Laptop MIA

I sooo miss my laptop. They were backloged and hadn't gotten it finished when Robin called last week. I can't believe how dependant on technology we become. The pc is ok but now has mostly Robin's settings. *sigh* Hopefully we will get it back today. In the meantime I have been working on Josh's costume. He will be Harry Potter this year. I made his robe, black with red lining and a button front. Robin ordered a Gryffindor patch so hopefully that will come quickly. I was so excited. I think it turned out fabulous. Now I have to get Tyler's Slytherin robe done. Can you just picture it- Tyler as Malfoy? I think it will be great. I am also crocheting scarves of the appropriate colors. Josh was excited I think. At almost 10 you are becoming too cool to google over mom's handiwork. Tyler loved it and can't wait for his to be done. He changes his mind each day as to which costume he wants to wear. I gues that is the glory of being boy #3, you have more choices. Once again, when I get the laptop I will have to post pictures.

Then it will be on to Christmas projects. I love Christmas!! It is my favorite time of the year. I try to keep it simple. My favorite thing is sitting by the Christmas tree listening to Christmas music and sipping hot cocoa! No other time of the year gives me the warm fuzzies all over like the holiday's. Next week we be getting ready to put up Christmas decor. Yeah, I'm one of those. I don't really skip Thanksgiving, I am very thankful each year for family, friends, bountiful harvests, and that I can put Christmas up any time I want. I LOVE THE HOLIDAYS!

Saturday we canned 50 some odd bottles of applesauce and I still have 3 boxes left. We are going to store some through the winter and I am going to make some pie filling out of the others. Mom, I will get yours to you. You will love it! The apples were so sweet we hardly added any sugar. Robin's sister Tina was awesome. She spent her day with us and let me use her Victorio strainer; would never do applesauce without one. We get along so well she should be a sister instead of a sis-in-law. Robin loves this. He enjoys seeing the 2 of us laugh and joke and simply enjoy being together. I hope Tina enjoys it as much as I do. Josh, Keegan, A.J. and Nate all had a blast too.

Ok, this weeks coupon tip: ever notice the cycles of sales? Once you learn these you will be able to plan your shopping and stocking up based on these. For example, Quacker oatmeal products go on sale in February-ish and again about September. I know when it will be on sale again and thus am able to judge how much to buy. Also each September there are the "spagetti sauce wars" between Prego and Ragu. PYP has a great list of these cycles. Last year when we were looking to get our laptop we noticed all the sales at Christmas but it wasn't in our budget. We talked of getting one then to not miss the sales. Well, I checked out the cycle on electronics and computers and saw that it went into the first of the year. Yep- come January we were still able to get a great deal AND we did it within our budget plans. Gotta love it! Check out the list here: Sales Cycles , or just print it out. I have mine in the front of my coupon binder. You won't realize how often you will refer to it. Happy Shopping!