Walgreens Sept. Easy Saver

I don't have the easy saver book yet, but have seen that there are a lot of freebies this month! Here is what I have send so far:

Crest Pro-Health Toothpaste - and I am pretty sure there is a coupon in this week's insert
Revlon Nail Polish
L'Oreal Advance Revitalift (this is a $16.00 product!)
Nivea for Men Body Wash - There is a $1 off coupon out there
Acid controller
LypSyl Lip Moisturizer

All of these are free after mail in rebate. Yeah! I have really gotten into Walgreen over the past few weeks and now have the ability to roll my rebates. If you get your rebates to be put on gift cards, then they give you a 20% bonus. So what I have on my gift card now will cover what I am getting off the free list this week.

Oh and for all you M&M lovers, M&Ms are 4 bags (the bigger bags, not the single serve) for $5 after rebate! Yummy.

As a side note, just so ya'll don't think I am too nuts and wonder what they heck I do with all this body wash, shampoo, and toothpaste I talk about - I decided last month that at the end of each month I would go through my stockpile and donate anything over a 2 month supply to charity. So I took a big box of toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, body lotion, dental floss, and some other tolietry items to Salvation Army last week and plan to do the same at the end of each month. I figure if stores are giving it away for free or nearly free, then someone should get some use out of it.

Oh the things you girls do to me!

So I got a little surprise in the mail from my TTT girls. An awesome scrapbook filled with lots of memories from good old Lebanon, OH. It made me cry and miss my friends. Keira loves the book and has flipped through it a hundred times and keeps saying "My kids, my kids!" Too sweet.

Thank you so much for this, it really means a lot to me.

So I am going to put it in print, I am going to be making a trip back this fall - likely late fall. I am thinking, maybe the first weekend in November. Spend a couple days in Lebanon/Cincy, and a day or two in Indy. I'll likely need a couple of host families, so be prepared!

Have a great long weekend everyone!

I hate the KC Chiefs

The Chiefs are playing a pre-season game tonight - ugh, and CBS is televising it - which means no BB until 11:37 pm. Which really means no BB until tomorrow. :(

Holy Pee Batman!

Can you handle one more post from me today??

Potty training is going well. Really well. Since our first day (Friday), we have only had 2 accidents. Yippee. Up to this point, the routine has been that she tells us she has to go, we walk her to the potty, and we pull down her pants and then she goes. 5 minutes ago, she stood up, walked to the potty on her own, pulled down her own pants and peed without saying a word to me. Yah! That is a lot of progress in a week I think.

You love reading this blog, don't you? Who else do you know blogs about pee?

Just when I thought Fall was here ...

We get another 90 degree day! Actually, I am not sure it was 90, but it was hot. So we decided to get out the baby pool as I am thinking we may not get too many more chances to use it. I was originally going to take her to the pool, but the stroller was in Wade's car and the key to the pool was in the stroller (good place to keep it, right?), so that didn't quite work out. Keira had a blast in the backyard anyway between the pool and the sprinkler. I had to stick my feet in it was so hot.

Peanut just enjoyed soaking up the sun. Why she likes to lay in the sun like this, I have no idea. It makes her pant like, well, like a dog!

Big Brother eviction tonight - - happy watching girls. I am wondering what dessert is tonight ;) I made Julie's Cherry Crock-Pot thing the other night, yummy! Miss you all!

I Missed You

We went to the park yesterday and Keira buddied up with another little girl that was playing there named Mckenna. They played on the playset, chased each other around and generally had a good time. It was really cute to watch. At one point, they kinda went their seperate ways. Keira was playing in one area and Mckenna in another. Then, they run to meet each other and as they meet, Keira throws her arm around the little girl, gives her a hugs, and says "Little girl, I missed you". So sweet.

Dirt

My prissy little girl, the one who refuses to wear anything but a dress or skirt, is also a tomboy. The past three days when we have played outside, all she wanted to do was play in the dirt and rocks. She is having a blast, but we are needing super duper baths every night.

You know you are having a trying parenting day when ...

you are jealous of your friends in the east coast time zone because they are an hour closer to bedtime than you are!

Video Games

I am not sure where Keira learned those words, but the way she says it is hilarious! It is just too cute. Anyway, we've never played video games in front of her until yesterday. Keira woke up from her nap and Wade was into something apparently important and didn't want to turn it off yet, so Keira got to play video games with Daddy. She now asks to play about once every five minutes.

Look Ma, No Diapers!

Well, we have been diaper free since 6:30 Am friday morning. Yippee! Let me preface this by saying that I was NOT looking forward to potty training. I mean, really NOT looking forward to it. Almost to the point that I figure she would figure it out herself by the time kindergarten rolled around, so do I even want to mess with it?? Alas, I suppose this is a rite of passage in parenthood. A friend of mine recommended these Potty Patty panties - they are padded, and they are awesome. They contain 95% of the mess - I did not have to clean up the floor after any accident on friday, that helped with my frustration level tremendously. So friday was a long day - I would say we were somewhere in the neighborhood of 50/50 - 50% in the potty, 50% out. She didn't tell me at all that day that she had to go. It was a long day, but we survived. Saturday went extremely well. No accidents at all, she told us several times when she had to go (including a #2), and we even went out to dinner and she told us at the resturant that she had to go - I was pretty shocked by that. So day 2 much less stressful than day 1. And today, day 3, has been going well too. No accidents so far. And she has been dry at naptime and in the morning as well. So hopefully, we have purchased our last diaper (for this child anyway!)

2 Thomas the Train DVDs for $6.06

Go to this website to get 2 Thomas DVDs (or Tommy as Keira calls him) for just $6.06 -- with FREE shipping! Let your holiday shopping begin!


http://www.deepdiscount.com/DVD---Thomas-the-Train-Buy-1-Get-1-Free_stcVVcatId492046VVviewcat.htm?promoCode=B1G1THOM0808

Growing Up

Well, I am thinking of signing Keira up for a Kids Day Out Program. For several reasons really - most importantly because it would be regular social interaction for her on a weekly basis. Keira loves playing with other kids right now. She seriously starts freaking out when we see other kids and wants to play with them. The other day in the grocery store she saw a little girl and asked me if she could play with her. In the MOMS club here, there aren't any kids that are exactly Keira's age, some a little older, some a little younger. Keira seems to like to play with the older ones - trouble is, the older ones are all just turning 3 and either in preschool or a KDO program - so her chances of playing with these kids is smaller because of that. She would get to be in class with one of the other 3 year olds in the MOMS club that she really likes and talks about all the time. Here's the thing though - I always thought when an opportunity like this presented itself that I would jump at it. I mean, a day to go to the grocery, clean the house, and do the laundry uninterrupted? But now faced with the choice, I don't know if I can be away from her for a whole day - the program is 9 - 3 (and they put the kids down for nap!). I mean a whole day just seems like such a long time for such a little girl. So we'll see. I am not sure what to do yet. We went to look at the facility today and I told Keira that we were going to look at a school and she ran to the playroom and got her backpack - I thought that was pretty cute!

Too Cute!

Keira has started this thing while we are eating ... She'll wait till Wade and I have taken a bite of a particular food, then she'll take a bite and she'll look at one of us and say - "Mommy, how's your cucumber?" "Daddy, how's your cucumber?" Then she'll say, "Mine's yummy!"

Cute, cute, cute!

Free TP

It seems Wal-Mart will give away anything! Click the link below for free TP!

http://instoresnow.walmart.com/enhancedrendercontent_ektid49548.aspx

Seriously?

Trampoline is an Olympic Sport? Really?

The weekend

What have we been up to? Well, let's see ... Friday during the day, we went to the park with the MOMS club and made our own ice cream. It was really cool, I've never made my own ice cream before. You just put a few ingredients in a bag, add some ice, shake, shake, shake, and poof, you've got ice cream. Keira thought it was cool because she could make it whatever color she wanted. She chose red. Here's a picture of her enjoying it!

Most of the rest of the weekend we spent outside. The weather was beautiful, so we played with Keira mostly. We have a laundry list as long as our arms of things to do around the house - but hey, she is only young once, right? Enjoy it while you can.

Sunday, I made lasagna for dinner. Instead of making a big 9X13 pan this time, I decided that I was only going to make an 8X8. The 9X13 feeds us forever - so then I got this brillant idea that well, I will double the recipe and make 3 - 8X8 pans and freeze two. Ugh- while I am sure that I will appreciate this when the time comes to eat the other 2, I was not enjoying it on sunday! I once thought I would like to do that whole cooking once a month thing - hmm, now I don't think I am the type!

Well, Keira is STILL sleeping - it's 3:17 here - this is totally abnormal for her. I put her down at 1:00 and she woke up screaming at 1:30, not sure what was going on - rocked her for about 15 minutes and put her back down and she hasn't been up since. And since I am neurotic, I have to go check on her :)

My Kids!

Snce our family and friends are so spread out all over the country, I bought Keira a great big poster of the United States so that we can look at it and find where everyone lives. (As an aside, if you ask Keira where she lives now, she'll tell you - Olathe, Kansas - it's too cute) So we go thru the different states and point them out and ask who lives there. Yesterday, I asked her who lives in Ohio and she said "My kids, my kids live there. Mommy, I miss them!" Mommy misses them too :)

BB

April from BB is a witch ... "She doesn't like me because I'm pretty than her" ... are you kidding me? Why are people so mean?!?

I chopped off all my hair!

Proof that I have totally lost it!

So, I went upstairs with the express purpose of getting a glass of lemonade. I was thirsty, sounded like a good idea. I get upstairs, get the lemonade out of the fridge (all's good so far) and proceed to pour the lemonade into a bowl????!!!???? Weird.

$74 in P&G Coupons

Go to pgeverydaysolutions.com and a blue bubble should pop up for an opportunity to fill out a survey. It took me about 10 minutes to complete. As a reward for filling out the survey, they will send you $74 worth of P&G coupons to your home. Yeah!

What's up homey?

Wade was getting Keira ready to take a bath last night and I could hear them whispering about something, but wasn't paying too much attention. All of a sudden, Keira comes running out of the bathroom, finds me, and says "What's up homey?" Oh, the things a daddy can teach his daughter.

CVS

Not too much good at CVS this week, here's what I am getting.

Alavert $5.99
Advil Children's $5.79
Total: $11.78

Coupons:
CVS $2 off $10
Alavert $4.00 - go to coupon loop for this one
Advil Children's - $1.00 - coupon loop again
Total Coupons - $7.00

Total OOP after coupons: $4.78
ECBs Earned: $8.79

The weekend!

Hmm, what did we do this weekend? The answer is, I have no idea. We ran a lot of errands. We played outside. We had ice cream for dinner one night - don't ask - but it was yummy! The weather was really nice for a change. Other than that, I don't know what we did, but we were busy. Below are a couple of pics. Busy week planned - storytime on monday, craft day on wednesday, making ice cream in the park on friday, sounds like lots of fun!

Pizza!

We went to Uno's to make pizzas today with the MOMS club. Keira had a blast. They got to spread sauce on pitas and then sprinkle the cheese on top. They had little plastic aprons for them to wear too. They got a tour of the back where they got to see a walk in fridge (Keira said - so cold Mommy), the oven, and the soda machine. Then the got to eat the pizza! I have to say, it ws pretty good.

Water Fun Day

Well, after being stuck in the house for 2.5 days, Keira and I finally got out! I have a lovely new rocker-shoe thing that allows me to walk (it is very attractive!), so we went to a MOMS club event that was in our neighborhood called Water Fun Day. Think baby pools, sprinklers, water balloons, water guns, etc. Oh and throw a trampoline in there too.

Keira, much to my suprise, loved the trampoline. It was mostly the "bigger" kids in it (about 6 - 5 year old boys), but she jumped right in and had a blast. I honestly thought it was a trip to the ER waiting to happen, but she is quite the trooper and can hold her own with those boys.

She also really enjoyed the slip and slide - it looks like we may have to get one for next year.

I had a great time just chatting with the other moms. The turnout for the event was great - I think there was 13 or so moms there. I was just as happy as Keira was to get out of the house.

The mom hosting the event made excellent chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing. OMG they were good. They rival my friend Julie's baking - though not quite as good - Jules, she uses the same recipe for icing that I do ;)

Here's a pic of Keira while eating the cupcake! She looks none to pleased, I think she thought I was going to take the cupcake from her!

Where's my Big Girl Bed?

Looks like Peanut has taken up residence ... Keira is none too pleased!

CVS $2/$10 Coupon

I don't know about you, but I have been missing my $/$$ coupons for CVS. Well - here is a new one good through late September! It is a $2 off $10 coupon, yeah! Click the link below, when the page comes up, click on the picture of the magazine. The coupon is on page 30.

http://www.richmondparents.com/RPM_PDFs.htm

Slow Week

Well ... it may be a slow week here at the blog - not because we are too busy to post, but really the opposite. Being the genius that I am, I just dropped a 45 pound weight bar on my big toe. Holy Toledo am I in pain. I didn't go to the dr., but if I had to hazard a guess, I would say there is a good chance it's broken. It is super swollen, movement is out of the question and it is now starting to black and blue, yippee. So, it's unlikely that we will be doing much this week because at the moment, walking is really out of the question. I'll post when I've actually got something interesting to say!

CVS Deals

There are actually some CVS Deals to partake in this week, YEAH!

Crest: $2.49 with $1.50 ECBs back plus .75 coupon in the paper - this makes them like a .25 for a tube of toothpaste! Limit 5.

Children's Advil: This is a monthly deal - it's free after ECBs. I believe it is $5.49 with $5.49 back in ECBs. And there's a secret -- the flyer says limit one, but it's really limit 2!

Dawn Dish Soap: .88; coupon in the paper for .50 off - so .38 for Dish soap, not bad

I think this is probably all I will get this week ... but they do have pampers on sale. The Jumbo back is $8.88. There is a $1.50 off coupon in the paper - but I can't remember how many are in a pack to figure the cost per diaper to see if this is a good deal or not. It is definetly the cheapest I've seen the Jumbo pack, but still might not be cheaper than the big box. I'll have to check.

Happy Shopping.