Saturday Ramblings

Woo Hoo, time to ramble!!!!!

Haylee and her Daddy had a wonderful time at Broadway Palm Thursday night watching Cinderella. She told me "wasn't it so nice of Daddy to buy me this notebook?" since Daddy spoiled her and bought her a Cinderella notebook in the gift shop. She told me she also had "2 cherries and sprinkles on top of 1 ice cream with a bowl."

Thursday I took the girls to the Kids Club at the mall and we had so much fun!

Haylee has her Minnie backpack and Clorox wipes and is ready for Preschool (that's all she needs to bring). She continues to write her name over and over all day long and is doing so good. I'm very proud of my sweet little girl. Her attitude issues have gotten so much better. She loves her little sister and loves to play with her. She is such a big helper and an awesome big sister. Life with Haylee is good........at the moment!

Natalee continues to be a little dare devil. She jumps off things (little chair in the living room), climbs on everything and is always looking to get into something. She is a tough cookie and rarely cries when she bites the dust several times a day. Her hair is getting so long and so curly. I love my sweet little girls.

Josh came home early (4-5pm) 3 times this week and I was so happy. I did the happy dance. Seriously. The other nights when he comes home after 6pm he doesn't get a happy dance, just a worn out wife. This week seems to have gone by fast and I'm staying busy during the day so it hasn't been too bad.

I've done so good making dinner every night and Josh's lunch and I hope to continue this routine to save money. I've been on a role for about 2 weeks!!!

Last night we just stayed home. Saved $ and saved gas.

This morning I did my final trip to Fry's using competitor coupons. Until they start taking them again that is. They usually take a short break and start it back up with different rules. Oh well, I love Fry's and I'm sick at how much money I have given Walmart over the years. Blech. I went out with a bang using a SW IAC to get 4 boxes of cereal and 2 gallons of milk for $3.52. I also used 3 Target coupons and my $6 F & E. And I now have $8 in catalinas from buying a years supply of Crest :)

Tonight we took the girls to Fiesta Mall. I haven't been there in years and I was shocked at all the stores that have gone under, both in the mall and around it. They have a pretty fun play area but it might be another 10 years before we go back.

And tomorrow is Sunday.....not sure what we're gonna do but this will be the first weekend I have to find/buy my own inserts. Dustin switched positions at work and works Sunday evenings instead. He was my coupon provider. I'm bummed because I hear people constantly complaining that the papers in the store don't always have all the inserts. Oh well, life goes on.

Kids Club

Today I met up with my friend April and her 2 boys and we went to the Kids Club at the mall for the first time.

Although it was a bit of a zoo, we had so much fun. Neither one of the girls were too sure about the mascot Dewper.

Haylee hid behind me when he walked by so he wouldn't touch her and Natalee cried at first.

I do however believe that he might have been the reason Natalee actually sat in my lap the entire hour and behaved. She was keeping her eye on him! And let me just say that the 1 hour of non stop dancing and singing can really make a little kid tired. Natalee was out within 5 minutes of leaving the mall.

I was surprised at all the freebies and discounts the kids get on Kids Club days. Free carousel rides, Free Chick-fil-a kids meals (with combo), Free movies etc. We will definitely be going back next Thursday but after that we'll have to take a break because Haylee will be in school Thursday mornings. Wow that was weird to type. I can't believe little Haylee is starting preschool!

Sadly, there are few people from my past I still keep in touch with. I wish I was better about things like that but life is so busy sometimes. I enjoy getting together with April because me and her have always been so much alike and now it's fun to get our kids together to play.

Messy

I love taking pictures of Natalee eating spaghetti. I can't resist. She is doing so good with utensils.

She puts the food right up to her mouth and most of the time it makes it in (the other times it goes down the front of her).

I love the little faces she makes and I can't help but laugh at how messy she gets.

Even Jackson thought she was getting too messy and decided to start cleaning her up. She thought that was funny.

This is proof that my girls do get dirty sometimes.....but not often! Maybe that's why I document the few times they do.

15

Today, my sweet Baby N is 15 months! I thought I just brought her home from the hospital! She is still my little pork chop but now she is running around, getting into things, has tons of hair and a mouth full of teeth.

Oh and she talks often, usually words I don't understand yet. She says mama, dada, bubba, uh oh, juice and few others. She is our little nut! I do find myself saying "Natalee Ann!" all the time if that's any indication as to what a little trouble maker she is!

Also today marks just 15 days till Haylee starts preschool!

We were working on writing her name today, and I guess I should have taught her a long time ago because she did it like a pro.

(The 1st time she wrote her name all by herself)

Now she doesn't even look at my "guide" she just writes it out all by herself. I am so very proud of her! I guess I need to remember to never under estimate Haylee. She is one smart little girl.

(Ariel)

My Weekly Deals 7/18-7/24

My trip last Monday resulted in some overage from Reach floss and Gillette shaving cream. I paid $4.19 for the 40 items below which is a 95% savings.

Oh, and the awesome benefit of using coupons? I got a long receipt which had 2 of the advertising coupons on the back for a FREE 12" 1 Topping Pizza! Woo Hoo for FREE pizza.

I have been rocking Walmart left and right this week. That is very rare. I think I've only scored big at Walmart 1 other time. I price matched the Bic Soleil razors from Albie's and scored 9 packages (2 different trips) which resulted in $9 overage. I also stocked up on Herbal Essence shampoo, conditioner and stylers because they were FREE at Walmart after coupons and price matching from Albie's. Here I thought paying .49 for the Herbal Essence last week was a good deal! And lastly, I stocked up on Advil that was FREE plus overage after coupons. This has just been a week of stockpiling for sure! With my overage I bought Haylee a poster frame for her Tangled poster, eggs and cinnamon apple straws, yummy!

Yesterdays trip to Fry's was a complete success. I love being able to get everything I go after and having a nice, easy trip! I finally got the rest of my FREE M&M's (definitely a necessity), FREE 3 Musketeers, FREE Huggies wipes (with my raincheck), FREE Sunny D, FREE floss, .17 Kleenex, .45 Pringles (can never have too many), $1.57 for a gallon of milk, .79 Brownie Crunch cereal and .49 Hormel chili. Along with a few other things. I paid $10.46 for 57 items and saved 86%.

I love building my stockpile. This past week I've done awesome stockpiling. Here are some of the things I bought quantities of...

24 Herbal Essence Products (6 Shampoo, 6 Conditioner and 12 Stylers)
21 Pringles
18 Advil 10 ct. On-The-Go Tubes
18 M&M's
11 Sunny D
11 Twizzlers
9 Shaving Cream
9 Minute Maid Frozen Treats
9 Bic Soleil 4 pks
8 Huggies Wipes
6 Kleenex

Of course these were not purchased at 1 store or in 1 trip. And I am not keeping all of this for myself. I share with my family. In fact, my mom and my brother check with me before buying anything since I have a "mini Fry's" they say :)

You can check the matchups on Sheryl's site to see where I found the coupons to score these great deals. I advise you to visit her site once a day so you don't miss out on awesome deals!

Loooonnnngggg Daaaaayyyysss

On long days (like yesterday) when Josh gets home at 6:30 we find ourselves doing unusual things to stay busy. Like having a photo shoot with Jackson.

Where Haylee acts like a goober and Natalee laughs at her.

And Jackson is tormented gets kisses from Natalee.

I also decided to catch little trouble maker in action so I had proof of what a lil' monster she is!

(this is the play food box she moves around to stand on and get into trouble)

(she loves to use this dinosaur toy as a step stool to touch the tv)

The funny things is as soon as she sees me trying to take a picture she gets down quickly and acts like she never did it. I guess she doesn't want the evidence out there.

Catching Up

I missed my rambling post Friday so today I'm playing catch up. This is our past week-

On Wednesday we met Daddy for lunch at Barro's. The girls were excited to see Daddy walk in when he was suppose to be at work. That night we went to Target where Haylee enjoyed her Icee and Natalee enjoyed riding in the cart "her" way!

Thursday,  my niece and her friend came over and we walked the neighborhood putting flyers on every door to advertise for Josh's company, EDS.

Haylee stayed the night at my mom's on Friday so Josh, Natalee and I went to dinner at Outback. I think this was definitely the best dinner I have ever had! Salad, sweet potato with honey butter and brown sugar, teriyaki steak and the best wallaby darned! I was in heaven. Our server was wonderful too!

Saturday I went to my friend Jessica's baby shower. She is having a little girl and is the cutest pregnant person ever! If anyone has a perfect life it would be Jessica. She went through college, was excepted into nursing school, got married, is working in the NICU and now she is having a sweet baby girl! I'm so proud of her. Our mom's have been friends for probably 25 years but my earliest memory of Jessica was when we were in 1st grade together. I have a ton of memories of the times we went camping, to sunsplash, Sedona and all the fun times we had. It seems like we were always together.

(Photo by Lauren Collins)

On Sunday, Josh and I took the girls swimming at AJ Pool. Me and Haylee girl use to go there often but since having Natalee we haven't been there at all. I don't really wanna hold both girls in the pool by myself and they don't allow floaties so, I just haven't taken them. But we went Sunday and had a lot of fun. That evening, Josh and Haylee went to see Zookeeper and Natalee and I went to dinner at Olive Garden with my mom. Haylee said the movie was funny and the animals talk :)

Natalee is still our adventurous, daring, crazy child! She's constantly standing on boxes, scooters, toys etc. trying to get into something. When we're upstairs she unplugs all the monitors and bases, gets into the mini fridge in our room, un-rolls the toilet paper and plays in the toilet if the lid is left open. Downstairs she opens the garage door and tries to escape, sticks half her body out the dog door, gets in the storage area under the stairs and knocks over the 12 packs of soda and stands on toys to touch the tv or reach stuff on higher shelves. You name it, she does it. She's a little trouble maker!

I don't remember Haylee getting into hardly anything as a child. She does talk non-stop but she usually doesn't get into things she knows she's not suppose to. Haylee likes to watch movies, color, play figurines and has one crazy imagination! She pretends to be a doctor, Clifford, every Disney Princess out there and several other things. She is hilarious. She still sneaks in my bed during the middle of the night sometimes but I love cuddling with her.

Both girls are still sleeping in past 8am most mornings. I have tried only giving Natalee one nap a day but she'll only take a small (1 hour 20 min.) nap so it is hard to make it through the day. Maybe she does need 2 naps still. Haylee hasn't taken a nap for awhile now. She'll lay down with me if I wanna nap, but other than that she is fine without one.

Bubba is still Bubba. Loved by all and harassed by many Natalee!

My Weekly Deals 7/11-7/17

Target has been the place to be this week. I'll start with my trip last Thursday. I went to pick up 2 of the .50 pillows (after coupon) and I brought the new coupons Target released that morning to see if I could find any deals. Well, I definitely did! I used the $2/1 coupons to get each girl a pair of pants for $2 each, I used the $3/1 coupons to get me 2 pairs of jeans for $1.98 each and I used the $2/1 coupons to get graphic tees for .48 each. What a smokin' deal. I even went back again that night after printing out more coupons to get each of my nieces a pair of pants and a shirt.

Then, I ran in Target Friday to pick up my FREE Papermate pens and FREE Sharpies and I saw a clearance section marked 75% off with all sorts of summer stuff. Most of it was flying off the shelves but I picked up some awesome freezable water bottles ($1.24) and a drink dispenser ($1.49). After that, I was hooked. I went to my Target in QC to find the shelves completely stocked but only 50% off. I decided I would try 1 more Target which was wiped out so I went home. I thought about it all that night and decided I would go back to my store first thing Saturday morning. It must have been freaper intuition, because when I got there they had just marked everything down to 70% off. I was in heaven! Talk about luck, 70% off and fully stocked shelves!!!!!

This is a run down on what I got-

(5) 17 gallon tubs (for toys etc.) $1.79 ea.
(2) 32 oz. Freezable water bottles $1.79 ea.
(5) Divided lunch containers w/ utensils .89 ea.
(3) Beverage dispensers $1.79 ea.
(2) 4 pk tumblers .59 ea.
(3) Glad freezer/storage bags .89 ea.
(1) Glad storage containers .89
(2) Plastic cutlery .89 ea.
(2) Plastic (disposable) cups .89 ea.
(6) Big, strong paper plates .89 ea.
(2) Smaller, strong paper plates .89 ea.
(3) Beach chairs $2.99 ea.
(1) Playground ball $1.49

I am sharing my goods with my mom, sister and brother. I was so excited to hit the jackpot!!!!

I have only been to Fry's 3 times this past week, and 2 of those times were yesterday. My trip last Monday resulted in a 99% savings. I just went after a couple things and then decided to throw in some of the freebies I had coupons for.

I got 31 items and paid .91. I did use a $5 RR also.

(2) Shredded cheese
(4) Danimals smoothies
(3) Twizzlers
(4) 1/2 gal. milk
(6) 3 musketeers
(3) Yogurts
(3) Minute Maid frozen novelties
(6) Gillette shaving creams

Yesterdays trips I stocked up on Herbal Essences shampoo, conditioner and stylers for .49 ea. I also got lunchables for .25 each, .66 Twizzlers, .69 cream cheese, .47 Pringles, .49 Pop Secret, .99 Sunny D, .25 crayons and FREE M&M's along with some ingredients for dinners this week. Oh, and cherries for Josh for lunch which were $1.29 lb.

You can check the matchups on Sheryl's site to see where I found the coupons to score these great deals. I advise you to visit her site once a day so you don't miss out on awesome deals!

Back to School

I can't believe Haylee is starting preschool in less than 1 month. We bought her a Minnie back pack but she keeps saying "I'll return this one if I find a Rapunzel one."

Haylee and Natalee love to wear their back packs around all day long and I think it's the cutest thing! It won't be too long till both my girls are in school, then what will I do?

Oh ya, enjoy the peace and quiet! :)

Amazing Fun

What better way to beat the heat than to take the girls to Amazing Jake's! Unlimited rides on the carousel, train, tea cups, himalaya and cars is right up our alley.

And we can't forget the unlimited pizza, salad, pasta, soup, chocolate chip cookies, rice krispie treats and ice cream cones! 

We had fun and most importantly, we stayed cool!

No Weekly Deals, Just a Wonderful Weekend

Since stocking up on soda at Fry's last Tuesday, I have not done ANY grocery shopping! Surprising I know. I am however going today to get a few things and then I'm saving my energy for the new Mega starting Wednesday. This is the 3rd Mega in a row and looks like the best one so far so I'm excited! It's the little things :)

I did have a wonderful weekend though. On Saturday, Josh and I had a much needed date night. It's been 5 weeks and we've been patiently waiting for our babysitter to get back from vacation. We ate at Buffalo Wild Wings and then went to see Horrible Bosses. Yummy food and funny movie!

On Sunday, my Mom and I had a little girls day out. We went to breakfast, did some shopping for an upcoming baby shower and went to see Monte Carlo. We love chick flicks!

And now, the start of a new week. Bachelorette tonight!!!!

Friday Ramblings

I love to ramble. It gives me a chance to jot down what has been going on this past week.

I finally started my 2010 blog book. I turn this blog into a book each year and it is an awesome way to preserve memories. I use to scrapbook but find I have little time for that now with 2 kids and other important "hobbies". Although making this book does take a lot of time, it turns out beautiful and I love it. I make my book through Blurb by the way.

While we were at Schnepf Farms Monday for the 4th of July celebration I entered my name to win a big ol' misting fan and I found out I won!!! I was so excited. I only entered to win at one booth and I happened to be the winner. I never win anything!

Everytime I give Natalee a bite of food she says "mmmmmmmmm" it's the cutest thing ever! That girl loves her food.

Haylee is really into what animals bite. She looks through books and says "do elephants bite? Do frogs bite?" and I always tell her "if they have teeth they can bite." She's silly. She's also really into Disneyland and all the rides since Grandma just went. She names off all the rides and asks if she is tall enough to go on them.

Josh is still working till 6-7pm every night. Doesn't leave much time for him to do anything except eat and sleep. Poor guy. Stupid job.

This week I met my long time friend, April, at the mall so our kids could play together. Of course, while at the play area it's hard to catch up because I'm guarding the entrance since Natalee always tries to escape and we both are keeping our eyes on the older kids. It's no longer relaxing to go to the play area :) We had lunch at Wetzel Pretzel and took the kids on the carousel. Natalee is liking the carousel now and I no longer have to take her on the giraffe that doesn't go up and down.

Have I mentioned how hot it is? Although I try to just stay inside, there are days like today that I am determined just to get out and run a couple errands because we all get a little stir crazy. Update: My attempt at getting out of the house with the girls failed. See below.

So me and the girls go to the 99 store because I'm looking for a few things. When we get back in the car I notice the car was having a hard time starting. Ugh. There was no way in heck I was gonna be stranded somewhere with both girls in this heat so we went home. Bummer. Josh took the car down when he got home and sure enough, the battery was about to die. Luckily we have a warranty and got a new battery without paying a dime. So if you're keeping tabs, we now have new tires and a new battery. Both within a month. Wonder what will break next.

We did have an "epic" dust storm this week. On Tuesday "Haboob" rolled through with 70 mph winds. It was 8000 ft tall, 100 miles long and 7 miles wide. It went from light to dark in a matter of seconds and left a TON of dirt/dust everywhere. Not cool. Sky Harbor was closed and several people were without power. I guess I'd rather have a Haboob then a hurricane, tornado or earthquake.

(picture from http://alilbritdifferent.blogspot.com/)



I managed to finish my last trip to Fry's before the Haboob hit. My pantry is now stocked pretty with 20- 12 packs of soda and 15 bottles of V8 Fusion! I also stockpiled some pop tarts thanks to an awesome coupon that came on recently. I love couponing!

And that's about all the excitement from this week. Or at least that I can remember....

Natalee's New Do

Since poor little Natalee was born with an awful cowlick I've had to figure out a way to "fix" the problem. I really can't fix it, but by cutting her some bangs, it's harder to notice the cowlick.

Do you know how hard it is to cut bangs for a 14 month old? About as hard as it is to get a 14 month old to sit still for a picture!

I somehow conquered both!

Fun OUT of the Sun Part II

Now that it's July, and still 120 degrees outside, we continue to find more and more things to do inside. We have braved the outside world at night but only for short amounts of time. We took the girls to the dog park Friday and then we were outside last night of course but with the breeze dust storm and wind, it wasn't too bad. Other than that we hide inside. Sometimes we (well the girls) pretend to be Ariel swimming in the sea or just splashing around.

And when it's not bath time, playing in Jackson's water bowl will have to do.

Haylee likes to dress up like a bee (thanks Grandma Kris!).

And Natalee likes doesn't like when I put a ponytail in her hair, but she looks cute!

I love dressing the girls in matching outfits, especially summer dresses.

And when the boredom gets to be too much, we head outside and brave the heat to play in the slip and slide!

The slip and slide is a double bonus. It cools the girls down AND waters the grass which is sadly dead. We have a broken sprinkler and Josh hasn't had time to fix it so the water has been off.

And that's what we have been up to!