Reflecting on Easter Weekend

This year I decided I wanted to slow Easter weekend down just a little, don't we all just seem to run through our lives day in and day out and we look back on the past week and wonder what happened to it and can't remember half of the things we did because we were so busy going from place to place, task to task.

We had a wonderful Easter Egg hunt at our church on Saturday and with two peeps and a busy church parking lot I get stressed out because, well I am over protective and if I can't see them I panic. This year my mom and brother came (he came with his three children) so I had even more to worry over but they are 8 and 7 and they buddy up with my 7 and 4 year old and I threaten all of them if they lost their buddy. It work quite well and I get a chance to relax and walk around and visit with church friends and take pictures of all 5 peeps. We had a blast this year and I felt such much joy that my brother and my mom wanted to share a special, fun day with me and the peeps at my church.

Easter Sunday was so peaceful and a day to celebrate family, love, blessings and rejoice that Jesus has risen! Praise God!!

Of course the furry white bunny did come and visit our house that morning and left the peeps some wonderful little treasures!

Everything but the chocolate bunnys were bought after Easter last year at 50-75% off at Target. I have labeled bins in my garage and I just go shopping in there for every hoilday. It really helps not having to dish out alot of $$ for holiday treats. I did the same after Easter shopping this year and got some great items again for 50-75% and alot of them will also work for stocking stuffers at Christmastime too.

Always think ahead when you see all those marked down hoilday items and purchase them at reasonable price for the next year. Invest in some good quality bins and label, label, label! That way you will not forget you have it!

HELLO SPRING!!!!

Our Spring Break

This week has been my daughter's Spring Break and while we were not able to travel anywhere we had a wonderful time at home. She and I spend a wonderful day together Wednesday. I brought her to our beautiful main library and she got her very first library card. The building itself is just amazing and we had fun exploring all four stories, riding up and down in the clear glass elevators. She checked out books about pigs, because well, she loves anything that has to do with cute, pink piggies. We ask the librarian wehre we would find book on pigs and she was so super helpful and showed us the many places in the kid's area we could find loads of pig stores. Check out the website here: http://www.memphislibrary.org/

Then we had lunch at a local eatery called Just for Lunch. While the menu is not very kid friendly, the old cobblestone street scene atmosphere with your tables sitting right in front of one of the old village storefronts in just incredible. The best part is that it is all inside, out of bad weather or the hot sun, but you feel like you are outside because of all the skylights above. The staff is super sweet and really catered to my daughter, spoiled her is more like it.

I imagine they don't get that many 7 year old children eating quiche and cold cucumber soup every day. My daughter decided on a big salad with loads of ranch dressing and a grilled cheese. What she loved the most was the bread basket filled with warm yeast rolls, fresh blueberry mini muffins and mini orange muffins that you could see the bits of orange zest in. Very yummy and we ask for a second basket. We finished our meal up with a flour-less chocolate cake with raspberry puree. Absolutely Divine~

After three play dates, three haircuts, Chinese food followed by mexican the next night, two trips to the zoo, the Children's museum, the library, eating lunch at a locally owned restaurant, shopping at eccentric little shops in Midtown we have run out of Spring break week. Now we head into Easter weekend and what a joyous weekend it is. Easter egg hunt this Saturday and church on Sunday followed by Easter dinner at my mom's house.

This is one of my favorite things~

~ The Vintage Pearl ~

I just started blogging this past Fall and never really knew how many interesting, crafty, creative people were out there in this crazy blog world. Through other people's blogs I have found some very crafty bloggers. I am just amazed at the talent some of these bloggers have.

I came across http://www.thevintagepearl.com/ and was blown away by the simple beauty of her jewelry line. I am always looking for beautiful, unique jewelry. What better than a website that will custom make you the most gorgeous personalized necklaces, bracelets and charms for such a wonderfully reasonable price.

I ordered the "dainty drops" with my two peeps names and their birthstone charm. It has not left my neck since I received it!

LOVE IT!!

She also has a great little blog spot here: http://thevintagepearl.blogspot.com/

Check out her website for Mother's Day gifts this year. Any mother would be beyond thrilled to receive one of her personalized pieces. Be sure and order early because she gets very busy this time of year!

Getting back into the coupon swing:

The rest of my coupons finally came in for this weeks sale. Our sales run from Tuesday to Tuesday, I had time before I picked my two peeps up from school to make a fast trip in Schnuck's with NO kids! You mommies can appreciate the grocery store trip without children.

What I picked up this trip:

(15) Tennessee Pride Sausage Gravy packs 10/10: My cost $0.00
I used .55c coupons that doubled making them FREE
FYI: This package is just perfect for my husband, I make a batch of biscuits on Sunday and when even he wants sausage gravy during the week, tada you got gravy baby! Even better FREE gravy baby~


(20) Act II 3pk popcorn 10/10: My total cost $4.00
The coupons I used were the .40c off one, that doubled to .80c making them .20c each

I had to get a rain check for the Land O Lakes butter. I have 10 more coupons to use for FREE butter. BTW butter freezes GREAT!

Subtotal: $4.00
Tax: $1.57
Grand Total: $5.57

Saved $31.00; that is 88% savings

Thursday's trip to Schnuck's grocery.

I had so much fun today. Poppie is here entertaining my little boy peep and I had the day to myself to shop slowly and browse and read labels and check expiration dates and treasure hunt for deals and coupons.

Ahhhhhhhhhhh what a day, I am tired, I need a nap but ahhh what a day. Poor Poppie needs a nap too, asap. He and little boy peep walked the zoo today and the first words out of his mouth was, " that is alot of walking".

Here is how I did at Schnucks today:

12 tubs of Land O Lakes Butter FREE w/ coupons

12 Yoplait yogurts $4.00 or .33 each

2 Gorton's Fish Products FREE with coupon

5 Betty Crocker Potatoes .38 each after coupons

6 Lunchables no coupons for these but a good deal

4 Green Giant Frozen Veg. boxes .50 each after coupons

4 Crescent rolls .60 each after coupons

4 Cinnamon rolls .60 each after coupons

Total before coupons: $47.49

Total after: $19.00 (Out of Pocket) not including tax

Total savings: $28.49 / 55% savings

My shopping list @ Schnucks this week:

I don't go to Schnucks very often but I always check their ad every week. They aren't very coupon friendly and the snobby rich people waiting in line behind you get very very impatient with the lady that is trying to use coupons, it has to be a very good sale to peak my interest.

SCHNUCKS:

Green Giant Vegetables in sauce 10 for 10
Again no need to buy 10, buy the amount you want. There is a printable coupon for .50c off two so it is a B1G1 if you use the coupon. 2 for $1.00


Betty Crocker Specialty potatoes: 10 for 10
There are .40c off one coupon here: http://www.bettycrocker.com/. They double to .80c so your OOP is just .20c a box.


Act II popcorn (3 pk) is 10 for 10
There is a .40c coupon that will double to .80c, so .20c a three pack

Land O Lakes Butter Spread 10 for 10
There are .50c coupons that double making these free! There are .55c printable here: http://www.landolakes.com/

Pillsbury Grands, Sweet Rolls and Crescent rolls are 10 for 10
There are .40c off two printables here for many of these: http://www.pillsbury.com/


Gorton's Fish Products are B1G1 Free this week.
I had a FREE coupon from Gordon's from an email I sent to them. Many companies will mail you coupons for your feedback on their products. I was able to get two free by using this coupon in conjunction with the store sale.

Yoplait Yogurt is 10 for $5 (.50c each)
There are printable here: http://www.pillsbury.com/ ($.50 off 6) This coupon will double so you get 2 free after coupon)

Lunchables are 10 for 10
Great deal considering these are $2.39 regular price


Hope you have fun shopping, remember every penny saved counts toward being debt free!!

If you have any question just ask!

My shopping list @ Kroger this week:

I haven't been coupon much lately, just needed a little breather for awhile. A handful or so every time I went but not a huge couponing event. Kroger and Schnuck ads this week have both inspired me to get back in the swing of coupon and start stockpiling a few great staple items.



Here are the highlights of what I will be shopping for this week:

KROGER

Oscar Mayer Lunchable 10 for 10
No, you do not have to buy 10 to get that price, buy as many or as few as you want They normally run $2.19 each and my kids have just discovered them and they really like them. I am proud to say that for the past 7 years I have avoided these little premade boxes of processed food items......until NOW. On a positive note it will be cheaper lunches a few times a week.



Kroger Brand Bar or Shredded Cheese or Deli sliced B1G1 Free
If they didn't raise the price of the cheese then this is a great deal and cheese freezes very well both bar and shredded.



Old El Paso taco shells, tortillas or refried beans 10 for 10
Good deal to stock your pantry with, they always have a long expiration day and make for a super quick weeknight, Mexican dinner for the family. Plus, if you can find the packages with the peelie coupon to get a free seasoning packages with purchase of two Old El Paso products then it is an even sweeter deal. Many times you can find printable coupons here: http://www.bettycrocker.com/



Betty Crocker Frosting 2 for $3.00
Great stockpile item for you pantry. There are .50 coupons on 1 frosting tub, these coupons double at Kroger making each tub of icing .50 a piece. Super sweet deal!~ Find printable coupons here: http://www.bettycrocker.com/



Betty Crocker Pounch Cookie Mixes 2 for $3.00
There are .40c coupons on one, that double to .80 making the final price just .70 a pouch.
Find printable coupons here: http://www.bettycrocker.com/


Weight Watchers Smart Ones Entrees 5 for $10
Match with the $4 off 10 and the 'buy 5 get one breakfast items free' makes some very cheap meals for me! Here is the math: $10 - $4 coupon = $6.00 plus one free breakfast meal. Breaks down to $1.00 each for all 6 entrees.

I will post Schnuck's Grocery tonight~

A sunny day at our city zoo...

We finally got some really nice weather today in our city and the peeps and I headed straight to our city zoo. My mom bought us a membership about 4 years ago and we have thoroughly enjoyed being able to go whenever we wanted and not worry about the cost of parking and admission into the zoo. A annual membership really pays for itself and you also don't worry about ever time you go seeing everything so you "get your money's worth".


Sometime we will go an hour before close, when all the animals start getting very route and hungry, because they know it is almost feeding time. It is a very tranquil time of day and the sky is always a crimson red with flex of yellow and burst of orange. There is usually very few people there and we feel like we have our own personal tour.


Our zoo has come such a long way from when I was a child. I remember being horrified at the concrete build that the "big cats" lived in and the cold metal bars that separated us from their sad faces. And don't even get me started on the smell. I always thought it was a sick trick that they painted the concrete green to pretend that it was grass. The poor monkeys were no better off than the big cats, in their concrete "viewing building". Now the zoo is a beautiful, caring, nurturing environment where most, not all, of the animals have a very natural environment to roam and play, to sleep and enjoy the warm sun rays. The zoo has made huge strides in the last 10 years and it shows.

The Northwest Passage is a fantastic exhibit featuring Polar Bears. The main building has two viewing areas to watch the Polar Bears on one side and the Seals on the other. They have full glass windows that are mostly under water so you can see the animals in action under water. I am amazed everytime we go and see these beauitful animals swimming and playing. The design and artistic creativity that went into creating these special exhibits are just amazingly beautiful.

Our newest addtion to our zoo is the Teton Trek. The Log Cabin is unbelievably beautiful and breathtaking. Here is a link to the website www.memphiszoo.org/home

Front of the log cabin.

Back of the log cabin, looking over the bears and wolves

Inside, upstairs of the log cabin. Just beautiful~

They even have a fireplace, we sat right in front of it to have our lunch.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Wednesday~

Adventures in cooking with Gammie Ann

We had two special guest come visit us Friday and stay through Saturday, my husband's parents. They only live three hours away but we do not get to see them very much and every time they come down it is such a nice treat especially for my two little peeps.

Gammie Ann is a retired caterer (or at least she is retired until someone slightly twist her arm and she cooks something scrumptious for their special event) She is a wonderful cook and loves to experiment, especially on us. I think of her is a combo of buttery Paula Deen (without the potty mouth and diamond rings dripping off her fingers) and classic Ina Garten minus the Hampton's snobby laugh, you know exactly what I mean.

She is both of those ladies best qualities and she can talk cooking, baking, preserving and roasting ALL day long. It is like Food Network without all the advertisements. This trip she made fresh fruit rolls with mint, lime, honey dip. The dip was wonderful and the fruit rolls need a little more fine tuning but have great potential.

Sara had so much fun helping make the fruit rolls. I love seeing the two of them work together in the kitchen. There is something about two generations creating something together that is just magical.

I love how you can just tell my sweet peep is listening and learning from her grandmother.

Our own little Reading Rainbow

When you have young children in your home that are learning to read, your daily life revolves around books, spelling words, pronouncing words and bedtime stories. My oldest peep is in 1st grade and we have really been working hard to improve her reading, mainly the flow and quickness.

We are lucky that our city school system offers a wonderful computer reading program called Headsprout. http://www.headsprout.com/

Wonderful learning tool for young children. My peep was a little behind on her Headsprout at school, they have to complete 80 by the end of the year. We got a letter home in January letting us know how many she had done at school and we were able to set up the account through our home computer that links to what she was doing at school. In just 3 weeks she was not only caught up to her classmates she passed most of them and is now on #78 of the 80 she needs to complete before May.

We also spend time reading books at night or on the weekends. I love the Scholastic First Reader books and some other first reader books I have found. The problem is that for such a small book they are a little pricey, $4.99 to $5.99 a book at Target.

I really like to reward my peeps with books when they have done a good job. I recently started visiting the local thrift stores here and was delighted to find many, many first reader book and other wonderful children's book for .25 to $1.25. They were in very good shape, maybe a worn corner or two. They LOVE when mommy goes shopping at the thrift store because they know when they get home there will be little knowledge building treasures sitting on their beds.

Another benefit to finding great discounted children's book is if you read for your child's class. I am lucky enough to be a weekly reader this year at my daughter's school and I love shopping for books to read to the class. I think I might enjoy it more than the kids do~