.  I can't remember what my 1st real "concert experience" was but I am pretty sure it wasn't to a show like the one U2 puts on!  Something tells me Evan has created a monster--well good now he can have someone to go with him to some of the random acts he sees that I don't feel like finding a babysitter to see with him.  ;)

Getting ready in the parking lot

Travis and his new friend Robbie--Rob why do you look so mad?

Travis and Kelly-Ayn in front of the stage

So excited!

Daddy and his boy

The legend

Travis on Kelly-Ayn's husbands' shoulders to get a better view

Is it past my bedtime?  WHO CARES!

LOVE this one

Kelly Ayn's husband getting in on the action

Are his fingers in his ears?  lol

YAY! Can't wait!

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2011/07/12/exp.am.menu.calories.labeling.cnn

This means less work for me before we head into a restaurant to try and make good choices!  :)

FAIL (by me)

I was trying to get a video of Brody blowing a kiss earlier today and apparently I asked him to blow the kiss too early/start the video too late since the first 1/2 second is the end of the kiss and the next minute or so is of him ignoring my request for a kiss.  ;)  You do get to hear his cute noise for "kitty" though--I think it stems from us calling Tigger "Tiggy" all the time.

Aunt Tammy and Uncle Sean are moving......

TO GERMANY!  (well actually they left on Tuesday and I am just now posting these pictures-lol).  We had a family dinner at Carrabba's on Sunday night as a bob voyage of sorts.  Unfortunately I got out the camera when the Hill family had already left and I have no idea where Dad was when we took these......

The happy couple--finally stationed together!  Yay!

Tammy, Sean and Mom

Tammy, Sean, Brody and Travis looking really squinty

The same bunch but this time Tammy is laughing, Brody is looking odd and Travis has a "surprised face"

Bye guys!  Hope we can visit soon!  Can you put kids under the plane like you do with pets?  lol j/k