Mommin' It Up!

September 3, 2008September 3, 2008

Tellin’ the Toddler Truth

Last night we had some friends over for dinner. They have a son, Benji, who will be three in December and despite the age difference, he and Joshua are good buddies. This is partially because Benji, like Joshua at his age, is a very good talker. He talks like a much older child, so he and Joshua can communicate really well.

Recently Benji’s parents have been working with him on potty training, and also like Joshua was at his age, Benji is NOT real thrilled about actually going on the potty, but he likes to talk about the possibility occurring one day.

Which prompted him to ask his mother to where his poop came from.

Which prompted his mother to give him an honest answer.

Which prompted Benji to greet his father at the door with, “Guess what Daddy? My poop comes out my butthole!” this evening.

Which prompted his father to tell that story at dinner tonight.

Which prompted Kool-Aid to practically come flying out my nose.

You gotta love a line like that! And I’d love to know, friends: what’s the darnedest thing your kid ever said?

September 1, 2008September 1, 2008

Breaking News: I’m Not Perfect

I’ve seen some inspiring posts where female bloggers challenge their readers to “get real” by showing a picture of themselves first thing in the morning, before shower, hair, makeup, and all the other magic tricks we use to put ourselves together.

Well. This is not one of those posts, per se. No way in h-e-doublehockeysticks are y’all ever seeing me without makeup. But here is something else I am ashamed of, that I’d like you to take a look at. It’s my living room (complete with two pajama-clad TV watching zombie children):

and my dining room:

These photos are a very good representation of what my house looks like every day (except for the living room usually has a bunch of train track on the floor also.) Now before you get the idea that I am a lazy piece of crap, let me tell you that I do try. I make a to-do list every day and it almost always includes cleaning and sweeping these rooms. And you know what? Almost every day, I DO IT!! But by the next morning, it looks like the above pictures.

Sometimes it kills me when I am cleaning those rooms, because I already know what it will look like 15 ~~seconds~~ minutes after I am done.

I hate housework. I really am the world’s worst housekeeper. It is something that I struggle with every day and sometimes I only do it because I don’t want to live in filth. I never do it because it is my “job” or I want to or I want to be a good steward of the wonderful home God has given me. I do it because it has to be done. But do I put everything in its place after the kids go to bed? Do I follow them around all day picking up every toy after they have used it? Do I make them pick up before bed?

No.

I am the world’s worst housekeeper.

And I am trying to make myself believe that it’s ok. Because people, I am just never gonna be Suzy Homemaker. If I try to aspire to that, I will just fail again and again and again. Imperfection just fits me a little more comfortably than my Suzy H. costume.

So I guess by posting about my shame, I’m hoping to help myself feel better about it. Does that make any sense at all?

So my friends, I showed you mine, now will you show me yours?

Let’s decide together that it’s ok to do the best we can. Let’s decide that posting pictures of our messy houses is the NEW BLACK! Solidarity, sisters! Go take a picture of your mess, post it on your blog, and leave your link in the comments.
Or just leave me a comment and tell me I am totally awesome despite my myriad imperfections.

Either way. 🙂

August 30, 2008August 30, 2008

Clearance + Coupons = Happiness

I had some great savings at CVS this week and FINALLY got a good deal at the grocery too! Come see what I scored!

This transaction was SO fun for me. I walked into my CVS on Sunday only to discover with joy that they had TIDE on clearance 75% off! They had these 39-load jugs for $3.00! And I had $1.00 off coupons! Woohoo! Here’s how it broke down

2 Tide $6
Viva paper towels (OHH how I LOVE them!) $6.49
Zipfizz energy drink $5.99
Kotex $1.49
CVS hand lotion $1.49

Total = $21.46
Coupons:
$5/$20 Walgreens coupon (my CVS takes competitor q’s)
$2/10 CVS coupon
Two $1 off Tide
$1 off Kotex
$1 off Kotex Walgreens coupon
$2 off CVS skincare product (gave me overage on the lotion)
75 cents off Viva
$1.50 off Viva CRT (from a previous CVS receipt)
Total = 6.21
I paid with 6 ECB and just 14 cents tax and got back 5.99 ECB for the zipfizz, 1.49 for the Kotex, and 1 ECB for the Viva! So I actually PROFITED on that! Amazing!

Next, I got some of my FAVORITE Mountain Dew products!

Mountain Dew 4/$12
Sobe Water 5/$5
Milk $2.99
CVS hand lotion $1.49
zipfizz $5.99
Total = $27.47

Coupons:
Walgreens $5/$20
CVS $2/$10
Four $1 off Target Mountain Dew coupons
Four “Buy a 12-pk Pepsi product, get a free Sobe water”
$2 off CVS skincare

Total= $10.47
I paid with 10 ECB and 58 cents cash and got back 5.99 ECB for the zipfizz, 3 ECB for the Mountain Dew and 2 ECB for the Sobe. 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 soooo HAPPY WITH THAT!

Ok, last one. This was a fun one. God is good. Before this week, we were down to about a box & a half of cereal. Thanks to CVS and Meijer this week, we now have TWELVE boxes!

Four boxes of Malt-O-Meal cereal $4
Zipfizz energy drink $5.99
CVS hand lotion $1.49

Total = $10.48

Coupons: $2/$10 CVS
four $1 off Malt-o-Meal printables
$2 off CVS skincare product

Total = $2.48

I paid with 2.49 ECB, adjusted down to 2.48, which made my total a perfect ZERO, and I got back 5.99 ECB for the zipfizz. YAY!

Ok, on to Meijer. I FINALLY got some good grocery deals this week after weeks of NO GOOD SALES. Shew! I made an impromptu trip on Sunday night with NO LIST and still did pretty well so I was pumped. I got allthis for $26.72:

The Cheerios were $1.67 and I had 5 $1 off coupons from signing up for the Cheerios Challenge. The Fiber One bars ended up being 88 cents after doubled coupons. There were tear pads with “buy 3 Kraft products, get free Wheat Thins” coupons (also Oscar Mayer hot dogs!) so I got a couple of those and bought the 20 cent Kool-Aid packets to use as my three Kraft items. I also had a coupon like this for the cheese, which I got from “All You” magazine. So, free cheese! Before Coupons my total was 55 dollars and change, so I was thrilled with this trip! Then on my way out, I noticed a sign by the door. They were having a promotion where if you bought $10 worth of Nabisco cookies or crackers, you could get $10 off three packages of Fruit of the Loom basics. Well, the FREE Wheat Things are part of this promotion, so I went back and got this!

All this for $9.59. I bought Kool-Aid packets to qualify as my 3 Kraft items to get the Wheat Thins and the hot dogs FREE. The Wheat Thins then took $10 off my three packages of socks (which were originally $4.59 EACH!!) I had $1 off coupons for the Lean Cuisine, which were on sale for $1.99, so I got them for 99 cents each. $9.59 for ALL THAT!? I was thrilled!

Allright, that’s all I got. Hope you did great this week too! To see more fabulous coupon action, check out CVS Superstars at the Centsible Sawyer and Super Savings Saturday at Money Saving Mom!