Just FYI.........

I love this boy. Love him.




I love that he looks JUST LIKE his daddy.

I love that he calls me mamalita.

I love that he sneaks sips of my soda when he thinks I'm not looking.

I love that he would do anything for his little brother.

I love his crazy sweet dance moves.

-Leah

Just another manic Monday! oh-woe!

Who can name the artist of that song...anyone?

Today has definitely been a manic Monday. I do wish it was Sunday. Because then I would know to NOT get out of bed on Monday morning! oh-woe!

Ok, enough of that.

Why do ALL the errands and chores always to fall onto one day? Why do I not spread them out more? I don't know, but I do know I'm one tired lady..


Today started at 10pm last night for me. That's right, another night on the couch with little Steven. Only, last night he was jumping on the couch like a crazy person so I slept on the floor....not sure what that was about. But I do know my back is killing me. How is it you can fold yourself like a pretzel when you are 10 but after you become a parent you loose all flexibility and all tolerance for sleeping on the floor? Whatever.

Anyways,

Lets recap what kept us Trowbridges so busy today shall we?
Ran to mailpak to mail some letters
Bank-Deposit rebate checks (love getting rebate checks in the mail!)
CVS-shop for deals this week (they were already out of all the items I was going to get!)
Take Steven home for a nap.
Jake and I went out to Wash the truck. AKA Jake gets an Ice Cream cone and watches mommy labor under the hot sun and frantically try to wash bird poop off the truck. That kid knows how to work a situation....
1hour later the truck was washed and vacuumed.
THEN, we came home to wipe the inside down, detail the tires and wipe the insides of the windows. Sometimes I hate cars.
So another hour later, the truck was REALLY clean. But then, as luck would have it, it began to rain.......

Then we went back out for some lunch. We were originally going to just pick up some food, but we decided to dine in the restaurant. Then, as luck would have it, Steven had a stinky diaper. And guess what I didn't have? The freaking diaper bag! And I had to sit next to the little guy! At least there was no one sitting in the booth next to us. I would have felt REALLY bad for them.

Then we went to the recycling center to drop off 8 bins of trash. After poor Dave battled a swarm of bees while trying to help get everything out of the truck, we finally went home.

On a much happier note, let me show you a couple of sweet deals I got!


Backing up a bit, last week I received a $21.00 rebate for some diapers I didn't even pay for in the first place. So it was like free money!
I've been trying to decide what to do with the extra money, then I saw this Target diaper deal and decided to stock up on diapers....


The deal was when you buy 2 huggies natural diapers you receive a $5 gift card.
So the transaction went like this...
2 pkgs huggies diapers $39.94
- $12 in coupons
- $21.00 in rebate money
= $6.94 for 100 diapers!
PLUS, I received a $5 gift card
So it was "like" I paid $1.94

I used the $5.00 gift card to buy a huge box of chalk on clearance and 6 little cups for my boys. Not a bad Target trip at all.

Then I ran to Walmart because all the coupon blogs said cream cheese was on rollback for a buck and I have a coupon that would have made it free.


They didn't have the cream cheese on rollback at my store, but I did manage to get all this for free! The fizzy tub colors are $0.97 and there is a $1 coupon
The shick razors are $1.97 and I had a $2.00 coupon
The milano cookies are on sale for $1.00 at CVS this week and there is a $1.00 coupon. I just went ahead and had Walmart price match. I also ordered 20 $0.60 off one pkg coupons so that will hopefully mean I can stock up big time on cookies for $0.40 ea!! I really hope my coupons get here by the end of the week!

So anyways there you have it. Our manic Monday. And it's not even 6. Wish me luck.

What's new?

This weeks weather has been MUCH cooler than past weeks. So we have been spending more time outside! Yay! We have also been going on our daily morning walks/pretend runs. What I mean by pretend runs is that I push the kids in the stroller for 10-15 minutes to get all nice and warmed up, then I force myself to run, then dear Jake starts yelling at me to run faster and faster so we can catch up to the cars, then after about 10 minutes, I fall over and pass out. Jake just looks over at me and shakes his head sadly. The kid is 4 years old and I already embarrass him.......today he told me he could run faster than I could. Such a nice son. I almost hopped in the stroller and told him to push us home.
We were out there today for 1 hour and 15 minutes! LOL and during that time I ran for a total of 15 minutes! I was also pushing 100LBS between the stroller and my two massive children, mind you. so, pretty impressive, right? right?...? Anyone? Bueller....Bueller?

I'm just not one of those people that can run, and run, and run. Can't do it. I'd rather walk for 3 hours then run for 1.

But anyways, enough about this morning and my inability to run!

I have REALLY been trying to be better about taking pictures, and I think I did pretty good this week....
Check it out


Here are the boys waiting RIGHT BY THE DOOR for daddy to come home. LOL they even brought toys and snacks. It was a serious camp out...







Here is Jake at school time (which is going GREAT)



Cheese!



Here are the kiddos baking cookies. Backing up a bit, earlier that day I was folding clean laundry and Steven saw me folding his shark jammies. My Steven is OBSESSED with sharks. So he grabbed the jammies and said, Gark mom! Gark!!! So, we dressed him in pj's at 3 in the afternoon. And of course, when Jake woke up and saw Steven was wearing pj's, Jake had to change too....






Here is where it got messy and funny...
We had a big bowl of powdered sugar to roll the cookies in. So naturally, Steven being the ever curious little guy he is, decided to eat a spoon full of the sugar. Which resulted in him choking. I guess he couldn't understand how wonderful sugar could cause such pain, so he threw the rest of the sugar onto the floor.


Just look at those red eyes. My baby was traumatized by sugar...

The cookies turned out great! So great that I have been eating them for breakfast. But the good news is that they are all gone thanks to me. Again.


Here is Jake working on building a train...


Cheese!

Jake was very focused...

Steven, helping is his own special way...


All done!




So there you have it! our week in a nutshell. Minus the call to Poison Control, Steven stabbing me in the face with a pen(I still have a dent on my chin), The giant spider that tried to attack me and the kids, the entire load of laundry that was dyed pink thanks to a crayon in Jake's church pants. And all the other crazy things that I no longer remember or have blocked out........

-Leah

Shopping so far this week.........

It's a pretty great week for deals (despite no coupon insert is Sundays paper)

Here is a recap of what I've done so far...



First, (as always) to CVS

My out of pocket was high this week...but I got some things I don't normally get


I paid a total of $12.60
Saved $106.00

I was super stressed when I left the store because the registers in the front weren't printing the RR so I had to check out in the pharmacy. Ugh. They had no idea what they were doing. I did a total of 4 transactions and they were sure glad to see me leave LOL.

Trans #1

$9.76 OFP
$34.33 Saved

Trans #2

$0.41 OFP
$36.41 Saved

Trans #3

$0.26 OFP
$19.28 Saved

Trans #4

$2.17 OFP
$15.98 Saved

The reason I do separate transactions is because I get a certain amount of ECB back from purchasing certain items and I use that money to pay for the next transaction so my out of pocket is as little as possible.

Then last night I went back to CVS again. We were out of Excedrin (and you ALWAYS need that in your house when you have kids) and CVS has a good deal this week



Trans #1
Excedrin
$3.29 Spent
$6.50 saved
with $5 ECB back

Trans #2
Dr pepper 3 12pk
4 Sobes
Aqua Globe (this was FREE)
$4.02 Spent (used 5 ECB from trans #1)
$22.49 Saved
with $3 ECB back

Trans #3
2 Wisk laundry B1G1 free this week
$.35 Spent (only because I went into the neg $0.01 and had to buy a carmel)
$17.99 Saved


Then I went to Walmart after CVS

I took a picture of my entire trip, but when I turned the camera on this morning it wsa gone. I spent a lot last night. A lot. It wasn't very fun..........

Here are the only highlights from the trip


I got 6 free post its
Bounce dryer sheets $0.97ea
Dan-o-nino yogurt $0.87ea
Borden cheese $0.88
Laughing cow cheese $1.98 (can you tell we like cheese in or family?)
The cream cheese is $1.64ea and I have that $5/5 kraft coupon so they were $0.64ea
Same deal with the 5pkgs of cheese. They are on rollback for $1.90ea! Which is already a great deal. But I used another $5/5 coupon making them $0.90ea!! We won't need cheese again for a while..

So there you have it. The only other shopping I have left is a trip to Target to check out all the clearance larence school supplies...

Hope yall have a great day!!

Jake-isms.........again

Mom, Steven is getting into the Diva-dees!

I am not your mother! I am just your dad's father! (he was mad at me, and I think he was trying to disown me)

Mommy, look! I made you a Neck-A-Less

Mom, check these sweet dance moves....

Jake: Mommy, I love you and you are gorgeous like Mikaela (the girl from Transformers)
Me: Awww, thanks Jakers. I love you too
Jake: Could I have a cookie?
Me: Hmmmm......


Jake: Mommy, could you please play with me?
Me: Sure Jake
Jake: Ok, but, could you please play like how daddy plays with the dragon and not how you play? I like how daddy plays toys.
Me:..............sure buddy..........


Jake: Mommy, I need a cold one!!!
Me: What?!?! What are you talking about?
Jake: Oh, sorry. Mommy, may I please have a cold water bottle?
Me: Oh. Water. Yes you could have some "water".



Now, for a little Jake-isms Espanol style.

Hey Mommalita! (he always hears people down here say mamasita, so I guess he figured its the spanish word for mom)

Come here my little pop-it-two Steven! (I call Steven papito, and Jake made it into a whole new word)

And for the sake of being fair, darling Dave said that I needed to share some Leah-isms. Jake has to get all this craziness from somewhere...

Me arguing with Dave: Stop giving me the second degree!...DOH! (this is why I don't win arguments).

Me: Dave, I think Jake has a photogenic memory.....DOH!

Me: It's really "human" here in south Texas....DOH! (I didn't really say this, Dave thinks I did, and said I needed to include it. But I didn't say it)

Finishing up the shopping........

It was just one of those weeks where I was so scatterbrained at the stores. I kept forgetting why I went there in the first place, and both my Target and Walmart have a TON of items on clearance. So you know I just HAD to check it out. Which resulted in me going to each store a couple of times...but that's ok because I found some great things.


I originally went to Walgreens because you could supposedly get some really cheap cereal this week...but my store didn't carry the cereal I was looking for. I had $1 RR there that was about to expire so I was trying to find SOMETHING I could get with it. I hate wasting my RR because I work so hard for them.....





Then I came across this first aid kit in the clearance section. There was no price sticker, so I asked the cashier. After 5 minutes of waiting for him to go talk to his manager he said $1.54 which was a good deal because it comes with a $15.00 coupon booklet inside! And we all know how much I love my coupons.

Then I went to Target




My dog food coupons came in the mail so I was really excited to go grab all that free dog food (for my donation to the animal shelter).
So the dog food was free with the Target coupon (you can still get these on Ebay or on a coupon clippers site) which saved me $12.80
The tide travel size were free from the P&G insert coupon this past Sunday.
The glade candles were normal price, but since I'm obsessed with them I didn't care. I did have a $1.00 off coupon.
The tide stain release was not on sale either. But I have a $1.50 target coupon and a $3.00 manu that make for an 18pk to be pretty cheap.
Spent $4.87 on this trip
Saved $22.56

Then I went to CVS


I didn't find out about the shick razors until later on in the week. They are on sale B1G1 free this week and if you play the shick intuition game on Facebook, you can score two $4.00 off coupons. CVS coupon policy allows you to use a coupon on the free item. So I was able to get the razors for a buck each. Not bad at all considering they are normally 10 bucks a pop.
The 3 containers of nuts were for the last 3 coupons I had making them free. I now have 20 containers of peanuts. I think I pretty much set on peanuts for the next 2 years!
Spent $2.17
Saved $20.99


Then I went back to Target last night. And I was so glad I did! I found so many great things! Like........

Free bathroom furniture! How in the world did I get free bathroom furniture you ask? Well a few weeks ago on the Target website they had a coupon for $10.00 off any Target Home bathroom furniture item.
And it just so happens that almost all the Target bathroom furniture is on clearance right now.
The towel rack was on clearance for $6.48 (which left me with an overage of $3.52)
The Etagere with shelves was on clearance for $13.48 so with the coupon overage from the towel rack I was able to get both items for free! Woo Hoo!
Then the Toms D.O. was on clearance for $2.08 and I had a $1 manu and a $.50 target.
The Glade candle was on clearance for $1.48 and I had a $1.00 manu making it $0.48!
The sweedish fish are on sale $3/5 and I had a $2.00 off manu which made them a buck each. Not bad for my favorite treat.
The wilton liners are on clearance for $0.77 which I don't know why the heck I didn't grab all of them. We go through cupcake liners like crazy.
The 3 drawer storage thingy was $11.99 ouch! I hate paying full price for things. But my storage closet is getting out of control so I needed another container.
Spent $21.38
Saved $29.99!

Next week looks like it's going to be a bit slow because of the holiday. But that's ok. Dave doesn't work on Monday so we are going to have a nice BBQ and spend some much needed time together. He has been working like crazy ever since we got back from vacation.

I sure hope yall have a great weekend too!

This weeks deals

So far it's been a great week for deals.

Here is a recap of what I've done so far this week...

First stop, CVS

I did a few transactions


Trans #1
Spent $1.05
Saved $27.95
and received $6 EBC back



Trans #2
Spent $0.29 (I used the $6 EBC from the first trans to get it this low)
Saved $19.06
I got the olay facials so I could finish up with the $10.00 back to school rebate P&G is doing.



This deal I actually went to another CVS for. My favorite store was out of the Oral B toothbrushes I needed. There is a deal this week if you purchase $10 in Oral B toothbrushes you will receive $5 EBC.
The Oral B toothbrushes just so happen to be on clearance for $0.74-$0.99 and I had a ton of the $0.75 oral B coupons so that made for VERY cheap toothbrushes.
I went ahead and bought one that wasn't on sale because they didn't have enough of them on clearance for me to bring my total up to $10 before coupons.
So my total was $4.67 and I got $5 EBC back! So I made a profit of $0.13 for buying 7 toothbrushes! Awesome! Oh, and the nuts are free with the $1 off any emeralds nuts 3.5oz or larger.

Then to Walmart

The gain dish soap is free with the $1 off any gain dish soap coupon that was in this Sundays paper. I would say for you to buy some coupons on Ebay, but the sellers have these coupons going for $8 or 9 bucks for 20! No thank you.
The Rayvoc batteries are also free with the $1.00 off coupon from Facebook or the newspaper a few weeks ago.

Then it was off to Petsmart. I'm still working on collecting food and treats for our animal shelter down here. It's a slow process when you are trying to make it super cheap...

These little 6oz dog food bags are free with the Free 6oz Purina ONE coupons from a couple of weeks ago. I got 20 coupons on Ebay for a $1.60 Awesome!

And since its September 1st, I went ahead and calculated my total savings for August. It was the most I have EVER saved in one month...

Ready?

Are you sure?.....

$893.54!

Now, before you pee yourself, I didn't actually "Save" $893.54.
Yes, that's what the receipts say, but part of that amount is from items I was able to get for free or for a few pennies. Beacuse there is no way I would have paid full price for some of those things. Get it? There was a lot this month that I was able to get for free. The sobes, emeralds nuts, all those Ben and Jerrys ice creams....see what I mean?

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE seeing that saved amount on the outside of my August receipts envelope, but it isn't correct. I would have to go over my receipts to get an "actual" savings amount, but I'm not gonna do that right now. I do know about $300 was all the stuff I was able to get for free and all those razors I was able to get for $0.11 at CVS. But overall August was a great month for shopping. I even spent less than I normally do!

I have a few more stops this week so I will be sure to let ya know how those go!

-Leah