Grow Baby Grow!

Guess you can figure out from these pictures what my husband does to stress me out for a living.  ha-ha

Our melons are growing beautifully every day--now we have to pray that they don't get any hail, or heavy windstorms, or too much rain, or too little rain, or a fungus, or bugs, etc. etc.  Then, after ALL that, you pray that they hit the market on the right day (pricing fluctuates every day or nearly every day and if you hit before Memorial Day you get a certain price--then if you hit after Memorial Day, the prices are usually lower).  See how STRESSFUL this is?

We had to go see 'bout the melons yesterday afternoon/evening and the boys wanted to run the lines and look at the melons....you can see a little one in Nolan's hand.....

 GROW BABIES GROW!!


~CB~

The Making of an EASTER basket.

It's no secret that I LOVE to do Easter baskets!  I love finding the items to put in the baskets, and I love putting the baskets together.

I got a lot of comments on my Facebook page about the boys' Easter baskets and a few comments on my blog about the baskets, so I thought I'd show you exactly how I put them together!  (and a few snide remarks on how many my kids got, but hey--they're my kids and it's my prerogative, right?)

I started by gathering everything that was to go in the baskets, including the grass, candy, eggs, etc.  In other words, EVERYTHING.

All those items were then spread out so I could "do work".  ha!

Then, the items were divided into two IDENTICAL groups.  It's important that you understand IDENTICAL because heaven help us if their baskets aren't IDENTICAL.  It's rare than one boy gets something different from the other.  For example, if they both get bath crayons, one might get a different color than the other, and Nolan likes dark chocolate whereas Carter does not, so that's a little different, but otherwise, it's IDENTICAL.

The baskets and grass were prepped.

Then, the filling began.  I usually do simple things like bath crayons, cracker jacks, Gatorade, Hawaiian Punch powder, shampoo or body wash, etc.  I don't (and didn't) spend a whole lot on "stuff" even though it looks like it.

I continued to add in "stuff" here and there until the baskets were overflowing full.  One can never have too much "stuff" in their Easter basket.

A close-up look at one of the baskets completely finished!  That toothbrush was free and the Pez dispenser I purchased last year after Easter for less than a quarter!  And I had some Mars coupons, so those Snickers eggs were FREE and I even made money on them.

And another one of their baskets.....yes, they each get THREE baskets.  One basket has nothing but candy filled eggs, and the other 2 baskets usually have candy eggs and the "stuff" in it.  The boys' cloth baskets are not very big, so that's why I had to move to multiple baskets.

It does look like a lot, but this basket for example was about $3 or $4 total.  The markers were on clearance a few months ago for about $1, the pencils were $1, the cotton candy was .10c, the Dove bar was .29c, and the Hawaiian punch drink powders were $1.  I had coupons and discounts on everything that went into their baskets this year. (well, almost everything)

Yummy candy eggs!

Then, the baskets were all set up on the table and ready to be "found" on Easter morning!

And that is the story of my Easter baskets!

~CB~

It's What I Love About Sunday {Easter}

I love EASTER Sunday!  I'm big on tradition, so I love all the new, pretty dresses, Easter baskets, egg hunting, food, and everything else that comes with Easter Sunday.

Believe it or not, I did NOT color coordinate our Easter clothing this year.  I didn't have time to go and shop for items that went together; it happened that the boys and I all had some brown, but poor Cecil was left out in the brown department!  

We had an AMAZING church service yesterday morning.  For the first time since I can ever remember, our choir did not do an Easter cantata; instead, we had Voice of Joy from Norway come and bless us with their wonderful musical talents!  They did an awesome job!  We had a total of 799 (or more) in our Sunday service!  Can you believe that?  Good thing we just built a new church, however, it's already bursting at the seams!

Prior to attending church, the boys woke up to great EASTER baskets!  The "Easter bunny" and I put them together on Saturday night.

Yes, I tend to do a LOT for EASTER baskets!  Each of the boys receive 3 baskets.  Even though this looks like a TON of stuff (and it is), I spent less than $10 each for their baskets!  That includes candy purchases, toys, etc.!  I reuse their baskets from year to year, so I never have a basket expense.  All the candy was cheap or FREE and the toys I put in the baskets were only $1 or less!  The baskets included pool toys, candy, sugar-free hawaiian punch mixes, shampoo, toothbrushes, Gatorade, Peeps, slinkys, and more!  I'll do another post on how I created the baskets.....

I'll say that even though the boys got so much candy and stuff, they didn't hardly eat any of it yesterday.  I'm sure we'll get good and sugared up this week, but for the most part, they were too busy yesterday to stop and eat candy.

We had my cousin, Karen, her husband John and their children Kristen and Kyle over for lunch yesterday afternoon.  Many years, we eat with Cecil's family, but this year, we did our own thing.  We put a ham in the oven before we left for church and oh my--the house was smelling SO GOOD when we got home!  I did the meat, bread, and dessert, and Karen cooked the side dishes and it was all DELICIOUS.  We had a great time just sitting around the table, eating and laughing!

Anyone that knows me knows that I will use any excuse I have to use my good china.  EASTER was no different!  I have started using my china more and more, even sometimes for everyday meals, just because I love it so much and I want to make memories with my boys!  I had the table set all nice and pretty--yes, I realize that I didn't do the flatware properly, but I wanted to use my white linen napkins and if I put the flatware on the placemat, they blended in too well.  And yes, I do have plenty of my stemware to go around, but I don't trust my boys with it; they used the green goblets instead of my stemware.  ; )  The beautiful flowers were from a bridal luncheon that I attended on Saturday and I think they added the perfect touch to the dinner table!

We hope you had a blessed and wonderful EASTER!

~CB~

Weekly Deal

I have LOTS of great deals to show you, but this is one of my favorites from the past week! 

These Snickers eggs were on sale at Walgreens last week for .29c (i think) and I had a coupon for $1.00 off 2.  Did you do the math on that?  Yep-for every 2 eggs I bought, I MADE .42cents.   This means I was able to get TONS of these eggs for easter baskets!

I purchased some other candy with my “overages”!

More good deals to come!

Catching it....

I told y'all I practically live at the ball field these days.  I don't have very many great and exciting pictures to show you of any recent trips, unless of course, you count the ball field as a "trip".  ha-ha

Nolan's Coach lets the boys rotate on catching.  I'm pretty sure this is the cutest catcher within miles--but I'm slightly partial.

 

We've got Easter coming up and Nolan has a few field trips, and a big class project, so I'm sure you'll see those pictures soon!

~CB~

Life's a Beach

It's rare that I have time to go to the beach for a day-trip.  I did however, make time to do such this past weekend.  You ever have those times where you just need a big, fat, BREAK from reality?  Yep--it was one of those times.

My cousin and I planned a day-trip to Daytona last weekend and we had a BLAST.  My little family of 4 went and she and her oldest daughter went.  We all piled into my car and headed that way!

Karen and Kristen had themselves a time with my wooden spoons on the way over.  I'll neither confirm or deny why I have wooden spoons in my car.   Take a few guesses.  I'm sure you're right.  hee-hee-hee

Nolan and Carter thought it was HYSTERICAL that K&K were fighting with the spoons!

Karen and I at the beautiful beach!

Nolan and Kristen in the ocean.

Since I own several timeshares in Daytona, I'm fortunate to be allowed to use the facilities even when it's not "my time".  It was great to be able to lay on the beach, yet rinse off with fresh water, and swim in a nice, cool pool!!

I foresee MANY more day-trips to the beach in the NEAR future!

~CB~

Orange and Blue!

It's FOOTBALL time y'all!  There's no better place to be than in the SOUTH during football season!  Everyone knows the SEC is the BEST conference (I'm just statin' facts here).

 Last Saturday was the annual ORANGE and BLUE game for the Florida Gators!  Our family LOVES some football and Saturday was no different!

Earlier in the week, my mother-in-law emailed me to say they had several tickets in the Champions Club and did we want to join them?  Y'all.  I had to think real hard about that.  NOT!!  ha-ha-ha

We had a great time and guess who showed up?  TIM TEBOW.  UF unveiled the new statues and Tim Tebow, Amy Moody (Steve Spurrier's daughter), and Danny Wuerffel were invited.

It was a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon and see
Tim Tebow the Gators play ball!

~CB~

...at the Old Ball Game...

Well, I'd like to tell you the reason I haven't blogged in several days is because I've been on a long vacation to Hawaii or somewhere nice and tropical, but the truth is...well, here's the truth...WE LIVE AT THE BALL FIELD these days.  ha!


The boys had pictures last week at the ball field, and you know me, I never buy those pre-packaged deals, because I feel like I can do just as good a job with my own camera and then I own the copyright and can do what I want to. (and I'm certain that was a run-on sentence but roll with me here will ya?)

 Carter smiled sweetly for his first few photos...

Then he felt the need to look the part of a "cool" ball player.  And don't tell him this, but I sort of like it, hee-hee-hee

Nolan smiled a good one for me too!

Nolan and his friend Trey before pictures.  Trey's Dad, Uncle, and Grandfather all coach the team.  How COOL is that?  Nolan and Trey are in the same class at school together too (bless their teacher's heart)

Stay tuned for more baseball adventures.  Sorry, no tropical photos for you, BUT we did go to the beach a few days ago!

~CB~

Afternoon Fun

A few days ago (okay several days ago), our friends Travis and Cori came over to get their horses and we had a good time just hanging out together!  The boys especially liked getting to get on Wardo and Rosie (the horses).....

For some odd reason, okay, it's not odd, it's normal for us.....my boys thought it would be fun to have Cecil try and rope them as they were running around like wild banshees.

Just another day of afternoon fun.

~CB~