Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Party Time!

Joshua turned seven on the 29th of March.  We just happened to have a lot of family in town at the time, so we decided to throw him a big
Star Wars/Lego/Pizza/Root Beer Float Birthday party (all his favorite things in one night)!  At first I thought I'd keep things simple.  Then my sister Jesica came to town.  Anyone who knows my sister knows the word "simple" does not exist in her vocabulary.   Our simple party turned into a big event, and Joshua had SO much fun.  He said it was the best Birthday he will ever have!

Setting Up . . .

The amazing cake Jesica made for the party . . .

She also MADE him a piñata. (Who does that?!) . . .
 

We had the kids wear a Darth Vader mask while they hit the piñata.  It was hilarious!
 
 

 Opening Presents . . .
 

Jason and I surprised him with a new bike . . .

It was an awesome birthday!  Thank you to all our family for making Joshua feel so special.  It was so good to have you there.  Happy Birthday to our favorite little seven-year-old!

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Extreme Couponing!!

OK, so a few months ago I started watching "Extreme Couponing" episodes on TLC.  At first I thought the ladies on the show were total weirdos.  I mean, who needs 47 bags of potato chips?  But then I started thinking to myself, "I could totally do this, and I think I could actually be really good at it . . . maybe I'M one of those weirdos!"  And so it began.  I bought a binder, I joined a class, I ordered multiple copies of the newspaper, and I started doing my grocery shopping in the middle of the night with the other weirdos . . . I was hooked!  Don't get me wrong . . . I don't have some huge stockpile stuffed under my couch.  If you know of Jason and my hatred for clutter, you know that would be our worst nightmare!  But I am saving us $300-$350 a month on our grocery bill, and I'm getting lots of free stuff like toothpaste, bandaids and gum. Let's hear it for free stuff . . . WOOT WOOT!