Catching Up

Well, gracious. Other than my coupon rant that took about 5 minutes to write, it's been a while since I've updated the blog. Let's see if I can play a little catch up. Hold on to your hats, though ... this has the potential to be all over the place.

Let's start with the Friday before Halloween. If you remember this post you know we don't have the best luck when it comes to finding/keeping pediatricians. I shared in that post that we decided to follow the doctor we found here in town to her new practice in Charlotte, because we loved her so much. As we were checking in to see her for Ella's 4 month appt. we were informed by the receptionist that our doctor had already left the practice after 2 months to go into full-time hospital practice. What!?! No mention of this when you called to remind us of our appointment yesterday? I almost had a crying fit right there in the waiting room.

Fast forward a few weeks, and we've now switched the girls over to my sister's pediatrician, who I really like. Good thing since we've been burning up the road back and forth to her office in the past week. Last Thursday I took Ella, because she had some yucky, goopy eyes. Virus. On Monday, we were back again, because she quit taking all of her bottles. Ear infection. But, wait - we're not finished yet! Back again yesterday, and the poor baby now has croup. And, bless her heart, you'd never know she was sick. That sweet little angel has just smiled and smiled and smiled through all of these sicknesses. I just love that baby.

What else?

Halloween. Camryn dressed up as an angel for Bible character night at AWANA. Then we had her school's fall carnival. And, finally, she dressed up as Princess Belle for our church's carnival. She was definitely a beauty, and so excited to get all dolled up.

Posing with Brady at the carnival

Playing games ... this kid would dominate at Plinko if she ever made it on The Price Is Right!

A little Cornhole

Camryn and her other princess friend, Abby

Every good princess needs to get tatted up!
We didn't dress Ella up this year. That poor baby is so hot-natured, we figured she would have pitched a fit if we tried to put some hot costume on her. She did sport her Halloween pj's and bib, courtesy of Grandma!

Between the school and church carnivals, you would not believe the amount of candy Camryn came home with! More than anyone in this house needed to eat. So, I took a cue from something I've heard that some dentists do, and I paid our daughter to give away her candy! That's right ... I gave her a big bag and told her she could keep as much of her candy as she wanted. BUT, if she decided to give any away, I would pay her $1 for every pound of candy she got rid of. Believe me, it was a win/win situation. She kept plenty of candy which she's still working her way through and made $3.50 for what she gave away!

The girls had Fall and Christmas picture day at school. They also did sibling pictures. I went ahead and took a couple of pictures of the two of them together at home, because I wasn't sure how well Ella would do that day. Good thing ... now that we've seen the pics, I don't think we'll be ordering any of the two of them together.

Once November rolled around, they also had to wear their cute fall dresses to church.

Earlier in the month, Chick-fil-A sponsored a Daddy-Daughter Date Night. Oh so cute! Jason had to RSVP, and there was a hostess station and table service that night. Precious.

Headed out on their date

Camryn came home with lots of cute freebies, including a coupon for a free kids meal. Gotta love that Chick-Fil-A!

And, finally - just some pictures I've taken recently...

Have I mentioned how much these two love each other?

The two of them cuddled up watching TV. I know, I am awful. I let my 4 month old watch TV ... something I would have NEVER let Camryn do as a 4 month old. Oh, how times change.

My littlest bug wearing her first pair of jeans. Good grief, she's cute. And chunky.

And last but not least, an updated family picture. Man, I love the other three people in that picture!

Coupon No No

Most of you know I Facebook stalk you keep up with your lives through Jason's Facebook account. Today as I was perusing, I noticed one of Jason's friends asking for some tips on how to save money during the holidays. As I read through the comments, I almost choked at a woman who advised the friend to buy the Sunday paper for the Proctor and Gamble coupon inserts which, as she said, could be used on "any Proctor and Gamble product" no matter what the coupon was written for. She said the $7 and $10 Crest whitening products could be used toward Tide detergent, diapers, etc.


What?!?


This, ladies, is why we are often treated like criminals when we use coupons. If you do this, thanks for playing, you have essentially stolen from the store and made coupon life difficult for the rest of us. Although the store will likely still be reimbursed for the coupon value when it's all said and done (too much to explain - just trust that they probably will), there's always the chance they WON'T and you have just caused them to lose $7 -10. While it may not seem like a big deal to you that a huge company like Wal-Mart, Target, etc. loses a few dollars here and there, you will ultimately end up paying for it when the store raises their prices, quits accepting coupons, etc., in order to account for money lost. Additionally, you are just flat out lying by presenting as if you are buying a product that you really are not!


Ok, whew ... sorry. Just had to get up on my soapbox for a moment. I could not believe someone would be so blatantly dishonest about coupon use when those of us who are trying to simply save a buck here and there are working so hard to use them the correct way. I don't want to save money so badly that I'm dishonest in the process of doing it! I truly believe that God honors my attempts to save money for our family and use it wisely where our groceries are concerned (Proverbs 31 woman), and if I am being dishonest or, in essence, stealing, there is no way He will continue to honor my efforts!