I'll Have A Slice of Thin Crust

 and one curious george.

Just two of many costumes this halloween season!

Couponing 101

From time to time, I have friends ask about my couponing, so here is a one example of what I consider a good shop.

I enjoy couponing. It is a game for me to get free razors, rice, and toliet paper. I normally do a weekly shop at Giant Eagle that I try to keep around $50 for the week (after coupons). That includes Sal's Reagan's blueberries, bananas, and 2-3 gallons of hormone-free milk weekly. Then anything I have great coupons for that will make it free or cheap goes into the cart. If it is something I can get for free that we don't use, I get it and donate it because it still goes towards the fuel perks I WILL use.

 These shops don't include meat since I don't buy that from GE, but shop a local market for that.

*

Giant Eagle
Actual shelf cost: $87.10
Cost after GE card: $77.85
Cost after coupons: $53.85
Cost after rebates: $43.85
Total Savings: $43.25
50% savings! I'll take that!

Since I shop weekly, I scour the sales and stock up as necessary. About the only thing I buy, at retail price, on a weekly basis is milk and fruit. I also try to stay away from processed foods for our family, but sometimes the only thing the kids will eat for lunch is plain pizza.

This week I found a great deal in the clearance cart. Tom's of Maine Natural Toothpaste. Retail price: $2.73. It was on clearance for $1.24. I had a coupon for $1 off. There were two tubes left and I had 2 coupons.

I also like to shop the cheese section carefully. We always put a cheese board out when we entertain, so I like to have a variety on hand. At Giant Eagle, as cheese closes in on its sell by date, they stick a $1 off sticker on it. Cheese is pretty pricey these days, so even that little bit helps. Today I stumbled on small chunks of White Stilton, some with lemon zest, cranberries, or blueberries. Most of these chunks were under $3. The four that I purchased cost $2.55 total, one of them being a whopping nickel! If they don't get consumed this weekend, I'll either freeze them and use them for cooking or just make a sauce with them.

There has been a wine deal going this week as well. Casillero wines are $9.99. If you buy $20 in groceries, the catalina machine spits out a $10 rebate. Free wine. Well, postage cost minus a penny. You can do this deal as many times as you'd like, but it has to be seperate transactions. Meaning you can't buy 3 bottles if you are spending $60. The machine will only generate one, but if you want to break up your shopping or do seperate transactions, the machine will spit one out for each $20 order.

Things I stock up on when I can get them cheaply; rice, pasta, and paper products.

Things I have to keep on hand and stock up on when they are on sale: YoCrunch (only chocolate chip flavor) for Reagan. This week they were on sale 3 packs/$6. I had $1.50 GE catalina coupons and a manufacturer coupon for $.75 (doubled to $1.50), so I got all 3 packs for $3.

I might not be the best couponer out there and I know plenty of people that would have gotten all this stuff for like, $1.34 or something crazy like that, but I was pretty happy with this shopping trip.

*not pictured are thebribes donuts the kids got for being good in the Eagles Nest.

For Those Not On Facebook

Yes, there are still a couple of followers of this blog that are not on facebook, so here is a recap for those that haven't seen the pictures.

We've been busy, but what else is new. Bill is out of town this week and my buttons are being pushed like mad. Let's hope the three of us survive each other with no breaks. To those of you with partners that travel often or are on active military duty and you have to be the solo act 24-7, I salute you. After a day or two we get into a groove and things move along fine, its the getting to fine that sucks.

So here's what we've been up to. Follow the links for photos.

Night time stories at the schoolhouse, which helped Reagan with her fear of the dark.....a little.

Moms of Mulitples Halloween party.

Goblins In The Garden at the Arboretum. I am ashamed to say this was my first visit to the Arboretum. It is gorgeous and this little treasure is on our local map now.        

Five Dolla

We've tailgated for a lot of years.

In the Muni lot.

In the Burke lot.

In many other unnamed lots.

We found our home in "The Pit."

This past week, the geniuses at Network Parking decided to charge $5 for "Pedestrian Traffic."

Sure there are lots of people that come down to The Pit to join their friends for some beverages, food and fun before the game. We have one in our group of season ticket holders. He does the responsible thing by taking the Rapid and meeting up with us. We pay $30, yes 30 bones to park and set up camp for the morning. There are usually 3 of us in our car and then another car that holds 2 people, pays $30 more bones and meets up with us.

Apparently that is not enough for the greedy folks at Network Parking. They suddenly decided, and from what I hear they did it without the proper permits, to charge $5 for people walking in.

We Are Not Just Going to Bend Over And Take It!

A fellow blogger, Cleveland's a Plum,  has a bigger voice than me and has taken to the airwaves.

Might seem trivial to some of you, but Clevelanders are passionate about their Browns (yes, even the 1-3 Browns....hey, we've seen worse teams!) and their tailgating.....and having an extra $5 in their pocket.

Hey Browns! He's Available.

He's Marvelous, He's Curious George

I took Grammy and the kids to Pittsburgh for an overnight this past week to meet Curious George. They have a special (ends Oct 3) exhibit at the Pittsburgh Children's Musuem (which is a kick a$$ place for kids to explore) and on Wednesday and Saturday, George himself makes an appearance.

Let me tell you.....he was the cutest thing. EVER. The twinadoes ran into his arms and just kept hugging him. Nolan would not let go! They gave him kisses and hugs, high fives, and snuggles. It took everything in me not to run up there and hug him too!

The day before the musuem, we made a stop at the Duquesne Incline. It was Grammy's first time and she was a little nervous. My sweet boy made sure to hold onto her so she wouldn't be afraid.

The kids were a little  a lot, wound up when we got out of the pool at the hotel and my mom could see that I needed to get away. IKEA was only 10 minutes away and I was running out to pick up dinner so a quick stop for some retail therapy was in order. I got some frames for some of my photography and a few kitchen gadgets, but the hour alone was worth a million dollars. Thanks, Mom!

So that rounded out our summer of adventures and bridged the gap to fall. Stick around and see what kind of mischief we get into in the next few months.

All the photos.

Pymatuning

It's been a long time since I've been to the Spillway at Pymatuning Lake. Just to give you an idea, my parents took my friend, Heidi and I, and while we were there we bought matching neon half-shirts that had "Pymatuning Lake" written like paint splatter.

Yes, it was the 80's.

Grammy was on vacation this week, so we decided to do a little road trip. I emptied the freezer of all the old bread I had been saving and loaded up the kids and their potty (can I say it one more time, potty training SUCKS) and off we went.

I have no memory of the spillway (and really only remember the shirt because there is a picture of Heidi and I wearing them), so it was like I was there for the first time too.

The Three Amigos

The twinadoes had a good time throwing their "loads" (Nolan word for "loaf") of bread and were done in about 4 minutes.

Feeding "loads" of bread

My turn! My turn! My turn!

I decided to follow the compass on the car (mental note, add GPS to Xmas list), and explore a bit. We ended up in a little town called Linesville. Think main street USA on a smaller scale. We had lunch at an awesome little place called Rebecca's and then hit a couple of shops before heading out.

Coloring at Rebecca's. One of the few times he is not smiling is when he is concentrating.

I love this girl with all my heart.

The Main Street USA thing

We took mainly back roads home and ended up in familiar territory which happened to be near the wineries. After a stop at a roadside fruit market, I decided my mom and I deserved a glass of wine. I know Debonne has lots of open space for little ones to burn off energy PLUS they have a brewery so I knew I could bring Daddy home a treat. It was more like dinner since I wasn't home to cook, but I didn't hear him complaining!

The roadside market happened to have a John Deere. Nolan asked the man, "why is your John Deere H He knows all the models) hiding in the corn?"

We got our wine and got comfy outside while the kids put on a tumbling show on the outdoor stage. We were the only people outside, so it was quiet and we could hear the music that was being piped inside.

Ladies & Gentlemen, the Tumbling Twinadoes!

Now, call me kooky (as I'm sure my husband will), but approximately how many songs have there been made from 1944-2000? Millions, right? As my mom and I were sitting there enjoying the lovely fall day and the kids were having a rager, my Dad's favorite song came on. Well, one of his favorites, he had 5 that I know he LOVED.

I don't see this as a coinicidence. 

 I like to think that somewhere in the heavens and through fate, that song played for us. I think it was my Dad's way of letting us know he was with us, just like he was when he took me to Pymatuning so many years ago.

Is that you, Dad?

Airshow

Loge seats rock. Not much else to say. The pictures speak for themselves.

Enjoy more here.

Downtown Photo Challenge

My BFF mentioned a photo contest to me at the beginning of summer. I promptly forgot about it until last night. I googled it and found the deadline to be the very next day. I never used to be an under-the-wire kind of person, right?

My entries.

Category: Living City

Living City

Cleveland would be nothing without Clevelanders. Whether it's large scale events, small informal happenings, spontaneous moments on the street, interactions among friends or between strangers... it is people that bring the city to life. Submit your best images of Cleveland's great citizens and visitors to this category.

Catergory: Future Forward

Future Forward

In this category we are looking for images that exemplify growth, optimism and positive change around Downtown. What are Clevelanders doing to make the best of hard times? What types of projects are people taking on? How are businesses weathering the economy? What are people doing to stay positive? Submit your photographs that you feel show a bright future for our city! These shots may be altered to allow for creative expression.

Wish me luck!

A Decade

A decade.

Ten years.

1,200 months.

3,652 days.

520 Saturdays.

10 years ago, the day started off wonderful. Our friends, Bev & Chris got married. The reception, an afternoon affair where Bill was the DJ, was a lot of fun. The party then moved to the hotel where all the out of town guests were staying. In between the reception and the after party, I went over to my parents house to see my Dad. He was miserable. His legs were swollen beyond belief. Cancer had overtaken his body and he could no longer fight. My mom told me she was finally ready to contact Hospice for help.

It was time.

He was trying to rest in the spare room bed, but was very uncomfortable. I leaned in and kissed him goodbye and told him I loved him, as I always did. His voice, barely a whisper, replied, “I know you do, kid.” I laughed and said, “Of course you do.”

I went to the after party, but my heart wasn’t in it, so we headed home. Shortly after 11pm, the phone rang and I was out of bed throwing on shoes before I even said hello.

I knew the time had come.

I don’t remember anything about the drive to my parents house. I don’t know if I drove or if Bill did. I don’t know which roads we took. I know when we pulled in the driveway, I jumped out before the car was turned off.

The next couple of hours were a blur. I think my half-sisters, mom, and Aunt Eleanor held hands and said a prayer. A few of my moms friends came over. Bill and I left shortly after the funeral home came and picked him up.

I do remember the drive home. We took Lakeshore Blvd; about a 15 minute drive. It was well after 3am and all the traffic lights were blinking yellow. Just before we got to the intersection to turn onto our street there was a Walgreens drug store driveway with a stop light. As we approached, the light turned red. We stopped. Out of no-where a large bird walked in front of the car. The light turned green. Bill edged forward. The bird would not move. It looked right at me. I can remember the chills. I know I said, “That’s my Dad.” The light turned red again. The bird looked at me again and flew away.

There have now been ten August 19th’s . I dread each one just as much as the previous year. This day is the hardest. It sucks. The memories are close and the pain is as raw as it was ten years ago. Tears come quick.

The kids and I will go to the cemetery with my mom. My son, my sweet boy, who’s middle name is George after his Grandad, will brush the grass and dirt from the grave as he does whenever he visits. It makes my mom cry even more when he does that. Then he will take my mom’s hand when she tells him it is time to say a prayer. He will say the only one he knows aloud…..”Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. May the angels watch me through the night, and keep me in their blessed sight.”

I know my kids have an angel watching over them through the night, every night.

I miss you Dad. There is a huge hole in our family without you.

We Have A Winner

I wrote a little essay for the library writing contest this summer. It won 2nd place. I can't wait to head to Bremec's Garden Center and spend my winnings!

Check it, and the other winners, out.

I also won two photo contests this summer.

One for the Great Lakes Medieval Faire.

The other for the Lake Farmpark.

But the best part is that I have people interested in paying me to take pictures! Woo hoo. Maybe, I will finally get paid for doing something I love so much. I feel like I found what I want to do, now I just have to make it happen.

Nothing boosts your self-esteem like a little positive feedback!!

Building Planes

A few weeks back, when we went to the Lost Nation Airshow, Uncle Sam & Aunt Deb bought some planes for the kids. They needed to be assembled, so it was going to be a little fun project for everyone.

Well, maybe more fun for some.

First, Reagan needed to read the instructions.

Then there was the assembly help.

It contained many small screws, so glasses were needed.

Ready for take-off!

I'll Fly Away

Another beautiful summer week is in the books.

Summer is just flying by.

Speaking of flying we headed to the airshow at Lost Nation Airport for the Gathering of Eagles XIV. Bill and I have gone to this event many times. He even took a ride in the Yankee Lady, a B-17 (bucket list) a few years before we were married with lots of other "responsibilities."  We took the kids when they were just over a year old so Daddy and Uncle Sam could introduce them to one of their passions; military aircraft. It is safe to say that we plan to make this a bi-yearly (because it only comes around every other year) tradition.

We arrived at the airshow and were quickly joined by Uncle John, Aunt Jan, Uncle Sam, & Aunt Deb. Again, 6 on 2 is the best ratio for twinado safety at events like this! It also allows me a little time to take pictures, something I can't really think about when I've got to keep one eye on a Whirling Dervish.

I say it all the time, but the twinadoes are SO SO SO SO lucky to have these four people in their lives. They have cared about them since the day we knew they existed when they were just 4 week in utero-even before that really, they have watched them grow from their first breath, and they are the people (besides Mommy, Daddy, & Grandmas) that the kids love most in this world. They know they are safe with them and better yet, I know they are safe with them.

After the airshow, we all retired to our backyard for some lunch, pool time, and margaritas. Lunch eventually turned into dinner and then a feature of Clifford's Really Big Movie.

It was an unexpected day of awesomeness. Sitting around with friends, a margarita in hand, watching planes fly over our house while the kids bopped around in the pool. No deck work, no housework, no errands.

A mini vacation in our own backyard.

We should do that more often!

Perfect Weekend....Almost

It has been a near perfect weekend at the pchak house. The only dark spot was finding out the news that an old friend of Bill's passed away suddenly in her sleep at age 53.

For the last 2 years we dialed back our 4th of July festivities considerably. With two babies, a new house with lots of construction, and just being plan tired all the time, I couldn't think about having 80 people over for a cook-out. This year we decided to ramp things up and get back in the swing since we have a lovely new deck. Next year when level 2 of the deck is complete, I think we'll be back to warp speed for the festivites, so put it on your calendar now: July 3, 2011.

As always when hosting a large party, I feel like I never get to spend quality time with people. I'm either checking to make sure the kids are OK, setting up food stuff, or passing out jello shots (an 11 year old tradition.) I always hope everyone is having fun.

The 4th is the only time I miss our Euclid house since we could just move the party to the front yard for fireworks viewing. We can't do that at our house now, but we do have the lake, which offers awesome sunsets almost every night in the summer. I'll take that over fireworks any day. (Euclid also cancelled their fireworks display this year, so I didn't even spend 1 minute missing our old house this year.)

Great food & drink, wonderful friends to share it with, a beautiful sunset, lots of friends for the twinadoes to play with, and the memories of those that are no longer with us.

We are blessed.