First Couponing Attempt...

A couple of weeks ago, Ken and I decided that we would try to save some money on things we already buy, and purchase using coupons. So, I've taken a crack at it. I've bought a couple of papers and subscribe to a couple of websites for help. And I think I'm getting the hang of it. But will definitely give it a couple more weeks before I make a definite decisions on if we'll do it long term.

Here's my first attempt break down: (all of these were from Target)

• Huggies Diapers: $4 =$8 (target sale price) - $1.50 (MC) - $2.50(TC)
• Huggies Pullups: $ 5 = $8(tsp) - $1.50 (MC) - $1.50 (TC)
• Circo Socks: FREE = $1 - $1(TC)
• Easter Candy Eggs (4 total): $.50 each = $1.00 each (x4) = 4 - $1/2 (MC) x2
• Skinny Diet Pepsi Cans (8 cans): $1.99 = $1.99x2 - BOGO coupon (MC)
• Suave Deodorant (2 sticks): $.94 = $.97x2= $1.94- $1/2 coupon = $.47 each
• Tweezers: $.24 JUST ABOUT FREE! = $2.24-$2(MC)
• Kraft Ez Mac (4pack x 2packages): $4.58 = $3.04x2 = $6.04-$1.50(MC)
• Kraft 8oz Cheese (2 packages) $1.58 ($.79c each) = $2.04x2= 4.08- $1.50 (MC) - $1.00 (TC) ** only one is pictured above because my princess was carrying it around**

And then the MOST exciting news... I spent $21.74 of goods, while saving $20.97... And I took part of that $$ and bought some pants... 8 pairs of pants to be exact (see photo). These are Circo, double lined pants, retailing for $7 a piece, and I got them all for $1.75 a piece, for a total of $14 for 8 pairs of pants. Super excited about this purchase. All different sizes, and colors... Super excited about that!!

I'll keep you posted on other deals.

Also, post comments on other helpful hints to help me with my new "hobby". :)

Feeding of the Five Thousand... Ok, maybe just 12 of us!

Have you ever seen a miracle happen before your eyes? Have you ever witnessed something that you've only just heard of and found it so completely fascinating? Well, it's happened to me.

It happened at Christmas 2010, to be exact. The hubs and I (and kiddos) and gone up to MI to celebrate Christmas. While we were there we had visitors almost every day to see us and spend a few moments. The Monday after Christmas had been the day we'd decided to "celebrate" our family Christmas. We would have Christmas morning all over again so we could do it together as one big family of 9. Mom and Dad had prepared to have roast beef that night, something Dad had been preparing all day with his special recipe and method. Mom would make mashed potatoes and vegetables.

Right as dinner was coming together, there was a knock at the door. My cousin and his girlfriend had stopped by. I hadn't seen him several years and they had come for a visit. My brother in law had also stopped by for dinner. Soon our number of had grown to 12. How did this happen? And was there enough food? As I looked at the roast beef, it was hard to make out that there would be enough for just 7 of us. Dad had originally cut the large cut of meat into 7 thick slices. The little kids would share one leaving one good size piece for each adult. And from the looks of it, it just wasn't enough. But now with 3 more adults to feed, (one of whom is a lumberjack -- figuratively not literally) we would just have to see how it played out...

The plates went around after we thanked the Lord for the food and we were enjoying our time. It was a squeeze at Mom's table in her new dining room, but we made it work. When everyone had served themselves, and had seconds if they wanted, I glanced down at the roast beef plate and saw that there were 3 pieces left on the plate. WHAT?? Literally it was a miracle. Dad had cut all of the pieces in half after realizing that there wasn't enough. But after everyone had had what they wanted, there was still beef left over, and not just the scraps.

Later that night, Dad and I talked about it, and we both seemed to comment about how we were afraid there wouldn't be enough food for everyone, or that we'd run out. But sure enough, it was a smaller scale version of the story, I truly believe that it was a miracle. Not a Christmas Miracle, but a miracle just as powerful as the feeding of the 5000 were on the hill that day.

Happy Birthday, to Me!!

On Sunday was my 31st birthday. I know, I'm 9 years from 40. Crazy, if you ask me. But Ken and I were talking the other day, that when I'm 40, Finn will be 13 years old!! Holy Smokes!! Even more crazy!!

This birthday was unlike any other birthday I've had. I'm in that category of people that if they don't get something for Christmas, they can always just wait and ask for it again for their birthday. Well, I had a hard time for a Christmas list this year, and then when my birthday rolled around, I really didn't have anything that I wanted. Literally, nothing I'd had my eye on, or something that I thought I wanted, or something that I thought would be fun to do. NOTHING. Which in reality, really stressed my husband out. And to be perfectly honest, I was sort of melancholy about the whole thing anyway. I thought that there were people in my life who would forget my birthday, as it does sort of sneak up on people.

The day started off as a bust. The babes that I birthed, decided that 7am would be a good time to get up and my darling husband decided that it would be fine to have all 4 of us "rest" in the bed together... needless to say, having 4 people (two of which are prone to squirming) in a double sized bed, wasn't my idea of a happy birthday! Then, we tried to get out the door for church, at the last minute... UGH, i was NOT in a good mood. Anyway, church helped to change my perspective (as it always does) and our day ended up very nice. We arrived home from church to find TWO surprise gifts at my door. Some lovely flowers and chocolates left by my sweet friend Alison, and my darling friend Jen dropped off a little gift... simply priceless friends, they are!

I made dinner (Yummy Turkey meatloaf, mashed potatoes and green beans) and Ken took us to Starbucks, Blockbuster for a movie (just like the old days) and then to Kohls for a bit of a stroll. After sunday dinner, the kids napped and we watched Avatar in BluRay (which I highly recommend) and enjoy some bakery cupcakes that Ken purchased for us. It was a nice day, and I spent it doing what I always want to do... spend time with my husband and enjoy his company!

Our Signing Beauty...

Penny has just picked up a BUNCH of signs within the past couple of weeks. She uses them on a regular basis and it's great!! I tried to upload a short video, but it's much too long for Blogger to handle. I might try to upload it to youtube, but we'll see. Here is a list of the signs she does... i'm so excited it's finally kicking in for her!!

• more
• milk
• all done
• water
• drink
• eat
• sleepy
• outside
• cracker
• light
• juice
• banana
• toothbrush
• hair
• bye-bye

And in addition, she's started talking more and more, which is exciting. She has a handful of words that she says which are slowly turning into much more words... the funniest is "weeble". But of course, her "weeble" doesn't sound like "weeble". But "bee-bir". That's right, at the ripe young age of 17 months, she's got the fever... The Beiber Fever!!

She seems to be talking about the same time as Finn, but is signing much later than he did. But it seems that her vocabulary is bigger than his was. She is also our "mutterer". She mutters all the time. Sometimes under her breath, and other times, just baby talk. It's so cute. But she is very much like her daddy: she doesn't want to be the center of attention and will hide her face if she thinks that she is. But she has her moments of being a ham too, which I enjoy!

I Saved Us Some $$

That's right! I saved us some money. I am usually pretty good at spending it, and finding things that need to be or bought. Take our tax return for this year. We got some money back... and what was the first thing I was thinking?? Not, lets put it away, but "ooh, this will help with the back yard remodel we need to do," or "Oh, the basement door needs to be replaced", or "I'd love to have an island in the kitchen." I am so good at spending money.

For the past 2 years, I have consistently woken up with a sore lower back. I used to go to a chiropractor, and stopped doing that. And my back is sore. I sleep with a pillow between my legs. I tried sleeping on my back, or on my side. I sleep without a pillow, or with three pillows. There is nothing that helps me to wake up and NOT hurt. At Christmas time, we went to my parents house and Ken and I slept in my sister's bed. She was given one of the early generation air number beds. After 5 nights on that bed, was waking up without pain. I was waking up without soreness, and I didn't have to shuffle around as took those first steps in the morning. I was pain free. I was convinced that we needed a new mattress. That is the only thing I could think of . I began thinking that we needed to start shopping for a new mattress... there was just no reason why my back would be hurting for so long, and then, it stops hurting for a week, and the day we returned home, it would begin hurting again. UGH...

A couple weeks ago, my pillows got switched, and I was laying on big, fluffy cotton pillows, or large down filled pillows. My usual pillow was switched with one of Ken's pillows, you know, those FLAT cotton ones, that are not bigger than a piece of paper. And guess what?? Although I miss my big pillows, I DON'T have a sore back. I wake up every morning pain free and able to move my legs without being stiff or looking like I'm 80 yrs old. And I thought back, my sister has those super skinny pillows too, and that is why I had no pain while in MI. Sweet!!

Holy Mackrel! I saved us some money by trying a different pillow, and now we don't have to buy a new mattress!! :)

Happy Valentine's Day

Ok, I don't like to admit that Valentine's Day is a "Hallmark" holiday. Because, let's just say it... everyone likes to be told how much they mean to the person they love!! But, this year, just like in every other area of our lives, we've cut back. So, this year, my sweet darling got me a $2 box of chocolates, and a card, and I made a home made card for him... For our sweet babies, instead of toys or candy, I found these SUPER darling plates...

They are like the "Wooly Willy" toy that you find with the magnet shavings. So fun to construct!!

This was Penny's Lunch... Turkey and cheese pinwheels for her hair, and peach dangly ear-rings.

This is Finn's lunch: Strawberry curly hair, Fluffy cream cheese mustache with ritz crackers and cheese shirt. :)

Here they are, gobbling up their lunch!!

And this was the scene shortly after... Penny is usually really messy and so I held off giving her her chocolate milk until later in her meal. But I heard Finn offering a drink of his chocolate milk to her, getting out of his chair and gently holding it for her to have a little drink. He did it several times, and I was so pleased to know that they are finally "falling in love" with each other. They are finally finding joy in playing with one another and learning to be kind and loving towards one another. What an answer to prayer, after a rough few months.

Valentine's Sweets...

I'm a sucker for anything that is holiday inspired. I just think that it's fun. So, for Valentine's day, I made my sweet hubby these cookies out of some leftover dough that I had in the freezer, and some simple icing... Granted mine didn't look this beautiful, but it was fun to "whip" them up.

For his Valentine's breakfast I'm making him yummy stuffed french toast. Another, simple recipe, with simple ingredients, but something that I don't make all the time. 2

And tonight, I made a delicious raspberry lemonade drink that was a nice deep red color... and everyone had some :)

Raspberry Lemonade Smoothie

(** Keep in mind that most of this is not measured... just guessed)

1/4 cup (or so) of Raspberry Lemonade Concentrate

1/2 cup - 1 cup of crushed ice

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup frozen raspberries

2 tsp sugar ( or to taste)

Add all of these things in the blender and turn it on until it's nicely whipped. If it's a little too thick you can add more water.

Super Yummy, and super adaptable to ANY kind of drink you like. You can also use orange juice concentrate and add in some whip topping for an "orange julius" type drink. YUMO!!

I also made these this morning... I didn't have a donut pan, so I just used a mini muffin pan and then dipped them in frosting and we put on sprinkles. They were SUPER good. Next time, I'll make a double batch, because 24 little ones went really fast :)

Happy Valentine's Day!