Just Not Enough

Nope, never enough space in this house of ours.

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ESPECIALLY since I've been able to buy food by the carload for so cheap lately.

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But look!

SPACE!!!
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All thanks to Nana & Poppa, who gave us this:

Somehow we're missing a couple of parts, so the racks are all unevenly spaced right now, but soon we'll get it completely filled with canned goodness.

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I'm still in the process of moving all my food around, but I'm super excited to see EMPTY space in my cupboards! Up until this morning I had boxes, bags, & piles of food all over my kitchen that had no place to go. Now it's all organized & I'm going to do my best to fill those shelves up with food storage.

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Thanks Nana & Poppa!

Invisible Blessings

I have been thinking lately of all of the blessings that the Lord bestows upon us that we aren't even aware of. We meander through life, blissfully unaware of the dangers & hazards on the road around us. I had this brought to my attention rather forcefully after we got home from Phoenix last week.

Every January, Andrew scores some free tickets & we head up to Scottsdale to the Barrett-Jackson car auction. Million dollar cars, middle-aged men with nothing better to do than spend a million dollars on a car, & lots of blonde bimbos accompanying the middle-aged men. Let's just say I feel a little out of place. But it's REALLY fun.

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This year we headed out on Thursday, January 21. Yeah, the day of the "Worst Storm in Arizona History." But we didn't know that. We knew that it would be raining and thought "Big deal, we can get a little wet!"

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We never leave home without saying a "car prayer" to bless us while on our trip.

Does the Lord listen?

You decide.

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On the drive up I-10, we encountered this:

It only lasted for about 5 miles & then we were clear. Little did we know that it worsened considerably in the next 20 minutes & caused multiple car accidents only minutes behind us.

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Once we got to the Valley of the Sun, there was NO sun. But it was raining in buckets, with some serious wind to boot.

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So as we were doing this:

(See the LAKE of water in the background? 2 years ago when we went that was a 4-wheeler track. Not last Thursday! Maybe jet skis.....)(Coolest kiddie ride EVER!!! The back part of this teeny fire engine was lined with benches. The ladders were the lap guards to keep the kids secure on the seats. Awesome!) This was happening just about a mile away at another car auction.

Uh, yeah. Those are the same kind of tents that we wandered through for 2 hours. The pieces apparently ended up in the middle of the 101 freeway- which we drove down about 45 minutes before this happened. Another close call.

After runnning a couple of errands & having a nice dinner with Grandma & Grandpa, we mosied on home that evening, completely unaware of what was bearing down on us.

Say what?

TORNADO WARNINGS! HIGH WIND ALERTS! WIDESPREAD FLOODING! This isn't the exact graphic I saw on the news that night, but it's awfully similar. And it all hit Tucson about 30 minutes after we drove through on our way home to Vail.

I believe that the words blissfully unaware apply perfectly to our entire trip.

I think we'll continue to keep our car prayer as part of our routine. Ya think?

They Call Me Captain...

...Captain Destructo, that is.

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Jack actually answers to the nickname "Captain" now. This little man keeps me running all over the house cleaning up his messes & rescuing him from dangerous situations. I tell you what, there is definitely a difference between 'toddler proofing' a house & 'Jack proofing' a house. This kid is crazy!

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For instance:

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OK, I know this isn't inside, but neither of my other kids have EVER climbed fully clothed on a 50 degree day, into the dog's water dish.

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Captain Destructo loves to destroy everything in his path that he views as being neat or orderly. I follow trails of clean clothing from the kids' drawers into the kitchen only to find Captain at the end of the trail, surrounded by previously clean & folded laundry. He keeps me on my toes for sure.

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And on a completely different note, Captain got his shiny new hearing aids yesterday. Pretty blue & super cool to boot. He is still getting used to them. I think they're louder, because he keeps pulling them out & handing them to me as if to say "I need a break now." They are much clearer, for sure. I've listened to them & the difference is amazing. Not to mention how flat they are. Oh, this kid is cute!

HOW TO BE CHEAP

It's no secret that I LOVE being cheap. Or to phrase it in a more politically-correct manner, I am frugal. Really frugal.

I haven't joined any sites that send you coupons & tons of spam (that sounded awful, Mindi). I don't clip every coupon from the Sunday paper & have giant binders full of random coupons. I know that's how some people do it, but that's too complicated for me.

Basically, here's how I do it:

Get a big file box. Some couponers use fancy hanging file boxes with rails & fancy handles. Mine is a simple cardboard file box from Wal-Mart that I got for $4.82 for 2 of them. Hey, we're trying to SAVE money, right? Then you get some files- plain manilla ones are all you need. Get yourself some coupons. The link below lists some great resources for paper & Internet printable coupons. Each week when you get the paper, simply stick the coupon inserts in a file, label the file with the date they came out, & stick the file in the box. That's it!

The coupon sites list coupons based on which insert they come from & which week you got it. You just go find that file & clip ONLY the coupons you want or need.

Here's a look at how it all works.

I like this method because I don't have to do any work unless I want to. I'm not clipping 1,000 coupons that I won't ever use, & I'm not packing a 6-inch thick binder into the grocery store & searching through plastic pages trying to find the right coupon.

Anyways, once you have some coupons, you can go to any of these links to get the matched-up deals:

1. Savvy Savings Tucson- local Tucson deals & grocery sales/matchups (check her sidebar for more great frugal sites from AZ & around the country)

2. Coupon Mom- really great website & coupon DATABASE. If you see something on sale & wonder if there's a coupon out there- type it in & find it!

3. Pinching Your Pennies- more coupon lists/matchups, complete with alerts to when the prices are good, better, or stock-up great

These sites tell you what the sale price is, where the coupon is, & how much the final price will be. I tell you what, it doesn't get any easier than that. Using coupons is great, but when you use them in conjunction with sales & clearance deals, the sky's the limit!

I also check these sites every day:

1. My Frugal Adventures- FANTASTIC site with web deals, grocery info & random freebies

2. Frugal Makes Cents- just good 'ol common sense frugal living

I am by no means an expert. I truly do consider myself a novice at this coupon stuff. But if even a beginner like myself can go to the store & consistently save 75-80%, then it truly is worth trying.

And here are some cool side effects of coupon shopping:

1. Since I actually PLAN my shopping trips based on my coupons, I can be in & out of the grocery store in mere minutes. Last week I went to Safeway, did 2 transactions & was out of the store in only 15 mins. And I bought over 40 items, some with coupons, some without. It was great to not be wandering the aisles, comparing prices & wondering which products to buy.

2. Box Tops & Campbell's labels! I RARELY bought name brand stuff before, so I never got these money-makers for my kids' school. Now I have envelopes of them lying around, just waiting for the next competition at Emma's school. This next time I'm going to empty my envelopes & get her class that pizza party!

A couple more tips:

1. Join the e-clubs of your favorite restaurants, activities, places to shop, & websites. They'll send out birthday deals, members-only specials, & sale alerts. This is a HUGE benefit if you want to go to Chuck E Cheese or to the bowling alley on short notice. Just check your e-mail, there will probably be a coupon there!

2. Check the mailers that you get in the mail & usually toss in the trash. In Tucson, the Southwest Saver (or something like that) frequently has Buy-One, Get One Free deals for local restaurants.

3. Don't be afraid to shop at Walgreens or CVS. I have NEVER shopped at these stores, but frequent them now. They have store coupons that you can pair with manufacturer coupons to get GREAT deals on stuff that you would normally have to brave Wal-Mart for.

I will not pretend to believe that the way I live works for everyone. I don't know a ton of people that can eat a whole dinner at a fancy restaurant & then calmly present a coupon to get it all for free to their shocked waiter. That's just weird for some folks. But I believe that my husband works VERY hard for the $$ that he provides us with. Being frugal is my way of making that $$ go farther & contributing to the bottom line of our family.

I hope that some of you decide to jump into the coupon life. It's quick, easy, & can really make a difference in your monthly budget. Let me know how you do!

Why I LOVE Couponing!

I am going to be updating the ol' blog soon, with all of my frugal websites listed for all to see. I have been having people ask me how I find the time & energy to figure out the whole coupon game & save so much at the store. I don't! There are people who do it all for you- all you have to do is follow their well-organized lead. Even a beginner can do it. (me!)

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PLEASE don't miss the sale at Safeway this week! Even without coupons, there are some amazing deals to be had. However, if you go to THIS SITE (you'll have to scroll down to her posts from yesterday) & spend just a few minutes either clipping or printing coupons, you can get some real steals. Literally. You can walk out of the grocery store with FREE stuff! Just scroll down to the Safeway post & you will see just how easy it is to save BIG BUCKS at the grocery store.

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Just tonight I spent 20 minutes clipping/printing coupons & headed to the store before mutual.

I ended up with 4 boxes of granola bars, 5 boxes of fruit snacks, & 15 boxes of cereal for a grand total of....

...drum roll please....

$15.32!!!!

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And to make it even better, I got a $3.50 coupon good on my next order from the register, along with MORE coupons for the cereal that's on sale.

I saved over $63 in 10 minutes.

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So I will be going back with more coupons in hand to stock up as much as I possibly can. Hey, this kind of sale only comes around once in a blue moon, right?

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Don't think I'm crazy- I'm just cheap. And this way I can really stretch my food dollars and also buy the good name brand stuff that I normally can't afford. I love being able to get my kids fun extras instead of just the basics needed for meals. But the best part is how I'm building my food storage by giant chunks every week. Have I convinced you yet?

Bug Free!

Just a little update on the bug situation.

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We're clear already!

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Andy just took Emma down to the school & had her checked. She's perfectly cootie free. Yea!

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I guess lice removal technology has come a long way since I was a kid. I remember sitting on the floor while Mom yanked & tugged those awful combs through my hair. The smell of the toxins was so strong that it made my chest hurt, & when it dripped on my face, it actually burned. I don't know how many times my mom had to do it, but it seems like we did it multiple times over a couple of weeks. My memory must've been affected by all those fumes.

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Not so these days. 1 quick treatment & a couple of comb-outs & she's done! I'm sure it helped that she barely had any buggies there in the first place.

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I actually treated myself too, just in case. No cooties here that we could see, but just the thought gave me the willies! So I have endured the comb-outs & toxification too. It actually smells kind of good!

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Now that we're bug free, I think we'll go take a walk & enjoy the great outdoors. Has it only been 24 hours? It seems like a week. Maybe that's just because I did a week's worth of work in 1 night to get this house ship-shape.

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Swine flu, strep throat and lice. If this is the kind of stuff that kids bring home from school, homeschooling is looking better all the time!

HOLY FREAKIN' L-I-C-E!

Yeah, you read that right. LICE!!! Gross!!!!!!!!

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I got an awful phone call from Emma's school today telling me that I had to come pick her up & de-louse her. OK, maybe that's not exactly what they said, but that's what I had to do! There's been a small "outbreak" & we're one of the unlucky ones.

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Honestly, Andy & I examined her for a good 30 minutes & I think we found about 2 unidentifiable lumps. So if she does have lice, she's in the VERY early stages & that makes me happy. She's been shampooed, toxified, combed & shampooed again. Hopefully I can get the laundry done before it's time for bed. I had no idea how many blankets those kids had on their beds!

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Wish me luck. I may be able to butcher a deer without gagging, but this is testing me to my limit. Not that I've seen anything gross crawling on my angel, but just the thought is enough. Ugh.

Just Because.....

Just because I haven't posted in almost a week,
here are some random pics to brighten your day.

Jack finding new friends at the CHIC Christmas party.

This little girl was saying that Jack "has hearing aids just like us!"

Every single day.

These were Andy's LEGOS from when he was a kid. What a treasure-

Thanks to Grandma & Grandpa for keeping them around for 20 years!

No words.

Who's that lady? Oh, wait, that's me!

It's a horrible picture, but I would like to prove that I do,

in fact, exist beyond the back of my camera.

Chocolates at Christmas.

Right after this she tried to give me a hug.

Luv this girl.

Pinkalicious!

Nobody can match my little princess when it comes to being pink!

Saving Some For Later...

I guess Jack thought we might be starving him for the rest of the day & decided to save some food for later just in case.

He got almost an entire scrambled egg down there before I caught him.

What will I ever do with this kid?

For Uncle Donny (or, The Rest of the Story)

And now we bring you the conclusion to the "stuffed pink unicorn" drama.

With the Christmas-saving gift card from uncle Donny, we headed across town to the Build-A-Bear store. 2 days after Christmas- maybe not such a good idea! But after waiting for almost an hour, Emma was blissfully happy & Mommy was breathing a sigh of relief.

For those of you that are not well-versed in Build-a-Bear procedure, here's a little rundown.

1. Choose an un-stuffed floppy shell of the animal that you wish to make your friend forever.

2. Step on the pedal to help the nice lady shoot the stuffing into your little buddy's legs, booty, arms, etc. Then she stitches up the backside & you're getting closer.3. Give your new friend an air-bath to get them completely clean.4. Brave the overwhelmingly overstocked costume department where you could spend hundreds of dollars making a stuffed animal look better than you do. I watched parent after parent spend well over $100 on only 1 bear & all of the ridiculous accessories their kids chose to toss in the basket. Yikes!
5. Find the PERFECT outfit amongst all of the sparkle & lace. Emma actually willingly parted with her birthday $ from Grandmother to get this glittery masterpiece.6. Register your new companion on the website, name her Princess & collect her birth certificate before heading home as 1 blissfully happy little girl.So, the end of the story is that even though Santa fell down on the job, Emma was still able to get the unicorn of her dreams. I'm more than happy because this one is reasonably sized, as the one she originally coveted was almost 3 feet long & weighed about 10 pounds. Now they are inseparable & I can actually sleep at night again.

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Yea for Uncle Donny!

I'm a Sunbeam now!

Frank's favorite thing about being a Sunbeam: Getting to go to the big kid class with Emma.


What a big day for my big boy.


Luv ya, bug!

(I just read this post to Frank & he said "I'm not a bug that flies, Mom, right? I'm just your Snugglebug." I almost can't stand how much I love him!)

Happy Holidays!

My, how time flies when you're having fun, or being busy, or hangin' out with Daddy, or just being lazy. We've done all these things & more, & I haven't managed to document any of it, even though it's a whole new year! So here's a little overview. Christmas Eve was spent in Safford delivering & receiving gifts. We attended Grandma Joy's traditional party & loved every second of it. That is truly Christmas to me. Santa showed up & we also had the chaotic Nativity presented by the kiddos.

Traditions- can't beat them, huh? I remember begging to be Mary when I was a wee little one, & now it's my kid's turn. Emma has it easy- she only has 1 girl cousin so far, so they get to trade back & forth between the angel & Mary. Lucky girls. Emma also had a very in-depth discussion with me about how much fun she's going to have with her new girl cousin when she gets here in January. Too sweet.

We opened our Christmas jammies & hit the road for home. Gotta be there before Santa, right? Amazingly, each of the kiddos stayed awake for the entire trip & we were able to lay out some cookies & carrots for the big guy & his reindeer just before we hit the sack.Christmas morning was interesting this year. First of all, Emma was not exactly thrilled with what Santa brought her in his big red sack. Actually, she cried when she saw it. Talk about a letdown.

Basically, this is the story. Emma decided 2 weeks before Christmas that the only thing in the world that would satisfy her would be a 3 foot, hairy, pink & purple stuffed unicorn. She asked every Santa she saw for it & painted pictures of it at school. Great. I was super prepared & got her gifts weeks ago! But being a good Santa-mommy, I searched for the desired unicorn. And searched, and searched. Because apparently it's been discontinued by Target & there's only about 2 available in Southern Arizona. If you can get to the store 2 hours away & snag one of them, it can be yours. Ugh- what do we do? I'm not driving all over the state 2 days before Christmas, I can tell you that! So we stick with our original gift & hope it all works out (& knowing it really won't).

And then it's Uncle Donny to the rescue! He wanted to get the kids gifts, but didn't know what to get them, so he gave us some $ & let us pick. MY HERO!!!! The solution to our problem? Build-a-Bear! They just happen to have a pink stuffed, sparkly, hairy unicorn. Yea! We explained to Emma that sometimes Santa knows when a family member has already gotten us the gift we REALLY want, & so the red guy brings us something else. It took some convincing, but when she opened this:

she was all better. Pink unicorn, here we come. Girls & their drama, ugh!

Luckily, Frank & Jack were amazed & infatuated with their gifts. So Santa's 2 for 3 this year. I guess that's a passing grade, right?

(I think Rusten might need one of these to use in his Santa gift!)

Christmas night was our annual Merriman family party. The pics for Tanya & Tam:

Hailey is almost taller than me now! When did she get so grown up?

Brian & his girl, Mindy

Our 3 goofballs We played cards until 11:30 at night & ate more food than you can even imagine. We even had some of Grandma Oma's "special" meatballs. Sorry you out-of-towners missed it! The nice evening was only marred by one thing: the appearance of blood & the accompanying hysterics. Big surprise. Frank seems to attract accidents lately. This one was courtesy of a race through my bedroom that came to an abrupt stop when his forehead met my dresser. We're total bums & didn't do a thing for New Year's. Andy actually did stay up until the magic hour, but only because I told him that he was a stinker for letting me ring in the new year by myself for the past 3 years. And yes, he was asleep by about 20 minutes after midnight. But at least he made the effort.

So another year is here & I'm resolving not to have any resolutions. I figure it's easier to not disappoint yourself that way!

Happy 2010, everybody!