Keith had the "day off" yesterday and spent his entire day out in the heat working on the yard. This man is filled with hard work and determination. He goes to work every day and comes home to work hard in the yard to get it looking beautiful! I don't give him enough praise for all the hard work he does for our family, but especially out in the yard. I despise yard work. So, I am beyond thankful for the work he puts into our yard to make it look the way it does. I will post some before and after pics in a later blog post.
Back to our holiday events.
Connor and I spent the afternoon shopping. Now, you know this is not an item on my hobby list. I am just not a fan of spending hours going from store to store only to find over-priced items that I refuse to buy regardless of how amazing it would look in my house. I stand there contemplating if I could make it myself, but then I'm brought back to reality when my child begins standing up in the cart (where he was safely buckled in just moments before) and reaching for items outside of the cart. Who am I kidding?! I don't have time to make anything. I then proceed to put it back on the shelf and put my child safely back in his buckled seat.
Yesterday, however, was a different experience. I thoroughly enjoyed my shopping experience. Only because I found some great deals! My mission for the day: patio cushions and pillows.
Connor and I began our journey at TJMaxx/Home Goods. I found an extended hose attachment for about $2 (clearance item) and one of those pretty side tables/garden stool for $40 (they retail for $80+). It is similar to the one below. I have had my eye on one of these tables for quite some time so you can imagine my excitement when I found for such a great price! I was beginning to feel hopeful about my shopping adventure.
Stop number two (and was initially going to be our last) was Lowe's. They had a few pillows, but none that I felt were worth the money were on sale. Feeling a bit defeated, we decided to make a trip to Target. I hit the jackpot!!
I went immediately to the back corner where I knew they had the outdoor items and clearance items. (Yes, I am that person that walks straight to the back of the store while diverting my eyes from all the retail items at the front). These are the items I found:
outdoor patio coffee table - retails for $114 and I got it on clearance for $34
Christmas lights - 6 boxes on clearance for $2.50/ea
2 large pillows for the back deck - $8/ea
And of course a few items from the dollar bins. I mean...who can really resist the dollar bins?! I managed to get out of there with all of this for $77!!! That is a steal for Target when I normally can't leave without spending more than $100!
I was feeling lucky and decided to make one more stop at Walmart. We made our way straight to the garden department without even entering the front doors where all the fun, tempting toys are for little boys (and girls). An extremely helpful employee greeted me while I was looking at cushions and did some price checking for me. All the cushions are 20% off! This is a great thing for me since I have a built in bench on my back deck that is 120" long; therefore, making it nearly impossible to find cushions that fit. After searching for a while and not finding anything that would work and then pricing out all the materials for me to make one (yeah right..remember the child in the cart scenario?), I had given up on a seat cushion and opted for just putting pillows on it to make it a little prettier. But, I found a couple cushions at Walmart that would fit almost perfectly and couldn't pass it up since they were 20% off. I also got a few cans of Cutter Bee and Wasp Spray that I only had to pay tax on. (Price - $1 with coupon on back of can for $1 off = pay tax only!). I got three seat cushions and three cans of the spray for $113!
Once I got home and shared all the great things I found with Keith, I realized that it was the first 4th of July that we weren't with family or friends doing all the festive things you normally do (lake, cook out, play games, etc). I was a little sad at this thought. We decided we would do our own thing and begin some new traditions for our little family.
We went downtown to watch the fireworks and fight the crowds. Connor loved watching all the fireworks and pretty lights :) I will leave you with a few pictures of our evening.
I was excited about eating a hot dog since our Insanity diet won't allow any of that delicious fair food
Connor was moving all the rocks onto our blanket. He must have been watching his daddy do this out in the yard.
Family photo (these self-photos never turn out good)
Disclaimer: These next photos were taken by Keith and he was playing with the settings on the camera. This is why the color looks funny.
Connor sharing his veggie straws with Mommy
Pulling EVERYTHING out of the stroller and throwing it onto the ground. We haven't quite learned how to put things back yet. We'll get there...I hope.
Connor and Daddy watching the fireworks
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