10 reasons why I love my kids

I love my kids because:

1) " I love you Mommy."

2) If I have a bad day I look at them and I smile.

3) How they appreciate the simple things in life. (Going for a walk,making cookies,playing a game...)

4) They say I look skinny even if I am feeling fat! LOL (after eating a pizza and a whoopie pie-my favorite comfort foods)

5) "Mommy, you're the best Mommy in the whole wide world."

6) "Mommy, I don't feel so good. Can you make me feel better?"

7) Hugs

8) Laughter

9) Kisses

10) When I go to sleep at night I have 3 little ones that I love and know they love me. My kids are my greatest treasure.

10 reasons why I love my kids

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I saved $96.37 in coupons!

I think of all us nowadays are being a little bit more aware about the economy and are trying to cut costs whenever possible. For some strange reason I caught the tail end of the Dr.Phil show that was focused on saving money, frugal living, and coupon clipping! I sat down and watched the rest of the show and thought to myself ,"Why wasn't I utilizing these money savings tips sooner? They really are pretty simple."

Well- life happened and I continued to let the fridge and the pantry get down to almost nothing so I was forced to go grocery shopping. (BTW- I really don't like to grocery shop.)

This past Sunday my son Hanz and I sat down with the last 6 weeks of the Sunday paper and pulled out all the coupons. Hanz starting clipping all of the them. I do have to add that he said, "Mommy, I am not going to clip the H-----s diapers as we don't need them." I said "That's my boy!"

So I took some tips from the Frugal Coupon Mom and was on my way. I pulled out our local grocery store flyer from Hannaford and the Walgreens flyer. I have to tell you- Walgreens has the best deals! The key is to NOT purchase anything that is not on sale and only purchase their sale items. So the simple secret that I learned is:
* Find the items on sale that interest you
* Utilize in-store coupons on the sale items
* Pair the sale item with a manufacturer coupon
So the ultimate savings recipe is sale, store coupon, manufacturer's coupon.

You have to keep in mind that you HAVE to be flexible with brands. I know a lot of us will only purchase one brand but if you really want to save you need to be flexible. Another thing is purchasing multiples of the items. Many of the sale items only will allow you a limit on how much you can buy.

For example: I purchased a health and beauty item that was on sale for $6.99. I then had a $3.00 store coupon. The limit I could purchase was 3. I found 3 manufacturers coupons for $1.50 each. So here is how much I saved on three:

After Hanz and I clipped the coupons, matched them to sales and store coupons, I made a master grocery list. I made a list of everything we needed and then highlighted the items in pink that I had coupons for. Now granted I needed some items that weren't on sale,had a store coupon, and manufacturer coupon but I at least had a manufacturer coupon. Out of all the items on our list I only purchased 7 items that weren't on sale or didn't have coupons.

Another tip I recommend is shopping on Sunday when most of the flyers, especially Walgreens come out. If you wait until mid week (according to my Mom- who is the coupon queen!) most of the sale items will be out.
I ventured out Sunday afternoon with 3 kids- 11,9,and 9.5 months and did the following:
-Filled the Jeep with gas.
-Vacuumed out the Jeep.
-Went to McDonalds for the kids and spent $4.24 (not a regular occurrence I promise!)- the key here is to purchase off the dollar menu. They really get you on drinks so have the kids fill up their own bpa free bottle.
-Went to the New Balance Store to purchase my hubby 3 running shorts. Had a 25% off coupon. If you spend $75 or more they give you a free t-shirt.
The 3 shorts were $59.97 less 25% coupon (-$14.99)=$44.98 + 5% tax=$47.23
I asked the clerk if I could still get the free t-shirt and she said yes! $15 retail value. (I saved $30.00 with the coupon and free t-shirt-this amount is NOT included in my $96.37 savings!)
-Went to Walgreens and went up and down the aisles to find the sale merchandise. I handed Olivia the store coupon, the coupon saver coupons (Walgreens has a monthly store coupon booklet),and manufacturer coupons.
-Went to Hannaford and matched up manufacturer's coupons with items. About this time Riley was getting a bit fussy but we managed to get thru the store fairly quick.
So the grand totals were:

Don't forget to bring your re-usable bags when you shop! I just love mine and prefer them over the plastic bags where all of your items fall out of in the back of your car! LOL

Here are some other sites that I found to get some more savings and tips:
The Coupon Clippers: This is a site where you can search for your favorite items and find coupons. They do cost a bit ($.05-$.10 per coupon) but you receive $1.00+ coupon in return.

Frugal Coupon Living: This lady has done her homework when it comes to savings. Great tips,suggestions, and offers.

5 tips to survive and thrive in a recession- A great article!

I saved $96.37 in coupons!

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Winter Swimming in Maine? Oh YES!

After I read Anelys post "and then there was sand and sun" it inspired me to write a post about a fun time at the pool we had a few weeks ago. We decided to throw a combined birthday pool party for Olivia and Hanz the last week of February. Olivia was born on Christmas Eve so we just had a family birthday party at the house but didn't have a "friends" party yet so I asked the both of them if we could do a combined party . They were all for it. We thought what a great way to "pretend" we are someplace tropical (like where Anelys lives!) then to go to the pool.

As a parent I love birthday parties that are held somewhere else than my house. Now granted, I love to celebrate the kids parties with a bunch of kids but it is SO nice when you don't have to do a huge clean up after. After working 60-70 hours a week the last thing I want to do is clean. I do it for 5 people but couldn't imagine for an additional 15! (LOL)

About 14 kids showed up and they all had a blast. Olivia is such a good swimmer and has loved the water ever since her first bath. Hanz enjoyed hanging around with his friends but also kept coming over to Riley and Scott. Don't you just love picture of my 3 boys together? I just love it. Oh- and by the way- Riley is wearing a Imse Vimse Swim Diaper in Black Lizard print. It looked SO cute on him. I put a large on him but I think he really could have used a medium.(Swim diapers should be fairly snug.)

Now you won't see a picture of me swimming. I have a hard time with heated indoor pools and the strong smell of chlorine. Now the ocean is just fine and my friend Anelys has invited us to come down and visit her and her family so maybe someday we could do a post of "blog crew" down in the "sunny place"! Needless to say everyone had a great time swimming, eating pizza, and devouring the chocolate cake and ice-cream.

So- I had to sneak in a super cute picture of Riley in his "sun" diaper. Can anyone guess what brand of diaper this is? I had this custom made years ago and I sold them on Kelly's Closet about 4 years ago. I saved one and now Riley can finally wear it.

During the summer the kids and Scott have a blast swimming at the lake. "Keoka Lake" is literally right across the road from the shop and we own 420' of shoreline. Last year we purchased a large dock and had it installed so it is a great place just to hang out (see pic on the right) and cool off. Believe or not we do get a few (now I mean 6 or 7 out of the whole year) days we get over 90 degrees.

We are all looking forward to spring in Maine and for all of you who live down south send us some heat waves!

Winter Swimming in Maine? Oh YES!

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