Getting Back Into the Swing of Things

I haven't been couponing lately.  At least not getting super great deals like I had been.  I have used a coupon here and there at the grocery store but it has been quite some time since I snagged a free tube of toothpaste.  The Extreme Couponing show on TLC has really effected the couponing world.  All of the stores are changing their policies and making it really hard for the average person to score a good deal.  The show is really disappointing, they show people doing ridiculous things, many of them fraudulent and then it makes it hard for the normal person to save a little money.  So that being said, I jumped back into the couponing world this week!
Here is what I got:

I paid $12.21 out of my pocket for two full size body washes, two children's cold medicine, two 8 ct. bottles of Excederin Migraine, a full size tube of toothpaste and a toothbrush.  And the stores gave me back $8.38 in rewards bucks to use next time so really I spent $3.83 on all of that!

I also got a huge tube of toothpaste, a 3 pack of Orbit gum and printed 20 pictures all for .91 cents at Target!

So I think I am off to a good start in diving back into couponing!

Butterfly Project - Finally!

This summer the kids and I started a project that I found here via Pinterest.  I re-purposed some thin art canvas that Nalani got in a painting set, primered over the pre-printed picture and then spraypainted them a nice aqua shade that I already had on hand.  I pretty much followed the instructions from the link other than we did 4 small canvases instead of one big one. And we didn't have fancy watercolors, just the Crayola set with 8 colors and I used hot glue not glue dots.  We have had the project done for quite sometime, it just took me forever to get it hung in Nalani's room.  And now that they are hung I think I better do 2 two more - it looks kind of small on her wall (the completed size is about 16"x20").

I took down a name sign that I had made for her when she was born, I didn't take a picture before I ripped it apart but I know I have one somewhere just not going to look for it now to post.  I cleaned 7 years of dust off of the letters and then hung her name on the side of her loft bed.  Hopefully the mega-Glue Dots I used will hold!

I can now at least say that I got something done this weekend - hung the butterfly project AND blogged about it!

Jaren's Big Day!

Jaren has been waiting for this day since June 2010 - he got his braces off !!

Here is a little before and after comparison shot:

 

A pretty drastic change, I think!  They moved teeth that were behind his top front teeth growing through the roof of his mouth to their correct spot, corrected his underbite so he won't have a Jay Leno bottom jaw, and lined everything else up all pretty.  Of course he will have to have a 2nd phase once all of his adult teeth come in but we are headed in the right direction.

He got to pick his retainer colors and design.  He, of course, went with the Windsor Jaguar black and gold with a Nike swoosh.

The kid just won't stop smiling!

Now I have to think of something to make for a celebratory dinner!!



A Quick Anecdote

I was checking out the new Oriental Trading Company Halloween catalog looking for ideas for "Boo-ing" treats (more on Boo-ing later) and I came across what I believe to be a hilarious customer testimonial on these items:

They are the ever popular Glow-In-The-Dark Bouncing Eyeball. 
And an OTC customer had this to say: "These bouncing eyeballs are so useful." And then they go on to tell about putting them in a skull, their bookcase and even floating them in their punch.
While I may find them cool, and maybe even describe them as handy for Halloween decorating how can anyone say a glow-in-the-dark bouncing eyeball is useful!?!?
Seam ripper while I am sewing = useful
Clorox Wipes for quick bathroom cleanup = useful
Even a long sleeve sweatshirt when you have a runny nose = useful
But a glow-in-the-dark bouncing eyeball!?!?

Tuesday Ten...4 Days Late and Definitely a Dollar Short

I thought I would have more time for things like blogging and crafts once the kids went back to school. That hasn't been the case!  Not quite sure what I have been doing with my time but hopefully I will be able to get back to blogging regularly and make some time for my scrapbooking and crafts.

Here is a quick little Tuesday Ten on Saturday to keep you entertained until I stop by again!

1. I need gray flip-flops.  I have a million gray shirts and no flip-flops to match.

2. How do you spell gray/grey - I think I flip-flop between the two. And I don't care if I get grey or gray flip-flops either will do.

3. KFC's current ad campaign says that chicken shouldn't come in "nuggets" - I am not sure why they think "popcorn" chicken is better than a chicken "nugget" I am pretty sure neither are real chicken.

4. I am a little disturbed with how large my sons new baseball pants are.  Very hard to order things like that online.  I will try to snap a picture of them and show you exactly what I mean!  Not very aerodynamic, a little parachute like and he really doesn't need anything to slow him down.

5. Our current toothpaste tastes exactly like how our toilet bowl cleaner smells.  But we keep using it.  Even though we have about 20 other tubes in the cabinet.

6. I really am not a fan of TV.  I used to have a few shows that I enjoyed watching every week.  And there are still a few things I don't mind watching, however some of my family members think it has to be on 24 hours a day!  A lot more would get done around here if the TV wasn't on!

7.  I put myself on a literary break - no more reading books until I get some scrapbooking and page planning done. But then I bought 2 new books today at the Borders going out of business sale.  I couldn't say no to .80 paperbacks!  Now if I can just ignore them for awhile.  I have a tendancy to not do anything else until my book is done.  I guess it is a little like the TV situation above.

8. Today was a great day for the Thunderbirds soccer and Ironbird baseball.  10-0 victory for the Thunderbirds and 11-4 for the Ironbirds.  Way to go kids!

9. Sitting outside exhausts me, I did nothing today but watch soccer and baseball, yet I am drained.

10.  I haven't been crafting, couponing or even hitting the thrift stores.........I need to get back on track!