Target and Safeway shopping trip!!

Up first, my Target trip. I'm most excited about this trip. Although, upon getting home and looking at my receipt, I discovered that my BOGOF coupon for Bear Naked granola did not go through. I asked him because I saw it come up as $0, but when he scrolled up, we saw a -$3.50 and assumed that my coupon did go through. However when I looked more closely, I discovered that was my $3.50 off for the special promo of by 2 Dannon yogurts get one Bear Naked granola free. One of my 50 cents off Bear Naked granola coupons did go through, but I should have spent $3 less than I did. I still got an awesome deal, though!So, I got all of the above for $20.74. I should have paid $17.74, but I'm still super pleased. I saved $77.74!!! The only thing I didn't have a coupon for was the bread. I'm not going to list out all coupons used, etc. because I just used sceanrios from Krazy Coupon Lady. If you haven't checked her site out, go do it! Just so you know, I do have 3 laptops and a desktop that I had running printing coupons from! :-) I will say that I got the Chef Boyardee, Sobe water, one of the Bear Naked granolas, the first aid bad, and Red Baron pizza slices free. I paid 29 cents each for the candy bars, 29 cents each for the Bagel Bites, and 29 cents each for the Benadryl itch relief sticks. Since it is hard to see in the picture, here is a breakdown of what I bought:

• 6 cans Chef Boyardee
• 2 bags Bear Naked granola
• 6 boxes Kashi TLC bars
• 2 tubs 32 oz. Dannon yogurt
• 2 boxes Red Baron pizza by the slice
• 1 loaf of bread
• 1 (10 ct) Papermate pens
• 4 Benadryl itch relief sticks
• 1 first aid bag
• 8 bottles Sobe life water
• 2 bags Dole salad
• 4 boxes (9 ct) Bagel bites
• 8 Willy Wonka candy bars

Above is my Safeway shopping trip. I spent $33.24 at Safeway. I saved $45.83! I did 2 transactions at 2 stores to get the cheeses that were on sale for 99 cents each. The only thing not on sale and I didn't have a coupon for is the Lipton tea. The Jimmy Dean sausage was marked down to 99 cents, the Pepsi's were 99 cents, and the Gatorade was 99 cents. The string cheese was $2.49, the Lipton tea was $3.69, and the cereals were 78 cents each (after a 55 cent off manufacturer coupon that was doubled and a store coupon). The avocados were on sale for $1.25 each, but I had two coupons for $1.50 off of 4 and I also had a catalina that printed yesterday for $3 off a $10 purchase of produce that I used. So, I got my avocados for 50 cents each. I couldn't find the $1 off 2 avocado coupon anymore or they would have been even cheaper. $33.24 seems a bit high, but when I look at my stockpile of cheese, I'm okay with that. Good thing I have a deep freezer!

• 3 boxes Cinnamon Toast Crunch
• 4 bottles Pepsi
• 2 bottles Gatorade
• 1 jug Lipton tea
• 1 bag string cheese (16 oz)
• 6 bags shredded cheese (8 oz each)
• 6 blocks cheese (8 oz each)
• 2 rolls Jimmy Dean suasage
• 8 avocados

Memorial Day Weekend....

I know this is really late, but we had a great Memorial Day Weekend. We took the boys to two different parks. The first one has a lake, train, carousel, and playground. The other one we took them to so they could ride their bikes/tricycle. Where we live, there just isn't much room for the boys to get out and play. People fly through here even with speed bumps, so I don't let them ride here. Lucas finally learned how to pedal his tricycle and he was very excited. Logan is pretty cautious, but he was a bit more adventurous on his bike this time, too!

Love...

I love him.....

dirty face and all!

Menu Plan Monday...

*= New recipe

Monday--leftover tomato artichoke pasta (we haven't had this in a while, but love it....it is so fast, easy, and yummy!) and jalapeno cheddar bread (new at Costco's bakery). Oh, a note on the pasta--I double the recipe, but don't double the artichokes.

Tuesday--cocktail weenies in crockpot (with chili sauce and grape jelly), corn on the cob, and BLT pasta salad (recipe below--got it from an online message board years ago)

Wednesday--T-bone steak, baked sweet potatoes, steamed broccoli

Thursday--pan grilled chicken, leftover BLT pasta

Friday--tuna steaks*, and not sure what else yet

BLT Pasta Salad

2 cups uncooked pasta
5 green onions, finely chopped
1 large tomato, diced
1-1/4 cups diced celery
1-1/4 cups mayonnaise
5 teaspoons white vinegar
1/4 tsp salt, 1/8-1/4 tsp pepper
1 lb bacon, cooked and crumbled

Cook pasta according to package directions; drain and rinse in cold water. In large bowl, combine the pasta, onions, tomatoes, and celery. In small bowl, combine mayonnaise, vinegar, salt, & pepper. Pour over pasta mixture and toss to coat. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours. Just before serving, add bacon.

4th of July!

I had so many pictures that I decided to just do a video. It is just too hard for me to choose! The first two pictures are from Mt. Vernon's day time fireworks. They had them for the first time last year and Logan asked to go back again this year. Also, I took a few shots of the Washington Monument at different times while waiting on the fireworks and included them. I thought it was neat to see how the lighting changed.

Sorry that the quality is not great if you try to watch it in full screen. I really did get some awesome shots of the fireworks, but it is hard to tell that on this slideshow. :-(

Sneak peek....

Today I finally got my 4th of July pictures off of my camera. This year I told myself ahead of time that I was NOT going to take pictures of the fireworks, but I can't help myself. I took over 160 while we were in DC! There were also a few from earlier in the day at Mt. Vernon.

Just like years past, we sat very close to where they were setting off the fireworks. We sit between the Washington Monument and WWII memorial (where they launch the fireworks). I would love to sit between the Washington Monument and the Capitol building so that I could get some good shots of the Monument with fireworks in the background, but the boys always outnumber me with wanting to sit close. We are so close that it feels like my heart is pounding out of my chest during the finale....it is a very strange feeling! We had lots of fun, though. It was super hot during the day, but we got there 2 hours before the fireworks were due to start and it was cooling down. We bought chairs and stopped at Subway to pick up some dinner on the way. We got all set up, ate dinner, played for a bit with some bubbles and then it was time for the show to start. Here is a picture of the boys before the fireworks started. I'll try to get more pictures up very soon!

Boys!

Yesterday morning, Logan came up to my room to show me something. He had put these beads on each of his fingers.

I asked him if he remembered to hold the rail when he came up to show me what he had done. Of course I knew there was no way that he could hold the rail with them on his fingers.

Later that day, he showed Lucas his new trick. Lucas was amazed and had to try it himself. The problem with that is Lucas' fingers are much smaller. The beads slid all the way onto his fingers and then didn't want to come off. I really had to pull to get one of them off. I told Lucas not to put them on again because I really didn't want to have to take him to the hospital to have it cut off. Both boys' eyes got big. Little Lucas looked at me and said, "You take me to hospital to get my finger cut off?!?!?". I could tell that Logan was thinking the same thing. I explained that I didn't mean they'd cut his finger off, that they would cut the toy off of his finger.

That night I caught a glimpse of one of the beads as my husband and I were headed up to bed. It reminded me to tell him about what happened earlier in the day. He got a laugh out of it, but told me I need to stop scaring the babies. :-) Honest, I didn't mean to!

I-pad giveaway...

Want to win an iPad? Quick....go here. The giveaway ends tonight! I have an iPod, but I'd love to win an iPad!!