Wednesday, March 30, 2011

CVS, Walgreens, & Walmart Shopping Trip

CVS
Spent: $3.51  Saved: $6.76 or 66%
Received $2.50 in ECB's
For whatever reason CVS was having issues with the shave cream coupons so I have to go back with my receipt and coupon next week and they are supposed to reimburse me. If anyone is interested they had newborn cvs brand diapers at the front marked down to $2 and some odd cents. Its the store on Cypress Gardens Blvd just a ways past 'the nice' Walmart.

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Walgreens
Spent: $7.60   Saved: $7.66 or 50%
Received $8 in RR

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Walmart
Spent: $8.69  Saved: $17.43 or 67%
I originally planned to buy something I hated (coffee) to give me overage to buy something I needed (fire ant killer) and only pay $.45, but I found some meat on clearance and I couldn't help myself. :)

I know I could have had better out of pocket spending but my brain was not in the mood for multiple transactions today. I kept my lists short and sweet this week. 

Hope everyone has a wonderful day!
Joy


Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Weekly Shopping Trip

Spent: $19.14  Saved: $91.31 or 83%
(I always include what tax I had to pay in my totals.)
I feel so retarded because I forgot my Winn Dixie $5 off $30 at home too! Ugh!
There were 27 items this week that were completely free (some with a little overage) using coupons!
4 John Frieda products
10 Trident Vitality Gum
2 BeechNut Steemies
7 Beyond One Cat Food
4 Ritz Munchable Pretzel Rounds

Josiah and I are really excited about those Oreo Cakesters($.50ea)! I have never had one before and oh. my. they are SOO good! I love being able to try new things that I otherwise wouldn't buy.

{Dear Miss Buttons, I hope you will like your new cat food! Let me know when your owner wants me to bring it all to Church!}

Monday, March 28, 2011

Emelyn's Dedication Service

Yesterday, Larry and Becky dedicated Emelyn to the Lord.
Bro. Hankins read some Scripture then held Emelyn as he prayed for them. 
He also presented a pink New Testament to Emelyn. 
Right before Bro. Hankins preached he and his wife sang a song that they have been able to sing at all of the kids' dedication services. I loved the words of the song. It was about having a happy home, a place where the Lord would be at home. 
Happy Nana!
T-man & Lil' E
Mommy w/ #4
Larry, Becky, & Emelyn

 "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."
Proverbs 22:6

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Busy Weekend

Friday night Michael was scheduled to preach for a Youth Rally down in Sebring. 
Josiah enjoyed playing on the playground while the teens played volleyball.
This was right before Michael could no longer stand there and not join in and play. And in true Michael fashion before the end of the game he dove for a ball in his 'for good' clothes. After the game we enjoyed some yummy spanish themed food and then topped the night off with the preaching!
 
***
Saturday morning Michael preached at our Church's Senior Patriots ministry.
This was the Senior Patriots' last meeting of the season.
{This was the only picture that turned out half way decent.}
It is always cute to listen to the older people gasp when he does a magic trick. :)
 
***
Josiah made me smile this morning. He insisted that Woody sit at the table for breakfast and eat cheerios. Then for nap time this afternoon he insisted that Woody get a night-night kiss too. He is a nut! 
 
We've been working with Josiah about sitting still and being quiet during preaching. I have a wonderful lady who also works with Josiah during Jr. Church on Sundays. I was so pleased with him on Friday and again today. He sat still and did a really good job at being quiet.
 
My little guy is growing up so fast!
 

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Weekly Shopping Trip

Spent: $27.33  Saved: $68.24 or 71%
I was in a bit of a rush to get home when I was looking at the meat so looking back I know I didn't make a wise choice. Oh well. The boneless skinless chicken breast were the only packages that had the $1.50 off wyb Philadelphia cooking creme. I really wanted to buy the chicken quarters. I saw a package that was just under $4 that would have been a much better deal if I could've used that coupon that was on the package of the chicken breast. If I had more time I would have asked if that was okay and might have had some packages broken up and still ended up with way more chicken for my money. As it is I paid $9 for both packages- not a very good deal. 

Other than that I was pleased. My store was out of some cat food and the lower priced vitamins that I would've gotten for free, maybe next week! :)

I had to chuckle to myself as I left the store. I have three really great cashiers that I like to use. Two of them were working today so I just chose the shortest line. The one cashier, Betty, that I didn't go to came to me as I was fixing to exit the door. She hugged my necked and asked me how Josiah and I was doing and let me know she has missed seeing me the last few weeks. This is why I shop at Publix, my friends! They have THE BEST CASHIERS! And they have awesome bakery dudes who will break packages into smaller sizes! Not to mention the great guys that load my groceries in my truck which totally saves my back! 

So, I paid a bit more for chicken than I wanted to (lesson learned) but where else am I going to have a cashier tell me that they missed seeing me last week?

Friday, March 18, 2011

My "not so little" Blessings

About two weeks ago now my WONDERFUL, MARVELOUS & HANDSOME HUBBY got me a new phone! It was a glorious day! Several people have welcomed me to the 21st Century. :) 
It is a Droid 2 Global! 
 I LOVE LOVE LOVE the slide out keyboard. I am now a texting maniac!
It has already been such a huge blessing to me! Y'all are really going to know I am weird now... but I LOVE the calculator on this phone. Ha! How did I ever live without it? ;) I won't even mention that wonderful Kindle app! *Happy Sigh*

Then yesterday all three of us drove down to Sebring and spent time with my sister's family and also where we...

picked up...

a....

FREEZER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My little freezer was just not capable of holding all my stuff anymore. It was a good problem to have and now I am so happy to have a new-to-us mini deep freezer to help out. 
I had to be extremely picky with what freezer food I bought due to not having space. Knowing that I was getting this freezer soon I had begun to use a freezer in the center building out here just until today when I could get things changed over. I was like a giddy little school girl running into that building this morning to grab everything and transfer is over to our new beauty. I couldn't wait to organize it all!

*Heavy Sigh*

When I entered the building I could smell something was not right and wondered to myself "Why does it smell like rotten food?" It was like a light bulb went off in my head. As I drew closer to the freezer the smell got stronger and I was so flabbergasted to see that ALL that food was now completely thawed and rotting.

I am so thankful my hubby was home to take care of getting all the food out to the dumpster and then cleaning the freezer out. I'd still be crying if I had to do that chore.

But, despite the fact that I had to watch a full bag of boneless, skinless chicken breast be thrown away -
I am still so blessed! I don't want the fact that I lost food to overshadow the very real presence of an answer to prayer that is now freezing food no more than five feet away from me!

ISN'T GOD GOOD?!!!!

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

CVS/Publix Weekly Shopping Trip

Publix Trip #1
Spent: $10.93 Saved: $35.06 or 76%

Publix Trip #2
Spent: $1.13 Saved: $30.50 or 96%



Josiah is SO excited about his 'race car yogurt'! The yogurt and the breakfast bowls were all 50 cents each! The dentastix only rang up for $3!! So I had a lot more overage than I thought that I would have which helped bring my total further down.

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CVS Transaction #1
Spent: $1.87 Saved: $29.79 or 94%



CVS Transaction #2
Spent: $0.35 Saved: $6.77 or 95%

CVS Transaction #3
Spent: $12.26 Saved: $29.45 or 71%
I was a little bummed that they were out of the free toothpaste and theraflu. I had to re-work my transactions in the store- a little nerve racking with a two year old. :) But I was still very pleased how it turned out.

Overall spent this week: $26.54 Saved: $131.57 or 83%

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Strawberry Festival

Ahh! Last night Michael and I bummed a ride with our two great friends Michael and Jennifer and headed to the Strawberry Festival!!!
We all know one of the main highlights of going to the fair is the food!!! You have to be selective because your stomach can only hold so much. Everything was so good!
 {Michael and I shared our food, I think he didn't want to let me have my bite in the this picture. lol}

When we left the park there was a produce stand that we stopped at. They had these HUGE Vidalia Onions that they were selling for $1 a piece. My first words were "that's a REALLY good price!"
I sauteed one of these bad boys tonight and now I am wishing that I bought more than four. I am not even exaggerating when I say that these onions taste awesome. These will not last long in our house.

Our friends sent us home with these strawberries. {They are really awesome! The strawberries are pretty good too! hehe}
We got them washed and hulled this afternoon and then I set out to make a Strawberry Pie. Except I could not find a recipe that I liked. I ended up using a portion of three different recipes and then I made up some of it and came up with what I am calling a 'Strawberry Cream Fluff Pie'.
I was really pleased with how it turned out. The only adjustments I will make to it is more melted white chocolate on the crust and less almond flavoring in the filling.
I think Michael and Josiah liked it too. :)
Next time anyone sees Paula Dean let her know that I will gladly work from home! :) I had so much fun making this pie, it was right up my alley since I didn't have to really measure anything. When Michael and I first got married, I used to scare him when I cooked because I don't really 'follow' a recipe, I just use it as a guide.

I am going to go change my clocks forward now and pray we get up at the right time tomorrow!! 
Good Night, Y'all!

Friday, March 11, 2011

Visiting With The Kinfolk {a few words & lots of pics}

My sister and her kiddos came down for a few days this past week. We enjoyed getting to spend some time with them Sunday for lunch & dinner.

 

We took them all to the park on Monday and they had a blast running all over the place.
After lunch Monday I kept ALL the kiddos while Becky & Larry made a quick trip to Orlando. Becky called me Mrs. Duggar, the girls called me their servant, and my mom just laughed. :) All in all, we had a wonderful time getting to visit and laugh with each other.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Weekly Shopping Trip

Spent: $18.57  Saved: $55.27 or 75%

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Sour Cream Cake = Priceless Moment

Yesterday I was able to purchase 2 packages of strawberries for 17 cents each. I knew right away what I wanted to do with one pack. So yesterday afternoon I pulled out my favorite kitchen appliance- my KitchenAid Stand Mixer to get started on a Sour Cream Cake.
 Josiah was busy playing as I finished mixing all the ingredients. I took the bowl over to the stove where the pan was ready and waiting. I was busy trying to get all the batter out of the bowl. 
It is a very thick batter so you really have to scrape to get it out. I was almost finished when I heard Josiah say "YUM! YUM! BUTTER!". I stopped everything and ran and grabbed my camera!
He is definitely mine and Michael's child.
 Mine- because he knows good things are made with a KitchenAid.
 Michael's- because he already knows to sneak a taste when I have my back turned.
After much finger-licking, he went back for more.
He is getting so smart and a bit mischievous.

In case you are wondering what I did with the cake...
 I used it to make Strawberry Shortcake. I like it this way MUCH better than those little store bought shortcakes. :)
I didn't have any whipped cream so I used ice cream and it turned out GREAT! :)

May all your strawberry shortcake dreams come true this strawberry season,
Joy