Powers Christmas Party

Bethlehem

G took Dirk and Eve to

Bethlehem!

Here they are learning something.

I can't remember what Mom said it was lol!
Looking at the animals.

Eve LOVED this lady in the pretty dress

showing off some fancy drinkware.

Checking out the Blacksmith's handiwork.

And Eve bought a fish.

G thought it was a rubber fish.

IT WAS REAL!

AND FROZEN!

ICK!

haha!

Eve-ism

Eve - (Sneezes) I think I'm allergic to Victor.
Mom - Nice try, Eve. But we are not getting rid of your little brother.

10 Years Ago

10 years ago today

I said "Yes"

when Ryan asked me a question,

during a blizzard,

at Happy Chef.

If I would have known I was about to get engaged

I would have at least taken my name tag off!

The note on the ring box

Do you like see-food?

Dirk's Christmas Program

So, I'm not going to lie. School programs are not that interesting to me. In fact, they bore me. Even with my kid in them. But, like a good mom, I drag myself there to support my boy. And I know in 20 years, I'm going to love watching the videos and looking at the pictures, because my little boy will no longer be that, a little boy. I can tell he doesn't care for it either, since he had more fun poking and jabbing his buddy, Jackson.

His class looked so cute all dressed up! I stopped by his classroom to snatch a pic of those cuties! I told them if they smiled really nice for the first one, then they could make a goofy face for the next one! They were SO excited about being allowed to be goofy!

My Free and/or Cheap Finds

At Walgreen's this week -

Many toys are B1G1

So the flashlights were 2/$6.98

I used a $5 Jingle Cash from last week =

$2 and change

The Princess Card games was $5.99

I used a $5 Jingle Cash from last week =

$1.06

At Walmart

Pictureka $5.24

I used a $5 off Pictureka (12/5 SS, internet coupon NLA)

24c + tax

My Finds at Target

I bought 2 Hungry Hippos @ $4.99/ea

I used 2 $5 off Hungry Hippos which is NLA

but it was in the 12/5 SS if you were lucky enough to get that.

Total - FREE

I bought 2 BIC Mark-it Markers on clearance for $4.99/ea

I used 2 $5 off Coupons that are NLA from BIC on Facebook

Total - FREE

All I had to do was pay tax ($1.47)

What I Got For Free This Week

My Walgreen's finds

Except for the pop, that was at Cub.

Total came to $26,

after coupons it was $4

plus a $5 off my next purchase.

So I sort of made $ :o)

Walgreen's had a special on these, and with my coupons

I was able to get an extra 2 for free.

Coupons in the mail for free Truvia
Plus 3 gift bags and tags from buying
one bag of Dove chocolates from Walgreen's.
I think Walgreen's is my favorite store lately.
With their sales, I've stored up $15 off my next purchases
this coming week there!

Not pictured is 4 Redbox codes I received inside 2 boxes

of Orville Redenbacher Popcorn. Perfect to have on snowy days like today!

Victor-ism

Dirk made some cookies at school yesterday. He just handed me one. I let Victor have a bite. Then Eve a bite. And said Victor could have another bite. I look up and it's all in his mouth.

M - Where's Mommy's cookie?
V - Huh?
M - Where did Mommy's cookie go?
V - (Showing me a mouthful of cookie) All gone.

Ebates

Did you know you can shop online and get paid to do so? Check out Ebates and start getting some cash back on those last minute Christmas gifts! It's very easy. Thousands of stores from Kohl's to Target to JCPenney, etc. You get $5 or a gift card of your choice by signing up! Refer a few friends and you can earn more cash or prizes! So, take a minute to check it out. You'll be glad you did!

Victor-ism

Dirk is playing the Wii "with" Victor. Ryan is eating pancakes and asking me if I missed an egg shell - oops! I told Ryan it sucks when you take your last bite of food and something's wrong with it, and that at least he had one more bite. Well, Victor snuck in while I said that to ryan and grabbed Ryan's last bite of pancakes, popped it in his mouth, and in between chomps says, "All gone!" lol Little turd.

Christmas Card

I cannot say "Thank You" enough to

the sender of this card.

You know who you are.

And we thank you!

May the Lord bless you beyond your dreams :o)

My Two Sons

This picture makes me smile :o)

It's rare to get Victor to take a nice pic!

I love my little boys.

I hope they grow up to be great friends.

Total Money Makeover

So, many of you know we have been following Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover for a few years now. A few months ago I was going to tell you how we did the previous month. Well, our emergency fund was depleted and then some. So we are starting anew for December :o)

So, emergency fund as of end of November - $47 and change. Ick.

One thing I learned is you pay cash for anything. It's hard to hand over the green and so easy to play with plastic, even if it's a debit card. So, one way we save up is by not using coins. When we hand over $25 to pay for our purchase of $24.56, I put the 44c in my pocket and into "The Piggy" at home. And then at the end of the month, we take it to the bank. The kids are learning how to count change and they understand that these quarters and pennies are going to give them bigger rooms and grass to play on (new house!), so every now and again, they'll ask us to put a few pennies they found on the floor into "The Piggy" for their new house :o)

I'll have to do a new tally, but from last October (2009) until this past October, we paid off nearly $20,000 in stupidity debt (personal loans and student loans) with two PART-time jobs! I wish that we were done, but the journey continues...

Eve-ism

Mom - Hey Eve.
Eve - Do NOT call me that again.
Mom - What am I supposed to call you?
Eve - I'm a Queen. Call me that.
Mom - *Laughs*

Oh it got better. She tied a princess blanket to her so she had a robe/cape like queens wear. And we were to address her as "Your Royal Highness". Wow. I was speechless! (Except for the giggles)

Eve-ism

Mom - Eve, how do you make Christmas cookies?

Eve - Well. You need 3 ingredients. Dough. (Spreading imaginary dough with her hands in the air) Then you put the Christmas stuff in it. And then put frosting on it. And sprinkles.

I guess we need to remind her how to count, that's four. But a cute recipe nonetheless!

My two princesses, Eve & Sylvia

Decorating

I wish I had more space to decorate.

Some people can decorate so beautifully.

They obviously don't have kids, toddlers and/or babies!

A few years ago, I sold our Christmas tree as we had 2 kids under the age of 2 1/2,

a doberman, and a siamese cat. None of those listed are compatible with a tree!

Instead, I used our card table, draped a table cloth over it, and displayed my Christmas town.

This has been nicknamed "The Christmas Table" by my oldest son.

The gifts are hidden underneath it, where they are hard to see.

Which also means they are not tempting the kids to rip them open!

So, in all my cheapness, I started a tradition for our own little family.

This year my son was the first to remind me to get The Christmas Table all set up!

And Little Victor. He was terrified of the tree!
But once the ornaments went up, he was interested.
Of course, out of all the ornaments, he had to pick out the
Marilyn Monroe one. He's so his father's son!

And this last one is one from my past.
I can't even remember how it started, but my
good friend, Jenny Horner Somethingoranothernow,
and I used to call each other "Losers".
So, the Christmas during our Senior year of high school,
she made this ornament. And I still hang it, obviously,
to this day to remember some good times. It brings a smile
to my face every time I see it.

What I Got For Free Last Week

Kind of a "slow" week for freebies in our house, but this is what I got!

The kids are excited for the big tub of sprinkles and box of icing tubes

to decorate Christmas cookies with!

Thankfully, Hy-Vee has a GREAT deal this week on sugar ;o)

Christmas Cards

So I'm doing a Christmas card exchange with some fans of www.couponingtodisney.com. We have received a few cards so far, and I decided to get a map of the United States so Dirk and Eve can color in the states we receive cards from. It's a fun learning experience for them. Thanks for your cards ladies!!

This card on top of the TV is a card from Brandy in Pennsylvania - the kids loved it! It's not going up on our door like the others, and Dirk picked the top of the TV to display it :o) The other cards are being hung on ribbon dangling from our door that goes downstairs, so we see them every time we go to family room or toy room!

The lego puppy is what I received when I bought 2 gift cards at Target (there's another little white puppy running around somewhere in the house, who knows where Eve hid hers). I already had a gift card to Target, I just swapped it out for 2 of these. This was there St. Nick gift today!

Unphotogenic Victor

Oh Victor. He is such a handsome little boy.

I wish he would take pictures well so you can all see that!

Not going to lie though, I get a kick out of these pics!

Christmas Cards

What do you do with all your Christmas cards? Yeah yeah yeah You open them and read them! I get that! But how do you display them? And what do you do with them after Christmas?

Last year, we hung two strips of ribbon over a window (attached it to the drapery rod) and taped each card to parts of the ribbon. The kids got a kick out of that.

My cousin, Laura, said to reuse the cards into gift tags. What a great idea! I'll just cut them up and punch a hole in them and I'm set for next year :o) Haha, many of you know I never use gift tags or labels or whatever. All I need is a black, permanent marker and a spot on the wrapping paper :o) Easy peasy.

Dirk-ism

‎6:15 am November 20, Dirk's downstairs watching infomercials while Ryan sleeps on the chair next to him -

Dirk: Dad can I use your phone please?
Ryan: Why?
D: I have to call this number! (Shows me his 877#) It is a secret gift for you so I can't tell you why.
R: No phone unless you tell me who you are calling.
...D: It is for a Belly Buster machine I saw on TV... It's free for 14 days and it will get rid of your big fat belly!
R: WHAT!?!
D: (20 second pause) So can I use your phone?
R: No. Go back to bed!

Dirk-ism

We were watching PBS and something about gardening was on. The lady said that she was a very good gardner and that she had a "green thumb."

Dirk looks at every are of his thumb and said, "Hey! Why don't I have a green thumb?! I know how to garden!"

3 Months Old!

Ha! If that isn't a Victor Look I don't know what is!

My Sweet Syllie is already 3 months old!

How to get paid to shop online :o)

Do you do online shopping? Then you need to check out Ebates! You get $5 just for joining! Then, search for deals using your Swagbucks account (don't have one, click the ad on top of my blog!). Once you find them, buy them thru Ebates! There are LOTS of stores, like Kohls, Target, Walmart, Home Depot, etc to choose from!

http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=92hgB6kdxOlMGfoPLK63MA%3D%3D

What I Got For Free Today

$52.01 in products, spent 42c plus tax! (Well, it's more, but I don't know how much the Scotch Painting Tape is)

Sweet Syllie

What I Got For Free This Week

6 Cans of Cream of Chicken soup -
Yes, that would be one little Cream of Mushroom soup
that is snuck in there. I used up a can of the chicken
before I took a pic :o)
4 Packages of Nestle Toll House cookies.
Guess how many of those cookies are left?
That's right, None.















Yoplait Smoothie mix.
Pringles Xtreme - The kids made the BEST faces
when I fed them these! A bonus to being a mom -
giving your kids things to try and watching them
make faces about it!

Wow...

Right after I gave her a bath of course! All the way up into her armpits. Nasty!

Snow. Ick.

Memories - Dirk

Auntie Gwen was making Derrick giggle. A lot! He's about 5 1/2 months old here.

Eve-ism/Dirk-ism

My friend, Karly, brought over some chili for us. It has lots of beans in it. The kids have always said they hate beans. I told them beans make them fart. Now they are eating beans. Hey, whatever works! lol

Sisters

Who's Who?

Eve's Note

Eve wrote me the following letter on an index card...

MOMOMOMY
EFOMYFEevPBMrPPr
EFOFMMNBPBPPe
BEOFMBPM
u (heart) i
FOMQANPMit

I asked her what it says. She told me to sound it out. So I did, she giggled and said that it says, "I love you"

Um, yeah. Looks like she's been blessed with her father's ability to spell. :o)

Eve-ism/Dirk-ism

Yesterday, we saw some crabs for our saltwater fishtank on sale. So we bought 5 of them. Our tank desperately needed them!

Today...

M - Eve, can you see the biggest crab in the tank - look at the "machine" in the tank (that thing that blows water around to make currents, whatever that is called!).

E - Oh, there it is! Hi, Carrie!

Yeah, my kids named the the biggest crab "Carrie".

I asked Dirk why they named the biggest crab "Carrie" - and he just laughed. lol