"I too, Mommy!"

Caroline and I were snuggled in the chair watching the movie "Meet the Robinsons" this afternoon. For those of you who aren't familiar with this movie, it's about a little boy that is an orphan. He time traveled and .....(no, I'm not going to tell you the rest), but during our adoption process, everyone told me NOT to watch this movie. It was just too sad. I loved the song at the end "Little Wonders" by Rob Thomas and even had it as a song on this blog months ago.

Back to the story, at the end of the movie when the song came on, I looked down at Caroline and said, "I love you, Caroline." Now, I've said this an infinite number of times and she's never said anything back, until today...She looked up at me and said, "I too, Mommy" and gave me the biggest hug!!! I started crying because it was the first time she has tried to say those most precious words. I must have freaked her out because she then said, "No, Mommy...Happy!!!" I tried to tell her I was happy but with tears streaming down my face, she was just confused. She hugged my neck again and said, "I too, Mommy! I happy!!"

Those sweet little words...oh, how they melted my heart!!!!

FREE food from Schwans!!

UPDATED: My food was delivered this morning!

I was reading I Heart Saving Money and came across this deal. Schwan's is still giving away $10 of FREE food! Go HERE to check it out. I signed up for it and it worked! Now, granted I chose two items. One item was my "freebie" and the other one was a special promotion of $3.00 off. I chose to buy biscuits because we seem to never have them or enough of them! I will pay $4.09 for 36 biscuits! Yay!! But, there are tons of items that qualify for this promotion! Go and check it out!

Here are the restrictions listed on the page:*No purchase necessary. Offer ends 9/30/09 and limited to the first 500,000 new residential/household customers (i.e., have not purchased any products from Schwan’s Home Service, Inc. within the past 14 weeks) who are located in an existing route of Schwan’s Home Service. Limited to one offer per residence/household and may not be combined with any other offer or promotion. Local and state sales taxes may apply. Other restrictions apply. Void where taxed, limited, or restricted. For terms and conditions click here. Free ice cream void in states of KS, LA, MN, NV & TN

A Whole Lot of Savings at Publix

I'm not going to go into transaction details because this was last Saturday's shopping trip. Actually, it was trips! I took my sister into the city and we went to 3 Publix's and a Whole Foods. Everything you see in this picture, including the flowers and the steaks (in the fridge) was less than $15! Thanks Publix for helping me to save money!!!!! Oh, how I LOVE YOU!

This picture is my last Friday's shopping trip to Publix. Caroline and I went to Peachtree City to do some shopping and of course, we hit a Publix on the way home. I bought lots of overage items, which resulted in a total of about $2.00! Have I mentioned that I REALLY love Publix??

Fishing with Daddy

Why aren't these fish biting?????

In between College Football, Tim took Caroline out back to go fishing. I was a NERVOUS WRECK!! Why, you ask? Well, if you know Tim, he is JUST LIKE Ben Stiller in Meet the Parents! I could just picture a hook getting caught on Caroline's cargo shorts and out she goes into the lake....

Well, they didn't catch any fish, but they did catch TONS of mosquito bites. Ummm, I wonder why I bought that Off Spray at Target yesterday????? :)

GO C-A-T-S!!!!

Caroline is sporting her new UK Cheerleader outfit that my Aunt Janie and cousin Jetty gave her for her birthday. She LOVES it and so do we! We love it even more that UK is off to a good start 2-0!

a favorite blog...

I wanted to share with you one of my new favorite blogs. It's called My Montessori Journey. As a former teacher, I am always looking for activities to do with Caroline at home. I never taught in a Montessori school, but many of the activities that I planned in my kindergarten and first grade classrooms were similar to montessori. Visiting this site makes my heart ache for the classroom. I LOVED teaching! I loved making new learning centers, attending conferences, and cutting (and more cutting and even more cutting!) out projects for my students. However, I know that I am where I am supposed to be, at home with Miss Caroline. Check out this website and be prepared to spend hours!

A Day in Savannah...

Caroline shares the same love for the Waving Girl as me!

Pouting because she was afraid she wouldn't get to do a carriage ride...

Caroline's favorite horses!

She would not leave the horses until we promised her a ride!

Before we started the day....happy.....

Love this picture....never would we guess we would have a few meltdowns later...

Publix Shopping Trip #2

Since my coupons for the Lipton Tea were expiring today, I had to go back to Publix to pick them up. I somehow messed up my totals and ended up having an unusual surprise at the checkout.

Transaction Details:

6- Scotch Mailers $.59 ea- (6- $.50 MQ doubled)= Free+++

6- French's Mustard $.70 ea- (6- $.50 MQ doubled)= Free+++ *raincheck*

10- Cereal Bowls $1.00 ea- (5- $1.00/2 MQ and 10- $1.00 Target Q)= Free+++

2- Fiber One Yogurt $1.25 ea- (2- $1.25 MQ)= Free

10- Lipton Tea $1.49 ea- (10- $1.00 MQ)= $4.95 ea **raincheck**

1- Deer Park Water $3.99

1- jalapeno pepper- $.02

1- Serrano pepper- $.09

1- Fingerhot pepper- $.07

1- Garlic- $.27

1- Bartlett Pear- $.67

1- Plum- $.18

Total: $43.50

Total OOP: NONE!! They paid me $.21!!!

*Note- I miscalculated my total. I thought the lipton tea bags were $3.99 ea, so that majorly threw my total off.

*Note- I had a new cashier who chose to do my target coupons last and entered them in as a $10 competitor coupon. If I had been able to see this on the screen, I would have stopped it before it went into the negative. I was a bit freaked out and so was the CS manager. She thought that I used a BJ's coupon, which they no longer take. I didn't know what to do, so I just thanked them and took the 21 cents and walked out.

*Note- The man behind me struck up a conversation about my tea, so I gave him a box to try. Perhaps it was karma???????

Tybee Island Pictures

The BEST hole-in-the-wall restaurant ever!! Yummy seafood!

Caroline's reaction after we asked her if she had fun!

Caroline's bathing suit is too big now that she's not wearing swim diapers! We may get another year in it after all....

We went to Tybee Island and Savannah for the Labor Day weekend. We had an awesome time and Caroline loved the beach! The beach was super crowded and parking was a nightmare! IF you could find a parking spot, the cheapest rate was $15. I had a frugal thought...Tim has a couple of clients that own hotels on the island, so he called one of them to ask about parking at his hotel. Voila! We got FREE parking!

After spending several hours at the beach, we were starving. So, we walked across the street to the best hole-in-the-wall restaurant, Stingrays. Tim and I ate there about six years ago and fell in love with the food and the environment. We munched on yummy grouper, shrimp, and scallops. Caroline preferred the lemons and fries!

We then went back to the Marriott and spent some time playing in the room, walking on the RiverWalk and running in the halls. ;) Stay tuned for pictures of Savannah....

First Haircut

Caroline got her first haircut a few weeks ago. She was NOT a happy camper! But, she did listen to Ann as she told her to put her chin down and be real still.

I was not interested in letting her get bangs or a huge chop, so she just got her ends trimmed up. It looks like a cute bob.

Publix Success!

I haven't posted a Publix shop with a picture lately, so here's the one from today. :) I will also be going to another one tonight because I just realized that I have some coupons that are expiring today.

Transaction Details:

10- Scotch Mailers $.59 ea- (10- $.50 MQ doubled)= Free+++

7- Mt. Olive Pickles $ ea- (7- $.50 MQ doubled and 7- $1.00 FLQ)= Free+++

2- Revlon Clippers $1.49 ea- (2- $1.00 MQ and 2- $2.00 PQ)= Free++

2- Revlon Emery Boards $1.69 ea- (2- $1.00 MQ and 2- $2.00 PQ)= Free++

3- Crest Toothpaste $1.66 ea- (3- $.50 MQ doubled and 3- $1.00 PQ)= Free+++

2- KC BBQ Sauce $1.69 ea- (2- $2.00 MQ)= Free++

2- Pork- $5.99 and $3.77- (2- $6.00 MQ)= Free++

2- Beef- $2.97 and $3.25- (2- $4.00 MQ)= Free++

6- Starbucks Ice Cream $1.80 ea- (6- $2.00 MQ)= Free++ **raincheck**

2- Barber Chicken $2.50 ea- (2- $1.00 MQ)= $3.00

1- Super Soft Pretzel $1.50 ea- (1- $1.00 MQ)= $.50

2- Charcoal $7.99 ea- (2- $2.00 MQ and 2- $3.00 FLQ)= $5.98

4- Duncan Hines Cake Mixes $.83 ea- (2- $1.00/2 PQ)= $1.30

1- Mrs. Paul's Fish Fillets $4.99 ea- (1- $1.00 PQ and $1.50 MQ)= $2.49

**I grabbed the wrong box!!! So, these will probably be going back!**

1- Milk- $2.25

1- Eggs- $.99

1- Strawberry- $3.49

1- Dried Fruit- $2.50

Grapes- $1.34

garlic- $.25

Bartlett Pear- $.61

Bananas- $.37

Kiwi- $.50

Nectarine- $.55

Jazz Apple- $.64

Lime- $.34

Royal Gala Apple- $.86

Jalapeno Pepper- $.14

Red Bartlett Pear- $.66

Fuji Apple- $.82

Serrano Pepper- $.09

Plum- $.37

Spanish Onion- $.51

Golden Del. Apple- $.69

Corn- $.25

Total: $146.35

Total OOP: $6.88

Note- If I had grabbed the correct fish product, I would have an item that produces $.25 overage, instead I ended up paying $2.50! Always, check receipt before leaving!! Better yet, always check item when putting it in your cart!

Note- I had extra coupons which means that I had to absorb the extra coupons with other items. This resulted in odds and ends produce.

Note- I have decided that I need to fly under the radar and not go into the negatives. This results in freaked out cashiers (here in my area) and not so friendly manager intervention. My totals will not be as low as $1.00 or $2.00 now, but I'm okay with that. :)

Note- The Mt. Olives ended up being an added purchase because the Food Lion coupons were posted. That coupon resulted in $.60 overage per item. I will be getting a raincheck tonight so that I can purchase some more to help my total next week.

It's a Dippin' Good Time!

It's college football time and around my house, EVERYTHING stops! You can almost guarantee that Tim is on the couch or pacing back and forth from TV to TV to watch ALL the games. :) I was perusing some of my favorite blogs and saw this awesome post. BooMama has posted some of her favorite dip recipes and with some help from Mr. Linky, her readers did too! So, grab a bag of chips and start munching!!! Tim is going to LOVE this college football season....

Savannah Bound!

I am so excited! We are heading to Savannah on Sunday morning for a quick getaway. This is one of my favorite cities!!!! We will be going to Tybee Island for a short day at the beach and a night of eating fresh shrimp and crab. Then we will be staying on River Street at the Marriott (imagine that!). I can already smell the pecan pralines... Thanks Tim for taking Caroline and I to one of our favorite places!

Sorting Fun!

I have noticed that since Caroline has been in preschool, she has been a bit 'bored' at home. I have had to step up the activities for her. On Thursday, we were stuck at home waiting on my freezer to be delivered and I needed to work in the garage to prepare for its arrival. So, I poured 4 bags of white rice in a large bowl and mixed in insects of different colors. I then gave her plates to sort her insects. This lasted for hours! I decided that my glass mixing bowl wasn't the best idea and replaced it with a plastic storage container. I put on the lid, put it on the shelf and now we have an instant learning center!