Walgreens!! and Safeway too~!

A big part of my grocery gaming is Walgreens. They frequently offer Register Rewards (RR), which are a coupon you get at checkout for $$ off your next purchase. This week I have gotten 8 free Oral B toothbrushes! The good ($4.49 regular price) ones!! That is a 6 month supply around here, new toothbrushes for everyone! I had a 75 cent off coupon which made the toothbrush $3.74 which I paid for with a gift card (rebate $$) and then I got a RR for $4.50 off my next purchase!!!

I can recall a trip to Target right before I started this couponing adventure... I needed 2 toothbrushes, Tampax, fluoride rinse for Jack and Listerine. It was almost $39 for those items (I still have the receipt) on SALE. Well, now I get them for free or not at all. In 23 months we have never run out of them either. I just wish we had a CVS -people are getting so much for free there between specials and coupons.

I also stocked up on cold and allergy medicines this week... I got 3 Tylenol Allergy, 3 Tylenol Cold liquids, 2 Sudafeds, 1 Tylenol Cold caplets ... total cost after $4.49 RR and coupons $8.26 (gift card again) and I got back $12 in RR... so I made almost $4 on that one.

Gift Card: Every month Walgreens has Free After Rebate (FAR) items... I buy them and then have the rebates put on a gift card, which gives me an extra 10% bonus.. plus I don't have to wait for a check, as they reload my same card every month. I use that to pay instead of cash... bringing my savings down even more!

Ok... the reason for my post about Walgreens was that they are having a SUPER deal on photo printing right now (til the end of Saturday)! In store or thru walgreens.com you can print pictures (minimum of 50) using code DIME for 10 cent prints .. which is a great price for one hour photo printing on it's own... but now you could buy a toothbrush and pay $4.49 plus tax, then use the coupon to pick up your pictures. Or else at the website there is a coupon good for $5/$20 purchase.. you could order 200 pictures, use the coupon and end up with a price of 7.5 cents a print for 1 hour photos. And at the website you can add cool borders to the photos (or a thin white border -which is what I do) for free.

Yesterday was also a good day at Safeway. I bought $64 in Scrubbing Bubbles cleaners and 10 cans of Campbells Harvest soups ($3.39/can regular price) using coupons and paid $17. I received a coupon for a free copy of IRON MAN which just came out on DVD this week and my family loved that movie. Plus I have a mail in rebate for another $5.69 --so my total cost for the DVD, cleaning supplies and soup was $11.31!!

That's it for now... have a Happy Friday!

October 1.. the final quarter of the year begins

Today was another busy day. I left right after the kids did and took the doggies to the park. Then brought them home, fed them and checked emails/did some work. I left then to meet my friends and scrapbook. I had sent some pictures over to Walgreens (so I could use some of my "free" money coupons to buy them) and so I picked them up and I was on my way. I made myself a small album "My Life Right Now" with some pictures and thoughts that stood out to me. I like it. It is simple, not elaborate like other projects I've done as I am still working my way back into being creative -but it's done and it's mine.

After the kids got home they did homework and played on the computer. Actually, Steven & I watched 90210 first, then he did those things. Then we headed out to dinner -Chinese. The food was good and reasonably priced. We had a good time. Then dropped of the laptop I just picked up (wireless doesn't work now) and made a quick run into Walmart for some groceries I needed to get.

Once home the kids went off to do their own thing, and Jon & I sat down to watch the season premiere of one of our favorite shows ..Friday Night Lights!!!! DirectTv made some kind of deal that kept the series alive, the shows are only airing on directv right now, but will be shown on NBC in January. I LOVE this show and was so excited to see it back tonight and WITHOUT COMMERCIALS!!! 53 minutes of pure show bliss.

So for those of you who have mentioned how late I am posting.. I am currently in a quandry.. I am taking cold medicine to control my sinus pain, stuffy nose and scratchy throat (weather change related I think) and it keeps me up. So I take it and feel good, but can't sleep... or I can not take it and sleep, but then I can't breathe. It is a horrible choice to make, so I have chosen to breathe clearly with only 4-5 hours sleep a night for the last 5 days. I figure I am going to have to sleep eventually --right? Mornings are hard, really hard (thus the blogging at night), but once I am up and going, I feel fine, not really tired at all. Right now I am starting to feel tired, but still wired... hopefully I will be asleep within the hour... fingers crossed!

Steven is playing 2 scrimmage games this weekend in preparation for their tournament next week. These will be his first glasses free games - so we'll see how the contacts fair in game play. One week until basketball tryouts .. in middle school they get to participate in school sports. 6th grade the choices are: Track, Cross Country and Wrestling --so he passed. 7th grade: same as 6th plus Basketball and Flag Football. He has been waiting for Basketball for over a year -now tryouts are almost here.

Jack has been drawing more often again... he seems to get lost in the process. He is using his book and following the directions and the results are clear -he is getting better and better. Here is the one he made for me today after dinner. He has started playing on Club Penguin again, Webkinz seems to be out. He says that he is dreading the 5 hours in the heat on Sunday while Steven plays baseball..

Another day gone by...

It is still Tuesday, September 30th... the last day of the month. In an hour it will be October. I can hardly believe that.
I am thinking... about my to-do list for tomorrow being more than I would like between work and home and kids and I am supposed to (and I want to) scrapbook with my friends, but I am not prepared. At this point I plan to go and finish the project I didn't finish
last week... when I am done I am coming home
I am thankful for... the opportunity to work from home. I hope it will continue so I can be here for the boys when they need me.
Today in the kitchen... was ok... I heated up a lasagna my friend talked me into at Costco -but my family says my homemade one is much better -they didn't care for this one.. the garlic bread was super yummy! I will get that again for sure.
I am going... to bed.. very, very soon. I am not staying up as late as last night.
I am reading... still book 2 of Twilight series
I am hoping... that my cold/allergies will end soon and not turn out to be a sinus infection (which is where it seems to be headed)
I am hearing... just my music.. everyone else has been in bed for a long time

One of my favorite things...
Today I went to see a movie with my girlfriend for her birthday and my mom was able to meet us (last minute, we decided 45 minutes before the movie to go!). We saw Nights in Rodane (not sure if I spelled that right) based on a Nicholas Sparks book. It was slow and sad, not really the right choice for an uplifting birthday celebration. I liked it... but it wasn't the right mood for today.
A picture thought I am sharing..

Whenever I go to Starbucks for coffee now (which is not often) I get a venti water because I love the size and weight of the cup and the straw. I wash it every night and reuse it for a week or 2 (until I drop it and break it). I drink water out of it all day long. I fill the cup probably 8-10 times a day and it is easy to take with me. I don't know why I like it so much -but I really do like it better than any reusable bottle or cup I've ever had.










Almost every day I go here:


This is the dog park they built nearby. The dogs love it and I enjoy being able to get out and walk. I walk the track around
the park while they run.. it is 20 minutes of constant movement I wouldn't get if I wasn't there. I can't walk the dogs too much
on leashes because they pull and it hurts my wrists... but at the park we all get exercise. If you look closely in this picture you'll see
my dogs... they were the only ones in the park when I ran out to take the picture today.

Just another Manic Monday...

I actually heard that song on the radio yesterday and it stuck in my head... so I had to title my post that way. I am participating in a scrapbooking challenge to document my life for a week. The idea is at the end I will have an album that is a true representation of how we live, today, really, right now. Not a picture perfect view.. but a real view. I am doing mine digitally and will try to share it when it's done. For now, here are 2 of the pictures I took today. My Mr. Coffee --I could not live without him! He is always here for me, day after day. I count on him. I know it's programmable, but the problem is I don't ever know what time I want it ready... so Steven comes in to wake me at 7 a.m. ish and then he goes down and pushes the button to start my coffee! He has recently started pouring me a cup of coffee if it is ready before I make it downstairs (dressed, usually...) and he has the ratio of Vanilla creamer to coffee just about perfect now. It is a sweet gesture -very telling of his nurturing nature. In fact, we laughed about it weekend before last.. he got a cup to make me some coffee because the Mr. Coffee beeped that it was done. Steven didn't realize I had already gotten some, when the first drops appeared in the carafe (thank goodness for that automatic pour feature) and Jon asked what he was doing. He said getting me some coffee and we chuckled over the fact that the beep went off & he immediately thought to pour me a cup. Ahhh, this is the life!!

Not to be shown up by Steven's baking abilities... I made banana bread muffins yesterday, for us to have for breakfast today. Yummy -coffee and muffins.... love it! We had extra rotten bananas so why not? We really like them.

Today I went to Costco with my friend. She has been telling me to go forever, but you need a card, and I don't have one. I spent way more than makes me comfortable in one trip (I feel that way at Sams too!). Since my grocery store trips are usually coupon experiences, it is rare for me to pay even $35-$40 at a time, so the $166 bill today startled me. Then I got home and looked at my receipt (over & over & over again) and realized I had enough meat for 14 meals, contact solution for Steven (3 big bottles), 10 lbs of carrots and potatoes, 5 lbs of celery and a big hunk of cheese plus tp and paper towels. So even breaking just the meals down it is only like $6 per meal with enough for leftovers to go in lunches. That made me feel A LOT better about it. I am still not sure I should join. I saw LOTS of things I wanted, 2 of them enough to take pictures and put them on my wishlist ---you know the one: the someday I'll be buying something for me for some reason and I really want this??? list--like the Smart Crockpot I want, but I already have 3 crock pots -but the Smart One knows to turn itself to warm after the allotted cooking time, thus preventing burning or timing issues. I can't justify buying it, but I REALLY want it. Well they have it there -for only $39! plus a $5 mail in rebate... but I was good -I didn't buy any of it -which was hard. Plus I spent almost 2 hours there. I am not sure I have that kind of time or money to spend to often. I better stick to going with my friend once every other month or so -that should keep me on track.

Ok.. well it's 1 a.m. now so I think I better sign off and get to bed. I was up finishing some work, then went outside with the dogs and just stared at the dark, starry sky -it was really beautiful as the air was crisp and there was a slight breeze --but it woke me up. So here I am almost 2 hours later finishing this epic blog post about nothing. Funny thing is -it was way easier to write than planned topics. How's that for ironic.

Big News for Steven!~

I snapped this picture of Steven on the computer yesterday --notice his missing glasses? He is wearing contacts!!!

He loves them, but says that his eyes are tired a bit...which is normal according to Mike *the guy who did the fitting* and that is why he has to build up to wearing them all day. He says he is seeing things way clearer. Which makes sense since his glasses were usually dirty or had finger smudges on them.... They gave him 30 day contacts, which he will put in every morning and take out at night and then replace with a new pair every 30 days. He really loved playing baseball without glasses Friday night at practice. Sunday he rubbed his eye and the contact came out -I think a bit of dirt may have gotten near his eye... it's a learning curve we are on, hopefully it will continue to go well. The optical guy said that it is hard to learn at this age -many kids aren't ready for contacts, but after talking to Steven and working with him, he thinks he is ready!

We didn't see much of him this weekend.. he spent the night Friday at his friend Josh's house, then came home Saturday afternoon. He was home for 3-4 hours and went back to sleep over again. They just watched a movie with Josh's dad, lots of Friends episodes and hung out -apparently having a great time! I missed him, but sometimes we all need a break and to get away -so he got his.


In other news --I am now reading the 2nd Twilight book. I am not as drawn into this one, the other one I couldn't put down, this one I have. I am enjoying it, but in smaller doses -maybe I am subconsiously tryin to make it last longer? Jack & I went to Barnes and Noble Friday night to get a book for him. He read Kingdom Keepers by Ridley Pearson (*I think?) and the 2nd book just came out a few weeks ago -so it is only in hardback and not at the libraries. He was so anxious to read it -that we went and got it. He also found a new Spiderwick series (one of his favorites!) and so he got the first book in that series too. We had a treat at the cafe (milk & chocolate chunk cookie for him, water and lemon bundt cake for me) and then we headed to the mall. We checked out the phone case kiosk -but they don't have any cases for Jack's phone... then stopped and bought me some sunglasses in JC Penney on our way out. I had the same sunglasses for 17 years and they got broken recently... so I had to get a replacement. The ones I had were Ray Bans Jon found when cleaning a theater many years ago, I liked them and so he gave them to me and I had worn them ever since! I loved those glasses and can only hope I will find some that I like just as much someday.

Happy Monday everybody!

Happy Birthday Cynthia!

Today is Cyn's birthday! We already celebrated it this past weekend... but I am thinking of her today. What to say about Cynthia? She is a woman who knows how she feels. She trusts her instincts and doesn't get talked out of things. She is fiercely loyal and protective of her family. She is a great mom, who loves her kids and trys to put them first. She is the love of my brother's life... you can see it on his face when she walks into a room. Cyn shows she cares for others. She has and currently is a surrogate carrying twins for another couple -which is awe-inspiring to me. Her dedication to helping someone else have a family is an act of love, and it shows.

The boys are blessed to have her as a part of their lives, and they each wanted to give her a gift on their own this year! Jackson made a drawing and framed it -only the second time he has ever gifted his art to someone other than me. Steven on the other hand, got her chocolate, knowing it would make her smile. They often reminisce about the times growing up that we spent together at the park, the pool, grandma's house or a even just a family dinner .... they enjoy those times together -which is nice, since at the time I wasn't so sure....

So, basically we love her! We hope you had a fabulous day Cyn, you deserve it!! Happy Birthday!

Our Husky of the Month

Today, my parents and I went to Jackson's school for the Husky of the Month assembly, where Jackson was being recognized for his Hard Work. This is a big thing for him! There are 8 opportunities for this award each year and 32 kids in the class (last year 20) who all want to earn it.

The principal put this poem on the screen at the beginning of the assembly:

I may be small. That's very true.
But I succeed and so can you.
I move a mountain, bit by bit.
It takes hard work - I never sit.
I work and work throughout the day.
My work comes first before I play.
Success is yours, please understand
when you and work go hand in hand.

Jack's teacher wrote this (and the principal read it to everyone) about him:
Jackson is this month's Husky for Hard Work.
Everyday I see Jackson working hard and using
his time wisely. He is focuses, pays attention, stays on
task and completes his work accurately and on time.
Because of his hard work he has already completed his
AR goal!! It is a pleasure to have a hard working student like
Jackson in our class. --Mrs. Ennis

Jackson-we are so proud of you! Keep up the hard work!
Love, Mommy

Banana Bread

Steven made Gram's banana bread (in mini muffin form) for his school project. He said the kids liked them, 16 of the 30 asked for the recipe ... good thing we made so many copies! When cooking his movements are slow and deliberate, precise. He follows the recipe, one step at a time. He seems to enjoy cooking and I enjoy cooking with him. Although I do find myself wanting him to hurry --then I realize that he is just being exact and taking his time to get it right... I try not to rush him thru the steps, because then he won't learn.