What's that weird noise...(Part 2)

We have been working, working, working on our daughter's room laying hardwood floors. My hubby and I have a great system. I lay the wood down, several rows in advance at a time, and he comes behind me and does all of the nailing. Works great for him, works great for me. We are almost all done.
God threw a little excitement into our day when the manual nailer that he was using broke. Yeah. Really happy thoughts ran through our minds. I called the local rental place and found not only a nailer that we could rent for (what I consider) cheap but it was air-assisted! Much easier on my hubby's back!
We headed across town to get the nailer and low and behold-it used the same nails that we already have! God is sooooo good.

We headed for Sonic for a quick lunch and ate in the car while enjoying the wonderful breeze that has been blowing all day. We slurped down our Cherry Limeade's and sat wishing that we had more.
"Can't hurt to ask," I said as I retrieved the cherry out of the ice, "all they can say is no."
So, the button was pushed and the worker said "Be right out."
He came out, took our cups and refilled them with the wonderful drink!
For Free!
Who would-a thunk it?

Oh, we got home, became busy bees again and suddenly noticed that our house was not cool. Ah, the A/C finally decided to stop. Well, I guess after living in a place for nine years without ever once having it serviced can do that to a machine....thank heavens it is breezy outside!

What's that weird noise...

Nothing. Silence. Quiet. How weird! Wes' wonderful parents have taken my children home with them for the weekend. Two nights. TWO NIGHTS! (yes, I know that all caps signifies screaming but it is just to quiet in here!)

I don't know what to do with the silence, the absence of "Mommy...." or "no sir/yes ma'am". The absence of Manny wanting to snuggle on the couch or Gracie girl wanting to paint or color with me...wait! This is the wrong path.

I have two days without my little ones, one afternoon to myself before my sweetie comes home from work. What to do? What to do? If only there were some bon-bons in the fridge. Maybe I need to alleviate that problem...

We are attacking my daughter's room this weekend while the babies are gone. My sweetie is laying hardwood floors and we will start painting it as soon as the floor is laid. We will be busy and are thankful that Fred and Frances were willing to help us out. They should have a blast with the babies! Just pray that the kids will go to sleep!

(I hate to use the word "in-laws" when it comes to my dear Fred and Frances. There can be a negative stigma with the term and none of the negatives have been nor can I ever see being associated with them. They love God, they love their son, they love me, they love their grandchildren...and they show it in more ways than one could ever imagine. I love them too!)

Walgreen's Deal for 05/30

There is a deal going on tomorrow for $10/$30 at Walgreens. I am not a big fan of Walgreens and don't usually shop there, so I won't even try to work up a deal.
However, if you go to Money Saving Mom's site, there is a link to be able to print the coupon for Walgreen's.
Also, if you go this site, there is a link to print another Huggies rebate for purchasing three bags of diapers in one purchase. I wasn't aware that this rebate was available and was very happy that the love was shared!

Memorial Day CVS Trip

I went to CVS today with my daughter and my wonderful stash of ECBS ($43.36). I knew that I was just going to spend those ECB's without worrying about how much I got back. So, that is exactly what I did.

First Transaction:

(1) Tide $5.99
(5) 12 packs of Pepsi $2.40 each
**They were buy 4 get 1 Free
(1) Very purply-fun girly flip flops for some sweet little feet $1.99

Total: $19.98
Coupon: $5/15 CVS
ECB's Used: $15.00
Total OOP: $3.38

Earned: $2 ECB's for Tide
$2.5o off $10 CVS Brand Purchase
$3 off any Excedrin

Second Transaction:

(1) Tide $5.99
(2) Playskool Diapers $10.99 each
(1) Bag of Bubble Gum for the owner of those sweet little feet

Total: $$28.96
Coupon: 35 cents off Tide
ECB's Used: $25.36
Total OOP: $3.40

Earned: $2 ECB's for Tide
$5 ECB's for Diapers

(Partial Picture: Too tired to lug all of the soda upstairs)

So, for next week, I have $15 ECB's!
Total Spent Today: $6.78 on $73.39 worth of stuff!
Total Saved: $66.61

(p.s. I have since learned that the $5/15 coupon that I found online should not have been used. I will go back to CVS and see if I can make it right. No need to have a guilty conscience over $5! Go to Money Saving Mom for more info on this coupon)

Does you mind ever take you down rabbit trails?

The other day I went and had my haircut. I loved it! It was good for me to have a few minutes away from my little boy who had been a tough nut to crack all morning!

Two days later, I was styling my new fandangled haircut (ok, so it's not really fandangled but how often do you get to use that word in a day?). My mind started running. Here we go...enter rabbit trail...



First...
I was thinking about a conversation with my stylist about girls having their hair done for prom
then...
I thought about my own prom. Why didn't I get my hair done for my prom?
then...
I remembered how sweet my now hubby looked in his suit. We had been dating for about 5 months and although it was my senior prom, he was a senior in college and I didn't care what he wore, just that he was there...sorry, another rabbit trail is trying to emerge
then...
I thought about my junior prom. No date. Didn't go. No hard feelings.
then...
I thought about the after prom party at my school. It was loads of fun! I remember being there with my close group of friends and just being. We weren't the "popular" crowd so we didn't gather much attention, but we were "cool" together.
then...
I remembered the gifts that they gave away if you stayed until the end of the party-somewhere around 3 a.m.
then...
I remembered all of the "popular" kids sitting up front so that they could jump up to gather their prize. The announcer had stopped drawing names because so many people had already left and would just give the prize to the first name that he heard called out.
then...
The prize was a portable CD player. Not to age myself but it was 1993 and those things were really just starting to make their way onto the scene-in a big way.
then...
I remember wishing I could get it.
then...
I heard my name called out by a guy. It was the only name called and I was floored! I got up and collected my prize.

Now this may be silly, but to this day, I never knew who called out my name. Sometimes, when I allow a rabbit trail to enter into my thoughts, I try to place that voice. Sometimes, I don't.

God is perfect in all that he does and I am so thankful that my first and final boyfriend is now my hubby of 12 years!

Wendy's Complaint

Last week, on my way home from a bible study, I stopped to get some lunch at a local Wendy's. It was just past the "lunch rush" so I thought my chances of getting hot, good food were pretty good.
I was handed my receipt which showed that cheese had been added to my burger. I destest cheese. I loathe it. So, I politely told the man working that I had not asked for cheese. He looked at me and then asked for the receipt again. He looked at me and then at the receipt. Did my head spin around? You would have thought!
He then yelled to the back that he needed a burger without the cheese. Ok. This was fixed. No big deal (except I was charged for the cheese). I got the rest of my order and pulled away.
I handed my daughter her chicken and then the fries. They were ice cold. So were mine. I sighed a heavy sigh and went back through the drive thru. I explained the problem. The man at the counter, the same one, looked at me as if my head was spinning around.
However, he did correct the problem.

Now. I don't mind giving my honest opinion to a company when I am either greatly not satisfied or greatly pleased. I am completely honest and make sure that I share all of the details, not just ones that would make my case sound better. I went online to the Wendy's site and shared exactly what happened. I even requested that they contact me if they needed to.

Several days later, I realized that I had never heard from Wendy's. First, I was a little aggravated. Then I reasoned with myself and decided that it didn't matter. I got home and opened my mailbox.

Wouldn't you know it? In my mailbox was an envelope from Wendy's with two gift certificates inside-to exactly replace the meal that I had purchased.

Kraft Food & Family Magazine (Summer 2008)

I just got my new Kraft Food and Family magazine (Summer 2008 edition) and it had some really nice coupons inside.

When the magazine originally came out, I was able to sign up for free. I receive it in the mail without having to pay for it.

The mag. sales for $3.95 and could be a filler for a CVS deal-if you could find it there.




Here are the coupons found inside...
75 cents off Maxwell House coffee
$1 off a LiveActive aproduct (Cereal/Crystal Light/Breakstone Cottage Cheese/Knudsen Cottage Cheese)
$1 off a South Beach Living Hot Sandwich Melt or Refrigerated Wrap Kit
55 cents off sugar free Rice pudding snacks (6 pack)
75 cents off Ritz Toasted chips
55 cents off Kraft Mayo

And one very nice coupon for a FREE bottle of Kraft Salad Dressing (up to $3.09) Thanks to Kim and Sherri for pointing it out! I would have missed it!

CVS Fun and a Good Kroger Trip

Tonight I went to CVS intent on spending $50 to be able to use a $10 off $50 coupon that expired today. I made a list of all of the items that I wanted to purchase and then substitutes because my CVS is famous for being out of stuff.

This is what I got:

2 Kelloggs Smart Start $2.50 each
1 Colgate Total Advanced $2.99
1 Schick Intuition Razor $9.99
1 Freestyle Glucose Monitor $10.00
1 Aquafresh Advanced $2.99
1 Aquafresh Xtreme $2.99
2 Tums quickpak $4.69 each
2 Hawaiian Tropic lipbalm $1.99 each
1 Zantac 8 Count $5.29

Total: $52.61

Coupons Used:
$10/50 CVS coupon
$5 ECB's
$3/15 CVS coupon
$3/2 Kelloggs Smart Start
$5 off Zantac
$4 off Razor Coupon
$1 Aquafresh Advanced
$1 Aquafresh Xtreme
$1 Colgate Toothpaste

Total $19.61 out of pocket
Total ECB's earned...can I get a drumroll please?....

$43.36!

This is how it broke down:
$9.38 ECB's for Tums (4.69x2)
$2.00 ECB's for Colgate
$5.98 ECB's for Aquafresh (2.99x2)
$10 ECB's for Freestyle Meter
$10 ECB's for Hawaiian Tropic
This was probably the best moneymaker. I was able to walk the aisle and find the lip balm that is made by HT. I spent $3.98 and got $10 back!
$6.00 ECB's for Schick Razor

I have never been so successful at accumulating ECB's before! I felt like I was on cloud nine for the rest of the night!

I get most of my coupons from the Money Saving Mom site and the links that are provided there. It is worth the effort to print the coupons and to read the CVS deals that other people post there.

I also did a Kroger trip this week. Ok, it was more like three, but I really only got a good deal once.

















Here is what I got:

Three packs of Huggies $9.49 each
Two Colgate Toothpastes $2.00 each
Three boxes Eggos $1.24 each
Five packs of Chicken $1.88 a pound
One bottle Pert Plus $2.50
Nine rolls of Paper Towels $1.00 each

Total Before Coupons and Card Savings: $99.95
Total AFTER Coupons and Card Savings: $41.03
Savings of $58.92

Coupons Used:
(9)25 cents off Bounty
2.00 off Pert Plus
(2)1.50 off Colgate
(2)1.00 off Huggies
1.50 off Huggies
2.50 off from Shortcuts
1.50 off any $7 frozen food purchase
2.50 off any $10 Poultry purchase
4.00 off purchase with Huggies promotion

Getting those veggies?

Tonight for dinner we had meatloaf. It is not a favorite in our house but every once in awhile, it is rather tasty. It also goes fabulous with my favorite dish of all time-green bean casserole!

My hubby likes there to be lots of veggies in it so I usually try to add sauted onions, green peppers and and celery. Well tonight, we were out of celery. I grabbed a yellow squash instead and cooked it up! Man! It was good. And my kids didn't even know that they were eating it.

Any tricks that you have?

How do you pronounce it?

A new bloggy friend of mine is hosting a game. It is so neat to have found someone who lives in "my neck of the woods" and so I wanted to join the fun!




The point of this game is as follows:

How do you pronounce the following words?

POINSETTIA: poin-set-ee-uh or poin-set-uh
EITHER: ee-ther or aye-ther
PAPRIKA: pap-ri-kuh or puh-pree-kuh
ROUTE: root or rout
GALA: gey-luh or gal-uh
CONSORTIUM: consor-shee-um or consor-tee-um
VASE: vayse or vahz
MISCHIEVOUS: mis-che-vus or mis-chee-vee-ous
KILOMETER: kil-uh-meter or ki-lom-i-ter
PATRONIZE: pay-tronize or pah-tronize
COMFORTABLE: comf-terble or com-fer-ta-ble
ASSOCIATE: ass-o-see-ate or ass-o-shee-ate
ORANGE: awr-nj or ornj
CARAMEL: care-a-mel or car-mel or kahr-uh-mel or kahr-mul
BONUS SPELLING QUESTION: CATSUP or KETCHUP

My answers:

POINSETTIA: poin-set-ee-uh
EITHER: ee-ther
PAPRIKA: pap-ri-kuh
ROUTE: rout
GALA: gey-luh
CONSORTIUM:consor-tee-um
VASE: vayse
MISCHIEVOUS: mis-chee-vee-ous
KILOMETER: kil-uh-meter
PATRONIZE: pay-tronize
COMFORTABLE: comf-terble
ASSOCIATE: ass-o-shee-ate
ORANGE: awr-nj
CARAMEL: care-a-mel
BONUS SPELLING QUESTION: KETCHUP
BONUS Word : HERB or 'ERB

You can copy the original set of words and paste them into your blog. Paste them again and give your answers. Add a new word to keep things interesting!
Then, link back to the original posting and/or leave a comment so we know to go and look!

Pity Party Update

I love my mom-in-law! She drove two hours today to watch my two little ones to give a chance to rest. And rest I did! It was the most wonderful gift that she could have ever given me.

Join my pity party!?!

Ok, so, I just wanted to take a moment and see if anyone wanted to join my pity party. I shouldn’t complain, God is SOOO good, but there comes a point where you just want some sympathy so here it goes…

I have a virus.
Can’t breathe through my nose.
Drainage makes me cough.
Coughing makes me gag.
Gagging makes me vomit.
Vomiting makes my sides and chest hurt.
Coughing keeps me awake.

Not to mention what effects the coughing is having on my bladder with me being 32 weeks pregnant!

A mixed blessing?...one of the coupons that I received from Kroger the other day was to save $20 off my groceries with any new RX filled. I went to the Dr. yesterday and he gave me an RX. So, I saved $20 bucks on my weekly grocery shop yesterday!

Every cloud has a silver lining-or in this case, an Andrew Jackson lining!

Coupon Joy

Today I received a bunch of coupons from Kroger and the thoughts of my future savings warmed my heart. Not to mention the fact that my two year old son was contently playing basketball and my daughter was content digging for worms.

Yeah.

So anyway, my friend Kim posted on her blog yesterday that she received coupons from Kroger and I was envious. Covetous. Over coupons! I felt left out. Confused. Have I not spent about the same amount of time in the store? Have I not walked aisle after aisle trying to find a way to walk out spending as little as possible? Was I not worthy of special coupons?

Here is what my lovely store sent to me...

1 Free box of special K cereal
$2.50 off a $10 fresh meat dept purchase
$1.50 off a $7 frozen dept purchase
$60.00 free in groceries with three RX transfers
$1 off two boxes of Kellogg's cereal
$1 off two Ragu pouches
50 cents off two Jet Puffed Marshmallows
$1 off any colgate toothpast
$1 off Kelloggs Nutri-grain bars
$1 off ALL laundry detergent
$1 off two Betty Crocker cookie mixes
50 cents of Palmolive
$1.25 off two Tostitos chips or salsa
$1 off two A1 steak sauces
$1 off $3 household cleaners purchase

Whew! And the best part-most of them are just "manu coupons" and can be used anywhere!

Have you ever complained...

Today I am pondering over a decision that I made yesterday regarding complaining about an employee at a local grocery store.

Here's the scenario: I purchased something that was suppose to be on sale. After looking at my receipt, I noticed that the item did not ring up correctly. I wheeled my full buggy back into the store and asked the person behind the desk if I could go and check the price. This person waved me away with a "sure".

Now, I do not know this person, but after shopping at this same store for a long time, I have come to cringe when I know that they are the person that I would need to get help from.

Back to the story...the sale sign on the aisle for the item had expired but had not been removed. I carefully looked at the price and the sale date and headed back up to the front desk. The person was happily chit-chatting with some other opposite sex employees. Their conversation did not stop. The person came to help me but was still more interested in the "who likes who" conversation.

I tried to explain to this person that the tag had not been removed from the shelf (thinking that I would get the difference since they should have removed the tag but not going to argue if I just needed to get my money back) and all this person said was "yeah, yeah, what do I owe you".
This person didn't want to see the receipt. This person didn't try to apologize or offer to make it any better in any way. But, the conversation of silliness continued even as they were handing me my money back.

Ok. So, I walk out of the store. I walk back in to get the name of the person. Of course, the silliness conversation was still going on so instead I asked a cashier that I recognized. The person behind the counter was not a manager, just someone who is able to work there. A manager was called and I explained the situation.

I walked out feeling good that I had stood up for myself and the lack service received. But then I started having second thoughts. Have you ever complained?

In Just A Minute...

As I was looking through the bloggy giveaways I came across the Extraordinary Mommy blog that had a post on it that has really stuck with me. It is about your child's imagination. I highly recommend that every Mommy go and check it out!

But, in finding this post, I thought that I would share with you something that I wrote several years ago for our MOPS group.

IN JUST A MINUTE

“In just a minute…” I have found myself saying this way to much lately. Mostly it has been to my daughter who is anxiously wanting my attention to show me an ant who is scurrying across our floor. It might be to feel that her watercolor painting is drying but if you touch the red paint it will still come off on your finger. It might be to watch a maple tree seed fly in the wind like a helicopter. “In just a minute…” has been my reply due to so many reasons both necessary and unnecessary. Maybe I am washing dishes or drying my hair. Maybe I am emailing a friend or watching the news. But I have learned that in just a minute, the moment is gone.

I find myself thinking that I have all the time in the world to watch my children grow-I am home with them all day. I find myself thinking that I will never forget the sweet, seemingly insignificant things that my children do everyday. Then, in just a minute, I suddenly realize that my child has moved on and I can’t remember exactly how or when they stopped doing those sweet things.

Life moves so fast, take time to cherish the MOPS years before they vanish in “just a minute”. Play in the wind, touch the red paint before it dries, lay on the floor and conspire about where that ant is really going. God has given us such special gifts in our children. In just a minute, they will be teenagers, adults, parents, and grandparents. Take time to enjoy them everyday and give them the blessing of your time. –Lori Lester

How about 'em apples?

I pack my hubby's lunch, not only to try to save money but to try to get him to eat healthy and keep from getting a headache (migraines can be induced from hunger for him...). One thing that he appreciates is a good, juicy, crunchy apple. The best that I have found are Fuji apples.

Last night, on a Kroger trip, I picked him up four apples-one for the rest of the week. The whopping total-$6.09! WHAT?!!! For that amount I could have gotten at least 18 candy bars, or two bags of really good cookies, or one star bucks coffee-but I am rambling.

It is hard to try to save alot when there are certain staples that just have to be had. Kinda like a good haircut!

Do you have any expensive staples?

Cereal Deals!

I needed, well maybe not needed, some cereal this week-especially since there was a pretty good deal going on at Kroger and I had some nice coupons.

I got 8 boxes of General Mills Cereal for $10.27 or $1.28 a box.

Here's what I got:

4 Boxes of Cinnamon Toast Crunch ($3.19 each)
2 Boxes of Cheerios ($3.79 & $2.79)
1 Box Kix ($2.59)
1 Box Trix ($2.79)

Total $24.72 before coupons/card/deal
Deal: $4 off total purchase when you buy 4 General Mills Cereal
(I used this deal twice-in two seperate transactions)
Card: $1.58 in savings
Coupons: (1) printable Cheerios coupon for 50 cents-doubled to $1
(2) $1.00 off any general mills cereal (from this post)
(1) $1.50 off any 3 general mills cereal-manuf. coupon
(1) $1.00 off any two cereals

Total Savings: $14.46!

Totally, glued to my computer, thanks to the bloggy giveaway carnival

Today started the annual Bloggy Giveaway Carnival. I have been totally glued to my computer since about 5:30 this morning looking at all of the incredible things that people are simply giving away! We are talking gift certificates to Starbucks, Target, Barnes and Noble, etc. There are also people giving away books and games and other items that they have made at home!

When I last checked, there were 383 sites to check out for giveaways. Can I just say that my mind is spinning? If you would like to check out what all of the fuss is about, go to this link. Good luck my dear friends and be prepared for your eyes to hurt!

We're going to get arrested!

Yesterday I had the enjoyment of taking my mother-in-law into Kroger with me. I was armed with coupons, including one for the Brita water filter. I really enjoy my mother-in-law's visit, particularly because she loves a good deal as much as I do!

What I purchased (sorry no picture)

1 Brita water filter $10.49
2 Bags Twizzlers (one for her, one for my sick daughter) $1.00 a piece
3 Jars Masterpiece BBQ sauce $2.09 a piece

Total before Kroger savings and coupons: $18.67
Total after Kroger savings: $11.37
Coupons Used:
$5 off any Brita product
(3) 50 cents off any Masterpiece BBQ sauce

Total out of pocket: $3.37

My mother-in-law giggled as we walked out the door and said "Hurry, let's get out of here! We are going to get arrested for "stealing" this stuff! She is so much fun!

Be sure to check out Money Saving Mom's website to see how others in this awesome bloggy saving world has done this week!

Free Brita Water Pitcher

There is a link on the Money Saving Mom site to get a coupon for $5 off any Brita water pitcher purchase. At our Kroger (in Va) the pitchers, located in the bottled water section, are marked for $10.49. I decided to buy one for my father-in-law and get it for $5.00.

When I got up to the register and scanned my Kroger card, the price on the pitcher dropped to $4.99. So I got it for free!

Click here for a link to the Money Saving Mom site to get the link for the coupon!