Molars are AWFUL!

This is Tony watching Sesame Street after Hyland's tablets* took the edge off his molar pain. He finally had one cut through his gums and the other three are close. He's had a rough 48 hours for this last round...he's been working on these suckers for at least 4 months!
*Yes, Hyland's tablets were recalled in October. No, they are not yet available. KFuj was nice enough to give us a leftover bottle of Kyle's, since he's fine with other methods of pain relief. I've been saving this last allotment for the dreaded molars when even Tylenol wasn't helping poor Tony last night. Since the tablets have kicked in while I was writing this post, he's up and playing happily instead of clinging to me.

First Bike Trailer Ride

Striker took the boys on their first ride in the trailer while I ran to Target to get Femme Fatale (and yes, that'll be a whole separate post). I failed to get a picture of them, but Striker took this picture as he was taking them out (and after he removed their helmets). Yes, Alex fell asleep. Yes, that is his tummy sticking out of his shirt...I thought that he might still fit in one of the larger 18 month shirts...yeah, he'll just stick with 24 month shirts from now on. Sorry kid! Better pictures next time.

Full of Hot Air

We received a letter in the mail today from the State Government (on official letterhead with the Governor's name and everything) that is offering Striker and I: a check for $500, a comparable loaner car, pick up and return delivery to work or home, and a washed and vacuumed car with a full tank of fuel in exchange for letting them borrow our three and a half year old car for 1-3 weeks, put 100or so miles on it, and conduct testing related to air pollution.

Thoughts:

1) Isn't the State severely in debt, over budget, and in need of cutting unnecessary programs?

2) Assuming that it was somehow necessary to do our own testing in our own state, couldn't we use the fleet of vehicles owned by government employees?

3) I wonder what the total cost to the state is for testing just ONE vehicle and how many vehicles they test EACH YEAR. Yes, when I was looking this up online to confirm that it wasn't some sort of scam, I found that this program had been in place for at least 2 years. 

4) What do they actually DO with this information?

5) We are so going to do this!...I hope that I can convince Striker to go along with this...Yes! He's in  as long as I document the process on the blog as I did with the 2010 Census.

It should be noted that the postcard that I get to return indicating our interest is also postage paid. However I can fax, email, or submit our information online. Woo hoo!!! Maybe I'll do all four forms to ensure they know that we are interested...

I intentionally left out searchable terms for now as I don't want to hurt our chances of being selected.

Stay tuned...

Crazy Sleeper Alex

Alex for the most part has always been a "better" sleeper than Tony (sleeps longer, doesn't wake up as often, etc). In addition to regularly falling asleep in his high chair, car seat, or sitting up, he is a roller and mover when he has the room to do so. We find him wedged into the corner of his crib every morning, uncovered, after he rolls and wiggles his way as far as he can. This morning when I went to pick up Mr Early Bird Tony, Alex had his arm around Tigger snuggling while he slept. I wish I had been able to take a picture without a flash that would have certainly woke him up, so instead, here's his latest "asleep in the high chair" picture.

Green Thumb Update

Why yes, I think that is some green sprouting!!!! Now if I can just get the rest of my seeds planted, we might be eating fresh veggies in addition to our fresh herbs and strawberries. (I'm pretty sure the sprouts are in the herb container as I planted it before the strawberries in the other one. I can't even begin to guess which herbs are sprouting first. I'm just impressed SOMETHING sprouted.)

Personal Best: Ralphs Trip

Skippy 2 for $3
Jennie-O B1G1 Free
Cereal $1.18/box after sale and coupon
Blue Moon $11.88/12 bottles
Tri-tip $4.99/lb = $11.88
Haribo Gummi Bears $1 each
Strawberries $1/lb
Mangos $1 each
Green onions 2/$1
Pistachios $1.99 after sale and coupon
Pirate's Booty (not pictured due to 2 little guys stealing the loot) $3.99/10 oz bag

Buy 10, Save $5:
Annie's Organic Mac&Cheese $0.49/box after savings
Ronzoni Healthy Harvest Free after savings and coupons
Country Crock $1.50
Simply Orange 2 for $7
Ritz $2.49
Wheat Thins $2.49

Random things I needed:
Eggs $1.99
Bread $2.99
Bananas $2.21
Tortillas (settled for white flour because wheat were RIDICULOUSLY expensive) $1.99

Spent: $83.77 for 48 items
Saved $105.33 (but Ralphs is super high priced without sales/coupons imo)

If you take out the 2 $12 items that's $60 for 46 items ($1.30 per item)

I aim to beat this...soon!

Brothers

I love this black & white, because I know what they were doing. They were digging into a bag of Veggie Straws which are right up there on their list of favorite snacks with Goldfish and Yogurt Melts. Plus, how long are their lashes?!