Drums!

This drum set was a Christmas present, and as you can see, Cadence LOVES them! Obviously these pictures were a while back, but she still loves to play with her drum! (She's also discovered it is the perfect height for a seat...)

Watercolors!

Cadence really loved experiementing with this new art medium. Thank you Miss Waddell!

Her favorite parts were carrying all the supplies around...

Opening the box, putting the paints in the box, shutting the box, opening the box, taking the paints out of the box, shutting the box, opening... you get the point :)

She did, however, love the painting part also - she decided her head was the perfect canvas.

Then the paint brush wasn't fast enough, so out came the fingers.

But wait, the paint brush might work ok after all!

The next best part was the water. Ok, maybe the water was the best part. She swished the paint brush about twenty million times, then just dumped all the water out to splash in.

Yummy paint brush!

This is so fun! Thanks for letting me play Mama!

18 Month Pictures

These went better than last time. No (well, ok, very little) crying, and Cadence didn't seem scared, just clingy. Still though, the only way we could get her to let loose of my leg was to put her on furniture. Good thing she loves to climb! It means we don't get a variety of poses, but the photographer was patient and we at least got some nice smiles. We plan to go to the same studio and maybe ask for the same lady at her two year pictures so maybe she will actually have fun next time :)

Cadence's 18 Month Pictures

Organization by OCD - "Couponing"

I love using coupons to save money. A lot of grocery stores have reward programs you can use on top of coupons, and between the two, you can get most toiletries and such free. I am not very good at explaining how this works, so I am including a link to one of my favorite coupon websites. You may visit Simple Saving Savvy for more information.

My own trouble with the way some people use coupons is this: They spend a ton of extra money on stuff they don't need because they can get it "free" or because they are "saving money" with a coupon. You are only saving money if you are buying something you needed or would have bought anyway!

This doesn't mean I only buy things when I need them. I like to stock up on needful items like shampoo when I can get them free, so when I run out of my current bottle I can just go get a free one out of the cabinet and not have to pay $3-5 at Wal-Mart.

I would also like to include a note about reward programs. I only count my store "money" as actual savings if I go back and spend it on something we need or would have been on my list anyway. Otherwise I count it as wasted cash!

I'll give you an example of what I mean. This weak at CVS you can buy Shout and Scrubbing Bubbles for $2.50 each. If you spend $10 on these items, you get $3 back in "Extra Care Bucks (ECB)" to spend at CVS anytime in the next three weeks. You can spend these on any items that are taxable. So here's what I spent:

Shout: $2.50 (X2)

Scrubbing Bubbles: $2.50 (X2)

= $10

I had a coupon for $2.00 off two Shout products, and a coupon for $1.00 off two Scrubbing Bubbles products, which brought my total to $7.00 for four cleaning products.

I consider this a good deal. This is worth it to me even if I don't spend the ECB's, because I need these products and that is a lot cheaper than I could get them at Wal-Mart. Now, if I go back to CVS and spend those three ECBs on items I need, I will mentally take that off this purchase price, with means I got four cleaning items for $1.00 each. Yay! But I don't take the ECBs off the price unless I spend them on something already on my list.

If you are careful and use discression though, coupons are an excellent way to save tons of money and get lots of free stuff, from shampoo and razors to new food products. Have fun and save money at the same time!

Anyway - on to the organization part of the post!

Here is my coupon binder. I like to have it set up with dividers by type of item rather than store aisle, since I don't always shop at the same place each week. Baseball card holders are the perfect size for most coupons, so you can see each one. I also have some regular sheet protectors in the back for rebate information and such. One other thing I have included is a list of "stock up" prices - the highest price I will pay for an item when I am stocking up on it. If I see a sale below this price, I go ahead and buy a couple, since I know I won't find them that cheap very often.

I have a lot of projects started right now that I want to finish up before I start anything new, but I would love to make a binder cover for my coupon book sometime soon. Rosalie has a link to a great looking one on her Tutorial Phone Book blog. Thanks for posting this!

A Sick Toddler's Point of View

Cadence has been sick the last week or so. She is pretty much well now, but WOW! The whole time she was sick I was hit over and over with how different and grown up she is now that she's a toddler! We'd be going along, and BAM! "Whoa, she's a big girl, not my little teeny baby anymore!"


Take for instance sleeping. When my baby was sick and couldn't sleep, I would bring her to bed with me and she would nurse all night. Lazy, I know, but at least we were both getting some rest so we could handle the day ahead of us! When my toddler is sick and can't sleep... we have to make a pallett on the floor, and Mama has to be right there beside Cadence, not actually snuggling, but close enough to reach over and touch while Cadence thrashes around on the floor trying to get comfortable. Then when she finally falls asleep, if she wriggles too much and accidently touches Mama, she wakes up again! So I had to lay there until she was asleep, then sneak out to go to bed.


Then there were the goldfish. She would not do anything without her goldfish while she was sick. She carried them around everywhere and always had one in her mouth. Sigh. At least she picks them up and puts them back in the bowl when she spills them. Isn't she great?

So anyway, here are some pictures of our little sicko, with captions from her point of view... or at least, my interpretations :)

When you're sick you get to play on the front porch in your pj's. And eat goldfish. And drink yummy milk. Hmm... this isn't too bad.

Oooh! Mama left her tea where I could reach it!
See, if you want to get away with something like sticking your hand in Mama's drink, you just get this onery smirk, and she'll be too busy laughing to stop you!

Look, Mama's sleeping on the floor with me! (A note from Mama: It was so funny watching her learn to sleep while she was sick. She wanted me close but not actually cuddling, so she would wriggle around, then reach out and pat me, then wriggle some more. Then she grabbed my arm and draped it over her stomach and started rubbing my arm... that's how she finally asleep. Kind of soothing for me too :))

Ok guys, see, music makes everything better... and lying on Mama's big pillow... well, that's good too.
And when you're sick, you must, I repeat must, take your goldfish with you everywhere. Otherwise, they will disappear and you will never get better. It's true! At least, I think it is...

Oh, and when Mama takes your clothes off to get you dressed, you must immediately rush to the kitchen, open the pantry, and get the bag of noodles out. Very important people!
Then, since they are your favorite, you have to eat a few.

If you are feeling generous, you may share with your baby doll. But no one else, just the baby!

Then you need to play outside a little while.

And try to be forebearing while Mama takes ten million pictures, trying to get a good one of your cute little hands with the long, long fingers. *Sigh*

Ok, next on the agenda is a little work. You don't want to fall behind, and since being a toddler is very busy stuff, you have to really push it.

You have to type, adjust the screen, and click with the mouse.

Have I mentioned it is hard, busy work to be a toddler? You should try it sometime.

Alright, Ok, Next - twenty million baths are completely, utterly needed.

Oh, and while I was in the bathtub, I found out I have my Mama's OCD.

Lining up the shampoo bottle just right, on a washrag I've spread completely smooth, is after all, very soothing.

Ah, it's gonna splash!

Ok, I'm rotton. But hey, I'm cute!

I like to do this because it creeps Daddy out. I pretend it's because I like it, but really... we all know Daddy makes great faces when he's ooged out.

You also have to experiment with a new artform - watercolors! That will be in a new post though... lots of pictures, and Mama's fingers are probably getting tired.

Some Back to School Cheer

Time to greet the new school year and start looking to fall! Cadence offered up a big smile in honor of the occasion!



We had a great day yesterday - cleaning with all the windows open, playing outside, reading our new library books, and snuggling up for cuddles. Hope you are all having a wonderful week!

Zoo - July 2010

Another free scrapbook by Smilebox

A Conspiracy Theory

Ack! It's a conspiracy! Every circle in every book, every circle on every toy, every circle on every flashcard, every circle EVERYWHERE is YELLOW!

Imagine a Family!

Our first year-and-a-half as a family of three! What would we do without our sweet baby?

Free scrapbook design made with Smilebox

Organization by OCD Part II

Last week I gave a lengthy, verbose explanation of how our menu and food shopping works. This week I am delivering the promised menu with grocery list and recipes. There is no recipe for pancakes, because I use bisquick :) There is also no recipe for ribs, because Tony just grills them however his mood suits him. I would recommend downloading the documents to peruse them. To find the recipe you are looking for, just press ctrl-F. Microsoft Word will pop up with it's "find" box, and you can type in the name of the recipe, then click find. It will automatically find the next instance of that word, and you can click "next" until you find what you are looking for. Enjoy!

Menu with Grocery List

Recipe File

Garden Bug

This free slideshow generated with Smilebox

An Onery Little Girl

Getting Daddy is one of Cadence favorite games. This time was hilarious. She would slip behind him really quietly, then grin and tap him on the shoulder until he peeked over at her. Then she would immediately shriek and lunge over his shoulder while he grabbed her to tickle her. She is so fun and full of personality!