Changing Me

Here lately I often find myself thinking about who I’ve become.  Just a few years ago I was selfish and had my priorities wrong.  On the outside not everyone may have seen but especially now looking back I can see how wrong I was.  I’m am so glad things have changed.  Maybe you could call it maturity but I think it is more than that.  

I am a new woman.  Not completely where I need to be but don’t we all feel that.  I am more of the wife and mother that God wants me to be and that my family needs me to be.  It amazes me to think of how I have changed.  I used to dress for work for others now I just throw on anything because my appearance comes last to the care of my family.  I given myself to my family.  Don’t get me wrong I have my hobbies (remember couponaholic anonymous). 

I remember when I started blogging I wanted so badly to make friends and have people who really cared about what I wrote and then I did and do and I’ve been gone for so long.  This time in our lives has been hard but it is getting easier.  We are adjusting to our new routine.  Lil’ Bum I think is finally defeated a month long staph infection in her bladder. Thank God!  I still long to be a stay at home mom and it gets closer and closer every day. 

I really DO believe I am where I am meant to be right now and it feels good!

I’ll try not to stay gone so long this time.

CA

Hi………………
My name is Momma Bum
&
..
.
I’m a couponaholic!

Here’s proof:

I can’t help myself. All that coupony goodness just waiting there for a new owner. I can do great things for my family and others with LOTS AND LOTS OF COUPONS.

If you’ve never checked it out before and you are an interested, semi, of full blown couponaholic you should check out www.hotcouponworld.com .

There is a wealth of money saving knowledge in those pages with tons of people just like me.  At first I lurked and then I slowly started joining the group.  Last week I started sharing and trading coupons with others.  Today I made $4 off of coupons someone else needed that I didn’t.

Hallie,  I even started saving Coke points………………….and I’ve sorta…………..well kinda………………..started drinking more……….ahhhh………………Diet Coke.  Aren’t you proud of me?

 

Now one person that comes to mind when talking about HCW is Tracy.  Her learning CVS turned me on to the concept of frugality and bargain shopping. Thank You for showing me the light.

All kidding aside. I am super exhausted tonight and my back is killing me. I’m starting to think it could be that I hunker over in recycle bins for fun that is taking its toll on my body.

Lisa, I haven’t forgotten about your concern for our babies so I wanted to share my Inlaws new project. Meet our horsey home.  The cut colt has had his picture doctored on the site but He LOOKS AWESOME.  I was even shocked at how well he has recovered.  We are in the process of taking pictures this week.

 Check back in later.  I need to go count my coupons.

Snack Day and other successes

I’ve noticed that lately when I actually do post it is most of the time negative so tonight I decided to post on the things that have gone well lately.

Yesterday it was Lil’ Bum’s turn to bring snacks for Pre-K class. They asked for a low sugar option and since I really wanted her to have something cool I decided on a low sugar banana pudding. We took the small Glad cups and put crushed vanilla wafer in the bottom and them filled them with fat free/sugar free vanilla pudding and fat free cool whip (which is low in sugar). Since the cups were so small we just sent the bananas seperate. Guess what!!! They were a success. I was a little worried that the teacher would think they were too much trouble but I sent napkins and utensils and instructions to place the dirty cups in a plastic bag and I would wash them. She seemed pleased and Lil’ Bum was happy. Success #1.

Mom got her 3rd round of chemo Monday and has been feeling surprisingly well. This is a great relief because she was really dreading the side affects. Yeah Mom! And Granny for being such a good nurse and being there for her! Thank You! Success #2.

Also, my friend H was having some pregnancy complications. She started bleeding last week. She is far enough along that it wasn’t implantation. We were scared. The doctors said all she could do is wait and see. As of Sunday, all bleeding has stopped. Success #3.

I have been having loads of fun couponing. I have been sharing tips with a co-worker and she is super excited. I love saving money and helping others do so as well.

So besides the fact that I still feel super rushed with pre-k now started there are many good things going on as well.

Pre-K Princess

Lil’ Bum started Pre-K yesterday. She loves it but she’s exhausted. Tonight was the first night that I can ever remember that she went to bed with no fight. Not a peep. Sound asleep.

I haven’t read your blogs in forever. There never seems to be any time. I can’t read at work anymore because they put up a new firewall. At home I barely have time to sit down. Our new schedule now that school has started is even worse. We leave before 7am and get home after 5pm. Then there is dinner, baths, and bed. Then I have cleaning, laundry etc. Needless to say I go to bed exhausted and bitter. This is not how I wanted motherhood to be. I want to pick them up from school and be able to have time to play. I have big goals to maybe do that by next summer. I just have to get Mr. Bum in agreement. Right now I have my mind set on saving and becoming debt free. He has his mind more on buying tractors etc.

I hope to catch up with you all soon and try to post more often.

Paws at Peace

These muddy prints have always been sort of a nuisance in my eyes, but last night they meant so much. As I swept the porch I realized that once those wash away they will not be replaced. They were so much more important to me then than ever before.

Sunday afternoon, Mr. Bum took this picture. He thought she looked cute. Sunday evening he sat in the grass with her and tried to comfort her as she had a seizure.

Monday morning I made the call to end her life. It was horrible and a relief. The feeling that you decided when something died and the relief of not having to wonder if she hurt or how it would end. Off and on I was weepy until last night. After everyone was asleep I went to the yard to throw away those nasty urine stained beds. As much as I hated those things it killed me to think they would not be replaced. I sat outside and cried.

Rest in Peace Micah!  18 years

99, 100, 101 +++

No, we are not practicing our counting skills, that my friends has been what our temperature has been ranging this week.  No rain in sight and not much of a breeze.  We ALWAYS have wind except when its so hot that you start sweeting 0.2 seconds after setting foot outside.

The horses seem to be taking it pretty well.  Can you call it the “Horse Days of Summer”?

Just in case you do notice. The little guy did get cut and it looks so much better than it did in this picture.

Baby Bum has been handling the heat pretty well.

On the other hand, he has not handle his Big Sis being gone. He has had so many tantrums this week that I can only think it has to do with her being gone.

Lil’ Bum is still in Florida. They are supposed to return to Arkansas on Saturday and we will pick her up in Texas on Sunday. She has been having a blast but I think homesickness has set in.

The Hurricanes a Comin’

Look out Jenna and Nana.  Her she comes.

 

Lil’ Bum left on Thursday to go stay with her grandparent’s in Arkansas.  They have left this morning for Destin, Florida.  We won’t go pick her up until week from tomorrow.

This is the longest stay away from home ever for her.

It’s already killing me.

Attention Target Shopper

With all the talk of Target going on I thought I would add my story.  This story is not of coupon woes but of shrieking babies.

You see, the nearest Target to me is about 1 hour away so getting to bargain shop there is quite a treat.   Last week I made plans to drive up to that city to do some bargain shopping and pick up Lil’ Bum from a stay with her cousins.  I was ecstatic. 

Whoa!

I think that is the first time I have admitted to being excited to shop.  Bargain shopping rocks.

So…anyway…I had been planning days in advance organizing and printing coupons.  Making lists and then remaking them.  I had 2 envelopes:  1 non-grocery and 1 grocery.  I even took an ice chest so that I might get food.

I WAS PREPARED FOR ALMOST EVERYTHING!

I wasn’t prepared for the way my son decided to act about 5 minutes after we walked in the door.

A quick run through of the clearanced clothing and on to diapers.  That is when it all fell apart.  Baby Bum decided that that day was not the one that he wanted to sit in the buggy.  He wanted down and he knows how to throw his weight around.

I grabbed diapers and wipes and headed to personal care items.  I finally gave up and put him down.  He stayed semi-calm playing with bottles of mouth wash but I was constantly picking them up off the floor and putting them back into the basket…………………………….only to pick them up again.

On to the next isle.  That is when I realized he had pooped.  Big time. 

If I could only hurry and change him outside.

The next 15 minutes were somewhat of a blur.  It involved my son shrieking and fighting as I try to juggle coupons and find products.  I couldn’t just leave and come back later.  It could be a month.

I tried putting him down again  as I searched shelves but the small bottles of mouthwash on the floor turned into big boxes of dog treats.

I desperately wanted to search for groceries but it was hard to put things into the buggy and still keep Baby Bum from falling over the side..  I tried toys, I tried singing, I tried crackers.  Nothing work.

 Hey lady in Target that scoffed me ( yeah I heard you).  Guess who!  It’s me, you know, THAT woman.  THAT woman with THAT shrieking baby who threw his Goldfish on the floor and his mother didn’t pick them all up.  I heard you tell you male shopping buddy, “She’s just going to leave them.”  I did.  Not one of my proudest moments but I felt helpless.  Had I bent down to pick them up he would have fallen from the buggy (he’s tricky like that) and had I put him down on the ground to pick them up I wouldn’t have been able to collect Goldfish for picking up the merchandise that would have been pulled from the shelves.  Let me add that your comment made me feel even worse than I already did.  Thanks

I finally gave up and headed to the check-out with my screaming 1 year old bouncing up and down in the seat.  After I had found what looked like a really nice cashier ( I had a ton of coupons) I realized that the coupon envelope that I had planned to use………………..WAS…………………GONE.  Almost $50 in coupons……………GONE.

At this point I could have cried.  I was disappointed, embarrassed and exhausted.  Luckily as we backtracked our steps we came upon the envelope with not one coupon missing. 

Back at checkout my cashier ROCKED!  She scanned all of my coupons no problem and I left having saved a ton of money.  I didn’t exactly have everything I had planned to get but we were all in one piece.  At least physically………….my mind was gone.

I did learn one valuable tool for frugal living, “Take your son shopping with you when he’s not in the mood.”  You will definitely spend less and you’ll get a good workout.  The only downfall would be that you will probably not just lose weight but also brain cells. 🙂

Sorry Target employees who had to sweep up my Goldfish!  I was not having a good day.

See Tracy, you are most definitely not alone.

Tomato Talk

A couple of weeks ago at a prayer class all the children were asked to share a prayer request and choose a child to pray for it.  When Lil’ Bum was asked to share she asked that an older boy, J, pray that I would fix her tomatoes because I never buy tomatoes. 🙂

Well, we did plant tomatoes several weeks ago but I don’t think we can rely on our two plants to produce any juicy tomatoes this year.

Can you guess what happened to our tomato plants?

I couldn’t bring myself to squash him. The mess would have been horrible. My plan was to take him somewhere far away the next day but the cup he was in blew over and…..well………I think I know what Kitty had for dinner that night.

 

Little Man/Big Weekend

We all had a very big weekend.  Baby Bum more than others because it all centered around him.  The festivities started with a little play time with Sissy and some spin dancing(spinning in circles until you are dizzy and laughing hysterically as you fall).  Later in the evening on Friday my family arrived.  The kids did much playing until around 11pm.

There is one definite difference in these girls. K wakes up with a smile on her face while Lil’ Bum cries because her sleep has been disturbed.

 

 

The first big moment of our weekend celebrations was Baby Bum’s birthday party.  His Nona made him a cute little turtle out of cupcakes which he devoured.  I think by the time it was all over he had eaten 3 cupcakes of the 6.

 

Then the kids enjoyed a little pool time.

 

On Sunday our family gathered to witness in Baby Bum’s baptism.

He was pretty hard to contain until the actual moment of the baptism when he became extremely calm……………for about 20 seconds and the moment was over.  He Wanted Down!