Deal of the day

I went to Younkers today thinking I would just look to see if they had any boy's winter coats on clearance. I usually buy my kids winter coats (& snowpants) for the next year when they're on clearance at the end of the season. I usually never find stuff in Mason's size and there was one style coat left on the clearance rack with a final price of $24. It was trimmed in blue and the next size up was trimmed in black which is what I would have preferred. So I decided I'd get it since I can always take it back if I find a better deal down the road. Then at the last minute I decided I'd go check in the "boys" section in case some clothes got misplaced. They did have one coat left overthere trimmed in black in 3T. So far so good. Then I noticed a rack of coats marked $14.99. The sign said originally $60-$45 and I saw 2 snow suits on the rack but they were marked originally $80. So I took one up to the counter and asked her if it was on sale. It was. So I got a snow suit for $14.99! It's a 4T so it will be probably 2 years before he wears it but $14.99.
The brand is London Fog. Not too shabby. She said I could have even used my coupon but I brought the wrong coupons which were dated Friday-Saturday. It would have been another 20% off.

In other news I've decided I'm pretty much done with the kid's rooms. I really messed up the pillow shams I was trying to do for Mason's room so I salvaged what I could and made pillowcases. Mason's bedroom is in the pic below followed by a picture of his bunk-bed bag that is on Mia's bunkbed. Below is Mia's room.

Have passport want to travel

So way back in August we talked about getting the kids passports in case Mike gets sent to Japan again. I also pointed out that if we should ever want to go to Canada or Mexico we now need passports. I finally got the kids applications put together over the Holidays and took them in on Friday Jan 4th. They weren't turned in early either since I needed to run home to write separate checks instead of the one combined total that I had ready. She said if I got the checks back by 4pm they'd go out that day. I think I delivered them around 3pm. Imagine my surprise when Mason's passport arrived Monday the 14th and Mia's the 17th. I was thinking it was going to take 3 months and it was less then 2 weeks. Impressive! Maybe we should take a winter escape to Mexico to test them out. I WISH.

Weather update here: SNOW, SNOW & more SNOW!

Sir Mason

Mason in his knight costume. Disney was having 50% off the sale price and I spent $5.99 for the costume, $2.99 for the sword and shield and $8.50 for shipping. CRAZY! Anyway the quality is great and he loves it. He's so short that when he puts his boot covers on you can't see his pants:)

The Next Mia Soccer Star

Mia had her first soccer class Tuesday. It all started out well but then about halfway through she sat down and refused to move. Then she came over to the side and told me she's bored. She said she knew how to play soccer and they weren't playing a game.

The last 10 minutes of class they let the siblings come out and run around. Mason LOVED it!

I'm going to have a hard time keeping him away from the class now that he thinks it's his class too. It was a little ridiculous that the kid's had 3 or 4 water breaks for a 45 minute class. My friend Becky said something though to the people that run the place so maybe it will be different next week. We signed up with some friends so Mia gets to see her friends and I get to see mine. She has asked repeatedly since then when "soccer practice" is again. I said, "why, you didn't play with everyone else". She claims she likes it. She said her favorite part is one the brothers and sisters get to come out. Of course, who wouldn't love a bunch of kids running around like mad. It's kind of like a a little mosh pit.

Here's Mia getting ready for soccer in her "Mia Hamm" soccer shirt she got for Christmas from the Ferg's. She keeps telling me she's "number 9". Very cool that she gets her own personalized shirt to run around in.

Valtrex

Mike and I were watching the pre-game for the OSU game yesterday (we won't mention the game) when a commercial for Valtrex came on. I started laughing because it made me think of the SNL skit with Alec Baldwin. When I watch SNL (once a month or so) I generally don't think it's very funny anymore but there are quite a few skits when I think of it that really crack me up. So click the link above for a good laugh.

Bunkbed Bag

Tried to get caught up a little today with some sewing and finally made Mia a bunkbed bag. It is a bag to hang from the rail in her bunkbed to hold books. I'm hoping this will keep them from ending up all over the bed and buried under the sheets. I'm also thinking of putting a pack of Kleenex in there in hopes that this will end the existence of the "booger wall". OK, maybe there's only one booger every few months but it still grosses me out.

A few months ago I decided to do Mason's room in an Airplane theme and finally made him a curtain. I'll take a picture of his room when I finally get around to doing his bedding.
I still have lots of ongoing projects but at least I got something done.

Christmas Sales are killing me

I just go to make a return and then I see something that I want (don't need) that's 80% off. I went into Kohl's to return a few things and see a table in the back that has their nice hardcover books for $2.50. Then the Christmas Corner. They had apothecary jars marked down from $40 to $8. They even come with the holiday stuff to put in them. Of course, I'll have to stash the holiday stuff until next year but I hope the jars look as good in my house as they do in everyone else's. I also got a new coat that I needed. What I need are some clothes but I either don't have the time to look or I'm not in the mood to try things on. After a break of just eating and PMS set in trying on clothes is some kind of torture.
Anyway, trying to gear myself up to run to the store with the kids today. Never a fun time.

Mia's Fake American Girl Doll

Mia had saw some ads in the Tuesday Morning ad in November for some Gotz dolls and commented on how she wanted one. The dolls in the ad (IMO) were UGLY! I'm not keen on the dolls with the crazy bangs. I did happen to go to Tuesday Morning later that week for something else and took a stroll down the toy aisle. I did find a doll that I thought was cute and for only $30.
I thought for $30 we'll give it a try as there's no way I'm spending a $100 on an American Girl Doll to have her destroy it or just not play with it. So my mom bought it from me and gave it to her for Christmas. She loves it. So far anyway.

I did find out yesterday though that there is a new American Girl doll out named Mia. Mia is a figure skater but is reddish blonde with freckles. She does resemble her cousin Bailey though (on left) who Mia also LOVES. So if I do decide to ever break down and get an AG doll. That may be the one.

I keep checking back at Tuesday Morning everytime I go to see if I can find another "cute" (I have my standards) doll to get for Bailey but so far no luck. I'll keep trying though.

Football is painful yet wonderful

I'll admit I was very pessimistic about watching my Wolverines play yesterday. Michigan never seems to play well after a break and I was wondering which Michigan team would show up to play. I've been a fan forever. I've been watching Michigan football since I was in Elementary school and even started attending some of the games when I was in middle school. Both my dad's grandparents moved their families to the Ann Arbor area for the express purpose of my grandparents attending Michigan. We (me and my Dad) are true blue Michigan fans. That being said we both know that the Michigan football team is bi-polar. They either come out and play INCREDIBLE or they come out and look like they're not even trying. So it was with anxiety and angst that I sat down to watch the game yesterday. True to form the game brought me nearly to tears while I cursed like I had Tourette's syndrome at the TV. But it the end, it was worth it.

Now that I live in a split household having married into an Ohio State family I'll have to root for the Buckeyes next Monday. Actually, I would anyway. If the school is not playing Michigan, I always root for the other Big 10 schools. Unlike my Father-in-law who hates Michigan so much he went out and bought an Appalachian State shirt. At least Mike suffered through the game with me yesterday cheering for Michigan. There could have been some blood shed had I heard any of those well-deserved anti-Michigan comments during the game yesterday.

What Boys Dream Of

When I went to check on the kids the other night I found Mia sleeping in the top bunk sprawled out among her dolls. Mason on the bottom was asleep with his football. I just had to get the camera. I was so scared that I was going to wake him up with the flash but he didn't even notice.