Happy Black Friday!!

Heather and I were up and gone by 5:10am.

We started at Menard's (that's where the above picture was taken at 5:30). We stood in line in the cold for 45 minutes. They always have the best deals and the longest lines!! We always start there first.

From there we went to McDonald's for breakfast.

Then on to WalMart. Parked real close, no lines and walked straight to the register. No waiting! Got almost everything on our lists that we wanted.

Next to KMart. Again, no parking problems and no lines inside. Got what we wanted.

Next on the list...Elder Beerman. Not very good luck there. They had $10 off coupons, but practically was excluded unless high priced. Not too happy about that. Bought a few things for Ky.


Next, Kohl's. This store was PACKED. The parking lot was FULL. Luckily we got a cart. Had several $5 off coupons, bought alot. Long, long lines for checkout.

Then, on to Applebee's for a rest and some lunch. Heather bought my lunch (I love her!!). It was yummy. Had a hot fudge shooter for dessert (other pictures taken there).

Next, Bath and Body Works. I bought some Wallflowers for myself!! On sale 2/$5. Couldn't pass them up! Heather bought several things for the girls.

Next stop, Target. Again no lines. Bought alot from our lists. Heather got several things she wanted for Kammie.

On to Starbucks, for a warm drink. Now, I'm not a fan of overpriced Starbucks, but my hazelnut hot chocolate was GOOD!

Next stop, Meijer. Just bought some shampoo and conditioner. Some candy canes for Richard and a stocking stuffer for Kamrie. Heather bought Ky several things.

On to Concord Mall. Again, close parking. I bought 1 thing. Heather bought lots!

Last stop...Centennial Wireless. Heather is looking for cellphones for herself and Kylah (since Ky's dad took hers away. Jerk).

Home at 6:00 pm. I'm tired, but we had such a nice, fun day.

I can't write about the things I bought, because certain people read this blog!

P.S...Jaiden and grandpa spent the day together. They went to the car parts store and to Taco Bell for lunch. Richard said he was perfect all day. He cried when it was time to go home!

Happy Thanksgiving...a day late!

We had a wonderful meal, as usual! We had 14 people for dinner, at Heather and Justin's house. We have been going there for about 7 years for Thanksgiving. Heather usually works until 2:00(so she can have friday off, for shopping!).

It was Heather, Justin, Kylah, Jaiden, Kamrie, Don, Jessica, Ryan, Aalyiah, Kyle, Taylor, Christopher, Richard and I. Chris was sick, so she and Jay didn't make it.

Our menu was:
Hawaiian ham, devilled eggs, stuffing, gravy, pumpkin pie-Justin
green bean casserole-Heather (she doesn't like to cook!)
turkey, apple pie, banana cream pie, sweet potato casserole-Don
mashed potatoes, corn casserole, pecan pie-Me
baked beans-Kyle and Christopher
Jessica brought the plates, cups and silverware and pop.

Everything was so good and everyone had a wonderful time.

Heather and I went through the Black Friday ads, Richard looked around on the computer and everyone else watched Tropic Thunder when we were done eating.

I cleaned up the kitchen and washed all of the dishes.

It was a great day.

J.J. came home with us to spend the night. He played with leggos, his cars and then drew on the chalkboard. Had some peanut butter ritz bits and a glass of milk and crashed. I think he was asleep before his head hit the pillow. (above pic is of him getting his stuff around to bring over!).

He was so good. We love him!

Twilight

Last night, Heather, Kylah, her friend Haileigh and I went to see Twilight. It was so good. We all loved it!

There were more people in the theatre than I've seen in a long, long time.

Kylah is the only one of the 4 of us that had read the book. I am about half way through it and Heather just started it today. There are 4 more books in the series and other movies in the works. I can't wait to read all of the books.

I am really missing my Mom

Of course, I miss her everyday. But holidays are the very hardest. She loved Thanksgiving and Christmas so much. Easter, too! Mom would have coordinating plates, cup and napkins. Her tables always looked so nice and festive.

She and dad would shop together for Christmas and then wrap all of the gifts at the dining room table. She bought the best gifts and made the most awesome stockings, ever. Opening stockings was always the highlight of Christmas morning.

Oh, how I miss talking to her everyday.

She was the BEST cook. We had home cooked meals every night, growing up.

The above picture is of her making her famous peanut butter fudge. That was her most requsted sweet. (the picture isn't the greatest, it's a pic of a pic). After they moved to Florida, mom would make batches of the fudge and ship it up here to us. Lesa, Chris and I all make the fudge for our families, but it just isn't quite as good!

Not much thrifty shopping

going on lately. Or too much of anything else! Funds are a little tight and I am saving for Black Friday! YAY! Heather and I can't wait.

I do have a few misc. pictures to share.

Rocky helping himself to some fruit. I think I have fixed it so he can't get on the counter or on top of my cabinets. BRAT!

Rocky playing with his teenie beanie baby squirrel. It is so funny to watch him roll aound playing with it.

I am going to buy a few little things tomorrow. I will finally have the car! I have some good coupons to use on a few sale itmes for Christmas. I'll write about that tomorrow.

Best friends

As I said in an earlier post, Ozzy and Spikey are best friends. This pictures shows how they play together.

Sometimes it's hard to tell who's who

New dishwasher?

Spike was in the kitchen barking his head off. I went in and there was Rocky sitting next to and then in the drainer holding the kitchen sponge! They say that squirrels are very smart. Do you think I can teach him to do the dishes?

Ozzy

Our big, black cat has been feeling left out! So here is a new picture of him, taken today. He is 2 years old and HUGE.

He loves to lay on the heated waterbed when it is cold out. Spoiled, much?!?

Ozzy and Spikey are best friends! They play together, eat together and sleep together. People are amazed when they see the two of them.

Sloppy kisser!

This is how Spikey spent a good portion of this cold, snowy day. Sleeping with his bunny, on the arm of the couch.

He likes to play outside, but he gets cold. That is why he has his shirt on!!

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!!! LOL

This is what we woke up to this morning

6-8 inches of the white stuff. Are you kidding me? We don't even have all of our leaves up yet. It seems the last few weekends it's rained. So, no raking. Now, mind you, I HATE to rake. But, I don't like the leaves laying in the yard all winter, either. Having an acre to take care of takes some time. Hopefully we'll have a chance before winter really sets in, to get them up.

Talk about bad luck

Richard got the call to go plow at midnight. He got up, got dressed, started the truck and off he went....about 3 blocks. The driveshaft broke. He put the truck in 2WD and came back home. Called Briand who wasn't too happy and came back to bed.

He was hoping to plow for 5-6 hours and make enough money to buy new tires for the truck, which he so badly needs. They are $350-$400. for 4.

He is going to fix it this weekend. Hopefully we won't get anymore snow between now and then.

Still snowing

It is 10:44 pm and snowing like crazy. :( I'm not liking this at all. Not one single bit!

Richard has the plow on and the cell phone next to the bed. He is plowing for Brian Fox this year. I wish he didn't have to plow, but money is tight and work is slow. He is the BEST. He will do whatever it takes to be sure that we have what we need and never complain about it.

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Gem of the Day-When Kamrie put her boots on, she was prancing all over the house. She came into the kitchen and asked "Gram, do you like my beautiful, new snow boots?" I said "of course I do, they are really nice". She asks "Gram, do these boots make me look taller?" She is hilarious!

Update on Kylah's cellphone

Her dad found out about her piercing and had her phone turned off while she was at school. What a dirty dog.

She was so upset about it when she got home, that Heather called Iggy. They had quite a heated conversation, with him saying some not so nice things. Kylah refused to talk to him.

You have to know the history with her dad. He hasn't always been there for her or been the best dad. Their relationship has grown so much in the past few years and now I'm afraid it is back to square one.

30 minutes after the phone call, he showed up at Heather's house to get the phone. Again, Kylah wouldn't talk to him (she was in her mom's room crying). Heather gave him the phone and he left. Just like that. I'm afraid that he's going to be sorry about over reacting.

Heather and Justin told her they would get her a phone after christmas. She's fine with that, but so disappointed that her dad was not more understanding. Believe me, he was not the good kid that she is. He needs to thank his lucky stars that she is the way she is.

BRRRRRRRRRR

These pictures are what we woke up to this morning. I am not ready for this crap. I am definitely NOT a cold weather person.

The little kids were thrilled! Of, course.

Heather could only find one of J.J.'s boots??? How does that happen? He didn't need them this morning when we went to the bus stop. He had his winter coat, hat and gloves, so he was good to go. When it was time for Kammie and I to meet him at the bus stop after school, we had more snow. She wore her boots! She pelted me with snowballs all the way there and all the way home! I got her a couple of times, too.

Thursday's thrifty finds

Kylah and I went to WalMart, after she got home from school, on thursday. I needed a new mouse for my computer. The other was not cooperating, at all. When we walked in, I immediately saw several racks with $1.00 signs on them. Be still my beating heart! They were summerish clothes, but hey, for a buck.....

I bought $120. worth for.............$16.00.............that's right $16.00!! I bought for Peyton, Kylah, Justin, Kammie, J.J., Christoper, myself and Chris' stepson Trae. They had tons of stuff. But, I only had so much mulah!

The top picture is a High School Musical top with a battery operated guitar(batteries included) and a pair of khakis for Kam. The next pic is 4 shirts for J.J., included a Gravedigger monster truck one. The 3rd pic is a Miami Ink t for Christoper and 2 t's for Trae. The last pic is 2 pair of shorts and a tank for me, an adorable tank top for Peyton and a t for Justin! Merry Christmas!!

Growing up too fast

Kylah, our oldest granddaughter, is just growing up way to fast. She is 14. She has decided that she wants to get her lip pierced! That may not seem a big deal to alot of people, but if you know Kylah it is a HUGE deal. She was the girl that wouldn't get her EARS pierced until she was 10-11 years old and then she cried like a baby! She does wonderful in school, plays sports, is in the orchestra playing the violin, is a great big sister, doesn't swear, wouldn't do drugs or drink for anything, she's just an all around good kid. Her mom and Justin have no problem with her getting the piercing, but her dad is another story. He told her absolutely not. If she did he would take her cell phone away.

Well, she's gonna miss that phone! She got her lip pierced tonight. She is scared to tell her dad, so I think Heather is going to do it for her. We'll see what happens. Hopefully he will be understanding and not take her phone. She loves that phone!

Happy Birthday to me!!!

Even though my birthday was last month! October 29, to be exact. I wanted to post some of the pictures that were taken that night. We went out to the Buns for dinner with the kids. At the last minute Tyler and Shannon decided to come down from Kalamazoo to go with us. Wed is family night at Between the Buns. The 2 little ones ate for free and they had games and balloon sculptures. Afterwards we all went back to our house for a yummy Adam's cake and ice cream. It was a perfect day!

Bye, bye goldfish

In May the kids and I bought 20 goldfish at Meijer. I love to have some in the pond. 5-6 of them were dead before we even got home. All but 4 of the rest of them died over the next few days. They were .09 each. I called Meijert he day I bought them to tell them that I had so many dead ones. They told to bring them back in and they would replace them. WHAT? You want me to keep these dead fish and then drive them 20 minutes back to the store for a replacement? Needless to say, that didn't happen!

The 4 that lived all summer got really big. But, we had no place to put them for the winter. The pond freezes solid in the cold Indiana winters. We decided to take them to Simonton Lake and release them. Set them free. I wish I had taken my camera along on their freedom day. Richard tipped the bucket into the lake and they just stayed right where they were. I told him that they were scared being away from me!!

I will buy more in the spring and look for an aquarium at garage sales, so the next group doesn't have to leave home!

Notre Dame Volleyball

This is kind of a random post! But We LOVE ND volleyball! Heather, Kylah and I are regulars at the home volleyball games. For 4 years Ky was an Irish Spiker. It is a volleyball club that greets the players as they go on the court and then they have clinics with the players after the games. She has had so much fun doing this. This year she was too old. 14!! They received Spiker t-shirts and free admission to the games. After the last clinic of the season there was an autograph session. We all enjoyed this so much. Maybe Kamrie will do it when she's a little older.

The game that these pics are from was the Dig For The Cure game. For breast cancer awareness. The palyers wore pink jerseys and pink hair ties. The coaches wore pink shirts/ties. They sold pink t-shirts (with the proceeds going to research). At the end of the game they autioned off some of the jerseys and games balls that were autographed. This is the 2nd year that we've gone to this. It was alot of fun!

Squirrel update...

Rocky is still here! We've had him for about 5 weeks now. He is getting bigger and is healthy. We can't release him until the spring, because he won't have a nest or any nut stored. So, he is living the life of squirrel luxury in our living room! He eats WELL! Walnuts, cashews, pecans, broccoli, grapes, peaches, plums, cauliflower, raisins, dried apricots, banana chips, peanuts, we picked up tons of acorns and hickory nuts, carrots, dried cranberries, almonds, sunflower seeds and dried corn. He has quite the variety.

He is sooo active. He climbs the curtains, jumps from things on to us and from one of us to the other, hangs from the chandelier!, you name and he has investigated it. I have a hanging basket above the entertainment center that he climbs up into every evening when he starts getting tired. He has a nice cage, but throws a fit when we put him in it.

He's spoiled and it will be very hard to set him free. If, we do.

More Target buys

I don't know what I did, but only half of my last post showed up. I'm still trying to teach myself all of this fun stuff! I bought several dog costumes at Target. I know, I know...I like put clothes on my dogs. Especially Spikey. Jordan is almost 11yo and doesn't cooperate very well! I bought Jordan a pumpkin t-shirt for .49 and 2 hoodies for Spikey for .99 each. My favor1te one has a dog skeleton pattern on the back of it! He looks so cute. I also bought a large container of doggie treats for $1.25. I don't have any pics of the new costumes but I will try to post some of them on halloween.

There are the pics!! Yay, me! Jordan has a witches hat on (he would probably have cast a spell on me if he could) and Spikey is a giraffe!!

More thrifty shopping

After stopping at Michael's, I went next door to Target. They had tons of halloween stuff left. 90% off!! Woo-hoo. I bought Jaiden and Kamrie's costumes for next year. For J.J. I got a ninja costume for $2.49 and for Kammie I got a cute orange and black witch costume for $1.99.

Thrifty shopping at Michael's

Isn't that what it's all about? LOL I went to Michael's yesterday afternoon to check out the Halloween leftovers! Not too many decor items. Which I didn't really want anyway. I like the stuff that isn't "holiday" specific. Candles, wreaths, paper goods, etc.

Michael's bargains: Small jar candles: .20each. I bought 8 of those. Great extra gifts.
Several candle rings of different sizes: they ranged from .49 to 1.29. I love berry garlands, wreaths and candle rings.

Michael's usually has good clearance prices after a holiday. I bought quite a few summer scented candles earlier in the fall. I burn candles every day!

Church bazaars

Yesterday my friend Sharon and I met for breakfast and went to several church bazaars. The first 2 had alot of companies with things for sale: Pampered Chef, Lia Sophia jewelry, Tastefully Simple, Scentsy, Longenberger Baskets, Creative Memories, etc. That's not really the kind of things that I am looking for at a bazaar. I'm more interested in handmade items and of course FOOD!! The others did have the traditional bazaar stuff.

I bought a "chargers" magnet for Kylah and a cheeseball. Sharon bought some dip mixes and a christmas centerpiece. That's it!!

We may go to a couple next saturday, too!

I haven't posted in over a month

I have been sick with one thing after another. The old immune system ain't what she used to be!

And, I started keeping the kids again. Heather went back to work at Eastlake. She filled out an app of friday and they called her on monday to come back. She was soo happy. I was too, but I certainly wasn't used to getting up at 5 AM!!

Even being sick, I have done my grandmotherly duties and haven't missed a day! Yay, me!

New President...

As I wake up this morning, I find out we have a new president. Barack Obama (D).

This picture was the only Obama trick or treater that we saw. He was happy to pose for a pic for me!!

I hope that the changes he implements can resolve some of the issues facing our country.

I went to vote yesterday at around 10:15. I took Kamrie with me. We had a goodie bag packed for her in the event of long lines at the polls. I was pleasantly surprised. No lines whatsoever. There were a dozen or so cars in the parking lot of the Northside Baptist Church and 3 people inside voting. She was very proud to tell everyone that she voted!

I stayed with the kids after Heather and Justin got off work so they could go vote( 1st presidential election for both of them). They didn't have any lines either.

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GEM of the day-when J.J. got home from school yesterday, Kamrie told him that she
voted today. He said "what do you mean, you voted"? Kamrie said "I picked the new president". J.J. looked at me and said "I approve that message"!