Andrew's Big Day

Today is a HUGE day for Andrew! He gets to be the PRINCIPAL for the day at his school today!! His school has an Accelerated Reader (AR) program. In the AR program you read books throughout the year and then take tests on those books to earn points. At Andrew's reading level, each test is worth 1/2 of a point if you score 100% - less then 100% and it's even less the 1/2 point. If you get 8 points per quarter you get to go to a snow-cone party. If you get 100 points within the school year you get to be the principal for a day! Andrew read and tested on over 200 books this year in order to reach this goal (and remember he started school a month later then everyone else!). He is the second kindergartner this year to achieve this goal and we are VERY proud of him!!! In fact, I think he has decided that we are a little too proud of him. I took him into school today so that I could get some pictures and after telling me multiple times that I could only take ONE more picture he finally just told me that I needed to leave. Another perk about getting to do this today is that the principal will take him to lunch at Al's Pizza - he made it very clear that I WAS NOT allowed to go to Al's today. I guess he knew what I was thinking.
McKenna started off being very proud of her brother and excited - she even chose her dress this morning based on what would best match his outfit. When we got to school though and everyone made a big deal over Andrew things changed. She's used to being the center of attention and she wasn't happy when Andrew got to be in the spot light for a change.
Here are a few pictures from our exciting morning!



With his teacher, Mrs. Mills


At 'his' desk

patrolling the halls


Helping with student drop-off


and by far the most exciting part of the day - getting HIS walkie talkie (he get's to keep and it use it the entire day!)



and finally a picture of Ken just to keep her happy

Easter

Thought I'd post a few Easter pictures. We had a nice relaxing day. We were at the beach most of the day - notice the sun burn on McKenna in the later pictures. It was the strangest thing. I put 50 SPF sun screen on Steve, the 2 kids and my 2 nieces - didn't put any on myself. They all got horribly burnt and I was fine. It was the first time that I had bought generic sunscreen, I think I'm going to have to go back to my expensive stuff.





Steve found an albino lizard. As you can see from the pictures below, McKenna loved it - Andrew didn't want to touch it.

This is the lizard crawling on McKenna's arm - notice Andrew keeping his distance in the background.

McKenna still playing with it

Look, it crawled up her arm into her hair

Uhoh, now she's loving him a little too much - I love the demonic smile


Here is the lizard right before we let him go, no worse for the wear other then the missing tail......

Spring Break

I knew that I wouldn't be good at this whole blog thing. I forget to update it and then when I finally do remember I just can't seem to find the time. Things have been a little busy around here lately - who am I kidding, things are always busy! Between the kids and the animals, it just seems like there is always someone who needs something!

Andrew is doing great and has been cleared to play sports again. If I haven't talked to you recently, Andrew began having some leg pain a few weeks ago that would just kind of come and go. I thought it was probably just growing pains so I really didn't worry about it too much. On Saturday it was pretty bad. He was limping, didn't want to play and didn't even want to go to his t-ball game. I knew it wasn't just growing pains when he let me pick him up and carry him in front of his friends. For my 5 year old 'big boy' things like that just aren't allowed! So off to the ER we go! They did xrays and couldn't see anything wrong, but they didn't think it was growing pains either so we were referred to an orthopedic specialist at Children's Hospital. After a thorough exam yesterday by the specialist it was decided that the most likely cause was that a cold virus settled into the hip joint causeing it to become inflamed and painful but it looks like it's getting better now. Sound a little familiar? It's very similar to what they said about McKenna when she was drinking 120 ounces of water a day. After ruling out all of the serious problems that it could be it was decided that a virus settled in her kidneys.

For those of you that know about the issues that we have been having with Chloe (the dog), we've been seeing some improvement over the last few days. I'm not saying that she is 'all better' by any means, but I am hopeful that we are making some progress!

Now for some pictures - since I haven't posted in a while there are quite a few of them.

First one of the kids being sweet to each other. It doesn't happen a lot so I had to get a picture. Yep, Andrew STILL sucks his fingers!


Kenna with Riley

Steve and the kids took me to Urban Flats for lunch on my birthday - the kids loved the dessert fondue


Steve's birthday - wow, he's getting close to 40!!!


Working on an art project - Thanks Aunt Debbie and Breanna!!!!




Here are a few of McKenna. It's funny to me that I ended up with a little girl like McKenna. As most of you know, I'm not a fan of dresses and things that are overly girly. I wear jeans or shorts with t-shirts. If I have to dress up, I wear dark jeans with boots. My mom tells me that I was this way even as a young child. So how did I get a bowhead???? How did I get a little girl who insists on outfits - no jeans and or shorts with t-shirts for her. She wants a matching outfit or a dress. Then she wants the shoes and hair accessories that go with it and the bigger the bow, brighter the colors, and more ruffles there are the better! Steve calls the outfit below her clown suit but it's one of her favorites. Oh, and that bow - not even one of her biggest! She's only 3 but she asked me the other day if she could get her ears pierced. Now, I have strong feelings on getting little girls ears pierced but I also know how to deal with my daugher so after thinking about it for a minute I told her, "sure you can get your ears pierced but do you know how they do it?" I then explained EXACTLY how they go about piercing ears. Call me evil if you want, but I think I'm good for a couple of years now!



Lastly a few funny kids stories. The other day McKenna and Andrew were outside playing with some friends when McKenna decided to throw a piece of sidewalk chalk at her brother hitting him square in the head - kids got an arm on her too - it left a welt. Anyway, I made her come inside and sit in timeout which really doesn't seem to bother her all that much. She just sat there singing her songs and talking to herself. As you all know, McKenna loves princesses and wants to be a princess so when her timeout time was over I asked her if she thought that a princess would act like that. She thought about it for a minute and then broke down in tears sobbing, "no, I guess I'm just an evil witch." All I could think was, "I'm sure your brother would agree with you on that one."

Now of about Andrew. Andrew is all about Legos right now so when I found a set the other day that was on clearance I bought it planning to save it for his birthday. Well, I didn't hide it and he came home from school and saw it so he started pestering me about it. I told him that we weren't going to talk about it any more so he went to his room. Well, a couple of minutes later he comes back out and says to me, "You're just a big waster mom! It's a watse to buy a toy and not give it to me and you KNOW it's bad to waste thing!" I thought it was pretty creative thinking on his part. He still didn't get the toy but I have to say I was impressed.

Maybe I should change the name of my blog to "Just another day at the beach"

It seems like all I ever do is post pictures of my kids at the beach! Well, here's a few more for you but I decided to mix it up a little this time so I'm also posting a picture of our loot from yesterday.....makes you want to jump right in the water huh!?!?!





Like the look of intense concentration?


Why do I get the dog that can't get along with other dogs, but loves cats???

Diaper Deal

For those of you with kids (or grandkids) still in diapers, there is a pretty good diaper deal going on at Walgreens right now. Buy $25 worth of Huggies products and get a $10 Register Reward good on your next purchase. The best scenario that I see right now is to buy 3 of the jumbo packs that are on sale for $10 each bringing your total to $30. Now use 3 of the $5 off coupons available here
to bring your total down to $15. You'll pay $15 out of pocket for 3 jumbo packs of diapers PLUS you'll get a $10 register reward which can be used the same as cash (with a few limitations). Let me know if you have any questions and I'll try to help you out.
There are a few other deals worth looking into at Walgreens this week. Mac and Cheese is $0.69 after the coupon in the store circular, Garnier fructise shampoo and conditioner is free if you have a MFQ from the paper a few weeks ago or $0.99 without that coupon. Glade airfresheners are free or even possible MM with the right coupons. let me know if you are interested in any of the deals and I'll help you out.

Another Beach Day

Things have been a bit busy around here lately! Steve started his new job with the PGA Tour and loves it! He was in Doral FL for a few days last week and will be going back again next week. Andrew had his last basketball game and T-ball is now in full swing. He'll have his first game on Monday night. We did manage to find some time to go to the beach for a little while this morning and I actually remembered to bring my camera so I have a few pics to share. Just for the record, I know that there are way more pics of Ken on here but that is simply because McKenna loves to have her picture taken and I have to bribe Andrew with cold hard cash to get him to let me take a picture of him!
If you want to see the pictures larger, just click on them!
McKenna as we were leaving the house


Kenna at the beach



My sweet little skinny man who is always cold


And my favorite picture of the day - the cutest beach bum ever!!!

Free Small Sub at Quiznos

Click here and enter your info to get a printable coupon for a free small sub at Quiznos. Then go here to unsubscribe from their mailing list so that you don't get unwanted spam mail.

Monday Deals

Couple of quick deals for Monday -

Restaurant.com has a new code for 80% off - Just enter discount code "DINE" at checkout and hit apply. I use this to buy $25 gift certificates for $2 then I can use the cert. on any of their restaurants whenever I want. Code is good thru Sat. the 28th

The Redbox free movie code for Monday is S39XKT. It expires tonight at 12:00 Midnight CST. One use per credit card so if you want 2 movies use 2 different cards. Movie must be returned by 9PM the next day.

The Cat with No Name

I'd like to introduce the newest member of our family.....

We ran into Petco on Saturday to pick up some dog food and as luck would have it they were having an adoption event. They had quite a few homeless cats, kittens, puppies and dogs there and we ended up with this little guy. He still doesn't have a name so we'd love to hear some suggestions!
He's got a physical trait that is fairly interesting - see if you can spot it in the pictures below.....




Yep, he's got a curly tail. Kind of strange but cute too. Has anyone else ever seen a tail like that on a cat? He's also got a very unique voice. Kind of raspy and choppy, it kind of reminds me of a monkey. So like I said, we're looking for a name. So far, we've come up with Curly (for the tail), Wilbur (because the tail kind of looks like a little piglets tail) and my favorite - Cash (for Johnny Cash - the unique voice and Johnny always wore black). Any other suggestions???

Pace Salsa

Here is a link to a game that Pace has going on right now. If you win you can print a coupon for a free jar of Pace up to $4. I won on the first try. I think you can play once a day until 7/31/09. Good luck!!

70% off at Restaurant.com

Restaurant.com has a new 70% off code good for 4 days. Just enter discount code PREZ at checkout and hit apply. Enjoy!

The beach....again...

We went to the beach again on Friday and as usual, we had a great time. I took some pictures and they demonstrate pretty much how every beach trip goes.


Here's how it starts. Everyone is happy and dry.


Then you can see him thinking.....hmmm, maybe I'll just jump a few waves.....


Here he's starting to test the water a little - jumping a few small waves - not getting too wet. Note the tongue out as he runs



Awww, look, now he's got his sister involved. Aren't they so sweet together..... It looks like he's being such a nice big brother and taking her out there to show her how to jump the waves right? He must be pretty good at it, he's still dry.

But nope, it was all a trick. He lured her out there so that he could shove her down just as the wave came in!

Free or Cheap Kashi bars at Target

There is a Kashi MFQ (Manufacture Coupon) here in the lower right hand corner of the page for $2 off a box of Kashi bars. There is also a $1 off Target coupon here. You can use both of these coupons to save $3 per box. These are only $2.99 at my Target so they will be free after coupons - and they are good! To avoid any beeps at the register it's best to give the cashier your MFQ first then the Target coupon.

CVS & Rite Aid Coupons

Just found got this CVS coupon good for $4 off a $20 purchase. There are a few ways to use this to your benefit. I think what I will probably do is this:

Buy 3 $0.99 Hallmark cards - $2.97
Buy 1 Gillette Gamer Razor - $7.99
Buy 1 Garnier 100% Hair Color - $5.99
Buy 2 CVS Brand Childrens Asprin - $1.99 each = $3.98
This puts my total at $20.93 plus tax

Now I'll use the above $4 coupon first before my total drops at all and then I'll use the $4 razor coupon from the paper and the $2 Garnier haircolor coupon from the paper which will bring my total to $10.93 plus tax. I'll pay for this with previously earned ECB's (Extra Care Bucks) and I will get back $12.98 in ECB's (3 for the 3 cards, 4 for the razor, 2 for the haircolor, and 3.98 for the asprin).

Another possible scenario:
Buy 3 $0.99 Hallmark cards - $2.97
Buy 1 Gillette Gamer Razor - $7.99
Buy 1 Benefiber - $8.99
Buy 1 CVS Brand Childrens Asprin - $1.99
This puts my total at $21.94 plus tax

Use the $4 printable, $4 razor coupon, $2 benefiber peelie found on the product to bring the total to $11.94 and get back $11.99 in ECB's.

The printable coupon is good for Sunday also so it will be good with the new ad for next week. I've glanced at that ad and it looks like there are some promising scenarios but I haven't had time to match up the coupons and stuff.

Here a printable coupon for $5 off $20 for Rite Aid. I don't have a Rite Aid here though so I'm not going to be much help with finding the best way to use it.

Free Magazine

Just stumbled across this free subscription to

The Beach

Every Wednesday is an early release day for the schools here so we decided to go to the beach yesterday since we had a little extra time. The kids had a blast. It was a little cool so we had the place pretty much to ourselves! Sorry about the photo quality, I forgot my real camera so these were taken with my phone.






I found this last picture on my phone and thought it was funny. McKenna HATES going to Andrew's basketball practice and games so if she isn't whining and complaining about being there she is usually doing this -

Yep, she's laying on the floor playing a video game!

Some Deals for the Week

Walgreens has some pretty good deals going on this week, especially when you use some of the coupons that were in the Sunday paper. I was lucky enough to get quite a few coupon inserts this weekend so I'll give you a summary of the way I will do things at the end of this post.

First the deals:
Gillette Fusion 'Gamer' Razor - $8.99 get a $6 RR (register reward) good on your next purchase if you use a $4 coupon from the Sunday paper and you will pay $4.99 and get a $6 RR back. Note: if you want to do this deal multiple times, you cannot use your RR to pay for the next razor you buy - you WILL NOT get another RR if you do this.

Garnier Fructise Wonder Waves shampoo, conditiner, mouse or spray - $4.29 get $4.29 back via Walgreens rebate program. Use $1 coupon from the paper to make $1 on this deal!

Revlon - Spa makeup - $9.99 get $9.99 back via Walgreens rebate program. Use $2 coupon from the paper to make $2 on this deal!

Revlon - Cream Lip Gloss - $9.99 get $9.99 back via Walgreens rebate program. Use $2 coupon from the paper to make $2 on this deal!

Walgreens brand contact solution - $1.99 get $1.99 back via Walgreens rebate program.

Scrubbing Bubbles 28 count flushable bathroom wipes - 2 for $5 get $2 back via Walgreens rebate program. Use this printable coupon, and it will be FAR (free after rebate).

Therma Care neck, shoulder or wrist wrap - $2.49 get $2.49 back via Walgreens rebate program. Use the coupon from the paper for $1 off to make $1 on this deal.

Zucol Cold Care - $7.99 get $7.99 back via Walgreens rebate program. Use this printable coupon, to make $2 on this deal.

Walgreens will have the monthly ESC (Easy Saver Catalog) right by the front door when you walk in. It's good to use it to look at the product that you need to buy just to make sure you are getting the right one.

A side note about Walgreens rebate program - have them put it on a gift card and they will add an additional 10%. Then you just use that gift card to continue to do the deals every month.

Here's what I'll probably do:
Buy 1 razor, use coupon pay with old GC (gift card) balance and get $6 RR.

Use $6 RR to buy Garnier Fructise Wonder Waves Product, 2 Scrubbing Bubbles Wipes and contact solution for a total of $11.28. Use $1 Garnier coupon and the $3 off 2 scrubbing Bubbles coupon to bring my total down to $7.28. Use $6 RR and some GC balance.

Buy another razor, use another coupon, get another RR.

Buy one of the Revlon products. Use $2 coupon to bring it down to $7.99. Use RR and GC balance to pay.

Get another razor (I told you I got lucky with the inserts this week).

Do the exact same as about with the other Revlon product.

Another razor.

Buy the Zucol cold stuff and the Therma care wrap for $10.48. Use $1 Therma Care coupon and $2 Zucol coupon to bring total to $7.48. Use RR and GC balance to pay.

In the end, I will use $26.70 plus tax from my gift card balance but I will get $42.61 (38.74+ 10%) back onto my gift card. So Walgreens will pay me around $15 to take 2 Revlon products, 4 Gillette Fusion razors, 1 Garnier Fructise product, 2 Scrubbing Bubbles products, contact solution, 1 Therma Wrap, and 1 Zucol product.

If you see a deal that I have missed, please let me know and I can add it to the page.

For those of you with a CVS close, they have a lot of great deals like this too! Nothing too amazing this week but they do it too.

If you ever have any questions about any of the deals or coupons that I use just let me know and I'll be happy to answer them!

Saturday

Saturday's are kind of busy for us right now. Basketball and T-ball overlap for the month of February so we have a basketball game and then we have to head straight to t-ball practice.


Kenna still isn't feeling well today so she was especially cranky at the game and practice. When we got home she went straight to her room and I was so happy that she wasn't whining that I didn't even bother to check and see what she was doing. After a while though when she still hadn't come out I thought it might be wise to go and make sure that she wasn't destroying anything and this is what I found.

Poor thing, she was so tired that she pulled out her little princess couch and went to sleep. Now I feel kind of bad for getting frustrated with her and her tantrums......maybe she was just tired...

Here's a pic of Ken at the game during one of the few moments that she wasn't crying or whining.