Double Trouble

Loving my 2 year old, no matter what!

I am currently wishing that Dakota would find a new outlet. Just this week she has dumped out a box of Rice cereal all over the kitchen counter, poured out an entire new bottle of shampoo all over the bathroom floor and herself, and dumped out the box of baking soda all over the counter.

You may be thinking, well, if you would watch her a little more closely she wouldn't get into those things. I used to think that way when I had only 2 children. I will say that all it takes is for me to go to Jaxon's bedroom to get him out of his crib, a change of the diaper and she is done.

As I spend some time cleaning one mess, she is usually off into something else. I will not discuss punishment because we could all get into an argument with that but lets just say I have 28 locks for each of my cabinets and drawers and lets hope that keeps her out of trouble.

As for the shampoo, I just put all three kids in the tub and they had a blast with all the bubbles from the soap I cleaned up off the floor. At least they were very clean that day.

More on couponing!

I only get my coupons from the Sunday paper, and the online coupons. Although, I also get them from the coupon machines in the grocery stores. Sometimes they have a great coupon so I take it and save it for when they are having a sale. Those coupons can also be used at other stores, not just the one you got it from. I also clip the coupons if they are found on the boxes you just bought. If anyone else knows of some great places to get more coupons, please feel free to comment so we can get the scoop.

Also, if you like the off brand of some items, that might work out as a better price than using a coupon, so be careful. We don't mind Great Value peanut butter so I get that instead of JIF. I also bought my canned vegetables at Save A Lot instead of at the grocery store. They were only 54 cents per can. I much prefer frozen or fresh but we keep stocked on canned foods for emergency. I know it can be creepy to go into some of those low price stores like Save A Lot, but I only make one big canned vegetable trip and that is all I do, and then I get out as fast as I can. Scary!

Coupon Tips!

Just a few tips that I learned at our enrichment night that helped me. You may already be doing this but I wasn't.

1. Shop at each of the grocery stores in your area for the best deal. I go online to Publix and Bi-Lo websites and view their weekly specials. They start each Wednesday and go for the week. I jot down the best deals and write c beside the ones that I also have a coupon for.

2. Use coupons with the specials and closeouts that each store is offering. If I have a 50 cent coupon for Cheerios and they are buy one get one free, then the grocery store will double the coupon to $1 off and if I have two of those same coupons, I can use both of them. That would give me a total savings of $2 off of the box I have to buy and the other box is free. You just can't have more coupons than you have total items.....That is my understanding.

3. Be organized with your coupons in an expandable check size folder. I don't have as many coupons as some people have, so that works for me. Remember, I have only been doing this for 3-4 weeks. Also, remember to keep the coupons out front that expire earliest.

I never thought I would save as much money as I did last month. The other thing that helped me save was planning my menu according to what was on sale and items I have in my fridge that will go bad if I don't use them up. I use to plan my menu just by thinking of what we had not made in a long time and what sounded yummy. I still like what we eat but I don't have to rack my brain as much trying to come up with the new ideas. If Chicken is on sale and Uncle Bens Brown Rice, then we will have that with a salad and asparagus. Yum. Anyway, I think you catch my drift.

The other tip would be to stock up on the items that are on sale. You might have a lot of a few items at first but keep it up and each month you will save on not having to buy those items. Steve found chicken last year at Walmart for 97 cents per package. Not per pound....per package. They were skinless chicken breasts and they were huge. He bought 15 packages and they lasted us about 6 months. Having a deep freezer for those items will help also.

THose are my amature tips on saving grocery money. Good luck. As my family keeps growing, I have to find more ways to feed my kids without going broke. I can't imagine how much these boys will be eating in 5 more years. Yikes!

Yeah, for less laundry!

I am so very excited for Spring time! Mostly, because when the weather gets warmer, there is less laundry to do. There are other reasons that I love this time of the year. Yesterday was 70 degrees. It was beautiful. Since the kids are on spring break and we have no place to go. Okay, we have places to go but not enough money to fly 6 people to Colorado or some vacation resort. Anyway, we took them to the Zoo at Warner Park. I have not been there since I was about 5 years old. They renovated the zoo last year and I was excited to see what they had to offer. It was a great day and they even gave us free passes to the carousel. All of the kids enjoyed seeing the animals and they especially loved petting the goats. Kota went crazy for that. She went from one goat, to the next, to the next. She kept petting them against the grain. It was so funny. I was waiting for those poor goats to say they had had enough but they took it well. We stopped for ice cream on the way home at Sonic. Now, I am not an ice cream connoisseur but it tasted bitter. Maybe, they serve frozen yogurt instead. I will definitely not be going to Sonic for ice cream anymore. Steve took the boys to the batting cages for a bit of hitting and they played catch while I went grocery shopping.

About 3 weeks ago, I had a class on couponing. I have never felt that it was worth the time invested to save 35 cents here and 1.00 there. After taking this class, I realized there was more to it than that. I am still not as good as the teacher but I did save $300 on my groceries last month. I guess, I can change my opinion now. Not only did I save $300 dollars but we actually have all of our cabinets filled to capacity. Yes, it is food that my family will eat. It was interesting to me how you can combine so many different ways to save on one item. Buy one get one free with a coupon or two and whatever else the store might be offering. So, after all of that, I didn't mind a few minutes of cutting out coupons and a few extra stops at each grocery store to get the best deals.

I am definitely going to class #2 to get more ideas.

I'm not sure anyone really wants to read 100 things about me but I wonder if it is good therapy to write them down. I guess in my case it would be to blog them. I enjoy reading them on other blogs and sometimes I wonder what my 100 things would be. Well, without any preparation.....here we go.

1. I'm 30. An accomplishment in and of itself.

2. Favorite food is still Chicken Fajitas. Why change a good thing?

3. Favorite movie is The Patriot.

4. I have moved 22 times in my life. Maybe, that isn't something to share.

5. I love the spring but I love Fall the best.

6. I think I am a lot like my dad.

7. My childhood best friend was Shauna Foskey.

8. I love music, every kind and I secretly wish I could carry a tune so I could enjoy singing, also.

9. I love being a mommy of small babies but I will be very happy and grateful when I can enjoy some of my favorite things again.

10. One of those favorite things is playing tennis with Steve. It probably isn't his, since I am so terrible at it.

11. I love to shop and be able to look at things without children rushing me.

12. I love hiking (without a 50 lb. backpack), camping, and anything you can do outside. Although, I am scared of heights. I won't be climbing Mt. Everest anytime soon.

13. I love all of my brothers.

14. I can remember birthdays but I am not good about calling.

15. I hate the telephone and television but I am thankful to have them.

16. I am very forgetful.

17. I am learning to be a good listener.

18. I want to work in the Medical Field.

19. I used to run 5 miles a day during my freshman year of college. I wish I could run 5 miles now.

20. Running/Walking is my therapy.

21. Steve taught me how to cook. I didn't know how to cook ANYTHING when we got married.

22. I'm easy to please. I'm not high maintenance. I love doing anything and everything.

23. Being pregnant with TC was a turning point in my life.

24. I had a 12-14 inch blood clot in my leg during my pregnancy with TC. I also had blood clots in my lungs. The doctors still do not understand why I developed my blood clot.

25. I have had postpartum depression with 3 out of 4 births. I love when my babies are 6 months because my hormones go back to normal.

I will have to post 25 more later. Duty calls.

The life of "the little sister"

What is it like to grow up with 7 older brothers and 1 younger brother?

My earliest memories are watching all these guys come and go from about 2 ft. tall. I remember that I shared a bedroom on the first floor with Devon and all of my older brothers rooms were upstairs. I remember climbing all of those stairs and when I got to the top, it seemed as if I were in a guys locker room. Don't worry, they were all dressed or at least they had pants on. My mom had issues with modesty until Devon came along. LOL! What I saw was a weight bench, a wrestling mat and guys working out and wrestling. I think there were bunk beds in each of the other 3 bedrooms and surprisingly a clean bathroom. My mom kept things very clean. I don't know how she did it with so many boys.

Dinner time must have been the most interesting time. We had a table that was about 10 feet long and benches on either side. Mom and Dad always sat at the head of each side. If you didn't get enough the first time around then too bad, but....just wait for dessert. Yes, we always had dessert (so very bad). Maybe that is why we all have such a sweet tooth in my family.

I was definitely a tom boy but because I had so many older, beautiful sisters-n-law, I always had to have my makeup on while I played kickball and war. I played my fair share of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. I watched my fair share of Rocky movies. I still had to have my get away time to play barbie or pretend I was a school teacher or a secretary. I loved office supplies and makeup. Those were my obsessions and if I ever got any money, that is what it was spent on.

As I got older, one by one, my brothers left home. So, it became less about having 7 big brothers living at home and became more about my new sisters and nieces and nephews. I loved when they came to visit and loved "dolling up" my nieces.

My brothers have always been good to me except for the occasional chipped tooth or pounding. I still love them anyway.

GO BALLERS!

The Ballers won the championship on Saturday and went undefeated the whole season. It was really fun to go and watch TC play. He was so excited to bring home 2 trophies. I was so proud of him and how well he understood the game and what his position was. During the last quarter of the game, they threw him for a loop when one of our players fouled out. They switched his position to wing (I sure hope that is correct terminology). He did well and they still won the game.

AJ keeps reminding me that he will get to play next year.

We were also very excited to see Cole's game before TC played and their team came in 2nd for the 5/6 age group.

Steve has always been a huge sports fan and has had to teach me a new way of life. I hate watching sports on TV, but if you get us good seats at any game, we will be there. Especially if one of my children, nieces/nephews or husband is coaching/playing. It is funny that when I look back through my journal, when Steve and I were newly weds, it seems that there were so many entries about going to sporting events. I was always at Steve's softball games. Never made it to early morning football or late night basketball, though. We loved going to see the Nuggets play and the awesome seats we had. Thanks to Kevin Johnson who had season tickets on the 4th row. We loved seeing the Avalanche play. I have to say that Hockey is definitely my favorite sport to watch. LIVE, of course. We always made it to the Rockies games whenever it was possible and it is sad but true that I never attended a Broncos game. I know, someday, maybe I will.

Someone once asked me where my second home was. I answered, "at the softball field."