Huh??

I am really bad about keeping up this blog. I'm sure the millions of people who have subscribed to it are thoroughly disappointed...and for that, I am sorry.

A few weeks ago we took the kids to see the grunion run. Bad idea for several reasons. #1: It doesn't start until 9:55pm. #2: It's very cold and wet at the beach at night. #3: We only saw 2 stinkin fish! And Rory swore he would catch one for the boys if he had to dive in the water and chase it. Needless to say, they were too fast for him. The boys just starred aimlessly at the water. We gave up after 30 minutes and went home.

Rory took the kids across the street to the park to play baseball. See the picture of Dylan?! Yes, the ball made contact. And then the next picture is of Dylan throwing the ball. See where it is? Right above his head. That one made contact too. Poor thing.





Last week we had the Relief Society Birthday Party. My Enrichment committee put on a really nice party! It was decorated so cute. My girlfriend made an adorable cake. It was a fun night.




Things are sort of calm now, which is good, 'cause I need a break!

I bought all this tonight for $17.53. That's $0.73 an item. Plus I got $10 to spend next time I shop. It's official....I have an addiction.

Sweet bargains & sick babies

I was bored today, since Rory had to go to work from 8am-10pm for inventory stuff. So, I headed over to the OC swap meet. The kids and I walked around for a little and then went over to the farm to see the animals and gardens. Surprisingly, they were more interested in me telling them what plant was what. After that, I decided to go to CVS just for kicks....since it's like a second home to me now. And this is what I got for $3.84. Sweet deal, since the Listerine alone was normally $6. Man, I love that store. Every Monday night, when Rory gets home, I head out with my list and coupons. I wait until about 9:30 so hardly anyone else is in the store. I'm telling you, people waiting in line DO NOT like coupon queens! I don't blame them, it takes forever. But, it's free money.

On another note, Ivy decided life was too boring around here and got an infection which caused her to have horrible hives. Her doctor gave us an antibiotic, and after the second dose of it, her face and mouth swelled up. We had to take her to emergency. They gave her epinephrine and prednisolone because she was allergic to her medication! We spent 6 hours there before we got to go home. She's doing better now, so we're grateful for that. (But not the $300 she's cost us in doctor visits). The pictures of her with the hives are when they were MILD. They got horribly worse right before we took her to the ER. Stuff like that is just downright scary.


Back to something positive, Rory has been working out at the gym and lost 20 lbs in 2 months. He is lookin' mighty good! I'm proud of him. As long as he doesn't start wearing muscle shirts and spandex shorts to the gym, I am all for it!

That's it for today!

I'm up to my ears in toothpaste!

So, I'm kinda bummed this CVS trip. They didn't have 2 of the things I wanted, so I had to substitute. So I ended up spending $8. But I got $14 back in CVS money, so I guess I did okay. Definitely not as good as my last trip. Still, not too shabby. I bought 8 items & spent $8. That's like a dollar an item! Who says you can't get anything for a buck!!!! Oh, and by the way...Maybelline's Volume Seduction XL Lip gloss burns...really bad.

CVS.....I'll stop buying when they stop paying me!

So, I've read up on CVS Pharmacy, and have (like many) cracked the code! Here's what I bought today and paid nothing out of pocket, and got $22 in CVS Extra Bucks back. So technically, I just made $22 to buy all this stuff! Here's how it worked out:
Total before coupons: $73.90
Less $37.11 coupons: $36.79
Less $40 CVS Extra Bucks (from previous purchase): -$3.21
Plus got $19 Extra bucks for tonight's buys: -$22.21
So now I have $22 to spend on the next purchase, and a whole lotta Tylenol (which normally is like $7-$8 a bottle, so what a steal)!

As long as I never spend more that the "Extra Bucks" in my hand, I'll never have to pay out of pocket for anything at CVS again, and I'll make money off of most purchases.
SWEET!!!!

Odds & Ends

Things here have been very busy, yet I feel totally calm. I think I feel better when I'm busy. When I'm bored, I'm completely restless, and it's crappy. I need to start taking more pictures of the kids. They are so darn cute.....

Christmas Festivities

Wow, it seems like we spend eternities preparing for Christmas, and POOF! It's gone. We had a great holiday. The kids are so fun to watch when the open presents. Mikey got a skateboard ramp and nearly passed out. I think Ivy was overwhelmed, and Buzzy just kept telling us to take pictures of him holding up clothes.

We have embraced this new tradition in our family on Christmas day. I have bought a few elves and Christmas fairies the past few years and put them on our tree. Somehow, every Christmas morning, those elves aren't on the tree anymore. They are floating around in different places. Almost like they come to life. My kids believe they come to life when Santa enters our home and help him distribute presents and fill stockings. They always search for the elves Christmas morning, even before opening presents. It's special for us to watch their eyes light up when they see the elves have moved. And as usual, Santa ate his cookies and the reindeer ate their carrots.

We then went up to Casey and Betty's for New Years. We really have a good time with them. Betty is always a ton of fun, and Casey really comes out of his shell when we're around. I won't go into detail, but let's just say he was wearing a scuba mask and was drinking sparkling cider from the bottle when New Years hit. If I described the rest of his outfit, he'd never speak to me again! He's nuts!

So, I have decided to make a New Year's resolution, which normally I don't do. But I have made a commitment to not be so sarcastic. I find negativity in everything. I think it's time to get better at that. So, we shall see. Hope everyone gets to rest after the craziness of the holidays!