The Case of the Missing Meow......

I don't get to talk to much about my pets on here, well because let's face it since becoming a wife and mom my "fur babies" have taken the backseat if I'm being honest.

But this is kinda a funny story and I'll want to remember it so here goes...

Last Sunday I noticed our cat Chip, Chipper mostly to me, wasn't meow-ing. I know to most this isn't a big deal but Chip is VERY vocal, he is always "talking" and loves to meow at the back door to come in on the weekends.

So I brought him in and gave him some food thinking something was stuck in his throat, he ate and drank. I looked him over thinking he got in a fight or stuck in a tree but nothing his collar was still on and not tight so I went on about my day.

Into the day I noticed he was being very lazy, he is usually lazy but he was being more than usual I also noticed he wasn't purring. I kept him inside that night thinking he's meow would be back the next day, it wasn't. I made him stay inside while I was at work Monday and made him an appointment at the vet for Monday after work.

Luke and I went home and loaded him up to take to the doctor. Lucas was very concerned that Chip was sick and kept saying "it's ok Chipper" all the way there. Taking pets to the vet is a whole different experience when you have kids in tow. I always worry Lucas will get scared or see something that he won't understand but our vet's office is very good about making sure to tell Lucas in a way that he understands, it's amazing really and Lucas loves going there! Chip not so much, ha!

They checked Chip over, nothing. They asked me some questions and still came up with nothing. So they gave him a shot of antibiotic and we were to come back if he got worse or if his meow didn't come back within 5 days.

The next morning his meow had returned, not full force but pretty good. And every day after it has been better.

I have no idea what caused it or if the antibiotic helped it but I'm happy to have my meowing kitty back!



Chip is 5 years old! He's been with me longer than Brent and he has defiantly given me some stories to tell! I "rescued" him from a shopping buggy at Wal-Mart him and his brothers and sisters were up for grabs and they all looked pretty sickly but I brought him home and he has been happy ever since. I had always thought kittens with his coloring were the cutest and boy he was a cutie!

Today I have my hair appointment to get it colored I haven't had my hair colored in 5 years! Yikes!! I am so excited!

Also Thursday I will include the final tally of my "No Spend September" it ain't pretty people!!

Have a great week!!

My New BFF!

And nope she's no Dyson, she's a Bissell Pet Hair Eraser! I researched many of the reviews on the Dyson and on a lot of other top names in vacuums and Dyson didn't get any better reviews than this guy did and was a fraction of the price so I thought why not!!

It came yesterday and Brent put it together and I used it right away! I couldn't believe all the hair it picked up being I had just vacuumed on Sunday! Wow and with the new addition coming in February I thought a pet vacuum was the way to go!

I already love that it's bag less! And hand hose seems longer than my last one so that will be nice! The hand tools are hot pink so that is fun too! So far I really like it, didn't even put it away last night because I knew I would be wanting to use it again today! ha!



And these two are the reason I needed a vacuum for hair ;)


Also I have had a few questions on if I still like my couch and if it's held up and all that. And I can proudly say she has held up fine! I still love it so much! It provides the extra seats we need when people are over but it's not a huge sectional that gets in the way at all! I still love playing with different ways to arrange it, I love having the ottoman and a coffee table to play with! This picture was taken this morning and I have the ottoman butted up against one end to turn it into a chase on one side I am loving this, it's the first time I've done it, so SO great for t.v. watching and snuggling ;)



This weekend she is getting her first time in the washer! Can you believe it I've had a WHITE sofa for over 6 months with a two year old, dog, cat, and a husband and this is the first time I'm putting it in the washer?! And I'm only doing that because I'm hosting for bingo club next week and well ya know.
I am still very happy with my purchase it's still "firm" which I really like but Brent wishes it was softer but it will get that way I'm sure over the next year. I am most proud because I haven't been the nervous wreck I thought I would be with a white couch, I told myself not to be before we bought it but things are different when things get home. I have made no "special" rules for the couch Lucas still eats his snacks on it and jumps and flops around like a crazy person the cat and dog get on it when they want and all is well, imagine that ;)

I just love "home" stuff I feel like I play house everyday! Soon I'll take pictures of my fall decor!

Weekend Recap!

We had a wonderful weekend, I LOVE fall weekends they are the best!!

Our weekend was relaxing but not to fool you it was still busy!

Friday after school I took Luke over to Mema's for a few hours so I could run some errands! He had a fun time and I got a lot done that would have taken me twice as long with him in tow!ha!

We stopped by Papa Murphy's to grab a pizza dinner, they have a yummy "delite" pizza for less than 200 calories per slice! I was so so happy that we all liked it, super easy fast yummy healthy dinner! Score!! We WILL be eating this once a week!

Saturday we got up and around early and went to our little town diner to eat breakfast this was our first time to do this with Lucas and it was fun, I think we should do it more. After we ate we ran some errands with Daddy, he was going to the track a little later and had to tie up some loose ends. He left about 12ish and the real fun began!

KIDDING!

I did laundry, cleaned house a little and did some re-arranging! Lucas helped me of course and watched some Micky mouse until nap time!

I also switched out my curtains, this was one of Brent's Mamaw's sheets that I rescued from the yard sale pile! I absolutely love it! And I love having things around that remind us of special people or tell a story.

Around dinner time we headed to town to get Mema and go eat! We stopped by Kohl's because I had another coupon to spend! I had spent 3 there Friday night getting my boots and Lucas some shirts but I still had one and couldn't let it expire without using it! ha!

My new boots!


Luke's new shirts got them all for $3 and some change!!! The motorcycle one I got for FREE with my coupon on Saturday night, what an amazing feeling to walk out of the store with a bag without spending a penny!

We ate dinner at Firehouse and then went to Goody's for some "ice cream", Brent was a little sad he missed out but he was at the race track so I didn't feel too guilty and besides we had to show Mema ;)

Lucas had his usual, Chocolate pronounced Choc-it with m&m's and marshmallows! He now requests this before we even get inside! ha! After our "ice cream" we took Mema home and headed home ourselves. We both fell asleep waiting on Daddy to come home.

Sunday we stayed around the house, went to Pawpa's for a bit and Lucas got his first fixer-upper!

A little bike with training wheels, my father in law's neighbor gave this to Lucas and he was on cloud 9! It needed a new tube, well come to find out a whole new wheel, it's faded and could use some paint but he didn't care I'm sure this is the first of many "fixer uppers" him and Brent will get to work on together. Lucas loved being able to help Brent get it going. That was probably the sweetest thing I have see between Brent and Lucas.

He wouldn't have been any happier with a brand new bike I'm so so glad we've been waiting to get him one, this one will be pretty special.

After dinner Sunday, cherry coke zero crock-pot chicken so yummy, and zero calories,I went to help re-sort items at the Trading Hands Kids Sale I was there from 6 to 10, whewh I had no idea how out of shape I am,being on my feet for four hours did me in! It was a lot of fun though, especially for an organizing nut like me! I got home a little before 10:30! Late night for me!

Today after work Luke and I are taking Chip to the vet it seems his meow-er is broke! He doesn't have a voice, it's so sad and almost funny he seems fine, eating and all but I want to make sure he is ok. I was going to knock-out the grocery store trip today but such is life! That can wait.

Have a great week!!

My Heart

These boys are my heart.....





I won't tell you that I had to bribe Lucas with m&ms to let me take his picture.





Or that he mostly ate apple's for dinner last night.










Or that my husband and I haven't had a "real" conversation all week because some little person demands all our attention.



Most days many won't share the "behind the scenes" but those are most special to me to remember this season in my life.




And I wouldn't have things any other way.

Tidbits for Thursday!

• Last night we had Aunt Melmo/Kristin's Birthday dinner. She picked Fuji, a Japanese hibachi grill, for her 30th birthday celebration. It was our (Brent, Luke,and I) first time to eat there and it was pretty good, I always like the show way more than the food at those places. I was nervous about what Luke would eat it was his first time with Japanese food but he liked it! Ate his salad and soup like a big boy I couldn't believe it!

But I think he liked all the fire most!

• Wearing boots for the first time this season today! YES!!
  





• Re-reading my posts from the past few days, they were so long and boring! ha! O well it is what it is.





• We are still right on track with eating good! I am seeing results in both of us! I had my first piece of cake in a month yesterday and that my friends is a world record and it was yummy!





• I wish I could say the same thing about my no spend September deal, I have been awful this week! Went to Target for a diaper genie refill and some clearance shirts that was not a good idea! I ended up with about 9 shirts for $2 each which I am very happy about but I also found other stuff "I couldn't live without" ha! But I did use my redcard and that saved me $2! Then last Friday I wrote a check for some Scentsy smells, totally failed there, and this week I am purchasing some new boots for fall, but I have coupons for those. So even though I can't say I've been on track at least I feel like I'm shopping smarter and most times actually thinking about what I'm purchasing.
  
  


• A picture of mine and Luke's drinks ready to leave the house this morning!

• I did find out that Wal-Mart is having a clearance on their Dyson's I may or may not be purchasing one of those really really soon ;) I have dreamed of a Dyson for YEARS! I told Brent about it and his thoughts are as follows: "But I bought you our vacuum, it was one of the first things I bought you" which is true cause I got myself in a bind when my other quit so he was the dashing fellow to the rescue, but sheesh the thing is over 3 years old and is on it's last leg or wheel! He is so sentimental it kills me most days! I told him I'd save it for Luke when he moved out, he seemed happy with that, and don't think even for a second that he will let me get rid of it!
  





• We went and bought the rest of our new door knobs (do you call these knobs even though they are the flipper type what are they called, anyway) and a new light for the hall way! I can tell what Hubby will be doing this weekend!
  
  
  
  


• The song "Just Another Day in Paradise" came on the radio this morning and I wanted to ball! O. my. word. I haven't heard it in a while. I remember hearing it as a teenager and thinking " I can't wait to have that". So surreal.
  
  
  


• I can't believe it but we have almost been in our house for 3 years!!! Where does the time go! It has changed so so much :)

• Picture of Luke this morning, he is so sweet and cute! I told Brent the other night I hope our other babes are just as great!
  
  





• Love little ones in sweat pants! Ha! probably because I wish I could wear them all day and still look this cute! ha!

• Now this post is long, I say I don't have anything to blog about and then once I start I can't stop!

• Excited for a low key fall like weekend!
  

Life as We know it! Part duex.....

Haha! Duex always reminds me of that show "I love the 80's" Love that show!!

Anywhoo

With eating better inevitably comes higher grocery bills so for coupons I am thankful!!

Call it a coincidence but right about the time we decided to change our eating habits I jumped on the coupon-ing bandwagon full force! I don't even know what got me thinking to do it. I had always used coupons but never paired them with ads and certainly never thought about driving all over tar-nation to get the best deal.

I remember my first trip to the grocery store to buy "good for you" food, my bill was $60 more than my usual budget, yikes! But I am happy to report with coupons and ad matches my bill this week was lower than my usual budget, with buying lots of fresh fruits and veggies and healthy snacks and drinks! What a proud moment!

Ok here's what I do....

I do not claim to know it all about this coupon-ing business, I still have a LOT to learn and I find myself making mistakes from not paying attention all the time but I will share what I know, I feel it's only right.

First I subscribed to our town newspaper with the $20 a year, yes a year, you get every Sunday, Monday and Wednesday paper! The two important papers for couponers is Sunday for coupons and Wednesday for food ads, so you get both of those for a great price and it comes to your door step- awesome!

On Sunday mornings I clip all the coupons my family uses then I check the Walgreens (we'll go with Wags for short), Wags is always first, and see what they have on sale. A lot of times they have stuff on sale that the coupon company's put out coupons for. And Wags has things called "Register Rewards" which is basically like cash you can spend in their store on anything! After I check Walgs I will check Target to see if they have anything worth ad matching, sometimes they do sometimes they don't. Target also has coupons on their website to print out and you can combine them with manufactures coupons pair those with your redcard for 5% off and you can have yourself a steal of a deal, I for one haven't got to do that but I hope to soon! ha!

I refuse to run all over town to get better deals, call this a downfall or not doing it "right" but working full time and a 2 year old I just don't have the time or energy so if I can't get it at Wags or WalMart I usually ask myself is it really that good of a deal. I will occasionally run to Target, doesn't take much for me to talk myself into a quick trip there I love that store but I don't want to have to make it an every week thing and this week I am going to Toy's R Us for a good deal but I don't want to have to run around if I just don't have time.

Ok so I have been going to Wags on Sunday afternoon with my ad and coupons and any register rewards I have occurred from last week. An example of what I scored this week:

Two packs 28 count Previcad heart burn meds

Two packs 3 count Shick Quatro razors for me

Colgate Sensitive toothpaste

Two medium bags of pretzel m&ms

All of this would have cost me $80.68

But after sale prices, coupons, register rewards, and rebates I got it for $11.12!

And I got back $5 in register rewards for my next purchase and $6 in Previcad coupons.

Pretty cool if you ask me! That is all stuff we use every single day, well maybe not the m&ms but I was planning on getting some for 100 calorie packs anyway.

Another easier example would be:

Two 32 load bottles of Purex laundry soap

Two jars Ragu spaghetti sauce

Two boxes of Nature Valley granola bars

One bottle Dawn soap

All this came to $10.01

Using sales and coupons only no rebates!

See it's easy, and fun!

It has been a complete learning experience and I am learning to buy all kinds of stuff with coupons!

Example:

Cute pair of boots from Kohl's

Brent bought a pair of tennis shoes and got $10 Kohls Cash and I remembered they had sent a flyer advertising the new "Grand Opening" in which they included $10 gift cards. So I have $20 in "coupons" to use, being the smart cookie I am ;) I checked the dates and for 2 days the coupons overlap- score!!

So a pair of boots that would cost me $55 I will (hopefully) get for $35 on Friday if they have my size!

I use MoneySavingQueen.com for weekly match-ups to make sure I don't miss anything.

And the most valuable tool in all of this has been having other ladies you can chat with that do the coupon thing too. They may see something I miss or vise versa.

Example:

Toys R Us had an $8 off coupon for diapers or wipes and Elizabeth let me know about it, I would have completely missed this good deal if it hadn't been for her!

I also go grocery shopping once a week and get what we need and like I'm not eating/cooking pertaining to what's on sale, yet. But I keep my coupon pouch with me and if I have a coupon for certain things than great and last week I did! I saved $10 in coupons with stuff I would have bought weather I had a coupon or not!

It really isn't hard I watch the extreme couponers show and think wow wish I could do that, and while I'm no where near that, or will ever be. I am so grateful I can save my family money for things we need.

Any questions ask.

Any tips do tell!

Life as We know it! Part 1....

* kinda using a post I saw on Desiree's blog but doing it my own way ;)

The past few weeks into months our lifestyle has changed and I just want to remember when this happened so I wanted to post.
And to anyone who thinks they can't, trust me YOU CAN!!

We have changed our way of eating around my place, I have posted bits and pieces here and there on some posts but I want to tell all the deets ;)
About a 6ish weeks ago I got the idea to take the majority of "fake" sugar from Luke's diet, I thought it would help him settle down at night and around the same time Brent said he wanted to drop some major pounds, he still had most of weight he gained when I was pregnant with Lucas. I also got to thinking I should really get back to eating like I used to, I am talking about portion size. I too wanted to get some pounds off my stomach to help with my baby pooch. I could loose 10 pounds and get back to about where I was when I got pregnant. That I would be over the moon about I don't need a perfect body anymore I have perfect baby instead, great trade off if you ask me.

So that's how we came about to changing our eating ways. I will say before "the change" we were a junk food family. We ate out a lot, fast food at least twice a week, candy for all of us almost daily, ice cream after dinner every night unless we had cake, stick of butter to make every meal, no fresh veggies- ever, and I could go on and on. We were living off junk!!

I knew I wanted to change but didn't know how so when Brent went on a "diet" we all kinda did. But I don't want it to be a diet I want it to be lifestyle change of eating better, for the long run so we just dove into it and I can say it has been so good for us, for Lucas, for our future! We are learning as we go that's for sure but every week it has gotten easier for me to fix meals and find snacks, I feel like a changed woman.

First things first, we had stopped buying pop to drink at home a while back and only drinking some maybe if we go out to eat and we had started using ground turkey instead of hamburger about a year ago so I will say those were the first things. Next thing was a big one for Brent not eating out everyday at lunch time, taking his lunch -a turkey sandwich on wheat bread. Or when he does go out for lunch he has been getting a grilled chicken salad. I have been eating better and smaller at lunch too. And I've had to learn about alternative snacks and dinners and learning that everything is not going to taste the same. I have learned to look at labels and buy fresh and I am learning recipes that will become our new family favorites instead of my 1000 calorie serving of "Mexican Surprise". We have totally cut out deserts and on Sunday's we have been going and getting frozen yogurt for our treat, and we have survived! Another big one for Brent is not adding salt to things and I have cut out adding salt while cooking.
Lucas has done very well with this change also, no he isn't going to bed any earlier but I see him eating a lot better and enjoying it! He is only getting 4 ounces of juice a day and around 16 ounces of milk but after school he only gets water, and no sugary snacks at all anymore. His snacks now are fresh apples, fresh peaches, pretzels, popcorn, cheese and wheat thins, peanut butter crackers, and yogurt; and he loves it! I'm been giving him a fig newton for using his potty instead of m&ms or fruit snacks and he is just as excited! No I am not going to turn into the parent that never lets my kids have candy or sweets or go to McDonald's but I think I want those to be treat instead of the every day.
Brent is down 13 pounds and I am down 5 and I honestly don't even feel like I have been deprived of anything it's just portion control and smarter choices.
Some of the things we have enjoyed thus far:

Green beans, onions and mushrooms sauteed in olive oil and soy sauce.
We do the same thing with asparagus, Lucas eats it too!
Baked sweet potato fries with honey to dip them in.
Pork roast in the crock pot with pickled banana peppers, cook for 6 hours. (almost no calories and gluten free!)
Then the next night have pulled pork sandwiches on wheat buns and Dijon mustard instead of BBQ sauce (this is a hard one for me but Brent eats his this way)
Hamburger Helper made with ground turkey and almond milk.
We have also been drinking un-sweet tea with sweet n low and crystal light.
A snack I am loving is rosemary and olive oil Triscuts with salsa on top (I get the salsa at Sam's, its fresh and so so yummy and 5 calories a tablespoon full)
A few pretzels dipped in Nutella for my chocolate craving.

Another very useful tip I have found is buying a few snacks you would normally eat and separating them out into 100 calorie baggies. I have done this with vanilla wafers, chocolate stripe cookies, and pretzel m&ms. Because lets face it some days are harder than others but if you just eat what's in the baggie you won't have the guilt.

We have had some complete dinner fails but we are learning and I am convinced we are on the right track! I want us all to have a happy and healthy future!


Part 2 tomorrow will be about coupon-ing!