Tis the Season

We had a pretty quiet Black Friday around here. =) I'm not really much for power shopping and don't like to fight with people, so I generally don't do much shopping on this day. I'm much more of a Cyber Monday type of person.
What do you think about stores opening on Thanksgiving day this year? It seems to be a pretty hot topic. Coming  from someone who used to work retail, I'd have been pretty ticked if I'd had to work on Thanksgiving. I've had to work at the hospital for the graveyard shift on Thanksgiving night before and even that was annoying.
Anyway... now we are looking to Christmas! Can you believe we only have about a month to go!! So after spending most of the day home, I just couldn't quite sit at home the whole day, so my mom and I headed out to ToysRUs for a little shopping/browsing. I'd been looking at a few things online that I really wanted to see in person.

First on the list - Home Depot Tools 
This stuff if pretty stinking cool. Malachi was all about it, which I thought he would like them. They had a 45-piece set for $9.99, but it was sold out. That was the only item on sale though, so I think I'll be checking back closer to Christmas for some possible sales. I think when your daddy is a contractor, it's essential that you have tools.

Next, my mom is thinking of getting him this nifty (that's Malachi's new word) garage for his matchbox cars - they didn't have it in store and I thought it was sold out online, but just found it listed a little differently on the website. Nice!

I was also leaning towards getting him some dinosaur playsets put out by Animal Planet, but he didn't seem too into it. I'm not sure if that was because there were too many other things to look at or because he really didn't like them, but regardless, they're getting scratched off my list.

One thing I wanted to get him was a Nerf gun to play with his dad. I was thinking I might get two, just for that reason and was happy to find a Buy 2, Get 1 Free deal on Nerf products tonight! I just got the smallest guns $9.99 ea. That ended up being the only thing I bought and I had to convince Malachi that they were for his daddy to take hunting. =)

All was not a waste though, because I was really contemplating getting him one of those LeapFrog Tag learning systems. But at $40, I was really hesitant. If he didn't like it, that was a lot of money invested. Well, they had a doorbuster starting Thursday night on it for $19.99. I thought for sure they would all be gone, but I found one sitting over with the Tag Jr's and told my mom she should snag it for him and save it for his birthday! I think he would like it now, but give him a few months and I think he'll be more ready for it.

Now, the kids are in bed and I'm thinking of sitting down to plan out the rest of my Christmas gifts. Last year I made Homemade Vanilla and gave away some of my Caramel Apple Jam with some Eggnog Pound Cake. Yum!
I'm doing some more homemade packages, so I have to figure out what I'll need and when I'm going to have time to make them!!

Preparing for Baby...

If you've been reading my pregnancy posts, you may have realized I've not been very proactive about getting ready for this baby. =)

A couple weeks ago I actually started kind of mentally freaking out about it when I realized I only had about 6 weeks to go and had done absolutely NOTHING. 

Well, I've been attempting to remedy that situation... call it nesting or whatever, but I could probably handle it if baby decided to come ... although... a few more weeks would be most helpful!

Saturday I had the house to myself. Malachi was at my parents and my husband was hunting.... I planned on a fairly lazy day before I had to head off to work, but I was productive also!
First I spent some time browsing on Etsy and Pinterest - that's productive, right?

Then I made up 4 Crock-Pot Freezer Meals! I had never thought of such an ingenuous idea before Pinterest! I love my Crock-Pot... and I love freezer meals... but I'd never thought of combining the two! 

2 Teriyaki Chicken

2 Lazy Day Stew

Follow this link to a blog with more Crock-Pot freezer meals...

or check out my Pinterest board Dinners DONE! for more ideas.

Also, this weekend, I picked up a new dresser for $10. It needs some TLC and a new paint job, but I think it will work perfect for the baby's area. We are not decorating a nursery for this baby. Mostly because we probably won't be in this house long enough to make it worth it... so I've decided to just convert a corner of our bedroom into a nursery space. We're not even setting up the crib, but I'm going to have a glider, dresser and probably a little art on the walls. I'm thinking I can use this dresser as a changing table too, and not have to drag out Malachi's big one from the closet....

I also decided on kind of a theme for this baby. We were going to do an owl/woodland theme, but owls are SO popular right now that I decided not too. Since my husband is such an outdoorsy/hunter-type though, I thought we'd keep the woodland theme and just focus on some of the other animals like the bear and deer. =) After searching what seemed like hundreds of wall art, I finally came across some that I really love from a shop on Etsy.

I'm going to take my colors from these beautiful watercolor paintings!

I also finally got Malachi's old clothes out and washed everything. Some of it took some major soaking in OxyClean to get out the yellow spit-up stains (he was the pukey-est baby ever), but it looks like we're going to be able to save most of it. =)

 My aunt picked me up that glider, so I still need a footstool and maybe cover the cushions in a cute fabric. My mom and I got an awesome deal on the Newborn Rock-and-Play Sleeper the other day at Target (this is what I'm going to use instead of the crib - hopefully until we're able to move!) Normally $65, it was marked down to $54.99 at Target, then for Memorial Day it was marked down some more to $49.00, THEN I had a coupon for $7.00 off! Total cost: $42.00! Saved: $23.00! Yay!

Sooo... we are on our way to being somewhat prepared. Today I'm going to pick up my paperwork from the doctor for my Leave of Absence at work and mailing it in (a minor fiasco that's been), so hopefully I'll be all set up for my 12 weeks of leave here pretty soon!

My New Obsession

My new obsession?

FREE magazine subscriptions.

Seems kinda cheap, but I really don't like spending money on magazine subscriptions because then I feel super guilty when I don't read them. I've been following several couponing blogs for awhile now and every once in a while they send out a notice that you can get a free year subscription to a magazine.

I don't always do it. I try to weigh if its something I'm really interested in.

I don't do the ones where they require a credit card.

FREE only.

Currently I'm receiving:

Better Homes and Gardens 

I almost didn't sign up for this one, but I've really been enjoying it!

Women's Day

Field and Stream

for my husband, of course

Family Circle 

(just got my last one)

I just signed up tonight for a TWO-year subscription to Family Fun magazine.

Like I said, I enjoy them because I don't feel like if I forget to read one that I wasted my money and I try out different magazines I probably wouldn't ever buy anyway.

Back in the Groove

I have to confess that over the holidays I really fell off the couponing bandwagon. There was just so much going on, that the newspapers were piling up everywhere. If I was going to the store for something specific, I would frantically search for the coupon I wanted, but other than that it was kind of a lost cause.

Now that the busy holidays are over, I decided it was time to get back in the groove.

My coupon organization really needed updating though.

I had a file box that I kept all my inserts in, but I was just putting them week by week

into the hanging folders... I hadn't bought any file folders to go inside them.

Needless to say, I quickly ran out of room and then I was missing the hanging folder when I put them in and they'd fall to the bottom of the bin.... you get the picture.

I decided I needed to re-vamp my file box. So yesterday at Target I bought some neat

file folders that have erasable labels! Handy right?

They I started the job of going through and throwing out all the old inserts with expired coupons and all the new papers I had that I hadn't even pulled out the inserts yet. 

So now I have them organized by each week in it's own separate file folder and then all the file folders for each month in a hanging folder. I'm going with that for now, and then I'll see how it works. =)

I also have some sections for misc coupons, like craft stores, Albertsons and Target because sometimes I get store coupons for those that I might keep separate.

Hopefully I can keep up the couponing better this time around.

I'm not trying to be an extreme couponer, but I feel like it's worth putting a little effort into if I can save some money on things we'd normally buy.

Crisp Fall Days

Today was a rare DRY Fall day in the Northwest. =)

We took advantage by taking a walk and then raking up some leaves and jumping in them!

We almost never get to do this because the leaves are always soaked!

The Little Guy really enjoyed it!

I spent the rest of the day figuring out what we're doing with our next Mommy School unit - T is for Thanksgiving.

I also did some coupon shopping - stopped at Albertson's to use my doubler coupons and stock up on some Swanson chicken and beef broth!

And thought I'd show you my finished Fall wreath!

I finished up the flowers with some vintage buttons I had laying around.

I think it turned out pretty good. =)

Now I'm off to take a short nap before I have to work tonight!

SUCCESS!

My late night couponing trip was a success!


My mom and I combined our doubler coupons to maximize our savings.
The Breakdown:
22 items
Retail Cost: $74.18
Savings: $59.49
Total Paid: $14.69


This included a gallon of milk that wasn't on sale. I was pretty amazed! 
Then we split up our purchases. We each got 2 things of mayo, 4 salad dressings and 2 boxes of spaghetti noodles. I also took home 2 jugs of Juicy Juice and stuff to make Smores for our camping trip this weekend.


And the extra good news.... (drum roll....)
My husband got a new job today! Woohoo! Making the same wage he was making at a previous job, but he had to drive at least 80 miles a day then and now he'll be closer to home. God really blessed us because this job just basically fell into his lap. He didn't apply for it - they called him!


Not sure when he's starting yet, but a weight has been lifted. 


Now... off to the laundry pile....


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Busy Day

This morning we met my parents at IHOP for breakfast before heading off to church where we attended one service and then I worked in the One's class for the second (where everyone seemed to be in a crying mood this morning - blah!)
 
Next my mom and I made a trip to Starbucks before heading to my house where I had to get the Little Guy down for a nap and then head off to work.
 
I snagged a bunch of coupon inserts from our work papers again and sat here trying to figure out how I'm going to use my Albertson's doublers. Last week I had a pretty good experience and they didn't scare me away - SO I decided I'll try it again! This time around I'm going to have to do multiple transactions though, so I'm hoping I don't get too overwhlemed.
 
I told my mom I'd meet her at Albertson's when I get off work tonight! Ha! I don't know that she's that excited to go shopping at 11:30 PM, but I don't want to wait until tomorrow when they've sold out of everything! AND I figure that it won't be too busy at that point, so I won't feel bad about holding up the line doing multiple transactions.
 
We'll see how it goes.
 
I'm also trying to plan out our camping trip while I'm here today. We're leaving to go camping on Thursday through next Monday. The weather is iffy and we have a two-year-old - a combonation which should make for an interesting trip. Also, we're camping with some other people, which is actually making it more stressful to me because I feel like I'm having to take charge of the situation (like food) or we are going to be completely unprepared!
 
Is anyone going on summer trips this year? Does anyone try to take big trips with their kids or do you stick with shorter ones? 
 

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Doot Doot!

As everyone knows....

my Little Guy loves his "doot doots" (trains)

We have a couple options for train rides in our area

including the Amtrak, but I was hoping to take him on 

one of the more old-fashioned railroads sometime this summer.

I was so excited when I saw this post by ThriftyNWmom

for the Chehalis-Centralia Steam Train Ride 

for 50% off through Groupon!

I've never used Groupon, but I thought this was well

worth signing up for. =)

Plus, I learned kids 3 and under are free! Yay!

Now we just have to find a Saturday that it's 

not raining AND we're not busy!

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Coupons Anyone?

Well, it seems that the world has started a couponing trend - which is, for once, not necessarily a bad thing. I've been curious about how to go about doing this for a few years now, but haven't had the determination to figure it out.
 
Well, I've decided if all those other people can do it - so can I! (Maybe)
 

So.... today at work, I pulled out 3 Smartsource inserts, 3 Red Plum inserts, 2 Walgreens, 1 Albertsons, 1 RiteAid and 1 Fred Meyer inserts from the newspapers here at my desk.

I'm not exactly sure what I'm supposed to DO with all these inserts, but I have started following a couple local couponing blogs, so hopefully they will give me some direction!

Now.... to figure out how to organize and store all these coupons until I need them......

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Couponing - who does it?

My Sister-in-Law and I got in a discussion about couponing today at our family get together.

We both agreed that there are a lot of advantages,

but we're unsure if we can pull off all the work to actually DO it.

So here's my question...

Do you use coupons on a regular basis?

If so, what resources do you use (ie blogs, do it yourself, etc)?

If not, why?

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Why Blogs are Great

Know why blogs/blogging is great?

Because of the FREE STUFF!

Today I went to get my mail and this is what was in the mailbox

One pair of shoes that I paid $.99 for after using 

my Overstock.Com gift card I received for 

some Christmas posting.

AND

A book I won over at Colloquium (a book blog)

called Stilettos & Scoundrels!

Ever since I started blogging it's been

super exciting to go to the mailbox everyday!

No longer does it only give me bills!

I never know what might be in there for me to find.....

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Little Sprout Surprise Gift Exchange?

First of all, I want to say hello to all my new readers!

I am very excited that you've found me and I hope that you choose to stay!

I purposely do not require a GFC follow for my giveaways

in hopes that you WANT to be a follower (and leave me comments!)

I have a little question for all my readers...

(there are almost 450 of you now - wow!)

I was thinking that it may be fun to have a gift exchange between readers.

I have a theme/idea in mind, but thought I'd find out an interest level

before putting a bunch of work into it.

I'm thinking a $20-$25 spending limit -

do you think that sounds like a reasonable amount?

You would send a gift and receive a gift - just for fun!

Who doesn't love getting surprises in the mail?!

Send me an email or leave me a comment here

if you'd be interested in participating.

More details to come!

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In The Mail

I know... I've been a little absent from actual posts for a few days. Other than my giveaway post yesterday, I've been super busy all weekend and just decided that the easiest thing to cut was blogging. =)

But... now I'm back and I really do have some things to share! Okay.. this is kind of like "Show and Tell" when you were a kid - only it's what I got in the mail yesterday! Yay! Always so exciting when you go to the mailbox and there is a box for you. Doesn't matter if you know what it is or not haha!

So here's what I got yesterday -

These are all things for our trip - and if you can't figure out exactly what it all is (uh...like the camo thingy) don't worry because of course I'm going to tell you.

SafeFit By My Side Harness with Backpack, Purple/Black/Grey-

before you all think I'm a terrible mom for putting my child on a leash just think about how much easier this is going to make our time in the airport. Instead of having to hold him or restrain him the entire time we're waiting, he'll be able to walk around and explore and get some energy out before we get on the 5 hour plane ride. I like this one because the tether is actually removable and he can just wear it as a backpack. Only big enough to hold maybe a book and a sippy cup, but I think this is going to do the trick.

Next is the BooginHead SippiGrip, Boy Camo-

Also thought this would come in handy at the airport - and airplane - and the Dallas Zoo. Since the Little Guy is in a throwing phase.

And lastly our favorite Sandra Boynton - What's Wrong Little Pookie. =)

Okay... I promised the Little Guy we'd go for a walk, so we better head out. It finally warmed up today, so I thought we better take advantage of the sun while we have it.

In the Mail!

Fun stuff I received in the mail today!

My yarn from Knit Picks! Yay! I sold a bunch of my Candy Corn hats on Etsy and ran out of yarn! I've been hoping my yarn would come quickly, as I have more hats to knit up! =)

Also, I won this book Seduced By A Highlander from

Michelle and Leslie's blog - booksandmakeup.blogspot.com during Blogmania (or BlogFest maybe?)

Treasures in the Mail

Yesterday was a fun day to go to the mailbox. I think my family thinks I'm crazy because I'm doing all this stuff, penpals, giveaways, book swaps... etc., but it really makes it fun to get your mail everyday. No more dreading what bills are in there, but looking forward to FUN STUFF!

Here was my loot from yesterday:

I Spy toy from aebaby for our trip to Texas at the end of October (read more about that here). I side note about aebaby - I contacted aebaby because I wanted a gender neutral fabric used for my toy and there weren't any listed (although I'd seen them in the shop before). She sent me two graphics picturing available fabrics to choose from. Then I said which one I wanted (this was on Sunday) and she make me a custom toy and mailed it out on Tuesday (Monday was a holiday). Awesome customer service.

Then at the end of August I entered a giveaway over at Fabulous Family Reviews and one a Whamies Cloth Diaper! Whoo hoo! 587 entries and I won - how exciting!

Cool Stuff in the Mail!

I'm waiting for several things in the mail right now. I'm due to receive a cloth diaper that I won in a giveaway (whoohoo!), two workout videos I ordered (possibly a lost cause, but it makes me feel productive anyway) and my battery charger from Energizer.

Today the FedEx guy dropped off my Energizer Recharge Smart Charger along with a $15 Target Gift Card! Yay!

I think possibly I'm more excited about the Target Gift Card than the battery charger, but I know we'll use it a lot AND our current rechargable batteries are pretty much dead, so this was kind of a blessing. =) Thanks Energizer!