Mommy Does
Who says a cheap date isn't fun....and jam-packed with deals? If you shop right, print coupons and sign up for eclubs it's simply amazing how the freebies piles up!

We started our date at Orange Julius with a BOGO - two big smoothies for the price of one! We ate food court style which cut our meal cost in half...and left us nearly overly full at that. Top that off with some caffeine with another BOGO on granitas from The Human Bean (delish!) Lastly, to round out our date we went to a movie. This is the part that usually costs and arm and a leg. But using a Fandango promotion we got tickets to The Socerer's Apprentice at...you guessed it....BOGO! Our entire date cost approximately 35 bucks. For a movie, four drinks, and a meal that is a cheap date on a deal. Oh yeah!
Mommy Does
So if you would have told us two and half weeks ago we were going to be moving we would have told you that you are just plain crazy...nuts....and then hastily moved onto the weather. That's how not interested we were in moving....until we saw this house.
I swear it all started out as an innocent peek at a craigslist.com. You know curiosity and all that. My sweet hubby sends me this post with a "Would you just look at that kitchen!" I open it and so begins our journey.

This Victorian home is on 5th St. It's not that far of a move right? But wait! We said we were staying here until we are done with school and get job offers! Our place isn't bad...ok sure the neighbors are multiplying like rabbits and they seem to think the cul-de-sac here is their own personal parking lot, but those are minor things right? RIGHT?

Ok so they are frustrating us, but really this place couldn't be affordable could it? Oh but it could. For only a little more a month more we get another bedroom, two stories, a full basement and something you don't find in modern, factory pumped out homes: character. So, yes, we went and we looked, and we fell in love. Affordable, bigger, better. Could we ask for more? Yes we can. Our landlord is actually an officer who works in Salem!!!! So yesterday in went the 30-day notice. We signed the papers last week and put down the deposit and next month we will be living in a gorgeous home with plenty of room for our rambunctious kiddos, playdates, game nights and so much more!



Mommy Does
So my perfect husband made me an incredible dinner on the grill - completely on the grill! Men are simply amazing with what they come up with. All of the recipes he made came from www.mantestedrecipes.com

As for me I needed a creativity splurge so I made homemade cream cheese frosting from www.allrecipes.com - it was simply fantastic! Here's the pictures from last night's foray into delightfully delicious dishes:

These are the beginnings of bacon-wrapped jalapeno poppers.

Tim is putting the jalapenos together using splintered pieces of skewers. Seriously men are ingenious!!

Three skewers waiting to hit the grill. This recipe is Grilled Garlic Fury Shrimp.

Don't they look sensational?

This last part was Grilled Cheesy Potatoes. Wonderful flavor, but a few minor tweaks and it'll be perfection!

Salivating yet?

Then there was desert. We aren't actually desert people - this happens once every so often. I made a triple chocolate chunk cake by Betty Crocker, but used coconut oil in place of the vegetable oil (it's way better for you). The frosting is Cream Cheese Frosting II form allrecipes as I said above and it was INCREDIBLE. Please know this is a CHEESE frosting and not a SUGAR frosting. The rest is creativity:





Don't they all look so fun and bright?


Needless to say the cupcakes were a big hit!






Mommy Does
So I just told my hubby that I want to do a freebie birthday this year! I've been looking for some birthday deals and here's what I've signed up for so far:



If you know of a fab birthday freebie (my birthday is November 9th) or have a great coupon for a freebie you wanna donate let me know in the comments!
Mommy Does
So it's been crazy over here - I graduate college in two weeks....two weeks!! Mister mister is mommy clingy to the max so entering the workforce will involve a lot of tears. That's always tough. Some snippets:

Gabriel:
"Mom you are my girl and I am your boy."
"Mom I am the vulture and you are the boss."
"When I grow up I'm going to be bigger than dad."
"Then I'll break it so you can't play with it either!"



Cameron:
"Our nap will be this big right?" *Holds fingers up about a cm apart*
"I wish you were a bug so I could squish you!"
"What? He's my brother?!"
"But I didn't do it, fox did it." *While holding up his stuffed fox*



Harvest:
"I don't like fire - I like cupcakes!"
"Oh but I am that cute mom."
"Earring are pretties just for me cause I am not a boy."
"Gabriel's name is penis!" *Exclaimed in a parking lot*



Zachariah:
"Mama" *said with smooshed mad face*
"Dada" *see above*
"Uh-oh"
"Whoah"



This year is turning out to be....interesting.