But what does Burger King have?

Today I was late getting home. I needed to put the kids down for quiet time when I got home so I decided to duck into the Micky D's on the way home. There was only one car waiting in front of me so I was excited. In and out.

I had already rolled down my window to place my order so I could hear what the guy in front of me was ordering. But he wasn't ordering, he was complaining. Then I hear him ask this question:

"But what does Burger King have?"

Now I am really listening. I am in a drive through at Micky D's trying to get home to preserve nap time and this guy is asking about the Burger King menu. I laugh out loud and then physically lean out the window, to hear the rest of the conversation.

Micky D person: "I'm sorry sir, I don't know." I hear her say.
Pesky Car Driver: "But what do they sell on their dollar menu?"
Micky D person: "I don't eat there sir," (Clever I thought...way to keep your job because there is probably a boss around somewhere.) "you can go there if you like."
Pesky Car Driver: "Ok, fine..." and then goes on to order.

When he is at the pick up window, he is still fussing about the difference between the two places of business.

Really?

A giggle...a chuckle...

Oh this is funny...no, bad...no funny in the moment...bad.

Click here. Be ready to giggle even if you know it is wrong!

(For those afraid to click, I would never post something that is immoral. This is just a husband/wife chuckle. It involves a anniversary and a gift gone wrong. We've all been there!)

Poop.

It is such a lovely word...poop. Is it an acronym for something? I don't know but as of late, it the favorite word of my son. He says it even though he knows that he shouldn't. And then, bless his little repeating heart, he says "Sorry Mommy for saying poop" a hundred times, just for the excuse of saying the word again!

Now, I know that we all poop. I know that there are some days that I say I am too pooped to poop! I know that it could be alot worse. But something about that word is just driving me crazy! Anyone else pooped of hearing the word poop?

Sewing Envy.

I have a friend that makes, oh my, the most absolutely adorable shoes that I have ever seen! I have a sewing machine but the things scares me to death. I have had several "lessons" from well meaning relatives and even some very dear friends (thanks Sherri M.) but have yet to finish a project. Oh, this is going to be my New Year resolution. To be able to take the monster, I mean machine out of the floor and enjoy it! It was an awesome birthday gift from my in-laws a couple years ago.

Here is a preview of the shoes...my heart just melts....click on the picture to go to Richelle's site to check out all of the cute stuff!

Christmas Traditions...(and a giveaway) - a winner!

This year is the first year that we will be staying home on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Usually we wrap the children up and head all over God's wonderful country side to try to visit as much family as possible...

Christmas Eve with my Mom - 45 minutes away
Christmas Morning with hubby's parents - 2 hours away
Christmas Evening with my Dad - 1 hour from hubby's parent's
and then back to hubby's parents to spend an extended visit.

We have loved this routine for the last six years but now with three babies to tote, it just is too much. Last year, I kid you not, when I say that 20 minutes from home I had to have hubby pull over into some poor person's yard just so that I could puke!

Yeah, great memory there.

Anyway, I have decided that this year we will set some traditions. I think that we will wait to Christmas eve to get the tree. Decorate it on Christmas Eve and then roast Marshmellows in the fireplace. Then, I think we will put the wee ones to bed and then watch a Christmas movie with our six year old.

So, here is a question for you. What unique traditions do you do as a family? Please leave me a comment and I will choose my favorite and send you an early Christmas present. What will the gift be? I dunno. Maybe some Yankee Candle Votives...maybe a gift card somewhere, maybe a fun Christmas ornament...maybe some coal!

Anyway, just leave a comment and a way for me to get in touch with you if you win. Entries will be accepted through December 6th!

Thanks to my friends who entered this contest! For a long time my friend Michelle was the sole person in the race to win. To be fair and honest I used the random org generator and guess who won-Michelle! Merry Christmas!

$136.34 for $23.64

Wow! Kroger is having their MEGA sale and I did some MEGA shopping today! Here is my loot:

















A couple things are missing like some oats and milk and some things that are in the freezer!

Is it worth $500...a "corny" picture

5 minutes for Mom is hosting a giveaway with Prego. All you have to do is post a fun, family food related photo on your blog and then link it to their blog for a chance to enter. Here is my entry...


















This was Manny with his first ear of corn. He really enjoyed it once he realized that he could lick all of the butter off!

Ready...set...jump!

The Bloggy Giveaways have begun again and are in full swing...and for those of you with the courage, go and jump in! For some reason the giveaways seem a little overwhelming to me right now so I have only entered a couple instead of my usual 100's.

My friend Richelle is giving away the cutest shoes I have ever seen...














To win a pair of these (also a boy pair being offered) do the swan dive over to her site and enter.

wordless wednesday

And speaking of coffee....

Barnes and Noble is giving away a free cup of coffee! Click here to get the coupon to redeem. Hurry! It is only good through October 31st.

Thanks to MY PENNY PILE for sharing this great info!

You know it's love when...

This evening I started the bedtime routine. It can be quite intense sometimes but I wanted to do it tonight. As I put our little ones in bed (well, actually just my little boy...my daughter was looking at her pet snail. Yes- a pet snail named Sam. My hubby said that she could keep it til' it dies. Did ya know that snails can live a whopping 10-15 years? 10-15 years!!!! I love to hear her talk about him, she says 'yeah, he's a wild one'"

Anyway...back from la-la land...I am almost finished listening to my daughter read from If you give a pig a pancake when my sweet hubby comes in to finish putting her to bed. As I walk toward the living room I get smell a wonderful aroma. That sweet, wonderful aroma of coffee. My coffee. To me, my hubby making coffee for me is one of those sweet acts that a hubby can do for a wife. He doesn't drink it, doesn't like the smell, etc...but he makes it for me.

So, here is my coffee that I should be sipping right now in the silence instead of typing...

















And here is my lovely clean kitchen, thanks to my hubby. Yes, I realize that the door is open, this is my flaw. So, I thought I would leave it open as a true testament of myself...

For The Love of Blocks

I try hard to come up with things that my two year old will sit and do. I also try to incorporate those same items into homeschooling my six year old. There is one single item that I have grown to love....blocks!

I found these foam blocks in the craft section at Wallace World








They came in a box of, oh say, a couple hundred or so (at least that is what they look like when they are dumped in the floor by a two year old!) and they come in such wonderful colors.

Here are our uses for them.

1. They came with a large yellow plastic needle and plastic thread. My little one will sit and string these beads for a good ten or fifteen minutes (which is a woo-doggie! amount of time for him to actually concentrate on something)

2. We do this awesome game (again for my two year old but my six year old enjoys the simpleness of it as well) with them.

I had to head to the doctor's office one day and knew that there would be an awful wait. So, in a moment of pure genius, I grab a pair of my hubby's black socks from the drawer and a these little blocks. I put one or two of each shape and size of blocks in the sock, making sure that each sock had the exact same amount/color/sizes

At the doctor's office, each child was given a sock. I would say "find the large circle" and they would put their little hands deep down into that dark sock (so that they couldn't cheat by looking) and try to find that shape/size.

To my amazement-my two year old did it every time! And it killed a good twenty minutes. Now I must warn you that this game of sticking ones' hand down into a black sock while sitting in a doctors office and pulling out different colored shapes while yelling "I got it! I got it!)" may bring different reactions from those sharing the lobby with you. Just a thought.

3. They are great for homeschooling.







The fact that they are the same size/color/shape makes for a great way to not only practice shape identification/color/shapes but it also helps to teach units/sets/fractions.

I told my six year old, for instance-using the small ones pictured, that the rectangle shape that they make has been divided into fourths. Each one is 1/4. Two makes 1/2 of the shape, three makes 3/4 of the shape and so on.

They do a much better job than chocolate graham crackers (*guilt* especially when one said homeschooling/nursing mom shouldn't eat wheat!)

4. They are great for stacking and making towers

A mommy minute

For just a minute I long not to be a stay at home mom.

Not to be the one who’s shirttail becomes a make shift tissue.
Not to be the one who is responsible to make sure that breakfast does not consist of tootsie rolls and lollipops.
Not to be the one to have to tell a child “no” for the thousandth time in under an hour.
Not to be the one who has to remake coffee for the tenth time just to try to get a sip of it while it is even luke warm.
Not to be the constant playmate.
Not to be the one to convince a child that one bite won’t kill them.
Not be to the one to ask the oldest child not to talk like a baby but to use the beautiful voice that God gave them.
Not to be the one to have to clean up, not only the diaper but the entire baby when that tell-tale brown slime starts oozing onto the onesie.
Not to be the one to not get to have a nice long shower unless Daddy is home or it is 5:30 a.m.
Not to be the one who has to watch a temper tantrum.
Not to be the one who cleans up vomit.
Not to be the one who…

I could go on and on. But then, at the end of my day when I put my babies to bed, I find myself loaded with guilt. Not everyday, just some. Some when the day has just seemed really long and my own sin has been so heavy on my back that it oozes and squeezes all of the prettiness right out of me. Some when I have just been too busy with my own desires to truly take time to enjoy my children. Some when I have just not wanted to be a stay at home mommy that day.

Would I change my “job”? My mission field? Not for the world! This is where God wants me and this is where I want to be. I need to remind myself that I am not doing these things for my glory/happiness/contentment/convenience but for God’s. He is the one who so willingly puts up with all of my shortcomings. He is the one who, by His wondrous grace overlooks all of my ugly, oozing with slime and decay, stinky brown goo to love me. He is the one who marks my steps and my days. It is for His glory that I am raising my children. For them to know Him and love Him.

I love my children, thank God everyday for them. They bring me so much joy. To see their little eyes light up when they see genuine joy and laughter come from me. To see the enjoyment that they get from me just sitting and playing with them for a moment. To know that the love that they have for me is a true and honest love.

I thank God for His love for me. He brings me so much joy. My eyes light up at the thought of His genuine joy over me. From the peace that I get from sitting with Him. To know that the love that He has for me is a true and honest love.

Whala!

Ok, I blog that I look at, but don't usually comment on is "Where the Kudzu Grows". She made a wedding cake over the weekend and could use some love! I know first hand what a fun but challenging thing making a wedding cake can be!

Head on over and give the love that is deserved!

Oh, I thought I would post a picture of my last cake in case "Where the Kudzu Grows" should hop over here to check out my post...

No more eggs, bread, pasta...

Ok, so my poor baby Kate has a very serious case of eczema. Serious in that it is covering most of her little legs and arms. Serious because it has begun to ooze and she is now on antibiotics to clear up an infection/keep her from getting an infection in the open sores. My poor baby Kate!

Eczema runs in our family, both my hubby and I have very small patches of it. My oldest had it, my son had it 10 times worse than my oldest and now...poor baby Kate! We tested my son for food allergies and he was allergic to wheat, eggs, peas, dogs, and cats. So, it is a safe assumption that Kate is also allergic to wheat and eggs. Since the only way that she would be getting these two items is through nursing, I must give up wheat and eggs!

Oh I love having two eggwhites in the morning for breakfast. I love eating breads/pastas/pretzels/any thing made from dough...so-goodbye my favorites...goodbye

Does anyone have any suggestion for healthy foods that don't contain any of the above mentioned foods?

A nod to homeschooling

I don't remember when it was exactly that I learned that Starbucks was giving away free coffee on Monday's to teachers for the month of September (uh...maybe a run on sentence). Anyway, being a homeschool mom, I emailed the company to find out if they would recognize homeschoolers as part of this giveaway.

The company responded that only teachers, K-12, with proof of employment at a school would be granted the free coffee. It was a very polite response, please don't get me wrong-but denied just the same.

In my mind, it was ok. My hubby is a teacher so he picked up a cup for me on his way home one Monday afternoon. It was very strong-STRONG, coffee. But apparently, someone else was not quite as content.

Today, I received an email from the HSLDA (home school legal defense association) that stated the following:

Starbucks Offers Free Coffee for Homeschool Parents

This coming Monday, September 29, homeschool parents will be able to pick up a complimentary tall size (12 fl. oz.) cup of Pike Place Roast from Starbucks.

This promotion is part of Starbucks “Great Start for Great Teachers” promotion, and is now open to all teachers.

HSLDA intervened when we were alerted that homeschool parents were not included in the promotion.

We are pleased that Starbucks is recognizing the contribution of homeschool parents by extending their program to us.

In order to pick up your free cup of Pike Place Roast you will need to present evidence that you are a homeschooler.

Any one item on the following list should be accepted by Starbucks:

• Home School Legal Defense Association membership card.
• Membership card from a state homeschooling organization.
• Notification from a school district or state government recognizing compliance with compulsory attendance.
• Paperwork submitted showing intent to establish a homeschool program.
• Paperwork showing the establishment of a private school.

If you don’t have one of the items on this list be creative and try to provide other proof of homeschooling.

Please note: the final decision about whether to accept proof of homeschooling resides with Starbucks.

We hope you choose to take advantage of this offer.

foniks

Each day during school we work on sight words. Monday it was “my”. Yesterday it was “two”. Today it was “but”.

I had Gracie spelling the word out loud.

Have you ever spelled the word “but” out loud? It sounds like a completely different word- (b)ea(u)(t)y.

How in the world did we come up with this fune langwige?

A new use...

I found a new use for the baseball card holders that I bought to organize my coupons....
It is now a chore organizer for Gracie!


















There is a "token" inside each little sleeve of things that she must do everyday. Once the task has been completed, she can take the token out and put it in the "Gracie did it!" slot. She will be rewarded for the tokens that she does on a daily basis with a happy heart.

No gas

Yesterday, in light of Hurricane Ike, people went crazy (C-R-A-Z-Y) in our small city buying gas before it soared to $5.45 a gallon for the cheap stuff. My hubby called me from work and told me to go get some too. The result?

This morning, there were only a couple gas stations on Main Street that actually had gas. I hope that in your hometown, you didn't experience this crazy price hike.

Hannah's Hope in Guatemala

Hannah's Hope in Guatemala

My cousin Emily and her husband Phil are currently waiting (for God is good!) to try to adopt a little girl from Guatemala. They have been waiting a long, long, long time and could really use your prayers.
The orphanage where "N" is, needs help. Emily has put out a plea for help so, here is a copy of her blog page...(this way you don't have to click to go somewhere else!)

From Emily's blog...

In the past, our adoption agency, All God’s Children, used adoption fees to cover the cost of running Hannah’s Hope Orphan Care Homes in Guatemala. Now, with adoptions in Guatemala completely stopped, their ability to financially sustain the homes has also stopped.

Given the critical situation, God inspired them with a new vision: to build a self-sustaining orphan care ministry in Guatemala. Without it, Hannah’s Hope will need to be closed and every remaining orphan will have to go to other orphanages. Through the UNITE campaign, friends and families are called to join together to financially support Hannah’s Hope.

To accomplish this goal, AGCI needs to raise $50,000/month. Currently, AGCI has 286 sponsors but have reached only part of the goal. To make this happen we need more people involved.

Phil and I have been sponsors since the summer of 2006. It has changed and blessed our lives. Of course, with N still living at Hannah’s Hope, we want to help make it possible for her to continue to live there as long as she can, as well as the other precious children in their care. Phil and I have been there, witnessed the conditions and the care these children receive. It is drastically different than other orphanages in Guatemala.

We are asking that our friends and family step up and make a difference in a child’s life. Please help us to spread the word and support Hannah’s Hope Guatemala.

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress…”James 1:27

Kroger Run!

Last night I did a Kroger run! I love going to Kroger when I have a coupon for absolutely everything that I am going to buy and those things are on sale. It was alot of fun!


















Here's what I got:
25 boxes of Granola bars (Nature's Own & Fiber One)
11 bags of Chex-mix
26 cans of soup
1 deodorant for my hubby
4 packages of chicken (not shown)

Total before card and coupons: $180.52
Total after card and coupons: $49.11
That's a savings of: $131.41

Shocked!

Several days ago, I followed a link off of one of my favorite blogs (I would give them credit but now I can't remember which blog it was). Anyway, I hopped over to enter a giveaway and left my entry.

Guess what? I won! I won! I won! I am so shocked and amazed and utterly thrilled! I won a $25 gift card to CVS!

So, go over and visit Sweet Pea and share the love. She is the mom of twins (oh so cute!) and has just started her blog.

If I have to drive a wagon (from hubby)

We have been owners of Volvo wagons for almost three years now. My dear, sweet hubby could not be convinced to drive a mini-van but fell in love with the wagons. Last summer, he even traded his beloved Toyota Tacoma for a 2004 XC70 wagon and now drives the 1999 V70 wagon.

A sample of our first wagon...(not for bragging purposes...stick with me you will see!)

A sample of our second wagon... (again stick with me here...)

My hubby showed me the following picture tonight and told me that if he had to drive a wagon, it might as well be tricked out to the max! Let him dream, sweetly dream!

Now that's a ball of fun - or is it yarn?

I just posted about having all of these newspapers left over each week and wondering what to do with them. I would like to give a huge shout out to my cyber-friend (is there a better etiquette word?) Richelle for giving me this awesome suggestion...

Turn the newspaper into yarn! Yep-you read it right, yarn.



Now, I don't think that I will get the chance to do this until my baby Kate is much older but it would be a neat trick to try. You will have to let me know if you try it! You can go here to see how it is done!

Thanks again Richelle and congrats on your 100th post!

Newspapers, newspapers

I must first admit that I stole this blog post idea from my friend Kim, so thanks Kim!

Kim and I, along with our friend Sherri have been seriously couponing for about eight months now. We had made several connections with people at our church who did not use their coupons and had ended up being able to snag four or fives sets of coupons each week in addition to any that we purchased for ourselves.

Kim is quite resourceful (I envy her-really) and was able to go to a local gas station late on Sunday nights to be given any and all newspapers that were left over for the day. This meant that we would have about 10-15 sets of coupons between us.

We came up with this elaborate and labor intensive coupon box. The coupons were cut and organized in this old diaper box into folders. The box was kept at our church so that we each had access to it. It quickly became overbearing!

Well. La, la, la and several months later, the coupons that we had been receiving ceased and the store where Kim got so many extra papers had to quit giving them away free. So what did Kim do (I won't even dare try to take credit for it)? She got her resourceful self on the phone to the newspaper and set a bulk delivery to her house everyweek. It turns out that for $7.50 a week, 25 papers will magically appear on her front door step each Sunday morning. This price is a savings of $30 a week off of the news stand price!

So, if you do the math, in a four week month, we are getting 100 papers for a grand sum of $30.00. The actual retail price is $150.00 so we are saving $120.00 a month in papers! There are four of us that each contribute $7.50 to the price and we each get 6 papers weekly. We each cut out the coupons that we ourselves will use and organize them our own way. We cut out the remaining coupons and store them in ziplock bags by date so that when a good sale comes along, we can put our hands on them quickly and easily. And we share them. This sharing has come in so handy on CVS purchases and double couponing at Kroger.

So, my hat is tipped to you Kim for figuring out a way to keep those coupons coming and savings in our pockets. Oh, and by the way...my friend Kim-you are amazing in many ways and God is definitely growing you girl! Go with the flow baby-He won't let you down or give you more than you can handle (*wink*). Love ya!

Now if only I knew what to do with the part of the papers that I don't use each week....any thoughts?

Good CVS, Kroger, Kmart week!

***This is from last week...a little late posting but worth sharing!
First Kroger-

I got some awesome coupons from Kroger this week and used them to their fullest potential. I also used a Target Pharmacy coupon at Kroger (Kroger matches any competitors coupons) and received a $10 gift card to Kroger for a new RX that I had filled.

Also at Kroger, I received two free pork loins due to pricing errors. It is always worth checking your receipt-even pennies off count!

As for CVS....

I started out with $0 ECB's

1st Transaction:
2 Children's Advil $5.99 each
-$1 Advil coupon
-$2/$10 CVS coupon
Total: $8.98
Earned $11.98 ECB's

2nd Transaction
I got two packs of Huggies diapers for $2.19
How...
Huggies $8.99 x2
- $2/$10 cvs coupon
- $1 off Huggies coupons x2
- $11.98 ECB's

Total OOP: $2.19!

Then at another CVS...
I walked in and there was clearance basket with items marked 75% off. Inside there were 3 Tide with Bounty marked $1.99! I grabbed them as fast as I could. I was so excited I didn't even think about trying to work them into a deal but $1.99 for tide is huge!

Then to Kmart for free pens...

I bought 16 packs of bic pens for 40 cents!
I had 8 coupons for $1/off two and the pens were 50 cents a pack

Blogs Can Change Lives

There is a blog that I look at called "5 Minutes for Mom" that has helped change the life of a family who has a child that is seriously ill by giving them a HP laptop. HP, after hearing the story, donated a laptop and printer to this family as well as another laptop to be donated to another family in need.

If you know of a family that this type of blessing would benefit, please go to the 5 minutes for Mom site and nominate them.

Sharing the happiness...

Sharing the happiness!

Ok, because I know that you love me and want to share my happiness, let me share my great grocery deal...



In the picture...
**(reg price) other is sale price

(5) Twelve Packs of Pepsi ($4.79 each) $3.00 each
(4) Small Cans Cinnamon Rolls ($1.79 each) $1.00 each
(4) Cans Breadsticks ($2.49 each) $1.00 each
(1) Can Cresent Rolls ($1.88)
(1) Bag Cat Food ($6.99)
(1) Coffee Creamer ($2.19) $1.89
(2) Pert Plus ($3.31 each)
(1) Bleach ($1.48)
(15) Electrasol Tabs ($4.89 each) $2.69 each

Total Price before Sale Price $136.61
Total Due after Sale Prices given $77.02

Total after Coupons: $27.85!
Let me get a shout out in happiness!

Here is how I did it:

CVS
Pepsi were buy 4/$12 get one free at CVS
Total $12.00
- 2/$10 CVS
- $5 ECB's
Paid: $5.00 out of pocket for 5 twelve packs!

Kroger:
Coupons Used:
I had coupons for the canned rolls which made them either 50 cents a can or 30 cents a can
(2) $2.00 off Pert Coupons
(1) $1.00 off Creamer coupon
(1) Coupon for free bag of cat food ($6.99 value)
(15) $2.25 off Electrasol coupons thanks to Kim!

Thanks for sharing the happiness

***After looking at the receipt, I realized that the pert rang up at full price $3.31, not $2.50. So I took my receipt back to the store and was refunded $4.22 (full price for one, the difference on the other)

I took that money and bought 6 bags of Keebler Cookies and two more bottles of Pert for $5.52
What a sweeter deal!

It's beginning to smell like Christmas giveaway!

Thanks to everyone that entered! The winner will be announced tomorrow morning!

OK! I lied! I can't stand the wait!








The winner is...






Thanks again for all who entered, I hope that you had fun! I have contacted the winner and hope to hear back from them soon. However, if I have not been contacted by Monday morning 9:00 a.m. est, I will choose a different winner.

Oh I have waited, waited, waited to have the Bloggy giveaways carnival come back around. And this time I wanted to give away something instead of just hoping to win!

So, because I am longing for cooler weather and when I think of cooler weather I get excited about Christmas, I thought I would give away the smells of Christmas.

So I am giving away 5 Yankee Candle Christmas Votives to one lucky winner!

To have a chance to win, please leave a comment telling what you love about Christmas. I will close the giveaway on Friday evening and announce a winner on Saturday morning. You do not need to have a blog to enter, just leave an email address where I can reach you if you are the winner. This is only open to those in the continental United States.

Thanks for playing and be sure to go to the official Bloggy Giveaways Carnival site for a complete listing of all giveaways! Good Luck!

Saving on shoes...

How could you cover these up?

If you are a coffee fan...

If you are a coffee fan, like me, this is a good time to go out and buy yourself a Starbucks giftcard...in any amount.

Here is why.

1. A gift card is great even if you are treating yourself.
2. You should register your card online. Once this is done, extras like flavorings are free (I like peppermint mochas so the peppermint flavoring would be free)
3. Once registered, as a thank you, Starbucks will send you a postcard good for a FREE beverage of your choice. This alone is worth buying a giftcard for.
4. On July 25 & 26 you will get a complimentary (means FREE) new smoothie. You have to have a registered card though...I had the chocolate banana one today and it wasn't too bad. Thanks to "cent"sible Sawyer for letting us know about this one!

Having an affair...

I love my neighborhood Kroger. I love the kind people. I love that I know where things are and that I can go in and out quickly. I love that it usually very neat and clean.

But, I am having an affair.

There is another Kroger a short hop, skip, and jump away from me. I went there because I have been told that the manager's specials are so much better. So, I snuck past my favorite Kroger last night and headed to the "other" Kroger.

The difference was amazing. There were manager specials in almost every department. Bags of salad are usually marked down to $1.49 at my Kroger-at this new kroger, they were 25 cents! As well as many, many other good-no amazing deals.

I still love my Kroger but I will be sneaking to the other one on a regular basis.

Another Kroger Mega Ten Event!

It is back! Buy 10 of any of the following products and get $5 off your total bill:

Buy the following and get the item for $1

Kroger Apple Juice
Betty Crocker Cookie Mix
Betty Crocker Frosting
Brawny Paper Towels
Cattleman's BBQ Sauce
Clorox Bleach
Daisy Sour Cream
Frank's Red Hot Sauce
Kroger Instant Oatmeal
Lender's Refrigerated Bagels

Get the following items for $1.50

Assorted Kelloggs Cereal
Aunt Jemima Breakfasts
Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks
"" Warm Delights
Capri Sun or Koolaid Jammers
Chef Boyardee Microwave Pasta
Clorox Wipes
DelMonte Fruit bowls
Dove Ice Cream
Edge or Skintimate Shave Gel
Edwards or Mrs Smith Pie Slices
Eggo Healthy Waffles
Cheetos
Frito Lay Single Snacks
Ghirardelli Brownie Mix
Heinz Ketchup
Keebler Rice Krispie Treats
Kid Cuisine Entrees
Kraft Bagel-fuls
Krusteaz Muffin or bar mix
Lysol All purpose cleaner
Palmolive Dish Detergent
Sargento Cheese
StarKist Chunk light tuna
Stouffers or Lean Cuisine Meals
Sunshine Cheez-its
Tony's Pizza
Weight Watchers Ice Cream cups
Welch's Cocktail Juice
Ball Park Franks
Ken's Salad Dressing

The following Items will be $2

Advil Pain Relief
Chef Boyardee Canned pasta
Doritos XXL
Hunts Snack Pack Pudding
Kelloggs Nutrigrain Bars
Kelloggs Special K bars or bites
Dole Fruit Juice
Mott's Applesauce
Oreida Potatoes
PictSweet Veggies
Soft Scrub Cleanser
Tyson Chicken (looks like the frozen breaded kinds)
Tyson Chunk chicken breast
Welchs Grape Juice
Windex
Act II Microwave Popcorn
Huggies Wipes

These items will be $2.50

Arizona Tea
Chungs Egg rolls
Edy's Grand Ice Cream
Egg Beaters
El Monterey Appetizers
Gatorade Power Sticks
Keebler Club Crackers
Pledge Furniture Polish
Propel Fitness Water and Powder Packs
Sargento String Cheese
Friday's Appetizers
Hebrew National Beef Franks
Tyson Sliced Bacon
Kelloggs Special K Snack Bars

Now, just like last time, you have to buy 10 total items from any of these catagories to get the prices shown. Any smaller quantities (8 or 9 instead of 10) will cause all items to be higher. You can do three transactions in a single order.

The prices also do not reflect any coupons that you might have! Whoo-hoo!

Life with Kate

I am sorry that I haven't posted in a while...our Mac is on the fritz and I have had limited access to another computer. I am thankful though, I hadn't realized how often or how much time I spent on the web.

Life has changed, but for the better since bringing Kate home. She sleeps alot (maybe all but 5 hours out of the day) and the time that she is not asleep she is either nursing or sitting contently. Such a change from my other babies-they had colic and weren't content like Kate.

My sanity, though, is coming from my hubby being home. We are so thankful that God has blessed him with a job where he gets to be home for almost the entire summer.

Specifics on my baby Kate for those interested in that kinda thing...

First we kinda, sorta, maybe just a little, fell in love with her name due to "Baby Kate" on our favorite cartoon-Arthur.
She weighed 7 lbs 8 0z, the biggest of all three.
She was 18 3/4 inches long
God was so gracious to let her be born completely healthy. There was a slight chance that she would have Down Syndrome but there is no evidence of her having it.
She has a smattering of dark brown hair, which if she is like her siblings, it will fall out and be blonde.
Gracie cannot hold her enough and has trouble understanding personal space (especially mine while I am holding Kate)
Wyatt could care less that she is home. He runs by her and says "hi" about once a day and only tries to hurt her a little (mostly pinching and eye poking)

Introducing....

We welcomed baby Kate on 08/22/08

Works for Me Wednesday

Over at Rocks In My Dryer, she hosts a "Works for Me Wednesday" where people share their tips on what works for them.

What works for me? I have been using ordinary craft pipe cleaners as curtain ties. Every morning I pull the curtains back and twist a pipe cleaner around it. It is cheap, inexpensive, and works!

Woo-hoo!

Go to Rocks in My Dryer to share your ideas and read some other great ones!

Mmm...yummy recipe!

I found a yummy chicken recipe on a blog that I check regularly...Rocks In My Dryer. I wanted to share it with those of you who might not check out her blog but also so that I, in two weeks, would not be looking for the recipe and not know where to find it!

My mind is going these days ya know!

So, for a yummy sounding chicken dish, check out this link to Rocks in My Dryer!

A re-posting of a previous blog entry

My Granny, Marjorie Snodgrass, passed away on August 7, 2007, just about a month shy of turning 89. She was a brave, strong, and courageous woman who just would not stand for any non-sense. She lived and loved life but also loved the Lord. God was very merciful in that she became ill and passed away in two short days. She had lived by herself for almost 20 years in the farm house where she was born and lived until she passed away.

My granny loved us, loved us all, but it was very hard for her to say those words. Our response to telling her that we loved her was simply “Well….” It is one of those quirky things that made her so special.

On the night before she passed away, she was alert and quirky-fussing at the hospital staff because they would not let her have peanut butter crackers. (She at this point, did not have functioning kidneys, had ruptured diverticulitis, a heart that was slowing, slowing, slowing, and infection spreading far and wide. For all of these reasons and more, she was on a liquid diet). Only two people at a time were allowed in her room and she had us all in stitches in the waiting room with her antics. My poor Aunt Linda bore the brunt of Granny’s fussing but Aunt Linda took it all in stride. I kinda felt sorry for the other family in the CCU waiting room but the laughter really was a blessing from God.

The first time I went into Granny’s room, I told her that I loved her and she simply told me that there was no need to go get all mushy on her. That was the perfect response from her. But then, before I left her side for the last time, I made sure to be the only one in the room. I leaned over her face and got as close as I dared. I looked into her beautiful blue eyes, which she opened wide and looked back at me as hard as I was looking at her. I told her that I loved her, that I had ALWAYS loved her. Not blinking or looking away, she said “I love you too.” This is the best gift that she could have ever given to me.

This was the last time that I saw my granny. I couldn’t stand to see her the next morning when we arrived at the hospital and was told that she was much, much worse. However, after she passed, I did go in the room with the rest of the family. It is amazing how life ends. How the breath no longer comes even though it had been there just moments ago. It is amazing that God decides to make all of those involuntary things that happen in our bodies every second to just cease. My granny died very peacefully and for that I am very thankful.

Reason for reposting:
One of my favorite memories of being at my Granny's house was the fact that she always had icecream for us to eat. If you go to "After a Cup of Coffee Or Two" you can enter one of your favorite posts to win free icecream!

A great reminder...

I ran across this link on The Extraordinary Mommy website. It is a reminder of how much we have and how little others have. McDonald toys were collected and mailed to some troops in Iraq. There is a small video of the toys being handed out to the children.
Beautiful.

CVS gone seriously wrong!

Last night those silly coupons for $5/$30 and $3/$15 were calling my name. They both expired this weekend and I just had, no HAD, to use them. I spent hours pouring over scenarios, ideas, thoughts, plans, adjustments, etc to get the best deal.

I even contacted my guru's Sherri and Kim,who continually blow my mind, to help me come up with the best deals.

So I went.


I went to CVS too late and this caused several things to work against me.

1st - Store closes at 9:00 and I arrived at 8:35. This did not give me enough time to adjust thoughts and scenarios if something was not there.
2nd - My coupons were not in order
3rd - When the announcement came that the store was closing, I got nervous.
4th - A line of people who were ready to leave lined up behind me and I started (literally) sweating.

The cashiers working were extremely patient and kind.

Ok, so I bought:

(2) Renu Salines ($8.79 each)
(1) Schick Quatro Razor ($9.49)
get back $5 ECB
(1) CVS Band-aid ($1.99)
get back $1.99 ECB
(1) CVS Cottonswabs ($3.19)
get back $2 ECB
Total: $32.25
ECB's Earned: $8.99

I had the following coupons
$5/30 CVS coupon
$3/15 CVS coupon
$2 off any CVS Beauty Coupon
$5 ECB's
2 $1 off Saline coupons
$2 off Razor coupon

This is where things go seriously wrong.
First, I couldn't find my $5/30 coupon. I started getting hot and sweating. I could feel the red creeping into my face.

Then, I found some other coupons that I wanted to use and laid them on the counter. The sweet cashier scanned the first two coupons which reduced my total below $30 just as I found that $5/30 coupon. I had blown it. I wasn't prepared to make another transaction. I couldn't get my total back up.

I then realized that I forgot my $5 ECB's from a previous purchase at home. This amount was, of course, part of my deal. I did remember to use my $3/15 coupon but forgot all about the $2 off any CVS beauty product.

Buckets...sweating buckets! People lined up behind me. The pharmacist was standing at the front door, arms hanging over the security entrance thingy, head resting on arm obviously pooped!

So, my total was $26.71 OPP. This is huge for a CVS trip! HUGE! If I had done everything correctly my total would have been: $13.25 a difference of $13.46.

I told the cashier all about my emotional state and how I loved CVS but sometimes I just wasn't good at it. I told her how I had really wanted to try to buy one more transaction worth of stuff and apologized for taking so long that now the store needed to close, not to mention the line behind me.
She told me to run and get my things for the second transaction.
(4) dove Deodorants 2/$5
(1) Schick Quattro razor refill ($9.49)
Total: $19.49

Coupons used:
(2) 75 cents off Dove
$2 off razor refill
$8.99 in ECB's from previous purchase
Then out of the goodness of her heart, the cashier (who happened to be a manager) gave me credit for the $5/30 coupon for the previous transaction.
Total OOP: $2.27
ECB's Earned: $8.00

A hobby of sorts...

As a side hobby, of sorts, I make cakes for special occasions. I got to make a cake for a friend who due one week after me. God is so gracious in how he lets thing transpire.

First, I walked back to the craft department to get some cake supplies and ran across the little wooden figures used on the cake. Adorable!

Second, I couldn't find the pan that I was originally going to use so I couldn't do my original idea. If I had not found those little wooden things, tears would have been inevitable.

Third, my children slept late today. I was able to make the icing and get most of it finished before they cracked an eyelid-somewhere around 7:00 a.m. Yesterday my son woke up at 5:50 a.m.!




I am also only slightly embarrassed to add that my son ate graham cracker sticks and icing for breakfast. He needed to be contained (love him-hard to keep up with him) and this did the trick!

Spent $17.40 at CVS-Saved $64.50

My CVS trip went as my CVS trips always do. I always spend way too much time working out my deals, checking out everyone else's deals on Money Saving Mom and then head to the store. As usual, deals such as the new $3/$15 deal show up online while I am shopping in the store. Oh well. I did pretty well today, spent a little more than I thought I would but that's ok!

1st Transaction:
(2) Bags M&M's $1.77 each
(2) Boxes Band Aides $1.99 each
(1) thing of bubble yum bubble gum on clearance 50 cents
(1) CVS cotton swabs
(1) Pack of CVS brand smarties candies to help while I did my other transactions
(2) Back Pack wipes $1.59 each

Total Price: $15.38

Coupons Used:
(2) 75 cents off M&M's
(1) Free Back Pack wipes. I realized that the coupon expired yesterday before I handed it to the woman checking me out and put it back in my purse. She was a shift manager and insisted that I give it to her anyway. So, I did.
(1) $2.50/$10 CVS brand purchase
ECB's used: $8.00

Total out of pocket: $1.92

ECB's earned: $3.98 for band aides
$2.00 for cotton swabs


2nd Transaction
(2) Duracell Batteries $2.99 each
(3) Charmin Ultra $4.99 each
(4) Nuby Sippy Cups 37 cents each on clearance

Total: $22.43

Coupons Used:
(2) $1 off Charmin coupons from a friend
(1) 25 cents off Charmin
(1) 75 cents off Duracell
ECB's used: $12.98 (all I had)

Total OOP: $6.92
ECB's Earned: $10.00

Third Transaction

(2) Pampers Baby Dry $7.99 each
(2) Pampers Wipes $2.99 each
Total: $21.96

Coupons:
(2) $2 off Pampers Diapers
ECB's Used: $10.00 (again, all I had)

Total OOP: $8.56
ECB's Earned $5


Daily Shopping Totals:
Shelf Price: $81.90
Total Sale Price: $59.77
Total OOP: $17.40

A savings of $64.50

Razor Deal at Target (better than CVS)

This week, there is a deal on the Gillette Phenom Razors that is better than CVS (at least I think).
CVS Deal:
$9.99 Cost of Razor
-4.00 Coupon from June 1st paper
Pay $5.99 OOP
(Earn $4 ECB's)
Limit One Per Person

Target Deal
$9.44 Cost of Razor
-4.00 Coupon from June 1st Paper
Pay $5.44 OOP
However, if you buy two of the razors (use two coupons) Target will give you a $10 gift card! So, you spend $10.88 and get a $10.00 gift card back. Now, here is the cool thing-there is does not appear to be a limit to how many times you can do this deal.

How my Hubby helps us save money...

We are all the time posting about how we, as wives, save money by shopping with frugality. So I thought, since Father's Day is around the corner, it might be fun to show ways that my hubby helps us save money. Everyone has a special talent and Wes' happens to be making things.

Here are some examples of how he has made things to save us money...

He made this awesome set of shelves that is usually kept in our daughter's room. She has decorated it with stickers at the bottom...but the coolest thing is that the back of it is made up of pieces of fabric. They can be changed at any time!


He made this sweet little box for me the weekend after we met. It was such a sweet gift! And the lid had this sweet inscription...
This is my bed. This was a birthday present to me several years ago. Oh, I love my bed!

I wanted a kitchen island after seeing one that my friend had. He decided that he could make one for half of the cost. It started out like this...

And now has progressed to this:



This is the bottom piece without the top or doors. It is made from scrap wood that he had in the workshop.

This is the top...beautiful walnut...
Here are two of our tables that he has made. Our house is a little upside down right now since we are putting in hardwood floors in my daughter's room. Things had to be rearranged a little...and speaking of flooring...
Here is what it looked like after the first night. Not only do we save money by buying it at a local home improvement place, we also save on labor of having it installed!