coupon shopping!

so i am by no means the "queen of coupons". i coupon clip and try to find the best deals, but i'm not one of those super-women who can walk out of a store with 3 overflowing gocery baskets for only $10. that being said, i am pretty proud of today's shopping excursion. all this

for $67!
it's kind of hard to see what's in the back so just b/c it makes me happy, here's a run down of what's in the pic.
6 bags of nestle candy (for the "trick-or-treaters")
4 boxes of betty crocker muffin mix
1 box of fun-da-middles cupcake mix
2 boxes fiber one bars
1 pkg betty crocker potatoes
3 boxes pillsbury frozen breakfasts
5 boxes of cereal
4 boxes of go-gurts
10 cartons of yogurt
2 2lb blocks of tillamook cheese
4 apples
2 bags of salad
4 1lb boxes of butter
1 pantene shampoo
1 pantene conditioner
2 tubs of margarine
18 eggs
loaf of bread
plus 70 extra box tops for my kid's school
plus $.15 off per gallon of gas at albertsons
like i said, i'm sure some maniac couponer could have gotten all this for $5, but for me i'm pretty happy with $67.

silhouette project

so for this last christmas i got a silhouette. if you've seen any of my earlier post you've seen some of the projects i've done. well, i haven't used my poor silhouette in such a long time. i decided to pull it out to see if i even remembered how to use it. the answer is yes, i did. this is what i came up with. it's on my pantry door.

"today," i thought...

"today," i thought "will never end"
"today" was a day full of self imposed stress and anger
"today" boiled inside of me taking away any chance of joy
"today" made me grind my teeth and clench my jaw
"today" i forgot to take the time to enjoy my son's laughter
"today" i didn't stop to hold my daughter's hand
"today" is a day i regret
"today" was a bad day

"tomorrow" is a new day
"tomorrow" i will hug my children and tell them i love them
"tomorrow" i will smile and relax a little more
"tomorrow" i won't stress over the little things
"tomorrow" will have no regrets
"tomorrow" i will remember why i love being a mother

updates

all right, i guess it's time for an update. i'm sitting here waiting for my nails (freshly painted thanks to my daughter, son, and nephew) to dry. and yes, they look as good as you'd expect; three different colors and very bright.
spring has finally sprung in my neck of the woods. the grass is green, daffodils are opening, trees are starting to bud, and we have been gardening something fierce! after we moved to our new home we went 2 years without a yard. very frustrating considering we had moved from a home with a fully landscaped/fenced yard. well, last fall we installed a sprinkler system and seeded the yard. this year we have gone buck-nutty planting flowers and bushes and trees. the hubs is a big fan of yard work so he's been creating multi-leveled flower beds and stone paths like nobody's business and, if i do say so myself, he has done a wonderful job.
i've been crafting, sewing, and experimenting in the kitchen. any little thing to give myself a break from the day to day tasks. not that i mind the day to day tasks. in fact, i know that one day i will miss all the chores i find so tedious right now. i made this wall art out of a thrift store clock, scarp book paper i had lying around, and extra trim we had for the frame.

the picture doesn't really do this piece justice. our camera isn't that great, but i think you get the general idea. i loved making it!
tomorrow, hubby goes back to work after a 3 week break. not a fun break mind you...he had his tonsils taken out. yes, it is as hard on adults as they say it is. i almost want to take all my kids in and have all their tonsils out now so it's easier on them.
i've also been working out in an attempt to return to my pre-baby body. i only have about 2 lbs to lose and then it's all about the toning. i love going to the gym. it's my time away from the home when i get to focus on me and only me. i think every mom needs that sometimes.

bitter-sweet memories

today my little girl turns 4. in some ways i can't believe she is already 4, but mostly i think, "wait, she's only 4!" she has always seemed older to me. maybe it's because she started talking so much earlier than our boys, or maybe it's because she always been obsessed with "pretties", or maybe it's because she has always had her own opinion and has never had a problem expressing it. whatever the reason, my little girl has never seemed very young to me.
my baby boy also reached a milestone today. he is now 6 months old. i've kept clothes from my older 2 boys as hand-me-downs and i store them 6 months to a bin. that means that today i pulled out a new group of clothes for my little baby and had to put away all the clothes he's outgrown.
this is where the bitter comes into play. as i folded each little outfit and put it into the garage sale pile i couldn't help but shed a tear. some of those outfits have been worn by each of my 3 boys. i kept thinking, "i will never pull this onesie over a tiny newborn head ever again. i will never fight a squirmy little foot into this shoe ever again. i will never see this outfit on one of my babies ever again." of course, i kept a few very special outfits for sentimental reasons, but most things are going bye-bye.
as much as i understand the reasons why we are done having children i still can't help but wish for another one. we had 4 kids in 5 years meaning that being pregnant and having children have been one of the main focuses of my life for over 6 years now. how do i find a way to let go of such an important part of my life? how do i come to terms with the fact that the thing i've devoted my body to for the past 6 years is no longer present in my life?
of course i know the answer. i focus on raising my children now. there is kindergarten next year; karate and ballet classes; play dates; and a myriad of other activities in our future. but knowing this is what i now need to turn my attention to and doing it are two very different things.
now for the sweet. pulling out each of the "new" outfits brought back happy memories of when my older boys were little. i remembered my boys wearing everything i took out of the bin. in most cases i also remember who gave us each outfit and why. it made me smile to think of my baby getting big enough to wear clothes his big brothers wore.
i am excited for the future. for all the adventures we will have as a family. i just really, really, don't like change.

Trials

We all have trials, each and everyone of us. For each person trails come in different forms. Some trials we bring on ourselves through the choices we make, other trials are thrust upon us by outside sources.
Additionally, we each handle trials in our own unique ways. Some people chose to face the bad times face on, having faith that everything will turn out right in the end. Others curl up in a ball and wait for things to improve.
For our family, trials almost always seem to come in monetary form. Before anyone judges to harshly and tells me to just stop spending, let me say that we do everything we possibly can to stay out of debt. In fact, our only debt is one student loan and our house. Not bad considering most people are loaded down with vehicle and credit card debt. We rarely eat out, never go to the movies, and we don't even have cable. And we also put part of every pay check into savings.
No, our problems seem to come in the form of medical bills and breakdowns to our cars and the house. Thankfully, we do have some savings to fall back on, but what do you do when that runs dry? Well, I guess that's when faith comes in. In my religion we pay 10% of our income to tithing. That may seem like a lot, but I have no doubt that because of that 10% we have found our way out of some pretty dark times. I am grateful to give that 10% to the Lord, because as I see it, He lets me keep 90%! Not bad.
So as we are now in the midst of another financial trial. I take my hunky fireman by that hand, smile, and say, "bring it on!"

slow cooker giveaway

http://melcakewalk.blogspot.com/2011/02/calphalon-7-quart-digital-slow-cooker.html

posh patina giveaway on delicately fierce

http://delicatelyfierce.blogspot.com/2011/02/valentines-day-giveaway.html

giveaway on whippy cake

check out this giveaway for an awesome watch

http://whippycake.com/blog/2011/02/mica-watch-giveaway/#comment-7491

my wonderful hubby!

i have a wonderful friend who has very recently gone through a divorce. her husband=not so great. i have another friend who went through a divorce a couple years ago. her husband=really not so great.
it's made me appreciate my husband even more. sure, we've had rough times, what marriage doesn't? but we have always been able to come through them stronger and more in love then ever. my husband is a very patient man who lets my fits of anger and craziness just roll right over him. he knows how to calm me down, how to soothe my insecurities, how to stand out of my way and let me work though whatever.
he loves me, he loves our 4 children, he always has our best interests at the heart of his every decision. i am truly grateful that God sent me such a wonderful man.

baby weight update

so good news! remember i said i managed to maintain during the holidays, and then i lost 2 lbs... well, the zumba i did at my mom's knocked me down another 2 lbs!!! yeah!!! i love getting results.

ZUMBA, baby!

ok, so i have a new love. i think you can tell from the title that my new love is...
ZUMBA!
my mom, who turned 71 last november (sorry for posting that, mom!), recently started taking a zumba class and she also bought some dvds. i'm visiting her for a few days so i decided to bust out her dvds and give them a go. well, i must admit that i dance like a white girl, probably because i am one. i have no idea what i'm doing, but what i lack in rhythm i make up for in enthusiasm (i think). if nothing else i had a blast and burned some calories. i think i might have to scour the internet for a set of discounted zumba dvds.

dreaded complaints

i as much as i hate to write a "complaint" post, i feel as though a teeny bit of venting is in order. this week was my 30th birthday. not the best day. my husband had to work (i get it, that's not the biggest deal), i didn't feel good, and i had sick kids. to top it off, people i expected to remember, didn't. i understand that in the big scheme of things a rotten birthday is not the end of the world. but for me, on that particular day and under those particular circumstances, it felt like it. i mean, turning 30 is kind of a big deal.
now that the whining is out of the way...
i have to admit i am not as upset about the number 30 as i thought i would be. i'm looking at things with a much more positive attitude than i thought i would. i think of it like this, i was finished having kids before 30. i'm big into fitness. after my 2nd was born i got into the best shape of my life, i'm talking 6 pk and everything. it was fabulous. then kids 3 and 4 came pretty close together so i never made it quite back to where i was 3 years ago. now, i have the rest of my life to get in shape and stay that way! i've also lately been thinking about how awesome being a grown up is. according to my 5 year old, i get to do whatever i want. and to a certain extent, he's right! if i feel like staying up until midnight, i can. (not that i ever do, because i love sleep). if i feel like eating scones for dinner, we do. (i know, eating scones for dinner may be part of the reason i haven't returned to my former in shape self. but in my defense, my youngest is only 4 months old, so don't be toooooo tough on me :)
another awesome thing about being a grown up, i never have to be a teenager again! high school was not a fun time for me. i went through an awkward phase from about 9-22. i'm sooooo much happier with where my life is now. (remember, i am married to a FIREMAN!!!) so all in all, 30 is looking to be a pretty good year for me, even if it was ushered in with a less then satisfactory birthday.

my new hobby!

so, i got a silhouette digital cutter for christmas. it didn't work. huge mess, very frustrating, me crying, lots of emails to their support team. long story short, they sent me a new one and it works! yeah! (by the way, silhouette has the best customer service of any company i have ever dealt with) so, here are some examples of what i've been making.

















i've only really played with the vinyl so far, but i can't wait to try out the heat transfer on clothes.
by the way, my very talented husband made the frame around the picture of Christ.

the toughest

so, the toughest part of being married to a fireman, is coming to terms with the fact that your husband has another family, completely separate from you. in my husband's case, he has 100 men that he claims as brothers. they live together, eat together, sleep in cubicles beside each other, play pranks, watch t.v., laugh, fight, and almost daily face potentially deadly circumstance together. each man has to know that the guy standing next to him in a fire is willing and able to sacrifice his life for his brother. they share a bond, that even as a wife, i do not (and cannot) share with my husband. of course we have a different kind of bond. but there is something about the bond between firemen that surpasses understanding. it is a bond that goes beyond friendship, because friendships can fail. it is a bond that forms even if two firemen don't necessarily get along that well. it is one that i am proud to support my husband in, even if it means there is a part of his life i cannot enter.
the toughest part of having a fireman for a husband, is being a fireman's wife.

fun blog

check out this cut blog.
http://somewhereincraftland.blogspot.com