W's 3rd Birthday Party

W's 3rd birthday was on March 20th but we had a small get together with grandparents and W's Aunt and Uncle and cousins on Saturday.
Back in December the Hub and I found a train cake mold at Williams-Sonoma for half off and W just loved it! When I scheduled W's little get together I didn't realize that it fell on Easter weekend. And I didn't realize how tired I'd be with the pregnancy. Although W just loved the cake I found myself hoping that I'd have to make a sudden turn or come to a sudden stop as I was driving it over to the grandparents house. I desperately wanted to scrap it and just buy a sheet cake! Let's just say I didn't have the energy to invest the time that I would've liked to make it a bit more something. But fortunately W was enamored with it and fortunately the eyes of kids are not the eyes of Martha Stewart.

I had bought Easter baskets last year after Easter on clearance and had hoped to present them to the kids with jelly bean filled eggs and some little dollar items from Target. And I had hoped we would've dyed eggs saturday night. But unfortunately the easter baskets never made it out of the closet, the dollar toys are still in my utility room and the jelly beans are stored away. But we did dye eggs last night and the kids loved it.

Another thing that did happen that was pretty cool was that we had our friends Amanda, Brian and their son Vincent over for Easter lunch on Sunday. Amanda filled some plastic eggs with candy and hid them in the living room for the kids. They really enjoyed that too and I was very appreciative. So it seems that Easter was fun for them after all.

huh...

At about 9:30 tonight I was standing in my kitchen when all of a sudden I felt like I had to pee and then it just poured down my legs and soaked my pants. I soaked through everything and could not control the flow. I ran to the bathroom and stripped then contemplated on calling my doctor's office. I couldn't tell if my water had broke or I'd peed on myself! I pulled out the laptop and started searching online for answers. What I found just freaked me out so I called my doctor's office. The doctor on call said it sounded like my water broke and advised me to go to Labor and Delivery. I did and they checked me and monitored me and no my water didn't break I just peed on myself. What the hell??! I'm so frustrated that I couldn't tell the difference. But apparently this kid is either big (for my sized torso) or a strong kicker.

I'm going to bed now.

A Bit Of Energy

I was up at 2:30am tuesday morning b/c I could not sleep. I started perusing the online ads for local grocery stores and came up with a list of mostly meat that was on sale. Meijer has lean ground chuck for $1.89 a lb from the meat counter this week. They also like last week have B1G1 on their frozen chicken breast but this week it's tenders as opposed to whole breasts. These are $14.98 for 4lbs once again making the chicken $1.87 a lb.

I purchased 15lbs of ground chuck (you should've seen the butchers and the hubs face) but I had a plan! If the ground chuck is $1.99 a lb or less I'm stocking up for now on if I need beef. I also got two bags of the chicken breast tenders, 8lbs for $14.98.

This morning I must have gotten a burst of energy b/c I spent a few hours in the kitchen, while the kids destroyed the house, and prepared a bunch of stuff for the freezer. The meat I bought this week combined with the meat I bought last week should keep us covered for meals for at least 2 months or more.

This is what I put together today.

3 uncooked meatloaves

about 30-40 meatballs, roasted

13 salsbury steak burgers, parroasted

4lbs of browned ground chuck, individually wrapped in 1lb pkgs for tacos, chili, etc.

2lbs of steamed, diced chicken breast, individually wrapped in 1lb pkgs. Hope to cook more but ran out of energy!

10 hamburgers seasoned with garlic, salt and pepper

I diced about 4lbs of idaho potatoes, tossed them with ranch dressing powder and roasted them in the oven until crispy. I then pkgd them equally in 4 pkgs.

I also got to Sams this week and got the Ravioli I like. This is conveniently easy! It requires boiling and I like to throw it in a dish with sauce and cheese and then bake it, yum!

My goal in all this is to have to leave the house as little as possible for groceries. We'll still have to go to the store for milk and some fruit and maybe some veggies but overall the meat is covered for a while. One thing I found out about myself when I made freezer meals for my family while pregnant with Super N is that I don't like to pull completed meals out of the freezer. I like to be able to smell the food cooking and I enjoy doing some of the prep work. What I prepped today gives me options as to what I can cook which I like very much..

Some things I still hope to make, but we'll see how I feel over the next few days or weeks.

Goat Cheese, mozzarella, and parmesan calzones (I'd like to make 4 med & 4 small)

Deep Dish Pizza dough (at least 2)

Hamburger buns and Hotdog buns (found a great whole wheat recipe, easy too!)

Make up some pancake & waffle batter and freeze

Make up some Homemade Bisquick mix (found an excellent version that uses whole wheat flour)

Make a pot of beans to freeze to use when canned beans are needed (we're trying to eat more beans)

Ahh Taxes

I took advantage of the blizzard weather last weekend and did our taxes, well I didn't do the city taxes but I sufficiently passed those off to the Hub.

We were kind of dreading tax time this year b/c we knew we would owe. Fortunately we owed half as much as we thought!

So I guess everyone will be getting rebates this year after April 15th in hopes to "stimulate the economy". Or in other words it's just an advance on next years taxes so put that in a high yield savings account if you can and collect some interest on it!

Although I'll be putting most of it in savings I think we might take a little and use it to fix up our porch (me fix it up, a lot cheaper albeit tiring and a dirty job) or get a new screen door b/c ours has gotten real ghetto looking and acting. Oh yeah I'm still waiting for a concrete lifting company to give me an estimate on raising our front steps, you'd think they'd want some cash but I haven't gotten one estimate after calling 3 companies. Let's hope they're waiting for warmer weather before trekking out here otherwise my steps will not be lifted this year.

Who knows!

Fact or Fiction? You Decide...

My Hub forwarded this to me and I thought I'd post it. I don't know if it's true or not and I haven't looked into it but for those who use any of these companies products it doesn't hurt to check it out.

I use mostly Seventh Generation and Method but haven considered a lot of these others!

Interesting...


Here you go http://www.vegetarianorganicblog.com/2008/03/ocas_study_finds_carcenogenics.html

W and Super N these days

Super N has what appeared to me to be an ear infection. She was digging in her ears one day last week so I noted to myself to keep an eye on her for green boogies or fussiness, etc. She developed some green boogies over the weekend and was incredibly fussy and sleepy yesterday. I decided to call for an appointment with Dr. Barrett so I could get her on meds asap since playgroup is at my house this week and since W's family birthday party is saturday. Also, just in case Baby J comes early I'd like Super N to not be sick. So I got an appt. and we went in yesterday. Apparently she has a viral cold that presents itself like an ear infection. It doesn't require antibiotics, since it's a virus and will run it's course, to which I'm grateful but the length of time this cold will run is around 2 to 3 weeks versus a normal cold that is 7-9 days, yikes! I don't believe she is contagious but sad for her cause she's uncomfortable.



While leaving the doctor's yesterday I let Super N walk as opposed to riding in the stroller. It was so cute to see W and Super N following me around like little ducklings. I think I really like this age and I'm looking forward to the next year of them becoming more independent and talking more.

Seed Planting III

So when I set up my seeds this past weekend in the basement I couldn't get the grow light to work. I emailed the company b/c they are closed on sundays, they immediately responded the next day via email that the bulbs must be bad and they're shipping me new ones asap.

I received the new bulbs today and the Hub put them in and they too do not work. He opened up the light fixture to see what he could find out (electronics engineer major) and determined the light for whatever reason is broke. How upsetting! Now I have to email the company again and wait longer to get light onto my seeds. I'm just hoping they'll be as accomodating as they were with replacing the assumed blown out bulbs.

Fortunately, I checked on my seeds and the majority of my tomatoes have 2.5" sprouts and my leaf lettuce has 1.5" sprouts so some things are growing which makes me feel better as I await for a new fixture.

Tangent:

It's frustrating sometimes ordering stuff online. Most of the time I don't have problems with products but as of late it seems I have.

I ordered some dishwashing detergent through amazon.com back in January when they were doing the 20% off the Subscribe and Save program. I was able to get this particular product pretty darn cheap. Well it came and out of 12 bottles 6 of the bottles lids were broken and the products were upside down so most of the detergent was pouring out of the containers and had filled the box they inhabited and was starting to leak through the outside box. Of course nobody noticed this until it was laying in my living room floor. What a mess! But amazon was great and they shipped me out a whole new box for free and gave me back my money on the other one and let me keep the unopened 6 bottles of soap.

For W's birthday we found this cool wooden toaster that comes with fake toast and butter. It arrived today and we decided to give it to him since he'll be receiving another gift from us on his birthday and then more gifts after that from his grandparents and cousins, etc. Well the bottom of the toaster was all jacked up. So tomorrow I have to call the company and find out what I need to do. Of course I can't take the toaster from him right now b/c he would not understand so I'm not sure what's going to happen. It's just a bit annoying and disappointing.

Life Right Now

I've started to feel a bit anxious over the last 2 weeks or so about having a new baby. I recall when I was pregnant with Super N I was anxious most of the pregnancy. I was so worried about not giving W enough of my undivided attention and I was afraid he wouldn't feel love from me b/c I was so tired and mentally overwhelmed at times with my emotions. I would have fears that would take over at times. For instance, I would picture him at 18 in and out of jail with a substance abuse problem ultimately b/c his mom didn't nurture him enough (b/c she was too distracted with her pregnancy!)

This pregnancy I didn't struggle with these types of fears as much, they'd pop into my head once in a while usually when I would react in anger to W or Super N or yell at them. But overall I haven't felt as anxious until recently. Now I'm having anxious thoughts of bringing a new baby into our little mix. What will it be like? And can I cope? But as well I am getting really excited to meet Baby J and to have the kids see him. I really want to know what the kids think of him and I want to see how they will interact with him.

I'm now 35 weeks pregnant and I don't have much time left before I deliver the newby. I know the next few weeks will fly by. With W's birthday next week I'll be busy thinking about how to manage my time and energy so I can make cupcakes for our playgroup, buy some party supplies for the family party and make a train cake. Also, just maintaining the house and trying to get the kids to the reading/craft time at the library and Cosi, I'd like to get a couple of meals in the freezer (of course I need to shop for the ingredients too) we'll see if all this gets accomplished!

I start my weekly OB checks next week which will make the time fly by as well. I talked to my OB about inducing me a week early and she is totally on board. Now I'm having doubts. I really don't prefer any of the other doctors at my OB's office, let's just say my esperiences with them have not been pleasant. It's actually been a source of stress for me throughout this pregnancy. And I've wanted to pursue laboring in water which is only offered at Grant Hospital and my Doc does not deliver there. I tried a few weeks ago to pursue my friend K's doctor and Midwife but b/c I was beyond 28 weeks pregnant they would require me to go through a process that in my opinion would add more stress and may in the end not end up to my advantage. So here I am considering induction so I can be sure my Doc is the only one who will be, excuse my crassness but, "all up in my crotch". I hope Baby J decides to come when my Doc is on call, wouldn't that be nice and less stressful!

In preparation for Baby J's arrival we have set up a twin sized bed equipped with rails for W. His crib is still in his room and now belongs to Super N. We put W in his big boy bed Saturday night and Super N in the crib in the same room and they've done great! No problems this whole week. W has gotten up each morning, woke up his sister I'm sure, and pulled out toys and played until we've come into free them. I put a childproof doorknob cover on the knob so thankfully that's working to keep them contained. I now need to move a few of Super N's personal items into her new space and personalize Baby J's room before he comes and that's it! Everything is mostly ready to go! What a load off!

We hired a cleaning company that will come tomorrow to clean and every 2 weeks thereafter . I am so grateful and relieved but I feel a bit torn about having a cleaning service. I've been so gungho about paying off debt that I keep thinking "Is this wise?". But in considering our priorities with the soon-to-be arrival of a new baby and having two little people already, a relatively clean house and saving our energy to give to the kids is really important to us right now. I just need to remember that. I guess it's good to some degree that I feel tension about this decision since I don't want to throw my money away, I just need to remember our priorities periodically and also be willing to give up the service when the right time comes (that I hear is the difficult part!).

W is almost 3

Next Thursday March 20th W turns 3. It happens to be the first day of spring as well. I can't believe it's been 3 years but then again I can b/c I feel like I remember most of it very clearly.

After I had W I got so depressed. Having a new baby in the house and all that comes with that completely overwhelmed me. Part of it was the lack of sleep and not being able to latch W on right away. I remember having cracked nips that were bleeding and I'd try to latch him on and I'd be kicking my feet on the floor and just bawling from the pain. I gave up the fight and pain after about 5 weeks and a night spent in the ER with double Mastitis.

When W was 7 weeks old I remember the hub and I ready to lose our minds. We kept having to remind eachother that sleep deprivation has been (and may still be) used as a form of torture. This would make us feel a little better that the emotions and exhaustion we felt were "normal" albeit painful. Fortunately too Will started sleeping through most of the night at 7 weeks, 5 or 6 hours and it increased from there thankfully.

When I was pregnant with W I only gained 7lbs. After I had W I gained 20-25lbs b/c of depression. I cried a lot throughout that year. I remember when we started trying for Super N that November (2005) and thinking is this the right time?? But nonetheless we tried, got pregnant and it was very hard still. Things did settle down but it took a little while.

I sought out counseling for myself in January (2006) and did that until April of that year. A lot of my struggles I remember was with my mom and dad who put a lot of pressure and provided no support at all to the Hub and I. I learned in counseling what it meant to put boundaries up with them and also I made a decision to end all contact with them for a period of time until I could get my head on straight and God could do a work in my heart. I have since initiated contact with them and our relationship is actually a lot healthier thinks to all that I learned and the healing I gained during that time of separation. (Perhaps another blog one day...)

Back to W, the hub has been working on numbers with him lately and tonight he counted to 10 all by himself. I bought some flashcards and he's currently learning his letters and can identify some of them without help. It's very bittersweet to see him change and grow. We hope to put him in preschool in the fall and I know he'll love it and thrive there. It kind of saddens me in that from there on out he'll be in school but again I know he'll love it and I want him to get some time consistently with other kids his age and with teachers that can invest in him. Now if we can get the potty training down he'll be set to go.

Seed Planting II

So I have my whole seedling set up in the basement now. I believe I have over 100 seeds planted and waiting to sprout. Jason and I got the heat pad working thus far but we've not had success with getting the grow light to come one. What's up with that?? I emailed the company though and they are sending me new bulbs asap. They were very fast in responding and did not give me the run around to which I'm very grateful.
I'll keep you updated as things progress!
I had planned on planting a few of the heartier seeds outside this past saturday but my plans were derailed by the blizzard.
I've been collecting our used Milk Jugs so I can cut off part of the bottom and use the jug as a green house to keep the heartier seeds from getting too cold. The pour spout also allows you to water the seeds! I think this idea is wonderful! It's not my idea but a suggestion I found online.

My Sam's Club trip that turned into my Meijer trip

For some ungodly reason my crazy body woke me up at 5am yesterday morning. I went to bed really late the night before, 1am b/c once again my crazy body would not shut down and let me sleep.

So I toss and turn for about 10 minutes and get this idea that I could go to Sam's and buy things that I want to stock up on for when Baby J comes.

Ravioli
Bulk cheese
Coffee (Hub will be too tired to roast for a while I'm sure!)
milk
chicken breast
1/2 & 1/2
bananas
apples
preserves
peanut butter
mac & cheese (totally convenient and easy!)
butter

Well I thought I remembered that business owners get in at 5:30 and regular membership owners get in at/around 8am or something. Well I get dressed wake the Hub and let him know my plans and then I head to Sam's at Sawmill at 5:30am. I get there only to discover they actually open at 7am for business owners and 10am for all other memberships. Duh! You'd think I'd look at my card before trekking out at 5:30am! But I was one of the only people out and I got to listen to NPR uninterrupted and I got a hot cup of coffee to drink in the car again uninterrupted. It wasn't actually awful even though I was tired.

So since Sam's was closed I headed across the street and a little North to Meijer, they're opened 24 hours. I grabbed my list and went about my business. It took me almost an hour and then I had to use the "help yourself" checkout lane. The machine kept boogering up my purchases and then requiring me to get approval, it took forever! It then ate my receipt! The guy that helped me couldn't get anyone to come and help him and so he told me he'd mail me my receipt. I looked at him skeptically and was like "sure you will!" But I got his name and I'll call back in a few days to make sure they actually do mail my receipt.

So I ended up spending $155 at Meijer this week. I planned on not going to the store at all (except for necessities) b/c I have plenty of meals in the freezer from a few months ago to last the week. I discovered this fact this past weekend as I was fussing with stuff in the basement to make the basement accessible for me to take care of my seeds. But I know now I'm nesting and so I'm feeling the urge to get as much in order to make life "easier" for myself, the hub and the kids for now and when Baby J comes.

So let's see what deals did I get?

Starbucks coffee (all varieties including decaf) is $6.99 a bag. It's normally $8-$9 something a bag. At Sam's I'd paid $19.99 (well at least 2 months ago maybe it's risen in price??) for 2lbs and only had the options of House blend, Breakfast blend, or French Roast. I was able to get 5 bags (60 oz) for $9.32 a lb as opposed to $10.08 a lb at Sam's with limited variety.

Also, boneless skinless chix breast (frozen) were B1G1 free. They are 4lb bags so I got 8lbs of chix for $14.98. This ends up being $1.87 a lb!! I've not been able to get chix that cheap in a long time. I do prefer the fresh and "natural" chix but I'm really trying to save money right now and this chicken will most likely be in casseroles, soups, and doctored up someway so it should be fine.

I probably didn't get as great of a deal on cheese but I did get a significant deal on light butter, which is normally $3.99 for 4 sticks. I got it for $1.99 on sale, I grabbed 3 packages.

I believe I spent around the same amount I'd have spent at Sam's, plus or minus a few ounces. But I didn't get the Ravioli. Maybe I can get my dad-in-law to pick me that up since he goes pretty often.

I've not made it to CVS yet. We've had colds around here and aren't feeling like doing much except what has to be done so I may not get there this week. The only thing I want to buy right now are diapers for the newby to have on hand and shampoo for Will's reoccuring cradle cap.
Maybe I'll get a spurt of energy and head out there tonight or tomorrow night.

Poop on the carpet

This past Monday Super N christened the carpet with poop.

The poop is still there if that tells you anything about how my week has gone! But I guess you can say that I've been contemplating how to clean it up. Well I ran across this other moms blog and thought I'd pass her suggestion on for those potty training days or when, like in my case, the full diaper squirts up and out onto the carpeted stairs!

http://armywifetoddlermom.blogspot.com/2005/09/how-to-clean-poop-off-of-carpet-in-3_16.html

Groceries

Last week I ended up going to Kroger instead of Walmart b/c the ads seemed more appealing to me. I however was scared away from Kroger mostly for good unless I'm enticed with a good chicken deal or something.

First, I ended up spending $90 for the week. This in my opinion was still too much money since the majority of my meat I had picked up the previous week. Also, I was growled at by 3 old people, this sucked and I had to bite my tongue to prevent myself from growling back. Don't get me wrong I enjoy old people on a whole (I did Home Health Elderly Care for 6 years and started the Gerontology program that was once at Cols State before it was killed so...).

Let's just say I don't prefer the clientele that mostly visit Kroger. Now I don't believe it's this one store I visited, this is the third Kroger store I've now decided to boycott b/c of cleanliness issues and clientele issues.

I planned on going to Meijer this weekend but we had carryout twice this week and then we are going out to dinner tonight. I have 3 leftover meals that I can prepare and I have a few meals in the deep freezer that I need to use. I'm going to try to just purchase milk, bananas, apples and maybe eggs and try to stretch our freezer meals to next week to save money.

I did go to CVS on Monday night. I forgot the majority of my coupons b/c Super N stole them out of my bag. But even without them I did okay I just wasn't able to buy much.

CVS for the month of March is giving an ECB of $2.99 for Colgate Total, plus whitening. This tube of toothpaste costs $2.99 so that's free. Oh yeah well they're also on sale for $2.50 so actually you get $2.50 for taking them off their hands, unreal! There is of course a limit of 5. I bought those and since I bought 4 tubes of toothpaste last week I'll be giving these to the Xenos Food Pantry. This was another desire of mine in suffering through participating in the ECB program is being able to give extra free stuff or almost free stuff away to others who need them.

What else did I buy...oh yes I did return the revlon makeup and got my $23 back. And I purchased two swiffer mop refill pads. They were on sale for $6.99 each and if you spent $10 on those you get $5 back. I was thinking they would make my life a little bit easier with the baby coming. But now since we're thinking about budgeting in a housecleaner short term maybe I'll return them.

So my total was $27, I had a $5 off coupon and $7 in ECB's from last week. I paid $15.?? in cash and got back $20 in ECB's. And since I returned the Revlon products I got my $23 back to. Unreal (I'm going to keep saying this word fyi.)

Anniversary

Yesterday was my 9th wedding anniversary. Tonight the Hub and I are going out to dinner after we drop the kids off at Grandmas and Grandpas for the night. We are very excited.

The above words from Elizabeth Barrett Browning were scanned from my Wedding schedule. Ironically EBB was born on the day we were married, I didn't know this when I chose to include this piece of writing. I think it's lovely and I feel it's more true today then how I felt 9 years ago.

I remember how anxious and depressed I was 9 years ago and I'm so grateful for how God has used my stable and loving husband to really help me understand love in a deeper way. And how life really is not as chaotic as my home life was. The hub and I have our problems but we have such a deeper understanding of one another and value one another so much more now than we ever had. I'm very grateful for him being in my life and even though this season of our life is chaotic, with almost 3 little demanding people that don't allow us to be as selfish as we wish or to spend that much quality time together, we are having fun most days of the week (of course we're then collapsing in bed from exhaustion!).

I had W and Super N on my lap yesterday reading to them and I was thinking that 9 years ago they didn't exist and how weird that is! Jason and I had thought for our 10 year anniversary we'd go overseas to Italy and travel to a few other countries but where we are at in life with the 3 little people, that's not gonna happen! So the trip will be postponed (maybe the 15th or 20th anniversary??) and we'll do something probably like this year.

Yummy Cinnamon Roll Recipe

I made cinnamon rolls last week. They were mostly good but I put too much cinnamon in them and so W and the Hub thought they were too spicey, they were. But these cinnamon rolls have 3/4 c of whole wheat flour in them so they have some nutritional value and they were really moist and yummy. They appear to be difficult to make, at least I think so since I don't usually like to bake, but they were pretty easy since I used the bread machine to mix, knead and raise the dough. The role I played was roll out the dough, put the yummy cinnamon, butter and brown sugar mix on and then roll it up and cut it.
Let me know if you want the recipe.

Seed Planting...Finally!

I finally was able to sit down and plant seeds. I still have to plant more but the majority are done. Tonight I plan to get them on the heat pad in the basement and hopefully they'll start to grow. I didn't expect to feel so worn out with 5 weeks to go until I deliver Baby J so all my plans feel like their up in the air or have been pushed back sadly. But fortunately it's not that big of a deal and I'm trying to remember this. But yay I got my seeds planted!! I'd hoped to plant some of the heartier seeds outside tomorrow but it seems my plans maybe derailed b/c of the weather. It's looking a bit blizzard like out there right now sadly. Oh Spring how I do miss you and I await your presence with such anticipation...

Grocery Trip Last Week

I forgot to post how much I spent at Giant Eagle & CVS last week, it's been a bit of a chaotic and sleepless week.

At any rate, I spent $120 at Giant Eagle! I will not be going back there for a while unless I have coupons and only buy things on sale. As you can see I went way over my designated budget. Once again the convenience factor of Giant Eagle bit me in the butt.

On a good note though, they did have pork Tenderloin $1.97 a lb and 85% lean Ground Chuck $1.99 a lb for 3lbs or more. I bought 10lbs of the beef and a 5.5lbs of the pork tenderloin. I also got $.60 more off of my gas per gallon which with my recent purchases totaled $.80 off a gallon. I happened to need my gas tank filled right after shopping Monday night so that was helpful.

For my menu this week, courtesy of www.menusformoms.com/ I plan to substitute 2 or 3 of the meals with ground chuck meals and pork tenderloin meals. I'm thinking bbq pork & probably hamburgers (I love a good burger!!).

Fyi, the menusformoms website is such a great resource. Albeit some of the recipes are a bit strange so keep an open mind. This website provides free weekly menus and a grocery list, how convenient is that?! Also, they have past menus archived on their website so you can search for an ingredient you may have gotten on sale or need to use up. This is how I decided on the menu I'm going to use this week, bbq pork & another pork dish etc.

I hope this website is helpful for others.

In regards to my trip to CVS, I was a bit disappointed this week with my experience. I ended up buying

1 container of Boost
a revlon mascara
a revlon eyeliner
some revlon emery boards
easter egg dying cups
a venus embrace razor
2 bags of Organic Soil (only $1 more than regular soil at CVS nonetheless).

My total was: $43.93

I used the $23 in ECB's I got last week and then the $4 coupon CVS gave me via email for signing up on their website and I had a $2 coupon.

So I paid $15.94 & received $7 back in ECB's. Now I'm supposed to receive another $10 in ECB's but for some reason the cash register didn't generate this ECB. I had to wait at the store for an extra 20 minutes Monday night as the manager tried to contact someone on the phone to figure out why I didn't get my $10. I did leave without my $10 but was told someone would call me, they still haven't called me. So in anticipation of this I didn't open any of the Revlon products so that I can return them today or tomorrow.

To explain though why I was to receive $10 in ECB's, if you purchased $20 of Revlon products last week you received $10 back.

Also, the Boost drink was $1 and I received $1 back in an ECB and The Venu Razor was $9.99 I had a $2 off coupon and they gave me $6 back in ECB's.

So when I return the Revlon products I will have spent $5.26 out of pocket and I still have $7 in ECB's to redeem. So stay aware when you are doing the CVS thing, pay attention to what you are supposed to receive in ECB's and make sure you get them.

This week I believe I'm going to go to Walmart to shop for groceries.

Playing in the Dirt in February

I came across an idea on another mom's blog about using whole wheat flour as dirt and letting your kids play with sand toys and cars and anything they can fill and dump with. I liked the idea but I put some whole wheat flour in a roasting pan and it was incredibly messy and seemed too soft and floury to deal with. As I was perusing through my cupboards I saw two large cans of bread crumbs. I grabbed one and dumped it in my roasting pan and it immediately became dirt for W's Dump truck, Digger and his Shoveler (I still don't have all the "accurate" names down like daddy!) W just loved playing in the dirt with his machines and we sat and played for well over an hour. Well to clarify, I distracted Super N and fought her off of W's cool dirt thing and would lend an extra set of machine noises and hands to drive and dump the machines every few minutes or so.

I thought this was a great idea for those yucky days you don't want to go outside or those days when, in my case, you didn't sleep the night before.Sidenote: I didn't have plain bread crumbs only Italian seasoned ones, W thought the green stuff in it (parsley) was grass...He loved this idea