I'm back...well at least for tonight :)

I'm really, really gonna try! I promise. I've been away, but I have a really good reason.

My son had brain surgery.

Yes, he had a tumor and now it's gone. He has a scar across his head to prove it. He's in Young 5K and doing...um, well with an aide...OK. He's happy, I'm happy. Enough said.

So, now I move on. I think I'm been running off "friends" on fb with my posts on deals. Soooooooooo...I'm going to try, really hard to keep them focused here. Although, I do have the message every now and then for help with freebies and deals. There are a million sites out there, trust me, I follow most of them. But if I can help even 1 person, it's worth it.

I'm saving lots of money and I want to share! So if you like me and want to learn and want to give me incentive to list the deals. Like me, follow me and I will do my best. I'm also planning on doing some reviews/giveaways - but I get those things with followers. So follow me and I'll try to hook you up and randomly put in stories of my life that will make you feel better about yours...LOL :) Not really, I love my life, but darn it, these 3 nutty kidz are something else!

Almost June

I can't believe how time flies. A few things that have been going on...

Fundraising, fundraising and fundraising for the TS Alliance. We have our Michigan walk June 11 and I spend a good portion of the beginning of the year begging for money! I did a Quarter Mania fundraiser, LDS/RA bowling tournament gave me a check for $1000 and members donated an additional $185 and currently I'm doing a thirty-one fundraiser that is ending soon. I do this every year and will continue until there is a cure for my son, Bladen. For background info on Bladen, you can go to www.caringbridge.org/visit/babybladen.

Jax is turning 2! Yes, my baby is no longer a baby. I'm really sad, but excited too. He is such a joy. He's funny, often making Bladen laugh. We have decided this year that we are going to have all the kids birthday parties at home this year to save money. So today, I bought a waterslide...LOL. Toys R Us had a pretty cool Banzai Water Park on sale for $299 today and tomorrow, a whole $100 off! I'll post a review after the party. The only thing I don't like about TRU is that they offer no coupon codes or rebate sites. I checked ebates.com, upromise.com and swagbucks.com and nothing. Boo!!! I always love getting a little extra off or back.


Reese, Reese, Reese...She has one more day of 3 year pre-school. This past Thursday, they must have been doing a cutting project because she snuck scissors in the bathroom and cut off a good portion of her hair! Reese previously has only had one hair cut. I love or loved her long hair. The way she had cut her hair made her look like a little Joe Dirt (movie). A lovely mullet because I'm guessing she couldn't reach the back part. The teacher noticed once Reese came out of the bathroom to show off her hair. I have a feeling the stories are just going to get worse with this child. She's sneaky and has a wicked sense of humor...I have no idea who she gets this from...lol

Bladen is finishing up his 3rd year in his special needs pre-school. I'm proud to say that he will be going to Young-5 Kindergarten next year. They can give him speech, but will not have an aid. So he has to be fully potty-trained. We are up and down with the #2 part, but I will not go back to diapers/pull-ups. I don't care how many dirty underwear I have to scrub...YUCK! Bladen has been saying some really cute stuff lately. I told him how milk came from cows and he looked at me and said, Chocolate, Camel? He loves chocolate milk, who doesn't? He is also learning bargaining skills for when he is about to go #2. I'll tell him, I'll give you candy and he'll say, no, chocolate or sucker. Everything is so cute. He'll see a baby and say, oh baby, so cute. He even tells Jax he is cute. And my favorite, I love you too, mommy!

My husband, Russ, has been working like crazy. Nothing new there.

I did go on a cruise with some friends to the Bahamas while Russ watched the kids. The very first day. Bladen decided to jump our 5ft fence and run across the field in our sub to the playground. Russ was not amused. Since I've been back, Bladen has not once jumped the fence. I think the kids like to test everyone when mommy is away or they just know that mommy doesn't put up with that shhhhhhhh.

Through another mommy friend, I have found a Kroger in Ohio that doubles coupons up to $2!!! It takes about an hour to get there, but so worth it. I'm not one of those extreme hoarders. I only buy what we eat and they also limit to 4 coupons that are the same, which is fine by me. My first trip was almost $300 and I spent $91. And another bonus was that I got fuel points for $300!! So I had $0.50 off per gallon of gas.

So like I said it's almost June and this is how it's looking so far. Garage Sale, Birthday Party, Eye Dr. for Bladen, Tuberous Sclerosis Walk, Overnight Video EEG, ERG, MRI and Ultrasound of kidneys for Bladen, Graduation Party, Crown for me, our anniversary and an evaluation of Bladen for Autism. I'm sure there is more, but that is what is sticking out in my brain of mine right now. Thankfully, the camps I signed the kids up for don't start til July.

Oh and I've joined a Bunco group. I had never played before but it was pretty easy and fun. If you need a night out and don't have money to go out, I strongly suggest creating a group to do this. We meet once a month and rotate houses and you need 8 people. Fun, fun, fun!!!

Goodnight and thanks for reading :)

Spring is springing

I don't know about you, but I'm ready for nice weather. Something about being stuck in the house with 3 kids drives a person, well, nutty. I was already nutty before kids and now I'm just the weird woman you tend to try not to make eye contact with because she will talk your ear off about nothing. Yeah, I've come to realize that this is now me. Sad, but when you have 3 small kids and a hubby that works 6 days a week, you just can't help it. I seek out conversation from anyone that will listen. Anyhow, enough about my sad life.

I was able to take the kids outside a few times already and this is gonna be one great summer. Bladen is now pedaling! Not the best, but he is getting there and Reese isn't far behind. And, Jax, well Jax is swinging on a big kid swing. He holds on and loves it! This kid amazes me everyday and then I get sad. Everything seems to be so easy for him, is this how it is for normal families that don't have a special needs child? Will I be a good enough parent to be proud of Jax and Bladen in their own ways or will I resent Jax for getting it so easy, or will I be more proud of Jax because he will do things better than Bladen?? Oh the things that take over my mind at night. I know they are different kids and will do different things and I can not compare them, but it's hard not too. I am only human, right? I've been called Super Mom, but really all moms are super moms - yes, even moms that don't have a special needs child. We all have our challenges. Well maybe moms that have nannies and maids, not trying to put those people down, really I'm just jealous!

Miss Reese. Poor little girl with 2 rough and tough brothers. She was the first Arndt ER injury. Got a nice cut under her chin and needed 5 stitches. They kept asking how this happened and I think that the answer of, we have 3 kids 4 and under should be enough. To be honest, I don't know how it happened. They may have been on our kitchen table, they may have been on the chair, they may have been running. They were playing, I was doing something in the kitchen (ok, I might have been facebooking or ebaying, i can't remember - so sue me) and my husband was in the basement (I'm assuming hiding from us!) There were screams and when I casually called for the injured to come see mom for a kiss, I noticed blood, lots of blood. The next thought was, do we really have to take her to the ER? I mean, I got the bleeding to stop, but there was a huge gash, HUGE. Is it wrong of me to think, oh great, there goes our $100 co-pay? So after a 1 min debate with myself, I instructed DH to take her to the ER. We can skip the grocery store for a week, right? Maybe, she'll be a super model one day and will thank us for getting her stitched up so she wouldn't have so nasty scar, right? Ha!

Ok, enough about the kids.

Do you have an Aldis in your area - it maybe a michigan thing? If you do and have never been in, check it out. You have to have cash or maybe a checkbook, I know, what is that? And you'll need your own bags and a quarter for the cart - but they have so really good deals. I got a pineapple for $1.59! The other week, they had red, green and orange bell peppers for $1.99 for 3! And milk is only $1.89 - hormone free too. I think I go once a week now and spend about $25. I get 4 gallons of milk and yogurt (1.89 for the big one) and then whatever fruit and veggies on special.

Well enough for now. I have a fundraiser going on tomorrow for the Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance! We have our walk June 11 - www.firstgiving.com/teambladen

Shannon :)

yeah, I suck

So it's been forever since I've posted, yeah I know. Thus, the reason for the title. I have no good excuse. I've had no energy, no drive. I did have a very busy November with Dove Chocolate Discoveries which was awesome and then I had surgery in December. Number 7 for those counting at home.

Bladen has been talking up a storm. In fact, just the other day, he said "Gawd, dammit!" That's my boy.

Ok, Russ just turned over in bed with a huff - guess he doesn't like me typing at midnight. Will try, try, try to post tomorrow!