S Club Mama

Here at the S Club 4, our birthdays are over for the year, but I have a guest post that will help you save on your birthday parties! I will definitely take into account some of these tips when planning for the coming year (thank goodness, I have a whole year to plan, though!). Our guest poster, Kate Sorenson, writes for  Coupon Cravings, a site with 30k+ Facebook Fans and over 12,000 Twitter followers. Read on to hear how you can save on your next birthday bash! -Randi 4 Ways to Save on Food Costs at Birthday Parties It’s that special day of the year: your child is another year older and your wallet a good amount emptier. However, birthday parties don’t have to be extraordinarily hard-hitting on your finances. If you  check around online to make sure you’re getting the best deal and follow these four tips, you can cut costs on the food for the party. Don’t Cater – Make the Food Yourself One of the most expensive mistakes you can make when planning a birthday party is t

28 years ago my mother-in-law and father-in-law were blessed. Another blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy. Little did they know the accident prone child they welcomed. 12 sets of stitches later we met. Apparently, God blessed this meeting with no more emergency room visits (at least not for him). Big A, I love you so much not for the things you do for me (although clean dishes and fresh linens are always welcome) but for who you are: a man who loves God a husband who cherishes his wife a daddy who balances discipline and fun a friend who is generous You are my much better half. Anyone who meets us probably realizes that. You make me a better me. Here's to another year without the ER. Another year of laughter. Another year of love. Another year where we (your beautiful clone-sons and myself) are truly blessed with your presence. Happy birthday, honey!

I had a super hard conversation with a friend today, a friend who I love very much, even though she thinks I hate her. At the end of the conversation, I was really made to feel bad. We had talked about sins and it was brought up that she had seen me hit Moose in the head with a coloring book and call him an idiot. I don't remember the incident directly but I don't doubt it one bit. To be perfectly honest and to lay it all out there, parenting has brought out the worst in me. To be fair, it's also brought out the best in me. I've never felt happier. And I've never felt angrier. It's like it brought out my bipolar side. My children are safe but they are not always cuddled. My children are happy but they are disciplined.  I think it's safe to say marriage has brought out those best/worst sides as well. I don't yell at anyone quite as well as I yell at Big A. I also don't treat anyone quite as sweetly as I treat him.  I believe it's completely sa

I got lazy on the names...   Above: under the wax. It started to come apart when I put it on the cake.  Find the tutorial I used here . Big A saved the day when I got exasperated when the design started to come off with the wax paper. He suggested I stick it all in the freezer. It worked!  opening gifts  their cake! No candles outside... at the skate park...it worked This little man would puff his chest and strut back and forth on here, so proud of himself. So stinking cute! Thanks for everyone coming to hang out!

How did my baby get to be 3??? Why does time have to go so fast? Angry Bird pizza was a hit! The kid was set on having chocolate cake until we had minion cupcakes. So chocolate minion cupcakes it was. Big A was better at the goggles than I was! I had plans for him to have a Dora balloon, but he chose the same one Moose got.  Surprise, surprise. Hope you enjoyed your day, son!

Moose is drawing people so much better than he did at the start of the school year. The other day he was playing on our easel, so I asked him to draw a picture of me. I'm on the left.  Then I asked him to draw a picture of Big A. He drew a small bean-shaped oval. He erased it. He replaced it with Big A's current head. He said, "You have a BIG head Daddy." He said, "you have a BIG body!" and drew two small circles and a bigger one. Hilarious. At least he didn't draw me a BIG body!

Is anyone else excited for the Olympics? Who else is psyched to watch the decathlon?! Yeah, maybe you're more interested in other track and field events, but I will tell you that after reading Redemption by Bryan Clay, this event (rather, events) is on my to-watch list (right after marathon). I love the Olympics. The excitement. The talent and gifts. Just the beauty of the best of the best competing for their countries. I only recently began to be interested in the track and field events at all, and I honestly had no clue what the decathlon was other than a bunch of events. I learned what those events are in this book: Day 1 100-meter dash long jump shot put high jump 400 meters Day 2 110-meter hurdles discus throw pole vault javelin throw 1500 meters Holy cow! I think a marathon is intimidating but this event is two days of events that a decathlete needs to be awesome at. But what surprised me most about Bryan Clay's autobiography was that he is not necess

 This is Moose's first year of swim lessons. Big A taught him earlier this summer (??) to hold his breath and go under water, so once this kid picks up some moves, I think he'll be like a little fish. I can't wait. His teacher for swim lessons is a gal that just graduated. She also helped in Moose's classroom during the first semester (she was there the second semester, but remember he went to the afternoon class). So she's familiar with Moose! That's a huge blessing. Plus she is one of the town's swim team coaches. Sweet, so she really does know what she's doing. On Day 4 she said he's focused a lot more than this first day, but I've only gotten to take pictures that first day. And Squirt and I have been hanging out in the baby pool. He wasn't so happy about it the first day (he wanted to be in the big pool) but he's over it. Here he's kicking just like his big brother in the big pool! Moose

What would I do without Pinterest? Have super boring parties, for sure. Here are some of my borrowed ideas. Vector and Gru icons hanging above the presents minion balloons - those hung for a few days pin the goggles on the minion. I didn't take any pictures of the game, but Squirt won! the little space ship and the MOON minion cupcakes :) I had some great friends to help me out! Thanks Rachel & Kim! My boys have some wonderful friends & cousins! These are the best smiles!! For cake. Squirt doesn't quite get blowing out the candles so he snuffs it out with his nose lol Squirt and Big A's dad share a birthday - July 1 Our friend, Nick, taught him to say "show me the money!" I love this rare genuine smile! They are way more excited about their trains than they are letting on!