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Halloween Traditions & a Giveaway!

When our babies looked like this:

Jenny, Bobby, Andy & I started a tradition of getting together for trick-or-treat (don’t worry, for a few years we just dressed up the kids and hung out on our porch. We totally weren’t using them to get candy). We’ve continued it every year, and now those tiny babies look like this:

Over the years, we’ve added a few more kids into the mix.

Next year, we’ll have one more!

It’s one of my favorite nights of the year.

I love going back and looking at all the costumes the kids have worn and how much they’ve grown. If you’ve been on Facebook in the last few days, you know I am not alone in taking tons of Halloween pictures – I think all of their 10 zillion users uploaded Halloween pictures this week!

Like I said, I love the Halloween pictures… but I am horrible about getting prints made. Horrible! It’s easily been a year since I have actually had a “hard copy” of pictures of my kids. I always mean to do it, I just never get around to it. Fortunately a couple weeks ago I got an email from the people at Kodak Gallery asking if I’d like to make a Halloween-themed photo book. Needless to say, I was excited!

Making my book was easy – Kodak Gallery’s SMARTFIT technology put my pictures in place automatically, and also gave me the option to move them around. I chose a Halloween cover and background for my pictures, and it turned out very cute! I also added text and borders to make it even more personalized.

Want to make your own?? You’re in luck! We’ve got two $50 gift cards to give away. Here’s how to enter:

1) Leave a comment on this blog post
2) For an extra entry tweet about this contest on twitter using #hocusfocus with a link back to this post, then leave a separate comment with your tweet URL. (Here’s an example – “Enter to win a $50 gift card from @galleryexposure & @momminitup! http://bit.ly/bGLDxM #hocusfocus”
3) Post on Facebook about Mommin’ It Up – like our page if you haven’t already and then leave a separate comment letting us know you did so.
4) Subscribe to our blog feed and leave us a comment letting us know you did or already do.

One winner will be chosen at random on Friday, November 5th.  Good luck!

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I want to marry the Kroger Mega-Event!

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Wow, I had a great trip to Kroger this morning! I wanted to get some mega-event items (buy 10 items, get $5 off)  for a church gathering we are having this weekend and stock up on some staples. The trip turned out better than I thought. I got all the stuff pictured above for $36.50!!! I saved 67%. When it all rang up, it came to almost $90 and I nearly had a heart attack. Then, the $20 for the Mega-Event came off and then after my coupons, I had saved over $60. 🙂 WOOHOO! I try to keep my grocery spending under $45/week so I was PUMPED!

The BIG DEAL I got was the Ronzoni Garden taste pasta.  It was $1.29, so $.79 after the Mega-Event.  And I had four $1 off printable coupons. AND there was a $1 off TEARPAD of coupons for it right next to the pasta in the aisle!! I couldn’t believe it!  I only took two more; I didn’t clear the shelves.  (Local people, this was at the Kroger at Woodman and Dorothy Lane.)  So anyhoo, I made 21 cents on each box of pasta. Makes me happy!

The Campbell’s Cream of Chicken and Cream of Mushroom soup was free after printable coupon & promotion, the Swanson’s broth was 49 cents, etc, etc.!  I got all my coupon match-ups from this post by Jenny at Southern Savers.  So check it out to find where to find the coupons to get these great deals!  Kudos to her for going to Kroger and finding everything that was included!

Hope you have fun Krogering this week!  Let me know what you get!

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Don’t Sass Me! Unless It’s your first time.

frustration station

Yesterday was a red-letter day in our house. Sophie “talked back” to me. And I was happy about it!  Because she used actual words.

I have mentioned briefly that Sophie has a speech delay.  She sees a speech therapist once a week and probably will for at least a year.  I work with her at home, too, and she’s made HUGE progress since she started in July.  So Bobby and I are constantly amazed at all the new stuff that’s flying out of her little mouth every day!

Until yesterday, Sophie had always shown her, um, disagreement with me by screaming, squealing, or an emphatic “NO”.

But yesterday she was mad at a toy for not meeting her expectations in some way :), and I was trying to help her.  But she did NOT want my help.  “Here, let me help you,” I said and I placed my hand on the toy.  She jerked it back out of my hand and said, “THAT’S ENOUGH MOMMY!”

My jaw dropped. I am sure she was a little confused when I broke into a grin.  I recovered my wits and said, “You may not talk to Mommy that way,” and made her say she was sorry.

But inside, I was happy!  Happy she could express her anger with a real (angry) thought!

Sophie sassed me!  It was great!

I’m sure one of these days I’ll be like, “Hmm remember when Sophie couldn’t talk back? Those were the days…”

But right now I’m pretty jazzed about the sass!

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