Monkey's First Christmas

Monkey had a wonderful first Christmas. He didn't quite have down the ripping off the paper part, he preferred to just eat it. He enjoyed his presents, but I think was a little overwhelmed by all the new stuff. Kyle and I have a real desire not to overdo it when it comes to gift giving. We bought him 1 "big" toy and a few small things from Ikea. His favorite toy was a stuffed soccer ball we bought at Ikea. He LOVED it, he rolled around on the floor, stuffing his face in it and having an overall good time. It was just too cute. I caught a little video of it and if I can figure out how to post it on here I'll give it a whirl.

Christmas day ended up being a quiet day and was really enjoyable. We ate breakfast, opened gifts, played some Carcassonne, ate Swiss cheese fondue, then watched National Lampoon's Christmas. We stayed up far too late the 3 days Kyle's dad was here, but isn't that what vacation is for?

Merry Christmas!

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas filled with remembering the joy of Christ's birth and what it meant for us!

Merry Christmas!

I Feel Old Today...

As I was preparing to get in the shower I was looking in the mirror and towards the front of my hair line I saw something glisten at me.

Yes, you read that right, glisten...

Glistened right at me.

I dug around a little bit, found the root and pulled it out.

Yes, I did, indeed pull out my first gray hair today. The hair was about 3" long and half of it was gray. GRAY, people! I'm not like my sister-in-law Shelley that happens to like her 5 gray hairs. I'm not ready to accept this. She's almost 30 and just started getting gray, I won't be 25 for 4 more months!

I'm not ready, nope nope nope nope....

Christmas

This is Kyle and my 3rd Christmas together and obviously, our first Christmas with Monkey. The past 3 years we have gone to either my hometown or to visit Kyle's family. Kyle's dad wanted to take us to Tahoe, NV, but couldn't find a timeshare there, so plans fell apart. We thought it was just going to be the 3 of us.

But, Kyle's dad called us a few weeks ago saying that he wanted to fly up here to celebrate with us. We were of course thrilled to bits to have him come. So, he is flying in on Sunday afternoon. He can't stay for long, just 3 days, but we're so excited that he'll be here to celebrate with us.

We're excited to have a nice quiet holiday this year just the 4 of us. Kyle's mom might come over, but at this point her plans are up in the air. She wanted to bring her boyfriend over but we told her that he wasn't invited due to the circumstances of having Kyle's dad in town.

Christmas Eve we're going to have a nice dinner, either fondue or ham and then go to our church's Christmas Eve service (we've never been to the one at our church because the holiday has been falling on or too close to Sunday to be able to stay in town for it). Christmas day I'm sure we'll all sleep in as long as we can (Monkey will dictate what time we get up) and get up and have a simple breakfast of eggs, bacon and coffee cake. We'll probably open presents and just spend the rest of the day enjoying each other's presence. Monkey usually is plenty of fun to watch and then we'll have Christmas dinner of whatever we didn't have on Christmas Eve (fondue or ham).

I'm excited and I know that Kyle is, too. Monkey doesn't know what is going on this year!

Play Dates

Tonight, Kyle went and hung out with 2 friends and I went with Maddox to hang out with one of Kyle's friend's wives and their son who is 1 month older than Monkey. It was great fun to watch the boys play together. Although, I realized something vital tonight...I need to do this more often with Monkey. Watching the two boys fight over the same one silly toy all night long showed me that it really isn't too early to have Monkey playing with other kids to teach him how to share. There is only one other baby in the nursery his age at church and she is a real go-getter and doesn't stay sitting long enough to play. Of course, it's also good for him socially. I guess I'm at a loss of where to know where to go to meet people who have kids Monkey's age for play dates. Obviously, there isn't anybody in the church, so where do I go? How about I start stalking people in the grocery store who have babies his age. Doesn't that sound like a swell idea? I guess I'll just have to keep my eyes and ears peeled for another mommy who might be in the same boat.

graphic from art.com

Thursday To Do

Here we go, off to start another day! I'm focusing on the spare bedroom today because Grandpa Paul (Kyle's dad) is coming for Christmas in just a few days!

1. Quiet time
2. Exercise
3. 1 load of laundry- washed dried
4. Wash spare bedroom sheets & make bed - washed dried
5. Put away ironing board
6. Put away gift wrapping
7. Put suitcases under the spare bed
8. Vacuum Spare Bedroom
9. Clean toilet in front bathroom
10. Wash mirror in front bathroom
11. Sweep front bathroom floors
12. Mop front bathroom floors

Reviews

So, I'm doing two reviews right now. I was sent a package of Pampers diapers and corresponding wipes that I am using on Monkey and then I am going to write a review to be read here on my blog once I'm finished with them. The other one is about beverage consumption. A market research company sent me a palm pilot to use for 2 weeks and I record every beverage I consume throughout the day. It's really not bad and at the end I'm supposed to get $60. They already sent me $10. The other one with the diapers was kind of nice because I got over a weeks worth of diapers and a months worth of wipes for free. I won't complain :-) Any way, I'm feeling like a lab rat, lol. Except that I'm not having chemicals pumped into me to see how I react...I think I prefer what I'm doing!

Wednesday To Do

I'm going to be much more specific in my To Dos for today. It helps me stay on task.

1. Quiet Time
2. Exercise - I know, I let one of the most important things slide today
3. Put suitcases away - Kyle and I will get this done in just a little bit
4. Fold laundry
5. Dry and fold laundry
6. 1 complete load of laundry - Started 2/3 of the way through
7. Pay bills
8. Pay taxes for church (work)
9. Call Joyce (work)
10. Take out paper recycling
11. Fill yard debris container with wood
12. Straightened up Monkeys room, hung 2 things on his wall, changed sheets
13. Vacuum Monkey's room -I'm going to move this to tomorrow since it's almost Monkey's bedtime.

We'll start here and if I'm really efficient, I'll add things to it!

Tuesday Favorites: Wishlist

I'm joining Kristen in her Tuesday Favorites. Her topic this week is Fantasy Christmas wish lists, the things you want, but would never buy for yourself.


1. A Dyson. I don't care which one, just any old Dyson will do. Okay, I know it's probably the dorkiest thing to want for Christmas since it is just a vacuum cleaner. But, it's not just any old vacuum cleaner, it's a Dyson. It spins the dirt right out of your carpet without clogging filters. I know, I know, I'm a walking advertisement.




2. I totally have to go with Kristen on this one. The Republic of Tea - Tea of the Month club looks awesome! I adore their tea and getting that cute tea pot and cups with a new type of tea coming every month, it would be heavenly.



3. A pair of tall dark brown boots. I'm not particular about what type, but I really like these and they only retail for $145. Pennies, really. They're Hush Puppies. There were the cheapest ones I liked, too. The next ones for around $250. I guess I have cheap taste.


I guess I don't really want much because I can't think of anything else at the moment. If I come up with more ideas, I'll let you know.

Tuesday To Do

I'm going to keep going with my "Daily To Dos". Shelley has joined me and I'm hoping that she'll help keep me accountable on this one! Here my list:

1) Quiet Time
2) Exercise
3) Decorate Christmas tree
4) Put Christmas decoration box away
5) vacuum rug in living room
6) straighten up living room
7) 2 loads of laundry (washed and dried one load and started another)

Monkey's napping, off to start my To Dos!

I failed miserably today :-( It's always rough coming back from vacation and today I was just behind. But, tomorrow is a new day and I'll start off where I left off!

We're Home, We're Exhausted

Traveling is truly a lot of work. No matter how easy you try to make it, it just isn't. Plain and simple. The flight from here to my hometown is about 1 hour. That's it. But, from the time we leave home to the time we get there, it's 5 hours. You can drive it in 7. So, I ask, is it really worth it fly? The only plus to flying is that it's much more leisurely and you don't have to worry about road conditions. The cost is about the same for two of us to fly as it is in gas. Once we have to start paying for Monkey's plane ticket, too, I'm sure we'll be driving it much more often. Plus, he won't have to stare at the back of the seat for hours on end. His car seat can be turned frontwards in less than 2 months! Woo hoo!

On an entirely different note, in fact, so different it should be on a different blog post, Christmas is just around the corner. 1 week away, almost exactly. Kyle's dad is coming on Sunday for a few days, we're really happy that he can make it. We didn't find out until last week and we really are happy that he can come. It will be a really small, leisurely Christmas and we're very excited about it. We're hoping to go get a Christmas tree this afternoon, but we're waiting for a call back about whether we can go cut some from some friends from our church. If not, we're probably going to go buy one tomorrow. I'm excited to get the house ready for company and feeling much more Christmasy. I have a lot to do, but it will be fun.

Mr. and Mrs. Tyler

They're married.

The wedding was at 2 this afternoon and it was beautiful. It was like a beautiful Winter Wonderland. Nicole looked gorgeous!

I love weddings, so beautiful.

The Cold State of Idaho

Monkey and his Uncle Tyler and Auntie (to be on Saturday) Nicole

It's COLD here! I mean at 1pm this afternoon it was 29 degrees. Yes, you read that right, 29 degrees.

Brrr...

Apparently, it snowed a couple of days ago, but it's all gone. What's the point of this cold of temperatures without snow? Who knows...

At least it's warm inside.

My brother's getting married in 3 days! Go him!

Getting Out of Town

I have one goal today and that is to get ourselves out of town! So, I have errands to run and packing to do and that's it!

Bank
Post Office (mail a Christmas present and buy stamps)
RiteAid (need to buy inexpensive chocolate!)
Safeway (buy a gift card as a "thank you")
Walgreens (need to buy more inexpensive chocolate!)
Drop Faile off

Pack up and head out of town!

Kitchen Time.....SCARY

I'm telling you right now, I think I bit off more than I can chew for today. I really do have a rather long list of things. I am just trying to take it one thing at a time and see how far I get.
Refresh Your Spirit

I was able to spend some time reading the Bible on verses that talk about the Peace of God. It was refreshing to be reminded that when we have complete peace in God we should not be frightened or troubled and that when we are we need to take it God, first, through prayer.

Do Morning Routine

Take Time to Plan

1) Finish Bathroom Floors - I'm not going to be able to finish this today
2) Change Cat Litter
3) Cut Monkey's Hair
4) Give Monkey a Bath
5) Pack

Over on my right side bar, I have a running list of smaller tasks that I would like to complete today, as well.

Dinner Plan

I have a woman's dinner gathering at the church tonight, so I will make Kyle's favorite for him. Spaghetti. Luckily, it's really easy, so I'll just put the noodles on the boil and heat up some jarred sauce. I already have enough finger foods ready for Monkey for dinner.

Project of the Day

I don't know if you all remember The Great Kitchen Disaster of August. But, sadly, my kitchen is back in that state. So, I'm going to roll up my sleeves and tackle it yet again.

I just spent about 1 hour scrubbing my kitchen. I wish I could say I'm done, but I'm not. At this point, I need to move on to other pressing matters while Monkey is still sleeping. I have to be at the church in 2 1/2 hours and still need to fold a load of laundry and start packing since we leave tomorrow afternoon to go to my brother's wedding. Yah!

Graphic from art.com

Making Due With What You've Got

Kyle and I have an old 50's dining room table that my mom bought at a garage sale for us. It's really cute, it's red formica with metal legs and it's actually quite large when both leaves are in it. I have 4 antique wood chairs that I upholstered with red and white plaid cushions (really very cute). They're fine and they've suited us fine most of our marriage.

There's just one problem...

They're old.

The table sags slightly in the middle when the leaves are in it and a couple of the chairs are starting to break. Actually, I think that they've been broken and the previous owner tried to fix them only to have them start to break on me again. We both really want a new dining room table. The only problem is that we don't just want any 'ol dining room table. We want a dining room table that is going to last us for a really long time. A nice big wood one with matching chairs. Maybe in a nice dark wood. Maybe something like this:
The only problem is is that a nice wood table like that costs a lot of money. Especially one big enough to see at least 8 people. This really isn't in our budget right now. So, I'm trying to make due with what I have. A great simple, inexpensive solution that I have found is table cloths! My grandma gave me a nice red one with gold-ish swirls on it and I put it on my table (without the leaves in it) and I made a cute center piece and it looks so cute. In fact, it looks cute enough to make me feel content with what I have right now. I've decided that this will be my cheap fix until we can afford to buy a new table. I can buy new ones to match the seasons and to mix things up a bit. I found a nice Thanksgiving colored one last year at TJ Maxx for around $7 and it fit my table fully extended and for when it's smaller I just fold the cloth in half.

Today's Plan

Friday is the day that my family takes as our Sabbath, since Sunday is a work day for Kyle. So, I'm playing it pretty low key today, I have a very short list and if it doesn't get done today, that's okay.

1. Return cans/bottles
2. Take load to thrift store
3. Straighten up the dining room area and kitchen

I'm also watching a little girl from 1-5:30 this afternoon. I watch her about twice a month and it's actually easier having her here because she and Monkey play together and I can get stuff done!

How I Feel...

Honestly, it's been awhile since I've felt this good.

I know that the word "this" isn't a very good descriptive word for how I'm feeling.

But,

I'm feeling GREAT!

I've been really productive the last few days as you can tell by my posts below and it's making me feel really good about myself, about being a good wife and about being a good mom.

I feel like I have more time for myself, which is weird because I've been doing more. I just realized how much time I could successfully waist in a day reading blogs and surfing the web, oh, and playing video games. Yes, you heard that right, playing video games. Not one of my finer things to admit, but I really do enjoy them and they suck the precious time I have when Monkey is napping.

If you walked into my house today, you'd honestly see a lot of things out of place, but that's good because I'm actually forcing myself to either find places for the out of place stuff or get rid of it. But, I have a few VERY clean areas and those make me feel great!

Oh, and about the laptop, it was a VERY sad moment. It was on top of Kyle's dresser plugged in and when he came to bed last night he tripped on the cord and it fell just right and totally broke the screen :-( It was so nice, too, because the church just bought him a new one on Monday so he didn't have to use ours any more and it was going to be so nice to have it around for me to use. But, like I said earlier, at least it was just a computer. We're trying to decide if we're going to replace it or not. It's not really something that we need, but it is really nice to have one. I was hoping for a Dyson this Christmas, but we might be replacing the laptop with an Eee PC, instead. We're evaluating things right now. Really trying to think things through.

Monkey just woke up, better go get him!

Bathroom Time!

I don't know about you, but this challenge has been SO good for me and I can already tell my husband feels blessed! He couldn't believe how good the laundry rooms looks (which is good because it's centered in the middle of our house, right inside our entry way). For some reason when I post this stuff on my blog I can't NOT do it! I have successfully done 3 days and am looking forward to another great day!

Lucky for my husband it's bathroom day. He's been promising to clean our unsightly master bathroom, but I guess this is a great way for me to bless him tomorrow. Since he doesn't read my blog, he'll never know it's coming :-)

Refresh Your Spirit (5 minutes)

I was able to do my quiet time this morning in the company of Monkey. He sat there quietly for 15 minutes, not enough time to complete my daily portion, but I was able to get a good chunk of it done.

1. I'm thankful that our catastrophic late night accident resulted in the injury and death of our laptop and not Monkey, Kyle or myself (the cord was tripped on and it fell about 4 feet:-( )
2. I'm thankful that God keeps me on my toes and never gives me days like I planned.
3. I'm thankful for Thursdays because of great TV (bummer The Office isn't new, tonight)

Colossians 1:19-20

For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.


Take Time to Plan (5 minutes)

1) Coffee with a friend Canceled (she has a sick girl)
2) Exercise
3) Clean off tables in living room (my "hot spots")
4) Put laundry away
5) Organize Recycling
6) Clean out the car

Do Something (10 minutes) More like 1 hour!!!

I'm not kidding, I just spent 1 hour in my master bathroom and it's not even done! The toilet, counter, sink and mirror are clean and I got about 1/4 of the floor done (I'm scrubbing it on my hands and knees; it's gross). That will be on my list of "To Do's" tomorrow, finishing the floor. But, it does look great and smells great!

Dinner menu:

Cheesy Gordita Crunches

Left over Pesto Pasta - I forgot to defrost the beef, I've been work too hard. I suppose that's a good problem to have:-)

Graphic from www.art.com

Haven Challenge: Day 3

I'm jumping on the laundry wagon today! We're leaving town in less than a week to go back to my home city for my "little" brother's wedding and I, of course, need all of my cutest clothes clean to wear :-)

1. Refresh Your Spirit (5 minutes)

Spent some quality time with God through working on my Bible Study and praying.

3 Things I'm Thankful for:

1. My wonderful family. They are such a blessing to me!
2. A warm place to live. Sometimes I complain about my house and really, I shouldn't, it's warm and dry inside.
3. God's total provision for us of good health, financial security, etc.

2. Take Time to Plan (5 minutes)

To Do List:

1) Exercise
*got side-tracked by a phone call- I should have called back later!*
2) Make applesauce
3) Grocery Shopping
4) Take care of church utility bills
5) Organize cabinets in laundry room
6) Sweep and mop laundry room floor

3. Do Something (10 minutes)

My laundry room is CLEAN! It looks so nice and sparklie!

Dinner:

Pesto Pasta
Salad
French Bread

I have only started one load of laundry.

Even though I was up earlier than normal, I had a clingy baby, so I'm getting off to another late start. But, here goes nothing!

Breastfeeding

My day definitely started off earlier than usual, but not by my choice. I'm not sure what's going on with my little Monkey, but he's not sleeping well. I've been suspecting that my breast milk has been lacking as of late and I'm starting to wonder if he's hungry. He'll lay in bed and just cry, really whiny like, forever and he's never been like that. He did it for 1 1/2 hours last night between 9-10:30 and then again from 11:30-12pm. He finally fell asleep "for the night" after I nursed him at midnight, but I could definitely tell that he wasn't getting enough to eat. Same thing this morning, I fed him at 5:30 and he was acting just ravenous, he never fell back to sleep, just cried. I really don't want to switch to formula, but I also don't want to be starving my child. I've been struggling with keeping my weight on since I had him almost 10 months ago and I wonder if my body is just saying that it's done? I really don't want to be!!! I don't know what to do at this point. I was thinking I might buy a container of formula and just supplement at night and see if I can boost my milk supply by eating more calories and drinking more water during the day. I know I don't drink enough, maybe that's it? I just hope it's not too late. Does anybody have any advice?

Making Your Home a Haven Challenge: Day 2

I have been ever increasingly sad at the condition of my house. I don't feel like I have done a very good job at keeping it nice for me and my family. It is often a source of stress and frustration for me. Crystal is doing a challenge over at her blog to do little little things every day to keep our houses nice for our families. I'm going to join in and see if things will help me to stay motivated each day to do lots of little things that end up making a beautiful place for us to live and feel relaxed.

This is the outline of what I'm to do today and I'll keep updating my blog as I complete them.

1. Refresh your Spirit (5 Minutes)

I'm going to work on my Beth Moore study for my women's church Bible study.

I spent about 15 minutes working on my Beth Moore study learning about the peace of God.

2. Take Time to Plan (5 Minutes)

Make a tangle list of things to accomplish in order today.

Here is my list for today:

1. Exercise
2. Shower
3. Make lunch
*Here I left with my husband to go shopping for supplies for our youth group 3rd Annual Christmas Extravaganza *
4. Fold Laundry
*Here I made dinner- BBQ Chicken Pizza- I used a yeast-free pizza crust recipe because I didn't have any yeast, hopefully, it turns out!**update: it turned out and was a HUGE hit!*
5. Put laundry away
6. Vacuum rug in living room
7. Sweep floors - In Progress
8. Shine Sink -In Progress

I feel so good now that I've finished everything on my "To Do" List. It's only 9pm :-) I still need to clean off my dining room table, but I feel pretty good about what I got done today.

Tomorrow, my goal is to start my day a little earlier, hopefully, by 7. I have a really hard time waking up in the morning especially since Monkey wakes up to nurse around 5am.

3. Do something (10 Minutes)

I'm going to do my daily "Flylady" routine as well as straighten up my living room.

So far today I've gotten off to a very late start. It's almost 10:30am and I haven't done anything besides get Monkey up, feed him breakfast, get him dressed and play with him. He has another cold, so he's been rather clingy, so I'm going to tackle my daily "to do's" when he goes down for his nap in about 30 minutes.

This is how I'm hoping my day will play out:

1) Bible Study
2) Workout (can't remember the last time I did this- maybe 9 1/2 months ago?)
3) Shower, get dressed, put on makeup & do hair
4) Spend 10 Minutes cleaning

Of course, this is how I'm hoping it will play out and all things are subject to change without notice. I'll keep you posted on how my day is going.

Tata for Now!

Image from Art.com

Completely Disgusted

I honestly don't think I have enough words to express distaste towards a certain company that manufactures Christmas lights that Walmart sells, of course made in China. I purchased a battery operated set of 10 Christmas lights for a table decoration for our Advent Dessert on Saturday night. I was sitting on the floor and pulled out the Christmas lights and Monkey came over an was fingering them (I was closely watching him, don't worry). I go to cut off 2 "warning" stickers on the cord so that they didn't look bad in my decoration. Seriously, who reads the "warning" stickers, don't they all say the same thing? This could cause electrocution, yadayadayada...

No....

This one says...

Caution:

Prop 65 Warning: Handling the coated electrical wires of this product exposes you to lead. (see other side)

(Continued from other side)
a chemical known to the State of California to cause cancer birth defects and other reproductive harm.
Wash hands after use.

Can you even believe it!?! LEAD!!! I'm irate! I promply washed our hands and spray painted the cord (with non-lead paint).

Man, I'm seriously thinking about not buying ANYTHING made in China any more. I know it might be difficult, but the risk on our health is unbelievable. It just makes me SO mad!

I watched a special on TV the other day about the harm of lead to children, it's honestly scary. An amount of lead a 1/4 of the size of paper clip can cause serious brain damage in children. SCARY!

Surveys

I heard about paid surveys through www.moneysavingmom.com and thought I'd give them a try. I signed up with Pinecone Research and have already made $12 and it took probably all of 45 min. to 1 hour. They pay $3 per survey and maybe take 10-15 minutes. That's a pretty good hourly rate. Obviously, I'm not wracking in the dough or anything, but for something here or there, why not. I've also received 2 packages of wipes and 1 package of diapers to try out, too! I'm not going to complain! I've also taken surveys through other companies and have been accruing points that I can use towards gift cards and such. I don't think the hourly return is as great, but it's still not bad.

Today Was a Great Day

Most days around here seem to fly by and I never have enough time to get everything done. Today, however, was one of those days that was really slow. Not necessarily in a bad way, it just seemed to be a slower day. I got a lot done! I did a load of laundry, made a batch of homemade apple sauce (yum!), spray painted a light fixture silver in my house, spray painted some sticks for my Christmas dessert table for next Saturday (I'll post a picture of the completed table next week), watched 4 hours of Gilmore girls and I got loads of play time in with my adorable Monkey! Right now it feels like it should be 1am and it's only 9:20. Weird.

Home at Last!

We're home from a wonderful Thanksgiving/Christmas with my family in Boise! It was COLD and it snowed while we were there, which was totally awesome. Unfortunately, both boys pretty much slept through it because it was the first morning we were there and they were adjusting to the whopping 1 hour time change:-)

We had a really fun time, though and we're glad to be home and recover just a bit before heading back out there in 2 1/2 weeks.

Yes, I know we're crazy, but talk to my "little" brother who decided to get married on December 15th.

No, really, I'm happy for him and I love Nicole (his finace) so I'm glad that we're able to go out for the wedding. It's just weird that we'll have just be there.

Oh yeah, more laundry to do...the story of my life...

My Baby is Growing Up

My darling Monkey turned 9 months old this week and it suddenly hit me. My baby isn't such a little baby any more. Today, he pulled himself up all by himself! He saw something up on top of a box that he wanted (actually, bait placed by yours truly) and he got his little fingers up there and pulled himself onto his knees and slowly walked on his knees a little bit until he was close enough to get leverage and then pulled himself right up onto his feet. He stood there for a few seconds and promptly fell hard to the side, looked around to see if Dad and I had noticed and then started crying. Isn't that always the way it goes? Obviously, he survived the horrendous fall and lives to the tell, I mean babble, the story.

I guess it's time to go baby proof the house...

Great Time with Great Friends

My best childhood friend and her husband came to visit this weekend and we've had a great time. She and I have known each other since we were in around 3rd grade and I've known her husband since we were in high school. But, having met my husband in college, they don't know him as well. The awesome thing is, though, that we all get along GREAT. The men are both total geeks. In one weekend they totally invented their own card game. Cards are printed and it's fun! They're seriously looking into patenting it, that's how good it is! We also played Cities and Knights of Catan, one of the greatest games of all time. It's a long game, but fun, unlike Monopoly which is far too long and BORING! We also all love The Office, so we watched some of the newer episodes, so fun! The really fun part about it is that she is having a baby in just a few months and I really look forward to our kids playing together, even if they will be a year apart. I just wish they lived closer. 7 hours away is too far :-( They live in the town where I grew up, so when we go to visit we have lots of people to see and don't get to spend nearly enough time with them. But, they're still great friends and we love the time we do get to spend with them.

Trendy Tadpole

Want a chance to win an adorable onesie? Check out this giveaway blog and you can enter, too! I love free stuff!

Feeling Much Better Today

Monkey is back to his normal self today, which means we are ALL having a much better day!

My best friend comes tomorrow and I can't wait! She and her husband love to play games, so that's probably what we'll do most of the time, aside from hitting Ikea and eating, of course. She's having a baby in February and I'm so excited for her.

Now, off to clean the house while Monkey sleeps.

Sicky Baby

I think Monkey is sick :-( He feels a little warm today and he's been REALLY clingy. Seriously, I haven't had a moment of freedom except for nap time. I love holding him, though, it makes me happy. I just need to get my house cleaned because my best friend and her husband are coming to visit on Thursday. But, come-what-may, if the house isn't totally clean, I'm pretty sure she'll still love me any way. Well, it's nap time, so I best take full advantage of my time.

Wow, It's Been a Month

Wow, I can't believe that I haven't written anything in a month. October was so busy and November has no sign of being any less busy. My next 4 weekends are already booked solid! But, it's with all good things.

I've been feeling better lately. I think there was some minor post-partum depression going on there for awhile and I've been taking measures to keep it away. I'm a very social person and I'm home most of the time with Monkey, so I need to get out a lot more and then I feel MUCH better.

We're off to middle school camp in about 2 hours! Woohoo! I love middle schoolers, they're so cool! Hopefully, Monkey does okay. It's cold up here in the Northwest already and we're outside a lot at this camp. We bought him an adorable hat at The Children's Place yesterday to keep his cute little ears warm.

Any way...Monkey just woke up and we need to go load up the car and get out of dodge.

Life Funk

I guess you could just say that I'm in a serious funk right now. I'm pretty sure that the blogging funk is a result of my life funk. I think I'm starting to figure out what's going on and maybe seeing some hope in how to break free. As you know, I'm a stay-at-home. I've been really struggling lately with keeping my house clean and not feeling darn-right-overwhelmed when I'm home. I think I've figured out that it's our dog that is putting me over the top. She's a great dog, don't get me wrong, I just feel like it's just too much right now. 1) she leave hair EVERYWHERE. I could sweep every day and sweep up an entire dust pan full of hair. When having a baby, it's just no fun. 2) she has a lot of energy and can't be trusted outside because she digs and barks terrible. So, she tries to get her energy out in the house, and when having a baby, that is no fun. 3) she randomly barks in the house and therefore wakes up the baby.

I think that all in all, she's a great dog and really just needs more attention and training that Kyle or I have to give her right now, unfortunately. She's 2 years old and is just still too much of a puppy. I really can't imagine that we'd do when we have a second child. So, right now, we're praying about finding her a new home. It's hard to think about saying good-bye to a family member, but for my sanity and the peace of my home I believe this might be the best option. I'll keep you posted on the final decision.

Blogging Funk

So, yeah, I'm in the worst blogging funk ever. Probably some of it has to do with the demands of my little one, the most important one. He hasn't been feeling well and has been cutting teeth. He loves his mommy, what I can I say? Well, he actually loves the keyboard more. Not the one he can actually play with, but the one that we use, it's more fun for some reason. All this is to say that my computer time has been limited because there just isn't enough time in the day. My first priority is my Monkey and he only likes to sit on the floor alone for so long. Sooner or later he has to learn that the world doesn't revolve around him :-) I guess I'll start that next week, right along with getting him to sleep through the night again. I've been fooling myself into believing that him only waking up once at 3am is sleeping through the night because he goes right back to sleep. It sure does throw my body for a loop.

Okay, so that was the most random post ever, but it's it's 11:30pm and I really should be in bed. Especially, since I'll be woken up 3 1/2 hours. Well, actually, Monkey decided to wake up right now...gotta run!

This is fun

You can put your own together, here. It's easy!

Shopping for Free

Have I mentioned how much I love shopping for free? I just wanted to share about the stuff I've bought in the last 2 weeks for practically free. For a total of .47 cents in the past two weeks I have bought been given:

Pantene Pro-v Hair Spray
Aquafresh toothbrush
Zantac Cool mint packages (x2)
Rimmel Make-up Foundation
Excedrin
Shout Stain Remover
Degree Deodorant
Post-it notes (x3)
Colgate Toothpaste
Mylanta
Imodium AD
Revlon Foundation
Back Aid
10 pack Bic pens (x2)

All of this I have been gotten for a total of $.47 cents. Count it, 47 cents! Since we don't have sales tax, I have paid just .47 cents for everything listed above by shopping at a combination of Walgreens, Riteaid and Target. Kyle and I aren't big medicine people but because the above medicine was free I picked it up any way and next time our church sends somebody to Africa we'll send it with them to the clinic our church partners with. The only downside is is that all of this is free after rebate, so I do have to front money. But, Riteaid lets you enter your receipts online and at the end of the month you request a check and they send it out and get it about 2-3 weeks later. Walgreens I just send out at the end of the month in one envelope. The stuff from Target was free after coupons. Any way, I guess you could call this my fun hobby, I love shopping, so shopping for free is way more fun! Plus, often times I'm able to pick up things that we use on a regular basis. I do this every single month. I'm guessing that in the last 5 months I've picked up like $200 worth of stuff absolutely for free.

Date Nights

Kyle and I had our first of many date nights to come. With TV viewing in a lull for the summer still, there just wasn't anything good on TV or on our DVR other than Star Trek, which isn't my favorite watch. But, we love playing games, so we pulled out a game from the archives which we haven't played since our dating days. I know it sounds funny, but it's a Start Wars trading card game. We don't actually trade cards or anything but you take all these random cards and you build a deck and then you battle; Light Side vs. Dark Side. I'm always the Light Side because I just can't stand to be evil. Any way, it's just a lot of fun.

So, we heated up our Red Baron 4 Cheese Pizza, hunkered down on the living room floor around the coffee table and played for hours. It was a great time to connect. We haven't played games together in a long time, so it was really fun! Last Comic Standing was on the background, but I think we're done watching that show because the final 3 people lack the "funnies".

There you have it, our first weekly date night. Since our financial situation doesn't allow us to go out every week on a date night without Monkey, we've decided to do one at home every week and then the last week of the month find a babysitter and go out just the two of us.

On a total side note, Kyle and I went to see Harry Potter, FINALLY! It was a great movie. We also finished reading the last and final book a few weeks ago and I give that book an A+ as well (except for the last chapter which I found SUPER corny).

Over and out, Monkey calls!

So Sorry

I'm sorry that I haven't written in forever. I'm having a hard time finding a purpose for my blog. I really don't know what to write about a lot of times. I don't think I'm a very good writer, either, so my blog isn't really compelling to read. Please bear with me as I try to figure all this out. In the mean time, life is good. Monkey is growing like a weed. I love being a Mom, it pretty much rocks. Kyle's on vacation this week, so we're just hanging out and relaxing, it's pretty great. We drove to Seattle for Mariners game yesterday, we got there and some guy outside the door gave us 2 tickets( we didn't have any), I think it was a God thing, it saved us about $30! Any way, that's just a quick update.

Crashing Computers

Ugh...technology is such a blessing and a curse. Our home computer crashed this afternoon. One of the hard drives went bad (one that I bought Kyle for Christmas in December!), thank the Lord it was the one without all of pictures and everything on it! In the past Kyle has built his own computers but this time we decided to buy one. We got a good deal on a computer that is an upgrade for us, so that was nice. Now, Kyle is trying to save everything off the old computer before it goes completely kaput. I'm thankful that we have Kyle's work laptop, too, so we can use that, too.

*Kitchen Update*

It's amazing how much easier it is to keep my kitchen clean now that it's nice and clean and organized. We had 12 people over for dinner tonight and after they all left it took me just 10 min. to unload the dishwasher and getting it spick and span again. How much easier is that then scraping off plates in a few days and spending hours instead of a few simple minutes. I like living in a clean house, it makes me happy!

Kitchen: Before and After

Okay, honestly what I'm about to show you is truly embarrassing. But, like sin, it's important to confess and in this case I feel like I need to be real and show you how I've been allowing us to live. Hold onto your seats because it's bad...


<--before after-->

<--before after-->

Not to sound arrogant or proud, I must say that I'm quite pleased with the results.

Now, the goal is to keep it this way!!!

Cleaning the Kitchen

We are having people over for dinner on Wednesday, so I have no choice but to clean, clean, clean. I've decided to take it one room at a time, one day at a time. Today, I'm tackling the kitchen. It's actually been fun! I've been moving from the right of my kitchen to the left. I took a before picture and then I'll take an after picture and post them later on. I'm not only cleaning (I could clean the kitchen in probably 15 min.), I'm DEEP cleaning the kitchen as well as organizing stuff. Since I'm now making baby food, I need to have my food processor and needed supplies on hand, so I'm working on rearranging some of my cupboards in order to make making baby food easier. Woohoo!

Back By Popular Demand: Cleaning Overhaul

Now that our trips are complete, I've been focusing in on getting the house cleaned and decluttered again. I've been really trying to focus on just doing lots of little things each day so that I don't feel so overwhelmed and so far it seems to be going really well. Aug. 1 was my "start again" date. I forgot to shine my sink yesterday, so I'm doing it right now.

For those of you just tuning in, I've been using www.flylady.net as a resource to get my tush in gear and get my house cleaned. Since becoming pregnant with Monkey things slowly went down hill around the Monkey household and I've been slowly but surely reclaiming it. It's a lot of work...

I think I forgot to mention in my last post that monkey is teething. I've been suspecting it for awhile (since around the first week of June, actually), but we just saw the first bit of tooth come up as of last Tuesday. I was hoping that the worst of it was over, but it appears that maybe he's getting his second bottom tooth because he's been chomping a lot on that side and has been extremely clingy and fussy the last few days. It makes it quite difficult to get anything done. But, he is my first priority, so I'm trying to fit in cleaning when he and time allows.

On the Baby Food front, I've almost read Super Baby Food. It had a lot of good content but definitely wasn't the best organized book ever. I need to return it to the library in 5 days, so I need to make sure I made enough notes before returning it. The author (can't remember her name) is kind of a health nut and is vegetarian, so there are something things I won't be following as closely as she would recommend. But, it had some very good overall tips and recipes that I will definitely be using.

Onward and happy cleaning to all and to all a good day!

It's Been Awhile...

In fact, it's been a long while! I think we were home a total of about 10 days this month. It's good to be home and finally and settling back into life. My house exploded with all the running around and now I'm working reclaiming it.

Exciting news...IKEA has opened near our neck of the woods! We went and checked it out last Friday, I love that store! Yes, some a lot of their stuff is cheaply made, but you can't beat their prices!

Here are some cute pictures of Monkey to share...he had such a great time on all of our trips and he did SO well. I really couldn't ask for a better baby.



We're going to dinner with some new friends tonight! Friends have been slow in coming in these parts since we moved here two years ago. But, we have dinner plans tonight at what I hear is a really neat restaurant. Any way, we're excited.

Is anybody in need of an Infantino Front Pack carrier for a baby? It's not the greatest, but it does the trick. My mom bought me a Baby Bjorn and I like it better, so I'm willing to part with this one. Just say the word and it's yours!

We started feeding Monkey cereal on Saturday and so far he is really enjoying it. I've been mixing it with formula because I'm too lazy to pump because my pump isn't working right right now. He's actually been eating more than I thought he would to start off. Monkey is still working on learning the whole swallow thing without sucking first, but he's getting the hang of it and I'm sure will be a pro in no time flat. I think next we'll start on Sweet Potatoes and start feeding him twice a day, maybe cereal in the morning and and potatoes in the evening. Right now I'm only feeding him "solids" once a day. I'm thankful he hasn't give up nursing because that was a fear I had. Seriously, we can't afford formula, so I keep praying he'll keep nursing for at least a year!

Well, I'm off to fold some laundry and Monkey is getting tired and probably needs another nap (he took a 3 hour nap this morning! That's a record!)

Up Up and Away

It's pretty amazing to me that my 4 1/2 month old son is already a well seasoned traveler. By next Monday he will have been on 8 planes and by the middle of July, 10...

Today, at 8pm my handsome family heads to the airport to meet up with 10 of our high schoolers and one more leader who are going Florida with us! Our plane departs around 11:30pm. I'm praying that there is an extra seat on the plane for Monkey so that we can bring his car seat. I think he'll sleep most of the way, whether in his car seat or not, it would just be nicer if one of us didn't have to hold him the entire time. We arrive in Florida at 11am tomorrow. With the time difference it's about 7 1/2 hours of travel time. Then, we have to pick up our rental car and meet up with the shuttle that will be taking us to the convention center and hotel where we're staying. We have a few hours to get settled in, enjoy the HOT, HUMID thunderstorms and then at 3 the conference begins. Thousands upon Thousands of high schoolers from all across the country, meeting in one place to worship the Creator of the Universe, I'm SO excited!

The conference ends at 11pm on Saturday, we switch hotels and then spend one glorious day at Disney World! Monday afternoon, we pack up and head home, exhausted beyond belief.

Now, it's 10:10am, we have last minute things to take care of, so I'm signing off, see you next week!

Cleaning Overhaul Days 5 & 6

I'm combining today and tomorrow because my eyes slid down on the the 31 one day list and it got me thinking about what I was going to do tomorrow.

So far I have maintained doing the basics and having been trying to be more aware of putting things away when I'm done with them and such.

Tomorrow I am learning about "Hot Spots", they are the areas in my home that things migrate to and collect. Tomorrow my goal is to spend 2 minutes each clearing off 3 "Hot Spots" in my house.

Well, I'm cutting this short...Monkey is having a rough time and needs mommy.

Cleaning Overhaul: Day 4

Well, day 4 has almost come to an end. So far I feel like I've been staying on task with the 31 day starter plan and the Riley's Daily Challenge. Today, I haven't done anything above and beyond because my back has been really bothering me. I finally went to the Dr. and from what he can tell I have a disk in my lower back on the verge of becoming herniated. We're glad we caught it now and I have lots of exercises to do to try to reposition my disk. Please pray that this resolves itself before it gets to the point of actually becoming herniated. I'm focusing on learning to bend properly and to have good posture, both of which went out the door with my pregnancy.

Cleaning Overhaul: Day 3

Today my instructions were the same as the last two days (they add a new one each day), and to read a brief overview of the system on flylady.net. I did all 3 and it's 10:30 in the morning. And, I've also done two daily challenges. I didn't have the chance to do yesterdays challenge so I did it today along with todays challenge.

Yesterdays challenge was to do a 27 item fling boogie. I went around with a garbage bag and threw away 27 items of trash. Todays challenge was to clean off my night stands which I did and it took all of 2 minutes. It was one of those things that I was seriously needing to do but just never got around to it. That's the story of my whole house.

I would consider Day 3 a success. I haven't shined my sink, but I'll definitely do that before bed because I really like waking up to clean sink, it makes my heart smile.

WFMW: Baby Wise

First time parent-hood can be overwhelming, even for those who have had a lot of experience with kids and babies. I babysat from the time I was 11 up until just a few years ago when I was a nanny. Now, I understand that babysitting is easy because the parents do all the difficult work of figuring out eating and sleeping schedules! I would just show up and do as I was told.

I am a research nut. I will research anything and everything far longer than is sane (thus, the reason I usually pay too much for plane tickets because I keep hoping they'll drop and instead just keep going up and up and up). A while back when the arrival of our first child was imminent, I began to fun process of researching baby-hood. How much and how often to babies eat, how long should babies sleep, when do they start sleeping through the night, and so on and so forth.

One of my dearest friends from college had a baby before me and recommended a book called On Becoming Baby Wise. She said it was an easy scheduling system that would have my baby sleeping through the night by 8 weeks. Honestly, the first thing that popped into my head was, "yeah, right. Maybe that worked for you but I seriously doubt it will for me". But, being in the first time mommy stage and not knowing where to start, I thought it was worth picking up. I ordered a copy from half.com. I read it and it made sense to me! Quite a few ladies at my church also confirmed that this system worked for them.

Baby Wise is written by Doctors, so I trusted that what they were saying wasn't going to damage my poor child psychologically for the rest of his life.

The basic premise of the book is keeping your baby on a simple, flexible schedule of eating, wake time and sleeping. You feed your baby, play with them and then nap them after each feeding so that they aren't becoming overstimulated. The one thing that the book encourages you to avoid is letting your baby "snack feed", when you sit down to feed your baby, encourage them along without letting them fall asleep until their tummy is full. Then, your baby won't really need to eat for at least another 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Obviously, if your baby is indicating that they're hungry, feed them sooner. Between 8-12 weeks, most babies on the Baby Wise system will naturally begin sleeping through the night. I didn't believe this at all, but when Monkey hit about 9 weeks, he started sleeping through the night.

I must say that Monkey sleeping through the night gives me a totally different outlook on life. I feel rested and ready to conquer each day. Plus, Monkey is happy and wakes up in just the best mood, which adds to me being in a better mood at the start of each day.

This system Works for Me (and my husband) and I hope that it will work for you, too! Don't forget to check out Rocks in my Dryer for other great tips!

Feel free to e-mail me at any time if you want to ask me any questions regarding this book and how it worked for us.

Cleaning Overhaul: Day 2

Here were my instructions for today:

Day 2

Today I want you get up and get dressed to lace up shoes when you first
get up in the morning. This means fix your hair and face too.

In order for us to change ourselves we need to remind ourselves of what
we are doing. I did this with yellow sticky notes throughout my home to
guide me through my day. This was the beginning of my home control
journal. I had little notes on my bathroom mirror to remind me to get
dressed to shoes. When you see the many reminders in your inbox from
Yahoo; just think of them as yellow sticky notes. You don’t have to do
them yet; they are just there as a little reminder. Read the subject line
and you will be absorbing the flow of them. Do not allow those voices in
your head to say this can’t possible work with so many emails. Then when
you hear those voices say I don’t have time. Set a timer for 2 minutes
and just read a little and then delete at will.

Shine your sink before you go to bed.

I also received this e-mail this morning:

YOUR MORNING ROUTINE; KICK OFF YOUR DAY!

1. Get up and weigh
2. Shower and get dressed to lace up shoes, fix your hair and face
3. While you are in the bathroom Swish and Swipe
4. Grab a load of laundry and start the washer
5. Check your calendar for today's activities
6. Empty dishwasher to start your day
7. Eat something good for you and take your medicine and vitamins
8. Drink your water.

Today is Tuesday. Have some fun today and take care of you!

It is 8:55am and I have done everything but wipe down the sink before bed (as it is only 8:55am). I already feel like I've accomplished SO much. And, even though only 2 small areas of my house are sparkling clean (my kitchen sink and my bathroom) I still feel better than ever.

I was going to start to "de-clutter" one room of the house today, but I've been having some terrible pain in my lower back and I have strict orders from my husband to take it easy today. A good friend of ours from our church, who is a doctor, told me to take lots of ibuprofen and to put heat on it. I don't like taking medication while breastfeeding, but I know it won't hurt Monkey and I really want the pain to be gone before leave next Monday for Florida.

Any who, there's my accomplishment for the day!

Flylady.net-Cleaning Overhaul

Thanks to the amazing suggestion of my dear Sister-in-law I checked out Flylady.net. Oh my gosh, that website is awesome! It's exactly what I've needed to overhaul my house and get my life together. There is a 31 day Beginner Baby-steps that I'm starting with to begin to put my house back in order. I plan on blogging each day what I've accomplished so that I can feel a sense of accomplishment. I will be going out of town next week, but will just take a break and start right back up where I left off before I left.

Day 1: (today)

I shined my sink, and in fact I feel REALLY good about and I hope that it will indeed shine it's smiling face at me in the morning. I WILL keep my sink clean!

Here were my instructions for today:

Go Shine your sink.

After you do this; you will keep it shiny by drying it out after each
time you use it and making sure when you go to bed that it is shining so
it will make you smile in the morning. This is how I get to hug you each
day! That shiny sink is a reflection of the love that you have for
yourself.

Our FlyLady system is all about establishing little habits that sting
together into simple routines to help your day run on automatic pilot.
You can do this!

Oh, and they also told me to go to bed, apparently, sleep is part of keeping my house clean, too. Unfortunately, sleep doesn't come as easily having a baby. I can just dream of it, that is, if I have the chance to dream...

Any way, I have successfully cleaned my sink today...

I wonder what's on the docket for tomorrow...

Baby Food

I am going to begin embarking on a new journey, and that being of baby food. Monkey's Doctor said that we could start him any time, but there really is not hurry. Because of the busy nature of our summer and because of some information that I've read on the internet regarding starting babies on baby food, I've decided to wait until Monkey is 6 months old. In the mean time, I have lots of research to do because I'd like to make Monkey's baby food. I want him to eat the healthiest way possible and I want to avoid the cost of pre-prepared baby food. I will keep you all posted as I begin this new adventure, I may even start a sister-blog to keep recipes and such, of course that will require the help of my dear husband, so it may not be for awhile.

I would be very grateful for any advice you have to offer.

Getting My Act Together

It's now been over 4 months since having Monkey and yet I still feel unorganized and like we're living in a pit of sorts. Piles of papers over take every room in the house and it never seems like we have enough storage space. Really, the only storage that we have in our house is our garage and it's difficult to find anything because we don't have much shelving or anything.

I made a pact with myself and with my husband that when I had Monkey I wouldn't "let myself go". One day we went into McDonald's and it was full of moms with their kids and none of them looked put together. I swore I would never let myself do that. To this day, I have taken a shower and put make up on every single day. I probably have time to blow dry my hair 4 days out of the week. The blow dryer scares Monkey, so I can't do it when he's awake and if I don't get to it quick enough it air dries and doesn't look good. So, I've found some decent ways of doing it that don't require blow drying, just for the days when I can't quite get to it.

Now, if only I can get my house looking as god I look every day! Now, that may come across as vain, but it's not meant that way, at all. I'm trying to streamline cleaning the house. I have to make myself VERY practical "to do lists".

Unload dishwasher
fold load of laundry

etc., etc.

If I just say "do the dishes" it's far too overwhelming and I don't do it, but if I write it out step by step I'm much more likely to get half of the kitchen cleaned rather than none of it.

I'm not really sure what the "point" of this blog was, but now that I've verbalized my frustrations, maybe I'm more likely to actually stay on task each day. Some day (maybe in 10 years) if someone just "popped in" for a visit, I wouldn't be mortified by the unsightly conditions of my house.

WFMW: Free Jamba Juice

Here's a coupon for Buy One Get One Free Jamba Juice good through July 4. Can't beat that! http://www.jambasummer.com/freesmoothie/thankyou3.htm

Check out Rocks in My Dryer for more great tips!

Traveling with a Baby- HELP!

My husband and I are going to Florida in about 2 weeks. Sounds like a vacation, right? Well, actually, we're taking 11 high school students to Orlando, FL for a youth conference AND we're taking Monkey. Does anybody have any travel tips for traveling with a baby, especially on a Red Eye???

I'm starting to get a bit overwhelmed by the thought of such a big trip. Poor Monkey has a pretty good schedule and I'm just sure this trip is going to throw him all off. He naps very well throughout the day right now and I'm not sure how he'll do being on the go non-stop for 7 days. Monkey is SUCH an easy baby, I have so much to be thankful for for that. So, I'm just hoping that he's s trouper and just goes with the flow.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

WFMW: Great Luvs Diaper Deal!

I received this deal over e-mail today and if you like Luvs you can't beat it! It's for buy one get one free on mega packs. I think they're normally 10.99 each. So far other than store brand, I've found Luvs to be the cheapest, even over what Costco sells. So, getting buy one get one free is an awesome deal!

Here's the actual link if my web-link doesn't work.

http://www.luvs.com/en_US/images/BearHugStretch/TY014_Luvs_webcoupon_July.pdf

My two cents worth on diapers is that I LOVE Pampers Swaddlers but they tend to be the most expensive. I really don't like Pampers Baby Dry. There is absolutely no stretch to them at all, so they don't create a very good seal around Monkey's bum, if you know what I mean. I really don't like Huggies absorbancy at all. I complained and they sent me a coupon for free diapers. With the coupon I picked up the Huggies Supreme, I haven't had a chance to try them yet, so I'm not sure if their any good . Luvs aren't quite up to par with Pampers, but I think they're absorbancy is pretty good. They aren't as stretchy, but they're not bad.

Another great deal:

My husband and I were buying graduation cards at Safeway on Sunday for our graduating seniors and they have a coupon down the card isle if you buy 3 Hallmark cards you get a free 12 pack of Pepsi bottles (12oz). They have a great selection on 99 cent Hallmark cards. So, if you buy 3 cards at 99 cents each you get a 12 pack of Pepsi. Not a bad deal to me! I think I'm going to hit the card isle for Father's Day cards today and get another 12 pack of Pepsi for free!

Check out other great tips here !

The Temperature is Rising

In the Good Ol' Northwest it's getting HOT! The last 2 days have been in the 90's. My poor baby just isn't liking it much at all. Poor guy. He's not used to it and it's making it hard for him to sleep. I'm sure he'll adjust soon! He just got used to the big ol' bad world outside of the womb where it was COLD and now, it's getting warm again! What's a boy to do? Good thing he does like being naked:-)

WFMW: Inexpensive Movie Rentals

My husband and I were at Safeway the other day and noticed that by the door they have a movie rental machine. It's only $1.49 for one day ($.99 on Mondays)! It only carries new releases, but that's all my husband and I usually pick up at the video rental store because we have Dish Network and can watch older movies on TV. I don't mind that it's only 1 days, either, because usually if we go to rent a movie, we watch it that night any way.

We haven't actually tried it yet, but it looks like you just put in your money and the movie pops out of a slot, by close the next day, you return the movie into the slot. It seems like a lot more reasonable than the $3.79 that Blockbuster is charging these days! I think that Safeway is affiliated with Vons, so maybe check out Vons and see if they have them as well.

WFMW: Flamingos on the Brain

My husband is a youth a pastor and this summer we're taking our high schoolers to Florida for a nationwide youth conference with our denomination. We have needed to raise about $1100 per person for the trip since we're traveling across the United States. We've done a few fundraisers and honestly, none of them have done great. The kids hate hitting people up for money, which I understand.

This past week we started a fundraiser within our church and it's been a huge hit! People pay $20 to "flamingo" someone else. Basically, our high schoolers drive over in the evening and stake 6 flamingos in the yard of a person that someone paid us to "flamingo". We're asking the people "flamingoed" to pay a $15 "flamingo removal fee", which is of course, optional, but who wouldn't want to support a good cause. If the people would like, they have the option of passing on the love and "flamingoing" someone else instead for just $20. I didn't think that the people in our church would get behind this like they have. All 7 days this week have been filled and we've made over $300 with VERY little effort! We have 2 full week left of the fundraiser and we may extend it if the demand continues!

We bought 12 flamingos from Oriental Trading Company, so each night we flamingo 2 people, putting 6 flamingos in each yard, along with a card taped to the door so the people are clueless as to why there are 6 flamingos mysteriously placed in their yard! Since we have 12 kids going on the trip, each of them only needs to deliver flamingos to one house a week, not much time for a whole lot of profit.

That Works for Me!

Free Digital Prints

I have ordered 70 digital photos online for free (well, $.99 total for shipping)! I went to winkflash.com and for first time orders they give you 50 free prints! The shipping is only $.99. So, I ordered 50 prints for $.99. Then, I went to Snapfish.com and they offer 20 free prints for first time orders and if you use the coupon code FREESHIPAPR the shipping is free! Can't beat 70 prints for $.99!

Now, I can get started on Monkeys baby album which, won't hardly cost me a dime! My dear Sister-in-law gave Monkey a baby album for Christmas and a good friend gave me tons of scrap booking supplies as a baby gift! So, for about $.99 I'll be able to put a whole baby book together!

Getting Paid to Shop???

I have recently discovered that Walgreens and Riteaid will pay me to shop! Each month they have rebates on certain items and each store has about 5-6 items that are FREE after rebate! In the last couple of weeks I have gotten 5 toothbrushes, 2 tubes of toothpaste, Aleve, Body Wash, foot lotion, gel shoe insoles, hair spray and conditioner! Some of the items I have actually MADE money on because I had a manufacturers coupon that gave me $1-2 off. Walgreens and Riteaid refund you the full amount of the item, so if you have coupons that free money in your pocket! On the Aleve I bought yesterday they actually had a manufacturers coupon right on the shelf with the Aleve.

With Riteaid you can submit everything online and you receive your check within 2-3 weeks. Walgreens you have to send in and it can take up to 6 weeks, but if you request your money back on a gift card they give you an extra 10%, how great is that!?!

A New Beginning

Hope you enjoy the new blog specially designed by my wonderful husband!