Coupon/Review for Children's Mucinex® Multi-Symptom Cold

 

It's cold and flu season, use this $2 coupon to pick up Children's Mucinex® Multi-Symptom Cold.

My Oldest was up all night coughing and before I could get to the store the next day, my free sample of Mucinex arrived in the mail. She drank some and right away I noticed less congestion, sneezing and coughing. She finally slept well and so did I.

I like to keep this on hand since it's always 3 in the morning when I wish I had it. It's early this year and I was caught off guard. Praise God that I got it anyway!

X Marks the Spot!

 

My girls were invited to a hearties' pirate themed birthday party. The lad was turning 5 and I wasn't really all that sure to what to get a boy. Last year, I made a super hero cape that was a hit. We do give store bought gifts, but I like to try and think outside the box. With a theme like Pirates I could have gone in a dozen directions. After discovering our sea legs, we went with buried treasure.

For the coffer we filled a tin with gold doubloons (gold nugget candy and "gold" US dollar coins). We marked the tin with a giant X figuring he is only 5 and would need a wee bit of help.

We didn't want the booty to be found by a dirty scallywag. So public parks and such were out. Luckily I found a brethren of the coast willing to let some buccaneers avoid any interlopers by using their private island.

We carefully drafted our map on some pilfered canvas using landmarks and buildings. Then aged it with fire and soot for a more authentic look.

Our not so respectable cartography skills resulted in a land lubber rendition, that thankfully still steered the young buccaneer in the right direction.



The happy pirate crew! 

I'd love to hear about any inexpensive and creative gift ideas you have done!

Since your still here. Here is a link to a family favorite.

 
 

Fiery Furnace

It all started this past January. Our energy bill showed that we consumed significantly more than other comparable houses. In the months since, we have continued to improve our energy efficiency. Our biggest project to date was finished just in time for the first snow of the season!

 

 

To keep a handle on the cost, My Vet did as much of the work as possible. Starting with hauling it into the basement. This wasn't going to be a one day project like the time we had one replaced in a previous house. So we waited until September when we could stay comfortable for a few weeks with out AC or Heat.

 

 

Look at this old guy. He was so old he didn't even have a rating. The furnace guy who is a friend of My Vet guessed it was in the low 70's. During demo, My Vet found lots of corrosion that was making the airflow even worse if you can believe it!

 

It's hard to see in this side by side, but the sticker on the new one says its rated at 96.1. It's also a chic charcoal color instead of the old army green, not that color matters in the dead of winter. It's just nice to know that the basement is going to be even cuter!

 

This photo of the exhaust pipe shows just how desperately we needed replacement. I'm also glad we installed that CO2 alarm so many years ago. We could have been in trouble!

 

During the long installation period, we lost functional use of the kids new play area. But as you can see in this photo I got the opportunity to paint the floor under the new furnace. I know that no one else can see it, but I'll know. I also washed out the base of the air return duct work my allergies are going to be so happy!!!

 

My Vet got back to work, you can see the AC manifold reinstalled. Although, I appreciate all the effort and really like the heat, I think the best part of this photo is all of the light in the background streaming in from the window!

 



 

The final push to get it working before the snow flies.

Just in the nick of time!

 

 

Neither of us can believe how fast it works to warm up the house! I'll let you know what it does to the energy bill ASAP