Catching Up!!!

It's been a while. SO instead of writing about the past 2 months, I would rather show you:)





At the first of October, 19 of my family members stayed at this log cabin in Gatlinburg.


See, here are some of us!!

The spunky ones went to Dollywood:)

Some of us played.....

Some of us screamed......

Cary & I also chaperoned a 2nd grade field trip to the Adventure Science Museum.

We carved pumpkins...

Grant's class did a Halloween play.

We even had a mysterious guest for dinner one night;0


We went trick or treating. First stop was Pa Ray.

We were bored one night, so we(my brother and I) let the girls paint our toes.

I have also been dilly dallying with ebay, which is part of the reason I have no extra time but extra money;)

And last but not least we had Madison's 12th birthday party last weekend. We had around 16 kids and about 15 adults come to her hayride/cookout party. FYI the shirt she is wearing in this picture is mine. I'm not sure if I should be flattered that she wants to wear my clothes, or upset because she wants to wear my clothes.

Spelling Lessons

Schools back in session and just like last year we(Grant & I) have weekly spelling words. As I was trying to help Grant with his words I came across one he didn't know. The word was Lettuce. He could get the L-e-t-t but then he would just stop and look at me. I formed a "U" with my thumb and pointer finger. It was a perfect shaped "U" too I might add and I asked Grant what was it. Either he can't see very well or he didn't get the point. His first answer was "an eye". What?? And then when he saw by the look on my face that was not the right answer, he said "an inch?" Madison and I just looked at each other and laughed. No Grant, we are not laughing at you we are laughing with you.

My New Hobby

I love the finer things in life, but........ I am also very frugal. I have stumbled across a site called moneysavingmom.com and I love it. She has links on how to shop at CVS, Wal-Greens, etc. So Monday I tried it at Rite Aid. Here are my results:

5 items purchased
Total spent= $22.31
Rebates on all 5 items= $16.98
1 Mail in Rebate=$3.99
1 coupon used =$3.00
Total spent after rebates and coupons=$1.34

So what did I get for $1.34:

Pert Plus 13.5oz Reg $4.19
GE Longlife Light bulbs 2PK $2.00
Gillete FSN razor $9.00
Charles Worthington Conditioner $4.99
Revlon Nail Polish $2.99

There was a lot more I could have got but ran out of time or the store was out of the item. It does take alot of time figuring out how to get the best deal. Clipping coupons will help tremendously in getting the best deals. For example, the Pert Plus was $4.19 with a rebate of $2 I also had a coupon for $3 off, the bottle had a mail in rebate of $3.99 so the shampoo ended up being a -$4.80. I MADE $4.80 off a bottle of shampoo. I just have fun seeing how much I can get for nothing and the rebate process is very simple. You just have to go online and pick the items you bought and put in info from your receipt and your rebate will be mailed to you in 2-3 weeks.

Chiropractors

All summer long my mother has been going to a chiropractor. She started off going 3 times a week and sometimes 2 times a day. With gas prices hovering around $4, I seriously thought she had lost her marbles. She claims to feel 100% better. I asked her to demonstrate on my back what they were doing. It was nothing but light pressure in different areas. I found it hard to believe that it could be helping.

Mom started talking to the chiropractor about Grant's migraines and the chiropractor is certain she can help. So he is going Friday. I also have encountered several other people that feels the same way about this chiropractor and has been going for years. So being the person who will try anything, I had to try this out. So far I have only been twice and I seriously do not see how the small amount of pressure they are applying can help. But I'm keeping an open mind and checkbook. Seriously this isn't cheap. With my Mom's insurance she only has to pay $6 per visit. But with my two insurances combined I am paying $25 per visit, not exactly cheap.

On Monday as I lay face down on the massage table thingy, the chiropractor kept saying things like: "Poor dear", "Oh bless your heart" etc. (I am experiencing frequent head aches that I am sure is not caused by me hunched over at my computer all day reading blogs) The look on my face had to have been priceless. I didn't once ask her what was wrong, because honestly I don't want to know if it's bad. She wants to see me again today and Friday, according to Mom that's bad. I'm going back today so hopefully I will get my nerve up to ask her how bad it is:)

On the Road Again

Seems to be the theme for 2008. We left out Thursday night after work for Santa Claus, Indiana. Our destination for this trip was Holiday World. We had heard great reviews and just had to try it out. My brother's daughter, Mahaley, went along for the ride. Get it-along for the ride. OK never mind. We were literally at the last minute searching for a hotel. This is so not like me who has OCD when it comes to planning. I had tried all day at work to research hotels or as Cary would put it-find the cheapest (sometimes cheap is not always good, as we have learned from the past). Never-the-less my old, dilapidated(yeah I had to look the word up), tortoise moving computer at work took forever to search. So I gave up until I could get home to my state of the art laptop--NOT. It's not much better than my work computer. I succumbed to the pressure, tired and stressed, and paid 134.95 for a Baymont Inn (thanks to that Government discount). Is that not ridiculous? Oh well we had a place to sleep and shower for the next 2 days.

We arrived at 10:00 PM and settled in. Nothing exciting must have happened, because I don't even recall that night. We awoke the next morning and headed to the only place (really the first place) we saw to eat-Denny's. I should have known when we saw the bug zapper lights at several booths, this was not fine dining. Actually Cary at first thought they were space heaters...until we heard the first zzzzzAP. And let me just say for the record Indiana does not have the same laws that Tennessee have so people can still smoke in public. Truckers, smoke, and bug zappers early in the morning. Enough said.

After breakfast we headed for Holiday World. It was a Friday and not overly crowded. They have 3 wooden roller coasters and if you have never rode a wooden roller coaster it is rough. I am in serious need of a chiropractor right now. After each ride I couldn't help but to wonder if all the jerking was good for your brain. Never-the-less we kept on riding. The only rides I refuse to ride are the round and round, spinning type. I just can't take it. We stayed until park closing and then headed back to the hotel. The kids were dying to get in the pool and hot tub at the hotel. It truly amazes me that the kids are so enamoured by the pools at hotels when they have their very own at home-not hot tub, but pool. We went to bed sometime around 11:30.

We awoke the next day and decided we would not be eating at the Denny's next door. So we ate the "free" continental breakfast. It was not bad, especially for free. Then we were off for Splash-N-Safari. Saturday the crowd was a different story. There were lines of people trying to get into the park. At one point I am sure I heard someone say that Saturday was the biggest crowd they have had to date. It was HOT. But that was OK because we were going to be in the water park all day. It has been a while since I have been to a water park and wasn't really looking forward to it, but I think I enjoyed the water park more than Holiday World. Again the kids were more enamored with the Wave Pool, seriously kids you have a pool at home!! There were a couple of slides we didn't ride, because someone (I'm not mentioning any names-Cary) didn't want to wait that long in line. Around 5 o'clock we decided to spend the rest of the time in Holiday World letting the kids pick which rides they wanted to ride one more time. Of course they picked the rickety, rackety wooden roller coasters that jarred me to death. Again we stayed until park closing and then headed out.

We are really getting this travel thing down. We can pack and unpack in a matter of minutes. If I could just figure out how to get the clothes washed and put away quicker.

Mahaley, who is 14, will probably be a somewhat permanent fixture on our vacations. She can watch the kids and play with the kids, it will be like traveling with a nanny.

Summer Celebration

For the past three years we have been attending Summer Celebration at Lipscomb. I have to say that I think each year it gets a little bit better(if that's possible). I wasn't for sure if I was going to be able to get off work this year but it worked out in the end. We stayed in the dorm along with several other families from church. Madison stayed in a room with Rachel, Claire, and Allie. I think they got very little sleep. I couldn't help but think that in the next 7 years they could be living together in a dorm. YIKES!

Sunday we took Madison to church camp where she will stay until Friday. I had told Grant he could stay at Granny & Pa's since he wasn't old enough for church camp. I spent Sunday night cleaning/organizing closets and drawers. I try very hard to keep a clean house, but for some reason the closets and drawers are never clean and organized. My closet is one of the hardest things for me to keep clean/organized. It's so bad that Cary actually took a picture one time and was going to put it on his blog. Later that night we watched Bucket List.

The movie really made us both stop and think. We kinda got "homesick" for the kids. Cary came home from work early yesterday and spent the day with Grant. They fished and played Rock Band. When I got off work we went to Pizza Hut to eat (one of the few places Grant wants to eat at), and then to the nursing home to see Cary's Grandmother. We then went to Wal-Mart to get Grant some shells for a gun at Pa's. We went back to Granny and Pa's where Cary and Grant decided to shoot the gun. It only took one shot and Grant was done with that. They then proceeded to use the remaining fireworks to blow up pears, plastic jugs and anything else they could find.

Home sweet Home..

We had a very relaxing, adventurous and fun-filled vacation. The kids picked up several Spanish words. Cary and I had some nausea issues on Sunday night after eating this:

Madison had some nose bleed issues, and Grant suffered his typical migraine but we survived.

We crammed alot into our 7 days. Do the kids look a little exhausted??

Madison was beaming after riding horses on the beach. Actually she enjoyed it so much she had to do it twice. You would think she had never seen a horse. The truth is my brother is a horse trainer and she has her own horse that she never rides. But when its $35ea she can't get enough!! Go figure. Once was definitely enough for me so I sat the next one out. Actually I had a massage and facial (much better choice).

The kids also rode a wave runner in the ocean (Cary wants to do this every time we go to the ocean)

They kayaked (this was free with our hotel, but of course once was enough) If you will look closely at the picture Cary is laying down in the kayak while poor little Grant paddles (No wonder he had a migraine)

They built sandcastles and searched for crabs (this was an every night event)

We all snorkeled at the hotel and on a snorkel trip out in the middle of the ocean. The water was so clear and beautiful.

Cary and the kids swam with Dolphins. The kids loved it and their pictures with the dolphin is priceless. (I'm not going to even attempt to scan it in!)

We rented a car for 2 days. It turned out to be a convertible 5-speed. I'm not very good with 5-speeds but I loved exploring in this little car as long as I didn't have to drive in town. After trying to find a gas station in town with Cary driving and me reading the map we decided we shouldn't be on Amazing Race anytime soon. Although I am sure their ratings would go up because people would be tuning in to see us fighting each week.

Cary & I celebrated our 14th anniversary while in Cozumel.

There was a show every night and after the show they would play a game with 5 couples and give away prizes. Cary and I played one night and we won!!!!! I did all the work, Cary just stood there:) We won a bottle of Tequila and a Carlos and Charlie's shirt. Cary and Madison played name that tune at the pool a couple of times. They came close but never won. But aren't they cute??

We went to Playa del Carmen one day on the Ferry. We really like it and even plan on going back sans kids:)

We went to a park (forgot the name of it) and saw a lighthouse and climbed to the top. My legs hurt for days (actually for a week).

Grant always makes friends wherever we go and Cozumel was no different. Here he is with Brett and another little boy from Norman, OK.

We arrived back home Saturday night around 11 PM. My Mom & Dad met us at home and Madison went home with them. Grant stayed with us which I thought was strange since he never turns down goint home with Pa. As I was unpacking Grant fell asleep on the couch. As I was going back and forth putting things away I noticed Grant was moaning and fidgeting in his sleep. I woke him up and asked him what was wrong. He said his back was killing him and his legs were numb. I took him to his room and layed him down. He started crying and acting like he was in pain. I noticed he had a fever. He said he thought he was just homesick. Cary and I watched him for a while trying to decide whether or not to go to the ER. (I will not go to the ER or Dr unless you are absolutely dying) At 3:30AM we finally got him settled down and he went to sleep. Needless to say I didn't get up until 11 Sunday. Sunday I started feeling bad and actually didn't start feeling better until Weds. Grant layed around all day Sunday but didn't act sick. He stayed with my Mom & Dad Sun night. They said he again done exactly what he had done the night before. But Monday he was fine. I decided if he did it again Mon night I would take him to the Dr. So far he is back to normal.

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N

We will be vacating Tennessee in less than 48 hours!!! Our home for the next 7 days will be:

Lookout Mexico The Lollar's are on their way!! We plan on doing:

Horse back riding on the beach....
Snorkeling.....

Swimming with dolphins....

And LOTS .......and lots of eating!! We're staying at an all inclusive. It never fails I always come back at least (at least) 10 pounds heavier.:(

Check back in about 10 days for a daily recap of our vacation.

Dream Job

At least that is what it was suppose to be. So what happened?? Where did it go?? I should have took notice a couple of months ago when I was on the verge of interviewing for this "Dream Job" and came across by horoscope. It was so true what was going on in my life it was kinda scary. The scary part should have been the last line. It said something like, You have worked hard for something and you are fixing to be rewarded. You have been patient and now it is time for your reward..blah blah blah. And then it said something like BUT ONCE YOU GET IT YOU MAY REALIZE IT WAS NOT ALL IT WAS CRACKED UP TO BE!!

Well you be the judge. Since getting this "dream job" this is just a little of what I have dealt with in the last month.

**My backup broke her hip and had to have a hip replacement. Which means I can NOT take off unless I beg someone from another office to come and work. Not just anyone, they have to be on the same "antique" system that I am on which is few and far between-- and be available.

**Since I have no backup, I have to work Saturdays. Because there is no extra people to borrow on Saturdays. I have since trained a part time carrier at my office to work the window on Saturdays.

**A program that I HAVE to access every day would take like 45 tries to log on. And of course this has to be done at the end of the day. I was spending anywhere from 15-45 mins past my going home time every day trying to log on. I have since figured out that if I delete all cookies, files and history for the day I can log on in 2-6 tries. FRUSTRATING to say the least.

**One Friday night as I was closing out on the "antique" machine, it crashed. But not only did it crash it destroyed all of my disk and backup disk. It took several days to get a new "antique" sent to me. So I had to manually do everything. FUN FUN

**Meeting an interesting customer, to say the least. If you watch Wife Swap or Trading Spouses and wonder where they find those crazy people, her family would be one of those. And since I was sooo nice (their words, not mine) they were going to bring all their business to me. And so far they have. They bring in anywhere from 3-10 gumball/candy machines every other day. They are the size of an end table and weigh 52 pounds each. My arms should be well toned, let's just hope my back doesn't break.

**My PMR(Postmaster Relief) (that broke her hip) (My replacement) Quit today!!! Sure I can hire another one. If they are willing to work for 10.50 hour/4 hours EVERY Saturday. Saturdays is all they are guaranteed, but they will get hours if I take off. And there are lots of weeks I never take off, so who wants to work for 4 hours a week and on Saturdays at that??

And get this, I told Cary last night I think I'm pregnant, not really, but I like to be dramatic at times. He assured me I'm not pregnant, but I am late. My tubes are tied, so really I am not pregnant but it has happened before, not to me, but I'm not. It's just the stress of the past month!!! Thank goodness I'm leaving Saturday for Mexico. But then again if I'm pregnant I won't be able to drown my sorrows, not that I would anyways. Well I might, but the kids are going so I won't!!! Yeah I need a vacation and a PMR that loves to work on Saturdays!!!

Anyone need a hairstylist??

There is a new and upcoming hairstylist that I have discovered. Since she is fairly new and a little underage, her prices are dirt cheap!!




Since I have a son that literally has hair like a chia pet that grows nonstop; I decided that I would try my hand at cutting it(Madison saw how much fun I was having and had to have a piece of the action too!!). The way I looked at it was I could always shave his head and start over.







Not too bad for no experience!!!

8 in 2008

Grant turned 8 in May. I'm a little late with a tribute to my baby. But here goes 8 things about Grant in 2008:


**Grant absolutely dreads eating. As soon as he finds out we are going to eat, he immediately starts asking how many bites he is going to have to take.

**Grant is very laid back and is definitely a morning person. As soon as you wake him he is sooo happy(unlike his momma).

**Grant is definitely a follower and not a leader. He never even thinks about the consequences of his actions. Hopefully this will soon change.

**Grant is a Mommas boy. This boy loves his Momma. I always thought I wanted all girls, but I could never imagine not experiencing the love this boy has for me.

**Grant loves to engineer and make things. (Just like Daddy)

**Grant learned to swim when he was 2. He spends hours in our pool and can swim like a fish.

**Grant is very tenderhearted.

**Grant loves his money and loves to spend it. He loves for me to sit and count his money for him.

Jesus

I know it's been a while since I've blogged and hopefully I will try to keep it up better this time. I have been waiting for just the right story to dive back into blogging with.

Of course I could have told you about my ski trip back in February with Cary and the kiddos. Skiing is something I have always wanted to try and have been told it's a lot like water skiing(That's a lie). There was 4 year old kids that were better than me!!! Madison picked it up instantly and absolutely loved it. Grant, well if you know Grant, he thought he could do just like the pros and probably still thinks he is a pro (even though I know different!) My biggest mistake is when Cary and Madison wanted me and Grant to ski with them. I made them promise to go down a fairly flat hill (if that's possible). Of course Grant took off with his own agenda, and went down what I would consider a cliff!! The rest of us had no option but to follow him. BIG MISTAKE FOR ME. Madison sailed down it effortlessly. I was behind her going only a few feet at a time praying that a snowmobile would save me. Cary and Grant were behind me and lets just say it wasn't pretty. It took me forever to get to the bottom but it took Cary and Grant FOREVER to get to the bottom. We had lots of fun and plan on going back. The next time I will be in a beginner's class and learn how to ski!!

Now for my funny story about Jesus. Sunday after Life Group we made a stop at Wal-Mart. As we were loading groceries in our car a man approached Cary and asked if he had some money to spare for gas. Cary explained that we don't carry cash and he only had a credit card. The man walked off and Cary got in the car. I noticed several other couples walking by and the man did not approach them--only us. When I said something like what if that was Jesus and you didn't help, Cary immediately said, "Why didn't I offer to meet him at the gas station and put gas in his car?" So that is what we decided to do. So we started looking for "Jesus" in the parking lot. He was just there, where could he have went?? We finally came upon him a couple of rows over. Although I do have to admit we were verifying his story by looking at his license plate (he told us he was from Nash) and also checking out what he was driving. When we saw the condition of his car we assumed he was telling the truth about needing gas. Cary rolled down the window and told him we could go get him some gas. He had a gas can. We got him some gas. He thanked Cary and told him "God Bless". So when Cary got in the car I stated. That was Jesus and we just helped him. Cary stated "If that was Jesus then he was a drunk Jesus!! I promptly reminded Cary not to judge. We kinda laughed about it and went on our merry little way.

As everyone knows, especially those in my Life Group, I have been highly anticipating a job interview. I have been waiting 2 months to find out if I had an interview or not. So Monday afternoon I found out that I do have an interview. My first thoughts were-That was Jesus that we helped!!

And then Cary, after several months of being at the end of his rope with his job, received a job offer out of the blue on Tuesday. Not only is it a job offer but with guys that he used to work with, has a great repertoire with, maybe less stress, and MORE MONEY!! So of course my first thought was--That was Jesus we helped Sunday!!! And whenever I say THAT WAS JESUS I'm starting to sound a little like Beth Moore. Maybe it's because I'm in a Beth Moore bible study at the moment!!