VACATION!!!

Quote for the Day:
"A happy family is but an earlier heaven"
~George Bernard Shaw

We have been on vacation for a couple days now...visiting our son, daughter-in-law, and grandson.  We come here every year at this time for Andrew's birthday.  It's always so nice to come and visit, but it is especially nice this year because they are in their new house and have an extra bedroom for us to stay in, so we actually get to see more of them since we don't have to deal with a motel room.

Andrew's third birthday party was held on Sunday and we had a lot of fun with a cook-out, cake, presents, face-painting by Trinity's sister, Tonya, and just an overall good time visiting with our son's in-laws that we only get to see this time of year.  

Andrew wasn't too impressed with his quilt, but his parents and family sure liked it!  :)  

Andrew was a little overwhelmed by all the activities and gifts, but certainly gravitated to a Leap Frog "laptop" and another Leap Frog toy that has a drawing area at the bottom with some letter functions at the top...don't know what it's called.  But he has been playing with both of those practically non-stop since Sunday!  

Erin, Dale and Sera were here from Tennessee for the weekend, too.  I always love it when our whole family is in one place together.  We have such a warped sense of humor that we keep the place rockin' with laughter!  :)

This is the "official" family photo...

But this is my favorite...

Someone must have said something funny....who remembers?  But it had us all laughing!

Unfortunately, they had to leave right after the party and head back to Tennessee...before we had the chance to play the game, "Apples to Apples" .   I had heard of the game but had never played it.  OMGosh!  Outrageously fun!!!  We (Paul, Trinity, Andy & I) laughed till we couldn't breathe!  :):):)  It's now on my "must get" list!  I'll be checking yardsales, thriftstores, etc., for it!   If I don't find it before the next family get-together, I'll have to break down and buy it!  But it will be worth it.  :)

Last night, Trinity & I did our couponing!   It's so much fun to shop with a friend, isn't it?  :)  We didn't get everything we had hoped to get because the stores were out of some of the items.  However, what we did get, we made out like bandits!  :)  Trinity figured out that with everything she bought and all the store rewards she got back, she ended up paying about 10% of the original price for everything!   

As for me, I bought $99.44 worth of items...paid $66.87 out-of-pocket after using coupons and store rewards.  Then, between store rewards (Register Rewards and +Up Rewards) and mail-in rebates, I received $79.43 back...thus making this a $12.56 money-making shopping trip for me.   :)    Who doesn't have time to shop like this?  Huh?  No excuses!   (Sorry that I don't have pictures from the shopping trip to share...but you'll just have to take my word for it!)


Here's some random pictures from the party and the vacation so far...

Trinity & Paul's dryer stopped heating a few weeks ago so they have been either using the "air" setting on the dryer or hanging clothes on hangers to dry inside the house.  Andy was able to fix the dryer for them, but he also hung a clothesline in the back yard for them to utilize the hot breezes that Georgia offers most months of the year.  That way, if the dryer fails again, they won't be clamoring for drying space inside the house and adding extra humidity to the house.


Trinity had never hung clothes on an outside line before, so I showed her how by hanging a load for her...

They were dry within 45 minutes!  :)  YAY!  I have a clothesline at home myself, but I have to admit that I don't use it as much as I could/should.  We searched the internet to figure out how much it costs to run the dryer to dry a load of wash.  For her, it is 63 cents to run the dryer for an hour.  We did some math and found out how much she can save by using the "solar clothes dryer".  :)  She and I made a "pact" and are going to try to use our clotheslines as much as possible to save money.  :)  Trinity...I'm gonna be checkin' up on you!  :D


Loretta