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.