More deals this week grocery trip...

So this week I hit up both Winn Dixie and Publix.
There is a sale at Winn Dixie for this barbecued pulled pork. I usually don't buy this type of thing but since it was free., well then why not?  They are on sale for Buy one Get on Free. And I used a blinkie coupon that is also for Buy one Get one so they were both free!! I went 2 times and I was able to get 10 packages. I have a couple more coupons so I will try and hit them up again before the sales ends.There are only 9 in the photo because we had one for dinner. The rest went in the freezer. SO much for clearing the freezer out before Hurricane season is here.
Total before sales and coupons $59.90. Total our of pocket 0.00!! Total saving 100%!!!

Then at Publix I got this...

Unfortunately I already sent the receipt in for a rebate offer and I lost the paper that I wrote down all me savings amount. But I do remember that I savings was $120.00 and I had a total saving of 91%.  And I sent in for a Kraft rebate of $10.00. And the Mini Wheats cereal I will use to get free movie tickets! So it was kinda like I was paid to shop yet again!
I got:
4- Boxes Frosted Mini Wheats $1.25 each
2- Gallons Sweet tea $1.14 each
5- Shick Razor 2packs FREE with $1.01 overage each!
4- Bic Razors 4 packs FREE with .56 overage each!
2- packs Q-tips .15 each
2- Ocean spray juice .99 each
8- Packs Rice .12 each
1- Bag Snyder's pretzels .50
4- Kraft salad dressings .24 each
2- Lowers marinades .11 each
4- Kraft Bar-B-Q sauces .07 each
4- Oscar Meyer hot dogs .49 each
2- Edys ice cream $1.55 each
4- Cool Whips .36 each
2- Heluv-a-good dips FREE
4- Planters Grover Cashews FREE with overage .25 each

The $10.00 rebate is a Kraft Summer food rebate. Unfortunatly the only way to get the rebate form is from Kraft First Taste Panel and they have to send it to you. So I can't direct you to a place to print it. But the Fee Movie tickets offer is just on the boxes of marked Kellogs boxes. So you can cash in on that deal yourself!

Thanks for letting me share again!

May Procession

Today my girls school had their annual May Procession. This is such a wonderful and beautiful ceremony. They have the second grades dress in their first communion dresses and the eighth graders dress to the nines and lead the service. An eighth grader is chosen as the May Queen and places a crown made of flowers on a statue of Mary. She has to wear a white dress, but the other eighth graders wear very fancy dresses. My oldest has informed me she does not want to be the May Queen because she wants to wear a beautiful teal dress.

It's always a special day and the second graders were so cute. They brought flowers for Mary. I love seeing them all dressed up. When the May Procession arrives it reminds me how close it is till the end of the year. The girls have less than 2 weeks left of school. Time really does fly and next year my daughter will be an eighth grader and will leave the school she's been in since nursery school. Time really does fly.

Tye-Die Day

My 9 year old will go on a really fun field trip next year to a local place that has a pool and mini-golf course. I'm one of the chaperons as I like to be there when a pool is involved. Grades 1-4 go one day and grades 5-7 go the next. I'm insane because I'm signed up to go both days. I'll be ready to be committed by the end of Wednesday.

Each grade wears a different colored shirt so it's easy to keep track of them and there are different stations that they do throughout the day so we always know where everyone should be. Since my daughter is in the third grade she gets to wear a tie-died shirt that they make. This is a tradition that really gets the kids excited about next week.

I also volunteered to help with the tie-dying. Yes, I'm crazy, but I think we already covered that. The kids were so excited and they all picked the style that they wanted and we helped them put the elastics on the shirts and then we headed outside for the messy part. There were 3 colors to use: indigo, teal and purple. These colors work great together and the kids were happy with them. They took turns and we helped them dip the t-shirts in the tubs of dye. We had gloves to keep our hands from getting stained. Of course there is a very rambunctious (that's the nicest word I can use) child in my daughters class that decided to lift his soaking wet dye-died shirt over my head. Yea, oh happy day I now had blue dye on my forehead. Lucky me. Best part he didn't even say he was sorry. Oh well at least I wore old clothes. Seriously for the rest of the afternoon everyone kept asking me how I got the dye on my forehead. I just smiled and told them. The sad thing was no one was surprised who did it.

When the shirts were done we hung them on the playground fence and the kids admired their work and the teachers took many pictures. They are so excited to wear them next week. I am too because I made one too so I could match. Oh it will be a fun time.

Update on Caroline

Thank you all so much for the prayers for little Caroline. Her family truly appreciated it. It has been a very hard few days for them and I'm sorry I was unable to post yesterday with an update.

The first night was truly difficult. The surgery went very well and they were able to get half the tumor. Everything seemed to be okay, but Caroline was unresponsive and they gave her a CT scan and again everything looked okay. Thank God in the morning she opened her eyes a little and squeezed her mothers hand. The doctors have told them that this can sometimes happen with children. Her mom told us she continues to be sleepy, but is more responsive. They have a long hard recovery ahead and I just hope and pray that she gets better quickly. This child is an angel and doesn't deserve any of this. Thanks again for all your prayers and wishes.

Prayers For Caroline

Today my 9 year old daughter's friend and classmate is having brain surgery. They are trying to remove a tumor that they were told is inoperable. It is very close to the optic nerve. They have already exhausted all other options and Caroline's eyesight is getting worse. The tumor is growing.

This child is a beautiful little girl who wouldn't hurt a fly. She is a talented little artist and the nicest girl you would ever meet. Her mom is fabulous and dad was just given a 2 week fur-low from serving in Iraq so he could be here for the surgery. Thank goodness. Caroline is so happy to have her dad home.

My daughter is very worried for her friend and so am I. She is so little and fragile. So today all my thoughts and prayers are with Caroline and her family for a speedy and easy recover. I hope you will join me in praying for this little munchkin.

My 9 Year Old Loved Shrek the Final Chapter


My daughter was invited to a birthday party at the local movie theater to see Shrek. I was just as happy as she was about this because it meant that I didn't have to sit through another Shrek movie. I'll be honest, I've had enough of Shrek. The first one was great the second one okay, but really I think that was fine. Anyway, my daughter has been dying to see this so this party saved me. I would have taken her otherwise.

The party was at a place called Chunkeys that allows you to eat food at a table while you watch the movie. It's a popular place for these parties and the girl the party was for is a good friend of my daughters. She had the best time. She thought the movie was really funny. She especially loved the ending. I really think she loved being with her friends while she watched. That always makes things more fun. She gives two thumbs up to Shrek the Final Chapter.

Early Signs of Bullying

I guess it doesn't matter how old your child is they're going to have to deal with bullying. My youngest is only 9 and yesterday at school I think she was bullied. She was a little upset when I came to pick her up then one of her friends came over looking for a play date. My daughter jumped at the chance so her friend came home with us. On the ride home she told me that at lunch 2 girls dared her not to talk and if she did they said they would pull her hair. I was so angry. Who do these kids think they are? I told my daughter and her friend to stay away from these girls and that was not a nice thing to do. I told them they needed to tell a teacher if something like this happens again.

I asked my daughter if she wanted me to talk to her teacher she said no. She could stick up for herself. I told her that I needed to speak to her teacher because it just wasn't right. I don't want those girls to start picking on someone else. What makes kids act this way? It makes me crazy. Luckily my daughter has many good friends who would never treat her like that.

Checking Out High Schools

My daughter is going to be in 8th grade next year and that means we're going to need to start looking at private high schools in the area. She currently attends a Catholic school because we live in a city that does not have a great school system. When we moved here we made the decision to send our kids to private school. Yes, it's a lot more money, but they're our kids and they're worth it.

Yesterday I drove my daughter and some of her friends to my old high school. They offered all the 7th grade girls a special shadow day to come check out the school. It felt very strange driving up to my old school with my daughter. I felt so old and not entirely sure I want her to go there. I didn't really like high school all that much. I do want her to see everything out there so she can make her best decision though and I didn't think she would like it that much. It's all an all girls school and she's told me she wanted to attend a coed high school.

What do I know though? The girls all came out so happy and excited. They loved the school. Everyone was so nice and the girls were nice. They let them do experiments in the Chem lab and they got to work on a program in the computer lab. Oh and they have a school store and every Tuesday is Dunkin Donuts day. Oh they won them all over. I was so surprised she liked it so much. Anyway it's the first of many schools she has to check out. I have a feeling she's going to feel that way about all of them. Oh I have the biggest headache just thinking about high school. Both the choice and the fact that she'll soon be going. Oh what a nightmare.

An Introduction to Couponing


I've spent a little bit of time talking with friends about couponing and how to do it all to make the most of your money.  And  LOTS of good questions have been coming up about trying to get into it.  Unfortunately, because I don't live as close to some of you as I used to, I can't easily chat with you anymore.
However, I wanted to take some of the most essential ideas and share them with you.
First of all I don't want you to think that just because you don't have a Publix to shop at you can't get as good of deals as I can. There are many places that I get things for free and super cheap including Target, Walgreen, CVS and even Walmart. (I very rarely ever go there because I hate Walmart!)
For instance Albertsons and Safeway will put out Doubler coupons in their weekly sales paper sometimes. These are so great and will make for lots of things that you can get for free with them. My suggestion is to get as many copies of those sale papers as you can. ask your family, friends and neighbors if you can have the ones that they will not use. I so wish that some of the stores around here would double coupons even some of the time. There is just so much that can be done with them! But I am thankful for what I do have.

Here are the things I think are KEY to making it work:

My best advice ... is that you take it slow, especially when you are getting into it.
There is no need to get every deal out there on your first time out. It will take some time to get it all down.

Start collecting coupons! Each week in the Sunday paper is the first place to start. The general rule of thumb that I follow is to buy as many papers as there are people in your family. So each week I buy 4 papers.  This way when something is on sale and I have the coupon for it, making it a great deal , I will be able to buy enough to last me till the next time it is on sale and I have another coupon. Keeping me from having to pay full price for it in a week, or 2, when that first one is gone or used up.  You may be thinking that I am crazy for paying for that many but think about this. I pay $1.25 per Sunday paper, so for 4 I am paying $5.00 each week. With those coupons I am able to save anywhere from 85-95% on my entire grocery bill each week. I save far more than I am paying out for the papers.   But again ask family, friends and neighbors for the inserts that they won't use. I get tons of inserts sent to me by my Mom. Where she's at, they mail out the Red plum coupon inserts in everybody's mail (I am jealous!) In her community there is a recycle bin near the mail boxes and those who won't use them put them there. My Mom collects them and sends them to me.  It's like having Christmas every couple of weeks.  Thanks Mom!! 

Now, if there is a coupon in the paper (that I know about that will make for a free item of something that we use often, or will make for great overage), I buy even more papers.

For instance a couple months ago, there was a coupon for $4.00 off one knox product.  That coupon alone made for $2.66 in overage, because a box of Knox gelatin in only 1.34.  Publix allows you take an overage, so it was worth it for me to buy more, so that I could have that overage to use on the rest of my  grocery purchase. That week I bought 6 papers but then went to ebay and got 20 more of just that coupon.(more on ebay later.)
As far as organizing those coupons... my system is to just keep the entire insert, write the date that it came out on the front, and file it an accordion holder. Then when I am making my weekly list I can go to the insert that is listed and get the coupon I need. Now you may wonder why I don't cut them out and store them that way. Well the answer is simple, I would never be able to keep up with it! They would pile up on me so fast that I wouldn't be able to keep up and I would never be able to find what I wanted. Maybe for others clipping them is the way to go, but not for me. Also, another thing to think about if I was clipping them, I would be tempted to think, I will never buy this thing so why keep the coupon.

But here is why you should keep them all. If you were able to get that item for free would you be willing to try it? Or maybe if you were able to get it for free you would be able to donate it. There are things that I have gotten because they are free, or better yet have overage, that I know we will not use. But that does not mean that they are not something that someone else can't use. Right now I have 4 boxes of things that I have gotten for nearly free, free, or with overage that I am going to donate to a local church food pantry. Everything from food, cleaning supplies and personal care items. They are so happy to get donations, and all it takes me is a bit of time to clip the coupon and go to the store to be able to supply them items to bless others with. How great is that!?!


Next ...  go to the web sites of the grocery stores that you shop at, and try to find their coupon policy.  Every store has a different policy about accepting coupons.  Read through each to get an understanding of what they accept. 

Look for things like ... 
  • Do they take internet printable coupons? 
  • Will they allow overage on an item? 
  • Will they allow you to use a Store coupon and a manufactures coupon on the same item? 
  • If they double coupons, up to what amount will double? 
  • Do they take competitor store coupons?
Read through each one, and if there is something that you don't understand (or is unclear), go to the customer service desk and ask. That is what I did and they were more than happy to help me. Remember that they want you to spend your money, and coupons, at their store. They will help you to understand their policy. They will be a very helpful tool to your couponing success.  And while you are there ask if they have any store coupons that you can get!
As a general rule, most stores allow you to stack 2 coupons - 1 manufacturer AND 1 store coupon per item.    (I'll add more thoughts on this later, but for now just keep in mind that you can typically use 2 coupons per item).




  Next go to web blogs and sites that list the weekly sales match up with the coupons that are available. Make your grocery list from that.  Also if you are having a hard time finding a stores coupon policy there are usually links on these types of sites.
If you're from the Pacific N.W. (You know who you are!) - this is one of my favorite places to start -  
 becentsable. Here by clicking on a store that is near you, and find a match up for that store.
For instance this is one that I have found, from the site above, that works well for some of the stores in the N.W. http://www.frugallivingnw.com/ 
And here are a couple of blogs that I check out before heading out the door to Target  or  Walgreens.

There are subscription sites that will do the match ups as well. Some paid and some free. The Grocery Game is one of the ones that you pay a monthly fee to get the match-ups e-mailed to you for your area.  I did a free trial with this site. For me I found that I had was able to find more accurate information from free blogs. And the information that I get comes to me much faster than the information that I got from the grocery game. For instance, I can get the weekly Publix sales add, complete with coupon match-ups, on Monday for the sale that will start on Thursday. Giving me lots of time to look things over and get things ready.

Also from that same blog I get updates daily, sometimes several a day,  of unadvertised deals. This is HUGE! Knowing that something is on an unadvertised sale before I am at the store so that I can have the coupon already when I go instead of having to go back to the store at another time to take advantage of the sale is wonderful!  The grocery game sent out the weekly sales with match ups on Sunday, 4 days after that sale started.  And it never updated or listed unadvertised sales. So I could have missed out on some great deals if I had only used them. For me it just did not work. I canceled the membership before they started charging me. Plus, typically, the people running the blogs are more them happy to answer any questions if you ask them. It was much harder to get help from the pay site.  Of course, this is just my opinion, if you like give it a try for yourself and see what works for you.

Also check out a couple different sites for the stores you shop. Not every one can get it all. Some are better than others! This helps and only take a couple extra minutes to do and can help you see something that someone else may have missed.


When you are comfortable with grocery stores, then add in drug stores - like Walgreens, CVS and Rite aid. There are good deals to be had there, too, but they are a bit more complicated and best left till you have the grocery stores down.

Mostly, take your time, ask lots of questions and start small. There is no need to get all the first time out. In no time you will become more comfortable with it and reaping the rewards of a full pantry!
Please feel free to ask anything and everything that you may not understand. I would love to help and give any advice that I can.

Thanks,
Chris

Rediscovering Buffy the Vampire Slayer


Well the day finally came when I told my 13 year old that yes she could watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer. My daughter is a scifi freek and has been eyeballing this show for a while, but I didn't think she was ready. Now that she is so into vampire movies and shows I thought she could handle it. OF course she's not allowed to watch it with her sister in the room. She's not ready to watch it yet. My youngest is afraid of vampires especially the ones on Buffy because well they actually look like vampires unlike the ones you see in Twilight.

My 13 year old is completely hooked and every chance she gets she's loading up an episode through Netflix. She's driving us all crazy. Granted I think it's my own fault. Buffy first aired on TV in 1997. This is the same year she was born. I remember nursing her while I watched the show. She fell asleep to Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

The good thing is it's a good show and I really don't mind watching it again, but it did last 7 seasons. That's a lot of episodes and then of course she's just discovered that her favorite character, Angel had his own series that lasted 5 seasons. I think it's going to be a very vampire enriched summer.

Sinus Infection

My 13 year old has allergies and for some reason I don't know why, but it's a horrible year for anyone who suffers from allergies. I know I've had a tuff time as well, but I keep on chugging. Mom's don't get sick or rather they don't have time to be sick.

Anyway enough was enough this morning. She's been coughing and blowing her nose constantly so it was to the doctors with her this morning. Sure enough the doctor said she had a sinus infection. That means antibiotics for her and hopefully she'll be feeling better soon. Now she's not contagious so the doctor said she could go to school. She really didn't want me to take her, but not because she was sick. It was more because she didn't want to attend the Chastity class they were having in school.

She pouted the whole way to school and made me feel like a horrible mom. I might have let her stay home if she didn't have a big test this afternoon. It's such a pain for her to make them up. It's just easier for her to go in and take it. When we got to the school she got all nervous about walking into the cafeteria where all her classmates were having the chastity class. They told me I could walk her down so I did. Her homeroom teacher was in the back of the room so we went right to her. Meanwhile my daughters awesome best friend is waving at her because she saved her a seat. Her teacher told her to go sit with her buddy. She seemed to relax and I headed out after briefly telling her teacher where she was. She told me her poor daughter has a sinus infection as well only she let it go too long and she is very sick with a fever of 103. I'm glad I took mine to the doctor this morning. I only hope she's still not mad at me for making her go to school. Oh well I'm always in the dog house for something.

Camping in the Keys

So ...

We've been planning another trip to the Florida Keys for months.  Mostly, so I could forget about office life and all the stresses there.  But also because our first trip down was so exciting, when we got to go snorkeling with the girls.  We knew, we just had to try it again.

So, this past week, we were finally able to make it happen.  In order to save money, we chose to camp at John Pennekamp State Park.  Here's a little bit about the experience, and what we would suggest for anyone thinking about doing the same thing in the future. 

First of all:
We came in early May (10-13th) in an effort to beat the heat.  WRONG idea!  Maybe in another epoch Florida was cooler ... but not now.  The first day we were there was in the 90's, and even though the other days were cooler, it was still blazingly hot.  There is NO WAY you could possibly sit in your campsite exposed to that heat all day, and enjoy yourself. 

I suggest planning your vacation so that during most of the heat of the day, you are out doing other activities.  You'll want to leave the campsite by about 10 AM, and plan on returning after 5-6 PM.  In fact, the heat was so bad, the first night none of us slept well.

Here is out campsite - just to prove we were there.



Point Two:
If you are going to camp at this campground, during the months of May through October, I would suggest you have air conditioning.    Otherwise, your camping trip could be miserably hot.  We were able to survive the next two nights by buying an oscillating electric fan, so that it blew on us all night in the tent.  If we didn't have the fan, none of us would have slept for three nights straight.  While that's certainly survivable, it's not really a benefit, when you're on VACATION.

Third Point -
When you look at the picture above, you'll see a couple of blue mosquito repellent devices sitting on the picnic table.  We were fully expecting to do battle with swarms of mosquitoes on  this trip.  Surprisingly, there were hardly any mosquitoes.  There were, however, thriving colonies of 'no see 'em' bugs.  These are tiny, little fly like creatures (almost to small to see with the naked eye), that bite like piranha.  The scariest part is that they come out during the day.  From dawn to sunset you will get gnawed on by some invisible force that you can't defeat.  Unless you are wearing long sleeve shirts and pants, you will get bitten by these God-forsaken creatures.  And unlike mosquito bites which stop itching after a day or two, these bites keep right on itching for days.  We have been home for three days now, and we are ALL still scratching as if we have chicken pox or some other rash like illness. 

And remember this, about these bugs, no matter if you stay in a tent or an RV ... when you walk outside ... they are waiting.  You will NOT be immune from their powerful onslaught.  So, even if you stay in an RV with the coolest A/C on the planet, you will have to face the 'no see 'ems' eventually.   This is simply a friendly word of warning. 

All that being said ... John Pennekamp State Park is an outstanding campground.  It's a little bit pricey, but compared to the other options in the Florida Keys ... it's a bargain.   And the campground itself is superb. 
  • The bathrooms are large.
  • The bathrooms are clean and well maintained.
  • The bathrooms have excellent showers.
  • There is running water at the campsites.
  • There is electricity at the campsites.
  • There are dozens of activities right at the State Park
    Including scuba, snorkeling, glass-bottom boats, kayak rentals, public beaches, a great visitor center with aquarium displays, and boat rentals.
  • Killer breezes on the beaches of the park.
In general, this State Park is a top notch park, with amenities that are superior to most parks we're seen in Florida - BUT you have to be able to get over the three hurdles above to enjoy the campground to its full potential.

And finally, there are some additional visitors to the campground.  These were also very cool to see, right by our campsite. 

The first one ... if you look at the picture above, you'll see a tree just over Kaitlyn's left shoulder.  Just beyond that tree, about 8 feet, is a small creek.  This lovely creature was right back beside the creek one morning as we were getting ready to head out for the day.

I would guess this iguana was about 4 feet long.  Chris wasn't going anywhere near this thing.



I wouldn't want to meet up with one of these out walking on a trail.  I was standing about 10 feet away from it, and I didn't want to get much closer. 

And this little guy was pretty cute.  They build massive holes in the ground, and come crawling out about sunset.  Every time this one tried to come out, he saw us standing there ... and quickly ducked back into his hole. 


Al

Birthday Party at

Birthday Party at American Girl

Today my daughter's friend had her birthday party at American Girl. We were to meet at their school and be picked up by a limo. The American Girl store is about 45 minutes away so the mother thought this was the best solution. My daughter was so excited to be picked up by a limo. I was asked by the mom to ride in one of the limos as she had to get 2 to fit everyone. She wanted to just get one big one, but it is a very busy time of year for limos.

I didn't mind going because I was planning to follow the limo anyway so I could help my daughter with the shopping. The girls were so cute in the limo. Many of them had never driven in one before and they were so excited. They wanted to play with all the buttons and check everything out. They all wanted to have a drink of the water that was in the cooler. It was really fun to watch. In fact that could have been the end of the party and they would have been fine with that.

We arrived a little later than planned at American Girl place because he other limo needed to make a bathroom stop. Anyway when we arrived we went up to the Bistro and it's all just so cute. They had a table waiting for the birthday party and each girl got a special seat for the dolls to sit in. They loved it. They had a good menu and all the girls seemed to like the food. We did the cake and then it was on to the shopping. They have the cutest things. My daughter was in heaven. She had been to the store before and she had one of her dolls with her, Lani. I had a group of girls I was in charge of and I helped them find what they wanted and then I helped my daughter who had been saving her money. She kind of knew what she wanted. She wanted Lani's nightgown and one other outfit. She ended up with a really cute bathing suit. All the girls were really great with finding what they wanted and I would have to say very well behaved. The listened well which is always good when you take them to a place like that.

On the way home the girls switched around the limo they drove in so everyone could have a turn with the birthday girl. My daughter went in the other limo and got to sit next to the birthday girl who is one of her best friends. Anyway the new group in the limo was a little crazier. It was funny to see all the different personalities. Anyway, I'm home now and I'm exhausted, but my daughter couldn't stop talking about the great time she had. It really is good to be a kid.

Disney Hollywood Studio's Best Kept Secret

A couple months ago we shared that we were able to be a part of the 'Give a day, Get a day' with Walt Disney World here in Florida.  After participating in a local clean-up event, we were allowed to upgrade our one day into 4 days for a small fee.  Which we gladly accepted.

One of our days was spent at Disney's Hollywood Studios.  In general, this is our favorite park.  This is THE park we have chosen as our last place to visit with our bonus days.  I'm sure everyone has their favorite Disney park they like to visit.  And most likely, Hollywood Studios won't be the favorite park on most people's lists.  But, for us, this park has almost everything we are looking for.

And, in fact, there is one super special place that we almost missed out on completely.  You see ... at Hollywood Studios you will find an unassuming building that walks visitors through the history of some of their animated movies, and through the processes involved in creating a character.  For most visitors, it isn't an actual ride, so it's kinda boring.  But if you take a moment and visit a special 'unmarked' room inside of this exhibit, you'll be able to take a short class on how YOU can draw a Disney character.   Each class is 20 minutes.  And they try not to repeat any characters ... all day.   So at every single class, you will learn how to draw a completely new Disney character.

This class was so fun, that it inspired us to want to go back to this park again ... I suppose the Rock 'n Roller coaster, and the Tower of Terror helped as well.  But this class ... was in a word ... Inspiring.  I highly suggest it for anyone who ever visits this park in the future.  It is totally worth it.

Here are some of our drawings - for your ... umm .... viewing pleasure.







One note I would add about drawing pictures, which I never knew before. 

One of the instructors told us that every second of a Disney movie is made up of 24 picture frames.  Every Disney movie has about 90 minutes of play time.   That equals almost 130,000 picture frames for a Disney movie.  So, even if your one drawing doesn't look that great ... probably by the time you get done drawing 130,000 of them, you'll be a little better at the drawing process.   That's a GREAT thought to keep in mind about the concept of 'practice'. 

Long Week

What a long week and it's really not even over yet. My 13 year old is at her last dance of the year and I have to go pick her up at 10. I also have to hope she gets asked to dance. She said she didn't care today, but I know she has a crush on one boy and is really hoping he asks her. Fingers crossed on that one.

Anyway I have just been running around all week and all I really want is to crawl into my bed and sleep in tomorrow morning. This time of year there just seems to be so many things going on. We have a birthday party and a First Communion this weekend. My girls also have a ton of homework. Why is it teachers pile it on this time of year? The kids are so done. They don't want to be doing all this stuff. They want to be out enjoying the good weather. I know I'm sick of proof reading and double checking things. Well I guess a couple more weeks and it's over till September. Thank goodness. Okay well I'm off to get my teen. Hope she had a great time.

Chastity Class for My Middle Schooler

Last night I attended an informational meeting for a course my daughter will have next week in school. She's in seventh grade and attends a Catholic school so every year at this time they teach a Chastity course to the seventh graders. She is so mad. She doesn't want to go. She's afraid that the boys will make snide comments. I wasn't sure about it either than I went to the meeting.

I'm glad they had an informational meeting though it was sad to see that there were only a handful of parents there. Granted I'm sure some of them couldn't make it, but I think most couldn't be bothered and to be fair I didn't want to go either. Well I was glad I did so I know what's going to happen. They are going to basically have the kids split up into groups. Same sex only groups I might add so they'll all be comfortable. This made me feel better as this is my daughters biggest concern. They really aren't going to be talking about sex either. They are going to be mentioning it, but basically teaching them to have respect for their bodies and for others. They will teach about the importance of love and what sex is really all about. They will mention some of the other issues such as pornography and sexting. I think it's important for the kids to learn what the real meaning of sex is and that it's really making love and should be a special act between two people in love and married.

I don't know how much she'll get out of it. The woman who is running it really seemed to know what she was talking about and can get on the kids level with them.

Iron Man 2 Worth the Trip


First off let me just say. I love comic books. I'm one of those strange girls who has actually been in a comic book shop. Heck before I had kids and had extra money I used to have them hold comic books for me. I like them. What can I say. Some of them have really great stories and the pictures are great. I had to give up that hobby though because it gets expensive. I still pick one up here and there.

Now the point of this is I knew what Iron Man was before I heard about the movie and I wasn't interested. He was not one of my favorite comic characters by any means. I was more of an X-men and Star Wars girl. My husband convinced me to see it and I agreed insistent I would not like the movie. Well I was wrong and I'm happy to admit it. Robert Downey Jr. was fabulous. I loved his portrayal of Tony Stark and I loved Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts. They had great chemistry. Iron Man remains one of my favorite movies. I never mind watching it, but would the sequel deliver.

Yes, it so delivers. All I wanted on mothers day was to see this movie and I left with a big smile on my face wanting to see it again. Both of my girls came with me and they both loved it. There was a lot going on in the movie, but it all fit together nicely. Tony was his usual self though he had an added issue to deal with that causes friction with Pepper. Pepper is fighting her feelings for Tony through the whole movie though he makes it easy for her to not like him. The villain was big and scary with electric whips. He was slicing race cars in half. It was very cool to see Warmachine introduced. Very cool character. Didn't care much for the Black Widow character. She seemed unnecessary to me. Though I guess she was there to set up for the Avengers movie. There was no chemistry between her and Tony though. My only complaint would be that I wish there was more between Tony and Pepper. My 13 year old agrees with this. My 9 year old just thinks Iron Man is cool. He flies and gets the bad guys. I thought this movie was fine for both my girls to see. There is of course violence as there is with any comic book movie so you should be aware of that.

To sum it up I found it extremely enjoyable and can't wait for Iron Man 3. I hope they get to work on it soon. I need more Robert Downey Jr.

Happy Mother's Day!


Happy Mother's Day to all moms past, present and future. I hope everyone has an amazing day. Being a mom is the hardest job in the world. Many times unfortunately many moms including myself feel under appreciated. Today I felt very appreciated.

First off I started the day extremely early taking my own awesome mom to the airport for her much needed vacation to Florida. I hope she has a great time because as far as I'm concerned she is the best mom in the world. She has always put her children before herself and I have learned that from her. I would do anything for my girls as I know my mom would do anything for me. So it was my pleasure to get up at 4:15 to take her to the airport. It's the least I can do for all she does for me.

When I got back home I went back to bed. When I got up we went to see Iron Man 2. This was a must for me on Mother's Day. I love Robert Downey Jr. I will give a full review tomorrow. I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. Then we went to one of my favorite restaurants for linner as it was 2:30. That was fabulous and I just finished watching the Celtics win a playoff game. Now if only the Red Sox could win tonight I would have a perfect Mother's Day. I hope all the moms out there have as great a day as I'm having.

Tis the Season for Rashes

Everyone loves to see the end of winter and the beginning of the warmer season of spring and summer. Well with the change of the seasons come bugs, poison ivy and other irritants that just drive a mother crazy.

My 9 year old told me on Sunday that she was itchy. She appeared to have bug bits or something on her knees and ankles. Well I thought a bath would make her feel better so that's what I did. When she got up out of the bath she was covered in hives. I couldn't believe it. I ran to the store to get some benadryl. An hour after giving her the benadryl they were gone and never came back. I have no idea what it was or what caused it. It was one of those mysteries. Just something else to worry about.

My friends daughter got a mosquito bite and it got all inflamed and infected and she had to go on antibiotics. My friend was very distraught. She can't keep her daughter inside all the time, but this seems to happen every time she gets a mosquito bite.

Now yesterday my 9 year old came home with a red rash on her arms and legs. It was pretty red and she told me she got sent to the nurse and she told her it was heat rash. I wasn't so sure, but it wasn't itchy or bothering her so I let it go. Well she still had it this morning and I took a good look at it. The rash had a very lacy look to it and it was now on her cheeks. I had an aha moment. It had to be fifths disease. I wasn't positive so I did call my pediatrician and I was told to come on over. I told her I thought it was fifths disease and she agreed. Luckily it is basically just a mild virus. She is not contagious. She may develop a slight fever and the rash will last for a few days, but other than that it's nothing major. I'm glad it wasn't anything serious, but I can't help thinking that the warm months always bring on these types of issues. Oh well I love summer. Get me to the beach already. Oh yeah then I have to worry about sunburns.

It has been a while

Wow, I guess it has been a while since I have shared my shopping savings. This could be a big post!
Here is last weeks grocery trips. They include one to Winn Dixie and one to Publix. I decided to take a photo of them all together because it was easier that way.
Total before sales and coupons $220.04 ( for both stores) Total after paid out of pocket $16.22 . That is a savings of 93%!
 From Winn Dixie I was able to get 20 Jars of Classico Pasta sauce for FREE. Yes you read that right free! They were on a store sale for Buy one get one and I had manufactures for Buy one Get one so that made both of them free!! Also not pictured is 5 packages of steak that I was able to get for 4.00. It was on sale also and I used a manufactured coupon for $1.50 off one package of beef when you buy 2 jars of Classico pasta sauce. Great savings in my book!
  Then Publix. I used a $10.00 off a $50.00 or more purchase coupon That I got on my purchase from Winn Dixie. It was great to go and use it right away at Publix to get even more savings!

4- packages of Dannons crush cups yogurt.--$1.00 each
2- Breakstone sour cream-- .48 each
1- package Oscar Meyer hot dogs--$1.10
4- family sized bags Tostitos chips-- $1.49 each
4- Bags Lays Kettle chips--  FREE
2- Old elpaso dinner kits-- .86 each
4- Mission flour tortillas-- .59 each
2lbs Tomatoes--1.99
4- Deans veggie dip-- .25 each
2- Right guard deodorant-- FREE with overage
4- Digiorno Pizzas-- S2.00 each ( only one in the photo, the rest were in the freezer)
 2- Kraft Parmesan cheese -- .99 each

And then here is todays trip. Again I included both Publix and Winn Dixie. Here it is...
Total for everything in the photo before sales and coupons. $171.13 (both stores)  Total after sales and coupons that I paid, $11.87!! Another savings of 93%!
At Winn Dixie I got the cover Girl Make up.  There are 6 Powders and 4 liquid foundations! It was on store sale for Buy One Get One and I used a Manufactured coupon for Buy One Get One. So all I had to pay that stop was tax. And as an added bonus there is a catalina deal going where if you buy $30.00 worth of cover girl you get a coupon for $10.00 off your next purchas. And I got another $10.00 off $50.00 purchase. So I will use both at Publix in the next couple of weeks for more great savings!
And here is what I got at Publix...
4- Bags Lays Chips-- 2.00 each
2- Dove deodorant-- FREE with .71 overage 
5- Schick razors-- FREE with $5.05 overage
4- Ears Corn-- .25 each
2- Hidden valley Dressings-- FREE with .31 overage
1- Package Tomatoes-- $1.50
8- Poptarts-- .69 each
1- Package Hot Dog Buns--$1.99
4- Nature Valley Granola Bars-- .49 each
2- Nabisco mini packs-- .49 each

They also had the deal where if you buy $25.00 worth of groceries you can get a $50.00 BP Gas card for only $40.00. So I took advantage of that deal again to get saving on our gas!

There are some coupons that are going to be in this coming Sundays paper that will make for more Free things from Publix. So I am planning on getting our papers early in the morning and going back to Publix to get the free things and another Gas card! I can't wait!!

Thanks for looking and letting me share!
Chris

Sea Change, Great Summer Beach Read


Summer is almost here so that means vacation and relaxation at the beach. I personally always like to have a book with me to read. I tend to like really light books at the beach because I don't want to get stressed out. I just want to unwind and go someplace else. For this reason I have really enjoyed discovering the wonderful world of Young Adult fiction. There are just so many choices. Some good and some bad as is the case with any type genre. So I'm going to try to post at least one book a week that I think you could pick up and get lost in while on vacation.

First up a real summer love story. Sea Change written by Aimee Friedman. The title and cover hooked me on this book because one I love anything to do with the ocean and two it seems to deal with mermaids. I have loved mermaids for as long as I can remember. Who wouldn't want to spend their life in the ocean just floating along.

Okay so this story is about 16 year old Miranda. Miranda is spending the summer on Selkie Island with her mother after her grandmother has died. The Island is the summer home of many rich families that her mother used to be close to. She is befriended by a group of girls who are totally boy crazy. She also meets up with a boy who works at the science center on the island named Leo. She's really drawn to him and to the mysteries of the island. She begins to wonder what's really up with the island and is it really so far fetched that mermaids could exist. Not to mention is Leo a merman? Miranda is a wonderful character that you see grow throughout the story. She really discovers who she is and feels more confident in herself. I truly enjoyed it and would recommend to anyone who's looking for a little escape reading.

Dance Class Pictures

Okay so the past couple of nights I've had to take my girls to get their pictures done for dance class. This means they have to get dressed in their costumes and put on makeup and get the hair just right. This is really a pain in the butt. My oldest fights me tooth and nail. She's so not doing dance next year. She just doesn't love it enough and I'm certainly not going to make her go. It's not worth it for my sanity. She'll have to find something else. I insist on some type of activity. There's no way she's sitting on the couch all day watching TV.

Anyway, my oldest was fist up and she has the most beautiful ballet costume. It reminds me of Romeo and Juliet and she likes it which is a miracle. Her hair has to be in a bun no problem their I looked up how to do a ballet bun on Youtube. I honestly love Youtube. Then it was on to the makeup. Now you would think she would love to be told she needs to wear tons of makeup at the age of 13. Well if she doesn't get to pick it herself she's not happy. Not to mention they wanted her to wear fake eyelashes. Why they want her to do this I have no idea? You can't tell from the audience and really they're still just kids it seems ridiculous. She also told me there was no way she was wearing them she would quit first. That was just fabulous. So I get her to the dance studio minus the eyelashes I have in my pocket. I figure I can get one of the other girls or moms to help me out. Well my daughter lucked out because I bought the wrong ones and her teacher told me not to worry about it. My daughter didn't care either way because she was not wearing them and that was that. Needless to say it was a very stressful night. They were running about 1 1/2 behind schedule because one of the photographers was new and slow. It was so aggravating, but there was nothing we could do, but wait. We were lucky my daughter only takes ballet. One of her friends ended up being there much later because she had more routines.

Then it was onto my other daughter who takes tap, jazz and ballet. She's 9 and she loves dance. She would take it everyday if she could. She was no problem getting ready. She complained about nothing loved doing all of it. When we got to the studio for her there weren't as many kids as the night before. They were running ahead of schedule and it was great. The difference being they asked for a different photographer. Apparently it got really bad the night before and they didn't get finished with the older girls until well after 11:00pm which is ridiculous. My daughter has 3 different costumes so we had to do a couple of changes. A friend gave me a little trick last year she told me to layer the tights so all she has to do is take off the top layer to get to the next costumes tights. This was such a time saver I can't even tell you. Each costume has it's own rules and accessories. I have written instructions that I have to constantly look at to make sure everything is just right. As soon as one picture is done we do a quick change for the next and then do it one more time. The only problem we ran into was we changed to quickly and one girl who only takes jazz wasn't in the shot so we had to change back. This was no problem because we were running so far ahead of schedule. It was such an unbelievable difference from the night before I was out of there in less than an hour.

Now I only have to go through this 2 more times, dress rehearsal and the show. I love watching them perform, but it's exhausting to get them ready. It will nice when we have the summer break.

Glee Was Awesome

Once again I'm talking about my daughter's favorite show. Glee was great last night. They had some fabulous songs and some very silly moments as usual. I tell you I hate it when the episode is over and I have to wait a whole week for a new episode. It's had to be me.

The episode dealt with a list that was posted about the Glee club and who had the worst reputation. When the list is published there is going to be big trouble the principal wants to know who did it. This leads Will to ask the kids to find a song for the Glee club that has a bad reputation and give it a new one. He kicks things off with a fun rendition of Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice. Oh the memories on that one. Good times.

Some of the kids who were left off the list want to get on. They think the best way to do this is to break out in dance and song in the library. This group includes Kurt, Mercedes, Arty, and Tina. Britney is there too, but because she doesn't understand why she isn't higher on the list. They sing Hammer Time wearing MC Hammer pants and all. Honestly, I couldn't stop laughing. The pants just killed me.

Oh Emma also gets a backbone and yells at Will for his behavior. You go Emma. Sue Sylvester is as funny as always when the Glee kids find a video of her dancing to Olivia Newton Johns Physical and put it on YouTube. This causes major embarrassment for her until Olivia calls her and they do a new Physical video together. Seriously this woman is just hysterical.

Also of note is Rachel doing a video for the song Run Joey Run from the 70s. This causes a huge problem for her as she is doing it to give herself a bad reputation in hopes of making her popular. She asks Puck, Finn and Jessie to be in it, but none of them know she asked the others. When they see it they're all mad and Jessie breaks up with her. I think Finn was the most upset though.

Finally, Rachel sings Total Eclipse of the Heart which is one of my all time favorite songs. She totally rocked it with Puck, Finn and Jessie joining in. I loved it. Can't wait till next week. I hear Finn is going to be singing Jessie's Girl. Another of my favorites. Seriously is it Tuesday Yet.

50 Great Reasons to Join Swagbucks Today

We talked to you a few weeks ago about a great new service we've been using for a while ... called Swagbucks.  It's a site that rewards you for using their website.

However, there's one great reason to join Swagbucks now:
From now until Noon, May 7th (PST) you will get 50 Swagbucks for signing up for your FREE account. 
Join Swagbucks HERE, and then enter this code - SWAGNATION5
for your 50 Swagbucks to start off your account.
In addition to the free bucks for joining ... Swagbucks are calling this the 'Week of Wins'.  All week, your chances of multiple wins in a day have increased dramatically.  Today, I have already won 4 times, for a total of 57 Swagbucks.  PLUS there are several other ways to earn bucks on their site ... giving you plenty of opportunity to build up Swagbucks quickly.  So join here to start building up your bucks!

Our Swagbucks account has allowed us to redeem $110 worth of Amazon gift cards.   This is one of the easiest and simplest ways I know of to earn extra spending money online ... for doing stuff that I would already do. 

Your Swagbucks account is FREE. 

Chris

My Daughter is in LALA Land

Tomorrow she has her pictures for her dance class. This in itself is no big deal. I'm used to this once a year. She puts her costume on and her makeup and we go get her pictures done. It's no big deal. Well I should say it's no big deal as long as the costume is ready.

I was talking about what time we had to go tomorrow and she tells me that her costume needs to be fixed. It's too big. Now let me just state for the record I asked her last week after she had her costume day in class if everything was all set and she said it was. Now she tells me it needs to be fixed. I am not a great sewer. I can sew on buttons and simple things, but I can't handle alterations on a costume. Usually I call in my mom on this, but it's too late. She needs to wear it tomorrow. Needless to say my daughter is in LALA Land because if she was here she would have told me after her class and I would have asked my mom to fix it. So lucky me I have to spend my night doing this. I just hope I don't screw up royally. Fingers crossed people, fingers crossed.

Very Proud Mom

Last night I went to go see my daughter in her school play. My daughter is in 7th grade now, but I think I should note that up until this year she has been in speech therapy. She was diagnosed with apraxia when she was 3 years old. It's basically a speech delay. She had a lot of difficulty saying certain sounds so she has had speech therapy 1 to 2 times a week she's she's been 3. She was always very cooperative and tried her best. She really didn't want to go to speech therapy in fact the last few years she started to get embarrassed that she still had to go. She didn't want her friends to know. I felt bad, but I also knew she still needed it. Finally this year her therapist asked her what she wanted and my daughter said she wanted to be done. After talking with my daughter and the therapist I agreed. She really had come as far as she was going to with the speech therapy. She was thrilled. I was a little unsure. She had been doing it for such a long time and sometimes I still have to have her repeat something. Never the less she graduated herself from speech therapy.

Now she did her school play last year and I was proud of her. She only had 2 lines and she did fine. Now this year she had many lines and sang quite a few songs that she sang as well. She felt very confident and with good reason. I went to see her in the play and I couldn't believe this was the same little girl who had such a hard time with speech when she was little. I was amazed and so proud. She really is growing up. I can't wait to buy it on DVD so I can watch it again.

She is so sad that the play is over and there is no more drama club till next year. I can understand why because her face was lit up by the biggest smile all through the play. You could tell she was having a good time. Now she will be an eighth grader next year and they get to pick the play. Her and her friends are already talking about it so I hope they pick something great. It really is great that her school has a drama club and she is able to experience this. I really am just so happy for her.

Popular Posts

Popular Posts

Followers

Search This Blog

Blog Archive