Christmas Spirit, Where Art Thou?

I'm having trouble getting into the Christmas spirit. I'm not a grinch by any means. I'm super excited about the presents we are giving this year. I'm super excited for all the festivities but I just can't seem to actually get into the swing of the spirit.

At first I thought maybe when its December. But December came and I still wasn't feeling festive. Then I thought if we decorated but we decorated and I still wasn't feeling festive. We made Christmas baking. We got all the presents. I even started wrapping last night. I just can't find it.

And then this morning I started to clean. Really really clean. I cleaned out the fridge. I cleaned a bathroom. I cleaned the kids rooms. And magically I started to feel better. I'm eager to attack the rest of the house to see if I can be in full blown Christmas cheer by the end of the day.

Puj Tub

I'm not good at trying new things. I'm one of those people that likes what she likes so why bother fixing whats not broken. But my static ways have slowly been changing this year with my introduction to couponing. I've tried a couple of new products because they were free and I now don't know how I lived without them. So I'm growing and I actually am starting to like to try out new products (or at least new to me). And it is with this newfound love of trying out new things that I agreed to product test some products so that others could hear about great new products that they might not normally think of buying.

A month of so ago I offered to try out the new Puj Tub. All I knew was that it was a baby bath tub. Last thursday I recieved my Puj Tub in the mail.

I think the concept is pretty AWESOME!! It stores flat and easily assembles into a bath tub that fits in your sink. Its so easy my 5 year old figured it out without any help.

I liked how the tub fit snugly and didn't move around. Part of it was the size of the bath tub and part of it is what the puj tub is made out of.

As a new parent bathing your child can be very daunting. I'm a parent of 3 and I have to admit that I still wanted Csters help with bathing Kster when he was first born. I'm always worried that the baby's going to slip right out of my hands. I'm worried about their head. I'm worried about their belly button, or their circumcision. I'm just worried. This bathtub, would, I feel, eleviate a lot of that fear. There is so little water actually in the tub that you could bathe a newborn in their without worrying about getting the stump wet. And I think its so snug you wouldn't have to fear supporting the head the entire time you were bathing your baby. (Kster's past the floppy head stage so its hard for me to judge)

So onto the practicality of the product. As AWESOME as I think it is, the bath tub did not work for us. The product says its for babies aged 0-6 months but as you can see my 3 month old Kster is way to big for the tub. He's holding onto the faucet and to get him in and out I had to maneuver around the faucet. There really wasn't enough water in there once Kian got in to do any bathing.

I later tried the Puj in my kitchen sink. It worked better. I could move the faucet away from the Puj and it fit a little nicer but Kster was still too big to actually get water onto him. Again, little water is something you want with a really young baby. You can see the holes just beside him that let all the water out if you try to fill it too high. (And I didn't want to get him naked again to try it out. Its freezing here in Colorado.)

So my final verdict. I would definately use this bathtub with a newborn but the age range is really not that realistic.

And here's a picture of us product testers to prove we're real. :)

Check out the Puj Tub for yourself at the new web site exclusively for baby bath tubs!

A day at the store

The other day I had to go to a certain store to pick up a prescription. Kster had spent the entire night either crying, throwing up, or wanting to be in the perfect position on me to sleep. Usually he is an awesome sleeper so this was highly unusual and meant that when he wanted to take a 3 hour morning nap, I let him.

But a 3 hour morning nap means shopping in the afternoon with all 3 kids.

We arrived, and I picked up my prescription. Mster said she had to go to the bathroom and Lster then yelled "I HAVE TO GO PEEPEE TOO!!" (FTR he's not potty trained, by his own stubberness). So off we went. I couldn't even get the troops organized because once we opened the bathroom door they both ran to separate stalls, locked the door and proceeded to go. Both of them. I'm deciding maybe I need to try a different technique with Lster in potty training. Instead of staying home for a few days we are going to just hang out at the store for a few days because he will only go to the bathroom in a public restroom.

After the bathoom adventure we went to the womens' delicates to get me some nylons. While trying to find them Lster decided to kick his boot as high as he could off his foot. It came down on a display of lingerie underwear which showered upon him producing peels of 3 year old laughter. I finally found the nylons and while I was trying to find the perfect pair as fast as I could, Mster turned around and found the thong display. "Hey mom...look...swimming underwear. I need some swimming underwear. pleeeaaaaase."

Phobias

I never really had a phobia. There are things I don't like but I breathe a bit and get through it and move on with life.

Last week I found my phobia.

I was in my storage room and smelt something rank. I knew. I knew we had a dead mouse. I had to clean the room out because we were having guests coming that night and they needed a place to sleep that wasn't filled with the stench of rotting rodent carcass.

So I started moving stuff around and I found the mouse. It was definitely dead. I screamed. I threw a suitcase in the direction of the mouse and ran away, crying, up the stairs to the kitchen where my daughter looked at me with the widest eyes possible.

"Did you see something scary Mom?" she asked. I gasped out "yes" and continued to hyperventilate. I calmed down enough to realize that I would not be able to dispose of the dead creature. Just thinking about it made my heart palpitate at an unhealthy rate. So I called some friends whose husband is sometimes home during the day but there was no answer. I called a couple of other people whose husbands do shift work in hopes that somebody would be home. With every call I got support from the woman but no husband. She told me I could do it and gave me a big pep talk full of ideas on how to get rid of it without having to touch it.

Mster watched me the entire time. At one point she opened the knife door and suggested that she take a knife and stab it just carry it outside. Yep she did.

And I called Cster too but he was trying to get everything done at the office because he was already taking the rest of the week off. He suggested that I let Mster dispose of it if I was really freaking out (which I was) and she wanted to.

So I told Mster that she was going to be the lucky girl to get rid of the mouse. Immediately her face fell and her eyes started filling and my heart broke. Of course I didn't make her do it but that still left me with only me to do it all.

I armed myself with a broom covered in a plastic bag, a cardboard box and a piece of heavy paper and made my way to the basement bedroom. When I got into the bedroom (the storage room is off the bedroom) I again started to hyperventilate and cry and turned right around and ran (yes ran) back upstairs.

I finally went through the Church phone list desperate to find somebody who would be home and a name popped up and I called him and he said he would be right over. When he came I gave him all my "tools". He looked at me like I was on crack and asked for 2 paper towels. I looked at him like he was on crack and gave him 2 paper towels. He did the job and I was ever so grateful.

And I now know I have a serious fear of dead mice.

Futility

Lster or Mster: mom can you...?
Me: You are going to have to speak up. I can't hear you.
Lster or Mster: MOM!!!! can you.....?

______________________________________

And the conversation I just had while typing this post.

Mster: What day is it tomorrow?
Me: Saturday
Lster: Sunday
Mster: um...what day is it tomorrow?
Me: Saturday
Lster: Sunday
Mster: No Lster, its going to be Saturday.
Lster: Mom, what day is it going to be?
Me: When?
Lster: on Wednesday?
Me: Wednesday
Lster: Oh it will be Wednesday.
Mster: No it will be Saturday.
Mster: What day was it yesterday?

Create

We do not have cable. We do not have direct tv. We do not have a DVR. But what we do have is an antennae. We watch a lot of PBS. We like the cooking shows. Well, we like most of the cooking shows. Some of them are interesting and educational and some of them make us look at each other and say, "really", like the guy from Norway that picked a bunch of vegetables and blended them with a raw egg and called it vegetable soup.

What makes me write a post about the Create series on PBS is that Mster loves to watch the cooking shows too. She asks for them. She can recognize chefs by name. I even overheard her pretending to be Katie Brown during a playdate (The other girl just looked at her like she was crazy). I just think its awesome to see her develop a passion. She loves to cook and loves to be in the kitchen. And she's good at it.

Last week we were in the Health Clinic to get the kids shots and they had the Food Network on. I told Mster to check it out and that it was like another version of Create. I watched it with her for awhile but it soon lost both of our attention. It was not as great as PBS. It made me happy for our antennae which introduced us to a world of small, but wonderful, choices in daily tv entertainment.

Sometimes Deals are just too Good

I've slowly been getting back into getting some good deals. This week is a week of inspiration. Thanks to the help of my good friend I scored some extra coupons and am planning on some crazy deals.

Last night I stopped off at the store to get a headstart. Here's what I scored:

4 rubber gloves
1 can evaporated milk
1 gatorade
3 boxes swiss miss chocolate
1 activia yogurt pact (4ct)

all for $1

I look forward to going back today for other deals.

Mster Musings

While changing Lsters bottom...

Mster: WOW...that is really smelly. Good thing you're a mom and you don't mind that sort of thing.

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Mster: Is this all real?
Me: Is what real?
Mster: This...Life.
Me: Yep this life is all real.
Mster: Wow life is going by so fast.

Some days are not your own.

I'm just saying...

Its almost 11pm and I haven't showered yet today. I should probably go do that since I see no reprieve tomorrow.

I'm attempting to potty train again.

At one point today I had all three kids in the bathroom with me. Lster was on the little toilet. Mster was doing her homework. I was feeding Kster. I turned away from Lster to help Mster with a question. I turned back to see a fountain spray getting all over Lster, the pillow I was using to nurse, the floor, the toy Lster was playing with, and I think you get the gist.

And to add a little irony to the day...while calling Cster to announce his triumph of actually using the potty, Lster peed himself.

Lster "Wuvs" Halloween

Lster is cracking me up.

Its his birthday this saturday. It is also our church's halloween activity this friday night. We spent the better part of the afternoon trying to find supplies for both festivities. For the record I did 3 stores with 3 kids and lost my sanity at store #2. Also for the record I was not trying to be frugal (read cheap) by doing 3 stores, I could not find a costume for poor Lster anywhere.

So store #1 I thought I could get most party supplies and hopefully finish our halloween costumes. Didn't happen. No costume for Lster (he really wants to be Spiderman) and no makeup for Mster (she's going to be a glittery witch). Also no great supplies for a 3 year olds Soccer party.

Store #2 Here's hoping...spiderman costume has a big ol' full head mask and there is a strict no mask policy (and apparently a no cross dressing policy) for friday night and I didn't want him to have a half a costume so no go. Although this store's spiderman had built in super huge muscles. This made me laugh. Super huge muscles and Toby do not go together. We did however find a soccer ball pinata.

This is where the subject heading comes in (for those that were wondering where this was going). Lster had no clue what a pinata was. I explained it to him. "Lster, you fill it with candy and you hand it up and you whack it as hard as you can until all the candy falls out." With a big grin he announces "he wuvs halloween", followed by a procession of all the other things he "wuvs": soccer, candy, spiderman, his friends, etc. Oh he makes me laugh.

And I'll just leave it at that. Store #3 was a success at finding his spiderman costume. It also produced some glitter makeup but I would like to publicly state that there is a severe lack of glitter makeup this year. I should not have to buy 10$ worth of face makeup just to get a small tube of glitter in a combo pack and this should not be my only option. I'm just saying.

And I'm off to charge my camera for our "wuv" fest this weekend.

Exercise and Shakes

Sometime during this past pregnancy I longed for the day when I wasn't tired and could actually move my body anyway I wanted. It was at this point that I decided the moment I felt ready to start exercising again, I would. And it wasn't just going to be a little running or walking. I wanted to get in shape. I didn't just want to lose the weight I wanted to be strong and have energy.

And so began my patient wait to start p90x.

Cster had boughten it last spring and we decided that when I was ready we would do it together. That day was 2 weeks ago.

I am loving exercising everyday and I am loving exercising everyday with my husband. Its really fun. Its kicking my butt. Although I have to admit I'm trying really hard to be smart and not let it kill me because I do have 3 kids to take care of during the day one of whom likes to be held all...the...time.

Speaking of Kster he started out a sleepy baby (like most are) but soon turned into the crying baby. He would sleep but during the day he sure liked to cry and cry and cry. He expecially liked to cry at 6pm. We could set our watches to his crying. The doctor told me to stop eating dairy, caffeine and chocolate. After one week we've seen a serious improvement in Ksters demeaner. Its not perfect yet but he's at least not screaming.

But...this means that I can't eat cereal in the morning (or anyother time for that matter). I'd been thinking of eating protein shakes like Cster but they honestly scared me a little. This seemed like a perfect opportunity to start. So for the past 3 days I've been drinking protein shakes with spinach and I have to admit they are not that bad.

Here's my recipe:

1 scoop of protein powder
1 banana
1 1/2 handfuls of spinach
orange juice
ice

The magic ingrediant in this mixture is ice. The first day even though my oj was cold the shake was too tepid. Now with the ice its much easier to get down. Its my green slushie. Mmmm...

More pics

The Times They Are A Changing

Mster is going to a charter school. She's in Kindergarten. I don't remember how I got to and from kindergarten but I do remember that for most of my school age life I either walked or took the school bus to school. Since Mster's school doesn't bus kids its up to the parents to pick up and drop off their kids. Carpooling is encouraged but I don't know anybody so we are flying solo.

I'm amazed at the organized chaos that is getting your child to and from school.

All children are given a number. The number is on a card that you need to bring when you come to pick up your child. You show them your card, they give you kid. Most days this is not a big deal. You drive up (sometimes I drive aways away and walk up and we walk back to the car) and wait in the car line as they put the kindergarteners into cars one by one. But on friday the school has early release so the whole school gets let out at the same time. The lineup to pick up your kid is blocks and blocks long. The same thing goes for dropping off your kid. I do not do the car line. We park close by and walk up and I can walk her right to her classroom. But if I did the car line I would be in a line blocks and blocks long. I would pull up right in front of the school and a teacher would get the kid out of the car and make sure they are walking inside the gate to the door to the building.

I seriously remember standing by myself waiting for the school bus.

the times they are a changing.

Things are getting better

We had a rough bit with Mster when Kster was born.

I finally realized why awhile ago and things are starting to get better. They aren't there yet but at least I recognize where her frustration is coming from.

Her frustration is coming from her precious 5 year old head that she was going to take care of the baby. So when Kster and I came home and she wasn't able to put clothes on him and change his diaper or be allowed to hold him without supervision or be allowed to take him up to her room to "play", she got frustrated.

Kster's older. There isn't a big black knob threatening to ooze until it randomnly falls off that we have to worry about. She can hold him with me sitting beside her now and not with me holding him also. She's figured out that she's the only one that can sing and jingle a very annoying toy at him that sometimes calms him down.

She's figuring out the big sister role just as we're figuring out everything else involved in having 3 kids.

Pictures are always good.

I haven't really felt like I had anything to post about lately. This, I find humorous because we've increased our household recently and there are always baby poop and puke stories. We've sent our oldest to Kindergarten and well there are things going on.

And then there were 5

We have a Kster. We like him. We've decided to keep him. :)

What's going to happen with 3 kids?

Mster: Lster's going to poke something into my nose and I don't want him to.
Me: Don't poke anything into Mster's nose Lster.
Lster. Okay.

Waiting

Right now we are playing the waiting game. Some days I have this ridiculous burst of energy and desire to get everything done and other days I can barely make it from the shower to the bed. Today is a desire to get everything done day. I've already:

• done 3 loads of laundry
• washed children
• washed myself
• cleaned the kitchen
• cleaned the front hall
• cleaned the living room
• cleaned the fridge
• cleaned a bathroom
• washed the baby's car seat
• written a grocery list

And I'm still going. But yesterday I couldn't move. I'm very interested to see what the doctor says today.

Spending more than 20$

I was a little shocked at my bill tonight when I went grocery shopping. I didn't do a full trip and was only getting some items that were on sale or we really needed. My bill came to 45$ and then I sat and thought about it and realized I didn't do too bad.

18 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
3 lbs of strawberries
8 bananas
1 cantaloupe
6 cans of black beans
6 small containers of Haagen Daas
5 bottles of Santa Cruz Organic Lemonade
6 quarts of ice cream
2 boxes of ice cream treats (2o fudge bars, 20 something else)

Lster and his snacks

Lster does not like lunch or dinner. He likes snacks. If you call his meal a snack he is way more likely to eat it than if you announce it as a meal.

Me: Hey Lster...its lunchtime. Lets have peanut butter sandwiches.
Lster: No I don't want lunch, I want a snack.
Me: Okay. Lets have a snack. How about peanut butter sandwiches?
Lster: Okay

Mster Musings

I deemed the last few days cleaning days for Mster and Lster. Lster is pretty good at cleaning (for the most part) but Mster hears "clean", "tidy", "put away" and immediately curls up in a ball and shakes and puts up her "cleaning is the hardest thing in the world" front. As you can imagine this made the last few days a joy.

It ended yesterday morning when I told Lster and Mster that they had to clean the basement (their toy area) by lunch or they couldn't go to a BBQ at the park later that day.

Mster would randomnly come upstairs and share special musings...

Mster: Mom I can't clean anymore. It makes me so sad.
Me: Oh really?
Mster: Yes. Cleaning makes me think of my cousins and they moved away and it makes me so sad so I can't clean anymore.
Me: How exactly does that make you think of your cousins?
Mster: Well...they LOVE to clean.

And if any of you believe that a family of kids ranging from 9-16 LOVES to clean you would probably be wrong. :)

How I get my deals?

There are a lot of ways that I get good deals.

One is that I live in the US and we have way more coupons than up in Canada. Then, I am very aware of the different grocery stores in my area and what deals they have every week. I, for the most part, buy the produce that is on sale that week. We still get a variety because every week is usually different and my family eats a ton of fruit and vegetables. I then match the deals of the store to what coupons I have and voila...free stuff or cheap stuff.

For example:

A toothbrush is normally 1.99$ each (on average). But...routinely one of the local grocery stores will put them on sale for .99$ each. And then I will have a coupon for .50$ or .75$ off a toothbrush. Most of the grocery stores in my area double coupons up to a dollar. So a .25$ coupon is really .50$. A .50$ is really a $1 and a .75$ is really a $1. So that coupon that you think is only worth .50$ is really worth a dollar and I use it at the grocery store when the toothbrush is a dollar and that is how I get free stuff.

I am part of a coupon group which I never thought I would ever do and we meet once a week the day after the grocery deals come out. We go through the ads and figure out what is the best deals and what we have coupons for. Then we trade coupons. For ex: Some people are brand specific for toothpaste so they trade all their crest coupons to somebody who doesn't want colgate toothpaste. You end up getting more coupons for the same item. So instead of 1 toothpaste you might get 2 or 3 free ones.

I've been getting a bunch of stuff lately at Target. I'm not sure Canada even has Target yet let alone SuperTargets but Target allows you to match a Target coupon with a manufacturers coupon. (There a bunch of grocery stores here that allow you to do that). Here is an example of something I did at Target last week. A few weeks ago I was shopping at Target and with my receipt the cashier gave me a Target coupon for a buy 1 get 1 free Smuckers Ice Cream topping. I knew that I had some Smuckers coupons. So...the next time I went to Target I checked out how much their syrops were. I got the biggest kind and they were 2.26$ each. I grabbed a caramel and chocolate. At the register it came to 4.52$. I handed over my Target coupon which took off 2.26$. I then handed over 2 manufacturers coupons for $1 each. That makes my bill for caramel and chocolate syrop .26$ or 13 cents each.

It helps that I have friends that are into saving too. There is a new store that I just haven't had a chance to get to. A good friend is going today and is going to get me a box of peaches (.39/pound) and a box of pears (.33/pound) and grapes (.59/pound).

And that is how you get deals.

Years Supply - Toothbrushes

Toothbrushes
We have 26 adult toothbrushes. (way more than a years supply for 2 adults)
They were all free.
The kids bathroom has become my storage for all things bathroom supply related.

My Years Supply - Paper Towels

I've decided that for now I'm going to do a post per item. I'll tell you how many we have and how I got them and where I've put them. I think those are the main questions with regards to food/supply storage.

How much do I need?
Where do you get (insert product here)?
Where do you put it?

Paper Towels
I got 20 paper towel rolls at Target. They are Bounty Basic rolls. I figure that's just under 2 rolls a month and last year I bought a big package from Costco and we still have some of those left so this might even last us more. The paper towels cost me between free and .25$ each. Target has single rolls of paper towels on sale for $1. I used a 25 cent manufacturers coupon and a 50 cent Target coupon. The free ones are too complicated to try and write out but its the same concept of matching coupons. I've put the majority in my garage and a bunch in each bathroom closet so that I can be lazy and don't have to go hunting for a roll when I decide to wash mirrors. Oh and there is always a roll under the kitchen sink.

Deals of the Week!

Its been awhile since I've posted some good deals lately. I've been dealing with school starting and supplies and uniforms summer reading lists and being 9 months and a house that is never clean and kids who want to play outside (as they should) and lots and lots of pain.

But I have gotten some good deals.

12 pencils .01$
free shampoo
Kleenex - I bought 13 boxes of tissue which I consider a years supply over the past 2 weeks. I got the good kind with lotion added for around .50$ or less a box.
5 tubes of toothpaste - free
6 bottles of Santa Cruz Organic Lemonades - free
more ice cream - free

Anniversaries

I can't remember if we've ever actually gone out for our anniversaries.

For the most part Cster cooks. And here is why.

We ate:

bbq'd Sirloin Steaks
Sourdough bread Salad
bbq'd Prosciutto wrapped peach slices
homemade peach sorbet with fresh raspberries

and this meal cost us under $45 (not that it really matters) and was more delicious than anything we could have ordered at a restaurant.

"Because I don't want to"

Lster's response everytime he says "no" and I ask "why?"

Rock Obama

Mster has always referred to President Obama as Rock Obama. Whenever she sees his picture she points and shouts out his name in glee and excitement that she recognizes someone in mainstream media.

Today while we were driving to the library Mster informed me that she was mistaken and we did not just pass by Rock Obama's house. I asked her what she was talking about.

Mster: No mom, I was wrong. It wasn't his house. That one was red and white.
Me: Um...okay. Are you saying this because Barrack Obama lives in a white house.
Mster: I just told you that wasn't his house.
Me: Alright. And by the way his name is BArrack Obama.
Mster: Rock Obama
Me: No BArrack Obama
Mster: Rock Obama
Me: Ba
Mster: Ba
Me: rack
Mster: Rack.
Me: Barrack Obama
Mster: Rocko Obama
Me: There's a B in the front. Barrack Obama.
Mster: Barrack Obama?
Lster: Rock Obama. Rock Obama. Rock Obama. ROCK OHHH...BAMA!!!!

A Year's Supply of...

As I've been working on finding good deals and using coupons and such I've decided to start getting a years supply of (enter product here) for as many items as will store for a year.

I'm Mormon and we are encouraged to have a year's supply of food and necessessities for whenever and whatever might happen. Whenever I think about getting a years supply of anything I remember being a missionary in DC and being ask to guest teach a univeristy class on comparitive religion. At the end of the class we (the missionaries) opened it up to questions. Most of the questions were moral based. Do you believe in euthanasia? What is your position on...? Then one lady raises her hand and says..."what's up with the years supply thing. My neighbor has a basement full of food. That's weird."

But its not weird. I know of many people who have lived off of their food storage when times have gotten tough, jobs lost, etc. And so...I've decided to work on it. When I get a great deal, I buy lots of it (if it will keep) and I realized today we are doing really well.

I'm going to have an active list in my sidebar so I can keep track of what I have. I'll start putting it together in the next few days.

Hair Clip Update

Um...I don't know what to say but its crazy beyond my imagination. I mean I guess I could be making thousands of clips and have a staff or something but for me just sitting on my couch making clips to one store the success has been phenomenal.

I took a little break this spring and finally got motivated to make more clips in June. Bella had been asking for a sports line for a few months and I realized it was time I got my act together and started making some more product.

So I worked my tail off and brought them what I thought was a reasonable amount of clips. They loved them and made some more requests for new hair clips. I then got super motivated and a week later I came in with over 120 clips I had made in the past week. Some of them were new clips and some were to restock items they had sold recently. They bought them all and made even more requests for different styles of new clips. I got to work again and called the store to set up a time to bring them the clips but apparently in the week or 2 where I had brought in all the other clips they had sold out of a bunch of them. So I went in that afternoon and took inventory to see what they needed.

Today I went in with around 70 clips and they yet again made more suggestions on clips they wanted me to start making. I went home a pretty happy girl and started making dinner. The phone rang and it was the store. They wanted to tell me that a lady had just come in and bought out a complete style (I had just brought it in a few hours earlier).

I was going to take a night off and get some other things done but I'll be at it again on Monday filling the orders they just keep placing. I can't even imagine what I would do right now with another store to stock.

I put a link to the store on the right hand side bar. Check them out! Good prices and GREAT people. They will eventually do online purchasing and I know they are going to include my line in that endeavor.

Things that only work at a 5 year old bday party

When it came time for cake I couldn't find anything to light the candles with. Other adults in the room distracted the children with a game of "who likes...?" while I franctically ran (read: waddled) around the house opening drawers and cupboards.

So...I came downstairs and said "Who likes to play pretend?" Every 5 year old girl yelled a resounding YES!!!

So I pulled out a plastic french fry and introduced everybody to my "match". I "lit" the candles, we sang Happy Birthday and Mster blew them all out. We cut the cake and nobody made any comment about the fact that there wasn't actually fire.

Where was that again?

Today Mster and I were talking about Adam and Eve. I asked her which garden they were in (she gets all the gardens confused) and she hummed and hahhed for a bit. I told her it was the name of her good friends little sister to which she immediately shouted out...

THE GARDEN OF ASPEN!!!

(this will probably be more funny to those of you that know the family because her friend really does have a littler sister called Aspen)

Cupcake?

Apparently there was a record broken this weekend for the worlds largest cupcake. Not to be picky about it but isn't a cupcake just a smaller version of a cake, like lets say about a cup? So anything bigger than an average cupcake could probably fall into the category of oh, I don't know...cake!!

I like to read

I like to read. I don't always read as much as I'd like. I let other priorities get in the way but I do enjoy a good book.

The author of a book I enjoy died today. Frank McCourt. I really liked Angela's Ashes. I'm also the type of person that if I like a book by an author I will read everything else they've written too. I enjoyed his other books, Tis and Teacherman, but I liked Angela's Ashes best. I read it years and years ago and it was like nothing I had every read. It was depressing. It was interesting. It was voyerism. It was a world I knew nothing of.

If you haven't read it are in the mood for a depressing biography of an ordinary boy living in Limerick, Ireland with a drunk of a father, a desperate mother, a house full of siblings and some catholic priests than read away in his memory.

Things you don't want to hear from your 2 year old

"Uh oh...its in my nose"

It was a dry pinto bean. Luckily I got it out quickly and he hadn't jammed it in there but I sure hope this is not a start to other nose (or ear) situations.

You tell her Lster!

While I was shaving Cster's head we heard some chaos and yelling downstairs in the kitchen followed by crying. Shortly after, Lster came into our room with tears rolling down his cheeks. Apparently he was putting his noodles in Mster's bowl so she knocked him over onto the ground. He calmed down pretty quickly when he realized all the coolness of shaving a head.

Then, out of the blue, he leaves the room and yells from the top of the stairs.

"Mster...you have to go to your room you should not knock people over."

Mster must have questioned his authority because the next line he said was...

"No I told you to go to your room."

Deals of the Week - Update

I haven't posted any of my latest finds lately. This one is a few weeks old.

• 10 boxes of poptarts and 10 boxes of fruit loops for... $3.55

Some may ask what in the world we will do with 10 boxes of fruit loops. Cster did. And to all I reply they are our church snack food. The kids have to eat somewhat healthy cereal for breakfast but I let them eat sugar cereal as treats during church and only church.

Yesterday I got 90 Luv diapers for $6.50.I realized I need to get on buying baby supplies relatively soon considering I'm due in a month and was pretty proud of myself for snagging such a great deal my first week of trying. I used both a manufacturers coupon and an online coupon from pgesaver.com along with a store sale to snag the great deal.

I'm on my way today (hopefully) to get $.50 Kashi crackers and cereal and $.25 bounty paper towels. I went to Target and couldn't find the paper towls but I got 2 boxes of Kashi Cereal Bars and 2 boxes of Kashi Cereal as well as a Coppertone sunblock face stick for $2.85.

I went with Mster and we stopped off at 7-11 on the way home because every year on July 11 they give away free slurpees. Of course since it was 6:30pm they were out but the clerk was super nice and gave Mster a free one anyway.

Water

I've decided that water is key to all things summer fun. If I put my kids in a bathing suit and put them near water we have hours of entertainment. It can be at our house, at a splash park, in the pool, it doesn't matter, water is fun.

Yesterday we went to this park

We've spent some time in our pool in the front yard.

We've gone here.

Things that make me smile

I found a new website that often brings a smile to my face.

http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/

Not every picture is funny but it makes me laugh, most of the time.

Oh Canada!

It could have happened on Canada day but apparently we weren't around to answer the door to our postman who would have handed me Lster's Canadian citizen card. But, its official. Lster is Canadian. Yeah for Lster!

NYT - Best Children's Books

This post is more for me than you. I wanted to have a record of the list.

1. Charlotte's Web
2. Hardy Boys
3. Wind in the Willows
4. Freddy the Pig Series
5. Alex Rider Series
6. Harry Potter
7. Gentle Ben
8. Anne of Green Gables
9. The Dog Who Wouldn't Be
10. Little Lord Fountleroy
11. On to Oregon
12. The Prince and the Pauper
13. Lad, a Dog

Confusing the General Population

FTR I turned a year older a few days ago. :)

Confusing a 4 year old

Today I turn a day older. Mster's a bit confused. She's wondering why I'm not taller than yesterday.

Deals of the Week!

This was a big deals of the week.

My tip of the week is that you don't have to get the sunday newspaper to get deals. I got all my powerade coupons and haagan daas coupons from 7-11. They just had them on the fridge door. I still have 16 haagan daas coupons left to get free ice cream and I think at least another 4 coupons for powerade to get them at that price. You just don't buy those products at 7-11. Go to your grocery store do use them as they are cheaper there.

Free:
11 deoderants (I'm done getting deoderant now. They do expire)
9 Haagan Daas Ice Cream Cups
Snickers
Twix
15 boxes of pop tarts
2 boxes of Fruit Loops (the kids eat them as snack at church)
2 dove face bars
4 gold bond powder

Good Deal:
8 boxes of Fruit Loops - .50$
25+ bottles of Powerade - .30$
Hand Soap - .20$
6 Purex Detergent - $1
Ragu - .35$ (sorry Cheetah, we're not all authentic :) )

And I'm at a loss for the rest of my purchases. I will say that the lady behind me at Safeway today told me I was her hero. I'm glad she's setting the bar high. Although my bill did come to 65$ and I paid $3.55

Like Mother Like Children

Every since I can remember I have fidgeted uncontrollably while on the phone. I usually walk around the house with the phone to my ear. But...if I must sit down while chatting my hands are busy doodling, ripping paper or fulfilling other unproductive projects.

Yesterday Lster got the phone and asked to call his Grandma. I let him and even let him be the first to talk (a very important honor in our house). The moment the words "Hello Grandma" left his mouth he was off. Literally. He spent the entire conversation walking in circles in our living room.

Mster does exactly the same thing. As soon as she gets the phone she takes off to go pace the house and do laps in our living room.

I think its hilarious. It drove my dad crazy when I did it as a teenager and it kind of drives me crazy when they do it but there is nothing I can do about it but laugh and laugh.

Ice and a Positive Attitude

We have never had good ice in our freezer. It tasted bad and couldn't be used in any drink, flavored or not. Over the last few months we've noticed a significant decrease in our fridge's ability to keep things cold. I tried everything I could think of to avoid calling a repair man but alas on Monday I broke down and called a guy to come make my milk cold.

He came. He fixed. He didn't charge us an arm and a leg and magically we have ice that doesn't taste horrible. Its the best bonus EVER. Now instead of leaving glasses of water all over the house half drunk I can leave half glasses of ice water all over the house half drunk.

---------------------------------

Lster has a morning problem. He likes them. No matter what time I put him to bed he wakes up anywhere between 5:15 and 5:45AM. The other day he didn't come get me till 5:50 and I thought I was in heaven. Now most people know that I usually put my kids to bed early. Really early. They don't feel like I should complain because if I put them to bed when every other kid in the world sleeps they wouldn't wake up with the sun. I've tested it and it doesn't work. We arrived after 8 hours of driving (and Lster waking up at 5:30AM) at our friends house at 9pm. the kids didn't get to bed till past 10pm and he was still up before 6AM. He hadn't even napped in the car. Then that whole week he went to bed later than normal and every morning he was up bright and early ready to start his day (and mine). And if something fun is happening we prolong bedtime only to find he wakes up early the next morning and is grumpy all day.

This is slightly frustrating. This morning my kids were both up and yelling and crying and slamming doors at 5:40AM. I'm really trying to find a way to have a good attitude today. Its already been a long morning.

Cereal Anybody?

I probably should have taken a picture of my trunk. One of my local grocery stores was having a deal on a variety of cereal that we actually eat and is a good size box for $1.75/box. It just so happened that I have about 60 coupons for a dollar off all those cereals too. So I just bought over 20 boxes of cereal for .75$ each.

I brought my sister-in-law with me to help out since you could only buy 8 boxes a transaction and I'm going to admit that I was really tempted to fill our carts one more time and buy 16 more. But I didn't.

I guess we'll have to make do with what we have.

One year older and wiser too...

This week I turn as many weeks pregnant as how old I am. Right now I'm wishing I was a little older.

Last week I swore off all things free and cheap and couponny. I caved one day and went to a store I hate just because it was a really good deal and it turned out that they were out of stock and there was crap on the floor. By crap I mean poop. I still hate that store and wished I listened to my inner swearing off self.

This week I have to buy some stuff for our vacation next week and so I actually checked out deals and started doing some shopping. I didn't do too much because the next weeks grocery ads come out tomorrow and I'm really buying for next week anyway.

But...

Free:
2 chocolate bars
2 pineapples
1 travel first aid kit
1 travel size contact solution
1 box Kelloggs Crackers
2 Glade Candle Tins (well they were .15$ each)

Budding Biologist

Mster enjoys drawing on tissues with markers. She then gives them to me so I can have something pretty when I need to blow my nose.

Today she handed me her latest creation and announced it was a butterdeer. She explained that its what you get when you put a butterfly and deer together.

Deals of the Week

Free:
**16 Dove Facial Towellette cleaners (travel size) - she doesn't know it but I'm giving some to my mother in law for her upcoming camping trip. I'm also going to let Mster use them to wash her face since I'm sick of the wadded up face clothes in the sink.
**7 Oral B Toothbrushes

I had another week of not using too many coupons. In fact, for my main grocery run I only used 7 (all for the toothbrushes) and the rest was just me shopping what was on sale at that store. I knew we needed fruit and veggies so I picked the ones that were the best deals. Usually when I do this I get a variety every week since it differs.

I spent $30 and saved 40% (toothbrushes not included) and got:
7 toothbrushes (look to the end of the post for that story)
4 lb strawberries
10 Kiwis
7 apples
3 green peppers
2 lbs of carrots
2 cucumbers
3 tomatos
2 - 1lb lunch meat
18lb bag of charcoal
3 dozen eggs

I guess I do have to admit that I spent 135$ this week at Costco. It was mostly stock up stuff that was on sale and I can't remember the last time I spent over $100 but it still hurt to punch in my pin on that one.

The Toothbrush Story
I've been waiting and waiting for toothbrushes to go on sale because I had a .75$ off coupon and I knew that one of the stores would have them on sale for a $1. And it happened. (It usually does the week the coupon expires and mine were for 5/31). So I had over 12 of these coupons and my neighbors also had a ton too. One of them stayed home and watched kids (they took "sand baths" and are filthy and very happy) while 2 of us went shopping with all of our coupons pooled. I also had to do my regular grocery shopping so I gave my toothbrush coupons to my friend and she went off to go buy them. This store only allows 3 coupons per item so it can take awhile. She went to the self scanner, scanned 3, gave the coupons to the checker and paid the tax, repeat 7 times while I went to go pay for my groceries. We divided the toothbrushes up afterward. This was so smart. We were in and out of the store so fast. We got everything we needed. We had no kids and we all got a ton of free toothbrushes. And the kids had way more fun playing with their freinds then shopping with me. Friends are great.

Princesses

"True princesses are magical." - Mster explaining how princesses can come back from the dead to her friend today.

(PS - The end of princesses, blogged earlier, was shortlived)

A good Mom

This past weekend a girl Mster's age was eating fruit snacks outside. One of them, unbeknownst to her, dropped on the grass. I let her know and she promptly picked it up and gave it to her mom.

This morning Lster ate a cookie out of the garbage.

I Love my New Shirts

A friend of mine recently told me about a company called Downeast Outfitters. I'll post a link later. They are having a bunch of stuff on online clearance right now and have a maternity section too. The thing that is GREAT about this company is that all their shirts are SUPER long. I hate shirts that ride up and show your stomach and back and I think pants are being made lower and lower and that is not a good match. But these shirts looked awesome and they came highly recommended and ranged from $5-$10.

I sadly realized that I'm a little chicken to buy some clothes online and deal with returning them if they aren't what I want but I found out they have stores in Utah and so I went to day and I LOVE THESE shirts. They rock. They were having a special in the store too...buy 2 shirts get a pink one for $2. So I ended up getting 4 shirts (1 maternity, they are that long that they work for me) and the $2 one was a super cute cami with a lace bottom.

Check it out online.

Sister Burrito

Lster has taken to calling me "Sister Burrito*" I'm not kidding. Mster tried called me Squishy at this age but I stopped that right away. Lster is determined.

"Um...Sister Burrito...can I have a drink?"

He gets the Sister because we call each other Brother and Sister at Church instead of Mr. and Mrs. so all the kids that come over call me Sister Burrito.

Today on the way home from the park he called me "Squishy". I finally put my foot down and said "Stop it Lster. My name is Mommy. You can not call me Squishy." His response? "Um...Sister Burrito..."

This is no joke but its stinking hilarious and I can't stop laughing. But I'm trying to curb the laughter so as not to encourage. Oh my.



*and by "Burrito" I mean my real last name.

Weekend Deals

I can't find the link but I've head that Old Navy is selling their solid color flip flops for 1$ this Saturday. My favorite reebox flip flops broke this week and I really want a good pair. I'm sure these ones are the cheapo plastic kind but I might consider getting some just to tide me over till I get the more sporty kinds that I like.

Apparently Krispy Kreme is selling a dozen glazed donuts for 99 cents on Saturday too. I'm not a super fan of Krispy Kreme but I know some people LOVE them.

And for my Canadian readers I don't know if this is USA only. Sorry.

Deals of the Week!

Free Stuff
12 packs of Mentos Gum
8 boxes of Johnsons Bath Buddies (my new favorite bath product that may just get a post all on its own) - bars of soap covered in nylon material so that they don't slip out of 4 year old hands.

This week (although its only Monday) I decided that the sales weren't super great and so I was going to go to one (1) store and do all my shopping there.

I was still pretty shocked and impressed with my purchases and the money I paid at my one store for the week trip. It goes to show that you don't necessarily need coupons to be a frugal shopper. I only had coupons for 3 items (crackers, gum and cereal) this week.

Total Bill (incl tax) : 26.14

3 boxes of Kix
2 italain sausage rolls
celery
3 tomatos
1 cantaloupe
2 cucumbers
2 lbs of cherries
red/yellow/green pepper
5 boxes of wheat thins (garden sensations are Lsters and my favorite)
12 packs of Menthos gum
4 lbs of grapes

On a going green and being frugal note most grocery stores will give 5 cents per plastic bag you don't use in their store. It doesn't even have to be one of those reusable bags that you use. You can bring in your own plastic bag. 2 weeks ago there was a grand opening of a grocery store and they had reusable bags for 50 cents each. I bought a bunch and finally ditched most of my plastic bags in the recycle bin. I've already gotten credit for using them 12 times so I've gotten 60 cents off my bill in 2 weeks. That's the cost of one bag. And I don't have to feel guilty about using the plastic ones anymore.

I did however need a plastic bag on the way home to throw up in so I'm not completely green yet. :)

Things that make me happy, mad and sad

It makes me laugh that my sister-in-law assumed that because I didn't post an update to "Freaking Out" I'm okay. It is true. We are fine and nothing happened but it still makes me laugh.

What doesn't make me laugh is that a church building in her stake burnt down this morning during stake conference. That's sad.

It makes me laugh that Lster can only distinguish between 3 emotions: happy, sad and mad.

It makes me mad when I can't get internet in my bedroom.

Freaking Out!

I'm sitting here trying to figure out if I'm a criminal.

Our area has had wicked wind storms this winter/spring. Everything has gotten blown everywhere. We lost our garbage cans on one of those days. We also gained a plastic pool. One day a blue plastic pool showed up in our backyard after an extremely large bout of wind. I thought about it for a few days. What should I do with it? I wasn't going to lug it to all my neighbors and ask if it was theirs. That's a long walk (if you knew our house placement situation). I thought it kind of silly to post signs and if so where? On their doors? On lampposts? There weren't really that many options. And my indecision led to doing nothing and months went by. Eventually the weather warmed up and my kids started playing in the backyard and that pool became an important part of all things play. They filled it with rocks. They filled it with water. They filled it with everything. And it got holes. Lots and lots of holes. Last weekend Cster tried to throw it out when we were doing yard work but I wasn't ready to get rid of it yet. The kids played with it a lot.

Then tonight happened.

I'm sitting alone minding my own business when our backyard neighbors are clearly throwing a party. Cster is out golfing and the kids are asleep. Last summer they had a couple of big parties and it wasn't every weekend so I didn't think much of it. But the noise seemed to be getting louder and louder. I peaked out my back window and noticed 2 kids in my backyard right by the blue pool. I went downstairs and opened the back door and asked what they were doing. That is when I noticed 2 other kids up on the fence (between the 2 yards) and an adult male holding them up. They replied that they were getting their pool back. They saw Lster playing with the pool (had to be days ago) and they wanted it back. I apologized profusely. Explained that it blew in months ago and I didn't know who it belonged to and of course they could have it back. I showed them where the holes were and helped them carry it to the fence. At that point I came into contact with the adult male. If by contact you mean we were in close proximity to each other. He told the kids he was holding up he had to put them down. I then proceeded to repeat myself and apologize profusely while hoisting the pool over the fence. The man didn't look at me. He didn't speak to me. He didn't acknowledge my presense at all.

And now I'm kind of freaked out because I'm alone and pregnant and they are still really loud and there are a lot of people over there drinking and who knows what is going to happen in a few hours when they decide they are really pissed off that there are holes in the pool and they decide to do something in a drunken stupor. Why didn't they come get the pool when they saw it originally?

I feel like a criminal.

PS - Our calling 911 count in St. Louis was like 3 times. Our calling 911 count here has been 0 and I'd really like to keep it that way.

Actually...

Mster likes to argue everything. Unless she REALLY REALLY wants to do something she will argue a discussion until I finally scream. She used to preface everything I said with "actually".

Me: Here's your water.
Mster: Actually, I want milk

Me: Time to get in the car.
Mster: Actually, I want to play with my friend.

And the list goes on. But now she has dropped the preface and doesn't always use actually.

But...Lster has.

He just doesn't use it in exactly the same argumentative way.

Me: Do you want some water?
Lster: aaaacccttuualeeeeeee...yes.

Me: Go get me a diaper?
LSter: aaaacccttualeeeeee...no.

He draws out actually for as long as possible and I never know if he's going to say yes or no. So I have to wait for the answer to come.

Actually, its slightly annoying and cute at the same time.

Mud Fight!

Mster got a little dirty on Saturday. Instead of telling her get out of the mud we decided to let her go all out. Then Cster got involved and, if possible, she got dirtier.

Before Daddy

After Daddy

Lster loves his songs

Whenever Lster sees me on the computer he climbs up onto my lap and tells me he wants to hear songs.

He wants to hear himself sing the alphabet.

Deals of the Week

I didn't write one for last week but I did get a lot of free stuff and handed out a lot of free stuff too. One can only keep so much before it goes bad.

Free:
7 bottles of Kraft BBQ dressing
Wrigleys Gum
2 Vitamin Waters
5 bags of Snyders Pretzels
Colgate Toothbrush
1 lb strawberries

Good Deals:
3 colgate toothpaste (.25$)
12 bottles Kraft Salad Dressing ($.08)
Listerine - big bottle ($2)
Pasta - ww & reg. ($.77)

Odd Article about Twilight

I read this article today about the Twilight movie series. Apparently a hairdresser in St. Louis found some of the "top secret" scripts in the garbage can and returned them to the studio.

Umm...the movies are based on books...the story shouldn't be a surprize. We all know about the werewolves and we all know how it ends.

You know you are a mother when...

Lster sings the alphabet

Our Kids Eat Ribs!

The Dramatic Princess Exit

Mster attended a princess birthday party yesterday. She left the party with lots of treats one of them a big top with a princess picture. She spent all after trying to spin that top and got it to work once. After that successful attempt (which was painful achieve) she could not get the top to spin anymore.

Later that night she asked me if princesses were ever sad. Figuring it had something to do with the top I told her that princesses did get sad but they tried really hard to find ways to be happy so as not to be sad for too long.

Last night at bedtime Mster announced that if she was invited to any other princess birthday party she could not attend. She also wanted to get rid of all her princess dress up dresses. She was never going to be a princess again. Then, she looked at her bed and said we had to get rid of her bedspread (it has Aurura on it). I told her we could talk about it in the morning.

We haven't talked about it yet but she's still in her princess pajamas from last night so I'm hoping that's a good sign. I can't even imagine what her next love will be if princesses are thrown by the wayside.

Deals of the Week

This was a big shopping week. I spent a lot of money. But...I got a lot of good deals and increased my food storage and filled my deep freeze with meat. Lots and lots of meat.

Here's my story.

Free:
Gum
Vitamin Water
Kraft Salad Dressing
6 bags of goldfish
2 bags of Hanovers pretzels
um... I think there was more
Nivea Body Wash

But this is not where my story ends. Today I went to Safeway. They have a deal where if you spend $30 on certain products you get $10 off your next purchase. There are over a 3000 choices. So I spent the time and found the actual list online and matched what I needed, with what I had coupons for and what was on the list of 3000. Then I realized that my coupons expired today and I packed the kids up and off we went. You see by preparing ahead of time I could get my future $10 without actually spending $30 because I really probably only spent about $15 using coupons.

So I'm going through the aisles getting stuff on my list (always use a list) when I hit the meat department and realized they were having a BIG sale. And I bought a lot of meat (over 35 lbs). I went to the check out and almost fainted when the bill ran up to $85. I kept shaking my head as I was leaving the store and realized they never gave me my future $10 so I went back and they said they couldn't give me the coupon because it automatically rings up but they could give me a crisp $10 (if that was ok). Ummm...yeah!!! So my bill was really $75. I felt better. Then I looked at my bill again and realized I had saved $147. That meant my total bill would have been $222.

Here is what I got for $75. I did not feel so bad after my realization.

• 2 gallons of milk
• 8 jars of Bertolli Spaghetti Sauce
• taco shells
• 3 bags of Mission torilla chips
• flat of bottled water
• 4 cases of coke and diet dr. pepper
• 2 bags of preztels (regular size)
• 2 pork sausage rolls
• 12 lbs of chicken breast(boneless)
• 5 lbs of sirloin (boneless)
• 15 lbs of pork loin chops (boneless)
• 5 lbs of chicken legs
• 2 mangos
• 4 boxes of microwave popcorn

And now that I wrote it out I feel like I could have done better. But $75 is not all that bad.

I'd like to never have to do the last 24 hours again.

I won't bother documenting the 1st part of the last 24 hours but I the last part ended with a house full of kids.

A few months ago we got an awesome deal on furniture. If I had the energy I would link to the post about it. But...the dining room table we got had a huge stain that required professional help. Since it was under warranty I didn't worry about it and today we finally got it arranged to fix it. It was going to get fixed at my friends house since the warranty was under her name. I told her that I should watch her kids so she could deal with anything table oriented without being distracted.

The kids came. And for 3 hours my house was the loudest I think its every been. There was fighting. There was screaming. There was everything possible that could make them mad at each other happen. My hopes of getting some cleaning done while they were here soon dashed. Finally I went upstairs, picked a room and started cleaning. I moved to the other room and got on the phone to figure out some solutions to the 1st part of the 24 hours stuff. When I got off the phone (less than 5 minutes) I went downstairs.

4 children.
An entire container of oatmeal.
An entire container of raisins.
An entire container of animal crackers.
My entire main floor.

Put it all together and what have you got? A mental breakdown. Luckily the mom was do back in fifteen minutes.

So her kids are gone. My kids are in time out in their room. I'm seriously thinking of letting Mster stay there for a few hours. I want my little angel back. This is not an exclusive bad behavior situation.

This 24 hours better be done.

If you don't get the newspaper

or if you do get the newspaper...

Proctor and Gamble have online coupons that you can put right onto your grocery store's card.

Go to www.pgesaver.com
You will have to register but its free. Put in your area code and it will tell you which stores in your area are available. Put in your store card number into your account.
Select which coupons you want and they will automatically go to your card.
The next time you shop at that store and buy that item it will automatically just take it off. These coupons don't double.

I'm going to use these coupons as a bonus. I just dumped them all on my card and if I happen to use them I'll get a bonus. I'm not going to try and remember what's on my card especially since P&G products are all toiletries and right now I only buy them if they are under $.5o or free since we have everything we need.

You can also put free coupons onto you cell phone. I don't have a data plan on my cell phone so I'm not ready to figure that one out yet but those types of coupons are good for free movie rentals and a lot more than just toilet paper. If I get into it I'll post about it.

My Wheat Grinder

I got a wheat grinder for Christmas. I've had it on my list for a few years now but I guess somebody finally realized I was serious in my request. The problem was that the moment Christmas was done I finished my pregnancy honeymoon and entered into I'm too sick to microwave a hotdog for my kids stage of the pregnancy so I couldn't use it.

Finally last month I started feeling like my old self and I pulled it out and I LOVE IT!!! I use it frequently. It would have been so daunting if I hadn't used one before but I just pulled it out and started right away and within minutes I had my flour. I felt so industrious. I then, use my flour to make my own bread and pizza dough.

If anybody had told me when I was younger I would be making my own flour and turning it into edible food I would have laughed and laughed. I wonder when I'll start canning my own food from my own garden. hahaha. There's me laughing about future me. There are no gardens in the works for this summer. I decided that with baby #3 on the way I would focus on maintaining our yard instead of trying to do more than I can. I know, a novel idea.

Deals of the Week

I got a ton of good deals this week.

Free:
Kraft Salad Dressing (well it was $.08)
Toilet PaperX4
McCormick's Grilling Spice
Quacker Rice Snacks X2
Vitamin Water X2
Wrigley's Gum

Good Deals:
Frozen Vegetables - $.18
3 boxes of Raisin Bran, a gallon of milk, a loaf of quality bread - $4.50
15lbs of potatos - $1.99
Quatro razors (heavy duty quality ones) - 2 packs for $2
4 racks of beef ribs - under $12

Lster got 2 birdies

Lster loves the Wii. He loves all things electronic. He is scarily picking up how to play electronic games very quickly.

Today he asked to play Wii. I said sure and we played together for a bit. He wanted to play golf. A few weeks ago I told Lster he had to wait for Daddy to teach him how to play Wii golf. Well, Lster immediately did and Daddy "taught" Lster how to play. Basically it was Lster attempting to get the ball in the hole until the game had mercy on him and moved him onto the next hole.

But today when we played I was SHOCKED!!! He got 2 birdies in the first 2 holes. I couldn't believe it.

Lster thinks it Christmas

Lster: Its Christmastime!!
Me: Nope, its not.
Lster: yes mommy...its Christmastime!!
Me: Its Christmastime?
Lster: YES!!!
Me: Okay...its Christmastime.
Lster: Where are my presents?

Deals of the Week

Free:
Colgate Toothbrush
Sobe Drink
Quaker Rice Cakes Snacks (actually I got .12 cents given to me for getting them)

Almost Free:
frozen vegetables - $.18

Update on ValentineKnits

There really isn't an update on the blog but there is in sales. I just started branching out to using only ribbon in my hair clips and I've just sold my first batch to the store that I've been supplying for 4-5 months now. They bought everything I brought, made requests for new items (that I will now have to figure out to make) and ordered more of old stuff I've made to restock their shelves.

They are located very close to a movie theater and a bunch of other shops and apparently this summer on friday nights the shops are hosting an outdoor band show. All the shops are going to have tents out where they can showcase their merchandise. The shop owner said she wanted to have bunch of my stuff out there for those performances.

All positive news. Yeah.

Lster's take on Easter

At the dinner table:

Lster: Jesus is dead.
Me: Yep, Jesus is dead but He was resurrected.
Lster: Where is He?
Me: Um...(try putting it in 2 year old words)...umm...(giving up)...he's in the spirit world.
Lster: I miss Him*.


*I guess its probably important to note that Lster's been known to tell me he missed me after I come out of the bathroom. TIme doesn't really play a factor in his missing ability.

Deals of the Week

Free:
Colgate Toothpaste
Salsa

I spent 27.00$ and saved 46.00 that's 62% savings on all stuff we either use regularly or needed.

Today at the Library.

Mster(the social butterfly): Hi my name is Mster. What's your name?
Girl: Autumn.
Mster (eyes wide open): I just played with a girl named Autumn today. What's your mom's name?
Autumn: Kari.
Mster: What's your dad's name?
Autumn: I don't have a dad.
Mster (to me and her): You don't have a dad.
Autumn: Well I have an Uncle dad. My dad drove my mom's car and got pulled over and now he's in jail.

Lster's on the Computer

I realized Mster was around this age or younger when we started playing games on pbskids so I've been thinking of letting Lster try it out. I had been trying to figure out how to handle the fight for the computer time. I wasn't really relishing the tears and crying over who's turn it was but they've been surprisingly good.

The take turns playing games and Lster is starting to kick me off the mouse. He can move it around and click the button. He can play the simple games. Its fun to watch him.

Deals of the week

Free (all name brand):
Chapstick
Aluminum Foil x 2
Kraft Salad Dressing
3 dozen eggs
Hamburger Helper

Almost Free:
Shampoo - .50$
Conditioner - .50$
Deoderant - .25$

Good Deals:
hot dog buns - .50$
ball park hot dogs - .50$

I'm Pregnant

Today I am a full believer in pregnant brain.

At about 7:45 this morning Mster's friends mom called me. She wanted to apologize for not telling me she was going out of town. I thought it was really odd. She happens to be the wife our church's bishop so even if she hadn't told me I already knew. But I thought it was nice of her and was ready to hang up when she asked if I was planning on taking her daughter to preschool (we usually carpool). I gently reminded her that it was spring break. She gently reminded me that our kids preschool only had spring break for 1 week since her teacher was in a different school district than where we lived. So Mster's been skipping all week. Oops. I probably wouldn't have sent her anyway because she's been sick but I still can't get over that we've been holed up here all week and could have been back to our routine.

Mster was VERY excited with the news. Got ready as fast as she could and then asked me to take a video of her with her camera singing a song about how happy she aws that spring break was over.

Yep. I'm pregnant

Friends are Good

I'm a believer in friends. They've always been really really important to me. Part of me thinks its because I'm an only child and so I didn't have the closeness of siblings to rely on during life. But as I've grown up into a big girl I've lost a lot of my old friendships. They were ones I thought were so important at the time. They meant to the world to me and I thought vice versa. But their lives get busy. They have families of their own and our communication becomes me reading statuses on facebook. Of course there a few that I keep in pretty good contact with and don't resort to just blogs and facebook to maintain.

But I've had 2 friends from the "past" (I say that lightly because now I realize they were always there) who have since sprouted.

Today one of those friends saved me from having a horrible day. She was awesome. I knew I needed to talk to someone. The only person I could think of I knew was super busy and I just sat there trying to figure it out myself. Then I had the idea to call an old friend. We chatted. She helped me. She supported me. And then she had to go but I felt so much better after talking to her. I wasn't completely there but better. It was what she did a few hours later that makes friends good. She called me back. She talked to me about the things going on in my life. She laughed at the things going on in my life and she distracted me from feeling horrible and she rocks. After talking to her for awhile I had to go and she said "no problem, I just wanted to call and distract you a bit". She knew it. She knew what I needed and for the rest of the day I was able to not only function, I excelled.

And so I realized that there are friends out there that are real friends. The ones you can call on whenever. The ones who help you excell.

My doctor just pumped me full of prescriptions

I hate taking medicine. I don't even think Nyquil works all that often. Sometimes it will knock me out but more often than not I will end up having a restless night of inadequate sleep as I drift in and out of conciousness. (And inevitably the night I take Nyquil will be the night the kids decide to get up 5 times and I'll be walking around in a dazed stupor anyway)

That being said I can't even take nyquil right nor do I think its the right medicine anyway. I've got serious chest congestion. I feel like a somebody lit a cat on fire, blew it out right away, stuck it in my chest and now the smouldering mass of cat fur is just sitting there putting pressure in my lungs and making it hard for me to breathe.

Today we had our 20 week ultrasound and doctor's appointment. I hestitated to tell the doctor the chest issue but I did and asked what I could take. After asking a bunch of questions she decided that I needed 2 prescriptions (2!). One she prefaced by saying, you will feel like you just drank 3 cups of espresso. Your heart will race and you'll feel jittery. Umm...that sounds worse than a smouldering cat.

But I listened and I bought them and I took them and the chest is still heavy and hurts and my body feels all tingly all over and I'm feeling the jitters. Not so useful.

Yet again why I hate taking medicine for colds.

We caught a mouse!

All I have to say is I'm so glad that Cster did everything dead mouse related. I didn't even have to see it. Yuck!

What Color Are You?

Lsters new favorite game. It involves giving you a choice of 2 or more items (of different colors) and asking "What color are you?" and then handing you the appropriate item.

We have to his amusement then all taken turns throwing the item (throwing stuff being his other favorite game). He then runs frantically to retrieve all the thrown items.

A couple of important points to note:
1. Lster almost picks blue. Don't pick blue. Its just easier that way.
2. You may pick blue if there are more than one blue items in your options.

To Do List

I have not been one to write To Do Lists. I use to laugh in college when my roommates wrote out lists for everything. They would put shower on their list just so they felt good about crossing something off. That being said today I wrote a To Do List.

Every once in awhile when there is just so much to do I cave and write it down. It all started when I had a child and I couldn't go to the store and get the 5 things I needed without writing them down. I would end up with 7 things in my grocery bag with only 2 of them being what I originally needed. So I started writing grocery lists.

For the past week I've woken up and said "I will pay bills today". And every night I have gone to bed and not paid bills. I'm not just sitting in bed eating chocolate, yesterday I completely reorganized the kitchen and both kids rooms as well as did 4 loads of laundry. I just didn't do the bills. I remembered the last time I had this dilemna and remembered that the day I wrote it down as part of a list I did it that day. So today I tried it. I wrote "pay bills" along with a bunch of other stuff I really wanted done.

And I did it!!! It totally worked. I didn't do everything on my list (organizing beats out bills which beats out bathrooms) but I did the bills. So I think once a month (around bill paying time) I'm going to write a to do list and hope that the pattern sticks.

Surprise Party

Mster told me today she knows what kind of birthday party she wants (for her bday in July!). A surprize party. My parents tried to get more info out of her when they talked to her today but she was very tightlipped and finally said "I don't know much about my party because its a surprize).

And I was told today that I hadn't blogged that we were having a boy. There are just too many electronic ways of communicating that I forget to post info everywhere. Its a boy, still currently called "Loki". Mster told me today he was sick and hungry. So she went downstairs and made him a snack. Tortilla chips, gold fish, animal crackers, almonds, raisins and apple chips (dried apples) in a bowl. She then told me to eat it. I took a few bites and said it was too close to dinner. She asked if the food had gotten through the tube to Loki yet. I'm thinking that he didn't like it all that much cause all I want to eat is meat and fruit.

Future Ambitions

I was emptying in the dishwasher with Mster. She asked me what the spinning thing was at the bottom. I told her it spun really fast when the dishwasher was on so that the water would spray to all the dishes.

Mster: "Wow. That's what I want to be when I grow up."

I WIN!!!

Tonight I went to dinner at our Church with a bunch of other woman. We had to bring out purses. I just knew they would end up playing a game of "do you have ??? in your purse?" so I had planned on bringing my big bag and filling it with junk so I could win.

In reality...

I have the smallest purse known to man. Its a wallet with a strap. I love it. I hate the idea of carrying around a big bag full of stuff. I keep diapers and wipes in my car and if I know I'm going to be far from my car I use the big bag. The big bag still being smaller than the average purse size.

So...things didn't work out like I planned and I completely forgot my purse plan and only had my regular wallet with a strap purse. Turns out I still won. I won smallest in weight (7.6 ounces) and smallest in size. I also had 2 of the items that they called out.

For those Canadians out there reading my purse is the MEC wallet. I've had it for years and years and its still in perfect condition. I love MEC. Oh and my "big bag" is also MEC. I've also had it for years and years and its still in perfect condition.

Goodbye Hair

I've been thinking about doing an A-Line bob on my hair for awhile now. My ends were seriously wrecked and so much so that a little trim was not going to do it. I was over at a friends house yesterday and was asking her about hairdressers. Her reply, "An a-line bob? I can do that."

And so she did. Right there and then. And I walked away with significantly less hair than when I arrived. It was awesome.

What is not awesome is that Mster wants a haircut just like it. Hmm...I don't think we're ready to chop off her locks or be a mommy-daughter match. :)

Also humorous is that another friend told me she wanted her daughter to have the same haircut. So with her daughter and my haircutting friend's 2 daughters who are sporting the bob I will match a significant portion of the 4-5 year old girls in my church. Uh...

Too Close and Diapers

Lster looked up to me at 10:30 on Tuesday morning and asked for his diapers. I said "Okay" and he's been peeing freely as he plays ever since. I guess we'll try again later.

Mster has this need to touch me all the time. Right now I'm sitting on the couch and she's slamming her body as close to my side as possible. I can barely move my left arm. This is normal for her. She is always on me, holding my hand, asking to get picked up (which never happens, she's 4 1/2), sitting on my lap. Its endless. When I am eating she pulls up a chair right by my side (touching) and eats while being my left hip. Its too close.

Day 2

Yesterday I became a big mess of parental disarray ready to curl up in a ball and hide until Cster came home (which at that time I wasn't even sure when that would be). I finally decided for the sanity of all involved I decided to take a break at about 2:30pm. I put on a diaper (well, I didn't put on a diaper, I put a diaper on Lser). I called my best friend and lamented on how hard parenting is and woe is me. Then I hung up and let my kids watch tv. And then I gave Lser a super long time out (for non-potty related incidents) and then I threw them outside to ride bikes against the most horrendous wind. And then I made pancakes and sent them to bed.

This morning, I am much more refreshed. I am much more ready to face the potty training task. I'm not sure what will happen at 2:30 again but until then I'm ready to forge forward. Its snowing. Its cold. Its windy and we'll be inside cheering Lster.

Potty Training

This past weekend Lster stopped what he was doing and looked down for a few seconds. I asked him if we was peeing. He gave me a BIG grin and said "I'm peeing!"

That was enough for me to say its time to start the mountain climbing obstacle of being a diaper free household (for 5 months). I talked about it during the weekend with him and this morning made a big deal about going out to get new big boy underwear. Mster and Lster talked it over and Lster became VERY adament and excited for his "dora" underwear. I've heard of kids picking the opposite sex underwear but wasn't sure how well that would go over here.

Thankfully the boy underwear was at toddler eye level and the girl underwear was at adult eye level. Lster picked Diego and Sports. He also picked out a sugar filled sport drink and his treat (for when the magical moment occurred)

We headed home and he immediately took off his pants and put on the underwear. He did not like the feel of the Diego underwear and proceeded to take them off. We tried the sports ones (which were a little smaller). He then proceeded to try on every single pair we bought. The problem was that Lster likes to dress himself. Actually that is not the problem. The problem is that Lster does not have the coordination to dress himself and yet insists on doing EVERYTHING himself. So he would try on a pair, put both feet in one hole, not like the feel of it and insist on trying another one. Then he would put them on backwards, not like th feel of it and insist on trying another one. Then he would put the right feel in the right holes but not be able to pull them up right so certain body parts were hanging out and the elastic was all twisted , not like the feel of it and insists on trying another one. It was fun!!

I finally decided he should just go naked. I made him sit on the potty for 1/2 an hour chugging his sport drink. I read story after story and then he begged to get off. I was done too so we moved onto another room where he proceeded to have an accident 5 minutes later.

Since then he's had 2 other accident. Both times he knew what was going on and told me about it. Both times I took him and put him on the toilet right after. He even finished one of the times. Then he begged to watch Dora so I told him if he sat on his little potty he could watch Dora. Then his bum started to hurt (I mean you sit on the toilet for 2 hours, there's going to be some redness) and I let him get up. He got up for a minute but then sat right back down. Seconds later he peed, on the carpet, while sitting on the potty. (I guess we'll work on aiming this afternoon).

But I think this is progress. He sat down to go. I remember Mster having 6 accidents the first day of potty training. I have a carpet cleaner and I'll do a big clean this afternoon and dump in the bath before he goes to bed.

I'm not sure its going to happen but I'm ready to try full force today and tomorrow and we'll see about the next day.

Fire Ants!

I have 4 girls playing at my house right now. One of them is Mster. For awhile they were yelling and screaming for me every 2 minutes. Apparently they felt the need to announce every red ant they saw. 4 girls can see a lot of ants.

I finally told them. "They are NOT fire ants. You will not get eaten. You will not burn. If you yell one more time you will all have to play inside. If you play outside, there will be ants. just step on them."

Deal of the Week!!

Friday has become my grocery run day. I figure out all my coupons on Thursday (because my grocery stores have their sales wed-tues) and make my rounds on Friday morning after I take Mster to preschool.

My find of the week was an unintential find. I went to Safeway and saw a big sign that said some cereal was 99cents a box. I did a double take and then proceeded to fill my grocery cart with boxes and boxes of cereal. We now have enough Corn Flakes and Life to last us at least 6 months.

(After being home a few hours I couldn't get the deal out of my head. I kept thinking I should have boughten more. So I called my neighbor, who's daughter was already coming over this afternoon, to see if she could take mine for 1/2 hour while I ran back to the store. She said yes and gave me a slew of coupons to share so I would get some boxes for her. The result was a bunch of the boxes were only 5o cents each)

Hey, there's an economic crisis going on. A girl has to be smart in her purchases.

And then there were 3

Lster loves his pacifiers. LOVES THEM. He does not get them during the day (unless I'm super unmotivated to take it from him) but he gets them at night. "Them?" you ask. There were 4. He had one in his mouth and cuddled with 3 each night and naptime.

I just noticed that one of his favorite ones (meaning one he often chooses to actually put in his mouth and not cuddle has a big old hole in it. Much to Lster chagrin I declared it garbage worthy. He decided he should dump it and he did it. I don't think I can express how attached he is to his pacifiers. I'm wondering when his loss will sink in. Probably at nighttime.

I'm so sick of the pacifier obsession that I often think that today is the last day and I'm throwing them all out but Cster calmly reminds me that Mster had to give up her night time pacifier on her 3rd birthday and so will Lster.

But today I decided I am spending no more money on them so if by "chance" any, or all, of his pacifiers get holes in them. Bye Bye Forever. I'm liking this idea. Bite away Lster.

I was not expecting this when I woke up...

A few days ago my friends cashed in an awesome deal. Free brand new furniture. Somebody they knew had just bought a show home that was going out of business and they got it fully furnished and didn't want most of the stuff. The only stipulation for my friends was they had to move it themselves.

So Mster was already planning on spending the afternoon playing with their daughters and when I talked to my friend this morning she asked me if I wanted some of her stuff. She only wanted me to offset some of the rental truck expense and a king size mattress that they would have to buy.

I went over this afternoon with a general idea of what she was selling but I had no idea what I was getting myself into. First off her husband just wanted to get rid of it all. So they sold me everything for 300$. They also packed it into their rental and moved it to my house and unpacked it for me because Cster was at work. They just kept giving me more and more things.

All in all we got:

A full dining room set that sits 8 (6 chairs and a bench). The table is regularly a rectangle but extends to a square and a hutch to match. I also got all her linens to go with the table. I also got some wall peices that went with her dining room set.

2 couches. A love seat and big sofa(with a hidabed!!!) with all the matching pillows. (Her house is very put together and everything matched and looked great.

An end table

A weight bench complete with weights and bar.

A double stroller

2 matching tables lamps

A kid size table with chairs

I'm so overwhelmed by all this new stuff that I should be working to arrange and declutter and clean so I can fit it all in nicely but after the stress of figuring all that out I just want to lie down and rest and look at my old dining room set that is now in my living room.

This is all too much for a pregnant woman.

Coupons

Something I learned about coupons...

I've never been one to use coupons. It was always my opinion that going through all the coupons you get and clipping four 25 cent coupons for your entire grocery order was just not worth it. But, I have been converted. Its been a slow process. My friend taught me a months ago how to use coupons the best and I thought about it for a long time and then finally this month jumped on the bandwagon. I will now share my coupon wisdom with all who read.

The coupons only work for me because of a free site called www.couponmom.com. You have to register but all it involves is giving your email address and creating a password and I've never gotten any spam (that I'm aware of) from the site.

Once you are registered there is a feature where you can go to your state and pick the stores they've already figured out coupons for. In my state there are 2 stores that work. They also have national stores like Walmart, Walgreens, Target, Rite Aid, etc.

So here's how it works. The couponmom people figure out what coupons you should use, when you should use them and where you should use them. It matches store sales with your coupons (from the sunday paper) and gives you the most sale for your coupon.

Here is a real example that I did a few weeks ago:

Safeway had Betty Crocker Icing on sale Buy 2 get 3 free. The total came to 4$. So that would be $4/5 icings before coupons. I had a 50cent off coupon. Safeway doubles manufacturers coupons so that made it $3/5 icings. Then (and how would I have ever known this) the icing containers had 20 cent coupons on them that you could take off at the register. Remember that Safeway doubles so that totals $2 off (.20XdoubledX5icings) So in the end I spent $1 for 5 icing containers.

If you you read that and think its too confusing to figure it all out (which I do) but couponmom does all the work for you. You just look at their list, organize it the way you want (I always organize it by most % saved per item) and then go from there.

Some of you may say why would you need 5 containers of icing but I do have 2 kids and I am trying to have some food storage and you never know when you have to make cupcakes and .20 cents a container is cheaper than making it your own.

There are numerous times that you end up getting items for free with all the different discounts.

The one thing to think about when doing coupons is what kind of food do you buy. I don't buy a lot of prepackaged food. I dont' buy sugar cereal (If I had gotten coupons in January I could get sugar cereal for $1/box this week) so I probably don't save as much as a family that buys more of that type of product but where I do always save is on cleaning supplies and toiletries.

And that is all.