Savvy Shopper

If you get the Savvy Shopper in your mail, take the time to look through it today because there are some great coupons (Jamba Juice, Golden Spoon, etc.). If you don't get this in the mail, it looks like you can print coupons off from Savvy Shopper's website. :)

Couple deals...

Get a coupon mailed to you for a free bottle of All Purpose Sauce at Country Bob's. This looks like a great company to support! :)

Get 150 prints for $15.00 at Kodak Gallery by using the code 150prints.

Get 50 prints for $5.00 (and each add'l picture after is only .10 too!) at Walgreen's by using the code FIVE.

Cute Alyssa Joy-Joy!

Yesterday I'm brushing her bangs (which get very messy and tangled all day long!) after her nap and I'm saying to her, "I just don't know why your bangs do this all the time," and she says, "maybe they don't know God." Huh????

For dinner last night we went to IHOP for free pancakes. Each of us got our own stack...which was 3 pancakes with a big scoop of butter on top. Well, after I got Emi's ready for her I turned to Alyssa's plate to cut hers up for her. I notice the butter ball is gone and all I can picture is butter smashed all over the floor. I ask Alyssa where her butter is and licking her lips she just says "I ate it", like of course I ate it, what else would I have done with it??? ...she is still saying today how yummy it was!!! YUCK!

Last night Alyssa kept calling for us after she had gone to bed for some water. We told her you can not keep getting water after you go to bed. So she says, "that's ok then, I'll just have some milk!" Oh they get so creative, don't they! :)

Today we were going to the zoo and the 202 was moving very slowly, so I called the person we were meeting to let her know we were stuck on the 202. I get off the phone and Alyssa starts crying/whining and I ask her what's wrong. She's all upset and says, "we're stuck on the 202!" I started cracking up and she was so worried the whole time until we got to the zoo. She just keep saying, "are we still stuck on the 202???" It was so funny because she had no idea what 'the 202' was and she was still so concerned about being stuck on it! :)

Another Restaurant Deal!!!

Click here to get a free roast burger from Arby's with any drink purchase!

...and don't forget that tomorrow you can get free tacos from Jack in the Box and free pancakes from IHOP...WOO HOO!!! :)

FREE Quizno's Sub!

Click here to sign up to get a coupon e-mailed to you for a free sub. My e-mail said the coupon will expire 5 days after you print it.

Did you get the paper today???

Inside there is a brown lunch bag from Chipotle and it says on it to bring in the bag by March 8th and they'll fill it with one of their giant, gourmet burritos!!!

I'm not sure if it's just for people who get the paper delivered or if it's in the papers you can buy at the store. Did anyone get one in their paper that they bought at the store today???

Old Navy 40% off coupon

This coupon is good until 2/26/09. It is good in stores (not online) and on one regular priced item.

Get a free Kashi frozen entree...

Click here and fill out their form and they'll mail you a coupon for a free entree!

Great deal on diapers!

Diapers.com right now has up to 20% off their diapers and you can use the code THAT2215 to get an extra $10.00 off orders over $49.00...and there is no sales tax!

If you're a new customer you can use the code NEW5 to get $5.00 off (still needs a purchase of $49.00 or more), but you can't use the codes together...so if you need A LOT of diapers maybe do two orders and use this code first and then the other code on your second order.

FREE shipping on all orders of $49.00 or more!!!

20 Free prints...FRIDAY ONLY!

Order at least 20 prints at walgreens.com tomorrow, Friday 2/20, and you get 20 for free. You can even pick them up at your local Walgreen's so you don't need to pay for shipping! :)

Use code ONEDAY at checkout.

Lowe's coupon

Download a $10.00 off $50.00 purchase coupon for Lowe's...it takes a REALLY long time to download so just be patient. :)

Free Baby Blanket and Stuffed Animal

Go here to pick your favorite (you get 3 choices!) and fill out the form to receive one for FREE! It'll arrive in 6-10weeks.

Thank you to It's Hip to Save for letting us know about this!

Great restaurant deals...

FREE pancakes at IHOP on Feb. 24th between 7am-10pm...check out the details here.

FREE tacos at Jack-in-the-Box on Feb. 24th...print coupon here.

$10.00 off $20.00 at Buca di Beppo! Just print this and bring it with you.

Sarah's Crockpot Applesauce 'Recipe'

A couple of days ago I posted that Fry's was having a special on apples and Sarah commented that she likes to buy cheap apples and make applesauce in the crock pot. She was kind enough to e-mail me her recipe (she used the term 'recipe' lightly). ;)

Here it is:

Core and peel apples (let's say 8 for recipe's sake)
then cut each apple into 5 or 6 hunks
place in crock pot
sprinkle with a Tbs of brown sugar and a tsp of pumpkin pie spice (could use apple pie spice or a smaller amt of cinnamon)
add some lemon juice- I put kind of a lot (maybe close to 1/4 cup), but you could even just use a squirt of that kind that comes in a bottle.
cook on low for 6 hours without lifting the lid
mash with a potato masher or blend with a hand blender
could be served warm or cold.
Enjoy!

Thanks Sarah!

A Great Valentine's Day!

My wonderful husband prepared a beautiful, and very yummy, meal for me for Valentine's Day. We had fondue with lobster, scallops, mushrooms stuffed with scallops, and steak. Nate even made some very tasty dipping sauces to go along with it. Thank you Nate, I love you!

Valentine's Frames

I saw these on Flip-flops and Applesauce and thought I'd give it a try. It was really fun...and easy! We made one for daddy and both sets of grandparents. I think they turned out pretty cute for our first try at something like this. :) ...and bonus was I got to use FREE pictures! While making these I was thinking, hmmm what pictures am I going to use??? I thought I'd have to do one hour photo and run out another time to pick them up, but I ended up getting 3 free Valentine's Day pictures (just enough to use in this project) at the Fry's kids day yesterday. :)

Great restaurant deals!

Go here to sign up for Mimi's Cafe E-mail Club and they'll e-mail you a coupon for a FREE breakfast right away! :)

Buy one entree and 2 drinks and get a free entree at Marie Callenders with this coupon. (not valid on Valentine's Day)

ABC's

Right now Alyssa is learning to recognize her ABC's and the sounds they make...or at least she's trying! ;) I just found this webpage that has some great resources to help kids with this. If you're in this stage too it might be worth checking out.

Emi's 1st Haircut

Tuesday we went and got Emi's 1st haircut...and another haircut for Alyssa. Alyssa decided she's going to grow her bangs out and we added bangs to Emi's 'hair-do'. I was nervous about how Emi would do, but she did GREAT!

Before pic (her hair is especially crazy bcs it had just been taken out of pony tails)

The best after pic I could get...it's cuter than the pic shows! :)

Alyssa would not do a normal smile! I decided to just post a picture of her serious look instead of a super cheesy smile. ;) The hairdresser did her hair so cute, with little flowers in her ponies!

Special Deals at Fry's - Today only!

Today between 3-11pm head over to Fry's to get these deals:

1/2 gallon OJ - .97
3lb Bag of Apples - .99
Bacon - .99
Valentine's Day Colossal Cupcakes - .99
Haagen-Dazs or Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream - 1.88
Hershey's bag of chocolates - 1.88
Honey Ham or Honey Smoked Turkey from the deli - 4.98
Apple Juice - .97

See all the specifics here.

They will also be having free photos, cookie decorating, samples throughout the store, and create a card for mom & dad between 3-8pm.

ssa, aly

So I'm trying to teach Alyssa how to spell her name. I've taught it to her by saying Aly ... ssa, in a catchy little way of course. ;) ...well, she loves saying the ssa part so that is how she always starts and then she remembers that aly is part of it. So I'll say, "Alyssa how do you spell your name?" and she'll say "ssa, aly!" :) She just loves saying it that way...hopefully she'll switch it around someday. ;)

Another cute thing this morning was how Alyssa was acting towards her sister this morning at breakfast. First of all she asked if she could sit next to Emi (usually I sit between them), then I got them their breakfast and milk, and then went into the other room. I overheard Alyssa say, "my milk tastes like egg-milk (no idea what that means???)" and then she turns to Emi and asks, "Emi, does your milk taste like egg-milk too?" I know this doesn't sound like anything big, but the whole egg-milk thing was so cute, and the way that she was talking with her sister was adorable. She said it so nicely and like she was really expecting Emi to respond to her question and have a big girl conversation with her...it was fun to hear and encouraging to see them interact like that!

Cute beanies and bows... 1/2 off right now!

I saw this and thought some of you might be interested in it. These deals last for today only and they only have limited quantities available so when they're gone, they're gone! :)

beanies and bows

Tips on cutting the grocery bill!

I've had a few of you ask over the past couple weeks how to do the coupon thing or how to save money without all the coupons. I've been meaning to respond to these questions for about a week now, sorry for the delay! ...but it worked out well for me because my friend Kiki just posted a great post on her blog talking about how to effectively use coupons. She highlights 2 great sites you can subscribe to that will help you know what coupons to use on what items and when the best time to use them is. Definitely check it out!

I also want to highlight another option that I've recently found out about and have been very pleased with... A Full Cup. They have great links, for example: explaining how to use coupons, sales lists by store (Fry's, Safeway, CVS, Target, Walmart, etc.), printable coupons (including coupons for Target!), and much more ... and the best thing is, it's FREE to use!

Back to specific questions...
How do I use coupons? Again, see Kiki's blog, because that is pretty much what I do to! I receive the Sunday paper (for a special price of $1/week) for most of the coupons and then I add to those with online sites that let you print coupons for free (smartsource, Fry's, coupons.com, etc.) or let you download them to your stores saver card, like your Fry's VIP card, (cellfire, P&Gesaver, shortcuts.com etc.).

What if I don't want to use coupons? SHOP SALES! Especially meat, bread, and other things that you can freeze for later use. Also, stock up on your favorite toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, canned items, etc. when they are on sale. Another way to save is to buy store brands...with coupons name brand items can be way cheaper, but without coupons store brand items are a great way to save some money!

I hope this helps. If you have any other questions let me know. :)

All this for $23.05!

I think it's so cool to see on other people's blogs what they spent, I mean saved, on their groceries. Yesterday I ran to the store for a couple things and realized that they were having some pretty great sales on things I had coupons for, so I did a little bigger shopping than I had planned, but it is all stuff I will use. Now this isn't as impressive as some other blogs, but I was pretty excited about how much I saved on an impromptu shopping trip. I thought I'd share it with you all to show that it just takes a little planning and some coupons to be successful at saving money on groceries. :)

Total amount$76.35, amount spend $23.05! 70% saved!!! :)

Some of the best buys: free toilet paper and free propel water ....almost free spaghetti sauce, cereal, pie crust, etc. ....discounted eggs .... marked down salad!

Old Navy Baby Sale

Get up to 40% off of Baby, Kid, and Maternity clothes right now...and free shipping on purchases over $50.00 with the code BABYMAT.

One Day Shopping Pass to Sam's Club

This pass is good for one shopping day at Sam's Club (no extra 10% charge!). It expires March 31, 2009.

Free Admission to AZ Science Center for BofA Members!

You can get free admission to AZ Science Center on the first full w/e of the month by showing your BofA credit card and id. If you live in another state check this out to see if you can get in free to any museums.

So if you don't have any plans this w/e, this w/e is the free w/e! :)

FREE LIP GLOSS!!!

Go here and register for a voucher to be sent to you for a free lip gloss...valued at $25.00! You can redeem it at Ulta. :)

4th picture in 4th folder

I've been tagged before but never got around to doing it. My friend Lisa just did it and tagged all of us who haven't done it yet, so I thought I'd finally do it! ;)

It's a picture of my ultrasound w/Emi...about 4mos before she was born. I love it because it's her sucking her thumb. I never went back to look at the old ultrasound pics after she was born, so it's really cool to see now that sucking her thumb really is her thing, she loves it now and she loved it before she was even born! ;)

Alyssa can ride a bike!!!

It took a while, but Alyssa can finally reach the pedals and ride her bike. She's been riding for about a month now and is very excited about it...she loves to ride all the time! :)

One Free Weekend Day Car Rental From Hertz!

Okay last good deal of the day... Hertz is running a special for one free car rental on a weekend day. It's good for one per month and expires March 31, so you can get a free car rental this month and one next month!

Great Round-trip Deals on American Airlines...

I saw a bunch of cities where I know some of you have friends/family so I thought I'd post this. Most ROUND-TRIP prices were $204.00!!! ...You need to travel by the end of April, have 14 days notice, and travel on Tue. or Wed. for the best deals. Check out all the other information here.

Up to 80% off on Kohl's Clearance, plus...

an extra 15% off (code SAVE15FEB) and if you use your Kohl's credit card you can get free shipping TODAY (code MVC2988). Check it out at www.kohls.com .

Free Glades PlugIns and Refill!

The first 10,000 people to respond will receive this gift pack:

*One Glade PlugIns Scented Oil warmer
*One Glade PlugIns Scented Oil refill in Hawaiian Breeze
*$1.00 coupon off two single Glade PlugIns Scented Oil refills or one twin refill

Go here to get more information and to register for your free gift pack!

Mommies don't need doctors!

I'm so bad about blogging about cute stories about the girls, especially funny things Alyssa says, because I forget them by the time I get to the computer! ...but tonight right before Alyssa went to bed she said something pretty cute and I still remember it. ;)

I have a pretty bad paper cut on my finger and it hurts really bad. I was saying how much it hurt and Nate asked Alyssa, "should mommy go to the dr.'s?" and Alyssa laughingly said "noooooo" (like 'of course not, your silly daddy, mommies don't need doctors!').