Landon's vacation with Grandma and Grandpa in Idaho

So me and Scott was vacationing in Island Park a few weeks

ago and decided to have our little bud come up and spend the

week with us. 

We throughly enjoyed him, he kept us on our toes but we

had some leverage to keep him in line----

our Razor.

He LOVES to ride in the razor, so anytime he would

behave all we had to do was tell him he wouldn't be

riding in the razor anymore...aren't we bad!

Landon eating at his own picnic table

under the pine tree's.

He rode his bouncy ball all over the place.

Landon playing on the log like he was riding a horse.

Landon and Kylie, best of buds!!

The Buffalo river behind them.

So he helped grandma paint the picnic table, he

had a blast!!

Landon just had just rode up in the razor,

to the boat dock

where you can float down the river.

So the last day we were up there we went to West

Yellowstone to buy him and his soon to be brother,

a T-shirt. 

 He wasn't even interested in buying a shirt,

he wanted "Socks"  yes ...socks.

So he found the pair he wanted with bears

and campfires on them..

 He totally loved them!!

Then in another store he found a couple of belts with

Yellowstone Park on the back of it made with beads.

....I did buy a couple of shirts but he was happy with his

Socks and Belts.

So that evening after taking a bath, I went to put his

regular white socks on and he threw a fit and then we

finally found out why..

He wanted to wear his new socks to bed!!

....with his Mickey Mouse pajamas...laugh

Landon going to bed with his new socks on.

So we had a great week with him and made alot of memories

that we will never forget and hopefully he'll remember some himself.

Time goes by so fast. 

 I remember 3 years ago, when Kimberly, Jon and

Landon came up to our place and he was a month old then when

we introduced him to our favorite place in the pines.

He even went boating that trip, slept like a baby in his

carseat wearing his lifevest we got for him.

I hope he will come to love Island Park as much as we do

and hopefully we will leave a legacy of memories with

him and his soon to be new brother.

Grandpa Griffin and Landon

Landon and Grandpa Griffin

So my dad is still recovering from his knee surgery.  He originally

got operated on May 7th, but due to problems with health care facilities and

infection in his knee, it has been a slow road to recovery.

On Friday, they transferred him from an acute facility to a skilled

nursing facility here in town...he is getting excited...little by little

he is getting closer to home, I think he can even smell it.

So today me, Kimberly and Landon went to visit him.  While there

Landon was showing him how he could play a game on mommy's

phone.  It was so cute I had to take a picture of them together.

While there we went out on the patio and was visiting when we

seen Scott walking up to the facility.  It is 2 miles from our house,

I didn't know whether to kick him in the rear or tell how proud I

was for walking that far...So I told him how great he done ...then

scolded him a bit.

WHY?

Because on May 19th, he had a two level fusion done on his

back.  He was suppose to be resting at home when I left him.

He had already walked 2 miles in the morning, which I thought

he'd over done that.  The doctor told him the best therapy was

to walk, walk, walk and do some more walking.  So that is what

he has been doing.

I'll post about Scott and his ordeal next time but it is time for bed

and relax for another day in my mixed up world.



Day Dreaming

Some days it's just hard getting out of bed when you know you have a challenging day ahead.

Most of my days consist of getting up to greet my energy bouncy grandson (somedays he reminds me of Tigger on "Winnie The Pooh" ) when Kimberly drops him off in the mornings before she goes to work.
   I, like most people have a list of "To Do's" that we'd like finished before the
end of the day...and sometimes you have the UNEXPECTED happen that set's
you off your course.

We'll my story is about my dad who had a total knee revision done last week.
He had both of his knee's replace around 10 years ago. 
  Lately he has had alot of knee pain which eventually the doctor told him
that his left knee had worn out and would need the plastic replaced with a chance that if he had something unexpected come up he might have to do a total knee revision again.   Which did happen.  The bone never grew to the new knee hardware (which might explain why it wore out so fast and why he was in so much pain), so the doctor took the old one out and replaced it with a new
shiny one. 
  He had a few small episodes with his sugar level being low while in there
but seemed to have it under control.  They transferred him to a skilled
nursing facility which was really nice.  It was like staying in a 5 star hotel.
We soon discovered that the only care he got was from us or unless it was
in rehab or when we called for something.  We were told that a skilled nursing facility was for people that was pretty well on their own but needed therapy
or a touch of care. 
My dad needed an acute nursing facility, where they monitor your care continuiously.
Well my brother and sister-in-law went in on Sunday to visit and check up on my dad when he wasn't in his room....figuring that he was in therapy.  A few minutes later a young lady brought my dad in the room in his wheelchair when
she said she found him down the hall wondering around.  My brother became furious to think he had gotten out of bed on his own and had made it to the wheelchair and was pushing himself around the facility.  He had almost fallen twice when someone was close by to catch him on both occasion.
He had called my sister to vent...which in turn she quickly drove in to see him. While they both were there they had determined that the infection in the knee had grown worse that it would be best to take him to the ER to make sure it hadn't grown into gangreen.   They we're in the ER 9 hrs before he was transfered back to the original hospital.  They called people in to staff the hospital just for my dad because the doctor wanted him back there to keep an
eye on him.
  We'll for a few days the infection didn't seem to get much better after being on strong antibotic's, so they determined it was best to go back in and make sure the infection hadn't made it to the knee itself.  They cleaned it all out and treated it with antibotic's. 
  He was in excursiating pain afterwards.
Today he done so much better, so hopefully he will be on the road to recovery
very soon.  We still have to send him to a rehad facility before going home but
maybe next week at this time he will be going home or soon afterwards.

There was so much more to the story but this is a touch of our experience with
our dad. 
My advice to those who might be in the same situation someday.  Talk with the nurses and caseworker to determine what kind of rehab facility they will be going to.  There is acute, transitional and skilled nursing facilities.  My dad needed an acute facility and was sent to a skilled nursing facility.

Thank you Todd and Susan for your many hours of caring for dad.

Sometimes I'll find myself daydreaming of sitting on a sandy beach, watching the sunset into the ocean, with a cool breeze with the smell of the ocean blowing on my face, taking all my cares and worries away..... 

And now I am preparing for the next chapter in my book.......

Scott's back surgery in 2 days.

Macey's shopping trip

So I haven't been on for awhile. It just seems that I've

been so busy that I hurry and get on the computer for a

few minutes and then get off.

But since I finally got a new computer maybe I'll try

to start posting again.

So today I went to Macey's and got a few things

before the sale went off tonight. I found meat

that had been marked down.

Idaho Spuds .99 cents - .55 coupon = .45 cents

Better Oats .99 cents

93% hamburger reduced to $2.99 lb = $4.73 savings

country sausage reduced

Jennie-O breakfast turkey sausage reduced $1.00

Jennie-O Sweet Italian sausage reduced $1.00

Johnsonville Italian sausage reduced $2.00

Pork roast reduced (can't remember how much)

Between all items purchased (some not pictured) I saved $48.00

This was last weeks shopping trip.

Carefree liners: .94 cents Walmart - $1.00 coupon = .06 money maker

White Cloud tissue free w/puchase of White Cloud toliet paper which I

used $1.00 coupon on the toliet paper also.

Eclipse: BOGO w/ coupons from Coupons.com =.48 cents each

Allegra allergy pills: $12.63 - $7.00 coupon = $6.63

Colgate: .94 Walmart (bin) - .75 coupon = .18 cents

Snickers easter eggs: $1.00 walmart - $1.50/2 parade coupon = .25 cents

M&M's: $1.00 walmart - $1.00/2 = .50 cents

Beneful dog treats: $3.84 Walmart - BOGO = $1.92 each

Nexcare: $1.50 Walmart - .55 coupon = .95 cents

Every penny counts

This week I did alittle more grocery shopping

to catch a few more savings before the coupons

expire before the end of the month and the sales

of the grocery stores end for the end of the week.

I purchased $290.14 worth of groceries and

spent $116.45. That is a savings of $173.69.

This was just some of the finds I got.

UP2U $1.28 (walmart)- $1.00 SS 1-1-12 = .28 cents

Zone Bars (Albertsons) $1.00 - .55 cent, add the special to

double up to $1.00 SS 1-22-12 = Free

Huggie Wipes $4.19 (Albertsons) - $.50 dbled to

$1.00 = $3.19 for a 3 pack = $1.06 a pack

Bic pens (walmart) .97 - $1.00 SS 1-8-12 = .03 moneymaker
Hormel Chili (Smiths) .45 - .55/2 SS 1-15-12 = .17 cents each

Crave cat treats (Walmart) $1.47 - BOGO (coupons.com) = .73 each

Wisk (Albertsons) $4.99 - $1.00 SS 1-15-12 = $3.99 not pictured

Ragu (Albertsons-price matched Wal) .99 - .50 RP 1-29-12 = .49 cents

AquaFresh (Albertsons-priced match Wal) .99 - $1.00= .01 MM

Oral B Floss (Walmart) .97 - $1.00 P&G = .03 MM

Mission Tortillas (Albertsons) $2.00 - .55 peelie dbled

to $1.00 = $1.00 not pictured

Rachel Ray's dog food sample received in the mail

I purchased multiple items that I didn't show.

Chili - 34 cans

Oral B floss - 9

Mission tortillas 3

Wisk 9

Crave 4

Huggie 3 - 3pks

Bic 4

plus other one item specials I didn't show.

The last grocery post the Resolve, Bic pens, Schick

razors came out of Smart Source 1-8-12.

I am trying to make every penny count now days.

I'll try to post some of my finds before the sales end

so you can take advantage of them also.

My winter kitchen decor

This week I took down my winter decor I had up in my

kitchen. I put it up with the Christmas decorations and

left them up because it was so pretty I wanted to enjoy it

alittle bit longer.

They were on top of my kitchen cabinets. It was a

beautiful swag that was flocked with glitter on it. I got

it at Tai Pan last year on clearance, so I was eager to

put it up so I could enjoy it. There were two white flocked

pine cones that I purchased in October in Walmart when

they started putting out their Christmas decorations. I

put them in the middle of the swag to add more of a

center piece to it.

I put some batting underneath the swag to

give it the look of snow. I then put my lantern

that I have up there year round beside it.

I did have some red/white poinsetta's on each

end of the cabinets to finish it off. (I had already

took them out when I hurried and took a picture)

Once in awhile when decorating your house,

some arrangement or picture comes out better

than you imagined. This was one of those times

that I thoroughly enjoyed it. Also enjoyed my

christmas village all lit up on the other cabinet

(picture in previous blog).

But ready to find

something new to put up there to enjoy. I haven't

figured that out yet but that is the nice thing about

having a clear slate, you can use your imagination.

A few savings this last week

So I haven't been blogging for awhile, it just seems

that everyday has a few less hours to get things done

lately. Between Dr. appt.s for me and Scott, birthdays,

and just everyday stuff going on, it just seems I go to bed

with a list longer than the day before. Hopefully it will

calm down pretty soon.

I haven't done much couponing lately but I did get a few

things last week. I did hurry and get a picture of them,

just forgive me because I didn't write down the inserts I

got them out of.

All $3.49 - $1.00 (Smart source)= $2.49

Colgate .97 cents - $1.00 = .03 money maker

KY Jelly $2.84(walmart) - $3.00 (SS) = .16 money maker

Schick razor $1.97 (walmart) - $2.00 (SS) = .03 money maker

Sausages $1.00 (Family Dollar) - 1.50/2, 1.00/1= .50 cents,25 cents

Uncle Bens Rice $1.00 (Albertsons) - $1.00/2 = .50 cents

Old Spice Deordant .99 (Smiths) - 1.00/2(P&G)= .50 cents

Old Spice Body Wash $2.49 (Smiths) - $2.00(P&G)=. 49 cents

Colgate Toothbrushes/paste .94 (walmart) - $1.00 (SS) =.06 moneymaker

UP2U $1.28 (walmart) - $1.00 (SS) =.28 cents

Reach dental floss .97 (walmart) $1.00 (coupons.com) = .03 MM

Shick Razors $1.97 (walmart) - $2.00 (SS) = .03 MM

Bic Pens .99 (walmart sale) - $1.00 (SS) = .01 MM

Herbal Essences $1.79 (Smiths) - $1.00 (P&G) = .79 cents

One cat food $7.62 (walmart) - $5.00 (SS) = $2.62

Hopefully this year I can save more this year than last year,

I do want to thank those bloggers I do follow in a quick moment.

I'll try to list them when it isn't so late.

If you want to see what circular the items were in, look at

Hot Coupon World.com and then click on the Coupon

Data Base. That is where I go to look up coupons.