Hungry?!?

I am sure nearly everyone out there reading this blog knows: a) we are in the process of getting our house ready for sale; and b) I am an avid couponer!  I have always used coupons, but a little over a year ago I discovered coupon blogs and I have not shopped the same way since!  About a month ago I got all of the items in the above picture for FREE!  (Plus, several more items not in the photo.) 

As a stay-at-home-mom I believe part of my job is to stretch our dollars as far as possible.  Some (husbands) may consider my methods a bit extreme, but the numbers don't lie!  It is well known that the way to save the most money on groceries is to stock up when you can get things cheap to even free when you can combine sales + coupons.  I have always stockpiled.  I like to blame it on genetics.  My mom did it...her mom did it.... But again, I think I have taken it to another level.  I spent several hours on Saturday cleaning out my pantry and packing up most of my stockpile to help make our house appear spacious.  This was a very difficult task for me.  Below is a picture I took of some of what I packed up.  This doesn't show everything nor do I think it conveys the full scope of what was there.  I had already boxed approximately 75 canned and jarred goods.  I think Scott counted about 76 boxes of cereal!  (Nine of which were open, and most of those nearly gone.)  I try not to pay more than $1.50 per box...with the exception of Scott's absolute favorite, Honey Bunches of Oats, which is difficult to find for less than $2.50 a box.  Now, we eat a TON of cereal for a family of 4.  We probably go through at least 4 boxes a week!

This is the "after" picture of my pantry.  A huge improvement from when things would fall out at you if you were not careful.  As you can see, I still have quite a bit left after I packed everything above. 



I am very proud of my stockpile.  I spend many hours trying to get the most for our money.  And you can't deny, no one can ever say that there is nothing to eat in our house!  Although, I am going to have to be careful of the effect this has on our children.  I was working on cleaning out last night while Ethan was eating his bedtime snack.  As he watched me take things out of the pantry he kept saying, "Don't take my food!  Don't take my food!"  

P.S.  There are times when I definetly can get more than our family needs of an item for pennies or less.  For example, the 16 boxes of pasta I got for free last week!  In those cases, I donate!

A few new pictures...

Kissing Boo-Boo's

Scott is on spring break this week and yesterday we experienced a bit of a role reversal.  I went to work while he stayed home with the kids! He had a good day with the kids and did a great job getting laundry and taxes done while I was gone.  He even had dinner ready when I got home!  This is the conversation I had with Ethan after I got home last night.  Ethan: "Mommy, you went to help people?"  Me:  "Yes, I went to work to help people."  Ethan: "Mommy, you kissed the boo-boo's?"  Apparently, Scott told him that I went to work to help people who are hurt....and what does this mean to a 3-year-old?  Kissing boo-boo's!  I love the mind of a child!  (That is, until that mind is figuring out excuses to get out of bed!)

The New Spring Line

Alli spent a little bit of time this morning modeling a few of her spring/summer clothes that I picked up last year.  She already loves clothes (a trait she picked up from both sides of the family...mom and Grandma Lawrance!) and likes to carry them around the house.  She's got the runway walk (sometimes run) down, and occasionally manages to "strike a pose"!



A summer wardrobe would not be complete without the bathing suit and matching cover-up!  She's ready for the beach!  (or lake!)

And of course the suit has to have a cute bow on the back!



Time Flies When You are Having Fun!

Well, it's official...Alli is one-year-old!  It amazing how quickly the past year has gone by and how much has happened during that year.  It's hard to believe that a year ago Scott was still working on his doctorate and had not even interviewed for his position at UIndy yet.  Over the past few days I have really reflected on how many highs and lows the year brought.  Despite all of the sadness we have experienced, I am truly thankful that Scott's mom got to meet her first granddaughter.  I believe that the timing of the births of both Allison and Josh was part of a Greater Plan because the joy they have brought into our lives has helped ease the pain of the entire family.  Peg lives on through her grandchildren.

Here are a few of the pictures from Alli's First Birthday party!  She loved her cake!  You can see more pictures here.

Say "Cheese"!!!

I can hardly believe it but Alli will be 1 year old in 10 days!  Time flies when you are having fun!  The big news is that she is walking!  Not just a few steps at a time, but full fledged walking!  She can even stand herself up without holding onto anything.  I will try to take a video of that and post it soon.  She also has a new "cheese" face.  Everytime we point the camera at her she give us a silly smile!

 She also thinks sitting on Daddy's shoulders and banging on his head is great fun!

Dad got to stay home with us a few extra days last week due to all of the ice!  Ethan really enjoyed having Daddy around...he likes to cuddle with him after his nap!

Walking!!!!

Happy 2011!

Well, it is pretty safe to say that we are WAY behind in our blogging, as well as pretty much everything else, around here.  In fact, I just downloaded all of the Christmas pictures last night!  Things are changing quickly in our house...Alli is up to 20lbs and ready to walk any day.  In fact, she even takes a step or two on her own a couple times a day.  We fully anticipate that one of these days we are going to look up to see her walking across the floor.  We have all been sick over the last week with a nasty cold.  Alli was not too interested in eating for a couple of days so I put some apple juice in her sippy cup to see if I could entice her into drinking something.  It was the first time she has had juice, and the resulting faces she made were hilarious!  She seemed to be saying, "This stuff is AWESOME!" and "I can't believe you gave this to me, Mom!"