the neighborhood hero

While the three littlest ones were napping today, us three oldest ones were jumping on the trampoline. We had been enjoying ourselves for awhile when Maggie stops and tells us, "Hey, I think I see smoke over there!" Matt got off and went to our fence to investigate. Sure enough, there was a fire a blazing three houses down.

Matt called the fire department while using a garden hose to try and keep it from spreading.

Here is Maggie calling her grandma, nana, and Mandy to tell them that she saved the day!

blogging

One of my new year's resolutions was to blog more. Not because I think you all care what I have to say, I'm not that disillusioned. I would like to eventually make a hard copy of this blog for each of my children. I may stink at scrapbooks but I can blog! So, yesterday I thought I'd do a "day in our life" post. You know, to document what we do around here. Everyone was dressed and done with chores before 9. We had school done by noon. My mom stopped by, Sky ate lunch here, it was shaping up to be a great day at the Burch house. It all started falling apart when the Parents as Teachers lady stayed too long. Daisy's nap was way too short. The 2 year old, who always takes wonderful 3 hour long naps, refused to nap at all. The final straw came when I found a soiled Oliver diaperless in my closet. When I heard myself repeatedly asking him "Where did you put your poop*?", I knew that I was just not ready to share what really goes on around here. So, back to my trusty picture collage format.......here we have Lucy turning 4.


*down the laundry shoot

Finally, some "official" word

Read this.

So there seems to be a lot of confusion about this new law. I am now hearing that garage sales and consignment sales (like moms of twins sales) will be allowed. Other than that, I haven't heard much reliable information. I know of 3 people who have called Children's Orchard in the last few days. All 3 of them received different information. Scroll down on this blog to read the latest. Or google the consumer protection act.

A call to action

So Jen did some crackerjack investigating and discovered that we are not completely helpless in this situation. Call Roy Blunt's office at 889-1800 and let them know that the Consumer Products and Safety Act is going too far. I called and they said that there are some stipulations on it that could make it far less blanketing than the press has led us to believe. I hope this is true but I still think it is important that we call and let our voice be heard.

stunned

I had just returned with an adorable vintage dress from the D.A.V. yesterday when I read this. I'm sure I'm the last one to hear, like usual. It honestly brought tears to my eyes. The Consumer Products and Safety Act goes into effect Feb. 10th. To save our children from lead and such they are barring any reselling of childrens' items. While it is a noble cause, the law takes it WAY too far. Think about what this means. Resale shops, such as Children's Orchard will be forced out of business. No more buying cute baby clothes on Etsy. No more donating used clothing and toys to the thrift store because they would just have to throw it away. No more reselling on Ebay or in garage sales. How will this affect our family? No more justifying the cost of Gymboree clothes by knowing I can recoup some of it on Ebay after the girls have worn it. No more cleaning out the toy closets before Christmas and selling the items to Children's Orchard. No more scouring thrift stores for vintage dresses and books. Now what to do with all of my childrens' out grown clothing? I give a lot of it away to friends but what about the not so nice stuff I normally just donate? Well it looks like the only option will now be throwing it away. But, when all is said and done, we'll be ok. I'm not so sure about the moms who depend on half price day at the thrift store to cloth their families. There are a lot of moms out there who can't afford retail, even on sale. What will they do now?

a tale of two presents

Santa brought a new trampoline. With an enclosure, don't worry. It just wasn't assembled yet in the picture. He also stuffed the girls' stockings with craft kits he bought for $1 at Michael's. I know they were only $1 because he left the price tags on. Well, the pictured craft kit is one where you put the beads on the pegs, iron it until they all melt together, and then stick a magnet or key chain on it. Fun, fun. As fun as a trampoline? Apparently so. The "connection dots", as she calls them, were such a hit with Maggie. This is how conversations between her and enquiring adults would go:
Adult: "What did Santa bring you?"
Maggie: "CONNECTION DOTS!!!!"
Adult: "Wow! I don't even know what that is. What else did he bring you?"
Maggie: "Not a dog, Mrs. Claus won't let him bring dogs anymore."
Me: "What else did Santa bring?"
Maggie: "Um...Ratatouille."

Moral of the story....5 year olds are just as happy with stuff from the dollar store as they are wonderful presents that will provide years and years of enjoyment. So save your money.

I took the oldest three to Christmas at the farm tonight at Wilson-Rutlidge. I had to bribe the kids with M&M's to get them to sit on Santa's lap.

Even M&M's weren't enough to convince Lucy.

Santa's promise of a candy cane in addition to my M&M's was enough to get her to pose for a picture. But not enough to touch him.

When Maggie asked for a real dog and a trampoline Santa really came through for us by explaining that Mrs. Claus won't let him give pets anymore. She was just always worrying that the kids weren't taking good care of them. On the car ride home, the girls wondered how he got by with bringing them a goldfish last year. Hmmmmm......

Christmas card rejects

After falling apart last year on our way to our 4th party of the day, I vowed that this year would be different. No more over-committing ourselves and our children to the point that we don't even enjoy the season. You know what? It's worked! I am really enjoying the Christmas festivities this year. I can't believe that we have only 4 days left but I'm ready. The only area where I seem to be an utter failure is in getting our Christmas cards out. I really could of skipped it but the ole mama guilt took over as I realized that it is Daisy's first Christmas. So I finally ordered our cards on Friday. At Walmart because it would of taken too long to get them in from the website where I normally order from. I tried to get by with sending less this year but it has become clear that's just not going to work. So, looks like I'll be getting a few dozen more and sending them out this week, probably arriving after Christmas. Until you get yours, here are a couple of our reject pics.

cooking 101

Out of the 22 parties and get togethers we have attended or are planning to attend leading up to Christmas, one of them stands out as the most anticipated. I've been looking forward to this day for weeks. We spent the afternoon soaking in Diana's culinary knowledge, talk about Titus 2 in action. She shared her recipes and her heart for young wives and mothers. Best of all, my freezer is now stocked with 5 delicious meals for my family. Mrs. Recipe Box, how about you hosting the next class?

I'm breaking my word

I know I said I would never speak of this again but I can't help it. There are a few deals out right now that I just have to tell you about. First of all...our local Kmarts are finally participating in double coupons, this week only. They will double your coupon up to $2.00. That means a $2 off coupon becomes a $4 off coupon. I'm heading out to get me a bunch of free stuff in a minute. Today is also cyber monday which is supposedly the biggest online shopping day of the year. I don't know if it lives up to all the hype but there are a few good deals to be found. Old Navy is 20% off site wide and there is free shipping at Gap, BR, and Old Navy. TRU is running some great deals, too. Just google cyber monday and you'll find a lot of sites running specials for today only. Finally, is all this deal seeking and couponing worth it? Well last month I spent $321.62 on groceries. My total before coupons would of been $849.73. To me, that's worth it!

Thanksgiving week

Turkey cookie making. Maggie singing in a can (name that movie). CVSing early Thanksgiving morning. They paid me $14 to take this stuff. Thanksgiving breakfast. Swinging with the 2nd cousins after lunch. Then off to dinner at my parents' house followed by a movie with friends. We have so much to be thankful for!

When I was in the sixth grade, my family hosted an exchange student from Japan. She lived with us for about 10 months while she attended her junior year at Glendale. It was one of the highlights of my childhood. I finally had someone to share clothes with and fight for shotgun in the car. Yuka quickly became a special member of our family. I can still remember how sad I was when she left. I didn't know if I'd ever see her again. Since that sad day 15 years ago, she has visited us 4 times and we met up with her in Hawaii one time. We were so happy to have her and her parents with us the last 5 days. They are such sweet people. I can't wait until we meet again.

It's official!

Congratulations to Sam and his family!!!

We shall never speak of this again.....

Ok. By request, here it is. Call me Clay Aiken because I'm coming out of the closet. The coupon closet. I started this couponing thing last winter but I wanted to keep it quiet. I didn't want to be known as the crazy coupon lady who talked about all of her free toothpaste. Well, I have become that lady. I have 8 tubes sitting in my cabinet right now. I got all of them for free. Anyway, because I keep getting asked about it, here is how to embark on your own crazy coupon journey should you be so inclined.

First, let me tell you where I get the coupons. Online, Here is a great list of lots and lots of printable coupons. Coupons.com is pretty decent, too. The News-Leader's coupons stink so I buy 2 copies of the Kansas City Star every Sunday. I file them all in my really cool coupon binder that looks a lot like a trapper keeper. Except it's bigger.

Now on to using the coupons....I shop at CVS, Walgreens, Dillon's, and Wal-Mart. Here are the websites that tell me what to buy where and with what coupons. There is a whole art form in matching the sales to the coupons so you can get free or almost free stuff.
moneysavingmom.com
comicalcouponcents.com
iheartcvs.com
becentsible.com
mommystayshome.com

Is it worth the time and effort? For a lot of people it wouldn't be. That's the honest truth but for me it is worth it. I have to buy a lot of stuff for the 6 of us. I have 2 children in diapers. I just finished shopping for the whole month's worth of groceries. I spent $133.19. That included 2 packs of diapers, 12lbs of chicken breasts, 3lbs of ground beef, 3 gallons of milk, and lots of other stuff. My pantry is busting at the seams. Without coupons I would of spent $325.43. A savings of almost $200. I will, of course, go back weekly to buy milk and produce but that should only be about another $60 or so. I will also go to CVS every week to load up on whatever free stuff they are handing out. Other than that, we are set.

I have now bared my coupon loving soul to you, the blogging audience. And we shall never speak of this again...

weekend with the Brittons

Such a fun time. We trick or treated, ate, shopped, conquered my fear of propellers, spent an evening with Tre, ate some more, and shopped some more.

Best Halloween Party Ever!! Thanks Talburts!

Still true. MB

St. Louis

Perfect weather. Wonderful food. Thanks Ed and Susan for a great weekend.

Palin power

So we get to the Sarah Palin rally around 8:30. We pass through security around 9 and we get a great spot by the stage. It's freezing so Tiffany and I spend the next 2 hours dancing to keep warm. There was music playing and we were standing right by a speaker so I'm sure we didn't look too weird. We are then treated to a concert by the Pierce Arrow Theater quartet. Awesome. The local Republicans running for office gave their speeches. Then it happened....one of the greatest surprises of my life. The MC says "Please welcome Naomi Judd." What!!?? I had no idea she was going to be there! I lose it at this point, I'm so excited! Tiffany and Rob have never heard of her so I'm trying to tell them who she is. I just love the Judds. I've read Naomi's autobiography and I have her cook book and I've seen the T.V. movie and I love their music. I mean really, who doesn't love their music? That's a rhetorical question. So she gives this great intoduction then Sarah comes on and does her thing. She was amazing. Then she walks around the stage to sign autographs followed by her daughters and Naomi. It was such a fun morning. Shout out to Chad for keeping all 4 kids for 5 hours so we could go. Thanks so much.