Music Man

The Music Man is one of my favorite musicals and last night Kristin and I got to see it live at at Indian Hill High School. It was an amazing production and they did a fabulous job. They obviously have quite a bit of $$$ at that high school because the props, costumes, and auditorium were all very nice.

The Library scene was so funny.

The front porch.

Meeting at the foot bridge.
(I loved the shadows and the moon here.)

The Mayor's wife with all her "fine acting" at the social.

And now the "band" . . . finally being directed by Prof. Harold Hill.

Teddy Bear Owner

It's true. I am now the proud owner of a Vermont Teddy Bear. Never thought I would be since they are outrageously expensive, but getting one for free sure is nice.

I love entering contests and you can't win if you don't play, right?

During the week of Valentines, a local radio station had an online contest where you had to describe how you met your spouse. The requirement was 50 words or less - which isn't much at all. I told them how Aaron and I met at third base playing softball, started dating, and then 3 years later he proposed while standing on third base at the very place where we had first met. My story must have been a "hit" as my little engineer bear arrived today. :-)

I am so hooked!

OK. I've been doing this now for 3 weeks and since I'm now really hooked, I thought I'd share with everyone else. If you enjoy saving money - read on.

I love buying groceries on sale, but I don't like not knowing if the sale items are "good" or if it's just a gimmick to get you to buy. I also like using coupons, but dislike paying more with the coupon then the "everyday low price at Wal-Mart." Well, this website has solved all that for me: www.thegrocerygame.com.

Basically, the list tells you items on sale at "rock bottom" prices AND they match up these items with coupons from the paper, which obviously means you get some really good deals. Yesterday my bill at Kroger was $71.30 BEFORE I handed the cashier my stack of coupons (and yes it was quite a stack). After he rang all the coupons, my bill came down to $46.70. Now that's saving money! This is the 3rd week I've done this, and every week I've saved over $20.

In fact some items are completely free - really! For instance, this week at Kroger, 8 oz of Daisy sour cream was on sale for $1 AND I had a coupon for $1 off any Daisy product. Ta da = I got my sour cream for free. Of course the free items are the best, but I've only had 2-3 free items per week.

And yes, you do have to pay for the grocery list, but it's completely worth it to me. Right now I'm still in the "trial period" which is only $1 for 4 weeks. After that, it's $10 for 8 weeks (or more depending on how many stores you select).


It does take a while to cut out all the coupons, organize, and file them. But, if I can save this much money on our grocery bills, I'll happily keep clippin'.

The Big One-Five

Happy 15th Birthday, Cameron!

The restaurant of choice for him this year was Maggianos - YUM!!
Even the desserts were to die for!

We got him this frame w/picture along with a Reds hat for his bday gift.

Do Dogs Smile?

Do dogs smile? Who can say, but it sure looks like Cocoa is smiling here! Especially when you compare it with the second one.

I snapped a few pictures of Matt & Erika's dog when I was taking Hannah's newborn pictures.