Memorial Day

at the last minute, literally Thursday night, we decided to go see my folks for memorial day.

the kids were pretty excited and even got to have a sleep over with aunt sara and uncle jeremy. 

we grilled and have fun visiting with family. I am glad that we decided to go.

 here we are before leaving. the kids are always grumpy when we leave any of our family. they always want to stay.

of course it would not be a normal car ride home for us with out something happening. it was really hot Monday. we had the air on but it was still warm. briea was playing with this little fan and it got stuck in her hair. yep. just another road trip for our family!!

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ps. she did not start of naked. she had a dress on, but was so hot she took it off. i felt bad for her and let her keep it off. my children really do where clothing. I PROMISE!!

what is happening?

she is army crawling.

she is pulling up.

she is growing up.

i really want her to stop.

stay little just a little longer. 

she won't listen to me.

so i am going to enjoy every minute i can!

hmmm. what is that taste?

( this is a gross post. don't keep reading if you don't feel up to it)

let me start off by saying that since i have been couponing, we have a wide variety of different brands of the same products. we have started going with what we can get the best deal on. so for example, we have a ton of different deodorants, but hey they all do the job, so no one complains.

well last night i went into the bathroom and got my toothbrush out of the cabinet. everything seemed normal with it. it definitely looked the same as it did when i put it away that morning. so i put some toothpaste on and start to brush. i am not exactly sure when i began to notice. i would say maybe somewhere in the three to five area of brushes that I noticed the toothpaste had an unusual flavor to it. I took my toothbrush out and looked at it and thought, what in the world is wrong with this. then out of the corner of my eye i see it. garrans deodorant sitting on the ledge of the back of the toilet. LID OFF! i pick it up for closer inspection and see that there are these lovely little fine grove marks going across the top. that's right. my daughter had picked my lucky toothbrush to be the winner to rub all over daddy's old spice deodorant!!! i have to admit i gagged a little when putting it all together. it was one of those slow motion moments where i could see it in my head happening and then a light bulb went off and i realized that i had just put that in my mouth.. SIGH.

so i instantly throw that toothbrush away and go and get a new one from the closet. i scrub my mouth for probably about 5 minutes. you would not think that old spice deodorant would have such a lingering taste. however i can tell you from experience that it does.

after brushing, my mouth still tasted like i had had an old spice popsicle for dessert so i decided to try some mouth wash. let me just say that Listerine and old spice mixed together could seriously be used as some form of torture for bad guys!

i went and got a bottle of water to flush it out of my mouth and because well old spice does its job and my mouth felt like cotton.

i finally decided to give up and go to bed. before i did i went to check on the kids in their rooms. the boys were fine and then on to briea. as i looked at that sweet little girl laying there, i thought, it is a good thing you are cute. especially right now. as i bent down to give her a kiss, i was overpowered by the smell of old spice again (you can go ahead and insert another gag from me at this point). apparently briea had rubbed it all over her arms.

i think it is time to lock the upstairs bathroom again.

my kids.

Cullan

Kael

Briea

Ayla

Just some cuteness. 

Have a nice day!

ayla loving her sibs

ayla loves her brothers and sisters. she coos, smiles, and talks to them constantly. she thinks that everything that they do is hilarious! her is a video that proves that.

catch up

i am posting tons of videos that i have been meaning to post. so be patient, here we go!

ayla was going crazy one day on the floor after church. so i quick grabbed my iPod and took a video. i wish i had some music to put behind it. it was so funny.

Shedd.

this weekend my dad came to visit and it was also garrans birthday. garran has wanted to go to the aquarium for a while so we went. it was so much fun. there were lots of things to see and we even got to enjoy the dolphin show.

 here is the group, minus me outside the shedd.

 these fellas were one of the first things we saw. i love turtles. i don't know what it is about them. i just do.

 i thought this was so cute. everyone checking stuff out and the sign above says discover.

 Kael loved loved LOVED, these little neon blue fish. he asked if i would take his picture by them.

 there was an awesome jellies exhibit there. i was pretty excited about seeing that as well. the kids really loved it. i have tons of pictures but i will probably post more on facebook.

 these were so awesome. cullan was totally amazed by them. he also asked if i would take this picture. i love how he is kind of leaning, like he just doesn't trust standing to close to them.

 the kids really loved the "touch and feel" section. they got to touch some starfish and play in a big bin of water that had all different corals and things.

 after we left there, we went to go see the belugas. they were so much fun to watch. they looked so peaceful and happy. i could have stood there all day. i got a couple of fun pictures, but i think this one is my favorite.

 Ayla and Grandpa Jeff waiting for the dolphin show to start.

 the rest of the gang waiting for the show to start!

 finally it did.

 the kids were amazed. especially Kael. he loves animals any way, so this was crazy fun for him.

 the dolphins were very sweet.

this guy just cracked me up. he was just hanging out. 

i am glad that we got to go. it was fun to have some family time and to do something fun.

31!

(i know some might not find this funny. however, garran found this card in Chicago. given all the jokes about the rapture happening today, i thought it was kind of funny!)

well i always say how much i love garran and how grateful i am for him on his birthday. i also say what a great dad he is and how i would be lost with out him. i still feel all those things. but this time i decided to make it feel a little more our style. Gillespie tradition is to sing a bunch of birthday songs to the birthday person!!

so here we go!

You've had a birthday, shout hooray!

we're going to sing to you today.

one day older and wiser too,

happy birthday to you.

we're glad its your birthday, dear garran

happy birthday happy birthday to you.

we'll sing you a song for your birthday.

happy birthday, happy birthday to you!

just once a year, in every year 

for every girl and boy,

there comes a very special day

a birthday filled with joy.

what fun it is when presents come

what fun it is to grow

but giving is a lot more fun

just give and then you'll know

so share your joy with others 

that is what this life is for

we wish you happy birthday 

and 

we wish you many more.

happy happy birthday garran dear,

happy days will come to you all year,

if i had a wish that it would be

a happy happy birthday

to you from me.

happy birthday to you 

happy birthday to you

happy birthday dear garran

happy birthday to you!!

WE LOVE YOU BUNCHES. 

HAPPY 31ST BIRTHDAY!!

asleep on the job.

I was folding laundry and my helper fell asleep on the job. go figure. what am i going to do with her?

can you believe she is almost seven months and can still fit in a laundry basket like this. i guess i got my wish for a tiny baby!!

Counting Down.

we decided it would be fun to make a paper change to help the kids get excited for the family reunion. each day they get to have a turn tearing a ring of the chain. we numbered them down to 30 days, then we wrote each member of the family's name on there. That way when the kids tear them off, we can say, ok, only so many days until we see aunt so and so, or uncle so and so. Hopefully this well help the kids with all the names as well. A lot of these people we don't get to see very often. So we decided to take a fun picture with our paper chain and i added fun things to each person. Briea wanted a flower dress. that was about the best i could do. ;0)

i. love. this. face.

oh my kids.

my kids say crazy things. again this is so i will remember them. 

Cullan never ceases to amaze me in his creativity! Today while I was cleaning the living room, he came half way down the stairs, guitar in hand and said " mom, there is something I need to tell you". He then strummed his guitar a few times and proceeded to sing, " Kael just called me a stupiddddd stinkyyyyy 

face". Telling on your brother is not so annoying when you sing it :0)

Cullan and Kael just came down stairs from quiet time. They were upset because they wanted to watch a movie. When they came down stairs they informed me they were leaving tomorrow to go and stay in a hotel. I said " oh really?". Cullan then says " ya we are, we just need money. Got any money mom?". I 

guess I am funding this run away trip to the hotel,where I am not aloud in their room!

Today I was feeling a little frustrated with the kids while we were all in the garage. I finally said with a sigh, "do you know what you kids are?". I was going to say, driving me crazy.However, before I could get the words out of my mouth Cullan says "amazing, adorable, and wonderful kids!".

my new hobby.

couponing.

yes i do watch extreme couponing. no i am not striving to be an extreme couponer, however i am loving the savings I am getting from couponing. I am also loving some of the tips i have learned from watching the show. So this may seem silly but I wanted to blog about all of the good deals I have found so far.

I got all those dish soaps up to for no more than .75 cents a piece. some of them differed in price. I got all of those laundry detergents for a dollar or less. Those make me happy! When you stack coupons, you can get really good deals.

This is our upstairs closet. I have enough tooth brushes, toothpaste, deodorant, body wash, etc for at least six months. And I just started about a month ago with coupons. I have learn to stack coupons which can really help your savings. Pretty much all of the toothbrushes were free as well as most of the deodorant. If I paid anything for it, it was minimal.

I am hoping that by doing this I will be able to save our family some money and take the stress of some of the harder times by having things on hand that we might need. Plus it is kind of fun to go to a store, buying items, get to the register, only to watch the total drop, drop, drop!!

for those of you that might be interested this website has some awesome tips.

Krazy Coupon Lady

Picture Perfect!

i guess some things may never change. I can totally see my kids like this down the road!

My Mothers Day

i feel so loved today. 

i woke up to a bed full of hugs, kisses, knees and elbows!

I was the lucky recipient of a sponge bob square pants mothers day card and a special treat. 

then the kids made cinnamon rolls with daddy. 

after church i received to coupon books for all sorts of great things like hugs, car washes, dishes washed and kisses. 

now we are getting ready to relax while dinner cooks and enjoy each others company!!

I am truly blessed to have such fun kids and a wonderful husband!

Happy Mothers Day!!

I know that it is a day early but I am sure tomorrow will be hectic, so I wanted to go ahead and do this post tonight.

this picture below is one of my favorites of my mom and i. 

isn't it just a happy picture. i don't remember this moment, but I am glad that I have this picture so that I can see it.

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

Sorry we can not be there to celebrate it, but hope you have a wonderful day.

I also thought that I should recognize another mom on here, that I just realized I have not in passed years, but completely by accident. I don't know why it never occurred to me. 

Anyways, the other mom is my mother in law!

before i got married i had heard horror stories about mother in laws, but i got really lucky. mine is great! we have a good relationship and I always look forward to spending time with my in laws. we are sad that we can not be with my mother in law either on mothers day, but hope her day is just as great!!

Happy Mother's Day !!!

too many.

i take so many pictures, that sometimes i have some that i like, but don't ever really get a chance to blog about because basically it is just a picture. so from time to time i will probably start doing this. just posting random pictures that i have taken, that don't necessarily go together but that i want to have on our blog.

(I mean really, he looks so grown up in this picture)

(she really loves makeup)

(doesn't briea's face just scream LOVE!)

My girls!

future.

pictures are a funny thing. i think that is why i love taking them so much. they can capture a moment that you never want to forget, but also they can sometimes give you a glimpse into the future. for some reason when i look at this picture, i see the future. i see them sitting together as teenagers. i see them all grown up. while that makes me a little sad to think about, there is something about this picture that makes me smile. 

Oh Cullan.

Cullan just asked me from the stairs, "Mom, what does metaphorically mean? I really need to know these things!!". Seriously, you are 5!

how cute is Briea?

SOOOO CUTE!!

who is happy about the warmer weather????

looks like they are. especially cullan!