Fun in the Sun!

Well, we are narrowing down on our Florida vacation, and we have had a lot of fun in the sun this past week! Lots of good family time without the stresses of work, schedules, school, etc… It was quite an experience taking the girls on their first plane rides! We got lots of looks from people as we hauled our 3 young girls, 3 carseats, and 5 carry-ons thru the G.R., Atlanta, and Tampa airports! The girls did great though and behaved perfectly on the planes! We are hoping they do the same on the way home tomorrow! I have snuck a few moments here and there to work on a few layouts, so I will share those now – some of them were done the weeks before we left, but just now remembering to post them.

So, what do you have planned this Memorial Day weekend?! I am sure we will have a few family get togethers, maybe just maybe get the boat out for the first time, and of course do some unpacking and settling back in at home! And Braelyn and Selah are both in the Memorial Day parade. And last but not least we will remember and honor those who have fought for our freedom here in the USA.

God Bless America.

MandaKay

Heavy Picture post!

It’s about time for a picture heavy post! Seems like forever since I have just done an “everyday life” post. We are a little over a week into May, and May for our family means BUSY! It’s the last month of school, it’s garden planting time, it’s spring cleaning, garage sales, its just plain busy! Lots of fun stuff going on! We started May off with something totally new to Kyle and I! We both ran in the 5th/3rd Riverbank 5k Race. On March 13 I could barely do my training of 1 min. run/1 min. walk for 20 minutes. I now this past weekend finished a 3.1 mile race in 30 min. 19 sec. no walking! The whole experience has been so awesome. I hate running, and would have told you 2 months ago that I think runners are NUTS! I still think many of them are (especially the 25k + runners!). I will say I get it a little more now! The 5th /3rd Riverbank Race (25k at least) is the largest in the US – so many people come from all over the world to run the race. 22,000 participants this year between the multiple races they held! On race morning we got downtown Grand Rapids around 6:45am. We already had picked up our race gear the night before, so we just had to wait until we could line up behind the start line. We were supposed to be able to hop into your pace group. Beth and I were going to hop into the 10/mile pace group, and the guys were going to hop into like the 8 or 9/mile pace group I believe. Problem was, by the time we came out of the DeVos building (where we were trying to stay WARM), we could not get up past the 11/mile pace group. By the time the start horn blew we just walked up to the start line (where the chip starts clocking your time), and then had to slow to a walk once right after that too. :( There were 5,000+ people starting all at the same time, so it was MAJOR congestion! My chip time and clock time were 2 minutes off and that was all because of how far back we were in the start and how slow the start was because of all of the people. Basically throughout the whole race we were dodging and cutting around people – it was not a race that I could just get in a good steady pace and stay there, but it was so fun to see all of the people running downtown GR! Just a sea of people! Nothing beats sprinting to the finish line with people cheering and clapping! I really wanted to have beat 30 minutes, but I didn’t quite do it. I think with a little bit better weather, a little flatter course (I never trained on hills and there were two pretty significant ones on the course), and a few less people to have to run around, I would have been under my 30 min. goal. Next time! Kyle however did it in 24:52 – without much training. Crazy guy! Anyway – definitely an experience I will never forget and I am already looking into a few more 5k’s this summer!

This coming weekend is another packed weekend. Sat. morning we have a big Community Impact Day with our church where we send a bunch of groups into the community to work and help different families and organizations! We missed out on it last year, but we are excited to be a part of it this year! After that we are heading to a Detroit Tigers game!!!

And then the end of this month we are heading to Florida with our little family! This trip is thru Kyle’s work and we are so blessed to have this vacation! The girls are excited because we will be flying – a new experience for them! I’m a little nervous of course of all the logistics of flying with 3 little kiddos!

So, that’s the recap of our life lately! The girls are great and they have been loving the spring/warmer weather and playing outside – it’s so nice to be able to send them out to burn some energy! Kyle’s work has been steady, another thing we are thankful for in this economy, and my work has been stressful, but okay. I am truly looking forward to summer and not having to bring kids here or there on my days off! I am finding it very difficult to juggle the house work, work 3 days a week, getting in quality kiddo time, and all the various things that need to be done, but I press on!

And without further ado…here are photos of our recent festivities!

Braelyn’s first t-ball game! She likes it so far!

Tulip Time 2010 – our 3 little dutch girls – thru and thru!

Race bibs/chip/etc…

The race group! Me, Kyle, Jeff, and Beth! Post race

Mother’s day 2010. Selah (4), Me, Gracyn (2), & Braelyn (5 – almost 6) – I had so many cute outakes from this little photo shoot – can’t wait to do a LO with all of them!

My parents came tonight to help us plant the seed part of our garden – they are great garden mentors! I cannot wait to reap what we sowed!!! Green Beans, yellow beans, peas, and carrots! We have yet to plant the plants (tomatos, peppers, cucumbers, etc…) because of the chance of frost yet. The girls had even helped drop the seeds – can never start that involvement too early!

They even got to ride with Dad in this fun loader!

And I just can’t bare to leave out Gauge – he is also loving the fact that he can be outside more and dig up grubs and what not! ;)

Have a GREAT week everyone!

MandaKay

Happy iNSD Weekend (early!)

So we are starting the interNational Scrapbook Day weekend a little early! Isn't that great?! I am so looking forward to the fun stuff going on digitally this weekend! I am even going to get some extra "guilt free" scrapping time this weekend! I can't wait!

Some of you have "hopped" on over here from Lisa's blog - following the Lilypad Blog Hop! If that's the case, WELCOME! After you grab my quickpage you will be hopping on over to Laura's blog for your next gorgeous quickpage! And if you did not start the blog hop yet, then you may want to start it on the first stop, Amy Martin's blog, and then follow from there! I believe there are about 23 QP's that you can grab!!!

So, without further ado...here is the quickpage that I created with my own LO with it to follow!

Download the QuickPage HERE or HERE

Thanks for stopping in and I hope you enjoy the quickpage, and the rest of the hop!

All things Digi

So, I just wanted to hop in quick and tell you to tune in this weekend at TLP! And also to my blog and many other gals' blogs! Super cute quickpages being given away!!!

And I just got an email from Persnickety Prints that they are having a sale on their printing on Mon. and Tue.!!! $1.49 for 12 x 12's, and .74 for 8 x 8! Those are GREAT prices and I have heard GREAT things about them! This deal will come in handy after you scrap all of your great pages that you get done during this iNSD interNational Scrapbook Day) weekend! Here is their ad!

ALL PRINTSMONDAY & TUESDAY ONLY!
MAY 3rd & MAY 4th
12x12 Prints ONLY $1.49!
8x8 Prints 74¢!
25% off all Prints!
coupon code: NSD2010
{please allow an extra 2-3 days for processing during this sale}

And finally, keep your eye out for some new Shabby Miss Jenn goodies and sales this weekend too!!!

A look ahead!

{i}NSD (inter National Scrapbook Day) is coming up next weekend and we have some big stuff going on at The-Lilypad!!! We are preparing even as I write this! Sales, a phenomenal BYOC (Build your Own Collab), and another blog hop - even bigger and better than the last! Hopefully you can find some time to check things out!

Here is a LO - way behind at doing my Project 365 LO's, but I am still taking the daily pics and putting them in a forum at TLP, so at least I can reference the weeks and slowly do the LO's! Looks like I am a month behind. :(

Some answers to some questions a few gals had from my "saving addiction" post. 1st question was "where do I get my coupons"? Well we get the weekend edition of our local paper, so some come from there (and sometimes i steal the coupons from my parents and in-laws b/c *gasp* they don't use them! The other place I get them from is online. There are SOOOOO many coupons for great product available online. And the great thing about the sites that I linked to in that post is that they link you right up to the coupons to print them. So I go thru the Meijer list on SavingAddiction.com and she pretty much tells you what to get and what coupons to take! Easy Peasy! I will add that I am fortunate enough to print some of these at work during down time, so that is somewhat helpful! So I hope that answers your first question! 2nd question was "how much time do you spend couponing"? That is fairly tough to answer b/c it varies per week. But doing the method I just described maybe takes 1/2 hr. The Sunday paper clippings take 2 min. The blog checking for deals - well I probably spend too much time, but it can go quick to check these blogs, so not too much I guess. Is it worth it to me? Heck yes. When I saw a grocery bill start at $135 and go down to $65 I was about jumping up and down! Now last week was not quite that good b/c I had $50 worth of general merchandise (rollerblades that were on sale for the girls!), so my savings wasn't as good, but if I took out that I think I saved $43 with coupons, pop can returns, and in ad deals. Hope some of that info helped. For me it is something that I actually enjoy doing! We made a trip to Birch Run for a some much needed clothes shopping and I used a coupon at almost every store! I really felt like we got a ton of stuff for the amount that we spent! The funny thing is - we even had a coupon for dinner (Red Lobster)!

Follow up on Swagbucks (I noticed a few of you joined!!!) The best things I have done so far is to install the toolbar and the plug-ins. I will randomly get swagbucks just for having these things. I also have the swidget on my blog sidebar that I will randomly check to see if there is a swagcode out for bonus points. And the special offers are an instant way to earn bucks too - just go here and click thru the offers - skipping/saying no, until the end - usually only 5 clicks or so - takes just seconds! I know these types of things aren't for everyone, but I usually earn swagbucks everyday with very little effort. And like I had mentioned previously you can earn more if you shop online by clicking thru their store list - you still buy thru the stores you might normally use, it's just that you get to that store by clicking on it thru Swagbucks. Anyway - I am on well on my way to another Amazon $5 gift card which is fun! Amazon always has such great deals and most the time free shipping!

And in latest news...Braelyn likes T-ball. She had her first practice last night, and I was a little nervous about it b/c she was not excited and didn't really want to do it, but she went out and did her best, which for a Kindergartner, was not bad! It will be fun to see the team progress! I know we will have to endure some very "slow" games, and yet they will be fun b/c it will be cute to see some of the things these kids do on the field!

Ok, signing off. I'm sure I will be back to bother you all later in the week/weekend!

MandaKay

What do you do for our mother earth?

I don’t consider myself to be like super duper earth friendly, natural, organic, etc…, but I try to take some steps to taking care of our mother Earth! Shabby Miss Jenn just came out with a new kit called Earth Day! She also has some templates that go with it, a blog pack to adorn your blog, and an album! Cuteness! So a few of the things we do. We have been loving the Paper Gators around town – dropping of our paper to recycle. I have been getting better at using reusable bags for grocery trips, etc… We grow a garden so that can produce our own vegetables and herbs! Hmmmm…I think we do more than this, but I can’t think of any more at the moment. Like I said, we aren’t over the top by any means! :) I can’t wait to see my garden growing this summer. Last year we had tomatoes, green pepper, jalapenos, yellow beans, green beans, cucumbers, and carrots. I think we will much of the same this year, with the addition of some fresh herbs in pots! Here is the LO using SMJ’s new goodies and template (which had a few of the things on the page as a bonus!):

And The-Lilypad always releases new goodies on Fri. and I created a LO with Cori Gammon’s new goodies – Ice Pop Princess, and a new template by Amy Martin:

So, there is a little enabling for you! Have a great weekend! Kyle and I are off tomorrow morning for Birch Run Prime Outlets – time to update the closets a little bit! I have printed off a bunch of coupons (of course) and we are packed and ready! So looking forward to a little alone time with hubby, and I am so lucky because he loves to shop!

MandaKay

My “savings” addiction

So I have a thing about saving money. I’ve always been quite frugal really. Kyle and i make quite a pair because we both are very “thoughtful” spenders. We don’t do too many impulse buys, everything gets thought about and talked about. I’ve always used coupons, but more so lately. I just wanted to spotlight a few of the blogs I frequent for heads up on coupons and match-ups. Some are local and some are basic savings/free things blogs!

Savingaddiction.com – Two moms who are addicted to saving money. They are Michigan residents, so they spotlight Meijer & Family Fare matchups and so many more!

WestMichiganMommy.com – Another local gal who gives great match-ups, free weekend events, and so much more!

Hip2Save.com – Blog is written by Collin, a Marine Corps wife/mom. She seems so fun and quirky – love it! She has so many great freebie links and coupon heads ups!

CouponingToDisney.com – This mom saves throughout the year just to pay for her annual Disney trips! This is not really all Disney related, she just has a wealth of information and different ways to save money!

There are definitely more that I check every once in a while, but these are my main blogs to check! It is quite easy to get addicted to really. I LOVE getting free lotions, body washes, tampons, diapers, etc… in the mail – I usually get a couple free things a week! I also love seeing my regular grocery bill have a higher savings number than the actual amount paid number. The other week I got a TON of groceries (things I buy normally anyway – name brand stuff) for $61. I saved $76 on that trip! That means my bill would have normally been $137 (which is usually what my weekly bill is!). If that doesn’t get you a little excited, then I don’t know what does! ;)

Another one of my new things is SWAGBUCKS. I was a little leery of this stuff at first, but it has been nothing but great and easy! It’s a search engine that awards you in the form of Swag Bucks (points that can be traded in for prizes.) You can chose from a variety of prizes including gift cards. My favorite is a $5 Amazon.com gift card. It costs 450 Swag Bucks. I just cashed in for 3 $5 Amazon cards!!! That will help me get the watch I have been wanting!

You get 30 Swag Bucks for joining and can win anywhere from 20 – 50 Swag Bucks a day if you search until you win in the morning and in the evening. I usually win within my first 5 searches. They also have Swag Codes out at least 5 times a week that can be worth 10 – 30 Swag Bucks. I figure I do searches on a pretty regular basis anyway – might as well get something for it! If this is something that might interest you just head on over here and sign up! You will see Swagbucks mentioned on each of the blogs listed above as well – sometimes they will give you a heads up on a swagcode out that will help you earn points! I’ve even done some of my shopping thru Swagbucks to earn extra bucks – like the last 2 Crocs deals that I just “HAD” to buy because Collin on Hip2Save spotlighted them. (honestly, who can turn down Croc flip flops for $5.95 shipped?)

So, that is just a snippet of what I have been doing to save money lately! I just try to really stick true to only buying things that I actually use on a regular basis, so that I am not just buying because it is a deal. Then it wouldn’t really be saving me money! I have a little stockpile of certain things, but I don’t go too nuts. Even before all of this major couponing we would buy things only when they were on sale for the most part at Meijer, so we are used to doing those type of things already. Can’t do that with everything obviously, but with a lot of things you can and we do! You should see the stack of coupons I have been handing the lady at check out – yikes – I kind of feel bad, but then I see my final bill and I just smile and give a great big THANK YOU! Sorry if you are behind me in line – I try to keep things moving quickly so as not to be a bother to anyone! I have now become the crazy coupon lady, and I am super duper proud of it! :) If you have any questions feel free to ask!

MandaKay

(I know I know – no LO’s today – weird!)