Grandma Jeanie's Home

Waiting....waiting...Spotted......Hugs....Tears.....

Thats right and I'm sure you've heard Grandma Jeanie came home February 17th from her 1 1/2 year mission in Australia. We had a lot of fun that weekend full of visiting, delicious foods, emotional drainage, and laughs. Its felt as though she had never even left us, although it had been weird to think she had never seen Maddie before that day. So much fun. Jon got to fly home with Jeanie and took his physical test up in Kennewick. He did wonderful and so we got to drive up the following weekend so that he could interview, which he thinks went well. We have been busy! My next post will be all about that trip but I figured I needed to catch up since it is now March. Maddie was Grandma Jean's little side kick she loves to sit on her lap and soak up the attention. So excited for all the fun memories to come. Oh I so hope we get this Kennewick police officer position, I would be so happy and relieved.

Barrage of random pictures

So goofy.

Maddie & Lizzy

Valentines Day morning, she got these new sunglasses and she loves them. She also loves purses what a girlie girl.

Thanks Gma Walker for the little purse as well as a fun visit!

So good with her dollies.

Cutest hat ever, right? Thanks Melissa Hahn! Oh yeah these are the boxes we sell in our office, obviously put to good use.

I found these Croqs at a garage sale, best smallest investment ever.

A face we have seen way too many times, what will we do when she turns 2?

Spaghettios are a cupboard staple in our home.

Proof that my house is clean one day of the week, sometimes :) I must credit Jon for doing a majority of the cleaning.

This is totally OUR kid, ha ha ha. She does sit in her princess chair or does summer saults over it anyway.

Maddie's been attending yoga classes at Golds gym with me, not really but as you can see she's quite flexible. Gotta give her props, I don't think I could do that without pulling out the drawers or having the the whole thing fall on top of me.

Pledge

www.pfpchallenge.com

Go ahead and pledge you know you want to. Wait only do this if you need to lose weight. I thought it would cost money and it doesn't, but for every pound you pledge to lose .14 cents is donated to help feed America. I pledged today, I also signed up for a competition, thats correct a weight loss competition. I had to get my stats taken in a bathing suit....awkward. But hey if I win in my age/gender group I win $2,000. Might as well right? Wish me luck.

What does a 1 yr girl do?

READS, I like that she climbs into this chair in her bedroom with a book and sits there and reads all by herself. POINTS in her books, I love it because it means she's observant. EATS Vicks baby vapor rub and lately Aquaphor, so messy and gross.ACCESSORIZES! She loves pulling on mom's necklaces and wearing them around the house.

BATHES! Bath time is the best time in the house, its quiet and so peaceful.

WASHES, or tries to put herself through a cycle. She almost made it into the drum. Good thing it has a child proof lock, that I don't know how to use.

CHEESES. Her hair is getting long, halelujah. Mothers with long & thick haired girls just don't understand.

HANGS OUT. She LOVES to play with Liz. I babysat last night and the girls had a ball. Liz jumped for joy when Maddie woke up from her nap and then Maddie jumped for joy in her crib when she found out Liz was over. They are so funny.She can also CHATTER and SCREAM and FAKE CRY. But I love when she tries to uses words she can say "hi", "ow", "no no", "mommy", and "Dad's awesome" oh wait thats what Jon says. She'll point at food that I'm usually eating and then say something resembling "me". She loves smoothies I'll have to get a picture of that.

SALES

I love sales. I am so excited about the deals I got yesterday I had to share.
Scenario 1:

I NEEDED shampoo and conditioner. If you know me then you know I'm picky about my shampoo and conditioner. I must use salon products, this was probably something my first hair dresser stressed to me and it stuck. I was worried about bothering in-laws to get my products from a beauty supply store, but yesterday I found out TRADE SECRET is having a sweet deal. All liter bottles of shampoo and conditioner are 50% OFF. I don't know if there is one is in Tri-Cities but its in Utah. This made my two Redken bottles $24 together which is alot better than a deal at the Walmart salon. My bottles last me months too. Just thought I'd share, and they did have the larger size of the Bedhead head rush spray which is another of my favs.

Scenario 2:

Maddie is growing like crazy, really making up for the tiny baby she once was. I used to get handme downs (can't really call them handme downs because they are always in perfect condition), anyway she's caught up with her cousin in size. So I had a Old Navy gift card and I went to there clearance section and got 6 items shirts, pants, & two sweatshirts. I used a 15% off entire purchase and only had to pay $2 for everything w/ the giftcard of course.

Nothing like a savings high. Thank you to all my "money saving blogs" oh how I love you. Had to mention my blogs:
www.fistfulofcoupons.com
www.freebies2deals.com
www.pinchingyourpennies.com
www.thekrazycouponlady.com
www.fatwallet.com

The Holidays

Maddie's hair is growing, this picture was taken yesterday. Her latest trick is jumping, or more like her attempt at jumping. I'll be posting that video later.
What did you do for New Years? We celebrated with the Coltons at the SLC Grizzlies vs. Victoria's Salmon Kings hockey game. I really enjoy going to sporting events. Realized hockey fans like their beer.

We had pretty good seats, I should have got a picture with Liz & Maddie wearing their cute hats.Maddie was pretty good for a two hour game.

The first fight so CRAZY, I couldn't believe they were letting them throw punches. Did you know they don't stop the fight until they hit the ground? It was too violent for me. These two fought again, the Grizzlie player won.

Kelly showing off her lanyard, she caught that from above.

Unfortunately the grizzlies lost by one point after a shoot out.

Thanks Alpine Storage for the tickets, we wouldn't have had any plans for New Years Eve other wise.

Christmas was wonderful we got to go home to Washington and spend lots of time with family. I was really sad to go which is weird I normally am ready to go home by the end of the trip. I think I'm ready to leave Utah. I guess we'll just wait and see what happens. Jon will be going back to Washington this week to test for different agencies hopefully something works out. Thanks to my family and Jon's brothers family for the fun times during the holiday. I am really missing the WII tournements. We got a different camera so I don't have many pictures but here's what I got.

Dollar microphone, loved it. She knew right away what to do with it.

Princess foam chair, LOVED IT!

Dollar bouncy ball, loved it.

Maddie has been climbing in and out of the tub. She loves the bathtub, loves loves loves it. Hope your HOLIDAYS were as merry as ours. Bring it on 2010, good riddens 2009!

Every Day Heroes

This is a shout out to my every day heroes. We have been overwhelmingly blessed by freinds and family through our financial struggle. I received a couple hundred dollars worth of gift cards this week and I am floored by the generosity by everyone. One was from Questar Gas who has been replacing a pipe line this last month or so and had to work some nights, crazy that they thought the should give such a generous gift to ALL THREE families that live here at our storage facility. I hope one day I can pay it all forward. Thank YOU, and you know who you are.