It was blowy out!

Yes, I said "blowy". I said it on Sunday when we got a little taste of Hurricane Ivan all the way up here in Ohio and my husband made fun of me. I think it's descriptive. I know it's a tropical depression now and can't even begin to compare to what it was, but WOW! It looks like the Tazmanian Devil whirled through our little town. No one was hurt, but I've personally driven by four homes that have had trees fall on them. It seems like every other house around here has a tree at their curb strip to get picked up. The airport still doesn't have power and there's a nearby town that is said will be without power for at least a week. We just got our internet and phone services back today, hence the post. Here's a picture of the tree outside the parking lot next to our house. Ben asked Z if the tree was sad and he said, "No, happy!" and smiled his new cheesy grin where he shuts his eyes. As of now, I can't say there's much left to do before the baby comes. I could make more gifts, always, but with my mom here to help after next week, I might even get more sewing done after the baby! The dog sitter is lined up, I filled in as much as I'm able to in the new baby book and updated Z's, over the weekend I made myself a new diaper bag. The last one grew yuckies on the inside from spilling different food items. Since the yuck was under the vinyl I had to toss it. This is the first bag I've made for myself. So, here she is...it's got a liner with a divider and three pockets inside.
I have two favorite recipes of my summer to share with you, but they'll have to wait until next time as Z just woke up. Take care and hope you have an awe-inspiring day!

Money Saving on my Mind

In my efforts to be frugal, I've decided to wear glasses on most days. Sometimes, I still like to wear contacts, but it's not necessary that I wear them everyday, besides it requires I use cleaner each time and it shortens the life of my few pairs of disposable contacts each time. So, I'm going to go get my prescription renewed as it's been several years and I know my sight has changed and I figured the cheapest frames I could use would be ones I already own. When I worked full time as a counselor I had optical insurance and took full advantage of it. Hence, the three pairs of frames to choose from below.

So, I'm taking a vote. The top pair is my most recent pair and my oldest pair at the bottom. Pairs A and C are plastic frames, pair B is made of wire. Pairs B and C probably need adjusted to fit my face again as it's been many years since I wore them.

A
B
C



Money for Nothin'

I have to share, I've been making a go of the whole CVS shopping deals. I've found, since I'm a little slow, I need explicit directions on how to make the savings thing work there. I've shared before how much help I've found on MoneySavingMom.com (MSM) and that's been a primary source of CVS tutelage. Also, my friend, Kristina at Yarnsticks, has been holding my hand all the way. Here's what I've learned so far...

1) Stock up on stuff your family uses, then you're less likely to buy at full price just because you NEED it right then. Keep an inventory if you use a deep freezer, so you know what you have for meal planning purposes.
2) Gather coupons from on-line (help sites like MSM or the manufacturer's site), your newspaper, fliers that stores have when you walk in, mailers.
3) Compare store ads with each other and with your coupons you cut/printed out to find super savings.
4) Do NOT take your two year old with you to bargain shop. It was due to this that I neglected to get a free item that came with a "Buy two get one free" coupon AND that I neglected to use a second coupon that I had on a Buy one get one free deal, which would have saved another dollar. Totally defeating!

Here's a deal with explicit directions that YOU can do THIS week only (through Saturday, Sept. 13th) that I did successfully from a tip on MSM: 1. Print out THIS coupon from Colgate two times (it's at the bottom of the page). You may have to enter your info twice to get it to print twice. Each coupon is worth $1.50. 2. Go to CVS where Colgate Total Whitening is "Buy One Get One Free" until Saturday. Use both coupons. 3. Total cost would have been $4.98 (at $2.49 each), but with the CVS sale, it's two for $2.49, with the coupons totalling $3 you MAKE 50 cents and get two toothpastes. Isn't that so totally happy? Enough with the puns, we just made money. I know, it's not much to you old pros out there, but I'm just beginning and I'm excited. I'm hoping there's other newbies that benefit from detailed directions like I do. If for some reason you can't print out the second coupon, using one still makes it $1 for two toothpastes which isn't half bad.

A quick, happy update on Z and preparing for baby girl. Although potty training was a bust, we have made progress in the area of sleep with much thanks to Daddy! Saturday night Ben was inspired to say goodnight and leave the room when he put Z down. He stood outside the door while Z cried (he was already having a fit before he left) and ten minutes later Z was asleep. The next day we tried it again at naptime and he called, "Mommy, mommy, daddy, daddy, are you himing?" That's Z-speak for "hiding". Fifteen minutes later he fell asleep, no crying at all! It worked again at bedtime. Monday's naptime took longer for him to fall asleep because we missed his sleepy wave, but today, I read him a short book, prayed with him, kissed him goodnight and he said, "Bye!". He fell right to sleep! We've been laying with Z until he falls asleep for naptime and bedtime for two years and two months! I told you we're a little "doting". So, I was wondering how I'd continue this with two kids and praise the Lord, it can be done. It would have been nice to have a potty trained two year old instead of two kids in diapers, but that wasn't meant to be.

Finally, an update on the other things on my "Nesting To Do" list. Yesterday, I made a double batch of freezer jam (raspberry/blackberry), last week I made a quadruple batch of Gramma's six week bran muffins (technically good for three weeks after my due date), the week before I made six loaves of zucchini bread. I think this is what I have left to do in my two and a half weeks before D-Day as my friend, Chrisie, calls it:

• Sew more Christmas and birthday presents
• Sew doggie coats
  
• Fill out as much of the "first year memory album" as possible ahead of time
• Pack bag for me and another for Z for quick departure to hospital, just in case

I have a lot of sewing to do. I did have a lot of baking and now I'm quite done. It would be dreamy to make a quadruple batch of chocolate chip cookie dough balls to freeze and pull out as needed, but I'm not making that a priority.

Nine months and counting...

Well, it's kind of hard to compare these pictures as I'm dressed so differently. The first pic is of me at 36 weeks with Z in May of 2006. The second is of me at 36 weeks with baby girl in Sept. of 2008. Different months, different attire.

Today at the airport. It irritates me when you can't see my pony tail in pictures.
It's there, just take my word for it.

Quick funny for you, well kinda. Ben and Z went to WV for the weekend and I stayed home since I can't bear to sit in a car for four hours straight. Well, this was my first opportunity to do whatever I wanted for more than a couple of hours since Z was born and seeing as I'm due in a few weeks, it probably was my last opportunity for a long time. Friday night, after the boys left, I went out for dessert with a girlfriend, Saturday I did nothing but fun, fun, fun! It was truly my perfect dream day (if I'm going to be alone that is). I'll summarize: actual quality time with God in my closet, walked the dogs, garage saled, bargain shopped at CVS and JoAnn Fabrics (my favorite place!!), out to dinner with another friend, and the best part...I listened to "Enter the Worship Circle" and Jennifer Knapp while sewing and eating gummy worms.

So, I had another whole day to enjoy and all I planned to do was try two different churches (since we're hunting right now) and to sew some more. Well, I woke up Sunday morning to a personal tsunami. After I puked up all I could (yes I wondered if it was pregnancy related), it came out the other end for the next twelve hours (then I knew it wasn't pregnancy related). Just a yucky bug that took the whole day to go away. T'was a bummer, but miraculously I'm not bitter. I'm so glad I didn't have to watch a two year old while I was that sick! Ben helped me lots on Monday so I could regain my strength and today I'm totally better. That's my story, kinda funny, kinda not.