Free Sonic

Want a free CrosSonic at Sonic? Enter your email address and Sonic will send you a coupon! The only catch is that you order a large drink to go with it. You've got to have something to wash it down with, right?

Aerial

The Big Picture with amazing aerial shots of places in the world.

Goop recipe

My good friend, Jennifer, called me yesterday afternoon and shared this fun recipe with me for homemade goop. No, it's not like playdough and it's not like silly putty.....it's GOOP! My children enjoyed playing in it with their hands and feet. Once the goop hit the skin, it dried and reminded me of paraffin wax. Only three ingredients are needed and I had all on hand - I knew I bought that cornstartch on sale a few months back for a reason!


Homemade GOOP recipe

1/3 c. water

1 c. cornstarch

Food coloring (if desired)

small bowl

cookie sheet

(Makes enough for 1 child)

In a bowl or pie plate, mix water and optional food coloring. Add the corn starch and let the combo sit for two minutes, allowing the water to soak up the startch. Begin mixing with your hand or spoon. If you need to add more water, add just a couple of drops (especially after playing with it for awhile). Have fun!

FYI: I would HIGHLY advise that you play with the GOOP outside. Trust me.

Eternal life!

Security in Christ -we can be sure we'll remain saved through all eternity.



HT: Desiring God/Abraham Piper

Would you rather....?????

...have one eye in the middle of your forehead?

OR

....have a six foot long tail?

Wordless Wednesday

So many freebies!

CVS deals this week with printable coupons.

Walgreens deals this week with printable coupons.

Free stuff at Target this week with printable coupons.

Publix deals this week with printable coupons.

$.31 scoop night at Baskin Robbins tomorrow from 5pm-10pm, April 29.

Free pasta bowl at Domino's on April 29.

Free Hallmark card, good til May 4.
Use code CARD4MOM upon checkout (shipping is free, too!)

Free postcard from My Virginia Memory.

Free TCBY for moms on Mother's Day, May 10.

Sign up for all those birthday freebies!

Spell

As most parents tend to do, Mitch and I tried to have a minute of private conversation while at the dinner table tonight with our children. We began spelling words so our sons wouldn't know what we were talking about. That's when our oldest piped in and said, "Would y'all stop spelling please?".

Believe me, it was funny...guess you had to be there.

She loves to read

I catch her doing this often. I hope she continues to find joy in flipping the pages and sitting alone, soaking in the pictures (and eventually, words).

Free BRAVES ticket

You can click here to register for a free ticket to see an Atlanta Braves baseball game as a birthday gift from the team. Make sure you read all the details as each month is different since baseball is a seasonal sport.

RedBox Code today only

RedBox code good today til midnight.

4CW33N

Different day, different lizard

Abigail just picked the poor lizard right up, almost squeezing it to death. She has quite the love grip. Andrew and Dad let the lizard walk on their shirt and arm...not me, though. In fact, the lizard got loose at one point and jumped on my shirt, causing me to scream like a little girl.

(Click on the collage for a larger view.)

Solar System head gear

Andrew's class just finished studying the solar system. They did everything from visiting our local space and science center, making a model of Saturn from a CD and fruit cup containers, to wearing their handmade space head gear one day at school. I am amazed at how much information Andrew can now feed back to me about all the planets and our galaxy. If you ever get some time with him, you should quiz the boy!

Baskin Robbins 31 cents scoop night

Baskin Robbins is honoring America's firefighters by having 31 Cents Scoop Night on Wednesday, April 29, from 5pm - 10pm. Locally, we have three locations to choose from:

1. The Landings on Airport Thruway
2. Veterans Pkwy Uptown, near the corner of 13th St (includes Dunkin' Donuts)
3. Marne Rd. at Ft. Benning

My favorite flavor is Raspberry Cheese Louise but it tends to be a seasonal item that doesn't come around very often. What's your favorite flavor?

Summer is almost here!

The temperatures have been in the upper eighties this week
so we've been cooling off outside in the sprinkler.

Sometimes I feel as if I have three boys. Look at that face!

He's not practicing Tai Chi. That would be funny, though.

How cute is this?

Don't you love the "water-snot?"

No closed spaces!

Once Dad got home early this afternoon from his business trip, we wanted to venture somewhere as a family before coming back home to eat some dinner. Since we had a few points on our ride card, we took the family to a local indoor fun place where we rode bumper cars, the Ferris wheel, the carousel, and the moonwalk. Our kids enjoy the swings and choo-choo the best but those two rides never seem to be in working order when we visit.

At this amusement park of sorts, there's a ride that's always tempted me but I've never wanted to spend the points to make it happen (it's 18 points per human!): the two seater Max Flight Simulator. I hate, let me repeat, HATE small closed spaces. So, as intrigued as I am to pretend I'm riding a roller coaster or flying on a jet, the reality is that I could never ride the simulator. That is, until tonight. My oldest son was approved to ride it with me so I asked all the proper questions before boarding:

"Is there an emergency button we can push in case he gets scared and wants out?"
"Is he tall enough to endure the tossing and turning?"
"Have you ever approved five year olds to ride this thing before?"

My concern was for my son, but deep, deep, deep down...I was scared! Let me clear something up: I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE roller coasters. Mitch and I have joked about taking a year off one day to do nothing but drive around the U.S., riding as many roller coasters as possible - but this was the only part of the ride that was gonna be fun for me. As we waited in line, I could feel my heartbeat increase in rate, my neck get clammy, and my mouth get dry. This whole wait, my son is standing next to me with a look of HUGE excitement on his face. He can't belive he's actually about to ride a "grown-up" ride.



It's our turn.

We step up to the simulator and pay our points.

We sit down and buckle up.

I ask my son, "Are you alright? If you feel you want to get off at anytime, you just tell me and the operator will stop the ride, ok?"

He smiles and says, "I'm ok, Mom."

The operator steps back and smiles, waving goodbye as she closes us into the tiny (TINY!) space.

The video begins and at the three second mark, I hit the emergency button.

She's not coming fast enough and this thing might take off. What if she didn't get the emergency message?

I hit the button again.

What?!?!! Where is she?

I begin to knock on the inside panel of the ride to make sure I have her attention.

The hatch opens and I see sunlight.

The operator makes eye contact with me.

I give a general answer and say, "It's not gonna happen, but we tried!".

The operator thinks my son freaked out and decided he was too scared to ride. Nope. It was me. I actually felt tears forming in my eyes and a lump in my throat. When we got out of earshot of the ride, I bent down to my son, grabbed his hands and looked into his eyes.

Son: "Mom, why didn't we ride?"

Me: "Because Mommy got scared, baby. I didn't like being in the small space so I had to get out. I'm so sorry you didn't get to ride. Maybe you can come back with Daddy soon and ride it with him instead."

My son seemed happy with that answer.

Mitch was just happy we got our 36 points back on our card.

Hockey is the best!

We are a hockey family....well, as best as we can be while living in the deep south. I can hear all my northern friends laughing at me now. But really....my boys love the game and we go to the local minor league games often during hockey season. We even venture to Atlanta once or twice a year just to catch the Thrashers play. Our YMCA even offers a street hockey league but we're not so sure we like the aggression the game encourages (but watching it just fine, right, Jawan? Hypocrite!).

On a different note, Mitch and I have had Verizon phone service almost our entire marriage. We have not been disappointed and are pleased that they have always taken care of the customer. What do hockey and Verizon have in common?

...a VERY funny commercial that had Mitch and me laughing our booties off.

Her face brings a smile to my face....

...warming my heart.

A great "boy" gift put to use

Andrew received a Backyard Safari Habitat for his birthday (Thanks, MeMe & Pop!) and he has been anxious to put it to use. I promise he was elated to get this gift even though the picture looks otherwise.


While playing in the sprinkler a few afternoons ago, Andrew caught his first occupant on our back porch. We only kept this lizard for one night before releasing him back "into the wild". I'm thankful Andrew isn't intent on keeping all his creature finds f-o-r-e-v-e-r.





Now, mark lizard off the list. Next up: frog. I love being a mom to boys.

Microwavable bread recipe

Thanks to THE KITCHN', I think I'm gonna try making some bread....but this time I'm gonna do it in my microwave. Crazy huh? We'll see!