The winner of the puzzle is...

...Christine!!!  I have contacted you via email.  :)

Puzzle Giveaway

I have an extra Melissa and Doug 48 piece floor puzzle that I'd like to give away...  It has been opened but all pieces are there, and it's in great condition.  Leave a comment telling me how you'd enjoy this puzzle... and I'll pick a winner at the end of the week!

The Melissa and Doug site says this about the puzzle:

You'll need lots of "space" to assemble this beautifully illustrated 48-piece puzzle of our solar system. 2' x 3' when assembled, the extra-thick pieces are 20% thicker than the competition's. Its easy-clean surface keeps puzzle looking new.

Dimensions: 24"L x 36"W Assembled

Recommended Ages: 3+ years

CVS

So after the planetarium tonight, I run into CVS.  I couldn't find the $11.99 wrinkle serum but I still wanted to grab some Soy Joy bars for Bella.  I had only brought a few couples in, so I bought 10 bars.  I get up to the counter and I have five B1G1 coupons and one $2/10.  The cashier starts scanning before I can even hand my CVS card to her so they rang up as $1.29 each.  Then she scans my card and $7.90 come off.  My total is now $5 and she scans the first B1G1 coupon...  and enters it as $1.29!  I said "no they are only $0.50" and she said "yeah but it isn't entered that way so I have to take the full amount off."  So she scans 3 of them and then the $2 off coupon and she says "oh wait, now you're $0.87 in the negative, you need to buy something else."  So I grab two packs of Mentos (which is ok because it's one of the only candies my boys can eat) and my new total is $0.71.  Then she hands me 2 of my B1G1 coupons back because she didn't even use them!  So I was expecting to pay $0.50 for 10 Soy Joy bars, and I ended up paying $0.71 and getting two packs of Mentos as well.  Not bad!  I didn't lose or earn ECBs.

Planetarium

We took the kids to the planetarium this evening.  We had my niece and nephew along as well.  We go several times a year, the kids really enjoy it as do we!  Plus, it counts as Science class...  

Bella and my niece, Vanessa

Sophia and Isabella

Roman cheesing it up!

Sophia and Bella 

I have no idea why I have no pictures of Sam or my nephew, Vincent!!  Oops!

Coupon Giveaway Winners

I picked two of my 6 comments to receive a bundle of coupons...  Katie and Rochelle!!  I emailed you for your address... please get back to me as soon as you can so I can mail these out soon!!  Thanks!

Isabella...

Our little bookworm...  Sophia is a big reader as well and it sure looks like Bella is following in her big sister's footsteps!!

Perfection

Roman loves this game...  :)

Halloween Shirts

Last weekend, the kids each got a new Halloween shirt.  Sophia was at youth group when I took this shot but she has one as well!  

Fair Pics

We took the kids to the local fair this Saturday.  They *loved* the animals.  If we had more land, I'd totally buy goats and chickens for them to play with...  I think I prefer farm animals to cats and dogs... does that make me a country girl!?

Doesn't he have trouble written all over his face (and hair)!?

Bella feeding a sheep some hay...

Sophia and Bella petting baby piglets!

Isabella petting a cow's behind...  these cows are huge!  And I LOVE to hear them moo!

Sam feeding a goat some hay...

Isabella petting a sheep...  Sam said it felt like broccoli and Bella corrected him and said "cauliflower!"  Hehe!

Roman's turn to pet the sheep...  he was so giggly when he would touch one, he was trying so hard not to be scared, it was priceless to watch!

Sophia was disappointed there were no horses!  So were the rest of us, but not as much as she was!

CVS/Walmart

I didn't take a picture because I was grouchy...  but I went to CVS and Walmart today.  I had only Isabella with me and she enjoyed time with Mommy and sitting in the front of the cart!  We noticed after I took her out at the end of our shopping trip at Walmart that the seat of the cart says "for children 6-48 months and up to 35lbs!"  I have never seen that warning before!!  So...  Isabella is 6 and 36lbs...  oh well!!  

At CVS, I bought:

Nivea Men's Body Wash $4.99

2 Crest Toothpaste $2.99 ($4.98 total)

2 Fla-vor-ice Pops clearanced to $3.75 ($7.50 total)

3 Wonka candies clearanced to $0.20 ($0.60 total)

Total: $19.07

Used:

2 Crest $1 off coupons, $14.98 ECBs

$2.09 OOP and I earned $4.99 in ECBs

I had read of others getting $5 ECBs on the Fla-vor-ice but I didn't get them!  I am going to call CVS tomorrow and see if I can get them, if not, oh well.  I will donate them to my Dad for his youth group kids regardless.

At Walmart, I didn't really buy anything exciting.  Skim milk, rice milk, newspapers, cheese, Febreeze Noticables (I found two more coupons and wanted to use them before they expire), 6 Johnson's Buddies soap, baking soda and borax...  my total was $25.xx but I saved $17.60 in coupons!  

Allergies

My youngest two children, Sam and Roman, have a list of foods they are allergic to.  It is very frustrating but I am thankful that for the most part, they are allergic to the same things.  At least that  makes my life easier!  I am so frustrated at companies that use different recipes for the same product!!  In the last 2 months or so, I have come across four items that I buy for my boys that when bought at different locations or in different containers, they contain different ingredients.  After writing to the companies, I found that two changed their recipes and so at one store, I bought the older recipe which is being "phased out."  That is frustrating but not as frustrating as when companies have two recipes that are used in constant rotation!!  This means there is nothing I can just grab at the store and know it's safe for them.  I must read every single label, every single time I shop.  Throw in all the coupons I'm looking through, and it takes me forever to get to the check out!!

The boys are both allergic to dairy (not just lactose), oat, dye (red, yellow, blue), watermelon, oranges, lemons, fresh tomatoes, and I suspect shellfish as well although I haven't allowed them to have any.  Roman also reacts to pecans and walnuts.  Sam gets rashes on his skin when he eats something he shouldn't, Roman gets intestinal troubles. Sam's skin can not tolerate much, he gets welts easier (like if he scratches, his skin gets raised and red), and he can't use most lotions, soaps, no kids' tattoos, face paint, etc. Roman doesn't have any of those reactions. Roman does however get immediate hives from food, where Sammy gets a delayed pimple type rash on his face and body. They both get itchy lips/mouths/throats when eating certain foods (watermelon, lemons, oranges, fresh tomatoes, and the nuts listed for Roman).  Sam also complains that salt makes his lips hurt.  

Focusing just on red dye... When Sam was a baby, when I ate red dye and then nursed him, he projectile vomited (this took a lot of time and patience and food diary entries to figure out). When he was 15 months old, I gave him a lollipop for the first time, and he projectile vomited. He didn't have much, if any, red dye between then and 2, and somewhere in that time, it changed to a neurological reaction. I gave him a lollipop one day and he didn't vomit and I thought "oh, he outgrew it!" I gave him a dum dum several times in a week and realized looking back that it made him *really aggressive and uncontrollable. Dave and my parents didn't believe me so I would try it every so often just to *prove I was right (yeah, that's stupid looking back on it!). Sometime over this summer, I realized that he reacts to yellow and blue dye as well and the reaction is more severe than I remember his reaction to red dye being. Roman got tylenol for the first time at 4 months old and he broke out in hives all over his body. When he was almost 2, someone gave him a big sugar cookie covered in red icing and he broke out in hives as well. Now neither boy gets any kind of artificial dye. I assume (perhaps wrongly) that Roman's hives, like Sam's projectile vomiting, will go away and for a more severe reaction to occur. That's why Roman doesn't get any dyes, although technically he has only ever shown a sensitivity to red dye. 

More CRTs

I ran into CVS last night to get Excedrin for free after ECBs.  I wasn't pulled in by any of the other deals.  I gave my mom my B1G1 Covergirl coupons because she had a $4/20 to use.  *She gets good CRTs!!  Anyway, all I purchased was Excedrin tension headache for $3.99, I used a $4 ECB and received $3.99 in ECBs, so 1 penny lost!  Oh well...  

So these are the CRTs that printed...

$1 off any Children's Tylenol Cold

$4 off any Skin Effects purchase of $19.99 or more

$2 off Hershey Chocolate Bags 11-12 oz

$1 off a CVS Picture CD

CVS CRTs

I rarely ever get CRTs but when I do get them... they are always stinky ones!  Why!?  I went into CVS today, I was just there to grab popcorn and Mentos for my boys.  I used no ECBs and I didn't grab anything that earned ECBs.  The CRTs I got were...

$3.00 off Lamisil

$1 off Colgate Toothbrush

$2 off Hershey 19.75oz Big Bags

$1 off CVS Pantliners, 40 count or larger

Why can't I get $4/20!?!?  

Coupon Giveaway

I have LOTS of these inserts sitting here unused...  Leave me a comment about which coupon you think you would get the best use out of, and I will pick several winners by Monday.  Some of the coupons are expired, but there are still lots left that don't expire for several weeks!  Please make sure there is a way to contact you through your blog or comment.  Thanks!

Included in this insert are the following coupons:

$1/2 Betty Crocker Brownie Mixes 10/18/08

$1/2 Chex, Total, or Fiber One Cereal 10/04/08

$1 ANY Cascadian Farm product 11/15/08

$0.50 Reddi Wip 10/05/08

$1 ANY Tums 09/30/08

$1.25 Tums value Size 9/30/08

$1/2 Tums 24ct or larger 9/30/08

$0.50 White Castle 6ct Frozen Burgers 11/22/08

$0.20 Ajax Dishwashing Detgergent 16oz or larger 9/13/08

$1/3 Softsoap Liquid Hand Soap 9/13/08

$1 Softsoap Liquid Hand Soap Refill 32oz or larger 9/13/08

$1/2 Huggies Wipes 64ct or larger 10/18/08

$1 Colgate Total Advanced Whitening, Total Advanced Clean, Total Advanced Fresh 4oz or larger 9/13/08

$1 ANY Colgate Adult or Children's 9/13/08

$1/2 Colgate 360degree sonic Power Toothbrush or Adult Manual Colgate Toothbrush 9/13/08

$1 Huggies Supreme Jumbo or larger 9/30/08

$1 ANY Huggies diapers 9/30/08

$2 Pull Ups Training Pants Jumbo Pack or larger 9/27/08

$2 Bissell Full Size Deep Cleaning Formula 11/30/08

$1/2 Cottonelle 4pack or larger Toilet Paper 09/20/08

$1 Bob Evans Sandwiches 10/26/08

$0.35 Bob Evans Sausage or Bacon 10/26/08

$3/2 John Frieda Products 11/29/08

$1 Dannon Danimals Drinkables 4pack or larger 9/30/08

$1/2 Lysol Kitchen Cleaners 10/20/08

$2 Old English Aerosol 10/25/08

$1 ANY Old English Product 10/25/08

$1 Ronzoni Smart Taste Pasta 11/30/08

Buy TWO 20oz Vitamin Waters, Get ONE 32oz Powerade FREE 9/30/08

$2 Schick Disposable Razor 10/05/08

$1.50 Glade Fabric and Air Odor Eliminator 10/04/08

B1G1 FREE Oust Surface Disinfectant and Air Sanitizer 10/18/08

$1/2 Ziploc Zip'n Steam Bags 10/18/08

$1/2 Ziploc Bags 10/18/08

$1 Scrubbing Bubbles Mega Shower Foamer 10/25/08

$1 Scrubbing Bubbles Toilet Cleaning Gel 10/11/08

B1G1 FREE Glade Plugins Scented Oil Warmer (up to $8.50 Value) 10/04/08

B1G1 FREE Glade Plugins Scented Oil Refill (up to $5.49 Value) 10/04/08

Buy TWO Glade Scented Oil Refills, Get ONE FREE (up to $3.49 Value) 10/04/08

$2 Glade Scented Oil Candles 10/04/08

$1/2 Hershey's Syrup 18.5oz or larger 9/30/08

BOSTON MARKET COUPONS

$1 any meal purchase 10/05/08 (2)

$2 any $10 purchase 10/05/08

$5 any $25 purchase (not valid on $23.99 feast) 10/05/08

We spent the whole day out yesterday just to spend lots of time with Dave before he left this am... We took the kids mini golfing for the first time!! Sophia has been to Par 3 several times but somehow never mini golfing!!! They all had a great time. I didn't pay for myself because I thought for sure at least Roman if not Roman and Bella would be bored with it by the 4th or 5th hole (18 holes altogether)... but they all absolutely loved it and played with as much excitement on the 18th hole as the 1st!!! Dave won, Sophia and Roman tied for second, then Bella, and Sam. Roman got TWO holes in one - all by himself!! Then we had ice cream afterwards, the boys had chips.  :)

Freecycle

We just got a new to us 26" flat screen (not HD) TV off freecycle... Dave hooked it all up last night. The color is great!! 

New Pic

I took this picture of my kiddos on Wednesday morning.  L-R: Sam (4-1/2), Roman (3), Sophia (12) and Bella (6)

Bargains today!!!!

So a friend of mine brought over a HUGE stack of coupons for me yesterday...  I was so excited that I sat down for almost an hour looking through them and cutting out all the good ones!  I picked out the ones I wanted to use right away and the kids and I piled into the van to go.  We had other errands to run as well.  First we went to the bank where I deposited money in the boys' bank accounts and I also turned in the summer reading forms for the girls.  The girls are old enough to participate, they each read 10 books (they read wayyyyyyy more but we picked 10 and wrote them on the form) and earned $1 for each book!!  

Then we drove to the senior center where my Gram and her boyfriend spend most of their mornings.  My Gram had bid on some folding chairs for me at the center and won so I needed to go pick them up!  They are going to be perfect for holidays here at the house!  They are white, sturdy, attractive and fold for easy, slim storage!  Thank you Gram!

Next we stopped at the library to pick out new books for the kids.  I ran into a friend and totally forgot about looking for a new book for myself!  Between the 4 kids, we brought home 58 books though!!!  Thank goodness for libraryelf.com or I'd never remember how many are due back!

I ran into CVS only to learn they had no more Rubbermaid totes on clearance so I left right away.  

Next, we went to Redner's and I bought 1 bag of frozen Green Giant broccoli, 2 Gold Peak teas, 2 rolls of Marcal toilet paper, and 6 boxes of Ronzini Smart Taste pasta.  My total was $12 and after coupons, I paid $2.35.  I had picked up 27 Green Giant veggies on a trip earlier this week and TWO of the bags broke in my freezer and corn spilled out all over!  I plan on writing to Green Giant about that.  We have had corn and broccoli though and I think they taste great.  We also had some of the pasta tonight for dinner (I had bought 13 boxes on my earlier trip), and I thought it was very yummy!

Last stop was Walmart!  I bought quite a bit here...  2 boxes of cereal, 4 boxes of fruit snacks (I don't even let my kids eat these, but *I love them), 2-pack Magic Eraser, three 18 gallon Rubbermaid totes, 3 Febreeze Noticeables, 1 pack of string cheese, 6 Scented Oil Plug ins, 3 Ball lids and caps, a kids' game on clearance for $5, and 4 small bags of Fritos for the kids to eat while I shopped.  My total before coupons was $83.24 and after coupons, I paid just $27.55!  I had coupons for everything except the game and Fritos.  

I don't have any errands to run tomorrow but it's our last day to spend with Daddy/Hubby before he leaves on a week long business trip.  This is my first time away from him for longer than two nights in our 8+ years together.  :(  It's going to be a LONG week!!!  

I love this picture!!!

This is my husband and our oldest daughter, Sophia.  Dave was an usher and Sophia was the flower girl at my uncle's wedding a couple weeks ago.  I think this picture is absolutely beautiful and captures the love between them!  

What $6 Buys...

Entertainment for the kids!!  My children are forever stealing my laundry basket...  So over the weekend, as I already posted, I bought 3 baskets for $1.99 each!  Here they are in action...

CVS Summer Clearance

Yesterday at CVS, I bought 7 bags of Kingsford Match Light charcoal for 75% off that made each 7lb bag just $1.75, that's less than 30 cents a pound!!  

Today, I went back and bought a few boys hats for 90% off.  I found two Nemo and one Lightning McQueen for just 89 cents each!  I think I got a tube water ring for the pool as well for 18 cents.  Not sure who or when that will be used, but I needed a filler to use my ECBs to their full extent.  I went to the CVS near our church this afternoon and they wouldn't adjust my ECBs down!  The other two CVS stores I frequent will adjust ECBs so you don't have to buy fillers, you can choose just to lose the 50 cents or whatever is left.  Oh well, I don't go to that one often, so it's not a big deal!

Then there were also Rubbermaid storage containers and laundry baskets on sale for 50% off and I had $1 off coupons as well.  I bought three baskets for $1.99 each and three 18 gallon storage containers for $3.49 each.  They aren't *amazing* prices but they are things I needed and at prices that beat Walmart!  

I also got free after ECB Revlon nail polish, and earned $1 buying some Loreal Skin Genesis Facial Wipes.  I am not sure there are many other deals for me to do this week!  I do want to pick up more Tom's of Maine toothpaste and Arnicare pain reliever (September monthly deals) though!

Coupons today...

I blew a bunch of ECBs today to get some free newspapers...  There were 4 inserts in our paper today and they all had *great* coupons!!  Does anyone want my pet coupons??  We have no animals and I don't know of anyone else with pets that uses coupons locally.  I am really excited about getting Green Giant Steamers for FREE at Redner's with the $1 off Steamers coupon from today's paper matched with their 10/$10 sale this week!!!  I also love the $1/2 Combos ANY SIZE coupon!!  This should make the small bags in the checkout aisle FREE or VERY CHEAP at Walmart...   I haven't had cheddar pretzel combos in FOREVER!  Ok, I'm sure they aren't good for me, but for free, I can handle the health side effects.  :)  

Not sure how I like this...

I am trying to get used to blogger...  I'd really like if I could make it work.  I was having crazy troubles with my Mac blog, and now the only other person I knew who had a Mac blog has left for blogger...  It seems simple but I just don't have time to play around with it too much!  I do like how easy it is to post something, which will be helpful I think!!  My Mac blog takes forever to load, and you have to click on each individual post which can be a pain!  Stay tuned for more postings...  I think I may copy and paste some of my more recent posts from Mac so my blogger doesn't look so pitiful!  :)

First Day of School

Today was the first day of school for my daughters Sophia and Isabella.  They are starting 7th and 1st grades at home.  My son Sam is starting some Pre K stuff as well, and depending on how he does, we may move onto K stuff!  My girls like to dress up for the first day of school even though they don’t leave the house!