December Freebies

While November completely suck-olaed, December has been much better! Holy Cow is all I can say...I hope you are as impressed as I am! Please note, that there is several items that are not pictured due to various reasons....

Victoria Secret Pink panites (not pictured-didn't think you wanted to see this!) $3.99

Colgate Toothpaste $3.00

2 cans Lindsey Olives $2.00

Goody Contour Clips $2.00

Yoplait Yogurt (not pictured-we ate this!) $0.65

2 Hallmark Cards (not pictured-sent these out!) $2.00

Ecotools Mini Puff $0.87 ($0.13 moneymaker)

Beech Nut Fruities $0.98 ($0.02 moneymaker)

Rice-A-Roni Bowl $1.00

Tums Freshers $4.50

Farm Fresh Turkey Meatballs $4.99

2 Reach Dental Floss $1.94 ($0.06 moneymaker)

2 Quaker Yogurt Bars $1.00

Bic Correction Fluid $1.00

Keri Lotion $5.00 ($0.62 moneymaker)

 

That's a total of $34.92 with a moneymaker of $0.83! Not a bad way to end the year! Happy 2013... 



The Pinterest Christmas

This year the kids & I (ok, so maybe I decided and recruited the kids) to have a Pinterest Christmas. We started early in fall, and worked until just a couple of nights ago, putting together our "Merry Christmas Baskets" for Grandmas and Great Grandmas...They turned out super cute & we had a blast! These fabric wreaths actually were taken from a gift that Nicholas gave to us last year for Christmas. His 2nd grade teacher had each of the kids bring in a half a year of fabric cut into 1x6 inch strips, then they tied them in knots around a clothes hanger. We added embellishments to ours and the kids got to pick out what they wanted on their wreath.

 

Grandma Sally's wreath (made by Nicholas)

 

Great Grandma Remacle's Wreath (made by Sean)

 

Great Grandma Goeckner's Wreath (made by Trish)

 

Grandma Judy's Wreath (made by Sean)

 

Great Grandma & Grandpa Hagedorn's Wreath (made by Nicholas)

 

 

We also made these beautiful wooden Nativities. These actually took more time than I had originally anticipated due to drying time. However, I fell in love with them once they were complete. Each of us had a part in these which made them truly even more special; Ray cut the wood for us, Sean painted Joseph, Nicholas painted Mary, Elizabeth painted Baby Jesus, I painted all of the heads and glued them together and added the twine. (I love these so much, I'm going to add them to my This & That craft table at my friend Ruthie's craft show in the fall!)

 

 

 

 

Then we added a special Christmas Tree framed art. Each of the kids had a template of a Tree and then they got to add the strips of paper. I spray painted black frames that we got at KMart and glued the trees to the white cardstock. They turned out super cute! (Unfortunately, I only got pictures of a few of them & I don't know who made which one....but here they are!)

 

 

 

Last but not least are the special ornaments the kids made. Elizabeth made the snowman for a fund raiser for our school PTA, Sean made the Santa out of the paintbrush for the same fundraiser, and Nicholas made the Joy out of a ruler for the same fundraiser. Then, we needed some extra ornaments and Elizabeth had made something similar at preschool & I thought the kids would have fun so, there you are with the snowflakes!

 

 

 

We added the kids' pictures (taken by Dallisa of course!) and there you have a super fun and special gift. The kids had a blast making each item and then they got to pick who it went to. I was so proud of them because they really made sure and added a touch of themselves to each Grandparent. And believe it or not, I'm already thinking of next year's Pintrest Christmas! LOL However, lesson learned this year...Don't wait until the last few months to do this, make sure and start earlier in the year.



 

 

Merry Christmas To All!

 

 

 





 

 

 

November Freebies

Can I just say BORING! This month totally was not a great freebie month. However...that may have had something to do with my unambitious attitude toward searching out those freebies. So, my goal for December is to do better! (Seeing how it's the 10th already and I've scored a few December freebies, it's going better!) So, here are my boring, not so exciting, November freebies:

Beech Nut Fruities $0.98 ($0.02 moneymaker)

Reach dental floss $0.97 ($0.03 moneymaker)

Duncan Hines Frosting Creations $0.99

Playtex mail sample

 

 

Therefore, a very depressing savings of $2.94 with a $0.05 moneymaker....how sad :-( Here's to a better December!

Gifts of the Spirit

Each month at our school, children from each class our gifted with a presentation at the end of the Friday Mass...this is known as Gifts of the Spirit. The children's teacher write something that God has gifted to them and then it is read at Mass, and the children are given a certificate with what their teacher has written about them. In November, both Nicholas and Sean were given their Gifts of the Spirit during Mass. This is always a big deal...emails are sent home to remind those whoes children are going to be gifted, a flyer is tucked into our Family Folders and sent home with each child who was gifted and their special gift, pictures are taken of the kids with the Priest and placed in the cafeteria until the next Gifts of the Spirit are presented, and parents make an extra special attempt to make it to Mass to support their kids and take pictures. (Like me! While I wasn't there for the whole Mass, I was able to sneak away from Preschool for a little while to watch the kids & take pictures!)

Sean: Sean is gifted with Leadership. Sean is a bright student who cooperates well with others. He leads with a positive attitude and knows when to be serious and on task, and encourages others to do the same. His patience and helpful nature make him a great assest to our class.

 



 



 Nicholas: Nicholas is gifted with Precision. Nicholas has a keen eye for detail. You can witness this precision in the high accuracy of his schoolwork, the complexity of his artwork, and the carefully selected words he chooses to treat others gently. Thank you, Nicholas, for showing us nothing worth having ever comes except as the result of hard work! Well done!

 

 

 

Yep,  I was a proud Mom that day. And the kids love it and know that this is something special. I have their (ok, Sean's) certificate hanging on the fridge. And as soon as Nicholas decides to find his buried in his desk and bring it home, I will proudly hang his on the fridge too! LOL, then they go into their baby books because these are not something that you throw away. They are definately a Mommy's treasure.

September & October Freebies

Ok, Ok, I know that I'm waaaayyyyy behind on these! I did take the pictures & had everything written down though...that's gotta count for something, right?

Back to September....A pretty good month in the freebie department!

 

 

Febreze Noticeables Scented Oil Warmer $2.97

2 BIC Round Stic pens (8 pack) $.25 each ($.50 Moneymaker!)

Suave Shampoo $1.00

Suave Conditioner $1.00

Bath & Bodyworks 2 oz Cashmere Glow Body Lotion $3.50

Gatoraide Chews $1.00

2 Safeway Movie Rentals $2.99

Bath & Bodyworks 2 oz Stress Relief Body Lotion $5.00

Phineas & Ferb Jello Mold $1.39

 

 

That's a $19.35 savings for the month of September & a $.50 moneymaker! Not one of my best months yet...by far not one of my worst!

 

Now, here's Octobers:

 

 

Kelloggs Fiber Plus Nutty Delights $3.79

Nivea Lip Gloss $2.99

Propel Water $1.00

2 boxes of Triscuits $2.99 each

Idaho Potatos $1.59

 

That's a savings of $15.35 for the month of October....can you tell that my freebie's are not nearly as exciting as they used to be. I think for one of two reasons: (1) School has started and (2) I think my time to hunt for the freebies and shop for the freebies has dwindled. Hopefully, I will break out in December because I KNOW that November is going to not be anything.

 





The Mommy Challenge: Week 2

Slow Down

This weeks challenge was to slow down. Now, I had to ask myself "How does one slow down when there are 3 kids, 1 mommy, and a daddy that is working 6 hours away & is gone all week?" Well, I took baby steps and started slowly....Instead of rushing the kids out the door without any warning in the morning, I gave them a good 5 minutes of "We are leaving in 5 minutes, be ready to go!" And you know what? It worked! I wasn't cranky, the kids all got to the car on time without anybody crying and the day started better. I also had to slow down when it came to the grocery shopping and didn't get all crazy with my lists and running from store to store with a list of the best deals. I stuck with Safeway and didn't go until later in the week. It worked out pretty well, I still got some good deals, & I didn't rush the kids through the store. I also got all of the laundry done in one day in order to prep for a possible out of town getaway (which didn't happen so the perk was all of the laundry was done before the weekend!). The kids help put there own clothes away & instead of having them put it away when I wanted it done, I waited until they had some down time & then asked them to put it away, which also resulted in less whining & fights. I learned a lot this week! The new things happening in the Remacle house are to give the kids some warning before we leave instead of expecting them to be ready to go when I am and to also ask the kids to help with some of the chores when they have down time instead of wanting it done right that second....the chores will wait for a little bit and the kids will be more apt to help without all of the fighting and whining.

The Mommy Challenge: Week 1

Eat Dinner With Your Kids

So, I guess I should give you a little history of what I am doing here. I found this challenge on Pintrest (No Way! LOL) and thought this would be a good thing for our family, and for me. It's a mini challenge for you to strengthen your relationship with your kids one week at a time. Her blog is called Live a FabuLESS life and is pretty neat with lots of great ideas. Her first challenge is to (obviously from the title) eat dinner with your kids. And oh boy howdy, did she get some criticism on this one...apparently people can't fathom the idea of not sitting down and eating as a family. However, as a mommy who has three picky eaters, and a daddy that doesn't get home until after 7:00 if he is able to come home at all, I have to poo-poo those critizers. We made it a general rule to eat together on Sunday nights and when Ray is out of town I do my best to sit down and eat with the kids. And when Ray does come home, I feed the kids and cook dinner for us while they are eating. Thus, I get to hang out with them and cook at the same time. I did learn some new things this week...for instance if Sean could pick any animal that he wanted to be he would a cheetah because they run fast. And since Ray was out of town for this first week of the challenge, I was able to actually sit down with the kids several nights & of course our Sunday night dinner with Ray (which was delicious by the way!)

As you can see, we don't get to formal for dinners! This was taken on Thursday night....

August Freebies

Well, this wasn't the most exciting month in freebies however, I was able to land some much needed cards. On the positive note, there were some great deals on school supplies so, even though my freebie list isn't very long, the deals on school supplies was very long! And how excited was I to get a box of Capri Suns for hte kids for $0.50! Even though August wasn't the most exciting month for freebies, I am grateful for the items I did get & still very excited. Especially the haircuts for the boys. Do you know how long it's been since they have had their haircut by someone other than Dad? Needless to say they were super excited! So here's this months items.

Schick Hydro Silk Razor $5.97
Friendship card $2.99 (cardstore.com-not pictured)
Anniversary card $3.44 (treat.com-not pictured)
Birthday card $2.89 (cardstore.com)
2 haricuts for the boys $28.00 (JCPenny's August free kids haircut special!)
BIC Silky Touch Razors 10ct $2.94 ($0.06 MM)
Glade Expressions $2.99 ($1.00 MM)
2 BIC Velocity 2 pack pens $1.00
Tostions Artisan Recipe Tortilla Chips $3.99
Chex Mix $1.00 ($0.20 MM)
2 Stayfree Overnight Ultra Thin pads $4.98
Nivea Lip Care $2.99

Therefore, that's a total of $61.18 and a moneymaker of $1.26. Overall, I think this is one of my more bigger months in freebies, just not very exciting items-LOL! :0) I still get excited for the end of the month to total up all of my items & see all that's inside my freebie box. Sometimes there are surprises...like the Nivea Lip Care! And, every item gotten for free is one less item that I had to purchase.

July Freebies

Looks like July was way more "successful" than June! I scored some great deals and stocked up on some hot dogs that were on sale for $0.88 and various other items. However, the freebies are the fun items I'm searching for! LOL! Therefore, I had to do this post with two different pictures...Why? Well, I scored major huge at Kmart, we needed some of the items for dinner one week and some of the items I wanted to take with us on our vacation so...lucky you gets to look at two different "freebie" pictures!

Ragu Pasta $2.99
Barilla Pasta $1.59
Oscar Myer Delli Fresh Grilled Chicken $2.50
Cover Girl Eye Shadow $1.99
Cover Girl Eyeliner $3.99
Band-Aid $1.74
Band-Aid $1.39
Sunny Delight $1.09 each

So, how did I score all this for less than the cost of tax (because when you get "free" items you still have to pay the tax on that item)? I recived an awesome $10.00 off a purchase of $10.00 or more coupon in the mail. Then, I watched the sales and kept track on the calculator at the store! The Sunny D was BOGO so that made each of these $.55 each, the chicken was supposed to be $2.99 with a free Ragu and pasta however, it rang up at $2.50 (don't worry I told the checker), the make up & band-aids were buy one get one 50% off however, neither one rang up right so the checker gave me 50% off on both band-aids & I had two $0.50 off coupons. And then I had a $3.00 off two Cover-Girl cosmetic items & there you go! Now, here's the rest of this months freebies!

2 Advil PM 4 ct. $0.97 each ($1.06 moneymaker)
2 Mitchum deoderants $3.00 each
Zest bodywash $2.99
Schick Hydro 5 Razor $5.77
Dairy Queen Cheeseburger $2.34 (this came via text; was super handy on my hungry tummy!)
Glade Expressions $2.00
4 Milky Way candy bars $2.00
Zebra Pens $1.00 ($1.00 moneymaker)
Bath & Bodyworks Lotion $3.00
Birthday card $2.99 (cardstore.com)
Betty Crocker Frosting Creations $.89
2 Beechnut Fruities $.98 each ($0.04 moneymaker)
Ivory 3 pack soap $.99
2 boxes of Keurig samples

This was a super fun month with lots of fun finds! The total in freebies this month was $52.24 and I made $1.10!

Baseball & Dancing

May and June were seriously crazy months for us. It seemed like there were at least 2 to 3 things per day that we had to be at. June was almost the worst; we were running at least 4 nights a week...The boys both had baseball: Nicholas on Farm League and Sean on t-ball. Thankfully, another Mom has boys that are the same age as Nicholas & Sean and we made sure that Nicholas & Nicholas and Sean & Zac were on the same teams so we could carpool as needed for games and practices. It worked out great!

Nicholas was blessed to have the same coach he's had since he began baseball three years ago. We love Coach Chris, he's great with the boys and really has taught them alot. This year Nicholas's team was composed of mostly All Saints boys, with the exception of Chris's son and two other boys. Games were tons of fun to watch! The boys were tagging outs, hitting balls, and making some serious good plays. Plus, the bonus for me was that alot of the boys on Nicholas's team had younger siblings in Sean's class or Elli's age and so Sean & Elli always had friends to play with...and I always had my friends to visit with!

Sean had a couple of kids from his school on his team (which included one of his best friend's Zac) and so he was super excited. He had a fun year despite a not so great coach. Let's just say that it's a good thing we went to the park pretty much every Sunday during baseball season so Ray could practice with the boys. Sean still had a hard time with the T however, he was used to Ray pitching to him. He had a couple of good plays and had fun. He learned the basics and the main thing was that he had fun Plus, he looked so cute in his uniform!

And then because I wasn't busy enough running the boys to games and practice and 4-H, I thought we needed to add some more activites; thus the addition of dance for Elizabeth as a birthday gift. LOL! She was pretty hesitant at first however, after the first class she picked it up and had a blast. I did learn that in order to keep her focused during class, that she needed to have a rest time before class. Her best class was when Uncle Bret surprised her and came to one of her classes. Oh boy, did she dance her little heart out for Uncle Bret! Then after class she came running out, ran straight to Bret, climbed up on his lap, and started to tell him all about her sticker (the girls always got stickers after class). It was the cutest thing ever!

So here's some pics of our baseball players and little ballerina.

June Freebies

So not the greatest of months for freebies howeve, it was still worth the hunt! Thanks to my two favorite guides: The Krazy Coupon Lady & Raining Hot Coupons. Without these two sites my stash wouldn't be near as fun. I have also found "freebie hunting" to be useful with donations. For instance, the boys attended a vacation bible school at the church down the street from us. This year, the classes were collecting items for a small town in Alaska that needed personal items, small toys, and light-weight food items. Thus, I donated the two Kotex boxes and some Roman noodles that we had on hand. Super easy, something that somebody will surely need, and it didn't cost me a thing (other than tax obviously). I did the same thing for Nicholas's First Communion gift to our local food bank that was in need of food items and personal items.

Father's Day card $2.99 (cardstore.com) (not pictured)
Cutter's Citronella candle $0.97 ($0.03 moneymaker)
Bell's Fruit Pectin $0.98 ($0.02 moneymaker)
8x10 picture $2.99 (not pictured)
Crystal Light $1.90 ($0.10 moneymaker)
2 Kotex panty liners $0.94 each ($0.16 moneymaker)
Suave Shampoo & Conditioner $1.00 each
Colgate toothpaste $2.50 ($0.25 moneymaker)
Dove Deoderant trial-size $1.19
Mary Kay Nourishine Lip Gloss $14.00

So for the month of June I was able to find $31.40 in products and $0.56 in moneymakers. Not a big month however, it's always fun to see what things you can get.

The Harry Potter Party

I know, I know....I'm really far behind...considering Nicholas's birthday was in April...I'm pretty pathetic. So, onto his Harry Potter Party.....Nicholas choose his own theme and then we spent a lot of time on Pintrest collecting gift bag items, invitation ideas, cupcake ideas, well you get the picture. I had a blast creating his invitations (if I could add an image I soooo totally would because they totally rocked!); each envelope was addressed to the child with the adress being "The Cupboard Under the Stairs". I have to say, I was pretty stoked on these invites; they are by far one of my favorites that I've ever made for the kids.

Then, it was time to pick out the cupcakes

Yep, Wizard Hat cupcakes! And I have to say, these were not the most cooperating cupcakes to make. The sugar cones wrapped in melted chocolate....kind of a pain. Oh well, it was totally worth it when I showed them to Nicholas and he was so excited.

Then came the goody bags. We ordered Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans and mixed them with Jelly Belly Beans. I confirmed with Tonia (who visited Hogsmede in Orlando Universal Studios in October) that the "containers" for the Bertie Botts was true to form. They were time consuming yet, the end result was sooooo cool!

And you can't have a Harry Potter party without Chocolate Frogs..and we threw in some Acid Pops too...

And you can't have a Harry Potter Party without a witch!

And what's a trip to Hogsmeade without Butter Beer?



This was a fun party...the boys ran and played, did a little "potion making" with their "wands", and just had a great time being boys.

May Freebies!

While not an overly exciting month for freebies, I was still able to score a few good deals!

Bayer Advanced Asprin 20 ct $3.29
Organic Girl green onions $1.58 (.42 moneymaker!) (not pictured)
Pistachios 1.5oz $1.00
Aquafresh Kids toothpaste $.99
Spectracide Bug Stop $2.88 (.12 moneymaker!)
Mentos Gum $.99
Starbucks Refresher $.99
Softlips lip gloss $3.97
2 Glade Oil Warmers $.99 each

Thus, my freebies for May totaled $17.67 and I made $0.54. Hopefully, June will be better....LOL

April Freebies!

Wow, April is already over & the freebies this month really made me excited! I love it when the unexpected happens...I started the month out thinking...hmmm, this just not be my month & then WOW! Things just started clicking and the freebies started adding up. I love it when that happens! There is nothing like coming home and telling Ray "Welp, I scored good at Walgreens this week. I got over $25.00 worth of stuff for free!" So here's this month's picture of the freebie goodies (minus the pictures)

3 20 oz Pepsi Next $3.00
Covergirl Eyeliner (double pack) $1.99
25 pictures from Walgreens $4.74
2 Glade air freshners $2.00
1 dozen lg eggs $1.79
2 Starbucks Refreshers $2.50
Aquafresh Kids Toothpaste $2.00
4 oz travel size Aquafresh toothpaste $1.00
Reach dental floss $1.00
2 UP2U gums $1.00
4 Arizona 20oz Iced Teas $2.00
2 oz Bath & Bodyworks lotion $3.50
One Touch Ultramini Blood Glucose Monitor $20.00

April 30th turned out to be a great day and is when I was able to accumulate a fair amount of my freebie items. Thus, my total amount saved this month on freebie items was $46.52! Great Gunsmokes Batman, I have to say I'm pretty impressed with myself at this moment!!! Happy Freebie Hunting to you!

New Kids on the Block, Danielle Steel, and Spotify

So, as I'm writing this I am sitting on Ray's elliptical glide because I'm afraid to stand up for fear of jello legs. Yep, I've started another new addiction. However, at least this addiction is healthy! (Now if I could only give up my Pepsi I might actually BE somewhat healthy! And no, don't even think for a minute that I will EVER consider giving up Pepsi...Did you know that they make caffine free Pepsi? I only went through two pregnancies before I found this out with Elli!) Ok, enough with my ramblings...here's the latest: I will first show you a picture that will make you ask yourself "what in the world is this girl doing?"



Now your telling yourself "Wow,she's pretty creative...What is she trying to do with this setup." Well, let me tell you how out of shape that I am. We went to the park on Saturday; it's a few blocks away. Ray & the boys rode their bikes and El & I set off in the stroller with the idea we would run part of it. As we're leaving the house (and my failed attempt to get her to listen to her Veggie Tales Worship songs for inspirational music)I found out how out of shape I really am...I ran to the end of the block. Then I walked for a ways, then I jogged for a short period...well you get the picture. On the way back, Ray laughed and offered to run with Elli and I could ride his bike; Nope I was bound and determined to get in shape. On Sunday, I made him take a walk with me around the block where I set some new goals for myself...the first one being that I would be able to run around the block by the end of the month. That brought a snicker. The second one was that I would run Bloomsday with Tracie next year. That brought out a full belly roll laugh. Now, I'm bound and determined to prove him wrong. Thus, I have gotten up a little earlier each morning for the past 2 mornings & done a small run with my Mii on the Wii and worked with my Personal Trainer...we're strengthing my leg muscles and learning how to breath Yoga style.

Tonight, I went even further and created my masterpiece workout. A playlist on Spotify with some serious workout songs: Step by Step (of course you have to have New Kids on the Block, duh), Battlefield, Single Ladies, Wild Ones (I have discovered I like Flo Rider), Hit Me With Your Best Shot & I Hate Myself for Loving You, these are just a few...I will continue to add to it. Then, I created my "work station" with binders, a step ladder, and paper reams...this was so that the head phones that I stole from the boys' DS bag would reach from the computer to where my head was (oh yeah, I also had to spend 15 minutes detangling the headphones from the 3 chargers & the other set of headphones), then I downloaded a pedometer app for my phone, got into position and took my Danielle Steel book off the shelf. I have found that with some fun music and a good book, that the elliptical glide & I might just become friends after all.

Ok, I think my legs are back to normal...now I have a kink in my shoulder.

Not so lucky...

Again, the boys tried to catch themselves a Leprechaun, and again they were not successful. Despite another excellent attempt, those tricky Leprechaun's outsmarted the boys again. However, he did loose a some of his gold.

Nicholas sat down on Wednesday night with a pencil, his thinking cap, and a piece of paper to plan out this years trap. He came up with a pretty good plan! The "tish you paper" covered up the wooden steps and the olive can. And of course there is a wooden pot of gold (which later was revised into a plastic container with dark grey cardstock wrapped around it and stuffed with gold tissue paper).



The plan went into effect Saturday evening.



And in case you can't make out the background...it's a rainbow with a whole bunch of Leprechaun's going towards the "gold". That was to throw the real Leprechaun off of the trick.
And while the boys completed their trap, Elizabeth slept....for a full 13 hours. What? You don't think that looks comfy? LOL-of course we moved her to her bed where she slept the night away!

Lost Teeth & Training Wheels

The two oldest Remacle boys had a very exciting few days. Ok, so maybe Sean had a very exciting weekend & Nicholas had an exciting Monday. We've been working on Sean to loose those training wheels for sometime now. Ray finally decided he'd had those wheels long enough and used some bribary to get that kid moving. It worked. Apparently, the threat of lost video games until the training wheels comes off is good motivation for a video game junkie. Thus, Sean worked a little bit on Saturday with some success and then got discouraged and gave up. Sunday was a whole other story. As soon as he got home from a friends birthday party, he looked at Ray and said "I want to learn to ride my bike." With that, he was off! (With the exciting reward of Harry Potter on the Wii with Daddy later that afternoon). Now we have a bike riding fool that goes non-stop.





Then, Elizabeth decided to get in on the action.



Well, the evening ended and what do you know? Not only did Sean loose the training wheels, he lost his second tooth.



Then, on Monday morning Nicholas comes running into my classroom with this huge smile and laughing eyes; holding a wet paper towel to his mouth. I was greeted with "Mom, I lost my tooth!" and a small white tooth laying in the palm of his hand. Apparently, his tooth was looser than we all thought and the accidental bump from a third grader popped it out. Needless to say, the Tooth Fairy definately knows her way to our house, is probably going broke, and the Tooth Fairy teddy bear pillow (that was mine and Tracie's from childhood) is getting a workout protecting those teeth.



If you look really close at the top left side, you will see a small hole where a tooth once lived.

It was definately an exciting few days in our house with lots of lost items...however, at least these lost items were supposed to eventually become lost.

March Freebies!

So March brought some great buys! My favorite shopping trip was when I was able to purchase 4 half cases of Pepsi, 1 bag of Doritos, the Glade Scented Oil Warmer, 4 cans of pineapple chunks, and 2 boxes of Eggo waffles for $9.00! I saved 81% of my bill...to date, that has been my best ever bargin shopping trip. How did I do that you ask? Well, I had a $10.00 off coupon from a previous shopping trip, and a $5.00 off of new frozen food products from a previous shopping trip. Then I just checked out the deals. Eggo waffles were on sale 2/$5.00 (FREE!), the Pepsi was buy 2 get 2 free plus a bag of Doritos free, the Glade Scented Oil Warmer was on sale for $1.19 and my coupon was for $1.50 off (thus the $0.31 moneymaker), and the pineapple was on sale 4/$5.00. Ray was even impressed with this shopping trip! So, here's a pic of this months freebie finds!



2 bags of Lifesaver Jellybeans 2.25 oz $1.00
Glade Scented Oil Warmer (base only) $1.19 (made $0.31)
Birthday card for Nicholas $3.00 (cardstore.com)
4 boxes Eggo Wafflers $10.00
2 Revlon Colorstay Mineral Lipglaze $8.00 (copius.com)
Carefree pantyliners $0.99
Victoria Secret Panties $10.50 (thanks to my AWESOME sister-in-law who picked these up & surprised me with them when I said she should keep the freebie coupon!)
2 Reams of pastel papers from Staples $17.58 (thanks to the freebie rebate forms!)
2 free Amazon MP3 downloads $2.00

March has been my biggest freebie month so far. I was able to get $54.26 worth of items for free & this doesn't even include the number of free Pixel of Ink books that I downloaded for my Kindle. Plus, I even made $0.31! I'm super excited about this months fun finds & can't wait to see what next month brings. So far I'm scoping out Glade room fresheners & glasses cleaner with cloth....We shall see if I'm able to acquire these items in my April freebie hunt!

Gifts of the Spirit

Every month, All Saints Catholic School selects a few students from each class to honor with a Gifts of the Spirit. This recognition is given to the students at the end of Mass on Friday morning once a month. The child is called up in front of the whole church while their Gift is read. Then they get their picture taken with the Priest. It's a very big honor and is written by their teacher. Throughout the year each child (in grades K-6) will recive this special honor.
Last month Nicholas recived his Gifts of the Spirit. Nicholas's Gifts of the Spirit are Patience and Understanding. His teacher wrote: "Nicholas is a very patient observer of the world. He notices little details that lead to a deep understanding of not just what is seen with the eyes, but with the heart."
This month Sean recived his Gifts of the Spirit. Seans Gifts of the Spirit are Fairness and Honesty. His teacher wrote: "Sean seeks out the fair and rational path is all of his decisions. He does not want someone to feel left out or for things to be unjust. Also Sean is a very honest person and will tell you the truth in all situations."
I can't tell you how proud of my boys I am. I sat in the pew and watched them recive their Gifts of the Spirit with the biggest smile & tears in my eyes. And then after church, I walked up to them and gave them the biggest hug & told them how proud of them I was. The smile and excitement on their little faces as they handed me their certificate is just one more reason that I am so thankful that we can be apart of this wonderful school. This special event builds so much confidence in these children & truly demonstrates that each and every person has a special gift from God.

The Safari!

Our Seaner's turned 6....It's hard to believe that our little boy is not so little anymore. This was a really hard birthday for me, I don't know why but, it was. He woke up on the morning of the 9th and just looked older! For his birthday this year, he chose to have a Safari Party with the boys in his class. We had so much fun planning this & picking stuff out. Thank goodness for Pintrest, I would find an idea & share it with Sean then he would make the final decision. So for his cake, he chose lion cupcakes.



We decorated with balloons spray painted to look like safari animals, a cooler for the drinks, and the goodie bags (which we printed out a sign & then taped them down with safari printed duct tape).




For one activity we made binoculars with spray painted toilet paper rolls & then wrapped them with safari duct tape. Two lessons learned when spray painting toilet paper rolls...Really follow the well ventilated area instructions (i.e. do not spray paint in an enclosed garage after a glass of wine & a glass of Tastefully Simple's Lemonade Slush with Huckleberry Vodka) & wear gloves. While black spray paint does come off with soap & water (after lots of scrubbing), you will still show a little bit of the blackness on your nails a few days later.



After the binoculars we read "We're Going on a Lion Hunt" and then we sent the boys on a scavenger hunt around the house to find their goodie bag prizes. These boys are smart! Ray & I thought our clues were pretty tricky however, they got them super quick & then they all crowded around to find out what the prize was & the next clue. They had so much fun they wanted another scavenger hunt so, Ray & I thought up some more clues & sent them on their way!



After all the excitement of the scavenger hunt they settled down for some cupcake & ice cream (fudge whip...to give it that zebra touch). Then, it was gifts & lots of playing; I believe they went on a hunt in the basement. I have to say that this class has a great group of boys. They all get along awesome & they are all super sweet. I love that Sean has such a great group of friends. So, here's to one party down & two more to plan (yep...the Harry Potter 8th birthday is in the planning works for Nicholas & Elli's is still at the preliminary stage of figuring out what type of party to have!).