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Wednesday, February 29, 2012

PopChips

These things are frikkin amazing #Ad

RTR 1/10 Monster Revo 3.3 4WD Monster Truck

Sadly, I have let my husband spend the 500$ on one of these things #Ad

Thursday, February 16, 2012

True tales of a crazy couponer

   Yes folks you read that right. I am one of "those" people. Now if you're thinking of that stupid television show on TLC, you're dumb. It's not realistic.  Sure at Target or Wal-Mart that *might* happen once in a blue moon but it's never as savvy as it appears on there.  Cashiers are 1) Never that nice and (2) Watching your coupons like a hawk.  And that's Ok with me, they should be checking them, after all it's dishonest people that "decode" coupons that ruin the couponing fun for us all. And to those people I say, "YOU STINK".


  Now that we have that outta the way.  Let's go through a quick run-through of *why* I coupon. The basics, I hate spending money, I have 2 kids, I hated my job and thus we are a single-income family.  I had to figure out HOW to make up for my lost income.  Ta-Da coupons!!  I know everyone has these glamorous images of couponers, and the images are sorta like this:



Sorry to disappoint, but I don't dumpster dive for coupons, nor have I turned my attic/garage/office/bathtub into a mini warehouse.  As appealing as both of those sound, they're basically nutso and just not practical for most sane people. If you are one of those people, I urge you to seek help. Now. 

I did have a few good couponing trips this week.  And if ya'll wanna see photos of my stockpiles, I would be more than happy to post them, but I think you'll be sorely disappointed at my storage skills. I'm not an organized person. I'm a "toss it in the closet throw the door closed and pray it stays that way" kind of person.  I also realized today that I may have done some um, not-so-nice things while couponing the past 2 days.  Yesterday was not so bad I suppose. The torture was mostly placed on my kids. Wake 'em up, make 'em cram breakfast down, hurry to the store. Yea yea Trinity you can have a balloon, be quiet, sit in the cart, play with your Band-Aids (hey they were .19$ and Toy Story).  Maybe a tad rude, but not so bad.  Though I did have to kinda rush in front of a lady to get some Cinnamon Toast Crunch.  Today I had to lower myself to sneak attacks.  

On occasion, couponing will require us to ask God's forgiveness...and of course, the forgiveness of the lady I just had my 2 year old knock out of the way...  See, it started with the gummy vitamins today. Only one box left on the shelf. At 2.50 off I was NOT letting blondie have those Super Hero gummies. I had Trinity run and grab them (to my dear husband, if you read this, I apologize for turning our daughter to dirty shopping tactics). Score! She was so happy, bragged about her Super Hero gummies all day long! Then for the Bounce Dryer Bars, see I thought they were out, but I just happened to look up and see ONE LAST BOX! Next thing ya know, there's a fat chick hopping up and down in the aisles of Harris Teeter to grab the last box of Bounce.  I'm sure the other shoppers appreciated this image.  On to dairy. I had coupons for coffee creamer. And in my house, if ever God were to charge us for worshipping false idols, it would be the can of Folgers.  So, you see, I NEED creamer. 20 bottles apparently. Shut up.  Fortunately, my daughter has recently learned to count. There was a small crowd of people around the creamers so I sent her in, "Trinity, go grab mommy 3 bottles of the yellow one."  She's cute. No one knew what she was doing until I had 10 bottles of creamer in my cart and as we all know, possession is 9/10 of the law.  When we got to the yogurt (same small crowd, you would think these people had learned the first time) same little trick. I've also taught her to hunt for coupons left on shelves, unfortunately she can't READ the expiration dates yet, but she did nab us a few extras today for some potato chips for a surprise for daddy.  Nothing warms a couponing mother's heart like hearing your toddler scream, "MOMMY I FIND COOPON!" from the other end of the grocery store aisle.

In the end, over the past 2 days I spent 92.03 at Harris Teeter and saved around 150$ And I did at least give the kid a cookie when we got home. My trick for her next week...learning to cut on the lines. I'll report back on how well that one works...



I believe I can fly....

Taking parenting advice from someone without kids is a little like learning to fly a plane from someone who has only read the manual.

   This has been weighing on my mind for about 2 weeks now.  Just a random comment someone posted on Facebook.  The person that made the comment isn't a bad person, she's actually kind of enjoyable to talk with.  But, one comment has annoyed me. And I don't even remember the exact wording of the comment anymore, but I'm still irritated.  It was along the lines of thinking people aren't good parents because when they are feeding their infants they get on the computer, probably also thinks touching the evil computing machine any time the child is awake is also going to send you straight to mommy hell.  This particular person has no children and has had trouble conceiving, so I understand her belief, it's not an uncommon belief amongst those who have no kids, or who only have one that is less than a month old.  To that I simply say, "You're wrong."  Now it's ok she has the belief, as long as she's ok with being so very wrong.

Well why is she wrong you say?  *I* would never use the computer while my precious baby is awake or eating. That's just evil and wrong.  You don't have kids, do you?

Those without kids, or those who have a child less than a month old, or even those pregnant with their first sweet little bundle of joy have these glowing images of kinda prancing around the house on a cloud whistling while you do laundry, smiling over your sleeping bundle of joy, spending every spare moment writing down their every cry, fart, and smile, and taking long leisurely showers while their darling spouse plays with Junior, and of course, every diaper smells like a field of flowers.  Raise your hand if you also once had these delusions.




The first 2-3 weeks are very similar to that pretty picture. And heck, I now have an almost-6-month-old and a 2 1/2 year old. I STILL smile over them when they're sleeping. It means they're quiet for at least an hour.  After 3 weeks of no sleep, your bubble pops. You begin to realize that farting and smiling leads to a diaper change. A diaper change that does NOT smell like roses. Oh, and sometimes, they aren't done when you go to change them. Yup, Abigail left a stain on her bedroom wall, that girl has range!  Laundry becomes a time that you use to pray you got all of the mysterious stains out of your baby's cutest pair of jammies and showers become a 5 minute rush while you pray nothing explodes.

As for the computer, from 6AM until 5:59AM, you get exactly 30 minutes every 3 hours to get on it. Or, for me currently, both my kids are passed out in front of the evil television and I get to sit down for a few short minutes.  It's not a matter of not loving my kids, it's a matter of I have to also love myself and take a few minutes to myself.  As one other person best put their response, "I'm sorry (insert baby name here), it's not called multitasking, it means I don't love you".

Now, I respect the girls opinion, but really, if you've never flown the plane, don't judge those of us that do fly it....All. Frikkin. Day.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

I still love you today...

This is not about me hating Valentine's Day quite the contrary actually. I love Valentine's Day. It's just an extra day on the calendar that reminds us to show those we love that we love them.  Yea yea, it's a Hallmark holiday. Yes, I love my husband every day, which I show him by packing his lunch, making him dinner, washing his dirty socks, and picking up whatever dish he has left laying next to his computer. And yep, I'm pretty sure he loves me everyday by kissing me, or saying thank you for cleaning up after my slovenly butt, and by taking out the trash. Know what he doesn't do every day? Take me (and the kids) to Chuck E. Cheese.  Know what your husband doesn't do every day? Take you to a steak dinner.


Sure it's just a day on the calendar. But you whiny "I hate Valentine's Day" people, SUCK. Yup, I said it. I have no pity for you, I think you're just a whiner.  Sure we love our families every day of the year, shut up and celebrate it. And if you're single, surely there is something in your life that you LOVE. Celebrate your comfy bed, or your favorite TV show instead of whining at those of us that enjoy the holiday.


Last night, we took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese for Valentine's Day. It was great fun. By the time we left, my jaw hurt from laughing so hard.  At one point we caught our two year old helping a little boy cheat at skee ball. We enjoyed a romantic pizza and soda dinner, played lots of games, and went home with arm loads of candy, cheap toys, and giggles.  Could we have gone to Chuck E. Cheese any ol' day? Sure. But Valentine's Day is just a day on the calendar to do something special. Because as much as you naysayers SAY you love your significant other every day of the year, how often do you remember to do something special? Yea, that's what I thought. So put a big red heart on your calendar, quit whining, and go have some fun!


Oh, and if you were wondering, my husband still told me  he loves me this morning and *gasp* it's the 15th!!!


Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Shameless Plug

Some of you may (or may not) know that I make little girls hair bows.  Would love if you could check us out on Facebook.  Constructive criticism is absolutely welcome, especially since I'm just starting out :)

http://www.facebook.com/LulusRibbonsandCurls




Monday, February 13, 2012

Some realizations.....

After reading a friends blog post tonight I realized I am nutz.  Yes, I spelled that with a "z".  Somehow that shows just how crazy I am, right?  My life as a mom can get pretty boring I find entertainment where I can.  Somehow today ended up being a rather entertaining Monday.  Maybe it's because all of the sickness finally seems to be heading OUT of our house. Maybe it's because I've been cooped up for too long.  Maybe it's because the family and I have a fun week planned. Or maybe I'm just a nutjob.  Hard telling.

Anyhow, today started out much like any other Monday morning. Heat up oatmeal, make coffee, pack lunch, get Trinity her juice and to the potty before we have screaming fits over either one. Flop on the couch and drink my cold coffee.  Typically once I flop down I turn on cartoons for Trinity (yes, I DO let my 2 year old watch television!) and I Facebook stalk...well, pretty much everyone on my friends list. And, truth be told, some of ya'll are boring. This Monday morning was no different. At 7:30 AM I drifted off to sleep on the couch, Abi was still in bed, Trinity was in cartoon land, I was good.  About 30 seconds after I drifted off Trinity proudly yelled in my face, "MOMMY I GOT IT!" and started shaking something at me.  Apparently she has learned how to open the fridge, grab the jug of juice and shake it menacingly at her sleeping mommy.  Alrighty, juice poured. Back to sleep at 7:37AM.

8:22 AM:  I shoot up off the couch panicking that Abi is awake and crying because mommy didn't get her.  False alarm, she's still passed out.  OK, good...now I have time for Pinterest.  After I search for a bajillion hair bow ideas that I'll never make and neatly pin them to my clipboard and find another bajillion recipes that I may or may not ever make, Abi is actually awake.  And laughing. Good start...no Trinity I do not need you to empty the drawers, thanks for the offer, no Trinity stop it! Trinity, go use the potty....ok bottle made. Diaper changed. Check!  Back to the couch to feed Abi and stalk Facebook some more.

After bottle time is cleaning time and on Mondays, coupon cutting/organizing time. While doing this I get the brilliant idea to use the Live Chat on the Great Wolf Lodge website to ask if they do a military discount. I'm not too worried about it one way or another, but it couldn't hurt to ask, right?  This is the point in my day that I start questioning my own sanity.  To make sure we were eligible for the discount they asked the question, "Will the military member be staying in the room with you?" Instead of a simple, "Yes, he will" I feel the need to respond with, "Gosh, I sure hope so. We've only been married for 3 years and I still kinda like him".   This was followed with a long pause, which gave me PLENTY of time to question my sanity.  At least they told me that it was good to hear that we still liked each other....

Fast forward:  4PM, Abi is napping, Trinity and I are playing with Barbies on the living room floor.  I'm sick of the runny noses. I'm sick of my toddler wiping her nose on her sleeve. At my wits end I tell her, "Trinity, if you wipe your nose on your sleeve again, I'm stealing your nose. STOP WIPING YOUR NOSE ON YOUR SLEEVE!!"  The poor child looked at me totally bewildered for a few moments. Probably wondering what I was going to do with her nose once I stole it.  Then she slowly leaned over turned her head, and wiped her nose on the side of the couch.  The only thing I could even try to do at that point....was laugh.

Between 4 and 7 PM is kind of a blur.  We have dinner, we played some more Barbies, had a bath with green water (yea, I'm cool like that), wore some giant lips around the house, chased baby sister around the house on a skateboard. Just the usual craziness at the Morcom house.  Here it is, now 9PM and I was supposed to have made a shopping list, made a few hairbows, and been puttering on Pinterest by now. Instead, I'm wondering exactly where that line of sanity is and if I have yet crossed it.....

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Sick bunch of sickies

Everyone in my house is sick.  This sucks, big time.  It's not so bad for me, but the husband is whiny and the kids are snotty.  Fortunately all the fevers broke, but I'm still cleaning up snot and drool and constantly saying, "cover your mouth please!".  I think that today, Lysol shall be my best friend, well, that and the couch. My snuggle blankie is very snuggly!  Happy Sunday everyone :)

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Smarterer

While looking for some new campaigns to complete on Bzzagent today, I saw a new one for a site called "Smarterer".  The name of this new site intrigued me, after all, it's ridiculous!

What it is, is a site where you take quizzes on your favorite social networking sites just to see how well they know them. Twitter and Facebook are both on there, which was kind of fun for me.  I'm a total Facebook junkie and though, "Eh, how hard can this be?" After getting 5 of 6 questions wrong, I realized, maybe I'm not such a junkie!  So go ahead and check them out! See how much you do (or don't) know, it's fun!