Coming soon to computers near you....

Slight problem this week - my laptop - which is where I do ALL of my photo editing, etc.....died. Had to wipe it completely clean. It just hit me that all of my actions for my pictures (photography stuff), are gone. I can get them again - but it's going to take me a lot of time. ugh. I shot two sets of senior pictures last week - really.bad.timing. I hope to have every thing back up and running VERY soon. Until then, here is a glimpse of what I will be working on.

Boys....

they are strange little individuals aren't they? Okay - maybe it's just mine. But that kid has an imagination that never gives up! He always has - I remember when he was just tiny, he started talking when he was WAY TOO YOUNG...and he has talked and talked and talked and talked some more ever since! I remember he used to make up these long, outlandish, unreal stories. I would just worry and worry about it. He could make people believe him - and he was probably 2! My mother used to tell me that meant he was going to be smart, because he has a very over-the-top imagination. Well, I suppose that's true. He does do very very well in reading, language, literature, etc. (enough to get moved in the AP classes at school...YAY Kade!) But sometimes, even today, I just sit and watch him and think, "Where in the world does he get this stuff?! And what was it earlier in life that he DIDN'T get that would improve his math? lol. Don't get me wrong - he does well in math, right now. We just tend to struggle a little more than in the other subjects.

Anyway, I tend to blog around pictures that I take. And I definitely want to keep the one above. He went to a movie with his cousins - bless Kyle and Jennifer for taking them, poor souls. It was a 3-D movie - Kade became attached to his 3-D glasses, which he then took the lenses out of. And he wore them for several days after that. THEN he decided they needed blue masking tape in the middle - so he could be a nerd for a day. THEN he decided the glasses needed blue masking tape ALL OVER them. Don't ask - I have no answers.....

On a Roll!

There were just too many great bargains to pass up this week. I spent 3 times what I did before but I am stocked up on MANY things now! Here's the pics (yes I am actually a photographer, no, the pictures don't show it - but it's just way simpler to take pictures with my phone, I can send them directly to my computer that way!) My husband walked in yesterday while I had coupons spread EVERYWHERE trying to get the new ones organized. I think he is now looking for a treatment center. He says I seriously have an addiction. lol. I guess it didn't help when I got home and started staging all of the groceries just so I could take a picture...... :) (But he LOVED the amount I spent!)




In summary - I bought $309.06 worth of groceries and I paid $142.55. I saved $166.51!

I always want to know EXACTLY what other people bought - it's easier for me to plan my own grocery list that way. I can look at other people's list and it will hit me, "OHHHHH - I have a coupon for that!!" So here's mine. It's long. The actual receipt - about 4 FEET long! No joking!!

3 lb ground beef
1 Sara Lee hot dog bun
1 Sara Lee hamburger bun
2 Lays chips
1 Publix milk
3 Mueller Fettuccines
9 Mueller Spaghettis
1 Mueller Penne Rigatoni
5 Mueller Elbow Macaronis
8 Duncan Hines Cake Mixs
6 Duncan Hines Frostings
4 Ball Park hot dogs
1 Clorox toilet bowl cleaner
1 A-1 sauce
1 Newmans spaghetti sauce
2 Kraft BBQ Sauces
1 Wisk Detergent
1 Caramel apple dip
3 Air Wick Freshmatic kits
2 Hellmanns Mayonnaise
4 Pantene shampoos
2 Kraft Ranch dressings
1 Ivory body wash
2 Old Spice body washes
1 Pert Plus shampoo
1 Dixie Crystal sugar
3 Glade relaxation candles
2 Vlasic pickles
1 Air Wick candle
1 Glade fall spice candle
1 Glade fall spice spray
1 Frenchs mustard
2 Dole pineapple slices
1 bag of apples
1 tomato
2 Kraft velveeta cheese
1 Tampax tampon
1 Always ultra thin
1 box of Cheezits
1 bunch of bananas
1 Heinz ketchup
1 Publix hamburger bun (bought by accident!)
1 Kraft singles cheese
2 Aunt Jemima pancake mixes
2 Honey Nut Cheerios
1 Capri Sun
4 Green Giant Steamers
1 Publix White Bread
4 12-pks of Mountain Dews
1 12-pk of Cottonelle Toilet Tissue

AND....Melia and I decided to shop together, so we even had a ton of fun while we were there. The people back home waiting for us to come back to bring the groceries to fix supper - not so much. But man - that Pizza Hut pizza they ended up ordering was GOOD!! :)

Monday morning status update....

Well....the update is....I'm here and I'm breathing. :) Wow - No one filled me in on that little issue that when you become a full-time church-goer......that's all you have time for! Could someone fill this full-time worker, full-time mother, full-time wife, full-time church-goer when you fit your laundry into your day?! Drycleaning is calling my name....and so is a housekeeper! Any takers? Need everyone to put in bids - lowest one wins! ha!

Had a singing at Huntsville Friday night - had a great time! The singing was very good. Great way to start off "singing season!" Of course we didn't get in until after 11:00 and I had worked all day and I crashed! Got up Saturday morning and Lee and I were going to go to the new house and do a few things, and then hit a few yard sales....somehow he begged out of the yard sales and me, Mom and Melissa went. Didn't buy a thing!!! We just didn't have a good yard sale day. I guess I did too well the week before. I didn't post about that! I bought a brown glass patio table with 6 resin wicker chairs with the cushions (and I actually liked them!) and 4 extra resin wicker chairs and 2 wrought iron chairs for $75!! Unfortunately, didn't find that kind of bargain this time around....

(Notice in that last paragraph there was no mention of laundry.......)

Mom decided we needed to cook so Kylee and I ran to the store. We bought 20 lbs of chicken leg quarters and Lee grilled them and Mom made 10 lbs of homemade french fries and slaw and mac and cheese and then Kylee and I made a fresh fruit pizza. Oh my goodness. It was wonderful!

(Again, notice in that last paragraph there was no mention of laundry......)

Went to church Saturday night, Sunday morning and Sunday night. Mom and I did shop in between church Sunday. I went in to panic mode when I realized that I had NOTHING to wear for fall. I now own a few fall skirts - of course, there are no shirts to go with them but I am going to work on that soon....

(And again....notice....oh nevermind - you get the picture!)

Have a happy week!!!

And just because I like to always have a picture.... Here is one of Kylee's favorites and I want to blog it so I will always have it around. This is Ben Honeycutt. He is the guy from Rainsville that was on the last season of American Idol (briefly, but he was on television a couple of times!). Enjoy!

My secret....

Okay - I feel the need to tell my secret. NO. It isn't whay you are thinking and it will NEVER be! :)

I had several calls, texts, and emails...and then Drea....who were pretty much impressed with my shopping skills this week. Let me just say that I was pretty impressed also. But let me let you in on WHY I did so well this week. You see, I have 100s of coupons - so many that I was overwhelmed, frustrated and felt like picking them up and throwing them all up in the air and letting them rain down on me. Yeah, that bad. I decided last week that I WOULD figure out a way to get organized. I mean - I knew I had the coupons of things I wanted to buy, but I could never actually FIND the coupons I needed. So I set out on a quest. A quest for the perfect organization for my coupons. I knew some folks used baseball card binders, but I felt like they were too small for what I was printing. In the beginning I was using a small coupon organizer - not quite big enough for me now days. Then I bought a larger coupon organizer - still not helping, had to pull all of the coupons out to be able to see what I had. I couldn't find what I was needing. So I went to Walmart and I SEARCHED AND SEARCHED for my perfect solution. And I found what worked for me. A photo album. It holds 4x6 pictures and it has a row of three. I bought a package of stick on tabs and I went to work.

And it was what I thought. Perfect. I can flip through the tabs that I personalized just for me and it's right there in front of me. Ohhhh...and I also had a hang up with how much I spent for it - I mean, I'm trying to SAVE money with the coupons so I didn't want to spend what I was saving! The photo book was on clearance for $5.00 - I bought some extra pages for $2.50 a pack. Not a bad price! THAT is how I managed to save $90 this week. Because I could actually SEE the coupons I had. I took it to the grocery store with me and when I saw something on sale that I didn't have on my list - flipped the pages to see if I had a coupon and most of the time, I did. I scored big.

Here are a few pictures of what I did. Leave a comment if you have questions! Will be glad to answer!




Have an awesome day!!

Writers block....gone.

Obviously my writers block has been lifted. I keep thinking of things and saying, "ooooh, I need to blog that" today. Very unusual for me lately. I have been stareing at my blog daily thinking, "do I have ANYTHING to write about?????"

Here's what's on my mind....followed by an explanation:

DOUBT. Let us ponder on that word. The meaning is "to lack confidence in and to consider unlikely." Do you have problems with doubting? I have been rolling this around in my mind lately. Do I doubt? I am talking about spiritually. Do I? I have ask myself that question over and over.

Here is what I have come up with...kind of. It's sketchy to say the least.

Everyone knows about Kade getting shot in the eye. We have ever more had a time with it. I asked God an INFINITE amount of times to heal him. Did I doubt that he would? No. I 100% believed that he could and WOULD take care of Kade's eye.

Here's the story - Kade saw the same retina specialist six times in 3 weeks if I'm not mistaken. On the 5th time, he set him up to see a cataract specialist because he had a cataract. His reasoning for this was that he could not see the extent of the damage to his retina because of the cataract, therefore, the cataract had to be removed. So...we go to see the cataract specialist, he agrees the cataract needs to be removed and even agrees for the reasoning. That was on a Tuesday I believe and they scheduled him for surgery 8 days later. On Monday before the surgery on Wednesday, he had another appointment with the retina specialist. Lee takes him and it takes FOREVER. I finally get in touch with him and he is just acting strange about it. So he explains that obviously the doctor is crazy. lol. When they went in, the doctor looked at him, told Lee his retina looked good and he thought he was fine. He then proceeds to tell him that he has a small cataract and later on he might need to have it seen about. So Lee proceeds to tell him that HE sent him to the cataract specialist and Kade is scheduled for surgery on Wednesday! The doctor says, "Oh, I did? Well. Good. I don't need to see him again, he can just follow up with the cataract specialist." HUH? Remember back when I told you that the REASON for the cataract surgery was so the retina specialist could see the damage to the retina and fix it?? He told Lee his retina looked fine! So then Lee goes on to ask him about the three prescriptions three times a day he is on. The doctor's reply, "Oh, he don't have to take those anymore." And....the appointment is over. The cataract specialist had already told us that the surgery was no rush - he said it could be done in 2 days, 2 years or 20 years. Needless to say, we cancelled that surgery in a hurry.

So what did we do? Decided the doctor was a quack, and got an appointment with a different one for a second opinion. Then it hit me, didn't you ask God to take care of him? Yep - sure did. Numerous times. And then I cancelled the second opinion.

Do I believe God took care of him? Most definitely. Why have I failed to blog about it or tell everyone? (I have told very very few.) I have decided it isn't because I have doubted, but for fear. I KNEW that as soon as I made the statement that he was fine, Satan was going to be ALL.OVER.ME. Why have I decided to tell now? There were 100s of people praying for my son. And they deserve to know that he is fine. And I can handle anything Satan can throw at me. Period.

GOD IS GOOD!

And yes, Shannon Byrd, I know. It IS still very strange to read anything remotely associated with God that I write. :)

Couponing and other things....

Let me just confess. I am an addict. I LOVE to cut coupons. It's really nothing new - I have always loved to cut coupons, but NOW - I actually use them. For years I would cut cut cut and then forget about them. But NOW, I can't wait for Publix to send out their sales paper so I can see just how low I can get the price... and FREE is even better. It gets my blood pumping. Gets my brain to kick in to gear, I research and research on just how low I can get my total at the checkout. Don't get me wrong, I'm not an expert, I'm still in learning mode. But I do okay most of the time! Here's how addicted I am: I jumped up at 6:00 a.m. this morning, got ready, got Kade ready for school, dropped him off at Melissa's (she's doing the school driving this week)and went straight to Publix! I had my list, my coupons, and a nice quiet store. Bought what I wanted and was at work ON TIME!! Yeah, I know, it's kind of strange..... But check out this receipt!!



Ahhhhhhh! What a rush!! lol. Some people need drugs.....I just need coupons!! Maybe that's a new treatment plan? Get them addicted to coupons!? I may have just came up with something great! ha!

I told Melia I would put what I bought on here - the receipt is waaaaaay too long to take a picture of. So here goes:

1 Aquafresh Toothpase
1 Colgate Toothpaste
1 Bounty Napkins
1 Publix Greenwise Bath Tissue (Penny item today!)
3 bags of Chex Mix (Traditional, Chipotle Cheddar & Honey Nut)
2 Hunts Sugar Free Chocolate Pudding (both were FREE!!!!)
2 Franks Hot Sauce
2 French's Worcestershire Sauce
4 Betty Crocker Potatoes (2 sweet potatoes & 2 loaded baked potatoes)
5 Hormel Compleats Chicken and Dumplings (on Kade's list of GREATS!)
3 Nature Valley Granola Thins/Peanut Butter Bars (for Kylee who is on a major diet!)
1 Caramel Bugles
2 Chef Boyardee Mini Ravioli
2 Select Harvest Mexican Tortilla Soup
1 Little Debbie Honey Bun (only thing I bought not on sale)
1 Ritz Crackers
1 Clorox Bleach
1 Heinz White Vinegar
2 Lipton Teas
1 Orville Redenbacher Popcorn
1 Kraft Squeeze Mayonnaise
5 Right Guard Total Defense Deodorants
5 4-pack Yoplait Fiber One Vanilla Yogurts (the name of this kind of throws you but it is REALLY good - and I don't usually like yogurt!)

And the GRAND TOTAL is --------------------------> $36.21 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I may take a picture of all of the stuff to add here just for dramatic effect - but it will be later. :)

Yep, it's a good day - even though my tire was flat on my car this morning and I had to drive the truck ------- it's a good day!!!!

Also - if you have time, say a prayer for Br. Slick and Sis. Crystal - they have had a set back with the new baby and I'm sure would appreciate everyone's prayers! Here's the link to read about it - http://slickandcrystal.blogspot.com/

HOPE EVERYONE HAS A WONDERFUL WEDNESDAY - LIKE ME!!!!

Happy 70th Birthday Granny Jones!!

Granny Jones is turning 70. She looks great for 70 doesn't she!? Her children and grandchildren threw her a BIG 70th SURPRISE birthday bash at church last night. Granny Jones has LOTS of friends that wanted to celebrate with her!! I had the honor of playing photographer. I still have a few pictures to upload but the majority of them are HERE (and a big "YEE HA!" to me who just figured out to link another URL!! :) ) on my photography website (and you can even order from there if you want! WOW! GO ME! lol.) Just scroll down the page until you see "Granny Jones Birthday."

Awwwww.......

My favorite thing to photograph......

Panic.

Okay - my panic is actually now over. For those of you with small children....you have soooo much to look forward to!

Somehow - and I still don't know how - my daughter (she's 19) ended up with a free beach trip, so she calls me and says, "Mom, the only thing is, Rachel and I have to drive down by ourselves." Rachel is also 19. And I certainly thought her parents would say, "NO WAY!" for me, but they didn't (geez Leslie! lol). So, I still wouldn't give the go ahead and I told her to call her very.over.protective.still.thinks.she.is.8.....father. Guess what he said!?! He told her yes, that she could drive - ALL THE WAY TO GULF SHORES. Oh, he did tell her that if it rained, she had to pull off?!? lol.

I never said a word. I just acted like it wasn't happening. Until 5:00ish a.m. this morning when she called to tell me she was leaving. Then I decided I might need to pray about her! ha!

They made it. They never even got lost one time!!

WHERE IS MY BABY!?

Changing colors.....

Well. We made a drastic change today. For YEARS my kids have worn the green and yellow colors for their elementary school and the ever-so-popular-spent-a-fortune-for red and blue for their high school. However, this year, this year is different. Kade will now be sporting purple and gold. It's like coming home for Lee and I. We both graduated in purple and gold and it's just, well, it feels normal. It hasn't been without some tears though. We took Kade to 6th grade orientation Thursday night and while I was sitting there I was fighting tears. Yes, me. Not Kade. Me. Kade is so excited. He has wanted to go to MCMS for a while now. He has numerous cousins and friends there. But while we were sitting at orientation it hit me - this is the first time EVER that one of my kids weren't at OCR. They both started kindergarten there. I was always head of this or on that committee. We were just involved. And there I sat - in the middle of a hundred people, and I knew one person there. Seems odd that I was the one upset but not really. We are expecting a great year though. I was so happy to see Kade excited. But for the first year ever - I FORGOT TO TAKE HIS PICTURE!!! He will so be reenacting this afternoon!!! lol.

So now, all my money goes to purple and gold. Let's start the new collection! :)

And here are a couple of pics that Nickie made for me at orientation! I'm gonna LOVE having Nickie around - she NEVER forgets her camera!! :)

By the way.....

UPDATE - Ignore the below post....Photoshop works wonders! :)

If anyone in blogland knows how to fix my header so that the words aren't across our faces - please email me at mkrogers3081@hotmail.com!!! Thanks!!

Monday Morning Injury Update.....

He looks injured doesn't he? lol! This is Kade after his latest eye appointment - these are the glasses you wear after cataract surgery - of course he chose to wear them now.....at least he feels fine! Crazy kid!!

He had an appointment to see a cataract surgeon this morning. We got there at 7:55 a.m. (his appointment was at 8:00 a.m.) - we left at 10:38 a.m.!! And it was SO COLD in there! And I mistakenly thought we would only be there for a few minutes so we hadn't had breakfast!

However, Kade LOVED the surgeon - he hasn't been as crazy about the retina surgeon, so that was a relief. If you ever need a cataract surgeon - go see Dr. Mitchell at Maynor & Mitchell. Anyway, they did schedule Kade for surgery on August 18th. The impact of the pellet caused a cataract and the cataract has made it impossible for the specialists to see the damage to his retina. Therefore, the cataract has to come off in order to move forward with repairing the retina.

It was kind of funny while we waited for them to call him back - you could tell all of those little old gray haired folks were looking at him thinking, "why are YOU here??" lol. Not many eleven year olds have to worry about cataract surgery! But that's MY BOY!! haha.

Told ya.....

Yep - I still take some.... :)

Just a quick update....

Kade started being able to see a little yesterday! I have felt all along that he would be okay but it's so hard to press on and be positive at all times! We were sitting at John and Carla's after church yesterday and he told me he could read the clock on the wall and their TV had a little bitty teeny red light on it and he said, "I can see that red light on that TV." You have to really watch him because he CAN see with one eye so I made him cover his good eye and questioned him and he really could see some!

Had an awesome time yesterday at Rocky Branch! Lee and I got to be with our running buddies for the first time since we got back together and we laughed and laughed and laughed. It was such a great feeling to get to be with them - seemed like old times except for we are all married now - and talking about how OLD we were! lol. And thanks Jen for that sudden realization that she had while we were sitting around the table, "MARTY!!!! YOU HAVE GRAY HAIR!!!" lol. Uh yeah, and obviously I didn't fix my hair the right way if you're seeing it! :)

So thankful for our wonderful life today! (And every day!)

Whirlwind....

Ever felt like you were in a whirlwind? Come join me. It's an exhausting feeling! lol. Waiting on some inspections, etc., but believe the house is sold.....to the first person who called! That means we are in the process of packing, already moved some things actually. Soooo excited about the new house!! I just cannot wait!! Hopefully things will work out so that we can start Kade at the new school at the beginning of the year. I just hate to start one school and pull him out and start another one. We shall see...

Speaking of Kade....I laughed when I was thinking of what I was going to blog about today. I kind of feel like this blog has turned into a diary of Kade's mishaps...and boy do we have a doozy of a new one! Sunday afternoon after church Kade went to a friend's house after church. And you know, boys will be boys! The boys had an air soft gun out playing around and.....Kade got shot in the eye. I really thought it would be fine but....it's not. Took him to the eye doctor and they immediately sent him to a specialist - who he is now seeing EVERY day. He has a bleed behind his cornea and if they can get it stopped, the chances of his vision being unaffected are great, if they can't get it stopped, we have a problem.

And....do you know how you try to stop a bleed behind a cornea, other than meds?! You lay flat - 24/7, except to go to the bathroom and to eat (quickly!). They say probably at least two weeks, but possibly two months!?! Have you ever tried to make an eleven year old lay flat without any sudden movements or getting up!?! NOT.AN.EASY.TASK!!!!! So...please pray - FOR ME! Kade seems to be doing fine. No pain except for a headache every once in a while. As for me, Lee told me yesterday that I really needed to quit being hysterical - which I definitely was. I was trying to deal with doctors and specialist and pharmacies (ugh! ugh! UGH!). And let me just rant a moment - don't you think if you walk into a pharmacy with an 11 year old who has a big...blue...huge...patch kind of thing, on his eye - and he's laid back in a chair and his mother is squalling - COULD THE PHARMACY TECHS NOT BE A LITTLE NICER! I was good - I didn't say a word. But oh my goodness, by the time I left that place, WITHOUT MY PRESCRIPTIONS, I was most definitely a hysterical person on the inside!!!! I would still love to go back and see that same little girl and tell her that she really needs to have a heart!!!! Off my rant now.....

Everyone stay cool and BE SAFE!!!! And don't let your kids have air soft guns - better yet - DON'T BUY YOUR KIDS GUNS AT ALL!!! Just my opinion of course.... :)

Whoaaaaa LIFE!!!!

I would love to say, "Whoaaaaa....hey life....I NEED you to slow down and let me catch up!" But...I won't. We have been blessed with such amazing changes in the past two and a half months that I would be afraid to say slow down, instead, I'll just say, "Keep up the good work God!" :) And I will follow by saying, "Keep on going...my mind and body will catch up eventually!!" lol.

Lee and I got married April 15th, he moved in to our 1562 square foot house. We have two grown kids and it's a little....tight? Lee had transferred with Lowes and started his job here on April 17th. (Nice honeymoon, huh?!) Lee received the holyghost on June 16th, I received it on June 18th. We were baptized on July 4th, July 5th we found out that Lee had made Store Manager - YAY!!!!!!!!!!!! I think his first day on the new job is July 10th. AND - DRUM ROLL!!!!! We are in the process of buying a new house - just waiting on the old one to sell so we can move!!!! See - all that in 2.5 months - things that usually take months and months have all happened NOW! 'Praise the Jesus' as Kensley would say!! :)

So, if you call and I seem just totally out there or if you text and I don't respond or if you see me and I don't even seem to know you. Please over look it for a little while. I am really hoping to get all of these things settled and behind us so we can live our peaceful little family life soon!

And I can't WAIT to have company and entertain at the NEW HOUSE!!! Space!!! We have space!!! And LOTS of room for teenagers!!! And LOTS of room for little (almost big) boys!!! And we're excited!!!

Here's the moral of the story..... MY HOUSE IS FOR SALE!! EMAIL, CALL, TEXT!!! PRICED TO SALE FAST!!!

Oh my goodness....

Just a recap for my book that I am planning on turning this blog into: We have gone and gone and gone and gone some more! Week before last I (Lee had to work a couple of nights) went to church every night at Huntsville. And then went on Saturday night and to Scottsboro on Sunday morning and Huntsville on Sunday night and Scottsboro again Monday night and Williams Cove Tuesday night and Huntsville Wednesday night. Thursday night I had agreed to shoot some engagement pics so I worked that night. Lee and I had not had a night with just us since we got married so we decided to go on a "date" Friday night. Went to Conners at Bridgestreet to eat and it was awesome! Of course, it could have just been the company. Food could have been gross and I would probably have never known! :) Saturday night we went to Huntsville, Sunday to Pleasant Oak and Sunday night we went to Oak Grove and then to Karen and Nicky's for a while after church. I really want to go to Oak Grove every night this week. Don't know if it will actually happen. Lee has to close three nights so me and the kids will have to go but I really would like to.

I thought I would be totally exhausted but I'm really not. I still feel pretty good! My feet are telling me to buy new shoes though!! :)

Hope everyone has an awesome week! Enjoy the warm weather! :)

I do have some new pictures!! That pesky Verizon aircard is still messed up at our house so I'll have to go back and add them later!!

Wow.

What a difference a day makes....or maybe a few! God has added a chapter in my fairytale and life at my house is....BRIGHT! It's kind of funny, we live in a little 50-something year old house that before last week was so dingy and dark to me. But the last few days, I have woke up thinking "Wow, it's so bright and beautiful here!" I have caught myself lying in bed smiling, even laughed out loud a few times, before I drifted off to sleep, and then woke up smiling in the morning. I am amazed at what God has done for our family. I am amazed at the feeling in my home. I am amazed at how my marriage has grown and bloomed in five days. The relationship I have with my husband is at a new level that I never knew existed. (Have I mentioned that I have an awesome husband!?) My LIFE is at a new level that I never knew existed!

"Because I prayed all night, because I held on with all of my might, my cries have awoken the Master!" And what a feeling that is!!