Have I ever told you?

Have I ever told you I love coupons?? Oh my word!! I had my best trip to meijer ever tonight!! I'm not listing what I bought, because you will be able to see in my picture, but I spent......

$31.28

And I saved.....

$79.50!!!!!

BBQ sauce anyone??

Starting him young!!

Steve is making sure that Charlie is all boy, for sure!! This past week, Steve had a bobcat home from work, (to start yet another project, a shed!) and he had to have Charlie sit in it! I guess it is to get him started in his love for big machinery. I took a few pictures, and I think that Steve was enjoying it more than Charlie. Oh well, Charlie will soon learn that is just how it is around here. Big Machines=Great times.

A Quick Bargain

My Target Trip:

2 Lysol toilet bowl cleaners

1 Lysol All purpose cleaner

8 Johnson's Buddies Bar Soap

2 Pedigree Dentastix (George gets neglected :-)

$5.93, plus I'm sending in for a $3 Lysol rebate, so really it cost me $2.93!

Check out my sidebar to find these good deals too!!

My Baby

A letter from mommy:

Charlie,

Today you are one!! I can't believe it! It has gone by so fast, almost too fast for me. You are growing up into a little boy and you rarely ever let me hold you like my baby anymore. Every once in a while, when you are really tired, you will cuddle. I always take those extra minutes and stay with you as long as I can.

You are becoming more independant everyday and not needing me as much. You are starting to have some separation issues though, and secretly I like it. You love to eat anything you can get your hands on, and all the time too! You love to play with daddy and have been able to share a lot of time with him this winter. He might not think it's a blessing, but I think it is! Not many little boys get to spend so much time with their daddy. I look forward to playing with you everyday and love listening to your giggles and jabbering. My favorite thing is listening to your imitation of daddy when you drive your cars. The constant rumbling of your trucks is music to my ears. You love your toys and could play for hours! You also love all your grandparents and your playmates, Ethan and Micah. If you had big brothers, I think that you would like them to be like your cousins. Hopefully, someday you will be able to be just like your cousins when you have younger siblings... (no announcement here...)

You are curious and love to explore. You love climbing stairs and your newest passion, walking! You are getting very good at it too! Pretty soon, you will be running around outside with daddy and George. You love getting "scared" by daddy and crawling toward me at breakneck speed. You love feeding George from the dinner table. You love your praise baby videos and "dancing" to your drums. You absolutely love reading and have even mastered the act of sitting in the lap of the reader.

Sometimes, when I check on you before I go to bed for the night, I just stare into your crib. I wonder how God could trust me with something so precious. He gave me this perfect little boy for me to teach about Him and so someday that little boy will be able to share his faith with others who don't know about Him. He gave me you, and for that I will be forever grateful.

Charlie, you amaze me everyday with the new things you do. I look forward to having many more days being pleasantly surprised by you. I am so blessed to be your mommy and to say I love you would be an understatement.

I love you little man!

Love,

Mommy

My New Pantry

As many of you know, Steve has been finishing our basement over the course of this winter. My pantry is in the basement and it had to be disassembled due to construction. Well, this week, Steve built me a brand new one!! I cleaned everything and rearranged all my stock. I have been meaning to post these pictures and tonight I had a request to do it. So Tara, this is for you!!

The large part of the pantry, toiletries on top and food underneath...

The laundry/partial cleaning area

Most of my shampoo/haircare...I'm surprised it fit on one shelf!!

Shavers/Candy/toothbrushes/misc items

All for the love of coupons!!

Tara, I hope you can put your eyeballs back in the sockets... :-)

Back to Bargains!

I took a little bit of time off from couponing since we have been going full tilt on the basement in order to get it done for Charlie's birthday party. But I have been starting back at it! Today was actually pretty fun! Charlie and I went to Target with an empty cart and a whole lot of coupons. It really only took me about 20-30 minutes to get everything. At the end, I had a full cart and the cashier was impressed with the amount I saved! That's always refreshing to hear instead of the sigh when they see my coupon pile. (I can't say the same about the woman in line behind me) Oops. She thought she got in the short line.... Anyways, This is what I got:

2 Huggies mega pack wipes

2 Aveeno baby washes (with bonus travel lotions :-)

3 Johnson's baby washes

2 Pledge Multi-surface cleaner sprays

3 Boxes Pop secret popcorn

5 boxes Fruit snacks

5 Gillette Body Washes

4 Gerber Graduates cheese puffs (Charlie's Fave!)

5 12-Packs of Pepsi products

My total before Coupons was 105.04

After coupons: $35.82!!

Just for perspective, this is what I would have gotten for $35 with NO coupons:

I'll take the sigh from the lady behind me anyday!

Too Fast

Do you ever think that your kids grow up way too fast?? I'm sure you all do because plenty of you have told me so! Well, our little guy is growing up! He's starting to walk and he likes to take naps with a pillow! Some of my friends have had babies recently, so that gives me my baby fix because Charlie won't cuddle much :-( Here's his latest accomplishment for your enjoyment!

And the picture of him napping with his pillow. (Don't worry-he doesn't sleep with it!)