Monthly Archives: August 2015

5 Things Friday

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1. I really really like the new logo for today that Carla used on her blog. But because I am using my new IPAD. I was uanble to figure out how to copy it. So be sure to check it out on her page.

2. We only have 1 full day of vacation left. I am not looking forward to returning to the real world but I am so THANKFUL for this vacation as it has been one of the best one yet.

3. This evening we decided to head about 15 minutes north to try out a Seafood Resturant that was recommended to us by a friend. It was honestly some of the best food and service that I have recieved in year. It was also a great chance to get some more pictures of my kids, you know I honestly don’t have or share enough of these guys. The resturant was located on the dock which the ship bring in the fresh seafood.

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4.Tonight stop at Boulineau’s included ice cream by the scoop on a fresh made waffle cone and adult beverages to be enjoyed.

5. I took my first ever selfie today. Going to share just in the effort to keep things real

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10 Signs- We are on Vacation

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WIth small children, it has been said that vacation is just as much work or more as staying at home. I know for us, our schedule does not change dramatically. This year  has been nice with the elimination of nap time and we have been staying up later than normal. So I want to share with you 10 signs that definitely mean we are on vacation.

1. Chocolate/Peanut butter Poptarts and Kool-aid are both consider legitimate breakfast food.image
2. Dessert is a requirment and must contain either frozen something or be a donut.
3. Daily trips to the local store “Boulineau’s” always include at least one non food item. Today we purchased a t-shirt, fishing net and shovel.

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4. Pajama’s and bathing suits make up the majority of our clothing choices.

5. Daily shell hunting, count as exercise and are much more fun than using a treadmill.

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6. Sleeping late, still means 7am but watching the sun rise over the ocean makes it seem ok.

7. Pink hats are not only fashionable but make spotting kids in the ocean much easier.
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8. Castle building is cooperative effort that can take all day.

9. Game nights involves food and lots of friends.
10. Blog writing is fun and easy because I have lots of pictures to choose from.image

Random Tuesday Beach/Birthday Thoughts

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Yesterday was officially my 43 birthday.  I was very fortunate to celebrate with my family and friends at Myrtle Beach.  We spent most of the day enjoying the sand and ocean waves.

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Next we showered and headed out to dinner to one of my favorite resturants, PF Changs

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On the way home we stopped at Krispy Kreme . I don’t think that I could have added anything to make it better.

Just for the record, this is the first and probably one post that contains two pictures of me, one of which is in a swim suit.

 

Menu Plan Monday

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imageSide note…yes I plan to include random pictures from the beach with each post,just because it is fun!

One of the ways that we are able to afford our vacation is by planning ahead. The focus of this beach trip is the beach, which for us means alot of playing in the sand and water. The condo we stay at is at least a 10 minute drive from   any resturants or stores so we plan ahead and usually only eat out a couple of times.

The menu looks  a little different this week because we actually plan a little bit more.

Lunch- “Lunchable” and sandwhiches on the beach.

 

Sunday- Breakfast- Cracker Barrel    Lunch- Steak and Shake Dinner-Pimento cheese sandwhiches
Monday- Breakfast- gravy and biscuits, Dinner- PF Changs for my birthday.
Tuesday- Breakfast- Donuts, DInner- Mexician feast.
Wednesday-Breakfast- Sausage cresant rolls, Dinner- Baked ZIti
Thursday- Breakfast-poptart/ cereal. DInner- Hot Dogs
Friday- Breakfast- Eggs, bacon, toast.  Dinner: Chicken and Broccli
Saturday- Breakfast- Poptart/Toast/cereal.  Dinner:  Seafood out or left-overs

Vacation Sunday

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Today we officially began our vacation. Kendall was able to get up before 6:30 to start her vacation. She considers this an awesome privilege because normal she has to wait until at least 6:30 before coming out of bed. We eat at Cracker Barrel for breakfast.  We did a small bit of shopping before enjoying the ocean this afternoon. Enjoy some of the pictures from today.

Saving on Saturday August 8th

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These are the items that I was able to purchase last week at CVS. My favorite deal was purchasing 2 boxes of cereal, 2 shampoos and a bottle of hand soap for $0.40. The reason this was possible was that I received an “extra” 5 ECB for reaching $50 in beauty care spending. I used that in conjunction with the 5 ECB for purchasing $20 in P&G products from last week.  When you combine all the transactions 5 in total I spent around $8 and saved 81%.  The sharpies are going to finish up Zach birthday gift (autograph books for Disney). All the other items when in my beach stock.(More details on these hopefully later in the week.

I made several additional shopping trips this week to grab up “Lunchables” which we will use at the beach for lunches and for easy school lunches to get us back in the swing in a couple of weeks.  My best grocery deal this week came at Food Lion. I had to make a shopping trip to purchase baby food to use at work, I did use a $1.50 coupon that printed at the machine, At the end of the transaction, the regrister also printed a $3.00 catalina. I used this to purchase bread flour for $.25.

I have also started to play around and use the ibotta and checkout 51 apps. So far that have been fairly simple to use and I am not purchasing items that are not already on my list, so ever little bit helps. This week alone I earned $0.75 at Checkout 51 and 5.35 at Ibbota,

What have you been doing to save money?

Typical Thursday-08/06/2015

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Have you ever thought about or wondered what a “typical” day looks like for other people or how someone spends their day. I do all the time, one of the reasons I prefer to read blogs instead of books these days. So today I thought I would share a “typical” Thursday with you.  I must first begin by saying today is not entirely typical because Matt is working at the coliseum all day to help cover the cost of cheerleading. But really is any day the same around here?

I did have a couple of goals in mine for today including washing all the bed stuff, picking up key for our vacation, returning an item to Walmart and doing some last minute shopping for our trip.

This morning prior to leaving to drop Lily off at her science camp which was from 8-12, we washed Zach and Kendall sheets and stuff and Lily was in the washer. Lily’s camp is at her school and they have been sending message about a “book” walk for all ages. Both Kendall and Zach were excited and since the temperature was in the low 70s, we decided to check it out.

We all enjoyed the book “The Curious Gardener” and after reading we decided to hang out on the playground for a bit.

Next stop was the local grocery store “Conrad and Hinkle” to pick up pimento cheese for our trip. Around the corner, was the reality office that I dropped off payment and picked up a keys for vacation.  Our next stop was Food Lion, I need to purchase some baby food to use at work. A dash home to unload the groceries, grab a snack and bathroom break and get the first set of sheets on the line. Our bed items went into the washer. Off to Wal-Mart, we headed, I returned an items, grabbed some “Lunchables” and small snacks for the trip. Back home for lunch and hanging out more clothes before we needed to pick up Lily.

Haley wanted to have a new phone placed on her number so she came over to get that arranged. I was so glad she stayed and watched the kids while I got a chance for a Pedicure and Manicure. Do I look beachy?IMG_1917While getting my nails done, a storm came up and with a quick text, Haley and the kids rescued our sheets from the line prior to the storm!  THANK YOU HALEY! I stopped at Food Lion again, because we are our of bread flour.  This stop at home is a little bit longer as I have to make all the beds and get everyone fed dinner. Finally, Kendall has tumbling from 5:30 to 6:30 and Lily has cheerleading practice from 6-8pm today. Hopefully Matt will meet us so that someone can be home prior to 8:30. A typical day, no wonder I am so tired.

What does your day look like?

 

Monday Menu Planning 08/03/2015

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After begin so far over budget last month, you would expect us to have lots of food and items to choose from. Unfortunately, this is not the case, mainly because of the way I shop.  We are heading on vacation  next weekend and my plan is to not shop for groceries until after our return. This should help reduce/contain the bill for August. So this week is about using fresh items and cleaning out the pantry so to speak.

Breakfast-Cereal, Poptarts, grits, French  toast, breakfast burritos and maybe some baked Oatmeal to help.

Lunch- Leftovers, sandwiches, dipping day at least once. I made a batch of egg salad and chicken salad on Saturday so sandwiches are the main choice for the week. If needed we have bowls of Mac and Cheese as well as crackers that could be come lunch easily.

Dinner– Focus on smaller meals with little to no leftovers to toss.

Saturday- Lunch: Egg Salad and Chicken salad on Ritz crackers, because we had no bread.   Dinner- Pasta salad with pork, watermelon cantaloupe..

Sunday- Lunch- Cowboy beans.  Dinner-Chicken salad sandwich on fresh sour dough bread.
Monday- Pork chops, potato salad, cantaloupe and cucumber relish
Tuesday- Roast with carrots, onions and fresh fruit.
Wednesday-Hamburger Helper
Thursday-  Layer Taco Salad
Friday- Falafas in crockpot and/or leftovers.

Currently we have about 1/4 a gallon of milk left and are out of several of the kids favorite foods but they are leaning to eat what is on hand. I am hoping to grab an awesome deal on lunchables to use when school starts so at least they have something to look forward to.