1 Ballet dancer in training

Allie had her first dance class last week.  She was so excited.  The first words out of her mouth Thursday morning were, “is it time to go to ballet now?”  I have to admit I was very excited to sign her up since I loved dance so much, but she really wants to do it.  We borrowed some tap shoes from the neighbors, but she ‘needed’ her very own first pair of ballet flats, just like my pair that we pulled out of my cedar chest to see how close to the same size they were.  During the last 5 min of their class the teacher opened up the door and I was able to peak in.  Allie was participating, but watching and absorbing more than anything.  Knowing her, she will be leading the class in a few weeks. 

The last song that the teacher played was “See Me Run” from Brite’s ‘Watch Me Sing’ album.  I know this because I grew up dancing to it as a child and later used it when I taught the preschool ballet class as a senior in High School.  Two thoughts came to me as I watched my daughter run, spin, and twirl: 1) she is growing up and o-so-cute  & 2) I am soooooooooooo old!

 

Here she is with her buddy ‘Lou’ after their first class.  I think they had a great time and are both asking when they can go back. 

2 Goose bumps, chills, oh my!

0 If nobody is here...

In an effort to keep in touch with my nephew and nieces, I finally set up a FaceBook account. Ya know what? BIG Surprise, its addicting. So if I don't post on my blog for a while, look for me over there. I'm posting self-edited home movies for my peeps.

PS - click on the FaceBook 'badge' box at the top of the middle column to the right to check out my new obsession.

1 Can you believe it!

Happy 10th anniversary to us! To celebrate we went out to dinner at a new restaurant in Logan, "the Elements". It was about the best meal I've had out. I got the house salad with various breads, a turkey chop (wrapped in bacon), steamed green beans, and whipped sweet potatoes. YUM! Nate got the short ribs, steamed carrots, and buttermilk whipped potatoes. This was definitely NOT the kind of place I'd ever take my kid-o's. We'll go agian, but not often due to price. If you get a chance I highly suggest it!

4 Not to brag, but....

I've just spent the better part of 24 hours on this shopping trip, so I had to brag! I started out at Albertson's at 6am (running a major sale plus 3 double coupons per trip) and then slipped over to Smiths (doubling all coupons up to $2, no limit) before heading back to Albies once their truck was unloaded. I spent hours yesterday cutting my coupons, putting the new ones in my binder and throwing out the expired ones, and then more hours planning my transactions. I left home at 5:30am and after 10 transactions, between the two stores, I didn't get home till about 11am. You are probably asking, is it worth it? To tell the truth, I'm not really sure. Lots of people say 'I want to do that', but it is a LOT of work and tons of stress. I'm not going to go into any real details, but here's my recap:

Full RETAIL price of all of the below: $851.51
I paid: $100.93
That's 12% of full price!

...PLUS next time I fill up my gas tank...
I get $0.15 off PER GALLON *AND* $5 off the total!!!
you better bet I'll be taking in the Blazer instead of my grocery car

Here are some general prices, since I don't want to go into any detail. This was on complex day!!! A good share of what I paid was sales tax, since that is applied on the pre-coupon price.

2 gallons white Milk *FREE*
2 half gallons Chocolate milk *FREE*

6 packages of Turkey lunch meat ($1 each)

57 boxes of cereal, including: (all under $0.40 each)

26 Honey Nut Cheerios
5 Honey KIX
6 Honey Bunches of Oats
2 Reeses Puffs
18 Cookie Crisp

5 boxes Macaroni Grill dinners ($0.65 each )
8 cans Camkpbell’s Cream of Chicken soup ($0.09 each)
4 cans Ortago chillies ($0.29 each)
1 bag Crasins dried cranberries ($1.00)
8 boxes BC instant garlic mashed potatoes ($0.75 each)

9 boxes BC yellow cake mix ($0.50 each)
4 pouches BC cookie mix ($0.44 each)
8 microwave BC warm delights ($0.33 each)
8 boxes BC fruit snacks ($0.60 each)
7 boxes Chex mix Bars ($0.50 each)
18 boxes BC Gushers ($0.45 each, Nate’s fav, but no cash cards)
8 bags NV nut clusters ($0.25 each)
4 bags Chex MIX ($0.40 each)
2 jars Smuckers Ice cream topping ($0.65 each)
5 3-pack of Extra/Wrigley’s gum *FREE*
12 bottles of Mento’s gum *FREE*

6 bottles ALL small-n-mighty 32 load laundry detergent *FREE*
6 pair Playtex handsaver gloves *FREE*

8 sticks Old Spice deodorant (Nate’s fav, $0.33 each)
4 sticks Secret ladies deododrant (my fav) *FREE*
5 tubes Crest toothpaste *FREE*
1 bottle Summer’s Eve woman wash ($0.79)

6 4-pack Duracell AA batteries ($1 each)

6 bottles Aussie mouse *FREE*
3 bottles Aussie shampoo *FREE*
4 pack CoverGirl makeup sponges *FREE*
1 CoverGril makeup brush *FREE*
4 CoverGril eye shadow *FREE*
1 CoverGirl nail polish *FREE*
1 CoverGirl lip gloss ($0.14)