Calling all Paper Towels and Tissues

The boxes of tissues are reporting for duty but where are the paper towels?????

Oh there they are!

I thought I would share my latest frugal find. My 2 favorite places to shop are Publix and the commissary. This week the deals were at the commissary. They paid me 25 cents each to take the tissues. These 8 pack of paper towels were only $1.99 each. Now through Feb 8 the paper towels are on sale for $3.99 regularly $6.99. I paired it with the $2 off coupon from the newspaper to make it $1.99. Not bad for 8 rolls. Hurry though the coupons expire 1/31!

Ella had fun playing tissue dominoes.

100 Days! Yay!!!

This past week we celebrated 100 days of homeschooling (really it was a celebration for me lasting this long, haha!). If you would have asked me a year ago if I'd be homeschooling I would have told you no. I was not pleased AT ALL with Laney's first grade year!!! I was not sure where she was academically so I spent many days contemplating, praying and you might as well throw a little crying in there to. As you can see, I decided in the end the best thing for Laney was for me to homeschool her. I knew God would lead me in the right direction because this was the best decision. She just had her conference the other day and she is doing excellent. I have learned that Math even though she is on target and will finish in April is her weakest subject. She is now reading on a 3rd grade reading level and probably fourth by the time school ends. Now I do have to admit there are days I want to pack her a bookbag, drive her up to school and register as quickly as I can but overall.... it has been a blessing for me to have the chance to do this! Right now I am seriously considering doing it again next year. There are so many advantages to doing it. The one thing I was worried about was her socializing( she is one who thrives on it) but she gets so much of that from church, playdates, gymnastics, neighbors, and Co Op. She is not missing out. So onto our 100th day celebration.........

The girls had to count out 100 snacks

We marked 100 steps

Our other activities consisted of:

*counting to 100

*counting by 100 to 1000

*Writing about what I would do if I had a $100 ( Laney said she would give it to someone who needed it. I was shocked to at her answer! Ella drew a picture of a big diamond. I hated to disappoint her and tell her she should have drawn it A LOT smaller!).

* We did 100 PE exercises

* Most of the day we read because we set a goal to read 100 books that day. I am sad to say we did not make it. However, we did read 72 which I think is still pretty good.

Laney and Ella and their luscious lips

Ella has an ABC book that she is in the process of making. Each week for the letter she is learning, we make page to add to her book. This week is the letter Ll. This was probably her most favorite page yet. No lady is complete without her lipstick. She applied the lipstick herself( as you can see below) and kissed her L paper. You think that is bad keep scrolling!

She just kept adding...

and adding!

I had to stop her at this point. She is no longer a lady but a clown!

And of course big sister had to give it a try.

Now I know where Ella gets her lipstick applying abilities from.

Snowman Q tip painting

We are finishing up a few of our winter crafts this week since January is almost over. Yesterday, Laney finished up her book Tye May and the Magic Brush. In the story the girl has a magic paintbrush and whatever she paints come to life. I told Laney we were going to paint with a special paintbrush. She seemed a little disappointed to find out it was just a Q tip and not something magical. That is Laney for you someone who is always in her own little dream world. She ended up enjoying her snowman painting even if it did not come to life. Laney's snowman
Ella explained to me that this was a snowman holding a puppy.

The book we read and got our snowman ideas from.

My fun and fit party

As most of you know from a previous post, I was selected by houseparty.com to host a fun and fit party. They sent me the Jenny McCarthy Wii, Just Dance, Coupons for Jello Temptations Mousse, headbands, napkins, and spoons. All I had to do was invite a few friends to test them out. We had a blast! The most favorite thing the whole night was the Just Dance. It is a good way to get some exercise while having fun. All ages can do this!! Many of my guest purchased it the next day.

This picture may look a little odd but believe me this was the best one. I was trying to show everyone how the Jenny game worked. Most of the guest did not like this. There is some sort of delay from what you do and what Jenny does. We only did a 15 minute workout.

I was able to feel it from just the 15 minutes. Here I am working on my arms. Getting them ready for the summer when I can no longer hide the flab under long sleeves.

My guest could really bust a move.

After working off a some calories, it was time to add some back on with a few light or healthy dishes. We had turkey wraps.

Broccoli Asian slaw

Farmers cheese with garlic crackers, Kellogg's crackers with dip, Crystal Light packets for our bottled water.

Carrots with light ranch.

and for the grand finale Jello's New Mousse Temptations. It is very yummy! Chocolate that is only 60 calories and sugar free. It will definitely have a spot in our refrigerator.

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I had so much fun that I am going to do this again!


PS Ladies make sure your husbands have some $1 bills...you could earn a nice side income if you know what I mean!

( Carmel's comment on it)

No pictures. WHAT????

I think this is my first post without pictures. I love looking, taking and posting pictures. I am really upset that I did not take any to go along with this post but oh well. I wanted everyone to know that.........drum roll please.........bdddddbddddd...........CARMEL COOKED! Ladies I don't mean chicken nuggets or hotdogs. I did not prepare it and then hand it to him to cook on the grill while I prepared sides. He did it all. Carmel told me last week he wanted to have one of his buddies over from work tonight. I mentioned that the girls had gymnastics therefore he would have to cook. I told him what was in the freezer and he chose the ribs. I have to admit I was a little worried. He has never attempted to make them because he says it is to much work for so little meat. He shocked me when he went online for a recipe for ribs. Well let me just tell you they were wonderful! Messy but wonderful! I guess we should have guest over more often. So who wants to be next. Leave me a post and one or who knows maybe all of you will have a chance to win a nice night out at the Weed Restaurant. I may even convince Carmel to make his special again.

Thank you to my wonderful husband for fixing supper!

Just Dance

We love the Just Dance game/workout for the Wii. It is a good way to have fun with the whole family and get a good workout without them realizing it. I was selected to host a fun fit party with House Party and this was one of the things they sent me. If you would like to try it out, come on over to my house this Sat night at 5:00. We will be testing out the new Jenny McCarthy Wii and Just Dance. After a little workout, we will be sampling the new Jello Mousse. So ladies put on those workout clothes and join me as we work together to get fit this year. Here are a few photos of the fun we were having last night.

We are a divided house

Yes we are a divided house when it comes to sports. Carmel likes his South Carolina Gamecocks and I like Auburn Tigers. This past weekend we headed to Auburn for a match up between the 2 basketball teams. Carmel supported his colors and I mine but what to do with the kids? Well....since I am the one who dresses Laney and Ella I could not help that they ended up in orange and blue. Of course Griffin, a mamas boy, came decked out in orange and blue also. Carmel thinks our mornings of homeschooling start with the chanting of the Auburn Warrrrr Eagle. Not true! They pick up on what they like. No persuading is done on my part. Okay maybe a little.

Griffin and Ella with Aubie. Laney would not come done for the picture.

I did this for Carmel. Yes, his team won.

A picture after the game.

They let the kids come on the court to play and practice shooting a few hoops. I missed the picture of the kids shooting because Carmel wanted his picture with one of the USC players.

After the game we went for supper to celebrate my dad's birthday. At the restaurant, this boy was in the corner the whole time. Laney says, "Mom, look at that boy in the corner. Why is he there?" My reply " He must have been really bad for his parents to put him there. Go ask him what he did." She wouldn't go but was amazed that he was so still and quiet.