Easter 2011: The Year of M&M's.

We had a great Easter this year! The Easter Bunny came to visit and we went to Birmingham to spend time with our families. Finley ate a LOT of M&M's which are her favorite. Our Easter activities included...


Blowing bubbles with our new bubble wand.


Sidewalk chalk art


Receiving gifts


and receiving more gifts...The Easter Bunny left her candy, books, a movie, a pair of shoes, a ball that lights up, a magnetic drawing board, sidewalk chalk, Little People toys and BIG GIRL PANTIES! I'm one of those people who wakes up one morning and says, "I think I'll do (fill-in-the-blank) today." I know one day soon I'll wake up and say, "I think I'll start potty training today." Wish us luck!


I think next year we'll try to explain the REAL reason for Easter, but for now, we'll just spoil her ;)

I hope everyone had a blessed and happy Easter!!!

Family Date Night!

Saturday night was Family Date Night. We were feeling brave and decided to see how Finley would do at a movie. We picked Rio because she loves Finding Nemo so we thought a Pixar movie with animals might hold her attention. We are still undecided on whether or not it was a success. We got her all set up in her own seat with popcorn and we even let her have Sprite. Joey and I had an over/under of 30 minutes, but she lasted almost an hour. I'd say the last 5-7 minutes of that hour, she was out of her seat walking in our aisle and talking to us. She wasn't unhappy though. We decided to leave while things were still going good. We walked around Bridge Street, let her ride the carousel and ate at Tommmy's Pizza. Then, we headed to Barnes and Noble for a bit. All in all it was a great night and I'd definitely say yes to another date ;)





If you ever visit Huntsville, you should definitely check out Bridge Street. It's an outdoor shopping mall, but it has much more. It has a carousel, gondola and paddle boat rides and a place to feed the fish and ducks. On the weekends they have musical entertainment and balloon artists and they have awesome kid-friendly restaurants with outdoor seating. It's really clean and the area itself it so pretty. We probably go once a week to eat at Tommy's Pizza and Finley likes to go to Barnes and Noble.

25 Grocery Challenge

Here's what I got...
(3 lbs.) bananas
(1) cantaloupe
(1) box Pampers Cruisers (11.99)
(3) boxes Texas Toast garlic bread
(4) bottles Juicy Juice
(4) bags Tyson chicken nuggets (you might assume Finley is our chicken nugget monster, but you're wrong...it's Joey. She won't even eat chicken nuggets.)
(1) bottle Shout stain remover
(1) 1/2 gallon Publix milk
(1) box Glad trash bags
(1) dozen Eggland's Best eggs
(1) bag Pepperidge Farm cookies
(1) jar pace Picante sauce
(2) jars Pace chunky salsa
(6) packages of Bic disposable razors (By far one of the best deals I've ever gotten (excluding FREE items). I paid .44 total for 6 packs!)

Total before sales and coupons: $139.75
Total after sales and coupons: $51.56

Remember I was only going to spend $100 this month? Well, I went over. I actually spent $107.91 this month on groceries, but who can complain about that?? For the next month, I'm going to try to only buy milk, fresh produce and eggs. I have a feeling a good deal will tempt me and I won't stick to it, but I'm going to try.

This week we're having...
We have a busy week so we'll only be eating at home a couple days. Yay! I'll improvise :)

Happy Couponing!!!

Crentist.

Finley had her first dental appointment on Tuesday. She did exactly what I thought she'd do. She freaked out when the dentist laid her back and looked in her mouth and she refused to even look at the hygienist. So predictable :) I don't blame her though. The dentist is my least favorite of all the "ists". She did enjoy playing with the toys in the lobby, picking out stickers and toys afterwards and getting a new toothbrush. The dentist said her teeth look good and we should expect more molars soon. In the grand tradition of rewarding kids for doing things they should do regardless, we headed to McDonald's for "foo fies".

My autofocus wasn't working so all the pictures are blurry, but I got it fixed today.

In the chair


Picking out her toy from the toy wall

3-0!

The Good Tryers are 3-0!!! The team won their double-header last night!!!

Happy Birthday, Ryan!


Studs...


Cheering on the team from the stands

The Zoo

Last week, we decided to go to the zoo with some friends. Finley loved it!!! We all had a great time. She enjoyed seeing the animals, but her favorite parts were riding the train, the carousel and running around screaming with her friends. We were there for 4 hours, people!!! Needless to say, Finley was asleep before we pulled out of the entrance and she slept the whole way home. I need a zoo membership NOW! Anything that keeps Finley happy for 4 hours and then puts her to sleep is something I want in my life ;)

Girls Beach Trip 2011

Maybe if I give it a name, it will happen every year ;) The theme of this past weekend was "uninterrupted". Uninterrupted meals, showers and conversation. It was awesome!!! Amy, Amanda, Jennie and I headed down to Rosemary Beach on Friday for a girls beach trip. It was so relaxing. We went out to eat, laid out on the beach, shopped and ,best of all, talked for hours and laughed until we cried. Here's a breakdown of what we did each day. Do you see a pattern?

Day 1:
Ate dinner at George's
Got in our pajamas and talked

Day 2:
Laid out on the beach
Had lunch at Cowgirl Kitchen
Laid out at the pool
Shopped in Seaside
Ate dinner at Red Bar
Got in our pajamas and talked

Day 3:
Sat around in our pajamas talking until lunch
Had lunch at Wild Olive
Laid out on the beach
Dinner at Margaritaville
Got in our pajamas and talked

Day 4:
Reluctantly packed our things :(
Ate breakfast at the Donut Hole
Hugs and then we headed home.

We all needed it and we all agreed it would have to happen again soon. Of course we missed our husbands and babies terribly, but I think we all could have stayed one more day ;)