Life with The Leivas

Monday, May 10, 2010

What a Welcome

When my sister Amy arrived a couple of weeks ago she got quite the welcome from Olivia. The second Amy got into the car at the airport Olivia started giggling. She giggled all the way home. She loves Amy. The clip is super short but you can hear Amy telling Olivia hi.

Thriftiness Check-In

One of my resolutions for 2010 is to be more thrifty. I went gangbusters clipping coupons for a while but now I think I may have come full circle. We have been able to significantly trim our weekly grocery budget. The coupons do work but it does take some time and effort. I do think it's totally worth it though to see the total drop by $25 or $30 as the cashier starts scanning those coupons. I'm also shopping at Aldi every other week. I've noticed that staple items (for us that includes things like milk, eggs, cheese, bread, bananas, and chips) are much cheaper at Aldi. I think that the real "money making" coupon stuff happens at places like CVS, Walgreens and Rite-Aid. Maybe I'll try that next month.

In general the cash envelope system is working wonders for us! I've also taken to opening up several savings accounts (it's super easy since you can do it all online with our bank, USAA). We have savings accounts for the items that we want to save for (patio furniture, vacation, etc.). I've also opened a savings account for Gas and now I can use the ATM card for that savings account to pay for gas at the pump instead of having to go into the store.

In the mean time I am loving all the free samples that we got in the mail this past week as well as the $3.00 checks that I'm getting from PineCone Research for taking surveys (I made $9.00 last month). I would share more about where I'm getting these free samples but to be honest I'm not really so sure where they are coming from (I think it's vocalpoint, and P&G)

Sunday, May 9, 2010

FRG Fun

A couple of weeks ago we had our first official FRG event. Mike's battery went on their annual 20K ruck march and I assembled the FRG group to hand out water, gatorade and fruit at the finish line. It was kind of thrown together at the last minute but it seemed to go well. People were excited to greet their soilders and the guys were thrilled to be greated with refreshments! They began their march around 6:30 and finished the 20 K (a little over 12 miles) in around 3 and a half hours. Mike looks exhausted, I can't believe he had to go back to work for the rest of the day afterwards.

Messy Fingers

MPS/Sanfilippo Syndrome

In October, 2008 Olivia was disgnosed with MPS III or Sanfilippo Syndrome, type B. MPS stands for: Mucopolysaccharidoses. It is a genetic lysosomal storage disease (LSD) caused by the body's inability to produce specific enzymes. Normally, the body uses enzymes to break down and recycle materials in cells. In individuals with MPS and related diseases, the missing or insufficient enzyme prevents the proper recycling process, resulting in the storage of materials in virtually every cell of the body. As a result, cells do not perform properly and may cause progressive damage throughout the body, including the heart, bones, joints, respiratory system and central nervous system. While the disease may not be apparent at birth, signs and symptoms develop with age as more cells become damaged by the accumulation of cell materials.

Babies and young children with Sanfilippo Syndrome appear normal, but symptoms begin to appear with age as more and GAGs build up in the cells of the body. There are 3 stages to the disease. Stage 1 the child begins to lag behind peers and begins to display difficult behaviors. Stage 2 the child losing his/her language, becomes hyperactive, chews on everything, and has sleeping difficulties. Stage 3 the child slows down, becomes dependant for all mobility and loses the ability to chew/swallow. There is no treatment or cure for Sanfilippo. Life expectancy varies.