Holidays 2011

Back at the beginning of December, we went to church and there was an announcement to bring the kids by on the following Saturday morning, to be a part of the next Church service. The Kids were all going to be able to hang an ornament during the ornament ceremony. I am not sure really what the special service was called, if there is something other than calling it the "Ornament Ceremony". Basically there was this tree shaped, wood frame to hang up ornaments on. During the church service the kids went up in pairs hanging up one of these special ornaments.The kids were all paired off as a young kid and an older (4th grade or so in age) kid to guide them up on stage and hang the specific ornament. In doing this, there was a special meaning behind each ornament, which was explained while the kids would hang the ornaments on the "tree".

I was so proud of Kara! She was one of the kids involved in the Ornament Ceremony! She was the first kid up with a little boy, and she hung the first ornament! This photo is of Kara, while we were waiting in the other room before church, to gather all the kids together, and go in for the Ornament Ceremony.

 This is the only photo (below) I got of Kara and the older boy, Scott, hanging up their ornament! So bummed. It turned out blurry. They were first two kids up on stage, and I didn't get a chance to have my camera ready! It was so quick when it happened and they sat back in the pews.If you blinked, you missed it!

 Here is the "tree" with all 24 ornaments hung up. (photo below)

After all 24 ornaments were hung by the kids, there was a small reenactment of The Nativity Scene or Christmas Story. Mary, Joseph, the Three Wise Men, and the King were all played by Kids from church and in cute costumes. There was even a Baby Jesus! The guy who plays the piano, and helped with coordinating this special service has a baby boy, who was used to play Jesus. And the young girl, who was playing Mary dressed in a simple robe, and macasons for shoes, she held the baby the whole time keeping him calm. The baby was so well behaved, and didn't cry, and just sat quietly in "Mary's" lap.

 

Who is Santa?

Going with the Christian religion of Christmas and how we are celebrating Jesus being born and it is his birthday...How does Santa Clause tie into this all? The presents, I can see as gifts to give one another in relation to this being a birthday celebration and rejoicing the miracle of Jesus being born. The Chirstmas tree is of a Pine tree vs. some other trees, like an Oak tree, because it is a tree that has kept its leaves/needles all season and the other trees have all fallen bare. The pine tree is what is still full of life and still green in the dead of Winter. So the Christmas tree makes sense too. This holiday gets mixed up a lot between the Santa Clause version and the Baby Jesus being born version. The Commercialized Santa version usually dominates, and gets out of hand. It's so fitting that Santa Clause is in the Mall, as we are all starving for Christmas shopping and listening to the Christmas music for two months long, and drinking the Eggnog.

We took our daughter to the Mall to see Santa Clause and get the photo opp done. We are not eliminating the whole Santa Clause/Eggnog version at all. I love this part of the season. I just don't want to forget the importance of celebrating Jesus being born on Christmas Day as well.

The Nativity scene with Mary and Joeseph and a couple of farm animals all huddle around to see the baby Jesus. Their faces are lit up with pure joy and happiness of this miracle that they just witnessed. If a virgin girl, named Mary lived today in 2011 all of the sudden was pregnant and had a baby boy...people would not think of this as a miracle. People, today, would speculate that "Mary" drank a little too much one night, at a party, slept with some guy, and doesn't recall it. Then 9 months later is having the baby. BUT way back in BC times this other virgin, named Mary, becomes pregnant and it is called a miracle. I never really got that part of the story. But anyways, I DO believe that Jesus was born and that Mary IS his mother.

I also am curious with the stories of what Jesus was like growing up as a kid? Some how the Bible covers Jesus being born and then skips a couple of decades to when he is older as a young man and he then goes on the cross to die for our sins. I want to know the rest of the story and what he did between those two big moments... of being born and dieing on the cross...?

Back to Santa Clause, his name is Saint Nicolas and also Chris Kringle. There are many stories explaining his existence and the background is all covered in different movies from generation to generation. I enjoy the magical side to a child believing in Santa and all the fun times it will be watching our daughter grow up with that glimmer in her eye, and hopes to see reindeer in the sky on Christmas Eve.

I think I will continue to celebrate Christmas with both versions of Christmas intertwined to be able to celebrate it all. We can go to the church services on all 4 Sundays in December during the Advent calendar and learn of Jesus being born and at the same time we can decorate our pine tree and hang up stockings on the fire place. I will even do the photo opp at the mall and see Santa.

The funny part, is our daughter (she's 2 1/2) tells me that Santa lives in the mall, and goes to church too. That made perfect sense to me. Santa is always seen at the mall, why would we think he lived way up in the North Pole where it is snowing all year round and in some Mythical place? We never actually see this place, but the Mall we have seen him in countless times. Why couldn't Santa live at the mall, he is always there around this time of year. Of course he goes to church too. Why would he not go to church? Maybe this would tie Santa into the gift giving side of Christmas...in that the presents that he leaves for all the little girls and boys are birthday gifts in celebrating Jesus being born. This would then tie the two versions together. I guess I am just grasping for some answers to be able to celebrate both and believe in both to combine them together this way.

I am about to raise this little girl of ours, together with my husband. with many more Christmas times to go. I need to know how to celebrate with both Santa and Jesus in the mix, and how to pretend and be the parent. This has been going on for generations. I am doing what many before me have done... and it is scary that parenting doesn't really come with a manual. We (parents) have to just figure out Santa Clause and other kid traditions, as we come across it all. We'll take her to church and teach her the Biblical holidays as well as the imaginative commercialized holidays. She is going to have her own assumptions, like Santa living in the mall and going to church. And I am going to just roll with it and play along.

Out of Luck With This Pot Luck

I have not been to a Potluck in years! I love baking a dish to take to a potluck and bringing something along that is homemade. I also love eating what others brought for their homemade dishes. Potlucks are a fun gathering of people and their signature dishes. We are going tonight to a Potluck with our church that we just start attending recently, and it is at 6:30pm.

I have the perfect recipe in mind to make my Orange bowl, yams, topped with mini marshmallows! Only I work all day today till 5, and get home in time to basically grab our daughter and head over to the potluck. There isn't time to even try to make a side dish. It seems lazy or cheating, maybe both, to head to the local deli and buy a pound of something "homemade" instead. I have seen it done a dozen times where the person buys Potatoe Salad from the deli and throws it in a bowl with surran-wrap over it; like they made it themselves! Or some people, straight out, buy a deli dish and bring it to a potluck in the original container with the label on it and plop a spoon in it, to serve up and share!

I think those sorts of times are falling on me today. I am going to be "one of those" people. I am going to stop by the deli on my way home at 5:30 pm today, after work, and buy a side dish! Gasp! Question is thow, do I put it in a pretteir dish to present it? or Do I just stick a spoon in the container and have people serve themselves a dollop of deli bought food?

It's 3:56 A.M. in the morning...I am racking my brain, tossing and turning over this, dreaming about it. I'm doing too much thinking and not enough sleeping! This blog is my thought process and my "therapy" to get through the acceptance that I am going to buy a side dish to bring to this Church Potluck. I think if this was a friends house we were going to and they knew we both worked today and so on, I would easily just pick something up from the deli and bring it along. But this is our new Church! Are there expectations here? Are the people going to even notice that we brought the deli dish? Are other people there going to also bring deli dishes? Am I going to show up at this Potluck with the only deli dish and everyone else brings a "homemade" side dish? UGH!? The stress of being new and wanting to make the yams!

Then it is 4:02 in the @#!*ing morning...and I need to go back to sleep!... FINE! I am going to the deli and buying a nicely presented deli dish or platter, and I am sticking a spoon in it. People will bring baked goods and people will bring deli-baked goods. Food is food, and it will all be eaten and we will all be Merry.

Numbers! Crazy Amounts All Day Long!

Today has been a whirlwind of numbers! I can't believe all the crazy amounts and numbers of everything I came across today. Breaking this blog entry into 3 parts to my day of numbers.

Part I of the Numbers Whirlwind:

Starting off with a dental appointment, I wasn't going to be covered with insurance for my check up because it is not officially 6 months later, until the 23rd of December! It is 6 months after June, but not quite the time slot of getting the next checkup/cleaning. Technicality. I was already there for the appointment and what was covered was Xrays and not much else. So I get the Xrays done and a reading of my teeth with some doo-hicky blue light gizmo. (Photo of my actual teeth above) The readings tell the Dentist that I have 7 cavities!? WHAT!? I don't know about that! I decided I need to get a second opinion, and see how many of these 7 cavities are actually necessary for fillings... and which are just being counted as a number detected by the doo-hicky blue light gizmo? This is so hard to think that I have 7 cavities!? I have had one cavity in my entire 33 years... and now 7? So that was my first big, crazy number for my day.

Part II of the Numbers Whirlwind:

The next crazy number I came across today was the 2 bags of potatoes, I had to peel for a recipe I used for dinner. As I am peeling one pound of potatoes, I'm realizing that I could have substituted the bags of potatoes for pre-made Mashed Potatoes instead. Why was I making mashed potatoes from scratch? and WHYwas I just starting the process of all this peeling and so forth at 6:30p.m. ? This recipe was a meal for two people, and calls for ONE POUND of potatoes! I was up to my ears in mashed potatoes!

By the time I got to the step mixing with my electric mixer in the TWO bowls, my emotions were getting all mixed up as well! I was getting so upset while blending this all, and it already being 2 hours later, and to see that the amount of mashed potatoes I had just finished making was for a serving size of 12 people or so!

The recipe was to make Potatoes and Ground Beef Gravey. It was so gross, and way too much to eat in one meal. The plate was just Mashed Potatoes and gravy! I didn't understand how we could just eat Mashed Potatoes for dinner. Normally this is a side dish with an entree and a side of veggies, not to be eaten as a meal all of its own! This was absolutely ridiculous.

Courtesy of the Emealz plan I have been following for the past year now. A meal plan for TWO...not 12. All my other recipes that I have followed through Emealz has been fine and no big deal. Like the other day, I actually made a Quiche! It turned out great! The Quiche was actually from the same week that this meal is on. This recipe for the potatoes must have had a miss print in the number of potatoes? I can't get over how annoyed I was, making a pound of mashed potatoes! That ruined my whole appetite and my love for Mashed Potatoes. I don't want to see or hear the mention of Mashed Potatoes for a long while.

Part III to my crazy numbers day.

 I am shopping at the store to buy a few things, and the Toddler Pull-ups for Kara are on sale for $9.47 in size 3-4. Then the size of 4-5 is at the regular price of $15. These are the same exact training pants and about the same size. The 3-4 size comes as a 40 count package and the 4-5 size comes as a 33 count package. So I logically am going to buy the 3-4 size (Kara fits both size ranges) and pay $9.47, saving me $6 and getting 14 extra pullups!

I am now at the check out counter and the register rings these up at the $15 price. Uhh, NO! These are marked $9.47? The cashier and I go over to the shelf, and she saw the price for $9.47 and says she can price change that for me...So I grab a second package to be able to get two of the 40 counts at $9.47 each. In the end I got 14 extra pullups and saved $12! SCORE! I was so happy for their price mistake.

To wrap up my whirlwind day of numbers, that is 7 questionable cavities, 1 pound of potatoes made into 2 large bowls of Mashed Potatoes, for a meal for 2 people, and a $12 savings on Pull-ups, and 14 extra or free Pull-ups with that deal. Crazy day of numbers indeed. I am the only one who can count, apparently. The Dentist is counting a few too many cavities. The recipe provider at Emealz is counting way too many potatoes to feed two people. and The Pullups training pants is giving away pullups with the miss-marked price deal.

Darn, Shoot and Shit...

What is a bad word these days? I have my 2 1/2 year old telling me, "that's a bad word, momma" when I say "shoot!" Then I also will slip up and say, "Shit" and she knows that is a bad word also. I think what ever the word, it is how it is used as being a bad word. Instead of saying "Shit" (nationally known as a bad word along side other various bad words) we could say "shoot" or "Darn" or "Ah Crap," These alternate words are also considered bad words, to some people who may hear you say it...like my little girl.

The use of the word "Shoot" is said in a bad way, usually out of frustration, anger or from stubbing your toe, and the word comes out. Try replacing the word with "Chocolate!" and it seems silly and not a word that sounds right. In the end, it is just a word we say at the heat of a moment. Darn, Shoot and Shit!

When I was younger, I use to say "Fudge." That should be considered a bad word since I was using it as a bad word in replacement of the "F-word." If I had said the F-word instead of Fudge, I would get in trouble by my mom for having a "potty mouth." So now I am a mom, and raising a little girl, and I want to know and understand the uses of bad words and how any word can be used as a bad word because of how it is used in a bad way and not meant as a nice word. The meaning and context used in saying Fudge is still used in a bad way, making it a bad word.

We really can't get away with saying ANY word, in the heat of the moment and after stubbing our toe, etc. Little kids are listening and are very observant... they are trying to differentiate what is alright to say and what is not. They are still expanding their vocabulary and not knowing what those bad words are, to not say. As the parent, telling them "Shit" is a bad word and to not say it. Then as the parent, we say those words and they hear us, and wonder why we just sad a bad word? We should not be saying it either. When ever I do slip up and say a bad word, whatever the word may be, it is definately bad when my little girl corrects me telling me, "that's a bad word, momma." I then tell her, "yes, you are right, that is a bad word and I am sorry I said it. We are not suppose to say bad words."

I'm a PC...

I'm a PC. Without the technology of Apple Macs and where it is today and where it is going tomorrow, the technology of PCs would not be the same. So in away, I guess I'm a MAC and a PC in relation to the modern day question of: "Are you a Mac or a PC?" and People either reply as, "I'm a Mac!" or "I'm a PC!"  With the technology introduced through the brand of Apple and inspirations and great visions of Steve Jobs and his team of nerds. LOL. In the end, we are all MACs.

This is a photo I came across, from 1984, showing Steve Jobs (Chairman of Apple at that time) introducing the newest computer at the time, an Apple IIc. Pictured above is: Steve Jobs, chairman of Apple Computers, John Sculley, President and CEO, and Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple.

In this photo (above) you can see the excitement on Steve Jobs face! From day one, going into recently in 2011 almost 20 years later, Steve Jobs, never lost that excitement for new technology and sharing it with the world... and launching the next, big, thing out there, that Apple was creating! He had this passion and enthusiasm for technology.

I remember when my lil bro, Robert, was in Kindergarten, they were the first class to get a computer set up in the actual class room! This model pictured above, is 1984 intro of the "new Apple Computer" with the rainbow apple logo in the corner of the monitor was what he had in his Kindergarten classroom. Morro Bay Elementary had a computer class room separate from the class rooms. So when Robert's Kindergarten class (1989) got the computer; there was a big celebration, to reveal the computer... and it was such a big deal.

I also remember back in the late1980's and early 90's that I liked printing stuff, because I got to tear off the dotted sides of the paper! It's so silly now, to look back on. LOL Now I hate printing something, because it's wasting my ink! and I usually try to print in "Grey-scale" mode, to save on the colored ink.

The Apple products have really lead the way, for all the other brands to piggy back off of. My use of the: HP, Dell computer, Samsung monitor, Virgian Mobile: touch - screen cell phone, and every other gadget that I use on a daily basis is only possible from the technology of Apple MAC products.

Mr. Steve Jobs, you helped create the fun and excitement to technology. A boring beige computer with the small, rainbow, apple logo, morphed over time to colorful apples and awesome gadgets with touch screens and "There's app for that" technology. You helped bring the world into the future!

Thank you, Mr. Jobs... for all the inspiration and technology that you have helped mold our future of what it is today, and what it will be tomorrow.

Here is an article summing up all that Steve Jobs did in the technology world. Left click with your PC computer mouse or on your Apple touch-screen Ipad... touch this link: (haha) STEVE JOBS ARTICLE

R.I.P. Steve Jobs

Savey Shopper!

I love watches and am very particular to how they look and what features are on the watch. I really rely on the watch having a date displayed, and also like the watch to have an easy clasp to take on and off. Surprisingly it is hard to find those two features on one watch and for it to be attractive on my wrist. I had been looking around for the perfect watch for about a year, since 2009 actually. In 2010 I started seeing watches in a pretty rose gold metal. I really liked this new trend and kept an eye out for my perfect watch to also now be in rose gold color. This was getting harder to find.

Around the fall of 2010, I was at the mall with my friend, Julie, and we walk past the store window display at the Fossil store. The watch on display caught my eye. I went inside to try it on and see how much it was. This watch had all the features I was looking for, and it fit nicely on my wrist! Only the watch was $105 bucks. It was not too expensive, but expensive enough to where I had to wait and budget for that, or look online for the same watch at a cheaper price. Until then, I kept an eye out for other watches I may like. No other watch was as good at the Fossil watch I was saving up for.

Andrew and I have been credit card free for 3 years or more and have been really good with budgeting and using an "envelope system" that we learned from Dave Ramsey. (That's a whole other blog to talk about that!) With this envelope system we budget our money every 2 weeks and work in items we are wanting to get, by moving amounts around and cutting back. My watch was now this item that we needed to fit into the budget and save up $105. In the mean time we also looked on Ebay and Amazon websites for the watch to be sold for less. Seems like I would get close to getting this watch and then other items came into play that were more important to pay for and budget out...like getting our trees in the front yard chopped down...that pushed my watch money back even more!

So August rolls around and the watch is on amazon.com for $89 I couldn't believe it! I was so excited and it had free shipping! Andrew said let's get this now, and order it for your birthday! It was a perfect time to finally get my pretty, rose gold, watch with easy to use clasp, and date display!

A few years back I was shopping at Marshall's discount department store and saw a Kenneth Cole watch that I liked. The price tag mentions how much the item regularly was sold for and then the discounted price that Marshall's is selling it for. This particular watch was regularly $195 and selling for $29. I bought the watch then and there, I didn't have to wait to budget my money for that Savey Shopper find!

Fish Murderer

(photo found online, this is not a photo of my actual fish. it looked like this fish)

I wake up with Kara and do our morning routine of getting her a cup of juice or milk, make a sandwhich for Andrew to take to work, let the dog outside and feed the beta fish. One morning however the fish was laying very still on the bottom of the bowl...I fed it anyway and decided to check on it in a little bit after I did a few other things around the house. Well, fast forward to the evening time, I had forgotten all about the fish and quickly went over to the bowl to still find our fish lying on the bottom of the bowl? I thought fish floated on thier back when they die? Why was this fish at the bottom? I was pretty sure it was dead, either way.

So here is how it played out on my Facebook Page. I made a post on my wall,
"My Beta Fish sank? It didn't float like other fish? Why is it dead? and why did it sink? :(

My friends wrote back in response:

OLIVIA: Are you sure it's dead?

ME: Lol well if it was alive...then it got a rude awaking as i let it swim down the toilet drain. Oops! Never had a fish sink to the bottom before...always seem to float when they die? Mr. Fish wasn't moving at all.

KIM: Maybe he was napping? LOL 

ME: I feel so bad now...I just murdered a fish...Karas fish!? It had to hace been dead? The beta was on its side not moving and I wiggled the bowl and feed it...no reaction from the fish.

                        KIM: Don't feel bad. I'm sure it was dead.

ME: At least Kara doesn't even realize what happened. It will be fine and we can get a diff one tomorrow. Each morning it is routine to say hi to the fish with her and feed it…

then on a side post about not wanting to do dishes....

        Carmel: did your beta die of accidental detergent spillage?

        Me:  No? I think i used a sponge this time when i cleaned the bowl out and changed its water...it

       was the only difference that I did that could of killed Mr. Fish.

        Carmel:How clean is your sponge?

        Me: Prob had remnants of soap on it...poisoning my fish? I feel like I'm on trial here?! I admit 

        it...I am a fish Murderer!

        Carmel: haha no worries, kara won't know the difference!

Strangley, the night beforehand, I had a dream about the fish. I actually dreamt that I had a freshly cleaned fish bowl and went to put my fish back in to find there were two blue beta fish in the bowl...? I knew if I left them together they'ld fight and went to get another bowl and fill with water...this dream was so detailed...then i grab one fish and it had a bite out of its side and the other one was dead. Woke up and didn't know why I even dreamt that...and now fast forward to tonight...my fish in reality is dead and I want to get another blue beta to replace it.

Strange how we can dream about something and it only makes sense later on when we look back on it and try to interpret it. Sometimes it is sort of a premonition dream, like this dream was.

The Transportation Museum!

 The Train wheel is almost as tall as Andrew! Some were even taller than him on other train models.

Took Kara to the Transportation Museum the other day. She is a big fan of a kids T.V. show, Thomas the Train. In her eyes all trains are named Thomas based on the show and story books that we read. So when we went walking through the Museum and saw all the old trains, she kept on saying, "Hi Thomas!" and "look a green Thomas, and a red Thomas!" We tried explaining to her these are all trains and not all are named Thomas. That didn't register much with our 2 1/2 year old. The rest of the day she continued calling all the trains Thomas!  It was cute.

Then in the lower half of the Museum there is a section being built and set up as a completly new area. ONLY it is at a stand still for the most part. The building of this new area is not getting finished because the museum only can build as they are funded and volunteers or donations come in. Clever bit on their part is to have a kids train ride for people to ride around in the new section. Basically showing us what will be there in the future and how it is not all finished. This yanks on peoples heart strings in hopes for them to leave donations. If the kids train ride was not in that area, then people wouldn't even see that part and want to donate. So we rode on the kids train and looked at all the new area and how it wasn't being finished.

Then we went inside where the Cars are all kept on display. The old fashioned cars are mostly from Hollywood and displayed here in Missouri?! I don't know the connection with LA and St Louis how these are here and not on display back in California instead? For instance there is the Black old fashioned car called a 1967 Ghia. Next to the Ghia is a cardboard cutout of Dean Martin, along with a back drop of an old hotel that was used in a movie of his.

Then there is the Wacky looking Firetruck that use to be used as a promo vehicle for the LA Fire Department. The "Fire Bug" it is called and was driven in parades and around LA as a funky promotion bit for the LAFD. Why is it here in St. Louis at the Transportation Museum? I don't really know.

One of the cars on display I have never seen anywhere else and is so pretty in its sparkly red paint! I LOVE THIS CAR! This car is called, DiDia 1960. I love the curved back windshield and the wheels that match in Red. I love the fins, and the car as a whole. This is one unique car. I am glad these photos came out good enough to show its sparkle. I took these photos with my cell phone!

Kara!!!

(NOTE: blog was written on 07/21/2011 never posted it)

Kara is so fascinating to watch grow in to a little girl. She is learning to count and knows her ABCs, she speaks in 5 word sentences, and the cutest of all, she says, “please and thanks Momma” Kara also says, “I sorry” when she knows she was bad. That’s her cuteness buffer from not being able to be mad at her; I just have to know that she isn’t “bad” she just didn’t know any better.

For instance, the day, she had a pen and drew on our sofa cushions! I told her NO!! Kara, that is very bad! Only use pen on paper! Do not draw on the furniture…She says, “I sorry momma” and later that day she would see the sofa and point to it, saying, “Bad! Bad” I just would tell her, “yes I know that IS bad and we don’t draw on furniture. Ok? And you can only use pen on paper. I love you, and you are not in trouble.” I want to let her understand that I am not mad at her for doing that, and she does know that it was bad to have used the pen on the cushions.

The other day I was getting dressed and I am putting on my makeup, and Kara is behind me counting, “1,2,3…1,2,3” I wasn’t sure what it was she was counting and I turn around and she looks up at me, grins, and stops counting…I turn back to finish getting ready and she starts counting again? I then realize my underwear had black polka-dots as a pattern and she was standing behind me, counting all the dots. So hilarious!

Now that she is two years old, Kara speaks in complete sentences and is getting easier to communicate with, in knowing what she is saying. This morning, Andrew came home from buying a spool of twine at Lowe’s. He needs the twine to tie up all the branches we are trimming away for the yard waste to be picked up on Wednesday. Yard waste comes each Wednesday to pick up trimmings from the curb and like for it to be bundled up with twine. Andrew gave the twine to Kara to look at and told her this was twine. She says, “Ooh, Twine!” Our dog was by Kara and she says, “Look Duke, I have twine!” it was a funny 5 word sentence she said. I really don’t even think Kara knows what twine is… or what it was for, she just was an excited two year old with a spool of twine in her hands.

She cracks us up all of the time with moments like these!

It's a Coupon Craze!

(NOTE: this blog is from early August, I came across in my blogs to edit and never posted)

I finally checked out the Extreme Couponing T.V. Show. These coupon peeps are crazy. OK, I get that they are buying a shopping cart of groceries worth $246 for only $6 or so after paying for most with coupons...BUT! Do you REALLY NEED 46 boxes of cereal stashed under your bed? One lady on that show does! She's a coupon freak! Now some items she bought with coupons is useful like all the mens deodorant for her 3 teens and a husband in the house, fine go stock up! But the shelf lined with canned soup and under the bed stash of cereal boxes? hmmm. I think if she and other coupon peeps are hording the items and bought these only because of the coupon, they should donate most of these items to the local food pantry! Save aside about 10 boxes and give the rest away! Seriously!

So now I am joining the coupon craze, but keeping my sanity at the same time. I am inspired by these coupon clippers, but still look at the item I am buying to know if I really will use it? or will I buy it only because the coupon is in my hands? I was happy to be rung up the last shopping trip and I was just over $100 and handed over the coupons to the clerk and the final total was $92.63. Now, it is not the final total of $6 or so dollars, but I am a coupon rookie and still figuring out the game.

Here is what I learned so far. Schnucks Grocery stores has double coupons automatically that apply only to 40 cents or less...So if I have a yogurt coupon to save 35 cents, then it will ring up as 70 cents off! the yogurts are 58 cents or less to begin with?! Great deal. At our Shop-N-Save stores there are every Thursdays you get $10 off $50 or more spent on groceries. A trick to this would have to be spending the first $50 or so dollars on one bill and recieve the $10 off...then ring up the other half of the groceries for a second bill of $50 total to get another $10 off. My groceries will then save $20 off a $100 total.

The other day I had a box of Toasters Strudels in my freezer. The back of the box had a coupon for FREE Orange Juice, up to a value of $4 any brand. This was a huge coupon for me! I usually buy O.J. that is about $2-$3 never get the O.J. that is over $4. Sometimes I just don't buy O.J. because it is too expensive. So I went to Target to pick out the most expensive O.J. I could find. It was pretty fancy, the jug has a flip top lid to pour and a nice gripping handle to hold the jug as I pour...the O.J. is pulp free to be able to sip through Kara's sippy cup conviently and not get clogged, and it was a nice, family size portion of Juice! Guess, just guess how much this Orange Juice was?!!? The brand Tropicana, and it is 100% pure and natural, "Never from Concentrate" it reads on the jug. This juice was four dollors and sixty-four cents. I hand over my coupon for $4 off, paying just 64 cents for this FANCY O.J. This so far has been my favorite coupon so far. If one is able to actually have a "Favorite Coupon". HAHA

The Trickle Down Effect

(NOTE: This post is from March 2011 I never finished it and found in my blogs to edit...)

Thanks to the trickle down effect, I got to work on time! I would have actually been an hour late this year. In past years for both the "fall back" and "spring forward" I have been good to switch my clocks in the house the night before as I am getting ready for bed. This year I completely forgot about the time change. I even had to be at work this morning at 7am, meaning that I wake up at O-dark thirty! The only reason I even woke up this morning was from my cell phone alarm going off.

Here is how it played out. Usually my cell phone is in the kitchen being charged overnight and plugged in. I don't usually use an alarm setting on my phone. Last Friday I was walking around the lake with my friend, Carissa. She is 9 months pregnant and ready to give birth any day now. Walking around the lake was to help get labor encouraged but it didn't work. Knowing that she is going to call me any day now, saying she is going into labor; I just knew to keep my cell close to me. So because of this I have actually had my cell charging overnight in my room and decided to try my cell alarm. With daylight savings time switching on my cell automatically it turned over to the correct time. I woke to the alarm and saw it was "4:30" being actually 5:30! I was an hour early to wake but at the same time on time to wake at the 5:30 real time. So I hop out of bed, get ready and go into work!

If it weren't for my prego friends due date being so close, I would have not charged my phone in my room. And because of it being charged in my room I happened to set the alarm, which I never do on my cell. Then I was on time to work. If non of this occurred, then I would have been an hour late to work! See how it all trickles down to it all connecting like this?! Pretty neat.

Classic Kid Discovery #129

There are times when a kid discovers something "NEW" and something they figured out all by themselves. When in reality kids from generations before them have discovered the same sort of things. Something I like to refer to as a Classic Kid Discovery. Anywhere from the echo sound they can create in a public restroom... to popping the bubble wrap to make load popping sounds.

Kara is 2 1/2 years old and just figured out the art of blowing bubbles in her cup of water using a straw! She looks at me with excitement, and discovery of something so cool! "Look momma!" she says and blows more bubbles in her water cup. This is the transition from sippy cup to a cup with a STRAW!!! Opening up new possibilities. Of course she has on occasion used the straw before to drink her drinks, but not as often as now.

This was a moment of discovery, and something so amusing that she was giggling as she did it. A self satisfaction to have figured this out. Kids before her, dating back to the 1950's and even sooner have discovered this "talent" of blowing bubbles in thier drink with use of the straw.

I even remember my little brother (who is now 27) discovering this with his Chocolate milk in the same way Kara has discovered it. Both kids figuring out the inevitable. This is just one Classic Kid Discovery, among many more to come.

It is fun to watch my baby girl learn, explore, and find out how things work on her own. She is really becoming a Classic Kid. These are all kid things that we as the adult don't neccissarilly teach them. It is just things that Kids stumble upon and teach themselves.

What a DAY!

This day started off with dropping Andrew off at the airport for his week of training in TX, for his work. Then I was close to my old work place and decided to visit with Kara. I had worked there when I was prego with Kara and changed jobs about a year after she was born. So everyone was glad to see how big Kara was, and mentioned how quickley time had passed.

Fast forward to 9am we are at the mall and I walked for an hour... doing laps around the mall with Kara in the stroller. It is now 10 am, the shops are opening, a good stopping point to let Kara play in the kids area. After about the 10th time of her going down the slide and climbing all over the place, we see the train ride show up. I saw a few moms gathering to go ride on the train with their kids. So I grabbed Kara to go partake in a really cool ride on the kiddy train. It cost $6 for us both to ride together. We had our very own train car to sit in. Kara is big on Trains right now, she loves Thomas the train and all types of transportation. This was a perfect thing to treat her to, for being so well behaved today. The train ride starts at the kids play area and goes around the mall in one complete lap and ends back at the play area. Kara loved the whole ride! She was waving to people shopping at the mall, and making the "choo choo" sound. Pure excitement for a two year old... I had fun too!

After the train ride, I popped into a store to find a pair of shorts. Sadly, none of my three pairs of shorts, that I already have, fit this season...Summer is practically over, so I really only need one pair to enjoy the heat comfortably. I hate that I even had to buy a pair of shorts at the end of summer. I made it the whole summer with out shorts?! odd. This pair I bought today were $19, couldn't go wrong.

Only sad part, was the store is called "Dress Barn." I never shopped there before. To me, it sounds like a horrible name for a fat people store...and I was now in that category of Barn sized people to shop at Dress Barn...

I grab the size 12 to try on...it was just snug and not comfortable to wear. This was that boarder line size of fitting but not really. I thought, well... I guess I need to try a 14?! Seriously? I then thought, Kara is right there in the dressing room, I can't let her see me sad over a number... a lousy size number! That would be the start of her being self cautious of sizes and such.

I laughed it off, saying "too small, lets go find a different pair of shorts." I tried on the 14 and they fit so perfectly...and she says to me, "Too small..." she was just parroting what I had said of the size 12s. She has been learning lately the differences in sizes like her hat is too big for her dolly, and my shoes are too big for her little feet, etc. So this is another size comparison and I try to play it off like no big deal, going to buy a size 14 because they fit just right. In the end, it IS JUST THAT. It is a number, a size, a secret number too. When I am wearing these shorts out in public, it is not labeled on the outside letting everyone know my size number. And for those reading this, who cares!? Size is size. No "Big" deal (haha pun intended). Fourteen, shmorteen! I am though going to get back to my size 12 clothes and stay comfortable there though. It is a new goal for me. I am not going to obsess over my weight and get into being a size 6 or 8...my idea behind the 12 is that most of my wardrobe fits there and I will save money if I stay steady at 12. Buying this one pair of shorts was $20, and if I have to go replacing all my clothes from 12 to 14 that will get expensive and be a waist of time. I just need to nip this in the bud and get back to a comfortable 12. So the thought of getting to an 8 is just as bad as the 14 in the sense of having to get all new clothes. Solution solved with walking laps around the mall with the old people and other moms pushing strollers in the mornings.

Cookin with Emealz!

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CLICK HEREto check out the Emealz yourself! the site has sample recipes for you to print off before signing up. It really does save money and help plan for the week what you are cooking.

Poem I wrote in 2008

I'm trying to clean up my computer folders and I am looking through old word docs that I have written. I have a couple of poems and a wide variety of other things I have written. So the next couple of blogs here are old by a few years...I am just copy/paste all of the writings that I want to share on this blog. I have in mind that some day when Kara is older she can refer back to this blog and read through what her momma wrote about. Assuming this blog site will be around and also have all my postings still stored online...I sure hope Kara likes these when she is older.

A Man & a Woman in the Bookstore Café

May 21, 2008 Wednesday 5:30pm

Observational poem by: Martiel Hay

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

He gazes into her eyes

As she rattles on about something insignificant

He is mesmerized by her smile

And the green shade of eye shadow she has on

She leans forward in her seat

Anticipating his next word

He discreetly glances at his watch

The spark is dying down…

As he sips his hazelnut latte

She says something funny

Catching his attention

Still not sure how this blind date is going

He hopes to leave holding hands

She’s starting to get the first date jitters

And nervously tares her café napkin

As their date is coming to an end

They leave together from the bookstore café

Not holding hands

But just as good friends

To be continued…

Here is a poem I came across on my computer. I wrote it back in 2006, 5 years ago. I had just moved to Missouri back then when I wrote this poem.

Poem by Martiel Hay Nov 09, 2006

Summer Day Confusion

The sun is blinding
Like a summers day
Or the middle of May
I want to go out and play
While the weather is not too cold
Or so I am told

It is November remember
The trees have gone topless
Dropping their leaves
And exposing their branches!
It is mid-November
But seems like summer
I am wearing my sunglasses
And running the AC
Can't you see
The confusion

With this the illusion?

Is it winter
Or summer
who decides
I feel warm and see blue skies
Right before my very eyes
It should be November
And it might be winter

It feels more like summer

Could have fooled me

As I turn on the AC