CVS Blues

Man, I'm so bummed! I thought my Extra Care Bucks expired June 30th. I was going to go today b/c I hadn't found any deals worth going for earlier in the month. I just checked my receipt and my E.C.B.'s expired the 24th! CRAP! So much for the savings I thought I got there. I think I'm going to stick to my 1,001 coupons & store savings right now. I'm feeling quite overwhelmed & maybe I need to focus only on those. Besides I think it takes quite a bit of time before you really save at CVS & I don't have the extra time right now. Still I'm kicking myself........ I hate wasting money! Grrrr........

Eggs-periment

It's been HOT! In the 90's every day with a heat index anywhere from 98 to 110. Yikes! Last Friday was a scorcher. "I wonder if it's really hot enough to fry an egg?" entered my head. After the kids were picked up from VBS and we had lunch I thought about it some more. I asked Elvis if he wanted to try an experiment and he was all for it. He went bouncing to the front door announcing to his siblings that we were going to try to boil and egg on the pavement. I explained the difference between boiling & frying, Elvis retrieved an egg from the frig and we were on our way with the rest in tow. Everyone was very eager to see if it would actually work.

Our specimen

Nope. No frying going on here.

We tested out the pavement with our bare feet to see if it was hot. The consensus was "Yes! Very hot!"

We went back inside for 10 minutes and then came back outside armed & ready to try again.

Bugs had the metal pan.

Elvis put down some foil. This was mainly for the fun of it b/c we had the pan already. =)

Boo had the egg. She cracked it like an expert.

Or is that eggs-pert. Yuk, yuk, yuk.

Nope. No frying this time either.

We decided to feel the pan to see if it was actually hot.

And YES it was! Whoa baby!

This time we took guesses to see if we thought it would cook this time. I told them it was an hypothesis.....an educated guess. (Yep, egg-ucated. *wink*)

We gave it 30 minutes and came out again. No cooking this time either. Elvis was correct in his hypothesis and was quite pleased about it. He went skipping across the yard yelling, "I was right! I was right!" LOL!

We decided to leave it out on the sidewalk for another hour or so to see if it would cook at all. Our collective guess was that it would not. Sweet Pea went out and got it this time and said it was cooking just a tiny bit around the edges. We plan to go out another hot day and try again. Maybe this time we will add a mirror.......hmmmm..........

Hike

On Memorial Day we went to check out a local park. It has over 400 acres some of which contains a few baseball fields, playgrounds, disc golf course & concession stands. Over 300 acres is filled with hiking trails through the forest. It is beautiful. Even though it was hot we went to the playground to let the kids play. After about an hour we had our picnic. When we were done we went hiking on one of the trails. It was beautiful. We saw many new trees & flowers. I wish that I had paper & a pen on the hike so I could have written the names of them down. There were markers for the trees and we enjoyed learning about them. We walked for about 45 minutes to an hour. We were going to go longer but it was very humid and we knew a thunderstorm was on it's way. We hope to go back again soon.

I wanted to get more pictures but my battery died on me. Next time for sure!

Sweet Song

I just love this song. One of the cutest ever.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CYI5bKZMes

Fun Times at Home & VBS

This has been a busy week. Much busier than I had expected. To top it off it was hotter than.........well, you know. =) The heat slowed us down a bit. Still we had a lot going on with VBS and the regular routine. Here are some pics from our week.


Unfortunately we have been under the attack of fleas. I don't know where they came from but all of the sudden they are here. They love the cats and are munching on us now as well. I caught one and immediately put it in rubbing alcohol. We turned it into a mini science lesson observing it through a magnifying glass & discussing it.

Bugs spies with his little eye.

Boo takes a turn.


Bugs cuddling Romeo. Romeo is such a big baby. Lol.

Boo & Elvis attended VBS at our church last week. Bugs didn't make the age cut so Sweet Pea took me up on my suggestion and made a VBS at home for Bugs. She called it "Bible Beach" and created the activities, snacks, etc. with a beach theme. Bugs loved it! Here he is in his crown they made during craft time.

Snack time!

He loved the kool-aid pops with fruit that Sweet Pea made.

Hanging out with Princess.

Laughing with big sister.

Pretty in pink

Excited little girl!

Can you guess what the Bible story was this day?

If you guessed Daniel & the Lions Den you are correct! Hear this lion roar!

This was his favorite snack of the week. They frosted & decorated cupcakes. Yummy!

The best part is eating!

This was too funny to pass up. A goatee & moustache!

Every day had a theme at our church's VBS. One day was orange shirt day, another bandanna day & khaki day. The last day they had the choice of wearing a hat or having "crazy hair". Boo chose the hair & Elvis a hat.
I came up with the idea for Boo's hair & Dave helped her make it. Elvis came up with most of the idea for his hat with a little help from mommy for the finishing touch. Below are the results.

She received TONS of compliments! Her music teacher went bonkers over her hair calling it to the attention of the entire class. She even said she wanted her hair like Boo's. LOL! I think if there had been a contest Boo would have won. She was that popular.

Here is Elvis' hat. He said all day people kept exclaiming over the monkey on his hat. He was a hit too! It looked so cute on him. He was all decked out with the hat, bandanna, orange shirt & khakis.

Elvis wanted me to take a picture of all his "loot" from the week. The setting was Australia and the theme was "Boomerang Express. It all comes back to Jesus." He also received a certificate for a free personal pizza from a local pizzeria & a certificate for a free meal from Chick-Fil-A.

Bugs wanted me to take pics of some of his prizes he received from his VBS. Not pictured are the candy, puzzle & book he won.

Our church's VBS had 900 to over 1000 kids in attendance every day. I have never in my life seen such a HUGE VBS program! They even had the sheriff there to direct traffic in and out of the parking lot & a couple of police officers patrolling to make sure everyone stayed safe. It was amazing! The kids raised over $2,700 for building a preschool in Mexico (the goal was $2,000 so they exceeded their goal) & 274 kids expressed an interest in either salvation or baptism. PTL!

Everyone had a fabulous time & can hardly wait for next year!

Our Little Princess

I haven't taken pictures of Princess for at least a week or more. I need to catch up so I took a ton of pics today. She is now 2.5 months old. Her smiles, laughs & squeals are a delight. She is also trying her hardest to roll over. She's growing up so fast! Princess also continues to attract admirers no matter where we go. As Sweet Pea says Princess is a chick magnet! Lol!

We love this little girl so much!

Strawberry Fun

Back when we picked strawberries a few weeks ago we had fun seeing the different shapes & sizes. Some were 2 joined together, some skinny, some very plump. One was what Sweet Pea dubbed as "The Perfect Strawberry" and looked like one you would see in a book. Another we found looked like a starfish. That one got away before I could get a pic. Bugs ate it. =( And no, none looked like the Virgin Mary. Lol! This one I found in the last batch. Who/What do you think it looks like? I have my opinion and I'd like to hear yours. =)

So, what are your thoughts?

Fill-In Friday

1. I grew up thinking friendships were forever.

2. Facebook was the last website I was at before coming here. Of course! LOL!

3. Why don't you let people be who God made them to be?

4. Chocolate & wine help me relax.

5. Thanks for the person who invented air conditioning! I am forever grateful.

6. Being judgemental is very off-putting.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to maybe watching Fireproof with they hubby, tomorrow my plans include cleaning out the kids toys for a possible yard sale this summer & of course grocery shopping and Sunday, I want to relax & stay at home with my family!

Cool Dude

MY COOL LITTLE BROTHER

Well, not so little anymore. But still cool. Did you know he used to be Keith Urban's personal trainer? How cool is that, I say?

Asking For Your Prayers

I received the news tonight that my Aunt Rosie has Follicular Cancer. It is in ALL of her lymph nodes. According to my cousin it is treatable but not curable. Aunt Rosie has been in a lot of pain but they are hoping that the chemo will help take that away. Please pray for her as she fights this battle. She is beginning treatment on Thursday.

My Uncle Bryce still needs prayer as he has terminal liver cancer. So far he has been able to do a lot of the things he wanted and his health has held. From what I understand with this kind of cancer his health can go downhill at any time. We are thankful to God that he has remained on the good side of things so far.

Thirdly my Uncle Donny. He was just diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He has been in extreme pain and is undergoing treatment right now. Presently he is in the hospital as he is not able to go home yet.

It has been a rough time for our family. Finding out loved one after loved one is diagnosed with a form of this terrible disease is hard. We are claiming God's promises and trying to be strong. Please pray with us for these wonderful people who we love so very much.

Receipts

As I mentioned before this couponing deal is really working for us. I've been able to match up many coupons with fantastic sales and saving money. Dave has been amazed that we are now eating name brands for less than store brand cost! Often for pennies on the dollar! We've never cared about whether it is a name brand or not and shopped mostly store brands. It is more that he is surprised that we can actually afford the name brands AND are paying far less for them than what we normally purchase! Wow!
I couldn't resist sharing a few of our recent receipts. It's funny, we've almost been dancing our way out of the stores lately. Lol! I do admit it does take a lot of work but it is definitely paying off. And that makes me feel like I'm doing my job well. =)

Publix Trip

Here I saved more than I spent! $95.28 spent & $99.89 saved!

Kroger Trip

This trip I spent $92.78 & saved $79.57! This trip included a fantastic deal on Huggies diapers.

I just HAD to show this long list of coupons used. I think it took up at least 1/2 the receipt. =)

Another Publix Trip

This one I spent $71.76 & saved $110.85!!!!!!!

We took a trip to Kroger's week before last because we were tipped that they were tripling up to 20 coupons per transaction. I took my wad of coupons & we all went shopping. It was a long trip b/c I had to match up the best deals there in the store as most of my coupons were for regular priced items. Some things didn't come out to be worth the price even with the tripled coupons but many did. Dave & I split up our groceries into 2 carts and matched our coupons accordingly. This way we were able to save even more $$ and still keep to the rules of 20 triple coupons per transaction. Pretty smart, eh? We saved $40 with the bonus alone. That doesn't even count the original coupon savings (without it being tripled) or the sale savings. It was well worth the trip & time!

BTW, in case you are wondering I don't buy anything that we don't normally use or isn't a terrific buy. I have in mind the amount I will pay for an item and if it goes higher than that I will not pay it. It doesn't matter if its on sale or I have a coupon I still won't buy it if it isn't in my "price zone". I feel like we are not really saving money if I buy it just b/c it's a sale or has a matching coupon.

Pretty in Pink

Our neighbor, Melody bought Princess this darling outfit. I found the hairband at Once Upon a Child. She looks so sweet in them. I love the roses and ruffles on her pink outfit. Thank you, Melody!

(BTW these were taken 3 weeks ago)

Sunshine & Smiles

Now that spring is soon turning to summer we are enjoying more & more sunshine. The tornado season has passed, PTL, & the days are beautiful. Dave recently put up the kids new swing set. We were able to purchase an inexpensive one at Walmart back in late April. Boo, Elvis & Bugs have been having a blast playing on what they call their "playground".

Casey our oldest & only outdoor cat.

We are also enjoying watching our veggie & flower gardens grow. Here is the scene from 3 weeks ago. Yikes! Time has gotten away from me!

My lilies getting ready to bloom. I was thrilled to find these in the flower garden as I miss my lilies I had back in MA in my perennial garden.

Tomato plant

Rows of peas

Elvis & his bean plants

Bugs & his bean plants

Boo & her bean plant

More plants

Another pretty surprise in the side garden

Hip, Hip......Hooray!

My laptop is back!

Welcome back, friend!

Wait For Me!

I'm going through withdrawal. Coupon withdrawal. I have been sent several emails that the new June coupons are up and waiting for me to print them. But I can't access them! Ack! It's driving me nutty! My frugal side is itching to get my hands on these coupons, print them, clip them & file them. My laptop is still at Staples & Dave hasn't hooked the printer up to this computer though I've asked for months. I wish I knew how to do it. In the meantime hang on my little friends! I will be there soon to print you and bring you home!

Transmission Decision

I talked to my cousin, Camille last night on the computer. She is all the way out in WA. Her hubby rebuilds transmissions for a living and let us ask all the questions we wanted. It helped us tons in making our decision. We were up until past midnight (Well, Dave & I were - lol) but it was definitely worth it. I deeply appreciate their help & to Camille for reaching out to us to let us know Scott could help. Dave has a couple of things to clarify with the dealer but it looks like we will be replacing the transmission. Please keep praying that God will provide the funds to do this. I know He will not let us sink but have to admit I am very curious to see where the provision will come from & when.

Sweet Treat

We went to Sonic tonight for the free giveaway of rootbeer floats. Yummy! They had a smart set-up. All the slots were filled with cars so they started serving people in a make-shift drive thru in the back of the restaurant. We waited less than 10 minutes and were served & out of there. I thought that was outstanding considering the enormous crowds of people. We parked in the adjacent movie theater lot to enjoy our FREE sweet treats. It was a fun pick-me-up after a long day. Thank you, Jesus for these special little treats.

Bad News

Sorry still no pictures yet.

We took the laptop into Staples last night. They are having 50% off repairs. We should hear back by Thursday or Friday night as to the diagnostic results.

The guy is coming to turn off the cable this afternoon.

More hospital bills arrived in the mail. I thought we were done but apparently not.

This morning Dave called me from work. His car broke down right as he was waiting for a light in a 5-lane intersection. It looks like it's the transmission. We bought this car last summer and haven't even had it a year. And of course we are still paying the loan on it and will be for some time. I can't believe this. When it rains it pours, eh? I'm so stressed right now with finances. Ends weren't meeting as it was now all of this junk. I pray God has a surprise provision up His sleeve.

And on top of all of this I'm feeling nostalgic about some broken relationships. I want to shake it off but can't. I hate feeling this way.

Woes Continue

Still having troubles but now it's worse. We bought the cooling pad recommended by friends and even the CO2 (dusting spray) to clear the fan & keyboard out. Neither has worked. In fact it's worse than before leaving me with 15 minutes at best. That may sound like a decent amount of time but by the time it boots up and I get logged on to my blog it leaves me with very little time. I can post blogs here but can't do pics. This computer has it's woes too. Please pray I can get my precious photos off of my laptop before it dies. I will be devestated if I don't have those. I stupidly didn't save them to disks along the way. =( I did save them to some other program but I don't know if its only acessible on my laptop or not. Frustrating!