28 February 2013

the joy of snow


We have had a couple snow days here in Kansas over the last week or two.  It's been fun.  There's just something about getting lots of snow that makes you feel like there really isn't anything you can do except go out and play in it, or stay inside and watch movies.  I don't know what it is.  I stay at home with my kids so it's not like having to stay home all day is anything new or different for us, but give us a ton of snow during the night and it's like a free pass for not having to accomplish anything but fun the next day!


There are so many things about this photo that I love!  The crooked hat, the tongue, the mis-matched mittens-both girl mittens, by the way.  I bought him some new mittens before our Christmas vacation and managed to lose them so well that they have yet to turn up.  He never even got to use them!  So we've been scrambling ever since because I keep thinking, well it probably won't snow again till next year.  Boy was I wrong!  At least I found some old ones of his sister's so I didn't have to strap his dad's on him again.


This picture reminds me of one that would be in a magazine somewhere.


I was so proud of him dragging the sled all by himself!


That about sums it up!





27 February 2013

a small success is still a success


Another week at Dillons.  I ended up getting less in this trip than I intended, but what I did get was still really good!  Total before coupons: $25.19.  Total after coupons: $6.44.  I just decided that I would try to give up soda for 2 weeks so this is my last hoorah!  (I couldn't let a coupon for a free bottle of Pepsi go to waste, could I?)  The answer is no, no you cannot.  :)  

When you print internet coupons from various sites like coupons.com or smartsource.com, etc, you are only allowed to print 2 coupons per computer.  If you remember my last Dillons trip I also had 2 boxes of Red Velvet cake mix.  After that trip, the .50 coupon reset!  Meaning you were allowed to print up to 2 more coupons!  Dillons was still running their deal of $1.25/box so with doubling my .50 coupon this got me 2 more boxes of cake mix for .25/box!  The Nesquick powder was free - actually it made me money - +.06.  The deodorant was .99/stick, and the wipes were .99/pack.  Not too shabby!

26 February 2013

homeschooling update

I have really enjoyed having this one on one time with my girl.  I started homeschooling her this year for a few different reasons.  First, I was trying to answer the question, "Do I really want to homeschool?"  I felt what better way to answer that question definitively than by actually trying it?  However, since this was a "trial run" of sorts, I wasn't all that keen on spending tons of money on a curriculum, or taking Daisy through a rigorous schedule.  She is only 3, so really putting her through a school experience at this point really isn't absolutely necessary.  I found the perfect solution in THIS CURRICULUM!  Each lesson is laid out simply and clearly, she includes additional crafts/activities so you can pick and choose what you want to do.  It's very "mommy friendly", not a ton of prep time required and allows me to piece together the lessons to correspond with our busy days as well as our not so busy days.  And the kicker?  It's free!!  I don't know for how long.  As you can see from the link, the author is offering a $10 download.  If you have researched pre-school curriculums at all, you know that $10 is more than an amazing deal!
Treasure Map - "Exploring God's World"

A 3 out of feathers

Daisy has really been enjoying it.  Every day she asks me if we are doing school today? and what are we doing in school?  She already kind of knew her letters, but this is really solidifying it for her.  She has even started trying to write the letters on her own!

Letter Review - Painting with Water

She writes her name all over the place now.  I have to keep telling her to ask me first before just writing her name anywhere there's a flat space.

Painting rocks

Painting is one of her favorite things.  Painting or cutting.  A day in school where she is using a paintbrush or scissors is a good day in her book!

Sorting Silverware

I also love that the curriculum includes teaching life skills like sorting silverware, making her bed, cleaning up her books after reading them, setting the table, etc.  These are things that I obviously would (and do) teach her, but so many days things get crazy around here with 3 young kids and I would either just rather do things myself to get them done, or I just plumb forget to have her help!  This is great b/c it reminds me to include her and teach her how to do things around the house.

Cookie Caterpillar!

And what 3 year old (or adult, for that matter) doesn't like playing with food?  We are only about halfway through, but it has been a great time and learning experience for both of us!  






25 February 2013

February project: drawer signs


I recently switch out Jesse's kid organizer with this 3 drawer container to make room for a second crib that is hopefully going into his room.  We are still working on Tommy sleeping through the night and now we will be moving in the next month, so we will wait till then to put the boys in the same room.  However, we like to try our best to keep things clean and organized around here.  While many times we fail miserably it is still our goal.  The kids actually like to help clean up, but usually it takes a great deal of supervision to get it done correctly.  So I thought this would be a way to help Jesse be able to put things away in his room with (a little) less supervision.


So simple, yet so helpful.  Construction paper, some print outs from Google images, and a few coloring skills, and we've got the finished product.  Now Jesse can use the pictures to know what toys go in which drawer.  Voila!


23 February 2013

artistic cake


I'm just a little busy.  I enjoy trying my hand at many, many things!  Even when I was young I was always up for a challenge and for trying something new.  I always enjoyed striving to "top myself", to get better and better at something the more I tried.  As a result of this inclination to try new things and enjoy many things, my hand is in many pots.  I wear lots of hats.  I've talked a little about it before on here, but just wanted to show you one of my hats or pots or whatever.  Meet: SusAnna's Sweets. I am not alone in this endeavor, hence the "Anna" of SusAnna's.  Anna and I have had fun getting this thing slowly off the ground.  We have 5 kids between the two of us, all 3 and under so things tend to get, well, busy.  But we have enjoyed the journey of it so far.  
Our specialty: cake pops!

If you have not had the pleasure of tasting these little treats, you need to go find one (I know of a PLACE that sells them!) and experience the yumminess!  They are great for...

birthdays...

holidays...

weddings...
They can be eaten without the stick, as cake bites.
They can be arranged in a pot as a bouquet...

Mother's Day Bouquet
For any occasion...


And while we pride ourselves on our pops, we also whip up a cupcake or two...

vibrant colors!
scary eyeballs!
valentine's day love!

We can also do cakes:

barnyard animal smash cake

elmo!

wedding/bridal shower



7th birthday!

17th birthday!

rapunzel cake

If you are not local, we can also ship our cake pops!  You'll find all the info on our WEBSITE.  We also have an etsy site and a facebook page.  What are you waiting for?  Check us out!  :D

















22 February 2013

{steam}fresh and clean!


Great trip to Target today as they had the remainder of their Valentine's Day stuff up to 90% off!  I was able to get some things for the kids for next year and also picked up a couple candies to put in their Easter baskets!  I wish I had gone a little earlier as they were pretty much cleaned out, but I was still able to find a couple of treasures.  I also scored a sweet deal on this body wash and frozen veggies.  Total before coupons: $11.51.  Total after coupons: $2.07.  An 82% savings!  Yee-haw!

21 February 2013

a sparkling good deal


This deal came just in time for me as we are using our last roll of paper towels right now.  Total before coupons was $17.98.  Total after coupons and ECBs: $6.00.  A savings of 67%!  This is the first I've shopped for paper towels since starting my spreadsheet of rock bottom prices so we'll see if this ends up being as good of a deal as it seems to be.  Came out to .38/roll.

20 February 2013

dillons doesn't disappoint


I was pretty successful at Dillons last week!  Since discovering the store not so long ago, I usually try to make a trip there once a week. This was actually not as big as my past few trips I've taken, but still productive.  The total before coupons was $44.29.  I paid $12.86.  A 71% savings which is the biggest savings I've gotten so far at Dillons.  On a side note, that Zatarains rice is really good!  We have never had that rice before, but since I got those boxes completely free I decided it's worth trying and we were not disappointed!  I think I might be in love with this store.  :)

19 February 2013

can't win 'em all


I went to the Dollar Tree the other night to score some deals.  Out of everything on my list I came out with 2 boxes of Hefty Slider sandwich bags.  I paid .67 for both boxes, and that included tax!  However, sometimes couponing can be disappointing.  There are a lot of variables; a lot of things that *could* happen, and although you can prepare for various scenarios, you can't ever predict them.  

1. The store might be out of the item you want.  You can usually get rainchecks for these, but  with having 3 kids with me I don't have the patience or the time to go to customer service for that. 

2. The store's price for your item might be different/higher than the price you found on the coupon blog.  Prices in stores vary by region so if you are following a blog that is located in a different region of the country than you are, you can't always guarantee the prices they find will be the same at your store.  I usually try to do my homework via store mailers, fliers, paper inserts or online sites before going to the store to make sure the price is what I expect.  

3. You may not have the right coupon with you.  If you don't do your coupon shopping with small kids in tow,  you are less likely to have this happen.  :)  With the diaper bag, car seat (little guy is 7 months so we still cart him around in the seat), and now that it's winter, coats and hats, there just isn't room in the cart, let alone in my hands/arms when trekking from car to store, store to car, for my big coupon binder that holds all of my coupons.  So if I happen to be walking by something in the store that I see is on sale that I didn't know about, knowing I have a coupon for it back home in my binder doesn't help me.  

Coupon shopping with kids is definitely a challenge, and something I wouldn't recommend if you can help it.  I stay at home with my kids so I have made it work and have just had to missing out on a deal here and there.  I still get great deals for things that we need and use on a regular basis so to me it is completely worth it!

18 February 2013

tp anyone?


I usually have a bottom price that I will pay for things.  I finally got smart and started a running spreadsheet of items I consistently buy and the lowest price I have paid for them.  This makes things so much easier when I am perusing blogs and finding deals to know if what I am finding really is a good deal, a great deal, or a not so great deal.  I also usually have a go-to item in the case that we run out of something before I am able to find a good coupon deal for it.  For instance, if we run out of toilet paper, I go to WalMart and pick up their pack of 12 rolls for $4.96.  This comes to .41/roll, so that is usually what I compare to when finding coupon deals on toilet paper.  If I can get it cheaper at WalMart, I pass up the coupon deal.  The other day I hit the couponing jackpot when I found a deal for this Angel Soft at Staples (who knew they sell toilet paper? guess I just never noticed) - .24/roll! That's a stock up price!  Meaning, I bought as many as I possibly could at that price so that hopefully we won't have to buy anymore until another great deal comes along.  I don't go crazy with couponing.  I don't go out and buy 20 papers every week.  I don't dumpster dive (yes, people really do that).  I usually just buy 3 papers a week (at the Dollar Tree for $1!), and sometimes family/friends will give me their coupon inserts.  So you won't see me buying hundreds of one item, but I did buy 4 packs of 24 rolls of toilet paper!  I'm still waiting for the cleaning/organizing fairy to do her job and find a place to store them.  Right now they are stacked up on our bench at the top of the stairs.  But hey, we won't be running out anytime soon!  :)

15 February 2013

feed me!

Someone is cutting teeth around here!  And rolling, and sitting with help, and exploring a sippy cup, and now eating food!  When did this happen?  


I've started to get back into couponing and I love it.  Since I stay home with our three little loves, this is a way that I can help our little family financially by saving money.  


Did you know that this baby cereal stays good for a year?  I was given a box of the rice about a year ago, and even though I was only about 3ish months pregnant, I hung onto it knowing Tommy would be ready to eat it just a month before it expires.  These 3 boxes I got at WalMart with my coupons.  They were $1.50, so $4.50 for all three.  After coupons I paid $1.75.  That's a 61% savings!  Now little man is happy, and momma is too!



14 February 2013

I LOVE YOU, JOSH CANADY!

Who are these kids?  8.5 years ago my love and I made it official that we would be each other's valentine forever and ever.  I wanted to send a shout out to my man, so here is a little post I wrote up 5 years ago...


I love these self-portraits, b/c it reminds of that time that we shared that special moment, just us, not even the photographer. This is my love, my partner, my friend, my husband. I love you, Josh Canady!!

You are SO



and I am so thankful that you are



I am so grateful that the man who is



actually wanted to



To you I will ever



I love to hear your voice when you



You ARE



You are the coolest



EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When we are not together, I



SOO much!!!

You and



are my true love, my very



Words can never express how much



Nothing makes me happier (not even ice cream) than to know that I will grow old with you, for as long as we are on this earth!!!

Like the Google couple:



I LOVE YOU!!!

Love,
Your PG

Wasn't that cute?  See, I can be creatively sweet when I want to be.  What?  Why didn't I write up a fresh new post for today instead of copy and paste one from five years ago?  Because this happened:

And while I don't love him any less, in fact I love him more, the fact remains: I ain't got time for that!  :)  Of course, in the time it took me to put this one together I probably could have had a new one typed up.  

Josh Canady, I have loved you from THIS:







to THIS:










And I have loved every fun, exciting, adventurous, CRAZY minute of it!  No one I would rather do life with more than you!  Happy Valentine's Day!