Tami does not pee in the shower.

Last Sunday I saw Kelsey hook up with Keely (does that sound dirty?) at Mann Land 5 to play “Getting to Know You.” And because Kelsey is so hip and cool, I wanted to copy her. Keely also wants to beat her record of 93 people to link up with this, so this week is a perfect time for me to start! You should definitely play along too!

Without further ado here are this weeks 10 questions…

1. Would you rather bungee jump or sky dive?

This is an easy one, sky dive! In fact I have already been one time, and would love to do it again!

2. When using a public restroom to you squat over the seat or sit?

Ha, another easy one! Hello, OCD here! I’m a definite squatter. In fact just last week Lainey asked me why I was squating over the toilet in Meijer, I lied and told her I was working on my thigh muscles.

3. Favorite flower?

Hands down, tulips. I love them!

4. Pedicure or manicure?

Pedicure, it lasts longer than a manicure. Not to mention, it’s just plain more relaxing!

5. How many siblings do you have?

I have a sister who is 2.5 years older than me, and a brother who is 2.5 years younger than me. Yes, middle child here!

(side note: my sister would want you to know that she’s pg in this picture, she’s not normally that wide)

6. Do you pee in the shower? (gasp!)

Um, no. Really? Does anyone pee in the shower? I don’t even want to know.

7. Bikini, tankini, or one piece?

Well, this is dependent on the current state of my body. As of right now, bikini all the way. I figure if you got it, flaunt it. There’s plenty of time for a swim dress when I’m old!

8. Where do you hate to shop at, but go there anyway?

I guess Wal-Mart. I realize they do have low prices, but something about the people who are always in there makes me throw up in my mouth a little bit. I don’t really go to Wal-Mart anymore though, bad things always happen there. One time I hit a woman head on with my SUV, knocked her cart over and everything. Then in December Lainey flung her door open right into someone’s car mirror, and the whole thing shattered right before our eyes!

Tami thinks you need to watch me work it.

When I posted my coupon clipping post a couple weeks ago, I felt like some of you were impressed, but skeptical.  Like maybe you still didn’t think it was worth your time?

So, can somebody hold my glass of wine while I show you this?

Ok, thanks.  Now.  Just sit back, relax, and watch me work it…

 

 

That stuff?  That’s all stuff I got for FREE, just this week.  Just to clarify, that’s 2 Olay Body Washes, 2 Gillette Body Washes, 1 Rimmel Mascara, and 1 Johnson’s Bath Buddies suddzing bar.

I also got a couple free things from blogs:

I got this Bible in the mail yesterday, and I was so excited!  I signed up for it because I actually don’t have a Bible, and hey, it was free!  When it came though, I couldn’t believe my eyes.  It’s exactly how it looks in that picture, the cover is leather like and it is two shades of pink!  The box says it retails for $24.99, and if I write a review of it I can be entered for a chance to win a personal assistant!

I also won this bracelet ($81 value) on Theta Mom's blog:

Shut the front door!  I can’t wait until it comes!  Yesterday when Shawn saw the fabulous Bible and I told him about the bracelet, he accused me of farting feathers again.  All I can say is, I guess he’s still not praying hard enough for that flat screen.

Ok, just in case you’re still not impressed, here are a few more things.  I did have to pay for these, but not much!

After coupons and register rewards, I got this razor for 99 cents!  I gave it to my dad though because I have enough razors to last Shawn until the Armageddon.

After a manufacturer’s coupon and Walgreens store coupon, I got 3 cans of this tomato sauce for 17 cents!  That’s 17 cents for all 3 people!

What?  What’s that?  You’re not impressed with toiletries and tomato sauce?  You want clothes?  Fine.  I’ll give you clothes.

I was looking for some spring clothes for the girls for spring break or for their Easter basket.  I happened upon these graphic tees at Old Navy.  Alivia has been wanting a Girl Scout t-shirt, so the first one is obviously for her.  The second one is for Lainey.  I’m taking NO credit for the Celtics t-shirt, so if she doesn’t like it I hope Shawn can fit into a 5T.

 

Oh yeah.  How much were they?  Are you ready?  The grand total with tax and shipping…

Wait for it…

Wait for it…

 

$1.06!  Booyah!  I told you I was going to work it.

Tami is a mean girl.

Ok, I’m going to come out of the closet here.  However, I have a feeling that I’m not the only mean girl out there.  You know what though, I don’t even know if I’m truly that mean because some of these things I just think, I don’t necessarily say them.  Wait a minute, I do say them, just not to the person’s face.  Ok, wait.  Yeah, I’m mean.

 

• Last weekend I took Alivia roller skating.  When we got there I saw a middle-aged lady in rollerblades wearing a helmet.  Later, I saw her up close, and I realized she was handicapped, so I figured that must be why she was wearing the helmet.  But, then I thought “Wait a minute, she’s already handicapped, so what does she need a helmet for?”

 

• Just now when I typed that, I really wanted to say “ratard” instead of handicapped.  You know, like in “The Hangover?”  I didn’t say ratard though, because that’s just mean.

 

• Friday morning is notoriously the hardest spin class of the week.  Think Jillian Michaels.  This morning there was an empty bike next to me that was already set up, but no one was on it.  I kept wondering where the person was, then at 9:31 (class starts at 9:30), this girl comes bouncing in still wearing her coat and boots and is all like “I made it!  I made it!”  Um, no you didn’t.  Class started at 9:30 and you’re dressed for snowmobiling, not spinning.  She then starts giggling and talking nonstop to her friend next to her, who had apparently set up her bike (which I personally think is illegal).  When she finally started riding, she immediately started groaning and complaining.  In between groans, she continued the incessant chatter and giggling.  The teacher even called her out on it.  It was all I could do not to push her off her bike and say “Get out of here Fatty McGiggles!”

 

• I bought my husband a Cadbury Egg.  But, then I ate it.  In the bathroom.  While I was hiding from my kids and listening to my iPod.  I don’t think that’s mean though.  He didn’t even know about the egg, well, until now.

 

• I laughed at my husband when he said he wanted to get a new car.  I’m still laughing. 

 

• A couple weeks ago, a girl at my work had a hickie.  For real, a 45 year old woman with a hickie.  We had a whole tube of surgi-lube (think KY) that was going to get thrown out because it was expired.  I put it in her locker with a note that said “For your husband.”  Oh, and we made fun of her for the hickie.  I still don’t think that was mean though, she was asking for it by coming to work with a hickie and then trying to cover it up with a Band-Aid.

 

I feel better now.  This is not one of my better posts, and I will probably get hated on for saying ratard.  That’s ok though.  I really just had to post something so the pianoboobpicture wouldn’t be at the top of my blog anymore.  It was making me feel slutty, and I swear that shirt must have gotten lower cut as the night went on.  It happens.  Oh, and to all the preverts, thanks for the compliments on my boobs.

Wandering Wednesday or Tami regrets buying a blow up doll.

In my first Chicago post a couple weeks ago, I mentioned that there may have been an unsettling evening in my past involving a piano bar.  I thought it might make a good “Wandering Wednesday” post, and for the most part, a picture is worth a thousand words.

These pictures take us back to Seattle, March 2007, Hillary’s bachelorette party.

 

That’s me.  On the piano.  How did I get there?  Well, aside from climbing up there…  Let’s just start from the beginning, okay?

It all started very innocently, with this:

 

A blow up doll.  That morning I went (gasp) with my Mom to a porn store to get a few supplies for the party.  And that is what we came out with.  Along with fur leopard handcuffs to attach him to the blushing bride.  At some point he acquired the name of “Juan.”  Here we have Juan with Hillary and Amy on the way to Chopstix, the piano bar: 

 

Juan drew a lot of attention from everyone.  I believe this is a random pedestrian we met while walking to Chopstix:

And here we have an innocent bystander as Juan makes a trip to the Men’s room.  Hey, when you gotta go, you gotta go.

Here are all the party animals:

 

I think this might be the beginning of my downward spiral:

Or maybe it started with the “red headed slut” shots:

Anyshot.  Here is the utter chaos that ensued:

 

 

(That cake is exactly what you think it is. In my defense, I had nothing to do with purchasing it!)

(This prevert was dancing with us all night.  We couldn’t figure out if he liked us, or Juan?)

After Chopstix, the girls and Juan went to a karaoke bar.  I went to the karaoke bar too, but was soon asked to leave.  Something about they won’t let you lay down in their bathroom.  Like how was I supposed to know that?

Amazingly, I do have one picture of Juan at the karaoke bar:

I wonder where he got those panties?

Tami doesn’t know who my free pass should be.

Omg, girls (and boys? are there any boys?) I have a really fun post for tomorrow! But, I wanted to post something tonight too because my reader is overflowing with all of your new posts, and I don’t want you to make me look bad!

So, I’m going to link up with Jimmy Choos & a Baby Too for her Top 2 Tuesday, which is TV shows today! This is easy for me because I turn into a TV whore during the winter, since there’s basically nothing else to do in Michigan during the winter. Well, ok. There is stuff to do outside, but that would require wearing a hat, and a hat would mess my hair up.

I digress. My top 2 favorite shows! (and if you’re a faithful follower, try to act a little surprised by these, k?

Number One…

I bet you didn’t see that coming, did you? Oh, and I am so hating that the Olympics are messing up my weekly ogling of Bob Harper. Speaking of which, in my last Biggest Loser post you all were like “You know he’s gay, right?” Yeah, I know.

At least I thought I knew. I could not find any hardcore evidence of this anywhere on the internet! Plus, two middle-aged women I work with swear he’s not gay. They also swear he’s not cute, so I’m not even sure we’re watching the same show. Regardless, I would still like Bob to kick my ass in the gym, and I would still like to hug it out with him afterwards.

Number Two…

The Olympics are also messing with this show too, and yeah, I’m pissed about it. Hello? Dawson just started. Oh, and he’s just as dead sexy as I remember him being on Dawson’s Creek. I wonder what he thinks of Katie Holmes marrying Tom Cruise? Dawson probably could have had Katie back in the day. It’s probably his biggest regret. Oh well, he’s too good for her.

These two shows and the two hotties on them, got me thinking about who my “free pass” should be? You know when you’re married, you get a free pass for a celebrity that you could sleep with should you ever meet them? It doesn’t count as cheating, it’s just a free pass.

I think I have to go with Dawson (or James Vanderbeek as my husband calls him). Mostly because we cannot confirm where Bob’s banana has been.

Tami is farting feathers.

On Friday night, Shawn and I went out on our date night. This post, however, is not about that. This is about something that happened before date night.

Just before the girls and I got ready to leave to meet Shawn, I decided I wanted to take a picture of me and all my fabulousness. I determined the only way to do this, was to take a picture in the mirror.

So, I did. But, when I looked at it, I saw something weird. So, I took another one. And another one. And another one.

I thought something must be on the lens, but there wasn’t. So I zoomed in on the picture to see if I saw anything that way, and that’s when I saw it. Actually, I shouldn’t say “it,” I should say “them.” I saw them.

Wrinkles. Right around my eyes.

Don’t panic (I’m mostly talking to myself here). I figure I have two options. Option one:

(This was right before dinner, but it was sunny, so the sunglasses were totally legit.)

So, option one is sunglasses. Sunglasses 24/7. At first I thought this might be a viable option. But, after much thought I’ve decided it would be hard to pull this look off in Michigan. Also, it might be a little weird at work.

Ok. Option two:

This is clearly the best option. I was, however, worried that Shawn might pitch a fit about this. So, I started writing a speech for him about how if he wanted to continue being married to a MILF, then we were just going to have to work Botox into our budget.

But, then something happened. The universe smiled on me. Yes, you heard me. The universe wants me to have Botox. It’s true. Three things happened, almost all at once.

1. I got a check in the mail that day for $200 from the company my first set of implants was from. I was not expecting this at all! Maybe they sent it to me for my pain and suffering?
2. Also in the mail was a flyer from my plastic surgeon’s office! And what do you know? The flyer was all about Botox, skin rejuvenation, and such.
3. After looking at my calendar, I realized I already have an appointment scheduled with my plastic surgeon in 2 weeks!

Is it bad that I just referenced “my plastic surgeon” twice? That makes it sound like I go there all the time. Or, like I have him on speed dial. Which, I don’t. Well, maybe I do. Ok, ok. I have him on speed dial. But, come on. If you had an upside down boob last summer, you would have the boob doctor on speed dial too.

Anyboob. Back to the Botox. I told Shawn the whole thing about the universe wanting me to get Botox. He wasn’t impressed. He wasn’t even impressed that the Boob God’s had sent me money towards the Botox. I think he was just jealous. I told him maybe if he prayed harder for his flat screen and sound-bar, that he just might get a check in the mail too.

That’s when he accused me of farting feathers. I have no idea what that means, and it turns out Google doesn’t know either. I think it’s code for: I’m still mad at that 6th grader who thinks you should be married to Patrick Dempsey.

P.S. After my last post, my cousin and lifetime partner in crime, Hillary, suggested that during Lent I title all my posts with a Facebook status update. So, even though today’s title is increasingly embarrassing, I’m going to attempt this. It can’t get any worse than “Tami is farting feathers,” can it?

Tami ...

• is losing my mind.
• is home from work today with Lainey who has croup.
• is surprisingly freaked out by the croup. I took care of kids in the hospital with croup, but it’s a little different when it’s your own child barking and gasping in the middle of the night.
• wonders if we’re going to miss out on “date night?”
• wishes I had a bottle of New Age wine to wash down these brownies.
• can actually feel my butt getting bigger from the brownies.
• is playing Lucky Ducks with Lainey and a stuffed cheetah.
• wonders if Lent is over yet?

Does anyone know what that is? Those words up there, with the bullets? Those are my status updates people. Well, I probably wouldn’t have done all of them, I might have gotten carried away, that might be the withdrawal talking.

Let me preface this by saying I. Am. Not. Complaining. I’m just saying.

I gave up Facebook for Lent. I put a lot of thought into what I was going to “give up” since I’m usually not successful (see this post), so I really wanted to do good this year. And I am going to do good, heck, I’ve already made it two days.

I didn’t go into this thinking it would be easy. If it was easy, then it really wouldn’t be much of a sacrifice, would it? It’s just that… I didn’t think it would be this hard.

If you really think about it, Facebook is just a mindless time waster. Don’t hate, come on, you know it is. Taking care of a virtual farm? Looking at pictures of people you haven’t seen in 10+ years? Obsessing over whether you should accept a friend request from your high school boyfriend (maybe that one was just me)? Trying to beat your high score in brick breaking or bejeweled? A virtual Mafia?

All these things sound a little stupid (at least to me), now that I’ve written them down. So, why is everyone doing it then? Why am I sitting here having funeral for the Facebook application that I deleted from my iPod touch?

The answer is I. Don’t. Know.

This is what I do know. In the time that I haven’t been on FB, I have: gotten beat by a Cheetah in Lucky Ducks, made Thai Peanut Chicken for supper (which is delish, but let me know if you’re going to make it because there are a few changes which make the recipe much better!), watched The Imagination Movers (I kind of want to stab those guys), volunteered to make cookies for the Strong Kids Auction at the YMCA, put one of my children in timeout 3 times in 1 hour, and I have taken the trash out.

So, what would you do without Facebook?

P.S. When I took the trash out, instead of putting it in the dumpster, I put it where my husband parks his car in the garage. I wonder if this technique will work?

Why didn’t I think of that?

Yesterday I had to take Alivia for a follow-up appointment to her pediatric urologist. Alivia was born with Urinary Reflux, but it wasn’t diagnosed until she was 4. She had surgery in June 2008, and had been doing well until December of this year.

In December she started having accidents at school, and a lot of urgency. As you can imagine this was disconcerting to all of us, especially her. Nobody wants to pee their pants in first grade. I bet if you saw someone pee their pants when you were in elementary school you can at least remember that kid’s face, if not their name too. Yeah, I know I can. The idea of Alivia being that kid breaks my heart.

So, when this started happening in December I called her pediatrician immediately and took the first the appointment they had. I also took in a urine specimen to the lab before we even had the appointment.

The appointment turned out to be with another pediatrician, and right away I knew I didn’t like her. She only has one child, and it’s a baby, and I could tell she has no idea what it’s like to have a 1st grader who can’t control her bladder. She said there was no infection and she actually wanted me to take her off the medication for urinary urgency. When I asked her for an explanation of why a year and a half after surgery she would start having accidents again, she had no explanation.

Ok, thanks for nothing. Peace out. I hope I never see you again.

After another week or two of sending a backpack full of underwear and extra uniforms to school, I made an appointment with the pediatric urologist who did the surgery. Shawn took her to the appointment, and what do you know? She had a UTI. Shocking.

Longish story short, she was on antibiotics for 2 months, and then we had a follow-up appointment with the urologist again yesterday. This is the main point of this post, so hopefully you’ve made it this far!

The person we saw was actually a Nurse Practitioner, with the biggest Yooper accent in the whole wide world. She also had a Physician’s Assistant with her who had a wonky eye and I’m 99% sure she was actually student, even though she wasn’t introduced as such.

So, yooper nurse goes over the whole history with wonky eye girl, and then asks me if there have been any “incidents.” Aka, is your kid still peeing her pants? I tell her no. She then looks at and presses on Alivia’s belly, and tells us “If there any more infections I think you can just go to your pediatrician and have her treat it.”

Really? Really. What a novel idea.

You know had I just taken her to the pediatrician, I wouldn’t have had to take her out of school early to drive downtown and try to find your stupid building that has no signage out front and looks like a freakin’ parking garage. I wouldn’t have had to spend 10 minutes trying to find a space in the parking garage, and then take an elevator to another elevator just to get to your building. I wouldn’t have had to pay twice as much for my co-pay, because we’re seeing a “specialist” even though all we’re actually seeing is a nurse who I don’t even trust because you’re wearing a too short skirt paired with brown boots that don’t even match your royal blue school girl skirt. I also wouldn’t have had to try to smile politely at your physician assistant friend, even though I’m not even sure if she’s actually looking at me.

Yeah lady, you’re right. Why didn’t I think of that? Oh wait, I did.

Does this lotion make my butt look big?

I bought this lotion well over a month ago, and have been using it religiously ever since.  Not being able to notice a difference I thought I would ask my husband.  The conversation went something like this:  (oh, and please note, he had no previous knowledge of the lotion regimen)

 

Me:  “Hey, do you think my face looks tan?”

Shawn:  “Is it supposed to?”

Me:  “Just tell me.  Does. It. Look. Tan?

Shawn:  “Why, have you been laying in the tanning bed?”  (we own one)

Me:  “No.”

Shawn:  (insert very annoyed look and tone) “Well, then no!  No, it doesn’t look tan.  Why would it look tan?”

Me:  “Well, I bought this lotion and I’ve been using it for a month, but I can’t tell if it’s working?”

Shawn:  “Umm.  I think I notice a difference.  Yeah, I can definitely tell a little bit.”

 

Lies!  All lies!  He was just telling me what he thought I wanted to hear.  You know, like the “Does this make my butt look big?” question.  My husband is very people-pleaser-y.  I’m pretty sure I could have more junk in the trunk than J-Lo and he would tell me I was as skinny as one of the Olsen twins.

For the longest time he would tell me as soon as I walked in the door from getting a haircut “Your hair looks good.  I like it.”  Seriously, he could be in the living room playing x-box with his back to me, and he would still say it!  I finally told him to shut his pie hole because clearly it wasn’t a genuine compliment anymore.

I think I may have gotten off on a tangent here.  My main point wasn’t to bash my husband, but that was a tiny bit fun.  And I do realize my husband is just trying to be nice, but an honest an opinion once in awhile would be nice too. 

So, my point was, has anyone used this lotion and noticed a difference?  Or, did I waste my 8 bucks?  Maybe there is one that works better?  Do tell.

I also bought these the other day, which will probably turn out to be a complete waste of money too:

Crap.  Maybe I should have taken pictures of my teeth before I started using them?  I actually paid $250 to have my teeth professionally whitened a couple years ago, but I will never do that again.  For one, I got in trouble with my husband.  And, for two, the girl said I might experience a few “zingers” for a few days after the procedure.  She said “zingers,” but what she meant was electric shocks.  Seriously.  For anyone who has ever been pregnant, think of the evil crotch pain, but in your mouth!

Now if that isn’t a resounding endorsement for pregnancy and teeth whitening, I don’t know what is.

Coupon clipping 101.

Several people have requested a post about my coupon clipping, so ask and you shall receive.  Warning:  there will not be a lot of my normal sarcasm and humor in this post, so if you’re here for that, you might want to check back tomorrow!

Also, be forewarned that I am in no way a coupon expert, I only went hardcore with this in January.

The first question someone asked is “Where do you get your coupons?”  Well, come on now, that’s an easy one!  The answer is:  everywhere.  In January we started buying the Sunday paper, and that is usually chocked full of coupons.  Except for last Sunday, that one was a total bust.  I clip almost every single coupon, even the ones for items I might not normally use.  Usually the only coupons I don’t clip are for dog/cat food and adult diapers, even I have to draw the line somewhere!

There are also tons of websites where you can print coupons, a few are:  Coupon Mom, Coupons.com, and Smart Source.  FYI:  you might notice the same coupons on every site, and when you go to print them you usually can’t print more than 2 of the same coupon.

Ok, so the coupons I just talked about are all manufacturer’s coupons from the newspaper and the internet.  For an even better deal, you can pair those coupons with store coupons when you have them!

Here a few examples of this, just for items I have bought this week:

We buy Wanchai Ferry Sweet and Sour Chicken kits.  It comes in a box with everything you need, you just add the chicken.  These are rather expensive in my opinion, the regular price at Meijer is $5.39.  However, this week I am buying them for 99 cents!  Here’s the breakdown:

Sale price this week: $2.99

$1 off Meijer coupon from here

$1 off Manufacturer’s coupon from here

Final price $0.99 and a big Hell Yeah!

That’s an 82% savings, for those of you who aren’t good at math, like me.

Oh, and you can get the Macaroni Grill boxed kits for the same deal this week, if you like those better.

 

How about one more?  Does anyone else buy the refrigerated cookie dough and just eat it raw?

Here’s the shake down on the cookie dough (which is normally 2/$5):

Meijer sale price this week: 2/$4

$1 off 2 Manufacturer’s coupon from here

$1 off 2 Meijer coupon from here

Final price $2 or $1/each!

That’s a savings of 60%, and a lot cheaper than buying a package of Oreos or Chips Ahoy for your kid’s lunch each week.

 

Those examples also answer the next question of “How do you get the best deals?”  You will get the best deals when you buy “sale” items and then pair it with a coupon (or 2 in some cases!).  To find the best deals each week you’ll have to go through all the store fliers, or there are several mommy bloggers out there who have sites solely dedicated to the best deals of the week! 

I will admit that I do sometimes buy things I don’t need when it’s a great deal.  For example, 2 weeks ago Lainey and I were in the store and I saw salsa on sale for $1.19.  I had $1 off coupon for that salsa, so I got it for 19 cents!  We didn’t need it at that time, but we need it this week, and now we already have it!  So, I’m starting to “stock up” on things this way, and it’s totally paying off.  Like I said in an earlier post, we’ve bought all our groceries for the rest of the month, and we have over $100 left in our grocery budget.  And it’s all because of the coupons people!

Here’s one more example of my “stocking up.”  Toiletries can be super expensive, but if you watch the Walgreens flyer you can get some great deals!

Last week they had this Dove men’s body wash for $5.99, and when you purchased it you got a register reward for $6 off your next purchase.  I may have went a little crazy, and throughout the week I purchased 3!  However, in addition to the Walgreen’s deal, I had coupons!  I had 2 coupons for $1.50 off each one and 1 coupon for $1.25 off one.  Are you doing the math?  I got 3 body washes for free plus $4.25 profit because of my coupons! 

In case you couldn’t tell, I’ve become addicted to coupons.  It’s actually fun though, and it’s like a game to me.  It does take time though, and be prepared for a lot of sighing and grumbling from your husband in the grocery store while you look through coupons and try to find the best deal.  To save time in the store, make sure you have them all neatly organized:

The first organizer I had was only $1 from the Target dollar section, but it only had 8 divided sections.  I ended up buying this cute one from Meijer for $5.99 and it has 18 sections.

One last thing (pinky swear).  I also save money on my girl’s school tuition by buying scrip.  Scrip is basically gift cards, and they all have a % which we get back.  I pay for all my groceries with Meijer scrip.  Their percentage you get back is 4%.  My monthly grocery budget is/was $600, so that’s $24/month.  However, the school gets half and we get half (towards our tuition bill) so we end up with $12/month.  We also use scrip to pay for gas, eating out, clothes, etc.  Remember that trip to Chicago?  I paid for the hotel, dinner at PF Chang’s, and dinner at Ruth’s Chris all with scrip cards!

I hope this answered a few questions, but please feel free to ask away, if I missed anything.  Here is another post I did in October about restaurant and clothing store deals!

Weekly Weekend Update.

Shawn and I celebrated our Valentine’s Day last weekend in Chicago, so this weekend was all about Alivia and Lainey.  Honestly, we usually don’t go out on Valentine’s Day anyway.  We don’t have any babysitters, besides our parents, and I would never ask them to babysit on Valentine's Day.  Hello!  It’s Valentine’s Day for them too!

On Friday the girls had their Valentine parties at school.  Lainey’s was first.  They did a craft, passed out their cards, and had lots of treats.  My favorite part of the party was when one girl told another girl she didn’t want to sit by her because she had bad breath, and then “bad breath” went and hid under a table and wouldn’t come out!

Here are all the kids listening very intently as Miss Susanne gives instructions on the craft:

Lainey with her finished product:

Lainey with her BFF, Emma.  Emma was wearing skinny jeans that day and they were so stinkin’ cute!

Side note:  Emma is in love with my crush, Hayden.  There may be a love triangle here people!

Later in the afternoon Alivia had her party.  They had a yummy taco bar and fruit bar.  They made a craft too, but I guess I didn’t take a picture of that. 

 

By the way, I have no idea why Alivia’s lips are so reddish pink in this picture.  I thought it was something she ate at the party, but they were like that on Saturday too.  I’m thinking she’s got some lip gloss stashed somewhere!

Saturday morning I went to spin class, and when I got home I found that Shawn had tried to cut his hair.  Nice.  Very nice.  He didn’t even have to tell me.  I walked in the door, took one look at him, and said “What the fuck?”  He begged me to fix it and I said, “Nope.”

Later in the day the girls went for haircuts too, by a professional of course.  Lainey’s hair is naturally curly, but not like ringlets, more like spiral curls.  We bribed her with a sucker, and she let Kimberly do it curly for the day.

These pictures aren’t the best, but you get the idea.  Here is what the back looks like:

On Saturday night we went out for pizza, then Alivia and Shawn went to a Daddy/Daughter skate.  I wanted to take a picture of Alivia and Shawn before their “date,” but Lainey insisted on being in the picture:

Notice the pink lips?  Oh, and I have no idea why Shawn’s face is so red.  He says he wasn’t drunk, and I’m inclined to believe him since he can’t even roller-skate sober, so I doubt he would attempt it under the influence.

When Shawn and Alivia got home from their date we had dessert.  Shawn found the recipe (but I made it!) on the back of a Ghirardelli brownie mix.  You make the brownies, but bake them in two round 8 or 9 inch cake pans.  After they cool you put a layer of ice cream over them, then top with caramel and crushed cookies.  We used crushed Oreos, because we’re Oreo people here.  Omg.  It was so delicious!

After the girls went to bed we watched “The Ugly Truth” and I clipped coupons.  I know, I know, totally wild and crazy!

It was a very cute movie, even Shawn liked it!  Not to mention, I rented it for free from the Redbox!  I love that thing.

On Sunday morning the girls got their Valentine’s gift from us.  We got them each a Webkin and some candy, and they were so excited!  However, the best gift was what Shawn got me:

Um.  Yeah.  They’re already almost gone.  I hate it when that happens.  Before you say anything, I do realize that Cadbury Mini Eggs are Easter candy.  But, they are probably my most favorite candy in the whole wide world and Shawn couldn’t help but buy them when he saw somebody sneaking their Easter candy onto the shelves a week early.

The rest of Sunday was spent going to church, going out to lunch, and getting groceries.  We went to Qdoba again for lunch.  Did I already tell you I heart Qdoba?  I think I did.  We had a coupon for a free meal again, and when we paid we got another meal for free too because we had enough reward points!  Cha-ching! 

This week is a busy week and I’m not looking forward to it.  I have something going on every night…gymnastics, haircut, Ash Wednesday service (any great ideas on what to give up for Lent?), Alivia’s urologist appointment, Girl Scout’s, a birthday party… 

Oh, and there is a “date night” this Friday at the YMCA, and I’m thinking we might take the girls.  Because of all my coupon clipping we have over $100 left in our grocery budget this month!  So, we can use that money on a date.  Dave Ramsey probably wouldn’t agree with that, but oh well.  Some people clip coupons so they can save money and pay off debt.  And some people clip coupons to save money and go on a date and get laid.