Home Depot

We went to Home Depot last night to get some deck stain...yea!!! (But that's a whole other post) While we were looking at different stains, we hear Riley talking to this mom and her 3-year old daughter. Here was the conversation:

"Oh, hi. What's your name girl?"

"This is Zoe, what's your name?"

"I'm Riley Register." Then he gets really excited and turns and points to the rest of us and says, "And this is my brother Tanner, he's a baby, and this is mommy and daddy. Say hi mommy and daddy. I'm 3!"

Then he chatted a little with them and when he had to say bye, he went up and hugged the little girl and gave her a kiss on the shoulder. :)

Busy Busy Busy

We haven't been posting very much lately...and I think it's because we have been so busy! Todd and I went to see Wicked for our anniversary and it was totally amazing!!! Of course, it wasn't until afterwards that we realized we didn't take any pictures?!?! (Who needs picture of their 7th anniversary anyway!) Todd wasn't sure how he was going to like a Broadway production and was holding all reservations until it started and he realized how cool a Broadway show can be.

We also went to my choir's Verdi Requiem concert that was performed with the Kansas City Symphony. I wasn't able to sing in it because there wasn't enough room on stage for the entire chorus, but I did get to hear it and we are awesome...if I do say so myself. Again, no pictures...what's wrong with us?!?!

We did go to the farm though this past weekend and managed to take some pictures and video. Tanner goes a million miles and hour. It is really hard to take the two boys anywhere by myself because Tanner is REALLY fast--if you turn your back for a second he is a mile away. It's quite terrifying. Tanner is the exact opposite of Riley in so many ways. The kid is FEARLESS-which strikes a lot of fear in me and Todd! He will just charge full blast into anything and not think a thing about it. He loves the farm animals and wants to "pet" them as much as possible! (Whereas Riley just tries to stay as far away as possible from any and all farm animals...as long as they can't "eat" him or his clothes then he's fine!)

Yea for Spring

Todd and I have decided that this is the summer we are going to get the outside of our house in tip-top shape. We have already scheduled someone to come and paint the front of our house...Todd's going to paint the remaining 3 sides. We are also going to tackle our front and back decks. They are in need of some serious TLC. And, as you can see, we are going to attempt some landscaping. Now, I don't know if you remember what we managed to do the last time we "landscaped"... (see video below)

But we're hoping to do a better job this time around. We have decided that simple is good...since we obviously can't do complicated!

 

 

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Savings Galore!!!

Okay, so most of you know that I have been on a coupon/saving frenzy lately. I really have gone berserk! Today I want to share with you some of the tricks of the trade I have learned these past few weeks. At first I just looked for coupons online...there are several good sites that give you nice coupons (I have them listed to the side of the blog), but then I found the wonders of the Sunday paper. There are always amazing coupons in the Sunday paper. I actually go to the dollar store on Tuesday or Wednesday and purchase 3 or 4 Sunday papers (some dollar stores will give them to you for .50!) Then I cut and organize my coupons in the little accordion index card sized folder.

I look through all the drug store ads, as well as the Target, Walmart, and KMART ads in the paper and see where there are good deals. I circle anything that looks remotely good. Then I look to see if I have any coupons that could go with these coupons. It actually takes a long time...but I found a secret website that does all of this for you...and then some!

The website is called www.thegrocerygame.com and I love it. It tracks coupons and sales for you in your specific area. I track Walgreens, CVS, and 2 of our local grocery stores on this site. They list all the sales and corresponding coupons (the coupons labeled with the date you received them as well as what coupon magazine they came in...very helpful!). They also color code the sales: green means it is free with coupons; blue is the rock bottom price so you should stock up; and black is a good deal, but not the best deal, so only buy if you really need it.

Anyway, this website has saved me a lot of time and money. Just some of the deals I have found: Speed Stick deodorant orig. $3.20 for $.48; Herbal Essence Shamp/Cond orig. $3.99-4.99 for $1; Colgate 360 toothbrush orig. $3.99 for -$1...yup that's right, they PAID me $1 to buy it! The list goes on and on. I now have a big "food storage" downstairs of everything from Deodorant, to laundry detergent, to lotion etc... And it cost me a fraction of what it would have without sales and coupons.

So, if you want to try out the grocery game, then you can sign up for a trial period of 4-weeks for only $1. After that 4 weeks, then it is $5 a month. If you decide to try it out, then please say that I referred you...then I get free weeks (my email is sararegister@msn.com). I think you'll like it if you try it.

(note: I am NOT a salesman so please don't feel any pressure to do anything with this info...I just have been really happy with it and wanted to pass it along...I mean, who doesn't like to save money?!?!)

What a Big Boy.

We are now the proud parents of a pretty much, nearly all the way, kind of sort of, potty-trained child! Hooray. A couple of days ago, we just took his diaper off and let him run around a' la nude for a day and told him that he needed to go on the potty from now on. It only took one time of NOT peeing on the potty and Riley crying and asking for a napkin to get him to go on the potty. Now, he tells us 95% of the time when he has to go...and sometimes he just goes without even saying anything to us. I love that. We went and bought him Thomas, Spiderman, and Shrek underwear that he is really loving. What a big boy.

Tornado Warning!!

So we just camped out in our basement for an hour or two while tornado sirens were sounding on and off. Up to three inch diameter hale size balls were falling to the north of KC but we just ended up seeing lots of wind, rain, lightning and thunder. It felt really good to fairly prepared for such an event with food, shelter, and other provisions ready to go. We learned a few things too like a portable DVD player, toys, tissue, and a good book really help keep everyone happy while waiting out the storm. I guess that's what we get for living in Kansas. Hey, I'll take a tornado over earthquakes or floods any day.

Look Alike

I was going through my baby book the other day and was pretty astonished at how much Tanner looks like me. We look so much alike that Todd is now questioning his paternity! :)