Helllooooo Blog!

WOW, I didnt realize it had been SUCH a long time since Id blogged! My computer's hard drive was killed, and I had to use my daughters little mini laptop, which is NOT an easy task! I couldnt upload pictures onto hers either, so it was no fun to use!

Anyway, some brilliant gentlemen resurrected my old hard drive and was able to restore it to factory settings! And, he did it for FREE!! It saved me and arm and a leg and now I can reconnect with the outside world!

So much has happened, and Ive had so many fabulous savings in the time since Ive been away! I will begin blogging about it all shortly.

Until then!! ♥

This weeks cool deals!

I took pictures, but they turned out badly, so anyway, lets talk DIAPERS!

Pampers brand diapers at Food Lion cost $10.99 a pack. Thats only 27 diapers, so I cant see how anyone in their right mind would EVER pay that. This past weekend our FL had a special 3 day sale and the diapers were on sale for &7.99 a pack. Still, not a great price. I had two coupons for $3.00 off one bag of Pampers, so I bought two bags. I also had a store coupon for $2.00 off a $15.00 baby purchase (7.99 x 2 = 15.98). So, our Pampers that should have cost $21.98, only cost me a total of $7.98. $14.00 in savings!

I scored a free tube of Colgate Toothpaste, a BIG one too! ADA approved, of course. At Walmart it was $1.50, on sale for $1.00 and I had a $1.00 off Q.

At Toys R Us, there was a big B1G1 half sale on some of my kids favorites, like Littlest Pet Shop and Zhu Zhu Pets. I got 2 Zhu Zhu pets, 2 Zhu Zhu carriers, and 2 Littlest Pet Shops (each with two toys in the pack). I also had a B1G1 Free LPS Q, so of course I got the 1/2 price one for free. All in all not bad, 8 toys for $21.03. {I put them away for Christmas} At regular price, these toys would have been $38.94. Not a super amazing deal, but still a nice savings. I absolutely refuse to pay ffull price for anything!!

All of this for ONE dollar!

As you know, I SO love a deal, so last week Food Lion was a good place for me to be! FL had a deal where if you bought 5 of a certain set of products (mix and match) that you'd save $5.00. Sooo, I looked around and the Bomb Pops (popsicles) caughy my eye! We LOVED these as kids! They were $2.99, but B1G1 free. Also, the Cool Whip, which I do use in recipes from time to time, was on sale for 2/$2.00 or $1.00 each. They are normally $1.89. I ended up buying 3 Bomb Pops and 2 Cool Whips. The normal price for these things would be $12.75. With the in-store savings, these things would be $6.50. With $5.00 off, they were down to $1.50, AND I had a save .50 cents off your next shopping order Q, so my grand total was a cool ONE dollar!! So cool was this deal that I went back the next day and replayed the entire scenario, minus the .50 cent Q so paid $1.50 for the same goods.

For two days of shopping, I could have (but would NEVER) spent $25.50, but I actually only spent $2.50. Thats a WHOPPING savings of 23 BUCKS! These things make me SO happy - like Ive achieved something grrrreat!

PS - I feel it necessary to mention that the Bomb Pops have 12 in each box! ;)

Happy 4th of July!

My newest cake... double layer white with homemade buttercream icing...mmmm... Im certianly not a great decorator, but Im pleased with it!

I ♥ Hydrangeas

Ooooh, these beautiful flowers - Ive loved them my whole life! I couldnt wait to grow up so that I could have my own hydrangea bushes! I finally planted some last year and they were gorgeous, but this year my bushes have grown enormously, producing HUGE blossoms in a beautiful periwinkle color.


The first cut




a couple of cakes I made.

I have a couple of purple hydrangea bushes as well, but they dont grow or produce blossoms nearly as well as the blue bushes. I havent figured that one out yet!

Lime green, its a white thing...

You wouldnt understand.



These are my very trusty walking shoes! I ♥ them SO much. These shoes and I have been on such a journey together that they definitly deserve a mention.

As you know (or, uh...dont), Im a cancer survivor.. more specifically, a Hodgkins Lymphoma survivor. Just to reiterate my story a bit, I was diagnosed with stage IV Hodgkins Lymphoma less than two weeks after giving birth to our youngest child. That was in October of 2008. I did six months of chemotherapy and have been in remission since May of 2009.

The awareness ribbon for Lymphoma is lime green. Each day I wear a "Hope Angel" lymphoma awareness pin, which of course, is an angel holding a lime green ribbon. I chose these shoes, of course, because of their lime green swoosh! Any time I have the option of choosing something in lime green, I take it. I proudly wear lime green for myself and all other Lymphoma patients out there. Awareness is key, and the Lymphomas receive little in comparison to other cancers such as Breast Cancer.

Each day as Im walking and I look down to see the blur of the green swoosh on my Nikes, Im reminded of how far Ive come and that I can go anywhere. I think of all the survivors and for all of those that werent so lucky. These shoes are my Awareness, my rememberance, my peace.

I challenge each of you readers to wear something lime green. Its a fun, summery, color! More than that, I challenge you to think of Lymphoma while you are wearing it.

Become a Lymphoma Warrior! You dont have to be a survivor/patient to be a Warrior! Check out the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society website here

the latest

Nothing really new in the House of Controlled Chaos, but I feel inclined to share a few pictures.

In an earlier blog, I showed some cupcakes that Id made for the kids. Over the weekend I took the cupcakes a step farther, and made a large batch for the kids' school "lemonade stand". I think they turned out really cute.

All I did was seperate the cake batter and tint it with my Wilton icing tints... (the first time I just used food color)


Then, I randomly dolloped spoonfuls of whichever color suited my fancy into the paper lined muffin pans. I forgot to take a picture of this step, but it was by far the most fun and I made a huge mess (that my husband cleaned up!! See why it was fun!?) Some of the muffin batter I swirled with a toothpick, others I splattered and on some I tried to create designs... alas, Im no artist, but had a great time and Im really pleased with the way the muffins turned out. The kids LOVED them as well.



They kinda looke tie-dyed, huh? Food art = good fun :) I hope no postal employees happen by and see that I defiled a priority box... I think thats jail time! ;) Hey, cut me some slack, it was for a good cause and I broke the handles on the cake carrier!

Also, my one of my lovely rose bushes had about 30 purple blooms on it so we picked some of them. Here is my gorgeous Ella Bella with the roses.


And lastly, no picture, but Id like to share one of my GREAT deals of the week! Four boxes of cereal for $4.01. General Mills cereals were B1G1 this week at Food Lion with a limit of two free. Cinnamon Toast Crunch, a fav around here is $3.71 a box, Honey Nut Cheerios is $4.01 a box. Four boxes, two of each, = 15.44. Minus one CTC and one HNC and that total comes down to $7.72. I had FIVE coupons for this deal. Two Q's @ .55 cents off one box of CTC, and two Q's @ .55 cents off one box of HNC (.55 cents off each of the four boxes) and then a $1.50 off four boxes of General Mills cereals. $7.72 - (.55)4 - 1.50 = $4.02. $4.02/4 boxes = $1.005 a box. WHOOOfreakingHOOO! I so LURVE a deal!!


See ya next time ~ Wendy ♥

Just checkin' in!

The Eder household has been up to alot lately... we've had a trip to Great Wolf Lodge, which is always a ton of fun!


We've been to a Norfolk Tides game, which was fun too... woulda been a whole lot MORE fun if they didnt lose!


ELVIS was there!


We've had tons of baseball and some school activities as well. We've had dentist and doctor's appointments. We've had trips to the flea market to sell our unneeded stuff! Hannah has had many youth meetings. Ive finished two consecutive semesters of school!! We stay very busy, but love our lives together and usually have a great time!

I have recently gotten more great deals... I SO love a deal! I now get text messages from Food Lion offering me great deals that I can take or not. If I choose to use them, they are sent straight to my MVP card, which I had to register, and when i go in and have my card scanned, i get the deals. Its kind of like an electronic coupon, I guess. Ive gotten a FREE box of cereal and a FREE bottle of ketchup so far and several super coupons.

Here is a picture of my free box of cereal and 4 pounds of Ronzoni elbow & spagetti noodles that I got for a grand total of .24 cents after a B1G1 deal and coupons! (Noodles were $1.12 a box, that = $4.48, thats a savings of $4.24!)


Another recent deal we got that has been AWESOME is the first Alvin & The Chipmunks movie. Several weeks ago at Target, the movie was onsale from 15.99 to 6.99, and I had a $3.00 off coupon (making the dvd $3.99) so we thought we'd check it out! The kids ADORE the movie and I saved $12.00 :) I love saving a whole lot more than I spend!


The only other thing worth a mention is the BIG THUMBS UP I got from the kids (and their classmates!) for the multi-colored muffins I made recently. I put them in the kids lunch boxes and they and their friends were impressed. Hannah requested that I make them for the school bake sale this weekend.


I promise to try and keep up more with this blog! ♥

Camera cord - FOUND!!

It hard to believe that its been a whole month since I last blogged! I havent because my camera cord grew feet, ran away and went into hiding, and Im just not much on pictureless blogs.

I have to tell you that I got some amazing deals in the past month, but didnt take pictures of them since my cord was missing. Some of the things I got were:

2 bags of honey ham @ .90 each (just like before). Originally $2.99 a bag, thats a $4.18 savings. I love saving more than I spend!

1 jar of Duke's light mayo for .79. Originally $2.58, savings = $1.79

2 pounds of baking soda for .12! Two dollar coupon = $2.00 in savings :)

2 free frappe's from McDonalds! They are so good, GREAT when free!

Anyway, thats just a few of the cool deals I got. Coupons are the greatest things ever invented and truly do save alot of money when used properly.

Changing directions here... The Boy Scouts had their annual cake auction and I made a couple cakes to be sold. I used fondant for the very first time and LOVED it!! I cant wait to until I can use it again.

I made a white cross cake, with purple bow and trim (the auction was the Thurs. before Easter) and a Spongebob. EVERYONE loves Spongebob *wink*





The cross isnt perfect, but Im proud of it as my first attempt at fondant!

Spring is in the air!

My first daffodil is blooming! Oooh, how I love daffodils!





And the clothesline is in use! My dryer and electricity meter are very thankful!



Why yes, that is a Kitty hanging by her ears on the line. She needed a bath!

Deals of the week!

A few days ago I was able to get EIGHT My Little Ponies for $20.00 for Ella's birthday! The ponies were marked down from $5.97 to $5.00 and I had four BOGO MLP coupons! That made each pony $2.50. Most of the ponies also come with a dvd. Im really proud of this deal! With no sale or coupons, normal price for eight ponies would have been $47.76, thats a savings of $27.76. I saved more than I spent and can now let my lil princess think she's being spoiled by getting so many presents for her birthday!! :)

Today I strolled into Food Lion and found sandwich ham on sale. I needed to buy ham and usually I would have waited until we made it to Walmart to buy it. Land o' Lakes meat was $2.99 a pack and was BOGO, that makes each pack $1.50. Also, each bag had a coupon for .60 off on it! So, I was able to get 3 packs of ham and 1 of turkey for .90 cents a piece. $3.60 for 4 packages of sandwich meat. Normal price for four = $11.96. Again, saved more than I spent. Savings = $8.36!



Proud, proud!

February Fun

We have ALOT of things planned to do this year... I truly hope its going to be one of the most fun years the Eder Family has had yet!

On Feb 12, B and I went to a wrasslin' match! Bobby truly enjoys wrestling and had never seen a live event before. I decided to surprise him with tickets when his favorite Wrestling Co. - TNA, Total Nonstop Action - came to town. Well, not exactly our town, but close enough! We met Ric Flair, a tag team called Beer Money and B went over and met some of the female wrestlers. It was a fun night, and actually very cheap for the two of us to go.

Ric Flair



AJ Styles & Kurt Angle

On Feb 19, B, Ethan and I went to the Monster Jam at the Hampton Coliseum. Ooh, how we love the Monster Jam. We got tickets very last minute, and they were some of the best seats in the house! Also a very cheap night - Ethan's ticket was only 5 bucks and adult tix were 10. The Coliseum isnt quite conducive to hold the Jam, its rather small and only a few trucks can come for a show. Still, we had a blast and Ethan was very excited to see George Balhan and "The Escalade" at the show.

Escalade


another truck catching big air!


Earlier in the month Ethan's Scout Pack had its Pine Wood Derby, that was also a whole bunch of fun. All of the boys did a super job on their cars, I cant believe how creative the boys are. It was a joy to see and all of the boys were (surprisingly) calm and well behaved that night!

Ethan's car is the blue one in the center of the picture.



Ethan and a few den mates

And lastly, we had the Cub Scouts Blue and Gold Dinner. We had a great time and all the boys got their new badges, belt loops and the like for their achievements. Here is Ethan and B right after Ethan got his.


Tommorrow is the last day of February and we dont have anything spectacular planned... March is a different story!!

Missin' Captain Phil

You might not know that Ive always been a HUGE fan of the show Deadliest Catch. And you probably didnt know that Captain Phil Harris of the Cornelia Marie was my most favorite salty ole sea captain. Ive followed him for years, seen him catch tons of crabs, watched him smoke about a billion cigarettes and cringed with every F-bomb he dropped. There was something about him though, that captivated me! Maybe it was his passion for his job - albeit a real job that was very unglamourous! Maybe it was his devotion to his sons, or even those piercing blue eyes. Maybe it was all of the above? Im not quite sure why he became my favorite Captain really, or why I could barely wait week to week to see the next show and what he was doing or saying. Or yelling. I have to admit that we decided months ago to turn our satellite off, so Ive missed alot of recent shows, and Ill probably miss the new season coming up. I did follow up with what was going on the best I could online though. I always wanted to know what Captain Phil and the boys were up to!

Then one day - late January - Id read that Captain Phil had suffered a stroke. While I was very unhappy to hear the news, I wasnt all that shocked. The guys on these boats are pushed to the very extreme limits of what their bodies can handle. Captain Phil smoked heavily, drank tons of caffiene and had recently had some other very serious health issues to deal with. I WAS, however, extremely horrified to hear that he'd passed away at such a young age - just 53 - as a result of a massive stroke. In fact, my heart has been very heavy since then.

Isnt it funny the way a person can affect you, that youve never even met? I never knew him personally, never thought I would - I was just a fan that enjoyed watching him and his crew on TV. And I feel a loss. If I feel a loss for someone I only knew through snipets on a television, I just cant imagine the pain and grief his father and two sons must feel. Ive been keeping them in my prayers and Im sure a good many other people have as well.

Rest in Peace, Captain Phil - sail the high seas of Heaven.


1956 - 2010

In the Meadow we can build a Snowman!

In less than two weeks, we've had two snow storms! We've had more snow here than we've had in 20 years! During the first storm, my camera battery was dead and I didnt get any pictures, and too bad too.. we had about 10 inches (I DID get to make some yummy snow cream though!)! This picture is from the second round of snow. Savannah wanted desperately to make a Snow "Bunny" so she and I did. The snow wouldnt roll, but it was grrrreat packing snow!

On the morning of the day we built the snow bunny, B and the kids took the truck out at 7:30 am to do donuts in the wide open snow. They ALL loved it! We live in Hicksville and are PROUD of it! Afterwards they all came in for a LOUD, but fun round of guitar hero on the Wii.. I stayed in the kitchen and made sausage and biscuits! See, told ya... hicksville! ♥

Random January Musings

A while back it was freeeezing cold, much like it is today, and the fountain in front of Chesapeake Properties in town was frozen! I thought it looked neat and snapped a pic. No biggie.

The month has been jam-packed of various happenings, but seems like its gone by so fast. I cant beleive its almost over already. Caleb had a urology appointment at CHKD and could be facing some serious issues that require major surgery to fix. He has to have two tests - a mag 3 lasix scan and a VCUG - to determine the problem. Sigh. Ethan has been through both of these test numerous times and they arent fun or easy. At least the poor little love will be sedated for them and we'll get them done on the same day instead of different days, hopefully that will save a small amount of stress.

Ella had to go to CHKD as well, to visit Cardiology. Thankfully, her EKG was perfectly normal and there is now issue there. The "case" is closed and there is no need to return. YAY.

I had my normal once a month Oncology visit and had great bloodwork numbers. Possibly, the best Ive ever had. I also had my pet/ct scan and was blessed with GREAT results!! Nothing new, all nodes are stable or smaller! Fantastic news! Also, my nodes didnt "glow" as brightly as they did in the last scan, and thats also great news - it means even less activity in them.

Caleb also had a well baby check, which was also fine.

The rest of my time is spent getting the kids to and from school, Hannah to and from all of her chuch activities, maintaining our home, keeping up with laundry, cooking from scratch, trying to keep everyone healthy, making time for my classes at school AND at home, being attentive to my husband, saving us money, making the best life possible for us, praying, praying, praying, AND trying to keep from losing my sanity - shwoo... thats hard sometimes!

Also, today we've gotten a TON of snow!! We probably have 9 or 10 inches. We made some snow cream today, but my camera battery crapped out so I have no pictures of the snow OR the snow cream! Perhaps I can figure out my new phone and take some with that :)

Until next time... ♥

Out with the Old, in with the NEW!

Happy New Year to one and all!

Ive been negligent in my blogging for the last 6 or so weeks because the Holidays are so extremely busy for me!

December was nice. We got our house repaired - FOR FREE! What a huge blessing. I had some money stuck aside to pay the person who was going to repair ir for us - a man who is actually homeless, and a friend of my Dad's and an ACE carpentar - BUT, the morning he was supposed to come, the boat he had been living on sank and he had to help get it up. The next morning he was coming over, and fell and broke his leg! Bless his heart. We needed it repaired immediately, so B's cousin came over, and they did it together. He wouldnt accept the money!

I also, somehow, got an *A* on my math final -bahaha! I have never, ever gotten an A on a math test in my life. I passed the class with a C and thats all I was hoping for! I honestly think my math teacher padded my grade a bit, but hey! I aint complainin'!

Savannah performed in her very first Nutcracker ballet this year. She was so stinkin' adorable!

Striking a pose



Her bouquet of beautiful yellow roses for a job well done!



A few days before Christmas, the whole bunch of us were in Walmart. A lady walked up to me and asked me if this was my family, so I said yes. She said "Merry CHristmas", shoved something into my hand a disappeared into the crowd. It was a card, and I opened it... inside was a $50 dollar bill! WHAT!? Another blessing! It read "from Santa". Knowing we were put in that location at that exact time for a reason, I immediately paid it forward and bought the homeless man I mentioned above, some warm weather gear.

Christmas was great! Not a big as years past, but somehow we managed to pull it off. There were some times when I wasnt so sure.



Savannah had a birthday on December 29th - her 6th! SHe wanted a yellow bunny cake and I tried.... haha, this was the best I could do!

She loved it!

The kids collected random gift cards and money for Christmas... Hannah had been a diligent little researcher and found the type of hamster she wanted, the equipment she wanted and where to get the best price! So, just days after Christmas, we headed out for the kids to do their thang, and Hannah bought "Rhino".


Cute little bugger! He's a "robo" dwarf hamster :)

I made my first ever lemon meringue pie... turned out AWESOME and got rave reviews! Looked purdy sweet too!


That was a few highlights of our December! We hope that 2010 is filled with lots of love, happiness, and good health for all of us! And of course, lots to blog about *wink*