HAPPY ELECTION DAY!!!

Our first official party!

We decided to host a Halloween costume party for those of us that wouldn't be out taking kids trick-or-treating this year. I think adults should have fun on Halloween too!

As you can see we have some very creative friends! I loved all of the costumes!

E and his cute little friends:

We feel so blessed to live in an area with so many great families close to our age.

Thanks for coming!

Right this moment

My boys are doing this:

There is something about sleeping that is so precious and innocent, no matter how old you are. I love my little family!

Halloween is going to stink this year

An email from my better half . . .

Tagged by Lisa -

Go to your fourth folder and pick the fourth picture. . .

I took this picture at Sea World a few weeks ago. I love the pink!

I tag anyone that wants to do this one.

I Voted Today!

It felt SO good to drop my ballot in the mailbox this morning! (But, I am sad that I won't get an "I voted!" sticker on Tuesday:( Only five days left of this vicious battle. I feel like I should be doing more, but at the same time I feel like I am doing what I can handle. Thanks for your encouraging comments and support. I hope you are all registered to vote!

I was "paid" $8 to go shopping!

OK friends, you seriously need to get in on these deals! This is what I got on Saturday at Walgreens. Here's how it worked:

Each of the items (except for the caramels, candy corn and deodorant) had mail in rebates this month. The Rimmell foundation and Loreal face wash came with a FULL rebate, which made them free. I had a $2 store coupon for a Loreal facial cleanser, so I made $2 on that item. The rest were similar. I had a coupon for every item, in addition to the rebate. For some of the items I had a store coupon and a manufacturer's coupon. (I just started getting the Sunday paper, that's where I get most of my coupons.) On Thursday Walgreen's emailed me a coupon for $5 off my entire purchase on Friday or Saturday. I also had a $21 gift card in rebate money from last month. I paid about $15 and will send in for $23 worth of rebates, so when I get my rebate money back, I will have made 8 additional dollars.

I know it sounds overwhelming, but you just have to try it. The best way to learn is by trial and error. I know that a lot of pharmacy's have these rebate programs, but I have been overwhelmed trying to find the best deals at all of them. I have decided to stick to Walgreens for now. I have liked them the most so far.

I only buy stuff that we will use. I could get a lot more for free, but I don't want to hassle with it right now. The thought of using coupons for grocery shopping still overwhelms me, so I shop at "Fresh & Easy." They send out a $5 off your entire purchase coupon each week and last week I was able to use more than one and got $10 off of my entire purchase. It's a great store for small families.

Remember http://www.moneysavingmom.com/ has specific directions for shopping this way on her website. Look in the right hand sidebar under "Start Here" for "Walgreens 101."

"Little Mr." update

(This post begins with the most recent photo of E) E loves his new toy that some friends gave to us. As he gets older it is harder to keep him entertained, so we are very grateful for this new little kitchen!

E vs. Squash . . . I am not sure who won.

E is not content with just one toy, now he likes to have the whole box at his fingertips.

Last Saturday afternoon these two were exhausted after standing out on the street corner waving signs.

E's friend Addie came over to play last Saturday. She has been so nice to let E borrow her exersaucer. This has been a great way to keep him entertained as well. It is also entertaining for us, because he goes crazy in it! He loves to wave his arms in their air and rock back and forth as fast as he can.

Trunk-or-Treat

Old McDonald had a farm E-I, E-I, O, and on his farm he had the most adorable cow you have ever seen! E-I, E-I, O.

E wanted to look at everything upside down all evening.

E and Mrs. McDonald

He has just discovered that he loves hair!

They took a family picture of us there, so I will post it when we get it. (As long as we don't look to ridiculous.;) I have to say, I was very pleased to find that their setup included hay bails!

I wish I could say that his costume was my handywork, but I have to give all of the credit to Wal-Mart, and thank them for having children's costumes for $10!

I declare that this tag counts for all of the tags I have received in the past 6 months:)

I was tagged by Kara

Random thing #1 - There are a lot of vegetables that I don't like. I guess my favorite is fresh corn.

Random thing #2 - I put this together once and forgot to post it.

Random thing #3 - This has been consuming a lot of my time, energy, emotion and blog space! Hopefully you guys aren't too sick of it. Honestly, I can't wait until November 4th has passed.

Random thing #4 - I don't love the beach. I feel guilty because I know many of you would love to live in CA and go to the beach all summer long.

Random thing #5 - I have a BLACK thumb. I have killed every plant I have owned, the cilantro below being the most recent.

Random thing #6 - I LOVE edamame. I ate it every day last week!

I have to have fresh ground sea salt with it.

Random thing #7 - I love to look at and take pictures of flowers, but I typically do not like the smell of flowers for longer than one sniff.

I tage Anyone that wants to tell 7 random things about themself.

Halloween Card

Finally, I can show you my most recent card. It's a flat 4x6 card. I had so much fun making this! I am pretty happy with how it turned out.

I also wanted to show you how it looked in the A-6 size envelope. I have had some questions about ordering 4x6 cards, instead of 5x7. I am happy to convert a 5x7 design to 4x6.

I think the card in the envelope looks fine, but want you to be aware that it is not a perfect, snug fit.

Why I want my next computer to be a laptop!

I am interested to hear how many of you have laptops and how many have desktops. I would also like to know what percentage of my blog readers use macs. Please participate in the polls in the sidebar.

Thanks!:)

The "Envelopes System"

This month I have decided to try a new budgeting system. The envelope system seems to be a great idea, but it is a little more work. I'll stick to it for at least a few months and let you know how it goes.

You can read more about it here.

Does anyone else do this? What are your secrets to saving money?

One of the many reasons that I blog...

Recording God's Blessings for Future Reassurance

"When our children were very small, I started to write down a few things about what happened every day. Let me tell you how that got started. I came home late from a Church assignment. It was after dark. My father in law, who lived near us, surprised me as I walked toward the front door. . . . I knew that he had been building a system to pump water from a stream below us up to our property.
"He smiled, spoke softly, and then rushed past me into the darkness to go on with his work. I took a few steps toward the house, thinking of what he was doing for us, and just as I got to the door, I heard in my mind--not in my own voice--these words: 'I'm not giving you these experiences for yourself. Write them down.'
"I went inside. I didn't go to bed. Although I was tired, I took out some paper and began to write. And as I did, I understood the message I had heard in my mind. I was supposed to record for my children to read, someday in the future, how I had seen the hand of God blessing our family. Grandpa didn't have to do what he was doing for us. . . . But he was serving us, his family, in the way covenant disciples of Jesus Christ always do. I knew that was true. And so I wrote it down, so that my children could have the memory someday when they would need it."

-President Henry B. Eyring

It's that time of year again!

This is what can happen if you leave out an empty bottle during ant season . . .

There were a lot more down in the bottom of the bottle too. I think I have finally found all of their secret entrances to our apartment. Hopefully we won't have any more ant problems this year!

An email to the Elder's quorum

We were so lucky to have a bunch of guys from church help us move a couple of weeks ago. As they were arriving I commented on the great turn out and how I was impressed that everyone was on time. They said, "Well, did you see Paul's email?" I said, "No, what email?" My friend Becky was kind enough to show it to me...

Sent from Paul:

Hey guys,

Thanks to those of you who have volunteered to help my family move this Saturday and to those who I arbitrarily put on this list because you are good guys and I thought you might be willing to help. I am optimistic and that we will have a successful and expeditious move this weekend. I think the schedule will be as follows:

7:45 – 9:15am Paul and one volunteer pick up the moving truck and drive to Fullerton to pick up the fridge (please let me know if you are willing to help with this part (John, can we use your dolly?)

9:00 – 9:15am Show up at my apartment; eat breakfast

9:15 – 9:30am Bring big pieces of furniture downstairs

9:30 – 10:30am Load the truck with boxes and furniture (only a 2-bedroom apartment)

10:30 – 11:30am Unload the truck

I estimate that if we have a pretty good turnout, everything should go pretty quickly. Please reply back to this email and let me know if you will be able to assist and specifically which hours you think you could help. Thanks!

Some of our friends got a kick out of the email...

John's reply:

I have never seen an agenda for a moving day. Should we setup a conference call on Fri to make sure we have every thing in place. Maybe you could assign me a task.

See you Saturday.

John

As our friends were joking about the email, in the back of my mind I was thinking, "Oh my gosh, I have totally rubbed off on Paul!" The only other person I know that would set up a schedule like that is ME! Way to go honey! :)

E in his new highchair

He looks so tiny!