Wordless Wednesday - "Bubba Hand"

I FINALLY got a picture...this is how the kids ride in the car...it's so cute, I love it.

Yep, that's right...as soon as the car starts rolling, Brynnleigh looks at Owen and clearly states "Bubba hand!" if he doesn't respond after a few times it goes to "Owen, HAND!".  And the rest of the 20 minute car ride is this way.  If something causes them to break, she makes sure we all know!

I know it won't be long before they will be complaining because something of the other's is touching them...so I will enjoy this for as long as it lasts!

NYC - Chelsea vs PSG

The main reason Troy and I headed up to New York City last weekend was to see our favorite English Premier team, Chelsea play in Yankee stadium.  As soon as we found out they were playing in New York, it was a definite.

So on Sunday after some fun sight seeing (post to come) we headed on the Metro for the first time and headed to Yankee Stadium...

1st Time on the Metro

Amy & Miguel's first time on the Metro



Aren't we cute with our matching glasses! ; )

 I may have been a bit giddy to see my favorite soccer players.  I mean, seriously...I was like a kid on Christmas morning...Frankie was going to be there playing, and my new favorite player, Eden was there as well.  (Seriously, Eden is like the 2012 version of Frankie...he's got wicked foot skills and is super fast).

Amy & I rocking our jerseys!



T & I showing our support in Times Square.


So here are some of the 5,000 pictures I took during 1.5 hr game!  I was a little upset when we got to our seats because we were right behind home plate, and they still had the net up which I knew would mess with the quality of my pictures.  Luckily we were near the edge so I could just shoot off to the side a bit.

I was amazed at how nice Yankee Stadium was...

And now, crazy fan photos...

FA Cup & Champion's League Cup

Barton, Wynalda, Stone



Cech - posing for me! ; )




T & I (Yes, I was trying to hurry up, I didn't want to miss anything!)




Amy & Miguel



Hilario (Goalie)




Warm Ups





Kakuta & Eden Hazard




Frank Lampard




Starting Line Up




Kick Off



Frankie Shooting



Eden Hazard



Eden shooting




Frankie & De Bruyne



Kakuta



De Bruyne & Eden




Frankie shooting again!




Terry heading the ball away




Terry

These were my favorites of my 5,000 soccer pictures!  I had so much fun watching the "original" and new and upcoming Chelsea players.  Chelsea has a lot of new/young players and they look really really good...here's to hoping for more cups in the future!

Some of the future of Chelsea - Hazard and De Bruyne

The game ended in a 1-1 tie, but I'm pretty sure if we had an extra 5 minutes we would have gotten a goal.  Chelsea dominated the last quarter of the game!

I wish Torres had come so Troy could see him play...but I guess we will just have to find a way to make another game!  Also, had we planned better, we could have extended the trip by 2 days and stopped in Philly for the Chelsea vs. MLS All Stars game on the way back home.

My biggest surprise/shock, was how many Chelsea fans were in NY.  That whole day we saw Chelsea jersey's and shirts EVERYWHERE during our sightseeing....and the stadium...yep, it was full of about 30,000 Chelsea fans...I was impressed!

We did see two PSG players later that night while walking through Times Square, but I didn't stop them...now had it been a Chelsea player....that would have been a completely different story! (Yes, I did have a Sharpie on me at all times...you never know!)

GUND's "Top Dog" Contest

One of my all time favorite manufacturer's of stuffed animals is offering an awesome contest on Facebook right now!

GUND is hosting the "Top Dog" contest over on their Facebook page and the Grand Prize is so awesome...GUND will create a limited edition plush model of the winner's dog which will be available to purchase in 2013!

You can submit your dog's photo via the tab on their facebook page.  Their are 4 categories to enter..

  * Most Beautiful Dog
  * Ugliest Dog
  * "Doganista"/Best Dressed Dog
  * Dog that Most Resembles it's Owner

You can enter one or all of the categories!

The contest is live now (started July 16) and runs through August 15th.  Entries are accepted until August 5th and voting is August 6-15th.  The winner will be chosen August 20th and announced the week of  August 27th.

Boo - The "World's Cutest Dog"

Also, GUND is running the "Most Pinteresting Dog" Contest on Pinterest.  To enter you need to post your dog's photo on our OWN Pinterest page and "tag" @GUNDMostPinterestingDog  and submit the link to your pin to GUND  at MostPinterestingDog@GUND.com.

The winner of the "Most Pinteresting Dog" contest is selected based on the number of times the entry is "liked" on the GUND Pinterest board.  This winner will receive a selection of GUND products valued at $250.00 retail.

For complete rules please visit www.GUND.com and click on "Photo Contest Rules" (close to bottom).

Good luck to those of you who enter....and, if you do, please let me know so I can help advertise for you as well!

~Amy

Mary Kay Cream Highlighter Giveaway

I've had a lot of growth recently in the blog, and what's a better way to celebrate than a giveaway??  I personally love giveaways!!

I know I have mentioned this before...but for my new readers...I am a Mary Kay Consultant part time.  Since my life is so crazy, I tend to discount my products to my customers to help compensate them for my craziness.  I place an order at a minimum of every three months, and offer my customers a 40% discount on EVERYTHING.

This discount is available to all customers, new and old.  Unfortunately I can not offer free shipping at a 40% discount if you live out of my immediate area.  However the company does offer direct shipping for a flat $5.00 for all order under $100.00 before the discount.  So, I will honor the 40% discount to my out of town customers, they just have to pay the $5.00 shipping costs.  (If your order is over $100.00 before the discount then we will work something out).

If anyone is interested in ordering, please contact me and we can make arrangements.  Ordering has no affect on the giveaway.

So, onto the good stuff....the product for the giveaway is...

Mary Kay Cream Highlighter ($14.00) - (this is a discontinued product and is no longer available to order directly)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wordless Wednesday - Central Park

When I found out we were going to New York City, I knew I wanted to see Central Park.  I honestly didn't believe that they would have a park in the middle of the city...well I was wrong!  Central Park is amazing, and I didn't even see all of it!  The boys and I took a run through the park while Amy (the other one, not me) was doing a work out class...I'm so glad I decided to take my phone with me so I could capture our run.  Of course the guys tried to kill me, we ended up going about 6.5 miles...but we did stop a few times because I couldn't keep up we were sightseeing and taking pictures!  I had intentions of going back with the good camera and taking better pictures, but we ran out of time.  I guess that just means we have to go back! ; )



Troy & I at the Reservoir Loop running path.




Miguel & Troy



The city skyline from the reservoir loop



A little Rocky action in the park!




LOVE this picture!




Troy & I




The city



Do you use coupons?

I'm curious to know how many of you use coupons and to what extent.  I started couponing after having Owen and I really got into it.  I was pretty good too (at least according to me).  I used most of my coupons at CVS and Rite Aid, but I was able to get all of our personal items for basically nothing.  We never paid full price for deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes, razors, feminine products. body wash, lotion, diapers, etc.

Then I had Brynnleigh....and it just kinda slowed down.  I could never find a good system to keep my coupons organized and it just consumed a lot of my time.  Now don't get me wrong, I plan to go back to it I'm just not sure when.

I LOVE the thrill of finding a product and paying next to nothing for it.  I used to walk out of CVS with BAGS of stuff, and they were paying me to walk out the door (seriously, they paid me $0.03 and $0.07 one time).

There are a ton of websites that do the coupon match ups for you, so it makes couponing so much easier.  You can even do it at the grocery store (I only did this once, took way too long).  You have to be quick to your game though because the Extreme Couponing Show on TLC has caused a lot of non-couponers to try, and those who do coupon to go more extreme.

What I have learned during my couponing run was...
   1. You don't have to clear the shelf - the same sale and coupons will run again withing 6-9 months
   2. For most sales, you only need 1-3 set of coupons, not 50
   3. If you don't buy it normally, you probably don't need it with a coupon (unless you can replace something you use daily with it)
   4. It won't kill you to miss a sale, or take a break especially when you already have 6 extra deodorants and 8 boxes of toothpaste
   5. If it's on sale in one state, it might not be on sale in your state, always double check
  
What brings all this on all of a sudden?  Well my recent trip to Walmart....O and I picked up these things....(4 boxes of 24 ct crayons, 2 packs (5 in each pack) of Zebra pens, a single subject notebook, and a 2 pack of erasers)

For a total of $1.85 after tax.  Of course it would have been cheaper if I didn't have O helping me (the erasers, which happened to be the most expensive thing after coupons cost $.50) but we had fun together and that's all that counts.

How did I do it?  Here's the breakdown...

Crayons - $0.50 at Walmart - had them price match Toys R Us who is running them for $0.25 this week.

Zebra pens - $2.94 at Walmart - had them price match to Staples price of $1.00 this week and used an online coupon for $2.00 off of 1 pack ( I could have used 2 coupons, or just bought one pack of pens, but then my total would have been negative and I have a thing for pens!) - So these ended up being 100% free!

Notebook - $0.17 on sale at Walmart

Erasers - $0.50 on sale at Walmart

I hope to get back into couponing soon, but have no plans of turning this blog into a couponing site (sorry, but I'll be glad to help anyone who wants help).  I will post my deals and fines if I can get them up quick enough so you can profit from them!

Wordless Wednesday - All Star!

Owen just finished up t-ball and he had a blast!  Even though Troy and I were HUGE soccer players, I'm just glad O has found something he enjoys.  He does play soccer too, but he likes baseball the best!

I have 100 more pictures from the season, but this is one of my favorites...

And yes he looks small in this picture (in my opinion) but I think that is because his shorts are super long and his shirt is a bit big!

Wordless Wednesday - Happy 4th of July

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July holiday!  We did, and I promise a detailed post on this soon...but until then...my little Firecrackers!

FYI - I was so excited to get a decent pic of the two of them together, this is very rare since they are normally running in opposite directions!  This was from my phone, but we did get a few with the camera to be posted soon.

Wordless Wednesday - Guilty

Yep....it's true, she's 100% guilty...

Guilty of being too cute!