Earthquake

I forgot to mention this - Mom is ok in terms of the earthquake. She said it felt like a truck hit her building ... ha, just like Jerry from BB. But no damage at all! Yeah!

And I have been meaning to mention this forever - but since moving to LA, she got to meet and talk to Bob Barker! How cool is that?!?!

Outside!

In anticipation of the upcoming heat wave here in Kansas - the next 4 days the temps are going to be 95 degrees or higher - we spent lots of time outside today since we are likely not going to be outside in that heat! Below are some pics from our play today, enjoy! I am going to keep back, shut the computer off, and enjoy some BB for the rest of the evening! Wade is out of town AGAIN, so it's just me! Maybe I'll even go to bed early for a change!

Alas, it was too good to be true

Sorry girls -- The WAGS deal below was too good to be true. Apparently our WAGS ad had a misprint and the Crest with Scope was not included in the sale - so you can't double dip with the easy saver rebate. Bummer.

Super WAGS Deal

So I feel like I have been in a deal drought! But finally a good one to post about. At WAGS right now, Crest plus Scope toothpaste is on sale for $1.39 after instant coupon. In the easy saver catalog, there is a rebate for $5 back when you buy 4. So buy 4 for a total of .56. Hooray! Could be even better if you have coupons - I think I have some, but haven't had a chance to look yet. Go forth and buy toothpaste I say!

ETA: I found coupons! $2.50 worth of coupons - so this is a moneymaker!

Clean Shirt!

Ok - so why is there a picture of one of Keira's shirts at the top of this post? No, I am not turning this into my own personal craigslist, I was just using it as a visual to pass along a tip! I should have taken a before picture, but I just didn't think of it. This shirt was COVERED with ick - blood (from the aforementioned chair incident), red and blue popsicle goo (from healing the aforementioned chair incident), macaroni and cheese, and ketchup. Seriously, there was no white to be found. I didn't think there was any hope. But, as you can see, it came out perfect! Yippee! I use Spray and Wash and highly recommend it for all those messy little kids out there!

Cheetos

I introduced Keira to the world of Cheetos the other day. I had a craving for them and I couldn't not give her any. Suprisingly (ha ha), she loved them! Oh, but Mom does not love Cheeto fingers!

The Movie

I love being a parent. To just see the joy on your child's face when they are experiencing something new is one of the best things in the world. Keira LOVED the movie experience. She got her own little tray of popcorn and some lemonade. When the movie started, she said "Mommy, thats a big TV". So cute. She danced along to the music and we actually made it through the entire movie. She was upset when it was over. I was really suprised that she sat still the whole time - but she did great!

Lots to post, no time to do it!

I've got lots to post, just no time! Promise more later ... I am taking Keira to her first movie (well not her first as we did the baby movie things when she was itty bitty) today - Elmo in Grouchland. She is super excited about ... the popcorn! We'll see how it goes.

Family

Keira is such a doll. She has started referring to us as a family now. She looked at a picture of Wade and I today and said, "Mommy, that's my family". It was so cute, I wanted to cry!

She also came to me 5 minutes before naptime and said "Mommy, I am ready for my nap now" - gotta love that!

Meatloaf

OK, so I need a recipe for meatloaf. Meatloaf is not a favorite meal of mine, it ranks right up there with sloppy joes for me (puke), but I can tolerate it. Wade LOVES meatloaf. It is like his favorite meal. When we lived in Indy/Cincy, I felt like I didn't have to make it since we were close enough to MIL that he could get it there when we visited. But since we are further away now, I feel like I should make it every once in awhile. So, I need a recipe. It's not that hard, right? Hamburger, bread crumbs, eggs, ketchup or salsa or somthing right? The other reason I don't like meatloaf is because it's gross to put together. Putting my hands in all that gunk is totally gross, but hey, the sacrifices we make as wives, right ;) So, back to the point - if you have a recipe that works around your house - can you e-mail it to me or post it as a comment or whatever is easiest? Thanks in advance - I will be sure to let you know how it comes out!

Ugh

So, as I was writing that last post, Keira was happily running around the family room, literally running. Well sometimes when she runs, she turns her head to the side (I have no idea why she does this and have yet to be able to get her to not do this) - so she does that this time and runs full force into the arm of our overstuffed chair. Ugh. Screaming and blood were really not what I had in mind for a peaceful sunday evening. And since we had already been to the Dr. twice this week, it is only fitting that there be a 3rd incident, right? Thankfully, no serious damage was done and nothing that a popsicle couldn't fix. Poor little girl has a fat lip, but other than that, she's recovered already. Ah, the joys of parenting.

Long time, no post

Sorry it's been awhile (and that I don't really have anything exciting to post about) but I have gotten some work from my old company and that is what I have been spending my time on lately. We didn't do too much exciting this weekend. Wade took Keira to the gym this morning while I did my deal shopping. Not really that many deals - though one store did have red and yellow peppers on sale 2 for .99. I have been dying for fajitas lately, so that works nicely into the meal plan. They also had Kraft singles on sale for $1.00 and I had a coupon for buy 3 get 1 free, so that worked out nicely. But other than that, nothing too exciting. We took Keira out for chinese this weekend. She loved the Lo Mein noodles. I did not particularly love the way she wanted to eat them. One noodle at the time, picked up with her hands and eaten end to end. Talk about a mess. Yes, I am glad she ate, but yuck. I am sure something else happened this weekend - but at this moment, that is all I can think of. More soon ...

It's Friday, right?

It's been a long week. We've been really busy, which I think has really worn me down and I am exhausted. Keira has been to the doctor not once, but twice this week. Ugh. I think before we lived in Kansas I could count on one hand the amount of times Keira has been to the doctor (other than well check ups), now since being here, twice. Tuesday we went because she woke up with what I thought was pink eye. The under lid of her eye was swollen and super pink. Thankfully, it was not pink eye and just an allergy irritation. No meds, no nothing. (Is it wrong that I was hoping for a prescription for something b/c I had a coupon for a $25 gift card to CVS for any new presciption? Just kidding, sort of!) Anyway, so that was good news - but it's always a hassle to go to the dr. The other good part was that we really liked the dr. I got recommendations from the MOMS club and chose based on that and this guy was great. Keira brought in a Dora doll with her and he examined Dora before Keira - it was cute and she ate it up. Anyway, so today we went back to the dr. because she woke up with an open sore on the back of her head. I was completely freaked out - I had no idea what the heck it was. Apparently, it was just a bug bite. Took home a sample of Zyrtec to help with the itching and that's it. Oh and the other good thing about this dr. office is that they have what they call clinic hours. Every morning from 8:00 to 10:00 you can just show up and they will see you. You don't have to call or anything. So if the kiddos get sick overnight, just bring them in. That is really cool. And shockingly, we didn't wait forever either. So anyway, between the two appointments, MOMS group activities, errands, etc - I think we are worn out. At least I am. So I blew off a MNO tonight. Bad I know, but I just was not in the mood. I'll go next month.

Keira is a fish. She wants to go to the pool or swim in the baby pool everyday. Here are some picks.

She is also a gym rat. After we got home from the dr., she begged to go to the gym. So away we went. She also loves to play outside. More pics ...

And last, but not least, she likes to impersonate animals. Check out my little monkey!

Keira is absorbing things like a sponge. She can count and recognizes all her numbers to 20. Can count to 5 in spanish. And can say her ABCs as well recognize ALL her letters. Uppercase ones anyway - we are still working on lowercase ones, they seem to be a little bit harder. She is singing songs on her own like crazy, it is super adorable. She sings twinkle twinkle little star, row row row your boat, happy birthday, the ABC song, the muffin man song, and some others. She is also big on reading her books to herself. It is amazing how she can remember the story!

That is all for now. Hope all is well. I'll try to find some deals to post about this weekend :)

WAGS

So, I am not normally a WAGS (Walgreens to all you non-couponers out there) shopper, I am a loyal CVS girl since they have been so good to me ... BUT CVS has not really had that great of deals lately. So I went to WAGS this week. Mostly because they had Kashi Go Lean Crunch on sale 2 for $5 - and with my new coupons, it was a great price. But wanted to let you all know that they had Crayola Washable Markers on sale for $2. And in the July easysaver catalog, there is a $2 mail in rebate (which you can actually do on-line) making the markers FREE! Run, don't walk to get yours today!

Oh and don't forget to take advantage of the Sure deoderant deal at CVS, it's a slight moneymaker!

Free Baby Wipes!

Sign up and get a free 64 count tub of Huggies Shea Butter Baby Wipes!


http://marthababysteps.com/reqform.php

Will you be my Mommy?

Keira and I were playing in her room earlier today and she turned to me and said "Mommy, will you be my mommy?" And when I said yes, she said gave me the biggest hug ever :)

The Yummiest Deal Ever!

On July 30th, The Cheesecake Factory is having their slices of cheesecake for just $1.50! Only bad part of this deal is that it is only 1 per person ... hopefully Keira counts as 1 too!!! This deal is really going to make me miss my friends in the cincy/lebanon area (I am sure the girls in indy would be game too). I know I could count on those girls to head down to the mall and grab some cheap cheesecake. The girls here better have a sweet tooth!!!!

Bedtime

At bedtime tonight, Wade picked Keira up to put her in her bed and I gave her a hug while he was holding her. She put one arm around my neck and one arm around Wade's neck and gave us both a big hug and said "I love you guys". She is just the sweetest baby in the world!

Free Schick Quattro Titanium Razor

Vote for the way this guy should shave his face for the X games and get a free razor for the hubby!

http://www.shaveryannyquist.com/

I Love Money

To all my reality show loving friends ... have you seen this show (I Love Money)? It's on VHI and has men and women (and I use those terms very very loosely) from I Love New York and Rock of Love competing for money. Some classic TV here, classic!

The weekend

Let's see ... what did we do? Well, friday we had a MOMS club outing to the park. This particular outing is called recipe club and each time it meets there is a kid friendly recipe to make. This time it was fruit kabobs using pretzels as the rods. Keira didn't really get into making them, but she liked to eat them. She had more fun at the park friday then I have ever seen her have at a park. She made a friend with one of the other little girls who turns 3 this weekend and they ran around the park yelling - "Let's get outta here, there are bobby traps" I have no idea where they go this, but it was pretty hilarious. They literally ran around the park for an hour and a half. It was a really unusually cool day, very overcast and breezy, and Keira worked herself up so much that she was drenched in sweat! I, on the other hand, got to sit in the picinic area and chat with the other moms. Everybody was happy :)

Saturday and Sunday we didn't do too much. It was really too hot to even move. It was like 97 or something here today. Ugh. We finally got out the baby pool this afternoon (our backyard is shady in the afternoon) and let Keira play in the pool and the sprinklers.

Last week was a banner week for me for freebies in the mail. I got my Nature Made Vitamins, Betty Crocker Warm Delight Mini's, 2 Pampers Pull-Ups, Granola Bars, Coffee, tampons, and body wash all in the mail for free! Yippee!

That is all to report. Hopefully the weather cools off soon. Redheads don't like the heat!

Keira's Motorcycle

Keira calls this her Dora motorcycle ... looks like she might need a few lessons from grandpa on how to operate that motorcycle!

Free book from Borders.com

Use the code below to get a free book priced $5 or less ... go to borders.com and find a book priced $5 or less, use the coupon code and select the ship to store method of shipping. FREE BOOK! I bought Keira a water color painting book - should make for lots of fun!


BR41925

Home Made Simple Coupon Book

Great coupon book full of lots of P&G coupons!

http://www.startsampling.com/sm/100322/quickQuestion.iphtml?item=100322&source=MM10

Free CFL Light Bulb

So, if you haven't noticed, sometimes it can be expensive to go green - but we should all do it anyway! Here is a link for a free CFL lightbulb. Enjoy!


http://www.executionists.com/proj/greener_impact/millionlights/

This Pic is just for Grandma

3 Funny Things

Keira has been saying all sorts of things lately that have been cracking us up - here are the top 3 of the week:

1. I took Keira into her bathroom to brush her teeth. She hopped up on her stool, looked in the mirror and said "I look amazing!"

2. Yesterday, Keira was playing a little radio that has the Muffin Man song on it. She must have played the song 30 or 40 times. She would sing and dance to it. And then finally after it was over again, she said "Boy, that's a great song"

3. Today, getting Keira out of the car at the gym "Mom, I am soooo cool!"

I love Bunco!

So I went and played Bunco the other night with other women in the neighborhood. For those who don't know - like me - it's a dice game. Beyond easy to learn and is all based on luck. Anyway, the reason I love it is that ... I won $10! Really I won $20, but the buy in was $10 - so I netted $10. Not bad for a newbie! Means I can play again next month and still consider myself frugal.

Keira is still doing great in the big girl bed ... I suppose that next parenting hurdle to tackle is potty training. Yuck.

Went to playgroup this morning and Keira had a blast. It was outside with the kids in swimsuits running through the sprinkler, playing in the babypool and generally have fun in the water. She didn't want to leave! I also enjoyed myself getting to know the other moms since Keira completely self-entertained the entire time we were there.

No super deals to report :( The CVS deals this week were really not good. Though if you want to create a photobook, that was a good deal - but other than that, ugh. I won't even be going this week, that makes me very very sad.

That is all I have to report. Hope all is well with everyone!

Birthday Parties, Big Girl Beds, and Bunco!

So the big news of the weekend is that Keira is now sleeping in her big girl bed!

And, shockingly enough, I do mean sleeping! She has yet to get out of it once we have put her to bed - YIPPEE! (knock on wood). She really likes it as you can see from the pictures. I think the transition has been overdue as she has been able to climb out for awhile now, but just doesn't. But the straw that broke the camel's back was that our crib manufacturer recalled a bunch of cribs (320,000), while ours was not recalled - the slats on ours are very similar to those that were recalled, so better safe than sorry. (Note to parents - the manufacturer is Jardine and the cribs were sold at Babies R Us if you haven't heard about this)

We went to a birthday party for one of our neighbors little boys - and that was fun too. It was an outside/water party, so Keira got to play in the pool, go down the slide into a baby pool, and play on a slip and slide for the first time. She really like that (once she figured it out).

Sunday we went to Nebraska Furniture Mart - which I thought was suppossed to have great stuff at great prices - had great stuff, not great prices, IMO. Keira needs a night stand and dresser and we are thinking about buying a second fridge for the garage (it's a long story). But we also got to stop at a nice outlet mall too. It had a T-REX cafe that we were going to have lunch at (it was really a cool place, with aquariums and dinosaurs everywhere) - but the dinosaurs scared Keira a bit, so we instead went and had mexican!

In big news ... BIG BROTHER started last night! Yahoo, finally something for us to watch on TV. Alas, it was bittersweet since I just had to watch it with my husband (sorry honey). Hope the TTT girls had a special meeting last night :) Wade even joked early in the day if I was going to be depressed tonight because I HAD to watch TV with just him! I told him, of course not - without him I probably would have never started watching this garabage! Of course, all the while I was saying this, I was wondering what dessert was being made ;)

Bunco night is tonight - I have no idea what Bunco is or how to play, so this will be an education - but hey, it's a night out of the house! I'll let ya'll know how it goes!

I promise to ...

update later today :) Busy weekend!

Another Freebie

Use the below code at diapers.com for a $10 credit on your order. This credit extends to shipping which is $4.99 - so if you order something for less than $5 - it's free! There are wipes, baby toys, disposible potty covers, etc all under $5. I believe this is a new customer promo - so you may have to be a new customer. Spend away!

TIML3045

Free Slurpee!

For those of you that have 7-11s in your area ... today is free slurpee day! Head on in and get one today!

Healthiest Foods for under $1

With grocery prices going crazy, I thought this was a good resource on what to eat/cook with to still be healthy on a budget!

http://www.divinecaroline.com/article/22145/52070-20-healthiest-foods--1

Look at these cheeks!

Lazy Day

We didn't do too much today - mostly chased bubbles in yard and then played in the baby pool.

We are looking forward to the weekend - Wade gets home late tonight. Tomorrow we are headed to the Mom and Tot lunch, so I'll be sure to let ya'll know how that goes!

Note to self ...

don't want Criminal Minds when husband is out of town!

You're my best friend

I can't believe that I haven't posted this yet ... it is the sweetest thing that she has ever done. We were eating at a resturant and Keira was sitting in the booth next to me ... she reaches over to me, throws both of her arms around my neck and squeezes as tightly as she can and says "Mommy, you're my best friend". I wanted to cry it was so sweet. She continued to do this 4 or 5 times. She has now done this now several times - resturants, grocery stores, etc. If only we could catch that on video!

Close-Up

Forgot to mention ... Wade took my Close Up toothpaste, can you believe this? We have about 12 tubes of toothpaste in this house (I'm not kidding) and he takes MY close up?!? Rrrrrr.

Nothing exciting!

So I went to the Mom's Club meeting on monday. Keira did great in the nursery, so that was great. All the moms were nice - which I expected. It is a smaller group then the Lebanon group - this one only has about 20 members - not sure how active all of them are - but the group itself seems very active. The July calendar has 20 things on it. I'll be going to my first event on friday. Some of the girls live in the neighborhood and there is a neighborhood playgroup and a neighborhood bunco group (maybe the new TTT? hee hee). So it looks like Keira and I will be busy - which is a good thing! Oh and I almost forgot ... when I told Keira we were going to the business meeting she said "and we'll see Tyler and Weeel (Will) and baby Callie?" This made me happy and sad all at the same time.

Had some neighbors over today with her two kids - keira had fun running around saying my friends are here, my friends are here!

Not much else to report - Wade is out of town, it's hot here, and we miss our friends!

On-line Surveys!

I just signed up with a new survey company and in the last week completed a $5 survey (20 minutes) and participated in an on-line focus group for $20 (50 minutes). This particular company also pays for referrals ... so if any of you are interested doing on-line surveys, just let me know and I will send you a referral link!

Lions and Tigers and S'mores, Oh My!

I went into this weekend thinking we really didn't have much to do - and we ended up super busy! We decided to go to the zoo on Friday - it was a beautiful day and we were hoping that it wouldn't be super crowded. And it wasn't! It was nice for Wade to be able to come and see how excited Keira gets about the animals. The picture below is my favorite!

Oh and don't let me forget - as it seems everything here is - it was an eventful trip to the zoo. We got there just before it opened, so for quite a bit of time we were the only people we saw. Well we headed over to the Australia section - it was very wooded. We rounded a corner and there were Kangaroos in the middle of the path. 5 of them, just hanging out in the middle of the path. When the saw us, they all stood up and just looked at us.

Wade and I kinda freaked. We assumed they escaped somehow, but there was no one around to tell. We were afraid that they were territorial, so we didn't want to move forward, yet we were afraid to turn our backs on them. Finally, another family came up behind us who had been to this portion of the zoo before and they said that this was normal. They let the kangaroos roam free. And sure enough when we got close enough, they all hopped away. Really weird! Keira rode the carousel again and really loved it this time. She actually rode one of the animals this time and was all smiles.

We got invited to a barbeque at the neighbors on friday as well. We all had a good time - it was us, the next door neighbors, and the two neighbors next to them that came. All of them have kids between the ages of 2 and 5. All the kids got along well and had a good time! We went to the pool first and Keira was teaching the other girls the hokey pokey and the alligator song. It was nice to get to talk more with everyone and start to make some friends.

Saturday I made Wade help me clean out/organize the storage room. Ugh. I thought it was about and hour project - turned into 2.5 hours. No fun - but it's done and I'm happy!

We went and got ice cream at some point this weekend, I can't remember when. We went to Dairy Queen because I saw a commercial for a Girl Scout Cookie Thin Mint Blizzard. It was yummy. Not quite as good as my usual, but still yummy. Keira enjoyed eating out of both mom and dad's bowls.

Sunday, Wade got time to tend to the yard, so he was happy and we just sorta bummed around today and ran some errands, I did my CVS shopping (good Olay deal girls!) and some more reorganization of furniture in the house.

Wade is out of town most of this upcoming week, so Keira and I are busily trying to plan some activities. Monday we have our first MOMS club meeting - hopefully this new club will be half as good as my old one ;) Tuesday we have a playdate with one of the neighbors (this neighbor invited us to his son's b-day party that is saturday, he'll be 4). Wednesday we are either going to hit the mall, the children's museum, or a local pool that has the bubbler things. I am sure there will be lots of pictures!

Oh and don't let me forget - we made s'mores on the grill too this weekend. Of course, Keira loved them.

I need a new haircut ... anyone got any ideas? At the moment, I am going to cut it all off myself with some scissors :)

That's all for now - hope ya'll had good weekend. Miss ya!

Making Brownies with Mom!

Shockingly, my daughter has a sweet tooth ... I have no idea where she got this from. She had lots of fun stirring everything up, but more fun licking the spoon. She said while we were making these - Mommy, brownies have been my favorite for a long time! She has had brownies 1 other time in her life :)

Not too much going on as Keira and I are both sick. Just head colds, but no fun nonetheless. I got ahold of the MOMS club here and they meet the first monday of every month, so we'll be heading to that on Monday. We are having the neighbors over for a playdate on Tuesday, so next week is starting to fill up, which is good because Wade is out of town next week, so we need something to keep us busy.

No super exciting plans for the 4th. We are trying to decide if Keira would make it to see the fireworks ... they don't start until 9:30 here, so that is kinda a bummer. But one of the places is having kids games, clowns, and stuff like that before, so we might take her to that.

Hope everyone is well! Have a great holiday and let me know about all your adventures!

Coupon Loop

Ok - I hate to give away all my secrets 'cause then ya'll won't need me ... but I just wanted to make sure that everyone knows about couponloop.com - This has a clickable list of every coupon on the web. It is awesome! I check it before I go to the grocery store every week. There is a link for a $2 off coupon for Chocolate Honey Bunches of Oats. This cereal is $1.98 right now at Wal-Mart. They are paying you $.02 to buy it!! Happy Shopping!

Chex Mix Coupon!

Keira LOVES chex mix. It is her snack of choice. Found a coupon for $1.00 off. It is on sale this week at a local KC grocery store (Hyvee) for $1.18 - so a whole bag of chex mix for .18! Remember to hit the back button several times on this so that you can print it twice!

http://www.chex.com/Snacks/fantasyfootball/

Figured it out!

Help!

OK - so I can't figure out the streaming album thing ... can someone help? I have a flickr account, have linked the flickr account to blogger, but no luck? What am I doing wrong?

House Pictures!

Finally, I took some pics of the new digs! I posted a couple highlights here - the rest hopefully going to be to the right in an album. Fingers crossed that I can figure that out! :) Enjoy!