It's a sickness, people.

My sweet friend Jolyn got me REALLY hooked on couponing. She's a real pro at it - I'm learning little by little. It's hard for me to explain the joy I feel when I get a good or REALLY good deal on something. Like I told Jolyn and our friend Stacey (who is also quite good at the whole couponing thing), I squeal inside and come seriously close to dancing out the store. I now look for deals on everything - before, I bought things when they were on sale. Now, I will only buy them when they're on sale AND I have a coupon. It's a sickness, really. But, a good one.





2 Hormel Compleats
1 box Band Aid brand Band Aids
1 St. Ives Apricot Scrub
1 bottle Vaseline deep conditioning lotion
1 Clorox toilet bowl cleaner
1 box Soleil razors

I paid $6.36 for all of this stuff. $6.36 The razors by themselves were $5.29! This stuff came from Kmart - last week, in our area, Kmart doubled coupons up to $2.00! $2.00 off became $4.00 off instantly! That alone makes my head spin.



I paid ABSOLUTELY NOTHING for this. All of this toilet paper was FREE! Each package was a dollar this week at my local Kroger. I had a 50 cents off coupon for each one and Kroger doubles up to 50 cents - that makes it all FREE :)

I've become addicted to this. I never buy anything I won't use. I know of women who will buy 20 bottles of Robitussin just because it's on sale and they have coupons for it. I wouldn't use 2 bottles of Robitussin before it expired, much less 20. I understand donating to charity with stuff like this, but I'd rather buy 3 to donate and use the rest of the money to buy stuff I'd use.

Here are my 2 trips last night (no pictures though - I was too tired to do it by the time I got home and half of it is put away now).

4 boxes of Chex Mix Chocolate Chunk bars - $1.00 EACH - $4.00
2 boxes of Betty Crocker Fruit Stickers $1.00 EACH - $2.00

This store doubles coupons up to 50 cents. I had 4 coupons for 50 cents off a box of Chex Mix Chocolate Chunk bars. These coupons doubled to make the bars FREE!

I had 1 coupon for 50 cents off 2 boxes of Betty Crocker Fruit snacks of Fruit Stickers. That coupon doubled to $1.00 off 2 boxes. That made each box 50 cents.

I paid ONE DOLLAR for 6 boxes of snacks for my kids!

Next, on to Walmart.

I bought:

12 boxes of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese Crackers $1.00 EACH - $12.00
5 boxes of Pillsbury Brownie Mix, Family Sized $1.00 EACH - $5.00
1 box of Lucky Charms - $2.50 (impulse buy..I'll admit it - no coupon)
4 rolls of Bounty paper towels $1.00 EACH - $4.00
1 gallon of Tank milk - $1.98
1 dozen eggs - $.98
1 loaf of bread - $1.52
1 bottle of pancake syrup - $1.79

(The milk, eggs, bread and syrup were Walmart brand)

I paid $20.13 for all of this stuff. The crackers were 50 cents a box. The brownies were 65 cents a box (1 minor mix up - someone had put a cake mix down with the brownie mix and I picked up that instead. The cake mix was 88 cents, but I still got to use the coupon, so I only paid .53 cents. I paid 50 cents for each roll of paper towels.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this! I've always created my own kind of fun though...lol I got some great deals on stuff at Meijer last week, but I won't bore those of you who couldn't care less about this. :) However, I now have enough Capri Suns AND crackers to last me the rest of the school year and well into the summer!

If you're interested in learning more about couponing, go to www.couponmom.com and register. It's free and you'll learn A LOT. Also, register at www.afullcup.com. The women on that board are AMAZING at this kind of stuff.

Pink eye, baseball and stupid broken computer cord, OH MY!

In my effort to become a better homemaker, wife and mother, I've neglected this blog. I am H.O.R.R.I.B.L.E. with the balancing act. It's most definitely a shortcoming of mine. I was so much better when I was younger - I worked, carried a full 18 credits EVERY semester in college AND graduated in 4 years.

Fast forward several (ugh) years and here I sit and I can't do it anymore. I just need a schedule. I'm sure that will help. Yep, I'm sure of it. I'll work on that today.

So, here we are - Monday. We're coming to the end of a week full of antibiotics for the Tank. He contracted pink eye from his FIRST EVER visit to the church nursery. In fact, it was the first time WE'D ever been to that church. It was such a nice gift. Couple the pink eye with the head crud that came pouring out of his nostrils and we had a mighty fun and DISGUSTING week on our hands. He's on the mend now and back to his old self. Jake now has pink eye. I give it 2 more days before Will has it. I've already cleared it with the doc to use the same drops on all 3 kidlets - saves me duckets on the office visits.

Our baseball/Tball season has started - we're doing 2 practices a week for EACH child. I'm less than impressed with the league we're in - this would be the 2nd one we've tried. Organization is KEY to things like this and they have zero, zilch, nada. J's coach *believes* the season starts this Saturday, but she's not sure. Um....really? W's coach has no idea when the season starts. Um....really? Neither child has a uniform yet, either. Don't get me started.

On top of all of this, my stupid computer cord broke again. I have to order another one. I haven't ordered it yet, so I'm on B's computer. I like it fine, but I want MINE.

I promise, that as part of my effort to pull my arse together, I will post more. In fact, I'm going to work on a post about the $$ I saved last week. Couponing is a sickness, my friends. Just wait :)

So, yeah, THAT was fun!

Life hasn't been remotely interesting - that's why I haven't been here. Well, that, and Easter and family visiting.

So, my mom left on Sunday - we hung out as a family all day and it was lovely! I packed for our mini vacation. You might want to grab a cup of coffee or something to snack on - this is gonna be a long one.

We left Monday morning - our destination was 3 hours away. We got things situated when we arrived and B took the big boys downstairs to swim for a bit. I thought I'd put H down for a nap and enjoy the peace and quiet. I got the hotel crib set up - put it where he couldn't see me. I put him in it, just like I'd do at home - he stood up and screamed bloody murder. NOT. LIKE. HIM. at all. So, after 30 minutes or so, we headed downstairs to see B and the big boys - I saw no sense in keeping the poor kid up there if he wasn't going to sleep.

He headed out to explore about 45 minutes later - H fell asleep in the car almost immediately (he never does that either). He slept for about 25 minutes. We had dinner and headed to the mall that was near our hotel - they had a GREAT play area for itty bitty ones like H. He crawled around like a mad man for a good 40 minutes - I thought that would be a perfect thing to tire him out. Not so much.

We went back to the hotel and B gave him a bath. I brought everything from home to keep the routine the same. After his milk, I put him down in the crib and he stood up and screamed bloody murder. Again, not like him at all. My wonderful husband did everything in his power to get this kid to go to sleep. He walked, he sang, he bounced, he ignored. NOTHING worked. By 10:45 p.m., we knew that this child wasn't going to sleep and if he did, he'd wake numerous times. So, we packed up and came home!

We drove 3 hours to eat dinner at Red Lobster, look at Lake Michigan, go to the mall and swim in hotel pool. We got home at 2 a.m. I put H down in his crib and he rolled over and went to sleep. He slept until 9:30. Turd.

So, we decided to take the lemons we'd been given and make some lemonade. We had a STAYcation instead of a vacation! On Tuesday, we headed to a local outlet mall and B and the big boys played indoor glow golf while H and I walked around. Yesterday, we went to a Tigers game - H's first Tigers game. He was less than impressed, but I was in heaven. My beloved Detroit Tigers won 9 to nothing. I'd go to every home game if my wallet would allow it. Our spring and summer date nights are always Tigers games. Always. I wouldn't have it any other way.

B went back to work today - boo. Will has a few days left of spring break - we're headed to the park tomorrow with some friends. Today was going to be a garage saling day, but H isn't feeling too well. J has tball practice this afternoon, so we're going to lay low today. The windows are open and we're enjoying the fresh air. It's a gorgeous day!

My own crazy.

I don't know whether I'm coming or going as of late. There are just far too many things running through my brain right now. Excuse the randomness - it's my own kinda crazy.

My family needs a vacation in a bad, bad, BAD way. We are going away for 2 days early next week and while I'm happy about that, we really need to go somewhere WARM - somewhere where there's no threat of snow in APRIL.

I have to go grocery shopping tonight. I don't want to. I do the bargain shopping/coupon thing, so that requires a trip to 4 different stores. I love grocery shopping and I adore going by myself, but I just don't feel like going tonight. My mother is coming to visit tomorrow, so I must go tonight. I need to buy wine.....LOTS of wine.

I have the mother of all backaches right now - I think when I put H down for a nap, I'm going to have J sit on my back for a bit.

J won't stop talking - he talks incessantly. He didn't utter a word until he was 2. He must be making up for lost time.

H took 2 steps yesterday. I'm not sure how I feel about that.

I love Elmo. I could watch him all day. Elmo and Peep - have you ever watched that show on Discovery Kids? Google Peep and the Big, Wide World and listen to the theme song. I can guarantee you will sing it in your head for DAYS. I lurve it.

Me thinks I'm going to schedule a massage soon - I've not been a big fan of those before, but I'm thinking it might be a good idea now. Ya know, before my head explodes from all the stress.

I'm looking forward to May - May will bring to a close a volunteer position I've had since last summer. This position has caused me far too much stress. I'm happy to be done with it.

H can fake cough - it's pretty funny.

I just remembered that there are cookies left over that my MIL brought last weekend - YAY! YAY! YAY! I need something because I ate all of my Dove Truffle Eggs.

I need a nap.

I have books upstairs that I long to read.

My beloved Detroit Tigers aren't starting off well AT ALL.

1 more school day and I'll have all 3 boys here with me until April 20th. God help me.

A mighty funky diaper is calling my name right now. Ick.

Wordless Wednesday, but with LOTS of words

One year ago today, this sweet little boy entered the world. Once I put him on my belly and started talking to him, he stopped crying and stared at me. The love affair began right there.

I've done my best, as his mother, to soak up EVERY. OUNCE. of this year. I've patiently dealt with all of life's upheavals when a newborn joins the family. I've spent many, many hours just sitting - staring at him, smelling his hair, playing with his feet. I needed to memorize all of him.

This year has gone so amazingly fast. I vividly remember every detail of his birth - my water broke at exactly this time 1 year ago (1:34 p.m.) - I remember where I was and what I was doing. It's so surreal to me that all these months have passed and we've hit one year.

ONE YEAR.



I have a bond with this boy that I didn't know could exist. Don't get me wrong, I adore my big boys. They both hold very special places in my heart and I have bonds with them that I don't have with Henry.

I didn't sleep well last night - there was a yucky pit in my stomach. It was inevitable - he was going to turn 1, whether I wanted him to or not. I'm happy and excited on the outside, but a little piece of my heart is breaking on the inside. I just wanted him to stay little forever.



Staying little isn't going to happen. I'll continue to enjoy every bit of this. I'll keep that little broken piece of me on the inside and celebrate this year with my family tonight and let him grow.

Happy Birthday my sweet boy. I love you more than you'll ever know.