Friday Night Football

Riley and I had colds, so we "camped" out in the back of the truck at Friday night's football game. Riley brought her pillows and blankets, we packed snacks for all three of us, and stayed in the truck. Very nice since it was pretty chilly. We were able to see the game, and we won, so we had a pretty good night. Ruthie was fussy, so I tried putting her to sleep at halftime, but Riley was the one that went to sleep. Ruthie finally gave up and fell asleep at the beginning of the 4th quarter. They looked so cute sleeping, and I got to enjoy the quiet for those last 15 min. of the game.

Last Friday we finally had some nice weather to play outside. The dogs wouldn't quit barking, so we "investigated" (Riley's idea) why. We found this turtle, stuck in the corner of the yard, cornered on the other side by Marley. We moved him to the front yard, where Riley got her picture taken with him. We wanted to see him move, but waited forever. When we went back outside later, he was gone, so Riley hunted again for him. We found him in the flower bed "waiting for his turtle family." Monday on the radio I heard that turtles can carry salmonella, so we probably won't be picking up any more turtles.

Rainy Day Saturday

This is what happens at our house when it rains for a week, and we can't go outside. We get bored. Riley was asking about headstands over the weekend, and Andy decided to show her how. We may never see this again, so I had to document that he could do it. Andy could do one, but Riley never got up enough to take a picture.

Where's Riley?

We rearranged Riley's room last Sunday, and she was so excited to get to sleep a different way. She piled all her "babies" in her bed before we read our stories, but when I went back in to check on her, she had flipped herself around and placed herself in the middle of them. Just the other day we were looking at a "Where's Waldo" book, and this picture reminded me of that, or the scene in "E.T."

We Have Lift-Off!

Ruthie is finally getting down the whole walking thing. Over the last 2 weeks, she's gotten a lot better and more fluid than when she was just beginning, and she doesn't like help. We were walking down the sidewalk yesterday, and she'll have nothing to do with me holding her hand. She wants to do it herself. Since she's up and around now, I had to finally go get her some new shoes, which she likes to take off and chew on. Wasn't really a problem before since we wasn't really using them, but now we're having to nip it in the bud.

Riley and Ruthie

I have been cleaning out Ruthie's dresser over the past week and going through Riley's old clothes to pull the next size up that we will need. It took forever! Riley was given these Texas Longhorn pajamas by a student that Andy and I taught, and now Ruthie will be wearing them. Remembering Riley's picture in her rocking chair in them, I took Ruthie's picture today. Riley was about 17 months when her's was taken. If it weren't for the dates, could you tell which was which?
Update: Riley just saw this picture and asked what Ruthie was doing in her chair. I told her it wasn't Ruthie, but her. Her words, "When I was a little child?"

Ruthie's Birthday Party

Although her birthday isn't until Thursday, we celebrated it yesterday at our house so some of Andy's family could come. She wasn't really interested in opening her presents until the Fisher Price barn came out and the ride-along car that mom and dad gave her excited her too. She seemed to enjoy the cake, and had a birthday bath right after, of course. Her high chair was filthy, and I should have put it outside when it started raining to clean it off. Would have made it a lot easier, but we would have had quite a bit of cake in the yard.

J.C. Penney's Savings

So after our dumpster diving, I had 4 of the $10 off coupons to use. We (because I am not the only one that had numerous of these) started using them last Monday and got some great deals. I purchased three new outfits for Ruthie, two for the spring, one for now. I got Riley some Wonder Pet pajamas for Christmas, which Andy thinks she'll really like since they have a cape on the back of the top. Also got some cool socks for one of my nieces for Christmas. I gave mom one, and she bought a new purse and an outfit for Hunter. In total we spent including tax $7.10. Total that we saved after clearance prices and coupons - $125.88. Not too bad.

Blueberry Muffin Christmas Cake

Haven't posted for awhile, so I'm trying to catch up a little. We have been very, very busy lately with football starting back up while I'm working a little extra at Bath Junkie. Every day except for Tuesday has something planned on it for the next few months.

Riley wanted to make blueberry muffins this morning, which was fine. When getting the pan out, she saw the Christmas tree pan and asked if we could use it. Everything worked well, we just had to cook it awhile longer to get the middle completely done. It tastes just fine though.

I Am Now THAT Mom!

Yesterday I read on another blog site that a recent J.C. Penney's mailer had a $10 off and $10 purchase coupon inside it. Thinking this would be a great deal to get some fall clothes (or presents) for the girls, Riley and I headed up to the post office last night. We have a couple trashcans for people to throw things away in, and I wanted to see just how many of the coupons I could find. As I started filing through the first one, Riley's eyes opened widely and she said in a horrified voice, "What are you doing?" I probably would have had the same reaction to my mom if she were doing this when I was little, so I started laughing, saying "Saving us some money." Thinking if she were embarrassed of this (we were alone), oh, she may have a lot coming. Poor Riley just stood there, not knowing what to do. How many times have I told her, get out of the trashcan. Once it goes in, it doesn't come out.

The cost of this money-saving lesson for Riley, $40. I found 4 of the coupons.

Let's Go, Rangers!

Friday was the first and only Ranger's game for this summer. We chose a Friday night because they do fireworks after every Friday home game, and Riley loved them last year. I remember her dancing in the street (it was closed off, and we were pretty much alone), pointing and screaming with glee every time another went off, and they did a lot. Her hat from last year is too small, so she wanted a new red one. Thanks goodness we went on Family Friendly night, and they had hats and shirts discounted. This was Ruthie's first baseball game.

During the 6th inning, it started lighting, so we came down from the top level, walked around to centerfield, and thought we would see if it would pass. It didn't, and we got stuck until it lightened up. We got wet walking back to the car, and they decided they wouldn't do the fireworks, which they did end up doing 20 min. after we left. Oh well, we had fun, and did get to see the fireworks after they hit two home-runs, so Riley ended up satisfied.

Hunter Collin Mitchell

Hunter is here! He was born at 2:37 this afternoon, weighing 7lbs, 4 oz., and was 21 in. long. All are doing well. Dad sent me a few pictures of Hunter and the new family that I'm passing along to everyone. I told Andy on the way home that I do not envy them the sleepless night they will be having tonight. I can still remember ours, and truly appreciate the sleep that I now get.

Because these pictures were emailed to me, I am unable to get them bigger than this size. Maybe if you try to click on them, you may be able to enlarge them, but I'm not sure.

Monday's CVS

Great day at CVS on Monday. Most of their school supplies have been free after Extra Bucks the last few weeks. Some of it we won't use, but last year we were able to put together come backpacks to give to kids that couldn't afford school supplies, so most of the school supplies will be for that. I have Extra Bucks to use from the previous weeks, so I'm not out any money when I buy those. Next week they are having tons of Extra Bucks sales, so it would be a good time to start to build up the Extra Bucks.

I thought I'd give a breakdown of what I bought yesterday with the coupons that I used.

Cokes 4/$13 - got 3 EB
post-its $.99 - got .99 EB
erasers $.99 - got .99 EB
Herbal Essence shampoo $ 2.99 - got 1 EB
Herbal Essence hairspray $ 2.99
3 cereal cups $ .99 each
deodorant $1.99
pens $ .99 - got .99 EB
2 Neutrogena eye shandows $9.99 each
toothpaste $2.88 - got 2 EB
toilet paper $5.49
take-a-long containers $.99 - clearance from $3.99
M and M's $.88

Coupons used:
$1 off Herbal Essences
BOGO free Herbal Essences
$1 off Cheerios
$1 off Honey Nut Cheerios
$1 off toothpaste
$3 off Neutrogena (the store sale was BOGO free, so $6 came off one. Got both for $3.99)
$3 off Neutrogena
$1.50 CVS coupon for deodorant
$.75 deodorant coupons
$1.00 off toilet paper
$21 of Extra Bucks
$10 off a $50 purchase from CVS

Total paid for everything: $.43
Saved: around $80.00
Extra Bucks left: $6

The Wedding

Riley was one of the flower girls at my nephew's wedding over the weekend. The wedding was in the Armstrong Browning Library on the Baylor campus and was beautiful. We still had the silk petals from our wedding, so Riley had been practicing all last week walking up and down the hallway and dropping her petal, while Ruthie followed and tried to eat them. We were afraid she would get nervous and not walk out, but she did very well. She and her cousin, Mckenley, wore matching dresses, shoes, and their Mimi made some pretty rose clips for their hair. All in all, for a 3 and 2 1/2 year old, the girls were great!

One That Will Always Haunt Her!

Andy gave Riley a headband and wrist band that he got at the last football camp. Riley has been wearing them all around the house, out if we would let her. She hasn't quite figured out the head band and puts it on to where it pushes her hair up into a big puff on her head. Going cross-eyed was her idea when I asked her to smile. This might be one of those pictures we give for the senior year slide show. She may regret this one.

Every time I look at this picture I can't stop laughing.

Monday was a big shopping day for us. Target had Sobe Waters 10 for $10, get a $5 gift card back. I had 4 BOGO free coupons, so I got all 10 for $6, with a $5 card back. I like these, and they are probably better than Dr. Pepper. Kellog's has a great refund out. The Fuel for School refund is on the Kellogg's home page. Register and it will come up and you can print it. All you have to do is purchase 10 products on the list, mail in the reciept, and get a $10 refund. Our total spent on Monday was about $24.00, but we will get $10 of that back from the refund. Plus it is all food we eat. School supplies were basically free at CVS this week. The pens were .99, get .99 Extra Bucks back, so that all evened out. Our next problem, we are running out of room in our pantry!

Ruthie's Sneaky Snack

Riley left her Oreos out on the table on Saturday. Guess who found and finished them. Looks like she enjoyed them.

Cow Appreciation Day!

Yesterday at Chick-fil-A was Cow Appreciation Day, and if you dressed as a cow from head to toe, you got any free combo. Of course we took advantage of the free food. For Andy to get dressed up as anything, much less a cow, is an amazing feat. He grudgingly put on his nose in the car as we were about to get out saying there would be no one in there over the age of 5 that looked as ridiculous as us, until we looked two cars over and saw another family taping their noses and ears on. They rang a cowbell as anyone dressed up entered, so we did not go unnoticed (as Andy had hoped), but we did blend right in with the rest of the crowd.

Monday's Shopping Trip

Probably my best day ever. We went to the CVS #1 first and bought our things, then met Becca at CVS #2 to help her. She's wanting to get in on these bargains, too. After work, and without the girls, we went to Walgreens and Target. I usually don't do all three stores in one day, but without the girls, I get it in, since it's so much easier. Total that we spent on Monday, $9.66. Total that we saved, $123.77. I told Andy it almost feels like stealing when our $25.00 Target purchases went down to $4.00 after coupons. Missing from the picture is a package of donuts for Riley's breakfast and a box of cereal that Dad wanted to try.

Rain!

It finally rained today! We have been needing and praying for rain for a long time now. The last time it rained was 3 weeks ago when we were out of town, and we missed out on any rain last week. Last month we had to refill part of our pool and water new grass after we dug up much of our yard during the septic system disaster, so the rain was such a blessing after a $90 water bill for June.

Riley heard the rain and wanted to wear her rain outfit. I had forgotten the raincoat that Andrea passed to Riley, but Riley remembered it and paired it with her new rain boots. She had the whole outfit ready to go out the door to Pepaw's house this morning.

Look what I know

Since Valentine's Day Riley has enjoyed making cards for people. She made a card on Friday for her friend, Mabry, and brought it over for me to check out. She surprised me by writing her own name. Since it was a card for Mabry, she wouldn't let me keep it, so I had to take a picture of it.

Pool Party!

Our pool is finally up and running. Andy was home for a few days two weeks ago, and being the wonderful husband he is, worked on the pool. It is vacuumed, chlorinated, not leaking and ready to go. This was our first time to get in as a family, and the girls loved it. Riley is much more comfortable in the water this year, and Andy was even teaching her how to kick and float. Ruthie just splashes, and loves the water hitting her, something Riley hated. She may be a water baby. It is so nice having this in the backyard where we can go cool down in the 100 degree heat.

Our Trip to the Beach

A few weeks ago, Andy had a football camp in Beaumont that we were all able to attend. Friday was a free day for us, so I did the unthinkable and took both girls to Moody Gardens and then the beach. Needless to say I was exhausted by the time we got home. Riley had been asking to see the beach for awhile, and since we wouldn't be that close again this summer, I wanted to take her. Trip was going okay until we got to the beach. Walking across the steaming hot sand while carrying all the bags, Ruthie and dragging a screaming Riley caused a pretty good commotion. We stayed for an hour, then I had to carry both girls and bags back up to the seawall. Covered in sand because we had no place to rinse off, we waited an hour for the ferry. Riley was so tired she didn't want to get back out and feed the seagulls. Although it was fun, I don't know if I will do this by myself again!

DEALS GALORE!

I am caught up on my deals post now. These are the last two for now, but I'm sure they'll be more. Okay, the picture with the Thermacare wraps was a total of $1.86, saving $37.20. The second was even better. Last Monday I visited CVS, Target, and Walgreens. We had some time to kill, otherwise I would not take both girls three places all in one day to 'bargain' shop, as Riley called it. We got everything for a total of $7.79, saving $76.04. I sure wish I had known how to do this a long time ago.

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Riley's dinner

Riley is a very picky eater, so I never know what she will eat for dinner. Her list of foods that she will eat: peanut butter and jelly, dinosaur nuggets, peaches, corn, green beans, M and M's, and eggs. Her request tonight: green eggs with no ham. If she'll eat it, I'll cook it.

It's been about 30 min, and she is still at the table trying to eat the two eggs. She is now asking for her second course, Starburst.

Another deal!

This one is from Target and CVS, again. We go there every Monday now. The cashier that is there on Monday mornings now knows us by name.

Allright, out of pocket (oop) we spent $5.43! And the light bulbs were $2.50! The picture of Ruthie is a little scary, as it is bigger than her actual head. CVS was doing a free 8x10 enlargement, so I thought I'd try it out to see if it would be worth it in the future.

Riley likes getting in all the "deal" pictures. She knows now that we will be taking them when we get home, and she likes helping me set everything up

One great shopping trip!

Okay, so I love getting deals at the grocery store, and I love even more bragging about them.

This was from CVS, which I am now addicted to. Out of pocket we spent 11.98, but saved - are you ready - 92.00! We got everything here for almost just the price of the three milks alone! I really wish I knew how to do this when I first started staying home. We budget about $25.00 each week for groceries (after one big week), but apparently $25.00 is too much. What a great problem.

Just Getting Started

I have wanted to start one of these since my sister-in-law did, and have now just had the time to check it out. Not exactly sure how I'll do, but I'll try. We wanted to be able to keep up with family and friends, be able to share what's been going on in our lives and the changes that are taking place.