7 Quick Takes, Vol. 31: On the move and the Super Bowl!

Hey everyone! Happy Friday! I'm really excited for this weekend. Super Bowl, anyone?! 

--- 1 ---

I can't believe it's the end of football season already. Sigh. Am I the only girl saddened by this news? I love watching football, though I know we didn't watch as much this season as we normally do. Well, I didn't. I had two very cute little girls to pay attention to instead! But our Ducks had a great season, and the Seahawks made a good run to the playoffs, and now we get to choose to cheer for the 49ers or the Ravens in the Super Bowl. It's a hard decision - there are former Ducks on both teams! And the 49ers coach is a former Pac-10 coach (Pac-12, but it was only 10 when he was there).

--- 2 ---

I'm also kind of fascinated by the fact that the two coaches are brothers. A couple of rounds ago in the playoffs, I asked Dan if there was a chance that they'd face each other in a game. He said there was, but I didn't realize until later on that it would be at the very end! I can't really imagine how that would feel. I suppose it would just be like any other Super Bowl (I can't say any other game, because we're talking about the Super Bowl) but with the ultimate family bragging rights on the line. It would be a little more strange to be their parents - you'd be happy no matter who won, but how would you choose who to cheer for? Would Mom cheer for one team and Dad for the other?

--- 3 ---

I was just watching a spot on TV where they talked about how the prices for tickets to the Super Bowl have gone up since it was first played. The tickets started off at $15, and were up to $150 by the early 1990s, to $700 by 2006, and to $1200 in 2012. Twelve hundred dollars. Per person. That's just to get into the game! No wonder the commercial spots are worth so much - that pretty much guarantees most people will be watching on TV! Which reminds me - I do like the commercials (since I did study advertising history in college) but I always forget to pay attention. Last year was the first year I remember paying close attention!

--- 4 ---

We're on the move around here, as I indicated in the title. No, we're not moving again any time soon, but Emily and Erin are suddenly very mobile. They are army-crawling all over the place, faster and faster every day. For some reason, there are certain things they find fascinating - like the trash can, our dustpan, and the cord for my laptop - and I spend a lot of time trying to get them away from these things. Erin also likes to pull books off the shelf and chew the corners, so I try to keep this to kid books.  Emily finds the bookshelf really interesting too, but she doesn't seem to want to eat the books. I'm okay with that.

--- 5 ---

Last fall, I was really committed to breaking out of my older-teen style rut and getting a new, more grown-up style for clothes. Now that some of my smaller clothes are starting to fit again, I'm feeling my commitment waver. For one thing, it's a lot easier to just put on a tank, tee, and jeans every day. For another thing, I get nervous about trying to be creative with my clothes. Being petite, I also have an easier time finding clothes in teen shops - though I do have to buy bigger tops now to flatter my new mama body. I can't decide if this is something I need to work on or not - either way, I don't quite have enough space in my closet and dresser for all of my clothes, so I need to figure something out!

--- 6 ---

As part of my new commitment to just being myself, doing what really works for us, and making sure I devote the majority of my time and energy to being a good mama and wife, I have been working on coupons. One of the things about couponing is having the space to stock up on what's on sale. If paper towels are on sale by the case, that's great if you have a place to put the extra two cases. It doesn't really pay off if you are surrounded by extra food and household supplies and they're taking over your house. Now that we have a garage, we have some plastic shelves we're filling with "stock-up" stuff, and so I'm going to try my hand at couponing! I don't want to take it too far, because I know it can be really rough on the cashiers and also border on the unethical, but I think it's possible to save money while still following the rules. Any tips? I know Beth Anne has an awesome money-saving blog that I plan to check out today - any other great sites for a beginning couponing mama?

--- 7 ---

I'll leave you with a snapshot of life at our house - Emily is on the left, crawling after the elephant's crackly ear, and Erin is playing peekaboo with a tiny baby blanket (which, it should be noted, covered her entirely just a few short months ago!)

Emily and Erin - 7 1/2 months old already! I can't get over how cute little baby jeans look on them!

I hope you all have a great Super Bowl weekend! Go Ravens!

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