May. 11, 2008 - CVS Shopping

One of the things I was concerned about with shopping CVS was that, as much as possible, we buy organic/natural products.  Stuff like toothpaste, soap and stuff.  I worried that there would not be enough products that we use that would earn us enough Extra Care Bucks for it to be a benefit.  But that fear has been laid to rest because there are plenty of products that we use that have earned Extra Care Bucks. 

An added bonus is that I have been able to buy products that we normally use for almost free even though they don't earn Extra Care Bucks.  We are just about out of toothpaste.  We use Tom's of Maine toothpaste.  It's a natural toothpaste - better ingredients than Colgate.  We also needed diapers.  I normally would buy the Target brand diapers because they are cheap, but today I was able to buy Huggies for nearly nothing.  Here's the breakdown of what I did today:

Huggies Jumbo Pack - on sale for 8.99
Tums QuickPaK - 4.69
CVS Kid's Plaque Detecting Mouthwash (my kids need all the encouragement they can get in doing a good job on their teeth!  ;-) - 3.99
Subtotal: $17.67

I used:
a $3/$15 CVS coupon
a $1.00 Huggies coupon
$9.69 in Extra Care Bucks
which brought my final total down to $4.64.  I earned $5.69 in Extra Care Bucks for my next purchase.  Woohoo!
Here's the next thing I did:

Huggies Jumbo Pack - 8.99
Tums QuickPak - 4.69
Tom's of Maine toothpaste - 5.29
Subtotal: $18.97

I used:
$3/$15 CVS coupon
$1.00 Huggies Coupon
$10.00 Extra Care Bucks
which brought my final total down to 5.63.  I earned $4.69 towards my next purchase!

In all, I paid $10.27 for $36.64 worth of stuff!  Our budget can handle that!  ;-)

Forgot!  There is also a program called The Caregivers Marketplace. (www.caregiversmarketplace.com)  You can sign-up to receive money back on things like DIAPERS, flushable wipes....I will send in my receipts to the Marketplace to receive $1 for each package of Huggies that I bought, so that will bring my final out of pocket expense for today down to $8.27.

To read how to get started with your own CVS shopping, go here: http://www.moneysavingmom.com/2007/09/cvs-101.html

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May. 9, 2008 - Gingerbread Men

We LUV the Bluedorns of Trivium Pursuit.  Harvey and Laurie's book, Teaching the Trivium made a HUGE impact on us as homeschooling newbies.  They helped us put a finger on what it was we wanted to do as homeschooling parents. 

Is it a surprise that their children also exert big influence in our house?  Especially Johannah Bluedorn Stafford.  We love her beautifully illustrated books which are works of art.  My daughter especially loves them and when I bought her a copy of one of Johannah's watercolor paintings, she was in heaven.  This is the one I got her for her birthday last year, which she actually received a few months late because I forgot about it sitting in my closet!  ;-)  It's titled The Barn Dance.

First Daughter loves this painting.  She has assigned each member of our family to a person in the picture.  We have also downloaded a FREE file of Johannah's painting titled Planning Garden.  There's just something about her paintings that make you want to roll up your sleeves, get off the couch, and DO all the interesting things in her paintings.

Johannah is such a great example for our daughters.  First Daughter and I have followed her engagement and wedding, and enjoyed watching Johannah in watercolor action on the Trivium Pursuit blog.  A lot of people say that ANYONE can draw, but I just don't see that.  There is a true talent involved in what Johannah does.

Johannah is auctioning an original watercolor painting on eBay!  It is titled Gingerbread Men.  Here's a peek at what it looks like.  :-)  Bidding on this ends on Sunday, so definitely check it out!

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May. 8, 2008 - Money Exchange

If any of you have ever used PayPal for a transaction, you know that there is usually a fee attached to receive money.  There is a new alternative for PayPal called Money Exchange.  Right now they are offering everyone who signs up by May 15th 25 bucks!  Not a bad way to get the word around, eh?  ;-)  Another really fun aspect of this is that you can earn $10 for every person that you refer who signs up.  So here's my plea.  Will you sign up through meeeeeeeeee?  LOL!  Click on the button to find out more.

 

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May. 8, 2008 - Shopping CVS

I've visited so many blogs and read about the glories of CVS shopping.  Sounded great, but I figured it was probably more work than it was worth.  But lately I've really been working hard to tighten down even more with our budget, so I rolled my eyes, shrugged my shoulders and decided to give this CVS thing a shot. 

I am sold.  It is so totally kewl.  I am getting stuff that we use for FREE or really close to free.  Here's what I bought today:

Tums QuickPack: $4.69
Colgate 360 Toothbrush: $3.99
Aquaphor: $8.99
I used a $3/$15 CVS coupon a $1 coupon for the toothbrush and $11 in Extra Care Bucks that I earned from CVS from previous purchases, bringing my final total to $3.41!  It could have been even lower, but I goofed in printing a coupon from the web for the Tums.  Big bummer!  Not only did I get these three things for 3.41, but I earned Extra Care Bucks in return.  The Tums gave me 4.69 back, and the toothbrush, 3.99 for a total of $8.68 towards my next purchase.  So technically, CVS paid me to take home these three items.

I usually do my CVS shopping on Sundays, and did this week, but my son needed the Aquaphor for some excema he has on his hand.  He was totally out, so I needed to get it today, but after shopping CVS for the last month or so, I've realized that I never have to pay full-price for this type of stuff again.  So I visited MoneySavingMom (www.moneysavingmom.com) and IHeartCVS (www.iheartcvs.com) to see if I could find a way to earn some Extra Care Bucks so I could spend some ECBs and get the lotion free, or almost free.  Cha-ching!  ;-)  It worked!

If you are curious about how all this Extra Care Buck-ing works, MoneySavingMom has a great tutorial on getting started.  Go read and do it!  Don't wait like I did!  :-)  Go here: http://www.moneysavingmom.com/2007/09/cvs-101.html

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May. 6, 2008 - Yarn! Glorious Yarn!

The hardest thing about my Husband's Grandmother's death was all the stuff that was left behind.  It seemed so wrong to be divvying it all up and seeing it go to the four corners in a heartbeat.  The whole thing seems so odd to me.  Death comes so quickly.  Grandma was walking into the Senior Citizen Center for lunch with a friend.  Her friend dropped her off at the door and while she was walking in, she had a heart attack and died before she hit the ground.  BAM!  Just like that.  The doctor said she probably never even knew she was gone - well, until she got to the Pearly Gates!  :-)  I tell ya, I don't know how people can live without the Hope that Christ has given.  He is so good, and our family is able to rejoice, thinking of her meeting Jesus face to face and visiting with other family members who are there.  My Husband's grandparents have become like my own grandparents since mine were all dead before I was born.  I wonder if she ran into my grandparents and said, "hey....I knew this girl.....she married my grandson....."  Silly.  ;-)

Anywho.....the picture above is Grandma's yarn.  She knitted 10-12 afgans each year and gave them away to fundraisers, or to my Husband's aunt, who is a realtor.  She gave an afghan to each of her customers that bought a house through her.  She knitted them for her family.  We have two or three of them.  As you can see from the amount of yarn, she had big plans for a lot of afghans!  :-)  And so now the yarn is mine, and the only thing I knit is dishrags!  Our family and extended family will never be without a homemade dishrag from now on. 

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May. 5, 2008 - Exercise Challenge

It's been a weird week.  We got a call on Wednesday morning.  My Husband's grandmother died.  Very hard.  She was loved very much by her family.  What a sweet, SWEET woman.  We packed and packed and packed like crazy people on Thursday, drove to Missouri Friday, the funeral was Saturday, and here we are back at home in TX today. 

In the world of exercise, we have to congratulate Desi!  She has lost 1/2 inch around her waist!  How kewl is that?????  :-)

Kristy, from The Diet Blog has discovered this nifty site called StartYourDiet.com.  It has a Free Membership plan where you can track your weight, plan target goal dates, a special goal planning tool, track your daily water intake, a weight tracking chart and a free diet profile. 

Sally from Diamonds in the Rough has reported in some benefits from her exercising!  Notably a more comfy monthly for her.  Now that's something we can all relate to!  Sally, I have to say - Alicia will back me up on this - I am the Unofficial Cod Liver Oil Goodwill Ambassador - Cod Liver Oil also helps with that!  I know......yuck!  But if you just put a tsp. in a shot of oj, it's painless.  :-)  I can't sing the praises of this stuff enough.  Go here to read a bit more if you're interested.

I was so excited to put on a shirt that had been a little too snug in the arms before, but found myself with a little more wiggle room!  It was one of those days when everything I owned was dirty but that one shirt.  I did not want to wear it because I'm a bizzeee gal and the thought of fighting with a shirt with tight sleeves all day did not appeal to me.  You can imagine how thrilled I was to be able to move about freely!  I still haven't lost any weight, but it's good to know that something is happening!

Sign-in with Mr. Linky and leave a comment!  :-)  If you're wondering what I'm rambling on and on about, go here to read and get more details.

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Apr. 29, 2008 - A Big Littles Mama Hug

While reading blogs, there are times when I have come across a poor mama who is worn out with the toddlers and she'll say something like, "with a 2 year old, and a 4-month old, I am barely keeping up!"  I would snort a little to myself and think, "just wait till you have a few more!  THEN you can be REALLY justified in thinking that life is hard."  Youch.  You would think I could have just a little more sympathy than that, but you know how it is.....we all forget, when we think we will remember everything about raising kids - especially the hard times. 

Well.

I remember the hard times now!  On Sunday evenings I am left home alone (eeeeek!) with our littles.  They are 2 years old and 4 months old.  ;-)  I'll tell ya what...I don't know how I got through the older three's preschool years.  These two littles keep me moving and shaking.  I'm used to having First Son, First Daughter and Second Son around to say, "Can you do blah-be-de-blah for me while I do so-and-so?"  Or, "Can you take Third Son outside to play while I fix dinner?"  In other words, I am a spoiled rotten mother of littles.  So to all you moms of littles who have no olders to help you out, GOD BLESS YOU.  From now on, you have ALL my sympathy and if I could reach out to you through the web, a BIG HUG!

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Apr. 28, 2008 - Exercise Challenge

 

De'Etta, you know you're absolutely right about the Leslie Sansone exercise plan being just one workout each day.  I am such an all-or-nothing person that I see three workouts listed, and immediately want to do all three each day.  As my husband would say, "You're a freak of nature, Becca."  In a nice way, of course.  LOL!

ANYWAY.....the new Leslie Sansone video I bought has 5 workouts on it.  I worked my way through those over a week and a half and then rotated back to the Cindy Crawford video I have.  It KILLED me.  And I don't think it's because the Cindy workout is that much harder.....well, I think it is more intense, but I have never been as sore after a workout as I was after that workout on Saturday.  I think it's because I got my muscles out of their groove.  I've heard before that it's good to vary your workout so your muscles don't get used to doing the same ol', same ol' again and again.  I know that before I got the Leslie video that the Cindy workout was feeling very easy to do.  I just about had the moves memorized, and I really felt as if I were starting to breeze through it.  When I worked out with the Cindy video after not using it for a week and a half, it was as if I had never done that workout before.  So now I've decided to alternate the videos every other time, rather than working completely through the video before going back to the other.  I would also like to invest in some other videos to add to the mix.  If anyone has a recommendation, I'm all ears!

I did not start the 10-Day challenge that Leslie has yet.  My youngest two were sick for most of the week, so I felt good to be able to get anything on the table.  Forget some foreign meal plan!  ;-)  I'm planning on getting to it this week.  Can't wait.

I did sneak in two extra workouts this past week.  I added some movement to my kid's school schedules.  One day they take a bike ride together, the next they workout with me using the Leslie Sansone video and the last day they jog around the block.  They are going to build up to a mile of jogging/walking.  The Leslie video that I have has a one-mile beginner's walk.  My 7 and 9 year old were able to easily get through it.  Of course the 12 year old had no problems, either.  I don't get to go on the bike ride since we don't have enough bikes and I have to stay put while the baby sleeps, but I did get to run around the block and of course do the Leslie video....we're all going to get in shape if it kills me.  ;-)

Sign-in with Mr. Linky and leave a comment to let me know you've been here.  I look forward to hearing from you guys every week!!!!

If you are here for the first time and want to learn more about the challenge, go HERE.

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Apr. 22, 2008 - Little Giant Steps

This is a short article written by Jan Bedell of Little Giant Steps.  I have used the neurodevelopmental approach with some of my kid's issues, and have friends who have done the full blown program and we have all ended up with totally different kids when it was all over.  :-)

Where is all that information going that I teach my child each day?

 

     Dominance determines where information is stored in the brain and how it is retrieved.  In order to be neurologically efficient, you must be completely organized on one side of your body - one hemisphere must dominate and coordinate your entire system.  You must be right eared, right eyed, right footed and right handed.  To be right eared does not mean that you have better hearing in your right ear; it means that your right ear directs which hemisphere of the brain the information you receive is stored.  

     The determination for dominance starts with the hand.  Hand dominance is genetically predetermined and should not be encouraged one way or the other.  It should emerge by the time a child is 3 to 8 years of age.

     If your brain is neurologically organized, your dominant ear will file information it receives in your dominant hemisphere, which is where reasoning, analytical and logical thinking take place.  So, when you go to retrieve that information, it is there.  If you are neurologically disorganized (mixed dominant), your sub-dominant ear will file information it receives in your sub-dominant hemisphere, which is where music and emotion take place.  The child with mix dominance issues files the information in the wrong hemisphere and when he tries to retrieve it, this happens: "I know I put that information in a file drawer somewhere but I'm really not sure where and I can't seem to find it right now."  This is extremely frustrating!  When you have a child who is extremely frustrated day after day, you will have a child who has low self-esteem, problems with long and short-term memory, as well as emotional and behavior problems because he is living in the sub-dominant hemisphere of his brain.   

 

     Symptoms of mixed dominance include:  long-term memory problems, inability to stay on task, reading difficulties, emotionality, spelling difficulties, obsessive-compulsive behaviors, doesn't test well, and inability to retain information (knows his addition math facts one day but the next day he acts like he's never seen an addition problem in his life!)  

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Apr. 21, 2008 - Exercise Challenge

So we found a Chick-Fil-A waffle fry in our car, smashed down between the seats.  No telling how long it's been there, and it's still its original golden-yellow color.  No signs of it turning just yet.  We've put it in the cup holder in front to observe it and see if it ever goes bad.  It's too bad I had to come across that YouTube video because it was nice living in ignorance about how bad fast food can really be for us.

In other news....someone who joined the challenge at the beginning mentioned that she works out with Leslie Sansone videos.  I love workout videos because they allow me to workout at any time of day without having to leave the house.  When I was at Target the other day, I browsed the workout videos and came across Leslie Sansone.  I remembered reading about her, the blurb on the videos sounded interesting, so I bought one.  I really like it!  My husband works out with me.  He's not to crazy about her....he says she reminds him of Miss Patty Cake.  Anyone ever see Miss Patty Cake?  I think it's been awhile since he's seen Miss Patty Cake because Leslie Sansone is not anywhere near being as annoying as Miss Patty Cake.  It's actually very hard for anyone to be annoying as Miss Patty Cake.  God bless her.  ANYWAY....It's a nice change of pace from the Cindy Crawford workout I've been doing, and while browsing on her website this weekend, I found a 10-Day Challenge.  Basically, you follow a specific meal plan, workout after each meal so you can work off the meal and after 10 days, you're supposed to be much lighter.  Well, duh!  ;-)  Working out three times a day will tend to do that to a person, ya?  LOL!  Goodness knows I don't have time to workout three times a day, but I am going to follow her meal plan and workout as much as possible.  Can't hurt! 

I'm looking forward to hearing from you guys this week!  Sign-in with Mr. Linky and leave a comment so I'll know you've been here.  If this is your first time here, check out the details of the Exercise Challenge HERE.

 

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