Boy Pics!

Landon seriously wants to be a policeman someday. He's practicing walking our police dog Annie in this pic!
Man's Best Friend!

All Suited UP!

Thankful

Landon is thankful for God, our house, dad, mom, the lake, and our car (It's back from the shop!).
Logan is thankful for daddy, mommy, Landon, his puppy and his clothes and shoes.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Bargain Shopper Lady in The News!

They aired my interview in Boston the week before Thanksgiving!
You can watch it here !
They also sent it to Philly and redid it a little so you can watch that here too!
God gives the best gifts! Thank you Jesus for my interviews!

My Parents Came To Visit!

My parents came to Connecticut to visit us for a week! They found the cutest bed and breakfast on the lake where we live on so they stayed a mile away from us. The boys had a blast with grandma and Duke! My mom and I got to go shopping one day. (My dad got to see our beautiful place for the first time, my mom saw it when she came in August!)
My dad took my mom to an apple orchard on their way here from the airport because she's always wanted to pick apples. They brought us the best Cortland and Gala apples I have ever eaten! The boys were sad when they left but we found a great deal on plane tickets and we are going to take a trip to Houston to see them in January!

Scrambled Eggs Anyone?

My five year old convinced me that he could make scrambled eggs all by himself today. Dave was still home at this time and agreed that Landon should give it a try. I put Dave in complete supervision and headed to the shower. I didn't want to know if eggs were cracked all over the kitchen. My husband just stood and watched as my 5 year old cracked five eggs and put the shell in the trash bowl and then into the trash all by himself. He then scrambled the eggs until my husband said that they were done. When I got out of the shower, I found that Landon had done a completely perfect job. We all ate his eggs for breakfast and they were great!

Baby Noah!

I got to meet baby Noah for the first time at Lauren's house! We taped my interview at her house. Thanks for opening up your home Lauren! It was so great to see you!

What a cutie! The news lady's were seriously flirting with Noah! He is so excited in this picture!

Be Careful What You Pray For...You Could End Up On TV!

I had a friend who did an interview for her website a few weeks ago and I thought "That is so cool!" and I prayed "God if you ever want to do anything like that for my blog, please d0 so." I am not kidding when I say that less than an hour later, I had an email in my inbox from a news station in Boston who asked me if I would be willing to do a special on bargain shopping. (Thank you Jesus!) I sent Lauren a quick email to get the scoop on the size of the station since it would be a two hour drive. She wrote back and said it's a MAJOR station. The sweet lady and I email back and forth and we set a date to tape the special. (It's Friday at 11:00 ET time if you want to say a prayer for me!) I am very nervous and completely excited! I am ready and have almost all the props (latest bargains) and my outfit picked out. Check out my bargain blog for more updates on when the special will air. Since it's in Boston, I'll have to get Lauren to tape it for me!

I Wish My Pantry Looked Like...

THIS!

Oh it will someday!

Thanks to my new friend Tina for the inspiration! (All that stuff was ~almost free!)

Landon's 5th Birthday Party

Landon had a neat little party on the beach! He was so excited.

The pirates came and buried a treasure!

My Baby is Five Years Old!

Yes he is~ FIVE! WHAT? I have a five year old?

This Pic: Landon on his first day of preschool. He had to take a laptop bag or "sling" like daddy does.

Landon, you are an amazing little boy! I love that you love exploring in the outdoors. I love that you want to be just like your dad and play school and do your homework. I love that you love to play store because you get dragged around to shop with me with coupons all the time. I love how smart you are and it amazes me. I love it when you get along great with your brother and you make a fort or dig up worms for your worm farm. (The joy of little boys!) I love when you say "I love you!" randomly throughout the day! I love how happy you are when we take you to Harry's hamburgers, your favorite place to go eat. I love it when you say "Mom you are the best cook ever!" when I make your favorite meals and that is usually how I find out what your favorite meals are. I love holding you when you laugh and when you cry and I love making everything all right in your little world. I can't believe you are FIVE years old. I love you with all my heart.

We Don't Have A TV, I Am Serious!

What are your thoughts about the TV? Have they changed any if you are a parent?

When we moved to Connecticut we had the intention of buying a new TV. We sold our old one to a friend so we could buy a new one after we moved.

My husband then decided that maybe we should try to see how long we could go without a TV. We live in the country and he thought maybe we would all benefit without a TV. We did not watch the Olympics, we checked a few articles online but did not miss a wink of sleep.

I never watched much TV growing up, my parents didn't watch much either so it is fine with me. I was shocked that my husband was okay with it, you know how men need their TV's! I was up to the challenge and now it's been almost FIVE months since we have had a TV. The neatest part is with the boys. I can tell a huge difference with them. Their attention spans and love for the outdoors are so much greater now that we don't own a TV. We did get a new laptop about a month ago and the boys can watch movies on it if they want to. Thank goodness or I would never have time to clean! We are going to try to make it until January without a TV and then we will need to reevaluate because the next season of 24 will be showing.
And we all know that if Jack is back, it changes everything!

Landon and Logan's First Fishing Tournament

The boys had their first fishing tournament this summer. There were three trophy's for the little guys and somehow both of my boys ended up with one! Landon won a trophy for most fish caught and Logan won one for first fish caught! Landon could cast and reel the fish in by himself. Logan needed us to cast for him and then he would reel the fish in by himself. The video is of Landon catching a fish. It's pretty funny because we have to remind Landon to look around so he won't accidentally hook his brother. Then Logan gives him quite a scolding.

House Pictures!

1.Our little white cottage on the lake! 2.Our front yard views the most beautiful field! In this picture deer came right up to our driveway. 3.Our view of the lake from our street. 4.This last picture is from our main beach at our lake!

Girl Fun!

My mom came to visit me for a week while Dave went to Dallas to teach a class at DBU.
We had so much fun! The boys had VBS and they wanted to go a couple of days so we got to spend some of our time together shopping! We found so many great bargains!
My mom loved the cool weather. We had a few little rain showers and we had so much fun cuddling up and enjoying them with the boys. We were really sad to see her go home on Saturday but Landon had the hardest time! He loves his grandma! My dad sent a web cam so we are hoping to get it up and running so we can stay in touch until they come to visit again in October.

Cape Cod

My husband's parents invited us on a trip to Cape Cod! It was our first time to go!

We collected some very cool rocks and shells.

We stayed in an adorable cape house. We went to three different beaches. The boys had a blast. Our favorite part was a homemade ice cream shop called Cape Cod Creamery. I loved the vanilla cinnamon ice cream but their blueberry ice cream was a huge hit with the boys!

Pirates at The Beach!

We went to Long Beach Island for a week of fun and relaxation with the boys and their cousins! Dave had this great idea to have a pirate treasure hunt for all the kids. We got pirate party favors and candy and put them in a huge chest. Dave mapped out a plan and buried clues along the beach for the kids. Uncle Tom ran in to tell us that a pirate was sited out on the beach and the fun began! (My husband is in charge of planning Landon's next birthday party! He has some seriously creative party planning skills!)

"Hey Everyone, There Are Pirates Outside!"


Let's look for clues!


There's a clue here, Logan!


All the clues taped together made a huge key with a treasure map on the back!


We found the treasure! DIG! DIG!


Is There Treasure Inside?


"Wow the pirates knew each of our names and left everyone a bag of goodies!"

Pictures of The Boys!

Soccer Practice!




This reminds me of when Dave's soccer players used to say "All for Him!" here where Logan is giving God the glory for his soccer skills!

The boys in our garden!

Hi From Connecticut

We miss you in Texas! We made it to Connecticut! It's is really great to be here!
Dave is getting ready to start his phd in August. We went to register him last week. It was really exciting and I was so proud! His classes are fully funded and he will teach and coach to get free school. One of his classes is called Cadaver Anatomy, he has to dissect a cadaver to prepare it for the undergrads! He's excited about the class and I am very thankful that he is the one taking it and not me. I wouldn't be able to even walk through the door of that class. As Logan would say "EWE!"
I am doing great! I love living in the country and feel as though I was a misplaced city girl for my first 28 years. There's something about the beautiful quiet that makes it even easier to think about God.
Landon is so happy that he dances often. He loves living a 10th of a mile from our fishing cove and a half mile from our beach on our lake. He jumps off of a huge rock at the beach into a deep body of water and is as brave as other boys twice his age. (With a life jacket on.) He is in "boy heaven!"
Logan is doing great as well. He is saying all new words and is an intense fisherman. He has to reel the fish in all by himself. He still is as sweet as always and runs to give everyone hugs!

Saying Bye to DBU!

A little history: Dave and I met at DBU! Dave was getting his masters and I was getting my undergrad. He waited until I was a junior and then asked the president if he could take me out to dinner. (Since he was a coach.) I said "YES!"

We dated briefly and got married in August 2001!

We multiplied and to stay with the Granniss tradition of 100 years and continuing, we were blessed with two BOYS!

The Granniss Family

Landon age 4 and Logan age 2. Landon likes baseball (from mom) and Logan likes soccer (from Dad of course). Landon can hit the ball over the fence with a daddy pitch (no tee!) and Logan already holds onto the soccer ball and dribbles. We have high dreams for the boys! :)

Brotherly Love!

Closing this chapter in our lives to say "BYE DBU and FRIENDS!"

Our Black Labs

We love our black labs, Guinness and Annie.
My husband had Guinness before we got married. She's eight years old now. She used to sleep in his bed until I dethroned her after our honeymoon. Sorry Guinness!
We found out some sad new today. Guinness has cancer. I know Dave is pretty sad. I don't think we are going to tell the boys yet. We are going to give Guinness pain medication for now and see how she feels. Moving is already so emotional, today was a rough day. It really makes you just hold on to each other and be truly thankful for family and friends.
UPDATE: We just found out that Guinness does not have cancer! She was not healed, but she was misdiagnosed. So Praise the Lord!

God is Good!

We are moving to Connecticut in approx. two months and this is the first time it has really "hit me" that we are moving. I think I have been emotional all day because of it.
We are amazed at all the things God is doing to get us ready to move.
We put our house on the market three weeks ago. The first person to sign up to see the house (besides all of our friends and neighbors who knocked on our door and wanted to see it) put an offer on our house! This is seriously a God thing! I am so excited but part of me is a little sad. It's the first time I have realized that we won't be here two months from now.
The past month has been very busy. Logan broke his collar bone and it has now almost healed. He was trying to get a balloon and he fell. I have been sleeping with him every night. He turns over on his bone and cries and I turn him back over. It breaks my heart! He has slept well the past few nights and he has shown huge signs that his bone is better. We get an x-ray next week to make sure it is completely healed. He's our little trooper!
Landon is in a very fun age. He is really good at paying UNO and he beats me at the game (almost every time) I don't even have to let him win! Landon also loves to help out around the house and he started a great trend. When his laundry basket gets full, he dumps it into the washer and gets me to help him put the detergent in the load. He is so cute. He loves to be a big helper!
We should know a move date pretty soon! Our rent house has a contract and closes in two weeks. Our house has an offer! Our house in Connecticut that we will live in closes at the end of April. I'll keep you posted!
We also had an exciting thing happen! We won the lottery!
We probably will just donate all of the money after we buy a house.
Oh wait we don't play the lottery... so I guess that I should now say "April Fools!"

Happy 2nd Birthday Logan!

Today is Logan's second birthday! He is getting so big! He loves to pray before or in this case after he dug in to his meal.
He loves to be the comedian. He loves to make his big brother laugh!



He loves to clean and pick up after himself or his brother. (He gets that from my mom. Yes grandma, you!) He loves to cuddle. He loves to give kisses. He loves balloons, in fact we consider him to have OBD. Obsessive Balloon Disorder. For his birthday his favorite thing was A BALLOON. Forget the toys, there was a balloon at the house. We had a family party today instead of a big party this year. (Since we are selling our house and moving to Connecticut in June-ish.)
Happy 2nd Birthday Logan "Scooter" Granniss!
We love you!

Cast Off Pics!

I got my cast off! I giggled because it really tickled!Ewe! This is the dirty part and I like to point out dirty things.
I walked sidways and I made it to the wall without a cast!
I have been wanting to look in here, ever since we got in this room! I think I'll make a silly face since you caught me.

Logan and Family News

I taught Logan sign language and now he mostly chooses to sign to us instead of speaking. I knew he was going to be one of those children that one day just decided to up and speak for the fun of it. Well~ Today may have been that day! Logan who has only said about a dozen or so words in his life said his first sentence.
"MY DADDY!"
He just melted us!
Logan got his cast off! I have cute pics of him running around the doctors office sideways because it felt weird to him without the cast at first. He was so excited! Logan turns two this month!
We only made it eleven days without eating outside the home in January! I can't begin to tell you what an experience it was, it was hard at first. I think I had serious withdraw at day three, which kind of showed me how much of an abundance I or we have in America. I then broke my New Years Resolution because Carleigh and I were given our hubbies blessings to have a girls night and because Kathy Knight took me to lunch. There was no way I was confessing to either friend that I was going to need to miss those blessed events of rejuvenation without kids! I now love to cook though, especially baking! I have even been daydreaming about Williams Sonoma and all their fancy cooking gadgets! I am thinking I can get them with all the eat out money we are saving!
Some very exciting things are happening in our lives and you can read about them here and here on my bargain blog!

Four More Days Until...

Logan gets his cast off! Logan, 23 months old, has a cast and he gets it off in 4 days! Praise the Lord!
Logan and I fell on the ice while we were visiting Dave's family in Connecticut. He ended up cracking a bone is his leg and has had a cast for four weeks. I have never really thought about what it would be like to have a toddler in a cast before now. Logan does not seem to be in pain and is doing well with the cast. He has learned to catapult off it and he goes where he wants to very fast!
I think one thing that was God is teaching me is to slow down.
Logan can walk on his cast but he can't take a bath (he does not care for his sponge baths) :) and he has a little trouble sleeping. The good side of a cast is that he needs more cuddles and love, which I have enjoyed giving him.

It only took me one time to realize that when a child in diapers has a cast, any poopy diapers must be changed instantly. Because waiting five minutes to change the diaper can lead a mom to invent a coat hanger/ wipey contraption to dig the poop out (yes, of his cast!).
I dearly hope you weren't eating while reading this!
So that my friends is why, you may hear me rejoicing on Tuesday morning at 10 am when Logan gets his cast off!

Looking Back for Fun!

Carleigh and I got the kids together this morning. We decided to look at old pictures and threw this together.


Old Picture Details:
1) Carleigh and I dressed up in costumes for Sadie Hawkins. She is the girl from Austin Powers and I am a Barbie Cheerleader.
2)Carleigh and I are at a wedding.
3) Carleigh, myself, Kristi, Candace and Audrea are taking a break from playing Laser Tag.
4) Kasey, Carleigh and I at Texas Roadhouse (a long time ago) on my 21st birthday.
5) Audrea, Makiyo and Carleigh in their dorm room playing Nintendo.

Carleigh and I both joined 24 Hour Fitness and are using these pics to motivate us to work out more!

Our New Organic Smoothie Recipe

Landon and I have created a Smoothie Recipe and I wanted to share!

1/2 a large container Plain Yogurt
1/2 of a container of Strawberries
2 Bananas
Organic Apple Juice (to make it naturally sweet)
Ice

Mix them all together in a mixer except for the ice (add ice and mix again).

Another version for a more ice cream feel
1/2 a large container of Plain Yogurt
1/3 a bag of frozen Strawberries (unsweetened)
1/8 a bag of frozen blueberries (unsweetened)
Organic Apple Juice
You don't need ice because the berries are frozen!
Mix together!
We found a Vita Mixer at an estate sale for $10 and ordered a new top for it for $10. Saving us around $170! We love our Vita Mixer!

I am Taking A NEW YEARS CHALLEGE!

I am taking on a New Years Challenge to cook and eat at home for an entire month.
I've made it so far for three whole days! :) I have made Smoothies, Stew, Pasta and all kinds of dishes to keep me from wanting to spend money on food outside the house. I went grocery shopping last week and came home with the motherload of bargain groceries. My total was $175 and went down to $32 after coupons. I even got tons of Organic items.
Landon is starting to beg for a Sonic burrito so I am not sure if he is going to make it! I can get Sonic burritos with coupons for less than $1 so I hardly ever turn Landon down when he asks to go.
My deep question for the day is why is it so hard for me not to eat out? Let me explore that thought. Hubs grew up in the country and hardly ever ate out. I grew up in the city and ate out quite often. Well that explains it! I am spoiled to eating out.
Needless to say hubs is very excited about this challenge. I am up for it because I want to see how much money it will save us! I am even avoiding Starbucks (but I did buy those bottled Starbucks at the grocery store.) They'll have to do for $1.25 each!