Pretend Play And Quilting

I just love the age that Princess is at right now. She is so much fun. (As I type this, she is screaming and stomping her feet, trying to get my attention.) I love that she is starting to do pretend play. Yesterday she kept saying "up" and pointing to her high chair. I would put her in, and she would cry and scream "up" (meaning "down", of course). After a few repeats of this scenario, I realized she wanted Bluebeary to go in the high chair. She then proceeded to put her bib on him and feed him graham crackers.

I was trying to get a good smile out of her yesterday, and I started singing "The B-I-B-L-E". She would laugh and laugh when I shouted "BIBLE!" at the end. What a good little PK. (She also says Amen:  "May may" before we eat.) Here's a BIBLE smile:

The church is hosting an Open House this afternoon to welcome our family to the church. We were asked to bring some items over that describe us, to help people get to know us a little better. For me, that meant some scrapbooks and quilts that I have made. Looking through my crafts gave me a little bit of a push to start working on them again. I finally broke out a quilt that I had been avoiding for a few years. The reason: Up to this point, I have only made baby quilts. This one is for an adult bed. My grandma started piecing it together, then she felt she would no longer be able to quilt and handed it on to me to finish. I don't want to mess up what Grandma started! But I think it's time. I broke it out and worked on it for about 2 hours last night. It is a Broken Star quilt, and if you click that link you can see a sample of what a Broken Star Quilt looks like. This one is 3 different shades of pink. It is beautiful. I am just hoping I do not mess it up! :)

Ohio, Birthday, and Football

Our little family enjoyed our trip to Ohio to see family two weekends ago.  My brother and his kids were in town from Wyoming, and this was the first time our entire family had been together in 3 and a half years!  We were blessed to have Grandma and Mamaw there as well, and we had a great time!

The 6 grandkids:

Mom, Dad, and the kids:

Everyone:

4 generations:

I celebrated my final birthday this weekend.  That's right - I will be 29 forever.  :)  My mom and Mamaw were able to make a last-minute trip up for the weekend, and it was great to spend some more time with them.  Princess enjoyed cuddling with them and did a great job of keeping everyone entertained.  She has mastered the names of all her grandparents and even used "Mamaw" and "Nana" appropriately.

And...we are gearing up for football season.  I think my husband is going to have a game buddy.  She's in love with her football...well, any kind of ball, actually.

Walgreens 100 Dollar Challenge: Week 10

I had two transactions at Walgreens today.  I was disappointed last week that I was unable to find the Dial bodywash, so I had $11.00 of Register Rewards to use that were expiring today.  Here is this week's rundown.

Transaction #1:

(2) Pilot Gel Pens

Price: $1.99 each

MFG Coupon: $1.00 total

WAG Coupon:  $2.00 total

Final Price: $.98 total

(2) 20oz Cokes

Price: $1.59 each

MFG Coupon:  $.99 each

Final Price:  $1.20 total

(2) Head and Shoulders Shampoo

Price: $4.00 each

MFG Coupon:  $5.00 (1 B1G1 free, 1 $1.00 off)

Final Price:  $3.00 total

RR Earned:  $2.00

(2) Dry Idea Deodorants

Price: $4.99 each

MFG Coupon:  $4.49 (B1G1 free, up to $4.49)

WAG Deal:  $4.99 (B1G1 Free)

Final Price:  $.50

(2) Herbal Essence Products (1 Shampoo, 1 Gel)

Price: $2.99 each

MFG Coupon:  $2.99 total (B1G1 Free)

Final Price: $2.99

RR Earned: $1.00

RR Used:  $8.00 Complete Contact Solution

Transaction #2:

(2) Herbal Essence Products (1 Conditioner, 1 Mousse)

Price: $2.99 each

MFG Coupon: $2.99 total (B1G1 Free)

Final Price: $2.99

RR Earned: $1.00

Index Card Case (Filler Item)

Price: $.79

WAG Coupon:  $.50
Final Price: $.29

Legal Pad  (Filler Item)

Price: $.79

WAG Coupon:  $.50

Final Price:  $.29

RR Used: $1.00 Crayola, $2.00 Special K

Subtotal Before Coupons: $38.88

Subtotal After Coupons: $1.44

Sales Tax: $2.03

Savings Percentage*: 96%

*(Note: Savings percentages are calculated prior to tax. Since there’s no way for me to decrease my tax amount, it is simply not factored in.)

Yearly Totals

Amount Spent: $17.75

Amount Saved: $223.30

$3.00 rebate pending from Crayola - will adjust totals once received

Grocery Challenge: Week 9

I did not post anything about my grocery shopping adventures last week, simply because I put my groceries away without taking a picture first.  :)  I did make some extra trips to local stores last week, and my total ended up being $62.74.

This week was a little better:

Pretend there is a melon in that picture as well - we purchased and ate most of that yesterday!  This week's total:  $52.39.

It does not look like I purchased much of anything this week, but we are eating a lot of stockpiled foods lately.  We mainly needed fruit, milk, cheese, and some snacks.  I got 2 pizzas as a treat, and I will have to spend another dollar or so later this week for lettuce.  Yes, they were out of lettuce at the grocery store!  That has never happened to me before.

Job Search

I heard today that I am no longer being considered for the home health care job I applied for.  I had interviewed with Human Resources for this job last week.  I applied for four more jobs today.

Walgreens 100 Dollar Challenge: Week 8 *Edited in purple*

I had a little difficulty again with totalling things up before I got to the register.  I usually do that at home before I go, to make sure my pre-tax total allows me to use all my Register Rewards.  For some reason, I didn't do that at all today - not before I left, and not at the store.  That resulted in a few trips back to the school supply aisle while the nice cashier waited to ring up my stuff and then say "sorry, still need more".  She was very nice about it.  It's a good thing they're not usually busy when I'm there!

Here's this week's rundown:

(2) Kellogg's Special K

Price: $2.50 each
MFG Coupon: $1.00

Final Price: $4.00 total

RR Earned: $2.00

Complete Multipurpose Contact Solution
Price: $7.99

RR Earned: $8.00

Crayola Crayons

Price: $1.00

RR Earned: $1.00

Crayola Markers

Price: $3.00

RR Earned: None - $3.00 rebate sent in

(3) Penway 10-Pack Pencils (fillers)
Price: $.09 each
Final Price: $.27 total
RR Earned: none

(2) PaperMate 6-pack Highlighters (fillers)
Price: $.19 each
Final Price: $.38 total
RR Earned: None

RR Used: (2) $5.00 Dr. Scholl's, $3.00 Schick, $3.50 Colgate

Subtotal Before Coupons:  $17.64

Subtotal After Coupons: $.14

Sales Tax:   $.76

Savings Percentage*: 99%

*(Note: Savings percentages are calculated prior to tax. Since there’s no way for me to decrease my tax amount, it is simply not factored in.)

I also received my $3.00 Finesse rebate!  Totals have been edited to reflect this change.

Yearly Totals

Amount Spent: $14.28

Amount Saved: $174.48

$3.00 rebate pending from Crayola - will adjust totals once received

Grocery Challenge: Week 7

I was a little bit bummed about my grocery trip today.  I had heard there was a Catalina coupon that would print out if you purchased 5 Kraft cheese products.  The singles were half price this week, and the baby eats those a lot.  So I bought 5.  There was also a deal for Juicy Juice, where a coupon would print if you purchased 4.  So I did.  Then at the end of my transaction...no coupons! 

The checker was very nice and looked up the juice deal in the paper.  It was there, so he sent me to Customer Service, and they gave me a handwritten coupon.  However, he could not find the Kraft deal listed, so I did not get that coupon.  Bummer!  That one was for 5 dollars!

My trip to Customer Service actually ended up being a blessing.  CS is located next to the pharmacy, and I had a prescription I had forgotten to pick up last week - and would have forgotten again! 

So I left the store short 5 dollars, but with my pills.  I guess I could look at it this way:  It would cost more than 5 dollars in gas to drive back out there and pick up the prescription I almost forgot again!

This week's total:  $46.54.  I stocked up on chicken breasts that were on sale and on milk, so hopefully we will not need any of that next week!  Oh yeah...we should be good on cheese, too!

Princess has become quite independent lately.  Or she thinks she has.  The other day, she got out her cup,

went and played with the water cooler,

and then "drank" what she had "poured" in there.

Of course, Momma's "what do you think you're doing?!" prompted a victory run around the kitchen.

She likes to help me cook, too.

In other news, I finally hung some things on Princess' wall.  I had been wanting to hang family pictures, and I got those up this week.  Notice the pure excitement on Princess' face:

And here are a few pictures from playing in the pool last week:

And finally, a video of Princess' current favorite activity.  Notice the "vroom" and "beep, beep".  We're very proud.  :)  Please forgive my artistic camera angle - I wasn't thinking very well when I was shooting this!

Grocery Challenge: Week 6

Last week's grocery bill ended up being $65.52.  I was okay with that total, because it was still lower than the initial $75.00 a week budget we had set, and we got a lot of things to build up our stockpile again. 

My husband and I were discussing the family budget and where we could make some cuts in order to put more money into savings.  We realized that our Pepsi habit is really driving up our grocery bill.  I had stopped drinking Pepsi myself for about a week. However, it was still in the house for my husband, and I started drinking it again.  I believe we can cut out approximately $30.00 a month just by refusing to purchase any more pop. 

I am going to miss my Pepsi.

I have made my shopping list for this week, and it is quite short!  I typically do my grocery shopping on Mondays, and there are 5 Mondays this month.  For that reason, I have set a goal of $52.00 a week for this month.  I have a feeling I am going to spend far less than that tomorrow, so maybe we'll adjust it for subsequent weeks.  I'm excited.  :)

Walgreens 100 Dollar Challenge: Week 7

Last week, I made money!  I did not go to Walgreens at all, but I did receive my rebate from Schick.  Here are my adjusted totals:

Yearly Totals

Amount Spent: $16.38

Amount Saved: $138.32

$3.00 Rebate Pending from Finesse Shampoo - Will adjust totals once received.