frugal friday

well, my friend lori, also known as the bargain shopper lady, is doing a blog on frugal friday. she asked me to write a bit about my latest bargain shopping experience... i haven't done any of the specials that she wrote about, but i did find a cute photo album for 3.49 (reg. price 14.99)! it is my favorite kind of album because it has the lines to the side of each picture so that you can write the names of people or events to the side. i also got a lot of tissue paper for .44 cents each (reg. price 1.50)

next i went to lori's blog and printed off a couple of coupons... then i went to victoria's secret and bought a lollipop for 1.50 and got a free body scrub. i also walked next door and bought a purse sized hand lotion and got a free regular sized lotion!
today lori talked about the crazy cvs deals that she gets, and i think i finally understood for the first time how she does it. i'm going to try it soon! Thanks for helping us save (or if you're like me, trying) to save money, lori!!!!

also, if you are like me, you are struggling with potty training, getting chores done, etc. i found a great website today that let me print out fun charts for the kids to keep them on track... check it out! it is called printable checklists. let me know if you think they will help you in your day- to- day chores!!

makenzie's first crawl, dishes, and easter bunny

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

she is now doing it all the time!! she sees zach with something, and goes for it- it is so cute to see them starting to interact a lot more. she is also starting to pull up to her knees. she is still a wonderful baby!!

crawling in action

here's the scene i found a few weeks ago when i walked into the kitchen... audrey and zach were washing the dishes in the sink. unfortunately, most of them were already clean! they had pulled a chair from their little table over to the sink, and were standing on the same one. it was so cute. big helpers!

we were at the mall and didn't know the easter bunny was there. the kids loved him. kenzie did really well until the end when she looked up to see who was holding her and then looked back at us like, get me away from this thing!

dinner at the mcclures

no big story this time, just wanted to share a couple of pictures of my love bugs.

kenzie is now sitting in a booster seat at the table with us. she absolutely loves it. she is almost crawling, too!! zach is now in his toddler bed. he finally figured out how to climb out of it. he's doing pretty good, but i think last night he had a bad dream, because he was up walking around at 2:30. when i put him back in bed, he was saying something about not liking the dogs fighting. it was so cute.
audrey, our little princess. she's doing good. she is going out with brian today for a little date. it is all she can talk about. he takes her to barnes and noble and they eat oreos and drink water, then go read books. she loves it!! today on the way to school she was asking me questions like "when he comes to get us, is God going to take just the people or will He take the planet too?", and "how old is Jesus?" she asks a lot of questions about God and Jesus!
poor zachy, he's been having a lot of breathing problems. i had to get a picture of him taking his breathing treatment.

angelfire

well, last sunday night, brian and i were laying in bed trying to decide what to do on monday for our family day. brian looked at me at 11pm and said, lets go to angelfire! so of course i said yes! we got up the next day and packed up and left for new mexico right after lunch. brian's mom and stepdad live there, and they have a house and a condo, so we got to stay in the condo right at the base of the mountain. it was a 6 hour drive to amarillo, where we stayed for the night, then got up and finished the 5 hour drive to angelfire. it was so beautiful there- snow was everywhere. we set up audrey and zach in the back seat with a portable dvd player... they did pretty well. that left the middle seat with kenzie open, where brian and i took turns playing with the kids and driving. here they are enjoying a movie. kenzie did pretty well. she didn't like sitting in her seat for long. i had to sit back there and nurse every few hours. i know, we didn't pull over to do it. i just prayed really hard that we would be safe. next time we take a trip, though, i won't have a nursing baby.
here's mimi and makenzie in front of a little cafe that we had breakfast at one morning.
here we are eating breakfast with mimi, papa henry, and uncle ryan.
zach was pretty sick with allergies the whole time we were there. i forgot to take his singulair, and we even had to call our pediatrician to get more albuterol for his wheezing. they loved seeing the snow. zach didn't like it when he stuck his hand in it, though. he just cried and cried because his hands were so cold. we didn't have the proper attire... next time i'll try to find snow boots and pants that are waterproof!
audrey walking in the snow.
since she first found out that we were going to see snow, she wanted to make snow angels. she saw that on a cartoon once... and she finally got to make one of her own!
my in laws home was awesome. almost the whole front is windows, and you look out and see the snow. there is a pack of 9 elk that come and eat hay right at their doorway. here are 4 of them. it was so beautiful to watch the snow falling!
it was a pretty sleep deprived trip- zach is used to his crib, so since he was in a bed, he kept getting up the first night. finally brian and i decided to switch the sleeping arrangements. so brian slept with zach, and i slept with audrey and makenzie. that stopped zach from walking around, but boy did i find out that audrey talks in her sleep a lot! i didn't sleep well, but kenzie did fine because she is used to it. finally on the last night, i decided to sleep on the couch to try to get some rest for the drive, but the couch was too short to get comfortable, so i didn't end up sleeping well after all. anyways, it was funny how it all worked out. on friday brian went snowboarding and had the time of his life. he's been a few times and this was the first time that he was actually able to do it. i didn't go skiing, because fo the nursing thing... next time!! we also went to red river one day and visited my old friend sarah. we've known each other since we were probably 8 or so. she has an almost 3 year old set of twins, and a 1 1/2 year old set of twins, so it was a lot of fun!!

just like daddy!

zach loves to help his daddy. he received a work bench with tools for his birthday last year (thanks grandpa!) and he loves it. he especially loves to use his tools when brian works on something. here is the latest job- daddy's new dirt bike. he was very intent on helping... he ran into the living room to get his hammer and screwdriver, and ran back out. wondering what he was up to, this is the scene i found!
other breaking news in the mcclure home: at age 4, audrey is receiving her first haircut ever! she was a little nervous at first, asking if it would hurt. yes, i did it, and it turned out alright. sometimes when i look at it, i think that the right side may be a little longer than the left, but that could be due to the waves in her hair.
almost done!
she loves her new look!!

going bonkers

my sister found the coolest place in the world. it is called going bonkers and it is right next door to vista ridge mall in lewisville. it is a little bit of a drive from us, but it was definitely worth it if you have a few hours to spend there. it is a huge indoor playground with seating right in the middle so the parents can sit and watch their kids run around. kristin saw it and invited brian and i to come hang out with them, since it is about in the middle of us (she lives in denton now). we were there for 3 hours, and the kids had the most fun at any place than i think they have ever had in their short little lives!! zach wouldn't even stop to eat! a physical therapist designed it, so it is good for their development, and the adults actually love it too. there were lots of parents climbing around up there, and there are swings and slides all hidden around. i didn't go, cuz i was hanging out with my pregnant sister, but you could tell by the laughter that fun was being had by everyone even the parents. anyways, i'm definitely going back someday. there is a cost: $2.50 for ages 1-2, $5 for ages 3-18, and adults get in for $1. there is food there, but i didn't see any signs that prohibited outdoor food, so next time i'll probably bring sandwiches. there is also an arcade up the stairs, and an adult "quiet" room, where you can go work in the wifi with your computer, and still see everything!

here they are after 2 hours of hard playing. when we get together, we usually have to break them up at certain points, but there were no fights, only fun!

good times!

here's my blue eyed beauty. christmas was a good day. we spent the early morning opening presents at home.

here are audrey and zach with the scooters that santa brought. they really love them, and they are perfect because the front has two wheels so they can balance. they now ride them all the time!

around 10 we made it to mom's house for breakfast. they brought their scooters to ride in the cul-de-sac. here's brian with my brothers: samuel, daniel, and trey!i think audrey and logan are having a discussion about whose turn it is to ride!zach played with kenzie a little. here he is actually sharing a toy! (he's actually getting pretty good at sharing!) audrey went into the sun room to read for a while.
later that night we went to cleburne to see brian's dad. audrey and cousins lauren and mary were intent on opening those presents!
sarah, lauren, and audrey eating in the kitchen.

audrey and grandpa in the sweater that he picked out for her all by himself! new years eve party girl!
blowing those horns!!
and i had to throw in a picture of their first bath all together!!!