Gone Fishing

It's great having cousins nearby because you borrow things like this great costume that Victoria wore a couple of years ago.  Aunt Tina's friend made it and we thought it was adorable.  Every year we go to a cute little fall festival at Grandma Bailey's work.  They always have a costume contest, the judges being residents from the nursing home.   Kaleb didn't win the contest, but it was kind of funny because one of the judges was clearly not happy that the other judges didn't choose him, and she went and got $2 out of her purse and gave it to Kaleb!  That's how much she liked his costume.  We thought that was pretty neat and so did Kaleb.

Late Night Munchies

A couple of weeks ago Daddy had a campout with the scouts.  Kaleb went to his cousin's house while I was at work.  I picked him up after 11pm, he was hungry and asked for french fries and white milk.  I could see in the rear view mirror that he was eating them with his eyes closed, poor sleepy hungry guy.  I hate dragging kids out early in the morning, and late at night, a big reason why Keith and I work opposite shifts!  I carried him in and plopped him on the couch, but he never let go of those fries.  Eventually I peeled them out of his hand and K got to sleep on Daddy's side of the bed.  We were hoping Dad would sleep outside again, but he didn't go for it.

Ho Ho Cake

If you like this...

just spread a little of that...

then take a little taste of this...

add a little goofy...

lick the bowl, add some love, and grab a fork...

cause you're going to love this!

Burgers and Bowling

When Keith and I met 17 years ago he told me about a little place around the corner from his parent's house, called the Cameo Grill, famous in this area  for it's  "Cameo" burger.  After 17 years I still had not tried one.  Things we talk about but never do.  One day I overheard Keith and our friend Adam talking about this well known place in our little town and they were talking about taking the girls out on a date there.  I quickly butt in and said, Yes! Yes! Yes!  Lets go!  It is true, it's got to be one of the best burgers I have ever had.  After finishing our burgers and depleting the city of it's ketchup supply we headed out for some "extreme bowling".  It was supposed to be glow in the dark bowling, but from the pictures you can see that it's not really dark, and no one is really glowing.  We still had a lot of fun.  We had a blast making fun of each others various bowling moves, and we even resorted to trying Kaleb's two arm bowling method.  The bowling kick, the bowling flick, drying the hands seemed to work for the boys.  Chad was actually quite good at bowling leading the boys towards a win.  It will be a while until I bowl again, but I don't think I'll wait 17 more years for another Cameo burger, Yumm!

Cameo burger, so good!

Girls vs.

 the Boys

The leg kicks and the arm flicks...

the drying of the hands...

Whatever they were doing worked, and the girls didn't stand a chance.

The Best Hobby Ever

Just one more coupon story and then I'll stop, I promise!  I practically got all of this stuff for free, how, you might ask?  I paid $17 out of pocket for all of these items and then got back $17 to spend in the store next time I go!  I spent $17, they gave me $17 dollars.  Who could turn that down?  Some people think that using coupons makes you buy stuff you don't use, it's just not true.  I am actually able to buy stuff that I was never able to before.  Looks like I won't be buying makeup until next year sometime.  This is the best hobby ever!

Love it!

I paid $8 total for all of these, got $20 back, and had $10 donated to the national breast cancer fund.
Probably the best coupon find to date!

You can never have too much TP:)

I never pay more than $2 for a bottle of laundry detergent.

My dad would be happy to see those water bottles.  He bought those for me that last time he was in Ohio and kindly encouraged me to work of preparing for emergencies.   The bad thing is that I know we need a lot more water than that! 

Most people have seen the show "Extreme Couponing", well I wouldn't say I'm that extreme, but about a year ago I was introduced to couponing and I have to say it has definately saved me a ton of money and has changed the way I shop.  A year ago I had nothing on these shelves.  I have decreased my spending by about 30%.  I would probably have decreased it by 50%  if it weren't for working on our food storage.  I don't pay for toothpaste, toothbrushes, toothpaste or saline solution anymore.  Oh, and who could pass up all that free makeup?  We never used to eat hamburger helper, but for ten cents a box, it is now on our menu!  I pay about a dollar for cleaning supplies, shampoo, and cereal.  I spend about $5 a week on newspapers and spend about 2 hours a week cutting and filing my coupons.  I then spend about an hour each week planning my shopping.  It's a nice little part time job for me that I don't have to leave the house for and doesn't involve getting puked on.  Don't get me wrong, I love my job as a nurse...but:)  There have even been weeks I have been able to skip the store all together which is really nice!  The best part is that we end up with a lot of extra stuff, and it's nice to be able to give it away to needy friends or family.  We have also been able to donate many of our extras to a women's shelter which makes it all worth it.  Looks like I need some more shelves.  If only I could get a shed for Keith, I could take over the whole storage room!  Something to work towards I guess.  I love it!

Fall Fire

After taking the pool down, Keith got started on planning his firepit.  We were planning on buying a portable ring of some sort.  While mowing the neighbors lawn, he noticed a pile of bricks and rocks.  He didn't just see a pile of bricks and rocks though, he saw a free firepit!  The neighbor didn't have any use for them, so he lugged them all over and spent several hours putting it together this week.  He's so creative!  We were hoping we could test it out tonight but it kept raining.  After putting Kaleb to bed I couldn't find Keith anywhere.  The rain had stopped and Keith was outside building a fire.  We roasted some weenies and enjoyed sitting by the warm fire for a little while.  Fall is going to be fun with this, and Keith doesn't seem to mind the lack of grass in that spot!