We still don’t have our first frost in the forecast but at least one of the sweet potato vines has started turning brown. We decided it would be best to go ahead and dig up the potatoes while they are still healthy. This is always fun!
We feed the vines to our neighbor’s goats and bull.
The potatoes were HUGE! Now to enjoy the fruits of our labor! The best part is these potatoes were completely free because I started from potatoes from last year!
Kendall received her first set of braces today. Based on her mouth and the way her teeth are coming in way early, this is the best options. She will be wearing this set for 9-12 months and then a second set will go on in high school when all her permanent are in place. She chose blue for her color today. Kendall is excited to change colors several times! We are seeing an orthodontist in High Point, he is very informative and goes out of his way to explain and make everyone comfortable with this process. The office staff was also very willing to work with us on payment. My insurance should cover approximately half the cost of these braces. I made a down payment today and they will wait until January for my remaining portion so that we can use our med flex for next year.
This is Lily completing her science lesson today. She is actually listening to a lecture at the same time. Nothing like multitasking at a young age.
I really was in the mood for Chinese food today. After Kendall’s braces, Matt had a couple of meetings for work so we decided to meet for lunch. This was Matt’s fortune, we needed a reminder that God’s is in control and this is what we are supposed to be doing.
I need a change so this afternoon, I went to the hairdresser and came home like this! Next on the agenda is cheerleading and baseball!
Playing the outfield
Up at bat……
Random cuteness
And finally, his biggest fans…. his sisters
Took this cutie with me on my trip this morning to Food Lion!
I am doing more shopping than normal the last couple of weeks and will continue for at least two more due to my favorite yearly sale at Food Lion. To learn more about how I plan for these trips check out this post. I have been very pleasantly surprised during both my trips that the cashiers have been very nice and supported even with 3 different transactions. Remember I always use my $10 reward from transactions 1 and 2 in the next transaction.
I have actually made two separate trips to Food Lion this week, the reason sale on Diet Cokes. My first trip on Wednesday was very planned. This week, frozen vegetable are on sale for $1 a bag, pasta sauce is $1 a jar. I also stocked up on yogurt and bought pasta to go with the jarred sauce.
Transaction #1
10 bags frozen corn $10
5 bags frozen Broccoli $5
6 jars of Alfred sauce $6
4 jars of Spaghetti sauce $4
10 containers of yogurt $5
4 boxes of pasta $3.56
2L of Ginger Ale $0.84 with a 20 cent off coupon that printed.
Total Spent $34.91
Transaction #2
4 containers of sour cream $5.16
6 containers of mustard $4.14
30 containers of yogurt $15.00
Total Spent $14.59
Transaction #3
10 Diet Coke $0.99 each
Total Spent $0.49
Total Spent $49.99
Total Saved $36.06 This is the store calculation and does not include how much cheaper store brands are usually. So this is sale items only.
We, Kendall and I headed back to Food Lion this morning. I did not have a list but just knew I wanted to purchase 10 more Diet Cokes. I decided to walk around and see what items I could find that I could put in our pantry. I did need the butter which is the most expensive item I purchased.
Transaction #1
10 packets of brown gravy $5
10 cans of tomato paste $5
20 containers of yogurt $10
Total Spent $20.44
Transaction #2
5 bags frozen peas and carrots $5
5 bags frozen broccoli $5
5 bags shredded cheese $10
4 cans of black beans $2.72
2 cans of chill beans $1.36
5 packs of pasta $3.95
4 jars spaghetti sauce $4.00
4 2L soda $4.20
Total Spent 32.66
Transaction #3 I used this to gain some ibotta cash. These are all things we use so I did not mind adding
10 Diet Coke $10
2 Apples $2.24
2 Oranges $1.38
4 Bananas $0.92
Package of Bologna $0.99
Total Spent $6.03
Total Spent $59.09
Total saved $36.69
I am trying to keep each trip around $50. I did receive an additional $4 off $50 that I will use next Saturday. My saving percentages are only in the 40% range but I know this is savings I would not get otherwise so worth the effort for me.
I make a conscience effort to not share more about one child than the others, but this is not always easy! Kendall is laid back and easy with a stubborn streak a mile long. But this week, she is easily the center of attention.
Last Wednesday, Kendall, Zach and Lily were all outside playing with Zach’s new to him ball stuff. Kendall got hit in the head. She is very quick to include that it was definitely an accident!
This meant a trip to the after hours clinic at our pediatrician’s office. There was some debate regarding stitches and/or glue. She ended up with a combination of glue plus the newest and greatest plastic sutures!
Kendall is definitely a rule follower so that meant not getting it wet til Saturday and no trip to Wet and Wild. Today (Thursday) was the big day when the plastic suture were to be pulled off. I am amazed at how well it looks!
The pulling off of the plastic sutures was not all the excitement for Kendall today. She had 2 baby teeth removed this morning in preparation for her first set of braces in October. In true Kendall fashion, she has not complained at all instead enjoyed the day at home and is excited to get her braces and of course a visit from the tooth fairy!
One thing that we do well around our house is celebrate, Zach’s birthday was no different and is one of the reasons, I have gotten behind blogging. Of course this is going to be a picture heavy post but enjoy!
We started celebrating on Wednesday night at Paw Paw and Granny’s with ice cream cake.
Early on Thursday morning, Zach opened a couple of presents and played with them before breakfast.
September 1st, was a regular school day but we did not let this stop us! Matt and I took donuts to his class in the afternoon. His class sang “Happy Birthday” and he was so glad they remembered the “cha cha cha’s”
He received a neat certificate and $1 from his teacher.
Our next stop was ToysRUs where Zach had lots of money to spend. He also ended up going to Lowes to buy tools on Saturday because we ran out of time on Thursday. 
Zach choose to eat at Bad Daddy’s . The plan was for he and Amanda to go to a college football game but the weather decided otherwise.
We all enjoyed celebrating Zach’s Birthday this year!