Best Buds, Broken Toes, and More Bargains

Easter weekend, Andrea came to visit. James instantly had a new best bud. We took a little visit to the Smokies, to the zoo, and played outside a ton. We had a great time. Now almost daily Jamers hands me my phone and asks for "Andea."

If one family member visiting wasn't awesome enough, a couple of days later my dad came to visit. James instantly had another new best bud. We went to the zoo, the children's museum, and played outside, of course. James sobbed when his grandpa had to leave (good thing we flew out to Oklahoma this past weekend to see him again. I'll post about that later since I'm still waiting for someone to email me pictures!).

His grandpa bought him a new San Francisco Giants shirt, which he now wears a ton.

On Easter, Brian caught James trying to eat his entire basket full of chocolate eggs. Brian chased him around the house trying to get the eggs back and he cried and cried when Brian finally caught him and took it away.

Nothing digging in the dirt can't fix!

A couple weeks ago I was my typical clumsy self and broke my toe. It swelled up a ton and was purple and blue for days. Unfortunately, keeping a pinky toe protected is hard to do. It's too swollen to fit into a shoe and James (and other family members!) steps on it almost daily, causing it to reswell every time. Fun times!

Total change of subject . . . it has been hard for me to stick to a grocery budget. I like saving money, but I also love good food and I hate restrictions! But I've made myself do it and am finally starting to see big results. Last week I had my best grocery shopping trip ever. A lady in line behind me even applauded. I was kind of embarrassed but I saved a ton of money and got a ton of groceries. I spent $26 on nearly $140 worth of groceries, for a savings of over 80%. It included 16 cans of vegetables, 12 boxes of pasta, 4 cans of pasta sauce, 8 cans of soup, 8 bags of potato chips, 2 packs of razers, 2 packs of sponges, 4 boxes of granola bars, 4 tubs of butter, 2 packs of seasonings, 2 bags of rice, 2 bottles of salad dressing, a Glade candle, a pack of toilet paper (not shown) and a toothbrush.