Will it ever end????

i keep patting my boo boo....

Again....... we went to the pediatrician AGAIN today! I don't think i posted that, after the pink-eye-associated-with-a-virus incident with Jackson, that Eli got hit hard with it all. Jackson had an ear infection, pink eye, & a bad sore throat & then days later (even on the Omnicef for HIS pink eye) i had to take Eli back in because he was running crazy fever (like up to 102.5 with fever reducer!) The verdict? "oh it's just the virus he has & his body is responding worse than jacksons did." (AS USUAL). He did this up & down fever for 4 days, and then the coughing began the next day. So this morning when he couldn't even eat breakfast for all the coughing & choking, i took him BACK in. Well, now (even still on the Omnicef) he has a double ear infection! And the coughing is just a side effect from all the drainage down his throat (although, from the looks of it, most MUST be coming out of his nose!!!) So the doctor (whom i didn't care for too much) gave me little to no options except these: Augmentin for 14 days or a hefty shot today & then come back for a second & possibly third hefty shot of a different kind of antibiotic. Ummm, i literally cried in the doctors office like a blubbering idiot (the stress of all this sickness, scheduling around the sickness, etc finally got to me). I didn't know what to do! Who wants to sign their kid up for a shot (or 3) but i have seen him on Augmentin & it isn't pretty. It tears his bottom out of it's frame in less than 24 hours to the point that it will bleed & to put him through that for 14 days was not a choice. So we had to go with the shot. IT WAS BAD (jackson pure covered his own ears because he was afraid to even watch!). The nurse was very frank & told me that it was going to be, & she was right. I felt so bad for him (i cried some more) & then we had to wait for 15 more minutes to make sure he wasn't going to have a reaction to the shot. The bottom line: Mommy is stressed from having ongoing sick kids for the last 2 weeks straight (& i feel like the whole year has been this way so far!), & poor Eli is walking around limping & rubbing his leg because it is still painful at the injection site. AND- he gets to do it again Friday morning at 10:30! Say a prayer that by then, he won't need a 3rd shot. And to top it all off, i think Daddy has pink eye now (& probably an ear infection or two left over from the flu) but who wants to pay 100% out of pocket when you have an HSA that has $0 in it? Looks like we are going to have to bite the bullet & take him in too.... i guess all my frugality will have to be to contribute to the HSA from now on......

Weekend Deals!

Well, i begun the weekend knowing i had things to buy on a budget & wondering just how well i would do. I think all in all i did GREAT! I knew that Jackson needed some spring clothes since he literally has ONE pair of shorts. Of course, Eli has all of Jackson's old clothes, so he needed nothing really. Well, i headed out to Kohl's since i had 2 coupons for $5 off my purchase. I got lucky because they were having an early bird special until 1pm. My goal was to spend less than $50 for an entire spring/summer clothing wardrobe. Since he had a few short sleeve shirts already, i was going to focus mainly on shorts, & maybe a few shirts. This is what i got: 5 pairs of shorts & one shirt for $11 & some change. Each peice was on sale from $10 to $4 & Nanny rang up an 2 articles of clothes for me to use the second coupon & her total was a little over $3 & she refused to let me pay her back.(So i ended up getting $60 worth of clothes for $11- saving $39 for shirts & i think i can get a pair of stride rite tennis shoes at the outlet in that budgeting too!)Of course, i took a picture! And in the picture is 8 pair of socks i got (for Eli) at Old Navy clearanced for .49c a pair, regularly $1.75 each- again Nanny ended up ringing them up while i was doing diaper duty back at the car, & AGAIN refused to let me pay her back. Thanks Nanny! Then today, i made a quick CVS run because i came across a coupon that was going to expire today & couldn't pass up this deal! I got all that is pictured (yes ANOTHER bottle of Excedrin- but i made a buck off of it) for 1.99 out of pocket! Who would pass that up??
And just so you know- i won't be posting a picture of EVERY deal i get (since i get them about every week), but i will post from time to time when the deal is especially sweet! It is exciting & this blog doesn't have to be all about the boys- it can be about how i help save money while raising the boys!

Daddy's overalls

I love traditions! And i couldn't resist another round of pictures with these adorable overalls. These were actually Randy's overalls when he was about 18 months old. Mema made them from scratch, and even hand embroidered the train & sunshine onto this cute cordouroy material with pockets in the front! I just love them & so when Jackson was about 18 months old, we had a photo shoot (thanks Uncle Jeremy) at Pullen Park with him wearing his daddy's overalls. Now Eli is wearing them & i am feeling another round at Pullen Park coming on! It is hard to believe that these overalls have held up for 33 years & have been through all my boys! So fun! And after i went back & found the pictures of Jackson, i was overwhelmed with how similar the boys look at this age. I truly don't think they look that much alike (like brothers, yes, but twins, no!)But at 18 months, i think they look more alike than i realized!

Get Well Soon, Grandma Tee!

So here we are this morning (still in our jammies) trying to send you (grandma tee) get well wishes. It was harder than it looked, but since you are still in the hospital, it was the best we could do. Although, Jackson did pray for you last night!

Take 1: Ummm, Eli don't blink..... Take 2: Jackson, hold the paper straight!
Take 3: (Eli wouldn't hold his at this point) Fine, Jackson, hold them both up so Grandma can at least read them!
We love you & hope you are on the upswing in no time!

Happy 19 months to Eli

Wednesday April 2, Eli turned 19 months old. So now his second year of life is over the halfway point already! That makes me sad! To celebrate his "big day" i headed to the doctors office with him & Jackson to get their "pink eyes" looked at. Sure enough- we are now on Omnicef for a virus that includes pink eye, ear infections(jackson's first one ever & eli escaped this time) & sore throats. At least i don't have to wrangle them down to put drops in their eyes- just 10 days of antibiotics. Fun times! I hope no one we were around yesterday at music classes gets this - SORRY! I really just thought they had allergies going on! I did manage to snap a shot of Eli on his special day doing one of the things he loves most- putting puzzles together. He is a pro at this & the developmental therapist in me LOVES that he is 19 months old & can do these puzzles with little to no help! He has been doing them since right after Christmas when he got them. He literally sat here Wednesday & traded out puzzles (2 of them) back & forth doing one, then the other, then the first one again, etc, for the whole time i cooked dinner! THat is 30 minutes minimum. Such a smart boy!

Placing the horse in....

Concentrating hard on that stinkin horse!

Of course, he clapped for himself each time he got a peice in!

Camping in the Rain

We went camping over the weekend & as it turned out, the weather shifted & we got drenched with rain & cold weather (in the 40s!). Arghhh! We were "making up" a weekend of fun & camping that we had to cancel several weeks back when we all got the flu & aunt marie got a stomach bug. But it turned out to be so dreary. However, we made the most of it & enjoyed ourselves the best we could. The boys had a blast playing in the camper & didn't even ASK about going outside (which is usually the first things out of their mouths in the morning when we camp). Saturday afternoon, we did send them out bundled up in short intervals after the rain stopped but made sure they weren't out there too long at one time to keep them from "catching colds." IS there really any truth to that anyway? The next day, it RAINED all day long which kept us from packing up & leaving until near dark. But we did manage to have a good time around lunchtime by jamming around the camper. We plugged in our iPods & selected "ROCK" & rocked on! The kids had a great time too & if i can figure out how to upload it- i will upload a hilarious video of Uncle Jeremy singing "Dead or Alive" by Bon Jovi. (He will hate me for it most likely)



Here is that video of Uncle Jeremy- Enjoy a good laugh! (it's a lot of nothing at first, then it get's pretty good!)

Detour from frugality....

Since i only "work out of the home" 2 days a week, i can easily be persuaded to not cook on those days. Monday was one of those days where i was the persuadER. The thought of getting home at 6pm to even START dinner was overwhelming to me & so i convinced Randy to go to Cracker Barrel. We hadn't been there in some time & after it was over, i immediately felt guilty for the $30 it dipped out of our budget to feed a family of 4. I am trying so hard to cut the spending & dining out is one of the fastest & easiest ways to spend money (not to mention that it is a weakness to give into dining out when you are the one preparing a menu, clipping coupons, shopping, preparing the meal, cooking the meal, & cleaning up after the meal!) But i am mentally back on track (& remotivated after reading THIS blog post) with a new menu for the next 2 weeks & no meals out planned in sight! My new goal is to only spend on $40 a week on groceries (not including household items like diapers, etc) & still feed my family balanced meals. That plan hasn't begun yet because of all the HT triple food & the Kroger deals i got this week. I am going to stretch that food out for a good month i think, hoping to only hit the store for milk & bread, or maybe a lb or two of meat or apples if we run out. So my projected start date for the $40 menus is May 1. Wish me luck!

Here is a photo of the boys who were thrilled with the night out at the Cracker Barrel. Who doesn't love a good rocking chair? Even baby got in on the night out....

The joys of sneaky boys

Jackson: Momma.... there's too much in there & it's not going in the hole.
Rachel: What?
Jackson: The water isn't going down the hole.
Rachel: What water? What were you doing?
Jackson: Nothing... I was washing my hands & there is too much in there & it isn't going down the hole in there.
Rachel: Did you put something in the sink?
Jackson: Nope.
Rachel: Well you're daddy's the plumber in this house. Talk to him.
Randy: What happened?
Jackson: Daddy.... Daddy....There is too much water & it isn't going down the hole.
Randy (walks into the bathroom): Oh my!
Jackson: See? It isn't going down the hole.
Randy: What did you put down the drain, Jackson?!
Jackson: Nothing... Ummm. A wipe.
Randy: A WIPE!? How far did you push it down?
Jackson: Just a little.
Randy: Argghhhh (growling & walking through the living room & talking to Rachel): He's crammed MORE than one wipe down there & i don't know if i can get it out.

moral of the story: NEVER leave a 4 year old unattended if his name is Jackson & he is sounding quiet for more than 2 minutes. (And yes, he got the wipes out!)

Accidentally catching some ZZZZZZs...

I sent Jackson to his room this afternoon to take a nap before it was time to go camping (the only motivator to the nap!) & he played around in his room forever! I kept saying from the other room, "Jackson, are you in your bed?" & he never would respond, but since he was a quiet busy, i was rolling with it. Well, a little bit later, it was quiet in there so i went in to check & in fact, he was NOT in his bed BUT he was ASLEEP! Whooo Hooo- that is NEVER a guarantee around 1:30 at our house, so i am always thankful when BOTH the boys sleep at the same time.

Where's Jackson? Look Closely.....

There he is! He was surrounded by a mess of toys & used a floor pillow to prop up on....

And he pulled the comforter part way off the bed to cover up with!

Harris Teeter Triples!

Okay, so i told myself that i wasn't going to post pictures of all my savings on this blog because lets face it- that is kinda geeky. But laugh all you want because i will be laughing all the way to the bank! I am so excited over this weeks bargains at Harris Teeter. I don't usually shop there because i think... no, i KNOW, their prices are higher than average for most everything. But i have been shopping at Lowes Foods for the past 6 months because they double coupons up to .99c everyday & combine this with weekly specials & my grocery budget has been cut in half. So i couldn't pass up the opportunity to hit Harris Teeter since they were tripling coupons for 3 days only. You could only use 20 coupons per order & only go through the line one time with them, so we (Rebecca, Jana, & myself) hit two different Harris Teeters in order to maximize the savings! It was loads of fun! The goal is to use mostly .75c coupons (2.25 after tripled) & 50c coupons (1.50 after tripled) to pay less than 50c or $1.00 at worst for most items. MANY items were free with overages & many were less than a quarter!!! So seriously, this is what i got:
(2) boxes of Tide detergent (32 loads each)
(5) bottles of Excedrin 24ct (actually purchased for FREE at Walgreens with $2/off coupon as they were on sale this week for 1.99-regulary 4.99)
(1 )box Reeses snack mix 100 calorie packs
(1 )64 oz bottle of Welchs 100% White Grape Juice
(1) Dukes Mayo
(1) Daisy sour cream
(1)Frozen Grands biscuits
(1)Betty crocker cake icing
(2) Alexia potato nuggets (tater tots)
(2) fat free Eagle brand sweetened condensed milk
(2) Frenchs Friend Onions
(2)Harris Teeter brand shredded cheddar cheese (actually used no coupons here, they were just on sale & we needed them)
(2) boxes of Totinos Pizza Rolls
(5) bags of Steamfresh Veggies
(4) smart choice ramen
(1) Betty Crocker Oatmeal cookie mix
(3) boxes Nutrigrain Granola Bars
(4) boxes Nutrigrain Cereal Bars (actually- no coupons here either- they were on sale & we needed them)
(1) box of Texas Toast
(1) box of Uncrustables Sandwiches
(1) bag Snyders Multigrain Pretzel Sticks
(1) bag of Eat Smart Veggie Crisps Chips
(1) bottle Mrs Dash Hamburger Seasoning
(1) box Hungry Jack Pancake Mix
(2) boxes of Uncle Bens Long Grain Wild Rice
(2) cans Cream Mushroom Soup
(2) cans Cream Chicken Soup
And how much did i spend?????...................
Drum Roll Please.........
I spent right at $20!! That is a little more than i would have paid for the 2 boxes of Tide alone or for paying for 4 boxes of Excedrin at full price! It was crazy fun (& crazy tiring)! So, thanks for tolerating my long post about frugality. It made me feel good to share my savings!! And lets face it, if you could get all this for 20 bucks, you'd do it too!