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Oldest Biggest Day

Oldest had a big day today, surgery #2 on his ear. See, he had this lump that showed up a year or so ago and we had it removed in October. Pathology report: cyst. Gross.

Pre-op, too cool for school 

The day we went to pick up Charley from his deployment Oldest's ear started oozing. Even grosser.

ENT doctor decided he needed to go back in and clean out whatever is built up in there- hence surgery #2. So as of right now there are a few options as to what exactly was growing in his ear lobe.

#1: another cyst
#2: the sutures from surgery 1 didn't dissolve properly and became infected
#3: unknown

Post-op, not so cool now huh...

So now we are playing the waiting game until the lab sends its findings. Hopefully next week we will have some answers.

Lucky boy got to keep his ear lobe!! 

Dr. wasn't sure he could save it =) 

Cross your fingers and dot your i's that this is the end of ear lobe drama.

Poor boy has been sleeping ever since. 

Codine is good like that.

Animal Education, by Randall

Watch and be educated. If you produce nature shows of one kind or another keep this guy in mind for your next gig. I bet more people would watch documentaries if they were as fantastic as this one.

Easter Baskets and Naked Bunnies

Searching for the "perfect" Easter basket for Littlest has been a hair pulling, "no you aren't getting Dora so stop having a fit or I will give you a real reason to cry," "Holy cow, I'm never bringing you out in public again. Ever." sort of thing every year. Of course it could be worse. I could have to search for a basket for Oldest too. Luckily for me C's mom saves everything including his childhood basket. Oldest has since inherited said bunny basket and loves it- saving me precious brain cells every year. 

Littlest had the cutest basket for a few years before it turned into a toy and was subsequently destroyed. Every basket since has followed in its predecessor's footsteps so this year I decided I wouldn't spend any more money on something she will destroy in less than a week. You guessed it- I made one.

Crochet holding 3 colors of yarn together: Green Purple White

Problem is, this is boooooooorrrrrrrring so I added in some green and purple ribbon.

Not gonna lie, I still think this is fairly boring so I scoured the internet for some sort of appliqué or something to give this baby some life. I went with naked bunnies. 

Naked bunny needed a friend. And a bow tie. Every 'bunny' knows naked looks better with a bow tie. And an eyeball, they definitely needed eyeballs.

See there? All dresses up in their bow ties and ready for their chippendale auditions. Poor bunny on the left doesn't stand a chance, they don't like guys with droopy eyeballs and his just won't stay up.

So here we have it folks, one naked bunny Easter basket. Total cost: 0 dollars. Mental humor every time I see it: PRICELESS.

(although I still think its kinda boring, any suggestions?) 

ps. keep in mind this is for a 4 year old.

pps. any ideas on what to put in a 10 year old boy's Easter basket? I'm clueless.

Ideas, Thinking, and Such

I miss you guys!!!!


Now to the goods without further apology for my long absence here it is:

I think once a week or so I'm going to post about free stuff. This will be mostly for my couponing buddies so if you aren't interested, well, too bad :)

Besides, who doesn't like free stuff?


In further news: We spent spring break in Nashville and I LOVED it. If you haven't been to Gaylord Opryland you are missing out. Except we didn't actually stay there cause lets face it- I'm no millionaire, so we sneaked in the back door and wandered aimlessly for hours. Thats how we roll.

Me and Momma of B-Dub

INSIDE Opryland. Yes, inside.

Crazy Couponer? Semi-Guilty.

I decided a few months ago to give the whole "couponing" thing a try even though it made me feel super extremely old. And embarrassed. Maybe a little crazy.

Worth it? You decide. I'm going to break down my short trip to Walgreen's from today. Keep in mind that during the last few months I learned about fantastic things like "multiple transactions" and "coupon matchups" and other extremely time consuming and embarrassing endeavors all in the name of savings. 

Total Items Purchased (quantities in parenthesis):

(4) 2-liters Pepsi products

(2) Gillette ProGlide Razer

(2) Pill Glide Spray

(2) Jumbo Pk Pampers

(4) Vicks Drops

(6) Bagged "W" brand candy

(6) Kraft Home-style Mac and Cheese

Total cost of all items before sales/discounts/coupons: 99.39

Total Walgreen's Advertised Savings (including store coupons): 23.52

Total Manufacturer Coupons: 39.00

Total Savings: 62.52

Out of Pocket expense: 36.87

Now here is where I really bank because Wags does this thing called Register Rewards which works like cash back to use on your next purchase. Every week they offer new RR deals and I scoop up as many as possible! This is where multiple transactions come in as most are limit one per customer. Well, if  I check out twice that makes me 2 customers :) 

Total RR generated this trip: $23.00

If I apply the RRs to my savings for this trip it works out to be $85.52 in savings for $99.39 in merchandise or said another way: paying $13.87 for $99.39 worth of merchandise. 

The other advantage to Wags is the catalina coupons that print with the RRs. Today I generated an additional $14.00 of coupons- but I won't add those to todays savings because I haven't used them yet.

Sounds awesome right? Well the truth is yep, I am pretty awesome. And I really did save tons today but I DID spend $36.87 out of pocket, and the Register Rewards are great and help make up for that BUT you have to actually use them! And like all other coupons they do have an expiration date so if I forget to take them with me or they expire before I have a chance to use them then the savings isn't really so great. And that my webbies is where the stores win. They count on you to forget or not use the RRs because they get to keep that money. 

Maybe I need to devise another way of accounting for savings- like not including RRs until I actually use them in a transaction. That way I only factor in my "real" savings. Hmmmm, deserves some thought.

On and end note: Tons of my Facebook peeps keep asking HOW DO YOU DO IT??? So maybe I will sit down and write a tutorial on how to coupon. Advise.

The Hauntings Continue!

Remember how I mention that my car is possessed?  

(my car only wishes it was this cool)

Well, Mr Poltergeist has decided that due to the cold weather we have been experiencing he needed to relocate. And so he has packed his bags and moved into my house; Oldest's room to be precise. And sometimes the hallway for a change of scenery (and smellery I'm sure). 

He likes to make his presence known in the evening hours by blocking out all light in Oldest room (and/or the hallway). And by blocking light I mean he doesn't allow the lights to be turned on. Just so we are clear: said lights function properly all day long- turning on and off with the flip of the switch. Then during the evening (when light is needed most) he pulls his dastardly prank and no amount of light switch flipping will rid the room of darkness. 

All things considered it really isn't the worst haunting ever- pretty clever if you ask me. He must know the boy loves the Goosebumps series (what 10yo boy doesn't?) and enjoys a little harmless prank on occasion.

 It could be worse, for instance he could go bump in the night invoking a pistol wielding B-Dub to come racing down the stairs. Lets face it, nothing is scarier than a B-Dub woken from sleep by bumps in the night: with or without pistol, the hair is scary enough to rid the premises of all but the most determined evil-doers in possession of great intestinal fortitude. I kid not.

Now picture this with no flat iron or styling products. Super Scary.

But here is my warning dear Mr.Poltergeist, the Daddy is coming home and he doesn't take kindly to other guys trying to move in on his turf. Your days are numbered. Just sayin. 

Two-ish Weeks

Its almost time my Webbies! Charley is leaving his Combat OutPost in like two freakin weeks! Of course that doesn't mean he will be home in two weeks it just means he is leaving his current location and will be on the way. Still no due date, but heck who needs one! I'm just excited he will be getting the heck outta there.

Maybe then I can get back to blogging. I don't write much these days because I don't have anything nice to say, once he is home I won't have anything left to bitch about.... And for some reason that sentence isn't making sense so I'm gonna pretend I didn't write it and move on....



This is what Charley has been up to the last 11 months. He is in the second truck. He also reports that the cell that recorded this video is no longer around thanks to the boot they shoved up their turbaned behinds!!!!

(if that video doesn't work try this link- and remember I am a tech-NO! so pretty proud that I actually copied a link in the first place : )  )

I can't wait for my Hero to be home!!!