Ad Match Deals of the Week - Don't be a cheapskate! Be smart!

Tomorrow is the first of the month, so I've got my monthly menu ready and I'm going to be at Savoy Wal-Mart, getting my groceries for a month...so WATCH OUT! I'll be the one holding up the line, price matching all the stuff.

For those of you that are first time readers, I do all my shopping at Savoy Wal-Mart. I don't go to any other stores because I don't have time and Wal-Mart will "ad match" their competitor's sale prices. So my list below is of the great prices at other stores. I'm not suggesting you go to those stores and get the deals. I'm suggesting you shop at Wal-Mart where almost everything is cheaper and make only one stop.

By the way, in February, I saved well over $150 by ad matching and about $10 by coupon cutting. It was nice to have all that extra money to buy baby stuff with. I'm not suggesting that you have to be a cheapskate, but it's nice to have money to spend in other places. Price matching and coupon cutting makes you a smart shopper. If you could go to Wal-Mart at the end of the month and get a free $150 check, would you? Of course...and by shopping there, that's what I got...okay, not a free $150 check, but saved that much money by being a smart shopper! Don't be cheap! Be smart!

Here are my top deals for the week!

1. Strawberries are 2 for $5 at Meijer's.
2. Pepsei and Coke 24 Pks are $5.48 at Meijer's (limit 4)
3. 10 lb bag of potatoes is $1.99 at Meijer's (who needs that many potatoes, but it's a great deal!)
4. Kraft American Singles (up to 12 oz) are $2 at Meijer's
5. Tyson Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (40 oz frozen bag) $4.69 at Meijer's (that's a $5.30 savings!!!)
6. Kraft Shredded cheese is $2 per bag at Meijer's and Sargento's shredded cheese is $1.99 at County Market.
7. Philadelphia Cream Cheese is 4 for $5 at Meijer's
8. Crescent Rolls or Cinnamon Rolls are 4 for $5 at Meijer's
9. 2 liters of 7 up, Sunkist, RC or A&W are $0.96 at Meijer's
10. Keebler's Fudge Shop Cookies are $1.49 at Meijer's
11. Wheat Thins are $2 at Meijer's
12. Lay's Potato Chips are Buy1, Get1 at Meijer's (Wal-Mart does not Ad Match b1g1 deals, so you'd have to go to meijer's for that) They are also $2 at County Market.
13. Zyrtec is $18.99 (25 ct) at Target. I'm not sure on the Wal-Mart price, but I'm going to check it out! *** It's also $24.99 (for 40 or 45 ct) at Walgreens!
14. Campbell's Soup (up to 10.75 oz) or chicken broth (14 oz) (excludes cream of mushroom soup) is $0.49 at CVS
15. Milk is $1.99 at Aldi's. However, it's not a "published" price. So, try that first for your milk. If they tell you that you can't use it because it's not a published price, tell them it's $2.49 at CVS, which will still save you almost $0.80. It's also $2.39 at Walgreens, but the limit is 2.
16. Fritos and Cheetos are $2 at Dollar General
17. General Mills cereal (up to 15.7 oz) are $2.50 at Dollar General
18. Ritz crackers or Ritz Bits are $2 at Dollar General
19. Red or green seedless grapes are $0.99/lb at County Market!!!!
20. Head of lettuce is $0.99 at County Market
21. Post cereal (up to 24 oz) is $2.50 at County Market

There are also coupons for Campbell's soup, Zyrtec, and Post Cereal in the paper.

If you want more coupons, look online. They are everywhere. Just go to Yahoo and type in "free grocery coupons".

Happy Shopping!!!!

Ad Match Deals of the Week

I am sick today, so I'm doing this pretty quickly and to the point. If you have questions, just ask!

1. Milk is $2 at Meijer's.
2. Canteloupes are $2 at Meijer's
3. Grapes (green or red seedless) are $1.18/lb at Meijer's
4. Yoplait Trix Yogurt is $1.99 at Meijer's
5. V8 Splash (64 oz) is $1.99 at Meijer's
6. General Mills cereals (up to 16.2 oz) $1.99 at CVS
7. Asparagus is $1.49/lb at CM
8. Pillsbury Crescent or Cinnamon Rolls are 3/$5 at CM
9. Del Monte canned vegetables are $0.59 at Meijer's
10. Lay's Potato chips are $2 at Schnuck's
11. Coke/Diet Coke 12 pks are $3.66 at CM

Happy shopping this week! There are lots of good coupons in this week's paper. Also, with this being the last week of the month, don't forget to start your monthly menu (or bi-monthy if you want to start small) for March. You can come up with lots of ideas!

Monthly Menu Ideas

Many of you who've been reading the blog or reading on Facebook have asked how in the world I come up with meal ideas that will last a month, or do I just repeat the same meals? This post should answer those questions.

Monthly meal planning is different for everyone. You may hate to cook and only know how to cook 5 things. If that's the case, it's going to be hard for you...you better get out a cookbook :) If you know me personally, I am happy to loan you a few. I have TONS!

I love to cook and have lots of good cooks in my family and in my husband's famiy and some of my friends are amazing cooks. My first piece of advice to you is if you like how something tastes, ask for the recipe. There is nothing wrong with that. Andy's great-grandmother is 101 and she is probaby the best cook I know. She always told me to never be afraid to ask and that's how she got so many of her wonderful recipes. Now, I am by NO means a fancy cook. There are sooo many things I don't know how to do. For example, I just watched Julia Child and a baker on tv make some amazing breads and just sat there in awe. I don't think I coud ever do the things she does! I don't do a lot of things in the kitchen, but I do my best at what I can do. That's all we can do, right? I do believe, however, that if you can read, you can cook! Maybe I've just read the recipe wrong a few times??? :) But with all seriousness, I have made many a mistake. When Andy and I were first married, I made chili for the first time and it was so bad that I begged him not to tell anyone!! It was like brick mortar! Totally disgusting! I still have flops! Like I said, I'm not a great cook, I just do my best at what I do.

So, to answer the original question, I usualy rotate about 30 menu ideas. Because of the way I set up my monthly budget, I usually plan to eat out 2 times per month. Some people like to schedule those times out and some like to use those if they decide they don't want what's on the menu for dinner.

Here are a list of some of the menu ideas I use. For some of them, I'll list out sides I might use. I use a lot of vegetabes that are fresh in the summer, so winter is harder. And, in the summer we grill out a lot too, so those are other options to what I have listed. Here are my favorite 30 or so menu ideas. Remember, it's not about fancy, it's about feeding your family. Some of these take 5 minutes and some take an hour or so.

Italian Chicken, corn and potato casserole
Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas
Taco Salad
Chicken Caesar Wraps
Italian Beef, corn casserole, green beans
Vegetabe Soup
Chicken Pot Pie
BBQ Chicken Nachos
Chili
Tacos (rotate beef or chicken tacos or hard or soft shell tacos)
Tortellini, Salad and Garlic Bread
Poppyseed Chicken and Salad
Sweet and Sour Chicken and White Rice
Spaghetti, Salad and Garlic Bread
Sesame Chicken and Fried Rice
Roast, Potatoes, Carrots (in the crockpot)
Fettuccini, Plum Tomatoes, Zucchini, Peppers and Red Sauce
Lasagna, Salad and Garlic Bread
Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
Black Bean Delight (kind of like a vegetarian soft shelled taco)
Chicken and Noodles, Mashed Potatoes, and Corn
Southwest Nacho Casserole
Sloppy Joes and fried potatoes
BBQ Chicken Sandwiches, Pasta Salad and Asparagus
Breakfast Foods (traditional - pancakes, bacon, eggs)
Breakfast Foods (coffee cake, fruit salad, breakfast casserole)
Homemade Pizza ir Chicago Style Homemade Pizza
Chili
Cheeseburgers and Fries
Baked Steak, Gravy, mashed potatoes and corn
Mexican Taco Skillet (one pan)
Mexican Bubble Pizza
Potato Soup
Itaian Beef Bake
Chicken Salad on croissants (the best)

If you'd like the recipe to any of these menu ideas, let me know and I'll be sure to get it to you! Also, don't be afraid to sit down with a notebook and write out your family's favorite foods. You'll be suprised at all the menu ideas you can come up with!

Spending Less and Saving More

I have exciting news! I have saved $125 this month (so far) by ad matching and cutting coupons. I will be teaching a class on Spending Less and Saving More on your Grocery Bill! The class will cover budgeting, monthly meal planning, coupon cutting and ad matching. The class is sponsored by GOAL and will be Thursday, March 25th at 7pm in Newman.

Top 10 Deals of the Week

Here they are... Please remember if you are reading this for the first time, that I shop only at Savoy Wal-Mart. I don't have time to go to all the stores and Wal-Mart will price match any competitor's ad, except for percentage discounts and B1G1 sales. So, if strawberries are $4.50 at Wal-Mart and $2.50 at Meijer's, they will give me the strawberries for $2.50 at Wal-Mart. I shop at Wal-Mart because their prices are ridiculously less expensive than most other stores on their overall selection and because I only have to go to one store. So, if you are a price matcher, here you go!

1) Strawberries are $2.50 at Meijer's
2) Yoplait Yogurt is $0.40 at Meijer's
3) Dole Iceberg Lettuce Bags are $1 at Meijer's
4) 10 lb Bag of Potatoes are $1.99 at Meijer's or County Market
5) Pillsbury Grands Biscuts are $0.99 at Meijer's (12-16.3 oz)
6) Barilla Pastas are $0.89 at Meijer's
7) Pepsi 24 Pks are $5.98 at Meijer's/ Coke 20 Pks are $5.48 at CM
8) Betty Crocker Scalloped Pototoes and other Specialty Potatoes are $0.60 EACH at Meijer's
9) Milk is $1.99 at Aldis
10) Kellog's Cereal (up to 15 oz) is $2 at CM and Walgreens
11) Hunt's Ketchup (24oz) is $0.99 at CM
12) Ruffles Potato Chips are $2.88 at IGA
13) Canteloupes are $2.50 at CM
14) Keebler Fudge Shop Cookies are $1.69 at CM
15) Sargento's Shredded Cheese is $2/bag at CM
16) Green or Purple Seedless Grapes are $1.48/lb at Kroger in Paris
17) Doritos are $2 at Schnuck's

CVS is also having some great sales if you're a CVS shopper, but it requires their card and lots of the sales are B1G1 sales so Wal-Mart doesn't price match those. If you're a CVS shopper or there's one close, you might want to check it out! Lots of grocery items on sale!

Also, don't forget to use your coupons! I posted an article this week on this blog that was from a Yahoo headline about cutting coupons. It said, if you save $25 a week, that's $100 a month, which is $1200 a year. After inflation, that's over $100,000 in your life just from taking a few minutes to cut coupons! It's FREE money to cut coupons and Price Match!!! WHY NOT???? I like to save it or spend it in other ways!

Happy shoppping!

Ryan's Bedtime Songs

Every night, Ryan asks me to snuggle him in his bed and he sings me songs. This is a video I made tonight of him singing his songs. His repetoire includes "Finkle, Finkle, Wittel Tar", "Baa, Baa, Baa, Baa Bwack Seep" and "Mickey Mouf". Hang in there for the Mickey Mouse song. He's trying to sing the words, but sometimes it comes out like he's beat boxing or rapping. It's a good one!

Doing the Math on Coupons, a Yahoo Story

This article is part of a series related to being Financially Fit

Coupons: They're back in fashion, with good reason: An hour spent cutting and clipping can yield about $100 in savings.

Clipping coupons hardly sounds like the subject of high finance -- or even medium finance.

Save a dollar on cat food, some detergent or a couple of boxes of cereal. Who can be bothered? Who has the time?

A growing number of people, it turns out. And they're shrewder than it may at first appear.

The Great American Coupon is making a big comeback -- thanks to the Great American Recession.

We redeemed some 3.3 billion coupons last year -- a remarkable 27 percent leap from 2008, and the first year-on-year increase in 17 years, according to a report issued at the end of January by Inmar, a coupon-processing agent. (Online coupon use skyrocketed -- companies issued twice as many as in 2008, but redemptions rose 360 percent.) The big upturn took off in October 2008, just after Lehman went belly up.

At first blush you can see why coupons fell out of fashion for so long -- and why so many consumers still ignore them.

You have to make time to visit a coupon Web site or collect the flyers from your mailbox, the supermarket or newspaper inserts. You need to sort through to find the ones you want, cut them out, stick them in your purse or wallet -- and remember to use them when you are at the cash register and you are trying to remember whether you bought everything on your shopping list and where you parked the car.

Average saving per coupon: Just $1.44, according to the Inmar report.

But let's treat this low finance topic for a moment the way we treat high finance. Let's subject it to the same math.

How long does it actually take to clip and use a coupon? Certainly the more you use, the less overall time you will spend per coupon, because so many of the costs -- getting flyers, sorting coupons and so on -- are generalized. Let's assume you spend a minute per coupon.

Saving $1.44 for a minute's effort is the equivalent of saving $14.40 for 10 minutes'.

Hourly rate: $86.40.

Maybe this would be as good a time as any to point out that the typical American working stiff -- those lucky enough to have jobs right now -- climbs out of bed each morning, goes through the miseries of commuting and endures the daily grind at the workplace for about $20 an hour.

Furthermore, money saved comes with an additional benefit. Unlike the money you earn at work, it is tax free. No payroll taxes. No federal or state income tax.

If your marginal tax rate were, say, 20 percent, you would have to earn $108 before tax to take home $86.40. If your marginal tax rate were 30 percent, you'd have to earn $123.

Very few of us ever do this kind of math, because we tend to treat low finance differently from high finance, and small sums differently from big ones. No wonder, even today, 99 percent of coupons are thrown away unused.

Yet finance isn't a separate topic from the rest of our personal lives. For all of us, our scarcest resource is time. Putting the right value on it, and putting it to the most productive use, is a financial challenge, as well as a personal one.

And the individual amounts of money may seem small, but they prove the old adage about tiny acorns and mighty oaks. Someone who saves $25 a week will save $100 a month, and $1,200 a year. Over a lifetime that can easily grow to $100,000 or more -- even after accounting for inflation.

If motivation is an issue, the next time you find yourself facing a stack of coupon booklets and flyers don't ask yourself if you can be bothered. Try asking yourself if you'd like to earn more than $100 an hour for a job you can do, at home, while sitting on the sofa watching TV.

Allergies

I know I just made a post, but this is funny! We were just eating supper and Molly told me she's allergic to snakes and tarantulas! It's a good thing I haven't let her play with any!!!

It's Testiny Time!?!?!

Molly and Ryan are absolutely going stir crazy right now. This afternoon after their naps, they started playing together, which was great. Molly decided that they were going to play "grocery store", which led into "restaurant" and Ryan was her waiter. Eventually this led into "Testiny Time". We had no idea what Testiny Time was. I tried not to act too interested because she'll stop bossing and playing if she knows I'm listening too closely. The next thing I know, she's giving him instructions on how to sing and that he's supposed to read these sheets and recite verses. We realized that she was trying to get him to have "Testimony Time" at church and he's supposed to sing some really long songs and she told us she "wanted to hear us sing loud today". She sounded just like Bill Fleming. She keeps asking us to recite Bible verses too. She's apparently been taking it all in on Sunday mornings during church. I just thought she was sitting there being quiet, but she's got the service format down, knows how to sound like Bill and she's ready for "Testiny Time" this Sunday!

Molly's New Recipe

Molly's New Recipe and the Deal that Goes With It

2 TollHouse Butter Crackers
1 Heaping Tablespoon of Sour Cream
1 Cheez It

Smear as much of the sour cream as you can on one of the crackers, smash the Cheez It on top of it and take the other cracker and make it into a sandwich.

Molly's Deal:
"Mom, if you eat this, I will share a chocolate bar with you."
I said, "No way!" "I'm eating my supper."
Molly said, "Fine then, you're not getting ANY snacks tonight!"

My goodness, how she learns fast! We told her tonight if she tried some new noodles that she would get a small piece of chocolate bar and after 1 tiny bite of 1 tiny noodle, she requested her chocolate bar.

Needless to say, I did NOT try her recipe. I don't understand how a girl can eat that, but she won't eat anything her mommy makes for the rest of the family. Maybe one day she'll learn, but til then, at least she's creating her own recipes!

Top 10 Deals of the Week

This is a long, rambling post, not just a Top 10 Deals list. I'm trying to better explain this to those of you who haven't done this before. Read and post questions if you have any! I saved about $50 last week because of Price Matching!!! You can REALLLLLY save money doing this!

Okay, as I've said before, these are PRICE Matching deals. If you haven't price matched before, here's how it works. First, you need a Sunday paper. That's where you're going to get your sale bills and coupons! I don't like to go to several different stores. I like to go to Wal-Mart. Most of their prices are MUCH cheaper than EVERYONE else, other than Aldi. I don't really like to shop at Aldi's, because I don't like to use a lot of generic cooking supplies. However, I don't think the Wal-Mart brand is bad at all. Wal-Mart's policy is that they will match any competitior's ad. They will not honor percentage discounts and will not honor buy one get one deals. So, if Meijer has 40% off of something or a Buy 3 boxes of cereal, get a FREE milk, they WILL NOT honor it. However, if milk is $2 at Meijer's and it's $3.50 at Wal-Mart, you have to tell the cashier that milk is $2 at Meijer's and they give it to you for $2. At a lot of Wal-Marts you have to bring your flyers. You DO NOT have to bring flyers to Savoy Wal-Mart, which is the ONLY Wal-Mart I shop at. In general, their checkers are nicer and I know the store like the back of my hand, which makes my trips much easier. They also keep the sale bills in their registers for your reference if you need them!

If you are interested in some great coupon deals, read the post before this one called "Price Matching". My friend Alicia posted some AWESOME Tips for using coupons. I am very excited to use my coupons tomorrow and see how much I can save!!!

The best price matching deals are at the first of the month. For example, the Dollar Store does a flyer at the first of the month, but not throughout the month. Also, County Market doesn't put a flyer in my paper, but you can go to www.countymarket.com and see their flyer.

So, here are my Top 10 Price Matching Deals of the Week!!! (There are more than 10, but it's my list so I can do it :)

1. Milk is $2 at Meijer's.
2. Red or Green seedless grapes are $1.18/lb at Meijer's.
3. Tony's Pizzas are 10 for $10 at County Market
4. Green Giant Steemers are 10 for $10 at County Market
5. Totino's Pizza Rolls are 10 for $10 at County Market
6. Hamburger Helper and Chicken Helper are 10 for $10 at County Market (I have enough stocked up from last time :) But, it's an great deal!
7. Iceburg Lettuce heads are $0.88 at County Market.
8. 5 Lb. Bag of red potatoes is $1.50 at County Market.
9. Nabisco Snack Sacks (up to 8oz) are 10 for $10 at County Market.
10. Betty Crocker Potatoes (Scalloped or AuGratin) are 10 for $10 at County Market.
11. Valentine's stuff is 40% off at Hobby Lobby. They have candy, treat sacks, cards, etc. Hobby Lobby's flyer is not in with the other flyers, it's at the bottom of one of the pages of the paper.
12. Chocolate Milk is $1.50 for a half gallon at Meijer's.
13. Lubriderm Lotion (16 oz) is $6.49 at Meijer's. This is about $8.50 at Wal-Mart, so if you use this, that's a pretty good savings.
14. Oreos, Double Stuff Oreos, Large Triscuits or Wheat Thins (12-16 oz) are $2.69 at Meijer's.
15. Pepsi 2 Liters are $1.25 at Meijer's.
16. Ruffles are $2.19 at Meijer's (up to 10 oz)
17. Post Cereal is $1.69 at Meijer's (see ad for sizes)
18. Kellog's 10 Ct. Fruit Snacks or Fruit Yogos are 3 for $5 at Meijer's.
19. Lay's chips are $2.50 at Target (11 oz)


The 10 for $10 items are MIX AND MATCH this week. That means you can tell them they are $1 each as long as you have 10 of them. Sometimes, they don't make you have 10, but if this is your first time doing it and you don't know the checker, I would play by the rules and get 10 of them, mix or match.

The County Market flyers is TOO GOOD this week for you to not go to their site and read it. There are LOTS of other things listed on the flyer, these were just a few of the things I would use! Valentine's Candy is listed at the bottom of pg 3 on the flyer with some pretty good prices! www.countymarket.com

Part of the trick of Price Matching is knowing your prices in your Wal-Mart. For example, County Market has Imperial butter sticks on sale 10 for $10, which sounds good, but they are regularly $0.67 at Wal-Mart, which would be 10 for $6.70. Don't take the County Market deal. However, if you prefer Country Crock sticks, the 10 for $10 deal is a good one!!! They also have Weight Watchers yogurt at 10 for $6 and that's more than Wal-Mart. It's usually $0.50 there!

Sale bills like CVS and Walgreen's are great for beauty product price matching. However, keep in mind that they don't honor percentage discounts. Also, a lot of the CVS or Walgreen's prices are "with coupon" and Wal-Mart doesn't accept competitor's coupons.

Last, but not least, don't be suprised if you go to Wal-Mart and some of their things are marked down! Lots of times, if Meijer's having a big sale, Wal-Mart will mark their items down $0.10 cheaper than Meijer and you won't have to price match. Keep your eyes open, that's the best thing.

GOOD LUCK and let me know about your successes!!!!!

Price Matching

I used to post price matching for the week, which seemed like it took a lot of work but after thinking about it, it really didn't. I have been sick in the past few months, so I haven't done much of it....maybe that's why I quit. However, last week, I got back into the habit and saved nearly $50 price matching. I bought a month's worth of groceries (not including milk or fresh fruit and vegetables) for $250. I have my menu planned out and I'm ready to go. If any of you is interested in seeing my Top 10 Deals of the week or menu ideas, please let me know so I can resume posting them. I love saving a dollar, and I hope you do too!!! I'd also love to learn more about coupon cutting and more ways to save, so feel free to post that too!

Misty

Top 10 Valentine's Ideas to HAVE FUN With Your Kids

Okay, I'm just like the rest of you and STUCK in the house with this lovely snow and freezing weather. I've been sick as a dog, but most of you who know me, know that I love a good holiday and I love a good party.  (I used to own a party planning business).  I spent many a day planning parties for others and for myself and my family, so I think my love of holidays and party planning (which I don't get to do anymore), along with being stuck in this house have given me the bug to find some FUN things to do this week with my kids. SO, here are my ideas, use them if you want to!

1) Gather up every children's book you have that has to do with love, hugs, kisses or Valentine's and read every single one of them to your children. Adriane gave us some Golden Books (available at Hobby Lobby) that are about loving your mommy and daddy and one of my personal favorites is "How Do I Love You?" by PK Hallinan. It's awesome.

2) Go to the library and see what Valentine's books you can find! Our library has a little Valentine's display out in the children's section. http://newmanregionallibrary.org/

3) Use construction paper, glitter, old fabric, glue, stickers, whatever you have and make Valentine's for Grandparents, neighbors or residents at a nursing home. Lots of people dont get told that they are loved and this is a great time to remind them!!! We did this a few nights ago and we came up with some beautiful pieces of art :)

4) Download free coloring sheets on the internet. www.coloringbookfun.com and www.coloringpages.net are the sites we use the most. It's free and fun. We've let Molly and Ryan color since they were one. We sat them in their highchairs and let them go to town. Of course, they tried to eat the crayons, but they learned quickly that Mommy didn't like that!

5) Go to the webiste www.familyfun.com. There are mounds of activities for Valentine's Day. Craft ideas, recipes, etc.

6) Make food that is Valentine's themed like heart shaped cookies or pancakes. Put red food coloring in your mashed potatoes. They sell heart shaped, pink and red pasta at many Kitchen stores for about $2-$3 a bag. You could have Valentine's pasta with red sauce or Valentine's mac and cheese! Jello is a really inexpensive treat that's easy to cut with cookie cutters. Your kids will enjoying helping with it too!

7) One of my favorite things to do is cut hearts out of colored paper and string them all over the kids rooms and our living room to celebrate. They're very excited when they wake up to see the room decorated just for them!

8) Print or make your kids a Valentine's coupon book. Some coupon ideas might be "You don't have to make your bed today", "Mommy cleans up the toys today" or "Pick your favorite dinner tonight".

9) Make a heart shaped memory or matching game. Cut red or pink hearts out of construction paper and draw or use stickers to make 2 of every design. Let your kids match them or flip them over to play memory. We did an activity like this with mittens at the SHIP playgroup a few weeks ago and Molly and Ryan really enjoyed it.

10) Go to the library or video store and rent a movie like "Lady and the Tramp". Watching a new movie is always fun!

Most importantly, make Valentine's Day about your family. I love Andy with all my heart and like to have my romantic time with him, but I want to make sure my kids enjoy Valentine's Day just as much as I do and of course, I want them to know that they are LOVED!!! Have fun with your kids this week and the 3 more inches of snow we're supposed to get on Tuesday! If you have other ideas, please, please, please feel free to post them!!! I love to get new ideas!

"Ryan, Babies Don't Have Tongues!"

Yes, you read "Baby Katie" and you might be wondering who she is! Well, Andy and I are expecting our third (and final) baby in May. I am 25 weeks pregnant with Katherine Brooke Appleby, aka "Katie". I have been pretty sick throughout the entire pregnancy. I spent the first 4 1/2 months laying on the couch, vomiting, room spinning and sleeping. I DID NOT enjoy that, and I don't think the rest of the family did either. I was put on medicine to help with the nausea, but they say a pregnant mother knows best and I knew it was not helping. About a month ago, I got off the medicine and haven't vomited since. I knew the medicine was just making it worse, but the doctors didn't think that could be the case.

I am still having periods of dizziness and fainting, so I've started some new vitamins, incuding Iron, which have really helped my energy level.

I can certainly say that I am eagerly anticipating the arrival of Katie Brooke. Not just to have our new baby, but to FEEL better!!!

Molly and Ryan are very excited about her arrival. Ryan wants to name her Captian America and Molly just wants to boss her around! We'll see how this all pans out. Ryan's wondering why he can't breast feed Katie and Molly explained to him that only girls could breast feed and she was going to do it!!!

Here's another baby discussion between Molly and Ryan. Ryan walked up to Andy and licked his leg (like a kitten would do). Andy asked Ryan, "Why did you do that?" Ryan said, "Because I'm a baby!" (I guess like a kitten???) Molly looked at Ryan and exclaimed, "RYAN!!! Babies don't have tongues!!!" I guess because babies don't have teeth, she assumed that they didn't have tongues either! She thinks she's an expert on everything, so it's going to be very interesting to see what these two come up with when it's time to start teaching her things.

Nonetheless, we know that children are a gift from God. I was very sick with Molly and Ryan and they were definitely worth every second of sickness! They are my joy and light in life and make me laugh everyday. I can't wait to experience that times 3!!!

Blog, We Hardly Knew Ye!

I think any of you read this, know that we set up our Blog about the same time we got on Facebook. Between Andy and I, we have about 600 friends on Facebook. As you can imagine, it's much easier to post things everyday to facebook because it goes out to a much wider audience. For example, I can post videos of the kids on Facebook, but I have no idea how to post a video to this blog, or if that's even an option.

However, I know that not everyone enjoys Facebook, so I'm going to TRY to do a better job of posting more things to this blog so you can still see the kids in pictures and hear about what they're doing. Every single day they say something or do something that cracks me up and I think that deserves to be shared with everyone who wants to hear about it!

I hope if you're reading this that you're doing well!!! We love you!

The Appleby's