A Day in the Life of the Sandages

It's time for school again!!!

noreply@blogger.com (emsmommy) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 13:35:00 +0000

I think Emily was a "little" excited about her first day of Second grade. She was up at 6:20 am ready to go! Here are our annual first day of school pics. The second one is of her and her new bus driver. For the last 3 years, her driver has been Twilla and we loved her. I don't know about Emily but I was sad to not see her this morning. But, alas, change happens and now we introduce Mable. I hear that she is also wonderful and loves the kids and honestly, that's all that really matters. YEAH!!Have a blessed day,

July in a nutshell

noreply@blogger.com (emsmommy) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 15:00:00 +0000

WARNING, THIS POST IS INCREDIBLY LONG AND FULL OF PICTURES-Proceed at your own risk... :O)

This summer has flown by and I can't believe that school starts this Friday (albeit, only a 3 hour day??) Anyway, since the posting has been sporadic at best, I thought a jumbo post covering July would catch us up a bit. Here goes............

The first week of July ushered in a new experience for Emily. Our local YMCA hosts a day camp called Camp Osage and Emily LOVED it! We went on vacation so early this year that I was worried Emily would have a long BORING summer at home. But never fear, Y Camp is here!!! She has learned how to fish, play lots of new games, learned several new songs, seen many friends from school and met lots of new friends. Here she is on her first day and a picture with Delaney, her friend from down the street.

Here is a song that she learned entitled, "God Bless My Underwear". Just in case you can't understand here are the words (to the tune of God Bless America):

God bless my underwear

My only pair

Thru the washer

Thru the dryer

On the clothesline

In the air

Oh, God bless my underwear

My only pair......

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Repeat until it drives your parents CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!! Actually, this time was hysterical. She was just belting it out in the shower one night after camp. Cracked me up!!!

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July also brought the first fruits from my garden, go figure, it was zucchini.And who doesn't need a little more mulch on their garden in the heat of summer? Certainly not I. And our neighbor, Emily's best friend Don, was willing to share his grass clippings with us and Emily helped him out with the rake.Still keeping with the garden theme,I am proud to say that I learned how to can. My dad's friend Mel gave me a rather large bag of green beans that I used as my "guinea pig". Back in June, I had told my step-dad Bob that I wanted him to teach me how to can as my birthday gift. So he came over one day while Emily was at camp (mom came with him to keep an eye on my little ones that I babysit) and I had my first (and only) lesson. Here are some pictures from the experience.

Beans before:
Necessary tools:
Me and my teacher. Final results, MMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

These jars sat on my counter all afternoon and evening and every time I walked by I just smiled and felt so proud that I had provided food for my family. And it was all free! The jars came from Freecycle. I was also blessed with a pressure canner as well as some other items needed. And I was presented with the Ball Blue Book for Canning and Preserving by my teacher. THERE'S NO STOPPIN' ME NOW!!!

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THE CHICKEN BORDER COMES DOWN!!!

From the day that we moved into our home, I've not particularly cared for the border in my laundry room. After all, what to chickens/roosters have to do with laundry??? Anyway, one day I got a wild hair and started pulling it down.

Before:
During:

After:

The aprons are mine and Emily's cooking aprons. Delmar's mom gave me the black and white checked one and I love it! I would like to get some other vintage ones. The pink one has a ladybug on it and Emily loves to wear it when we cook. As you can also see, I still haven't decided what color I'm going to paint the doors.

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Relay for Life

Most of you know that I've been participating in Relay for Life since my sister Lori was diagnosed with Kidney cancer in 2002. My first one was in 2003 and I've been doing it every year since, making this my seventh year WOW! Our team is now sponsored by our church and we had a great night this year. The weather was beautiful but cold. But, I'd much rather it be cold than hot.

This year our camp had a hippy/Woodstock/Age of Aquarius feel to it. Here is a picture of our mascots. (Thanks David, Delmar & Gene for keeping us laughing well into the night!)

What is a night being up until dawn without a little food?Kids lap (Emily is in the orange shirt right in the middle of the pic):Me and my man. Stay away ladies...he's all mine!! :o)One of the chiropractors in town was selling massages (all proceeds went to the Relay). Pat tried it out first and convinced MANY on our team that it was awesome and it was!What???? Mike is asleep and SNORING??? No way!

Each year they make a banner of hand prints of survivors. This banner is from 2003, Lori's hand print is the pink one and it overlaps our dad's (the upside down one). I take a picture of it every year.

What a great end to Relay week, the stargazer lillies that I planted in my garden in memory of Lori bloomed! I honestly didn't think they were going to this year but one day, there they were! These were Lori's favorite flower and were in all the bouquets that Mike would send her.

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Our final adventure in July was tent camping at Weldon Springs. We were invited by our neighbor Jenny to join her and some of her family and friends. What a weekend! Friday night was great but Saturday it rained almost all day. We didn't care, we stood around under umbrellas around the fire and at one point gave up on the umbrellas and sat at a picnic table in the rain playing Scrabble. Fortunately, the Scrabble game was mostly wood and plastic!!!

Here is princess Jenny in her castle. Not too bad considering she started Friday with a ridiculously small tent with a queen sized mattress in it. She was movin' on up!!!

Lilly trying to learn to ride a 2 wheeler:

Rise and shine Emily and Kyla:

Here I am helping Sal make breakfast. This covered screen room would have been a great idea BEFORE it rained. Here are a group of campers putting it up and you can't tell but it is pouring!! HA!UHHH...Delmar....Emily....everyone else is up!!

I pray that you all had a blessed summer. While it has gone incredibly fast, Emily and I are both excited that school is starting in a few days. She has already met her teacher and we've heard that she is great!

Rainy days and Mondays...

noreply@blogger.com (emsmommy) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 01:31:00 +0000

can be made better with tomato soup, tamales for hubby and I and a grilled cheese for Em. YUMMO!!!!!:o)

This was my gourmet dinner after a day of tackling Mt. Washmore, paying bills, getting the house back in order from the weekend and canning my first batch of green beans solo. Aren't they pretty???

Between the rainy evening and Y camp, Emily was exhausted and said she wasn't feeling well. I hope she isn't coming down with something!! This is how she spent most of her evening.
Hope you all weathered the storms without any damage.

Goodnight all,

My new books came!

noreply@blogger.com (emsmommy) — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 19:03:00 +0000

I ordered 2 books from Half.com last week and now they are both in. While I am still finishing up the Left Behind series, I still need to locate the sequel and prequels. I am starting to read Home Comforts (see my sidebar) and just got in the mail today, Mary Hunt's "Debt-Proof The Holidays-How to have an All-Cash Christmas". I'm quite excited about both books and will now be torn as to how to split my reading time. :o)

Have a blessed day,

Eleven years ago today...

noreply@blogger.com (emsmommy) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:34:00 +0000

I said "I do" to the love of my life. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MY LOVE!!!!

We are going to Red Lobster for dinner and do some Walmart shopping in Decatur. Our friend Jenny is watching Emily for us. Thanks Jenny!!! Then we will come home and watch So You Think You Can Dance. A simple evening with the one I love doing things we love~~~well, except for the Walmart shopping!

UPDATE: Here is a picture of the flowers Delmar brought home for me. There were so many, I had to separate them into two jars. More to spread around the house!!!

DUDE!!!

noreply@blogger.com (emsmommy) — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 14:51:00 +0000

I soooo feel like this woman some days......then I'm reminded why I do it! :smile: This one is going on my sidebar so I can be reminded everyday!

Have a blessed day,

Got my internet back...YEAH!!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (emsmommy) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Last Wednesday, a storm came thru that sent a surge thru my phone line into my modem and then on thru to the ethernet cards in both our computer and Emily's computer. It fried all three items and thus began the process of replacing them all. This should have been a simple thing, just call the phone company and have them send a new modem out and then replace the cards in the 2 computers. HOWEVER, my computer has Windows Vista on it...big pain in the butt!!! We were able to check email and such thru Delmar's wireless laptop and by "borrowing" a connection from a neighbor but updating the blog was not able to happen because of the spottiness of the connections.

But, all is well now and we are once again connected to the world. So, let the blogging begin!

Have a blessed day,

Menu Planning/Kitchen Work

noreply@blogger.com (emsmommy) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 15:37:00 +0000

I've been working this week on getting food into the freezer and planning menus. Since Delmar was gone over the 4th weekend shooting fireworks in Southern IL, Emily and I decided to make him a special dinner last night. I loaded up 4 kids and off to IGA we went to by steaks. This was miraculous two-fold. First of all, many of you know that I don't travel too much with the babysitting kids, it just makes me nervous and secondly, I rarely buy steaks and NEVER full price... It was indeed a special day! With the steaks, I made cheesy tater tots with onions and peppers and fresh green beans - from my garden :o) - made with soy sauce, olive oil and fresh garlic. YUMMO!

I have also been freezing blueberries. Last week Kroger had them for $1.25 a pint!!! I bought 16 pints and have frozen 12 of them to enjoy later this summer and this winter. MMMMM, a cup of coffee with a homemade blueberry muffin.....sorry, I got lost there for a moment! The rest we have been nibbling on here and there.

Also, when we came back from Florida on vacation (yes, it was over a month ago), we stopped in Georgia and bought a 25 lb. bag of Vidalia onions that we split with the Shews. (I'm sure that Sharon has had hers in the freezer for weeks but I am just getting to mine.)

The time you save by chopping all at once is amazing! I've been doing this with green peppers for a couple of years now and it's so nice to be able to just grab a baggie of chopped veggies and just throw it in whatever you are making. It's also a good way to take advantage of the discounted produce at the store. Our Save-a-Lot almost always has packages of bell peppers that are on the edge, maybe with a spot or something on them. Usually they are packaged in 4's for around a $1.00 and are a mix of green, red, yellow and orange. I'll buy these, cut out the bad spot and chop, slice and chunk them for different recipes that I work with.

While working on my onions this morning, I've also prepped my onions for tonights dinner and now just have to work on the potatoes.

Gotta head for now, about time to get the kids ready for Lunch Time Bible Club!

Have a blessed day,

Vacation Bible School

noreply@blogger.com (emsmommy) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:03:00 +0000

Emily has loved VBS this year. Thru school, she knows many of the kids, which makes her want to go even more. Tristin even got in on it a couple of days and then got nervous about going. They had theme days and were able to dress appropriately each day. We missed the theme for Monday which was hat day.

Tuesday was crazy hair day. You can't tell in the picture very well but Tristin's hair is spiked:

Wednesday was mismatched or backwards clothes day. As you can see, Emily chose to do both:

Thursday was beach day. Tristin was dressed for it but decided at the last minute, he wasn't going to go:

Today, Friday, was PJ day. (I didn't get a pic before she changed.) Emily LOVES PJ days! She was able to wear them all day a couple of days of Kindergarten and 1st grade. The fun continued into VBS.

The kids were also raising money thru offerings to help Barb O'Donohue's work with Pokot children in Africa. According to a newsletter, if their goal of $1111.00 is met, Ernie (the children's minister) will dye his hair blonde! The must be really getting behind this since as of yesterday, they were at $904.27 and the last 2 day's offerings were over $300 each!!! GOOOOO KIDS!!!!

We may have to go to 1st Christian this Sunday just to see Ernie!

Next week starts Lunch Time Bible Club at the Baptist Church, Emily is excited about this too. I'm also considering sending her to Camp Osage at our local Y several times during the summer just for something else to do.

Must run for now, she will be getting of the VBS bus in about 15 min and I like to have her lunch ready for her or otherwise she wants to go out to play and then eats too late!

Have a blessed day,

Happy Birthday Emily Rose!!!!!!!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (emsmommy) — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 15:36:00 +0000

Yes, today our baby is 7 years old. It amazes me how time flies. Every year on her birthday, I recall the day she was born and the horrible time she had just trying to breath. I remember laying in a hospital bed after a C-section being told that my baby, just hours old, would need to be flown from from Effingham to Springfield because they didn't have the equipment or doctors needed to keep her alive and the aweful feeling knowing I couldn't go with her. I can picture in my mind, the first time I got to hold her 2 days later, on MY birthday and thanking God for the most wonderful birthday present ever and for having the best husband in the world after hearing that he didn't let ANYONE hold her, not even himself, knowing that I should be the first. Then, after a week, the IVs came out and we got to take our baby girl home.

And now, look at her, she can read her own birthday cards:This morning, we tried to convince Emily that she should wait to open her presents at her party but she told us, "But we always have a party in the morning!" So, she opened her presents from us this morning and was very happy with her new Littlest Petshop Clubhouse and Dora Leapster game.

After unwrapping the gifts, Emily and her cousin Baylee, who is with us for the weekend, decided it was time to wrap up daddy!

I will post more pictures of the party later.

Have a blessed day,

Miami Vacation 2009

noreply@blogger.com (emsmommy) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:34:00 +0000

Yes, we have already had our summer vacation for the year. We were supposed to go to Hilton Head, SC in August but due to Sharon's pregnancy and being due just a few weeks from when we were supposed to be gone, we bumped it up a bit. And, as you can see from the post title, we went to Florida AGAIN!!! This time, however, we went down to Miami. All I can say about Miami is....NEVER AGAIN!!! I would rather go to Disney World every year for the rest of my life than go back to Miami. It rained and rained and rained. And this was not your typical "Florida rain", no, it hung around pouring for hours at a time. Every time Sharon and I stepped foot outside in out bathing suits, within 30 min. the clouds, thunder and lightening were there, few people spoke clear English and I do not know any Spanish. But, I can say that dispite all the bad, we had a good time spending the week with the Shew's and I'm sure that Emily appreciates not being the only child on vacation with boring mom & dad.

So what did we do you say? Well let me tell you.

Our first desination was an overnight in Nashville then up at the crack of dawn to set out for Savannah, GA. Delmar made a point to allow time for us to be able to eat at Paula Dean's restaurant, "The Lady & Sons". Sharon and I were so excited and I think Delmar was too. Well, we got there and the first thing I notice is the sign saying that they were taking no more reservations for the night. :o( BIG DISAPPOINTMENT! But, we did end up eating at Uncle Bubba's Oyster and Seafood House which is her brother's place and then we went back to downtown Savannah to have our pics taken in front of Paula's place and shop in her store.

The next day, we headed to Miami. While there, we went to Miami Beach (it was cloudy the whole time), went to Key Largo and road a really big glass bottomed boat out to a coral reef and saw a bunch of coral, fish and even a shark. I believe that night I came down with food poisoning and spent the night nausious and vomiting and was out the next day too. While I was down, everyone when swimming. We spent a day at a really cool indoor/outdoor mall-of course it was sunny while were there in the morning and we went back to get into the pool and it started storming again. GGGRRRR!!!!!!! One night, the resort offered a sitter service for the kids and we adults went out to eat. Emily and Alexis enjoyed spending time with Gloria, the lady that was on staff to do crafts and stuff with the kids. They got to do face painting, make a wind chime and several other things. She was really good with them and would just come out of her room to the pool and ask if they wanted to come in and do something.

By the time Friday rolled around, we were ready to head home. Delmar also arranged for us to have extra time in Chattanooga, TN to stop at Ruby Falls and Lookout Mtn. We had talked about doing it for years but we were always too tired to stop. So allowing time to do that was good and we all had a great time going down into the cavern and then walking up to Lookout Mtn.

Here is a video I put together of our trip.

Sandage/Shew Vacation 2009
Click the above link to see video.

Have a blessed day,

Emily's Photo Opportunities

noreply@blogger.com (emsmommy) — Fri, 01 May 2009 15:42:00 +0000

Over the course of the last few weeks, Emily has had many professional pictures taken for one reason or another. Thought I would share them.

This first picture is from casual picture day. For some reason, getting your picture taken in the fall at school is not enough these days. Now they have spring pictures taken too and they are allowed to bring in props. Emily's theme this year was her frogs. We tried to follow thru with her clothing too.

The next picture was from dance pictures. She is in her bridal costume for recital. This picture is a candid shot, we won't get the actual pictures back until recital day.Finally we have a picture that was actually not scheduled but we happened to be at the church when they were doing them. This was another fundraiser for Ted & Kim Treadway, our missionaries to Guatamala. They did a similar one back in July of last year when we had the old fashioned photos taken.

ENJOY!

Have a blessed day,

My new baby

noreply@blogger.com (emsmommy) — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 02:30:00 +0000

Ok, so it's not really a baby but I still love it! Our old van was slowly starting to nickle and dime us AND it had 125,000 miles on it. And since we are driving to Miami in 4 weeks we decided that it my be time to trade 'er in. And, here she is:(This picture makes it look silver but it is actually a light blue, kinda aqua color.)

I've loved my last 2 Dodge Grand Caravans and did not want to stray from them but Delmar brought me home this tonight. It is a Chrysler Town and Country. Same layout of the Dodge just a "step up". Yes, now we have StowNGo seating, all the doors are electric and Emily loves the built in DVD player. These things will all come in handy during our many days in the van on our way to and from Miami.

Have a blessed day,

CVS & Walgreens Deals 4/12-4/18

noreply@blogger.com (emsmommy) — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 20:41:00 +0000

OK, so I had no intention of going to do my coupon deals this week. There really wasn't much going on. UNTIL, I read the iheartcvs.com blog entry about the Purex coupons. This week at CVS, Purex was B1G1 free. The entry had a link to a B1G1 free coupon making BOTH bottles free except for the tax-which was $2.62 for all 10 bottles!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Then, Wags had Colgate toothbrushes for $3.29 with a $3.50 RR and I had a $1 coupon for each one also making them a moneymaker. I used the RRs to turn around and buy some boxes of the individual drink mixes that you put in bottles of water for Emily's lunches. She loves them but I just can't share my Crystal Light White Grape flavor! I know-bad mom!

Here is the rundown:

10 32-load bottles of Purex
7 boxes of drink mixes
5 Colgate toothbrushes
1 Physicians Formula moisturizer

I paid $10.63 out of pocket BUT ended up with $7.00 in Wags RR and will submit a $10 rebate in for the moisturizer. Some of the purchase was made with my Wags gift card from rebates from last month. So I will end up MAKING $6.37 after my rebate goes back on my Wags gift card at the end of the month AND I have enough laundry soap to last the rest of the year.

Have a blessed day,

It's (Was) Girl Scout Cookie Time!!!!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (emsmommy) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 17:56:00 +0000

Many of you know that in the fall Emily joined Brownies. With this came the opportunity to sell Girl Scout cookies. Our goal was to sell enough to pay her membership fee for next year and we went well over that. Here is a pic of Em last month and her 176 boxes of cookies!!!!!!

Thank you to all who supported her in this project.

Have a blessed day,

Hey Baby Let's Go to Vegas!!!

noreply@blogger.com (emsmommy) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 16:03:00 +0000

THE CHAPEL OF LOVE (Dixie Cups)

Spring is here

The sky is blue (whoa-whoa-whoa)

Birds all sing

As if they knew

Today's the day

We'll say I do

And we'll never be lonely anymore

Because we're

Goin' to the chapel and we're

Gonna get married

Goin' to the chapel and we're

Gonna get married

Gee, I really love you and we're

Gonna get married

Goin' to the chapel of love

Bells will ring

The sun will shine (whoa-whoa-whoa)

I'll be his and

He'll be mine

We'll love until

The end of time

And we'll never be lonely anymore

Because we're

Goin' to the chapel and we're

Gonna get married

Goin' to the chapel and we're

Gonna get married

Gee, I really love you and we're

Gonna get married

Goin' to the chapel of love

On Saturday, Emily and I went to Heyworth to pick up her costume for the dance recital. As you may have guessed, this year's theme is "Hey Baby Let's Go To Vegas". Emily's class will be dancing a tap routine to The Chapel of Love. Click here if you want to hear the song. Just click on the gray/black music player in the upper right hand corner of the page. Enjoy!!!!

Have a blessed day,

Shopping Deals Mar 31-Apr 5

noreply@blogger.com (emsmommy) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 15:39:00 +0000

Not much happened at CVS last week. We are pretty much stocked up on shampoo, toothpaste, etc. for awhile. So this week the concentration was on all the great Pepsi deals. Combined with my rebate coupons that I received from the Super Bowl rebate promotion back in Feb. I'm set with soda for the time :) This shopping was done at Walgreens and Target.

Here's what I got for just about $31:

6-12 packs Diet Pepsi

1-12 pack Wild Cherry Diet Pepsi

1-12 pack Diet Dr. Pepper

1-12 pack Diet Sierra Mist

4 boxes of Target brand fruit snacks

2 boxes Fiber One Poptarts

2 Johnson's Bath Buddies soap

1 pack of socks for Delmar (I just don't understand how a man can be so hard on SOCKS!!!!)

2 boxes Quaker Chewy granola bars

1 Fusion Gamer Power razor

1 Gillette shave cream

Have a blessed day,

CVS & Walgreens Deals 3/22-3/28

noreply@blogger.com (emsmommy) — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 19:38:00 +0000

Kind of a pitiful week in the land of CVS & Wags deals. But I did get these items for a total of $1.53 (after rebate).

WAGS:

Hunts Tomato Sauce-11 @ .99 = $10.89

Use Wags flyer coupon-11 @ .39 = $4.29 + .11(tax) = $4.40

Submitted a $5.00 rebate off of a $10 Conagra purchase = $5.50 back (10% added for putting on a Wags gift card)

Total purchase = $1.10 PROFIT!!!!!!

CVS:

B1G1 Campbell's soups (not a great selection) - 8 for $6.56

Used 4 $1/2 Campbell soup coupons - $4.00 off

Total OOP with tax - $2.63

Again, sad week... But it was nice to actually get some food for my pantry instead of shampoo and toothpaste! :-)

Have a blessed day,

Emily's New Doo...

noreply@blogger.com (emsmommy) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 14:15:00 +0000

And a crazy face!

We love Emily's new haircut but I would have never considered using a flat iron on her stick straight hair until the hairstylist did. It really worked! The curl at the ends actually stayed in for the whole day. Amazing!

Have a blessed day,

CVS & Wags Deals 3/15-3/21

noreply@blogger.com (emsmommy) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 00:25:00 +0000

I only spent $2.48 OOP today at CVS but I didn't leave with any ECBs :( Oh well, heck of a deal for less than ONE of the Colgate toothbrushes I got!!! Here's the rundown...

Deal #1
Dry Idea deodorant (2)
Colgate Max White toothbrush

Less:
$2.00 Dry Idea coupon (2 of them)
$4.99 ECB from prior purchase (discounted to $4.97)

OOP: 27 cents
ECBs earned: $4.00 for Dry Idea & $2.99 for toothbrush

Deal #2
Hello Kitty Bandaids (2)
Kotex pantyliners

Less:
75 cent Kotex coupon
$1.50 CRT (CVS coupon from coupon machine) off Kotex pantiliners
$2.00 Bandaids coupons ($1/1 X 2)
$4.00 ECB from #1
$2.99 ECB from #1 (discounted to $2.92)

OOP: 3 cents
ECBs earned: $3.00 for Bandaids & $2.00 for Kotex

Deal #3
Diet Cherry Pepsi 12 packs (3)
Gumdrops (2)
Suave Body Wash

Less:
$1.00 of 2 Gold Emblem candys (CVS brand)
$3.00 off any Suave product
$3.00-Buy 2 get 1 free Pepsi product
$2.00 ECB from #2
$3.00 ECB from #2

OOP: $2.18
ECBs earned- ZERO

Total of $2.48 for $44.88 of stuff. YEAH ME!!!!

I am still considering doing the Hersey's ECB offer and I still have another Pepsi coupon for the buy 2 get one free I may do.

I wasn't going to go to Walgreens this week but then found out about a coupon that is in a magazine in the pharmacy area that goes well with a RR deal. Here it is, all this for $9.95 OOP. Not too bad considering the Pullup (Wags brand) alone are almost $9.00 by themselves!!!

Have a blessed day,

CVS & Walgreens Deals 3/8-3/14

noreply@blogger.com (emsmommy) — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 23:40:00 +0000

Another AWESOME week at CVS and Wags!

CVS Deals**********

Total OOP for this picture is $8.49 and represents $85.64 worth of product!!!!!!!!!

Note that I started with the $1.98 ECB earned at the end of this post.

CVS Deal #1:
Palmolive dishsoap
Clairol Perfect 10 Haircolor kit-on clearance for $6.99!! (not my color but will be used this summer for highlights!)

Less coupons used:
$5.00 off Clairol Perfect 10
$1.98 ECB from prior purchase

Regular price-$15.58
My OOP-$1.94
ECBs earned-$1.00 & 2.00

CVS Deal #2:
2 Herbal Esscenses Shampoo

Less coupons used:
$3.00/2 Herbal Essences
$1.00 ECB from Deal #1
$1.00 CVS coupon for hair care product

Regular price: $9.38
My OOP-$1.01
ECBs earned-$2.00

CVS Deal #3:
2 Herbal Esscenses Shampoo

Less coupons used:
$3.00/2 Herbal Essences
$2.00 ECB from Deal #2

Regular price: $9.38
My OOP-$1.01
ECBs earned-$2.00

CVS Deal #4:
2 Garnier Nutrisse Hair Colors

Less coupons used:
2-$2.00 Garnier Nutrisse Hair Color
$2.00 ECB from Deal #3
$2.00 ECB from Deal #1

Regular price: $16.98
My OOP-$2.41
ECBs earned-$5.00

CVS Deal #5:
2 Garnier Nutrisse Hair Colors

Less coupons used:
2-$2.00 Garnier Nutrisse Hair Color
$5.00 ECB from Deal #4

Regular price: $16.98
My OOP-$1.34
ECBs earned-$5.00

CVS Deal #6:
Mentos Gum
Palmolive dish soap
Crest Pro Health Mouthwash
2 bags of candy

Less coupons used:
$1.00 Mentos
$1.00 CVS coupon
$5.00 ECB from Deal #5

Regular price-$9.25
My OOP-$.78
ECBs earned-$1.00 & $2.00

Also thrown into the picture above is a Glade Lasting Impressions fan that I picked up at Wags for 53 cents after Easy Saver Catalog coupon and a coupon that I had. :-)

**************************************
WAGS Deals

Total OOP for this picture is $35.30 and represents $215.23worth of product!!!!!!!!!

The stuff shown above cost me $35.30 OOP. The diapers will be a shower gift and will come out of our gift giving budget. This leaves the remaining $12.60 actually coming out of our grocery/toiletries/laundry budget. That $12.60 consists of:

4 rolls of Tuf paper towels - .59 @ after Wags ESC coupon - $2.36
4 Sambucol Cold & Flu Remedy - after coupon and Wags ESC coupon, I MADE $10.04
4 Glade Sense & Spray - after coupon and Wags ESC coupon, I MADE .04
4 Kleenex w/Lotion - no coupons -$5.34
1 Kotex pads - $2.00 after coupon
1 Cuddle Soft Softener sheets - $2.99 (should have rung up $1.99)
4 bottles Xcel Vanilla and Lavendar laundry soap - $7.96
4 jars JIF peanut butter - after sale - $8.00
4 bottles Garnier Fructise hairspray - after coupons and Wags ESC coupon, I MADE .04
3 packs Pure American water bottles - after Wags ESC coupon - $2.97
2 tubs Smart Balance margarine - after sale and coupons - .99
2 Kotex liners - after sale and coupons - $4.50
2 Garnier Fructise shampoo - after coupons and Wags ESC coupons - I MADE .02

I was also able to deduct 2 $10.00 Register Rewards from the transactions above from a deal that was made buying the diapers, Kleenex and pantiliners.

Have a blessed day,

CVS & Walgreens Deals 3/1-3/7

noreply@blogger.com (emsmommy) — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 15:54:00 +0000

I have been blessed to find several websites that have tought me how to be a bargin hunter at CVS and Walgreens. Consequently, I've been doing alot of CVS and Walgreens deals lately. It's truly amazing what you can get for practically nothing. I've been doing this since the first of the year and have saved alot of money on hygiene, hair care, cereal, dish washing detergent, laundry detergent, etc. freeing up my grocery budget to actually spend on groceries. Here is my most recent deals done yesterday...

CVS deal #1:

Carnation Instant Breakfast

Glucerna Cereal-2 boxes

Less coupons used:

Glucerna Cereal-$5.00 off

ECB from prior purchase $5.00

Regular price-$14.17

My OOP (out of pocket)-$1.94

Extra Care Bucks earned $4.99

CVS deal #2:

Gilette Fusion Gamer Razor
Glucerna Cereal-2 boxes

Dawn

Less coupons used:
Glucerna Cereal-$5.00 off
ECB from purchase #1 $4.99

Dawn-50 cents off

Regular price-$18.14

My OOP-$1.69

Extra Care Bucks earned $4.00

CVS deal #3:

Cascade Liquid Dishwasher soap

Act Total Care mouthwash (2)

Almonds (2)

Less coupons used:

Cascade-$1.00 off

ECB from purchase #2 $4.00

Almond coupon from CVS coupon machine-$2.00 off

Regular price-$6.95

My OOP-4 cents

Extra Care Bucks earned $1.98

Walgreens deal:

Orbit gum-3 packs-clearanced to 65 cents @

Less $1.00 coupon in March Walgreen's rebate booklet

Regular price-$3.87

My OOP-98 cents

So, today I spent $4.65 for $43.13 of stuff and stuff that we will use! I also have $1.98 in CVS ECB's to use for my next trip.

To learn more about how this process works visit Money Saving Mom she'll explain it all to you better than I ever could!

Have a blessed day,

Still updating

noreply@blogger.com (emsmommy) — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 18:41:00 +0000

Just wanted to let you all know that I'm still working on the holiday season updating. For journaling purposes I want to keep it in chronological order, so you will have to go backwards to see the posts. Hope you all are enjoying a glimpse into our lives.

Have a blessed day,

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

noreply@blogger.com (emsmommy) — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 16:17:00 +0000

As we usually do, we got Emily a couple of gifts and Delmar got me a couple of somethings...poor guy, he only got a card. However, one of the gifts he got me was really for both of us.

Emily received some candy, a book-Roses are Pink, Your Feet Really Stink and a Dora the Explorer earmuff and glove set that she has been eyeing at CVS.

My Valentine got me my FAVORITE candy-Ferrero Rocher and the movie Fireproof. He did good!!!

Today is a quiet day, nothing planned. Just spending time together with nowhere in particular to go. However, at this moment, I am enjoying a silent house and a little mom time. Daddy took Emily to go to see a basketball game that one of her classmates is playing.

Last night we were able to go out with some friends for dinner and a comedian. Emily enjoyed getting to play at Kyla and Lilly's house. They have seen so little of each other thru the winter, they got along really well.

Have a blessed day,

Facing Resistance

noreply@blogger.com (emsmommy) — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 22:57:00 +0000

As you may know, I've begun baking my own bread. I began with a simple loaf of white "farmer" bread. A recipe that was in my bread machine cookbook. It was OK but not great. Next I went with an oatmeal recipe. I LOVED it, my mom LOVED it, my family did not. My grandiose idea of making healthy bread for my family has taken a nose dive. So, today I baked another white bread recipe. It is an Amish recipe and was so simple. And, I got to use my new baking pans that I bought at Beachy's last week. BONUS!!!

A few simple ingredients:

Proofed yeast:
Ready in the bread machine:

Risen and ready to bake:
A beautiful loaf of white bread:

I'll let you know if the family approves.

UPDATE: The family LOVED it. First thing hubby noticed when he walked into the kitchen was the loaf of WHITE bread.

Have a blessed day,