Getting to See the Nighttime Sky

The drive home from California went really well...for a while. We left Kyle and Gina's just before dinner time and made it to one of the last In n Out's before the kids would fall asleep and those wonderful burgers would no longer be an option for us. Well after the kids were all changed into pj's and snuggled into their seats they got to watch more movies and around 11 I turned it all off to get the only remaining awake children (Payden and Lincoln) to sleep. And it worked. 

Until about 2 in the morning. The uncomfortableness of sleeping while sitting up finally started getting to them and they reluctantly started waking up. So we let them start watching movies to distract from the restlessness. Payden especially was loving getting to be awake at such a weird time and all being together and watching movies, she exclaimed with delight "I love getting to see the nighttime sky" and Lincoln's response was "yeah, I didn't know this is what it looked like in the middle of the night".

Free Scoop Day

 A few weeks ago Ben & Jerry's had a free scoop day and the kids and I went and enjoyed ourselves. The closest one to us was at the mall and so I grabbed our two umbrella strollers and we headed out. Needless to say it was a success...Payden and Lincoln pushed Hailey and Taylor and we got quite the stares and comments about child labor, people think they're so clever sometimes, I would too if it was the only time I was hearing some things.

Trying to bribe a smile out of them knowing the ice cream was coming was a little much for Hailey.

Ta da

But how can you not be excited about free ice cream?

Cheers

Such a treat...it was a great little outing.

At Least It Was Free

Yep, toothpaste on the bathroom floor...sigh

How to spend eighteen cents!

I was excited to get some more couponing in this week. Sticking to the budget has been really freeing but I loose a lot of the fun at the end of the month when different categories are out of money so I was finally able to get in a few great couponing trips yesterday. First off I went to Rite Aid and got this...

For $.09! Then I got this...

                                     

for another $.09!

And I left with more +UP rewards than I went in with! And as a special treat I ran into Callie while there so we finished up our transactions and went next door to Albertsons to pick up our Crispix that finally came in from last month. So my 22 boxes have been added to our cereal stockpile! She also shared some of her coupons with me so I could make the most of my trip to Safeway and that is where I got this...

and saved 100%, that's right my total for all 4 juices and two jellies was $0.00! It's safe to say I was giddy when I got home and played the ever famous 'guess how much I got all this for' game with Jer. I'm lucky that he loves coupons as much, scratch that, MORE than I do.

Crawlo

The following video's show a glimpse of what happens when the kids play together unsupervised. Nothing really dramatic, or shocking, just tender, unanimous, very real attachment to...crawlo. What's a crawlo you ask? Oh just watch and see! The video is cut off because I got a phone call.

And then their dreams were crushed by mom!

It's the little things

Today it was the little things in life that I noticed, and they were wonderful!
The smell of fresh brewed coffee


The sunshine!


Great customer service...thank you Renaldo at Albertson's!

Fast grocery shopping in the sunshine with only myself to tow around. It's amazing how much more time exponentially gets added to errand running with each kid and rain...like yesterday.

Driving with the window down, and the radio off!

My husband doing all the laundry while I was at work (I loathe laundry), he even folded all of those obnoxious shirts of mine that get hung up ;) ...so sweet. He hates folding my clothes because they just aren't uniform like his...it's like that episode of King of Queens where Doug tries to fold Carrie's camisole and ends up balling it up really fast, except this wasn't like that, everything was folded perfectly.

Taylor's long hair! I didn't get a picture of it today, but she looked so cute...take my word for it!

My Jedi warrior showing off his moves!

I know, he's too much right?

An impromptu playdate with our neighbor friend Brooke (the little girl in the video with Lincoln)!

Making springtime treats for home community

A last minute dinner date for the kids with Grandma Tammi giving me the time I needed to finish up things that got neglected when all the other little things happened today.

Taylor toting around her very own baby doll in package she got while out with Grandma, she thought she was every bit of 5 as Payden.

Effortless bedtime.

I'm sorry that one deserves a repeat, effortless bedtime!

Watching the AMA's dvr'd from Sunday because this was the first time I was able to sit down and watch something.

A glass of Merlot and peanut M&M's (that I got for free), and of course a nicely percolating glass of ice water.

Don't you love the chalk decorations? Thanks Tay Tay!

Today was a gift!

Have Some Cereal

Here is the scoop...be prepared, there are many layers which is what makes this such a great deal.

Last week I pre-ordered 50 boxes of cereal from Albertsons...yep I said 50! 22 Boxes of Crispix, 20 boxes of Corn Flakes, and 8 boxes of Rice Krispies. Yesterday I went in and got the part of the order that came in which was this...

And then today I went in and finished up purchasing my Crispix even though they hadn't received them from the warehouse yet, but the grocery manager was amazing and let me use all my coupons and everything and when the order comes in I'll just walk in grab my cereal and walk out...okay I'll load up my cart, I can't just grab 22 boxes of cereal!

Here's how it broke down...
I paid $36.58
and received:
50 boxes of cereal
15 gallons of milk (I can get those over the next two weeks)
4 bags of peanut mnm's
2 Healthy Choice Soups
1 16oz sour cream
3lb bunch of banana's
and $50 in gas cards! (those are rebates that I don't actually have yet)
So in the end I will have made $13.42 and got all this food!

Yay!

A big one

My adrenaline is going. I'm getting ready to do the biggest couponing trip yet! I'm excited! This is so silly. Most of yesterday was spent thinking about how this is going to go. Kids are being watched, coupons have been printed for over a week, Jer ambushed coffee shops and McDonalds on our way to church yesterday to gather abandoned Sunday papers, I still had to buy a few, finished organizing them last night, my order should be in at Albertsons today, Callie and I are tag teaming as we get our goods...I'll be back later to post how it goes...this is so fun! Yes I know I'm thrilled about coupons and I'm okay with it!

A new favorite song

The kids love to listen to specific things depending on the car they are in. When they're with my mom they always want 'Bob and Larry' and having listened to it so many times Lincoln apparently picked up on one of the songs. One day he told me he wanted to pray for the meal and belted this song out...it was too funny. And over at my parents house he put on more of a performance before dinner rather than praying for the meal.

If you're unfamiliar with the song, and couldn't make out his spectacular annunciation, these are the lyrics:

We thank the Lord for what we're about to eat..
Dinnertime is a real good time to gather thankfully.

If you like both savory and sweet
You just can't mess with a partial list
of all our favorite treats.

I like peanut butter pizzas topped with tons of anchovies
and lots and lots of tater tots with a big purple slushy

Cheeseburgers and chocolate and lots of melted cheese,
but hold the tomatoes and the cucumbers please!

What to get with seven cents?

I was a little frustrated with how I had to spend my UP rewards at Rite Aid because the deals weren't fantastic, but it sounds imprssive when you hear what I paid for out of pocket...I just know what I could have done with the rewards if they just didn't have to go and expire!

So for $.07 I got all of this...

Oh and this morning Hailey went through about a pack and a half of Trident gum! Don't worry she didn't swallow it, it's kind of  a weird flavor Ginseng and White Tea, I just had to wipe it all up off the floor. I think she thought she found the jackpot at first and then was quickly faced with a huge let-down!