We got BOO’ed…

Last evening when the girls and I returned home from Macey’s ballet class and a trip by the library, we spied an orange plastic pumpkin by our front door. Macey was quick to retrieve it as she was just sure there were goodies there for her.  The pumpkin had two Halloween baggies of treats in there – enough goodies for both girls including a stamper, erasers, stickers, candy and more. They were thrilled and we thought that was one cool surprise! Turns out, we had gotten a BOO surprise! This is a really cool neighborhood idea where treats are secretly left amongst neighbors and are passed along. We got ours yesterday and had instructions to pass along BOO treats to two other neighbors within 24 hours. Today, I made a trip by Target (love that place) to assemble our neighborhood Boo treats. Macey and I delivered two of them today after school when the recipients weren’t home. She was so excited to do that and it was fun to leave surprises for two of our neighbors. This is a FUN neighborhood activity and it’ll be really cool to see how quickly it spreads around our subdivision. If it hasn’t started in your area yet, get it started – you’ll be glad you did!!

Nature Center Photos…

Mickey and I took the girls to the Chattahoochee Nature Center this afternoon. It was our first visit to CNC and I have to say that we were very impressed. We did a short walk along a paved path and went through the butterfly garden which lead down to the beaver pond and then over to the raptor aviary. Then we got to see a Florida pine snake which was shown by a CNC employee. Mariana and I got to touch the snake as well! There were more hiking trails, but we didn’t get to explore them today. We’ll certainly go back though. Can’t wait!

Here are some photos I took there today. (You can click on the photos to view them larger. They’ll pop out and then you can X out individually without losing your place on the blog. )

BounceU Review…

We had Macey’s 5th birthday party at BounceU and it was a huge success. BounceU is what we call a “bouncy place” and offers a climate-controlled indoor play place just FULL of fun activities for the kids. For Macey’s party, we got to go to two rooms full of amazing giant inflatables. There were slides, climbing structures, obstacle courses and MORE. The kids had a ball and so did those of us adults that participated. It was just SO much fun!

I wanted to take a few minutes to share my appreciation for the BounceU staff as well. Everyone was super friendly and I felt they went above and beyond in making Macey’s party a success. From my first call to book the party until we walked out the door at the end, we were met with courtesy, genuine kindness, enthusiasm and smiles. Costumer service is clearly the name of the game at BounceU and they have it down pat!! We had one party “captain” with us the whole time and he facilitated getting the kids going on the activities, kept things moving along and played with the kids the whole time. He also set up the party room for us. He helped serve cake and drinks as well. When it was time for Macey to open her gifts, he gave each one to her and wrote down who gave her what gift. He also loaded our van at the conclusion of the party. Mickey and I were free to enjoy Macey’s party without having to do much of anything except have fun. How great is that?!

If you are looking for a great birthday party spot and you have a BounceU location near you, I highly recommend checking them out. The prices are really reasonable and the costumer service is second to none. Kudos to BounceU!!!

A Visit to the Georgia Aquarium…

Today Papa and MiMi (aka: my Dad and Stepmom) took Mickey, the girls and I to the Georgia Aquarium. For Mickey, Macey and me, this was a second visit and for Mariana it was a first. Mickey and I took Macey for the first time back in February (I believe) of 2006 before Mariana was born that May. We’ve been wanting to go back, but haven’t seemed to find the time. Papa and MiMi offered us this chance today and we had a fantastic family outing at the Aquarium. The crowd was pretty big, but it was still a whole lot of fun. There is just something so amazing about seeing all those fish – especially the whale sharks and the beluga whales! The girls were both in awe!!

We started out our visit to the Aquarium by going to the The 4D Theater and Deepo’s Undersea 3D Wondershow which was fantastic!! Mariana wouldn’t wear her 3-D glasses, but the rest of us did and it was quite a show!! Macey didn’t quite seem to know what to make of it at first, but she loved it! We then went to the rest of the exhibits. One of the first things that caught the girls’ attention was the exhibit of jellies. Those are so cool even though I always dislike seeing them when we’re at the beach. ;) I think my favorite part was going through the tunnel with the whale sharks and other fish swimming over us the whole time. Like I said, the whole experience was wonderful!!

After the Aquarium, we went out to dinner at Willy’s which was super delicious!! It was just a great afternoon and evening to spend with family. Thank you, Papa & Mimi, for a wonderful time!!

Tuesday Deals…

Get a portrait collage from Sears Portrait Center for only $4.99 and no session fee! Click here for details or call 1-888-PORTRAIT.

Now through May 11th, spend $25 at a Godiva Boutique and receive a chocolate tablet FREE. Spend $50 and get two tablets! Offer valid at Godiva Boutiques through 5/11/08 only; not valid in department/specialty stores, at Godiva.com, or through 1-800-9GODIVA. Offer valid on purchases made during a single visit / transaction. Not applicable to previous purchases, and cannot be combined with other offers or promotions. Not redeemable for cash.

Click here for a Baskin Robbins coupon to receive $3 off any cake. They have some really CUTE (and delicious!) Mother’s Day cakes. This offer expires on May 12th.

Snapfish is celebrating its 8th birthday with a FREE SHIPPING promotion! Enter the promo code “NOSHIP08″ at check-out to receive free shipping through May 11th.

Wake Up, Sleepy Blog…

We were away over the weekend, so I didn’t get to post. So, I’m here now waking up my sleepy blog. :p

I hope it was a great weekend all around. We were in South Georgia over the weekend. It was a really nice family weekend. We got lots of Nana time in which is always nice. Mickey and I even got to have a dinner date on Saturday which was great for us. The weather was incredible all weekend too and we just had a really great family weekend.

The reason we went down for the weekend was for our nephew Jackson’s baptism which was on Sunday. Jackson did great for the whole ceremony. He fell asleep in his mommy’s arms (is there anything more peaceful than a sleeping baby?!) and stayed asleep through most everything. He almost woke up when Liz leaned his head down to get his water and oil, but he went right back out. We had the honor and privilege of being included in the ceremony as Jackson’s Godparents and we take that vow very seriously and right to heart. We love that little boy so much and we feel so blessed that he has come into our family.

I will post more later. I need to catch up with a book review and deals. I’m also reading an incredibly powerful book that I can’t wait to post more about. It’s called The Shack and as soon as I’m done reading it, I’m going to post more.

Happy Monday!

Today’s Deals

Each day I’m going to endeavor to find deals to post here. I think that’s fun. I’m always looking for ways to save money and be more budget-conscious and I have had others comment to me that they are too, so this is a great way keep track of deals out there. :D

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The first deal I have for you all today is a Coupon Site where you can click and print over $180 in coupons! How cool is that?!

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My second deal of the day is a sale going on at The Childrens Place. They have a great sale going on their “outlet” items righht now. This includes spring clothes! With the promo code S1A48 you get an extra 15% off too! Plus, shipping is only $5 flat!! How’s that for a great deal?!

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The third deal I have today is on magazines. Click here for Time Warner’s Friends & Family subscription page. You will find some GREAT deals on select titles there.

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Happy shopping, y’all!

Yesssss!!!

This post is sure to show everyone what I nerd I really can be or really AM…either way you look at it. But, hey, I just have to share because this never happens. I beat Mickey in Wii Golf this morning! WOO HOO! Check this out:

That’s my “Mii” on the left  with the -1 score and Mickey’s on the right with the very uncharacteristic +5 score. Lately I have been addicted to Wii Golf and Mickey indulges me by playing 9 holes with me on it. He usually wins. Sometimes he only beats me by a stroke or two, but he’s been known to take me to the cleaners. Well…NOT THIS MORNING! Ha! I finally won. Granted, he gave up on the 9th green when he knew he wasn’t going to win and his putting added a couple of strokes due to that. But, still…victory was mine. And, I’m just nerdy enough to post about it too. :D

Weekend Projects

It’s the weekend again. Time to bust out the “honey do” list and get to work! Our forecast today originally called for rain and we did have a short shower this morning, but the rest of the day should be pretty nice. Soooo…it’s project time! Here’s the short list of things we hope to get accomplished this weekend, specifically today:

  • Clean up around the back deck. This entails blowing the old leaves out, cleaning up toys that have fallen under the deck, etc.
  • Update the girls’ backyard play fort. This is all Mickey’s project.
  • Do some spring cleaning and organizing inside the house.
  • Mow the lawn.

Of course, we also want to do some fun family activities too. So, it’s shaping up to be a busy weekend, but really has the potential to be a great one! I hope it’s great all around for everyone!

Happy weekend, y’all!

Baskin-Robbins 31 Cent Scoop Night

Mark your calendars for Wednesday, April 30th because that is 31 Cent Scoop Night at Baskin-Robbins from 5p-10p!

Participating Baskin-Robbins stores will have this special promo going on in honor of America’s firefighters. In some locations, patrons will be given opportunities to donate to their local fire charities.

Sounds like a winner to me!