Isaac's been his usual talkative self this morning, but a few things have stuck out to me and made me laugh.

This morning he climbed up into my bed, asked for the "Mote" (remote) and pointed it at the TV then said, "Ah-tch Super Why."  I turned to Greg and was like, "Our little boy is growing up!  He's asking to watch "Super Why" first thing in the morning, instead of Elmo!"  I don't know why, but it really stuck out to me that he's now requesting Super Why instead of Sesame Street.  Greg just kinda looked at me funny.  :-)  But Isaac was quite disappointed that I couldn't just make Super Why appear on the television, and was not really happy about settling for some random Saturday morning cartoon he didn't recognize.  Until he saw a cat on the show!  "Cat!" he exclaimed and pointed at the screen, "Kitty cat!"  Then, to his utter delight, another cat walked on screen, "ANOTHER CAT!" He was so excited and kept pointing at the 'cat' and the 'another cat'.  I'd never heard him use the word 'another' before, and it was just so cute and sounded so big coming out of his little self, that it amused me.

Later he came in my room playing Ellie's Dora guitar, and he'd push a button and exclaim, "On!  Working!"  Then he turned it over and patted the back panel and said, "Good batteries."  Then he turned switch to off and said, "No batteries now."  He's almost got it.  :-)  Anytime a toy isn't working I tell the kids we need new batteries.  When Dad gets home. :-)  I don't know why, I'm perfectly capable of changing batteries, but in my head it's Dad's job.

Then Aunt Star came over to play.  Isaac kept showing of his "Isaac boots" that he'd just gotten, and Star was making him laugh.  He kept giggling and saying, "That is funny. That is funny." 

Speaking of Isaac's new boots, late last night I went to Kohl's with my Mom and sister (who knew it was open 'til 11pm?!)  We'd gone late when we'd heard that all their clearance was just marked down an additional 40% off that evening.  Who can resist a deal like that?!  Add to that some other coupons we had on hand and we did well.  Really well. 

I spent $89.04.  On $995.21 worth of merchandise.  (Of course, that's at Kohl's, which I tend to find a bit outrageously priced, and I wouldn't buy anything at Kohl's not at least 50% off.)

Not too shabby :-)  Five pairs of winter boots (three pairs of those for the boys were Toy Story 3 light up boots in sizes 5, 7 and 9 . . . I'm hoping this gets us through several Winters with both of them.  Especially since I was getting 'em for like $3 a pair!)  Two pair of dress shoes in the next two sizes Annie'll grow into, a pair of tennis shoes and some cute brown casual shoes for Annie in the next size.  Seven pair of pants in the next two sizes Annie will wear.  A Christmas outfit for Annie next year.  A three piece outfit (sweater vest) for Isaac for Church, and I think it was 9 long sleeve shirts for Isaac, two jackets, two complete outfits and five pairs of pants that all range from 2T-4T.  Also, three bras that aren't pictured. :-)

Isaac modeling one of his new outfits.

I came home so pumped up from our shopping trip, that it took 'til midnight before I was ready to fall asleep.  Then Owen was fussy, so I got him up and fed him.  Then we had what was quite possibly the WORST night sleep we've had since he was born.  I'm kinda kicking myself that I was up 'til midnight . . . but when I see all the stuff I got for less than $100, I feel a bit better :-)

Things I Love

Dear Kohls,

I love you times infinity.  Saving $129 on an $8.29 purchase made my day.  And two dollars of that Star had to pay me back, since she bought a $30 sweater that cost two bucks.  I'm also very excited about my new $70 running shoes I got for $17.

Love,
Shopaholic Hilary

---

Dear Pretty New Treadmill,

This really feels like the start of something beautiful.  Right next to my bed, your presence is going to be a constant reminder to get my butt in gear.  Plus, my iPod looks so pretty up on your console.

Love,
Soon-to-be-uber-fit Hilary

 ---

Dear Mechanically Inclined Husband,

Thanks for putting together aforementioned treadmill while I checked facebook and updated my blog.

Your most admiring wife,
Smitten Hilary

--

Dear Two Youngest Children,

Thanks for almost being over all your various illnesses.  Although, for feeling better, you're still awfully grumpy.  But your ever-present moodiness today has made me especially grateful for the hours that come after 8PM.  I have a greater appreciation for night time.  Thanks for being in bed and asleep (although, I guess I really owe your Dad on that one) by the time I got back from shopping with your Aunts and Grandma.  Let's get back to sleeping all night and not being tiny terrors during the day.  It'll be good for all involved.

Love,
Your loving, but-having-kids-scream-at-her-all-day-is-starting-to-get-old, Mommy

--

Dear Oldest Child,

You've been pretty well awesome.  Work a little harder on that whole not-smacking-your-obnoxious-little-sister-thing, and you'll pretty much be the most amazing four year old on planet Earth.

Love,
Don't-know-what-I'd-do-without-you Mom

Sucker for a Good Deal

It may not be completely healthy, but I'm a sucker for a good deal.  I get a complete shopper's high.  It feels better than it probably should.  :-)  And I'm good at it.  Dang good at it.  I get killer deals left and right.  Greg jokes that I save him so much money he's going to need a second job.  :-) 

My absolute favorite deal right now:  Diapers
For a long time, Costco diapers were about as good as you could do.  Sure, there were some amazing couponing that could be done, but for the most part, the cheapest way to buy diapers was Costco.  Especially when you had a Costco coupon book that had a diaper coupon.  But, for the most part, that was as good as it got.  (I have gotten rare clearance deals that coupled with coupons, but those have been few and far between.)
But now -- my heart belongs to Amazon!
Have you signed up for Amazon Mom yet?  Oh my goodness people, the deals are amazing.  Not only do I get free Amazon Prime (free 2-day shipping on any order, no minimum), but when you sign up for diapers or wipes on 'subscribe and save' you get 30% off.  With free shipping and no tax.  The same diapers I was getting from Costco for 22¢ each (before tax) at Costco were suddenly like 14¢ delivered to my doorstep.  (You can cancel the subscription to the diaper order as soon as the order goes through -- I have like 9 canceled subscriptions). 
The best part though -- 'Parents' and 'Parenting' magazines have been running 20% off coupons almost monthly.  Last night I ordered a 180 pack of size 4 diapers for $17.  (9.4¢ a diaper -- more than half off of Costco's price!)  That is beyond an amazing deal.  And it makes me giddy.  It's an illness.  :-)

Oh, and my favorite website right now:  www.artscow.com
It's all photos and photo gifts.  It's in Asia, so shipping can be spendy, except that you can almost ALWAYS get free shipping deals.  They basically can put a picture on anything: decks of cards, necklaces, purses, blankets, umbrellas, mousepads, Christmas ornaments, etc.  And with the free shipping, I've gotten some fun stuff like notebooks with my kids' pictures on it shipped to my little brother in the Argentina MTC for the bargain price of $2.99.  I got photo ornaments of my kids for all the great grandparents.  I got cute coin purses with their pictures on them for my girls (they're OBSESSED with carrying coins lately) for stocking stuffers.  I sent a cute necklace to my cousin on her mission with a picture of her niece on one side and her nephew on the other for $2.99.  I've gotten a nice little chunk of Christmas done and shipped to the far corners of the globe for bargain prices. 

And don't get me started on Kohl's -- oh how I love that 30% off coupon!

Stupid Sears

Back in mid-April, I found this killer deal on a new stroller and carseat for the baby online at Sears. It was almost half off, and the brand and pattern I wanted. I was so excited. So, I ordered it, they charged my credit card the next day, and I waited for the email notification that my items were ready to be picked up at the store. And then I waited. Waited some more. I was really patient, because the online order status said it'd be almost a month. But, about six weeks later, I emailed them and asked where my item was, since they'd, you know, had my money for well over a month now. I mentioned that since I'm due in the next month, I'm kind of on a time line here. I got an email that told me basically that according to my online account the order was obviously in processing, and I just needed to be patient. It didn't address a time line whatsoever. I was annoyed by the general tone of the email, it seemed a bit condescending and rude, but didn't want to go all pregnant-woman-postal on them just 'cause I was reading something into the email that hadn't meant to be there. I did email them back and basically said that I had, in fact, been quite patient and I really was expecting my items by now so I could get things ready for the baby, and the fact they had my money for well over a month while I had no items in hand seemed a bit unfair for them to be asking me to be patient with what is obviously a ridiculous amount of time to be waiting for an already paid for item. The next day I received another email that informed me that upon further examination they've realized they are out of the item and they apologize for any inconvenience. (I like how whoever checked it the day before didn't notice the item was out of stock when they so sweetly just told me to be more patient). The email said to call and see if they could arrange a substitution. I called and asked if they could substitute the item for something else, they refused (so why mention it in the first place?), but they'd happily give me 10% off another item. I asked when I could expect my money back. "5-7 business days," I was told. Ugh. They were able to charge my card within 12 hours of my initial purchase, but of course it'll take a week to return the money they've had interest free for 7 weeks now. And now it's been a week, and Sears is still happily holding onto my money and I have no carseat and stroller for the baby I'm expecting in the next few weeks. Good times.

Edited to add: I'm now a little nervous I'm never seeing this money again, as I checked my online account with Sears, and it's showing this order as 'in process' still, and not canceled like they told me it was a week ago . . .

Buyer's Remorse

I was out running errands with Ellie this morning, while Annie was at preschool. We stopped and got some birthday party supplies for the girls' upcoming birthdays.

Oooh, off topic . . . didn't Annie's invites turn out cute?!
(Obviously edited for minimal internet privacy).

Anyway, I've spent weeks searching for 'My Little Pony' birthday loot. I've scoured approximately 27 stores, and haven't found anything until this morning. Surprisingly, K-Mart had a huge section of party supplies dedicated to 'My Little Ponies'. Favors, hats, paper products, the works. I should've been excited. Instead, I quickly did the math, and figured out it would cost me $16 just to buy enough paper plates, napkins and cups. That didn't even get me started on party hats or favors. Forget you, Ponies. I drove down the street and spent $4 to get all the same stuff in adorable butterfly patterns. (The promptly spent the rest of what I saved on random other party things, since the Dollar Store is evil and sucks you in with its bargains.) Anyway, long story short, I have now finished all my shopping for Annie's birthday party with her friends. Which is not going to be 'My Little Pony' themed. (Although we do have a pin the tail on the 'My Little Pony' game that Grandma got her weeks ago). But, that doesn't get us to the 'Buyer's Remorse' part of my day.

After saving all that money (that I didn't end up saving any of), I decided that it only made sense to stop by the new "Sweet Tooth Fairy" bakery in Draper. Mmmmm, I've been craving a good cupcake for weeks, and this place is pretty hyped, so I figured it was as good a place as any to blow money on pastries. Ellie and I braved the now pouring rain and ran into the bakery, where we were surrounded by cupcakes, cookies and cake bites that all looked to die for. Ellie was pointing at all the different cases, and then pointing at herself, while miming the act of shoveling food in her face as fast as possible. I totally understood. Everything looked so yummy. I perused the cases; I knew I wanted to try the VaNIElla cupcake I'd heard about, but the lemon looked just as good. So did the one with the chocolate covered strawberry on top. Mmmm, and the marble chocolate cake one. And the raspberry lemonade one. Key lime? That could be good. Then I made a huge mistake. While trying to narrow it down to just a few, and feeling dumber and dumber standing there gawking at the cases while Ellie screamed for more free samples, I foolishly blurted out, "I'll just take a half dozen." And quickly pointed out the six that sounded best to me, paid and got out of there. As soon as I was sitting in my van again, I called my sister Talina, "I just made a dumb purchase, blew a bunch of money stupidly, and I can't even go return it!" They're gonna be stale by tomorrow! Even pregnant, I can't possibly eat 'em all today! I'm stuck now with 5 more (amazing) cupcakes that, it turns out, are so rich and sweet that they make me kinda sick to my stomach, and cost me FOURTEEN freaking dollars. I spent $14 on six cupcakes. Do you know how many cupcakes I could've made at home for $14!? I feel kinda stupid. Especially since I'm afraid to eat any more and get sick again. That'll be the last bakery I visit for awhile -- until the next pregnancy craving hits, combined with the pregnancy forgetfulness that'll make it so I learn nothing from any of this.

Black Friday Prep

So, last night Greg and I are sitting up to the computer (him manning the comfy chair, me back seat driving from the edge of the bed) perusing several Black Friday ads that have already found their way to the internet. Greg is checking out the Sears ad (the most drool worthy of After Thanksgiving sales for him).
He's quickly scanning each page, while I ask obnoxious questions from over his shoulder like, "Ooooh, are you SURE we don't need a 7" handheld television?!" He pretty much ignores me. "Are you sure we don't want to get a Tinkerbell digital camera for Annie?"
Finally, on page 44, he stops and comments. "Oh, look at these wrenches! How do I zoom in and check these out?"
I stop and stare in disbelief, "Everyday low price!? Everyday?! Step away from the computer. You suck at Black Friday shopping."

This is why I do pretty much all of the Christmas shopping at our house.

Note to Self

Ebay and I go in spurts. Sometimes I buy some stuff, usually in excess. Sometimes I sell some stuff, to little or no success. But the other day it seemed like a good idea to buy a pair of pants I really wanted, but didn't want to pay $40 regular price for. Ebay had some 'barely used' ones in my size and everything for $4.99, free shipping. And, I double checked, it came from a smoke free home. I was sold. And won the bidding.

Note to self: next time make sure you see the words "Smoke free AND pet free home" before bidding on anything.

It actually smelt like they had shipped thier gerbil to me, the rodent stank was so overpowering.




Update on Ellie: She seems to be doing fine, the swelling has gone down a bit more, but her whole middle part of her face seems kind of sensitive, and it about broke my heart today when she bumped her nose and lip into Greg's head and started screaming. PTSD kicked in and I practically saw the flowing blood I expected to see, that wasn't really there. She's fine though. The grossest looking part though has to be the inside of her mouth, what with the dark purple bruising and the poor lighting in there, it looks like the right half of her upper gums have turned solid black, and the roof of her mouth and her tongue both have long bruises running from the front of her mouth to where I can't see anymore. I haven't had a really good look though. (Surprisingly, the 15 months old is not that cooperative of my explorative attempts into her swollen and sore mouth, so we really only get to see stuff when she's screaming or laughing.)

Bargain Shopping

Anyone who knows me is well aware of my shopping prowess (and addiction, obsession, whatever you want to call it.) Lately, I've tried very hard to stay out of stores and avoid shopping, but when Kohl's has a 30% off coupon, I always seem to get roped back in.
But this time I did well. I didn't even buy the adorable sweater that was 90% off for myself, 'cause I don't really need a new sweater. Are you proud? I am. I did get Greg some Father's Day presents, but mainly stuck to my major vice: girls clothing.
But I'm sure you can see and understand my excitement about getting these dresses at $3.00 a piece for my girls:

They're sizes 4-6, so they won't start fitting Annie 'til next year or so, but at $3.00 each, I couldn't resist! (I also got a cute little white skirt, that she's wearing now for $1.60, but I don't have a picture of it, 'cause she's out to a movie with her Uncle David).

Oh, clearance racks, how do I love thee? (I was mildly bummed Annie's shown no interest in Hannah Montana or High School Musical, since there were racks of cute accessories and purses and toys and Easter baskets all bearing those logos & pictures at 80-95% off). Now I just need to spend the rest of the month out of the stores, since all my birthday cash is now gone.

Bargain Shopping

Anyone who knows me, knows I love a good deal. A little too much. Greg teases me that I'll save us so much money we'll end up in the poor house. (I have a habit of buying a lot of stuff at 75-90% off . . . more stuff than we need, it's just SUCH a fantastic deal!)

Anyway, I was looking on RC Willey's website the other day, because with our tax return, one of my splurges was a new freezer for our garage, so I can buy other great deals (like 40 lbs of boneless skinless chicken breasts for $60, that won't fit in our kitchen refrigerator/freezer). I found a fantastic deal on their site, a freezer for $429 that was $599 everywhere else I looked online. I was fairly pleased. Then, for fun, I started looking at their clearance section. Oh my gosh people, if you haven't looked at their online clearance, go their NOW! Right now!! (OK, you can finish reading this first, but then go!) Amazing! Really, REALLY great, high quality furniture pieces, for HUGE savings.

Our tall, thin dresser looks kinda funny on the big wall of our bedroom. I've thought about buying a new piece of furniture, but I wanted something nice, and we don't have that kinda money so recently after buying a new house. Then I saw this:

Regularly $1799.00. As much as $2499 on other websites.

Clearance price at RC Willey: $199.99. I am not kidding. It was the last one and they'd sold out of most of the other pieces in the set, so they were clearancing this piece out at nearly 90% off. It was still in the box and everything. We picked it up yesterday. (It comes in two pieces, a top and a bottom . . . one piece weighs almost 300lbs! The other piece wasn't much less. It's solid.) It makes me giddy just thinking about it. (Oh, and since our current headboard is a dark cherry color, I also got a new Oak headboard (admittedly a simple one, but it matches well and is pretty) on clearance for $29.99 too.)

But if you're REALLY looking for a great deal, they have dozens of different mirrors on clearance. These are like the mirrors that attach onto a dresser or vanity, but they have a ton that never sold (since I'm assuming not everyone who buys a dresser buys the $500 mirror that goes with it.) I bought this one (it is FAR more beautiful in person than this picture lets on). List price: $500. RC Willey's price: $399.99.

My price: $9.99. There were tons of mirrors like this for $9.99, some even $5.99, ranging in regular price of $199-$899.)
This mirror is a solid, nice piece of furniture. It's huge and weighs almost 70 lbs. Greg's already figuring out how to rig something to safely mount it on the wall. (I had no need for one on a dresser, nor would it match our current dresser, but I figured $9.99 was worth seeing if we could put it up on the wall, and if not, it was going in the playroom, as a dress up mirror, just anchored to the wall but sitting on the floor.) Seriously you guys, it is probably the prettiest mirror I've ever bought! I'm still a little bargain-buzzed.

If you are in any need of a king size bed frame, or a mirror, or pretty armoires, or nightstands. You should go check it out!

Oh, my personal favorite clearance item (still $1000 at 50% off though) . . . had to be the Pirates of the Caribbean bed . . .

The Shopping Season

My inbox was littered with "Savings of a Lifetime" kinda offers from toy stores, department stores, amazon, and so on. So, I checked some of them out and was kinda surprised to see how underwhelmed I felt by the 'bargains'. All I've heard this season, especially from the likes of CNN, MSNBC and the Wall Street Journal, has been that there were going to be more amazing deals out there than we'd know what to do with. And maybe if I'd wanted like a GPS navigator, or a $400 laptop or something, I would've been thrilled the day after Thanksgiving, but when looking at stuff I'm actually interested in, I've been pretty disappointed with all of these "Never Seen Prices Like These Before" sales. My problem is, I'm already a bargain shopper. And looking at an ad full of Toys R Us' 25% off offers was laughable. (Also made me laugh: the picture of the cute little girl surrounded by all pink boxes of games, like Mystery Date and, of course, a very pink, girly Ouija board that is for "the questions girls want to know," that comes with it's own carrying case purse. What about a Ouija board lends itself to needing gender specific boards . . . does this one only reach the spirits of dearly departed divas?) Anyway, I won't buy a toy unless it's at least 50% off, or cannot be found anywhere else, online or in a store, for less. I guess, in the long run, it's better this way though. For me, not the economy. 'Cause we really don't need any more stuff. Especially while living out of boxes in someone's basement. But the shopper in me has been a little disappointed.
Although, I did finally settle on a kitchen for Annie & Ellie from Santa. (Oddly enough, not one of the three I'd posted online before as my top three picks). Shhhh, don't tell 'em. Everytime Annie's seen Santa she's told him she wants a kitchen set for her and Ellie to share. The Santa at the mall told her that the elves LOVE kitchen sets, and make him pretend dinners all the time. Annie thought this was the coolest thing ever, as she's a big fan of making people pretend pizza, and I had to resist the urge to plant a big ol' kiss on the amazing Mall Santa's rosy red cheek. I was happy to find it on sale from the manufacturer $40 cheaper than Toys R Us' sale, and with free shipping and no tax. But still, not the deal of a lifetime.

Good Friends & Good Deals

My very kind, sweet, amazing, thoughtful, friend Steph dropped by with an out-of-the-blue present for me today. Lorna Doone snack packs! I've mentioned before my new found obsession with Lorna Doone cookies since hoarding them while in the hospital for Ellie's birth. Turns out, these 'crisps' are even better than the regular cookies. And far fewer calories! Thanks Steph!


Thanks to all of you who posted on my budget/money post . . . and if anyone else has anything to add, it's always appreciated. Last night, while grocery shopping, I ended up making two seperate trips up to the customer service counter at Albertson's getting refunds. Reminding me of my number one grocery savings tip. Always, always, always, pay attention as they're ringing you up at the grocery store (any store, really.) For me this means having all coupons, shoppers cards and money/credit cards ready to go, and Ellie usually back into her carseat, so that I can pay attention. I race to get everything up on the belt before they are actually checking me out, 'cause I like to be watching the check out process from the beginning. No exaggeration, I think I catch a mistake at least one out of every three shopping trips. (Especially if you go the first night of a sale . . . you're more likely to be able to get the items you want and not need a raincheck for the super cool deals, but they haven't worked all of the bugs out of the system). Last night's mistakes at Albertsons totaled fifteen dollars. In one transaction. Had I not been watching or paying attention to what I was buying, and what the offers were, I would have been out all that money. And for me, that's a chunk of the grocery budget I can't spare. One of my purchases tonight was a chunk of money off if you bought ten of one item. Which I did. But, apparently, one variety of the product that I bought wasn't coming up in the system as part of the same promotion (even though it should have been), so when the sale totalled, it didn't take the discount off any of the items. The other 'mistake' I came across tonight was on Albertson's buy two, get two promotion. I'd bought my four items, and it wasn't until I got out to the car that I realized the purchase price of two of those items hadn't been taken off. So, I went back inside to have it fixed. I was informed that those items weren't listed in the ad. I walked the service desk lady to the display where the item was not only marked with the promotion, but the sign had a picture of the actual item on it. She still seemed wary of giving me the deal, saying again, "Well, it's not supposed to be on sale, it's not on the ad." To which I responded sweetly, "Yeah, but it is on this sign. You can take the sign down so you guys don't run into this again, but it's pretty obvious what's being advertised here, so I'd like my refund on these two items." Sometimes you have to nicely tell them what you expect from them. Usually, they'll see things your way. If not, a manager will. As long as you're being polite and reasonable.

Make a mental note of what things should cost, especially clearance items. I can't tell you how many times I've gotten something like a lipstick that was marked down to like two bucks on the shelf, and it rang it at regular price at the checkstand. If you're not watching these things (or at least checking your receipt closely when you get back to your car), you're just throwing money away (and if you're me, probably ending up with a lipstick that you would've never paid full price for . . . what is it about something being marked two bucks that makes me think I can pull off 'pink stardust' lipgloss).

So, anyway, long story short (too late), paying attention at the checkstand, knowing what you're buying and what it should cost, can save you a ton of money in the long run.

And speaking of saving money, right now at Albertson's they're running a pretty cool deal. We don't drink much soda at our house, but for the occassional root beer floats or for parties, we like to keep a couple two liter A&Ws around. Well, this week at Albertson's, buy ten 7-Up, A&W Root Beer or Sunkist two liters for ten dollars, and they'll print a ten dollar rebate form for you at the checkstand. Yep, making ten bottles of soda completely free. Not necessarily the healthiest food storage items around, but can't beat free!

Mommy's Little Helper

I'd been in my room, feeding Ellie, when I noticed it was quiet. A little too quiet. "Annie," I holler, "what are you doing, baby?"

"I'm helping, Mommy! I'm putting away the groceries!"

What-huh? I had to go check this out. That's when I found her with the baby food we'd bought today (that had all been in sacks at the top of the stairs so they could conveniently be taken downstairs to the pantry.) And went and grabbed my camera.

That's some seriously good stacking though. I don't know if I could've got 'em much higher. I'm still just impressed we don't have glass & pureed plums all over the kitchen floor. (All organic pureed plums. And peaches & kiwi. For 25 cents a jar! Score!! My baby is months away from solids, let alone fruit, but the stuff doesn't expire 'til 2011, so I of course bought every last jar they had. I'm still on a bit of a shopper's high . . . it's kinda sad, really, but these things bring me great joy.)




Unrelated to baby food stacking: I'm quite proud of myself today. I swapped out the pictures in our living room frames with updated pictures. That include Ellie. Someone would know we had two kids now by looking at our family photos. Quite frankly, I was starting to wonder if I was ever gonna get that done. I still think the basement frames might not get updated until Ellie's old enough to come ask me why her and her younger sibling(s) aren't in them.

Yellow Light Means "SLOW DOWN!"

Annie, Ellie and I attempted an early morning shopping trip. Like 8:30AM. We won't be doing that again anytime soon, Ellie was late for her morning nap and wailed most of the time we were there. But on the plus side, I was able to get 30 boxes of Quaker oatmeal & granola bars for less that $18. I told Greg in event of a natural disaster, we're completely stocked on oatmeal products now (since I also got $225 worth for $40 the day before, and $75 worth for $9 the day before that. I love coupons.) Assuming we could find water to mix with the oatmeal, I guess. Without water we may still starve to death. But then again, we'd die of dehydration before that anyway. Which means I just blew $80 on oats and we're all gonna die anyway. Great. Anyway, Annie was a little chatterbox the whole way there and back, and I made note of some of my favorite things she said:

"Green light means 'Let's go!', red light means 'stop, and yellow light means 'SLOW DOWN! SLOW DOWN!!" This cracked me up, so I asked her, "Where did you learn these things Annie?"
"From Papa."
"Grandpa taught you that?"
"Yep, G-Bob." (My Dad's self-appointed grandparent name.)
"Wow, your Grandpa is pretty smart."
"No, not really. I a genius."

Later, on the drive home, Annie suddenly exclaimed, "I'm going to tell you a story about a puppy Mommy! Once upon a time there was a puppy. His name is Dah-dah. He sleeps and sleeps and sleeps. Ever. Then he fell down. On the floor. On his head. Oh, I can't tell a story now, my baby Rosie is crying. It's OK Rosie, don't cry . . . shhhhhhhh!"

I'm still trying to figure out if Annie is two-year old prodigy in sarcasm, or if she was just trying to make me feel better about myself, but the other day, coming home from a store I had to turn into an unfamiliar neighborhood and pull into a driveway to turn around. Annie cries out, "Mommy, this is not our house! We don't live here!" As I pulled out and headed back the direction we'd come, she said, "Yeah, Mommy's a genius."

On the illness front, Ellie's fever was explained, in part at least, when Annie woke up the other night at 3AM burning up. So, they're sharing some kind of bug. I brought Annie into bed with me for a little bit while I took her temperature and gave her tylenol. Then I let her cuddle up with me. Which is foolish. Anyone who knows Annie knows she doesn't sleep anywhere but her bed. Ever. She has laid in bed with me in the middle of the night for over an hour and never fallen asleep. And the other night was no exception. After about 40 minutes of quietly cuddling, she turned to me and cried, "I want to go sleep on my floor with all of my babies!" So, we made a little bed up on her floor with about 7 different baby dolls, and she fell asleep almost immediately. I went back to my bed and realized I was sweating profusely anywhere the 100+ degree toddler had been laying next to me. It was like having my own little furnace. Which sounds good except when your house is above 70 degrees. I might start letting her sleep on the floor though, 'cause she slept 'til 8AM, instead of the 6:45-7:00AM she's been waking up lately.

X-Press Yourself

Infomercials tend to be pretty stupid. Addictive, but stupid. What is it about a paid advertisement with cheesy, second rate television hosts, that makes me convinced I need something I wouldn't even look twice at in the store? But they can be so oddly entertaining. Take the "Magic Bullet" infomercial. A batch of obnoxious neighbors, acting skeptical about everything you tell them, despite the fact you're making them all food and mixed drinks; in real life you'd want to kick them all out of your house and never attend another block party. Oh, and I'd so rip the unlit cigarette out of the old housecoat-wearing lady's mouth. You're in my freaking kitchen, don't even pretend to smoke. Go outside and imaginary puff away on your cigarette. And yet I watch it every so often, usually on a Saturday afternoon while I'm nursing and nothing else is on. Why do I watch it? I guess the lure of informercials is just that great. The "Magic Bullet" infomercial isn't completely effective though. I've watched it five or six (dozen) times, at least in part, and while I've had a passing, "That'd be cool to own" thought, I've never seriously considered buying one.

The GT X-Press 101 though. That's another story. I've wanted one of those for so long. I tell Greg every time I watch the infomercial (which is sadly fairly often, basically anytime I come across it) how much better and happier my life would be if I had one of those double welled cooking appliances. I'd be making tostada bowls and pita sandwiches and stuffed chicken and garlic bread and little miniature angel food cakes pretty much every single day. And clean up would be so easy. And everything would cook so quickly. And we'd make cinnamon rolls for breakfast at least twice as often. Where infomercials lose me though is the picking up the phone, giving them my credit card number and paying for shipping. I hate paying for shipping. And I'm much more of a hands on, see it in the store, impulse buyer. As much as I've been tempted by shrill hosts peddling their wares on television, it's never enough of a draw to get me to go find my purse, an charged portable phone, and make the call. So imagine the sheer joy of coming across the GT X-Press at Kohl's. On sale. While I was holding an additional 30% off coupon. It was all I could do to actually get the kids down for bed before running into my kitchen and starting my X-Press experiments. I made a chicken fajita stuffed tortilla concoction at 9 o'clock at night. Then I made individual chocolate cakes with snickers filling at 10 o'clock at night. Sure I went into this marriage knowing my husband wasn't much of a cake person, especially not chocolate cake, but he didn't even feign excitement as I was shoving bites of cake in his mouth last night. And again, not being a very supportive husband, Greg was against the idea of me making pineapple upside-down cake at 11 o'clock at night. So for now, I'm only two recipes into my GT X-Press cooking career, but I'm pretty sure it's going to change my life.