And since I’m in a multi-tasking sort of mood, I am labeling this {45 of 52}.

Cuddle Time {A Wordless Wednesday Post} is property of: Our Crazy Boys

Sometimes you just have to postpone homework for a bit and go out for ice cream before dinner…

Call it what you will… this is an early {or late} Where’s Mom post :)

Sometimes… {44 of 52} is property of: Our Crazy Boys

This week, Mom could be found at Apple Annie’s apple orchard and produce farm!

We picked apples,

green beans,

tomatoes,

and cucumbers.

And after we were done, we had Happy Jack’s shaved ice.

Can you tell what color Jack picked?

If you live anywhere near Southern Arizona, you should check out Apple Annie’s. We all had a great time!

This post is linked to Carin’s Shoot Me photo challenge… Getting Moms in the pictures instead of standing behind the camera!

Where’s Mom? {43 of 52} is property of: Our Crazy Boys

Did you think I quit the challenge?

Did you give up on me?

I hope not.

I’m definitely finishing and posting 52 pictures of myself… I only have 10 left -I can’t give up now!

I just needed a month off for the giveaways :)

I’m back! And I have some cute photos to share…

Yesterday, we went to the Sugar Bowl.

Brenda went there recently and had some amazing pictures taken. I knew that I wouldn’t get the same quality of pictures as she did (because I’m not a professional photographer, and all…), but I thought it would be fun to head up there anyway.

Here’s Michael and his smile!

(We are getting into the “I’m too cool to sit in front of this camera” phase… and I hope it ends soon.)

Here’s Jack and his very “melty” ice cream.

And his “melty” ice cream face.

And the shot you all came for…  Mom and the boys :)

Go check out all the other Moms that are playing along on Carin’s blog.

Oh, and my last giveaway ends tomorrow! Have you entered yet?

Where’s Mom? {42 of 52} is property of: Our Crazy Boys

This week, Mom went out with the girls.

No kids.

No husbands.

Kendrah, Lainie, Suzanne, Eileen, Amy, Kristin, and yours truly.

(I don’t know why Kristin was hiding behind my head in this picture.)

It was wonderful to talk about girl stuff and work stuff (we all work in the same school district) while eating yummy hamburgers, salads, and fries.

Oh, and this:

Slice o’ heaven (a.k.a. Banana Cream Pie)

Yeah, the pregnant lady ordered that and we all shared.

Yum.

Oh, and the cutest moment of the night?

The waitress (who was awesome already) painstakingly split the bill for us…

including the 4 orders of fries that we split.

1/7 each. That made me giggle.

{Less than 10 left!}

Where’s Mom? {42 of 51} is property of: Our Crazy Boys

Update: Lainie (comment #10) is the winner of the $25 Fry’s gift card giveaway!! Congrats, Lainie! I’m so excited for you!

This week, Mom had a girl’s night out.

At a grocery store.

Yup, you read that right.

You could find me at the brand new Fry’s Marketplace up in Phoenix at Tatum & Shea roads.

I was lucky enough to meet Sara, Amy, Brenda, Melissa, Sara, and Amy; along with some other amazing Arizona bloggers!

This store is amazing.

A-mazing.

There’s a lounge in the front of the store (next to the Starbucks) with big screen tv’s and free wi-fi:

A cooking school (you read that right, too):

A salad bar,

A prepared food counter (not just fried chicken!),

A cupcake bar/upscale bakery/chocolate fountain:

a juice bar:

a wine cellar:

A huge natural/organic/gluten free section:

A … {wait for it}… library:

A toy section (Matt, our amazing tour guide, even showed us the ZhuZhu Pets):

Valet parking (they’ll even wash your car while you shop!), curbside loading, covered parking, and a jewelry store (!!).

And do you know what?

I didn’t even tell you everything.

Really.

Some things that I learned about Fry’s (straight from the President’s mouth… the President of Fry’s, not the President):

-Frys accepts all coupons (coupons from other stores like Target and Safeway, from the paper, internet coupons…)

-Fry’s rounds all coupons up to $1 -except for Fry’s coupons. I saved $10 today by using 10 .35 coupons. True story.

-Fry’s loves bloggers. They gave us a 2 hour long tour (full of yummy samples, friendly workers, and smiling faces), answered all of our questions, took notes about the questions they couldn’t answer right then, and asked nothing in return.

They even rolled out their red carpet for us:

At the end of our tour, Matt (pictures above) gave us $25 gift cards. One for me, one for you.

Yes, you.

My loyal reader.

So, I’m not promoting this giveaway.

Not tweeting about it.

Not putting it on facebook.

I’m telling you that if you leave me a comment and tell me what Kroger store is nearest you, you’ll be entered to win the extra $25 gift card.

I’ll pick a winner on September 10th :)

Oh, how about you scroll back up and click on my new friend’s blogs? They’re some of the best frugal/coupon bloggers in Phoenix, and they talked me into taking coupons while shopping today – I saved a total of $70 :)

Leetle bitty print: Fry’s invited me to be a part of their Very Important Blogger Event and provided 2 $25 gift cards and a swag bag full of  yummy wine, cheese, and crackers. The opinions in this post are all mine, and I love Fry’s. My local one and the new one in Phoenix. Which is why I drove 370 miles round trip to attend this event :)

Where’s Mom? {41 of 52} is property of: Our Crazy Boys

Come find me at Aspiring Mama’s place today for Story Time Saturdays (yes, a little bit late…).

Every Saturday, she features a blogger reading to their little one, and Jack and I chose to read Big Sharks.

(Pauline’s always looking for new people to feature… record yourself, upload it to YouTube, and send her the link!)

Michael is currently too cool for the camera, so he played videographer.

At about 3:10 into the video, Jack has an America’s Funniest Home Video moment… Steve thinks I should send it in…

What do you think?

(P.S. I am multi-tasking and counting this as 40 of 52 of Where’s Mom?)

Traveling again… is property of: Our Crazy Boys

I’m early this week…

did you notice?

I’m posting early because tomorrow is going to be a busy, busy day.

It’s a certain someone’s birthday.

He’ll be 6.

And he wants nothing more than a craft desk.

That’s right.

Not legos,

not a Buzz Lightyear toy.

He wants a desk for his creations and treasures.

Michael, Daddy, and I have been working on it for the past week.

We found the perfect desk,

Daddy assembled it,

then Michael and I painted it.

Here’s Michael and I sweating in the hot, humid garage last night, putting the finishing touches on Jack’s desk:

Tonight, Michael asked Jack to sleep in his room so that Daddy and I can rearrange Jack’s room and set up his new desk. We’re all so excited for him :)

Pictures will come soon!

Where’s Mom? (39 of 52) is property of: Our Crazy Boys

Some of you know that this school year, I switched schools so I could be closer to my boys. One of the many perks is that Michael comes to have lunch with me on the days that I work.

Sometimes we play games.

Sometimes we talk.

Sometimes we play on the computer.

Like today:

Michael has some big chipmunk cheeks in this one.

Michael ducked!

Yin and Yang!

Michael looks very bored on the rollercoaster…

My room is always freezing… see how blue we are on the thermal imaging camera?

Fun, fun, fun :)

Where’s Mom? (38 of 52) is property of: Our Crazy Boys

This week, you could find Mom at the Grand Canyon…

(more pictures coming soon!)

Where’s Mom? (37 of 52) is property of: Our Crazy Boys