Happy Birthday Sydney!

Happy Happy Birthday SYD!

 

Happy Birthday to my Sydney Nicol (aka Syd the Kid)  She turned the big 10 on Friday.  She is now a double digit midget!  She had a great birthday.... filled with LOTS of fun.

As usual she woke up to her door being decorated and this big poster in the entryway

I took her Mickey D's for lunch....... we had a double birthday party at the Bowling Alley after school (check back for another blog entry on that) and then made the trek up to see Gramma and Papa for the weekend, to surprise Uncle David for his 30th birthday.

We are so lucky to have Sydney as  part of our family.  she truly is a blessing in our lives.  Her smile :)  is contagious..... she is so outgoing and LOVES school!  She is an honor roll student.  She is in a 4th/5th combination class and just ran the mile in 10 minutes 1 sec.  She is a big helper and always the first to give LOVES and kisses and tell you she loves you.  Sydney is the sweetest girl. WE LOVE YOU Sydney!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

I even amazed myself.... *pictures*

**** So I added the pictures of all the LOOT I got at double coupon day**

I even amazed myself yesterday.... of course I spent HOURS preparing for it, as usual.  I have clipped and sorted all week. My kitchen table has not been the same.... its more like my "other" desk!  I even went out and got 6 papers on Sunday cuz the coupons were so good.

I did the usual dropping the girls off at school and headed to the PX for the monthly DOUBLE COUPON DAY!  It seems more and more people are catching on to this. And I swear they dont stock the shelf in preperation for the day.... there are so many times the shelves in spots are bare by 8:15am and the store opens at 8am.  But yesterday was a slight exception..... they actually had product.

My 1st trip was the best..... oh yes, if you dont know already I make MANY trips to get my deals.  They limit you to 2 of the same coupon at a time.  But it seems that not all the cashiers are on board with that.  Some will let you get by with more than 2 and others wont.  Some will take printed coupons from the internet and others wont....... anyways, I got sidetracked there..... on to my totals

 ok so here are my totals.... my 1st trip total SHOULD'VE BEEN :  $509.54 and I paid $69.89 

My 2nd trip was VERY FRUSTRATING!  I dont know why but I usually get stuck with the cashiers that are NEW or "this is my 1st time doing coupons"  WHY ME???? I didnt figure this out on this trip til about half way through.  With Delaney asleep in my arms I was not about to have him Void it all and go to someone else, which in the long run wouldve been a better idea.  Ok so he OVERCHARGED me $10.49, well he just charged me 2 times for something I knew he had rang up already. But he didnt believe me.... what is that saying the customer is ALWAYS right?  uh huh... I was right!  So my total SHOULD'VE BEEN : $302.35 and I paid $54.54 

My 3rd trip was quick and filled with snacks!  They had a coupon that was for $1.00 off a 20oz bottle of coke and a reese's peanut butter treat.  Doubling it I got both for $0.09 cents!  Who can pass that up?  My total SHOULD'VE BEEN :  $105.86 and I paid $5.23 

My 4th trip was quick.... only a few things  My total SHOULD'VE BEEN : $14.73 paid $1.14 

My 5th trip was fun... I went with 3 of my 4 girls. (Kelsee stayed home to build a fort with her daddy)

I ran into 3 of my friends from Church... 2 of us stood outside and gabbed for a bit about our savings and trips we had made.  It is fun to take my little helpers with me to go find things for me.  saves me from running all over the place. ;)  Thats why we had kids my hubby always reminds me.

Ok so my total SHOULD'VE BEEN :  $241.74 and I paid $40.60 (I think she screwed up on a couple of my coupons too but OH WELL)

So my grand totals for the whole day  

  SHOULD have been  

$1174.18 and I only paid $171.40 

Thats right you read it right..... WOW!  That what I thought too. That is the most Ive spent but by far the MOST I've saved!

so what can you get for $171.40???? ALL THIS!

Our "green" Dinner

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY....

I DECIDED TO BE A FUN MOM AND MAKE A GREEN DINNER FOR MY GIRLS.  I DONT LIKE THE  TRADITIONAL CORNED BEEF & CABBAGE AND THUS WON'T MAKE IT FOR MY GIRLS.SO WE HAD THE NEXT BEST THING....

GREEN EGGS & GREEN PANCAKES

THEY WERE A HUGE HIT!  THE GIRLS ALL LOVED THEM AND THANKED ME FOR BEING SUCH A FUN MOMMY :)

WE HOPE YOU ALL HAD FUN CELEBRATING TOO!

just a sidenote... all the girls WERE wearing green... we painted our nails green for school :) 

My mischief maker!

She is the cutest little girl I must say but she DRIVES HER MOMMA NUTS!!

just yesterday she colored on herself eith a marker she found in Kelsee's room. and this morning she found another one and colored on herself again! 

then just a little bit ago......

this.....

 

Delaney was a little TOO quiet...... for a little TOO long.....

I was in the kitchen sorting laundry while she was watching her shows... or...at least she was supposed to be..and when I came around the corner this is what I found!

She had found sisters Barbie lipgloss (that happens to be colored) and decided to make herself beautiful!  She got it ALL over her hands, her mouth and even decided to color the ground

Oh!  and her brand new shirt! What in the world..... all of this within 2-3 minutes. I AM NOT ready for this stage. I totally forgot how they are into EVERYTHING!!!  Touching EVERYTHING and thinking they are SOOOO cute they can get away with it.

This is the aftermath of the lipgloss

And this was the "tool" she used the dig it out!

Saying goodbye is NEVER easy

So it was time to say goodbye to our daddy. Although he hasnt even been home from Iraq for a year yet.  time has gone by so quickly.  He has had ALOT of training to do at Camp Pendleton, CA. Bridgeport, CA and at Mojave Viper..... along with all the other classes and courses along the way.  It seems he's only really been home for about 5 months total.

The Original ADVON (advance party) deployment they were supposed to leave on Friday night.  Just hours before having to say goodbye the time was changed til Saturday night. The girls were excited to have him home 1 more night and so was I.  But it just prolonged the inevitable of GOODBYE!

Saturday was mostly spend getting ready to get ready to leave.  He has lots to do at work and wasnt home much.  But we enjoyed the time we did have together.  For the first time in many deployments we were able to send him off as a family.

Daddy and all his girls. He sure does LOVE them!

 and I sure Love him too.  I am proud of my MARINE!

Yes that is a machine gun around his shoulder.  

Matthew getting the low down on the Latest news....

we had some time to play and laugh with our daddy before he had to leave.  Delaney was growling and laughing with her daddy. 

I LOVE the smile.... it is VERY Rare that he "Lets" me take pictures of him.  He was a great sport and let me take more than a few.

 

then the sun went down and it was time to say goodbye for good

 

Our family

 Haylee really didnt want to say goodbye.  She couldnt hold back the emotion.  So sweet to see the last few minutes of hugs and kisses.  By the time Matthew gets back Delaney will almost be 2.  There are MANY things he will miss while he is gone..... Sydney turning 10.  Haylee turning 12.  Easter, School getting out.  Haylee graduating to Middle school, summertime, and many other adventures in life.  But like always we will make memories and save them to share  with him when he gets HOME.

We will miss our daddy/ Husband.  But we are so proud of him and thankful for him and ALL those that serve our country to protect the freedoms we have here. Semper Fidelis!  We love you!

What a sight!

Nothing beats this sight.... Marines marching the colors 

except maybe...

a bunch of Marines in formation preparing to head to Afghanistan in the Marching off to War ceremony.  It was a VERY emotional thing to watch.  The Marines Hymn was played.  the National Anthem was played and the Marines stood at attention the whole time.  AMAZING!  Made me even MORE proud to be married to one of these Brave Men in uniform.  

 it was hard waiting for the ceremony to begin.  The girls were already sad.  We were supposed to say GOODBYE to Matthew yesterday night (friday)  but as usual the Marine Corps changed plans on him and he left tonite (sat) instead.... YAH! 1 more day with our daddy/husband.  But sometimes it makes it harder to change the plans..... especially for little ones.  We had already cried ALOT!  What can we say, we are all GIRLS.

Matthew is NOT a picture person at all! But i have made sure to take plenty so that the girls..,,,this little girl (especially) will remember their daddy while he is gone.  I just thought this was a sweet picture of the 2 of them.

WE LOVE YOU DADDY!