I hope everyone had a great Easter!

I just wanted to give an update and to also say I hope everyone's Easter was a great one! We had a wonderful Easter this year. Baby Brooke's first Easter ever! I couldn't have hoped for a better time. She looked SO cute and was just so good tempered most of the day! Here are some of my favorite pictures of Easter festivities..

As you can see it was VERY eventful and full of fun food and family!! Anyways, I've been busy lately trying to get things cleaned, I still haven't gotten very far Brooke doesn't like me to not play with her for very long haha but I know I need to buckle down and work she will be crawling and then walking before I know it and so things really have to be organized, cleaned, and baby proofed soon! Next week is her Baptism I'm really looking forward to it! Tho, I do wish I would have planned it better so I would have more time and wouldn't be losing my mind right now. Only I would plan to have a baptism and party the week between Easter and Mother's day haha. Oh well it will keep me on my toes :o)
OH! Before I forget I also wanted to post that Brooke got to go to camp for the very first time!! She seemed to like it there! Which is good because I also like it there and so she'll be going there often! It was a miserable rain filled weekend but we still had a good time despite that and having to make a late night trip to a walmart (which isn't like at home where it's a few min.'s away) because I forgot to bring my contact solution. Hopefully next time we go the weather will be nicer and the zoo at the farmers inn will be open so we can show Brooke all the animals! She did get to pet a donkey and a mini pony tho! We also took her to Bear Town Rocks where we had to hide from hail before going to see the great view haha and took her into the park to get her picture taken in the smokey the bear thing!

It's been a busy crazy fun amazing past few months! In a week and a half my sweet baby will be 6 months old! Time is just flying by! I better get going and head to bed soon so I have the energy to do more housework tomorrow! I hope everyone has a great week and hopefully everyone reading this from around here isn't getting toooo flooded in all this crazy rain! Night everyone!

<3 Rachel

SUCH! a GREAT weekend!

This week feels like it went by SO fast! I don't even remember which day I wrote last that's how much I've been doing! I went to the store the other day with my mom I got the baby wipes for her diaper bag, a bath toy I'm going to put back for her 1st birthday (it was turtles and I love turtles), 7 jars of baby food (i had 2- 1 dollar off coupons so i got 7 jars of earths best for less than what the Gerber jars cost!), and the below for FREE!! I LOVE COUPONS! Minus the yogurt which I ate for breakfast this morning I got to fill the Easter basket for Chris and myself without putting any more cost into it!

I shouldn't watch that show extreme coupons or whatever because it makes me want to get super deals too but as I mentioned above I go into a store and end up buying things that aren't necessary *see birthday present for my 5 month old ha ha! At the grocery store the next day I did a good job tho! I only bought what I needed, had a coupon for everything but milk and banana's, and 7 dollars off from last weeks' groceries! So I ended up spending only 6 dollars and saving 11 dollars!
On Saturday my husband and I went to the store and we bought 2 apple trees, 2 blueberry bushes, and a raspberry bush! I cant wait to get fresh, no pesticide raspberries this year! I'm not sure if the apple trees will produce fruit this year or not but either way soon we will have healthy natural fruit to feed ourselves with, without having to buy it at the store! Plus that night I went with my parents to my grandparents house for them to show off there new Honda Pilot. While they were looking at the car I took the baby to the creek at there house. One of my favorite places in the world! I spent HOURS there growing up. It was my place to escape and relax during the pressures of high school and I cant wait to share the amazing wonders of outdoors and nature and just that special place with Brooke. It was her first time to be there and she seemed to love it! She just sat on my lap and watched the water and baby babbled happily!

Today (Sunday) we went to the Cub Scout fundraiser that we go to every year. It's a combination of a kid's carnival, Chinese auction, and raffle! It's honestly one of my FAVORITE things of the year! I saved the money I got for my birthday back in October for this! We figured it out that we spent around 65 dollars on tickets today! Plus probably around 5 dollars for food. And I must say it payed off for us this year! We ended up bringing home..
from the half hour raffles..

• 5 dollar Red lobster gift card and a kids buffet to old country buffet

• A ball cap (which I traded my cousin for a coupon for dessert at valley dairy) and a Charley's b.o.g.o. free sub coupon
• Ci Ci's Adult buffet b.o.g.o. free card and 2 kids buffets to old country buffet

 AND!!!... from the Chinese Auction (which are nicer prizes and what you really hope to win....

• 2 admission passes to the Carnegie science center (which means we can go this summer since Brooke should get in for free!
• 4 passes to Living Treasures Animal Park! I wanted it so bad! Yet again Brooke is free to go so that's a great deal for us!
• A HUGE bird feeding gift basket that included bird seed, a bird feeder, a suet cage thing and 2 things to fill it, one of those net feeders and the feed for it!, a DVD about farming ha ha, a tick remover, and 2 super cool flashlights
• A gift basket that included a gingerbread man heat pad called a "cozy cookie" it's SO cute and I'm sure it will come in handy some day when Brooke isn't feeling well, a child's meal somewhere I don't remember where, and a 1 lb box of assorted chocolates!

I'm pretty sure that the auction gifts are supposed to be valued at, at least 25 dollars and we won 4 so that's around 100 dollars worth of prizes! Plus the coupons from the raffle! So we definitely got our money's worth!

It was SUCH  a great weekend! The best part is tomorrow the fun gets to continue when we get to go to the angel in the attic consignment sale! Hopefully I'll get Brooke some great things at a great price! I hope everyone else had a good weekend too and enjoyed the beautiful weather if your reading this from our area!
It's time for bed for me night everyone!!

<3 Rachel

(this picture of my husband fishing last year at the lake makes me want to go out fishing SO bad!!)

two steps forwards one step back

I swear that title sums up my life. Ha ha! Every time I feel like I'm starting to get something done I turn around and there's 3 new things added to the list! This whole mommy thing is a never ending (yet fun filled) adventure! I just wish I had more time to do everything.. more time for the laundry more time for the internet more time to play with my sweet heart more time for crafts just more time! The crazy part is that I have more time than most people I know! I give credit to all the single mom's out there I honestly don't know how you do it.
Anyways, Brooke turned 5 months the other day! 5 months! She's getting so big it's crazy! Her daddy said he can't wait till she turns 9 months so he can tell her she's been out longer than she was in.  I reminded him that it'd have to be a little longer than that but I thought it was pretty funny. :o) 
I had a little bit of time to craft the other day, I took a card that my Aunt Tammy had made me that had a stamped bunny on it, and I cut him out poked a hole in the top and modge podged it. I then added one of those ring things (the name of which is currently slipping my mind) and slid it onto a green ribbon. I added 2 blue beads to either side of the little square bunny picture to help weight it down and give it a little extra and tied the ribbon around my neck and Ta-Da! instant Easter necklace!

I think it's so cute! I was proud of myself. I'd seen other probably  definitely nicer versions of necklaces on the internet but I like my poor little someday will fall apart bunny!
I also added a little bit of detail to my paper bunny wall hanging thing. But I haven't glued anything down or finished or even decided if it's worth keeping still, tho it is starting to grow on me a little!
Tomorrow is a busy day! More housework because as I mentioned above it NEVER ends! But also a lunch date with a great friend tomorrow! Who gets to meet Miss Brooke for the first time! So I'm excited about that!
Anyways I need to get some sleep so tomorrow I can try to conquer the world.. well maybe just the laundry! :o)


<3 Rachel

*doesn't that photo just scream peacefulness! One of my favorite I've ever taken!*

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<3 Rachel

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Snow... really... that's all I have to say

Ugh.. snow! Even if it doesn't stick to the ground it's still snowing. After those beautiful days awhile back snow feels like a kick in the pants. To make matters even better Brooke has whined pretty much every moment she's been awake today. It's not crying, just a pitiful little whining noise that after awhile just REALLY gets under my skin. You can't get mad at her since she's just a baby but it still can get frustrating to listen to when I know she's perfectly fine. Here's hoping that it's just a stage and will end soon much like the stupid snow! Tonight we're going to my mom's house for supper. (Thank goodness to have a chance to pass off the baby when she's whining for awhile lol.) She's making chili which i think is disgusting but my husband loves it, so when she makes it we go over. It's his only chance to enjoy it because I refuse to cook a dinner that I wont eat.
Anyways, I tried to start to make a paper bunny head craft to hang up on the wall.. nothing special just SOMETHING because I haven't had the time or opportunity to use to my creativity and when I don't get that chance I start to get cranky. I'm not sure if I like it or not yet, what do you all think?

It's not finished yet, not even close because I couldn't decide if I even liked it. Plus Brooke started whining SOO loudly and the dog kept trying to basically lay on it that I about lost my mind and had to leave it for later.It would need teeth, whiskers, more detail to the eyes and maybe a hair bow or something before it was finished. I'm also hoping to finish my staircase decor before Easter actually gets here. Currently it looks like this:

I'd love to add lettering to it that says "Hopping Down The Bunny Trail" as well as Easter eggs and other details. If not this year maybe next :o)
Well that's going to have to be all I write today as the baby whines have started again. This has been SUCH a long day ha-ha

<3 Rachel

P.S. At least I finished the dining room and started working on the kitchen these last few days, maybe I'll have my goal of being clean by summer done early! Here's hoping! Oh and just wait till I post about the fun that's going to happen on April Fool's Day! muahahahhahaha!

Sunday fun

This week sure went by fast!! A quick congrats to the SRU women's rugby team for winning there tournament this weekend!! Today was such a great day! Chris suggested taking the baby to see the Easter display at Kraynak's unfortunately we were a week too early for the Easter Bunny. But it was still so neat to see the display I had only ever been there for Christmas. After that we went to Daffin's Candy and Philadelphia Chocolates. I also got to go to Pat Catan's for the first time! I could spend days in that store :o) crafts as far as the eye can see!! We also stopped at the Outlet mall but didn't buy anything. I've really been trying to cut back on my spending! So now it's late yet again as it's the only time I ever really have the time to write. While writing and catching up on some of my favorite blogs I've been entering free sweepstakes, right before I started typing this I won a free Tony's pizza!! woo-hoo! That will help make a great dinner and make my grocery total stay under my 50 dollars a week budget! Hopefully I'll win a few more things before I go to bed tonight! Besides being a mom I must say getting free items might just be one of my favorite things! In this coming week I hope to get all my laundry completely done instead of washed and left in a basket in my living room and to complete my thorough "going-through" and cleaning of my dining room and hopefully start one the kitchen. It has proven to be a MUCH bigger task than i had expected. I'm hoping to have the entire house cleaned out and scrubbed down by summer. I need some order and stability in my house to help me achieve it in my day to day! Well that's it for me for tonight! I hope everyone had a great weekend!

<3 Rachel


P.S.  After I was done writing this I also won a "free styling tool" from a Suave game, I'm not sure what that tool will be since it didn't specify but I picked that prize I  got 6 out of 8 mini games correct so I had a choice from 2 coupons, 1 free styling product, 2 free styling products, a beauty magazine subscription, or the tool, so we'll see if I made the right choice in 6-8 weeks from now!