All in a Day's Work

Darrell has the whole week off of work so we are putting him to good use around here. First project: storage shelving in the garage. We got everything off the floor and up onto the shelves. The garage is so clean now!
Collin didn't like the loud banging.

What a great helper!

Nearly done....who's that hot guy?

Ta-da!!! Looks great!

Merry Christmas!

Here are a few pictures (in no particular order) of our Christmas morning. Brody was so excited to finally get his train set! We hope everyone had a great Christmas!

Finally a Good Coupon Day!

I got some pretty good deals yesterday, and I am very excited about it! I am going to get back into going to Walgreen's and doing their Register Rewards, as well as figure out CVS's reward system. I have never shopped at CVS before so that will be a new thing.

Here is what I got at Target for $10.xx. I had a $5 gift card from a couple weeks ago so I used that to bring my total down. Those Frosted Flakes are the HUGE boxes, 27-28 oz size! And that meat is some really nice steaks that we have tried before. They were delicious! Notice the JUMBO box of Qtips. That's for you, Darrell. Yes, I do love you. :) The man can't live without them so I am hoping that 700 of them will make him happy.

Here is what I got at Walgreens for $25.xx in 3 transactions. The thing about Walgreen's is that you have to make an initial investmest and then you can roll your Register Rewards from week to week after that. I actually ended up with $22 in RR for next time.

Before coupons this would have cost about $62! Have you ever tried John Frieda products before? They are my favorite, but they are also $6-7 a bottle so I rarely get them. So out of pocket I saved about 40%, but I have $22 in Register Rewards left to use another trip. Yay for Walgreens!!

Bake Sale Success!

Today was Collin's Bake Sale. I baked all day yesterday, and I think that everything turned out great! Collin earned $13 and was very proud of it. He was a very good salesman. He showed his customers around and told them all the prices. It was very cute. The reason he is trying to earn money is to earn enough to buy THIS Transformer toy. He has been saving his money for the last few weeks. He wanted to start a paper fan business, but I told him there wasn't a very big market for paper fans in the winter. He even charged Amber and the girls money to come over. :) Gotta love a 5 year old. Darrell has some big helper jobs lined up for Collin this next weekend. Hopefully he will be able to earn all the rest of the money he needs through slave labor. I love my little entrepreneur.

Here is Collin's sign that he made. You can't see it very well, but it says, "Collin's Bake Sale." Very cute.

Brody helping with the sugar cookies.

Collin packaging the cookies.

This is the lid of my brand new pot! I was making mashed potatoes for the cinnamon roll recipe, and I had just put the potatoes in to boil. All of a sudden BAM! The lid shattered! I was so upset! I loved this pot. Oh well.

Cooking and Baking Day

Collin is having a bake sale at our house tomorrow so I am getting everything ready today. I figured if I was in the kitchen all day I might as well try a freezer recipe too. I cooked the turkey last night and started the chicken (turkey this time) tetrazini recipe. Here is the agenda for today.

Make mashed potatoes for cinnamon rolls
Brownies
Turkey soup
Banana chocolate chip muffins
Fudge
Rice Krispy treats
Snickerdoodles
Chocolate dip pretzels
Prepare sugar cookie dough
Waffles to freeze

Sounds like a big day! I am very excited! Pictures to come!

Public School Ain't Free

I am so thankful that Collin can go to school and have fun every day. It's great for him, and it's great for me. Holy smokes though! He has been bringing home tons of notes every week! This picture is all the notes from one day, a couple weeks ago. Today he brought home about the same amount! He is always needing money for one thing or another! Since I can't remember what all the notes are about in the picture I will tell you what he got today that I had to do! I call it MY homework.

-Reminder to bring $5 for pics with Santa, due tomorrow

-2 small books from our book order

-Special note thanking me for my book order, because every order we make one book is donated to his class

-New book order form

-Note that says I need to get 2 pictures for Collin's special Christmas project, one of him with me, and one of him with Darrell. Top secret as to what it is. :)

-Note saying that if we want to participate in the Christmas book exchange to bring a wrapped book to school by next Monday

-Note saying that if we would like to help fill the kids Christmas goodie bags to bring 18 small toys, crafts, or treats to school by next Friday

-2 paper plates stapled together with a note that says we need to make this into snowman and bring back to school by Friday. We could decorate however we want to. (What do they do at school all day?)

-The monthly lunch menu.

-Oh and some district newsletter that I didn't read yet.

That covers it for today. I am scared to check Collin's backpack tomorrow!

Growin' Up

My little boy is three years old today. Time really does fly. We are so glad to have Brody (aka Bro, Bro-bro, Dee, D-Dawg, Dee-dee, Bro-man, etc) in our family. Even though he has been a stubborn little boy lately, he is still my little sweetie. He loves to huggle and snuggle and kiss. He is growing up too fast, and he wants to be just like his big brother. Happy Birthday, Bro!

This last picture is just proof that Brody can smile. He never smiles for pictures anymore. Stubborn!

Brody's Cowboy Party

We were lucky enough to have a very special birthday for Brody. Amber's parents have a ranch, and Brody got to have a real ride on a horse for his party! What a lucky little cowboy! He was a little nervous on his solo ride, but when he got on with Collin he was a lot more confident. The boys were able to run wild in the field, ride horses, eat cake, and ride four wheelers. That sounds like a perfect party for any little boy. Brody's cake was a very cute farm cake. He is still playing with the cake decorations. Thanks to Amber and her very kind family.

Brody's Mohawk

I buzzed Brody's hair a couple weeks ago. I might as well have fun with it, right?

Our Perfect Tree

We decided to get a live tree this year and I am so glad we did. It smells wonderful! It is so perfect too. Full, but not too full. I love it! Now I need to get some more ornaments on it. I just love turning all the lights out and looking at the Christmas tree. I love Christmas!

Betty Crocker Bit the Dust

Today is Stake Conference so the boys and I are just chilling at home. I decided to do some baking with them. I bought some bananas a few days ago so I could make my famous banana bread muffins. At the same time I was cutting up veggies for some fresh salsa to take to Amber's house tonight for dinner. I figured since I was doing two things at once, then I might as well do one more thing. I decided to make some macaroni salad which is good to have for lunches, and Darrell is coming tonight so I gotta feed him more than pb&j. I was feeling like a rockstar Betty Crocker. Salsa was almost done, first batch of muffins had just come out, and the pasta was ready to be taken off the stove. I grab the handle of the pot and go across to the sink when all of a sudden the handle broke and hot water and pasta went everywhere!! Look at the carnage below:


Of course Collin had to be in the picture.

That sucks, but accidents happen. I mean look at the picture of the pan! It was time for a new one. BUT to add insult to injury check out the picture below. Our toe board was taken off the cabinets because of our water leak incident that has been ongoing for the last two weeks.

I had to reach all the way to the back of the cabinet to get out all the pasta that was getting mushier by the minute in the hot puddle of water. Face the facts though: It still beats going to 3pm Stake Conference with a 3 and 5 year old. :)

What I Want For Christmas

This is freaking awesome!

Click HERE to buy it for me. :)

Thankful Tree

Thanksgiving is a holiday that kind of gets skipped over. It's crammed between Halloween, which seems to be getting busier every year, and Christmas, which is a retail power house. Being thankful for our blessings should happen more often than just one day a year. I saw a cute idea to be thankful all during the month of November. This tree is in my entry way and it's at least 6 feet tall. We cut out leaves and wrote one them something we are thankful for. We did several last night and we are going to do at least one leaf a day until Thanksgiving day. What a fun reminder of all of our blessings. The kids LOVED this idea. They had so much fun cutting out leaves and hanging them up. It was a fun conversation we had about blessings and what we are thankful for. Please no comments on my artistic skills, or lack thereof. It's the thought that counts. :)

Couponing the Easy Way

Lots of people have asked me about couponing, but lots of them "don't have the time" to get fully into it. Here are a few easy ways to get started and also to use less time couponing.

1. First of all you have to get the newspaper. You must have coupons to use them. There are printable coupons too, but you really need to have the weekly inserts.I recommend at least 3 per family, more if you can. Ask around to see if people will give you their coupons!

2. Buy only the hot deals - and buy a lot! So you don't have time to go through the ads every week, but you want to keep your pantry stocked. If you hear of a deal where something is a five star deal buy as much of it as you can, granted it's something you know you will use. For instance wipes are only $.29 this week at Target after a Target printable coupon. I am going to buy at least 10, probably more!

3. Every week there are a few produce items that are on sale. Plan your weekly veggie intake around these items that are on sale.

4. When milk or cheese, which rarely have coupons, go on a great sale then buy A LOT and freeze them. This brings me to my next point:

5. Make your freezer your best friend. Right now turkey is on sale for $.40/lb at Walmart. I am going to fill my freezer! Ok so only 3 at the most will fit in there, but I am going to make it fit. If I had a deep freezer I would buy 10. When there are rock bottom prices on meats or anything for that matter buy in large quantities and freeze it.

6. Know when to buy what. There are a lot of seasonal sales during the year. Right now, in the fall, baking items are on sale. In the summer there are condiments, sodas, and meats. A lot of stores have case lot sales in the the fall as well. Buy at least a six month supply of these items when they are at their rock bottom prices.

7. Know what is a good deal! When I first started couponing I didn't know what a good price for meats or produce was. I had no clue! Start paying attention to what a good price is.

8. Plant a garden. I am looking forward to having a garden now that I have a backyard to put it in! Plant what you know your family will eat.

9. Can or freeze produce from your garden or when they are in season. I made raspberry jam for the first time this year and it was so much easier than I thought!

10. Figure out one drug store and stick with them. Walgreens, CVS, and Rite Aid all have good deals. This does not mean you need to run around to all of them! Pick one, get it figured out to a science, and just stick with them. Of course if you hear about a smoking deal that you can't pass up, by all means go to the other store, but otherwise I would stay loyal to one so you don't overwhelm yourself.

11. If you need to go to the store for just one thing check the blogs or forums for free/smoking hot deals for that store. That way you are not making an extra trip for your couponing, but you can still get a few perks.

Here are a few blogs that I like:

Money Saving Mom

A Thrifty Mom

Krazy Coupon Lady

I Heart Wags

If anyone has any questions please ask! I am still trying to get this coupon thing figured out here in Texas. I am REALLY missing Albertson's. I am going to get my budget down to about $50 bucks a week again, but it's been tough to get going. I can't wait to plant a garden. Planting starts in February here in Texas!

New flower bed

Darrell wanted me to post pictures of his project today. (I guess this makes him famous.) Since our house is on a hill and we don't have gutters, we were having a serious problem with our new flowerbed eroding very quickly. Today Darrell put up a fantastic brick barrier for me. What a hard working man! I helped too, but as little as I could. :) Oh, and just to make ya'll jealous, it was 85 degrees today! (Did you see my correct usage of "ya'll"?)

November 30 Day Giving Challenge

I came across a link to a blog about a 30 day giving challenge! What a perfect month to try this out. I have so many things to be thankful for so I would love to try this out. Plus it's a great way to meet people (since I don't know anyone here in Texas yet!) It can be something small like opening a door for someone or planning a formal service project. I will put some updates on here and I would love your feedback too! Let me know what kind of service you are doing during this Thanksgiving month.

Not Missing Apartment Life - Collin Chatter

While driving home from the YMCA, which is going to be my new favorite place, we passed a beautiful southern home. It was huge and looked exactly like a white, two story, southern home from the movies. I love houses with character so I pointed it out to the boys to check out.

Me: Look at that beautiful home over there.
Collin: Yeah, it has a balcony upstairs.
Then I had to describe to Brody what a balcony was.
Collin chimed in, "Yeah, you go up there to smoke."

Brody the Helper

Now that Collin is in full day kindergarten he has been taking a lunch to school. This means lots of snacks and ziplocs around the house. Brody is always trying to be a big helper. This is what I found in a drawer this morning:

And this is what he packed for "daddy's lunch" yesterday:

Back in the Habit

I am just trying to get motivated to get back in the coupon habit. It's tough! I promise some pics of my good deals soon. I am trying to get my sis in law, Amber, to use coupons too. Sorry Amber!

More House Pics

I know, I know, this is all I can talk about lately, BUT it is so exciting for us! As requested I am posting a few more pictures. Still waiting on furniture though. Our house has 4 bedrooms, master downstairs, and 2 1/2 baths. The best feature of the house is the huge upstairs family room. We are loving all the space!!

Here is the kitchen. Love the tile backsplash. Large laundry is the door on the left and the garage is straight through.

Here is the master bathroom, large garden tub, two sinks (yay!) and a huge walk in closet just through here.

Here is our frontroom. Still waiting on some furniture to be delivered so it's still pretty bare.

The stairs to the second floor.

HUGE upstairs living room. Obviously no furniture yet.

Play room just off the family room upstairs.

Cutest frog stuff! The toothbrush holder is like 3 frog bobble heads.

The boys bathroom upstairs.

My craft room!! I just finished putting together this furniture. Believe it or not, but this was easier to assemble than the kids toys boxes.

Brody's room. We are going to decorate it with trains, probably even get a train table in his room.

Collin's room, the biggest one upstairs. Going to be decorated with outer space and aliens.