and so, I blog....

When I thought blogging would be a helpful release for me (about a year ago) I started to post. My first post was read by my dear husband and he said "you canNOT post that kind of stuff on the internet!". That "stuff" was all the clamouring that was going on inside my brain... sensitive, therapy-inducing clamouring. He was probably right. In hindsight, I really wish I had kept a journal of some sort.
With five kids, there is alot of clamouring going on, however, this is April vacation. All but one of the kids are home. Kaleigh is still at college for another week. I usually DREAD school vacations but not so much this one. The kids have been (dare I say it) GOOD!
Kara had her tonsils and adenoids out last week so she is trying to heal. If you have ever had to deal with that, you know the pain roller coaster she is on. Poor little thing....
Sara tried to have a sleepover at her friend's house last night and made it to about 7:30pm. This friend lives three houses away and we all knew it wouldn't be a SLEEPover but she wanted to try so badly! But alas, she missed her momma....
Philip turns 17 tomorrow, and today he is having a few friends over to "hang out". DO NOT CONFUSE THIS WITH A BIRTHDAY PARTY! He is quite adamant about this. He also has a job interview this week! YAY!
Ben was grounded to start vacation but now he is ungrounded. I also think he grew 4" yesterday. This boy is going to be taller than the rest of the kids, no doubt.

Kara, Sara, Pepe and I started the garden this week! 50'x50' garden plot! We are stoked! Bring on the fresh veggies!

OK.... now to get my brain wrapped around Weight Watchers.. again.

Kellie!

p.s. OK.... so I do not blog often enough but I DOOOOOO post on facebook frequently! Check out my Turkey Cupcakes! they are AWESOME!

A Word From Our Sponsor....

OK...
So Corey tagged me to do this list in one word. For me, answering something with one word which is not a "no" is almost impossible but I will try my best. Hey, at least it gets me adding a blog post!

Hair – medium
Your Mother – silly
Your Father – distant
Fav Food – soup
Dream Last Night – negative
Fav Drink – water
What room are you in? – dining
Hobby – cakes
Fear – spiders
Where were you last night? – work
Something that you aren’t – thin
Muffins – fattening
Wish List Item – peace
Where you grew up – MA
What you are wearing –pajamas
Your Pet – fish
Friends – family
Something you’re not wearing – socks
Fav Store – Market Basket
Fav Color – red
Last time you laughed – last night
Your Best Friend – hubby
Best Place you go over and over – outside
Person who you email regularly – Kaleigh
Fav Place to Eat – Ichiban

I will have to tag some others...... hmmmmm......

Robin
Janet
Judy
Kelly
and all of Team Orlando..... Can't tag y'all. Just answer the damn questions......

*kiss kiss*
:)

Random Scatter Brain.....

WOWZA..... I have not been here in a LONG time! My life got in the way and I am now coming up for air. I guess the best thing to do is blog from today, and work backwards?
GOOD NEWS:
Kaleigh got the C.A. job at Southern Vermont College for next year which means FREE housing and DISCOUNTED meal plan!!!!! ROCK ON, KALEIGH! SOOOOOO PROUD OF YOU! :)
She also received an award the other night. The Quest for Success Award which was granted to TWO students for their volunteer work! Kaleigh, I am so proud to be your mom!!!
Philip and Ben are doing very well in school and are happy! HOORAY!! Philip is on the mission to find a job. Good Luck! The market is crap!
Kara is doing well, as always. She is having her tonsils out in two weeks so keep her in your prayers. She is pretty anxious about this, as you can imagine.
Sara is Sara. A princess as always.

More good news: I AM PLANTING A VEGETABLE GARDEN! Kara and Pepe (my father inlaw) have had a veggie garden for a few years and this year, I get my own section of it! I cannot WAIT! Sara said she would help, too! :) I will take pics to share, I promise.

I leave you with this question: Do we really need "Your Baby Can Read"? Why does your baby need to read before anyone else's baby? How does this benefit anyone?

Kellie

New Perspectives....

I have been away from my blog for over a week..... I really wanted to keep up to date but sometimes life is too hard to write about.
Our "foster" son left a week and a half ago. I am not going to go into details but the process is extremely painful.
What I AM going to write about are the amazing people who have my back! It is amazing the support my friends have given. I am truly blessed. Also, several months ago I committed myself to going on an Orlando getaway, sans children or husband with a bunch of "mommy bloggers". Only one of them I knew in real life and I hadn't seen her (or really kept in contact with her!) in 20 years! Nine moms, from all over the country, converging on Orlando, Florida! There goes the neighborhood! This retreat, planned several months ago, was planned for March 4-9, 2010. My foster son moved out on March 1st. Should I go to Florida? My family is hurting. My husband is hurting. I am hurting. This is a HUGE upheaval for all involved. Yes. I should go. Boy am I happy that I did. All of these women have their own issues but we all had common issues and feelings. NOTHING, I mean NOTHING was a taboo subject. We let it all hang out. I have never felt so free... EVER.. Two of the other moms had to end their adoptions. It was so good to say something and have everyone on the room nod because they know EXACTLY what you are feeling and saying! We laughed and laughed until we peed our pants and cried and cried and supported one another and then laughed again. What a gift. Each of these women have been thrown into an unknown and have become stronger people because of it. They also know that you cannot get through this life without a sense of humor, or cussin' a bit!
I am still processing the amazing weekend and waiting for pictures to be posted by the crazy pastor's wife, Laura.

More later....

xo
Kellie

Trash Basket...err... MARKET Basket sale/coupon list

OK.... So I am a HUGE couponer and I only can ever find lists (matched sales with coupons) for Shaw's and sometimes Hannaford. I hate shopping at Hannaford. I WILL NOT shop there. Shaw's is obscenely overpriced AND they have stopped doubling internet coupons and alot of regular coupons which makes it not worth my time to get some dealios there.
That brings us back to my favorite place to shop; Market Basket (aka Trash Basket, Ghetto Basket, Dirty Demoulas). The prices are so much better than the other grocery stores AND even better than Walmart. (OK... I hate walmart anyway but now, my girl Robin tells me it's not worth it to shop for "some things" there anymore so I trust her.)
I hate to try to match up coupons with sales, which is why I like to borrow other bloggers lists. It's a time saver. Unfortunately, I cannot find anyone who blogs about Market Basket! So, I am going to try to write up a LIST for MB! Bare with me as I do not organize my coupons by date that they showed up in your Sunday Paper (lots of bloggers do this. I do not.). I think I will basically just post what deals I made today and yesterday on my shop.

Q = Coupon

Pillsbury French Bread Loaf (you know, the kind in a can) $1.25 + $1/2 Q= .75 each
Simply Orange $2.00/half gallon
Dannon Yogurt .40 + $1/10 Q = .30 each
Reynold's Recycled Wrap(50 sq. yds) $2.50 + $1/1Q = $1.50
Keebler Rite Bites $2.50 + $1/1Q = $1.50
Ritz Crackers $2.00 + $1/1 Q= $1.00
Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix 2/$1.00
Marcal Facial Cube .99 + FREE Q = FREE!
Marcal 4-pack toilet paper .99 + $2/1 Q = FREE! (depending on your cashier, you may get the entire $2.00 off but mine adjusted it down to .99)
Scotties Facial Cube .69/each + $1/5Q = .49 each
Bumblebee Tuna Lemon Pepper $1.50 + $1/1 Q = .50
5 lbs. Red Potatoes $2.49
No Yolks Egg noodles $1.50 + $1/2 Q= $1.00 each
L o L American Cheese $3.99 + $1/1 Q = 2.99
Perdue Oven Stuffer Roasters .89/lb. (I didn't get any because I still have a few turkeys in the freezer that I NEED to roast up!)
Hebrew NAtional Franks $2.49 (my favorite Fat Free Hotdog!)
Smart Balance Peanut Butter $2.50 + $1/1 Q = $1.50
Scallions 3/$1
Fresh Express Salad 2/$4.00 + $1/2 Q = 2/$3.00
MB Canadian WHite Bread .99
Ragu 2/$3 + $1.25/3 Q = $1.08 each (I usually make my own sauce but this is a good deal to get for the food pantry at church!)

Yes... I am sure I missed something But this was all stuff that was on MY list today and so I got them for decent deals. In case you were unaware, during Lent I am seeing how much stuff I can get for the Food Pantry at my church for $10/week. So far I have $66 worth of items that I paid $14 for. $6 more to go for this week. :)

Kellie

wAcKy uhh.... everyday is WaCkY...

OK..... so this is day 22, that is TWENTY TWO, of at least ONE person in this house being home sick! And I just finished my antibiotics yesterday and am feeling a chest cold coming on. SUCK! I will continue my mega vitamin dose intake and try to comabt this suck-ass issue. Kara probably has strep throat. I will be taking her to the doctor in about an hour, on this LOVELY Sunday afternoon. Benjamin had day surgery this past Thursday to have the pin removed from his ankle. He is practically back to normal... hobbling about carrying his electric guitar and playing it at the same time (not plugged in, thank god!).
ALso, WELCOME TO FEBRUARY SCHOOL VACATION WEEK! This is the worst one fo the year. I hate it because we can not afford to fly anywhere during it, and we also cannot afford to bring the crew skiing all at once! It is just so expensive and I am cheap. I may be swayed by a ski coupon or two but I am not sure those actually exist.
I have decided to have ONE thing to look forward to. Ever heard of Coco Key? It's a tropical destination smack dab in the middle of Danvers, MA. It is an indoor water park within the Crown Plaza. For day passes, it is about the same price as staying overnight there and getting two days worth of play SOOOO, we are going. Who else is going? The Broadbent's! Well, some of them. Nothing says fun like hours inside a fish tank with lots of people's germs, tons of chlorine. Seriously... I think the kids will have a blast, which means Robin and I will be okay. They won't be begging us for rides to the Mall, to the movies, to pick up a friend in East Overshoot, an extra $20 for each of those things...well, not for Wednesday and Thursday anyway.
Right now, I am trying to plan dinners for the next few nights, until we go to Danvers.... I am also still reeeling from the fact that I lost my coupon binder which, for those of you who actually KNOW me, is a major catastrophe! Thankfully, I have a few fab friends who have given me several weeks worth of extra coupon inserts! Anyway, I will be hitting the Trash Basket later on, after Kara's appointment.
OK... so I am all over the place with this post.... but in reality, this is my life. I am all over the place, all.the.time. I switch gears ALOT during the day.
ANd Robin, Sara is polishing her brand spanking new WHITE STRAPPY SHOES. I have told her she can't wear them out of the house until Easter but she canot WAIT to show you....

OH.... Old Navy is having a Super Modelquin contest and Kara and Sara have both entered. We could win $100,000! That's alot of white strappy shoes! Harry also entered so check them out! Not sure if it is helpful to have my email address kelliedenoncourt@gmail.com but there ya go. Let's see if I can paste the links here for my girls. I'll try to get Harry's too. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ro9m-NJnsYQ

ok, not sure why but I cannot seem to attach Kara's entry. grrr.... I'll keep trying....

Kellie

wACkY WeDnEsDaY!

Welcome to Wacky Wednesday! I cannot believe that it is only 9:00am. Yesterday we had a snowday which means all 6 kids were home... Oh.. and it didn't even START to snow until about 2:30p (which is when school lets out!). No matter. Apparently I should be revelling in the fact that there was a snowday where I could spend all day with my lovelies, baking cookies, reading stories, playing games.... Truth be told, I'd rather have this day IN THE SUMMER where we could go to the beach and not be boxed in the house but now we add another day to the school year and take away from our very short summer. Awesome.
Yesterday was also MArdi Gras! We had a pancake supper at church last night and wondered how many would show up(it actually was snowing by then). I would say we had 70-80 people! I was in charge of pancakes so I fired up the griddle and made A LOT of pancakes. according to the packages I used, and I used them all, I probably made 250. As far money wise, to make this many pancakes, with butter and syrup to top, it was only $20, which is a good deal in my book. I didn't even use any coupons on supplies! (I know.. the horror)
I then found out that after the pancake supper, My friend, Jeff, cut the tip of his finger off using his snowblower! And his stepson found the extra "part" and rushed it to the ER! ew. I am thinking that if he is in surgery tomorrow, Judy and I can have coffee in the morning as I will also be at the hospital with my 13 year old having the screw in his ankle removed. He had surgery 1.5 years ago. How did it break? That is another post for another day. Maybe for tomorrow! Typical brotherly "love".
Today... parent/teacher conference... Ash Wednesday Service.... laundry..... grocery store... cleaning.....
Tomorrow.... surgery in the morning for Ben.

Kel