Consignment Sales

It's consignment sale season again! Many churches in our area have consignment sales each spring and fall. These are full of all sorts of kids items from shoes and clothes to furniture to toys and books to strollers and highchairs. The sellers get to keep a portion of the proceeds, and the rest usually goes to the church's preschool, a missions trip, or something similar. And the buyers get great prices. I went to one sale by myself this morning while Alexa napped and then I took the kids to one after lunch. I got most of Alexa's fall/winter wardrobe (Although she needs some more dresses for anyone who likes to shop for her. I really prefer ones with a onesie or a diaper cover underneath, and I had a hard time finding them). I also got Caleb several pairs of adjustable waist and drawstring pants. He is tall and skinny, and it is hard to find pants for him, so I'm glad I found several. I even got one pair of Levis in a size 4 slim. I also got him some jammies. Then of course, I came home with some new toys and books and a new DVD. I got Alexa a pink baby doll stroller, which Caleb pushed around a lot tonight. And the best part is that this was the first weekend of sales, and they continue from now to October. I'm planning to shop until I drop!

FINALLY!

Alexa slept through the night for the first time last night at 13 months and 2 days old. It's about time!

God's Faithful Provision

1) The check engine light came on in Dave's car last Monday when I was driving it home from my teachers' meeting. Nothing seemed to be wrong with it, so we waited until this week when he was off of school to take it in. We took Dave's car (a 2003 Toyota Corolla, by the way) to the Toyota dealership this morning. Well, it need a new catalytic converter. And who knew that those things are under warranty for 8 years or 80,000 miles? Well, I'm sure someone knew, but it was not me. If you want to know what a catalytic converter actually does, feel free to call my dad or my brother. I did. Anyway, back to my story. So, several hours and ZERO dollars later, the check engine light is no longer on and we got a new part on the car.

2) I went to the dentist back in the early fall sometime (when life was still a fog of sleepless nights, so I can't remember exactly when). I was told that since my gums were swollen (which I could not convince them was because I was only like 2 months postpartum. Everything was still a bit swollen), that I would need an expensive teeth cleaning treatment to the tune of over $1000 dollars. And I had 4 cavities which would be about $200 dollars. We do have dental insurance, but it only covers the basics pretty much. I ended up leaving without getting any work done because I needed to get home and nurse Alexa. I really did not have a good feeling about this dental office and got the feeling that they were out for my money. I talked to my mom, who talked to her dentist about the situation, and she thought the same thing. Fast forward to today when I finally got an appointment with a different dentist (my fault, not theirs. I had to cancel twice). The dentist said my teeth and gums look fine (I didn't tell him the story about the other dentist except to say that I left without getting my teeth cleaned because I had to get home to my baby). I don't have any cavities. And my visit cost $5.

It was wonderful to see God's faithful provision for our needs today as 2 things that could have been rather large expenses turned out to not be.

I've Been Tagged

Meri tagged me with the 6 quirky things!

Here are the rules:
1) Link to the person who tagged me.
2) Mention the rules.
3) Tell six quirky yet boring, unspectacular details about myself.
4) Tag 6 other bloggers by linking to them.
5) Go to each person’s blog and leave a comment that lets them know they’ve been tagged.

So, here I go.

1) I think I've mentioned this before, but I always microwave things for 22 seconds, or 33, or 44.

2) My elbows are double jointed.

3) I wear five earrings that I never take out. And I'm not really the kind of person that you would expect to have five earrings, if you know what I mean.

4) I can't blow bubbles with bubble gum, whistle, or blow up balloons. I think they must somehow be related.

5) I always lay on my right side to read before bed. Dave and I switched sides of the bed recently, so that means I have my back to him, but oh well.

6) I only buy 2-4 slices of lunch meat at a time, and it must be from the deli. Lunch meat that has been in the fridge more than a day or two makes me want to gag or throw up.

I'm tagging
Molly at The Unsinkable Molly
Joan (otherwise known as Mom) at Grammy's Goodies and Gripes
Bethany at T&B Rowe
Moriah at Please Pass the Salt
Laura at Daily Dose of Drama
Liz at The Zephyr

Reorganizing

When Molly was here spending the night a few weeks ago while Nick was out of town, she helped me reorganize my health and beauty aids stockpile under the bathroom sink in the hall bathroom. It looked much better when we were finished, but I still wasn't completely happy with it. It's a pain to get down on the floor to see what is in there, and it is very deep so the stuff in the back just gets lost. We have two linen closets in our house, a large one in the kids' room and a smaller one in the upstairs hallway. I've been eyeing the small linen closet for all my health and beauty stuff. So tonight I moved all the stuff around. Here's what it looks like now

The whole closet
Top shelf - feminine products
2nd shelf - mouthwash, toothpaste, box full of toothbrushes and floss, sunscreen, handsoap
3rd shelf- face wash and moisturizer, contact solution, hair products
4th shelf - deodorant, soap, lotion, body wash
Bottom shelf - boxes full of make up and razors, shaving cream, baby/kid stuff and a basket or travel/trial sized stuff
Makeup box and razor box
Under the bathroom cabinet - bandaids and medicine
Bandaids
Medicine

Invasion of the Ants: The Sequel

About this time last year, in the worst heat spell of the summer, our air conditioning broke. You might be wondering what that has to do with ants. Well, since we had a 2 year old and a 6 week old baby, we packed up and moved in with my parents for 2 weeks while our new unit was on order. One day, I ran by our house to get the mail, and I went in the kitchen only to find the counters crawling with ants. They were EVERYWHERE! Little did we know, that was just the beginning. We fought ants for three months or so until we had a hard freeze, and it got too cold. Every time we thought the ants were finally gone, we would find them somewhere else. We found them in the sunroom on Caleb's table, in the pantry, in the windowsill between the kitchen and sunroom (they were climbing up a crack), in the diaper pail (EEEEEEWWWWWWW!), in the kids' bathroom and pretty much anywhere that had food or water. Anyway, one day last week, I went in to the sunroom, and the floor was covered with toys (as usual). As I began to clean up, I noticed that the floor was moving. There were ants all over the floor. We traced the problem back to a crumb from Caleb's snack that had gotten under a small bookshelf. We vacuumed and got it all cleaned up. Then we waited until Saturday night, since we were going to be gone all day Sunday, and put out Terro. Terro is my friend. You put some of it out on a piece of cardboard near where you found the ants. At first they swarm, as evidenced by the picture, but then they take the poison back to their colony and all die. Here's hoping that this will be the end of them, and we won't be fighting this battle again all summer.

Shopping Fun

I went shopping during nap time today. When all is said and done, I came out $3.32 ahead after purchasing everything in the picture above. According to my receipts, I saved $178.41 today. All in a day's work. :)

For anyone who actually still cares (which I'm pretty sure is just Molly and maybe my mom), here's what I got.

Walgreens #1
6 bottles Olay body wash
2 tubs Huggies clean team wipes

Blockbuster
Free American Gangster DVD

CVS #1 (Which finally has a card scanner!!! Yay! And I had a very nice cashier)
Birthday card
2 packs gum
10 bags lifesavers
2 sticks Sure deodorant
4 packs Stayfree pads
1 Johnson's Bedtime wash
2 Johnsons buddy soaps
1 Colgate 360 toothbrush
1 Revlon lipstick
1 box Bandaid Ultras

Walgreens #2
6 bottles Olay body wash
1 4 pack 60 watt light bulbs

CVS #2 (which also now has a card scanner)
1 CVS facial cleansing wipes
2 rolls Mentos

Kroger
1 bottle Franks hot sauce
1 24ct bottle Advil
4 sticks Speed Stick Deodorant
1 box 2 slices Edwards pie
3 bottles Softsoap hand soap

Elmo Puzzle

We were browsing the toys on clearance at Target last week when Caleb started saying Elmo puzzle repeatedly. I couldn't see what he was talking about so I got him out of the cart to show me. He walked straight for a bottom shelf, reached way back, and came out with this Elmo puzzle. I have no idea how he saw it since it was so far back. Since it was only $2, I got it for him, and he has since learned how to put it together by himself. He must take after Dave because I can barely put it together by myself.

Peace and Quiet

Alexa is napping, and Dave took Caleb to the hardware store for a little male bonding. I'm enjoying a rare moment of alone time with my laptop and my pile of coupons. Aaah!

Walgreens Diaper Deal

(Sorry for the glare from the flash in the picture.)
7 packs of diapers
1 pack of training pants (wishful thinking)
10 2 pocket folders
Total = $1.22 WOO HOO!

Alexa dancing

Menu Plan Friday

Tonight - homemade pizza
Saturday - steaks, potatoes, green beans, rolls
Sunday - lunch at Molly's house
Monday - chicken picatta, pasta, salad, garlic bread
Tuesday - grilled pork chops, carrots, rice
Wednesday - bacon cheeseburger roll up, fries, applesauce
Thursday - spicy baked chicken, macaroni and cheese, Caesar salad, corn

I saved $210.83 at Kroger today!

As I was checking out at Kroger this afternoon, the lady next to me was walking out of the store and turned to tell her husband that her receipt said she saved $12.50. Don't worry, I didn't stop her to tell her that I saved almost $200 more than her.

First, before I get to the details, a little note about how I grocery shop and menu plan. If you look at what I bought today, you would think that we will be eating either pork tenderloin or ground beef or perhaps Advil for dinner every night this week. It would seem like we will not be eating any side dishes, like pasta, rice, or veggies. And you also might wonder if we eat fruit. Yes, of course we eat a reasonably well-rounded diet.

When I make a menu plan for the week, I look at what is in my refrigerator, freezer and pantry, and go from there. While I might need to buy a few odds and ends to round out the menu, like the shredded mozzarella that I purchased today to make homemade pizza tonight, I try to mostly plan meals from what we already have. Right now in my house, I have tons of chicken, steaks, pork chops, salad fixings, frozen and canned veggies, frozen, canned and fresh fruit, pasta, and rice, so I didn't need to buy those this week even though they are on the menu plan for the week.

When I make a grocery list for the week, I look at what is on sale and what I have coupons for. Then I purchase several of those things to stock up, as well as the odds and ends needed for my menu and any staples like bread and milk. For instance, this week Hormel pork tenderloins were marked down to $2.99 from $8.99. I also had a coupon for $1.25. So I bought eight of them. I also "bought" 12 bottles of Advil, since they were free after coupons and sales.

Anyway, here's the details for today. I did 2 transactions. I spent $84.85 and saved $210.83, for a savings of 71%. Here's what I got.

8 Hormel pork tenderloins - $1.75 each
12 24 ct. bottles of Advil - free
2 boxes Kroger brand crackers
1 dozen eggs - on sale for $1.48
3 loaves wheat bread - marked down to $.69
4 12 packs Coke products - $2 each
4 bottles Kroger apple juice - $1 each
2 Betty Crocker cookie mixes - $.50 each
2 packs Kraft American cheese - on sale for $2.49
1 bottle Franks hot sauce - free
2 boxes Edwards pie singles - $1 each
6 Lean Cuisine meals - $1 each
2 packages sponge head refills - marked down to $1.79
2 packs Yoplait kid yogurts - $1.50 each
1 pack Stoneyfield farm Yo baby yogurt
2 gallons milk
2 packs Tyson bacon - $2 each
1 Betty Crocker Warm Delight molten chocolate cake - free
2 boxes Eggo Nutrigrain blueberry waffles - $1.50
5 lbs ground beef - $5.99
i jar minced garlic
2 packs Kroger tortillas
4 bags shredded cheese - 2 @ $1.50 and 2 @ 1.67
2 cans skintimate shaving cream - $.50 each
3 sticks Lady Speed Stick deodorant - $.25 each
1 jar Kroger applesauce
1 lemon
3 pack Cottonelle toilet paper - $.49 each
1 box lemon jello
4 Pure proten bars - $.25 each
1 tub Athenos hummus - $1.99
1 package Kroger brown lunch bags
1 can Pillsbury cinnamon rolls

Target Deals

Before I became obsessed with coupons, I could never manage to leave Target having spent less than $50. Well, here's what I got today for $2.39.

2 boxes Electrasol tabs
1 Skintimate shaving cream
1 Reach toothbrush
1 shirt for Caleb (Which I will probably return. Once I took the size sticker off, I saw underneath it that it says that the dinosaur is 65 million years old. Probably not)

Works For Me Wednesday: Homeschooling Preschool

If you read a few posts back, you know that I am planning to homeschool Caleb for preschool. We started last week. Well, what do you do when you are homeschooling a barely three year old? Sit him at a desk with worksheets. Of course not! Here's what we did today.

First, we did sit at the dining room table and go over our poster. We have the theme for the week (cows), word of the week (calf), number of the week (1), letter of the week (A), and shape of the week (square) posted on a poster board in our dining room. Meanwhile, Caleb was eating his snack, 1 piece of cheese, 1 blueberry, 1 strawberry, 1 Nilla wafer, 1 goldfish (you get the point), and Mommy was drinking coffee (but that's beside the point). Then we read a book about a cow, No Moon No Milk. We've read a different cow book every day. This one was cute but a little long. He was getting a little wiggly by the end.

Then, we headed to the kitchen, where we made number cookies. We cut them out, sprinkled them with colored sugar.
Baked them.
And ate them.
Apparently Caleb thought he would get to sample one of every number because he just called out from the playroom, " I want 2 cookie, Mommy." Sorry, kiddo. Anyway, we had fun with this project, and little does he know that we also worked on numbers, colors, measuring, and Home Ec. (He rolled out some dough himself and helped with the cookie cutters. I also made him put the dishes in the sink and wipe the counters afterwards.)

For more great ideas, check out Works for Me Wednesday.

Crazy Kids!

Tired

I'm going to be teaching 5th/6th grade humanities one day a week next school year at Veritas Classical School. We had teacher meetings all day today and will tomorrow, too. I'm not sure how sitting and listening to people talk all day can make me tired, but it did. The 50 minute drive to and from the meetings probably didn't help. The kids did really well without me today, which is good, but I think they were glad to have me home.

Menu Plan Friday

Here's what we're eating (or have eaten) this week.

Tonight - Chicken Florentine (minus the Florentine for my dad), rice, salad, rolls, banana pudding
Saturday - Hotdogs, veggie burgers, (leftover) mac and cheese, corn, and salad
Sunday - lunch at a friend's house after church, bringing homemade mac and cheese
Monday - Chicken cacciatore, noodles, green beans, garlic bread
Tuesday - Smoked sausage, jambalaya, Caesar salad
Wednesday - Grilled pork chops, oven roasted potatoes, corn
Thursday - Spicy baked chicken, rice, carrots

Publix Deals

I spent $15.60 tonight at Publix on everything in the picture, and the best part is that I will be getting back a $10 gift card to Exxon. That is a savings of 89%. And who doesn't need some free gas these days?

Here's what I got -
3 bags Bertolli pasta and sauce - $2.74 each after sale and coupon
2 boxes Farm Rich French toast sticks - $.90 each after sale and coupon
7 bottles Suave shampoo and conditioner - free after coupon
3 bananas
1 pkg blackberries - on sale for $2
2 bottles Sundown vitamins - free after coupon
Daisy sour cream - $.29 after coupon
1 box Caprisun juice boxes - for rebate
1 4 pack Hunts pudding - for rebate
1 cup Easy Mac - for rebate, will send to my brother
1 bag Planters trail mix - for rebate

I was also planning to get 2 pkgs Bic mechanical pencils for free after sale and coupons, but they were all out. Oh well! We still haven't used up the free ones that I got somewhere else almost a year ago.

More Presents

Caleb got the last of his birthday presents today (I think) in a package from Aunt Andrea. He got an Elmo movie, Elmo stickers, and a Curious George book. As you can probably imagine, he is now watching his movie while sticking stickers all over himself.

Summer Portraits

We got the kid's portraits made this afternoon; here are some of the best ones. All you grandparental and other relative types should be getting some in the mail in the near future.

Caleb News

1) He got a box in the mail from Oma and Opa today full of stickers and other goodies. Thanks!

2) He slept through the night without his pacifier, although he did wake up fairly early. He went down for a nap just fine this afternoon without it and has been asleep for almost 2 hours.
3) I plan to start preschool with him soon using Letter of the Week preparatory curriculum.

Caleb the Three Year Old

- Weighs 33 lbs and is 39 inches tall.
- Likes: Elmo and all things Sesame Street, trains, cars, Bob the Builder, pizza, hotdogs, yogurt, strawberries and blueberries, church, music, playing outside, riding his tricycle, chocolate, going bye bye
- Dislikes: vegetables, being told no, Alexa getting into his stuff
- Goes to bed around 8:30 and sleeps until around 8:00. Naps from 2-4 most days, but skips it once a week or so.
- Is tall and skinny with a long torso. He wears a 4T shirt, and 2T in the waist of pants, and a 3T in the length. It is slightly hard to buy him clothes.
- His vocabulary has exploded in the last few months, but he is still behind the average three year old in speech
- Has shown some signs of being ready to begin potty training (tells me when he's dirty, holds pee for awhile, can pull his pants up and down), but is totally resistant to the idea of sitting on the potty
- We took his pacifier away today. It has been relegated to his bed for several months now. He didn't nap, but he fell asleep tonight with no problem. Here's hoping he doesn't wake up in the middle of the night crying for it.

Making the Drugstore Rounds

So, I headed to CVS twice today as well as Walgreens and Rite Aid. I have never done the deals at Rite Aid before, but Walgreens hasn't had any great deals lately so I thought I'd try Rite Aid.

Here's what I got. I spent $20.81 (Some coupons didn't work right at Walgreens. I should have only spent around $13.). But, I got back about $2 more in CVS ECB and Rite Aid rebates than I spent, so I still came out ahead.

CVS -
2 6X8 photobooks - 1 of Alexa and 1 of the kids' birthday party (Mom, if you read this, I have 2 coupons for these for you. They turned out really nice and are free after ECB plus a $3 coupon, so a moneymaker)
2 Air Wick mini air fresheners
4 Sally Hansen nail polishes
1 pkg CVS facial wipes
1 CVS hand sanitizer spray
2 bottles Maalox chew ables
1 50 ct Excedrin Migraine
1 Bic Soleil razor and 1 4 pack cartridges

Rite Aid
2 bottles Flexamin
1 box Electrasol dishwasher tabs
1 tube Crest toothpaste

Walgreens
5 boxes Walgreens brand tissues
2 packs Schick disposable razors
2 bottles Loreal shampoo and 2 bottles conditioner
2 bottles apple juice
3 bottles Powerade
1 dozen eggs
1 bottle bleach

Happy Birthday, Caleb!

It's hard to believe that my baby is three years old today. I'll give you an update on what he is like at three later, but for now, here are some pictures from today.