Jakob's Pre-K Graduation -- Chicken Dance

Jakob and his friends had their Pre-K Graduation last Friday, May 28th. Near the end of the ceremony, they all danced the "Chicken Dance".  Watching Jakob again in this video makes me laugh.  Between his teacher telling him to slow down while swinging a partner and then noticing all the kids start going faster and faster when they swing their partners.  Another funny thing for me is to watch him and you can tell he's watching the others.  I still remember a video from when I was his age doing the same thing!  Enjoy!

Remembering Why I Dislike Wal-Mart

I went to Wal-Mart earlier today for a few things.  Normally, I would have gone to Kroger.  However, Kroger is farther away and we needed a few cleaning supplies and bug spray!  Most of the items I bought were about the same price at Kroger and some of the produce was cheaper.  There were a few items I would have bought at Kroger with my coupons due to advertised specials and coupons that I did not buy at Wal-Mart because they were much more expensive.  My mom always joked about going to Wal-Mart in my hometown with the coupons I send her from our newspaper.  She always says the cashier reads every coupon before scanning.  I always laugh because when I go to Kroger or Target, they tend to scan them and only really read them if the computer beeps at them!  Well, today my cashier read every single coupon and was the slowest at scanning them into the register.  Then for my Silk Soy Milk, I had four coupons with my four items.  Two of the coupons were $1.00/1 and two of them were B1G1 coupons.  I was legit since the $1.00/1 coupons were taking off the items I still was buying and the other coupons made the other free.  I think the cashier figured I was trying to cheat the system and she verified it with another sales clerk.  Lastly, I printed a few coupons this morning from my printer.  It is low on ink, so you should have seen her reaction when she came across the one that printed this morning!

Menu Planning 5/30-6/5

Hi There

I created the above cards using leftover pieces from Coordinates Collections 2010 April Showers kit.  I used sketch #140 from Mojo Monday.  They always have fun card sketches each week!  Since summer is coming, I moved my Cricut off the shelf and onto the desk next to my computer.  I updated the firmware and my design studio software and then cut 'hi there' using my Beyond Birthdays cartridge!  I really like the simplicity of the yellow ribbon attached to the cards.  I used my punch and then set it with an eyelet.  The rhinestone is attached on top of the eyelet and loved the overall look combined!

Jakob's Pre-K Graduation and Many Other Details!

Jeff and I cooked BBQ Ribs on Sunday.  They were so good!  Last Tuesday, I worked on some of my coupons and scrapbooked a little.  I began two more cards and I am almost done with them.  I also received the new Twilight Eclipse book in the mail.  I had been waiting on the mass market print of the book since I prefer reading regular sized paperbacks.  I am still working on reading Wicked and realize I'll have more time after this week is finished!

My garden is getting bigger and bigger everyday! I am amazed when I look back at previous pictures I took when I first planted it.  I am having to check for tomatoes and water right at everyday now!  I realized yesterday the cucumbers vines were much longer than I realized and helped hook them to the cage so they will have more space!  They stretched out to the support in the picture below.  There are many cucumbers beginning on each vine!  From what I can see of the carrot tops, they are getting bigger and bigger.  I believe the seed package stated 70 days for maturity, so I have a few more weeks before pulling them out of the ground.  This section in my backyard is perfect for my garden!  In the evening, I thought it was funny because the entire backyard was in the shade except for my garden!  It gets so much direct sunlight!  Once summer is finished, I'll have to figure out what to plant next!

During the week, Jakob played outside with side walk chalk and then enjoyed riding his bicycle.  It sure is nice living on the cul-de-sac.  I sat out in a chair working on creating my semester exam answer to key for science while he played.  It was not too hot sitting in the shade.  It sure has been hot for not being June.  I still need to create my math semester exam key, so maybe I'll complete it the same way while sitting outside getting some fresh air.

Jakob has attended Kids Corral since we moved to our new home.  This past Friday was their Pre-K graduation.  They all hand graduation caps on and walked onto the stage following Mrs. Teresa.  They sang a few songs and danced before receiving their certificates!  It was so cute.  I posted a VIDEO on my blog of them singing, so cute!  He took some great pictures with his two main teachers,  Mrs. Teresa and Ms. Brenda.  Jakob has one more week of school before summer starts!

Jakob had his ice skating lessons yesterday.  He did much better than the week prior.  One of the guys tends to work with Jakob and is so patience.  Jakob fell down and one of the things the students have to learn is how to get up from the ice without help.  I think Jakob spent a good 3-5 minutes trying to get up and started to get frustrated.  However, then after continuing to try over and over, Jakob got up on his own! He was so proud and you can see it in the pictures!

I hope everyone has a great week! We have a three day weekend due to Memorial Holiday Weekend.  Then I have 4 more working days before my summer vacation! I am so excited!  I am slowly getting everything finished and ready for this upcoming week.  I have to complete specific things and people have to sign off a sheet before you can leave for summer.  Students are taking semester exams this week and have early release all week!

Jakob's Pre-K Graduation

Jakob's Pre-K graduation was this evening. Here is one of the videos I took of him and his friends singing. It is so cute!

Breakfast for Dinner!

I made breakfast for dinner last night! I made blueberry pancakes, bacon, and toast and it was delicious!  The pancakes were fantastic and just melted in my mouth!  Jakob really enjoyed the dinner and wolfed down the pancakes!  He has never had blueberry pancakes before but he really enjoys eating blueberry muffins.  I figured if he likes blueberry muffins, he would like the pancakes and sure enough I was right!  I also had other intentions for making breakfast for dinner!!  Recently, I mentioned how we bought the FoodSaver from Costco.  I purposely made extras and sealed for the freezer for the hectic busy mornings!

Hello & Thanks - Cards for Family and Friends!

I created both cards above using Coordinates Collections April 2010 Showers kit.  The flower and chipboard were from my stash from other kits.  I used the Mojo Monday card sketch #139.  They always have fun looking sketches for cards and after I have used most of my kit from Coordinates Collections, it is nice to be able to use the remaining of my scraps!  As I create my cards, I put them in a ziplock bag to keep them neat and hold onto them until I need to mail them!  I love having cards on hand that I have made personally.

Mailbox Monday

I received the above magazines this past week for free in the mail!  I would have never thought a person could receive free magazines and I never see a bill for them.  Sometimes, they will offer a renewal after the offer has expired, but no actual bills.  I usually give a few of the magazines to my mom and other relatives.  Interesting enough, sometimes the magazines have coupons in them too!  My father-in-law is such a handy-man that I usually give the wood magazine since it has great projects and ideas.  He is constantly making things and designing things.  Jakob has an awesome toy chest that he made for his 2nd birthday, equipped with Lego Duplo mats on the top to build on top!

Second Time at Walgreens

I had to bring Jakob the second time I went to Walgreens today. It is always much more challenging to do everything perfectly when he is with me due to coupons, register rewards, always a line, etc! I still did great, but for some reason I thought I had 3 coupons for the ham and turkey and only had 2 coupons. They were still at great prices ($2.50) which was over $2.00 cheaper than Kroger!  In my head, I was calculating $4.50 for the meat since I thought I had 3 coupons and therefore I thought I needed one more item to make it above my $5.00 RR.  Oh well, overall getting all of the healthcare items along with the food for $13 is still great!

Transaction #1
$5 RR wyb $15 of participating products:
2 - Dove Hair Care, 7-12 oz., $3
-$1 off Dove Shampoo or Conditioner printable
-$1 off Dove Shampoo or Conditioner printable
3 - Dove or Degree Antiperspirant, 2.6 or 2.7 oz., or Fine Mist 3 oz., at $3.50
-$1.50 off Dove Beauty Bar 4 pk + AND Deodorant or Body Mists printable
-$1.50 off Dove Beauty Bar 4 pk + AND Deodorant or Body Mists printable
-$1 off Degree Men or Women Deodorant printable


Transaction #2
2 - Oscar Mayer Deli Fresh Shaved Meat, 9 oz., $2.50
-$1 off Oscar Mayer Deli Fresh Meats printable
-$1 off Oscar Mayer Deli Fresh Meats printable
Walgreens Ice Cream $2.50

************************************************
Total Before Savings and Coupons: $39.84
Total Spent: $13.58
Total Saved:$26.26 or 66%
************************************************

Almost the End of School

The weeks are going faster and faster!  We are getting closer to the last day of school!  We officially have 8 more days with students and only 9 more working days until summer!  I purchased some boxes from Staples so I can begin packing my classroom.  It appears I will be teaching math only next year, so another science teacher will be moving into my science classroom.

Last Sunday, Jakob enjoyed watching Star Wars movies with Jeff.  I went to do some of the regular shopping with coupons to Kroger, CVS, and Costco.  We decided to purchase the Food Saver Vacuum Sealer at Costco and I have been pretty happy with it.   Costco had a $30 coupon in their home-mailers.

On Monday, Jakob came home singing something using the words 'gluteus maximus'!  He attends a class called "Stretch-N-Grow" at his preschool where he gets to exercise and learns about nutrition and the muscles!  It was quite funny!

On Friday, Jakob came home today singing "If you're Happy and You Know It..."  He really enjoys singing and seems to do well at it!  I think he takes after Jeff on singing, since he's pretty good at it!

Over the weekend, I created 2 scrapbook pages focusing on Jakob.  One layout consisted of Jakob's 4 year old school pictures in 2009 (Smile).  The other layout was pictures of Jakob at Sonic enjoying the Free Root Beer float from June 2009 (These are the Moments). I have 2 cards almost finished and plan on finishing them this afternoon.

Jakob went to his fourth week of ice skating lessons on Saturday morning.  He did okay and stayed off the wall while ice skating.  However, he seemed to forget how to bend his knees on the ice!

Jeff and I took the boys swimming yesterday.  It was our first time at the pool in our sub-division.  It is really nice and believe it will come in handy this summer! It is walking distance and both boys enjoyed their time at the pool.  I'm sure they could have stayed longer than an hour, but it was time to get ready for bed.  It was pretty windy yesterday and the pool was still a little chilly to both Jeff and me.  I need to start watching specials for pool toys to carry to-from!  I still have not decided where to do the summer swimming lessons.  Jakob is fearless in the water and really wants to swim.  Roland does okay, but still does not like swimming on top of the water.  He loves and does great playing and swimming under the water, but his practice is needed on freestyle strokes, etc.

Jeff and I did pretty good on our menu last week.  We didn't have everything exactly on the days mentioned due to random things coming up, but ate most of what I had written down based on what we had in the house!  I really have enjoyed using E-Mealz since it gives basic and easy recipes for planning purposes!  I posted our menu for this week already.

Menu Planning 5/23-5/29

Many Specials at Walgreens this Week!

Jeff took the boys to get haircuts this morning and I went to Walgreens and Kroger.  I did good at Kroger by saving $38 or 68% overall.  I really like getting sunscreen on sale and prefer to stock up on it because I know we use it (and then some) this summer!  I honestly need to go back to Walgreens later today for a few of their grocery items!!

Transaction #1
$5 RR wyb (4) of participating Cookies or Crackers at $2.50 ea:
Keebler, 11.5-16 oz.
-$1 off Keebler Sandies printable (buy 4, use 4 coupons, makes it 25¢ ea)
$2.99 RR wyb Goody Ouchless Barrette or Flex Tip Headband at $2.99 free

Transaction #2
$2 RR wyb (2) Pantene Shampoo or Conditioner, 12.6 oz., or Styling Products, 1.9-11.5 oz., at $3.50
-$1 off Pantene Styler, Hairspray or Treatment PG 5/02 (makes it $1.50)
-$1 off Pantene Styler, Hairspray or Treatment PG 5/02 (makes it $1.50)
Hunt’s Tomato Sauce, 8 oz., at 25¢ ea (limit 6)
-$1/5 Hunt’s Tomato Sauce “Rediscover your Balance” booklet (makes them 5¢ ea)

Transaction #3
2 - Hawaiian Tropic Creme Lotion or Continuous Spray, 6 oz., at B1G1

-$2 off Hawaiian Tropic Continuous Sprah (coupons with advertised display)

-$2 off Hawaiian Tropic Continuous Sprah (coupons with advertised display)

2 - Chex Mix, 5.5 or 8.75 oz., David Sunflower Seeds, 5.25 oz. or Cracker Jack, 7 oz., at 99¢
-$1/2 Chex Mix or Chex 100 Calorie Snack Mix SS 4/18
Comet Cleanser, 14 oz., at 50¢ ea w/in-ad coupon

************************************************
Total Before Savings and Coupons: $55.86
Total Spent: $17.81
Total Saved:$38.05 or 68%
************************************************

These are the Moments

Last year, on June 3, 2009, Jakob rode his bike and Jeff and I walked to Sonic from our apartment.  They were having FREE Root Beer Floats.  The scrapbook paper is from Coordinates Collections April 2010 Showers Kit.  I was really having a hard time getting started and I really wanted to work on using more of the kit, so I got some inspiration from Coordinates Collections' April newsletter!  It's always filled with great ideas from the design team and it helped me decide on how I wanted to piece the papers together.  Overall, I'm quite happy with how it turned out.  Jakob is 4 years old in these pictures.

Smile

Jakob took these pictures at Children's Courtyard last year.  He was 4 years old.  I used Coordinates Collections April 2010 Showers Kit.  The flowers were from my stash and liked the way it seemed to draw your attention to the left picture!  I layout is based off of The Scrappiest Sketch #65.

$10 - Revlon Lipsticks, Shampoo/Conditioner, & Deoderant

Transaction #1
2 - $2 ECB wyb Herbal Essence or Aussie Hair Care Products $2.99 Limit 2
-$1 off Herbal Essences Shampoo, Conditioner or Styler products, RP 5/16
-$1 off Herbal Essences Shampoo, Conditioner or Styler products, RP 5/16

Transaction #2
2- $4 ECB wyb $10 Revlon Cosmetics Limit 1
-$3 off Revlon Lipstick printable
-$3 off Revlon Lipstick printable

Transaction #3
$2 ECB wyb Mennen Speed Stick $2.99 Limit 2
-.75/1 Lady Speed Stick Stainguard, printable (makes it 24¢)

************************************************
Total Before Savings and Coupons: $36.06
Total Spent: $10.91
Total Saved:$25.15 or 70%
ECB Remaining: $4.00
************************************************

One Busy Week!

Jeff and I registered Jakob for Kindergarten on Thursday!! Registration began at 9:00AM and the current Kindergarten students performed a few songs and then the principal and assistant principal talked about the upcoming year.  We completed the paperwork and took a short tour of the school.  Jeff and I both liked the design inside the school; should be a fun and busy next year!

Earlier in the week, I learned about E-Mealz.  They create menus for the week that include the ingredients and instructions for the recipe.  Using some of the options from the menus, I came up with the following menu for this upcoming week.  (Jeff and I have created menus before and when we made them, the week was so much easier at dinner time.  Even if you flip flop days, you still have the items on hand to cook dinner!) View my pretty menu HERE.

Sunday: Pork Chop Casserole with Green Beans

Monday: Spaghetti with Garlic Bread

Tuesday: Cheeseburgers with French Fries

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursday: Walnut Crusted Chicken with Red Potatoes

Friday: Banana French Toast with Bacon

Saturday: Chicken Fried Steak with Mashed Potatoes

I took Jakob to his ice skating lesson this morning.  This is the 3rd week of lessons and he did much better today!  He was so proud of himself overall and loved getting the sticker from Ms. Palma!  Jakob was not attached to the wall nearly as much as he was the first two weeks of practice and stayed near the cones.  Most of his skating was by himself with little assistance from the teachers except every now and then!

Jeff and I went out to eat at Parkers Brothers Trail Dust steakhouse for dinner.  It was pretty good.  I had an 8 oz steak, baked potato, salad, and bread.  Jeff ordered their chicken fried steak and it came with mashed potatoes, beans, and bread.  Jakob ordered from the kids menu and wanted the chicken strips.  I think he got as much food as we received!  We took his leftovers home with us for him to eat during the week.  After he finished eating, he went down the slide.  I did not know this was inside the restaurant and he absolutely loved it!  He went super fast on the slide and had to reminded not to scream inside the building!

We are down to three more weeks of school and I cannot wait until the summer!  We have two more instructional weeks and then students will be taking their semester exams.  Only two more Mondays since one of them is Memorial Day! It has been one amazing year and am blessed with the teachers I am surrounded with everyday!

Mailbox Monday

I received all of the above in the mail on Saturday, 5/15.  I forgot all about requesting it when I saw the offer.  However, sure glad it really came!  It all came in a small box with 3 Vanilla Cream Latte packages, 3 Tomato Basil Wheat Thins, 1 Free Bullseye Coupon, 1 Free Oscar Mayer Coupon, and a $10 Rebate!!  I learned about the deal from Southern Savers and I received the above by joining Kraft's Facebook page.  It's gone at the moment.

Ice Skating Lessons and a Trip to Target

I took Jakob to his ice skating lesson this morning.  This is the 3rd week of lessons and he did much better today!  He was so proud of himself overall and loved getting the sticker from Ms. Palma!  Jakob was not attached to the wall nearly as much as he was the first two weeks of practice and stayed near the cones.  Most of his skating was by himself with little assistance from the teachers except every now and then!  After he finished his lesson, he wolfed down a Pop-Tart and we went to Target.

Majority of my list from Target had coupons and I wanted to highlight below the items I picked up with coupons.  I did not have time to take any pictures today, but came home with four reusable shopping bags full of supplies!  Overall, savings are still savings!

************************************************
Total Before Savings and Coupons: $185.37
Total Spent: $153.69
Total Saved:$31.85 or 17%
Rebates: $9.74 (Rebate factored: $41.59 or 23%)
************************************************

Cleaning Supplies
Clorox Toilet Wand System $9.74

-$5.00 Mail in Rebate

Clorox Toilet Wand Refill $4.29
Swiffer 360 Starter Kit $8.99

-$2.00/1 Swiffer Starter Kit, Any - 05-02-10 PG

Swiffer 360 Refill Kit $8.99
-$1.00/1 Swiffer Refill
Receive $10 Rewards Card after spending $20 on Refill Kits expires 6/30 (I will hang onto my receipt until I purchase more.)
Cascade Rinse Aid $3.49

-$1.00/1 Cascade Rinse Aid, Any - 05-02-10 PG

3-Pack O-Cel-O Sponges $3.99

-$0.75/2 O-Cel-O Sponges, Any Packages - 05-02-10 SS

Medicine-Healthcare
2 - Tums $3.74

-$1.00/2 Tums, any 24 ct+ - 03-28-10 RP

Aleve 50 Count $6.69

-$1.00/1 Aleve, Any 40 Ct. Or Larger Excluding Aleve-D Products - 05-02-10 SS

Claritin Children's Allergy Product $8.84

-$2.00/1 Claritin Children's Non-Drowsy Allergy Product, Any 4 Oz. Syrup Or 10 Ct. Or Larger- 05-09-10 SS

Groceries

12 - Healthy Choice Fresh Mixers $2.79

(Used 12) -$1.00/1 Healthy Choice Fresh Mixers, Any - 03-28-10 SS ($1.79 each!)

I order specific high dollar coupons from Coupons & Things by Dede.  Jeff likes these and normally are $3.00 each or higher!

4 - Campbell's Chunky Soup $1.89

-$1.00/2 Campbell's Chunky Soup

-$1.00/2 Campbell's Chunky Soup
2 - Quaker Granola Bars $2.19

-$0.75/2 Quaker Chewy Granola Bars, Any Boxes - 05-02-10 RP

Old El Paso Seasoning $0.87

-$0.60/2

Mission Tortilla Chips $2.50

-$1.00/1 Target Coupon

Menu Planning 5/16-5/22

Crunchy Onion BBQ Chicken

After being introduced to E-Mealz, I believe I am going to really like it!  I made the Crunchy Onion BBQ Chicken for dinner tonight.  It was super easy and was really good!  Jakob liked it and Jeff said it was okay.  The directions actually stated to only bread one side of the chicken with the crushed onion/parmesean cheese, but I breaded all of it out of habit!  I think it would have been less calories with less breading, but it was still really good!  I rounded off dinner with corn and garlic bread.  Jeff and Jakob had regular honey-wheat bread.  My co-worker started a recipe book.  I think it might be fun to start keeping new recipes we like and enjoy while we try all the new recipes!