Big Boy Bed?

Reed had a busy day! He woke up and went to church.



Then, after church, we went to eat lunch with Britton and family at the Catfish House.



Reed ate some lunch and then was a little fussy, so I decided to hold him on my knee. Gigi came to see Reed and was looking at him a little funny.



Apparently, while I was bouncing him on my knee Reed fell asleep!



So, we finished up lunch while Reed slept on my lap. Then, we came home and Reed and I took our Sunday afternoon nap.



After naptime, Reed and I went to CVS, but you can read more about that in a minute. We went to church tonight for a miniconcert. Reed enjoyed the first few songs.



But, then he began to get a little wild! So, we left after about an hour. It was a bluegrass style concert and that is certainly not our thing.



Reed loved clapping. Apparently the camera was too slow to catch Reed clapping after an especially lively number.



This is when Reed was starting to get a little restless.


______________ CVS for today



This was not a great ECB week, but I did end up with some good deals:

3 Tubes of Crest
2 Tubes of Colgate
1 Bottle of Dawn
1 Pack of "Energy Shots"

I had coupons for everything except the "Energy Shots" but they were free after ECBs.

So, I used coupons, $10.00 in ECBs, and $1.73 OOP.

BUT, I left with $13.50 in ECBs, so I had a net gain of $1.77 after OOP is taken into consideration. Any time that you make money while shopping is a good day, right?

___________________

As for Design Star, we were very excited that Jennifer won! She completely deserved it. Does anyone know where Mikey V was?

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Number 2 in the 7 Days of Abbey:

Her Spirit (Soul). Abbey is an amazing Christian. One of things I desired most in a spouse was someone who complemented me, spiritually. Abbey is an excellent answer to my prayers. She has wonderful spiritual wisdom that has helped me so many times in the years we've been together. It's wonderful to have a spouse who you know prays for you. Abbey is a Sunday School teacher and her kids love her. She also is a published writer of children's curriculum. She has written for Bible Teaching for Kids, Worship KidStyle, and Vacation Bible School. She does an excellent job!

Mississippi: Hit & Miss

Last night, we went to Aunt Ava's and Uncle Brookie's. Lola is here in Jackson helping Aunt Ava get ready for her new classroom. Abbey is going to go and help today.

We watched Design Star last night and we are definitely hoping that Jennifer wins.

We also watched the finale` of Next Food Network Star. Can we just say that Lisa Garza got ROBBED! She totally should have one!

My mom and I went to CVS yesterday and scored some pretty good deals. I think it was the most friendly CVS I have ever been in.

Now, to the title of this email.



There are certainly some things that we love about our homestate and there are some things that we don't miss at all. Here's our list.

HITS:

1. Family and Friends: We have so many family members in friends here in Mississippi and we miss being far away from them.

2. Homes with Character: Mississippi has not gotten so much into the "cookie cutter" mode of building homes, so neighborhood have so much character and BRICK! Man, do we miss brick!!!

3. McAlister's, BOPS, Fernandos, and Old Venice: McAlister's are everywhere here, BOPS frozen custard is the best, and we've already written about Old Venice and Fernando's.



4. Traffic: There isn't any!

5. Slower Pace: Everything moves a little slower here and we love that.

6. Property Values: Bigger for less!



MISS:

1. Friends: We have some very dear friends in Tennessee and God has blessed us so abundantly with them!

2. My Job: Unlike most careers, mine is available only in Nashvegas.

3. Our Town: We love the town that we live in. Close to Nashvegas and yet you still know people everywhere you go. And, it's way more affordable!



4. Church: Every church has its problems and ours is no exception, but we definitely love it! Our friends and Sunday School kids are the best!

5. Allergens: While Tennessee certainly has it's share of sneeze producers, Mississippi drives Reed and my sinus's crazy!!!

6. Roads: I just thought they were bad in Tennessee.



Mississippi will always have a special place in our hearts, but we are so thankful for our life in Tennessee!

Playtime at Miss Jennifer's!

Reed woke up at 12:15, 1:22, 2:39, 3:49, and 4:19 this morning. He was really ready to go and see Miss Jennifer. We just wanted some sleep!



Reed LOVES Miss Jennifer! He REALLY loves Miss Jennifer. We love Miss Jennifer as well. She is such a blessing and Reed loves it when he gets to go to her house and play because she has awesome toys!



And she has an awesome tree!



Reed loves all of God's creation!



Reed enjoys pushing Miss Jennifer's wagon.



He also has a blast playing with her blocks.



The rocky horse is really cool, too!



Miss Jennifer, I know you are reading this! You are the BEST!



Reed always falls asleep on the way home from Miss Jennifer's house.



Imagine my surprise when I got home from work and Reed and I were dressed alike. Abbey is always asleep when I leave for work, so she doesn't know what I wear. Not only did Reed and I both have on our red polos, we both had olive pants on too!



After supper, we played in the backyard for a little while.



Is it just us, or does Reed look like he is growing up too quickly?



We think he is definitely hitting a growth spurt, because it has affected his mood, his sleep, and his appetite.



I know the above picture is blurry, but you just have to see the joy on his face. His happiness is so amazing. He brightens our day!



After playing in the backyard for a little while, we had to take some things over to Britton's house. Tomorrow, Abbey and Tamara are fixing supper for baby Cooper's parents, so they were coordinating the meal.



Of course, Reed loves going over to Britton's hosue, so he didn't mind the quick trip.



Here are some more questions and answers from last night's CVS post.

Kerry asked: "How much time per week do you spend on this process?"

Kerry, I've never actually timed it, but I am pretty sure that I probably spend about 1.5 hours each week making my list and probably another 1.5 going to CVS, but I usually do that on my lunch break or before the family wakes up on Sundays. If I go in the afternoon, Reed always goes with me. I also have developed an excel spreadsheet that calculates my ECBs, coupons, totals, and taxes. It's not 100% accurate, but it is pretty close. I also have a coupon book that keeps my coupons fairly organized.



Julie asked: "Do you ever find any good diaper deals at CVS?"

Julie, we have bought the CVS brand diapers before when they were on sale and they are actually really great diapers. Abbey is very picky about the diaper brands and we have mostly used Huggies, but after trying the CVS diapers, she agreed they were really good. I think either next week or the next week, they are going to have ECBs on CVS diapers.

Uh Oh!

Reed has learned several new words this week. "Uh oh," "Night night," and "Thank you."



Today was Miss Jennifer day, so Reed was thrilled. Abbey was glad too, because she had some writing to do!



Abbey said that Reed ran to the door when she told him it was time to go to Miss Jennifer's house. When they got to Miss Jennifer's, he ran to the toybox! He knows that Miss Jennifer has everything he loves!



Reed went to VBS with Miss Jennifer at the church where I used to the be the children's minister. I heard that many of the people were excited to see Reed for the first time.



Reed and Abbey picked me up after work and we went to Pei Wei to have dinner with some friends from College and later Seminary.



Melissa and Jonathan have a boy named Blake and he was born about 3 weeks after Reed. We met Blake last summer before Reed was home.



Reed and Blake were very nice to each other.



Reed, however, was not in the best of moods this evening.



On our way home, we drove to the church where I meet Miss Trudy, my friend that I carpool with, to get my Jeep. When Abbey got out of the van to get into my Jeep, Reed started screaming. He screamed for 10 minutes until we got home. We think he was pooped. He perked up long enough to blow some bubbles and then it was time for bath.

It took him very little time to go to sleep.



Okay, so I know that you are dying to know what I got at CVS today! I had a bit of trouble today at CVS. It was probably the first time that I have gotten less than stellar service there.

I was checking out and the clerk (who has waited on me 10 times!) said, "You can't use this $3.00/$15.00 coupon because it is a copy. I assured her that it was printed directly from the newspaper site that I found it on, but she didn't care. She wasn't going to let it happen. Although I know three other people who were at the store at the same time that did use theirs! Anyway, then she wasn't going to let me use my coupons on my cereal, even though I had printed them directly from the manufacturers Web site. The manager came over and told me that I couldn't use them because I had copied them. I explained to her that I had printed them from the Web site and she didn't believe me. Then I showed her that each coupon had a different number on it and she believed me. Finally, the signs on the cereal said 3/$9.00 although the ad said 3/$10. I inquired about it and she told me that they were 3/$10. I asked why the sign said 3/$9 and she basically said I was lying. Then, she went to check and came back and told the clerk to give me $1.00 and then said there was a typo on the sign.

Anyway, that being said, I spent about $6.00 out of pocket today there. Then I went to another CVS to finish up and they let me use the $3 off/$15 and they were REALLY nice there, so I think that I am going to stick to my favorite CVS's and not go to the mean one.

To answer Michelle in the question about the eye shadow, I just grab what I find and I don't really pay attention to the color.

To answer Sarah about her question for the printable coupons, I haven't gotten that one yet, but yes, I would probably use it.

So, what did I get?

9 bottles of Shaving Cream
4 Tubes of Garnier Nutritioniste Face Scrub
4 Bags of Chocolate
2 Packs of Gummy Worms
6 Boxes of Cereal
1 Box of Cotton Swabs


I love my wife. She is so patient with my CVobSession!

Shake it Like It's 2099!!!

Reed was extremely excited when we told him that his best friend Britton was going to come over to eat supper.



Reed had a great day all around, though! First, he woke up and Mommy told him that today he was going to start going over to Miss Jennifer's on Tuesdays and Thursdays. He was really thrilled when Mommy told him that today was Thursday! Miss Jennifer is so gracious to keep Reed this summer. This will help Abbey get some writing assignments done and do some housework. Miss Jennifer is an EXCELLENT preschool teacher during the schoolyear, but we would hire her as our nanny in a heartbeat if she would let us. Well, that, and we don't have any money to do that!



After a very dramatic supper, both Reed and Britton had some loud moments, we came upstairs to let the boys play. Reed and Britton have started really like interacting well lately. One word they will need to learn is SHARE.



Reed loves to dance. Mr. Brandon LOVES the fact that Reed dances. Tonight, Reed went to his music table and made it play some music and all of a sudden he just started boogying. It was cracking us up. At first, he would dance until the music went off, then start it again. Then, he started realizing when it was about to cut off and he would make it start over, never stopping the hiney shaking.



One time, he did this big dip thing and I thought we would all fall off the couch laughing. At first it startled Reed and then we all cheered. Reed was thrilled.





We also got Reed's Easter Card out that played music and Reed had a great time with it. It was not long before we regretted bringing the card back out.



Reed must have had a great time playing with Miss Jennifer, because he was pretty zonked tonight. He took his bath and went to sleep pretty early.



I love helping him get to sleep at night. It is one of my favorite times of the day. Reed is such a blessing.



Aren't Britton's eyes beautiful?



We love Britton around here at Landlife. He is going to be a great best friend for Reed.



Have I mentioned lately that I love this kid?

Well, I haven't mentioned this, but I made a video of Reed dancing, but the video uploader is being contrary, so check back later and maybe it will be up.

Gotta go, The Office is coming on!