New Hats And Non-Slip Flower Bow Head Bands

I have a few new hats ready to ship and a few non-slip head bands left. http://cutiepatutu.blogspot.com/
Make sure you scroll through several post to see what is left. If you see anything you are interested in e-mail me at karlton5@juno.com  .

I have a couple of holiday hats ready too! I only have 1 pink infant hat left. They make a great baby shower gift. My hats make a great Christmas gift too!

Update On Roxana Donations

Isaiah 25:4 " For you have been a strength to the poor, A strength to the needy in his distress, A refuge from the storm, A shade from the heat; For the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall."

I just wanted to give you an update on donations we raised through the Auction and kind hearted people who just donated to her family. As you know we raised another $370 through the auction/donations. I received the last of the donation on Saturday and was able to send part of the money through Paypal and the other through check to Mayan Families today. Here is what the $370 was able to buy this family.

1. 100 lbs of corn- $28

2. 100 lbs. of black beans- $95

3. Large Basket of food w/ a cooked chicken- $35

4. 30 eggs- $5

5. 3 Blankets- $60

6. 3 months of Electricity- $24

7. Health Care Pack (contains tooth brushes, toothpaste, soap, wash and dish detergent for a family)- $25

8. Laying Hens- $40

9. Portable Stove- $60

On top of the other $470 in donations I sent a few weeks ago, I am pleased that together we were able to raise $840 for this family. To see what we were able to buy with the first donations please see back to Sept 19th's post.

Again, Thank You for all you help and generosity! I know Roxana's Family is very appreciative of all your help!

Isaiah 25:4 " For you have been a strength to the poor, A strength to the needy in his distress, A refuge from the storm, A shade from the heat; For the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall."

We Did It.......Well Some Of Us Did, Anyway

Saturday Morning I woke up at 6 am to head over to my neighbors house to have a Yard Sale with her. It was 48 degrees..... Ugh!!! I was totally bundled up, with my running clothes on underneath of my layers. I had to leave my Yard Sale side of things to Joel (my reinforcement) and my neighbor at 8:30 to go warm up ( in the running since) and to stretch with the boys. Then we headed off to our 5K. It was still freezing by the time we got there at 8:50. It was a whopping 50 degrees. As I climbed out of my Yukan, I was seriously considering leaving my fleece pants on, but decided against it because I hate to run in pants. I also shed one of the jackets I was wearing, but left my running jacket on. Then in no time they announced the race was getting ready to start. A minute before Jordan decided he needed to go to the bathroom. I was standing with the boy's Coach and he asked where my boy's were. As I was looking around I could not find either of them. Then the horn blew.............. and we were off (well I was anyway). I decided I would not worry, because maybe this was the only way I could beat them, ha ha!!! But about 2 tenths of a mile later the Coach's wife said here come the warriors, and Josiah blew by us, but still no Jordan........... About 2/3 of the way through the race I ran past Jordan leaning again a sign watching everyone. The crazy thing never even raced. He was still in the bathroom when the horn blew and he said it was to late for him to start. Uh huh right!!!

Anyway, Josiah came in about 9th for the whole race that was for the men too, and I came in 5th for the women. I was just happy that I did not have to stop, and I beat my last race by 6 spots. I also beat my time too from the last race, not by much though.... 1/2 way through I pulled my jacket off and tied it to my waist. I was so hot I wanted to throw it on the ground and come back later to find it, because I ended up fidgeting with it so much.



After the race I came back to my Yard Sale. Joel and my neighbor actually sold more then while I was there. I would say that was the worse Sale I have ever had. Oh well, it kept me distracted from getting nervous and thinking about the race to much!

Mental note-to-self: Leave Jacket in the car next race and do not have a Yard Sale the Day of a Race.

Wheeeewww!!! I was soooo exhausted before the even ended!!

Gearing Up

(You can see in this picture Josiah was trying to pass Jordan, but this was at the beginning of the race. Can anyone say sibling rivalry! ;0)

The boys and I are doing a 5K in the morning together. (Their Cross Country Team will be participating in this race.) This is the same course I ran my first 5K. My goal this time is just to finish without getting sick and having to walk. Even though I did well and came in 11th for the women, it killed me to have to walk because I never have to walk while only running 3.1 miles. So I have learned when I see the water station keep trucking by! I have been able to run that course twice in the last week and I have improved time wise both times, without having to stop.....just hope I can keep that up. When you throw adrenaline in there it messes everything up! So anyway wish me/us luck! With the Cross Country Team running, I will  not be coming in 11th place. The top placing girls can run it in 21 or 22 min. Ugh!

My boys on the other hand are improving every single race! They had a CC race on Tuesday and they both beat their best times. Jordan ran the 3.1 miles in 20 min and 59 seconds , Josiah ran a 25 min. and 5 sec., which is outstanding for 1st and 2nd yr. runner! I told Josiah to only try to shave off 6 seconds on his next race and he would be in the 24 mins. And guess what??? He did it! They had a meet last night and his time was 24:41. Jordan hasn't found out his time yet.

 I wish I could shave my times like that. But no matter how many times I run it I can not do any better then 27 min. The course we will be doing tomorrow is a pretty hard course and my best time so far is 28:38. There is a 1 mile gradual never ending hill at the end that just about kills me. So my time is a lot worse then when I run my daily course. That is why I wanted to get a couple of practices in. I guess that saying you can't teach an old dog new tricks applies here.... to me anyway! Anyway here are a few pictures from the boys race on Tuesday.

Apple Picking

Here are some pictures from a few Saturday's ago when we took the kids to pick apples. If you are wondering why there are not many pictures of Karlton and Josiah, Josiah decided he was going to be in one of his moods. I don't know if it is a teenage mood or just a Josiah mood , so Karlton stayed with him. But anyway, we still had a great time! We came home with some Apple Butter and Apple Cider! Yummy !! We really wanted their Apple Donuts but they had not started to make those yet. :0( I even bought a really pretty white pumpkin.

Were we did not have rain for so long the apples are dehydrated and the branches were so loaded they were hanging to the ground. But that made it easier for the little ones to pick apples. Now for an overload of pictures.................

I guess Joel wasn't ready for his picture to be taken. lol......

Jordan grew past the maker... This kid has grown 3 inches in 2 months. Ahhhhh!

Heading to pick apples........

Then before we left we stopped to take a couple of family pictures.

Wordless Wednesday

What Can You Buy With $25?

Yesterday Lilee and I went to 3 stores, Walgreens, CVS, and Harris Teeter. This was the loot we came back with for $23.28. You can't hardly buy anything with $25 these days, unless you use Coupons. I even came back with $1.72. Woo Hoo!!!

 There are a few things missing from this (blurry) photo.

Missing:

1.24 Pk Deer Park Water (under the Cheerios)

2. Ring Pop (Lilee had already eaten it)

3. 3- more sticks of the Nivea Chap Sticks ( I forgot was in my purse)

Even the Pumpkin and the Flowers are in the $20.28.

Here's how much I spent at each store and how much I saved.

CVS

Spent $0

Saved $4.99

Used 1 Coupon + CVS Card

I know the picture is a little hard to make out what the items are. There is a pack of Monster face parts for Pumpkins that was $4.99. I went in and scanned my CVS card at the coupon center and it printed me out a $5 off coupon for any Halloween Decorations. So, that is how I got those free.

Walgreens

Spent $11.44 of which includes the Tax of $2.59

Saved $57.61

Used 14 Coupons

I bought 26 items. Those Items include and what I paid for each item:

4- Bags Werther Carmel's B1G1 ($3.58 or .89 cents ea.)

2- EOS Lip Balm  ( both were free)

6- Nivea Chap Stick (all 6 Free)

2- Schick Hydro Men's Razors ($2.89 or $1.44 ea.)

1- ACT II Pop Corn Ball- Filler Item  (.59 cents)

2- Pks of Playtex Gloves (both were free)

2- Butterfinger Candy Bars - Filler Item (.58 cents or .29 cents ea.)

1 - Ring Pop ( .65 cents)

1- 24 pk Deer Park Water (.56 cents)

Harris Teeter

Spent $11.84 which includes the tax of .59 cents

Saved $79.88

Used 23 coupons

I am only including the 35 items I bought.

1- pumpkin

1- bouquet of flowers

2- boxes of Cheerios

3- boxes of Fruity Pebbles

1- bag of Carrots

1- 6 in Hot Philly Steak and Cheese Sandwich

2- bags of Kruncher Chips

2- Pringles

1- Activia Dessert Yogurt

3- MccCormick Inspirations

3- Betty Crocker Home Style Reds Mashed Potatoes

3- boxes of Minute Rice

2- boxes of Muller's Spaghetti

2- boxes of Muller's Penne

2- cans of Bush's light red kidney beans

2- cans of Bush's black beans

4- cans of Del Monte green beans and diced tomatoes

 I ended up buying 62 items for $23.28,  and saved $142.48. That is an 86% savings.

 Not bad huh!?! What are some of  your favorite deals that you have been finding lately! I have not been keeping track of all of mine lately but thought I would share these with you!

3 Years Home Today!

3 years ago today Josiah and I brought this little one home from Guatemala, after a 17 month battle with her never ending adoption. Happy Gotcha Day Lilee Elizabeth Rose! You are a loved little girl!

Lilee came home on my Mom's Birthday, so today is my Mom's Birthday too! Happy Birthday Mom!

Notice Lilee's hands in this picture.....She had sand on them and was trying really hard not to get her dress dirty. lol....

It's official! I Am A Mama To 2 Teenagers!

Yesterday, my second oldest son, turned 13! Yes, our house can definitely tell there is 2 teens in it! Ahhhhh! Where does the time go..... On Friday Night Josiah had a Camp Out in his dad's man building down in the woods, where he has a big screen TV. Josiah and 4 of his buddies played XBOX, watch movies, wrestled, roasted Hot Dogs, Marshmallows, ate Cupcakes and Popcorn. Aaaaa and yes, shot up everything in site with paint balls. But....Josiah said that was his Best party ever. The best part was, Karlton supervised them all night! ;0) He had 5 and I had 4 up in the house. All I had to do was buy all the goodies... Easy enough! ( for me anyway ;0)

Happy 13th Birthday Josiah!!! We Love You Big Guy!

After everyone left Sat. morning.... Josiah wanted to go spend all his B/D money at Game Stop. Then he came home to play his new games, I let him choose where we would grab some dinner to bring it home for a little out door picnic. Then we had cake, A Yummy Snickers Football Ice Cream Cake! I think Josiah had a great 13th Birthday!

BTW..... It was my Mom and Dad's 35th Anniversary too!!!! Happy Anniversary!!! We Love You!

Roxana's Auction Is Closed + The Winners

Roxana's Auction is officially closed..... I am happy to report we raised $370 with this Auction and a few donations. I want to send a BIG Thank You to Melissa, and everyone who pitched in to make this happen!
I will be sending in all the money as soon as I have collected all the donations! I will also give a check list of everything that we were to buy for Roxana and her family! Stay tuned................

Now on to the winners!!!!!!!!!!!

1. Cutie Patutuz Head Band and Flower Bow ------ CARLA
2. Men's XL Guatemala Adoption T-Shirt ---------- HOLLY
3. Guatemala Bound Book ------------------------- MARY ANN
4. Beautiful Brown Eyed Girl Outfit ----------------- MELISSA
5. 1st $25 Kick Ass Bows Gift Certificate ---------- MICHELLE
6. 2nd $25 Kick Ass Bows Gift Certificate --------- KERRI
7. Tastefully Simple Gift Pack ---------------------- NANCY
8. Halloween Jumper By Stelluna Styles ------------ JANET
9. Women's M Guatemala Adoption T-Shirt -------- GLENDA
10. Cutie Patutuz Hat w/ Flower Bow --------------  JODI

If you bought tickets and you see your name up here e-mail me at karlton5@juno.com I need your info.  so that your prize can be mailed to you. Congratulations everyone!