This, That & The Other...

In the past four months or so, I really have neglected our blog.  I have a VERY good reason though.  A certain little boy needs me to take care of him and play with him.  I'm am extremely blessed to be a stay at home wife and Mom.  My days are full, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

I've done good to keep up with Parker's monthly posts, but aside from that, I just can't seem to find the time to blog.  I love our blog in that it's a way for our family and friends to see what we have going on through stories and pictures.  It's a good way to keep in touch and journal about various aspects of our life.  Hopefully I can get back to blogging once a week someday (that's my goal), but these days that Parker is a wee little boy are few and will go by so fast...they already are.  Before I know it, he'll be mobile and I won't be able to keep him down. I want to cherish this time and not look back saying "I didn't play with Parker enough or spend enough time with him".  I don't think I'll look back and say, "I didn't blog enough."  It's all about priorities.

I almost titled this post "In other news...", but I just had a mixed bag of things to blog about so here it goes.

On May 5th, John planted a nice sized vegetable garden in the backyard.  He worked really hard preparing the ground and getting everything planted.  We have already enjoyed lots of squash and cherry tomatoes, but there is more to come.  He also planted beans, corn, okra, large tomatoes and onions.  Unfortunately, the grasshoppers have overtaken the corn, so we sadly may not get any of that.  Hopefully this is the first of many gardens for Farmer John.

My Mom came to visit us last week.  She flew in Monday around lunch time and flew home Friday afternoon. We had a great week while she was here.  We did some shopping, watched tv and the Rangers, worked on Parker's closet, ate yummy meals and snacks, did lots of talking and of course had a lot of fun with Parker boy.  She was also kind enough to watch Parker while John and I went out to dinner.  We treasure those times together.  We love our Parker, but we still try to make time for our relationship. It is very important!  We have a magnet on our refrigerator that says, "When you have children, your mariiage is more important, not less because someone is counting on you."   John also watched Parker one evening while Mom and I went to dinner and did a little shopping. (I am saving a couple of pictures of Mom with Parker for his "5 months" post)

One thing we spent a lot of time on was our coupons.  I am an avid couponer (and so is Mom!).  I'm not an insane "extreme couponer", but I do cut as many grocery coupons, restaurant coupons and retail store coupons as I can.  It does take time and organization, but it sure saves some dough.  Just last night, we went to Target and Kroger and I saved $20 between the two stores just by using coupons.  Up until now, I have kept my coupons organized by category and then by expiration date, but my little book just wasn't cutting it anymore so I had to graduate to the 3-ring binder.  Mom was interested in doing one too so while she was here we bought all of our supplies and made new coupon binders.  It also gave us a chance to clean them out, throw away expiring ones and reorganize what we had left.  We are SO pleased!! Shopping last night with my lists, binder and coupons was a lot easier.  Below I have pictures of my previous coupon book and my new binder.  I not have lots more room to store coupons and they are so much easier to get to.  Plus we added some fun binder clips to hold lists and coupons that we might be using.  We also created sections at the back for restaurant and retail store coupons.  Good times!  

 

 

 

 

We have changed up our entry way a bit.  Above the bench, we had our wedding picture hanging above a sign that reads "All because two people fell in love".  We also used that sign in our maternity pictures.  Now that Parker is here, we wanted to add his picture because we were blessed with him "all because two people fell in love".  As the years go on and he gets older, I will put new pictures in the frame, but I love how it turned out.   

Another "decor update" if you will...back in February, I gave John what I called a "photo love note" for our anniversary.  It was a picture of us in a blank mat.  We laid it on our dresser and took turns writing one sentence "love notes" to each other every few days.  We said sweet things about one another, wrote important dates, jotted phrases we use and so on.  Once it was full, I bought a frame and put it on our dresser.  Here's John receiving it in February with a few things I wrote to start it and then you can see it filled up, framed and on our dresser.  Again, I must say - I love it! It's neat to read all of the things we wrote to each other. 

A lot of people have asked how Calvin is doing with Parker now being in the house and him not being an only child - ha!  The truth is, he's the same ol' laid back dog he's always been.  He hardly knows Parker even exists.  He pays him no attention.  That all may change once Parker starts crawling or walking and grabbing his tail and chasing him.  As long as Calvin is fed, gets to sleep in our bed at night, has his tummy rubbed and gets his nightly treats, he's perfectly fine! Such a sweet dog.  He'll be 10 in January - my how time flies.  It seems like it was just Easter weekend in 2003 and we went to pick up our new 5 pound bundle of joy. 

John had a really nice Father's Day.  After church, it was pretty low key.  We opened cards and gifts.  He took a nice nap while I took care of Parker.  I made pizza for dinner and we had Father's Day Sunday sundaes for dessert.  John got cards from Parker, Calvin and me plus a couple from our family.  I gave John a framed picture of him and Parker and a kit to put Parker's hand print on a baseball with a case to put it in.  I also ordered him a "Prayer for my Dad" plaque, but we are still waiting on it to come in.  I also made him a scrapbook page for his bulletin board in his office.  It was such fun to celebrate his first Father's Day.     

And no post would be complete without a picture of pure cuteness and a whole lot of adorable.  Parker Sunday morning before church in his patriotic pjs.  Pardon the unmade bed...we were all getting ready for church and Parker was just hanging out!

Vegetable garden, coupons, a beagle, Father's Day, home decor, etc...yeah, I say that is "this, that and the other".

Until we meet again...
Riley