Carving Pumpkins

The kids love our annual pumpkin carve. This year their favorite part was laughing at taking the pumpkin guts out. Then laughing hysterically at calling the back part of the pumpkin that you cut out so you can put the candle in it, the "pumpkin's butt." They are so weird.


The pumpkin's butt they thought was so funny.

My weird kids :)

PJ pants

I started these pj pants last year, didn't finish them before Halloween, so they got stuck in a closet. Sound familiar? Yeah, like I've said before - I have commitment issues. Anyways, I finally finished them. Isn't she adorable in them? I would like to make Tyler some, but I doubt I would get them finished by Halloween, so maybe I'll just start on Christmas ones for him :)

I'm robbing the stores blind...legally!!!!!

Wow, what a shopping day I've had! This is just too great not to share :) These items all came from Walgreens, Target and CVS. I only paid $0.22 out of pocket for everything on the table. I got money back in the form of register rewards, gift cards and ecb's and will be getting more money back from mir (mail in rebates)! Check it out:

front view

elevated view

Walgreens:

(3)Theraflu warming liquid

(2)Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold

(1)Rimmel Mineral Foundation

(1)Revitalift Anti-Wrinkle Concentrate

(1)Revitalift Day/Night Cream

(4)St. Ives Elements Cleanser

(1)Revitalift Cleansing Towelettes

(6)Benefiber Kiwi-Strawberry Sticks

(7)Pert Plus Shampoo

(8)Halloween Pencils

(1)Gillette Fusion Power Razor gift pack (came with razor, cartridge, battery, shave gel & shampoo/body wash!)

(4)Gift Sacks

Merchandise Total:$161.76

Total OOP: $27.51 (used wags gift card from last month's purchases)

RR spent: $26

RR in hand: $18

Wags rebates: $49.27 + $4.93 bonus

MIR: 2.99 Theraflu

Total Profit: $47.68

Target:

(40)Buddies Bar Soaps

Merchandise Total:$38.80

Total OOP: $0

CVS:

(29)Excedrin

(3)Gum toothbrush packs

(1)Powerade

(2)Candy - not pictured (kids ate it before I could get the picture!)

Merchandise Total: $153.57

Total OOP: $0.22

ECB earned: $5.68

MIR Rebates: $1.99 excedrin

Total Profit: $7.45

Total profits from all stores for a day of shopping and bringing home all the stuff above: $55.13

Not bad I guess, it's more than I normally make in a day's work :)

Tyler's Tooth

A few days ago while brushing Tyler's teeth, I noticed a tooth coming up behind one of his bottom teeth. Then I noticed his baby tooth was a little bit loose. So last night TJ was ready to get Tyler's tooth out. They wiggled and wiggled, then Tyler ate an apple. TJ finally yanked it out. This is the first tooth he has lost. He kinda seemed a little melancholy that he lost it. He was cute and told his tooth "bye bye little friend."

The tooth

The gap

The goodbye

Disney World

Disney World - is there anything else to say??? Yes, it was so much fun. Yes, the kids had a GREAT time. Yes, we all want to go back. Some memorable events: we got out of the car and onto the tram to take us to the park and Brena puked on my Mom. We think she got some car sickness. We get to the park and she was feeling warm, really, really warm. We had to buy Tylenol at one of the little shops. I was happy it was only $6.40 for a 2 oz bottle. I thought we would get ripped off. Obviously Brena was sick. We were worried she wasn't going to have a good time, but she was a little trooper and as soon as the tylenol kicked in she was good to go. Until it wore off 4 hours later. We just kept doping her up every 4 hours. There was no motrin, so we had to do with Tylenol. She did have a great time. We also stood in line for over an hour, a VERY slow moving line. What for?? To meet the princesses of course! She LOVED, LOVED, LOVED them. She still talks about them. She was so funny when she met them. She just buried her head in their chest and wrapped her arms around them and wouldn't let go. I was worried Sleeping Beauty and Belle would be offended she was wearing a Cinderella dress, but they seemed ok with it. She did wear a Sleeping Beauty shirt most the day, I should have told that to Princess Aurora. We would go on rides like It's a Small World, Pirates, etc. and Tyler would say "that's so boring!" He is more of a Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain Railroad and Space Mountain type of kid. It was extremely hot and it seemed a little crowded. Not too bad though.

Papa and Brena on the carousel

I loved this picture of the back of their cute little mouse heads :)

Uh-oh, There is definitely something wrong here!

This is how she greeted all the princesses at first. It was so funny!

See the kiss marks? Those are from her favorite Cinderella.

Brena loved the tea cups, I was worried she was going to puke again, but she didn't.

Visitors

We have been lucky to have Grandparents here lately. TJ's Mom came last week and stayed for a week. She had to go home on Monday, then on Tuesday my parents came into town. The kids are in heaven with all these grandparents here to spoil them rotten! Last Saturday we took a trip down to St. Augustine. We had a good time and are looking forward to going back again this Saturday with my parents. Tomorrow we are headed to Disney World - WHOOOHOOO!! Love the happiest place on earth!


Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum


The Castillo De San Marcos - built in 1672!



Nana and kids.

Halloween wall hanging

I started this little quilt last year but never finished it before Halloween, so it got stuck in a corner. I finally finished it last week. I love Halloween!

Dumb, dumb, dumb

I guess it could have been worse. Seriously, why didn't I check the back of this to make sure this wasn't happening??? Now I have to unpick, I HATE unpicking!!!!!!!! I stayed up until 1am this morning basting this quilt. I think I hate basting the most in the quilting process, right next to unpicking.

TJ's Wings

TJ got his wings today at the winging ceremony. It was a good day. We got to tour the P-3 and the kids had a blast on the plane. We had cookies in the CO's Conference Room. Then we had a ceremony where TJ and the other 5 students were "winged." There was a couple of really good speakers who spoke on the importance of what these guys are doing. They are the ones making sure someone else's brother, sister, wife, husband, son, daughter, etc. will come home. They are helping keep people on the ground safe. I got to pin TJ's wings on him. The pictures are a little blurry because we weren't allowed to use flash photography. I just got my hair done. I thought I wanted to go darker for winter - I wish I'd stayed blonde! I prefer it blonde, I think it looks awful now. Oh well, in 8 weeks I'll go back and get it done again...blonde. Enjoy the pictures.

TJ's plane - the P-3

Luncheon after ceremony

Tyler in Daddy's hat

Pinning on the wings

Target and Wags

I needed some snack food (for the kids of course!). You can get some pretty good deals at Target right now. Here's the goods:

(2)Carnation Instant Breakfasts
(2)Chex Mix
(3)Quaker Chewy Granola Bars
(3)Tide
(3)Oral B Toothbrushes
Total Wags toothbrushes: $5.97
Total oop: .93 cents
Total savings of 88%
Total Target merchandise: $20.85
Total OOP: $7.08
Total savings: 70%

The Tide was free. The Carnation Breakfast was .50cents a box - regular price is $3.94 a box! The Quaker bars were $1.17 a box. The chex was $1 a bag. They have cheez-it crackers on sale also with printable coupons that I was going to get. They would have been $1 a box, but they were out of them, so I got a rain check for those.

Free Coupons

Megan at Saving our Cents is giving away $450 in coupons for free!! Just go to her site http://savingourcents.blogspot.com/2008/10/just-when-i-thought-i-was-done-purging.html and leave her a comment. She will draw a lucky winner on 10/17. Good luck!

Famous

Well, sort of. Do you remember my chicken quilt? If not, just scroll down. So in the pattern book it says if you do one of the quilts, they want to see a picture of it. I emailed my picture in to the lady. She emailed back and said it really stood out to her and could she have my permission to post it on her website? So, here is my famous quilt :) Just click on the top name, Melissa F.
http://www.friendfolks.com/show.php

Dish Towels

So I saw this tutorial on another website - crazymomquilts.com - and knew I had to do this. So, I went to the store and got the waffle weave muslin, then got into my small stash of fabric and made some binding. My very favorite part of quilting is the binding! So, this was right up my alley. I think I will be making lots of these for teacher presents. I could make dish towels and matching dish rags for all occasions! Oh, this will be fun :)

Neighborhood

I love our neighborhood. I couldn't get my kids to go outside and play in Pensacola. I have the opposite problem here - I can't keep them in the house! I had to buy one of those door chime things that lets me know if the door is opening. Tyler's tall enough that he can unlock the chain at the top of the door. Sometimes it's crazy having kids in and out all the time. But for the most part it's pretty fun. We have twin girls in Kindergarten (one in Tyler's class) that live on one side of us, then a boy in kindergarten on the other side of us and his sister who is in 5th grade and LOVES Brena and follows her around, which is good because she makes sure she doesn't go where she isn't supposed to go. And that's just right next to us - that doesn't include all the kids across the street and down the street! Last Friday I was supposed to go to dinner with a friend. TJ was at his last sim flight and was supposed to be home. I couldn't get a hold of him and it was past the time I was supposed to meet my friend for dinner. The neighbor and I were talking in the back yard and somehow I mentioned I was supposed to have been at dinner with my friend. She insisted I leave my kids with her and go. She is a great neighbor and I totally felt comfortable leaving my kids with her. It's good to know you have a neighbor right next door if you ever need anything.

A Must Read

This is only the second book in my life that has touched me to my soul, left the greatest impression upon me that I will never, ever forget. I can't begin to adequately describe to you what this book did to me. I have always known about the pioneers and heard their stories, I have pioneer ancestry from my mom's side of the family who crossed the plains. I have a renewed awe for all the pioneers, especially those in the Martin/Willie Handcart Companies. I had the opportunity to visit Martin's Cove last May. It was a very special place and I could feel a great spirit there. I think from the Visitor's Center at Martin's Cove up to the actual Cove is only a 2 mile walk. I remember that day I had flip flops on and I walked the two miles up and down. My toes had blisters on them and they hurt! After reading this book and imagining what the Saints went through, I wish I'd never complained about a couple of blisters. I wish I had read this book before I went to Martin's Cove. As a Latter-Day Saint I never feel anything but joy at what I am able to do in the Church. I feel the Lord has blessed me so completely I am more than happy to do what he asks of me, keep His commandments, live up to my covenants I have made with Him. What those people suffered to obey what they were asked to do is nothing compared to what I am asked to do. I have always had the "Fire of the Covenant" burn in me, I only hope I can always keep that fire burning and always do what He asks me to do so someday I will have the blessing of dwelling with Him and these faithful Saints.

Devil's Gate

Martin's Cove


On the Trail

Independence Rock

K-Mart Double Coupons

So K-Mart is doubling coupons - check on your local store! They are doubling coupons up to $2. Here's what I got:

(1)Gillette Shampoo

(1)Gillette Conditioner

(1)Kotex

(1)Schick Quattro Razors

(1)Rolaids

Merchandise Total: $20.77

Total OOP: $3.68

Savings of 86%!!

The shampoo, condition and rolaids were absolutely free. I had to pay $1.50 each for the Kotex and Razors - and tax on everything. I didn't want to pay that much for those things, $1.50 is a lot to me now after getting everything for free! But, what can you do? When you need Kotex, you need Kotex :) The razors were my impulse buy. Again, my favorite part is when the cashier is shocked at my total. It happened again tonight! She said "that's your total?" I LOVE that!