What can you buy with those $10.00 coupons?

I love getting those $10.00 cash coupons from Kohl's and JC Penney's. The kids and I scour the stores to find just the right things to use our coupons on. We did really good this trip. We purchased $76.00 in merchandise and only ended up paying $16.33 out of pocket. That's $59.67 in savings. So this is what we found.

All of the kids at school are sporting these hats that they have given a cute name to. They are no longer fedoras they are now fedora spunk hats. I have never heard them referred to as this name but when Emily came home with hers I had to take Jeremy to get one for himself.

Jeremy's isn't part of our savings but he did get a $20.00 hat for $5.99.

Kohl's had all of these earrings and bracelets at a steal on the clearance rack. We spent the most out of pocket here, $12.95 for 9 pairs of earrings and more than a dozen bracelets.

This bracelet and Emily's fedora hat cost us a great low price out of pocket of $3.38. I can't wait for our next coupons to arrive!

Becoming a Deacon

As I mentioned in a prior post Jeremy turned 12 recently and along with this comes some big responsibility. In our church when a young man turns 12 and is found worthy he is given the priesthood. Jeremy was excited and nervous about this day but I couldn't tell. He can't wait until next Sunday when he gets to help pass the sacrament. Jeremy has been so lucky to have awesome men in his life who have helped us teach and mold him into the incredible young man that he is.

Each of these men stood in the circle as Jeremy received the Aaronic priesthood and a blessing. They all have a special reason for being asked to be there.

Paul Allen has always given Jeremy words of advice and was his primary teacher.

Dave Walker has been like a second dad to Jeremy. He fills in for Rob when he can't be at camp outs. Dave also baptized Jeremy and confirmed him a member of the church. Today he gave Jeremy the priesthood and a blessing.

Bishop Laker is the awesome leader of our ward.

Rob of course is Jeremy's dad.

Lorin Sommer was the bishop of our ward when Rob and I decided to adopt. He helped us get everything together so we could apply to be foster then adoptive parents. Without his help we may not have Jeremy.

Bill Rogers was our home teacher at one time and has always held Jeremy accountable for his actions at school, home and church. He always encourages Jeremy to be an example.

Brandon Hooley is not only our neighbor but he is our current home teacher and Jeremy's priesthood advisor. He delivers great messages and helps me out at times with getting Jeremy to scouting events.

Ian Hanna and Jerry Fulk are the two men at Jeremy's side. Jerry was Jeremy's cub scout master and helped Jeremy through those years. He was also one of Jeremy's primary teachers. Ian is Jeremy's current scout master in boy scouts.

Jeremy in his suit. The funny thing was that when the bishop called him up to the podium they both had black suits, white shirts and green ties on.

This is Jeremy's line of priesthood. Dave gave him this and he is already bugging me to hang it in his room.

New found love

Emily was bored last Saturday so when she said this to her dad he told her to go climb a tree. We have a pretty big maple tree in our front yard and it only took her a short time to figure out how to get up in it's branches. She spent most of the day there and only came down to use the bathroom and gather some supplies to pass the time.

She says the view is awesome from up there and has decided that she loves climbing trees.

Jeremy turns 12

Jeremy has been asking for a guitar for a few months now. Rob and I did lots of research before even thinking about letting him get one. So his birthday is Wednesday and today we gave him his card that had 4 guitar picks in it and a note that he could "pick" out a new guitar. So off we went to the guitar store and after much shopping he picked this red acoustic with electric option guitar. He has spent most of the day in his room trying things out. He starts lessons on Monday. He is definitely a strings man.

I get by with a little help from my friends.

I am up late tonight and have a lot on my mind. This may seem very personal but I have to write this down.

1st: 6 years ago I was devastated to hear my husband tell me that he was struggling with things in his life and he felt it necessary to stop going to church. I didn't understand why when you need God the most you turn your back on him. I struggled with this for years. It broke my heart but I remained strong in my faith. I knew God would not give me any thing I couldn't handle. Over the past 6 years I have been through more than any of you could know. I have suffered in silence out of respect for Rob. He continues to make choices that I don't agree with but he is still the man I fell in love with 18 years ago.

2ND: I am so very proud of my 15 year old. She is so smart and funny and beautiful. The day Emily was born I was overwhelmed with feelings of doubt that I could be a good mom. I am so glad that I was able to quit working while she was still a baby and watch her grow. She has always amazed us with her never ending desire to learn and figure things out. She has set a standard for herself to achieve great things in her education and tomorrow she will be recognized for some of those things. Just a year and a half ago we were handed a diagnosis that rocked our world. She has days when she asks "why me" and days when she wants to shout from the rooftop everything she knows about diabetes. I still have days when I wonder what she will become, who she will be in a few years, what type of wife and mother she will be. I know that no matter what she does, she will be great at it!

3rd: 10 years ago a beautiful, brown eyed little boy entered our lives and stole our hearts. Jeremy will turn 12 next week and I am still in awe of him. He has overcome many obstacles in his life and is determined to follow in his sisters footsteps by setting a high standard of learning for himself. We just found out today that he will be in the advanced math class next year. I think some of this comes from having some tests done and finding out that he is perfectly normal and just bored in class. So we will see how he handles this new challenge. On May 30Th he will receive the priesthood in our church and it makes me happy. We are so blessed to have men in our church who have been mentors and wonderful examples to Jeremy. I am excited to watch Jeremy grow and learn. He is so funny and keeps us laughing most days. I know that he will make a young lady very happy some day. I just wonder when he will be full and stop growing. As of right now he is 5'5" and shows no signs of stopping.

4Th: I think with getting a new bishop and Jeremy turning 12 and getting the priesthood I have noticed some changes at our house. We still have our moments of stress and frustration but we love to be together as a family. Most of my favorite memories are the ones spent with the three people who live under my roof. Rob's schedule has changed at work and it is allowing us to do more fun things together. He is now off on Friday's and Jeremy is having fun dragging him to scout camp outs that he has always missed in the past. Emily loves the attention and time her dad spends teaching her to drive. I love having him home and we get to have date night now. I have seen the stress level in our house go down and it gives me hope.

5Th: My life has not been as I would have thought when I was younger but I am glad to be where I am. I don't know what the future holds but I feel like it will be good things. Little by little I see changes in Rob and my prayers are that one day he will want to join us on Sunday. As my kids grow older and start showing their individuality I want them to know that I love them and only have their best interests at heart. I am truly blessed and I am happy.

I have many friends who will read this and totally understand where I am coming from and I will have others who will read this and wonder why I said any thing at all. I love you any how.

Mothers Day 2010

Me and the reason I celebrate Mother's Day. Sadly this is the last year that one of these darlings sings with the primary on Mother's day. I asked if he had been practicing the words of the song and he said yep, mother I love you.

We found this cool frame at Kohl's 1/2 off plus I had two coupons, 15% off and $5.00 off, so it was $4.00. I plan to put my favorite pics of our family vacations in there.

The kids also picked up my favorite purple viola's and planted them in my flower bed. They even match Stanley who will stay in my flower bed as long as the Red Wings are in the play offs.

The kids right after planting. We had to be quick because we have been getting so much rain today. I think Jeremy was mid-sentence when I snapped this picture.

This is the tree in our back yard. I love looking at this tree in the spring. It reminds me of the song "Popcorn Popping"

Happy 15th Birthday Emily

On Friday April 23rd Emily had her state band competition in Dexter. My mom and sister drove all the way out there to attend it with us. We had decided during the day that we should just combine it with dinner and celebrate Emily's birthday which is on the 27th. Jan's fiance' Dan and his son's Logan and Danny met us at the restaurant too.

The wait staff noticed that we had presents and decided to take Emily to the front of the restaurant and have everyone sing to her. It was totally embarrassing but Emily smiled through it and didn't even get mad at her dad who had agreed to let them do this.

With her dignity gone she borrowed this hat from Logan and we headed for the car.

Emily is growing into a wonderful young woman and this year she asked for make-up, purses and shoes. These are the two purses her grammy bought her.

This is the purse aunt Jan and Dan bought her. They also bought the orange wallet and it had a gift card in it.

I got Emily these shoes and another pair that are zebra print. I also let her pick out some make-up and gave her a gift card to Claire's so she could pick out some earrings. I almost forgot I also picked up the last book in the Fablehaven series for her.