Hello Hello!

Lots to say.  I meant to post the same day as the Halloween pics, but have been busy at work, and trying to spend time with Olivia in the evenings, and take a walk, so I didn't quite get there yet...so here ya go.  No pics with this one, sorry!

First, a few random thoughts:

Yes, my Colts are undefeated.  And yes, I am ecstatic :-)

Green Day has an awesome video for 21st Century Breakdown.  Click here to watch (it's not youtube so I could actually see it at work, yay!)  I love the new Weezer song, too, but it's on youtube so I can't link to it here. 

Isn't it funny how music can take you back?  I heard a song that reminded me of a boyfriend 21 years ago.  It's amazing what we remember, and how music takes us there. 

Apparently, if you are a politician and you had an 'R' behind your name yesterday, you pretty much were a shoo-in to win.  People are so...something...they hate a president, so they vote for the other party?  How 'bout looking at the people behind the party - just voting republican isn't going to help anything, sorry to say.  The system is too corrupt for the party to matter anymore.  I have more republican views than democratic views, but I'm not just going to go out and vote for all of the Republicans because of the R behind their name.  Interesting.  I should run with an R behind my name - I'm sure I would get some votes...

2 weeks ago we took Olivia to the Little Gym.  I have videos, but not here, so I will try to post them.  Unfortunately, I took them on the camera and not the Flip, so it's harder to get them to work on anyone's computer.  I'll see what I can do.  She had SUCH a great time, though, that we are probably going to enroll her after the 1st of the year.   I want to get through the holidays 1st, then we'll go.  It's every Tuesday evening.  She just had a great time doing somersaults, running around, hanging off of the uneven bars, walking on the balance beam, playing with bubbles - just everything.  We laughed the whole time because she was having such a great time.

Abby, stay tuned for the story of the big blue towel (remember?) - I keep meaning to blog for you, but pictures are required, and again, I don't have them here, so soon...

We had some snow last week.  None stuck, but it was snowing.  Now it's 60 again.  I think New England and the Midwest got hit, too.

Halloween was fun!  She trick or treated at my work on Friday and had fun doing that.  People brought their kids; so we got to see them and they all had fun trick or treating!  Then on Sat. we went over to my parent's house because they live in a traditional neighborhood.  We had chili, like we always do on Halloween, and then took her trick or treating for the 1st time.  There were some kids out, but not too many.  We went a couple blocks, and she said trick or treat most of the time, and thank you all the time, so she did great!  Everyone thought she was an adorable giraffe, of course :-)  

She stayed at mom and dad's that night so Mike and I could go downtown to watch the people.  The costumes were amazing!  So original.  We were really impressed, and it was so fun watching all the people; I'm glad we got to go.   SO many of the girls were wearing heels.  I am a creature of comfort, and just can't understand how so many people walked around in heels all night long.  It amazed me.  I could never do it, so hats off to those who can.

Olivia did not have a great night at mom & dad's.  She woke up A LOT and kept telling mom she wanted to go home and see daddy.  She always sleeps really well over there, but just had a rough night.  Poor thing, and poor mom, who was up with her half the night.  She just wasn't a happy camper. 

I just can't decide about this h1n1 vaccine.  I just am so confused by all of the information out there.  Obviously I don't want her to get it, nor the seasonal flu, but I just don't know what to do about the vaccine.  Consequently, she has not been vaccinated yet - with the seasonal or the h1n1.  I got a free regular flu shot at work, but she hasn't had anything - I need to get at least the regular one scheduled - before she gets sick.  Then I could talk to the doc about it while we are there.  She has been so healthy (knock on wood) that I just don't know...such a dilemma.

I have had a dry spell with my winnings.  I have won a few things here and there, but more people are entering now, so my chances aren't as good anymore...but it's ok.  Actually, thinking about it, I haven't been entering as many, so that probably has something to do with it! I have been a bit pickier about what I enter...

Ok, I really have to get to work, so have a great week!  us

Happy November

Happy Birthday, some random thoughts, deals, and life with a 2 1/2 yr old

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my sister!  It was yesterday and I have yet to talk to her, but I called and Olivia and I left her a message!  Hope it was a happy 35th!!!

I am making thai chicken curry in the crockpot today...I can't wait to try it out!  But, did you know that coconut milk has 70 grams of fat in one can?  How is that possible?  I mean, it's awesome, but 70?  I was stunned as I read that this morning...AFTER I had dumped the can in the crockpot!  Oh well...it better be worth it :-) I'm starting to smell it now...yummmmmmmm

I am reading a good book called Plain Jane by Fern Michaels.  It completely sucked me in last night during my 1st bath in forever.

I ordered some new (cheap but with rave reviews-Ponds + St. Ives) moisturizer this week from drugstore.com - can't wait to try it!  I love trying new things...

We've had a gorgeous weekend - low 70's, mostly sunny, love it - I asked for an Indian Summer and finally got it!  It went from 90 to 50 here...so now we are back up to normal, thank goodness.  I think it's supposed to be in the 60's all week - my favorite knd of weather.  I love fall.  We are taking walks every day again, too.

I spent $100.51 at Albertson's today, and saved $123.51.  Some pretty good deals to be had!

Since I buy all of this food for next to nothing now, I will be donating to the Idaho foodbank this week.  Also, I have accumulated quite a stockpile.  Mike says we are survivalists now!  :-)  He put up a shoe rack in the pantry for me, I love it:

we have a small pantry, so it really gives me some nice extra room.  He also put a bookshelf downstairs for the rest of it:

so as you can see, we are set for quite awhile!  I can skip going to the store except for milk and bananas!  But, I go because I get such good deals...I skipped last week though.

But, I did MUCH better at Rite Aid and Walgreens this week!  I spent $10 at Walgreens and saved $46.  No pictures of that one...but, check out what I bought at Rite Aid.

If I would have paid full price (haha) at Rite Aid for all of this, it would have been $118 - I MADE A PROFIT on all of this stuff.  That's right boys and girls, I made money on all of this with their rebates and coupons.  I spent $99.71 out of pocket, I will be getting 2 checks back from their rebate program totaling $109.11 for a profit of $9.40 (It should have been $14.40 but I forgot to use a $5 coupon on the 1st transaction) WOW - it's just so fun!  I will end up giving some to the women's shelter, too, so that is a good thing.  Isn't it the best to get stuff for better than free?  I seriously love it.

Speaking of love, I love my daughter!  She is the funniest, sweetest (most of the time), cutest girl on the planet.  She definitely has her moments, like right before she goes to bed she turns into a complete stinker, but overall, she is just so good and we are just so lucky!  I need to get her in for her flu shot...Anyway, I don't know what to report on her other than she is just doing great & we are so lucky!  I cut her hair...and it's not very even.  I need to stop into supercuts or something so they can even it out...if I keep trying, I'll just keep cutting and cutting...it's already a bit too short...I hope it grows out a little before the holidays.    So enjoy these pics!  I need to take more, I really do, because I am just missing out on things.

She got into my lotion and was very proud of herself:

These are just plain cute -  I love the red outfit (mom & I got it at the consignment store!)

 

 

Life is pretty much the same, but I am not complaining!  Have a good one, us

Happy, Happy!

We have a new nephew!  Welcome to the world Christian McCoy - he arrived last night at 10:25, 7#, 9oz., 20" long.  Baby & mama are doing great!  Jane's water broke yesterday at 4am, but he took his time getting here.  I talked to her a few times yesterday, and they ended up giving her pitocin because she wasn't progressing.  I'm glad all is well, and  I can't wait to meet him!

Sorry for the delay in posting - have been trying to get other stuff done.  I had a nice 3 day weekend, and have another one coming up this weekend to get even more done!  Where to start...

Olivia is 2 1/2 today!  I will finally stop using months to tell people how old she is...2 1/2 is a good age for that.  We need to work on 2 things with our 2 1/2 yr. old - potty training (we are just being lazy-we just need to get it done) and getting rid of her binky.  She uses her binky at nap time and at night, but she also screams for it when she is upset.  I have read many different versions of how people got rid of binky - I just need to try them.  She stayed at my parent's house on Friday night because it was our anniversary - more on that in a minute.  She ate a ton over there - she will eat more over there than at my house!  They had fun with her of course.  Mom bought her stickers, so they played with stickers A LOT.  She is having a bit of separation anxiety, which she has never had before.  Dainey said she was emotional last week when Mike dropped her off, then she started crying when we were about to leave on Friday (they took her out to look at the pumpkins and she was fine) - so hopefully this is a quick stage.  Everything else is great with her - she is healthy and happy and smart and cute!

Our 11 year anniversary was Friday!  We got to go to a superb steakhouse - it was pricey (or spendy as they say in Idaho) but it was worth it.  The dinner was excellent, as was the La Crema chardonnay that I love, and the ambiance was perfect, too.  They had a little jazz band.  We were definitely some of the younger people there, but we didn't feel uncomfortable - it was nice to feel like grownups, being out and about on a Friday night! :-)  We went to a bar after dinner was over, and I got a bit tipsy, but it was great fun just being able to be out without having to worry about our daughter. 

Saturday we went to get her at 10:30...and I don't think I left the house the rest of the weekend!  I got EVERY piece of laundry done, cleaned the bathrooms, made crockpot soup for both nights (both were excellent) and got computer stuff done.  A really nice long weekend.  It rained all weekend, so we were in the mood for soup...Mike loves the rain, so he took lots of walks in it.  It was great football watching weather.

I haven't been winning as much lately-I have won a couple of books, the 2010 entertainment book (yay) and a table that folds up with blocks that I can't wait to get.  Oh, and Friday I was entering my sweeps before we left for dinner and I won a $500 area rug!!!  That one was SO exciting.  We have hardwood upstairs and no rugs, so I am really anxious to see it. 

My Colts look awesome this year.  AWESOME I tell ya! We should be 5-0 after next Sunday because we play the Titans.  Yahoo!

I got a new phone!  I have always had just a regular phone, but 2 Fridays ago I dropped it & stepped on it  -and while it didn't break, I was looking at it thinking 'wow, it's been a long time since I got a new phone-I bet I have some free ones available'  - so I got on the website to look, and sure enough, I had free ones available as long as I signed a new 2 year contract, and why wouldn't I, so I did!  I found one that I like for 9.99 - the Motorola Karma.  It's basically an entry level media phone - it has a qwerty keyboard, and it's cute and little.  I decided that I wanted a phone I could text on because I am going to have it for a couple years, so I may just decide to get in the 21st century and start texting.  :-) Mike is going to get a new phone this week, too!

I went to the AT&T store to look at it, decided I liked it, but they wanted to charge me 49.99 for the phone + a $20 data plan every month! I said no thank you to that!  Went home, tried to order it online, but I kept getting the technical difficulties error note every time I tried to order it...I called and the guy said they had just released a new iphone app, so it had crashed their system, but they were clearing out the queue as fast as they could...he wanted to charge me $149.99 over the phone for this little Karma phone!  He told me the 9.99 was a glitch - so I got back on the computer, got through, and ordered it.  No glitches!  They fedexed it to me, and it is so cute, I really like it a lot.  I decided to pay for 200 texts a month - for $5.  Texted Heidi from the bar on Friday night-THAT was hilarious...won't be sharing the details of that text here! (there were about 60 texts back & forth...and I was crying I was laughing so hard).

So THEN I knew I needed a new ringtone of course (old ones don't transfer) so I got on the website again and saw that they were 2.49 a piece now!  That's just silly to me - so I searched for free ringtones, found a site where I could make my own, tried it out, and it was SUPER easy except for the fact that the songs have to be in mp3 format and mine were in WAV.  SO, I searched again for a program to convert from WAV to MP3, and I found a few that were free.  THAT was super easy, too, so now I have lots of great ringtones for my phone!  I am seriously excited about this.  I wish I had more people calling me so I could have more ringtones...LOL.  So, if anyone wants me to make them a few ringtones and get them texted to your phone, let me know!  :-)

K, I know this is really long, so I'll stop now and hope that I can get back into posting more often so they aren't so long...and no pictures, sorry...will try to download some soon, of course.  Have a great week!  us

I have to brag

I just have to - it's my blog, and what better way to brag about our kids than on our blog, right?

We were playing a Kangaroo game this morning that I won - it's called Can Do Roo. There is a stuffed kangaroo with a pouch which contains letters, shapes, numbers, colors, and some extra tokens for the actual game.

She loves to pull them out & name them all. Seriously, she can name them all! She knows rectangle, oval, circle, square, triangle, all the colors, and all the letters. She is amazing. But today, she really floored me. She saw this token:

and I usually just go right by these tokens because they are for the actual game, which I don't think she would understand yet. But today, she looked at it. Now out of all the stuff on this token, what word do you think she said? Red? Kangaroo? No, OCTAGON. She said octagon! Seriously, it floored me. There was a little tidbit yesterday between 2 shows that was talking about finding octagons, and she learned from it, and told me where the octagon was. So cute!

Also, I went to the grocery store on Friday. They had goldfish crackers on sale. I haven't bought them for awhile, so I told her yesterday that I had bought them. She looked at me very earnestly and said " Now THAT's my favorite!" - cracked me up! Mike was on a walk - I had to call and tell him. She also said I don't know for the 1st time today. She also said she was "super ready" this week when I asked her if she was ready to go - which made us laugh, too!

I did get to go to Penney's yesterday morning. It's so nice to be out in the morning when there is barely anyone else on the road, and it's nice and cool but sunny out. Love it! So, I got some new shampoos - can't wait to try them. I get excited by new things, sorry! :-)

Yesterday afternoon we went to the IVF picnic - it was very nice. Olivia was playing with the fishing nets and picking up ducks in the little baby pool they had.

It entertained her for quite awhile! It was so cute. We had a good lunch and got to see the Drs. that helped us "make" our angel - it was just nice! She also got to go in a bounce house for the first time!

 

There were lots of people there, and obviously lots of kids - twins and triplets galore! One interesting thing they said was that the Dr. that started the clinic has been here for 10 years and that there are rarely, if ever, clinics started in cities less than 500,000 people. So, we are SO lucky that Dr. Foulk started this clinic here! He has blessed so many people's lives, it's amazing. They don't get to see the 'product' of their work a lot - the babies - because obviously they are the 1st part of the equation. So, I think they love this picnic so they can see all of the people that they help.

She was sick this week...it was a rough week. She was cranky and whiny all week because she had a fever all week, and it just wouldn't break, so we took her to the dr. on Friday. She also just wasn't moving her head side to side much, like she had a stiff neck. The dr. said she has swollen glands and a sore throat, and gave her amoxicillin - her 1st antibiotic ever. She is feeling SO much better! She was looking so pale, and, well, sickly, that I was just so worried! But, really, we are just so happy that she is feeling better. She finally slept through the night last night for the 1st time in a week - which means Mike and I did, too! It was nice.

She hasn't been getting out of her crib anymore, thank goodness! Oh, but I did forget to write last week about the seed she stuck up her nose at my parent's house - they almost took her to the emergency room because they couldn't get it out! They tried everything - tweezers, and having her blow, but she kept sucking it back up after...they were worried it was going to get in her sinuses or worse, so they were about to get her to the ER when finally dad held one nostril closed & had her blow out the other - and it worked! They weren't going to tell us, but did. It'll be something to remember for later...and it scared her so I don't think she will be doing it again! A good lesson?

Other than that, not much else going on - we are going to the Hyde Park Fair today; it'll be fun and it's cool out today, too, so that will make it more enjoyable!

Have a great week!

Us

Hi!

My review of The Suburban Outlaw is posted, please read it? Book Review

My giveaway of a temple touch thermometer is posted, please enter? Temple Touch Thermometer giveaway

I have been busy posting reviews and contests on my other blog, so I neglected this one for the week. I really have been getting caught up, though - it helped that I had 2 three day weekends in a row! Got some stuff at home organized, vacuumed the whole house, including baseboards, went through some drawers, got rid of a lot of crap, just lots of stuff that needs to be done!

Macy's had an awesome sale this weekend on bras and underwear, and since 2 of the underwires broke in my bras last week, I really needed some new ones! Abby gave me a Macy's gift card earlier this year, and I have been saving it - so, it was time to go shopping for free! The best way to shop...so they were having a Buy 2, get 2 free bra sale, and a buy 3, get 3 free underwear sale! Plus I found a couple other things...so I spend all but $3 of the gift card on 5 bras and 7 pairs of underwear - not exciting to some of you, but seriously exciting to me - is that sad? I was thrilled - thank you Abby!!!!!!!!

Olivia is being a bit more of a stinker. She is testing her boundaries a little more now & drives us crazy more, too! :-) She's almost 2 1/2, so it's to be expected, but man, it is seriously annoying sometimes. I keep telling myself that this time will pass quickly - I need to enjoy this age and stage before she grows up so fast...

She has been saying 'oh my goodness' - which at least tells me that is what I am saying instead of oh my god or a curse word! Ok, I still curse, but I am working on it...Can't really think of anything new with her - will post if I think of anything!

Oh, I just read that Patrick Swayze died - I loved Dirty Dancing. My friend Laurel and I went to see it in a PACKED theater - we couldn't even sit together until someone was nice enough to move! I have seen it more times than I can count - I loved that movie. He was a good actor, RIP. (I heard about it on twitter, by the way - love my twitter!)

I have been winning stuff! A scooter, a playdoh spaghetti maker, a disney prize pack, 4 pairs of Crocs for Olivia (!), Marshall's gift card, Famous Footwear gift card, free food coupons, and more. I love my lucrative hobby! :-)

Going to the IVF picnic this weekend - should be fun. Also, Penney's has their shampoo & conditioner on sale this Sat. morning 9-1 for 50% off - + a $10 coupon. I have TRIED cheap shampoo - I CANNOT find one I like. They make my color go away faster and my hair is just limp...I am not going to pay $110 more than every 8 weeks to get my hair done - I am going to spend a little more on salon shampoo...I am frugal, not cheap, and being frugal sometimes means spending more on one thing to save on another...so I will be there with bells on!

Speaking of being frugal - I did really good at Rite Aid & Albertson's this weekend. I spent 8.81 at Rite Aid, saved about $40, and saved more than I spent at Albertson's - which is always my goal.

K, please go enter my giveaway, please? thanks - and have a great week!

A great weekend!

I got off work early on Friday, and we just hung out. Saturday morning we got up & got Olivia ready to go to mom & dad's for the night and next day. I took Olivia & picked up mom to go to the consignment shop to get Olivia's new fall & winter wardrobe. As soon as we pulled up, I saw a tricycle out front (we have been looking at them on craigslist) and since it was only 6.95, I knew I had to have it! Then we also needed a booster seat for the kitchen table. So, I found that for 4.95. yay!

Then we hit the clothes rack. It was all cute, seriously. We just started pulling stuff out, then narrowed down, and got her some really really cute stuff! She is pretty set - she has pj's and jeans and cords and overalls and dresses and leggings and tights - all soooo cute.

Mom took us to McDonald's for a snack - Olivia loves her fries. Then we had to stop at Albertson's, then back to the consignment store for a potty chair - it was 2.95 :-) - and Olivia used it while spending the weekend with grandma & grandpa! Yay! (She also peed twice on it here today, and pooped once - she is doing really great with it) Anyway, she played and played at grandma and grandpa's - she picked tomatoes and strawberries and got in her pool and went to the park and rode her tricycle - a full weekend.

Mike and I decided at 7:30 on Sat. night that we were going to go out - we drove downtown & stopped at the Falcon Tavern for wine and appetizers. We left there at 10 - it was such a wonderful night out - low 70's - just absolutely PERFECT. Came home & started watching He's Just not that into you, which I haven't seen yet, and then I started falling asleep (a little too much wine...) and didn't want to miss the movie, so we stopped it at 11:30 or so & I was OUT.

Sunday we cleaned the house and I did some computer stuff (I am completely caught up on my contests, yay! Now I have to write those reviews...) and I watched a project runway and a top chef. A nice day, and we accomplished a lot - I got her entire room cleaned out. I got all of her too-small clothes out and cleaned out her closet, everything. It felt so good! Got all the laundry done, too, so I felt really good. Went over there around 6 & had yummy pasta...then we played a new game called Farkel - SOOO much fun! Mom won, it was really super fun. Can't wait to play again!

Last night she was pretty cranky when we got home - she had had a long day. She woke up at 4 this morning thirsty for her bottle, but luckily went right back to sleep. She has a little rash on her chest - it's not spreading, so we have been putting diaper rash cream on it - it helps, and she went back to sleep because she was no longer thirsty or itchy!

Meant to get to the park today because the high was only 72 or so - but cleaned instead. Folded & hung laundry, cleaned the laundry room, organized coupons, cleaned stuff up, including the kitchen...anyway, the house looks much better. Still need to vacuum upstairs, but really, we got a lot done - and Mike has been working on getting outside cleaned up. He has big plans for the yard - more on that another time. He also took the driver's side seat out of my car because it won't go up & back - it is a little tiny gear & we are having a horrible time trying to find it - they want us to buy the whole motor for $550! And there is no Infiniti dealer here, so that makes it more difficult.

It feels so good to be relatively caught up (I even put pictures in frames, wow) - I am not so stressed. There is always more to do, but I really busted my ass this weekend getting lots done, and it really does feel good.

Olivia likes to have Mike roll the window up & down in the back while she is riding...she says open please, then 'it's bugging me' then close please - a lot. We don't do it for her on the interstate, though, so she said 'that's enough' - it was so funny! She says super funny things now - she cracks us up every single day.

To tattoo or not to tattoo - that is the question. I think I am going to - it's little and will be pretty hidden on my hip...just have to get the courage to do it - and I don't know where to get referrals for that kind of thing...

So when I write more often, I write about more little things - is that ok? Like I said, just trying to keep more of an actual journal. I took a couple of pics of her on her new tricycle - she is just so darn cute.

Ok, that's enough for now - I work the next 3 days, then I am off 3 days, so it's going to be a good one for me! See ya!

Oh! I almost forgot the ?funniest? thing! She got out of her crib this morning! She has never done that before - not too happy about it actually...don't want her wandering around in the middle of the night...so we are going to put a dog gate up at her door...we think it's safest. What do parent's do when they put their kids to bed in a big girl bed & retire the crib? I'm just not ready for that yet (LOL) and didn't think she could get out of her crib! Help!