Apple Valley's Christmas Tree.... For Real

No Joke: This is the famous Apple Valley Christmas Tree that they light up every year. They had a little festival... I took the kids... let's just say it was about as sad as the tree. Can anyone say Charlie Brown?

Adelaide's Birthday

Does anyone even read this blog anymore? :) Anyway, here is a picture of Adelaide's birthday cake. She turned 2 on Dec 22nd and had a great day! She is a fan of 'SCARY THINGS" so that is why she had a Halloweenish cake.

My Halloween Post....FINALLY

Ah, Halloween. At time for Friends.... (My friend Marlana and her boys and us)
Prancing around in the Pumpkin Patch, Cute Cheerleaders..... (Adelaide)


And Handsome Devils..... (Hyrum.... oh I laughed so hard at this picture)

I sat in my trunk at the church for three hours (as a bee caught in a spider's nest) and handed out awesome candy bags. There were SO MANY people there!! A lot of them were EXTREMELY weird, as the trunk or treat is open to anyone and everyone. I ended up freezing and getting a really bad cold. But my car was the coolest and random people took pictures of it.
Playing inside a huge pumpkin at the pumpkin patch.


My little devil can be sweet sometimes.
And he is OBSESSED with SCARY things... just like his sister. They could have spent hours in the Halloween section at the store with me. They are totally my kids!
Peek a boo!


That is it folks. Sorry it took me so long. It is funny how I post like 10 times a day on my website socalcoupongals.com but hardly ever on here..... but I do want to let you see my cute little demon kids! So there you go.

Ahhh life

My main question is, how come I have to stand next to such a beautiful girl? Melissa and I went to Vegas in August. We had a blast and just relaxed. We joked about how pink I am vs. her yellowness. This picture shows how true that is! We chatted about life and all that goes with it. I'm soooo lucky to have such an awesome cousinfriend!! But my advice is, don't ever drive in Vegas if you don't have to! Terrifying. We almost died like a hundred times. And on the way home I sat in my car for 7 hours vs the usual 2 1/2. And a tire beat the crap out of my car when traffic FINALLY picked up. Figures.
What is this? Another cat??? What is wrong with these people? Do they have to take in every creature known to man? Well, yes. Yes we do. Actually, my neighbor came over and forced this kitty on us because she felt bad about Lola being missed. And after Lola came back, (HOORAY) we didn't have the heart to give this baby back. Adelaide and Hyrum named her Baby. She was born 6 weeks premature and barely survived. So now she's our fourth cat. No more!!
The stucco people were kind enough to leave us a huge dirt pile (sarcasm). My kids adore this, and I can't help but remember that a big dirt pile was our primary source of entertainment as kids growing up in LeMars, IA. The joy of kids and dirt! :)

Couponing Rant

Ok, so I know we all get stuck behind the lady with a million coupons at the store sometimes and can't believe our bad luck. I specifically remember thinking rude things about them. And now that I am that lady, I say, "Back Off!"

I recently found a new love.... couponing. It is my job and I save a butt load doing it. But sometimes, I get weary of people who hate on me for just trying to save some money. For instance, if you were able to get all that stuff in the above picture for free in one easy trip, you would, wouldn't you?? I did. And I had a great time doing it!

Some people just don't understand. And I"ll admit there are different types of "coupon" users. I would like to think I'm very polite and understanding about the rules (thank you medication!) but I am also often better educated on the stores coupon policy than their workers. This can be awkward and uncomfortable for everyone involved.

I recently decided that I shouldn't apologize to anyone, because while I should be polite, I am not doing anything wrong. In fact, many stores make money when customers use coupons. In fact, most people behind me in line are amazed when they see how much I say. Often they are educated and leave with my website address in hand.

My advice? Invest in the paper. It only costs me $8.00 a month to get it every day. Plus they gave me a $10 gift card to Kmart when I joined. I've been paid back by uncountable amounts. And BE NICE to the poor lady (or man) in the line who is using coupons. It isn't their fault everyone else is an idiot. :)

Missing Lola

Do you ever feel just awful? Guilty like you just farted in an elevator, only worse? Right now, that is me.

You see, after being nagged to death by Cody, I agreed to put the cats out into the garage (so their mess, aka hair) would stay in there. Lola hated it. Could you blame her?
So she ran away. Or was chased away, by our dogs. And so I'm feeling like crap. I've checked all the shelters around, left fliers with them, posted fliers around the neighborhood, and went door to door with fliers asking about her.
I even check the DOA (dead on arrival) list at the shelters. Thank goodness she wasn't on it. But the not knowing is killing me. I dream about her every night. It kills me not knowing where she is or if she is okay. And I can't help feeling that she hates me now. I would. After four years of living snuggling with me, I kick her out. What a jerk.
What do you do in this situation? I still feel terrible about Frank (the gray and white and black) who died in my care... I'm still sure it was my fault somehow... I just don't know how. And now Lola, my most loyal pet, is gone. Any ideas on what I can do?

The Price of Beauty

Need I say more??