Awesome!

So I haven't posted in like forever the samples and freebies i've gotten, and i've also slacked off with writing it down to keep track of it.....I am such a slacker!!! I need to get this blog moving more so I need to make more of an effort to post the mail when I get goodies. Today's mail wasn't a whole lot, but it was awesome none the less!!! A few Wednesday's ago My Coke Rewards offered their Chalkboard Picture Frame for half the points.....I had been saving my points for another Club Pogo membership, but decided to order the frame. I'm SO glad I did!! It's super cute!

There are 5 pieces of chalk and at the top of the frame there are 5 openings to keep the chalk in. Here is a link to see what it looks like with the chalk in it.....i'm seriously thinking this would be a cool end of school year gift for Ty's teacher!!!

Flip Flop project

Ok, so it's been almost a year since I started this project and I STILL have a long way to go. Between finding the time and having issues with my right hand, I just can't seem to get very far with it. :(  I did manage to get a little more done.....but I still have so much to do. (I can not wait until I can get this hand looked at and hopefully get it fixed!!!)

Hmmm, maybe posting this pic will motivate me to get this project done......I hope so! LOL

Long day ahead *update*

Today Ty has an upper and lower colonoscopy done to check and see if he has any sort of blockage or anything else that could cause his tummy issues. I am beyond nervous right now. Yesterday broke my heart, as he had to be on an all liquid diet plus take three different things to help him clean his system out,  and he kept telling me how hungry he was. They did tell me I can be with him right up until they take him back to do the procedure, and that they will wait and do the IV when he is asleep......and they said he won't even remember me leaving him, which is a slight comfort.

Any thoughts and prayers would be greatly appreciated.......

*Ty did great!!! He was such a brave boy. We had to be at the hospital at 5:45am, which was rough! But once we got there and he was all checked in things went fairly quick. They gave him something they call "happy juice" that helps them relax, especially with being seperated from mom and dad. Well, he took it and within 15 minutes he was passed out!! Not long after that they came and got him and us and took us up to the waiting room. We had to wait 35-40 minutes total, but it seemed like it took so much longer. Finally the doctor came out and told us they found he had excessive bile in his stomach and esophugus, but everything else looked just fine. He has to go back tomorrow morning for an ultrasound to check his gallbladder to see if that is what is causing all the extra bile. They also gave him a prescription for Prevacid to see if that will help as well. We went back to his room and waited on him, which once again wasn't a long wait but felt like forever....I wanted my boy!!!! Once he got back to the room he was still pretty out of it. He did sit up once and ask if they did the procedure already then flopped back down on the pillow...LOL! He's doing great now that we are home. Still very weak but SO glad to be able to eat again!!

I do want to give a proper shout out to Children's Hospital. Everyone we came in contact with today was just wonderful and so caring.It really helped put our minds at ease and was just an amazing experience.......

Superpoints

I try not to post referral links to sites but I could use all the help I can get!! Superpoints is a really easy site to use to earn points that you can cash in for cash (Paypal) or gift cards!! To get points you can do simple offers on their site that don't require any credit cards or out of pocket money (although they do have those things on their site...I never do them, obviously!) and you get emails with points in them! They also have videos you can watch to earn points as well as the SuperLucky button that you get 30 clicks per day!! And the higher you move up in status, the more clicks you can earn, as well as you earn extra points when someone you refer signs up!

Check them out when you can........Superpoints Thank you SO much!!!

*Obviously, I HIGHLY recommend you use an email address that is just for sites like this, as you do tend to get some spam from time to time........

Love, love, love it!!

Yesterday I received the Palmolive Sponge Fresh detergent and a sponge from Influenster, and I LOVE it!!! the detergent has such a wonderful scent, and I love the sponge!! The Palmolive detergent is supposed to wash away odor causing residue from the sponge and even though i've only used it a few times I love it!! It not only keeps the sponge smelling fresh, but it works GREAT at cutting through grease and getting dishes really clean. I'm SO glad I got the chance to try this!!!

Just....blah

So it looks like we WILL be stuck in this hell hole house/neighborhood for another year. Apparently we don't even have the money left to rent another home, which blows since I was basically promised we would still get out of here. It has gotten to the point where I can not even look at homes while we are driving without getting teary eyed....hell, I even get teary eyed just watching tv and seeing people in "homes". Sounds so stupid, I know. I hate being like this and the funk that I am in and i've been trying to at least not let it get to me, but it's so darn hard when you look around you and see all the crap you still have to deal with and are still scared to be in this house.

We did get the boys out of the house yesterday and took them to a park....it was SO nice to get out! Especially since the boys can't really play outside here due to the neighbors, and now the coyote we saw walking down the street RIGHT in front of the house just the other day. But anyhoo, the boys had such a great time!! And it was so nice seeing them running and playing and just enjoying being outside.

I added more pics on my Facebook page......the park was small, but so nice!! Hopefully when Ty is off next week for Spring Break we'll be able to go back there.......

Ok, i'm going to try and do my best to not be so scarce and to not let this funk I am in get the best of me.........

Hoo are you?!? #63

these!!

Here are this week's questions!

(They are all related to laundry)

1. Do you fold your laundry right after it comes out of the dryer or do you wait?

Ugh, I wish!! I really need to work on this......everyone is tired of hunting down their clothes!!

2. What kind of laundry detergent do you use?

 All Free & Clear and I also use those Tide Boost drop in thingies...they work so well at getting stains out that I miss when I pretreat!!

3. Do you use fabric softener?

No. I stopped using them when my youngest was born and haven't used any since....

4. Do you have a front loading washer and dyer or a top loading?

Top loading.....gosh, I think it's over 11 years old now?!? I love it!

5. On a scale to 1-10 (1 being the least and 10 being the highest) how well do you like

doing laundry?

I think i'll give it a 5....I don't mind washing, it's the folding and putting away that I don't like! LOL

Rollercoaster

That's the best way I can describe the past few months. I don't know if i've mentioned in previous posts, but we have been trying like hell to get out of this house and away from this neighborhood. When we found out how we were going to do as far as income taxes go, we started looking and "thought" we had someone lined up to help us. BIG mistake!! She is a realtor that Z had met through his work. (he worked on her car) Needless to say she proved to be just like everyone else who has said they would help or work with us on anything.....she never kept in touch when she said she would and acted like we were just a huge bother to her. I understand things come up and you get busy, but don't say your going to help or keep in touch if you are not going to do it!! Just tell us up front so we don't waste ANYONES time. And the sad thing is, she isn't the only one. I checked on craigslist every single day, at least 20 times a day actually, trying to find something we could afford and was in a good neighborhood. We had several people we contacted tell us "Oh we can most definitely get you into something, and we will gladly work with you!!" Once again, promises were made about calling us back and following through with us, and nothing ever happened. We did finally get in touch with someone who actually did keep his word and in fact did call when he said (and even when we weren't expecting him to call! He would call just to let us know he hadn't found anything and was still looking......I was shocked!!) We were going to look into a home that would have been perfect for us, but then Z's surgery date got moved up due to complications (the surgery went well, by the way. He is doing good and should be home soon)....and then we found out the short term disability that he had signed up for through work wasn't going to help us because he hasn't been at his work for a year yet. So now what money we have to move will have to be used to keep us going until Z gets back to work. Z did say we could still move but would have to find something to rent instead of own, and I am totally fine with that. As long as we are out of this hell hole I don't care if we have to rent forever!!!! But now something is telling me we won't be moving until next income tax time, and I refuse to live in this house for that long. Call me selfish or whatever, but waiting is just not an option. I can not keep these boys in this house or in this neighborhood.....

And as far as the neighbors go, they have now taken the magnets off the car Z drives and broke them in pieces and left them in the driveway. This just happened last night. Also, right next to the a/c unit outside it looks like someone has been messing with stuff and the back door also looks like someone has been messing with it. I've asked Ty if he messed with either thing and he said no. And with Z in the hospital still and the boys and I home alone, I can not take living in fear any longer. Plus i've started having some nasty dreams, mainly about the people next door.......for my own sanity and safety, AND the safety of my boys, we have GOT to get out here. Waiting any longer is just not an option...........

Whew, ok I think i've rambled long enough.......i'm sure i'll contiue to be scarce for a little bit, and if anyone can spare any good thoughts/prayers for us they are GREATLY appreciated!!

Mail goodies

It's been so long since i've posted about some of the freebies i've gotten so I figured I would post what I got today......maybe that will help me get out of this funk?!? (even though it was only 2 freebies)

- Dulcede Leche Cheerios sample (Chase likes it so far....it's ok. not what I expected, though!)
- Midol carrying case (actually kind of cute!)

Some great deals yesterday

Yesterday we hit Super Target to return some clothes I had ordered for Ty. (Target clothes are cut ALOT different than most stores.......most stores he is wearing a size L......well, Target shirts that are L are WAY too big on him!) They had the shirts in the store, but the dino pj pants we could only get online, and of course all of the size Medium were OOS. :(  Anyhoo, I was able to get the correct size for the shirts, and also got him a pair of jeans. (which I need to return for a correct size......I swear I hate buying clothes for that boy sometimes!) I was looking through the winter stuff (gloves and hats) and they were all marked 70% off!! I got him several pairs of gloves and two pairs of long johns; a pair for this winter and a pair for next winter. The gloves were .50! When we were leaving I walked past the ladies winter things and got myself 2 pairs of gloves for .60 total!! I didn't see any winter stuff for Chase, but I did find him a REALLY cute hat/mitten set online for under $5......I love mittens for him instead of gloves but they are SO hard to find in his size. I was shocked I found them online, in his size AND at a great price!! And they are made my Columbia so they should hold up really well.......

If you haven't checked out Target for their clearance stuff, I highly recommend it!!!!!!

I apologize

I know my posts have been sporadic the past month or so and i'm so sorry. Things have been so freakin stressful around here. We found out that Z has to have surgery on March 2nd to remove the second tumor he has......well, now that tumor is bleeding so the surgery has been moved up to February 24th. And with no help here in TN, the boys and I won't be at the hospital when he is there.   Then add to the mix we have been trying to find another home and that proved to be extremely frustrating!!! And to top it off, the buttheads next door are only getting worse. Last month one of them knocked on our door and then proceeded to turn the door knob to try and open the door. They are always peeling wheels out front and speeding up and down the road....and we have called the sheriff about it and all they say is "Well we'll send someone out to look into it..." and nothing happens. Most recently they have taken magnets (and a sticker) off of our van and broken them into pieces and left them in the driveway. Two magnets were about cancer; one was an ovaian cancer ribbon magnet and they other was a cancer survivor ribbon magnet. They also destroyed my Feel Your Boobies magnet and actually took the time to peel off a Feel Your Boobies (for breast cancer awareness) sticker. So yeah, we are doing all we can to get out of here.

Hopefully once we get moved and settled and Z gets his surgery out of the way i'll be able to post more frequently.

My little artist

Chase brought me his Doodle Pro and said "Mama, I draw apple!"

Not too bad for a little over 2.5 years old, huh?!? Ty has always loved to draw and still does....and he is great! It looks like Chase is going to take after his big brother. 

My new love

Ok, so this is probably going to be a "silly" post, but I just have to share my new love with everyone!

Yes, my new love is a vacuum!! You see, when Z and I first got married I purchased our first vacuum together. It was just a regular Hoover vacuum, nothing fancy or special. Within 6 months it stopped working. Considering we had a Sheltie, lab mix and a cat I figured we would need a slightly better vacuum so I purchased a more expensive one with more bells and whistles than the first one. Well, within 6-7 months it too stopped working properly. After going through 2 vacuums a year for 2 years, I knew it was time to get serious. In comes the Dyson. Some friends of mine on a pet forum raved about the Dyson Animal, how it was wonderful for pet hair and everything else!! And even though it cost more, it was supposed to be worth the money. Also, we had our first baby on the way, so we HAD to have clean carpets for the little one! So in November 2003 (Black Friday, to be exact) Z got his Christmas bonus and we bought our Dyson Animal. $500 was a HUGE amount of money to shell out at once, but this vacuum was supposed to be the sh*t! 8 years and another kiddo later, that bad boy proved to be the BEST money we had ever spent!!! We most definitely got our moneys worth (and then some!) out of her!! But now, I hate to say, she has seen better days, and it was time to *gulp* replace her. Last year at this time we started to buy the Dyson DC25 (exclusive to Target) but money was tight (as usual) and we decided to put it off until this year. It turns out it was a GREAT idea to wait!! We got an AMAZING tax return this year so the $500 was doable.....but, Target now has the DC25 on sale!!! When you purchase it, you get a Target gift card for $100!!!! Last night we went to Target and when Z took it off the shelf and put in under the cart, I felt all giddy inside and actually giggled a little.....I couldn't believe this beauty was going to be ours!! And yes like I said, I know it's silly to feel this way about a vacuum.....but how can you NOT fall in love with this.......

Just........ahhhh.  I can not get over just how easy this beauty is to maneuver.....and the carpets are SO clean and soft to walk on!! (which says alot about the nasty carpet in this house...) Ok, I think I need to go spend more time with my new love.......I do want to say thank you to my old girl, she was an amazing vacuum and so good to us for such a long time. Thank you for getting us hooked on the Dyson!!!