Good Eats, Good Deals and a Happy Birthday!

Alright! Weekend recap time!

Is it sad that I can't even remember back to last Friday night? Couldn't tell you what I did.

Saturday we got up and went shopping. Since my mom bought me some new clothes last weekend, I decided that it was time for Jacob to get some new clothes! He's been wearing the same shirts for his entire teaching career, so it was time to spruce up the wardrobe! I had a 15% off coupon for an entire purchase including sale and clearance items to use at Kohls, plus a couple of rebate Visa cards with money on them still.

We headed to Springfield and planned to eat lunch while we were there. I bet you could guess where we ate! We can't pass up Olive Garden when the Never Ending Pasta Bowl special is going on! Of course what else comes back at the same time? PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE (my mouth is totally watering). I am proud to say that I only ate 1.5 bread sticks, a bowl of soup and half a plate of my pasta. My stomach has shrunk! I also passed up the cheesecake...this time. We do have plans to go back again before it's gone because I must have some.

Next we went to Kohls. I think Jacob would agree, this was probably one of our most productive shopping trips. He got several nice new polo shirts and 2 new pairs of khakis plus I got an Illinois shirt all for $44 after rebate cards and the discount. I am ALL about finding new ways to save lately! I'm becoming a coupon queen!

We stopped in at Best Buy to look around and also at Wal-Mart because they have an awesome Wal-Mart there...it makes me happy!

Saturday evening we went to Seth and Sandy's for Jack's 3rd birthday party. Hard to believe that he had just turned 1 the first time that I met him! Where did that time go!? Enjoy a few of my pictures of the birthday boy!

And of course a couple of Liam as well!

See...I knew I'd be having "bad" (aka DELICIOUS JUNK FOOD) at the party, which is why I refrained from the Pumpkin Cheesecake. Also, as a side note, I remember what I did Friday night. I made the homemade ice cream for the party! The cake and ice cream were both very tasty. Although I cheated. I said no ice cream until I lost 10 lbs. I have lost 8 though, and now I'm back on track. I left the ice cream at their house so it wouldn't tempt me!

There's nothing exciting to write about from yesterday. I was feeling down and in a slump. Apparently it was in the air because several people I know said they felt the same way. I was actually glad that today was Monday even though it meant going back to work. I even broke out my camera and took a few pictures at work today.

Gotta love the munchkins. Hopefully the rest of the week goes by quickly. Friday night we're once again, headed to St. Louis for a Cards game and then Saturday my parent's are coming for the weekend! 

Adventures In Babyland

Last night Jacob and I got to go meet the newest addition to the Bates' family! Liam!

Of course, we couldn't forget about Jack becoming a big brother, so we got him a present, as well as presents for his new baby brother. Jack really enjoyed his book. I used to love Little Critter books, so I'm glad he liked it too!

I pretty much held the little guy all night and Jacob played with Jack. There's something about holding a newborn baby that I just love.

Jack wanted to use my camera, so I taught him how to look at the screen and push the button. That boy became extremely camera happy! He took 90 pictures! You can check some of them out on Facebook. Here's a good one he took of Liam and Sandy.

Jack and Jacob had lots of fun playing together. They've been pals for 3 years now!

Brothers. They'll probably be the best of friends and the worst of enemies at times!

I love it when babies just curl up and sleep on me. So sweet.

I'm glad we got the chance to go hang out for awhile last night. We always enjoy ourselves and are thankful for great friends!

In other news...

This week has gone by pretty fast, but I was sure wishing it were Friday afternoon by the time I got off work today! Today was picture day. 7.5 years in daycare and I still hate picture day.  It's not so bad if you work with 4 year olds, but babies are a whole different story. It involves wardrobe changes. Put the baby in cute clothes. Change the baby into regular clothes. Multiply by 8. Okay...so not everyone needs a change of outfit, but it seems like it sometimes. One staff then has to take a baby down to get their picture taken, while the other takes care of the other babies. Sometimes the babies cooperate. Sometimes they decided they DO NOT like the photographer and proceed to freak out. Always fun times. This time around my co-worker and I worked out a deal where we would take turns taking the kids down and staying in the room with all of them. That worked out a little better, but it was still a crazy morning.

Then this afternoon I was working alone with 4 of my munchkins. One was chilling out in the Jumperoo. He wasn't making a peep, so I glanced over at him and what do I see? A stain running down the length of his pants and a pool of poop on the carpet. I am telling you...these are the moments where I want to freak out and laugh hysterically. After using about a half a pack of wipes and some baby soap on him, it was on to the carpet cleaning. Yet, somehow that child managed to keep the Jumperoo clean. That was pretty amazing. Don't you just love my poop stories?

I'm ready for the weekend! We're going shopping on Saturday to buy Jacob some much needed new clothes. I plan to get some good deals at Kohls! Then Saturday night we'll be helping celebrate Jack's 3rd birthday. Fun times ahead!

A Weekend In Iowa

This weekend was so much fun! I made a solo trip to Iowa, while Jacob stayed behind. I of course was sad to leave him. I have a hard time leaving people, so I ended up crying before I left.

The drive wasn't too bad, except driving through 2 hours of rain. Erica called me and entertained me for about an hour of my drive though, so that made it a little better!

I got to my parent's around 9:30 and mom and I stayed up talking until almost midnight. I don't think I even fell asleep until 1:00! We had decided we'd go shopping in the morning though, so I needed some sleep!

We set out to go shopping around 10:00 and drove across town to Kohls. I tried on a few things and mom bought me a dress that I really liked. You know how Kohls always has those $5 stuffed animals near the front that donates money to one of those children's networks? This month it's Winnie the Pooh! My mom couldn't resist and bought a Pooh Bear and a book for her future grandchild. LOL! (No...no grandchildren on the way... yet. :))

Next it was off to Gordman's.  I got a shirt, and lots of Halloween decorations. Mom and I found these awesome Halloween lawn ornaments that were super cheap so we snagged a bunch of those!

She took me next door to Dress Barn, where I grabbed some dresses to try on (because seriously I've been wearing the same skirt and dress all summer). I ended up loving them all and my mom told me that because they were such a good deal she was going to buy those for me as well. Wow! I'm still really appreciative! I don't normally spend money on things like that for myself, so it was a nice treat.

We grabbed some lunch and then went to Target before going back to the house.

I headed over to the Gray's because Linda was going to come over to meet Zachary and I wanted to see her too! The rest of the family was coming over a little later. Here are a few pictures from that afternoon/evening. The rest are on Facebook as always. I also just have to say that Zachary has got to be one of the very sweetest babies I've ever met (and I've met A LOT of babies!) and I very much enjoyed my snuggle time with him!

Such a little sweetheart

Linda and Zachary

We're the Reality TV club...the 3 of us text or Facebook each other during The Bachelorette!

Great Grandma and Grandpa Smith!

I love his lips!

It was fun getting to see everyone and get to spent time together! I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving because Jeff and Heidi will be in Iowa this year too! (Yay! More Zach time!)

Yesterday morning I debated between going to Valley View or to Hillside with my parent's. I ended up picking Hillside this time, although I do wish I could've seen my VV friends at some point! I really like my parent's church. I'll write more about that in another post though.

We went to Panera for lunch and then I said my goodbyes around 1:00 (and yes...as soon as I pulled out of the driveway I cried a little. Just terrible at goodbyes!) Made it home at 5:30 and loved getting to see Jacob, who was VERY happy to see me too!

A Little Of This. A Little Of That

As promised, another entry!

We had a busy Saturday morning. We left Villa Grove at 8:00 and had to drive back to Taylorville to switch cars and then head back to Decatur. We had an appointment at a car dealership to look at a used car for Jacob. Unfortunately when we got there we were told that it sold the night before. There was initial disappointment, but both Jacob and I were both feeling okay about it. We had both prayed that we would have a clear answer of whether or not to buy this car, so we figured it doesn't get any more clear than that! Of course, it was wasted time for us to have to take the extra time to drive there and home again, but that was alright.

We spent the rest of the day being lazy. Jacob borrowed some baseball DVDs ( a documentary the history of baseball from the beginning), from his parents. I believe there are 9 discs that have 2 hours on each. I really didn't plan to watch any with him, but agreed to watch a little. Next thing I knew, I was hooked! We've already finished the 4th disc! Anyway, we both started to fall asleep after awhile, so we took a nap to catch up on some sleep we missed out on the night before. We both felt much better after that!

On Sunday we went to church. Nothing too eventful happened until after church when I made Jack cry. Jacob and Seth were talking and I was standing there holding Jack. He was giving me "Fives" and then decided to high five my face a couple of times. Well I put on my stern voice and said something like, "You do not hit my face Jack!" Oh boy. His head went down and the waterworks started. I'm pretty sure he was just shocked that he got in trouble by Rachel! Jacob said I looked kinda mean. LOL! What can I say. 7.5 years of daycare...I don't put up with stuff! Haha!  Jacob said later, "I'm sure he'll be over it soon, but I bet he never hits your face again!" I tried to get him to give me a five again, after talking with him about it, but all he would do was lightly tap my hand.

Yesterday I realized was my 1 year anniversary at work. I wasn't sure if I'd ever make it that long, but good job to me I guess! Last night I was able to start walking again and even opened the house up. It was SO nice to air it out, and give the air conditioning a break. I still have it off tonight. I sure hope this weather lasts!

Highs & Lows

Friday, Jacob and I went on a bus trip with his parents to St. Louis for a Cards/Cubs game!


Some Highs and Lows:

High: Having a fun time sitting next to and talking to Brenda the whole way.

Low: The bus was hot because the air wasn't working right.

High: Eating supper at J Buck's. An extremely delicious pulled chicken sandwich (my mouth is watering as I type) and some homemade potato chips to be exact.

Low: It was HOT!

High: Jacob getting an autograph of a former Cardinal player, Andy Benes

Low: Finding our seats and discovering they were directly facing the blazing sun.

High: Good seats despite the sun.

Low: Nearly sweating to death and having sweat drip into both of my eyes causing them to feel like they were on fire for awhile.

High: Watching another great game in which Albert Pujols hit me another home run! Nothing beats a ballgame!

Low: Drunk Cub fans (okay...they were kind of amusing, but I was running out of lows)

High: CARDINALS WIN!!! I screamed that I was good luck! Life was good in Cardinal Land!

Low: The bus ride back (just because I was tired, my back hurt and I wanted a bed!)

High: The air conditioning worked MUCH better!

Anyway, we ended up back in Villa Grove around 1:00 and headed straight to bed, although Jacob and I ended up talking for a bit before actually falling asleep. We had to be up early, so I only got about 5 hours but, I'll write more about the rest of the weekend tomorrow!

Catching Up

Behind once again.


Saturday we spent the day in Villa Grove with Jacob's family. Rachel and Micah were in town too, so it was really nice to get to see them again. We all hung out at the house for awhile and we watched "UP" since Rachel and Micah still hadn't seen it. Man, I love that movie.

We went up to Ag Days to get some lunch and Kent and Brenda treated us to pork burgers. Yum!

We saw Janet and Cecile while we were there and we got to talk to them for a little while too. We walked around, but didn't stay too long.

When I saw this I was like, "You can't NOT take a picture of a sign like this!"

Later in the afternoon we went over to Grandma Sally's because Jacob's, Aunt Stacey and cousins were visiting from Minnesota. with their little girls Naomi who's 2 and Addie, who's 1. It was fun getting to meet them. The girls were a little shy towards us since they didn't know us. I think if we had been around a little longer they would have warmed up. They had fun dancing to Jacob playing the drums on an oatmeal container though. I stupidly forgot my camera over and Kent and Brenda's though, so I didn't get any pictures of them.

We went back to the house for supper, which was delicious. Grilled burgers, sweet corn, baked beans and chip. Plus I had a very small slice of dessert. I'm proud of myself for staying strong around desserts because those are a huge downfall for me.

Then we headed back to Taylorville around 9:00 after the end of the Cardinal game.

Sunday we went to church and then I went shopping in Springfield. I spent most of my time at Target buying some gifts for a couple of my friends who are having babies in the very near future! I had fun because I love the baby sections at stores. I steered clear of Babies R Us for the reason. I would've been there the entire afternoon! I also went to Michael's and Barnes and Noble. I would've done more shopping but I was tired so I just headed home.

Yesterday at work I texted Jacob and told him I wanted to do something nice for the Bates' and suggested we treat them to pizza. I'm so glad that we did too because we all got to hang out for quite awhile last night and it was nice just getting to visit with them. I'm really thankful for their friendship. It's part of what helped me adjust to life here in Illinois. Anyway...now we're just anxiously awaiting a phone call or text to let us know Sandy's in labor. Hopefully it'll be soon for her sake! Plus, I can't wait to meet the little guy. :)

Anyway...that's about all. My car's in the shop again, but at least I didn't have to get it towed this time. And the guy said he looked over everything else and it looks like I should be good for awhile. Here's hoping!

Swing, Batter, Batter!

Last night we went to our free Cardinals game in St. Louis! We had 4 free tickets, so Jacob's parents drove down to Taylorville and we all rode there together. It was nice getting to spend that extra time with them!

We parked in the usual lot and walked over to Busch Stadium (Seriously...I get the same rush walking into the stadium as I do at Kinnick. :)) We got there about an hour before the game started which gave us plenty of time to find our seats, take some pictures and get some food.

Oh and did I mention that it was over 100 degrees with the heat index? Yeah...it was a very hot and sticky night at the ballpark! It was too hot to eat much, which was good for me. I had to have a hot dog though! I also love that you're allowed to bring in bottled water. I froze 4 bottles and they stayed cold the whole night!

The view from our seats in Big Mac Land!

Pre Game Pictures!

A birthday gift from Jacob and I

When you sit in Big Mac Land you get lots of free stuff!

My favorite player...Albert Pujols! Who just so happened to hit a home run for me!

I knew he'd do it for me eventually!

The first 2 innings were the most exciting, but in the end the Cards pulled off a win!

It was nice getting into the car and feeling a blast of air conditioning. I felt so disgusting the whole night and totally looked like a man because half my shirt was soaking wet from sweat. It was totally worth it though!

We got home at midnight and I headed straight to bed. As much as I needed a shower, I needed sleep even more. Amazingly I felt great all day even with only 6 hours of sleep. I realize some people function on 6 hours or less on a daily basis, but I'm an 8 hour girl.

Saturday we're spending the day in Villa Grove with family and then next Friday I'm taking a half day and we're all off to yet another Cards game. My very first Cards/Cubs game. This should be fun! I do believe my lucky streak will continue. I've been to 3 games and have never seen a loss!

VBS Fun and More Excitement

VBS is over. It was a very busy week, but I ended up off of work early 4 out of 5 days so I had some time to relax.

Our highest attendance on a given day was 57, but 72 total kids attended at least one of the days! Plus we raised over $1000 to go to Life Water International, so people who don't have access to clean water will now be able to!

I've uploaded a small amount of pictures here and I'll be adding all of mine to Facebook as well. Most of my pictures are staged pictures for the Spotlight Dramas that I was in charge of. Some are just candids though.

One of the crews making the "Let's Go!" sign.

Jack was proud of his sand project

My friend's little boy Dakota

Holding up a Bible for Spotlight Drama

One of the many water games that were played during the week.

Another couple of crews

Jack and Jacob after VBS one night

Jack and I on closing night.

I was incredibly exhausted on Friday night. I felt drained before the kids even started coming in. Plus the headache that I had wasn't getting any better. I stayed up for a while talking to Erica after I came home and then went to bed and didn't wake up until 10:30 yesterday morning! I can't even tell you how long it's been since I slept that long. It was almost 12 hours of sleep! I guess I needed it.

My exciting news is that my sister is getting married!

She stuck to the pact the 2 of us made and made sure that I found out first. We always said we'd tell each other first when we got engaged. It's been fun talking to her about it. It sounds like the wedding might be in February, but it isn't set yet. Hmm...leaving the midwest in the winter for some California sunshine? Heck yes! I am so there. Jacob isn't sure he'll be able to go or not because of school things. I wish he could, but if he can't, I know it will still be a nice trip out there. Once I know the date for sure, I'll be searching for cheap plane tickets again! I'm just so happy for her, Jim and Logan!

Since starting my diet last weekend I've lost 3 pounds! I'm really proud of myself. The only bad thing I ate was 1 bite of chocolate cake and quite honestly it didn't taste that great and I threw the rest away. I prayed that I could stay away from temptations, so I think God was helping me out on that one! I keep getting headaches though. I'm think it's because I'm not eating near the amount of sugar my body is used to. Now that Erica is engaged I have an even better reason to stick to losing weight since I'll be standing up with her at their wedding!