Mama guilt, sports cream and pain

I'm gonna post this really quick. I worked all weekend. My body hurts sooo bad that all I can do is rub tons of Bengay on my back, neck and shoulders and bandage my blistered toes. I am so not used to working like this anymore. I know it's gonna take a while to get re-adjusted.

The other thing is the mama guilt. Since hubs works 6 days a week his only off day is Sunday. Which means Saturdays my aunt has the kids. I got home Saturday night around 10 and got 3 different phone calls (one from each kid) crying and telling me how much they miss me and that they don't want me working. The boy really got my heart with his comments. "I just miss you so much mommy. I don't like being away from my mama. I just want to be near you." Oh my lord it stabbed my heart. 

It was a rough weekend. I'm so tired and the poor house. Well.... There really aren't any words. I'm just doing the best I can and trying to take this change one day at a time. 

Here's a couple pics. Makayla finished  an awesome project while at my aunts house this weekend. Macie looked so cute this morning and I told her I wanted a pic. While snapping she got a major nose itch and started making weird facial expressions and moving her hands around so she wouldn't scratch it yet. Hilarious. 

A great family night

Some of you may remember last year (I think in October) we got an awesome family night out for free because the place wanted to hire hubs. He ended up not taking the job because they couldn't offer the pay he needed. 

Well they called hubs a year later and told him they had a new position open and could match his pay if not better. Once again they told him to bring his wife and kids and have a great night on them. 

It was another wonderful time. We ate the yummy buffet and played lots of games. Hubs even convinced the kids to all ride the indoor roller coaster. I rode with them and it was so fun but scary. Afterwards the boy and Makayla cried and cried. They finally calmed down and we turned in all our tickets and headed to the prize shop. Boy ended up getting a glowing sword and the girls got some little random stuff. 

Another great family night. For FREE. It was a value of over $200. So neat that we had the opportunity again. 

Labor Day

Today was good. Today was filled with lounging and family time. I made a couple of coupon trips to the store (totals and pics are in my very old coupon blog) and the rest of the time was spent watching movies, cooking and just lounging around.

We watched Addams Family together and for dinner I made Martha Stewarts one pot pasta. (Yum!) We also put the kids to work and got things shiny and clean. Just a good day all around. The 5 of us. Home. 

Sunday of FREE (plus some other steals)

I don't really blog much about saving money anymore but I thought I would share today's scores with you guys. Just to let y'all know that there are always ways to find a great deal and even tons of freebies. 

So I have a Bath and Body Works obsession. Yea it's bad. I'm obsessed. But I always use coupons and wait for sales. This weekend they posted a Facebook coupon for a free travel size of their new scents. The coupon had a universal code on it. So you could use it at multiple stores without a problem. I scored 2 free 3 oz. bottles with no questions asked and no purchase necessary. Although I did buy some pocketbac hand sanitizers because the kids and I use those like crazy. 

I also stopped by Old Navy when waiting for B&BW to open. I found this gorgeous and super soft sweater shirt for $1.47!!! And it was tax free weekend. So it was literally under $1.50. It was labeled maternity but it has nothing maternity about it. I'm gonna cut off the tag and no one will ever know. I tried it on and it looked like just a woman's sweater. 

I scored a redbox movie for free for the kids because they always text and email hubs and I codes. We had 2 codes so if we want another movie later I can go back. 

And last but not least. I went to the grocery store and got 3 Herbal Essences shampoos for $3.34 after coupons. I had a coupon for $5 off 3 Clairol items. The coupon had hair color pictured but if you read it closely it didn't state it had to be hair color. Read your coupons closely.

I was just too excited about these deals. To sum up I came home with: 2 B&BW travel size lotions, a fall sweater, 3 Herbal Essences shampoos and a Redbox movie for under $5!!!! I'd say that was a serious victory. 

(On a side note I just realized I grabbed the conditioner in the totally twisted for Macie. I wanted the shampoo. I'll just go exchange it next time I go back to that store.)

Besties bday lunch

Today one of my best friends had a lunch  birthday get together. I got there a little early so I could sneak in and tell them to sing her happy bday. We were a group of 5. I didn't know anyone else there but I had a blast still. We were THAT table. You know the table everyone stares at and doesn't want to sit by because they are so loud. Yep that was us. 

We waited and waited and they hadn't come to sing her happy bday yet so I had to go ask them again. Finally they came out and to our shock they didn't do the normal big hat and singing. They smeared whipped cream all over her face and put a cherry on her nose. We were dying from laughter. 

We eat there ALL the time and they know us well so I guess they knew she would be a good sport about it. We had a great lunch without any kids. Sometimes it's so nice to get away. 

Tomorrow we are beach bound!! Can't wait!! 

1st Place!!!

Yesterday was one of the best days I think I've ever had as a parent. Makayla and I went to her first cheerleading competition. We had to get there 2.5 hours early so all the girls could get their makeup and accessories on. I ended up being a parent helper. I put glitter on approx. 25 excited cheerleaders. It took us nearly 3 hours to get all the girls ready. They would practice and their poms would hit their face or someone would bump into each other and it would smudge the makeup so we had to keep doing touch ups. It was intense. But absolutely awesome! 

When it came time to perform our girls ROCKED it!!! In fact they did so good they won FIRST place!!! We were all so very proud of each one of them. They performed a cheer routine and then a dance routine. Makayla has put so much into cheer these last few months. She is beyond dedicated and pushes herself to keep getting better. I am one proud mama and I'm so glad she has found something that makes her so happy. 

Each girl got a trophy no matter where they placed and then a medal. Each place was a different color ribbon. First was blue! 

And to top it off my bestfriends daughter performed earlier in the day and took home 1st place in her division as well. So awesome! 

After I picked up the boy and Macie from my mom and aunt we headed home. I got the kids in bed and then had dinner with my other bestie at our fav Mexican restaurant. Great food, hilarious conversation and a strawberry margarita that was insanely delicious. Yep I ended the perfect day in a perfect way. 

Weekending

We've done a whole lot of nothing this weekend. In fact we only left the house to go to church this morning. There has been a lot of computer time and playing the last few days.

All of it has been pretty quite which I am
super thankful for. There is a ridiculous amount of stuff floating around in my head these days. So much to decide on and work towards. It's all a bit overwhelming. Staying home this weekend was exactly what I needed.

First karate tournament

Today was the kids first karate tournament. You could choose how many events you wanted to compete in. We choose to take our first competition slow and only sign up for one event per kid.

My mother-in-law happened to be coming down for a one night visit and got to go with us. We had a blast. I know it sounds weird to say but I really felt like a mom at the tournament today. Obviously I've always been one but cheering them on and talking to other karate moms was really awesome.

Macie placed 3rd in fastest kick and the boy took home a medal for fastest fist. Each kid got a trophy for participating and then either a medal or big trophy for wherever they placed in each competition. So we came home with 3 trophies and a medal. Macie has taken her big trophy everywhere. When she walks outside she brings it. When she goes into the kitchen she brings it. She keeps walking around the house saying "I can't believe I did it! I can't believe I placed!" So cute.

We are all looking forward to next semesters competition and I'm definitely going to let them enter at least 2-3 events.
I wish I had remembered to bring my camera because my phone doesn't have a zoom and I was too far to get any good pics of them actually competing.

I'm blogging from my iPhone since that is where the pics are stored so I can't comment above each pic. The first pics are from when we first arrived and they only had their participation trophies. The last ones are when we were leaving. The sun was right in their eyes and they do not look happy. But they were because they had an awesome time.

I can't wait to watch their skills grow over the next few years and watch many more tournaments.

Easter day

This year Easter day has looked a little different from the years before. When the Easter bunny left the baskets he also left a note saying he would come back next weekend to hide the eggs outside due to us all being too sick to do much.

The boy is the only one who doesn't know the truth yet so it was easy to pull off. We had a quite day at home mostly. Hubs did make a run to Petco but I will post about that later on. I made red beans and rice and got a special lemon cake since I knew we wouldn't be leaving to visit family like most holidays.

The kids are all smitten with their new stuffed babies and have eaten their weight in candy. Happy Easter!! The Lord is risen!!

Oh Saturday

Today has not been a great day. I woke up cranky and then to top it off the boy is sick. He fell asleep on the couch this morning and when he woke up his temp was 102.1. So he is set up on the couch with a large array of movies at his disposal.

 

 First it was Ninjago and now he's watching Batman.

I am busy tending to my sick kid and trying to restore some kind of order in this house.

I'm going to try and finally get pics of the new living room furniture up on Monday. I've been meaning to do that for weeks. Hope everyone is having a better weekend than we are,