This morning I woke up at 6 A.M.

That is rare. I don't like to wake up early unlike my handsome counterpart, but today I had a mission. I was determined to arrive at Albertson's when it opened this morning!

So by way of background information, I've been couponing. My sister has been doing it for over a year and has finally convinced me to try it. Yesterday in the newspaper I received coupons that double the value of manufacturer coupons. I got some a couple weeks ago, but when I went to get the things I wanted they were SOLD OUT! Yes, I was upset and determined not to let that happen again. So determined in fact, that I couldn't dream about anything last night except redeeming my coupons and getting some great deals! So you wanna know how it turned out right? Was it worth it? Judge for yourself.

This is what I came home with. It includes:

18 canned veggies

2 boxes of Bisquick
2 bottles of Prego sauce
Fritos
Dip
String Cheese
2 packages of cookies
4 packages of pens
2 packages of boxed juice

So how much did I pay for all of this? These groceries are worth $77.47 but I only paid $14.76! How cool is that? The best part of all of this is I was given a survey and told I would get $4 off my next purchase if I did so, of course, I did. Adding that to my savings, I only paid $10.76! It's really a thrill to realize that I saved all that money. Of course, we must take into account that there are some of those things that I would not have purchased if I didn't get them for free. I figure that instead of saving $60 I probably saved about $30 when I compare it with my normal spending habits. But the numbers above are a lot more impressive, right?

The jury is still out for me. I haven't decided weather the stress, waking up at 6 in the morning, and keeping track of a million coupons is worth it for our family. I have saved quite a bit of money so far, so we'll see how things turn out as we continue our coupon experiment.

Did you know?

Summer actually lasts from June to September!

I think they taught me something about that in elementary school, so why in college are they trying to retrain my brain? I'm actually starting to believe that summer is only 7 weeks long!
Maybe it's better that way. We're cramming all of our summer fun into the 7 weeks Ian is off from school and we're enjoying every minute of it. That could explain why our blog posts are so few and far between ;) You may have noticed our preview in the previous post. Ian made it! Cool, huh? We're working on having the best summer ever so we can make a super cool video to share. Aren't we just sweet?
In the meantime, here's some more answers to the question "did you know?"

1. Holly is a model.
(photo courtesy of Twin Creeks Photography)

Yup. It's true. A pretty good one at that too. She's featured on an Etsy shop! If you've never seen Etsy before you should check it out. People from all over post their handmade items for sale! It's like a giant craft fair online! Probably my dream come true. Click here to check out more photos of Holly modeling for MillysCrochet.

2. Holly crawls.

She started crawling for real about 1 1/2 to 2 weeks ago and boy does she get around. She loves to follow me around the house but often whines when she finds she can't keep up. She can also go from crawling to sitting up and sometimes she even stands! It's weird to watch her move so much since she's still so small! In a couple weeks she'll be 9 months already. Can you believe it?

3. My kids love the carousel.

Whenever we go to the park and see the carousel Atley says "yee-haw!" He loves to ride the horses, especially the big ones. It makes Holly happy too, but I think she prefers to sit with Aunt Darien and watch it go around and around.

4. Ian is taking the GRE September 7th!

He's the most confused about when Summer actually is because even though he isn't in school he still has to study. What a rip off! He's working really hard on learning all he can about the test before he has to take it. This has made me really excited because it's the start of his Graduate School applications! Where is he going to apply? Good question. We're not exactly sure yet! We're still looking into our best options on that. But so far each school that we've looked into it seems that we'll have an answer of where we've been accepted by the end of March 2011! That means we could be moving as soon as April! Wow! Also, Ian just applied for Graduation and he'll be walking in December! Also (this is where I brag) he got STRAIGHT A's last semester! What a champ. I'm so proud!

5. We get to visit the Cabin!

It's all Ian can talk about. Our family and some of our friends are heading up to the family cabin to enjoy the mountains for a few days. It's as close as we'll get to a vacation this year since everything is so busy and funds are so low. Honestly though, what more could we ask for. We have a lot of fun activities planned and are really looking forward to spending time with our friends.

Get all your summer fun in now too. Don't wait until the last minute. If you don't I'm sure you'll be jealous of ours. We don't want that, do we?

We're on Vacation

Okay, so maybe it's more like a staycation--at least for now. Ian finished the Spring semester and also registered for his very LAST SEMESTER! Hooray!

Anyway, check out the good things coming to a blogpost near you...

Project

So my sister shared this catchy little rhyme with me and it's been on my mind a lot latley. It could be because it's really catchy or maybe because it really applies to me.

Use it up, wear it out, do with it, or do without!

Weather or not a person is affluent, I think it's a great maxim to live by. If more people followed it, then there would be a lot less waste in our world, and thereby a lot less want. So, here's is my first project in line with this way of thinking. I have a few more ideas in mind, but those are a little further off. If/when they are accomplished I'll be sure to share them too.

This little beauty is called a tag blanket. Have you ever noticed how interested in tags babies are? I never did...until my little Holly came along. I had seen these before but never really felt like I would need or want one. Well, Holly loves to play with tags, so this was the perfect gift for her! Would you like to see what I used to make it?

These pieces of fabric were just laying around my house begging to be made over into something new. I'm pretty sure the ribbon came from a gift I was given a while back. The best part? Even with my limited sewing experience the makeover was a success! Wanna know what I learned from the project?

1. The lady on the craft blog wasn't lying when she said this fabric might be hard to work with because it stretches.
   
2. A first try is just that...a try! Nobody should expect it to be perfect, so neither should I! Also, it shouldn't keep someone from trying again.
   
3. Just because something isn't perfect doesn't mean it isn't good.

That last lesson was taught to me by Holly. Wanna see what she thought of her gift? Of course you do! She's too adorable to say no!

Also, I wanted to give an update on Ian's watercolor project. It's FINSIHED! So, I was pretty impressed. Here is is in all it's watercolor glory!

And for added fun, here's a video of Holly laughing! I was just hitting the couch coushions. It sounds kind of scary and loud, but her laughter tells us otherwise!

Singing Time!

As many of you know, Atley started going to nursery at church almost 2 months ago. Getting him started wasn't terribly hard. He missed his Mommy and Daddy a little, but now we've got him to the stage where he goes and stays, but he is still really shy.

That being said, the following video has three purposes:

1. To show the world that when Atley is inside our home he isn't as shy as he is outside our home.
2. To show his teachers in nursery that he is learning from them.
3. Because it is so darn cute! We took it today and I put in on my priority to do list for the blog. Nothing better than fresh, hot from the camera, Atley videos! Okay, maybe Holly videos are up there too!
   

A couple more notes, just so we cover all our bases. Atley is sick. He's had a fever today so it's really a miracle that he was playing with me at all. Also, that's why he's in a diaper (that is for you Maria!) Lastly, I recommend that you watch the video at least twice. The first time, watch Atley and I play (that's the purpose of this post after all.) The second time, check out the bottom left hand corner and you'll see a cute little face pop in and out!