Whata Weekend!!

So this weekend was supposed to be the ONLY weekend in June that we had nothing planned!!  Ahhh, it was going to be so relaxing full of resting, swimming, lounging....I couldn't wait, until I got this call about 4:00 on Friday afternoon:

Matt:  Hey I think we're going to start tearing out the driveway in the morning.
Me:  What??  Who, How....I'm not ready for this!!
Matt: I know that's why I called you so you could mentally prepare yourself (he knows how much I hate project mess)
Me: UGH, ok!

So I came home from work, excited that we were going to be able to go see Baby Mason then Matt's like I still feel sick....UGH (He wasn't sick he was still hungover.......) so we didn't go and I threw a fit and  Brody and I went to Waterloo to drop off my produce basket, got some Thai food on the way home and a Tropical Snow.  It was fun....just Brody and I sitting in the back of my car with the hatchback up!

Matt made up for his "sickness" and got up super early on Saturday to work on the pool before they started the driveway!!  =)  The jackhammering started about 8:00 and Mr. Brody was in 7th Heaven!!

It was pretty amazing....I have an awesome Father in Law!  It only took him about 20 mins to bust it all up then they cleared it away and started with some dirt work.

They really had a system going....after the rock was delivered then they up the dirt in that truck and it was hauled away!

Now don't think for a minute I was just hanging out in the AC taken pictures.....My mom came up for a bit and I was finishing cleaning the back so it would look like this:

Brody was hanging out with his future Uncle, it was cute to watch Brody "play" the Xbox with Nathan.  Nathan had the remote and Brody had the TV controller..... When it was lunch time I asked Nathan what he wanted to drink....tea, lemonade, water?  He chose water (strange for a 9yr old) so I'm like we also have Milk or Apple Juice.  His reply:  What percent?!?  I'm like...what??  What percent of Milk? 2...  OK I'll take Milk!!  So funny!

The driveway project ended like this:

and now we will wait until the concrete truck and finishers can come!  It'll be soooo nice when the project is done! 

So onto Sunday night.....the dishwasher wasn't draining, so when I woke up from my nap at 10:30p Matt was still working on it....not fun

  

Check out that old school flooring!!

This is how the weekend ended:
Matt: Well I guess we need to get a new dishwasher
Me: What....how am I supposed to do the dishes
Matt: By Hand
Me: What's that?!?!?!?

Operation Tommy #1

So we packaged up our 1st care package to send over to Tommy in Afghanistan!! We got a ton of stuff....not all of it fit, so we're going to have an ongoing care package bag of stuff so we can send something every month.  Matt found this great list online from a Marine who has served 2 deployments!  It was a great list to go by!

PERMISABLE ITEMS FOR MILITARY SUPPORT PACKAGES

Drinks:
" Instant Coffee
" Powdered Gatorade
" Plastic Jug to mix powdered drinks
" Powdered hot chocolate
" Kool-Aid, pre-sweetened
" Tea bags
" Country Time Lemonade Mix

Snacks:
" Tuna in the "fresh pouch"
" Crackers
" Easy Spray Cheese
" Slim Jim’s
" Triscuit and Ritz crackers are great
" Potted meat and crackers
" Plastic knives for spreading Plastic Spoons for eating
" Single servings of bagged chips - The small bags stay fresh longer
" Cookies
" Candy - M & M’s, hard candy - anything that won’t melt
" Little Debbie snack cakes
" Graham crackers
" Gobstoppers Jaw Breaker Candy
" Little Debbie Cakes
" Chocolate-dipped pretzels
" Pre-packaged brownies
" Licorice
" Bubble gum
" Snack mixes- Chex Mix, Gardetto’s
" Cashews, peanuts, etc
" Pretzels
" Rice Krispie Treats
" Goldfish crackers
" Applesauce, pudding or fruit cups with the pop-off lids
" Raisins and trail mix in several small Zip Lock bags for sharing

Non-Microwave Meals:
" Non-microwave meals have some hot meals listed that require access to boiling water - i.e. a coffee pot - most people do have access to one or to some sort of electricity or camp fire. You can send them a one cup coffee maker - they’re very small and worth it!
" Cup ’o Noodles soups (made with hot water)
" Dry cereal the small, individual serving boxes stay very fresh
" Bowl Appetite dinners (made with hot water)
" Instant oatmeal or grits (Made with hot water)
" Breakfast bars Granola, cereal and power bars
" Pop tarts
" I’ve discovered that there is an enormous number of different soup mixes available that they can just add hot water to.

Microwave/Campfire Meals:
" Campbell’s Chunky Soup - They have pop-top lids They’re perfect and they can even be eaten out of the can if the line at the microwave is just too long :)
" Pasta Anytime dinners
" Dinty Moore Dinners
" Kraft has a line of Mac & Cheese Dinners
" If you send more than one package a month
" Microwave Popcorn - Send quite a few of these, because it gets passed around
" Small Cup Microwave Dinners

Toiletries:
" Clorox Wipes
" Razors & Shaving Cream
" Foot Powder
" Shampoo, Conditioner & comb
" After Shave & Body Lotion
" Soap or Body Wash
" Mouth Wash
" Deodorant
"
Comfort Needs:
" Gel Insoles
" Foot powder
" T-shirts, underwear and socks MONTHLY-trust me, they’ll need them
" Sachets for their lockers to keep clothes smelling like home
" Glade Stick-Ups These are easy to hang in their racks
" Blanket from home
" A good sheet set
" A big fluffy towel
" An egg crate mattress pad Those racks are thin and not very comfortable
" Small bottle of Febreeze It helps to spray down the bedding once in a while
" Toilet paper
" A small battery operated fan
" Baby wipes are good for fast, easy clean-ups
" Eye drops
" Sneaker Balls--they’re like sachets for your shoes
Sundries & General Goods & Ideas:
" Board games-the ones they have made into key chains They’re small, light and just as fun as the full <myspace><myspace> size </myspace></myspace> versions
" Use your computer to print onto magnetic paper They can put these directly onto their racks
" Send favorite magazines
" Disposable cameras They can take pictures then mail them home for you to develop
" A Walkman with extra batteries
" With a CD burner, make a CD of favorite songs You can also make a cassette tape
" Always write letters, but in addition you might record your letters onto a tape (or onto the computer to make a CD)
" Send a few toys Slinky, sidewalk chalk, squirt guns, etc.
" Theme packages Make it all one color scheme with ribbon and confetti
" Send electronic games There are some little games that are about $10 each
" Make your own custom crossword puzzle!
" Use small baby food jars and fill them up with dirt from their backyard. You could also put sand from their favorite beach with a shell inside It’s oddly comforting
" Two words - Silly Putty. They love it and it considered a premium
" Use your computer graphics program to create a cool calendar with magnetic dots that they can use to mark important days (like homecoming!) and print on magnetic paper
" GameBoy Color (a handheld video game system) is $69 at most stores (although buying online with coupons you can get it for even less) and the games are $10-$30 each There are some great games, and the guys can trade when they get tired of playing
" Books on tape are nice, or for an avid reader send small paperback books that they can give away when they’re done That way they’re not having to store it
" If they’re gone over their birthday, send a birthday box with streamers, hats, noise makers, a birthday card, and a birthday cookie decorated with icing (refer to the Tips section on how to ship cookies!) Record yourself and the kids singing Happy Birthday and of course, decorate the outside of the box with birthday stickers :)
" Foam footballs and basketballs, the miniature <myspace><myspace> size </myspace></myspace>. These will get played with all the time by the whole platoon
" A Frisbee The flexible ones are best
" A hacky sack (a little bean bag for kicking around)
" I found a keychain version of the Super Soaker squirt guns it shoots 20ft away! They really work and they’d be great to take to work, since they fit in a pocket
" Very carefully open a box of Cracker Jacks and remove the prize Put your own prize in the box (use the prize somewhere else in your care package) Put in a little note or a bigger prize--maybe something personal that only your marine would understand Then carefully seal up the box so they don’t see that you’ve tampered with it Craft glue works best
" A small stack of Dixie cups
" A small battery operated light with a clip
" Dryer sheets, in a Zip Lock bag They can use them in their lockers to help things smell fresh, or they can rub them over their clothes before they go out It’s just a nice thing to have
" Send
" If they didn’t take one with them, send a cordless electric razor The best ones have the option of using them corded, in case the charge runs out It will make life so much easier
" Sun block
" A small sewing kit
" A stain remover stick (Shout makes a good stick)
" A stress ball
" CD/DVD disk cleaning kit, since the players and the disks will get a lot of use
" Stamps, paper and envelopes
" 5 padded mailing envelopes, just in case they need to send home
" Eyeglass cleaner wipes
" If you send store bought cookies like Oreos, something that cracks easy, take them out of their package and pack them loose in plain popped popcorn. The popcorn takes the shock of traveling and the cookies get there in great shape.
" I recommend sending packages Priority Mail It does help to get it there faster Priority mail will get it across country and into the hands of the FPO workers faster, and the FPO people respond quicker to Priority mail packages (maybe because they stand out more, who knows?) It’s also cheaper in a lot of cases
" Place anything that could spill (shampoo, cologne) inside a Zip Lock bag and then tape that bag to the inside of the box On the outside of the box, write "This Side Up" and even though it will never stay "that side up", it will help! Taping things to the side also helps to distribute the weight and keeps heavy things from crushing smaller or breakable items
" A good source of boxes is the post office. Visit www.USPS.com and order free boxes, labels and shipping tape and they will deliver it right to your door.
" When you send food of any kind, try to send a lot more than you think they’ll eat Most food gets shared and they may not get much if you only send a single serving
" This is the most important tip I have It takes a special skill to write a letter during deployment. Avoid writing phrases such as "Everything is falling apart and I can’t handle it without you" or "Everything is falling apart and I don’t need you any more to fix it for me" Either of these will cause your spouse, sibling or child terrible anxiety, and it’s dangerous for them and for anyone they work with also I know how hard it is, but I also know how important it is. No bad news, nothing upsetting. Considering what they are going through, it is nothing that cannot wait until they return home.

Here's all of stuff!!  We also sent a card with a family picture and an outline of Brody's hand!  

Stay Safe, Tommy-we love you!!!

CoUpOnS

Ok so every time that Extreme Couponing advertising, Matt's like I just don't understand why you don't do this?!?!  I'm like hello because I don't have time....it takes times, planning, (ugh) and Math!!!  But I have jumped  on the Target + Manufacture Coupons train and I love it!!  I always do it with Diapers (because I HATE wasting my $$ on them) SO this week I got a coupon book from Target so now I have to find Manufacture ones to match them!  =)  I looked yesterday and didn't have that much luck.....any of you have any inside?!?!?

Memorial Day Weekend

We had such a great holiday weekend!!!

Friday: notta, went to Wal Mart (Yippy)

Saturday: We had a wedding in the evening and one of Brody's favorite teachers from the old daycare was going to come watch him.  We got all jazzed up and headed to the city to the most amazing old Catholic Church....it was beautiful!  Then the reception was at the Botanical Gardens-super nice!  They also had a complete open bar and my drink of choice was vodka and ruby red grapefruit juice!  Yep (you guessed it) I had way too many of them! 

Sunday: We went boating with some of Matt's family and Brody got to have a sleep over and his Great Grandparents house.  We took Matt's 21 yr old cousin and he decided to keep up with her the whole day drinking (I still felt like crap from the night before so I was the DD)  It was a blast tho!!  Very rarely do I see Matt drunk (probably blc I'm drunk), so it was hilarious!!   It was one of the kind of drunks where he's was like take a picture....they are so cool with the sunlight shining though them....for the love of god they are yager bombs!!

Monday: Well since I'm 30 now I still felt a little hungover!  Matt felt A LOT hungover and couldn't eat anything.  We BBQ'd anyway, but didn't eat much!

Hello Again.....

.....I'm being a total Blog Slacker lately!  Sorry  Here's a of what's been going on in the Blind Household:

Pool:  We took that nasty cover off a few weeks ago, Matt scrubbed it down and we fill it up!!  Just to realize our pump had cracked!  wonderful. So Matt tried to fixed it, but it didn't hold and it was leaking like crazy.  So we had to order a new pump and waited and waited for it to come (I swear sometimes I don't think free shipping is all what it's cracked up to be)  In the mean time the weather got hot and the algae took off.....so on the Holiday weekend not only do we have a full pool that we can't relax in it's a SWAMP!  The pump finally came yesterday!

Locusts: Those little basters have taking over at our house....and I'm scared to death of them!  They are so noisy and they are all over our trees.  Anyone else have that problem with them this yea??

Grocery shopping:  I used to love going grocery shopping with Brody....he would be such a delight and we could wonder around aimlessly and he didn't mind.  Well......until he realized the grocery store had this:

OMG....I swore I would never push one!  But, on Saturday we went to the store and hopped in and was SO excited I couldn't make him get out.  He beeped the horn and waved to everyone-so sweet!  Until we had to leave.....let's just say I walked out with him literally kicking and screaming!  So we go again last night....I was smart about it (so I thought) I grabbed a cart in the lot and we went in with a cart.  It worked for about 2 mins then he saw them....thank god the deli worker gave him a piece of salami to take his mine off of it.   We're good (even tho he won't sit in the front he sat in the back) until we were checking out.  He saw a little girl get in one!!  The tears and the whining and the trying to jump out happened....I completed ignored him and walked out pushing the cart and carrying him.  Good Times!!