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My littlest walked down the stairs Tuesday night all ready for her date (with the prince of course!) Â She glided into the kitchen in her two-inch plastic pumps, peaked that blonde head around the corner, and shouted: Â “Momma. . . it's time for you to come to da' weddin'!” Â I Â slightly glanced over at her (not really all that amused . . . and in a hurry of course, and replied . . . ) Â “But baby, we've got to run to the grocery, and momma needs to go excercise . . . so there's just no time for a wedding!” Â I finally looked down to see my silly, cute, goofy, four-year-old all dolled up, tiara and veil attached (thanks to some left over tulle she found in the craft drawer), who simply would not budge until a wedding was performed.
So . . . as all good mommas do . . . I cancelled my plans.  I decided to skip the grocery (which meant missing free Homestyle Mac & Cheese . . . ouch, that one hurt!), skip exercising (meaning I'd have to wake up at 5 am Wednesday morning to work out . . . that one might have hurt even more . . . ), and, well, skip my plans entirely.  Since I couldn't convince her big sister to play the part of the “prince”  (seriously, this girl is way too demanding!), I headed up to grab Winnie the Pooh (aka Prince Charming of course!)
We began the ceremony.  I thought I started out correctly, asking if she, Reagan Elizabeth, would take Prince Winnie's  hand in marriage.  (To which she promptly corrected . . . “no momma . . . da real ones!”  Caroline and I sat and racked our brains to come up with who on earth the “real” ones were . . . Kate and William of course!)  The prince and princess were then married, and lived happily ever after (in their pink pop-up castle purchased on Amazon a few years back), and I had one pretty pleased princess. 🙂
So why on earth am I sharing these incredibly random ramblings with you?  Well, because sometimes this penny pincher (and her kiddos) need a break every once in awhile.  Sometimes free mac and cheese just isn't worth sacrificing a night at home with the princess, especially when most likely the deal will come around again (at least I really, really, hope it does!)  It's so easy to get so caught up in all the deal hunting and bargain shopping and penny pinching that we miss this thing called life, and, at least for me, well I want to enjoy that too!
I look at my Reagan and am in awe of how fast these days are racing. Â She's my baby, you know, and is definitely the princess . . . heck, she's the queen around this house! Â I don't want to be in such a hurry to move on to the next event that I forget to stop and enjoy these sweet fairytale moments, because they'll go away on their own pretty soon I'm sure. Â So, I'm taking the rest of today off to enjoy my princess baby (and watch her preschool program, and her big brother's fifth grade award's ceremony . . . sniff, sniff!) and I hope you'll find time to spend an extra minute or two enjoying your life (beyond coupons!) too.
Have you had one of those moments when you've just realized there's more to it all then just penny pinching? I'd love to hear that I'm not the only one who misses a deal every now and then to enjoy the fairytale moments in life. 🙂
Looking for more random ramblings?  Read more about this site, my life as a real mom, homemaking, and the quirky things I've done for a deal.  New to couponing and not sure where to begin?  Start HERE.
I’ve been taking a break too and this morning I’m trying to catch up. Lots of end of the year activities for the kids. One is “graduating” from 5th grade – cannot belive my baby is going into middle school. My son will be in 10th (yikes!) All this to say – you have such a beautiful family!!!!! We lived in Dothan, AL for 16 years and my heart is still there. GA is okay, but it’s just not home. Your children are dressed very traditionally “southern.” Wonder if you have to be from the south to recognize this? I love it! Maybe some of your other followers will let me know. Thanks for all you do and enjoy your family every minute you can!
I love “Southern” traditional clothes (and they were all bought at a consignment sale of course!) I can’t imagine having one starting 10th grade – 6th grade may do me in. 🙂 I’m thinking about coming to Dothan this summer when we’re at the beach to teach a coupon class – I’d love if you could help me figure out if there’s a need for one. Thanks for the reminder to enjoy these moments . . .
What a blessing your “rambling” has been for me. I have not bought a paper for the last month and have only done a little bit of couponing. I am a very slow at the whole list/coupon matchup, so the extra time I have had has been priceless. And with my stockpile, I haven’t noticed a big difference in my spending. But I was starting to feel a little guilty as if I am not being a good steward w/ our money, but your post was a little voice telling me that it is ok to take a break and live life w/ my beautiful family. So thank you for your reassurance and may God bless you beyond measure!
Laurie – I was just thinking this week that I needed to cut back a little in some way in order to really enjoy quality time with my daughter. I spend so much time writing about parenting and thinking of ways to make parenting easier for others in the area that I’m losing focus on what is truly important – my parenting.
Thanks for sharing this and reminding me that it is important to stop and smell the roses (or enjoy a wedding). Hope you are having a blast.
Thanks Jennifer! It was nice not to stress over blogging – like you, I spend so much time working on deals/ (hopefully!) helping others provide for their families, that I often neglect my own. Just not stressing over all 8 zillion deals out there was a nice treat! 🙂
Thanks Laurie. I had my list and coupons ready to go, but after reading your blog, I decided, “nay, I’m going to just skip this one and enjoy my day”. Thanks again!
I hope you had a wonderful day Alice! 🙂
Thanks so much for the reminder, I needed that. Now, off to play outside.
Hope you enjoyed your time Denise!
I decided to skip out on the free Mac and cheese too! We just had our 3 rd baby last Tuesday and while I was feeling pretty good and up to running by publix, I decided to stay in and spend time with the hubby. I agree with sometimes just needing to pass up on some deals in order to really stop and enjoy the little things. 🙂
Congratulations on your new little one Carolyn! You have some pretty precious moments I’m sure right now (but I think I was always too tired to enjoy those early days!) Enjoy your sweet little one 🙂
Your William and Kate pic isn’t showing up. I really want to see it! Great article! I am proud of you for slowing down!
Yay! I can see it now. So cute.
Isn’t she a nut? After she “married” Pooh, she wrestled him to the ground. No prince will ever control that girl!
The whole reason I started penny pinching was so I could quit my job and enjoy the last year and a half I had at home with my youngest child. I was working 60+ hours a week and was missing too many moments. In 3 months he will be 6 1/2 hours away at college (FSU) so I wanted to spend time with him (even when he didn’t want time with me) before it was too late. Grab the moments now because they are fleeting. After 29 years of raising kids I can tell you it goes by quicker then you can imagine when you start looking back.
Thanks for the reminder Kelly – it’s hard to imagine when you’re in the thick of it that it flies by, but it does seem to be going much faster than I ever imagined. I hope you have a wonderful summer enjoying him before he’s off to college! (Bless your heart, I can’t imagine!)
Laurie: I have been in the same boat you are. And other than running to the store (usually at 9pm after they have gone to bed) to get the necessities: eggs, milk and bread. I have done no couponing in 3 weeks. Yeah I missed some good deals. Oh well. Becca has had surgery, my father-in-law has been in and out of the hospital. And well, there just hasn’t been time to deal with it. (That is why we have a stock pile right?) So yeah. Take a break here and there.
Having a stockpile really does free me up not to stress over every deal too Jen – it’s hard to watch a good deal pass, but so nice not to NEED it. I hope you’re family is all on the mend!
Thanks for the reminder that it’s okay to take a break every once in awhile! I sometimes get overwhelmed with all the deals, and feel like I’m missing something if I don’t get every deal in town, but I need to stop and enjoy these moments at home too.
Enjoy your day off! 🙂