Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Christopher at 5 months


Christopher turned 5 months on the 11th and he is a CUTIE. His first tooth also broke through on the 13th of this month. He has chunked up a lot and is way too precious. He still giggles almost everytime that his diaper is changed or he is dressed. He is just the sweetest thing ever. I think his favorite activity may be sleeping. Oh, he also rolled over all by himself for the first time last week.

102% saved at Kroger

I had two good trips to Kroger today. I was very impressed with myself. The first trip, I spent a little more than anticipated but was uncertain if Charity would get anything and if so the cost...she pays for her stuff but with the coupons, its easier to put it all together. Here is what I got for $16.00 on this trip:
1 gallon milk- no coupon
1 Big Top Cupcake Maker- no coupon, Charity
1 Dove Soap- Charity, no coupon
1 Lever 2000- had coupon
2 Axe body washes- Chare, BOGO coupon
4 cans Evaporated milk- had coupon
2 cream of mushroom- had coupon
2 cream of chicken- had coupon
1 chunky soup- had coupon
1 cottage cheese- no coupon
1 Welchs grape juice- had coupon
1 Ranch dressing- Charity, no coupon
6 boxes pasta- Charity, no coupon
1 Yoplait 4pack yogurt- Mgr special and had coupon
70 packs Extra gum- had coupons

So, how did we get it all so cheap. The extra gum coupons had overages on them because the gum was BOGO at Kroger until tomorrow. Charity paid the $16.00. We could have saved more if we would have planned a little better. Our savings were 80%, not bad but we planned a little better for our second trip...here's the biggie, we saved 102% on this one.

1 gallon milk
1 box Mini Wheats
1 Windex All Purpose cleaner
4 bags Hersheys kisses (managers special and had 1 coupon)
2 packs corn on the cob skewer things (managers special)
7 Secret deodorants (7 coupons with a $0.12 overage)
50 Extra Gum packs (50 coupons, each with an overage because of BOGO)
1 Charmain toilet paper (had coupon)
1 M&M's
Why the M&M's because after all the coupons came off, Kroger owed us $ and we have to pay something.

So, I know couponing posts are boring but I may never have another couponing day like today.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Couponing fever


I am trying to learn to coupon better and am doing a bit better. I had a planned trip to Kroger for a few items at there Mega Event sale but discovered I had coupons for a few more things on there too that I did not realize. I had coupons for everything except the hot chocolate. For the large tubes of Mentos gum,I had $1.00 off and they were on sale for $1.00, so they were bot free but about everything else was free,money makers, or just a few cents. I also had $5 off my purchase of $75 or more that I used too. My savings were 87%! Hopefully, I will continue to improve. Oh, here is the breakdown: 18 32oz Gatorades, 4 Propel waters, 4 cans Carnation evaporated milk, 10 cans Campbells cream of chicken, 6 cans Campbells cream of mushroom, 8 boxes Nestle hot chocolate, and 2 50 piece mentos gum. Did I mention that my total was $6.82.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Happy Halloween

It is 10:00 p.m. on Halloween night and I am sitting at the hospital with my boys for the night as a sleep test is done on Will. They are doing this test to check his resting oxygen levels to determine if he needs his tonsils or adenoids out. It took us a little while to fall asleep and I felt so bad for him with the wires coming out everywhere and socks on his hands to keep him from touching anything. He is such an active little boy. I got in the bed and laid with him after I got Christopher to sleep and he fell asleep a little quicker. He nestled into me and I loved it.Today was Halloween but the kids did not go trick or treating because it is the Sabbath but they did attend the trunk or treat last night and had an enjoyable time. Ginny dressed up as a crazy, silly, good witch, Aubree dressed up Giselle from Enchanted, and Will was Scooby Doo. I had bought Will’s costume last year and got a size 4 but it was a little small, however, we just dealt with it. My friend, Haley, lent me a little dinosaur/dragon for Christopher but he fell asleep and I did not put him in it. We had an enjoyable evening last night at the trunk or treat.After church today, we had a less active member whom had recently lost his wife for dinner and the girls enjoyed making him a card and Halloween gift bag. Oh, last night, as we were leaving the church, Aubree wanted to take some of her candy to the poor people to share and because it’s a “wo” food and not healthy. I think we had a great Halloween holiday between the last two evenings.
Also, last weekend (23rd), I attended my first Halloween party and it was quite enjoyable. I looked 100% ridiculous, but isn’t that part of the fun, and wore a tutu with crazy socks and leggings. Jake enjoyed it as well but I believe his favorite part of the evening was my mad skills in the games. I just dropped to the ground and acting like a rock because I was not hidden before the game started but my graceful skills scored me a safe trip to safety.

Saturday, October 30, 2010


I have decided that I love Halloween. I put up the decorations the last day of September and have enjoyed the entire month of October. It has thus far been a great month for our little family. This morning, the girls and I were out walking in the neighborhood and Aubree pauses, look up at me, and says, "I never noticed just how nice and beautiful our neighborhood is.". How cute is that, she has an optimistic little personality because our neighborhood is nothing fancy, just your average one, and yet to her it is great. I guess home truly is where your heart is and you do become fond of where you live or grow up. Also, this month, Jake and I were able to go see the play "Wicked". It was fabulous and a last minute decision. We were uncertain if I could get off work but I called and switched schedules with someone before I attempted to contact my manager for approval, that way he is more likely to approve it. The play was great and childcare also worked out easily for us. We also went out last night, just the two of us, to dinner...sometimes, it is nice to just be alone if only for an hour or two. Another wonderful thing that happened this month, is I had a few love noted from Ginny left where I would find them. It put my days off to a great start. She is a little whiz. She was exempt from her last math test but opted to take it, to miss zero instead of one. Ginny is also very good at helping Aubree as she learns to read. I have the two best little girls ever!!! Life is good.

Sunday, October 17, 2010


Time flies when you are having fun or life is just busy. The kids fill my life with more and more joy each day. Christopher is at the age where he smiles at me. My most favorite thing that he does is how he laughs when his diaper is changed or he gets dressed. It is the absolute cutest thing ever, he has the softest, cutest laugh. My favorite time of year is here too. We went to family day at FedEx yesterday and had an enjoyable time. The girls very much enjoyed the games but my favorite was the food because they had cotton candy and I love cotton candy. This is random but I like ball games because I love nachos, especially BBQ nachos. I guess we can just say I like food. As a result of liking food and not being physically fit, I have gained weight. So to remedy this, I am trying to get more in shape. Now we do have a gym membership but I can not take Christopher until he is 6 months and I could go in the evenings but that is family time. But here is my reasoning, now some may be comical but hopefully it will keep me motivated. First, I want to show my children the importance of exercise. Secondly, my sister is getting married over Thanksgiving and I do not want to be the fat sister, now I will not be as small as my sisters, so I am hoping to be smaller than the grooms sisters. And thirdly, we are hoping to take a cruise or a get away next year for our anniversary and I want to feel more comfortable in a swim suit. And lastly, who does not want to be more beautiful for their husband? Jake thinks I am beautiful any way that I am but I want to be more physically cute for him.

Did I also mention that Aubree was awarded the Terrific kid at school this grading period and she was way excited.

Monday, October 4, 2010

In our family, we very much enjoy football season and enjoy watching the girls get involved as well. Our team is Utah because that is where Jake graduated from. I love that the weather cools off and the days are warm and the nights cool. I love this time of year as the leaves change.Our babies are steadily growing up. Ginny now wants to use deodorant and is out growing the toy stage. She is still excelling in school and is a huge help and blessing around the house. We are working on becoming more organized and responsible with her belongings. Ginny loves to read and reads very advanced for her age and beyond her grade level.
Aubree, oh Aubree. Aubree looks for opportunities to help with things, especially in the kitchen. She loves to help in the kitchen. She is working hard on being kind to her brother and sister. This morning, I went through her back pack and found papers in there from a week ago that she neglected to give me, even when I specifically asked if she had notes or papers for mom. Honestly, I think she purposely "forgot"because we have to go through and correct every one of them. For me this is hard, because I work every week with her on homework and things to help her to stay caught up with her class and avoid any special classes. After reviewing the papers, I think she just gets in a hurry because she is great at math and rhyming words. She is a witty child and loves to think of a plan for things or make a deal about something.Will, he is two and a giant two. I believe we are finished potty training. Will is still a little boy of little words but creatively finds his way into everything. He still loves Toy Story and to be outside. He is currently 42 lbs and 39 inches tall.
Christopher will be 4 months old in a week and has learned to smile and giggle. I love when babies hit this stage. Overall, he is a very good baby and does not require to be held very much. He has acid reflux but it is not as bad as it could be and hopefully he will outgrow it soon.
Overall, we are a blessed little family and look forward to forever as a family.