INTRODUCING...well, sort of

So, I had high hopes of this new "segment" that I was going to introduce this week, and my time is just getting away from me. I'm actually re-thinking doing it completely.

My sister, Melanie, even made a cute little button for it...

I'm not sure if this is going to be a weekly thing or not, but some of these deals were just to good to pass up this week!! In the meantime, check out one of my new favorite blogs, Money Saving Mom. (where I got alot of the deal ideas from.)

Here's the post that I was originally going to post this week...


I have just started clipping coupons (why haven't I started this sooner? I don't know) and have been checking out a few good frugal blogs, and I'm loving it!!

So, I've decided to share my excitment with you!

Each week (it may be a couple of times a week - depending on the sales) I will share with you a deal that I found, where you can find it, how I came across it, etc.

Last week, I've had quite a few deals, so I'm going to share them with you now, just so you get an idea. Some of the deals I got last week have passed now, while others are still going on. I'll let you know all of the specifics.

Here goes...

DEAL #1



Last week, Walgreens had Jane Cosmetics on sale Buy 1 Get 1 Free. Combined with this coupon the items were close to free. Here's how it breaks down...

I bought two eye liners $3.99 each. I used 2 coupons (one for each product) and got $4 off. Makes them FREE!! I had to throw in a candy bar (per Ryan's request) so that it didn't come up with a negative balance.

I got approx. $63 worth of product for approx. $5! The only reason I spent $5 was because I bought a few items that were $5.99 each, so I had to pay a couple of dollars.

So, are you bummed that you missed this deal?!? YOU'RE IN LUCK!! Meijer is having a B1G1 Free deal this week, and if you combine it with the above coupon, you too can get the same deal! (the coupon doesn't expire until 4/30/08)

The coupon can be printed as many times as you want, but I only bought two items at a time - I was at Walgreens alot this week! :)


DEAL #2




I got each of these boxes of cereal for $.24 each! I bought them at Super Wal Mart (not my favorite place to shop, but their prices are very cheap!) for $2.24 each. Combine them with this coupon for $2 off each box, and they ended up $.24 each. I used two coupons, because I had two boxes. You can still print this coupon - just not sure when it expires.


DEAL #3

I got this deal at my local grocery story(Wilco-County Market) but I heard it was going on at Meijer last week too.

Bought 6 Quaker products for $10. In the newspaper last Sunday it had a coupon for $3 off any 5 Quaker products making them 6/$7. I then had a coupon for $1 off one box of Life cereal. Making them 6/$6! Not too bad!

SO - tell me what you think? Is this something you would like, or does it not interest you at all? I'm pretty excited about my new-found hobby! :)

Oh - and I can't take all of the credit for finding these super deals. Like I said, I've been reading some good frugal blogs that do alot of the research for you. My favorite is definitely Money Saving Mom.

Throwback Thursday - 1977 and 1978?

Maybe my mom can help me out more with dates on these pictures, but I'm guessing their around 1977 and then 1978. But these are of me when I was a baby. Can you say Owen?!? Brett actually asked me if it was Owen! :)


Check out those rolls! :)



For more "Throwback Thursday" visit Pinks and Blues Girls

You know your son is sick when he asks to go to the doctor!!

This conversation took place in my van this morning on the way to bring Chloe to school: (unfortunately - no snow day, just a two-hour delay)

Brett: Mommy, I'm sick. I need to go to the doctor.

Mom: O.K. honey, I already made you an appointment - we're gonna go to the doctor.

Brett: But I don't want a shot.

Mom: Oh, no Brett, you're not going to get a shot, she's just going to check you out.

Brett: Like a checkup?

Mom: Yep, just like a check-up, and maybe she'll give you some medicine.

Brett: But mommy, the medicine doesn't work.

Poor guy, we have been doing breathing treatments, using vaporizers, giving cough syrup, and nothing has worked. So off to the doctor we go - for both boys, because Owen isn't better yet either. Man - this thing hangs on. I'm just thankful it's not the flu! (I'm not good with puking kids - ask Ryan! :))

How does this happen?!?!

So, this afternoon it was about 49 degrees outside. It is now, according to Weather Channel, 16 degrees (feels like -5 degrees). The winds are 34 to 41 mph and it is snowing like a blizzard out there! It's crazy! My windows are whistling like crazy, but I am sitting by a nice cozy fire watching t.v. :) And I'm secretly hoping for a snow day tomorrow, so keep your fingers crossed! :)

Amazing!!

We were at our friends house on Saturday night, and we watched this! Truly amazing!!! Just thought I'd share with you.

I really thought my brothers and brother-in-law, Jon, would get a kick out of this...

Round Number Two...

...technically number three if you want to count Ryan. He's had it for a week and 1/2 now.

Well, this morning Brett woke up with a bark like a seal. He slept really good all night, but man his cough is BRUTAL! So this is what we were doing first thing this morning...



He is SO much easier than Owen. Brett will actually let you strap the mask onto his face and hold it himself, and just sit until he's done. SO EASY!! Let's just pray that it doesn't go any further than the three boys! :) I'm not sure if I'd rather have it like my sister- all three of her boys had it at the same time - or if I'd rather we all get it one at a time...Uggghhhhh!!! Either way, I don't like it!

**On a side note, I have to make a poster all about Chloe for school - she's the TOP BANANA in a week. So, I've been going through some pictures and stuff, and found some really GREAT ones for "Throwback Thursday", so hopefully I'll be able to start that again this Thursday. Also, we went ice skating yesterday at Ryan's parents house, and I have some fun pictures and a video that I'll try to get up here too. I'm also going to introduce a new weekly "segment". So stay tuned for that!!

"So much time, and so little to do - wait a minute, strike that, reverse it!" :) (Can you tell me what movie that's from?!?) Melanie you don't count!! :)

My poor baby boy!!

Well, I spoke too soon!

The past couple of days we have had to give Owen breathing treatments. It's not the end of the world, but I just hate how he kicks and screams and pushes the mask away - which makes me have to get a little forceful in holding him down to get him to breathe in the medicine. It's a bit difficult - unless you're daddy...



No kicking and screaming here! I can't say he was completely happy, but Ryan definitely didn't have to hold him down like I did!


Towards the end, he got a bit upset, but still no wrestling match! :)

I guess I've held you in suspense long enough!

So sorry I didn't post this sooner! I really intended on doing this Saturday night, and then again Sunday, and once again yesterday, but time has just gotten away from me. Yesterday I was a mother of 6 for half the day(my two nephews and niece slept over) and Owen and Ryan were sick. So, needless to say, I've been busy.

Anyway - click HERE



Despite what some of you may think, I DID NOT force her to do this!! She wanted it done so bad, but she was just so scared! After she was done, she was just fine, and SO GLAD that she was brave enough to go through with it.



This picture was taken just a minute or so after it was done, and she was just fine, and so glad that it was over with!!

Afterwards, we went out to lunch with my sister Melanie, and her son Simon and Grandma Betty and she was so cute, in the car, she asked Simon to check and see if both of her earrings were still there! :) And then in the bathroom, she asked me if they were o.k.!:) So sweet!

How's this for a teaser!?!?!?

Chloe is doing something REALLY special today!!

Check back for details! :)

I would so LOVE this right now, as my Kitchen-Aid is starting to bite the dust...

A Cowboy’s Wife is having a contest on her food blog! You can win a Hamilton Beach® Stand Mixer and she’ll ship anywhere so everyone is eligible!

I now have to hide the microwave popcorn

My boys LOVE microwave popcorn. They would eat it all the time if I let them. I usually only pop it for movie nights though.

Yesterday, I was taking a shower (I can usually sneak one in if I put a movie on for the boys) and I was only in there for about 5 minutes - TOPS! Anyway, I heard some running around when I got out, and I yelled down the stairs "what are you guys doing?" And Brett replied, "we're just making popcorn mom!!" I'm sure you would've loved to see me run down those stairs! :) Anyway, on Friday night we had a movie night, and Brett wanted to help me make popcorn. So, of course, I showed him the popcorn button on the microwave and the start button. Well, that was all he needed.

Today, I was in the boys room sorting through clothes (seems we have way to much - I'm not complaining though - most of it is hand me downs!) and the boys ran down the stairs for just a minute. I come down the stairs only to find another bag of popcorn in the microwave. It's 10:20 a.m. - they don't need no stinkin' popcorn! :)

Guess I better move it to the top shelf of the pantry!!!

We LOVE Rachael Ray!

For most of you, it's no suprise that in our house, we love Rachael Ray. We will watch it alot of days at 5:00, and sometimes again at 5:30 if Ryan isn't home from work yet. I can remember Chloe saying one day, "Brett, sit down, don't you want to see what Rachael Ray's making for dinner?" Too cute!

Well, anyway, yesterday I made Butterscotch Chip Cookie Bars. Owen asked if he could have one. I handed it to him, he took one bite, and said, "Oh my word - that yum-o!:) Need I say more! :)

They bark and they bark and they bark.....

I try to keep my blog as upbeat and positive as possible. I try not to complain, (too much) but today I just have to.

You see, we have three dogs that live next door to us. Well, they do have owners, but mostly we just see/hear the dogs. These dogs have a tendancy to steal toys out of our backyard - even if they've only been there for 2 minutes - it's not for lack of cleaning up after ourselves. They have stolen countless pacifiers/sippy cups. To date, they've only gotten one pair of Brett's sandals this past summer, however, our neighbor had a pair of $300 golf shoes chewed up. It's crazy really.

But the thing that gets me the most is the BARKING!! It's actually more of a yelp/bark. And it goes on FOREVER!! I can remember times that I've called Ryan and said - Oliver has been barking for 43 minutes, or 41 minutes whichever the case may be. I can pretty much pinpoint at around 12 or 12:30 they are going to bark, and there is no telling how long it will last. Oliver, in particular, will bark at a stick or a rock for endless amounts of time. I've actually had Ryan go out under the cover of darkness to steal the blasted rock in the hopes that it would stop the barking, but good ol' Oli found another one to bark at the next day.

On Saturday morning at approx. 6:37 a.m., the owner was clapping for Oliver, Charlie and Clyde to come in. Now, here I was in bed, my kids were in bed and I get woken up by the neighbor yelling for the bloody dogs! I was pretty livid. There was also a time at 2 o'clock in the morning that they were barking like crazy. I actually got out of bed, and was going to call the neighbor and ask them if they heard them. because it's just ridiculous, but I couldn't find their number in the phone book. (lucky for them!)

I guess the reason I'm so hot about it today, is because Owen was in bed for no more than 30-40 minutes, and the dogs started barking and woke him up. He usually sleeps a good 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Thankfully he's pretty happy! But mommy's break just ended.

I think I get it now, only it's a little too late!!

I read alot of blogs of mommys who "wear" their babies. Every time I see a new post or picture about it, part of me wishes that I had done this with my kids.

I did have a "Snugli" that I would use here and there, but not as frequent as I would now, if Owen wasn't so big.

Well, last night, Owen was pretty cranky. I actually said to my sister on the phone that Owen would crawl back into my womb if I let him! ;) That's how clingy he was. I was trying to get dinner ready, and he just wouldn't let me put him down. So I thought I'd go get the Snugli and see if that would help take some of the weight off of my arms. Now, this thing is only supposed to hold up to 26 lbs. Those of you that know or have seen my "little" Owen, know that he is NOT 26 lbs. At this point though, I didn't care. He was driving me crazy, and just wanted to be held, so this was my only option. I put him in there, and he LOVED it!!! The only downside was that one of the snaps couldn't snap, because he's too big. He stayed in there for at least 30 minutes while I prepared dinner. I kept asking him if he wanted to get down, and he said "no" every time. He loved it!



This morning - same thing. I'm not sure if he is coming down with something, and just wants to be held or what, but as I'm in the kitchen, he comes in and starts begging me to hold him. I tell him to hold on one minute, and he runs into the laundry room and gets the Snugli, and says - "hold me in here!" How was I supposed to say no now! :) So again, while making french toast, I held him in the Snugli.

I think it would be alot better if I had a Mei Tai or a Sling, but I don't think it's worth it to spend the money at the age and weight he's at.

To be honest, I didn't really understand why people "wore" their babies. I just figured - Hey, put him in the swing or the bouncy seat, or whatever. But now, I think I get it. It was really convenient for me to hold Owen AND cook dinner at the same time, and everyone was happy. If only I had started to read blogs when Owen was a baby! :)

Little brothers...

Last Friday, Chloe had two friends come over for the day to play. Things went really great! Well, minus me having to make the boys come downstairs every 2 minutes so that they wouldn't "bother" the girls. But other than that the girls got along wonderfully.

The three girls came down with fancy dresses on, and asked if we could turn on a princess movie so that they could dance and do a show. Chloe wanted me to video tape it.

This is what I came up with... (you have to give it a few seconds to see the little brothers being a big pain!)



The girls took it really well though! :)

I might be knocking on would here?!?

When Chloe was a baby (about 5 1/2 months) she had RSV. She didn't have to be hospitalized, but it resulted in long battles during the winter months - and some summer months for that matter - that required breathing treatments, albuterol, prednizolone,(sp?) etc. It was pretty brutal. We had to wake her in the middle of the night to give her treatments, etc. It was awful.

When Brett was a baby he also got RSV, we basically had to do the same regimin with him as we did with Chloe, and nine times out of ten, they both had to have treatments and medicine at the same time.

Fast forward to Owen. He got RSV at 2 1/2 months of age, and actually had to be hospitalized. It was pretty bad. I've never seen it that bad before - the other two where never hospitalized. We stayed in the hospital for 3 days to get it under control. This also resulted in many days after that with treatments, and medicine.

Each winter, Ryan and I would just expect to do breathing treatments with each of the kids, and it just kind of became routine. Chloe and Brett were diagnosed with asthma, and they said it was a result of having RSV at such a young age. Owen was never diagnosed with asthma.

Here's where I start to knock on wood...

My kids have been SOOOOOO healthy this winter. I actually can't tell you the last time we had to do a breathing treatment. Usually in the summer we have to have a round of them, because if someone gets a cold it usually effects their lungs. NOT this summer!! And usually after we go to the indoor waterpark hotels each year after Christmas we have to bring the nebulizer with us, because at least one of the kids would start coughing and wheezing while we were there. NOT this time!! And usually by October we are starting treatments on somebody, and we've yet to do ANY!!

It awesome, really! We have prayed over our kids so much for this problem, and I'm really just going to believe that the Lord has healed them!

Um, NO!!!!

So, I'm sitting here watching A Baby Story. My boys are playing around, and Chloe's getting ready to have a couple of friends over to play.

I wasn't paying any attention to the fact that both of my boys are staring at the t.v. screen while the lady is pushing the baby out - ooops. O well, it's nature, right?!? Anyway, they show the baby after it's out - all cute and cuddly, and Brett says, "I wish we had another baby." Owen then replies, "me too."

Sorry boys - no more babies for this family!! :)

Worldess Wednesday - They've been dry all day so far!! Come on Owen, you can do it!!! :)

For more Wordless Wednesday visit 5 minutes for mom.

Happy New Year!!

We had a GREAT New Year's Eve. We didn't really want to do much, after just getting home from our trip. So, we decided to lay low. It started out that we were going to put all of the kids to bed. Chloe wasn't quite ready, so we let her stay up. We decided to play Monopoly, Jr. with her and eat oranges - yes, oranges. That's what Chloe and I had a taste for! :)

Ryan was Troy Bolton! :)



Chloe made it to about 10:30, and then decided that she wanted to go to bed. She was pretty tired. I saw the ball drop in NY, and then fell asleep on the couch. Ryan woke me up 30 seconds before midnight. I rang in the new year, and then ran up to bed! :) I was pretty tired too. I'm not sure when Ryan finally came up to bed.

New Year's Day was pretty low-key too. We played more board games and cleaned up a bit, (my house was a disaster!!!) and then headed out to go ice skating with Ryan's family.

What fun we had! Chloe's never been ice skating before, and Grandma and Grandpa got her new skates, so she was pretty excited.

Once we got there, she wasn't so sure of it. They had these walker-type things to help you learn, and that's all she wanted to use...





Ryan was supposed to be "helping" her, but he was having too much fun on the ice himself!





And my nephew, Josh, was too busy banging into the walls to help her! :) Just kidding! :)

Finally, she let go of the "walker!"

I decided then that I needed to get on the ice. Me, being the dutch person that I am, just told Ryan to take his skates off, and I'll wear them for a little bit. I wasn't about to spend another $5 for 10 minutes of fun. They were about 3 sizes too big, but they worked out o.k.:)




Chloe finally figured out that she could do it. She let go of her walker, and we made a line and skated around.


Owen was just pretty sad that he couldn't join in the fun! :)

The snow didn't stop falling all day - it was great, really. It started to get dark, and with the lights of the rink on, it was just a really pretty scene.


Timmy had way to much fun! :)




After skating, we went to my in-laws for a ham dinner! It really was just a great time, once again, filled with great memories. I declared at dinner that we needed to make this a tradition! :)

These are for you, Mom!!!

My mom lives about 2 hours away from me, and she only got about an inch of snow. She couldn't believe it this morning, when I told her how much I got, so these are for her!:)

Too bad we didn't get all of this snow on Christmas Eve! I'm loving it either way! We're off to go ice skating! :) (Chloe got new ice skates from Grandma and Grandpa T. for Christmas, so she's eager to try them out!)