Monthly Archives: August 2011

Weekend at Church

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Seriously this has been one of the most fun and exciting but at the same time tiring weekends that we have had in a long long time. Here are the highlights:

Saturday 6:15am- Leave to pick up Angel food
7Am- Arrive back home for breakfast and to unload/put away our purchases. At this point, I realized I had purchased the wrong box and 2 of our fruit items were damaged.
8:30-Arrive at church for Angel Food distribution
10:00- Help with set up of Kid’s Carnival- I was asked to be the administrative assistant. So I really enjoyed organizing and getting things together.
2:00pm-Kid’s Carnival starts. The kids had an awesome time, the carnival included a bouncing house, a huge slide and about a dozen games that each gave a prize. My kids think it was a holiday, we are still enjoying eating candy and playing with the small toys from this event! My plan is to post some pictures for Wordless Wednesday!
4:00pm- I brought Lily, Kendall, Zach, Haley and 2 friends home. We had decided that our little ones could not make it through a concert. I managed to get everyone fed and bath prior to Matt getting home around 6.
6:30 Matt and I attend the Second Chance Bluegrass concert. Haley and her friend babysat so this was our date night.I really really really enjoyed it. And I will be the first to say I am not a fan of bluegrass
Sunday 9:30-Arrived at church for our open house. We had a Continental Breakfast and a time of meet and greet.
10:15- Worship service. Matt and I had preschool aged Children’s Church today. The only down side was Haley performed with the Mime team and I missed it.
12:00pm- Lunch. Each church family brought a desert and then the meal was catered. It was really good. We are extremely blessed as we were offered and brought home enough of the leftovers to serve our family an entire meal and use some of the extra for several meals or portions of meal during this coming week. I can’t say how awesome and helpful this is!
1:30pm- Dedication service
3:45-Arrived home to get ready for the week!
Wow we have been busy! But our church has a new home and it was exciting to be a part of this weekend!

$10 on Groceries this week

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How? Did I hear you ask that? In one word consistency. I have been using coupons for over a year now and I have to say that sticking to it will let you have a $10 week every couple of months. Now on to a better explaination and the numbers.

CVS has not been having all that great of deals lately and I just have not been making it to the store on Sunday like I did before the summer. Because of this combination, I have been gathering rainchecks. Last week, I received another 10 off 50 and after scoping out the store realized I could cash in on some of the deals I missed. I made 2 seperate trips to CVS and spent around 25 each time. My reward was 12 ECB on Amanda’s card. This week I noticed that we only had enough patches for Tuesday so I stopped by CVS. I had printed 2 coupons for Starburst 1 off 1 and heard the Red box was scanning an BOGO as well. My nice suprise was that the eye patches rang up BO get 50% off the second. This is the first time ever I have see the eye patches on sale. So I was able to purchase 4 boxes of patches, 2 bags of skittles and 2 packs of gum for $4.33 including tax. I should add that a box of patches usually cost $4.99 at CVS which is the cheapest we have found.

Thursday, we headed to Winston to get Zach pictures made. Harris Teeter is an easy stop when we are at the mall. During the last Super Doubles event I had made one pick up using the Express Lane. These coupons carry over so I had approximately $20.00 in coupon credit waiting. I was amazed to find that both the Milk and Apple Juice we needed were on sale. I purchased 2 gallons of milk and 6 gallons of Apple juice, 2 jars of Peanut Butter and a jar of Apple Butter for $3.23! I debated on the Peanutt butter but actually turned in 2 coupons which will carry to my next order.

CVS= 4.33

Harris Teeter= 3.23

Total spent on Groceries this week $7.56. This should help my grocery budget stay on track this month!

Looking Forward to Change

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Change is usually a bad word around here ask any of the kids and when we say that things are changing that usually results in a sense of panic and dread. But not this time at least not for me.

Summer is coming to an end..school starts in 4 days, which means huge changes for Lily and the rest of us. I am excited and proud for Lily to start First grade but as her mother it does worry me about what if she is not social ready, what if she does not make friends in her class, what if she stands out as an awkward child that really just does not fit in. I don’t regret going ahead with our “home school” Kindergarten last year, Lily was ready to read and learn math. I seriously doubt that either Zach or Kendall will be in the same place and in a way that is a relief. I have tried to buy book bags, lunchboxes and clothes that will help her fit in and now I will start to pray that she find/makes good friends quickly.

None of this sounds like good change so far but… I like routine, in fact it makes my life so much easier. Over the summer, we have been really slack with bedtime, bedtime routines and morning routines. With Lily and Haley starting back to school this will focus us to get into a routine which in reality will make my life easier. Currently, the plan is for me to drop off Haley first and then Lily. Matt will do the reverse for picking them up. We will have to get dinner, homework and bedtime down pat between cheerleading and Kid’s club. So yes, it will be crazy busy but it will be a crazy busy that I like!

Other changes that I am really starting to enjoy, Haley understand that she is expected to do certain things and even if she disagrees, she usually does them. Haley is also beginning to realize the influence of music, words and actions on the younger kids. Matt and I have settled into a routine, as he is becoming more involved at church, he is also becoming more of a leader at home. Finances seem to be easier. Change a good thing at this point!

How Time Flys

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It has been a couple of weeks maybe even a month or so since I did a random list to catch everyone up on our life so now is the time.

-For the past week I have been working full-time plus between the two jobs. I am exhausted but we are not losing our minds so it must be getting easier on all of us.

-I am determined to keep a whole day off each week. I was unable to do that for the past 2 weeks and after yesterday, that will not happen again. I can handle the long hours if I know I get a day to spend with the kids.

-I managed to sprain/ jam my ring and little fingers on my left hand yesterday and they hurt especially trying to type.

-Lily is super excited about starting First Grade next week, on Tuesday we get to meet the teacher and Thursday is the first day of school. Both events will include me-YAY! YAY!

-Matt is starting to get heavily involved at the church again. Currently he is working on updating and managing the church website and working on building a pirate ship for our kids group. He played the drums this past Sunday. Along with Angel Food, he is actually doing more than I am currently!

-Haley and I took the little kids shopping alone on Thursday after hair cuts. Both Zach and Kendall feel asleep after less than 2 hours. We have finished most of the back to school stuff but need to make a “underwear” trip for a couple of folks who will remain nameless.

-Kendall is officially potty trained and only wears pull-ups at night. The majority of the time she even wakes up dry.

-Zach is starting to work on potty training. He is usually successful about 75% of the time. His birthday is coming up quick! He has such a little personality and makes sure we understand what he wants, even if it means taking a hand and showing us what it is.

-I am finding time to organize and display ALOT of my pictures of the kids over the year. Currently I am working on the large wall in our bedroom and then it will be on to the hall of shame.

Fast and Fun Weekend

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We woke up to a rain storm on Saturday morning..wish that meant we could sleep in and enjoy the rain, but not around here. I spent most of the morning cleaning, Matt’s brother and his family came by for a short visit on their way to Florida so I wanted to make sure we enjoyed the short amount of time we would have to visit. On Friday, our printer stopped working and I decided last minute that I wanted a 3 part crock pot so off to Walmart Matt and I went. Amanda and Haley watched the little ones for a bit so this was an adult only trip. Saturday afternoon while I prepared food, Zach, Kendall and Matt attended a birthday party. Saturday evening Haley spent the night with the Pierces to watch a movie and hang out. We really enjoyed the vist from Matt’s family and my kids think there was a special event on Saturday because we ended up with 2 bags of toys, one from the Pierce’s and one from the Abbotts. All three of the little kids are still playing with new toys it is awesome to watch them share and play.

Sunday was another busy day, church, lunch, pool, dinner, playing outside and then home to bed.

Today is Monday, I worked. The girls are gone to Cheerleading and Zach is asleep. The rest of the week should be just as fun. Tuesday, Haley is off to Carowinds and Lily has a friend over to play. Wednesday tutoring and house cleaning, Thursday is Angel Food and hair cuts. And with just one week left to school starts we have to get clothes and our selves ready.

Super Doubles

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I just checked back to see what I had attempted to budget for groceries this month. My goal for August was $400 and the plan was to eat out of the freezer for the majority of the month. However, I have ran into a small snag in the plan. First, I failed to realize that I would need to stock up on school supplies for the year, and attempt to get them at the lowest possible price. Next we are having a surprise visit from Matt’s brother in law this weekend. It will be awesome as we always enjoy them. But I wanted to purchase some extra food to make it a simple and special meal on Saturday. We decided on doing alot of finger foods/appetizers so that no matter what time they arrive it will be warm and ready to eat. They are travelling home from Disney so the timing is always a question. I checked the budget and so far I have spent around $380 and it is not even the middle of the month. But I was able to catch some great deals at Harris Teeter this week.

Super Doubles means that any coupon up to $1.98 will double up to $3.98 or the value of the item. Harris Teeter is also running some excellent sales on school foods/lunches. I picked up an order through the Express Lane yesterday after work and today Matt, myself and the little kids went to Salisbury. I have saved around 60% on the trips combined but in reality have stocked up on paper Towels, Lunchables ($1 each), chips, Capri Suns (which will be donated for our kids carnival), Chex mix and Bugles(both ended up being 0.44 a bag). I am pleased with what we were able to grab. I am hopeful that the rest of the month will be uneventful in the grocery area~!

Lazy Saturday

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It must be a first, there is nothing scheduled for today, the house is decent, and I have nothing on the “I must get this done list.” So it has turned into a very peace and lazy days. Matt has gone to church for the last workday as we are scheduled to have our first service in the new building in the morning. Haley is still at her dad’s, Amanda is working so the little ones and I have been at home in our pjs. I have had a chance to order some Christmas presents, read all the blogs I am behind on and just sit around and veggie. I also am writing 2 post so hopefully that is a good sign of things to come. This afternoon, I promised the little ones we would go out and pull weeds from the playground as well as a trip to Walmart for tax-free weekend. The most exciting news is that we have started Potty training with Zach. If you know us or have been reading awhile then you realize that we have been working with Kendall almost a solid year on potty training. However, Amanda, Haley and Lily were all trained prior to being 2 years old. Zach has used the potty 3 of the 4 times I have taken him today. So is this the end of diapers in our house?

Disney World- Never forget Rapunzel

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I am having a lazy Saturday today and enjoyed looking again at our Disney World Pictures. One of the memories that I don’t want to forget is how we got to meet Rapunzel, who is Lily’s favorite princess. We found out by chance that our first day was also the last day of a very special meet and greet with Rapunzel. The story of my wait is posted earlier but what I didn’t share then was the wonderful pictures we got so here are 5 of my favorite!




Lily actually gave her picture that she colored to Flynn Rider who put it in his bag!

Shopping Thursday

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We needed to go to Costco to stock up on our monthly items for the pantry. I also had the entire day off so it was decided that we combined a needed trip with several other shopping things that would be beneficially for us all. We ended up at Hanes Mall first where we hit JCPenney’s, Old Navy, Bath and Body Works and of course the Carousal. I did remember to print coupons for Old Navy so the best part of the day is that we saved at least 50% at each of our stops. We were able to grab Matt 5 shirts, me 3 shirts and 2 camis and Lily 4 shirts and a pair of leggings for less than $70 at Old Navy. I stocked up on foaming hand soap at Bath and Body Works while Lily got a free bottle of hand sanitizer. Our next stop was Harris Teeter for some rolls and coffee creamers. After Costco we headed home.

After putting the kids to bed I made a run to CVS, Walgreens and Food Lion. At the three stores I spent a total of 50 but was able to stock up on school supplies as well as finish buying Lily’s school list. The only sore spot of the whole day was at Food Lion, where the cashier was bored and decided to read each word on my coupons. She proceeded to tell me that I was only allowed to use one coupon per transaction to which I replied “I guess you need to ring up 6 transactions. After a snort and call to the front manager who simply started scanning the coupons I left with one transaction and a savings of almost 70%.