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Catching up on Coupon posts!!!!!

One thing I truly love is that Owen is starting to realize the value of money (thanks to some hard learned lesson with his newly implemented allowance!) and he gets SO excited when I bring in a haul. He will run to the car and help me carry in the bags, help me stack the items for a picture and then ask... "mom did you get all this for $10?"... I was SO happy to tell him that the following load cost $3.18 OOP and I got $3 back in a catalina for my next order at Meijer! Meaning I paid $0.18 for it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

More great deals were had last week. Its been a busy few weeks for me at Meijer. I am SUPER happy that they take the Walgreen RR as competitors Q's because that has lowered my grocery budget to nearly NOTHING since the Meter deal happened!!!! YAY!
54 packs of Oscar Meyer Hot Dogs (yes we will eat them all...) -$1.25 (w/raincheck) - ($1/2 IP OR $1/2 from 5/10 SS) - ($1/2 Meijer Mealbox Q) = $0.25 / pack

15 Hunts Ketchups - $1 (w/raincheck) - (5) ($0.20/1 Q from 5/10 SS- *the first two doubled- the rest in the set of 5 did not* ) - ($1/5 Meijer Mealbox Q) = $0.52 each

16 A-1 Sauces - 2/$5 - ($2/1 MFR Q) - ($1/2 Meijer Mealbox Q) = FREE

4 Country Crock - $1.50 - ($0.45/1 IP Q *doubled to $0.90) - ($1/2 Meijer Mealbox) = $0.10 each

Philly Cream Cheese - $1.25 each - ($1/2 IP Q) = $0.75 each

1 Kraft Dressing - (leftover Q!) - $1.58 ($1.50/1 MFR Q) - ($1/1 Meijer Mealbox Q) = $0.92 moneymaker

2 Computer Papers (for printing more Q's~) on sale for $2.49 (regularly $5.99)

also used: $3 off any $40 or more purchase and $27 in RR from Wags. Brought my GRAND total to $3.18 - and I received a $3 off your next order Cat!!!! Not bad for $0.18 eh? The boy who was checking me out was like ... "whoa... $3 for all that???" He was very cordial in scanning my LARGE stack of Q's and I thanked him amply...

Freebie Friday

Be sure to check more deals at bargainbriana.com

I took a hiatus (again) from Freebie Friday but this weekend there are just too many freebies/cheapies to pass up! Its Memorial Day weekend and everyone is getting in on the Action!

My personal FAVORITE freebie / cheapie of the week is:
20 FREE 4x6 Prints at Meijer - doesn't say with any purchase. Makes me think its just flat out free!!! valid until May 22 at midnight! GO HERE to print your coupon!



$0.99 dozen Krispy Kreme Donuts this saturday, May 23rd. Limit 1 dozen per customer! Go HERE to find the store nearest you!


$0.99 FLIP FLOPS at Old Navy! Yes, so I know they are normally only $2.50 but for a person who has them in EVERY color this adds up to BIG savings for me! Needless to say I will be there when the doors open!

Grocery Freebies:
A-1 Sauce at Meijer - on sale for $2.50 - use (2) $2/1 coupon from this past Sunday's paper and $1/2 Meijer Mealbox coupon - makes 2 FREE!!! Great for the upcoming grilling season!
Kraft Salad Dressings - $1.58 each - Use $1.50/1 Q from paper AND $1/1 from Meijer Mealbox = $0.92 money maker EACH!

HBA Freebies @ WAGS:
Colgate Visible White Toothpaste - $4.49 - $4.50 RR = FREE
Bayer Quick Release Crystals - $2.49 - $2.49 = FREE
Skintimate / Edge Shave Gel (in case you missed it last month) - $1.99 - $1 RR = $0.99 - $0.75 Q from the paper = $0.25 each! Not bad eh?
Right Guard Professional (mens) - $5.99 - $5 RR = $0.99 (if you are lucky enough to get the $1/1 then you are FREE. Here in Lexington I don't think we have ANY Right Guard Q that is not expired... sorry guys!
Dry Idea Clinical - $5.99 - $5 RR = $0.99 - Use the $2/1 IP from coupons.com and this becomes a $1 MoneyMaker!!!!!!!!

Negril, Jamaica- Part 3

Yes there were storm clouds above head. It rains every day in Jamaica around noon. The storm blows up, rain comes and leaves just as fast as it came. We even waited out a rain under some palm trees on the beach on day. It was beautiful even when it was raining!

A fisherman's boat docked for lunch. Most of the people just pull the boats right to shore and drop anchor. There really are very few "docks" there!


This is the way most of the locals live. I was truly stunned. I thought for sure that most of the island lived "tropically" and there would be a few places like this but I have to say that 90% of the island lives in shacks...


A public beach in Negril. For Jamaica to be an island their shore line is REALLY shallow. Maybe 2-5 feet. Our resort definitely had extra sand brought in to make their beach about 30 feet deep.

A Carnival Cruise Ship docked in Montego bay.

Negril, Jamaica - Part 2

The beach of Couples Swept Away Negril.... I have been to MANY beaches in my life and thought that I would never find a beach more beautiful than Navarre Beach in Pensacola... I happen to be extremely partial to the gulf.

I think I can say that Negril takes my #1 spot now!

Negril at Sunset...

Negril, Jamaica - Part 1

The plane ride. It was really great. We had some turbulence flying into Montego Bay but it was breathtaking at any rate. I took a bunch of pics from the window of the plane for the kids because I knew Owen would just be tickled pink. He was. I told him we flew above the clouds. His reaction: "No way!!!"...

I have to say that flying over the ocean was a religious experience. NO... I was not praying for my life... I just looked out that window and thought... WOW. It struck me how beautiful the sky was and how amazingly small the island of Cuba was below me. I thought to myself of how God must feel awed by His creation. How He must sit and watch us all and marvel at how amazing He is. I marveled at how amazing He is and the breathtaking glory of it all brought me to tears a few times. Watching sunset on the beach, flying 1000's of miles, watching a couple start their new life together... one amazing trip!

I am ready to go back!
On the Swept Away beach in Negril... Troy and I enjoying the sunset (which happens rather fast btw... its there and gone in about 10 minutes!)


I had to take a pic. There was no McDonald's to be found but boy they had the KFC! The Jamaicans were also rather amused by the fact that we hailed from the land of Kentucky Fried Chicken! LOL


Our resort room veranda... I could have stayed there the rest of my life. The hammock, the sleeping porch, the view of nothing but palms and native flora... breathtaking.


A pic from the window of our CRAZY taxi ride. Montego Bay is about an hour from Negril so we rode a taxi to the other side of the island which subsequently made 1 stop for Red Stripe (local beer) and two stops to pick up locals. It was an adventure!

FREE OSCAR MEYER HOT DOGS!!! TODAY ONLY!

Be sure to hurry on over to the Oscar Meyer Website and register to receive a coupon for a FREE pack of hot dogs!!!! YAY! No worries that I just purchased 54 packs last night... (post coming soon :) ) We can always use one more...especially for FREE :)

GO HERE TO CLAIM YOUR FREE HOT DOGS

**thanks to rebecca at The Copper Brick Road for posting**

Pet Peeve #1milion 1 thousand 11 - ONSIES!

Can I just tell you... I love reading blogs... truly. I love seeing all the pics of the cute kiddies and I love MckMama's blog the most, because her children are always appropriately (and adorably) dressed! Always with cute leggings and shoes... even Stellan is usually in a cute pair of jeans and shirt... I can probably count on one hand (maybe not even that) the number of times I have seen her kids in a onsie. WHY? Because as most of America understands... ONESIES do NOT an outfit make. I am pretty sure that Stacy and Clinton would be much objectionable to us starting our child off on the wrong fashion foot.

Seriously... there are other blogs I read and even friends in real life who seem to think that a onesie suffices for clothing... NO. It just does NOT! If you read on the package onesies CLEARLY state that they are UNDERshirts... meaning - to be worn UNDER the shirt!

I don't care how many ruffles or monograms or ribbons you put ON a onesie.... its STILL a onesie and thereby still a piece of UNDERCLOTHING! So please people... show off those $50 dresses that you bought for your kid and leave the undershirts for the fall - to go UNDER things...

(rant finished... let the flames begin!)

Another Long Day in Cincinnati

I think this pic pretty much sums up how we ALL feel today. As we turned onto Higbee Mill we glanced in the backseat to see Ross and Kyleigh (Minnie mouse and George the monkey) totally out cold! Today was another LONG day in Cincinnati. We started the day driving before 10 am and did not get on the road home until 7 pm... holy CRAP that is a lot of time to spend in a hospital in one day! I mean I guess I have totally forgotten the MONTHS that we have spent there because this seemed like an eternity!

It was pretty rigorous for Ky as many of the procedures were invasive... we started with Lab work, then off to Renal Ultrasound (to check on the kidney beans), then off to Flouroscopy for a VCUG, then to Urology for formal Urodynamics studies and finally ended with a visit to Dr. Alam. I have to say that for all of our heated words and exchanges... Alam and I are seemingly fine now! LOL I think we were ALL so frustrated that it was just a very intense situation and there is really no one who could have handled it any better.

The results of today are mixed. Good news is there will be NO BLADDER Augmentation surgery. In the words of Alam... "this is completely OFF the table for now". That is a HUGELY invasive surgery that forever changes the structure and function of a bladder and we had been holding our breath, for TWO YEARS, to find out if it would be needed. As of today Kyleigh's bladder, while still large, is GROWING! Not just expanding into a floppy, unkempt muscle. Not only that but the SHAPE of her bladder is largely normal now! All the pics you see of "bladder" shapes... hers ALMOST looks like that! So all of our hard fought efforts have made a huge difference there. Also... it is almost certain that she will need a ureter reimplantation to remedy the next part of the post..........

Bad news is the kidneys... we don't yet know the full extent of the damage.. those numbers will be in later this week... but the reflux which we thought was remedied by cathing, and ditropan AND gentimyicin irrigations... is still there and worse now. She has been upgraded from a 2/3 to a FIRM Grade 3 reflux in the left kidney. Her right kidney is still hanging out, with its extra lobe, and no reflux. We have yet to figure out how the GOOD kidney is the one refluxing.... sigh.

We won't know the results of the full function testing until the end of the week but I could have literally burst into tears when I saw that kidney illuminate on the flouro screen. Even before the radiologist said it... I knew. I have seen enough flouros to know. It took a medium amount to cause the reflux but nothing even close to her bladder capacity... This also means that it is very likely that her reflux has never "gone away" but is always there in some underlying way... we just are not catching it on the VCUG's... This makes me feel very disheartened. I know what we do every single day to "save the kidneys" and if THIS is not enough... what is?

Ending with more good news though, her bladder spasms are 1/3 of what they used to be and her pressures have gone from a 121 (4 times normal) to 33 now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is HUGE... this means that she is not damaging her bladder and is running LESS of a risk of refluxing often! So... I am holding on to hope that her kidney labs will come back better than we expect. I just NEED those tests to show decent function... I NEED it. ME... not her... not the Dr's... ME. I need those to be ok.

Overall it was a good visit. It was good to see Alam on better terms and I think that he is fully convinced that I know the entire universe of Urology kids as he pointed out that he is now treating two MORE of our friends! (Suzanne and her son Parker, Lori and her son Benji)... We had a good laugh about that. I was bummed that I did not get to meet up with our friends Lori and Benji who are on the 6th floor right now but our day was just too much and Ky was in a BUTTHEAD mood... we just needed to be home!

So... if you are praying this week... praying for the old kidney beans. Thank you all for all the kind emails, messages, phone calls etc... we truly appreciate the support and prayers. Keep them coming :)