Crazy Snowstorm and Crazy Coupon Lady!

Before all the cute Halloween pictures (next post I am sure) I wanted to quick write about 2 things.

First, we had a freak snow storm last week that dropped probably about 5 inches of snow on us within a few hours. It was so insane and random. It had just barely dropped a few flakes the previous day and we were all like, "It snowed! That was weird! Glad it's over!" Then like, the very next day, it REALLY SNOWED! We were like, "Nooo! Not yet!" Well I was anyway. Gabe and Caleb couldn't wait to get on their snow gear and help dad shovel at 7:30 in the morning! But now it is Tuesday (so about 3 days later) and the grass is totally green again. There is like, a 5 by 5 inch patch of snow left by our front curb where it was piled up when we shoveled. It was 63 degrees today and is supposed to be 65 tomorrow for trick-or-treating. Who knows what the weather will ever do these days right? I also have a friend who flew out to NYC to visit someone last week and was supposed to return on Sunday. Now she has been stranded there with all the hurricane stuff! She hopes to get home in a couple days. Crazy weather. Anyways, so here are some pictures of the kids in the snow.

Second, it has long been a complaint of mine about the amount of money I spend on groceries. I feel like ever since we moved to Idaho, I have spent at least 30 percent more per month than I did in Wisconsin. It is really no lie. Groceries here are insane. Our little town of Rexburg doesn't have a Super Walmart and the two other grocery stores I think are really expensive. Back in Wisconsin I was able to shop at Aldi for a lot of stuff anf I never felt like groceries were that much. So, after being bored one day while Josh and the boys were gone on a road trip, I discovered this TV show called, "Extreme Couponing." It really made me say, "Whoa! How the heck do they do this? They save so much money!!!" I started asking around. "Hey? Have you couponed???" I asked all my neighbors. They looked at me like I was their 80 year old cat-lady neighbor. Like, "That's too much work. Who has the time to clip coupons??" So I had to dig a little deeper. There is this website I frequent that is basically like a craigslist for just Rexburg. I met this girl kind of by chance on there who knew how to coupon. She offered to give me a little lesson. I said, "Okay..." a bit hesitantly. So I went to this girl's house whom I have never met, paid her $10, and then sat there for 2 hours to learn about the crazy world of couponing. It was pretty entertaining. I was very intrigued. You would think it involves hours sitting with scissors, cutting millions of coupons from ads. But in this day of internet and blogs, you can pretty much spend 30 minutes on a Sunday night planning out your deals and save some BIG money by just cutting a few select coupons or printing them off from the internet. The ten dollars I spent on my "coupon consultant" was easily saved in my first trip to the store today. I posted a picture below of my big deals. I was pretty happy because I usually buy my shampoo for about $3 a bottle and I needed to stock up on some more. So 6 bottles of shampoo would typically cost me $18. Today I spent $21 and got 6 bottles of shampoo/conditioner.... and a whole lot more. Retail of itall on my receipt was about $65. Now, I am not saying I will instantly be a crazy coupon lady... but today definitely peaked my interest. It may either be something I try and then fizzle out at... deciding it's not worth it. Or... maybe... just maybe... this could be the start of a whole new adventure. And a crazy couponing addiction. ;)

Avery is 3 Months old!

My little girl is growing fast! (And seriously... she is a big girl for her age....) I actually had my mom pull out my baby book the other day to see what I was at this age and I guess I was even fatter! So there is still hope that she won't be obese when she grows up, although I think she will definitely be tall. I took her to get weighed at the doctor's yesterday for her official 3-month weight and she was 14 lbs, 11 ounces and is 25 inches tall. For sleepers, she is starting to wear 6 month, basically for the length. In most other clothes she is in the 3-6 month size. She is definitely getting meattier, and has some little rolls on her legs and has a little double chin going. I will have to post this one picture I took of Gabe holding her the other day. I said, "SAY CHEESE!" and Gabe pretended to be asleep (boys) and Avery did the hugest smile I have ever seen! It was great. You can see her double chin really well. :)

Gabe is really getting into the swing of things with first grade. We had his first parent teacher conference with Mrs. Henneke and she said he's getting over the first month anxiety he was having. He was missing us a lot during the "long day" (he said it was sooo long compared to kindergarten! I was like, "Well... get used to it") and so I sent a family picture of us for him to keep at his desk at school. Mrs. Henneke said, "That picture was a great idea. I only catch him pulling it out of his pocket to look at it a couple times a day now..." awww! He is so cute. He is definitely attached to his family I guess! But he has a lot of little friends and every time I go in to volunteer for center time, all the kids are nice and say, "You're Gabe's mom!" and we have a fun little time. I like kind of sneaking in there for centers so I can check everything out and know all the kid's myself in case any of them are mean to my little boy. Then I know exactly whose house to tp. jk. I am a little overprotective...

Caleb is also doing well in preschool. One of the moms in my neighborhood that works over there said, "Caleb and those other boys play so rough at recess!!!" I believe it. Caleb is my crazy tough little guy. Gabe is a little more sensitive. When Caleb gets mad it comes on fast and furious but is over within two minutes and he's on to the next thing. Gabe will stew things over in his head for a while and bring them up later. Like he'll say, "Mom... last night you snuggled with Caleb before bed but you only scratched my back for a minute. That isn't fair." He's all about keeping things fair! I tried to explain to him that I have snuggled with him for two extra years already since he is 6 and Caleb is 4 but that was no consolation.

Both of the boys love Avery and get a kick out of her now when they make funny faces at her and she actually smiles back at them. They say, "She is smiling! She is soooo cute!" I must agree. However, the past four nights she has woken up in the middle of the night at some point to want to eat. That is not cool. She seriously was sleeping from 9:30 to 7:00 am since she was about 3 weeks old. Now that she is waking up I am like, "What the heck??? Are you going backwards in development???" Or she is just getting huge and wants to eat all the time to stay full! I don't know. But pretty soon I think I can start rice cereal so maybe she was keep full longer.

Josh is doing well at work. He's busy with Truck (the dog) going to trainings and stuff sometimes, but it's actually pretty nice because he gets two extra days off a month and he gets to trade out his crappy shifts to go to day trainings in Idaho Falls once a week. So you'd think he'd be home a lot. But no... he decided to fill all his extra days off working at this bird hunting place about 30 min away. I think he actually just enjoys it. The money is just a bonus. He loads guns for these rich guys that fly out and stay at this lodge and hunt for three days. Then they give him a big tip at the end. So we've been using the extra money to try and build up some food storage and other stuff. (His "other stuff" was buying another gun. Why? I don't know. I guess it's a guy thing.)

So that is the latest with our family! I have been busy trying to lose the last of my baby fat with Zumba classes. I have been 5 times and am still struggling in the back row to keep up with the 80 year old women who is shaking it to the salsa moves in the front row! She must go every day. She is a pro. I am like, "Can you show me that move again???" It's fun.

Here's some pictures! The ones at the end are with Noah and Rowyn Rolph, our neighbors, (and maybe Caleb's future wife?) when we went out to the desert so the men could shoot their new guns.

 

 

Family Pictures

We had our family pictures taken last week for the first time (professionally) since well.... ever. Just for fun I am posting this one that was taken in this archway at the BYU-Idaho campus gardens. 8 and a half years ago, Josh and I stood in that very same arch and had our engagement pictures taken. Now here we are, back again, with our whole fam. Kind of fun! We look a little aged, but not too bad... :)