Mommy Makeover Day

It was Mommy Makeover Day at Avery's school. I went into this not having the first idea what this would bring, but SURE that Avery wanted me there. I made arrangements to be gone from work and headed out. The event was from 1:30-2:00 which is funny to me because it takes me 50 minutes to drive there - 30 minutes for the makeover - and 50 minutes back to work. Nevertheless, I laughed and went. Avery was so excited that I was going to get to come.

As I pulled into Avery's school, I was amazed at the number of cars. I love that his school has a high percentage of parent participation. They are able to do some cool things with the kids because of this. As a working mom (and dad, for that matter), we don't get to do EVERYTHING we'd like to do at the school. We have to pick and choose the events that we attend. For example, today is Field Day. We can't do it ... Friday, is "Ranger Science" - we can't do that either. Not this time. But a week from Friday is Popsicles with Pop. Don will be there. Events with a specific parent focus, we never miss.

I got my visitor sticker and headed to Avery's classroom. He was SO happy to see me. He is so proud of his classroom and his area. He's always eager to show me all of the things he's done. On each table, there was a platter filled with lotions, barettes, hair-ties, mirrors ... all the things you need to be beautiful. We were told to bring our own make-up, so I had my full bag with me!

Avery started by brushing my hair. He was so gentle. He talked about how his combing made my hair look very pretty.


Next, he rubbed lotion on my arms.


After that, he put make-up on me. He did amazingly well. I, being the adventurous mom that I am, even let Avery attempt to put mascara on me. He got all but one big glob on my eyelashes. No one could believe that I was brave enough to let him even try to put a stick near my eye!

After the make-up it was time for hair accessories, Avery loved putting the accessories in. I left with a scrunchie in the back of my hair, a head band, and 4 barrettes.



As the picture above was taken, he was giving me a shoulder massage. Avery is my compassionate child, he loves doing things for other people. Look at how proud he is rubbing my shoulders. Can't you just see it on his face? Ohhhhhh ... he's such a sweetheart.

The day ended with a song about Mother's from the whole class.


We love mothers, we love mothers,
Yes, we do! Yes, we do!
Mother's are for hugging,
and they are for kissing.
We love moms!
We love moms!

There was one child who didn't have a mom come to Mommy Makeover. My heart broke for him. He was so incredibly sad. A teacher from another class came in and asked him to make her over, but you could tell he really didn't want too. I felt so bad for him.

We have really tried to let Avery know "why" we can't come to everything, but if it is a special event just for Mom's and Dad's - you better believe we'll be there.

I had such a good time with "just" Avery. Rarely do we get time to ourselves. He was so proud of how he had done me up. I was amazed at the mom's who ran to the bathroom to wash everything off, or quickly took out their clips as they ran out the door.

Not me. I came back to work just like I was. Didn't change a thing. Not even the glob of mascara on my face. Because in the life of one 5 year old boy today, I was the most beautiful mom in the world.

A Day In Our Life

I did a video for the Mommy Madness site about everywhere our car goes in a typical day.

I'm worn out just thinking about it!

A Day In Our Life from Stephanie Click on Vimeo.

(If you can't see the video, click here for the parent site.)

Chevy Traverse FAQ

It seems like everyone I meet is asking questions about the Traverse. I LOVE answering them - it’s been so fun to drive this car and find something new every day.

Many of the moms have answered this one already, but I’ll add my two cents for what it’s worth -
Question 1: “Does the Traverse fit in your garage?”
Answer: Truthfully, our garage is so packed with stuff, a snake would be hard pressed to slither inside. We’ve moved two times in three years - we’ve got boxes and furniture galore in there. However, if all of that was cleared away, then yes - it would fit. However, two of them would not.

Question 2: “What’s your favorite feature on the Traverse?
Answer: Hands down the reverse camera. It beeps when you get too close to something, AND it has lights that let you know exactly how close you really are! A yellow light, then a red light, then a double red light when you’ve really gone far enough!!!

Question 3: “How does it drive?”
Answer: I’ve had a minivan before and to me it handles like a mini-van, but drives like a car. Does that make sense? I feel in control all the time, yet I love the feeling of being above the road.

Question 4: “How’s it been doing in the rain?
Answer: It’s been a dream! The windshield is not huge, so the wipers get off a good deal of the rain. On my model, there is a wiper on the back windshield as well. That really helps since the Traverse if longer than what I’m used too.

Question 5: “Is it too big for a family of 4?”
Answer: I don’t think so. We have really enjoyed having the extra space. All of our family lives out of town, so whenever anyone visits - we always have to go places in two cars. (Pain.) It’s been nice to be able to fit people other than ourselves in the vehicle, AS WELL AS the stuff that we always have to take with us.

Question 6: “Would you suggest the captains seats or the bench seat for the second row?
Answer: It’s just a matter of opinion really, but if I were purchasing this car for me and my family situation - I would go with captain seats. I think the kids, as they get older, would enjoy that freedom a little more.

Question 7: “Do you think the Traverse is worth the price?”
Answer: Absolutely. It’s been an excellent car, and with even the standard features, I think it’s a great vehicle. I wouldn’t baulk at anyone shelling out the money for it.

Question 8: “Are you buying the car when the promotion’s over?”
Answer: TBD :)

Grocery Game

Lots of people are asking me about The Grocery Game. Here's a link directly to a post I wrote about it!

Good luck - and please use me as a referral :) stephanie@sassysaving.com

Grocery Game Link

First Trip To the Dentist

I put off taking the kids to the dentist for too long. I'm not really sure why. I carry dental insurance for each child ... I guess it's really just been "out of sight, out of mind".

Yesterday, the kids had their first visit to the Pediatric Dentist. They were a little apprehensive, but came away THRILLED and excited about all the cool things that they got to do while they were there.

I was amazed at the terminology that they used with the kids to get them to do what they needed. For example, when they want to suck the water out of your mouth with the hose, they told the kids to kiss the hose. Genius. It allowed them to get all the water out while getting the kids mouths positioned exactly where they needed it!

By the way, I'm starting an orthodontic fund for Piper today. $10 a paycheck from here on out. Piper's head is too small to accommodate her permanent teeth, so unless she has a tremendous growth spurt - she's going to need braces by the 3rd grade. I had M-A-J-O-R teeth problems ... I wore braces into college and had 6 extra teeth extracted by an oral surgeon when I was still in elementary school - not counting having my wisdom teeth out! I'm hoping she doesn't have near the troubles that I had. I'm REALLY praying that one set of sassy pink braces will fix her right up!

Avery, on the other hand, has dental textbook teeth. Permanent teeth coming in exactly where they should. Why is it always the boys that get the beautiful teeth and long eyelashes?

Here's a little slide show from yesterday to enjoy.

Barnyard Praise TONIGHT!

Tonight is the closing program for the WAM Jr. program at Second Baptist Church. This is Avery's second year to be involved. Since February, Piper has been involved and I joined as a "helper".

Avery has the opening line of the program ... too cute. I'm hoping he doesn't clam up, although he's becoming less shy. I'm sure he'll be fine. The Kindergarten kids are dressing as farmers.

Piper will be on the front row. (A definite advantage to being short!) Her class will be costumed as horses. I may just die at the "preciousness". She'll think she's the coolest horse that's ever lived.

Videos and pictures will be posted! Wish us luck :)

Spring 2009 Garage Sale

Last Saturday, April 25, was the designated Garage Sale day for our neighborhood. If you live in a Master Planned Community, then you are probably familiar with the fact that everyone has to have their sale on the same day regardless of whether or not you’re finished going through all of your closets!

With that said, it’s probably better for me that they just tell us what day to drag things out and sell them to the lowest bidder (what it seems like anyway!)

This year, I warned my husband that this was an “everything must go sale”. I warned the kids that if they got too far out on the driveway and someone offered a price - they might go too! I was serious about this garage sale.

This comes from the fact that twice a year since we moved to Houston in May of 2006, I have dragged - what seems like - the same stuff out everytime. And, my husband has put back most of this same stuff … every.single.time.

I was done with the dragging back in part. I was done with hearing the gasps of disbelief when the neighbors see our garage door open. I wondered if we would EVER know how it feels to park a small car in the garage - much less the Traverse.

At 6:00 AM, we opened the “Click Family Garage Sale”. It was a slow start, but it picked up around 9:00 AM. I sold things marked at $60 for $20 just to get rid of it. I sold bags of childrens clothes marked at $2 for 50-cents. I put FREE on an old couch that was still there when we were ready to be done.

We finished the day well, but we still had a lot of stuff left.

Around 11:30, Don and I looked at what was left and decided that there was nothing left on our driveway that we were emotionally attached too. With that, we put down the second and third rows on the Traverse and started loading EVERYTHING into the vehicle.

We had that thing full to the brim. What would have taken us at least three or four trips in our regular cars was an absolute breeze in the Traverse. One trip.

We took our things to Katy Christian Ministries in Katy. (If you are in Sugar Land, let me recommend Second Mile Ministries.) My husband said that the man unloading our things took several of our boxes right to the sale table, and before Don left - a box full of pots and pans was already sold.

I’m glad that someone else can get use out of our things. I hope that our things all find happy homes and make life easier for another family.