Dinner and a Movie

Tonight I had the pleasure of going on a date with four handsome gentlemen. We went to a benefit spaghetti dinner, to raise money for the new community baseball field. Holy cow there were a lot of people there! The spaghetti was okay but the caesar salad was delish. After going through 500 plates of spaghetti and salad, they actually had to turn people away! I would say that is a successful fundraiser. Unfortunately, one of my dates had a number two diaper during dinner and the restroom didn't have a changing table. I think these should be mandatory in all bathrooms by now. That's okay though, we improvised.


After dinner, my dates took me to see a movie in the park. Every month, our neighborhood does a free movie night event for families to come watch a new release on a giant 50ft inflatable screen at the park. Tonight's flick was Journey to the Center of the Earth, I would give it two thumbs up.

I was super excited that I finally got to wear a jacket for the first time in months. That quickly wore off when I remembered that I hate being cold. Cold weather to me is anything under 70 degrees.
It probably wasn't a good idea to go straight to dinner from soccer practice. Those shorts and tall socks weren't doing much to keep him warm. Nathan said he felt like the inside of the freezer. He hates being cold too.

James looked so cute bundled up in his little hoodie jacket and blanket. He watched the movie on the blanket for a while and then fell asleep.

Marcus talked my ear off for most of the movie. It was nice though, I have been on some dates where there is that whole awkward silence thing going on. He was nothing like that, always something to say with him. He was disappointed his jacket did not have a hood.

After our movie we headed back to my place for some hot chocolate.

It was a fun night, I hope they want to ask me out on another date soon.

James gets Mad

Normally I am so excited about baby firsts. Their first bath, their first tooth, their first steps. Today James had his first tantrum. We were at Sam's Club buying large quantities of formula, water, bread, five gallons of mayonnaise for six dollars, you know, that sort of thing. After, we decided to treat ourselves to milkshakes for lunch (we are very health conscious grownups). James decided he wanted some too and when he realized we weren't going to share he started screaming like a madman! I am not talking about crying/screaming, this was give me that ice cream/yell with intent scream. It was cute and we laughed at first but he wasn't giving up and everyone was looking at us. Then it wasn't so cute. Where did this child learn this and how does he know to scream for ice cream and not baby squash!?

Election Day

The last time Mike and I took the kids to the dog track, Jason asked which dog we were voting for. I figured that we probably weren't being responsible parents if that was what my children thought voting was. Today we decided to be responsible grown ups and set a good example for the boys. We Voted!

I think the poll worker could tell I was a newbie. He chuckled a little when I asked him where do I sign my ballot. Then he politely told me that the ballots were anonymous. DUH! Learn something new everyday right?

I am sure I will be up late tonight with my eyes glued to CNN
Go Obama we'll be rooting for you!

Mystery Fish

Mike took the boys fishing this weekend at our community lake. They all had a few bites and Jason and Nathan each caught a fish! Does anyone know what the heck type of fish this is? It has a pointy mouth/nose and is sort of yellowish in color. If you have any idea please leave a comment, I really wanna know!

Fright Night

There is so much to love about Halloween. The costumes, the candy, the food, the family, the excitement. Every year we head on over to Uncle Chris and Aunt DeeDee's house with my sister and her kids and my mom, Stan, and Brianna. We always eat pizza and then go trick or treating. That is the tradition. That is what I love to do. I took a ton of pictures because not only do I have to show off these scary/cute kids but I am also showing off my mad photography skillz. And know I will introduce the creatures...

Here we have a very spooky skeleton aka Nathan.

Batman aka Marcus

A hungry baby monkey we call James

Batman, dead demon creature aka Jason, dead geisha girl aka Brianna, and Angel aka Angel

Here is the ninja practicing his ninja chops tomorrow he will be known as Ryan

And of course an angel named Angel

I'm not sure what Uncle Chris was dressed as but it was pretty scary

Even Deedee was scared

Early New Year's resolution- I am dressing up too next year. I don't want to miss out on the fun!

Jason enjoying the fire before trick or treating. Maybe he is getting up his strength to carry all that candy.

Batman running to save an angel in distress

A dead geisha twirling here beautiful cloak

This is always such a great neighborhood to trick or treat in. So many houses go all out. This house in particular is one of my favorites. There are so many people dressed up and trying to scare everyone as they walk past, including me. The guy with a bat tried to sneak up on me twice and would have scared me good if it weren't for my sister and Marcus warning me. Marcus wanted no part of this house and had my hand in a death grip till we got two houses past it.

This was a garage band putting on a concert in their driveway. They were pretty good! The house right next door to them had a cotton candy machine and were handing it out freshly spun to all the kids. Grown ups got jello shots too! Right across the street from them the house was putting on a chili cook off. Everyone that stopped by got to sample and vote. I heard number 1 was the best but I was too leary to try mystery chili. I am a baby.

James and my mom playing at the chili house

I don't know who this kid was but I thought the stilts were a pretty cool touch. Maybe I could add learning to walk on stilts to my resolution too.

I love this house too. Last year's theme was hippies. This year they were dressed up as the Mario Bros. Notice the question mark boxes on the wall. They also had the mario music playing too! Great attention to detail. Geesh Chris PLEASE pull those pants down about 6 inches you are scaring the children!

This house was right across the street from the scary house. They were really good about not scaring the kids but Marcus didn't believe me. I guess they were scary by association.

It was such a fun night, I am already looking forward to next year. Seriously though babe, you and I are dressing up next year, whatever you want to be as long as it doesn't involve me dressing like a, well we can discuss that next year.

Frankenstein

Here's my little sweetie pie serenading me with his Halloween song while we were carving our pumpkins. He learned it at school and I am not sure if there is supposed to be more than two sentences to it but that is the part he remembers and it is just so cute. Sorry for the lighting, it is sort of dark

Sittin....

Last night I got to hang out with my niece and nephew. I watched them for my sister so she could enjoy some childless time to tighten her head back on. Gosh they are getting so big already! Marcus no longer calls Angel- Janjel and Ryan- Wyan, and Angel no longer calls Marcus- Buckus.

I had to bribe Ryan with candy to let me take this picture. He agreed, but every time I tried to take it, the red eye light would come on and he thought we were done and would run to the candy. Oh well, at least they are both in the picture.

Ryan loves to be around the boys and be rough. He fits right in at our house.

Angel and Marcus thought this was the best tug of war game ever invented. I promise no snakes were harmed during the game.

Boy she has some wild crazy hair doesn't she?

My favorite part of the night was dinner. Angel told me "You make the bestest dinner Becky". Apparantly, spaghetti is the way to her heart. I wish I would have taken more picture AGAIN, but I had a good excuse this time. Six kids is not easy let me tell you.

I Heart Motherhood

I love being a mom. I feel like there is nothing in life that would make me happier than to take care of my children and help them become good, responsible citizens. Motherhood is a special job that not everyone is good at. It isn't something you can learn at school or out of a book. It is something that is part of you. Being a mom takes kindness, patience, love, ambition, and strength. I feel so lucky to have this important job. To be able to share my life with four beautiful boys. I have the honor to play with them, feed them, hug them, learn from them, to share in their victories, and to cry with them during their struggles, to see each one's individual personality and know them like no one else does, to watch them grow and change, to love them.

There is nothing more amazing than the miracle of life. Even after four children, I am still blown away by it. I am sure I would want to have another if it weren't for my medical condition and Mike saying no. Here I am seven months pregnant with James by the way.

Some of my favorite moments are just being at home with my children. Not doing anything special, just snuggling on the bed

Playing tag around the house

Helping with homework

Here I am with some of the gifts I have received from Jason, Nathan, and Marcus. Most of them are homemade, which are my favorite. I love each and every one of them. I know one day they aren't going to make me presents anymore and that makes me sad.

The boys made me these pictures when I was sick and in bed a few weeks ago. They were get well pictures, isn't that so sweet! The top one is Jason's, then Nathan's and Marcus' is on the bottom. I recommend clicking on the picture so you see all the cute little details.

I love you boys and I mean it when I say no matter how big you get you will always be my babies. Thank you for making me so special.

How To Make Millions

It is officially the holiday season and we are all looking for some extra cash right? Well if you know me then you know that I am super, hmmm, what is a nicer word for cheap. Well, I guess I am super frugal. With five boys to feed, it is a must to stretch our dollars and it's a lot of fun too! It's kind of like a mission. Me vs. the store. I want to inspire and challenge all my non coupon clipping friends to save 40% off your grocery bill. It really isn't hard.

First off, you have to have the tools. Here are my ads (they come every Wednesday) and my coupon binder(not very cute but functional). Not pictured is a pen and notepad for your list. Now to do this you have to get a paper every Sunday and clip coupons of anything you might buy. I choose to organize my coupons in a binder but you don't have to. Use whatever is easiest for you.

Some things to remember

Always make a list and try not to stray
Try to go to the store within a couple days of the ads coming out to avoid missing the great deals
Walmart ad matches
Fry's triples coupons up to a dollar
Never go shopping hungry
Try to go shopping without the kids
Never ever pay full price for milk. It's on sale somewhere
You will be surprised at how many times you can get stuff for free with coupons
Most stores don't notice if your coupon is expired

Now you are ready to make your list. Go through the ads and find anything that looks like a good deal on something you need or could make a meal out of. I usually plan my meals around what is on sale. If there is a really good sale on something such as chicken or cereal (see above picture) or anything that you use a lot of in your household then plan on stocking up. Then go through your coupons and see if you have any for the items on sale. Put them with your list so you remember to use them once at the store.

In this case with the cereal, if you buy 6 the price was only $1 a piece. Then I had 2 coupons for Life cereal for 50 cents off. Fry's triples coupons up to a buck so I got $1 off for each coupon. So I got 6 boxes of cereal for $4. Not bad!

Here is my receipt for my last shopping trip. I whited out my payment info since I was recently a victim of identity theft and have learned to be very careful. This was a decent week with 47% off my bill.

Sometimes you just need a few things that are on sale at different stores. When that happens you can always go to Walmart with your ads and they will price match at checkout. Very handy. This does take some time but it will be worth it with all your savings, pretty soon it will just become a routine.

Good luck with your savings and let me know your success stories!

While we are learning about saving I have to tell you about this. If you have never heard of the Walgreens Easysaver you are missing out. Every month Walgreens puts out a new Easysaver flyer (above). In it there is always a few things you can get for free! FREE! It is by rebate but it is so easy and did I tell you it is free?

Just buy the items listed that are free by rebate. Make sure to save that receipt. Then go online to walgreens.com and click on the easysaver claim rebate button. You just enter in the receipt number on your receipt and you can choose to have a check mailed to you or have it put on a giftcard. If you choose a giftcard like I do then you get 10% more! They are paying you to take this stuff! Save the giftcard after you use it and next time you can just have your next rebate put on your old card so you don't have to wait for it to come in the mail. It never takes more than a week or two to get your rebate. Isn't that so awesome?

Every month I just use my giftcard to buy the new stuff and then it goes back onto my giftcard. Thank you mom for introducing me to this. I have gotten some really good stuff. This month is Almay mascara and this really expensive moisturizer.

I expect you all to be on your way to Walgreens right now to get your free stuff!

I expect that in fifty years I will probably have saved myself millions of dollars. Okay maybe that is a stretch.... or is it.