Gingerbread cookies everywhere!

Today was spent baking gingerbread cookies with Em and finishing up the Christmas crafts we started earlier in the week with the babysitting kids. I decided at the last minute that we would have a pj day for the kids (and me of course) and lunch was served picnic style on the living room floor. I think they enjoyed it!

I've decided that baking and icing Lori's sugar cookies is too stressful to add to my holiday baking so it will be reserved for Easter (her favorite holiday) and a few other times throughout the year. We used some vintage clear red plastic cookie cutters (they look like these)for some of the gingerbread cookies and now I'm on the lookout for some more of them. I love the way they imprint on the cookies!

After the hubby got home, we set out to deliver trays to the neighbors and tomorrow I will finish up trays for traveling around to Christmas celebrations with our familys.

I've been telling Delmar that I want to start pulling Em into the kitchen more and today was the perfect start to that and hopefully the beginning of a wonderful tradition.

Tomorrow we are expected to get between 3-4 inches of snow starting later in the morning so I guess we will be having a white Christmas afterall. Praying for safe travels to all of our family and friends that must do so.

Must scoot for now! Enjoy your familys this weekend.

Blessings!

Amy

Merry Christmas to All!

What a year! I can't believe it is the eve of Christmas Eve already. Just wanted to pop in and send anyone who is still checking this blog a very blessed Merry Christmas. I plan to get back to blogging soon. (Yea, I know, I said that back in August but I've been reinspired to start again!)

Please remember while unwrapping all the gifts on Christmas morning that the real reason for the season is the birth of our Lord and Savior.

Be Blessed!!!

Amy

I'm back............

I can't believe it's been 4 months since my last post, what a busy summer! No time or desire to post on either blog. But, fall is on it's way, kids are back in school (my baby is in 3rd grade now!!) and there is a bit more time to do some fun things for the mama!!! :o)

I have added a new fall background and done some other maintenance so now I'm ready to actually do a blog post. Be on the look out, it'll be comin' soon!!!

Have a blessed day.

Amy

Another 2.8 lbs gone!

Things are moving slowly but steadily on the WW front. Down again but gone are the weeks of 2.5-3 lbs weight loss in one week. I'm ok with it though as long as the scale keeps moving and I don't his plateau just yet!!!

Another Blog

I've decided to start another blog that focuses on my love of cooking, couponing and keeping the home. Please join me for my adventures at Cookin' And Savin' With Amy

Easter Fun

Easter Sunday was a beautiful day, mostly sunny and just a few sprinkles. We were able to get up, get movin' and get to 1st service for church which gave us some down time between church and dinner at my mom's. Emily had a wonderful time hunting eggs in the morning at home and then again at mom's house with her cousins. She received more candy than a little girl needs and I'm sure she will be enjoying it for weeks!

Hope you enjoy the pictures!

WW Update

Just an update on the weight loss front since I didn't post last week about it. Last week I lost 3 lbs (got the biggest loser flower again!!!) and this week I lost 1.6 lbs for a total weight loss of 16.4 lbs in 6 weeks. I'm thinkin' that's not too bad. I wasn't sure how this week was going to play out since Easter was the day before weigh in and I almost didn't go but I'm glad I did. I'm hoping to hit 20 lbs by the end of April. I know that the amounts of weight I'm losing each week is going to slow so I need to prepare for that too and not get too frustrated.

Hope everyone has a blessed week!

Happy Resurrection Day!

5And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. 6He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. 7And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you. Matthew 28:5-7

I pray that you all have a beautiful day and remember that it isn't about the bunny, eggs and candy.

IGA steals, I mean deals!!!

So, our local IGA is generally the biggest ripoff for miles around. But this week I was able to pair some great coupons with some great sales and walk out of there with a few REALLY great steals I mean deals. :o)

I got all of this for $3.27! I'm especially excited that the McCormick grinders were on sale again for 50% off making them $1.25. Pair that with a $1.00/1 coupon found here (type in zip code 45403) and you get a grinder for 25¢. DUDE...you can't beat that! I'm usually able to get some pretty good deals on hygiene products but I get really excited when I can find great deals on food to feed my family. Anyway, the Reames noodles were 39¢ a bag, the boxes of Green Giant were 98¢ for both of them and the bags of Steamers were 25¢ a bag. I'll be getting some more Green Giant coupons this afternoon from here and going back after hubby gets home from work.

Hope you all are having as great of weather as we are having here. Today it is supposed to hit 80°.

100 Posts!!!!!!!!!!

I just signed in to do some maintenance on my blog and realized the last post that I did was number 100!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't believe that I stuck with it THIS long and am still enjoying doing it. Thanks to those who read, I hope you enjoy a glimpse into our lives.

A Few Deals From The Last Week

I got several more deals the same week that I got the big deal that I posted on the 18th.

Deal #1 comes courtesy of Walgreens. I got all this for $7.58 plus tax. The Planter Trail Mix was free after a Wags coupon and a MQ (Manufacturers coupon), the gum was on clearance for 32¢ each and the OB were $2.99 after Wags coupon and MQ. As I mentioned in the 18th's post, the OBs alone are normally $7.99 a box!!!


Deal #2 was a CVS deal. I got the 2 boxes of Kashi and the roll of paper towel for $1.29 plus tax. The Kashi was $1.00 a box after the sale and a $1.50/1 MQ and I got a $1.00 off one CVS paper product coupon when I scanned my CVS card so it was only 29¢ PLUS I had a $1.00 ECB from the BYOB (Bring your own bag) program.


Deal #3 was a combination of deals that I got on my Sunday shopping spree (for groceries that is). The margarine was free after sale and double coupons, the Kashi cereal and crackers were both free after purchase of other Kashi products (that I had MQs for of course), the juice was $1.00 after MQ and the Snuggles were 99¢ each after an awesome $3.00/1 MQ in the paper this last Sunday. Total out of pocket for these items was $4.46. WOW!!! I've since found out several ladies have gotten the Snuggle for free but I think they are smaller bottles-these are both 50 loads and they smell FABULOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!


The final deal was from our local IGA and THAT doesn't happen very often! I got these jars of Peter Pan peanut butter for 91¢ a jar. Save-A-Lot here in town is selling their brand of peanut butter for $1.49 right now. These were on sale for $1.29 each and I found a coupon on the Conagra website for $1.50 off 4 Conagra products. Woohoo!!!


So, that was my week of deals. Hope you all are having a blessed week!

Channeling June Cleaver

When I woke up this morning I thought it was going to be a horrible day. I had a terrible sore throat and according to hubby, I tossed and turned all night long, (sorry baby!) and it was cold and rainy out. But by the time Em was off to school, my Advil had kicked in and I had downed half a cup of hot tea and was feeling better.

That's when it happened. I was checking out Aunt Ruthie's Sugar Pie Farmhouse and between her blogging and the 40s music that plays on her site, June Cleaver entered my home thru me!!!

I donned my favorite new pink floral apron from Aunt Dorothy and found an online 40s radio station and began making French Toast to get into the freezer for Em's Thursday morning breakfasts. (Thursdays are pancake/waffle/french toast day here at the Sandage house.) I got one and a half loaves of Texas toast converted to French Toast. That's enough to feed her for quite some time as long as we can keep daddy out of it. Doesn't look YUMMY! Too bad it isn't Weight Watcher friendly...4 points per slice!!!!!!! OUCH!


After the French Toast was in the freezer and the mess cleaned up and kitchen sink was shiny,

I set out to iron Delmar's work shirts. Not usually one of my favorite jobs but today it made me happy to do it. He's gotten several new shirts lately and they aren't wrinkle resistant but do come out nicely when ironed so I've decided that's what needs to be done and I'm ok with it.

I've been working this week on our bedroom per Flylady's Flight Plan for the week. Spending 15 minutes a day decluttering. I've gotten rid of 2 kitchen trash bags of clothes that I haven't wore in ages as well as some twin sheet sets. (I don't think we need 5 sets when we only have one twin bed in the house LOL) Now it is hubby's turn but he's been busy this week. I would do his myself but I'm afraid I will get rid of something that he loves.

Time to scoot, hubby just got home from his Kingdom Soldiers group I'm gonna go check and see how his day was.

Here's just something to make you smile. He's in my kitchen window and when the breeze blows in, his head bobbles all over. Just too cute!!!

Four Weeks Down

Things on the Weight Watchers front are goin' good. Down another 2.8 lbs this week for a total of 11.8 in my first month. Not too bad if I do say so myself. For the month of April I would like to start adding some walking into the mix. I think that even a little activity will be helpful in keeping the weight coming off. I do need to remember that I will need to up my points to compensate for the added activity. I didn't do that last time and I stalled out because I wasn't eating enough when I added activity.

Hope you all are having a great week!

Deals, Deals, Deals

Headed to Walgreens yesterday and today and got some great deals! I got all this for $25.46. I also got a thing of elastic hair ties for Em's hair but they didn't make it into the picture and I didn't feel like taking another. As best I can tell this picture represents over $70.00 worth of stuff. Regular price the cereal and tampons alone are about $31.00. So I paid about a third of what I would have without sales and coupons.

Here's what I got:
Kleenex tissues-6 boxes
Colgate Total toothpaste
Raisin Bran-2 boxes
Fruit Loops & Corn Pops-1 box each
Scope mouthwash-2 bottles
OB Tampons-2 boxes
Johnson & Johnson Q-tips-1 box
Planters Trail Mix-2 packs
Aussie shampoo-1
Aussie hair spray-1

I will probably head back to Walgreens to get a couple more OBs and also to CVS in Decatur tomorrow night to pick up some REALLY cheap Kashi Heart to Heart. I've got 4 $1.50/1 coupons and it is 2/$5 right now. Our CVS here in Clinton doesn't carry it, but for a $1.00 a box, I'll take the time to pick it up while there.

There have been quite a few high value coupons on the internet lately. Here are a couple of the sites I follow:
* Common Sense With Money
* The Krazy Coupon Lady

I need to get off here now and work on an IGA list and start planning for tomorrow night's scrapnight.

Lovin' My Aprons & My New Washer & Dryer :o)

Back in July last year, I made a comment that I love the apron that I received from Delmar's mom and would love to have more of them. Now let me say, I'm not really sure how many people actually read this blog because comments are rarely left, it's more of a journal for me. But I'm happy to say that I now know that my Aunt Dorothy does read my blog. I know this because she sent to me not one but TWO vintage aprons. One is red with a fish pocket and the other is a floral print with pink pockets that have buttons on them. I love them both and they are a wonderful addition to my collection. THANK YOU SO MUCH AUNT DOROTHY!!!!!!!!! Here is a picture of them all hanging in the laundry room just outside the kitchen.


I'm also happy to report that when I now do laundry, the whole neighborhood can't hear. My new front loading washer and dryer are so quiet I forget they are running! Aren't they pretty???


I've got lots more to post about but no time to do it just now but I'll be back soon!

Down Some More

Yea, you may or may not have noticed that I didn't post a weight loss report last week. It's because I was very angry. Not at me, I did EVERYTHING perfect. I was my body I was mad at! After the whoppin' loss the first week, I turned around and GAINED 4/10ths of a pound. GAINED I said!?!?!?!?!?! WHAT? I did figure out later that the WW Zero Point Veggie Soup, while low in calories, is very high in sodium if you aren't using low sodium chicken broth. GGGRRRRR!!!!!! Water weight....wadaya do...

Anyway, I didn't let it get me too down and this week it was gone. I'm down 2.8 this week for a total of 9 pounds in 3 weeks. I can live with that. I just need to keep looking at the big picture and not let the little weeks get me down. Slow and steady...

Oops I did it again!!!!

So remember back in April of 2009 when I did this deal and got 10 bottles of Purex for tax only? Well, I DID IT AGAIN!! Ten bottles of Purex for $2.07~!~!~!~!~!~!!!!! I still have about 5 of those bottles left but I also went thru these bottles that were bigger than the Purex ones so I may have to go out tonight at get 2 more bottles. Hopefully that will get me thru the year until this deal happens again next year????? One could only hope.

I love saving money and I love spending it too. I spent the day with mom yesterday and went to Gordman's in Bloomington for the first time ever. LOVE IT!!! I have a wall in my hallway that is kind of my family picture wall and boy is it gonna be purdy after I hang up the frames, etc. that I bought yesterday. I'll post pictures of that later. I have to wait until Tues. when my photo ink is delivered from Staples to reprint some of my pics.

Gotta scoot, mom & Bob are coming over for dinner soon.

Weight Watchers Week 1

So my first week back on the program was REALLY good. I lost 6.6 lbs!!! GO ME!!! I know this pace won't last but it's great for now.

Bad thing did happen today. A couple of weeks ago, I ordered a dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts from a little girl across the street. They came in today. I must confess, before I left for my meeting, I added 3 of them into my etools on Weight Watchers.com. I had the points left afterall, since I always eat light on Monday's before my weigh in on Monday night. Before the meeting I had 19.5 points left and 3 doughnuts were 16.5. But I'm happy to say that after weighing in, I didn't do it. I made one of my homemade pizzas for 5 points with a glass of milk. I did have ONE Krispy Kreme and then put the rest in the freezer to be eaten SLOWLY and not only by me. With Delmar's recent diabetes diagnosis and me on WW we didn't need a box of fresh yumminess sitting around the house. I did leave a couple out for Emily's breakfast. :)

Anywho, here's to another fantastic week.

Weight Watchers again

I've recommitted to my weight loss again. Feeling like crap all the time is just no good for anyone, especially me. It leaks into EVERYTHING! So last night I went back even tho I've regained ALL that I lost last year plus about 10 lbs. But, I'm excited once again and hopefully by summer I can be back to where I was in the fall of last year. I will be adding a weight tracker to my side bar again to help keep me motivated and hopefully this stupid weather will break and I will be able to get out and start walking again.

Here's to SUCCESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Procrastinating

I should be working on getting my stuff together for scrapnight at church but instead I'm on here working on a new siggy for my blog! :)

Snow Day!!!!!!!

The kids had a snow day today so Emily and I took advantage of the time and worked on her Valentines and her Valentine box. This is the first year she has got to make a box at home, they have always done them in school. The only thing she requested was that we were able to use my Cricut to get the job done. :)

This is also the first year that she did her Valentines completely on her own. She looked thru each one to find the best fit for the person she was giving it to. She also mentioned how hard it was to find "just the right one".

So, here are pictures of her Valentines box. She is very proud of it.


Front:

Front & Side:



Have a blessed day,

Been a long time...

since I posted a CVS or Walgreens deal. At the beginning of 2009 I was really in to couponing, etc. We got pretty much stocked up on toothpaste, shampoo, body wash, toothbrushes, etc. so I kind of just let it go. But a couple of weeks ago I started clipping coupons again and this week at CVS it paid off! Here's my deal:

Transaction #1:
2 Pantene shampoos
1 Clairol Perfect 10 hair color
2 Oust Surface & Air spray

Total purchases: $24.97
Less Mfr coupons: $10.99
Less ECBs: $2.00
Less CVS coupon $4 off $20
Total OOP: $9.40 w/tax
ECBs earned: $11.00

Trasaction #2:
2 Diet Sierra Mist 12 packs
2 Diet Cherry Pepsi 12 packs

Total purchase: $11.00
Less ECBs: $11.00
Total OOP: $.74 (TAX ONLY) :o)
ECBs earned: 2.00

Transaction #3:
2 Nivea bath wash
1 Green Bag tag (every 4th time I bring in my own bag, I get a $1 ECB)

Less MFR coupon: $3.00
Less ECB: $2.00
Total OOP: $8.85 w/tax
ECBs earned: $5.00

Transaction #4:
2 boxes Ritz crackers
2 boxes Wheat Thins
1 box of Triscuit

Less MFR coupons: $4.00
Less ECB: $5.00
Total OOP: $1.10 w/tax
ECBs earned: $3.00

So I got $58.94 worth of product for $20.09 OOP and still have $3.00 in ECBs for next time. The soda and the crackers were worth way more than that! Also I just have to say, I've heard ALOT of people online gripe about their CVS managers but mine is a sweetheart. He was standing there when I was doing the first 2 trans. and he thought it was great! And, I was only gonna do the first 2 yesterday but then when I went out and saw the snow starting to come down I went back in and did the other 2...he didn't bat an eye. He thinks its fantastic!

Hope you all have a fabulous and blessed day!