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Happy Birthday, Eve!

2006

9# 10oz

21 inches

1

2

3

4

5

Happy Birthday, Your Royal Highness!

There is definitely no dull moments in our home with this Princess around! She makes us laugh on a daily basis. I absolutely LOVE all the Eve-isms she gives to us. Yesterday was her birthday, and Friday night she informed me that there should be balloons and a sign (banner) for her but not to tell her what they look like, that was to be a surprise to her. (Ok honey) And even though I'm not a fan of birthdays, I put that aside and went and bought a Tinkerbell, Princess and a crown balloons just for her. And a banner. She liked them. I said she could pick out whatever she wanted for her birthday lunch, snacks and dinner. For dinner, she said she was going to eat cookies "Because it's my birthday and I can eat whatever I want to on my birthdays." I didn't let that one happen!

She is SO ready for Kindergarten and even though I'm sure I'll cry on her big day, we are SO ready for her to go! But cannot wait for the stories her teacher will tell us :o)

Super Saving Sisters

Check out the new blog Sarah and I started about saving YOU some money! Leave feedback! Stay tuned for info on the new site on how to "LIKE" us on Facebook to keep up with all the great deals out there! We are so excited!

www.supersavingsisters.blogspot.com

Eve-ism

Ryan was upstairs with the kids while Dirk played the Wii. Dirk needed help playing the game and asked Ryan to show him how. He did, and it worked. Here's the conversation that followed...

D - Daddy! You're a smarty pants!
R - Yeah. I know.
D - Mommy's a smarty pants, too.
E - No she's not! Mommy's a girl! She's a smarty panties!

Living Social $20 Amazon gift card for only $10!

Living Social is having a great sale on Amazon gift cards! I need diapers, well technically Victor and Sylvia need diapers haha! So I'm snagging this up! Check it out! They also have a program where you invite your friends and get 5 Deal Bucks, I haven't checked out what this means yet, but I have a feeling I'll be getting to know this site :o)

Who's Who? 4 Months Old

My Walgreen's Run

My Downtown Mankato Walgreen's had some great clearance items - paired with coupons, you'll see it was quite a great deal!

4 Keebler Ready Crusts on clearance for 49c/each = $1.96
4 Domino brown sugar on clearance for 24c/each = 96c
2 Pantene hair products on clearance for $1.59 each - used $3 off 2 Pantene products = 18c
1 Fructis shampoo on clearance for $1.09 - used $1 off Fructis shampoo = 9c
*They had quite a few products on clearance on an end cap at the back, left corner of the store!
2 Troli candies (should have been B1G1 @$1.49, but I had a large coupon, so I didn't argue in case it would beep my coupon) $1.69 - used a company coupon $1.50 = 19c
4 Halls cough drops $1 each - used 2 $1 off coupons plus 2 B1G1 coupons (they are all over up at the Hilltop Hy-Vee! I've stocked up for a sale like this!) = FREE
2 Lindsay Olives (Ryan's fave) on sale for 2/$4 - used in ad coupon (took $2.02 off) = 99c each

Total $5.37 + tax AND a $2 off catalina printed off from Procter and Gamble! BONUS since I bought 2 Pantenes on clearance! Wish I had more coupons for that deal!

Saved $36.18

And my cashier was a younger man, and I always get a kick out of them liking the end total :o)

We have 3 Walgreen's around here, so since each store has different clearance, I decided to hit up the North Mankato one for this...

Not much on clearance we needed except the French's Fried Onions for 79c each - used 2 - 75c coupons and 2 - 50c coupons, making them 58c total
I used the $2 catalina from the first Walgreen's Run to buy 2 Reese's at 2/$2 = FREE
And the cashier talked me into to sugar free gum at 50c each :o) I caved.

Total $1.88 + tax
Saved $11.26

So, I spent $7.03 + tax and saved $47.44 Not too bad :o)

More of My Free and/or Cheap Finds

Here's part of my Cub Run...
2 Swiss Miss on sale for $1 each, used 50c off 2 (expired - I LOVE THAT CUB ACCEPTS EXPIRED COUPONS!) = 50c each
2 Dove Chocolates on sale $1.95, used 2 - $1 off coupons (expired) = 95c each
(notice one is not pictured? Dove is my FAVORITE chocolate haha!)

Loaf of Arnold bread (best ever!) on sale $2, used $4 coupon from company

Loaf of Arnold Italian bread $2.19, used $4 coupon from company (it deducted $4 each time even though I only spend $2-2.19! Yeah for overages!!

Krunchers - used a Free Product coupon from the Kruncher company = FREE

Not pictured is...

Ice cream @ $1.99 (Victor is sick, wanted something soft for him to eat)

and Sirloin on sale for $1.99/lb = $3.54

Total $5.12 + tax

(saved $13!)

Walgreen's Run Part 2 :o)
Each of the above was on sale for 25c each! Couldn't find any coupons to get them free, but I tried haha! Cupcakes are just in time for Eve's birthday coming up!


Walgreen's Run part 1
Colgate toothpaste on clearance for 37c each! I used 50c off coupon, tried buying 3, but they wouldn't adjust the coupon or the price of the Colgate so I could get 3 for free, so I had them take one Colgate off my transaction after they scanned the other coupons, so I had 13c overages for each one :o) I bought a few other things, but nothing worth noting.

I WAS SO EXCITED TO SEE THESE IN THE MAIL!

I love shoes, especially sandals, but can't really wear them in the winter. I was a lucky person to get one of these pairs when Bear Paw had a giveaway on their Facebook page! But I was TICKED OFF when I noticed they were size 7! Darn it! :o) They are so cute, but one of my sisters-in-law will get to sport these cuties around. Just better not be around me! I'll be jealous! It also came with a music CD that I will keep for myself, thank you very much.

My Free and/or Cheap Finds

Oh have I missed finding a good deal! I think I spent too much time yesterday (a whopping 2 hours) shopping. But it was nice to be out.

My Target Run...
Kashi on sale for $2.99, used $3 off from Vocalpoint = FREE

6 cans of Cream of Chicken on sale for 75c each, used 2 - $1.00/4 = 50c each. (I've gotten them better, but this is the best sale I've found lately and we really needed them. Bummer)

Kens Dressing - I love my Italian dressing! on sale for $1.75, forgot my coupon poop on me.

Tide 97c, used $1 off = FREE

Total spent $5.71 plus tax

Ok, I have hated Walmart for a LONG time. But I decided to give them a few more tries ("buying" my free stuff there). My cashier was very nice. So I will try them again sometime in the future...

4 Athenos Greek yogurts on sale for $1 each, used $2/2 coupon = 4 for FREE
Rhodes dinner rolls $1.76, used $1 coupon from some paper I forget which :o) = 76c
2 Schick disposable razors $1.97, used 2 - $2 off coupon 12/5 SS (exp 1/16) = 2 for FREE
3 Maruchan Yakisoba 54c each, used 3 - 50c off coupons 1/2 SS (exp 3/31) = 4c each

Total = 82c + tax

Not bad, huh? :o)

Gran & Grandpa's House!

My two girls

:o)

Haha! Love Eve's face,

Love Sylvia looking away

Eve loved this little photo shoot with

her baby sister

Are those all my kids?

All smiling?

AT THE SAME TIME?!

Hey Miss Snooty.

Victor kept saying "Cheese!"

He wanted to get his pic taken by his baby sister :o)

Oh. What is that?

Can I reach it?

I LOVE THIS PICTURE!

I think I am printing this off in an 8x10

and not getting her 4 month pic taken and use this!

Which is bigger -

Syllie's eye

or

the ornament???

My two boys

adoring Gran's tree

Isn't Gran's tree beautiful?!

It's gorgeous.

And so are my boys :o)

Dirk and Victor visiting Gran

in the hospital

Ok. Besides 4 bedrooms and a yard,

a MUST HAVE on my new house list

is a "Cacuzzi" tub as the kids call it!

I have never seen Dirk's face like this -

This was the BEST THING EVER in his mind!

The boys in the "cacuzzi" before the bubbles began.

Dirk wanted to play the piano,

but did not want his pic taken.

He kept playing the piano and saying,

"I know how to play and I've never

had any lessons!" Yeah, we know, kid. haha

Victor and Daddy playing the piano

Victor's bday present from Gran and Grandpa!

Oh does he love this little garage.

LOVES LOVES LOVES IT!

And put his foot on it so no one else could play.

Sylvia eating the towel after her bath

(in a regular bathtub, no jacuzzi for her yet)

Haha! I love her face!

She loved Gran's soft towels

She really needed a bath,

and loved it!

These two were inseparable.

BFF's

Hans and Eve

Victor hiding under Uncle Britt

and Auntie Christine's table

(He took some really nice pics this week there!)

Dad, Goofy Dirk, and Uncle Britt

Eve and her Hansie

(Hockey as Victor pronounces)

Sylvia - Milestone

I woke up this morning to a little, smily Sylvia - on her back! She's officially mobile. :o( I liked being able to know she'll be right where I left her. Oh well. I guess she has to grow up sometime.

Viewpoints

One way I earn some extra spending money is by doing product reviews for www.viewpoints.com. Every so often they send me a message saying if I do "X" number of product reviews (I write a paragraph or 900 characters on a certain product in a certain category) I will received $X to Amazon. Through today, if you write 10 product reviews, you get $10 to Amazon. I just finished mine. I try to write 1 more than it asks for, just in case one of my reviews gets lost, or doesn't count because it's in a different category than they asked for, etc. I did a few of these over the last few months and was able to save up $25 or $35, I don't remember exactly, for Christmas presents! And with the sales I found on Amazon, that amounted to about $50-75 worth of gifts! Not bad for a few minutes it took to write up each review.

If you're interested, check them out! I've always received my Amazon gift card codes, so no complaints here!

Total Money Makeover Update

Emergency Fund - Stocked!

$575 to visit Gran & Grandpa - was $128
Revised to $400 as Gran is in the hospital and we want to send Ryan and Eve out there as soon as possible!

Deposited $107.15 today!

* $8.35 in spare change
* $12 from paid surveys
* $11.80 from selling some kids' clothes
* $75 in gift money

New Total - $235.90! Only $164.10 to go! Hopefully less if we can get a good deal on flights!

We're following Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover. Get his book. It'll change your life!

Happy Birthday, Victor!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, VICTOR!

Born 12/29/08

8:35 am

8 # 2 oz

21 inches

1st Birthday

And now 2!

He absolutely loves to play with balls. And make Eve scream (he knows just how to push her buttons!). He would eat yogurt for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks in between if I let him. When he opened his present today, he skipped the toy cars in the bag and went straight for all the Hershey's Kisses on the bottom of the bag. He had to eat all of them before even thinking about toys. He loves his chocolate! He's talking so much now, it's so nice! When I sang "Happy Birthday" to him early this morning, he kept trying to blow out his pretend candles in front of him after each "Happy Birthday" in the song! He's such a sweet, fun, crazy little redhead!

To Do List

Haven't done one of these in a while! Here goes...

"Due Date" - Thursday Morning
Yeah. We're going to extend this due date until Friday. Because I'm the boss and I say I can ;o)

Living Room
1. Put all presents away
DONE! But I'm sure I'll do it again. 2. Vacuum
3. Fix curtain rod
4. Scrub entry floor
5. Organize bookshelf
Dirk Did It! 6. Organize shoes
7. Clean fishtank
DONE! 8. Take Christmas scene down
Ornamets are down! 9. Take tree down
DONE! 10. Take stockings down
Storing them another way now 11. Organize dresser drawers into toy drawers for each kid
12. Put plastic on windows

Kitchen/Dining Room
DONE! 1. Do all dishes
2. Put all dishes away
DONE! 3. Clean counter (under coffee maker and microwave also)
4. Clean table
I swept instead :o) 5. Scrub floor
6. Clean top of stove
7. Organize refrigerator
8. Organize freezer
9. Put window coverings back up (I finally washed them!)
10. Clean off top of refrigerator

Bathroom
1. Clean sink
DONE! 2. Clean toilet
3. Clean bathtub
4. Clean floor

Our Bedroom
1. Put all clothes away (unpack suitcase)
2. Figure out what to do with all the kids' clothes they've outgrown
3. Clean off dresser
4. Where to put my new mirror?
5. Vacuum
6. Put bedding back on bed
7. Put plastic on windows.
8. Put up new drapes!!!

Kids' Bedroom
1. Put all clothes away (unpack suitcase)
2. Organize buckets of clothes that are too big yet
3. Vacuum
DONE! 4. Fix broken window, throw glass away
DONE! 5. Put up plastic
6. Fix armoire drawer? If possible.

Basement
DONE! 1. Vacuum
2. Finish laundry
3. Fold laundry
4. Put laundry away
DONE! 5. Take out garbages
6. Organize toys!!!!
7. Fix wall by stairs, and on stairs

Miscellaneous
DONE! 1. Deposit $
DONE! 2. Cut up Christmas cards into gift tags and postcards
3. Look up grocery ads/match up coupons!
DONE! 4. Clean out purse, ugh.
DONE! 5. Do surveys from receipts - I will win!
1/2 Done! 6. Set up appts for V & S for pics
DONE! 7. Set up appt for S's 4 mo checkup
DONE! 8. Get calendar written on
9. Put calendar up!
10. Buy containers for crayons and coloring books
11. Write Thank Yous

Ready...Set...Go!

Our Christmas

Auntie Marcie getting her sewing machine to make her

domesticated, barefoot and pregnant.
Cousin Kyrsten in her
Bow Queen loveliness

Auntie Marcie got Sylvia's name.

Why does this gift from her not surprise me?!

Uncle Scottie attacking Eve :o)

I LOVE this sweater from G & G!

Victor liked opening presents piece by piece...

Eve wanted to show us as many presents

as possible at the same time

My pretty princess :o)

HAHA! These two tried to blow out the

Yule Log on the tv! It was cute!

I have no idea how to put a beret on!

But isn't she cute nonetheless?

I miss this the most living so far away -

Just the family happiness

Except for Sylvia, she doesn't think the joke was that funny!

Dirk got Iron Man 2 from G & G

This picture doesn't do her excitement justice.

She was one thrilled little girl!

Oh Pepper Dog.

He's roughly 184 people years old

or something like that ;o)

Choo-Choo!

He loved this sound effects book!

Eve and her PINK Legos!