I totally rock

I was a savings queen today at CVS. This is what I got:

8 pk Bounty paper towels
2 Tide HE 2x concentrate detergent 50oz
3 Children's tylenol 4oz
1 Children's tylenol plus 4oz (Chase won't be old enough for this, but I can gift it)
2 Robitussin Cough Medicine 8oz
2 Sure deoderants 2.7oz
2 Bags of Snickers Fun Size
1 Airborne Seasonal Allergy 16ct
6 Boxes of Puffs tissues 108ct
1 Crest ProHealth Evening Toothpaste 4.2oz

Guess how much I paid? Come on guess. $17.58. Seriously. I had a $10 off $50 coupon, my regular coupons and ECBs and a $25 gift card that I got for transferring a prescription. Here's the kicker: I got $27.xx back in ECBs to use another time. I told you that I totally rocked.

For those who prefer visuals to words, here are pictures of my triple coupon bonanza from Harris Teeter a couple of weeks ago. I got everything pictured for $21.



And for those who don't give a fig about my awesome savings, here's a picture of the noodle and me at the BuckFest.

This little sheep went to the market...

And Chase said, "Baa Baa you will come live with me now. For I am a farmer child trapped in suburbia. Now, get in mommy's car already."

Greetings from the wood.

We're here visiting Grandma and Grandpa in the grand Preston County. As you can see, the Chase monster is having a great time. So far, we've trekked into my old high school to be shown off to all of Grandpa's coworkers, visited with Cousin Mandy, Avery and Jaden, played at the mall, and ran around Amy's house hiding from her three boys because they scared us a little bit. I'll check in again early next week to tell you all about my festival festivities.



Well, there was a brief period of unhappiness...

Two Crocodile Tears

Poor little man is all stuffy and has back molars coming in. The only thing in the world that would make the tears stop was a taste of my fruit smoothie. Who was I to deny him that one small sip? Two little tears hung around on his left cheek (on our right) just to remind me of what was waiting should I try to remove that prized cup from his grubby little paws. Let's just say that small sip turned into a mini-chug.

Is this what I have to look forward too?

Ace of Chase, finder of the lost Elph

For the last few weeks, I have been spending many hours in a futile search for my Canon Digital Elph camera. I like to have this smaller camera around to take to places where the big, bulky Digital Rebel is just too much of a hassle to bring--which is pretty much everywhere outside the 4 walls of my own home. It's also nice to carry around in my bag to catch any impromptu cuteness that the noodle chooses to unleash. Well, yesterday my little man found my long lost camera in one of his many drawer reorganization crusades. It was almost as though he knew I'd been looking for it b/c he carried it straight to me as soon as he'd located it. I tried to smother him with kisses to show my appreciation, but he just shrugged me off as if to say, "Just doing my job as a super hero, ma'am."

Speaking of the monkey's super powers, he says his name now. Well sort of. It goes like this...Chase will bring over the scrapbook that I made for him of his first day of life. The first picture in the book is of Chase waving (see above), and so every time we start perusing the book, I say, "There's Baby Chase". Now, in the past, Toddler Chase would just turn the page, point to the next picture, and mutter some gobbledeegoop that means, "tell me who this person is mama". But today, Ever Growing Chase said, "Ace" before turning the page and commencing with his mumbling diatribe. Told ya he was a genius.

Anyway, here are a few pictures that were on that long lost camera card. The picture of him with Shrek is from Jenn's birthday celebration which was possibly in June. Chase chewing on beads (say it with me: choking hazard) is from Jan's retirement dinner which was in May--I think. I'm such a great record keeper.

Check out Noodle's new digs

Come in! Come in!

Just because I haven't posted on the subject recently, it doesn't mean that I haven't been wholeheartedly continuing the spoilage of my child.

Just in case...

you were thinking of buying me a present, you might consider stopping by Crate and Barrel and getting me this:
And since the holidays are just around the corner, and I am--as always--the most important person on your list, you could also pick me up some measuring spoons, trivets and serving platters/bowls while you're there. Even beyond that, if you're really feeling the love for me (and believe me, I've been a very good girl this year), you could have this little jewel (which is a butcher block cutting board by the way) wrapped in shiny paper and placed under the tree for me...



Now, that would totally rock my jingle bells.

Turtles, Tunes and Treasures

As promised, here is the tale of our Nature Buddies experience. The program was done through our county parks and recreation office. Our guide was enthusiastic though ill prepared for dealing with a room full of 1-2 year olds. She was trying to share with them facts about turtle habitats and turtle diets while they were more interested in running amuck around the room. Chase was mildly entertained by the puppet she produced, but not enough to let go of the foam toy he'd snagged.
After our circle time, we headed outside to see a real box turtle. The kidlets had a little trouble with the "Don't touch" rule set forth, but the mommies were able to keep little fingers under control.
The next nature buddies presentation will be in October and will cover squirrels. We're wondering if she'll bring a live one out for us to watch. I promise not to let Chase touch it. He might try to step on it though...

After the viewing of the tortoise, we headed out for our nature walk. The little gremlin was not at all interested in practicing his toddle. I kept trying and trying to put him down to have him walk along with us, but all he did was sit and pull up the grass. So this is what I did 20 times during our 20 minute walk...
Later that day, we headed to our play group. Chase discovered the piano in Tessa's living room. He kept sneaking in there to play his concerto for us. Sam has offered to provide him with daily piano lessons, haven't you Sam? He is surely a future concert pianist in the making.
In case you were wondering, monkey's love of cabinet and drawer reorganization extends to kitchens belonging to others as well as his own. Let me know if you'd like to schedule an appointment.
This is my living room. I painted the walls a color from Benjamin Moore called Peacock Feathers and put beachy things in it so that I can go sit in there and pretend that I am on a Caribbean vacation instead of hiding from my child in the middle of suburbia. Anyway, I bet you didn't know that I was a trendsetter did you? Well according to the Home section of Thursday's Washington Post, I am because they chose Peacock Feathers as one of their trendy colors to watch. I am available for color consultations--there is a small fee involved of course.

And finally we have the treasures I acquired from yard sale hopping with my mommy friends. The truck shelf was $10 and the ducky bank was $1. I think these finds were worth having to get my lazy butt out of bed so early on Saturday morning. The shelf will go in the noodle's room and the duck is for me. Obviously.

Teaser post

Here's a photo to hold you over for a bit. Later this weekend, I'll update with tales of our Nature Adventure, Noodle's Mozart-like tendancies, and my mad designer skills. You're sitting on the edge of your seat in anticipation, aren't ya?

Touchdown West Virginia!

We very much enjoyed our routing of Western Michigan U 62-24. Go Mountaineers!

Touchdown!!

One stylin dude

Toddle, toddle. Sniff, sniff.

Noodle's really on the move these days. He toddles along pretty adeptly now even though he still looks like Frankenstein. This resemblance to a rather unattractive being hasn't fazed him much however as he feels no embarrassment as he runs all over the house leaving a trail of debris in his wake. The mustard bottle in the pantry and my shoes are the most tempting treasures for him to hide from mommy. He also seems to enjoy scooting into dad's office and lying on Iverson's bed...not really sure what he finds enjoyable about rolling around on a dog bed, but as long as he's not relocating my possessions, I make no objections.

In related news, Mr. Magoo has become an endless fountain of babble. There are a few words thrown into the otherwise incoherent chatter such as dad, yes and dog. He's even begun counting except that he says "one" for every number. You know instead of 1, 2, 3 it's 1, 1, 1. Still not saying mama, unless he's crying and then it's "maaaaaammaaaaamaaawahwahmaaamaaa". The kid likes to torture me you see. He's also taken up the habit of sniffing all of the time. He'll wrinkle up his nose and then draw in two quick breaths. It looks like he's just caught a whiff of something most unpleasant, then he just shakes his head and smiles. Kinda like, "Ew, what's that smell? Can't be me, can it? No way. Must be mom. Hee hee".

Oh and he's a babe watcher my boy. Likes the ladies. In fact, he seems really put out if one goes by him without stopping to comment on his cuteness. Of course this rarely happens as he is the cutest boy there ever was. Yea, I'm an enabler, I admit it.

one, one...

Yea, I'm cute, and I know it. But you can tell me again if you want to.

Can't keep my ladies waiting...

Wedding pictures

We tried to get dressier shoes on him, but the only pair that he'll tolerate on his feet are these Nikes. Guess it's better than being barefoot.

I did say not too short

So Noodlet had his first haircut yesterday. His screams could be heard throughout the mall, and he was squiggling around so much that it's a shear (get it shear, cut ha ha) miracle that his new look is relatively straight and even. It's sad to have all of his hair gone, but it will grow back. The next time we get it cut, I will make it clear that I want it to be just a trim.
I'm headed out for my mommy's weekend with the girls, and then we'll be off to the lake. So, I'll catch ya on the flipside. Peace.

Where's Mommy's Sanity?

For Chase's first birthday, the Cord Blood Registry sent him a book called "Where is Baby's Belly Button?". It's a bright, colorful book that has little lift up flaps to find various baby body parts--you know eyes, toes, bunions. For example, one page says, "Where's baby's mouth?" and when you lift up the flap it says "Behind his cup". Cute, no?

When we got the book, I thought that it was a really nice thing for the CBR to do and was thrilled to read it the little man. Now, however, I have to admit that I have contemplated wrapping the blasted thing up and sending it back to their laboratory so that they can store it in their cryogenic freezers to be thawed only in the year 2050. Why the hostility you ask?? Because my dear son, shoves this book in my face 30 times a day expecting me to read it to him--which might not be that bad, but I can't just read it through once. Oh no. I have to read it at least 3, but up to 10 times through before he moves on to something else. And don't even think about trying to ignore the little chap when he brings the book to you. He'll just start beating you with it until you pick it up and look at it with him.

I'm including a picture of Chase walking (Yea!), eating his lunch, and a picture of that lunch. I think if I would let him, Noodle would be a strict carnivore. He loves meat--today's lunch was chipped ham, cheese, juice, macaroni, and banana. That list is in order of his preference, with the banana or any other fruit being next to strychnine on the scale of things he'd readily choose to eat. This of course could explain his current bathroom woes...

Please buckle your safety belts and keep your hands and arms inside the plane at all times.

Chase is a stuffer.He lives to take objects from their rightful home and cram them into new and unusual crevices. For example, he likes to relocate all of his sippy cups into various drawers and cabinets in the kitchen. Also, he enjoys transferring his toys from their bins and baskets into a myriad of locations that include closets, bathrooms and pantries. He also has become quite adept at taking the dirty laundry from it's sorted home and placing it with the clean clothes in the dryer. And then there is the squishing of his sleepy blanket between the rails of his crib and onto the floor which of course leads to angry squeals when the lovely blankie refuses to magically fly back into the crib.

His latest joy has been in shoving every stuffed animal and blanket within reach into his plane. He crams them into the single seat so they are piled one and top of the other and then takes them for a ride by bouncing the plane and twirling the propeller. This particular instance was a little irritating for him though as his lovey and red puppy kept falling out of the bottom of the plane. He'd stop twisting the propeller, pick them up, plop them back into the seat and then return to rocking the plane--which of course made them fall out again. He repeated this process several times getting more and more frustrated and then gave up and moved on to bigger and better things--like hiding under his blankie.

Not quite a surfer yet

We took little noodle to the shore this past weekend. Our dreams of a future professional surfer in the family took a hit as little noodle was a tad terrified of the ocean. He was all good with the water until a wave hit him smack in the face. After that he was not about to go near the water unless he was safe in the arms of a trusted adult. While his Mama was completely enthralled by the discovery of sand crabs, Chase was less than thrilled by the little crawling crustaceans. He did enjoy the sand, but I think his biggest thrill was chasing after the sea gulls.

Nana and PopPop were staying there with us, so we took advantage of the free babysitting by hitting the town three nights in a row. Our second evening started out rather poorly as my zipper busted in my new dress minutes after arriving at the casino. Luckily we were at Caesar's where they have the new pier shops, so I rushed into Juicy Couture and found a lovely sundress that-oh joy--fit and had no zippers! So I had the sales girl ring me up while I was wearing it--it's not like I had anything to change back into. The broken dress went right into the trash--no more DressBarn for me. Given this rather unlucky start to the evening, you'd think that we'd be crazy to gamble, let alone gamble on a game--say Black Jack--that we'd never played in a casino before. Well you know us...

Apparently, my fairy godmother must have decided that I'd had enough woe for one night because, according to an experienced gambler at the table, I was hitting when I should have been staying and staying when I should have been hitting. Amazingly enough though, I actually won money playing Black Jack. While I was cashing in my chips, the guy in line behind me said that I was so charismatic that I would surely win anything I chose to play. I think he may have been a wee bit intoxicated.

On our final night, we went shopping at the Pier for clothes that wouldn't be worn that minute, watched Harry Potter at the IMAX, and had a nice quiet dinner at PF Changs. When we returned to the house, I finished reading Harry Potter VII and then crashed before 11. What can I say, three nights of being out and about really took a toll on me. I'm not a spry young thing anymore you know.

It's a giant sandbox!

Come here little birdy...

Don't let go Nana!

I don't care about your sand crabs Mama...just take me back to the sandbox.