does anyone else find this odd??

i just find this VERY strange!!! i know its not the best photo (taken from a moving vehicle). so PLEASE let me clarify EXACTLY what IT is: what is typically used as a cross to drape at Easter. you know the holiday where we celebrate the ressurection of Jesus?? yeah...except these people thought that it would be a GREAT idea to decorate it for Halloween. you know, the holiday where traditionally people celebrate ghosts, goblins, witches, etc. So if you look closely there is a Jack O' Lantern, Frankenstein, and a Skull!! oh! but they did did try to incorporate Autumn by putting those beautiful flowers sprouting out of the top!!! OY!!! anywhoo...any thoughts?

Kung-Fu MAC!!!!!

MAC has really shown an interest in martial arts lately. especially since Daddy has been taking Karate/Judo. he asks over and over if HE can go with Daddy. so we finally decided it was time to look into it.
Last night MAC attended his first Kung-Fu class. we went with Kung-Fu {for now} because it is through a Christian Organization { Karate for Christ}....and it is a small group at a local church...did i mention it is super inexpensive?? yup, it is. MAC did REALLY well. the instructor usually begins kids at 7---and makes exceptions for 5 yr olds. so we were really happy when he invited MAC to return to class. i think he {the instuctor} was very surprised that MAC focused as well as he did!!! i was so proud!!! now i didn't want to be THAT mom....so i didn't take any photos during the class....but he DID demonstrate some of his "moves" for me the other day...while at the aquarium!! haha!!




this is what he does ALL day- around the house!!! he was a little bummed last night because he was the only kids without the suit.....Daddy told him that he had to attend 5 classes before he could get one. so we will see....once thing is certain. MAC slept like a LOG last night!!! suh-WEET!!!!

MAC meets a few critters

The parks and recreation board has "classes" for kids to learn a little about nature. So COOL!!!
the only do it once a month...but it works. this {past} tuesday the topic was "Not True in Nature." (i.e., snakes aren't slimy, bats aren't birds, etc.)
now, MAC was NOT thrilled about "learning about nature"--he mentioned SEVERAL TIMES on the way....and he REALLY wanted to play on the playground. however, he stuck it out....and ended up enjoying things.

Here they are listening to the rules

then she brought out a turtle- MAC began to get interested about.....NOW! they put her { the turtle} into some water and saw that she could swim pretty fast.

Things got really interesting here. a SNAKE!!!! to TOUCH!!! they compared something really slimy {a balloon with soap in it} with the snake....yeah, she wasn't slimy afterall. MAC liked the snake....she was a Cornsnake...in case you were curious. ;)

This guy was pretty cool!!! he kept trying to fly away... they told the kids that owls aren't REALLY that wise...and that they can't turn their heads ALL the way around...{but still pretty far}....he was VERY pretty. FYI, they weren't allowed to pet him....but they were able to "pet" a wing...from some OTHER {no longer living} owl....sad.
they talked a little about Bats. that they aren't really birds, etc. then it was off to craft time. MAC actually participated!!! WOOOOO-HOOOOO!!!! they made a "bat" from a toilet paper tube. MAC enjoyed his...until the googly eyes fell off!! haha!!
MAC DID end up enjoying the morning...and said he owuld like to go back!! SCORE!!!! later in the week we went to the aquarium and learned alot about turtles. he wasn't so thrilled about that day...i suppose there were too many kids AND it was inside!!! haha!!! whatever!

i don't know....

what the gas prices are THERE....but we are LOVING the price here!!!!!

now this was a little out of the way (sat)...and when we turned the corner (after filling up of course)....prices were $.20 MORE ....but yesterday they were this prices everywhere we went!!! SUH-WEET!!!! (just thought i'd rub it in a little!!) haha!!!

Surfin' BOY!!!

yesterday was a fun day. we had a "Beach Day" with some friends from church. it was a GORGEOUS day! we grilled hot dogs and had a picnic and then headed down to the water...and just chilled. :) but then MAC asked Mr.Andy {our neighbor} to take him surfing! which BTW, Mr.Andy NEVER turns down an excuse to surf {to my knowledge}. it was really perfect to take him out.....just enough "waves" to be fun...but not dangerous!!!

At first i thought MAC was going to chicken out...as seen here! he started whining....TC and i knew that if he got over the initial freak out....he would LOVE it!! NO FEAR!!

They headed out to the water....he was still a little unsure....

but then he got on the surf board.....he was liking it at this point!!!

At this point, I was getting a little nervous....how far are you taking him Andy??? {i didn't know there was a sand bar that he was heading toward!!!}

he is probably asking to go faster here!!! hahaha!!!

They were pretty far from the shore....mommy had to swallow a little anxiety. ;) cuz MAC was CLEARLY enjoying every minute!!! he kept asking to go "that way"...as in farther out!!!! and when he would go over a {little} wave...and a slightly larger one would go by he kept saying "OH MAN!!! that one was bigger!!!" there was another one of andy's pals out there {im sorry his name slipped my mind} and they were pushing him back and forth between them....so he could actually ride the waves!!! he LOVED IT!! According to Andy- he is a born surfer!!!

Here they are paddling in.....i think they were out there AT LEAST 30 minutes!!!!

Ridin' the wave!!!

MAC had a blast!!! He got VERY upset with us when they got back to shore and we told him it was time to head home. :( he asked the rest of the night if he could go again... i'm sure that won't be a problem....well, except that it IS october and the water IS getting a little colder....we might have to wait til next summer...but either way...YESTERDAY was fun!!!

Sandcastles! Sandcastles!

okay so there is this huge festival that goes on every year here- the neptune festival!!! obviously, this guy isn't a Sandcastle- he's just REALLY COOL!!!! this statue is about 30 ft tall...and worked into the base are various sea creatures....and he's right on the waterfront. i did grow concerned when MAC said "LOOK! its a statue of God!!!" uh-oh! maybe i should work a little more Bible Study into our routine....you think? haha! We went to the North American Sandsculpting Contest on Sept. 29. which sounds a little lame...until you get there and see some of the "sculptures"....they're AMAZING!!! there are "artists" from all over the WORLD. pretty amazing:

this first one was really kinda weird...some of the "sculptures" had names.....but this one didn't...we figured it had something to do with birth of humanity....hmmmmm..........

this one we thought was wierd-but cute...the title was "you complete me" haha!!! get it?

check this one out!!!! a dragon!!! this is SAND people!!!! can you believe this??!!
there was more to this one...but i couldn't get a good photo....so the lion won out {whatever he was looking at didn't}. if you look closely his eyes are hollowed out....not sure why....but i couldn't do that...could you?

THIS one was BY FAR our favorite!!! it had won the "sculpters choice award."

can you read the writing on the tablet??

this is part of the same one....now do you get it?? its the Wise Man's house and the Foolish Man's house!!! if you look closely {below} you can see the waves and the "foolosh man" tyring to climb onto the sand.

we had heard that this year the "Sculptures" weren't as good as usual! can you believe that? normally the artists have wed-fri to sculpt and then they judge late on friday afternoon. but we had TORRENTIAL rain {and wind} thurdsay and friday. so they only had friday afternoon and sat to work!!! ummmm....WOW!!!

All in all it was a pretty cool {free} sunday afternoon! now why i didn't get photo's of people {my mom would be so disappointed!} i don't know.....i guess i was too caught up in how cool these things were! this will definitely be something we will attend again!

MY WALGREENS TRIP!!!

Alright so i am VERY new to this walgreens thing. but today i felt like i did it CORRECTLY!!! wooo-hooo!!! well sort of- i only did two transactions. :p i had originally planned on 3. HOWEVER, after spending WAAAAYYY too much time, last night, getting man.coupons, store coupons, and register rewards organized- i went online and found the $5/$20 coupon!!! which was FABULOUS!!!! However, none of my 3 transactions equalled 20. so i just did 2- it'll all even out right? right?? so here's what i got:

1st transaction:

Huggies jumbo pack- SALE PRICE---9.99 (huggies products buy $20 get $5 RR)

2 packs huggies wipes- SALE PRICE-5.99

2 boxes nutri-grain- ---SALE PRICE 2/5.00 ($2 RR)

Man Coupons-huggies 1.00

Nutrigrain-$1/2

Walgreens Coupon- $5/20

So i spent total--------20.95

TOTAL Savings: $7.50 which isn't THAT fantastic---but it was a start.

Register Rewards Total $7.00

Transaction #2:

Coffee Filter BOGO-----$1.19

Puffs------------------$2.79

Pert Plus--------------$3.49

Softsoap Bodywashx2- $3.49 ea.

Toms of Maine---------$3.99 (this and bodywash were buy 3 get $5 RR)

Softsoap handsoap-----$2.89

Kids Tylenol x 2--------$4.99ea

Tylenol Cold -----------$4.49 (tylenols were buy 3 get $5 RR)

Oral B toothbrush -----$4.49 (4.49 RR=FREE)

fleece throws x 2--------$1.99 (hubby wanted these)

Man. Coupons:

Oral B------------------ $.75 (which means i MADE $.75!!! i think)

Pert Plus ----------------$1

Puffs---------------------$.35

Softsoap BWash----------$1

Softsoap handsoap-------$.25

Kids Tylenol -------------$2 on 2

Walgreens Coupons:

Pert Plus ----------------$2.50 (made it FREE maybe made a penny!! hah!)

Kid Tylenol---------------$1.00

Softsoap Bwash----------$1.00

Puffs---------------------$.89(that was the price!)

Total RR used: $10.00 (i had $3 from last week)

Transaction #2 total SPENT: $18.92

Transaction #2 total saved: $38.66 (WOOOOO-HOOO!)

Total for both: $39.87

Total SAVED $46.16

AND i have $14.50 in RR for next week!!!

(i think that is all correct- at least the bottom numbers are- i now that cuz i looked at the receipt!) Almost ALL of the items i bought were already on sale- so ithink i saved even more than what is on the receipt!!! however, i haven't shopped there enought to know what their regular prices are on what i bought!! that would be fun to figure out!!!

OH yeah!!!! since i spent SOOOO much $$ on pampers products (note the sarcasm)--i recieved $2.25 in coupons from pampers. and i will submit the huggies receipts and receive an additional $1.00 from the "caregivers marketplace"...anyway...i know this was a lot of OOP expense (compared to all you CVS divas)...but myself and the hubby were excited!! because what i saved @ walgreens paid for BOTH of us to fill our vehicles for the week (at least)!!! hopefully, i can get this good at Kroger- but i think that is a LONG WAY off!! haha!!!! hope you all had a happy savings week!!!! luv2ya!

ps. on my trip to Kroger i bought a clearance boquet of flowers for 3.99 the awesome part is that is had a $20.00 on my next FTD floral purchasse!!! how cool!!!!