Simon's First Soccer Game

Simon had his first soccer game today. It was so much fun. Being the proud momma that I am, I of course though he was the cutest kid on the field! He did a really great job kicking the ball and trying to steal it from the other team. He even made a goal! He was just thrilled to death.

It's kinda funny to watch them because there are five kids from each team running around in a big herd, trying to kick the ball. They don't have goalies, and they don't keep score. Most of the kids don't even know what direction they are supposed to be kicking the ball. It was absolutely hilarious! Buddy sure was a good little player though. He is so excited for his next game. And frankly, I think it's worth the $40 to let him play, just for the entertainment value!

Simon kicking his goal!:

After he made his goal:

His shoe kept falling off (at one point he was running around trying to kick the ball, while holding his shoe):

Simon and his buddy Callaway:

Simon and his other buddy Noah:

I love this picture:

Nolan starts soccer in a couple weeks. . .now that should be entertaining!

"My Toes is Buzzin'!"

Nolan was playing upstairs on the computer yesterday, and he came running downstairs yelling, "MOM! MOMMY! My toes is buzzin'!"
So I said, "Your toes are what?"
"My TOES is BUZZIN'!"
"I don't know what your saying Nolan." ( I really couldn't understand him)
So he lifted his foot in my face and yelled "MY TOES, THEY'RE BUZZIN'!"
"Oh, you're foot is asleep?"
"NO, my toes is BUZZIN' mom!"

That's a pretty good description if you ask me. . . he's such a cute little Nolan.

Happy Birthday Simon!

Our sweet Simon just turned five on Saturday! We let him have a friend birthday party this year. He was so excited. I told him he could invite five friends. . .and Nolan had to be one of them. :) So, he invited Nolan, Callaway and Noah who are neighbors, Collin his cousin, and Carter from preschool. (Bella stayed at my mom's house, thanks mom!)

They all met at our house, and as soon as everyone was there, we loaded them up and took them to Chuck E. Cheese.
They were all so excited and they were so good! They thought it was so cool to go play games with their "money." I think the favorite of all the boys was air hockey.

For Ben and I it was a living Hell. There were so many people there. You had to wait in line for a lot of the games. There is pretty much NO parent supervision, so there are kids butting in line, and playing a game ten times. Then there were adults who were playing the games, making the little kids wait in line. Hello? It was kind of pathetic.

Luckily for Ben and I, the boys didn't even notice, and they had a great time! Which, I guess, is all that matters! After the boys used all of their coins, and were filled up on pizza and soda, we went back to our house for cake, ice cream, and presents! Simon had a great birthday party! He is still thanking me for letting him have a friend party and go to Chuck E. Cheese.

We love our little Buddy so much. He is just the sweetest boy. You can't help buy fall in love with Simon when you meet him. He is so nice to everyone, and he is so incredibly smart. I'm kind of sad that he is getting so big. . . I can't believe we have a five year old!

50% Off Mary Kay

I know that some of you already know this, but I also know there are people who read this blog, that don't get emails from me!

I have started selling Mary Kay again. I'm not trying to make any money, just trying to get the 50% off discount! I love their makeup. I just think it's fairly expensive.

Here are the rules:

1.You have to pay me for your order before I order it. If I don't have your money, I don't order your make up.

2. You pay taxes on the amount before the discount. So, if your order is $20 before taking 50% off, tax is figured on $20 ($1.37), but you only pay $10 for the product. so your total would be $11.37, does that make sense?

3. Shipping is paid by everyone ordering. It is usually $2 for each person, although sometimes it may be less. It all depends on how many people order. If you decide you need something and nobody else is ordering, you would pay the full shipping cost.

4. I will let everyone know a few weeks before I order, so you will have time to decide if you want something, and get me the money for your order.

If you would like to get this discount, let me know!

You can email me at tessa_bliss@yahoo.com

I will be ordering again in August

Coupons

This will be my attempt to tell everyone how to use coupons. Keep in mind that I am a newbie in the coupon world. I do, however, think that everyone should learn to use them, because you save soooo much money!
First of all, the best way to get coupons is to subscribe to the Sunday newspaper. They say (they meaning the people who know more than me) that you should get one newspaper for every person in your home. I have two papers delivered to me, my neighbor lets me have theirs, and Ben's mom gives me her coupons. . .I guess I'm one short.
Second, I never buy anything that I wouldn't normally buy without a coupon. I don't just buy things because they are on sale. I buy things that I use and need. You do it how you wish. I know some people buy things just because you can get them for $.50, and then give them away. I'm not quite there yet. . .maybe someday.
Third, I think coupons take a little time. It doesn't take a lot of time, and it seems I am getting more efficient as I go, but it will take a few minutes to figure out what you are buying that week, and cut your coupons.

There are a few different packets of coupons that come in the Sunday paper. They are SmartSource (SS), Red Plum (RP) and Proctor & Gamble (P&G). (I think the Red Plum also comes in the mail sometimes, but I don't seem to get it...maybe I'm wrong...it's happened before).

When I get my coupon packets, I write the date that they came on the front. This makes it easier to find the packet you need later. I keep all of my SmartSource packets together in order by date. I do the same with the others as well. Some people organize them by the date they came. So, every coupon packet that comes on March 22 will be together. You don't cut any coupons out right now. You will cut a coupon out only when that item is on sale.
You can also print coupons from the Internet, but I'll get into that later.

So now we get to the more confusing part. . .

Step 1. Go to grocerysmarts.com and enter Utah's passport (g84csg) on the right hand side. (preferably in a different window so you can look at what I'm explaining)

Step 2. Pick a store.

Step 3. Look for the deals.

Here is a little piece from the Albertson's page. It doesn't look exactly like it does on the page, but for explanation purposes it should do just fine! It's color coded . . . :)

The deal: **Kellogg's promo: Save $10 instantly when you buy 10 participating products.** Sale price shown is BEFORE/AFTER purchase of 10. Must purchase 10 to get $1.50 price. Discount is 1.00 per item when you purchase 10.

*****
Kellogg's cereal 9-21.5 oz.
2.50/1.50
Kellogg’s Cereal, any flavor 10 oz. or larger .70/1 (4-5-09) RP-2/22
.80

So, the number of stars indicates the stock up scale. Five stars is a great deal, and a good time to stock up. . .two or three stars isn't such a great deal. I find myself only looking for the items that have four or five stars.

The next line (or next box over if you're looking at the website) is the item that is on sale. In this case, Kellogg's cereal.

The price before the coupon comes next. Kellogg's cereal is on sale for $2.50 if you buy 10 of the participating items, it costs $1.50.

Now, they tell you if/where there is a coupon. This line tells you that you can look in the Red Plum (RP) that came on Feb. 22 (2/22) and that the coupon is $.70 off one box (.70/1) The date shown is the date the coupon expires. Again, if it's in the Smart Source it would say SS and Proctor & Gamble says P&G. This is why it is so important to write the date that your coupon packets come. It makes it so much easier to find them. If there is no coupon for that item, it will say N/A in that box. Or, if there is a coupon available online it will give you a link to print it. You can typically print two coupons per computer.

This line tells you the price of the item after the promotion and the coupon (.80).

In this case, if you have the coupon, you could get a box of Kellogg's cereal for $.80! You can use one coupon per item purchased, so if you get five newspapers, you could get five boxes of cereal for $.80.

The coupons don't seem to expire for five or six months or so . . . I haven't been collecting coupons for that long, so none of mine are expired. When they begin to expire, I will just throw them away!

I'm hoping this post makes sense . . . If you have questions, feel free to ask. If I don't know the answer, I'll ask my friend Staci...she's the coupon expert! Good luck with your coupons!

"Waddis trick Mom!"

Simon and Nolan are way to into figuring out new tricks.
This is Nolan's latest.
He thought it was pretty cool to put a bouncy ball in each of his cheeks.
He's such a goof ball. . .but so dang cute!

P.S. Explaining coupons isn't the easiest thing. . .but, when I have a little more time, it will be the subject of my next post. . .promise!

Cutting Coupons

I've always heard of people going to the store and buying truck loads of stuff for a penny. I never really understood how, and I almost didn't believe them. However, I have recently learned how to use coupons in an effective way, thanks to a Relief Society activity and my friend Staci. I have to admit I was totally confused when I attended the coupon class, but after I got home and looked at everything they were talking about, I totally got it! Last week, I went to the store with my coupons in hand and bought the following:
10 boxes of Fruit Roll ups
4 cans of Progresso soup
2 bags of Chex mix
4 boxes of Chex cereal bars
2 bags of Albertson's potato chips
4 cans of Pillsbury refrigerator rolls
2 boxes of Toaster Strudels
4 Warm Delight microwave cakes
5 Pillsbury cake mixes and,
5 cans of Pillsbury frosting
Guess how much it all cost...$14! (and change) That equals out to be about $0.33 per item!
I planned it all out the night before I went, but I was so excited to go buy it all, that I couldn't sleep! I was up until 3:00 in the morning! It's really quite fun to get so much stuff for such a little price! I'm sure that wasn't the best that anyone has ever done with coupons, but I think it's great for a first timer! Coupons are definitely the way to go! Especially if you are trying to save money and cut back on the grocery bill!

The Price

In her short 18 months of life, Bella has learned the price you pay for playing with two rowdy boys, here is her most recent...

She wasn't bothered by it for more than 30 seconds. She just went right back to playing!! It makes me wonder what I looked like, growing up with six of them...

Simon Can Read!

Last summer, I borrowed some books from the library that would help Simon start reading. At the time, he wasn't ready for them, so I took them back.
Last December, he started to show more interest in reading, so I borrowed the books again. They are called Bob books. They are very simple books that introduce a few new letters/sounds with each book. We borrowed the first set, which has twelve books. I sat down with Simon, and the very first time he looked at the book he was able to read it! Like I said, they are very simple books, but he isn't even five, and he can read them! Since December, he has learned to read the first nine books.
I recorded this video of him today. He is reading the fifth and the ninth books. He is so smart, and he loves to learn. We are so proud of him for reading! He gets pretty proud of himself too. He would get a huge grin on his face when he would remember what the 'J' says. He tries to guess some of the words sometimes, without sounding the letters out, and occasionally he'll look at the picture on the page and try to guess what the words say. All in all, he is doing a great job. It's so fun to watch him grow and learn!

Baby Porter

My sister, Tara, had her baby last week. He weighed 7 lbs. 14 oz. and was 20 in. long. When Simon was born he was the same weight, and one half inch longer. When I hold baby Porter, it is strange to think that Simon was almost that exact same size once...and now look at him!! Anyway, last Saturday I took some pictures of Porter. I think he is so cute! Enjoy!

P.S. Tara made the multi-colored blanket. Didn't she do a great job!?