Saturday, November 15, 2008

Halloween Happenings

I've never been a huge fan of Halloween, but, since I've had children, the holiday is definately more fun. After much contemplation, and trying to explain the whole concept of wearing a costume to a two year old, we decided to go ahead and buy a Buzz Lightyear outfit for Ezra. He loved it, at least right up until it was time to go out for Halloween. He wore it almost everyday for the two weeks leading up to the big day. He wore it to a Halloween party the week before Halloween. He wore it throughout the day on Halloween. He would ask repeatedly to "be Buzz." Then, it came time to put it on for the big shebang. There was weeping and wailing and nashing of teeth. Seriously. Although we had back up costumes that I bought for next to nothing at Old Navy ($3.25), Jesse and I both wanted him to wear the costume that came with a big price tag. No such luck. After forcing him in it, he fell to the floor, curled up in the fetal position and, with tears rolling down his face, cried, "I no wanna be Buzz. I no wanna be Buzz." Nice.

I relented and put him in the Ninja costume that matched Henry's. Then we loaded the kids up in the car and met my family at Lucilles for a yummy holiday dinner. On the way there Ezra and Henry fell asleep. Since I had anticipated this, and a forthcoming change of heart from a well rested two year old, I had brought the Buzz costume with us. After dinner Ezra was super excited to "be Buzz" and happily donned the costume. Then he wore it while we went trick or treating at my grandparent's houses and the Evan's.

I would like to say that I was met with better cooperation from my two month old, but no such luck. Henry screamed bloody murder when I put his ninja cap on. Being the cruel mother I am, Henry did not get out of wearing the cap during the trick or treating part of the evening and eventually learned to endure the cap.

Both boys seemed to enjoy the evening and I know that Ezra certainly ejoyed the time leading up to Halloween. Everytime Ezra put on Buzz wings, he would fly around. Many times while in costume, he would stop responding to "Ezra" and would only respond to "Buzz." I must say that I had a great time calling out "To Infinity and Beyond" and watching him fly around. Truthfully, it never got old.

I also had a fun time scoring some cheap, festive articles of clothing at Old Navy the weekend before Halloween. I actually bought a Halloween shirt (for $1) and got Henry and Ezra outfits to wear during the day (for $1 each). A good deal always sweetens my day. Unfortuately, we didn't hand out any candy, so the stash I bought to distribute has been sweetening my day a little too often the past couple of weeks. Luckily the candy bars I really like are now gone, so hopefully I can resume some sort of healthy diet. But who am I kidding? What kind of candy bars don't I really like?

I hope everyone else had an excellent Halloween and many happy candy days since!

Friday, October 24, 2008

Crazy Coupon Savings

A couple of weeks ago I attended a class on how to use coupons. I decided to give it a try. This week I ventured out on two shopping trips.

1. Kmart I bought two Max Factor Lip products and two Max Factor face products. Each item was orginally $8.99. I paid $0.00 for the four items. That's right - $0.00. "How?" you might ask. Kmart had a special on Max Factor makeup: buy one get one free. I had two buy one get one free coupons for Max Factor makeup. Somehow a BOGO free store special combined with a BOGO free coupon equals free!

2. Albertsons After careful planning using the knowledge and tools obtained in the coupon class I attended, I got this at Albertsons tonight:

I paid $44.69 and saved $114.81!!! That averages out to spending $0.86 an item!

If any one is interested in learning more, I am having a class this Monday at my house at 10:00am. I was totally skeptical after I went to the class, but the whole coupon thing totally works!

Here's the link to the blog of the instuctor:

http://shopsmartinvegas.blogspot.com/

Happy Shopping!

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Getting Caught Up

Things have been going well as settle into being a family of four plus one naughty puppy. Henry is super happy and gaining weight nicely. Ezra continues to keep me on my toes and make me laugh. Between the two of them, I haven't really had time to post anything, but I'm making up for it tonight! I love looking at other peoples pictures on their blogs, so here are a bunch of mine. Enjoy!

Two wonderful guys . . .

I have the sweetest, kindest, most wonderful Grandpa in the world. He is a perfect example of love and kindness. I absolutely adore these pictures of him with Henry. If all men were like my grandpa, there would be a lot more happy families! (And by the way, I can say the same thing about my own Daddy and my husband - I am certainly blessed)




Henry the Handsome

Henry is so much fun. He smiles a ton and is really laid back.



Ezra the Outdoorsman

Now that the weather is cooling off, Ezra loves to be outside. He could spend his whole day playing in a large open area out of doors. Playdate, anyone?

The best of cousins . . .

How cute are these kids?!?









The Californian P90X Arm Wrestling Champion . . .

For the past month and a half, Jesse has been working out and seriously gaining some muscle. Confident in his new found strength, he challanged one and all to an arm wrestling match. Once the gauntlet was thrown, Jesse bested his dad, his brother and Becca's good natured boyfriend. Only Becca, in a parody of Over the Top (count yourself lucky if you don't know what movie I'm referring to) could defeat him.

Fun Family Vacation!

Two weekends ago we packed up the kids and drove to San Diego for a fun visit with family. We left early in the morning and headed straight to Sea World where Jesse's mom and Dad met us for a few hours of fun. Spencer, Kim and the kids came to meet us too. Ezra was in heaven - Sea World and cousins!
Ezra was reved up and ready to go early in the morning. How can one not be ready for a drive when decked out head to toe in Cars paraphernalia?


The boys decided to sit in the splash zone during the Shamu show. Ezra couldn't have been happier when they got wet!

Ezra enjoying the rays with Uncle Spencer, Eric and Daniel

Later that night, Jesse and Spencer went lobster hunting.

Saturday we drove to Julian and went apple picking with Spencer and Kim and some of their friends. It was so much fun. The scenery was beautiful and the weather was perfectly cold. After apple picking, we had dinner in a fun little diner and bought a ton of pies.




We spent the weekend playing games, eating yummy food and having a great time with everyone. Ezra had so much fun playing with his cousins and we had so much fun talking and hanging out with everyone. We love all the Plumbs and Solanos!!!

Welcome Home Grandma and Grandpa!

Jesse's mom and dad just returned home from serving an 18 month mission in England! We are so glad to have them back in the states where we can visit them!

Here they are with baby Henry and cousin Melanie.
Ezra and Grandpa hanging out at Sea World.


Friday, September 19, 2008

3 Weeks Old

It has been three wonderful weeks since our sweet baby, Henry, was born. He's eating like a little piggie and has the chubby cheeks to prove it. At his doctors appointment today he weighed in at 10 lbs 5 oz - that's almost a pound heavier than he was last week! He is such an easy going little fellow. He eats well, sleeps well and loves to hear my off-key singing.


Yesterday, the three of us braved the mall. They two boys looked so cute in their double stoller, I had to capture the moment. Notice how cosmopolitan Ezra looks carrying his Starbucks hot chocolate. Besides for a the ear grabbing incident (Ezra had decided he was done shopping and yanked on Henry's ear) our solo shopping trip went quite smoothly. Here are a few pictures of Jesse and Henry, taken a few days after Henry was born. The last four were taken while Jesse was examining Henry's impressive arm span. The first picture was just too sweet not to post.



All in all, I would have to say I'm so blessed to have my three guys in my life!

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Henry Brigham Plumb has finally arrived!

After many months of waiting, Henry is here! He was born Friday, August 29th at 5:34 am. Everything went well and baby and mommy are doing great.
Stats:
8 lbs 15 oz
21 inches long