Like to go out to dinner for cheap like me? No cooking, yeah!

We went to eat at a Thai place called Ping Pongs. It was soooo good. Our bill $42 with tip. We paid $18 inlcuding the tip (for four people!). How did we do that? Well, I checked out that coupon site I mention in my last blog. This is what we did:
1. Go to http://www.thecouponmom.com/ and click on "Restaurants Coupons". It's the 3rd link on the left.
2. Click on "Save 80% on Restaurant.com certificates and get a free certificate!"
Right now the code is "CELEBRATE". It changes. This is your code to get your $25 off certificate for $2! If you buy 6 certificates ($12) you get one for free. They will e-mail you the info. for the free certificate. You have 12 months to use the certificates. You can only go to each restaurant once a month, but you have one year to use it.
It is such a cheap way to go out to eat. Our certificate was spend $35 you get $25 off. Then you have to pay for tip (and remember your $25 off only cost you $2!) The 80% off is only good until Dec. 31st so if I were you, purchase certificates now because you can use them within a year. You can purchase more then one certificate to a place. You just can only go once a month.
We gave gift certificates to people for Christmas. We would have been better off paying $2 for a $25 gift certificate and giving them the $10 to pay for the difference (because they have to psend $35). This would have cost us $12, but they could eat $35 worth of food versus us paying the $25 for a $25 certificate. I love saving money and eating out!!!!
3. Once you buy the certificate, you can print it out from your computer to your printer immediately and you have one year to use it.

IT'S CHRISTMAS TIME IN VEGAS!

 

What has been going on in Vegas? You know it is close to the second coming when it snows 3 1/2 in Vegas! We wanted to go to Mt. Charleston to play in the snow, but the snow came to us!

We went to Santa's Train ride. The kids and I had fun. K.C. tolerated the situation. I will admit, it is pretty cheesey. If there were just a couple of things added (Christmas music, a little more lights), it could be great. I would go again for $2. I would have to purchase the tickets in advance.

We went to Ethel M Chocolate Factory. I love looking at Christmas lights. I think it is so much fun. I feel like a big kid. K.C. does not see things the way I do. He sees things more like the Grinch we will say :). At least he is a good sport and comes along especially if it is free like Ethel M is. I love Opportunity Village during Christmas time but it is expensive. I know it is for a good cause though.

Baking, Baking, Baking! I am baked out! It felt good making goodies for others (and my family) because I hardly bake and it was a delight to see others happy for getting some snacks.

We ate at a place called Mustang Sallys'. It was really good. It's attached to a car dealership. I love using restaurant.coms' coupons to go out to eat. You should check out this blog: http://www.shopsmartinvegas.blogspot.com/
She telles you so many ways to save money. It has really helped my grocery bill. I will have to have a coupon party so she could explain how to use coupons. I never knew about the underground coupon world.

Diet suggestions??? (K.C.'s Post of course :)

Saturday morning I rolled out of bed at 6 a.m. to take care of some business in the bathroom. As I plopped myself on the toilet...SNAP! A nice crack right through the porcelain ring. I guess this means that I need to get my fat butt to the gym!

Thanksgiving and stuff

K.C. passed the boards he has taken so far!!! Yeah for him. He only slept about 4 hours a night because he was studying. I am so proud of him. He worked so hard! Today was the last day of this semester! Yaaaa! One more semester and K.C. graduates! It's scary because we have no idea if we will even be in Vegas. We are also looking into California, TX, and Arizona. I know it will all work out. I am just a planner! It's scary not knowing what's ahead, but I guess it is kind of fun as well.

These last four years did go by quickly. I know I complained a lot because I felt like I had a lot on my plate, (let's see, 3 kids, 2 jobs, a husband in Dental School!) but my husband put in countless hours in studying and still tried to make all of our kids' events (and never complained!). I am so glad this phase of our lives is almost over, but I am looking forward to the next phase.

This handsome boy turned 8 months. He is such a joy. He is still Nursing. The longest I ever Nursed my other kids was 6 weeks. I am so proud of myself:). It gets much better once they start eating solids.

The kids got to see Santa at the Ward Christmas party.

Football season is done. Thank goodness. It was not a fun season because the coach was a dictator and did not know how to let the kids have fun. Kobi did learn some things and wants to play again. Never again with the team we were on. He is playing basketball now.

Xayla just finished another soccer season. She is soooo competitive. I know where she gets it from (DAD). They lost the game before their last game and all week she said "We are going to win. They are going to lose. They are not going to score a goal. Only us." She scored 4 goals in the last game and got so mad when the other team scored. She would fold her arms in the middle of the field because she was so upset. I had to have a talk with her about sportsmanship.

Had Thanksgiving Dinner at K.C.'s parents' house. (Not sure if that's correct but luckily I'm not an English major.) It was fun. I complain about so many little everyday things in life, when in fact I have so much to be grateful for. I have such a great family. It was K.C.'s Mom's birthday as well.

Santa's Train Ride

The Nevada State Railroad Museum is doing it's 7th Annual train ride. It's only $2. It's going to be Sat. and Sun Dec. 13th and 14th. For more information click on this link: train It should be fun. We are going to try to go at 9:30 am to ride at 10 am.

Blast from the past

I'm in the blue. Me and my 4 sisters! I was going through some old photos and found these. So funny.

K.C. is going to kill me, but I am embarrassing myself as well. I guess I loved hairspray! :) Look at my buff honey.

Halloween

We went to Cortney and Dan's house for Halloween. So fun. They always know how to have a good time!
I took the kids to the Pumkin Patch with Xayla's preschool. It was so much fun. We decided not to carve pumkins this year. We cheated and just decorated the pumkins. I love the holidays!

What was Xayla for Halloween?

Well, she was something new everyday in October! I went to DI and they just put out Halloween costumes, and I couldn't resist. They were only $2-$3 each. She loves to dress up everyday anyway. Spoiled? No, I think not :).

7 months!

7 months: Jy loves to look around. He is such a happy baby. He nurses well and takes a bottle. He is entertained by his siblings. He can roll each way when he feels like it. He prefers to relax more. He can hold his bottle when he feels like it. He has the cutest smile. Time goes by so quickly. He is such a blessing.

6 months

5 months below

4 months

3 months to the left

2 months below

One month

Birth

To all my LAS VEGAS FRIENDS, you are invited to...

come to the dental school on WEDNESDAY OCT 22 from 5-7pm @ 1700 W Charleston (Charleston and Shadow Lane) for FREE dental screenings.

UNLV Senior Dental Students (like me) are looking for individuals who may qualify as patients for the dental licensing board exam on February 7th and 8th, 2009.

So, again, the Complimentary Dental Screening date is:

Wednesday October 22nd, 2008
5-7pm

Additional benefits for those who qualify to participate as a patient for this exam.

For more information or to schedule an appointment call or email Regina at
(702)-774-2460
Regina.cardona@sdm.unlv.edu

P.S.- If you call, please mention that you heard about this from me so that I can get dibs on you if you have an "ideal" cavity. P.S.S.
- If you act on this, I promise all of your wildest dreams will come true!

-K.C.

Wisdom tooth

Had a couple of teeth pulled last week. My wisdom tooth that was pulled has had me feeling miserable! So, I've been out of commissions and trying to sleep when I can. Will post more when I feel better. K.C. has been wonderful through all of my whining.

Check out my cousin Brittini Black!!!

Britt has been working on her Country Music career in Nashville and finally released her debut album and music video this week. She is a tremendous talent! If any of you like, you can purchase her album online at itunes, Best Buy, Amazon, or any of your favorite major retailers. Way to go Britt!

KC

WOW! Quite possibly the greatest college football days ever!!!!

As many of you know, I love sports! Well, I love college football and college basketball. I don't really watch professional sports much (unless it is the playoffs), but I follow it. So, the summers are usually very long in anticipation of the upcoming college seasons. My favorite of all the sports has to be college football.

Today was quite possible the greatest day I can remember in a long time. This is why:

Even though everyone knows what a huge Rebel fan I am, I always root for teams in the conference because they don't receive the media coverage or respect that they deserve. If conference teams do well against the teams that do receive respect and media coverage, it makes us look good. Today, four Mountain West teams had games against PAC 1o Conference opponents. The Mountian West went 4-0!!!

BYU had a historical game. They shut out a talented UCLA squad 59-0. This was UCLA's worst defeat since the great depression. That is something none of the foes from their "awesome conference" have done.

In the days leading up to the game, the media constantly whined about the fact that BYU had won unfairly. They claimed that Washington should have had a chance to beat them the week before in overtime, had a celebration penalty not been called when Washington scored the game-tying TD. The Cougars dropped three places in the polls as a result. An analyst on ESPN even called them the most over-rated 2-0 team in America (even though I know he probably doesn't watch them). This morning, another "analyst" (that doesn't watch the conference) picked UCLA as his upset pick of the day.

Can you say motivation? Can you say statement game (they need this to make a BCS Bowl in Jan.)? Can you say lack of respect? I don't even like BYU that much, but I couldn't help but have a chip on my shoulder for them. I could only imagine what the players felt like. UCLA lost 44-6 last year when they played at Utah, so I was expecting a similar result for their trip to Provo this year. Since BYU QB Max Hall had already played against UCLA twice in his young career, I knew he'd be primed to shred their defense...he is that GOOD! UCLA was also down to their 3rd string QB, 2nd string RB, and missing a starting LB. With BYU's tremendous track record at home and the media baiting bettors into picking UCLA against the spread, I couldn't resist placing a wager on the game for BYU ( especially after the books had to lower the lines with all the money coming in on UCLA). I have never placed a bet at a sports book (and don't know if I ever will again), but his just seemed like a "sure thing", so I picked BYU to cover the spread that had been bet down to 8 points. Since they won 59-0, I covered my bet by a historic 51 points! Cha-ching! Like I said, I only bet this cause I felt it was a sure thing! I rarely, if ever, get that feeling! Oh, and can I get a "Max Hall for Heismann please"? Seven TD passes in just 2.5 quarters of play is OUTSTANDING!!! They could have won 80-0 if they wanted.

TCU beat Stanford 31-14

New Mexico beat Arizona 36-28

and.....UNLV beat #13 ranked Arizona State (on the road) 23-20/OT!!!

Since the Rebels have only had 4 winning seasons since 1984, big wins have been very scarce. Especailly on the road. Tonight, the Rebels were down 20-10 in the 4th quarter, when they mounted one of the most spirited comebacks I have ever seen in the program's history. To cap this comeback, WR Philip Payne made a spectacular one-handed catch (pictured) in the endzone to tie the game with 18 sec. left. I lost my voice screaming like a little girl! In overtime, the Rebels scored a FG. ASU had a FG attampt too, to keep the game alive. That is when Malo Taumua charged through the line to block the kick and win the game for the Rebels.

The post-game interview with Coach Sanford was awesome! He started to cry. This may sound sappy, but after years of disappoinitment, I could help but cry as well. We may still finish with a losing record this year. We may not go to a Bowl game for another 10 years, but it is moments like this that make being a fan all that time, worth it! Congrats to the Rebels, and congrats to the Conference in going 4-0 against the big boys!

Family Photos

Jy turned 5 months old!

This was before his haircut of course. He is finding his hands and feet. He loves to nurse. He loves to smile. He is overall such a happy baby.

After the cut

Here he is after his hair cut. He still looks cute!

Hair Gone!

Jy is 5 months old and got his first haircut before we took pictures. This is before his haircut (I saved it as well!) His Aunt, Eryn, cut it.