An interesting day

Today my fabulous sister in law Denae (don't worry Melanie, you are fabulous too, even without a brain!) called to see if I wanted to go for a walk with her in her neighborhood. Mackenzie loves spending time with her cousin Taj, so off we went. We had a great walk in beautiful walking weather. We got back to Denae's house and let the kids play outside. While we were chasing the kids around, Denae heard something. It sort of sounded like kids playing, or a cat crying. It sort of sounded like someone crying for help, but I just couldn't be sure. Denae decided to check it out. The kids went inside and busied themselves with some toys and I went back outside. Denae called to me to come, so I did. An elderly neighbor across the cul-de-sac had fallen outside her front door into some bushes. No broken bones, so Denae and I were able to pull her out of the bushes and get her back inside. We made sure she was OK and that she called her doctor and we were on our way.

I share this story not to say how great I am, because I played a small role in helping the neighbor. But I have been praying the last few days that I can be the answer to the prayers of others. An apostle in our church, Elder Utchdorf, gave a talk the other night at the General Relief Society meeting. I didn't get to hear it because of Mackenzie's birthday, but a few friends told me about it. Elder Utchdorf said in his talk that we should pray to be the answer to other people's prayers. After all, Heavenly Father answers our prayers most of the time through the actions of others. I decided to start praying for that. Then this happens today. I wasn't planning on being at Denae's. She called me to help her be motivated to walk. If I hadn't come, she wouldn't have been outside (most likely) to hear her calling. When I had this realization, I felt so blessed to have had the opportunity to help someone in need. I felt my prayers had been heard.

Through small and simple things, Heavenly Father reminds me that He loves me and knows me.

Birthday Pictures

Playing with my new water and sand table


Jumping in my little bounce house with Bailey


Present opening with Dad and Bailey



Blowing out my candles



I love cake!

Happy Birthday Mackenzie!!!

My sweet little girl. I can hardly believe you are 2!! The past 2 years have been such a blessing for our family to have you in our lives. You are so special to us, and especially to me. Bailey loves you dearly. He was super excited for your party and all your presents.

It took me a long time to decide I could handle another child. I suffered from depression for a long time and sometimes it was tough to handle day to day life. Bailey has always been a special blessing to me, but he has been a special blessing to everyone. People just seem to gravitate to him. You, Mackenzie, have been my blessing. Ever since I got pregnant with you, the depression has lifted. Not to say I don't have rough moments, I still get down sometimes, but my life is just so much lighter with you in it.

I wish I could find the words to describe you. You are full of energy and life, but at the same time observant of the world around you. You are huggable and sweet. You love to play outside and get into things. You are independent and want to dress yourself. You have the cutest little voice. You love to say prayers. You insist on praying before going to sleep and you love to just randomly turn off the tv during the day so we can say a prayer together. You like to draw and are always trying to draw a doggie! Taj is your buddy and you get so excited when you are together. You hate to sit in a shopping cart and you aren't very obedient at times, but I love you.

Mackenzie, you are so special to me. I can't wait to share many more years with you in my life!

A past memory

With all the thinking time I have had lately, I had an old memory pop into my head today.

I have a crazy aunt. Thank goodness she isn't my blood relative. I think most people have a few nuts in their family tree. She was one of ours. When I was younger I would spend time with their family. I even went on a few family vacations with them.

One day, when I was probably 11, we went to K Mart together. She let my cousin, sister and I go off on our own. We told her specifically where we were going to be, in the book section. True to our word, we were in the book section, waiting for my aunt to be done with her shopping and come and find us. This never happens. To my absolute horror, I hear over the intercom "Will Samantha, Jared and Adrienne please come to the service desk. Their mother is waiting for them." I felt so humiliated. When you are shy you don't want someone calling your name over the intercom like you were lost. We weren't lost. My aunt was too darn lazy to go to the book section and find us. Plus, she was NOT my mother. At this time I suspected something wasn't right with her and I really didn't want to be linked to her in this way.

It is funny how some memories are still so vivid in your mind. There are so many more important things that I could remember about my life and childhood, and this is what I remember. Some days I think I would like to watch a movie of my life so I can see all the things I have forgotten, but I might be too embarrassed of myself!

So many great ideas, so little time

As I mentioned earlier, I have been super busy lately. But I have all these things that I want to do that I never seem to get a chance to do. And usually when I get a chance to do them, I have lost the motivation to do it.

Here's my first great idea. Mackenzie has a headband that is made of ribbon and has an elastic in the back. It is really nice because it actually fits her head and wasn't made for a newborn. Here's a picture of her wearing it a few months ago:

I thought I could make this myself with ribbon and some elastic. I bought the supplies. Now all I need to do try it out.

I also want to make Mackenzie a tutu for her birthday. Since her birthday is on Saturday and I don't have much free time between now and then, it probably won't happen (although Thursday is looking promising, but we will see). I don't know why I have suddenly felt like making her a tutu, but I can't get it out of my head.

Knitting. I still love doing it. I feel like I need a bazillion baby hats for all the people having babies in the next few months. Not to mention my friends who have had babies for months that I still need presents for. Yes, I am a bad friend (sorry Carin and Kelly, I need to get on the ball). I will say it is easier to knit in the winter when there is less going on.

I need to have no more great ideas until I finish all of these.

Why Mackenzie will have a broken bone before the age of 5

I Have Failed

I was doing so well blogging every day. Then it all fell apart. I got busy. Life happened. All those excuses that everyone has heard. And now I am giving them.

But I was busy. For real. Usually I lead a fairly simple life, not a whole lot of busyness. But both Friday and Saturday were spent working on flipping a house. Just like those reality shows. In fact, we thought we would make a good reality show. All we needed was the camera crew following us around. I know, we were probably only funny to ourselves. Melanie, some day we might just have a reality show!

Yesterday was Sunday. The day of rest. Sort of. At church we had the Primary program where I helped tame kids to sit still long enough to sing and do their speaking parts. Bailey got many compliments from people on his singing voice which always makes a mother proud! He did get his singing abilities from me, you know. Ask anyone who has ever sat next to his dad at church! Actually, he carries a tune ok, just doesn't love singing. The program was really good. Of course I cried during some of it. Music just touches my heart sometimes. Plus I am sad that my work in Primary is almost officially done. I love those kids with all my heart.

This week I am trying out the single parent gig since my husband is gone for work. That means after the kids are in bed I will have more time for blogging!

The Hills are alive

I just love the Sound of Music! As a kid when it was on tv, I was never able to watch the whole thing. I would always fall asleep. In fact I thought the movie was over the first time they sang the "So long, Farewell" song. It wasn't until I was in college (or maybe later!) when I watched the whole thing and realized I missed out on more than an hour of the movie! I had the record, so I knew all the songs. Ah, the good old days of the record player! My mom still has one at her house.

Anyway, the hills of the Sound of Music wasn't what I was referring to. That darn MTV show The Hills is so darn addicting! I am 32 years old, I shouldn't be interested in watching a bunch of rich 20somethings run around, go to clubs, and fight with their friends. But I just can't stop watching. Maybe part of it is I would love to be 20 something again, and of course I would love to be rich. Being young and free sounds so nice when you can't even go to the store because you know your almost 2 year old won't sit in the cart for longer than 2 seconds. On The Hills, they get to shop whenever they want (you never see them wear the same outfit twice) and they are always going out to eat at cute little bistros for lunch or fancy reservations needed dinners.

But really, I watch The Hills to see Spencer Pratt. Now if you don't know who Spencer is, you really need to know. No, he is not hot or anything. In fact, he is slimy pond scum, and I just have to watch to hear what horrible thing he says next. Ugh, I just can't stand the guy! He is controlling and rude and yucky. And I have to watch him!

Haven't seen The Hills? Oh, you are missing out! It is one of those shows that my husband can't believe that I watch. Yeah, the majority of the audience is a teenager, but I am sure I am not the only regular adult who watches. At least I hope not!

(By the way, Mackenzie is back to running and being a wild child. No broken toe!)

It was almost "trip to the doctor, part 2"

My kids have to be practically dying before I take them to the doctor. The idea of wasting money just to hear the doctor say "(s)he's fine, or just has a virus, or just wait it out" is just beyond my sensibilities. Plus I think of all the germs that are at the doctor's office. I don't even want to think about going to the doctor, being told all is well, and then having contracted some deadly disease that warrents a real trip to the doctor. I'm sure it is a conspiracy, that is how doctors stay in business.

Anyway, getting back to my story (actually, starting it, I suppose). This morning, Mackenzie fell off the couch while playing. As I helplessly watched her fall, I saw her land on her arm in a slightly awkward way. She cried for a minute, then went on her merry way to see what mess she could make next. The kitchen is a great place to get into stuff! In attempting to take every can out of the lazy susan, she drops one on her toe. Lots of screaming and crying this time. I look at her toe, and there is a bruise under the nail and it is a little red and barely swollen, so I don't worry. But all morning she refuses to walk. She just sat in my lap looking sad. If she did walk she would cry after a few steps. I started to worry that maybe she hurt more than just her toe. I figured I would put her down for a nap and reevaluate her after her nap.

When she woke from her nap, I found her standing on one leg. Not a good sign. She was limping around a bit, better than before. I touched her foot and she didn't have any reaction to my touch. After awhile she was running again, but more cautiously. Whew! Doctor's visit averted. And I look like a smart parent.

Tonight, I caught her in the lazy susan again. Will this girl ever learn?

I am really proud of myself so far for blogging this long. I am proud of anyone who has read the whole time! I am short on time and thoughts for now, but I didn't want to not blog today, you know?

Just wait, tomorrow's entry will be fabulous!

And the password is....

I hate having passwords to everything. As if I don't have enough to remember. And it seems as soon as I figure out a good password that isn't obvious that I have to change it. You can no longer have a numeric only password, it must include letters. The newest criteria is you also have to include some sort of capitalization as well.

And don't get me started on user names. They are just as bad. I especially hate it when I sign up for something new and I have a great user name that I also use for other things and it has already been taken! So I have to come up with something else, which really just means I am going to forget my user name. And have you ever tried to log in to some account or website and you aren't sure whether your user name is wrong or your password? This has happened to me countless times.

I know, I should just get smart and write all of this down on actual paper! But it is hard to find a pen around here...

Sunday

At church I help run the children's Sunday School, which we call the Primary. I am actually the secretary and have been almost 3 years. The jobs at our church are called callings where the bishop and his counselors decide who would be a good fit where. I know the time at my secretary calling is almost up, which I am sort of glad about. I am not exactly the most organized secretary ever, or very neat. But I do love the kids and enjoy getting to know them.

Today we were practicing for the program that we do once a year for the congregation. They practiced last week too, but we were out of town and missed it. The kids each have a speaking part and sing a bunch of songs they have learned throughout the year, and there are a few group singers too. My heart was really touched today by a group of kids singing a song. These kids are all 5 and in kindergarten and the song is called "I'll Walk With You". It is a really sweet song about kids who are not afraid to be friends with kids who are different because "Jesus walked away from none, he gave his love to everyone". Just to watch these pure hearted kids sing just reminded me of the love and innocence of children. Much of the bad behavior they learn is through the modeling of selfish adults.

I wasn't looking forward to going to church today, but those kids made it worth it to me!

Am I the only one?

Who dislikes the weekends? Monday through Friday seem so much more natural to me. They are predictable and have that safe feeling, because I do go through them 5 days a week. When Saturday comes, there seems to be more chaos, more arguments. A case of too many chiefs and not enough indians. Sunday is a whole different day altogether.

Today was just one of those days where I just look forward to Monday again. The dog got out of the yard and almost got hit by a car, and I mean almost! Mackenzie figured out how to open the gate, the stinker. She is too smart for her own good sometimes. Bailey was a motor mouth all day, which can be maddening.

I am hoping for a better day tomorrow.

A Love Affair

The other day, all was quiet at our house. Which meant Mackenzie was up to something. When I went to check it out, I found the door to her room shut. Not a good sign. I open it and don't see her. She has pulled her crib away from the wall but she isn't behind it. I call her name a few times and she finally replies. She is in the closet with the doors shut.

This is what she was doing:



She was hiding in the closet with her binkies!! You can't see it from that picture, but she also has one in her hand. She knows that binkies are for sleeping only. I have had to put them out of reach so she doesn't get creative finding ways to reach them. Sometimes they fall out of her crib while she sleeps and I forget to put them up.

This is what she looked like after I took them away:



Imagine ear piercing screams, and it is almost as if you are here!

Oh, it is going to be tough to give up the binkies 100%!!!

The Tick!!

This evening we were busy doing yard work for the inlaws. Mackenzie was her usual "let's see how much trouble I can get into" self, and Bailey was actually very helpful for a change. We were all hot and sweaty when we came home, so it was showers for all. When we took off Mackenzie's clothes, we discovered she had a tiny seed tick on her!! Ew! So we searched for the tweezers to remove it. I had actually been meaning to buy new tweezers this week because we have somehow misplaced the two pairs we have. No luck finding the tweezers. So we called MIL to bring over some tweezers to help.

I have never used tweezers to pull off ticks. Growing up in the country, finding ticks on you or the animals isn't unusual. But I have never taken a tiny one off of a squirmy almost 2 year old. Of course when I remove it, the head of the tick stayed on her. We try and try and try to get the head out. She screams bloody murder because we have to hold her still. We probably worked on it for over an hour. No luck. So we gave up. I am hoping that we dislodged it enough that it will come out on its own, although I suppose that is wishful thinking. I will most likely be calling the doctor tomorrow on it though. I just wish it could have been me instead of her!

ETA: I took her to the doctor this morning. He was able to pull the head out. It was so tiny you could hardly see it! And Mackenzie screamed the whole time. She hates being pinned down! The doctor did say that the tick's head would absorb into her system, but it would have taken longer for it to heal. So $25 copay later...I guess it is worth the piece of mind!

I'm a geek

I just read over the post below and I realized I sound like a geek. So now you know. I am a geek. I was a band geek in high school, and now I am just a geek without the band.

Oh well. Good thing I like being a geek!

DO U WAG ?

I bet a lot of you were like me in the past. Walgreens (AKA WAGS) was an expensive drug store where you go when you needed to pick something up, like Tylenol, and you would get sucked into buying a bunch of other expensive junk that you really didn't need. Well, my eyes have been opened to the world of WAGGING, shopping at Walgreens where they are practically paying you to take home their inventory.

Sounds too good to be true? It isn't, if you are smart about it. I have been doing this for about 6 weeks now. It takes some money to get started with it, but once you get started you can pay very little out of pocket. I have learned most of my WAGGING tricks and tips from two places: www.slickdeals.net and www.moneysavingmom.com. Both of these sites have more than just Walgreens info on them. Slickdeals is my favorite. This is where I find out about freebies, great internet deals, Target couponing, and Walgreens shopping. Oh, and also survey taking.

Explaining how Walgreens works is a little complex. The more I do it, the more I understand. Plus it seems that different individual stores have different policies on things. If you want to learn more about how Walgreens works, go here.

Another great thing about Walgreens for me is that there is one within walking distance to my house. There is another one pretty close by, but I don't think I would walk there. Because I am a little lazy, you know. Anyway, Mackenzie and I walked up there this morning. We have become friendly with one of the cashiers, which is helpful when you are having coupon trouble.

So here is a picture of what I bought today:


I spent $14.31 out of my pocket and got all this stuff. But that isn't even the best part of it all. If you look closely, I bought 3 Robitussins. I am not expecting some great outbreak of the flu at my house. Walgreens was running a deal this week that if you buy 3 Robitussin for $3.99 each you get a $10 register reward. A register reward is a coupon good for your next visit at Walgreens with a two week expiration date. What made this a fabulous deal is I had 3 coupons for $3 off 1 Robitussin. So I paid $3 for 3 Robitussin and got a $10 coupon for my next purchase! In essence I made $7 on the deal! The mouthwash was pretty much the same thing, although this time I had to buy 1 Crest Prohealth Mouthwash and I got $4.50 back in register rewards. Crest Prohealth mouthwash is $4.49, so I pretty much got it free! The toothpaste is a free after rebate item, so I will be getting that for free too (and if you have your rebate money put on a Walgreens gift card, they give you an extra 10%!!).

There are just so many deals going on each week. I get excited thinking about it! Walgreens is slowly becoming my favorite store!

A "promotion"

Money sucks. I could complain about money every day, but I won't bore you. I wish I was rich. Sort of. I guess I just wish I could be comfortable.

Anyway, my darling husband came home today and said "Guess what? I got a promotion at work today. I am now the new territory sales manager." I instantly get excited and start thinking about what great timing this promotion is. Making ends meet and saving money has just gotten harder and harder it seems and a pay raise is just what we need. But wait. He didn't mention anything about a pay raise. It seems that his wonderful company gave him a promotion WITHOUT a pay raise. What garbage!!! I am so mad. Oh well. What can I do?

I don't like money. Or being an adult.

Some Updates

1. The washed ipod is now working! At least it is charging and you can see the screen. Sort of. The screen is scratched so you couldn't see it before it was washed.

2. I can't remember whether I mentioned this or not, but I did write an email to Target about not being able to use internet coupons. I got a response which had their coupon policy on it. They of course, are supposed to accept both Target and manufacture coupons. They left a phone number to call, and I think I will. I lost $4.50 out of the deal because they wouldn't take my coupons. So today I went to the other Target with coupons printed from the internet, with the full intent of fighting to use them. I didn't have to. I used them with no problem. Everything I bought today (except for one thing) was either on sale or I used coupons or both. I won't be going back to the new Target any time soon. Actually, I will, I lied. I have a coupon there for a free smoothie and it can only be used there (one of those new store promotionals).

3. I overdrew from our bank account AGAIN. Ugh, I am frustrated for many reasons. My stupidity and general lack of money, just to name a few. Luckily last month's fees were only $13. I think I have learned my lesson this time. I promise.

4. Bailey is doing well in school. Last year he had a really hard time the first month of school, but this year hasn't been a problem at all. His reading is just improving all the time.

5. While we were on our vacation to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, we went to Nascar Speedpark. We went on the big track there, and of course I had the lamest car out of the bunch. You aren't supposed to bump people, but whoever was behind me kept bumping me. He could have easily gone around me, but no. He ended up crashing me into the wall. I was stuck and couldn't move the car (there is no reverse). The kids who work there are supposed to help you when you are stuck. 6 laps later, the kid finally comes to help me. Oh, I was mad. I already felt dumb being that girl who crashes. Later we went on another track that was fun because I didn't get stuck. I don't know why I wrote down that story!

6. At Nascar Speedpark, Mackenzie was too small to ride any of the rides. She wasn't even big enough to ride the merry-go-round!!! What a rip off!

7. Here is a picture of our cabin, or at least outside the cabin! Our cabin even had a hot tub!

Home at last!

We are home, tired and happy. We had a really fun time, and now are just exhausted. You know how vacations are, when you come home you need a vacation from the vacation! Anyway, I will be short on the details today so I can have something to share tomorrow!

But here is my one tidbit from our trip. I got confirmation that Mackenzie does get carsick. Nice. I had no idea that the carsick gene was dominant. I have never actually gotten carsick, just felt yucky, but my lovely husband is well known for his carsickness. Bailey gets carsick too, but he has gotten so he knows what triggers it and how to get the bag ready!

The carsickness was the only negative to the trip, and it only lasted a little while. So hooray for a great trip!

Super Saturday

What better way to spend a Saturday than look at my little cutie?

Cutest thing EVER!

I have to preface this by saying: you know that great post about Mackenzie giving up her binkies? I need to delete it. I was a horrible mother and gave them back to her and now she loves them more than ever.

Anyway, on to the reason for this post. The other day Bailey was upset about something (who can remember what, it was one of those days where the fact that the sky is blue made him cry). Mackenzie came up to him and lovingly touched his arm and the tears on his cheek. She said "Bay cry?" I told her he was sad right now, and she looked sad for him. It was very sweet. She left the room for a few minutes and came back with her binkies. We leave them out of reach on her window sill, but she pushed something over to the window just to reach the binkies and she gave one to Bailey to help him feel better. Isn't that so sweet? It just melted my heart to see her try to console her big brother whom she loves so much. Or maybe she was trying to tell him he was being a big baby that day, who knows!

Leaving in a minivan....

Off we go on another exciting family adventure! Yeah right, we are just going to another car show! Since I am lame and do not own a laptop and my husband fears he will get fired if his work laptop has anything that is non work, I am not sure how I am going to do this every day blogging thing. I'm sure there is some way to write a bunch of posts and set them to post at different times, but I can't quite wrap my brain around it. Never mind, I figured it out. Maybe I am smarter than I think!

Keep up all the great blogging!

A Big Oops

I am doing the wash today. I really don't mind doing the wash. It's the folding and putting away that I hate. Maybe if the drawers weren't stuffed to the gills it wouldn't be so bad. Anyway, as I was moving one pile from the washer to the dryer I discovered an oops. I washed my husband's i-pod!!! I feel horrible. I don't know whether he left it in his pocket or I had accidentally scooped it up with a pile of clothes on the dresser. I am hoping that once it dries out that it will work again. He could always use my i-pod, but mine is pink and he is a nonpink type of guy.

I will say this is better than washing a cell phone. We have done that twice, and those need to be replaced quickly. An i-pod can wait.

Target Practice

I took my much anticipated trip to Target yesterday. All by myself! And I came home highly disappointed. See, I have really tried hard lately to save money, and isn't it even better if someone pays you to use their product? At Target this week they have Pop Tarts, Cheez-its, Keebler cookies, and Rice Crispy treats on sale 4 for $9. When you buy 4, they give you a $5 Target gift card (who doesn't love a Target gift card? If you don't, you can send any you receive to me, OK?). That makes the deal in essence 4 for $4, which is pretty good if you ask me. But I have coupons!! I had $1 off 2 rice crispy treats, $1 off 2 keebler cookies, and $1 off 2 pop tarts. With those coupons it would make the deal 4 for $1. Good deal, right? Well, I could make it even better! All those products are Kellogg's products and they are offering a $10 mail in rebate when you buy 10 Kellogg's products. And to make this great deal even better is I found Target coupons online for 50 cents off pop tarts. I had it figured out to where I was going to make money and take home 12 boxes of assorted junky treats.

I was excited for my great deal. I even printed out a couple of other Target coupons. I go to the store, happy that I could devote my full attention to my shopping. I loaded up my cart with more pop tarts than anyone should own in their lifetime, but they were more than free so I couldn't resist. I have a super nice girl checking me out. She even asks me if I have any coupons. I hand her my huge stack of coupons and guess what she says? "We do not accept any internet coupons, including Target coupons." What?!?! I wasted all that time on the Target website searching for coupons, printing them out and I can't even use them? The nice girl tells me that it has to do with them not paying taxes on the coupons or something that sounded lame to me. I couldn't fault the girl, she was friendly and in fact didn't like the policy either.

I came home, not very happy. My hopes of a moneymaking deal was dashed. But my kids can build a fort out of pop tart boxes. I did write an email to Target. I can understand if they do not want to accept internet coupons, but they should at least accept their own internet coupons! In fact I used their internet coupons just last week.

This is a brand new Target less than 2 miles from my house. I think I will go back to my old Target, which is also less than 2 miles from my house. In fact, they are both almost the same distance from my house. Hopefully the old Target accepts their own internet coupons.

Happy Labor Day!

So far, this has been a labor-ful day. Lots of fun work around the house. Not much of a holiday, but I did get to sleep in until 8 am. In fact, it was the 3rd day in a row that I got to sleep in!

My mom called a little while ago. I know she called just to make me jealous. She and my dad are at the beach. I wish I was there! Where we live would be the perfect place if it was by the beach.

Anyone doing anything fun for Labor Day? I think in a little while I am going to Target. That counts as fun, right? Because I will be going by myself!