Pitiful Cat...

This cat acts more like a person than a cat, which most of the time is great. However, every now and then it gets a little bit irritating.

He is getting snipped today. I am sure he is having so much fun.

Circus fun...

Here is a picture of Mini-Me and myself. Little Man is to my right then Little Women's brother and Little Woman, the Kid-O. We all had a lot of fun at the circus this year.

This was Mini-Me's first trip to the circus. I think we just might go back one more time before the kids are officially too old for it. However, the hubby and I enjoy it was much if not more than the kids do.

I think I'm getting older...

So back in Janaury Kid-O turned 9, ouch. It's hard to believe that she is nine and in the 3rd grade.

I'm not real sure where the time has gone. When she was an infant we were ready for that phase to be over because she was so miserable for the first year of life. (Colic for six months, then on to teething.) But I have to say, Kid-O is a pain in the rear, but she is a sweet kid. As disobedient as she is at home, she is obedient at school. As disrespectful as she is at home, she is the model student for respect at school. Praise God. She knows how to behave and does, just not when we're around.

Friday night we had a party to go to for Mr. Don. He turned 75 Friday. Anyway, before we leave the house she is outside picking all my flowers off my plants and putting them in a flower pot. As I am calling her in, she comes carrying this flower pot into the house. I told her she had to leave it outside. She proceeds to tell me she made it for Mr. Don. So of course, what are you going to do, let her biring that flower pot in the house, with all my flowers into the van to take to this man. It didn't register that those flowers were going to die with no root. Mr. Don, by the way, LOVED his flowers. He said that was the best birthday gift he got.

This reminds me of the time that I thought my neighbors needed a Christmas tree. They were an elderly couple that I visited everyday from the time I was five, until I left home for college. Anyway, they didn't put up a Christmas time, so I decided they needed one. I asked my mom if I could cut a tree down for them. She said yes I could cut one of her trees except for this one particular tree. Well, that one particular tree was the best looking tree, so I cut the top right off of that cedar tree. It sure made a beautiful Christmas tree. I don't believe I got in to trouble over cutting that tree, because my heart was in the right spot. Years later (25 or so), you can look at that grown cedar tree and tell that the top is missing, it's flat on top. That misshapened tree reminds me that we don't always make the right decisions, but God still allows us to grow into beautiful people with a few flat spots.

On a side note, my freshman year of college I ran across a beautiful metal Christmas tree that you just hang ornaments on that could set on top of the television. I bought that tree, gave it to Mrs. Barnett, and she put it up every year until she died. I was able to get that tree back when Floyd past away last year. I got the amazing pleasure of putting that tree up in my house this past Christmas with the ornaments I gave her.

February Totals

So I am finding that trying to reduce my budget by the goal I wanted, to be a difficult challenge for many reasons. First and for most, we eat meat. Secondly, I give a lot of food away. Easily $300.00 to $400.00 worth (before saving) per month. So by giving that much away, I have to replenish to continue to give away. Thirdly, when my kids want a particular healthy food (i.e. Babel cheese, fruit, etc.) I will buy it whether I have a coupon, sale or not. I do stock up when it is on sale; however, many times that kind of stuff just does not go on sale.

So for the month of Febraury I increased my budget back up to $275.00 per pay period $135ish per week. I am still going to try to reduce my budget as the months progress, just not guite so suddenly. A drop by $100.00 for two weeks is a big jump. And as I stated when I start this crazy adventure to reduce my budget, I would not hesitate to increase it back up if we were not eating the food we enjoy eating.

So here are my totals of February.

Shelf Cost $1,366.67
Coupons Savings $383.40
Discount Savings $454.71
Rebates $17.98
Total Saved $856.09
Total Spent $528.56
Percentage Saved 61.32%
Amount under budget ($550.00) $21.44

So not terrible. I am going to stick with the $275.00 per pay period (two weeks) for the month of March and see how that goes first. If I continue to be under budget, then I will try reducing just a touch more. That is slow I guess you could say.

As you can tell, Little Man and his Little Woman are still hanging out together. I took this picutre the last time we were in Tennessee. Little Woman came back to the house with us after church to pay with Little Man.

Just for kicks, can you tell that Little Woman is taller than Little Man. And probably always will be. Her parents are much taller than the Hubby and I.

More pictures to come. Little Woman's parents brought her to our house so that the two of them could go to the circus together. I have some great date (HAHA) pictures.

Saving update...

Sorry it's been a while since my last post. Time really gets away from me now days. So here is the updated savings for the month of January. As you may remember I am trying to reduce my budget from $300 every two weeks to $200. However, for the total month, I had a total of $500, due to weeks and what not. For the month of January here are my totals.

Shelf Cost $1,187.91
Coupon Savings $314.80
Discounts $372.34
Rebates $14.98
Total Saved $702.12
Total Spent $501.33
Percentage Saved 57.84%
Amount over budget $(1.33)

The challenge of reducing my budget my $100.00 per pay period or $50.00 per week is a bite difficult. For the month of February, I believe I budgeted $275.00 per pay period or $135ish per week.

I will post February's total in a day or two.

Trouble is my middle name...

So today, Mini-Me thought it would be fun to dump all this toys out all over his floor. I kept telling him all day to get the toys picked up. But everytime I went by his room, this was the picture I saw.

I told him he didn't want to wait until Daddy got home. Well, he waited. So of course he got into even more trouble for not listening to Mommy all day, then he would have for just dumping the toys out.

Kroger Run...

Here is the picture of this weeks Kroger run. I spent $48.95, saved $76.91. So my total before coupons and sales would have been $125.86.

As you can see, there is 10 Easy Macs, 2 boxes snack packs, 2 boxes granola bars, 3 gallons milk, 3 boxes tissues, bread, 4 package cheese, dish tabs, Edy's, 2 cream cheese, 8 cans tomatoes, honey mustard, regualr mustard, 4 cans rotel, 2 bottles wing sauce, 3 bottles Sobe, 2 18 ct eggs, 2 package sausage, nut clusters, 2 red peppers, green pepper, 2 bananas, and 2 bags chex mix.

Publix Run...

So here is this weeks Publix run. I spent $44.59 and saved $75.14. So the total before sales and coupons would have been $116.38.

I bought 5 cans cat food, a cake mix, napkins, 3 boxes Quaker Oats, 4 4pk Mandarin oranges, 2 boxes Ritz, 2 boxes of Froot Loops, 4 boxes of Texas Toast, 2 bottle Soft Scrub, 4 bottles syrup, Blue bell, 3 lunchables, pepperoni, creamer, 8 cans tomatoes, sour cream, ranch mix, Stacy chips, and cake icing.

To Those of Us Born 1930 - 1979

I got this through an email today. I thought it was good. I remember doing many of these things too. Especially the mud pies. I don't know if the quote is truly by Jay Leno, but whoever wrote it, I agree.

No matter what our kids and the new generation think about us,
WE ARE AWESOME !!!! OUR LIFE IS LIVING PROOF !!!!
To Those of Us Born 1930 - 1979

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE 1930's, 40's, 50's,60's and 70's!!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank w hile they were pregnant. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered
with bright colored lead-base paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had baseball caps not helmets on our heads..

As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes.

Riding in the back of a pick- up truck on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and no one actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes made with Lard, white bread, real butter and bacon. We drank FLAV-OR- AID made with real white sugar. And, we weren't overweight. WHY? Because we were always outside playing....that's why!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.. No one was able to reach us all day. And, we were OKAY.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride them down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem

We did not have Play stations, Nintendo' s and X-boxes. There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet and no chat rooms.

WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We would get spankings with wooden spoons, switches, ping pong paddles, or just a bare hand and no one would call child services to report abuse.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them.

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever. The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. What can kids today do besides push buttons. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all..

If YOU are one of them, CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good (?).

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it ?

The quote of the month is by Jay Leno:

'With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of H1N1 flu and terrorist attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?'

Cardiology Check-up

Wednesday was Little Man's yearly check up with the cardiology for his Sub-aortic stenosis. As the doctor said would happen last year, the stenosis is progressing long. The blood flow through his heart is a little more hindered this year than last, but still not bad. The main concern to watch for is leakage in the heart chambers. Which there is none of to date. So, the stenosis is still mild but progressing, and there is not leakage. So what does all this mean:

No heart surgery this year, and he is cleared to play soccer. Praise God. However, Little Man will have to have heart surgery to remove the second valve, but not this year. The cardiologist wants to wait until either the stenosis requires surgery or if the heart valve starts leaking. He does not want to do the surgery too soon, due to in some cases, not all, the second valve that Little Man has grows back after the surgery, requiring surgery again. Therefore, he likes to wait, because you don't know who will have the piece grow back. Sounds good to me and the hubby. So that is the update on Little Man.

Old Navy Savings...

Saturday I posted our Saturday savings at Old Navy. I did not tell you what we paid for all of those clothes. I just told you how much they were before sales and coupons. You can scroll down and look at the pictures if you want to see. Anyway, the total before savings was $225.00 before sales tax. After sales and coupon saving I paid (hold on to you underwear) only $43.00 with sales tax.

So have I mentioned I love couponing.

Update...

Well, I've started pretty well for the year with the reduced grocery/household budget. As most of you know, I am trying to reduce my budget from $300.00 every two weeks to $200.00 every two weeks. As I previously posted, I am trying; however, if we are not eating the way we like to eat I will not hesitate to increase back up. So here is the first two week total for the year.

My Totals:
Shelf Cost $520.01
Coupons $163.48
Discounts $155.04
Rebates $14.98
Savings $333.50
Out of Pocket $202.05
Percentage saved 61.25%

Not too bad if I might say so myself. Sorry, no pictures this time. I will try to remember to take some this week of my spending.

Mini-Me being silly

The hubby installed a cat door in one of the doors in the house. The door going down to the scrapbook and laundry room area. The litter box is located down there and we were leaving the door cracked. However, that is not the best idea with the heating and cooling system.
So we decided the cat door was the best idea. Anyway, Mini-Me saw me taking pictures and thought he should be in them. So here you go, the clown of the family.

Super Saturday Savings

So today, the hubby, myself and the boys went to Old Navy to see what we could get. Well, here's what we walked out with.

The Hubby got these three items: a brown jacket, a T-shirt, and the orange fleece pull over. The total for this three was approximately $65.00
For myself I got these three items: a gray hoodie jacket, a black thermal shirt, and a blue pull over hoodie totally approximately $70.00.
Kid-O got this five items: Sweet t-shirt, Music makes me happy, Minny shirt, Love t-shirt, and the booby cover. Her total was approximately $55.00.
Little Man got these three items: two long sleeve pull overs and a pair of boxers. His total was approximately $35.00.

Mini-Me didn't get lucky. They had nothing in his size.

So today's total before sales and coupons was $225.00. Now here's the fun part. Guess how much you think I paid for all these clothes. I will post in a couple of days the total of all these clothes.

Just having fun....

Just Cool

All ice.

I always love the nativity scene.

Me... Proof I do belong to this family

So the hubby got a couple of pictures of me at that ice sculptures. We are trying to do better at taking pictures of me, and us together. There are very few pictures of me with or without the kids. Although, I do prefer being behind the camera.

Ice Sculptures

We went back to the ice sculptures this year at the Gas Light Theatre in Nashville. It is quite expensive ($24 for adults, $19 for kids), but well worth the money and the trip. The kids love to slide down the ice slide. It does look fun. I don't get too slide, I take pictures.

Coupon Update...

Well the year finished out great. Still staying in my budget every two weeks. So for this year, I am going to really challenge myself. I have decided to reduce my grocery budget from the current $300.00 every two weeks, to $200.00 every two weeks. I have been staying my by budget by around $100.oo per two weeks, give or take a little bit. We'll see how it goes. If it is too much work or we are not eating the way we like to eat, then I will increase it back up to maybe $250.00. I hoping that I can do it for $200.00. That extra every month to save would be nice. I will update as I can.

This week, I got spent a total of $103.00 which included, but not limited to 2 reams of copy paper, pens, 3 boxes of electrosal tabs, chicken, steak, pork loin, 4 gallons milk, 5 boxes au gratin potatoes, 3 6 packs yogurt, and lots of food and snack food to list a few. I forgot to take pictures. So I don't have any to show. I will try to remember to do that next week.

Remind me to update if it's been a while. Accountability will help the reduced budget work.