Grocery Totals for November 23-29

Grocery Store Spending - $37.57 (plus $18.74 on a gift card)
Grocery Store Savings - 67%

Drug Store Spending - $24.94 (This includes purchasing a $129.99 GPS.)
Drug Store Savings - 93%

Total Amount Saved - $440.40

Let the Fun Begin

I love Christmas! I love shopping for, wrapping, and opening presents. I love decorating and baking and listening to Christmas music. We didn't get the tree put up today like I had hoped to do, but I did start wrapping presents. And I had two little friends "helping" me.

MPCS Class of 1998 Reunion

Reuniting

My 10 year high school reunion is tonight. I haven't seen most of these people since our graduation day. In some ways, high school feels like yesterday, and in some ways it feels like it has been an eternity. Likewise, part of me feels like the exact same person I was then while in other ways I barely even remember the person I was in high school. I guess when it comes down to it, I am the same person inside just with a lot more life experience.

Some ways I am the same -
-love the Lord
-love children - I babysat a lot in high school
-enjoy taking pictures/writing articles - I was yearbook editor in high school and college and now blog (obviously)
-like to bake (although now this takes a back burner to actual cooking since I have a family to feed)
-enjoy reading

Some ways I am different-
-college degree in Elementary Education and 5 years teaching experience
-married
-two kids (and stretch marks and extra pounds to prove it)
-mortgage, 2 cars, and lots of other such responsibilities

$3.60 at CVS

CVS started their sales today, so I didn't have to wait until Black Friday when I have a million other stores I want to go to. I went to a 24 store this morning around 6:30 and then to a store that opens at 7:00 on my way home. I spent $3.60, saved $151, and now have $83 in ECB to spend. Oh, and I accidentally missed a $1.00 coupon, so I could have spent even less.

Here's what I got -
1 Hershey's Bar
1 Aussie shampoo and 1 conditioner
1 Johnsons Soft Lotion
1 Schick Quatro razor and 1 trimmer
2 tubes Colgate toothpaste
2 Loreal lip glosses
1 Sally Hansen nail polish
1 Phillips ear buds
1 Garnier facial cleansing wipes
3 bottles Gatorade
1 Covergirl powder
1 Covergirl foundation
2 bags pretzels
3 bottles Complete contact solution
2 Bic Soleil razors
1 box Playtex tampons

Thankful - In No Apparent Order

New glasses

As I was taking my glasses of before bed last night, one lens popped out and the frame cracked. I am sure that it has something to do with all the abuse they have taken at the hands of Alexa lately. I rarely wear my glasses since I have contacts, but I do need to have a back up pair just in case. My eye doctor is right near my parents' house, so I ran in today and picked up my prescription. Then I ordered new glasses, including frames, lenses, clip on sunglasses, and shipping, for $16.95 at Zenni Optical. I haven't received them yet, obviously, so I can't attest to the quality. But I figured that at that price, it was worth trying them out, especially since I rarely wear my glasses outside of the house. Stay tuned to see when they arrive and if I like them or not.

Wii Played

No one in my family had to work this week, so we got together today to play the Wii and have lunch. Even Caleb and Alexa got in on the action. Caleb actually played the drums during Wii Music a few times, but Alexa just wanted to eat the remote as evidenced by one of the pictures. Despite the look on his face in these pictures, Dave actually had a good time, too. I did play a few games, but I also enjoyed lying on the couch reading a book for awhile, something I rarely have time to do these days.

3 CVSs and 3 Walgreens

Yes, I went to three of each store today. Dave is off of school this week, so I was able to leave the kids at home during nap time this afternoon while I chased the deals.

CVS #1 -
I got a 2 pack of C batteries, 1 9V battery, and 2 bottles of Maybelline foundation. I spent $10 in ECB and $.39 in cash, and I got back a $17.98 ECB!

CVS #2-
I was looking for the Complete contact solution that the first CVS did not have. This one was out, too.

CVS #3 -
I found 2 bottles of the contact solution, and I also got 2 bags of pretzels and a package of baby wipes as fillers. I paid with a $15 ECB and $.23 in cash, and I got back a $17.98 ECB.

Here's what I got at all 3 Walgreens stores -
Walgreens #1 -
I bought one Venus razor. I paid $6.06 and got back a $6 Register Rewards (RR).

Walgreens #2 -
Same transaction as #1

Walgreens #3 -
I got 2 extension cords, a pack of printer paper, 2 boxes of trash bags, and 2 boxes of Kleenex. I used my $12 in RR, and I paid $1.59 in cash.

Total spent today - $14.33
Total saved - $94.32
Percent saved - 87%

Christmas Pictures

We took the kids to have their Christmas pictures made this morning. They were up late after church last night and got up early this morning, so I wasn't sure how it was going to go. We did manage to get some good pictures, though, and we took the kids to Chickfila for lunch afterward. Here are some of the best shots.

Publix Savings

I got everything in the picture above for $23.67, a savings of 65%. While I often save closer to 85%, I didn't do bad today at all considering I bought Cokes and milk. In fact, I did pretty well! Here's what got. The prices listed are after sales and coupons.

4 12 packs Coke products - $11 for all 4
Half gallon Publix peppermint ice cream - $2.00
2 50 ct boxes Ziploc sandwich bags - $.69 each
3 bags Chex Mix - $.28 each
2.2 lbs bananas - $.41
1 gallon Publix milk - $2.45
1 bottle Publix bleach - $.01
2 bottle Crisco vegetable oil - $1.35 each
10 boxes Martha White muffin mix - $.05 overage
5 cans Del Monte corn - $.05 each
4 cans Del Monte green beans - $.40 each

Check out Fiddledeedee to see some more Publix Super Savers.

Menu Plan Monday

Here's what we are eating this week -
Tonight - Chicken Florentine, rice, salad
Tuesday - Lunch at Mom and Dad's, FFY for dinner
Wednesday - Bacon cheeseburger roll up, oven roasted potatoes, applesauce
Thursday - Turkey and stuff
Friday - Three Cheese chicken pasta for Dave and kids, Emily out to eat
Saturday - Stuffed chicken breasts, pasta romanoff, green beans
Sunday - Lunch at Molly and Nick's

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

Here's the view from my favorite chair to sit in on Sunday afternoons. Molly and I often spend Sunday afternoons cutting coupons, but there was only one small insert this week. So instead, we are playing our laptops. Dave and Nick are in the office playing computer games (loudly), and the kids are asleep, I hope.

Grocery Totals for November 16-22

Here are my totals for this week. I spent a little more than usual this week because I stocked up on Coke for the Wall-E deal, chicken for our cooking day, cheese on sale at Kroger, and batteries at CVS (just like my mom). I should have a lower week next week, though, especially since Dave got a $25 Kroger gift card from his school for Thanksgiving.

Grocery Store Spending - $103.81
Grocery Store Savings - 60%

Drug Store Spending - $21.30
Drug Store Savings - 86%

Total Amount Saved - $292.95

Bathing Cutie

We gave the kids a bath last night, so tonight we were planning just to change diapers and put on jammies after dinner. Alexa, however, did not like that plan at all. When Dave was getting her changed, she wriggled out of her clothes, took her diaper off, and stood there naked looking at him. I was right nearby getting Caleb changed, and I offered to give her a bath, since I was pretty sure that's what she wanted. And I can surely sympathize, since I take a bath at night more often than not in the winter to warm up before bed. She was so happy to get in the tub and played happily while I got a load of laundry folded (the washer and dryer are in the kids' bathroom).

For Your Viewing Pleasure

This image of Alexa just cracked me up. It is 44 degrees outside, she is wearing a big puffy coat, and she is chilling in a beach chair. Caleb's camping chair seems a little bit more appropriate for the weather and the season, although it's a bit nippy for that as well, at least for us non-Canadians.

Movie Night

I got a great deal on Wall-E this week at CVS. It was $9.99 if you purchased $20 of Coke products, which I would have bought at some point anyway. I used coupons on my Coke products and some ECBs to make it an even better deal. We watched it with the kids tonight. Caleb sat still for a few minutes, but soon he was up playing. Alexa didn't sit still at all, nor was she particularly quiet. They were well-behaved, though, and played very well, so that Dave and I actually got to watch most of the movie. I thought it was cute. We also popped popcorn on the stove top. Yummy! All in all a fun night. The kids are now safely tucked into bed, and tomorrow we begin day two of potty training. Here's hoping it will go better than today.

Potty Training: Day 1

So, we decided it was time to start potty training Caleb. He is almost 3 1/2, but he is a bit delayed in his speech, and he is stubborn and red-headed, so we have waited until now. Dave and I are both off of school all of next week, so we have the time to focus on training Caleb. So far, the current stats are Potty -2 and Underwear - 4. I have a feeling I will doing a lot of laundry this weekend.

Alexa wanted to get in on the action.

Chickened Out

After work today, I stopped by Ingles, where I purchased just over 38 lbs of chicken. Yes, you read that correctly, 38 lbs. Boneless, skinless breasts are on sale this week for $1.68/lb, which is the lowest price I have seen in a long time, so I wanted to stock up. However, the whole 38 lbs was not for me; half was for Molly. Molly, The Deal Lady, and I got together this afternoon to make 4 different chicken meals. Check out Molly's blog for all the details. I now have 11 meals, as well as 4 bags of plain chicken, in my freezer ready to be eaten. The method we use is to prep all the chicken, freeze, thaw, and THEN cook, so that the meals do not taste reheated or like leftovers, especially since Molly and I have husbands that are not fond of leftovers. Speaking of husbands, Dave and Nick are at the hockey game tonight, so after we prepped all our meals, Molly and I hung out for awhile and ordered Chinese for dinner. Then I came home and got the kids in bed. Now I need to stop blogging, I mean procrastinating, and get the car unpacked and the dishes washed.

Christmas Pictures

We are taking the kids to have their Christmas pictures made on Monday, but until then, here are pictures from the last two years.

Christmas 2006 -
Christmas 2007 -