Always take your keys with you.

Well I knoew eventually it was going to happen, I got locked out of the house. I was in the backyard water the tree (trying not to kill it!) and I left the door open. Well Thomas really likes to close doors, I dont know why. He closes the door and I dont think much of it and finish up outside. I go to open the door and it is locked! I peer inside to see Thomas standing next to the door with a giant grin on his face. So I have a decision, am I going to get mad, because I really want to, or do I try to coax him to unlock the door. I chose the latter. I try to convince T to unlock the door and he tries, but gets frustrated and throws himself on the floor....not helping my situation! So I go to head around front and oh no the lock on the gate that prevents people from getting into the back yeard is not preventing me from getting out. So i fiddle with it and eventually it is open, it wasnt really locked in the first place just rusty (whew!) I run around front, thinking about how the toilet seat is up and what if T gets into it..... I try the front door hoping that it is not locked (even though I know it is), no luck. SO I open the garage and check for the key we leave in the freezer for situations like this....nope not there. I start to panic, I say a little prayer and try to open the door from the garage to the house.....and it is UNLOCKED!!! I wasnt sure at this point if I was a mad at T, not that it would have done any good! Then I decided it would make a good blog, so as long as something good comes out of it then I am OK! Lesson learned never walk out the door without my keys!

Mommy and Daddy's Quiet Weekend.

Frank and I took a trip to Amarillo this weekend, in fact this was the first overnight trip we have taken since the kids were born. It was so quiet, no crying kids, 7:30 wake up calls or middle of the night visits!
Amarillo is probably not the most glamerous place to visit, but I remembered how much I really enjoy it. The weather was beautiful, 40's and cool in the morning and would heat up to the 70's during the day. We drove around with the windows down the entire time. It is so flat up there, I swear you can see for miles. The sunsets are amazing, I can't even explain it.

We of course did the touristy stuff and visited Cadalliac Ranch, had to take pics for Lily. We also went to the TEXAS office to get souvineers. But the main reason for our visit was to see the new Performing Arts building on the West Texas A&M campus, it is amazing! We also got to see Fiddler on the Roof starring one of our professors from college. Neither of us had ever seen the show, but it was great. We visited the bookstore, ate in the old food court and walked campus. Things have changed so much since I graduated just 5 years ago. It is pretty amazing.
It was nice to get away and get recharged, we both missed the kiddos 2 days was a perfect amount of time. We need to do this more often, not only for us but also for the kiddos.

Shopping...Shopping...Shopping

Well I had another great shopping trip today. Walgreens is running some great deals on Ragu and Skippy if your family eats either one. I ended up paying .25 for each. I had to buy 8, but we will go through it. I also ended up getting poptarts for .25 a box, which is great. Here is how it worked

(4) Ragu $2 each
-(2) $1 on 2
(4) Skippy $2 each
-(2) $1 on 2
-------------------
$12
-$10 Register Rewards
-------------------
$2 for all 8!

(4) Poptarts $2 each
-(2) $1 on 2
(2) Cheese-its $1 each
-(2) .75
--------------
$6.50
-$5 Register Rewards
--------------
$1.50 for all 6!!

(2) Fruit Loops $2.50 each
-$1 on 2
--------------
$4
-$2 Register Rewards
--------------
$2 for 2 ($1 is the most I will pay for cereal)

I did 3 transactions so I could use some of the Register Rewards today. ( I lost $14 worth of Extra Care Bucks for CVS the other day so I am going to roll my transactions from now on so I don't have a chance to lose them again!)


Kroger was a good shopping trip today as well, I saved 58%. Too much to list, but always check the managers specials. I got yogurt that will not expire until the 15th for .29!

Shopping Success!

So I did really well at CVS and Walgreens this week, so I thought I would share how I did it.

CVS
(3) Paper Mate Grip 8 ct Pens
regular 1.99
sale .99
-.99 ECB = FREE
(2) CVS 1 subject notebooks
regular 2.79
sale .99
-.99 ECB = FREE
(1) CVS blunt tip scissors
regular 2.99
-2.99 ECB = FREE
(2) CVS rulers
regular 1.50
sale .99
-.99 ECB = FREE
(2) Electrasol Power Tab Dishwasher
regular 5.89
sale 3.99
-2.50 coupon = 1.49
(4) Colgate kids toothpaste
regular 2.99
sale BOGO
-.75 coupon = .74 each
Gilette mens razor
regular 11.99
sale 7.99
-3 coupon & 4 ECB = .99
(2) Twix
regular .89
- .89 coupon = FREE

I also had $20 in ECB from a previous transaction from CVS, so total I paid $1.44 and got back $14 in ECB for my next trip


WALGREENS
(3) Listerene Mouth wash
regular 3.49
sale 3/$9
-(3) $2 coupons & $3 RR= FREE
(2) Mead Envelopes
regular 1.29
sale .59
----------
(4) huggies wipes
regular 2.79
sale 2.50
-(3) .75 coupons =7.75
(1) huggies diapers
regular 11.99
sale 10.00
-1.50 coupon = 8.50
+when you spend $20 on Huggies items you get $5 RR so
total between these 2 items
=16.25-5 RR=11.25 for 1 diaper and 4 wipes
----------
(4) Blue Diamond Almonds
regular 3.49
sale 2/ 3.59
-.50/2 coupon = 1.55 each
(2) Dove Trail size deodorant
regular .99
(2) Dove body mist
regular 4.29
-(2) .75 dove deodorant
-(2) buy deo get mist free
=both deo and mist for 2.50 (there was a limit of 3.29 on the BOGO coupon)

I had $2 in RR from a previous purchase + $25 for transferring a prescription!
I paid 1.19 out of pocket and received $10 in RR!

Great Shopping Trick

I did so well at Target and Kroger today. I got everything in the picture for less than $40. Woo-hoo. Frank has been asking for "man body wash" for a while, he is so excited. My savings at Target was round 80% + I have a $5 giftcard for next time. My savings at Kroger was 61%, this is the first time I have broken 50% there!

Hair Cuts All Around

This weekend was haircuts for all which included T's First haircut. We went to Sharkey's in Rockwall and they did so well with the kids. It was worth the overpriced hair cut to get someone used to working with kids. I dont have any pictures, I was to busy bribing the kiddos with m&m's, but mom does and if I can get them I will post. T got the classic little boy cut, sooo cute. Lily got hers cut into a bob just like mommy. She looks so grown up with this hair cut, but it is so cute on her.

Why oh why...

SO I am laying in bed asleep last night about 11:00 and the smoke alarms start going off. Not just one all of them. So I frantically get up and ask Frank, "DO you hear that?". Yeah I know stupid question, but I was half asleep. Frank checks the house to discover there is no fire so we call the alarm company. After being on hold with the alarm screaching in my ear the kind lady informs me this is not an alarm event, but one of my smoke detectors battery is low. SERIOUSLY do they all need to go off if one has a low battery??? So we scower the house looking for a culprit. We change the battery in the one causing the problem and decide we had better do them all while we are at it. We change all the batteries and the alarm stops going off continusly, but every 5 minutes or so it alarms for about 30 seconds. So the hunt is on again. We find one of the alarms does not have the light on showing that its battery is good, so we changed the battery out and no luck. So Frank decides to unplug it from the celing and the alarm stops!!! YEA...silence. At this point I am relieved, but guarded. If I go to bed and this thing goes off again it is going to piss me off! So I stay up for about 30 min (now 12:30) to make sure that fixes it. It did, so I am off to be.
Dont get me wrong I am glad we have smoke detectors, we have needed them before, but do they all need to go off when one of their batteries are low? And why does it alway seem to be the middle of the night when it happens?