Albertsons Bargains!!!

Last night at Albertsons I got this:

24 Boxes post cereal
2 Boxes Wheat Thins
2 Boxes Triscuits
4 boxes Ritz Crackers
4 boxes Hard taco shells
4 boxes Crystal Light-single serving packets
4 1-lb kraft cheese blocks

44 ITEMS=$49.62 plus received an extra $3.00 off coupon on my next purchase and .20 off per gallon on my next purchase on gas. Not bad considering most of the items are usually more than $2 at Walmart-so I got them at least 50% off. They were all out of the cereal I had coupons for-otherwise I would have had an additional $8 off my total. I am going back to see if they stock them later this week.

For every 6 boxes of cereal you got $5 coupon to use-so I broke my cereal up into 4 transactions..and used the coupon that printed out for the previous transaction on the next. Then the crackers had $1/2 off coupons for the wheat thins and(used 2) $1/1 off on the ritz when you buy kraft cheese (any size)(used 4). Plus b2g1free coupon for crystal light (used 1). And for each $10 you spend on mix and match items you get $3 automatically off-which i qualified for 4 of those. I got all ofthe coupons except one at the store-so hurry before the coupons are all gone-they saved me $6. If you can find post cereal coupons-you will get an even better discount on the cereal-so look for them.

Brooke

I wanted to post some more pictures of the girls this week. Today I snapped some of Brooke and here are the best ones:

Babbling Brooke:Begging Brooke-so FUNNY!!

I laughed so hard with this one because she wanted me to pick her up and was hoding her hands up so I just pointed the camera down at her and snapped-my view of her was obstructed by the camera-since I was holding it at a weird angle-hoping just to get her in it. Anyway when I looked at the picture afterwards to see if I came up with anything good or that it wasn't blurry-I had to laugh. IT was so hilarious that she put her hands together like that. It's the saddest little beggar I've ever seen!

Cuddly or Independent????

Yeah, I know you are all thinking it...Finally a post without giveaways. So back to life of all things non-computer related. This week was spring break for the girls-I say was-because I feel like it's gone already and we didn't do anything fun and exciting. It has been pretty yucky weather much of the time this week except yesterday. We went to the library on Wednesday-even with the rain and without a stroller-I carried Brooke the entire time. Doing that and carrying books plus keeping tabs on the other girls gave me a workout. Physically, I can't wait for Brooke to walk-but my heart doesn't mind it as much-it makes her feel more like a baby to me than a toddler. Sooner or later I know I will have to watch her take those steps and say goodbye to that..but for now I am going to treasure each time I get to hold her-even if it kills my arms and my lower back is screaming.
This is what brings me to the title of my post:
My kids-aren't the cuddly type-they are the "push mom away because I want to be independent" type. They get hurt-I rush to kiss it better and yep-they push me away. Which is normal I guess because I was the same way-my mom tells me. It was especially difficult for me with Whitney because she was my first, and I was surrounded by other moms with their cuddly ones. I felt like I didn't get to bond with her because she would rather go off exploring than sit and hug on my lap. It got frustrating in public when she wouldn't sit still and it hurt my feelings until I dropped her off at Nursery for the first time in church and witnessed the separation anxiety of another kid. Screaming, clutching at his parents like he was going to die if they left-the parents feeling overwhelmed. Just one glimpse of that and I decided, Whitney was the Perfect Child, she at once had gone over and sat on the rug to listen to the story being read. Amazing!! And this was made clearer as I had more experiences with other children who were demanding and needed attention at every corner and I'd look at my children playing on their own-not calling for me every two minutes because there was a dog 50 yards away. Nope I LOVE my kids the way they are!! They are perfectly content to entertain themselves, are fearless (scary to me at times) and are never underfoot. This is way better than the alternative. And if you are the parent of a "clingy-mommy, i need you for everything" type-I am sorry. I have it way easy-but then again-yours are probably more cuddly.

And I have to add an update in basketball-Connecticut and Villanova both won-those are the two teams I have picked for the championship game in the NCAA tourney. So far so good.

Last chance to Enter

Mormon Mommy blogs has a group of fun giveaways that ends today-so hurry and click here to check them out!!!

Huge Giveaway

Okay so over at Dad blogs they are giving away this playset:

Isn't it great? It's made by Kids Creations We have never had a playset in our backyard and our three girls would love this one. We once had a trampolene but we had to sell it when we moved-so now we just have a bare backyard. This playset has so much for my kids to do and it will last forever-the quality is superb and I am not going to have to worry about how secure it is. If we win this, we can spend less time at the overcrowded park and more time on our own turf. I can't wait for summer. Click Here for details on how you can enter to win this great giveaway-and you can enter more than once.

Ultimate Blog Party

Head on over there to join other bloggers and enter to win some fun prizes!!

MY top three Items I want to win:

19 — $50 gift certificate to Target StoresProvided by: Shoot-Me-NowPrize details: Treat your kids, or even better, treat yourself! Shoot-Me-Now would like to donate a $50 Target gift card to one winner.
20 – 5 bars of handmade goat milk soap, your choice of scentProvided by: Goat Milk StuffPrize details: Feel the difference that goat milk makes! Goat Milk Stuff is donating 5 bars of our handmade goat milk soap (made with milk from our own dairy goats). And the best part - you get to choose your favorite scents!
58 – Kitchen Aid Artisan Stand MixerProvided by: Moms Who ThinkPrize details: From Amish Friendship Bread to Decadent Cheesecake and all the meals in between dessert, Moms Who Think has recipes you’ll love. We would like to donate a Kitchen Aid Artisan Stand Mixer to help make one lucky winner’s home cooking even easier. (winner’s choice of color, $349.99 retail value)

I would also like to get any of these other prizes as well:

21, 22,88, 26,45,49,5,14,86,89,109,118,123,130,135,
Int 11,Int 61,USC 2,USC 11, USC 26,USC 40, USC 47,USC 56.

I wanted to just say a little bit about myself to the new visitors:
I am a mommy of three girls ages 6,4, and 1. Wife of 8 years to a wonderful husband who will do anything for his family. I am so lucky in my choice of companion!! I love to save money and keep a clean house and have fun with my family when I can. I love to dance- in any form, though teaching ballroom is what I have been doing most. I love to play sports when I have the time-basketball, volleyball and softball. I love to make my house a home and am continually working on some area of my house. I usually keep this blog up to keep my family and friends updated on my life and also to share the fun things I find. I hope you all enjoy my blog and are welcome to come back often.

Psi Band Giveaway

Psi Band giveaway at Mommy's Idea

These are accupuncture bands that help relieve nausea due to motion sickness, pregnancy, chemotherapy, etc. I used these when I was pregnant with Brooke-and while they didn't completely eliminate my yucky feeling-they sure did help. But the bands i used weren't as cute as these ones. I mean just look how fashionable they are. The ones I used were a blue sportsband material that made me look like I just stepped out of an 80's workout video. So hop on over to Mommy's idea and enter this awesome giveaway.

Why they call it March Madness

Check out these nail biting scores-I LOVE THE INTENSITY. Quite a few upsets already!! Just take a look:

Thursday:
12 Western Kentucky 76
5 Illinois 72

11 Virginia 64
6 UCLA 65

Friday:
6 Marquette 58
11 Utah 57

8 Oklahoma St. 77
9 Tenesse 75

8 Sienna 74
9 Ohio State 72

12 Wisconsin 61
5 Florida 59

Saturday:
4 Washington 74-sorry Dad I know you wanted them to win.
5 Purdue 76

4 Gonzaga 83 -they make the winning basket with just a second left on the clock.
12 Western Kentucy 81

The team I have been most impressed with so far in the tournament is W. Kentucky they fought with all they had -and should go home satisfied with their performance.

A Green Family Activity.

Every year that we could, we have planted a garden. Since we weren't able to do much last year because we moved back in to our home at the end of July, we are excited to start one up this year. The girls really love helping us with the gardening work and they got to pick up rocks today and help clear weeds with us tonight. I hope this is something they never tire of-they get so excited when it comes time to pick anything. It's something that our family does together that we all enjoy doing. We are starting a little earlier this year than we have in the past-we usually wait until most of the starts go on sale. But this year we are going to try to do alot of our garden starting with seeds inside. Here is our list so far:

Green Beans
Peas
Tomatoes (roma and Beefsteak)
Cucumbers
Carrots
Parsnips (I had these for the first time earlier this year and really like them)
Cantaloupe

We will get zucchini, and sweet onions later. And we bought 4 Raspberry bushes to plant along the back of our yard along the fenceline where they will get plenty of sun. I can't wait-I hope they produce some this year. We planted strawberries a few years ago and never got any fruit from them-just a bunch of runners. I have transplanted a few of the runners hoping they might produce something-we'll see. If you have any suggestions about what to do with them-I am up for advice because we are really close to just ripping them out completely and planting new ones. Also I need advice on starting seeds indoors, since this is a first for me-what things have helped you??

10 things I hate--I mean LOVE, about Me

Okay as a woman, at times it is difficult not to find the "flaws" in ourselves so I am starting this 10 things I love about Me..Tag. If you are a woman-you are tagged. The rules are obvious-just list 10 things you Love about yourself and then tag others. Everyone needs to look at themselves and see the wonderful things that are there that make them unique. Grab all of those discouraging thoughts and toss them out the window-You ARE Beautiful!!!

1. I love my hair-a little superficial but I had to pick it, when i was younger I always wanted curly hair and a darker richer hair color. But I really love alot about my hair-it is long, thick, straight, it doesn't tangle easily-It holds curl really well and even with the many white hairs growing in-I love it. It is really easy to do.
2. I am the kind of person that can speak out. Sometimes I am a bit timid or scared-but if I have a strong opinion about something I will speak up about it.

3. FUN. I am an "up for anything" kind of girl-I love to do whatever is going on at the moment. If someone invites me spur of the moment-I will leave the dishes in the sink and go.

4. I like a tidy house. I love it when my house is spic and span.
5. I overthink just about everything-not something my husband cares too much for-but I like to be cautious about the important things-even if its a little too cautious.
6. I am easily entertained-I laugh at just about anything-Humor is so important to me.
7. I have alot of great friends-if you know me-then you are one of them-i have a hard time excluding people from that list. It just keeps growing and hey the more the merrier right??
8. I got Rhythm-this one brings me so much joy-I love to dance and if i didn't have coordination and rhythm, I think it would be so sad to me.
9. I am a Mother-I think when you become responsible for others, and feel stretched out in so many ways you suddenly are blessed with talents you never knew you had-or even knew existed.
10. I am a Fixer. I am always trying to find the answer to problems. I love fixing things-putting puzzles together and making things right.

Okay so now that you have heard mine-I want to hear yours-after you post your 10 awesome things about yourself-comment on my blog and leave your blog address so I can come over and read the beautiful things about You.

Flowers and scents!!

When waiting for the school bus to arrive we usually wait inside our garage. Especially, if it's too cold or raining/snowing outside. Well after depositing Amber on the bus-I peeked around the corner of the garage to look at my daffodills along the walkway of my house, they are getting close to blooming. See-what I mean:

It didn't take long for me to discover a box sitting on my front porch. At frist sight-I knew exactly what it was. Here is what was inside:

My soaps came-from the Ozark Scents giveaway I won!! And I can already tell you that they smell sooo good! I was so excited that they got to me so quickly-thank you Amy!! I am still confused how they could get to my house earlier than 8 a.m. -but I'm not complaining.

What a fun way to start off my day!

Weather..and Basketball

It seems that wherever I have been-sunshine is not. Last Thursday I hitchhiked to Washington with my sister from Utah to visit my mom and dad..grey weather the entire time I was there. When I talked to my hubby he said they had sunshine and warm weather...when I arrived home guess what-rain and more grey clouds. It seems that where arin goes grey follows-at least when it came to my traveling this past weekend. I do not mind grey as long as it's rainy as well-it's kind of mysterious to me, so I rather find it fascinating. I just don't like it w/out the rain or snow. It's seems meaningless. Enough about that-I am sure you are all completely bored by now-so I will move onto something else..College Basketball. I had to post my picks for the Championship game--Kind of crazy since I went with who I wanted to win-not who I think will win. So here goes-My final 4 are: WakeForest, Connecticut, Villanova and Gonzaga. 3/4 are teams that I always root for every year-so why not put them in the final four, HUH?? I am just going to be a loyal fan and put them where I hope they end up. Who cares if they aren't ranked #1-I like those teams so I am taking the risk. My championship game teams are Villanova and Conn-with Conn winning-a little less riskier pick. But there it is. I hope everyone else is picking teams based on loyalty and not bandwagons. It is going to be a lot of fun to watch it all play out-Joe, his brother, his wife, our nephew, and I all have picked different winners-so the tension might get a little crazy in phone conversation over the next few weeks-which makes it all the more fun. I can't wait for this weekend!!!

What's your answer???

How many kids do you want to have???
OKay so I am a littel curious about how your answer has changed through the years.
Here is how it changed for me:
As a teen: 5 just like my mom had
As a young adult: 7- so we could have enough for a baseball team and there is just something about the number 7 that I like.
After my first child: At least one more-but 7 looked horribly ugly to me as I was super sick preggos with Whitney.
After second child: Parenting became easier after Amber was born-I definitely could have 5.
After third child: Thankful to have 3-But wish I could have one more.
Right now: 4-if we have another girl. 5-if we get a boy next time around.
When I got married Joe wanted 1, I wanted 7. Since we reached 3 it's safe to say we have reached a compromise.
And FYI-we are not expecting-just thought I'd mention that before anyone asks.

Big winner

I feel So lucky-I won yet another giveaway-and this is one of the ones I wanted really badly. Woohoo- $20 gift certificate to Ozark Scents. So I will blissfully get to choose some homemade soaps-just what i love. I LOVE handmade soaps. They make candles too-but I'd rather get just soap. Anyway I was so excited-just had to share.

Here are pictures of the girls this week:

Congratulations!!!

Yesterday I found out that one my very good friends, K. won the title of Mrs. Idaho. I am so thrilled for her. She kept it secret from everyone but her family-because, well she didn't want us all making her more nervous than she already was. She now goes on to the Mrs. United States Pageant in Las Vegas in July. I just want to tell her that I really wasn't that surprised she won. She was a really great help to me during a rocky period of my life and she kindof helped me find part of myself that I had been hiding for a while. She is so deserving of this and I am so proud of her. If you are reading this K.--you are AWESOME and I know you are going to impact so many others for good through this program. You are an inspiring person-and your best self always shines through. Way to go girl!!!

wow-what a friday!!

Okay so first..Brooke had an inhome evaluation from the infant/toddler program today. She is 4 months ahead in her fine motor skills, but 6 months behind in her gross motor skills..so good and bad. Then I babysat for my good friend while she got her home ready for visitors. Meanwhile i baked this carrot cake.
After I was relieved of my extra charges I headed to the school to turn in Amber's kindergarten registration and to pick up Whitney. Then headed to the bank to find out that Joe's boss had post dated his check-so that was a wasted trip. Then off to the grocery store to get some odds and ends. After dinner, I bathed the kids. I had just taken Brooke out of the bath and got her dressed when Whitney comes out of the bathroom dripping wet and says the words that no mom likes to hear "Amber is puking in the bathtub". Yup-and guess what she ate for dinner-JUST SALAD. So you can imagine. I quickly switched bathrooms-got the girls cleaned up and in PJ's and in bed. Then continued to clean up the fun mess. Pretty much I cleaned with Comet from top to bottom the entire bathroom-just to get rid of that smell. Now that I had a moment to myself-I snuck to computer to find out that I won this giveaway!!! YEAH!!--See Mary it does happen more often than you think it does. WOO HOO-So that just made my tiring day a little more fun!!!

Daylight Savings Sale on Personal Stationary!!

Amy Adele is having thier Daylight Savings Sale!!!! 20% off on Folded Note Stationery. Amy Adele currently offers over 375 designs of such stationery varieties, all of which will be on sale through next Monday. I really like their calling cards-I think it'a fun way to pass out your phone number to playgroup friends. To check it out click on the link on the right side of my website.

SOS Another giveway--ends tomorrow morning..

You can turn this :

Into This: Another fun giveaway to those that like to sew or crochet fabric into floor rugs. Click Here

Helping others out and a fun way to win online bucks.

Help others save:

Overseas coupon program is a program that takes expired coupons and gives them to overseas military families that can still use them. Since I have a few family members serving in the Military this is something that I am going to try to do more frequently. You need to make sure that your coupons aren't more than two months expired else they can't be used. I am a coupon cutter-and many times-I don't go through all of my coupons before they expire-or I don't use certain ones. This is a great way allow others' to benefit from them-instead of just tossing them out. Because really every little bit helps.

Help yourself earn:

Haven't joined swagbucks yet? It is really easy..all you do is use their search engine and you can win swag bucks. Then you can redeem these swag bucks for great prizes like gift cars from Target, Amazon, itunes, even Southwest. Just click here to register for free and start earning your swagbucks.

Another easy way to earn some extra change is to join Youdata. It pays you when you look at company's online advertisements-it was a lot of fun. You fill out a profile so that the advertisements you view will be ones that are catered to your specific interests. Click here to join for free and start putting a little extra change back in your purse. I made $5 my first day in about 20 minutes.

Free Movie Rental Wednesday from Redbox- enter code: 75EA16 to get your 1-day free rental-good until midnight tonight. Enjoy.

Role Call..

Okay so I want everyone who comes to my blog to comment and leave your blog address so I can add you to my "friends" list-even if you are already there-please comment. Sometimes it's nice to know you still come visit my small existence on this blog. So let your voice be heard and tell me you are visiting.

Giveaways and Freebies...

Okay so once in a while I share with you some giveaways that I have found and some freebies...first freebies are free 1-day movie rentals from redbox. Just enter one of the following codes to get your free movies-here is a trick-you can use one code twice if you use two separate bank/credit cards. So try the following codes and enjoy a movie for free.

DVDONME

REDBOX

BREAKROOM

DVDATWAG (Walgreens only)

Now here are some giveaways with their links:

Elliott Lucca Handbag: Ends March 6th

Stainless Steel Breakfast Bowls: super cute ends March 13th.

Wishing Willow is giving away a soy candle:

You never know-you may win. I have already won a dress from grossgrain and a diaperbag from Tales from the Crib. Today could be your lucky day!!

It's been awhile

Well I have really slacked off on my cleaning/savings tips so here is a few that I hope you will enjoy. Okay so everyone is going green with thier cleaning products and I have actually considered the idea of making my own soap-I will let you know how that works out later-still trying to find out where to buy all my supplies to do this first. But for now I have found a few eco-friendly Laundry alternatives:

Powdered Laundry Detergent:
1 cup grated Fels Naptha Soap (abt $1)-a bar (no detergents) great stain pre-treater.
1/2 c Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda
1/2 c. 20 Mule Team Borax

Use 1 Tbspoon for a small, 2 Tbs-med load and 3 Tbs for a Large one. Store in dry airtight container. This soap doesn't make suds-it is pure natural soap-it may eliminate you having to use fabric softener.

You can also fill a downy ball with vinegar and that will remove any excess detergent while neutralizing odors and it's a natural fabric softener as well-great to keep colors bright too.

For great smelling laundry you can add some essential oils to a flannel piece of fabric and put in the dryer when drying your clothes.

IF you don't want to try this out -you can use Borax to boost your current laundry detergent's power if you feel like it needs a little umph.

Two week warning...

Okay so March Madness is fast and closing-I just thought that I would let you all know that in 13 days-Joe and I will be filling in our brackets for the NCAA Championships. This is something we do every year-usually Joe wins. Last year I did-for the first time, ending that seven year itch. As always if they make it into the tournament I will be rooting for Villanova, Wakeforest, Gonzaga,and Duke (because let's face it they are consistent-and you really don't want to go against Angie on this one). So all you college bball fans-I pose one question-Who would you like to see win this year-or at least who would you like to see in the championship game this year??