My neck of the woods -Celebrate!

Joining in with the RHOK's -Your neck of the woods -I know it's been a little while -seems I've fallen off the blog wagon ;)

So, what's been going on in my neck of the woods? There has been some celebrating as my birthday was this past weekend. Also my sister's birthday was in July so, seems to be the past few years tradition is to have a family get together for a little combined birthday party:

My mom hosts a little family get together somewhere between mine and my sister's bday- we have some food and go swimming and all -Pretty fun. Also the hubby and I usually go out for a date night sometime around my birthday too -this year I decided to invite some friends along as a double date kind of thing. A few friends came out to dinner at Genghis Grill -Yum! -I also happen to have a coupon for a free bday meal there ;) After that a few of us went on to see the Drunkard play -Heard of it?

It's a pretty neat Tulsa tradition -in fact it's the longest running play in America! And it's interactive -where you cheer the hero and boo the villian -very fun and entertaining! -It's in a small,historical building so you have to get your reservations in. I recommend you see it at least once. I even got a free mug -saying I celebrated my bday there- along with some presents from family and friends -Gotta say -1 of the best birthdays I've had in awhile.

Anything else to celebrate? Well, the kids are almost ready to go back to school ;) We just got my daughter's schedule and we meet my son's teacher this week too -oh and I'm helping out with PTA stuff and everything -so, yeah -Busy week!

But, that's what all's going on here -Be sure to join in and let us know what's going on in -Your neck of the woods :)

Wednesday with pics -Our old apartment

I was saddened to read that our old apartment complex we used to live in has pretty much been condemned -Read more about that here. It definitely wasn't like that when we lived there -sure it wasn't the best place to live -But, it was alright especially when we had a good apt. manager who tried to keep the riff raff out and it was being kept up with. Since I partially grew up in Tulsa I've lived a few places around town -But, this was the 1st place we lived on our own as a family in Tulsa -so, it held a lot of memories. At the time we thought it was pretty good -for those that live around here you might remember Eastland Mall that was next to it -We also had a Target and Toys R US around there -Of course it isn't a mall now and I think only Toys R Us is left over there. We had a pretty good place -it was a townhouse with the living room, half bath, and kitchen downstairs -and then upstairs there was another full bathroom and the 2 bedrooms. We were also on the corner so, only 1 neighbor on the other side -which we had good neighbors -a couple who eventually had a couple kids-twins actually. Sure there were a few bad times like getting robbed once and the car broken into a couple of times -It started to go downhill before we left -I remember once looking out the window to see police officers poking around or going after someone? It took awhile for us to get out and be able to buy our own home -glad we did -But, it's still sad to know what it once was like to what it is now. Sorry, for the reminiscing -I'm sure I'll do that on here more. A lot of the pictures I found were around Christmas time -Which seems pretty fitting since Christmas just passed - So, there you have it.

Wordless Wednesday -Fun family outings

The past few weekends have been great weather -perfect for getting out and about -So, that's just what we've done! And of course being as frugal as I am these outings didn't cost much either. In case you can't tell we... Went to a Shakespeare Festival,an Elephant Birthday,Philbrook's Free Family Day, and a Greek Holiday -Opa!

What fun outings have you done lately or are planning to do?

Oh and if you like museums be sure to check out my latest Examiner article -Free Museum days! And you can always check out my other articles by clicking the button over there --> or by looking me up on Facebook -Tulsa Frugal Family Examiner -Happy Wednesday!

Where I come from -MckLinky Monday

On The Real Housewives of Oklahoma blog today they ask -Where do you come from ?

Well, I'm an Okie for sure -Lived in Oklahoma all my life! I've lived a few different places in OK though...

To start I was born where I live now -In Tulsa. My parents,little sis, and I even lived in the famous Lortondale neighborhood. I don't remember much about that time -I know that I went to Miss Helen's private school for a little bit and Hoover elementary. Then when I was in 1st grade my parents got divorced -my sis and I moved between my mom and dad for awhile. Once everything was finalized my dad got primary custody of us though. Eventually we moved to his hometown -Muskogee. This is where I lived for most of my formative years and graduated high school and everything - So,definitely an Okie from Muskogee!

I was just there this past weekend helping to go through my grandma's stuff,taking pictures to catalog it and everything. Luckily I didn't try to go to the mall -So tragic and scary there was a shooting Saturday at Arrowhead Mall and during the Azalea festival! The mall I remember going to so many times growing up-I even won a shopping spree from there once!

So much family history in Muskogee -This weekend I also got a picture of a Mural that shows my Grandpa (He's supposed to be the guy in the middle -on the bike)

But, then again there's Tulsa too... We would go visit my mom -You know how it goes-switching holidays and weekends and everything. My other grandma lives here in Tulsa and we'd visit her too of course. We'd go around Tulsa and see the "big city" - And being that Tulsa isn't too far from Muskogee sometimes there'd even be a school field trip to Bell's or other places around Tulsa...

And, so it goes- the 2 parts of my formative years -Where I come from. And not too mention a few other places I've lived -Like Lawton where I met my husband and where my in-law's live -But, that's a whole other story :)

How was your Valentine's Weekend ?

I hope everyone had a good Valentine's weekend! Here's what we did Valentine's Day:Yep- We saw Mickey Mouse and the gang at Disney Live. Since my son's B-day is tomorrow we pretty much celebrated his birthday. We had his birthday party Saturday and everything. So, yeah didn't do the traditional V-day stuff this year. Normally I try to plan his B-day party for the weekend after V-day but, my SIL could only get off work this past weekend. As usual we plan for the in-laws to come from out of town. So,got the house clean and ready before their arrival -Fri. evening and they stayed until Sun. morning. So, we were busy with company too. I don't know for some reason everything seemed a bit off -Maybe because after all the planning my MIL actually didn't come -Just my SIL ,BIL , and Nephew. For now we just have a small family party for my son -So it's nice that his cousin could come to have another kid around. We were also planning to eat at maybe Shogun's but being V-day weekend they were all booked up. Then we kinda decided last minute to see the movie -Percy Jackson /Lightning Thief -So we rushed to make it after the B-day party-But, they were sold out -So,we got tickets for the next showing. In the meantime we found something close and fast to eat for dinner. And even though Fri. we (Hubby,Son,and I) ate lunch at P.F. Chang's and I picked up some chocolate covered strawberries I won from 918moms for an early V-day celebration- See:

But,my Valentine weekend just seemed kinda...Off. Not that I'm complaining it was nice and glad my son had a good birthday celebration.

So, how about you ? Oh and here's a pic of the Birthday spread:

Blogging News

Last week I went to a blogger meetup at Joe Mommas:

It was pretty fun and busy. Glad I took my sis with me so we could sit together and share a pizza ;) I'm also glad I brought my biz. cards too since the mingling I did was pretty much a card exchange. I met some pretty cool people though! And as always it was nice to be in company with people like Tasha from Tasha does Tulsa who hosted it-Be sure to check out her blog. She says there's gonna be another blogger meetup sometime soon-I'll be on the lookout for more info. and I hope you will be too :)

More Snow...

It seems like lately around these parts of Oklahoma there's been a lot of snow -In fact there has been a lot of snow! I know I heard on the news there 's a higher amount than normal but, now I can't remember specifics. You might remember me mention the Christmas Eve Blizzard of '09 -Here. And just a couple weeks ago we got some ice and snow -Some people were calling it the iceapalooza of 2010 -Saying it might be as bad as the ice storm of '07. Luckily it wasn't that bad and our powered stayed on this time. Here's some pics of the ice/snow about Jan. 29,2010:

1st the ice started then the snow came. The kids were out of school that Friday-And we all kinda hunkered down.

Then more snow came yesterday -Originally it was reported to start Sunday night-I was a little bit hoping for another snow day yesterday. But,it was just rain until after school started. Once it started snowing it came in huge fluffy flakes- A lot of people said it was like a giant feather pillow fight ;) It really started coming down and even started to stick but not for long-It all melted pretty fast- Darn-no snow day again! -I might've mention I'm not an early riser ;) But I did get a few pics before it all melted yesterday:

So, that's the snow we've gotten lately -And I wouldn't doubt if we had another round or so. -I say hurry up spring!

Christmas Lights in Tulsa

One of my favorite parts of Christmas are all the holiday light displays! What about You? And I know it's not quite Thanksgiving yet but, the Christmas lights are coming on all over Tulsa -Starting Tonight!

Click HERE for a list through my latest Examiner article. And if you're too excited and can't wait to see the lights -Be sure to see my slideshow of Christmas light pics :)

A Halloween Guide:

Need some Halloween info?

Maybe about pumpkin carving tips/stencils? Cheap and easy Halloween crafts,treats,or costumes? Well, my latest Examiner articles have this info. and more!

Especially for those around Tulsa you can find out where the pumpkin patches are around here and Family Halloween events going on around Tulsa -even a lot of FREE ones- Starting today!

Not only can you see my latest Halloween articles but other peoples Halloween articles on

This Halloween Guide

Check it out! Thanks!

Family outings around Tulsa

The past week or so we've been out and about, here and there. And I was just thinking about sharing some of what we did. Labor Day weekend we kinda chillaxed some -trying not to succumb too much to the cold that seemed to be invading our house. But, Labor Day we went to Kaleidoscope Children's Museum. This actually makes our second trip there since we went in the summer with Ttownmoms. And we went again since I won a fall pass w/Ttownmoms-Yay! So to tell you a little bit about our experiences -The 1st time I was not too impressed. The little grocery store and some of that is pretty cool. And when we discovered the other side of the buliding we were like- Oh good there's more! Labor day the kids had fun playing on the stage. Both times we've been the kids liked the playhouse. And they also liked the room with the jungle gym-etc. But, you must wear socks! We had no idea the 1st time and it was summer and weren't wearing socks-(Shh!-They played a little bit before I actually noticed the sign about socks). The 2nd time we were prepared! The other rooms were ok again not too impressed. I had a hard time putting my finger on what all exactly I didn't like-Just for some reason it didn't meet my expectations. My husband made a good observation-He said he wouldn't necessarily call it a children's museum but, more an indoor play place. Also it's more for younger kids my daughter had some fun but, also mentioned it was kinda "cheap" -the grocery store stuff-etc. Which I can see the catch 22 letting kids play but, not letting everything get trashed in the process. I would also say that it is a bit overpriced considering the fall pass we got is worth $75 just for fall when we got a yearly zoo membership for about $50-$60. But, if you want to check it out for yourself they do have a special price of $5 admission for Parents and Kids until Sept. 30!

Which brings me to the next thing we did- last Thursday night was a special members night at the Tulsa Zoo. Like it has been lately around Tulsa it was kinda rainy but, luckily cleared off in time to head out that way. I was thinking maybe there wouldn't be a lot of people but I guess they were all thinking the same thing -Because it was packed!! It was fun though seeing the animals that were "out" with the handlers. Seeing special things like the penguins getting fed,the sea lion demonstration,petting a kangaroo! And that's just what we saw- there were other things but,we didn't make it to everything. We got their about 6pm and left about 7:30 (It ran 5:30-8pm) So overall as always the zoo was great! Just kinda muggy and looked like it was about to rain again-So we left.

The last thing we did is this past weekend we headed out to Chandler Park and see about the Kings of Champion Medieval Faire. (I do miss going to the Renaissance Faire-We haven't been in a few years) But, again it was a little rainy so maybe that's why it seemed a little- blah ? I guess I can't complain too much for a free event but, of course to get in is free and THEN everyone wants you to buy stuff-Ugh! That is mostly what was there people selling their wares. The only thing we did do is go on the pirate ship tour -Which of course cost a pretty penny. But, it was kinda cool,informative. After that it started sprinkling pretty good so we were done -We headed out. I like to think it was more of a mini-adventure to head to REALLY west Tulsa(across the river) Is it even considered Tulsa ?? Anyways so that in itself was kinda cool to take a little adventure.

And that's a few things we've done recently. If anyone has any other reviews-etc. Feel free to leave a comment.