Chacos Adventures

The photographer was my 3-year-old third cousin in-law (or something like that) while we were visiting his family in Kansas City.


I wear them everywhere!

What a week

It was a great week for deals at CVS and Walgreen's. Here are my grabs.

CVS - Items:
2 Stayfree - $9
1 Kotex - $1.49
1 CVS Shave gel - $1.49
1 Zipfizz - $5.99
1 Playtex - $4.99

How I paid:
2 -$2/$10 CVS coupon
$2 CVS skincare coupon
$1 CVS Kotex coupon
$1 Mfg Kotex coupon
$1 Mfg Playtex coupon
$4.50 - B1G1 Stayfree coupon
$9.36 ECB
$.48 tax

ECBs received:
$15.48 - I made about $6!


Then today was the first day of overlap in Walgreen's August and September EasySaver booklets.
Items:
6 Garnier shampoos/hair styler - $3.99 each
2 Glade scented oil warmers - B1G1 $4.79
Crest pro-health $3.79
Nieva mens body wash - $4.99
Revlon nail polish - $4.99
Chemistry Hair stuff - $7.99
L'Oreale Revitalift - $12.36
How I paid:
$1/1 Nivea coupon
6 $1/1 Garnier coupons
$1/1 Revlon coupon
$1/1 Loreal
$4/1 Glade coupon
$3.89 Glade coupon - not sure what the cashier did with this one.
$.75/1 Crest coupon
$6 WAGs Garnier coupon
$3 WAGs Chemistry coupon
$10/$40 purchase
$30.68 OOP because I could not find my gift card. Oops :)
Rebate:
$35.92

Wow, I just realized I didn't get all the FAR items, so there are still more deals to be had. CVS looks to be good next week, too!

Lunch?

Monday, Ryan came home from work and announced, "I have a solution to you wanting to eat out all the time and me not wanting to take time to cook something." Then set down a box of Emergency Meals, or MREs. Today for lunch, I decided to try one (rather than go out to eat :).

The menu: Glazed Chicken with Vegetables, Pretzels and chocolate chip cookies.

Cooking instructions: Pour salt water in the bag, seal and let sit for 10 minutes - or longer as I learned. A heating pad steamed the dish warm.

Mmm... deliciously salty, semi-warm preserved chicken mush. It would be good enough to eat in an emergency, for sure, but I reverted to other dining options for lunch today.

From the Archives: What's this

This is a game my family and I enjoy playing. Can you tell what this is a picture of?

Hint: I'm certain you see at least one of these everyday.

Saturday Happenings

It's been a very enjoyable Saturday. The morning started early, at 7:30 when the dog needed out - started even earlier for Ryan when he went to work at 6am. An early morning thunderstorm lingered until about 9am. I saw some pretty awesome lightening bolts while running errands. The remainder of the morning was lazy yet productive as the clouds cleared. I did take some time to dig up iris from where the vegetable garden will be, and learned that clay is hard to dig, even when wet. I may just have to rent or invest in some sort of tiller.

This afternoon I took my Little Sister to Heartland Park for some drag racing, courtesy of Big Brothers Big Sisters. She loves cars and I was actually surprised to learn she hadn't ever been there. I, of course, hadn't either. It was quite a bit more interesting than I thought it would be. (Can you see those two dragsters taking-off?) Oh, and that little blue umbrella - er, parasol - in the photo, a very important thing. Even though it teeters on being too frilly for racing, I'm sure those people look a little less pink that I do right now! Take note, sunscreen does work but only in the places one actually applies it. I have some splotchy legs and arms right now.


Back at home this evening I kept the house warm by baking. Right, it is in fact August and the house does not need to be kept warm but some friends gave us a bunch of apples from one of their four trees.
Ryan requested apple pie. So I got to work. First turned on the now infamous bread machine to make some bread for me. Then made the pie crust from scratch.
I'm not so good at peeling apples, but alas it had to be done. Thankfully, Camden was right there so when I cut too much apple with the peel, I just gave it a toss and it didn't go to waste!

That's right! I make square pies because I do not have a round pie dish. And... that piece... was de-li-cious!

After the rain

Speaking of good books...

Actually, no one was talking about good books, I was just ready for something new at the top of my blog and this is one very exciting thing for me right now.

Mere Chrisitanity is a GREAT book! I'm surprised I haven't read it sooner but I also think God knows what he was doing. Reading it now is perfect timing. In it, C. S. Lewis explians the basics of Christain faith and why it is truth using a logical thought process and common language.

C.S. Lewis is much better with words than I, so rather than giving more of an overview here, I will just give a strong recommendation to everyone to read the book.

PS. Dad, I added my name to the 'read by' list and let friends here know they can borrow this copy to read - and add their name to the list too! No takers yet.

Last night

Yes, I did stay up until midnight, but I just couldn't stop watching. I tried to go to bed but ended up in the living room with the TV on again. It's fun to get wrapped up in the sport, especially during the Olympics. I just wish I had any small idea of what it feels like to be at an Olympics. Since I probably won't make it as an athlete, spectator could be the next best thing.

Anyone want to go to Vancouver in two years with me?

Drywall Party!

We thank all of our friends and family who came to help us put up walls today!

Here's what our basement looked like Friday night.

Some snacks for the workers.

Ryan's sheet rock ramp to get it down the stairs (and make it a challenge for people to get up the stairs. :) It worked really well... for both.

Saturday morning. I was so excited to see the ceiling when I came home.

Brian wanted me to get a photo of him 'working'. Mic and Tim were doing more productive work.

They've moved on to the walls.

Saturday night!!! Woo-Hoo.

Laundry room. "Umm... can somebody help me turn the washer around? There's two weeks worth of laundry waiting to be washed."

Poor Camden had to stay outside in the pouring rain all day while all these fun new people were at his house. He is such a good dog!

They got so much done today and I know Ryan was so thankful for the help. We still have a few small pieces and the stairwell to finish ... we also have yet to schedule someone to mud and tape though, too.

Chacos Adventures

Ryan's parents have been in town this week helping us with the basement. This afternoon we helped them pack some insulation on the top of their van. I, of course, wore my sandals. Here they are while waiting for zip ties to finish the strap-down.
Stay tunned for more photos and stories of our Drywall Party tomorrow!

Coupon things

There are some good deals at CVS this week.

What I picked-up:
2 Pert Plus shampoos - Buy 1 get 1 free (B1G1) $3.69
1 Oral B Toothbrush - $2.49
2 Colegate Toothpastes - $2.99 each
2 Cover Girl Compacts - $9.99 (one not pictured)
1 Children's Advil - $5.49 (also not pictured - already gave to a friend)
1 CVS shave gel - $1.99
2 CVS tampons - $1.49
1 Schick Intuition - $3.99 (rain check from last week)
How I Paid:
2 $2/1 Pert Plus coupons - making this free plus overage
$1/1 Oral B Advantage toothbrush
$1.50/1 Colegate coupon (from the freebie I requested)
$1/1 Colegate coupon
B1G1 Covergirl coupon
$1/1 Children's Advil coupon
$2 off CVS skin care product
Rain check for the tampons from last months ECB - making these free
$4/1 Schick razor coupon
ECBs: $8.98
Cash: $.45 + a whoping $1.97 in tax!

ECBs received:
$11.29

If you are new to couponing my tip Number 1 is start collecting coupons. I get the KC Star delivered ($26 for 6 months of the weekend papers) and also have neighbors and co-workers that give me their coupon inserts (I give them free items in exchange) to get more than one of each coupon. There are a lot of online resources that discuss the deals each week. You can link to Shannon's blog or MoneySavingMom from my links section - from there link to many other blogs of couponers. Tip number 2 is get organized. Find a good way for you to sort and organize your coupons. I also find is very beneficial to spend time planning my trips for each week - pulling out the coupons I plan to use and putting them in a separate envelope.

Hmm...what's in this?

I had my free sample of Warm Delights Minis today at work. (yes, I ate the cake before I got a photo of the real thing). It was actually pretty tasty. Although I really wonder what's in it. Since when does powder + water +30 seconds in a microwave make a cake? Which one of those ingredients I can't pronounce will give me cancer? Well, maybe not cancer, but last I knew sugar+butter + eggs + flour + baking soda + 30 minutes in an oven made a cake. There must be some new, fancy, high-tech, (bad-for-you?) ingredient that makes the quick cake possible. In the end, it was good enough that I would definitely get another one for free!

Unlike what I expected, it came in a bowl with two bags, one the cake mix the other, fudge. Instructions say add water to the cake mix, swirl the fudge on top and micro it for only 30 seconds. So it really is a 'fresh-baked' cake.