SH Days 10, 11, 12 & 13 Snow's On!

Well since there was nothing much to report, I figured I'd just stack them all in one post!

Mostly leftovers for all three meals each day and since insomnia was a battle this week, the kiddos had had to help me get some sleep in the afternoons. All were really patient with me this week though errands quite interrupted much of that slumber plans.

The insomnia totally messed with my appetite and the smell of food in the house made me nauseous. We had to eat out on Tuesday or I starve. We had no choice but to get out of the house. J-Pony needed a new backpack while we are still looking for comparable towels to replace the ones "tainted" by the bathroom flooding. L-Infinity was sick with a nasty "morning assaulter" tummy bug that would render her knocked out for most of the day, after "hugging the porcelain throne" in the morning, on Tuesday and Wednesday! Poor baby! She's also had to babysit these last two Fridays, so that's good.

Then on Wednesday night, we had a snowstorm forecast and by 3AM Thursday, it started to snow! All day Thursday! Look at these! (I also posted in Facebook)

These two were in the afternoon, the beginnings of our 24-hour "Winter Wonderland"! Gorgeous day!

By 11PM, I was still thrilled that I actually told Mr. Man that I just couldn't complain!
See how happy I look? (I was barefeet, too!)
That's not a bad photo, but rather snowing coupled with mild shivering. lol
I-Dude and J-Pony were busy making origami Valentine cards since it was "make your own" kind of theme this year. Too bad they didn't get to use them since our school district declared a two-day Snow Day due to our snowstorm. Lots of slush out there!

Today was filled with errands... We've decided to start looking at houses in our area to see if we can stay within the boundaries of our church ward. I don't know about you but it is such a draining process for me! Whew! More to look at until we find just the right one...

Also, we received in the mail that J-Pony, who placed 2nd in her school's Geography Bowl will be joining her friend, and winner, Nathan, to represent their school in the upcoming District Geography Bowl in March! And... it's on a Wednesday morning so that means, Mr. Man and I can go! Yay!!!

Food Budget Trick: Many don't eat Spam, but it is economical, delicious and a good substitute for bacon or ham. I use it when I don't have bacon or when I want to spare my bacon for another day but is craving some. Fat wise, it is easily controlled, you can slice it very thin and have an instant "bacon" like and egg breakfast fare or it's a quick substitute for stir-fry meats, when cubed small. One can, has fed me and my family for two meals. Now that's a great deal!

Our fave way to use it is in fried rice. I use half a can of Spam, two eggs, 4-5 cups of cooked rice, 1 cup of peas and carrots, garlic salt and 1 tbsp. of oil.

That's only $2.59 for the whole dish and for a family of five, that's only 52 cents a plate!

Well, folks... One more day and we'd be done with our Shopping Hiatus! Whew!

Oh, by the way, "the project's" done and was posted at my other blog, What Now? Tablescapes, called "A Bit of Morocco for Valentine's". Come see and tell me what you think.

HAPPY WEDDING ANNIVERSARY TO Mr. Man's parents! We love you, Mom and Dad!

And we have a new nephew! Gary and Kate (Mr. Man's only and older sister), just had their 3rd baby and 2nd son, yesterday evening. Garrison clocked in at 8 lbs. 7 oz. Wow! Congrats to their big siblings, Taryn and Carter!

Have a great weekend!

SH Day 5- Gloomy Day...

Yesterday, it rained for most of the day. Today, it just drizzled for most of the day. Yup, it was pretty gloomy...

The kids woke up late again and had to be driven to school.

Since sleeping hasn't been part of my late evening repertoire for over 4 days now (former insomniac), sleeping in today was rather nice. I woke up cause the phone rang.

The afternoon was spent doing errands, picking up and dropping off our teen.

The project, got as far as bringing the much needed tool out of the box! (woop te doo... *yawn*)

Food Budget Trick: Eating is very much psychological, ergo can be manipulated. So I do, rather strictly. In my home, dessert is not a normal part of the meal. It is a treat approved by me. Soda is once a week. Snacks are on a schedule or for school. ONLY. And... IT HAS TO BE ON SALE- A GREAT SALE. ONLY. This way, our food money is further stretched to accomodate more necessities. No one misses out on anything and whining gets cut to a minimum.

Dinner was another Filipino dish called "Sinigang na Baboy" (Pork in Sour Broth) over rice.

I got the pork last week at Kroger for 99 cents/lb. The family pack I got cost $5.04

I used:
1/3 pkg, pork country style ribs-------------------------1.68
1 bag of frozen spinach----------------------------------1.00
1 lb. taro root---------------------------------------------.99
1 packet of tamarind season mix(Asian mart, 2/$1)--FREE (Dec)
Water and seasoning------------------------------------FREE
Rice-------------------------------------------------------FREE (Jan)

1.68 + 1 + .99 = $3.67 /5 = 73 cents a plate! (and again, leftovers for tomorrow!)

With that little expense for dinner by only using what we have, the day certainly didn't end gloomy! (though cold still stands. "brrr!!!")

5 days down, 9 more to go!

SH Day 4- 9 Long Hours!

First, the kids forgot to wake up in time to catch the bus.

Next are dentist and doctor's appointments.

Then we decided to tackle needed materials for our V-Day project (which I will reveal, after V-day, of course!). We needed lumber, a piece of 4x4 to be specific. One piece. You would think that it would be quite easy to go down to your local hardware store and check it off your list. Nooooooo!

a) There was too much splitting and cracking on each piece.
b) The inventory is too low for any decent choices.
c) Neither of us bothered to ask why the inventory's too low.
d) Project needed revision two other times because your hubby's coming up with tools to buy for a "glue and cut" project you had originally.
e) Only one store carries untreated lumber in three cities!
f) You find out "e" after you waste gas going to other cities.
g) You end up at the first store buying the exact same things in your cart 5 hours ago!

Yes, folks... we got the materials, now the question is, will we have the time to finish it by day before V-day since said holiday is on Sunday? (cross your fingers!)

LUNCH was totally FREE- The kids brought lunch from home or got FREE school lunch while Mr. Man and I dined at Red Lobster (ya posh,huh?) using our birthday giftcards from his parents! (Thanks, Mom and Dad!) We shared a salad before and a gooey slice of chocolate cake after our surf and turf fare. Plus, we portioned the cards for two lunches! Yay, another FREE lunch soon for us!

Mutual was tonight, and we ended picking up all three kids from school as well. The road was our home today, thank goodness no road incidents to bother with. (though there certainly were a lot of "rain" novice drivers out!)

Ok, onto some inexpensive dinner segment:

Last night, I started to make Tinola, a Filipino chicken dish with broth, ginger, and pepper leaves.

Last week, I got the drumstick family pack- it had 18 in it for exactly $7.00

I used:
7 Drumsticks----------------------------------$2.72
1/4 Onion, 1 lb. head (H-Mart,.39/lb)----------.10
1 Pepper Leaves, frozen (H-Mar, 2.99)------$2.99
4 cups Jasmine rice (Costco,50lb., abt $22, Dec)-FREE
Spices and water- FREE

$2.72 + .10 + $2.99 = $5.81 / 5 = $1.16 a plate! (And we had seconds with just rice and broth!)

The best part, all of our dinners, we've had enough leftovers that fed at least two for lunch or late snack!

If you add the cost of the rice, 4 cups (typical amount used) is about 2 lbs, so...
.44 a pound x 2 = 88 cents only to feed 5 people with enough leftover for one person for lunch the next day.

Food Budget Trick: I don't use a lot of meat in feeding my family, so I end up portioning it through small cuts and smaller amounts before it hits the freezer. If a recipe calls for a pound of red meat, I decide how much less meat I want to use. Normally, 1/4 to 1/2 lb. is enough to feed us and have some for the next day.

Lesson learned today, don't use lumber for any small projects. *sigh* :-D

SH Day 2- 95 cents a Plate!

We had to buy milk, bananas and toothpaste today for our needs, but food for dinner, noooo problem!

Last week, I got these Hormel Polish Sausage 2-pk, BIGIF for $4.99. So that made it $2.50 each pk for us. Then in the freezer, I had these two store brand frozen bags of stir-fry veggies with rice that only cost me $1 each. What to make, what to make?

A one dish wonder called Sausage Stir-fry!

I only used one of the sausages, making it $1.25 + $2, subtotal- $3.25

Then, my children found a box of family size brownies in the pantry, that cost me $1.49 (on sale, $2, reg. $2.50) since I bought it with a promo of B10G$5off from Kroger.

We only had water and 1 full plate each (that's all we needed, oddly enough).

So let's see... $1.25 + $2 + $1.49 = $4.74 / 5 of us = .945 or 95 cents a plate + dessert!

Can't beat that!

SH Day 1- It's Sunday!

Hello... Today marks the day that we embark on our 2nd attempt at NOT BUYING ANYTHING WE DO NOT NEED. We upped it from 10 days to 14 days from our first and very successful, attempt. We even gave it an official name, SHOPPING HIATUS. Cool,huh? Which means, no eating out, no grocery shopping for just good deals, no shopping for anything that can wait. If we can make it, we make it. We do without and we wait!

Since it's Sunday, it was an easy start not to get anything... Let's see how it goes. And since I'm not feeling so hot either (dizzy and "jelly" legs), I think the kids can manage rummaging through the fridge for food.

Can we survive 14 days without caving in for that "one shiny bauble" in an ad?

Well, I hope so! Wish us luck! This time, our incentive is to add what we'll save, to our Christmas Fund aka January Shopping Spree!

Did I tell you about that? Our "Christmas fund" is saving $1 a day, or 20 cents per person per day, for a total of $1 a day for our Shopping Spree. This way, we know that everyone saved for that one "want" they'll find in the store when we go. That's $1 a day starting Jan 1-Dec 31. Then we portion it this way: Lunch while out shopping, 1-3 Family gifts and equally divided amount for individual gifts. (When we do this, we bring our own snacks, beverage and coupons to save on food, too! It's a whole day affair and we end it with a rental to watch together at home.) Easy enough, right? Right!

So far, the last two years of this tactic, totally panned out since we were also armed with the grands' giftcards from Christmas. :-)

FHE: Extremes

Last week, we've established that FHE will now be on Thursdays.

Tonight, our lesson was on extremes. Both good and bad extremes and why...

Good Extreme: Being able to buy what we needed in one store and for way under our budget.

L-Infinity's competing with her AC/DEC team tomorrow and she needed a suit. I-Dude's shoes and socks are so worn out that his feet were stinking so bad and toes are beginning to itch in Kohl's where we went tonight. Poor kid!

I was silently and mentally screaming my head off as to how I'm going to afford all these instant "needs". But with luck and knowing we've been paying tithing, I hoped for the best. Both kids NEEDED something.

So, after much browsing, L found not one but two great suits! One 60% off and the other 80% off. Total price, $38 with tax.

We all ended in the shoes department and "voila!", as if the heavens knew I won't be able to afford shoes by his birthday in March, I-Dude and I found not one but three great looking shoes were in clearance for 70% off! All in his size with room to grow! To top it off, Mr. Man noticed that the socks in I-Dude's size were on sale for B1G1F and we were able to grab the last four of the promotional 7 pair/pk, with the money left over from our budget! Woohoo!!! Total price, $66 with tax.

Bad Extreme: Getting our money's worth, but ended with a belly ache... (ooh!)

Right after, we headed to our storage to pick up one of L's suitcases for her trip tomorrow. And since it was already dinner time and we were far from home, we opted to use some coupons and chose a nearby Chinese buffet called, China King Buffet. Albeit, we were able to save two sets of 50% off, but... we ended up overeating from the seemingly endless selection of delicious dishes, from appetizers to dessert!
J-Pony was the only one who I was able to snap up for a photo-op, but you can clearly see how big this place is! We all piled on our plates in the name of sampling each dish, but in the end we were not happy. The kiddos all had stomachaches, I couldn't stop burping and I-Dude even ended up throwing up from too much food! Only Mr. Man was able to keep it all in.

All of us learned that moderation is the key to avoiding BAD extremes. And to respect GOOD extremes as divine help for our righteous efforts.

It's utterly amazing how one day can show you both your strengths and weaknesses. But with faith, you at least realize which ones you can change...

A Lot for A Little

J-Pony found this great breakfast recipe for Labor Day in Sandra Lee's heavily sponsored cookbook where the dishes are kid friendly. So, with my coupons and ad, we hit Albertson's!

These are what I got:

• 3 lbs of large shrimp (21-25)- $15.98 each
  
• 1 Tombstone pizza- $3.50
  
• 1 5-pk of Kraft Mac-n-Cheese- $3.99
  
• 2 cantaloupes- $1.50 each
  
• 1 pkg. seedless grapes- .88/lb
  
• 1 bag hash browns- $2.39
  
• 2 Velveeta Shells and Cheese Cup- $1.19 each
  
• 2 large red onions- .99/lb.
  

But between my ad and mfg coupons, raincheck voucher and the week's deals, I paid ONLY $27!

I-Dude just loved this "big guy" so he made sure we took his picture next to it. Can't deny where we are now, huh? LOL

L-Infinity wanted pizza for dinner so we popped the Tombstone Pep & Sau in the oven, but ate AFTER we gave it Emeril's "bam!" factor with some fresh basil and parsley. Wow in your mouth!

Hope you had a great Saturday! I'm off to finish my other homework...

A "Date" to Remember...

In Hobby Lobby last Monday, we also found, or I should say, Mr. Man found his son his first model car to build. He was as excited about finding it than I-Dude was in learning how to put it together! Here he is with all the pieces out of the box... (Mr. Man took his pictures)
After several minutes of concentration and hardwork, I-Dude manages to complete it all on his own! Look at that grin of accomplishment! ;-)
Tonight, we also decided to make good on our date to try out Joe's Crab Shack that we've set when we first saw the sign by the freeway, TWO YEARS AGO! Mr. Man took me to Marshall's so I can spend my giftcard in finding another top to use for our date but I couldn't concentrate and none of the styles called to me. *exasperated*

How do l look? Am I ready for our date? I know, a momentary lapse of cowardice to bring you a photo of moi! (yes, my hair is naturally wavy and the hubs love my long hair, so no cutting it this year!) I don't wear make-up normally but I do wear them from time to time. You just can't tell half the time because of my skin tone.

Anyway, we left Marshall's empty-handed, but I hinted that I wanted to wear heels to our date (for the obvious height gap; let's just say that even with heels and my hair pulled straight up from my scalp, I'd still be a few inches shorter than my darling hubs.)

Look at what he got me! We went to Payless and I found this uber cute pair of dark purple, 3-in heel, ruffled, peep-toes! I love them!
This is what it looks like from Payless dot com... Isn't it gorgeous? Mr. Man thought they were S-E-X-Y! Sold and cha-ching! My second "NOT ON SALE" pair my whole married life. My first one, my wedding pumps...
I can't tell you how good it feels to have a baby-sitter at a moment's notice!

Well as you can tell from any establishment with a "Shack" at the end, it is no Four Seasons. We walk in and each table, mostly booths, were occupied with families, FAMILIES! Awkward phase 1- check!

Since Mr. Man is a mechanic, any blingage is a no-no, so often, his wedding ring sits in my jewelry box. Tonight, it sat in the box, but I had on mine, so at Joe's, I looked like a cheating married tramp in hot looking getup of purple overblouse tank, straight cut figure-fitting jeans, high heels, dangling earrings, luscious curls down my back and red lipstick to boot! Oh the looks I attracted... Awkward phase 2-check!

We had to wear bibs to protect ourselves from the embarrassing accidental explosion of cracked crab shells. Did I mention my hair is naturally thick and wavy? Well, putting on that bib took a little longer than I thought only to find later that I DIDN'T manage to tie it at all! It fell down to my *ahem* front, stopped by *ahem* my "twins". So... I had to look for a wet wipe on our table, quickly get the "crab guts" and smell out of every nail and whole hands, quickly grab UP, then RETIE my bib! I was so relieved I didn't have any "accidents", but... but... I was more concerned about my new shoes! So I kept looking down while Mr. Man was staring at me, letting me know that he approves of my "purty" look. He had to eventually ask me if I dropped anything or if I got anything on my legs. TRAMPY PERSONA COMING OUT? lol Awkward phase 3-check!

Overall, I realized that the date was a true success. We kept people guessing if we were married-to each other; Mr. Man had all eyes on me and I looked and felt H-O-T, as in I looked good! (Haven't felt that in a while and it felt amazing!) I told the hubs that it felt like we were on an "early dating" sort of date- and we didn't talk much about the kids! We enjoyed the shellfish, each other and the fact that we just strengthened our marriage...

Hope you, too, had a great Tuesday!

FHE: First Day of School Fun!!!

It's our turn to sound the trumpet of joy! It's the FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!

Of course, the following smiles were made possible by a great breakfast of Toaster Strudle (flavor, your choice), bacon, melon bites and milk. Of course, you can't forget the multivitamin! Gotta keep up that enthusiasm you know! For lunch, a sandwich, chips, juice and extra snacks. We dropped them off this morning since their backpacks are loaded with supplies.

Here's I-Dude, the first one out the door...
Then it's J-Pony with a tight pony tail and a semi wavy hair from last night's braids.

Last but not least, L-Infinity, starting her senior year as Ac/Dec Co-Captain, Laurel President and very fashion forward with her classic ensemble.

Yesterday, Mr. Man noticed that our van's battery was faltering, so we waited until after midnight, then hit Walmart for a new battery! Here he is, undoing the old one after the kiddos were off to school... He's so darn cute when he's being all self-sufficient. *sigh*
And this is the close-up of our almost dead *spluttering* battery.

After 8 hours, here are the two smallish kiddos, fresh from the bus stop! As for L-Infinity, she had too much to report to take a picture. LOL
We still had more than a handful of school supplies, mainly art related, to still buy so for FHE, we treated them to dinner at a new nearby bbq place called Cobb Switch! It is so good there! You have to try their Potato Casserole- to die for!

The two little ones just couldn't pass up a photo-op when they saw this sign. Of course, didn't have the real cam, so the cell had to do.
As we were entering, we noticed the bricks, in the shape of Texas! Cool beans! ;-) (whoops, my toes sneaked in)
Here are the kiddos, enjoying their meal. See the size of that glass? Wowie, it's like sipping a Route 44!
After dinner (yes there were leftovers even though we only shared 1 1/4 lb. brisket and a few sides), we managed to hunt down the art supplies in Hobby Lobby, then we headed towards the sunset to the mall and use up a great coupon in Pac Sun for L-Infinity. We also found great pair of pants and a belt for I-Dude!

Got back well after 9PM and scrambled to get everyone bathed, calmed and ready for prayer, but we did it!

Hope your Monday was as tiring as ours... ;-)

Tax Free BTS Weekend

Today until Sunday, it will be "Back to School Tax Free Shopping Days" here in our area. To take advantage of that, the kiddos and I walked to Kohl's this morning. See, the kiddos didn't mind carrying all the bags. Yes, I helped of course. We started out with the clouds threatening to "cry" again but after (as proof in above photo) the sun was also happy with our haul!

We were able to get everything we needed: (clearance 60-80% off) sneakers, placemats, shorts, undershirts; and two lunch boxes for well under my budget! It helped that Kohl's sent out those $10 giftcards in the mail and that they were doing their "$10 for every $50 spent" deal. Mr. Man will like that!

Great shopping, exercise and being together. Can't beat that great feeling!

Just Browsing and Planning...

Well, it's Wednesday again, that means, the day is crammed!

Mr. Man is back to work and August is lurking in the corner which means... School is at the top of our mental list. Isn't it yours?

Every year, we go to Costco twice a year to beef up our pantry for the school year and to get ready for Summer vacation. I go every February or March then again in September. In between, we visit Costco so I can "create a shopping list" that includes all the items we pick up, with those we want, round up the price to the next dollar so I can have a realistic budget set with what we actually should buy come time to shop.

(I took a picture of Michelle next to a stroller, but my cooky cell didn't save it though I saw it in there after I saved it! It's done that too many times! grrrr!)

Anyway, we went there because I haven't gotten a card, so after I pretended I was Cindy Crawford in front of the camera, I toured the whole store for my list. Michelle, J-Pony and I-Dude all went around reading books, looking at the Wii games and tasting all the sampler tables that they fancied. They had a great time and I finished my list. They even played "I Spy"!Wonderful. Thanks, Michelle! (Psst! Btw, the picture turned out like I have half of my face-melted off! Ewwww....)

Then off to...
For some Fall ideas! I love this iron frame set... I will wait for another sale in September. I don't really do "Before Season" sales. Just not my thing... (I'm more of an "After Season" Sale connoiseur; wait it out, buy real low and enjoy next year! Haven't failed me so far!)
Here's a "floating" frame for a project I lined up. But it'll have to wait...

I love these frames! It's exotic and classic at the same time. As Michelle would say, "Sa-weeeet!" ;-)

I saw three different ones of these combo centerpiece things and I chose this one and when I asked I-Dude which one he thinks I'd choose, he guessed this one! He knows his Mama! LOL

Michelle needed a shirt for an upcoming work interview so we also hit our local Target Superstore and since she loves babies, these caught her attention!

While she looked, I took the two smallish kiddos to the school supplies end of the store and they fought over a box of pens! ;-) (They posed like that. LOL)

As I went through the list, I was glad to realize that we have most of them already that I only had to spend $15! The best part, no whining about any "wanted" items! Both J-Pony and I-Dude were patient and just had fun trying out backpacks and looking at the supplies. Sometimes, I feel like I'm the luckiest mom on earth!

Only clothes and backpacks later. And... since we got rebate cards and a Target giftcard, our bank card got ignored today! *woot woot*

At Costco, the kids tasted baked potato with Michelle and I-Dude loved it! Well, Michelle and I ended up craving some, too! So, I used the red potatoes I have and "loaded" it with butter, cheese, tomatoes, bacon and cilantro! Yum! (Though, I have to admit, this is the first time, I've made one, good thing it was with red potatoes, it tasted lighter and fresher. Oh yeah, you have to microwave the red potatoes for 8 mins in High with water in the shallow bowl and the skin pricked all over to cook it.)

The kiddos enjoyed the bacon with rice, cheese and grape juice. They will feast on fruits tomorrow as I was too tired to notice that I didn't serve them veggies. Bad, mama!!! LOL

Shopping List

Well, waking up and planning the day is always part of it, but coming back after a wonderful vacation with the family (thanks, you beautiful fam people!) makes reality a task. LOL

Anyway, today, we found ourselves with a fridge full of leftovers from over a week ago, so the shopping pad was summoned and used. Here's what we needed:

1. Milk
2. Eggs
3. Broccoli
4. Bread
5. Veggies
6. Sliced cheese
7. OJ or juice
8. Meat
9. Tongs- yes, a short one to pick stuff up from inside pans or pots
10. OxiClean- MIL recommended it, too! Good stuff!
11. Pasta
12. Avocado
13. Tortilla bowls
14. Soda
15. Almond slivers- for cookies

Michelle and I went while Mr. Man and the kiddos got ready for our IKEA stop and the rest of our day. I was under budget plus some extras! Yes!

Walking,that's What we Do!

Well just because it's just the three of us for half the week until August, it doesn't mean we have to stay put right? *wink* Especially on a Friday! No, siree! After we slathered on uber amounts of sunscreen and found hats, we were off!

So once again, we walked because we wanted to...

have lunch at...
at Cici's Pizza place! Afterwards, they played on this pinball game and won these...
...very bouncy balls! They were so happy to win a purple and orange ones- mine and Mr. Man's fave colors... Gotta love our kids for being so excited about our colors.
Then we're off to Kohl's, but first we just had to take a picture on this great big cement hippo!
Over at Kohl's, we found some undershirts (normally $10) for J-Pony, Sunday shirts (normally $24) for I-Dude and the Fall iron "bird on leaves" tealight/candle holders that I saw last September (normally $25) all for 80% off!!! Yay for patience!

And oh yeah, look at these shades the kids found there, for 60% off!
On the way back, we rested on this pony in front of the now closed down Carvel Ice Cream shop... A sad, sad day for us...

Then we went to Blockbuster and rented "Over the Hedge" and indulged in some Dreyer's Nestle Crunch "Dibs" on the way home. We had a great day!

Now, I'm off to do another tablescape for my other blog!

Helping the Economy through Kohl's

Yep, we hit Kohl's today for shoes!

And saved an average of 60% off!!!

Plus we earned some Kohl's cash - redeemable in two days!

I know we all need to help the economy, but we might as well do it while leaving a chunk of it in the bank, right?

(I see you nodding your head...)

I don't normally shop this much at one time, but the sweet deals coincided with our needs, so cha-ching for us and Kohl's! Yay!

Gotta love that give and take cycle, huh?

FHE: Shopping Spree & Free Pics!

It's Monday again and we remembered two things: Family Home Evening and our 2nd annual January Shopping Spree!

Here's what we got: (Cha-ching!)

Ian- Matchbox Treasure Hunt track set / TRU (under budget, yes!)

Jasmine- Another You & Me doll (of course)- Baby Brother / TRU (under budget, yes!)

Lisa- Band Shirts and long-sleeved shirts /Hot Topic & Pac Sun (under budget, yes!)

Family Gift- Books- 12 books for $36.00!!

Family Gift #2- My Sims Kingdom for Wii / Game Stop for $29.99!! Last month, it was $49.99!

Plus, on our way out, we were asked to help a Kiddie Kandids trainee hone her craft and by doing so, we ended up having three FREE 5x7's!!! Each kid posed and no sales pitch, just a lot of fun poses... Saved $60.00!!!




I couldn't open up the email pictures, so I had to improvise to show proof of the "impromptu" modeling of our children. Note that Ian decided to be a "smile" rebel. He was too hungry and resisted all the way until the very end.

No more Christmas shopping for our little family ever again. January sprees fit our budget so much better. Yay!!!

For FHE, we made sure that we came back with everyone's limbs intact and that we didn't have to stop at any Emergency Rooms along the way. And we taught them selfless service by going all the way to another city to drop off our unused bird playground to the first responder in Freecycle who couldn't drive at night and whose husband just became unemployed. Mission accomplished!