Cheap Birthday Fun!

The kids and I went to town today for C's birthday. He's 7. :) We went to Sonic (free wacky pack), Chuck E. Cheese (20 birthday tokens and buy 60 get 40 free coupon, also a free ice cream) to play, then Toys R Us (free birthday paper crown, we've gotten a free balloon, but got a sash today, since they were out of balloons. they announce his name & play a song on the intercom, and I had a $3 off card for his birthday), then O'Charley's (split an entree 3 ways, had a coupon for a dessert, and a birthday dessert). Overall, ended up spending under $30, and $5 of birthday money since he wanted a transformer that was $8.

Most of these things I got from being signed up with their online clubs. Also, I have a Coldstone Creamery free ice cream for C, but we didn't make it there.

Accomplishments

My son figured out how to snap, and whistle! Not to be left out, daughter figured out how to snap also. (but still isn't potty trained. grr)

I made a blanket! A friend has given me TONS of clothes from her son for C. So, I took 12 of the t-shirts, chopped them up, added some back and edging, and made them a blanket. In progress...
And finished product. Not bad for my first try at a blanket!!

Coupon Whiz

Yes, my friend Crystal has been blogging about coupons and savings at CVS, and I've been faithfully reading. (Haven't done anything beyond read...)

I got hit from another side. Another friend of mine (from HS) was interviewed on channel 3 about her couponing. Youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFFvNbPNADw

Who knows, maybe I'll decide to clip a few. One of these days...

Gween

When my son has a good behavior day, he gets "green". There are other warning colors all the way to red. He usually gets green and will come to the car and spell it, so we know what he got. B knows when he says G-R-E-E-N, that it means green. So she said "You got gween!". He said "no, I got green." She says "that's what I said, Gween!" He says "Not gween. Grrrreen." She says "I didn't say gween. I said GWEEN." I told them to quit fighting. :)

I've been getting some green lately. No, not money, but reward for good EATING behavior! I have lost 8.6 pounds. It was only .6 last week, but I feel that as long as it's down, that's progress. Hubby even noticed a pair of my pants was a little loose Sunday. He's trying to lose some too, which is helpful.

Thanks for the comments!

Diet

So, I am trying to diet and exercise. It's not going so well. Not a New Year's resolution, there is a program going on in my town. One of the local Dr.'s offices is holding "Pleasant View's Biggest Loser". I have an official card and everything. They are having seminars and food specials at some of the local restaurants. I haven't dieted in a while, and am not doing wonderfully. I really LIKE to eat! So I went to the nutrition seminar the other day, and the speaker talked about the diabetic "carb counting" diet being really one of the best ways to eat. I'm trying. Mom came for my birthday this weekend and we went to Outback, so that was my "free meal" for the week, where I don't have to count. Then we had lunch at church yesterday, and my m-i-l came over with leftovers. Let's just say I had to count the whole day as "free". Oops. SO my main thing I'm doing is writing down all that I eat. It's tedious and hard to keep up with, but it makes me think about what I'm putting in my mouth. I haven't given up.

Thanks, Mom!

Today, I went to Walmart with some Christmas money. I hit the toy clearance aisle and got TONS of things. Well, not tons. I got 3 Cranium forts (at $10 ea), Operation, an Aqua Doodle with a car that runs on the road you draw, a doctor set, an explorer set, along with various needed items for the home (Pullups, toothpaste, a calendar, that sort of thing). So, my son is thrilled when he comes home from school to all the new stuff. As we go along, I moved downstairs to my computer and the kids were playing upstairs. All of a sudden, my son yells from the top of the stairs "WOW Mom! You got me new toothpaste! THANKS!!" Now, I'm not belittling any thanks I get from my children, but I am certainly going to remember the day I bought all those toys and got thanked for toothpaste. But perhaps that's how we treat God sometimes too. He gives me a wonderful husband, great kids, a home, our health, and we only thank Him for the food some days.

Thanksgiving Break-downs

A friend of mine suggested that perhaps there may be SOMETHING blog-worthy that had happened to me since my trip to Gatlinburg, and she was right. I just didn't post this one here, when I posted it elsewhere. I will write about Christmas... oh, in February? Nah, hopefully soon. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Wednesday (day before Thanksgiving), we left to go to IL (I-24 through KY). We were cruising along, when the car bucked and stopped running. Shane managed to coast off the interstate onto the handy offramp, which turned out to be a Parkway and not an Exit. Oops. So we sat alongside the busy pkwy, trying to solve the car problem. Nothing would get the car to start. So we called Shane's brother to come from TN (about 2 hours at this point) with a trailer to haul us and the car back. A police officer stopped to check, but there wasn't anything he could really help with. So, we were sitting in the car when a "Highway Assistance" truck pulled up behind us. They couldn't help with the car, but they did have enough room (barely) to take us to a nearby McDonald's with a play area. When my brother-in-law showed up, we all went back to the car to load it onto the trailer. The "boys" pushed it, while I got to steer onto the trailer. Happy happy joy joy. The biggest problem was that, once on the trailer, you can't open the door wide enough to get out. So I got to do a Dukes of Hazzard and go through the window! We got home safely along with the car. I put the kids to bed, and Shane rode to his parents' house with his brother to borrow their car.

Thursday, Thanksgiving, we set out again to go to IL. We stopped in Clarksville at IHOP for a yummy lunch, and a good start to our trip. We were cruising along through KY, passed exit 25 where we had broken down Wed. and cheered a bit. Not far down the road though, the car "dinged" and began to heat up quickly. Shane got off at Exit 11 (just 14 miles farther than Wed.) and realized that the steering was difficult. He fairly rapidly diagnosed a problem with the drive belt. (He thinks our car is the timing chain.) We called my parents in IL, and asked them to come pick us up. Several people stopped to ask if we needed help. Mom & Dad came with a trailer and we loaded up the car, this time Shane drove it onto the trailer as it was still running, but just couldn't drive it long distance. Shane was able to get the needed parts and fix the car on Friday.

We enjoyed the rest of our visit with my parents and had a safe and uneventful trip home. Although, the car did "ding" just before we got out of IL, and I about had a heart attack. It was a low fuel warning. :) I am truly thankful to God for our safe trip(s) to and from KY and IL this weekend. He is always in control, even when we think we would choose to have life go a different way. I don't know what was on down the road for us if our cars didn't break down, but God does. He cares for us, and surrounds us with people who care for us as well. Thanks to you, for caring enough to read. God blesses us every day.