Savings Sites

I haven't gone to triples yet. I am going first thing tomorrow morning! I have however found some really great websites that offer great deals. I have listed them on the side and as I discover more I will put more up. I have been in a major search for good deals on new baby items. I only need a few things, but would like to spend as little as possible since this will be the last baby. So I am sure the list will continue to grow and if anyone knows any other great deals websites let me know!

Starting Them Off Young

I think most know about my obsession with saving money using coupons. Well now the boys are really starting to catch on. Last night before running to the store I was looking through my coupon binder to find the coupons I needed for my little shopping trip and Cale is always eyeing my big binder. Last night while looking at it he asked if Santa would bring him a big binder like mine with lots of coupons in it and some scissors, we do not let them have scissors at home yet. I thought that was so funny! Of all the things he could ask for he wants a big binder. We have started a sticker chart this week for discipline, I have very little faith that these things work but Cale wanted to do one. So today I picked up some kids scissors for them to use at home. Cale had told me last night that Ms. Rosemary has scissors at school and we needed some at our house. I don't know if I trust them or not, but I guess they should be learning how to use scissors.

Back to my shopping trip last night to Harris Teeter. I had a hand full of coupons and got everything that was one sale, some where buy 2 get 3 FREE! My total before savings was $119.32 and my total after coupons and VIC savings was $54. 31!! This included a gallon of milk for only .99!! I am hoping this coming week to get a free gallon with the Kelloggs cereal deal that is going on. Also, this is a big one!! TRIPLES are going to be starting this WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25TH and lasting until TUESDAY, MARCH 31ST!!! That is a while week of triples instead of the regular weekend of triples that they usually do! I am very excited and am working on getting my binder ready today. Also, I was noticing that my first post about savings that is linked to above I mentioned that I had cut my grocery bill down from $900 to $600 a month and now we only spend $300 a month!! Of course since then we are no longer buying diapers, but those diapers didn't cost $300 a month. I am so happy that our grocery bill has been cut so drastically!! We have also been cutting out eating out. We looked at our credit card statement from all of last year, it actually has is all broken down, and we spent over $4,000 on eating out!! That is crazy!! I couldn't believe it. I do hate to cook, but I would much rather spend that money else where, so we have cut that almost completely out. I will definitely put my HT triples totals up. I am hoping to do really good!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Here are the boys and I in our St Patty's Day green. Carter once again was not too into having his picture mades, so that is why I have a single picture of Cale. Cale wanted me to take a picture of his toes because he is curling them.



The first take...



A little smile from Carter this time...

Here is my first belly shot at 13 weeks.



Tonight I made something for the first time. I had to run into the store today for a couple things and was craving fish, so I got some fresh flounder. I am not very good at frying things in the frying pan, strange for a southerner to say, but that is how I did it because that's what the fish guy recommended. They came apart a little, but turned out really good. I think Cale ate more than Andy and me!! He loved it!! He liked dipping it is his sour cream from his baked potato. Carter did try a couple bites, but wasn't too crazy about it. We also had baked potatoes and corn. The boys have come to love baked potatoes! The crazy thing is that they only eat it with a little bit of sour cream on top. I have been very proud of myself over the last couple weeks. We only at out a couple times and once it was only $8 because we had a coupon. I also went to Super Suppers last week, it is a meal prep place. I now LOVE that place and will be there lots more before the baby comes! It is very cost efficient and easy and yummy!

Where Did Spring Go?!

Ok so I know that it is technically still winter, but that taste of spring last weekend was a terrible tease!! I hate cold weather this time of year and I always hate rain, so the last three days have been miserable. I know this sounds weird, but I really do have that thing where gloomy weather makes you gloomy like you don't want to do anything but stay in bed all day. Well back in the good ole days before kids when I was on bed rest and didn't know how good I had it, that is exactly what I would have done. Not this weekend. My mom was visiting yesterday while my dad and his friend were at a car show here, so it was mine and Andy's one free chance to run some much needed errands without the loud children that we have. So I had to suck it up and get on with it. We also went to a friends that night for an oyster roast. It was so good and Andy actually tried and like the oysters! My friend was a genius and got a babysitter to watch all the kids up in their playroom!! What a great idea and we will definitely be doing that at our next party, not that we ever have any.

On Friday, I got my new washer and dryer!!! I was so excited. They barely and I mean barely fit in the space we had. The guys that delivered said that in 18 years he had never seen a situation like ours and basically dropped them off in the kitchen and was like good luck! Once we finally got them in with the help of Andy's friend Graham they looked really good! They are so quiet! Which is a welcome change from the terribly loud ones we had before. I can understand why the other ones were so worn out. Since we have had kids I have done laundry almost everyday! When the boys were babies I did do laundry daily because we ran out of ALL bibs and burp cloths on a daily basis. I really hope this baby isn't a "happy" spitter like the first two were. At least if it is then I have a nice quiet washer and dryer for all the laundry!

Here is my wonderful new duo! We picked this color because it was different and would semi go with the kitchen's hideous light blue counter tops (which we will not have forever). It kinda goes with the beachy colors because it is a Bermuda Blue.

What are we thinking...

We have decided to have another baby! It is only one and this will definitely be it for us! I am due on September 15th, the day after my birthday. I had a doctors appointment this morning and everything is going good. I heard the heartbeat and it sounded good. It is very strange this time not having ultrasounds every time and I knew I would hate that. I guess we will find out in May if it is a boy or a girl. The boys are dead set that is it a boy. Andy also wants and boy and I don't care as long as it is healthy. I am just praying for an uneventful pregnancy with the minimum amount of weight gain, not that I am not going to gain, but just a normal amount and not the 60 lbs I gained last time. So far so good I haven't gained any weight yet! I was very sick at the beginning. It started about a week after I found out I was pregnant. With the boys I didn't get sick until after I found out it was twins at about 8 weeks, maybe that's why I was sick. I am feeling much better now. The only thing I can't stomach is of course strong smells and meat. I have really been craving fruit and sweets this time and last time it was Mexican food. So far everyone that knows has said we are having a girl and the Chinese chart said I was having a girl, it was right with the boys, but I think it is a boy just because everyone else thinks it's a girl. I guess we will find out in about 8 weeks.

Beautiful Weekend!

This weekend, and today, has been absolutely beautiful! I love this weather and love being outside in it, however my allergies have been really bad! The boys spent the whole weekend outside. Friday after school we enjoyed the nice weather by walking to the store, the granola one near our house, and then to the park then came home and Andy grilled out. Then Saturday morning I had to get some work done for my market next weekend, so Andy took to kids walking in the woods with our friend Brian and his daughter Ella. They had a great time! After lunch we then went to another park and then walking on the green way. Came home and grilled out again and played in the backyard. Yesterday we went to early church then came home made a picnic lunch and went to another park. My idea of a picnic lunch was Bojangles or Cook Out, but Andy won't let us eat out anymore so we had PB&J. Cale wasn't too thrilled about that, but he had applesauce. The boys took a much needed nap and then we had some friends over for supper and ordered pizza, yummy!!

Here are the boys and Ella enjoying their walk in the woods!

This week I was very proud of Cale for trying lots of new foods. He tried a raw carrot with ranch, he only likes soft ones and that means out of the can, and he tried raw celery. He also tried some buffalo wing chicken and re-tried cantaloupe. He did not like the celery or carrot, but nicely finished them and then told me he didn't like it. Carter at first yelled, "NO, I DON'T LIKE." He sounded just like the kid on Wedding Crashers that yells at Vince Vaughn to make him a bicycle out of balloons, it is funny. Then we talked about how it was nice manners to just say "No thank you" if you don't want something and he began to use manners instead of yelling a me. They both did eat baked potatoes this weekend with only sour cream on top. Which I thought was pretty healthy. I try very hard not to force any foods on them because they are very good eaters and I don't want them to be scarred by being forced to eat healthy food. I know that they will come around if they see us eating it and if it is offered to them. They don't really get any sweets and Cale won't really at or drink anything sweet. He would much rather have water or milk. Any has them already trained that the only healthy drinks are water, milk and OJ. We are having leftover pizza and salad tonight and I am looking forward to it, since I hate to cook!

Another Snow Day!

Yesterday we had another snow day, which is very rare around here. We probably got only about 3 inches of snow, but you would have thought we got a foot. Schools were of course closed yesterday and today opened two hours late, which meant NO preschool!! I really had a lot of things I needed to do today. Anyways, it was a good thing there was no school yesterday because Carter woke up Sunday night throwing up! He continued to do so until yesterday morning. Today he is feeling much better.

Andy came home for lunch yesterday and took Cale out to play in the snow. My parents had bought them a sled. Cale finally got in it and it looked like he had a good time. I don't have a lot of pictures because it was cold and I was staying in with Carter.

I am ready for Spring! This weekend it is suppose to be in the 70's!! I can't wait! This past weekend I took a much needed trip to the beach with some girlfriends! It was fun except that it rained the whole weekend. We did get in a nice four hours of Nertz playing though and a spa pedicure. While I was gone Andy did some laundry and discovered what I had been telling him for months. That the washing machine is going to die! He looked it up the problem and found that the motor was going out. So this week we are looking for a new washer and dryer! I am pretty excited because I have been wanting a front loader because ours takes so long to wash and dry and I feel like the have so many holes in our clothes because of it. I do hate that we have to spend the money on it though.


Here is Carter making his pout, "I sick" face.

Here he was able to make a little smile.

Here is Andy outside with Cale, neither one apparently wanted their picture made.

There is Cale running through the backyard because he did not want his picture made.