Extreme couponing

   Okay so I have watched the show Extreme Couponing a couple of times with the hopes I could learn a thing or two about saving money. Notice I said a couple of times. That's because while I did learn a few tricks to better couponing I really think this show is unrealistic. Who has 40-60 plus hours a week to devote to clipping,printing and searching online for coupons. Paired up with the 1,2 and sometimes up to 4 hours these people spend in the check out line to make the multiple transactions they need to make to save the big bucks. This is definately extreme alright and not very realistic for most people. I am a stay at home mother and do not have that much free time on my hands. Not to mention who in this world needs a stock pile with over a thousand tubes of tooth paste? Sorry but I am begining to think this is glorified hording. Some of the stock piles I saw on the show had so much food I am wondering how much of it will expire before these families can use it, and if they have to throw some away in the end due to spoilage then isn't that just a waste? I'm all for getting the items you need for as little as possible and if you can get hundreds of dollars in groceries for little or no money go for it and who wouldn't want a stocked pantry and some extra supplies tucked away just in case but this is beyond that. I know there are a lot of people out there who are going to disagree with me on this but this is just my personal opinion, and after all, isn't that what my blog is all about. Now just to make myself clear I do think couponing is a good thing. I myself clip coupons and look for special store sales to save as much as I can at the grocery store and any other store. I have been known to grocery shop at multiple stores in one day depending on their circulars but it has to be worth the time and drive, I won't make a stop at a second store just to pick up bananas to save 5 cents a pound, I will spend that savings driving there so it wouldn't be worth it to me. Now one tip I did pick up on from the show is to watch the store ads and try to find coupons to match those products on sale so you get the best possible deal you can but I will not be buying products I do not use or need just because I may get them real cheap, unless I know someone who can use it. I am hoping as I get better with couponing I will be able to save more and more money at the stores without putting all the hours into it that these people do. i will let you know how it works out and if anyone has some realistic couponing advice I am always open to suggestions.
   Well that's all for now. I hope everyone has a wonderful Friday and happy grocery shopping :-)

Trying to get here

   I don't know if it is Blogger or Internet Explorer but I am so frustrated today. I spent an hour trying to log into my blog today and it wouldn't let me, it just kept refreshing the log in page. After trying all the different suggestions from Blogger and cleaning out my browser I ended up having to download another web browser to get on here. This is crazy, I want to be able to do everything I do on the Internet from one browser, I hate trying to get used to something new after using the same thing for years. Oh well life goes on. 

   So moving on, my husband has been asking me what I want for our upcoming anniversary, honestly anything he does for me will be special and appreciated and I really didn't have anything specific in mind until yesterday. I have been wanting to get a nice coach hand bag, I am a purse fanatic lol, and I knew we just couldn't afford for me to go and spend $300 or more on a new purse right now so I decided to look up the coach outlet online and check it out. Oh My Goodness!!! I found it right away, so beautiful, in my favorite color ( purple ) it was just screaming my name. To make it even better it was marked down 70%  which made it even more beautiful because now it is affordable, well kinda lol. So I tell my husband all about it, like a kid who just spotted the hottest toy at the toy store and just needed a few more dollars to get it. He of course thinks it is ridiculous to spend more than $20 or $30 on a purse no matter who makes it or what it looks like but he's not a woman he doesn't get it. Now normally I don't ask for much, my husband works very hard to support us and I never want to take that for granted, but I want this purse like nothing else lol. So I will keep my fingers crossed and who knows I might just get it  :-)

   On another old topic, mother nature has decided to compromise with me on the weather. We have been having lots of sunny warm days but very stormy nights. We finished our soccer game last night just in time, there were tornado warnings just as we were finishing and they were cancelling the games that followed. So far we haven't had anything too bad in our area. And the kids are enjoying the taste of summer we are getting during the day.
   Well that is all I have for now but stay tuned for your next Ohio weather report lol. I hope everyone has a wonderful Thursday!

   

   
   

posting, deleting and reading

   Yesterday afternoon I posted something that had been bothering me and after I posted it I realized maybe I wasn't ready to share all of that with everyone so I deleted my post this morning. I would however like to share a shorter version of what was bothering me right here in this post.
   I have 3 sons and a step son, no daughters. I wanted a little girl with my last pregnancy but it just wasn't meant to be. I am however very blessed to have beautiful healthy boys. When I was pregnant with my youngest son, my husband and I picked out what we felt was the perfect little girl name. It meant a lot to us because it included my husband's mother's name. Obviously we did not get to use that name because we had a boy. A friend of mine is pregnant and a few months ago we were talking about baby names and I told her what we would have named our daughter if we had one and why that name meant so much to us. After a few weeks of going through names she informed me that they were naming their daughter, you guessed it, the name I had told her about. Now I understand that I have no use for or any claim to that name but it does bother me that they are using it. Is it selfish to wish they would pick another name? Probably! But guess what I really wish they would pick another name. I'm not sure if it is so much the name or the fact that I know I will never have a little girl to give that name to that is bothering me the most, either way it is out of my hands and I am done posting about it.
   Moving on now, I started reading "the secret life of Damion Spinelli" and I am really hoping it gets better as I read more of it. I am finding it hard to continue reading it, it is a good read if you don't watch GH, but since i do watch it I am already very familiar with the characters on the show and the dialog they give them in the book so far does not fit the characters I am used to watching on TV so I am finding it hard to really get into the book. I will however continue to read it and finish it and hopefully be able to give a better review when I am done.
   Well that is all for now, so as always I hope everyone has a great day!

Our sunny weekend

   I have so much I want to share this time and I will start with the fact that I am finally starting to feel so much better. My symptoms have reduced to just a little nasal congestion and occasional cough. To breath and feel normal again, yay!! Also no one else in the house seems to have caught whatever this was so that makes me even happier.
   Now on to more good news. Saturday was a beautiful sunny day, I was able to take Peanut and my oldest son to the park to watch their brother play soccer, our team lost but they played so hard so we took the team out for ice cream at DQ after the game ( is there anything better than cold ice cream on a hot sunny day?!) After ice cream I met up with a woman who sold me a little four wheeler power wheel for Peanut for $20, what a deal! He feels like such a big boy riding a whole 2 miles an hour along side his brothers on their bikes. It's funny how a child's smile can make you forget for a while all the wrong in this world! So after picking that up for Peanut we enjoyed the warm Saturday evening with friends over for a cookout. What a great way to end a beautiful day.
   Then came Sunday, another sunny and actually hot day (we had to run the air conditioner) I was beginning to think that day was never going to come lol. Sunday was a relaxing day filled with visiting family and enjoying the weather outside.Oh how I hope this weather is here to stay.
   There are a few more things I had intended on sharing in this post but they are not the happiest of things and I think this post should end on a happy note, so I will save those for the another time, maybe during Peanuts nap time I will post more.
   I hope everyone enjoyed hearing about our family's happy sunny weekend in Ohio and may this just be the beginning of more warm sunny days to come! Have a great day everyone! 
  

The sun came out to play

   Well, after weeks of nothing but clouds and rain, we have sunshine in Ohio today! Well, at least for this afternoon, I won't count on it lasting quite yet but this is definitely a wonderful break from the gloomy days we've had lately. Peanut won't even take a nap today, my guess is he sees all the sunshine outside and was too excited to sleep and who can blame him, we have waited far too long for this sunny afternoon to finally come, but we will definitely pay the price for no nap this evening when mr.cranky shows up. Now if only I were feeling better I could take Peanut to the park later to watch his brother play soccer, unfortunately we will have to enjoy this weather from home today as I am still paying the price for going out and about in the crappy weather earlier this week. I do hope this passes soon, no sick days and no calling off work for Mommy's, but give me a daddy who is sick and it is like having another kid in the house. At least that is the case with my husband, I love him dearly but when he is sick he is the biggest baby there is lol.

                                                       
                                                       

   Well this was just a quick post but I hope everyone has a wonderful afternoon and something to smile about!

Sick but not sick of reading

   So far this week no soccer games due to the rain, no surprise there. Ohio weather can really drive you crazy sometimes. Which brings me to this, yesterday I wake up sicker than I have been in years ( chest congestion, cough, sore throat, body aches, the works ) and I think to myself at least I am getting the worst of it out of the way right? No such luck. I woke up this morning and in addition to my previous symptoms I now have sinus congestion, sneezing, and a sinus headache. This weather is now not only taking it's toll on our soccer season but also on my body!

   Now on a happier note, Monday I went to Borders to use my wonderful 40% off coupon they e-mailed me, to get a book I have been wanting, and came home with three great books, or so I hope they are great books. I love to read anything from romance to biographies to science fiction, if it catches my attention I can loose myself in a book very easily and have even gone as far as to read right there in front of the stove while I am cooking. The main book I went to Borders to get is titled "The Secret Life of Damian Spinelli" now if any of you are familiar with the soap opera General Hospital then you already know all about the book as they have promoted it a lot on the show. This book should be very interesting, it is written to be a collection of stories and somewhat of a biography of a fictional character on the show. Seeing as how I am completely and absolutely addicted to General Hospital and never miss an episode thanks to dvr, I just had to read this book. I am hoping to start reading it tonight and will let you know my review when I am done. The other books I bought are "Water for Elephants" and "Not My Daughter" I will let you know how they turn out. One more great thing about going to Borders Monday, a good friend went with me and picked up two different books so we will be doing some book swapping after we read our own.

   Okay well that's all for now, I hope everyone has a happy healthy Wednesday!

Rain Rain Go Away

   I am so tired of all this rain. The meteorologist said last night that we have only had one clear sunny day since the first day of April, there is something wrong with this picture! The soccer season for my boys just officially started 10 days ago and already they have cancelled several of the games due to rain and looking at the forecast there is a good chance they will be cancelling several games this week as well. I am so grateful that it is not flooding here like it is in other parts of the country. I pray every day for the families who have lost their homes and had to evacuate due to the flooding. My two year old is getting a bit of cabin fever, he just looks outside and is so upset he can not play out there with his outside toys. Oh summer we miss you so much! I want swimming and fishing and picnics outside and I really want to plant some flowers. Although I must confess I am really not looking forward to putting on a bathing suit this year.                                          

   I told myself all winter long I was going to loose weight before summer and all I have done is gain weight. I really need some will power to stay away from all the pop and sweets and make myself exercise more. On that note I am 3 years Mountain Dew free ( yay!!!) but now it seems I have replaced Mountain Dew for Pepsi and Sunkist. Time to kick them to the curb too.

   Well time to go but I hope everyone out there has a great day and somewhere may your day be sunny and warm!

Every good thing has to begin somewhere

   So over the past few months I have been wanting to start a blog. I have thought of all the many things I would discuss,write and give my opinions about. Yet here I am nervous and my mind a total blank. Where do I start? What if no one reads it? Is this just a waste of time? So before I spend a minute longer second guessing myself and debating if  I should delete the whole thing and forget it,I am going to tell you a little about myself. For starters I am a mother of 3 boys ages 12,10 and 2. I am a wife of almost 4 years to a husband 12 years my senior and last but not least I am an opinionated, loving, forgiving, generous, passionate and sometimes moody woman! At this particular time in my life I do not work outside the home. I am a chef, a maid, a teacher, a barber, a couseler, a referee and a book keeper just to name a few. I have to admit there are days when I miss going to work outside my home and bringing home my own paycheck but for the most part being a stay at home mother is a wonderful thing for me, and on that note I am ending this blog for now thanks to my 2 year old,we will call him peanut ( a nick name his father gave him before he was even born ) anyways peanut is in need of my attention right now so I am off to enjoy our mommy and me time, I hope everyone has a great day.