More Gas and Grocery Savings

Some of you may recall my recent shout out to Maceys for their fuel rewards program. I'll admit that I've become a bit obsessed lately with saving money on gas and groceries. So I was super excited when Duke told me about about a way to $600 a year in rebates on gas and grocs, plus get extra savings and rebates from other stores I shop at, like Costco and Target, through thEZmall.com. There's a membership fee, just like at Costco, but what you get back is far more than what you spend. The way it works is this: you register online and choose one grocery store and/or one gas company to shop/fill up at. Then you do your normal shopping (or fill up your tank) just like you would any other month. Save your reciepts, and if they total $100 (who doesn't spend at least $100 a month on gas or groceries?? I'd like to meet them.) mail them in with a voucher you print off at home, and the next month you get a $25 Visa gift card in the mail. That's it!! So simple, right? I'm really amped about it! I'm doing both the gas and the grocery programs, so that's $50 a month, $600 a year! Right now thEZmall is running a half price special (through Wednesday only), so you can get both programs for $100 a year- no pesky monthly fees or anything like that- AND get to shop on their online mall which launches at the end of April. That's less than $2 a WEEK. Pretty sweet, no? Anyway- check it out at thEZmall.com It's not MLM (whew!), but you do get referral bonuses for referring your friends and family. And Duke is one of the co-founders of the company, so you know it's not some crazy internet scam I got duped into. lol :) Happy Savings!!

This kitteh will EAT you while you sleep

Apparently the kids have been taking pictures when I'm not looking. And provoking my mom's cats' homicidal tendencies.

Yeah... and a bass drum

Today in the car:

Spencer- "Mom, this car would be cooler if we had a microwave in it."
Hannah "Yeah! And a guitar. ... And a bass drum."

LOL I didn't even think Hannah knew what a bass drum was! :)


**Also, please don't forget about my previous post regarding private blogs. :) Thanks!!

Private Blogs

Okay- everyone is going private lately! I'm missing out on freinds' and families' blogs because I can't remember all the URL's and they don't update in my Reader when they go private. Whine! lol So if anyone who reads MY blog has a private blog, PLEASE leave a comment and give me the URL again. I'm a space cadet, I know, I'm sorry. I promise I will make a bookmark list for them and I'll never ask again. Als0- comments will be moderated on this one, so you know it will be private. :) Thanks gang!

The Squirrels Did It

Hannah is my cuddle-bug. Such an easy going, simple, happy child. :) Fun kid, that one. Today she ran up to me, in a state, shrieking "MOM! There's milk and CEREAL on the TABLE!!(EVERYTHING is super dramatized in Hannah's world.)" I told her that it was okay, and that she could clean it up and she replied, quite calmly, "I didn't do it. The squirrels did it." We're always dealing with those crazy squirrels. Oh, and the lions and tigers and baby bears and spiders and kittens and every other creature under the sun. Hannah loves animals. And babies. :) She is a natural born mother. :) What great kids I've got.

Aspen turned seven in February (I can't remember if I mentioned that already or not) and recently lost her seventh tooth. :) How coincidental. She's doing really well in school. We're considering home schooling her next year, just to keep her busy enough. That kid is as sharp as brass tacks. Jacob is getting ready to compete in the Hershey Track Meet next month. He's very excited. This morning he woke me up, fully dressed, and said "Mom! It's 6 o'clock! Let's go running; we have to practice!". Ha! That crazy kid. Spencer is gearing up for kindergarten this year. I think the teacher he gets had better be a stalwart soul. That boy is a big ball of energy. I, for one, will be happy for a break. lol Then it will just be me and Hannah for a few hours every day. What will THAT be like??

In other news, I tore through my LAST pair of contacts Monday night. Allergy season has kicked in for me and all the eye-rubbing is hard on those little guys. Seeing (haha- SEE what I did there?) as it was my last pair, and I don't have glasses, I was forced to go in and finally order a pair. Thank goodness my prescription was still good- for eyeglasses only, unfortunately, not contacts. So I'm back to specs; I've actually kinda missed them. :) They'll get here in a week, and in the meantime, the lady at the vision center was kind enough to give me one last trial pair of contacts to get me though. Whew!! ShopKo ROCKS!

That's it, I guess. We don't have any major news to report. We're excited for Easter this weekend. Our Easter tends to last all weekend, since we made a deal with the Easter Bunny. He comes to our house a day early (Friday night) so we can spend Sunday focusing on Christ, instead of finding our baskets. So glad that he's flexible like that. :) What Easter traditions do you have?

Ha.

This one pretty much explains itself. I'm thoroughly disgusted with pretty much ALL of our elected officials right about now. I won't go into a long, drawn-out political commentary here. This is not a political blog. I just feel like I have to say SOMETHING.

"I'M MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANY MORE!!" Howard Beale~ Network

You can't be alive and breathing, and possessing a TV or internet, right now and not know who Glenn Beck is. If you haven't yet, check out his 9-12 Project. I think the concept is fantastic. Here are the 9 principles and 12 values that he espouses:

9 Principles

1.	America Is Good.
2.	I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life.
	God “The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the external rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained.” from George Washington’s first Inaugural address.
3.	I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.
	Honesty “I hope that I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider to be the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man.” George Washington
4.	The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.
	Marriage/Family “It is in the love of one’s family only that heartfelt happiness is known. By a law of our nature, we cannot be happy without the endearing connections of a family.” Thomas Jefferson
5.	If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.
	Justice “I deem one of the essential principles of our government… equal and exact justice to all men of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political.” Thomas Jefferson
6.	I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results.
	Life, Liberty, & The Pursuit of Happiness “Everyone has a natural right to choose that vocation in life which he thinks most likely to give him comfortable subsistence.” Thomas Jefferson
7.	I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.
	Charity “It is not everyone who asketh that deserveth charity; all however, are worth of the inquiry or the deserving may suffer.” George Washington
8.	It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion.
	On your right to disagree “In a free and republican government, you cannot restrain the voice of the multitude; every man will speak as he thinks, or more properly without thinking.” George Washington
9.	The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me.
	Who works for whom? “I consider the people who constitute a society or a nation as the source of all authority in that nation.” Thomas Jefferson

12 Values

• Honesty
• Reverence
• Hope
• Thrift
• Humility
• Charity
• Sincerity
• Moderation
• Hard Work
• Courage
• Personal Responsibility
• Gratitude

I find that these principles and values are perfectly in line with what I believe and the foundations with which I try to govern MY life. Please take a look at the website, if you haven't already. I think we're in a place in our country and in history, that, more than ever, we need to take a look at our lives and our hearts and make sure that we're anchored to the right stuff. Tough times are coming. We all need to buckle up, and make sure that our houses are built upon the rock- not the sand. :)

Nothing New

So I haven't been blogging much lately, because there's not really anything new to say! lol The kids are all doing well and growing too fast. Duke says that we've got to stop feeding them so that they'll stop growing. lol This is not a popular idea. The weather's starting to get nice. Warm enough for short sleeves and shorts (in the afternoon) but not hot. I love it. Hayfever should be kicking in anyday, though, and then I'll be miserable. Duke's still loving his job, and he's getting ready to be promoted by the end of the month. School is definitely tougher than I thought it would be, but then, I knew my naivete wouldn't last very long. :) I've turned in a few papers in English and got them all back with A's on them, so that's pretty cool.
Duke's mom came up to visit us for a few days this month. It was sooooo awesome to see her and to get to spend time with her. I'm so glad that I have a mother-in-law that I get along with- I love love love her. She's such an awesome support. The kids had A BLAST spending time with her, too. She camped out in their bedroom and read stories to them and played candyland and introduced us all to popcorn with Hot Tamales in it. That stuff is surprisingly good. Honestly, I never wanted her to go. We keep hoping we'll get Duke's family up here closer to us. It would be nice to see them more often. Suffice it to say, we all miss Nanna Vi very much, and can't wait to see her and Papa Shane again when they come up for General Conference. Hopefully we'll be able to go down to Vegas for a bit this summer and see the whole clan.
Well, that's about it. I gotta plug Macey's new Fuel Rewards program while I'm online. It's GREAT! They've partnered with Flying J to give discounts on gas. The more you spend in groceries, the more you save on gas. Macey's is pretty good, as far as prices go, and Flying J is usually the least expensive gas within a 5 mile radius, already, so it feels like double savings! Today I picked up groceries for 2 weeks (I'd rather do one BIG shopping trip than several small ones), and next time I fill up at Flying J, I'll get 20 cents off every gallon!! I have a big tank, and I saved over 7 dollars last time. That really adds up!! So, if you haven't already, check it out. I'm pretty happy with it.