Target

I spend ENTIRELY TOO MUCH MONEY at this store...
I find myself going there at least twice a week...
I have to talk myself out of going when I pass it sometimes. If I did not have kids that I had to lug around while shopping I think I just might be in there everyday.
I need help...
I need an intervention...
With the new house there is ALWAYS something I can find that "I NEED" from there...

Anyone have any ideas on how to help me KICK the spending habit I have at Target??
I have recently given myself a "total" that I cannot go over when I go in there... and I always look at the Clearance Things that I HATE to pass up...
The last few times I have walked in and walked around and walked out without anything... but when I balanced my checkbook last month there were over 20 TARGET purchases... I hope they were really NEEDS...
HELP PLEASE!!

Special Blankets ~

My mother makes these ADORABLE Children's Blankets. They are Flannel on one side and silk on the other. My mother learned how to make them after Alyssa Green made them and gave them as gifts to her grand kids. I think my mom was able to see how much Hailey LOVED her blanket. I said I would need to ask Alyssa to make another one because Hailey uses hers SO much, and I think that is when my mom thought ~ I could make these for my grand kids and as presents too!! 

 Landon is is LOVE with Toy Story! My mom found this material and could not pass up making little Landon a blanket with it! He has slept with it EVERY night since we have gotten home and EVERY nap time too.

Hailey got a Tinkerbell blanket. When my mom came to visit last time she told Hailey if she was a good girl and potty trained for mommy she would make her a blanket. We let Hailey pick out her material and my mom made an adorable Tinkerbell blanket Hailey now carries around with her all over the house. Today she picked her shirt to match her blanket...

THANKS GRANDMA FOR

THE ADORABLE BLANKETS! 

The kids LOVE them just like we thought they would!  

Mom's Apple Pie

While shopping with my mother this last weekend I bought this Lil' Gourmet Baking Set.

 Upon opening it in the store my mother decided she needed to have one too for when the grand kids come to cook with her. When we saw the recipe for Mom's Apple Pie we figured the $5.00 Clearance price was SO worth it!!

 We made THESE...

 And they tasted BETTER than they sounded like they were going to taste!

There was cream cheese in the pie crust... CREAM CHEESE... YES! We decided that would be a PERFECT Late Birthday Dessert! :) I can't wait to make the other things that sound too good to be true!!

Helping out at Grandma & Grandpa's

Hailey wanted to help rake up the leafs so she could jump into a BIG leaf pile while we were at my parents house. 

 She enjoyed the helping part, but she REALLY enjoyed the jumping in part!

Here she is helping grandma rake in the garden area...

 She loves to be a big helper. She really can be helpful at times!

I remember doing this when I lived in Oklahoma in our backyard. Watching your kids enjoy things you once enjoyed as a kid sure is a treat.

On our drive home Matt and I were talking about "US" as parents wanting to do nice things for our kids, and "US" realizing that all our parents wanted to do was nice things for us. Then we came to the conclusion that we as kids just needed to do good things for them to have an excuse to do nice things for us. I sure hope our kids do good things so we can have an excuse to spoil them!!! I hope they give us MANY opportunities to do nice things for them ~

Chang's & BLING

To honor people and them turning another year older my parents take us out to eat on or near our birthdays. This year my birthday meal was a little later than usual because of moving and packing and stuff so this last weekend I got to celebrate it out with my family. I was feeling "Chinese" so I decided we needed to hit up House of Chang's. Or what we like to call "Chang's"... have you ever been??

 We all had to wait a while after ordering because they make everything fresh. It was fun sitting around the table chatting and watching the kids run back and forth to the fish tank in the restaurant. My mother is laughing at Landon, and it looks like my dad is doing an impression from Home Alone... Preston why are you giving me that crazy look??

 Here are the GIRLIEZ... Crystal and Sharon my little sisters and Hailey all ready to eat...

 And then myself, Matt and Landon... I should have taken a picture of the FOOD that came out, It was HUGE portions and looked AMAZING!! We all had leftovers for lunch the next day (except for Preston my little brother) THANKS Dad and Mom for the Birthday Lunch!!

And my mom wanted me to document her ilovetocreate.com T-Shirt she had just made. When she came to visit us last in Clovis, she got this iron-on crystal design. She said it was BEYOND easy to make. She read the directions and it came out great! She said the hardest part was waiting for the shirt to be washed so she could make it beautiful. It sparkles more than any other crystal shirt I have ever seen! LOVE IT! ~ My mom is SO the Queen of her Castle!

Tissues ~

Have you ever walked into a room to find THIS ~

Obviously I did, and instead of getting all upset about it, I decided I better run and grab my camera so I can document this kid in action.

 Then I caught THIS action...

How could I get mad at that ADORABLE little smiling face...?

Could you? And so instead of screaming and yelling about it we sang the "Clean Up" song, and Landon brought me all the tissues to put up.

And that is just what I did. I spent a good half hour folding them back up and putting them into the tissue holder...

Yes, I am that cheap.

BIG NEWS

Our Family if officially all together again...

The Boat is in the garage.

I know, I know... is this REALLY Big News you are asking yourself...

Well, do you know what it takes to get a boat in a garage??

First, it would not fit through the third car garage door opening,
 (which is where we want it to be)

so we had to figure out how to get it in the garage, then move it over.

So we had to get 4 dollies for 4 wheels on the trailer...

Next, we had to get the trailer hitch set up so the brake lines could disconnect...

 Then I had to take the Rubber Band off my wallet to pay for these things...
why are you laughing??

So Matt backed the boat into the double garage door, then we put the dollies on the wheels, disconnected the brake lines and took off the front hitch. We then pushed the sucker over to that side of the garage. Not too hard, but not something we want to do for the rest of our lives either...

If we had the money to pave the side yard we would have not had to go through all this hassle, but that is our next big house project. We are hoping to have the money saved up by next spring!

So a few hundred dollars later we are all one big happy family,
all together again under one roof.

Can I just say I am SO glad my husband is an Engineer...

 Hailey is ready for next boat season.

When Matt got home with the boat and opened the front door she said

 "Oh, Daddy Look... It's my boat!" She knows what is up!!

And Landon is wondering who wants to go tubing with him...

 If these kids only knew how lucky they are...
Matt and I sure know!

Visit!

Our little family got visitors today!!
Grandma and Grandpa Bird, (Matt's Fathers Parents) Aunt Susan, Aunt Diane and Ally, and Aunt Jeanine came to Fresno. We had a little lunch at our house and Matt was able to come home. It is ALWAYS fun when we get together with the extended Bird Family! It was really sweet to see everyone and nice to let them see our new house.
The kids enjoyed them visiting too because Aunt Jeanine came with hand-me-down toys...

She called me and told me she had alot, and she was NOT Kidding!!
It came nicely packed away, but the kids got into it and this was the aftermath!!

Landon and Hailey's favorite toy right now is what Hailey call's "My Instruments!"
Jeanine said "I hope you really like the drums I brought!" haha...

We got enough for a whole band for sure!

THANKS PARKER FAMILY!!

We really enjoy the toys you have shared with us!!

LIST

My list of things I need to do today goes a little like THIS:

1) I NEED to vote!
I have been reading up on all the propositions, but I still need to figure out how I want to vote on some of them. The wording in one "pro" thing sounds good, but then the "con" sometimes sounds good to me too... And when I try to read the WHOLE proposition I get confused about everything. Can someone who is TOTALLY UN-BIASED PLEASE make me a "voting for dummies 2010 version"... when all else fails I call upon good old dad to see how he is voting... he helps make sense of it all... This is what we Californians are currently dealing with. I don't remember having to research so many props before...
Prop 19 – Will make Marijuana legal to use for anyone of legal age
Prop 20 – Changes who decides on Congressional redistricting
Prop 21 – $18 vehicle license fee to go towards state parks
Prop 22 – Will prevent California from borrowing from infrastructure funds ~
Prop 23 – Would get rid of the Air Pollution Control Law ~ good idea... but really
Prop 24 – Repeals lowered business taxes
Prop 25 – Legislative budget vote requirement
Prop 26 – Requires 2/3′s vote to raise many business fees
Prop 27 – Decides who should draw legislative district boundaries 


2) I need to do "throw-up" Laundry. You know the Laundry you can not leave for the next Laundry Day...(or am I the only one who has a Laundry-Clean day) So Yeah... I was waiting for all the sickies to be gone so I could once and for all get that taken care of... THAT will be fun...

3) I need to wish my parents a
VERY HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!
31 years!!
Is that not amazing??
And the most amazing thing about it is that they are still going strong. One of the things I love about my parents is that since us "children" have gotten older our opinion and thoughts are really taken to heart with them. I know as a child and as a teenager I needed them to guide me, but I really appreciate the relationship I have with them now. I feel like I can tell them anything and in turn talk to them about anything. Too often I hear about parents who always feel the need to parent, and won't let their children "SOAR" ... I am thankful for their example as to what a loving relationship is, and thankful that they are letting me and all my siblings SOAR! Mom and Dad... YOU ARE THE BEST! I love you for everything you have done for me, and love you even more for the things I know you are going to continue to do for me!! Congratulations on yet another wonderful year...

4) Fill out paperwork for Hailey and getting things rolling for Future School and Testing...

I hope YOUR day is FILLED with VOTING and GOOD THINGS! :)

Let's Go Fly A Kite ~

Hailey has been trying to get Matt to help her fly a kite for a while now. It was finally windy enough one day so he took her outside to have some fun.
A few minutes later I hear him calling to me and for me to bring the camera... Yeah... Check this out...

YES you are seeing it right... She is flying the Kite with her mouth... Oh HOW we LOVE her!