My Birthday: A Day of Free

On July 14th, I turned 32! In case you didn't know, I absolutely LOVE my birthday. It's my favorite day of the year. This year, I decided that I wanted to get a bunch of free stuff on my birthday. So I went to the Internet to look up all kinds of birthday freebies. Let me just say, there are a LOT.

We went to five places through out the day. First, Wes, Paxton, and I went to IHOP to get my free stack of pancakes (I had to sign up online and print out my coupon). Delicious. Then, we drove over to the Cupcake Company where you just need to show your ID and you get a free cupcake. It was closed. Damn. The third stop on our journey was Ruby Tuesday's (I had to sign up online and print our a coupon). The deal here was up to $9 worth of a burger and fries meal. There were about 5 choices of burgers to pick from, ranging in price from $8.99 to $12.99. I, of course, picked the $8.99 option. So, I paid $.55 for the burger. It was a bacon, pretzel bun, cheeseburger. This one was SOOOOO freaking good! We picked the twins up from school and went to Firehouse Subs that afternoon for my free medium sub (just show an ID and you get to pick ANY sub you want for 100% free). The last stop was at Arby's, where I signed up online and got a coupon for a free orange creamsicle milkshake.

The Whitehursts came over that evening for pizza, pie, and some slip n slide fun. It was an incredible day with some of my favorite people.

Fourth of July Weekend in MD: 2014

As is our usual tradition, we drove up to MD to visit the Milligans for the Fourth of July. It was our first long trip in Fancy (our new minivan). Paxton was comfortable.

My mom and Max couldn't make it (Max had to work and my mom was still recovering from her knee surgery), but Wes' mom, brother, brother's girlfriend (Courtney), and nephew (Grant) came over. Renee, David, Rachel, and Sarah were all there, too. We swam, talked, and ate lots of food.

I always love Fourth of July at the Milligan's house and this year was no different. It was a blast.

We slept at Steph and Tony's house that weekend. I spent Saturday morning with Steph doing 30-minute mini sessions (for Sweet Baby Photography) at a local park while Wes and his mom took the kids out to eat and to the park. 

That afternoon, we went to my mom and Max's house for a visit and dinner.

Sunday morning, we played a park near Steph and Tony's house before going to Carter's 5th birthday party, which was at a local bowling alley.

We drove home right after the party in Fancy, ate cereal for dinner on the back deck, and then went to the Arboretum for some much needed exploring time. Another jam-packed weekend on the books for the Rosier clan!

I'm So Fancy

In case you didn't get the reference, it's from an extremely popular song right now. It's the song I sing whenever I drive my new ride. Oh, you haven't heard it? We'll, here you go...

Yep, you read that right. We GOT A NEW MINIVAN! A 2014 Toyota Sienna to be exact. I've actually named my new baby, Fancy. And I love her. 

So why did we pick a Toyota Sienna? To be honest, Wes picked it. I told him that I wanted a van with 8 seats, rear AC, and one that was really big. This narrowed things down to the Sienna and the Honda Odyssey. We test drove, read safety reviews and consumer reports, and finally picked the Toyota Sienna, which happens to be the largest van on the market (and there was some major engine difference that persuaded Wes to pick the Sienna over the Odyssey). Then we started looking at a few different generations of the Sienna. Wes went and looked at lots of vans and then finally brought me to look at two: Fancy (a 2014 brand new Sienna) and a Sienna that was a few years old. It didn't take long for me to fall in love with her. She's just so damn fancy. And huge. I freaking love her.

Oh yeah, we traded in our 2004 Mazda Sport Wagon (tear) when we bought Fancy. It was a bit of a sad moment, but it was well worth it. 

Trying to Catch Up: The Rest of June

June was busy. If you've been reading, you know that we did lots of fun stuff during the first half of June, had a great Daddy's Day, Vivi got a haircut, we spent a busy Friday with the Whitehursts, and we re-did the back deck. Well, the rest of June was equally exciting and fun.

One day, we parked the van in the yard and let the kids draw all over it with chalk. They had a blast.

The kiddos and I painted rocks another day.

My good friend, Sharlene, took me out for a morning of pedicures and lunch! It was so great to catch up.

I got a haircut. Again.

The Whitehursts came over for dinner before we went to a car show where there was free face painting!

We went to a car show in Bridgewater one morning and had cupcakes when we got home.

And played in the dirt.

One Sunday, I took photos of the Whitehurst family and they watched our kids for a couple hours (and fed them lunch!) so that Wes and I could go out on a day date! We went to Outback.

Lastly, the twins had their five year-old, kindergarten check-up. Interestingly, Vivian is about a 1/2 inch taller than Gavin, but Gavin is about a pound heavier than Vivian. Go figure.

And that was June.

Back Deck Project

I've been wanting to re-do our back deck for about a year. Well, we finally did it.

Here's the BEFORE shot:

And here's the after shot (before Wes drilled a hole in the center for the umbrella):

And here's the after after shot (i.e. what it looks like now with the umbrella):

I'm in love. I decided on a picnic table instead of a traditional dining set because I wanted to be able to fit more than 6 people at dinner (and I didn't want to spend $600! Seriously, have you seen how expensive a nice dining set is these days?!!!). We've only eaten outside with one other family so far (for a total of four adults, three 5-yr-olds, a two-yr-old, and a baby) and there was more than enough room for more people. Love it!

We bought the picnic table from Lowes for $88 (already put together). Then, I bought a gallon of dark grey wood decking stain (for about $28, but I still have a TON of it left over for another project). It took three coats of stain to get this look. I found the rug on HomeDepot.com for only $80! It's an indoor/outdoor rug and seems super durable and easy to clean (we've just sprayed it with the hose). I also found the two chairs on HomeDepot.com for $120 (for the pair). The navy blue umbrella is from Ollie's and was only $40 (it's metal, cranks up, and can tilt). The potted plant was moved from the front porch. So, in total, the entire deck re-do (which probably isn't done- I'm thinking about getting a few brightly colored hanging lanterns and making a big outdoor chalkboard to hang on the brick wall for the kiddos) was only $356. Not too bad for a rug, umbrella, AND a dining set that sits upwards of 8-10 children and adults!

I even had enough dough left over (from our $400 budget) to get new dishes ($1/piece at Ross), tumblers ($5/ four piece at Walmart), and serve ware ($14 for four white serving bowls).

C'mon over!