Happy Hanukkah !?!?

Having been raised in a Christan family, I don't know much about Jewish traditions. To be honest the only time I really thought about it was when the radio played Adam Sandler's The Hanukkah Song on the radio. That may sound terribly ignorant of me, but it's the truth. It just wasn't on my radar.
Since becoming a parent I have become more aware, though CLEARY not as aware as our children! Our family really isn't exclusive to any religion... so you can imagine my surprise this morning when Bunny came running up to me in a panic saying that she had lost her menorah. I blinked a couple of times and realized that Sesame Street was playing a special for Hanukkah. A program called Shalom Sesame. Once my brain caught up to Bunny's quest.. I told her to go see if she could find it. She was ok with that and went back to watching her program. About 15 - 20 min later, after the show was over, she came up to tell me "Mommy. I think I want a cradle for Christmas." hmmm... " A cradle for a baby?" "No. A craaaaadle." *blink blink* "OH! A Dreidel!?!?! " Yep." *sigh* Hmmmm...
Suddenly I turned into Pooh Bear.. tapping the side of my head and saying "Think think think" I wasn't sure what to say.. so I told her that I would see what I could do. I have tried to print a coloring page, but the printer refuses to work. Her Aunt Tavia sent her an e-card with a dreidel game. She was thrilled. I guess we will hit up the library to learn more about Hanukkah.
One thing I can say about being a parent.. esp to our little Bunny Girl... is there is never a dull moment! She keeps me on my toes for SURE!! LOL
Anyway.. Happy Hanukkah to all of our Jewish friends.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

I am Thankful for so many things... My family, our friends, our two beautiful children... Flip Flop weather on Turkey Day, Blogger peeps.. Really there are WAY to many things to list. I really do live a charmed life.

Have a beautiful day!!! Enjoy your turkey coma, parades and football.

Muffin Tin Monday!!!

Granola, Fruit Bites, Cheese, Cin./Apple Cheerios, and raisins.

I have not even checked to see if there was a theme.. LOL Oops. April has been in a bit of a grazing faze over the past week, so I just threw this together. It's something that she can snack on.. I was just hoping she would eat.. but it seems to be a hit. :o)

I am super excited that I had a friend teach me the art of couponing. I use to not have enough food in my kitchen.. NOW I don't have enough kitchen for the food. LOL This isn't my best shopping trip... but I spent $34.67 and saved $68.34. Not bad for it being my second time ever going into a Harris Teeter. LOL

In just 2 months I have saved over $700 and I have a stockpile of food! I don't really need to buy anything but fresh produce and milk for a loooong time.

NOW to fix myself a cup of coffee, so I can use some of those yummy creamers that I got for next to nothing :o)

I'm Baaaaaack!

After being away from home for 2 weeks, we are home! YAY!!!
Once I get unpacked and get back to "normal" (HAHA.. Yeah. I know. That's a good one, right?) I will get caught up on our little blog. I have not left forever.. far from it. Just got a little overwhelmed with everything.

One thing I can say is that I have turned into one of those crazy coupon people. I am soooo not ashamed! I bust through the door with my purple binder and cut our bill at least in half. If you have ANY suggestions, let me know. I am still learning. I am open to any and all help. :o)

We did MTM today, but the camera is still packed and my phone doesn't seem to want to upload to FaceBook. LOL Oh well. Next week for sure.

Microwave Popcorn?

I am going to start posts that will help other families find cost cutting ideas.

It may save a little.. or it may save a lot. The key word is "save". :o)

So, here is my first (to my knowledge) Frugal to a Fault post. ENJOY! Please feel free to share if you have some ideas that I can try and share.

I recently came across a blog post (that of course I can't remember for the life of me right now) that showed me how to make your own microwave popcorn. I wanted to try it before posting.. It was not only MUCH cheaper, It was better tasting IMO.

1/4 cup of popcorn and a brown paper lunch bag, is really all you need. I added a little Parkay Spray for some buttery taste (and so it would help hold some salt better. LOL)
Fold top of the bag 2 or 3 times. A tight fold is best.

Bunny's snack today. Popcorn that she got to help make, Pirate's Booty, and fresh Strawberries. YUM!

I know.. I know... Before the emails start,

I have had a lot on my plate this past week... but I am back on and looking forward to getting back on schedule. :o)

• I have already posted about Bunny's cardiology appointment.
• I have started trying to do "extreme couponing" and so far I have had pretty good success. I will post about that once i get some pictures and have a better idea of what I'm doing.
• I have tried a couple of new recipes for home made Play-Dough and I will post that soon.
• Jon and I will be pretty busy over the next month. RUSH show in ATL, golf tournament in Norcross, Jon's high school reunion in Athens, GA... It looks like we will be busy little bees.

Stick with me folks! I got a little over my head when everything happened with April, but now I know better what's going on and I am getting back on track. :o)

My heart broke a little when.....

...I learned that April's heart was a little broken.

We went to the Cardiology appointment on 9/14. She was diagnosed with Bicuspid Aortic Valve with a leakage.

On the bright side.. her heart seems really strong and healthy otherwise. For now we are going to be visiting our new friends at Savannah Children's Heart Center once a year and just watching her for now. We are crossing our fingers that she doesn't have to have surgery... but even if she does it won't be any time soon. :o)

I know she will do great with everything. She's such an amazing little girl. I am nervous but positive about the future.

SMILE!!!! (MTM)

It make people wonder what you're up to!!! Happy Labor day everyone! I hope you had a fantastic weekend! We thought we would share a smile with you.

It's Muffin Tin Monday and there is no theme this week. We have not posted our MTMs the past few weeks.. busy busy busy!

We now know that Bunny's appointment the the Pediatric Cardiologist will be next Tues (9/14). Only 8 more days. I can make it that long.. right? I think I can.. I think I can.. I think I can...

Yard Sale for Bunny

If you are in the Bantley County/Waycross area.. feel free to drop by my Mom's house for a yard sale. We will have a TON of baby stuff, toys, household items...
At her annual visit we were informed that she needs to see a pediatric Cardiologist. All we know at this point is that her murmur has returned and is louder than the Dr is comfortable with and he is concerned about the location. He hears it stronger from her back. With Jon's family having a history of heart issues, you can imagine that we are not super excited to hear this. With our upcoming medical cost unknown... we are hoping that this will help.
Please feel free to send your friends over.. esp if they are expecting a boy! They will not be disappointed! :o)

Life Science Lesson

This happened a few weeks ago.. but I forgot that I had the picture on my camera until this morning. LOL

While the kids were playing in the pool I thought I would pull a few "weeds" To my surprise... the weeds were Acorn seedlings!!!!!!!!!

I showed them to Bunny. We talked about them how plants grow. I showed her how the "baby tree" was growing out of the little acorn. :o)

One is still covered in dirt.. the other was rinsed in the pool so we could see the roots better. :o)

Muffin Tin Monday - Bug's First MTM! YAY.

Once again it is time for Muffin Tin Monday. YAY!! Bunny and I took a trip to Sam's last night.. so we had PLENTY of fruit!

Bunny had : Strawberries, carrots and celery (with Ranch), green grapes, blueberries, hard boiled egg, and some apples slices. She didn't finish it.. but asked for more carrots about 10 min later. That's my Bunny!! LOL

Drum roll Please... BUG HAD HIS FIRST MTM TODAY!! I am so proud. It survived not getting worn as a hat! YAY! LOL

He had apple cubes, carrot and celery with a little ranch (he was not impressed), grapes, blueberries, PB&J, and strawberries.

Silly Girl!!!

This may be my favorite pic of the summer.

We have not had AC for over a week. The kids have been as nakie as I would allow. Much to Bug's dismay.. He was still required to wear a diaper. - One day last week I noticed that it was really quiet. I went into the playroom and this is what I found. What was my first reaction? "Awwwww!' Second reaction? Must. Find. CAMERA!! :o)

Check out what other Mommies are doing on MUFFIN TIN MONDAY!!!

Hey Ya'll :o)

Ok. I know, I know.. I've been a BAD blogger! Now that everything is looking up from our recent drama... No AC for over a week. (Don't ask. Long story. LOL) It's been so hard to care about our little blog when it's to hot to do anything but sit, watch movies and sweat! Thank goodness we had our little pool to dunk the littles in. :o)
One of my favorite blogs had a FANTASTIC give-away! (Well... several actually LOL) I can't pick one from the heard.. however, if you held a gun to my head, I might pick the I know-Rhino give-away. Then again.. I might might pick $90 CSN GC give-away or The Sock Fairy book/CD give-away or even the Le Baby Hair Gel give-away.
You never know.. you (or I) could be the one chosen at random for these items.
I am doing the happy dance because I know that tomorrow is MONDAY!!! ( I even busted out the sprinkler and cabbage patch for this happy dance! )How many people can say they have a reason to get excited for Mondays? Not the ones who have found Muffin Tin Monday.. that's for sho! :o)
To the new followers (and old) I promise to try to better now that our zoo is starting to find it's groove again :o)
HUGS & LOVE!!!

Words to live by: SMILE!!! It makes people wonder what you're up to! ~ My Nana wrote this on a post-it note and sent it to me during class my freshman year of High school. ( I still have the Post-it :o)

MTM - Toy Story / Birthday

In the spirit of continues celebration... We had a Toy Story breakfast. I had planned an AWOL MTM at the park.. but silly me didn't check weatherbug.com first. I had everything packed in the cooler so we could just grab and go when we woke and took Daddy to work. Step outside... RAIN! Blah. Ok.. no problem. We will just have a livingroom picnic when we get home :o)

Bunny had Strawberries, frozen Go-Gurt, grapes, peaches, and some Toy Story candy for later.

Logan isn't big on MTM yet.. If I fixed him one, her would just dump it on his head.. but he LOVES his Super Why.. so he and Super Why had grapes, strawberries, and grahm crackers.

Our Bunny turned THREE on the 24th.. but since I have been so very sick, we had her birthday party this past Saturday. She had a fantastic birthday and was surrounded by many of her favorite people.

Bunny.. Err Cinderella enjoying a cupcake for breakfast yesterday. :o)

Highway 21 Drive In

A friend inspired me to see if we had a local Drive In. (Thank You Bailey) She posted pictures of a trip that they made to one.. and I couldn't resist. To my surprise there was one in Beaufort, SC. It is a little bit a trek of about an hour for us.. but I can assure that will not keep up from going back.

The following is a review of the HWY 21 Drive In.. but also for the drive in experience all together.

A view from the "Cheap Seats"

My Nana has requested that I no longer use the word cheap to describe myself, so as a painfully frugal Mommy.. I was thrilled to find that is was FAR more affordable for a family to go to the Drive In.

The Prices were as follows:

$6 - adults

$2 - Children (5-12)

Free - Children 4 and under

Our Drive In has double features.. so you can see 2 movies. Yeah.. We were a little late getting home (2am) but it was a fair price to pay for quality entertainment and experience.

We got there early enough, found a parking spot, and we to hit up the concession stands. The owners and operators have to share the majority of ticket sales with the studios, so they depend on their concession sales to keep their doors open. Having said that... their prices were completely reasonable. They had everything from buckets of popcorn and sodas to funnel cakes to meals. We didn't have one we ate just before we went.. but I was told by several other patrons that the burgers were AWESOME. I guess I will have to see for myself next time. All in the name of honest reviews. :o)

The Haves

They had a playground for toddlers...

and popcorn...

a sand box...

and popcorn...

a 2 playgrounds for big kids in front of the main screen...

and did I mention that they had popcorn?

(The Bug was very impressed with it)

and balls and toys in "Toddler Town"...

and Yummmmmy. Skittles!! A rainbow of flavors....

and plenty of room for a family to stretch out, loosen the collar a bit and have some fun....

(Guess who came with us to see Toy Story3? )

a ceiling of stars, cool night breeze, and the feeling of community.

****************

Bunny was so excited!!! She met some new friends. They ran and played in front of screen #2 before the movie started.

Bug mostly hung out with us and watched the big kids play.

The HAVE Nots:

Inflated prices, or being trapped in close quarters with a bunch of strangers who don't understand the concept of personal space.

In closing.. We had a huge helping of family fun. We saw 2 movies that we both wanted to see, we talked to other people around us who not only go to the Drive In often, but many of them expressed how sad they would be if they didn't have one to go to.

I can say with great certainty that we will be going back! I look forward to it and urge you all to see if you have one in your area.

Muffin Tin Monday

We did our Patriotic Tin yesterday and it is in the previous post.

Today's "tin" was inspired by our super fun morning at the park :o)

PB&J Fish, cheese Whales, applesauce with raisin happy face, and frozen Go-Gurt I think there's something fishy about this lunch... :o)


We got to watch this friend catch fish. Bunny clapped and yelled "GOOD JOB BIRD!!!"

I swear... we should have named this child Constant Motion Robbins!!!

We went to the park today and met some new friends. This guy was crossing the road as we were leaving. I couldn't resist taking a picture

Happy 4th of JULY!!!

We are enjoying the amazing day with a tin..
Strawberries, Mini-Marshmallows, Blue Frozen Go-Gurt, and PB&J stars.
Thank You to our men an women in service who help secure our freedoms
that we all to often take for granted. Today is more than BBQ's and Fireworks.
To my friends... BE SAFE & WELL!!!
Check out what other Moms are doing for Muffin Tin Monday.

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HAHAHAHAHA!!! My Bunny just brought me her tin and asked for ice-cream.

Bunny:"I can have some ice-cream, Mommy. It's right there in the freezer. "

Me: "What kind do you want?"

Bunny: " Red. White. and Bwue"

Me: "We don't have any blue ice-cream Honey."

Bunny: "We can pwetend brown can be bwue"

Me: "Ummmm Sure." LOL

Silly Days...

Bunny is such a sweet little girl..

My sweet little Bug! He's 13 months now!

They WERE hugging. LOL
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Lunch from today.. ham and cheese star sammies, grapes and watermelon, pickle, and frozen Go-Gurt. I used some picks that I had left over from a baby shower for the sammies, and a umbrella left over from the same shower. (When I was preg with Bunny! LOL) The star we a wink and a nudge to Evangeline and the umbrella was suppose to be a parasol. (We were watching Princess and The Frog. :o)P Rather pink and princess(y) don't you think?

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This was a meal from the other night. Jon's Hamburger Rotini Casserole, baby pickles, strawberries, and apple sauce.
These pictures are brought to you by the word NANA.
I have managed to loose my camera and my Mom has loaned me hers until I find it. :o)

Monday Meals

If I've said it once I will say it a million times. "Muffin Tin Monday can become a way of life." This is not such a bad thing. That a wonderful, creative reason to look forward to "The Mondays"

My Mom came to visit this weekend. With our 40% Micheal's coupons.. we headed out to add to the MTM collection.We both had a coupon so one of us got the blue stars, and the other got the green flowers. Walmart had the football tins on clearance fro $4.50!! YAY! I thought they were so

cute but only bought one for Bug. THEN I thought I better have two, so my Mom got the other one.

THANK YOU MOM!!!!!!!!

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I'm not feeling very inspired today...

Dinosaur chicken nuggets w/ BBQ sauce, applesauce, and chips w/ queso
Strawberries, grapes, watermelon, and green eggs w/ham.

Yep.. She's mine!

We have a rule at our house that that you don't have to take a nap, but you do have to have "quiet time". During that time Bug takes his nap and Bunny and I cuddle, have one on one time, do arts and crafts...

Today I felt like crud and used my quiet time to close my eyes for 10 min. When I woke up I noticed that it was very quiet in the house. (Not usually a good sign.. right?) When I dosed off Bunny was watching Word World.. when I woke up she was, well.... reminding me that she is definitely MINE! LOL

She was quietly sitting with her "Bruce" / "Sharwk" and looking at a book of whales and sharks. Me: Hi Bunny. What are you doing? Bunny: Nofing. I just wooking at my sharks. Me: What kind of sharks did you find? Bunny: I found a Wemon Sharwk." *Points at a picture of a lemon shark.* Me: Awesome. Do you need anything? Bunny: Nope. I good. (HAHA! Yep.. she's mine. LMAO)

A few minutes later: Bunny: Mommy, Can I watch sharwks? Me: I don't know if they are on, Baby. *scan through to National Geographic Channel* sure enough Expedition Great White is on. (How does she know this? LOL) Me: Ok. Here are your sharks. Bunny: Thank You Mommy! *big smile* Can I have some popcorn?

(I had a video but couldn't get it to load.)

***NOTE- I drifted off on the other side of the couch. I never left the room that she was in. JIC anyone thought I would leave her to have full roam of the house. LOL ***

Muffin Tin Monday ~ It's WHAT time?!?!?!

I have been running around like a chicken today. Since BOTH of my beautiful children took a nap today, I lost all sense of time! LOL It suddenly dawned on me that Bug was getting super crabby and following more than normal. I look at the clock.. WHAT THE...

"How did it get to be so late? I'm so sorry! Who wants dinner?"

Wait! What's today? MONDAY!!! WooHoo!! I got this! Not only will I be saving Bunny and Bug from starvation, but her salvation will be served in a yellow muffin tin! LOL

Frozen Go-Gurt (extra bonus points for this), Apple/Cinnamon Nutri-Grain bar, red grapes filled to the brim, and a hot dog with mustard.

Hip Hip Hooray.. The Super Daddy saves the day...

We enjoy several PBS shows. Bunny LOVES her Dinosaur Train and Bug LOVES his Super Why!

I never even knew that they had toys for Super Why, so you can imagine my surprise when Jon called me on his lunch break to tell me that he had found a talking Super Why. Bug has never gotten attached to a toy, so I wanted to see his reaction before we got it. He smiled from ear to ear and started rocking back and forth.

Hmmm I think we have a winner.

After we got home and got him out of the package, Bug carried him everywhere! It was so sweet. He would smile so big every time Super why said something or played the theme song.

As you can tell.. Jon made an AWESOME find today!!! Good Job Daddy!!

School Supplies?

I recently made a list of things that I would want to have on hand for "school". I can always plan everything a few days in advance, but when you only have one car... it makes it hard to do last minute activities. I had to sit back and laugh at some of the things that ended up on our school supply list. Most of them were inspired by the blogs that I follow.
I never thought that I would want to keep cornstarch, food coloring, cookie cutters, buttons, and food flavoring on hand.
Do you have things in your craft or school box that you think look a little lost?

TRZ is on FaceBook

I have created a FaceBook page for The Robbins Zoo.

Just another way to kep up with my FB and Blogging peeps. :o)

Please feel free to look me up.. I hope you "like" my new page. LOL

Preschool @ HOME?!?!

My hubby and I have been talking/learning about, researching, and considering home school.
I had no idea that this would be such a hot topic with parents! It has driven a wedge between me and other Moms who I thought would never judge me. Esp for something like this.

As soon as I mentioned that we were looking into it I got sea of funny looks and silence followed by.. "WHAT!?!? Why would you want to do that?" This surprised me. I, myself, would never judge them for their choice of education. I never said anything as I sat and listened to them complain about their kids teachers, the cost of pre-school, the time they have to spend in carpool... I listened because I am a friend. But I felt attacked because I have considered something different. It hurt my feelings (A LOT), but I try to not let it get me down.

I had the same reaction from some family members. Since then, most of them have commented on how much research I have been doing. I find that pretty funny. This is such a huge undertaking! I would never just jump into this with out doing my homework first.

Luckily I also have some other friends who are not judging me. They offer support. What I need most. To those of you.. THANK YOU!! You have no idea how much it means to me!

IF we decide to home school. We want to use a secular curriculum. Do you have any idea how hard that is to find? Oh My GOSH!! That may be my biggest challenge. Though we still have a while before we really need to get to far into that. We can cross that bridge when we get to it. :o)

Now. Bunny is almost 3. While we have been doing projects, learning, and exploring over the past 2 1/2 years, it's almost time to amp up our "school". I am currently making a list of what I want to have on hand. Who knew food coloring would be on my school supply list! LOL

Thank You for reading. Please comment if you have a suggestion for our craft box, item for our list, or a blog to follow, or just want to offer support. Any and ALL support is welcome! LOL . (I don't know what I would do without my blogger friends. You ladies have some awesome ideas!)

You like me.. You reeally like me!

Who knew? Not me. Sadly it wasn't until someone sent me a "Congrats" comment, did I realized that I had been given an award. It made me smile :o)
Two Bears Farm gave me The Versatile Blogger Award.

So the rules of the award are this:1. Thank the person who gave you the award 2. Tell seven things about yourself3. Pass the award on to 15 other bloggers who you have recently discovered and who you think are fantastic!(in no particular order)4. Let them know you have awarded them the prize.


So in following the rules (Not something I'm always good at LOL)

Here are 7 things about me that you may or may not know.

1. I LOVE everything about the ocean. Especially SHARKS! I have way to much useless information stuck upstairs about sharks. During Shark Week on the Discovery Channel.. Forget it! I'm not leaving the house.
2. I am afraid of the water. Yeah.. I know. Silly right? It's my primary fascination.. and biggest fear at the same time. Maybe I just know to much about the things that live in there. LOL
3. I am a HUGE fan of my husband. He truly is my best friend. I think we make a great team and I will have no problem taking you down if you say anything bad about him.
4. I struggle with Fibromyalgia. Some days are better than others.. but even if it's a good day I have to choose my battles. I try very hard to stay positive, but good grief that's hard some days.
5. My beautiful little family gives me a new purpose. I adore them more that I could ever express.
6. I was married at Sunrise on Tybee Island Beach almost 5 years ago.
and last but not least...
7. The ladies that I have found through blogger land, have been a community that I have truly enjoyed! You may have a blog helping others learn about homeschooling, teaching others about new ways to spice up your meals (Muffin Tin Monday, Bentos,..) or you simply agree with me, that this adventure we call motherhood is AWESOME!, :o)

And Now... The Awards go to... *drum roll*

1.Two Bears Farm
2. Mama & Company
3. The Martin Zoo (Deserved but is a private blog, so I don't think you will be able to see it)
4. Muffin Tin Monday Blog
5. JDaniel's Mom
6. No Time For Flash Cards
7. Lunchbox Limbo
8. Sippy Cup Central
9. The Fantastic Five
10. The Crafty Crow
11. In The Kitchen With Audrey
12. What's For Lunch At Our House
13. Funny Days With Mommy and Maddie
14. Confessions Of A Homeschooler
15. Adventures Of A Flake
Now that I have listed a few of my favorites.. You ladies ROCK! Thank You for sharing ideas and tips with the rest of us. You make the blogger community ROCK!