Thomas the Train . . . Boring?

So the way I get a shower everyday is while the baby is sleeping, I close the gate at the top of the stairs and have Luke watch a show while I hurry up and get clean. Who knows how long this will last, but today I felt my opportunity slipping away as the day was getting later. So I quickly seized the moment and put on Thomas the Train. Luke has never watched this show, but I thought he might like it. I may never know, but I must say I might have to try this show again. With great results like this . . . who knew that Thomas could put a very active 2 year old to sleep in his chair at 12:30pm before lunch?

Almost Free

So, Saturday I decided to head to Albertsons for a mini shopping trip to grab a couple deals. I received a couple samples this week from Fiber One and Kashi . . . and samples include COUPONS!!! I must say that Fiber One bars are super yummy! I splurged and got Fiber One Toaster treats (pop tarts) which I mostly just never ever buy. But since I love chocolate I figured this was a good alternative to ice cream or cookies. Kashi ceral bars are good too. They taste like a cereal bar : ) I got the apples ones for Baker to see if I can entice him into starting a new trend in 2009 of eating breakfast. We'll see if it works. If it doesn't then at least Luke will eat them and they were way less expensive than those organic toddler bars! Anyhow, regular price these three items total $12.57. I paid $1.00. Gotta love a good deal!

Dunkin Donuts - DUD!

Still on the quest for great coffee and cutting back on spending, I found this coffee on sale. I thought I'd give it a try because I'd heard such great things about it. I heard wrong. It's gross. It's not in my house anymore and I won't be buying it again. At least the decaf version.

Red is back!

I always know that Christmas is around the corner when these happy colored cups come back to Starbucks. A few weeks ago they made their appearance . . . and that ALWAYS makes me warm and fuzzy on the inside and smile on the outside : )
By the way . . . my fav Christmas drink is a peppermint mocha. What's yours?

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

This last weekend Natalie and I had the awesome opportunity to go away to Seattle for a weekend of shopping and fun with Nana (MIL), April (SIL), Aunt Linda, Mary & Macey (Mary's 6 month old daughter). Even with two little babies, we had a great time. We started our weekend on Friday morning by meeting at Biscuits for breakfasts - YUMMY! We then made a pit stop before heading out on the road to . . . you guessed it: STARBUCKS!

We arrived in Seattle, checked into our hotel (the staff friendly & the beds sooooo comfy) and headed out to the Seattle Premium Outlets. We shopped until they closed at 9pm. Coach, Gap, Juicy, Kate Spade . . . just a few of our groups favs! I scored big at Gap and finally found a great pair of jeans that this post prego bod looks good in. YIPEE. Since I had gift cards I only spent a total of $1.64 at GAP. Not bad. Not bad at all.
Saturday started out with breakfast at Starbucks (directly across from our hotel . . . such divine placement for this Starbucks junkie), and then walked to the Palace. Uh, I mean downtown Seattle's Nordstroms.
That is where I met up with my bff Jessica.
After a long day of shopping and a yummy lunch, Natalie, Nana & I along with Macey & Aunt Linda headed back to the hotel to regroup. Later we headed back out for dessert at The Cheesecake Factory but decided to get it to go once we heard it was a 45 minute wait. We shopped a little more . . . stopping in at H&M and Old Navy (4 stories high) and then headed back to the hotel. We had a great evening filled with dessert, funny stories & tons of belly laughs. To top it off April & I stayed up until 3am talking like girls at a slumber party. SO FUN!
Sunday we slept in - YAY! Once again headed to Starbucks and then off to Pike's Market.






Natalie & I were spoiled rotten by Nana all weekend. And little Miss Nat had Auntie April front pack her around on Friday AND Sunday. Such a lucky girl. It was a TON of fun and we are excited for next year. When's the Nordstroms Annivery Sale???

Under $40

I got all these groceries for under forty dollars. Can you freakin' believe it? It's kind-of a rush - crazy or not. I got over a hundred dollars in groceries an I only paid $38.63. ALmost everything was a name brand. Except for the gallon of apple juice was Safeway brand & the organic pasta was Safeway's Organic brand (but I like their organic brand), so it's all good. I also think my cashier was slightly generous with the coupons. I think she gave me an additional $1 off. I wasn't watching exactly how she did the coupons because I was pre-occupied with Baker calling re: my baby screaming at him and not going to sleep. And I heard her screaming on the phone - that scared me. (Side note: she doesn't normally scream, and hardly ever crys . . . except with daddy in the evenings). So sad. Any how, I'll have to watch closely next time. At least this cashier knew what she was doing and didn't think that double coupons were "just information."
Here's my loot:

2 lbs. red grapes,

6 bananas,

3 pears,

2 Tree Top 100% fresh pressed apple juice (not from concentrate),

1/2 gallon of Tropicanan OJ with no pulp + calcium,

1/2 gallon of Very Vanilla Kids Soymilk,

6 Tillamook yogurts,

Tropicana Pure Valencia with Mango (SO YUMMY),

1 gallon of apple juice,

2 Progresso New England Clam Chowder,

2 Rosarita Chile & Lime Refried Beans,

1 lb. Decaf Millstone Coffee,

2 boxes of Kelloggs Frosted Mini Wheats,

1.87 lbs Pork loin boneless Roast,

1 lb of stew beef,

1 pkg. of All Natural Farmland Honey Ham lunch meat,

Lucerne spreadable butter,

4 cans of tomato soup,

4pk Delmonte diced pears,

1 pkg. Organic Fusilli pasta,

2 pkg. Organic Spaghetti, &

2 pkgs. of Nestle Tollhouse cookie dough


What does your family do to conserve resources and save money? Leave me a comment,
I'd love to hear from you!
PS - I have to apologize for the run - on look. For some reason I can't get my blogs to look like a list even though it preview like a list. Help anyone? Is it my settings, cause I can't find where to change it!!

Coupon Give Away

If you wanna save a little on everyday items then check out this coupon give away!

Victoria Secret - 2 bras, a pair of undies all shipped to me for $15.99 total!

Check out this blog Common Sense With Money for the coupon codes on how to get your two bras and pair of underwear all shipped directly to your door for $15.99. This deal might end tomorrow so hurry and check it out! You won't be sorry!

My Little Ducklings . . .

Luke is almost 2 years old and yet he already has his mind made up about certain things. One of those things he had made his mind up about was his Halloween costume. It didn't matter what costume . . . he wasn't going to wear one. He adores Buzz Lightyear ande yet the costume hung on the hanger and everytime I asked him if he wanted to put it on,"NO!" So, round two I decided that he loves his hooded duck bath towel and my best bet was to try a duck costume. The first one I got was a size 2T and came up to his ankeles not to mention he couldn't fit into the body portion. So, I found a third costume (also a duck) size 3T and figured I had a winner. I figured once he saw other kids dressed up, especially his cousins he would be more inclined to put on his costume and he might actually have fun. I was wrong. Plans changed and we weren't able to go trick or treating with his cousins so, Patrick and I put him in his costume for pictures and that is the entire length of time that he wore his costume. Three costumes later, a couple of minutes and a few pictures. I guess dressing up just isn't for everyone!