Father's Day

Happy Father's Day from Jason's three boys!
After church on Sunday, we headed to Melea's parent's house to hang out with Dad and family. Here are some family photos of us together.


Two new grandsons born two days apart, Patrick and Sam (already buddies holding hands!)

A shot of the SEVEN grandsons. SEVEN! After about SEVEN (or more) times of trying to get all these boys to look at one place, at one time, and smile. This is as close as we could get! Where are the girls in this picture, you ask? Maybe one of these days!

My sweet grandmother, with her son, grandsons, and great-grandsons.

And last, not but not least, a picture of the whole crew. What a blessing!

Publix!

Well, here are my totals for this week at Publix and Harris Teeter. Everything I bought is not pictured because some of it has already been eaten or used. But, this gives you a good idea of my excellent savings this week. This sums up about 4-5 trips to the stores.

Publix

Tostitos Family Size chips BOGO no coupon

22 Ziplock $1.99 $1/1 manuf. q + $1/1 target coupon--free

5 Bounty paper towels $1.25 $ .25 manuf. coupon + $ .50 target coupon ( .25 ea.)

Publix jelly 1. 79 no coupons

7 Glad $1.59 $ 1/1 manuf. coupon + $1/1 FLIP (free +)

2 Publix apple juice $2.49 mystery item-- ($.01 ea.)

Publix premium ice cream $3.99 free coupon -- free

Publix milk 2.25 -- no coupon

2 Whitewheat bread 2.29 -- no coupon

7 Raid ant/roach spray $3.89 ($2.00 manuf. q + $2.00 publix coupon (free +)

7 Tylenol $3.48 ($2.00 manuf. q + $2.00 publix Q (free +)

4 Reach Floss $1.49 $1.00 manuf. Q + $1.00 publx Q (free +)

4 Sundown Vitamins $2.99-3.59 $1/1 manuf. Q + $6/2 publix Q --( free +)

3 Crystal Light BOGO 2 free Q + $1/1 manuf. Q ($ 1.00 for all 3)

Publix Black Beans $.83 no coupon

Bag of apples 2.49 no coupon

5 Kraft barbecue sauce BOGO $1/1, $.75/1 (free)

3 Apple and Eve juice boxes $1.39 $1/1 manuf. Q + $1/1 publix Q (free +)

12 French's mustard BOGO $1/1 manuf. Q (free +)

6 Ragu BOGO $.75/1 manuf. Q ($.35 ea)

Publix Oatmeal $1.39 no coupon

Harris Teeter

1 Hot Shot bug killer BOGO $1.50 manuf. Q (free)

1 Klondike bars BOGO (should have had a $1.25 Q taken off, which would have made it free, but he didn't deduct it, but can't really go back now and try to get that $1.25 back since I live 30 minutes away, and I've already given them the Q)

6 Activia yogurt 4 pks. $2.00 $1/1 doubled-- (free)

Archway cookies $2.99 $1/1 doubled -- (.99)

Total spent: $19.34 (should have been $17.54) Total saved: $239.41

Ten Years and Counting

It's truly amazing to think it's been ten years since Jason and I got married. We never imagined that God would have given us 3 healthy boys; a business that has flourished and has allowed me to stay home with our boys, and begin homeschooling this past year; and a marriage that, by God's grace, is strong in so many ways. For this we are truly thankful to the Lord.

For our anniversary, we were planning on going to the lake place for a couple of days, spending time hiking and wakeboarding, and relaxing. But, I knew Jason had something up his sleeve when he told me to pack a very nice dress, because he had a surprise in store. I had an inkling of an idea of what he was planning, and I turned out to be right about one part of it. . . first, we headed downtown to a hotel where we had originally stayed our first night as a married couple, Union Station Hotel. Here are some pictures of inside the hotel. It is a great place to visit. We didn't walk around inside as much as we would have liked, but there is a lot of history in that hotel (a restored 19th-Century railroad station).

The ceiling made up of beautiful stained glass...


Where we ate breakfast....

Our beautiful, high-ceiling room overlooking Broadway (a great view, but not so great for sleeping on a Saturday night as those partying downtown are heading home).

For dinner, Jason had made reservations at the Melting Pot. Um, only one word comes to mind when I think of the Melting Pot, delish.

I should have taken pictures of each course, but this one was the one that stood out from all the rest. Cheesecake, brownies, bananas, strawberries, pound cake, all dipped in warm chocolate and peanut butter fondue. Again, I say, delish.

After our oh-so-wonderful dinner, Jason took me to the Symphony in the new Schermerhorn Symphony Center to see a piano concerto. This was a very nice experience. We had a great time.

The Schermerhorn Symphony Center

The next morning, we woke up and headed to the lake place where we first headed to Burgess Falls State Park to hike to the waterfall. Here are some pictures we took on the way down.

Altogether, it was a wonderful time, celebrating this special gift God has given us -- it is amazing to think of how God can bring two sinners together to glorify Him. After all, it's really a picture of the gospel -- that God would reach down and reconcile sinners, enemies of God, to Himself, through Jesus Christ by His atoning sacrifice. Because of what God does in the hearts of believers, we are able to love our spouse, confess our sin to them, to forgive and be forgiven, and grow in the knowledge of God, together. What a blessed gift!

Water Play

Fun with the Slip 'n' Slide on a very hot day.































I'm not sure exactly what that look on Isaac's face means, but then again, I may know exactly what that look means.

Joshua is LOVING the water this summer. He is definitely not happy when it's time to get out and go inside.

I bet they were squirting their brother. Hmmmm. Just a guess.

T-Ball Time!

Well, you know it's officially summer time when you're heading to the t-ball field twice a week, watching your kiddos hit and throw the baseball, run (sometimes the wrong way), talk to everyone who runs past or rests on a base (Elijah), and slide into homeplate as if they are the greatest major league player. It's really a blast, and a great way to spend an evening.

Here are the starters:

Joshua, age 18 months, definitely one of the "big boys," and can do anything, I mean anything, his older brothers can do.

Notice the rain boots on his feet (?)

And here is Elijah, age 6 1/2 making a catch from the pitcher's mound, ready to get it in that glove, and tell his friends about it. He's such a friendly guy, already making new friends his first game.

And last, but definitely not least, our Isaac, age 4 1/2, smiling and laughing the whole time he is hitting and running (and sliding). After all, Isaac does mean laughter!