Now THAT'S a freebie!!

Yesterday was a great day. I had to get some batteries so before I ran into K-Mart I grabbed 2 $3/1 coupons I had for Snuggle fabric softener. They were on sale 2/$5. I also had a $1/1 coupon for Energizer but that turned into $2 off since I had an extra dollar saved on the fabric softeners! K-mart basically paid me $1 to take two giant bottles of fabric softeners off their shelves!! I'm doing all I can to make lives easier for those who take inventory....

But when I got home, I found this:

They're here!!!

A month or so ago one of the couponing blogs I read posted an entry about becoming a product tester for shoe companies. Since I am running more and ATTEMPTING to run a 10K in June I thought this would be a great way to score some new shoes! I have only heard back from one company so far-Brooks.

They said I'd been accepted into their pool of testers and would be notified when they had a product for me to test. A couple of days later I got another email saying they would be sending me some trail shoes to try. There are all kinds of rules--I have to run a LOT of miles in them-as much on trails as I can, I have to complete the survey exactly one week after I get them, I can't give out specifics of the shoe, etc.

It's really exciting! Shoes that aren't on the market yet and I will have some say in whether or not they get there! They will let me know this week if I have to return the shoes (at my expense) for further testing, but even if I do they will most-likely send them back to me when they're done.

So free shoes! I am now going to sign up everyone in my family.

I just love free stuff.....

No Swomee-Swans, but....

a little voice called out from the back seat as we drove down the street today, "Oh! Look at the Truffula Trees!!"
Have I mentioned that I love spring?? :)

shots from the week

Here are a few shots from the last week. Nick had his first ball game and Joshua had his first Cub Scout camp out. Spring is here!

Book vs. Movie

Joshua and I just finished reading "The Sign of the Beaver." Every day we eagerly dove back in to see what would happen to Matt and root for his success out in the Maine wilderness. By the end, it had become one of Joshua's favorite books-and we are going to start re-reading it soon. We were delighted when we found the movie in the $5 bin at Wal Mart one day and could hardly wait to watch it!

Unfortunately, the movie fell far short of our expectations. Joshua said at one point, "Why is this even called 'The Sign of the Beaver'? It doesn't have anything to do with it!" and it was true. So much of the book was taken out and other things were added that by the end we decided it wasn't a terrible movie if you didn't know what it was supposed to be about, but didn't even come close to how wonderful the actual story was.

Dave remarked that very rarely are movies as good as the book because, "our imaginations are better" and that got us thinking. Alyson recently read the hugely popular Nicholas Sparks book, "Dear John" and was sorely disappointed in the movie-to the point of almost wanting to leave.

Can you think of any movies that were as good as the books? The Wizard of Oz comes to mind. Nick very quickly answered, "Lord of the Rings--particularly the Two Towers!" when I asked him.

Does it make a difference if you see the movie before you read the book?

...

*as an aside, yes, we will be making some breeches this week. Joshua is already sporting his "bear claw" necklace he bought in a kit with his birthday contest money, and his pirate shirt works perfectly. Now the question is, do we just buy mocassins, or do we tackle making them?

No Starving Artist Here

Those of you with a keen eye may have noticed today's event in the "Major Upcoming Events List" on the sidebar and wondered what it was. Well, today was the big presentation for the Grand Prize Winner of the birthday card design contest for the Boy Scouts' 100th Birthday Celebration! We got to go to it beecccaaauuuussse.....Joshua was the winner!!There were over 250 entries and Joshua's was chosen as the grand prize winner. His drawing will be made into cards that the District and Council will use for their correspondence throughout the year! He was awarded a special birthday cake collector's patch, a certificate, and a $250 gift card to the Scout Store!
We got up very early this morning and headed to Baltimore for the Executive Board Meeting with the corporate sponsors. These were the big dogs-the ones who grew up as boy scouts (many of the men wore Eagle Scout pins on their lapels) and have continued to support scouting financially through their businesses. The cars in the parking lot gave a pretty good indication of what a big deal this meeting was. Our Honda Odyssey enjoyed hob-knobbing while we were inside. ;-)
Everyone was very friendly and excited to meet Joshua. He took it all in stride because, after all, he was pretty sure he was going to win from the minute he submitted his drawing. 6-year olds have an incredible amount of self-confidence. And he drew a lot of extra confetti on it just to make sure. :) Alyson stayed home from school today so we could all go up to support Joshie. Nick was asked to help the little guys (one of the 1st prize winners was there as well) lead the flag ceremony to start the meeting. I have no good pictures of the presentation because I was way in the back and then a nice gentleman offered to move up to take some pictures for me. Unfortunately, his pictures didn't turn out any better than mine. I will be getting some copies with the CEO and other chairmen and I will post those then.
Now it's time to go shopping! We'll see how much of that gift card gets spent on Big Boy Scouts....

Charm City Cakes

While we were in Baltimore this morning, someone had the great idea of going to see Charm City Cakes! For those of you who are not Food Network fans, it is a show about a bakery in Baltimore that makes all kinds of fabulous 3-dimensional cakes. They make cakes for local birthday parties, cakes for movie premiers, even the cake for the Super Bowl. Joshua and I have the DVR set to record so we don't ever miss an episode. It's our favorite. :)

Thanks to technology, we googled the address, plugged it into the GPS and pulled up out front 4 minutes later. As we already knew, the windows were blacked out and no visitors were allowed, but we still had fun just standing outside. Since I can't afford to get a cake from them (they start at a thousand dollars!!!) pictures are just fine. I don't mind being touristy too much. :)

If you've watched the show before, you've seen a shot of this bench in the opening credits. I thought it was pretty hilarious to see the bench on a regular day. Welcome to the Greatest City in America!

Smart Shopping, the Sequel

Some of you who live in the area have asked how to get started couponing. Well, this week you have a great opportunity to try it out for yourself. Shoppers Food in Annapolis is going to be having Triple Doubles for the second straight week! I really can't believe it--I went shopping yesterday and spent a total of $27 for $76 worth of food. I saved $49 in coupons!!
Some things I got free are: Gatorade, yogurt (a few varieties and brands), pasta, Yakisoba noodles, and dental floss. I also got several things for less than 50 cents. If you've been wanting to give it a go, this is a fun way to get some free stuff!
How does triple/doubles work? Simply, that the value of every coupon up to 50cents will be tripled and the value of every coupon from 51 cents to $1.00 will be doubled. The doubled coupons are usually even better deals than the triples. For instance, Gatorade was on sale for $1 each. I had a coupon for $1 off 2 Gatorades. It was doubled, though, and joila-two Gatorades for free!
The one thing about this sale is that there won't be a lot of match-ups to find on line because it's only at one store. But that just means that you can see that you can do it on your own! :)
Go for it! And give me a call if you want to compare coupons....

Order of the Arrow Duties

As a member of the leadership of the Order of the Arrow, Nick has some responsibilities in our area. One of those duties is assisting with ceremonies. Last week he got to help lead a bridging ceremony for a group of Cub Scouts who are moving up to Boy Scouts. Here are some pictures of Nick in his regalia and during the ceremony:

Libraries Rock!!

These pictures are brought to you in honor of Grandma G's recent retirement from the Barberton, OH, library. We love libraries!!! :)

Tuesday night Joshua and I went to the library for the celebration of Dr. Seuss's birthday. Joshua was excited (the Lorax is one of his favorite books) and he dressed up in Nick's Cat-in-the-hat costume. He got chosen to help act out one of the stories and had a great evening.
Wednesday afternoon we continued the celebration with 2 of our good friends. We made turtles to stack in honor of Yertle the Turtle

created Cat In the Hat snacks from crackers, frosting, and gummi savers

and even had a play of Green Eggs and Ham presented to us.

Happy 106th birthday, Dr. Seuss!