Aunt Ilse, This Is For You

Happy retirement!

It Has Begun

Brit, This Is For You

Grosse Oma and Grosse Opa Visit

I couldn't decide which photos of Lily and Jacob's great grandparents' visit to post, because they are all just so precious. So I uploaded them to Flickr, and you can see the whole photoset by clicking on the one photo below. Enjoy!

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Birthday To Me

It was my birthday a few days ago. I won't tell you how old I am now except to say that next year I'll be 30. Ryan took me out for a wonderful Thai food dinner. The steamed seafood ravioli appetizer and Pad Thai entree were probably the best I've ever had...and I know my Pad Thai.

My ginger ale tasted extra special in this funky asymetrical glass:



Then, Ryan took me to my favorite dessert place for my favorite slice of cake: chocolate raspberry mousse. He got a big slice of cherry pie with whipped cream. I wish you could tell how huge Ryan's coffee mug was in this photo. Almost as big as his mouth.



Yes, that is the man I love with all my heart. Thank you for a perfect birthday dinner. And my perfect birthday present:



I call this picture "Butcher Block Love." Nothing says Happy Birthday like solid oak and the smell of fresh polyurethane. You know how to please me, baby.

Free Is Good

Here is Jacob stuffing has face on Free Pancake Day at Ihop last month:







And here are Ryan and Lily on Free Water Ice Day at Rita's Friday night:



(The face she makes when you say, "Smile!")





(The face she makes when something is very hot or - in this case - very cold.)

Pam and I hit up Ikea's Free Breakfast Saturday morning, but unfortunately, we were too busy speaking in hypotheticals to take pictures.

WaiMay, This Is For You

Sharon, This Is For You

If this doesn't get you de-lurking, I don't know what will ;)

Garage Sale Wish List 2009

Can you smell it in the air? Is Spring just around the corner? Warm weather? And finally seeing chubby little baby legs? Yes!

And just as exciting: Garage sales are almost here!

For a while now, I've had a list going in my head of items for which I'd like to keep a lookout. If you're in my area and would like me to keep an eye out for something for you, just let me know, and I'll call you from my cell when I'm at a sale and find what you want. And of course, if you Dear Reader have something on my list that you're looking to give away, by all means, LET ME KNOW. I have no problem bargaining you down to 50¢ for your treasure ;)

So, without further ado, here's what I have so far:

1. Extra set of baby monitors (for Oma's house)
2. Extra booster seat (all plastic - for outside)
3. Two more forward-facing car seats (must never have been in an accident!)
4. Neat fabric and sewing notions
5. Crochet hooks and yarn
6. Mini or tabletop ironing board
7. Magic Bullet (looks like it would make good baby food!)
8. Outdoor table and chairs for deck (we already have an umbrella)
9. Patio seating for patio (firepit would also be nice!)
10. Plastic little picnic table
11. Hammock (we already have the stand)

Just for kicks, here's last year's list. I'm I would still like #s 10 and 11, but #s 5, 8, and 13 have all been fulfilled. Sweet.

I'll be adding to this list as I think of more or remember more, so bookmark this post!

* Note: Last updated March 21, 2009 *

Freebies and Savings

Lori and I had quite the eventful trip to the mall today...with all four kids. The freebies were a'rollin'! We each got a free pair of undies at "Aerie" (American Eagle), I got a free tote at Victoria's Secret, I got my free weekly goodies at CVS, and we bought a coffee at Seattle's Best (in Borders) and got one free. Plus we snagged free Auntie Anne's pretzel samples (ehem...twice), free coffee and scone samples at Seattle's Best, and free chocolate samples at Godiva. So we left the mall with happy bellies and lots of bags, and only spent $2 each on coffee.

Pretty sweet.

I thought I'd mention some of the better freebies floating around online right now. My Bloglines account contains so many "thrift" and "coupon" and "savings" blogs that sometimes it can take a while sorting through legitimate, desireable savings verses offers that aren't really a good deal or that just aren't that interesting. Sure, the Melting Pot is offering free chocolate fondue, but you have to buy a meal for two to use it, and you KNOW how expensive that place is, so that doesn't really constitute "free" in my book.

And yes, I've had to give my junk e-mail address to LOTS of different companies, but hey - they send me coupons for free stuff, so keep the e-mails coming!

Here's what we did today:

Free Underwear from Aerie
(print coupon then bring to the store and sign up for their "A List" club)
What we really liked about joining this is that we get a free gift EVERY MONTH, plus one on your birthday! (Offer expires Wednesday, so hurry!)

Free Tote from Victoria's Secret
(fill out the form then bring the coupon to the store)

Buy One Get One Free Mocha or Latte from Seattle's Best (in Borders)
What a great coupon to print over and over and over again!

Here's some more free stuff floating around right now:

Free Sure Deodorant
(buy the deodorant listed and use this form for a full refund)

Free Sample of GoodNites Underpants

Just for Men Touch of Gray Hair Color
(buy the product and use this form for a full refund)

Free Gardener's Idea Book from Proven Winners
(when you join the "Winners Circle" e-mail list)

Some More Gardening Freebies

Free Diet Dr. Pepper

Free Breakfast at Ikea
(March 20th-22nd, 2009)

Free Italian Ice at Rita's
(March 20th - to celebrate the 1st day of Spring)

Free Diabetes Meter from One-Touch
(fill out a questionairre)
This reminds me: I am now selling the afore-mentioned blood glucose monitoring kit on eBay, since no one I knew wanted it for free.

Free Pretzel from Auntie Anne's
(when you buy one pretzel)
I know this doesn't really count as free according to my own rules, but come on...you know you were going to buy one anyway LORI so that really does make the extra one free ;)

There are more freebies showing up in my Bloglines regularly - I can't keep up with them all. Seems my printer can't, either - I'm just about out of ink. Yikes! Thank goodness the printer was free and so was the paper ;)

Lily's Line-Up

Lily lined up my childhood toys in my parents' kitchen. One character per linoleum square, each facing the same direction. Yes, she is Ryan's daughter.



Her line-up stretched from one end of their kitchen to the other.



That little girl with the red hair (looks pink in the cell phone picture above) was always my favorite. The girls in the green and blue with the brown hair were her best friends (see top picture). Watching Lily play with my old toys is very nostalgic for me. What kind of memories is she making?

Klaus Has It Ruf

Here's my brother with his new bride-to-be.



Congratulations, guys.