yourheadispunk's Xanga

Farewell, Xanga...

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 14:52:39 GMT

Dear Xanga,
I know that many, many people over the years have written you letters such as this. A lot of the time, they did it just to see if people would comment and tell them not to go. Well, that's not my intent. I have been a Xangan since 2003. I have recorded so many memories on this site, and it's been quite a ride! However, I am finally ready to move along, onto a better platform. Many people will tell me that I should move to Wordpress or tumblr, but I checked those out and didn't like them as much as Blogger, so yeah... I may be still behind the times, but at least I'm comfortable.

http://heyitsjade.blogspot.com is where you'll find me from now on.

Don't worry, Xanga, I'll come by to visit. I really like flipping through old posts and seeing what we were doing in the past. And you have been a dear friend for keeping track of all that for me. Speaking of dear friends, I can't forget to mention how this silly site has brought me new friends and brought me closer to the friends I already had. I have met amazing people, followed the lives of people I only THOUGHT I knew before and just overall had a great time being able to express myself in words and pictures. Thanks for the sweet memories, Xanga!

Jade =)

Callen Levi - 5 months old!

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 11:12:00 GMT

Man, 5 months already? I know I say that every month, but geez... sooooo fast! I'm trying to remember what he's started doing this month, but it all kinda runs together. He's rolling over for sure. Blowing raspberries, and grabbing hold of anything that dares come near him! I've given him some rice cereal, which is LOVES! He is so interested in everything we put in our mouths, he wants it all! He still nurses ALL the time, such a little piggy! He slept for 8-9 hours straight three nites in a row, I was hoping that'd be his new normal, but it was only those three days. It's still not bad even when he wakes up usually, though, 'cause he'll eat and go right back to sleep. So... I can handle that. He's developed a big belly laugh... especially when Preston is being crazy or Daddy makes funny noises. Example:

He's so stinkin' adorable, it's hard not to just stare at him all day.
Sooo sweet!

Blowing raspberries, he's always a slobbery mess!

In the 'bus' (Preston's driving), they're both making crazy noises at the same time. What a duo! Haha!

Happy boy playing outside.

Rice cereal!

Love my boys!!!

This is love...

Sun, 08 Aug 2010 12:25:00 GMT

Funny faces in a dirty bathroom mirror.

And eight poorly pedicured (and extremely white!) feet in the soft grass on a summer evening.

Happy birthday, Old Man!

Sat, 07 Aug 2010 23:56:00 GMT

I'm married to a 32-year-old man!!! Michael's birthday was yesterday. Preston and I made him a Mint Chocolate Chip & Vanilla Icecream Cake. It was a lot of work, lots of layers involved - freezing and waiting and whatnot - and then it pretty much tasted like Mint Chocolate Chip icecream. Coulda saved myself a lot of trouble just serving him the icecream straight up. Oh well, the thought counts, right? And it looked nice!

And my attempt at getting a nice photo of my boys all together, resulted in this:
LOL! Seriously, wow. Preston would not just look at me without making mean faces, so he got scolded and this is the picture I got. Yep.

We ended up dropping Preston off with Grandma & Grandpa Clark to spend the nite, then Michael, Callen and I went to Celebration Restaurant for dinner (yay birthday coupons!) It was kinda weird being there with just a baby, reminded us a lot of when we went there right after Preston was born. The food was yummy as usual, LOVE that place! After dinner we had to go clean the church... did that till 2am, then home for bed (at least for me). Not too much of an exciting birthday, but I guess that's what happens when you get old. Haha!

We got Michael a book he said he would like to read (y'know, if he ever got around to reading), the Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant. I also happened to win him Texas Rangers tickets for all of the remaining home games this season! I sign up for all kinds of things all the time and never win, so when the email came in saying I had won... I really didn't believe it, and was very suspicious of the whole thing. But turns out it's true! Woo hoo!

Preston update at... 54 months?

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 14:39:46 GMT

Preston made me breakfast the other morning!

I woke up because I thought I heard the baby fussing. But he was asleep, it was the tv. Preston was up, sitting on the couch, watching Boo. I *think* he had just turned it on, but he informed me that he had been up for "hours!" He also said, "Your breakfast is over there, I made Poptarts!" I panicked for a second 'cause he's always wanting to use the toaster. But there was an unheated Blueberry Poptart laying at my place on the table, and remnants of an eaten Poptart at his. Whew!

That boy is growing up so fast! He can easily help himself to snacks (even when I tell him not to). He can get to anything in the kitchen (yikes!). He quite often gets up in the morning and sets about making himself a PBJ sandwich... only he isn't strong enough to open the jars so then he comes to wake me up. I get into the kitchen to find all of the necessities out on the table (peanut butter, jelly, bread, and KNIFE!). He's also very helpful at getting things for me when I'm tied down with Callen. He enjoys helping entertain Callen, as best he can, so I can take a potty break. We are still dealing with some out-right defiant behavior. There's a lot of whining and crying on a regular basis. But I often have to remind myself "he's only 4!" Sometimes he acts so big, it's easy to forget that. Then he reverts to 'acting his age' and it throws me off.

He's done so well with reading this summer. He still needs help with some words, but overall he can read to himself (and Callen!) just fine. I laid off the writing for now, not doing anything regularly at the moment... will probably start up in a few weeks as school is starting for everyone else.

Preston still adores his Little Brother. His favorite thing is playing in the floor with Callen. They have so much fun. Callen watches everything P does, and laughs and smiles so much when he's around. I hope and pray that they'll always enjoy each others company this much!

He wanted me to put this flower in water (it's from off our tree, they're all over our yard), I told him I would take a picture of it 'cause it would last longer that way.

Just an average nite at the Clarks' house...

Oh, and Preston learned to whistle this week as well! Go Preston!

Laughing at myself...

Wed, 04 Aug 2010 14:27:21 GMT

I've always been, or tried to be, thrifty. I remember when I was in grade school and my mom wanted to buy me a new backpack for the new school year. Most kids would want that, new stuff is great! Not me, I was all "nah, my one from last year is still good." I never understood spending more money than you had to. I mean, I don't mind splurging here or there on fun stuff... but again, if there's a way to get it cheaper, why not? Now that I have 'more time' at home, I've been working on the whole couponing thing. I'm thankful there are blog sites that help, 'cause I'm not clever enough, nor do I have time and/or energy enough, to figure all this out on my own!

The other day, as I was driving from Albertsons (where I scored 13 boxes of cereal, 6 boxes of PopTarts and 1 box of Nutrigran Bars for $12!) to church, I just started laughing at myself. There I was with my score, but also dressed in my 'deal busting' finest. EVERYTHING that I was wearing that day was new (yay, a new outfit!) but was also ridiculously cheap. Here's what I was wearing...

$1 flipflops from Old Navy (w/coupon)
$4.99 Clearance jeans from Old Navy
$3 Clearance shirt from Target (that I also used a coupon on)
$2 cami shirt from Old Navy (w/coupon)
FREE bra and underwear from BzzAgent

$11 for EVERYTHING, and all brand new (not garage sale or thrift store - which I don't mind at all either).

It's the only way I can justify buying anything right now, it has to be super cheap! We certainly don't have money to be buying new clothes! Most of the rest of my wardrobe is similar (and always has been)... the jeans/shorts I've owned FOREVER so they've paid for themselves many times over, t-shirts I received from work for free, other clothes I've bought off the clearance rack

I'm not trying to brag or anything, not rubbing in my 'saving skills.' Just making an observation to amuse myself when I read this post 5 years later or whatever. Haha. Hopefully in 5 years I'll still be raking in the super deals! =) And I'm glad that being 'frugal' now days is a good trait to have, instead of always being considered a cheapskate.

July 2010 tweets to remember...

Sun, 01 Aug 2010 15:28:00 GMT

Jul 1st, 9:20am - As dreary as it is, I'm super thankful for the rain & clouds for days... I mean, it's SUMMER so anything that helps it not be 1,000 degrees!

Jul 1st, 11:39am - Last day of swim class about to start! http://twitpic.com/21j3ju

Jul 3rd, 4:39pm - Family got all swim suited up, arrived at the pool and there came a great rainstorm. Dangit.

Jul 3rd, 7:17pm - No luck finding a family movie for all of us to watch, Preston REALLY wanted a Dora The Explorer vid... me = :::banging head against wall:::

Jul 4th, 5:08pm - Happy Independence Day! http://twitpic.com/22hjt7

Jul 5th, 9:54am - Monkey butt! :) http://twitpic.com/22omdi

Jul 7th, 12:29am - Joy of motherhood #407: finding completely random items in your bed every nite. Tonite: Don't Break The Ice hammer & digital voice recorder.

Jul 7th, 10:53pm - Yaaaaaay! I finally witnessed Callen roll over! He's been doing it for weeks, but never when I was looking!

Jul 8th, 11:38pm - Nothing like 2 screaming/crying kids when all I'm trying to do is gather the trash. Holy heck fire!

Jul 9th, 5:13pm - has THE best parents ever! Just saying.

Jul 9th, 5:53pm - My cows like free food! http://twitpic.com/23v2t5

Jul 9th, 5:57pm - My littlest cow is not as excited. http://twitpic.com/23v3vi

Jul 10th, 7:46pm - Date nite w/hubby, exploring history in Arlington. http://twitpic.com/247n0u

Jul 11th, 11:15pm - Augh! Just unexpectedly found this in my bed. #fb http://twitpic.com/24l0gn

Jul 13th, 10:15am - Callen, 4 mths: 14.5 lbs, 27'' and perfect. :)

Jul 13th, 1pm - Mail call: Replacement debit card switching from MC to V, booo! But... free bra & panty from BzzAgentJono, score! Hahaha, that's awkward.

Jul 13th, 1:54pm - Does peanut butter & crackers count as lunch? It's all Preston and I wanted, so we had it. So there. #CantTasteAnythingWhatsThePointOfFood?

Jul 14th, 12:33pm - Trying really hard not to even LOOK in the kitchen, Preston is playing Play-Doh & there's MESS EVERYWHERE!!! But he's quiet & having fun.

Jul 14th, 9:40pm - Had a fantastic outing with my fam: shopping at SuperTarget (Saving over $40 w/coupons!), eating free Panda Express & just having fun!

Jul 14th, 10:45pm - Just overheard during Preston's shower-bath: Swim duckies! Swim like the WIND!

Jul 15th, 12:41pm - Look out world, I just dug my sewing machine out of the closet... feeling inspired (but can't find its accessories so gimme a minute).

Jul 16th, 9:20pm - So, right now... I'm the only one in my family that has hair, but come 5pm tomorrow... http://www.shearhope.org

Jul 17th, 12:42pm - Is it 5pm yet? I WANNA BE BALLLLDDDD! Lol, yeah, I'm totally ready & excited for the Shear Hope Event this afternoon!

Jul 17th, 7:17pm - Well, here it is! Bald is beautiful. Thank you, Shear Hope! http://twitpic.com/26a9ut

Jul 17th, 11:49pm - Great day: Shear Hope Event, Mexican Inn, @djdruemitchell & Manafest show + being surrounded by family & friends all day, amazing!

Jul 18th, 10:43am - Even being bald and only having one kid doesn't help make it to church on time if you sleep in really late!

Jul 18th, 1:09pm - This hairless head came in handy this morn at church w/no AC. http://twitpic.com/26k0zo

Jul 20th, 12:09am - Two monkeys in my bed... At least one of us is asleep at this hour! http://twitpic.com/26xh5w

Jul 20th, 3:15pm - Dear Anyone-Who-Lives-Up-North, can my fam of 4 come stay with you till October? Pretty please?

Jul 20th, 5:20pm - Two monkeys in Callen's bed this time! http://twitpic.com/274elj

Jul 21st, 11:51am - Bear-emy and Preston, lol! http://twitpic.com/27c8jf

Jul 21st, 11:21pm - I have a lovely life... the baby one is drifting off to sleep in my lap while big kid is reading us a nitenite story. =)

Jul 22nd, 4:26pm - Hey @PowerFm, I completely approve of the new Summer T. Love it! =) http://twitpic.com/27o67b

Jul 23rd, 12:07am - It's quite impossible to put down a freshly bathed sleeping baby... until your foot & both arms fall asleep, then it's time to move!

Jul 23rd, 12:26pm - Nom nom toes! http://twitpic.com/27xayj

Jul 24th, 12:26am - The kids did so good while Michael & I cleaned the church, very proud of them for cooperating for 3 hours!

Jul 27th, 10:40am - OMG! A new Super Why AND Dinosaur Train (or at least ones we've never seen)?!?!? Thank you #PBS! I have a happy 4-yr-old!

Jul 27th, 11:11pm - I've got a thumb sucker on my hands! http://twitpic.com/29byqv

Jul 28th, 1:16pm - Looking around at my trashed living room w/toys, books, blankets, pillows scattered everywhere... yep, I've got kids.

Jul 28th, 5:26pm - My name is Callen & I'm an expert raspberry blower. http://twitpic.com/29jkwd

Jul 29th, 9am - Wowzers! Callen slept NINE hours straight... NIIIINNNEEE!

Jul 31st, 2:44pm - Preston is rowdy & loud, Callen is grumpy (wants to eat constantly, won't nap long) & hubby got up then went back to bed. Happy Saturday?

Free is good, even if it costs a little...

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 20:06:11 GMT

I know, I know... another post about getting a good deal at the store? YES! We're doing our best to save as much money as we can these days... money is tight like whoa, and frankly, I don't wanna have to get a job now after finally getting to be a SAHM! (I mean, I even made my whole family shave their heads so we could save on shampoo and hair products. Just kidding.) So when things are on sale, or better yet FREE, I'm all about that. I do our main grocery shopping at Aldi because they have the best prices. But they don't have everything ans sometimes better deals can be found elsewhere. Kroger doubles/triples coupons. Target, Walgreens and CVS have their own store coupons you can stack with manufacturers coupons, and the latter two offer store 'bucks' that work same as cash. Combining all those things helps a lot and some shopping trips are definitely better than others depending on what we need versus sales, available coupons, etc.

Yesterday, I ran around to Walgreens, Kroger and two (yes, 2!) CVS's looking for the deals/freebies I've seen listed on the Deal Blogs I read. I was somewhat disappointed at Walgreens (again) as most of the stuff I read about/planned to get was gone or not the deal I saw listed. Kroger was good... found what I needed, used coupons and saved a lot. Not as much as the lady in front of me, though.* And CVS was awesome, they have a Pampers deal going right now, where you buy a big box of diapers at $21.99, you get $10 ECB (basically store credit). So, I used my coupons and got that deal along with a few others things and ended up getting a bunch of ECB which I used on another box of diapers (woo for stocking up on those boogers!). The hardest part about those shopping trips is getting the kids in and out of the car and having them cooperate while I hunt and peck for specific items that correspond with the deals. They can only take so much and then one or both of them start getting grumpy.

Today I hit up Target and decided to just make it fun. If I didn't find the deals I was looking for, so what? Let's just have a good time looking at stuff and being silly together! Preston was great, one of his best shopping trips lately (guess my decision to just be easy worked!). Callen, however, was tired and cranky, but as soon as I got him out of his seat and into the sling, he was asleep and fine! I did end up finding nearly everything I was hoping for! I got up to the checkout and the total was about $22. After my coupons... $2.59. The only reason it was THAT much is 'cause I picked up two packs of patriotic (July 4th) napkins for .50cents each, some Kai-Lan stickers for .74cents and an extra pack of Colored Pencils that were .88cents. That's really all I paid for! Everything else I got was FREE! Here's a pic...

Aquafresh Kid's toothpaste, 2 Sobe LifeWaters, 2 bags of Snyder's Pretzels, a Wonka Bar, 2 packs of napkins, Bagel Bites, Papermate pens, Kai-Lan stickers, 2 packs of Bic pens, 2 boxes of Crayola markers and 1 box of Crayola Colored Pencils.

Coulda kept my whole transaction under a dollar if I hadn't of picked up the extra napkins and stickers at the last minute. Haha. Oh well! Pretty happy with my score!

*The lady in front of me at Kroger yesterday totally showed me up. She bought like 20 things of deodorant, 20 packs of Mentos, 5 bags of cheese and I dunno what else and her total after coupons was $1.24. You go, lady! But I dunno what you're gonna do with THAT much deodorant, I mean... really? Please don't clear out the shelves, other people need deodorant too! Hopefully she's giving them to charity or something. Heh. And, lady, where did you get all those copies of the coupons? How many Sunday papers do you take?!

Speaking of... if anyone takes the Sunday paper and doesn't use the coupons, I'll gladly take 'em off your hands! I will gladly also give away the pet food coupons or other ones I don't use if you want/need 'em.

Mad props to the following sites for helping me save money (so I don't have to figure all this stuff out on my own!):
MyDallasMommy.com, HeyItsFree.net, Freebies4Mom.com, MoneySavingMom.com, DealSeekingMom.com, SheSaved.com and SavingsCentsWithSense.net.

Back to being 'yourheadisbald'...

Sun, 18 Jul 2010 23:55:49 GMT

My sweet husband wanted to shave his head the day before my event, so we went out on the back deck and got out the shears. And Preston wanted in on the action, so he went bald too!

Yesterday's Shear Hope event was great. We didn't have the crowd we were hoping for, but it was a blast nonetheless. We raised nearly $300 at the event alone between the two of us (me and Candi) and that plus what's come in via paypal and handed to us individually... we raised a good chunk of change for Shear Hope again! Hooray for 'repeat offenders'! Haha.

The event was held at Chapel In The Woods in Dallas, and unfortunately one of their A/C units went out that day, so it was a bit warm in there! But we grinned and bared it, and it all went smoothly. We were surrounded by loving family and friends who came out to see us go bald! Jeffrey discussed what Shear Hope was all about and how it worked, we watched the video (the one I've seen a million times and STILL cry at!) and Molly got up and spoke about when she did and what SH meant to her, then it was my turn. I had my 'speech' all planned out in my head, but when I got up there (following the video and Molly, eek!) I got all chocked up, especially when I mentioned my mom's fight with Cancer last year. I didn't say anything I really wanted to, and I hardly got out anything at all. Then we got to shaving! My hair was 20" long this time around!

I was a little nervous of how Callen would react to my bald head, but he didn't mind one bit! We all match now!

Then, it was Candi's turn!

I got to shave some of her hair off, hahah!

It's such a blessing to be part of this organization and to have been able to do this twice!!!

Here are the lyrics to the song I played while my head was being shaved... (Hope, by Remedy Drive, of course)

What a beautiful sight for the worn and weary eye
The glimmering light in the corner of a broken sky
Hope sweet hope like a star burning bright
When the sun goes down and the fears begin to fly

Hope’s not giving up
Hope’s not giving up
In a cold dark night she's not giving
Not giving up

Hold on tight this city's about to break
In the middle of the night lying there wide awake
Hope sweet hope how much more can she take
Being our strength when our hearts are out of faith

Bridge:
Hope is with me in my time of trouble
When it all comes crashing down she will stay
By my side digging through the rubble
She’s not giving up - not giving up - not giving up

I got inspired to sew...

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 23:27:48 GMT

I have wanted some adorable Baby Legs, but definitely can't make myself pony up $12 a pair for 'em. Plus, there aren't a lot of really good ones for boys. So, I started looking around for advice on how to make them and got inspired. How hard could they be, right? Um... I have sewed two blankets, a pillow case and a crazy lookin' shopping cart cover in my life. I haven't touched my sewing machine in four years (and never before that!). I found a few different places that had info on how to make these baby leg warmers and made an attempt on an old sock... got the basic idea down but wasn't exactly what I was going for. THEN, I found a blog WITH PICTURES that made it all make perfect sense! And.... I did it. So, thanks to Everything Your Mama Made, here's what I did:

Granted, I need some more practice to get 'em better, but not too shabby on my first attempt (and in only 20 minutes!). As you can see, they're Callen-approved! I have a bunch of old character socks (mostly Snoopy) and they make great designs for these things... super cute! Totally excited to make some more. They're gonna be wonderful when he starts crawling! I'm also looking forward to making these for friends' babies!!!

Who knew I could sew?!? I think my SAHM status is going to my head! =)

Oh, and Preston says hi!