I know it seems like all I do is complain, but I guess this is a venting ground for me. A place to let it out. So instead of complaining more, I will list off a few of the many things I'm thankful for without any but's or however's involved (sorry, there may be a bit of bragging in here as well).
- 2 beautiful healthy children
- a daughter who tells her family members, and even a stranger, "bless you" when they sneeze
- a son who is just starting to crawl
- a son who has a killer smile
- a daughter who makes me laugh with her word pronounciation
- a daughter who gives her little brother "pisses" and likes to pet him
- a son who loves his big sister's "pisses" and pets
- a husband who is very forgiving and God loving...and me loving
- 2 wonderful parents
- and 2 wonderful parent-in-laws (while I'm at it)
- my eldest brother who, no matter how rarely we see each other anymore, I still feel I can talk to about anything
- a set of grandparents who are still alive
- having a flexible job where I am well paid and appreciated
- knowing that tomorrow is another day and I get to start over, or continue the goodness
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Adventure is right! (long...sorry)
It just seems like the last few weeks have been filled with preparing for what's coming up. If I've had down time, I've been thinking about what we have going on next, and then after that and after that. I suppose that's just how life is, right? Getting ready for the next thing on your plate.
It all started in mid-March when we took our trip to San Antonio to visit Jim's older brother and his family. While we were there, my aunt Anita passed away so just a few days after we got back we were planning to head out to NE for her funeral. A side note on that...I still feel like I've been punched in the gut every single time I think about her and that she's gone. I still don't know if I've come to terms with it.
Things might have slowed down for a little bit when we got back, but not really. Basketball season was ending and we are now in the playoffs so I'm continuing to work (not that I'm complaining about it...) I'm also getting ready for our yearly garage sale that will be at my parent's house May 8th (and another one planned in June with my friend Ann). Since we have made the decision to not have any more children (at least not plan for any) we have a LOT of stuff to get rid of. I've offered some things to friends but the rest will be sold. Garage sales are always a big deal to me. I love going to them and I love going to an organized one, so I want to make sure that mine is nice and organized as well.
Monday I had 3 moles removed and they will be checked for anything bad. I have to go back in 2 weeks to have the stitches removed. Having them removed was a lot more painful that I thought. I'm still sore but it doesn't help that 2 were on my back, near my shoulder blades, and the other one is on my stomach. It's not too comfortable when you have a wiggling 7 1/2 month old in your arms and your back is being pulled and stomach is getting elbowed and kicked.
Today, Jim got lasik done on his eyes. He's currently sleeping and will be recovering from that for a few weeks.
Tomorrow I'm loading up the kids in the car and, along with my mother, we are heading out to NE to visit my grandparents for the weekend. This in the weekend for the annual Salad Supper in Giltner (don't ever say small towns aren't exciting) and my mom always goes back to help/attend. We'll also spend most of the weekend sorting and organzing things are my grandparent's house...but that's a whole other blog post. entirely.
May 3, Jim and Nora are boarding a plane to visit Jim's parents for 4 days. Jim's older brother (and family) will be there as well so it will be a nice visit for them. Emmett and I are staying behind because A) the Nugget's may still be in the playoffs and I'll need to work and B) I don't want to miss out on the garage sale which will happen while I'm gone.
So, you see, it's a continuing road of "what's next?" I suppose it's better than being bored, but it wouldn't be bad to just sit on the sofa, work on some sewing, watch a movie and not think about packing....which I should be doing right now.
It all started in mid-March when we took our trip to San Antonio to visit Jim's older brother and his family. While we were there, my aunt Anita passed away so just a few days after we got back we were planning to head out to NE for her funeral. A side note on that...I still feel like I've been punched in the gut every single time I think about her and that she's gone. I still don't know if I've come to terms with it.
Things might have slowed down for a little bit when we got back, but not really. Basketball season was ending and we are now in the playoffs so I'm continuing to work (not that I'm complaining about it...) I'm also getting ready for our yearly garage sale that will be at my parent's house May 8th (and another one planned in June with my friend Ann). Since we have made the decision to not have any more children (at least not plan for any) we have a LOT of stuff to get rid of. I've offered some things to friends but the rest will be sold. Garage sales are always a big deal to me. I love going to them and I love going to an organized one, so I want to make sure that mine is nice and organized as well.
Monday I had 3 moles removed and they will be checked for anything bad. I have to go back in 2 weeks to have the stitches removed. Having them removed was a lot more painful that I thought. I'm still sore but it doesn't help that 2 were on my back, near my shoulder blades, and the other one is on my stomach. It's not too comfortable when you have a wiggling 7 1/2 month old in your arms and your back is being pulled and stomach is getting elbowed and kicked.
Today, Jim got lasik done on his eyes. He's currently sleeping and will be recovering from that for a few weeks.
Tomorrow I'm loading up the kids in the car and, along with my mother, we are heading out to NE to visit my grandparents for the weekend. This in the weekend for the annual Salad Supper in Giltner (don't ever say small towns aren't exciting) and my mom always goes back to help/attend. We'll also spend most of the weekend sorting and organzing things are my grandparent's house...but that's a whole other blog post. entirely.
May 3, Jim and Nora are boarding a plane to visit Jim's parents for 4 days. Jim's older brother (and family) will be there as well so it will be a nice visit for them. Emmett and I are staying behind because A) the Nugget's may still be in the playoffs and I'll need to work and B) I don't want to miss out on the garage sale which will happen while I'm gone.
So, you see, it's a continuing road of "what's next?" I suppose it's better than being bored, but it wouldn't be bad to just sit on the sofa, work on some sewing, watch a movie and not think about packing....which I should be doing right now.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Holy Moley
No really...Holy Moley!
I went to the doctor's this morning and had 3 suspicious moles removed. One on my stomach and 2 on my back, near my shoulder blades. OMG!! I figured there would be some pain because, well, they cut into me to removed them and now I have stitches, but WOW. I know it's just pain from the incisions but ouch it hurts. The fun part...tonight is game 2 of the Nugget's playoff series and I'm working. I can barely sit here let alone running around all night waiting on people. But I gotta do it. Mamma's got to make some money.
I went to the doctor's this morning and had 3 suspicious moles removed. One on my stomach and 2 on my back, near my shoulder blades. OMG!! I figured there would be some pain because, well, they cut into me to removed them and now I have stitches, but WOW. I know it's just pain from the incisions but ouch it hurts. The fun part...tonight is game 2 of the Nugget's playoff series and I'm working. I can barely sit here let alone running around all night waiting on people. But I gotta do it. Mamma's got to make some money.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Warning: Potty Training ramblings
::Disclaimer - this post is about potty training and could possibly be a bit graphic. If you aren't interested then read no more. I am psyched, however, so I need to document it.::
I haven't been consistant with doing any potty training for Nora. When we thought about starting to do some preliminary potty training, that's when Emmett arrived and we didn't want to do anything new like that when so many changes were happening in our house. Plus, she is one of those kids who can walk around with poop in her diaper for an hour and care less, so that doesn't help any.
We've had her potty seat out for a LONG time now and she sits on it occassionally but nothing had ever happened. We also have a potty chair at my parent's house and about a month ago Nora went peepee in it, while I was at work, and my parent's were watching the kids. It was an exciting night but it never happened again.
Tonight I was giving Emmett and bath and Nora was helping/getting in my way and she mentioned that she wanted to sit on the potty. I was done bathing him and ready to dry him off, etc so I said sure. She sat down and a few seconds later she tooted and, well, stuff came out with it (I told you it would be graphic, sorry). It freaked her out and she started crying but after I talked with her and showed her what was in the potty (and how excited I was about it) she calmed down and was happy. She stayed on the potty, tooting some more, but nothing else came out. I know technically it wasn't a real "poop in the potty" experience but she sat down, stuff came out of her bottom and made it into the potty so I'm counting it.
I'm hoping it's a sign of better things to come. I think I can handle being more consistant with getting her to sit on the potty. It's hard to do with having an infant as well. I don't know how people do...I'm sure I need some training myself. She's going out of town, for a few days, in a couple weeks so maybe I'll wait to be on a schedule with her until after she gets back. In the meantime, I'm following her lead and hopefully things will progress. I'm so proud of her. :)
I haven't been consistant with doing any potty training for Nora. When we thought about starting to do some preliminary potty training, that's when Emmett arrived and we didn't want to do anything new like that when so many changes were happening in our house. Plus, she is one of those kids who can walk around with poop in her diaper for an hour and care less, so that doesn't help any.
We've had her potty seat out for a LONG time now and she sits on it occassionally but nothing had ever happened. We also have a potty chair at my parent's house and about a month ago Nora went peepee in it, while I was at work, and my parent's were watching the kids. It was an exciting night but it never happened again.
Tonight I was giving Emmett and bath and Nora was helping/getting in my way and she mentioned that she wanted to sit on the potty. I was done bathing him and ready to dry him off, etc so I said sure. She sat down and a few seconds later she tooted and, well, stuff came out with it (I told you it would be graphic, sorry). It freaked her out and she started crying but after I talked with her and showed her what was in the potty (and how excited I was about it) she calmed down and was happy. She stayed on the potty, tooting some more, but nothing else came out. I know technically it wasn't a real "poop in the potty" experience but she sat down, stuff came out of her bottom and made it into the potty so I'm counting it.
I'm hoping it's a sign of better things to come. I think I can handle being more consistant with getting her to sit on the potty. It's hard to do with having an infant as well. I don't know how people do...I'm sure I need some training myself. She's going out of town, for a few days, in a couple weeks so maybe I'll wait to be on a schedule with her until after she gets back. In the meantime, I'm following her lead and hopefully things will progress. I'm so proud of her. :)
Saturday, April 10, 2010
THIS is what's wrong with our world today
Well, it's one of many things...
This article was in the Dec/Jan 2010 issue of Parenting magazine. It's talking about New Year's resolutions and how people are really bad at keeping them, blah, blah, etc etc. The first typical resolution, as you can imagine by looking at the picture, is about losing weight. Look at this girl....
This article was in the Dec/Jan 2010 issue of Parenting magazine. It's talking about New Year's resolutions and how people are really bad at keeping them, blah, blah, etc etc. The first typical resolution, as you can imagine by looking at the picture, is about losing weight. Look at this girl....
No really look at her.
Now granted, I wouldn't mind that body. I want to be thinner than I am (obviously, based on my ealier post). However...this is what we are showing to new mothers (and anyone else looking at the magazine) and making them think this is a standard? THIS is a girl who is (or should be) concerned about keeping her New Year's resolution to lose weight??
I know I know, you're thinking, "Well, Stephanie, you just said that you want to look like that and you want to lose 15 more pounds". Yes, I did, but this is coming from a girl who used to wear a size 5. Besides my pregnancy weight gain (and a year in high school when my body was all messed up after a car accident and I gained a little weight), I've mainly been on the thinner side. I've been very blessed that way and I'm very thankful for that. But not everyone has that body type and not everyone should. It would not be healthy for many people to try and attain a size 4 (it may not even be healthy for me!) Besides, not all men like smaller women and that's a great thing. But even as a smaller(ish) person, I find this picture rather appalling.
It's just sad. No wonder girls are so thin today....no wonder.
A small step
A few months post partum I got out my pre-pregnancy jeans to see if any of them fit. It was a pretty sad day when I found that only 2 BARELY fit and that was when I put shapewear underneath (ya know, a spanx like product). In the meantime I decided I needed to by some "new" jeans (I bought 3 pair from ARC) to help get by because that shapewear isn't really that comfortable and well, maternity jeans when you aren't pregnant aren't that pretty either.
I got on the scale this morning and found that I am down another pound. I've lost 3 in the last 3 weeks, so that's not toooo bad. I decided to torture myself and see if the pre-pregnancy jeans fit better. Low and behold they did!! I am comfortably wearing them right now.
I still have about 15 more pounds that I want to lose (9 of those are pregnancy pounds), but it's nice to see the scale going down just a tiny bit and that old jeans are fitting better.
I got on the scale this morning and found that I am down another pound. I've lost 3 in the last 3 weeks, so that's not toooo bad. I decided to torture myself and see if the pre-pregnancy jeans fit better. Low and behold they did!! I am comfortably wearing them right now.
I still have about 15 more pounds that I want to lose (9 of those are pregnancy pounds), but it's nice to see the scale going down just a tiny bit and that old jeans are fitting better.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Am I really that boring?
Not to be needy, but if anyone actually reads my blogs will you comment on this post? I know I'm doing this blog for myself, but I thought other people might be interested in a few things I write about. Maybe I'm too boring, or downhearted, or no one really cares that I save money on things. That's cool. I know I'm not THAT exciting but it would be nice to know if someone is out there. :) I mean, I don't need comments all the time, just one here or there wouldn't be bad.
Do I sound pathetic or what?
Do I sound pathetic or what?
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Cashiers say the funniest things
I went to Target today to look for a birthday gift for a friend's son and to also pick through the remaining Easter clearance items (now at 75% off btw).
I filled my cart, probably more than I should have, but I got some really good deals on items that I can use for next Easter as well as some toys that will be good gifts/stocking stuffers later this year. They even had some shorts that Nora can use for the next couple summers (at $1 a pair I got a couple sizes up). The cashier asked me, "You're going to hold onto all this stuff until next Easter?" Why yes, yes I am. I said, "I have 2 kids so I need to be economical".
I know I spent more than I should have but I spent $63.83 and my savings...$169.96! When the cashier told me my savings I could tell she was a little shocked. Besides some candy, I won't have to spend a dime next Easter plus I have some gifts for other kids. Not too shabby, huh?
Anyway, it just got me thinking that I am really thankful that I'm in the position to where I can store things like that. We are very blessed to have quite a bit of storage space in our house and I use it to the fullest. It's to the point where I have a box with clothes that will fit Emmett and Nora when they are 5 years old. I know that's a bit excessive, but when people give you these clothes for free it's hard to turn it down.
I know many people don't have the room to store things like we do, but if you do it is one of the biggest money saving things you can do. I can't tell you how much I save by buying things on clearance and putting them away for another time. I'm always thinking ahead for gifts for people and their children so I don't have to go to the stores and pay full price for something, if I don't have to.
I guess I let my secret out, sorry friends, I'm cheap and I try to buy your gifts cheaply. Hope you don't mind. ;)
I filled my cart, probably more than I should have, but I got some really good deals on items that I can use for next Easter as well as some toys that will be good gifts/stocking stuffers later this year. They even had some shorts that Nora can use for the next couple summers (at $1 a pair I got a couple sizes up). The cashier asked me, "You're going to hold onto all this stuff until next Easter?" Why yes, yes I am. I said, "I have 2 kids so I need to be economical".
I know I spent more than I should have but I spent $63.83 and my savings...$169.96! When the cashier told me my savings I could tell she was a little shocked. Besides some candy, I won't have to spend a dime next Easter plus I have some gifts for other kids. Not too shabby, huh?
Anyway, it just got me thinking that I am really thankful that I'm in the position to where I can store things like that. We are very blessed to have quite a bit of storage space in our house and I use it to the fullest. It's to the point where I have a box with clothes that will fit Emmett and Nora when they are 5 years old. I know that's a bit excessive, but when people give you these clothes for free it's hard to turn it down.
I know many people don't have the room to store things like we do, but if you do it is one of the biggest money saving things you can do. I can't tell you how much I save by buying things on clearance and putting them away for another time. I'm always thinking ahead for gifts for people and their children so I don't have to go to the stores and pay full price for something, if I don't have to.
I guess I let my secret out, sorry friends, I'm cheap and I try to buy your gifts cheaply. Hope you don't mind. ;)
Saturday, April 3, 2010
I love saving money. :)
Today was my first official garage sale of the season! I love it!! I have been DYING to go to a garage sale. I saw one in the paper (2 actually but the other one must have changed their mind), so I loaded up the kids in the car and off we went. What did I find? These: 
They are the cutest little kid chairs. As you can see they are a little dirty, but the red covers come off and they are currently getting washed. They were only $10 for the pair! They will look great in our basement.
After that I was off to King Soopers because I had a couple things I wanted to get. They have all their Crayola supplies at BOGO so I picked up some paints for Nora. While I'm there, I always check the markdown racks to see what goodies I can find. Today was a good day. Besides a few odds and ends, I found lots of baby food and treats! I actually left a few behind (I didn't take EVERYthing there) but here's my loot:
Regular price on all those items would have cost me $40.94. I paid $11.88!!!! Part of that was because I had coupons that I was able to use with them, which saved me $5 right there. Awesome, awesome, awesome. I LOVE a good deal and I love that I decided to bring my coupons in with me to the store. I wasn't going to at first but I thought, "eh, you never know what you'll find". Boy was I right. :)
They are the cutest little kid chairs. As you can see they are a little dirty, but the red covers come off and they are currently getting washed. They were only $10 for the pair! They will look great in our basement.
After that I was off to King Soopers because I had a couple things I wanted to get. They have all their Crayola supplies at BOGO so I picked up some paints for Nora. While I'm there, I always check the markdown racks to see what goodies I can find. Today was a good day. Besides a few odds and ends, I found lots of baby food and treats! I actually left a few behind (I didn't take EVERYthing there) but here's my loot:
Regular price on all those items would have cost me $40.94. I paid $11.88!!!! Part of that was because I had coupons that I was able to use with them, which saved me $5 right there. Awesome, awesome, awesome. I LOVE a good deal and I love that I decided to bring my coupons in with me to the store. I wasn't going to at first but I thought, "eh, you never know what you'll find". Boy was I right. :)
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Savings!
Today being the first day of the month, I encourage you to go to www.coupons.com and www.redplum.com to print out new coupons. I just got done printing mine and I'm ready to put them in my stash.
Since yesterday was the last day of the month, I went over to King Soopers to use some coupons that were expiring that day. With their new sale ad this week I was able to get some really good deals. Like what, you ask? Post cereal for $1, 2 free rolls of Jimmy Dean sausage, 1 free roll of Pillsbury Grand biscuits and more good deals! I saved 49% off my grocery bill last night!
Happy shopping!
Since yesterday was the last day of the month, I went over to King Soopers to use some coupons that were expiring that day. With their new sale ad this week I was able to get some really good deals. Like what, you ask? Post cereal for $1, 2 free rolls of Jimmy Dean sausage, 1 free roll of Pillsbury Grand biscuits and more good deals! I saved 49% off my grocery bill last night!
Happy shopping!
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