Happy Birthday to my dear ole hubby!

Ok - so this picture isnt on his birthday today, just daddy & savannah being silly awhile back but its fitting with the party hats & all!!!

Today is Dave's 35th birthday! WOW, when the heck did I become married to such an OLD dude? :) I guess thats saying I am old as well since I am only 1.5 years behind him! YIKES!

Savannah has been so cute asking what kind of party he wants to have and thinking about gifts to get him..Her 1st gift suggestion was "big mud tires cause he would really love em" Aww...she does pay attention when he is drooling over his 4wheel & Offroad magazines and showing her all the pictures of mud covered trucks! I told her that was sweet but too expensive and not to mention the horrible gas mileage he would get, LOL!!! Her next idea was candy from Buyeas because you know the 2 of them cannot and will not go into Buyeas without getting candy! Dave is getting a Big&Rich cd from the girls and some motorcycle repair manual he is D-Y-I-N-G for from me...who knows, sounds BORING to me but its what he wants and when $$ is tight like it is right now he is happy just getting to pick out dinner - which by the way is steaks on the grill (he will be the one grilling in the snow!!) potato salad and a snickers icecream cake for dessert!

So..happy 35th birthday to my crazy woodchuck husband, and here is to 35 more!!!!

Gonna be an Auntie.....again! WAAHOO!

Hooray!!!

The news just in...I am going to an Auntie AGAIN..........I have 6 nieces & 3 nephews & now 1 more on the way!!!! I love being an aunt, its super hard from far away since they are all in Arizona but I just love them all to pieces and treasure the times I do get to spend with each & every one of them!

R.I.P Dorothy

Savannah's first ever fish has died.....Dorothy has not been doing too well all week long and this morning we found her laying @ the bottom of the fish tank. Dave and I went back and forth on whether to tell her, replace it before she knew or what!!!! Its hard knowing that we could prevent the heartache for her but also this might help prepare her for when one of our bigger pets pass away! We didn't say anything and then she noticed her and asked if Dorothy was dead :( We told her it looks like it and we were sorry, we did all we could but sometimes you get so sick you cannot get better. She had a hard time with it and FREAKED at the idea of flushing her, so we put her in a jar and buried her in the backyard. Dave & Savannah are at Petsmart right now finding a new Dorothy for our family.

Ahh...the smell of bargains!

It's kind of sad what gets me all excited and giddy these days...makes me feel like an old housewife whom I guess I kind of am now....married for almost 8 years and 2 kids later....the "good ole days" are long behind me....don't get me wrong, I am happy with the way my life has turned out and wouldn't change the "highlights" over the past 15 years for anything!!!! OK, with a lead-in like that you might be let down by my BIG exciting story from this morning's errands!

I am a coupon queen, sale price addict, clearance junkie...not only willing to admit it but am totally proud of it! I am always telling Dave that even if we were rich I think I would still cut coupons, scour CraigsList and shop clearance racks or wait till something goes on sale...really, if you can pay $5 for something or get it for $2 come on, it just makes sense!!! I get a high when the cashier @ P&C gives me my total and shows I saved more w/ coupons & store savings buys than I spent!!! :)

I was out @ Kinney Drugs this morning and walked in with my list, their sale ad for the week & a fist full of coupons!! I came out with..(drum roll please) 2 4-packs of Cottenelle toilet paper, 2 bottles of Lubriderm sensitive skin lotion & 1 bottle of Aveeno sensitive skin body wash..........for a grand total of $6.17 including tax! WAAHOO - the cashier was even impressed and kept looking at the receipt to make sure she had not messed up!

Winter Beauty......

Although it is CRAZY cold out lately, (like not reaching more than 10 degrees for several days) there are beautiful parts of winter in Central New York also....the fact that I get to stay home instead of heading out on those days that you look outside the windows from within your warm and toasty home to a snow bank almost as tall as the light pole in the front yard & the sound of the bitter cold wind whipping around with snow falling and blowing all around makes it easier to really enjoy the beauty of the winter weather! Snow falling, those big huge flakes I like to call "movie snow" and the sight of frozen trees glistening with snow clinging in all their branches. These are the beautiful parts in winter..not the many cars in ditches and the gross ugly black & gray snow pushed on the sides of all the roads by the plows that make it worth living here.

OK, now I am on a roll...

Dave is getting scared and I am having fun!!!! I am not a professional crafter by any means but I am getting into this reuse, re-purpose, make it cuter thing I got going on around here......

I got this bookshelf for FREE from wonderful Aunt Connie, it was a pretty shade of blue but I needed it for Emerson's room which is black, cream & light pink.....so 2 coats of black paint (this is where I would have stopped before turning over my new crafty leaf!!) I purchased black/white grosgrain ribbon & a cute pink dingleberry type ribbon!! SO fun and adds a much needed cuteness for a 16 month old girl's bedroom!! Now it is home to books, dolls and tiny stuffed animals! P.S - please excuse my disaster of a laundry room :)

Overcoming my craft challenged self!!!

Ok, so I am TOTALLY craft challenged...I see all these awesome crafts, projects, etc on these blogs and sites I love but never try them...until today!!!! I have been wanting a cool bulletin board for Savannah's room and came across one on a blog I follow - http://www.makeitandloveit.blogspot.com/

So, we went to Joanns yesterday I got all the materials we needed & Savannah picked her fabric & ribbon, picked up a cheap frame @ Salvation Army and away we went...worked on it today and it came out really well for my 1st solo craft attempt ;) I was scared to death staring at all the materials in front of me w/ no help in sight, the frame that needed to be taken apart to remove the picture and glass, the roll of cork, the yard of fabric & ribbon, some crazy magical glue called "Mod Podge" which I am now a HUGE HUGE HUGE fan of since the stuff is amazing and easy to work with even for the craft challenged like myself!

Here are some pics of the project, Savannah is thrilled & Dave WILL hang it in her room tomorrow or else!!! :)