Awesome way to make money EASY!

I know I never post anymore, but I'm working on it :)
One of the things I've been very busy with is making money online. So far with this site in particular I've received four $5 Amazon Gift Cards & donated some additional money that I made absolutely free to Haiti! I'm saving up my gift cards till I have enough to buy a Wii :)... you just search & do other things to get "bucks" for free. I signed up a year ago, but wasn't really intrigued & dedicated... recently I went back on there, found the fan page on twitter & facebook & I'm completely hooked!
The web-site is www.swagbucks.com/refer/wtomwfam
So go check it out and if you need any tips or help please let me know and I'd love to help you :D!
Love you guys!

Facebook | Danica Marie Brooks: Our Engagement Story :)

It has been almost 6 months since I last published a BLOG. I can't believe it, well I've thought about posting; it's just that I was so caught up in work, Zion, Bong, friends, family, vacation, my girls & well... life in general.
This summer was very interesting to say the least. It had it's major ups and it's major downs. We had many visitors in Chicago this summer as it will most likely be our last in this gorgeous city :*(... but it will be time to close one chapter and open up another come the Spring of 2010. Summer didn't even really come to Chicago that many days unfortunately. It was very strange... several days were spent shivering and underneath umbrellas... very confusing weather we had here. It sure made for a memorable "last summer". :)
I'm cutting this blog fairly short because it is past my bedtime, but I will leave you with this news. Bong and I have been dating 3 1/2 years and are very commited to one another. Buuuuutttttt on September 22nd, 2009 (my 25th Birthday) Bong proposed :)... so I will officially be his Fiancee. Lol, no more "acting like we are married" although we are at heart; this ceremony is just for us to cement that love in front of friends and family as we have already to one another and God. Hopefully this link works, I've never done this whole "linking" before, but it's worth a shot!
Facebook Danica Marie Brooks: Our Engagement Story :)

I promise I will up-date more often now that things have settled down and I'm not working 8-5 Mon thru Fri being worn down by 4 crazy and cute lil boys ;D Haha... now it's just one lil guy + a dog, cat and a man who thinks that just because I'm his "Fiancee" that I'll watch every second of every Portland Blazer game with him, haha...we'll see honey, we'll see!

Xoxo
Sweet Dreams

April

I took this a couple days ago when I was doing some things around our place and noticed it was very quiet in the "Play Room" where Zi and Bong were playing... I peeked inside and found Zion fast asleep on the chest of an also sleeping Bong... SO PRECIOUS... I love it when I see cute "Daddy Son" bonding moments. Priceless.

So Zion LOVES dirt and sand... as all toddlers do! It was the first time that he's really ever played with it. I tried having him play on something else after a good 15 minutes, but nope not without a mini screamfest from Zi... lol, oh no... kicking and screaming. I guess he REALLY loved that dirt!

So my dad moved back to the states a lil over a year or so ago after living in Germany for about 13 years. It was really hard for him to find a job because of the economy and his job experience so he is now a truck driver... which is sorta cool because he dropped in a few nights ago while he was making a trip up to Wisconsin! He had bought Zion a bunch of new toys... it was really nice of him and for us to be able and spend a quick half an hour with him before he was back on the road again!

Zion walking with one of the new toys that his Grandpa bought him!

Above are two really fabulous deals I bought the other day... and here is how I did it: Wal Mart had Mac N Cheese Crackers on sale for $1 a box. I had a coupon for a $1 off 2 boxes. I purchased 6 boxes with 3 coupons for a grand total of $3! That's 50 cents a box :)

The bottom pic: Jewel Osco (like Albertsons) was having Capri Sun Sunrise on sale for $2.19 a box and I just so happened to have 3 $1 coupons. I bought 3 for $3.60. Next I received a coupon in the mail a couple weeks ago for a 6 pack of Kid Essentials for FREE at a max value of 15.99. OIKOS Greek Style Yogurt (which I LOVE Greek Style Yogurt) was on sale for 2/$4 and I had 2 $1 coupons for a total of $2. So for the last picture the total with tax came to $6.54

For a whopping $9.54 :)

And lastly here is a family photo... all except our cat, Giana ;) This was taken at Petsmart for this "Pet Birthday" thing they had... you got a free photo and frame along with a goodie bag full of lots of stuff for our girls!

Feeling a lil frugal!

Since learning to live a more frugal lifestyle our family has saved SO much money :) I haven't taken it to the level of getting $200 worth of groceries for $20 but I'm on my way toward that :)

This was the latest deal I got: The 5 bottles above for $8.49 (including tax)!

At CVS I bought a Softsoap Body Wash for 4.99 (I got a receipt with 4.99 in Extra Bucks toward your next item)

On the next purchase I bought 10.58 worth of Dove Shampoos and Conditioners (there was a buy one get one free deal).

Total:15.57

I had two coupons totalling 2.50

+ the 4.99 in Extra Bucks

= $8.08 (plus tax) $8.49 which is $1.70 per bottle!

Also this upcoming Monday is "Un-fry" Day at KFC where you can get 1 piece of grilled chicken for FREE

XOXO

Zion's new words are...

A couple weeks ago I was reading a book to Zion and I said "Puppy Dog, Woof Woof" as I always do and he goes "woo wooof woofff woof" it was so cute! Lol and THEN I was petting out cat, Giana a few days ago and I said "Kitty Cat, Meow Meow" and he goes "KITTY!"
Zi is also walking EVERYWHERE! If he falls down he just pops right up and goes at it again! I think I saw him crawl once today for just a couple seconds before he wanted to walk again! He walks so fast sometimes it's as if he is running... he's also started jumping without holding onto anything and he doesn't even fall down (most of the time) ;) and dancing... you better believe it! He goes at it ALL the time.
Although I LOVE the new milestones he's reaching I'm not loving the tantrums as much ;) he's started throwing his head back and flopping on the ground like a ragdoll and just lays there while screaming and sometimes thrashes around..... yuck, lol... but hopefully he'll start picking up on some sign language soon so he can communicate a lil better... he does "bottle" sometimes and he's kinda got "more" down.... but he confuses it with clapping, lol... but I'm being persistent on teaching him. Other than that we're doing great!
Herman and Malou (our friends from Minneapolis) are coming tomorrow till the next day since their business picks up in the summer and they don't know when they'll see us next. We were going to the CSC (Children Shelter of Cebu) Banquet, but we just can't afford it this year because Bong's bro and his fam and then my mom are coming to Chicago... and then we're going to the west coast. It would be too much to save up for and Bong can't afford to take off that much work. So we're excited to see them! :)
Well that's all for now. I have to get back to cleaning :)
XOXO

Daddy Son Love

Everyday when Bong gets home from work him and Zi have a lil bonding time by Bonzai laughing his head off as Bong tickles him! It's too cute...

The everyday simple things make my life complete :)

March up-dates

So I have some MAJOR catching up to do... I'll post a little of what we've been up too!

The week after Zion's 1st Birthday was his 1 year check up!

His stats were: Weight - 23 lbs (50%)
Height - 31 " (85%)

So pretty much we have one tall boy! :)

We're also going back to the gym again! It's actually something that we both really enjoy... Bong's membership expired and mine was on hold while I was pregnant (I never opened it back up again till now) so we are looking forward to getting in shape! I weighed myself the other day and I only have 10 more lbs to go! We also pulled out the box of all my jeans and other pre-pregnancy pants last night and I tried them on.... I'm very excited to say that all but three of them fit! YAY! I was in between sizes for so long wearing some that were getting a lil baggy because I wore my original jeans forever while I was pregnant with the bella band and I didn't really want to wear that going back down again! :D

We went to go get Zion his "free" birthday photo at Kiddie Kandids in Babies R Us... he was more focused on the huge camera to really smile, but we did get one good one :)

Here are just a few random shots:

Zi giving me a hug in Ihop

Bon shopping with mommy in Target

This is out where we used to live "Elk Grove Village" which is a burb right next to O'Hare and wouldn't you know it the town is named for these beautiful Elk that roam in a protected area on one of the many Forest Preserves which are spread around the city!

We were driving one day a couple blocks from our house when we saw a runner... not just any runner but none other than former Gov Rod Blagojevich. He lives a couple miles away from us and his kids attend the same school as the kids I nanny go too. So we decided to get a quick cell phone shot to document it... and I'm blowing up the picture really big so you can get a better look
(even though it was caught on a phone so the quality isn't the absolute best)

Zion doesn't watch a lot of Tv, but when he wants me to turn something on he always loves it when I put on Yo Gabba Gabba! Lol

In his play room there are two windows and Zion LOVES looking out them every second that he can! So we put this bin over there so he can climb up anytime he wants!