There is a new Coupons.com coupon that you can print HERE for $3 off ANY KY product! This will make for a nice discount at Walmart. Plus, if you get the $24.97 box you will get $10 off movie tickets!

Buy KY Jelly For $24.97
Use $3 off KY HERE
Total: $21.97 + $10 off movie tickets!

Which makes me laugh considering the post that I posted yesterday on Paul’s site. If you want to read it, you can below. 

Since I have the password to this blog, and Paul is at a softball managers meeting I could not help but post this photo. If you are offended by KY and condoms skip this post.

Last night at 1am we were in Walmart doing the new coupon matchups for this coming week. There are condom and KY coupons that are coming out this weekend I am sure due to Valentines day coming up.

So we are standing in the aisle as the Walmart worker was stocking the shelves and we are looking at prices….

“Which KY has coupons?” I ask.

“Hopefully the ones that make them free, but I think they are only $2 off this time” Paul says, also pointing out he doesn’t care if they are a $5 money maker there is no reason to buy anymore KY.

“OH LOOK!” I am yelling. “Are there coupons for the Yours and Mine? They have $10 off movie tickets wyb the package!”

“Yep there are, how much are they?” Paul says looking at condoms. (There is a COUPON in the paper and he is getting prices)

“There are condom coupons + Ky coupons together? And you get $10 off movie tickets. I don’t understand the marketing on that one.” We have an in depth and interesting discussion on who thought up that marketing plan and how they could have presented that one in the board room. All the while searching for the “vibrating condoms” that are required on the coupons.

I turn to ask the Walmart stocker where they might be. This is the first time that I realize she has stopped what she was doing and is STARING at us. Now I am a little embarrassed.

“Um do you know where the vibrating condoms might be? Ummm, not for us or anything, but there is a coupon for them and I wanted to get a price. Not because we wanted them or anything like that. Because, you know, we just need a price. Maybe you don’t even have them, I can just look for a price at Walgreens or something. Not that I was buying them or anything like that.” I am still stumbling over my words. She is still staring at us and Paul is laughing.

“I don’t think I can help you.” The stocker says and turns and walks away!

I am totally embarrassed and turn to look at Paul. When he yells after the stocker… and loud enough that the entire HBA section of the store can hear him…

 “Honey, I just found those VIBRATING CONDOMS and KY that you like!”

“I don’t think I can help you.” I say to him and drop my notes and walk to the car, red faced!

So… moral of the story is, your matchup might not have a price for certain items!

Today my kids hysterically announced they had seen an animal in a hole in the yard. Putting their heads together and drawing from all the wildlife animal experience they have had, plus the movie G-Force, they decided that it was a mole.

Now they must formulate a plan. Using what resources they have available, or what resources any couponing Mom might have…

100 bags of S’mores Goldfish (my personal favorite right behind the cupcake ones!). After 15 minutes of work or AGES in the attention span of a 4 year old, this is the plan.

The mole will smell the Goldfish… he will then come out of the hole and follow the trail of Goldfish to the empty pot. Thank goodness I have not been motivated to actually get a plant in there, I would have ruined their plan. Sheesh!

Once at the pot, he will want the YUMMIEST Goldfish at the top of the pot, jump up to get them, and FALL into the planter. Where he is now stuck and they have caught him.

“What will you do with him when you have him?” I ask.

Blank stares. They have obviously have not gotten this far into the plan.

“Call the police.” They say matter of fact.

“Well, lets not call the police and wait until we have him, then we can figure out what to do.” I suggest.

I am not worried, as I walked away, the 18month old was eating the Goldfish trail!

** Warning, this is a long little story. Give yourself a pat on the back if you make it all the way through!

This fall when we were at the Tree House for vacation, there is a bathroom off the bedroom that my husband and I were staying in. The door to the bathroom is a beautiful, very thick, solid wood door with a beautiful knob and lock. The bathroom has a very small window that looks out over the deck and hot tub on the side of the house. We were in a severe drought and so trying to conserve water no one showered everyday.

When I could no longer stand the smell of myself I decided I would quickly shower while everyone had gone down to the river. I threw my clothes on the bed and grabbed a towel. As I went in the bathroom I shut the door behind me. I thought that was a little silly of me as there was no one in the house and I had also shut the bedroom door. After a quick cold shower I grabbed the towel and went to go get dressed.

I couldn’t open the door!

I tried and tried but it was stuck! Stuck HARD! I did everything you could possibly think of. For OVER 20 minutes I was stuck trying to open it. I opened the little window and was yelling, trying to get someones attention down at the river but they were too far away!

I was thinking of taking a nap on the floor until they came back later in the day from the river when out of the corner of my eye I caught site of Shawn, a friend of ours who had come with us on the trip. I cranked the old window handle open and started screaming out the window to him!

“Shawn! Shawn, up here!”

He cranks his neck in my direction, looks around and starts walking towards the river.

“Shawn, I am locked in the bathroom! HELP ME!” I yell.

He turns around and finally sees me. Laughing he walks up to the house. At this point I realize I have about 30 seconds to figure out what to do because all I have is a towel. Thankfully my husband never picks up his clothing off the floor in the bathroom, and I find a smelly t-shirt and a pair of underwear. I choose the t-shirt, and frantically put it on.

Shawn has trouble getting the door open, it was really stuck! Laughing, I am finally free, and he promises not to tell anyone what an idiot I am, in turn I have to make him a batch of Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Fast Forward a few months later when we go back to the Tree Top. 

Paul and I are staying in the same room. There are 3 bedrooms on the first floor and each one has a baby that is staying in the room. Each night we get the bigger kids in bed upstairs, the babies asleep in the rooms and the adults sit in the living room watching TV, playing on the computer, looking at Pinterest and reading The Bloggess.

My sister Anna, my SIL Tonia and I are sitting together on the couch, looking at recipes and gossiping about the Kardashians when I keep thinking I hear Anna’s baby crying. He has been whiny (did I say that?!) all day and he had a hard time going to sleep, so I was thinking he had woken back up. A while later, I think I hear him again, and finally suggest because I am the big sister by 10 years, that “that kid is not going to sleep” and maybe she should just go get him.

A second later, Anna comes running out from the hall carrying my 6 year old, who is COMPLETELY hysterical and red faced! She had been locked in the same bathroom as I was for a LONG time! It was her that I had heard crying off and on! I felt so horrible for her, she was so scared!

She sat on my lap for a while and we got her a drink of water. I told her the story of when I was stuck in there, and she was doing better. I noticed she smelled really good, she also had some stuff on her shirt? As I picked her up to take her to bed she pulls out a small trial size Dove deodorant from her pocket.

“I put on your stuff” she tells me.

“I noticed you smelled good!” I tell her.

I put her to bed and she falls right to sleep. The next day we are packing to go home and in between yelling at kids to get moving and tossing stuff into bags, I start making sure my 6 year old is packed. In the pockets and on the floor next to the jeans she had been wearing the night before I notice some of my makeup.

Then I start looking around and begin pulling out all of my things that were in the bathroom out of her pockets!

While I was locked in, all I thought about doing was taking a nap! The 6 year old apparently decided to shop lift my make up, deodorant, floss… and what in the world was she going to do with 3 tampons???!!!

Yesterday, exhausted, I tossed my clothes in a pile and jumped in the shower at midnight for the first time that day. I don’t remember much after that except I was up multiple times last night with sick kids. I woke Paul up at 4:00am and said, “Tag, your it!” He then had the baby on the couch until I got up at 6:00 to get kids ready for school.

I sat on the couch blogging for a few hours with multiple sick kids breathing on me, while Paul ran errands and did price checking at Walmart.

At 10am I was stressing because I had to head into work for a little while. The door bell rings! ACK! I am still in my pajamas! I run into my room and look for something to throw on, I see my clothes from yesterday and figure I wont see any of the same people and toss them on. I answer the door, then get my stuff together and head out to work for a while. Along the way I have a few errands to do, I meet with some teachers and chat with church patrons in the hall.

Later today I am standing in the kitchen making dinner when I decide that my jeans fit kinda funny. I mean they are tighter than normal, thanks to the 7 pounds that I have magically gained the past month. But the knee felt funny…

In the middle of the kitchen I wiggle my leg, reach up my pant leg, and much to my astonished husbands surprise, I pull out my UNDERWEAR from yesterday!

I couldn’t think fast enough, I just held them up above my head and said, “Tada! Do you like my magic trick?”

Without missing a beat, he says, “Why, yes I do! I like it a lot!”

I quickly start walking away as my face is turning bright red!

“Honey?” Paul teasingly says, “Did you just walk around all day with your underwear from yesterday in your pants?”

“Why, yes I did! I sure did!” I said. Then I gave up and decided I needed a nap!

Photo Credit

I  LOVE New Years! We have so much fun with the kids, eating food and watching movies. The only sad part is at our old house we could do fireworks but we can’t in our new neighborhood. The bright side is that I don’t have to worry about anyone getting burned or hurt!

Here are some ideas to make New Years fun and some cheap/freebies to do with the kids!

This is my favorite idea I have seen in a while, do a Family Interview! Each year have everyone answer questions and keep them all in one place to look over each year!

1. START A TRADITION:

I am really excited to share with you all a tradition that we are doing as a family! Each New Years Eve we are sitting down together as a family and filling out a “Year in Review” sheet. You can download mine for FREE HERE.

This is what we are doing: Having some fun snacks and drinks, handing out a copy of the “Review” to each member of the family, then filling them out together and reading them out loud! I have all the little kids write their own if they can, I love to see their handwriting and how it changes over the years. As we do this EVERY New Years, the very same sheets it is fun to see the changes! They are such a memory to keep and look back on each year! Get your FREE sheets HERE!

2. Make a FUN Photo booth! 

Go HERE to see directions and find some FREE printables to make props for your photo booth. We have taken rolls of wrapping paper and made a backdrop, then had the kids in front of it doing funny stuff and took their pictures. THEY LOVED IT!!

OR if you want to buy some printables from a cute Etsy site you can do that HERE for only $3.95. They will be emailed to you!

3. Fill Out a NEW 2012 Calendar! 

Here is another FREE printable! You can get this DARLING 2012 calendar for free and assemble it watching movies and eating snacks! Thanks Skip To My Lou! 

 4. Free Printable’s

I really love anything free I can print and use to make some cute and fun crafts for the kids. I am printing these hats and having the girls assemble them for New Years Eve! You can go HERE to get the hat printables.

If you are looking for entire sets of FREE printables there are quite a few out there. I looked on Etsy, Pinterest and just Googled “free printable New Years Collection” to find some really cute ones!

• From Tom Kat Studio you can get this black and white set HERE.
• Get a GORGEOUS gold printable set from Anna and Blue HERE. This set was featured in Parents magazine.
• Catch my Party has a BUNCH of cute printables HERE you can grab!

5. Drink Recipes! 

Virgin Strawberry Daquri

Ingredients

• 1 (14.5-ounce) can pineapple chunks in juice
• 1 (12-ounce) bag frozen strawberries
• 2 tablespoons superfine sugar
• 2 medium limes, juiced
• Fresh strawberries, optional, for garnish

Directions

I wanted to give you a little review of the gifts that my kids got for Christmas… the ones that were a HIT and the ones that were a FLOP!

The picture above is our Christmas tree at the Tree Top. I think it is beautiful! We had so much fun! Now, the toilet paper was a parting gift from our Elf on the Shelf, he T.P.’d the tree, my son to his bed and the deer in the wall. I don’t ask, I just live here.

Lets start with the FLOP, because there was really only 1. One BIG, HUGE, FAT flop! I am still crying about it!

 I was so excited for my 14 year old to get a Kindle Fire from Santa. He was not as excited. At first, he had no idea what it was or what it did. So I spent FOREVER showing him just how dang cool it was and helped him get his iTunes music on it…. then it sat there for 2 days. I finally asked him if he wanted me to return it ( I mean if he wanted Santa to return it) and he said yes, he kept apologizing and said he just wouldn’t use it.

I just finished printing my return label from Amazon. It was really easy to do. I keep trying to justify keeping it for my self but I can’t  I asked him if there was something he wanted instead, he answered, “can I borrow your iTouch and I need some shoes.” DONE.

Onto the WINNERS! 

 OMGosh! This thing ROCKS!! It was a spur of the moment purchase that I wasn’t sure about when I posted it and another device. It is called the Go Groove and works with your iPod or iPhone. Everyone in the house is fighting over it including me! The sound that comes out of this thing is AMAZING! I would totally recommend this sound system to everyone! We made my son bring it on vacation with us. You can see it HERE. 

 YEP! Obviously the Nintendo DS3 was a HIT! She was a pretty happy kid. Even better all the DS games they already have work on it, so there is no shortage of games to play. Thank goodness as we didn’t really buy any new ones! I did get her a cool carrying case for it through!

 Another spur of the moment purchase because it was a lightening deal that I posted. Paul and I had talked many times about getting a pair of nice headphones that I could use while working, and in the car. These had GREAT reviews and were really discounted, plus I had some Swagbucks I could use, so I grabbed the white pair (thinking the kids would think they are dorky and wouldn’t want to use them)!

They are AWESOME! They were so nice on our trip, and have not been removed from a persons head 24/7 since they came! I would highly recommend these! Go HERE to see them .

 The elusive Leappad! Oh yes! It was everything that it was cracked up to be! The kids have really loved it. Plus the games and graphics are good and fun. The 3 year old loved it along with the 11 year old who can be caught playing on it also!

The shortage was justified, I can see the kids no getting tired of this one for a while. Two years ago I bought the handheld Leap Frog device and that was a flop, the never played with it at all, so I was worried about this one initially. They love it though! They are also finally in stock HERE, and my Walmart had ONE today in the store!

 For the 18 month and under crowd, the boxes, wrapping paper and bows were priceless!

This baby (cutest baby on the planet!) figured out how to open presents and was a rock star! She just wanted to open them!

There were 2 that really stood out if you were wearing diapers. The Leapfrog Learn and Groove Microphone was a big hit, in fact we had to hide it in the car on the way home to keep Dad from tossing it out the window. True test of a good toy!

Finally, the good old fashioned Playskool Busy Poppin’ Pals was the biggest hit for the diaper crowd! They wouldn’t even let it come out of the box, they were too busy playing with it!

Look at how good my baby is… sitting there quietly waiting her turn to play. While her cousin pushed his way in  LOL! Not quite! More the other way around!

That is it for my wrap up. Except for the Kindle Fire which was in my opinion the coolest gift ever, it was all really good!

What were your hits and flops?! 

We just spent the last 3 days at Sea World, San Antonio. Paul and I don’t get each other anything for Christmas for the most part, we usually buy something for the house and call it our present. This year we wanted to use our Sea World year passes before they expired, and so we counted the hotel cost as our gift to each other.

** Quickly I want to say that in no way was I compensated for this post! We also got NO discounts on anything that I am talking about other than the ones I found myself! I just want to give you guys the information that I have on a fun place to visit! 

If you live within 4 hours of a Sea World, it is worth at some point in your life to get a year pass and try to make it a few times. Locations are:

San Diego, CA

Orlando, FL

San Antonio, TX

There are a few things that you can do to really save some money on your trip. The thing unfortunately that you can not save much money on are the tickets themselves, but I have a few ideas to make it a little less painful!

Buy a year Fun Pass if you are going more than 1 day! Even if you know you are not coming back, 1 day pass is $59, a year pass is $79. If you were going 2 days over a weekend it is till cheaper to get the year pass.

Fun Card – I bought these for the kids and I. The 2012 prices are $59 and $49 for JUST Sea World. Prices for Sea World and Aquatica (the water park) are $89 (adult) and $79 (kids).

Benefits…

• Purchase your 2012 Fun Card now and get the rest of 2011 for free!
• Unlimited admission for 2011 and 2012
• SeaWorld San Antonio and Aquatica options available
• No waiting in line for tickets

*Personally I could not imagine going in the summer and not going to the water park. It is a MUST for us. Also, the new one they are building in San Antonio is AMAZING!

Annual Pass- I buy 1 of these for Paul. It is $129. This gets us free parking and 20% off everything in the park. I figure we only need one, and he is the one usually driving. Parking is like $15 so it is worth it.

Benefits…

• SeaWorld San Antonio and Aquatica options available
• Free parking, merchandise and dining discounts, and discounted guest admission with the 1 Year Pass
• Affordable EZ Pay Passes
• Access to 10 SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment parks with the Platinum Pass

Merry Christmas! I can’t even begin to tell you how much I love this time of year! I love that my kids are home from school, I love that I am off from work, I love that my blogging schedule is lighter, I love that it gets colder and family is around! I love the smells the lights, and food!

On an even deeper level and I am so thankful for the the reason why we celebrate Christmas. There was a talk that I heard recently about the choice that we have to be grateful, and it really struck me for this time of year and not just in November.

Thessalonians – 5:18 In every thing give ^athanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

A few years ago at Christmas time, Paul had been laid off and things seemed REALLY bleak. I was physically sick each day thinking of what my kids would have to open Christmas morning. I planned and planned and worried even more. More important than presents I had to worry about just paying basic bills, I felt selfish even worrying about how I was going to get them something cool to open. I was mad at Paul for getting laid off (as if it was his fault) I was mad at pretty much everyone that I could possibly be mad at including myself for not seeing ahead that this could happen.

One afternoon when my little kids were sleeping I got a church magazine and a Simple Living magazine in the mail the same day. I sat for a few hours while they napped and read both of them completely through. From the church magazine I got a peace of heart that all would work out and from the Simple Living magazine I knew that I had wanted too much and lost sight of what was reasonable for my little family.

That was when I decided that just like Christ received 3 gifts from the wise men, my children would get 3 gifts each year from us. They would also get a gift from Santa, but it gave me a place to start and a plan to keep it in control. I also worked like crazy to make it happen and have a peaceful heart that all bills were paid before I bought a single present. I cut hair, made personalized ceramic plates, I babysat and cleaned friends homes. I swallowed my pride and let people know that I was doing all these things if anyone knew someone or needed anything themselves.

I had everything paid for and presents bought. I was patting myself on the back. Then on the 20th of December, our baby at the time, had gotten so sick she was admitted to the hospital. As I sat up there with her wishing we were home with the other kids, I wasn’t so proud of myself anymore. All I wanted was to be with my family. None of it mattered anymore. My heart hurt so bad that the Christmas that I had worked so hard for would be celebrated without the baby and I. Even more difficult was watching my baby hooked up to the breathing machines and that she just could not understand why she she was there and couldn’t move around.

I prayed and prayed she would get better. Slowly she started breathing better, the 2nd set of antibiotics started working and we were sent home at 9pm on Christmas Eve. I cried as we walked in the door at the relief of us all being in the same place. The next day for Christmas was the first Christmas that I really felt the miracle of what that day represented. It all came together for me that day. The love that Jesus Christ has for all of us, the simple nature of how it should be celebrated, the CRAZY love that I have for my kids and just how GRATEFUL I was for EVERYTHING. I wrote a journal entry to myself, begging ME to remember the feelings that I had that day and to make sure I had them every Christmas.

I know that many of you have had situations of stress that are difficult to imagine. Husbands and children gone for the Holiday’s, job loss, stressful family situations, even death. Please know that you are not alone, that there are people who love you, and that many situations although hard to imagine, are only temporary. I believe also, that Jesus Christ is our savior and that Heavenly Father has a plan for us and that are blessings in store for us. It can be hard to be grateful when we have challenges, but when we try and have a grateful heart and serve others we can see that we all have many blessings and a reason to celebrate this Christmas season.

Please be safe if you are traveling this weekend! Have a wonderful Christmas!

With Love from,

Paul, Tiffany, Tucker, Emma, Paige, Avery, Storie, Rush and Andie! 

We are celebrating Christmas this year at the Tree Top cabin. You might remember that we have been here before, you can read about our trip HERE. 

This year has been a sad one for me as much of my family moved away from the Houston area. We have lived close to my parents and some siblings for a while. My parents moved to Beijing China this spring, My sister and her husband (+ new baby) moved to Lubbock to go back to school and my brother, his 5 girls and wife were transferred to Midland this summer.

The Tree House was about 1/2 way between and an PERFECT meeting place! We really love it here and hope this becomes a tradition for many years. I found this place because we LOVE Garner State Park and the Frio river. Camp sites were full and so I started looking for cabins, this one was so Swiss Family Robinson like I knew we had to stay here!

** Just a quick disclosure, we were NOT given in any way, a discount or ANYTHING to stay here! I just love it here and wanted to let you all know about it also! 

Like I reported yesterday, our Elf managed to make the car trip with us! This morning we found him in the most unlikely place….. I want you to look at the picture above and pay close attention to the little black dot on the rope swing.

YEP! That is Chocolate Buddy taking a ride on the rope swing! The thing that I am most worried about is that I have a feeling that out of the 4 grown men here, the one that got the Elf out there is the one that does NOT have life insurance… I am just sayin’. Plus, I am guessing the water is about 40 degrees!

This morning my sister Anna made breakfast. We split up meals by families, when it is your meal you are in charge of making and bringing the ingredients for that meal. Anna made the Baked French toast from The Pioneer Woman. OMGosh!!!! It was AMAZING!!!!

Photo Credit

** We used a loaf of plain ol’ white bread, nothing fancy. The topping is a MUST! Serve with some thick cut bacon and I just gained 10 pounds!

Baked French Toast 
From The Pioneer Woman 

Ingredients

• FRENCH TOAST
• 1 loaf Crusty Sourdough Or French Bread
• 8 whole Eggs
• 2 cups Whole Milk
• 1/2 cup Whipping (heavy) Cream
• 3/4 cups Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Vanilla Extract
• Topping
• 1/2 cup All-purpose Flour
• 1/2 cup Firmly Packed Brown Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 1 stick Cold Butter, Cut Into Pieces
• Fresh Fruit (optional)

Preparation Instructions

My family picture was finally ready to be picked up. There was some confusion on the cost of the framing and we ended up almost double what I thought it was going to be. It is a HUGE picture and I LOVE it, but it has now become my Christmas, birthday, Christmas 2012 and birthday 2012 etc. presents for quite a while!

Yesterday morning we woke up to find that our Shelf Elf “Chocolate Buddy” has tried to make himself a part of the family. He is perfectly positioned in the photo above! I thought that was pretty clever myself! The kids did also, and promptly assigned him some chores so he could do his part!

Last night the kids were extremely worried about Chocolate Buddy because we left this morning for the Tree Top for Christmas.

Chocolate Buddy was not about to be left behind! We got loaded into the car this morning to find that he had hitched a ride with us! Even the big kids were freaking out! The baby actually saw him first and was trying with all her little heart to get the big kids attention to what she was yelling about!

As a member of the family we could not have left him, although somehow the dog was not as lucky and didn’t make it in the car with us. Miller is perfectly happy at a friends house though, I did pay the boys $5 who live there to make sure the fish doesn’t make it back…. JUST KIDDING!

What has your elf been up to? 

I ordered this cute sweater from Victoria Secret last week because I won a $50 Rewards card with my $12 purchase the week before. I was pretty excited to win, I never win and I think this sweater is really cute. Pretty much everything looks cute on a Victoria Secret model though and so I try to be realistic and picture myself in their clothes…. not as cute. But I thought I would give this sweater a try.

The sweater came yesterday and so naturally I wore it today. I thought I looked pretty cute for a 5’2 (on a good day) Mom of 7, with no boobs like the model who I am sure is 5’9 and probably 20. I wore it all day and went to the movies tonight with the family.

“You look nice today” Paul tells me.

“Thanks!” I say.

“Um, but your sweater is on backwards. Sorry.” He says.

My entire day is going through my head, all the people that I have seen and talked to who must have all noticed I had my sweater on backwards. How embarrassing. I had even gotten my hair done and surely she must have noticed… Now we were walking into a movie theater with a bunch of people that I know and I am trying to figure out how to hide as I know there is a neon sign above my head that says “This woman doesn’t know how to get dressed!”

I am a little confused though as I swore the picture when I bought it didn’t show the buttons in front. There are 3 large buttons down the back, I guess they should be in front, I am thinking.

We get in the theater and get everyone a seat. I quickly volunteer to take kids to the bathroom before the movie starts. In the bathroom I quick take off the sweater and turn it around.

After the movie I hang around talking to a bunch of people and get introduced to some PR people that I have wanted to meet. After chatting for a while we end up talking to a good blogging friend of mine. I know her pretty well.

“I was trying to get your attention earlier” she says to me.

“Oh what for?” I ask.

“Your tag is sticking out” she explains.

As I reach up to the back of my neck to tuck it in, she reaches to MY NECK and tucks it in in the front….

MY SWEATER IS ON BACKWARDS!!!!

I had it on correct all day and when it matters the most I turn it around backwards to meet VIP people! Sheesh! That pretty much figures! All I kept thinking in my head was the children’s book, Inside, Outside Upside Down!!

Being in Texas it is really traditional to have Tamales on Christmas Eve or even Christmas Day. I LOVE tamales, but have never tried to make them because of the time involved and the fact that I think it is something that has to be done with a group of people, like Grandmas, Sisters and Friends! Sure you can buy tamales but the bonding that takes place while you cook in the kitchen together I think is why people continue to make them at home.

Tamales have been traditional for Christmas Eve  for centuries because they’re portable, easy to store and inexpensive to make for large gatherings like you would have this time of year.

My family is not from Texas originally and are not hispanic, so I did not grow up with the Tamale tradition although we have adopted it since living here. But there are dishes that I can’t make without thinking of my grandmother and vividly remembering making that very dish standing next to her in her kitchen. Broccoli Salad, Pizza Casserole, and Lemon BBQ Meatloaf just to name a few. When I make these recipes I can see and even smell her with me.

These memories are far more important to me than any gift I have ever been given, the memories themselves are the gift. I want to make sure that my kids and someday grandkids have these same memories, making the same foods, that I did with my Grandmother during the Holiday’s and all year long.

This year, grab your kids or nieces, nephews, cousins or maybe even your cat, dog or neighbor, and make some memories cooking traditional food in the kitchen and spending some time together eating and filling the house with good smells!

You can get a Tamale making tutorial HERE.

What are some traditional thing that you make with family, leave a recipe for us to try!  What are some memories that you have?

This is what my dining room looks like right now… It usually doesn’t look much like a dining room as there is no table, just a bunch of shelving and a piano, but today I can’t walk by it and not smile to myself! These are all presents that were donated last night at the cookie exchange! What a wonderful blessing you all are to the kids here in Houston!

A BIG thank you to Samantha and her office for donating a bunch of toys! Crystal and her family for helping with food and toys + the email stating the need in the first place. Also, to all the readers who dropped by with cookies and a toy + LeLee my friend who sent money so I could go shopping for gifts. I can’t not mention my blogging friend Heather, Freebies4Mom, who made the best Rolo Cookies EVER! They were my breakfast. Thank you all so much!!

Tomorrow morning Crystal and her son, plus my kids and myself, are driving down to drop all the toys off. Then to the airport to pick up family and at some point I am hoping my house will magically clean itself!

At least our Elf “Chocolate Budy” behaved himself and only slightly got into the cookies on the table. He did help himself to a little glass of milk and a few cookies and candy. It was a challenge working around him to decorate the table as you can’t touch him or he looses his magical powers. My kids are super protective of him and have eyes like hawks so they notice the slightest movement

What a wonderful blessing it is to be able to give an extra gift this season to someone to make their Christmas a little brighter. It is a very scary feeling as a parent at Christmas time to wonder what you are going to have for your kids to open on Christmas morning. Even scarier as a child coming into CPS custody at Christmas wondering if Santa will be able to find you this year as you are not even with family. My heart breaks to think of kids having to worry about something like that, although I know that there are far too many that do.

Thank you again for all that you do!

** This is TOMORROW! There is still time, please come by and exchange some cookies and drop off a toy! 

A long time reader and friend Crystal, adopted her son through the DePelchin Children’s Services. This Christmas season DePelchin is in great need of gifts, toys, and gift cards for over 300 children in the Houston area! I KNOW THAT WE CAN HELP!

If you are going to be in town, December 17th please consider coming to a Open House Cookie Exchange hosted my Crystal and Myself, from 6pm to 9pm in The Woodlands, TX.

What to bring:

• 4 dozen Homemade Cookies (no Chocolate Chip, unless they are really different) in a disposable container.
• A toy donation for a child, OR Gift card (these are good for the teenagers)
• If you have extra wrapping paper, tape and gift labels, bows, etc.
• Extra container to take home 4 dozen different cookies

How it works:

You bring 4 dozen cookies (they can all be the same kind), plus a toy for a child to donate, you leave with 4 dozen assorted cookies that you choose from the huge cookie display. You can hang out, chat, mingle, swap couponing stories, help wrap presents for kids, etc. Basically have a good time and girls night out. I have a few fun door prizes you can win!

It is casual and open house style so you can come and go while out running errands and last minute shopping! If you are interested in coming, please email couponclassinfo@gmail.com for an invitation. We are going to be able to send out about 50 of them because of space available. If you would like to drop a gift off because you can’t make it that night, you can drop them off this week at The Woodlands Christian Church 1202 North Millbend Dr. 77380. The church front office has an office they are keeping them in.

More secret Santas pay off layaways: woodtv.com

I love this story so much! What a wonderful suprise and a wonderful story! Makes you want to see hwat you can do no matter how small it might be!

More secret Santas pay off layaways
About $3,500 worth of bills have been settled

By Dani Carlson
PLAINFIELD TOWNSHIP, MIch. (WOOD) -
For the third day in a row, regular people have come into the Kmart on Plainfield Avenue to play secret Santa by paying off complete strangers’ layaway bills.

Now, employees and customers at the Kmart have an extra spring in their step.

“We had no idea it would blossom into such a thing,” said Kmart Assistant Manager Carol Vernon.

On Tuesday, a woman paid of 3 bills to the tune of $500. On Wednesday, another anonymous giver spent $2,000 paying off 13 more layaway bills. And on Thursday, more than one secret Santa paid off more than $1,000 in layaway bills.

Many of the layaway orders that were paid off were for essentials like warm clothing for children.

“We cry when we hear of these, and we get chills, and we laugh afterwards and our whole day, it doesn’t matter what the day brings,” said Vernon. “It just reaffirms that faith in human nature that everybody is here to help everybody, especially now.”

Employees at the Kmart said that once in a a while before the recession hit, someone would come in and pay off part of a stranger’s layaway. But they’ve never seen anything like this before.

And with people giving so generously for three days in a row, the question is: When will it end?

Again, so many good deals right now, so I am recapping to make it easier to see all at once!

** I forgot to tell you my Clint Eastwood story, since I posted that deal about him earlier today. We were in Hawaii at a golf tournament about 9 years ago. Paul was playing in the Mercedes Open Pro-Am (what a life time ago!) and they put us up at the Ritz Carlton (I am not joking) I got on the elevator to go to lunch and stepped into this guy and walked on his shoe. I apologized, hit “lobby” and turned around. The man got off at the floor before the lobby, as soon as he stepped off, the other woman in the elevator grabbed my shoulder and was FREAKING out!

“I can’t believe you stepped on his foot!” she says hyperventilating.

“I can believe it, I am a mess that way” I tell her.

“I LOVE him!!” she yells! (She is about 55 I am guessing)

“Who is that?”

She looks at me and shakes her head, the last minute of her life completely wasted on a dumb 27 year old!

“That. Was Clint Eastwood.”

And she walked away disgusted.

Another time I have to tell you about Lionel Richie dancing on my table…. same trip!

::Gift Ideas::

Hello Kitty Watch $2.94 + Multi-touch Screen mp3 $19.40 + Free Shipping!

Clint Eastwood – 35 films 35 years collection

Stationary Market – 25% off Coupon Code

Michaels December Daily Deals

Childrens Place: Up to 65% off + Place Cash!

Forever 21: Last minute stocking stuffers + Free Shipping Today Only!

All Lego Video Games on SALE!!

$30 for 2 Lalaloopsy Dolls

KRE-O Transformer SIDESWIPE $11.99!

*HOT* Dollhouse Jackets only $15!

Baby Alive Crib Life only $7.99!

::Store Deals::

Kroger Weekly Deals 12/07

Randalls/Safeway Weekly Ad 12/07

Target Gift Card Deals: Baby Alive Only $11.99 & Free Curel Lotion after gift card!

::FREEBIES::

FREE Flip Photo Book! Just pay shipping!

Free Sample and $1 Off Coupon from John Frieda

Giveaway: Room Redo From Blinds Chalet!!

Cookie Exchange and Toy Donation Drop Off!

**HOT** Mountain Dew Coupon!!!! + Recipe for Apple Dumplings with Mt. Dew!!

A grown man spent over an hour the other night creating this masterpiece! The grown man felt compelled to do this after he stole received Jackie Chan from a white elephant gift exchange at a friends party! Jackie Chan has been passed around this party for a few years now and we are the proud owners for all of 2012!

This is how it went down…

Chocolate Buddy (our Elf) was minding his own business, when Jackie Chan came out of nowhere and kicked over his candy cane village. Chocolate Buddy is non-confrontational and shed a little tear as Jackie Chan continued to harass him.

All the other stuffed animals started chanting, “Chocolate Buddy, Chocolate Buddy” and Jackie Chan started making fun of Mrs. Clause. Chocolate Buddy, having had enough and having to defend Mrs. Clause honor went straight up Fight Club and took Jackie Chan down with his own Karate Kid move!

Chocolate Buddy dominates!

Please, pay close attention to the detail in which the grown man places the other stuffed animals. Woody is carefully covering the pink dogs eyes as to protect him from the carnage. Slinky Dog’s eyes were actually pinned over his eyes with a safety pin. Bert is riding the white horse, and the monkey’s right hand is pinned up to his head as he wipes the sweat from his brow, worrying about the outcome!

If only this much detail was considered in other areas of this mans life! Oh well, the laughter from the kids waking us up was all worth it!

Last January, when all the Christmas items went on sale for 90% off, I grabbed a few things that were straggling along that no one had bought. I tried to stay with the same deep red, lime green and gold. I looked for similar patterns, colors and styles. I bought one of something and one of another, I was not sure how it would come together or what I was using it for, but for 90% off and about $5 I was willing to take a chance!

The greenery is not even Christmas, I think it is more spring or wedding but honestly I don’t think it matter with the red and gold it looks Christmas…

I paid $1.70 for the greenery, $.90 for the red berries (5 picks), $1.99 lights at Lowe’s, $2.10 for the other picks, and I had the terrariums up on a shelf. I filled them with ornaments from my tree and stuck it on the mantle.

Total cost: about $5.50

For the bannister, I bought 2 evergreen swags that had lights for 75% off last year, they were $5 each. I spent $.65 on berry picks and $2.50 on ribbon, it was 75% off last January.

Total cost: $13.15

I spent $18.65 last year to decorate for this year. If I had walked in to Hobby Lobby today and bought everything it would have been about $110.

Do you shop in January?

This girl is AWESOME! She has the best sense of humor you can ever imagine from a kid. Plus, she “gets it” one of those people who just get life. You don’t have to explain anything twice to her. Street smart AND book smart all in one!

Yesterday she hands me signups and paper work from school begging for money again for something. I read through and see that we need to buy tickets to an upcoming program. The next part is something that MAKES me CRAZY…. they want us to purchase our kids craft projects. Aren’t we already paying for the supplies anyway? Whatever happened to bringing your art work home and hanging it on the fridge, now I have to pay for it if I want it. This time they wanted me to buy an ornament that they made for $5. We were going to the function and I didn’t want the kids to be sad that I didn’t want their amazing craft project. So, I wrote out a check for the entrance fee, plus another $15 for the 3 kids I have at this school, so we can take home the ornaments that they made. I handed her a check to stick in her backpack and wondered why no one told me how much it costs to have kids

Tonight at dinner she turns to me…

“Mom, do you know what the dumbest thing EVER is?”

Laughing, my husband and I look at her and say, “No. Tell us what is really dumb?”

“We made these really dumb ornaments at school the other day, and they want you to BUY them!” she says shaking her head and laughing.

“WHAT? I bought one!”

“You did, why would you do that?” she asks.

“You wanted me to, it was on the sheet you gave me yesterday. I wrote the check and gave it to you!” I explain.

“Oh, MOM! Are you kidding me? It was pipe cleaners, and it looked like a porcupine! We have all the stuff here to make one, I could go to Walmart and spend $5 and get enough stuff to make like 500 of them! It is such a RIP OFF, I can’t believe you PAID for that. What a waste of money.”

She walked away shaking her head at me. 

That, is why I LIKE that girl!

Photo Credit: My 5 year old with an iPhone!

Many of you have heard me talk about the Elf on the Shelf, who has come to visit my kids this year to help them remember to be good for Santa Clause. We did a little video and everything introducing him that if you are board off your rocker you can watch over HERE. 

Ironically however, our Elf “Chocolate Buddy” is a little bit mischievous himself!

We found him the other morning inside the candy jar, with empty wrappers. We found him in the oven… which meant MOM could NOT make dinner and we HAD to eat out. Bad Elf!

This morning, we found him like this. Hmmmmmm?

And then we found the children like this……

Oh BAD Elf! He had colored all their noses PURPLE! I mean ALL the noses purple, including the older children who refused to be photographed in case their future prom date might possibly be reading this, and decide to not ask them out because an Elf colored their nose purple years earlier!

When I say ALL, I mean even MOM’s nose! See if I fall asleep again before the other “adult” in the house, who thought it might be a good idea to “help” Chocolate Buddy play his prank!

What a fun morning we have had! Our big kids have very funny senses of humor and are still giggling about their noses.

From The Ivanovsky’s, we hope that you have a wonderful day with your families and loved ones! Please be safe if you are traveling, we love each and every one of you and want you all to be here with us every day!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

** We will be back on tonight for our Walmart updates and Black Friday interviews with people in line! Should be a fun night!