Another Couponing Success

So, I tried my hand at couponing again, I don't think I did too bad...

Total Spent: $62.09 Total Saved: 74.19 (Plus I recieved $10 Target Gift Cards)

• 6 packages of Diapers
• 3 kids tooth brushes ($.96 each)
• 2 kids tooth pastes
• 1 battery toothbrush
• 1 thomas the train toy $15 toy for $3.74
• 2 Similac Concentrate $.84 a piece
• 1 Vitamin Water (Free)
• 3 Nivea BodyWash (Free - well, actually Target paid me $.86 to take them all out of the store)

Easter in Connecticut

Our recent trip to Connecticut for Easter was a much needed rest from "normal life". And was, oh so, refreshing! We left on Wednesday morning and headed north. It took us about 8.5 hours to get there due to an hour traffic jam we sat in. But once we got there, it was pure bliss. I was over indulged in much needed "girl time" with my sister-in-law, including pedi's, Starbucks, and shopping. It was nice to be out and relaxed. But then to return home to all the kids playing and enjoying one another. I don't think we had much bickering or fighting, except for the occasional child crying over a toy (my eldest, of course). But it was so exiting for the kids to play together and for us to watch them play. Our kids played hide and go seek for the first time and loved it. We all played together and I found it to be one of the most exciting times of the weekend. We celebrated Easter with our family including church, an egg hunt, a WONDERFUL brunch put on by my sister in law and the dying of easter eggs. Us adults, enjoyed movies together and late nights of chatting. Oh, how blessed we are to have this family and to be able to enjoy them!! Words can not express.

Easter Morning: My precious kiddos

All the cousins, together: "CHEESE"

Our family altogether!

My sister-in-law, Kate, and I

Easter Sunday ended up being a beautiful day in Connecticut. It was also beautiful when we arrived home on Monday. Even so much, that I decided to put Penny's hair in a pony tail... ULTRA CUTE... And then the following day I decided to put her hair in pig tails... I can't even say how cute it is. I just love it!!

Resurection Rolls...

A couple of years ago, my girlfriend sent me a recipe for resurrection cookies. I thought the idea was great for kids... You read scripture with each ingredient, explaining it's importance to the story (and cookies). You put them in the oven, bake, then turn off the oven, and keep the door closed until the morning, when the cookies are revealed, and are "empty" inside. I just love the idea. This year, I'm gonna try something similar for a brunch that I'm attending...

Check out the Resurrection Rolls, and the tutorial offered by feathersfrommynest.com. I think they look very yummy!!

Water, Water, EVERYWHERE...

For a couple of weeks, I've noticed that the hand towels that take up residence under my sink were just a little damp. And I thought, "Oh No!". We'd dealt this this before (in our old house) and it was short of $1000 to fix our kitchen sink and all the other sinks in the house to keep them from leaking!! But, upon more investigaging, I realized that the problems we'd experienced before, were not happening this time. So we tried a few other theories and nothing produced leaky pipes. Until one day earlier this week. I reached under the sink and found ANOTHER wet towel (after they all had been washed and replaced) and I was ready to take another look. And look what I found!!

At first glance, you might not see what I saw, but between the bottom of the drain and the silver piece, there is a BROWN piece of metal. And although I'm not that "handy" I know that metal shouldn't be brown! So I pulled the white pipe down just slightly, as I'm doing in the picture, and you can see UP INTO the drain and sink!!! The brown part is RUSTED threads of the drain that are rusted ALL THE WAY AROUND!! Holy Smokes! No wonder the towels and under the sink is wet all the time... because we put water down the sink, and the pipe is simply sitting directly UNDER the drain. So any water that misses the drain goes onto everything below! When we bought the house, we saw that the cabinet under the sink had had some water damage, but we "assumed" it's been taken care of. NOPE!!

However, luckily with the help of Facebook, I had a friend take a look at the picture and he advised how to help us, and Ken was able to remove the damaged piece, clean them all up and then make a temporary fix until it could be fixed later in the week with new parts.

Baby Curls...

I love curly hair. I always wished that I had it. I have what most people call "wavy" hair. But really it's bone straight until it wants to be mean to me and then it starts to kink in wierd places. However, I am very pleased to see that my sweet darling daughter is developing beautiful curls like her daddy has. I love her curly hair. I think it is absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately, she has areas of her hair (mainly right behind her ears) that simply stick out and are bone straight, while the rest of her hair and curly.

If you've always wanted curly hair and don't have it... drink in these sweet baby girl curls!

Happy Easter!!

I really like Easter. And each year, I enjoy it more and more, as I take in the meaning and really reflect on the death and resurrection of Jesus and what that means in my life.

With that said, I am also a candy-connoisseur of sorts. Ok, I just like to eat candy. And there is just something about a small piece of cadbury chocolate that is enrobed in a candy shell and painted like a small bird egg that is just so delightful in your mouth!! Any who, we're spending the holiday with some family for the first time in a long time. So, needless to say, I'm pretty stoked! And I love putting together little "somethings" for everyone. I'm a huge fan of party blogs and wish I could just plan and host parties off of the super amazing ideas that you can find on the internet. So instead, I decided to make these!!

If you want to make these yourself, just check out these links for free downloads. :)

Bunny Tails

Peeps

First Couponing Attempt...

A couple of weeks ago, Ken and I decided that we would try to save some money on things we already buy, and purchase using coupons. So, I've taken a crack at it. I've bought a couple of papers and subscribe to a couple of websites for help. And I think I'm getting the hang of it. But will definitely give it a couple more weeks before I make a definite decisions on if we'll do it long term.

Here's my first attempt break down: (all of these were from Target)

• Huggies Diapers: $4 =$8 (target sale price) - $1.50 (MC) - $2.50(TC)
• Huggies Pullups: $ 5 = $8(tsp) - $1.50 (MC) - $1.50 (TC)
• Circo Socks: FREE = $1 - $1(TC)
• Easter Candy Eggs (4 total): $.50 each = $1.00 each (x4) = 4 - $1/2 (MC) x2
• Skinny Diet Pepsi Cans (8 cans): $1.99 = $1.99x2 - BOGO coupon (MC)
• Suave Deodorant (2 sticks): $.94 = $.97x2= $1.94- $1/2 coupon = $.47 each
• Tweezers: $.24 JUST ABOUT FREE! = $2.24-$2(MC)
• Kraft Ez Mac (4pack x 2packages): $4.58 = $3.04x2 = $6.04-$1.50(MC)
• Kraft 8oz Cheese (2 packages) $1.58 ($.79c each) = $2.04x2= 4.08- $1.50 (MC) - $1.00 (TC) ** only one is pictured above because my princess was carrying it around**

And then the MOST exciting news... I spent $21.74 of goods, while saving $20.97... And I took part of that $$ and bought some pants... 8 pairs of pants to be exact (see photo). These are Circo, double lined pants, retailing for $7 a piece, and I got them all for $1.75 a piece, for a total of $14 for 8 pairs of pants. Super excited about this purchase. All different sizes, and colors... Super excited about that!!

I'll keep you posted on other deals.

Also, post comments on other helpful hints to help me with my new "hobby". :)