Hilarity!

Yesterday Aubri was putting on her shoes before church and was having a little bit of difficulty getting the buckle done. She looked up at me with doe eyes and said simply, "Mama, sometimes it's tricky being a big girl, right?" I smiled back at her....my mind flashing forward to all that this precious angel may see and experience in her lifetime....and said, "baby, you just don't even know how true that statement is."

the Suessical

First off, tell me this. have you ever seen anything cuter than this?I pulled up to the car line at school on a sunny Monday afternoon (after another hugely successful shopping trip in Springfield). My intention was to pick up my babies, take them home, feed them a snack, help them with their homework, feed them dinner, care for my hubby (who had a horrible cold), and get Kaleb ready for his first grade program and get him to the school by 6:30. No small feat for sure.

And only milliseconds after my kids got in the car I get an announcement from the eldest child of the Hollis brood. Even before I hear the click of his seat belt he declares that he needs a red tie for the program.
Let me clarify. He did not need a red tie. He wanted one. He DESPERATELY wanted one. I mean, he acted as if his next breath was literally dependent on me coming through with a red tie.
Being the supermom that I am I decided to grant my sweet son's wish. I had about 2 hours and only one store (walmart) to find one. I was pretty sure that walmart would be a huge disappointment so I instead searched through the scraps in my fabric basket.
I found some red and white striped fabric and googled "child's tie tutorial."
I quickly learned that you actually need quite a bit of fabric to make a necktie. And I only had a scrap. I then googled how to make a bow tie. After receiving approval from my boy I set to work. It was surprisingly easy. And Kaleb was utterly thrilled! When I was fixing his hair he asked me if I thought he would be the most handsome boy on stage. I said, "baby, I don't think....I know." he smiled and off we went.
It was a wonderful program. They sang and danced so wonderfully. Kaleb participated just as he was supposed to...no break dancing....wandering around...or other unexplained weirdness. He even remembered the line he was assigned. Yes, he said it very rapidly and it was difficult to understand, but he was wonderful nonetheless. I could not have been more proud. Oh, and I was right by the way.....he certainly was the most handsome one on stage.

the one in which I make you jealous

Last night was girls' night out. And not just any girls' night out...but my favorite kind of girls' night out. Shopping. And not just any kind of shopping...but deal-spotting, coupon-clipping, saving-more-than-you-spend shopping. And not just...okay....never mind...I am sure you get it by now. Let me just give you a brief rundown of my loot.

Target: (oh how I love thee....and miss thee.....please Lord, bring a Target to Bolivar)

5 Holiday candles

2 renuzit cones

Glad trash bags

2 puddings

3 TGIFriday Skillet meals

Cottonelle TP

Cottonelle flushable wipes

2 Wheat Thins Stix

1 Wheat thins

1 Chickin in a Bisket Crackers (a total fave of mine from childhood)

a child sized afro wig (hey...it was $2 on clearance and don't lie...Kaleb will look awesome in it!)

a pair of black dress pants for Kaleb

country crock butter

2 oscar meyer lunchmeats

3 chicken noodle soups

3 boxes dryer sheets

3 feminine products (I will spare you the details!!!)

lightbulbs

2 paperjam guitars (the boys are getting them for Christmas...shh...don't tell!)

Simply Lemonade

2 Market Pantry apple juices

3 Reach floss

2 travel sized Tide detergents

My total before coupons: $160

My total after coupons: $91 and $20 target gift card

Dillons: (my love affair with you grows stronger with each passing day!)

10 Carnation evaporated milk

8 Propel fitness water

6 Honest Tea

Nestle break and bake cookies (seems wrong to put that right under the ORGANIC tea!)

Danimals yogurt

Activia yogurt

3 24-count advil

Ronzoni pasta

8 Annies Maccaroni and cheese

6 Chunky Campbells soups

strawberries

pomegranate

wheat bread

2 shoulder roasts

rotisserie chicken

2 hot pocket side shots

4 Green Giant steemer veggies

Heinz ketchup

joint juice

Idahoan instant potatoes

pepsi max

twix (to treat myself for such awesome savings on the drive home!)

My total before coupons: $74

My total after coupons: $31

Now go ahead and pick your jaw up off the floor and head on over to www.hip2save.com or www.frugalfritzie.com to learn how to do it for yourself. It's so much fun!

Even the girliest girl has raw and unfiltered moments. And I feel blessed to have witnessed one of those moments.

The other morning Aubri crawled in bed with me to cuddle while Rayden was taking the boys to school. When he got home he came back to our room and started trying to make Aubri laugh by pretending to sleep and snore really loudly. She would giggle hysterically and then give him a kiss to "wake him up." It was very humorous to watch. Then....the hilarious factor went through the roof. After another kiss for her daddy and some more giggles she paused and called out...."when I was laughing a tooter sneaked out." I could not be more in love with that sweet little lady.

One step closer...

One day this last week I was thinking about the mom that I once thought I would be. When I was a little girl I wanted two things....to be a teacher and to be a mommy. I wanted to be the king of mom who went on every field trip, who planned fun outings, had creative parties, and in general just made life magical. I was feeling very "below average" in the mom department. Now this isn't the first time I have felt...well, lets just say "less than adequate" as a mother. When those feelings crop up in me I normally get kinda pouty and my insecurity renders me immobile. But, this time I stood myself up straight and decided to usher a bit of magic into my family's afternoon. So, while Aubri was asleep and the boys were at school I went to work. When the boys got home from school they found this...

and as they swung open the front door....
smiles spread across their faces as they saw the living room....
and the dining room....
and then they followed the web of string into the kitchen...
until they found the end...
what a great, not to mention magical, way to discover your afternoon snack.

Halloween 2010

We had a great Halloween night. We ate dinner....got all dressed up....went trick-or-treating at my mom's residential care facility....stopped by the Kirksey's house to play....went home and went to bed. After the kiddos were tucked in all snug as a bug I headed over to Woody-Gott (a dorm on SBU's campus) to judge their Halloween costume contest. It was a lot of fun. It made me feel really old. I mean, it feels like a heartbeat ago that I was that carefree college gal frolicking in the dorm lobby and making googly eyes at all sorts of potential "Mr. Rights." But alas, it was over 10 years ago. Time most certainly flies. One day you are sitting in your dorm room stressing over term papers and girlie drama....and the next you are behind the lens photographing the most beautiful four people you have ever laid eyes on...