Brooklyn's 3rd Birthday

Ok, so the pictures didn't end up in any particular order, but oh well. We celebrated Brookie's birthday at my sisters house in Jerome. The Lion's club had to run the food booth at the horse races so since we were all over there, we stayed to party!

Lots of pinata candy! Actually way too much candy for 6 kids!!

Mady really enjoyed the pinata candy!! Particularly the suckers!

I love Logan's face in this picture! She picked out a ladybug pinata for her party.


grandma Haney decorated a princess birthday cake for her.

She was so excited opening up her presents! It was so cute, she kept saying "Wow!"

Lots of princess stuff for the princess!

A "rellellella" shirt! (that's how she says Cinderella)

she loved her princess cake

the party girl!!

Fathers Day

Yes, I know I'm late getting it posted, but I just wanted you to see my "super dad" from fathers day. Although he had to share his day with Brooklyn's birthday and me having to work at the horse races, Bryan had a good day.

He is the best husband and baby daddy (haahaahaa). We love him so much, he is our super dad!

Freedom Isn't Free

One of my friends is currently serving our country in Kuwait and he posted this story on his facebook page. I was so moved by it I thought I would share:


True Story....

Luke AFB is west of Phoenix and is rapidly being surrounded by civilization that complains about the noise from the base and its planes, forgetting that it was there long before they were. A certain lieutenant colonel at Luke AFB deserves a big pat on the back. Apparently, an individual who lives somewhere near Luke AFB wrote the local paper complaining about a group of F-16s that disturbed his/her day at the mall. When that individual read the response from a Luke AFB officer, it must Have stung quite a bit.

The complaint: 'Question of the day for Luke Air Force Base: Whom do we thank for the morning air show? Last Wednesday, at precisely 9:11 A..M, a tight formation of four F-16 jets made a low pass over Arrowhead Mall, continuing west over Bell Road at approximately 500 feet. Imagine our good fortune! Do the Tom Cruise-wannabes feel we need this wake-up call, or were they trying to impress the cashiers at Mervyns early bird special? Any response would be appreciated.

The response: Regarding 'A wake-up call from Luke's jets' On June 15, at precisely 9:12 a.m., a perfectly timed four- ship fly by of F-16s from the 63rd Fighter Squadron at Luke Air Force Base flew over the grave of Capt. Jeremy Fresques. Capt Fresques was an Air Force officer who was previously stationed at Luke Air Force Base and was killed in Iraq on May 30, Memorial Day. At 9 a. m. on June 15, his family and friends gathered at Sunland Memorial Park in Sun City to mourn the loss of a husband, son and friend. Based on the letter writer's recount of the fly by, and because of the jet noise, I'm sure you didn't hear the 21-gun salute, the playing of taps, or my words to the widow and parents of Capt. Fresques as I gave them their son's flag on behalf of the President of the United States and all those veterans and servicemen and women who understand the sacrifices they have endured.. A four-ship fly by is a display of respect the Air Force gives to those who give their lives in defense of freedom. We are professional aviators and take our jobs seriously, and on June 15 what the letter writer witnessed was four officers lining up to pay their ultimate respects.
The letter writer asks, 'Whom do we thank for the morning air show? The 56th Fighter Wing w ill make the call for you, and forward your thanks to the widow and parents of Capt Fresques, and thank them for you, for it was in their honor that my pilots flew the most honorable formation of their lives.

Only 2 defining forces have ever offered to die for you.....Jesus Christ and the American Soldier.. One died for your soul, the other for your freedom.

Lt. Col. Grant L. Rosensteel, Jr. USAF


I think that sometimes while we live comfortably in our free country, we forget about what our service men and women are sacrificing to provide our freedom and safety. This is a great reminder. Next time you see a member of our military, thank them for their service!!

Deal of the Day

Great! Now I've crossed over into one of those freaky coupon ladies. First it was my upgrade to the coupon binder (which I'm still a little embarrassed about) and now I'm taking pictures of my purchases. Crap. I may need an intervention soon. All freakiness aside, I had to share this awesome deal.

4 bottles of All 64 load detergent, and 2 bottles of All Small and Mighty detergent.

retail price: $63.94

my awesome price: $14.40!!!!

I usually use Tide, and one bottle of Tide is more than I spent on all of these bottles. So here's hoping I like All!!

How'd I do it? Well, All Small and Mighty was on sale for $4.50 -20% in a coupon back on a next purchase - $4 in doubled coupons. I doubled 1 $.40 coupon on the big bottle of All but it rang up at $3 a bottle!! The shelf said $12.99. I don't know why, the cashier didn't know why but we went with it and I bought all they had on the shelf! (insert pat on the back! )

Coupon Secrets Revealed!

I have been having a great time couponing! It took me a little bit of time and research, but I like to think I have pretty much learned the ropes. It takes a lot of work, but in the end it is SO worth it! I have spent many late nights awake clipping and filing and reading blogs about where to find the best deals, and I have found some great ones! My favorite was one of my last transactions at Albertson's. I bought 7 Kraft Easy Mac cups. I spent $.18 and saved $8.33!!! Smith's had their premixed Koolaid containers on sale and with my coupons I ended up paying $.50 each for them! The regular price was $3.99. I also bought some Country Time Lemonade premixed containers for $.25, regular price was also $3.99.

I have had a lot of people asking me for my secrets and advice. Well, I don't really have secrets. Most of my "tricks" I have learned from what I have read from others and trial and error. But I have saved so much and decided to share some of my favorite websites with you so you can too, if you'd like.

I follow a lot of blogs and a very easy way to do this is to create a Google Reader account. It's on the google sight and it's way easy and a great way to browse thru all your favorite blogs without having to go to each one of them individually.

My two favorite blogs are krazycouponlady.blogspot.com and dealseekingmom.com. If you are just starting, go to krazycouponlady's sight and read the 10 days section. Great information on everything you need to know to get started. I also have several others I follow, if you'd like those as well, let me know.

I also like pinchingyourpennies.com if you go to the state forums, they have a list of all the great deals at local stores in your area. There is also a place on here to print off shopping lists of things that are on sale and coupons that may apply for stores like Smiths, Albertson's and Walmart.

I buy multiple newspapers each week, especially if there are good coupons in them. I have also started buying the Idaho Statesman because it has more coupons than the Times News does. If there are good coupons, paired up with a great sale, usually you can get things for free or really close to it and this makes it great for stocking up.

There are also a lot of coupons available to print on the Internet. Some of my favorite sights are:

coupons.com, smartsource.com, redplum.com, afullcup.com (this sight has Target store coupons available which can be paired with a man coupon for added savings!!) and albertsons.com also has store printable coupons. Remember when you print these off, usually you are allowed 2 of each coupon so don't forget to go back and print them again!

Ebay also has tons of coupons available to purchase. If there is a great deal that comes out to free with coupons, you can go buy some on Ebay and stock up. I did this with Kraft salad dressing. It was free with the coupon so I bought 10 coupons on Ebay for $3 and now I have my years supply of dressing for $3 plus tax!

Albertson's has been doing a lot of double coupon deals lately so see if your store is participating because this makes for awesome deals. They double man coupons up to $1 but there is usually a 3 coupon double limit per person per transaction. Please follow the rules, for the sake of those of us that do, so that you don't ruin it for everyone. They have stopped allowing people to do multiple transactions at a time so that everyone in line doesn't suffer behind you, but I still see people trying to weasel their multiple transactions in. Kmart also does doubles and sometimes triple coupons as well, so you just have to watch their ad to see when they are doing it.

If you have any questions just let me know and I'll do my best to help you out if you need it. Like I said, it takes a bit of work and if you're not ready to commit to the little bit of work to get a great deal, then this isn't for you. But if you're ready to cut your grocery bill in half and stock up on the things you are going to use for free or close to it, then jump in with both feet and get going!!! Best of luck!!

My Big Boy

My big boy graduated from kindergarten on Tuesday. It's a little bitter sweet for me. He's my only boy! And while I am so proud of him and how far he has come....he's my only boy!! He did promise me that he'll always be my little boy so I guess I have to come to grips with the fact that he's going to grow up, whether I like it or not.

Accepting his certificate from his teacher, Mrs. Moore.

Atta boy, Logan!!!!

His star student award from Mrs. Moore. I am also proud to say Logan was the only person in his class to get the perfect attendance award!!

They were promised soda after graduation so as you can see he was pretty proud to have his own can of soda!

Man I'm gunna miss his teacher! She was so awesome with Logan, and her and I grew to be friends. She had a baby a few weeks ago and so she's not going to be teaching next year. I was bummed because I was hoping Brooklyn would get her for a teacher in a couple of years. She was a perfect fit for Logan. He learned a lot from her and really matured this year. I had my doubts at the beginning of the year, I even talked to the doctor about possible ADHD, but Logan proved me wrong. I think he just had some growing up to do. He really made a lot of progress this year and we are so, so proud of him!!

My Smart Girl

Alexis accepting her awards from the vice-principal and principal

Holding up her awards for reading and straight A's!!! She and only 2 other kids in her class were in the Accelerated Reading program but this award was for reading for 650 minutes at home. They got the certificate and a pass to Roaring Springs!

Her teacher, Mrs. Carlson, giving her a trophy for math. Only 8 kids in her class made it to the goal of addition and subtraction to 18, and they all got trophies for it. Alexis went on even further than that and is doing division now.

She's just as proud as I am! She loves school and as you can see is such a great student. She doesn't want summer to come because she doesn't want to be away from school for that long.

Way to go Lexy June!!!!