Drum Roll Please!

And the winner is?????????


Brandy from The Buzz!!!


Yay!! This was so much fun!! This definately was the highlight of my week! Ty ladies for participating. Katie really had fun pulling the paper from the pink basin here at the hospital (I was fresh out of hats lol). Then she decided to play snowfall with the rest! I took a cute picture. Will try and find my chord and upload tommorow. Tomm is Feb 1st! Be ready for the next give away. I will post it sometime before the end of the day tomm!!!!!

A long week...

For my followers I want to start with an apology. I have neglected my blog since mid afternoon on Wednesday. I have been away from home since then unexpectedly. My 10 year old daughter Katie is considered "medically fragile". This is a bit misleading though because she is a super tough and super resilliant kiddo. She has alot of different complications from her underlying birth defect of Spina Bifida. She has a more severe defect then many children with this disability. She has pretty severe brain damage from some shunt malfunctions and subsequent shunt infections when she was under a year old. She doesnt have any true verbal language. She does make cooing sounds and a few sounds that she uses to represent the things that matter the most to her. She has a trach and a g-tube. She is on multiple seizure meds. She has cerebral palsey also from the infections when she was young.

Katie and I on Christmas morning. This is how she always is, bright and sunny.

This is Katie getting a stuffed bear on from her Great Aunt sheshe for christmas. Not that big a deal right? Except she has been inseperable from it ever since. It is in bed with her here at the hospital right now.

She also has one of the greatest attitudes I have ever known. She smiles constantly and loves everyone. Her giggle is infectious, *she will block her trach with her chin and giggle, its truly life altering to see her joy*. She is patient, and tolerant, and determined when she makes her mind up. She lets you know when she has had enough and be warned if you cross her after that! She is feisty and funny and sweet and adorable. She is my little angel.

Anyhoo that is a bit about her. Which brings me to where we are. She was having some trouble this last week with keeping her heart rate and oxygen saturations up at night. So we ended up leaving Maine at about 6pm on wednesday night to drive her to Boston. So we packed Katie up, which is an endeavor in itself, and got her all comfy in the car, and headed off to the gas station. About half way there, my van, also known as the "money pit on wheels", decided it wanted to over heat. I wish I could have told you how annoyed I was. I have sunk so much $$ into this thing in the last year. We take great care of it, and how does it repay us? It chews through tires and over heats at the worst possible time!!! Luckily, my moms car is big enough to carry all of Katie's gear and us. So we called and she of course immediately swapped out for us. So we unpacked my van, and repacked Mom's van, and off we went. Arriving at Boston Children's at around 11:30 pm. The only way to be admitted when you get there after clinic hours is by the Emergency Dept. They knew we were coming, so it was not a long wait to be seen. However it was still  6am before they finished admitting her and got her to her room. So at this point, neither Tyler and I have slept since approximately that same time the day before, and we are attempting to get Katie hunkered down and ready for testing galore. Finally at about 11 that moring we are able to attempt to get some sleep, in her room together on the one person bed/couch thingy. We managed to get entangled together in a way where we didnt either fall off. a miracle in my mind considering he is six foot three and I am well, not a small mammal lol. Slept for about two hours then proceded to wait, and wait and wait, for different tests and scans. She has, of course, played possum with the heart rate and sats since we got here. She has been perfect with those. Her tests were basically lots of scans, ct's, xrays, MRI these are the big ones, the scary ones, the ones that would have meant really big surgeries, with gods grace, all came back as stable and ok....phew. So now we are waiting for the test she is having now. Which is an eeg (electro-encephalogram). She is going to be monitored with this for 48 hours in hopes of capturing one of the episodes. So alot of sitting and waiting and still wondering.

So anyhoo. This is why I have been so inattentive. I apologize again. My contest is ending tomm!! I cant believe it! Hopefully I can get my hubby to email me my spread sheet with everyones names and entries on it, so I can pull from a hat. Maybe i will try and get Katie to do it. Although knowing her she will just grab the hat and dump the contents lol.

Hubby also told me that my party pack from Loreal came. I am so excited to host my first product party! He said there is so much make up its nuts. Not to mention coupons. I will keep you all updated to my plans for this party. Hope everyone is well.

Also since I showed her off I should do the rest of the family too huh?

This is Angel my oldest Cat. Ninja sleeping under the tree.

This is Julia the day after our wedding at the coast. 

Another picture of Angel.

  

This is Julia and a lol catz worthy picture of our cat Singey who seems to have inserted herself in the photo.

 We call this cat "bathroom cat" because she basically lives in our bathroom. Her real name is Savannah. Not sure where the obssession with the bathroom started. She just loves it in there lol.

Singey in the christmas tree. I didnt have the heart to tell her the camoflage didnt work and we could indeed see her.

This is my DH Tyler and our baby girl Sadie. She is 4 months old now! She is probubly about 10bs bigger then she was in this picture. The Vet says she has gained 20 lbs this last month! He thinks she will be over 80lbs!

 Good organic dog food + lots of love =

 gigantic puppy of awesomeness! lol

 

New Coupons from Kraft!

Kraft's Game Day Game Plan is ramping up. They have 10 different coupons with it. Here are the links to each.

Philadelphia Cream Cheese. Click here.

 Velveeta here.

Planters Nuts here.

This one is big in my house! We go through this stuff like its water! Capri Sun here.

Parmesan Cheese here.

Breakstone (I think this is known as knudsen out west? At least that is what I remember). Go here.

Kraft Deluxe and Velveeta shells and Cheese here.

Starbucks coffee go here.

Claussen pickles here.

Oscar Mayer here.

Win IT Wednesdays!!

Money Saving Maine-iac is hosting Win it Wednesdays. Go check out the great give-aways and add yours if you like!

Free Business Cards Giveaway

Money Saving Maine-iac has a great contest for Free Business cards! Go on over and sign up!

Free Copy of Elle Magazine

Get a free complimentary subscription to Elle Magazine.

Thanks Just free stuff for this one.

Great Give-away! Bake me a wish Cake

Its cake! Who doesnt love cake! This cake though.. is to die for! Go check out their store. Then go on over to The B Keeps Us Honest and sign up for her great give-away!!!

Did I mention it was cake?

hehe

All You February Coupons.

Have you received your Feb All you yet?  If you have not signed up for it, here is a sweet deal at Amazon for All You (2-year)!

You can order a 2 year subscription for $34 and you will get a $10 credit back for a future Amazon purchase! So that brings your total to $12 a year which is a great deal!

 Here is the list of coupons this month:


All You® Eat Well, Save Big Cookbook $1.00 4/05/2010

Boca Meatless Products $1.00 off 2 Packages 3/31/2010

Body Fortress® $1.00 3/03/2010

Borden® Singles Sensations $1.00 3/31/2010

Campbell’s® V8® Soups $1.00 off 2 4/15/2010

Colgate® 360® Toothbrush $1.00 3/31/2010

Colgate® Wisp® $1.00 3/31/2010

Cottonelle Fresh® Moist Wipes Tub $0.50 on any 1 3/31/2010

Cottonelle® Toilet Paper 12-Pack $1.00 on any 1 3/31/2010

Couples Retreat Special Edition DVD or Blu Ray $1.00 4/11/2010

DOLE® All Natural Fruit Jars $0.75 4/30/2010

DOLE® Fruit Bowls $0.75 4/30/2010

Eight O’Clock® Coffee $0.75 3/15/2010

Ester-C Tablets $2.00 4/07/2010

Genius Pacifier $1.00 5/31/2010

Good Earth® Tea $0.75 3/15/2010

Gorton’s $0.60 7/31/2010

Hershey’s® Kisses® Brand $1.00 3/31/2010

Jillian Michaels Natural Whey Protein Powder $1.00 3/03/2010

MET-Rx® Bars $1.00 3/03/2010

Milk-Bone® Essentials Plus+™ biscuits or chewy treats $1.00 on any 7/31/2010

Milk-Bone® Essentials Plus+™ long lasting chew $1.00 on any 7/31/2010

Nature Made® Vitamin $1.00 02/28/2010

Neutrogena® Advanced Solutions® complete acne therapy system $3.00 4/30/2010

Neutrogena® Cosmetics $3.00 3/02/2010

New York Frozen Product $0.50 on any 5/23/2010

N.Y.C. New York Color® $1.00 off any N.Y.C. New York Color®

Item $1.72 or Higher 2/28/2010

Ore-Ida® Frozen Potatoes Buy 2, Save $1.00 3/31/2010

OVALTINE® $1.00 5/30/2010

Pepperidge Farm® frozen bread $0.55 3/31/2010

Polaner Sugar Free Preserves with Fiber $1.00 3/26/2010

Pure Protein® Bars $1.00 3/03/2010

Rianxeira Tuna Snacks/Bites Try 1 For FREE (up to $1.88 value) 4/30/2010

Rogaine® $5.00 off Any ROGAINE® Product 5/31/2010

Sister Schubert’s $0.50 3/13/2010

T. Marzetti® Salad Dressing $1.00 4/30/2010

Taco Bell® Home Originals® Salsa and Salsa Con Queso $1.00 4/30/2010

Tetley® Tea $0.60 3/15/2010



Total $47.13

Six Dairy Queen Bogo Coupons!

Lets just face it. Everything is better with icecream! lol. This is a motto we strongly stand by in our home. Go here and sign up for your bogo coupons at DQ.

Really cool Giveaway at Leelou's Swag

Leelou's swag has a give away going on for these adorable necklackes from the Vintage Pearl. Go here and check out her stuff! I love this site too, its adorable necklaces that are hand made. I love supporting artisans and their work. You get such nice stuff. I feel like it was made with love too.  I ordered alot of stuff for my wedding last fall from different etsy artisans. They were the perfect touch to our diy event.


So any chance I can pass on info regarding real artisan's I will!

Enjoy! Make sure to check out vintage pearls website also. Very cute and lovely photo's of her family! Gave me a smile.

Friend Makin Monday!

AE Filkins is hosting Friends making monday. She has this little meme. Its pretty cool. Go over and check it out and make some new connections! Don't forget to link up while you are there! The meme is originally from the simple womans daybook. I love that this is getting spread around and so many people are enjoying it!

The Simple Woman's Daybook

Outside my window... There is no window in my cubie (at work) :(

I am thinking.... About getting some chocolate from the vending machine **STOP ME**!! hehe

I am thankful... For my family, my husband, my beautiful children, the ability to shelter them and care for them and not worry about what tomorrow will bring. 

I am praying... For Haiti, and all the children. Dear Lord, keep them in your arms and protect them. 

I am reading... The Legacy of the Drow (I'm a nerd).

I am creating... My blog! I loved writing when I was younger and somehow got away from it. This has been so cathartic. 

From the kitchen... I know I have dishes to do. 

Around the house... are usually many little shreds of paper from our golden puppy sadie. 

One of my favorite things... My husbands laugh and his arms. When he lays his hand on my head and silently supports me in that way that he is so good at.

A few plans for the rest of the week... Make new friends, hit my goals at work, Focus on my writing, get my daughters nurses schedule fixed, Show my husband that I love him more then anything. Show my daughters that I love THEM more then anything, and get some rest. Always a challenge for me lol. 


***UPDATE the Chocolate won...and I dont regret it!!! hehe*****

Special offers and coupons from Johnson brand

On this Special Offers page at Johnsonsbaby.com  you find a ton of great coupons (right hand side bar). They also have alot of great advice for new moms!

Thank you, But I had a coupon!

Free 4 Color pen from Style Art

This is cool. Stlye art is celebrating their 5th anniversary with this gift. I know my daughter loves pens like this. She is gonna be pretty excited! Go here for the gift

Free Betty Crocker Caleder and Cookbook with Coupons!

I blogged about the cookbook once before. But I signed up this morning for the caledar, which I am hoping has coupons also. They usually will.

Here is the links to both.

Calender go here.

Cookbook go here.

Stuff in my mailbox! Free Sample of Kashi Cereal

Stuff in my mailbox is my favorite!! Go here and get your free Sample of either Go Lean Crisp Toasted Berry crumble cereal, TLC Dark Chocolate Coconut Fruit & Gran Bar or GOLEAN Crunch Honey Almond Flax cereal.

Target and Walgreens Clearance Deals Round - Up!

As with all clearance, it may or may not be available at your local stores… BUT it never hurts to look.

Target

Clorox Greenworks Multi-Cleaner on a price cut for 2.49

Use the $2/1 peelie coupons attached to the bottles

Final cost $0.49!

Thanks Hip2Save!



Finish Powerball tabs (20 ct) on clearance for $3

Use the $2.50/1 coupon from the 1/3SS

Final cost $0.50!

(Thanks, SavingSurvivingThriving!)



Faith Hill Perfume gift set on clearance for just $4.98

Use the $3/1 All You exclusive coupon

Final cost $1.98!

(Thanks, DSMCouponMom!)



Purina Beggin’ Canadian Cuts on clearance for $2.07

Buy 4 and use the $4/4 coupon from the 11/15SS

Plus, use 2 $1/2 Target coupon from here

Final cost $0.57 each!


Dawn Direct Foam pumps marked down to $2.34 (may ring up at $1.95)

Use the $1.50/1 coupon from the Home Made Simple Coupon booklet

Final cost as low as $0.45!

(Thanks, Diane’sDeals!)

Walgreens

Arizona Green Ice Tea on clearance for $0.25
Deerfield Apple Juice and Grape Juice 16 oz bottles on clearance for $0.30
Tiger Gatorade on Clearance for $0.50

(Thanks, Clippin’WithCarie!)

Scrubbing Bubbles action scrubber on clearance for $1.39

Use the $1/1 coupon from the 1/10SS

Final cost $0.39!

**The refills may also be on clearance!


Gain Laundry Detergent (100 oz) on Clearance for $3.48 (regularly $15+)

Any coupons?

(Thanks, Clippin’WithCarie!)



Tide Simple Pleasures, Lavender and Vanilla (40 oz.) $2.50

Use the $1/1 coupon from the 12/27PG

Final cost $1.50!



Neutrogena Men Skin Clearing Shave Cream on clearance for $2.64

Use the $2/1 coupon from the December issue of All You mag.

Final cost $0.64!


Select Aveeno products on clearance for $2-$3

Use the $2/1 coupon from Coupons.com or from the 1/10SS

Final cost ?

High Value Cereal Coupon!

Yay! There’s a new high value cereal coupon available! Ok the coupon pics above are a joke of course. But are they not cute? I remember those from when I was a kid!!!
 Anyhoo, Just go here, scroll down to the bottom, and click on the link to register for the Post Natural Advantage Newsletter. After doing so, you’ll be emailed a link to print a coupon valid for $2 off one box of Post Shredded Wheat, Grape Nuts or Raisin Bran! These Post cereals often go on sale for $2.50 or less, so possibly ONLY $0.50 per box after the coupon!