Two Deals!

Here are two deals that you folks with little ones (or with houses to clean) might find helpful.

The first is from Zulily. They have ADORABLE princess costumes like the one below for only $11.99. If you use ebates, you can get 3.5% on your purchase, and if you don't already have an ebates account, you can get $5 just for signing up. I've already gotten back about $20 from using the site. On Zulily, you can also use code SNAPZU10 to get 10% off of $30. They also have a GREAT elephant costume for 12-24 months.



The other deal is on Groupon.com. Under Atlanta, you can get $20 at soap.com for $10. I did this deal last week and got some laundry detergent that you can't buy in the store as well as dryer sheets. It was shipped straight to my door. I love, love, love this deal! Go to the site, sign up, find Atlanta and get in on the deal! You can also go through ebates and get 6% cash back.

Let me know if you snag any of these.

Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies, Anyone?

Today was the weekly trip to Publix. My sweet mother-in-law came and watched Abby and Jake while I went to Easley.

The picture above was my haul. Want to guess how much I paid? The lady in line in front of me had about the same number of items in her cart (I know; it all depends on what you are getting), but she paid $143.00.

My total - $37.49.

I had $25.55 in coupons and saved $39.91 with store savings for a total of $65.46 (a savings of 64%).

You'll also notice these:

Those are crab cakes! Yay! We also eat a ton of cream cheese so there are 5 packages of those. I paid a whopping quarter each for the cream cheese.

I also had Hebrew National franks on my list; they were B1G1, but I didn't have a coupon. God is faithful because when I asked for the coupon books before I started shopping the top on had a coupon for $1/2.

I just love finding deals and steals.

Have you had any good shopping lately?

Frustrating!

This morning was a little frustrating to say the least. It wasn't this way because of the obvious reasons but because I'm a tightwad and wasting money irritates me.

I left my house on time (well, on time for me, pushing it for the rest of humanity), and when I was a ways down the road, Jason called to tell me that he didn't have car seats for the kiddos because we had taken them out this weekend to go the Clemson game. That was fine. I knew I'd have to cancel my 8 o'clock class, but that's not a big deal. I can catch them up in class; trust me, I've done it before.

I turned around, got the car seats from my sister-in-law's house, went home and cuddled my babies for a few minutes. This was a highlight because they were both still in bed when I left, so I didn't mind that at all!

Got back in my car and booked it down the road to school. I knew I'd have a few extra minutes. This time I really was early, so I stopped at Dunkin Donuts to get a coffee. That's the practical thing to do when you're early isn't it?

I noticed that the cashier was outside smoking and talking on the phone when I pulled in, but she somehow managed to get my order when I came through the drive-thru. When I got to the window, she was diligently preparing my drink (still on the phone mind you), and I, being the optimist that I am, assumed she had washed her hands before she started working on the latte. Never assume. Bad plan.

The other two boys who work there also came in from their smoke breaks. I know because I saw them flick the butts of their cigarettes into the trash, open the door, come in and start fixing coffee for the guy behind me. No handwashing for these boys either. YUCK!

The girl handed me my drink, took my money (all still on the phone) and I drove off. Now, I know it's rude for ME to be on the phone while I'm dealing with a cashier, but I've never had the cashier be on the phone, and I know it wasn't work-related because she kept saying the word custody, and last time I checked, DD wasn't in a custody battle with anyone.

When I got to school, I took a big swig of my coffee only to find it laced with the taste of cigarettes and smoke. UGH! There went $2.80 down the drain - literally, I put it down the drain.

I sent an email to DD corporate. I hate to waste money. Someone please tell me how to be gracious in this situation because I'm struggling!

Pantry! Yay!

My precious husband worked diligently for two weekends to fix this fantastic pantry for me!

You may remember from my post about our kitchen remake that we moved the fridge from one side of the room to the other, leaving a hole where the fridge was. Said hole is now filled to capacity with my stockpile.

AND, I have to add - just because it's how I am - that I bought 48 jars of Stage 2 Beechnut baby food for $5.28. That's .11 per jar for those of you who stink at math like I do.

I've Decided

With regards to my previous post about Pastor Jones and the Dove World Outreach church that I will begin to fervently pray for torrents of rain on Saturday - all day, from dawn to dusk, so much rain that they couldn't even strike a match if they wanted to.

I figure, if God can pour down fire from heaven for Elijah, He can stop a little book burning in South Florida.

What do you think?

Meal Swap

I wanted to share with you a little more about the meal swap that I'm a part of. Our youth minister's wife is a work-at-home mom, and she, like the rest of us who are mommies, struggled with feeding her family healthy, well-balanced meals during the week. If you're anything like I am, I used to forego a home-cooked meal because it just took too much time! It wasn't just the time I spent preparing the meal that was frustrating, it was the time I invested thinking up interesting things for my family to eat. I do enjoy cooking, but given the option, on days when I have to teach until 1:30, I'm going to opt to eat somewhere where someone other than me fixes the food and washes all the dishes used in the preparation.

This is where the meal swap comes in. Amanda mentioned back in April to me and two other friends that she read in a book about having several families come together and cook meals for one another. I thought it was a great idea (as did the other ladies), but our husbands were skeptical and some of the children (and husbands) are very picky eaters, so we weren't sure how it would all work. Well, we sat down together, recipe cards in hand, and figured out the first month's meals. I printed the calendar, posted it on my fridge, and there was no going back.

I quickly learned that one boy doesn't like corn; there's a husband who won't eat vegetables of any kind unless they are well-hidden or potatoes. I caught on that my roast is a hit, which is nice because it's the easiest thing to fix, and that cooking for 4 families really isn't that different from cooking for one.

Once I had meals delivered every night, I knew that this was the way to go. My friends bring the food practically to my door every night, and sometimes I have to throw it into the oven to heat it, but that's way better than standing over a stove for an hour cooking something.

Also, with all the couponing I've been doing, I can feed all 5 families for about $20. We only do main dishes; the sides are up to the individual families, but I can open a can - how about you? I buy meat when it is on sale and keep it in the freezer until I need it.

This really is an awesome idea. Have any of you ever been involved in anything like this?

I don't usually post things like this.

And, I really don't, but those of you who are news junkies like me realize that there is something brewing in our country that needs to be addressed.

Maybe you've heard of pastor Terry Jones and his church Dove World Outreach Center. They are planning to burn the Koran this Saturday, September 11. He posits that the Koran is of the devil and blasphemous, and I agree with that completely, but the question that must be addressed is if this is the best way to make a statement against a group of people who we disagree with.

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 9:22 that we should become all things to all men so that we may win some. I often tell my classes that alienation and degrading speech are not effective tools in argument. I can't help but think that this is what Pastor Jones is doing - degrading, tearing down.

Even the head commander David Petraeus says that this church's actions could be very detrimental to our work in places like Afghanistan and Pakistan.

You won't hear me ask this often, but will you go here and write a polite, thoughtful email to Pastor Jones asking him to reconsider his protest for Saturday? They may not listen, but at least we will have tried.

The Last Year

I admit it. I've been distracted, overwhelmed, pulled in a million directions. Jason and I had a lazy weekend last weekend, and it was nice because as we talked, we realized that for the next month and a half, we have something important to do EVERY WEEKEND. I feel like I'm spinning my wheels. We started school; my PartyLite business is going well; I'm trying to be most diligent in clipping organizing, and using my coupons. Sometimes it's too much. I'm being chased by time, and I think it might catch me.

I'm not saying this to complain. This life is a wonderful one. The babies are healthy and growing. We're surrounded by friends who love us, and God is faithful as always.


I had a birthday in the middle of August, and I always like to sit down (usually closer to my birthday than this) and reflect on what God has done in the year. Isn't it sad that today is the first day I've had to do such reflecting.

Here are a few things:

I had a beautiful baby boy December 23. While 34 weeks is a little early to come, God took care of him and me and he's ALL BOY! I'll do a separate post about that. Who knew that boys really could be that different from girls this early in life!

My sweet baby turned 3 in July. Where has all the time gone? It seems like just yesterday we were bringing her home, and now she's sassy and smart and just a joy (most of the time; let's not forget she is still THREE!).

I went on load reduction at school which means that I only have to teach 4 classes every semester, which may not seem like much, but it gives me more time here, at home, where I desperately long to be.

I taught the most difficult group of students I have ever taught, AND SURVIVED! (Let me add, Jason survived too. It was questionable there for a while.)

I celebrated 5 years of marriage to a handsome, caring man.

We added two new folks to the meal swap I mentioned in an earlier post, which now means that I only have to cook one night during the week and the other four I get great food from wonderful friends. It's a WIN!

All in all, it's been a wonderful year. Please forgive me if the posts aren't as frequent as they have been in the past. I'm a little busy, but I'll be here occasionally.