11.17.08 - An Amazing Father

The last couple of weeks Lance has been pretty possessive of his Daddy. Michael will hug me when he gets home from work, or kiss me goodbye in the morning and Lance will grab his hand and pull him away and say "My Daddy, mine!" Or if I am giving Michael a hug Lance will try to push me away and hug Michael where I was.



Sometimes it becomes a game of Tug-of-War where Lance has one hand yelling and laughing, "My Daddy, mine!" and I have the other hand teasing, "My Daddy, mine!" We all laugh and have a great time. Lance sure loves his Daddy and really loves his attention.



He especially loves when Michael is home at night and has time to play with him, wrestle, or read books before it's time to go to bed. A few nights ago I overheard Lance requesting that Michael read the same book over, and over, and over... the book was Rock-A-Bye-Baby and he just loved listening to Michael sing him the song as Lance turned the pages and Michael rocked and held him in the rocking chair.



I am so grateful to be married to a man that is not only a great husband, but a loving and wonderful father as well. I love you Michael.

11.11.08 - COUPON-ING

Because I use this blog as my journal I have to include this entry about the coupon-ing I have been doing lately... maybe it will inspire someone to think, "If Camille can do it, I can do it!"

I have actually spent hours and hours the last few days clipping coupons, organizing them into 18 different categories, putting them in a binder, and creating a grocery list (with the help of http://www.savvyshopperdeals.com/ which is a website that tells me what all the great deals are on groceries on a week by week basis... I'll explain more later).

Albertson's was having a great sale on many items that I had coupons for and in addition to the sale and coupons (which is a great deal) they were having a promotion where if you bought $30 worth of select items - the ones that were on sale - you got $15 off your next order (an additional 50% off... not a bad deal). So I organized my grocery list into 9 groups where the total would equal about $30. That means I had 9 transactions and 9 sets of coupons.... wheew.

So, after spending more than 3 hours at the grocery store, and filling up my cart and going through the check out 3 times (on two different days) these are the benefits:

I spent $104.03 on $427.58 worth of groceries!

I saved $323.55!!! Not too bad... =)



I am definitely learning the "coupon-ing" trade and although it is taking me a lot of time to figure it out and get organized it is really paying off. I find it challenging and exciting... and saving that much money is really rewarding too!

The only way I can even attempt to do this is because of this really great and free information I get by email every week. It tells me what Weekly Deals each store is having and it ranks the deal so I know if it is an okay deal, good deal, or great deal.

I would recommend it to anyone who wants to save money grocery shopping, with or without coupons. The website is http://www.savvyshopperdeals.com/ and it is super easy and totally free of charge.



The way to get the coupons is by getting the Sunday Paper. I actually just signed up to get 4 copies of the Sunday paper (I know, I know, it sounds crazy) so that I get 4 copies of all of the coupons. That way next time a great sale happens I'll have enough coupons to get a lot of great stuff for super cheap or free!

I wish that I would have heard about how to do this earlier so if anyone reading this is interested I can tell you even more about it. I can also tell you how to get free stuff without ever clipping any coupons... anyway, hopefully shopping trips like this Albertson's one will be more regular for me and my family and I can start really building up my food storage and saving more money.

I truly feel so blessed in my life and I want to give back. It is important to me to be generous toward others and have found that this is a really great way to do that. Around the holidays there are so many opportunities to give and I really want to help out, so whenever I get free toothpaste, or free food, or whatever, I am going to try to always donate to those in need.

11.05.08 - FIRST SNOW

Lance took a handful of snow and looked at me in question. I told him it was okay to eat it and he was so excited! "Ummm...Yummy!"

Lance woke up this morning, looked out the window and was instantly excited and in awe. It's SNOWING!!!

He must have been too young last year to remember the snow, but this year he is really excited about it. He ran over to the sliding glass doors and said, "Wooooow..." as he watched the snow fall.

"Shoes on Mommy! Shoes on!"
"Coat on Mommy! Coat on!"
"Hood on Mommy! Hood on!" (the hood to his coat)

We ran into his room, put his new jacket and gloves on that Kathy bought for him, (thank you Grandma!) put his shoes on and we ran out the door to play in the snow!


Catching the falling snow.

Trying to catch it on his tongue... sorry Lance you got your Mommy's genes... short tongues make catching snow a lot harder. =)

Our big brown-eyed boy.

WORK, WORK, WORK.

My hard-working boys.

Having a big yard means lots of work. Michael and Lance worked hard on the yard raking leaves for a few hours on Saturday. It didn't snow much that night, but just enough to make the ground muddy and the leaves wet and heavy... not much fun to rake.

Michael has continued to work hard on the yard and recently finished installing our sprinkler system all on his own! Way to go Honey! It is his first time ever doing it and he really spent a lot of time on it. I am so proud of him for tackling such a big project and for saving us so much money by buying all of the supplies and doing the work himself. Thanks Michael. You are the best!

10.31.08 - HALLOWEEN

Matthew, Maleah, Jacob, Christine & John, Michael & Camille and Lance. Julia, John, Claire, Papa & Nana and baby Johnny, Kyle & Collette.

Halloween is always such a fun Holiday in the Covey home. Every year we are themed and have a fun time creating the characters and getting really excited about getting together, eating soup, taking pictures (and now thanks to grandbabies) going trick-or-treating!


The Bat Trio

The Peter Pan Clan!

Matt and Becca McNairy came over with their children Mathew, John, Julia, Claire, and Emmy. They just moved back to Utah from New Mexico and it was so fun to have them! Papa also came (Grandma was out of town), Collette's boyfriend (soon to be fiance) Kyle, and Jacobs cute friend Maleah all came too! It was a lot of fun and a great excuse to get together and dress up!

Mom made her traditional home-made soups, Matt made some home-made soup, and Christine made home-made bread bowls... You can't get better than that!

Captain Hook, Tiger Lilly and Johnny the Croc. with his clock.... soon to be a big brother in April!

Christine and John made a very special announcement that evening... Christine is PREGNANT! Horray! They are such a great couple and wonderful parents. Christine is already 3 months along and kept it a secret the whole time! She even ran a Sprint Triathlon with my mom while she was pregnant a couple of months ago... Wow! Not to mention that she is a mother and full time student at BYU getting her Masters Degree... what a woman!

Captain Hook, Tiger Lilly, Pirate Papa and Batman.

Papa Covey and Lance sword fighting... the only thing that would keep him happy.

I love Papa Covey. What a handsome and good man... hard to believe that he is a great grandfather... thanks for always being so supportive and such a big part of our lives. We love you!

Katie is the sister who LOVES Halloween and started the tradition of having the family be themed. Every year it is something different and it is always so fun. Peter Pan Theme was actually her idea and it was sad not to have her with us this year. Thanks for the great idea Katie and we missed you!!! We are so proud of you for getting your Masters Degree and for working so hard in school. We love you and can't wait for you to be home in a few days.

Jacob and Maleah = Pirate and Lady Bug... look at those perfect smiles.

Kyle and Collette = Peter Pan and Tinker Bell. Don't they look cute? (I made the costumes... proof of how much I love you.) =)

Robin, Bat Girl, Captain Hook, Tiger Lilly, Batman and Pirate Papa.

Collette and Camille. It's so fun that we look so similar... we are missing Katie, she is in Sunny California at an internship in Occupational Therapy.

HALLOWEEN AT DENTASOURCE

As much as Mommy really wanted to get "one good picture" of the Bat Trio - Lance wouldn't have it. I put a good amount of work into these costumes (especially Batman's) and wanted to be sure to get a few good pictures.

Michael's boss Brady has always been great at appreciating his employees and making the holidays, as well as other occasions, really fun and going all out. He requires that the office dress-up for Halloween and then invites all the children to come and Trick-or-Treat around the office with candy that he bought. It's a lot of fun to see all the employees, spouses, and children all dressed up!

Robin and Bat Girl (and baby Afton of course) outside of Michael's work.

10.30.08 - GARDNER VILLAGE

My mom and I took Lance up to Gardner Village and had such a great time! Lance LOVED it and was dressed in his Batman costume that I made him for Halloween. He was so cute and got lots of comments from other people who were there.

The Witches were out... there were stuffed witches everywhere doing different activities. Lance's favorite were the 3 witches playing baseball. After he saw them he kept reminding me and telling me about them "Witch pay (play) baseball Mommy!"

Lance loves his Nana. "Mommy, go Papa Nana's house? Peeeease!" When he hasn't seen her in a while he will always ask to go over to see her and Papa.

Lance was definitely playing the part of "Batman." All day he struted around putting his hands on his hips and running to make his cape flap in the wind. He loved all the attention he got.

Lance was anxious to get closer to the animals so Nana paid for Lance to go on a horsie ride and into the Petting Zoo. Thanks Nana!

Another first! He rode the whole time all by himself!

Lance got to ride a horsie all by himself and also got to run around the Petting Zoo with a bunch of farm animals... some of the goats and pigs were bigger than he is! He really loved being right in the middle of all of the animals and was not scared at all. He would talk to them, pet them, and hug them. He even tried to ride on an older goat that was napping! It is so fun that Lance is so outgoing and that he is not afraid to try new things.

Lance in heaven... surrounded by animals that he can hug and touch that are just his size!

Making his super-hero pose with his hands on his hips... he did this throughout the day. =)

Lance would put his hand to his ear and say, "Waa sat? Listen Mommy, listen!"

Lance speaks goat... or at least he thinks he does! He was "talking" with this goat at it was so cute and funny!

Lance likes to pretend to be different animals. He decided to be a Lion and growl at this white little chicken.

"Comeeer lil goat!" Lance would get down on the level of the smaller goats and talk with them, feed them bark or leaves, or just let them lick his fingers!

This little one seemed to like him quite a bit.

"Nice lil goat.. he nice Mommy!" Lance spent the afternoon talking to the goats and would tell me all about them. "He hungie Mommy." and "He likes it! Yummy!" or "Too loud Mommy, too loud!" (when the goats would baaah) and "I Batman!"

10.24.08 - BABY SISTER

We took a Sunday Drive up American Fork Canyon and through the Alpine Loop in the Convertible Mercedes... it was beautiful.

Today Lance was helping me around the house like he always does... loading the dishes, switching over the laundry, getting ready... etc. While we were in the laundry room he was standing next to me and said, "Mommy... baby sisser go?" I told him that she is in my tummy (as I pointed to my stomach). He looked at me, then at my tummy, and was sufficed with that answer for a couple of minutes and then he would ask me again. The second time he went and sat down by my feet (to get a different view) and looked up at my "baby bump" and asked again, "Baby sisser, Mommy?"

My Monkey Boys... Lance loves to pull on Michael and I's ears and say, "Monkey, Daddy? Monkey Mommy?" and make us look like a monkey!

I know that he understands that the baby is in my tummy, but he doesn't quite get how a baby could be inside of me. He is really starting to think more and more about the reason things are and it is so fun to see the innocents in his thought process.

Utah is truly beautiful. I love the mountains.

It is scary and exciting to think about the reaction Lance will have to being the "big brother" instead of the "baby" in the family. Sometimes he acts so grown-up, but other times he definitely still acts like the 2 year old he is. For a while to get my attention, when his attempts were not working as well as he wanted, he would hold up his fist and say, "Hit baby sisser!" I of course would then give him my FULL attention and tell him that he was not allowed to hit the baby (especially with my condition... that could be very bad). He would then say, "I'n so saawee Mommy" (I'm so sorry) "Hug baby sisser?" and he would give my tummy a big hug.

3 soon to be 4...

Lately he has been better at not using baby threats to get my attention. He has actually been super cute and will say, "Daank you so much!" (Thank you so much) all of the time. I love that he is so polite! I think he is going to be really sweet when Afton is born. I'm sure he will want to hug and hold her all of the time... he is going to be a great big brother.

10.24.08 - IMAGINATION

Trying out our new camera. I just bought this camera for a killer deal and had Lance say "Chesse!" for the camera.

Lance experienced another first last night and it was so adorable and I have to write it down before I forget...

So, Michael go home from work just before 9pm and Lance was still awake. The 3 of us were in Lance's room all sitting on the floor and Michael and I were trying to get him into his pajamas and into bed.

BATMAN! This is the costume I made for Lance to wear next week on Halloween.

Lance is a smart little one and was trying to distract us in any way that he could. He heard the family that lives in our basement talking, or the water running though the pipes, or an airplane that was flying overhead and every time he would say, "Waaah sat?" Michael and I would tell him what it was and continue to try to get him to sit still long enough to change into his pajamas.

One of the times Lance asked "Waaah sat?" Michael said, "It's a dinosaur!" Lance believed him and then continued on to tell us all about this make-believe dinosaur that he was hearing.

Lance giving an intense Batman face for the camera.

These are direct quote of what he said. He went on for a long time trying to describe for us what his little mind was making up.

"Dinosaur up there" (pointing to the ceiling in his room).
"Up in the sky."
"Don't touch him... bite you" (he put up his hand like a "stop" and told Michael and I this multiple time"
"Ouch, bite you."
"Dinosaur want drink"
"Daddy... dinosaur drink?" (he handed Michael his sippy cup with water in it for Michael to give to the dinosaur. Michael then pretended to feed the dinosaur).
"Dinosaur no like apple juice" (we told him it was water and that the dinosaur liked it).
"More for dinosaur" (giving his sippy cup to me so I could share with the dinosaur).
"Don't touch... he bite you" (again putting his hand up in warning).
Michael asked if the dinosaur was big or small. Lance said, "Small dinosaur."
We told Lance that this was a nice dinosaur and that he was our friend. We asked him if the dinosaur was his friend. Lance said, "Yeah, friend!... don't touch... bite you! Be careful."

Michael and I just sat there and looked at each other in amazement. He just turned 2 last month and we had no idea he was capable of being so imaginative and being able to express himself so well. We didn't want him to start imagining scary monsters in his room that would scare him so we tried to keep reiterating that it was a nice dinosaur and that he was our friend. So even though Lance agreed that the dinosaur was our friend and that he was a nice dinosaur, he still persisted in reminding us that he would bite us.

This morning Lance was in my room with me right after Michael had gone to work and he put his little hand up to his ear again and said, "Waaah sat?" Before I could answer he said, "Mommy, the dinosaur."