In These Here Parts...

NO, I have not disappeared or stopped blogging... IM ALIVE... and well and TAN and summering with my kids. Things have been crazy in our little red house. Visitors have come and gone, SweetTea Travel has taken off and I... yes I am planning a 15th anniversary going away trip with just my hubby and I. Birthdays are in full force, as a new one comes every few weeks. Mothers Day and now fathers day are celebrated... Life is good and we are trying to put our feet up and enjoy a bit.

But I miss my bloggy-friends. I miss visiting you and hearing from you and seeing your smiling faces on my blog frog!! I DO!!

So Im back.

Whats new?? Well for starters today I am going shopping for my soon to be 14 yr olds FIRST EVER boy/girl birthday party tomorrow night. No character themes, no games... just a bunch of teenagers running amuck outside with a fire-pit and some fireworks. Should be fun. One can hope.

Last night we drove thru a tornado...

YUP!

We did. And my kids are scarred enough to prove it.

In the evening, because of the heat, thunderstorms always roll in. Dinner has been eaten with black clouds and lightening. Its usually not unusual. But last night as we drove to church, the sky looked different. So of course I managed to take pics while almost driving off the road several times. To capture it.... and within minutes I realized I should have stayed home. The wind almost took my van, Hail sounded like it was going to cave in my roof and I had to stop driving due to no visibility... My kids were scared and for 1 second I felt completely helpless. Thank God  it passed as quick as it came and we made it to church!!!

That night on FB, people shared their stories of uprooted trees, playsets destroyed and holes in their vinyl siding from the hail.

Im glad its OVER. And even though our county refuses to ever delclare a tornado touchdown... we all know one did. 

Xoxo

GiGI

Hello!!

Visit The Chatty Mommy for her Friday Follow!!

So, Im pretty sure vacation laundry did not take me a full week to finish, even though it felt like a full week. But because I was doing so much of THIS:

And THIS:

and THIS:

on vacation... the laziness relaxing extended far more than it should have. It took me a while to adjust to the hustle and bustle of our everyday routine. I missed housekeeping and was a bit spoiled by hot towels at the touch of a button.

But all good things do come to an end. Even after being convinced I should be living like spoiled royalty (ha), Im back to lovingly caring for my Little Red House....

Once again, the south is confused about the seasons. We somehow went straight from winter to summer. The last few days have have been almost 100!!! YOW!! The pool has been a lifesaver to say the least. Last night an unexpected storm blew in with heavy rains and cooled our corner of the earth a bit. Today it will just be 90. The sun is burning off some clouds and once the sun is out, I plan on sending everyone down to the pool for a bit of splashing.

Yesterday Hubby's family also flew down for a visit. His grandmother has not seen the family since we moved over 4 YEARS AGO!!! ( WOW has it been 4 already?) So she is here visiting the kids, meeting some of our newest additions and trying to keep track of everyones names. Ha!! But we are having fun. Its FRIDAY!!! Which means we will spend the weekend doing FUN things. Not quite sure what yet.

I started a BRAND NEW bible study wednesday night by Beth Moore.... DAVID!! And let me say GOODNESS. I missed the first session due to being on vacation so I felt a bit lost when I went to class and have 2 weeks of homework to do this week instead of 1 but I hopefully can catch up. But of course God spoke CLEARLY that night and brought half the women to tears as Beth pounded into our brains that " We are able to do whatever God wants us to do and when He comes... He comes in POWER"

Is that not powerful or what?? Many of us ladies have lots of things going on in our life that we just cant handle... We think we can't handle, we don't want to handle but God is all-powerful and when He puts something in our path, He gives us the POWER to do it. We just need to be in prayer with him.

Whew... thats what I need to hear because I just might be reminding God that He needs to throw down some ALOT of power my way as I have an overflowing plate right now and am about to just scrape the whole plate in the garbage... if you know what I mean.

Well, School is out for us right now ** HALLELUJAH ** and my house is utter chaos. So I will go now and try and escape to read my study a bit before it turns into even MORE chaos.

Have a WONDERFUL weekend.

Xoxo

GiGi

Going Back To Our Roots...

This past week, hubs and I went back to our roots...

Growing up on an island means salt-water runs thru our veins and it was time to go back...

We spent 4 GLORIOUS days in an oceanfront room enjoying the Atlantic.

But I think I spent most of my time here.... with my feet up... relaxing...

100% relaxing...

And having a marvelous time with my family.

But more on that later...

5 days, 4 nights equals

Tons of laundry....

XoXo

GiGi

Go visit www.thechattymommy.com for her Friday Follow!!!!

In Pictures...

I figured I would throw in a Part 2, to yesterday's post by showing you my busyness in pictures since I made sure I documented it all for you.

So sorry I disappeared for so long...

I searched all consignment stores till I found a PINK bumbo. I refused to pay retail. Penelope LOVES it...

Im couponing away and trying to save money (and not spend the money I save on clothes...opps)

Miss P. has been perfecting eating cereal. Its taking her a while and as you can see... she still needs work!

Abs-delicious had her birthday build-a-bear and loves her.

Then we went home and had pink cake with pink icing cause thats what she wanted...

My birthday. Chocolate cupcakes with NO icing. My special once a year treat.

we have been shopping for nice beach attire so we can look beautiful in the sand. Sunglasses and sundresses for us older girls and I ordered 3 matching made-to-order dresses for my 3 little girls. The boy has a matching outfit with daddy for beach pictures...

And that my friends... has been my life.

=))

In which I try and make excuses...

I have a zillion excuses on why I have not blogged. I do... But I won't bore you with them... Not yet anyway.

The busy bee has stung me and on top of that we have 1 week left of school and I cannot concentrate ONE lick!!

Our vacation is getting closer (not nearly as close as it needs to be...) and in my head, im already lying in the sand. My OCD is in FULL force and I made friends with the lady at the front desk of our hotel (although I don't think she would refer to me as the same..)

I keep having questions and my type A.. insane need to control is totally taking over.

Sweet hubby kindly reminded me I need to calm down and I truly am trying.

I also am bound and determined to leave this place SPOTLESS as we drive into the sunset which means I have to stay ahead of the game WAY before we even leave so that leaves me room to pack prior to departure...

My precious hub-a-dubs got me a 1 hour massage for my birthday last week. I happened to squeeze my birthday in somehow. Did I mention it was my birthday?? Oh yeah... I haven't blogged in forever so how could you possibly know?? My 1 hour massage will be redeemed this weekend. Im counting the seconds!! I can't wait to get on that table.

Sorry. I really am...

Im still couponing and got some MAJOR deals. Vlasic pickles for .14 a jar. Hellmans Mayo for $1.00 a jar,    2 boxes of FREE toaster strudels ( we usually don't eat them but they were FREE) General mills cereal for $1.50 a box, Wishbone salad dressing for .40 a bottle and Hunts ketchup for .30 a bottle.

The savings are small but you have to start somewhere. I also received register coupons this past week for $2.50 off my purchase, free iceburg lettuce and $1 off fresh produce. I plan on combining all of those (which I can do) for my next shopping trip next week... along with some grape jam for $1 a bottle. Im hoping to pick up 4 or 5 containers of jam as PB and J are a favorite at my house...

I made a special trip to Staples for some handy dandy coupon pockets and binders. My system is very very loose and im not that organized but I keep reminding myself it will take time to sort myself out and get my own system going

With that being said... I FORGOT TO BUY THIS PAST SUNDAYS PAPER LIKE AN I.D.I.O.T!

I actually didn't forget. It was Abby's 4th birthday and we went straight from church to the mall so she can make her birthday build-a-bear and my feet were ON FIRE from my super dooper cute summer heels and I really could not even think about walking extra.

So it was my fault . Does anyone know if Wal-Mart still carries the Sunday paper thru the week???

This Sunday I will most certainly pick one up before church to make sure!!

But Im off to bed now. My heart has been heavy lately for some of my friends and I just need to pray for them. We are starting a new Bible Study class next Wednesday AND I CAN'T WAIT!! Its the Beth Moore David...

Oh how relevant and how NEEDED it is right now. We have had a break since our Revelation class has ended and im itching to dive back into the bible and see what else God has for me.
I think Im going to start this new journey next week with...{gulp} a new bible. My 22 year old bible has officially broke and the binding is off. I can still use it as its in a cover but I think this new study would be a perfect opportunity for me to start fresh and new...
For those of you that don't know...
I hate change... straight down to changing my bible. Thats why I have had the same bible and have used daily the same bible that I received on my 13th birthday. Its old and used and written in. I know where all my verses are based on page placement and wrinkle...
and I wanted to use it forever...
But thats not the case anymore. So I will use the next 2 weeks to browse my favorite Christian book store and try and find one I like. It will be a hard task...
But deep in my soul I am thrilled to BITS at the thought of a new one...

Goodnight my friends... and if you remember can you say a quick prayer for me?? Its been quite damp near me and I have arthritis in ALL my joints. Life has been quite achey for me...

Love you all

Xoxo

GiGi

Whew....

Where has the time gone??

Kind of always seems like Im saying that right??

But lately my life seems more hectic than I can juggle at the moment. But with everything in life... this is a season and nothing that won't blow over sometime soon..

** like in a few weeks when school is OVER and we are at the beach whoo hoo**

Can I get an A-M-E-N?!

This past weekend was wonderful. Mothers Day was spent relaxing. I did something very unusual and requested us NOT going to church. Sometimes the hustle and bustle and stress of getting out the door can really cramp up a good mood, and seeing as Im under a lot right now, I just wanted to sit home and relax!!!

I was greeted by 7 cute faces and an awesome breakfast in bed...

Along with kisses and home made cards... Just then I knew the day would be perfect...

And it was.

I do love my family sooo much.

Our school year is coming to a close and quite frankly we ALL lost ALL motivation. 8 days of our school year will get by with us struggling every second. We know once we wrap up the year, we pack up the family and head to the beach to vacation and unwind!!!

And who can possibly concentrate when the waves and sand are just calling our names!!!!


I will be putting ALL homeschooling completely on the back burner for about a month and not think about it for 1 second. Its been a hard year and alot of prayer will have to go into next year. We will already be switching things up majorly and hope our new decisions work as good as they sound!!!

On a brighter note...

My SweetTea Travel is doing great. I have been truly enjoying researching and learning all about such amazing vacation destinations. I do most research at night after the kids are in bed...

I have about 10 clients who are currently planning vacations with me right now and I have to be totally honest!!
Im sooo excited for them... and to be able to help them vacation at great prices...
I sometimes forget Im not the one going. Ha ha...


And last but not least Im STILL couponing...


I will be vlogging this weekend as my shopping trips are bi-weekly. I am sorting and prepping for this weeks shopping trip. A blog post will be coming soon along with my *new* coupon binder.
Im excited about the sales coming up and the *almost* free products I will be happily throwing in my cart.


Well, our school day is just about done. We are happily throwing down the pencils in a few and heading outside to soak in the sun and 80 degree weather.


I hope you all have a wonderful tuesday...


Xoxo


GiGi

Happy Friday

Doesn't the title sound so happy and chipper?

Betcha never guess that we all have the stomach bug here and are absolutely miserable!!

Except Sweet P. of course. She is as happy as ever.

She just recently received a BUNCH of new dresses as a gift from family so we have been playing dress up every day.

Im lovin it!!

I think she is too!

She is our pretty sack of potatoes who won't go on her tummy or really sit up on her own. Thats because she is too busy on my hip...

Or Hannah's hip, or Emma's hip...

and when Daddy comes home she suckers her way on his hip...

We figure by the time she goes off to college, she might get down...

Anyway, while we are recovering we are preparing and cleaning.

Hubby's Aunt and Uncle will be popping over for a quick visit this Sunday. We have not seen them in over a year so it will be nice to catch up.

The weather will be back to beautiful. The last few days have been about 70's and chilly. YUCK!!

But by the middle of next week we will be almost at 90 again. Just how I like it and just in time for the beach. We head out in a few and I CAN'T WAIT!!

We all are counting the seconds till we can put our tootsies in the sand and walk the boardwalk... and eat ice cream... and sunbathe!!

Hubby had me call and extend our vaca a bit and I was thrilled (and relieved) they had our room available for the extra time.

Now just to get this illness out of our doors and get the show on the road!

Until then, maybe I will reach my goal weight if I keep getting sick...

Hey, gotta look on the bright side right??

Xoxo

GiGi

The dentist

EXTRA EXTRA

For all 2 of you that may read this, today will be a special edition of Xoxo GiGi...

Today is a B-I-G day for me...

Today I go to the Dentist...

Dun dun dun...

Yeah. I don't know whether that music should be for me or for him. For all of you that don't know, I have an INTENSE fear of anything having to do with dental work. Im already having anxiety attacks (seriously.)

And I know I need work. Like cavities, possible root canal and filling fixes...

All which have been avoided because just picking up the phone causes such physical trauma I can't even handle making the appointment.

But I draw the line today.

And at 2 p.m I will be sitting in the chair.

But to distract from vomiting all over the nice posh place I picked, I intend on vlogging/blogging my experience.

From the chair.

I figure, if he is going to have his fat latex fingers in my face, then Im sure he won't mind having my slim bejeweled iphone in his...

Ya think?

We shall see...

Stay tuned.... 

Coupon/Weekend update

This past Sunday hubby and I got the amazing privilege of dedicating our Penelope before the Lord and before our church...

As a public promise to raise her knowing Jesus as her personal savior.

I have waited for this day for a long time!! It was my end of the bargain with God. Even though we don't "make bargains" with the big man... I did. As I pleaded with him many moons ago to give us another  baby... I promised she would be completely His... although I made it clear than unlike Hannah ( Biblical Hannah) I could never ever drop her off somewhere...)

I did promise Him I would raise her to know and love Him and to be used for His kingdom.

Technically, we do that with all of our children but when we were struggling.... I babbled on and on in prayer...

Anyway, This day was very special to me. A day I waited a loonng time for and a day I daydreamed about for a while.

isn't the cake AMAZING!!!

and it was a GOOD day. We celebrated back at the house with my Aunt and Uncle and cousin. We grilled and ate till we were sick. My Aunt bought Miss P her amazing dress.

The weather was perfect

and life was good!

I also wanted to update you on couponing....

Im still at it and to be quite honest... its taking ALOT of time. To try and be the best of the best (and by that I mean getting the MOST stuff for the LOWEST/FREEest price possible) you have to be on the computer checking sites all the time.

quantities are limited and they go quickly.

I am also on my websites about every hour checking to see any new freebies/ high value q's.

Its tough. Im having a hard time handling that and the 6 kids and homeschooling...

but im determined....

Sunday I bought 4 papers. I bought them at Walgreens for .99 each and they had 5... FIVE thick Q inserts. So I know this week will be busy. I don't clip unless Im ready to use and I label the front of each insert with the date.

I also have an accordion Q holder. I have a slot for each store so I just consolidate based on shopping trips. I plan on getting a binder soon for all the loose Q's I collect or print out for future use.

I also find myself going up all aisles of the grocery store when I go in and look for any Q's in Smart Source machines.

I found some REALLY high value Q's for Red Baron and Digiorno pizza. Those are a MUST in our house for quick lunches and late night XBOX snacks.

whew...

I re-checked my local stores Q pon policies and will be on the computer late tonight as my 2 favorite sites update with the weekly circular previews.

I Heart Publix and Southern Savers are the 2 sites I use the most.

My stores change over each Wednesday morning, so they usually update on mondays. They also link printable Q's with them so you want to print ASAP before the limits are reached.

If the item is super cheap or free, I like to be at the store Wednesday morning to get the item before all the other crazy couponers do. I HATE rainchecks.

Im only in week 2....

Many more to come....

Miss P in her 2nd dedication dress.... a tutu.