Enjoying My Boys & a Visit to the Doctor :)

Cam has been coughing.

And coughing and coughing and coughing for a couple of weeks.

Couldn't figure it out. No other symptoms. Just an annoying cough all day and night.

Most people would have probably taken their child to the doctor a couple of weeks ago when it started. I never have. I do take them when I know they need to go, or I'm confused by what is wrong with them. I'm lucky how seldom I have to go to the doctor with five children, usually it's just for checkups. Typically they are very healthy.

I don't like taking medicine and rarely do. I don't like giving my children medicine unless it's absolutely necessary. This is one area that me and my husband differ greatly. He will not think twice about chugging cough medicine right from the bottle or taking way too many Advil in my opinion. I, on the other hand, measure everything and usually take less.

I did break down and take Cam in today. It's just not getting any better. I did take a good look at his throat and saw that his tonsils on one side were pretty swollen, and both his sisters have had their tonsils removed . . . not again!

The doctor said "Allergies", which had never crossed my mind. Should have, since Zoe is allergic to basically all things nature. So the bad news, I have to start Claritin (TargetBrand of course) on a daily basis, which I hate.

After we got home from the doctor (and buying 2 more bottles of Dawn for a total of .16 cents) we had a "picnic" and played outside.

I couldn't actually get them to sit still and eat. They were so happy to be outside. So they played and ate their sandwiches. And shared their sandwiches. And took each others sandwiches.

A new great thing for me! I can let Emmitt walk to the front door himself instead of carrying them both in individually. Castiel still prefers to be carried in. Some things are getting a little easier, but they are both getting a lot faster, so that cancels out the "easy" in most cases.

I really have to keep an eye on him. He took off after a robin. I think he thought he could catch it.

Robins seem to mess with kids. They don't typically just fly away. They hop around. The kids gets closer, they hop a little further. Emmitt was ready to cross a driveway to get him. I had to redirect his attention, which is easily done outside :)

Then Cameron asked to take some photos. Here is a sampling of a, almost four year old's perspective.

If you look closely at the piece of bread that one of the boys dropped. It is covered with ants. Cam stood watching them for quite a while. He's down for a nap, but has plans to check on it again when he gets up :) BTW, this is his favorite picture by far :)

Extreme Couponing . . . kind of :)

I don't know if I have a future in extreme couponing, but I'm willing to give just about anything a try.

Zoe asked me if I wanted a binder for my coupons for Mother's Day. I told her that I didn't think I was going to need it, but after doing it just once, I can see how people get sucked in.

I vow here and now that I will not let couponing take over my home :) That should make KC feel better.

I had a huge mess for a few days. The coupons didn't seem to match the ads and I was getting very frustrated. Then I started finding a few and a few more.

I would compare it to putting together a jigsaw puzzle. At first it seems impossible, but the more you look, the more that goes together. After a while I started to know my coupons better and the ads. I figure it has to get easier the more you do it.

I didn't get any totals down to pennies, but considering that I seldom use coupons, they were all deals to me. Normally I wouldn't think twice about paying full price. (I would find deals in the store, but never prepare like this.)
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WALGREEN'S

Net price: $49.54 with $16.00 to spend on my next trip

Best deals at Walgreens: flossers (free), Noxzema razors (made $1.01), Gillette Fusion Pro (.89c), Bic Soleil (.99), Tampax ($2.99), Herbal Essence ($1.99)

The bright pink nail polish was $1.99, but Zoe has been looking for it since last summer :)

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CVS

Net price: $50.93 with $28.77 in ExtraBucks for next shopping trip

 Best deals at CVS: Special K (2/$3.94), Gatorade (2/FREE), Bought the Starbucks and Cheese Dips for a total of $7.98, Pantene (2/$2.97), Right Guard (2/.49c), Dawn (2/.48c), Colgate (FREE)
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 TARGET

Net price: $55.72 with $15.00 in Target Cards for next shopping trip

 The best deal I got from Target was the diapers! It was Buy 2, Get a $5.00 TargetCard. I also had the same deal in a manufacturer coupon, the cashier was nice to me, so I got another $5.00 TargetCard and she let me use a coupon for $1.50 off on top of it. The Halls was found in clearance and got them for .28c.

 Charmin was buy 2 get a $5.00 TargetCard. I also had 2 coupons on top of that. And SURPRISE, look at the package :) Coupons in both packages. I figure they could pay for the entire trip :)

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SHOE CARNIVAL

$31.98

KC picked out 2 pairs of shoes that he wanted to buy with his birthday money from my parents and his parents. Shoe Carnival had a BOGO 50% off, so I got the sale prices :) I also found a $5.00 coupon in their ad!

That's what I got done today.

I know I didn't spend the $6.81 on thousands of dollars of products like I've seen on tv, but this was good for me. I am happy with my deals.

KC's comment on my shopping "Boy, I'm going to smell good" And then he smelt all the body wash and deodorants :)

I figure I'll take that $59.77 and see what I can do with it next week. Maybe I can keep the savings rolling from purchase to purchase :)

LOL . . . I have already planned a trip back. With the coupons I got from in the Charmin bags: (2 Dawn/make 2 cents, 2 Ivory/make 2 cents, know there are great Gillette deals, but I think I might have enough of it already . . . I'll have to see how good the deal is, LOL . . .

I think I will try to continue with this one. I will have my eye out for deals . . . I'll try and pass on the great ones :)

I also wanted to share something I saw in the Dominick's ad. "Get a half-price Frappuccino" Happy Hour 3-5pm May 6-15th. I L-O-V-E Starbucks! Don't know if it is offered in more locations, but I wanted to pass it on :)

Happy Birthday Honey :)

Didn't have time to post this blog yesterday.

It was KC's birthday and he surprised us by coming home early!

We weren't quite ready for him. The presents were wrapped but the cake was only half done. It was an extra special cake this year. I figured since I've been using my kitchen more, I'd try and duplicate his favorite, Ice cream cake from Dairy Queen.

I love the internet. If I don't know how to do something, I can almost always find it there.

After going through a many of recipes, all different, I decided to piece together what made the most sense to me :)

My ingredients, didn't use the Hershey Drops, that was going to be for decoration, but decided it was overkill.

If interested, I used about 10 of of the sandwich cookies. Scraped off the cream (which the girls ate) and crumbled them in a bag.

I lined a pan in tin foil. Let the Mint ice cream (KC's fave) soften and then scooped it all out and smashed it into the pan.

I poured half the jar of hot fudge over the top (next time I will use all of it).

Then melted 40 dipping chocolate chips in the microwave. Pour the crumbled cookies in the bowl and stirred it all together. Then spread them over the hot fudge.

Placed in the freezer to harden for a few hours.

Then pulled it out by the tinfoil, removed the tinfoil and place on plate.

Stir up the softened ice cream for the top. And then I spread it on like frosting. (This is the point KC walked in the door :)  )

Place back in the freezer.

Then we finished it off with a little Whipped Cream. (I tried to find "Whipping Cream Frosting", which was suggested but I wasn't able to find it)

It was super easy and everybody loved it.

I would suggest making it a day or two in advance if you want it harden like DQ's, but I don't typically do things in advance, I'm lucky to get things done on time :)

We'll be making it again. A little cheaper. And I can personally pick out the favorite flavors for whoever's birthday it is.

It was a fun and relaxing family night.

The twins hadn't seen daddy for a few days. He's home after bedtime and they've been sleeping in lately. They were very happy to have him home :)

The boys all watched SpongeBob together, happily in daddy's lap. Cuddle time.

Later they also made time for wrestling and hiding under blankets on the floor. Good night. Thank you for coming home early :)

Love you Honey. Happy Birthday!

I also want to add a big thanks to all you teachers out there. I thank you for teaching my kids the knowledge that I don't have. My kids are growing up into the people they are because of your help. I don't take that for granted and I will continue to educate them to the best of my ability from home, because I believe they have the chance to be anything their little hearts want to be and the knowledge to get them there is everywhere. THANK YOU!

Where Did My Tulips Go?

Confusion is a theme to the year I am having.

Spring is here. My plants are emerging, leaves are unfolding and the first of my flowers are beginning to bloom.

I was excited to see my tulips popping up. I have three groupings of white tulips that have purple tips. They are my second flower every year, only behind my bleeding heart bush.

I'm always amazed at how fast it grows, unfortunately it's life span ends in early August.

I was very disappointed to come out to this.

The rabbits got two of them.

The rabbits are horrible around here. We have to spray and spray often if we want to have any color in our gardens . . . the smell is horrible!

This is my confusion.

They are pink???

For the last 5 years they have been purple.

Could I have really changed my tulips without remembering? Has the last year been so crazy and stressful that I forgot doing something like that? I'm soooo confused.

Now, all I can do is laugh. Every time I look at them I giggle. My life :)

I am awaiting the opening of the other blooms. Will any of them still be purple?

I caused the rest of my confusion today.

I watch Extreme Couponing and did a little research, looked on the internet for some tips and was blessed with lots of coupons in Sundays paper.

I was able to find a few great deals. I am still working on it. There must be a better way. I gave myself a headache.

I like the thought of saving money. I don't know if I have enough patience to figure it out.

I'm going to give it a try this month. See what deals I can find :)

One of the highlights of our day was a trip to Aldi. I only had a couple of things to get. And they have the best carts to suit my needs.

They are made for twins :)

Couldn't get them to look at the camera because Cameron was crying behind them. He wanted a front seat. He got over it fast.

When we left, he was walking. He was obsessed with the quarter in the cart. I let him plug in the chain and pull out the quarter. He was amazed by the whole thing.

As I was buckling him into his seat, he asked, "Can I put my magic coin in my Scooby Doo bank when I get home?"

I love that boy!