Sunday, October 19, 2008

Happy Birthday to my Fabulous Father-in-Law (+ 1 week)

I finally got some of the pictures downloaded from my old pc onto a flash drive so I could create this card.

I think the words on the bottom bar of the card are all true about my fabulous father-in-law.

He's the best!
Happy Birthday, Dad!


While reviewing the pictures, I noticed that most of them turned out blurry. At the time, I was using my mom's borrowed camera, as I couldn't find my camera's battery charger. Her camera is a good camera, it's just different from mine, so I obviously don't know how to use it. I was very disappointed in how the pictures turned out overall.

Since then, I have found my battery charger, and was able to take it with me when I went with Staci's kindergarten class trip to the pumpkin patch. But, that afternoon (last Monday), I lost my camera... I'm so upset and sad. Please pray with me that the Lord will direct my mind, memory, and footsteps to find my misplaced camera. Thanks!

Again, Happy Belated Birthday, Dad!

Friday, October 17, 2008

Happy Birthday Shauna! (+ 1 month)

Since Shauna was Severely Sick on her Seventh birthday with Strep throat, She felt like She had a Seriously Sorry day instead of a Special one.
In addition, I never got around to posting her a special birthday message. Shame on me!

Finally, a month later, I have her special birthday e-card ready to post.


I love you more than a million dark chocolates, Shauna Nicole Parker!
Happy birthday plus one month to my special princess!

XOXOXO
Love, Momma Rhonda

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Today's Walgreens Scenario

I was so excited to FINALLY receive my Walgreens Easy Saver rebate gift card yesterday... I'd been asking my husband (driving him crazy) every day - "did my Walgreens card come yet?"

Today at lunch I went to Walgreen's and did the following scenarios:

2 Dimetapp $ 7.98
1 Robitussion 3.99
1 Oral B Toothbrush 4.49
subtotal $16.46; with tax before coupons $ 17.74
minus 3 coupons $ (6.00)
$ 11.74 amount paid for toothbrush and cough medicine (on my WAGS card)

Received $10 RR from the cough syrup; $4.49 RR from the toothbrush

$2.75 overage!

Then, the second transaction:
4 cans of the Planter's peanuts that are on sale for $6.99, BOGO free - $13.98
$1.99 Boss' Day card
subtotal: $15.97 plus tax = $16.12
used the two Register Rewards, OOP $1.63 (put this on my WAGS gift card)

Total spent on WAGS card: $13.37 ~
Not bad for $47 worth of merchandise! (71% savings overall)

A Year Ago


Okay, I know it seems like I've fallen off the bandwagon with my blogging. It's true - I have! What can I say? I think the back to school routine has taken a toll on me and my time. :) I am way behind in wishing my awesome father-in-law a happy birthday, but I just can't bear to create a blog post without having pictures... so hopefully I'll be able to get the pics I took of Mom & Dad when they were here last month downloaded so that I can create a beautiful photo card for him to post on this blog.... my goal is to have that done by Sunday - then I will only be a week late. Notice that I never got Shauna's birthday post done either ... and I have until tomorrow (that's right - less than 24 hours) to get that done to be only 1 MONTH late for her birthday post.

With me, it's all about the pictures... so I wanted to do a post, but have no current pictures... I dug through my e-archives, and came up with this delightful print of the girls as they were getting ready to go with Auntie Cristi to a pumpkin patch on October 20, 2008 - I couldn't find any that were specifically from 10/16, but this is close enough, right? Aren't my girls cute? Of course I'm biased! Ha Ha!

I'll try to take current ones this year so you can compare for yourself how much they've grown!

Have a super HARVEST day, and praise God for all His blessings and benefits!

Thursday, October 9, 2008

$10 coupon for Scrubbing Bubbles ~ Walgreens!

Now is the best time to head over to Walgreens and pick up your Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Shower Cleaner! It's on sale for $19.99 and has a $10 rebate with this month's Easy Saver catalog. I just received an email from Right at Home, and you can now click here to get a $10 off coupon for the cleaner!

If you do the toothbrush deal first, you'll pay $7.04 and then get the $10 rebate - have it added on to a gift card to save even more. So, spend a total of $11.88 for the toothbrush and the automatic shower cleaner, and receive $11 back in rebates - WOW, what a deal!

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

My 50th Post ~ Walgreens Scenario

As my family will tell you, I've been having LOADS of fun loading up on free toothbrushes and other stocking stuffers at Walgreens this month. Here's my scenario from last night's shopping trip:

Buy 1 Oral B toothbrush that's on sale for $4.49 - pay $4.84 out of pocket, and receive a $4.50 Register Rewards coupon

Then, in your next transaction, purchase the following October Easy Saver Rebate items:
2 Glade Plugins Scented Gel Warmers (use BOGO printable coupon) - on sale this week only for $1.99
2 Glade Plugins Scented Gel Refills (use two 55 cent printable coupons)- on sale this week only for $1.99
$ 8.58 with tax
$ (3.09) minus Glade coupons
$ 5.49
$ (4.50) minus toothbrush coupon
$ 0.99 OOP

$ 5.83 total paid for toothbrush and items
$ (4.00) rebate : Plus, I get my rebate on the gift card, for the 10% incentive, so I'll actually get $4.40 back in rebates, and only pay $1.43 out of pocket for all of the items.
$ 1.83 OOP after rebate for all items

Besides getting the toothbrushes for stocking stuffers, I've als o been loading up on household items to give my sister a huge gift basket for her upcoming wedding. Between her gift basket and the stocking stuffers, I'm having a ton of fun getting a lot of stuff for a little price.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Fairytale Town ~ Saturday, September 27

On Saturday my mom and I took Shauna, Staci, & their friend Alaysia to Fairytale Town in Sacramento. The trip was extra special because in addition to the regular sights of Fairytale Town, Target was sponsoring a special book celebration, so the place was filled with vendors and children's craft activities. Here are some of my favorite pics from our day out.























Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Happy Birthday to my Awesome Mother-in-Law!

I have the best mother-in-law in the world. Seriously! I wish she was around more often, but both of my in-laws are doing a great work for God being missionaries to the island of Malta (and the northern part of Africa including Algeria, Libya, Tunisia, & Morocco). You can read more about their missionary work by clicking here.

Anyway, today is Sis. Parker's birthday, and I want her to know how special she is to me. She is an awesome person, child of God, mother, teacher, mentor, wife, cook, and so on and so on. I have never heard a mean or unkind word uttered from her lips. I pray that I will become more like her as I grow older.

Happy birthday, Mom!
Hope you enjoy this blog and your special e-card.
Wish we could be with you to celebrate this special day.


I've been having problems downloading the pictures from your recent visit last week, so I had to use the only pics I had on my work computer - these are from the time we had dinner together at Claim Jumper restaurant in Roseville, CA on November 27, 2006. You don't look a day older today compared to that picture we took two years ago. Both you and Dad look terrific!

We love you, and will be praying for you as you travel back to Malta.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

What Can Sarah Do For You?


Are you tired of the legislators spending gazillions of dollars flying around in private jets, driving hummers, and having everything charged to the government, whether it be local, state, or federal? I AM!

Read on to view a personal e-mail that was written by an Alaskan to show how Gov. Sarah Palin turned things around in Alaska ... wouldn't it be fabulous to have the same thing happen in Washington, D.C.?

Dear Friends.

Fishing is good here at Wildman and I rarely have time for politics, but recently many of our friends are asking us “Who is Sarah Palin?” Of course, as Alaskans, Kathy and I are extremely proud of her. We just want to let you know that Sarah “Barracuda” Palin is a straight shooting, hard charging, get it done gal. She knows when to listen, how to analyze the facts and how to make a decision, then implement the plan. She doesn’t do a poll before jumping in with both feet like too many of the Washington types. She has little legislative experience because she has always held the EXECUTIVE position; in private life, as mayor of Anchorage’s largest bedroom community or more recently as Governor of our State. She is a smart, attractive home grown Alaska girl with excellent moral and family values. She can see what needs to be done and does not hesitate to get it done.

One of our State’s major problems is that its Capital is in Juneau, 500 miles from the nearest road and 800 air miles from the population base which is Anchorage, Wasilla and Fairbanks. Our legislature and most of the State government is in Juneau and they ALL behave like a bunch of freshmen in a college town. It has been this way since Statehood in 1959. When Sarah moved to Juneau, so did accountability and responsibility When the oil revenue started flown and a barrel of North Slope Crude hit $23.00, these people began spending money like drunken sailors. You can only imagine what was happenings when oil hit $100.00 a barrel, about the time Sarah took command. My wife Kathy has first-hand experience with this fiasco, as her father and also her ex-husband were Alaska Legislators who served in Juneau as Senators, Senate President, or members of the State House for a combined period spanning nearly three decades.

About the time Sarah took the HELM as Governor of Alaska, about half of the State legislature was in the pocket of big oil companies or contractors doing big projects for Native Corporations around Alaska, all funded by State oil revenue. Alaska government was nothing but a good old boys club riding the perpetual wave of prosperity. This filtered down from the legislature, through the Department of Natural Resources, Department of Labor and even spilled in to the Public Safety who are supposed to “preserve and protect”.

When Sarah walked into the Governor’s Mansion, she promptly dismissed the State Trooper detachment assigned to Governor and had her and her husband’s gun case brought in from Wasilla. Then, she got rid of the former Governor’s STATE Jet and told legislators that there were no more free rides, they would have to fly Alaska Airlines, just like her and her family if they wanted to travel. Next came the nut cutting (the Barracuda part) the heads that rolled were too numerous to name, but when Sarah finished cleaning house, a number of our legislators ended up in jail for on corruption charges, or tendered their resignations along with numerous department heads and those who have been riding the gravy train for way too long, AND THEN SHE HAD LUNCH. By the end of the day, Sarah Palin had saved the people of Alaska millions and has not yet slowed down.

She has truly brought CHANGE to Juneau. I personally know several persons in the private sector in Alaska, that hold her in high esteem. She surrounds herself with smart people, many from my hometown of Anchorage, she listens to them but makes her own decisions. Sarah Palin is a no B.S. politician. It is refreshing that there is such a thing anymore. You want to talk about CHANGE? You should see a before and after picture of the State government in Alaska. That’s CHANGE! Sarah will bring a number of things to the election. I am sure she will appeal many voters who my otherwise could have gone the other direction on election day. The conservative block will not be for Barack. We have their vote. We need what Sarah will bring, first to the election and second, what she will bring to Washington D.C. McCain has been advised well, Let’s just hope the American people can get the straight scoop on her in the weeks ahead. This is just the opinion of one Alaska Bush Pilot and Guide, who pays attention to national politics, watches the news and is deathly afraid of the direction our nation is headed. I guarantee that if Sarah gets a chance to dig her spurs into the flanks of the liberal Washington types, they will know that she is in the saddle.

Butch King

Pilot/Guide

www.wildmanlodge.com




Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Happy Birthday, Jude!

Today is my nephew's birthday ~ he's one year old! Last year I was so excited to have a new little one and a cousin for my girls when baby Jude was born. Then my brother and sister in law decided they had to move to the beautiful San Diego area, and so now I have to be satisfied with seeing pictures of him instead of actually spending quality time with him. The time has passed so swiftly since we last saw him when he was three months old. Hopefully when he's older and will actually remember us, we can make it down there to celebrate his birthday with him.

We love you Ben & Timea and the girls miss their baby cousin, Jude.

Happy First Birthday, Little Guy!


Love, Auntie Rhonda, Uncle Matthew, and cousins Shauna & Staci

This picture was my second attempt, which includes some items that I found while searching for baby boy birthday scrapbook ideas. I borrowed the "Celebrate" tag from The Avid Scrapper
and the other items were found just searching the internet.
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Below is my first attempt at digital scrapbooking a birthday card/page for Jude. I like the second attempt much more than the first.