Feeling a bit better today....

I got the video issue all sorted out. Once she told me how she came about the photo numbers, I was able to go through fairly easily and get it all straightened out. It took some extra time, but luckily not TOO much. Now I just need to get a class list (forgot to get one today) and create the title page and credits and it will be done!

As of this afternoon we have officially sold 22 car was cards too! We needed at least 20 so this is GREAT! There are 2 more people that I need to find out for sure if they want one so it might be closer to 25 when all is said and done. WOO HOO!!! I figured out today that if all we sell are the 22 I have right now, including all of the cash donations our total raised so far is $639!!!!!! That is a record for us. WOOOO HOOOOO!

While I'm on the topic of the fundraising. Last night I made up a sample of what my thank you cards will look like. I ended up making them for everyone on my team! Today I went and got some paper so I can make the rest (didn't have enough of the other stuff I 'tested' with last night to do all 50). So now I am ready to take on that project when time allows over this next week.


Next up, making Perler beads (fusion beads) with Joey's class on Monday and Mother's Day cards with Tori's class on Tuesday!! Ok so not actually making the BEADS...but projects with the beads...who am I kidding, you all knew what I meant! LMAO

Too many projects!!

Wow!! Earlier I was thinking I had a bunch of projects I needed to be working on. Then later I was talking to my MIL and listing them all out. WHOLY CRAP! I must be insane....

Help Joey's class with a project on 5-3
Help Tori's class with a project (sometime between 5-4 & 5-7)
Pick up walk team shirts, etc @ Mall of America 5-5, 5-6 or 5-7
Godfather's Fundraiser for walk 5-6
50 Thank you Cards by 5-9 (for breast cancer walk donations)
2 video slide shows for preschool by5/18
Tori's birthday (invites, etc) by 8/20
Joey's birthday (invites, etc) by 10/9 or 10/16 depending on when the party is
Christmas Cards by 11/30
Any Christmas gifts I make by 12/24
Wedding save the date cards by 1/1/11
Wedding Invitations by 3/1/11 or 4/1/11 (can't remember for sure)

Add to this Joey's preschool graduation 5/21, the kids' summer activities and hoping to find a job for this fall. Man, now I'm STRESSED!!!!

Frustrating day!

Yep, I'm going to whine and bitch...so if you don't want to hear about it...DON'T READ IT! lol


As mentioned before, I agreed to make video slide shows for Joey's school again this year. I gave the director directions on how to make it easiest for me to do it, since she said she didn't want me to have to go through as much work as I did last year. I told her that it is easiest if they name the files the number they want them in the slide show (1st photo is #1, etc) and to also have a list of what each photo should be (halloween, fire station, etc) so incase somethign isn't right, I can still hopefully figure it out. Joey's class video went GREAT...took me just minutes to finish...the next one, only time will tell!! Ugh, apparently one of the teachers didn't get the memo. In her defense, she's not of the "computer age" so to speak and probably not very fluent in computers or digital cameras. I belive what she did was write down the numbers the camera gave to her when the memory card was in the camera. Then she went to Walmart (and apparently spent like 3 hours there) and got all the pictures onto a cd. Well yea, I know (and lots of you probably know) that the number a camera gives a photo is NOT the same number it will get once it's on the computer. Especially when you take it to a store to be put on a cd...they always do crazy numbers. So, while I have this nice list that tells me what order each photo should be in....the photo numbers on this list are completely useless. I can't do a thing with them. Some groups of photos have a description by them, but others do not. So I will have to go through the whole cd with her and re name everything, which means probably having her come to my house since you can't edit information on a cd. NOT what I had in mind.

We recently found out that Direct Buy has deals on cell phones too! Kyle's phone is a peice of crap and he really needs a new one. So he looked at the website. They make it look like we can get him one for free just for extending the contract. No biggie we're A-OK with that. So I call to ask questions. I get some girl I can't understand at ALL and I think she said we have to 'qualify' for upgrading...so she offers to connect with Verizon to check. At this point (provided I understood her, who knows what she really said with that damn accent) I realize it's just like if we went into a Verizon store to upgrade and I am pretty sure we can't. While on hold to get on with Verizon and her, I get on the Verizon website and figure out we have 9 freaking months left. So I hung up. I hope we can find him something on Ebay.......

Then this afternoon I was pleasantly surprised to finally get the check for doing that market research online journal thing. I took it to the bank this evening since I knew our account was dangerously low on funds cuz our stupid insurance payment went out. (i hate auto pay!) I go to the drive through and the girl asks what I want to do. "deposit to checking please." I say. "ok, I'll be right back" the chipper young lady says. THen she comes back "umm, where is this check from?" Me "what do you mean?" Her "well we don't reconize this and since it's such a large amount we have to check." Me "umm well it's from a company online that does market research stuff, like surveys and what not. I did a thing for them and that was my payment" Her "oh, well since there are so many fraudulent internet scams, and you don't personally know the person who gave you this check, we have to put a 3 day hold on the funds, so it won't be available until the 29th" Me "umm, well if i over draft will I still be charged even though I technically have the money in my account?" her "well yes, because it won't be available to use. Wait, I'll be right back" she walks away for a bit, mean while Joey is pissing me off and kicking my seat and yelling, hoping the girl would hear him asking for candy, after I told him they weren't having any more tonight...even if she DID send some for them. She comes back "well, since the money will be on hold, if you do over draft the accounting department *might* over turn the fees since you had the money sitting there on hold." me "umm well ok I guess." because after all, I really have no choice. Key word there is might...I swear I better not get any oferdrafts tomorrow!! I get it is for my protection since there are people stupid enough to belive someone will send you money for nothing...only to steal your identity. But OMFG there is company info on the damn check and a website they could go look at. UGH....

And, I really had hoped to do something fun with that check. Buy the kids some new bikes (both could use them) or save it towards what ever vehicle I end up getting sometime in the future (supposed to be end of june but will probably have to wait and extend the lease on the stupid van I really don't like) or even save it for a vacation...but no. It will have to go towards stupid bills. I hate bills. Yea they gotta be paid, but I still hate them.

Long story short...not a good day for me. (exept for the hour and a half of girl time with Kelley, Nancy and Amber! That was nice!)

Nothing much....

Well, I figured since it's been a while since I've posted anything...I'd write something now. Mostly rambles, but hey...maybe SOMEONE is out there listening, right? lol

Today was a pretty good day. I finished the photo slide show dvd for Joey's preschool class graduation. I'll have 2 more to make (for each of the other classes) once those teachers get around to giving me thier stuff. These are fun to do, and hopefully the other teachers organize it as well as Joey's did. It took me minutes to put thiers together. Well, it would have if I didn't insist on making a title page, class list pages, etc. But I love doing that stuff!!

Tonight the kids and I made some Rice Crispy treats. Mmmmm!!! But I think something is wrong with my kids! Tori said she only wanted a small one cuz she doesn't like them much and Joey said he couldn't finish his after only one bite. Ugh, wierd-o's I tell ya. But hey...more for me then!

Tomorrow my cousin is coming over with her boys so we can look at the senior pictures I did for her oldest son. Once we decide which ones she likes most, I will have to get those edited and then order what ever pics they want. That should be fun BUT...that's not the end of my senior pictures this weekend!! On Sunday we're going out to my SIL's in Hudson so I can do senior pictures for my niece Shelby. It should be a ton of fun...she's an awesome young lady. It sounds like she wants to go all over Hudson taking pics at different places. I hope the weather cooperates and is nice and warm...and CLOUDY!! That would make my job a ton easier. But man, where did the time go? It seems like it was yesterday I was baby sitting her and her brothers!

Other than videos for preschool and senior pictures, the only other thing going on is getting ready for the Race for a Cure on Mother's Day. I think we've gotten our 20 minimum car wash cards sold, might even have extras!! So that is a huge relief. PLus we've gotten some cash donations and will be having a fundraiser night at Godfathers here in town. Now I just need to think up a cute design for some thank you cards that I can send to everyone that has donated!! If anyone out there has some good ideas...shoot me a message!

$3 off Revlon ColorBurst Lipstick!!

I don't often wear makeup, so I don't usually buy it. BUT, if I can get it for free or really cheap...then why not? Here is a link to Revlon's website. Register with thier site then click on the lipstick icon at the top, it will say "coupon" by it. You will then get to print off a coupon for $3 off!! If you hit the back button on your browser and resend the information for the page again, it will let you print TWO of them! I'm not sure how much this costs normally, but it can't be THAT much, right?

Here ya go! Get coupon HERE!

Walmart Deals-April 15, 2010

Here are some awesome deals I got today! Thank you to my friend Kathy and to the MN Coupon Adventure Blog for tipping me off to some of these deals! (all prices/totals are before tax)

2-Astroboy Blu Ray Packs (19.96 each - $16 off coupon from HERE=$3.96 each)
2- Nerds Fun Packs (were $1.60 each - 75% off Easter Clearance= .40 each)
5 Sports Candy Necklaces (were $2 each - 75% off Easter Clearance=.25 each)
Total Retail- $53.12
Total Paid- $9.97
1-Cricut Cutting Mats ($12)
10 Scotch Bright Sponges (.84 each, $1 off any 1 Scotch Bright product HERE= .16 overage each)
***some stores may give you the overage, some may not but either way it's FREE!!)***
5 each Baseball, Skeeball, Football Games (were $2 each - 75% off Easter Clearance=.25 each)
Total Retail- $50.40
Total Paid- $14.15

For sale....

We are trying to clean out our porch, and would like to sell these items. I thought before listing them on Craigslist to strangers, I'd offer them up to people we actually knew first! Let me know if your interested at all...

MegaBlocks Castle-$30
(a few original pieces are missing, but other megablocks are included)

Power Wheels Jeep- $30
includes 2 wall chargers, but needs a new batter (6 volt)

Bike-$5

Kyle painted it up for Joey so it's Blue with gold lightning on it! Handle bars are purple (original color)

Pedal Car-$5
This is super cute...just needs a bit of fixing up. The paint is faded and there's a bolt or two missing.

Disney Princess 3 wheel scooter-$5
OK shape, is missing basket from front but other wise works good!

Deal alert! Scotch Bright!

There is a chance of getting frebies here! This is a coupon for $1 off ANY Scotch Brite product. It says ANY on it, which means it is good on the single sponges which sell for about $1, or so I'm told anyway. Since it's a PDF file, there is no limit on how many you can print...GOTTA LOVE IT!

To make it better, if Rainbow has these for around $1, you could take the coupon to Rainbow on double coupon Wednesdays and get TWO for almost free! I think I know what I'm doing tomorrow!!!

http://www.3m.com/us/home_leisure/scotchbrite/ultranailsaver/coupon.pdf

Our Sunday afternoon!

So last week Joey and I went for a walk and discovered a park near by we didn't know about before. Ever since, he kept talking about taking Tori there. So...today...we did! Here is a little video montage I made up since I actually brought my camera. Like usual, Joey was totally against his photo being taken for most of it, until the slide part at the end anyway, and he DID agree to the ONE picture of the 3 of us. The rest, I had to be sneaky. Boy was he mad when he figured it out! Muahahahaha!

I'm so PROUD!!!

There are days that my kids just amaze me. Today was one of them! I just wish I had a video of Tori...maybe next week....

Here is Tori and her favorite gymnast, Shawn Johnson!
(who, I recently found out, made $365,000 for being on Dancing with the Stars! HOLY CRAP!!)

At gymnastics Tori's recently switched to a different class day, and has a different coach now, who seems to be one to let them try things on thier own more than the previous one. She's been working on doing back hand springs on this wedge shaped mat (it's easier to learn doing them on the decline). She's been really close for a long time now, but always had the coach right there and assiting her. Today I missed seeing her do them, but when she was done with that area and came out for a drink she said "did you see??" I said "what?" she goes "I did the back hand spring by myself!" I about died...I knew she could do it, but was bummed I missed. I played around a bit saying "you did NO!!" and this girl in her class chimed in "she DID! I saw it!!" So I told Tori to ask her teacher if she can do it again at the end of class, so I can see. Sure enough, she DID IT! The teacher wasn't even by her at all...and she did it perfectly! It seriously looked like she's been doing them her whole life. I was so happy and proud for her, I swear I wanted to cry! LOL

Here's Joe and his birthday cake at his 5th Birthday party...at gymnastics of course! lol

As for Joey...he made me proud today in a totally unexpected way today. There is this kid from gymnastics that is just a little jerk. We've nick named him "devil child". He doesn't listen, picks on other kids and constantly misbehaves. Well, his sister had class at the same time as Tori today, so he was there with his dad waiting. He brought some kids card games along, so he and Joe started playing Old Maid. From the get-go this kid was cheating! At OLD MAID of all games! lol He was dealing the cards and looking at every card...even Joe's. Then when he got the old maid, he tried placing it higher than the rest so Joe would pick it. Then when Joe didn't start going for that card, he moved his hands around trying to get him to take it!! They were right next to me so I called him on it of course, each and every time. Granted, I was a bit joking about it (cuz i realize it's a kid game and what he was doing wouldnt' really help him in anyway...and ppl always do that with the old maid to get the other to take it)...but still. Like usual his parents didn't do a damn thing because they NEVER do. ANYWAY, so they decide to play a second game and he was actually doing good this time. That is when Joey spoke up, He goes "You know "Jeremy", if you want more kids to like you and to play with you....you should really be nicer to them" (i changed his name btw) My mouth about hit the floor that he was so open and honest! Of course "Jeremy" was like "I AM nice, we're playing cards!" and Joe said nothing. So this time, I spoke up. I just said "yea, you are NOW. But I think he means more when you guys are in class together." and he goes "but he's not even in my class!!" sounding a little mad. I said "in gymnastics you are." And he shut up pretty quick, then went outside where his dad and sister were since their card game was done. Maybe hearing it from a kid younger than him (he's Tori's age) will get it through his thick skull....one can hope! But until then....I'm not holding my breath!

Woo HOO What a deal!!!

Today while doing my normal grocery shopping I happened across something I thought could be a good deal. Hyvee had some Kellogs cereal 4 for $10, then a bunch of them had $1 off peelie coupons! I thought..."$6 for 4 boxes of cereal isn't too bad!" so I grabbed some. Then when I came to the actual cereal aisle I saw a sign "$5 when you buy 5 boxes of Kellogs Cereal" of this same kind of cereal (was a coupon on thier website, but the cashiers have copies of them and will scan them for you)! Umm hello? WHOLY COW!! Here's a break down...

5 boxes @ $2.50= $12.50
minus- $5 coupons on boxes= $7.50
minus- $5 coupon (on thier site but cashiers have them too!!)= $2.50
divide that by the 5 boxes...makes it .50 a box!!!
Oh but wait...it gets better!! When I was done checking out...it printed out TWO catalina coupons for a free gallon of milk!!!!!

So long story short, for $2.50 I got 5 boxes ofKellogs cereal and 2 gallons of milk!! Man, now I wish I didn't just buy milk at Kwik Trip this morning! lol I am SO going back after I take Joey to school!!

Lazy mom tip #1

Ok, so I don't know if there will be more, but here we go! lol We all know that when ever possible, I like to be as lazy as possible right? Who doesn't? So here's one thing I figured out today......

Tori likes to use alot of ketchup and sweet and sour sauce and it just works best to use my Tupperware snack cups to put it in. BUT it gets hard to clean them out, especially if they aren't rinsed right away. So today while making chicken nuggets for dinner I saw the stack of left over cupcake liners from last week and thought "you know, those are the perfect size!" so i put 2 in each of the snack cups for Tori and I. It worked GREAT cuz I don't need to wash them again! WOO HOO!

Ok...now you all can go about laughing at me and my craziness! hahahahaha

Here is a regular Tupperware snack cup and a half snack cup like they normally are...

And here they are with the liners!

Deal alert!!!! Free M&M Pretzels!!

I don't know about all of you...but I love chocolate and pretzel together! I guess M&M finally figured out this would make a good combo! Click this link and add the "app" to be able to request your free bag of the new yumminess....but hurry! It's limited to the first 40,000 requests!

http://apps.facebook.com/minutentag_dev/pretzels/index.aspx?auth_token=651c965c86793ab0cb666d5d398fdab3