Couponing Score!

This week, Albertson's had a huge Quaker sale. This was the first time I bought coupons online and I stocked up! I used my double coupons and spent $34.19 and ended up with $195.98 worth of product. Just to break it down. I was able to get
*40 boxes of granola bars ( I had 20 coupons that I bought online for $2+ 6 sets of doublers)
*5 boxes of Life cereal ( no coupons but $1 each if bought in increments of 5)
*2 boxes of Quaker Oatmeal Squares cereal ( I had one coupon $1 off 2 so ended up being $ .50 each)
*3 boxes of Quaker Instant Oatmeal ( I had one coupon for $1 off 2)
*6 jars of Ragu pasta sauce ( I used 3 coupons)
*6 jars of Skippy peanut butter ( I used 3 coupons)
and 1 large bag of salad (no coupons for that)

Valentine Craft

This was the cute Valentine Countdown craft I made at my craft night out. It is so cute! I absolutely love how it turned out!

Birthday Girls...

Kaelie's 4th Birthday

Friday started out great for our little Kaelie. Daddy took her out for lunch at McDonald's of course, and then on the way home, she threw up everything she'd just eaten. Our poor little Kaelie got a touch of the stomach flu on her birthday. So, she didn't get to eat any cake or blow out her candles. She did manage to get a little excited about opening up her presents that evening.

Jeade'en's 12th Birthday

Jeade'en's Birthday was on Sat. Jan. 30. She was so excited because she and I had the whole day planned full of fun and excitement! Jeade'en is so excited because we are on our way to Claire's to get her ears pierced for the first time.

She was great and didn't even flinch.

Then we went out for lunch at IHOP. She got a free Sunday and got sung to by all the servers. We then went out shopping and tried on clothes and had just a fabulous girls' day out.

The Party:

That night Jeade'en had a pizza and movie night party from 6:30-9:30. We made homemade pizza and as it was cooking, all the girls played a fun game of Apples To Apples.

Lime green is Jeade'en's favorite color so I made this cool birthday cake for her. It was my second attempt at doing a fondant cake, Kaelie's cake was the first which you'll see pics of as you scroll down. I think it turned out pretty well.

Then, we had to break the pinata. Dad was a good sport and was brave enough to hold it up as the girls all swung.

I couldn't believe the rush for treats as soon as it broke open. It was litterally a stampede. The girls settled down afterwards and watched the movie Inkheart while eating popcorn and red vines. Towards the end of the movie half of the girls started a fun game of hide and seek and got very creative in thinking of hiding places. It was hysterical to watch. Jeade'en and the girls had such a good time and Jeade'en had a very great day!

Kaelie's Cake:

Now moving to Sunday, Kaelie was all better and so we brought out her cake so she could blow out her candles and finally eat it!

My first fondant cake.

She LOVED her cake and I think the pink fondant was her favorite part to eat.

Happy Birthday Kaelie!

I'm 4!

Today is my sweet baby Kaelie's Birthday! I am so excited for her! We woke up this morning giving her lots of hugs and kisses and saying "Happy Birthday"! She is our little ray of sunshine. She has beautiful curly hair and blue eyes and looks just like her mommy's baby pictures. She is such a beautiful part of our family and we all just love and adore her! More pictures to come later after her fun family party.

I'm A Coupon ADDICT!

My couponing took a back seat this holiday season. I was just too busy and having too much fun! I didn't stock up on anything because I didn't feel there were "great" deals. During the month of Dec., I just bought fresh staples. I did use some double coupons and got $65.11 in groceries and only spent $10.13.
Now moving on to the new year with almost 6 months of couponing under my belt, my skills are quite practiced. I went yesterday to use my doublers and was able to get $41.28 in groceries and I only spent $3.30! You can't beat that! My food storage has built up quite nicely. It is so worth it for me to do this. What can I say,

I'm Addicted!

Chemo

My mom went in today for her first Chemo treatment. My sis Carolee went along and everything went well. She just about passed out after they inserted the catheter in her arm but still held on. She was given benadryl for any allergic reactions that she might have and then some pain med. She will go home with some anti nausea meds and go for her next treatment in 3 weeks. She got some really cute fuzzy hats and some really pretty scarves for when her hair falls out which will be in the next 2 weeks. She'll be going to a support group with her best friend Karen and learn how to cope with the tiredness, nauseousness, and even learn how to draw on her eyebrows. She is so positive and strong and I am so proud of how she is dealing with this. I know she has good and bad days like we all do when we face challenges that seem insurrmountable but, I know that my determination and strength in life has come from watching and learning from my mother. She has been such a good example to me. I love you Mom!

Just to leave a thought that has really helped me. I read it on my friend Jaymie's blog. Her sister has brain cancer and Jaymie posted some of her journal entry. It deeply touched me and I couldn't have put it better myself.

Quote:
There's a quote by Gordon B. Hinckley’s I read a while back, part of which says:“Life is like an old-time rail journey . . . delays, side-tracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride.”

I have rethought Hinckley’s quote and realized that many of the delays, much of the dust, and many of the serious jolts in life’s journey are not just significant because they make the “beautiful vistas” and “thrilling bursts of speed” more appreciable, but because they are what make our journeys. They are the foundations for building our most significant relationships and experiences, and, if properly appreciated, can give us the life-changing, treasured memories we can ponder on during those brief times of solitude that may crop up on occasion.

I’m grateful for these and many other experiences, for they remind me that I am alive. That my life has purpose. They remind me that I still have opportunities to build experiences and relationships that can soften character, that can sweeten memories, and that can provide eternal joy. And it is because of these experiences that I pray every night for many more days when I’ll get to hear my kids screaming, phones ringing, and washing machines breaking down as my experience with cancer has taught me that those truly are my sounds of paradise.

Redecorating?

You know how they say "out with the old and in with the new" with regards to the New Year, well, I've been thinking. I like most of the things that I have now. With all the moves over the years, it's given me an excuse to declutter each time and only keep what I absolutely love. So, with the New Year I decided to make a few "changes". I started in the Living Room. We'd moved the smaller sofa to make room for the Christmas Tree to be in our large front window. I decided after we took the tree down that I really like it there. I also rearranged all my home decor "accessories".

I would eventually love an area rug for this large room.

Then I moved to the little landing area we have at the top of the stairs and created a little reading nook. I still have to hang up the large magnet board I recieved for Christmas. It will hold cute pictures and art the kids have made without overtaking my fridge.

As you turn the corner and start down the hallway, my walls have changed. Instead of being the plain bare walls I've looked at for over a year now, they have a little more personnality. I hung a Prophet board (another Christmas gift) on the right wall and on the left wall, my children's first baby pictures in their baby blessing outfits. I'm working on a vinyl sign to go above them.

These were the wall art squares I did for Super Saturday. I'm really happy with how they turned out.

Another project I'm working on is our family picture which will go in the Living Room. I found a frame at Goodwill that is the exact size I was looking for. I'm going to paint it black, make my own matte, get glass cut to size, and then frame and hang it. I can't wait. We haven't hung up a family picture since before our son passed. It's about time we had a current one up.

Well, that's it for now.