5 My Excuse...

I working full time in the office (at least for the winter) and I am pregnant.

I've been quite sick and tired this time around. Definitely different that previous pregnancies of mine. I'll try to get back on the blog...

P.S. "NewBaby" is due July 19 and we are waiting till birth to find out the gender

2 Sisters

In our home it is the little sister who beats up the big sister. Kylie is constantly pestering Allie.

• Kylie swipes the paper Allie is drawing on.
• Kylie eats Allies yummy bedtime snack.
• Kylie runs off with 'orange,' A's beloved blanket.

All of these antics leave Allie dissolved tears while Kylie dances off, giggles mercilessly. Sweet Allie never retaliates and often only shrugs her shoulders and moves on, so sometimes Kylie ups the anti. Lately she's been testing out shoving, hitting, and full body tackles. We've tried to be good parents, but the 'naughtly chair' and other previously successful consequences haven't been deterrents at all. Well last night it came to a head when Kylie took a bite out of Allie's arm for no apparent reason (no blood, but teeth marks). After locking the offender in her bedroom, frustrated Nate told Allie that next time she needs to 'whomp' her little sister. In response Allie howled louder. Sweet soul didn't want to 'hurt' Kylie.

2 Treat to eat!

I can not take any credit for this yumm-o recipe. I got it from my good friend Brandi after she brought it to scrapbook night. Every time I make it I try a different combination based on what I've got on hand and its always disappeared behind smiles. Let me know what you mix in and how its received. At Ellen's request here's...

PUPPY CHOW

In a large bowl measure out:

8 cups dry cereal-type stuff
1 large bag hard-shell candy

In a pot over low heat stir till melted:

1 bag white chocolate chips
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Pour hot goo over mix in bowl and stir till well coated
Spread out on a large cookie sheet
When dry, break into pieces and enjoy

Dry stuff options:

4 cups Honey Nut Cheerios
2 cups cocoa puffs
2 cups pretzel stixs
- or -
2.5 cups Honey Nut Cheerios
2.5 cups Fruit Loops
1 cups cocoa puffs
1 cup chocolate gram fish
1 cup pretzel stixs

1 bag candies:

plain M&M
-or-
Kissables
-or-
Reeses Pieces

4 Annual HOGLE ZOO trip

If you ask, the girls will tell you the metal statues, goldfish in the pond, and the little birds eating crumbs were their favorite things this trip.

I personally thought the baby elephant was the highpoint.

The daddy Lion also put on quite a show for us. We were glad to spend the day with our Beattie cousins, but missed the Stafford girls who ended up not being able to come this year. (yes, Abby & I are wearing the same sweater. We love ModBe and great minds think alike.)

I don’t think we can go to the zoo without a picture on the lion statues.

Of course the girls were on their best behavior to get a ride. They grinned ear to ear the whole time. When it was over poor Eden ran away crying…she wanted another ride.

This is my favorite picture of the day.

2 September Catch up – misc.

Nate turned 33!

We did some shopping.  One day the girls were so good in Kmart, they earned a ride.

   

 

I canned and put up lots of fruit and veggies.  Here I am teaching Heidi how to make/bottle salsa!

I hired some cute little maids to help me clean my house.  

The girls loved playing outside in the cool weather, between rain storms that is.

We meet my Mom in Pocatello one day to send 13 boxes of my homegrown tomatoes to homes in Rexburg.

Allie had a fun movie party: “Barbie’s Thumbelina”

(L-R: Kylie, Hayden, Lexi, Allie, Allysa)

Kylie is starting to play on her own…thank goodness, since she is alone during preschool and dance lessons.

 

0 Allie’s back to pre-school

 

 

Poor Kylie was devastated to be left behind!  She' has started going to Grandma JoAnne’s house during pre-school hours, which makes her feel like she is a big-girls too.  As an added bonus I am getting more work in during the day.  Sometimes I wish preschool was EVERY day!

 

 

0 New Moon micro widget

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)

4 Our First Family Photos

It really is sad that this is the first time we’ve had family pictures taken.  And it took my in-law’s 50th wedding anniversary to get them done at that!