Does Anyone Need Toothpaste????

I have like 9 tubes that I got for free. I haven't been talking to you too much about CVS because I don't want to bore you to tears but yes, I have still been shopping. I have a bunch of razors as well.

I haven't been to Aldi in like a month. It is crazy. My fridge and cabinets are overflowing with name brand stuff. Yesterday I went to Giant Eagle to shop. I usually NEVER shop there because it is outrageously priced. Who can afford to shop there? Well, I guess I can. I bought a cart and a half full of food (Jake was with me) and it cost $102!!! I saved 49%. I only bought three things that I didn't use a coupon with but they were on sale - except a drink for Jake (a small price to pay to have an extra set of hands at the store!). Here is a sampling of what I got : 20 yogurts (plus 6 kids kind that were free), 6 lbs of chicken tenderloins, talapia, 3 bags of pizza rolls, 9 jars of baby food, 3 boxes of ziplock bags, 5 jugs All Detergent (the only brand I use anyways), 2 boxes of pretzel cheese sticks, 2 Bertolli frozen meals for two, 9 boxes of betty crocker instant potatoes (different varieties including sweet potatoes - can't wait to try them), gallon of milk, 2 jugs of soy milk, 4 large bags of shredded kraft cheese, 2 different coffee creamers, some fancy frozen bread, a loaf of whole wheat bread, two boxes of those 100 calorie muffin packs, some deli turkey sandwich..... As you can see I got quite a variety. After looking on line I realized I need to go back because I missed a super deal on Spaghetti O's (they'll be 10 cents after a coupon!). Crazy isn't it. Oh, two added bonuses - they have a child watch area that Jude got to go in and play while I was shopping & I have now earned 40 cents off my gas. I love it. Wait - I almost forgot - I earned $6 off my next shopping trip!

Can you tell I get excited about saving money??? I won't even bother telling you about my trip to Goodwill this week.

I voted...

...for American Idol. Yes, I did. Since I have DVR I can really keep up with it this year. It is great. I fast forward through the 4 minute commercial breaks, the recaps and the awful singing. I really like a few of the guys this year and I like really like two of the girls. The Australian guy he is...well, nice. And he can sing, so that is good. I do NOT like that rocker chick.

You never know what you will get when you come to my blog do ya? One day political jargon the next American Idol.

Pray....

Please say a prayer for Mandy. She needs it.

More Political Nonsense....

Last night I watched the debate. I actually DVR-ed it. I know, I am a big nerd. As you know, out of the two candidates I prefer Hillary. Last night I watched and seriously I am so unhappy with both candidates. Barack seems to be the most mature out to the two. Hillary was getting all crazy. She was making this big deal about her health plan vs. his health plan and to be quite honest after hearing about these health plans (which are 95% the same) I think they are both a horrible idea. What are these people thinking? They are going to force people to have health coverage! Yeah, that is what we need more laws telling us what we have to do. I know, not very democratic of me. Another thing was NAFTA. Everyone has been griping about NAFTA for years now. Bill Clinton put it through and the US has lost many jobs because of it. Both Barack & Hillary say they oppose it. Last night the moderator asked them if they would reverse it (because the president can) and guess what???? They both said NO but they would reform it. Do you know what they are concerned about???? The environment & the foreign workers. Before anyone gets all crazy - yes I think we should be concerned about those things but I don't think the average person is against NAFTA for those reasons. The candidates are using their opposing it as a platform but they don't care about the same things the average American does! Amazing.

One more thing....They asked Hillary about her campaign for Senate and how she said she would create 200,000 jobs for upstate New York but in reality there has been a tremendous loss of jobs in that area. She responded by saying she made that statement when she thought Al Gore was going to be the President. So basically she blamed George W. I thought it was kind of funny. Although, I am sure the people in upstate NY didn't.

In conclusion.... I have no idea who I will vote for. I am not sure I will even vote in the primary. I've been saying Barack does not have the experience but to be honest neither does Hillary. She only has one term longer than him in the senate. I am really sad people didn't pay attention to John Edwards. He really had a chance of winning.

Wordless Wednesday...Frosty Edition

wordless wednesday

I had a dream....another very weird dream!

Okay, why do I keep dreaming about Barack Obama? Last night before I went to bed I looked up Barack Obama antichrist on Google. There has been a lot of talk about it. So, I thought I would see what the people are saying. My conclusion was unnerving. It seemed like pretty compelling evidence at 11:30 at night. So, I went to bed and tossed and turned kept waking up worrying about my children and their future. It wasn't just the whole Revelations thing but Nostradamus's predictions, Bible Codes, Mayan calendars coming to an end.....It is too much to think about. So, this morning I woke up and started thinking rather rationally. I looked up Bill Clinton, George Bush Sr., George W., Tony Blair, and pretty much every powerful leader has been accused of being the antichrist. And each have pretty good evidence to back it up. George W. seemed to be the most likely candidate. LOL. I was talking about it with my mom and she said back in the day everyone thought for sure that JFK was the antichrist. Either way, I am not worried about it and don't plan on reading any more of that junk - before bed anyways.

We had a fun weekend. We went to the Natural History Museum in Cleveland. We met up with Heather and her family there. All of the kids have seen "Night at the Museum", which is about a history museum that comes to life at night, so I think they liked it even more because of that. When we got there Indy was asking were the big bone was...Heather and Ivan were like "What???" She said, "you know the bone you throw to the dinosaur!". Very cute. Afterwards we ate dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, Tommy's. They specialize in Vegetarian food. It is the only place that I order the same thing every time. The last time I was there, I was pregnant with Jude. So it has been a while. As we sat there with five kids I looked around and thought, man I don't fit in here anymore. There was a table full of young wayward kids sitting by us. I thought to myself....that was me 15 years ago. Funny, I really doubt they were looking at me saying....hey, that is us in 15 years. I guess that is just how it works.

Beautiful...

It is only 4 degrees outside right now. I had to take the trash out this morning and it is....well, brisk but so beautiful. It is clear and sunny. It almost smelled like spring outside. In Ohio we don't get that many sunny days - especially in the winter. In fact we have only had something like one day of sun for the entire month of February. So, I will take it even if it is only 4 degrees out. Yesterday the kids and I went for a walk. It was about 25 degrees out but the with the wind chill it was very cold. I had the kids all bundled up. Avery couldn't even move. They were all cute all wrapped up. They must have been warm because Jude and Elise asked to play outside when we got home. I said no....it was really too cold.

The time changes in 3 weeks. I can't wait. I need more daylight. I can't wait for spring!!!

Maybe I should check out North Carolina land for sale.

My Dream....

Last night I dreamed I went fishing with Barak Obama. There was a rain storm but we kept fishing. There were other people there - all Republicans. Somehow I was related to Barak - he married into the family or something. So, I took a bunch of pictures of this fishing trip. His hair looked gray in the photos. Later I added the pics to my blog and suddenly my blog was super famous. Everyone wanted to see Barak fishing with a bunch of republicans and me. And that was it. I woke up a famous blogging Barak fishing buddy. Odd.

Do you have a checking account? I do.

Wordless Wednesday....Oh My, Have We Aged!

Wordless Wednesday

Animals Do It, Too!

Hello Monday! Yes, I am going to be talking about animals doing it... Well, actually I am not but I am going to tell you about my weekend. Eventually you will understand the title.

About a month or so ago I checked our mail and we had received the little quarterly calendar from the Akron Zoo. For those of you who have never been there - it is a small zoo in the heart of Akron. It has come a LONG way over the last five years. We have a membership so we go pretty frequently. So...I am reading the calendar - mostly checking out the kids programs when I see this program called "Animals Do It Too" - for adults only. It is scheduled for the weekend after Valentine's day. It explained the event included a dinner, a "zoo dating game" and a vet speaking about the mating habits of animals. I thought - "how fun" (oh and funny!). I decided Jake and I needed to go. Before long I was telling my friends to see if any of them wanted to go but everyone looked at me like I was some sort of pervert. However, my sister thought it was a great idea and she bought tickets too. I couldn't keep it a secret from Jake (I think I lasted like 2 weeks) but Heather actually did not ever tell Ivan. That was cool. Anyways, long story short... Paul & Linda came up to watch the kids for us. Saturday morning Jake got a call from this power plant he has been working with and he (along with his coworker Jeff) had to head out to Kentucky for a light off. I was of course, disappointed. I wasn't going to go but Heather and Ivan (who still had no idea where we were going) talked me into going. It was fun. There weren't many singles there but I was okay with it. I would have preferred to go with my husband because well...I just would have but it was still a nice event. The presentation was very funny. I laughed a lot. It was very tasteful and really nothing like what I expected. At first Ivan just thought it was a dinner at the zoo. Then he started to think it was one of those weird underground groups that eat strange things like komodo dragon. Then he remembered the zoo helps save animals. Eventually he read a sign that said Animals Do It Too. He laughed. There was a guy at the table next to us that was like a seventh grader hearing about the birds & the bees the first time. He was doing things like waving bread sticks at his wife. Poor lady. Some people paid extra and stayed the night at the zoo. I didn't think that looked that fun so I didn't pay for that - thank goodness because I certainly would not have stayed without Jake. By the end of the night I wasn't feeling well. I thought maybe I was getting sick. The next day I had a fever. Bummer. I ended up still going to church because my friends were coming for the first time and I told them I would be there. So, I got the kids ready and went by myself. It wasn't that bad. After church we came home and I barely left the couch. Jake got home around 6 or 7 - I can't even remember. Well, it was just in time to see Ryan Newman win the Daytona 500. He was jumping around yelling, etc..... The kids were rolling on the ground laughing. We were all happy to see Ryan win after being fans for years. It was an added bonus that Gordon & Johnson both did horrible.

So, that was our weekend. My fever is gone but I am still feeling a little yucky. I am on the mend so that is good.
home theater furniture

Photo Shoot

Who is Who? Avery or Jude?

They aren't that much alike.

Thursday Thirteen....Waitress Edition

I used to be a waitress. I was a waitress for a long time. I liked it. I made great money and met lots of interesting people. While attending college for 6 years I sometimes worked two and THREE jobs at a time. I can't hardly believe it now. It wasn't really bad, in fact I thought it was kinda fun. Anyhoo....today I was thinking about my old waitressing days and I thought I probably could come up with 13 places I waited tables. Believe it or not I did. Crazy, I know. Here is my list - in no particular order. Pigeon Forge cabin rentals

1. Golden Crown (Chinese Restaurant in Vermilion & Amherst)
2. Joe Boccardi's (St. Louis Style Pizza YUM-O)
3. Sorrento's Ristorante Italiano (I think the name says it all)
4. Moosehead Grill (I was bored one day while visiting my parents so I went and got a job - I started that day!)
5. Bob Evans (one week)
6. Atlanta Grill (in Calhoun, GA)
7. Cornerstone Grill/ Moose's Goose (Martini Bar-Eatery on one side/ Frat Bar on the other)
8. Some Other Chinese Place (one day in GA - then I got the other job!)
9. East Side Mario's (got fired for ditching work for an Indians game...oops)
10. Joe's Crab Shack (The last of my wild days RIP)!
11. Fisher's Pub & Grill (was fired repeatedly and then begged to come back - I had a serious love/hate relationship (nothing romantic) with the owner. I once wrote him a letter & told him we were going to end up on Jerry Springer.
12. K&N Eatery in Vermilion. I used to hang out there all the time so I decided to get paid to be there. I used to go there like every day. Hated the job. The waitress had to wash all the dishes. YUCK.
13. Some coffee shop in Lorain. I can't remember the name of it either. It was a big hang out (I think I have repressed the memories of these places for reasons I won't discuss now....). My then boyfriend used to play his cello there on friday nights with some punk band.

More TT....

Happy Avery Girl....

wordless wednesday

DVR....in review.

I never wanted DVR. Jake has been asking for it since it came out. I asked, "why?". I said it was a waste of money. I was so against it. It really is so indulgent. We've had it for 4 days now. I am in love. I watched an hour and a half Deal or No Deal in less than a half hour. I fast forwarded through all the annoying stuff. As I mentioned before Jake taped a bunch of movies and today I recorded a movie. How cool. It really is great. I can watch America's Funniest Videos (one of my favorite shows, I know I am weird) anytime of the day. It is great. fiber cable

Just thought I would share in case you were thinking about getting one.

Winter at the Zoo....

Last week or maybe it was the week before we went to the zoo. It was in the 40's and fairly sunny so we decided to go to the zoo. It was great. There were very few people there. In fact, I think we saw one other woman with two kids and a few misc. adults walking around. Not all the animals were out but the ones that remained were very active and we were able to get an up close look at them. When we were so close to the lions I started thinking about those that escaped in California around Christmas - a little scary if that happened while we were there since we would have been their only choice of people to eat. Yikes. When he started showing his teeth I decided to put the camera away and move on! The kids had a great time. I think we will go back when it warms up a little. Technomarine watch

Impossible Catch up....

After such little posting over the past two weeks, I feel it is impossible to catch up. I feel like I have been so busy but really I haven't been doing much of all. The problem is...I am seriously addicted to CVS and other great deals. I even dream about it sometimes. I used to have a strict habit when it came to reading blogs and checking email. I do them all in a certain order. Last week I went a couple days without even looking at my own blog and others I normally read. Not because I wasn't on the computer but because I was looking at those coupon sites. But...I am not going to talk about that today. Maybe I will post about my deals later this week - just because I really need to brag - I am just that amazed and kicking myself for ever abandoning the whole coupon thing in the first place!

This weekend we got DVR. I want to watch less TV - apparently Jake wants to watch more. He is like a kid in a candy store. I was RESISTANT for a very long time about getting it because we CAN live without it but I suppose I will admit I do like it. It is nice to record stuff and fast forward through the commercials. Plus we rarely watch movies on TV because they aren't on at appropriate times for us. This weekend we recorded a bunch and even watched two. Wild Hogs - which, if I remember didn't get great reviews. We thought it was hysterical and laughed and laughed. I highly suggest it. We also watched RV - another very funny/silly movie. They both had great messages and lots of comedy. Branson hotels

Did I mention it is 4 degrees this morning. I don't know what the wind chill is but last night it was -16. BRRRRRRrrrrrrrr. I think we may skip story time this morning because it is really too cold for this kids with the wind chill. We will probably go to the library later to return books and restock. We read A LOT of books every week. Also there is another winter storm getting ready to hit us tonight through Tuesday night.

So, Avery has started this thing - she wants to sleep in our bed. It is crazy. I never wanted this to happen. But if I had to choose between not sleeping or sleeping with Avery in our bed - well, I guess I'd pick her sleeping in our bed. Jude also came to our bed at some point last night so everyone (except Elise the smart one) was squeezed in together. Don't worry one day last week I woke up and they were all in our bed. How do we fit? Even the cat was there. It doesn't make for restful sleep. My neck hurts. The joys of parenthood.

Yuck...

I can't stand this time of year. It is so yucky. I can't seem to get motivated to do anything. I skipped Bhangra today and I am still in my jammies. It was warmer earlier this week but rainy and mushy. Oh, and dark. I'd much rather prefer cold and sunny. medical jewelry

OK - enough complaining - I have been to CVS FIVE times this week. It is an illness. I also shopped at Giant Eagle and got some of the deals of the century - well maybe not that good but they were pretty awesome. Here are some of them I can remember - 5 boxes of name brand cereal for $4, free FUZE juice, 2 packs of fresh blueberries for $1 each.... When it was all said and done I got about 50% off my total grocery bill. And I bought some chicken tenderloins & 2 packs of gum (I bribed the kids!). OH and I picked up 2 copies of Sunday's paper for 75 cents. Crazy.

I also bought a coupon organizer.

No one should be surprised - I used to do this stuff all the time but since I was shopping at Aldi's I got out of the habit. It is a lot of work - I don't know if I will be able to keep up with it all.

Enough about shopping. This week Elise decided to feed our fish. She dumped the fish food all over the dining room floor. Of course she never told me about it. When I asked her why she did that she told me the fish were starving so she fed them! Hmmmmm....

I have an addiction....

Did you come here today expecting such a confession? Well, I do have a new addition. It is crazy. It is this website called Hot Coupon World. This is not a paid advertisement (as I hang my head in shame...). Seriously, here is what happened to me. Back in December I went to CVS to buy some medicine for Elise' cough she had. While I was there I picked up some vitamins and probably a few other things...I can't recall. But after I paid I looked at my receipt and there was a printed coupon that was for $10. Actually it wasn't even a coupon. It was something called Bonus Bucks that you can spend on anything. Crazy. So the next day I went back to CVS and bought some Christmas lights I needed and wouldn't you know another $10 bonus bucks printed out. CRAZY! I didn't know what was going on but the next time I went in the only thing I got was a $3 off coupon if I spend $15 so I stuffed it in my purse and haven't been back to CVS since. Until I read on Steph's blog a week or so ago about going to CVS. I went over to the link she suggested and that is how it all began. Saturday Jake stopped by CVS and picked up an ad for me. When he got home my planning began. I cut coupons and organized and schemed. I went to CVS and I will have to admit I went a little overboard on my first visit. I won't tell you how much I spent but I will say I got great deals AND I walked out with $17 in CVS bucks. So, after church on Sunday I got the new ad and planned and coordinated and printed coupons and cut coupons and man I was having so much fun. We went to CVS and this time I bought a ton of stuff (cleaning stuff, hair treatment, eye makeup, m&m's, I can't even remember everything) but this time my original total was $31 (after the sale price). With my coupons and Extra bucks I spent $5.22 and got an extra $21 in bonus bucks back. It is so fun. I can hardly stand it. Funny it was the same cashier working both days. She laughed. And I saw another CVS crazy in there on both days I was there (the same person!). It is all a little confusing until you just check it out for yourself. But I warn you - it is addictive. Also, on that coupon world site there are deals and coupons for other stores. For example I went on there and saw Giant Eagle is having a sale on cereal and there was a link for $2 off the same cereal, which makes it free. Definitely worth my time hauling the kids over to GE to get some free cereal. It is crazy. So, that is where I have been. Oh, I have also been doing some secret shopping. It is fun. So far I've only done restaurants but I have a few new things coming up. Pretty cool. I like to get paid to shop. Now if I could only get a secret shopping assignment at CVS....... Emu Australia