Malu's new accessories

So Ren has been working really hard on Malu's dog collar. He is an amazing crafter and since he loves Malu he wanted to make a leather collar for her. (Which Ren probably regrets to volunteering himself for the job). Rillz thought it would be cool to put shark teeth on it. When we were in Hawaii we went and got the shark jaw from the shark his uncle caught when Rillz was in 6th grade. Anyways, this is how it turned out...

The shark teeth kept cutting through the string and so Ren had to sit there and file all of them down in three different spots. Wow patience! It is a gorgeous collar and we love it so much but unfortunetly our clothes, couch, blankets, and Simon do not agree with the shark teeth too much. So it is a special collar for going out for walks, to the pet store, and when others come over to the house. We also don't want the teeth to get ripped off.


Also, I am a non-believer in clothes for dogs. But, we got Malu and she HATES the cold. Her body cannot handle it. So we actually bought her a coat for practical reasons. Now I am a believer that some dogs really do need clothes. I hate to convert into a believer to tell you the truth but it gets cold in Idaho and, until she learns how to use the toilet inside, going outside is unavoidable. It really is cute though and she doesn't mind it being on. P.S. make fun of me all
you want for buying my dog a coat (because to be honest if I was reading someones blog about dog clothes I would say its dumb).

The fur around the neck shows her personality well... prissy. We take her on walks and she will not step in a puddle or muddy area for the sake of her pretty little paws. What a girly girl.

FYI: Simon does not get doggie clothes because he has plenty of warm hair and would hate to wear one anyways. Thats all I have for you on Malu. Ok peace out.

Pumpkin Carving

First of all, Brent and Noelle moved to Boise! They are living with my parents for a while and going to BSU starting this Spring! This Sunday we all got together for dinner because Noelles parents were in town. We were sitting around and decided to get together again the following day for a pumpkin carving contest. We set rules where we could use anything to carve our pumpkin except explosives, fire, pretty much anything that would blow up the house and we had 2 hours to do it. We all had SO much fun! This was Rillz's first time ever carving a pumpkin!

Rillz's first pumpkin carving...the hawaiian islands and a KA for kanak attack. Great job

Oh yeah pumpkin guts!

This was Rens. Of course outstanding. He wasn't able to finish it in 2 hours.

My dads. He used some electric tools and it sounded like we were in a dentists office when he was working on it! It turned out really good though.

Here is Brent going extreme like always. He is very artistic!

Noelle didn't think her Twilight pumpkin turned out. But when it was lit up it looked awesome!

Heidi and Katie (Noelles mom) didn't want to carve pumpkins so they made pumpkin seeds...soooo yummy!

Here are a couple collages.

Here are all the pumpkins and how they turned out!

Kristi made the cute owl, Noelles is the one on the right. When lit it looks like two faces. Really neat looking. Jeff made a Thomas train (of course) for Gunnar, with tracks all around the pumpkin!

Sick like a pig...

Yes, I have the flu. "Most likely the swine flu" says the guy at Primary Health who saw me for less than 5 minutes. So 2 hours later (yes waiting with other sicklings and feeling like I am going to pass out I had to wait 2 hours) 133 dollars later (because I have no insurance) I was told there was nothing they could do for me. I have been sick since Friday night. Chills, sore throat, major headache, major muscle aches, dizziness, tired... I don't do well just laying around my house. But when I do get up to do something I get so darn tired and dizzy. And sitting here all by myself I stink! I have taken a shower every day but being very immobile my body finds extra stink balls in itself. You know its bad when you just smell your own stank (maybe thats the pig side of the flu coming out in me). I am going to work tomorrow whether my body likes it or not. Don't worry, after today I am contagious free! So good luck to ya'll healthy humans out there and I hope you stay unsick. Alright to the shower I go...oink oink

What a great day after work...

So today I worked from 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Very typical lately. Work was fine. Jack was kinda sick and we were out and about and had a major poopy blow out. Needless to say the car ride home was just in a diaper. He is almost 3 so I have no need to cart around extra clothes for him (so I thought). Anyways so gross. But I get off work and go to Fred Meyer for a fantastic couponing deal and then to Albertsons for some more. While being on a coupon high from saving killer loads of money (ok maybe not that much) I walk up to the door to open it and at the doorstep (really no step there but doesn't that word sound nice, doorstep) there was a free sample of fiber one granola bar and cereal with coupons. And I walked into my house and my nose filled with heavenly delight. Rillz had made a crock pot dinner this morning so it would be done when I got off work. Oh my gosh... I thought it smelled amazing but the taste was even better. If I didn't have my own personal chef I would just be eating out of boxes, like crackers, lunchables, or really whatever I get with couponing. Don't get me wrong, I cook. But it is very bland food and cooking stresses me out. Baking I can do and love it but cooking... oh boy. God must have given me Rillz so my future kids can eat decent meals without me going psycho in the kitchen. Tonights meal was very thrifty might I add. A roast I got on sale and veggies picked from my parents church garden. Let me explain... my parents neighbor had extra property and thought it would be a great idea for a ward garden. Anybody in the ward can come help and pick fruits/veggies from this garden. What a blessing for those people struggle. But those people struggling didn't take advantage of it as they would have hoped. On Rillz's day off (Tuesday) he went over to visit my mom and Ren and Kristi had told him about this garden. Of course Rillz wanted to see the veggies. He got eggplant, cucumber, squash, cantaloupe, watermelon, zucchini, and some other veggies. So it was a great night!

So this was actually last friday when I had this great night. I just didn't have time to write about it this week. I was very very busy working a lot!
This was the samples I received from Fiber One.
I paid $3 for these 5 lunchables and got $5 in catalinas back (catalinas are like coupons that spit out at the register for use on anything in the store on my next shopping trip.) So I got paid $2 to buy these.
This was all $5. I get plenty of snack foods for very cheap!
These were the free veggies from the garden.
Such a yummy dinner! He makes great food with flavor. It tasted and smelled much better than it looks in this picture.

couponing, family, jon and kate plus 8

Ok so I got my most comments on the couponing lysol post. I have said it before but I love couponing. It takes lots of time and practice. My least favorite store ever to shop at (Albertsons, because it is always the closest store and pricing is twice as expensive as Winco and Walmart) is now my most favorite store ever because it is the closest (now it is convenient) and has great sales with the ability to double manufactorers coupons. You know those coupon inserts you get in the Sunday paper and you cut out some that you think you will use and always forget about them until they expire? Well I now get 4 sunday papers for those coupon inserts and cut ALL those coupons out. I put them in my coupon binder and then wait for a sale or a great price on something. Target and Walgreens are also great couponing stores. I just choose to mostly go to Albertsons.



Here are my deals this week...

10 cans of Tomato soup
20 cans of Chicken Noodle soup
2 Tony's Pizzas
4 Ken's salad dressings
3 Campbells soups at hand
All for a total of 7.72
Oh wait and a $5 catalina which means $5 dollars off my next purchase of anything at Albertsons. So really it was like paying $2.72 for all this.

Here is my shopping trip tonight...
3 boxes of whole grain cheez-it crackers
5 Air wick i-motion air fresheners
2 Glade candles
3 palmolive dish soaps
1 Gillete Fusion Power Razor for men
All this for $13
But wait, if I send in rebates for the dish soap I get it free! So $4.50 back.
An air-wick freshener is $12 for one by itself. With coupons I got each one for .50 cents. So crazy!

So thats kinda how I get everything cheap. It takes time and a lot of practice but I really enjoy it and is SO worth it.

Next thing on my mind...

Blogging! I think it is so amazing that I can now get to know my relatives through blogs. I LOVE it. I get to watch Danielle and Clay's new puppy grow up, Amy and Mikes struggles and blessings with cancer (and it is how I found out about Kanya being so rude), Megan and Gregs adventures abroad and re-adjusting to the U.S.A., Aunt Pennys crying over peaches moment (p.s. tell your kids to blog... everyone is doing it, it is SO the cool thing you know), Liz and Shadd's beautiful pictures (I so wish I could take pictures that well and display them so nice too) and congrats on your new growing baby girl, my sisters of course, and everyone elses life too. It is a way to stay connected and really feel like you know your family. I love reading ALL the blogs and getting to know everyone a little better. I love you all and I thank you for sharing your lives with me. That has been on my mind lately because I just feel blessed for this kind of technology and dedication from all of you to create a blog.

Next order of business...

Jon and Kate plus 8. I LOVED the show, notice the d at the end. But it has gotten out of hand with their celebrity profile. I think Jon is an idiot personally. Hello you have 8 kids grow up and be mature for the kids. The earing is just stupid and the comment about missing out on your 20's because of the kids was just stupid. First of all those kids were planned. Its not like they were oopsey babies (maybe having 6 at one time was a bit unexpected) but still be responsible. You are not a celebrity so stop acting like one. What made me write about this anyways was the MSN.com page it has different things displayed and one was "Guess which celebs have had hair implants" and has a picture of Jon on it. Since when was he considered celeb status. And Kate, I think she was really bossy to Jon. But she would have to be a picky, clean freak, organized lady to have a controlled household with that many kids the same age. I applaud her and her efforts for the kids. She could have a better hairstyle but at least she is not trying to gain celeb status like Jon is. Oh and the show used to be my favorite to watch now it has moved down the list considerably.

Anyways thats all. Good night. Hopefully I will write about Hawaii next.

Back from vacation

So I have been back from Hawaii for 4 days. I don't want to do ANYTHING. The time change has been killing me. I can't seem to wake up before noon and go to bed before 2 a.m. My allergies are crappy and my skin is so stinkin dry. In Hawaii I had no allergies and my skin was so moist and smooth. And the weather was amazing! I got no tan (as expected) but I also didn't get sunburned (which is a miracle). To sum it all up... Hawaii was amazing and I am not ready to be back in Idaho. I will post lots of pictures and stories when I am at home. (and when I find the energy to do so)... I don't even feel like couponing right now (that is huge for me because I usually LOVE couponing.) Hopefully I will be back in Hawaii in June 2010. For more to come...

Thrifty Deals

Finally pictures!!

So this morning I went to Albertsons. I got 5 containers of lysol wipes and 1 box of Granola Bars. Before coupons I would have paid $20. After coupons I got all this for $.89. Thats right, not even a dollar. And $.40 of it was tax. The lysol wipes were free and the granola bars were a whopping $.50.

So this is one I did a while ago. 10 pasta/rice sides, 5 wish bone dressings, 4 ragu pasta sauce, 8 skippy peanut butters, 4 mayos, 3 warm delights, 2 brownie mixes, 8 deoderants, 4 vasoline lotions, 5 suave body washes, 2 simply cookies, and 4 boxes of klondike bars. I don't remember how much I should have paid but after coupons I paid $13.82. Yes people, $13.82 for all this. Sometims I surprise myself with the deals I get!

Here is another thrifty deal... my moms garden. Ren built these two planter boxes and Jeff hooked up the watering system. My mom must have one amazing green thumb. The tomatoes are SO delicious and there is plenty of squash and zuccinni.


What the heck is my mom watering the zuccinni with. Steroid water? Look at the size of this thing. The 12'' ruler looks like nothing in comparison.

The very right one is a typical size for a zuccinni. Good gardening mom! I love eating your veggies!