It happened AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!

Ugh. You all may recall this past summer where I got locked out of the van....while it was RUNNING & I was on my way to pick Lexi up. Well today, it happened AGAIN!!

I was on my way to town to go to Walgreen's (yep 2nd trip this week & have to go back one more time, more on that later! hehehe) and had to stop at the bank, post office, & gas station here in Courtland. Do the post office first, then bank, & then all I needed to do at the gas station was grab their bag of newspapers out of the recycle bin. Sometimes I hit it lucky w/ coupon inserts there! So I leave the van running, go grab the bag of papers, back to the van & try to open the side door to stick the papers in there. As SOON as I grabbed the handle, the doors LOCKED on me. I saw them lock in front of my eyes & thought oh shit!! Purse w/ phone is in there. Phil is at home w/ Z & Z and the other van key. So I set the papers down & go into the station & ask to use the phone.

Phil came & unlocked the door & gave me the extra key to keep on me! I think I need to get another one made & hide it on the van somewhere....like I did when I was 16 & first got my license!! Either that or I need to downgrade to a vehicle that does NOT have power locks!!!

I *think* I figured it out though & how it happened. The van was running & so it thought there was someone in it.....I try to open the door & so it quick locks as a SECURITY function. My guess anyhow. Maybe I should read the manual??

Ok, so I was then able to go to Walgreen's today.

I picked up some more FREE Deodarant. Six bottles in all I think. Got home to go through all the newspapers & now get to go back for 18 more FREE sticks, bottles, whatever you want to call them. I donated some to this thing Nick & Lexi's school is doing. They are making gift bags for MLC college kids for Lutheran Schools week. Tonight we got a couple bags together of shampoo, deodarant, kleenex, razors, toothpaste, and hairspray. I'm also going back to Kmart to get more gum. I'm getting $20 worth for $5 and gum was another thing on the list so they'll get a bunch of that. I hope they'll be happy with our donation!! Oh & cups of soup. I have some of the Soup At Hand that I can put in the bags as well.

I got some Sunsilk today for free. They had bottles on clearance & the deal was spend $15 get $5 back. I spent 15 or 16, had 12 or something in coupons & got back the $5. I know in the end, it was all free & I made a buck something extra.

Glade candles on sale for $6, MIR of $2, coupon for $3, so a buck. I found out you can get up to 4. Bummer I only found 1 more coupon from previous weeks.

Scott TP was on sale 2/$5 (4 roll packs). Printable coupon for $2/off so .50 for 4 rolls. Pretty good for GOOD TP. We all know how Phil can't stand the cheap crap!!

I think those were the major highlights.

Picture & Game Night - Wrestling

Tonight is picture night at Wrestling & also fun/games. Parents are invited to join in the fun.....meaning wrestling with your kid.

Phil is on afternoons this week so I guess Nick will be trying to take me down tonight!! I'm looking forward to the work out!!!

He changed into his singlet right after school so I guess he's looking forward to tonight!!

Crock Pot Liners...

So I got these for free & tried one today. Wow! They work pretty slick!! Granted I only had baked apples in the crock pot but no mess to clean up whatsoever!

I made the kids Glazed Cinammon Apples with ice cream today for their after school snack. That went over well!

Nick said gross & ended up with plain ice cream.

Zander ate the ice cream, left the apples.

Lexi ate all hers but not the leftover melted ice cream/sauce that was left.

I LOVED it!! LOL There is just a little bit left over for Phil ;-)

Spring Pictures!

The school now takes pictures in Jan as well as at the beginning of the school year. I guess another way to make more money, huh?! What is nice though with this is that you can see the picture first & then order if you like it. Course the prices are higher than the ones we took in the beginning of the year. So we just ordered one 8x10 for $12.00 for Lexi. Nick...well take a look at his pic & you'll see why we didn't order any of his!!

What did you buy today?!?

Ok, I know some could care less, but others like to hear what I'm getting good deals on so they can cash in on them too!

Hit a bunch of stores today. Cashwise (just to check out their coupon bin!!), K-mart, Walgreens, & HyVee.

HyVee was first. Cashwise sends out coupons for weekly savings & Hy-Vee is awesome in that they will take Cashwise coupons. And just this week I learned (thanks to Tammi!) that HyVee will take the Cashwise coupons for the Cashwise products. Food Club or whatever. You just have to buy the HyVee brand. I never knew that so would just throw those away! Now I wonder if they will honor the free item that Cashwise does if you spend $25. I'll have to ask next time I'm there. So anyhow, today I picked up some sliced cheese & Reynolds Slow Cooker Liners. BC (Before Coupons) = 3.74. AC, 1.24 & I have a rebate for the liners, which I will get back 2.24. So I get cheese, liners, & a buck.

K-mart. They had pop on sale 4/$10. There is a MIR (mail in rebate) for $5.00 in coupons. You get two 2.50 coupons. So it's like 4 12 packs for 5.00 after rebate. Found some Malted Milk Balls on clearance for .19 each. Took all left, 4 of them. I LOVE Malted Milk Balls, but decided they will be for the kids for Easter. They are in Mickey Mouse boxes or something. Orbit gum on sale 3/$4 (3 packs). Had $1 coupons, so in the end I paid 1.98 for 18 packs of gum. Come home to Phil who says "I don't like Orbit" Ok, well then I guess they aren't for you! Nestle Treasure's candy bars on sale for 1.00, had mfg coupon for .75, so .25 each. Only had 2 coupons on me. (These are BIG candy bars) Have never had these before, so no idea if they are good or not.

Had to get a raincheck at K-mart for the Snyder's Pretzels. Phil loves these things & they are on sale this week for $2/bag. Have a .75 coupon to bring the price to 1.25. Had 10 coupons so got the raincheck for 10 bags. Bummer is the coupon expires on the 28th, so I hope they get them in this week. Wonder if they will take the expired coupon on something they didn't have in stock like they should?? After all it was the first day of the sale!
Walgreens. WOW. It's gonna be a great month I think!! My head is spinning with all the coupons, free after rebate items, etc...!!

More Easter Candy. M & M's on sale. 2/$4 after WAG coupon. Also had Mfg coupons of .75 each so 1.25/bag. Bought two, gave rest of my coupons to Tammi. (we are so overloaded in candy....and I wonder why I've put on 5 pounds!). Hershey's Sticks on sale 2/$3, had .75 mfg coupon, so .75/each. Have never had these before either. I opened the mint chocolate box tonight & had one (only 60 calories per stick, per the box! LOL) mmmmm very good! Phil opened something else, not sure what he had. Bought 4 of those.

Glade Candle on sale for $6, there is a $2 MIR this month & I had a $3 mfg coupon. So $1 for this.

Soft & Dry on sale for $1.00, mfg coupon of $1. FREE! I had 4 coupons with me. I know I have more so will go back this week & pick up the rest. (The things I will NEVER pay for again:
~~Deodarant
~~Shampoo
~~Toothpaste
~~Toothbrushes
~~Hair gel/moose/hairspray
~~Mouthwash
~~Dental Floss

And there are tons of things I won't buy unless it's VERY close to free, like toilet paper, kleenex, paper towels, candles, air fresheners and tons more stuff!

My stockpile is growing so I will never run out of these items & have to pay *regular* price for them, which is what you want to do when you are a couponer. LOL

BreathRX tongue cleaner thing is FAR this month, had $2 coupon so will make 2.20 profit on that.
Hair Color for Men on sale for $7, had $2 coupon, MIR for $8, so profit of $3 or $2 depending if they give me the 7 or 8.

BreathRx mints on sale for 14.99, coupon for $5 MIR for 19.99. Not sure how they'll do this one, but I'll either get 14.99 back or 19.99 so will make a profit of 5 or $10 and FREE MINTS! (Still have a bunch from last time!)

Garnier styling products is FAR this month, had $1. coupon so 1.10 profit on that.

NEstle Eggs on sale 4/$10, less 1 mfg coupon & there is a $5 MIR this month, so $4 for 4 bags of MORE EASTER CANDY!

Now to get all my rebates & stuff DONE!

There's a WINNER every time!

So I haven't been very good at updating my blog lately. I always have stuff to post but never get to it!! Let's have a little catch up & maybe I'll get some pictures posted soon. Problem with the pictures is that I upload them on my desktop & most of the time I'm sitting here on my laptop upstairs!!

Highlights from the week.........

~~Lexi had her 100th day of school party.
~~Nick fell in a puddle of water at school & so he had to change into what he called *nerdy* pants (red sweatpants) and had to wear them the last hour of school.
~~Zander has been testing my limits EVERY single day. He is on/off with his naps. Today he took a later one so we woke him up & boy is that ever a mistake to wake that kid up. We heard a lot of "don't look at me" "Be quiet" "Stop talking" And his sleeping habits have turned sour. He's getting up earlier than usual & it sucks.
~~Zachy is at just the cutest, sweetest, fun age. He is just a little honey. He has turned into the best sleeper. He isn't talking much yet (surprise surprise, all our boys are/will be late talkers I guess). He will say dadadada & done. That's about it.

I didn't post about it, but a couple of weeks ago, Lexi's classmate's father died. I'm not sure of the cause of death, but he was 76. Yes, 76 with a 5 yr old. And he had two other younger kids at home. He was their father, and not stepfather either. I'm guessing his wife has to be at least 30 years younger. I'm not sure, I don't know the family. So the K-4 classes sang at the funeral.

And now today we read in the paper that Nick's classmate's father died yesterday. I found out that it was a suicide. He was 46. Worked at Kraft. Phil knows him & will go to the funeral on Tuesday. Also, his ex-wife used to work for Phil at the Super 8. So sad.

We now have an OLD man living in the house!!! On Thursday, Phil turned the ripe old age of 40!!!! We had a yummy Dairy Queen ice cream cake on Thursday & then last night went out for supper. We went to Mankato & Ashley joined us. Phil picked Old Country Buffet. Food wasn't as good as the last time we went, but I still managed to overeat. Hmmmm wonder why I put on 5 pounds. Augh. Come on Spring... I need it to be nice out so I can get back to walking again.

I'm still having fun with couponing & saving us money. I averaged it out & I've gotten back about $75/mo in rebates since I started in Oct. I'm still learning as I go. I hit a good deal at Target yesterday on Pop Tarts. They had 5 boxes on an endcap clearanced to .54/box!!! I was thrilled with that price and posted it on the message board I belong to. Of course someone had to point out that Target had a printable coupon for $1/2..so I could of gotten them for .04/box!!! I *think* I do good and then...BAM. Now I can see how these people get by with $200/mo grocery budget for their families of 6!!!

The coupon board is fun. I won AGAIN! It will be another potluck of coupons & a little surprise I guess. The question was how many box tops for education have I collected since Jan. I asked Lexi to make a guess....she said 30. So I answered that & we won!!

Just a little while ago I got notice that I won ANOTHER contest! This lady asked what her favorite candy was. So I guessed Milky Way (cause that's mine! LOL) and after a ton of guesses by people she gave a hint & said it started with a C. SO I guessed Charleston Chew & won!! So fun to get the coupons in the mail to see what other areas of the country get. Much better than we get around here, that's for sure!!

Well it looks like it will be another great month of free/cheap stuff at Walgreens so I'm off to get my list ready for tomorrow. Granted I can get out. Might be snowed in!!!

Snow Angels!

Yep, snow angels were made....IN THE HOUSE!

The boys had a hayday with this stuff yesterday. Mom enjoyed the clean up too. Oh well, whatever keeps them busy for awhile, right!??!

Lego's!

Lexi was so proud of what she made with Lego's today. She took this picture herself (that's why it's a little blurry!) & then asked me to post it.

CONGRATS Ashley & Tyler!!!!

Big news over the weekend! Ashley got engaged!!! Her fiance is Tyler Schafer. He's in the army right now, getting out in June. He then plans on joining Ashley at Minnesota State in Mankato for college. Planning on going into Law Enforcement. Tyler is from Marshall, MN. (everyone wants to know how they met.....Ashley's cousin Alex is in the Army. Alex has a roommate...Tyler. I believe Alex is the one who first introduced them & so Ashley & Tyler started talking over the internet & then met in Oct in Mankato while he was home on Leave........and according to Ash, it was Love at First Sight :-)

I think she was smart in getting engaged FIRST, and THEN introducing him to the family! He's stuck with us now!! heheheh

I was able to meet him tonight. I have previously talked to him on the phone & over the internet so we kind of knew each other I guess. I know how happy he makes Ashley & wish them both the best. Can't wait for the open bar wedding!!! (That's all that is planned at the moment according to the couple ;-) Oh, & it will be in Minnesota!!

Tyler wasn't able to meet Phil tonight since he had to go to work early & the kids were all in bed when they got here. Zander wanted to see Ashley though. I told him she was coming & he didn't want to go to bed until he got to see her! We'll maybe have to make a trip over to Mankato soon so he can see her again ;-)

THE RING!!!

Best picture I got. I've never seen a ring like this & I really like it!! Maybe it's time to add on to mine or something.....our 15 yr is in 2008....so remember that Phil ;-) I'm ready for more diamonds!

Champion!

Nick took 1st place today at the St Peter Wrestling Tournament!! He has really improved since the beginning of the season. He was bummed he didn't get a trophey, instead 1st place winners got medals. The little kgarten kids got tropheys & those things were BIG so Nick was a little disappointed by that. But then all I heard about was the baseball cards. I guess Phil made a deal with him that if he got 1st place, he'd buy him some baseball cards. I don't think Phil thought he was gonna get 1st!! So a trip to Target is in store this week for Nick I guess!

Cutie Pie Girl....

She managed a smile at the wrestling meet today. Poor thing, I'm sure it was so boring for her!! If you have never been to one, you do a LOT of sitting around & waiting!

Oh Gross!!!!

I told Lexi that Ashley is stopping over tomorrow with her boyfriend. Lexi said....no, not her boyfriend. I said, why? She says.....oh YUCK!!!

Guess we don't have to worry about her for awhile huh!?!?

And then Nick says "can I jump on him?" I was like huh? He said, well like I did to Rachel's boyfriend. Ya sure, make a good impression, jump all over the guy, show him what our family is really like!!

Sleep Over!

Nick is having his first friend from school spend the night. He came home on the bus with him and then they did a little sledding. Then we all went out to Happy Joe's for pizza & fun! Now they are playing playstation.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

MMMM Frosting!

I made a heart shaped cake today & had Zander & Zachary *help* frost it.

Well let's say I let them lick the spoons & bowl out! Zachary has NEVER done this before. He LOVED it. Some dripped on the throw carpet and what did this little guy do? He lays down on the floor & starts LICKING the carpet!! It was so funny! I had to stop him...and then he starts spitting something out. Must of got a crumb or something gross in his mouth!!

Phil brought the kids balloons home & Zachy walked around with his for an hour! He loved it ;-)

My Grocery Savings!!

Well I had a fun day at the grocery store today! So here is what I got today at Cashwise.

I saved 70%!!!!

Here is what I got:

Bread 1.18 Free w/ in store coupon

Gold n Plump Chicken 6.88
Gold n Plump EZ Bake Chicken 4.78 x 4 = 19.12
Total chicken = $26, spend $25, get $10 off & had 4.75 in mfg coupons

Bananas 1.17 (only thing I bought w/o having a coupon!)

Potatoes 1.98 Free w/ $25 purchase (gave to lady next to me bagging as I did w/ the other free bag I got the other day. I'm the only one that eats potatoes & already have a 5 lb bag)

Totino's Party Pizza 14 x 1.00 = 14.00
Pillsbury Biscuits 1.11 x 8 = 8.88 (unfortunately I lost one can!! Either left at the store?? Fell out in the garage?? I can't find the darn thing anywhere!!) Mfg coupons of .30 x 7 = $2.10
Yoplait Smoothies 18 x 1.00 = 18.00 Coupons of $1./2 =all were FREE

Store coupon of buy 10 of the above items, get $5 off. So I had 40 items & used 4 coupons to save $20.

Total of 48 items & before coupons = $71.21 After coupons......

$21.45!!!!!!!!!!
Grand total of $49.76 saved!! WHOOO HOOOO!!!

(They were out of the pizza rolls that I was gonna end up getting 10 for .06!!! I'll be going back next week as it's a 2 week sale)


The BEST part was while I was bagging, the gal who was in line behind me comes up to me (I knew her) & asked where I got all those coupons from. I said the internet, the store, & newspapers! And then she said, I spent TWICE as much as you & look, I can fit ALL of mine in ONE bag! I had 4 or 6 bags I think! LOL

Oh, I WISH I could get more of those Yoplait coupons, I knew the kids would love those stupid things! Six are gone already today. Nick had 3...says they are soooo good. It's just drinkable yougart!!! It's all in the packaging, isn't it?!!? Oh well, they didn't ask for their usual ice cream snack tonight!!! heheheh

If I could keep doing this, maybe I will get our grocery bill cut in half! I was told on the one message board that I should be able to get by with spending $200/month on food for our family of 6. And here I thought I was doing good on $400/month!!

Hmmmm, wierd phone call....

I do my normal grocery shopping at HyVee, mainly because it's closer to me & smaller store & I know where everything is. Well since I've been couponing & reading ads more, I saw some good deals at Cashwise this week.

So I headed out there & was going to do their chicken deal. Buy $25 worth of Gold N Plump & get $10 off your order. I also had some coupons for a certain kind. I was looking all over & finally asked the meat guy where I could find the ones that matched my coupon. He said they didn't carry it cause they had low sales on it. He did say that they would be getting that kind in on Friday. Ok, so I had some other coupons to use & did get $25 worth of chicken.

I just got a phone call from the meat guy at Cashwise. He told me the chicken would be in on Friday. HUH? How the heck did he even KNOW who I was & get my phone number?? I was thinking maybe my Uncle Al saw me or something since he works there, but I didn't see him at all that day. Hmmmmm Linda?? Do you know?? It was so wierd!

Anyhow, I'm planning on going back because of some super awesome deals that I'm gonna get. So I may as well stock up on the chicken. I'll end up with $25 worth for about $10 after coupons. Right now I've got a chicken in the oven for lunch ;-)

I'll post my deals later.

Coupon Alert/Baby one

Something I just found out that I wish I would have known, oh say 8 years ago!

Huggies puts out coupons for their products right? Well I don't usually buy Huggies diapers, but do buy their wipes. I am on their mailing list so get coupons in the mail (if you aren't on their list, go to their website & sign up...JEAN! LOL).

Anyhow, so Huggies puts out different coupons, some for diapers, some for wipes, some for bath & body products. Well usually the good ones are the bath & body product ones but how much lotion can one use?!? So today I just find out that WIPES are considered a bath & body product! So I had a coupon that said Buy 2 Huggies Bath & Body Products, get $2.50 off. So at Target today I picked up two things of wipes priced at 2.39/each. I give my 2.50 coupon & it scans just fine! So I basically got 1 wipe for free! I cringe at the thought of all those coupons I threw out & all the wipes I've purchased the past 8 years!!

Well hopefully this post will help some other mom out there! I'll still be buying wipes for awhile yet so glad I do know now!!

Too Much Money?!?!?

Here's a little background for some of my readers. My mom & dad winter in AZ, we live in MN. Dad called yesterday & asked if I could stop at their house & look for an insurance card. He had no idea where it was, but gave me a couple of places to look. I said I would try. I HATE digging around in their stuff. And now after what I found today....I don't want to look again, who knows what ELSE I may find!!

I got to this one drawer & guess what I found.

A REBATE check. It was from Menard's. It was for $6.00. And then I look at it some more.........it is DATED 1999!!!!!!!!!!!

WHAT?!?!?!?!?!? I called them & gave them a hard time about it & then mom says "oh, that must be dad's" I said, whatever, I think it means you guys have too much money that you don't need to cash this check! And who cares if it's dads?? All those checks made out to Phil Fischer...you can bet they get cashed by me!!! heheheh

The kicker was......there was really no other papers in that drawer. It wasn't buried, it was just sitting right there!!

Why oh why would you keep a check in your drawer for 8 years?!?!? I guess maybe if you have too much money then I could see it happening!!

(you KNEW I'd blog about this one, didn't you mom?!?!)

I'm a WINNER!!

Whooo Hoooo!! I just won on this coupon board I belong to. Someone was giving away 100 coupons to whoever could guess what they had for supper. I guessed steak & got it right!!!

Silly prize I know, but it's more the idea that I WON!! And guessed it right!!

Up All Night, Sleep All Day

That was the title of a rock song I used to listen, back in the day. It had a much different meaning then as it does now, that's for sure!!

So last night I was pretty much UP ALL NIGHT. Here's the story.

Friday I mentioned Nick had that cough. Well it continued ALL day Saturday (yesterday). It was terrible, he was just coughing & coughing. So bedtime comes & it's about 9:00. Of course he is still coughing. We had given him different stuff but obviously nothing was working. Another hour passes. We move him from bed to the couch so he is at least sitting up. It's now 11 pm & the cough is much worse, and I can tell it is hard for him to even breathe. I called the ER to see what we should do. At this point, I was thinking it's a bad cough, there won't be anything they can do, but maybe offer some suggestions. They suggested steam in the room or the mist from a shower or even go outside. So I do the mist purifier & then Nick & I even sat in the garage for a little while. It just got too cold for that so we didn't last all that long. So this continues for while, I try to go to sleep but not happening when all I hear is him coughing. He doesn't go longer than about 3 or 4 minutes without coughing. He is back on the basement couch. Then just before 2:00 am he comes into my room & lays by me, struggling to breath it sounds like & in tears. So I go up to his room with him & decide it's time to head to the Emergency Room. We had been dealing with the constant coughing for at least 5 hours straight & no one was getting any sleep. So it's just after 2:00 am that we get to the hospital. And of course after being there for awhile he doesn't cough. Well, now I know it's because we had just been outside for 15 mins in the van so he was breathing in that cold air which helped. They check him out & then hear him cough & said it's croup. Well it progressed to that. At 9:00, it was just a regular sounding cough, but by midnight I think is when the seal barking started. They listened to his lungs & they sounded PERFECT the doctor said. That was good news. So the first thing they do was a nebulizer treatment type thing but it had some other meds in it to help open his airways. He went from 97% to 100% after that so that was good. Then they decided to give him steriods. He opted for it orally instead of a shot ;-)

He was warned it was nasty stuff & he verified that it was! So that was about 3:00 he got that. I asked him if he'd ever been up until 3:00 AM. He smiled, no.

So they want to continue to monitor him to see if the coughing lets up. It doesn't. She comes back about 3:30 & said something I said, well it's been about 5 mins since he coughed (I thought that was pretty good, at least it seemed like it!) & she said "well actually 7 mins, I've been timing it" They still don't want to release him because they feared he could have real trouble breathing. So they monitored some more. Then about 4:00 they came in and did another neb type thing. He continued to cough, but was sort of falling asleep at this point. The doctor came back about 4:30 & watched him cough & then said they would try some cough syrup w/ codiene in it. He said "he just doesn't stop coughing, does he?" Nope, this is how it's been since at least 9:00 when I started monitoring it more. Then he also asked how far away we were from the hospital. I said 15 mins, which he didn't like. I said my folks live just a block away & I guess we could go there if I could figure out how to get the heat turned on. The doctor looked at me....I said, well they are in AZ for the winter! Oh!

So he said he'd feel more comfortable letting us go if we were closer to the hospital in case he had the loud breathing. Talk about a scare. Only letting you go if you are near enough to get back there in a hurry if you had to! So I said, well let me run over there to get the furnace going (since he still had a couple of things to do with Nick yet). So I head over there about 4:30 & turn the heat on. It was a balmy 45 degrees in the house!!

So I go back & get Nick & they have us set up a follow up appointment for Monday with our doctor. So it's nearing 5:00 am & I'm like, oh, I guess that appointment is tomorrow, huh, it's Sunday already! 5 am & neither Nick nor I have gotten any sleep yet.

So we get back to the house & it's now warmed up to a nice 50 degrees!!! So we go to the bedroom & see there is nothing for blankets in there! Hunt around the house for some blankets & get Nick tucked in. He is STILL coughing.....every 5 minutes. I'm hoping once he can fall asleep it will be better. I get into bed & then about 10 mins later realize that I could of put my van in their garage. It's 5 below zero at this point. So I head back outside & move my van into the garage. Come back to check the heat & it's like 51 in the house now. Whoo hoo!! Warming up. Actually I thought, well maybe this cold will help Nick breathe better.

So we lay in bed & he's still coughing. At about 6:30 I hear the furnace stop running. What the hell?? So I check & it didn't warm up at all in the house, still 50 something. So at 7:00 I called my dad in Arizona to see what I needed to do to get some HEAT in the house. So I fiddled around a bit more with it. Nick was still coughing until about 9:30. I think that is when we both finally fell asleep. I woke up then at 11:00 & it still felt cold in the house. So I check it & it still wasn't working right. I tried again & finally got it working to stay running until it warmed up to 70. I then called Phil at 11 to tell him that Nick was sleeping & we'd just stay there until he woke up or whatever. It was much quieter there than coming home! Nick woke up about 2:00 & was then ready to go home.

At this point he had stopped the constant coughing & I could tell he was MUCH better. So we head home around 3:00, just over 12 hours later from when we left. Very long night.

We have a follow up appointment at 10 Monday with the doctor. We should get a good report, as I haven't heard much of the cough since we've been home. Very good news!

I think it will be an early night for both of us!!

What's New Here??

This is just gonna be a catch up post of things that have been going on here recently.

Where should we start? How about my fun evening!! Supper. I dread it when I have to do meal time alone with the kids. Phil is on afternoons this week (and next! He is switching shifts. He FINALLY got an upgrade at work. It's only 3 weeks of the year, but it's a start up the ladder! He is now the back-up for the *coach* position. I think that is what they call it. Anyhow, when she is on vacation or calls in or whatever, he will then be in charge. So he has training for the next 3 weeks for that. WTG Phil!!!!)

Ok, so I usually make something I know the kids will eat. I made spaghetti tonight. What fun THAT was. Served Zander his plate first...he pushes it away "I don't LIKE that" and he starts his fussying. Not gonna put up with that, so off he goes to his room. No supper for him. So Lexi took his plate & ate away. Then I get Nick's ready. Then myself & I share with Zach. We start to eat & then Nick complains that the noodles taste funny, he doesn't like it etc....There is NOTHING wrong with noodles. They taste fine. If anything, it was the sauce. I used the plain jane stuff cause otherwise I would have heard about the little *things* (mushrooms, onions, etc..) in it & gaaarroosss.

So he's crying about it & I said to eat at least half if he wanted a bedtime snack tonight. He then gets a little coughing spell & guess what?? He vomits on the floor in front of me...while I'm trying to eat. How pleasant. So off he goes to the bathroom & said he threw up 3 more times. So guess he's not eating anymore.

So after all that fun & the dishes are done, Nick takes a bath. Then when he's done I give Z & Z one & then Lexi finishes the night off with one. Lexi was complaining that she felt dizzy, her head hurt. Then she asks if it's bedtime yet & I said if you are tired, then go to bed. So I tuck her in about 7:45. I have a feeling she's getting the flu bug that Nick had. She has been coughing & it is going around. Nick said he had 5 kids out sick today...in a class of 17! There would have been 6 missing but one came to school later in the morning. So there is definately something going around. I can't wait until *I* get it.


Target shopping. Found a bunch of great clearance items there today. Got a heads up from a message board & FINALLY found some of the items they were talking about.


For Ebay I got an Evenflo Breastpump, reg price 109.99, on sale for 27.48 & it has a $10 MIR. Won't make a whole lot, but an extra $20 is an extra $20.

BeBe Sounds Fetal Monitor Reg 19.99, on sale for 4.98, can put in my store for 19.99 so again, not much but a little profit which all adds up.

And I was dumb & passed up a Baby Bjorn carrier. It was about $30 I think & just checking Ebay, I could make a little on that too. Maybe I'll stop back tomorrow & grab it if it's still there.

The following stuff was all 75% off.
I found 2 backpacks. They were 2.48.
A Razor Scooter/Tricycle thing for Zander's bday in March. 7.48
Baseball glove for Lexi & Zander (Easter presents!) 3.24/each
Baseball backpack for Nick (easter!) 4.98
Bikes! one for Nick & one for Lexi. Nick's was 24.98 & Lexi's was 17.48!! (Easter for Nick & since Lexi just got a new one for her bday, I thought we could leave this one at Grandma's. So I dropped them both off in their garage only to see that there already was a girl bike there. WTH? I don't remember that one! So not sure yet what we'll do, but for 17.48.....you know how I am when I find good deals!! Buy them even if we don't need it! LOL I told myself to STOP doing that! Oh well, I can always put it on the garage sale & get my money back or heck maybe even make a few bucks!)

Zander update. For the last month? two months? He was getting into a VERY bad habit of waking up at night & coming in our room. Since I can NOT sleep with him in my bed, we would either put him in the pack n play in the closet or after awhile carry him back to bed. Then about a week or so ago it was getting bad & he did not want to go in the pack n play or back to his bed. So I would put him on the couch. Well FINALLY just this week he has been staying in his bed ALL NIGHT. What happened? I don't know for sure. BUT, coincidently he started to skip his afternoon nap. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Yes, I think he's done napping. He's also been completely OBSESSED with watching our family videos!!! He will sit in my room for hours (YES I let him!!!) and watch when he was a baby or Lexi's tapes. He gets so mad when we tell him enough. This week I also took his blanket away during the day. He was getting so bad with draggin that stupid thing around the house & sucking his thumb. I had enough. He'd leave it somewhere & then when it was bedtime couldn't find it. So after he wakes up in the morning I've been hiding it from him. He will once ask for it & then I tell him he can have it at night. I asked him what he wants it for "suck thumb" he answers. Those two go hand in hand. If he has his blankie, the thumb goes in the mouth. So far hiding the blanket during the day has been working fine. Although today he asked for it in the afternoon & I sensed he was tired & so I gave it to him & he went to *watch his movie* (AKA Family video!). I checked on him later & he had fallen asleep. So today was his first time I think all week. I told him he can nap on the weekends.

Zachary. Wow. This kid can scream/whine/whimper! If he can't get it, he'll let you know! He screams & I always think he is hurt or something, but just find out that he can't get what he wants! Tonight he was SCREAMING by his toybox, I thought he was pinched or stuck or something. He just couldn't reach the toy at the bottom! Good grief!! And he will scream if Zander has a cup & he doesn't. Or if I give Zander juice & Zachary water....no no no!!

Wrestling. If you are from MN, you've probably heard of the recent herpes outbreak w/ wrestling. We were advised not to go to the meet tomorrow. So that just leaves 3 meets left. One in Jackson (no idea how far that is, so we may not go to that one, St Peter, & then Marshall (also kind of far to go). So he's only been to the 2 meets so far. He does enjoy the sport though & has improved since he started. Tonight I said he could stay up until Phil got home from work. Well everyone else was in bed by 8:30 & he was right here by me watching TV. It's 8:45 & I asked him something, no response. Check on him & he's SLEEPING! So I wake him & he says "where's daddy?" I said you didn't quite make it, head up to bed. He said well I could of but my eyes hurt. Ya ok, whatever. So they are all in bed before 9!! Friday's we usually let them stay up until 9. This is sure nice for me;-) I suppose they are making up for the rough meal time they give me!!!

ME - I've really been getting into the couponing. I almost had a connection for a bunch of coupon inserts from the Sunday paper but they live just too far away. So i told Phil that maybe I should look into delivering the Star Trib on Sunday's. He laughed. Doesn't think I could do it I guess. I joined this message board on couponing & oh my. My little stockpile I have here is NOTHING compared to some of those people! And what they spend?? Let's just say I'm hoping to cut my grocery bill by 50% a month. Some of them have stores that do double coupons so that is really huge, but even without that, they say it can be done. So we'll see. I do well w/ the non food stuff that's for sure. Just the grocery game isn't as easy around here. But I'm gonna try!! This one lady donates like $1000 worth of groceries a month to her local food bank. Unbelievable!

Hope everyone stays WARM this weekend!!!