Moooo

Today was Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-A. If you dressed like a cow the kids got a free kids meal and parents got a free meal. We did this last year as well, and you can read it HERE. Brandt will be sad that he missed it, he had a lot of fun last year. Dustin and I also put on white shirts and taped on spots. The lady from Chick-fil-A took our family picture, but I didn't think to have her take one with my camera. Maybe it will end up in the store where I can get a copy.

Note to self: put spots on your jeans as well. We did last year just by chance and got free combos. This year I only added them to the top, so Dustin and I only got a free entree. We were both too tired to go to the car to get more spots. lol So we drank water, and we didn't need fries anyway, right?!? They did end up letting the kids each get a 6 piece nugget for free, so the entire meal cost us $1.10 (we got each of the kids fruit instead of fries) and we saved almost $16. Plus they each traded in their toy and got a free ice cream cone as well.

Brayden & Bryson
This year even Brennan participated. However, I decided not to push my luck and only put 1 spot on him and the ears, which he left remarkably alone. I was going to change him into blue jean shorts as well, but with as rough as I was feeling I decided they would have to be ok with plaid ones. lol
Brayden...by this time Bryson had already taken all of his cow items off.

Wayback Wednesday

I just came across this old photo from 1993. This is my beloved Mamaw, she was such a loving, Christian woman. This was the last time I saw her before we drove back home to Florida and she passed away 3 months later from cancer. I still miss her like crazy, and can't wait until I see her again in Heaven one day. I was trying on my mom's sunglasses here, way before HUGE frames were in. lol

Prayer Request

Tomorrow morning I head to Temple for outpatient surgery. I have to be there at 6 AM and surgery starts at 7:30. It should be a 4 hour surgery, but they do not anticipate needing to keep me overnight. My doctor did not think it was a good idea to drive home, so we will stay in a hotel there and then drive home Thursday. Thankfully, Dustin will be off until Monday and my mom will have the boys until this weekend. There should be a 2 week recovery so I am a little nervous about the following week with me having the boys at home by myself. Please pray for safe travel, and that things would go smoothly tomorrow.

Gotta Love FREE Diapers...

With 4 kiddos and a limited budget, I do what I can to cut costs. One of my favorite ways to do it is with Arquest diapers (and no I am not getting paid to say that). They frequently have diaper studies where they send you free diapers, ask you to fill out a questionnaire on their performance, and then they call you to get your answers (takes just a few minutes). Super easy, but to top it off you get a $10 check in the mail usually within 3 weeks of finishing a study. When I finished a study a couple of weeks ago, she asked me if I would like to do another one that included 6 bags of free diapers. Sounds great to me: I got over a months worth of diapers plus I will get $10 for my time when I am done.
They are generic diapers, and they do ask that you use them 24 hours a day (even overnight). We have not had any problems with leaks or irritating, so they are great for us. If you are interested in seeing if they have any studies you can do their number is 888-DIAPER2 (888-342-7372). Boys use extension 634 and the lady is super nice and her name is Cheila. Girls have another extension, but I obviously am not sure of their specifics.

Great Grandma J

Dustin's grandmother, lovingly called Grandma J, lives almost 1200 miles away. We try really hard to get up there once a year and she tries to come down here at least once a year, although with Brennan's pregnancy and birth we haven't been there since I was just 12 weeks pregnant in Oct. '07. She is an amazing women, and will be 92 in October. The kids love her, and I mean love her. They are so sweet, and just walk by and give her hugs and kisses because they want to. Brayden told me before she got there that she was his best friend and the neatest person on the Earth. Man, I hope my grandkids talk about me like that someday. The boys are all very close with her, and you would never guess they lived so far away if you were to watch them together. One of the best things I gained when I married Dustin was Grandma J.

The boys had been so excited to see her that they could hardly contain themselves when they finally saw her.

Even Brennan was excited to see her, even though the last time he saw her he wasn't even 2 months old yet.

The way she holds and hugs the kids you would never guess she is 91.

Love her expression in this photo

Brayden

Brandt (ignore the cup: he was on the carpet at his grandparents' house)

Brandt

She had to get a hand on each of them, it was so cute

Saying goodbye: Bryson

Brayden

Brandt

She came to our house last weekend, but we try to spend as much time as possible with her when she is in Texas. So Tuesday, the boys and I drove to Austin to spend some more time with her before she left. She treated the boys to Chuck E Cheese, and they had a blast. We had to tell her good bye yesterday afternoon, which is never fun. I wish she did not live so far away, but we are already looking forward to our next visit.

Wordless Wednesday

The boys and Kaboom of the Brazos Valley Bombers during their Little League closing ceremonies

4 Generations

Dustin's grandmother will be 92 in October and she is in amazing health. She lives in Minneapolis so we don't get to see her as much as we would like. She flew by herself from Minnesota to Texas earlier this week. They came to our house today, so we decided to make a last minute 4 generation picture (thus the non-matching t-shirts).

Dustin's maternal grandma, Dustin's parents, us, and the boys

Great Grandma J and the boys

She is so good with them. She holds them, plays with them, hugs them, kisses them, etc. You can see the love between them. It is a very special relationship.