Free is My Favorite Word

So, of course I don't have any pictures accompanying this post because it's pouring down rain outside right now. Go figure. But, I can always add some later.

I LOVE a good deal. If I can't make it myself, I better have a coupon or it better be on sale. That's just the in's and out's of it. UNLESS it is something that I place an high value on. Photography, cloth diapers, music equipment, those are things I will pay full price for and gladly. But $2 for a can of tuna fish - I think not.

All of that said to say that we now have a subdivision in our backyard. Backstory: when Auds was about a year and a half, I saw a playhouse and a slide outside of a thrift store. You know the large plastic playhouses that cost upwards of $300, right? One of those. How much did I end up paying for it? $10. And I got a sprinkler slide for another $10. $400 worth of outside play equipment for $20. Amen.

Fast forward two years and another kid.

We had to run a few errands in town yesterday and decided to drive through the oldest subdivision just to look around. The most beautiful houses are in there. It's so secluded, it doesn't even seem like it's in town. Huge lots with lots of trees and it's just gorgeous - especially to architecture lovers like my husband and myself. The land was originally owned by Henri Bendel. Like the store in New York.

Anyway, as we're driving along, I spy one of those same playhouses out by the side of the road. I made my husband pull over and ask if it was available. The owner, who was outside working in her garden, said that it was. Her kids had knocked it into the pool and it came apart and she didn't feel like putting it back together again. So, we further disassembled it, shoved it into the back of the van, and brought it home.

In our backyard we now have two of these big playhouses - one for the boy(s) and one for the girl(s), a car, and a slide next to our back patio. It's too cute. Auds and T will go in their separate houses and talk to each other through the windows.

Thank you, lady, for not wanting to put the house together again and allowing us to take it. I will post pictures of all of their fun in their subdivision when they can play outside. :)

Hurricane Party

August 29th is a pretty memorable day in my book. It's my baby sister's birthday. It's right before Labor Day. And, of course, in a Southern Louisiana girl's book, it's the anniversary of Katrina. This year also brought Isaac. Thankfully, I have since moved west after Katrina and am not in the middle of a swamp. Isaac also wasn't nearly as bad as Katrina.

Don't get me wrong, there have still been deaths. My family has property damage and is without power. My mom's work is underwater. But where I am, it was just a windy and rainy day. Having lived in the south all my life, I've got a pantry full of the necessities and know what to do in the case of a storm.

The kids have never been through a hurricane before - I was pregnant with Auds when Gustav happened - so they didn't really understand it. Auds got a little scared when the power went out and stayed out, but handled it well for a three year old.

Here's a little video from my phone of the kids playing in the yard the morning after. The ground was so saturated we kept slipping and sliding all over the place. But, we had a blast out in the wind. We were actually able to open the windows and enjoy the breeze from the storm passing on.

Now we've just got to wait for the ground to dry before we can cut it again and remove all of the outside toys from in my studio. It's packed in here.

At Home Haircut

So I decided to cut little man's hair at home. Usually, he goes to the same barberspa that my husband does. I think it's adorable that they go to the same stylist and have that bonding time. However, T's hair grows so fast that he needs it cut frequently. He needs it more frequently than my husband and I don't have the time to take him every two weeks. And I certainly don't want to pay $20 every two weeks to have it done.

Rather than having him look like a shaggy boy or grow a mullet, I decided to take matters into my own hands. At home hair cut? You bet!

I put him in the bathroom sink and filled it with water. He sat in there with his toothbrush and a cup and played contentedly while I tried to mimic what I've seen his stylist do. He threw a cup of water at me and I stuck him in the tub to rinse.

I couldn't get during shots coz a wet toddler in a marble sink with scissors without a mama coz she went to go get the phone is a recipe for disaster.

But, here he is during his post-cut bath and after I dried him off. What do you think? Look too home- done? It's better than bringing back Billy Ray Cyrus, though, right?

Bliss

Today, I am thankful for God. And my third cup of coffee for the day. And the fact that I saved $98.62 making groceries. 

This week has been a roller coaster, that's for sure. But because of God's faithfulness, I am able to see the beauty in the hard times. 

What hard time? Oh, the fact that T woke up at midnight on Sunday night/Monday morning (however you look at things) and threw up constantly for 12 straight hours. We thought he was doing better and were getting ready to go to church to pray for him when he started all over again. How many loads of laundry does it take to wash three loads of bedding, two baby outfits (I eventually let him go naked) two mommy outfits and two daddy outfits? Too many, that's how many. But I got to cuddle my sweet little man all day. And then I got to cuddle my sweet little girl all night because she refused to go to sleep until midnight. Yup, that's 24 hours with no sleep. Rock star mom? I think so!

Or the fact that Tuesday, my kids became posessed. Like nearly green soup spewing posessed. These adorable babies were trying to pull the iron down - as I ironed, by the way - fed the dog various pieces of Mrs. Potatohead, ran around the house screaming their head off just because, and fought with each other all day. At the end of the day, we were rushed, things were crazy, I was late to Junior League, and my husband was late to church. But, I was inspired by the projects we'll be doing at JL and showed up at church (after rushing out of JL as quick as I could) before the preaching started. I missed worship, but according to my husband someone screwed up the sound system so there were no drums or guitar which messed up the beat and everyone was worried about fixing it and yadda yadda yadda. But I got to hear all of the preaching, and the babies fell asleep on the way home. Score!

I was supposed to do a stylized shoot for breastfeeding awareness today, but the baby was having a bad reaction to a vaccine so it was rescheduled. What does a mom do with her free time with the assistant coming over? A wise photographer probably would have worked on the ton of portrait sessions that need tending to - they will get done! But a wise mom took the time to go make groceries sans kids. It was like a vacation! Amazing! Groceries is always a big deal for me. We have farmers markets, but during busy wedding and portrait season it's so hard to get out there coz their working hours and mine are at the same time. So, I scour sale ads and coupons and match up the best deals. Honey, if it ain't in the sale ad or have a coupon for it, I ain't buying it unless it's an essential item. 

I go around to all of the different stores (which are in town 20+ minutes away) with my lists and my ads and my coupons and my reward cards and calculate how much I saved. It's actually really fun for me. Today I got nearly $100 in FREE groceries! You read that right! $98.62 to be exact. And everything was gluten free and organic when possible. That's a pretty good turn of events. 

My husband was lamenting earlier in the summer about how hard the law industry is getting hit. Today, he called to say that he has more work than he can handle, is having to travel across the state more (we get reimbursed for that) and is getting people inquiring about having him represent them in large cases. Praise God! 

And now I'm sitting here with a bowl of almonds and a cup of coffee with organic sugar listening to my kids play in the playroom with my mother in law. They're both feeling better. My husband is working hard. I've got a to-do list as long as my arm and feel motivated in crossing things off and life is good. This is as close to blissful as it gets - especially when I'm leaving the nasty diaper from this morning for my husband to clean when he gets home. :)

So Proud

I'm so proud of my husband. He preached an amazing message at church today. God is so good for not only giving such an inspiring message, but for letting me be married to the man He gave it to.

A Man and His Guitar

I'm hoping this link works since I'm typing this from my phone while enjoying some morning cuddles with my girl. :) but here should be a video of my husband at last night's music practice. Please ignore the ending as I run to try and keep my son from scaling the pulpit.

I Have a Not-So Secret Secret

No, I'm not pregnant!


I totally want to buy my husband a banjo and sing old hymns with him. Yup. There. I said it. My husband, who can shred up a guitar like nobody's business during an anointed service is so gonna bluegrass it up. He just doesn't know it yet. The times I've mentioned it before, he thought I was joking. Little does he know...

What do you think? Would you buy Cajun Country Hymns? haha!