Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Whole Foods deal (mistake)

I have recently been following a number of blogs where occasionally someone will show a picture of their groceries and enumerate the great deal they got using store sales and coupons. I have never been able to get the kind of deals I have seen others get so I have never taken a picture of my groceries.
I have to share the awesome deal I got today.
Every other week I do my major grocery shopping after dropping the kids off at preschool. I first go to Whole Foods for produce, meat, dairy and some miscellaneous items. After Whole Foods I head to Kroger for the rest of my list.
Today's trip to Whole Foods yielded a half-full cart (see photo). As I pulled into the checkout lane, I noticed only one lane open with a cashier and the store manager standing by. They proceeded to tell me that their computers were down and started bagging my groceries before I could pay for them. I questioned the manager and he said it was my lucky day and I was getting my cart-load for free. FREE!!! Of course I thought of all the things I should have shopped for but didn't. It's a good thing I didn't shop even one minute longer because the computers came back on-line as they were loading my bags into my cart. I was told to have a nice day and I didn't have to pay a cent.

Pictured above:
Tortilla chips, Veggie straws, Pretzle Crisps (x2), frozen egg rolls, frozen tater tots, frozen cheese tortellini, frozen stir fry vegetables, frozen broccoli florettes, bag of Clementines, 2 fresh organic broccoli crowns, one organic zucchini, carton cherry tomatoes, 2 organic Roma tomatoes, 4 Granny Smith apples, bunch of organic bananas, carton organic Strawberries, carton organic raspberries, carton organic blackberries, organic Spinach Hummus, Feta cheese crumbles, shredded Parmesan cheese, Laughing Cow swiss cheese wedges, organic cottage cheese, and Babybell cheese wheels
Approximate value: $75 (I don't know the exact amount since nothing was actually rung up on the register)
Out of Pocket: $0

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Norah's Mamaw camp

Norah had the opportunity to visit my parents' house all by herself this past week. Nathan has gone several times in the past, but this time it was Norah's turn. She had a great time running around with the doggies, watching Sesame Street with Papaw and riding the carousel at the mall (a must-do activity anytime we visit Fort Wayne).
Because the end of her visit coincided with Easter weekend, we drove up on the Saturday before Easter to spend the holiday with the family before heading home after Easter service.
We met my parents at a local church for their community Easter Egg Hunt. Norah got to have her picture taken with the Easter Bunny, had fun collecting eggs and making crafts.




Thursday, April 21, 2011

Birdfeeders

Nathan learned how to make bird feeders with pinecones, peanut butter and bird seeds on TV (a cute little show on Disney channel, "Special Agent Oso"). He had been asking to do it for a while and we finally go the bird seed so we did a fun little afternoon activity.
Nathan had a great time and did a very good job spreading the peanut butter and rolling the cones in the bird seed. Norah, on the other hand, thought the bird seed was a snack and ended up eating more seeds than she put on her feeders.

The finished product
Norah is trying to get her bird feeder so she can eat more seeds
Love this picture of the kids together

Nathan can ride a bike


After months of being afraid, Nathan decided to get on his bike one afternoon and took off. He is riding around the neighborhood sidewalks and cul-de-sacs like a pro.
In this video, Nathan met up with a neighbor girl who borrowed his tricycle. They were riding around the cul-de-sac behind our house together. Every once in a while you can see Norah race by with her push toy.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

giggling

Nathan was in his room "napping" when Jeff heard a lot of giggling. He had his toy camera and was taking pictures of himself. He was also setting up scenes with his toys and taking random pictures of them as well. He was having a grand ol' time.

Enjoy the montage of photos taken by Nathan








Nathan's camera

Nathan got a Fisher Price kids camera not long after Norah was born. He has taken and deleted many pictures. He asked if we could put the pictures on the computers and we had quite a laugh looking at all of the random pictures shot by a 3 and 4 year old.

Nathan's foot
Norah as a tiny baby
Daddy and Norah on the couch
Norah wants to see all the action
Nathan took a picture of himself
(he didn't know it)
Norah's checking out the camera from her car seat
Norah playing with toys
Me and my little man

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Elmo

Norah adores that little red monster from Sesame Street, Elmo. The touring show, Sesame Street Live: Elmo's Green Thumb came to town so we took both kids. They had a blast. Norah was absolutely fascinated.
As the scenes changed, different characters were on the stage at different times. Norah was very concerned about the characters who were not on the stage at a given time.
The kids both insisted on taking their Elmo dolls to the show. Both of them had a firm grasp on their Elmos the whole time




They were completely worn out after the show.


Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus

The circus came to town and we decided to take Nathan, Norah is still to young to sit still for the show. As it turns out, Nathan fell asleep just after intermission and missed the second half.
How is it that he never sleeps at home during nap time, but falls asleep during a noisy circus show?
The show was spectacular. It really is the greatest show on earth.


Inside Out

We love going to Outside In Family Fun Center. It is a small facility with a few bounce houses and slides for the kids. There is even a toddler play room in the basement.

Eating push-up popsicles after playing


Play-Doh

Nathan loves playing wth Play-Doh and until now we had to reserve it for when Norah was sleeping becauase she was too young and would eat the dough. I recently go it out for her to play with, supervised of course and she had a great time.


Hair
Nathan's sea anemone


April 2011 photo dump

Everyone calls her a boy, now she even dresses like a boy
That's Norah under that baseball cap
There was an incident with orange paint at school.
More paint made in on Norah's head and face than on the paper.
What a mess!!
After the paint incident, they washed Norah's hair
and styled it in the tiniest pony tail you ever saw.
There is hope for her hair, it is growing.
Nathan and Norah are the best of friends
Nathan is showing Norah how to play computer games
I often find Nathan asleep in my bed when I come home late from work
Norah's helping daddy drill
Nathan has discovered the joys of climbing trees
"Buckle"
There was a goose perched on top of our house