Olivia and Brennady had a little performance at their dance studio. We invited Jerry and Carma and Carma's daughter Christy. Christy brought her cute kiddos, Acacia and Kyler with her. They liked the performance so much they are going to sign up for ballroom dancing too! I am excited they are going to dance with us!! We needed some more little dancers.

Getting ready to dance.

Gem State Competition 02/27/2011

Brennady and Olivia looking like they actually like each other. They did awesome. Olivia took 3rd in the Cha Cha and 4th in the Swing. Brennady took 4th in the Cha Cha and the Swing.

In this Tango, Keneisha and Mickey took 1st place. Keneisha is fascinating to watch dance. She has found such passion in ballroom dancing....this from the girl that we bought double reinforced knees on her pants cuz she was always running around on her hands and knees pretending to be a horse. I was stunned when she came to me and asked to take ballroom. My gorgeous tom boy was gonna do something girlie...I couldn't believe it.

Taushi was soooooo nervous for this Tango. This was her first competition. She hasn't had the opportunity to perform much but she has been putting in the practice and the talent is showing. I know that she could be great. She took 6th place in this Tango. Keneisha and her didn't have to compete against each other this time. Keneisha danced up a level from Nataushia. I am so proud of Taushi for her hard work and dedication. She is really turning out to be a good dancer too.

This is Keneisha's dance partner. They have been dancing together for about 2 years now. They put in a ton of work. Keneisha takes regular classes 3 days a week for 1 hour. Then she takes ballet 1 day a week for an hour. She also has private lessons for an hour before her Wednesday class. After her Friday class she stays at the dance studio while Arica teaches adults various dances and practices with her partner until 9 or 10 at night. Her dedication is amazing.

Running Log

Keneisha and I made it 4.1 miles tonight. We ended up walking most of it, but we still made it. Heather, my running partner via distance, said that she and her sisters are planning on running a 10 K. A 10 K...6.2 MILES!!!...HOLY FREAKING CRAP!!! I am a little scared of that but I think I can do it. We have until the end of summer and since we made it 4.1 tonight I think we will hit 6.2 before we know it.

Thanksgiving Dinner

Pride

Pride is a funny thing. We are supposed to be humble, but when it comes to our kids, nothing makes a parent more proud then when we see them doing things they are good at(not to mention it justifies all the hours and money spent on the activity lol). Keneisha had the opportunity to compete this weekend at the Gem State Classic. This was ballroom dancing for kids as young as 4 and 5 up to 18 years old. Her outfit was specific. Black skirt (that goes at least to the knees), white shirt, hair pulled up, comfortable shoes she could dance in. Shirt...check. Hair...easy. Shoes...have them already. Black skirt...not a single modest one is Idaho Falls. There were lots that were pencil skirts, but that isn't really conducive to Ballroom style dancing and the flouncy skirts were barely covering her buns. I know that if I had more time I could have found one, but there wasn't enough time for me to search every store. I decided to just make her one. I found the perfect pattern and the perfect fabric. It was black cotton with embroidered black daisies and sequins to give it a little sparkle on the dance floor. Then my week shaped up and it was so hectic. Monday I close at work, Tuesday I had visiting teaching, Wednesday was Love and Logic class in Pocatello, Thursday Olivia sang at Barnes and Noble, Friday Keneisha sang at Barnes and Noble and I close at work. To say the least it looked like those useless hours between 11 pm and 6 am that I waste sleeping were going to be when I was going to get to sew this skirt. I was up until 2 am Friday night sewing (some of the seam allowances are not perfect, but when you are seeing two of them it is hard to tell if there is a 1/4 inch or 3/4 inch rolled up). It all was worth it though when she stepped on the dance floor with her partner, Mickey, and danced her little heart out. It was fabulous. I can't put into words the amazement I felt watching this girl on the dance floor. It wasn't always perfect, but it was her best. You could see that she had practice hard and was working hard to put on the best perfomance she could. I was moved to tears. This is my baby, my beautiful girl that gives 100% at whatever she decides to do, and my tomboy. The one who hates girly things, (she won't even take the pink camo lunch box to school cuz she hates pink that much) will put on the makeup (grudingly mind you) and do her hair (which is out the second we come home) and this skirt (that she only wears on Sunday cuz she has to) and then she places 4th in the Foxtrot and 6th in the Swing. She also performed in the Cha Cha and the Waltz. They were all wonderful. I loved it!!! I love being a mom....especially when the things that weren't in the brochure are so much better than it could have described it to be.

Coupon Adventure

I just got back from a coupon adventure. I have recently started couponing. I took a class with my amazing sister, Brenda, and learned how to coupon the right way. I have a goal to build my food storage. I am quickly doing that with coupons. Last night I bought Pampers baby wipes at Wal-Mart for 1.97, BUT, I had a $2 off coupon. I got 4 packs of wipes for nothing. In fact Wal-Mart paid me 3 cents to buy them!

Tonight I think I had the most fun. Smith's is doing a promotion right now that any coupon up to $1 is worth $1. 10 cent coupon = $1, 20 cent = $1, you get the picture. So I took my handy dandy coupon binder that I have put together and headed to Smith's. I also had my pinching your pennies list that said what the best deals were and I figured I would see if there was anything else worth my money to get.



I got 6 mens body wash's, 6 girly body washes, 6 hand soaps (for free I might add!) 5 pkgs of gallon ziplock bags, 6 worchestershire sauce, 1 Texas Toast, 6 cookie mixes, 6 containers of wipes, 6 big mustards, 6 honey mustards, and 6 Pam Olive Oil sprays. Before all my coupons I would have paid 166.60! That is outrageous!! I budget about $150 a week for food and household items for our family of 7. So they scanned my fresh values card and took of 55.03...new total 111.57. Then they scanned in my coupons, 27.60 in coupons. They then rounded up all my coupons to make them an even $1 off...30.40 taken off. I had a grand total of $113.03 in coupons and I paid 53.57 for everything. That is about $.89 an item. AND...AND....I have 15 cents off per gallon of gas on my next purchase at the gas station in front of Smith's. Yes ma'am...I have a coupon for GAS!!!

This story gets better. I went to Albertson's next. I didn't used to shop at Alby-land because I figured they were the most expensive store in town. I was a discount shopper and stuck to my favorite W stores: Winco and Wal-mart. Not anymore, I am singing a different tune. Albertsons had a sale on their fruit snacks which I haven't met a kid yet that doesn't absolutely L-O-V-E those. My kids devour them. They had a sale that made them 87 cents a box. That is pretty cheap and I can let my kids eat what they want and not freak out cuz it is so stinking expensive.



In this picture is 20 boxes of fruit snacks, 5 wacky macs, 2 big bags of dibs, 4 Haagendaz ice cream mini tubs, 8 jars of Smuckers ice cream topping, 37 items all together. This all totaled up to $109.41 before my discounts and coupons. $39.36 in preferred savings. $30.50 in coupons. Ending balance: $39.55 or $.94 an item.

This doesn't end there!!! Albertson's gave me catalinas (the coupons that print out with your order) a $2.50 coupon on my next order, $4.00 off my next order, $6 off an order of $60 or more, and $1.50 off 3 bags of Dibs ice cream bites.

If anyone doubts the power of coupons, just come and talk with me. I think this is a ton of fun and can hardly wait until the next great deal!!

Bailey

We got a dog. I finally broke down and did it. I swore to everyone that I didn't want a dog and that we would NOT be getting one. I knew though it was only a matter of time before Keneisha, Ken, Olivia, Brennady,Nataushia, and Asche won the fight. So, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I found the dog and have claimed her as mine. Yes, MINE. That way I have final say in what happens to the dog.

A girl from work needed to find a home for her dog, and so I figured this was going to be a good fit. Bailey is a cute beagle dog. She isn't too big, but isn't one of those stupid yappy fuzzy football half-a-dog closer to a rat things. Ken and Keneisha had their eyes on a big dog. I dont want a big dog. I didn't want to house train a puppy either or have it chew up my shoes (which are some of my most prized possession hahaha). Bailey doesn't chew on things she shouldn't, doesn't bark, is house trained, doesn't jump up on people, is house trained, does a few tricks, is house trained. Yes, the house trained part was that important. I am glad we have her. She is a welcome addition.