Coupon Frenzy

I thought I'd try my hand at some coupon clipping to help do my part in saving money during this economy. When it comes to groceries, I am a sucker for cheap items anyway, and only buy what's on sale (whether we need it or not). Daryl gets upset with me sometimes since I only buy sale items. If he wants Poptarts one week, I only buy what's on sale whether it's Kellogg's Poptarts, or the housebrand. Oops. He ONLY likes the Kellogg's kind (as if there is a huge difference). But I tell him that Poptarts isn't on sale, and way too expensive for him to enjoy. He doesn't agree. So.....I thought I'd try my handywork at some online savings and coupon clipping.

There is a gal here is Spokane (Liberty Lake, actually) who is the ultimate coupon queen and thrifty homemaker. I honestly don't know how she does it all, but she is totally amazing. Check out her blog at http://www.frugalchicliving.blogspot.com/ She knows all the great deals and does all the research for you. All you have to do is print the coupons and go to the store. Super easy. I will agree that coupon clipping does take some time, but it's kind of fun and the savings are amazing, esp. if you can get the best deal.

Here is my shopping from today. I went to Albertsons and this is what I got using coupons plus the doublers from Albertsons:

3 boxes of cereal, 3 boxes of Capri Sun, 2 Pasta salads, 1 Poptarts, and 1 Hershey syrup

It ended up totaling $10.04 and I got 10 items. That's like $1 each....for cereal! Pretty darn good if I do say so myself. And yes, we do use all of these items (maybe not the healthiest choices, but we like them and will use them).

NOTE: Okay, so I just checked the Frugal Chic blog and she went to Albertsons today and bought 10 items and only spent $2.63. See, I told you she was amazing!

April: Highlights

• Easter:
  Easter was celebrated with some friends. The kids enjoyed an egg hunt outside. The snow is finally gone....yippee!

Simple Easter tablescape....with candy, or course

• 
  Camping....sort of
  

We took our first camping trip of the season at Hell's Gate State Park in Lewiston, Idaho. We actually rented a small cabin vs. using the tent trailer. It was fantastic. We had wonderful weather and the kids really enjoyed the experience. Oh, the main reason for the camp out....Daryl participated in a MT bike race at the locale.

We even had a porch swing outside our 1 room cabin

Henry got to sleep on the top bunk....super fun.

March: Highlights

• San Jose, here I come

I took a weekend trip by myself to visit my high school gal pal. It was my first trip away from Natalie since she's been born. Finally, huh? It was a wonderful weekend get away. My friend, Suzanne, lives in San Jose so the warm climate was a great welcome, especially after our Spokane winter. I told her I just wanted to relax and hang out, and that's exactly what we did. Although we did seem to do quite a bit of stuff, it wasn't hectic at all, and it was just what I needed to recharge my batteries.

We started out Friday night at Santana Row, a great community of upscale shopping, restaurants, hotels, and condos. We enjoyed some wine tasting and then a late dinner. On Saturday we ate breakfast in Saratoga, a quaint little town at the foothills of the Santa Cruz mountains, then enjoyed the rest of the day wine tasting at the local wineries. We ended the day back at Suz's condo with a crackling fire and sushi take-out (which by the way was awesome!). On Sunday we drove over the hills to Santa Cruz and enjoyed the ocean and pier before heading back to the airport. It was a quick weekend, but oh so worth it. I can't wait to do it again!

Dinner at Village California Bistro and Wine Bar

Wine tasting at the Ridge Winery

The Pier at Santa Cruz

• Bathtime = fun time

• Silly kids

February: Highlights

• Henry started pre school.

His speech has always been a bit delayed so I had him evaluated at the beginning of the year. Well, since he is 3, the school district picks up the tab for any needed speech therapy. Well, it was determined that he needed it. So, his options were to either meet with a speech therapist twice a week for a 15-20 minute session, or to go to pre-school 4 days a week for 2.5 hours a day and meet with a speech therapist twice a week for a 15-20 minute session. We opted for pre-school. What a great decision that was. His speech is slowly improving and he is having a great time at school. He is more social and really enjoying all the kids, teachers and activities. The best thing....it's free! (or at least paid by the school district, aka, our taxes). Henry is really enjoying it (and all the fun things they do....I want to go back to pre-school...FUN!)

First day of school...and sis is giving him some confidence

Sporting his chef hat (which he made at school) and ready to get to work in the kitchen

• Best of Buddies

• Henry the photographer

and no, this picture was not planned (I actually do housework once in a blue moon, believe it or not)

Finally, pictures from our AZ trip in January

Enjoying ice cream at the kiddie pool at Pebble Creek

Picking oranges from Nana and Papa's fruit tree


Sitting pretty in pink




Natalie and Papa strolling the ledge





Henry and Nana strolling the ledge

Blogging....take two

Okay, so I haven't been blogging at all this year. You can read my excuses in my last blog, but really, I just haven't done it. So, I've decided to try something a little different. My blogs will just be highlights of the current month. I am hoping that this will get me excited about blogging again, plus it will be super fast and simple. I guess I have just been really lazy about journaling our lives for 2009 and I have taken very few pictures this year as well. Pathetic, I know, but true. Hopefully these highlights will get things moving again.

Thanks to all of you faithful bloggers and thanks for helping me get my butt back into blogging.

Hello? Anybody home?

Yes, we are still here. I just have not been blogging for awhile. Here are my reasons (excuses) for lack of blogging diligence:

• I'm really tired (which I blame my daughter for sleepless nights....maybe when she's a teenager she will sleep all the time...hmmmm...doubtful)
• This weather is just plain ridiculous and I'm too cold to do anything, including exercise, diet, and blog. This probably explains the extra 10 pounds I've hauling around. Yes, one could say it's "insulation", but I know it's just fat.
• I've been spending a lot of time on Facebook the last couple of weeks reconnecting with old friends and trying to navigate my way through the phenomenon. It's been a blast and has consumed probably too much of my extra time. It is fun though and I am grateful for all the friends I have found and all the catching up we have done.
• We just got back from a 12 day hiatus in warm, sunny Arizona visiting my snowbird parents. It was a wonderful and much needed vacation. In addition, my parents do not have internet, or even a computer, so even if I wanted to blog, I wasn't able to. I will post that vacation soon.
• I am just plain lazy and like to make excuses.

So there you have it. Choose one or several of the excuses above, and that's what has happened to me. I am choosing answer "All of the above"

Mini Vacation

For one of our family Christmas presents, we decided to travel the long distance to Coeur d'Alene and spend the night. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Hayden, which is just north of CDA, and is connected to Triple Play, a family fun center. The main reason for our visit was that Triple Play has an indoor water park called Raptor Reef and we thought that would be great for our family especially during this weather.

The water park is not overly big, but it was just perfect for our family. Because we went on a Thursday, it was not crowded at all and we basically had the whole park to ourselves. They had 3 big waterslides, which Daryl and I really enjoyed, a wave pool, and a kiddie pool with some water toys and small slides.

Our overnight stay in the hotel included 4 passes to the waterpark that day (4 pm to 9 pm) and also 2 hours the next morning (10 am to noon/checkout). It was perfect. The kids had a blast, even though they petered out rather quickly, but that was okay too. I think it will be even more fun when the kids are older (and taller) so they can ride the big slides and the adults can ride them more too!

Mailbox Mayhem

My neighbor called me this morning to let me know that our mailbox had been bombed. Yup, bombed...Can you believe it? He thought he heard a big boom at around 11 pm the night before and this morning when he went to retrieve his newspaper, he noticed that our mailbox had been the target. Daryl found an empty 1 liter pop bottle in the street and thought someone had just littered, so since it was garbage day, he just put the bottle in the trash can. It turn out that the bottle was the bomb.

The back of our mailbox was blown off but the rest remained intact. The entire box was probably 1 1/2 times it's normal size. It was weird. I think it was just a random act, but who knows. Daryl said there may be a couple of people at work that could be mad at him, but he thinks they wouldn't bomb the mailbox (they might slash his truck tires though....hmmmm). We called the police just to file a report, but since it was a mailbox incident, they sent an officer out to investigate. Our mail carrier came to the door today with our mail and was shocked to see our mailbox. She was so cute. She said that the post office x-rays everything and that it should not have been anything she put in there. I told here it was done late at night, probably mischievous kids, but who knows. We have since put up a new mail box. I hope this one will last. We shall find out.

And I thought our neighborhood was safe.....Beware. These things can happen anywhere.

Sinus something

Natalie has been sporting the green slimy nose since before Christmas. Yuck, I know. It hasn't been too bad, just an inconvenience. Other than that, she is acting and feeling just fine. Well I finally took her in to the Dr's office and she was diagnosed with a sinus infection. Hmmm. She was given a round of antibiotics and low and behold the green slime is gone. I guess I should have taken her in earlier, but hey, it wasn't anything urgent. Although I probably wouldn't have had to follow her around with a kleenex for as long as I did. We are all glad she is doing better.

Sledding Party

Because of all this wonderful snow, I quickly threw together a last minute sledding party with some neighbors and friends. My sis and family were here so I thought it might be fun for them to enjoy the festivities as well.

After a few runs, the snow was packed down enough to make for some fun sledding. It was quite the workout trudging up the hills though, especially in areas that had not been groomed. The snow was at least 2 feet deep if not more in some areas. Whew, what a workout.

We enjoyed soup and cocoa and brownies and Daryl made a fire in the outdoor fire pit. Many of us were huddled around the campfire trying to stay warm when not sledding. It was a beautiful day for the party: blue sky, sunshine, but only 12 deg. BRRRRR. Thank goodness for the fire!

It may not look that exciting, but it's very very fast. YIKES!

Lisa and Lucas taking a thrill ride

Huddled around the fire to stay warm

The Richardsons are Coming....maybe

My sister and her family were originally going to come to Spokane for Christmas, but due to the crazy weather, that trip was postponed. They decided to come out on New Year's Day instead. Well, again the weather did not allow for that. In fact, all the mountain passes in the state were closed due to avalanche threats and heavy snowfall. We didn't think they were going to be able to come at all. But, on the 2nd the passes reopened and there was a break in the weather. They drove over. What would normally take about 4 1/2 hours to drive, took them 6 because of the icy roads. Luckily they all made it in 1 piece.

Lucas, Henry and Uncle Tian having a laugh

We enjoyed their company over the weekend before they headed back to Seattle early Sunday morning (to avoid the next big storm system). The kids had a great time playing with each other. It is fun to see that the cousins do not miss a beat even though they don't see each other that often. The last time was in October when we were in Seattle for my 20 year HS reunion.

Bath Buddies (girl included)

Playing catch-up

With the hustle and bustle of all the holidays, I just have not been blogging. Now I am finally sitting down to do some catching up. Of course my blogs will be post dated, but that's okay, right?

I told Daryl that I am playing catch up on my blogging. He said, "Plain Ketchup????" It was funny at the time. I guess you had to be there.

Happy New Year!

Welcome 2009! We are looking forward to a healthy and happy new year.

Wordless Wednesday: I'm cold and hungry

Shoveling the roof

We have had record snowfalls to date which is okay considering it has been cold dry snow. Well, this week it has warmed up a tad (temps in the 20's vs. single digits) which means there is more water in the air and snow. Hence the roof snow load is getting heavier. Daryl was up on the roof shoveling snow off the porch overhang. A few roofs in town have actually collapsed due to the heavy snow loads. It's been crazy.

More snow...

And the snow just keeps coming. Almost daily a new storm comes in and blankets the already white city of Spokane with more snow. I have never seen this much snow here in the 15 years I have been living here. It's crazy. We have been staying home alot just because I don't even want to try to drive around with everyone else in these conditions. Needless to say, I have missed all the good "after Christmas" sales. I guess I didn't need anything that badly anyway.

Travel plans delayed

My sister and her family were supposed to come over Christmas day from Seattle. They were planning on spending the long weekend here in snowy Spokane. Unfortunately, the weather dictated otherwise. Seattle even had quite a bit of snow which is unusual for them. I think they even had a white Christmas. We have postponed their visit until next week. Hopefully the weather will be more accommodating.

Merry Christmas!

We awoke this morning to a beautiful winter wonderland and a very White Christmas. It was just wonderful. We spent the morning, just the Lohstroh four, opening gifts and playing with our new presents. Henry was most intrigued that Santa had come and eaten a bite out of each cookie and drank all the milk. It was really cute to see him so excited.

Later that day our neighbors, the Jones', and our friends, the Cassies, came over for an early dinner. All 5 kids had a great time playing with each other, which let the parents have some quiet adult time together. We even had a kid table for dinner, something I didn't think would happen for several more years. Yippee!

It was a wonderful Christmas day with family and friends.

Christmas Eve

We went to Daryl's sister's house for Christmas Eve. It is actually Daryl's mom's birthday too, so we do a birthday/Christmas celebration. It was a great time. Unfortunately the weather was just crazy. It snowed all day and night which made driving a bit treacherous. But we made it there and back in one piece.

Instead of having a traditional Christmas Eve dinner like we have in years past, we all opted to do appetizers instead. This way we could just nibble all evening long in between all the gift giving and games. It worked out well especially since the whole family is a bunch of "grazers" anyway. We had quite the spread of delectable yummies. I think I gained 5 pounds in one night. It was awesome.

Natalie and Henry had a great time with the family, too. They enjoyed playing with cousin Makenzie (9) and 2nd cousin Parker (6) and of course really enjoyed opening up all their gifts. The family definitely spoiled them once again.

Happy Birthday Mom and Merry Christmas Lohstroh Family!