Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween from our little tiger. Isaac had a great time trick-or-treating tonight {Daddy is pretty pumped about the candy}. One lady answered the door dressed as an Ape. Our little man didn't know what to think. He accepted her candy, stared at her until she closed the door, and then made monkey sounds as we walked away. :) Here's Isaac's second Halloween in pictures {see his first Halloween here}:

Thursday Deals - 10/29/09

1. Sonic is giving away FREE 14 oz cherry or diet cherry limeades on Halloween from 2-5 p.m.

2. After picking up your Sonic Limeade, head over to Taco Bell for a FREE black jack taco on Halloween from 6 p.m. to midnight.

3. Bath and Body Works is offering a FREE Anti-bacterial Pocketbac Hand Gel with any purchase. Coupon here.

4. Stop in for your FREE bra fitting at Victoria's Secret and leave with a FREE Beauty Rush Lip Gloss.

5. Halloween costumes at Old Navy will be only $2 October 30-31. In stores only!

6. Free 8x10 photo at Target with no sitting fee. Coupon here.

Repurpose

This beauty of a cabinet used to look lovely in the bathroom of our condo. When we moved into our house, I couldn't find the right place for it, so it has been looking pretty inside a closet in the basement. Thank goodness for Blake's office. I'm going to clean it up and put it in the bathroom! We actually have some unsightly plumbing that cannot be removed, {some genius thought it would be a good idea to have a urinal in there, the urinal was removed, probably with the person who wanted it, but all of the piping remained. We were able to cover up most of it, but the main water line is still there} so, our little cabinet is going to sit in front of it. It couldn't be more perfect as we'll need a small storage space anyway, and most of the decor in the bathroom will already be white.

I'm pumped - too bad the bathroom is going to be a PITA to paint - even the CEILING has to be painted. It looks like a dungeon in there now. Hopefully, with a little cost-friendly facelift, it'll look charming.

Crock pot Tuesdays

Tuesday have become crock pot Tuesdays around here. As we're gone all day and get home late {around 7 p.m. or later}, it's still nice to be able to come home, have a warm dinner, and still have Isaac in bed by 8:30.

I've been on the search for new recipes {aside from our tried and true ones} and found this goody last week. It was SOOOO delicious!

Crock Pot Chicken Supreme

3 slices bacon
6 boneless chicken breast halves {I only used three, and also still used three slices of bacon! ;-)}
10 oz. can cream of chicken soup
1/2 c. chicken broth
sliced mushrooms {as many or as few as you want!}
diced onion {as much as you like}
swiss cheese slices

Cook bacon until crisp, drain on paper towels, crumble and set aside in fridge.

In bacon drippings, cook chicken over medium heat {3-5 minutes} until light brown, turning once. Place in crock pot. Top with mushrooms and onions. In skillet, heat soup and broth until warm. Pour over chicken and veggies. Cover and cook 4-5 hours on low. Top chicken with cheese and sprinkle with bacon, then cook another 10-15 minutes on high or until cheese is melted.

FYI, I cheated and used the frozen, ready to cook chicken breasts. I also ended up cooking mine for something like 9 hours. I think, because I used the frozen chicken breasts that are injected with the extra juice/solution, my chicken still turned out great. Otherwise, I'm positive it would have been really dried out after all those hours of cookin'.

Something to think about

We need your help, again readers. :)

As part of the decor in our office waiting area, we are going to have a quote run the length of one wall in the patient seating area. Blake has picked a few of his favorites from B.J. Palmer, the developer of Chiropractic. Here's where you come in. Please tell us which quote you like best, and wouldn't mind reading every time you visit the office. The poll is to the right. Thanks!

1. "The power that made the body heals the body."

2. "Every organ in your body is connected to the one under your hat."

3. "Following the path of least resistance is what makes rivers and men crooked."

4. "An obstacle is what you see when you take your eyes off the goal."

That hurts

I've been having some pretty crappy luck lately.

First, I got bit by a dog - it took a bite at my leg as I climbed back into my car. We were just dropping something we borrowed off at a friend's house. Apparently, we should have kept it for ourselves! This is the bite about 10 days after the fact. That darn bite still hurts!



Then, I fell off my chair while teaching a piano lesson on Wednesday. How embarrassing, right? I don't even really know what happened, except that I fell, my arm hit the corner of the piano bench, and my butt pounded on the floor. My butt is bruised too, but I won't share that picture with you. :)

One year stats

For those of you keeping track on how Isaac has grown, he had his one year appointment this past Monday {10/19}.

The good news is, his weight has leveled off. He decided he likes the 5% and is staying there. Here are his stats:

19 lb. 4 oz.
32 inches

At birth, he was:
7lb 14 oz.
21.5 inches

Crazy how much he has grown in a year! He's also learning to tolerate hats, which he has always hated in the past. We have to trick him into thinking he's going outside, and then let him stick his tongue out with Daddy. It's a slow process, but I think by winter he'll be wearing that hat like a pro!

Office Updates

1. Our entry continues to fill up with daily deliveries, though we did ship some off with my parents to bring to my brother so he can hook up our server and network.

2. 15 gallons of primer and 12 gallons of paint are ready to go for this weekend and next week! Woohoo.

3. Obviously, the walls are up, and lookin' good.

4. We placed an ad for an office person. Our first ad ran Sunday, so far we have 25 responses, with more on the way.

5. We purchased our lighting - we opted for pendant light #4 after seeing it in person, and the brushed nickel stem.

I'll post pictures soon! :)

Thursday Deals - 10/22/09

1. Build someone a bear at Build-a-Bear Workshops and take $5 off your $10 purchase with this coupon.

2. Buy a two or three entree plate at Panda Express, and get a free single entree plate with this coupon. Expires 10/27.

3. Check out all these Barnes and Noble coupons, including one for a free small cookie and kid sized hot chocolate {good October 24th only}. Woohoo!

4. Get a FREE sample of Dove hair care here. I loooooove Dove!

5. Great TGIFridays coupons here. Includes one for a FREE appetizer with drink purchase, or a $5 sandwich or salad for lunch. Not too bad!

6. $5 off $25 purchase at Buffalo Wild Wings. Coupon here.

Closed to through traffic

By the end of the week, I'm pretty sure our entry will be completely blocked. We will greet any UPS/FED-EX/USPS people through the garage. We're getting so many deliveries for Blake's office, that we are emptying our front stoop daily. We're too lazy to bring them into the basement for storage because they're just going to be moved out in less than two weeks. That, and we're never home during the day to look at the clutter, so it hasn't gotten on our nerves yet.

Here's what our entry currently looks like:


I have many updates to give - I hope to get to them by Thursday at the latest.

And, to anyone who wants to help. We're going to paint as early as Friday, and no later than this Saturday. So, if you want to help, give us a shout out. We'd be happy to have you!

Moley, Moley, Moley {Part 2}

I think moles must run in the family. Remember Isaac's mole?? He must take after his uncle and Godfather, Brian. I just hope that Isaac's doesn't start moving around like Brian's did!

Why, oh why, is a bug on someone's face so hilarious!?

Thursday Deals - 10/15/09

1. What is it with Bath and Body Works? They LOVE to give away the free stuff. Another free travel sized item with this coupon.

2. E.L.F is offering a free 27 piece mini makeup kit with any purchase. Enter code LOYAL at checkout. Click here to see what the kit includes!

3. Isaac is in need of some warm PJ's for the cold months ahead. I'm heading to Target for their $8 sale on 2-pack Gerber Fleece PJ's. But, using this $2 off 2 Gerber PJ's, to make each pack $7. I'll get Isaac four warm PJ's for $3.50 each! Woohoo!

4. Man, I haven't eaten at a Denny's...ever...but they have a sweet coupon right now: buy one burger and fries and get your second burger and fries FREE with the purchase of two beverages. Expires 11/23.

5. Get a FREE sample of Idea Paint here. Idea Paint turns any surface into a dry erase board. Intriguing, right? Isaac is going to LOVE this!

6. Johnson & Johnson has a fabulous rebate offer right now. Buy any bath product before 12/31 , mail the receipt with your name and address to the address below, and you will get a cool frog bath toy {a $10 value!}. Details here.

Johnson's/Parents GWP
375 Lexington Ave., 10th Floor
New York, NY 10017

7. If any of you are planning a baby shower soon, you can get a FREE printable invitation here, courtesy of American Greetings and Huggies. You can even add a photo!

8. Restaurant.com is having 80% off their gift cards right now with code FOUR. That means a $25 gift card is $2! Just type in your zip code and see what is available to you. Lola, I think your fave restaurant is on here!

9. Ladies - you can get free ovulation tests or free pregnancy tests or a combo of both of them up to 10 total here. Just in case, you know?? ;-)

10. If you have a Rainforest Cafe near you, or are going to one soon, make sure to print this $10 off a $25 purchase coupon and take it with you!

Boom goes the dynamite

For some reason, I've resurrected that saying and have been using it frequently. Let's take a trip down memory lane, shall we?

Lights!

We're trying to spruce up the boring fluorescent lighting that Blake's office will have by adding a little pizazz in the waiting area. Our plan: install pendant lighting over the reception desk. We're actually talking just over the main diagonal corner. So, we're going to need two lights here. This is where you come in.

Poll #1 asks which base color we should use for our lighting. The stem of the light. Brushed nickel or black? I don't have photos, but I figure this is pretty basic.

Poll #2 allows you to choose from the below options for our shade style/color.

If you have differing opinions from any of these, please feel free to leave a comment. I've also posted again the carpet/reception desk oak/counter photo so you can see that color scheme as well as our paint colors. For what it's worth, the majority of the reception area will be the largest color {Rye}. We are toying with the idea one wall {the one behind the reception desk} being an accent wall in the Mayan Red. Which leads me to poll #3. One color, or accent wall?

Office color scheme:

Pendant Light Shades:

#1

#2

#3#4

Exciting

Parts of Blake's office computer system are starting to arrive at our house. With this new arrival, we are giddy about spending some money. Obviously, I will make sure we save as many dollars and cents as possible, but that won't stop us from acting like two kids in a candy store - it's so fun to look at stuff, you know?

Brian, you should be MOST excited about this one!

Alphabet Book - complete!

I ran out of time to post letter by letter here. Instead, I'm sharing the whole book. We had it sitting out as a guest book at Isaac's party for people to sign. I had his guests write birthday messages to him. There are some people who didn't sign it {ahem, Grandpa}, so we'll be tracking him down for a little message later . It turned out really cute, I'm so pleased. Isaac loves it too - he laughs whenever we read it!

Guest messages

Click here to view this photo book larger

It's a party

We celebrated Isaac's first birthday yesterday with some family - as is customary with parties, I think everyone in this house ate a little too much {including Isaac!}. Some photos:

Walls

You know, it's really amazing how fast contractors, and the guys that work for them, can put something like this together. They did all of this in one day! It's nothing fancy yet, but you can see the skeleton of what the office will look like {hopefully very soon!}.


While the contractors were busy doing that, we were busy finalizing purchases for the x-ray, adjusting tables, computers, etc. Spending this much money makes me nervous! I'd probably feel better if I could find a 20% off your x-ray coupon. That being said, I did get an additional $30 off of the computers on top of all the instant rebates, so I shouldn't feel bad, right?

Thursday deals - 10/8/09

1. JCPenny has some great coupons for use Sunday Oct. 11, and Monday, Oct. 12. Print them here or use online code 37VIP. Coupons include 30% off regular priced items, 15% off sale items, and 50% off clearance items. Or, if your local JCP is anything like mine, they'll just have coupons at the checkout that they will use for you!

2. Not sure where the nearest Whitecastle is to any of you, but they have a buy one get one free sliders coupon here.

3. If I had a little girl, I would be all over this deal! The Playskool Dream Town Sweet Lily Castle with Dress Up is now only $72.19 plus free shipping and no tax. Down from $199.99. SWEET!

4. Have you seen Target's Daily Deals? For 24 hours, they offer up to five different items at a different price with free shipping. I've been checking every day!

5. I wish I had to go to IKEA this weekend {10/10-10/12}. I could get a free small breakfast and a free coffee. No coupons necessary!

Happy First Birthday, Isaac

At exactly this moment a year ago, Isaac was less than three hours old. I was staring at this new little person and wondering aloud, with Blake, what we had just done. I was also very tired, and sore.

Today, I couldn't be more in love with this little guy. He is the light of my life and brings complete joy to my days. His little smile melts my heart over and over again. He's the perfect medicine to any bad day. Any loss of sleep or physical pain I may have been feeling are a long distant memory. Our little guy was worth all of it.

This month, Isaac has:
1. Become very proficient at walking {he can change direction, no problem}
2. Says: mama, dada, uh oh
3. Mocks sounds for things like : cows, four-wheeler, mmmm
4. Started bringing me diapers when he's wet or poopy {he just goes and gets them on his own!}
5. Imitates us fairly well
6. Understands a lot {especially in Chinese}
7. Learned to stand himself up on his own {without the help of mommy, daddy, or some other object}
8. Discovered endless ways to get into trouble
9. Started attempting to use silverware at the dinner table

Happy first birthday to my sweet little boy!

All in a day's work

Here's what the office looked like yesterday morning:


And here's what it looks like now:


Looks like the framing for our walls will start to go up tomorrow {Isaac did a quality check of the lumber!}. This is moving right along - we had to choose trim today. I wanted to poll the trim color again, but time won't allow. We were going between white trim or more of an oak colored trim. We opted for the oak {actually, the color is pecan} because it will look better with the carpet and paint colors combined.

Ow....

We spent a good part of today ripping out carpet, tearing down wall paper, and removing trim, with my Dad's help, and my mom keeping an eye on the little guy. We could have had our contractor do it, but we're trying to save $$ wherever possible. The result - we are SO sore - and there is still some carpet to remove tomorrow {just a little patch, but enough to make us cringe!}. Some before and during shots:

Paint

Since our contractor is going to start with the build-out next week, Blake and I thought it wise to pick out the carpet. Work has also started on the custom receptionist desk.

Here is our carpet - the base color is sort of a dark gray:


Here is our carpet again, with an oak color swatch laid on it {our reception desk will be oak - it's going to look sa-weet!}. On top of the oak swatch is the actual color of the counters of the reception desk:


With all of this in mind, we need your help, dear readers, with paint colors. Our top three choices are shown below. If you don't like any of them, please let us know why and what other colors you might suggest. Otherwise, voting on the poll in the right hand column of my blog would be appreciated! Please note that all colors on these palettes will be used somewhere in the office. The blues are going in Blake's office and the bathroom. Others will be divvied up between adjusting room, therapy, waiting room, etc. Thanks in advance for your advice and opinion! :)
#1
#2#3

All business

Dear readers,

Blake and I value and appreciate your opinions very much. In the coming weeks, please check back often to help us decide on all kinds of things for Blake's new chiropractic office - like, chair styles, paint colors, and various other decor options. I say check often because the time between a post and the decision will be very slim - and I'd like as many opinions as possible.

I'll try to post pictures and polls to make things easier on you. :) Feel free to spread the word - we want things in our office that will be appealing to everyone, so I figured gathering your opinions will help us make the best decision.

Thanks in advance for all of your help!

Becky

Thursday deals -10/1/09

1.Pay a visit to your local Starbucks from Oct. 2-5 to try out a sample of their new instant coffee. As a reward for your time you will get a coupon for a FREE coffee on your next visit.

2. If you love Consumer Reports as much as I do, take the survey here, and get one FREE month of their online subscription.

3. Having a Halloween Party? Get some cute and FREE printable invites here.

4. Want to check out a Sam's club to see if it's worth the membership? Sign up for a FREE one day pass here. Must use before 11/1/09.

5. Wendy's is now offering their Halloween booklets for $1. They contain 10 FREE junior frosty coupons. So, technically NOT free since you have to buy the booklet, but at $0.10 a frosty, that's not bad! :)

6. Just in time for Blake's new office - a FREE download of Microsoft's Office Express Accounting 2009 software. Woohoo!

6. Need a Nintendo Wii? Right now at Amazon - Wii is $199.99, BUT you get a $25 gift card with your purchase, making it $174.99 + free shipping. Great deal!

7. I have not tried this out yet, but Target is offering a $0.05 credit for every reusable bag you use and it does not have to be a Target brand bag. Definitely trying this out soon!

8. Free pocket Sophie - a great gift for anyone. Read about her here.