Sick Day

David didn't feel great today, so he called in to work. I think he's done that twice in 10 years. He got to relax in our new sleeping bag with Noah. I think it's just what the doctor ordered.

Saving

Our cabinets were a big investment. I often wonder how we make it on what we make.  As you all know couponing just fell in my lap as a way of survival when we hit a tough time with pay cuts and furlough days.  I ended up with a job on an internet site that I love.  It was a blessing.  I have a part time job doing what I love to do.  Save money.  My theory is save on the things you need, to afford the things you want.

Today's savings was by far, one of my best.
I got:
3 Dreyer's Outshine Bars
3 Peter Pan Peanut Butter
1 Scrubbing Bubbles w/ Fantastik
3 Clorox Toilet Bowl Cleaners
2 Shout
2 Windex
2 409
1 huge container of yogurt
1 Mt. Olive pickles
1 Best Foods
3 Soft Soap Foaming
2 McCormick Seasoning
3 Mojo Bars
1 Best foods Mayo
2 Pine Sol
3 Minute Rice
3 Success Rice
3 Pampers Wipes



Whew...I'm tired just looking at it.  Any guess on what I spent?  If I had walked in the store and bought everything full price, it would have been $133.  I spend $12.  Yep, $12.  I'm awesome!  HA!

Cabinets

This is my little hutch that I've had for 15 years.

It normally doesn't look so cluttered, but I had all the easter stuff on there and didn't bother to clean it up for the photo. It is what it is.

The little hutch sits by our dining room table in our kitchen and stores party stuff and other junk. We are gadget people. Griddle, we got it. Food processor, check. Waffle maker, use it every Sunday. Dutch Oven, wouldn't make soup without it. We have a lot of stuff, but we use it. We've always thought we needed more cabinets in this house. So, we finally made it happen.

We found an almost identical formica to match our granite countertop. We went with a company who got us the same cabinets as the rest of the kitchen down to the crown molding.
Um, wow!

I've been busy organizing and cleaning out other cabinets. It's a great feeling. The funny thing is that it looks so good and more spacious. I don't know how that's possible when it's 3 times bigger than the little hutch, but it does. It looks like it's always been there.

And for only $86, they made us two drawers in our bathroom! When we bought the house, the homebuilder gave an option to put in 2 sinks for an additional charge. We only wanted one, so they put in fake fronts with no drawers. It's been bothering us for 6 years. So, we figured this is a must before Emily gets into make up and all that stuff. Best $86 I ever spent.

As for the little hutch, it found a new home in Ben's room. We took off the doors and added some canvas totes and he's happy as can be.

A New Pair of Eyes

In January, Emily came home with an assignment about Martin Luther King. I looked at it and wondered why so many words were misspelled. She said because she couldn't see the board. I knew it would happen eventually as David and I both wear glasses. Well, we had surgery 10 years ago to fix it, but are finding we need them again for far away. So, David took her to the eye doctor. Her eyes are only 20/25, but it's just enough to not be able to see the whiteboard in school. The doctor said she doesn't need to wear them all the time or at all even, but we wanted to get her glasses to see the board in class. She's been sitting in the front row now for two months!

We looked at the glasses at Sam's and she didn't like anything. She wanted a pair like mine, brown tortoise color with a rectangle shape. They all had designs on them or were too girly. I looked at Costco for her and didn't think she'd like anything there. We went to Walmart and she tried on every pair for over an hour. She finally picked something, but didn't really like them. I was waiting for that moment she found something she loved. It never came. We paid for the ones at Walmart and were headed to Costco to get a few things. We thought we should look there for glasses. The first pair she tries on, she exclaims, "I love them!". That was the reaction I was waiting for. I cancelled the ones from Walmart and we bought the ones at Costco.

We picked them up on Saturday and she was so happy.

She wore them all day and then started complaining about seeing a foggy thing. As it turns out, the anti glare coating is defective and we had to send them back. So, she will have to wait a few more days to get them.  She actually cried when we had to send them back.

She's super excited to wear them to school.  Her first comment to me was "e-mail my teachers and tell them they can move me to the back of the class again." That's my girl!

I've Been Pinning

I signed up for pinterest a few years ago. I thought it was a neat idea, but that was it. It didn't spark an interest really. Maybe I was too busy with a baby. In any case. I've rediscovered it lately, and I've been pinning!

Our baggy/foil/saran wrap cabinet has been a mess for years. You go to grab something and 5 things fall out. I actually had 3 open boxes of quart size storage bags because I didn't know what was in there. Although now that I look at this picture, they are all stacked on top of each other. Maybe I need to wear my glasses more often.

I found an idea to use magazine files to organize storage bags. But, I'm just too cheap to buy anything when I have perfectly good materials to use here. So I did it with cereal boxes. Sure they could use some nice wrapping paper around them, but honestly, I really don't care. I used some white duct tape to make sure the ends stay together and that's about as fancy as I get.

Here it is all done and now I can find everything.

Isn't it pretty? Up next, underneath the kitchen sink (I'll be embarrassed to show pictures) and the boys bedrooms. We are getting some new cabinets for our kitchen on Tuesday and Ben is getting the little hutch in our kitchen now. I have a lot of work to do getting organized.

I Got Flowers Today

Okay well technically it was a weed, but whose keeping track?

And it was from Spiderman...be still my heart.

Growing Up

I found Noah in a box yesterday. Literally, his whole body fit in the box. He popped out just to say hi.

Isn't he just the cutest?

It's really an interesting turn of events with my boys. Ben is outgrowing dressing up. He still loves superheros, but he enjoys watching movies or TV shows. He also enjoys making his own superhero books. It's more like a comic strip, but he makes them all the time. He'll spend hours on them. He draws everything just so with markers and has me staple it like a book. We are sad to see him outgrowing dressing up. Sometimes a week will go by and he won't have on a single costume. I was just remembering when Emily was in Kindergarten and I picked her up everyday. The parents had to sign them out, so we had to wait outside until it was time for her to get out. There was always a group of about 20 parents, and Ben was always in a costume. They always commented how cute he was. So, yeah, it's sad to not see him dressed up anymore.

Luckily, the trend is catching on with Noah. He puts on costumes all day long. Today, we went to get the kids and he was dressed like Buzz Lightyear. Yes, it's on backwards and he left his wings in the van, but he's the coolest kid around.

I told Ben we should transfer all the costumes to Noah's room. He reluctantly agreed.

We've notice a few other changes with Ben lately. He's starting to prefer non animated shows on TV. He likes some preteen show called Drake and Josh which is really just stupid silly. But, he laughs so whatever. David thought he might like the 3 Stooges, so we recorded an episode. He was cracking up.

I must say I found it pretty stupid. I found it more fun to watch Ben laughing.

In any case, I know he'll continue to grow up. I just hope it's very, very slowly.