October Already

It's hard to believe that in just 2 1/2 hours, it will already be October. Where has this year gone? We now have less than 3 months until Christmas. Wow. It's been another cold and miserable day here in Western PA with only a few little pockets of sunshine here and there. Tonight will be pretty cold. Weather Exchange sent me a winter weather advisory a little while ago. We are supposed to get sown to the mid to low 30's tonight. Yuck. I'm not ready for this. I'd like to have a real summer first, please. Sigh.

We had a bit of a mellow day around here. I was going to hit Kmart again to take advantage of a handful of coupons that expire today, but I just didn't feel like going outside. Laural's school was pretty mellow today too. We practiced some math and some writing and she played click start for a while. I think, tomorrow, I am going to introduce a new math activity. I got a math puzzle "game" last month that is pretty neat. You match up the pieces with the problems to the pieces with the answers. She is doing pretty good with her math. In fact, today she was practicing her addition saying the numbers in Spanish! LOL She really seems to enjoy the Hooked on Phonics and Hooked on Spanish that we do on the computer. Our science topic this week is birds and migration. We've seen a lot of birds gathering for their trip south.

Yesterday, for our story time craft, we made technicolor acorns. We took brightly colored tissue paper, wadded it up, painted them with glue and then glued them into an acorn cap. They turned out quite cute. Laural is quite pleased with her handiwork. I'll get a pic of them up in a little while.

Micah is getting ever closer to walking! Tonight, I put him on his feet with Laural's little shopping cart in front of him. He held onto it and stood there for a minute and then, he started pushing it and walking along with it. He did it several times across the room. A big part of me is quite happy because I keep wondering if he will ever actually walk. He's already 18 months old and still content to bounce around or crawl. A little bit of me is sad, though, because it means my little baby is really becoming a big boy. So bittersweet. He is much more of a cuddler than Laural was at this age. He wants to be up on my lap or sitting beside me a lot. Not all the time - he loves to be down to play - but he really seems to love his mommy time. I don't mind. He has really become quite the climber too. In recent days, I have found him standing on Laural's Little Tykes table, reaching up to the tv and standing on the arm of the couch, reaching up to play with the light switches. The boy is going to give me a heart attack! I seem to recall similar happening with his big sister! LOL How do moms ever survive this stage? LOL It really is quite the adventure!

Wordless Wednesday

September 2008
Laural & Micah having some fall fun in the leaves.

Crazy Coupon Trip!

After story time today, we made a run to Franklin for some more Kmart double coupon shopping! I had a phenomenal trip! I took pics of my goodies but I left the camera downstairs, so I will go get that in a bit and post the pics.

First up, Kmart:1x Rimmel Mascara $3.29 each
- $2/1 doubled
= FREE

3x Bic 14 count Silky Shave Razors $3.49 each
- $2/1 (3x) doubled
= FREE

2x Beneful Prepared Meal Dog Food $1.79 each
- B1G1 Free doubled
= FREE

2x Huggies Baby Wipes $2.99 each
- $2/1 (2x) doubled
= FREE

2x Tide Stain Release $4.49 each
- $2 instant savings 2x
- $1.50/1 doubled
- $2/1 doubled
= FREE (with overage of $2.02)

4x Bumblebee Tuna Pouches $1.29 each
- $1/2 (2x) doubled
= $.29 each (or $.16 each when you subtract the overage from the Tide)

2 Snickers Bars $.89 each
no coupons as these were fillers for the overage
= $.15 each

2x Bic 14 count Twin Select Razors $3.49 each
- $2/1 (2x) doubled
= FREE

3x Halls Refresh Hard Candies $1.99 each
- $1/1 (3x) doubled
= FREE

6x Pedigree+ canned dog food $1 each
- B1G1 Free (3x) doubled
= FREE

Total Receipts: $58.19
Total OOP: $0.92! (before tax)
Savings: 98%

I actually did these in 3 different transactions because of the coupon limit of 10 and the fact that I found another Tide coupon in the car and went back in for another Stain Release deal. That is why I had to add 2 candy bars. Not a bad day at Kmart.


Next up, Giant Eagle:30x Birdseye Steamfresh Vegetables $1 each
- $.35/1 (30x) doubled
= $.30 each

4x Totinos Pizza Rolls $1 each
- $.40/2 (2x) doubled
= $.60 each

2x Whole Grain Cheez-its $2.50 each
-$.75/1 doubled (meant to use the $2/2 peelie but it got missed)
= $1.75 each

3x Little Debbie Cupcakes $3.09 each
- $.75/1 (3x) doubled
=$1.59 each

6x Friskies Natural Sensations Cat Treats $1.79 each
- Free bag Q (6x)
= FREE

6x Mentos Gum $1.49 each
- $.55/1 (6x) doubled
= $.39 each

Ground Beef 2.68 lbs/$9.62
- $2/1 Store coupon
= $7.62

Total Receipt: $103.21 (before card & coupons)
Total OOP: $28.13! (before tax)
Savings: 73%

I'm not sure, but I think the cashier guy may have put 1 of my $.75/1 coupons for the Little Debbie Cupcakes through an extra time. It's hard to tell since he was doing a lot of button punching, but there seems to be an extra $1.50 off on my receipt. I think I confused him with my multiple coupons. LOL He had to turn the key and punch in some stuff to make it go through, so I'm guessing he did me a favor since I couldn't use the peelies from the cupcakes with the coupons I had. Yay for nice cashiers! The Franklin GE employees seem to be so much more friendly than the Greenville ones. I think the older lady cashier was exasperated when I handed her my stack of coupons last time I was there.

Anyhow, chalk up another great shopping trip for me!

This Week's Coupn Spreadsheet

I sat down and figured out what coupons came in each of the papers again this week. This week I included 2 other papers - The Meadville Tribune and the Youngstown Vindicator. Nether proved to be very good. There were a couple of coupons in the Vindicator that weren't in the others. The Meadville was almost the same as the Herald, but both papers had very few coupons in them. Neither came with Red Plum or Proctor & Gamble inserts, so they really aren't worth it. The only reason the Herald remains on my list is because they have the red Plums and the P&G inserts. Their Smart Source are pretty thin though. HERE is the link for this week's spreadsheet. With the P&G insert, there were a LOT of coupons!

Awesome Shopping Day!

I love saving money with coupons! LOL After the day's earlier events, I decided to load the kids into the car and head to Kmart for some double coupon action. I followed that with a quick run to Giant Eagle. First up, our Giant Eagle trip:
Here is the breakdown:

10x Steamfresh frozen veggies $1.00 each
- $.35/1 (10x) doubled
= $.30 each

2x Pillsbury Grands Cinnamon Rolls $1.00 each
- $1.00/1
= FREE

15x Betty Crocker instant Potato Pouches $.89 each
- $.40/1 (15x) doubled
= $.09 each

1 Palmolive Pure & Clear Dish Detergent $2.50 each
- $.75/1 (doubled
= $1.00 each

2x Tic Tacs Chill $1.50 each
-$.75/1 (2x) doubled
= FREE

2x Bumblebee Premium Tuna Pouch $1.50 each
- $.55/1 (2x) doubled
= $.40 each

2x Poptarts Blueberry Muffin $2.39 each
- $.55/1 (2x) doubled
= $1.29 each

Breyers Yogurt Inspirations $1.99 each
- $.75/1 doubled
= $.49 each

Total Receipt: $51.15
Total OOP: $11.83 (before tax)
Savings: 77%

Cats: $5 Black and Gold Bucks, $1.00/2 Breyers Yogurt Inspirations and 70 Bonus Box Tops

KMart:
Breakdown:

2x Dry Idea Gel Deodorant $3.29 (marked B1G1 Free)
- $1.00/1 (2x) (tear pad) doubled
= FREE (should have been but I didn't catch that it didn't ring up B1G1 Free)

Arm & Hammer Toothpaste $2.50 each
- $1.00/1 (doubled)
= $.50 each

Poise Pads $5.49 each
- $2.00/1 (doubled)
= $1.49 each

2x Gillette Shave Gel $2.50 each
- $.55/1 (doubled)
= $1.40 each

2x Dove Ultra Deodorant $3.99 each
- $2.00/1 (doubled)
= FREE

2x Suave Kids Shampoo $1.50 each
4x Suave Professionals Shampoo $1.50 each
- $1/2 (3x) (doubled)
= $.50 each

12x Alpo Canned Dog Food $.60 each
-$1/3 (2x) (doubled)
- B2G1 Free (2x) (doubled)
= $.10 each

Total Receipt: 46.25
Total OOP: $13.57 (before tax)
Savings: 71%

Cats: $5 off $50 Grocery & Drug Store, Save $.75/12 Purina Alpo Dog Food Cans

Pretty awesome day for shopping! I'm so glad I decided to go. I was tired and was really thinking about staying home to veg out on the couch. Nothing like saving money to put a little pep in your step!

I'm a slacker

At blogging anyhow. We've been so busy for the past week, I haven't had the time to post much. I've also been on facebook a lot less and my other regular haunts haven't had the pleasure of my presence either. LOL We have no plans tomorrow (for a change) so maybe I can catch up then.

Rite Aid Quickie

Teehee

I had a couple coupons I wanted to use at Rite Aid before their sale ended so we stopped there quickly after a visit with Steve's mom and her sister, Marilyn, who is visiting from North Carolina. I didn't take a pic, but here is the breakdown:

10x Soy Joy Bars 10/$5.00
- $2/10 Q
= $.30 each

2x Wheat Thins $1 each
- $1/1 (2x)
- $1 SCR
= $1 Money Maker!

10x VO5 Shampoos & Conditioners $.99 each
- $5/10 SCR
= $.49 each

Total Receipt: $16.90
Total OOP: $6.90 (after subtracting rebates)
Savings: 59%

We love the Soy Joy bars, so this was a great buy for us. And the low price shampoo is a big win too. I might end up donating most of it but the strawberry champaigne scent intrigues me. I just got a bunch of Aussie recently anyhow. And I have my eye on some Suave for next week.

Coupon Crazy Sunday!

I decided that today I wanted to check out my coupon inserts from the 3 papers I got today and compare them. I was quite surprised by the results. Erie had the most coupons and higher values. Pittsburgh had a few that Erie didn't have. The Sharon paper had a puny number of coupons in the Smart Source insert but it was the only one that had the Red Plum insert, though it didn't have a lot to it. HERE is a link to the spread sheet I made that has all the coupons I got from the 3 papers. Interesting. The best coupons seem to be in the Erie paper but there are different amounts (better for doubling sometimes like at Giant Eagle). So, what shall I do? Drop Pittsburgh - there were a couple in there that weren't in either of the others but all the Herald coupons were in one or both of the other papers. EXCEPT for the Red Plum! Gee Whiz, this could be easier on me... LOL

I got 3 each of the aforementioned papers. I am going to have a lot of papers to recycle. Maybe I should see what is going on in the news since I have them.

I am way behind on my blogging. I've done a couple other shopping trips that I took pics of but I haven't recorded yet. I need to get out tomorrow for some groceries. I'm out of basics like milk and cheese. I will have to see what coupons I have!

Laural's school is faltering slightly. We've been so busy lately that we have let it go. I need to get on a better schedule since she will be doing actual kindergarten next year. She's been quite the little bugger lately. She actually ran away from Steve in the store today when he went to get her and take her out to the car because she kept mouthing off about going her own way in the store. She is now on tv restriction for a week.

Micah is really starting to get the hang of talking. In the past week or 2, he has started saying "hi," "ba" (ball), "pree" (pretty), and a couple other things. It's like it has really clicked for him all of a sudden. He is also mimicking us laughing "hee hee hee" and "ha ha ha." It's too funny. He still refuses to say mama though. Stinker. He's still about the same place for walking. A couple of step, followed by a BIG grin and then down to the knees he goes. It is so cute to watch him bounce on his knees though. He also really has the impish grin down pat. Sooo cute! He sure is a character and so different from his sister. So much fun!

That's my mini update for now. I need to get back into the habit of writing each day so I don't fall behind. Tomorrow is Muffin Tin Monday. Not sure what I will do yet! Better get to thinking so I have some nice pics to blog tomorrow.

Wordless Wednesday

Somebody wasn't very happy when trying on the dress her great-aunt made for her... This one of my favorite pictures of Laural, taken in November 2006. She was 19 months old.

Terrific Tuesday!

My Tuesdays are busy days - but good days! We started with Story Time. It ran a little long today. After our story, we made a neat craft - Paper Bag Nature Books. It was just Gracen and Laural there today. They did quite a good job on their books. We started by cutting, folding and taping our books. Then we went outside to collect things to put on the cover. I helped Laural create a nice scene with her stuff and Gracen and her mom made a nice bark frame on hers.

After Story Time, we went to Steve's mom's for a quick visit. I had to go to BiLo for a few things. It turns out though, that the BiLo shopping list on A Full Cup is not the same BiLo that we have here. None of the stuff I had on my list was actually on sale at BiLo. I ended up just getting a couple rolls of Marcal paper towels for $1 off each. I didn't take pics of my goods from today's shopping trip but here is the breakdown:

(2x) Marcal paper towels - 1.67 each
- $1/1 (2x)
= $.67 each

I was confused about the sales thing, so I asked if they might be on a different schedule than other stores and he said no. Some of the stuff i asked about was on sale the week before so I figured maybe the list was dated wrong or something. It turns out that there is a different BiLo chain down south that I didn't know about until after I got home. Oh well. I was talking to the cashier while I checked out and she ended up taking my name and address so I could have a flier mailed to me. That will be quite nice.

Then I was off to Giant Eagle. I had a handful off stuff on my list for there. Here is my breakdown:

(5x) Activia 4 packs and
(3x) Danimals Smoothies 6 packs - $2 each
- $2 bonus when you buy 4 (2x)
- $1/1 coupon (8x)
= $.50 each

(2x) Bottom Round Roast - B1G1 free
= $4.98 each

(2x) packs Boneless Pork Chops - B1G1 free
= $3.48 each

(2x) Wonder Classic White Bread - $2.49 each
- $.55/1 (2x) doubled
=$1.39 each

Total OOP = $23.70
Total Coupons: $10.20

Not too bad. I forgot a couple things though. I might run to the Franklin store tomorrow.

I need to go do something about my son. He is not adjusting well to the new bed and room. He's getting near hysterical. I really want him to cry it out, but how long do I let him go? He's been going for nearly 40 minutes now. It's not constant. I think he stops for a few minutes to see if I am going to come in. He also has been purposely hitting his head on the sides of the crib and making himself cry even more. Sigh. He's quiet now. I know he is super tired so I was hoping that would make it easier for him to crash out. We will see.

Bedtime

Bedtime had it's ups and downs here tonight. Laural was very excited about getting into her new bed. She didn't even ask for a story! She just wanted to get into bed. LOL I wonder how long this will last. She looked so little in her new bed. We didn't put the rail on it so I hope she manages to stay in her bed!

Micah wasn't quite so excited to be in his new bed. Micah has been sleeping in the pack-n-play in our room since about 10 months old when I had to get him out of my bed for his own safety. We did the same thing with Laural. When we moved here, that is when she started sleeping in her crib in her own room. So, since Laural is out of the crib and into a bed, it was time for Micah to go into the crib. He wasn't happy at all. He fussed and cried. It wasn't so much a cry as a frightened sound he made. Since he was bothering Laural, I took him out of the crib and put him in the pack-n-play to fall asleep. He settled right down. When I came back upstairs, I took him from the pack-n-play and put him in the crib. He didn't wake up. It will be interesting to see how the night goes.

Story time again tomorrow. I need to get to the library on Fridays to get books so I don't have to run out on Tuesday mornings! The past 2 weeks, we've had Laural and one other kid - a different one each time. Maybe we will have both of them this week. I hope so!

Laural's Big Girl Bed

It's been a long time coming but today we finally got Laural a big girl bed. She was quite excited as Steve was setting it up but we wouldn't let her go upstairs to see it until it was all set up and the bed was made. She was obviously happy.

Canning Day!

Today was a long & busy day. We started with church and then home for lunch. After lunch, I gathered my supplies for making tomato soup. I took my big 22 quart pot, butter, sugar, onion & corn starch and 24 pint and 12 quart jars. I prefer to can in pints since my little family isn't up to eating a quart in one sitting. Once we got there, I started washing and cutting the tomatoes that my parents had already picked while Steve got ready to move our bed. Well, not our bed, but Laural's bed. Some time ago, I needed space and my parents needed extra beds for company, so we took one of our twin beds over to lend them. Since Laural is now 4.5 years old, I think it's time she moved into a regular bed, so Steve and Travis loaded it into Brian's truck and took it over to our house while I continued to work on the tomatoes. It is currently sitting in our kitchen. We will have to clean and rearrange her room a little tomorrow so we will have a place for it. By the time they got back from delivering the bed, I was a little more than half way done with cutting the tomatoes. They filled the 22 quart pot a little over 3/4 full.

My jars, ready to go.

It took the tomatoes about an hour to cook down and then, I had to sieve them. Turning the crank wasn't the worst part - holding the pot and sieve handles together made my hand so tired!

After getting all the juice and pulp that I could get out of all those tomatoes, it was time to add the other ingredients - 3 sticks of butter, 20 tbsp. of sugar and 3 tbsp. of salt. After it came to a boil, I added 10 tbsp. of cornstarch and let it cook for 20 minutes.

Then the fun began - putting in the jars. It went faster than I thought it would. I ended up with 24 pints and a partial quart. I would done another pint jar but I was out of jars.

I am SO pleased to have so much soup to put up! The last time I did soup, I only got 7 pints and I added too much salt. It wasn't the greatest. It would have been great without the salt.

There are still a bunch of tomatoes that will be ready on Tuesday, so I am deciding on whether I want to do more or give them away. It's a lot of work but it sure will be nice to have the soup put up. I'll have to think about it a little more.

Number Crunching

I decided to take some time to figure out my savings since I've started this coupon thing. I'm doing pretty good so far! Here are my stats since I started on August 22, 2009:

Total of receipts: $389.79
Total Sale Savings: $92.06
Total Coupons: $170.94
Overall Savings: $263.00
Percent Savings: 67%

Multi-Store Shopping Trip Today!

Steve and I were just getting ready to head to Meadville again today to hit the Walgreens and CVS that we didn't have time for yesterday. I made sure to find them first this time. A few minutes before we left, Lynn called and said she decided to go shopping anyhow, so Steve was off the hook. We hit K-Mart first. There wasn't much that I needed there.
3 Honey Nut Cheerios ($1.88 each)
- $.55/1 coupon AND
- $1/2 coupon
= $1.36 each

Next up was Walgreens. This one got a little confusing as I tried to break it up into several orders and then get the RR (register rewards) so they could be used on the next transaction. I am not going to try to record how I did it, just the end product.(2x) Pampers 2/$20
- $2/1 coupon
- $1/1 coupon
= $8.50 each
- RR = $2
= $7.50 each

(6x) Chex Mix - $.99 each
- $.50/1 (6x)
= $.49 each

(6x) Dry Idea - B1G1 free - $3.79
- $1/2 (3x)
= $1.40 each

(2x) Sudafed PE - 5.99 each
- $2/1 (2x)
= $3.99 each
- RR $5 (when you buy 2)
= $1.49 each

(2x) Crest Outlast Toothpaste - 2/$7
- $.75/1
- $.50/1
= $2.88 each
- RR $5 (when you buy 2)
= $.38 each

(2x) Nature Valley Granola Bars - $1.99 each
- $.70/2
= $1.64 each

Duracel Batteries 4 pack - $2.99
- $.75/1
= $2.24 each
- RR $1/1
= $1.24 each

Fillers = $1.59

Total before coupons & RR: $64.85
Total after coupons and RR: $36.19
44% savings

Next was CVS. This was my 1st CVS trip, so I signed up for my card right off. There were only a couple things on my list for here. I ended up only getting 2 Colgate Wave toothbrushes B1G1 free.(2x) Colgate Wave Toothbrushes - B1G1 free - $2.99 each
-$.40/1 (2x)
= $1.09 each

Not the greatest deal, but good enough. I wanted to get toothpaste too but they were out. that's what I get for shopping the last day of the sale. Next was Walmart. I only wanted 4 things there.
(2x) Healthy Choice Frozen Meals - $2.50 each
- $2/1 (2x)
= $.50 each

(2x) Healthy Choice Fresh Mixers - $2.50 each
- $2/1 (2x)
= $.50 each

Total before coupons: $10.00
Total after coupons: $2.00
80% savings

I did spend a little more than I had planned. I took my Dry Idea coupons because I saw that the deodorant was B1G1 free, but I didn't know the price ahead of time. I decided while I was there that it was a pretty good deal and went for it. I had also forgotten about needing to have fillers for using the RR since they scan like a coupon and they only allow one coupon per item. Since some of my transactions had one coupon per item already, I needed to have a filler to use the RR. I will be more prepared next time.

I'm trying to decide how to record my savings. I wonder if people include the savings from the item being on sale as well as coupons and RR, ECB & the like. Maybe I will ask on the forums on KCL or someplace like that. One thing I do know is that I am quite happy with my savings so far!

Today's savings:
Coupons - $39.05
Overall - $85.55 (sales, coupons, RR, etc.)
Total OOP - $49.72

Rite Aid Shopping Trip

I made my first Rite Aid shopping trip today. There wasn't a whole lot that I wanted there but got some pretty good deals on the few things I did want.Total before coupons: $25.43
Total after coupons: $4.43
83% savings!

Accu-Chek Aviva Glucometer - $9.99
- $10/1 coupon
= FREE

(3x) Bayer Aspirin - $1.99
- $1/1 coupon
= $.99 each

Sundown Magnesium - (B1G1 free) $4.99
- $1/1 coupon (2x)
= $1.49 each

Sundown D3 - (B1G1 free) $3.49
- $1/1 coupon
= $1.25 each

Gummy Food that Laural wanted - $.99 each
No Coupon

PLUS: $5 off $25 Rite Aid Coupon

PLUS: There is a rebate for purchase price inside the Accu-Chek box, so this transaction was a money maker! Love it!

I was also planning to hit Walgreen's & CVS while I was in Meadville but: 1. I ran out of time and 2. I couldn't find either! So, will have to hit those later.

Walmart Shopping Trip

This was just a quickie to get a couple of the things I didn't get at Giant Eagle.
I needed the hot dog buns and the milk - no coupons there. I decided to get the cereal while not on sale since I was out of cereal.
Total before coupons: $19.67
Total after coupons: $7.80
60% savings

Cottonelle Wipes - $1.98 each
- B1G1 free coupon
= $.99 each

Glade Candles - $2.97 each
- $3/1 coupon
= FREE

Beechnut Baby Food - $.63 each
- Get one free coupon
= FREE

Honey Bunches of Oats - $3.24
- $2/1 coupon
= $1.24 each

Not too bad!

Giant Eagle Trip

I had a great shopping trip today to Giant Eagle. This was only my 2nd coupon trip but my biggest so far!
Total before coupons: $104.14
Total after coupons: $55.58
Missing from the pic are 2 Reese's cups which were free after coupon.

Some of my favorite deals were:

Hebrew National Hot Dogs - B1G1 free (2.49 each)
- $1.00 coupon from Simple & Delicious site
= $1.49 each

Marcal Tissues - Free with coupon

Kashi TLC Crackers - 2 for $5
- .75/1 coupon (doubled)
= $1.00 each

Select Harvest Soups - 8 for $10 ($1.25 each)
- .40/2 coupon (doubled)
= $.85 each

Airwick Air Fresheners 4 for $4
- B1G1 free coupon
= .50 each

Reynold's Recycled Foil - 2 for $6
- .75/1 coupon (doubled)
= $1.50 each

Lady Speed Stick Deodorant - $2
- .75/1 coupon (doubled)
= $.50 each

Great trip! As I get more accustomed to this kind of shopping, it will only get better!

Labor Day

We had a lovely labor day today. We spent the morning just hanging around and then around 1 PM, we headed to my folks for a cook out. My grandparents & Brian and his kids were there too. We had ham, burgers, dogs, green bean casserole, escalloped potatoes & chips. After eating, we all just hung around, visited and had fun. Laural & Amanda got in the hot tub for a while while I ran home to get my swim suit. Just before I left, we put a swim diaper on Micah so he could sit in and splash around. Apparently he had quite the time splashing around! The last time I had him in there, he just about drowned me with all the water he splashed in my face - and he wasn't even facing me. LOL He sure does love the water. When I got back, they were all out but after I was in for a few minutes, Amanda joined me and then Laural came back out and got in too. I felt so good after the soak. I got pretty sore from sleeping on the air mattress in the cold for 2 nights. After getting out, we sat around and visited a while longer before it was time to head home. Good day.

The past couple of years, we have gone to the Stoneboro Fair, but this year, they jacked up the price to $10 each, so it would have cost us $40 just to go in and walk around and let Laural ride a couple rides. We decided it was too much. Last year, it was only $8 to get in. I think they lost a lot of people this year and probably a lot of money. Maybe they will wise up before next year's fair.

Camping Weekend

We weren't going to go camping but over Friday, both kids seemed to be fine while we did some yard sales and lunch, so we decided to go ahead and pack everything up and head out to camp. We got there around 4 PM and unpacked the car and got things set up. Then Steve had to leave. Unfortunately, he didn't have the weekend off. So it was just me and the kiddos with my folks and grandparents. My folks had their pop up, my grandparents had their set up in the back of their pickup and we had out tent.We were on lot #49 at RV Village Campground in Mercer, PA.


We had dinner and then hung out around the fire for a while. We finished the day with some Blotto. I won. :-) Micah had a rough time getting to sleep. I laid him down the first time around his normal bedtime, but he started crying pretty hard. We got him up. He was extremely fussy and unhappy. He was so tired but fighting sleep. I laid him down again around 10 PM and this time he fell asleep almost instantly. Laural was still pretty wound up, so I let her stay up a little longer. We went to bed around 11 PM. A few minutes after we got snuggled into our sleeping bags, she tapped me on the shoulder. She had to pee. So, we had to climb out of our sleeping bags and make our way down to the bathhouse. Argh. Once we got back into bed, she was out within minutes. Micah woke up crying at around 5:30 AM. I got up and held him for a little while and he fell back to sleep but when I tried to put him back in his bed, he woke up crying again. This time I just took him into my bag with me. He just laid down on top of me. It was super sweet but not very comfortable. LOL It might not have been too bad if the air mattress had been a little fuller. When Steve filled it up, he didn't fill it up as much as it needed. When I went in and laid down, Micah was already asleep, so I couldn't run the air pump to fill it some more. Anyhow, Micah slept on me for about 2 more hours and I dozed off here and there until 7:30 AM.

After a big camp breakfast - buckwheat pancakes (my homemade recipe), sausage, eggs, bacon, toast, juice, coffee and hot cocoa, we got ready to do some things. Laural and I got in our swim stuff and headed down to the pool. The water was a bit cold. It was a bit overcast when we walked down - plus our campsite was completely shaded - so when it got really sunny after we had been at the pool for a few minutes, we weren't quite prepared. I would have like to have my sunglasses and maybe a little sunscreen. It got hot! We weren't there very long, but I got burned. Not bad, but enough to feel it. After a quick stop at the camp store, we headed back to camp. We had a quick bite of lunch and then I needed to find something to do with Micah. The area we were in was very dusty and dry so I didn't want to put him on the ground but the poor little guy needed some down time. He would fuss and twist and turn and throw mini tantrums because he wanted to wander around. So, I decided to let him get a little dirty and put him on the screen porch part of my tent. He was thrilled. He hopped the length of the porch over and over. It was funny to watch. I put some toys in there for him to play with and he had a great time and stayed satisfied for quite a while. Laural was in there playing for a while too. All was good until she grabbed his legs as he tried to crawl away and he, trying to pull away, slipped and hit his face, cutting his lip. Oy!I went into the tent with the kids for a bit and laid down on the bed and let Micah have a bit of a free run around the tent. At one point, he accidentally turned the air pump on and caused himself quite a fright! We were just lazing about when my phone rang at about 4 PM. It was Steve's mom. She was in the ER. While she was holding on to Tom's dog's collar, he took off and dragged her and she broke her wrist and hit her head. I had to call Steve and send him to the hospital. He had just woke up and was gathering the stuff I had asked him to bring when he came out to camp for the evening. After finding out was was going on, he called and told me that his mom didn't want him to leave. I was a bit ticked since most of the stuff I wanted him to bring was stuff for Laural to keep her busy. It was 8 PM by the time Steve got to camp. It was already getting dark. All I could do was set up the dvd player for Laural to watch for a little while. Steve had to leave at 9:30 so he could get home to get the dog out and grab his stuff and get to work on time. We played blotto again. Grandma won this one. Grandpa didn't even get on the board. I decided to get a shower after our game and before bed so mom listened for the kids. I had put them down to bed at 10 PM and they both crashed out pretty quick. They were worn out and neither stirred the whole night.

I woke up at 7:30 AM and was worried since Micah hadn't made a noise yet. He was fine, of course. He woke up shortly after that. Steve got to camp at about 9 AM. He walked with Laural while she rode her tricycle around the loop we were camped on. Micah rode on his shoulders. She is just about too big for her trike now. She sure looked cute riding it though.
Then she wrecked. LOL She just tipped over. She didn't hit the tree or anything.

After another big camp breakfast, we had to get packed up to leave. Two days went fast! We got everything packed up and headed out around 1 PM. Once we got home and got stuff unpacked, Steve went to bed and the kids and I hung out in the living room for a bit. I was wiped out. I could have slept on the couch if it wasn't for Micah needing to be told "no" for almost everything. LOL He loves to play with stuff he isn't supposed to.

I made an easy dinner and afterward, mom called and told me that Rainbow Valley Restaurant had burned down. She had just driven past it. I was just getting ready to head out to Camp Perry to pick up my papers, so we drove past. It was a complete disaster. Total loss. I feel so bad for the owners. I'm so bummed. We were just there last week having the all you can eat fish! So sad. I should have taken a pic of their marquee though. It simply said "We'll be back." Glad to know it. :)

It's a Two-fer

Well, now Micah is sick again. He was finally over his grumpy, feverish bout but now, it's back. This time the fever is quite high. He was 101.1 axillary which is about 102°F. His heart rate and resp rate is up too. I called the ped on call at GCMC and he suggested ibuprofen and wait an hour to see how he is doing. He didn't want to take the ibuprofen. He had fallen asleep and was rather displeased that I woke him up. He's crying now. Poor guy. I need to check him out again at 9:30 to make sure he is ok.

Our camping trip is cancelled. I can't take sick kids out to sleep in a tent. I am so disappointed. I really wanted to camp. Now, I just need to focus on getting the kids better. Poor things. It's miserable being sick. Laural is in pretty good spirits but Micah is super grumpy. :(

A Bit of a Quandary

Laural is sick. Not terribly sick - she has some sort of virus, I believe. She started with a runny nose and sore throat yesterday morning. Toward the end of the day, she complained that her head hurt and at bedtime, she had a fever of 101.1°F. When she was sitting upright, she was fine but whenever she laid down, she would start coughing real bad. Today, she still had some fever but she isn't acting like she's sick. She is running around and playing like normal. We were supposed to go camping this weekend. But now, with her having the fever and stuffy nose, I'm not sure if we will or not. We were out at the campground today while mom and dad set up their camper. I'm going to watch Laural overnight and see how she does. I really want to be able to camp this weekend. We haven't been camping anywhere in ages. Steve won't be able to camp with us as he has to work. I am going to get all our stuff together and plan to go and it will be up to how Laural is doing to determine if we will go or not.

Wow! Busy Day!

It has been such a busy day already and it's only 3:30 PM! Today was the first day of Story Time. We had 2 sessions planned. The first was for infant to 2 years old and the 2nd session was for ages 3 to 7. I was late getting to the church for the 1st session since Steve didn't get back from the dentist until late but it appeared that nobody was there anyhow. I had to go home to get Laural for the 2nd session and we were a tiny bit late for that one. There was one other child besides Laural. It was all good. We did our stories and action rhymes and finger plays anyway. It was fun. I hope that we start getting more kids.

After story time was over, we went to the library for a little bit. Terri was there and we chatted a bit. She really needed Steve down there to fix their computer issues. So, after I went home and made lunch, back to the library we went - all of us this time. While we worked on the network and installed the new router, we talked about the one printer they have down there. It was quite a nice printer and they wanted to get rid of it. After talking a bit, we decided that we wanted it (ok, I decided that I wanted it). It will come in quite nice for doing all the printing I do for homeschool, church and community stuff. We agreed on $150 and Terri said that since she knows us, they would take payments. Then she decided that since the library would be paying Steve to fix the computers and such, we could work off the cost of the printer. Very good arrangement. I didn't check it out completely but it is very similar to the big one they have at the historical society that we print the newsletter on. I am really hoping that this one has the option to print on both sides. Anyhow, we didn't get out of there until a little after 3PM and here I sit. I need to go get a few groceries and get to my folks' house to check up on their cat too. Busy, busy!