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Time to start thinking about vacation next summer? Dinosaur National Park

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Having a large family we don’t take many expensive vacations. Not saying that I wouldn’t like to, it’s just not very economical for us! By the time we put 8 of us on a plane, rent a car, rent 2 hotel rooms, plus eating out and admissions to places, we could have bought a small island somewhere!

Just about every vacation we take right now involves camping and driving to the destination. Which is fine with me, I love to camp and so do the kids.

But right now is the time to start making reservations to some camp grounds. Many start booking 11 months out. Our favorite park, Garner state park in Texas, books solid within hours each day they release camp sites 11 months away. We already have our sites for next July.

But all is not lost if you decide to go last minute and don’t have reservations. Last year we wanted to go to Dinosaur State Park, up by Dallas and didn’t have a camp site booked. We were unable to stay in the park ( they also fill up FAST) but we did find a private campground outside the park. These are usually more expensive, and you will have to pay the park fee every day on top of that, but you have to suck it up if you didn’t make reservations a year away!

Like the dino footprint?!

The camp ground had these adorable little cabins that we rented spur of the moment. They were quite a bit more expensive but my little one had just gotten out of the hospital with asthma problems and I was exhausted. So the extra money was worth it to me, not so much the husband, but hey, I was the one up all night nursing 🙂

The insides were a little 70’s, flash back to my friends basements when I was a kid, but we had a blast.

My children who are used to camping were in heaven! They thought the little cabins were the coolest trip ever! We brought all the bikes because we had room with no extra camping gear which was a great choice. We rocked as parents for the weekend….

If you are thinking about camping next summer, you might want to see if you can make reservations now. If you would like some personal reviews on parks in Texas we have been to most of them, just shoot me an email!

I personally use Reserve America for almost all my reservations. Click HERE for their site. If you are going the day before you have to call the park directly.

Growing up!

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Well I am a little bummed, I was trying to keep track and do something special when it came time to post my 1,000th post. But it came and went and I missed it! So in honor of my 1008th post I am re-posting my 3rd post that I ever did!
Makes total sense right? Re-post the 3rd post on the 1008th post? Oh well, even if it doesn’t make sense it is an excuse to post a shameful “look at how cute my kids is” post!

If you happen to be around a certain three year old and she utters those words it could get dangerous. Storie always says, “I’m growing up!” when she has to burp. I think that started because she thought she had to “throw up” one time, but discombobulated the words.

There was one time when she kept telling me she had to “grow up” in the grocery store. I kept telling her “go ahead but not too fast…” Well, she turned her head and “grew up” all over Paige in one of those cool three seater kid grocery carts. Paul and I pulled it off really well. We acted like nothing happened and managed to clean it up in front of 100 other shoppers that had no idea anyone just “grew up.”

Tonight when we were eating dinner she was arguing about whether or not her steak was chicken and whether or not she could have ketchup on it… she scrunched her little body up and down and told us “I’m trying to grow up!” She didn’t “grow up” or anything but it was hysterical.
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Don’t let the beautiful angelic face fool you… last week when we went to the Blue Bell factory I was getting angry and telling the kids to get in the car. Storie leaned up against the car, looked right at the big kids with her hand on her hip and said, ” Get in the DAMNED car now!”
I just about died.

Choir Concert, are we this old?

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My husband and I with Tucker. It is weird that one night he is playing football and baseball, the next he is either at choir or band. Well rounded OR over involved?? I haven’t come to a decision on that one yet!

Blue Bell Ice tour and coupon.

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I love it when the kids have a day off school! Even thought the weather was a little cloudy and rainy we still had fun!
I “ran” by the Coach outlet “on the way” to see if I could use the Coach coupon that expired Monday. Unfortunately I didn’t find anything that I HAD to have 🙁 Saved me a few dollars!
So we headed onto Brenaham Texas to tour the Blue Bell Factory, THE BEST Ice cream in the country!

The kids got to milk a cow. Kinda.
Take a few serious pictures. Kinda.
The most important part was the ice cream at the end of the tour…
I tried Southern Blackberry cobbler. Out of this world good! My little ones had, Snickerdoodle and Blueberry Cheesecake, which means I get to try some of theirs as well! Both AWESOME! I don’t know why I always just buy my standards… Homemade Vanilla, Cookie Dough and Moo-llennium Crunch. You can’t go wrong with Blue Bell!


If you are lucky enough to get Blue Bell in your state click HERE for a coupon. It is up in the right hand corner.

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How do you Christmas shop?

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This is our little Christmas last year. We really need a bigger tree, it reminds me of the one from Charley Brown. It is better than the one we had a few years ago. Wal-Mart had some really pretty trees for a good price, so we grabbed one the beginning of December. I was so sick and tired of vacuuming the needs and watering the thing that on December 17th I drug it complete with Christmas lights all the way down the driveway and threw it on the curb half decorated.
That little incident has now gone down in Ivanovsky lore as the day Mom flipped, became the grinch, and drug the decorated tree out to the trash screaming Ba-Humbaugh!
I replaced it with that little set of three trees you can get at Michael’s or Hobby Lobby for like $40. I had them on the front porch and just put them in the living room, everyone hated me but I had enough of the mess. We now have a fake tree.

With no fireplace we leave the stockings on the living room couch. Other’s with no mantle where do you leave your stockings?

I start Christmas shopping on December 26th. Thats when I get all my wrapping paper, ribbon and tape for the next year. If there are Children reading this STOP now…. O.K. now that they are gone! I buy matching paper for all the presents from us. Then I get really fancy bows and paper from Santa. I never use bows, so the kids are convinced these presents didn’t come from me, they know I am too cheap 🙂
We do presents a little like we talk to the kids about what Christmas means. The biggest (and usually most expensive) present comes from Santa. Then the kids get three presents from Mom and Dad, like the three that Jesus got from the Wise Men. In my opinion they don’t need more than this. They give each other presents and get presents from Grandparents. I try and keep it simple, they need to give as much as they get.
They also get good stuff in their stockings, but you can see these aren’t that big, usually a movie and for the girls a little jewelry and fun little things. A friend gave me a book one year called “Unplugging the Christmas Machine” I really enjoyed it. If I can find a copy I will give one away here on a few weeks.
I keep looking for deals throughout the year. But I am really picky. It has to be a great item or I will wait. Kids are also very finicky, I have bought a Christmas present in August for a child only to give it to another kid when December finally came! I don’t really have a budget for Christmas, I also don’t kill myself trying to make sure I spend the same exact amount on each child. SOme years are better for some kids and it goes there way the next year. There is no reason to spend the same amount on my 2 year old as I would my 12 year old. The 2 year old needs about $30 of toys and a nice box! The 12 year old on the other hand is going to need to get a job to get all the nice things he is asking for!
What is your Christmas strategy? How do you shop? When do you start?

How to get rid of fruit flies!

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I am filing this under random for a few reasons.
1. Do you really care how to get rid of fruit flies?
2. It doesn’t involve a can of hair spray and a lighter.
3. It’s waaaay to simple.
and the last reason…
4. It doesn’t involve a can of hair spray and a lighter.

I hate fruit flies almost as much as I hate fire ants. I REAALLLLLY hate fire ants!

Every now and then, usually when I buy fruit from HEB or Sam’s I end up with fruit flies. After a few days of the vacuum and fly swatter, I turn it over to my husband. Why I wait I don’t know, he gets them all within about 5 hours. It involves a cup of apple cider vinegar and a narrow opening. The flies are attracted to the cider when they get in they can’t get out. Most of the time he uses a baby bottle with a funnel in the top, and about 1/2 inch of vinegar in the bottom. They fly in and never come out. This time the slit in the saran wrap worked pretty well, although I would have made the hole a little smaller… and used hair spray with a lighter!

The. Best. Day. Ever. Period.

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No more complaining about bad photos.
No more complaining about not getting video of giveaway drawings.
I have a new secret weapon…
I finally got it.
My Nikon D90, it is beautiful!
This is the back…

This is a side view…

And, just incase you needed another look, this is the front.

What does this mean for you?
More pictures of my kids of course!

Restaurant Review, Wings 'N' More

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For a while now I have been thinking about doing some restaurant reviews. I think that we really have a unique dining perspective. When you review restaurants for a living or for a news article you don’t usually dine with 6 children, I think this makes us uniquely qualified as I have noticed and entirely different atmosphere when we are with the children, versus when it is just two adults eating alone. Don’t you agree??

After my Son’s football game we gave him the option of where to eat. He chose Wings ‘N’ More. My husband frequently ate here when it was closer to his office and it had been a while so we agreed and off we went.
Trying to get seating for all of us is an adventure itself. Telling the hostess we needed seats for 2 adults and 6 kids was much harder than it should have been. She kept trying to add extra adults, we eventually gave up asking for a high chair and booster seat and went off to look for them on our own. When our server came, after introducing himself we explained that the kids were really hungry and could we order an appetizer of fried pickles ( don’t ask…) right away.
The drinks came, we had to send them back no syrup in the soda and waited, and waited. No big deal, we were ready to order by the time he got back. We ordered and as he was walking away he asked if we wanted an appetizer. Um, yea. Can we have the fried pickles (again, don’t ask :)) that we ordered when we first got here?? He had forgotten and went to put the order in.
The pickles came, dinner came, during this time we only saw our server once. Fine with me, we didn’t need anything, well refills might have been nice but I figured that was saving me trips to the bathroom. The food is really good here. They ( in the nicest way possible) really know how to make fried food. My chicken salad sandwich was really good, and the kids chicken fingers were super. Very little breading and lots of chicken. Makes me not feel so bad they are eating chicken fingers!
But the deal breaker? THE WAITER ADDED AUTOMATIC GRATUITY TO OUR CHECK!!!! We were Furious! I can see adding it to a group of teenagers or a large business group. BUT TO A FAMILY WITH 6 LITTLE KIDS, 2 THAT DIDN’T EVEN ORDER ANYTHING!! What a joke! My husband, much to my dismay, always tips very well. This waiter by doing this actually hurt himself. He charged us 18% and I know my husband would have left at least 20%. We even complained to the Manager who did nothing but said it was up to the discretion of the waiter. Then the waiter got really mouthy and ugly. We just paid it instead of arguing and left.
We will never be back.
Do you think they should add automatic gratuity to a single families order, even if there are 8 people?

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Restaurant Review, Wings ‘N’ More

By 12 Comments By clicking on our links, we might make a SMALL commission - Thanks for the support! See our full DISCLOSURE here.

For a while now I have been thinking about doing some restaurant reviews. I think that we really have a unique dining perspective. When you review restaurants for a living or for a news article you don’t usually dine with 6 children, I think this makes us uniquely qualified as I have noticed and entirely different atmosphere when we are with the children, versus when it is just two adults eating alone. Don’t you agree??

After my Son’s football game we gave him the option of where to eat. He chose Wings ‘N’ More. My husband frequently ate here when it was closer to his office and it had been a while so we agreed and off we went.
Trying to get seating for all of us is an adventure itself. Telling the hostess we needed seats for 2 adults and 6 kids was much harder than it should have been. She kept trying to add extra adults, we eventually gave up asking for a high chair and booster seat and went off to look for them on our own. When our server came, after introducing himself we explained that the kids were really hungry and could we order an appetizer of fried pickles ( don’t ask…) right away.
The drinks came, we had to send them back no syrup in the soda and waited, and waited. No big deal, we were ready to order by the time he got back. We ordered and as he was walking away he asked if we wanted an appetizer. Um, yea. Can we have the fried pickles (again, don’t ask :)) that we ordered when we first got here?? He had forgotten and went to put the order in.
The pickles came, dinner came, during this time we only saw our server once. Fine with me, we didn’t need anything, well refills might have been nice but I figured that was saving me trips to the bathroom. The food is really good here. They ( in the nicest way possible) really know how to make fried food. My chicken salad sandwich was really good, and the kids chicken fingers were super. Very little breading and lots of chicken. Makes me not feel so bad they are eating chicken fingers!
But the deal breaker? THE WAITER ADDED AUTOMATIC GRATUITY TO OUR CHECK!!!! We were Furious! I can see adding it to a group of teenagers or a large business group. BUT TO A FAMILY WITH 6 LITTLE KIDS, 2 THAT DIDN’T EVEN ORDER ANYTHING!! What a joke! My husband, much to my dismay, always tips very well. This waiter by doing this actually hurt himself. He charged us 18% and I know my husband would have left at least 20%. We even complained to the Manager who did nothing but said it was up to the discretion of the waiter. Then the waiter got really mouthy and ugly. We just paid it instead of arguing and left.
We will never be back.
Do you think they should add automatic gratuity to a single families order, even if there are 8 people?

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Too bad I am only 5'2.

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Wow, I am totally bummed. I am calling discrimination on this one. The fine print says, “must be a U.S. resident, 18-30 years of age and 5’8 inches in bare feet”. I mean, not only do I not qualify in the age range but I am only 5’2 inches tall. In heels.

I was really looking forward to walking down a runway, on T.V. in front of millions of people in my underwear.
Maybe they will do a special episode for us old, short, chubby girls?
Here’s to hoping :)!

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