Happy Father's Day

I am so blessed to be surrounded by such Godly men in my life. My grandfathers are both very Godly men and I am so thankful for their leadership in our extended family. My Daddy has been such a picture of God's grace and love. His patience and humility are to be praised!! I love you, Daddy!!

The past two years I have had the amazing privilege of watching Nathan lead our family of four. He loves our boys so much and makes it a priority to pray for them and raise them to walk in godliness. He is a true gift and I am forever thankful for the opportunity to walk this journey with him.



Yesterday was Father's Day so we celebrated with...you guessed it...bbq! We went to church and then picked up Jim-n-Nicks which is his favorite local place. (I think he would have preferred Famous Dave's but there isn't one close to us.) We had a relaxing Sunday afternoon before heading back to church. Brandon told him, "Happy Daddy Day"...hahaha so precious.

Nathan, we love you!!!




Meg

Daddy's Glove

We spend our Friday nights at the ball park watching Nathan play softball. He plays for our church's men's team and Brandon LOVES to watch his Daddy "hit and run run run." We leave on Friday evenings and I say, "Brandon, let's go. You want to go watch Daddy play ball?" He will run to his room, get his baseball hat, and run to the door. He gets so excited!!

Last Friday he got to run the bases when the game was over and that was the coolest thing ever for him! Well, this past Friday he discovered Nathan's glove. Nathan let him hold it in the car on the way home and he ended up sleeping with it. I think we might have a baseball player on our hands. Maybe not. But for right now he thinks baseball is IT...probably because his Daddy plays and he thinks his Daddy is pretty cool!






Meg

Ears Ears EARS

Since November Carson has had an ear infection every six to eight weeks. He normally isn't one to show symptoms when he is sick but this last time he was snotty, had a terrible cough, and was WAY fussier than normal. I can handle wiping a snotty nose and I can deal with hearing a cough all day but having him crawl around after me all day for several days can get tiring...for him and me!

So, this past Thursday we went to the doctor. One of his ears was red...either the start of an ear infection or the remains of one he had a few weeks ago. The other ear had a ruptured ear drum. OUCH!!!! The doctor let me know that it's not as painful as an ear infection but it still sounds painful. No wonder he has been so fussy.




He is on antibiotics (oral and ear drops) and after 72 hours he is back to normal. The meds continue for another week and we go back in July for a check-up. Hopefully his ears will be clear of any infection!



Meg

Brandon's Fort

This past Thursday night Nathan and I hosted an ice cream social at the apartment complex so we asked our friends Carolyn and Lathan to come and watch the boys. Carolyn is Allison's sister and the boys love both of those girls. I am always confident that the boys will have a good time when one of the Blair sisters has them! =)

Lathan is Carolyn's boyfriend and Brandon has a new buddy! We got Brandon big leggos for this birthday and Lathan built a fort with them.



He talked about that fort for the next day or two. Thanks, Lathan!!




Meg

I am New

LOVE THIS SONG!!





Meg

Couponing

I started couponing a few months ago. I got interested in this when we lived in Louisville and I was involved in a moms group that introduced how to start this craze! So, once we got settled here in Nashville I started collecting coupons and attempting to save our family some money on groceries.

My personality loves the game of couponing which is one reason I keep clipping! I MUST save more money than I did last week...I MUST get the best deals on things we actually use! If you have seen "Extreme Couponing" then you have seen them buy 500 things of Excedrin and 200 laundry detergents. Ok. That's awesome but not practical. I go for practical.

A few of you have asked how I got started and what I do to keep up with everything so here you go...

I start on Sundays when I get 2 Sunday papers. I pull out the ads while Nathan actually reads the paper. hahahaha! I flip through the ads and clip anything that I think we might use. After clipping the coupons, I enter the info into an excel spreadsheet.



After entering each coupon onto the spreadsheet, I file the coupon into my filing system...



I try to do all of the above on Sunday nights. Sounds like a lot but once you get your system going it really doesn't take that long. I spend another afternoon or evening printing coupons from online and filing them. Here are some sites that I go to for coupons:

www.hip2save.com
www.coupons.com
www.southernsavers.com
www.smartsource.com
www.redplum.com
www.homesolutionsnews.com
www.thekrazycouponlady.com

I also go to specific sites such as www.kelloggs.com and www.pillsbury.com.

I shop at Publix and the weekly ad comes out on Wednesdays. So, on Wednesday evenings I open the weekly ad online and open the excel spreadsheet. Since Publix offers buy one get one free items AND doubles coupons 50cents and under, the best deals are found when you get a BOGO item and have a coupon.

Like I said, I have only been doing this for a few months so I am still learning. If you are a PRACTICAL couponer...not necessarily "extreme"...and have input for how I can save even more money, let me know!!!

IT'S A GAME!!! =)




Meg

Birthday Festivities Day 2

Saturday was PARTY DAY!!

Brandon loves to play at the park so it made sense to have his party at a local park. Since it has been so hot we planned to have it from 10:00am-noon in an effort to beat the heat. It wasn't too bad when we got there but by the time we left it was HOTT (yes, deserving of a double t).

Nanny, Pa, and Jonathan came from Jackson and Tommy, Tiffany, and their kiddos came from Goodlettsville. Brandon had his cousins and some of his friends (big and small) there to celebrate.

It took a couple times to get the banner hung =) Thanks, Olivia and Allison!

Yes, we had cake and ice cream before lunch!!

After leaving the park we went back to our place for a fiesta! I had made enchiladas, quesadillas, and queso...Brandon only ate grapes but that's ok! =) We visited for a little while and then everyone had to start heading home.

At this point, it was past naptime and the boys were beyond sleepy. I put them down for naps and Nathan stayed in with them while Olivia, Clay, Allison, and I went to the pool. I laid out for an hour and a half and it was so nice! Thanks, Nathan!!

Nathan had to go out of town Saturday night since he was preaching somewhere Sunday morning. I invited Olivia and Allison to stay the night. We (well, I) stayed up and watched a movie. They both fell asleep before it was over...WEENIES! lol.

What a great weekend!!!!!



Meg

Birthday Festivities Day 1

My baby Brandon is TWO!!! His birthday was Friday and we spent most of the weekend celebrating. I am SO glad he was feeling better (or atleast fever free). He and Carson both have a lingering cough but hopefully that will go away soon!

We started our day on Friday at the Y. I went to Zumba while the boys went to childcare. They had water games for the kiddos so Brandon had a blast! Unfortunately, Carson is still too little for the water games but he still had fun! =) This was enough to knock Brandon out and the day was just beginning!


We went home and put on "baby suits" (bathing suits) and got ready to meet Emmerson and Cindy for lunch at McDonalds before going swimming at the Y. I wanted to take Brandon to the pool outside but it was just too hot. I am so glad we had the option to go to the Y.














They were exhausted and both fell asleep on the way home. Brandon was so tired that he couldn't walk inside once we got home...I wish someone had been there with a camera. I had my purse, pool bag, towel, Brandon, and Carson all in my hands/arms. hahaha I am sure it was quite the sight.


After long naps and dinner we got ready to end Brandon's big day at the ball park. Nathan plays church league softball on Friday nights and Brandon loves going to watch his Daddy, "run run run." Olivia came to town for the birthday party and got here just in time to go to the games with us.



His favorite part of the day...running the bases after the game!





Whew! What a day!! I am so thankful for my little buddy and had a great day celebrating his life!




Meg