The Tooth Fairy

Our house had a little visit from The Tooth Fairy this week!

When I took A to the dentist a few weeks ago, we discovered she had 3 loose teeth.  Just another sign that my oldest is growing up.  She worked really hard to get her baby teeth in, (and mom and dad had many sleepless nights), so it is bitter sweet that they are now falling out.

She was excited that her one bottom tooth was really starting to wiggle.  The night before her tooth fell out she showed me how loose it was but I still thought I had a few days before that little tooth would fall out.

Surprisingly, we received an email message from her teacher at school Thursday morning with the Subject:  Big Girl, and a picture of Alena's toothless smile.  We were so happy for her but I quickly started to scramble because this Tooth Fairy wasn't ready for this yet!!!

Thank goodness for Pinterest and my twin moms who gave me some great ideas.  Ideally, I would have loved to have sewed a small pillow for her to put her tooth in but obviously I didn't get that done.  So I had to go to Plan B.

I had a little bit of time during the day to run to Hobby Lobby where I found a small pillow with a little pocket, perfect for her little tooth.  I stopped at a bank on my way to a dialysis unit and got a $2 bill and 3 silver dollar coins.  Finally, I stopped at the dollar store and found some sparkly silver eye shadow to act as fairy dust.

I also found a cute letter on-line that I printed so A would have a personalized letter from the Tooth Fairy.

She was so excited for a visit from the Tooth Fairy!  She was worried her tooth would fall out of the little pillow so she decided to put her tooth in a little container under her pillow this time but plans to use the pillow for her next tooth.

Fairy dust on her money and letter

The next morning she was anxious to see what was under her pillow. She was most excited about the letter covered in fairy dust that the Tooth Fairy left and took it to school to show her teachers and friends.  

I love, love, love a child's imagination. If only they believed in the Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny and Santa Claus forever. I'm going to cherish these years as I know they won't believe for long.  

Clip Clip

Is anyone else nauseated when they leave the grocery store, spending more and more each time, even though you get pretty much the same things?

Agh, the cost of groceries is crazy and it's only going to get worse as my three little ones grow and the cost of everything continues to rise.  My oldest has been on a growth spurt for about 2 months straight now with no end in site.

I remember the days when I could do my weekly grocery shopping for under $50.  Those days are long gone.  I've had to come up with another strategy to save and I've been working on it over the last month.

I think I'm a pretty savvy shopper, usually choosing generic brands over name brands to save a few cents here and there, except for a few items which just taste better in name brand.  I look at the ads each week when I get ready to write out my grocery list, which also helps plan the menu (although this has been more difficult with my Fresh 20 account).  I like to shop at Fareway but hate that they are closed on Sundays because that is often when I have time to shop.  One bonus of Fareway is they will price match any competitor and these price matches are easily identified with bright orange/red notices.  If they happen to miss a price match, you can verify it easily by pulling up the competitor's ad on your phone (I've had to do that a couple times).  One downfall of Fareway, is I do not like their chicken so I try to stock up when the price is right at other stores and freeze smaller amounts in the freezer.

Now back to the saving...

I've started to become a couponer.  Not a crazy person who clips every coupon and spends their days looking for the best deals, just a regular mom trying to save a few cents here and there. It's actually somewhat enjoyable and you do get a little high when you find a good deal. I let everyone else do the work and I follow suit:  I follow the Krazy Coupon Lady's blog, and also follow match up sites (these are sites that look for sales in specific stores and then tell you how to use your coupons to get the best deals).  These sites are totallytarget.com, wildforwags (Walgreens),  afewshortcuts.com (hy-vee/fareway), and hip2save.com.  I clip the coupons in the Sunday paper of items we may use/need in the future and store them away until a good deal comes along.  I'll also go online once a month to the major online coupon site and print what we may need.  I've realized I'll never pay full price again for some items and it's important to stock up on an item when you do get a good deal so you won't need to purchase that specific thing again until another deal should come around.

I've also downloaded a couple useful apps which you can earn money from just from shopping or even just walking into a store:

Cartwheel:  I'm sure many people use this now.  What an easy way to save a few cents. I check my cartwheel before I head to Target to see if there are any deals for the items I'm planning to purchase.  I scored a pack of white chocolate M & Ms for 0.70 using my Cartwheel (50% off) and a $1.00 off coupon.  These were supposed to be for Easter but I was solo last night with the kiddos and needed a little SOMETHING after everyone was in bed and I was out of wine!

Shopkick:  This app gives you "kicks" for walking into stores or scanning specific items in stores.  It's that simple. You don't need to purchase a single thing and the kicks add up quickly.  Earning 1250 kicks will get you a $5 gift card to starbucks, Target, etc. There's a large variety of stores you can use it on.  You can easily earn 500 kicks in a couple days.  I've only being using this app for about 6 weeks and am up to over 3000 kicks.  I'll probably wait a little bit to redeem my reward, which will likely be a Starbucks gift card. Justin and I like to treat ourselves to a little coffee once in a while so this will come in handy.

Ibotta:  This is another app, specifically for grocery shopping. This app gives you money back for buying groceries.  You search the app to see what grocery items you can earn money back on, select the items, purchase them, then capture a picture of your receipt to submit.  A couple hours later your purchase is reviewed and approved and money goes into your account. You have to have $10 in your account to cash out.  Again, I've only been doing this about 6 weeks and have earned $15, just for buying the normal grocery items I would buy.  I think the important thing with all of these apps and coupons in general, is to stick to what you would usually buy and don't buy something because you have a coupon-that's not really saving.  Another plus about Fareway is you can give them the phone number connected with your Ibotta account at check out, saving you from having to submit your receipt.

ReceiptPal:  This is the easiest of all apps to use.  You literally take a picture of your receipt (any receipt-even if you purchased a pack of gum at a gas station) and submit it.  You get 25 points for each receipt submitted. Once you receive 2200 points, you can obtain a $25 gift card to a restaurant or Amazon gift card.  Again, we like to limit spending money on eating out (or even grabbing a coffee) so having these little earnings make it more enjoyable for us.

ReceiptHog: Another easy app where you take a picture of your receipt and submit it.  The only specific with this app is it must be from a place where you can purchase groceries.  You earn coins for  your receipts, pending how much you spent, and 1000 coins=$5.

Checkout51:  Similar to Ibotta in that you earn money back for buying specific groceries.  This one is a little harder to use as the products they feature are often not ones I purchase. However, every Wednesday the products rotate and there is usually at least one item that I do purchase (like a gallon of milk, bananas, apples, etc).  You select the item, purchase the item, then submit your receipt.  Pretty easy. Once you reach $20, you can request a check be sent to you.

Whew, that's it.  Pretty simple and not very time consuming at all.  I wait until the evening, snap a couple pics of receipts I may have gotten that day and I'm done.  If I'm heading out to run an errand, I'll check my Shopkick, Cartwheel, Ibotta and Checkout51 apps quickly to see if the items I'm planning to purchase are on these sites (or if I can collect kicks at the store I am going to), and head out.

I was so tired a couple evenings ago but needed diapers for C from Target.  Justin agreed to go out so I gave him a quick tutorial of the Cartwheel and Shopkick apps and he was on his way.  I think he had a good time :).

The Big Top

So we took our circus to the circus this weekend.  At the last second I decided to get tickets for us, wanting my kids to experience yet another childhood experience that I think is necessary, (at least once).

I remember going to the circus a couple times when I was younger. I probably remember the snacks more than the actual performance but none the less it's a fun childhood memory.

We arrived early and got front row seats. The girls enjoyed a pony ride while Caleb gawked at the transformer who was walking around.  The production included the normal shows:  an attractive blond riding on an elephant, a cage-full of tigers, jugglers, and silly clowns.  There was also a magician and his partner, (who did about 30 costume changes), and motorcyclists and bicyclists doing tricks off ramps.

I couldn't help but noticed the protesters as I walked in, and this left a sour taste in my mouth.  All I could think about while watching the show was the movie/book "Water For Elephants."  I definitely cringed a little when the tiger tamer used his whip to control his animals, and noticed the tool the elephant tamer had.  My mom was quick to point out that after this year, elephants will no longer be in circus's, due to concern about how they are treated.  Hmm, this really made me think about things.

The kids had a great time and I don't regret taking them.  However, that may be the last circus I will attend.

2 1/2

Yikes, the twins are 2.5 years old today!  I love celebrating half birthdays so we'll enjoy a little DQ ice cream, (for free as they are giving away free cones today!).  

We are in the middle of our third move since you turned 2 six months ago and thankfully, you have taken things in stride.  (The Bunco ladies commented last week on how relaxed I seem about all the moves-if only they knew!)  Everyone is looking forward to a little extra grandma and papa time.

Lauren:  I know I've said this before, but you keep us on our toes.  You definitely go through the range of emotions that 2 year-olds do, multiple times a day.  When you are happy, you are hilarious, but when you are sad, it's like the world is ending.  You are also accident prone which doesn't help matters.  You hate when your brother picks on you and aren't afraid to put him in his place.  You love playing with your older sister and remain our dare devil, doing everything and anything she is doing, despite your small stature.  We are so glad you are pretty much potty trained with the exception of naps/nighttime.  Your vocabulary is amazing and you often speak like a 5 or 6 year old, (probably learning phrases and terms from your older sister).  One of your favorite things to say is "okay?" after saying something to one of us: "I'm going to go over here, okay?"  As stated in a previous post, you can pretty much dress and undress yourself. You love to play dress up, wearing mommy's shoes or your princess dress around the house.  Of the two of you, you remain the most interested in art and love to paint, color and play with play-dough. Unfortunately, your attention span is pretty short, and after a few minutes of working on an art project, you are ready to move on. I can finally stop holding my breath when I watch you run, but the verdict is still out regarding your athletic ability :).

Caleb:  You remain our sweet, cuddly boy. You love to give hugs and kisses, sometimes forgetting to ask someone if they want one before you tackle them in a bear hug. You are also our little cheerleader, cheering for mom and dad when we finish our dinner or go pee pee in the potty :).  You would be content playing outside all day on your bike, chasing after balls or playing with your tractors.  You are so observant often telling us, in great detail, what your little eyes see.  I was so worried for a while because your little brain was working faster than your mouth and you often stuttered.  You seem to be outgrowing this.  Like your sister, your appetite has decreased and you're getting into the "picky twos" stage.  We have had some success stories on the potty but I am no where near ready to make that jump, (and neither are you).  You love tackling your older sister and we worry about the day when you are bigger than her.  

It's crazy to think that every day forward from now you will be moving closer to turning 3!  

Victims

While most ladies were waking up to flowers and chocolate on Valentine's Day, I woke up to lots of small, sparkly items!  

How exciting, right?  These shiny particles were not enclosed in a bracelet or necklace.  They weren't found inside a little jewelry box.  They were scattered around the driveway and in our van.  

We were the victims of vandalism early in the morning on Valentine's Day.   These shiny, sparkly items were glass, not diamonds.  

Saturday morning, I woke up at my brother's house and looked out the window.  The garage door across the way had yellow spray paint on it.  After a closer look I could see it was graffiti.  The image itself was quite vulgar with a message I couldn't decipher, (except one profane word).  My brother quickly went outside to see if there was any graffiti on his garage door and luckily there wasn't.  It was freezing in WI so we didn't go outside again until later in the morning.  

My brother decided to look around the house again and noticed a mountain bike sticking out of the rear view window of our van.  His initial thought was "why did they bring a bike?"  Another window had been smashed and he quickly realized what had happened.  He walked across the street to the neighbors who had also been vandalized, only to realize the bike was his sons and it had been sitting on their front porch the night before.

When the Madison Police came by a little later, we found out we weren't the only victims of vandalism.  There had been over 25 incidents, accounting for tens of thousands of dollars in damage.  Awesome!  

You can't help but feel violated when something like this happens.  This wasn't provoked and we weren't targeted.  (I'm hoping having out of state license plates had nothing to do with this).  It's simply a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  You definitely feel on the edge, wondering if it could happen again.  Your emotions spiral from anger and sadness, to annoyance, irritation and "why me?"  We did have some valuables in the vehicle and luckily nothing was stolen.  Obviously the punks responsible will never get caught or receive punishment for what they did.  We'll never understand the thought process behind doing something like this, and I pray my children NEVER think this is OK.

Our story made the local news and my brother had his first on-camera interview :).  

http://www.nbc15.com/home/headlines/Madison-police-investigating-string-of--291962761.html

(click on the Madison Vandalism video to view)


Being 5 hours away, we had to come up with a solution to get back home for the school/work week.  Ironically my sister in law's parents are vacationing in Mexico so another vehicle was available.  We drove my brother's van back, while ours continues it's vacation in Madison at the repair shop.  

Yes, I know things could have been worse.  The punks could have spray painted our van or dented it with whatever supplies they could find.  My brother's house could have suffered damages.  We are so thankful these things didn't happen.

You still can't help but feel upset about the entire thing. It's been a rough month thus far-with expenses we weren't anticipating and a couple things that have been out of our control.  Hopefully we will start to have some positives soon!  

Little Problem, Big Problem?

When my oldest moved into the 3 year old room, the teachers started teaching the children about little problems and big problems.  It's a great concept and something that many of us can apply to real life.  It teaches the children to not report every little thing to the teachers and to know what things should be reported.  It helps them manage the little issues they may have between their friends, instead of making the teachers get involved.

It's crazy how things my 5 year old is learning in school can be useful for adults too.

When something surprising happens in life I often ask myself, is this a big problem or little problem?  

The girls are upstairs changing clothes multiple times on the weekend, throwing outfits on the floor:  Little problem or big problem?  Although I know this is a little problem, in my mind I'm thinking, "I'm going to have to put all those clothes away!"  

The laundry is piling up, C just dumped the Legos out for the 10th time, and the plates from breakfast are still on the dining room table.  All little problems but many times I don't realize it. 

There have been many instances where I get a little worked up about something and Justin will say "is this a little problem or a big problem?"  It's definitely a good perspective to think about life this way.  It forces you to take a break and look at the situation from a different view.  

Day in and day out, I feel like I am climbing up a mountain, trying to reach the top where everything is in order and completed.  Many days, I feel like I will never reach the top, other times I'm close but a set back pushes me back down the mountain. I'm thankful for campsites along the way that allow me to rest, regroup, and recover before making the push back up the mountain.  These campsites include exercising, reading, yoga, catching up with old friends.

My Little Yogi

I have always been a cup-half-empty type of girl and my husband often points that out to me.  Therefore, I feel like many things are big problems, when most things are really little problems.  I'm definitely working on changing my mindset and have been much better at realizing big problems are really that-BIG problems!

Hitting, biting, and bullying---Big problems

Out of milk---Big problem

A child going potty on the carpet?  ---REALLY big problem! 

Thankfully most of us don't have to experience too many of these in our every day lives.  So next time you feel yourself getting a little worked up about something, remember this little problem/big problem concept. It may just relieve you of some of your every day stress.    

TMNC!

Me Do!

Does anyone else have a little two year old who wants to do everything by herself?!

"Me do," and "I do it myself," are two of the most common phrases heard in my household over the past few weeks.  My oldest was independent also, but nothing like this!  I think my youngest daughter has acquired mommy's independent trait:

My two year old can dress herself, with the exception of getting her socks on correctly. She can also undress herself and likes to do this at random times during the day.

She can peel her own clementine.

She can turn the light on to the bathroom, pee pee in the potty, wash her hands and turn the light off all by herself. (We are still working on number 2-that's another post on it's own!).

This little one can climb into the van and buckle herself into her car seat, (or she thinks she can).

She can get her own ice water, (which usually ends with a puddle on the floor).

She likes to pick out her own clothes, along with her brother's clothes, and sometimes mommy's clothes.

Little Missy CANNOT open her own package of Belvita crackers, but she will try for many minutes before throwing a mini tantrum on the kitchen floor and then succumb to let mommy open the package for her.

She can put on her snow pants, coat and hat by herself. She will attempt to put on her mittens and boots before melting down in frustration.  On the other hand, we have received notes from her brother's teacher, telling us we need to have him work on trying to dress himself.  He has zero interest in doing this.

She can climb into her own high chair and buckle herself into place.

Where we are living now, she is able to open the fridge and get her sippy of milk all by herself. She will do this over and over and over again, taking one little drink each time before returning a minute later to enjoy this independence again.

Although I love this new found independence, it can definitely make you pull your hair out, especially on those days when you are in a hurry and just need to get the child dressed for school!  Hopefully some of this trait will rub off on her twin or mommy and daddy will be dressing him until he leaves for college!