Christmas List

Since Halloween I've become very unorganized with my sewing to do list. I figure I'll put my list here, and hopefully since it's here I'll be able to keep track of it better, and be able to scratch things off of it faster.

3 framed stitchery patterns
some sort of wooden anything painted with Bears
a custom tie
something his and hers, maybe a tree skirt with a last name on it
another tree skirt
dolls and nightgowns

And of course I'm way behind on this list! And I think I might have left someone out, time to rack my brain!

Professing my love for Big K

Being a busy mom of 3, sometimes I get well..... BUSY! Last friday I picked up 2 layaways I had at my local Kmart. I didn't bother looking in the bags to make sure everything was there, just sort of assumed since I saw it all go in the box together when I put the layaway on. So yesterday morning, after I take my boys to school, I went to take inventory on what else we needed to get from our lists. Just my luck, a $40 toy was missing! I panicked, and my husband and I ransacked our garage and car looking for it. It then hit me that I didn't see the girl take it out of the box and put it in my bag since it was so large. Were not in any position (as I'm sure no one is), to be losing $40, and my husband said we were just out of luck. Being the optimist I am, I called Kmart to see if it might still be in layaway somewhere. Sadly it wasn't, but the girl I talked to on the phone talked to her manager for me. They grabbed the last toy off the shelf, and held it at the front for me!!

Now that's customer service! I'm so pleased lately with my shopping experiences with Kmart, from double coupons to this..... I'm rethinking where I do a majority of my shopping. Walmart is usually where I go for their low prices, but the employees are rude and never helpful. Kmart, you've earned my praise. I wrote a letter last night to corporate letting them know of my positive experience, and got a response this morning. I'm just happy!

Awesome Giveaway!

OMG, over at grossgrain there's an amazing dress giveaway! I'm so in love with this dress it isn't funny. Go check it out, and enter! It's truly awesome. Social frock giveaway

Brrr!!!!

It's getting cold here in California!! And I picked up some sherpa lined suede a while back just for coats. So what better day to start making coats? I'm making 2 of these coats, 1 for my daughter, and 1 for my best friends daughter. Olivia's coat is in pink, and Ailsa's coat is in camel. I'm using simplicity 2778I'm making the coat version, not the vest. Olivia had one just like it last winter, only it was bought for over $30 at Old Navy. This coat cost me $11.97 for a yard of the sherpa lined suede. How great of a deal is that? And I bought the pattern at Joanns for $.99!! Boy do I feel like I got a great bargain. The sizing on the pattern goes from 3-8, so I traced the pieces I needed with tissue paper. Now I'll get to use the pattern again for a few more years!! I have to admit, that tracing the pieces is a bit tedious, but well worth it in the end when I only paid $.99 for the pattern and it has so many sizes.

Can't wait to start! I just finished tracing the pattern out, while the fabric is getting pre-shrunk in the washer and dryer. Now to change the needles and thread out on my sewing machine and get started! Hopefully I make some progress tonight.

Little by Little

Today I got a lot done as far as my shop is concerned. I've mapped out my business plan, did my banner and avatar, but most importantly....... I approved the sample for my hang tags!!! I'm super excited about how they came out and can't wait to get them in the mail. Next up is my business cards and clothing labels!

setting up shop

It's been a while since my last experience selling my creations, and I feel it's time to bring it back. I've learned a lot since then, not just about sewing but about running my business too. So I've been lost lately in licensing terms and agreements, copyrighting laws, messaging with people to get my tags/labels/cards printed up, and my logo created.

At the moment I've only shared the name with my best friend, but hopefully I'll be able to share it soon. I'm just waiting on dates that I'll have my labels, tags, and cards that way I can give a tentative opening date for my new shop. And rest assured, I'm thinking BIG this time! With samples and cards in hand I will be doing some traveling and trying to peddle my wares to different boutique store fronts, and already planning a few craft/boutique fairs for the coming year. I hope to be open by christmas, but we'll see. I'm slowly building up stock, and have been gathering my materials little by little. Hopefully my vision comes to fruition this time, and I'll be able to generate a decent income from the hobby I love so much.

So that's my busy life lately in a nutshell. I hope to be back to the blogging world like my regular self soon!

Sweater progress

I've been making great progress on Orion's Link sweater. I'd probably be done already, if each section didn't need so many coats of paint. I have to lay it on pretty thick, and paint about 3-4 times, and give it drying time between coats. Orion loves waking up every morning, and coming home from school and seeing how far I've gotten. I love seeing the look on his face!


Here's Link with his tunic in progress.



And here's Link holding half a shield, his sword handle, and the missing part of his hat filled in. The other half of his shield is grey, but I'm not adding that until I'm ready to put in the grey details on the sword. That way, my grey tones are the same shade.


Link's getting some skin here. After his skin is all done, I just have to add the details of his shield, then I'll be ready to fill in all the details. The details are his eyes, the shading, and lines that define his face, legs, and all that jazz.

A few more sections, a few more layers, and I'll be ready for the front!!!

F.A. needed now!!!!!

F.A. being fabrics anonymous lol!!! Yes, I admit, my stash is overflowing with fabric. But what's a girl to do when the ladies at walmart save me the best of the fabric that seems to be going fast, but they know I would love? Because truth is, the ladies at walmart know me too well lol. They know what colors my daughter would look amazing in, and they set aside for me. And I always happen to have an idea of what pattern I'll use for each fabric! Plus, I don't know anyone who can pass up super cheap fabric.

So here's a few pieces of fabric I pulled out of my stash, to go with some amazing patterns I have in mind. I'm kind of sad that the true color of this fabric didn't show up well in the photo, but that's what I get for using a cell phone. It's really a rich burgandy, and the lines are a charcoal/black color. I plan on using this to make the girl's christmas dress. I plan to use one of my favorite patterns, the precious dress, and add a black tulle skirt underneath to poof it out and peek out from the bottom. I think I'll add a big black sash to give it the perfect look too!

Then there's this amazing dragon fabric I've had forever. It's a beautiful tourquoise color with a great sheen. I'm not sure what type of fabric it is, maybe a thin brocade, or a sari type of fabric. I picked it up for $2 a yard in the walmart clearance section. I'm going to use a great new look (6333) pattern for this, and make a kimono top and matching pants.
This fabric is in a green tone, and will look amazing with my daughter's green eyes.
I found this great shop on Etsy, Heidi & Finn. They have the cutest patterns you ever saw! Of course I bought a few, and the dark solid green fabric will turn into a pair of girly cargo pants. The designed fabric will be turned into a matching blouse to go with the cargo pants. I'm going to use Simplicity 2627 view B, the girly blouse. I may lengthen the sleeves though since the weather is starting to cool down some.

I also have this great fuzzy fabric (again a mystery blend of sorts), and a soft suede like fabric.

I wish I would have bought more of both fabrics, because their so lovely it was hard to decide what to do with them. But after seeing Heidi & Finns patterns, I decided on an adorable cardigan. If there's any fabric left over, I plan on making a skirt. How cute will that outfit look?

I hope to cut into some of this fabric sometime in the coming week, so check back soon!

Buzzzz around the hive

I'm working on a few things right now, and I thought I'd give you all a peek into my world. I just finished some dinosaur shoes for the girly, and she loves them. I still have to mod podge them (so they don't get messed up if they get wet), so she hasn't been able to really wear them. But here's the finished project anyway.

There's more designs on the sides, but it's really just random spots of color and a few dino prints.


The thing I'm most proud of and into lately is a Link sweater for my baby boy O. He's really into Zelda right now, so I figured why not? It's more detailed than I'm used to, so it's really going to be a work in progress. I'm loving the idea of posting pictures as I go along, so everyone can follow my little bits of progress on this bad boy. Here it is the other day, when I first started.Basically it's just Link's hair, shoes, and sword that were painted. His hat was cut out, but not painted at this point. And I just noticed lol, that the picture is upside down. Sorry! Here's Orion's sweater today, after painted the hat, and adding his name to the bottom.I cut out more pieces of Link tonight, and I'm hoping (since I'm stuck at home tomorrow) to finish more of it. I tried to cut out as many of the pieces as possible tonight, because it's not easy keeping a steady hand with an exacto knife when you have a toddler tugging at you lol. I hope to get his tunic and flesh colored pieces done tomorrow, but it's all going to depend on how many coats of paint these parts need. I'm pretty happy with how it's turning out so far, and so is Orion, so that's an A+ for mom!

My pride and Joys!

I'm not the sort of parent to get all mushy over every little thing my kids do. I do however have my moments. To this day I don't know who or where I'd be without my children, and the man that gave me my children. My kids aren't always the best behaved, or hardly ever. Their rough around the edges and make me work for my title of mommy. Most of the time they look unkempt, and that's usually how most people see me too. I spend my days running to and from the school, for good things like school functions, but mostly for bad like my kids being in the office. I like to play in the dirt and water with my kids, play wii games, draw on our cement with chalk, and make silly faces. But through it all, there's so many things that my kids do that make it all worthwhile!

Raymond

From the minute I laid eyes on you, you were perfect. You were special then, and your special now and forever will be. Your not the hugging or kissing type, but you more than make up for that with your words. Your so accepting of others and their flaws, and I love that you always try to make people feel at home. You have a big heart and want to share it with the world.


Orion

My little man, what can I say about you that doesn't make me laugh? Your a lover and a fighter, and I know you only do it to protect those you love. You know how to flatter women, and I love how polite you are to them. I hope you slow down a bit with the girls though because you make me so so nervous.

Olivia

My mini me, I love that I have a daughter to share all the girly things with. Your the only girl I know who can rock a dress, painted nails, a matching bag, and all while playing cars and watching some type of dinosaur show. Your all girl with a touch of tomboy in there. Your so polite, funny and dainty it makes me cry knowing your mine.

My beautiful angels, I love you all so dearly. I would be lost without your humour and love in my life. I love being your mommy and I hope you guys always remember the little things we do together, because those are the most special. I love my babies!

Happy Halloween!!!!!

As promised, here's the picture of everyone in their Halloween-y goodness! I sweated and cried over these things, so I'm quite proud of the outcome!

Turtle turtle

Is my dog not turtle-y enough for the turtle club? Lol, sorry I had to! Today I started and finished our dog Willy's costume. It came out just how I envisioned it would! My favorite part is that it worked up super quick. I used a dog pattern as my base and went from there. Simplicity 2839 , I used the pattern for the cow and lion, and just used the colors I needed instead.

First I made the base in a light green fleece, and the hood in a yellow felt. Needless to say, Willy was not amused.... yet. Then I cut out some white felt eyes, drew the pupils on with black sharpie, and glued them on with tacky glue. As you can tell, tacky glue is a favorite of mine! For the shell, I just drew an oval the size of the length of the costume, and a smaller one (about half the size) to go under it. I used white knit fabric to make the tubing that goes around the shell. To make the tubing I folded a length of fabric in half, sewed a straight line down the fabric, and then stuffed it like a sausage. I didn't really use measurements here, just went by looks. I hand sewed the shell and tubing together, stuffing the shell as I went along. When the shell was done, I hand sewed it to the top of the costume, and ta-da instant Koopa Troopa!

Being that Willy's a yorkie we usually walk him using a harness, but there is no way it's going on with his costume, so we'll be using a collar. And since Willy sports a puppy cut, and is pretty much bald (for a yorkie) the fleece will keep him nice and warm.

Details details

Just because I'm a stickler for details, I had to give our costumes that extra umph lol. So I made the kids trick or treat bags that look like coin blocks! I did a google search, and found this picture of a quilt and pillow. I used that as my base for my bags.

Each square on the quilt, I made into a 1 inch cube, and went from there. I cut it out of paper first, to use as a pattern. Then I cut my pieces out of orange and black felt.

I made the bags out of yellow felt, and gave the bottoms a box pleat so that they would hold a good amount of candy. Then I sewed on the question marks, and added handles. I don't have pictures of the bags completely done, but you'll see at the big unveiling!

My mom found white gloves at the t-shirt store, and at $1 a pair what a steal! All I did was use some black acrylic paint mixed with fabric medium, and painted lines on them. Ta da, isn't it just great what a few small details can do?

My daughter is the ba-bomb!!!!

Olivia's costume is officially finished, so I'm going to give you a quick chronicle of how I did her costume.

First, I took a punch balloon and made the hubby blow it up. I got a 4 pack of them at Target for $1.99 in the party aisle. We lost 2 of the balloons because they popped from being blown up too much. I covered the balloon in paper mache (flour and water mix). Here it is drying.

Ignore the kids jumping off the couch, it was a hectic month for us..... I mean me, after all I did make 7 costumes!


Second, after 3 layers of paper mache it was finally hard enough to pop the balloon. I cut 2 holes in it to start, 1 for her legs to go through, and 1 for her head to go through. I measured her head for the top hole, and added 2 inches to that, to make sure her head would fit comfortably through it. For the second hole I measured her at her widest part (around her bottom), and added 3 inches to that to make sure she would fit through that and have a bit of room to move her legs. Then I tried it on her.


It fit great! So next, I marked where her arms were. Just like I did with her head and leg holes, I measured her arms and added 2 inches to that. Look mom, I have arms!!!!



I sanded around the holes with medium grain sandpaper, so that it wouldn't be rough and bother her. I also sanded down the large lumps that the flour collected in random spots. It was still pretty lumpy after the sanding, but eh I tried! So after the sanding, the hubby spray painted it black. I used a cheap $.96 can of black glossy spray paint from walmart, and it worked great. We did about 3 coats to make sure we covered the newspaper completely, and ot make it super shiny.Then I just cut large ovals out of white felt, and glued them on the front with tacky glue. The glue dried clear and you couldn't see it when it dried.

Lastly, I made her some yellow shoe covers (which I don't have pictures of ), and a hat. The hat is supposed to be the top of the ba-bomb, and the wick. For the shoe covers I just took her shoe and turned it on it's side and traced it out twice. Then I sewed the 2 halves together and voila! For the hat, I just measured around her head, and then for the height I measured from her forehead to her hair. Then I cut a circle using the lid to an old butter container. I sewed it all together, and hemmed the bottom. For the wick I just cut a bunch of strands of white yarn and used tacky glue to glue them all together. Once they were all glued together and stiff, I glued them to the top middle of the hat. When everything was dry, I painted the very tip red to give her the look that she was just lit lol. So there you have it, my ba-bomb! Check back on Halloween for the complete picture!

Mario Bros

This is what my kids want to be for Halloween, and I'm glad to oblige. Raymond (since he's tall and skinny) will be Luigi (3rd row down, 5th over). Orion (since he's shorter) will be Mario (2nd row down, 5th over). Olivia (cause she's just the exploding type, lol) will be a ba-bomb (1st row, 6th over). Our dog Willy (just cause we can) will be a Koopa Troopa (last row, 3rd over).


Here's the top part of the first pair of overalls. I basically just took the bodice part of a dress pattern (shhh, don't tell the boys), modified it for the back part, and added straps.

I bought the boys shirts from walmart for $4.50 each. Here's Orion modeling his overalls with his Mario shirt on. I did the hats using an Eddie cap tutorial, but I couldn't get the pleats to work for me. I just sewed around my hexagon shape and gathered it to fit. I cut out circles from white felt, drew the corresponding letters, and hand stitched them in place. I didn't take any pictures of the finished hats, so enjoy these with the letters pinned on!


Luigi hatMario hat As you can tell, Raymond was being camera shy lol. That's it for now, stay tuned for my grand unveiling of the whole gang!

Queen of Hearts and Alice in Wonderland Costume Set GIVEAWAY!!!!

Okay, I'm so not one to enter contests or giveaways... I suppose it has something to do with the fact that A) I probably won't win or B) I feel like I'm begging for charity. But I feel the need to enter this giveaway because how adorable would my girly look in either of these dresses? I can see it now, parading down the street with her feeling all regal in a pretty poofy dress. For having 2 older brothers, my daughter is as girly as they come. So here's to chance and hoping, and who knows, maybe I will win!


Queen of Hearts and Alice in Wonderland Costume Set GIVEAWAY!!!!

Summer!

So I've been out of summer classes for the last 2 weeks, and I've been living it up with the kids. The friday after finals I took the kids and their friend Jojo to the natural science and history museum. They had so much fun! We did our rounds of the museum first, and let me tell you it is not easy keeping up after 4 very active kids. Either way, we had a blast and learned a lot. We went into the dinosaur exhibit right at the perfect time, and caught the dinosaur show. It was really a person in the neatest costume I've ever seen, but I had the kids convinced that it was a real life dinosaur. Kids being kids, and with movies like Jurassic Park and Night at the Museum, definitely helped. They treated the dinosaur like it was pet (think dog), and the boys tried to be brave and sit on the floor with the rest of the group. Next thing I know, they brought the dinosaur in, and all 3 boys were hiding behind me while the girl was clutching onto me for dear life. We chased it back to it's "cave" but sadly I couldn't get any good pictures of it, tons of other people had the same idea as me.

After that we hit up the kids center for some hands on play. They got together and all 4 of them cleaned out the excavating pit with buckets and paint brushes. Here's Raymond digging in the pit.

And the girl just loved throwing the "dirt" out of the pit and directing the other kids on where to go and what to do.

And Orion had a blast trying to build a dinosaur skeleton out of bones. He was so into it that I hated to drag him away.

After the museum we headed to the pet store, that way Jojo can get hands on with some more exotic animals. The boys ran around and were holding snakes, tarantula's, and pinkie's.

On Tuesday we went to kidspace museum and had so much fun there too. Unfortunetly I don't have any pictures of that, because it was so crowded there that I had to focus on where the kids were. This week we haven't done much because I'm a bit more focused this week on finding a job. Sadly, my financial aid was cancelled, so I must find work to help support us. Fall classes are slowly creeping up as well as back to school to the boys also, so I've got a ton to get ready for. I'm hoping to get to at least 1 museum this week, and a park with the water play areas, but I'd like to give the house another really good scrub down before we start the next couple of busy months.

Happy Birthday Princess

2 years ago today, I gave birth to my gorgeous princess Olivia. We had her an awesome party yesterday that was full of family and friends and it couldn't have been better. Ollie had a great time and we celebrated her in true princess fashion with a mermaid splash! That is, her party was little mermaid themed, a recent favorite of our Ollie's. She's everything I could have imagined that my daughter would be. So, here's to my birthday girl!

Thanks for being a part of our world!

Monkey

Monkey. No other word has so many meanings. To me Monkey means loyalty, love, friendship, courage, humor, stubborn, compassionate, smart, and a whole other slew of words of endearment. I was lucky enough to spend 14, almost 15 years with Monkey and will every single bit of it. He was my first child, and I credit him to making me the loving mother I am today.

I wasn't there when he was born, but I found him in a pet store. He was taken from his mom way too soon, and couldn't eat the kibble they had in his cage. His eyes were glued shut with gunk, and he looked just pitiful. I was only 13, but I knew he was destined to be mine. I went home and gathered all my change, and walked back to the pet store. With $10 in random bills and lots of change, I walked home with a kitten in my arms. Boy was my mom upset with me when she came home to find him. After begging to keep him, and her agreeing to let me, she asked if we could at least return him for a better looking one. Yes, he had alot of gunk in his eyes and nose, his mouth didn't close all the way, and he couldn't meow, but he was mine. I bottle fed him until he was old enough to eat real kitten food, and he slept across my neck to keep warm.

So many years later, I look back on all the great times we had together, and all of his funny cat moments, and I know I couldn't have had a better companion all these years. He was my confidant who would never spill my secrets, and who was the first to let me know everything would be okay. He loved all of my kids, and never scratched or growled at 1 of them, despite the fur and tail pulling that went on.

Monkey, there will never be another you. Thank you for loving me unconditionally, and for being not just my pet but my baby. Thank you for loving my children the same way you loved me. Thank you for staying as long as you did, and letting me say good bye. I'll always feel like a piece of my heart is missing, and it hurts so bad not to see you laying around the house where you please. Even though physically your not here, I'll always carry you with me and love you forever. Lovey, Boony, Moopy, Mooshy.... Monkey.

Sick!

So the weather in CA has been really ugly lately. By ugly, I mean cold, with some rain, muggy, and gloomy. All in the last 2 weeks!!! Before that though, we were enjoying some early summer weather in the high 80's and 90's. So going from the hot to the cold, to the rainy, to the muggy, and back to the cold, has gotten us all sick. It all started with the littlest Raymond, he had a cold with a horrible cough. I caught it this weekend, at the end of the weekend Orion and Big Ray caught it too. The only one who seems to be unaffected is the girl. Lucky her! To be honest, I'm really happy she didn't get it. When Olivia gets sick, she gets super clingy x 10, and me being sick, it's not pretty for either of us.

Besides that nothing much else has been going on over here. I went shopping with my coupons last week like usual. I stocked up on pull ups at kmart and took advantage of their double coupons, and another deal they had. I did pretty good. I'm making a few things too, that I'm quite proud of. I'm almost finished with the first nieces fourth of July outfit, and starting to work on the second nieces outfit. Then onto my kids stuff. And I'm actually sewing stuff for me, but that's all technical and stuff. If you want to take a gander at what I'm up to sewing wise you can visit my crafty blog www.sewcrafty.today.com, it's pretty awesome if your into that stuff lol. I'm off to go search out more tissue for my nose and maybe take a nap.

So.....

I've come to the conclusion that I mess around too much. I've come to that conclusion, because here I am supposed to be doing homework that's due tomorrow, and making Hawaiin outfits for the boys that their supposed to wear on Friday, and what am I doing? Well, I'm making bows for my daughter and nieces. Oh well, it looks like its going to be a long night for me!

I know I haven't been on to post much, but wow have I been swamped! It's the last 2 weeks of the semester and I'm trying to finish all of my assignments this week, because next week is finals. Besides that I've been all over the place helping my cousin register for school, taking my son to his appointments, baseball, and my sewing projects. I haven't really sewed much as of late because I sort of have a full plate at the moment. But I did get a few little things done that I'm proud of.

The boys will be on summer vacation in 2 weeks, so I'll be busy with them all day soon. I signed up for an on campus math class, and my sil's will be watching the kiddos for a few days out of the week while I go to class, but thankfully it's only a month long. I haven't ever had anyone besides myself and my husband watch our daughter, so I'm a bit nervous about leaving her for a few hours a day. I hope it passes quick and I'll get to enjoy the rest of the summer with the kids doing lots of fun things! I'll have more interesting things to post about in the coming weeks.

Target

Last night I went to Target to get the best of last weeks deals before the new sales would start. I have mixed reviews. I love the deals I got, but I had a difficult time with the cashier. Being the optimist I am though, we'll start with the great deals first.

In this picture there are 2 packs of cottonelle toilet paper (12 rolls each), 4 boxes of always pads, 14 velveeta shells and cheese cups, 14 mac and cheese cups, 8 bar-b-que sauces, 5 Garnier shampoos, 5 Garnier conditioners, 6 mayonnaise, 2 A1 sauce, 4 packs of Kraft cheese slices, and 4 boxes of 100 calorie snack packs.

Now onto business, with the cashier. At first she was okay, chit chatting and all, but once I brought out the coupons that was it. She started acting rude with me. She didn't want to take my coupons and started complaining to a nearby manager, who told her to take the coupons. The problem was with my bar-b-que coupons. The sauce was $.99, and the coupons were for $1 off, making them free. Well the cashier didn't want to do complete the transaction, and the manager told her to go ahead with it. They argued in front of me for a few minutes, with the cashier telling the manager, "you do it", and the manager telling her I can't I'm busy. So the cashier rings up my stuff, grumbling the whole time and saying, I know where this is going, and I can't believe this. She even told me I couldn't use 2 coupons for the same product, and I told her that I could use 1 store coupon and 1 manufacturer coupon per product, again grumpy. Finally we get to the paying part. I hand her my 2 gift cards that I got from the first 2 transactions, and she practically yells at me that I can't use them because I haven't paid for them. I very politely tell her yes I can, because I paid for them in the first 2 transactions, and this was my third. Now's the fun part, she grabbed the gift cards out of my hand and gave me one of the dirtiest looks you ever saw! I paid and left, and was in practically tears when I loaded my car. Here I am trying to save my family money, while I have a grumpy cashier making a huge scene of it, and making me feel like I'm putting her job at jeopardy. Makes me feel so crappy!

Weird feeling

Today's one of those days, the one's where I'm just really emotional. I'm going through a remembering day, and am having so many fond memories of our childhood. You brought back alot of good ones too! I forgot about the teddy ruxpin, and the pillow people. And it's neat to know you have all of your blankets too, even if I only have 1 lol. And still shocked that you remembered all the ear infections I used to get. The last few weeks have been great, and I hope we get to spend tons of more time together like this!

window to the west

So Ollie's not much into TV, there's very few things she'll actually sit and watch. That being said, she's in love with the jack in the box commercial from the west that advertises mini sirloin burgers. Me being the genious that I am, I recorded it onto my cell phone. I did it with the intentions of being able to stop a public tantrum dead in its tracks, but, yeah...... FAIL! My cell phone is now a window to the west, and she's drained all the power bars from my phone watching it over and over again.


Yee haw!

Good day

So this week is a funny week for us, because my babe is having testing at school all week, so he's on minimum day schedule. My boo boo has early days on wednesdays, so we decided to pick up my cousin and have an early coupon day. So here's what we snagged today.




This all came from kmart and their fabulous double coupon sale. In total there are 4 boxes of frosted flakes, 4 things of juicy juice, 1 package of 2000 flushes, 2 bags of bliss chocolates, 2 boxes of Quaker granola bars, 2 packs of lotrimin (great for diaper rashes), 1 pack of sponges, 1 clorox toilet bowl cleaner, 2 ban deoderants, 2 kids colgate toothpaste, 1 childrens motrin, 2 cans of lysol nutra air, 2 boxes of vitamins (1 for men, 1 for women), and 2 John Freida finishing styling products. My total was $34.81, done in 2 seperate transactions, and 25 coupons.

This all came from Target, and not pictured is 2 cases of arrowhead water. So in total there are 3 lysol all purpose cleaners, 4 mac and cheese singles, 3 boxes of smart food popcorn, 4 boxes of fiber one bars, 4 boxes of fiber one toaster pastries, and 2 boxes of eggos. I also bought a $1 cup of mini chips ahoy to pacify the kidlets while we were shopping. All this for a total of $19.04, it's not great but it's okay, and I can apply for a $3 lysol rebate.

I plan on going back to kmart maybe tomorrow, to use up some more coupons. I love the deal on the vitamins I got, because man are those things expensive!

Healthier Sand people coming soon!

That's right we got MORE bikes yesterday! First we went to kmart in hopes of being able to lay away bikes for the kids, but yeesh.... $100 and up for a kids bike is a bit ridiculous in my book. And because I saw an ad in the toys r us paper, that's where we headed. $200 later, we have 3 new bikes. Why 3 you ask? Because the MAN decided he'd like to get on our biking kick too! I'm super excited. The girly and I went biking twice yesterday, once in the morning and once in the late afternoon. Ray plans on biking to his second job.

So were hoping to get a few things out of this.
1. To spend more time together.
2. To lose a little weight.
3. To tone up.
4. To save money on gas.

Hopefully this turns out that way. Ray's supposed to start putting the bikes together when he gets home in a bit, so hopefully today, I should have somebody else on a bike.

Coupon Friday

That's what were calling it from now on lol. The boys decided that they didn't want to go out to a store everyday for my coupons, so we chose a specific day for couponing... Fridays! It looks like I drive far to get to these stores, when in reality their conveniently located next to each other and right around the places I need to go. After dropping Ray off at work I went across the street to CVS, picked up Raymond from school and went down the street to Walgreens. Target is right around the corner from Walmart, and that's the only time we went out of our way. So here's yesterday's deals

This was from walmart, later in the day so it was bought alone. 2 four packs of angel soft. Total cost was $1. They were on rollback for $1 each pack, but I had 2 coupons for $.50 off. What a deal!This was from a walmart trip earlier in the day. The "big" walmart that has groceries in it.In total there's 2 sierra mists, 2 bags of frozen brown rice, 1 sour cream, 4 yoplait kids yogurt, 7 colgate toothpastes, 3 colgate toothbrushes, 4 crunch and munch, 3 boxes of bagel-fuls, 6 boxes of velveeta shells and cheese, 4 boxes of kashi go lean waffles, 3 palmolive dish soaps, 4 lint rollers, and 1 roll of viva paper towels.

The total cost was $24.08! I'm proud of this one. The toothpaste, toothbrushes, and lint rollers were all free, and so was 1 of the sierra mists!




This came from Walgreens. There's 4 packs of pull ups, 2 Nivea body wash, 2 loaves of bread, 2 ecotrin, 6 deoderants, 3 mondo juice drinks. Not in the picture are 2 Dr.scholls massaging insoles, 1 ecotrin, and 1 weird tube sounding thing. Done in 5 seperate transaction, it all costed me $34.96 plus I still have $2 in register rewards. Not too shabby considering the pull ups and Dr.Scholls alone were each 2/$20. I used $28 in register rewards and a ton of coupons to get this price.

This came from CVS. There's 3 adidas deoderant, 3 pecan sandies, 4 bottles of all. Missing is 6 2 packs of plastic 3M hooks, I gave them to Ray to use in the pet store. Done in 2 transactions, it all costed me a grand total of $12.83 because I had $7 in ECB from the first transaction that I used on the second, and the hooks were free!This all came from Target. In all there's 6 single serve mac and cheese cups, 4 boxes of band aids, 6 boxes of special K cereal, 4 boxes of special k crackers, 3 bottles of brain developing juicy juice, 6 boxes of oreo stix, 2 kraft mayo's, 2 schick quattro razors, 2 schick quattro trim style razors, 1 first aid kit, 1 tape measure and 3 random toys.

This was done in 3 seperate transactions, and a visit to customer service. On my second transaction the cashier was already annoyed with me, and forgot to scan my coupons, so I had to go to customer service to have them fix it. Total cost for this was $31.90 with tax!

It's official!

We love our bike! The girly and I that is lol. Ray put the baby carrier on my bike last night for me, after the girly wouldn't leave him alone. It was cute, she pushed the box all around the house saying, "GO". So after much fustration from THE MAN, and many *bleep* words later, we were ready to ride. Being the responsible parent that I am, and being that it was 11:30 at night, I couldn't wake the girly up to ride.

Early this morning though, when she discovered her seat put together and attached to the bike, we were finally ready. We geared up with our helmets and rode down the street and back. It was great, and the girly and I are hooked. One thing though, I need a new seat! Man the one that's on the bike now was like straddling a rock. So eventually, that'll get replaced with a nice new cushy one. And wonder of wonder's, Ray decided that he'd like a bike too. So hopefully we'll be going on family bike rides soon.

Were going biking!!!

I don't really know what got into lazy ol' me lately, but I've had this urge to work out. *Gasp* I know, right? I mean come on, anybody who knows me, knows how anti working out I am. But I was on this kick for a while to get a wii fit. Of course I changed my mind though, or I wouldn't be me. I've been dying to have a bike. Yes, a bike! But not just for me, for the kids too. I have it in my head that the kids and me will be biking through the summer to random parks and having picnic lunches. Cheap, almost all day entertainment.... and I guess some exercise would come of it too.

So of course I tell THE MAN about my wild and crazy, "hey let's buy everyone a bike" idea. What does the man do? THE MAN shuts me down! Okay, it really wasn't that dramatic, but he told me what we could afford, and it just didn't seem like it was going to happen. But..............

On one of our coupon excursions today, what did I find at walmart for $69? A shiny purple mountain bike screaming at me, "I'M IN YOUR BUDGET!" When something screams out that loudly, you just can't ignore it. I found somebody to drag it down for me, jumped on it, and it was mine!

The girly got a helmet and pads yesterday. Tonight I'm thinking of going to the other walmart (this one didn't have any), and getting her a bike carrier so we can start biking. Yay! And I'm going to put some bikes on layaway for the boys, that way they'll be out by summer. Cheap summer fun, here we come!

Coupon crazy

Thanks to Keana and Meg for professing their love of coupons, and flaunting their deals.... I'm in love with coupons and I'm coupon crazy! I'm so glad to be using them, and have already scored a ton of deals. The ones I'm most proud of are the diapers, wipes, cereal, soap and fruit snacks.

My local kmart was doubling coupons this week, and I took advantage of that... actually, I took advantage of that deal a few times this week! And Target had coupons for $1 off of their brand of fruit snack, so I stocked up on those as well. Here's some of the stuff I got this week, and I'll post some pics of it all when the man gets off the desktop computer (their saved to that one).

Kmart deals
2 pull ups $15.99 ea., I used a $2 off coupon on each which doubled making them $11.99 ea.
3 bottles hair gel $2.49 ea, I used a $1 off coupon which doubled making them $.49 ea
5 huggies wipes $2.50 ea, I used a $1.50 off coupon which doubled making them free
2 right guard deoderant $2.49 ea, used a $1 off coupon doubled making them $.49 ea
2 shampoos 2/$6, used $2 off coupon doubled making them 2/$2
2 conditioners 2/$6 used $2 off coupon doubled making them 2/$2
4 pringles $1.50 ea, used $1/2 coupon doubled making them $.50 ea
2 boxes Qtips $2.99, used $1 off coupon doubled making them $.99 ea
5 V8 fusions $3.99 ea, used $2 off coupon doubled making them free
2 glade carpet powders 2/$3, used $1.50/2 coupon doubled making them free
2 aveeno lotions $3.19 ea, used $2 off coupon doubled making them free
2 pk oil of olay soap $2.97, used $1.50 off coupon doubled making it free
12 boxes kellogs cereal 4/$10, but got $5 gift card each transaction, and used $1/2 coupon making them 4/$3 or $.75 ea

Target deals
10 bath buddies soap $.97 ea, used $2 & $3 off coupons making them free
30 boxes fruit snacks $1.52 ea, used $1 off coupon making them $.52 ea
12 boxes teddy grahams $2 ea, used $1 off coupon making them $1 ea
4 boxes 12 pk poptarts 2/$5, used $1 off coupon & got 2 free 8pk boxes making them 3 boxes for $4
2 all small & mighty $4.49 ea, used 2 $1 off coupon making them $2.49 ea
4 bottles baby lotion $2.19 ea, used $.75 & $1 off coupon making them $.44 ea

Yes I spent alot this week, but this should last me for a while, and I feel so proud of myself. This week I plan on learning the drugstore rewards and how to use my coupons there. Wish me luck, and some great deals!

So here's a few pictures of SOME of the stuff I've bought