Our Shopping Day~ 05/28/2014

As much as I wanted to just rest and relax when we got home, I was suddenly reminded that we didn't have anything in the fridge.  I looked at the ads online and made my list of anything we absolutely needed to have.  And off to the store Chris and I went.

Here is what we got to last us until we do our normal grocery shopping on Sunday:

Walmart
$1.00- Bacon bits
$2.00- Croutons
$0.98- Foil
$3.98- Blueberries
$3.48- Strawberries
$1.48- Lettuce
$1.52- Bananas
$2.48- Creamer
$2.12- Sugar
$1.56- Brown Sugar
$2.38- Vinegar
$2.48- Plain Yogurt
$25.46- Total

Save A Lot
$7.38- 2 Gallons skim milk
$2.99- Butter
$10.37- Total

This shopping trip has been added to our May Monthly Spending post, where I keep track of what we spend for the month of May.  How did we do?  Did we bust our grocery budget or did we keep all in track.  Hop on over here to find out.

Menu Plan for the week of 05/26/2014

We hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend and are having a great week.  We had an awesome time visiting with loved ones up north.  The looong car ride is something I do not wish to repeat anytime soon :)  Is it sad that I need a vacation from our "vacation"?  I am so tired but we had a blast and that is all that matters :)

Here is our menu plan for what is left of this week:



Breakfast
Pancakes from the freezer
Dark Chocolate Almond Granola- leftover from last week before we left for our long trip
Oatmeal with raisins brown sugar

Lunch- Our usual
Salad with homemade ranch dressing and a banana for me and hubby
Sandwich with homemade bread, carrots and peanuts for everyone else

Dinner
Corn Dog muffins with green beans- easy to make since I am exhausted from all of our fun and the long drive
Spaghetti, peas and homemade bread
Chili
Chili Mac with corn and bread

Snacks
Popcorn
Raisins
Bananas
Peanuts

Our Shopping Day~ 05/18/2014

Oh no, with all the fun with last minute packing and clothes hunting, I totally forgot to post our shopping trip last night.  Well, here you go:

Well, Sunday was Christopher's birthday.  He had requested a scavenger hunt for his birthday so a huge 20 clue scavenger hunt he got :)  He didn't realize until the last clue that we had to actually go to the store to pick it up.  And since we were out, we might as well do our grocery shopping :)  It was a dual purpose trip :)

Here is our shopping trip for this week:

Walmart
$5.92- White Wheat flour
$3.96- Flour
$0.97- Spic & Span spray
$1.18- Liquid Smoke
$0.98- Vanilla
$2.96- Almonds
$0.00- Almonds- ad matched to Publix
$2.97- Breyers Ice Cream
$0.00- Breyers Ice Cream- ad matched to Publix
$18.94- Total

Publix
$1.50- Nestle Splash Water
$1.50- Nestle Splash Water
$1.99- Banquet Turkey sausage
$0.00- Banquet Turkey Sausage
$1.99- Banquet Turkey sausage
$0.00- Banquet Turkey sausage
$5.99- Lloyd's Pork BBQ
$0.00- Lloyd's Pork BBQ
$1.49- Green Beans
$1.00- Plum Organics Sweet Potato Mango
$1.00- Plum Organics Pear Mango
$3.29- Pirates Booty
$0.00- Pirates Booty
$19.75
-1.00 Nestle Water digital cpn
-1.00 Nestle Water Publix cpn
-0.50 Plum Organics printable cpn
-0.50 Plum Organics printable cpn
-1.00 Lloyd's BBQ printable cpn
-1.00 Llyod's BBQ printable cpn
$14.93- Total after tax

BJ's
$1.39- Lettuce

This shopping trip has been added to our May Monthly Spending post, where I keep track of what we spend for the month of May. 

Purex Crystals Dryer Sheets Giveaway Winners

Oh boy.  With everyone going on and packing, I almost forgot to send announce the 3 winners for the coupon good for a free box of Purex Crystals Dryer Sheets.

The winners are:

Plain Jane Photography
Cheryl Free
Abby

Since you three lovely ladies won my last coupon giveaway, I still have your mailing addresses.  I will addressing envelopes tonight and will have these in the mail first thing tomorrow morning :)

Congrats and enjoy your Purex Crystals Dryer Sheets. 

Menu Plan for the week of 05/19/2014

How was your weekend?  Our weekend was good and busy.  We celebrated Christopher's 20th birthday- wow 20~ Yikes.  Where does the time go?  Plus we have been packing.  We are driving up north to see my inlaws, my dad and Lynn, his girlfriend.  Which is why our menu plan this week is short and sweet.  Tomorrows post will be the last one this week until we return.  We hope everyone has a safe and happy Memorial Day :)

This week's menu plan:

Breakfast
Pancakes
Dark Chocolate Almond Granola- this stuff is AMAZING :)
Oatmeal with raisins brown sugar
Breakfast at the hotel
Breakast at inlaws
Breakfast at inlaws
Breakfast at inlaws

Lunch- Our usual
Salad with homemade ranch dressing and a banana for me and hubby
Sandwich with homemade bread, carrots and peanuts for everyone else

Dinner
Hamburgers, Mac & Cheese and green beans
Anything left in the fridge is fair game
Dinner at the hotel- the hotel is having a manager's reception- free dinner- yay :)
Dinner at inlaws
Dinner at inlaws
Dinner at inlaws
Dinner at inlaws

Snacks and desserts
Birthday brownie
Ice Cream
Popcorn
Raisins
Apple slices
Bananas
Peanuts

What yummy menu plans do you have for your family this week? 

Walgreens deals for the week of 05/18/2014

Things to keep in mind when shopping at Walgreens:
1) You must have as many items as manufacture's coupons
2) Register Rewards (RR) are considered manufacture's coupons
3) You are allowed 1 manufacture's coupon and 1 store coupon per item
4) When redeeming a Register Rewards against the same offer may not receive another RR
5) 2 coupons can be used with Buy 1 Get 1 FREE Sales :)

Check out Walgreens Coupon Policy here:)

Walgreens has rolled out a program called Balance Rewards. You earn points you can later redeem. Click here to read more about this program.

Milk gallons- $3.49- Limit 2

Quaker real medleys or 1 minute oats- $3/2 and get 500 points
$0.75/2 Quaker real medleys cpn- 04/13 RP

Sugar Free Stide, Trident, Trident White or Dentyne- $2/3
$1/3 Trident, Dentyne or Stride single pack cpn- 05/18 SS

Campbells Chicken Noodle or Tomato soup- $0.79 with in ad cpn- Limit 3

Ragu Pasta sauce or Welch's Grape jelly- $3/2 with in ad cpn- Limit 4

Kraft Velveeta Cheesy skillet microwave singles- $1.99 and get $1.99 RR
$0.60 Kraft Velveeta Cheesy skillet cpn- 02/23 SS

Gatorade- $6/6 with in ad cpn- Limit 6 and get 1000 points

V8- $5/2 and get 1000 points

Hershey Spreads Snacksters- $5/4 and get 1000 points

Nice trash bags- $3.99 and get 1000 points

Sparkle 3 roll paper towels- $2.99
$0.50 Sparkle paper towels cpn- 05/18 RP

Quilted Northern or Angel Soft- $3.49
$0.45 Quilted Northern cpn- 05/18 RP
$0.45 Angel Soft cpn- 05/18 RP

Palmolive- $2.49
$0.50 Palmolive cpn- 05/18 SS

St Joseph Low Dose Aspirin- $2 and get 1000 points

Alka Seltzer- $3.99
$1 Alka Seltzer cpn- 05/18 RP
$1 Alka Seltzer Chews cpn- 05/11 RP
$1 Alka Seltzer cpn- 03/16 SS
$1 Alka Seltzer Chews cpn- 02/16 RP

Bausch & Lomb Peroxiclear Solution- $4.99 and get 3000 points

Brut or Sure- $1.49
$1 Brut cpn- 05/18 SS
$1 Sure cpn- 05/18 SS 

Suave lotion- $2.50
$1.50 Suave lotion cpn- 05/18 RP

Colgate Total or Max Fresh, White or Clean toothpaste, MaxFresh or White toothbrush- $2.99 and get $1.50 RR
$0.50 Colgate toothpaste cpn- 05/11 SS

Colgate battery toothbrush- $5.99 and get $2 RR
$2 Colgate power toothbrush cpn- 05/11 SS

Playtex- $6.99
$3 Playtex cpn- 05/18 RP
$1 Playtex cpn- 04/27 SS 

Huggies little swimmers- $8.99
Use $3 Walgreens in store cpn
$1.50 Huggies little swimmers cpn- 05/18 SS

Pert Plus- $3.99
$1 Pert 2in1 cpn- 05/18 SS

Revlon nail- $4.99 and get 2000 points
$1 Revlon nail cpn- 04/27  SS
$1 Revlon color cosmetic cpn- 04/27 SS 

Coppertone- $9.99 and get $3 RR
$4/2 Coppertone cpn- 05/18 SS
$1 Coppertone cpn- 05/18 SS 

Infusium- $3.99
$2 Infusium cpn- 05/18 SS

Buy 2 Tresemme and get 2000 points
$2 Tresemme cpn- 05/18 RP

Domino Sugar- $1.89 with in ad cpn- Limit 2
$0.40 Domino Sugar cpn- 04/06 RP

Nestle candy- $1/2 with in ad cpn- Limit 4

Arm & Hammer laundry- Buy 1 Get 1 FREE

Capriclear 100% Coconut oil spray- $8 and get $8 RR

CVS deals for the week of 05/18/2014

 Don't forget to....
1) Go to cvs.com/email and sign up for the ExtraCare email and receive a $4/20 cpn
2) Stop by the Red ExtraCare coupon center and get CVS cpns
3) You can use a manufacturer's cpn along with a CVS cpn
4) You can use a B1G1Free cpn along with a B1G1Free sale to get both products for FREE

To view CVS Coupon Policy- click here:)

Scott Choose A Size 6 roll paper towels- $5.49
$0.75 Scott 6 roll paper towels cpn- 05/18 SS

Wisk- $4.99
$1 Wisk cpn- 05/18 RP

Dove Promise- $6/2 or Dove Chocolate bar- $3/2 and get $1 ECB

Buy 2 Twizzlers or Red Vines- 4/2 and get $1 ECB
$1/3 Twizzlers cpn- 05/11 SS

Starburst or Skittles- $5/2 and get $1 ECB

Spend $10 and get $3 ECB or Spend $15 and get $5 ECB on Windex, Pledge, Scrubbing Bubbles or Glade
$1 Windex Touch Up cpn- 05/11 SS
$0.55 Glade Premium room spray cpn- 05/04 SS
$1 Glade Plug In twin or 2 single refills cpn- 05/04 SS
$0.55 Glade jar candle or wax melts cpn- 05/04 SS
$1 Glade Automatic spray refill cpn- 05/04 SS

Spend $10 on Revlon face, eye, lip or nail polish and get $4 ECB
$2 Revlon foundation, powder, concealer, primer, blush, BB cream or CC cream cpn- 05/11 SS
$1 Revlon nail cpn- 04/27 SS
$2 Revlon foundation, powder, concealer, primer, blush, BB cream or CC cream cpn- 04/27 SS
$1 Revlon color cosmetic cpn- 04/27 SS 

Spend $10 on Almay cosmetics and get $3 ECB
$1 Almay cosmetic cpn- 05/04 SS

Coppertone- $8.99 and get $2 ECB
$4/2 Coppertone cpn- 05/18 SS
$1 Coppertone cpn- 05/18 SS 

Buy 2 Softsoap hand soap or bodywash and get $2 ECB

Buy 2 St Ives lotion, sprays, bodywash, facial care or Noxema- Buy 1 Get 50% off and get $3 ECB
$1 St Ives hand & body, face or bodywash cpn- 05/18 RP

Schick Hydro, Quattro, Titanium 1ct razor or Xtreme or Hydro disposable- $9.99 and get $2 ECB
$2 Schick Hydro razor cpn- 04/27 SS
$2 Schick razor refill or disposable cpn- 04/27 SS 

Tresemme- $4
$2 Tresemme cpn- 05/18 RP

Colgate Optic White toothbrush with pen- $14.99 and get $5 ECB- Limit 2

Colgate battery toothbrush- $6.99 and get $3 ECB- Limit 2
$2 Colgate Power toothbrush cpn- 05/11 SS

Colgate Total or Optic White rinse- $5.99 and get $2 ECB- Limit 2
$1 Colgate mouthwash cpn- 05/11 SS
$1 Colgate mouthwash cpn- 04/27 SS 

Clear Care or Opti Free Pure Moist- $8.99 and get $1 ECB
$3 Clear Care Solution cpn- 05/04 SS
$3 Clear Care Solution cpn- 04/13 SS
$3 Opti Free cpn- 05/04 SS
$3 Opti Free cpn- 04/13 SS 

Xtra detergent- $2.49
Use $1 CVS Coupon Center cpn


Spend $12 on Sally Hansen and get $5 ECB
$1 Sally Hansen nail cpn- 05/11 RP
$1 Sally Hansen beauty tool cpn- 05/11 RP 

Spend $10 on Maybelline and get $3 ECB
$1 Maybelline mascara cpn- 04/13 RP
$1 Maybelline lip cpn- 04/13 RP
$1 Maybelline eye shadow or liner cpn- 04/13 RP 

Crest ProHealth, Clinical, Crest with Scope or ProHealth rinse- $3.99 and get $2 ECB- Limit 2
$0.50 Crest rins or toothpaste cpn- 05/18 RP

Hershey milk chocolate, Reese's or Snickers 6pk- $7/2 and get $2 ECB
$2/2 Hershey milk chocolate bar or Reese's 6 pk cpn- 04/27 SS

Our Mother's Day Fun

I hope everyone had a nice Mother's Day.  I hope your loved ones spoiled you.

I went grocery shopping on Saturday, so I could relax and have nothing to do on Mother's Day.  Did I do nothing on Mother's Day?  The answer is NO :)

My alarm woke me up bright and early at 6am on Sunday morning.  I then realized I had forgotten to make breakfast the night before.  So instead of relaxing and drinking my coffee out on the lanai, I was making breakfast.

Mother's Day for me is met with mixed emotions.  I am blessed to the mommy to 4 wonderful boys.  But at the same time, I miss my mother so much.  Mother's Day was the last day I talked to my mom, it was the last day I hugged my mom, it was the last day I saw her smile before she passed away and went to be with the Lord.

I tried so hard to contain my emotions and tried so hard to enjoy my day with my family.  I couldn't contain the tears any longer and just lost it.

I am so lucky my hubby took the boys off for an adventure so I had some time for think, pray and cry:)

They came back with some gorgeous flowers and a card almost as big as little Michael :)  And the tears flowed again- but this time, they were happy tears :)

My day didn't have any time for relaxing but we did make some memories of our own:

Nathan reading the directions to make sugar cookies

Baked and patiently waiting for them to cool

Mother's Day Smores

Borrowing Owls

My day may not have gone how I had planned but I wouldn't change it for anything in the world.  We had fun.  We made sugar cookies, had smores and I ended the day with a nice walk to visit the borrowing owls~ they are just so cute:)

April 2014 Monthly Project

Please forgive me, I am a little behind on my monthly projects :)

April's Project was making homemade hamburger buns.  Little Michael insisted on helping me make these.  Here is how they turned out:

We used this recipe, except I didn't let me flour water mixture rest for 30 minutes.  I followed the rest of the recipe exactly.  I didn't get any pictures of the huge floury mess we made making the dough.  My fingers were too sticky :)

My little helper

All cut out and ready for rising and then baking

Ready to chow down

Finished project

Everyone here gave it 2 thumbs up~ it was a huge hit.  I have been told that I need to find out if I can make them ahead of time and freeze them because they are the only buns the boys want.  They really are good :)

Our Shopping Day~ 05/10/2014

Since Mother's Day was on Sunday, Kevin and I headed out to do our weekly shopping trip on Saturday.  That way I didn't have to do anything on Sunday except go to church and come home:)  I did run to Walgreens after church on Sunday real quick, they had eggs and bacon on sale:)

Here is our shopping details for this week:

Save A Lot
$1.98- Spaghetti sauce

BJ's
$2.78- Lettuce
$1.59- Bananas
$5.99- Peanuts
$10.36

Walgreens
$10.47- (3) gallons skim milk

Walgreens- Sunday trip
$1.29- Butterball turkey bacon
$1.29- Eggs
$2.99- All detergent
$5.57
-1.00 All detergent cpn
$4.75- Total after tax

Publix
$4.49- Gorton fishsticks
$4.49- Gorton fishsticks
-4.49- Gorton Promotion
$4.49- Gorton fishsticks
$4.49- Gorton fishsticks
-4.49- Gorton Promotion
$3.99- Wright Sausage
$3.99- Wright Sausage
-3.99- Wright Promotion
$4.00- Al Fresco sausage
$4.00- Al Fresco sausage
$20.97
-0.75 Gorton printable cpn
-0.75 Gorton printable cpn
-0.75 Gorton printable cpn
-0.50 Gorton cpn
-1.00 Wright sausage printable cpn
-1.00 Wright sausage printable cpn
-1.00 Al Fresco printable cpn
-1.00 Al Fresco printable cpn
$14.22- Total

Walmart
$9.90- Frozen veggies
$2.56- Lunchmeat
$1.48- Chicken Bologna
$1.76- Chopped onion
$1.48- Kidney beans
$2.44- Dark chocolate chips
$2.00- Croutons
$2.98- Raisins
$3.76- Strawberries
$1.78- Chocolate bars
$2.96- Almonds
$33.10- Total

Farmer's Market
$4.00- Yellow Cherry Tomatoes
$12.00- (30) Organic Double Yokes Eggs
$4.00- Blueberries
$20.00- Total

This shopping trip has been added to our May Monthly Spending post, where I keep track of what we spend for the month of May.

Menu Plan for the week of 05/12/2014

How was your Mother's Day weekend?  Our was full of ups and downs- will fill you in all the soggy and fun details later in the week:)

Here is our menu plan for this week:

Breakfast
Dark Chocolate Almond Granola with fruit X2
Oatmeal with raisins and honey X2
Homemade Yogurt with oats and raisins
Banana Bread muffins with fruit X2

Lunch- Our usual
Salad with homemade ranch dressing and a banana for me and hubby
Sandwich with homemade bread, carrots and peanuts for everyone else

Dinner
Black Bean Chicken Nachos served with tortilla chips and corn
Crock Pot BBQ Chicken and peas
Bacon Cream Cheese Chicken and green beans
Ham, mashed potatoes and corn
Spaghetti, peas and bread
Sausage Gravy served over biscuits, scrambled eggs and fruit- Christopher's Bday dinner

Snacks
Green Machine Milkshakes
Popcorn
Peanuts
PB Crackers
Carrots
Raisins

What yummy menu plans do you have for your family this week?  

Walgreens deals for the week of 05/11/2014

Things to keep in mind when shopping at Walgreens:
1) You must have as many items as manufacture's coupons
2) Register Rewards (RR) are considered manufacture's coupons
3) You are allowed 1 manufacture's coupon and 1 store coupon per item
4) When redeeming a Register Rewards against the same offer may not receive another RR
5) 2 coupons can be used with Buy 1 Get 1 FREE Sales :)

Check out Walgreens Coupon Policy here:)

Walgreens has rolled out a program called Balance Rewards. You earn points you can later redeem. Click here to read more about this program.

Nice eggs or Butterball turkey bacon- $1.29

Starbucks Frappuccino, Double Shot or Refreshers- $4.99 and get 1000 points

Nice PB, Grape or Strawberry jelly- $4/2 and get 1000 points

Wrigleys, Orbit, Eclipse, Trident or Dentyne- $5/2 and get 1000 points

Jello- $0.69 with in ad cpn- Limit 3

Chicken of the Sea Light tuna or Sardines- $0.69 with in ad cpn- Limit 3

Kraft Mac & Cheese, Easy Mac or Velveeta cups- $0.89 with in ad cpn- Limit 3
$0.50 Kraft Mac & Cheese cups cpn- 04/13 SS- EXPIRES 05/13

Palmolive or Ajax- $0.99 with in ad cpn- Limit 3
$0.25 Palmolive cpn- 04/27 SS

Glade air fresheners- $4.99 and get 1000 points
$0.55 Glade Premium room spray cpn- 05/04 SS
$1 Glade Plug In refill twin or 2 single packs cpn- 05/04 SS
$0.55 Glade jar candle or wax melts cpn- 05/04 SS
$1 Glade automatic spray refill cpn- 05/04 SS
$1 Glade Plug In refill twin or 2 single packs cpn- 04/06 SS
$2 Glade Plug In Custom starter kit cpn- 04/06 SS
$3 Glade Automatic Spray starter kit cpn- 04/06 SS
$1 Glade Automatic Spray refill cpn- 04/06 SS

Ziploc containers or bags- $5.50/2 and get $1.50 RR
$0.75/2 Ziploc cpn- 05/11 SS

Duracell- $6.99 and get 1000 points
$0.50 Duracell cpn- 04/27 P&G

Garnier Olia hair color- $8.99~ Spend $10 and get 2000 points
$3 Garnier Olia cpn- 05/11 RP
$3 Garnier Olia cpn- 04/06 RP 

CoverGirl Perfection or Smooches- $4.99
$1 Cover Girl cpn- 05/11 P&G
$2 Cover Girl lip cpn- 05/11 P&G
$1 Cover Girl cpn- 04/27 P&G 

Maybelline Volum' Express Mascara- $5 and get 3000 points when you buy 2
$1 Maybelline mascara cpn- 04/13 RP

Coppertone or Bain de Soleil- $9.99 and get $3 RR

Garnier Nutrisse- $6.99~ Spend $10 and get 2000 points
$2 Garnier Nutrisse cpn- 05/11 RP
$2 Garnier Nutrisse cpn- 04/27 RP
$2 Garnier Nutrisse cpn- 04/06 RP 

Revlon Color Silk or Luminista- $6/2 and get 2000 points

Oral B toothbrush, Crest toothpaste or mouthwash- $8/2 and get $5 RR
$1 Crest Be toothpaste cpn- 05/11 P&G
$0.75 Crest toothpaste cpn- 04/27 P&G
$0.50 Oral B Pulsar, 3D White, ProHealth, Complete or 2 Indicator or Cavity Defense toothbrush cpn- 05/04 RP 
$0.75 Oral B Pulsar, 3D White, ProHealth, Complete or 2 Indicator or Cavity Defense toothbrush cpn- 04/27 P&G

Colgate toothpaste, Total Advanced mouthwash, Wave, MaxWhite or Fresh 2pk toothbrushes- $3.99 and get $2.50 RR
$0.50 Colgate toothpaste cpn- 05/11 SS
$1 Colgate mouthwash cpn- 05/11 SS
$1 Colgate Total, Optic White, MaxFresh or Sensitive toothpaste cpn- 04/27 SS
$1 Colgate mouthwash cpn- 04/27 SS 


Irish Spring bodywash- $8/2 and get $3 RR
$0.50 Irish Spring or Irish Spring Gear bodywash cpn- 05/11 SS


Speed Stick Gear- $8/2 and get $1 RR
Buy 1 Get 1 FREE Speed Stick deodorant or body spray cpn- 05/11 SS
$1 Speed Stick cpn- 04/27 SS
$2 Speed Stick Gear body spray or deodorant cpn- 04/27 SS 

Herbal Essence bodywash- $3.99 and get 1000 points
$1 Herbal Essence bodywash cpn- 05/11 P&G
$1 Herbal Essence bodywash cpn- 04/27 P&G 

U by Kotex- $8/2 and get 1000 points
$0.50 U by Kotex pads cpn- 05/11 SS
$0.50 U by Kotex liners cpn- 05/11 SS
$0.50 U by Kotex tampons cpn- 05/11 SS 

Neilmed Wound wash- $5 and get $5 RR

Clear Eyes- $3.99
$1 Clear Eyes cpn- 04/27 SS

Mars candy- $0.59 with in ad cpn- Limit 3

All detergent- $2.99
$1 All cpn- 05/11 RP
$2/2 All cpn- 04/06 RP 

CVS deals for the week of 05/11/2014

 Don't forget to....
1) Go to cvs.com/email and sign up for the ExtraCare email and receive a $4/20 cpn
2) Stop by the Red ExtraCare coupon center and get CVS cpns
3) You can use a manufacturer's cpn along with a CVS cpn
4) You can use a B1G1Free cpn along with a B1G1Free sale to get both products for FREE

To view CVS Coupon Policy- click here:)

Purex- Buy 1 Get 2 FREE
$1.50 Purex No Sort for Colors cpn- 05/04 RP
$1 Purex Crystals cpn- 05/04 RP 

Post Honey Bunches of Oats, Cocoa or Fruity Pebbles- $1.99- Limit 4
$1/2 Post Honey Bunches of Oats cereal or Granola cpn- 04/13 SS

Gold Emblem pasta or spices- $0.99

Olay daily facial cloths or cleansers- $4.99
$1 Olay facial moisturizer or cleanser cpn- 05/11 P&G

Buy 2 Physicians Formula cosmetics and get $3 ECB

Coppertone- $8.99 and get $2 ECB

Irish Spring, Gear bodywash, bar or Speed Stick- $3.99 and get $1 ECB
$0.50 Irish Spring or Irish Spring Gear bodywash cpn- 05/11 SS
$0.50 Irish Spring or Irish Spring Gear bar cpn- 05/11 SS
Buy 1 Get 1 FREE Speed Stick deodorant or body spray cpn- 05/11 SS
$1 Speed Stick cpn- 04/27 SS
$2 Speed Stick Gear body spray or deodorant cpn- 04/27 SS 

Dial bodywash or bar- $8/2 and get $2 ECB
$1/2 Dial bodywash cpn- 05/11 RP
$1/2 Dial or Dial for Men bodywash cpn- 04/27 RP 

Dial bar or Complete hand wash- $5/2 and get $1 ECB
$1/2 Dial Complete hand wash, foaming hand wash, liquid hand soap refills or bar cpn- 05/11 RP
$1/2 Dial Complete hand wash, foaming hand wash, liquid hand soap refills or bar cpn- 04/27 RP

Garnier Olia hair color- $8.99
$3 Garnier Olia cpn- 05/11 RP
$3 Garnier Olia cpn- 04/06 RP 

Clairol Nice & Easy, Root Touch Up or Natural Instincts- $6.99
$2 Clairol box color cpn- 05/11 P&G
$3/2 Clairol box color cpn- 04/27 P&G
$1 Clairol box color cpn- 04/27 P&G 

Spend $10 on CVS baby items and get $4 ECB

Spend $15 on Crest ProHealth, Oral B oral care or Glide floss and get $7 ECB- Limit 2
$0.75 Crest toothpaste cpn- 04/27 P&G
$0.50 Oral B Pulsar, 3D White, ProHealth, Complete or 2 Indicator or Cavity Defense toothbrush cpn- 05/04 RP 
$0.75 Oral B Pulsar, 3D White, ProHealth, Complete or 2 Indicator or Cavity Defense toothbrush cpn- 04/27 P&G
$0.50 Glide floss cpn- 05/11 P&G 

Listerine UltraClean, Total Care, Whitening rinse or Rembrandt- $6.99 and get $1 ECB- Limit 2
$1 Listerine Natural cpn- 04/13 SS
$1 Listerine cpn- 04/13 SS

Spend $10 on CVS feminine care and get $4 ECB- Limit 3

Colgate 360 toothbrush- $3.49 and get $2.50 ECB- Limit 2
$1 Colgate 360 or Slim Soft toothbrush cpn- 04/27 SS

Spend $20 on Colgate Optic White and get $10 ECB- Limit 2
$0.50 Colgate toothpaste cpn- 05/11 SS
$1 Colgate mouthwash cpn- 05/11 SS
$1 Colgate Total, Optic White, MaxFresh or Sensitive toothpaste cpn- 04/27 SS
$1 Colgate mouthwash cpn- 04/27 SS 

Spend $20 on Excedrin and get $10 ECB
$1 Excedrin 24ct+ cpn- 05/11 SS
$2.50 Excedrin 100ct+ cpn- 05/11 SS 

CVS First Aid- Spend $8 and get $2 ECB or Spend $10 and get $4 ECB

Gold Emblem red bag candy or gold coins- $0.99
Use $0.25 CVS Coupon Center cpn

Gain dish liquid- $0.99- Limit 4
$0.25 Gain dish cpn- 05/11 P&G

Colgate 2in1, MaxFresh, White, Clean, Total Advanced or Total Whitening-$3 and get $1.25 ECB- Limit 2
$0.50 Colgate toothpaste cpn- 05/11 SS

$1 Colgate Total, Optic White, MaxFresh or Sensitive toothpaste cpn- 04/27 SS

Purex Crystals Dryer Sheets Review & Giveaway

What was I thinking??  Signing up to test our dryer sheets when we don't use our dryer that often:)  We started brainstorming all the alternatives of using dryer sheets.

I was told that dryer sheets have the same ingredients as magic erasers and can tackle soap scum on glass shower doors.  Ohhhh, I got excited to test that one out.  Evidently, our sulfur Florida well water is resistant to cleaning.  That didn't work for us :(

Purex Crystals Dryer sheets smell AMAZING.  The nice Spring smell was coming through the box.  And then it hit me.  I live with 5 smelly guys.  I put a dryer sheet in their dressers, in my closet and Kevin cut a dryer sheet in half and put it in his shoes.  He says he shoes smell great.  I will take his word for it:

Thanks to a very sick cat, we have had the pleasure of using our dryer this week.  I had forgotten about the nice, soft, warm and snuggly towels that come out of the dryer:

The smell on the freshly dried towels was very faint.  You really had to smell the towel to smell the scent left behind on the towel.  But they were warm and soft.

Want to see if Purex Crystals Dryer Sheet are a good fit for your family?  Purex was so nice to give me 3 coupons good for a FREE box of Purex Crystal Dryer Sheets to give to my wonderful readers.  Just leave me a comment and you will be entered to win 1 coupon.

This giveaway will end on May 16, 2014.  Winners will be selected using random.org and notified by email.  Coupons will be mailed out on May 19, 2014.

Good Luck :)

April 2014 Goal Update

Let's see how we did with our April 2014 goals:

 1) To not eat out or at least to not pay out of pocket, with the exception of tips. If we want to treat the family to a meal out, we will make sure we have a gift card to cover all of us.
We did awesome with this goal :)

2) Pay off 2 credit cards
We are getting close to paying off another credit card- yay :)

3) Not to use any of our credit cards for 2014. To pay cash for everything.
We did fantastic with this goal and paid cash.

4) To maintain our grocery budget. Our current grocery budget is $400 month for our family of 6. Our goal is to use up to that amount to feed our family healthy nourishing meals.  If we are lucky enough to come under our monthly budget, we will save that amount.
We did good in April~ we only went over by $16- not too bad :)

5) To create a monthly meal plan for our family, to use leftovers more efficiently and to make use of everything in our pantry and freezer.  Try our hand at freezer cooking.
Doing great with meal planning.

6) Lose weight- I need to get motivated to lose this baby weight- my goal is to lose 10 lbs this year.
Hubby and I have been running almost every evening.  I haven't weighed myself, so I don't know exactly how much I weight.  But on a good note, my jeans are loose and I bought jeans in a smaller size- WOOHOO.  Also hubby fit in and bought shorts that are 4 sizes smaller :)  I know that he has lost 20 pounds- GO HUBBY :)

7) Morning devotions, prayer time and more bible reading
Following a bible reading on my church's website:)

8) Monthly date night with hubby- whether we go out or stay at home, pop popcorn and rent a movie
We did have a nice evening and enjoyed a movie pre-screening, just the 2 of us :)


9) To spend quality family time together. With everyones schedule and us running all over creation, I would love to spend more quality time together- no tv- us playing games, talking, enjoying each others company.  I think we are going to claim Saturday's as family fun day:)
Our Saturday Family Adventures took us to the beach, an Easter egg hunt and an anniversary water balloon fight- we had some awesome adventures and are looking forward to many more :)

10) Not to use our dryer to save on electricity and lower our electricity bill
Doing great with this and haven't not used the dryer.  I am loving this weather.  I hang the clothes up on clothes racks and next day they are dry:)

11) To do 1 project a month and blog about it
We did get a chance to make hamburger buns.  I will be posting about that next week.  I am hoping and keeping my fingers crossed that we can fit making homemade pudding into our day tomorrow :)  We shall see :)

How did you do on your April goals?

Lowe's Build & Grow Clinic~ May 10, 2014

Lowes will be hosting a Build & Grow Clinic on May 10th at 10am.  My younger boys love doing them and the older ones love helping the younger ones with their project:)

If you are looking for a great free activity that you can do with your kids- you should check out the Lowes Build & Grow Clinics. Little Michael and Nathan love them. They love being able to do hands on projects with our help.  This Build & Grow Clinic is perfect for Mother's Day :)

To sign up for this Build & Grow Clinic, simply go to the Lowes Build & Grow Clinic website, which they have redone to make it more user friendly. I am loving this new website. You register all your information. Then when you visit the website to sign up for an upcoming clinic, all you have to do is sign in and check which kids you are signing up. Don't forget to print and sign the waiver. And you and your child(ren) are ready for a really cool FREE hands on project.

Once you and your child(ren) complete the project they will receive a neat patch to put on their Lowes Build & Grow apron. If this is your first clinic, your child(ren) will receive a free Lowes Build & Grow apron and goggles:) The more clinics you do, the more patches you get to put on your kids apron and they can show them off with pride:)

May 2014 Monthly Spending

Here is where I keep a list of our spending for the month of May . We have a $400 grocery budget for this month. We did OK last month and only went over by $16.00.  This is for everything for our family of 6 and 2 pets.  So, lets see how we do this month:

05/04/2014
$5.30- Dollar Tree
$10.40- Save A Lot
$17.92- Publix
$57.58- BJ's
$74.90- Walmart

05/10/2014
$1.98- Save A Lot
$10.36- BJ's
$10.47- Walgreens
$4.75- Walgreens
$14.22- Publix
$33.10- Walmart
$20.00- Farmer's Market

05/18/2014
$18.94- Walmart
$14.93- Publix
$1.39- BJ's

05/28/2014
$25.46- Walmart
$10.37- Save A Lot

$332.07- Running Total

$67.93- Left for the month of May- WOOHOO :)

We did great this month.  It really helped that we were on "vacation" for almost 2 weeks and didn't have to worry about groceries :)

My Shopping Day~ 05/04/2014

It was supposed to be an easy shopping day.  Thanks to having 14 days worth of meals already in my freezer ready to go, this month shopping should be a breeze.  Well, have you ever gone grocery shopping with a nasty migraine?  I was so nauseous and in so much pain by the time I got home.  It was so not fun but my family has to eat.  Hubby was so sweet to put away all the groceries while I cooked dinner.  After dinner, I crawled to my room and was happy with the dark quietness of the evening:)

Here are the shopping details for this trip:

Dollar Tree
$3.00- (3) pkgs toilet paper
$2.00- (2) boxes tissues
$5.30- Total

Save A Lot
$4.00- Avocados
$0.35- Banana
$1.50- Tortilla Chips
$1.56- Mac & Cheese
$2.99- Watermelon
$10.40- Total

Publix
$3.99- Yoplait 8pk yogurt
$3.99- Cascadian Farms Oat & Honey Granola
$1.49- Barilla Whole Grain Rotini
$1.49- Barilla Whole Grain Rotini
-1.49- Barilla Promotion
$1.49- Barilla Whole Grain Rotini
$1.49- Barilla Whole Grain Rotini
-1.49- Barilla Promotion
$1.49- Barilla Whole Grain Penne
$1.49- Barilla Whole Grain Penne
-1.49- Barilla Promotion
$1.49- Barilla Whole Grain Penne
$1.49- Barilla Whole Grain Penne
-1.49- Barilla Promotion
$1.49- Barilla Whole Grain Penne
$1.49- Barilla Whole Grain Penne
-1.49- Barilla Promotion
$4.99- Amrour Italian Meatballs
$4.99- Armour Italian Meatballs
-4.99- Armour Promotion
$4.99- Armour Turkey meatballs
$4.99- Armour Turkey meatballs
-4.99- Armour Promotion
$1.50- Nasoya Fettucine
$1.50- Nasoya Fettucine
$28.41
-1/2 Barilla Whole Grain Pasta cpn
-1/2 Barilla Whole Grain Pasta cpn
-1/2 Barilla Whole Grain Pasta cpn
-1/2 Barilla Whole Grain Pasta cpn
-1/2 Barilla Whole Grain Pasta cpn
-3.99 Yoplait 8pk when you buy Cascadian Farms Publix cpn
-0.75 Nasoya printable cpn
-0.75 Nasoya printable cpn
$17.92- Total

BJ's
$2.78- Lettuce
$9.99- Decaf coffee
$7.98- Land O Lakes Brown All Natural eggs
$7.29- Good Seasonings Italian Dressing mix
$7.39- Kraft Parm cheese
$3.49- Crushed tomatoes
$6.99- Ketchup 3pk
$17.49- Earth's Pride all natural burgers
$3.18- Bananas
$66.58
-1.50 Land O Lakes BJ store cpn
-2.00 Ketchup BJ store cpn
-3.50 Earth Pride natural burger BJ store cpn
-2.00 Good Seasoning BJ store cpn
$57.58- Total

Walmart
$3.76- Flour
$5.92- White Wheat Flour
$2.56- Lunchmeat
$7.92- Frozen veggies
$0.97- Spic & Span spray
$2.97- Boca chicken patties
$2.97- Boca chicken patties
$2.97- Boca chicken patties
$2.97- Boca chicken patties
$0.57- Cumin
$2.48- Black beans
$2.68- Potatoes
$3.28- Oatmeal
$12.12- (2) Whole Chickens
$3.36- Tortillas
$1.82- Cornmeals
$1.08- Jenni-O turkey dogs
$1.08- Jenni-O turkey dogs
$1.08- Jenni- O turkey dogs
$1.08- Jenni- O turkey dogs
$2.18- Cottage cheese
$3.76- Strawberries
$0.96- Mustard
$1.98- salsa
$2.24- Paper Towels
$2.36- Flax seed
$2.88- Kraft Olive Oil Mayo
$0.00- Kraft Olive Oil Mayo- ad matched from Publix
$80.00
-1.00 Boca printable cpn
-1.00 Boca printable cpn
-1.00 Boca printable cpn
-1.00 Boca printable cpn
-0.55/2 Jenni O turkey dog printable cpn
-0.55/2 Jenni O turkey dog printable cpn
$74.90- Total

This shopping trip has been added to our May Monthly Spending post, where I keep track of what we spend for the month of May.

Menu Plan for the week of 05/05/2014

Happy Cinco de Mayo :)

We hope everyone had a fabulous weekend.  Our weekend was fabulous and not so fabulous.  We were so busy, zooming here and zooming there, zooming everywhere.  But my highlight was Respite Night.  I had so much fun being a buddy to the same special, energetic girl I had last time.  Even though I was battling a nasty 3 day migrane, I still smiled and had fun.  By the end of the night, I just wanted to crawl under a rock.  I was in so much pain.  I was doing better on Sunday and then got a very strong whiff of someone's perfume or lotion.  I am hoping that she sat close us.  If not and it was that strong to me- oh my :)   Thank the Lord that I am feeling so much better today.  Also, special thanks to Laura from Heavenly Homemakers for doing her awesome freezer cooking challenge posts.  I have a lot of this month's food already in my freezer- yay :)

Here is our menu plan for this week:

Breakfast
Homemade Yogurt with granola and fruit X2
Oatmeal with fruit
Fruity Spinach Smoothie
Pancakes
Banana chocolate chip muffins X2

Lunch- Our usual
Salad with homemade ranch dressing and a banana for me and hubby
Sandwich with homemade bread, carrots and peanuts for everyone else

Dinner
Baked Spaghetti with corn and bread
Cheesy beef and rice with green beans
Lasagna Casserole with peas and bread
Cheeseburger Casserole with corn
Cheesy Beef & Pasta Casserole with green beans
Cheesy Salsa Enchiladas with peas
Ribs, mashed potatoes and green beans

Snacks
Homemade Pudding (hopefully)
Popcorn
Popsicles
Carrots
Raisins
Apple slices
PB crackers
Peanuts

What yummy menu plans do you have for your family this week?  

Our Family Fun Saturday

What did we get ourselves into this time??

It was our anniversary on Saturday.  It is hard to believe that Michael and I have been married 11 wonderful years :)  We weren't sure what we wanted to do for our anniversary.

We had hoped to go out to out for dinner just the 2 of us.  What do you call that?  Oh yea~ a date ~ LOL:)  It has been so long since we have gone out, just the two of us :)  Thanks to our very expensive van repair, any money we had saved up went to pay for that.  So, no go on that.

We decided to stay at home with the boys and just have a fun anniversary here.  After dinner we went outside and had the most awesome water balloon fight known to man :)  We had fun, got super wet (which had nothing to do with when we ran out of balloons, I may have gotten the water hose) and laughed to hard.  Now, I am glad we stayed in.

A few days before our anniversary, I got an email to see if I would be interested in going to an advanced screening of a movie.  Of course, I jumped at the chance.  And since I only got 2 passes, hubby and I had to go.  So, we did have a nice date and it was FREE :)  We even got free drinks and popcorn, thanks to some Regal gift cards I forgot I had.  It was so nice to go out and spend time with each other.

Here are some pictures of our super awesome water balloon battle:

Getting inventory ready

Ready??

Ready!!

Chris doesn't even realize he has a balloon in his hair

After the balloons, we filled these and let them have a blast.

 We had a blast.  I can't wait to see where our next adventure takes us :)