Swine Flu

It seems I cant log on to the computer, turn on the tv, or even open the kids back packs at the end of the day without seeing/hearing about the the Swine Flu. The media doesn't seem like they will be happy until we are all in a mass panic about H1N1. So how worried should we be? The CDC is warning with start of the school year, parents can expect Swine Flu to spread like wildfire.

We are to remind children to cover coughs and sneezes, wash hands frequently, and stay home if you are sick. The schools in our county are requesting that any child with flu symptoms stay home from school for at least seven days. I am thinking the kids will miss a great deal of school this year...

We also go to Disney nearly every weekend. I am a little nervous about coming into contact with H1N1 there. We wash our hands a lot and avoid closed buildings (shows) and because of Noah's autism we avoid long lines and crowds (we go in alternate entrances). If it gets worse we could always wear masks.

I am normally chicken little about such things, like "WE ARE ALL GONNA DIEEEE" panic, but I am trying to remain calm.

I am also up in the air concerning the vaccine that will be coming out soon.

So, how are you handling this "pandemic" as a mom?

No Deals This Week

I did pretty poorly on grocery shopping and skipped CVS. Momma needed a break! See you next week with tons of great deals!

***Dont forget to check out KMart for super doubles this week, I am hearing this is the last week!***

Am I in the Right class??

As nervous as I was for the kids first day of school, I didn't give mine much thought. This is my 3rd year at community college (part-time), my biggest concern was parking. Which turned out to be awful. After parking in other zip code, I hobbled (my walk is getting less pathetic, but is still SLOW) to class.

On the first day of class there is always a LONG 10 minutes of awkward silence as everyone sizes each other up and waits for the professor to show, all you hear is the crinkling of paper and squeaking of chairs, fun stuff I assure you. I want to talk to everyone, since you know I like to over share, but they will find out I am a nerd soon enough.

Then suddenly the silence is broken, as what I thought was another older adult student burst in. I thought there he is, the "that guy" for this term. I am convinced every college class has to have at least one douchnozzle in it, you know the person who has a question, comment, or argument for everything. But then annoying guy walked to the front of the class, OH GOD NO, annoying guy is actually annoying PROFESSOR.

He begins by telling us he has only one pet peeve, tardiness. Okay no problem, I am always on time. Calls roll, like a normal professor, and then...the psycho hits the fan.

Things I learned in GEOGRAPHY class:

1. College texts books are an f-ing (he dropped the f bomb) scam, we were to return our books to get a refund. (sweeet)

2. His ex wife is a she bitch.

3. America is dying and he is sad.

4. Obama is a communist.

5. All presidents in the past 20 years were terrible and immoral.

6. His new wife has his balls in a jar on top of the tv that she make him watch Bridzillas on.

7. He grew up poor and never missed a day of school.

8. Instead of writing a paper, we get to do research for his thesis.

9. Micheal Vick should rot in hell. (he went into detail about how Vick killed dogs)

10. He is a weather psychic.

11. Brett Farve is a prick, he knows him personally. Some story about peeing in the middle of a bar...

12. We wont have to stay til 9:30. WHOOT

13. America is dying. AGAIN

14. He makes it easy to get an A.

15. He teaches middle school during the day.

16. The American family is dead.

And then we were dismissed. We all stumbled out of the room look at each other like, you were there right? RIGHT?? WTH just happened in there?

I spent the entire hour biting the inside of my cheek and picking at nail polish. This is going to be one interesting semester.

This post should have been up a few days ago..

Wow. I realized that its been a year since I created this blog. When it first started I planned on using it just to post grocery deals, but quickly decided to include parenting stories and pictures of the boys. As the year has progressed I have become a little more comfortable sharing deeper parts of my life, the pain of losing our little boy, the joy of pregnancy and subsequent heartbreak from miscarriage, the trials of raising a child with Autism, and my thoughts on parenting in general. I am a long way from letting it all hang out, but I am working on it. I find it hard to find a balance in telling what I want to share and not offending my very conservative friends and family members. How do you do it? Aside from hiding your blog, how do you find balance? I hope I am growing as a writer, as a mother, and as a blogger. I am proud of myself for keeping it up this long! Here is to another year!

Wordless Wednesday:Boom Boom Pow

These were from Disney on Saturday night.

The Back to School Edition

Today was the first day of school round these parts. Noah woke up in a nervous tizzy, sobbing that he didn't want to go to school today. Jordan was all, "MOOOOMM I am not a baby, you CAN'T walk me to class." He informed me if I had to walk in at all I was only to walk him to the front door. I hid my sobs and let him walk in alone. Dude he is only in the 1st grade.

Now back to Noah, he was a tip toe walking/ hand flapping/ pterodactyl shrieking mess. He has been such a cool little man all summer, I am really praying the stress of school doesn't steal that part of him again.

Both boys ended up making it into school, with little fuss in the end. Next Monday brings another first day of school, this time for Isaiah. I am hoping and praying for an excellent year with very little stress for all of the boys.

Wordless Wednesday: Return to Magic

After being blocked out all summer, were finally able to go back to Disney!

Six. More. Days

In six days the kids will be going back to school. I have mixed emotions about this. On one hand the boys are starting to get on each others' nerves and grate on mine with all the "he shoved my head in the toilet/he farted on me" whining. On the other hand, this summer we met a new Noah.

Noah is happy, talkative, relaxed and damn near a typical kid. Maybe it is because he is getting older or maybe he is just more relaxed here at home. Either way, I am scared to lose this happy Noah, when the stress of going back to school return.
The other two boys are more than ready to go back and are actually looking forward to it.

Though I worry about them too. This whole "we are all gonna die!" panic from the media about the swine flu has me concerned. They seem to think it will spread very fast once school starts. Jordan is very asthmatic and any flu could be very dangerous to him.

Perhaps I am just paranoid.

The preparations are pretty much done. Bags of supplies are sitting in my kitchen, but I still need more.

Anyone want to front me a loan so I can buy 3 cases of printer paper? It seems our county is too broke to by copier paper. I am guessing we will be paying for ink next year, might as well throw in the power bill as well. I also need 540 containers of Clorox wipes, dry erase markers/erasers, and a pallet of Kleenex. What the hell ever happened to crayons, paper, pencils...DONE. Speaking of pencils my first grader needs two jumbo packs (close to freaking 50!) PRE-SHARPENED pencils. I am going to sit and sharper for hours one night this week.

On the supplies I already have I picked up for pennies by shopping sales. I also got their shoes and clothes all for about 90% off and they are all brand name.

Did I also mention Noah and Jordan's first day back to school, is my first day back too!?

I don't wanna go back to school mom! Wait... I am the mom. DAMN.

Target Deals: End Saturday

In this weeks Target ad there is a deal to earn a $5 gift card when you buy 2 1.5liter Listerine mouthwashes. With coupons this can be a great deal!
I went tonight and got:
2 Listerine $5.99 each
2 Reach Floss $.97 each
2 Reach toothbrushes $1.02 each
I used 2 $5/3 items coupon
Totally out of pocket $6
earned a $5 gift card.

Free Hair Cuts!

I found out via twitter that Big League Haircuts was giving FREE hair cuts today all day. I have always cut the boys hair out of frugality, but even with tips, today cost less than a new pair of scissors! I was a little worried about how Noah would deal with a stranger cutting his hair and explained his issues to the receptionist. They were wonderful with all three boys, but in particular the awesome girl who cut Noah's did a spectacular job. The only bummer? They all look like grown ups with short hair!

*****this deal is still going on until 7pm today. Call your local Big League Haircuts to see if they are participating! ******

Wordless Wednesday: Style?

My baby, my little peanut of love...Isaiah's definition of style is certainly his own. We went to the mall in this awesome outfit, necklace and all. I have long ago given up picking his clothes. Picking my battles!

Penny School Supplies

Staples has spiral notebooks for .01 limit 6

Office Max has them as well! Limit 3

CVS Deals for This Week

I did pretty good at CVS this morning. Here are the deals I picked up:

Revlon ColorStay Mineral Mousse Makeup $9.99
used $1/1 any Revlon product q
earn 9.99 EBCs

Coppertone Nutrashield $8.99
used $5/1 ip found here
earned 2 ECBs

CVS Mouthwash $2.59
used free mouthwash CRT

Bic Soleil Razor 1ct or Cartridges 4 ct $6.99
used $3/1 q from todays paper
earned 3 ECBs

Used rain check for Soft Soap from last week sale $4.99
earned 4 ECBs

Paper 1.50

2 Twix Bars $1
used $1/2 q

Also used $5/25 CVS q

Paid with ECBs and had a few cents oop for tax. Earned 18.99 in ECBs

Things That Annoy Me This Week

Pretty much every-freaking-thing, since my monthly friend has not shown up for more than two months, and I am NOT pregnant.Can you say PMS x 10000000? Since I hurt my knee going on 4 months ago, my whole body has gone wonky. Funtimes, I assure you.

Well on to the list:

1. Credit Card companies: Do I have to say more for that one?

2. People w/ Tivo or DVR: Seriously. I bet it is awesome to record your shows when you are out. However, after a show is on and you have not yet seen it, do you really expect the world at large NOT to talk about the show at all? I am sorry it was RUNINED for you, but it WAS on last night. I talking to you people ranting about how NO ONE should say who was evicted on Big Brother or who won SYTYCD. (I made a point not to say names when twittering about the show to be considerate to people who were watching it in delay, but today all bets are off) ****note: This is NOT directed to people who have Tivo or DVR and accept that this means you will hear people talk about the program or people who went to bed early (love ya @averygoodyear).

3. Judgmental fake friends

4. People who post things on the internet without any regard for how those things will effect someone in REAL life. (directly connected to #4): Talking sh#t about someones parenting on a message board, hurts feelings and COULD create a disaster in their REAL life. Think before you type.

5. People who post drunken party pics on the internet: People who are PROFESSIONALS in their 30's, upset no one takes them seriously, when there are pics of you barfing on themselves at a party on a facebook page. Paging adulthood..

6. The fact Bejeweled was down on FB most of this week: this is a minor thing, but that game is a stress reliever for me.

Ahhh there I feel a bit better.

Really, all in all my life is pretty freaking awesome, since these are the only things I have to complain about.

Snickerdoodle Recipe

These cookies are good, not just good, addictive! They are also super easy.

1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons Cinnamon (I love the Saigon kind)


Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Combine 1 1/2 cups white sugar, butter or margarine, vanilla and eggs. Mix well til light and fluffy (or as I do dump into Kitchen Aid mixer).
3. Stir in flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Blend well. Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Combine 2 tablespoons sugar and 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon. Roll dough in sugar/cinnamon mixture and place 2 inches apart on very slightly greased baking sheets. Lightly flatten with the back of a spoon (or if you are lazy like me your hand). Bake 8 to 10 minutes. Immediately remove from cookie sheets.
Try to stop your family from inhaling before they cool.

Worldess Wednesday: Face Painting

*taken with my cell phone.

More Cheap School Supplies

Starting tomorrow Staples will have packs of filler paper for $.01! There is a limit of 5. If you need more give your kids each a nickel and let them cash out themselves!

Also starting on Sunday Office Depot is offering:
pencil pouches $.05
Pencil sharpeners $.10
pencil 10 packs $.25

Walgreens is offering several $.25 items
Papermate highlighters
2 pack pink erasers
paper clips
pencil top erasers
rulers

Also at Walgreens 4 pack Expo Markers $1.99

If you are not in a position to run around to ten different stores, Wal*mart has consistently low prices. I am lucky that most of these stores are pretty close to me and it is easy to stop by them through out the week.

CVS Deals for This Week

Once again there are some great freebie school supply deals. While most of them have not been items on the kids school lists, they have been great for mommy's back to college list!
This is a 3 day sale after Tuesday there will be no ECB issued. Limits are 2 unless otherwise noted.

Caliber 10 Pk Pencils 99¢ Earn .99 ECB
Caliber Academic Book Covers $1.99 Earn 1.99 ECB
Poly Portfolio 49¢ earn .49 ECB
Caliber 20 ct Pens 99¢ earn .99 ECB
Caliber Academic Scissors $2.99 earn 2.99 ECB
Caliber Academic Compass/Protractor $1.99 earn 1.99 ECB
Caliber Academic Flexi Ruler 99¢ earn .99 ECB
Caliber Note/Glue stick/Pen Eraser 99¢ earn .99 ECB
1 Softsoap Nutri Serums 15oz 4.99 earn 4 ECB Limit 1

Also there is a $5 ECB when you buy $10 worth of a list of items: Limit 1
Stayfree $5 is on the list
you can use Stayfree Product bogo coupon and get both items free after coupon

I plan on getting all of the above, depending on store stock. Unfortunately, I have run into a lot of issues finding the items for these deals. I also received and email with a coupon for $5/30!

Be on the look out for penny sales at the office supply stores, I hear rumors they should start tomorrow!


****Ended up spending $1.60 oop today, after coupons and 19 ECB. Had to get a rain check for the soft soap, but was happy to get everything else on my list. Earned 22 ECBs to use next week.****