Update 14 October 2012

Has been awhile since my last post. Lots to talk about. I am giving myself only 10 minutes to update this so i better time fast. 10 minutes at 100 words per minuts should be 1000 words. We will see how I do. So the first week in August, Paul and I took leave and headed down to Erinsville, Ontario for the week. We camped in Mom and Dad H's trailer right at the lake and had a blast. We went fishing. I caught one decent fish the whole time and tonnes of little sunfish, as did Logan. Paul caught a few and then 1 really good one on the last day that we ended up putting back. Then on Thursday night the 9th of August we headed North to Bowmanville for the boots and hearts festival. It was pouring rain when we were setting up our tent but we got it all set up and were nice and cozy inside. Then the next day we got up and I made breakfast and then we filled up our water containers. We took a shelter that we could shower in with solar water bags. Worked well. It was also a good thing that we had our bikes because we were a 10 minute bike ride or 30 minute or so to the concert area. Friday we went to see Crystal Shawanda and I can't remember at this point. But basically we had the best weekend ever. We were nice and dry in our rain suits as well. We met some awesome people, Peggy & Darren, Diane, Tim and Sandra. We loved Tim McGraw, Big n'rich, Paul Brandt, Alabama, Kira Isabella, Terri Clark. Everyone was great except for this guy from the HIP. We didn't enjoy him. We left Sunday night and didn't see Lionel Ritchie or Carrie Underwood. we really wanted to see Carrie but we were bagged and had a long ride back to Mom and Dad's and then home on the 13th. Next year it will be the long weekend of August and we will go VIP style this time. We had such a great time. Lots of whiney people complaining about the weather but we lived in the moment and had a blast. Tent worked out awesome. Mom Hacker took care of the kids for us. Was so great for Paul and I to have a weekend together without kids after he had been gone for so long. On the 13th I decided to seize the day and book flights home to see my family in Manitoba. I took my holiday around labour day weekend so as to save some leave and Finn is still free so it was only 2 seats for Logan and I. We flew on aeroplan points and flew back to ottawa business class. That was soooooooooooooooooooo amazing. Couldn't believe they gave me glass glasses while I had a toddler in my lap. He ended up smashing the glass with the metal tv tray and spilling my beer on my leg. Was great to get home. I was "sick" for the full 2 weeks while I was in Manitoba. Finn gave it to me and then my Dad got it. After being sick in July for 2 weeks and then this time I went in to the hospital and the dr. said that I might have allergies. He gave me nasinex and claritin and the next day I felt like a million bucks. Sept 10th I was at Asticou for Project Force. They are trying to make a new pt test for the military that is more reflective of the actual tasks that military members are called to perform at peace and at war. The first day I was "sick" with what I thought was a cold and couldn't breathe very well for it. We were divided up into teams. I volunteered for this testing since I was over 30 and they wanted more women over 30 to test. They weighed us and did a BMI. Basically I have alot of fat to get rid of but adequate muscle. I did 10 pushups, 1:02 on the sorensen back endurance test, stage 4 on the beep test (I couldn't breathe), combined hand grip of 85 which is over 100% for my age, then we did the flexed arm hang and I couldn't support my weight. Lasted 2 seconds, wall sit: 1:08 minutes, front plank 52 seconds, then we had to lift a 35kg sandbag a height of 1m and touch the wall with it and then shuffle to the right and do the next sandbag the same. They timed how long it would take us to do 30 and I did it in 70 seconds. Then I had a 15 minute break before I did my 20 msr beep test, which also didn't help me stopping at level 4 which was my worst ever. Still a pass though. In the afternoon we did famil for what would happen on the 17th of sept. On the 17th we showed up to asticou again and we did an exercise where we had to carry various weights various ways back and forth 23 separate times and it was timed. You could run only when you weren't carrying anything and we were in combats. I did mine in 11 minutes 55 seconds which was good. Then we had lunch and after lunch we did the YOYO test which is a version of the 20 msr where you run through the line at each end and there is a pause. I ran to level 6 and then I was told to stop because she didn't see me cross the line. Was fine with me. Then on the 23rd of September I did the Army Half marathon of 21km. It was truly an amazing and wonderful experience. I ran with my friend Leanne. We finished with a time of 2 hours 45 minutes which was great since I did zero training and had only ran 5 km probably ever in my life. Was such a great time. I was singing the whole time and having a blast. I told myself that I could do it and then I did. I wasn't even that sore the next day. I only had 1 blister. The power of positive thinking. Then on the 24th I was supposed to do more pt testing but Leanne was very very sore so we both agreed to do it on the 25th instead because we wanted to do the testing together. Then we had to move 60 sandbags from one pallet to the other one. I did mine in 4 minutes 2 seconds. Then we had to and it will take me too long to explain things but we did an escape to cover. We wear body armour, cadpats, boots, helmet, and fake rifle. 2 hands on rifle at all times. 10 m run-7 second pause-50 m run-10 m leopard crawl under a wire, -30 m run in FFO. Mine was 1 minute 6 seconds total! Was great. Supposed to do it twice but I did my best the first time every time so I didn't do it twice. We had to do picking and digging. It was laborious but not too bad. And then this farmer carry. How long could we walk carrying a sand bag in each hand. I did 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Then this running and lifting feet off of the ground ones. They were fine as well. Was good. So I am the National defence workplace charitable campaign for my unit. I have so far raised $8029 from the 71 people at my unit. I said that I would shave my head bald if we made it to $5000. Now I am aiming for $10,000 raised. My hair is super long and will go to a wig place that will make wigs for women and children with diseases where they lose their hair. I have also planned a few special events since I only have 11 or so more people to canvas. So far only 14 people have said no out of 71 to donating any money. I am very proud of their generosity. My CO has approved the wearing of shirt and tie or ladies equivalent on mondays till the 2nd of Dec at a cost of $15 each. I am doing it and I hope lots of people will do it. Mondays we have to wear our 3B's so it will be wonderful to be comfortable and I'll get to enjoy my hair down for a bit. Fridays we are allowed jeans if we paid $15 back in september. I love it. On Sept 19th we had the depart with dignity for my friend Michael retiring after 33 years in. Myself and my friend Shannon planned his party. It was a wonderful success. I swing danced with him in front of everyone. We had only practiced for 10 minutes together in the morning. I kept trying to lead. oh well. It was such a blast. Here is the link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPe6IOogKPs Michael is moving to Kitchener to take care of his mother and I already miss him so much. He was such a great influence on me. Truly a wonderful human being. He taught me so much. Possessions don't matter as much as the experiences and the time with friends and family. I taught him some couponing and price matching and bargain hunting!!!! We had a luncheon with him last friday to say goodbye as well. At the end of september Paul and I participated in the Shepherds of good hope golf tournament with my deputy commanding officer and our admin warrant as well as alot of others from the unit. I organized a food collection to help them with Thanksgiving etc. Myself and a friend each donated a turkey which was awesome and they received some canned goods as well. We ended up right on par for the course. It was a 9 hole and I had the best shots ever golfing. Was a beautiful day out and we had a blast. I sunk a 70-80 foot putt. Wish they would have recorded it. It was unbelievable. During september Paul went to Mary-Ann and Thomas's wedding and Mom and Dad H had the kids. I made it to a Shane Yellowbird concert and did a tonne of cleaning and organizing and decluttering at our place. Still more to go. We continue to live every day like it was our last and make the most out of this one beautiful life we have. The kids are amazing and wonderful. we are truly blessed to be their parents. Finn is trying sooooo hard to talk. I have been suffering from depression and mental illness off and on for most of my life. Not sure if it started when my parents separated or what. Would come and go. Lots of horrible things have happened in my life but I haven't been dwelling on it. It would just show up and make me miserable. My self esteem was incredibly low due to the bullying I suffered in high school and in college. When I was in grade 7 the other kids said that I was ugly like a "dog" and called me "tire biter". This was really stupid because they said that "dogs bite tires" and I was an ugly dog. They would chase me down the street barking like a dog. Small town. Was a rough time. It didn't help any that I didn't get along with my step-mother through all of this. 3 of my 4 brothers have attempted suicide at different points in their lives. Raymond was successful in 2002. I still miss him every day and wish he was here. It plagued my thoughts in 2001 when I was deployed on the HMCS Vancouver. I was continuously misunderstood and was getting in crap for things that weren't my fault. I was held to a way higher standard for some reason than anyone else on the ship. I used to contemplate slitting my wrists between watches so that I wouldn't have to go on. But I managed to pull through and I ceased my training as a Maritime engineer which I wasn't enjoying. 3 months after I returned from the Arabian Sea was Raymonds suicide and it was devasting. He called me to say goodbye and tell me he loved me. This was the best gift he could have given me. I got to tell him how much I loved him and plead with him not to leave. After his suicide I was worried that the other 4 of us would do it or that no one would. After the devastation that this caused the family no one would ever do it since it was so awful. This spring I was depressed. Not sure why. People thought it was because of the 10 year anniversary of Ray's death. I thought it was something hormonal. I had some tests run and at the end of May I went on zoloft. It is working awesome. I am not sure if I had moodiness and depression due to hormones or what but everything is sorted out now and I am sooooooooo happy. My knees have "healed" themselves and I am not in constant pain anymore. I am living life to the fullest and trying to help as many people as I can through charities, couponing, and donating. I just want everyone to realize that there is no shame in asking for help and things can get better. I was devastated to hear about Amanda Todd being bullied. Bullying makes me sick. We all need to be nicer to each other and show our kids how to treat other people. I have been playing badminton 3-5 times per week now and I am training hard for nationals. There is 3 women here in the ncr competing for 2 spots. I play 3 times per week at the gym at work with co-workers and once or twice with the ncr team. I love this sport soooooooo much. Paul is doing really well at work. He is playing hockey and some intramural golf. My daycare lady Silvia is amazing. She is sooooooooooooooo wonderful to us and the kids. Friday night Paul and I went to the US Navy's 237th annual Navy Day ball in Greely and had a blast. He wore a tux and I wore a ballgown and had my hair done. Was a great last hurrah for my hair before the head shaving on the 26th of October. We had a "ball" at the ball. The guy that shaved my head on the flight deck of the vancouver in 2001 was there. Was so ironic and awesome. Last time I raised $1200 for diabetes. 26th October will be a head shaving extravaganza at work and will hopefully garner some great press for the NDWCC. I am planning a movember for the guys in my unit for november and a no leg shaving for the women. Paul and I won tickets to the y101 40th birthday bash at montanas in kanata on nov 5th. Someone from that party will win a trip for 2 to nashville and then las vegas and will get to see shania twain in concert and tim and faith. I am soooooooooooo hoping and praying that it will be us. I will be bald for the party on the 5th!!! Love and God Bless to everyone. Treat everyone like you would like to be treated. Be the change you want to see in the world. Live, laugh, and Love. Couponing update: This weekend is the double double event at shoppers. Spend $75 before taxes and before coupons and they give you a $10 timmies gift card and a $10 shoppers gift card. packs of huggies wipes are on for $6.49 each and there is 186 wipes in the packages. Each pack of huggies wipes gets you 2500 bonus points which will make the wipes basically free if you have enough points the first week of december for the meg bonus. Some of the packages even have a 50 cent coupon attached. You can also pick up a lysol no touch hand soap dispenser for $12.99-$14.97 and use the mail in rebate from the smart source this weekend. You will be reimbursed up to $14.97 for this. There is also stayfree and carefree pads on for $2.99. there is a printable coupon for stayfree ultra with wings for $2 off that is good till january 2013. google it. $2.99 of the purchase goes towards the $75 total and you only pay $1 plus taxes on the full amount. I bought some osteojointease on for $21 and used a $5 off coupon. Will be mailing that to my Grandma Richard to see if it helps her arthritis. I will be donating some of the huggies wipes that I purchased to the woman's shelter and the food bank. I know it isn't food but if people have wipes they can use their money for food. Still waiting patiently for Lynne and Dino's baby to arrive. So far she is 6 days overdue. My trip to Manitoba in September was awesome. Suzanne and Morag's reception was wonderful and it was nice to see my kids play with their cousins (Rolly and Robyn's kids). Was soooooooooooo great to celebrate my Grandmas 91st birthday with all of the family. I passed on my cloth diapers to my cousin Kathy and Lynne & Dino. Things are going really well at work. My co-workers are great and I love the job and I love Ottawa. Today we went to church and then I let Paul have some me time and the kids and I went to visit Auntie Colleen and Uncle Jonathon. Colleen is a good friend of mine. Our birthdays are 1 day apart and I have known her since 1999 or 2000. The kids played well together. She is also Finn's Godmother. She gave me the sweet coupon hook up today for the lysol system and I told her about some deals. We had a great visit. Wish I could see her more. I started doing Yoga as well. So far I have done it 3 times. Brandy from work does it for free on tuesdays from 0800-0900. I love it!!! I have lost over 10 lbs since the 10th of september. curing my allergies and all of the pt kick started my metabolism and I am burning calories like crazy. I am literally "high" on life. I am the happiest that I have been in a long time. A couple of weeks ago, a great friend of mine Leonie was in town and I drove to Kanata to have some time with her. It was so great. She gives the best hugs and a huge heart. I love that chick. She sent me the best care package ever when I was in KAF. I can't wait to send some stuff to her as she is deploying soon. For Thanksgiving we stayed in Ottawa. I cleaned the house on the saturday and then Amy and Steve came up for supper with Tikka and Paul cooked us a wonderful turkey. I made the salad and the stuffing. Stuffing not from scratch. The turkey and Paul's stuffing was amazing. We had a great time. Sunday night I invited ourselves out to Dave and Nadine's for their thanksgiving. We dressed up and had a really great time! Love those 2. They were in Comox with us as well and got posted here last summer. We had a wonderful time! I am working on my french again and I am taking mandarin lessons. I highly recommend my friend Lucy from Unicorn Spa on Merivale. She is amazing. Great prices. She does waxing, massage, acupuncture. For massages she has a stamp card. After 9 massages you can get a free 60 minute massage. 10 for the price of 9. She is amazing. She gave me a massage the night before the Army half marathon and then I went to her after the run for another massage and some waxing. I love her. She is also helping me with my mandarin and I am helping her with her english. Just wanted to let people know about the walmart mastercard. You get $15 when you use it for the first time at walmart and then use it once somewhere else. You also earn rewards for using it at walmart. Since I do a tonne of price matching and couponning at walmart it is working well. There is also a wonderful deal with ING right now. If you open a savings account based on my orange key which is 14616744S1 they will pay us each $25. This is with Ing direct. They are wonderful and have no fees. I also opened up a chequing account with them. I transferred my payroll to them and they are going to send me a $100 apple giftcard just for me doing that!! Wishing you and yours a happy fall. Logan turned 5 on October 5th and Dad H turned 55. Happy birthday to both of them. the night before Logan's birthday we went to Lone star for supper. was super fun!!! Love you all: Rae-Lynn, Paul, Logan and Finn!

29 JULY 2012 UPDATE AND EPIC SHOPPING DEALS

Hello everyone. Since the long weekend at the beginning of the month Paul is home for good till November. It has been going well. We are all super happy to have him home. On the 9th of July we celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary. Paul was able to get me free flowers thanx to the scanning code of practice. http://smartcanucks.ca/canadian-code-of-practice-scanner-price-accuracy/ Flowers were supposed to be $5.99 and they scanned at $9.99. Since the sign said $5.99 and Paul mentioned that, he received the flowers for free since they were less than $10. If they were over $10 he would have received $10 off. Dad and Lynn flew in on the 9th for a visit as well. We were so excited for them to visit. I was away in the States for work from the 10th-12th. I went to Maryland for a 1 day conference. I had a wonderful room at the Hampton Inn with a whirlpool tub. Nadia visited me the night of the 11th and we had such a great visit. She was my matron of honour for our wedding and I hadn't seen her since the wedding. We did a little bargain hunt shopping. I managed to get 8 bras for $160 at Target and I will be reimbursed by the military for my yearly bra entitlement. Was great. Picked up some new underwear for Logan, Angry Birds, Star Wars!!! He loved them. I also picked up a skirt for me and 4 tops super cheap. I flew home on the 12th and worked the 13th. We picked up a rental van on the 13th. On the 14th (my 35th birthday) we got up and headed down to Mom and Dad Hacker's place. We were enroute to Niagara Falls. We spent the rest of the day with them at their Campsite swimming and having fun. Campfire ban so we couldn't have a fire. Logan roasted marshmallows off of the stove. On our way to their place I stopped to buy a cheesecake birthday cake. It was $21.99 and it scanned at $22.99 so I got it for $11.99 thanx to the Scanning code of practice. We had a great visit with Mom and Dad H. Then Dad, Lynn, Paul, myself and the kids stayed at their house overnight. Mom and Dad stayed at their trailer. The next day we got up and went to church, had lunch with Mom and Dad H and then headed to Niagara Falls. Weather was crazy driving there. Torrential downpour on the 401. We didn't get to the hotel till 1900. I thought the Hilton would give me my government rate on check in but they wouldn't. They said I should have called in ahead of time. We stayed in a room with 2 king beds and a pull out couch and one bathroom. It was a little crowded but we loved it. They nickel and dimed us for everything. No fridge, $15 for internet (only one device could use it), $25/day for parking, etc. We had a fallsview room though and we loved it. On the 16th we did the maid in the mist, journey behind the falls, niagara fury and white water walk. Was awesome. On the 17th we went to marineland and got in 50% off all tickets since we are military. Kids 6 and under are free. Logan and Finn were free on everything we did as well as 2 free suppers for each of them the 2 nights we ate at east side marios!!! We got up on the 18th and headed back to Mom and Dad's to pick up Paul's trailer and boat. He bought a used 12 foot aluminum boat and trailer with 2 oars off kijiji for $400. He still has his motor. He will be getting that puppy going shortly to take the kids fishing etc. I got a really bad cold on the 16/17th in Niagara. I am actually still sick today 2 weeks later. I stayed home sick from work on the 19th and 20th. This is an awful cold. On the weekend Paul and Dad started to build the foundation for the 10x14 foot shed Paul bought from TSE for $599 or so. They worked their butts off and the 3 of us finished it monday night. Dad and Lynn flew home on the 26th and we were very sad to see them go. We had a wonderful visit. Lynn really bonded with the kids. She read to Logan every night. We had such a great time. They bussed downtown a couple of times and toured the parliament etc. Paul and Dad only made it out golfing twilight once though. We ran out of time. This weekend Paul went home to Mom and Dad H's with the kids and I got a bit of break on my own. Friday night I went out and did some shopping. Saturday night they went to a Sandford reunion. I am sure they had a blast. I first stopped at metro. They were supposed to have gay lea gold on for $1.97 and I have a $1 coupon but they didn't have any and didn't appear to have ordered any for the sale. I bought 2 honey bunches of oats for $1.99 each and had 2 $1 off coupons. 3 pints raspberries for $5. 1.17 L OAsis juice for $1.99 minus my 75 cents off coupon!!! healthy request orange juice. Then I went to Walmart. I price matched value packs of chicken breasts. Walmart was charging 13.13/kg and I pricematched that at $8.75/kg from food land. I saved an average of $6 per pack. Was great. 10 lb bag of potatoes for $2.97 unadvertised awesome price, Gala apples price matched no frills at 1.94/kg for a $2.98 (10 or so), 2 pints blueberries at $1.44 each price matched no frills, 3 nutrigrain bars boxes for $1.88 each price matched no frills. Had 3 coupons for $1 off each box, Maxx scoop litter 7kg price matched no frills for $5.88 and had a $5 off coupon. onl paid 88 cents!!! M&M peanuts at $1.08, free with coupon from online contest, bananas reg walmart price, grapes pricematched food basics at 97 cents/pound 1.445 kg for $3.09. 8 philly cream cheese 250g for $2.49 each price matched food basics. Total $90.37. This is for 4 6 packs of boneless,skinless chicken breasts and everything else here. I was looking for stayfree ultrathin 18's at walmart which are on for $1.97 this week. There is a $2 printable here https://consumersocialmediacanada.ca/stayfreequiz/www/coupon.php making them free!!! Of course they were sold out at the 2 walmarts that I went to. I should have just got a raincheck since the coupons are good till january but I forgot. I came home and unloaded everything and then went to bed. I didn't get to bed till probably midnight or so. I got home at 2230. I slept till 1130 in the morning. Then I got up and had lunch for breakfast and headed out on a mission to find the stayfree pads and go to the awesome shoppers promo. I went to the shoppers at Findlay Creek since I wanted to check Freshco for the pads and price match. I can't find my shoppers receipt but basically I believe I bought 3 osteojointease on for $19.99 (2 came with 3 magnetic ion bracelets), had $5 coupons off all 3, 3 multibionata at 10.49 each - 3 $10 off coupons. Each of thses came with 500 bonus points as well. Advil nighttime 10 pack at $3.99 - $4 off mailed to me with a sample from advil. Thinsations at $1.99 - $1.50 facebook printable. I scratched off a $10 amount on the scratch card. You could scratch $10,15, 20, 30 or $50. You couldn't apply the discount on this transaction. Then I went to freshco and they didn't have the pads or anything else I needed so I headed to giant tiger on bank. The nestea ice tea packs have a coupon printed on the inside for a free 12 pack. Last weekend I bought a case at walmart for $4.97 and now every pack I get is free with the coupon as long as I redeem the coupon for a box that also has the coupon. Coupon is good till december. At giant tiger I redeemed my coupon for a case of iced tea, and picked up a kids tent on clearance for $8 and a mini flashlight for Logan and Finn at $1 each. After that I went to the walmart on bank st. They didn't have any of the iced tea in stock or the pads still so I bought a family size frosted flakes at $4.97 that comes with a form you mail in and they will send you a $5 pre paid gas card. Sweet deal!!! We are stocked up on cereal right now so I didn't get more. Good price though! I did get a rain check on the stayfree pads for 5 packs. After that I popped over to the home based business open house in the PMQ's. My friend Kelly had her epicure table set up. I picked up an order that Mom H and I made and bought a new taco spice and a hot pepper spice mix as well. We had a great visit. It was so hot and this was outside. Then at the end I helped her pack up and load her truck up. After that I came home and unloaded. I talked to Julia and decided to go to her place for a visit. I stopped at walmart in barrhaven and they didn't have any of the pads or the nestea iced tea. Then I stopped at the shoppers drugmart and they didn't have any of the multibionata or the nestea so I kept going. I stopped at the shoppers at 680 Eagleson road. Here I picked up the $19.99 osteojointease. Minus $5 coupon. Regular price is $27.99. 4 multibionata at $10.49 minus 4 $10 off printable coupons, and used my $10 card from earlier that day. Subtotal was $6.95 HST $8.05 for a total of $15.00. Receipt says I saved $30. I earned 2610 bonus points. My bill was $61 before coupons. I wanted to get a nestea case for julia but they didn't have them. Was gonna give her 12 cans. They were out of the scratch cards so they just gave me the $10 coupon discount card for my next purchase. Then I stopped at zellers to see if they had the stayfree pads and I would just price match walmart. I was in luck. They had them. And the sweet part is there is a free pack of carefree liners that comes in the box with the 18 stayfree pads. These were $4.49 at zellers and they price matched the $1.97 from walmart. I bought 5 boxes. Subtotal was $9.85, total $10.34. After the 5 $2 off coupons were applied my bill was 34 cents for 90 ultrathin pads with wings!! I got to Julia's around 1930 and we had a great visit till 2315 or so. I stopped by the shoppers in Stittsville. I hit the jackpot here. They had the nestea iced tea for $7.49 which I got for free with my coupon, febreze home collection luminaire refill for $3 - $3 coupon, 6 multibionata at $10.49 each - 6 $10 off coupons, nair wax strips on clearance for $5 a box. I bought 2 boxes. Total before coupons was $75 or so. After coupons subtotal was $2.94, HST 8.90 total paid $11.84. I earned 3750 bonus points and a $15 scratch for my next trip to shoppers!!! I got home at around 0035 or so. It was close to 2 AM by the time I got to sleep. I woke up at 0800 and got up and showered and headed to my massage appointment. Was great. 1 hour therapeutic deep tissue massage. On my way home I decided to stop at rexall to see if there was any deals. I picked up 8 rolls of ultra royale 3 ply for $2.99 minus $1 coupon, another free case of nestea and 2 pringles for $3. Quick stop in staples for more ink for my printer and then an epic stop at zellers. Zellers has a facebook coupon for $5 off when you spend $20 on yellow ticket items which are 70% off the last ticketed price. I price matched 1 stayfree ultra for $1.97 and used a $2 off printable. I bought Logan 5 new sets of size 6 and 6X pajamas from cars to handy manny. They were $5.10 each for 2 3 piece sets and then $4.50 each for the other 2 piece sets. I also picked up 2 3.69L arm and hammer laundry detergent on for $4.99 and used a $1 off coupon on each one!! Total paid $29.23. I then went back to zellers because I forgot my resolve coupons in the truck and I had seen a sign that said resolve was on for 2 for $4. I picked up 2 resolve spray and wash and had 2 coupons for $2 off each one making them free. On checkout they rang up at $3.29. After 5 minutes it was determined that the sign was old but they still honored the $2 price and I got them for free. I also picked up fleece sweats for Finn $3.60, Boys bucket hat $2.40, 2 pairs of jeans for Logan and one for Finn at $4.50 each, Nose and ear plug for $1.20, Hat $1.50, Hat $2.40, Hat 90 cents, 1 pair of matching pj's for Finn for $5.10 3 pack. Total paid $35.27. This was sooooo awesome. I stopped at Canadian Tire on the way home and picked up milk at $4.29, and another iced tea at $3.66 - free coupon, and an 8 foot water trampoline for $199.99. Regular price is $399.00. Can't wait for the kids to use this at Mom and Dad's campsite. We will be staying at Mom and Dad's campsite in their trailer probably from the 6-10 August. So Capital hoedown is cancelled this year. It sucks but the Boots and Hearts Festival is exchanging hoedown passes for free passes to their festival which is the same dates. If all works out I will be heading there from the 10-12 Aug. will have to take the 13th off. I have to see if Paul wants to go. If he doesn't there will be room for one person to go with me. More details to come. Also subject to Mom and Dad H taking the kids for that weekend so we will see what happens. I am thawing out some chicken right now and I am going to make the broccoli cheese bake from the recipe from Kelly. Not sure when my boys will be getting home. Our house in Courtenay now belongs to someone else officially as of yesterday!!!! Now I have to finish my moving claim and get reimbursed for some stuff. That is all for now. Love Rae-Lynn, Paul, Logan and Finn

3 July 2012 update

As always I am surprised that it has been 2 months since my last post. I have been pretty busy with the kids I guess. Paul finished up his POET Performance Oriented Electrician Training on the 28th of June and was home on the 29th. We are sooooo happy to have him home. He will be home till November when he goes on his next course. We will have to enjoy him while we have him here. On Friday the 15th of June Mom and Dad Hacker came up and watched the kids while Paul and I went to the Thompson square, Darius Rucker, Lady Antebellum concert at scotia bank place. We had a blast. Paul passed a really hard test that day so we were celebrating in style. May had us going to Kingston for a jack and jill while Mom and Dad H watched the kids. Was a nice night away from the kids and visited with Paul's friends and some of mine. For Canada Day weekend we packed up the kids Saturday morning and headed down home to Mom and Dad's to camp for the weekend. It was a beautiful spot on Beaver Lake. Paul and I tented it and the kids stayed in Mom and Dad's trailer. We swam tonnes and Dad and Paul took Logan fishing Sunday night. He caught 12 sun fish and they put them all back. They were out in the boat. Tikka also had a blast. We had a super wonderful long weekend with Mom and Dad H. Mom H spoiled us with wonderful meals. I got a bit too much sun but didn't burn. I was red but not painful. I cut my feet up quite a bit in the lake. I just picked up a pair of water shoes for me. I also bought a party island from the canadian flyer for $109. It is on sale 50% off and is super cool. Can't wait to use it next time. We got home Monday at around 1500 in time for Logan to have a play date with his BFF Ben and his brother Jacob. Logan was over at their house till 1900. Next time we will have the boys over. They are sooooo cute always holding hands and playing so well. They had their first phone call last Friday night and it was adorable. So tonight Paul went out to play baseball with friends and took Logan with him. I took Finn with me out to do my weekly shop since we were away for the weekend. Here are some deals I picked up at Loblaws: Gay lea spray whipped cream $3.19 minus $.75 coupon zone coupon. 500 g extra lean shaved turkey breast $13.11 for sandwiches 4 Chickens at $3.08, $3.44, 2.96 and $3.00 each. Great deals!! Broccoli: 4 big ones for $5 Skirt on clearance $6.94 2nd skirt on clearance $14.94. Total $57.75 after taxes. We then went to Walmart where I only used 2 coupons but did a tonne of price matching: Romaine Walmart price $.67 2 packs dempsters 6 bagels at $2 each 1.18 kg red grapes $4.60 Fruit loops fruit snacks 5 boxes at $2 each for 10 packs per box. Pink ear plugs 7 pairs $4.77 Black diamond cheese strings. 2 packs of 8. Price matched no frills and got them for $2 each. Had 2 x .75 off coupons from nutella company mailed me. So 8 cheese strings for $1.25. Super sweet!!! Maple leaf top dogs price matched giant tiger at $1.88 each instead of $3. Bought 4 packs Montreal steak seasoning $3 pepper seasoning $3 Raspberries price matched independent at $1.25 each. Bought 2 packs Blue berries price matched food basics at 3 for $5. Strawberries price matched food basics at $1.97 I also picked up 2 boxes of nature valley sweet and salty on for $2.50 for 5. I bought these because if you buy 2 boxes you go online to life made delicious and you get a free pair of Canada flip flops. I can't wait to get mine. I also love these bars for snacks at work and so does Paul. Finn was asleep in the cart for the whole shop at loblaws and was awake for walmart. He slept all of the way home and went right to bed at 2200 when we got home. We are looking forward to Dad and Lynn visiting us from the 9-24th July. I will probably take 3 days off and Paul will too and we will make a trip up to niagara falls!!! I also have a work trip to the states from 10-12 July. Finn is a climbing monkey and is constantly falling off things or running in to things and bruising up his head. I successfully weened him at the end of May from breast milk and I am happy to have my boobs back. I have been playing badminton twice a week at work with some people there. There is a great group and we have some exciting and fun matches. It is a good workout for me. I also try and run/walk on the other days. Tomorrow I will be doing a run in the morning and then going to work for 0900 and then I will have badminton at 1520 or so. Tomorrow I can stay till 1730 since Paul is off and he can pick up and drop off the kids at daycare. I think they will all sleep in tomorrow since it is 2300 and he is still out with Logan at the double header. It is looking like Capital hoedown will be cancelled this year. It really sucks since we had tickets for each other for Christmas. Hopefully we will get our moneyback. Working on planning our holiday from 4-12 August and thinking of heading to Newfoundland. We will see how that pans out. Oh the other big news from May was that we finally sold our house. It closes at the end of July. We sold for way less than we wanted but we will be glad when we stop carrying 2 mortgages. That is all for now. Love Always Rae-Lynn, Paul, Logan and Finn