Don't be shocked

I'm still alive. I'm sorry I haven't been posting here much lately. I just can't get my brain to focus on blog writing.

I have been writing over here on Mondays and Wednesday. Check out my blog on the right side of the page.

I'll try to do better. Pictures will be coming this weekend after Hoss' 3rd birthday. It's amazing that he is almost three already. I no longer have a baby.

Body Slam!

I think Hoss has inherited my zealot tendencies.

My husband is a WWE wrestling fan. Much to my chagrin, he has a collection of wrestling figures which live in our living room. Oh the joy! Last weekend he cleaned these out and gave a Hoss a few of the figures to play with. Since that moment Hoss has become obsessed with wrestling.

My husband is very excited about this and has been educating Hoss on the terminology and names of the wrestlers he has. Hoss is obsessed.

Tonight, he was playing with two of the wrestling figures and one said to the other, "Say power bomb please." The other said, "Power Bomb please." And then Hoss had the figure power bomb the other.

It just warms my heart to know "power bomb," "choke slam," "clothesline" and "body slam" are regular words in my son's vocabulary.

I believe I am outnumbered! At least he's still polite!

Works for Me Wednesday -- Car Air Conditioning

A couple months ago I had to get my car's air conditioner fixed. It had not been working all summer and it was far too hot to continue without air conditioning in the car. So I took it in and had it fixed. Which was not as painful as I initially thought.

The mechanic was very friendly and he gave me great advice that I had never heard before. He showed me a button for my A/C (one I believe is in most cars) that shows air circulating throughout the car. He said to make sure this button is on when using the A/C. He said that the air will circulate throughout the car and back in and the cooler air in the car will prevent the A/C from working too hard. If you don't use this the A/C will pull in air from outside the car (probably near the engine) and it works harder to cool the air.

I can tell a definite difference between how long it takes for the air to cool when I forget to use the circulating button. That's what works for me. For more great tips visit Shannon!

Super Savings Saturday -- CVS

This week I purchased the following from CVS:

* Children's Claritin $8.99
* Colgate toothpaste $2.99
* 3 Suave body washes $6
Total -- $17.98
Coupons used:
$2/$10 CVS coupon -- $15.98
$2 Claritin coupon -- $13.98
$3 CRT CVS Claritin coupon -- $10.98
$1 Colgate coupon -- $9.98
BOGO Suave body wash -- $7.98
2 .50cent Suave coupon -- $6.98
$5 in ECBs -- $1.98
Tax .48 cents
TOTAL out of pocket, $2.46
Earned $5 in ECBs.

2nd purchase (I received an email from CVS for $3 off Claritin, we needed more to stock up so I went ahead and did a 2nd purchase!)

2 Covergirl Wetslicks $11.98
1 Children's Claritin $8.99
Total -- $20.97
Coupons used:
$2/$10 CVS coupon -- $18.97
$3 CVS coupon for Claritin -- $15.97
$2 Claritin coupon -- $13.97
BOGO Covergirl lip product ($5.99)-- $7.98
$1 off any Covergirl product -- $6.98
$5 in ECBs -- $1.98
Tax .66 -- $2.64 out of pocket
Earned $6.99 in ECBs

For more Super Savings Saturday posts check out Money Saving Mom.

Close up

Waiting for our car after a doctor's appointment. Free valet parking when you have a kid is a life saver!

It's about time!

Right when I thought there was no hope, he did it. Hoss independently decided he needed to go pee pee in the potty!!!!

It has only been 5 months since Potty Training Bootcamp, which was not successful in anyway. And finally we had success.

Tonight Hoss told me he needed to go pee on the potty. He ran to the bathroom and told me we were only going to read a book, not to pee. He sat on the potty and as I was on page 2 of the book he started to stand up. I told him to sit down, but he kept standing up and then I noticed he had peed. YAY!!!!!!!!

We had a little party in which Hoss chose a toy from the prize box (Maracas, what was I thinking? I guess they can join the band of the drum and recorder. We could play a mean "Hot Cross Buns" don't ya think?). We also added a sticker to the potty chart.

I am so proud! Let's hope this will continue tomorrow.

He had other plans

Yesterday I mentioned that Hoss and I attended my sister's college graduation last Saturday. Let me tell ya, this was not what Hoss had planned for the day.

I came prepared. My purse was overflowing with all the necessary items needed for appropriate two year old entertainment.

There were all the favorite superheros, a book, juice and a snack. What else do you need? Apparently for my kiddo you need a large field to run in and a Grandpa to chase you.

Thankfully the graduation ceremony was held outdoors and there was room where Hoss could run around and not disturb others (which he was doing sitting in the seats with us). Thanks for Grandpa, Mommy did not have to do much chasing. But even though he was able to run around, Hoss was still very ready to go home when the ceremony was over.

He did have lots of toys to get back to. Other kids' toys are always the best!

My little sis, the graduate

Last weekend (not yesterday, but the one before that) Hoss and I traveled south to Alabama to watch my little sister graduate college. She adds graduate to a long list of titles she holds.

I am so proud of her. While I attended college to get my bachelor's degree straight from high school on mom and dad's dime, my sister received her associates degree right after high school. She then got married and lived life for a few years. But over the past few years she has been working a full-time and demanding job, raising two children (who are 3 and 1 now and pretty much the smartest kids around), and being the best wife she can be all while going to college, sometimes carrying a full-time class load.

I can't even imagine going back to school now that I have a kiddo and I only have one (she is planning on starting her master's degree next fall). She's amazing!

Way to go Bec! I'm proud of ya!