Happy New Year

Well, I would like to say Good Riddance, 2009... bring on 2010. But today, only the 4th day into the year and it was one of those no good days already. Reality smacked us in the face and then spit on us for good measure.

So rather than get angry like Marc could have done or cried like I wanted to do, we packed a quick sandwiches to eat in the car and headed to Toys R Us with a purpose. We were blessed with a gift card from there, so we bought Monopoly and headed back home.

We all put our jammies on early, Marc popped popcorn, and we played/taught Andrew (AJ was there... but not much teaching was going on) Monopoly. We didn't even get near finished before the boys bedtime, but we packed up each person's money, property's & game piece in their own ziptop bag. We noted whose turn it was and where each player ended so we can resume another time.

I think Andrew enjoyed it, but truthfully, I think the game was more for Marc and I tonight. Lord, please shine your face upon us in 2010.

Merry Christmas to All!

Guest Photographer: Andrew

Last Friday, after picking up Andrew from Kindergarten, we went to the Gardens to see their Christmas trees from around the world. We then got the the train rooms! Andrew asked if he could take pictures.... he loved it and took something like 50 pictures. Below are a few.

Spike Sr and Spike Jrs.

Um... Daddy got a little carried away with the brush, hairdryer, and possible a little hairspray.

(That mark on the boys forehead is not a cult symbol, but merely an orange snowflake stamp they decided to place between the eyes. They thought is was hilarious.)

Cereal Score!!

I haven't posted any of my bargain shopping deals in a long time. And actually, I have been so busy lately, that I really haven't had the time to go full out coupon clipping/store hopping/deal matching too much. If we keep milk and bread in the house, lately, I call it a win.

Today, however, thanks to Meijer for a great sale with great coupons and a nice catalina coupon along with some sweet online Kelloggs & Kraft coupons, I got all you see below for......

$6.37!

Basically it broke down like this:

I bought:

• Meijer had specific Kelloggs cereal on sale for $2. But if you bought 5 you got a free gallon of milk. I bought 10, therefore my 2 gallons of milk were free.
• However on the Rice Krispies, I saw coupons on the boxes for free marshmellows when you purchase 2 boxes. I got 4, so I went back and picked up 2 free bags of marshmellows. (Andrew wanted mini and AJ wanted large).
• I also bought 4 Kraft Cheese on sale for $1.49 each.
• Then I bought $2.23 worth of on-sale salami.

Coupons I used:

• $5 of $25 Meijer Grocery Coupon from their website.
• Two $5 off 4 boxes of Kelloggs cereal internet coupons
• $4 off any 7 boxes of cereal printed from the Meijer Catalina a few weeks ago
• Two $1 off 2 blocks of Kraft cheese internet coupons.

My boys (Andrew especially) love Frosted Flakes for breakfast (and snack and dinner if I would let them). We also love rice krispy treats... and now we have those ingredients for a quick special treat. Plus... Cocoa Krispies are a secret treat of mine. I even had a bowl tonight as my 'dessert'. What a great deals to stock our pantry for little money, Praise God.

Oh Christmas Tree...

I did lights and garland, but the boys decorated the tree this year.

Daddy setting up the train for the first of m.a.n.y times.

They say it's my Birthday...

... but I've been so busy, I keep forgetting.

Today is my birthday and for the most part, it just another busy day but with a few special things thrown in.

The plan for today so far is to

1. Take Andrew to his school,
2. Take someone else's kid to a different school (another story for another post),
3. Go to work,
4. Hubby bringing my free Qdoba for lunch (I love Birthday freebie clubs) at work,
5. Picking up other kid from other school (which is pure craziness)
6. Come home long enough to pull the house together & feed kiddos before sitter comes.
7. Meet friends for a quick kid-less dinner out possibly ending with birthday club freebie coffee from Biggby.

I think it's going to blink by.

We already celebrated a bit. My parents came up this weekend and mom took me out Birthday/Christmas shopping. And we used another free birthday club deal and went with them to Mongolian BBQ on Sunday for lunch. Then yesterday evening, we cashed in on the sweet Old Navy Coupon I scored last week.

All in all, not a shabby way to celebrate 30-some years.

Just a little treat...

I WON!!

My blog friend @ The Diaper Diaries had an Old Navy contest on her site where we she gave away $50 off $100 purchase at Old Navy. And I won!! What a blessing this will be for us right at Christmas time. Thank you, Diaper Diaries.

School Pictures

Last year in Preschool, we got quite the sticker shock when it came to school pictures.  I was completely taken aback at the cost they wanted for a single shot.  However, the pictures were so stinkin' adorable and it was his first year in "school" we caved and bought the smallest package.

This year, I was determined not to go through that again.  In fact, when school picture time came, I almost hoped Andrew's pictures weren't that great, so there would be no temptation for me to buy them.  Well, thanks to a goofy grin, my wish came true.

Now, just to be up front, his Kindergarten picture packages weren't nearly the cost of his Preschool picture packages.  But still more than I would have like to spend on picture that was just so-so.  Plus, even though AJ is not in school, I wanted a "school" picture for him as well.

Well, I had been putting off getting their pictures, when finally Andrew's tooth was so wiggly that it was going to come out any minute.  I really wanted to get his picture taken before that happened, so I made an appt one Sunday, ran out got him a haircut, and took the boys to Target. (I know, toothless pictures are adorable, and I agree... )

Anyway, my goal was simply a replacement school picture for Andrew and one for AJ.  That's it.  What I got was a complete photo shoot.  The pictures turned out great.... I'm biased, I realize, but I also know a dud picture when I see it too. 

Here are my boys' Fall 2009 pictures!