Vote

Have you voted yet? We did!

Other Notables

Here is a run-down of other things going on at our house. Conrad is quite the little caretaker. He loves playing with his "baby" = Jill's old cabbage patch doll. He has learned to open the drawer below the oven and enjoys playing with the lids and dragging them around the house. We also changed his carseat to forward-facing and as the picture indicates, he is loving it!

Pumpkin Patch

I really, really wanted to start the tradition of going to a pumpkin patch to pick out a pumpkin. The first patch we tried had already closed but Dad came to the rescue with the hunch of another one in nearby. Conrad was happy to chill in his now forward-facing carseat for the ride.

The pumpkin patch was more than I could hope for. Piles and piles of pumpkins, hay bales and scarecrows. All of this complete with a Conrad size fence and lights on a string. Conrad loved running around the patch and even met a four-legged friend. She was so sweet with Conrad. He was content to follow her and her family around the patch.

Yes, we paid more for his pumpkin then say the $4 pumpkins at the grocery store. But, the extra money was well worth the family time and fun we had searching for our pumpkin. What Halloween traditions do you have?

Fall Festival

We had a dress rehearsal for Halloween at Conrad's Fall Festival on Friday. He, surprisingly, only tried to take off his costume one time! He participated in most of the activities: the duck pond, the fishing pond, the photo booth and the cake walk (he won on his first try!).

'Tis the season

to find ways to give back. As I have been trying to de-clutter some of our closets, I mean organize, I was shocked to find that lots of junk followed me to our house! My kitchen with all of it's glorious cabinets, has 4 junk drawers! YIKES!! In one of them, I found an old cell phone from ages ago.

Now, I'm trying to be a responsible citizen since having a kid so I: vote at each election (but especially this one!), recycle, am slowly switching to green products, bought energy efficient appliance (I LOVE those front loaders-- not that I can take credit for doing any laundry-- Love you Hubby!!) and looking for ways to donate my junk versus filling a landfill.

So, I have a couple of ideas. One is obviously the cell phone and October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Here are a couple of ways you can donate your old cell phone:

1. National Coalition Against Domestic Violence: http://www.ncadv.org/takeaction/DonateaPhone_129.html This has a pre-paid mailing envelope you can print out for mailing. It doesn't get easier than that!


2. Donate your spent battery here: http://aboutus.vzw.com/communityservice/hopeLineRecycling.html and your used phone to any Verizon Wireless retail store.


3. Cell Phones for Soldiers http://www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com/shippingLabel_generic.html If you have AT&T it appears they will pay your postage for you. You can decrease your postage by not including the battery...which you can donate at Verizon Wireless see #2.
   

So which one am I going to do? Hmmm... I'm not sure so maybe I will need to find another cell phone lurking in a junk drawer.

Paying it forward

We truly are blessed and I need to realize this more often. Rather, I need to take heed to the old addage "Count Your Blessings."

One of our blessings is that in less than two months, no more formula. Buying formula at about $25 a can weekly or more was definitely an expense I thought we would avoid with nursing.

On more than one occasion, we have gone to purchase formula to find a store coupon hanging off the shelf. You see, some blessed soul saved all those crazy coupons that print out at the cash register based off the food you bought that day. Instead of throwing theirs away (of which I am very guilty), they slipped there's under the item.

So, I started to pay it forward with the formula coupons. But as I was shredding receipts yesterday and found a bunch of those coupons expired and co-mingled with receipts, I realized I had been slacking on paying it forward.

Anyone who has bought formula knows how even just a few dollars off formula can save a ton. I'm going to be better about paying coupons forward. I know it brightens my day when I've found them under a formula. Thanks for the blessings!