I just wanted to wish all you wonderful Mother’s, and soon to be Mother’s, or Mother’s at heart, a WONDERFUL Mother’s day! What a blessing our children are! Because it is Mothers Day,  I wanted to share with you my all time favorite post.

Why is this my favorite post? It just pretty much wraps up what almost every day as a Mom is like with kids. You just never know what you are going to get/see!

One of my children is quite the artist. She draws EVERYTHING, and on EVERYTHING, and with EVERYTHING. Ever had one of those?

But really she is quite good, her pictures of people are spot on in their likeness and as she has gotten older we can see she really has some talent. My husband who is not so interested in art, or the artistic talents of our children has finally taken notice of Avery’s abilities. Especially when she presented me with the card in the first photo, my Mother’s Day card. Then later in the day, she proudly showed me what she was scribbling on the magna doodle.

“What are you teaching our children?” My husband asked.

“What do you mean?” I replied

“I am a little worried about Avery’s drawings.” He said.

“I don’t know what you are talking about.” I replied giggling, “Why do you have to be so immature, just ask her she will tell you what they are.”

“Avery honey, those are really nice pictures, what are they of?” Paul asked.<

Clearly upset that her Dad could not see what she had drawn, she S-L-O-W-L-Y so he could understand, explained what they were….

A pair of scissors, and a worm crawling out of an apple.

Duh! What were you thinking?

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!!!

This is a segment my daughter filmed last week for KHOU Houston that aired Friday night. She is a little embarrassed that they called her a coupon princess, but she did a great job on her shopping trip!

Emma’s shopping trip cost her $8.36 and something total.

• The Chex was $.50 (she had coupon)
• The Gum was $1 each ( used in store coupon)
• The Candy was BOGO at $1.09 ( plus she had a coupon)
• The 3 Pantene was $3.89 for all 3 ( she had coupons)
• The Secret was $.78 (she had a coupon)

Emma saved over $18 with coupons and in-store promotions!

TODAY IS THE DAY!!!!!

To contribute, simply leave your donations at your mailbox for the carrier to pick up during his or her regular rounds.  They suggest canned soup, meats and fish, vegetables, fruits and juices. Boxed cereal, pasta and rice are also welcome

This is the LARGEST food drive in the country!

Beyond the Call of Duty…

The Stamp Out Hunger food drive is a nationwide effort that provides food to local food banks and pantries that would otherwise be faced with depleted stocks during the summer months. Food banks across the country continue to experience record demand for emergency food assistance.

The nation’s 210,000 letter carriers will collect food donations left at the mailboxes of generous Americans in more than 10,000 communities and deliver them to food banks and other hunger relief organizations.

Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, the Stamp Out Hunger food drive is the nation’s largest single- day food drive, having collected more than one billion pounds of food since its inception in 1993. In 2011, generous Americans donated 70.2 million pounds of food, which marked the eighth consecutive year that at least 70 million pounds were collected.

Campbell Soup Company will kick off this year’s food drive with a pledge to donate one million pounds of food to Feeding America.

I dropped my Mom off at the airport this morning, she has been here for 2 weeks and is on her way back to Beijing. On the way here her luggage was crushed. It took about an hour at the help desk to file a claim and get her things. In talking to the lady at the counter, my Mom wanted her opinion on what to look for in luggage, because she had to buy a new piece and this lady obviously saw what was the best all day.

Here are her tips:

• 22 inch size is the best. 24 inch is getting a little big and easy to overpack.
• You want hard sides
• NO SCREWS! She was very clear that you DO NOT want to see screws anywhere on the outside of the luggage, esp. where the wheels are.
• The zipper must NOT be attached to the hard shell sides. But rather to a separate piece of webbing around the outside.

Where she suggested buying luggage at:

• Ross 
• Marshalls and
• TJ Maxx

I thought that was the most interesting…. where she recommended buying luggage. Sure enough, my Mom found an awesome set at Ross. The large 24″ was $189 normally and she paid $80. The 22″ she paid $60 for. They were a very nice brand deeply discounted.

Last China post, there was some REALLY good advice from you guys on packing and traveling. I know that we are going to be bringing back a lot of things and so I am going to be doing some of the things that you suggested.

From Rose Violet:

Here’s a trick I learned going to Europe. Bring a bunch of semi-old clothes to leave behind. I brought 1/2 good clothes and 1/2 old clothes that I didn’t really care for too much (including old underwear. I wore the worst one on the plane. I then left it in the garbage. During the trip I left my old clothes behind. That way I had half my suitcase left at the end to bring back souvenirs and new clothes! Also buy plenty of 2 pound zip lock bags. Organize each days clothes in them and seal them up. This eliminates clothes scattering at the airport and less chance of losing items. Just put the old clothes bag in the bag and less chance of dirty laundry mixing with clean. The ziploc bags also don’t need a vacuum to suck out the air and makes more room in your suitcase. Last item, take your suitcases to Publix to weight them to make sure they are under the limit. 

From Maria:

I do this too! I didn’t know other people do as well…but for my new clothes, I always wear them a couple of times and give them to my sister-in-laws (we stay at my in-laws for free) so they see that I JUST took the tags off and wore it only once of twice and disperse among my sister in laws…maybe you can do the same with your mom if you guys are the same size?? That way they get extra gifts, and you got nice picutres and room in your bag! I also take the perfume I am using at the time..A full bottle never gets done in time. ALSO to take less clothes, take more scarves, big chunky necklaces and statement earrings…sam moon has some great ones!! Accessories really make the outfit

From Paula:

Also to Asia take a triple Antibiotic Ointment. Always comes in handy.
Since you want to travel light, take a Sarong for you and the girls. It can be a skirt, bath robe, beach towel, sun shield…..I have even used it to carry Mangos home from the market.

Click to see the last China Post – Who Gets To Go

I posted the story about this picture last week. You can read that post over HERE if you are interested to know why my 22 month old is on the counter…

Tonight I had a coupon class about an hour away from home without traffic, with traffic at 5:30 it took me a fun 2 hours to get there. But my little sister is in town and came with me, so we had a chance to chat.

The coupon class was a lot of fun and there were some awesome ladies and the food was great! They were really nice even though I was 15 minutes late and started talking while I was still setting up! Thanks Ladies in Katy TX, you guys ROCK!

When I left home, I left the older children in charge, you know, the responsible ones. The one/s that in a very short time will be driving… Paul was at another child’s baseball practice and would be home shortly. The coupon class was a blast and we closed the place down, they actually kicked us out!

As we got into the car and I turned it on, the gas light came on. I said to my sister, “oh I guess I need gas.” I was driving my husbands car (which I NEVER drive) and was not familiar with all the controls. I quickly checked my email as we were getting ready to pull out and saw this picture below from my husband with the following caption…

Why you don’t leave kids in charge… 

As Paul walked into the house, this is what he saw.

The baby is completely naked and apparently trying to repeat her death defying feat from the other day! As any parent would do, the first thing he does is snaps a picture, saves the baby and then yells at older children!!

My sister and I were laughing so hard we about peed our pants reading the email as we got on the road to go home. Now, I did not know at the time, that my sister who also has a Subaru, noticed that where there was supposed to be milage to let you know how far you can go with the gas left, said — which means 0 miles. She figured that it must have been “turned off” and didn’t say anything. I on the other hand completely forgot that we needed gas after seeing my baby naked on the counter and got on the highway. The yellow gas light was blocked by the steering wheel and I never saw it.

As we got on the highway, Whitney turns and says to me, “Nothing exciting ever happens to me when I am with you!”

We drove almost 40 miles when all of a sudden the car stated to drive weird, like I was hitting the gas and nothing was happening. I kept thinking in my head, “what in the heck?!” Finally, it clicked that I had meant to get gas, I looked at the gas gauge and there was nothing there. “Hmmm weird.” I thought.

Then it hit me. I WAS OUT OF GAS! On the highway, at night, not close to a gas station. I coasted over to the side of the road and sheepishly called my husband. Ironically, the only other time I have run out of gas was in the vary same car the LAST time I drove it last summer! Which in my defense was totally NOT my fault!

Thrity minutes later my husband was dumping gas into the car, and 5 gallons later it still did not even register that there was any. He followed me to the closest station and I filled up. I had apparently been on “0″ miles left for the past 40 miles! Then both he and Whitney showed me where the cool little feature was that said how many miles I had left before I ran out of gas. That would have been helpful information a LONG time ago!

The funny thing is, as completely CRAZY as the night was, everyone was perfectly happy! The baby was happy running around naked with tape on her back eating whatever she wanted, the big kids were happy watching “Pawn Stars” while “babysitting” and doing their homework at the same time. This would have never flown had the adults been home! Whitney and I were happy we got to spend more time together even if it was on the side of the highway! And Paul was happy that he could save the day, and be able to tease me for doing something really stupid, and that it was not 1 mile ahead where the was no shoulder for a good distance!

Pretty much a normal night for us!

The end of May, we have the opportunity to go to Beijing, China. My husband Paul, myself and our 3 oldest children ages 14, 12 and 10 will be going for a little over 2 weeks. We are going to Beijing because my parents live there and it is really the trip of a lifetime. It is not a vacation destination that I would have ever considered before they moved there last year. But as long as we have somewhere to stay free and personal tour guides we figured we had better go!

We are only taking the bigger kids for a few reasons. The cost being the biggest. Also, considering most people only have 1 child, the logistics of travel and space available for a large family are just NOT available. We would have to rent 2 vehicles or even a bus to get around and the safety issues are concerning with many small children. We decided to leave the 4 smaller children home with my brother and sister in law.

Our older kids will miss the last week or so of school. I have had to arrange for them to take any tests ahead of time and turn in projects early. Thankfully this has gone smoothly so far and the teachers have been understanding and excited for the kids.

Deciding to leave 1/2 my family home has been hard for me. This is going to be such a cool experience I want us all to share it together, but imagining my 20 month old on a plane for 20 hours is all I have to think about when deciding she would be happier with cousins! Plus, we will be able to move quicker and see more things without the “hassle” of small kids.

Finally, back to the cost. There are 9 of us. The cost of passports, plane tickets, immunizations etc. could really be just completely outrageous. Plane tickets alone would have been almost $15,000. I could barely even type that out let alone actually pay that!

Stay tuned every few days, as I take you through the mistakes and successes we have made planning for this trip!

Have you ever left kids home and taken other kids on a trip??

This morning while working just on the other side of the wall, I heard the glass top of the candy jar. Teasing Paul who is trying to lose weight, I say…

“Thought you were staying out of the candy?!” I teased.

“I am.” He says from a different direction.

I heard his voice from the office which is on the other side of the house. It confused me for a second and then as it does for Mom’s, it ALL COMES TOGETHER! It could have only been the 4 year old, I thought! I sprang out of my seat and ran into the kitchen expecting to bust the little guy!

As I came around the corner what I saw took my breath away!

It was the baby! Well, our baby, she is 20 months. The 4 year old was upstairs playing in his room, where I thought she was with him.

She had managed to come downstairs, pull the stool over to the counter and climb up on it without either of us hearing her. We didn’t have a TV or radio on either. I snapped a picture quick, to show her when she was a teenager to explain why she was already grounded…

As I looked closer, she had taken her baggie or goldfish and dumped them into the jar of chocolate eggs.

I guess she was making a trade! 

Last fall I posted a Living Social deal for the River Road tree houses on the Guadalupe River in TX. We bought a voucher along with my Brother and Sister in law. We decided to meet up over Easter this weekend. They have 5 kids, all girls, the same ages as my youngest 5. It is always fun when we get together!

We spent Friday driving and playing on the river. The tree houses were just as cool as we had expected! There were 6 of them built onto the side of a ravine in the trees. We had a small creek below our cabin that was perfect for the little kids to play and across the road we had a private launch into the Guadalupe. Which worked awesome for the big kids.

This was a little untraditional for us as we normally spend Easter at home, going to church and making the traditional Easter dishes.

I snapped the dinner picture at the last minute! I had eaten most of my dinner at that point! I think this was one of the best meals I have ever had. Everything was cooked perfectly and the flavor was OUT OF THIS WORLD!

We had corn on the grill, steak, fresh green beans and my husbands favorite fruit salad, made with canned cherry pie filling. For dessert we had strawberries, angel food cake and whipped cream. PREFECT MEAL! Oh and of course Dr. Pepper, frosty icy cold!

The kids were dirty, sweaty and happy as can be! In swim suits and even a diaper or two!

The best part was this morning after the egg hunt, all the kids were in the living room together, we had an impromptu Easter service. We sang a few primary songs, had prayer and the Dads led an Easter Q&A with the kids. Asking them about why we celebrate Easter and what it means to them. I love those kinds of moments, you can’t plan for them, they just happen and that is what makes them so cool.

As we left, the cows that had been in the field behind us came to visit again, and we showed our true colors as city folk….

Everyone of us stood at the fence and begged the cows to come over and say hi! For 30 minutes or more we were mesmerized by cows eating grass. Sigh!

As we are on our way home and I have time to reflect on this weekend, I have to tell you how thankful I am for my sweet family, for all my brothers, sisters and for their families. I am thankful for all of you who take time out of your day to stop by and see what is new and for all the amazing friends I have had the privilege to make through my blog! I hope you had a wonderful Easter!

Around our home, my girls know that you have to be 12 to get your ears pierced. For really no other reason then my Mom made me wait until I was 12 to get mine done, and I like to torture my kids that way! Plus, I figure at that age they can take care of them by themselves and it is one less thing I will have to do.

Last night was the night, she is not quite 12, but all the girls were together at the mall and it was really close to her birthday. I called her Dad to see if he objected in any way, fully expecting him to want me to wait so he could be there.

“Yeah, I don’t care, do whatever.” he says.

Not quite the response I was expecting, but then again I am not sure he gets the 12 year old girl ear piercing anticipation!

I gave her the option and she chicken out a few times, we walked around the mall for a while, got some food and were ready to leave exiting the opposite end of the mall when she finally changed her mind. I thanked her for the walking workout and we trekked back to the other end of the mall, 100 kids in tow to get it done!

As we sat there and they got her ready, I started crying. I am not sure why, it was a 100 different emotions from, “OMG I have a kid this old!” to “I remember how excited I was when I got mine done…..”

Oh yes! When I got mine done…..

As we waited, my girls recounted to the nice lady at Merele Norman the entire story of when I got my ears pierced. They told the story like I was not even there, telling her about how “a long time ago, when my Mom got hers done, they didn’t even have a place like this…”

OK, that is NOT entirely true. My Mom figured why waste the money, she would do it herself at the kitchen table. Just like she had gotten hers done!

My kids have no idea how good they have it, when I got mine done, my Mom didn’t take me to some fancy schmacy place, (I didn’t take my daughter to one, there were too many people in Clair’s so we went next door to Merel Norman who was the same price!) we sat at the kitchen table!

My Mom took a cold Sprite (which was a miracle, as were not allowed to have soda) a needle and thread and a potato. We numbed my ear with the Sprite, put the potato behind my ear and she stuck the needle through! The potato stopped the needle from going in to my neck, thank goodness, and she pulled the needle through with some pliers! Then, she pulled the string through the hole and tied the string in a loop. I had to keep the string clean and pull it back and forth for weeks to keep the hole from closing.

My sissy kids get a quick “pop” and it is done!

I guarantee I wasn’t smiling like that when mine were done Isn’t she cute?! She also gets darling cubic zirconia ‘s and I got a string!

What a fun night we had, and what a good group of girls I have!

How old were you when you got your ears pierced and where did you get it done?

::Update::

This is from my Mom… I knew you would comment!
I was 17. And we used ice cubes to numb them before the needle was used to pierce the ear lobes with the potato. The potato was cut in half and the cut/flat side supported the ear lobe so the needle could go through the lobe better. And I think it was a can of frozen lemonade we used on your ears rather than Sprite…or maybe the Sprite was your reward when we were done. You’ve always been a brave girl. Love you, mom

April 1st is the greatest “holiday” ever celebrated by twisted parents! My parents have had their fair share of tormenting me as a child and teenager,  so I figure it is time to start with my own children. There is nothing better than coming home from school to yummy cupcakes waiting for you.

Especially when your Mom and Dad tell you that in honor of April Fools Day we will be having dessert first!

They have the COOLEST parents EVER!!!

You might have already had spring break, or maybe you are going this week. So I wanted to give you my annual spring break trip review. *If* we go somewhere for spring break it has always been a frugal trip, there are too many of us to fly somewhere fancy, but we always have such a good time on a small budget I wanted to share what we did with you.

Past spring break trips: 

Arkansas Diamond Mines - OMG this was the funniest trip! Who remembers Paul’s Coke bungied on the back of the truck, or my rant about cold nights in a tent with a baby?! Plus all the child labor laws we broke making the kids dig for diamonds!

Camping in Destin FL.  - Oh man! That was a longer drive then we thought it would be! But it was beautiful! Remember the tick club? It was back! I still have a scar from the tick I had…

Sea World in San Antonio – Our first spring break we didn’t camp. Wow, that was weird! We had a really good time and still managed to keep it cheap. Plus we have been back to use our SW passes a few times this past year.

This is our trip this year… It has been the best one yet! You might have read the kid puking story last week, despite this little bump in the trip IT WAS A BLAST!

We were supposed to leave at noon on Friday. At about 4:30 we were getting on the highway, pretty typical Ivanovsky time! We drove to Oklahoma City and spent the night. I will give you that story another time, but it has to do with a cheap hotel room and my husband saying, “Sometimes the extra $20 for a room is worth it baby!”

We made it to my Aunt and Uncles house in Iowa the following evening. We spent the next 3 days there, hanging out with family, visiting the Amish and eating a lot of food!

We left Wednesday morning, had the puking episode and made it to my Aunts in Des Moines. We left Thursday morning for Nauvoo, Ill.

Nauvoo, Ill. is a beautiful old city on the Mississippi river. It is a very historical city with lots of significant meaning for our church (we are LDS or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints). The early members of the church had built a beautiful city (which rivaled Chicago at the time) and were driven out by mobs and made the trek to Salt Lake City.

Nauvoo has been restored and is a beautiful tribute to the 1840′s. If you are NOT LDS, do not let the religious aspect scare you away from visiting this place. You will not be “converted”, grow horns, or otherwise be accosted by missionaries! It is a REALLY COOL pioneer experience!

We stayed in the cabin above. There is a street in Nauvoo that has about 12 restored pioneer cabins that you can rent and stay in. Many were in disrepair in Utah, taken apart and restored here in Nauvoo. The stories of the families that built them are in the home and we spent an evening reading about our cabin, the Stephen Nixon Cabin, that  was built in 1859 by Stephen Nixon, his 16 year old daughter, Margaret, and their friend, Henry Roper. Next door was a cool little museum.

There is also camping in Nauvoo at Camp Nauvoo that is inexpensive. We have stayed there in the past  as well.

The best part? Everything is FREE to do all day long!! There is a large visitors center, where you can watch movies about the pioneers, see displays and get tickets (free also) for all the other activities you can do.

In the summer, there is a large pageant called The City of Joseph you can see for free that is very popular. Tour buses come from all over the midwest to see it. My parents and siblings were in this pageant a few times and it is AMAZING to watch. It is also very crowded, but still fun to see.

There are more then 40 historic sites, free entertainment, handcart treks, wagon tours, pioneer pastimes and more. AGAIN ALL FREE! 

You can easily spend 2 full days trying to get in everything! It is really fun for kids, they can make bread, see how to make bricks (plus make one yourself) make rope and candles, do a few different hay rides, play all kinds of pioneer games and more. Paul’s favorite place was the Browning house. We are big fans of Pawn Stars and so the Browning guns were cool to see!

I have been many times to Nauvoo in the summer. It is a great time to go, but it can get hot and crowded. Spring break was PERFECT! The weather was amazing and no one was there! We got to do everything by ourselves and spend as long as we wanted talking to the people there and asking questions.

After 2 full days, we got up early and headed out hoping to make it to the Laura Ingalls Wilder homestead site in Mansfield Mo.

My poor husband, he has 5 daughters and 1 wife who are rabid Little House fans! We booked it through all the little MO towns and 2 lane winding roads to make it with enough time to enjoy the tour and museum.

That is the house that Laura and Almanzo build themselves and lived in for 60 years. Almanzo built the counters really short for Laura to kneed bread on comfortably because she was only 4’11 tall. It made me cry. And Almanzo made the hook rugs all over the house in the winter when it was cold and they would sit by the fire. I was bawling at this point. I want my husband to sit with me by the fire and make rugs while I kneed bread on the perfect hight counter tops! O.K. my husband does put gas in my truck for me all the time AND listened to 36 hours of The Little House books on CD in the car…

This was one of the best trips EVER, because we had no schedule. We just did whatever we wanted to do, whenever we wanted. We ate at rest stops, with a loaf of bread, jelly and peanut butter. The kids refilled their water bottles from drinking fountains, and we made muffins and trail mix for the car when we would stop. We didn’t spend very much money at all for the amount of time we were gone. We saw good friends and family and some of our favorite places. But most importantly we were all together and that is what made it just perfect!

:: I *think* tomorrow is the last day to vote!

While I was at Blissdom (Blogging Conference) this year, I stopped by the De Wafelbakker’s Pancake booth. All I wanted was some free pancakes because I had been talking in the hall and missed breakfast that morning. Pretty much typical!

They asked if I wanted to make a video for them telling people why we liked De Wafelbakker’s. Ummm, heck yeah! We started eating these last year when they had a $2 off coupon. The bags are like $2.50 or something and so basically we were hooked! Not even joking, we eat about 2 bags a week, just because I don’t have to clean up syrup.

Anywho…. needless to say, my little video is in the top 9 and I have the chance to win PANCAKES for a YEAR!! Whoo Hooo! Oh yeah, and I can be in their commercial… if I win. Now, I wish I would have done my hair, make up and wore something different!

So if you have time, jump over to Facebook and VOTE for me! I am on the bottom on the right side.

Complaining isn’t really fun. I don’t like hearing it, and I am sure my husband and others don’t either. I am stating this first because I am about to, well, complain. Sorry in advance…. this is going to be long.

It’s not even really complaining, it is basically just telling you how much I hate CHASE bank right now. Just think of it that way. See, I am really pretty anal and I know that. I like things a certain way, and take pride in making sure that I am not behind on anything, or past due. I have my own business account and bank account that I keep a little money in and I like it. WELLLLL not anymore!

This weekend we got home from spring break after being gone for 10 days. The stack of mail was HUGE. I started going through it right away to make sure I didn’t miss anything. I came across what looked like a regular statement from CHASE and opened it up. They were informing me that they had CANCELLED my business account for violating their terms and service. I was thinking it had to be a mistake as I really don’t use that account, it is more my savings. I grabbed a phone and called them.

A woman answered after being on hold for 5 minutes and as soon as I gave her my account number, I was cut off.

O.K., I redialed. After being on hold for another 7-8 minutes, a man answered and we went through the 4 minutes of questions to confirm it was me. Except that I couldn’t remember the last transaction I had made on the card. I don’t use that card. He informed me that he had to ask security questions. Fine. Then he asked 4 of the craziest questions going back to my high school. I answer correctly and he puts me on hold to find out why my account was cancelled.

We then got disconnected. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

I call back again. Go through the same thing. Answer 4 more very personal questions that I can not imagine how they possibly got the information. He puts me on hold to find out why my account is closed. After waiting for 5 minutes he gets back on the phone. AND THE LINE GOES DEAD! I am starting to lose it.

I finally call back for the 4th time. Go through the entire thing again. This has been 42 minutes at this point. The lady this time starts asking me the questions. They are multiple choice.

“Tell me which property ____ Ivanovsky owned” then she names off 4 address on the west coast.

I say to her, “I have no idea who you are talking about.”

“You can’t answer the question?” she says.

“No, that is my last name, but I have no idea who that person is. How can I answer the question?” I reply.

“If you can’t answer the question, we can’t help you. I will ask you 1 more and that is your last chance” she says. “Which vehicle did your husband own? A. Pontiac 6000 LE B. Ford Explorer SE C. Chevy GMC Truck or D. Pontiac 1000 SE ?”

“Well, at one point he owned a Pontiac, but it was a really long time ago, I have no idea if it was a 6000 or a 1000.” I tell her. “Are these for real questions? It was a Pontiac, other than that I have no idea that model!”

“You have to answer or you will compromise your account.” She states.

“Paul!” I yell, “Did you own a Pontiac 6000 or a 1000?” From the other room he yells back “6000″

“It was a 6000″ I tell her.

“Did someone else answer that? I heard someone else tell you the answer.”

“Yes my husband did, because it was HIS car and I never even drove it.” I say.

“You can bring 2 forms of ID into your local branch tomorrow and they will help you, you have compromised your account and I can’t talk to you.” She then hangs up.

I am livid!!! They have had me on the phone close to an HOUR, hung up on me 4 times at this point and no one has told me a single thing. 

Monday morning bright and early I walk into my local branch office. I go to the office of the guy who opened my account. I tell him what has happened the day before and show him the letter that I got and asked him what was going on. He pulls up my account and it says restricted, and that he had to call in. He calls and they are giving him the same run around they gave me. When he finally has the chance to ask them about my account, they tell him….

“We really have no information. It looks like a computer program that scans accounts reported that hers looks like it violates our terms and conditions. She has an online business ( MyLitter blog) and it is an online GAMBLING site. We have to close her account.”

“WHAT??!!!! Are you kidding me?” I yell.

He is still on the phone with them and says he doesn’t agree and they completely shut him down and tell him they can not reverse it and that my account is closed.

I am furious! There is no real person that actually bothered to take a look at my site, but instead let a computer program make a decision and close an account. There is not anyone that has any common sense that can make any decisions. Then there was a hold on the account and I could not walk out with a check.

At this point I am so mad, I start crying. Which then makes me more mad. I am in this poor guys office, crying, telling him how badly they treated me on the phone the day before, how I have NOT done ANYTHING wrong and  now they wont give me my money!!!! It might have been the tears, but with another phone call and a few more managers they get me my funds released and I walked out with a closed account.

I am sorry this is so long. BUT – I hate the fact that businesses are so big, that no one person matters. I have never had an account closed before. I only used it as my savings and had a debit card associated with it. The letter I got says they are reporting it to the credit bureau, which I can’t possible believe they can. Although, I am sure they will. Which is another fight that I will have to have as I did nothing wrong. NOT A SINGLE REAL PERSON typed in www.mylitter.com to see what it was. I am sure you can all vouch for me that it is not an online gambling site! CHASE doesn’t care. They apparently let a computer decide what they do to real people. Thankfully, we have the option to bank somewhere else and will, and make sure that our children do also and should anyone else ever mention that they are looking I will tell them to RUN RUN RUN from CHASE bank they are HORRIBLE.

Thanks for the chance to vent! Over and OUT! 

P.S. The person they were asking me for the property info on? Paul and I did some genealogy… it was his great, great, grandpa. Apparently at Chase you are expected to know the properties of your spouses great, great grandparents, or you are compromising your account.

The classic American Gothic portrait by Grant Wood was painted in the 1930′s. We had the opportunity today to visit the little farm house in Eldon Iowa that was the inspiration for the iconic painting. It was actually quite fun, Paul and I were able to dress up and take our picture in front of it. We look good pretty stoic don’t you think? No, the picture isn’t photo shopped, we were really there!

Let me take you back about 6 hours.

I drop Paul off to play golf with his best friend from college for his birthday. As I pull away and decide which way to go I realize that I have really no where TO go. I am in the middle of Iowa, no joke, like smack in the middle of the state. For them to play a round will take about 4 hours, so I need to entertain 7 kids in a packed vehicle, in a strange city. I also need to find a decent internet connection so I can blog.

Solution: McDonalds. Every town has one right?

We entertain ourselves for a few hours, I blog, the kids eat fries and ketchup. Rather, the baby bathes herself in it, but what do I care, she is happy.

My sweet husband calls and informs me I can come and get him. Toss the kids in the car, and take off. Now, we have a 9 passenger suburban, fully loaded for a road trip for 10 days. There is not much extra space. The least lucky child is the one who has to sit in the 3rd row directly behind the driver. It is like an obstacle course to get in that spot. It is cramped and never the right temp and usually ends in tears and a fist fight over who has to sit there.

Today the 6 year old sat there. She had the most coveted spot the day before between the driver and front seat passenger so today was her day in the back.

I am happily barreling down the highway, while the kids played with their electronic devices, read and listened to music all completely happy. Then I hear the WORST possible sentence scream from the middle row.

“MOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Storie (the cramped 6 year old) is throwing up!!!!!!!!” My 10 year old yells at the top of her lungs. I don’t blame her.

I look in the rear view mirror to see the 8 year old, who had been sitting next to the puker, jumping over the back bench and into the middle seat. The 4 year old, who was also in the very back, was trying frantically to go ANYWHERE else, but couldn’t get out of the car seat.

“Someone HELP her!!!!” I am yelling at the middle bench which is full of older children.

I was on a 2 lane highway with no shoulder, so I had no choice right at the moment but to keep driving.

“Oh My GOSH! I am seriously going to puke” the 14 year old yells, as he rolls down the window sucking our eardrums out with it. The other non-helpful older kids are all staring at the poor kid puking wide eyed and motionless.

Like a scene from Stand By Me, my 6 year old continues to vomit without stopping, everything she could have possibly eaten in the past 3 weeks.

“Get her SOMETHING to throw up into…. NOW!!!!!” I scream at kids. “What are you doing staring at HER! HELP HER!!!!”

No one moves. They are completely entranced. The baby who is sitting directly in front of her is twisting her body around trying to see what is going on. I am screaming directions from the front seat at 70 miles an hour, as there are cars behind me and no where to turn off. Finally, after threatening lives, my bigger kids pull it together enough to hand her a baby sock.

A. BABY. SOCK. Yes, they pulled the sock off the baby and handed it to the 6 year old as she was done vomiting a gallon of puke so that she might wipe off her chin. I WAS GOING TO KILL SOMEONE. I pulled off the road and into the parking lot of the golf course where my husband was waiting with friends to introduce his family to them. I stop, jump out of the car, and start yanking kids out and into the parking lot yelling at them for being useless. I grab the poor 6 year old and wisk her to the bathroom.

The clean up took almost an hour. Then we made the older kids draw sticks to see who sat there.

Back on the road, we saw the sign for the American Gothic historical site. We decided to stop so that we could air out the car for a minute. They had clothes you could dress up in, and I needed a break, so my husband played along. Still stressed from the earlier episode, I avoided all my kids on purpose and read every little sign in the mini museum. The nice lady who ran it volunteered to take our picture for us.

“Now remember, don’t smile” she said.

Yea, not a problem I was thinking to myself.

“Wow, you guys were really good at that!” She joked. “I don’t have kids yet, but when I do, I am going to take them on road trips, just like this!” She happily told us.

I am framing that picture. Someday, my grandkids are going to ask, “Why are you and Grandpa so unhappy?” I can tell them it is because I was traveling with your parent!

This is not a picture of a sweet darling baby, sucking her thumb, and  peacefully sleeping. NO. This is a picture of a baby who is meditating and contemplating her next attack on her unsuspecting parents. She is a gremlin who comes to life after midnight and when sprinkled with water. Affectionately called “panda bear” during the day, I can’t type what is muttered under the breath of her sleep deprived parents.

For example, we are driving to Iowa today (you know, the premiere vacation destination. We are doing a reverse snow bird) and last night had to stop in Oklahoma City to spend the night. Paul and I had been up since 4:45am, packing, working and now driving in bad weather for the last 6 hours. We might have driven straight through but we are getting old and at 11:30pm were done for the day.

Panda Bear had been perfect in the car the entire night as she usually is. In fact, she was sleeping when we stopped and ever so carefully tried to get her into the hotel room and lay her down to sleep. We are “professional baby keeper asleepers” but failed this time and the gremlin woke up. Not familiar with her surroundings, her head started spinning and green pea soup was spewing from her mouth. We tried desperately to keep her quiet, as the cheap hotel walls were paper thin and the hotel was full of sleeping people. The more I tried to reason with her the louder she got.

We cuddled her, got every blankie we could find and stuck her in bed with us. Nothing worked. She was just COMPLETELY unreasonable and totally out of control. We were exhausted, and desperate to sleep. Finally at one point she dozed off and as I was hanging half way off the bed as to not nudge her, I decided I would sleep that way. The front desk claimed that we had a room with 2 queen beds, but I am sure they were twin size just mocking us. The Gremlin had the entire middle of the bed and the 2 adults contorted their bodies to accommodate her. Occasionally, when she thought we might have fallen to sleep, she flailed and screamed again to wake us up.

A few times I think I began to sleep enough that I started to dream. They all started the same, the Gremlin was tired and going to sleep, then I would shake her foot and wake her up! Muhahahhahaha, take that! Close to morning the Gremlin made one last move to completely ensure we looked as haggard in the morning as we felt. Her blankie was lost in the sheets and she couldn’t find it. She started screaming.

“WHAT IS HER PROBLEM?!” I said to Paul.

“Did you hear what she said?” he asked.

“No. I all I can hear is screaming.”

She said, “Duh! WINNING!”

We laughed, found her blanket and decided we might as well get on the road. It was tempting though, every time the sweet Panda Bear fell asleep to grab and shake her little foot and wake her up.

As I yelled, ” Who’s winning now?!!” But somehow that wouldn’t make me feel any better or any less tired! The Gremlin wins!

Spring Break is quickly coming up on us. Last year we went to Sea World San Antonio, and had a BLAST! We were able to do it cheap and with 9 people that isn’t always easy!

I wanted to give you some ideas of things that we have done in the past to still be able to take the kids somewhere and not spend a lot of money.

Camping. We have camped a LOT in our marriage with our kids. It is a TON of work for me before and after but it is fairly inexpensive and really a lot of fun for the kids and yes, even me once we are there. Reserve America is where we make our reservations normally. If you are interested I could write up a post on how I pack and what food we make?

Visiting Relatives. Yuck I know, that can be scary! But it is so good for the kids to see family that is far away. Plus, if you are able to stay with them you save the big expense of where to sleep at night. We have family that will even let all 9 of us stay with them! I always bring sleeping bags so the little kids can sleep on the floor, Paul and I have often done that as well. There are so many things that you can busy kids doing during the day that you dont have to be trapped in the house with “Uncle Bert” all day. Take them to the local parks that they have not seen before, new museums, walk around the old part of town. Kids don’t have to know that you are not spending a lot on vacation, they just want to see new things.

Staycations. We have done this a few times and the kids LOVE it. We make up a plan of things we want to do in our own city that we are always too busy for. Then we plan each day as if we are out of town with no distractions and spend the day as a family. We go to parks that are “in town” or down to the beach, or see historical sites that we had no idea about. Just google “things to do in….” and make a list of places you are interested in. We have also gotten a great deal on a hotel room only 40 minutes from our house ( make sure it has a pool!) and spent the night there and did a few things during the day and came home. It didn’t cost a lot, but the kids felt like they had a vacation because sleeping in a hotel “is soooo cool!” Plus, they got to swim in the pool all night!

What are you doing for Spring break? Have you done any frugal trips before?

Last night we went to the Houston Rodeo. We go every year usually even a few times, to see a few concerts. The kids love going to see the animals and beg for $9 slices of pizza. But alas, their parents are too frugal and make them eat BEFORE they go inside

A few years ago when we went, it was the famous “Hannah the pig” episode, and if you are a long time reader you might remember it. I was a completely hormonal mess over a pig giving birth, and my family has never let me forget it.

This is a little bit from that post:

If you are reading this, yes I am here! If you leave you should be able to come back…. See, there are things called servers, nodes, and mother boards, stuff that I turn over to professionals to take care of because I have a bunch of other stuff to do all day long. Occasionally, no matter what you are paying them, they send you emails using words and phrases like, “emergency, catastrophic, and total data loss” and you have to just back away and let them take care of things.

While waiting for my site and a few others to come back from website purgatory, I was able to spend some quality time with my husband at a blogging conference. I learned a lot of really cool new things and met some AWESOME people.

These are a few of my take a way’s that I want to share with you:

• If you eat non-stop on vacation you WILL gain weight. Let’s get that insight out of the way.
• If you watch “The Help” on the plane in the dark with lots of dark eye makeup on and start crying. The cute male flight attendant will ask you if you are O.K. and proceed to hold your hand and find you something to clean mascara off your checks.
• EVERYONE else on the planet owns a black wheeled suitcase.
• Your husband can sing “Baby Got Back” to karaoke with 2 other frugal blogger back up “dancers” on stage and you don’t have to change your last name. Don’t ask.
• My sister is a ROCK STAR for watching my kids and only lost 1 of them, but found them an hour later. Everyone is fine.
• I seriously love my blog, and my little space here on the web so much that I get physically sick when my site doesn’t come up.
• If the nice people at the airport say your plane leaves from gate C16 and you sit at C17, you will miss your plane.

It’s good to be home, both on the web and physically!! I missed you guys!

I just thought I would give you a FREE public service announcement for the day…

First, on a side note, have you ever noticed that it is impossible for a blogger when typing the word “FREE” to not CAPITALIZE it?! I don’t think that it is physically possible for me to not type FREE in caps. It is like I do it in my sleep.

Back to the FREE information.

My daughter who is darling and sweet at 20 months old, would like you all to know that 1. Dove Ultimate Deodorant does NOT and I repeat NOT, taste as good as it looks. 2. She did not eat enough to hurt her, and probably won’t think it is a push up popsicle again. But always call if your child eats something strange.  If you perhaps had a 20 month old that wanted to eat Dove deodorant for some reason. Not that we would know or anything….

If you have an exposure, you should call your local emergency number (such as 911) or the National Poison Control Center at 1-800-222-1222.

I am not even sure how to possibly start this post. Ironically, I had just got done bragging about how brilliant, wonderful and caring my 14 year old has been lately, when I go to set my alarm on my phone and find this video.

See, for the past couple years, my sweet wonderful oldest child has been a bit of a pain in the a**. I am sure it is hormones etc. But he has been a beast to live with. All the eye rolling, walking away while I am talking to him and just in general being a early teenage boy. However the last few months he has almost been human again. Almost.

When I was a kid we tried to eat 6 saltines in 60 seconds and whistle. I had to Google Cinnamon Challenge to find out what they were doing. A person attempts to eat or swallow a teaspoonful of ground cinnamon in under 60 seconds without drinking anything. For $5 bucks?! Really?

The thing is, I am really not that surprised that the 14 year old would attempt to so this to his siblings, after all I am the oldest of 6 kids and the things I did to my siblings… well, they had better just not comment! But my daughter! Why did I expect better from her!!??

As I write this, my sweet, peacefully sleeping children are blissfully unaware that their parents have seen the video and are awaiting their awakening…. after all, that was $5 bucks in cinnamon they wasted! They better start looking for coupon to replace that