But anyhoo, between having a new baby and dealing with Sophie’s delays, I didn’t have time to coupon as well as I would have liked.  Oh, I still did my very best, but I had to give up the old coupon binder for awhile.  I still carefully planned my grocery trips every week and clipped what I needed, but  I just felt like the opportunities to save just weren’t there.  And since the sales just weren’t there, our grocery and household items budget went up by quite a bit in 2011.  It was discouraging!

Now that Jonah is older and Sophie is back on track, I have more time to devote to my coupons again.  So, if the stores will just cooperate, I want to slash my budget again!  SO far in 2012 I’ve done pretty well.  I’ve got my binder back up and running, and a recent mega-event sale at Kroger really got me on a great savings path!  Today I hit both CVS and Rite Aid for a couple small deals, which reminded me that:

So, I think I am going to try to start posting my shopping trips again. I shall try to revive the “See Jenny Shop” page, and hopefully I’ll have something good to put there! To get me going, here’s what I got at CVS today:

I likes me some Suave! CVS had a deal, buy $12 worth and get $4 extra care bucks.  And the Zarbees cough syrup was free after ECBs.

2 Suave Professionals shampoo/conditioner $4

3 Suave body wash $6

1 Suave deodorant $1

2 Suave kids shampoo/conditioner $3

Zarbees cough syrup $6

total = $20

coupons:

$1/2 Suave Professionals

$1/2 Suave Kids

Buy 2 get one free Suave body wash -$2

8 extra care bucks

=$8.40 including tax, got back 4 ECB for the Suave and 6 ECB for the Zarbees, so 10 total for next time!  Let’s just hope there are some decent deals next week so I can keep regaling you with pictures of my shampoo and my brother’s lady deodorant!

Today I made coffee.  Or rather, I tried to.  The first two times, I put water in the pot but NO COFFEE GROUNDS.

Yes, the first two times.

The third time, I succeeded.

Later in the evening, I had occasion to make more coffee.

I did it again.

THREE TIMES IN ONE DAY. I forgot to put the coffee grounds in THREE TIMES and brewed a pot of hot water THREE TIMES.

I used to be smart.  Then I had three babies and lost 1/3 of my brain with each one, and to be honest with you, sometimes I am amazed I can even put together a sentence.

I miss the old me.  I aim for coffee in most of my pursuits but I seem to come out with hot water much of the time.

And usually burn my tongue on it.

That’s right, for the next two weeks, I have to look at Joshua’s poop and write down my observations about it’s size, color, consistency, etc.

I love being a mom.  Really, this is the stuff I’ve always dreamed about.

But back to the asking a million questions part.  The doctor asked Joshua many, many questions that ended in the word, “poop”.

Does it hurt when you poop?

When you’re eating, do you feel like you have to poop?

Is there any blood on the toilet paper when you poop?

PoopPoopPoopPoopPoopPoopPoop?

Seriously, after the first question, it was all I could do to not burst out in an ugly, raspberry-esque hysterical laughter.  I had to bite the inside of my mouth and stare down at the top of my son’s head to keep from losing control.

Because there’s something about a learn-ed M.D. saying the word “poop” over and over that brings me to the basest level of immaturity possible.

I couldn’t breathe for a full 30 seconds after he’d said his last “poop” for fear of losing it.  And, since I’ve made a fool of myself in front of this doctor over bowel movements before, I really did not want to lose control.

But I was thisclose.

So, I think my much more solemn and mature husband should attend the follow-up appointment, don’t you?  Because since it is going to involve careful examination of aforementioned poop diary, I don’t think I can be trusted to hold it together.

What makes you giggle like a pre-adolescent boy?

(P.S. – POOP!!!! Made ya laugh!)

Oopsieeeeee.

So, Sunday I spent a great deal of time scrubbing dry-erase marker off the door frame.  First with dry-erase marker remover (ineffectual) and then with hairspray (slightly less ineffectual) and THEN I went to Rite Aid an spend some +UP Rewards on the best invention EVER, the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.  And I scrubbed that dry-erase marker right off that door frame.  I am now a firm believer in good ol’ Mr. Clean.   But it took a LOT of “elbow grease” to get all that marker off the wall.

And my back, neck, and shoulders hurt like a MOTHER.  I do not know what I did with that scrubbing, but I messed myself UP.  Four days later, and it’s just getting worse.  I’ve been sleeping with pain patches on my neck and back at night, and have to take some good old “PM” drugs just to get to sleep it hurts so bad.

As I sit here this morning, it’s not feeling any better. I think I’m broken.

Which is why, I’m going to be like Mrs. Duggar, and just get myself totally made over with robotic parts.  Because clearly, that is the only way all that Duggar business is possible!   I may start rusting after awhile but at least I won’t feel the pain!

Nevertheless, I do LOVE my house, and there are a few things in it that I really love.  One of them is, of course, my Granite Transformations Kitchen and the floor my wonderful hubby put in it for me.

But off of the kitchen there was a kind of useless room called the “mud room” which through the years, we would once in awhile eat in (it had a lovely little table) but mostly it just ws a resting place for extra trash and boxes and other things we didn’t have room for.  Also, off of this room is a teeny-tiny, very ugly bathroom.  More like a water closet.

Last fall Bobby and I decided (with some inspiration from Maria) that we would make the mud room into the kids’ art room – a place for all their many books, crayons, markers, paper, play-doh, puzzles, games, etc.  So after Christmas we took out Christmas $$ and went to IKEA and bought a bunch of the Expedit shelving.  We turned our useless room into a very useful room!

We were looking to get rid of our old chalkboard/easel so a couple of weeks I sent Bobby out to Home Depot to see if he could get a dry erase board cut to fit on our bathroom door, which is right behind the desk you see in the picture. And he did SO much better than that!! Turns out they now have Dry Erase PAINT for walls and doors! As well as Chalkboard paint! So Bobby purchased one can of each kind and now we have the coolest bathroom door EVAH.

Front of door - dry erase

Chalkboard on the inside!

I LOVE it and so do the kids!  They have had so much fun coloring on both sides this weekend!

A bathroom door you can WRITE on – do you think I’m in danger of becoming a FUN MOM??

The real reason I bought the Krazy Glue is because thanks to the Infected Hangnail of Death, my thumbnail was partially coming off.  But *most* of it was still attached and my doctor was hoping that was coming off would reattach itself to the newly-growing nail bed.

In short, I had some jacked up stuff going on and had my thumbnail taped down/covered with a band-aid at all times.  But I was pretty sure a waterpark wasn’t going to be the most band-aid-adhesive friendly place, and I didn’t want my thumbnail flapping all over the place…so…Krazy Glue.

Anycrap, when we got there I told Emily about the Krazy Glue and complained about how weird stuff always happens to me and as usual she mocked me.  I mean, I am not the most graceful girl around.  Before I got my van, I was constantly hitting my head in the doorway of my car when buckling the kids in their car seats.  I bump into door frames a lot.  After having my babies, my arches fell, my thumb and arm got messed up, I had nerve damage in my feet, knees, and hands – the past few months I’ve been like a freaking jalopy.  I’ve been known to describe myself as “Functionally retarded” (which I recently found out was a real thing – so, no disrespect to the disabled, I’m just making fun of myself here!)

After our day of water park fun, Emily and I and The SuperHusbands were sitting around playing a board game.  It was brand new and I was opening the different parts of it, including a plastic bag of little pencils.  I had  little trouble opening said bag, and the brute force I had to use resulted in me STABBING myself in the finger with one of the pencils (bonus points for all pencils STILL being in the plastic when said stabbing occurred!) and embedding a little lead in one finger.

Great, now I am going to die of lead poisoning.

As you can imagine, copious making-fun-of-Jenny soon followed.  I believe I made some remark about how Bobby should trade me in for a more functional model, which he followed up by shaking his head and saying, “Aww, honey, you’re like that cute scruffy dog from the pound that gets adopted because it’s kinda messed up and people feel sorry for it.”

To which Emily chimed in, “Yeah, you’re like the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree!”

So there ya have it.

Shaggy mutt or anorexic evergreen, which is better?  Discuss!

And can I have my own Christmas special?

And who may have gotten up at 4 a.m.on my 20th birthday to watch Princess Diana’s funeral.  Even though she had a bunch of college girlfriends sleeping over.

*Ahem*

But now, I’ve morphed into a super-busy, half-crazy, live-in-a-bubble mom.   I see very little news, I never watch real tv, just TiVo or Netflix.  Truth be told, I get most of my news from Facebook.  {the shame!}

So it barely even registered when Prince William and Kate Middleton announced their engagement a few months ago. And it really crept up on me this week that the wedding, is, well in a few hours.  Probably good and over by the time you read this!  So tonight I’ve been trying to “catch up” really quickly on all the news and plans and schedules (because if the baby wakes me up at 4:30 a.m., I might get up and watch.  But if not, then NO. That is what the aforementioned TiVo is for.)  And what I’ve found has bloooown  my MIND.

The British Royal Family has gone all Social Media on us. They’re like, “with it” and stuff.

There is an official Royal Wedding 2011 website.  And an official British Monarchy Royal Wedding “Share Your Stories” Facebook App.  And a Flickr stream. And a You Tube Channel where you can watch live, or better yet upload your own video message to the happy couple.  And of course, there’s a Royal Wedding twitter.  With hashtag #royalwedding.

Well, on this Royal Wedding eve, I must say, thanks to the savvy British Monarchy for helping me catch up on all the wedding details via social media.  I am very impressed!  For an institution steeped in tradition, you’re working this whole wedding thing pretty hard in a pretty modern way. {Insert British congratulatory phrase here.}  Well done!   And now, I may just get up at 4:30 whether the baby wakes me up or not!

Since we are Toyota people, Bobby and I really wanted a Toyota Sienna.  We also wanted to pay cash, which meant USED.   And, we wanted leather seats (because, really, Joshua has thrown up in my car about 8,000 times and if it didn’t have leather, I’d have to wear a HAZMAT suit just to DRIVE it) and at lease ONE power door.  (Whoever invented the power door is a geeeeeeeeenius and should be given the highest honor the country of his or her birth bestows upon civilians.  Anyhoo.)  Also, we were hoping for a 2004 or newer because that’s when they last changed the Sienna significantly.  SO -we were being very picky!  We really began searching about a month ago and we called on a couple but they were always sold – these babies go fast!

Then, Tuesday, I saw one that was slightly out of our price range but not too far out.  And it was nearby, and had everything we wanted.  So Bobby said, “Let’s go look at it!”  We pulled into the JANKIEST car lot I have ever seen.  The first letter was missing from the company sign, it was about the size of a gas station and the lot was packed FULL of cars!  Nevertheless, it has the perfect Sienna.  It was pretty dirty on the inside but the outside looked great.  Since Bobby is a mechanic, he wanted to take it into work to look at it thoroughly, and the car salesman said that was ok.  After looking it over the next day, Bobby thought it was a no-brainer.  So we made them an offer, they took it, and yesterday, we brought this baby home!

We are calling her Yoshi.  A good Japanese name for a good Japanese car!  It’s a 2004, with leather, two power doors, and pretty much every option you could get back then. It’s like, the finest in minivan luxury from 7 years ago!! SCORE! Bobby took it to work today to get it detailed (it really was dirty on the inside – the previous owners left all kinds of stuff in it including several hair bands, some earrings, and an Nintendo DS game!) and tomorrow I will get to click open that power door and put my three kids in it without wanting to shoot myself and go for a spin!! I can’t wait and I’m so thankful to have this new-to-us-car!

Yippee! Minivans rule!

Bobby and I are rediscovering some old shows on Netflix – some not too old, like say….all the past seasons of “Psych” which we love (WHEN is the next season coming to Netflix? WHEN WHEN WHEN?  I cannot get enough of Shawn Spencer and Burton Guster!) and just this past week, we’ve been watching season one of our childhood favorite, the Cosby Show.

Which is HYSTERICAL.  It is still as funny as it was when I was seven years old. AND I cannot believe how much of these episodes I REMEMBER!  I mean, I have three children, I can barely remember my own phone number and yet, every memory of Denise making Theo that hacked-up Gordon Gartrell designer shirt and Vanessa’s hideous clarinet recital are instantly restored as soon as I hear the Cosby theme song.  And RUDY!  OMG, RUDY!!! Has there ever been a cuter, funnier child?  I almost want to trade one of my own for the 5-year-old version of Rudy.

And remember how EXCITING it was every season to see the new theme song/opening of the show?  They always did something SO great.  I already can’t wait to watch season 2 just to see the opening.  But I am controlling myself.  The best things come to those who wait.

So, if you want a nice laugh, and TV with the effect of comfort food, dial up your Netflix and  join me tonight.  Put on your favorite Cosby sweater and join Bobby and me as we chill with Cliff, Clair, Denise, Theo, Vanessa, Rudy, and sometimes Sondra.  Or, just for funzies, share some of your favorite Cosby memories with me in the comments!

They just don’t make ‘em like they used to!

P.S. This is not a Netflix commercial.  It is just freaking awesome. But seriously, Netflix, call me.

I’m not going to be home.  I’m going to be away from Bobby, who always fusses over me and makes my birthday special.

Instead, I am going to be with EMILY, who makes fun of me and puts me in my place.  So you can imagine my apprehension.  We are going to spend labor day weekend with our kids and no husbands (don’t rob our houses, our husbands will be there!) at my parent’s place in Virginia, for funzies, because Em’s never been.

And there on top of the mountain, with only dial-up internet, miles away from distractions, I am going to carry out the threat I made MONTHS ago and force Emily to watch my favorite movies, Anchorman and Hot Rod with me!  And since we’ll be at my parents’ she’s not even going to get to drink any alcohol to lift her spirits.  (Though we WILL have Mountain Dew!) Nope, she’s just gonna have to have some good, clean FUN with me. Well, if you can call those movies clean.  Some good, PG-13 fun!

And she’s offered to bake me a chocolate cake!

And since neither of us  have a car big enough for both our families to fit in, Chevy is loaning us a sweeeeeeeeeeeet Traverse to drive on the trip!  (Which is awesome because last month when we were in Virginia you may recall we had to COAST our broken-down car down the mountain!)  So who knows, we might get crazy on chocolate cake, Mountain Dew, Will Ferrell, and Andy Samberg, and go joy-riding down the mountain!

All I gotta say Berry, is, no pressure, but that cake better be good! Just sit back, relax, and enjoy the big 33.  And be glad it’s not YOURS, Forever 31.