A week of Halloween fun

On Monday we hosted a JCRMA Mom & Tots Halloween playdate at our home since Mountain Brook schools were closed.  We had such a fun time, and we were able to meet lots of new friends.  Evan was dressed as a Knight and Joel was a dragon, after ten minutes their costumes were half off!  We moms have such grand ideas of getting great photos of our tots in their costumes...hahaha.  Evan now wants to be a pirate just like, Liam.  He thinks pirates are so cool.
 

The next evening we were able to have dinner with the Snyders...Yippie!  We had awesome bbq at Moe's in Lakeshore (really close).  We sat outside under the stars, drank sweet tea, and ate fried green tomatoes in white vinegar sauce...very AL.  We love it when we get to hang with them.  They've been such great friends to us.  They have HUGE hearts...Love you guys.

So Friday rolls around...Each year the Birmingham Zoo has "Boo at the Zoo" running during the month of October, and each year the UAB Pediatric Dental program has a table set up there offer kids toothpaste and toothbrushes on their way out.  Matt took the opportunity for free admission and took Evan along to "Boo at the Zoo".  We were all going to go, but Joel awoke from his nap that afternoon with a fever due to a reoccuring ear infection.  Evan dressed up at a Thomas the Train conductor.  He had a blast, and after they finished working the table, Matt's classmates stuck around to walk the zoo with Evan.  They loved seeing his excitement.  Apparently there was an area where someone was dancing to Michael Jackson songs, and Evan joined right in, but no one got it on camera! 

my many hats, and no i'm not talking accessories!

Each and every day that I spend at home with my boys I realize that the role that I currently have as Stay At-Home mom is one of multiple roles.  Just getting out the door requires a well-orchestrated plan.  For example, One must have bags packed with needed essentials, like food and sippy cups.  Second, the kids must be feed before leaving, and then one must clean up the mess of lunch, the house, and the kids before I can struggle my way out the door with two under 4.  Basically, the more you are at home, the more messes you have to clean up!  If my kids were at school, and I was at work then their would be no one to make a mess through the day, and hence no one (myself, cause my role is also currently maid) needed to clean it up.  I'm wondering when I should APPLY for my next vacation...hahaha.  Seriously people, I'm exhausted.  I never thought I'd see the day where I dreamt of time at a job, and not a 4-star resort.

Weekly Savings

So, now that we are on a very TIGHT budget my focus is on saving my family some money each week on the groceries.  I hit Publix every Wednesday, since it's the first day of the sales here in Alabama, and the penny item day.  FYI, the Publix's out of Florida offer a penny item each week if you spend more than $10.00 on your bill.  The penny item is always a Publix brand item.  This week the penny item was a bag of candy corn, which is perfect for Halloween!

I'm going to post my weekly grocery bill at the end of every week to see how I did...it has become a game for me.  Oh, how what entertains me has changed since living on a TIGHT bugdet. 

My October 13th Publix grocery bill was....$105.68
and my savings was...$94.96

photos at the botanical gardens

We recently had our photos taken at the Birmingham's Botanical Gardens.  The grounds are simply stunning, and the best part is it's a free attraction!  We took advantage of Pipo and Mima's visit up here to have the photos done.  Visits from family is a perfect time to have photos taken together. 

Here is a link to the slideshow: http://aliciahale.myshowit.com/ticolafamily/index.html


To view all the pictures:
1. Go to http://www.aliciahalephotography.com/

2. Click on 'Clients' (at the bottom of the page)

3. Click on the gallery entitled 'Ticola Family'

4. The password is: botanicals (case sensitive)
 
Enjoy!

ahhh moment

so here we go...i just got back from a very engergized morning courtesy of the gym at our local ljcc! yes, people i actually worked out for 45 minutes while joel played in the nursery. i really hope that this momentum translates over to my laundry...hahaha. i'll try and tackle that next. this morning after dropping evan off at mmo we headed over to the mountainbrook library in crestline for a mother goose story time. holy cow this was one of the nicest libraries i've ever been in, and they even gave the kids snacks during storytime. i felt very grateful for being able to stay home with them during this time in their lives. as i looked around i saw several babies with their nannies, and thought that their mommies would probably love to being doing this too! after storytime joel and i took a stroll around crestline village, and we stopped at a vegetable market. there we were given yummy slices of apples to try. after that we headed to the gym. i really feel like i've got more energy this week because this past weekend we were visited by our best friends and family for evan's 3rd birthday. so many of them made trips up just to celebrate his big day. how blessed we are! i was overcome with emotion when i saw my friends all in our living room on saturday. i know it takes a lot to travel long distances with kids, and they'll never know how much good it did us to see them. as for evan's birthday, holy cow that kid got a lot of presents! thank you's going out to aunt wendy, uncle mark, aunt tootoo, uncle eric, manina, panino, mima, pipo, grandpa, grandma, aunt kaycee, uncle ruel, aunt heather, uncle stan, dino, the magdusians, the farahs, sister charity, and our neighbors the diaz family for all of evan's birthday presents. the week before evan's third birthday school started for him. it's amazing how much changes from 2 to 3 years old. he's given more responsibilities and tasks he's supposed to master. it has taken some getting used too, and realizing he's getting bigger. as he gets older i am finding new ways to occupy his time. the other night he was very fussy, and i had no idea what to make for their dinner, so we had all the ingredients on hand for english muffin pizzas. i remember making them at sleepovers in girl scouts. it was the perfect recipe for evan to help with. he stood on a chair next to me in the kitchen and played chef by spreading the cheese on the mini pizzas. he had so much fun knowing that he had made his own dinner. when it came time to eat it, he did of course! if anyone else has fun family friendly recipes i would love it if you'd share them.

¡olé!

we just returned from our trip to orlando with tia tata, tio miguel, and sofia. it meant the world to me to be able to spend time with them. we haven't seen each other in person since may of 2008, and it was the first time that they had met joel...the quiet man, as miguel named him. they provided the condo, all the food, and i provided the yukon xl to drive us all around. three kids and three adults, and we conquered the magic kingdom together without any major meltdowns! sofia and evan are two peas in a pod. it was the best to see them playing together. they would run around in circles chasing each other...around, and around. we were able to celebrate evan's 3rd birthday a little early with them, and with my parents who came down to orlando for the day. it was great to spend a couple of days with mima and pipo at wild waters, and for an afternoon at ormond beach. i was also able to escape for a bit while we were at their home for a mani pedi! once we got back up to birmingham we celebrated it again with our tia and tio from atlanta who came to pick up tata and miguel. it's a family tradition that we continue. growing up we always celebrated our birthdays together with a cake no matter when our birthdays were. i really believe that birthday celebrations are such an important time in a person's life when they should feel how much they are loved. saying goodbye to the duro beruvides family was really emotional for me. my family is very small, and tata and i grew up like sisters. i miss her terribly! i love the family she's made with miguel and i am so thankful to him for making her so happy. although matt wasn't able to go on the trip with us, he did get off the day they were here in birmingham. we took advantage of the time to take the kids to the mcwane science center downtown. that place had so much within it's four floors. we even got to touch sharks! we then had lunch at taziki's greek fare...yummo! i'm back to the grind today and feeling refreshed in spirit and mind to start daily life again. laundry, laundry, and more laundry. i'm taking evan to his 3 year well child visit today with dr. peters, and then i was able to schedule a late hair appointment which i'm very excited about at the homewood hairgroup, which my neighbor brittnie recommended. we are getting excited to see our friends, and family who will be making the trip for evan's birthday party on august 28th. i am starting to accept the fact that things won't be done with the house and that's ok. matt is just too busy working hard with his program. the house stuff needs to be the last thing on his list.

for more breathing room

Very in depth, and a great resource.
Non-toxic Home Care - Eartheasy.com Solutions for Sustainable Living

It is done...the photos that is!

Everyday I find a new box to open, and so the other day I finally got to the box with the cord for the camera.  The photos below are from June 10-July 26, 2010.  Within those dates we were in SC for two weeks, then we made our way to Montgomery, AL, and before we got there we stopped in Atlanta for a little break from the drive.  We spent a wonderful week in Montgomery, AL. with our friends the Snyders, who so graciously opened their doors to us while Matt moved us...poor guy! We've all come out of the this move a bit banged up. We've learned a lot about life, the people who care about us, and each other.

Never Pay for Household Cleansers Again

Below is a link to a great online article...
Never Pay for Household Cleansers Again

I am trying to make a conscience effort to used products that are healthier for my family, and at the same time more cost effective. I truly believe that the majority of cleaning products are too harsh to be using in our homes.  They negatively effect many parts of our bodies, and why not use things that can do the job without causing a diverse effect on ones health.  Often times the terms "organic" and "green" make me think the cost is going to be more, but it's not always like that.  If you don't want to make your own, or have the cash to just buy what you want, check out Fresh Market's website for coupons.
Please feel free to share your green cleaning tips and tricks under comments.

purple haze

holy cow!  i didn't realize that it has been a little over a month since i last posted, but when i think of the haze that i've been in since we left south carolina it's no surprise.  i am back...like any mother of two under three i am constantly running around, but it's funny, i never really feel like i'm getting anywhere.  being a daughter of two very high achievers has been rough.  i constantly hear them in my head telling me to clean up and don't stop...i'm running on fumes these days.  everywhere i turn around there is something to do.  matt gets frustrated cause there is always something that needs his man power to get done.
last night we had a nice dinner with our neighbors, the diaz family.  ever since they invited us over for a fourth of july bbq we've been able to do something with our kiddos weekly.  my sweet friend heather has already made the huge effort to come visit us for the day this past weekend.  we went to the splash pad in gardendale which is a 20 minute drive from our home.  i'm waiting for the refrigerator to get delivered in the next 30 minutes, and the washing machine repair man is coming this afternoon.  our washing machine has been trying to get fixed for the last two weeks.  i've gone to the laundry mat, and done wash n fold which got expensive fast!  i'm so ready to have a working washing machine again.  with a family of boys it's a must!  i've got a lot of photos to upload from the beginning of june, but alas i haven't found the box with the cord yet.  gotta run, but what's new...