One Last Thing

I meant to mention before that you might recognize the little girl Julia in the pictures in the website link below...she is the same little girl we went to the American Girl store with in Dallas for Jadyn's and her birthday in August. And sweet Dena also took the pictures of the kids with Keith before he pulled out that I shared here on this blog because I forgot my camera.
Ok...I will say no more about this and think about something else, if only for a few hours. It's time to Trick or Treat!

Update

The blog has been created
here is the link

Dena has done a great job in getting this all written out. As of yesterday I have stepped back because most everything I can do, I have already done. I feel my job now is to just pray for Dena and Rob and to support Ali who is doing the brunt of the work. Ali has come over to the house a couple of time (I am Rob and Dena's neighbor- we live on the same street) so she can clear her mind and just talk-- rejuvenate, per say. Her husband was Rob's Leutenant so they are the very best of friends. So my job is to support the support! Make sense? =) Ali, I am keeping the frozen pizza and wine well-stocked!! The back porch is always open.

Dena has asked Ali if she can bring their car to Walter Reed. The Army will only cover a rental for 3 months and they will be there at least a year. Ali said she needs a companion because that is a long drive. So of course I said, I would be more than willing to drive with her and then fly home. Ali's husband will be home shortly for R&R and then a month later she is meeting her mom in Australia for a few weeks so we have to do it inbetween those 2 events. Most likely we will be driving her car there mid-December so I will be looking for a few people to help me out with the kids so I can do this for Dena, Rob and Ali.

Go show your love on their blog!

This week has been terribly tramatic for myself and more importantly, for another family whom we consider to be good friends of ours. Keith has been deeply affected by the things he saw and so have I by helping the family move through the mess. Though I don't think this is the forum which I should air all their business, there will be a website about them and the tradegy soon. They should be the first to share the story. And when they do, I will imediately post the link on this site to share with all of you. They will soon be your friend too via the internet and we will witness a story of great courage and triumph over the impossible. I can't wait to see the happy ending.

This would be the reason though why I have been away this week and am emotionally drained and just plain tired. I say that, and then feel immediately guilty because the family is feeling the same thing times 100. Pretty much forgot every obligation I had this week and remembered most of them today. After I took care of my last duty today to my friend, it dawned on me that jadyn does not have a costume for tomorrow night. So we raced out and got a few things together. The kids asked me about pumpkins tonight also (we always carve them the night before halloween), but I just explained that every once in a while, we need to make sacrifices for others benefit and right now, it has to be the pumpkins that go. No lip whatsoever when it I put that way. I have thanked the kids over and over for being so good while I have been away from them. When I came home last night, I found Jadyn and Pepsi asleep together on the couch. I just had to take a picture and hopefully I will get it up here soon.

Mission Accomplished

The floors are done and I am slowly getting my house put back together. Thank goodness because it was hard to sleep this last week when my bed was all out of whack and my furniture was pushed in every nook and cranny trying to keep it out of the way. Now the that the floors are done I am inspired to move forward with some other home projects like curtains, new linens, rugs, etc.



I think they look way better in person that on camera. They are super pretty and will for sure be a huge selling point when it comes time to get rid of this house.

Did a craft show this weekend and I did quite well. I was $19 from attaining my goal when the show ended, but then I got an online order yesterday from the show that more then made up for it. So this week I am going to be hoppin' busy filling the custom orders.

Coupon Savings this week

This week I have slacked but I had to go do my grocery shopping last night which took way too long. We didn't get home until 9:30. I was a bit frustrated because the ads were different from what was actually on sale at the stores so I didn't really stick to my list. Between Walmart and HEB I bought a total of $127.90 worth of groceries but I paid out of pocket $99.43-- so only a savings of $28.47 or 22%!!
That is not very good. Then to make it worse, I went through a drive-thru last night to feed the kids because I can't cook in a messy house and spent $18 of my savings!! Go figure, right?

So I think I am going to cancel my membership to the Grocery Game because I have found that I can get all the same information for free on other blogs that devote themselves to where all the savings are. And the stores are holding out on big sales this week, so I am thinking they are saving them for the Thanksgiving holiday. I am sure there will be huge savings in the weeks to come.

Floors day 3

Starting to suffer from sleep deprivation again--- if I could just get my hands on a sleep pill I would be good. Might have to go see the Doctor. The best sleeping pill is Keith himself- but I may be suffering this week because my house is a complete disaster zone and gets worse everyday! There is dirt/dust covering every inch of my house and our routine has been disturbed. I am just trying to stay caught up on Swanky Graffiti orders which I am not doing a great job this week.

So, the living room is mostly done-- just needs finishing trim work around the edges so I can move my furniture back into it.

oh yes, and good cleaning!
And my bedroom was started.

And I did get to see Keith yesterday on a video teleconference-- I took his picture.

Floors Day 2

Well these guys don't like to work much. I think they may have put in 4 1/2 hours today which is fine because I am not paying them by the hour-- I just hate to live in a mess for any longer than I have too. It makes it hard to concentrate on doing the things I need to. I tried to stay in my office for most of the day and have laser focus on work. I managed to get a lot done, but my house was far from quiet with sawing and hammering going on in the echo chamber that my living room now is. And I can't walk across my floors yet so I am having to go out onto my porch, walk around the side of the house and into the front door...things like that. I am starting to freak out about not being able to come into my bedroom when they start in here. The end of this week won't come soon enough.

With that being said, the floors are soooo pretty.

The boxes are full of the hardwood and they are being used as weights on the floor.

That couch is like 18 inches from the TV right now because that is the only little strip we are allowed to walk on. Its like playing frogger in your house!

Floors Day 1

Kind of a slow start today. Only got the living room carpet out of the way and started on one side of it. But I can tell it is going to be beautiful and keith gets to take all the credit on this on. he is the one who spent hours searching the internet for the perfect wood and I think he did a good job!

Video

I got a link to a video of where Keith is at. It is a reporter asking Keith's colonel what is the difference between Iraq and Afghanistan. They show some other officers in the video too and I am going to have to ask Keith why he never makes it onto one of these. They interview another officer who has been there for a week, but don't interview the guy who has spent 2 years in Iraq.

But then I remember that Keith doesn't come off well on video. Not in the least! They probably interviewed him and he dropped a cuss word or two and had a heavy country drawl. No good for a British reporter!

But, check out the scenery. Keith and the Colonel are are in the same little place.
Go here

Gotta Love Texas

For the awesome weather! It is a nice, breezy 80 degrees and made the Fall Festival at church perfect! My cookies were actually purchased by the pastor for $11-- that is pretty good for a couple of cookies. But I already have my plans for next year to do carmel apples for the auction. I bet those will fetch $30+.

Then we came home and Jadyn tried to get out of the car, but screamed and slammed the door. There was a snake in the driveway!! We thought we may have run it over because its neck was flat. But upon closer inspection, it was still alive and well.


Took a picture of it next to Jadyn's flip flop- it is just a baby. Bridger decided to catch it because the most it was doing was hissing at us.



I hurried to the internet to see what kind of snake it was. It has the nose of a pig and can flatten its neck at will, therefore it is a Hognose snake and is not venomous and likes to eat frogs and toads. At least it didn't surprise me on the back porch like snakes usually like to do. Bridger is trying to convince me we need to keep it as a pet-- NOT!

Bridger had a good time at paintball last night and he has only one wound to show for it.

This is on his back and he said it was 'friendly fire' since it hit him from behind!

Friday Night Plans

Bridger is at church playing Paint Ball for the next several hours and I am so happy for him to get out of the house! I don't know how in the heck we ended up in a neighborhood with no kids-- but we did. I have kind of noticed that anywhere I go here people complain of the same thing-- no kids come out to play which I think is a total bummer because everywhere else we have lived, you couldn't keep the kids away. Always knocking on the door wanting to play. You don't really see that around here.

But I also have health concerns about him because he is a tad bit overweight. Well, don't let me lie, he is off the charts because I checked them online today. He has resisted getting on the scale until today! I threatened that I wouldn't let him play paintball unless he got on it. Of course, I was joshing him, but I wasn't about to tell him that. He got on it and dang, I was a tad bit miffed.

There was a time when he was on medication that wouldn't allow him to gain weight. The doctor told me that I was to feed him a bowl of ice cream everynight before he went to bed. BUT I didn't do it because I thought that was ridiculous advice and a bad habit to start. We don't keep junk around the house and the only person I buy it for is Keith, and he takes it to his office so there are no worries around here.

As soon as Bridger came off the medicine it has been a downward spiral for the guy. And moving here has only made it worse! In Kentucky, he was always playing outside with his friends. In Virginia, we were always riding our bikes, walking around site seeing, and he was playing golf nearly every weekend with his dad. And then Texas....Keith's job has made it so he is so tired on the weekends that a game of golf doesn't even tempt him. No kids in the neighborhood and I gave my bike away and the rest of them need repairs. So he is not exercising like he should be. I either go to the gym or run on the treadmill so we are not doing it as a family anymore.

His 12th birthday is coming up here and he has asked for a Trikke-- they are pricey, BUT we are thrilled he wants it because it is a total workout to use it. I am also toying with idea of putting him Ta Kwon Do which would be 2 nights a week and then there is a local gymnastics place that has parent's night out where he would sweat like crazy playing around there. I think just writing this out makes me feel better because we have a game plan to help him get healthy but without trying to make it obvious about what we are doing or knocking his self-esteem.

Now with that said!

Jadyn and I are making chocolate chip pumpkin cookies tonight! Ya I know, why would I do that with what I just said before? Church is having a Fall Festival tomorrow and it includes a dessert auction which I volunteered for. Both kids love to cook, so I thought that is how I would spend my Friday with her while Bridger was out playing paint ball.

You can get the recipe here

And also notice the new links on the sidebar-- a couple of my new favorite blogs for your reading pleasure!

Today's Money Saving Tip =)

I will be an expert on this before you know it!

I have mentioned that hardwood floors are going to be installed next week and I had to go buy the floor glue which is not cheap. I looked online and at both Lowe's and Home Depot and Lowe's was the better deal. But I kept thinking about that coupon I always get when I move to a new place from Lowe's for 10% off. Of course, I didn't use it before the expiration date and Lowe's never puts out coupons other then that.

So yesterday I was obsessing about how to get my hands on one of those 10% coupons. I went to the post office even to see if they had those Change of Address forms there with all the coupons in it. No luck!

Last night I looked online and I could buy one, but then I would have to wait until it was could be mailed to me and my time is short. But I found a place where you could buy one and it would be emailed to you instantly, and you just print it off and go. I was nervous that it wouldn't work because buying coupons is actually illegal. They only way you can get away with selling coupons is to state that you are being paid for your time to 'cut' and 'organize' them for the buyer. But for $3.49, it was worth it.

I bought it and it worked! Therefore, your tip for today is if you are going to spend any kind of money at Lowe's (I would say more than $75), get the coupon online first. It saved me $55 (minus $3.50).

I know this may get old quick

for you all anyhow, but not for me!
Went to Walmart last night and got $50 worth of groceries for $30--- that is a 40% savings just by printing some coupons off the internet. The day will soon come when I only need to spend $40 a week to just stock fresh produce. That is the end goal that will hopefully happen in January by everyone's calculations. I will keep hoping.

Groceries results

Me: Bridger, Jadyn and I are running some errands. Post office and walgreen's. we will see you in a few.
Bridger: Mom, get some milk while your out please.
Me: Dang Bridger, I had my grocery list down to where I would pay less than $1. Milk is never on sale and I don't have a coupon for it, besides it should only be drank by baby cows! Do you know how much weight a baby cow puts on just by drinking its mother's milk? It's disgusting!
Bridger: Please mom, I need some milk.
Me: Grrrrrrr

So, instead of getting my 15 dollars worth of groceries for 66 cents, I paid $4 something.

Face Paint

Last weekend I did a local craft show, which may I add, was TERRIBLE. It was 2 days of slow torture because #1 it was too small and #2 there was nobody in attendance. Nobody knew about the thing and the only advertising done was 2 weeks in the Sunday paper. That doesn't cut it, especially when there are so many advertising opportunities around here and the 2 people who put it together banked. Because of it, I decided that I wasn't going to do a show coming up this weekend because it is too much work not even to break-even. And the show this weekend that I had an opportunity to be in will also be very small. My only saving grace was a I got several online orders (thanks to Rate My Space) and I have had a couple of people follow up after the show to order.

And let me tell you, they are badly needed! Next week, we are having hardwood floors installed in the house. The living room and my master bedroom will be done. We purchased the wood (bamboo) this last summer and it has been sitting in the garage all this time. I am so ready to get this over with! I went to Lowe's to price the glue needed and Oh MY WORD!! It is $135 a pail and I need 7 of them. Killing me over here! It is on my To Do list today to price glue online and see if I can't find a better price somewhere else.

But last weekend, the kids had to hang out with me for the entire show which was interesting because they demanded some sort of entertainment. They got their faces and body parts painted several times.




Look at my pretty frames--- Love them!


So, there are a couple of products that I NEED to buy this week. Toilet paper and feminine products unfortunately, so I sat down with my supplies last night and organized them all. I checked the ads because I am trying to figure out how I can get it for free or nearly free. I got my gameplan figured out and it just made giddy. I could certainly just go out and buy it, but this way makes it so much more fun. Keith has been laughing at me (or maybe with me) but I have teased him that if can save the 5-6K a year that we spend on food that his downtown Argentinian loft could most definitely be a reality by the time he retires. He has this plan to live part-time in the States and part-time in South America. I am game!

Feeding my new addiction

Because I am new at this it took me some time to get all my stuff together to make my first trip to Walgreen's with the goal to pay as little as possible. Typically I go to Walgreen's for very little, because I feel like it is overpriced and their selection lame....well I am eating my words!! The Grocery Game and a couple of blogs helped me figure out what it was I needed to buy

I couldn't take advantage of all the mega deals because I only have one week's worth of coupons, but I did discover that a lot of manufacturer's put coupons on their websites. Good ones too!

OK- so here is the breakdown.


First, every bit of this was ON SALE at Walgreens. Second, I had at least ONE coupon for every single item, most of it being Walgreen store coupons. Third, I had several manufacturer coupons that you can combine with Walgreen's so a couple things came out to be FREE and all of it was deeply discounted.

I only bought things that I would use and I passed up plenty that I wouldn't use even if it was free, I mean, why would I want a diabetes monitor even if its free!?
So, here is the breakdown:

If I had just walked into Walgreen's unprepared and bought all this stuff on sale, it would have cost $51.80 (not on sale at all, you are looking at about $70 worth of stuff!). That by itself is a decent savings!

With my coupons I got it down to $33.82--- That's pretty good right?

But not good enough!! It gets even better!! The reason I bought 3 Children's Dimatapp's is because it would make me money. With the sale and my coupons I actually made $4 because they gave me back with thing called Register Rewards for $10 that I can use as cash in the store in the future on anything I want. The 3 Dimatapp's only cost me $6--I get $10 in return. And really, I will for sure use it this year- though maybe not all 3.

And the candy--- normally I would NEVER buy it, but with Halloween coming up I just had to do it. I get a rebate on it and if you choose a rebate in the form of a Walgreen's gift card, they will rebate the amount plus 10%. You can do it all at the end of the month so if you have several rebates coming, it will all come on one card and you can choose just to reload the card at the end of every month.
So far, I have a gift card coming with $6.60 on it.

So my total out of pocket expense is................$17.22!!!!!! That is a savings of over 70% and it will only get better in the future because...
1. I don't need to buy these certain items again, I am stocked up laundry soap, dish soap and cold meds and will not need to make a last minute run to the store to pay full price.
2. I have a gift card and Register Rewards to use next time so my out of pocket expense will be something close to $5 or less with $70 worth of groceries and will continue to be that way if I continue to shop the same way.

That's what I am talking about!!!!

My friend Shelia told me years ago that for Christmas one year she made everyone a cold kit, or a sick kit. She put everything in a basket that you would possibly need if you had a cold. Medicine, cough drops, tissues, chicken soup, etc. How cute would that be especially if you got it all for practically nothing? Even to take to someone who is sick, and not as a Christmas gift at all!

I am completely addicted!

That's right, I have a new addiction and this one will save me money instead of spending it! Lately on all the TV talk shows there has been a ton of information on how to save money in these hard economic times and Keith has been on me to save money since none of his deployment cash has hit the savings account! Really I don't know where it all goes!! And my biggest complaint is that everything has gone up in price. There was a time in our budget and Gas and Groceries where one and the same. Whatever I didn't spend it groceries, I put in the gas tank and it was more than enough. Now, whatever I don't put in the gas tank, I use in groceries!!

No really, now they are two seperate items in the budget because it's no joke filling the tanks of a Tahoe and F-150. And groceries are outrageous. I don't buy a lot of prepackaged food because it is the most expensive. Our biggest splurge in that department is frozen pizza which our favorite brand has gone up $2 in just the past couple months.

And when it comes to groceries being in the house, Keith and the kids are only pleased if our pantry and fridge are well stocked. Nothing makes for more of a sour attitude if there is nothing in the house that they find appropriate. And in order to do that I would spend anywhere from $500-600 a month. And that does not include when we eat out. Though we don't eat out often, I would say at least twice a month and you can throw another $100 into that mess.

Well no more! I have found this group of people who are serious about spending less than a $100 a week on groceries and many of them spend half than that! And you should see their pantries and freezers. They are overloaded (and that is what makes Keith happy) so much so, that a lot of it gets donated to local homeless shelters.

This is the website www.thegrocerygame.com

This is the gist of it. Every week you get a list from this website that has your local stores sales items. Then it also has listed by each item the coupons from the previous weeks Sunday papers that you can combine with it. They figure most everything goes on sale approximately every 12 weeks, so you go and buy enough to last for 12 weeks. When all is said and done, you get the items at pennies are free! and you get better at the game as time goes on, because practice does equal perfections!

So this would change some things for me. Instead of making a grocery list of items that I need to make certain meals, I would go buy what is on sale only and have a coupon for and make meal plans according to that. And did I mention how much I hate to grocery shop? Well make into a game and a competitive one at that...and I am in! However pays less, wins! Who wouldn't love that!?

So, yesterday I practiced for the first time. I got $106.50 worth of groceries for $72. Not a huge savings, but my coupons are not built up yet and I only hit our one local store, HEB. I also will visit Walgreens, where using this system, you should never pay more than pennies for cleaning supplies, medicine, make-up, toiletries and some food items. And I figure if if I can get the item for free or nearly free and I don't need it, I will just donate to the food locker on post for other soldier families are in need.

So if you are in need of tightening up the budget, hate to grocery shop and need to inject some fun, and would love to spend less than $100 (most can get to $55 at the 12 week mark) a week for a family of 4+, join in on the fun. All the work is done for you via this website so it might take you an extra hour a week to save hundreds. Keith is going to be thrilled!!!!

Normal Day Thursday

I worked vinyl so much yesterday that I now have a nerve in my neck and back that are bothering me today. Being bent over a table for hours on end isn't my idea of fun, but I kinda deserve it because I waited too long to prepare for upcoming craft shows.

This is what it looks like under my work table which is bad I know! But I have picked up in the mean time only to throw all my scraps down there again.

I wish my life this week was like this magazine

Bridger had piano lessons today so I made him practice all morning to ensure he would play well.

And then we had to run errands afterwards, dropped packages off at FedEx and run to Hobby Lobby for more supplies. Had just enough time to run to my craft store booth and pick up some extra stuff for tomorrow and pick up all the carpool kids.

Bridger's piano teacher convinced me that I needed to go to this adult Hip Hop class last night, so I did.

Then they have an adult tap class tonight and I told them NO WAY. I am too busy and I can think of a million other things I rather be doing on a Friday night then tap dancing. Perhaps if I wasn't overscheduled as it stands now. Maybe when Keith gets back........by the way, today is 3 months since he left.

Jadyn also took art class today and they are learning shading techniques. She continued to work on it at home.



So I started this normal week in my life last Friday and today it is Friday again! Whew, I am done!!! Now I am going to print all these pics out and make a quick photo album that shows what one week looks like. And I will do it again next year.

Normal Day Wednesday finally

Well after a fitful night sleep I got up and did the usual. Then I drove all these rugrats to school.
Jadyn sat in the front seat.

I can't stand when kids try to have a conversation from the backseat. Especially the 3rd row. That is what I learned.
Tyler family shelter opened up again this morning. A cat came to visit and I fed it because I met the person who it belonged too and now I have to be nice.

I have this great hummingbird feeder. It was cool to watch those birds come up on you like you weren't there. They are not shy at all.

Got my new warmer from Scentsy FINALLY-- loved it so much I ordered another one today with more scents.

My friend, Marilyn stopped by to go out to lunch. She was in town for a Dr.s appointment. She is having twins! A boy and a girl. We ate at Chedders and then stopped by Target to admire a crib.

Worked even more on some stuff for this craft show

Then I went out with another friend, Erika to pluckers. We always have a good time together though she was getting mad at me for taking pictures. I had to take 5 just to get one with her eyes open.

Bridger talked to Marilyn about going out to her property to hunt. All this talk got him thinking about his shotgun. So he got it out and cleaned it a little bit. I told him to get it put up and scat because I had to go to bed.


I almost got to bed before 11pm...it was close. But then Keith called at 11:30pm.

Not the normal day I wanted

I am having camera issues at the moment so I won't be able to post this morning, maybe tonight I can post yesterday pics because it was an interesting day. As of this morning I am stuck inbetween two fighting wives in the FRG-- and boy, are they MEAN. Like I had nothing better to do, huh! Such little drama queens.

Normal Day Tuesday

Reporting for yesterday with pics, but today I am soooo tired. Worked like crazy yesterday and then crashed fairly late only to wake up a million times because I had to run the carpool this morning and I was afraid I wouldn't wake up in time.

Jadyn is just like her daddy, can't keep her eyes open for pictures, even after 3 of them.

dropped her off at the carpool starting point

After I made her get the mail from the day before

practiced piano with bridger

painted boards

got a few more done

got the mail for a second time

it was a good mail day, got a book from paperback swap. still haven't opened it but I think it is Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vogennaunt (spelling?)
Tried to go to bed just after 11pm, but Keith called at 11:30 and then tossed and turned.