For the Love of Stickers

Cayden recently found a new obsession. He LOVES stickers. Unfortunately, he likes to put stickers everywhere but on paper. He especially likes putting stickers on his legs and feet. Not sure why this is so fun to him, but for me, it makes for a really long bath trying to pull them off and then scrubbing the dirty residue that remains. Boys.

Shopping on a Dime...

Today Cayden and I took a field trip to CVS while Madison was at school. With my coupons in tow, I was looking for the best deals of the week. Ok, call me a nerd...BUT, I think I did pretty well :).

Here is what I got:
2 tubes of Colgate Toothpaste
1 bottle of Cover girl Foundation
1 Cover girl eyeshadow
1 Gillette Fusion Razor
1 Gallon of Bleach

Total Before Coupons: $30.98

Total After Coupons: $3.78

Plus they gave me $12.49 in Extra Care Bucks (Same as a gift card) to use next time I shop! Pretty much they paid me to take these items off their hands. YAY ME!!

The Potty

Here is our potty. Ok, not OUR potty but Madison's potty. Or, maybe I should say Madison's old potty and Cayden's new potty??

I think that I can officially say that Madison is finished with diapers and the training potty. She is officially using the big toilet for all her "drop off" needs. Hallelujah!! After the Poopy Whisperer (AKA neighbor Keli) got Madison to poop on the potty, there has been no going back. Which brings me to our next trainee....Cayden.

Today I brought back out "the potty". Not that I had any great expectations for Cayden right away, but I thought maybe he might be a bit interested in sitting on this super cool new seat?? Yeah, I was wrong. Apparently, he thinks its a neat place to store his toys.

I guess that there is a starting point for everything. Maybe I'll just send him over to Keli's house since she did such a good job with Madison ;).

I WIN!!!

Remember the cute little button I put on the side of my blog that looked like this:

WIN SEE KAI RUN SHOES!!!

Guess what??? I WON!! I got an email today saying that I won the shoes! Can you believe it? I never win anything! Here are the shoes that I picked out for Cayden. They will be shipped to me soon! Cute huh? Even cuter that I don't have to pay the 36.00 for them! YAH ME!

Bees

I hate bees. I might even hate bees more than I hate potty training. In fact, it makes me cringe to look at the picture of the bee I put in this post. So why is it there? Read on....

Today while walking out of Target, poor Cayden who was completely minding his own business got stung. It wasn't just any bee sting either, but a bee sting on the ear. And let me tell you, he let everyone in the store know how much it hurt! Luckily though, the stinger didn't stay in so no minor surgery was needed. And it didn't swell up much either. We were lucky.

I sure am glad that yellow jackets die after they sting. Serves those "you know whats" right.

It's A Dirty Job But Every Mama Has To Do It

Potty training. It sucks. It even sucks more when your 3 year old who is already in preschool doesn't even want to attempt to poop in the potty. The pee pee thing? We got that down to a tee. No accidents during the day and rarely at night.

We have tried everything to get Madison to Poop in the potty. No really...EVERYTHING. Everything starting with cute little reward charts and stickers to flat out bribery including overnight vacations to the water parks. Nothing has worked. NOTHING.

Until now.....

Let me introduce you to someone I know that I now will start calling the Poopy Whisperer. Yes, she is just like the Dog, Horse, and Baby Whisperer as she can perform miracles in quite a remarkable way. Today, the poopy whisperer got Madison to go poop in the potty. It wasn't just any potty either. It was the potty in the Poopy Whisperers very own house. It was a miracle in the making and I don't know what she said or how she did it. But it worked! Who might this be? Yup, you guessed. My neighbor Keli......again.

Thanks Keli for opening up your house (and Toilet) to Madison. We may be visiting you once a day now (typically after lunch).

It's Raining and Raining and Raining......

and raining. I can't even remember the last day that it wasn't raining. UGH! But, despite the constant down pour, Madison still finds her way outside to play. Here are pictures of the last time (out of many) that she went out. And, yes, she is pantless. Why put pants on when she keeps getting them wet?

One "Lucky" Dog

First, let me explain that I have NEVER had Lucky Charms cereal in the house. I'm not too big on giving the kids that much sugar in the morning as it seems they already get enough throughout the day. However, last week, I bought a rather large box on sale (with coupons of course) for $1.00!! How do you pass that up?

So, Thursday morning, I let Madison try them for breakfast. And yes, she liked them. Of course, there are WAY more marshmallows in the cereal now than when I was a kid! Anyways, later on while I was in the family room catching up with the happenings of Hurricane Ike, Madison apparently decided that Bear might like them as well.

So much for the box of Lucky Charms.

Get Your Salsa On!

What do you get when you mix together these vegetables, 9 hours of work and 3 stay at home mommies?

Homemade Salsa!

And..... times this jar by like 200 and you will get the amount that we made. I have enough salsa to last me for the next year. Neighbor Keli and her friend Noel have enough to last for about 10 years.

I have to admit that this was not my brilliant idea. (I know you all were temporarily impressed with my canning skills). Yes, once again it was my neighbor Keli. So, not only has she gotten me on track with doing my laundry and keeping my sink clean, she has now taught me the art of canning. I never knew the magic of having a Mormon friend.

Congratulations Stacey and Anthony!

This past weekend were were down in Alabama for my friend Stacey's wedding. It was beautiful and went off without a hitch!! The wedding was at Foundation Ranch which was set on a GORGEOUS 100 acres. There was a main house, stable, guest house and 4 (I think) cabins prettier that you can imagine. Good choice Stacey!

Most of my pictures turned out blurry but thanks to Carrie, I have some to post :) And even more in a few days thanks to Laura.

Me? Second from the back.

Your wedding was wonderful Stacey and we are so happy for you!

Going Green

Here is my first attempt at becoming Eco-Friendly and "going green". Does this count?

Just pretend that his clothes are 100% organic cotton.

Fruit Salad.... Yummy, Yummy

I have a confession to make. Madison likes candy. I mean REALLY likes candy. In fact, she likes candy so much that all she wants to eat for breakfast lately are lollipops. Oh yeah, and that's all she wants to eat for lunch and dinner too. And then on top of that, she thinks she deserves dessert for eating her lollipop meal. Yeah, its bad.

So, in an effort to break her candy addition and teach her that candy is NOT one of the 5 food groups, we are in the process of removing all candy from the house. And, are substituting it with fresh fruit, sugar free jello, and whatever other fun kid foods we can make together.

Here's Pat and Madison making fruit salad. Lite Cool Whip and fresh fruit. YUM! I will keep you posted.

Labor Day Weekend

This past weekend we went up to Lake Delavan and stayed at the summer house. Thanks Grandpa Roger and Grandma Deb for letting us borrow it! It was a great fun filled weekend!

Madison went on the Gondolas twice with Pat at the Walworth County Fair. Better her than me...sometimes her fearlessness amazes me.

And then Cayden just taking it all in. I love the fact that he will sit and stay in the stroller. A luxury that we never experienced with Madison.

After the fair, we hit the beach and the park back at Lake Delevan. The kids would have been content staying there all day.

And who can forget the strawberry Pancakes (dress) and Blue Moon Ice cream.

First Day(s) of School

For all of you who have been looking and asking for Madison's first day at school pictures, you will not find them on my blog. You also wont find second day of school pictures, or third for that matter. The reason being? Well, Madison had a rough first couple days of school. Really rough. Rough as in hanging on my leg as I walked her into school and then hanging on my leg as I tried leaving her at school. Don't get me wrong, once she is there, she has a great time. In fact, the teacher has told me that when it is time for her to go home, she doesn't want to leave. BUT as you can imagine, this doesn't make great first day of school pics. SO, I promise when she gets settled into routine and is eager about going to school, I will post pictures.