New record

So, I'm pretty serious about my grocery shopping. Once we had kids and decided it was crazy to spend a lot of money going out to eat, I figured I should do my best to buy groceries and plan meals. Every Sunday afternoon, I sit down with the ad from Publix and my coupons. I make a very detailed list and plan out our meals for the week. I always try to save as much as possible. In February I came home with $132.59 worth of groceries for the week (including diapers and wipes) but thanks to sales and coupons only spent $85.95. That's a savings of $46.64 (35%). I was so excited that I stuck the receipt to the frig to remind me to try to beat it.

Well, this past week I beat it. I came home with $157.18 worth of groceries for $97.30. That's a savings of $59.88! (38%) Now I can finally replace the receipt from February. I love when all the stars align and what I need is on sale AND Ihave a coupon!

Grilled pizza

As most people know, Adam LOVES to grill. We try to use the grill at least once or twice a week and if Adam got home from work earlier than he usually does then we would grill even more often. We are always trying new things on the grill, including perfecting BBQ ribs - delish! Our latest experiement was pizza on the grill. We've seen Bobby Flay do it numerous times but we were never brave enough to try it. until this past weekend. What a success! It was definitely the best pizza we've ever made. YUM!

Noni's girls

Noni loved having all of her girls together in one place!

Cousin Sofie

Adam's sister, Maquel visited recently with her husband, Alan and daughter, Sofie. We haven't seen Sofie in over a year so it was great to see how much she's grown. Sofie and Paige are only two months apart and they had a great time playing together (when they weren't fighting over toys or people!). Here are some pics from the day they came to our house.

The next day we went to Noni's house (Adam's mom) and they were very focused on coloring.

The beach

We planned on driving back from Jacksonville Thursday night but a strong thunderstorm (and Grandma) persuaded me to stay another night. Then since we were staying till the next day and everyone was headed to beach that day we couldn't resist getting a few hours of beach time in before driving back to Winter Haven. Avery spent most of her time collecting a bucket of seashells while Paige was back and forth between playing in the sand and swimming in the ocean. I can't wait to take them to the beach again!

Pump It Up

To continue all the family fun, the girls and I drove up to Jacksonville with my parents and nephew to spend a few days with my sister and her kids. My brother, Jonathan also flew in from Chicago. He had requested that we go to Pump It Up (inflatable play place) while he was in town. It was only a few days before his birthday so we thought it would be fun to have a surprise party scheduled for him there. He had no idea and I'm sure he wasn't expecting to have his 24th birthday party be attended by six of his neices and nephews all under the age of 10!

Grandpa slid down this huge slide with Paige and went so fast he flew right off the end. Too funny!

Avery and Paige sitting with Uncle Jonathan on the birthday throne.

Universal and Islands of Adventure

We all went to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure this past week with my parents. The girls had so much fun (and so did Adam and I)! It was a hot day but we somehow all survived. Now that I look at the pictures I took, I am realizing they are all in either Suessland or in the Curious George Storybook area. We did actually ride grown up rides like the Incredible Hulk, The Simpsons Ride (awesome!), Jaws, and Jurassic Park. I guess when you have kids the most exciting part is whatever makes them the happiest.

Paige LOVES Curious George! All day long she talked about "meeting" him.

Family time

Last week my parents and my nephew visited us from Pittsburgh. While they were here we drove up to my uncle's house since my cousin, Mary was aslo visiting (from VA) with her husband and two kids. Add in my sister Christina and her family of three kids and you have a whole housefull! We all had a great time swimming and watching the kids play.

drawing with chalk on the front porch
Paige, for some reason, loves to clean tile floors with diaper wipes!

going for a ride around the Villages in Uncle Dan's golf cart

all the kids by the pool

Bella Dancerella

Grandma and Grandpa came to visit last week and brought a ballerina bar and some instructional DVDs for Avery. She kept asking for a ballerina bar for Christmas but I wasn't able to find one so she was SO excited to get this. She immediately wanted to put on her ballet clothes and learn the steps. There are two DVDs and she watched each one twice! I see a lot of Bella Dancerella watching in our future. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

Like a fish...

Avery took swim lessons last month at Florida Southern. She loved going and has made a lot of progress but the one thing she refuses to do is put her face in the water. Hopefully that will come soon!

Her friend, Julia from church was also in her class.