Black Friday at CVS

Well...I have had several friends and family ask me about my Black Friday CVS adventures. The "Black Friday" sales for CVS actually started Thursday morning. So I, along with my veteran CVS friend Teri and my "in training" friend Jami set off for CVS and opened the doors at 7 AM with an egg casserole and Turkey cookies for the employees. We had a lot of fun shopping and getting excited with and for each other. We saved so much money...it's ridiculous. Check out Teri's post. There were a lot of items that were free after ecbs...which means you get the same amount of ecbs back that you spent on the item. I walked in the door with about 40ecb and I believe $25 of coupons. Here's what I bought...

This picture is missing one of my biggest purchases. I bought myself a belgian waffle maker (it works great by the way!) I'll try to list everything else (2) bic soleil razors, (2) sally henson nail polish, (2) colgate total, (2) headphones, (1) Schick Quattro trimmer, (2) aussie hair products, (1) norelco shaver, (1) contact solution, (1) playtex, (3) G2 gatorade, (1) Maybeline foundation, (2) Loreal lip gloss, (1) Johnson's lotion, (1) Garnier Nutriste towlettes,

Now, in all honesty, most of the stuff on sale I didn't need... so it will be donated.

However, Teri gave me a tag from a Christmas Tree at a local business that collects gifts for seniors in the area who live in nursing homes and don't have family to celebrate Christmas with. I have a man, and all he requested was "mens personal items". Pretty broad. Anyway, I had a coupon for $5.00 off the norelco shaver, plus it was 50% off. So I thought I would give him that, along with items like tooth paste, shampoo, etc. What do you think?

Here are my general numbers

I purchased just under $150 in products

I spent $8.59 out of pocket (this should have been $3.59...my first transaction, I was so excited that I forgot to give the cashier enough ecb...I had another 5 to give...oh well).

I walked out with about $25 in ecb.

Here we are, after our big purchases.We figured that we spent around $14 between the three of us (again...that should have been $9 if I hadn't messed up my first deal, doh!)

Baby toys and Softball

Yesterday I walked into the kitchen and saw Nicole playing, not with, but IN one of Hannah's toys. This is a jumperoo. Nicole never liked it when she was a baby...she seems to like it now though.

Last night we went to Jeremy's softball game. Nicole's little buddies, Peyton, Caulder and their cousin Noah were all there. Aren't they cute?Mom and grandma came to the game as well. Nicole is so worried about seeing the picture after it's taken that she forgets to smile for the actual photo. Silly Hannah. I think she looks good with blue hair...what am I kidding, she looks good with ANY hair :-)

This video has Nicole jumping in Hannah's toy, and one of Jeremy's hits from last night.

Hannah is not crawling yet. I keep saying she's close, but really, I think it'll be a few more weeks. However, she can push herself backwards, which of course can get her in quite a predicament sometimes. Today she ended up under the sofa chair (she doesn't seem to be to bothered by it though).

I have a big praise! The A.C. in my car has been slowly going down hill, and this weekend it finally bit the dust. Jeremy called me this morning because there is a new automotive place near his office who didn't have any cars this morning, so I took mine down. The guy was really nice and it only cost us $110. He charged us for the part ($70) and 1/2 an hour of time, even though he drove a total of an hour to go get the part needed. My AC is freezing cold now and we may have found a mechanic. Let's hope he's always that nice. But, I'm thankful for cool air again. And...bonus, the girls got to spend the morning with Grammy and Gramps, and we all went out to Cracker Barrel for Lunch. Thanks Gramps!

Money Saving Monday

I'm pretty happy about my shopping this week. I feel like all the work I've been doing clipping coupons, using them and stocking up on supplies is starting to pay off.

This week, CVS had a deal where you buy 3 American Express gift cards then you get 10ECB and a $15 mail in rebate for a gas card. Well, I purchases 3 $25 gift cards (I did have to pay a handling fee...but it still worked out in my favor). I then used those gift cards to go grocery shopping this week. I also have 10 more ECB to use during CVS's black Friday event:-)

I was just shy of $30 under my budget this week (can I get a woot woot! Well...I did go and buy frozen chic breast and ground beef at Sams, but that put me right at my budget and will last me several weeks). I saved $51.51 at publix. This was a 40% savings:-) There weren't any crazy wonderful deals, but I had lots of coupons for items that were bogo.

This was the best deal:
Bird's Eye Voila family meals $4.69 BOGO
I bought 4 (paid for 2) I had 2 $2/2 Q
So I got 4 meals for just over $1.00 a piece
There is also a mail in rebate for a free Charlie Brown movie when you purchase 3 meals:-) So, 4 dinners and a movie for less than $5.00...not bad.

Well, I'm looking forward to CVS shopping this week. Their "black Friday" stuff starts on Thursday (yes I know it's Thanksgiving, but I'll be there and back before anything needs to go in the oven). I have $40 in ECB and a $10 off $50 purchase and $5 off $25 purchase. Maybe another one will print that day. Not to bad, huh? I don't know what I'm going to get besides a waffle maker for myself, haha.

So...anyone else have a good grocery week?

Circus

Tonight, Grammy and Gramps took Nicole to the Circus. We got the run down from them, and it sounds like they had a blast! Nicole got to ride an elephant, eat a snow cone, watch gymnast on the flying trapeze, watch elephants and see a man shoot out from a canon, along with many other amazing stunts. She's alseep, so I haven't gotten to talk to her about it. However, I've heard that the elephants were her favorite. I can not wait to talk to her tomorrow. She has been looking forward to the circus all week.

Tagged by...well, several people

My friends Jennifer, Teri and Jen K. tagged me. I'm suppose to share the following information about my husband. Here it goes...

1. Where did you meet? In the parking lot at church before our college group went to Busch Gardens for the day. Our mutual friend Michelle told me a new guy was going to be there and asked me to introduce myself and make him feel welcomed. We ended up becoming good friends for several years before we started dating, although I have to admit...I was smitten immediately

2. How long did you date? 1 1/2 year before we got engaged. We were engaged for 5 months

3. How long have you been married? 5 very wonderful years!

4. What does he say that surprises you? That I'm a great mom.

5. What is your favorite feature of his? His eyes...especially when he smiles

6. What is your favorite quality of his? His integrity. His desire to walk uprightly, let his yes be yes and bring Glory to His Father in Heaven

7. Does he have a nickname for you? Babe

8. What is his favorite color? Red

9. What is his favorite food? Most anything with cheese, pistachio pudding, cow tails, sunflower seeds

10. What is his favorite sport? He enjoys both playing and watching sports (however he doesn't get to watch very often). He likes to play men's softball and flag football and does Tiger Woods Golf on the Wii count? And he likes to watch football (especially with Nicole)

11. When and where did you first kiss? In front of AVI when he was dropping me off at my car. I've been married now 5 years, so I guess I can't get in trouble for this...it was our first real date:-)

12. What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? If he were answering this, he would say sitting by the fire talking...but for me, it would be sitting on the pier talking:-) I guess the location doesn't matter much, it's that we are together.

13. Do you have any children? 2 beautiful little girls, Nicole 2, and Hannah 6 months (you should know that by now:-)

14. Does he have a hidden talent? I'm not sure if this is a talent, but he can bend his thumbs all the way backwards...

15. How old is he? 27

16. Who said, "I love you" first? He did, on the couch at AVI, I didn't say it back for almost a month...I was scared to.

17. What is his favorite type of music? He likes most anything that gives glory to God. Sometimes he likes to sit back and listen to hymns by Red Mountain Church and other times he's bumpin down the road with rap or hard rock (Toby Mac, Cross Movement or LeCre). We even had a little stint with country music a few years ago. He spends a lot of time listening to sermons by John Piper, Paul Washer, John MacArthur, Leonard Ravenhill and me reading C.H. Spurgeon.

18. What do you admire most about him? He is an incredible husband and a loving father. He works so hard to provide for our family and constantly encourages me and wants me to be a stay at home mom. I love his commitment to his family and desire to raise the girls in a home that bring Glory to God. He is so patient, kind and loving and I'm blessed to be his wife.

19. Do you think he will read this? Yes, because the posts get e-mailed to him.

Ok, so now I am tagging my friends Kim and Kirsten (all my other friends have already been tagged and posted) . You're IT! Can't wait to read all about your sweeties!

We love play-doh

While I was typing my CVS post this morning, Nicole was playing with Play-Doh. When I was all done, I went over and we started making animals together. It was fun and we of course, had to take pictures. I must say...the older I get and the more chidren I have, the better I become at art:-) I am quite sure these are the best play-doh animals I've ever been a part of making.

I'm not sure why the giraffe is sideways.

This is Nicole's Dog

Sillyness in the mornings. And...I can't post this picture, without posting the coutnerpart.
(August 2007)

Quick CVS Savings

I have been dying to share this with you for several days, but I simply have not had the time to write this....hopefully I'll get it out right now (Nicole is playing with Play-doh and Hannah is trying to take a nap).

I went to CVS Tuesday night with my trusty friend Teri. We racked up!

I bought approx $125 worth of stuff.

I spent $3.35 cash out of pocket

I earned $30 in Extra Care Bucks.

So...where did the rest of the money come from that I used to buy my stuff...from coupons and ECB. I made 5 different transactions....Let's see if I can explain.

*Deal: If you buy $20 in Duracell batters, you get $15 ECB (do this deal 3x)

*I had 3 coupon for $5.00 off of two packs of batteries (therefore I got the batteries "for free

after ECB)

*I also had some little $.75 off coupons for batteries

*Deal: Buy $10 in Glade products, receive $5 ECB (do this deal 5x)

*I had a TON of Glade coupons, including several Buy One Get One Free

*Deal: Buy Loreal Age perfect cream for $15.99, get $15.99 ECB...so it was free after ECB

It would be crazy for me to actually type out my transactions (I will though if you want)...but I will detail what I got.

6 packs of batteries (3 AA and 3 AAA....all 6 packs had 16 batteries in them)

2 Glade plug in (with 2 refills in each pack)

2 Glade plug in twin pack refills

4 Glade candles

4 Glade Glass Scents

2 Glade scented oil candles

1 Deodorant

1 Loreal Age Perfect cream

I'm very excited because now I have $30 ECB for their "black Friday" event...which actually starts Thanksgiving day (guess who'll be there at 7am?)

Then, Wednesday night I took my friend Jami to CVS to show her the ropes...I think she's addicted now. She could only do the battery deal twice (because I only had two other $5/2 packs coupons), but she did the Glade deal 5 times I think. Anyway....here's a snippet of her e-mail. I'm just FLABERGASTED at the savings I saved tonight that I had to share numbers with you!!! I bought $79.27 worth of products in total spent a total of $4.58 which is a savings of $74.69 PLUS I walked out with $12 in care bucks!!! It was very fun to share the excitement with a friend. Yay!!! So...I'm set on batteries for a little while. Next week they have another great deal I can't wait for...I'll share more about that later though. OK...off to play with play-doh (don't I have a great job?)

to my mommy friends

If you have one spare minute....you need to click on this link and read this short post on Girl Talk.

I'll write more later about my best trip ever to CVS last night...and of course a few pictures of the girls.

Our Weekend

We had a GREAT weekend...well, Sunday together as a family. Saturday Jeremy had a side job most of the day for a friend and I went rollerblading first thing. Then we had church, so we didn't have a lot of time all together. However, that was made up for on Sunday. In my eyes...it was a perfect day.

We woke up to a beautiful "cold" front. (I know, I know...some of you would say cool) It was in the 50s probably by the time we got out of the house around 9:00. We took a walk up to Dunkin Donuts. As you can see by this photo ...we were bundled:-) Hannah fell asleep in the stroller. I think she really likes to be bundled. She gets all cozy and falls asleep almost every time. Anyway...we walked to Dunkin Donuts for a nice healthy breakfast (yeah right). We had to cross a major intersection to get there. Once across, I noted how much bird poop there was on the sidewalk from the birds that sit on the stop light polls (they weren't above us on the way there, they were across the interesection). Well...of course, since I have the big mouth, on the way back the birds moved and were sitting above us as we waited for the lights to change so we could cross. Yep...I got pooped on!!!! (Side note, tonight I had my jacket on and Nicole looked at me and said "mommy, bird poop" hahaha It had already been washed, but she knew that was the jacket).

After donuts, we went up to the park again. This is becoming a favorite pastime of ours. We took a ball, a frisbee, and a croquet set Grammy got at a garage sale a few weeks ago. We had a blast. We ran, and tackled, and tickle, and hit things...it was great. Nicole crawled under some bleachers to get a ball, almost got stuck, and had to be coaxed out by Jeremy (we didn't get a picture in time, sorry). I've loaded a video with two segments. Jeremy and Nicole had a blast chasing and tackling each other. Nicole was worn out, and was asleep before we got home, I mean to lunch with Jeremy's parents and their friends from church.

Next Jeremy and the girls went back to his parents house to watch some football and I went grocery shopping. Unfortunately I don't have any stupendious deals to share with you. I saved $56 in coupons and sales, mostly sales. Oh...I did leave my coupon binder in my shopping cart and had to go back. The sales people were quite impressed by my binder (thank you Teri:-)

Then Jeremy and I went to Bible study...we just finished Revelation. I wish every one I know could go to this Bible study we go to on Sunday nights. It is so rich and full of such depth. It's nice to go somewhere where the Word of God is taught and it's not just fluff that "tickles your ears" like so many preachers out there. Jeremy and I then went to one of our favorite restaraunts, SilverSpoon and had a Spinich con Queso appetizer and dinner. It was nice to sit, eat dinner at a normal pace, and talk without little voices interrupting:-) We had a great time together:-)

So, anyway, I don't usually give a play by play of the weekend...but, I felt like sharing. I'm thankful for such a wonderful family. And I'm always thankful for days like Sunday...it was perfect!

Oh....I almost forgot these last two pictures. Uncle Justin came over Saturday to toss the football with Jeremy. He took a few minutes out to push Hannah. I wish I would have snapped a shot of Hannah laughing. It was sweet to watch them play.

And...today my mom bought the girls matching pajamas. Nicole was so excited when I was put her jammies on. She was giggling, and thought it was really funny to have them on (they are footies and she hasn't worn those for probably a year and a half). Then we showed her the Hannah had matching jammies. At first I thought Nicole might get mad, but then she smiled and thought it was fun. Here's a cute picture.

Obedience

This morning I was walking with my friend Amanda and we were talking about discipline (a matter, she hasn't fully visited as her sweet baby is just short of two months old). Nonetheless...she was a good sounding board for me. One thing we talked about was how difficult it is to be consistent in disciplining obedience. Often times, someone on the outside might think it's silly that Nicole get disciplined for something, however they may not realize that she is being disciplined for disobedience. Now is the time in her life that Obedience is our major issue. Obedience is obeying an instruction immediately and with a happy heart. Our main issue has been the immediacy of obedience. Anyway....this article on Girl Talk encouraged me. She struggled for 2 hours for her 2 year old to eat a piece of toast...trivial and even silly to most...but to her, it was a struggle of authority and disobedience. I just wanted to share for my other mama friends out there:-) Be encouraged....you (we) are not alone.