A Fabulously Flawed Life

Dude. I love these blog-things! You Are Thanksgiving You don't need a lot to make you feel happy during the holidays. You already feel very blessed. It is easy for you to be thankful. You think the holidays are the perfect time to express your gratitude. You are definitely not a materialistic person. If anything, you feel like the holiday season has been infected with greed. An indulgent meal in a warm home surrounded by those close to you is more than enough. Anything extra is just whipped cream on your pumpkin pie. Are You Christmas or Thanksgiving?

You Are a Girl or Guy Next Door You are as all American as apple pie, and you're so normal that you belong in a TV sitcom. And really, that's a pretty great thing. You're a solid person, and you pride yourself on being quite down to earth. You value your friends and family, and you don't need much in life to be content. You feel grateful for what you have. You are honest and you have a great work ethic. You believe in giving back as much as you can. What's Your Stereotype? Blogthings: 100's of Fun, Free Quizzes and 3 Stupid Ones

I've been reading all kinds of frugal blogs lately and thanks to Alyssa for helping me make sense of it all, I'm now a couponer. {{again}} About every 2-3 years I pick it back up. Then I get burned out and stop, next I run out of supplies, and then remember how much money I used to save and what my 3 month supply used to look like. Apparently, it's a revolving process. This week I spent $75.21 and saved $131.13 at Kroger. I only bought things I knew my picky eaters would consume. Whoohoo!! As you can tell, it's a ton of meat. Luckily for us we're carnivors. If you're interesed, here are the blogs: Krazy Koupon Lady Deal Seeking Mom Kingdom First Mom Surviving the Stores Money Saving Mom Drake has been having nightmares about flying saucer spiders with wings. It's been a week of crying and interrupted sleep. He fell asleep in the car and I was able to trick him into thinking I was still snuggling him - thanks to a lot of pillows. {{sneaky}} However,...

Last week the boys had the day off of school (why - I have no idea) so we loaded up and headed over to the movies. We saw Astro Boy and the kids really enjoyed it. Even Drake sat through the entire thing. Thank goodness for refillable popcorn and friends who are good examples. After the movies, the older kids planned a nerf war at our house. They came over and battled it out. It was quite fun to have so many kiddos running around and pretending to be in the secret forces. Everyone was included and luckily there was a gun for everyone. Davis was a sniper and REALLY got into it. Can you tell?

I got the boys winter church outfits in the mail this week. I realized on Saturday as I was opening them up, that I had better get their pictures taken BEFORE they wore them. You never know how an outfit will survive a Turk boy and 3 hours. {{giggle}} So on a complete whim we ran over to Sears and got some quick shots of the boys. I was really proud of how well they did. Even Drake took direction and moved his hands and chin when asked. Who knew he could do that?!? We all had a good time and this marked the 2nd round of pictures we have done that I haven't gone home in tears. Boy we've come far. {{not kidding}} Way to go boys!

Davis turned 11 years old this month. Holy Cow!! He started the day at 6:30am with his favorite breakfast - pancakes. Jason took 30 cupcakes up to the school for his homeroom class, and all of his teachers and aids. Due to time constraints they ended up eating them at 7:40 in the morning. Turns out we gave 25 kids a sugar rush that day. {{evil laugh}} Davis came home from school and everything was ready for the family party. Well, I thought everything was ready. When Jason came home a couple minutes later he reminded me of 2 presents I had hid in my car. We had Davis go up to his room while I got them out. This was his reaction when he saw his bike ramp. Needless to say, he loved it. He also got a beginner grinding station for his skateboard. Gramma Betty & Grandpa Gary - this is your present for him. He LOVED it!! Since we really didn't have a "theme" for the party - I ordered a sponge bob cake. I thought it would be funny. Davis said, "Mom this is very...

You can always tell life is completely insane when I don't update my blog for a holiday. Especially to commemorate my favorite one - Halloween! I took the boys to Dylan's school carnival. The PTA seriously outdid themselves this year as it was completely OTT with a variety of things to do. Drake loved the petting zoo. We all had a great time. Drake had a hard time trying to decide what prize to pick after each game. The only problem we encountered was when Drake discovered the bounce houses. He ran me ragged running from one bounce house to the other the rest of the time we were there. Davis has the best luck of anyone I know. The little guy was banned last year from the cake walk because he won EVERY TIME he participated. He was completely devastated last year when it happened. This year he took things into his own hands and after winning twice in a row, told the principle that he was banning himself this year. This way all the other kids would have a turn to win. ...

Dude. @LittleDebbie is following me on Twitter. I heart Little Debbie and should own some stock as I'm emotionally invested in these baked goods. We're a match made in icing heaven. {{smooches}}

Ladies! I have really been surprised at how many Mom-prenuers (women with at-home businesses) do not have a Facebook Fan Page AND a Networked Blog page for their business, do not have a blog, or a twitter account . This thing called "social media" is not a fad and will not go away just because you don't understand it. If you want to make money online from your home - please sign up for these accounts and play around with it for a while. If you need help, I know a thing or two and would be happy to help you out. If I can't answer your question - I know someone who can. Please catch up! If you aren't trying to make money online - ignore me all together. {{cheesy grin}}

I dragged Lisa out to the races over the weekend. It was supposed to be time with our men but they got caught up at school and missed it. Major bummer. Lisa and I had a blast and you can see all about it in my NASCAR Whrrl Story . Powered by Whrrl

I have organized some amazing upcoming events for just for Tip Junkies ! It's my way of saying "Thank You" for an incredible year of fabulous ideas and lots of new readers and friendships. Mark your calendars and tell all your blogging buddies. Believe me, you won't want to miss out on any of the amazing ideas or free goodies. 1. To help promote & feature some of the amazing women who have joined the Mom-preneur Shop-a-thon , I have set up the 12 Days of Christmas, um I mean Junkie! It will start tomorrow, Monday November 9th. It will run similar to the Birthday Bash back in June; where each giveaway will last only 24 hours and a winner will be picked each morning. There will be two winners each day! This HUGE giveaway has 2 purposes: 1. To spotlight women’s products in hopes that you’ll find something you love and then buy or barter for it. 2. To give away products for you to use at home or save some cash and give as a gift. Other events coming up: 2. Christ...

Skate Rail Grind I'm in complete denial that it's already November and time to get my hiney in gear and get my Christmas shopping done. Usually, I'm much more organized but this year I have a new attitude and I'm just rolling with the punches and keeping things easy. I've been getting requests from Grandparents to get the boys Christmas gift lists ready. Honestly, I have no idea what they want. The boys are getting older and their interests are changing. So I packed up all the kids, grabbed Lisa as my wing man, and we headed on over to Toys R Us. Since I couldn't be with the older boys I took an easy approach and handed them my camera and told them to take pictures of what they want for Christmas! This way I could focus on Drake and figure out his list. Davis' Wish List: Glow in the Dark Nerf Geeze these kids are cheesy! {{I have no idea where they get it from}} I came home to discover some pretty funny pictures. Leave it to my boys to make a Chris...