Why have I never been a couponer before???

OK...this is so random but I am so pumped! I recently discovered the world of couponing, and I am getting good at it! We have decreased our weekly food budget by 33% and I am saving more like 50%. And I am learning the ropes at CVS and Rite Aid, and occassionally Walgreens.

Who knew I could walk away with bags of stuff for next to nothing??!?!?!?! Here is my trip tonight at RiteAid.

If you can't see it well (phone pic...had to brag to my sister!) I bought:

1 Frosted Flakes, 1 Fruit Loops, and 1 Apple Jacks

1 Pop tarts and 1 Rice Krispy Treat snacks

3 Nivea lip gloss

6 tubes of crest

4 pack of razors

2 toothbrushes

1 infusium shampoo

All for the low low price of $12 out of my pocket. And, it gets better. Rite Aid gave me $13.50 in Up Rewards to spend on my next visit. So, next week when I go in, my first $13.50 in purchases is on them!

I did the same thing at CVS on Sunday...but no picture. Just as great of deals. Why do I need 6 tubes of crest? I don't. But when Rite Aid PAYS me $0.75 per tube to walk off with them, I'll take them!

OK...alll done. Happy Dance!

Niagra Falls trip

What a busy month we have had. So glad it is September and time to slow down. Oh wait. School starts. How many days until Christmas vacation?

The beginning of August our cousins from the West Coast came to visit. Jaclyn and Jordan stayed the weekend with us. It was great to see the cousins interact and play because they see each other very little.

We took them to Niagra Falls on Saturday. I think the last time we went was when Emma was 1 1/2 and Olivia has never been so it was a treat for all of us. I was amazed how close a person could get to the river and there was NO guardrail! The water was moving so fast!

We stayed on the American side and took a ride on the maid of the mist. Thankful I didn't spend time blow drying my hair straight that morning...

I swear Olivia is going to be walking down the aisle one day sucking her thumb!!

We went to Hard Rock Cafe for lunch. While waiting for our food to be served to us the girls had lots of questions about who was who in our family. So, we made a family tree for them to see a visual of all of Grandma and Grandpa Polo's children and grandchildren.

Haha...just noticed some random stick figures below Jaclyn and Jordan and Emma. We must have been discussing future cousins and second cousins. (O:

While at Hard Rock we loaded the kids up on cafeinated sugary drinks (sorry Jeanette! Jordan seemed so comfortable ordering a Mountain Dew with her lunch!) only to have 4 wired children shortly after. So....they spent 10 minutes after lunch chasing each other around in this grassy area that we found.


Always time for a group hug with the world's greatest Grandma!
I need one of these SKittle walls in my house!

We walked over to the other side of the river to the Cave of Winds only to find a 1 hour wait, so we skipped that. But we did explore a bit and the kids found a great tree to climb!

Emma and Olivia pooped out from walking so Jaclyn and Jordan gave them a lift! Thanks Cousins!

And, we are done. Heading back to the car with the coolest Aunt ever! Still waiting for that cool Aunt to have the girls over for a sleepover/pajama party. (O:

Rhinos Soccer

Olivia has taken a real liking to the game of soccer! Her first practice she was really, REALLY, scared and nervous! But after that first day it has been a breeze...she wakes up on Saturday morning, finds her shin guards and uniform, and dresses herself, all by 6:30 in the morning. And then she continues to ask when it will be time to go...for the next 3 hours! So happy she is loving it! She even asked me last week if she could play soccer again next year.

Last Saturday Irondequoit's U6 teams had an opportunity to play at the stadium downtown during halftime of the Rhinos' game. Again...nervous Nellie! She actually decided while we were there that she would be fine staying in the stands and watching everyone else play. Fortunately we were able to convince her to go out and play and she had a wonderful time!

This next page is of Olivia and her good buddy Hannah.

School's out for summer!

Today was the girls last day of school until September. Scary thought. 3 months is a LONG time for them to be together EVERY DAY, ALL DAY. I learned that last summer! This summer will be different...already making a schedule and coming up with plans to keep us busy and happy. And keeping my fingers crossed that I survive!

Olivia had her kindergarten graduation. I know. I agree. We graduate from high school. We graduate from college. But kindergarten??? I think it is a private school thing.

Anyway, it was a sweet ceremony. The kids sang a lot and the teacher came up with a single word that reminded her of each student and spoke about it as she gave them their diploma. Her word for Olivia was "leader." I was thinking it was going to be stubborn. Leader is nicer. (O:

Here is Olivia receiving her "noodle" diploma.


And this is Olivia with her teacher Mrs. Rene.

And Olivia with Mrs. Yacono.

And with Emma who is now a third grader!

And of course Emma and her 2nd grade teacher, Ms Cattone. Emma adored Ms Cattone. Actually, Emma was supposed to have a half day tomorrow but instead she is traveling to Virginia with Marc's mom and dad. Big Mark is riding in a bike ride down there and Betty decided to take Emma along for company. Her first trip without me! She is getting too big too fast!

This is impossible to keep up with so once again, lots of pictures of lots of different things. The first week of May Johanna and I drove to Corning with the girls to run in the John Polo 5K. Olivia learned to ride her bike with no training wheels last month...she was so excited. And I was excited because a friend gave me an old bike and Olivia was thrilled with it! Saved me 75 bucks at target! LOL Over break we went to the zoo with the cousins and Aunt Jo. It was a beautiful day and it was nice to get the cousins together. You would never think that we live in the same city with as little time as we spend with them. The girls always look forward to seeing Jake and Dory. Kiley went to her Jr Prom last night so we all went out to Spencerport so we could see her all decked out and take a few pictures of her. Marc and Kiley Emma and Kiley...we wanted Olivia in there also but she was camera shy. Olivia was not a willing participant. She didn't like all the people around watching. A close up of Ki and her cousin Nikki.

Random Pics

Here are some random pictures over the past few weeks...

Emma lost her 4th tooth. Unfortunately, when tooth #3 fell out the tooth fairy had no cash but a 5 dollar bill, so that is the expectation now. Although, she did give her tooth #3 money to help Haiti and tooth #4 money went to buying a new book. So I can't complain totally, she is making good choices with her money. Here is a picture of her with Olivia...now they both look alike!


I ran in a 15K race the last weekend in March. Right now my goal is to finish the races I enter...later on I will work on running a little faster. (O: This race was at Mendon Ponds in Rochester and it was ALL HILLS! Ugh! Just as I got to the top of one hill and was looking forward to an opportunity to recover, I found myself at the bottom, looking up, at the next hill! But, no walking, only to get some water, so I was pleased.


This is the start of the race...all ready to run! I always stand at the back of the pack. Don't want to get into anyone's way! At this particular race, I was standing at the back, and the announcement came on that there was 2 minutes left...all of a sudden all the runner's turned to face me! I was standing at the FRONT OF THE PACK about to get trampled by all those runners who run faster than I can bike! I quickly made my way to the back where I belong.



Here is mile 5 and yet another hill! I am on the right and that is Tina on the left. We hooked up within the first mile of the race and had a good time running together for the entire race.


And the finish line! I was thankful to have made it...the weekend before I ran a 10 mile run with Johanna and my left knee was in pain the last 2 miles of the run. I couldn't run on it at all! And that really worried me that I wouldn't be able to finish this race and that I would be stuck out there somewhere and have to hobble to the finish line. I went to the chiropractor on Friday so he could prep my knee before the 9 miles and it must have worked because it didn't bother me at all! Not the best time...wanted to photoshop the time before posting but decided I would never get these picts up if I waited any longer.




Started working on updating Emma's room for her...here is a pict of the cool light I got from target, her new desk and her bedspread that I LOVE! She is thrilled to be back in her own room and to have a desk to do work at.



Here is Olivia putting the final touches on an April Fools Day joke that we played on Emma. We baked a chocolate cake (meatloaf) and frosted it with vanilla frosting (mashed potatoes) and decorated it. We told Emma that we were going to eat dessert first and we were having chocolate cake! She was delighted! And a little confused when I asked Olivia if she wanted the ketchup to go on her chocolate cake. Once we cut the "cake" she knew it was a joke. Olivia thought it was hysterical that we played a joke on her big sister.



Last weekend we had weather in the 80's! It was amazing!!! Out came the flip flops and the toenail polish. We are soooo ready for summer weather all the time.






Maybe tomorrow I will be able to get the easter pics up...

Why am I so bad at this??

OK...I can't seem to remember to do this...I need some system to remind me to update what is going on. Although I don't seem to have a problem updating my FB status...but this is a different story.

Here are some more recent picts of the girls...I have some on the camera that I need to get loaded onto the computer. Maybe next month.

Here are the girls on St Patrick's Day...they made their treasure boxes the night before and the leprachauns filled them with chocolate coins and hid them while the girls slept. They found them while I was out running...my clue was the candy wrappers all over the place when I returned home! It is always a treat to eat chocolate for breakfast! And what a nice break to the long month of March, definately something for them to look forward to! And I love this picture...they actually look like they like each other. Or maybe it is just the affects of the chocolate, putting them in a happy mood or something.




This is Olivia with a big smurk on her face because she whooped my butt at Princess Monopoly fair and square. I did NOT let her win. I still can't figure out how she got sooooo many castles and I only ended up with 3. I better keep a better eye on the box of castles next time we play. She must have been sneaking them on the board while I wasn't looking!



Look at the board! She has all those blue castles and I have a few orange ones! So not fair!