Walgreens and Rite Aid 7-1-11

So I have decided to post everything here on the page and then put copies in the respective areas, so this will be here and in the Hannoah Savings compartment on the right. All other couponing stuff is in there as well.

7-1-11 Walgreens and Rite Aid

So today I hit Walgreens and Rite Aid. I recently purchased a coupon binder full of coupons so I have a few more and I have been buying double copies of the Sunday papers to stock up Online coupons have been a great asset as well. I have a couple of blogs I follow pretty regularly. They are my favorites. The Krazy Coupon Lady, Super Coupon Lady, and Spend With Pennies are my faves. I check them regularly. I have most of them on my facebook.

Walgreens

So the total on my Walgreens shopping trip today was $23.79 OOP with a savings of $37.45. I did two transactions, the first to build up some Register Rewards and the second to spend them :).

My first transaction was the Twizzlers, which were on sale for 2/$3.00 with $1.00 RR and I had a coupon for $.50 off; the Intuition Razer Refill 3ct,which was on sale for $8.99 with $3.00RR and I had a $2.00 off coupon; the Johnson Baby Care wash and detangler were on sale 2/$6.00 with $1.00 RR; and finally the Reach Toothbrush which was on sale for $2.99 with $2.00 RR. Total for this first transaction was $19.85 and it gave me $7.00 in Register Rewards for Transaction #2.



Transaction #2 consisted of: 2 cans Blue Diamond Almonds on sale Buy one for $3.59 Get one Free and I had a coupon for $.60 off 2; Curad bandages for $.99 with a $.50 off coupon (I wanted two, but there was only one pack left); Tylenol Precise Pain Creme was on sale for $7.99 and I used a $5.00 off coupon and a $3.00 off coupon making it FREE; Pantene Shampoo and Conditioner was Buy One for $4.99 Get one 50% off and I had a save $3.00 on two; then I had to buy 3 carmels and a sucker for filler to use my RR. The total on this after the RR was $3.94.

Rite Aid

Rite Aid was a smaller trip for a few near free items. It was a lot higher percentage of savings though. I did two transactions which together cost me $6.09 and saved me $32.25. I had a couple free items and a great money maker on this one.


Transaction #1 was only two items, but it made me the most in +UP Rewards. I bought Veet Caring touch Creme Kit for $5.99 (I could have saved more if I had gotten the facial waxing strips but those are just scary) and used a $3.00 off and a $2.00 off coupons and got $1.00 +UP reward which made this FREE; then I bought sunglasses. The way this worked was all sunglasses were on sale Buy One get One 50% off. They carry two brands and if you watch the videos at riteaid.com you can get a $5.00 off coupon for each of them. The kids glasses were $7.99 and $6.99. You also got $5.00 +UP rewards when you buy two. This ends up being a $3.51 money maker. The total for that first transaction was $3.61 with savings of $18.50 and $6.00 +UP rewards.


Transaction #2 was a little more than I had hoped because they were out of the cereal I wanted so I settled for Cookie Crisp which was $4.49 and I had $.75 off coupon; I got Coppertone Sun Screen on sale for $8.99 and I used a $1.00 off coupon from another video, $2.00 off, and another $2.00 off coupon, making total for the sunscreen $3.99. I used my $6.00 +up rewards and another $1.00 purchase from the videos to make the total $2.48 with savings of $13.75.


All in all a great shopping day.

Summer Sewing

I finished a project finally.  My daughter and her little neighborhood friends decided to have a water fight day before yesterday for a birthday party. As I was picking her up from the party, I noticed that she was poured into her suit from last year.  It was obviously to small, since she was picking it out of her butt after every step.  We were headed for Joann's Fabric store anyway, so I decided I would make her a suit.  This idea didn't actually just come on a whim.  When I was little, my grandma made me a swimsuit.  I still remember it. It was bright ass pink, and I remember her talking about how easy the pattern was because it started out just a square.  I thought I could do it, so I tried my luck.  I will try my best to explain the pattern so you can get it.  This can be made for adults or children.  I added straps but the original pattern ends up strapless.

 I remember my grandma saying it only took 1 yard of fabric.  I am sure now, that I making that up in my head, but it worked for me.  I actually bought 1 1/2 yds, but ended up with quite a bit left over.  The idea is simple.  Cut a square of fabric.  I used a 30 inch square for my daughter, but you certainly could go larger if needed.  A thirty inch square made the ties around the top about 42 inches around.  After you have cut the square of fabric, you will need to cut it diagonally in half.  This should give you two right triangles.  Using the 90 degree angled corner of each overlap them.  I overlapped by three inches and that seemed perfect.
So if you are understanding my directions you should have two triangles with right angles overlapping forming a diamond.  My diamond had three inch sides.  I took a small zig zag stitch and stitched them together.  Make sure that you stitch both sides, and that both pieces of fabric are facing the same way.  Either both right side up or both right side down. This forms the crotch of the suit.  I also hemmed about 1/2 inch on the long sides of the triangles which become the ties.  On one of the long sides I found the center and went out four inches and attached one 14 inch long strap to go over her head.  This worked, but I think I may have to adjust it in just a tad bit.
To wear the suit, take one long edge of a triangle and tie it around your chest.  If you attach a strap of some sort, start with that. Feed the rest of the suit between your legs and pull the other triangle up behind you.  Take the remaining long side and tie it around your waist.  There is your suit.
What I loved about this is that it really easy an easy suit to make and the materials only cost me $7.00.  Have fun and don't forget your sunscreen!!

What did I do wrong?

I know it has been a long time since I posted. I had an epiphany yesterday sparking this post.  I was running out of things to write about.  I couldn't think of any great stories or epic adventures so I hadn't written.  What I realized though, is that my life has been crazy and it is good enough to write about it.  This is supposed to be about me. 
A few things of note have happened in the last two weeks.  The first and most important is my husband got a job at a local prison.  We are trying to prepare for the change as much as we can.  He has to go to a POST academy in Boise which is about 6 hours away for five weeks.  This couldn't have come at a worse time really.  I am so happy for him, but my brother is coming home from Afghanistan and we have a big family get together planned for about 5 weeks from now. My dreads is that my husband's graduation and my brother's homecoming will be the same weekend. We'll know more on May 24th, when my hubby goes for orientation.  I guess no point in stressing before that, even though my mother-in-law has already started the guilt trip.
The second thing is that the sickness in my house has been spreading like wildfire.  It's all my fault.  I got strep throat, went to the doctor, got my antibiotics, got over it.  I also gave it to my hubby, not to bad, but enough for him to feel cruddy.  Then my daughter pops up with this crazy rash all over her body.  I take her to the doc and he says that she has scarlet fever, probably from my having strep.  Good gravy, what a wreck she was.  Itching all over, we basically bathed her in calamine lotion twice daily and a round of antibiotics for her.  Then from me taking antibiotics and my son breast feeding he got thrush.  I took him to the doc to get that checked and the doc finds that he also has double ear infections.  Nothing better for thrush than another damned round of antibiotics.  So now he is on antibiotics and thrush medication and I have to use the thrush medication on my breasts to make sure this nastiness doesn't come full circle.  I just hate that my baby is sick again.
Which brings me to the title of this blog.  What did I do wrong with this baby? He seems sick a lot.  It just kills me. When I was young and stupid and pregnant with my first baby I smoked the whole time, I ate like a hog, I didn't exercise, I drank soda all day long, and delivered a healthy baby girl naturally with no problems.  I didn't have the support I needed to keep breast feeding so I quit after three weeks.  I continued to smoke and she still was pretty darned healthy.  It seems like against all odds she was healthy.  Now I am smart enough to know that I was lucky.  I have seen people lose babies and have sick babies and I know that I shouldn't press the odds.  I decided with this next baby, I was doing it right.
I quit smoking, I ate healthy, I quit drinking soda and switched to decaf tea.  I tried to exercise a little when I could.  I tried to do everything right.  I ended up with a c-section because his heart rate was dropping. Jaundice for the first week. We have fought ear infections, RSV with bronchiolitis, thrush, and numerous colds that seem to come with his teeth.  I am still breast feeding and can proudly say my son has never had formula.  I try to still eat healthy for him.  I take my vitamins every day. What am I doing wrong?  Is this karma for taking chances with my daughter?  Since I have been a stay at home mom and he was breastfed, it really makes me think I am doing something wrong.  It is so frustrating when someone says to me, oh no..your baby is sick again. I thought breastfed babies didn't get sick this often.  Yeah! Me too.  I truly hope this is not my fault and I am not doing something wrong. I would assume that if there was real reason for concern my doctor would let me know, but it still gets me feeling like he is suffering because of me.

Helping the community!!

I know I am a couple days late for my weekly post...okay a week late.  I have been so busy lately.  My kids have me hopping everyday it seems.  I also helped with a big project at my church this week.  It has been very exciting for me.  My grandma who passed in 1990 had a vegetable garden for as long as I can remember. She grew dill, carrots, cucumbers, zuchini, and more.  I remember so well visiting her garden, and then eating the food when she canned it for us.  Those are probably my best memories of my grandma Burt.  My family didn't pick up the garden fever or the canning fever when I was young, but I have always thought I was missing out on something there.  Then came a blessing in disguise.  It was disguised as my mother-in-law. She is a serious gardener, all organic and huge garden at her house.  We got to talking and I decided I wanted to garden too.  We tilled up a small plot in my little yard here and I started my garden. I grow tomatoes, broccoli, lettuce, cucumbers, beans, watermelons, and peppers.  I have enjoyed myself so much, and she also cans.  We take our delicious veggies and can them for the whole year. My mom even found my grandma Burt's dill pickle recipe and for the first time in 20 years, I had my grandma's pickles again. It brought tears to my eyes.  I shared with the whole family..I know she would have been proud.
This year my mother-in-law and I have decided to take it up a notch and really share our love with everyone around us.  Our church had a large lot behind it that was going unused.  Good Shepherd Lutheran Church graciously helped us plow the land and make a community garden.  This isn't just a garden for the community to enjoy, it is split into plots that the community can sign up to plant.  There are almost thirty plots now, and room for many more if needed.  We came together as a church to give everyone the chance to have a garden.  We have already had four people claim plots to grow in.  The church youth are also going to man a plot to donate the food to the local food bank.  We have a thieves plot if someone needs to steal a bite as well. We are so excited about this project.  We really hope the community gets involved.  If you live in the Lewiston Idaho area you should definitely come by and get a plot.  "Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime.”

Recipes to Try

So this week has been pretty busy.  As I wrote about last week I volunteer at my daughters school with their reading program.  The school and volunteers are working hard to motivate the kids to read for this last 7 weeks of school.  Their focus is apparently reliant on the cold weather, and now that it is warm it flew right out the window.  It is thankfully lighter longer and we are all enjoying it.  I have resorted to outright bribery to get them to read.  I help two classes of second graders.  There are about 20 kids per class.  My bribe was if the class could have 15 returned "baggies" (if you need explanation you should have read Volunteering from last week) in one day, I would bring treats.  Wouldn't you know it both classes returned 15+ books within two days of each other.  I couldn't be more proud, or busy baking.  I found some really great recipes on the Food Network website. I have been using this site a lot. I love that I can watch the shows and then grab the recipe and store it in my recipe box.  I have almost 30 recipes saved in there.  Go to my Recipes from Posts page to check out the recipes for the cookies I made.  For my daughters class, I made Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies.  These are for the chocoholic in everyone.  They were delicious, but hard to cook without burning them.  They almost look raw, Paula Deen's definition of gooey, but as they cooled they dried a bit and were delicious.  For the other class, I made a recipe I had made previously for my daughters class.  I love this recipe because it is so easy.  They are called Meringue Cookies or "Forgotten Kisses".  This recipe has very few ingredients and I have actually found quite a few slightly different variations that have all been delicious.  This recipe calls for chocolate chips, but I have used white chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, and a mixture of dark chocolate and mint chips.  They have all been wonderful.  The other great thing about these is you don't have to time the cooking.  I whipped up the batter in about 10 minutes last night right before bed, then you put them in a 350 degree over and turn it off.  You can leave them overnight, which is what I did.  I woke up with cookies ready to go to school.  They were definitely a hit.  Check these recipes out, they are worth it!

Volunteering

At my husbands suggestion, when I asked what I should blog about this week, he said I should blog about my volunteer work at my daughters school.  I happen to think this is a bit of a boring subject, but I guess since this is supposed to be about my life, and my life is not always exciting, a little boring might be okay. 
I go to my daughters school everyday to help them with a great class project.  Everyday the students take home a "baggie book".  These are a collection of books that the teacher has available for the kids to chose.  They take one book and put it in their baggie, a gallon ziploc with their name on it.  They take the books home and read them for 20min.  They have a slip to be signed by a parent and returned.  If the kids return their book with the slip signed, they get a "purple paw".  These paws can be traded for prizes when they have saved enough.  They also have some contests to see how fast they can get to 500 as a class, and they had a competition to see which second grade class could get the most in a month. 
I think this is a great program to get these kids reading.  I make them treats for hitting goals.  I love being able to encourage their reading and growing. 
My big part in this process is that I am the "bag lady".  I go in every day and record who has returned their book and give them their purple paws and a new slip for the next day.  Even though this is just a little thing, it saves the teachers about 30 min. a day that they can use to teach and do their work.  Every little bit helps.  I am glad that even doing something small like this is helping the entire grade. 
The other great part of this is I get to take my son with me.  We stroller over every day and he sits with me in the classroom.  The children all love him.  He sits and listens to them sing and read.  It is great socialization and my daughters teacher thinks that the kids learning to ignore a small distraction is good for them.
It has really been a great way for me to get out of the house everyday.  It has been so amazing to think of my sons growing through this time.  When we started going to school back in August, he was only 2 months old.  When the school year is over in 35 days, he will be 10 months old.  He has been amazingly patient and sits while I work.  It has been a truly fun experience and I hope that they will let us do it next year as well. 
I encourage anyone with small children to see what you can do with them.  I know it is hard to leave them, and I am surprised to see the opportunities that will let you bring them with.  I volunteer at the school, I am part of our church group and bring him with me to that.  Make sure that you ask about opportunities that you want and see if they will accommodate you and your child.

Why Didn't They Tell Me? Church Revealed!

Most of us just finished our Easter dinner with the family.  We have at least one or two people with their pants unbuttoned snoring on the couch.  Most of us even know that Easter is not just about the Easter Bunny, but the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus.  I have been Christian all my life, however I just started attending a Lutheran church at the request of my husband.  He had been brought up in this church and our other church was a little too flamboyant for him. 
For those of you who aren't familiar with the Lutheran church, it is quite similar to the Catholic church in that it is very formal, scripted, and steeped in tradition.  The only problem with this is I don't know the traditions.  Where is the Lutheran hand book?  Our congregation is mostly made up of older people who have been doing this a long time, but how can we bring in new members if we don't let them know what is going on?  So, I wanted to take a moment and let you know some of the things I learned this week, and other things I found online.  Feel free to comment on things that you think people should know about your church.

• Lent..this starts on Ash Wednesday and lasts until Easter.  Many of you have heard of giving things up for lent.  Though the Lutheran church doesn't require it, many of us did give things up.  The things I didn't know about this was, Sundays are typically not counted because Sundays represent the resurrection.  There are 40 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter if you don't count Sundays.  We give something up to represent what Christ gave for us. 
• Holy Week.  This is the last week of Lent.  There are a few days that I knew about during holy week and few that I had no idea on.  These are the big days to know.  Palm Sunday is the day that Jesus came to Jerusalem.  Maundy Thursday which is the day that we celebrate the seder meal.  Good Friday the day that Jesus was arrested and crucified.  Easter Sunday the day of his resurrection.
• Maundy Thursday our church held a seder meal.  This is not just your average little dinner party.  This is a commemoration of the passover meal. 
• Typically there is a Good Friday service, what no one told me is it is the equivalent of a funeral.  While most people were respectfully wearing black, I had no idea.
• Easter at our church there is a cross to decorate with flowers, but I have heard that it is very common to bring Easter Lillies or flowers of some sort to this occasion.
• Communion was something new to me as well and our church takes communion twice a month.  When I first started attending the church, I was not allowed to take communion.  I am thinking this is pretty judgmental of the church.  Then I took my adult confirmation class and learned the importance of what communion symbolizes. 

As I learn more I will try to share, but I really think that churches should remember that some people are very new to their church and make sure that everyone knows what is happening and the symbolism behind it.  Share your story with us as well!!

Some of the holy week information take from http://www.kencollins.com/ and is copyrighted by him.  There is a lot of information on his website if you have other questions about religion.