Adventures in COUPONING!

Okay, so I am not going to go off on this forever but I am just so darned excited over my most recent hobby. That is right, my most resent hobby is couponing! It may sound a little time consuming but I save a TON of money on my groceries and non-foods items. For example, I did, indeed, get 18 bottles of Aussie shampoo and conditioner for only .33 cents a bottle. Last week, I got 20 boxes of General Mills cereal at Albertsons for FREE. That's right, I said FREE! In total, I walked away from the store with $248 of food for only $56, and I did it all with three children in tow (bless the cashier at Albertson's, she was so patient with us). After the bag boy helped me out to my car he said, "WoW! I have never seen someone save so much money." I was beaming with pride. In fact, when Rob and I went back there the other day to just get a roast for Sunday dinner, we saw the same bag boy. He smiled at me and asked if I had brought any more money saving coupons with me. Rob thought it was hysterical (he is always teasing me about the strange looks I get from the other people who are checking out). To me....there was no greater compliment. Ahhhhh. How satisfying. It has actually become a fun family affair. Rob and I have done a bit of couponing after our dates and when I pick G-McBabe up from school I often get the question, "Mom, did our coupon's come today. Can we go to the store."

Seriously, I am not pro but the lady I learned it from is. She is amazing. She grocery shops, for a family of 8, for only $150-$200 a month and that includes her cleaning, hygiene, and other non-food items. CRAZY! I have her e-mail address if anyone wants to contact her and buy her $10 cd. It comes with the know how and 50 recipes that use commonly couponed items or store in the freezer well. It's great. So......if you are on the quest to save bucko-bucks, let me know.

I have the most brilliant children EVER!!!!!

Okay...so they may not be THE most brilliant but I am pretty dang proud of them. Here's the scoop. Yesterday, the kids and I took and trip to the library. We do this quite often but this time it was for a special occasion. It was Dr. Seuss's birthday. We went to go get some Dr. Seuss books so we could have a "birthday party" for him at home (since we could not make the one the school was having because Rob was at school, himself, and I was not about to drag three kids to it by myself). Anyway.....we picked up our books and headed home. We had picked up a couple of level 1 and 2 "reader" books as well. When we got home I decided to test Gabe's reading skills (so many people tell me that he can't be reading yet, he's just memorizing the books but.....hello! what is reading? The memorization of words. Duh!). So.....to get back to my story. I gave him a book that he had NEVER seen before and he began to read. Page after page after page (I did have to help him sound out a few words like "plunk, clunk and smack" but he did the rest. I WAS soooooo proud of him. It is times like these that I realize I must not be a COMPLETE failure as a mother and teacher. So.....I praised him for it and told him how proud I was of him and a miracle happened............he was so well behaved the rest of the night. Not one tantrum. Wow, it's amazing what a little positive encouragement can do. I will have to remember that!
Cael....what an amazing kid as well. He just turned two and can count to ten (loosely speaking. He always skips four and seven) and he loves to sing the ABC's. He is mommy's big helper. He is always trying to help me clean (which I forget to see it for what it is and appreciate it sometimes). He likes to sweep, pick up toys, and clean up Isaac's spit up. That's right, as disgusting as it is, he is always cleaning up Isaac's spit-up. He has crazy, fine, "floofy" hair and LOVES banana peppers and pickles.....just like his mamma!

Now Isaac, the little naughty boy is already trying to crawl and he hasn't even learned to sit up yet. We are working on it. Although it's a little difficult learning to sit up when you are constantly being bowled over by your overly affectionate older brother.

Isaac is so much fun and so smiley. He is one tough cookie too (he has to be.....again, Cael). We are so glad he is a part of our family.

(This is one of those faces Isaac makes that REALLY reminds me of Rob. Do you see it too?)

Rob continues to work very hard at work and school. ONLY THREE 1/2 semesters left (arrrrgggg). He has so much on his plate and he still makes time for us. I can tell that sometimes the load puts a lot of strain on him to the point he wants to pull his hair out (although he shouldn't, it is falling out quite nicely on it's own) but he just keeps trucking along doing his best. I appreciate him so much. Amazing......that's all I can say.

Meanwhile, I am STILL going crazy. Live is like a tornado, or a hurricane, or a whirlpool....whatever, I cant make up my mind. I am trying out new adventures in "COUPON"ing. It gives me a thrill I haven't had in a long time. In fact, this week, if all goes well, I will be getting bottles of shampoo (Aussie) and body wash (I cant remember what kind...some name brand somthing) for only 33 cents a bottle. If only my coupons would get here already............. Doesn't that sound exciting? Well it excites me to the point of nervous anxiety. I will let you know how it goes. In fact, I will write my next BLOG about it. HA HA! Blogging is great!

AND NOW I'M BACK.........

Now I have really gone and done it. I chopped it clean off! Hooray! I feel like myself again. Who was I trying to kid. I am not some diva who is all into the long, luscious locks, head turning, and three hours (okay, not that long) at the mirror trying to tame the wild beast. How good it feels to be free of, what I so affectionately called, the "lion's mane." (did it not remind y'all of one?). It will forever amaze me that the minute I chopped of the hair I felt a sense of relief, a great weight (literally about 3 lbs) lifted from my shoulders and now I am free to be me again. NO MORE PRETENDING TO BE WHAT I AM NOT (as soon as I figure out what that means I will let you know). WAAAAHOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

(I know........super attractive, right?)

So.....contrary to popular belief, Rob did not shrivel up and die. I think he thought he would but, he lives on. He actually admitted that he likes it. Don't be fooled, he is still mourning his loss, but in time his hurts will heal.

Other accomplished feats: After 12 years of having only my sister cut my hair (except once when Rob's cousin Lindsay trimmed it just after Jennifer had a baby) I allowed someone else to touch it. It was painful for me (she was okay but not NEARLY as good and thorough as Jennifer) but I did it. Look at me....I'm all grown up. (sniff, sniff)

Melanie's new hair cut.....what an ordeal!

So....a few months ago I decided that it was time for the hair to come off. As a mother of three kids (one being a new born who has incredible grip...if you know what I mean) I was just plain tired of it. It was too thick and too long. I had to use two hair bands to hold it when I worked out and it would still fall out, when I sat down at the couch my head would yank backwards and I felt like I lived back in the 1800's because I would have to braid it every night to keep it from tangling up into a huge mess of knots. So....the decision was made and I had to tell Rob (who of course was soooooooooo sad). That is when the mourning began. I actually straightened it and kept it down quite a bit in the following weeks (you see, I wanted to wait until we actually went down to Utah for a visit so my sister could cut it) so Rob could enjoy seeing it a few more times that way. He also had a hard time keep his hands out of it (a bit like a cave man) and finally asked me if he could take a picture of it before I cut it just so he could remember it (it was actually longer than I have EVER had it). I found that suggestion so incredible humorous and was a little embarassed posing for them but let him do it anyway. I thought it would be funny to do a before and after picture and post it so that everyone could enjoy a good laugh with me.

Before

After

I know what you are thinking? Did she really cut it?

Now....as it turns out, I only ended up taking of three or four inches in the length (although there were times I made Rob think that I was cutting 11 inches off for locks of love. No wonder he was scared!) but took out a considerable amount by thinning and adding a bunch of layers. So....in the end, there was no need for mourning. Rob is still satisfied with it (he continues to drag me around the house) and I am a lot happier with it. Now seriously......what was all the fuss about?

Home again, home again, jiggidy jig!

We are finally back from our "vacation" in Utah. I say "vacation" because it was anything but that. The boys were sick nearly the entire time so we spent a lot of time at Grandma Hardings house instead of out and about. However, we did have a wonderful time visiting with our family and a few friends. The boys and I really enjoyed being able to visit with Granny T a lot. We worked on many a puzzles by her side. We were also especially glad to visit with Amanda, David, and Isabel who were visiting Utah from Nebraska (since our opportunities to visit with them are few and far between). We love all of our family and are glad we are bound to them forever.

ESPECIALLY DADDY!!!! What a joyous reunion we had with Rob. After being without him for two weeks we got to see him for a whole 18 hours before he left again to go out of town.

The boys are growing like weeds.

Gabe was soooooooo excited to get back to school. He kept asking me if all of his friends were going to "gather around [him] when [he] [got] back." It was hilarious and sure enough, they did. His teacher told me that the whole dynamics of the class were thrown off without him and they are so happy to have him back. He can be such a delight to be around sometimes. (does Gabe look like a Gillespie is this picture or what? Actually he kind of looks like his uncle Kyle to me).




Cael is finally coming into his own. Going to Utah gave him the opportunity to come out of his cocoon and become a social butterfly. Now he is "hi-ing" and "bye-ing" everywhere we go. With his knockout smile and "nurturing" ways (aggressive....but nurturing), we will soon be beating away the ladies.






Isaac is just a bundle of fun. He LOVES his brothers (Gabe- all of the time and Cael- when he is not beating on him) and has started to laugh and interact with them a lot. He is such a happy baby and very mild mannered (thank goodness). He started solid foods the other day (because he has started waking in the night to be fed). What a chunk!






Rob started school again this last week and already we are counting down the weeks until this semester is over. It has bee really nice having him as a part of our family instead of a stranger who sits at the computer all night. That is an exaggeration. He actually took a lot of time to help me out with the kids last semester and did very well in his classes. We hope he will be able to keep up the family life and the good grades in the coming semesters.

As for me, I am going crazy with all there is to do as a mother of three who has not been home for three weeks. I am now trying to take off the poundage put on while in Utah (what can I say.....my mom's house is full of lots of yummy snacking things and I was there for a looooooooong time). So goodbye weight lost and hello weight loss. But......I guess I wouldnt have it any other way. I like food too much not to enjoy it now and again, and again, and again, and again.................

Time to get back to real life. Family......this is what real life is all about.