Moving...and some random thoughts

Well, it is 7 days away...We will be packing up our stuff and moving across town. Moving to a larger place was much easier, but having to consolidate and sell stuff so we can fit into a 3 bedroom apartment has been interesting. But we are excited about our new place! We will meet new people and I know the boys are going to live at the pool all summer! Especially Moose! :0)

Well, it was brought to my attention that I never gave a follow up to Ironman. Payton "earned" enough money after about a week and we took him to Target and bought an Ironman riding a motorcycle. It was difficult trying to explain that he couldn't afford the big Ironman. He only had enough money for the little Ironman. It was still cute when he handed his bag of money to the cashier! (We didn't make her count all the coins!) :0)

School for me is going well. Just finished my EKG and Clinical Procedures classes and all I have left are Medication Administration, Phlebotomy, then my Externship! It is going so fast and I am not sure if I am emotionally ready to begin searching for a real job in September. I've got a few more months to think about it.

Moose is moving his store this week...again. Hopefully the new spot will still have as much traffic as the last one and that they get to stay there a while longer.

Payton and Logan are out of school for the summer. Poor kids...their routine is going to be so off this next week with no school then the move. We've already started to prep them...but I am sure they don't realize what "move houses" really entails. We are just going to prep and pray!

On a side note, we are still trying to find new homes for Lily and Winston (the turtle). We'd like to find someone by word of mouth versus posting an ad. We want to be sure they go to safe, happy homes.

Well I guess that all folks. Sorry there are no pics...Jax got hold of the digital camera and now Best Buy has to fix it! :0) See ya all soon...

Savings

I had a great shopping day today! Our house was bone dry. We had almost nothing to eat and I filled the house for $150. I don't think that was too bad, since that will last us 2 weeks or so. Here are some of the deals I got using Coupon Sense...

Albertsons

• 6 - 4 roll packages of Marcal toilet paper --free
• 2 bags of Chex mix -- free
• 3 bags of Bugles -- free (Moose was excited!)
• 2 boxes of instant pasta salad mix-- free (but I had to buy 2 boxes of pasta @ $1.49 each)
• 4 bags of Steamfresh microwavable frozen veggies -- free
• 3 Nivea body washes -- free
• 1 Physicians Formula Bronzer/highligher/eyeshadow --clearanced at $3.99 (originally $15.99)
• 1 vanilla -- $2.39 because I needed it

Total with tax: $11.39
Savings: $72.60!!

Safeway

• 2 brownie mixes -- free
• 4 cake mixes -- free
• 4 frostings -- free (they had them buy 2 get 3 free! Then I added coupons, and since they will take coupons on the free items, I got them all FREE!)
• 1 box Ziploc storage bags -- $.49 (in ad coupon making it $1.49, limit 1. Then added my coupon from the newpaper)
• 3 Del Monte 4 pack fruit cups -- $.49 (again, in ad coupon made them $1.49, then add my newspaper coupons)
• 3 boxes of Capri Sun pouches and 2 Welches Grape juice --$2.00 (had coupons for each product and Safeway has a juice promo buy 5 save $5.00)

Total: should have been around $5.00 but I wasn't paying attention and they didn't take off the $5.00 for the juice promo. Even still I paid $10.50 including tax which was a savings of 82%!

I finished up my grocries at Fry's. There I got...

• 1 bag Kroger baby carrots -- $.33
• 1 Bag Lay's potato chips--free
• 4 boxes Raisin Bran cereal--$1.22 each
• 2 watermelons--$2.77 each
• 3 milks--$1.68 each
• 3 Sunny Delights --Free
• 1 Frenches mustard 20 oz--$1.00
• 5pk Kraft MacNCheese $3.49 (box had coupon on outside for free Capri Sun)
• 2 Capri Sun--Free (lady in front of me at check out gave me the coupon off her MacNCheese too! Score!)
• Plus $5.50 off my frozen food purchase (Fry's mailed me this coupon, probably because we spend too much of frozen foods!)

There was much more to this list, a lot of the stuff was not on sale but I needed it (like those frozen meals!). Another reason I shop mostly at Fry's is to get $.10 off per gallon (when you spend $100 in groceries) at their gas stations. I filled up the other day at only $2.61 a gallon!

Total: $125.15

Saved: $80.08 (39%)

I love Coupon Sense! There is nothing better than getting stuff you can use for free!!

Jackson Videos

He was being especially cute today...and kinda a turkey at the same time. I'm not sure if being a turkey was just a phrase my family used, but for those who don't know what being a turkey is, it means he was pushing my buttons :0)

Ironman and the Diaper Disaster

I took the kids to Scottsdale Fashion Square 2 days ago to play. When we go there, we always have to visit the Disney Store which is only a few doors down from Moose's store. While there, Payton discovered Ironman. And he is in love! It's funny because he has never seen or heard of Ironman before! Well, I didn't want to just buy him the toy so now he is earning money to buy his beloved Ironman. He is adorable! He gets giddy when he talks about buying it and Moose and I have been using this to our advantage! Moose made a chart of 16 squares and everytime he does something around the house, he gets paid and a square colored in on the chart. He won't raise all the money by himself because I want him to see a light at the end of the tunnel but we also wanted to show him that we have to work for what we want. So he has helped unload the dishwasher, put soap in the laundry and switch the loads, and it is amazing how quickly he cleans up his toys. I know why so many kids get spoiled because I want to go out and buy him that toy now! Maybe next weekend would be enough time...

So on to the diaper disaster...I am at the mall, with no diapers. Jax had pooped and it was coming out the side. Wonderful. What would you do? Well, I went to the bathroom and grabbed a stack of paper towels (the pull out one at a time kind) about a half inch thick. There were also the rolled kind, so I waved my hand over the sensor several times to get a long piece. I thought about changing him there, but I could imagine myself walking through Scottsdale Fashion Square with a half naked baby...or one all rolled up in paper towels. So I stuffed my loot into my purse and headed out to the car. In the cargo space, I cleaned him up the best I could with dry paper towels, put the remaining stack over his "area", and wrapped the long piece around his waist to keep it all in place. I laid a blanket on his seat and buckled him in hoping that he wouldn't pee. Or at least that I had done enough so I didn't have to take apart his carseat to wash it. Well, no such luck...I ended up doing just that. So, I'm not sure what I could have done different, but that is how not to make a diaper.

P.S. I now have a hefty stash of extra diapers in my car!!