We have to talk!

Last night Hubby got home from work and DS sits down in the living room with him. He plops his little 4 year old body in the chair and says. "We have to talk." Here's how the conversation goes.

DS: We have to talk.

Hubby: Ok, about what?

DS: About Blue. (Blue is the name of a dumptruck at Hubby's work which DS has decided is HIS and no one is to drive it...his exact thoughts on the subject are as follows: Blue is to sit at the work yard as a decoration until DS is old enough to drive it himself.)

Hubby: What about Blue?

DS: You aren't supposed to drive him! He's mine!

Hubby: But we have to, the boss said so.

DS: Well, you tell him that I said you aren't supposed to drive him, because he's MINE!

Hubby: Ok, I'll tell him that we can't drive Blue anymore because you said so.

I was in the other room, because I couldn't contain my laughter. My son was determined that this was the way it was going to be. I could tell it would be a doozy when he began with "We need to talk!".

Kid free weekend = SUCCESS!

This past weekend was blissful! Hubby and I had a kid free weekend. That's right, Friday evening to Sunday afternoon without the interruption of our son. It was fantastic!

My MIL picked up our son Friday after she got off of work and took him out to dinner, the next day was on to the science center and walking all around the city. He had a great time. The highlight for him was the bus ride to the science center! He has wanted to ride a bus FOR_EV_ER!! And he finally got to.

Our weekend was much less active but none the less exciting!

Friday evening, we got Chinese take out and some movies. We ate dinner at our table and got to talk about adult things without censoring them. We finished dinner, and had no dishes...woo hoo! We then watched Baby Mama, had popcorn and snuggled on the couch. Sappy I know!

Saturday, hubby had to work so I got to spend the day doing whatever I wanted! I slept in until 9:15!! Grabbed Starbucks and headed for Kohls. I bought myself a new handbag, wallet and some jewelry. It was so quiet for me. I also headed over to Target...and got to skip looking at the cars for once! Strolled on into Cost Plus World Market and then headed to the grocery store. It was a wonderful day to myself. When hubby got home, we decided to eat the Chinese left overs and watched Drillbit Taylor and had popcorn again.

Sunday morning, I went walking (at 6:30 am) with my friend like we always do so that Hubby could sleep in too. When I got home, we went out to breakfast and then visited the new mountain bike park. I was really impressed with the area! We then headed over to MIL's to have dinner and pick up DS. He was so happy to see us, which was nice. But he did have a great time.

Looks like we all did. As much as you love your family, it's sometimes really nice to have a break. Especially when you get to spend some kid free time with your spouse. It makes you realize why it is you like the person.

Our weekend was a SUCCESS!

Who knew?? September is National Coupon Month.

I just read this morning that September is National Coupon Month. I had no idea that such a "month" existed! But, I'm glad it does. Although the month is over half way finished, I will celebrate the rest of the month with a gusto!



I did a little research this morning and discovered that manufacturers offer more than $350 billion in coupons annually. That is a LOT of savings my friend!



The average coupon value is $1.25. If you just used 10 "average" coupons per shopping trip, you would save your family $12.50. That works out to be about 3.37 gallons of gas at $3.70 per gallon. If you shop 4 times per month using coupons each time, you would save enough money to fill your gas tank with 13.48 gallons of gas. That would fill my tank 80%!! And all you need to do is clip coupons!



Makes me so glad I started "couponing", as DH so affectionately refers to my new hobby.



Take a peek at your Sunday paper and see what goodies you can find.

Super Savings Saturday 9/13

Another great deal at Walgreens. Last minute before the sales change tomorrow.


There were 3 transactions.

Trans 1:

5 boxes Nature Valley Granola Bars
1 bottle Crest ProHealth Mouthwash

Coupons used:
(5) .50/1 Nature Valley
$10.00 off purchase of $10 or more

Total OOP = 2.39
RR Earned: $3.50 from Nature Valley and $4.50 from Crest

Trans 2:

4 Scrubbing Bubbles Flushable cleaning wipes

Coupons used:
(2) BOGO Free Coupons Here
(1) $4.50 RR from Crest above transaction

Total OOP = $1.48
RR Earned: $5.00 from SC Johnson

Trans 3:

1 bottle Crest ProHealth Mouthwash

Coupons used:
$3.50 from Nature Valley above transaction

Total OOP = $1.39
RR Earned: $4.50 from Crest

Not too bad for a quick trip!

Gotta love free organic berries!

We live really close to a HUGE blackberry bush that not a whole lot of people take advantage of. It's on public land and is free for the taking when the berries are ripe. Surprisingly to me, most of them go bad while still on the vine. This year is the first year we have taken advantage of them ourselves and we've lived nearby for 7 1/2 years. I've already picked enough for a berry crisp which was DELICIOUS! And I've frozen a full gallon sized zipper bag for later use.

Yesterday, I was in need of a bit of "me" time so I decided to gather my containers and bag and head over to the blackberry bush. I was shocked at how many were ready to be picked as well as how many were still in various stages of ripen-ness. I picked 4 more containers which worked out to be just enough for a batch of jam and some left over. YUUUMMMMY!

I came home with my haul and transformed these:

Into THIS!

I love me some home made freezer jam!! And it only took about 45 minutes. So easy, so yummy and so affordable.

Soooo tired....

I have not been sleeping well lately. I think it's because hubby and I are in desperate need of new pillows. I really need to just go out and pick some up. Bbut silly me...I'm having a really hard time justifying the expense. Do you know that a good pillow can cost in the upwards of $20+? Come on! That's a bit much. I've had my share of the cheapo pillows though and they just aren't the same. I really need to just break down and buy new pillows.

Have a favorite brand? Please share. I want to be off to the land of nod quickly and stay there for a looooonnnnnngggg time.

Oh yeah, I have a four year old. That's not going to happen any time soon. :(

Well, one can dream right?

Oh, to be a four year old boy...

My son recently got his hair cut. He decided that he must have a mohawk. We decided that this was OK being as he is only four. It's kinda cute. I'm not just saying that...many people have commented...really. :)

He has also decided that "he" doesn't want anyone to tell him they like his hair. I've tried to explain to him that people with exceptionally cool hair cuts often hear remarks about them. He just doesn't want anyone to look at him. So when they do, he tries to crawl into my skin. This has become quite annoying for me. Everyone else thinks it's cute that he's "shy".

If only we all could be blatantly rude and be thought of as cute.