Radio Flyer "Big Wheel" for $30!

EDIT - it appears that the price online has gone up to $39 today (glad I did this last night), but when I called the store, they are selling it for $30 - some people have reported it ringing up at $21. So, I would call the store to see if it is in stock, and what the price is!

When I was a little girl, I remember going to my cousins' house and watching them have fun on their big wheel and also taking a turn on it. I remember having so much fun - and my male cousins would do things like a spin out or something like that. Well, for over a year, I have been thinking about buying my son(s) a big wheel. I did some research on the original big wheel, and I have to say that I was not impressed with the reviews...and that made me sad! I could picture my sons having a great time on them! However, things changed today!!!!

Mercedes over at Common Sense with Money posted about a great deal on Walmart.com for the Radio Flyer Big Flyer. They are selling it for $30! I have seen this being sold at other stores for almost $80!!! The reviews seemed good, overall. So, if you were thinking of buying one of these for your little kiddo - this might be the time for you to get it! Oh, and don't mention it to my boys, because it is going to be a Christmas present!

Mercedes also mentioned that if you use Bing Cashback you can get 15% cash back. You can read her post about it here.

Ebates offers 3% cashback on Cyber Monday, and if you click on this link, you will get an additional $5 sign up bonus from using my referral link.

Free Christmas Photo Cards*

Do you have your photo(s) picked out already, and are you waiting to make up your Christmas photocards? Well, if you are ready to go, there is a way to order a total of 100 cards and only pay for the shipping! You will have to complete TWO separate orders, since each code is only good for 50 cards, but if you want the same card for all 100 of them, just save your project, and go back and make another order - shipping is only $3.19 per order! I just completed mine, and I am VERY EXCITED that I only paid $6.38 for 100 cards!

***THIS EXPIRES ON MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30th!*** (as far as I know)


So, here is the information that is found on Money Saving Mom's blog:

Here's how to get 100 custom photo cards with envelopes for free:

::Just go here to set up an account with SeeHere (or login if you already have an account) and then upload and create your photo card. Mine took me about 30 minutes to put together--but that's because I had to wade through photos and figure out which ones to use!

::After you've set up your photo card, be sure to save it. Then put 50 photo cards in your cart and go to the checkout and use coupon code newbaby and you'll get all 50 for the price of shipping, which is $3.19.

::Log back in and click on your saved items and order another 50 photo cards this time using the coupon code from Freebies4Mom here, which is freebies4mom-1109. Again, you should get 50 for the price of shipping, which is $3.19.

A HUGE thanks goes out to SeeHere for providing this great offer for us and to Freebies4Mom, and Money Saving Mom for telling us about it!

Looking For Ants

This past Saturday, my extended family spent the morning together taking some family photos. We had a great time taking both posed and candid shots. This photo is a combination of the two. My boys were having a great time looking for ants...as well as any other little insects that decided to show up!

Surgery: Update

Having a bone removed from my body was not on my list of things to do this year, however, it is something that had to be done! (I began posting about it here.) I was having pain in my foot everyday from walking around the house, the yard, walking through a store or exercising. It was something that I knew I did not want to live with, if I did not have to. So, after an MRI took place, it was confirmed that I had avascular necrosis in my toe, and the only way to get rid of the pain, was to remove the bone.

I have to tell you that I was not really excited about the idea of this surgery, however, I am looking forward to being able to walk with out any pain! That being said, I will give you a little update about how I am doing!

When I got home from the surgery, I was in a lot of pain. I could barely get from my bedroom to the bathroom...the night of my surgery, I had to call to my husband to come and help me get back into bed. They told me to treat my foot like it was glass - and I did!

It has now been almost 3 weeks since my surgery, and I am doing better, overall. The stitches are out and the bruises are getting lighter. I was actually surprised at how bruised my foot was...and I only was able to see it after the wrap came off 10 days after surgery! I wonder how bad it actually looked! I realized that I did not have full feeling in my toes, but that had improved over time too. I am not able to walk on it for long periods of time without pain, but it is getting better each day, and I have regained a lot of feeling back in my toes. I also need to keep it elevated a lot of the time or it will start to throb and get swollen, but that will eventually get better too. I was just reading that full recovery should take place in about 6-8 weeks, although my doctor said that it may swell for about 3 months. We will see what happens! I am praying for a speedy recovery!! I don't have to take a lot of pain meds anymore, so I know that I am on the road to recovery! Oh, and I have had to wear a surgical shoe since the day of my surgery, but I will probably be out of that and into a sneaker full time within the next week.

I have been very grateful to my family - my mom, dad and sister have been so instrumental in my recovery. One (or more) of them have come to my house each day, for most of the day, to help take care of my 1 and 3 year old boys, so that I can rest and heal. That has meant so much to me! It is really hard to rest when I have to "run" after the boys! I am also thankful for my family and friends who have volunteered to make a meal for our family. What a blessing that had been! Trying to make a meal in the kitchen is not ideal when you have had surgery on your foot! I tried it last Saturday, and I paid for through Sunday! My foot hurt so much that I had to just sit in the recliner and elevate it for most of Sunday afternoon. So, I am trying to figure out a better way to get meals together for my family, so that I do not have to be on my feet for so long. Dawson and I may need to put the meal together the night before, so that I can just pop it in the oven the next day...we will see what works!

So, in a nutshell - the healing process is taking place, I will be out of this surgical shoe soon and into sneakers full time, and I am looking forward to exercising again!

Keep me in your prayers!

Surgery: Fun Highlights

Some fun highlights of my surgery:

*It was outpatient - so I was able to go home the same day

*You know how on TV, they will show the view point from the patient's perspective, and all they see are the doctors and nurses hovering over them in sort of a circle - all looking at the patient? Well, that happened to me in real life, and it made me laugh and I told the doctors and nurses what I was thinking, which made them laugh too!

*When they were wheeling me down to my surgery room, the anesthesiologist said that he was "giving me something" and that I would feel it by the time that we got to the room. We were almost to the room, and I was like "yea, right, when is this going to happen..." and then it suddenly "hit me" and a warm feeling went through my body - very weird.

*They "put me under" - which is really weird. One minute I was looking at the clock on the wall and the next minute, I was waking up in recovery. This is the 3rd time that I was put under...and they never tell me to count backwards!!! TV is so not real! :)

*I also got to see the bone that they took out of my foot - it was really cool! They showed it to me twice, to be sure that I would remember them showing it to me! (I asked them if I could see it after the surgery was over, because, well, that sort of thing interests me!)

My Foot Surgery

It is pretty amazing that I have not posted anything for about a month - and to be fair, I really have not posted much for the past few months! It's not that there is nothing to write about...because there is! However, taking the time to sit down and write has not been a top priority for me lately! Sometimes, you just have to take a break! I don't want to say that I am back, because I don't want to get all 2 of my readers too excited, but I will say that I am going to try and post something a little more often!

My most recent happening has been my foot surgery on October 23rd. It's a long story that I will try to shorten for now...somehow, I injured a bone in my right big toe which caused the blood supply to be cut off from the bone. The bone began to die, I had a lot of pain exercising and walking for over a year and there is really only one "cure" to remove that pain - they had to do a sesamoidectomy . A sesamoidectomy is the removal of the tiny bone in my foot. If you click here, you can see photos of what they did to my foot...although that is not my foot in the photos...mine are not hairy like that! I would show a photo of my foot, but I will spare you that for now!

I will share a few more things about my surgery and recovery in the next few days (hopefully!).