Rolling.......

I know I am partial but this kid of mine is HILARIOUS!!!!! She was on one last night and kept us laughing all night! She was sitting on the counter, as you can see blow, twirling her hair. I had my back to her and our conversation we something like this: Raylee: Kimerwee, I smart!, Me: Excuse me! What did you say?!, Raylee: with a little attitude and bugged eyes: KIMERWEE! I SMART!!!


I was so appalled she said that so we went outside where Billy was. I told her to repeat herself and she said it again! I asked Billy wonder where in the world she heard that from and he said. "I know, ME!" He went on to explain that on their way home last night the sun was just about to set and Raylee screamed, "Look Daddy, its smoke!" He said, No baby and she cut her off and said "its clouds" and he told her that she was right and was so smart! As if she didn't think she knew it all before now she has confirmation! YAY

After dinner I went out and got the mail to find that a dress that I ordered a couple of weeks ago came. I opened it and showed it to Raylee and expected the same dull response that I always get when I show her new close but didn't get it. She was so excited and had to try it on RIGHT then! I guess she really liked this dress! Of course every dress should be accessorized with a cell phone.......

So after I took her picture I let her twirl around in it for a minute and told her it was time to take it off. You would have thought I killed her best friend in front of her. She did NOT want to take it off! She hooted, hollered, stomped and cried. I ended up having to put it in the very top of her closet so that she couldn't get a chair to get it down. Five mins later she was still standing in her room crying wanting it so I did a little something to distract her from the dress. I climbed up in Billy's lap while he was sitting in the recliner, hugged him & smooching him on his cheeks where she could here me. She flew out of her room and ran over there and said, "you stop kissing MY daddy on his face!" So I did what any mother would do! I continued to "kiss him on his face." She stomped over to the fridge, ripped the flyswatter down off the side of it, stomped back and proceeded to slap me with it while yelling "Stop kissing my daddy on his face." All we could do was laugh until we about cried! when I normally do that she just yells get up! That's my daddy! But this time she knew that I was kissing HER daddy on his face and was able to verbalize it!

She is growing up WAY to fast!

Later that night as she had settled down and had fallen asleep we were talking about how she is in this "bad" stage but we will probably end up missing it because before to long we will be hearing how we ruined her life, or how we don't love her and how she hates us! I wonder if we can some how magically skip those years?????

Dollar General Run.....

So tonight I hit the Dollar General in Puckett. Don't judge! I have become quiet fond of the Dollar General. So fond that I went there earlier in the week to pick of the few grocery items that we needed for the rest of the week. I cant handle wal-mart anymore. I'm getting to old!

Before I went I checked our inventory to see what we needed & then I looked over my coupons to see what I had. I so felt like my great grandmother. Bless her little ole heart, I have a few childhood memories of going to the grocery store with her. She had this coupon organizer envelop and wouldn't buy an item if she didn't have a coupon for it. Seriously! One day she kept getting her coupons mixed up for items she already had in her buggy versus the coupons for items that she still needed to put in her buggy. She would take a couple of steps & stop, take a couple of steps & stop. With every stop she kept getting more & more frustrated! I finally asked if I took the coupons from her for the items that she already had in her basket and she yelled "NO, I will hold them" and snatched them out of my hand. Yes, she SNATCHED them out of my hand. She was a little pistol! Anyway, I got WAY of course there, but I planned the items out that I was going to get to help save time when I got in the store. It did help that I went ALONE so I didn't have to constantly say "No Raylee, Sit down, Please don't throw that out of the buggy"....etc..... I followed in the steps of my great grandmother and every item that I purchased I had a coupon for. If yall come over to my house and see little things wrapped up in paper towels & rubber bands please stage an intervention and FAST!!!!!

These are the items that I got.

It doesn't look like much until you start adding up what the regular prices are!

I had (2) $5 off a $25 purchase coupons that I had gotten from an earlier purchase in the week. To use both coupons I split the items up into 2 transactions so that each one totaled at leasat $25 .

Transaction #1

Crest Toothpaste $3.25 $1.00 coupon
Huggies Wipes $2.50 .75 coupon
Huggies Diapers $10.00 $3.00 coupon
Angel Soft Toilet Paper $6.50 .50 coupon
Frebreze Fabric Freshener $5.00 .75 coupon

$5.00 off $25 purchase

Total in products: $27.25

Total in coupons: $11.00

Total out of pocket: $16.25


Transaction #2

Clorox Wipes $2.50 .35 coupon
Clorox Toilet Cleaner $2.00 $1.50 coupon
Febreeze Spray $2.75 $1.00 coupon
Glad Trash Bags $5.00 .75 coupon
Tide w/Febreeze $6.00 $2.00 coupon
Cover Girl Eyeliner $3.50 $1.00 coupon
Cover Girl Mascara $4.75 $1.00 coupon

Total in products: $26.50

Total Amount in Coupons: $12.60

Total out of pocket: $13.90


Grand Total out of pocket: $30.15

Grand Total Saved: $23.60 That is a 44% SAVINGS!!!!!!

CVS Deal!

ok, first of all I made me up a little notebook that I organize and keep all of my coupons in. I cant tell you how many odd looks & stares I get from people in the stores, not to mention the jokes and laughs I get from my brother & husband, when they see me with my book. It is the only way I have found to keep them organized and not look like a fumbling idiot with coupons flying everywhere while in the store.

Billy use to make SO much fun of me until he realized how much money we were actually saving by doing it. He wasn't laughing last time I went grocery shopping & saved $40 off of my grocery bill and he sure wasn't laughing last night when I got TWO packs of pull ups & TWO packs of wipes for FREE!!! It takes time & patience, which most of the time I am short on, but in the end it pays off!!! In a weird kind of way it is like a game to me & finding the best deal & the lower price is like putting a puzzle together. Yeah I know, I'm weird!!!

Anyway, this is my binder

Yes folks, that is a calculator and it quiet handy!!

I went to hobby lobby & bought a huge pack of baseball trading cards to file my coupons in. I separated them & filed them according to different categories such as, frozen stuff, baby stuff, house hold items, hygiene items...etc. It is much easier to flip to the section of my book when I am in that section in the store to see what coupons I have.

This are my transactions that I did in the CVS:

Transaction #1

1 pack of Pull ups, on sale for $9.49

1 tub of wipes, $3.49

1 purchase for a Christmas present $14.99

Total: $29.93 (w/tax)

-$5 off $25 purchase CVS coupon (from scanning my CVS card in the front of the store)

-$3 off Huggies diapers CVS coupon that was mailed to me

-1.50 off Huggies wipes CVS coupon that was mailed to me

-$2.50 off Huggies diapers manufacture coupon I got off of the Internet

-$1.50 off Huggies wipes manufacture coupon I got off of the Internet

New total is: $14.47 + tax = $16.08 out of pocket

Savings of:$13.85

which means that the pull ups & wipes were FREE!!!!! All I had to pay for was the Christmas present, which I was going to have to buy anyway and it was on sale for $5 cheaper than walmart!!!!

I ended up doing the same thing for transaction #2. I got a CVS card in Billy's name so I get double the coupons.... Shhhh don't tell ;)

All in all I had a total savings of $27.70!!!

I wish I could afford to put all of the money that I save by price matching & using coupons in a separate banking account for a full year just to see how much I saved. Who knows, Maybe that will be my "new years resolution" and I can start it in January. We will have to see......

Halloween 2010

This year for Halloween we met Natalie, Steven and Abby in town to trick or treat. In the past couple of years we have been disappointed because a lot of people in neighborhoods do not participate in trick or treating but this year we finally found one that did!!!! I was so excited because as a child I always loved going from house to house and seeing all of the decorations and I was afraid that trick or treating was being faded out.

I was kind of worried about taking Raylee because she had not had a nap and we would be away from home, but she LOVED it!!! She had so much fun! She was telling the people trick or treat & thank you & even yelled "GO STATE" to a few. She really made mama proud!!!! Hopefully next year we will have just as much fun!!!

1st stop....Auntie A & Uncle Kyle's house!!!!!

Look at those pretty girls :)

Daddy's Lamb

Mommy FINALLY gets a picture with the princess

They must have been talking about me......

On the way to eat dinner and oh so tired! So tired that she sat there the ENTIRE meal with NO

meltdowns....... A MIRACLE.......

Leaving out of the neighborhood waving and screaming "HEY" to fellow trick or treaters like she is

Ms America......

Sweet Abby

Sooooo stinking cute!

Abby is normally shy but she and Raylee just clicked and

were instant BFF's

Mommies & their girls......

Barley making it but to independent to be held. She was almost

dragging her pumpkin and I asked several times if I could

hold it and she yelled, "NO"! Then Natalie asked and she let

her. Go figure....

Family picture! Supporting out Maroon & White!

Oh & one of the house we went to the people were watching the

STATE game & Raylee saw it & yelled "GO STATE"!

Getting "canny"

Two peas in a pod

The newest addition to the Reed family....

Billy & I have been talking for a while about getting Raylee a horse. She LOVES to be outside and LOVES any kind of animal! There are several 4-H programs out here and we want her to be involved in something positive to fill her time when she gets older. I know that she is only 2 yrs old but we wanted to get her a little horse to ride and play with to get her use to them and to learn the dynamics. They have little rodeos in Puckett & Mendenhall that we are going to put her in when she gets comfortable with him. They seem to be a lot like adult rodeos but Billy or I can walk out with her and lead the horse around the arena.

Since we kind of stumbled across him and were not fully prepared to have him at our house yet he is staying at my brothers, hopefully they wont get to attached to him! I cant wait to go out there this weekend and spend some time with him! We will start our fence this week and decide what kind of barn we are going to build. I am so excited and cant wait to get him home!! He is a 3 year old miniature horse and I just LOVE his color!!!!!

Meet Lil' Man

Raylee Meeting Lil Man for the 1st time

She LOVES him!!! I wish I was able to take more pictures than this but this was the one I was able to take because the flash startled him. Oh boy does he have a lot to learn!!!

She got to pet, feed & ride him. She is just smitten with him! She called him Lil' Man a few times but then started calling him "Lucy", not sure why but it has stuck! Now I have started calling him Lucy. The old owner texted me today and she even referred to him as Lucy. Hopefully Raylee will change her mind and call him something else!!!!

Why Raylee is an only child.....

At least once a week I get the question "when are yall going to have another baby?" I tell people that Raylee will probably be an only child because she is such a handful and they laugh. They cant believe some of the stories that I tell about Raylee, as if I make them up, but by accident I caught proof on camera!

Raylee was showing her brother, Bailey, a little sibling love....RIGHT??????

WRONG!!!!!

These poor dogs are the best dogs that we could ask for! They take a beating....daily.....and still love her to death and come back for more.

For that, we are blessed!!!!

Pumpkin Patch Track Record....

10/2008

Her 1st Pumpkin Patch Visit

As you can tell things didn't go to well. She was wearing the cuties little Halloween outfit that I had bought her. Right as we were getting ready to get on the hay ride to go get our pumpkins

she pooped and it went EVERYWHERE and she had to be changed. Everything went down hill from there!

10/2009

We went on a Sunday after church. We stopped and got us some lunch on the way & while we were eating she pooped and it was literally DRIPPING from her high chair. TMI, I know. Just my luck I didn't bring her an extra set of clothes so off to the Dollar General we went!!!

10/2010
I was so nervous about taking her to the pumpkin patch this year. On the way out the door I told Billy to make sure that he grab a COUPLE of extra outfits because of her track record! I guess all of my worrying paid off because she did GREAT!!!! She loved it and had such a good time!!!

There will be more pics to come!!!!

Self Determination

Ok, I am thinking that this should be a motivational poster for Self Determination!!

When she woke up this morning I picked her outfit out and went over to her changing table to get her dressed. When I tried to put the outfit on that I chose she said in her soft, kind little voice, "nnnoooooo!" I tried several more times and got the same result. We were running late, shocker I know, so I put her down on the floor and told her to go pick out what she wanted to wear and she choose this outfit. I put her on the changing table again, dressed her. Then I picked out the shoes she needed to wear and proceeded to put them on her and as I was doing so I heard the sweet, little soft "nnnooooooooo" come out of her mouth again. So, I put her back down and she ran over to where her shoes are kept and she came back with these. At this point I didn't even try to fight her because I knew it was a loosing battle! I also tried to put her hair up in a pony tail and got the same response! So, the end result is that she went to school looking like she fell out of a rag box and for once I DIDN'T care!!!!!

2010 Tadlock Family Reunion

We had the 2010 Tadlock Family Reunion today. This is the highlight of my grandmothers year. For as far back as I can remember she has always threatened us with our life if we didn't come. Every year everyone from each little group that makes up the Tadlocks get up in front of everyone and introduce their families and she always wanted everyone there so she could have the largest group...haha! Its the little things in life I guess. Here are some of the pics I captured, despite her not wanting to smile!

Morgan, Mamaw, Raylee, Madison, Louis, Bubba & Mama

Mamaw, Bubba, Mama & Louis
Mamaw, Bubba & Mama. It was almost impossible
to get a pic of the 3 of them all smiling &
looking at the camera! It was worse than
working with a group of kids!


Mamaw & Mrs. Beth, who is her caregiver during the day
while my parents work. She is our angel! She also
sat with my grandfather before he died.


Mamaw, Aunt Janice & Mamaw

Mamaw & Raylee

Ok, I know that I am partial, BUT, these next two are the

sweetest pictures I have EVER seen!

SOOOOOO Sweet!

Sassy & Classy

Wonder who they are talking about???

ok, check these two ladies out!!!! They are both 99 years old!

Look at them, they are checking everything out!

Mom & I made them corsages last night for being the oldest of the Tadlocks

still living. They LOVE all of that attention!

Mamaw & Mrs. Alford

So cute!!!

ok, yall didn't think we were gonna make it through the day

without a melt down did ya????

and NO she didn't fall! She flopped down,

started screaming & kicking her feet!

Everyone now knows why she is an only child!!!!

After this I walked away and let her cry. Gamma came to her rescue.

SUCKER!!!!!!

Raylee's 2nd Birthday Party

I know, I know, I know! Raylee's Birthday party was July 10th and I am just now posting pics of her party! Sorry! We have been kinda busy :)

We were supposed to have her party at the splash park in Puckett, however, due to her screaming and acting a fool every time we went I changed it! We ended up having it at our church, Puckett United Methodist Church. Her theme was cupcakes. I bought all of her little friends aprons and let them decorate the cupcakes before eating them! I was really nervous when I changed the party to the church because I had no idea what to do with them but everything worked out just fine! I knew that I would be busy and wouldn't have time to take pics so I hired a photographer to take them for me! It was WELL worth the money and I think she did a great job! She took tons of pictures and it was so hard to decide which ones to post! Enjoy!

In the sanctuary at our church

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this one!

I HAD to post this one! She was actually getting on to her.....look a little closer and you can see that she is trying not to bust out laughing......haha!

Raylee's boyfriend & future husband

Thanks Ethan!

She is really into her baby dolls these days

Yeah, she has her fair share of determination.....that's for sure!

another favorite of mine :)

Happy Birthday to ME!!!

My giant cupcakes that I made to match her theme

Helping her decorate her cupcakes

and yes, I made her cupcake stand and YES it matches the material of her outfit. Yall know me :)

All of her little friends & her refusing to sit with them to get a pic

Ethan, Morgan & Marleigh

I took her to get her very first pedicure the day before her party! She LOVED it!

the table at the entrance

Jim, Jackson, Billy & typical Raylee! Maybe she could sense they are Rebel fans???

Raylee & her BFF Braxtyn

Me & Raylee walking into her party

Raylee & her 99 year old great grandmother

Mother Hen Madison