MY CVS trip for this week

Going this afternoon after work -
1 Just for Men Hair Color - 7.99 - 2.00 coupon (PLUS a rebate!!)
1 Bic Soleil Razors for Women 5.99 - 2.00 coupon
2 Zooth Toothbrushes for The Bug - 5.98 - a Buy 1 Get 1 coupon
1 Covergirl Whipped Foundation - 10.99 - 1.00 coupon
1 Covergirl Blush - 8.99(?) - get free with the foundation
1 Heinz Vinegar - 1.99

I have a 3.00 CVS coupon to add so my total after coupons will be 21.95 (before tax).
I will get 22.99 back in Extra Care Rewards.

Some of this stuff might not be in stock so I will probably readjust my plans but this is what I am shooting for!

There are lots of freebies in the May Book so keep an eye out! I will be going back this week!!!

Earth Day!

So we didn't do a whole lot to celebrate Earth Day but we did eat dinner outside and plants some seeds. We did sunflowers, lavender, and a couple of others that I have forgotten. The Bug was more fascinated with pouring the watering can over her belly than anything else!

Warm weather is here hurrah!!!

Some deals to make note of this week....

CVS -
The 12 count Alavert is on sale for 6.99 and producing $4 Extra Care Rewards. You can find $4 off coupons online (i think on the Alavert site) making this deal a money maker. The limit is 5.

The Skin Effects products produce a $5 reward for each one. There are cleansers for $6.99. AND there is a magazine with Queen Latifah on the cover in the beauty section that has $2 off coupons for these products, another money maker!! Limit 5

The Soft Soap Spa body wash is free after Extra Care reward, both sizes.

It is a good week to build up some Extra Care Cash if you depleted it like I did with the
Buy 1 Get 1 diapers last week!

That Bug sure can boogey...

The dissappearing middle class

I have heard this term used before thought I would have a running start before it hit me! I can see how fast it will happen, now!
My employer is going to have to start charging us for health insurance to the tune of $75 a month. Pair that with increasing gas prices and you are looking at at least an extra $100 a month expenses. Well $100 is a lot of money to my family and where will it come from?? The grocery and clothing budget. I already shop at Goodwill and the clearance aisles, what else can we do?? Thankfully, I have our cabinets stocked and if worse came to worse, we could live on Mac and cheese, rice a roni, and canned chili for a month or so.
If gas and health insurance grom faster than the rate of inflation, what is anyone supposed to do??

My CVS trip yesterday

So made a quick CVS run yesterday on the way home from work. Here is what I got:

2 packs CVS brand diapers (they are buy one get one free)

2 boxes Gas X thin strips

2 Essence Of Beauty lip balms

1 nail brush

I had a 2.00 off CVS Coupon

I used about $22 in Extra Care Rewards and paid .39 out of pocket

I got $15 in rewards back.

I will be going back for more diapers!!!

New "going green tip" combined with a good deal...

I am killing two birds with one stone so to speak.............
Kroger has GE Spiral Energy Star lightbulbs on sale for $3. If you buy one, you get a free reusable Kroger bag. Good deal to start with but wait, it gets better.........if you go the the General Electric web site and take a pledge to replace your old bulbs with CFLs, you can get a coupon for $1 off. Print the first one, page back and print another.

Also on sale at Kroger this week that I am looking at -
Bertolli Frozen Meals - 4.99 (there is a coupon online for 2.50 off)
Honey Bunches of Oats (chocolate flavor only) - 2.50 (their website has a 2.00 coupon)
Mott's Organic Applesauce has been clearanced so I will be looking for that.
Mangoes are .68
Seventh Generation products are 20% and the website has coupons so I will look into it
Brita Water pitchers are apparently 5.00 and there is a $5 coupon - FREE! I hope this works!



I will post if I find anything good!

I could be a morning person....

if they were all like this morning.....
I went in to check on The Bug after my shower, she was sitting up in bed just happy as could be. She got a good night sleep, we didn't have a nursing battle as she slept through the night, we were both rested. I laid across the bed, already in my blouse for work. She gave me a hug and touched my shirt. I told her it was Mommy's blouse. She said "Mommy's shirt" I said
"That's right" then she said, get this...."I like it". You gotta love your 19 month old approving of your work clothes!

Of course, Whatever and I just don't connect on the mornings. Our raging hormones battle against each other before we even say word one. Today wasn't very different but I do have to share this exchange:
A little background - Whatever is in a Language Immersion school. She spend at least half of her day immersed in a foreign language and is now fluent. Part of her classwork involves her reading books in the language and taking tests on them for points. These points are tallied into her report card grades. Last report card she fell short of her points and her grades really took a hit. She also has to do the same sort of reading in English. So we made her get most of her Spanish points over spring break this quarter just to knock it out.
So this morning -
Me - So where do you stand on your Spanish reading?
Whatever - I only have one more test to take, then I will actually have more points than I need
Me - That's great, so what is going on in English? How many books have you read to get that going?
Whatever - you told me I wasn't ALLOWED to read any English
Me - WHAT?!?!?! When would I possibly tell you that I was not allowing you to do your homework????
Whatever - You did, you said I wasn't allowed to do any English until the Spanish was done.
Me - No, I said that you needed to do you Spanish over Spring Break so we knew you Had it done.
Whatever - Oh, I thought I wasn't allowed to do any English
Me - For the record, I will never forbid you from doing homework.

This is what dealing with a tween is like, you never know when you say something, what they are going to actually hear. They have some sort of little decoder box between their ears and brains that totally takes what you say and turns it into what they want to hear!! It is amazing!

My soulja girl, Whatever!!!

To wean or not to wean, that is the question.........

Ok so I have a dilemma.
The Bug LOVES nursing. When I say LOVES, I mean it! When it is time to go to bed and "noorse" she gets all excited and giggly. I am not opposed to just nursing her to sleep. It is actually a quiet zen time for me. She is 18 months old and I definitely never planned on doing it this long but it's ok. Well it's ok to a point. My problem is that she want to nurse through the night. She want my boob out and ready for her at the least little stirring. I am the dairy queen and she hits the drive through all night long! I know this isn't good for her teeth and it is a bit annoying for me. I would like to be able to switch positions and be covered. She is usually good from 11pm to 3 or 4am. THEN it is an all out feed fest. Sometimes she gets all into it and gropes and prods me like a horny teenage boy. This needs to stop! Ideally, she should be in her own bed and self-soothing but that hasn't happened. I tried to just deny her Saturday and Sunday nights. Saturday she cried for like 2 hours but fell asleep. Last night, she cried, screamed, and kicked. She, at one point, stopped and just stared at me with her mouth gaping open. I swear she was trying to get into my mind! "Come one you old witch, open your shirt, you know I am going to win this stand off, just bow to my will!" And for the sake of sleep, I did!

A rant

I am trying my best to be a better steward of the environment. I do what I can, sometimes it is baby steps but I am working on it. By association, I know quite a few natural, hippie-type mamas. Most are pretty crunchy so to speak. I have found a lot of them to be quite snobbish and unaccepting of any way other than their own. None of these women are really in my inner circle but they are around and very vocal about their views on recycling, buying local/organic, breastfeeding, cloth diapering, etc. I do some not all. I have made peace with doing what I can. What pisses me off is to get lectures and "helpful" suggestions and then to watch them light a cigarette up while holding their baby! Last time I checked, even second hand smoke is bad for your baby and if you are breastfeeding, wouldn't your baby be getting some of that? AND, correct me if I am wrong but cigarettes put out pollution into the air? I LOVED smoking but my kids are my reason not to.
Something that was on my mind. You are free to walk about the cabin now!

Making Butter

This weekend I have committed myself to learn how to make my own butter. I read that all you need is Heavy Cream and a jar. You just shake, shake, shake. I am anxious to see how this turns out. I might even make muffins or biscuits with the buttermilk. Sounds wonderful!! I am trying to be more concientious about what I put in our bodies. Making our own food helps that. I am having visions of making our own garlic butter, lime chili butter for corn on the cob, and honey butter for our toast. Now this is my vision, great, right?
Here is the reality - I will get the stuff to make the butter. We might actually give it a try. It will sit in a jar in the fridge next to the pickles i made no one will eat until about 5 months later when The Saint says "can I get rid of this crap? What was it anyway?".
I am trying it anyway. Sounds interesting. Who know it may work out.

My green tip this week....

Reuse!
Not just in the bins, either!
If you need something, try to find someone that has it and is not using it.
Today I found this table on Cheapcycle for $10 -

It is a little faded but a new one would get faded, too.
We also got a Turtle Sandbox for free with Freecycle.
I buy a lot of clothes for myself and the girls at Goodwill. This is not just because I am cheap. I think we have enough manufactured goods in the world, we need to recycle everything we can. We don't look like scallywags either!!!!!!! I find name brand stuff. Whatever does a lot of eye rolling on our Goodwill trips but the deal is that she can do whatever she wants (within reason) to the clothes, like cut off jeans and make bleach patterns.

I am working on reducing and recycling.........................

The Bug has a new favorite word "elmo", not the bright red character, either. It is her word for elbow! SHe walks around poointing out her "elmo" to anyone that will pay attention!

Something to think about......

My third cousin gave this speech at his high school. I am so impressed. It is a must read...............


"I want to tell you a quick story before I start. I was walking through hallways, not minding my own business, listening to the conversations around me. As I passed the front door on my way to my English classroom, I heard the dialogue between two friends nearby. For reasons of privacy, I would rather not give away their race or gender. So the one girl leans to the other, pointing to the back of a young man washing the glass panes of the front door, and says, "Oh my gaw! I think it is so cute that our school brings in the black kids from around the district to wash our windows!" The other girl looked up, widened her slanted Asian eyes and called to the window washer, easily loud enough for him to hear, "Hey, Negro! You missed a spot!" The young man did not turn around. The first girl smiled a bland smile that all white girls – hell, all white people – have and walked on. A group of Mexicans stood by and laughed that high pitch laugh that all of them have.
So now it's your turn. What do you think the black window washer did? What would you do in that situation? Do you think he turned and calmly explained the fallacies of racism and showed the girls the error of their way? That's the one thing that makes racism, or any discrimination, less powerful in my mind. No matter how biased or bigoted a comment or action may be, the guy can turn around and explain why racism is wrong and, if worst comes to worst, punch em in the face.
Discrimination against those who can defend themselves, obviously, cannot survive. What would be far worse is if we discriminated against those who cannot defend themselves. What then, could be worse than racism? Look around you and thank God that we don't live in a world that discriminates and despises those who cannot defend themselves. Thank God that every one of us in this room, in this school hates racism and sexism and by that logic discrimination in general. Thank God that every one in this institution is dedicated to the ideal of mutual respect and love for our fellow human beings. Then pinch yourself for living in a dream. Then pinch the hypocrites sitting next to you. Then pinch the hypocrite that is you. Pinch yourself once for each time you have looked at one of your fellow human beings with a mental handicap and laughed. Pinch yourself for each and every time you denounced discrimination only to turn and hate those around you without the ability to defend themselves, the only ones around you without the ability to defend themselves. Pinch yourself for each time you have called someone else a "retard".
If you have been wondering about my opening story, I'll tell you that it didn't happen, not as I described it. Can you guess what I changed? No, it wasn't the focused hate on one person, and no it wasn't the slanted Asian eyes or cookie cutter features white people have or that shrill Hispanic hyena laugh (yeah, it hurts when people make assumptions about your person and use them against you doesn't it?).
The girl didn't say "hey Negro." There was no black person. It was a mentally handicapped boy washing the windows. It was "Hey retard." I removed the word retard. I removed the word that destroys the dignity of our most innocent. I removed the single most hateful word in the entire English language. I don't understand why we use the word; I don't think I ever will. In such an era of political correctness, why is it that retard is still ok? Why do we allow it? Why don't we stop using the word? Maybe students can't handle stopping– I hope that offends you students, it was meant to – but I don't think the adults, here can either. Students, look at your teacher, look at every member of this faculty. I am willing to bet that every one of them would throw a fit if they heard the word faggot or nigger – hell the word Negro – used in their classroom. But how many of them would raise a finger against the word retard? How many of them have? Teachers, feel free to raise your hand or call attention to yourself through some other means if you have. That's what I thought. Clearly, this obviously isn't a problem contained within our age group.
So why am I doing this? Why do I risk being misunderstood and resented by this school's student body and staff? Because I know how much you can learn from people, all people, even – no, not even, especially – the mentally handicapped. I know this because every morning I wake up and I come downstairs and I sit across from my sister, quietly eating her cheerio's. And as I sit down she sets her spoon down on the table and she looks at me, her strawberry blonde hair hanging over her freckled face almost completely hides the question mark shaped scar above her ear from her brain surgery two Christmases ago.
She looks at me and she smiles. She has a beautiful smile; it lights up her face. Her two front teeth are faintly stained from the years of intense epilepsy medication but I don't notice that anymore. I lean over to her and say, "Good morning, Olivia." She stares at me for a moment and says quickly, "Good morning, Soeren," and goes back to her cheerio's. I sit there for a minute, thinking about what to say. "What are you going to do at school today, Olivia?" She looks up again. "Gonna see Mista Bee!" she replies loudly, hugging herself slightly and looking up. Mr. B. is her gym teacher and perhaps her favorite man outside of our family on the entire planet and Olivia is thoroughly convinced that she will be having gym class every day of the week. I like to view it as wishful thinking.
She finishes her cheerio's and grabs her favorite blue backpack and waits for her bus driver, Miss Debbie, who, like clockwork, arrives at our house at exactly 7'o'clock each morning. She gives me a quick hug goodbye and runs excitedly to the bus, ecstatic for another day of school. I watch the bus disappear around the turn and I can't help but remember the jokes. The short bus. The retard rocket. No matter what she does, no matter how much she loves those around her, she will always be the butt of some immature kid's joke. She will always be the butt of some mature kid's joke. She will always be the butt of some "adult"'s joke.
By no fault of her own, she will spend her entire life being stared at and judged. Despite the fact that she will never hate, never judge, never make fun of, never hurt, she will never be accepted. That's why I'm doing this. I'm doing this because I don't think you understand how much you hurt others when you hate. And maybe you don't realize that you hate. But that's what is; your pre-emptive dismissal of them, your dehumanization of them, your mockery of them, it's nothing but another form of hate. It's more hateful than racism, more hateful than sexism, more hateful than anything. I'm doing this so that each and every one of you, student or teacher, thinks before the next time you use the word "retard", before the next time you shrug off someone else's use of the word "retard". Think of the people you hurt, both the mentally handicapped and those who love them. If you have to, think of my sister. Think about how she can find more happiness in the blowing of a bubble and watching it float away than most of will in our entire lives. Think about how she will always love everyone unconditionally. Think about how she will never hate. Then think about which one of you is "retarded".
Maybe this has become more of an issue today because society is changing, slowly, to be sure, but changing nonetheless. The mentally handicapped aren't being locked in their family's basement anymore. The mentally handicapped aren't rotting like criminals in institutions. Our fellow human beings are walking among us, attending school with us, entering the work force with us, asking for nothing but acceptance, giving nothing but love. As we become more accepting and less hateful, more and more handicapped individuals will finally be able to participate in the society that has shunned them for so long. You will see more of them working in places you go, at Dominicks, at Jewel, at Wal-Mart. Someday, I hope more than anything, one of these people that you see will be my sister.
I want to leave you with one last thought. I didn't ask to have a mentally handicapped sister. She didn't choose to be mentally handicapped. But I wouldn't trade it for anything. I have learned infinitely more from her simple words and love than I have from any classroom of "higher education". I only hope that, one-day, each of you will open your hearts enough to experience true unconditional love, because that is all any of them want to give. I hope that, someday, someone will love you as much as Olivia loves me. I hope that, someday, you will love somebody as much as I love her. I love you, Olivia."

Frozen Blueberries to the rescue......again!

So The Bug is teething. It must be a big molar because she was up for a lot of the night. Poor thing. Well, poor both of us cause I was right there with her. She wanted to be held, then she wanted nothing touching her, she wanted to hug her June (from the Little Einsteins) cup and sleep but she couldn't get comfortable. She was miserable and couldn't get situated. I tried ice, teething rings, and everything I could think of. I had The Saint go get her some Motrin and that finally calmed her but she tossed and turned all night. About 2 am, she shot up like a cannon and screamed in pain. Luckily, it had been long enough between doses and I could give her more Motrin. While we were waiting for it to kick in, we raided the freezer for cold things to chew. Low and behold, there were her blueberries. She went from crabby, fussy, and whining, to giggling in 10 seconds flat. By the light of the freezer, there we say popping blueberries into our mouths, making chomping sounds and giggling. Why do I forget about the blueberries every time?!?!?
She seemed better this morning. Hopefully she will be well enough for a CVS run!!! I haven't been all week!

Kroger rocks!

SO Kroger is having a fabulous sale this week and I am getting it while the getting is good!!! If you buy 10 of any of the participating items, you get $5 off your order. A lot of these items have coupons available for them so the deals are SWEET! You can do this up to 3 times per transaction. This trip I had 3 deals in my cart.
SO far I have gotten:
4 bags Goldfish
2 boxes Cheez Its
3 Bottle French's Mustard
1 10 ct tube of Excedrin
1 Betty Crocker Muffin Mix
3 Loaves Pillbury Italian Bread
2 Lean Pockets
1 Box Betty Crocker Potatoes
3 Small tubes Crescent Rolls
2 jars Classico Marinara
2 cans Hormel Chili
2 boxes Special K cereal
1 bottle Shout
2 Packs Kraft Shredded Cheese
1 pack Knorr/Lipton Pasta Side

I also had coupons that made the following free:
2 liter Diet 7-Up
1 bottle Propel
1 pouch Bumblebee tuna
2 bottles Frank's Red Hot sauce
1 Hillshire Farm Deli Wrap

And got 1 half gallon Kroger brand organic sou milk and 2 things of Horizon yogurt on Manager Markdown.

The grand total for everything ........drumroll please...........................

$22.31

That is 77% savings

I will be spending most of my free time at Kroger this week if you need to find me!!

MY CVS Deals Yesterday

There were a bunch of great coupons expiring yesterday so I made trips to 2 CVS stores.
This is what I got:
1 pack of Playskool wipes (240 count)
6 Johson's Buddies Bar soaps
3 Essence of Beauty gift bags
6 Essence of Beauty facial buffs
6 cans Nivea shaving cream for men
1 Softsoap Spa body wash
2 Lady's Speedstick
4 Easter gift boxes (clearance!)

For a grand total of $2.11!!!! I used Extra Care Rewards for the rest. I think I used about $15 in rewards. I ended up with over $25 in rewards when the deals were done! I am gearing up for a diaper deal next week!



I am telling you if you do not CVS, you must!

Those Buddies bar soaps are great. ou can find $1 off coupons all over and they are only .99. SO free soap for The Bug! We have probably 25 of these.