Coupons, coupons, coupons...

I have been trying my hand at actually using coupons around here... they actually do save money! Imagine that! Especially when you are trying to feed your family the "good" stuff, meaning the organic and such... Why is it that THAT stuff is the most expensive, but obviously the best for us? It doesn't seem quite fair. So I have found a couple ways to get the coupons for the products that you actually use.
The store ads are great, and should be looked at weekly, so you can see if there is a staple that you use on sale. Most stores offer their weekly ads right on line. Just google your store and look for the info. For example, I usually go to Smith's , so I go to their website and look under the "In Store" pull down menu and there are the store ads and coupons. Just last week, we saved over $20.00 by buying stuff that was on sale and planning our menu around that! If you can save $20 a week, that is $1040 A YEAR!!! Amazing! There are some sites for your store that will actually load up coupons on your store loyalty card... that is pretty handy.
Another way to get coupons is to actually go to the products website. For instance, Seventh Generation is the manufacturer of most of our cleaning products and the diapers we are trying to use when we are not doing cloth, so I googled them, went to the website, and signed up for their newsletter. When you sign up for the newsletter, you get updates from the products you use, and you get to use coupons for the products! Win, win! I did this for many of the products that we use consistantly, like Newman's Own, and Stonyfield Farm, Horizon Milk, Silk, and oh so many more... it is limitless!
I keep a folder with pockets in the kitchen cabinet, and I put all the coupons I print out in there, and before I go grocery shopping, I grab my coupons that I want to use, and go. It is something you have to think about, and it isn't completely easy, but hey, things are never easy when you want to save money, right? It is like using your reuseable shopping bags... just something you have to remember.
I hope these tips will help someone.... I am leaving some links below for anyone that might be interested.

http://shortcuts.com/home
http://www.horizonorganic.com/coupons/coupons.php
http://coupons.stonyfield.com/signin_coupons.cfm
http://www.annies.com/home
http://www.silksoymilk.com/
http://www.seventhgeneration.com/coupons

Happy Valentines Day!

Hope everyone is having a happy Valentines Day so far! We finally got some good sleep last night, as the kids slept almost all night without waking up! Only once for each! Colton woke up with two arms... for the last 3-4 days he has been keeping his right arm limp at his side, and doing everything one-handed. We were so happy for our little two armed boy!
So, Tyler and I watched the "Kite Runner" last night, and were pleasantly surprised with the way they followed the book. Tyler had been setting himself up for disappointment beforehand because good books usually never make good movies, but we thought they did a really good job.

Last night the kids were being crazy (as usual). They decided they wanted to be naked and run around like banshees! Then Colton stole Ayla's boots and Ayla was very unhappy... but it was cute at the same time.

These are my latest project... and if you're a guy, you probably don't care... but I made a whole bunch of cloth pads out of the diaper remnants... they turned out pretty nice and colorful.

A giveaway and foster care update

Sofa in a cute pose... (just thought I'd share!)

So I was cruising around looking at different blogs and I came across a wonderful one called Blue Corduroy! She has such beautiful pictures and makes really wonderful crafts. I love finding crafty people. So I am writing about in my blog because she has a giveaway for a beautiful crochet hat that some might find irresistible.

We had another interview for foster care today, and despite the sleepless night last night (and I mean pretty much sleepless!) we were pretty talkative and the kids just love showing off. I go through days where I am so excited to do foster care and then the next, I am doubtful that I will be able to give people their precious children (who I will undoubtedly fall in love with) back! But ... I have high hopes and try to remain positive, and remind myself that every foster parent or prospective foster parent goes through the same exact doubts!

Days around here

We have been having a lot of indoor days around here, so the kids have become pretty creative. They decide that they are going "bye, bye" and proceed to get their jackets and shoes and hats on and head out to the laundry room saying, "Bye, Bye Mommy (and Daddy if he is home!) " It is really quite adorable. Ayla has taken quite a liking to her new rain boots (which are huge on her), and insists on wearing them pretty much all the time.
Colton is definitely the instigator and he has decided to enter the terrible two's a little late. He is very headstrong, and likes to boss us around on his terms. Most of the time it is hard to keep a straight face because he is just so darn cute! He spend 45 minutes in time out the other day because he decided he didn't want to say he was sorry for kicking me in the face (not hard, but enough to need to say sorry for), so he sat... and sat... and sat.... it was a tough lesson.

A couple of monkeys!
As for me, I have been busy trying to do our taxes, and getting into the habit of using coupons and buying sale items. I know it sounds like easy stuff; but I have found it is not. We (meaning I) usually try to buy organic stuff, and most of it just isn't on sale. So I have taken to going to each individual website and printing off coupons. And it actually adds up. Also using the store ads to plan meals seems to working pretty well too. I am trying to save us the most money possible, which is a goal worth trying for.

Fun in the sun (and the cold)

We had a really great weekend just hanging out! It was kind of cold (as it usually is in Montana in February!) but the skies were blue for most of the weekend, and we were really itching to get outside. So our neighbors, Justin and Shana, invited us up to Shana's parents place in Columbia Falls for some sledding. The kids had a great time, and we had a great time! Their (Shana's parents, Chuck and Judy's) driveway was snow and ice covered and was perfect sledding. It is about a 1/4 mile long so it was enough to get our blood pumping. To top the day off, Chuck and Judy invited us to stay for dinner, which was homemade spaghetti and salad. It was wonderful, and then chocolate chip cookies for dessert! Can't really get any better!

Hank, the dog, seeing what Colton is all about! (above) and Shana and Justin sledding with the dogs (below)

Heading back up the hill after sledding, and us all taking turns sledding below.

Ayla riding the horse (again!) and a really good shot of a chicken (the kids got to help collect the eggs, too!)

Close ups

The two sweetest kids EVER!!

Sometimes it seems during the winter, especially in February, it is hard to think of what is to come. Most of the time we are focused on the snow and the cold and the dreariness of it all. But I look at these two cuties and remember that the future is bright with lots of color and full of fun... I am so excited to see what the future brings. But for now, I am trying ti focus on the today, so here is my list of things I am grateful for today...
1. Great family... we had such a great visit with Roxanne, Danielle and Aiden. Can;t wait to do it again hopefully sooner than later!
2. My mom! She is such a fighter... she just received results from her CT and MRI scans, and it shows practically no changes from when she was first diagnosed! Yeah! She is amazing to have gone more than four years with this cancer thing, and NOT letting it grow!!!
3. Snotty kisses... cause that is all I'm getting (well, Tyler is not snotty, but the kids are!)
4. Icy roads today, cause Tyler doesn't have to work until later!
5. Knitting... I did a lot of knitting this past weekend, just visiting and knitting, and I got pretty far on a sweater for Ayla (poor Colton never gets anything cause girl stuff is just so cute!)
6. A wonderful husband who does such a great job putting up with my craziness and cleaning so much better than I do!
7. The way my kids say "beep beep" when they are backing up or riding their bikes backwards... it is so darn cute!
8. Leftovers; it makes it so easy to make a good dinner and not have too much stuff to clean up.
9. Soulemama's website for reminding me to enjoy winter for all IT'S glory.
10. Almost being finished with the licensing process for foster care... we are excited and nervous all at the same time!

What are your top ten things to be grateful for?

Grammy, Auntie, and cousin Aiden!

We had such a great time with Grammy Roxanne, Auntie Danielle, and cousin Aiden! It snowed one of the days, and we went sledding, which was great! The kids had some fun times reading and "fixing" the trucks in the house. The kids had some potty chair time (Ayla went potty for the fourth time!! Colton still hasn't!)... We mostly spent our time sitting in the living room visiting and either knitting or crocheting (Tyler was not involved in the crafts :) ) We were very sad to see them go last night, but we stopped at the ice cream (gellatto?) shop on the way to the train station, so it made it a sweet goodbye! We miss you guys!