Happy Photo

Ahhh... the return of the Happy Photo. Yesterday I was in Glasgow, KY doing a farm inspection when I saw this lovely lady and read her "earring". Hope you enjoy and get a laugh as much as I did.

More Money Saving Tips - BOGOF

BOGOF - Buy One Get One Free

On my couponing tips, I got a post from someone who runs a website called BOGOFetcher.com. I will admit that I am always skeptical of folks who leave comments hawking their products/services/pages. However, I checked this one out and it appears to be a great resource for those who are trying, like our family, to save money on groceries and household items.

The premise is you sign up with only your city/state and email and you will receive via email offers in your area for BOGOF items. This site searches the country for those offers each week and you reap the benefits!

After I signed up, I was directed to a page with this weeks BOGO offers from Food Lion, Harris Teeter, Kroger, Publix, CVS, Rite Aid, Walgreens and Toys R Us. VERY HANDY!!

Mr. Hall, who runs the site also has a blog with some money saving tips and tips for those who are just starting couponing on how to get the best discounts using coupons. His blog is here, and worth checking out.

Another tip for those of you with CVS ExtraCare cards, CVS has now installed scanner machines in their stores where you can scan you card and get coupons. Yesterday, I got a $5 off $25 purchase and a $2 off $10 of CVS products. It was a good day. *smile*

Hope these tips help you save money!!

Could you say a little prayer for us?

I don't normally ask people to pray for us (or at least since Ellie has come home), but I just have to confess that I feel like our family needs a few prayers sent up on our behalf.

Ellie has (yet another) double ear infections. We've been battling this (I suspect the same one) for quite a while now. Last week, in the middle of her antibiotics, she slept through the night twice. We felt like new people for two days. Now, she's up repeatedly through the night. Last night it was almost every hour. We are very, very tired. Not sleeping is really affecting both Kevin and I. There is only so much good coffee will do, ya' know? Ellie seems to make up for her sleep lost in the night time by taking some really good naps during the day, but I'm certain she is tired too. Josh? Well, he sleeps through anything; he's just got grumpy parents.

I'm going to call our pediatrician today. Ellie has been seeing the weekend doc at her ped's office because it seems she always gets these on the weekend. I need to talk about the possibility of tubes for her. Three infections in three months is two many, I think. I suspect she has the ability now to sleep through the night as we've seen, but her ears are keeping her from restful sleep.

I can't keep going at the pace I'm going with so little sleep. Driving to KY twice a week after no sleep is becoming a bit dangerous too as I'm so very sleepy and the drive is lengthy.

So, if you could spare a prayer or two over the next few days, we most certainly could use it and would really appreciate it.

FREE Toilet Paper (UPDATED)

Ok, now there is a post title I never thought I'd write, but I have. My life is complete, ya' know?

Apparently, according to my coupon queen source, Kelly, there is a $.50 coupon in the SmartSource coupons in the Sunday paper for $.50 off Angel Soft toilet paper. Kroger has this toilet paper on sale for $.99 this week (four roll I'm guessing) and since Kroger doubles coupons, it would be FREE!!! I'm off to find my Angel Soft coupons (2) and get me some FREE TP this week!!

UPDATE: According to Coupon Queen Kelly (my coupon mentor), there was NOT an Angel Soft coupon in our coupon books this week (in our area), so I will NOT be getting free TP this week. *sigh*

Josh's First "Official" Baseball Game

Saturday night was Josh's first regular season baseball game. Their team won 13-2. Josh did well, stopping several kids from scoring from his place on third base. He also stole a base (2nd to 3rd) and just barely missed getting out -- but he made it!! He scored, that I remember, twice. He hit once and was walked twice. He's still holding on for that "out of the park" hit. I wish he could just relax and enjoy the game more. Josh was really excited his grandparents came to the game, and I know he was very excited when DeeDee gave him $10 for playing a good game. *smile*

Kevin worked concessions (we have to twice a season) last night for me and Josh and Ellie and I watched the game afterwards. Poor Ellie, it turns out, has another double ear infection -- wait, I should say I think she still has the same ear infection we just finished antibiotics for -- and was feeling not so great and was a bit cranky because of it. She is such a good baby though. Even when she doesn't feel well, she's still pretty happy. She enjoyed playing with the other kids. I wish I had gotten a photo of four of them in her wagon!

Here are some cute, cute, cute pix of Josh and Ellie, followed by Josh during the game. Go Mets!!

A quick shout-out to Andrea over at With Sugar on Top, who made Ellie's shirt (and gave us a hairbow too!) which got rave reviews at the park. THANK YOU!!

Oreos

=Ellie has had a lot of firsts, but here she is -- in all her glory -- with her first OREO. It is a strawberry Oreo, but YUMMM!!! she liked it. Can you tell?

Ellie's New "Day" Care

I was so busy working last week I didn't have a time to update about Ellie's new "day" care. She's technically not at a daycare anymore. My friend, Dee'Anna, sent me an email the day after Ellie started at the daycare that she would love to keep Ellie. Dee'Anna and Travis have a little girl who is one, Addie, who goes to Mother's Day Out with Ellie, at our church. Kevin and I talked about it and thought it would be a perfect solution for us and for Ellie. They live very close; they have Addie for Ellie to play with, and we have known Dee'Anna forever, since she also has a daughter who is Josh's age. They have been in class together since they were little.

Ellie has loved her first week at Ms. Dee'Anna's. I think, to her, it's like being at home with playmates. Check out Dee'Anna's blog to see photos of Ellie's first day.

Couponing at CVS and Target

Just a quick post about my bargains this week (so far) at CVS and Target (for those who are interested in "couponing" and aren't quite convinced).

I went to CVS and bought:

(2) Sunday Tennesseans (for the coupons): $2.00
(2) boxes Honey Nut Cheerios
(2) boxes Lucky Charms: $12.00 - $4.00 in extra cash bucks (ECBs) and (1) $1.00 coupon on three boxes of General Mills cereals, and (1) $1.00 coupon for Cheerios -- final cost for all four boxes of cereal $6.00 or $1.50 per box
(1) Tube Crest Pro Health Toothpaste: $2.88 - $2.00 ECB and $.75 coupon - final cost: $.13
(1) can Edge shaving cream for men: $2.99 - $2.99 ECBs - FREE!!

My total expense at CVS was $18.79 out of pocket. I got $8.99 in ECBs to use on the next trip and another coupon for $5 off a $25 purchase, meaning my TOTAL out of pocket will net out at $4.80 for all the above items. Considering the amount of coupons I got with the $2.00 I spent on papers, my trip to CVS was basically free. :-)



THEN... on to Target. Not as great, but still nothing to sneeze at.

(1) box 25 count Electrosol dishwasher tabs - $4.29, coupon $2.50 - net $1.79
(4) cans Chef Michaels canned dogfood (they are small) - clearanced at $.75 each, coupon for BOGO free, so $.75 for all of them. THEN I got home and found two coupons inside for two more free cans so basically these were free as well. I plan to go back and get all they have on clearance since they will be free.
(1) jar McCormick Montreal Steak seasoning, regular $1.99, marked down to $1.50, coupon for $,75, final cost: $.75
Huggies wipes (pop up box 72 count): on sale $1.99, coupon $.75, final cost $1.24 (and I have another coupon so I need to get it while they are on sale)
Post Trail Mix Crunch cereal (found everywhere I looked for $4.50 and better), marked down to $2.99, $1.00 coupon, final cost $1.99
Axe shower gel, marked down to $3.54, coupon $1.00, final cost $2.54
Nice n Easy Hair color (Mala, if you are reading this I got LIGHT BROWN this time to keep me from having BLACK hair - hahahaha!!), sale price $5.99, coupon $1.00, final cost $4.99 (this certainly beats the $60-$75 I would have to pay for someone else to do it, huh?)
(2) Halls Naturals cough drops, $1.59 each, coupon for BOGO free, final cost for 2 $1.59
(2) Oreos, sale $2.54, coupon $1.00/2, final cost $4.08 (not such a good deal, but a savings nonetheless)
Bliss Chocolates (now, mind you I've had this coupon a while and have priced them all through March and April and never would spend the $3.50-$4.50 that it would cost even with the coupon), today, marked down to $3.59, $1.00 coupon, final cost $2.59 -- and they are ALL MINE and I'm hiding them. :-)
And, I added some Gerber Graduate meals and puffs (4) that were on sale but I did not have a coupon so I just bought them (at some level of pain, I confess -- at least they were significantly on sale).
And to round it out, a gallon of milk.

Final amount spent at Target was $36.59.

AND, I was wrong about Walmart. They do NOT double coupons so I won't be shopping for groceries there much longer. I was pretty much over them anyway -- too big, too busy, too ... well, just too. I'm finding much better deals at stores I'd really rather shop at.

Interestingly, I was talking to the CVS cashier who was checking out my bargains and we were comparing the coupons this week with the sales there and all. She said, "People ask how we stay in business giving stuff away free, but they don't realize that only about 10% of our customers take us up on these deals." WHAT????? People, get a CVS card, cut some coupons, get some FREE STUFF. It's pretty easy -- I can do it, so it must be. We have more toothpaste and shampoo and razors than we can use. The vast majority of it was FREE or very, very inexpensive. You can do this too!!

Oh, and one last bargain I did find at Walmart. I had a coupon for BOGO free for Venus disposable (women's) razors AND a coupon for $4.00 off one. Since I was getting one free, I was also buying one so I could use BOTH coupons. They were $6.77 each (for three). I ended up paying $2.77 (plus tax) for six razors that would have been $13.54. CLIP THE COUPONS!!!

And, have a good Sunday! Watch for cool pix of Josh at baseball yesterday and Ellie eating her first Oreo (oy!!) coming soon!

Coupon / Saving Website

Oh, I mentioned the website I use to track sales/specials in my coupons post, but didn't give you all a link. It's at A Full Cup. Thanks to my friend Kelly for introducing me to it!! Hope you guys save some money!

Josh's First Baseball Game

Exhibition games were tonight in Josh's baseball league. Josh's team, the Mets, won their game 8-4. Josh was very upset that he struck out the first time at bat. He was walked the second time. I know him well enough to know that he thought he'd pop it out of the park every time he got up to bat. It's a hard lesson to learn. It was SO cold tonight. I'm ready for it to warm up!!

Sorry, no pictures tonight. I worked in Kentucky all day today and forgot to tell Kevin to bring my camera to the park. If it's not storming Saturday, I'll take photos then.

Go Mets!!

Coupons

Lori asked how I managed to save $105 on my groceries a few weeks ago. Well, desperate times call for desperate measures so I'm back to my coupon clipping -- only this time I'm becoming a coupon connoisseur and have boned up on how this stuff works.

The week in question was triple coupon week at Harris Tee*ter. Every coupon up to $.99 was tripled. In addition, their boneless skinless chicken breasts were buy one package, get two free. I saved $24 there as I bought two ($12) and got four ($24) free. It freezes great.

On this shopping trip, however, I only bought things that I 1) needed and 2) had a coupon that could be tripled, and 3) I couldn't get less expensively somewhere else. We bought things like paper towels, rice packets, juice, yogurt, butter, biscuits -- all kinds of things. In the end, we spent right at $111 (for over $200 of groceries) as we had close to $71 in coupons (remember, they were tripled, so really I had about $23) and the $24 we saved on the chicken. It was unbelievable the amount of stuff we got. I bought only a couple of things (some produce) that I didn't have a coupon for. Since they only take 20 coupons at a time, this was spread over two trips (and one with two kids in tow if you can believe it).

Kroger and Walmart double coupons. Harris Teeter doubles coupons. I watch several websites for deals each week on what is on sale and what newspaper coupons are associated with them. I am also a CVS ECB (extra cash back) fan and try to stock up on things when they are basically free or only a few dollars. We may never need razors, shampoo, conditioner or toothpaste again because I've gotten so many that are free. For example, say the shampoo is on sale for 2/$4 at CVS and you get $3 in ECBS (coupons of "free money" to use on your next trip), and you have a $1 off coupon (or even better 2 - $1 off coupons), you can get the product for free or even make some money on it.

When I get ready to buy things, I search the internet quickly to see if there is a coupon that I can print out. Dog and cat food are big ticket items that I work hard to find coupons for. I want to never have to buy either of those without a coupon of some sort. Last week I did an online survey for $3.50 off the kind of dry dog food we use. I'll get Kevin to do the same survey so we can get a $3.50 coupon off for the cat food. That's $7 in MY pocket that I would normally have spent.

I have some friends that we trade coupons or I give my "leftover" coupons that I won't use. Fortunately, most of my friends don't have babies in diapers so I can usually get some Pamp*rs coupons and some wipes coupons, which helps a lot -- especially when I can find them on sale. This week, Targ*t sent out store coupons for wipes ($1.50 off) AND I had a manufacturer's coupon ($1.00) and so I used them both on one large refill pack since there were no restrictions on that.

Is it work? Yes, a little, but well worth the cost savings for our family. I carry our coupon folder with me in the car. Everyone knows that if we are out and going to need something I will likely have a coupon for it. It all adds up!

And that -- in a loooonnnnnggg story -- is how I saved $105 on groceries!

Grocery Shopping - YUK

We've been trying to be very conservative in our grocery shopping and I have turned into a coupon clipping fool. My biggest thrill is to save a ton of money at the grocery store. Well, if you are trying to do that, I have a BIG TIP for you:

Don't go to the grocery store with an

11 year old and a 1 year old

and ESPECIALLY do NOT go

on the day thatthe Titans have a player

signing autographs in the grocery store.

*sigh*

Not only was it a madhouse of people, my son could not tear himself away from watching all the going's on and thus was no help entertaining Ellie. I caved and gave her (sugary) Fruit Loops throughout the store while trying to keep her strapped in, sort through coupons, figure what was on sale, remember what I needed and check on Joshua every two minutes. Needless to say, I did horribly in the savings department. Two weeks ago at Harris Teeter, I saved 50% in coupons (about $105). THIS week, I saved 10% (about $15). See! I won't do that again.

Kevin will return from his out of town project tomorrow (thank goodness) and Josh has his first baseball game. Ellie continues (fingers crossed) to sleep 8 hour stretches at night now. Josh is taking TCAP tests at school this week so we are scrambling to sleep well and long, eat well in the mornings and not rush too much but still get to school with time to spare -- all this and Kevin's been out of town. Calgon, take me away.

I entered Ellie's picture in a photo contest for Parent magazine and for American Baby magazine. I figured I had nothing to lose and she is just such a cutie patootie that I was willing to see if others thought so too. I'll let you know late summer/early fall if I hear anything. *smile*

It's Outta Here - Part II

Josh continues to amaze me at how successful he is being this year in baseball. While we haven't gotten to practice nearly as much as a team as we should because of bad weather, we did have practice last night and Josh popped two out of the park again. Now, mind you, it was coach pitching instead of kid pitching, so I'm certain that was helpful, but I have no doubt that he is going to put a few out of the park during regular season as well.

If I sound like I'm bragging, well, I am!! Josh has struggled the last few years getting his batting down and we kept telling him that he had the ability to put it out of the park once he got his head right and his technique right. This year, something has just clicked for him and he's found his place. Now, granted, a few nights ago, a kid on his team struck him out repeatedly and messed with his head and he couldn't hit anything, but I hope these successes during practice help him to understand that he certainly has the ability to do very well.

I am so very proud of him and cannot wait to see how this season goes for him. We have our first exhibition game Thursday night so it will be fun to see how he and his team does then. I can't wait -- I love to watch Josh play baseball!

Six Month Gotcha-Day-versary

I told Elizabeth yesterday that I'd put the phrase "aversary" on anything, but that my favorite "aversary" is the "Day I Got to Leave Almaty-Aversary"!

However, a very close second (of course, you realize this is really the first!!) would be Ellie's Gotcha Day-Aversary (and here), which occured six months ago today.


I still remember how my heart was pounding as they led me from the office where I'd "played nice" and done all the things required (given gifts, signed forms, talked with the director) so that I could get over to see Ellie for the first time in over four months.

And, then I saw her lying in her crib, picked her up and she gave me her (now) famous smile and I was hooked!!

When I think back through just some of the things our family has gone through in just the past six months, it's no wonder I'm tired! *smile* But, oh, so very, very worth it. When she blows those kisses, or lays her head on any of our shoulders (it seems to be the sweetest when it's on Josh's shoulder too!!) and "pat pats" us or gives us that big smile in the morning, we know, we'd do it all over again to get the joy of having her as our daughter and sister.

Happy "Gotcha-Day-Aversary" Ellie! We are so glad we all have each other as family -- forever.

BIG NEWS!!

I'm tired, but this milestone certainly cannot go un posted.

Last night before putting Ellie to bed, I gave her some apple cinnamon oatmeal (advice from someone??). She only ate a spoon or two of it. She took her regular 8 oz before bed bottle and zonked out around 10 p.m. (late for her but we were busy). She did not wake up or cry out AT ALL until 6 a.m. this morning.

IT'S OFFICIAL: SHE SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!

Hallelujah, I don't care if I jinx myself I'm so doing the happy dance!!!

Fingers are crossed for tonight because I'm flat out exhausted.

Happy Easter!!

What a beautiful day we had in Tennessee after the horrible storms of "Good" Friday and the tornados that passed through Middle Tennessee. While it was still a bit cool, it was a clear day, filled with family, church and good fun.

The Easter Bunny stopped off at our house overnight, but, for some reason didn't leave ME a basket -- what's up with that??? Josh and Ellie, however, seemed to get some cool things!

I was glad I had ironed all our clothes on Saturday night because as I was waking up this morning I heard a large "BOOM" and our power went out A transformer blew up. The only thing we really needed electricity for was my curling iron. Fortunately, they got it on right before we left; however, as is normal for us, we were late leaving so the traditional Easter photos turned out to be a little less than desired. We "rotated" taking the pictures since we didn't have anyone to take one of all of us -- maybe I can photoshop us together, huh? None of them turned out very good because we were in such a hurry ...

After a wonderful worship service, we met Kevin's mom and my parents at Logan's for Easter lunch. I am just so tired as of late that the idea of cooking was daunting and when the moms suggested we go out to eat, it sounded like a wonderful idea. To be honest, I didn't miss the traditional meal at all. We had a great meal at Logan's and Josh was excited to get some gifts from MeeMee and DeeDee: a bubble blowing wand that was ginormous, two kites, a gift card to Barnes and Noble and some cash. Ellie got goodies too, including some cash, a bunny and a Peter Cottontale book that plays music. Nana's gift to us was to get lunch for us. Everyone had a good time, I think!

We came back home and had Josh's annual egg hunt. He did good this year and found them all. We let Ellie pick up some eggs around her and she was happy!

Josh and Kevin spent the afternoon working on his dirtbike. And, of course, Josh has been enjoying his "goodies".

The blessing of having Ellie home this year was not lost on me today as I thought back to last year when we were anxiously awaiting news of a referral.

Happy Easter everyone!

Photos at MeeMee's

Yesterday MeeMee snapped some cuties of Ellie when we stopped by.

Ellie and DeeDee...

This one was funny because of the look on her face!!

Sleeping Beauty

I thought it was funny when I checked in on Ellie today while she was napping. There is not one square inch of her bed that isn't covered by a pillow or blanket. This girl requires multiple blankies and pillows to sleep. We have found she is beginning to want to lay in her crib and go to sleep on her own more and more. She puts her head down in her blankies and snuggles and then covers herself up, gets up, flops down, over and over and over until she gets just the right spot made. This is how I found her today (oh, and usually she does have clothes on but she napped right after her bath today and she didn't have her going out clothes on yet!!):

I HAD Such Great Photos . . .

Today, we took Ellie to her second Easter egg hunt at the local fire department. Josh decided to go to a friend's house to play instead of being subjected to having to pick up more candy for Ellie so it was just the three of us.

I had my good camera and was snip snapping away. Ellie was being quite photogenic (and agreeable too!) and I took pictures of her with Sparky the fire dog, pictures of her meeting, touching and finally being held by the Easter bunny, pictures of her actually picking up candy during the egg hunt, and on and on and on. At the END of the egg hunt, I realized there was no memory card in the camera. *UGH* I did have my small work camera with me so I did manage to get a few pictures of her after the fact, but all the good ones were just LOST. Oh well, there are still the memories!!

Ellie realizes there is candy in her basket ...

She finds a Twizzler stick ...

It is in every picture I take from that point on. She is not letting it go and eats it all!

Ellie with Sparky the fire dog and the Easter Bunny.

"HunBun" Ellie sitting on the fire truck (with her candy, of course) ...

After the egg hunt, we stopped by my mom's and she took some pictures which she is going to email to me later and I'll post. We went back, picked up Josh, visited with my grandmother and then went to dinner and back home. We tried out the Pleasant View Diner tonight. The food was good, the place was full, but the service was kind of slow -- maybe because they were full. Ellie had a GREAT time because she got some ice cream. She was putting on a show, clapping, blowing kisses (a very new skill for her!) and laughing loudly. We were all laughing at her. Man, give her a few more months of developing this personality and we'll be in trouble She's a riot!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter. At our house, we are all so very thankful that in the midst of all our failures and personal issues that we know that Jesus loved each of us enough to give His live for us so that we would not be lost. Amazing and so very hard to wrap our heads around. We are looking forward to a wonderful time of worship at our church tomorrow followed by time spent with both our parents and then some family Easter activities in the afternoon. And through it all, let us be mindful of The One who loved us despite our sin. He's Alive!!