Total Spent $75.23 Total SAVINGS: 94.29!!!

A goal I set going onto couponing was for my total savings to exceed my total spent!! You should have seen the JIG I started to dance as the clerk at Publix added up my savings and my total started

shrinking and

shrinking and

shrinking!!!!

(DISCLAIMER: keep in mind this is only my second week really using coupons..so if you are a die hard bargain shopper and you are looking at my savings saying "oh that's nothing" pass along ANY and all tips...I'm so totally new to this, but so totally addicted too!")

Oh yeah so so exciting!! Who needs coffee when you are on a savings high?!!

So here's what I bought today at PUBLIX



4 boxes of Kraft whole grain Mac and Cheese (on sale)
4 Cans Del Monte veggies (BOGO plus Mf Q)
2 large cartons all natural no preservative Swanson Chicken broth (BOGO)
2 boxes Ronzoni Lasagna pasta (BOGO)
2 boxes Betty Crocker muffin mix (BOGO)
6 boxes Uncle Bens Long Grain and Wild Rice (BOGO and 1 MF Q and 2 printable Q)
1 box light brown sugar (on sale .69 per and a mf Q)
1 box 10X sugar (on sale .69 per and a mf Q)
32 oz jar Hellman's lite Mayo (BOGO plus Q)
2 boxes sugar free Swiss Mis Hot Cocoa (BOGO plus Mf Q)
2 boxes reduced fat wheat thins (BOGO plus printable Q)
2 boxes reduced fat triscuits (BOGO plus printable Q)
2 bags Chex Mix (BOGO plus 2 printable coupon....33 a piece)
1 box Land o lakes butter (BOGO plus mf Q)
2 dozen organic eggs (full price)
2 pkgs Sargento cheese (2/ $5 plus Mf Q)
2 16 oz Breakstone Sour Cream (.99 - check the expiration date...I got a low fat and a fat free on expires n Dec the other Jan)
2 Rolls Jimmy Dean reduced Sodium Sausage (BOGO)
2 pkgs Oscar Meyer low sodium bacon (BOGO)
2 Lysol toilet bowl cleaners (BOGO and 2 printable Q)
1 Hunt's Spaghetti Sauce (full price...needed and no other deals were as low as original price of Hunts)
1 bottle hand soap (on sale...needed, but no Q..ugh!)
2 bottles Glass Plus cleaner (BOGO and a printable online Q)
1 package Dixie heavy duty paper plates (BOGO plus MF Q)
1 package Dixie heavy duty paper bowls (BOGO plus Mf Q....I just used the bogo to get 1 plate and 1 bowl)
1 bottle DOVE shampoo (2 for $7 plus MF Q)
1 package 2000 flushes ($1 off coupon)
2 cans DelMonte less salt veggies (BOGO plus Mf. Q )
2 Betty Crocker mashed Sweet potatoes (BOGO plus Mf Q)
10 Martha White corn muffin mixes (all 10 totally freeuse the $5 off coupon in the T'giving Saver their regular price is only 2 for .99)
8 lbs oranges (bogo of 4lb bag...I got 1 bag of large and 1 bag of small)
2 cans Muir Glen Organic Tomato Sauce (2 $1 off Q)
1 carton V-8 Southwest Corn soup (1 off mf Q)
3 cans Cream Chicken soup....(4/$3 plus mf Q)
3.23 lbs Sweet potatoes (.43 a pound...more than .10 cheaper than Kroger's sale price IF you have a family savings book then you get them for free BUT i just got signed up for one so I didn't)
1 pkg Good Bites doggie treats (totaly free with a MF Q for a free pkg)
and a couple more things I forgot to keep track off....


But there you have it...my grocery list that cost me $75.23!!

I forgot to take my penny Q for my bleach bottle for a penny...URK! So I will go back plus I found 2 more Q Muir Glen Organic Tom. Q's so I will take those and get that too!

IF YOU GOT OTHER GREAT deals at Publix or other places please leave a comment so me and my friends can take advantage of all the deals there are floating out there! Thanks!!

PS...I've had a few people tell me they put me down as a 'referral' on the grocery game when they joined....THANK YOU...i didn't even know about that...way cool!! IF anyone else does this please use THIS email for me so I get the referral credit and it doesn't just float around in la la land!! I'll get 12 weeks free for every 3 referrals apparently....so so cool!! I love to save money...

so use: thadandrachelb (at) msn (dot) com

thanks friends!!

Art Show...my house: every day!!

My Mr Wonderful completed a long-awaited project today!!

HOORAY HOORAY!!

We found these frames and painted them

My sweet wonderful hubby Hung them on the walls. He hung down from the hanging nail thingy (don't you love my technical terminology) some handy dandy hooks we had (for something else) from IKEA and attached clips like this:

here's a close-up so you don't get overwhelmed by the technical mumbo jumbo

PREEESEEENTING our family art showcase!!
Totally changeable...MK drew the Christmas tree real quick while Daddy was hanging the frames so she could put it in (although she only got copy paper and quickly realized it needed a backing of contruction paper not to curl).

The great thing is we can adjust where in the frame the clip is. Anyway...I'm thrilled with it!! I love those pretty frames to put your kids artwork in, but my kids are constantly doing things I/they would love to display, so this works much better for me! Plus they get to be a part of it...even better in our house!! I just grabbed some things real quick to put up (some are a couple of years old and looking a bit sad..they didn't have a nice place to hang and are loving not being mushed in a box they tell me!!

It's an art show every day around here now and we love it!! It's so simple and well...me!

If I could choose whatever frames I wanted I would choose some funky ones and use different widths and looks, but this is what I have for now, and for now I'm just so thankful to have a wall that's all about my kids and let's them know what they do is important/awesome/beautiful enough to be on display!!

Christmas Wish

tonight was tough.... Cleaning up the kitchen from a yummy & fun relaxing dinner (a fabulous grilled pork tenderloin I bought on a good sale...ha ha!)
after a totally fun day of Christmas Crafts and T'giving fun

BAM!!

We don't know if it was the Christmas music I had playing (Thanks to online radio we've been prancing around the house to seasonal tunes a bit early around here) or what, but MaryKyle started sobbing...not just crying, but down right uncontrollable sobbing.

Apparently at that moment it hit her that Aaliyah would not be here for the holidays or to celebrate her 3rd b'day...

"but Mommy she has never done any of those things away from us!"

I of course could not contain my daily suppressed tears. Who could ??

John Mark was in the other room completing a project he'd started before dinner and he walked back into the kitchen and stopped in his tracks seeing the tears and says....

"what?!!" "Wh... What...what HAPPENED in here?!!!" (say it slowly & accentuate the 3rd "what" and "happened" a little more in your head and you've got it!)

So typical male -oh how I love that boy!

He WAS nice enough to go tell Daddy about the drama occurring in the kitchen downstairs
who was nice enough to then come and rescue me knowing how much I'm already struggling this season. Which allowed me to escape when I felt I could and get myself distracted and together before I lost it like MK beyond just a good tearfall...
I distracted myself by looking at old pictures of the last few Christmases...

I know, I know so sounds like the LAST think I should do to distract myself in such moments

But it makes me ever so happy to remember when I was truly parenting 3 children
(not just feeling like the parent of 3 children with only 2 here for me to protect).
Remembering when that beautiful little girl with the biggest most stunning smile graced the halls of this house with her whoops and hollers and giggles!!
It makes me smile...(and sometimes cry)
but tonight..tonight it made me SMILE!!

and then...at some point, the entire family ended up surrounding the laptop laughing at our little darling and her greatly missed antics! memories captured on film are such an incredible blessing!

Isn't she just the most adorable thing?

People sometimes say that "she might come back" It might shock some to know that I do not hope for that.

That would mean she would have something sad happen in her life and that is not what I want for her no matter how much I long to hold her again. This amazing child could draw all attention in a room to her...she could sing and laugh and dance and was just so full of smiles and joy!
I hope she is smiling right this very moment and belly roll laughing at next to nothing...
ooohhhh THAT's what I hope for her!!

That is my Christmas wish!

Thursday

Today I laughed (pretty hard)

I just had to call my hubby because I knew he would appreciate the humor

Today a lady chased me down in the Publix parking lot....

...to ask me coupon tips!

after being somewhere behind me in line

...watching the clerk panic she was going to have to give me money back

she didn't- Aw Shucks!

yep...today,

I laughed...at me!

and my addiction to couponing was fueled thanks go an old friend sharing with me a new site and a lady looking for lessons in saving ....to ME...ha ha ha haha!

my weekly tally of savings: $131.48

SWEET!

I am learning slowly but surely

Wacky Wednesday

Wacky because this is not something I ever saw myself enjoying

I've always been amazed when my friends use coupons and talk about all they save. I have a brother in law that has rubbermaid containers filled with toothbrushes, power strips, shampoo that he got for free ...and always has a pantry filled with yummy food...all bought at rock bottom prices. He's even bought hardwood floor for their entire house for an INSANE deal! He's a genius when it comes to sale shopping and couponing, and money management. It all sounds so good in theory, but I didn't have time for that and when I did try to clip coupons I inevitably forgot to use them!

Recently I've decided I am throwing away a significant amount of money that I just don't have to. Plus I want to teach my kids to be really good money managers. So I decided to give this coupon madness another shot....I'm totally new to it all, but here's what I'm doing and I'm certainly seeing a huge difference!

I start by buying the Sunday AJC for 1.00 on the corner in my town...AJC (Atlanta Journal & Constitution) wanted $12 a month to do Sunday only delivery?? ? What on earth?! If someone knows how I can get it for less let me know!! But for now I'll buy it at the stop sign just down the street! Plus the people that sell it are super nice and friendly...always a perk for my customer service craved self! Plus they are there on Sat and Sun with it. So if I'm really ambitious (rarely) I could have my coupons clipped & organized on Saturday night

I joined - The Grocery Game the biggest benefit is that it saves me comparing sale ads to coupons and it knows the in-store specials to combine with coupons so you don't have to take every coupon to the store to do the math. Finding a way to organize your coupons is the hardest thing to this...I'm getting there and pretty pleased this week with what I've done. But that's more details than you need right now!

I signed up for ShortCuts & P&G esaver they have coupons that can be loaded onto your kroger plus card (along with other nationwide chains)...no paper! These coupons generally can't be doubled but they CAN be used along with a paper one for even more money off an item...like I got green giant frozen veggies for free combining a coupon from the paper along with an e coupon

something else I have learned...is Walgreens offers rebates for items (other stores too, but I think theirs are generally the best). Get their little booklet of rebates just inside the door. Many many items can be bought and then you get a full or partial rebate...use a coupon on an item you get a full rebate on....and you make money!! This includes TONS of items...make up, groceries, extension cords, medicines, toothpaste, shampoo, etc etc etc...you just never know! I recently got a $28 rebate check for a register receipt of $32!!
I now keep a basket (laundry basket sized) in the floor of my linen closet filled with extra toothpastes, toothbrushes, shampoo, tylenol, etc etc...so when we are out we go there first! Started it back in August and we've not run out of anything. But almost everything in that basket I got for free or just a few pennies!!

So here's my latest savings for proof. last night I made a quick run to Kroger. My total to pay was 101 dollars and my savings was $70...HOORAY!! I have plenty of meat, veggies, bread, etc...to feed my family for a good while...we're talking ground beef, two huge turkeys, 2 huge boneless pork tenderloins, etc etc etc Things I will put in my freezer (along beside the packages of hormone free chicken breasts I got two weeks ago for $1/lb) and pull out as needed.

The key is to buy things at rock bottom prices...and stock up. Create a 'grocery store' in your pantry of items you bought at their lowest price possible. It makes me happy to look in my pantry every day now glancing around at the deals I've gotten!

Yep I think I'm addicted...while hubby watched a movie last night I worked on organizing coupons and shopping for the best deals. I get a high when I know I've made a great deal!!!

Monday Madness

Today doing schoolwork, John Mark was so distracted by...well ANYTHING...We talked to him and he decided his discipline would be to finish without speaking a single word until his work was complete...and he did it...ha ha ha!! All of a sudden he was plugged in and excited. He quickly proceeded to mouth, pantomine, charade and any other non-speaking way to communicate to let me know how far along he was.

I was just thrilled he was getting his work done (finally!)...and I must admit the charades were cracking me up

After a bit of a stressful day, Who wanted to cook??? I didn't even have a plan...
I had to come up with something quick,

but just before I took just a minute to imagine my children doing just what I ask, right when I ask, every single time I ask them to do something....(I also imagined myself laying in a plush bed in a beautiful hotel room eating creme brulee brought by room service)

shhh...let me imagine just a minute more please!)

So homemade pizza it was...and not a word of whining was heard...HOORAY!!

about to head into the oven



it's no creme brulee, but avacado brings me joy as well...and no one even said ewwww when they saw it. Yep, a GOOD night!


Sydney worried she'd be left out of the Spades game that followed dinner...crazy crazy dog...she was directly in my face with her old dog breath...oh how I must love her, because no one else that smelled that would!



fun family time...laughter is the foundation of all great memories, right?!

These little card holder things are the best invention ever!


MK has issues with holding her cards so everyone can see them...why not make sure Syd. has seen them too...the rest of us have!

okay so here you are...next time you want a super fast easy dinner
Quick and Easy Pizza Dough
makes 1 pizza dough

2 cups flour
1 Tbsp yeast
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
appx 3/4 cup warm water

Mix one cup of flour and all other ingredients
gradually add 2nd cup of flour until it forms a ball. Use your hands to form and knead the dough
Cover with a dish towel and let rise for 15-20 min
grease cookie sheet or pizza pan with a bit of olive oil and spread dough
top with your favorite toppings. Cook at 375 for appx 15 min.


Pizza Sauce
for 2-4 pizzas

1 (12 oz) can tomato paste
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp basil
1/4 tsp oregano
3-4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 Tbsp brown sugar (I would cut out or just do about a tsp it was too sweet for us)
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
**
Mix all ingredients together and let sit for about 10 min
Spread on pizza...pretty thin or it will over-power the flavor
**although I used dried basil in the recipe I also added some fresh that I just tore and threw in. It was a very yummy touch and was a good combination with the flavor of the sauce!

We proclaimed tonight family movie night.


I made this for my family:


they said it was yummy...here is the recipe:
Peanut Butter Popcorn
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup light corn syrup
½ cup creamy peanut butter
½ cup unpopped popcorn kernels

Pop corn in an air popper and place in a large bowl. In a medium saucepan, combine sugar and corn syrup over medium heat. Stir until bubbly and sugar is completely dissolved. Remove the pan from heat and stir in peanut butter until smooth. Evenly pour the mixture over the popcorn and combine well. Let cool for 2 minutes before serving (best eaten with fingers).
**note from the cook - I can not eat popcorn so I can not personally vouch for this new recipe except that it looked and smelled yummy! I got it from The Dish on Delish




Thanks to our new Clear play DVD player we enjoyed watching The Empire Strikes Back.
..oh wait..
I didn't enjoy it one bit. I hate Star Wars.
But I do enjoy having my gang snuggled up in one room on a cool wet evening!

And if you have kids and don't have a Clear Play DVD player, I give it two thumbs up! We are very selective when it comes to what goes into our children's brains and this DVD player allows us to be even more in control and allows the ability to show them movies that we otherwise wouldn't, it even lets us watch things that we wouldn't otherwise ourselves either! There's my review for the week...

Thursday...nothing exciting

typical day in our home today...nothing exciting really. I took the kids for their check-up this morning. By the way, if you don't have a pediatrician that you LOVE you deserve one. I mean...I feel like our pediatrician is family. She is so good to us. I can't even begin to tell you what she has done for us and means to our family



My kids as I try to distract them from the possibility of shots (notice her eyes) the camera worked for a sec...when does that panic in them go away? Although they did really really well. But I had to laugh at MaryKyle, she was saying "okay hold on give me just a second I need to breathe and focus just give me a sec" ha ha ha!! Bad Mommy moment...I truly laughed out loud and she then looked at me so pitiful and went "Mommy PLEASE stop laughing it's just not funny!" oh did I feel bad, and swallowed my giggle as best as possible.

She forgave me...thankfully!

after the appt we met my Mom and they went for some Grandmama time before she heads out of town for a little bit.

Then Mommy enjoyed a Pumpkin Pie Spice Latte from my favorite Coffee Shop...and ran into friends.

and went shopping with hubby for a new project for the house....can't wait to see how it turns out...hopefully it will not be wet and rainy tomorrow and I can paint and get it done...if so I will put some pictures.

The kids came home and I made this for dinner:


the picture and recipe are from a great blog I read

it was actually really good. I added some shrimp I threw on the grill. the kids did love the pine nuts, she was right!

So that was our day. It was a plain ol regular day in our home...it was a good day!

oh and just so I won't forget in the future...

MaryKyle was as always in the 20th percentile for height and 10 for weight
John Mark was in the 65th for height and 60th for weight...as she said "perfectly proportioned"
on a homeschooling note at the appt MK asked our ped a question about how she checked eyes, etc...Dr Hines responded with a pretty detailed answer in terms easily understood by a 9 yr old. To which MK then responded with "oh you mean....." and a more in depth way to explain the workings of an eye. Our pediatrician laughed and said "oh I totally forgot you were homeschooled!" made me feel good about our decision once again!

We had a great visit this past weekend visiting with my sister, her hubby and my precious niece and nephew. My niece, Holland, spent the day with us one day while my Mom, sister and my nephew, Greeley, headed on a big shopping expedition.

I decided to take them to the zoo. Holland loves the zoo. It was the most perfect day to go. It was overcast and the middle of a week day. It was the perfect weather, not too hot, not too cold. and the zoo was dead. We had the animals nearly to ourselves, and it was feeding time. So all were out and right at the viewing areas. It was a wonderful trip and we had so much fun with Holland!!

"tweet tweet"

my gorgeous niece who looks so much like Shirley Temple

John Mark took this picture of me and Holland right where she told him too...ha ha!

had to take a picture when I stopped at a red light because they were just so sweet and cute on the way to the zoo I wanted to remember it. It made me smile all the way there listening to them and glancing at them!

Grandmama and Greeley

he's one delightful baby!

S'mores are so yummy when eaten with loved ones!
okay so they are yummy even if you are alone, but more fun with loved ones around!

enjoying the fire

Greeley loved watching the fire!

John Mark roasting his hot dog...although all he really does is warm it up a bit

In Training

We've started something new and crazy in this house this week (seriously if you know me you can laugh). We are training. We have decided to get healthy as a family. Watching how much John Mark loves to run when playing baseball we decided to train for a 5k (baby steps) to do all together. That may not be a big deal for you, but for us...huge...well for me. Hubby has run a marathon (and biked 100 miles, etc) and John Mark loves to run and never wants to stop. MaryKyle is always game for exercise although running is a whole new thing to her. We are starting very slow, but ran walked 2 miles last night on a short interval which was doing pretty good for us. Our plan is to get signed up for one that first weekend in Dec.
Pacing together and encouraging each other along the way is a big learning experience. But last night especially we did super at pacing together. Plus it's just been plain ol fun to get out on these fabulous fall evenings and take a jog and chat with each other...It's a fun time together! Last night's run we ended in a prayer of thanksgiving for our health and for each other!

I am beyond BLESSED

(I figured if I wrote it on my blog then I would stay committed to the goal)

Halloween fun!

AAHHHH.....blogger has turned into html gobbledy goop and I can't see my pictures or anything other than the html and it's not giving me another option...UGH!! So here are picturs I hope of our halloween celebrations. Some are in the neighborhood, a couple (before my camera told me the memory stick was full...ugh) are of our church's trick or trunk and my sweet wonderful hubby leading the devo and singing part.
If you can't tell MaryKyle is a fairy sitting on a toadstool and John Mark is a cowboy...then mommy and Daddy had a little bit of fun the day of too.
The day started with us eating 'witch hats' for b'fast (didn't take pictures...YUM! they were crescent rolls with the long end rolled up just a bit and the point curled to look a bit whimsical and then I put some cinnamon and sugar on them.

(image taken from Littlenummies.net)

For dinner we had 'mummies, frog eggs, and witches brew' (aka hotdogs wrapped in pizza dough and baked, white corn, and fruit smoothies)


One of our neighbors rode around the neighborhood on her bike as the wicked witch from the wizard of oz and handed out candy apples. She looked JUST like the witch...seriously it was AWESOME!! She and her hubby are so into holidays and do such fun things...my kids just love it. With their lack of teeth the candy apples are a bit of a challenge, but that wasn't stopping them...they tackled them! YUM!!

So difficult to believe my oldest tuned NINE this week!

Her crown awaited her covered in words and pictures that represented her to us words like "smart" "Sweet" "girl scout" "art" "crafts" "the perfect gift" "cooking" "joy" "happy" "costumes" etc etc!

as is tradition she awoke to a door decorated to immerge through as a NINE year old!!

a b'fast made with her in mind: heart shaped french toast and scrambled eggs...dry and crumbly just the way SHE likes them (and her Daddy but NOT her Mommy)

My nine year old...ready to enjoy her b'fast

and then just after b'fast, she lost her 2nd top tooth. She could not have been more excited - to lose it on her b'day she thought was WAY cool and proceeded to show and tell everyone she came in contact with all day long!

Later that afternoon we headed with a couple friends for a last minute planned outing to paint ceramics at a little place MK and I found on a romp around town a couple days previous.

the b'day girl chose one of the most inexpensive things in the entire shop to paint...tiny and cute is what she goes for! And she worked on it for over 2 hours....

yummy homemade ghost brownies were on the menu (along with some fruit and string cheese...and jelly bellies by special request of the b'day girl)

We all had a delightful time - even Daddy!!

(have I mentioned I have the most handsome amazing husband ever?)

Daddy and John Mark left early from ceramics and we met back up at John Mark's baseball game that night...MK got to open a present there too from Aunt Laura Beth and Uncle Brian. Stamps, paper and stuff to make handmade cards...arts and crafts...right up her alley she was thrilled!

After the baseball game we headed home for some more presents.

This is just what she wanted!

It's tradition that Daddy each year gets her an American Girl doll. She loves looking through the catalogue and choosing which one she likes best that year. This year she knew JUST what she wanted and barely looked at the dolls in the catalogue, as she had already apparently had it in her mind what she wanted.

But no matter, each year she is delightfully surprised to see her Daddy really got it and she is s so excited!

She insists this one is a boy and it's name is "Kimothy" (I'm struggling with remembering that since it came in an outfit with pink bows that has been lovingly given to another baby) For anyone who doesn't know us or hasn't known us long. Kimothy is the name of the first baby we fostered. he was a true treasure and will remain in our hearts forever - he was the happiest baby that ever was and made everyone in his presence that way. So this little one has a very special name (although his nickname and what he is apparently going by is "Willie" no idea on that one...) and is already true to his namesake and making her super happy!

She had so loved this little American Girl dog. I don't remember who's dog it is supposed to be...I know I know...I should know these things

So happy!! In their matching PJ's (no pink bows so she thought Kimothy would be okay in them) She never expected them and was so excited!

Mommy and the b'day girl

My daughter is amazing. And since this is my own journal on the web I'm going to be a bragging Mommy for a bit. She is kind, and good, smart and artistic. From the moment we found out we were pregnant she was a treasure. The miracle of her is a story for another day, but she is truly a gift from God and each and every day of her life we are reminded of that. She isn't shy, but is not showy. She HATES to be called attention to. HATES to wear nail polish or have her hair fixed in a 'different way' as she is fearful with such things people may 'notice' her & comment on it. She LOVES her friends and thinks everyone she meets is her friend.

She is generous and open-hearted. She is a peacemaker and dramatic. She is beautiful and gentle. She loves her family deeply and adores her little brother. she is passionate about reading and wants to learn constantly, she doesn't care much for TV and rarely asks to watch it. She loves to cook and sometimes loves to clean. She is disorganized and flighty. She is detail oriented and has the most beautiful handwriting and can outdraw her father and I. She is beginning to not want to wear her signature hairbows (Mommy is trying to wean herself). She is shorter than her younger brother and fine with it. She thinks she can never have enough stuffed animals, art supplies, sewing supplies, or tiny little 'things'. She depises change, but loves adventure. She is a rule follower and wants to please. She takes things very literally and takes every word to heart. She loves God, and cries if there is ever a reason she must miss worship no matter if it's Sunday morning, Sunday night or Wednesday night. She loves Honduras and her friends there (and doesn't care they don't speak the same language). She LOVES Halloween and begins planning her costumes on Nov 1. She is NINE and we are so proud that God gifted her to us, we treasure her and look forward to watching her grow even more. We thank God for this beautiful blessing He brought into our lives nine years ago every day and we pray that He will make us the kind of parents worthy of such a gift and that He will help us to guide her in the ways He would have her to go.

She makes me so happy!