Texas--With Nana's Girls

If you haven't noticed I have been missing in action....

Saturday the girls and I flew out to Texas to take care of Nana's girls while Mom and Dad (Kristy and Chris) are at work for 6 weeks! This Nana is getting used to the routine of chasing after two little ones--a two year-old and a 9 month old now mobile little girls. Becca is earning credit for her child care class and is a pro at this toddler watching game. Detamara had no idea what to do and was afraid of the little ones. She has moved to retreiving a moving toddler and has even managed to handle a bottle!

Detamara is doing a great job dog sitting for Jesse and Leto and Becca's Morgan. She only got lost once walking the dogs and managed to make it back home all on her own.

Chris is taking up the role of playing Culinary Arts Teacher with Becca for her credit. Detamara joined in and they made Sweet Potatoes with rosemary and olive oil on the grill, with both Teriyaki and Barbeque Boneless Chicken on the Grill, with Steamed Fresh Brussell Sprouts brushed with Blue Cheese and an amazing Fresh Blackberry-Strawberry Fruit Cup with Whipped Cream Topping sprinkled with Brown Sugar. Chris had the girls cooking and totally engrossed with his lessons and Dinner was amazing!

Today I had the greatest birthday as I listened to little Kasja singing "Haapy Haappy Nana, Haappy Haappy Nana" several times today. This is a gift of a lifetime being able to spend this much time with Nana's girls.

I said I as bored, and then ....

For the last couple of months, I was bored. I should have kept my mouth quiet. You know the saying.. You should be careful what you ask for? Well... I haven't had time to blog or even bargain hunt or even garage sale...

Why the desserted blog?

• I Focused on Becca's schooling, IEP's, Documention, Filing Complaints ... all Becca and I both got was frustration.
• I was trying to save money, and my stockpile and freezers didn't require any shopping.
  
• We ran up and back and then up and back to head up to Minneapolis to hang out with the New Parents and baby Brody.
• I Found out that the girls and I get to spend 6 weeks playing Nana to Kasja and Mahala while Kristy and Chris are at work.
• I Finally figured out why I am so tired lately, my asthma was not letting me breathe, and now that the Prednisone kicked in today I have plenty of energy to pack and clean the house for Doc who will be staying home working and taking care of the animals.
• Everything I tried to do became complicated, and took ten times longer that it should have or required disaster control.
• We finished up our homestudy.
  
• I gave up junk food and I will get exercise and hopefully will lose 10 pounds from non-stop chasing a running toddler and a very fast creeper in the next 6 weeks.

I will post when I can and will be sharing our time with Nana's girls.

Auntie Becca

Proud Auntie Becca and Nephew Brody
Broderick Christopher Yurcek, aka...Paddles....Dinosaur

The Newest Member of the Family--Broderick Christopher Yurcek

The First Family Picture--Our Son Nathan now a Dad



Yesterday 4-11, we received a phone call from Nathan saying Stacey's water had broken and it time for us to head up to the Twin Cities for the impending arrival of Paddles. Nothing is never simple when it comes to a Yurcek, he had a mind of his own and flipped becoming breach.

We were in Rochester an hour and a half out of the Twin Cities when Nathan called, I pulled off the highway into the nearest parking lot, which appropriately was Target to get all the particulars.

Broderick Christopher Yurcek arrived at 5:12 pm 7 pounds 5 ounces, 21 1/2 inches long, 13 3/4 cm head (our kids always have big heads) and totally healthy.

As I was already at Target, I couldn't pass up on the opportunity to check it out. WITHOUT any coupons in hand I was in a Super Target. In the hurry to leave home, I forgot my coupon tote and binders!!!! I managed to still find some deals...

Then to the hospital to meet the newest Yurcek and

Nana's Girls

Monday Morning Back to Work and Traffic?

My sister teases me about our small town existence and I thought I would play along with this Monday morning post. I love living in our corner of Wisconsin, surrounded by the rolling hills and the hard working Amish whose committment to living simply and loving God is inspirational.

Garage Sale Season--My Find of the Week

Friday I headed out to the tiny community of Bloomington to hit up a couple of Good Friday garage sales. When most people think of Garage sales we seldom think "Brand New". Over the years I have found many new items with tags for a fraction of the price.

My find of the day: $2.00 (originally $19.99 on the tag)
This 60 x 104" New tablecloth from Target! With my cranberry and green theme and long table it will be put to use. I already have the the table runner, oval table cloth (the porch table) and a placemat from this set bought a couple of years ago from Christmas clearance.

Happy Easter--Ian Stopped by for Dinner and Shopping at Mom's Mini Superstore

Ian stopped by on his way home from visiting his brothers in Minneapolis for the long weekend. He and his work friend ride split gas and shared the long trip from Michigan to Minnesota. They stopped by for a Easter home cooked Turkey dinner and a break from driving. We got to spend two hours with our son. Thank you Ian for time with you.




















Before leaving, Ian stocked up in Mom's mini-superstore as each of the kids do when they make it home. One of my advantages of my being bored, double coupons, rolling rewards and being an avid couponer to help my grown kids who work extremely hard save some money and time.

Doc became the shopping cart and was all proud that his kids can go shopping at our house. These are also the first time any one has had any sneak peeks of Mom's Mini-Superstore.

Someday I will post real pictures of my stockroom in its entirety. Doc and I just were having a debate on how many bookcases and shelving units the room held. He thought 13, I said 20, but it is l9 including the big double sized wire rack full which holds oversized goods.

Kmart--Buy $25 in P&G Products, Get $10 Prepaid Mastercard by Mail

Beginning Sunday 4-4, buy $25.00 worth of Proctor and Gamble Products and Get a $10.00 Prepaid Master Card.

With Double coupons and my store doubling and the Proctor and Gamble insert in our local paper from Thursday I will have fun with this one.

If your Kmart is doubling for Kmart Rewards Members, limit 5 coupons per day, one of a kind.

Spring Daffodils. Have a Blessed Easter Weekend.

Have a Blessed Easter from Our Family to Yours.
Anny

These Daffodils were so beautiful. We took this picture in home school photography class today while we were out exploring the rolling hills of SW Wisconsin.

Wooden Swingsets--Save Money and Build Memories

With the onset of Spring weather, its time to get the kids outside. Becca, Detamara with adult help and supervision picked out this massive swingset project for their home/school construction project. We posted on the blog working on our project. But had never posted the conclusion as it was just beginning snowing as we finished up. Pictures of the project are posted here.

If you noticed we also have a Little Tikes Commercial Play system bought for $700. We have to install its curved slide this weekend. Our yard is a kid magnet and Detamara was found doing her schoolwork in the tower the other day enjoying spring or Becca can be found training her dogs on their massive agility course. It is a riot to see tiny Morgan sliding on command!

To buy a pre-built set would cost major money and would not have as many activities as this kit we found at Menards from Playstar Inc.. The instructions on our kit were very easy to follow, and with spreading out the work over a couple of weeks, it was not too overwhelming for the girls and I to do mostly ourselves. But when we needed instructions or muscles, Doc (Dad) was out there helping us learn.

Of course the project was not just the kit, it added an extra swing bar to add "bigger swings and activities" and we found a "bargain" tic-tac-toe board which we had to figure out how to implement into the side wall of the smaller tower.

Total Cost $2300.00 and hours of family building memories time. Savings... we guess about $2000+ or more than a larger Rainbow Play System Set. When we started looking, we had the amount in the budget for buying a Small Rainbow set or less. With Becca any project has to be big and she wanted to show the schools that she is capable with help.



















The Smaller Swing Bar and Tower for the younger set. This is where the girls put their prized bargain Tic-Tac-Toe game. Under the tower because we were on a hill, we had to add an extra 2-6 to the sandbox and a wooden floor to hold the sand in.



















The Larger Tower and the Monkey Rings, and Big Slide. (we still have to finish the base support.) We decided to add a wooden floor under the Big Tower to have a floor under the picnic table.



















We added an extra taller swing bar with the extra space, a commercial baby swing, commercial Toddler 1/2 bucket swing, a Buoy Ball and one more swing (we need to get longer chains as the bar is higher than we predicted.

We have just a couple of small things to finish up and two major steps. Staining and sealing the set and putting in landscape timbers with a load of wood chips for cushion under the structure.

Autism Awareness Day-Becca Reminds You to Wear Blue

Becca and I were watching the Early Show this morning and they were talking about Autism. They talking with a Mom who has been advocating for their child for a decade, when Becca touted that you've been advocating for me for two decades. Thank you Mom. No Thank you Becca for teaching me.

Becca has both Noonan Syndrome and autism spectrum disorder and reminds everyone to wear blue to raise awareness on Autism. Heading to my facebook, I discovered that Matt, Becca's brother to wear blue.

PS: Becca may not appreciate me with this goofy face picture, but I chose it to show that she has learned to have fun and not always be so serious. Becca and her pack...Milo and Morgan.